Leaderboard

History has taught us, by the time we find out its usually too late. No one is coming out of this well. This seems to be a bit of a public spat between majority shareholders being played out to the detriment of the club. One wonders why the clubs journey seems to have stalled all of a sudden post PSV. I wouldn't say the board have taken thier foot off the gas, I'd say they have stopped paying for gas and the car isn't going to get very far any time soon. Dave King seems desperate to sell his shares. Normally I'd ask why? Shares are an investment. He or his estate could hold onto these shares for some time and make a great profit selling them much later in the future. Does King know something that makes him so desperate to sell? Paul Murray seems to be a bit of a never has been. A fairly successful city guy, never really had the financial means to get a seat at the top table but always wants to be there or there abouts. Is it telling he has sided with King and is facilitating his selling of shares? How will that help his aims in getting involved with the club? Perhaps he will try to represent the buyer on the board. It seems this current wealthy fan ownership, call them white knights, call them the 3(or 7, or 8 or 9 etc) bears have hit a common problem. Running a business by committee isn't always successful when everyone has different ideas. But then look where it got us being ran by an egotistical individual. Who knows where we go from here.

every team on 3 points after tomorrow then

I really don't know what people expect the Club to do. It appears to me that: Poileas Alba has said you can't play on Tuesday, but you can play Wednesday. However, if you elect to stage the match on Wednesday, we cannot accommodate/police any away support. UEFA has said that the match may be moved, but if there are no Napoli fans allowed at Ibrox, then, in the interests of fairness, or, dare I say it, 'sporting integrity', no away fans will be permitted to attend the reverse fixture in Naples. And them's the rules. The Club, I suppose, could complain, lobby, or even do a Stugeon, stamp its feet in irritation, and denounce a scapegoat, but none of these options seem like to move Poileas Alba, or UEFA. Perhaps the Club should have tried to have the fixture switched to a later date, leaving the game in Naples unmoved, but that would need the agreement of UEFA, Napoli, and broadcasters, to do so, and consensus on an alternative date, in a crowded calendar, made worse by the ridiculously timed World Cup. Would that help any travelling Napoli fans, booked for Glasgow this midweek?

Don't listen to the Manager - the players don't.

Not doing much at the moment I would be better than both of them

Thats the whole point, although of course that is completely overlooked by those commenting above and defending the club's position. I haven't heard of ANY other UK club being affected in this way with a reciprocal banning of supporters from travelling.

Aren’t they all?

There's no smoke without fire

IMO, the club's journey hasn't stalled, as such. The overall strategy is I think, correct but there are ongoing issues surfacing that need addressed. If they aren't addressed in a timely way, they may, within an unfavourable economic enviroment get more severe and lead to bottomline issues. When football results go badly, everything is magnified tenfold and relative context/detail/precise quotes & meanings are often left to the side as everyone piles on. If we win tomorrow suddenly everything looks rosy again and all the indepth analysis of why we are on the route to a dark place is largely forgotten. If I were to criticise, I'd point towards generally cutting too many corners regards costs, trying to squeeze value of cut price options. This ranges from the Ticket Office Operation to buying too many injury prone players. ....If you keep doing it, it will catch up with you. Going back to the Foxy business, dead pop stars, Dave King and Paul Murray. We can all read between the lines but I simply don't know what is or isn't going on.

That post takes me back to when Rangers messageboards were politically divided between the various characters and interests vying for our backing. The Vanguard Bears were as generally outspoken as they were so very wrong. If only they had gone after the likes of Green and Ashley as they did King and Murray, they might not have looked so stupid. The labeling and identification of an individual as being good, bad or indifferent for the football club has to take into context the precise moment in time, the circumstances, the interests and motives. For example, Dave King was (very) good in 2014/15 but that has changd to a current negative. King was the right man to have in your corner for the circumstances back in the day. So, what about Paul Murray ? Back in the day, he was in with the good guys and in face of the spivs, his general intentions were positive regards the football club. Rather than being a well greased snake, he seemed to play with a fairly straight bat. He had his faults, in the run up to the AGM of 2013, he thought he could take on the unoffical amateur PR man for a group who opposed CG&Co and lost that side of things miserably to Toxic Jack Irvine. What about today ? I would be lying if I said I know what is going on. Perhaps he is playing a supporting role to DK and looking to make a buck, perhaps not. Circumstances change, so whatever is happening now has to be judged on its merits. The problem is finding out exactly what is going on.

I'm just going on percentages. I can think of no examples of the current custodians sticking up for the general fan base and they've had multiple opportunities.

Wager all you like but unless you actually know anything about what the board did, you're just another punter whistling out your arse.

Having read this whole thread I think most of the Bluenoses who have the contributed to it have made fair assumptions regarding Gio’s statements. But as we are not in the know concerning his contract, and the possibility of a non disclosure in it, we don’t know if he is free to speak his mind, so they are only assumptions. Thanks to the European success we know Gio is no fool tactically. Is he responsible for the lack of form/effort from the majority of players, or are they inconsistent players. As we have seen their form/effort go up and down before Gio came in I will assume the players are just inconsistent. I support Gio as he is our manager, and I don’t see that changing soon. Changing managers & coaching staff again would only set us back. Imo we are far off being anywhere near the standard of my favourite Gers team, and much more hard work is needed.

As well as we being on UEFA's "watch list" for sailing very close to the wind in terms of FFP (or whatever they're calling it now), its prudent for the Board to be wary of inflation and its unknown impact on our short term cost base. Other financial unknowns (at least to us) are the particulars of the settlement with Ashley, the capital needed for New Edmiston House, any new/significant maintenance costs for Ibrox and Auchenhowie, new contracts for senior players, amortisation of previous transfers as well as previous losses which we have racked up... and thats before you get to the shitshow that is the SPFL's TV deal renegotiations which continue to hold us back financially and will do so over an even longer period if they gerrymander it through. Despite all of that, I was disappointed we didn't manage to make at least one more signing before the deadline. My gut feel was there should have been scope for it, but I guess we will need to see what the accounts say to get a clearer picture. We seem to continually shoot ourselves in the foot from a communication point of view though. The Board should know we are hyper sensitive on financial matters and read the room by providing more timely information rather than waiting till the pitchforks are drawn.

Maybe he didnt know the truth?

Can I just stick up a wee bit for Tannochsidebear here and say when UEFA/authorities suggested banning away fans at both fixtures, I'd definitely wager that our board did absolutely nothing to change this and try to get our fans, most of whom will have already booked flights and accommodation, into the match in Naples. They tend not to stick up for the average punter.

perfect storm noun [ C, usually singular ] UK /ˌpɜː.fekt ˈstɔːm/ US /ˌpɝː.fekt ˈstɔːrm/ "an extremely bad situation in which many bad things happen at the same time" If we go back a fortnight, then things looked fairly good for Rangers supporters. Despite an unfortunate ref-affected draw away at Easter Road, we'd just beaten PSV in the Netherlands to qualify for the Champions League group stages for the first time in 12 years. It seemed the associated monies would allow us to strengthen our squad further to allow us to not only maintain a domestic title challenge but to compete - at least to an honest, hard-working degree - in Europe. After ten year in the doldrums and a slow, slow return to the pinnacle of Scottish football, including our 55th title two seasons ago and an incredible run to the final of the Europa League last term, was the fabled 'journey' back to being Scotland's best finally complete? Just two weeks later the answer appears to be a resounding no. Of course that response is rather flippant. Yes, we've come back over a decade, under various very difficult circumstances, to the top division and have been successful again. Yes, the club is going to post the kind of impressive financial results we've not seen for the better part of 20 years. And, yes, all concerned deserve more than huff-taking when the going may get tough once more. In that respect, surely we've learned by now that patience can be a virtue? With that in mind, I think the current Rangers board - or at least elements of it - deserve our composure. These people have put in vast amounts of their own personal fortunes to allow the club a platform to compete again. Under some impossible to predict situations (a global pandemic and war in Europe), they've provided steady leadership and investment needed to keep the club on an even keel. They can't guarantee success and we should all know by now we cannot afford to take risks with our finances. However, that should also not mean no criticism. In that sense, mistakes are being made and there are issues which they seem to struggle with. MyGers, ticketing portals, commercial partnerships, stadium facilities, PR, scouting, football operations and more all have valid concerns from supporters with few clear answers. Customer engagement is constantly highlighted but not visibly improved whilst fans are asked for more and more money - themselves affected by worsening fiscal pressures. No matter, if things are going well on the park, oftentimes such issues can be masked or at least endured as a necessary part of maximising investment into the team itself. Winning our 55th title in 2020/21 did that. And, despite not enough improvement in the squad, reaching Seville last season did the same. Moreover, early transfer activity this summer allowed further optimism for a new campaign. The signings of Colak, Tillman, Lawrence and Matondo in particular seemed to pacify most supporters - even if there were some doubts about the composition of our midfield and depth in attacking areas. No matter, the season started fairly well - not overly impressive - but results good enough to, well, mask any issues that did seem to be developing. The fitness and attitude of Alfredo Morelos was a major indicator of problems in the dressing room with a not altogether convincing explanation from the manager around squad support for the Colombian's effective suspension. Only an awful away performance in Belgium pointed to a deeper malaise but surely that was a one-off? Unfortunately the last fortnight has seen problems escalate. No further additions to the squad despite CL qualification surprised most fans and subsequent humiliations at Parkhead and in Amsterdam have made that decision look questionable at best. Meanwhile supporter frustration with services from the club has worsened - increased ticket prices, poor payment structures, travel concerns and a club apparently unwilling to engage on any of the above has seen fractures develop. Perhaps understandably (but nonetheless wrongly) fan media with Men's team press access are blamed by some whilst the players, coaches and directors seem to shrug their shoulders to any sort of accountability. On the park has seen our last two matches lost by four goals which could easily have been double. Players look lost in a tactical sense but, worse, many are clearly disinterested and unwilling to do the hard yards - evidenced by Ajax running a combined 6km more than our players in Wednesday's rout. Previously reliable players can't do the basics right and others are shirking responsibility at every opportunity. Few, if any, can say they're doing what's asked of them. Meanwhile, player after player, is suddenly now injured and rarely do we hear why or when they will return. If we're entirely honest with ourselves, all this points to a manager struggling to cope. Even so, I've followed Rangers for the better part of 40 years and rarely is that path a smooth one. Back in the glory years of 9IAR, doubts were still abound. Our European efforts were usually poor, our investment into the team inconsistent and often wasteful, and future planning not to be found under the now discredited David Murray. There were good times and bad, and everything in between so trying to predict what happened next was usually a fool's errand. As such, it could be argued there's some over-reaction now. A win on Saturday at Aberdeen and a positive result against Napoli next Tuesday would help. The return from injury of various players will also make the squad look that bit stronger and allow for under-performing players to be dropped. The end is not necessarily nigh. Yet... that takes us back to the point above about issues being masked. There are clearly problems at the club and we cannot allow results - bad or good - stop us from examining them more closely. Yes, the board should expect our support through good times and the bad but if there are complications then let's work together to address them - don't keep us at arm's length. Involve us, be open and perhaps we can help further. Don't do what David Murray and subsequent spivs did by patronising us and pitting bear against bear through misinformation. In closing, we're in somewhat of a perfect negative storm right now with Rangers. It might well pass but it's fair to say we've not prepared well for it and seem to have no idea what to do. Such moments require clear, decisive leadership and not only does the manager take responsibility for that, so does the chairman and his appointments. The fans have backed you to the hilt in recent years. Do not take that for granted or the storm could easily get much, much worse.

The economics of Football have changed hugely over the past several decades in line with what is happening in the wider economic environment. Neo-liberal economics or we can call it extreme capitalism introduced little by little with the result of successfully boiled frogs. The basic result is a disproportionate amount of money, power and influence flow to the top. eg. The elite clubs are now disproportionately able to accumulate and hoover up elite/potentially elite footballers. They force UEFA to make up rules and regulations around their competitions that see the cash distribution heavily skewed in their favour. Compare the old European Cup and today's CL. So, with regard to Rangers. We are currently on a path that will gradually see the environment in which we ply our trade (Scotland), become relatively poorer and unless we move, we will go the same way. Re. The speculation about X or Y interested in investing/buying Rangers. Some of our support equate the reported wealth of X or Y with what they will do for the club. Perhaps they see it as a financial bridge to a diet of interesting transfer rumours, better squad, lots of trophies, etc. X was once Sir Duped Y could be Mike Ashley Rangers were basically on offer in 2012 and no-one could come up with the money to trump the 5.5M offered by CG&Co, locked in to the CVA process. Now, a large book could be written about the surrounding circumstances to my previous paragraph but the take away for me is that when it comes down to it. There doesn't exist people who would be able to provide the game changing finance and not be concerned about a real return. The people who have invested heavily, some of whom are currently on the board, are as good and safe as it will ever get. Mistakes will be made. To transition into a self sustainable club will have many painful moments. The past is gone.

Yes. I can’t remember the rate or yield but at one time in the fifties the share price was £12.00. Don’t recall the denomination. £1.0.0 Ordinary?

Napoli won again, keeping their place at the top of Serie A - at least until Atalanta play this morning. Atalanta play the newly-promoted Cremonese, so you'd expect them to win and take 1st.