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I'll attempt to get as much as I remember from the event. Part 1 started with Gordon Smith talking Souness through his playing management career from Edinburgh Schools to his retirement. Early career was Edinburgh and Scotland schools and then invitations to train with Hearts and Celtic. Nothing materialised from these and he had an offer to go to Spurs. His parents encouraged him to leave home and go to the bright lights of London aged 15. He said he thought Spurs didn't trust him enough to replace some their experienced players so decided to leave for Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough were managed by Jackie Charlton at time and Souness got his debut as a left back. During that season one of the CBs got injured, Charlton put the CM back into defence and gave Souness the.CM role. He never looked back after that. Liverpool is well covered - an amazing world class player playing in arguably the best club team in world at the time. Italy - loved his time there as he got more time on the ball and learned so much about fitness and diet. Rangers - move came about when David Holmes phoned him and asked if he'd be interested in being Rangers player manager. He jumped at the chance. Said masterstroke was getting Walter Smith in to help him. Couldn't speak highly enough of Walter but did blame Walter for his red card at Easter Road! As this was a time when English teams were banned from Europe, it was easier to attract players like Butcher, Woods, Stevens, Steven, Walters, Gough, Hateley etc. Saif it was a mistake letting Cooper leave for Motherwell and a mistake leaving when he did. That was down to his frustration regarding touchline bans, press intrusion into his personal life and a bust-up with St Johnstone Chairman which didn't end well for said Chairman. Souness thought he'd be sacked as SDM witnessed the altercation as it happened in the St Johnstone boardroom and instigated from a disagreement with the tea-lady. He decided he'd had enough and spoke to SDM who advised him to stay - take some time out or move upstairs. Liverpool had approached Sounes twice previously and he'd turned them own. He then phoned Liverpool Chairman and said he go to them if the offer was still there. He regrets leaving Rangers and regrets going to Liverpool. Said it was the right job but the wrong time. The remainder of part 1 was about Turkey and the infamous flag incident. Part 2 was questions from the floor- moat notable answers below ; Rates Cooper in top 3 players he played with, Derek Ferguson was the best player at Rangers when he arrived but Durrant quickly overtook him and was destined to play in Spain / Italy. Hard players that could also play - the usual suspects from England but two that surprised him were Terry Yorath and Terry Hurlock. On recommending Lampard - his connections and relationships with Chelsea and Man City. But also spoke highly of Clement. On Clement - thinks he's doing the best with players he has. That didn't go down well with the crowd but he stuck by this. Mentioned Butland as a good keeper and thought if we had Cletic's attacking 5 we'd win the league. On investment - his opinion is we won't move forward until board have sold club. Didn't talk negatively about the board, just said they need to sell club on. Smith then mentioned that there was an offer for rhe club that got as far as a meeting being arranged but Rangers pulled out. Overall it was a great afternoon with some interesting discussions. Finally, our club presented the charity Debra with a cheque for £3,000 raised at our annual golf day. This is a charity that is close to the hearts of some of our members family (who kindly helped finance the Q&A) and one the Souness has done so much to help. Also, please see 2nd post on page 18 in this thread7 points
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4 points
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Some snippets from today's Q&A with Graeme Souness which was hosted by Gordon Smith. Souness explained his part in the recruitment of the new manager and he interviewed all candidates. As was reported at the time, his preferred candidate was Frank Lampard. He explained why it was down to Lampard's very good relationship with Chelsea & Man City, his knowledge of their Youth set-ups / players and his ability to bring players from both those clubs on loan given our limited budget. He did go on to say that he was impressed with Clement during the interview and believes Clement is doing as best as can be expected given the players at his disposal. He also sticks by his comment that we need better players. At that point Gordon Smith said that he agrees and what is required is fresh income. He insisted that there was an interest in buying Rangers and a meeting was set up for a deal to be completed only for the Rangers board to pull the plug. Both said that there remains interest in Rangers but with the shareholdings being held by many different people, it's difficult to get them all to agree to a sale. Both agreed that without the board selling the club on, we'll not move forward. It was an excellent day and Souness & Smith spoke really well. Souness said Gough was his best signing but mentioned Butcher, Wilkins as well. Said Derek Ferguson was an absolute talent as was Durrant. He also rated Terry Hurlock and Ian Ferguson. Said the 2 mistakes he made at Rangers were ; letting Davie Cooper leave for Motherwell and accepting the Liverpool role. He said he should have moved "upstairs" and let Walter take over. As I said it was an excellent day and great to be in the company of Rangers people and Rangers royalty.4 points
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A proper appraisal of Sir David Murray's tenure of Rangers is a thread in its own right, and probably one that stretches for a lot of pages. On Souness, whatever views people hold of his departure, and it was badly handled by all concerned with the exception of Murray, ironically, he must be seen as one of the most important figures in the club's history. The magnitude of his influence on Rangers, and all of Scottish football, is almost difficult to comprehend today. The ripples from some of the boulders he threw are still being felt today I'd argue. There remains much to admire about Souness, his charity work is exceptional, he's always positive about Rangers, when it's not always fashionable to be so, his punditry can be entertaining too. His insights into the appointment of Clement are interesting. His argument for Lampard isn't without merit and it's interesting to hear his views on how the current manager is doing. Souness has knowledge and experience that none of us possess, but that alone doesn't mean he's always right. I've always felt Gordon Smith is one of those ex-players who people constantly over-estimate his ability simply because he's half way articulate. A bit like Pat Nevin, broadcasters swoon over him because he's capable of throwing in a few big words, and assume this must equal intelligence and insight. In actual fact Smith (and Nevin) have consistently shown themselves to make poor decisions, lack insight and struggle when given real power. That said he can be entertaining and enjoyable to listen to some of his stories.3 points
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That's down to Neil Simpson who destroyed what would have been a world class cerreer from Ian Durrant.2 points
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Smith told 2 funny stories. One about Jimmy Bell / Kyle Lafferty and one about Duncan Ferguson / Jim McLean. Neither for on here! I can remember Smith playing for us and thought he was a very good player and struck up a lethal partnership with DJ. This helped us win a few trophies. He also had decent spells at Man City and Brighton. I liked him as a player when he played for us, but some of posters older than me will be better placed to say. As for his commentary career, I don't mind him. He got a few things wrong yesterday regarding events but overall he was very good and spoke very well. Souness is Souness - a world class player, part of a legendry Liverpool team, rejuvenated Rangers (we hadn't won the league for 9 seasons). Is / was he perfect, off course not, but none of us are. He will remain one of my Rangers hero's up there with Walter Smith, Jock Wallace, John Greig, Davie Cooper, Super Ally, Richard Gough et al.2 points
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2 points
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That's actually one of the few positions we have occupied (Director of Recruitment, Nils Koppen).2 points
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2 points
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Not EPL but I smiled when I saw Stockport (good guys) beat Wrexham (bad guys) today. A good result for the UK.2 points
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Peter and others created the Green Brigade. The Frankenstein monster is now out of control. Both Scottish politicians & Polis Alba will not act. how will this end ?2 points
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Wasn't around for their 9-in-a-row so can't really comment. During ours we were challenged by mostly Aberdeen including 91 where we had to defeat them in the last game of the season to clinch 3 in a row. What I'd say is I was disappointed that we didn't get 10. This could have been achieved if Terry Butcher hadn't broken his leg 1987/88 season when we finished a disappointing third. Also, we should never had lost the league when going for 10. Maybe it was Walter saying he'd be stepping down, maybe it was Walter player some of the older players, maybe it was the injury to Negri but still annoys me that we didn't win 10.1 point
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100% and Souness said as much at the Q&A. Was destined to play for a top team in a top league until that challenge. Souness mentioned that in the lead up to the game, Durrant had mentioned that he thought Simpson would be out to "do him".1 point
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That's your opinion. I'd say he was the last World Class player from Scotland.1 point
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During Rangers’ niar there was fairly consistent, sometime stern, competition from Aberdeen and at times Motherwell and Kilmarnock and the occasional flicker from Hearts and at the end, celtic started to become a nuisance. Over their niar Hibs had a go, sometimes Dundee Utd and Aberdeen though not terribly seriously. I think Rangers did better in their niar than they did in ours so I conclude that Rangers’ niar has more merit than theirs. No bias or anything like that.1 point
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Thanks CF. From what GS says, Lampard seems better suited to Assistant Director of Football (Recruitment)1 point
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When our two stubborn posters clashed I was expecting Rumble in the Jungle not Tyson-Jake Paul. They're now having a reasonable discussion...1 point
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Around €16,270,000 from UEFA in participation fees, match bonus, co-eff. Not sure if Broadcast money included. Plus match day revenue https://www.football-coefficient.eu/money/#money-club1 point
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Let us know what he has to say. I think RFC is still close to his heart though I hated him for dropping us for Liverpool at the time.1 point
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The only way forward that I can see is getting competent executive management in. For them to be honest with the fans regards where we are as a club and realistic ways forward/timescales. Thereafter, the fans would need to be patient.1 point
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Why not, I thought I would be the ideal platform for you to tell these people that they are lying, tell them what really happened in front of a large audience. Rather than sitting on a small independent forum that has limited reach that they'll never see. If you have courage of your convictions telling Souness he is lying to his face is more productive than posting on here.1 point
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This type of post is meaningless and off topic (I note you were very particular about this). Unlike the word omnishambles which perfectly describes the current state of Rangers.1 point
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Moving on is about getting our finances sorted out. Bennett told us the difficult truth. Souness tells us the moonbeams that many prefer to hear. What is plain is that we'd happily be duped again by spivs bearing warchests that evaporate into thin air.1 point
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So Smith wasn't telling the truth about the offer? The post was about what Smith said, not what he done previously. It's easy to separate if you put your mind to it. Why not discuss and give an opinion on the alleged offer rather than character assassinating Smith and Souness.1 point
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It's not trolling, it's just a differing of opinion. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. People really need to take their ego of it: just because you like and respect someone doesn't mean they are without fault; and vice versa. I still laugh at those that call Gerrard a snake for leaving. It's just a bruised ego, for me.1 point
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1 point
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Remembrance. A week has passed and hopefully the over wrought emotions have cooled? As someone with seventeen years service and a Rangers supporter, the club have been on a ridiculous journey reference Remembrance these last dozen years. The act of Remembrance should be moments of poignancy conducted with appropriate solemnity. Rangers under the auspices of Craig Whyte, Charles Green, the Easdales, ............. etc travelled a jingoistic road : Bootnecks abseiling from the Sandy Jardine roof with the match ball. A track side stage prop howitzer booming both beginning and end of the minute's silence. Serving Gunners utilising a 105 mm field gun to signal the beginning and end of the minute's silence. Serving members of all three services in uniform circumnavigating the pitch at half-time. I feel last Sunday's game against Hearts was the start of a more appropriate journey. The Jambos have their own relevant history with the McCrae's Battalion story, a true pals' battalion volunteering for service in World War One trenches. Ibrox fell silent as a black and white photograph banner was unfurled with the red poppy petals drifting across on the breeze. The fifty-three year old photograph had poignance, it depicted members of the City of Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment, the Royal Highland Fusiliers alighting from an aircraft. In fact, they were the burial details for three comrades summarily executed in Northern Ireland. As Rangers return to solemnity, the national broadcaster took another dozen steps towards the Ministry for Truth. Sunday evening's Rangers-Hearts Sportscene highlights began with footage of the Ibrox Remembrance with BBC Scotland commentator, Liam McLeod stated, "Ibrox falls silent as it did at every football ground in Scotland". The BBC Scotland website carried a Killie-Sellik match report penned by "good Celtic man"(courtesy of Annie McGuire), Martin Dowden. Derek McInnes gave a post match interview where his criticism of Sellik favourable refereeing decisions was emphasised by, "Celtic even decide when the minute's silence stops. It was awful, Why? It is our ground, our minute's silence". Martin Dowden's Ministry of Truth multi-paragraphed report ignored pre-kick-off happenings and fail failed to include the Killie Gaffer's incisive post match comments. BBC Scotland reserved comments until their evening news the following evening. The Gang Hut's Sports News Correspondent, Chris McLaughlin took ninety seconds to put both sides of the story, quoting twice from the Green Brigades issued statement. Chris offered no conclusion other than opining why Sellik have to suffer embarrassment every year. Peter would have it no other way.1 point
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This afternoon, I'm off to a Q&A with Graeme Souness organised by my RSC. Can't wait.1 point
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Chris Jack and Stevie Clifford have both said recently that Chairman appointment is imminent on Rangers Review. I'd imagine it would be chairman appointed first, then CEO. Carlos Bocanegra was rumoured to be lined up for CEO on social media the other day, having left Atlanta in the MLS recently. Rumour was also accompanied with the Atlanta owner Arthur Blank investing, so its probably rubbish.1 point