ascender

I'd trust the current directors of the club before I'd trust SDM.

Well exactly BD. Although I'm not sure I'd trust all of them over SDM given some of the rumours and leaks we've seen. So hard to say with any sort of conviction as its been a real shambles.

Would Rangers be better off though if it wasn't LBG we owed the money too in terms of further cuts to the wage bill over the summer?

One of the things that worries me about people saying they would make more money available for players is would we end up with an inflated wage bill again and be back in the same situation in a few years time?

Couldn't access any part of the site today until about half two. Its happened before over the last while but never for such a long period of time.

Lost I was

We need to trust SDM on that one I guess Ian......

What I do know is that its difficult to take any sort of other bid or comments by existing Rangers directors seriously just now given they've been present as our club has been run in to the ground over the last while. Some of the comments from Paul Murray today were unbelievable tbh.

Regardless of anything else, there's a problem when forums get very large and popular in that it can be difficult to make a point and engage in discussion without some people's postings being overlooked or easily missed. There's definitely something to be said for an active forum with a smaller regular bunch of users imo than having a massive amount of posters.

I still think it will come to a head in the next while as I think there's been too much said (or leaked) by the different parties involved and Whyte has spent too much time and money to go quietly. Lloyds and SDM will no doubt also have their say having come this far.

Bougherra going has been on the cards for a while and I wouldn't be overly concerned about it to be honest assuming we can get a fee for him. I'd be more comfortable if we had a "new" Danny Wilson coming through. While we've been good at identifying centre halves, its worrying if Weir leaves along with Boogie and Papac. Given we don't really have a settled RB either, you're looking at a whole defensive rebuild which could be very tricky if there's limited funds.

I still think there's a player in there when it comes to Edu, but he's been consistently very poor this season and its difficult to see where he goes from here as you've got Ness and Hutton who you could argue should be above him in the pecking order. If someone came in for him with a decent fee then I'd let him go.

Papac is a strange one because I thought he wanted to return home, but I guess the EPL has its attractions, the main one being money and the chance to play against the top 6 or so teams in there. Its always a bit depressing to see some of our players leaving Ibrox for smaller clubs, but in a way you can't begrudge that to someone like Papac who has done a good shift for us here.

I think losing Papac would be a blow, but its maybe a good chance to try and get a natural LB in there.

Of course, all of this could be 100 times more difficult depending on the financial side of things.

I think this story, some of the comments from Walter and the offended are the funniest things I've read in ages. Much more fun than reading about the takeover for example.

I doubt Johnston's got any personal axe to grudge with Whyte or has any real interest in hanging on to his role, I thought it was very clear that his Gers role is just to find a buyer for the club and afterwards he wants to go back to being a fan as he's got other more important day jobs to be getting on with.

I guess all the rumours and gossip are even more speculative than normal. You've got the unknowns of the takeover, our finances and McCoist becoming manager to factor in.

Of course we can and nothing's decided until the last game of the season has finished.

Unfortunately I can't see them dropping more points than we will on the run in.

Like much of what's gone on this season both on and off the park, I just cannae be arsed with it any more to be honest.

We still now very little about what's gone on behind the scenes over the last few years and we know nothing of the details of the bid(s) and their plans for the club.

That said, I'd be really angry and depressed if the good work (for that's what I think it is, particularly as its been done while enjoying continued success on the pitch) in reducing the wage bill, debt, outgoings etc was all for nothing. I really think we've dodged a bullet (or 20) by having the management and players winning trophies while all this was going on around them.

I could be very naive here, but I still think a well-run club of our size should be able to have a middle-ground business plan where we have a sensible wage structure, modest funds for player purchases and a squad supplemented with younger players coming through the ranks who, if sold, generate funds to be reinvested. Even based on no CL income as a worst-case, surely we should be able to manage this?

Clear as mud then.

Given the critical stage of the season we're at and the seemingly critical state of the financial health of our club, the way this has all panned out makes it very difficult to think the individuals involved have anything but their own self-interest at heart.

Pretty depressing tbh.

I still think/hope that too much has happened and been said for this to not be resolved one way or the other, but if there was an alternative bid I'd have thought they'd need to play their hand pretty sharpish.

We know to take rumours with a pinch of salt, but should be even more dubious about anything connected to the takeover just because so many of them contradict what few facts we already know.

That's a shame, I thought they'd have kept the current design for another season, I think its the best home kit we've had in years.

Thoroughly enjoyed the game, only slightly less than I enjoyed Wenger throwing his toys oot the pram at fill time and Kenny telling him to piss off

Nothing's been confirmed, but its an easy story for the press to hype up and have a field day with it. As its one of the "knowns" about the club, I'm guessing it would have been one of the first things Whyte would have wanted resolved.

I don't think MIH can take the tax bill as such, if Rangers are liable, surely it would still be the responsibility of Rangers to pay anything owed, but there may be some contracts drawn up confirming who will pay it for them although I'm sure its not as simple as that.

I don't understand the fans who know that by singing the banned songs will mean Rangers getting punished for it yet they still do it?!?!?!

cos they're sticking it to the man and getting it right up the hand wringers.

That is part of the problem, but the bigger part is how we seem unwilling to defend the club, fans and chuck guys like spiers out.

Where's Donald Findlay when you need him?

I can't see Murray doing anything which might limit his options although was there a period of exclusivity mentioned around the due diligence? I seem to remember some mention of it then.

Results look awful for MIH as well. Under normal circumstances I'd say this was more smoke and mirrors to deflect from those results, but with all the activity over the last 4 or 5 days it looks like various parties are trying to force the hands of others.

Just heard that there may be a late rival bid from other interested parties...

Have you been raking aroond the back of your sofa Frankie?

Its good to see things in black and white for the first time too, that the bulk of the debt will be gone and that the deal includes Ibrox and Auchenhowie, should finally put pay to many of the rumours about just how tied-in to MIH we were.

I'm sure some people will complain that 5M a season isn't much, but assuming it's spent wisely and we continue to give some young players a chance, there's every reason to be optimistic.

Brilliant news if true and hopefully the start of an exciting new era for the club.