Stimpy

Founder RST board member writes for the RST..... David Murray convinced his many admirers in the Rangers support that he would pass the club to a deserving and worthy new owner but he didn't do it. Craig Whyte appeared from nowhere to take the reins after him, and Rangers collapsed quicker than a controlled demolition. Charles Green emerged to clear up the mess, but supporters have no long-term idea of his plans. He could be here in ten years or gone in ten weeks. We just don't know. It's surely time that we learned an important lesson. As long as the club can belong to anyone, anything can happen to it. How can a support demand the highest of standards from Rangers, and yet not know who is going to own the club next or even when it is going to be sold? How can an iconic 140 year old Scottish sporting institution be properly protected when anyone can come along and buy it? Noone cares for Rangers more than its fans, and yet complete strangers can turn up and rule the roost at a club that they may not even respect or admire. Their motivation is commercial gain, and that trumps all other considerations. Rangers does not need to be run this way. It does not need to be a vehicle for financial advantage to passing ownership. It does not need to be damaged by the uncertainty, unpredictability and insecurity of custodianship which imposes itself on the club. Rangers does not require to be owned by anyone other than those who care for it the most: the Rangers support. A fan owned club would still be run by the best professionals available. Fans wouldn't have to take turns washing the strips or selling the pies. The management of the club would be fully accountable to an elected supporter board. The club would have an elected president instead of a chairman, and he or she would serve a fixed term. If the president did well, he would likely be re-elected, but if he disappointed, he would be defeated by another candidate at the next election. The President of Rangers would be a prestigious position, and it would carry a democratic legitimacy that is largely absent from the current governance of the club. Members of Rangers, and there might be 100,000 or more, would be eligible to vote in presidential elections. If David Murray had been president instead of owner, the reckless side of his ambition might have been held in check and his legacy would have been greater. If Craig Whyte had stood in a presidential election, he surely wouldn't have been elected at all. German clubs have made fan ownership work, and Barcelona and Real Madrid have made it work in Spain. Isn't it time for Rangers fans to publicly demonstrate what 'we are the people' really means? Let's make Rangers the people's club truly the people's club. Join the RST and help make it happen: http://www.therst.co.uk

Agree. Don't think Green was ever the real problem. Massive exclusive to whoever bags the interview with Green.

Cheers Frankie. Cold I ask for an RT or bump off of you.

The RST’s youngest board members (20 years of age) shares his thoughts on the RST’s future and the changing environment within the Rangers Family The Future is Bright... Having joined the Trust board around one year ago, I have met many people, many interesting people who have taught me new things and I have also been able to show a different side of our support. Rangers Football Club is in a new age, and with that new age comes the enthusiasm for changes. Our supporters cover a large demographic. In fact, time for change has already seen new growth in the club and the support by way of the share issue and our own BuyRangers.org campaign. The message is simple, with change we must look to better ourselves. Currently, our club is in transition, both in footballing terms and also within generations. In the stands at Ibrox and away we are seeing a new age of football support, there is a change in our fan scene with choreographed chanting, displays and the odd pyrotechnic. However, now visions are beginning to really grow, thoughts are spiralling into dreams of a fan owned percentage of the club. Through BuyRangers.org alone the support has a collective of 0.5%, yes not a lot but in time what could it become? To dream, it would be lovely to see that percentage multiply by 100. However, we must be realistic and a simple aim would be to draw a parallel with other British clubs such as Swansea City who’s support own nearly 20% (http://www.swanstrust.co.uk/Trust-Facts.aspx) We can achieve anything if we pull ourselves together, unite behind the cause of greater good in our club and rally on behind the Rangers with glory in our sights. Such changes however are very distant, and with that in mind I urge younger members of the support to join us at the Rangers Supporters’ Trust. At 20 years of age, I have many years ahead of me and plan to stick with the Trust, and hope to be part of something special in doing so. But most importantly, we need people with many skills, those who have calibre capable of making decisions on financial/commercial basis or like myself more adaptable to communicating with the support and trying to engage in discussion/debate in the many variables which make up our football club. The Trust are always looking to add members to our board, all we ask is that you communicate the skills you think you have and what experiences you have under your belt to us before being considered. The future is bright.... http://www.therst.co.uk

The RST is delighted to introduce your new Trust website. The website has many new features which we are sure you will enjoy and use it to your benefit. The new website now utilizes ZenDesk communications where members can raise a ticket and get an answer within 24 hours to any query. Moreover, and this is the best part, members can raise topics to vote on where the board will discuss the most popular topics and see if there are opportunities to benefit the RST and indeed, Rangers FC. We are moving members across but we also need you to register if you are due to renew your membership. This will help streamline the database which will help in all communications with members and make the process of admin work much more efficient. First easy step: All members up for renewal can now register and re-join. This is a lot easier than before and will only take a few moments of your time. After renewing you can start taking part in voting or making up your own poll for members to vote on. Renew today: http://www.therst.co.uk/getting-invo...-trust-adults/ We will contact all lifetime members and invite them to signup, as they are lifetime members they will have their accounts updated manually. Lifetime members will be contacted in the coming days to register. Simple steps and we will take care of the rest of the administration. Next we will invite BuyRangers members to sign up and we will transfer over their share details from BuyRangers. BuyRangers members will be contacted on Monday. Of course all members can simply register at any time. Members on standing order we will be contacted and moved across to the new system, on Tuesday we will manually update their accounts based on when they paid their Standing Order. If you have renewed then all you need to do is simply register your details. If you are not a Trust member then you can register or join at any time. Members can contact us via the support page: http://www.therst.co.uk/member-support/ Itâ??s your website â?? use it to your benefit and the RSTâ??s

Was slightly intoxicated and never hung around for his ten minutes on stage but I don't recall that happening or anyone talking about it afterwards.

Fantastic post Amms. Completely agree that our game needs to crash & burn to help itself, as no one or organisation has the credibility or know-how to resolve the many issues facing us. Even today Doncaster's talking about the redistribution of money will help clubs sustain full time players in SFL1. Where's the long term plan to invest in the game, radical changes to the fundamentals of Scottish Football? Nothing. The plans were to prop up a failing organisation that faces bankruptcy. Short term thinking to save face.

He appeared at the RST dinner, took centre stage, and proclaimed that "he's never ever lied". I walked off to the bogs at that point then had a light cigarette. Anything else was just going to be met with epic face-palm action.

How the committee works: http://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/item/sfa-responds-regarding-questions-on-the-compliance-officer-and-appeals-panel.html

Story's been pulled.

Utterly shambolic. Being dictated to by a crank yahoo, going public and giving the crank credibility, Failing to protect an employee (surmising here) when he's fallen victim to a crime or acted in anyway with dignity. Now, does Alexander see himself on a shoogly peg now that a precedent has been set?

For an extra angle or to help the author along, RTID NI are guests of Rangers for the Linfield game because of the fundraising , helping facilitate both clubs meeting and arranging the game.. 3/4 will fly across. Names will be drawn out of a hat. Fingers crossed for me.

Why the guard of honour?

Jeez, you're cold. The day it was announced was the saddest part of the whole episode for me.

My shareholding in the oldco was an emotional attachment.

Totally agree. You've just explained my thoughts. I was in discussion over this during the week and I admitted I was torn between my love of Ally, the macro factors Ally's dealt with, but what I was watching on the park, and how Ally's written off every doubter throughout his career. It didn't help that rumours of big splits in the camp and youngsters slagging Ally off in Public to journos were in full flow. Honestly, a clear out is needed and rumours say it's already began.

I have patience if I know what's coming in the short > medium > longterm, mate! Talk of English football and £1 billion pa turnover isn't the way forward for now.

Failure for me. Winning SFL3 was never in doubt. However, the way the team has gone about its business has been shockingly bad. I've seen nothing from the management team that indicates promotion through all the higher leagues is a given, or that they'd spend wisely on players. Established players are not leading by example and showing any kind of no surrender spirit that should be engrained from day one of any Rangers player career. Soundbites and posturing from Green doesn't help as his and the boards priority is the share price remaining high. The club's primary role is football. Where is it, where's the vision that our current standing provided us? Hire Traynor Hire Craig Mather Operate with huge overheads Where's the value in all of this investment and where's the blueprint for success?

Get all of that, but he's an asset too and I'd be raging if the club sacked him. I prefer to get something rather than nothing. Though what what fee we'd get for him is up for debate. IF Sandaza was scoring goals the club would be supporting him, NDA is just a convenient excuse, players openly boast of their salaries all the time. In some cases on the park.

Good points. Happy to go with that scenario and hopefully the playing staff will be mindful of this.

When Green took over he pretty much needed Ally's seal of approval for bears to renew STs. Eventually Ally gave him his vote of confidence and the ST sales rolled in. In a nut shell Green needed Ally to to succeed. Now reading across the internet and looking at the dwindling crowds Ally has become the problem again, only this time it's not his support Green requires, but his possible removal from Ibrox as the manager if we're to retain 38,000 ST holders. What's worth noting is 8,000 of the 38,000 ST holders are new to owning an ST. Are these the fans that have stopped attending because of the poor product and had high expectations of decent football? Or is it a mixed bag of old and new? So, in the space of 12 months it appears Green needs Ally again to keep the crowds going but not as he thinks. Black and white?

Am I the only one who feels this is all blown out of proportion. Players and agents whore themselves all the time. In this case Sandaza was duped by a crank and because he was caught, he's talking about legal action. What will legal action prove? That he was duped and, that he's not very loyal to his employers?

Has this been confirmed as true yet?

Split in the camp; players slagging off Ally to the press in off the record briefings regarding his training methods, tactics etc.

Association? After all, RSA effectively inherited their members. Doubt they are fully up to speed with everything.