Steve1872

Jimmy Millar (centre) leaves Wilson helpless as he scores the 8th for Rangers by Martin Inglis Fifty years ago, on Saturday, January 25, 1964, Duns FC travelled to Ibrox to face one of the most successful and formidable Rangers sides of all time in the second round of the Scottish Cup. The Dingers were defeated 9-0 on the day as Rangers - who had already won the League Cup - secured a famous treble that season by also winning the League and Scottish Cup, beating Dundee at Hampden Park in front of more than 120,000 fans. But for Duns, there were still 17,350 fans at Ibrox that day and it’s a match that will live long in the memory of Adam Fairbairn, 75, who played centre-back. He said: “It was a brilliant day. My best day in football and one of the best days of my life. “There was an absolutely great atmosphere heading out onto the Ibrox pitch - which was as wide as the Duns pitch was long - and I can remember the Rangers fans even willing us on to try and score a goal during the game.” Playing at the heart of the Duns defence, Fairbairn had the unenviable task of trying to contain prolific goalscorers Jimmy Millar and Ralph Brand, who between them scored 368 goals in 634 games for the Gers and seven in this particular outing against Duns. But despite the scoreline, Fairbairn says that the Dingers had their chances in the match. He said: “We played quite well. We hit the post a couple of times and certainly didn’t deserve to be beaten by as many as we did. “In the end it came down to fitness and I remember we conceded a few in the last 10-15 minutes or so. “We weren’t a bad side at the time and had a lot of ex-professionals who had been at some of the bigger Scottish clubs.” Fairbairn was also very complimentary of the Rangers players and everyone at Ibrox to ensure that the East of Scotland side enjoyed some great hospitality with lasting memories. “The Rangers team were brilliant. They came into our dressing room before the game and spoke to us all for a while. “We were also given a tour of the stadium which was fantastic and it’s certainly a day that will live long in my memory.” http://www.berwick-advertiser.co.uk/sport/football/east-of-scotland/duns-player-recalls-9-0-cup-defeat-at-ibrox-1-3278162

Ex-Rangers director King says new share issue is inevitable as club prepare for cuts Dave King believes a new Rangers share issue is inevitable as the Ibrox club prepare to implement a savage programme of cuts. The former Rangers director, who previously lost £20million through a previous Ibrox investment, is concerned that cuts to the playing squad could leave the club unable to compete with Celtic on their return to the top flight. And he is prepared to lead a new round of funding via a fresh offer of shares. +3 New issue: Former Rangers director Dave King believes a new Rangers share issue is inevitable The £22.7m raised by a previous issue in December 2012 has been frittered away, with chief executive Graham Wallace forced to cut costs in the hope of averting another. King believes, however, that a new rights issue is unavoidable and claimed his assistance will be needed in the coming months. ‘A new share issue is 100 per cent inevitable,’ he told Sportsmail on Thursday. ‘I expect to be involved in that when the time comes. ‘They had one share issue last year where they managed to line up some institutions to invest. That’s not going to happen again because these institutions were very badly burned. ‘I don’t think you will find any institutional support for Rangers going forward.’ +3 Talks: King failed to broker a deal with Sandy Easdale (left) about a return to the club King met with leading shareholder Sandy Easdale in November in a quest to broker a deal which would see him return to the Ibrox boardroom as chairman. Those talks failed to bear fruit and, despite a plummeting share price, he has persistently resisted calls to buy up the holdings of the existing investors. Insistent his money must go straight into the club and the team via a new rights issue, King’s plans face resistance because they would force the current Rangers board to invest more money or risk the dilution of their powerbase. The 58-year-old South African-based businessman, however, believes the current powerbrokers have no option but to seek investment if they are to persuade a disenfranchised support to renew their season tickets for the next campaign. ‘We are in for an interesting couple of months,’ King added. ‘If Graham Wallace pushes these cuts through and gets his budget balanced – which he has to do because the money is not there – then how are the board going to be able to show the fans a way forward when it comes time to stump up for season tickets? ‘Are they going to say: “Listen, we are asking you to buy your season tickets and, don’t worry, we have a funding plan in place.” Or are they going to say to the fans: “Listen, we have no funds other than you paying out your season-ticket money.” +3 Cuts: Rangers Chief Executive Graham Wallace is preparing a plan of savage cuts to the club's budget ‘How often can you say to the fans: “Trust us and give us your money?” ‘What they are saying to the fans if they do that is: “We’re not putting more money in, but we want to you to pay yours up front.” All in the full knowledge that, if they don’t get new funds in, that season-ticket money might not be enough to last a full season. ‘If it is enough, then that’s only because they have had to cut the club back completely. ‘And then they run the risk of not even getting into the SPFL Premiership at the first time of asking. ‘We have to get through the Championship at the first time of asking next year. We have to be in a position to go up to the Premiership and we have to be in the position to launch a challenge to Celtic. ‘That is my concern. Cost-cutting is not going to help us when we get to the Premier League.’ Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2545045/Ex-Rangers-director-Dave-King-says-new-share-issue-inevitable-club-prepare-cuts.html#ixzz2rISAYOua Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Former Rangers director Dave King fears a savage programme of cuts will leave the Ibrox club unable to halt Celtic’s title-winning momentum. Reacting to news of Rangers players being asked to consider wage cuts of up to 15 per cent King remains committed to investing heavily in the club via a new issue of shares. As Chief Executive Graham Wallace tries to slash the club’s losses before seeking fresh investment, however, South Africa based King tells Sportsmail in a wide-ranging interview of his fears that could hand Celtic a free run at 10-in-a-row. +4 Fears: Rangers director Dave King believes a programme of cuts could hinder Rangers' chances of halting Celtic's title-winning momentum in the future What is your view on the proposed Rangers cut-backs by Chief Executive Graham Wallace? 'My view has been very clear from the start and it hasn’t changed. I think the club require a level of investment in the playing squad that allows it to hit the ground running when it gets back into the SPFL Premiership. 'My view has always been that the funders should be like-minded people who are willing to come in and fund ahead of what’s required to win the leagues they are currently in. 'If we cut the club back to a level that’s just enough to win the League One or the Championship then that’s fine. But the gap between ourselves and Celtic when we get to the Premiership will be obvious. 'And it will render Rangers a small club in SPL terms for a longer period of time than need be. 'I’m concerned that because the shareholders there at the moment don’t have the appetite or willingness to invest ahead of getting back to the top league we will be really short in terms of the financial and on-field strength. 'No one wants to see Rangers finishing sixth or something like that. 'That would be absolutely horrendous. And certainly contrary to what I would want to do with the club.' +4 Widening gap: Rangers Chief Executive Graham Wallace (pictured with manager Ally McCoist) is proposing more cut-backs at the club The counter argument is that they are losing £1million a month. Even Rangers can surely only spend what they earn? 'They shouldn’t be losing £1million a month. There is no question that you must run the business at an appropriate level – that is clear. 'But I have seen comments that they could run it with the Dundee United wagebill and make a profit. 'They could even run it with the Dundee or Stranraer wagebill and make a profit because of the revenue a club like Rangers has. 'But if you run a club like Rangers on the budget of an East Fife it makes Rangers an equally small club.' But wouldn’t the cuts allow the club to stockpile cash for the Premiership as you suggest? 'Look, we have a situation where they had a fund-raising exercise where they raised tens of millions of pounds. 'One would have thought that that amount of money for a club operating in the third division with the revenue Rangers get for home games compared to the competition would have meant Rangers comfortably winning the third division and running up a surplus which would allow them to slowly move up the leagues and upgrade the quality of player as they go. 'In the latter half of the final season in the Championship they could significantly improve the squad. 'But they have not maintained a strong financial platform. 'We know now the money has been wasted on legal fees, wasted on so many different areas. 'But I don’t feel the club should respond by cutting the costs to the point of saying ‘we only have to do what is necessary to beat East Fife or whoever.’ 'Because if you do that Celtic will build up to 10-in-a-row and we could be so far behind them that even when we are back in the Premiership we are not in a position to catch up.' So there has to be a middle ground between the cuts proposed by Graham Wallace and lavishing cash on the team? +4 Finding middle ground: King believes the club need to spend appropriate sums of money 'Yes. It’s about finding the middle ground and the balance between losing money and doing what it takes to win. 'You certainly don’t want a Premiership wage structure to win the third division or even the second division. 'Your costs have to be appropriate. But just cost cutting per se and doing just enough to get by in the lower leagues is not what the fans pay for. 'The fans are not paying East Fife prices for season tickets. So they should get more on the pitch than the level they are at. 'We have not used the opportunity created by being forced down to the lower leagues to start blooding youngsters and getting them mentally attuned to the demands of winning titles with Rangers. 'Young players allied to a kitty to bring in the level of players needed to compete with Celtic was the way to go. 'Celtic are getting stronger financially. They have sold the McGeadys, the Hoopers, the Wanyamas and they are building up a reserve. 'They have cut their cloth and they are going to be in such a strong position with the revenue coming in that the gap may just be too large for us to bridge. 'That is my concern. Cost-cutting is not going to help us when we get to the Premier League. 'Because we could go into the SPFL top tier and finish fifth. 'The only alternative is someone having to open the taps up - and you can’t just buy a whole new team in a season. You can’t do that.' Do you fear that the cuts might even endanger the smooth path back to the Premier League for Rangers? 'Absolutely. Rangers ambition should not be to be slightly better than the teams in the first division. 'We really have to have a team, next year in particular, which is strong enough to prevail. 'We have to get through at the first time of asking next year. 'We have to be in a position to go up to the Premiership and we have to be in the position to launch a challenge to Celtic. 'There is no guarantee we are going to beat Celtic in the first season – infact it’s unlikely. 'It would be a miracle if Rangers were to go on and win the league the first season back. 'But, similarly, we cannot risk going to Celtic Park and being battered 6-0. 'We can’t start losing 3-1 to Hibs and Aberdeen and accepting it. 'Saying, "we are in a period of adjustment, it’s not too bad a season," is not an option. It’s totally unacceptable.' Should boardroom executives be shouldering more of the burden for cut-backs? 'If the CEO of the company has no money he has no choice but to cut wages and costs any way he can. 'But then Rangers are going to be a small club. 'They need an investment profile and what I was expecting post AGM was for the board to say, "we understand we have a funding gap, we understand we have to go and raise funds to start preparing Rangers for the inevitable return to the Premiership. We need to start bringing a youth squad through, we have to start scouting and having a proper preparation for challenging Celtic." +4 Winning mentality: David Templeton (centre) celebrates scoring in the 2-0 victory over Forfar on Monday 'And that would require the raising of funds in the marketplace. 'But it seems to me they are either unwilling or unable to do that. 'So what they are saying is, "we will cut the costs to make sure we do not need money."' 'Which effectively means living on the fans season ticket sales.' Graham Wallace says he could speak to you about investment once the cuts are made. Should he be doing it now? 'I think that’s a decision they must make. 'For me there is no problem with any CEO making cuts to right-size the business if that’s what they want. 'But the fans deserve more than the downsizing of Rangers to compete in the Scottish first division. 'They deserve a team which is superior to the competition in the lower leagues because they are paying for that. 'They deserve to see a progression in the quality of the finances and the players on the pitch as they move up the leagues so that we enter the Premiership in a competitive frame of mind. 'My concern is that we are making the club smaller. And that we are creating a gap. 'That’s not the fault of Graham Wallace because he is the CEO and has to deal with what he has got. 'It’s an issue relating to the board who should be having a rights issue – and that could mean the existing guys putting the money in if they want. 'The club needs a level of funding that allows it to go forward above the level they are competing in and make sure they have a fighting chance in the Premiership. 'I would never have expected us to go into the Premier League and come worse than second 'I’m mentally not attuned to the possibility of going up there and coming fourth of fifth. 'As a fan I would find that quite unacceptable and I don’t think Rangers should be run as a club which finds it fine to finish fourth or fifth while saying, "that wasn’t bad for a first season back." The worst we must do is finish second.' Have you had any communication at all from the Rangers board since your offer to invest after the AGM? 'None at all.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2545041/Rangers-director-Dave-King-Listen-simply-risk-6-0-battering-Celtic-Park.html#ixzz2rIRgYNDJ Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Scott Burns ‏@ScottBurns752m Barry Ferguson brings in Bob Malcolm and Malky Thomson to assist him at Blackpool.

Wilson urges Rangers board to take wage cut...not players RANGERS executives were today urged to take the lead in the cost-cutting purge at Ibrox - by slashing their own wages and waiving bonuses. Matthew LindsaySports Journalist Thursday 23/01/2014 Loading Comments Share Print Alex Wilson is disappointed players were asked to consider a 15% pay cut The demand came from Alex Wilson, one of the gang of four requisitioners who failed in a bid to be voted onto the club board. And he hit out at the board for a "cack-handed" failure to lead by example after the players rejected pleas to take a 15% pay cut for the next season and a half. He said: "I was appalled, surprised and disappointed that the players were asked to consider a 15% pay cut in isolation. It was a bit cack-handed. "Ally McCoist has agreed to a reduction in his salary. "But apart from that, I haven't heard of any other cost-cutting measures from the board other than this one. "Sorry, but that is just not the right way to go about it. I was pleased to see the manager has backed the stance of his players." Gers chief executive Graham Wallace has warned every area of the business, which is operating at a significant monthly loss, is currently under review. And he has promised that each department of the SPFL League One club would be subjected to exactly the same scrutiny. Wilson and his fellow requisitioners Scott Murdoch, Malcolm Murray and Paul Murray, had vowed to work for free if they were elected to the board. And the lifelong fan and current season ticket holder, who was HR director at telecommunications giants BT for nine years, has called for directors to be proactive. "As requisitioners, we said we would work for nothing for an indefinite period if we were elected to the board. "I would like to see the current board do the same thing. "I would like to see them lead by example here by accepting reductions in their pay and agreeing to forego any bonuses they have in their contracts or fees which they are entitled to. "They could lead by example by doing that for the next one or two years - or even until Rangers return to European football." Wilson added: "You don't ask your troops to make sacrifices without making any yourself. Leaders should be leading by example. "They can show to supporters that they are the sort of people who want to see Rangers flourish by making significant degrees of self-sacrifice here." Wilson, who commutes from London to attend Rangers home games, fears that offering the players a pay cut will create unrest within the Ibrox club. He said: "The club could have gone to the players and said: 'We have agreed to a pay cut and not to take any bonuses - we would like you to consider giving up 15% of your salary for a year. "They could have presented it as a package. But to lead with your chin, even speculatively, was very cack-handed. "The board, the manager, the backroom staff, the playing staff should all be treated the same way so they have got a unified structure. "Doing it the way they have only creates disunity."

The former Ibrox director has expressed his concerns that decisions made in the coming weeks will affect the team's ability to compete with Celtic when they eventually return to the top flight. The Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace is conducting a review of every aspect of Rangers' business. Last week he raised the possibility with the squad of a 15% wage reduction, although the players responded by asking if a similar sacrifice would be made by the club's executives. By Wallace's own admission, though, cuts will need to be made to bring the business back on to an even keel, although he has insisted that administration is not a threat. King, though, believes that cutting costs now will undermine Rangers' attempts to restore the club to its previous status. The first-team wage budget is 30% of turnover - significantly less than UEFA's recommendations - and there is no scouting set-up, following Neil Murray being removed as head scout last year. "The CEO has a lot of personal credibility but he is constrained by the funding realities," said King, a South Africa-based businessman. "I believe the club has to have funders who will invest to ensure that we can compete with Celtic when we get back to the SPFL. Unfortunately, our existing shareholders either don't have the money or the willingness to support Ally [McCoist, the manager]. With the right shareholder profile we should be investing in the squad not reducing it. We should be supporting Ally 100%." King has previously said he would like to lead a new round of fundraising through a fresh share issue. The shareholders would have to reinvest to maintain the relative size of their stake in Rangers International Football Club, so such an initiative would likely change the ownership dynamic. Wallace has said he will address the need for new funding once the business has been streamlined. King held meetings with Sandy Easdale, the shareholder and member of the Rangers Football Club board, last year in an attempt to broker an agreement that would have allowed him to invest in the club and take up the chairmanship of RIFC plc. He could not reach a compromise deal with the different factions within the shareholder base. He was also keen that Paul Murray should return as a director. Murray was among the four nominees who did not receive enough votes at last December's annual meeting to be elected on to the board. King believes that as well as supporting McCoist, shareholders ought to have been open to working with Murray. "He is a man that all Rangers' fans can completely trust," said King. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/keep-spending-on-squad-urges-king.23251877?

"TE: How much is this club losing? GW: It?s a question I can?t answer and I can?t answer it for the simple reason that it needs to be announced through the stock exchange. I can?t give you the answer. TE: You have studied what has gone on here and seen financial waste. What have you found that has troubled you the most? GW: What I?ve found won?t be a surprise to you given the pieces you?ve written and the analysis you have done and is demonstrated by the financial statements published last year. This is a business that was living beyond its means with a cost-base out of proportion with its ability to generate income. And even when you factor out some of the one-off costs that were in the last financial year we still have a business where the costs have not been managed in the way they should have been. I announced at the agm that we have a programme of work over the first 120 days and it?s really only been 30 days since then. TE: Has Brian Stockbridge returned his bonus? GW: Yes, he has. TE: Has Ally McCoist taken his pay cut? GW: Yes, he has. Ally and I reached agreement on that not long after I got here and it was put in place. TE: I?m confused as to whether he has just agreed to it or whether it has actually happened? GW: He has agreed to it and it has happened. I can confirm on both counts. TE: Brian Stockbridge said in the past that the club will have £1m left come April. Is that true? GW: Without putting a number on it there is sufficient cash in the bank. Come April we?d be confident that the club will have sufficient cash in the bank in order to maintain our operations. TE: Is everyone at Rangers going in the same direction as you? Everyone buying into the cost-cutting? GW: If I take a step back and look at the board, I?ve been very encouraged by the discussions we?ve had and the response to my initial assessment as to what needs to be done. I?d say I?ve had unanimous support. I don?t feel there is any challenge to my authority or my ability to move things forward. When you?re looking at addressing a situation where there are a number of fundamental things that need to be worked on it?s natural that there?s going to be points of discussion. But in terms of looking at how the new board functions, I?m very happy at how that is working. There is nothing that I have been exposed to that leads me to believe that I have a particular issue to confront. But let?s be honest here. Whenever you make any decision, particularly decisions that are leading to change, you get situations where people are less comfortable, but it?s part of my job to manage that. TE: There is a fear that in trying to do the right thing, to make people face up to reality, that you will be met with historic thinking ? ?We are Rangers, we spend money? ? and that that attitude might grind you down. Any hint of that yet? GW: No, I don?t think so. The shareholders and fans expect to have somebody at the helm who knows what he?s doing and who has a clear vision of how it needs to be done. This club has been through a torrid time over the last two and a half years and from a supporters perspective it?s entirely natural that a lot of them may look and say ?Here?s the third chief exec in 12 months, what makes this guy any different from who has been here before?? My plea to them at the agm was to give us time to demonstrate what we can do in terms of stewarding your club. TE: Are you angry at what you have inherited? GW: Angry? No, I?m realistic. I?ve looked at what has happened but I?m determined to drive it forward in the right way so that we have a club very much for the long term. The supporters demand it and it?s incumbent on all of us who are custodians of their club to run it in the right way. If you look at what?s happened in the last couple of years ? or even in the last 6-9 months ? everything you read about Rangers is shareholder unrest and boardroom battles. We need people to look at Rangers from the outside and see a club on the rise, that is being run and managed in the right way. Proper governance. TE: But it?s difficult for you to sell this message of fiscal responsibility while there are people still in the club who are partly responsible for creating the mess in the first place. We?re back to Brian Stockbridge again? GW: I would say give me the time to do what I said I?m going to do ? and that is to look right across the business to make the decisions I believe are right for the club. TE: Predecessors of yours sought populism rather than responsibility. They wanted to make crowd-pleasing decisions, as in ?Yes Ally, you can have nine new players, no problem?. It takes a strong bloke to say ?No Ally, you can?t?? GW: We are where we are in terms of playing squad. Let?s start from that premise. You could ask the question did we need to expand the squad in the way it was done for what was effectively playing in the third tier and you could probably say no. The other side of the coin is that we now have experienced players alongside younger players and that is benefitting them. Ally and I have the semblance of a very good working relationship given that it?s been less than two months. We talk multiple times a day. My focus on the footballing side is to be able to support what we need from a squad perspective but with a firm business hand. TE: Do you think Ally gets it? GW: I believe he does. He knows the magnitude of the financial challenge. He and I have had that conversation. We?re in sync. It?s not like there is a level of information that I have that he?s not privy to from a football squad perspective. We have what is widely known as the second most expensive squad in Scotland and we?re two divisions behind. That does present a challenge. From a football perspective, we have some good talent in the team but the financial challenge is that at a particular point in time (you have to ask) is that level of investment more than the club should have. As I look at balancing the total cost base with our ability to generate income, our player wage cost is a significant portion. TE: You need to save money on the player wage bill. They don?t buy the wage cut proposal so are you looking at player sales? Lee Wallace, for instance... GW: I wouldn?t even go so far as to say it was a proposal. It was a discussion item as we look at a range of things that we have the ability to influence. In the same way as terminating other contracts that we may have, it was something we put on the table for discussion. Lee Wallace is the one who constantly gets mentioned when people talk about marketable players. He?s an international player, consistently performing for us, the fans love him and he?s very, very important. TE: If you got an offer for Lee Wallace, a handy half million or million, would you take it? GW: I woudn?t rule anything in or out. We will consider all of our options at the time when there is a decision to be made. TE: But If you don?t have the 15 per cent cut where do you find the savings? Do you try and sell him? GW: What I?m looking to do is right-siding the business. This is not about a need to impose drastic measures today that immediately pay tomorrow. I?m looking at six months, nine months, 12 months, 18 months in trying to get our cost base under control. TE: Is the club up to date with payments on tax and VAT? GW: Yeah, completely. TE: All bills being paid on time? GW: Yeah. Trading as per normal. There is no issue there. TE: Have you checked all player contracts to see what can be terminated and what can?t? GW: Football players have a standard playing contract and we?re well aware of the provisions in those contracts and most of those contracts still have several years to run. TE: Can you afford to pay people off? GW: Depends if there was the right opportunity to do so. I haven?t ruled anything in or out. TE: The playing budget is one third of the overall spend, so where is the other two-thirds going? GW: I have to be careful. I can?t comment on the proportionality in the current year?s financials. TE: Have you heard from Dave King? GW: I personally have not, no. Dave?s name has been mentioned many times. I also said that we will be looking for investment when it?s appropriate and we will talk to a wide range of investors and that may or may include Dave King if he?s interested in having a conversation at that point in time. TE: Why not have that conversation now? GW: Issue one is getting the business right-sized, in terms of cost-base and ability to generate income. It?s not a case of looking for investment to cover on-going operation losses. That, to my mind, makes no sense at all. When we?re ready to go out and talk to a range of investors we will do that. There?s an investment sub-committee of the board that is specifically tasked with doing that. I would envisage that the committee will engage with a wide range of investors and that may or may not include Dave King depending on whether he is interested. Where we are now is getting the business financially sustainable, get the cost base aligned with revenue. Very quickly on the back of that we are working on what the next five years would look like in terms of ability to generate income, investment into the playing squad and other areas. That then gives us a very solid platform to go and talk to anybody about what the vision is. And to my mind we have things in order to have a conversation with any potential investor. We have to have a level of credibility, so that we?re able to say here?s where we are, here?s what we have done, here?s where the business is today and here is what the next three, four, five years looks like. TE: How much money do you need to save before you get to that point? GW: Several million pounds. TE: At that point you think the club will be a streamlined, functioning, non basket case economy? GW: I see no reason why we can?t build a foundation where the club can?t stand on its own two feet in a sustainable way. I see no reason why we can?t achieve that. TE: Whatever happened to the spirit of openness with the fans that the board was talking about at the agm? The fans have requested meetings and there?s been no response? GW: I?m personally going to be meeting with representatives of the three main fans groups over the course of the next ten days. Those meetings are in the diary. They?re already set up. And then running alongside that we have also got work going on in terms of engaging with the wider fan base. We?re identifying the best way to start that engagement with fans who are not in supporters clubs so we can understand what matters to them and hopefully design a programme of engagement that is, shall we say, more satisfying for them. I gave my personal assurance that we would step forward with engagement and that is what we will do. TE: It doesn?t help that the some fans see your communications guy as part of the problem? GW: I appreciate that there are segments of the supporter base who are not fans of Jack (Irvine). I come back to what I said earlier in terms of looking at the needs of the business and how I want to move things forward in the right way. TE: Has this been tougher than you thought? GW: No, it?s very close to what I expected. Even looking in from the outside you could see that the business was losing £14m, so you knew that there were significant challenges waiting on day one. These are challenges we?re facing up to". http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...lace-1-3275716

​"'For an hour yesterday lunch-time Graham Wallace spoke about the state of Rangers, how the club got to this point and how he intends to move it forward. What struck home was how different he sounds compared to his predecessors; no trumpeting about brands and unexploited foreign markets, no playing to the gallery and telling people what they want to hear; no flannel and arrogance of the kind we have heard repeatedly over the years from Rangers executives as they sold a vision of the future while the present was crumbling around their ears. Wallace is enough of a realist to know the scale of what he faces at Ibrox. Everywhere you look, there are issues. TE: Since you lifted the bonnet and examined the finances has anything shocked you? GW: I?m not sure if shock is the right word. I followed what has happened to the club, albeit from a distance. It?s a situation where a lot of decisions were made with a very short-term focus. TE: When you say short-term focus is that a euphemism for panic? GW: Panic? I?m not sure I would call it panic. If you look at a football club you have to have a sense of what the next five years look like and then you plan accordingly. You don?t plan for 12 months in isolation. One of the things I have found is that the focus has (previously) been in the near-term. There?s been areas of expenditure where money has been spent and shouldn?t have been and other areas where we should have been spending and didn?t. The classic one was scouting and recruitment. At a time when this club needs to be identifying and scouting talent and acquiring talent at attractive levels our scouting and recruitment was largely dismantled. A small example of short-termism. TE: Did they blow it by not setting in place the scouting infrastructure when in the Third Division? GW: You could say that some of the decisions that should have been made then weren?t made and that?s a very good example. What the club should have been doing 18 months ago was investing more money in some of the things that could have borne fruit in the future. But that?s hindsight. TE: You need to save money, but you bring in another financial guru in Philip Nash. That?s not going to save money? GW: Phil can help us quickly get to the nub of some of the issues. He knows football structure. He?s leading the business review project for me so we can get up the hill really quickly. It?s about objectivity. I came here with a fresh pair of eyes and I brought Phil in on the short-term with a fresh pair of eyes and no baggage and preconceived ideas. It just helps us look at things in a more objective way. TE: Big decisions need to be made, big savings need to be found and it takes a big character to make those calls in a place that is not used to fiscal commonsense. Are you tough enough for this job? GW: I?m tough when I need to be tough. I know what needs to be done, I know how to do it and I?m focused on getting it done. TE: Are you prepared for a backlash? GW: You have to be prepared to back your own judgment and back your own ability. Yes, there was a bit of a backlash last week to the concept of a reduction in player wage costs. That?s an example of the area of the business we?re looking at right now. We said we were going to do a comprehensive review of the business from top to bottom and we?re in the midst of doing that. We?re looking at every angle and every opportunity to reduce our costs over the next couple of years so that we can position the business in a financially sustainable way. I keep talking about sustainability and it?s absolutely fundamental. The business has to be able to stand on its own two feet. It has to. It has to be able to stand on its own two feet without huge amounts of investment coming in just to fund the on-going operation. When we go looking for investment we will go looking for the right reasons on the back of a robust business plan. I?m confident in my own ability to be able to deal with situations that will arise. There will be things that will be easier than others. I?m well aware of that. TE: Do you know where you can save money? GW: In certain areas, we?ve a very good idea already. I?m not going to come out and tell you where they are but we?ve been working on the project for a little over four weeks and we are looking at every area. There are areas where we can definitely reduce the historic spend that we?ve had. By similar token, there are other areas where we know we need to invest and grow our top line revenue. TE: Okay, there was a proposal to cut players? wages, but what about a proposal to cut the wages of the executives? At what point do you target them? We all know who we?re talking about here. Rarely have I seen a more unpopular executive at a football club than Brian Stockbridge? GW: We?re looking at the executive team as well as the wider staff organisation. We?re doing it. And I will make my determination and judgment on each and every individual we have in the organisation. I?m well aware of the public criticism that comes with certain members of the staff. What I seek is the supporters giving me the time to complete the review. I will stand behind the decisions I make, good or bad. TE: So there will be changes at the top? GW: We?re looking right across the whole business and need a little bit more time to complete that project

​ JAMES and Sandy Easdale are poised to plough around £20million into cash-strapped Rangers. By: Graham Clark Published: Fri, January 17, 2014 0 Comments James and Sandy Easdale are set to give Rangers a well-needed cash boost [WILLIE VASS] The Greenock businessmen, already significantly involved in the Ibrox club as shareholders and directors, are edging closer to selling their bus firm and are considering investing massively in the stricken League One leaders. The brothers are already understood to have knocked back approaches for McGill’s Buses amid rumours that one £80m offer wasn’t enough and that they’re holding out for £100m. If they succeed in getting a buyer at that price, the speculation is they will aim to increase their stake at Ibrox by investing about £20m. James, on the club’s plc board, and Sandy, who is chairman of the football board, have been building up their shareholding in recent months as they look to tighten their grip on the club. They are now generally recognised to be the powers behind the throne at Ibrox. The Easdales took over McGill’s in 2001 and, after moving back into the black by posting profits of £659,404 compared with a loss of more than £550,000 the year before, their turnover has almost doubled from £15m to £28m following the takeover of rival Arriva Scotland West nearly two years ago. These figures have made McGill’s an attractive proposition and it is a business the Easdales are prepared to offload as they have other interests, including taxi firms and private rental and commercial property. The jury remains out on the Gers’ board simply because little or no information is passed the supporters’ way and stories like yesterday’s in Express Sport that players had rejected chief executive Graham Wallace’s suggestion they take a 15 per cent cut in wages has done little to quell their concerns over the club’s financial position. Wallace, in fact, has declared there is no chance of a second administration but conceded the club can’t continue to run the way it is amid suggestions it is losing around £1m a month. And, even if the Easdales were to splash their cash, there would still be a need to rein in the general costs. But, if the Greenock pair put up around £20m, it would go a long way to easing the near-critical state at the club and, of course, help appease and win over worried fans.

Celtic State Aid ‏@CelticStateAid4m GCC discounted Westhorn site by £3.5m for Celtic on basis of a geotechnical report that they refuse to release under FOI.

Raman Bhardwaj ‏@STVRaman59m Tweeted several bits of info about Rangers today.. I'd say 90% of replies were from Celtic fans. Another day another dollar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OZXAcT5HmMw some rare after match footage as Rangers win the ECWC in Barcelona in 1972 :yesrfc:

RangersFACTS ‏@RangersFACTSJan 14 Willie Johnston made 393 apps, never won a League Title. Few more famous Gers also missed out on @CoplandRoadorg http://rangersfacts.thecoplandroad.org/2014/01/rangers-heroes-and-missing-league-titles.html?m=1 …

Archie MacPherson toasting the health of our Queen from the Loving Cup with Sir Walter looking on!

The 1971 Ibrox Disaster Fund saw Father James Curtin, a 50yr old priest from Staffordshire, donate £25k of his £109k weekend Pools win.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh made a 'handsome' personal donation to the Ibrox Disaster Fund

New Notifiable Interest in Rangers shareholding - Damille Investments II Ltd http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11834982 …

James Arthur ‏@JamesArthur232m I forgot to tell you!! Possibly the best striker to ever grace the game of football Ally McCoist megged me yesterday in training haha! Dream

now @29p http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/summary/company-summary.html?fourWayKey=GB00B90T9Z75GBGBXASQ1

Chris Jack ‏Chris_Jack89 Celtic statement on reports of EC investigation into land deals:

[h=5]It saddens me to notify you that until proper legal advise can be obtained then the Sons of Struth facebook page will shortly be taken down for an undisclosed amount of time. This is solely due to the amount of correspondence received from Levy McRae regarding their clients Mr & Mr Easdale and the claims made within these emails. 14 emails have been received within the last 24 hours and even outside normal business hours e.g. 7.11am and 9.34pm and most hold me personally responsible for the posts of others. I have to look after myself legally at this time and until proper and full legal advise is taken I cant leave myself open to threat of action against me. The page will have to remain open only until I return home and have access to my laptop as I am unsure how to deactivate from my phone regards Craig[/h]