Hildy
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Everything posted by Hildy
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If the UOF asks people to renew in the event of a deal being agreed, and it isn't believed to be adequate, disillusionment will be rife. There is a mood for change and some are less than keen on a compromise solution.
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Is this a fact? Less than a thousand people have signed up?
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The condition of Ibrox is a complication. So is its listed status and its location. How much is it really worth to a regime that doesn't have the money, or maybe even the inclination, to spend serious money maintaining it? Would a serious company really want to buy it and lease it back to us? Could we accept this if it happened? If the stadium was put on the open market, who would buy it, what would they do with it and what price would they have to pay to get it? Is it possible that this regime would not be overly upset if it could unload it, maybe on to the Rangers support itself? Rumours, most from dubious sources, have suggested that Ibrox needs millions spent on it. If they happen to be accurate, can anyone envisage a set of circumstances where this regime will stump up and splash out up to £10m on making Ibrox habitable, secure and safe? So many questions in the world of Rangers where, worryingly, there are no surprises any more.
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Rangers have won 54 league titles, ten more than closest rivals, Celtic, however, Celtic have won more top division points than Rangers. Celtic - 6,233 Rangers - 6,215
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We talk of people not renewing due to disaffection with this regime, but many, an unknown number, are fed up enduring the dire football on display.
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The club is in a bad way. It can be saved but only with high-risk surgery. It either prepares for the operation that could rejuvenate it or it carries on while enduring pain and suffering until the collapse inevitably comes. Rangers' best days are in the past. It can only have a bright future if it takes the pain now. Travelling on like a drunk on his way home is not an option.
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This is a very valid point. If I was in a position to buy Rangers I wouldn't do it unless I already had a plan worked out with the RST and other interested parties to take the club off me for the price I paid for it. I have zero interest in owning Rangers as an individual, but I long for the day when I can own it jointly along with tens of thousands of other like-minded individuals. If King was to do this, and maybe he's thinking about it, I could see it being a successful move. Unfortunately, it seems as though King is playing his own game, so as fans we have effectively stalled as a force for change - other than not to renew of course, and no-one knows what change this will actually bring. If I was speaking to a man prepared to invest up to £50m in Rangers, I would want him to approach the current owners in an attempt to do a deal to buy the company and control the club. Obviously he would want to get the best deal possible, and while I don't want to dwell on figures at the moment, I accept that he might have to pay a little over the odds to get what he wants. If he succeeded, he could transfer it to the support over a period of time and I'm sure that an organised support would be happy to accommodate him. The fundamentalist element would complain as per usual, but the main body of the kirk, I believe, would be up for it. King was always against fan ownership but he appears to have shifted away from the SDM-type effective sole owner model. If he has moved far enough away to embrace fan ownership, he could play an important role is resolving our present difficulties. If he hasn't, though, buying Rangers will only paper over the cracks until the next ownership crisis. King has the means to create a Rangers revolution, just as Budge did at Hearts. He needs to be persuaded though that fan ownership is the future and fan groups who have his ear should be doing just that. He, or someone with similar means, could accelerate the fan ownership process if they feel sufficiently inclined to do so. It makes perfect sense for fan groups to be making this point to him - or anyone else who has the means to make it happen.
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You should consider doing an article on your path to becoming a Rangers fan. With your background, especially behind the Wall, I'm sure it would make interesting reading.
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Requesting information about whether people are being paid to hold a particular opinion should not be off the agenda. When Ally gives his opinion, whether we agree with it or not, we at least know that he is doing it as a Rangers employee. In some other cases, though, we are not so sure. I think it is reasonable to ask if Mark Hateley is a current or recent Rangers employee - because he has entered a contentious public debate. I also think that it's reasonable to ask if Richard Gough is carrying out his role with Dave King in a professional capacity - in other words - for remuneration or maybe future reward. I'm not siding with one side or the other in this regard. I want to know when opinions are deeply-held and genuine and when they are influenced by vested interests - if indeed they are influenced by vested interests.
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I'm not insulating anything. I want to know if those who are trying to influence us are being paid. I have no idea whether they are or whether they are not. If this debate is to have integrity, and integrity is a factor in what is going on at our club, we should know if we are hearing genuine opinions from the heart or opinions which are conveniently consistent with the views of those who are paying for them. I'm asking both sides to be clear on this. If people are being paid - or if they have been promised a reward for having a particular opinion - fans should know about it. Aren't we sick and tired of hearing well-heeled types telling us what is good for us - when it turns out that it is often good for them too - financially-speaking?
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Look on the bright side. If he goes on to have a glittering career in the game, Ally will probably re-sign him when he's in his mid-thirties - and play him alongside Lee McCulloch!
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I really can't grasp why people put ex-players on lofty pedestals, but it seems that they do, and when they speak, people listen. People want Walter Smith to speak out because they know that he will influence those who either can't or won't think for themselves. I couldn't care less what Smith thinks, but I'm maybe the exception. The idea that intelligent, independently-minded people need people less capable than them to tell them what to think is utterly bizarre - but it happens.
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Yes, I think this was touched on before. I already asked if Richard Gough was being paid for his role in Dave King's new company, so I see nothing wrong with wondering about Mark Hateley's situation. When people try to influence thousands of people, I believe it is important to know if money is influencing them.
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Rangers: John Brown backs fans' fund for season tickets
Hildy replied to ian1964's topic in Rangers Chat
Indeed. Has Hateley been asked to rally the fans because Ally refuses to? We can only speculate, but it is surely a possibility. We'll see if Ally has something to say as the week progresses. Whatever else we think of the King idea, his campaign is making the news and almost certainly reaching the entire Rangers community. -
The game was almost unique for the bad luck that seemed to follow the Hearts keeper around. People say we make our own luck, and up to a point that's true, but he was the main difference between the sides. Players sometimes err once and their team goes down, but this guy made as many errors tonight as he has probably made in his short career as a goalkeeper, and punishment came quickly. He must be feeling dreadful tonight, so I offer him my heartfelt sympathy and hope that he can get over this worst possible day at the office and have a good future in the game. It can surely never get this bad again.
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I lost the stream repeatedly near the end and in the penalty shootout, but what a nightmare tonight for the Hearts keeper. Three gaffes and two of them led to Rangers goals - and then he missed the decisive kick at the death to give victory to Rangers. Well done, Liam Kelly in the Rangers goal. He did brilliantly in the shootout and seems to be quite a character too. It actually got to the stage where an advert was appearing at the start of each YouTube restart. I wonder if this kicks in automatically when a video or live transmission proves to be popular? Hearts will be extremely disappointed that they didn't win this. Credit to Rangers for never giving in but Hearts blew a lead twice in normal time and looked the more accomplished side. It's a trophy for us, which is always welcome, but we shouldn't go overboard about future prospects. We still have a lot of work to do at this level.
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Is Hateley employed by the club?
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As I understand it, if you are a season ticket holder, you belong to the Rangers Supporters Assembly and this is one of the fan groups that the club engages with - the club's very own directly funded body. If you don't feel that it represents you, take the matter up with the Aseembly itself - or the club.
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If the Union of Fans doesn't hit 5,000, it will be perceived to have failed, however its campaign has been difficult to ignore and people who previously never bothered with Ibrox politics have effectively been forced to think about issues that usually pass them by. Renewals seem to be at a very low level, and the King campaign could be a factor in this by raising awareness about the way the club is run. Even though people might not be attracted to the King scheme, they are more aware than ever that Rangers is not in safe hands. People don't like to be taken for mugs, and many now feel that handing over £400 or more for a season ticket to a board that has little respect and even less trust is an unwise way to proceed.
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Can you guarantee that all will be well for Rangers under this regime?
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Rangers fans always thought that Rangers was forever. Now they know that it might not be. Rangers fans thought that they would never lose Ibrox. Now they are not so sure. Rangers fans generally trusted the board/ownership to do what was best. Now, many don't. Basically, the game has changed. The old rules no longer apply. After a liquidation event, and having seen the new company spend money as though we were Manchester City, it is now essential that everything that can be done to hold this regime to account - should be done.
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In our circumstances, it seems like the perfect way to support the club, and anyway, it was universally accepted as the right way to support the club for decades in the last century.
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The only reason we have a season ticket culture is because demand was so high after the Souness revolution that it made sense to go down this road, but demand is lower now and a season ticket is only desirable for convenience and access to away tickets and maybe a cup-tie or two. It isn't even priced very attractively compared to buying tickets individually. In some ways, paying as we go is very desirable, but the downside is that it will cost the club money because some will attend less games. The upside is that the club has to keep fans onside as the season goes along and if it breaks promises or behaves inappropriately, the fans can respond by withholding custom. Ideally, this would not be necessary, but in our present circumstances, it is a way to hold our board to account on a week to week basis, and I'm not at all unhappy about that.
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I'd like to see a plan from King too, but he's not required to produce one. Anyone can buy the club and keep quiet about their plans for it. King enjoys a degree of trust from within the fanbase. Any trust the current regime has is diminishing with every day that passes, but this isn't an election. Being popular doesn't win a controlling interest in the company. Money does that.
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Whatever the numbers are for the King scheme, it's real impact might be to heighten awareness within the support that the club is not well-run, not in safe hands and not likely to have a good future until significant change occurs. This regime is being publicly undermined with every day that passes, and mud sticks.