buster.

Thinking back to Barry Ferguson, it re-enforces the old adage if you are good enough, you are old enough. Barry was a real player but also had a real attitude that helped him cope with the huge pressure of playing for Rangers. I think you need both at Ibrox. Regards youth development, if they aren´t good enough for the first team sqaud by the time they are around 19, I doubt they are going to be much practical use to Rangers. The economic fallout may mean more get a chance.

An unpredictable pandemic, economic chaos and the very questionable quality of political leadership around many parts of the world is a toxic mix. Who knows,...geo-politics might end up kyboshing any thoughts of a 2020/21 season.

They are doing it to raise funds for outside agencies fighting the virus.

Newcastle Utd fans have had to relatively suffer the reign of Mr.MASH for a number of years. Suddenly it seems as if a takeover will lead to another rich bastard (Saudi oil money) in the door but one that is more likely to splash the cash. The Geordies have a way of attracting bad luck as well as cnut investors or now murdering bastards and at the same time, the oil price hits zero. That will obviously change but there is something poetic in the symmetrical about that. Regards big clubs, it´ll be about to what levels they will need to downsize, how long will it take to recover and managing the process. My off the cuff guess is that Bayern Munich may come out of this on top of the pile.

I can´t think of a comparable precedent in terms of scale and unifomity throughout the world and industrial sectors and that´s not taking into account of uncertainty wrt to timescale/evolution of the virus ,..but that is drifting to Lounge territory. - Will the upcoming economic situation reduce ST/ other revenue numbers ?................Yes (will be the same for all clubs) - General downsizing will mean lower quality of squad as a whole - It will come down to good/bad management of what resources you have. - Going into next season, we already have player contracts to honour that must be at a level that any up to date projected budgets might struggle to cover. - Big cost cutting hopefully starting weeks ago - Should be wage cuts, not defferrals (needs to change) - We are accustomed to running at a structured loss but approaching the time when projections/plans pointed towards breaking even and not requiring shareholders to fill holes. - Are the major prospective investors (looking at proposed share issue) doing it for emotive or investment reasons ? We were in the process of making the club more professional at various levels (eg. commercial, youth development, etc) as well as edging towards on the pitch success and employ Steven Gerrard who adds glamour. What happens now is that the player trading market will bomb for at least the short term and in Scotland, may never get back to the numbers we were starting to see Celtic receive. That would severely restrict potential to make any money and discourage investors. Brings us to individual assets, eg. Morelos. Do we accept what would be a cut price deal to get some money in and his wage off the books ? I think the risk that he loses interest in a sea of red mist is too great and we sell, even if the fee is low. Needs be. In hindsight, re-signing Davis and Defoe was a mistake. McCrorie and Docherty should be kept IMO. They are the type who might excell at a Rangers forced to downsize. Gerrard might not be madly keen on them but SG is going to have to consider a practical Plan B or he´ll be for the off. etc, etc. Brightside is we have some decent youths coming through. I´d like to think players such as Kelly are ready for the step-up to a squad with what will have to be a significantly lower wage bill. ps. I apologise for the disjointed and rambling nature of the post.

Any cartoonists amongst us bored in Lockdown ? Scene: Three Amigos in SPFL bunker, eating tinned food and breathing recycled air with suitable conversation, perhaps something to do with Peter, the organ grinder having locked them in and disconnected the wifi/telephone connection.

I really don´t think they are going to be able to use any such award to count as a credible 9th title IAR. Down the ladder, back to 8.

No one can say Ewan Murray at The Guardian is pro Rangers or being used as such. He is simply laying out the state of play, highlights the Sound of Silence from the SPFL and it still stinks.

Given my location, I haven´t been to Ibrox for a while but would you or anyone say the demographics within our support point to a fair proportion of retired gentlemen attending ? Surely they will be considering the risks involved with anything other than social distancing until a real solution is found. That said, I guess OAP tickets/ST´s represent a lower revenue number/potential loss. Whilst on demographics, I wonder how the younger generation react to this. We have supporters not far from leaving school age who haven´t seen us lift a trophy. If Scottish football heavily downsizes, it´ll be a challenge to keep a hold of them all, at least as future fans who actually attend and invest, so to speak.

Interesting and a somewhat scary post, Gaffer ! You point to delayed effects (12-18 months) but for football, what state are Scottish football clubs in 8 months, if there is little revenue ? And specifically, us ? I guess one of the main difficulties for economists interested in an objective assessment is that there is no historical precedent to use for comparison or model on. It´s increasingly looking like new and genuinely scary territory.

Its better than some but it didn´t incorporate the very relevant Legal Opinion that Partick Thistle made public. Thistle might have said they don´t inend to act upon it but regards the timelines... 4:24 A message on a WhatsApp group confirms Dundee FC have voted. At that point, a QC and junior counsel opine the resolution to have lapsed or failed. Not to mention the other points raised, eg. misinformation by omission

For us, yes, we can speculate like we do for the football side but ultimately of course, it´s wait and see. However, the boardroom and club financial planners can´t. I´d be interested to see what the finance experts amongst us have to say on this. @Bluedell @Bill @craig (the BBC!!). Ann Budge came in for a lot of criticism when she moved quickly to cut costs but IMO whilst her calls on the football side have occasionally been dubious, she was right to take immediate measures on this. We´ve already had a debate of sorts regards Deferrals v Cuts....but that initial decision has already been taken and the revised numbers could be fed into any future analysis. As for Hagi, I don´t think it would be wise to commit the 4 or 5 million sterling at this point in time. You could say, sell X and Y, raise the money and spend but transfer values have just been diluted and it appears the proposed fee for Hagi is fixed. Good time to get Saudi owners in (I doubt the price of oil will stay where it currently is). Could we use Auchenhowie to store millions of barrels of crude to sell at a later date ?

Your first two sentences in bold text are simply and very obviously incorrect regards the last two Saturday afternoon programmes..... To say otherwise, might be termed original thought, but it wouldn´t be accurate. This isn´t me getting on your back. Generally speaking, trying to get a handle on what is going on needs us to interpret some of the basic things correctly, ie. better to be said. Regards your third sentence in bold text, Sportsound (BBC Scotland in general) generally reflect, promote and at times help create what you call anti-Rangers sentiment.

I see the transfer thread has been bumped with rumours of multi-million pound signings. I think we need to get real and start to focus on the economic reality given the potential timescales on government restrictions being mentioned by some of the high Heid yins. We´ve been posting significant losses despite large ST numbers and good revenue from European football.. Mechandise revenue is severly hampered by costly ongoing and longterm litigation against someone who wants us to suffer. Commercial revenue is under threat because most business out there will have to recalibrate. Broadcast money, or the contract as currently is, must be under threat if there is no football and post Covid19, will the league be downsized (eg. some part-time clubs in top tier). Wage deferrals (rather than cuts) means more pain further down the road and less available for future budgets The budgets of most fans will change as disposible cash gets more scarce and priority for most won´t be football. Shareholders have been ploughing millions into the club for a number of years. How will their own business be affected by the economic carnage and could they not only continue but increase the amount of money essentially given to the football club? Same goes for any share issue. How does the new reality impact investment plans. As far as I know, Scottish football doesn´t have a League or Cup sponser and trying to find one now will mean lowering the number. If other provincial clubs suffer and some go part-time, will ambitious footballers want to play in Scotland. Nearly every sector of the economy in most parts of the world will be ripped apart as a pandemic lingers. Football isn´t going to get much sympathy. I´m no economist (and would be interested for the views of those whose expertise is relevant to this) but it seems to me as if the very best outcome would be severe downsizing in the short to medium term. Perhaps a good time for youth players getting an opportunity.

An East coast Rangers XI would be able to beat a West Coast outfit nae bother I reckon ! #Baxter

Would Bill Struth to manage and Jock Wallace as first team coach be acceptable ? (Wallace is from Wallyford, a few miles from Auld Reekie) I played in a Rangers top in the Meadows, an Edinburgh public park in the 70´s,....any chance of a game ?

The Mother of economic storms is rattling towards us all. Downsizing is going to be the buzz word en breve.

I wonder if that point towards a possible No vote ? Certainly smells like fundamental disagreement. Reconstruction without touching financial model (% of prizemoney received1-XX) requires 9 yes votes. If financial model to change it´s the old 11-1. edit. Reports say she resigned prior to any meeting to focus on "the biggest issue facing our game" Dempster was one of 15 club officials named on Friday as part of the panel, who held their first meeting on Monday. However, the Easter Road chief executive took no part in that call. Instead, she will work with other clubs "to identify how and when football supporters can safely return to Scottish grounds".

Thank´s for the reply Stevie ! I was just giving my tuppence regards mostly what the club had done thus far. Wasn´t having a go at you in any way. I really should have thanked you for putting the blog up,... I do so belatedly

I now see the next play has been made......strike while the iron is hot. Who would set the remit of any Independent Investigation ?...anyone........The SFA ?? says he WON’T provide evidence unless MacLennan, Doncaster and McKenzie aren’t involved. wants a copy of the league’s
 official whistleblower policy so the trio can’t have access to it. demands McLennan explains derogatory comments he made about Rangers in the past. accuses him of attempting to shut down the club’s concerns by 
denying them free speech. ......The only ways Rangers can get an independent inquiry is for it to be either granted by the SPFL board or if three clubs call for an EGM and it gets 75 per cent approval in a vote. ---------------------------------------------- Three clubs shouldn´t be a problem, the 75% would probably be a challenge. (the 75% number is according to the DR article so not set in stone) The only line of defence for the SPFL that I can see getting traction is pointing towards "an existentsial threat to the game" and shouting Fire, Fire !....They would only need 26%...... Might they end up offering a sacrifical lamb and a plea to call it quits ?

@Stevie - 4lads Blog Couple of points on your blog Stevie. The main issue for me was the tone and agressive nature of the initial "whistleblowerblower evidence" statement that at a time when the cards are actually stacked in our favour. It has given detractors and general commentators an easy way to make sure they can share out their criticism when it should be all for the SPFL and it´s lack of corporate goverence. Nor does it chime with your line about ..."This is a marathon, not a sprint" If it´s seen as a marathon you don´t initially go in with a size 14 boot. The other point is that there is enough evidence/dirt already out there, which has in turn provided headlines/media and produced anger there, that any smoking gun could have been kept in the background as we observed the situation develop. Lastly on this, IMO Rangers PR shouldn´t be about placating fans who want to metaphorically see blood and results today. It has been for too long and tends to lead no-where. I can understand why at some points in the year this may be advantagous but generally it serves no good purpose and actually only ends up storing more anger for the board itself. To me, this current situation isn´t a marathon. It´s an opportunity with an expiry date which is fairly short term but may drag a tadge because of the virus. We won´t get a better chance to push the three amigos from the 6th floor at Hampden. The three amigos and the Dundee CEO are becoming figures of ridicule. Satirical humour is often a good way of further discrediting people. eg. the Falkirk chairman was on Sportsound yesterday cracking a joke about the IT baloney that the SPFL/ Dundee are desperatly making up. Everyone on the show laughed and that type of thing discourages defence of the indefensible. Moving forward, we very much have them on the back foot. They´ve made a rip roaring collective cnut out of it, let´s make the most of it. ps. I don´t do religion but I will prey that Lawwell can be directly drawn into this.

IMO Clubs have to go a little beyond their own self-interest on this because of the level of threat the virus fall-out poses the game in general. Tom English is only doing his job. Yesterday, we heard it live on radio. It was like a bullfight, only a sheep replaced the bull and voluntarily started to batter it´s head of a wall, dazing itself. The hack sensed his prey was weakening and repeatedly made moves to try and finish him off. Brian McLauchlin later tried to get a bite himself.

Live on Sportsound is as public as it gets.

It was quite funny, at the beginning he talks about the reasons behind "why they made the No Vote", then quickly corrects himself "the yes vote, sorry". At 2 mins 10 secs https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p089wm64

Nothing in that article about the phonecall with Doncaster. Misleading by ommission However, I´ll be surprised if Tom English doesn´t follow up on the timeline of phone calls on the Friday afternoon of the vote.