Gaffer

For what it's worth my experience of the Saudis is that there is an entire generation that has been brought up with sport (for the first time really) and they are genuinely mad keen on football. Most follow an EPL or Spanish team as well as one from their own country. So for me they'd be more welcome as genuine sports fans than many of the others who have 'invested' in football teams. If a rich Saudi wanted to pump money into our club, I'd be no more suspicious or concerned about that than I would be of any Scottish investor (real fans excluded of course).

Obviously I agree with that @Bill. What steps would you take? Also, it's not just our board, it's the government and the CEOs of many firms. They all seem to be taking comfort in the perception that others are not panicking either. This is the time to 'profit' by planning effectively and yet too few actually do this, perhaps hoping it will just go away. This is the behaviour that I've seen plenty of times. Each time we've seen signs of a crisis I've made sure that I (and the large institutions I advise) do well out of it but it amazes me how few people learn from even the most recent events. Bizarre to say the least.

Every week the government changes the goalposts. This could be over within a week if they cancel this lockdown. That's my solution. If they insist on mass vaccinations it could be much longer than 18 months. And yes, this could very well mean that clubs like ours are starting from scratch. I just hope our board is treating this as seriously as they should be. At the moment it doesn't appear they are.

The cause of this impact on the economy is certainly new, but there have been 7 instances in the last 60 years which have caused similar impacts. The cause is not important, it's the impact that is, and that can be modelled fairly accurately. Also, your point about second and third waves isn't really that important. The markets don't care if there's a 4th, 5th, or 20th wave. All the markets are interested in is if the government is likely to pursue the lockdown approach. The lockdown is the problem, not the disease (for the markets anyway). At the moment the markets reflect the belief that the government will have to drop this ridiculous approach and take a different approach. However I do agree that there will be further hits on investments if the lockdown is the ongoing preferred route. That will spell disaster. The numbers are completely misleading in terms of deaths. Many people are dying with corona virus but very few die from it. There is very little evidence to suggest this is much different from the corona viruses we've suffered in previous years. As for our club, I'm all for being optimistic, but that means hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. I realise competing with that other lot is always on our minds but I'm hoping desperately that we have a plan B if this lockdown continues. If the government really is committed to this approach, I really can't see how many if any supporters will be attending matches for the next 18 months at least. If our season ticket money is reduced or eliminated, we need to find a way to survive. It would be great not to have to break the emergency glass but let's at least have the action plan ready. That's all I'm saying. I do also agree with you that Celtic have a much bigger problem looming. If we can navigate this smartly we may accelerate how quickly we catch them (and possibly overtake them) financially. I hope we do.

Mezut Ozil? He won't be alone, and that might be the right thing to do from a players' perspective. I think many players will find it difficult to get a new contract elsewhere for the same money so the year might take their current clubs for everying they have. I really hope we don't get to that stage, but unfortunately I think it's inevitable. I just hope our board realises this and is working on a plan. This is way more important than titles now. This is our survival.

I wouldn't have believed that I live in a country that's capable of that level of absolute nonsense. Sporting integrity is dead and buried. R.I.P.

I'm not sure what these investment managers are using to track previous trends but we have seen this before and it's quite common. Unfortunately, too many use modern portfolio theory as the basis for their models but it's deeply flawed and omits all of the major dips throughout history. Funnily enough the dip in 2008 is nowhere near the worst we've had in the last 60 years. As for a 2nd or 3rd wave ... of what? It's the lockdown that's causing this, not the threat of the virus. The government can halt it by removing this mass lockdown. We will all have our opinions based on what our experts are telling us. I think what we can agree on is that tough times are ahead and Rangers must protect every penny it has. We are going to need it to ride this out.

^^^This 100%. I've said it a few times. This is about surviving now. The sooner businesses realise this, the better chance they have of getting through it. I doubt that many of the current football clubs will still exist in 5 years. The most at risk are those larger clubs, especially in England, Italy, Spain and France.

Funnily enough we have plenty of precedents, albeit the cause (in this case a 'disease) is different. It is scary and what bothers me is that the government continue to insist that they're listening to their medical advisers. That's crazy. They can only give one side of the issue to the government but history tells us that far more deaths occur in depressions and in poorer economies than this disease can ever cause. I could give you those numbers but they are very frightening so I'll refrain from that on here. One additional thing w are beginning to see also is a sharp decline in the value of certain stocks. This lockdown has shown how vulnerable certain businesses are and as a result their intrinsic value will be lowered to reflect that. This means that pension funds and other investments will be widely affected too. The long term effects of this lockdown are way greater than the threat of the disease. Rangers must tap into its supporters better. I don't know how much room there is to manoeuvre on Rangers TV so that we can show all away domestic games on that platform. We need to look at all avenues of income.

If this lockdown continues for another month, our economy will not recover for at least six years. Lets face it, the way the government is talking, this will not lift any time soon so we do need to brace ourselves for a very hard few years. We won't see the full impact of this for another 12-18 months though so it may be that businesses get back to some degree of normality for a while, but as the capital in companies dries up, and as the job losses begin, there will be the usual snowball effect you get in a depression. I've made no secret of the fact that I am in disbelief and horror at the approach the government is taking with this lockdown (and I know they're not alone), so they will carry the responsibility of killing businesses, lives and sport. I hope the club is working on plans to cut costs deeply if required. The next few years are about survival rather than anything else. I can't see the board being in a position to keep funding the club when their own businesses are coming under heavy pressure too. If ever we should be relieved to have an accountant like Robertson at the helm, it's now. I just hope he is a magician too though because we need more than one rabbit to be pulled out of the hat. One major thing we need to be working on is how to ensure that the club gets all the available funding from our own fans rather than allowing it to be diluted across the other clubs. Many of the other clubs will go out of business anyway so there's no point in the SPFL, SFA or governments stepping in to help them. It's just delaying the inevitable.

I can't make up my mind on this. I often think our 'journos' are just lazy. Since this story has landed on their laps it's the easiest one to write about for days and days. Equally I know there's an orchestrated agenda and it could be that's they're all lined up to help achieve something for the cabal. As with most of these things, the only time you know if it's part of an agenda is when they manage to push throughout the changes they wanted all along, and by that stage it's too late. (I actually think similar things regarding COViD19).

1987 - Kiev at Ibrox. The atmosphere was amazing that night, and a great result.

I agree. We don't need a Big Bang. What's required is consistent and maintained pressure. It's too easy to ride even the stormiest single wave, but if we continue to see this constant attack it will eventually have an effect on these corrupt goons. Anyone in PR (and I'm not) knows this, which is why I was always bemused by our previous attempts at this. Maybe this new chap coming in has brought some awareness and experience to the club afterall. If we can keep this pressure on for a few more days, in the absence of any bigger sports stories (of which there are few), this could very well see us get our inquiry. The pressure is also building on Celtic. I wonder how they'll spin this one. Their Hollicom team must be working overtime, but I wouldn't underestimate them because they'll come up with a corker and then we already know Celtic has the brass neck to deliver any message no matter how ridiculous.

It is 100% a distraction tactic and can't believe the other clubs are so stupid to fall for this. None of the current premier league teams (except Hearts) will vote for it because it means fewer games against the old firm and therefore less income for them. I don't even think Dundee thought it would go anywhere. I still think Dundee have been offered something else but used this as a distraction from that. What a complete waste of time and effort. I'm so glad we have nothing to do with it. For what it's worth, I think a larger league would be better for the game in the long run but to get it we need clubs to vote for it. They won't and so it's a waste of time even thinking about it.

The pressure appears to be continuing on the SPFL to conduct an independent inquiry with 3 news outlets carrying a piece on this today. We need even just a little new news to come out today to ensure that this is the main sports story up here over the weekend. After that news cycle we will then need to see if our board can keep it going, perhaps with an update on legal action. Only sustained pressure will result in any change. Maybe the lack of any other sports news will help our cause here. As we know, our reporters up here are lazy and will take the route of least resistance. At the moment we are writing their stories for them.

I'd love us to do something but the ONLY tool we have is withdrawal of the blue pound at this precarious time in football. Let's make sure our own club gets all the funding and screw the rest of them. I really can't think of anything else we can reasonably achieve at this time. It makes me sick to the pit of my stomach that this is our only option. I wish I could see an alternative but I can't. I hope (and expect) that we will have some victories in the future when many of the clubs die off. I really want to see that happen and I will take great delight in that, as petty as it may seem.

Just a thought. At a time when our away support is likely to keep clubs afloat, why would any of them vote for a 14 team top division? There's no way that happens. There's absolutely zero chance of clubs like Aberdeen sacrificing 2 out of 4 matches against us for an empty stadium against teams in the current first division. Dundee must know that so I am convinced that they've been offered something else but that this was their way of trying to show that they tried their best for the wider footballing community. We need to find out what they've been offered. I suspect we will find out after the horse has bolted though.

Now that Thistle have caved in, I suspect that's the end of it. We have no support now and we are now in a weaker position having asked for their resignation and/or investigation and failed. If other clubs believed we'd see this through they perhaps would have been more likely to support. This will make any future support even less likely. All we can do now is focus on our own club, encourage a winning team on the park, and hope our club survives the next 18 months. Many clubs will not survive (huge clubs included). Sad days indeed but we have to focus on what we can do rather than what we can't.

I think much of this will be moot anyway. I don't see the 20/21 season completing either. With social distancing becoming a buzz term for the government, I can see them enforcing this at football matches, meaning we have fewer supporters. All in all, I expect many clubs will collapse and the league will not be able to be completed. Equally I can foresee teams claiming that they can't play games because their players have corona virus, meaning that many other games will be abandoned. Our club needs to focus on what it does to survive over the next 18 months. And all this because many of the governments have adopted a crazy way of calculating deaths, meaning we've had a real over reaction to this (in my opinion). It's a shambles, and our league structure is just part of what will suffer enormous consequences as a result.

I completely agree that the main battle will take place on the field of play, but I think this is important Bill. We've been trying to build bridges (as far as I can tell) since 2012 and that got us absolutely nowhere. In fact, it's only getting worse. We now have to go and fight these people in the courts too. That may do very little but it will keep our fans motivated. If we continue to roll over we will lose fans who are becoming completely disheartened by the level of blatant corruption. Our fans need hope and that can come in the shape of off field victories as well as those on it. The problem is that we've won very few legal or PR battles. Our club has a great opportunity to encourage social distancing by not not taking any away tickets. There are plenty of fans, and indeed the vast majority, who will see that as using the weapons we have to fight back. We should use every form of influence at our disposal and yet the major one (the blue pound) is one we just dish out regardless. Let's withhold that and use it as a means of establishing some respect (or at least attention) from the other clubs. I just hope our players see what is going on and those with the right mentality will step up and deliver. The snowflakes in the dressing room should just leave, no matter how skilful they are. This is a battle and we need warriors. Our manager is one, but I'm still not convinced about the majority of our players.

There's a big difference between what happened in 2008/12 and now. At least years ago they tried to hide the corruption and bribery. These days it's just so blatant. They don't care anymore because they know they can get away with it now that everyone in a position of power is controlled. I don't give a damn about the title. We lost that by the end of January. What concerns me is that we will never be allowed to win another one so long as they can get away with what they want. I can't see how we will ever have a level playing field. I'm trying to be optimistic, but every time there's light at the end of the tunnel, it turns out to be a train heading straight for us. I wish the current board had a silver bullet but they don't. I doubt they've really got any evidence which is strong enough to remove the main culprits so we are now facing further years of this. That's not the fault of our board though. I just hope however they take a stand and refuse all away tickets from now on. That is something that's becoming increasingly important to me. If our fans can't be trusted to boycott these clubs (which they can't) I'd like the club to take action. That will make more enemies but how can it possibly be worse than it is at the moment? One thing is for sure and that is that clubs will collapse next season. I expect many larger clubs to collapse first. I just hope our fans stick with our club though because every club in the world is vulnerable at the moment. Our club needs us more than ever right now.

I honestly think this is the beginning of the end of Scottish football as we've known it. There has been bitterness for some time but this whole affair has just intensified that and I feel even more bitter now (and I didn't think that was possible) at these clubs for allowing this corruption to take place. I will take great delight as many of these clubs die off. Even if the SPFL get their way here, let's all do what we can by not giving these clubs a single penny. Let's see how many of them die off without our financial support. Corrupt scumbags, every one of them.

I hope their club dies. What a deceitful way to do business. Corruption doesn't even begin to describe this whole affair.

This just illustrates why the current voting systems needs to be changed now. I'd imagine many votes in future will see smaller clubs take the same corrupt approach by voting no and then holding others to ransom. How ridiculous, but of course the early release of the voting position "so far" facilitated this. The SPFL knew it and are wholly complicit in this bribery scandal. How can Doncaster and co realistically hold on to their positions now. If they do, we really need to accept that our country's footballing authorities are not only corrupt, but above the law too. What then? We will need to take this to higher authorities but that takes time. I wonder if there's an opportunity in the current climate to reinvigorate the calls for us to join the premier league or new European league structure somehow. This corruption just makes me sick. If our board can reach a satisfactory conclusion I will be in awe, but everything is stacked against us. I just hope we take every opportunity in the future to withhold funding for these clubs. With parasites like Nelms in charge they surely deserve to go under. I hope they do.

I agree Frankie. I was concerned that we would receive no support from any clubs if the issue of funding was not possible to resolve. Now that there is an immediate alternative (i.e. these loans), I'd expect all clubs to ease their immediate concern and then more of them will support our call for an inquiry. I read PTFC's legal opinion. The one part that didn't stack up for me was their point about Dundee's vote continuing to count. I thought at first that this was weak because Dundee could change it to yes. However, their opinion seems to suggest that if an earlier deadline was implied which any reasonable person would believe (i.e. The 5pm) deadline, then this is binding. Actually that has precedent so this could provide them with all the ammo they need to gain an interim interdict. I wonder if that's just pushes all clubs to use the loan route which was proposed by Rangers. All fascinating stuff and great that Rangers are now able to keep their powder dry.