MERLIN - On Death Ground

[ian1964 10,720]

September 6, 2014 / billmcmurdo

 

The Ibrox boardroom wars are still rumbling on, with the board doing more damage to themselves than the rebels can inflict.

 

I am dubious of the so-called latest revelations – that Sports Direct magnate Mike Ashley was sold the naming tights to Ibrox for the price of 8 AAA Sony batteries. My feeling is this is an attempt to get the directors to release the real figure but if it turns out to be true, it is a massive hit against the beleaguered board.

 

If the deal was made based on projections of Sports Direct selling boatloads of RFC merchandise, then it was still a poor one. The ball is now in the board’s court to reveal the true price of re-branding Ibrox.

 

I have always backed the present regime but it is increasingly hard to muster confidence in their ability to steer the club through this difficult year. It doesn’t help that the board is hopelessly split, with CEO Graham Wallace having been “Matherised” i.e. converted to the rebel cause.

 

Truth be told, Wallace has failed to provide the leadership and bring stability to matters behind the red brick facade on Edmiston Drive. The grand plan of the Fans Board has not galvanised the fan base but has been a monumental waste of time, effort, money and energy.

 

Wallace’s alignment with those who have choked the sale of season tickets so necessary for the club to progress is a cave-in of epic scale. That said, the board’s feeble response to this has not helped engender confidence. I championed another contender for the post of CEO but was more than happy to support Graham Wallace when he took the reins. Now it is all a cod and the vultures are circling, ready to swoop in for the kill.

 

It looks like the next phase of the Ibrox Civil War will be a head-to-head between Mike Ashley and Dave King. Question marks arise over the ability of either to invest substantially – both may be curtailed by football rules and in King’s case, he could be blocked by regulation here and in South Africa.

 

Ashley will no doubt be turned into the antichrist by a Rangers-hating media here in Scotland.

 

There is a consortium of people who are desperate to get hold of Rangers and if they cannot get control of the club on their terms, then they would rather see the club go under. King is their champion and this means he is their weakness. You get the feeling that when and if he is ever asked to actually pony up the money, he will not produce.

 

Should the consortium prevail, with or without Daddy King’s involvement, Rangers will probably never be as dominant as they were at the peak of the SDM years but they will challenge Celtic for the Premiership. Success in Europe will be a pipe dream.

 

Ashley and others are Rangers’ best bet of going to a higher level. Their vision and collective financial clout exceeds by far the grasp of the consortium. It is all about a clash of ideologies and visions.

 

The problem for this board and investors like Mike Ashley is that they are trying to fight a battle based on AIM regulations against people who are not bound by these.

 

The battle for Rangers is a street fight, a rammy, not a game of bridge in a gentlemens’ club.

 

It’s time the board at Ibrox realised this.

 

“Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is deadly ground.” SUN TZU

[Little General 80]

Wallace is on borrowed time imo.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

So two ceo's now on kings side. Tells a story.

[Bigcid 0]

Merlin is a tit of epic proportions he is being fed shite from inside the boardroom and whoever is behind the scene pulling his strings doesn't have Rangers best interests at heart. I would give Wallace a month tops now they are setting him up as the next fall guy to buy their arses a bit more time.

[Rangersitis 0]

Sandy sticks the knife in, their lickspittle is then sent along to twist it.

 

They are all living on borrowed time.

[Oleg_Mcnoleg 50]

'To lose one chief exec may be regarded as misfortune, to lose several looks bent' Oscar Wilde(ish)

Merlin still backing the usual suspects and trotting out the party line, which has been updated in as all concession to the blindingly obvious. Instead of 'back the board, they're pyoor magic n'tha' we're getting 'ok, I admit things aren't great but it's the fault of the who opposed them and the best solution is to back their preferred candidate (who looks to be being gifted the club instalments anyway).

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Reads like A Shakespearian tragedy.

 

Wallace (Caesar) "Et tu Brute"

 

Merlin (Brutus) " Then none have I offended. I have done no more to

Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of

his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not

extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences

enforced, for which he suffered death.

[Enter Mike Ashley (Mark Anthony and Jack Irvine (others), with Caresser's body]

Here comes his body, mourned by Mike Ashley: who,

though he had no hand in his death, shall receive

the benefit of his dying, a place in the

commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this

I depart,—that, as I slew my best lover for the

good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself,

when it shall please my country to need my death".

 

Irvine "live Brutus live live.

 

Mike Ashley (Mark Antony) Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—

For Brutus is an honourable man;

So are they all, all honourable men—

Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me:

But Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

You all did see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

But here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause:

What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

And I must pause till it come back to me.

[Guest Blue Chopsticks]

Is it just me or does that article read like it's from a man with his toes over the ledge waiting for the moment to jump ship ?

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

The £1 thing has been reported as fact by the Daily Record and BBC. If this were false there would have been a clear denial by the club.

[D'Artagnan 173]

The £1 thing has been reported as fact by the Daily Record and BBC. If this were false there would have been a clear denial by the club.

 

Which of course are utter bastions of journalistic integrity and accuracy.