"it's All About the Money" in this article too

[SteveC 150]

A sneering piece that seems to relish in denigrating us. I can't say it is wrong though.

 

 

 

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-cold-hard-cash-4683056?

 

 

 

 

Keith Jackson: Cold hard cash will determine Ally McCoist's future at Rangers

Nov 24, 2014 08:03

OPINION BY KEITHJACKSON

KEITH says that cash has always been the answer to Rangers' woes but asks, will the club be able to fork out to the cash needed to axe Ally?

 

 

IN the end it will all come down to money. That is the Rangers way after all.

 

This is a club which through the years has gorged on a diet of hubris and largesse and which bloated itself with mantras such as, “For every fiver Celtic spend we’ll spend a tenner”.

 

It might just be the only business in the history of insolvency events to have allowed this spend-at-all-costs mentality to survive the catastrophe of liquidation.

 

It’s drilled down so deep into the club’s DNA that it has become the answer to almost every problem it encounters. Whenever Rangers are in trouble the default position is to spend more and buy their way out of it with another fistful of Aye Readies.

 

Few have been so steeped in this tradition as manager Ally McCoist, who earned stripes as a homegrown hero at Ibrox in the days when money really did seem like no object.

 

A £185,000 legacy of more austere times, McCoist not only survived the Graeme Souness revolution but went on to thrive in this new
environment and whose phenomenal goalscoring exploits made him a priceless commodity throughout an era unrelenting cheque signing.

 

Back then, McCoist was the exception to the rule. Today his fate is governed by it.

 

Because the only bottom line that counts right now as far as the position of the Rangers manager is concerned is the huge sum it will cost to remove him and his backroom staff from the dugout.

 

Even going by the most conservative of estimates, the costs involved in the bagging of the management team would run a long way north of £1m and right now that’s money this ravaged club simply does not have.

 

The very notion that such vast sums could be ring-fenced for severance payments would certainly cause further distress to
auditors Deloitte – who have still not signed off the club’s latest accounts and are fast running out of days in which to so do.

 

In fact, in order for an agm to be held before the year end as Stock Market rules dictate, Deloitte really ought to publish these latest numbers by no later than Friday of this week. The under-fire regime would then have a further three working weeks before being shoved out in front of shareholders just days before Christmas.

 

It is already a damning indictment of the state of the club’s financial affairs that Deloitte have so far failed to put their name to these accounts and the longer they dither the more reason there is for concern.

 

The truth is, Rangers are right back on the brink even though many supporters took comfort from watching Mike Ashley muscle his way into total control of the board room earlier this month.

 

Recent history shows that in times of Ibrox panic there is nothing like a billionaire – radar detectable or not – to settle a few nerves but now Ashley has powered his way into the box seat there are serious decisions for him to make.

 

What Ashley’s minions, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach, have discovered since they were dispatched to Glasgow and placed on the board may well have horrified them. The Sports Direct man did not become a billionaire by funding lost causes and yet that’s what he is now being asked to do in order to satisfy Deloitte the club is able to continue trading.

 

If Ashley is not willing to offer up guarantees for several millions of pounds Deloitte may have to “qualify” these accounts – a development
that would prove disastrous for the reputation of almost any other company but which, given the state of all things Rangers, would merely add another layer to the farce.

 

So far Ashley has agreed to drip feed Rangers with short-term loans in order to protect and strengthen his commercial contracts with the club. He has not just been saving Rangers with these handouts – he has been strangling them at the same time.

 

Will he now be prepared to change strategy to fund them for the longer term because, if not, Rangers will be hurtling towards another insolvency. And, as major creditor, Ashley will be in complete control.

 

But if, on the other hand, he opts to wade into this mess and bail it out for the long run what will that mean for McCoist?

 

That’s the other question over which Ashley will have to chew this week because if he does decide to underpin this broken business he could also provide it with the cash needed to call time on McCoist.

 

Ironically, that might buy him some goodwill among a growing group of Rangers fans who have lost patience with their manager and who, at Tynecastle on Saturday, voiced their desire for him to do walking away. Or a version thereof.

 

That 2-0 defeat was the last straw for many and it might even be argued the majority of these fans have lost faith in McCoist now the football side of this business is finally getting serious and requiring urgent
attention. They simply don’t believe McCoist can recover the nine points which separate his side from Hearts and some of them suspect he may not be capable either of gaining promotion to the top flight through the end-of-season play-offs.

 

The single-minded McCoist, it must be said, will disagree entirely. Often over the past three years he has reacted angrily to any suggestion he is failing in his duties and I say that as someone who has felt his full wrath from the other end of a phone on many occasions.

 

But, at the risk of another fall-out, I’ll say it all again.

 

When Rangers first reappeared from insolvency in the lowest tier of the Scottish game, McCoist wasted an opportunity to reinvent his team and introduce it to a contemporary, passing style of
football – much like the template Swansea used on their journey up through the various English leagues.

 

Instead, in true Rangers tradition, he spent mind-boggling amounts of money on the recruitment of players who had no place operating at such a lowly level and who often looked as if they had no great wish to be there.

 

But whether he stays or goes at this stage, with his journey not yet complete? That’s something only the money men will decide.

Edited November 24, 2014 by SteveC

[Tannochsidebear 2,429]

Absolutely reeking of timmy that article. There might be a few non-arguable points contained in it, but the overall tone is pure resentment & hatred which typifies the Daily Rhebel attitude to all things Rangers over the last couple of decades. Any idea the author of this latest piece?

[Hildy 0]

I welcome articles that say what has to be said.

[SteveC 150]

Absolutely reeking of timmy that article. There might be a few non-arguable points contained in it, but the overall tone is pure resentment & hatred which typifies the Daily Rhebel attitude to all things Rangers over the last couple of decades. Any idea the author of this latest piece?

 

It's Jackson. the link takes you to the original....but I should have added the name, sorry. (I now have)

 

I did give a "heads-up" re the tone - which I find distasteful in the extreme but that passes for "journalism" these days and not just in tabloid land - but I find myself agreeing with the content,

Edited November 24, 2014 by SteveC

[jhunter 0]

I welcome articles that say what has to be said.

 

not with that tone

 

i much prefer wilson? at the BBC

 

no anti Rangers snide remarks.

[Hildy 0]

not with that tone

 

i much prefer wilson? at the BBC

 

no anti Rangers snide remarks.

I have no problem with the tone.

 

The Rangers support too often gets bogged down in who the messenger is - and there are certainly some dubious messengers out there - than in what the content of the message is.

[Super Cooper 0]

Honesty is always the best policy, always. Even when we don't like it.

[Tannochsidebear 2,429]

Unlike Jackson to be quite so bullish against us as I believe he has Rangers leanings.

 

Perhaps he is hurting like the rest of us. I did say some of the points you cant argue with, but that came across as a fanzine piece by a tim with wee snidey digs that a mainstream national newspaper should be above. The continual mis-use of the fiver/tenner quote for starters. The ignoring of our two successful downsizing periods this century (2002-2006 & 2008-2011) when he says spending our way out of trouble is our DNA is another blatant error, and I have now only covered the first 2/3 paragraphs.

 

The messenger is important, especially in mainstream media, as it determines the weight the article carries, and quite often you can determine the accuracy of the piece just by the author and subject matter. I would normally give Jackson (but not his paper) a bit more credibility given his accuracy in some of his boardroom stories in recent years, but that is quite a lot of utter trash in amongst some solid home truths.

 

I would flip this article on its head from the other posters in this thread and say just because he gets some things right in it, doesn't mean it should be lauded or is free from criticism, especially for the underlying tone.

[Zappa 0]

Personally, I think the reason that Jackson occasionally writes this type of piece is that his boss(es) at the Daily Record require him to do it in order to play to the portion of their readership who are Celtic fans.

 

I'm not defending Jackson for the derogatory tone, but it might not even be all his own work because he could easily have been given an article outline by his boss and told to write it up.

[Hildy 0]

If Jackson wanted to please the Celtic-minded, he wouldn't be writing articles like the above.

 

The Celtic support wants Ally to be given a ten-year contract with a ten-year option. The last thing they want is to see the subject of him leaving Rangers raised.

 

They are worried that we might actually bring in a good manager.