buster. 5,257 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I cannae wait A little humour 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 A little humour Love that sketch. "Come back you yellow bastard" 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,830 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 From FF by Mark Dingwall. I attach a report I wrote for the Rangers Supporters Trust back in 2012 after a meeting which effectively ended the Harris reign at SDS. A reign which saw it lose it’s full-time staff and funding. After the meeting I had a chat with Dame Pauline Green who said “You can’t imagine the problems that man has caused us.” Au contraire Dame Pauline! Green delivered a blistering critique of what she had found in Scotland while Harris tutted, rolled his eyes and ostentatiously flicked through a large folder oblivious to how deranged this appeared. Several attempts to correct Dame Pauline’s narrative were swatted away by a woman who was on a mission, had a very obvious command of her brief and without notes was able to quote the dates of meetings and emails. If it was a boxing match it would have been stopped as an obvious “no contest.” He didn’t hang around long after that. NB - I should note that my memory tells me he lost the crucial vote 11-4 but the email quoted below says 14-4. Supporters Direct Scotland consultative meeting at Stirling Albion FC, 1 April 2012 I have to report a mostly good meeting, the circumstances considered, yesterday at Stirling. BACKGROUND As a result of the cuts which had to be made following the dip in Supporter Direct UK funding both the SD Scotland full-timers James and Elaine were made redundant. Since the announcement of the funding cuts the current SD Scotland Council have struggled to find new sources of income apart from a stop-gap grant from the Scottish Government which was contingent on SD Scotland becoming more representative of football fans in general and not just trust members. That funding has now run out. There is an outline proposal from the Scottish Government to provide some funds but that was based on the formation of something akin to the Scottish Football Supporters Network that Harris has been touting - despite it not being approved by SD Scotland as a whole. Essentially Harris and his allies have formed it, sent out letters, set up a website, got a logo etc before there was an agreement by the member trusts to do so. THE MEETING It was obvious during the meeting and in private discussions afterwards that SDUK have been driven demented by Harris and his antics. The big guns of the organisation from London came up. The Secretary Clare Oakley; Chairperson Dame Pauline Green; Tom Hall, Policy and Development; Brian Burgess, Chief Executive and a secretarial support. Harris trotted out his usual self-serving cobblers - this included a moving passage where he felt very sorry for himself having to struggle with the question of transnational rights with the regard to obtaining a quote for a website (the dastardly SDUK office tried to stop him spending money) but informing us he had triumphed over adversity in managing (all by himself mind you) to obtain six quotes for lapel badges. Essentially it came down to this - having failed to obtain any new revenue the only option the current SD Scotland Council was able to present was the offer of jam tomorrow from the Scottish government should SDS transform itself from a trust organisation to a collection of variously constituted fan groups - associations, fan clubs, etc. Incredulously one of Harris’s cohort said that he believed “Supporters Direct was a toxic brand in Scotland” and that his advice was to stop using the word Trust! Dame Pauline noted several times that the recollection of events Harris provided was simply untrue. THE BIG VOTE The main vote was to retain or disband SD Scotland in it’s current form - that went 14 to 4 in favour of retention. The second vote was wether or not to continue with a funding application to the Scottish Government on the basis that SD would ‘project manage’ a feasibility study into the possibility of a coherent fans network. There was a decent debate about this with some feeling it was SFSN by the backdoor but in the end Brian Burgess’ involvement in it and the idea of discussing it after finally getting proper consultation at the SD Scotland Conference/AGM in May/June met there was a unanimous vote to proceed. OVERVIEW Finally people have seen through Harris. His only supporters were members of the Board of SD Scotland who have worked with him over the last year and are obviously under his spell. The trusts themselves were very anti the idea of the network in principle and raging about the sneaky way it had been presented as a fait accompli. Likewise, the people up from England have obviously had enough of him and want him out. Harris had apparently said he would resign in he didn’t get his way but I think we all know that is unlikely, his ego won’t let him. The Celtic Trust actually called for a vote on no-confidence in him but Dame Pauline ruled that out as the meeting was not competent to do that. Other trusts represented are now openly calling for Harris and Co to be got rid of and are taking steps to ensure that the Conference/AGM is worked towards to ensure he is a goner and the values of onemember-onevote, openness, good governance etc. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 5,257 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Love that sketch. "Come back you yellow bastard" It's brilliant ! Back in the day on FF (from 2011 - 2014) I gave out an annual 'The Black Knight Award'. A sort of satirical poking of fun at agitators whose then pro-board arguments and credibility were worn away but still kept coming back for more (before the inevitable 'withdrawal'). 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Clearly unity is as far away as ever. Sad times indeed. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjathomson85 0 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Clearly unity is as far away as ever. Sad times indeed. Honest question, does anyone think that a supporters group merger would improve fan unity? I understand that there would never be complete harmony among our fans, much like any other club there are bound to be differences of opinion. Would be interesting to gauge a general consensus on here as to whether a supporters group merger would help matters any. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,830 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 (edited) Honest question, does anyone think that a supporters group merger would improve fan unity? I understand that there would never be complete harmony among our fans, much like any other club there are bound to be differences of opinion. Would be interesting to gauge a general consensus on here as to whether a supporters group merger would help matters any. I think it would although it will never be 100% as can be seen by the machinations of a small minority at the moment. Most people believe in democracy so any decisions taken by the members of a merged group would be accepted. A merge group also gives the fans bigger clout when dealing with club. I be I believe that a merged group would be larger than the total now in the various groups. Edited February 12, 2016 by BEARGER 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 The absolute pounding BH takes across the Rangers forums is staggering, i don't like it. He's not a personal friend of mine and he sometimes comes across as bit of a bellend, but then again i speak as the Bellend's bellend lol. BH always remains courteous though and tries to give answers to all the questions asked,. If he stops being a bellend and trying to take my title off me, i might even vote for him. Thank you for your kind comments and for your consideration. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Honest question, does anyone think that a supporters group merger would improve fan unity? I understand that there would never be complete harmony among our fans, much like any other club there are bound to be differences of opinion. Would be interesting to gauge a general consensus on here as to whether a supporters group merger would help matters any. I don't honestly know. But without one single representative body we will forever be open to egos, agendas, differing objectives. So without it then we pretty much are guaranteed to not get unity. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic today. I think that a merger would at least have the perception that we were working towards unity - that is, after all, one of the major aims of merging fan groups, is it not ? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 (edited) As Frankie said this morning, I was not able to go online yesterday due to personal matters which essentially kept me up 24 hours; the only thing I did in connection with the election was to sign up to the Pledge. Rangers First should be an independent community interest company, happy to assist the Club but able to be the eyes and ears of the ordinary fan, adopt an independent stance where necessary, to protect the club. The current board will not be here forever and Rangers First can protect Rangers for the future by continuing to grow its shareholding. No director of Rangers First should receive any remuneration from Rangers Football Club be it directly or indirectly through their employer. 95% of all donations received from Rangers First members should be spent on share purchases with 5% for administration costs. Rangers First should be run by its directors on behalf of its members with the three founding principles of Accountability, Consultation and Transparency. We feel in all these areas Rangers First could improve. I want to make it clear that notwithstanding the foregoing I am 100% committed to a single fans organisation. However, I share the view of some people that the merger talks appear to be proceeding with undue haste and are shrouded in secrecy which has given rise to various concerns about the outcome. As an RF member I have called on the existing Directors for more transparency about the talks in line with the above principles. I am also concerned that the Club may be exerting undue influence on the talks through the attendance of Director, John Gilligan, his former associate Malcolm Stenhouse in the role of Consultant, his friend Alan Fraser ostensibly representing the defunct Rangers Fans Board and Andy Kerr representing the defunct Assembly; all of whose roles in these matters appear tenuous at best. That said it will be for the RF members to decide how to proceed once the full proposals are published. I have skimmed through the pages since this morning and will review the rest later and respond where I think it is necessary or appropriate. Thank you for your patience. Edited February 12, 2016 by BrahimHemdani 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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