Paul Murray: Rangers will NOT be put into any financial risk in the pursuit of Celtic

[ian1964 10,625]

...but we WILL compete for the title

 

MARK WARBURTON'S side clinched the Championship title and promotion to the top flight on Tuesday night with a win over Dumbarton.

 

RANGERS director Paul Murray insists the Light Blues board will take a smart and sensible approach to life in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

 

Mark Warburton's side clinched the Championship title and promotion to the top flight on Tuesday night with a 1-0 home win over Dumbarton at Ibrox.

 

According to Murray it marked the end of "four years of misery" for the Govan club, who re-emerged in the bottom tier of Scottish football in 2012 following a financial meltdown.

 

After celebrating with the supporters, midfielder Andy Halliday spoke of challenging Celtic for the title next season and while Murray is no less ambitious, he outlined the way forward using a four-pronged strategy.

 

He said: "First of all let's enjoy last night. It has been a long time coming and we should enjoy our successes and there are still a number of very important games to go this season.

 

"But it returns us to where we think we should be, the top flight of Scottish football and in many ways it is phase one.

 

"Phase two is to get the club back to competitive level with a view to winning the Premiership title and we want to do that as soon as we can.

 

"The board to a man are all Rangers fans first and foremost so we understand that it is not enough for the Rangers fans for the team to go up into the league and simply make up the numbers.

 

"I am not going to make outlandish promises and say we are going to win the league in the first season but we will obviously try and make the team as competitive as we can as quickly as possible.

 

"I don't think you can put figures on that. It is not always about throwing money at the situation. First and foremost we don't want to put the club into financial risk.

 

"We have just been through four years of misery so we are not going to do it again.

 

"Obviously the benchmark in Scotland is Celtic

 

"With a combination of investment, a good management team which we believe we have, a good recruitment structure which we have put in place behind the scenes and also a progressive youth structure, putting that together, there is no reason why we can't compete pretty quickly."

 

Read more at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/paul-murray-rangers-not-put-7704482#l0WKRPBPQvSrhoI7.99

[Bearman 9]

Wish the DR and others for that matter would stop going on about Rangers having to spend money to win the league.

 

Football is all about how a TEAM plays under good managerial skills, Rangers have that, they don't, simples.

 

A bunch of stagnate overpaid individuals, they have that, we don't, simples.

[RANGERRAB 3,461]

It will be interesting to see who is their manager next season. I don't think it will be Deila.

[Bearman 9]

It will be interesting to see who is their manager next season. I don't think it will be Deila.

 

When asked last night about Rangers promotion after watching his own team stutter again, he looked bored and uninterested.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Paul is like the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he'll pull a rabbit out the hat now and then.

[forlanssister 3,092]

Thank f*&k!

[cooponthewing 1,139]

I still have a feeling the pondlife are in more financial strife than had come to light yet, they haven't got bundles to spend, if they do, it's not their money they are spending. We will compete just fine, they are already using their BBC And general media machine against us! We could do very well next year and they could very well implode! WATP

[Frankie 8,371]

A fairly interesting Q&A with PM in the Record:

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-director-paul-murray-year-7704757#ZJK25bhskckV1uEE.97

[der Berliner 3,564]

We sure wish them well (don't we?), but let's read it on here ...

 

Rangers director Paul Murray: This year was great.. but NOTHING compares to the joy on John Greig's face when the title was won

 

06:00, 7 Apr 2016 By Keith Jackson

 

IN an exclusive Q+A with our own Keith Jackson, the Ibrox director looks forward to the challenges ahead in Scotland's top-flight.

 

FIVE years ago Paul Murray was thrown off the Rangers board by the club's new owner Craig Whyte.

 

On Tuesday night he was back in the directors box at Ibrox watching his team secure promotion to the Premiership.

 

It was a moment of monumental pride for him and here, in an exclusive Q+A with Keith Jackson, the Rangers director looks forward to the challenges ahead in Scotland's top-flight...

 

KJ: How does it feel to have achieved what you have over the last year?

 

PM: It’s great. I have a real sense of pride in the club, the supporters, the board and the management team. I think we feel a sense of pride we’ve got Rangers back into the top division of Scotland – where we think they belong.

 

KJ: People talk about the journey. You weren’t actually on board for most of it. Talk us through the last four years from your own personal perspective and does this feel like a moment of closure?

 

PM: It feels like the end of phase one. We are now back where we were four years ago but there is a lot more to do.

We want to make the club competitive in the Premiership, to get back into Europe and the Champions League. Phase one was getting the club into the position to be able to move forward. We’ve now got a very clear plan, a brand of football that is really exciting, the fans have bought into it, we have a stable situation on the board.

Everything is in front of us now and we can start to plan with a degree of certainty.

It’s actually coming up for five years since Craig Whyte bought the club. It has been a long time and a lot has happened during those five years. But the most important thing now is to look forward.

 

KJ: Yes but was there any moment in those five years when you thought the situation had become completely unrecoverable?

 

PM: There were quite a few moments like that over the years. The biggest thing that’s changed in the last year is the fact the club is covered on the back pages rather than the front pages. That’s been our biggest achievement off the field.

We are trying to bring back the standards of the club. Every member of the board is a Rangers supporter. That’s not the only criteria but we all understand the club and we understand what it means to people. We are all there for the right reasons and acting in the club’s best interests.

One of the most important changes for me has happened behind the scenes with the staff. When myself, John Gilligan and Dave King walked round the offices at Ibrox on March 6 last year, after we had won the general meeting, we realised the impact the last few years had had on the people working there. I’ve never seen any staff at such a low ebb.

So, apart form winning the league last night, the thing I take most pride in is the fact those same staff are smiling again and happy at their work.

 

KJ: What about outside the four walls of Ibrox? Do you think the rest of the top flight will be pleased to see you next season?

 

PM: Look, we know a lot of people out there will always criticise us and with some there is no basis to engage in a reasonable conversation.

But the majority of people I engage with – and judging by the texts and messages I’ve had in the last 24 hours – are delighted Rangers are back. As Gordon Strachan has said, the top flight of Scottish football needs all of its biggest clubs back to have any chance of moving the game and the national team forward. Rangers are one of those top clubs.

Any fair-minded person can see in the four years we’ve been away things haven’t gone that well in Scottish football. Anyone who sees it as a negative is looking at it in a fairly warped way.

 

KJ: You’ve had messages of support from chairmen and directors of other clubs. Was that a surprise?

 

PM: No because we said when we came in one of the things we wanted to do was bring back Rangers standards. I was criticised for saying Rangers and Celtic have been at the forefront of developing Scottish football over the years and we have a responsibility to continue to do that.

For that reason, I felt we had to re-engage with mainstream society and the football authorities. We have been doing that behind the scenes so it doesn’t surprise me at all that other clubs have been congratulating us.

 

KJ: So what now? How can you fund the manager’s requirements for recruitment with so much legal activity around the club and your inability to raise money on the stock exchange?

 

PM: We understand what is expected of the board and know next year will be a different situation. We have to compete. It’s not enough to go into the Premiership just to exist as a mid-table club. We are not unrealistic.

We believe in the manager and his team. We have backed him so far in everything he has wanted to do and we’ll back him going forward. But equally we are going to do things in the long-term interests of the club. In the past we’ve been accused of short-term thinking and wasting money. We have to do things in a more sensible way.

 

KJ: Is the main priority no longer winning trophies at all costs?

 

PM: We are custodians of the club. It’s our responsibility to pass it on to the next generation of fans in a better shape than when we got it.

If there has been one benefit from the last four years – and there have not been many – then it’s the understanding of the importance of looking after the club’s best interests. That has been shown to us in a very graphic way.

The board are committed to that. We will never expose the club to that level of risk again.

 

KJ: So after last night, was there a quiet moment of reflection?

 

PM: I took my two sons to the match. It was good to have them there because they have been part of the last four years and they’ve seen some of the stuff from the inside. It was good for them to be there and enjoy it.

We actually had a walk on the pitch after the game which is something I’ve not done often over the years. But we walked to the centre spot and just looked around. It was a great feeling. I think everyone associated with the club last night felt really proud to be a Ranger.

But it’s not about me. It’s about the club. We are now back in the Premiership with a clear plan, a great management team and a board people can trust. Yes we will make mistakes and there will be low points but people can rest assured we’ll always act in the best interests of the club.

 

KJ: Throughout it all you said you wanted nothing more than to get back to being a fan. Mission accomplished?

 

PM: The biggest thing for me – one of my greatest pleasures in life – is seeing John Greig back in his seat at Ibrox. I first met John many, many years ago but it’s just great to sit beside him at every home match in his new role as honourary life president.

I know how much it hurt him when he chose to stay away. He has been there for almost 50 years and symbolises what the club is about. To sit beside him and to see his joy when we got back to the top division was a great feeling.

 

KJ: You’ve got Celtic in the Cup in 10 days and then you’ll be attempting to catch them in the league next season. How much work is required to bridge the gap?

 

PM: The most important decision we had to make last summer was appointing a first-team manager. We spent a lot of time on that before appointing Mark and David Weir. So far it’s gone really well. We trust their plan to build a team that can compete with Celtic. It’s the board’s job to support them. We are in that planning stage at the moment.

 

KJ: Is it possible to win the title next season?

 

PM: We want to be competitive as soon as possible and obviously as soon as possible is next season. The fans will expect it and we have to aim for it. Whether we can achieve it is another question.

Celtic will be having the same conversations about strengthening, as will Aberdeen, Hearts and one or two other clubs. We know the demands at Rangers and know we have to compete as quickly as possible.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-director-paul-murray-year-7704757#ZJK25bhskckV1uEE.97

[rbr 1,254]

It's only what many of us having been wanting for years , live within your means , proper scouting etc etc , but the Paul Murray haters will be all over this