Paul Murray breaks his Rangers silence as he praises Steven Gerrard's work

[ian1964 10,724]

The former Ibrox director is confident that Rangers will keep getting stronger under Gerrard and Dave King.

Paul Murray helped win the Battle of the Blue Room then watched as Rangers toiled in their next battle against the Blue Brazil.

The former Ibrox director only has to look back four years to scoff at cynics who reckon Rangers are not making 
progress under Dave King and Steven Gerrard.

It is a year to the day next week – May 2 2018 – when Murray stepped down from the board he served diligently from 2007.

But he remains close to the club’s powerbrokers.

He helped expose the sham of the Craig Whyte regime before assisting King and the Three Bears in wrestling control from the Mike Ashley axis that was holding sway.

It has been a long road back to recovery but the Gerrard regime – financed by King and other investors – is beginning to bear fruit, Murray insists.

In a rare interview, he said: “We took over the club on March 6, 2015 and the following day, with all due respect to 
Cowdenbeath, we played at Central Park and drew 0-0. I have pulled Jimmy Nicholl’s leg a few times about it because he was the manager at the time and the previous Saturday they had lost 10-0 to Hearts.

“You must look at the 
progression from that point to where we are now – and that is only four years.

“Obviously, we would’ve liked to have won the league by now.

“Clearly, we have to win it at some point and any fair minded person would say the club has made progress, particularly in the last 12 months.

“It has been down to relatively fine margins in key matches. That is different to last season where we had some pretty heavy defeats, particularly by Celtic.

“That hasn’t happened this year. If that is the measure of progress, then we have progressed.”

Murray has a point – in nine defeats this season, Rangers have lost by more than one goal only once, in the Scottish Cup replay against Aberdeen at Ibrox in March when they went down 2-0.

Last season they lost 13 games in all competitions and seven games were by more than a goal, including 4-0 and 5-0 thumpings by Celtic and two-goal defeats from the likes of Hamilton, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Progres Niederkorn.

Gerrard has helped restore credibility to the club again, particularly in a 14-match run that took them into the group stage of the Europa League.

They are on course to finish closer to Celtic than last time around and a distance ahead of Aberdeen, who had established themselves as the second force in the Scottish game.

But major silverware remains elusive and Murray acknowledges the club have still to rid 
themselves of the blight of 
inconsistency that has seen them win four games in a row only once this season.

He said: “As a fan now as opposed to a board member, there has been a lack of 
consistency in some matches.

“We have drawn too many big games, perhaps resulting from a lack of quality in key areas. It has been those fine margins in key matches where we have taken one point rather than three.

“Steven is about to go into his second season and I’m pretty sure he will have learned from this campaign.

“He will have learned about the teams we face, the football they play, the fact Rangers and Celtic have to win every game and when you go to places like Hamilton you have to grind a result out.

“We have made progress and with a bit of investment in key areas and a bit more consistency we can go far.”

How far, of course, depends on the cash made available to Gerrard this summer to finance the fine tuning Murray believes is needed to make Rangers title challengers again.

Murray has taken King’s comments in a recent letter to season ticket holder, claiming Rangers were close again to becoming the dominant force in Scottish football, as more tongue in cheek than boardroom bluster.

King has invested more than £40million to seize control of Rangers and underwrite its rebuild but Murray knows if the club are to kick on financially that means winning the 
Premiership and gaining access to Champions League riches.

He added: “We said after winning control it wasn’t going to be a short-term project because of the damage that had been done to the club over many years.

“It was going to be hard to repair and no-one was under any illusions about how long that would take.

“You always want to do things quicker but there has been steady progress. Dave has been consistent in saying we want to get the club to a sustainable financial position and the only real way of doing that is to get regular European participation.

“This year, I would imagine the Europa League was a bit of a bonus and although it has improved financially, the 
Champions League is obviously still the place you want to be.

“They can keep the investment in the club for the short to medium term but to make the Champions League means winning the league at some point, which must be the focus.”

Celtic may hardly be motoring over the finishing line to eight-in-a-row but they have put enough in the tank throughout the campaign to see it out.

They will also regroup in the summer in a bid to continue their dominance, particularly with 10-in-a-row in sight, but Murray knows the strain of that goal can cut 
both ways.

He said: “I was around when Rangers won nine-in-a-row and it works both ways.

“It pressures the team who are chasing but it also pressures the team who are leading – in the sense you feel the 
expectation the closer it gets.

“I remember Rangers’ quest for 10-in-a-row. We arguably should have won it but you could see the pressure starting to build on the players as we got closer to the finishing line.

“For us, as fans, we have to focus on Rangers.”

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/paul-murray-details-how-rangers-14479414

[Gonzo79 15,294]

All in all, an agreeable interview.  Although I wish our club would avoid giving interviews to the gutter press.

 

Any Bear who buys that rag needs to have a re-think.

[Bill 13,717]

Yes, I'd much rather have read that on the Rangers website.

 

I'd also like to understand more about why he stepped down from the board.

[buster. 5,199]

Like em or not, the press remain a significant conduit and need to be used for positive communication where possible.

 

This article is effectively a free advert that hits the mark.

[Tannochsidebear 2,413]

As usual Paul Murray is out of touch with ordinary Bears if he thinks it is acceptable to give an interview to the one paper above all others that constantly do us down, highlight our players failings, promote our rivals, talk up our rivals players, and basically shite on everything to do with our club and its fans.

 

There are plenty of ways to get this out there, not that he actually says anything new or of interest, than use the Rhebel. 

[buster. 5,199]

1 minute ago, Tannochsidebear said:

As usual Paul Murray is out of touch with ordinary Bears if he thinks it is acceptable to give an interview to the one paper above all others that constantly do us down, highlight our players failings, promote our rivals, talk up our rivals players, and basically shite on everything to do with our club and its fans.

 

There are plenty of ways to get this out there, not that he actually says anything new or of interest, than use the Rhebel. 

Back in the spiv era, the DR effectively served as the good guys conduit to get information out there and during this time relationships formed and as tends to be the way, endure to varying degrees.

 

Yes, there has been negative coverage (just as there has been many negative aspects to our clubs affairs) but ignoring the decent coverage or not even wanting it when it serves a positive purpose isn't a good or realistic way forward.

 

 

[Walterbear 557]

5 hours ago, Bill said:

Yes, I'd much rather have read that on the Rangers website.

 

I'd also like to understand more about why he stepped down from the board.

Off field reasons mate. One of my best pals is one of his best pals and has known him all his life. Pressure of the situation at Rangers and time required allied to his personal life made it impossible. 

 

I could give you what personal reason is but its nothing more than thousands go through. I wouldn’t worry about it. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Walterbear

[Tannochsidebear 2,413]

8 hours ago, buster. said:

Back in the spiv era, the DR effectively served as the good guys conduit to get information out there and during this time relationships formed and as tends to be the way, endure to varying degrees.

 

Yes, there has been negative coverage (just as there has been many negative aspects to our clubs affairs) but ignoring the decent coverage or not even wanting it when it serves a positive purpose isn't a good or realistic way forward.

 

 

The Rhebel was also more than happy to do Jack Irvine’s bidding during that time, and there were far more negative, false or misleading stories than correct ones. 

 

Even if if that were true of back then, the commercial agreement between CFC and the Rhebel signed since, coupled with the editorial policy of Rangers - bad,  tims - good, should mean that particular  publication, ran by and for tims, should NEVER be used by our players, officials, Directors or even ex-directors. 

[Soulsonic5791 408]

11 hours ago, Tannochsidebear said:

As usual Paul Murray is out of touch with ordinary Bears if he thinks it is acceptable to give an interview to the one paper above all others that constantly do us down, highlight our players failings, promote our rivals, talk up our rivals players, and basically shite on everything to do with our club and its fans.

 

There are plenty of ways to get this out there, not that he actually says anything new or of interest, than use the Rhebel. 

In one sir.

 

I read the basic gist of this elsewhere today but the source was unattributed. I thought to myself, 'he's bound to have spoken to the Rhecord' and lo and behold, that's exactly what he has done. Regardless of how measured his comments are, the fact that PM chooses that rag as his conduit to the support beggars belief and shows how out of step he is with the mainstream support. This isn't fifteen or twenty years ago Paul ffs! 

 

Why not release a statement via Club1872?

 

Missed opportunity if you ask me.

[buster. 5,199]

double

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by buster.