Let's Stick Together

[ian1964 10,721]

By Lindsay Herron

 

SIR David Murray has called on all fans to unite with one aim, stop playing into the hands of Rangers' competitors by scoring own goals in the media and accept that he is acting to secure the financial future of the Club.

 

Some supporters were dismayed when they learned that a player had to be sold in the January transfer window and then a small group issued a 17-point list of complaints under the heading "We Deserve Better".

 

Today, the Rangers chairman clarifies the current position the Club is in, explains the new structure for the future and calls on every supporter to get behind the team as they strive to bring the Championship back to Ibrox.

 

Sir David MurraySir David has revealed that the squad will be trimmed from 28 down to 20 and bolstered by the best crop of youngsters that Murray Park has ever produced.

 

He has explained that money must be brought in to compensate for the losses of this season which have been exacerbated by the current economic downturn.

 

And he has reiterated that if he does not act with fiscal prudence then future investors may be put off and the financial future and stability could be undermined.

 

Speaking exclusively to Rangers Media, Sir David said: "Over the past couple of weeks there has been an increased amount of media reporting about our Club and for the avoidance of doubt the required clarity needs to be given to our supporters.

 

"If we go back to last year; it was a tremendous season. However, it is obvious that our runs in the two domestic cups and, of course, the memorable run to the UEFA Cup Final had a detrimental affect on winning the league.

 

"I think any fair-minded Rangers fan would agree with that.

 

"Then came the start of this season and we had the problem of Carlos Cuellar leaving the club on the back of the Kaunas result.

 

"I met with a group of supporters at that time and I told them that we were unaware that Cuellar was invoking his get-out clause and leaving but I also told them that we would spend the money received and that was achieved.Ally McCoist and Walter Smith

 

"At that point we had not entered the level of economic downturn which currently exists.

 

"We are no different from any other business. Our static overheads are too expensive and we have less revenue.

 

"You have to look to the future and analyse where additional revenues are going to come from outwith an extended run in Europe.

 

"We had to take these things into consideration because the Club must be run professionally and financially correct.

 

"Yes, we could continue to spend money but we would develop more problems and the Club would not be in a good condition.

 

"What we must not do is play into the hands of our competitors by scoring own goals in the media.

 

"We have to stick together and if we do that then we can come through this situation successfully.

 

"I accept as the Chairman of the Club I am not immune to analysis or criticism.

 

"We are a great Club with a great history but we must remain positive.

 

"This mischievous element that we have is only going to destroy the things that they supposedly care so passionately about.

 

Murray Park"I genuinely believe that the plans we put in place when Walter came back has been knocked off course by a couple of factors in a very, very difficult economic climate which I believe will become markedly worse before a recovery in the future.

 

"What I'm doing is not panicking. It is a controlled management of the Club.

 

"We have a financial facility with the bank and we must work within that framework.

 

"I spoke to Walter and confirmed the need to bring in funds to compensate for the fact we are going to make a loss this year.

 

"However, if we don't sell any of our players during this window then we don't sell any of our players during this window.

 

"I think most Rangers supporters must realise that our overheads are too high for our income.Chris Burke

 

"What can happen is when you announce that you are ready to sell then it can happen that regular first team players are targeted when you would rather that was not the case.

 

"I have a responsibility to run the business properly. It's easy for people to be critical, but they are not offering any solutions.

 

"As a Rangers fan I can understand why people are questioning why we are doing it but it's not just about the short-term, it's about the long-term financial stability of the Club."

 

The trimming of the squad has started with the departures of Jean-Claude Darcheville and Chris Burke and Rangers want to get to a situation where they work with a smaller group bolstered by a fine crop of younger players.

 

The Chairman added: "At the AGM in October Walter made it clear that the squad was too big and that we didn't need 28 full time pros and going forward he would run with 20 and younger players.

 

"It is no coincidence that players like Loy, Furman, McMillan and Shinnie are all out getting experience at the moment and we are hopeful they will come back ready to be part of the pJohn Flecklans.

 

"We have John Fleck, Jamie Ness and Danny Wilson now knocking on the first team door and they are undoubtedly part of our future.

 

"In November I did say that we needed to prune the squad and essentially move six or seven players.

 

"However, I also said that if there was an emergency then we would bring in a player if required.

 

"Murray Park is now bearing fruit. People have complained about our youth system but it takes time to work.

 

"We have never had so many players out on loan and we have never had so many promising young players.

 

"I understand that some fans have concerns but I hope they understand that I am acting in the best interests of the Club and if we stick together we can achieve our goals."

 

"Finally may I take this opportunity to thank all the supporters who have taken the time to write to give me their backing. Thank you, it is greatly appreciated."

[Frankie 8,562]

I'll let Bluedell reply to this (having seen his riposte elsewhere)....

 

Suffice to say, SDM never seems to keen on sticking together when it's not him being criticised.

[calscot 0]

Maybe SDM should be reading that himself - he seems to be the main one who's not sticking together with the fans as a whole.

 

His motto seems to be "All for Murray and Murray for Sir David".

[Bluedell 5,624]

Thanks, Frankie.

 

"If we go back to last year; it was a tremendous season. However, it is obvious that our runs in the two domestic cups and, of course, the memorable run to the UEFA Cup Final had a detrimental affect on winning the league.

"I think any fair-minded Rangers fan would agree with that.

"Then came the start of this season and we had the problem of Carlos Cuellar leaving the club on the back of the Kaunas result.

"I met with a group of supporters at that time and I told them that we were unaware that Cuellar was invoking his get-out clause and leaving but I also told them that we would spend the money received and that was achieved.

"At that point we had not entered the level of economic downturn which currently exists.

The economic climate has minimal effect on the club's trading. Revenues might be marginally down, but that is it.

 

"We are no different from any other business. Our static overheads are too expensive and we have less revenue.

Whio allowed the overheads to become too expensive? They haven't become too expensive because of the credit cruch.

 

"You have to look to the future and analyse where additional revenues are going to come from outwith an extended run in Europe.

"We had to take these things into consideration because the Club must be run professionally and financially correct.

Correct. that is what the fans are asking for and you seem to take umbrage at that for some reason.

 

"Yes, we could continue to spend money but we would develop more problems and the Club would not be in a good condition.

"What we must not do is play into the hands of our competitors by scoring own goals in the media.

"We have to stick together and if we do that then we can come through this situation successfully.

Your definition of sticking together seems to be that everybody has to stick with you. What about you sticking with the support for once? Try practicing what you preach.

 

 

"I accept as the Chairman of the Club I am not immune to analysis or criticism.

You ARE unable to handle it though.....

 

"We are a great Club with a great history but we must remain positive.

"This mischievous element that we have is only going to destroy the things that they supposedly care so passionately about.

....so much so that those that criticise you are described as "mischievous" :roll:

 

"I genuinely believe that the plans we put in place when Walter came back has been knocked off course by a couple of factors in a very, very difficult economic climate which I believe will become markedly worse before a recovery in the future.

The factors are Walter wasting money in transfers, not qualifying for the CL and an inability by the directors to control costs, all of which have nothing to do with the economic climate. He really should stop throwing in that red herring.

 

"What I'm doing is not panicking. It is a controlled management of the Club.

"We have a financial facility with the bank and we must work within that framework.

Trying to sell our top scorer reeks of panic.

 

"I spoke to Walter and confirmed the need to bring in funds to compensate for the fact we are going to make a loss this year.

"However, if we don't sell any of our players during this window then we don't sell any of our players during this window.

Very astute, but you don't explain what the implications for the club's cashflow are.

 

"I think most Rangers supporters must realise that our overheads are too high for our income.

We do realise that. However there are only two people to blame for that and they should have taken action earlier to prevent it.

 

"What can happen is when you announce that you are ready to sell then it can happen that regular first team players are targeted when you would rather that was not the case.

"I have a responsibility to run the business properly. It's easy for people to be critical, but they are not offering any solutions.

If you don't explain what is happening then it's difficult to offer solutions. Perhaps if you had followed up on your broken promise to appoint a fan onto the board then fans would be able to offer solutions. I'm happy to come in and review current operations and offer solutions.

 

 

"As a Rangers fan I can understand why people are questioning why we are doing it but it's not just about the short-term, it's about the long-term financial stability of the Club."

I have seen no sign of long term financial planning for the club in the last 10 years.

 

The trimming of the squad has started with the departures of Jean-Claude Darcheville and Chris Burke and Rangers want to get to a situation where they work with a smaller group bolstered by a fine crop of younger players.

I'm sure that was also said 5 years ago.

 

The Chairman added: "At the AGM in October Walter made it clear that the squad was too big and that we didn't need 28 full time pros and going forward he would run with 20 and younger players.

Please explain why we have 28 pros then, and why nobody is answerable for allowing the squad to get that big.

[ian1964 10,721]

by Matthew Lindsay

 

# What will happen if we don't sell star

 

# Crisis caught us all by surprise

 

# True blues need to stick together

SIR DAVID MURRAY today insisted he won't panic at Rangers' failure to off-load a big name star as the transfer window edges towards conclusion.

 

The Ibrox supermo shocked fans earlier this month by accepting Birmingham's �£3.8million bid for Kris Boyd, citing a need to balance the books as the reason for that move.

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But the Boyd deal collapsed over personal terms and now appears to be dead - leaving fans wondering what will happen should no-one be shipped out before Monday's 5pm signing deadline.

 

Madjid Bougherra, Pedro Mendes, Steven Davis, Barry Ferguson Allan McGregor and Boyd remain players who could be targeted by potential suitors.

 

But Murray today insisted: "What I'm doing is not panicking. It is a controlled management of the club. We have a financial facility with the bank and we must work within that framework.

 

"I spoke to Walter and confirmed the need to bring in funds to compensate for the fact we are going to make a loss this year.

 

"However, if we don't sell any of our players during this window then we don't sell any of our players during this window."

 

Murray has been heavily criticised by sections of his own support for sanctioning the Boyd sale.

 

But he moved today to fully explain why he's had to take this course of action as he attempts to keep the lid on debts that have risen to around �£25m.

 

"At the start of this season and we had the problem of Carlos Cuellar leaving the club on the back of the Kaunas result," Murray said.

 

"I met with a group of supporters at that time and I told them that we were unaware that Cuellar was invoking his get-out clause and leaving. But I also told them that we would spend the money received and that was achieved.

 

"At that point we had not entered the level of economic downturn which currently exists.

 

"You have to look to the future and analyse where additional revenues are going to come from outwith an extended run in Europe.

 

"We had to take these things into consideration because the club must be run professionally and financially correct.

 

"Yes, we could continue to spend money but we would develop more problems and the club would not be in a good condition.

 

"I genuinely believe that the plans we put in place when Walter came back has been knocked off course by a couple of factors in a very, very difficult economic climate - which I believe will become markedly worse before a recovery in the future."

 

Murray says he accepts his accepts criticism, but called for fans to unify and stop the in-fighting that has gone on since some fans groups launched the We Deserve Better' campaign.

 

He told Rangers Media: "I have a responsibility to run the business properly. It's easy for people to be critical, but they are not offering any solutions.

 

"As a Rangers fan I can understand why people are questioning why we are doing it but it's not just about the short-term, it's about the long-term financial stability.

 

"We have to stick together and if we do that then we can come through this situation successfully. I accept as the chairman of the club I am not immune to analysis or criticism.

 

"This mischievous element that we have is only going to destroy the things that they supposedly care so passionately about."

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2485178.0.chairman_murrays_message_to_rangers_fans_no_panic.php

[Big Spliff 0]

SDM moves in bizarre zig-zag patterns does he not?

 

First he says it would have been "bad" had Boyd not been sold. Now he's says if nobody goes then nobody goes.

 

He embarrasses the club by announcing a serious liquidity issue then notices that you get bids for players you dont want to leave by announcing that everyone's for sale. The CEO gets into a ridiculous slagging match with Willie McLies over the touting of players then he slags the supporters off for scoring media OG's.

 

My question remains; what has changed financially since the start of the month and wtf is he going to do behind the scenes to avert the "badness"? He talks long-term, but acts short-term and I don't like the smell of it one bit.

[Frankie 8,562]

The hypocrisy and mistakes in his recent statments smacks of nothing but panic to be honest.

 

The pressure is getting to him clearly.

[Bluedell 5,624]

SDM moves in bizarre zig-zag patterns does he not?

 

First he says it would have been "bad" had Boyd not been sold. Now he's says if nobody goes then nobody goes.

 

The two statements aren't mutually exclusive. If nobody goes, then obviously nobody goes but it will still be "bad".

[Guest Dw3132]

So using Murray's line of thought anybody who dare question his running of the club is "mischievous" ?

[calscot 0]

As far as I can tell, attendances have stayed pretty much the same so revenue there can't have declined much and it's already "copper bottomed" by record season ticket sales.

 

Advertising and TV money were already negotiated and fixed before the credit crunch and we have a guaranteed income from merchandising sales.

 

The biggest costs are players wages and they will not have increased since the start of the season and should actually be less than budgeted for due to no European football and less win bonuses than we need to win the league.

 

Cost of sales for food may have increased but that will have minimal impact on us as we get paid about 1M a year for the catering.

 

The only increase in costs I can see is the gas and electricity bills as well as the current "climate" ie a harsh winter meaning we're probably using the under soil heating more often. However the latter should be balanced by not having to replace the pitch twice a season this year.

 

However the cut in interest rates should mean we save quite a bit on our overdraft and bank loans which should more than balance out any increase in fuel bills.

 

Other than that, I can't think of any other reasons for a big drop in revenue or a big hike in costs.

 

Even many of the fans won't be feeling the pinch too much this year due to not forking out for CL and UEFA tickets as well as a few hundred quid on the final, not to mention the cut in interest rates and VAT.

 

So for the moment, I can't see any financial crisis looming except circumstances directly caused by the board of RFC...