Sack the Board, Sack the Board, Sack the Board…

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This blog has always tried to be
fair, and neutral. It has tried to avoid any bandwagons and ‘following of the
herd’ and to remain as impartial as possible. Naturally, writers are only human
and therefore subtle bias and subjectivity will rear their ugly heads and the
values of a person inevitably imbue the way in which they compile their
thoughts and feelings. In other words, no matter how hard you try to sit on the
fence and see both gardens, the grass of one of them will always be your
favourite destination.
That all said, before I turn this
piece into pseudo-intellectual claptrap (albeit some might say ‘too late’) I
cannot help feeling that Rangers fans are failing to think for themselves these
days, and are all-too-easily following propaganda, agendas, misinformation and
successful attempts to play to the galleries which results in certain parties
programming the brain of the average fan, who thinks he or she is actually
thinking for themselves.
You may wonder where the blazes I
am going with this. So I will put you out your misery.
Today at Ibrox the plan by the
Union of Fans to persuade fans to display blue cards on the 18th and 72nd
minutes of the match appeared to be a success. Fans did indeed, by the majority
hold them up, and sing loudly and proudly, ‘sack the board’. That is their
protest and they are entitled to that, even if it appears to be once again
powers-that-be programming them through smart manipulation into it.
However, the problem with ‘sack
the board’ is that it is the second time in 4 months fans have sung it. Now, in
itself that is arguably not the problem. Fans can sing sack the board as many
times as they deem fit.
The problem is that this is the
third distinct and separate board Rangers have had since coming out of
administration. Yet it seems to me fans are screaming ‘sack the board’ as if
Charles Green is still the CEO.
Let us look at the facts;
Charles Green’s Sevco consortium
took the club over – the board was composed of thus:
CEO, Charles Green.
Chairman, Walter Smith, then
Malcolm Murray.
Finance Director, Brian
Stockbridge
Non-execs, Bryan Smart, Phil
Cartmell and Ian Hart.
Let us sack the board. Ok….
Green thus quit, and was replaced
by Craig Mather.
CEO, Craig Mather

Chairman, Malcolm Murray
Finance Director, Brian
Stockbridge
Non-execs, Ian Hart, Bryan Smart
and James Easdale.
Let us sack the board. Ok…
CEO, Graham Wallace
Chairman, David Somers
Finance Director – none
Non-execs, Norman Crighton, James
Easdale
Let us sack the board…
Now, before I ramble on, I
require to point out I am not defending the current incarnation of Rangers’
board explicitly. Wallace did tell a porkie in saying we have enough cash
before engaging in loans because…well…we do not. But it was a lie I felt
was necessary. If Wallace had announced publicly ‘yes lads, we have no cash
left, time for loans or possibly administration again’ Rangers fans, who have
already been through hell and back, would have felt like a return ticket to
Hades was being given to them once again.
A little white lie, if you like.
However, and herein lies the
consistent problem which has dogged Rangers since June 2012 – our expenditure
totally outweighs our income. Because we are not in a league which can support
what we spend. Does a whale suddenly require less food when it gets put in a
swimming pool? No, it does not, and we are the whale with nourishment needs far
outweighing what the swimming pools of lower-tier Scottish football can sustain
us with.
And can someone possibly explain
how yet another different man in a suit would be able to manifest that loss of money
out of thin air when Graham Wallace/Charles Green/Craig Mather (take your pick)
cannot? Unless that different man in a suit actually has money himself, and
after all this time no one seems to, it makes absolutely no difference who is
actually pushing Rangers’ paperwork and accounts. Because they are hamstrung by
the same issues of loss of
CL revenue, loss of TV revenue, reduced merchandising and massive loss
of gate receipts, not to mention the reduction in season ticket prices
;
popular at the time by Charles Green but it is yet another loss of cash for the
club which strangled income hellishly. These massive reductions in income are
killing the club.
Now, I know you are all pointing
to that large elephant in the room called Dave King. I know he is regarded as
the saviour, but unfortunately he is not. I am taking a risk with the next
piece of information, as I cannot 100% back it up by showing you all invoices
and receipts, but it is my understanding, as sourced from a former director,
that Dave King did indeed invest £20M into the club during his time as a
director. The part few know about is he got £18M of it back. Like I say I
cannot prove this, so do with that information what you will, but the point is
I do not believe him to be the messiah the majority do.
And his plan to have a Union of
Fans withhold ST from the club will, categorically, if successful, bring
Rangers into administration within a month of that loss of cash.
Because who exactly decides if
Rangers get the money? And what right do they have to appoint themselves judge
and jury to the club’s life support system? What constitutes ‘transparency’? I
felt Wallace speaking to the press several times to give information
constituted ‘transparency’ – is that not what it is? To explain what is going
on?
Apparently that is not good
enough. I am not quite sure what is. Do fans want the bank account statements
of all club employees? Do they want the intimate details of Wallace’s marriage
or Somers’ kids school address? What constitutes the information fans want?
Does any club anywhere else go under this level of insane scrutiny? Now I hear
the fans and Dave King want the deeds. John Brown was rightly castigated for
such an embarrassing demand, with parodies of ‘where’s the deeeeeds’ rife over
Twitter. But now it is perfectly acceptable to ask it again?!
But no, let us just sack the
board, and keep on sacking the board until eventually fans maybe get the idea
that the money is the problem, not the people desperately trying to keep the
club afloat.
I also noticed a long-standing
campaign to get rid of Jack Irvine and Media House was successful. I do not
entirely object to this turn of events – some of his statements were atrocious
at best. However, when I saw a quote in the press, from one of those who
campaigned for his removal, then complaining about said removal as some kind of
‘publicity stunt’, it makes you laugh. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,
as they say.
Anyway, I have ranted for as long
as I should.
At least we won today eh? 🙂

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20 COMMENTS

  1. Fantastic sensible post and one I wish some people would study and learn from. Your take on things is absolutely spot on and I applaud your honesty and fairness…..please keep up the sensible unbiased journo….just a shame the Scottish media can't follow suit.

    GSTQ

  2. I am sorry but I disagree with your conclusions.You ask what level of transparency is good enough? I will tell you.
    1) Who owns Rangers? Identify the owners of the shares. Can it be shown who bought Charles Green's shares? Who owns or is behind Margarita and Blue Pitch (apologies for any misspelling)
    2) I understand and reluctantly accept your defence of Wallace for lying about the finances, although there has been lots of time to explain the position. BUT, why were alternative, cheaper sources of finance not examined rather than pay 15% for what may be a 3 month loan, then giving a massive security over that loan as well?
    3) Why was it necessary to pass a resolution at the AGM allowing people to be sold share at well below market price? Why can people not be found to invest in the club at the going rate?
    4) I thought John Brown was asking "Where's the deeds?" That is different from giving the fans a position which makes it impossible for the stadium and training ground to be sold or borrowed against.
    5) Wallace keeps talking about transparency but does not deliver.Why is Dave King not to be encouraged to invest? We all know money is needed, the club have just borrowed against next season's ticket money. So there will be less money next season. What will they borrow against then? At what interest rate? From who? What will they have to promise or pledge to get the next loan?

    If Mr Wallace comes clean and answers all these questions, I might have some faith in him. He already knows the answers to these questions. So why not share the answers with us?

  3. Who owns Rangers? Well I will tell you who doesn't and that's both McColl or King, despite having every opportunity to do so when the club was going for a song, no sign of the dynamic duo when it looked like there was real money required……real Rangers men my arse…..King is a crook, FACT, trust him with your season ticket money at your peril…he isn't getting any of mine that's for sure.

    • King is not as big a crook as the ones within our walls.
      However, if you are happy to give them your hard earned cash, then that is your choice.
      prepare to be shafted again, and you will desrve it.

    • Easdale is a crook, that is also a fact, in FACT, he's been in the tin pail, or were you forgetting that.
      Black's 'AGENT' who went to Hampden with him after his betting debacle, has also just been jailed for almost four years.
      22million is missing without explanation, but King is a crook?
      You need sectioned and put on the strongest medication possible if you back the load of scum we have within' Ibrox.
      The place is filthy…………..

  4. Wait,you think it is okay for venture capitalists to tell our fans a blatant lie about the corporate governance of our club? we have just witnessed most of two lots of season ticket money and £22.4M of IPO money disappear in 18 months,and "another suit" is the whole point of the exercise for this mob so your statement on what is the point of another suit is astonishing as that is exactly what will happen because that is all part of their plan to financially damage our club and it will continue until they are stopped

  5. A dangerous, smug rant. Dave King has a genuine regard for Rangers and is now in a position to save our club from the current stakeholders. (whoever they might be?). Rangers fans must unite behind him!

  6. King was on the board when murray punted the club/company for £1. Why did he not up the ante and offer £1.50

  7. Dave Kings plans will drive Rangers into administration and that's not a rant that is based on fact, so if that's what you want, rally behind the King, I suppose when it all goes tits up we could rally round and sack another board for a change
    Take his plan to any financial institution and ask them how workable it is and you will see, there are too many grey areas and too many loopholes in it. When you buy a season ticket you enter into an agreement with the club for a given seat for a given amount of games, can anyone please explain how that will work when you enter into a contract with a third party who has no guarantee from the club of ANY season ticket allocations and definitely not any given seat, I thought that was the essence of buying a season ticket in the first place.

    Maybe I am thick and can't quite grasp this scenario, if so many people do pay their season ticket money into this fund and the club says , no we don't want to play your games, seats will be available to anyone who wants them, where does that leave everyone?

    If anyone knows this and any other answer to the myriad of questions and worries around this plan please let us know.

  8. I couldn't agree more. We have been spooked by the last few years and are reacting too quickly.
    We do need assurance though, and we need them before the season ticket renewals, but witholding season ticket money will shut us down, so it needs to happen now.

  9. King wont buy any shares!
    McColl wont buy any shares!
    How long will the deluded swallow "not giving money to the spivs" excuse.
    No-ones riding over the hill to save The Rangers like they didn't before liquidation of Rangers.
    Wake up and smell the bullshit!
    We're lovin it 🙂

    • Rangers werent liquidated and your use of the word 'The ' is correct. We have always been called The Rangers. Nice that you know our history.

  10. Help? God knows who is right/wrong in this debacle

    Don't know who trust but getting very weary with it all

  11. On Saturday we were given the opportunity to show our feelings against the board by showing the blue cards on 18th and 72nd minutes. I had a card but I chose not to show it. Why?
    Well I am fully behind the group of fans who do not want to see any loans set against Rangers Football Club asstets, The Stadium,. Murray Park, Albion car park and Edmiston House, but am against pledging or actually placing my season ticket money with any Supporters Group backed by Dave King or any other pseudo saviour of our club.
    If the main group of season ticket holders do not renew their season tickets and go for the Supporters Group, firstly they will lose their allocated seat, a minor point if their proposed plan is successful in achieving their aims. Secondly as the original post states it will almost be inevitable the club would enter administration.
    But, as the original poster states, he is not taking sides, neither am I, but I won't be led like a sheep and will make judgement as and when I find out fact from faction or fiction. We need to be very careful on what we belive we reaqd in the media and in blogs too. The anonymity in the blogs scares me as much as the anonymity in who owns Margareta Holdings and Blue Chip (rumour has it its the Vatican Bank and Fergus McCann) joke!! On the other hand, if I was a winner on the Euro Lottery I'd invest heavily in the club, but to preserve my fantastic luck, would I want to be known publicly? I'll leave that answer to the wise.
    My final point, the blue cards on Saturday, were specific to Season Ticket holders, but not exclusively as we as fans all have a say in the running of our club, but with a probable 80 to 90% in favour, some 10 to 20% of those in attendance abstained, so proportionally there may be more supporters for the board than was highlighted in the demonstration.
    I for one am still open-minded and thats the way I stay until the knight on a white charger comes to rescue us.

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