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? 🙂