Some Bears discuss all things Rangers
outside the Stadium before the match. 

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OOT THE WINDAE

Well, at the closing of the transfer window, it looks like our Championship hopes have gone out the window along with the 7 players that our esteemed pair of Whyte and Smith have managed to get rid of to save wages, without any being replaced, bar the arrival of Celik. Big earners Weir and Jelavic have gone as well as young hopefuls, McMillan and Bendiksen with other young players Fleck and Hutton away on loan as well as dud Ortiz. That’s probably £40,000 + a week saved in wages. We have lost 6 wages ( 4 permanently) so surely there was scope there for Ally to be allowed to sign somebody on loan ( and pay their wage) or permanently? We couldn’t even sign the Estonian right-back Jaager, a position badly in need of strengthening right now.

Obviously our dearth of proper strikers is our biggest weakness. We can only hope that Celik proves a good buy and that we can score goals throughout February using Healy and co. That would mean that Lafferty should be back by then. Ok, we know he is erratic but at least he is capable – on a good day.

On the other hand, maybe it’s all irrelevant anyway as our dire financial situation, apart from the HMRC case, means we have more important things to worry about.

WHY THE BEARS HATE THE BEEB AND CLYDE

Driving to Ibrox for the Hibs game I alternated between the Beeb and RC for their pre-match chat, only to be reminded of why we hate these people so much. On the Beeb we had creeps like the voice of a football that is Chic Young, Fat Bhoy Traynor and Sheep Rob McLean discussing the Rangers’ financial situation, evidently taking great pleasure from it. But the stuff that really annoyed me was their attitude, seen through their comments, that virtually bemoaned the fact that Rangers fans haven’t been “up in arms”, haven’t been criticising Craig Whyte, haven’t been rebelling against the club, haven’t been making their feelings known etc etc. They even commented on Whyte and Gordon Smith, pre-match, walking along the track, smiling and chatting to the young fans in the Enclosure. They couldn’t believe it. Why are they smiling? Why are they looking as if they don’t have a care in the world? were the questions posed by the Beeb’s anti-Gers brigade. It obviously annoys these guys that Rangers’ management, players and FANS, especially, are not succumbing to their doom and gloom scenarios.

Meanwhile the RC hacks were doing the same. Mark- Celtic Bhoys Club- Guidi even admitted to being “astonished” that at the end of the Dons game last week at Ibrox, when he took off his earphones, the Rangers fans weren’t even booing their team! You couldn’t make it up! We’ll leave that type of behaviour to TGFITW, Mark.

These people WANT Gers fans “up in arms”. They want to write stories to show the “crisis” at Ibrox. Maybe we should remind them that it’s CELTIC fans who have the track record for throwing Mars bars and vile abuse at their own Directors’ Box, congregating at their Main entrance and demanding “action”, as well as abusing their managers and players on phone-in shows when not performing to their liking.

WOULD  YOU PAY TO SAVE RANGERS?

Had the usual great curry last night at The Punjabi, Charing Cross with some pals, all Gers fans. Among the chat, we got around to Gers’ finances and especially the tax case that is coming to its conclusion over the next few days. We discussed the various scenarios should the club lose the case. One of these was the possibility of Rangers raising the required funds to pay off HMRC. Two of us were of the opinion that the required millions could be raised if a campaign was properly organised and leaned on the loyalty and love the real fans have for the club. We were basing this on the evidence of Gers’ fan base, our fans all over the world, the home-based millionaires such as Douglas Park who are fans and the 150,000 + ( or whatever figure you choose to believe) who descended on Manchester for the UEFA Cup Final. We felt confident that enough Gers fans would stump up £300 for instance if it was to be used to save the club from liquidation (which would mean that there would be no more Rangers but a new entity to rise from the ashes.) I was urged to use this website to do a rough and ready survey so here it is.

If you’ve read the above, and would be willing to pay, say, £300, if the club asked, to save Rangers, would you? Please take a few seconds to go to my Guestbook page and just enter the word YES – feel free to add anything else you wish. My pals and I would be very interested to see if there would be an appetite for such an action – should the worst-case scenario arrive. Thanks, Bears. 

HOW HARD UP ARE WE?

In the light of the embarrassing transfer dealings recently, you have to wonder if Rangers have any money whatsoever. That being the case, my visit to Ibrox last Saturday provoked a question – why is the management spending money needlessly on other items? For example, shiny new Jumbotron screens are now in operation. They must have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds – the price of a Sandaza for instance. Even more absurd was the sight of the newly rebranded Broomloan Stand. It has now been renamed The Family Stand. Worse though was the fact that our skint club went to the trouble of putting a giant club badge and 5 star logo with the name Family Stand across the facia of the roof of the stand. To do that a crane of some sort would have to have been hired let alone the expense involved in having the sign designed and constructed. Why?

The only logical reason I can think of would be to suggest that it’s a concrete example of how the stands at Ibrox could be used to advertise a sponsor for each one. Maybe the club has plans to get a sponsor for each stand? Despite objections from the traditionalists, I’d be all in favour. While they’re at it, how about renaming the stadium itself and gaining a million quid a year or whatever from the lucky company that gets its name associated with Rangers?  The Bears would still call it Ibrox so what difference would it make to us – except bring in much needed finance?

THANKS A MILLION, DAVIE WEIR

We were given the news today that Davie Weir will be leaving the club to “pursue a playing career in England”. Firstly, I’ll be very interested to see where our captain ends up and the standard of club which will be able to play him. Wherever he goes, good luck to him. This guy was signed by Walter Smith as a “stop gap” for a few months until the end of season 2006-7 in the wake of the LeGuen debacle. He stayed for 5 years, ended up captaining the club and won 8 trophies – 3 of which were league titles - and played in a UEFA Cup Final - all at the age of 37-41. What an achievement! Not only that but next month he will be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame and quite rightly. Until this season, he had barely missed a match and gave his all in every game he did play in over the 5 year period. If we had 10 other guys like him we’d win the title every year. Thanks for the memories, Davie, and good luck for the future. Maybe one day you’ll be back – as manager!

I WAS WRONG ABOUT ESPN

In the article below I claimed that ESPN was as bad as the Beeb when it comes to its anti-Gers agenda. I was totally wrong. What am I like? Having watched the Beeb’s highlights package, I’ve come back to Planet Earth and accept that no other broadcaster on television is as biased against Rangers as the Beeb. Sheep McLean of course grates on me as soon as I see that ugly mug and hear his gentrified Aberdonian twang but it’s obviously his producer and editor who are the proper Celtic fans among the many production staff who must toil happily to annoy Gers fans like me.

In the post-match discussion with the boring, monotoned Hearts manager about our game at Perth, two incidents were discussed at length: the obvious one was the “controversy” around Gers’ first goal ie. our quick free kick taken 2 yards from where the offence had been; then surprisingly, the notion that Goian might have got a second yellow and been sent off. This was when Sandaza ran straight into him from about 3 feet away. Talk about clutching at straws? This incident wasn’t even shown in the highlights of the game earlier.

Amazingly, they didn’t see the need to analyse the push Haber made on Papac’s back allowing him to jump and head the ball that resulted in Saints’ equaliser. Even more obvious to viewers who had seen the ESPN live broadcast, the Beeb showed 3 angles of the Saints’ equaliser but incredibly NOT the best angle showing Haber clearly pushing Papac in the back just before the ball reached him! Wonder why? Oooops, that would have shown that Gers had been the victim of poor officiating – and the Beeb can’t have that. It prefers to show and analyse ANY tiny incident that can be used to fuel the paranoia of Celtic fans everywhere. The other Saints’ chance that happened right after their equaliser was replayed but NOT from the point where Sandaza received the pass to race up the wing – because THAT would have shown that he had been offside ( as ESPN had shown and agreed on) Can’t have Gers having a bad decision go against them. Yes, ESPN is dire but they’re only toddlers compared to the Beeb’s Sports Dept which doesn’t even try to hide its bias any longer. Keep them banned, Craig.

ESPN – AS BAD AS THE BEEB

Following my report of the Gers game at Perth I just had to write something about this channel’s coverage of Rangers games. Previously, I’ve complained about the attitude of its presenter Ray Stubbs, who seemed to have an anti-Gers agenda, but he wasn’t even involved in the presentation of the St Johnstone match today. As usual, it’s the station’s coverage of the match as a whole that annoys me, especially ex-Celt commentator Craig Burley who started the show by disparaging the quality of Jelavic, claiming he would only be bought by a club at the bottom of the Premiership! Charlie Adam, anyone? He also disparaged Sandaza’s ability – but only so far as Gers would be interested in such a “failure”, according to Burley.

Just about ANYTHING that could be examined to the detriment of Rangers WAS. If I had recorded the game, I would go over it again and actually TIME how long they must have spent discussing Gers’ “controversial” opening goal. They saw it as “controversial” because, instead of taking the quick free kick inside the Saints’ half, Davis took it 2 yards away from the offence’s spot, inside Gers’s half ie. further away from the home side’s goal! First they obviously hoped that Jelavic had been offside but when the replays proved he hadn’t been, they zeroed in on the “controversy” of where we had taken the free kick from.

They didn’t give the same coverage or debate to the push on Papac for the equaliser nor the TWO good penalty claims that Jelavic had. Nor did they disagree with the ludicrous bookings received by 3 Gers players throughout the game. Honestly, it’s like having one of those nutty Celtic fans from a phone-in show commenting! Don’t worry, Burley, yer windaes are safe from TGFITW.

NACHO A NO NO - BUT BETTER BOYD

Before the kick off in the ‘Well game, I was worried enough about our striking situation when I saw the Lafferty / Healy pairing but now that Lafferty is going to be out for weeks ( and Jelavic presumably on his way) Ally REALLY needs to get a couple of attackers in. Novo was training at Murray Park over the holiday period and a short-term loan deal was being suggested in the papers. In my opinion, despite his energy and grit, I can’t see Nacho supplying the 15 or so goals that we are going to need to keep our challenge in the league going until May. If we didn’t already have Aluko looking good on the right wing, I could have seen a place for Novo out there but that’s not needed now. The obvious solution for me would be to offer Kris Boyd a contract at least till the end of this season. That would suit both the club and player. He has made his million or so from his year in England so, surely being “out of work” he wouldn’t be too hard to deal with when negotiating his salary? This guy is in the top 20 Gers scorers of all time, he ISN’T a veteran, he knows what the club and the SPL is all about, he’s a Gers fan. What more could we ask for in our current financial predicament? Look back at our end of season videos when Boyd was in the team and you’ll be amazed at the types and quality of goals this guy scored for us. Would you rather have an O’Connor or Sandaza, both of whom have been mooted by the hacks? Closer to home, Boyd is quicker, more hard-working and a more natural scorer than David Healy – and that is who we will be lumbered with if Ally and Whyte don’t get the finger out!

THE BIASED BEEB – SHURELY NOT, MISS MONEYPENNY?

Just watched the Beeb’s highlights package of the SPL games and expected what we actually got. For a start, who was the studio guest with Sheep McLean? Not a sparkling, articulate superstar but...... a strange-looking guy wearing a red polo neck with Christmas tree design ( his ould ma must have sent it as a Xmas pressie) Yes, that well-known, instantly recognisable personality, Cillian Sheridan, the mumbling, monosyllabic, monotone, inarticulate ex-Celt from Ireland! Good choice, Beeb, to comment on the Gers’ game.

During the highlights of the game from Ibrox their commentator, Liam somebody, seemed determined to see the worst scenario in anything concerning Gers. Was that a penalty against Jelavic? Was that another penalty for McKay? Did it hit off Jelavic’s arm before Bocanegra scored? Was Foran not “just” onside when he scored? Then, at the end, all the sympathy for poor ICT who “could have been 3-1 up” before Gers scored the winning goal!!!! This statement conveniently ignoring the fact that Gers hit the woodwork TWICE, had TWO cleared off the line plus a bad Lafferty miss when we were leading 1-0. I make that a case for it being 6-3 before Gers scored the winner......but you’d never know that if you just listen to the Beeb commentators.

Then, to cap it all, as the two numpties in the studio analysed the action, apart from the 3 goals, all they showed and discussed were EVERY chance ICT had had but nothing of Gers’ chances. Forget the great 30 yarder from Papac that smacked off the bar or the Whittaker header that hit the post. No point in discussing or showing such things as it would only weaken their case that poor old ICT had been hard done by.

I hope Rangers continue to ban this mob. We don’t need them but they need us.

THE LAMENTABLE LE GUEN

Just finished reading the latest book on the history of Rangers, published with the club’s 140th anniversary in mind next year. In one section, dealing with Paul Le Guen’s thankfully very brief tenure at the club, I was amazed by the support he gets from some of the fans interviewed by the book’s authors. Some high profile Gers fans, including well-known members of the RST and fans who have written books on the club, expressed their support / sympathy for Le Guen and, although admitting he made serious errors, they claim that he “would have got it right, given more time”. Utter tosh. The guy was a complete disaster for Rangers. He came here unprepared, bought extremely badly ( Sebo, anyone?) with the club’s limited funds, had no clue about the standard of the SPL and arrogantly thought that he could deal with anything our league threw at him.

He made our club a total laughing stock. Even fans of the wee, diddy clubs were revelling in our misfortunes. I will never forgive him for that. As every match went by and we got worse, he sat there on the bench biting his nails, doing nothing to change the disaster unfolding in front of him. His treatment of Barry Ferguson was a disgrace. Before demoting him, he had stated that the captain’s role at a club like Rangers meant nothing, insulting all those great players who had skippered the club in the past. To make matters even worse, when he dropped Ferguson, he made Gavin sick-note Rae the captain for the first game of the New Year against Motherwell. This guy had played THREE games during that season to that point! Le Guen couldn’t have insulted the Bears more, if he’d tried.

Meanwhile he lambasted Ferguson, the one guy in the team who had played like a true Ranger for the whole of the season to that point. The fans interviewed who supported Le Guen seemed to be against the likes of Ferguson and Boyd for their opposition to Le Guen. These two in particular were Gers fans as well as players and I would have supported them before Le Guen until Hell froze over. They at least knew what the club meant to the fans and played for the Bears. I will never forgive Le Guen for the mess he left us in and I have wished him ill in his career in all the failed manager’s jobs he has left since he departed from Ibrox.

OPEN SEASON ON RANGERS NOW

The SFA’s Compliance Officer, with his Aluko decision, has obviously created a climate where it’s open season on Rangers. Now every decision that Gers gets will be scrutinised as never before. Witness some of the comments from yesterday’s game at Easter Road when penalty culprit, Hart, is quoted as saying that it wasn’t really a penalty, talking as if Wallace was the one grabbing HIM down. “ I did make contact but I found it hard to get his arms off of me....if he hadn’t thrown himself down.....” etc etc The Aluko effect anyone? Some hacks ( the anti-Gers ones like the Irish Tom English in Scotland on Sunday) have also claimed that it was a “soft” award as well but grudgingly saying it was correct. We even had the new Hibs manager, Fenlon, bleating about it while claiming that Hibs should have had a penalty for “ a Whittaker handball”. That would be the incident then that replays showed the ball hitting off Whittaker’s CHEST – and after the ball had been kicked at him from about 3 feet away! Even if it HAD hit his arm there was no way it was a penalty from that distance, with his arms by his side. Even ex-Celt Burley commentating on it scoffed at the notion.

GET INTAE THEM, ALLY

In the wake of Aluko’s suspension being upheld, it was great to see our manager having a go at the panel – especially the useless ex-ref who was part of it. According to Ally, this guy’s decisions aren’t any better than when he was a ref! Well done, Ally, for venting your anger on this panel. Don’t go quietly. Don’t let them away with it. Start acting like Lawwell and co. Let these people know that Rangers will be scrutinising future decisions and the Compliance Officer’s decisions or lack of them – when it comes to Celtic probably. The next time ANY other player gets away with misconduct, bleat about it in your Press conferences, Ally. Show them up, particularly if Lawwell’s Compliance Officer lets a Celtic player away with it.

I’M ONLY A SHAREHOLDER

I see Rangers financial results to the end of June were published in all the papers yesterday. Pity Craig Whyte and co didn’t make sure that the ordinary Gers shareholders like me had been sent these prior to the anti-Gers hacks seeing them. I usually get them via email these days but, as I write this, I’m still waiting. On that topic, I’m still awaiting information about the AGM despite reading a couple of lines in a paper 2 weeks ago stating that it would be held at the Concert Hall on 19th December. Maybe the new board is going to try and have the AGM without the ordinary shareholders? More convenient that way. No awkward questions.

Anyway, to say I’m shocked at the “headline” figures is an understatement. As I have been saying for months, based on previous seasons’ figures, I had reckoned that Gers’ profit up to June should have been at least £20+ million. This was taking into account our Champions League campaign, 2 Europa League games and 3 Old Firm cup ties (at at least £1 million a pop) Now we’re being told that the “profit” was less than £100,000 after having paid £13 million off the previous debt of £27 million. So, now we still owe somebody – I’d like to know who - £14 million. So we were only able to pay off £13 million? What happened to the rest of our “extra” earnings? Remember, this was the state of the finances up to June so that was in a period when we had been cutting back on players and the wage bill for YEARS. This was before we gave the likes of Whittaker £25,000 a week. So why have “operating expenses” risen by £3.6 million?

The turnover at £57.2 million has risen by almost a million quid. Gate receipts and hospitality increased by £1.3 million although season ticket sales were down. I fully expected that the debt to Lloyds would have been wiped out by Gers’ own efforts – even before the Whyte take-over. Why hasn’t it been? Where has all that money gone? I’m dying to see my shareholders’ statement ( if they bother to send US one now) to see if that makes it any clearer.

So, what DID Whyte pay to buy the club? Well, he gave Murray a quid and he paid off the long term Lloyds’ debt of £18 million ( which could have been paid off at a million a year but due to the possibility of losing the tax case Whyte wants that money owed to HIS company) and...well...that seems to be it! So, Rangers still owe Rangers’ owner £18 million AND £14 million now to.....who? THAT will be one of the questions I’ll be asking – IF we ever get to quiz the man at the AGM. Do we still owe Lloyds that £14 million? If so, why didn’t “multi-millionaire” Whyte pay that off too?

From day one, I’ve given this guy the benefit of the doubt but nothing he has done in the past 6 months has made me feel I’ve been correct. I’m now officially starting to worry about the future of the club under this guy’s direction. Who would have thought that I would EVER have been on the same side as Bain and co?

RANGERS’ HALL OF SHAME.....OOOPS,  FAME

I’ve just seen the nominations for next year’s election to the Gers’ Hall of Fame and, as my heading above might suggest, I’m far from happy. In recent years, this process has started to worry me having seen not only some of the nominations but also some of those who have actually been elected to what should be an exclusive and elite group of Rangers’ legends. Ironically, one of my previous books, a few years ago, was an account of the Hall of Fame. Even then, there were a few players who, in my opinion, should never have been anywhere near our elite Hall: Davie Provan and Willie Mathieson ( 2 very average left-backs) and Dave Smith ( an over-rated “sweeper”) are in it. At least Mathieson and Smith have a claim for entry due to having been in the team that won Gers’ only European trophy in 1972.

This year’s bunch is the most absurd – ever! Representing the 60s / 70s / 80s we have the following: Kai Johansen, Dave McPherson, John McClelland, Alex Miller, Stuart Munro and Ian Redford. Read those last 3 names again! Come on! 2 incredibly average left-backs and Redford, a midfielder who summed up the poverty of talent we “enjoyed” in the early 80s. Then there’s the laughing stock that was McPherson – or Hen Broon as he was called by the Gers fans. I’ve suggested before that former captain McClelland should be in the Hall so I’m glad to see his name in there. Ditto King Kai from the 60s but as for the rest?

In the 30s/ 40s/ 50s category, they have included yet another very average player in Johnny Little. Did he get the nod because he died this year? I wouldn’t put it past our committee of “experts” who decide such matters. Surely there will be a place in that group for ex-manager Scot Symon? Also Tom Hamilton who was one of the great Rangers’ keepers.

Finally, in the group from the 90s onwards, we have: Novo, Numan, Ricksen, Davie Robertson, Trevor Steven and Gary Stevens. Ricksen? Come on, do us a favour! Trevor – who spent more time in the treatment room than on the field? Is there not a memorial treatment table named after him in Murray Park? Robertson – a couple of good seasons! Of the others, I believe Gary Stevens is most deserving of a place as he was the best right-back I’ve seen at Ibrox since Jardine. Arthur Numan? Maybe. Novo? Cult figure and a fans’ favourite but in the Hall? I don’t know.

It will be interesting to see who ends up being elected. Whatever the case, I think it’s about time that the club stopped this nonsense of electing a set number of players from each era EVERY year. All we’re doing is diluting the quality of the Hall of Fame. Let’s keep it for the really special players who deserve such an honour. I mean, Alex Miller – come on!!!!!

WHY NO SILENCE?

Maybe I’ve missed something, but I’m puzzled as to why there was no minute’s silence at the start of Saturday’s game at Ibrox ahead of Remembrance Sunday. The players had the traditional sewn-on poppy on their shirts and the club had invited members of the various Armed Services to see the match and take a bow at half-time BUT why no minute’s silence? There are no games next week, thanks to the International break, so that’s why there should have been a silence at this weekend’s matches. It was made even worse to see all the English Premiership sides observing the silence so why not us? Surely it couldn’t have stemmed from an edict from the newly formed all-singing, all-dancing SFA / SPL / Professional Game Board ( with the likes of Liewell on it)?

STICK IT TO THEM, RANGERS

Well done, Gers for their latest ban on BBC “journalists” and withdrawing all co-operation from the Beeb. This has all come about due to a documentary to be aired tomorrow night about Craig Whyte’s take-over, with the club saying that it is simply just “muck-raking” and another example of this public organisation’s “negative attitude towards the club”. You don’t have to tell the Bears this. We’ve known about it for years but our previous owner did nothing about it. He was content to let such organisations demonise Gers fans and basically say what they like about Rangers.

Anyone who watches the Beeb’s highlight’s show with Sheep fan Rob McLean will know only too well. Apparently, one of their producers, called McGarvey, is a Celtic fan. Now there’s a surprise! This season McLean and co showed and discussed endlessly the Naismith arm lash on the Pars player, resulting in a 2 game ban after it had been “looked at” by the SFA Compliance Officer. Strangely, they didn’t even REPLAY, let alone discuss, the similar offense by Hooper in the ‘Well match at Parkhead nor did they SHOW Hibs’ keeper, Stack hitting Lafferty at Ibrox – although this was at least “looked at” by the SFA but with no action taken. And don’t get me started about the likes of Fat Bhoy Traynor and his Oirish mate Tom English on radio!

Make the Beeb grovel, Gers, and don’t let them off the hook. It might remind them that they need US much more than WE need THEM.

HAVE A GO BACK, ALLY

Driving home from the Killie game I heard the post-match interview between Chic Young and their manager Kenny Shiels, father of Mr Handsome, Dean. Referring to a tunnel “dust-up” between his own player, the dirty Pascali and our sub Kirk Broadfoot at the end of the game, the Killie manager seemed to think it was alright to ridicule the Gers player’s appearance. He referred to Broadfoot as “the big ugly defender”, talked about him being the “most handsome guy in Ayrshire”, joked about “his mascara running” and referred to him as a “male model”. All great stuff for the tabloids and I’m sure funny to all the non-Gers fans listening in. This coming from a guy whose looks make Yoda seem like Tom Cruise! It’s about time we didn’t let people away with this sort of stuff, joking or not. He was obviously bitter about his defeat and took it out on Broadfoot who hadn’t even played! Ally should joke about a few of his players and see how HE takes it. Can you imagine anyone joking about Loser Lenny’s appearance or any Celtic players? They’d be up in front of the SNP’s specially recruited firing squad dealing with misbehaviour in football.

BACK FROM MY HOLS

Hope you all realised that the deafening silence coming from this site over the past week was due to the fact that I was away on my hols and not that I had given up writing about all things Rangers. I only missed the Dundee Utd game so no harm done. In my absence Bain has been criticising the club’s finances / tax situation in the Sunday papers while confidential stuff was leaked to the media. Great to see Craig Whyte hitting back and letting the hacks know that he is aware there is an agenda against the club that he will combat this at every opportunity. So, I enjoyed a great week in Rhodes while the build up to the first Old Firm match of the season started here. Let’s see how Loser Lennon and co deal with defeat in Madrid tonight and the game on Sunday. Should be fun.

SCOTLAND AND RANGERS – CHANGED DAYS INDEED

As the teams took the field at Hampden on Saturday for our “must-win” match against the Czechs, I realised that it was 38 years since I had seen us beat them to qualify for the 1974 World Cup Finals in Germany. I also remembered that my first International at Hampden was in 1963 when Scotland was thrashing a tough Austrian side 4-1 in a “friendly” when English ref Finney abandoned the game due to having sent off 3 Austrians.

But the thought that occurred to me most forcibly was how times have changed in terms of Gers players representing Scotland. In the 60s when I started going, the average Scotland side always had 4 or 5 Rangers players in it. Furthermore when a player left Ibrox it was always DOWNHILL in his career. The only one I can remember, off the top of my head, who went on to be successful in England was Alex Scott who won a league title with Everton after he had been displaced at Ibrox by Willie Henderson. So, imagine my feelings when I looked at the Scotland starting line-up and noted that Rangers only had McGregor and Naismith representing the club while former Gers Adam, Miller, Hutton and loan-Ranger, Bardsley joined them with Danny Wilson even coming on as a sub. Looks like leaving Ibrox nowadays isn’t the end of the world for some!

ASSESSMENT OF OUR SQUAD

I write this as the transfer window is about to close and so I’m relying on the latest update from Sky Sports News on what has or hasn’t happened at Ibrox. It seems like there will be no further additions to the Gers squad while Hutton, Fleck and Little have been sent out on loan to England. I can’t believe we’re letting Hutton go as he would have been a useful player to have if needed but I can see the sense in allowing failed boy wonder Fleck to go elsewhere and prove to Ally that he can do the business in the land of grown-ups.

The best news, of course, is that, according to Sky, we turned down a bid of £9 million from an “unknown” club for Jelavic. Craig Whyte really would have known that the honeymoon was over if he had let the striker go. Now all we have to worry about is how it has affected Jelavic. Let’s hope he gets his head down and shows us the commitment he did last season. If he wants to go to pastures new, if I were Ally, I’d tell him to perform for us for the duration of this season and he’ll get his move this time next year IF the price is right. Even better news is that Walter’s final blunder, the lesser-spotted Beattie has had his contract cancelled. Presumably that cost the club money. It’ll be interesting to see if my adage that managers know nothing is proved once again should he be signed by ANY club in England.

So, here’s the squad as I see it. Keepers: McGregor, Alexander;  Right-backs: Whittaker, Broadfoot, McMillan;   Left-backs: Wallace, Papac;   Central defenders: Goian, Bartley, Bocanegra, Weir, Perry;  Of course some of these guys can play in other defensive positions so there is plenty of cover there. Midfielders: Bedoya, Davis, Edu, McCulloch, McKay, Ness, Ortiz, Wylde;  Forwards:  Jelavic, Naismith, Lafferty, Healy. Again, a couple of those guys can play in midfield, if necessary.

That’s 24 players if everyone is fit. Surely that’s a big enough pool if Ally knows what he’s doing and we aren’t blitzed by injuries again? ( as we have been so far this season) So, what would be my side? Although I’ve barely seen Bedoya and nothing of McKay, if the reports on them are accurate, I’d have them in my starting line-up because I HAVE seen the likes of Ortiz, McCulloch and Edu and definitely KNOW that they shouldn’t be first picks in a Gers side. So, in 4-4-2 formation, this would be my regular team: McGregor;  Whittaker, Goian, Bartley, Wallace;  Bedoya, Davis, McKay, Wylde;  Jelavic, Naismith. We would appear to have enough back-up when injuries and suspensions occur and, with no European football, “tiredness” and fitness shouldn’t be a problem. I’m reasonably happy with what we have – when they are all fit.

A bonus should be that, since Gers’ net spending has only been around £1 million, Whyte should be able to give Ally money in January or much more than £5 million at the start of next season.

ALLY’S SQUAD TAKING SHAPE NOW

With the signing of the two American internationals yesterday, even the most moronic of hacks ( Guidi apart) might now shut up about Rangers “not having signed enough new players” and / or having a “very small squad.” Bocanegra, as an experienced central defender, is exactly what we’re in dire need of right now. Let’s hope he manages to play tonight in Slovenia. Another player we desperately need is a winger so the signing of Bedoya from Orebro is a good deal although he isn’t eligible for either of the UEFA qualifiers. Now that there will be three American internationalists at the club, could this be a chance for Gers to cash in on that market and raise even more the profile of the club in the USA?

Anyway, after all this talk about how remiss it’s been of Craig Whyte. Gordon Smith and Ally not to have signed millions of players ( even ones we didn’t put a bid in for such as Craig Conway) we could claim that no other club has done such business so far in the transfer window. We have re-signed on long contracts key and / or our most valuable players in McGregor, Davis, Naismith and Whittaker ( although you all know what I think of him) not to mention another season for Weir and Healy. We got nearly £2 million for Bougie, in the final season of his contract and we have brought Bartley back on a season-long loan as well as actually signing 6 players: Goian, Wallace, Bocanegra, Bedoya, Ortiz and MacKay. Who knows if we have more to come in the final 2 weeks of the window? At the end of the month I’ll review our squad then and tell you if I think it’s strong enough to win the title.

TABLOID REPORTING AT ITS BEST....I MEAN, WORST.

I read most of the papers on line so I certainly wouldn’t spend a penny on buying the likes of the Sun but there was a brilliant piece of tabloid “journalism” in its Scottish edition this morning. It’s on the old news “news” story about the £2.8 million that former Chairman Johnston discovered Murray hadn’t told Gers that we owed the taxman. So from our £12 million profit at the end of December, Johnston told the fans in January that £3 million had been set aside to pay this bill. Then, just as Whyte was concluding his deal to buy the club, it was claimed that Murray only took £1 rather than £6 million for his shares so that the money could go towards paying that bill and for the benefit of the club in other ways. No problemo then.

Next we hear that Rangers are contesting the tax amount and it’s all of this that leads to the stories in today’s papers. According to The Sun headline, there was a “ Tax Raid on Rangers”. We’re told that “debt collectors swooped” on Ibrox. Apparently, they “turned up to demand payment over the tax debt” but when you actually read the article, 2 guys in suits turned up at Ibrox, went in the Main door, came back out and had to drive round to the Govan Stand offices. A secretary met them in the foyer where “they handed over a file containing A4 papers then they left without commenting”. Some “raid”! Some “demand”! This was described by the hack as “ a humiliating showdown”. The Sun’s “source” said “the guys looked like they meant business”. So, what did they do then? Were they waving the bits of paper about? Were they whispering earnestly to each other? The hack writes about this being “ a humiliating new low” and that the club “is still saddled with millions of pounds worth of debt despite the summer buy-out” by Whyte. The hack fails to note the Gers’ debt is owed to....oooops...the OWNERS of Rangers!!!!!

Earlier in this ludicrous non-story the hack claimed that “ if the case goes to court and Rangers lose then the contents of the Ibrox trophy room could be seized to recover the cash”. Aye, right! Maybe Celtic could put in a bid for some of our trophies then. Or maybe HMRC could just kidnap Jelavic and hold him to ransom until Whyte pays up!

As I said, tabloid reporting at its finest!

MANAGERS KNOW NOTHING  #573

Reading the papers today they all go with the sensational headline from Bougherra that Gers’ offer to extend his contract “made me sick”. But when you actually read the articles though, he admits that he was quite happy with the actual weekly wage he had been offered. It was more or less what he had been on. His gripe was the length of the new contract which would have been only for another 2 years. He was miffed that 3 other Gers players recently had re-signed but on 5 year deals. He obviously saw himself as just as valuable to the team as those guys and only wanted parity. So, my question is this: you are the Rangers manager and you can only offer Bougie or Whittaker a 5 year deal to make them stay at Ibrox. Whom would you chose? It’s a no brainer! As I keep saying “ Managers know nothing!”

MANAGERS KNOW NOTHING   #572
Regular readers will know that the above saying is one of my favourites. Following his dismissal last night in Malmo, I make no apology for repeating my comments on the re-signing of dozy Whittaker. This guy has cost us dearly in 3 of the 4 matches we have played this season – a great reward for his bumper new contract that McCoist must have insisted the moneymen at Ibrox give him.

We should have offered him less than half the £20,000 + wages that he reputedly got and if he wouldn’t accept that, should have transferred him to the Turks if they offered us even a million for him. Instead we give him a FIVE year contract on big, big money for this club. I bet we wouldn’t even have offered Goodwillie such wages, if we had got the opportunity. Can you imagine what Whittaker will be like in 2 or 3 years time? The mind boggles. Regardless, Gers will be lumbered with this guy’s contract, no matter how duff he is by then. Let’s hope he has a great season so that we can flog him for big money to the Premiership next season – although I can’t see that happening. Still, you never know – Premiership managers are the same; they know nothing either.

AW NAW – THE BEEB STRENGTHENS ITS ANTI-GERS STANCE

Listened to Fat BhoyTraynor’s “Your Call” phone-in for the first time this season and, to my dismay, discovered that he now has an even worse anti-Gers hack to hold his hand. For some reason, he has Tom English of The Scotsman chatting along to callers with him. For years I have read this guy English’s pieces in his newspaper and have had no doubt that the creep is anti-Gers and even anti-British / Scottish. He never misses an opportunity to put the knife into Rangers and its fans. He is a Celtic-minded man through and through. I even made a comment to a friend that here’s a hack who must even hate his own name! So, imagine my surprise when I heard his voice for the first time and discovered that he has this thick Oirish accent from the ROI. Suddenly, everything makes sense! Another Celtic fhan polluting the airwaves – that’s all we need. At least Ally last week stood up to the Beeb and showed he’ll not be messed about by this organisation. Watch out for this guy in the coming weeks. I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t end up in the Order of the Prat.

YOU GO ON HOLIDAY FOR A WEEK AND........

Apologies to all my readers who have been wondering about my silence over the past week but we got the chance to go on an unexpected holiday to Crete and so I missed the Hearts and the Malmo matches – not a bad thing, as it turned out!

Let’s face it, it has not been a good start to Ally’s reign although I still have confidence in him. Firstly, in the week that I’ve been out of the picture we have at least seen a couple of signings made in Wallace and Goian. The red tape surrounding the big Rumanian meant that he wasn’t eligible for the Malmo game – a consequence of the Gers’ management team not being up to speed and getting their signing targets in quickly enough. Now with Weir injured, we really need this guy to play sooner than later. Wallace should be a good signing but we paid way over the odds for a guy in his last year of his contract. Cuellar is still a possibility with Bartley looking less likely. Get a move on, Gers, for Carlos. At least Kenny Miller again showed where his priorities lie by signing for the mighty Cardiff, in search, no doubt, of bigger bucks. I, for one, am delighted.

With Goodwillie’s rape charge dropped, maybe we will see some progress on that front too. Plus, surely we will offer more for the Yank from Sweden and get him now rather than in January? Other “targets” have been mentioned but we’ve still to see the colour of Craig Whyte’s money in any dramatic sense. Time to splash out – before we’re out of ALL Euro competition!

PS Saw the Malmo goal and, as usual, dozy Whittaker caused it. Firstly, he made a mess of a simple defensive header and then he lost possession outside our box. Two quick passes later and the ball is in our net and we are in big trouble. When we gave this guy a bumper wage rise and on a ridiculous 5 year deal I stated that it was madness. The thought that we’re paying this incompetent over £20,000 a week appals me. I wrote earlier that, in my opinion, this guy has cost us more goals than any other defender at the club. He proved it once again against Malmo.

KENNY MILLER FOR RANGERS - AW NAW

I see in today’s papers they’re quoting Ally McCoist as being “interested” in bringing Kenny Miller back to the club. As Victor Meldrew used to say, “ I cannot believe it!” Seemingly, McCoist and some of Miller’s former team-mates have been keeping in touch with the striker – just in a sociable way, to see how he’s been getting on, you understand. Apparently, his family hasn’t “settled” in Turkey! Now there’s a surprise! Sounds like he’d be keen to return to Ibrox and he’s now claiming that “circumstances” made his departure in January “unavoidable”. It wasn’t his fault you see. He makes it sound like Gers forced him out the door to get a measley 400 grand for the bank.

Let’s not forget the facts here. We offered him a new deal – the best we could come up with at the time with our dire financial situation. He turned us down flat. He could have negotiated even a year’s extension, hoping that we WOULD get a new owner with funds when he might get a better deal but he didn’t. He took the Turk money because that was all he was interested in at the time and he was a millionaire already I bet. Hell mend him now.

I didn’t want Miller back the first time. Having said that, Walter got it right because he did score more goals in his final two seasons than I would ever have expected. But he left us in the lurch in January when he was our top scorer and Jelavic was still out. Winning the title (despite his goals earlier) was no thanks to him. I don’t want him back – especially if we’ve to pay a transfer fee. At 31 we’ve seen the best of him. Let him enjoy his Turkish delights.

ALLY’S FIRST SIGNING

Hooray! Gers actually have a new player, bought by the Ally / Whyte team. Trouble is we have never heard of him nor do we seem to know which position he plays! Spaniard, Ortiz from relegated Almeira is described as being a left / right-sided winger/midfielder/ defender. Let’s hope Ally will be looking to play him as a winger before anything else. Worryingly, he has been described in the papers as being “very quick”. Let’s hope so. I say “worryingly” because, in the past, the hacks have described Stefan Klos as “the giant German goal-keeper” before he joined us and told us that Beasley was “lightning fast”. Doh! Forget the pursuit of Goodwillie, Ally, just make sure we get another couple of central defenders and we might just be ok for the season ahead. I, for one, would be delighted if Cuellar and Bartley are our two main targets now.

LIFE ON PLANET WHITTO

According to the papers, Steven Whittaker has rejected a Rangers offer of a new contract. His agent has been quoted as saying that this was the club’s last offer. The offer? £20,000 a week apparently. Dozy Whittaker, who has cost us more goals I reckon than any other Rangers player, obviously thinks that a rise from a mere £7,000 a week to £20,000 just isn’t good enough for a player of his “ability”. What annoys me is that Gers weren’t interested in giving that type of money to top scorers like Boyd and Miller but were perfectly willing to splash this kind of cash on a RIGHT-BACK! Full-backs have never won any team anything. It’s a position that any decent side can get by with as long as the occupant of the position is not a complete diddy. At least the club’s spokesman is claiming that we will let Whittaker’s ( and Bougherra’s) contracts run down until the end of this season UNLESS we get a bid of £2 million for these guys. Quite right! Don’t let them go on the cheap a la Kenny Miller. If we can get that kind of money for dozy Whittaker then it just proves my dictum that MANAGERS KNOW NOTHING!

MY LETTER FROM CRAIG WHYTE

Today, at long last, as a shareholder, I received my circular from Craig Whyte’s new company regarding its recent take-over of Rangers. It only told me pretty much what had been reported in the newspapers the day before. At least we now know that his company, The Rangers FC Group only has 3 directors, those being Whyte, Ellis and Betts. Also it is wholly owned by Liberty Capital whose sole owner is Craig Whyte. So, there are no mysterious “backers” lurking in the background, no Dave Kings etc. Apparently, the Lloyds debt was bought over by Whyte’s new company and, as long as the “tax case” still under consideration, doesn’t go against the club, this debt will be waived or converted into equity. The club’s present status on the PLUS stock market will not be changed, if at all, for a minimum of a year. I’m hoping that at the end of that year Whyte will float the club completely, as Fergus McCann did for Celtic, and allow more Gers fans to become shareholders and thus accrue millions more financially to help Rangers progress.

Other interesting details that were in the document were that £5 million is available already for recruiting players and that £20 million more will be guaranteed before 2016. Also, £1.7 million has been set up to help improve the stadium’s kitchen facilities, PA system ( not much the matter with THAT, I’d have thought) and other “reasonable” capital expenditure. Hopefully, once the tax case is out of the way, these new guys will look into replacing the Jumbotron screens with extra seating thus increasing the club’s annual revenue after the initial outlay. Also, £5 million is available as “additional working capital facilities to the club” – whatever that means!

From reading this document, it looks like Sir David Murray HAS ensured that the club will not be left to the mercy of any unscrupulous types as part of the binding agreement is that should Whyte’s company breach any of their promises in the deal, then the debt that they have taken over from Rangers will be “extinguished”.

PS  I can’t wait until September when we see the annual accounts for the period up to the end of June 2011. From my calculations, even if Whyte hadn’t completed his take-over, Rangers should be posting a profit of around £20 million. It’ll be fascinating to see where that money has gone.

THE HALL OF FAME – NEARLY GETTING IT RIGHT

According to the paper today, the latest 9 former Rangers players have been elected into the club’s Hall of Fame and will be inducted early next year. Firstly, I don’t understand why there is this wait. Formerly, the votes were counted around Spring-time and then the ceremony took place before the end of the season. Why the change? Presumably it didn’t fit in with Bain and co’s schedule. That apart, with the choice of Davie Weir, they seem to have broken their own     “ rules” that stated the inductee no longer played for the club. Still, they might know something about big Davie’s contract that we don’t at this stage. Whatever the reason, I must admit that he thoroughly deserves this honour. He might only have played for us for 4 and a half seasons but, like Walter, he has played a huge part in the success we have enjoyed in that time as well as latterly having been a true Rangers captain. Add his incredible age, and we have a real Ranger to be proud of. Besides, previous Hall of Famers such as Ray Wilkins or Sam English have played far fewer games than Weir.

On the whole, the Committee and the fans seem to have got it right with their other choices – apart from one ridiculous inductee – Ally Dawson. In my 50 years of going to Gers games I have never come across a WORSE Gers captain. Furthermore, he was merely an average player – and in the early 80s which was the worst era of Rangers’ entire history. This is a guy who should be nowhere near the true greats already in the Hall of Fame. It starts to make a mockery of it. However, there has also been previous guys who should never have gained this accolade eg. Davie Provan and Willie Mathieson – funnily enough another two left-backs. How can someone like Arthur Numan or Gary Stevens not be in there ahead of the likes of them?

Thankfully, another bunch of deserving “old-timers” have made it this time: former Chairman and player, Jimmy Bowie, greats from the early part of the 20th century in Jock Drummond, R C Hamilton, Neilly Gibson and Arthur Dixon while from  the second half of the 20th century we have keeper George Niven and centre-half, Jimmy Simpson ( father of Lisbon Lion, Ronnie)

It’s about time that the club inducted fewer former players into the Hall of Fame – at least from certain eras, as the inclusion of Ally Dawson would seem to suggest. We shouldn’t have to elect a set number from various eras as it merely dilutes the quality of the inductees. With Gers’ history we have more than enough great players who actually deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. At certain times in the club’s history the quality just isn’t there so why should we be obliged to vote for guys from, say, the early 80s? To prove my point, I hope to see players like the following included in future inductions: Jim Forrest, John McClelland, Gary Stevens, Mark Walters, Mo Johnston, Dado Prso, Nacho Novo, Kris Boyd and others.