Shaka

Had a wee look on Rangers Media, this is pure gold Dear Mr. Green, As you know, a general meeting of all 12 member clubs of the Scottish Premier League has been convened for 10am on Wednesday 4 July 2012 for members to consider, and decide upon, your application for the entry of Newco Rangers to the SPL. Having considered the matter very carefully, and in light of recent statements by several SPL clubs, I am compelled to write to you to implore you to withdraw your application to the SPL in favour of an application to the Scottish Football League. I do so in the full knowledge of the financial impact that such a move will undoubtedly have on the Rangers Football Club, and the uncertainty that a self imposed exile to the lower divisions of Scottish football will inevitably generate. However, I have concluded that it would be a more honourable course of action to take rather than have the current gang of hypocritical SPL Club Chairmen decide our future when they have so vociferously, and so vindictively, demanded the most excessive and unprecedented sanctions against our club since we suffered the indignity of administration several weeks ago. I’m sure the very public statements made by the likes of Vladimir Romanov of Hearts, Rod Petrie of Hibernian and Stephen Thompson of Dundee United in recent weeks, are ample evidence that the majority of the SPL clubs consider punishing Rangers as a more important objective than securing the financial future and wellbeing of the SPL and the Scottish game in general. There can be no doubt any longer that these enemies of Rangers Football Club will vote to exclude a Rangers newco from the SPL, and that they will do everything in their power to ensure we are emasculated and hamstrung for years to come. I have also little doubt their real motivation is sheer, naked hatred for our club rather than the 'sporting integrity' that they so glibly and dishonestly espouse. These are the people in whom you appear to repose your trust and confidence; people who have demonstrated that trust, confidence and fidelity are abstract concepts to be cynically exploited when circumstances are advantageous to their nefarious plans and plots. Our club has been subjected to much vitriol and invective over the past few weeks and months by the very people who will now sit in judgment on Rangers, and make their decision about admission, on 4th July. A decision that we all now know to be a foregone conclusion. Whilst I have yet to encounter a Rangers fan who believes that we should not be punished for the behavior of the miscreants who have brought our great club to this sorry pass, nor have I met one who believes we should continue to be punished ad infinitum by a group of SPL chairmen, chief executives and feckless supporters, who have been overtly, and unrepentantly, hostile to all things Rangers for countless years, and who have been particularly malicious in their attacks upon us in recent days. We are vulnerable and unable to meaningfully defend ourselves, and they know it and have concluded that now is the time to strike. Make no mistake, this is not about sporting integrity, this is about hatred and bigotry, and clubs like Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Celtic will not forgo this opportunity to kick us (and keep on kicking us) when we are down. We now find ourselves in the unenviable position of being totally, and utterly, at the mercy of a hostile jury, from whom we can expect no quarter. If five or more clubs vote against your proposal to admit Rangers to the SPL as a newco, a club from Scottish Football League Division One will replace us in the SPL and we will, in all likelihood, apply for the vacancy that would be created in Division Three after other clubs have moved up a division. We now know that will the case. There is no need to speculate any longer, so I ask you to very seriously consider what merit there is in waiting for our enemies to stab us in the back on 4th July, when we can be proactive in our approach to the Scottish Football League for admission. We all now unequivocally accept that our circumstances are such that we require to take drastic measures to set our financial position to rights. Cuts of the magnitude required will significantly impact upon our ability to compete in the SPL, and it is clear that we need time and patience to rebuild our club and our team free of the enmity and hatred of the SPL cowards who cynically exploit the label of sporting integrity to mask their desire to destroy our club That time will be available to us if we voluntarily drop to the Scottish Football League, Division 3, and our time spent in the lower divisions will, hopefully, be concurrent with our three year ban on participating in the major European competitions. But, perhaps, more importantly, our decision to seek admission to the Scottish Football League, will remove the threat of further draconian punishments by those who clearly nurture the desire to punish us and wish only to exploit our commercial potential for their own selfish ends. During the past few weeks and months, I have often asked the question, “When does the punishment stop and the rehabilitation start?”, and I have reluctantly concluded that the answer is, “When the SPL and the SFA consider that we have suffered enough!” Clearly the SPL consider that we have not suffered enough, and it may be some considerable time before they decide that the time is right to rehabilitate the Rangers they so clearly despise. In these circumstances, would it not be more prudent to negate their vindictiveness and Machiavellian plotting by removing their power to direct our future and impair our ability to compete? Wouldn’t it be a wise and sound strategy to take control of our own destiny by deciding our own fate? I think so, and many thousands of other Rangers fans also take that view. If you have been monitoring the views and opinions of Rangers fans across the globe, you cannot fail to have concluded that there is a groundswell of opinion in favour of the Scottish Football League, Division 3 route and, in a number of recent polls on various supporter web sites, fans have voted overwhelmingly for this option, and those views have been significantly reinforced by the statements made by Thompson, Romanov and others over the past two days. Whilst I fully appreciate these are merely ‘straw’ pools, they are nonetheless persuasive, particularly in the absence of any other meaningful indicators. These polls are not the ‘knee – jerk’ reactions of a few disgruntled Rangers fans but, rather, the considered views of fans who are being treated unjustly and unreasonably by those who have failed in their bid to obliterate the club and now wish to emasculate it by other means. I, therefore, implore you, Mr. Green, to help us determine our own future. I ask you to ensure that we are not held to ransom by the SPL and its member clubs. I implore you to withdraw the application now before the SPL. I also ask that you consult with the supporters before accepting any offer that may emanate from the SPL, particularly if such an offer is founded upon sanctions that will inevitably cripple our club for years to come. The future of our club is dependent upon your judgement, experience and expertise, although I'm sure you recognise that your judgement, experience and expertise has, to all intents and purposes, been negated by the recent pronouncements of prominent SPL club chairmen. As you know, it only requires 5 or more clubs to vote no, and Rangers will need to apply to be admitted to Scottish Football League Division Three; so why wait for that to come to passm - we now know it will? Why not take control of our own destiny and opt for the Scottish Football League? Let me say in conclusion, that I am, personally, very appreciative of the commitment you, and your colleagues, have made to our club in very difficult and trying circumstances, and I am not unmindful of the personal attacks you have endured in recent weeks. Ranger's fans are, understandably, suspicious and anxious and I know that you appreciate that, even if, at times, you have found their criticisms unpalatable. We want only what is right and what is just for our club. We have seen regime's come and go; we have seen Chairmen come and go; we have seen Boards and Directors come and go; we have seen managers and players come and go - but we remain! We will always be here, and we will always support our club. I know you understand that, and I trust you will immediately withdraw your application for SPL status. I have written this as an open letter, and it is my intention to share it, and your response, with Rangers fans through the various Rangers internet forums. Total comedy gold

on a big day aye Aberdeen,Hivs + Herts would bring bigger but on average Dundee are one of the biggest out there,they were regularly taking 800-1000+ to 1st Div games, theyd certainly be the best away supported team to come up from the first

Im thoroughly disgusted with that pish written by our custodians so Ive done a wee bit of working out. Rangers in the SPL = 4500 Fans x 2 Games (x £23 ave) = £207k - 5% ticket levy = £197k Dundee in the SPL (probably the biggest away support in scotland after Rangers + Celtic) = 1000 Fans x 2Games (x£17 ave) = £34k Defecit = £163k 545 more Home Season Tickets @ £300 = £163.5k 430 more Home Adult Fans over 19 Games (x£20) =£163.4k 537 more Home Fans over 19 Games (£16 ave) = £163.3k looking at it the other way, 500 - 600 LESS Home fans over the season would all but wipe out any extra money the blue filth would bring!! 36% of our turnover (£5.9m) from SPL = £2.12m from last season TV Deal equates to roughly 60% of SPL income which would mean of our £2.12m, £1.27m was TV money. Sponsorship deals are already in place and will only change when they come to renewal next year etc so we have 1 year to find replacements. The new TV deal is £16m pa instead of £12m pa so 25% higher. So it would be logical to believe if we finish 3rd next year our share would be 25% higher or £317.5k more, Of course this is assuming that the deal stays in place for 1 year! BUT it doesnt account for a more even split which we would be able to vote for with the old scum monopoly broken so we could make MORE! Without Rangers ,Celtic will romp it,but 2nd,3rd,4th would be well within our reach so Im not really sure we`d lose all that much without the blue dollar. GET THEM,THEIR CHEATING,TAX DODGING WAYS AND THEIR ARROGANT FESTERING SPUNKPOOL OF A SUPPORT TO FUCK!

What I cant understand is that last season saw us reach top 6, 1 cup semi + 1 cup final, sell Reynolds and downsize the squad for the 5th time in 7 years, and now this season we have posted a £500k profit (the 3rd profit in a row) are finishing 3rd,champions league qualifiers and our average attendance has risen by 500 per game and STILL our squad will shrink? What the fuck is going on at our club? Will this beancounter Weir not be happy till we have only 11 senior players and the rest of the squad is made up from the u-17 + u-19 teams? Oh and the new tv deal for next year is 35% more(it will happen,Rangers will not be allowed to drop from the SPL) than the previous deal so our tv income will increase by 35% next year (assuming the money splits stay the same) and be at that level for 5 years so how in gods name can we not afford to offer guys like Hammell,Las,Jenno a fair deal? and what the fuck are we going to replace them with? weve seen how shite we are when Las+ Jennings are missing, we now face the very real possibility both will be missing next year,replaced by u-19s or some nobody from the highland league, We have an incredible opportunity to build a fantastic foundation for the future of our club with just a little belief and foresight. Yes the champ league qualifiers wont make a lifechanging amount of cash but you can guarantee a full house @ Fir Park paying at least £20 a head (£200k+ profit) plus the game on a tv format of some kind so its not chicken feed we will be playing for, if we win we will make a lot more getting a "glamour tie" and if we lose we drop into the Europa League qualifiers where we will have a great opportunity to reach the group stage and the £4m or so that comes with that. Not only this, but Rangers will be banned from Europe for the 2 seasons after next as well. Add this to Hearts downsizing considerably and Utd downsizing both due to their debt and we have a great chance for regular european football and maybe even regular champions league qualification (do scotland have 2 champ lge places for those 2 seasons?) In what should be a joyous occasion we should be celebrating but instead were treated to the Usual McCall "rangers will pump us" pish, and news the players will be rewarded for 2 fantastic seasons with paycuts if they want to stay,what a way to burst a bubble eh

nah we recalled him last week, 21st March I believe

the Aluko incident was neither a pen,nor a card. After tv replays it was a pen as there was contact from Randy,however the ref could never have seen that and therefore could never make the decision. Their 2nd was not a foul either, Aluko held an arm up but did not push, Clancy just made a rip roaring c**t of judging the balls flight. And I suspect that had it happened the other way and we were penalised,thered have been a riot by our fans. Time for McCall + the players to earn their corn now, McCall made a c**t of the end of last season and turned a potential great season into an average one, my fear is that if we dont win next sunday the same thing will happen this season. If we fail to win next week we will have spunked 9 points of an 11 point lead on 2 TEAMS! We will then go into the split on a downer with a tiny,tiring squad who are suffering 2-3 suspensions a week at the moment, whereas our challengers are on fire,winning every game and looking dangerous doing it. I have a bad feeling United will catch us and take the Champ Lge spot,I just cant see us stopping Russell + Daly the form they are in,and Mackay-Steven will rip Hateley apart. If we fail to win next week,I reckon Saints will overtake us as well. Nevertheless iIl be at Easter Road sunday hoping for the best.

Maybe, but we was fucking pish yesterday and been nothing short of average any other time ive seen him play. And it was never a push on him for their 2nd,just shocking misjudgement on Clancy`s part,if that had been the other way + given,we`d have been calling for the Ref to be crucified. Surely if we have no Hammy we play Jordan Halsman then? or is it not correct to play a left back at left back?

£41 at 11/8 on paddypower, planning another £50 on friday if odds still as good, as some have said, its free money! If were gonna put in our usual gutless,pathetic performance against them,might as well take something from it!

fucking brilliant result, superb second half

Lets be honest here, Rangers are a wounded animal till the next time they play us and win 4-0/5-0/6-0 to kick their run in off. The administrators are never going to release their assets for free so they will keep Shagger,Wallace,Whittaker,Goian,Davis,Wylde,Aluko,Bocanegra,Edu,Naismith (aye i know he`s injured) till the end of the season, that should me more than enough to finish 2nd. As Gaag said, top 6 till its settled,then top 4, then go for 3rd which should still be good enough for champions league. The date we need to keep an eye on is March 4th, any CVA must have 28 days notice till it comes into effect and the club leave admin, so if they have no CVA by then,they lose europe

not technically built around him but as he is the pivot + focal point of our attack,the majority of our attacking play goes through him and he isnt suited to that role!

The problem is Higdon has had the team built round him in the totally wrong way! He isnt + never will be a lone striker, for our 4-5-1 to be successful, the 2 wide players MUST get up past him to support him + react to his knock ons,and the attacking midfielder must get up to support any knock downs back toward us,the simple fact is this doesnt happen + so we launch high balls to Higdon,he wins a flick then turns to see not 1 teammate within 30 yards of him!! Ive held back on this subject as I didnt want it to look like a knee jerk reaction, but I really dont think McCall is the man for the job, I wasnt sure at the start and nothing in the last 12 months has changed my mind. He started well but cracks soon appeared,(during Feb + March we lost 6 of the 9 league games we played,failing to score in 5 of them) he managed to get us to a cup final,but the route there wasnt exactly taxing and he made a rip roaring c**t of the final with a weird formation and team selection (Hammell in centre mid??), we managed to make top 6 then his tinkering meant we got fucked like a cheap tart in 3 of our last 4 games, 5-0,4-0,4-0 meaning in the last 6 games of our season we won 0,drew 2 and lost 4, scoring 4 + conceding 20! shocking!! This season we have flattered to deceive failing to score in almost half our games,playing generally shite football and showing horrendous home form. We have quality, we wouldnt be 4th if we didnt, but McCall just doesnt seem to know how to change things when we hit a slump. He also has no faith in our young players which is detrimental to the squad, Page,Forbes + McHugh get little look in, Lawless etc get nothing as well meaning when were struggling,we have no-one with any confidence to come in. I hope he proves me wrong and he gets us on a good run and a good finish to the season I really do, but at the moment he is looking like the cheap,3rd choice option he was when he came to us last year!

if I was a youth player Id honestly look at other clubs rather than us now, we just do not promote guys from the youth teams and havent for 2 or 3 years, guys like Lawless,Halsman + McKinnon etc have impressed in the u-19`s,got a1st team contract and loan move to a div2/3 club, impressed there, in the case of Lawless + Halsman at least had 1 or 2 first team games and impressed there as well and STILL are getting splinters in there arse sitting in the stand/bench when they are with us, just what do they need to do to get an opportunity?

Bollocks, managers can influence a match at any time during the game with their tactics and substitutions, for instance if you are a goal up and tiring with 5 mins to go you strengthen the defence and make it as hard as possible to break you down, if your team arent performing or players are struggling you can sub them and change shape,(or drop them!) you can even change shape to react to the oppositions way of playing. Last night we were 1 up with 5 mins to go,did fuck all and lost the game, last night we were playing a team with the best strikeforce outside the old firm and did nothing to try combat this (3 at the back, man mark 2 and have a sweeper? pack the midfield and cut off their supply? Press the game and knock their rhythm?) and O`Connor scored 2, poor management but not unexpected, we were told this by Bradford fans when he joined us, he sticks by his starting 11 and has no clue about how to change things

Agree with the OP, it feels like some of the first 11 guys are strolling now as they know fine well no matter how shite they are they wont be dropped, while the youngsters who are champing at the bit look on knowing no matter how shite they are,the first 11 wont be getting dropped. Ok last night we were unlucky but the fact is Hibs have had 1 win all year,are struggling and not scoring many goals so I do feel at the moment we should be beating them, Bradford fans came on here when McCall was appointed and said, if his top 11 are doing well he`s ok but he has no clue and doesnt change it if they aint performing and this is proving the case. He made a c**t of the end of the season, a c**t of the cup final and his signing policy for someone appointed for his "significant lower league contacts" amount to 2 players who used to play for him and Higdon, oh aye and a crap Killie reserve. Stuart McCall really needs to step up here and earn his corn before we end up in some real shite! We are a small club who need to sell to survive, we simply cannot afford to have players coasting and youngsters rotting Another thing is losing last night could mean we lose ANOTHER 2 or 3 players from the 1st team budget next season as making the semis (along with top 6 + scot cup final) last year STILL saw our squad shrink this summer.

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall: "There will be no knee-jerk reaction after one poor performance. Id suggest losing 4-0,4-0 + 3-0 in 3 of our last 4 league games is more than one poor performance, Essentially what he is saying to those 11 players is "do whatever the fuck you like, you will never be out the first team unless your injured or suspended no matter how shite you play" while slapping the fringe guys down even further, if these guys cant get into the team after 3 big pumpings and several abject performances from senior players in the last few weeks then they might as well ask for release and fuck off somewhere they might be allowed to play football. Im not saying change the full team, we all know how much of a c**t he made of that at the end of last season, but surely giving 2 or 3 fringe players a boost while also giving 2 or 3 "untouchables" a rocket and freshening the team up can only help?

There is no chance our woeful defence can keep O`Connor + Griffiths at bay for an entire game. I have confidence that we can win with the players we have,unfortunately I have zero confidence that our manager is capable of organizing the players in a way that would maximise our chances! My Team would be- Randolph Hateley,Craigan,Page,Hammell Humphrey,Carswell,Law,Lawless Higdon,Murphy Subs - McHugh,Forbes,Daley,Clancy,Hollis 4-4-2 with width, Murph drift out left to stretch their defence. Carswell sit and Law pull the strings in the middle. Give Daley,McHugh + Forbes good gametime from the bench. Unfortunately itll probably be the same 11 as saturday,same tactics and same result

Its amazing the amount of our fans who have little or no idea about football. Chris Humphrey on form and played correctly is one of the most devastating and game changing players in the SPL. At the moment a combination of poor tactics from the Manager,suspect fitness and a lack of confidence means he is looking a little ropey but by no means is he terrible or shite! His crossing isnt 100% perfect, if it was he wouldnt be a Motherwell player! Ive lost count of the amount of times he has skinned his man and whipped a ball across the face of the 6 yard box only to see not 1 single teammate attempt to reach it, followed by the screech of "thats shite humphrey" etc, As a striker, if you see your winger one on one you should be gambling he beats his man and trying to get into a scoring position, not standing there waiting to see what happens. His decision making can be infuriating but again if he made the correct choice every time he wouldnt be playing at Motherwell! He is being asked to play tighter to allow Hateley to overlap which again is hampering his game. So instead of slagging the guy get behind him and try to understand that its not as simple as skin your man and put a cross over onto your teammates head everytime. Sometimes you have to do whats asked of you by the manager and sometimes things dont work,thats part of supporting a wee team like ours!

I spoke to him and overheard him + his agent talking bout moves 3 weeks ago in a Dundee hotel, He was talking about Cardiff and another English team saying "Aye Ah wudnae mind playin there like". Didnt hear the other team, Rangers were mentioned but dismissed pretty quickly. And he comes across as a total mongo ned as well

He has been in the Div 2 team of the year the last 2 seasons, promising signing if true

The fan display was fantastic and the fans themselves in the ground were great. Just a pity our manager fucked our day up. I said all along this "resting" players would bite us and I was right, Murph & Lasley lookd rusty and Craigan & Jennings were the worst players on the pitch! And the less said about the team and Hammy in mid the better.

aye pm me the password as well

I do kind of agree with you there, we cant afford players who are guaranteed not to freeze or will win you silverware but I believe we have a team who,if they get out the blocks fast,can win the cup. The prob I have is we may have damaged the spirit and mentality we built up in our run to the final. Chopping and changing the team to the extent he has done means it might take saturdays team 20 or 30 mins to settle,something we cant afford to do. Yesterdays result could affect the players mentality as well, if Celtic can whip us 4-0 in what amounted to a training game (and thats exactly what it was,they knew the league was gone almost from kick off) ,what could they do to us in a competetive game? if Celtic score early this is what the players will be thinking and it will be game over

Randolph Saunders,Craigan,Hutch,Hammell Hateley,Jennings,Lasley Humph,Murph Sutton Subs - Hollis Gunning Jeffers Carswell Forbes Not much between Gunning and Hutch so wouldnt be too unhappy with either, I feel Forbes offers more then Jones from the bench tho, Forbes passing and set pieces could be a real asset if he gets on,whereas Jones`s running around like a headless chicken act would be stifled pretty easily. Was pretty confident (probably like the players) when we went through at the semi. Now im dreading it ( prob like the players now) and reckon were in for another 5-1 final slaughtering,so much so that ive stuck the £40 i have left in my paddypower account on Celtic next week so Im not quite as depressed as I was walking out of hampden after the last final if they do indeed pump us as expected. McCall has made a rip roaring c**t of the last few weeks, im just praying he can get 1 final big performance out the team.

aye cause Celtic have lost their top stars to injury a week before the final. Im not saying put the full team out, but making wholesale changes game to game leaves the team disjointed and some of our better players possibly short of big match fitness, blood a young guy or two,make a change or 2 but 5 or 6 changes game to game does far more harm than good, as is shown by us getting annihilated in 3 of our last 4 games