So what did you make of Dave King’s “compete with some of the bigger clubs, particularly Celtic” news conference?
He’s hoping to make a managerial appointment “within a week” which, despite the need to rebuild the squad, is a little ahead of where I expected him to be based on the feedback I know he received from those who were sounded out.
Punters and media seem convinced Warburton will be appointed. I know nothing about the man, but I’ve assumed Stuart McCall would get the job due to all other candidates having a real job, or better prospects. As McCall said in his TV interview following his Fir Park capitulation, he knows what is required and has experience at shopping for free transfers in the English lower leagues. Anyone else is an unnecessary risk so I’m still inclined to think McCall will get it.
A 5% increase in season ticket costs is on the lower end of what I expected, but there’s a subtext with this one (there often is). A key aim of whoever has been in charge at Ibrox over the last three years is to get season ticket prices back to the level they were when Ticketus “over-invested” (caveat over-investors).
Charles Green planned to do this from the off. The script was to read: “I’ve saved your club. Now I’m going to put a £50k p.a. pay cap on and I need you to buy 40,000 season tickets at full price, to ensure we glide up the leagues with ease and arrive in the SPL with money in the bank”. The players and manager would have had a choice, show you’re here for the badge, not the money, or move on.
But, within a week, King and the Blue Knights wanted the assets off Green. McCoist and others were mobilised into destabilising Charlie, who was forced to cut prices, over-promise and ultimately under-deliver.
If I was King yesterday, I’d have looked the camera in the eye and told fans “This is your time, your club needs every last one of you to step forward and pay £600 per ticket”. I’m sure he wanted to do this, but he seemed riddled self-doubt, contrasting starkly with the effusive confidence he radiated before the last EGM. It made me think of the Woody Allen line, “Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem”.
One thing I am sure of is, if he was about to splash the kind of cash he talked about while trying to remove the old board, he would have put his money on the table and asked fans to do the same.
The trade-off King referred to: the more money fans put in the less he (and other investors) need to put in, is not actually a trade-off at all. In reality, the more money he puts in now, the more fans will buy season tickets; the less he invests, the less fans will spend. Momentum, or the lack thereof, is at play.
This matter was King’s biggest failure. Charles Green and the master, David Murray, knew how to use show-biz to put bums on seats at Ibrox. Yesterday the stage was set for a bit of showmanship: “Here’s the colour of my money, now roll-up, roll-up, get your tickets before they’re all gone”. Say it confidently, convince the thousands desperate to be convinced, and you give yourself the best chance of success.
My focus would have been different from King’s too. Forget about catching Celtic, fans know this is a pipe dream. What they want most of all is a solvent, top-flight, football team. Don’t even reference football targets, instead, talk about filling the stadium, paying the bills, building a trading history good enough to earn proper facilities, and never again signing-off an unsustainable business plan. The fans are Not. All. Daft. Educate them the value of living within your means and they would buy into the project.
Talk about catching Celtic with an unsustainable business plan is astonishing, after all these people have come through, simply astonishing.
I could never quite figure how, for years, Rangers directors knew HMRC were contesting their EBTs, knew a legal challenge lay ahead, but made no provisions whatsoever for that challenge. Win or lose the case, they needed a plan to cope with each scenario. It turned out they didn’t even have a plan to cope with a partial win.
King’s ‘someone will step in and pay if we over-invest’ outlook on life explains a lot. It will be for others to judge his contribution to the lives of Rangers Football Clubs, as far as I’m concerned, it’s impossible to overestimate what he’s done to them. You could say, it’s off the radar!
Spirit of Compassion – Whisky Tasting
On the 25th April, Nepal was rocked by a destructive earthquake which has claimed the lives of over 8,000 people. Many of those affected by death and destruction are children. Glasgow the Caring City is our city’s charity for children in crisis, in times of disaster. Together with House With A Heart, Nepal, we will bring stability and comfort to children left orphaned by this tragedy.
On Thursday 18th June Glasgow the Caring City are hosting a Whisky Tasting event, fun and educational, at the Trades Hall of Glasgow. Tickets are £30 and can be bought here.
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Wonder how this new President shakes hauns……….? Hmmmmmmmmmm.
A seamless transition ,no doubt.
starry plough
With todays new media
We will know about him soon enough, then we just have to give him a chance.
Till later all
Ogilvie out……………New Article coming
bournesouprecipe
Of Babylon? Eighth Wonders, certainly
If it’s safe stauners then the sponsor must be mates surely?
£5 extra from BT for UCL.
No bad.
http://sport.bt.com/sport-football/news/bt-sport-reveals-champions-league-plans-S11363984692816
Did Dave King get shares in the ole Crossbar Challenge?
“If your spending a million more a month than your earning the only way to fix it is to spend more”.
The Huns
Just spent a lovely few hours with my Da paying our respects at the graves of Peter Johnstone & John Thomson.
Legends
HH
safe standing area will be sections 110 – 111 & will look like this… pic.twitter.com/jmp57QxMrt
They’ll never fit them all behind that.. :-)
Congratulations to all those who campaigned for a safe standing area and to Celtic for agreeing to it.
I won’t however be anywhere near it. It’s a seat every time for me. This also means that the sofas will remain in the NegaKev living room.
the battered bunnet
11:21 on 9 June, 2015
Lennon lines up Parkhead Swoop
Bolton manager Neil Lennon is eyeing up a treble swoop on his former club Celtic.
The Bolton boss, who was No1 at Celtic for 4 years, is said to be lining up a triple whammy of signings from the Scottish Champions..
Top of the list is Finland’s 25 year old star striker Teemu Pukki, the former Sevilla star signed by Lennon for Celtic for £3M just 2 years ago. After a disappointing season at Celtic, Pukki has shone in the Danish top flight on loan with Bronby, and is thought to be eager to join up again with Lennon at the Macron. Lennon is an admirer of the Finn, a centre forward who plays on the periphery.
Lennon’s second target is 28 year old winger Dirk Boerrigter, signed by Lennon for £2.5M from Ajax in2013. The flying Dutchman has had a difficult time with injuries at Celtic, but a move to Bolton will give him a chance to restart his career under a manager he trusts.
Boerrigter holds a unique record for a forward player in Scottish football, having been cited by the SFA more often than he’s scored.
The final piece in the Parkhead jigsaw is giant striker Amido Balde, signed by Lennon from Portuguese cracks Vitoria Guimaraes for a fee of £2M.
24 year old Balde, currently on loan at Hapoel Tel Aviv, is in the best form of his life, having scored once in 14 appearances for the Israelis, bringing his tally up to 4 goals in 43 appearances over 2 years.
With Lennon having spent a combined £7.5M on the trio while at Celtic, it’s thought that the Parkhead club won’t be hard to deal with, and Lennon is hopeful that all three will sign on with him again at Bolton, as he bids to make some small reparation to his former club for his past follies.
One former player Lennon will not be pursuing is Sierra Leone striker Mo Bangura, currently at AIK. A source close to Lennon told The News: “Lenny made a few mistakes up in Glasgow, and he’s man enough to admit it, but Bangura takes the biscuit. The last thing Lenny needs right now is to be reminded at training every day of the colossal misjudgement he made on that boy”.
———
You’re having a laugh here I presume.
Or is there a giant – from us! – involved????
HH jamesgang
Should read giant fee…..not giant!
FeeFiFoFumCSC!
Ole Dave King’s mantra must be ‘speculate to liquidate’.
Good news on the safe standing issue. Well done to the Board on getting this done.
BSR …. been meaning to check up on you to see how you are doing. On CQN, we always look after our own who have suffered a loss …. but I dont recall anyone reaching out to you after your tragic loss of Ms. Hendricks when Mad Men was cancelled. How you holding up pal? :)
Has there been any quotes on why Campbell Ogilvie has been removed from his post?
did I break the blog? sorry
mike in toronto
I can also do without my dose of Don, Pete, Peggy and even Betty, but I still miss our Joan. Bring her back in a spin-off.
It must be an age thing.
HH
‘The Ran£ers’ – More than an Overdraft
HH JamesGang
Zyro has spoken to Legia.Sport to discuss his future, with Celtic and Wolves showing transfer interest in him ahead of the summer window.
Zero said: “For now, I go on holiday and turn off the phone. After returning to the club, my future will begin to be decided. At the moment I do not exclude any possibility – whether to lengthen the contract or change club.”
HITC Sport revealed last week that Wolves were preparing a bid for Legia Warsaw winger Michal Zyro, having long held an interest in the 22-year-old Polish star.
A pacy wideman, who can also play as a long striker, Zyro is considered one of the best talents in his homeland, and has won two league titles with Legia, although a summer exit is expected.
He currently has just one year left on his contract, and the Warsaw-based club are readying themselves to face bids from Wolves for his services, as well as the likes of Celtic – who attempted to sign the exciting youngster last summer, as per the Scotsman.
His comments are non-committal concerning his future, and he has no desire to either agree a new contract or look for a move away as of yet. The league season has only just ended, and he is holding off deciding upon his future until he returns from holiday.
Should Legia receive an acceptable fee for Zyro, it is likely they will push to sell him, as, despite his undeniable talent, he looks to be struggling with the club. His attacking output is not what has been expected of him, although many suspect he will thrive at a different club.
Wolves are preparing themselves to make an offer for Zyro, and it remains to be seen whether Celtic also revive their interest in a player they are certainly keen on signing.
Neustadt- I don’t think the ole gazebo is the correct structure for Friday’s Klavern.
An event of this magnitude calls for a Ha- Ha.
I am surprised that the Rangers are going to build a new team for next season for me it doesnt matter how good the players are that you sign they will need time to bond as a team.The bonding could take a few months and by that time they may be out of the running for promotion.Also with signing on fees and wages it could be a very expensive risk.I honestly can see no sense in the route they are taking I think they are more likely to fail than they are to succeed they must know something I dont. H.H.
NatKnow – are you Prof Higgs’ boson bosom buddy?
see Carver has been fired at Newcastle (with Steve Mclaren apparently lined up)…. wonder if Carver will be in the running at Sevco? :)
On a more serious note … see Bilic has taken the West Ham job … he is a manager I always rated.
mike
Thanks I’m getting by,…. just.
Wee Christina will never be short of parts ;-) and Matthew Weiner’s ‘ending’ was very clever, and open to interpretation just like the ole Sopranos.
One of TV’s greatest ever series.
When you’re exiting the gazebo safe standing both feet will be off the ground like the ole Jungle at ten to five on a Saturday night.
New Article?
Espresso break -Italian news .
Fiorentina have dismissed Vincenzo Montella .( stated reason – ” lack of respect for The Club “)
Rube have signed Sami Khedira on a free..
Rube have paraded new signing Paolo Dybala ( 40 million euros plus add ons ) Wonderful player .Wearing a No 10 shirt for the occasion ( and he is )
Pirlo has said he is not going to Qatar or The US of A.
Back to work .
BSR …. I thought that, now that she has some free time on her hands, we might see the two you together at Celtic Park next season!
seriously, I was a bit let down by the ending ….. but, I wasn’t as big a fan of the show as you, so that may have effected how I saw it.
I have been watching the Wire …. think that is even better than the Sopranos. across the board, probably the best acting I have seen on TV … and some truly memorable characters …. driving the better half nuts by whistling like Omar… and saying ‘somebody gots to get got’ alot …
although, I will admit that there are no characters that stop you in your tracks the way that Joan did when she first appeared on screen!
glad you are doing okay, pal!
Forget about catching Celtic, fans know this is a pipe dream.
Sorry Paul. you have got it only half right.
It is not about catching Celtic. It never was. And that is precisely why THEY are in THEIR current mess.
THEIR sense of entitlement means that anything less than being ahead of Celtic is meaningless to THEM.
Brilliant news about the safe standing certificate being granted.
I believe that Celtic were initially opposed to the idea but the club have taken up the baton and played a significant part in pushing this through, this is a pioneering initiative which puts Celtic in the spotlight for the right reasons. Well done.
Celtic Mac
14:39 on
9 June, 2015
Paul67 et al
I wish that I had a fiver, or even a tenner for every time I have posted here that the gig was finally up for Murray the day that the Bank of Scotland was swallowed up by the Halifax; and the good old days of giving a bank manager, who possibly went to your old school, a knuckle crunch and everything at Ibrox would be hunky dory, were gone.
forever.
Earlier I said that the above meant that the gig was finally up.
The real problem for Murray was when a wee man in a bunnet rode into town.
Dontbrattbakkinanger
15:47 on
9 June, 2015 to which he issued
NatKnow – are you Prof Higgs’ boson bosom buddy?
————————————————————————-
Ole Pete was in for lunch. I asked about his bosuns and he issued a swift “Weesht you – the wife’s in!”, accompanied by a violent nod towards the “back room”. He pulled out his mobile and showed me a picture of bosuns on a CQN link from the “well-kent” bosun-hunter, BSR. Fabulous bosuns they were too – part of the “standard model”, according to ole Pete – who knows his quarks. He’s also researching black holes via the ole Rangers International accounts….
Their are thick people in the world, people who haven’t had the best of educations, sad but true.
There are even thicker peeple who have been fleeced for the past few years, and are preparing to get fleeced and fecked over again-again, jeezo, they can’t wait, some of them have no hair left with all the forelock tugging, hell mend them, thick hun monkeys.
How I thank God that I am a Tim.
HH
Nice one Celtic on the safe standing.
And as for McRae as the all new super duper president, dearie me, they just canny help it can they, more of the same old, same old.
HT
The problem Celtic have is oversubscription and demand. The GB for example, would want to move en masse I’d imagine to alleviate the ole lateral movement issues.
quonno
16:16 on 9 June, 2015
Celtic Mac
14:39 on
9 June, 2015
Paul67 et al
I wish that I had a fiver, or even a tenner for every time I have posted here that the gig was finally up for Murray the day that the Bank of Scotland was swallowed up by the Halifax……///
I rather suspect that good Sir David feels the same!
KarmaSuitsYouCSC
HH Jamesgang
BSR
Jungle regulars should get first shout for the safe standing section, due to our experience of standing. Therefore, over 35s only! ;))
Will we now have the return of the waiting list?…………….for stauners.