davie

IHE, that post is pi*h. Does you no credit son. Sitting there as the Lord of Chorley handing down sarky pseudopsychological judgements at Butcher is getting tiresome. Aye, we know we need a centre forward, aye things are tactically mince at times but at a club this geographically isolated, with the fanbase we have and the budget available what more do you realistically think we should have? How much better can we realistically be? Can we afford to go out and have our Tore Andre Flo moment? Nah, we tried that with Niculae and you didn't like that much either if I recall. We unearthed Rooney, but were we ever gonna keep him? Nah. So, yes, we have things to moan about right now, but perspective-please mate.

There is a great deal of historical behaviour to suggest that the SPL will find a way to accommodate Govan 1690 or whatever newco rise after liquidation. The behaviour of a lickspittle central belt media and Regan and Doncaster reinforce this. However, liquidation is a much bigger problem for them to deal with in that any accommodation straight into SPL would rid scottish football of it's last vestiges of integrity. Is that a thing that Doncaster et al can afford? If they don't hammer Rangers, there's every possibility that UEFA will (see Sion/ Serviette) As for the television deal, does the lack of one club really affect the long term attractiveness of the deal? ESPN have to keep going with the customer base that they have in Scotland or risk this part of their network going the same way as Setanta. BSkyB also have to keep a scottish presence as part of their UK strategy, and would probably bank on at least some of the bluenoses keeping their subscriptions to watch enviously as scottish football gets on just fine without them. Part time, run down third rate football as a consequence of the Rangers saga and the lack of the OF bigot fest is not a foregone conclusion and there is little or no evidence to suggest it would happen.Lots of opinion, yes, but no evidence. A league that is more competitive for all the sides in it ( it certainly is in terms of the bottom six and top four) would actually improve standards without the distraction of the same two tawdry giants winning everything year after year after year. A more attractive prospect? I think so. It would also force scottish football ( and clubs like our own) to stop relying on cheap/ loan imports from the south and produce more of the Munro's and Duncan's that people on this forum purport to miss so much. It would certainly provide impetus to Mark Wotte's overhaul of the youth system. There are, if you care to look for them, many positives to this situation that make the SPL re-writing the rule book unwise and self defeating. In the end, it might be out of their hands anyway, in that with every passing day another tale of abysmal management and irresponsibility comes to light. There might not be anything left to ressurect after liquidation, and even if there was why the feck should we after what they have done?

To be honest, that's not my problem. Nor is it any supporters problem. As I said originally, I went to games last season in the hope of being entertained. You can trot out whatever nonsense you like about last seasons league position, the fact is at home we were absolute cannon fodder and that's not what I paid to see. If the club want to retain or possibly even build on attendances, then they better start looking to bring proper talent to the club and not the English back-water pish that has mostly come through. David Davis was a fantastic signing, yet we couldn't keep him. What's the ratio of gems to dross that we've seen being signed for this season? Butcher can say what he likes about the season starting early, but he knew that this was the case and he didn't prepare adequately for it. Jay, I think your logic's a bit hazy on this one. Davis was a loan, he was always going to be going back to Wolves. It was just a question of when. As for those signed this year, I wouldn't count Golobart, Williams, Tudur Jones as "back water pish" (more like proper talent, especially Tudur Jones) and the only real dross might have been Eldred. I wouldn't say that Butcher could have accounted for serious injuries to two of the above either, but there you are. I'm not that happy about recent displays against the OF either, but remember this is also the team that put 6 past Kilmarnock. Things are simply not as bad as you insist that they are. Neither is the "nonsense trotted out" about last season. Those looking at it in a different way to you are giving you facts here - we finished better than in any previous SPL campaign. If you considered us to be "cannon fodder" I'd be interested to find out to whom. Finally, Doofers Da is right - it is your (and every other ICT fan's) problem what happens here - if you are a fan, you are connected to the Club. It's a two way street as far as supporting a club goes and if nothing positive goes in, you can be fairly sure that nothing positive will come out.

Might I suggest that, if ictewd is concerned about a genuine dilution of season ticket holder's rights, he gets in touch with the supporters trust. We'd be happy to discuss this with him, and if you read this ictewd, PM me at your convenience.

Gnapka has been here for under 2 months, and we have people writing him off? Do we expect him to gel into a team that quickly? Tudur Jones is just back from (another) injury, has a history of recurrences and yet we want him on from the start? Rosscoe, who has blundered spectacularly on a couple of occassions this year is our saviour in defeence? C'mon people. Today was poor, and there were times in the first half when I was afraid that we would be overrun. It is credit that we played better in the second half, due in no small measure to Proctor defending impeccably when he replaced Meekings. Greg Tansey was poor today, as was Foran and our midfield was obliterated because of that. I'm not sure that tactically, anything would have survived that first twenty minutes, so you can't blame Butcher for this one. We were toothless up front, and we miss Andrew Shinnie more than I thought we would. Top six? Probably not. Relegated? no chance, so against a Rangers side wounded and cornered we just got what we deserved today.

this.

I'm surprised that either side could muster a single on target pass on that surface yesterday. I really don't want to hear any more central belt pish about our piitch after seeing that. The (occupied) stand side looked like a ploughed field after 5 minutes. No wonder people resorted to the long ball. It was a poor game though. Gnakpa needs time to settle, and proctor wasn't actually that bad apart from a couple of mistakes that could have been crucial. TB couldn't have put Rosscoe up against their nippy wee (Cardle, Buchanan) forwards, they would have turned him all day, so Proctor it had to be. Plus side is that Williams will be back next week so the aruguments become academic. Up front showed how much we miss Tade already, I did have to laugh at the Pars fans booing Gnakpa because they thought he was Tade early on. Hero of the day, however, was the bus driver. Respect.

Did someone say preparing for asset stripping? This is what I think (figures are approximate) Liabilities Tax Case£36M Unpaid Taxes£9M (the administration trigger) Ticketus £25M plus interest SPL Teams £1M (Dunfermline, Dundee United etc.) Rapid Vienna £1M outstanding for Jelavic Stockholm £250K outstanding for Cellik £71 250 000 minimum Other outstanding debts to various creditors would probably indicate an estimate total indebtedness for RFC of £100M. Any prospective buyer would then have to consider replacement of player contracts for those annulled during administration, probably something in the region of £5M. Craig Whyte (if anything can be believed) has stated that RFC requires £3.5M revenue costs per month, so a season’s worth of working capital would seem sensible. The total cost required for any investor is therefore around £136.5M and it is unlikely that they would attract any credit/ financing arrangements from financial institutions given the toxicity of the investment and the present financial climate. Assets Stadium (owned by Craig Whyte) Murray Park (owned by Craig Whyte) Season Ticket revenue (prior claim by Ticketsus) Catering rights (realised by Craig Whyte) Walk in sales £5M estimate £5M maximum Potential income per annum (excluding merchandising) is therefore less than 2 months revenue outgoing. The position on merchandising is unclear, as Whyte may have sold some or all rights and JJB run their shops but it would be required to generate £24.5M to achieve break even assuming 100% write off on the debt. SPL/ Sky income is minimal in this context, and there is no possibility of UEFA funding for a three year ban period. There has been speculation that every home game generates around £1.5M for Rangers (making for much better balance) but it's not clear if that includes pre-mortgaged season tickets. Conclusion RFC are unlikely to attract an investor willing to invest around £75M as a capital investment plus an additional annual provision of capital to the tune of £10M+. Any of the previous Board’s offsets are unavailable, as the major realisable assets either belong to or have been sold by Craig Whyte. Any post administration investor would have to purchase these from Mr. Whyte or build a new stadium and training ground. Given that either option would cost in excess of £50M it escalates the cost of purchase to around £125M, which is wholly unrealistic. It would appear that liquidisation is the only possible option that is open to RFC, with the creation of a debt free phoenix club because the present Board have efficient denuded the club of any cashable assets. They are, in short, stuffed. And if anyone still thinks that we need them, read this: http://wingsland.podgamer.com/why-scotland-doesnt-need-rangers/

My heart gave a little leap of joy every time I saw that blond haired guy greetin.I don't buy the "too big to die" argument. Dinosaurs did, and the planet adapted admirably. They are an institution only in the number of lunatics that are gathered around there right now, and deserve no intervention from the rest of us. I think that Rangers are in grave, grave danger of unravelling completely as liquidation stares them in the face. If HMRC are pursuing only what liabilities have been racked up since Whyte took over and that has led them to be unable to pay their way, people are going to be very interested in what happened to the dosh he got for selling the catering rights, what he got for Jellyfish and the unpaid PAYE for the year. What's he done with it? Given that this debacle has tarnished his reputation beyond any repair will he actually care about the aftermath or simply sit back and trouser any reasonable offer that comes for Castle Greyskull (presuming that point 1 (above) doesn't constitute illegality)You never know, it might pay for his roof.

Eh? aye. I don't see any great threat in this, and with any luck it might hasten the flight south of their parnoid neighbours. What we are then left with is an SPL free to expand as required and a far more compeditive league where several sides have a realistic chance of doing well. The bile, bigotry and viciousness that the OF promotes is removed at a stroke. Yes, we might well lose the TV money (or some of it at least) and that might prompt a reorganisation so that all of our senior clubs live at their level and according to their means. We might have to rely on locally produced players. Small league? aye, but then we are a small country and we should be on a par with Belgium, Norway, Sweden etc. Bring it on I say.

Laurence, As he was found not guilty in a court of law, your opinion is not only worthless but possibly defamatory. That's why I'm reporting this topic.

That game was almost as disappointing as reading this forum. As a team, we didn't turn up. Never mind the individual errors, which have been done to death here, we didn't compete in midfield and the supply to the front was pretty well limited to long balls. What got me was that the best way for us to deal with Celtic was to play a high tempo game and disrupt them. Yet almost everything; crowd, pitch, weather, even the anouncer was so low key. Onwards and (hopefully) upwards.

genuine belief

Exactly mannie. Ther's been no offer for Hayes, so no debate to be had. All that ICT have to do is turn down any offer and let him leave (as he might well do) in the summer. If he plays as he can between now and then, he might well earn more for the club than what they would stand to lose as payment in this window. What would scoring the winner on saturday be worth, for instance? The board can trouser the 50K, it's not needed for this one.

The only one starting " silly rumours " is Butcher ! What specific rumours has he started ? Butcher has little or nothing to do with this. I've heard at least one journalist adamant that Hayes had signed a precontract about three weeks ago with the 'tic. No truth in it then, and little or no truth in it now, but that's where the rumours are being manufactured.

So you do pronounce the g? I wondered... Incidentally, can anyone tell me definitively whether the g in 'Gnasher' was/is pronounced? When I was a kid, the Beano readers at school could never reach a consensus. silent G.My dad worked for DC Thompson for some time, in commando comics, so he knows. Which Commando Comic did Gnasher appear in? I don't remember reading that one The one where the Commandos dress up as comic characters and ditch their traditional camouflage! All right, all right. Gnasher must have been the "schwienhund" they were always referring to. Same publisher you fools.

So you do pronounce the g? I wondered... Incidentally, can anyone tell me definitively whether the g in 'Gnasher' was/is pronounced? When I was a kid, the Beano readers at school could never reach a consensus. silent G.My dad worked for DC Thompson for some time, in commando comics, so he knows.

Might have been certain penalty for Templeton, but evened up for the one he didn't give after Hamill's diving handball.

Shame there's no button for both-my greed knows no bounds and neither does my desire to see Neil Lennon caused great irritation.

Good night with the non-travelling support in the Caley Club, absolute respect for the 54 ICT fans that did go, you looked well chuffed on sky. 1st half was dire, 2nd slightly better, but be honest - you have to feel sorry for Smith. He shouldn't be allowed near any sharp objects, bridges etc. tonight. Golobart was good again tonight, hope that the injury isn't as serious as it looked-there was a fair degree of twisting going on. G. Shinnie was bullied off the ball at the opener, and Rosscoe looked off the pace to start with. No idea what was going on with Foran & Hayes, but Jonny looked like he'd had enough of whatever it was. I'm happy with that result, though.

eh? all you had to do was take one off the trays that were being handed round. Unless you were in the other bar and couldn't be ar*ed going through. Desist, please.

this probably isn't a popular point of view, but is Sutherland not getting a game because he's just not good enough? Billy McKay nearly scored an absolute peach in the first half, and was supported until the sending off. Apart from that, he ran himself to a standstill - not really too much respect, more of a realisation of the reality of the situation. After the sending off, the priority becomes not losing. Just ask Man City.

The camera angle made it look like I could have been sitting on Govan Jaggie's knee: the Highland Krankies... Dear God. Given the recent revelations about the Krankies horizontal recreation habits, there are images running around my brain that have no business being there. Distressing. edited. was so distressed, I couldn't spell Krankie properly

Alternative Maryhill is now a media darling I see.......

That was a brutal game of football. ICT weren't great, but Dunfermline were dreadful and look candidates for the drop in the SPL already. This actually felt more like a league than a cup game where no one wanted to lose. We adapted well to the loss of Gillet, I really couldn't see what the sending off was for, but then Euan Norris is mystifying at the best of times. Midfield was OK, but never really had any control of the game in an offensive sense. Golobart was excellent again - I hear what others say about him belting the ball clear but that's exactly what he was getting slagged for not doing a couple of months ago. We really do need a striker though.