Grae

STEVEN WHITTAKER reckons Scottish football will benefit by Rangers beating Motherwell in the Premiership play-off. The Norwich star savoured success in the English version at Wembley at the beginning of the week. Now it’s the turn of his former club and Whittaker believes the game in his homeland stands to gain more with a win for Stuart McCall’s men. He said: ‘I think Rangers have come through a very tough test against Hibs. “I’m sure they’ll go into the Motherwell games feeling that they can get back into the top flight. “Rangers deserve to be in the Premiership and it would be great for Scottish football to have them back in the top league. I hope they do it.” Action Images Norwich City's Steven Whittaker celebrates at full time after gaining promotion to the Barclays Premier League Whittaker admits he may be involved in tonight’s game had the club not struck financial disaster and plumetted to the bottom-tier of the Scottish leagues. He added: “It was a surreal situation when I left Rangers. “I’d signed a four-year contract and committed my future to the club, then it all went wrong. “Obviously they went bust, they had to start all over again in the Third Division. For my own career, I had to move on. “Before that, I had decided that I wanted to play for Rangers for the rest of my career. “But it wasn’t to be. In the end, we move on.” Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he and Naismith announce they were jumping ship prior to it being announced that we were having to start again in Div 3?

You do know that Jimmy Somerville wasn't in Erasure though, right?

Fair play to him then. I suppose he was in a situation where he had to seem confident in the hope that his players would follow suit. Still...get it fucking up the lot of them.

Anyone got any quotes from the after-match interview with Stubbs? I'm dying to hear the cunt bleat like a little bitch after his big talk but I'm offshore with little access to the internet or radio.

Kirk Broadfoot

My mind might be playing tricks, but didn't Charlie Adam manage it?

Eagles was on £30k a week at Bolton only a year ago. I appreciate that he's currently without a Club, but even with a drastic pay cut, I still don't think we could afford his wages.

What will it take...for folk to actually write about the topic subject in the topic header, rather than trying to create enough mystery to entice people to read the first post?

Do you think he's got a season ticket, or does he just peer in over the Club Deck?

I wouldn't slag the guy off - look at the fucking height of him!

Tell ye what...why don't you post a photo on here of the damaged top? Dead easy.

Tore Andre Flo

I've had an official Rangers App for years. Is there a new one coming out then? Search for Rangers FC for the current one.

Is that why you don't fancy him as a coach?

Referring to Rangers players as Fuds is something I'd expect to see written by one of the unwashed from the east end of the city. I also think there's a certain irony in a blogger writing about the twitter antics of players. What makes a bloggers right to publish their thoughts online any more valid than a player deciding to tweet theirs?

What?! I'm not allowed to even glance at the front page in a shop now??

Apologies, just seen another thread on this. I did search before I posted, honest Guv. Would've saved me the hassle!

I don't buy the Daily Record but seen this on the front page when I was shopping earlier... http://www.<No links to this website>/sport/football/football-news/cerebral-palsy-finance-genius-set-1949412 KIERAN PRIOR, who went from a housing estate to a trader at banking giants Goldman Sachs, has overcome countless obstacles in his life to rise to be head of his own private equity firm. KIERAN Prior is officially one of the most intelligent men in the world but is adamant he isn’t taking leave of his senses by investing in Rangers. The former Goldman Sachs trader has an IQ of 234, which places him at the very top of the smartest one per cent of the global population. Prior has a form of cerebral palsy known as dystonia and is the founder of The Priority Trust, which supports greater independence for disabled children and has three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis as its patron. The 34-year-old says he is on the brink of a deal to buy up to 1.4 per cent of Rangers within the next 48 hours and if he likes what he sees he could increase his stake to 10 per cent, making him the largest individual shareholder at Ibrox. It is believed he has already held talks with key individuals at Ibrox and they are taking him seriously, although they’re declining to comment at this stage. It is a tale that sounds as far fetched as Prior’s own life story, which has taken him from a housing estate in Salford, Greater Manchester, to the high-flying world of investment banking. An economics graduate from Manchester University, Prior’s rise to the top of the cut-throat trading world is all the more remarkable given his severe disability. He has been wheelchair bound all his life and has never walked. His motor skills and speech are impaired, which makes talking difficult and causes his body to jerk involuntarily, particularly when he is startled by sudden noises or movements. The force of his reflexes is such he sometimes dislocates his shoulders and he lives in London with a full-time carer. Prior’s family hail from Connemara in County Galway, but he has been a Rangers fan since childhood, following the Light Blues alongside first love Man United. He claims his stake in Rangers will, in part, be emotional but also recognises the investment potential, although he says fans will always come first. He told Record Sport: “For Rangers to return to their proper place in the football world it needs to be run properly. “Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was offered Man United 25 years ago for £12million. It is now worth £2.5billion because they have done the right things at the right time. “The club has not been exploited for short-term financial gain by certain individuals and Rangers must also be run appropriately as it hopefully ascends to the SPL – and possibly beyond. “I see value and growth in the club and I’m buying a stake that will give me a voice. I want to see what’s under the hood of Rangers to find if it’s being properly run on behalf of the fans. “People can doubt my credibility if they choose, but my education is good and my professional background is second to none after 10 years at Goldman Sachs.” Prior left Goldman Sachs in April 2010 in the midst of a shake-up of the banking sector in the aftermath of the US Volcker Rule, which prohibited banks from trading with their own money. He subsequently took his employers to a tribunal citing discrimination, but refused to discuss the outcome or the case. He said: “I will say only that Goldman Sachs is the best place to be educated in banking. There is no better company in the world.” Prior’s charity spent almost £350,000 funding mobility equipment for children in the three years to March 2011, although it has been less active in the two years since. He says he has taken a pause for breath to focus on his start-up private equity firm Pri Arc, which he established 12 months ago and which specialises in investing in fledgling hi-tech firms. He declined to estimate his own wealth, although did confirm Pri Arc have not made a profit in its first 12 months. He added: “Name me one profitable LLP (limited liability partnership) in its first 12 months and I’ll name you 25 who went on to become so. We’re excited for the future.” Prior’s dad, Terry, was a butcher who took a second job as a baggage handler at Manchester Airport and his mother gave up her job as a bookkeeper to care for him from birth. He was determined from an early age to use his intellect to fund a quality of life that he would otherwise be denied. He said: “I knew the realities of life, I knew from the early age of 13. Otherwise I would have been at home, depending on parents, with no carer in an underfunded system and an ageing wheelchair.” He attended a special needs primary school, where the head teacher urged his parents to push hard to secure their son a place in a mainstream comprehensive. He subsequently thrived at Kaskenmoor School in Oldham. As a child, Prior relied on others to help pick him up and carry him around from his wheelchair, but life changed forever when he was given a motorised chair at the age of eight. He said: “It gave me my life. I wouldn’t have had it otherwise. “I remember it being staggeringly liberating. The ability to move about the house on my own was unbelievable. “It was like climbing Everest. Just going down to the garden gate, being able to look out? Amazing.” Dad Terry recalled how his boy used to watch his older brother play football with other kids from the estate. On one occasion, the players all left the pitch and it was an hour before they realised Kieran had been left behind. Terry said: “I set off up the road to fetch Kieran and there he was, sitting in the middle of the field in his chair. “It was getting dark, but he wasn’t crying. I asked him why he hadn’t called out to anyone and he said he knew someone would come for him eventually.” Prior risked incurring the wrath of his parents after graduating when he took two unannounced trips to London to interview for Goldman Sachs. He subsequently became the first disabled-born trader to be employed by them in the UK. Prior said: “It was all or nothing for me. I could have stayed in Manchester because it was easier to live at home but I thought, basically, ‘let’s go for it’. “I knew I could pretty much do anything I wanted intellectually and I thought, to use a football metaphor, why not go out and try to play for Real Madrid?” Gary Williams, the former head of European equity trading at Goldman Sachs, originally hired Prior and he has enormous respect for his determination. Williams said: “He is an exceptionally smart, perceptive guy who has purposefully risen to – and overcome – so many challenges.” Former Goldman Sachs president John Thornton has also paid tribute to Prior’s strength of character. He said: “Kieran’s sheer, raw talent is impressive, and when you add to that the determination he shows getting through the day in a place like Goldman Sachs, which is so demanding, his achievements are simply breathtaking.”

I'm astounded that so many people who read the article had to ask if it was a wind up.

Pendant Loyal

Cheers for the input.

That's true. Don't get me wrong - I think we should be consulted but I just get the feeling that we'll be told that it was the only decision that could be made that was in the best interests of the club and that polling the fans isn't the best way to steer the club, citing last year's debacle concerning the other SPL clubs as an example. You are right though that comparisons should not be made. Our fans are the polar opposite in terms of commitment and support.

I too think that the club will make a decision on any invite without fan consultation. We (as fans) have essentially made a rod for our own backs by being critical of the clubs who opposed our place in the SPL by listening to their fans. Rangers have justification now to decide what they think will be best for the club without polling the fans. I'm not saying I agree with that but it's unfortunately the situation we find ourselves in.

This is a good signing. I reckon he won't be on anywhere near a hefty wage, he knows already what it's like to play for Scotland's greatest club and he'll provide healthy competition for Lee Wallace. I appreciate he can be quite injury prone, but at 27 - it's a worthwhie gamble in my opinion.