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My assessment. Disagree if you want, but tell us why to disagree.


Gooseman

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Ally McCoist was a huge success as a player for Rangers, playing along side some of the greatest players we have ever had at this great club while winning the European golden boot award in consecutive seasons, an achievement only matched by two other players (Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi). His legend status is unquestionable and irrefutable.

When Craig Whyte tried to destroy out club, Ally was the only one to stand up and tell the world that we wont walk away, while trying to mange the team he was the figure head for the club, for who knows how long before it was made public.

When Green came in , Ally was again used as a poster boy to ensure that the fans bought their season tickets in vast numbers and it is fair to say that his inflated salary more than compensated him for this. When the Charles Green train derailed, Ally was still the figure head and the person that fans looked up to.

He is the first Rangers manager that has been forced to work under extremely difficult constraints set by a governing body that refused to help us when we were down on our luck, had next to no players and for a period had no license to play.

His sole purpose as mangers is to win games and to climb the divisions to get us back to the top. So far he has achieved this, he has taken us to a cup final, albeit a minor trophy but a cup final none the less, and we are still in the Scottish cup.

I will nail my colours to the mast here; I think that Ally is doing a good job, in the respect that he is winning games and winning leagues. Do I think that the players’ performances are acceptable? No I don’t, I think our over paid players have bought in to the idea that we are playing part time teams and that they have a divine right to walk all over them. I think that some of the fans have also bought into this idea that part time means we only have to turn up to beat these sides. The idea that McCoist has been a failure is laughable, but I understand the point behind it. Tomorrow night we will clinch the league title, and this achievement should be celebrated with all the vigour that becoming champions demands, we are Rangers and being champions is what we know better than anyone.

I am not an apologist for McCoist or anyone else, I want the club to win every game and competition we entre, and as far as I am concerned winning is more important than dazzling football and 8 – 0 score lines in every game, these things would be nice but they are ultimately less important than winning.

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Think its more about the future. I cant see us suddenly playing better stuff as we move up to the top league. If we cant play good football against part timers then we certainly arent going to against full time professionals.

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Think its more about the future. I cant see us suddenly playing better stuff as we move up to the top league. If we cant play good football against part timers then we certainly arent going to against full time professionals.

I get your point, but I still feel that the vast majority of the vitriol thrown the way of Ally is uncalled for and Bourne out of frustration because of the level we are playing at.

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I get your point, but I still feel that the vast majority of the vitriol thrown the way of Ally is uncalled for and Bourne out of frustration because of the level we are playing at.

If a new manager started tomorrow eg Derek at Aberdeen do you think he could do a better job?

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Yes I disagree

The idea that he is the first manager forced to work under constraints is fair enough but he is also the first Rangers manager to have to play virtual pub teams to win the league.Yes he has won the league at a canter but to put it into perspective QOTS won the exact same league last year by 25 points with resources a fraction of what he has at his disposal.

Let us not forget he was responsible for signing some of the worst player s ever to grace our doorstep and his lack of tactical awareness is painful to see. The level of "good football" we are forced to endure week after week is frankly appalling.

People have to get away from the idea that questioning his ability to manage automatically means you hate the guy or have forgotten his massive contribution to the club.

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The off the field circumstances have helped keep him in a job more than hinder him tbh, he was failing miserably in his first top flight season prior to admin.

We are playing postmen and joiners, the excuse that 'winning only matters' simply cannot wash here. We can barely string a pass together most of the time and any team has a chance if they really get at us, never mind dazzling football some half decent football would be a start. It's not about 8-0 scorelines either, we beat Dunfermline in the last round of the cup by half that but the consensus was that we played very well and that it was the kind of entertaining display we should be putting up most weeks. As it is we've been tripe since then are are lucky to even still in in the Scottish Cup.

Fans pay good money and deserve a bit of entertainment, they need to produce entertainment because people are being driven away by our football 'style', hearing about folk turning down the chance to be at a title decider tomorrow sums it up.

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Yes I disagree

The idea that he is the first manager forced to work under constraints is fair enough but he is also the first Rangers manager to have to play virtual pub teams to win the league.Yes he has won the league at a canter but to put it into perspective QOTS won the exact same league last year by 25 points with resources a fraction of what he has at his disposal.

Let us not forget he was responsible for signing some of the worst player s ever to grace our doorstep and his lack of tactical awareness is painful to see. The level of "good football" we are forced to endure week after week is frankly appalling.

People have to get away from the idea that questioning his ability to manage automatically means you hate the guy or have forgotten his massive contribution to the club.

Yes well said, QOTS also played some really good football btw!

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If a new manager started tomorrow eg Derek at Aberdeen do you think he could do a better job?

I think he has more tactical awareness, and can read a game better, this is evident in the fact the the last 3 games against Celtic his side have won twice and I can see them beating them again after the split.

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He is the first Rangers manager that has been forced to work under extremely difficult constraints set by a governing body that refused to help us when we were down on our luck, had next to no players and for a period had no license to play.

i see this line is being trotted out again, ally must have had a bad result

in our clubs long and illustrious history, not one manager has ever faced opposition like ally has on a regular basis, not one manager has been given 6million quid a year for squad wages to win part time divisions, not one rangers manager has ever outspent his rivals by such a big amount and basically told to simply win the league

Think back to other times when we have been struggling, John Greig still faced full time professional opposition in his 5 years as manager, before souness arrived Jock Wallace was struggling against opposition of our calibre, More recent Alex Mcleish was told to dismantle a treble winning squad and slash the massive debt and wage bill, all the while trying to stay competitive against a massively spending celtic outfit and get us to the CL group stages for the financial breathing space it offered us

To say that McCoist is the first Rangers manager to work under extremely difficult circumstances is a massive lack of respect to the managers before that have had to face full time profession opposition that while still under spending what we were at times, were still spending way more that what ally's opponents are.

McCoist had it difficult for about 6 months (the admin period) since then any job difficulties have been largely brought about by the man himself, guys like Kevin Kyle getting a game before any of the youngsters we could have bled into the team

This whole going undefeated in the league, record points blah blah is quite frankly hollow as hell simply because of the massive overspend we are using to obtain it

There has been absolutely no thinking from McCoist (or the previous board for that matter) in how to obtain our objectives of getting back to the top league, we simply threw money at the problem in the hope that it would go away, it hasnt, fans are starting to show their disgust at our performances with their feet, i know its a tired cliche but we are in danger of losing a generation of fans simply because we are continuing with this "well it looks fucking awful but hey a wins a win" motto

Papaguy said it right last night, the league was a formality before it started, we should have been focusing on entertainment and progressing our teamwork etc, we didnt and we will face the consequences next season i fear

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I disagree, and believe me I was one of the most pro Ally fans out there but after Sundays game I did some thinking with regards to our Manager.

I agree with your first statement he is a legend and also agree not many managers have had to go through what Ally has gone through,

However, no other manager has the resources Ally has had over the last 3 seasons much much more than any manager other than septic. We have the second largest wage bill in Scotland and we are playing in the second lowest tier in football. We are playing some of the most negative football I have ever seen well truth is WS showed us some bores but that was against better teams. We are playing Part time teams tactics are dreadful, 11 men behind a ball REALLY, we have players that dont get to play in their natural positions, we young players that are loaned out to other teams when they could be gaining more experience under ours, the list is endless. This is down to one man and one man only OUR MANAGER, out of the 3 I would retain McDowel the rest need to move. Mr McCoist has done all right by us he is on one of the highest salaries in UK or further a field and even with that halved he is still on a massive salary for where we are. He also has 2 mil shares bought at 1p as share so he is set of life. We know he loves Rangers but Ally you are not bigger than the club some of our fans will stay away or continue to stay away because of the style of football that is on display. We also missed the greatest opportunity to overhaul our club from youth/scouting/ grass roots and this is the reason we are what we are now.It ok to win games but combine this altogether surely us fans who spend between £300 -£1000 a season on an ST deserve to see better on the field. Hes talking about bringing in more players next season come on we have one of the biggest squads in the counrty, ok we need to move players on and get rid of the dead wood but ffs OUR MANAGER brought them in, do we really want to give give more cash to bring more shit in.

I will leave it at that as this subject is boiling my blood at the moment.

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No Plan B

No idea how to break down a packed defence

Players who stood out in the SPL are actually regressing under McCoist despite playing easier opposition in our division

Poor development of the young players - our first team should have at least five McLeods, Crawfords etc by now

Very poor judgement in the transfer market - Peralta, Kyle, Smith for starters

He had a huge supply of goodwill based on his efforts for the club. That supply of goodwill has a limit and it has now all been spent.

He is only going to damage his status in the eyes of the support who can see that the deceptively good results have come, in most cases, through the plumbers and bin-men eventually tiring.

Ally - you will gain far, far more respect from those who care about you if you announce you are stepping down once the title is secured.

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great post shame it will be shot down from the usual few.

great post shame it will be shot down from the usual few.

I think you will find in the title he has invited forum members to respond as to why they disagree, all I am seeing is members doing this. I am not shooting down the OP merely taking their offer up and offering an opinion to theirs and agree with certain parts of OP post but recently I have opened my eyes wider and looked around more.
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I disagree with the blame being put everywhere else but our management team. The players yes have been poor and some interviews have been

poor and shown a bad attitude.

However who's job is it to motivate these players or to make changes when players are tired or not playing well. It simply can't be said the players aren't doing their job but the management are ok.

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i see this line is being trotted out again, ally must have had a bad result

in our clubs long and illustrious history, not one manager has ever faced opposition like ally has on a regular basis, not one manager has been given 6million quid a year for squad wages to win part time divisions, not one rangers manager has ever outspent his rivals by such a big amount and basically told to simply win the league

Think back to other times when we have been struggling, John Greig still faced full time professional opposition in his 5 years as manager, before souness arrived Jock Wallace was struggling against opposition of our calibre, More recent Alex Mcleish was told to dismantle a treble winning squad and slash the massive debt and wage bill, all the while trying to stay competitive against a massively spending celtic outfit and get us to the CL group stages for the financial breathing space it offered us

To say that McCoist is the first Rangers manager to work under extremely difficult circumstances is a massive lack of respect to the managers before that have had to face full time profession opposition that while still under spending what we were at times, were still spending way more that what ally's opponents are.

McCoist had it difficult for about 6 months (the admin period) since then any job difficulties have been largely brought about by the man himself, guys like Kevin Kyle getting a game before any of the youngsters we could have bled into the team

This whole going undefeated in the league, record points blah blah is quite frankly hollow as hell simply because of the massive overspend we are using to obtain it

There has been absolutely no thinking from McCoist (or the previous board for that matter) in how to obtain our objectives of getting back to the top league, we simply threw money at the problem in the hope that it would go away, it hasnt, fans are starting to show their disgust at our performances with their feet, i know its a tired cliche but we are in danger of losing a generation of fans simply because we are continuing with this "well it looks fucking awful but hey a wins a win" motto

Papaguy said it right last night, the league was a formality before it started, we should have been focusing on entertainment and progressing our teamwork etc, we didnt and we will face the consequences next season i fear

Spot on JBJ

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I wonder if we'd have scored a few of our chances on Sunday would be be having all these calls for McCoist to go?

We all but totally dominated the game and even setup their goal.Bell had nothing to do the whole game.In fact,had we not got the equaliser,it would have been a travesty.

I agree our standard of play has fallen,particularly in and around the opposition box.How often have we heard it said that football is a results lead business?Well,McCoist and his team are getting the results.

Tired of hearing,'they're only part-time' or 'postmen and plumbers'.These teams are well up to beat 'the mighty Rangers',albeit not the Rangers teams of yesteryear but it's still Rangers.We're in a battle with these teams week after week whereas,they play us once and then return to their normal Saturday game of far less intensity.Incidentally,Ian McMillan (the wee prime-minister) was a part-time player while he studied for his profession,was he not good enough for Rangers?Put that question to Willie Henderson.

I'm on the fence where McCoist is concerned,he's doing what's required atm,next year may be a step to far though,time will tell.

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Think its more about the future. I cant see us suddenly playing better stuff as we move up to the top league. If we cant play good football against part timers then we certainly arent going to against full time professionals.

Yes we can. To play good football requires two teams trying to play, not one team running 100mph for 60 mins kicking the opposition, giving them no time on the ball with all men in their own half parking the bus!

At the start of the season, these teams thought us weak. We had something to prove. We demolished each of them comfortably and played good stuff. Now, they play super defensively and we've taken the foot off the gas.

As we move up the leagues and the standard of teams improve, so will our game.

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I wonder if we'd have scored a few of our chances on Sunday would be be having all these calls for McCoist to go?

We all but totally dominated the game and even setup their goal.Bell had nothing to do the whole game.In fact,had we not got the equaliser,it would have been a travesty.

I agree our standard of play has fallen,particularly in and around the opposition box.How often have we heard it said that football is a results lead business?Well,McCoist and his team are getting the results.

Tired of hearing,'they're only part-time' or 'postmen and plumbers'.These teams are well up to beat 'the mighty Rangers',albeit not the Rangers teams of yesteryear but it's still Rangers.We're in a battle with these teams week after week whereas,they play us once and then return to their normal Saturday game of far less intensity.Incidentally,Ian McMillan (the wee prime-minister) was a part-time player while he studied for his profession,was he not good enough for Rangers?Put that question to Willie Henderson.

I'm on the fence where McCoist is concerned,he's doing what's required atm,next year may be a step to far though,time will tell.

A few goals would probably have stifled some dissent.

Fact is, our team is not sufficiently organised or well enough conditioned to break down a lower league team. (Who, incidentally, were the only team I've seen in the last 2 seasons who clearly showed how much extra they'd put in with all the cramps in the last 15 mins).

Despite them being out on their feet, we still couldn't do better than equalise.

We currently rely on someone remembering who they used to be and dredging up a bit of quality.

Our team style (if you want to call it that) doesn't allow for anything else.

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I wrote this shortly after the Albion game..

If someone asked to describe Ally McCoist the man and also player the response will be nothing but good words. A great human being who’s legendary status as a player should give him a job at Rangers for life as a club ambassador. Ally McCoist the manager? A completely different response. I will give my full honest verdict on his management career so far. PURELY ON FOOTBALLING TERMS.

When Walter returned to Rangers in 2007 he added McCoist and Kenny McDowall as his assistants. As the years of success went by it was inevitable McCoist would eventually take over. This was confirmed in February 2011, during Walter Smith’s last season as Rangers manager. During that season, there was much speculation about Craig Whyte’s takeover. Eventually, the takeover was completed in early May and Rangers clinched a third successive league title at Rugby Park. It was a perfect send off for Walter Smith who gave way to Ally McCoist to begin his regime.

2011/12:

Due to a poor Scottish co-efficient Rangers weren’t guaranteed automatic entry to the Champions League group stages, so a massive challenge straight away for McCoist. The quest for four in a row would start in late July and Ally had no time to waste with preparation and signing targets. Negotiations with Craig Conway, Neil Danns and Tomer Hamed were unsuccessful; perhaps if McCoist didn’t publicly declare his interest the signings could have been concluded quietly. The transfer front was very quiet until McCoist completed his first season, Juan Ortiz from Almeria. Early July also saw the core of the title winning squad signing long term contracts with the club, so any possible departures wouldn’t go on the cheap. Pre season was once again in Germany, 3 straight friendly defeats with no goals scored wasn’t exactly morale boosting with a vital Champions League qualifier beckoning. Rangers did bag 2 victories over Blackpool and Linfield shortly before the SPL opener. The first game against Hearts was a very unconvincing draw and some selections were questionable, i.e. Edu and McCulloch partnering each other while Ortiz didn’t get the hook despite struggling on the left wing (Ortiz is naturally a right sided midfielder unsurprisingly). Champions League qualification required two rounds from the Champions Path, we drew Malmo from Sweden. The first leg resulted in a disastrous home defeat giving us a mountain to climb. The return leg seemed almost impossible after a moment of madness from Whittaker saw him red carded very early on, we did indeed exit the completion after a 1-1 draw with 9 men. An early exit was a massive blow financially and commercially and there were definite signs after the constant failed bids for David Goodwillie. There was another bite of the cherry with Europe, the Europa League which resulted in another embarrassing exit to Maribor. 2 European exits in one month, worst case scenario for McCoist. Results in the league did improve and we remained unbeaten up until the end of November. In one of very few highlights under his regime, he defeated Celtic 4-2; the second half performance was very exceptional. In amongst the good league form was another embarrassing competition exit, this time to first division Falkirk in the league cup. Yet again Rangers fall at the first hurdle under McCoist. This also came at a period of uncertainty when several media reports began speculation about the big tax case and the possible repercussions from it. The good league form began to slip following Naismith’s injury; a 15 point lead was slowly fading away. Eventually after dropping points to St Mirren (twice), Kilmarnock, St Johnstone and Celtic we were two points behind. I seriously started to doubt McCoist and the squads’ ability to bounce back following the defeat to St Mirren, the performance at Parkhead wasn’t exactly satisfying either. Results began to improve but I officially lost faith in the team shortly after drawing to Aberdeen. Jelavic eventually departed and no replacement came in, we were never going to win the league with a strike force of Healy and Lafferty, no disrespect to them but blind faith can only think otherwise. Shortly after Jelavic was sold, another cup exit, to Dundee United. We didn’t fall at the first hurdle this time but it was another cup exit nevertheless, the performance was dismal and we only had the league to focus on. Football was the last thing on our minds as the unthinkable did happen, the club entering administration. I will never forget McCoist’s “We don’t do walking away quote” during that period, he will always be remembered for the words that just about united the whole support. On the football pitch we did beat Celtic again which prevented them from clinching the league at Ibrox, a fantastic performance which is the only highlight of his managerial career I’m afraid. Overall the season was a massive disappointment in football terms, a trophy less season with two catastrophic European exits.

2012/13

The club had to start life in the third division following the rejection of a CVA. McCoist stayed on as manager and despite losing several players he still had a decent enough squad and made additions. Despite the fact that there was no pre-season and all the controversially surrounding the “newco” I still found the season massively disappointing even though McCoist won his first trophy as manager. Make no mistakes about it, Rangers were virtually guaranteed the title once we gained our license again. This was a perfect opportunity for McCoist to make his long term ambitions. Several youngsters were blooded but ultimately it was a major disappointment. There were several dreadful performances against teams Rangers should be dismantling week in week out. Very poor football and coaching against these sides raised more questions about his managerial ability. The only real highlight was a superb performance against Motherwell in the league cup; sadly we crashed out at home to Inverness losing 3-0. We competed in the Ramsdens Cup due to our SFL status; we crashed out to eventual winners Queen of the South on penalties, ANOTHER cup exit. The Scottish Cup resulted in another exit to Dundee United, the performance was absolutely shambolic and the best way to describe it would be “men against boys”, humiliated on the pitch, the sooner that season was over the better. Eventually the title was wrapped up but that didn’t change the fact that there were several poor performances that made me worry about the long term future of the club. Some of the attitudes from the Nandos brigade wasn’t exactly helping either.

2013/14

Several high profile SPL players were added to the squad and we had a pre-season for once. Plenty of good tests in Germany and from the English teams we played. This season, despite the possibility of a treble and invincibles tag has been another disappointment. Yet again we suffered another embarrassing cup defeat to Forfar, many called for McCoist’s head and rightly so, how many more failures can he have? We are unbeaten in the league and are high scorers, but the football and performances have been very questionable. I don’t know who is more to blame, McCoist or the players, but given all the cup exits in the past it’s pretty much self explanatorily. We are in the Ramsdens Cup final which I have doubts of winning now; a poor performance in the semi final against Stenhousemuir was unconvincing. We don’t have a hope in hell of winning the Scottish Cup, although I will hold my hands up if McCoist proves me wrong. The performance against Albion Rovers was an embarrassment and I can’t even seeing us win the replay. If we progress we will play Dundee United, I fear the worse and can see them giving us another hiding, even though the semi finals are held at Ibrox. The league can be wrapped up by mid March but it’s not been a convincing season at all, put aside the unbeaten run, there is still poor football and half arsed performances.

That’s a summary of the seasons but there other issues to be addressed.

Signings:

McCoist hasn’t spent massive transfer fees but there are several signings that have made us ask, “Why is he getting a wage?” In his first season he wasted over £1m on Bedoya, Ortiz and McKay who barely played 20 games between them. Aluko, Wallace and Bocanegra were very good signings and Wallace has been outstanding with his loyalty and consistency. The second season saw several high profile players from the SPL who haven’t fully satisfied me. Sandaza, Cribari have been a total waste. This season, more high profile SPL players plus a Honduran international, still not fully convinced. In all honestly if McCoist had an Advocaat like warchest I would fear the absolute worst.

Long term ambition:

There is none what so ever. Lewis McLeod is a very talented player with an exciting future ahead, sadly I can’t see us building the team around him. The signing of Daly in 2013 proved that he has no long term ambition. It’s harsh to use him as an example but the bottom line is that he is a 30 year old target man with no resale value. Spending a lot of wages on over 30 year old bosmans got Rangers in the mess financially in the past, so why are we continuing to do that? Short term fixes isn’t improving the club in the long term. The only real players in the current team with a potential sell on value are Peralta and McLeod. Peralta hasn’t exactly been a superstar but a good World Cup can get him a move elsewhere.

Style of play/tactics.

Horrendous, simple as that. Horrific football in the lower leagues despite massively superior resources, attendances are dropping and the crowds are getting restless, the board must take note of this and Ally should consider his position. The constant dinosaur long ball football is soul destroying, the quality with set pieces haven’t changed either and the most frustrating thing is always having every player back for corners, why why why? No one is expecting to play the way Barcelona do but it would be nice if we could play some decent technical football and actually string a few passes together rather than hoofing it up the field all the time.

So overall, McCoist as a manager has been a failure, he has had some very unfortunate circumstances with administration and the current boardroom war but speaking on purely football terms, he must go. It’s been 3 years of misery and failure for me. I am not an Ally hater, I just want the best for the club.

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I wonder if we'd have scored a few of our chances on Sunday would be be having all these calls for McCoist to go?

We all but totally dominated the game and even setup their goal.Bell had nothing to do the whole game.In fact,had we not got the equaliser,it would have been a travesty.

I agree our standard of play has fallen,particularly in and around the opposition box.How often have we heard it said that football is a results lead business?Well,McCoist and his team are getting the results.

Tired of hearing,'they're only part-time' or 'postmen and plumbers'.These teams are well up to beat 'the mighty Rangers',albeit not the Rangers teams of yesteryear but it's still Rangers.We're in a battle with these teams week after week whereas,they play us once and then return to their normal Saturday game of far less intensity.Incidentally,Ian McMillan (the wee prime-minister) was a part-time player while he studied for his profession,was he not good enough for Rangers?Put that question to Willie Henderson.

I'm on the fence where McCoist is concerned,he's doing what's required atm,next year may be a step to far though,time will tell.

We could have easily sneaked a 2-1 on Sunday and that might have satisfied enough people for now but ultimately just like it has been all season, it would just be papering over the cracks! I think everyone has to take ally's status out the equation and ask yourself if anything you have seen so far makes you believe he is the man to take us forward especially if as expected we need to start being more financially prudent and can just buy success?

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