Deliberately Lowering the Standards

[Muff 245]

The excuses roll in. Already we have friends of Sir David Murray in the press giving his reasons why most of the money from the sale of Hutton, Sebo and both UEFA competitions will be used to service the debt rather than buy players.

On the 2 June we had James Traynor from the Daily Record giving a blow-by-blow account why we can't compete with English Championship clubs. It was an apologia for Sir David Murray rather than an attempt at objective journalism. Murray keeps Traynor close for this very reason. He is useful.

Here is a the key part of the article:

"Most of the money will go towards Rangers' costs and the servicing of debts which means their fans will have to get used to the idea that even mid-priced players are outwith their club's reach.

Premiership players are out of the question because of the salaries they can command and if Rangers find themselves in competition for a player from a club in the world's top league they know they have no chance.

Even when they drop a division, to the Championship, they are unlikely to succeed.

For instance, there is little doubt Rangers would like a striker such as Sheffield United's James Beattie but he is on £40,000-plus a week.

Rangers cannot pay more than £25,000 a week and that's why Miller is being brought back."

So we cannot compete with Premiership or Championship clubs? This is nonsense! There is no doubt that we cannot pay big fees and massive wages the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd pay. However, I don't know a Rangers fan who thinks we can do this or wishes to blow money like the Tore Andre Flo signing. I do know though that we can compete with the rest of the Premiership and especially the Championship - onlyif we get our act together off the park.

In most studies on football finances we are in the top 30 richest football clubs in the world. I don't see many Championship clubs on those lists and TV money is taken into account.

The problem is not with the money we can bring in, it is how we use it. As a 2004 article from The Guardian says:

"[...]analysis of Murray's business empire reveals little for Rangers supporters to cheer."

Sir David Murray is the majority shareholder in Murray International Holdings (MIH). So who does Rangers pay for financial advice? An MIH subsidiary. Who does Rangers pay for catering at Ibrox? An MIH subsidiary. Who does Rangers pay for IT? You guessed it - an MIH subsidiary.

Added to that the JJB lump-sum of £18m that hasn't been used and the continual lost revenue we suffer because we cannot fulfill the Rangers fans demand for merchandise - due to JJB Sports poor support and lack of market targeting. For instance, how much more money could the club have made through their own stores when we reached the UEFA final?

The club is being sucked dry and the latest deliberate lowering of standards when it comes to players is not a coincidence. There is only so much you can draw from the well. Sir David Murray knows this and he is trying to lower the bar so the fans will take it.

However, with Celtic going for four-in-a-row can we afford to?

[Guest Andypendek]

I read that piece. It did NOT seem to me like an apologia for SDM, it read like a mediocre hack desperately trying to drum up some traffic for his god awful bog roll of a newspaper by being mildly dismissive of Rangers buying power.

Truly we all see what we want to see.

[disgruntled_bear 157]

analysis of Murray's business empire reveals little for Rangers supporters to cheer."

Sir David Murray is the majority shareholder in Murray International Holdings (MIH). So who does Rangers pay for financial advice? An MIH subsidiary. Who does Rangers pay for catering at Ibrox? An MIH subsidiary. Who does Rangers pay for IT? You guessed it - an MIH subsidiary.

Added to that the JJB lump-sum of £18m that hasn't been used and the continual lost revenue we suffer because we cannot fulfill the Rangers fans demand for merchandise - due to JJB Sports poor support and lack of market targeting. For instance, how much more money could the club have made through their own stores when we reached the UEFA final?

I've said this for a while Rangers are in 3 parts,There is Rangers Football club,MIH and the long leasing contracts to 3rd parties like JJB etc

We are in a mess and that part of the reason why, they have been no real offers for to buy the Club!

I just hope more fans start to wake up :angry2:

[leftyger 0]

So we cannot compete with Premiership or Championship clubs? This is nonsense! There is no doubt that we cannot pay big fees and massive wages the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd pay. However, I don't know a Rangers fan who thinks we can do this or wishes to blow money like the Tore Andre Flo signing. I do know though that we can compete with the rest of the Premiership and especially the Championship - onlyif we get our act together off the park.

In most studies on football finances we are in the top 30 richest football clubs in the world. I don't see many Championship clubs on those lists and TV money is taken into account.?

I agree with most of your comments but you are wrong here. The Championship is the fifth richest league in the world. Derby, who will be playing in it next season, received more TV money for finishing last in the EPL than we did for the combined CL and UEFA campaign and they will receive large parachute payments for the next few seasons.

We can't compete in terms of fees and wages with any current or recently relegated EPL club. To think otherwise is just delusional

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

I think Traynor makes some valid points. You just cant help yourself, with your hatred of SDM and paranoia conspiricy theories, being to blind to see the reality.

IF we are going head to head for a player with someone from the EPL we cant compete on maney alone - so we have to offer European Football or buy a Rangers supporter - on cash alone - we lose!

We may be able to sign someone who sees Rangers as a stepping stone (theres been plenty of those) and if they are good we can enjoy them for a season or so. We may get the odd gem, like Cuellar, who falls in love with the club and wants to stay (money/large bids notwithstanding) BUT, we are a SELLING club. Its maybe not palatable to some but that is the reallity of the situation.

[BCLoyal9 53]

SDM Dishonesty Update #27

We are now at the outset of June and still no word on the ground development. SDM indicated the beginning of May.

For more details please see previous issues of the SDM Dishonesty chronicles , available on back order.

[BLUEDIGNITY 33,721]

Nothing new really we all know the sooner SDM GTF the sooner we can move to the next level.

[minstral 5,375]

no wonder he is hated by a lot of our support, just one compulsive liar.

[bearsrus 12]

Murry is fast running us into the ground, as his company is in now in trouble, and the fact he invested heavily in property now means he's literally up shit creek, with the credit crunch hitting, the bank is now starting to call in the massive loans he took out which cant be paid, and this partly a reason he's struggling to find any buyers for the club, that and the fact no ---- in business trusts him, so imo, there is dark times ahead for us as a football club.

[finzster 0]

his company is in now in trouble, and the fact he invested heavily in property now means he's literally up shit creek, with the credit crunch hitting

Absolute codswallop!

[CF5LOYAL 0]

Are we not in the Delloite list of 25 richest clubs in the world?

[outlaw69uk 123]

tbh, it just looks like a post from another site, or thread, so, its someones opinion, with snippets of a newspaper article to back up their point. Dont see the big deal.

[jjcale27 46]

Nothing new really we all know the sooner SDM GTF the sooner we can move to the next level.

agreed