Murray is no longer the man to guide Rangers

[jjcale27 46]

I know this article is by Britney but it does make some valid points........

Sir David Murray must long for an exit route from Rangers. On that front the only question he faces — and it’s a sore one — is how or where? Last Tuesday night, in humiliating fashion, Rangers were bundled out of Europe by FBK Kaunas and, in the days since, a group of Ibrox fans have once more rounded on Murray and pleaded with him to sell his 90 per cent stake in the club.

In one sense, it is a harsh judgment. Murray gave Rangers years of domestic glory in the 1990s and it would be unfair to overlook that time of dominance at Ibrox. It also takes some courage, whatever else people think, to front up a club such as Rangers for 20 years, as Murray has done.

Yet the reality of today’s climate cannot be denied. There is a staleness and a fatigue at Ibrox that stems from the top, and the sooner Murray gives way to someone else, the sooner Rangers can embark on a fresh chapter in the club’s 136-year history.

Murray himself, I don’t believe, vehemently disputes that this is the case. He is on record as wanting out of Rangers, and is equally adamant that neither of his sons, David Jr or Keith, should take over his reins.

There was a time when Murray wanted “a kind of Murray dynasty” — as he once put it to me — to reign supreme at Rangers, but not any more, not with all the hassle that comes with it.

But Murray’s problem is quite simple. How can he find someone with around £50 million to put into Rangers — and it would be an emotional investment more than a business one — in order to relieve him of his post? Given his shareholding (if football shares are still meant to be worth anything) it is hard to imagine 90 per cent of Rangers being handed over for less than that figure, or not until it comes to a fire-sale.

Last Friday, Murray met 15 or so supporters, representing Ibrox legions dotted all over the globe, and one told me later that he didn’t find the Ibrox chairman “exactly coming out with all guns blazing”. That wasn’t just because of the setback in Kaunas last week, where Walter Smith’s side were evicted from the Champions League by a bunch of Lithuanian no-hopers.

That episode was bad enough for Rangers, but for Murray, it once more fed this undeniable feeling of the best years having gone, the high times being over, and nothing but slog ahead in trying to restore the club’s best fortunes.

I don’t know how many times I’ve said it: Rangers have paid a heavy price for the rampant ambition and reckless financing of the club that Murray personally oversaw in the post-1998 period. Among a glut of lackeys in the press whom Murray has puppeteered over the years, one of them infamously wrote back in 2000 that Rangers, in the years head, were about to enter “a new golden age” under Murray, and that, amid this super-charged stratospheric journey of success, Celtic were to be left behind.

Well, it didn’t quite pan out like that. On the contrary, in the years following that unfulfilled ambition, Rangers were plunged into debt and found themselves rupturing at the seams while Celtic pulled effortlessly away. Celtic’s six titles to Rangers’ two in the past eight years speaks of the gap that has opened up between the Old Firm. Even ardent Rangers fans privately breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t eight in a row for Celtic, as it might easily have been.

For Rangers, it cannot go on. In his heyday Murray used to like speaking about “changing the menu” at Ibrox — his way of describing his knack for overhauling Rangers and keeping the fans excited — but he has fast run out of dishes.

Paul Le Guen was supposed to be “the great moonbeam” going to Ibrox in 2006. The only problem for Murray was that Rangers, at the time still financially smarting from their reckless years, couldn’t afford to give Le Guen much money to spend, and instead asked him to “go down the road of youth” — Murray’s own words — in building a new team. Whatever else you think of Le Guen (and I thought a lot of him) he received only half a chance of being a successful Rangers manager.

Murray has had a good innings at Rangers. At times, indeed, it deserved to be described as a great innings, when Rangers fans were falling over themselves to pay homage to their boardroom leader. So it doesn’t do, amid all the present indignant shouting, to forget about that. But Rangers need new blood, money and ideas, and Murray is no longer the man to provide that.

[Blue Stars Bearette 1]

the problem also is the credit crunch environment...its not conducive to selling a struggling asset and the crunch is also effecting revenue as fans seek to trim their budgets.

[Guest therabbitt]

One of the first Brittney articles that have not made me want to poke his eyes out

[Tumshie 205]

as much as I dislike Spiers he's spot-on. Murray must go and we need new ideas to further the Rangers brand at home and abroad. Celtic are miles ahead of us on the international front and 2 me that's embarrasing

[Blue Stars Bearette 1]

as much as I dislike Spiers he's spot-on. Murray must go and we need new ideas to further the Rangers brand at home and abroad. Celtic are miles ahead of us on the international front and 2 me that's embarrasing

they even have their snazzy state of the art LCD advertising hoarding zooming round the pitch now. You can just feel the 'God I wish I didn't have to do this anymore' feel from the top at Ibrox....Spiers is right for once

[radlord 24]

I'm sure he's trying. You can't just pap the club off to any old cunt, and as has been said now is relaly not the time for multi millionaires coming in to invest millions in football clubs. He'll be around for a couple more years at least.

He definately should hand over ASAP though. He jsut seems tired. 'God I wish I didn't have to do this anymore' is about right I reckon.

[trueblue1872 2]

as much as I dislike Spiers he's spot-on. Murray must go and we need new ideas to further the Rangers brand at home and abroad. Celtic are miles ahead of us on the international front and 2 me that's embarrasing

they even have their snazzy state of the art LCD advertising hoarding zooming round the pitch now. You can just feel the 'God I wish I didn't have to do this anymore' feel from the top at Ibrox....Spiers is right for once

Which cost a bomb.

Not worth the money imo. Rather see it getting spent on players than billboards that blind the fuck outa yah.

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

pretty biased - anti - SDM conclusions from nothing - and I disagree!

[Dillinger 0]

I dislike Spiers intensly but the article certainly makes some valid points.

[jjcale27 46]

pretty biased - anti - SDM conclusions from nothing - and I disagree!

In what way is it biased?

[Ace 3,556]

pretty biased - anti - SDM conclusions from nothing - and I disagree!

In what way is it biased?

SDM shafted Britney's bum-boy PLG .. therfore he is taking any pot-shots he can.

I do have to laugh though, the majority of posters here have claimed that Spiers is a terrible journo and has an Anti-Rangers sentiment in EVERY article he writes, yet ... as soon as he writes something the digs at SDM then he has "valid" points or "is making sense".

As the saying goes "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Hypocrisy runs riot in RM !!!

[SUPERCOOPER 111]

One of the first Brittney articles that have not made me want to poke his eyes out

Just Murrays!

[Dillinger 0]

pretty biased - anti - SDM conclusions from nothing - and I disagree!

In what way is it biased?

SDM shafted Britney's bum-boy PLG .. therfore he is taking any pot-shots he can.

I do have to laugh though, the majority of posters here have claimed that Spiers is a terrible journo and has an Anti-Rangers sentiment in EVERY article he writes, yet ... as soon as he writes something the digs at SDM then he has "valid" points or "is making sense".

As the saying goes "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Hypocrisy runs riot in RM !!!

I don't like Spiers - I'll make no secret about that. He's come out with enough to tarnish the name of Rangers and its supporters over the years, that is my main reason for disliking the guy. A great pity that David Murray never thought that it would be worth taking GS to task about any of his lies...until the criticism was aimed at DM himself.

Spiers still makes "valid points" in his article, my dislike of him doesn't cloud that: Rangers badly need new ideas, new direction and a fresh direction. David Murray has admitted this himself, that's the reason why he's trying to find a suitable buyer. It is obvious that all is not well at Ibrox, shouting loudly will not disguise that.

As the saying goes "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

I'm not part of the 'Murray GTF', but neither do I blindly lionize the guy for what achieved during the 1990's. I critize constructively -mostly reluctantly, I'll add- and I give credit for achievements where their due. But being a blind optimist does not make anyone a bigger or a better fan than a critic and the fact that its taking the likes of Spiers :barf: to point this out shows how deep the rot of complacency is running.

[Danny 9]

Sorry guys, you can't just pick and choose when to hate Britney and when to take him seriously.

As soon as I heard it was by him I didn't read it.

Whoever said hypocrisy is spot on.

[minstral 5,375]

i did not need spiers to tell me what i and others already know.

[Paintbox 0]

Call me paranoid here but there's a reason Spiers is writing this and it's not because he thinks Murray should sell up.

Spiers has been trying for years now to convince people that he's a real bluenose. In his mind, if people think he's a Bear then all of his criticisms of us for being bigots and the trouble with UEFA has some justification - he's criticising "his own", therefore the criticisms become more valid. If he's not a Bear, then idea is that he then has an agenda. That's the reason he's been on Clyde saying he grew up supporting Rangers (confirmed as lies by people that went to school with him) and it's the reason he wrote L'Enigma and contributed to "It's Rangers For Me?" He desperately wants people to think he's one of us.

Spiers isn't an idiot but he does suffer from thinking that others are. A lot of Rangers fans are beginning to question Murray's ownership of Rangers and we know there are few journalists out there that will either have the balls or the talent to start to question the chairman on this. Spiers has nothing to lose and thinks if he champions the cause then Bears will start to forget the stuff he has previously written and think of him as one of us.

You may agree with what he's saying in this piece but remember who's saying it and why. Don't be fooled. Spiers is poison.