But eight weeks down the road, we’ve lured Kris Boyd to Ibrox for a song, unsuccessfully offered a short term deal to Nigel Quashie and donned a mask in a bid to get Derek Riordan for a snip – were Hibs ever likely to accept our insult of an offer? Meanwhile, the new investment, aka the big announcement, has got bogged down in a lot of dross about legalities.
How many times will this man open his mouth, let his belly rumble, then expect us to accept his word as gospel? Well, he has done it and got away with it so often, it is hardly surprising that he thinks nothing of rattling out the same old guff time after time. Until Rangers fans stand up and let it be known they have had enough, Murray will continue to treat us with as nothing more than nodding dogs.
Tony Mowbray certainly wasn’t the only one to question the motives behind the bid for Derek Riordan. But rather than upsetting Hibs in the build-up to the big match at the weekend, there are plenty of us who see it as yet another cynical Murray ploy to con the fans. He promised us three players, we got Boyd but were knocked back by Quashie and Riordan, and now he is hiding behind the ‘we won’t be held to ransom’ line.
Only the gullible will swallow it...but sadly some will. So there will be more flim-flam before there is any significant change in the outlook.
This weekend’s cup-tie against Hibs and our forthcoming SPL games are crucial, both to the current wellbeing of the club and to our hopes of competing at the top level next season. And in a few weeks time the team will line up against top quality opposition in arguably the most important match staged at Ibrox since our great unbeaten run in Europe in the 92-93 season.
Yet we go into such a testing programme with just one significant addition to the payroll. And whilst I like what I have seen of Kris Boyd, there were surely other areas of the field where strengthening the squad was a greater priority, noteably midfield and the heart of the defence. The prospect of Rangers being found out big-time over the next few weeks is crystal clear, yet David Murray, Martin Bain and Alex McLeish are prepared to sit back and let it happen.
Not for a second would I ever wish Rangers to lose a game but, remembering the Minted One’s high and mighty response to us squeezing into the last 16 of the Champions League, I’m beginning to think us fans are in a no-win situation. If we get through Saturday, go on to win the Scottish Cup, climb up the league table and maybe even go a wee bit further in Europe, Murray will sneer at our concerns and tell us he was right all along. So those FFers who know me will not be surprised when I inject some depressing realism into any end of season bevvy-sessions.
However, if we lose out to Hibs at the weekend, revert to type and again blow hot and cold in the league, then suffer an embarrassing doing from Villarreal, maybe the Murray apologists will finally see where he is taking us and the calls for change will grow in volume. When Timothy is on the gloat I will find some consolotion in the hope that, sooner or later, the penny will drop and the heat might be turned up on Murray.
The most annoying factor about all this penny-pinching is that David Murray doesn’t need to do it. He has the financial clout but prefers to channel this into property development and other ventures, while starving Rangers of the necessary resources to compete at the top level. And as things stand, we’ve got a lot of work to do to get back into contention on the home front before we can even begin to think about Europe.
Everything about our great club appears to be clouded in doubt at the moment, whether it be the state of our finances, the position of the manager, the identity of his successor, the shape of the team, our hopes for the future, even the colour of socks the players wear. There are many contributory factors to this current sorry situation but the culpability of one man overrides them all. He is bad for Rangers and, until he can be persuaded to change his approach or, better still, move on to pastures new, the mood around Ibrox will be one of suspicion and uncertainty.
Over to you, Mr Murray