And no one says a word
Everybody's making love
But no one really cares….
Strange Days Indeed
For those who work long shifts then you will all know the drill. You will come home, have a bath or a shower. Afterwards, some might opt for a big dinner, whilst others will opt for a couple of slices of toast.
I'm in the latter category eats wise and then I'll nip onto FF and my emails for half an hour, then I'll catch some TV (you can get QI most nights now, which is smashing) then it's off to the land of nod.
What I try not to do, is get roped into responding to guff, such as the Chairman's latest epistle, which hit the streets last Wednesday. That gets saved for a rainy day and nit picked at accordingly. To be honest, there are a lot of nits to picked at these days every time the Chairman opens his mouth and spouts forth.
Again it is the lies and deflection that grabs the attention right from the off. The Chairman is calling on every supporter to back the team. Well, the facts of the matter are there are no fans groups out there who do not back the team. We might not agree with every team selection, we might not agree with the manager's tactics, but the team is backed once the ref blows the whistle to kick off.
For example, the punters behind the 'Murray Out' banner at Perth at the start of the year were there to back the team. Only the Chairman's leadership was being called into question that night. I'll repeat; only the Chairman's leadership was called into question.
Of course it can be argued that FF has now become an unforgiving forum in the unrelenting abuse of players (and I am not absolving myself from blame on that score) but it is borne out of total frustration I think, and does not, for me, spill over into a match-day. So, that was a nice stab at deflection Mr Chairman, but you are fooling no one, other than those who still believe in you.
We are then told that money must be brought in for the losses of this season, which have been exacerbated by the economic downturn. Nope, I'm not buying into that one either.
The reason we are in the financial grubber at this time is solely down to the fact that there was no CL or indeed UEFA Cup revenue to fall back on. And the main reason for this scandalous state of affairs is down to the complacency of the Ibrox hierarchy: of the Chairman himself, his CEO and his two pals in the dug out. They gambled that taking on Kaunus, despite glaring deficiencies in the side, would be a stroll in the park. (A stroll, we won't be taking any time in the near future.)
The rest as they say is history. As I've said previously, this 'credit crunch' we are going through at present is a Godsend to Murray and is being used conveniently as an out by him for his disastrous handling of the club's finances.
Murray then has the cheek to say that any monies that were brought in by the sale of Cuellar would be, and were, spent on players. Which is true, no doubt about it. But there was a major snag by then and that wasthis - the horse had bolted and was way, way over the horizon when the dosh was spilled out.. Still, it can't be denied: no one talks as good a game as our very own King of Spin. Give us another wave, Edu, why don't you.
On and on it goes; we are told that revenue streams outwith an extended run in Europe are needed. So, basically what he is telling us is to never expect anything other than average at best when pitting our wits against the rest of the continent.
But even an extended run in Europe is no guarantee to print money when we think of the shambles of last season when JJB missed the boat completely with our 'extended run' to the UEFA Cup final.
However, what the Chairman is really saying is that last season truly was the exception and will never be the rule. His stunting of ambitions for the club is shameful. What is more hurtful is that there is a generation of the support out there who are now fully-fledged conscripts to Murray's ideals on how to run the club.
But it goes on, and the following sentence slays me; "What we must not do is play into the hands of our competitors by scoring own goals in the media." Mr Chairman, take it from me, by and large we've had twenty years of playing into the hands of our competitors and scoring own goals in the media. However, some of us call it by a different name. And that is your negligence and complete apathy in defending the club and the support, Mr Custodian.
He's on a roll now and he then delivers the following; "We have to stick together and if we do that then we can come through this situation successfully." Yeah Mr M, like we stayed together when Souness was fined after being caught up the tunnel? Like you stood by Duncan Ferguson? Like you stuck by Donald Findlay?
Do me a favour Mr Custodian; please don't pontificate to us on the subject of standing by each other. It is not your strong suit by any means.
There is also apparently, 'a mischievous element' amongst the support that will undo all the great work in progress initiated by the Chairman in the here and now.
It just goes to show how broad and wonderful the English language actually is, when two different people who supposedly have Rangers FC's best interests at heart, can view the word 'mischievous' in exact polar opposites of each other.
Murray obviously views as .mischievous' anyone who has the temerity (such as The RST) to look at the day-to-day running of the club in its entirety, under his management. Those naughty, pesky but ultimately scathing and relevant 17 points, made, earlier in January, being a prime example.
Yours truly, on the other hand views as 'mischievous' journalistic toadies of the chairman, such as wee Chick and McInnes, who pour scorn on the aims of the RST at a moment's notice.
Incidentally, I can't remember this pair ever querying the motives or the people behind the 'Celts for Change' movement and questioning whether they were in possession of a season ticket or not? But apparently in Chicoworld, you need to be the owner of said smart card to prove your commitment to Rangers Football Club.
Why this should remotely bother a literary oaf/dwarf who is a self confessed and committed St Mirren fan, I do not know. But hey, such is and are, the literary standards and journalistic giants the Chairman of our club counts upon as his allies in the press.
I would also view as 'mischievous' death threats to committed Rangers fans, and despite what anyone might say, a death threat is a death threat no matter the scum, or the retard who sends it. But hey, maybe I've got the word 'mischievous' all wrong.
Certainly, it would appear that the Chairman has no problems with threats issued from one set of Rangers fans issued to another, just so long as the threats come from a pro Murray faction to the upstarts and unbelievers. Hell, if you're in the Murray camp you can even get to sing TBBs in front of Plod. I should know. I've witnessed it.
The Chairman also assures us that Auchenhowie is now bearing fruit. Well, seeing is believing and I've not seen much to believe in yet. Agreed, John Fleck seems to be a special and precocious talent, but I believe he would have stood out in any era.
My misgivings, youth wise, are centred on our first choice defence. If we don't have two full backs waiting in the wings and pressurising the two present incumbents, then the reality is, we've still a way to go with our youth policy. Add in the fact we have two duds in the centre of defence as automatic first team choices, then I am still to be convinced of the bountiful fruit the Chairman speaks is bragging about.
Then we are treated to the following bull; "It is no coincidence that players like Loy, Furman, McMillan and Shinnie are all out getting experience at the moment and we are hopeful they will come back ready to be part of the plans."
We are 'hopeful' they'll be part of our future plans? We were hopeful seven years ago that Chris Burke would make the grade and those hopes didn't match reality. The bottom line is, if these boys are good enough, they should be in our first team squad, not out on loan anywhere else.
But enough of the peripheries. There are apparently seven deadly sins out there and I do believe this present day Rangers support is riddled to the very core with a major one: Envy, it is called by any other name.
Week on week, month on month and so on we are treated to posts on the FF website and on the phone-ins telling us the Rangers Supporters Trust are 'nothings' or are nothing more than 'rabble rousers' and ''that Davie Edgar' loves the sound of his own voice,'
As I say, envy and jealousy are terrible things that will eat away at your shallow heart if not kept in check. In my lifetime, the Rangers support has never had a representative such as Davie Edgar. He is smart, snappy, breezy, articulate and has his finger on the pulse; yet that is not good enough for some Rangers fans? Would they prefer the likes of Derek Johnstone fighting our corner? Well, we've had that for well nigh the last twenty years and it doesn't work. Ding, ding anyone?
These same people will tell you that the Chairman pays no attention to the words of the RST; of how he treats them with contempt. I disagree here. I personally believe the RST's 'We Deserve Better' campaign has put the Chairman all over the shop.
A fortnight ago, in response to the RST's 17 points, Murray was telling us that he was tired of holding his hands up and admitting to mistakes incurred previously. Yet just last week he was telling us that he accepts he is not immune to analysis or criticism. This is in the space of less than three weeks.
You pays your money and you takes your choice. Either the Chairman is a living, breathing contradiction or he is the consummate bullshit artiste. I know what option my money is on. There are Dervishes out there who are incapable of whirling like Davie does.
This whirling has had a major effect on the support at large and frankly it bewilders me. On one hand we have, the majority of the support saying that they still believe in the chairman and his judgement, implicitly. And on the other hand they turn round and jeer at people who don't view the chairman through those rose same rose-tinted glasses and say that they need to come up with solutions.
That rationale defeats me, because why would a multi millionaire cum mercurial businessman need to ask us slumdogs to come up with solutions to problems that are of his own making? As ever, fans of the chairman want it all ways, without asking any pertinent whys..
But let's not take the RST totally out of the equation, here. There are three members of the RST board that I know more than most, and I would back them to back the Rangers support in a heartbeat. Those three amigos being Messrs Dingwall, Edgar and Smith.
What I would say to them after viewing the events of January 2009 and the reaction of David Murray, Chairman of Rangers FC to those 17 points on why 'we deserve better', is that Murray views the Rangers support with absolute contempt. Views us as a meal ticket, and most importantly, is now in a strop because more and more people are seeing through him. There can be no more shilly-shallying, or fudging on the subject. There can be no more debate with the man. He has to go.
So, Follow Follow 2009. What is to follow, if you'll pardon the pun. Well, we're big on slogans and catch phrases. You wander into that moral hurdy-gurdy that is 'The Lounge' and a guy comes on and says his daughter has just achieved her 'Honours Degree' of some such. He is immediately assailed by a phrase that 'rules are rules'. There is no escaping it.
You tip-toe into the Bear Pit and we'll be told that the filth 'are not normal people', that they are 'liars from the cradle to the grave; or that it should be 'Rangers First.' May I humbly offer up the next catch phrase?
Murray Out!
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