They may convince themselves that they are doing the right thing or that they are possessed of a special powers that mean they are indispensable. And so it is with Rangers.
Former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti once said “Power tires only those who do not have it.”
That’s a truism - it’s very difficult to remove someone who controls the levels of power in a state or in an organisation. They hold many advantages, they control the assets, they have the financial information, they have the gravitas that either ownership, or the positions they hold, bestow upon them.
You often see this in how directors of a company behave - they forget it’s the shareholders who own the thing. They treat the company as a personal fiefdom and waste the company’s resources on personal vanity projects or in pursuing some obsession. Often a clique becomes a self-perpetuating oligarchy.
We see this written on a larger scale in the sad state of Zimbabwe. Rather than being the servants of the people the Zanu-PF party governs in order to perpetuate it’s own power. It matters little to the ruling elite that people starve, that corruption is rampant, that criminality is an everyday fact or life, or that many of it’s brightest and best citizens have fled abroad. What matters to Sir Robert (created a Knight of the Order of the Bath in 1994) is that he and his cronies retain power.
They believe they know best. They believe only they know how to rule. Their arrogance blinds them to how they are perceived. Surrounding themselves with cronies they think little for the future - their vision is the current crisis and somehow surviving it and believing ‘something will turn up’ - but all the time they cling to power.
Far be it from me to the compare the Politburo of Sir Robert’s court with the current Board at Ibrox, but there are some striking similarities if you ignore the lack of a maize shortage in Govan.
The current Board ignored the popular vote and clung to the block vote of anonymous individuals hiding behind PO Boxes and lawyers offices around the world. If the level of dis-satisfaction present at Ibrox or at the AGM, or the disastrous finances, were visited upon Asda or Tesco their boards would have resigned en masse. For shame if nothing else. It seems some of our directors couldn’t have their necks marked with a blowtorch.
Since the AGM it’s been one calamity after another - Stockbridge going with £200,000, asking players to take a 15% wage cut and now the sudden scramble to find a few bob when previously we were assured there was no problem with the finances. All in all it’s been a shambles.
The terms of the proposed loan from the Easdales and Laxey Partners must be open to public scrutiny. Any form of gain for providing the facility must be out of the question - whether in terms of interest or in shares or some other convoluted deal.
Best value must be achieved and if the current Board can’t attract even this level of funding from normal sources their competence is in question - even without an examination of the deal from Dave King they turned down. Or never bother to respond to.
Fans should not allow themselves to be emotionally blackmailed. Your season ticket money is vital, your purchase of Rangers TV subscriptions is vital, your purchase of hospitality if vital - use that economic muscle. If a director says ‘buy season tickets or the club dies’ then your rely must be - ‘remove yourself from Ibrox and there club will be all the better for it.’
If your show weakness then the Robert Mugabes of this world will pounce on it.