Club 1872 Blog – What We’ve Got Here Is, Failure To Communicate

Rio Loyal said:
Our communication is horrendous and these articles show how out of touch they are with the fans.

I am also astonished to see that Bennet is taking nearly 500,000 half a million a season as a wage I thought these “Massive Ranger’s Fans” weren’t taking a wage as they certainly don’t need it,
Click to expand...
He's not.

But this anonymous blog comes from Club1872 so that should be the starting point for anyone reading it.

An organisation whose own communication has been utterly risible for years is now preaching on it.


An organisation which is now a proxy for Dave King, and his favoured placemen, one of whom was passed over in a fairly brutal fashion for the communication job at Rangers, the other who was so desperate for a role in the club he did anything from wear a yellow steward vest, to carry kit boxes for the youths. Both are out in the cold with a grudge and Club1872 becomes a handy vehicle.

Club1872 are now diametrically opposed to the Rangers board. They do not want the Rangers board to succeed.

They are a wolf in sheep's clothing and the destruction of a potentially great fan vehicle is pretty much complete until Dave King recovers as much of his money as he can using them, and his lackies depart, which they won't because the shareholding offers up too much power to release .
 
Last edited:
Rio Loyal said:
I am not saying they shouldn’t I am very grateful to them as we all are.

This doesn’t put them above reproach though and with some of Bennet’s comments and Robertsons it looks like they are delighted with the way things are going which for me is far from good enough.

1 League and 1 Scottish Cup isn’t good enough to rest on your laurels.
Click to expand...

They are happy with how things are going because if you take a step back and think about our success over the last two seasons then you realise we’re actually doing quite well, especially when you consider where we started from when the board took over.

A league title, a Scottish cup, a European final, CL qualification and two record sales in the last 2 and a bit seasons is good going by anyone’s standards.

I agree that the board are not perfect but people need to stop living in the moment and have a bit of perspective at times.
 
Alex Venters said:
I'm no financial expert, so what is the correlation between projected turnover and the value of the club?
Click to expand...
The higher your turn over the more valuable your asset is it’s the same if you buy a corner shop or a multimillion pound organisation.

Of course there are other factors like assets and debt but as we have a decent amount of asset’s and no debt we are in a much better place than a lot of clubs and would be very saleable if the full club was on the market and would more than bring the investors their cash back.
 
Rio Loyal said:
The higher your turn over the more valuable your asset is it’s the same if you buy a corner shop or a multimillion pound organisation.

Of course there are other factors like assets and debt but as we have a decent amount of asset’s and no debt we are in a much better place than a lot of clubs and would be very saleable if the full club was on the market and would more than bring the investors their cash back.
Click to expand...
Given one of their major motivations in spending millions propping up the losses was to keep Rangers from the wrong hands - who will they sell to?

More multi millionaire Rangers fans that have been hiding for 10yrs?
 
Last edited:
Chester Loyal said:
They are happy with how things are going because if you take a step back and think about our success over the last two seasons then you realise we’re actually doing quite well, especially when you consider where we started from when the board took over.

A league title, a Scottish cup, a European final, CL qualification and two record sales in the last 2 and a bit seasons is good going by anyone’s standards.

I agree that the board are not perfect but people need to stop living in the moment and have a bit of perspective at times.
Click to expand...

What’s happening in the League since Gio took over is far from good enough and most of us can see this year is going to be a struggle if something doesn’t change.

I agree about the sales but Bassey and Aribo we could have got more for but we jumped at the first half decent offer.
We then despite being told on several occasions last time by Wilson that we didn’t need to sell and any money brought in would go back in to the team for arguments sake we spent 25% on replacements the biggest part of sitting on the bench.
 
I agree with most of the article. Bennett didn't come across well this time around, and I'm not in total agreement re Park - I lay the blame of failure to communicate squarely at the feet of Robertson and the exec board who take huge salaries from the club.

But the irony of C1872 calling for communication and transparency isn't lost on me.
 
Beansie said:
Given one of their major motivations in spending millions propping up the losses was to keep Rangers from the wrong hands - who will they sell too?

More multi millionaire Rangers fans that have been hiding for 10yrs?
Click to expand...

Neither you or I know who’s waiting in the wings if the full club was up for sale.
I am also not Saying it would be a good thing it could go either way all I am making the point is they would all get their money back despite all the money they have wasted.
 
Rio Loyal said:
What’s happening in the League since Gio took over is far from good enough and most of us can see this year is going to be a struggle if something doesn’t change.

I agree about the sales but Bassey and Aribo we could have got more for but we jumped at the first half decent offer.
We then despite being told on several occasions last time by Wilson that we didn’t need to sell and any money brought in would go back in to the team for arguments sake we spent 25% on replacements the biggest part of sitting on the bench.
Click to expand...

It’s going to be a struggle because our manager isn’t good enough but that’s a different debate for a different day.

We replaced Bassey with Davies and Yilmaz, there’s not much Wilson can do it Gio won’t play them.

We replaced Aribo with Tillman and Lawrence and I’d say the two new signings might actually make us stronger. Lawrence in particular, I don’t think is as good as Aribo, but I think he’ll be more effective for us.

We’ve spend some decent money and I agree we could’ve spent it a bit better but our squad is good enough to win the league.
 
Chester Loyal said:
It’s going to be a struggle because our manager isn’t good enough but that’s a different debate for a different day.

We replaced Bassey with Davies and Yilmaz, there’s not much Wilson can do it Gio won’t play them.

We replaced Aribo with Tillman and Lawrence and I’d say the two new signings might actually make us stronger. Lawrence in particular, I don’t think is as good as Aribo, but I think he’ll be more effective for us.

We’ve spend some decent money and I agree we could’ve spent it a bit better but our squad is good enough to win the league.
Click to expand...
As you say it’s different debate but I really don’t think it is even due to the lack of a Goal keeper and a new Midfielder.
 
Gameboy said:
Oh club1872 are back with another hit piece on the board, consider me shocked!

The hypocrisy of them is staggering. Clambering to attack the lack of communication is funny when they themselves are worse and again the communication post that is being attacked, it wouldn’t be a grudge that their resident ghost figure has sour grapes over?!

The board I will admit is not great at certain things but some people seem to forget what they’ve done and should show some respect.
Click to expand...
I had great hopes for c1872 and supported it, modestly, for many years. Sadly, since aligning itself without a membership mandate, it is nothing more than an individuals mouthpiece and proxy.

A piece written without any trace of irony!
 
Rio Loyal said:
As you say it’s different debate but I really don’t think it is even due to the lack of a Goal keeper and a new Midfielder.
Click to expand...

I don’t think we’d have signed a new GK even if we’d had more money.

The midfield is a major issue, it’s a position we’ve neglected for years, but I think we’re strong everywhere else.
 
Rio Loyal said:
Neither you or I know who’s waiting in the wings if the full club was up for sale.
I am also not Saying it would be a good thing it could go either way all I am making the point is they would all get their money back despite all the money they have wasted.
Click to expand...
You only get your money back if you have a willing buyer you are also willing to sell to.

That market is mighty mighty small unless as I say you are telling me there are multimillionaire rangers fans hiding for a decade.

If you don't agree then the question is why did Dave King have the foresight to amalgamate the Rangers groups such as RST and Rangers First to surreptitiously create himself an exit vehicle that meets the criteria I've mentioned?!

The notion that we should kind of dismiss what our investors have done because they might have made money on paper is quite something. They were buying an absolute car crash of a company.
 
In light of the communications (or lack of until very recently) that have come out from the club of late, I thought it was worth looking at the performance of our Comms in general under our Communications Director, David Graham.

For me, someone working at Graham’s level in Comms/PR should be developing and implementing short and long-term strategic communication plans that enhance reputation, are aligned to overall business strategy, and deliver commercial objectives.

Other priorities should include effectively managing proactive, reactive and emergency communication plans to ensure the reputation of the Club is protected.

I'm seeing very little evidence of any the above.
On the contrary, I'd suggest our Comms 'strategy' is a complete and utter shambles.

I don't know what Graham's KPIs are, but I'm seeing nothing of substance whatsoever to back up why he was promoted to the Communications Director position.

Indeed, with no Comms or media experience prior to joining the Club, I'd suggest he was woefully under qualified for the initial Head of Communications position he took up with us.

A position of that importance should be going to someone at the very top of their field.
 
Lord Summerisle said:
In light of the communications (or lack of until very recently) that have come out from the club of late, I thought it was worth looking at the performance of our Comms in general under our Communications Director, David Graham.

For me, someone working at Graham’s level in Comms/PR should be developing and implementing short and long-term strategic communication plans that enhance reputation, are aligned to overall business strategy, and deliver commercial objectives.

Other priorities should include effectively managing proactive, reactive and emergency communication plans to ensure the reputation of the Club is protected.

I'm seeing very little evidence of any the above.
On the contrary, I'd suggest our Comms 'strategy' is a complete and utter shambles.

I don't know what Graham's KPIs are, but I'm seeing nothing of substance whatsoever to back up why he was promoted to the Communications Director position.

Indeed, with no Comms or media experience prior to joining the Club, I'd suggest he was woefully under qualified for the initial Head of Communications position he took up with us.

A position of that importance should be going to someone at the very top of their field.
Click to expand...

With who though? Genuine question as well, I’m not having a go.

If we were to build relationships with the Scottish media (such as the Daily Record or BBC Scotland) then people on here would be going mental saying we shouldn’t have anything to do with them.
 
Chester Loyal said:
Unfortunately we’re at a point now where it doesn’t matter if the board communicate or not, the majority have made up their mind and are desperate to have a go at the board whenever they can.

In the past two and a bit years, under the current board, we have:

Won a league title
Made a EL final
Qualified for the CL group stages
Broke our transfer record (sales) twice

That’s not even mentioning the £80million loss the board have covered with their own money over the past 4/5 years.

The current board definitely do make mistakes but I think a lot of people need to take a step back at time and realise how lucky we are to have them.
Click to expand...
I certainly don't feel "lucky" that I have Douglas Park, Graeme Park, Stewart Robertson, David Graham, John Bennett, James Blair, Ross Wilson and James Bisgrove at my club.

I feel the exact opposite actually.

I cannot wait to see the back of them.
 
Beansie said:
You only get your money back if you have a willing buyer you are also willing to sell to.

That market is mighty mighty small unless as I say you are telling me there are multimillionaire rangers fans hiding for a decade.

If you don't agree then the question is why did Dave King have the foresight to amalgamate the Rangers groups such as RST and Rangers First to surreptitiously create himself an exit vehicle that meets the criteria I've mentioned?!

The notion that we should kind of dismiss what our investors have done because they might have made money on paper is quite something. They were buying an absolute car crash of a company.
Click to expand...
A car crash with massive potential.

No one is dismissing anything at all but none of them are beyond reproach and currently it looks like they are happy with what’s going on which is far from acceptable,

There are faults from top to bottom and we are being treated like mushrooms.
 
If they have nothing l hide then why not sit down with proper fan media H&H, 4Lads etc. and take proper questions from them rather than RTV?

That’s what’s annoying, we never learn anything from RTV interviews
 
Lord Summerisle said:
In light of the communications (or lack of until very recently) that have come out from the club of late, I thought it was worth looking at the performance of our Comms in general under our Communications Director, David Graham.

For me, someone working at Graham’s level in Comms/PR should be developing and implementing short and long-term strategic communication plans that enhance reputation, are aligned to overall business strategy, and deliver commercial objectives.

Other priorities should include effectively managing proactive, reactive and emergency communication plans to ensure the reputation of the Club is protected.

I'm seeing very little evidence of any the above.
On the contrary, I'd suggest our Comms 'strategy' is a complete and utter shambles.

I don't know what Graham's KPIs are, but I'm seeing nothing of substance whatsoever to back up why he was promoted to the Communications Director position.

Indeed, with no Comms or media experience prior to joining the Club, I'd suggest he was woefully under qualified for the initial Head of Communications position he took up with us.

A position of that importance should be going to someone at the very top of their field.
Click to expand...
Only interested when there are attacks on board members.

Our PR is utterly terrible and has been for a long time I am sure he’s also paid handsomely for it another who’s no where near value for money.
 
Number Six said:
If they have nothing l hide then why not sit down with proper fan media H&H, 4Lads etc. and take proper questions from them rather than RTV?

That’s what’s annoying, we never learn anything from RTV interviews
Click to expand...

They don’t want to answer difficult questions that’s why Robertsons been wheeled out talking about roof repairs from 7 years ago an how the Champions league isn’t really worth being in.
 
David Graham hands a plum interview to the Herald newspaper. Without dwelling on McFarlane’s admission of financial and business illiteracy, that is an odd choice. They are clearly seen by Graham as an unstintingly friendly outlet who refuse to challenge the club when even official fan media partners are raising concerns.

Incredible decision.
 
Last edited:
UnionBear said:
I certainly don't feel "lucky" that I have Douglas Park, Graeme Park, Stewart Robertson, David Graham, John Bennett, James Blair, Ross Wilson and James Bisgrove at my club.

I feel the exact opposite actually.

I cannot wait to see the back of them.
Click to expand...
Short memory in terms of the investors.

The exec board who take huge salaries from the club are a different story.
 
Rio Loyal said:
A car crash with massive potential.

No one is dismissing anything at all but none of them are beyond reproach and currently it looks like they are happy with what’s going on which is far from acceptable,

There are faults from top to bottom and we are being treated like mushrooms.
Click to expand...

We are 5 months on from reaching a European final, we’re in the CL group stages and we’re 2 points off top spot in the league. What exactly are we supposed to be so unhappy about?
 
The board are struggling in several areas. But we don't have many other options, if any. It is not a great place to be but it could be a whole lot worse. The most frustrating thing for me is that a lot of issues are easily fixed. Communication, ticketing, PR etc. You don't need to throw millions of pounds at these issues. They also seem to be utterly out of their depth when it comes to the eternal and tedious PR battle with Celtic, but this is nothing new. We're lightyears behind them in that regard.

We seem to be getting closer to becoming self sufficient, which is obviously the aim. Of course I'd like to see more investment in the team but there are issues with our squad size/wage bill/FFP to consider. I can sympathise with them when they are criticised for lack of spending. What they have spent though, could it have been spent better? Time will tell I guess but there is several million sitting on the bench right now.
 
Rio Loyal said:
The higher your turn over the more valuable your asset is it’s the same if you buy a corner shop or a multimillion pound organisation.

Of course there are other factors like assets and debt but as we have a decent amount of asset’s and no debt we are in a much better place than a lot of clubs and would be very saleable if the full club was on the market and would more than bring the investors their cash back.
Click to expand...

We may bring in that but up until now we spent more than we made.

Asset wise if you don't have a team no real value to stadium or training ground unless you winding the club up and selling it all off.

Most football clubs don't make investors money unless you are in the big leagues .

The problem is although we all know what happened in 2012 and we never want to go back there unless the team win every single match we play then fans are not happy and just want more and more money spent and would be quite happy for anyone to spend it, knowing if we did that what it could lead to.

Where we have come from and what we have achieved to now should have the board commended.

Are they perfect no there not, could they be better yes, but there is no one else going to come in, support the club and not run the risk of it being hurt by bad owners.

The board have pumped money in, reduced share value to invest more and keep us running when covid came along but all forgotten because we are not winning

And finally club 1872 are in no position to moan when they are just as bad if not worse and are actively fighting the board rather than supporting.
 
Chester Loyal said:
Unfortunately we’re at a point now where it doesn’t matter if the board communicate or not, the majority have made up their mind and are desperate to have a go at the board whenever they can.

In the past two and a bit years, under the current board, we have:

Won a league title
Made a EL final
Qualified for the CL group stages
Broke our transfer record (sales) twice

That’s not even mentioning the £80million loss the board have covered with their own money over the past 4/5 years.

The current board definitely do make mistakes but I think a lot of people need to take a step back at time and realise how lucky we are to have them.
Click to expand...
Don’t disagree with the success, I think however it is important that we as the paying fans are communicated with. I maybe unlike most, don’t expect an explanation on every decision but if you are going to come out and talk, do it coherently and with some information to the supporters you are speaking too through the medium of the interview.
 
Don’t think the article is fair. The board have an issue with club 1872 as they are simply representing DK. As others have said club 1872 don’t represent supporters anymore and have a clear agenda against the current boars driven by few individuals rather than the majority of the support.
 
Chester Loyal said:
We are 5 months on from reaching a European final, we’re in the CL group stages and we’re 2 points off top spot in the league. What exactly are we supposed to be so unhappy about?
Click to expand...
Lack of entertainment and decent performances on the park this season is what I’m unhappy about in games against SPFL garbage. Last seasons European run was amazing… but it was last season.
 
Club 1872 are not fit for purpose………unless you consider their purpose is to assist our largest shareholder.

The Club itself don’t only fail to communicate with the Fans (customers) but you can also add Gio to the list since he clearly thought we would be able to buy someone following the PSV result.

Something isn’t right and if we don’t fix it soon we are in for a very long season.
 
Rio Loyal said:
A car crash with massive potential.

No one is dismissing anything at all but none of them are beyond reproach and currently it looks like they are happy with what’s going on which is far from acceptable,

There are faults from top to bottom and we are being treated like mushrooms. Club1872
Click to expand...

Rio Loyal said:
A car crash with massive potential.

No one is dismissing anything at all but none of them are beyond reproach and currently it looks like they are happy with what’s going on which is far from acceptable,

There are faults from top to bottom and we are being treated like mushrooms.
Click to expand...
We are and we aren't.

Some of the demands for transparency I've read are utter lunacy. Read the accounts it's all in there.

And the flip side is also that when the club do communicate it is either not enough or trashed. Some of our support are acting like brats.

As for being treated like mushrooms, ask Club1872 members how that feels. I go back to the motivation for this "anonymous blog".

If any contributor sends a blog in will it get published on their website, twitter, Facebook and mailing list?!
 
Recycling of a theme, plain to see it’s an International break, done to death. The only place where we will be able to require answers shortly will be the AGM. As for Club1872, a discredited shambles, who would do well as some form of old Eastern Block Leaders, who do not allow dissenting opponents voices in!
 
Chester Loyal said:
Unfortunately we’re at a point now where it doesn’t matter if the board communicate or not, the majority have made up their mind and are desperate to have a go at the board whenever they can.

In the past two and a bit years, under the current board, we have:

Won a league title
Made a EL final
Qualified for the CL group stages
Broke our transfer record (sales) twice

That’s not even mentioning the £80million loss the board have covered with their own money over the past 4/5 years.

The current board definitely do make mistakes but I think a lot of people need to take a step back at time and realise how lucky we are to have them.
Click to expand...
You’re right bud, but this is about communication.
More than that, it’s about what the fan base feel they’re entitled to know and be told.
Robertson or Bennett mentioned a regular update.
The first thing they’ve got to do is manage expectations.
By that I mean what they can tell us and what they can’t, and why they can’t.
Business critical, business sensitive, information for example.
Information that our competitors could find useful, for example.
Wages to staff at all levels can’t be discussed.
Also, tell us why that information can’t be forthcoming.
 
It’s pretty clear who the real problem is here. It’s not Douglas Park, nor John Bennett nor is it any other of the main investors.

Robertson is a problem in the fact that he’s weak as piss as a MD, and he’s obviously not cut out for this high level but he’s still not the problem that’s making us look bad.

It’s not Andrew fucking Dickson, in spite of the fact that he’s the Teflon Don who’s been there since the Murray days and worked alongside and under the direct benefit of the spivs, and is being paid very handsomely for being a “top class administrator”.

The real problem we have here is our Comms director and actual director on the board, David Graham. He’s an actual idiot when it comes to PR. We’ve been nothing short of a disaster in PR terms for a long time now. Under Gerrard, he didn’t need to do anything because we had an actual, proper footballing legend at the helm and the media were faking over us to talk about him, and in turn, Rangers. I could have done the PR for the club it was that simple.

Graham is a major problem for us. For want of a better phrase, the optics are horrendous for the club when it comes to what’s been said previously about CL finances and what’s being said now about them. That’s not just slips of the tongue from our leaders, this is proper schoolboy errors in PR terms. We’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot, the hands and the head over finances and what’s going on at the club under this cretin.

Time for him to go, and hopefully soon to be followed by Robertson, fucking Dickson and the other morons who hang around like a bad smell.
 
For me it's the mixed messaging that needs to be addressed the board are happy to talk up transfer activity and other things when it suits them other times they make completely contradictory statements about money not falling from the sky.

Twice we were told on RTV that all money from player sales would be reinvested in the squad which never happened and how many times have we heard quality over quantity being spoken about over the last several years?
 
Carlukebear12345 said:
We may bring in that but up until now we spent more than we made.

Asset wise if you don't have a team no real value to stadium or training ground unless you winding the club up and selling it all off.

Most football clubs don't make investors money unless you are in the big leagues .

The problem is although we all know what happened in 2012 and we never want to go back there unless the team win every single match we play then fans are not happy and just want more and more money spent and would be quite happy for anyone to spend it, knowing if we did that what it could lead to.

Where we have come from and what we have achieved to now should have the board commended.

Are they perfect no there not, could they be better yes, but there is no one else going to come in, support the club and not run the risk of it being hurt by bad owners.

The board have pumped money in, reduced share value to invest more and keep us running when covid came along but all forgotten because we are not winning

And finally club 1872 are in no position to moan when they are just as bad if not worse and are actively fighting the board rather than supporting.
Click to expand...

We might have but the board have wasted a lot of money as well.

Power point Pedro cost us the guts of 15 million for a start.
 
Chester Loyal said:
Unfortunately we’re at a point now where it doesn’t matter if the board communicate or not, the majority have made up their mind and are desperate to have a go at the board whenever they can.

In the past two and a bit years, under the current board, we have:

Won a league title
Made a EL final
Qualified for the CL group stages
Broke our transfer record (sales) twice

That’s not even mentioning the £80million loss the board have covered with their own money over the past 4/5 years.

The current board definitely do make mistakes but I think a lot of people need to take a step back at time and realise how lucky we are to have them.
Click to expand...

But surely that’s the role of leadership and strategic positions? And do the board, AND the fans believe that we have had good ROI on the £80m have taken asset positions on?

And please remember they have taken asset positions on the cash. They have/will have opportunities in the future to make that back or potentially turn profit.

Using a typical accountability pattern. The questions would follow as

1) What was your goal?
2) Did you achieve it?
3) How do you feel about that?

Is 1 cup, 1 league win and a EL final run everything could have been achieved in the time frame being considered?

Could a different board have achieved better success?

Strategic roles dictate that you have to keep moving forward, it’s very hard to make a sensible case that we are moving forwards.
 
With the greatest respect it is not just the messenger it is also the message that is missing the mark
 
Quijibo said:
But surely that’s the role of leadership and strategic positions? And do the board, AND the fans believe that we have had good ROI on the £80m have taken asset positions on?

And please remember they have taken asset positions on the cash. They have/will have opportunities in the future to make that back or potentially turn profit.

Using a typical accountability pattern. The questions would follow as

1) What was your goal?
2) Did you achieve it?
3) How do you feel about that?

Is 1 cup, 1 league win and a EL final run everything could have been achieved in the time frame being considered?

Could a different board have achieved better success?

Strategic roles dictate that you have to keep moving forward, it’s very hard to make a sensible case that we are moving forwards.
Click to expand...
Absolutely no doubt they could have.
Absolutely no doubt they could have been asset strippers and spivs only in it for themselves.
 
Chester Loyal said:
Unfortunately we’re at a point now where it doesn’t matter if the board communicate or not, the majority have made up their mind and are desperate to have a go at the board whenever they can.

In the past two and a bit years, under the current board, we have:

Won a league title
Made a EL final
Qualified for the CL group stages
Broke our transfer record (sales) twice

That’s not even mentioning the £80million loss the board have covered with their own money over the past 4/5 years.

The current board definitely do make mistakes but I think a lot of people need to take a step back at time and realise how lucky we are to have them.
Click to expand...
That’s all fine and dandy but in the present and future, it’s not looking too bright. We can’t live in the past all the time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top