Club Statement

well put it like that then it's a case of will power, personally my hatred of SD outweighs my need to be the first to get any rangers gear 1st, but yes not everyone would be fortunate enough to do that if their kids want their tops yesterday,
 
It’s not quite so simple though mate when Castore is already sold out of the larger sizes. People are faced with a wait or buy where they can. If SD are the only High street retailer selling them a lot will go there giving the fat man a cut.

well put it like that then it's a case of will power, personally my hatred of SD outweighs my need to be the first to get any Rangers gear, kids wanting the tops regardless of where they get it from I understand, but adults knowing the history we have with SD and are not willing to wait a wee bit and buys from SD? that's hard to comprehend, but at the end of the day, people should be able to buy from whoever they want.
 
I you dont buy from the fat bastard he will be left with unsold stock
Only one problem with that, All the normal L,XL,XXL are out of stock and sold out and when the next lot come in that will get sold out also.

Let's fast forward to August 1st,say the shop at the stadium opens and all the above sizes are sold out,only other place you can buy them would be online or SD,If online is sold out the only place you can buy them is, yip you guessed it,SD.

People are also forgetting the fat man has hundreds of stores throughout the UK, so he'll be wanting a fair bit of stock also which means less to go around, presuming nobody will be buying from SD.

So when everything is sold out the only place you could buy them is SD, regardless of all the chest thumping if people can't get a hold of stuff, they will just buy them from the fat man and pretend they got them elsewhere.

I reckon Castore have brought the fat man on board simply because they couldn't cope with demand from online sales only, they are a very small fish in a big pond, Hummel are a much bigger company and when they were announced as kit sponsor they couldn't cope with demand either and at times as soon as new stock came in it was sold out and people waiting weeks if not months till more stuff came in.

There will be much less going around simply because the fat man has to get quite a big share of available stock for his stores, so if online is sold out and the superstore is sold out, then the only place anyone can get them will be from the fat man.
 
I can't imagine any Rangers fan is going to buy it from SD? You'd think that stock will just sit there.
I can tbh. Not everyone is clued up on this and I get that its hard to understand for people like ourselves. There is also SD shops everywhere, not everyone shops online or will travel to Glasgow. They'll buy in there local store simples
 
Only one problem with that, All the normal L,XL,XXL are out of stock and sold out and when the next lot come in that will get sold out also.

Let's fast forward to August 1st,say the shop at the stadium opens and all the above sizes are sold out,only other place you can buy them would be online or SD,If online is sold out the only place you can buy them is, yip you guessed it,SD.

People are also forgetting the fat man has hundreds of stores throughout the UK, so he'll be wanting a fair bit of stock also which means less to go around, presuming nobody will be buying from SD.

So when everything is sold out the only place you could buy them is SD, regardless of all the chest thumping if people can't get a hold of stuff, they will just buy them from the fat man and pretend they got them elsewhere.

I reckon Castore have brought the fat man on board simply because they couldn't cope with demand from online sales only, they are a very small fish in a big pond, Hummel are a much bigger company and when they were announced as kit sponsor they couldn't cope with demand either and at times as soon as new stock came in it was sold out and people waiting weeks if not months till more stuff came in.

There will be much less going around simply because the fat man has to get quite a big share of available stock for his stores, so if online is sold out and the superstore is sold out, then the only place anyone can get them will be from the fat man.

Whenever I read the phrase “the fat man” in this post I imagine you’re talking about Jimmy Bell and it increases my enjoyment of this post massively.
 
its very simple to my simple mind buy anywhere except Shite direct, preferably from the club store or online SD will still have to pay for the shirts.

end of the day your money spend as you wish
 
What I suspect is that case is this - with their capacity for sales Sports Direct could not be written out of Castore selling them product. If they were then the "matching" element of the old contract would kick in - or at least be arguable in court.

The date if 1st August must be significant - I presume that is when the old contact to sell old stock runs out.

If Sports Direct buy stock from Castore then they are doing so like any other business. Their risk if it doesn't sell.

I suspect this is the case too, so I understand why us and Castore are taking the relatively calm positions we have.

It’s a bit like having the choice of Graham Norton either shagging you up the arse or wanking you off. You’d rather choose neither, but if you had to you’d pick the latter, as ultimately that mainly benefits you far more than it benefits him, unlike the former.

I think my analogies need work.
 
Only one problem with that, All the normal L,XL,XXL are out of stock and sold out and when the next lot come in that will get sold out also.

Let's fast forward to August 1st,say the shop at the stadium opens and all the above sizes are sold out,only other place you can buy them would be online or SD,If online is sold out the only place you can buy them is, yip you guessed it,SD.

People are also forgetting the fat man has hundreds of stores throughout the UK, so he'll be wanting a fair bit of stock also which means less to go around, presuming nobody will be buying from SD.

So when everything is sold out the only place you could buy them is SD, regardless of all the chest thumping if people can't get a hold of stuff, they will just buy them from the fat man and pretend they got them elsewhere.

I reckon Castore have brought the fat man on board simply because they couldn't cope with demand from online sales only, they are a very small fish in a big pond, Hummel are a much bigger company and when they were announced as kit sponsor they couldn't cope with demand either and at times as soon as new stock came in it was sold out and people waiting weeks if not months till more stuff came in.

There will be much less going around simply because the fat man has to get quite a big share of available stock for his stores, so if online is sold out and the superstore is sold out, then the only place anyone can get them will be from the fat man.

You’re suggesting that Castore are going to supply Fat mike with strips before ensuring they have more than adequate supply for their own outlets?
 
I get all the just don't buy from SD stuff and I fully understand the statement. My thoughts are though, if you are castore and you know the history. And you understand fans don't/won't buy there, then why do a deal?

Also you really shouldn't market something as premium, bespoke, custom, designer and exclusive then shove it next to all the other shite in SD.
 
Makes sense. As I assumed would have been the case. They are arseholes, but they are still one of the biggest sports retailers in the UK. So of course they will distribute stuff. Common sense says don't buy from the fat cvnt of course

Look, I don't know all the ins and outs of what Ashley has done to us other than it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest carve up/stitch up deals in modern day sports retail history. And we were the lambs to the slaughter.

So, lets say, we give SD 5,000 units to sell. (And I've plucked that figure out as an example)

How does it make sense that we give a retail outfit units to sell but at the same time we don't want anyone to buy from that retail outfit?

In an ideal world, if we did adhere to a blanket boycott of the fat rat's premises (we can but hope) that's 5,000 units' worth of dosh that the club misses out on.

That might seem like common sense to you it doesn't to me.
 
I haven’t read through all of the comments but I’m going to keep things as simple as possible in my simple head. Yesterday was a pre-order, I don’t like pre-orders. I also don’t like P&P. I do want to visit the new look Rangers Store @ Ibrox when it opens. I do want to try on a Medium and Large home top to find out which is the better fit for me. I don’t want to give SD a single penny. I understand not everyone can visit the store in which case make an order through Castore.
 
I get all the just don't buy from SD stuff and I fully understand the statement. My thoughts are though, if you are castore and you know the history. And you understand fans don't/won't buy there, then why do a deal?

Also you really shouldn't market something as premium, bespoke, custom, designer and exclusive then shove it next to all the other shite in SD.
Yup.

Last thing I’ll say on the matter is, we’ll see how much Castore gear they stock in SD outwith Rangers stuff.
 
Like it or not,SD have shops in every city in the UK,Castore want to get into the football industry in the UK,we will not be the only club they make kits for in the future,they are going to need a working relationship with SD going forward.
 
I suspect this is the case too, so I understand why us and Castore are taking the relatively calm positions we have.

It’s a bit like having the choice of Graham Norton either shagging you up the arse or wanking you off. You’d rather choose neither, but if you had to you’d pick the latter, as ultimately that mainly benefits you far more than it benefits him, unlike the former.

I think my analogies need work.

Speak for yourself mate
 
I won't tolerate anyone in our family buying from MA, SD and all the brands he is involved with, but we can't prevent SD buying from Castore, the same as Greaves, JD sports etc., that is the law, the difference is this time he is paying us through Castore for the privilege of having our merch for sale, he is now paying us, and he won't like it.
People in the know won't buy through him and yes his company will make some sales but not like before, forget about him and concentrate on the money our club is now rightfully getting.
 
So we're still dealing indirectly with Sports Direct, who will also benefit from selling our tops (which they will, not everyone will get direct from Castore). That wasn't the narrative presented to us before the launch.

Rangers don’t deal indirectly with anyone, they deal exclusively with Castore. Castore don’t deal exclusively with Rangers. Rangers benefit from all sales by Castore regardless of who they sell to, was that not the narrative presented before the launch?
 
It doesn’t really bother me one way or the other but I really don’t see the point in post rationalising Castores decision to deal with SD.

I’m positive nobody on here expected to see our merch in fatso’s shops ever again and I don’t understand why people are trying to pretend otherwise.

Also I don’t think it makes anyone less of a supporter to state that it’s not the ideal scenario.

The problem (imo) is that this site is very good at making bombastic statements which don’t always transpire exactly as predicted so we have to go through an awkward phase of group think recalibration.

Anyway, hope everyone who wants a shirt gets one in the right size and buys direct.
 
On many a day/night I’m often left baffled and bemused at some of the posts left by some on here, I’ve probably had a few howlers myself but tonight has definitely been the worst I’ve experienced in reading through some of the other threads.

Shame on some of you. Angry wee man syndrome was out on force tonight.

What should have been a great day for us with the new strip being released and a big F U to the fat cat after finally not having to deal with him anymore has turned into a free for all, and wild accusations against the board and Castore have left me feeling ashamed of the self-proclaimed best fans in the world.

If the club and Castore had been more upfront about how their operation was going to work, it would have been avoided. The SD question was front and centre of people’s minds and they knew that and allowed people to think SD was a thing of the past. At the clubs instigation (through their leaks to fan groups) I’ve boycotted SD for years now, often at a cost to me in terms of convenience and money, so with all due respect, I’m not being made to feel like I’ve been a bad fan for questioning things when SD put out on social media they have an exclusive deal. These people profiteered from and severely hamstrung our club.
If people think that’s fine, then good luck to them, but the club have played this badly. By being reactive instead of proactive, they’ve allowed the possibility for people to think this is yet another false dawn.
 
Like it or not,SD have shops in every city in the UK,Castore want to get into the football industry in the UK,we will not be the only club they make kits for in the future,they are going to need a working relationship with SD going forward.

I would agree with you if it wasn't for the 'premium brand' marketing.
 
The way I’ve read and and please correct me if I’m wrong.
We are rid of SD, they didn’t match Castore.
Castore have the right to let anyone sell their product be it JD, SD or whoever.
It seems one of two things have happened, either as a sweetener for SD we have given them a window of having the merch before other retailers (outwith us and Castore)
Or
They’ve paid Castore for the right to have first dibs at the shirts.
Either way, we can still buy direct and no matter who sells the product Rangers now make a fair percentage on that sale.
 
The problem (imo) is that this site is very good at making bombastic statements which don’t always transpire exactly as predicted so we have to go through an awkward phase of group think recalibration.

The problem imo is that someone is failing to tell us fans the whole truth about this retail deal. We wanted transparency, but I still feel the water's been muddied and I don't like it one bit.
 
Stinks to the high heavans and no amount of fan led PR going to change that


You're way off the mark.

The vast majority of Rangers fans know the script with SD and won't buy from him.

The minority that don't, or don't care and still buy from him, are still putting the same amount of money in the club's pocket as those who buy from any other retail outlet.

SD also have hundreds of stores across the rest of the UK and will be selling our strip to many non Rangers fans who like the look of the strip, but will have no idea of our previous history with SD.

Like I say, any decent Gers fan won't go near his stores, but if he is selling Rangers strips to unsuspecting punters, it is good revenue for our club.

This isn't one of the old pennies in the pound previous deals.
 
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No, you're the switched on thinker mate.

Its the rest of us idiots that are naive enough to think that when we're told there will be "no association with SD", we believe it.
Have Boots the Chemist got an “association “ with you when you by shaving cream or have Gillette or is it simply your choice. Don’t buy and there’s no issue ffs
 
Are people really that stupid? Castore said they want to market us world wide, before they need to do that they need to market us nationwide, so it's down to JD or SD. If SD want to buy them and sell them to people all over England I have no problem, we are trying to get new fans down there with the Gerrard factor etc.

The vast majority on here will buy direct from Rangers, if people who like us/have a passing interest or just like the shirt want to buy it from a SD store then so be it. Given the Romanian posts all over our social media and with some members on here now Hagi will also shift a few shirts to Romanians all over the UK too.

Would I rather it wasn't SD? Yes. But we are where we are and they are one of the 2 nationwide sports wear companies so we have to deal with that. I won't be giving them a penny but it's not just about the hardcore fan, it's about getting sales we wouldn't normally get.
 
The problem imo is that someone is failing to tell us fans the whole truth about this retail deal. We wanted transparency, but I still feel the water's been muddied and I don't like it one bit.
some of us are actually happy we‘ve sold over 40 k strips but you keep swimming in your muddy water
 
There is a lot of people that are being over dramatic or have no idea how the new deal is structured and going to work Sports Direct are now paying for the stock and we benefit from sales so it's up to you if you buy it from there however it's obvious the club would prefer you to buy direct from them or Castore
 
Nothing to do with panty wetters. If you're comfortable with SD having any involvement with us in any way shape or form, you're a better man than me and every other bear who was rightly concerned. So you charge on with the panty wetting patter.

Trust me,I hate the c**t as much as anyone on here. Some of the comments were an absolute cringe. I will stand by my panty wetter comment thanks.
 
Glad it's been clarified. I'd much prefer if none of our merch was available in his fat tat joints, but people really shouldn't need to told not to shop in there.
 
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Worng.

SD have chose to deal with Castore and, just like any other retailer who want to sell our gear, they will pay a wholesale price.

They are now customers and we make money from every shirt they buy, regardless of sale or not.
Hows it wrong? You've just reiterated what I posted but in a different way. However you want to dress it up, Castore didn't have to deal with them.
It’s as black and white as this surely. Buy direct, end of story. Problem will be if Castore run out
The problem is Castore have sold out in some sizes, those sizes will end up with SD.
 
Pleased the club clarified and cleared it up .

Id say every kit sold yesterday was sold direct ,all of that goes to Castore and Rangers .

If people want to buy from SD that’s up to them,westill get a cut ,it’s just SD being pathetic .
 
End of the day they have to buy our tops just like any other retailer. Just buy direct n SD get hee haw. I really dnt know why people can't grasp that.
 
So, SD have purchased kits to sell just like JD, Greaves and anyone else can and will. SD seem to be getting them a little earlier than the rest which under normal circumstances would give them an advantage over JD however hopefully we all remember how big a cnut Ashley has been and stay clear.

I’m sure some will buy from SD, which is a sore one for us who want the place to burn to the ground but Rangers will still profit from any he sells but hopefully he’s avoided and he has to take a hit on the ones he’s bought.

The fat prick has muddy the waters a little which has managed to take the shine off release day for some but we appear to be completely back to normal in terms of a retail deal - it would be atypical if we said to the biggest sports retailer no you can’t sell our stuff.

SD would have advertised their ‘exclusive’ the same regardless but I imagine the fat prick would have enjoyed our reaction. Let him have his final, futile jab at us, in return we should snap up every last strip, training trackie, bobble hat and Rangers mug we can from everywhere and anywhere apart from SD. Let the fucker regret that he ever tried to shaft us rather than profit from our loyalty
 
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