Will Paul Murray resign his membership of the Rangers Supporters Trust?
Yesterday’s statement from the Trust on the pathetic SFA charge against John Guidetti plunged new depths as various outrageous accusations were made against Celtic.
With the predictable exception of the Glasgow based Herald newspaper, all other major broadcasters and publishers in Scotland ignored the statement despite normally being happy to reproduce the paranoid nonsense from the RST.
As he swept to power earlier this month Mr Murray made a number of bold claims about how his club was about to revive Scottish football, including helping Celtic out.
Critical to Mr Murray’s latest attempt to have a say at Ibrox was ‘fan power’ with the current chairman happy to record his gratitude to the Trust.
On January 20 the borders banker stated: “ I have today taken out life membership of both the Rangers Supporters Trust and Rangers First. Whilst I would like to make special mention of the RST, who have supported our cause tirelessly over the past few years, I wish to make it known I fully support these two groups in their desire to help safeguard the future of our club.
“Along with many of the people who have been working behind the scenes to ensure Rangers can again function fully, both on and off the pitch, I believe the supporters should be able to participate significantly in the club’s rehabilitation.
“Dave King, John Gilligan and I are committed to introducing meaningful fan ownership and representation at the club and that is one of the reasons I have pledged my support to both groups. RST and Rangers First have bought not insignificant amounts of share and must be recognised by those of us who are striving to remove the current Directors and begin the process of repairing the considerable damage caused by a constantly changing Boardroom.
“The club and not the needs of individuals must be put back to the top of the priority list and the supporters can help us achieve that goal. Rangers First and RST will always have the best interests of their club at heart and they deserve as much support as we can give.
“I would urge as many of this club’s fans to sign up to either one or both if possible. The fans can play a hugely significant part in forcing change through votes. They are the most loyal supporters any club could wish for but have been disregarded by a succession of directors in recent years, and I for one recognise their contribution in the struggle to end the disgrace and level of mismanagement within Ibrox.”
While his friends in the Trust throw slanderous accusations at Celtic Mr Murray believes that he can sit down with the Scottish champions to work out a strategy for the benefit of Scottish football.
Speaking before the 0-0 draw at Cowdenbeath Mr Murray told the BBC: “I’m 50 years of age now and in my lifetime, and before that, Rangers very much led Scottish football in terms of the governance and the strategy, obviously along with Celtic and other clubs, and in the last 15-20 years that’s been gradually declining and we need to get back to that way of thinking.
“A lot of people have got strong views on what happened to Rangers and that’s fine, and I’ve got strong views as well, but we need to move forward now and grasp the situation and lead Scottish football.
“In terms of practical things it’s rejoining some of the committees that determine what’s happening in the game, participating in discussions about the strategy of the game, these are things we’ve got to be involved in as we are the biggest club in Scotland in my view.”
After he has condemned, or better still resigned from the Rangers Supporters Trust, Mr Murray may be in a position to share his wisdom with the elite clubs in the Scottish game.
