Keith Jackson finally hit back over the war of words at Ibrox.
For almost all of his career the Daily Record reporter has been a trusted source of Ibrox news through a variety of managers as well as during the golden days of Dave Murray.
Over the last couple of years the challenge from new media has become very serious. With sales of the Record down to around 80,000 a day the new regime in power has opted to keep fan sites on-message with off the record briefings about what is going on inside the club.
Eighteen months into the job, former DUP councillor Dave Graham felt comfortable enough to be central in a picture released on Saturday night of Giovanni van Bronckhorst dining with some of the Ibrox executive team.
Over the last fortnight the Record has been trying to be on the front foot with developments surrounding a new manager at Ibrox. Within minutes of publishing Heart & Hand alongside the Follow Follow message board has been shooting down whatever moonbeam the Record has launched.
The Record had refused to hit back but covering the League Cup semi-final defeat from Hibs Jackson couldn’t resist any longer as he covered the weekend events.
From being photographed having dinner with DUP Dave on Saturday night, to sitting next to sporting director Ross Wilson as another piece of silverware disappeared into the distance, the optics could hardly have been any more damaging for the new boss.
If the entire coms strategy was all dreamed up by his club’s own notoriously wonky PR machine then at least Van Bronckhorst knows where to start as he attempts to make some sense out of what has just gone on and recover from the single most inauspicious start to a new job since his own debut as a Rangers player 23 years ago.
Graham is a former contributor to David Edgar’s Heart & Hand podcast.
Van Bronckhorst is introduced to selected media outlets at 3.30pm today, the Record will be looking on at coverage from Sky Sports.
The goings on at the hunnery are enough to make you weep !,
Yes the tears of joy are flowing