Rangers fans concerned by potential deal with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley
Monday, August 18th, 2014The Herald’s Hugh Macdonald quoting the Rangers supporters’ group ‘Union of Fans’:
“Will the board get an unequivocal assurance that the SFA will not use this issue as a stick to beat the club with further down the line? The SFA have a track record of attempting to impose draconian sanctions on Rangers using tenuous methods.”
Two obvious things spring to mind when reading this article, which have not occurred to Macdonald, or he has chosen to ignore:
One is his role as a journalist in questioning the above statement – as opposed to simply re-printing it verbatim and skipping to the main course – ie. the barefaced accusation from the Union of Fans that the SFA somehow has a history of treating Rangers unfairly or disproportionately for misdemeanours and will do so again.
Macdonald offers no opposition or analysis to this assertion.
At the very least, the idea that the SFA would offer the club (at the behest of a fans’ group) any kind of assurance that it would not take issue with a potential investor who later proves to be undesirable or problematic from a regulatory perspective is risible.
Rangers – and its fans – have a proud history of embracing investors of questionable wealth and dubious character; it would be perfectly normal for the sporting authorities to reserve future judgement on any potential investor or owner, although it’s worth pointing out that they have been somewhat lax at doing so in the past.
Secondly, the entire article reads like a personal plea by Macdonald on behalf of Rangers fans to the club’s board not to seek the help of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley as a solution to their financial problems, or, to permit the renaming of Ibrox as part of an investment package.