Mearns Saint

DVZ didnt look like getting sent off at Inverness - it was obvious someone was going to get sent off for something daft with that many bookings but to suggest DVZ was obvious to come off is stupid and I'd question if you were actually there.
As for Goodwin - yes, everyone could see he was going to get sent off but Lennon has to be able to trust his captain and Jim takes the fall for that one. Stop finding sticks to beat the manager with and get behind him boo boy.

Thank feck Danny knew how ICT would play or we would be getting a real humping!!!

Hello All
I'm looking to canvas views in respect of a potential ticketing development that the club is currently considering. This is a longish one, but please bear with me.
I've exchanged correspondence regarding this with the club's General Manager, Brian Caldwell, and Brian is happy for me to use the forums (here and the OS) to gauge whether there is any mileage in this idea.
By way of some brief background, I emailed the club over the New Year period asking if there might be an option of a season ticket that is not seat or stand specific. Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that his replace the current system. Instead, it would offer an additional facility that would afford non ST holders the opportunity to purchase a Smart Card with in-built flexibility to roam around the stadium as desired. The idea occured to me when, having given up my ST a few years ago, I enjoyed the freedom to take in matches from different areas of the ground. In any event, my old ST seat is now taken up by my mate's grandson, so I couldn't get the seat back even if I wanted to (fair enough).
Despite not having any real urge to buy another seat-speciifc ST, I miss the convenience of rolling up on match day without having to faff about queuing for a ticket, and ensuring I've got cash at the ready (not least in the grim depth of a Scottish winter!). I also think that the club would benefit from supporters who, like me, find that a current ST doesn't really fit the bill, being in a position, nevertheless, to commit funds up front. In return, those who took up the offer of this type of ticket would have the convenience of a ST, and possibly a couple of other fringe benefits (see below).
Brian was keen to explore options, while being clear that any new system shouldn't be to the detriment of standard ST holder, who could be considered the life-blood of the club. He gets no argument from me, there.
Between us, we've come up with an option that might offer a way forward:

on application, non-ST holders would be issued with a smartcard, and they could purchase games online for whatever area of the stadium they wish. The matches would then be loaded onto the card, in much the same way that cup matches are under the current system;
games could be added to the card on a match-by-match basis, or a number of games could be pre-loaded. One suggestion to make the option of pre-loading matches more attractive, would be to offer a discount - possibly graded on how many matches are loaded onto the card. For example, buy any three matches, save 5%, or if 5 or more are purchased, save 10%. This way, the club can also benefit from some guaranteed advance income (in a similar manner that it does from standard ST sales). Full season standard STs would still represent best value, however;
matches are purchased online, and an email receipt specifies the match details and the stand for which each purchase(s) applies;
if and when the club create a supporters bar area in the void of the Main Stand (something that, as you know, is now being seriously considered), all smartcard owners could access this facility;
standard ST purchases would always take precedence, and the second tier smartcard would be applicable in respect of other available seats.

The benefits of such a system are pretty clear to me. I could demonstrate my commitment to the club by buying a ST of sorts, and would also enjoy the benefits of not having to queue for a ticket on matchday when the weather is hellish; I might be able to secure a modest discount if I pre-load matches (benefitting the club, in turn); and the club would be offering a more flexible approach to ticket purchase - something that could only be regarded as progress.
I have to say that Brian has welcomed my ramblings on this matter, and is genuinely keen to explore whether this might be a viable proposal. We're keen to hear whether people think this might be an option they'd consider, or any possible shorcomings/issues with the initial concept as outlined above.
Please feel free to offer any suggestions or criticisms as you see fit, but i'd be grateful if the thread remained relatively free of spamming as the club will be looking to access it for information and a sense of how people regard the idea.
Ta much
Drew

The people financially backing the bid are 10000 hours. Every one of the 1000+ fans who have committed our tenners are members of 10000 hours, you are trying to create a division where none exists.

If we cast our minds back to the period where it looked for all the world like a Rangers newco would be greased straight into the SPL - I came on here and said I wouldn't renew my ST for this season - just as many others did. Naturally received accusations of trying to organise a campaign that would damage our club, but as subsequent weeks have proven, that accusation came from a forum user whom, if he told me today was Friday, I'd go and check my calendar.
Anyway, as things dragged on, with no sign of a resolution to the Rangers debacle in sight, it was my low-level involvement with the 10000hours CIC bid that helped make my final decision, and that decision was to take the plunge and re-new my ST. If the CIC came to fruition, we'd have supporter involvement, and the opportunity to make our individual voices heard.
My decision to go ahead and renew my ST was made to seem absolutely the right thing to do, as Vlad broke ranks and said 'No to newco in the SPL', closely followed by the likes of Aberdeen, Hibs, Dundee United, and others. Once it was clear (with Aberdeen's vote) that it was 'No to newco' in the SPL, not sure about anyone else, but here's what I was thinking: I was thinking that we were on the road to any newco Rangers firstly having to get themselves up and running and capable of carrying on, and secondly, applying for what would become a vacancy in SFL 3, taking their chances with Spartans, Cove, or anyone else who applied.
There was a mood of buoyancy amongst supporters. If newco Rangers got their shit together, applied for and got into Div 3, and came up through the divisions - fair enough. This is what ANY newco club applying for SFL membership would do. Just like Annan Athletic. Apply, get in, start off in Div 3, work your way up. It is clear that the rules do not apply though when we are talking about Rangers.... but, this isn't Rangers. This is far from the 'big' Rangers we knew - with a 50,000 crowd, a team of internationals, regular European jaunts, and a ton of trophies. This is a newco club with a handful of players turning up for training, and who knows what going on behind the scenes in regard to who Green's backers are. Are they remotely fit and proper? Is he just an asset-stripper, and how much has Craig Whyte still got to say about it? In regard to the dying club that would spawn the newco - there's still SFA sanctions to come, there's criminal investigations into their recent owners, and the SPL say they have a big case to answer in regard to illegal double contracts. Yet, the football authorities seem to be hell-bent on finding a way to make life easier for this 'newco' which hasn't even sprung yet from the disgraced ashes of the deeply corrupt and cheating corpse of what used to be Rangers FC? Disgusting isn't the word for it. It's beyond disgusting.
Now, in regard to the 'football authorities' who seem hell-bent on taking it up the arse for this 'newco' - here's my big confusion. Obviously while we were all being fed the 'NO' verdicts from Hearts, Aberdeen, Hibs... and feeling that justice was being done, behind the scenes it was a different matter. Moves were afoot to create this monster of all cock-ups, with a new league structure dressed up as a major way forward for our game, but merely a device by which to 'save' this 'newco' from having to enter football at the bottom of the pack.... as they should, just like any new applicant. What I don't know is who knew. Who was in on it. Who was well aware of our 'No to newco in SPL' delight, while all the time they were cooking up this disgraceful attempt at a carve-up. Did SG know? Was SG instrumental in any of the talks to attempt this? Petrie at Hibs? Which SPL chairmen were in on it? Has Doncaster simply went off on one and went over the heads of most SPL chairmen? Who in the SFA and SFL was/is 'in on this little game'? Where should the finger be pointed?
Div has said it was news to the 10000hours team, yet two of the team are directors of St Mirren FC, and the entire 10000hours team were locked in talks with the selling consortium last week - with the Rangers 'uncertainty' causing talks to be put on ice. IF 10000hours knew nothing about this carve-up going on behind the scenes, but SG and maybe others on the selling consortium did know it was going on - draw your own conclusions. The selling consortium want 1.5mil, 10000hours are offering what they can - but they could easily have concluded a deal..... blissfully unaware that the people selling the club to them were involved in a shoddy deal to completely piss off St Mirren supporters which (as we can see) has caused some to talk about cancelling CIC membership as a protest! I would have thought it was important SG told 10000hours about any possible 'Newco straight to a new Div 1' scheme during those talks - if he's looking for 1.5million from them.... which in no small part comes from us.
Something stinks - big time. This was already a farce on Feb 14 when Rangers went into administration and made ZERO compulsory redundancies. Months and months later, it is beyond a farce, it is an absolute disgrace. I have no idea who knew what about whom, and who was talking to who behind closed doors - but in my opinion, Doncaster, Regan, Ogilvie and Longmuir are clearly not fit for purpose. Doncaster in particular is a walking disaster. No wonder Norwich City are better off with him plying his trade 500 miles up the road in a corrupt banana republic organisation like the Scottish SPL.
Beyond those individuals though, and especially in our boardroom. Tell us what the hell is going on. Absolute farce from beginning to end!

If there are any individual politicians who are Saints fans, and want to get on board - they're as welcome to an individual CIC monthly membership, an 87club membership, or an 1877club membership as a Saints fan who is an electrician, accountant, bus driver, whatever. Seeing some sort of organised council involvement is worrying. 10 foot bargepole required.

I would like this consultation to also cover the reports that a potential deal is being brokered involving the SPL and the SFL to relegate/parachute/dump Newco RFC into SFL1/new SPL2 as some sort of "compromise".
This is as scandalous as the notion of them "carrying on" in the SPL - if reports are true, the game will potentially be restructured entirely to accomodate them! Like most fans I am wholly supportive of changes to the structure of Scottish Fitba but it must be done for the right reasons, not as some sort of political compromise to appease a TV vendor.
Rangers cheated financially on an industrial scale to the extent that they ran themselves out of existence. They are starting again from scratch, and as such any admission of them into our game should be at the bottom of the existing structure - end of story. Anything else is rigging the game for financial gain.

Of course there a few other very significant shareholders not part of the consortium who would be highly likely to back SG. Somebody out there will probably have the figures. Not to mention the handfuls of shares that supporters have. I know what way we'd all vote.