In the real world people can answer you back, in the real world people can't be dismissed by clicking the Ignore switch, in the real world the kind of information and arguments many of us on FF take for granted may not see the light of day in the mainstream media. Those are merely the facts of life.
I've believed for a long time that about 20-25% of the Rangers support is prepared to take what we could call "the FF line" on some issues. Not all issues - but there are enough punters talking and writing about how things could be different in many areas of the club's operations for them to be completely ignored. I'm not saying we are getting much of what we want but at least the soft soap has been applied to some issues!
You can't hide from reality. Just as we can't hide from performances on the park, from the league table or playing in the 2nd division of European competition we can't hide from the reality that the Chairman has very many genuine supporters for his various stances. They may indeed by mistaken but his supporters are massive in numbers, they may have private doubts on some issues but they either support him or they have not been convinced of the alternatives. Many may even hope against hope for change and believe that the Chairman has a master- plan which will solve our problems.
YOU CAN'T SHORT-CIRCUIT DEBATE - THERE IS NO "MAGIC BULLET"
Before dismissing fellow Bluenoses as lickspittles or mentally subnormal it's best to examine your own point of view. Did you come to it overnight? Was it one issue which got you thinking? Why then expect others to change their point of view simply because you insist on it? There are no shortcuts to change - the slow, patient work of debate is necessary and never-ending. To believe otherwise is foolish and counter-productive.
With regards to street protests - my own view is they were inevitable but are only one part of a whole range of things people can do. Talking to the main lads who protested last season and this, the view came across loud and clear that things will have to get worse before a successful protest kicks off again. Protests outside the ground are best left unplanned and spontaneous as pre-planning appears to many fans to be actually looking for defeats on the field in order to further an agenda. Last season there may have been hundreds outside the ground v Falkirk and Hibs but only half a dozen after Porto and Inter - so protests are obviously very much driven by results.
People may have had their pride hurt by having other fans chant obscenities at them but as Marcellus Wallace said - pride never helps, it only hurts - in these circumstances. If results get worse events will take care of themselves. What we don't need are stunts which are poorly thought-out and therefore counter-productive. In the meantime getting a positive agenda out to more fans through the mass media has to be the top priority in order to bring about sensible change.
JANUARY SIGNING WINDOW IS CRUCIAL
The next big date in the calendar - apart from games in Europe and the Old Firm match - is the end of the January signing window. Last season the deadline was met with firstly great expectation - those three signings 'not Bosmans, not loans' we had been promised never materialised - and then with a combination of anger and disillusionment even amongst the Chairman's own most ardent supporters as Hearts signed eleven players that day and showed ambition to go for the second Champions League qualifying spot.
On the one hand there is no public trumpeting of the size of the war chest - but on the other the usual media puppets with a track record of receiving leaks direct from the horse's mouth are peddling the line that around £4million is available to PLG.
I suspect the old game is being played - if results improve then there will be 'no need to spend' - if results get worse then some dosh will be splashed but with the proviso that 'the best players aren't available at this time of year' - and we'll have gotten past Christmas and into the home straight for the summer and time for a breather with the fans being placated with promises of an improving financial position providing mega bucks, etc, etc, etc.
I would say that the last signing deadline cost the Chairman significant support.
FIGHTING THE LONG WAR
Getting Rangers back to where we want to be - in both footballing and social terms - is not helped by short-termism. Football and football fans are naturally driven by results but we need to keep our eyes on the prize.
Too often Bears give up the fight on certain issues as soon as there is a single set-back. Too often we're prepared to find excuses for doing nothing. Too often defeatism is the comfortable option - it is an excuse for doing nothing.
For instance - we complain about media bias but as soon as a genuine alternative in Real Radio came along you could sense that people were already talking themselves into the comfort zone of "I told you so"-land the minute Timothy started to put the pressure on them. So once again territory was abandoned without a fight.
Surely everyone wants a fair crack of the whip in the media? If so, why abandon the airwaves and newspaper columns instead of being determined to change them?
Likewise the complaints about politicians. Apart from throw-away remarks on a messageboard how many have joined political parties? How many are supporting a friend or a Bear-friendly candidate and going onto the streets to campaign? With the move to proportional representation in next May's local elections the time has never been riper for a clean-up of sectarianism and bias in the municipalities of West/Central Scotland. Or will most be happy to trot out excuses like the lack of action from the major parties against apartheid education as a mask for doing nothing? Time to get real people.
UNO DUCE, UNA VOCA - THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF THE TRUST
It's a little cheeky, I know, to quote a slogan in favour of a dictator to support an organisation with the best democratic credentials around!
Directors and owners come and go, the fans remain. If opinions, debates and elections are good enough for parliament, trade unions and lodges then why not for football clubs?
For a club as big as we are full democratisation of the club may seem a little fanciful in the short-term but I believe in the long-term it is the only guarantee we have of having the club run properly. In the meantime the Trust has shown itself to be credible, sensible and organised enough to make gains for fans across a number of issues.
Whatever may happen a strong Trust - in activity as well as membership numbers is vital as a vehicle for change.
All activity must be organised with a view to enhancing and promoting the Trust - there is simply no other viable avenue for genuinely independent fans organise.
A word of advice. Some punters wont join the Trust for one reason or another - they don't like one policy or don't like some members. That doesn't stop you joining a trade union, a political party or a lodge does it? So why should the Trust be different? Football does inflame the passion but join and help change rather than sit outside complaining that the Trust isn't as perfect in every aspect as you'd like it to be.
The Trust is the engine for change.
IS THE CHAIRMAN SUSCEPTIBLE TO CHANGE?
Definitely. The Chairman hasn't gotten to where he is today running one of Scotland's largest businesses be being a fool or unaware of what his customers want. He'll nick all our best ideas if he can!
In recent years he's responded to pressure with regard to the debt situation and authorised a share issue to which he subscribed to the tune of £50million. Without debate he would not have done so. Likewise he has conceded the need for fan representation by setting up the Assembly and having various new means by which fans can voice their concerns - those may not be perfect but the principle of fan involvement has been conceded.
The fact that the Chairman chooses to remain in office is not the end of the world despite him saying twice in recent years he was looking to sell his shares - he can be influenced and in the absence of any credible buyers I'd be all for influencing him to use his undoubted talents and energy in the sorts of ways many of us would like to see. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
ONE HOPEFUL SIGN
One manifestation of how complex our situation is and how even those most keen on change are keeping discipline and calm heads has been the attitude to the manager.
PLG's track record in France cannot be written off. In a few games this season (too few!) we have seen the style of football he favours - and we like it.
It's simply not credible for a club like Rangers with twelve managers in our entire history to cut and run on PLG after four months. He is used to dealing at Lyon with a far higher level of talent in the player pool and will have to adapt to the kick and rush of Scottish football. It's simply unthinkable that he isn't given more time.
Hence why I think there is hope in both the protests outside the ground which never had an anti-PLG chant in them and in the Blue Order's pro-PLG banner which was unveiled during the St Johnstone game. That's the kind of reasonableness and discipline we all need to display.
THE DAYS AHEAD?
More of the same. The struggle continues. There are no easy victories, there are no simple solutions. Only struggle. On the football field; in the media; in politics.
Get involved and argue for your point of view (and one of the glories of the Rangers support is that we are not a mono-culture on any issue) always make sure we are playing to the mainstream, to the majority of our fellow fans and not hiding away and allowing our club and it's supporters to be pushed to the fringes.
G_S