Jack Irvine and Me – How One Tweet Can Be Misrepresented – A Case Study

Back in August I wrote a blog post which referred to a statement from the official Rangers website. You can read my full post here.

It covered the attempt by Rangers to deal with “inaccurate stories” and also referred to Jack Irvine, PR and crisis management guru extraordinaire.

I wrote the following:-

And then, in its penultimate paragraph, the fans are advised that only by reading Pravda the official website will they know the truth – thus implying that every media organisation and newspaper is “anti-Rangers”.

And then, in twelve words which I will quote as the message it sends would be diluted by using my own words, the end of a long and mutually fruitful marriage is signalled:-

“Finally, Jack Irvine of Media House does not speak for this Club.”

Jack Irvine and Media House have been “hand in glove” with Rangers over many years – they were closely connected to Sir David Murray in his time as owner (and with his companies outside football). They worked for Craig Whyte and also continued to serve Rangers loyally during the Duff and Phelps reign. Between February and June 2012 Media House did £124,000 of work for Rangers which, by that stage, was being run by administrators. (In addition Rangers (in administration) paid almost £30,000 to Spreckleys for “media consultancy in connection with the administration” – as I commented at the time, the administrators needed PR people separate from those of the football club, but still charged the company in administration for that!)

Media House continued to work for Rangers until only a few days ago. And now that has come to an end.

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Guess Who the Rangers Board is After Now and Why It’s Wrong to Gag Chris Graham

Tonight has brought some interesting news which has caused consternation and weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the Rangers faithful.

It is not clear yet if the two stories which have come out on Twitter tonight are connected – or if the issues are separate.

Almost simultaneously the BBC’s Chris McLaughlin and famous Rangers supporter, and star of screen and the internet Chris Graham tweeted the following.

It’s Free Speech Jim (Spence), But Not As We Know It – Rangers v BBC – Guest Post By JohnBhoy

An event has occurred that should prove a second watershed in the history of Rangers FC. The first turning point introduced the lexicon of business insolvency into the sporting arena, under the tombstone headed LIQUIDATION; the second pivotal moment is no less seismic. The orchestrated campaign by The Rangers and their fans to formally complain about Jim Spence of BBC Scotland Sportsound ought to have but one ending: the formal announcement by a pillar of the establishment – the BBC – on the status of Rangers FC.

Let us recap. Jim Spence had the temerity on BBC Scotland Sportsound to voice a view, not necessarily his own, that the current club plying its trade at Ibrox is not the same club pre and post liquidation. On the 4th September Jim uttered the immortal line: “John McClelland who was the chairman OF THE OLD CLUB, some people will tell you the club, well, THE CLUB THAT DIED, possibly coming back in terms of the new chairman…” This caused outrage amongst Rangers fans who, encouraged by Chris Graham, immediately complained to the BBC. The Rangers website issued a “Club Statement”, wherein they disclosed that they have instructed “Rangers’ lawyers to write to the BBC Trust” to ensure that “uses of the terms ‘new’ and ‘old'” are not used when referring to Rangers.

My Thoughts on Chris Graham’s Comments in the Rangers Standard about his Sportsound Boycott

Chris Graham is a Rangers fan. Since the descent into administration he has had the mantle of “reasonable Rangers fan” thrust upon him and as such has popped up several times on STV to talk about the latest development in his team’s remarkable saga.

He and I have exchanged light-hearted banter, dating back to October 2011 when he classed me along with RTC and Phil Mac Giolla Bhain as “barmy bloggers”. That was august company into which he had placed me, especially as his writing about me, and his blog then being linked to on Follow Follow by a poster called “Fury” lead to the most views of my blog on any one day up to that point.

Since then he has told others that I do not possess the moral qualities to have a guest article posted on his Rangers Standard website, and he has pointedly remarked on a few occasions that he does not read what I write, on the basis that I am “discredited”, “disgraced”, “a Rangers Hater” etc.

Last week’s BBC Scotland invitation to me to appear on Sportsound almost gave me the chance to converse directly with him. However, as Chris himself has explained, he would not take up the invitation.

After I had written my piece about it and Andy Muirhead at Scotzine his, it was Mr Graham’s chance to take up the pen.

A QUESTION OF BALANCE – a Guest Post by JohnBhoy

JohnBhoy posted this as a comment on an earlier thread. I thought it worth a “guest post” slot.

Thanks JohnBhoy!

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The old Rangers understood the theory of balance. If all competing influences have parity – similar club size, domestic fan base, financial clout etc. – then this could present the dangerously unpredictable fiasco of a level playing field, leading to ludicrously unfair equal competition between two city rivals, namely Celtic and Rangers. Thankfully, EBTs came to the rescue and redressed the balance in Rangers’ favour. That is the kind of equilibrium that appealed to the old Rangers. For every fiver that you pay in tax, we’ll pay ten less.

The new Rangers likes balance too, in a variety of contexts: financial balance (no debt, courtesy of unpaid creditors), football balance (leapfrogging The Spartans FC to gain entry to the SFL without the need to follow the same rigorous, competitive application process), social balance (march on Hampden, boycott etc.) and msm balance (James Traynor, writing for The Daily Record while seeking, and finally securing, employment with Rangers).