Monday, 4 November 2013 KING NOW OFF LIMITS TO JACK IRVINE Written & Posted by David Leggat For Leggoland AS he finds it harder and harder to get his rubbish published in the mainstream media, highly paid, but poorly performing spin doctor Jack Irvine is being forced to resort to the outer fringes of lunacy inhabited by such as those who think they are the Scottish reincarnation of Merlin. Of course there are still some mugs in the press who fall for his guff, such as the Scottish Daily Mail which gave space to a claim which appeared to link Jim Traynor’s departure to part of a Rangers cost cutting programme. But in the main most proper journalists have cottoned on to Irvine and his stuff now increasingly has desks reaching for the modern equivalent of the spike. He is now, as we used to say in the old days of hard copy, writing for the spike. Indeed, we may even see him being forced to resort to such Rangers hating on-line outlets as Andy Muirhead’s Scotzine site, where he has already been interviewed and shamed lawyer Paul McConville’s ramblings, already praised by Irvine. How long before he pops up on the most anti of all anti Rangers blogs, the one scrawled by Philmacgiollabhain? One thing which will soon become obvious to everyone else, but which I have already clocked, is that Irvine has stopped his black arts briefings against Dave King. I wonder if that could have had anything to do with the talks King held with the Easdales? Time will surely tell. After falling silent on the subject of King, Irvine quickly turned his attention to Jim McColl and his sordid statement in the wake of McColl’s measured, calm and classy interview on Sky, came complete with Irvine’s trademark gutter language, and was issued literally in the wake of McColl’s appearance just after 5pm last Thursday. Irvine’s statement was being pointed up on-line less than an hour later. So just who was it inside Ibrox, on whose behalf he was speaking, who okayed what Irvine wrote? And just how quickly did whoever okayed it, react? It was interesting to speak to one pretty senior journalist at the heart of the story who told me 24 hours later than Irvine’s rantings are getting what he called less and less traction. Of course Merlin is still his avid disciple, though looking at the level of some of Irvine’s statements, some may be forgive for believing the boot is now on the other foot and that rather than Irvine telling Merlin what to write, Merlin is writing Irvine’s press releases for him. Which takes us back to the quote from a Rangers spokesman(Irvine?) in Saturday’s Daily Mail which said that Rangers are looking at a range of cost cutting exercises. They may very well be. But I can absolutely assure everyone that Jim Traynor’s departure had nothing to do with them. Anyone who claims it has is playing fast and loose with the facts and I can prove that. Just as any newspaper which gives such guff space is guilty of collusion. That is a matter I shall return to. However, for the moment, the fact is that with Traynor now gone, Rangers are in the unfortunate position of having nobody with a voice that is trusted to speak for the club on non football matters. Irvine’s repeated whisperings into the ears of newspaper editors and their dimmer reporters – Martin Williams of the Herald and the Sun’s Chris Musson are two who spring to mind – that Dave King would not be accepted by AIM have been blown out of the water by King’s statement revealing he has a letter from the South African Tax Authorities which testifies to his character as a fit and proper person, something I have been banging on about here for some time. So what next for Jack Irvine? Well, we have seen a small but highly motivated renegade bunch who had a meeting with financial director Brian Stockbridge last week, but who are so toxic they were not allowed inside Ibrox for the meeting, so re-invigorated since their coffee conference they have re-launched their attacks on Paul Murray, a man who for reasons known only to the renegades, has long been their hate figure. Their claims that it was Murray who blocked King’s attempts to broker a peace deal and take over as chairman are not only downright evil and malicious lies, they are laughably pathetic to those of us who know the real truth of what went on. Things which, for the moment, must remain confidential. But which may be able to be revealed if McColl and Murray are forced to drag Rangers back to the Court of Session to either reveal the names behind Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings or have their votes neutered, something which hit the headlines in the Sunday Post at the weekend. It is interesting to note the difference in approach from the way these renegades go about their business to the campaign for change and improvement at board level being waged by the tough minded and utterly fearless real men in the Sons of Struth group. Just as it will be interesting to see how Jack Irvine attempts to earn his solid gold corn – and bonus? - by spinning that. Keep your eye on Merlin. And Paul McConville. And Andy Muirhead. And Philmacgloillabhain. And that renegade bunch. You’ll get a laugh, if nothing else
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 14:21:52 +0000
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