I read with interest the news of the execution of the once-powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un which rekindled fears of instability in the secretive nuclear-armed state.

News of the purge of Jang Song-thaek raised further concerns about the mental stability of the North Korean leader and prompted the South Korean defence chief Kim Kawn-jin to make a statement in which he promised "heightened readiness". He also said the execution could be seen as part of a "reign of terror" by the North Korean leader. Of course this type of behaviour is not uncommon in the secretive state, despite the best efforts to censor any news which might be seen to be critical of the regime.

Purges have occurred regularly through history. Probably the most infamous purge in history was the campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1934 to 1939. It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and government officials, repression of peasants and the Red Army leadership, widespread police surveillance, suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment and arbitrary executions. It became known as The Great Purge.

Stalin's fondness of purges was one of the reasons the Russian Army was so easily swept back during the initial stages of WWII. In the period from 1934 to 1939, Stalin executed many of his best and most experienced generals because he regarded them as a threat to his regime. History shows that, initially at least, the Nazis used this to their advantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge

The leader of the Nazis Adolf Hitler, was himself fond of purges; the ‘Night of the Long Knives' being the most infamous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives

Definition: Purge - In history, religion, and political science, a purge is the removal of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, from another organisation, from their team owners, or from society as a whole. Purges can be peaceful or violent; many will end with the imprisonment, exile, or deaths of those purged, but in some cases they will simply be removed from office.

So what does this have to do with Rangers? Well in actual fact it has remarkable similarities to the type of aggression and censorship which has been used to attack our group and the current board members at our club in recent times.

Many members of Vanguard Bears were also members of the website FollowFollow.com. It is run by Mark Dingwall who allows his site to post lies and smears about our group and threats of violence against current board members of our club. The name of our group is censored by Mr. Dingwall and any posts which support this group are removed as quickly as Mr. Dingwall and his group of party leaders can do so. Anyone who posts anything in support of this group will find themselves with a lifetime ban from FollowFollow.com.

Any posts which question the group led by Paul Murray are removed almost immediately, and the posters also given a lifetime ban. In their efforts to purge the current board from our club, any opinion which does not follow the party line as dictated by Mr. Dingwall results in an instant lifetime ban from his site.

Isn't it ironic that a group who demand transparency from our current board themselves operate a level of censorship on a par with that witnessed in North Korea?

Our crime, as a group, is that we have refused to blindly follow Mr. Dingwall's party line which is unilateral support of the group led by Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray and Jim McColl to gain control of our club through any means necessary. At the recent meeting between Rangers supporters and Paul Murrays' group in Glasgow, one of our Vanguard Bears was called a ‘jump the dyke' and challenged to a fight by what was believed to be a prominent poster on Mr. Dingwall's website.

Thankfully the VB in question had the good sense not to rise to the bait. However this type of intimidation has continued, despite our group releasing numerous statements and articles which clearly show that our position of neutrality remains unchanged.

The AGM is almost upon us and although I wouldn't like to predict with any certainty what will happen; it does look increasingly likely that the current board will remain in position, although it may be that Brian Stockbridge is offered up as some kind of sacrificial lamb, to appease the requisitioners.

Will the survival of the current board be good for our club? I don't know.

Will a purge of the current board be good for our club? I don't know.

The truth is, none of us really know with any certainty what is going to be best for our club. That is why we have decided not to take sides.

For those who have so openly taken sides and attacked the current board, campaigned to have them removed and allowed posts which contain threats of violence towards current board members, the big question is what will they do should they fail in their efforts to have the current board removed at the AGM? In their attempts to destabilise the current board, they have lied to us, the Rangers support.

Recent leaked emails prove beyond any doubt that groups like the RSA, the RST, the Assembly, the Sons of Struth, CRO and individuals such as David Leggatt have all been colluding with Paul Murray throughout this whole episode. Only the day before the emails were leaked, members of those groups were still denying that they were working together under the instructions of Paul Murray.

It also appears that the people who claim to represent the aforementioned groups were in actual fact doing nothing of the kind. As far as I am aware, members of those groups have not been balloted on whether they collectively oppose the current board and support the group led by Paul Murray. If that is the case, then how can representatives of the groups possibly claim to be truly representative of those groups?

The simple answer is, they cannot.

I have never seen our support so divided. In over 40 years of supporting our club through good times and bad, I was always able to identify with my fellow bears. No matter what was happening around us, we were united in our support of our club, something which has never seemed further away than it does now.

The AGM should be a defining moment for our club, a chance for stability and a chance to move away from the hostility which has done more to damage our clubs reputation than anything else its history. The current supporters groups have proven to be every bit as dysfunctional as the board members they have been trying to purge from our club, and the heads of those groups have shown themselves to be nothing more than puppets being worked from behind by Paul Murray and his group.

Regardless of any changes within the boardroom at our club at the AGM, there have to be changes within the supporters groups. Too many people have used their positions within supporters groups to drive their own agendas, and many are guilty of putting themselves before the good of the club.

For the good of our club, it is time for change.