Leaderboard

"We want folk in 30 to 40 years to still be talking about the forthcoming Rangers game in a similar fashion so they can tell their grandchildren where they stood that day in 2018 when the famous Glasgow Rangers came to Bellslea." The words of Fraserburgh Chairman Finlay Noble in The Press & Journal. There's little doubt that this is by far and away the biggest game in the 108 year history of Fraserburgh FC and as far as the town itself is concerned the only time that the general vibe has approached anything like the current buzz was in 1992 when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited for the celebration of the founding of the town's 400th anniversary. Much has been said among Rangers fans about the scarcity of tickets for the game with Rangers receiving an allocation of 360 but lost in that debate is the fact that Fraserburgh FC earned the right to play and to ergo host Rangers on the field of play and where as moving the game down the road to Peterhead or Aberdeen may well have resulted in a bigger pay day there never any serious possibility of it being moved. While the Bellslea Park may be both pretty compact and basic it really isn't any worse than many of the grounds we visited on the journey up through the leagues. The stand is called the Jim Adams Stand after the former Chairman who was a founder of the towns largest employer Gray & Adams, no doubt at some time or other you'll have been stuck in traffic behind one of their refrigerated trailers or even had the pleasure of a ride in their prisoner transfer vans. Sadly Jim is no longer around but rumour has it the Fraserburgh players would like his daughter Marieanne Adams to give them one of her famous group hugs! Fraserburgh the town is referred to locally as "The Broch" and its inhabitants as "Brochers" however I don't consider myself as a Brocher having only emigrated the 17 miles up the road from Peterhead 33 years ago and as everyone from Peterhead knows they aren't Brochers anyway they are in fact Puddlestinkers. The name Fraserburgh stems from 1592 when King James VI granted a charter to Sir Alexander Fraser and what was known as Faithlie became literally the burgh of Fraser. The name Broch coming from an old iron age tower that stood in the town but now long since gone. Among the local places of note are Fraserburgh Golf Club a links course which is the 5th oldest in Scotland and the 7th oldest in the world. The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses at Kinnaird Head and the adjacent Heritage Centre. Not forgetting the harbour to which the town owes its existence, the harbour is enjoying something of a renaissance after decades of decline due to the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and new boats have once again become a regular feature although sadly no longer being built in Fraserburgh itself since the boat yards have long closed. Famous Brochers include Thomas Blake Glover who emigrated to Japan and helped found what became the Mitsubishi conglomerate, Charles Alfred Jarvis the recipient of the first Victoria Cross awarded in World War I, Bill Gibb the fashion designer and of course one Dennis Nilsen the serial killer. The game itself takes place on the 48th anniversary of the Duchess of Kent lifeboat disaster on which 5 of the 6 volunteer crewmen lost their lives going to the aid of the Danish fishing vessel Opal, the men who perished that day were John Stephen, Fred Kirkness, William Hadden (my wife's uncle), James Buchan and James RS Buchan with Jackson Buchan being the sole survivor. Ironically the Duchess of Kent was a replacement lifeboat for the John and Charles Kennedy which capsized in the harbour entrance with the loss of 6 of the 7 crewmen in February 1953. Also another disaster befell the town in 1919 the lifeboat Lady Rothes capsized a mile from port with the loss of 2 lives. It would be remiss of me not to mention that on 28th of April 1970 Jock Stein took his Celtic team to Fraserburgh to play a game in aid of the lifeboat disaster fund the week before their European Cup Final defeat at the hands of Feyernoord. Now onto the game itself, whilst the rest of Scotland seems to be under a deep blanket of snow the north-east appears to have gotten of lightly, there was a brief snow shower earlier today it wasn't anything of note and shouldn't in any way affect the game. The club have been loaned covers from Arbroath FC but as it stands they shouldn't be needed, it will however be cold so if you're one of those fortunate to get a ticket I'd put the long johns on if I were you. Team wise where do we start? Will Cummings, Goss, Murphy or Martin make their competitive debuts? Will Halliday or O'Halloran feature on their return from being frozen out? Probably the only player we have with previous experience of the Bellslea is Ryan Jack who's unlikely to feature but should return in time for the Aberdeen game. We all know what Cummings is capable of as we've been on the receiving end of his skills often enough. Over in Florida Goss looked a decent tidy enough player with good delivery especially from dead balls. Murphy knows what its all about and will be keen to get of to a flyer playing for his boyhood heroes. I'd like to see us start with both Cummings and Morelos up front as there's absolutely no reason to play one up front in this game. We should be going for it and getting the business done early in the game. Will it be 442, 433 or 352? I'd plump for 442 with the following Alnwick Tavernier Bates Wilson John Candeias Goss Windass Murphy Cummings Morelos However I doubt the either the formation or the personnel will prove to be correct. There's no stand outs in the Fraserburgh team, they are almost all local to the north east with a fair amount of Bears (and a few of them)in the side.One Bryan Hay whose last minute penalty secured qualification for Fraserburgh in the last round away against Spartans will no doubt give his usual wholehearted no frills display, I saw him play for Fraserburgh U20's against Rangers U20's at Auchenhowie a few years back and he played well until his sending off (somewhat harshly on that occasion). A few of the Dave Smith Loyal have been trying to get odds on him seeing a red card again on Sunday. One player in the Fraserburgh ranks who has previously been on the victorious side against Rangers is the managers brother Dean Cowie (one of them) who was in the Peterhead side that beat Rangers 1-2 at Ibrox almost 5 years ago.

Naismith will do fine for Hearts but we needed a proper striker as cover/competition for Morelos so Cummings is a better signing. In terms of players who can create from slightly deeper like Naismith then Docherty would be preferred and/or Jones who reminds me of a younger Naismith at times. We have to stop living in the past - Naismith did a great job for us for a few years before spoiling his legacy with a poorly advised comments. He's moved on, we need to as well and starting winning stuff again.

Where was the derision from the media towards that offer for Windass? 500k? When Killie want a reported £1M for Jones?

Haha - nice p!sstake of our friends at the Daily Record!

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree about their support Pete. Especially nowadays. Since the days of Stein that mob have been drip fed poison until it has now reached the stage where I refuse to get involved in discussions with any of them about anything. Experience recently has shown me they are incapable of engaging in reasonable chat about football without going off at tangents and bringing history into things. Naturally they don't want to talk about their own clubs history. I post the above having had a senior sellik supporters rep as an uncle back in the mid 60's and my late mothers side of the family, hundreds of them, all regularly wearing green and grey. My sister unfortunately married one of the more twisted bastards who is very popular among the online deluded. Our support has some idiots. There's something in the pies at the Paedodome that does something to every saddo who goes there for home games. That includes their players and everybody connected to that club.

Don't see anything wrong there, a bench to sit on and a bowl to piss in. Players are far too comfortable these days. Get changed, get fired up and go out there and secure the victory.

RIFC Board Place Poll - Result Dear Member, Members were polled last week on whether they believed Club 1872 should have a place on the RIFC Plc board. We had a huge response to the poll and the final result was that 97% of members were in favour of Club 1872 having an RIFC board place. The Club 1872 board will now formally notify the RIFC board of the result and seek to hold discussions with them as soon as is practical to discuss the matter. We will also be notifying members shortly of a members meeting with the Club 1872 board and plans for a wide ranging consultation. We thank all members for their support and would urge all Rangers supporters to sign up to Club 1872 in what is going to be a huge year for both us and Rangers - with an opportunity for major investment to be made directly into the club through Club 1872. Club 1872

If I told you how many jobs I apply for every day you wouldn't believe me!, anyway I am just an easy target for big boss Frankie!

I think he's going to be a star, has the confidence and arrogance to be a success for us, very impressed by our transfer dealings so far

stop yer moaning Ian, what else have you got to do all day Only joking mate, I appreciate all your posts on here and updates, I sometimes go on FF but would much rather read your updates here

His lack of appearances on the pitch and on the bench give a fair indicator of his performances in training.

By Geordie Perks Rangers encouraging recruitment drive raises more answers than questions with back-to-their-roots feel - Perks Graeme Murty and Mark Allen's encouraging mix of of signings has convinced Geordie. IT may not be the best of British – but Rangers’ recruitment drive does have a back-to-their-roots feel about it. There are no exotic experiments for Graeme Murty and his director of football Mark Allen’s with their identification of January transfer targets. And the bigger picture is looking very encouraging. Say what you like about their quite frugal approach to signing a host of players on permanent and loan deals with the promise of something more in the summer, it’s energising both the fans and the club. Forget Kris Boyd’s claims of bullying by Gers and trying to upset other clubs’ players. Killie’s Mr Big Noise knows better than anyone that all’s fair in love and war in the chancing-your-arm world of professional football. Rangers have bigger issues at play. This bid to freshen up the squad isn't a back-of-a-fag-packet approach, it's potentially a well thought-out master class in management. The January juggling act aims to try and marry short-term impact with a long-game strategy with signings who should be about both present and future. Murty’s trying to make his mark on the squad by restoring a “play for the jersey” culture, lost in recent managerial disasters. That DNA stamp began with Jamie Murphy, a dyed-in-the-wool Bear who gave the impression he’d walk over broken glass to get to Ibrox. Greg Docherty is another example of going for players who will bust a gut for the cause, although whether Gers are prepared to fork out £600,000 to get the Hamilton ace is another matter. The capture of Russell Martin is a master stroke by Murty as he’s getting a player who’s a leader and, at 32, ideal to lead this rebuilding project. There’s a false perception of the big defender that he’s an occasional Scotland jersey filler or a stop-gap option for Norwich. The reality is he has been the Canaries’ captain and has been rubbing shoulders with English football’s elite for three out of the last five seasons. A solid signing, who could sign for Rangers for free this summer if Norwich don't take up their option to extend his contract. Sean Goss is different. QPR have made it clear his move is one of learning and gaining experience before going back to Loftus Road in five months’ time. But, it will be exciting to see how this slender English lad fairs in the Scottish game. There is no long-term benefit to Rangers in getting the midfielder in, but it does provide cover when Rangers have a number of first-choice players injured in this area. Then there's Jordan Jones who's had a price tag of around £1million placed on his head by Killie chiefs but plays in straight lines and too often heads up blind alleys - but does have pace to burn. Killie boss Steve Clarke wrongly believes the £350,000 bid from Gers is an insult for a man who now carries the tag of a full Northern Ireland international. It’s a stretch though. If that’s the criteria to join the million-pound club then St Johnstone will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of offers for Paul Paton. The Perth midfielder was sitting next to Jones when he climbed off the bench to make his debut against Switzerland. Day after day another possible target is identified by Rangers and clearly it's a well thought-out policy of January window plotting.

Spirit him away from off their physio's table, more likely.

The current crop of Savco FC players are the most overrated football team in the history of football. Savco own the mhedia, and the mhedia condition those naive enough to buy their propaganda. It's particularly ironic that you speak of embarrassment when it is Savco, after their humiliations in their CL group games, who hold the distinction of being the laughing stock of European football. As StuGers accurately points out, this Rangers team with good management is more than capable of challenging overrated Savco players for the title. It's one thing to read the Daily Record, the Scotsman and listen to BBC Scotland etc etc, Selmy, and quite another to believe them.

Get der berliner and sbs in a room and let the fun flow.

Decades of trailing our wake, of being second best, has left them beyond paranoid. They're damaged goods and we see it reflected in every obsessive utterance about Rangers. They'll never recover from NIAR, May 1999 and the various helicopter events. They thought we were dead and buried, now they're frantically looking over their shoulder, choking on their jelly and ice cream.

Does anyone actually think these songs and messages to the Pontiff at the end of many of the ditties actually enhance the reputation of our club, our city ,our country? If these songs and chants are not offensive would you encourage parents to introduce these phrases and sayings as they are teaching their babies to speak? Does anyone actually think that any of these people from the foreign countries we visit where we stand in their town centers singing about being ‘up to our knees’ and ending with a good Fuck the Pope makes people think ‘Wow that’s impressive I want my children and grandchildren to be associated with that. I want Rangers to be their Scottish team,and I want our local team belting out bigotry like that. We must all go to Scotland for our holidays these people make it sound so welcoming,so open, so tolerant ,so 17th Century. It is an embarrassment ,it as outdated as sending children down the mines,it was once acceptable ,as was drink driving,the world has moved on it is time some in our support did likewise. These songs harm the club you profess to love so much they add nothing to the club but negative opinions and publicity. We have enough people looking to attack us at every turn ,stop giving them easy hits.

1963 Highbury Arsenal 2v2 Rangers in goalkeeper Jack Kelsey Testimonial.Gers scorers were a Jim Baxter with a wonder goal in 25seconds and Ralph Brand

I watch a lot (and donate a few bob each week To the bookie) on the English championship, great league. Very competitive. I live in Yorkshire and a few local teams around

The answer on the number of loans is 5. A quick browse pulls up this : https://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthescottishprofessionalfootballleagueasat24july201_1502440056.pdf Page 123, Regulation 61 states : "Subject to these Regulations, the maximum permitted number of Players permitted to become Scottish FA Registered to a Club on the basis of Standard Temporary Transfers and Emergency Temporary Transfers combined during the period from 1st July in any calendar year to 30th June (inclusive) in the following calendar year is five (emphasis added by craig)." There are a bunch of other regulations on pages 122 and 123 but they related to loans between Scottish teams, which don't affect us given all our loans are "foreign" loans.

Yes I do, have done for almost 30 years considering when I was going to West Ham games they were a second tier team. Its without doubt the most competitive league in the world. I think it should become a Premier League 2, it may eventually with the size of some of the clubs there. Id rather be watching Leeds v Aston Villa in this league than Bournemouth v Swansea in the Premier.

Quite. Although that would be the sparsely populated parts.

The Arsenal players shouldn't be allowed baths or showers after games and made to walk home dirty for their awful performances.

I've subscribed to the H&H patreon and one of the things that David has said repeatedly is that one of the aims is to support the rangers community to produce more content by bears and for bears. He has also said he's happy to offer advice and support to those who want to give it a go.

I would love to see Naismith scoring the winning goal against Lennon.

Surely Frankie will pay you at least minimum wage (and exes) to plough your way through the local, national, and international press?

Welcome to the forum.

The profile of players signed and the deals themselves have been good, so I consider that a success from the DoF's perspective. Ultimately, though, it does come down to how they perform of the pitch that will determine whether it is truly successful.

What's the difference between this transfer window and the last few windows? Are we seeing the benefits of a DoF and being able to focus more time on identifying and working deals for better players ... or should we wait for results on the park before judging it a success?

Nice rewrite

i think that Giggs will do well away from home; as long as it's not too far away from home.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Windass leave but we have to ensure a decent amount for him. PS: Please remember to post links to all sourced content.

Morelos and Cummings rocking up to Auchenhowie like...

Possibly. There was an article about him not going anywhere, but I don't know about the veracity of it, though. I'd like to keep Alves; I thing he's been a solid player for us.

Well, thank f*** the Naismith debacle is over. Time will will now tell if it was a missed opportunity or not.

Welcome to the forum mate!

Cheers John I will add your name to the list. As I said this is still in a research and information gathering stage. One thing we have put upon ourselves is that it must be a quality product.

Evening Bears. Just introducing myself before the team returns from the winter break. Forum is looking crispy btw, well done on the conversion.

Whatever it is, it's full of arseholes.

Sacramental, I believe.....

so...how much does Boyd think Jones is worth??? Hes playing for a team that is fighting to get into the top 6 in the Scottish league. He's really only played for Killie (1 app for Middlesbourgh, 11 apps for Hartlepool (loan) & 1 app for Cambridge Utd (loan)) Scored a grand total of 6 goals Had 1 app for N. Ireland (as a sub) To me going in around the £300k mark is rather generous. I can't see anyone paying over £500k.

It's true that nothing beats "Hullo Hullo" being belted out by 40k fans. What is also true is that football authorities at home & abroad believe it to be unacceptable to sing. That being the case, why not just change the words - remove the parts that the authorities deem to be offensive. If nothing "offensive" is being sung, folk can try & complain, but ultimately there is nothing to complain about..... Remove any religious connotations & make it about The Club....

Jesus, 'rhetards', 'mongos'? I suppose that makes us look wonderful in comparison.