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https://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news/ma-category-blog/515-time-to-sink-or-swim Before I look forward to this weekend’s Old Firm top of the table clash at Ibrox, it’s worth taking a quick look back first. Almost six months to the day, we were about to be beaten by Aris Limmasol in Cyprus after sacking Michael Beale a few days previous. The Englishman had gone off the back of a 3-1 home reverse to Aberdeen at Ibrox, his third league defeat of a domestic campaign that was quickly becoming a disaster. Add in the loss to Aris, the season was on the verge of being a write off before October had really begun; especially when we consider almost all of Beale’s summer signings were struggling to impress. Fortunately, an international break allowed the Rangers board a fortnight to appoint a replacement. Various names were linked – some well known by our fans, others less so. However, with only Steven Gerrard able to deliver a single league title across the previous five seasons, the pressure was on to find the right man; someone who could not only bring back success in Scotland but continue our good work in Europe and offer a style of play that could enthuse a fanbase bored of the horseshoe mentality developed by Gio van Bronckhorst and allowed to fester under Beale. Philippe Clement was ultimately given the job and it’s fair to say there was some doubt (or uncertainty at least) about this. The former Belgian international defender had had a decent playing career and had impressed as manager at Genk and Club Brugge before a season at Monaco failed to deliver on some early promise. How would he fare at Rangers? Was he experienced enough? Could he turn us back into winners? Initial signs were good: a run of wins in the league and a League Cup semi-final victory over Hearts at Hampden offered early encouragement for Rangers supporters. However, two draws at the end of November: away to Aberdeen and at home to Aris in the Europa League were blemishes that could easily have caused deeper issues. The good news is Rangers regrouped and went on an excellent run through December, including an away win versus Betis to top our Europa League group and a 1-0 hard-fought win over Aberdeen at Hampden to secure the League Cup for the first time since 2011/12. Unfortunately, just as excitement was building due to Celtic losing two of their December fixtures, a disappointing performance and loss at Parkhead to close out 2023 put us on the back foot again. Could we dig deep again? The reaction from the players and manager was a positive one and although we have lost two games this year, our form has been better than our East end rivals to ensure that only a disgracefully cancelled game away at Dundee last month has arguably cost us the psychological benefit of being top of the table for Celtic’s visit on Sunday. Ahead of that game, all things considered we can say the reign of Clement has been a positive one so far. Not just in terms of results but both in team and individual performances. Yes, there has been the odd blip – the home defeat to Motherwell this time last month was particularly disappointing – but progress has been solid and the manager’s ability to get the best out of a squad often blighted by injury and improve the contribution of players such as Cyriel Dessers, John Lundstram and Dujon Sterling means confidence is rightly high as we enter the business end of 2023/24. But can we beat Celtic? Ultimately that’s the $64,000 question. So far this season, we played them twice and lost twice in two performances that demonstrated a lack of genuine belief; both under Beale and Clement’s leadership. Indeed, despite an impressive win at Ibrox in May 2023, you have to go back two years to April 2022 for our last meaningful victory where we won at Hampden after extra time in a Scottish Cup semi-final. In terms of the SPFL we did win at Ibrox earlier that season but it has now been the best part of three years since we’ve won a league game against them – a record that should embarrass us and goes a long way to delivering Celtic’s own domestic success. With that in mind, whilst Sunday’s contest may not decide the title one way or the other, clearly the outcome will have a major effect on the final period of the season; especially with one further Old Firm game in the league (and a Scottish Cup final tie-up also looks probable). The good news for Philippe Clement is that his preparations for Sunday offer him the best squad platform since he arrived last October. Whilst we still have players injured - Ridvan Yilmaz might make it but Danilo, Cortes and Jack will not – having the likes of Todd Cantwell, Abdallah Sima and Kemar Roofe as options offers us an attacking flexibility we’ve not had since we faced Celtic in December. Yes, ideally, we would liked to have had some more games in the legs of Cantwell and Sima in particular but if we’re entirely honest with ourselves, we go into Sunday’s game with a squad more than capable of winning. Speaking of injuries is now an unhelpful distraction. In fact, Clement has arguably done enough in the eyes of most Rangers fans to demonstrate no matter what happens between now and the end of May he deserves the backing (both of the fans and the money men on the Rangers board) to have another go in 2024/25 but it’s also fair to say his six months in charge now has us in a great position to win the title this year. Speaking of the supporters, one of the cleverest aspects of Clement’s time at the club so far is him directly engaging the fans. By speaking of a synergy between the support and the players we have seen a patience (at Ibrox especially) that had been missing in recent years. It’s no coincidence that we’ve scored as many late goals (at the end of both halves) as I can remember this season with players having the supporters onside for longer periods in games. We should not under-estimate our input. Indeed, with no away fans present that relationship could be even more important come Sunday lunch-time. There’s no doubt our support could be that extra factor that proves crucial; more so when we consider how the referee and VAR has influenced games this season with Celtic benefitting from at least two decisions that could have affected the outcome in each match. As with the injury debate though, it’s all about what we do now and that has to be our focus. In that sense, it’s now very much sink or swim for this season as we won’t have a better chance to apply the kind of pressure that has been missing post-55. Our squad is as strong as it has been this campaign, we have home advantage and we have had a week to prepare for a season-defining game. Of course, nothing is certain and there are always other factors you cannot plan for but I firmly believe we should consider ourselves favourites to win on Sunday and I’d like to see our players and fans fully embrace that. In conclusion, yes, we’ve done well to even be in this position but if we want to be genuine winners then we build on that now and take advantage of a six-month improvement that should be the foundation for success this season and beyond. No more excuses, no more disappointment; we can now take charge of our own destiny. Stand tall Rangers – this is our time!

Back in 2012, it was hard watching a Rangers team cast into the lower reaches of Scottish football. There were a few bright lights; Lee Wallace's commitment to the club, Barrie McKay's verve and, Lewis Macleod's determination to prove, 'there can be only one'. I thought Lewis shone brightest, undersold by David Somers for £900,000 and, two appalling knee injuries at Brentford saw the diminishing of what could have been a stellar career. He is only 30 years of age, I wish him every success as Rangers Academy Coach.

John Nelms forks the Dens Park pitch with his tongue. John Nelms is a former US Navy submariner, he spent several years based at the Holy Loch. Continually diving too deep, enduring weeks of breathing each others' farts and, when they open the hatch you find yourself in a midge infested hell hole; it all has an effect. This Bubblehead's particular bubble is helium, have you heard him speak? John keeps his mouth open because he is attempting to equalise head pressure, a fortunate trait that Peter finds most convenient. John is happy to be compliant. According to John he fell in love with ra Sellik whilst moored in Argyll and when he returned to Scotland, fronting Texan millionaire, Tim Keyes investment he was anxious to follow his heart. Dundee were the club he utilised to beat his Yahoo desire. He proposed a Dundee - Sellik league fixture should be played Stateside on St Patrick's day, preferably in Boston. He voted twice by e-mail to secure Sellik's nine-in-a-row and muddied the waters by claiming spam folder happenstance that annoyed Partick Thistle, ICT, Stranraer and, Rangers. He created a scheme allowing Gordon Strachan to have dual roles at both Dundee and ra Sellik. John thinks both Neil Doncaster and Murdoch MacLennan are stand up guys and we can all look forward to the SPL investigation that will blame Sean Batty for getting the weather forecast wrong and fining Rangers because they turned up. Of course, Neil and Murdoch will take the line(s) thrown by Gang Hutter, Kheredine Idessane as the basis for the investigation. John Nelms grasped at his fellow Bhoy's buoys : You and your groundstaff have been here since five this morning forking the pitch? Another thirty minutes and this pitch would be playable? The last fixture was delayed for thirty minutes because Rangers arrived late(Kheredine fail failed to mention the crash on the Tay Bridge). The last fixture saw a further twenty minute delay because of pyro' being ignited within the Rangers support(banged to rights on this one). Kheredine did not confront John Nelms with information garnered from his interview with Philippe Clement : Rangers only found out there was a problem after 09.30 hrs because the club kitman had arrived at Dens to see Nelms and groundstaff forking the pitch. He was told they had called a local Ref' to undertake a 10.15hrs inspection. The game was the only senior professional match in the UK postponed over the weekend. Dens Park has hosted 16 league fixtures this season and four of them suffered postponement due to a waterlogged pitch. I will save the SPL the time and expense. Neil and Murdoch will say exactly what Peter tells them to say, just like John Nelms.

I think they should abandon the game and award us a 0-3 win.

Background New measures to tackle the harm caused by hatred and prejudice come into force today (1 April 2024). The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act will provide greater protection for victims and communities. It introduces new offences for threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred based on prejudice towards characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics. These extra provisions will add to the long-standing stirring up racial hatred offences, which have been in place UK-wide since 1986. The new laws were developed following Lord Bracadale’s Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation which concluded that new specific offences relating to stirring up hatred were needed. The legislation, which was passed by a majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament in 2021, was also subject to extensive consultation and engagement throughout, including with communities affected by hate crime. For your consideration 1. There is no requirement to show 'intent' in a person’s posts for an offence to have been committed. 2. If a post can be shown to be readable in Scotland it becomes actionable in Scotland. 3. Gersnet could be required, on issuance of a warrant, to provide the authorities with a user’s registration details and history of IP usage. 4. Be aware that various commonly used comments are now likely to be actionable. 5. With this in mind ask yourself if you would be prepared to make such comments in front of a police officer in public. Further reading https://www.gov.scot/news/new-hate-crime-laws-come-into-force/ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/14/contents https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-68703684

Ideal situation.... Yilmaz comes back and performs to the end of the season, gets a place in the Turkey team and does well at the Euros, makes us some money and we replace him after the tournament

I agree, he's the only outfield player who I thought tried to put a foot in and win his duels.

A Celtic State of Mind? These last couple of years I have highlighted the growing influence of the podcast, 'A Celtic State of Mind' enjoys within the PQ Gang Hut. It would be worth some Gersnet detective taking the time to source the monies behind this production and it's growing influence. The high production values are heavily influenced by Youtube's, Tiny Desk concerts. The Presenter is Kd Lang lookalike, Paul John Dykes and he has appeared on various BBC Scotland outlets these last few years promoting the establishment club. RAB Cosgrove praises ACSOM, it's approach and professional values. A former contributor, Amy Canavan has been a Gang Hut staffer for three years and finds it difficult to distinguish between presenting for the national broadcaster and lionising her green'n'grey hooped horror heroes. Remember, Beeb Scotland are always telling us, "we support every Scots club in Europe". Amy appeared on, 'the View from the Terrace' last year to tell of her and her family's delight at watching the Europa Cup final penalty shoot out culmination. Their Bonnyrigg home erupted in cheers as the Aaron Ramsey penalty was saved. The regular panelists on the show smiled widely as Amy evoked a warm memory. I believe it is what RAB Cosgrove refers to as, "cheeky rivalry"? Rangers supporters must be the wrong kind of Scots. This week, Amy presented two editions of BBC Scotland's, 'the Scottish Football Podcast'. Even as the wrong kind of Scots, we expect the national broadcaster's podcast to be accurate and objective. Amy's first attempt was on Monday and her guest was the epitome of Plastic Paddydom, Aiden McGeady. The Dens Park postponement was unfortunate but, more importantly ra Sellik were back where they belong on top of the Premiership. Tuesday had Amy talking about VAR blame culture and Scotland's involvement in the Euros. Her guest was Kevin McCluskie, described as a Hungarian football expert. This reminded me of Newsnight a dozen years past when during Rangers financial implosion, Angela Haggerty was introduced as, 'a Financial Expert". Of course, Angela's only qualification is an HND in Journalism from Cardonald College. Kevin McCluskie's expertise in the Magyars emanates from his regular appearances on the Celtic State of Mind. His real reason for appearing was VAR and the blame culture and, it is NOT ra Sellik's fault. No, no and, thrice no; Sellik are the vicTIMs. Amy and Kevin support Sellik speaking out after the ridiculous VAR calls at Tynecastle. The PQ gang Hut Producers set the topics(agendas) and they do not want Amy and Kevin screaming in the wilderness. On Monday and Tuesday, the main topics on A Celtic State of Mind were : Sellik right to speak out and Dermot Desmond and Peter must exert more influence. As License Fee payers, particularly for the wrong kind of Scots it is becoming harder to distinguish between the Youtube podcast and the national broadcaster podcast, "new VAR officials must satisfy the criteria of having been a Rangers season ticket holder or are wanting to become a Rangers season ticket holder". My favourite was, "as Celtic fans we attempt to be as balanced on a subject as we can". This Masonic/Orange conspiracy thing is incredibly inefficient : Sellik have secured 12 titles in 13 seasons, a quadruple Treble, more penalties, least cautions, least red cards, titles awarded mid pandemic, ........ etc. Constantly articulating victimhood by utilising pseudo intellectual rhetoric is the true Sellik state of mind whether, it is on Youtube or the national broadcaster.

Because the Beale ballot was made public and some people are still banging on about it 😉 .

Just read that since 2021 Dundee United have had 1 game postponed due to the weather, Dundee have had 14 games postponed in the same time period. Yip, climate change is a bugger on one side of Tannidice Street. That 200 yards makes a huge difference apparently.

It's starting to feel impossible to keep away from that lot in any area of Scottish life these days. They really have taken over and we are partly to blame.

So many poor performances in the 1st half. People picking out individuals, where it was the collective performance that was so bad / frustrating. I would say only Dessers got pass marks in the opening 45mins. The starting 11 was questionable, as we had no ballance or width, the press was all wrong, mid-field was missing and our wide players were too narrow. For once, our keeper looked suspect and shaky but did pull off a few decent saves. 2nd half was better, especially with Sima, Matondo and Cantwell on, we actually looked a threat. We got ourselves back level, then Sterling and Butland contrived to hand Celtic the lead again. Hat's off to Matondo for his incredible equaliser. All in all a hugely frustrating day, an opportunity to get our noses in front but can't help feel the team selection and then the woeful collective 1st half performance ultimately cost us 3 points today.

It's simply a must win game for us. If we have any aspirations of winning the league and becoming the dominant force in Scottish football, we must start to win / dominate these OF games on a regular basis.

They are pulling out all of the stops here and saving Clancy and Robertson for Parkhead. To have a goal allowed with that lot it would need to be flawless in the build up and execution.

Bugger that. I'm hoping for a one-way procession with Rangers scoring at least every five minutes

It's a poll on a football forum, not a general election.

Good move for Borna Barisic if true. Would be great to see him leave as a treble winner - been a good servant and value for the £1.5-£2M we spent on him.

I would have given the award to Neil Warnock. Thirty-three days of pure joy, facilitating the journey for the Dandies to arrive in the Championship. Neil should be able to sit down, feet up in the Dunoon Rangers supporters club with the award sitting proudly on the bar.

Here is a couple of interesting stats Today was Clements 24th league game and he has secured 59 points. That's exactly the same total that Beale collected in 24 league games (only 3 more than Gio did). If we win our last 6 league games this season, we will win the league, however it'll match our points tally for last season. Just reinforces we haven't improved, Celtic have regressed dramatically.

Ridvan and Davies need moved on. Davies another massive waste of resources. Our recruitment has been criminal.

I said it last week but some of our mainstays are not winners. We need to look at getting rid of Goldson, Tav and Lundstram - they're all past it.

Tav’s corners are garbage. Can the manager not see this?

Utter dross - if only we had signed a striker in January who could defend

I've been a bit disappointed with Butland recently. Possible he is suffering from not making the England squad but he needs to do better if he wants to make that level. He did have a couple of cracking saves yesterday but was dodgy a few times. As for Tav and Goldson, I have never subscribed to the serial losers mantra but yesterday was a different level. They are the 2 guys who should have been leading the charge for the league title and they were woefully inadequate. Time for a change.

Was 100% Tavs fault.

Tom English is quite fair at times but on that occasion he really made himself look like an idiot. McCoist said nothing of the sort - he wasn't specific at all and didn't even mention songs. Right, Rangers - let's get into these disgusting, paedo harbouring, terrorist loving scum!

Rangers 0 Celtic 0 48,000 arrested under the new hate laws

Let's be honest, it doesn't matter who is appointed, there'll be Celtc and Rangers fans moaning about them. All very tiresome.

The Great St Patrick's Day Mystery? It is over a fortnight since the designated day where we get to acknowledge/celebrate the life of a teenage Scot lifted by Irish pirates fifteen hundred years ago. Apparently, he banished snakes from the Emerald Isle and raised 33 folks from the dead. Believed to be the son of a Roman tax collector that travelled the length and breath of Britain, he could probably qualify for three different passports. St Patrick's life is as big a mystery as what occurred in PQ on the 17th March'24. RAB and Tam presented Off the Ball as normal on Saturday the 16th March'24, even told us the next day's guest was Author, Christopher Brookmyer. You may remember the Sunday, Dundee were due to host Rangers in an SPFL Premiership match. The Dark blues Chair, John Nelms had been forking the pitch since five that morning but to no avail, Dens Park was deemed unplayable for the fourth time this season. Off the Ball was scheduled for a three O'Clock start but, was brought forward and aired between two and four O'Clock presented by Ray Bradshaw and Stephen Reside. Where were RAB and Tam? In new, modern Scotland; transparency is most important and the listeners are always told in advance of changes. The ensuing episodes will have numerous references to holidays, illness and, other work commitments. Thirty years of constant hosting has conditioned them on the ongoing importance of securing and promoting their more lucrative side earnings. There has been no explanation as to why both of them performed an Agatha Christie like disappearance. I doubt they were holed up in a Harrogate Spa hotel? Tam has school fees for his daughter thus, if he preferred to take a wedge for hosting/doing the MC for some middle class St Paddy's function, I am sure the listeners will understand. RAB's uber Scots nationalism has a rival, his obsession with Ireland means he does not allow Twinnings Tea in the house. The good friends of the show ie Gerry Braiden, Kevin McKenna, Angela Haggerty, Susie McCabe, ......... etc and, the other ie License Fee payers will understand if RAB wants to cement his place in the new establishment ie a good position at the overflowing trough. Plastic Paddydom demands obedience. Could the mystery have a more simple answer? The following weekend, RAB was flying solo because we were told Tam had man-flu. RAB shared the show with Susie McCabe, Paul English and, Stephen O'Donnell. It is a Sellik State of Mind. This weekend, RAB is off on his Easter break and Tam has sahred presenting with Ray Bradshaw. Lots of man-flu references have been over egging. Could it be that both having been found in breach of standards, the St Patrick's vanishing act is a euphemism for the necessary diversity training? Remember, when the Irish ladies team won at Hampden last year and were caught on film giving it the full IRA karaoke in the national stadium's dressing room? RAB enacted a euphemism, wondering why all the fuss including a full apology from the FAI when he said, "all they did was sing Paddy McGinty's goat". As for the great St Patrick's day mystery, why both were posted missing? Silence is compliance, we should be told.

Performances at this point of the season are "nice to have', it's all about results. Congratulations to Tav on becoming the all-time leading scorer for a defender in British football. Some achievement 👏

It has been an international break, so...

A couple of years past at the Rangers AGM, I thought a chap from Edinburgh asked a good question. He was mid thirties and told as a lad of travelling through to Ibrox on the supporters bus. His old man and other adults in the club bunged him a couple of quid and he entered the Rangers shop, knowing he could purchase a bar of Rangers chocolate and a club keyring. He reminded the Board that dozens of other children did likewise because a fiver got you a couple of items. He ended by stating there was nothing in the shop these days for under fifteen pounds, why? I have a couple of nephews and a niece, I want to give them all an Easter Egg. This morning I went over to Ibrox and was surprised and appalled they no longer stocked Easter Eggs and have no plans to do so in the future. I remember the shop used to stock a selection of Rangers themed eggs, the eggcitement of receiving a Rangers crested mug containing a choccy representation of warmth, shelter and, sustenance. We are playing Hibs at home on Saturday, the club should roll away the stone and resurrect the eggpectation of indulgence. There was an opportunity this week for the club to receive a bit of good publicity. The Orcadian shopkeeper that over ordered several hundred Easter Eggs on the island of Sanday was looking to offload. Bung the RNLI and take the eggs and get Broxi to hand them out pre-match. The receiving kids would have been eggstatic. We used to sing at this time of year : There is a green hill far away Without a city wall Where our dear Lord Was crucified He died to save us alllllllllllllllllllllll together now, the cry was no Easter Eggs. Sort it Rangers.

Aribo cost over a million to sign on agent and sign on fees for the player. Stuart Robertson mentioned this during an interview. The thing people forget with bosman deals is that without a transfer fee the players side are in a good position to negotiate so can ask for higher than normal wages and fees. Sakala is a great example of a player trading model, sign a player for a modest wage and sign on, get a good couple of years out of him then move him on for a few million. Not every good trade has to be a Bassey or Kamara.

We've been playing poorly for weeks and there's no indication we'll improve. The game against them at Ibrox was when we blew it. That was a must win game and we couldn't do it.

Right, I'm ready for an uneventful hammering of the Stags with no fuss whatsoever. Who's with me?

BB's a shitebag and Yilmaz is marginally better. End of debate

Whether or not it was a foul by Lawrence on iwata I think is debatable. He cuts across the front of Lawrence & looking to go down. Beaton has a perfect view of the incident 5yards away & plays on what I would say if the same thing happened to us at Celtic park(Rangers player fouled) & one of the gang of 4 refereeing( Collum, Clancy, Robertson or Walsh) then the goal would stand

Quite a lot of players have received long suspensions due to gambling on games I wonder if any referees have been tempted to tell a friend when he’s going to award a penalty or send a player off .

Today, BBC Scotland accepted the Presenter of their BBC Radio Scotland programme, 'Off the Ball' committed a breach of standards. RAB(Rancid Auld Bigot) Cosgrove made an unacceptable claim about former Rangers skipper, Richard Gough. The Swedish born Scots international was not involved in the show when subjected to the Cosgrove assertion, "ah don't think Richard Gough was against apartheid". A listener complaint was upheld by the broadcaster because the comment gave the impression of being a personal attack on someone who did not have the opportunity of responding and, went beyond what would be considered acceptable in a programme of this kind.

I never liked international breaks. Not least as it whips up threads like this ...

I heard from a very good source a few days ago that if Jack plays another 3 games this season it triggers an automatic one-year extension. I heard PC isnt happy with that so dont expect to see him again unless in an emergency.

The Dundee climate stats compiled over 150 years tell us the city is sunnier(almost 1,500 hours of sunshine per annum). Glasgow has 1250 hours by comparison. Reference rain, Dundee is far drier averaging 8 days of precipitation during the month of March, the dear green place averages 12 days for the same month. Another aspect of Dundee weather is the drying wind/breeze constantly emanating from the silvery Tay. John Nelms gave Kheredine the patter on unexpected overnight millimeters but, it was deliberate interference. The reason he was forking the Dens Park pitch at five in the morning is because he and his Board took a decision NOT to fund the necessary installation of proper pitch drainage. Four postponements in one season because of a waterlogged pitch whereas, one hundred yards DOWN the road, Tannadice has been playable all season. John Nelms and Kheredine Idessane were both standing on the CONNING tower.

At one point during the game Diamonde was the only Rangers player in the midfield surrounded by 2 banks of 4 Benfica players ahead and behind him and he looked, quite rightly, terrified and of course lost the ball. He was isolated as the only man standing on a number of occasions last night and I certainly wouldn't blame him for struggling at times.