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andy steel

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Everything posted by andy steel

  1. andy steel
    But take the Spence issue as the latest example: twat has yet another infantile dig, 400 Bears finally snap and complain. He gets skelpit cheeks, media report it as BBC apology to Rangers fans, and what happens: twitter abuse (allegedly, I know) and one dumpling gives him abuse in front of his missus. We had him! We absolutely had him and his crappy BBC and we let them off, not by some mysterious alchemy which only the BBC have access to, but because some of our fans acted like tits! How do we stop them? By doing what happened with Spence, right up until it went over the score into a scenario where he could paint himself as the victim. Having grown up with journalists who positively revelled in abuse from fans, this new, sensitive hack persona is a bit hard to swallow, but there we are, if that's what we're up against then that's how we fight it.
  2. andy steel
    Much of that I agree with. Nevertheless, in order to fight back successfully you need a solid position. I think we are inches away from such a position - among the support as a whole only 'Super Rangers', containing one word, remains - and it is only very rarely, like at Berwick last year, that some fans let the club down and make a defence that bit more difficult. There's little point pretending there was no fault - some of the songs had to go. We were warned over and over again to do it ourselves and when we didn't, the law was used. We can bitch about it all we like, but we had ample chance to deal with this issue and we did not do so. No use, then, crying when the grown ups skelp our arses. Once that solid position is reached, why would we give any ground? Why would we take any shit from anyone, just because they are stupid haters unable to see past their Pacific Quay issue microphones? If they don't like aspects of someone's perfectly legitimate identity, expressed within the law, that's their tough fucking luck and it would be the greatest of pleasures to tell them so. We get ourselves right, then we attack those who hate us, that's how I see it, not we give in, then we give in some more, then we give in some more.
  3. andy steel
    When I was younger the YCV was a flute band, the Young Calvary Volunteers. Though why they'd need a rifle or, for that matter, a pistol when tootling the flute remains unclear. I had forgotten that one, to be honest. As I say, I dial it out, mostly. But to expect enemies like Spiers to do the same...
  4. andy steel
    I do bang on about this a lot and I'm sure many people are sick of it. But I'll give you one tune from Saturday, King Billy's on the Wall. I'd never even heard of this until the last couple of seasons and I assume its an import from Northern Ireland, given the context. It's a perfect example of going the wrong way, though, because its completely exclusionary. As signals go it is a terrible one. As for the politics, I dial it out. As you say, they're mostly weans anyway and I'm well aware of being in the minority when it comes to Rangers & politics. Haven't heard any terrorist songs, I'm glad to say.
  5. andy steel
    Combination of factors, I think. The decline of the fanbase across the whole game to the bedrock of nutters Access of said nutters to a mainstream media desperate to avoid dying off Traditional loathing of our success and subsequent arrogance, for which I don't apologise Societal change which refuses to accept 90 minute bigotry any more It's the last which does us the most damage. I know that bigotry in society is a tiny issue for most folk, and that actual religion plays little or no role in it, but the perception of us through the songbook is awful (although it was certainly getting better). I know that it is weird that Rangers and only Rangers are ever highlighted for transgressing society's ever shifting boundaries, and that many doing the hounding are as guilty themselves, either now or in the past. It's also the one issue we can change easiest and quickest and leave our enemies little ammo with which to attack us. As long as we maintain that the negative coverage we get is because of tims with typewriters it will continue. Sure that covers some of it, but society has moved on and some of us haven't. Result, negative coverage.
  6. andy steel
    There's some fairly major leaping to conclusions going on here, the biggest of which is that Ian Black was just daft, silly, a typical dumb footballer. In that interview he avoided answering the question about betting against his own team to win by repeating a line he's plainly been fed by some PR person, I committed the crime & will now serve my sentence. Forgive me for not swallowing that one whole, because frankly it is as big as a whale. The refusal to answer the only question that matters - wtf were you doing not backing The Rangers to win 100% - is suspicious and can't be swept away with the cover all excuse that Ian Black is a tit. In that case, Scottish football, which has more tits than Springwatch, might as well just do away with rules altogether. Unless and until he comes out with a good reason for that action, a cloud remains over him. Other aspects, too, of this tale don't add up: we are told it was a bet which somehow, without his brain becoming involved, managed to be placed. Despite his whole adult life, it seems, containing regular punts on this and that (170 odd bets over 6 years or whatever it is), the main bet he's placed - one of the only three which are worth commenting on imo - slipped past the feeble cabbage that is Ian Black's bonce and just somehow got on his line. East Stirling to get a draw against us is not the sort of box many would tick. Consider this set up. The odds would be good. The circumstances (league won, a few dodgy results in the bank already) would mean altho surprising, it would not have been an unbelievable result. The player was in a position to try to affect the result. Given his form of last year, he could have scored a hat trick of own goals without arousing much suspicion. There's far too many grey areas in this fantasy to just say, ach well, daft boy. All the suspicion in the world could easily be wrong, but it needs Ian Black to explain why. The more he avoids doing so, the more I think he was at it and got caught. I've nothing against betting but this is beyond gambling or morality - I need to be convinced Black is not a rat. Oh, and btw, he says the fans are backing him. Well, this one certainly isn't. Not yet.
  7. andy steel
    Anyway, the title of the Record piece is a bit off, since the investors will have a big say in things as well. The board being re-elected as it stands can hardly be taken as a ringing endorsement by the fans, although no doubt it will be seen that way, just as a couple of hundred people clapping Whyte down Edmiston Drive is now read as all 40,000 of us singing 'Hosanna to the King of Israel' as he took his seat in the directors' box. Does anyone know the split between fan shareholders and City shareholders?
  8. andy steel
    I have to say I disagree with your opinion on this one. I know the main thing they would do differently - they would be hiring professionals with irreproachable credentials to ensure the club is run soundly and legally. It's a sad reflection of the present boardroom that such basics could be considered a massive improvement, but they would be. And that, at the moment, is more than enough for me to give my support to them. I can't see why, given the state of the place, you'd really need any more than that to get on board.
  9. andy steel
    I spent the whole game nudging my son & saying 'no very impressed with Foster at right back'.
  10. andy steel
    Fabulous post by 54&C. Our reaction to so many incidents has been clumsy and ill advised, like some freshly hatched Frankenstein's monster stumbling through the woods. I know we had to get political in response to Timothy's 30 year campaign on the same lines but as yet it has been completely counter productive. We let the heart rule the head far, far too often and when there are calls for a cold, clear eyed view of a situation the cry of handwringer peals out from all around. Taking stock of the overall picture and making your moves accordingly doesn't seem to me to be anything other than common sense, but it's a common sense I would ally to an absolutely ruthless determination to get us back to the top and to destroy those who took a hand in trying to destroy us.
  11. andy steel
    cough> bosses <cough
  12. andy steel
    Ideally we could all agree with AMMS. But it gets mighty hard to keep one's social principles when it is us, us and only ever us whose fans are highlighted in this manner when, as a glance at twitter/facebook will show you, there's not a club in the UK doesn't have internet loons attached to it.
  13. andy steel
    I contacted the Yorkshire Fans' Forum a while back to see how they rated Regan. To a man they praised his openness and approachability. YCCC were a shambles for decades before & after Regan and their crappy results and mad admin decisions until recently can't be laid at Regan's door. I'd love it if they hated him and thought he was useless, but that facts are that they didn't.
  14. andy steel
    Fair point, but Lee playing every week is not in the best long term interests of the team, and, given some of the away pitches we play on, I don't think it will help Lee play longer either.
  15. andy steel
    Ah, I didn't know that was our perception. Still, it's a free world & if we offer a deal he's entitled to say no thanks.
  16. andy steel
    Never heard of paragraphs? Pish, anyway.
  17. andy steel
    I know we have 'agree' & 'thanks' to avoid this sort of thing, but Super Ally's comments in the this thread have been so spot on that they deserve higher praise than the 'agree' button. Let's not forget McAusland is fairly certainly a CB shoe-horned in at RB, as well.
  18. andy steel
    I think (I hope, anyway) that this season we will see a more judicial use of McCulloch, because flogging him through another season will only see his career end a season sooner than it needs to. Now that there are a few options, there's no reason at all why Lee couldn't be rested from time to time. Moshni & Faure will do me OK, although I think there are a few bombscares in there between them; while Daly & Little is so obviously the best front pairing available it is almost perverse to go with anything else. Clark is young and will have to wait his turn. This season ought to be his for many last half-hours, with the team comfortably ahead. How many Rangers strikers would have loved the luxury of bedding into the side with that level of pressure. It's a golden chance for Clark & I hope he takes it.
  19. andy steel
    Frankie's frustration comes across loud and clear in that article and who among us could take issue with a desire to be kept in the loop, to see the figures, to understand the plans for the future? There are problems with that, though. Most importantly is the financial position at the club - until it is known, in fine detail, anyone who presents a plan for the future is essentially whistling in the wind. How long would it take the same people who want to know Paul Murray's fine tuned plans to turn on him with venom should these prove unworkable once the books are open? I think the McColl-Murray group's reticence on this issue is both understandable and professional. Maybe they could make it more clear what the reasons for it are, but the stance itself makes sense to me. Further, while we fans want to be involved, the last time McColl involved the fans someone blabbed and he withdrew. Once bitten, etc. Plus, none of us really trust the various fan groups, so why should they? A broad account of what they hope to achieve, preferably a few days before the AGM to prevent the usual bullshit rebuttals we have become used to from what masquerades as 'our board', ought to be enough for most to make up their minds.
  20. andy steel
    To stay fit?
  21. andy steel
    Possibly the other teams interested are playing at a higher level, who knows?
  22. andy steel
    I know, poor spelling does my nut in as well.
  23. andy steel
    I think the piece is kind of qualifying the people involved in the complaints from the fanbase as a whole, explaining why some have protested to the BBC. Most important line in there is the 'BBC apologised' one, which the Beeb are trying to deny but which has become the accepted media version. We should have taken victory that and left it there, with a separate line of attack on the Pastor Niemoller comment which is so distasteful as to be scarcely believable.
  24. andy steel
    Rose tinted memories there, surely. Mitchell wasn't the worst but he was no Gary Stevens, that's for sure, and was making quite a few mistakes at 4th division level. He's miles away from being ready for the first team even at 3rd level imo and this move is a great chance to get game time out the spotlight, improve decision making (his biggest weakness atm) and come back the better for it. Naismith apparently has as much brain as ability.
  25. andy steel
    I still think I'm that man for that job. Articulate and astute, I unite the fanbase as well, in that everyone thinks I'm a handwringer. We'll never unite behind someone we all like, so why not someone we can't stand? #Steel2014
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