26th of foot

I remember attending a St Andrew's Dinner night at Stirling Castle back in the day. Hamish was the Food member for the Argyll's Mess and the menu included one glass of whisky as an accompaniment to the haggis. The Argyll's poured the contents of the glass on top of the great Chieftain o' the pudding-race. The cheese board was a culinary triumph, all cheeses were from Islay. The wheel of cheddar was excellent. The accompaniment was a decanter of vintage Port. I preferred Atholl Brose but was prepared to slum it. Poor Hamish was on strict Doctor's orders to consume little as he was in the early stages of recovery from Tape Worm extraction. I do not think Islay cheese is a thing these days, I believe the Creamery closed?

I believe there is an etiquette to whisky accompaniment. Forty years past as Wines member of our Mess, I had to sit through a chap administering a pipette of water to various blends and malts. As a confirmed Gin and Tonic chap, the whole episode left me non-plussed. Anyways, at the end of the chore he inquired as to the favoured accompaniment to whisky within the Mess? I told him the preferred option was a soupcon of pineapple Creamola foam.

Careful Hate. Last Sunday Noon on Radio PQ CSC and, "Greeeeeeetings ...... " precludes another Rangers hatefest. We are not told why Tam the Token is missing, RAB Cosgrove introduces Susie McCabe and Paddy Duffy as participants in the fun. We endure fifteen minutes of the geography of Ireland. Paddy is born'n'bred in Northern Ireland but is a self confessed Borderhopper, has an Irish passport but lives in Glasgow. He works in both radio and TV pre-production as a Writer. He is a big pub quizzer thus we receive the tour of the Emerald Isle. The merits of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and, Connaught are given in Irish pub quizzing; cue RAB and his County Mayo connections of the family farm mortgage being called in by Twinnings Tea two hundred years past. RAB is staunch, he surpasses those Irish emigrants that accepted charity in the wake of the great famine, they are known as, 'Souptakers'. He refuses to have Twinnings Tea in the house he is NOT a, 'Teataker'. Last month in a discussion on Hearts and Hibs he was asked if he had been born in Edinburgh, who would he support? Immediately he replied, "Ah no doubt about it, Hibs. Their heritage, the socialism and, James Connolly". I wonder what James would make of RAB's international property portfolio, properties here, in Sri Lanka and, flats in London? Susie arrives and the next quarter of an hour is all about Rangers and our defeat by Aberdeen. She listened to the match on Radio PQ and watched the highlights. She does not like Beale and is awarded an unfettered several minutes to articulate her delight whilst continually punctuating the word, "Beale". RAB and Paddy are thirty "Beale" a day men too. Interestingly, later on whilst discussing ra Sellik's management we are treated to dozens of,"Brendans, Ange and, Neils". Listening to BBC Radio PQ, you will never discover who rowed the boat ashore? Susie is intent upon containing her glee, remember it is just, "cheeky rivalry"; she interludes with regular, "ah hiv tae live in this city" and, "that'll appear on a website" but, she is struggling. RAB offers he never liked Beale's accent and, Susie begins then strangles her cockney impression. Paddy concludes, "the situation is very funny". I hope those of us not intent upon colonising the country still hold the view that any person losing their job and immediate future is not a laughing matter? We move on to favoured PQ Gang Huts, the Admiral Bar has been joined by the Dennistoun Indian, the Nakodar Grill. Susie cackles again, "Sunday night is the night, all the crowds in, Des McLean too". RAB tells of Des McLean's special Korma and he will be enjoying a celebratory one that evening. You realise why Tam the Token is not on, they do not want his regular appeals, "we want to hear from Rangers supporters" and, "we need a bit of balance". The Tandoori oven is on full blast and the roast of all things Rangers must go unchallenged. Both RAB and Susie have a ton of previous, regular users of the 'H' term. On Off the Ball, RAB regularly introduced Rangers supporter, Chris Connor as, "the H-u-n with a heart" whilst being arrested by the British Transport Police at Queen Street Station for bellowing, "can you spot a handsome H-u-n"? Susie's social media is full of the term and has had to apologise on a number of occasions. She accused Murdo Fraser MSP of, "celebrating the seventeenth century" because he traveled to Seville to support Rangers in the Europa League Cup final. She was advised to consult her Solicitor but chose to apologise. Saying sorry is the easiest word because it allows you to move across the spectrum to the position of CAREFUL HATE. Still, last night BBC Radio PQ were strict adherents to Peter's directive. Three talking heads furra Sellik, Pat Bonner is proper Irish. Aiden Mcgeady has 78 caps for the Republic of Ireland because one grandparent, his maternal grandmother was born in Donegal but left the county aged two. James McFadden is Scots but supports Serllik and he was only there because the other proper Irishman, Tom English remains banned from Sellik Park. As yet, Chris, Connie, Kheredine, Martin, ............. etc have not met with all the good friends of the show, Kevin, Gerry, Susie, Angela, ........ etc in the Admiral or the Nakodar to discuss this incovenient fact. I wonder what will occur first the meet up or ra Sellik securing a Champions League group victory?

I wish him and his family all the best for the future. Given Michael's gregarious, garrulous and loquacious nature, I suspect a future in second hand car sales would be a perfect fit?

We know the script, Brendan was parroting it at the weekend last, 'we never stop, we go right to the end'. Motherwell fans suffered a 98th minute defeat on Saturday and, they must have enjoyed the schadenfreude of last evening where the Italian fascists defeated the Irish-Palestinian fascists with a 96th minute.

We are subject to both Peter Decisions and Peter Appointments. The Cinch deal was negotiated by the Peter Appointments pair, Neil Doncaster and Murdoch MacLennan. It is only a month since both apologised to both Rangers and former Rangers Chairman, Dougie Park. Rangers had informed the pair that Rangers had an agreement in place with Parks which could not be superseded by the SPFL deal with Cinch. Peter told the pair to fcuk Rangers and carry on. It has worked out well, apologies issued and now Cinch have cancelled the deal two years early. What do the Chairs of other SPFL clubs say? Of course, Peter will not allow them to say.

The one thing said by former Chair of Dundee United, Eddie Thompson I agreed with was, "you can change your wife, house or, car; but you cannot change your football team". Now, the above line does not stand up to the merest of scrutiny on the departed Eddie. He was born and bred in Clydebank and did not swap the banks of the Clyde for the Tay until after his twenty-first birthday. Eddie supported some team before he got to Dundee. However, the line holds true for the vast majority of us Those stating they are giving up their season tickets, going to watch the Juniors or, spending their Saturday afternoons indulging in campanology are being disingenuous. When Rangers are playing, that very fact trumps every other option. You do NOT have a choice, it is your duty. If the odious Tom Boyd is appointed our new Manager, I will continue to attend despite his appointment.

Dick Advocaat had a squad of marvels, wonderful players such as Tugay, Reyna, Amato, .................. etc could not secure a starting berth. Martin O'Neill arrived and played a form of direct football, ball wide and launch it to Sutton - Hartson with Larsson feeding off. We had games where we played the entire game against MON's Sellik with the vast majority of the possession confined to playing in front of them. Advocaat gave up and the Club appointed Alex McLeish. I remember being sceptical, big Eck had been player-manager at Motherwell and won the Championship with Hibs. The former Dandy won five out of the next six domestic trophies. His first game was at ra Stydome and the perceived wisdom was if Dick could not get a tune out of the assembled stars, how would Eck manage it? He countered MON by playing one(Lovenkrands) up front and the back four were instructed to hit him early and often. We were one up at half time, the Dane notched but, he should have had a first forty-five hat-trick. He roasted Tom Boyd and I believe that was the Rangers haters last game for the green'n'grey horrors? The point I am driving is does any Gersnetters think Stuart Kettlewell deserves an interview? Ross County and Motherwell, seems to be a thinker and, a good Bluenose too. Could he take the current crop of massive under-achievers and get them playing successfully? Could the club tempt him away from the mighty claret and amber?

If Maradona was blessed with the hand of God, then Gallardo has been blessed by the hand of cod(piece).

He went through the entire league season undefeated until the last game of the season at Ibrox against Aberdeen, we lost 2-3. Before us, Davie White took Clyde to third in the league and, after us won the League Cup with Dundee.

I remember 1967 after Scot Symon was dismissed, the cry was, 'Rangers need a tracksuit manager'. Maybe today, we need a balaclava manager? Neil Lennon remains available, just saying.

We must admire the Firing Squad, they were assembled and waiting. Ready, aim, ................ Flame, heat and, light ensues. Let us hope the light extends to embrace the entire Rangers support? Steven Davis is our twelfth Manager in 12 years. The support must attempt to emulate the patience exhibited by the Firing Squad?

The current situation reminds me of two previous periods in our club's history. I am referring to the emotions being exhibited by the majority of the attending support. Patience is a virtue rarely on show at Ibrox. The atmosphere is feral. The first period was the end of Davie White's tenure in 1968. We had drawn 1-1 in Poland against Gornik and expectations were high for the Ibrox return. It got better after Jim Baxter notched us ahead after several minutes in front of a huge crowd. Gornik began to play and handed us a football lesson. The game finished 1-3. A reported 12,000 fans stood in Edmiston Drive demanding White be sacked. He was. The second period was the end of John Greig's time as Gaffer. After five seasons, the law of diminishing returns was firmly established. Ham and egg was a true club legend and I witnessed several incidents of grown men swapping both words and punches in the stands over should he stay or should he go. The Board eventually decided upon the latter and reappointed Jock Wallace. I see problems in removing Beale. The Board will not want to admit a mistake and will hide behind the arithmetic. The cost of paying off the current Manager and his large staff plus compensation for the preferred target and his staff. Of course, there is the argument we cannot afford not to terminate his contract. We are 18 matches into this season including friendlies and I do not see a pattern of play. Our football is tedious and ponderous. In the last dozen years, we have had eleven Managers, six permanent and five temporary. It will be most difficult to attract the right man because there is largely no sense of continuity. The job has become a poison chalice. The one person awarded most time was Gerrard and he delivered the title. The support invested in the Liverpudlian because they saw obvious progress both domestically and in Europe. This should be a concurrent exercise, the club might find a Manager but the support must find patience.

The anticipation for a Rangers against the Mutton Molesters only begins when Chick Young takes to Radio PQ to inform us that Rangers have made a Friday night bid for Eoin Jess.

Rangers 2 Aberdeen 1 FGS : Sima.

They are consistent. Forty years further on and an Argentine Military Junta ordered the invasion of the Falkland Isles. Two and a half thousand British citizens had their democratic lifestyle forcibly removed and were subject to a mixture of house arrest and strict curfews. Even worse, they were compelled to drive on the right hand side of the road. After the conflict where I faced vicious penguins and the odd livid albatross, I returned to find Sellik supporters chanting support for fascist Argentina and lionising, "the Malvinas".

Well, that squares a circle. During Autumn of 1940, Sellik Park was subject of a Government order for temporary closure because of pro-Nazi chanting from the terraces.

Christmas!

Back in the day, serving soldiers wounded during service were issued with a blue tunic and trousers. This allowed the wider public to know they continued to serve whilst recovering from their wounds. I suggest the Club could pay a similar courtesy to the support. Allow Danilo, Matondo, Raskin, Roofe, Cantwell, Lawrence, Yilmaz, ........... etc to wear the above, 'the Treatment Room top'.

Again, within the Highway Code under the guise of, 'Staggered Junction'.

I suspect the inspiration is the cover of the Highway Code some forty-odd years past? If you look carefully, you will see the warning triangle for an unmanned railway crossing.

It is midweek, it is Livi', it is live on the telly, it is the weather, it is awful viewing this current Rangers team, it is the majority of the attending support purchasing the Euro package, it is ........................ etc. We are used to 50,000 plus sell outs thus when only 35,000 plus trap, then it appears not so good. Asking a question makes me feel better and, the question is : what was the attendance last evening at Sellik's League Cup quarter-final?

Rangers 2 Livingston 0 FGS : Roofe.

I attended my first Rangers match at Cathkin Park in 1962, Jim Forrest was our centre forward. Jim was prolific, he had a plethora of very good inside forwards, wingers and, half backs supplying him. Mercurial is the best word to describe him, a fluidity that was most difficult to contain. His end at Rangers was most undeserving. In fact if he and his cousin, Alex Willoughby had been retained, we would have won the European Cup Winners Cup in Nuremberg in 1967. We lost 1-0 to Jock Wallace's Berwick Rangers in the third round of the Scottish Cup at the end of January'67 and the then Chairman, John Lawrence demanded scapegoats. Forrest, Willoughby and, George(the Dandy)McLean were deemed het. They were sold for comparative peppercorn fees to Aberdeen and Dundee. Jim notched 145 goals in 163 games.

Watching the Matondo drama on Sunday, I was reminded of Naismith at Pittodrie 13-14 years past.. Naismith fell with no one around him, was treated, got up and played on for several minutes. He fell again and was removed, later diagnosed as a cruciate tear and, disappeared for nearly a calendar year. Matondo was down twice, received treatment on both occasions before going down again without contact. I suspect there will be a later diagnosis?