26th of foot

During Whyte's take-over of the club, a bon mott of information revealed he owned three homes. His castle in Aberdeenshire, a flat in Monaco, and a villa in Costa Rica! I was non-plussed at the abode in central America until I found out Costa Rica has NO extradition treaty with the UK. As soon as Strathclyde's finest board a plane to Monaco to have a tete-a-tete with wee Craigy, the diminutive one will be winging it to snake central in Costa Rica.

McConville's proposed appearance on tonight's Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland is clear evidence that the sensitivities of Rangers supporters do NOT count at Pacific Quay. Cosgrove will be Chairing an hour long discussion, and I am positive he has been party to the decision that has seen an invitation extended to McConville; however, ultimately it is the show's Producer that makes the decision on contributors. We should attempt to find out the name of the Producer.

Foresight and penetrative thought. Rangers PR should slavishly adhere to the above. The usual suspects had been rumbling with increasing excitement over an Asian finance firm possibly issuing a writ against our club. Phil McNumerousnames, McConville, and Thomson were ruminating and cranking the hate-wheel. The Daily Record's triumvirate is Alan Rennie, Austin Barret, and Kevin Mansi; all share the first three names' mindset. If our club's PR had run interference on this a week past, then they would NOT be reacting(again) to it today and over the coming months.

Appreciate the point being made mate but I'd rather not have Mr Leckie taking the huff about this post... EDITED BY Frankie

I do not want to click on the link, is the piece by Bill Leckie?

These last three seasons has seen Dundee United in the UEFA dock. There has been fighting both inside and outside Tannadice and the Arabs have been fined and warned as to future behaviour. At the beginning of this season, elements of United's corporate support climbed up on to the deck above and proceeded to swap punches with the away support. It is this aspect that provides most concern. The 200 supporters in the away end had better be well protected by both stewards and police; otherwise Dundee United could find themselves back in the dock.

I thought I had heard the name, Kevin Mansi before and a quick check of retained pieces confirmed. A couple of seasons past, ra Sellik visited Tynecastle and those jolly craicsters in the Roseburn stand behaved in their established manner. During the match, an incident saw the green'n'grey hordes shower the pitch with coins. A Hearts ballboy was his on the head and collapsed. The coins continued to cascade, even as he was receiving treatment. The lad returned home after the game and collapsed again, he was rushed to hospital. He was admitted and eventually diagnosed with a brain injury, the direct result of being struck by coins. The story was sourced and released the following evening. The Daily Record building was it's usual hive of activity but the then Editor, Bruce Waddell was off and out of office. Responsibility for front page decisions and Editorial fell to both the News Editor, Kevin Mansi and Head of News, Tom Hamilton. Both were conduits for Paul McBride QC continual on-message(source close to the Celtic Board) outpourings. The newsfloor were holding the front page, a 14 year old suffering a brain injury was definitely front page, wasn't it? Kevin Mansi decided the story was worthy of two paragraphs on PAGE 23, the word Celtic did not appear on the page. At this moment at the Daily Record/Sunday Mail, the Editor is Allan Rennie, the News Editor is Kevin Mansi, the Sports Editor is Austin Barrett, and Peter Lawwell recently signed a commercial agreement on behalf of ra Sellik and both titles. Oh, and the usual suspects continue to refer to both as the, 'Daily Ranger' and the 'Sunday Mason'.

Back in the mid-seventies, the young Convenor of Dundee City Council was George Galloway. The local Polis received information that two Labour Party social clubs in the Whitfield area were being utilised to launder monies from Palestine into specific personal accounts. The Polis decided to raid said social clubs on the same morning to sieze the accounts. As they arrived, both clubs were on fire and of course the accounts were destroyed. Perhaps, the current MP, Jim McGovern might want to provide closure on the issue?

As a then serving soldier, I participated in over a dozen Remembrance Sundays. They were simple and solemn. Reflection was concentrated into a period of just over two minutes. A piper would sound the lament, 'Flowers of the Forest', a bugle played the last post, and a minutes silence ensued. We will remember them. The last Ibrox Remembrance had an element of circus, booming howitzers and abseilers are not needed. We provided an open goal for those who want to portray the Armed Forces/Rangers relationship as triumphalism. Who would have access and considerable leverage to the GOC Scotland? I suspect the shadow Secretary of Defence, Jim Murphy MP. An Armed Forces Day celebration could be organised by the club for a fixture in late Spring, where the solidarity that our support has with those protecting our freedoms can be fully expressed.

There was a most interesting exchange pre-match on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday. Jum Spence was offering his support for the league reconstruction proposals and reinforcing his support on the fact he had a copy of the 19 page paper outlining the case. Jum explained his eyes rolled last week when he heard the current proposal but Stewart Regan convinced him after offering to educate him. It would appear Jum had been educated via the official 19 page paper. Further, Jum explained he had put the paper down in front of his Junior playing son and later asked his opinion? Unsurprisingly, Jum's son was excited by the proposal, "lots of exciting games possible". Jum also backed Tom English's contribution that Rangers had been kept informed throughout the process of preparing the paper ie Rangers had been continually briefed. Jum then further backed English by reiterating that every club was prepared to give up something on behalf of the betterment of the Scottish game; however Rangers were being selfish. At this point, John Robertson at Elgin City's ground interupted and said, "that's interesting that Jim has purloined a copy of the proposal paper, here in Elgin they know nothing about it". Yep, Elgin City, like Cowdenbeath had earlier admitted, had NOT received the proposals, nor any information other than from broadcast sources. It would appear those that need to be educated have been identified by Peter's PR. Jum(and his son), Tom, Stuart, and Graham are in, Rangers, Elgin City, and Cowdenbeath are out. Obviously, there are briefings and there are briefings. Jum was NOT championing the Fans' Revolution yesterday, neither were Tom, Stuart, or Graham. I suspect that bit was omitted from the brifing.

I am sure you are correct. I am a product of my conditioning, I spent a year at Saint-Cyr in the mid 80s where L'ecole Commandant utilised my variant. Of course, he was a mustard obsessed Burgundian determined to invade Germany. The main thing is that Traynor administers a good kicking.

Traynor must pick a target; be it Cosgrove, Spiers, Delahunt, McLaughlin, ...... etc and proceed to give him a relentless kicking. It's a Roman thing of French presentation - 'pour l'attention des autres'.

As a teenager, I managed to attend 6 of the 9 games in our cup winning run. I attended all 4 home games, Bayern away and the final too. My old man made the same 6, plus the away defeat in Lisbon(4-3). The formation differed slightly between home and away games. Against Torino and Bayern away, both 1-1 draws; we played with a sweeper(Dave Smith) behind central defenders Colin Jackson and Derek Johnstone. Jardin and Mathieson were the full backs and a midfield four of Johnston(wide left), Greig and MacDonald(central), and McLean(right). Colin Stein ploughed the lone furrow up front. Particularly in the Bayern game, DJ and Grieg were interchangeable as DJ had been tasked with man-marking Uli Hoeness. In the first two ties against Rennes and Sporting, we played more a attacking formations because of player availability. Ronnie McKinnon played all 4 games, a lythe and agile central defender prepared to get in front of the centre forward. He broke his leg in Lisbon. Wullie Henderson played both games against Sporting, the tie ended 6-6 in aggregate. Graham Fyfe and Alfie Conn appeared in a couple of games. We were geared to go forward and were 4-3-3 to all extents and purposes. The final itself saw a central defence of Smith and Johnstone, with Jardine and Billy wan-fit as fullbacks. The middle four were McLean(right), Conn and Greig(central), and MacDonald(left). Again, there interchanges between Greig and Smith, Dave stepped forward on numerous occasions and head up hit a long pass or interlinked the play. We were 4-4-2.

Ach, Michael is just soothing the fears of his fellow Rangers haters.

Misinformation and disinformation. Leggo's bloggs habitually travel the spectrum between perceptive and barking. We are all capable of making up our own minds, or are we? Why would a website owner utilise Leggo's musings to suggest another website are running interference on attempts to float Rangers? The finger is pointed and the 'threat' is indicated. Of course, the constant need for a 'threat' is necessary, it is a most unifying tactic when running your own interference. As it turns out, the enemy within are both longterm, regular posters on FF. Control and denial whilst whipping the adherents into line. Perhaps one day the 'threat' posed by the 3-4 far smaller Rangers supporters' websites will be quantified?

"hate-filled vaccum" Jim Traynor leaves the Record, his designation remains vacant. Both Waddell and Guidi(the Slug) are on a quest to both establish and continually flash their Rangers-hating credentials. As surely as nature hates a vaccum, both Gordon and Mark know sticking the boot into all things Rangers secures the status as Traynor's successor. Interestingly, it would appear the usual suspects are all singing from the same hymmn sheet again, the RTC Blog has been replaced? Cosgrove, Spence, English, .............. Davie Provo are all making the same points this weekend. The attack does NOT stop, it's just that the angle has changed.

As good as this article is, it appears as an exercise in damage limitation for the Daily Record. Yesterday, the Record trumpeted the story of 67 Rangers players taking legal recourse against the club. Since, the vast majority of those involved have stated they have NO interest in the action being persued by the Scottish PFA. The story was not properly referenced and Jackson has been wheeled out to play good cop. Of course, the Record could go directly to source and speak to Margaret Gribbon, the Scottish PFA lawyer with her hand firmly on the tiller of the action. Further, they could have contacted former MSP Rosie Kane, as she sits beside Margaret in the North Stand at ra Stydome. However, in lieu of Jim Traynor's new employment and the Record's deal to print both ra Sellik View and Sellik programme; they deliberately took the path of least resistance.

Nuremberg Hugh has been banned from entering both ra Stydome and Lennoxtown for ten weeks due to a pre-season friendly match report highlighting a perceived lethargy in his beloved green'n'grey hoops. Instead of riling and raging against his situation, he blames his angst on all things Rangers. Hyperbole is no stranger to Hugh. He thought four flags; one Saltire, one Union, and two with the club crest being waved as several film theme tunes were played over the stadium PA, was akin to a Nuremberg Rally. Yep, the spirit of Nazi central where the Laws that saw 6.5million Jews marched into the final solution was ever- present at Ibrox.

I think it's about access to the debate. This is a road well travelled by the Herald 10-12 years past. There was a period of almost 4 years when the Herald's triumvirite of Douglas-Home, McKenna, and McAlpine deliberately denied Rangers supporters access to the debate. Numerous subjective columns reference Rangers appeared across the paper, front page to last. Despite many, including myself penning contributions to the debate, we were denied access to the correspondence pages. This culminated in Sanjeev Kholi's two page column on changing his allegience from Rangers to ra Sellik. He claimed this occurred whilst standing in the Rangers end at ra Piggery on Mark Walters debut on 2nd January 1988. Apparently he was discusted at his fellow Rangers supporters dressed in monkey suits and pelting Walters with bananas! Surely a false memory? The Editor of the supplement was Charleen Sweeney, she and McKenna and McAlpine protected Kholi in the correspondence pages. They printed one single paragraph letter from a Bear claiming Kholi was mistaken. However, they printed several letters from Yahoos(including both Kholi's brothers) congratulating him on his courage and honesty. BBC Scotland has travelled the same road. Go through all the regular contributors/talking heads on their football output and name the Rangers supporter? Aberdeen is well represented ; Gordon, Grant, Sutherland, Mann, Wullie Miller, and Liam McLeod. Sellik have Kheredine, Chris McLaughlin, John Barnes, Murdo McLeod, Tom English, Tony Higgins, Pat Nevin, Des McKeown, and David Begg. Dundee United have Spence, Kenny McIntyre, Gary Robertson. Hearts have Paul Mitchell, Preston, John Robertson, and Hibs have Craig Paterson. Rob McLean supports Ross County, Cowan is a 'Well fan, Cosgrove is a Saintee, Scott Davie a Raith Rovers supporter. Chic Young strongly claims adherence to St Mirren, and Billy Dodds has publically declared he no longer considers himself a Rangers supporter. That leaves Derek Ferguson as the TOKEN. Look at that list, 30 names and one Rangers supporter mostly contributing from lower division games. Like the Herald it is deliberate in denying Rangers supporters access to the debate. Continually, they claim Rangers are the establishment team; however we are way under represented and if you think the front of the house representation is woeful, you should see the list of Producers and Editors.

I believe any appeal must be based on a point of law. Now, the usual suspects rushed to tell us that the 2-1 majority verdict contained most information from Dr Heidi Poon's contribution. She voted against Rangers and her reasoning was based on her accounting expertise. The other two that voted in our favour are both legal experts. Does an Accountant trump two Lawyers? Maybe HMRC are basing their appeal on renewed HATRED?

Well, they usually provide us with the entire main stand and the former(now seated) terracing behind the goals. Let's say 6,000 tickets at £25 a pop? If my arithmetic is correct, that's £150,000. Of course, there are added costs in extra stewarding, policing, catering staff, ......... etc. Further, the gate is split somewhere around 55%-45% in the home club's favour. Roughly, I suspect the ticket revenue must be worth £75-£80grand to Dundee Hibs. Maybe, if we starve them of this income, they will have to off-load Russell/Daly in the January window. Our defence needs all the help it can get.

Charles Green and our Board of Directors should show the required leadership by refusing to attend the game. On a matter of principle, I would rather we cede the tie than anyone with the remotest support for our club gave a single penny to those cnuts.

He left the Herald for the Express, lasted 4 weeks before accepting the gig as the Record's Chief Sports Writer/Sports Editor. Whilst at the Herald, Souness banned him for 2-3 weeks and catapulted Traynor from the back page to the front page. His writing at the Herald was exceptional. I believe his resignation from the Record is a matter of principle. The current Editor is Allan Rennie, he is a Yahoo and a Lawwell Lamb to boot. Apparently, the Record had the full story on Stokes at the IRA benefit, with pictures. It was cleared for the front page until Rennie intervened and demanded a front page of a shady potential investor in Rangers. The Record was scooped by an Irish newspaper on Stokes. Further, Keevins has been banned from ra Stydome and Lennoxtown for 10 weeks and Rennie refuses to rile and rage against it. He was banned for a pre-season match report that upset Lawwell. Traynor cannot believe Rennie continues to allow a situation that sees a journo unable to ply his trade. The long shadow of 'Thugs and Thieves' continues to cast.

I thought Pat Nevin would have been at Easter Road today?

How appropriate, Ian Small contributes to 'Fans with Laptops'. Ian is entirely comfortable as a 'Lawwell Lamb'.