26th of foot

The Blue Order turned out strongly and provided considerable noise and colour to the event. They positioned themselves behind the goals(uncovered), strung several banners on the chicken wire, and waved half a dozen flags. The weather was periodically awful, rain and sleet, but they kept position and the songs going. They drew genuine laughter as both teams took the pitch after half time, a dozen or more blue and orange streamers covered the crossbar and six yard box. It took 2-3 minutes for the officials and Accies keeper to clear the debris. The Blue Order are good luck at youth fixtures, the last time I remember them turning out in strength was the '07 youth cup final at Hampden when we beat ra Yahoos 5-0. I believe the next fixture is Dundee United at Lochee, the same turnout from the Blue Order in such enemy territory would be quite a feat. It would certainly have the Lochee locals spluttering.

I attended this game yesterday, only the second time I have seen our impressive youth team this season. The players that have received regular praise are worthy recipients, Danny Wilson, Archie Campbell, Kyle Hutton, Kai Naismith, and Jamie Ness should be able to make a professional living from the game. The lad that impressed me most based on yesterday's action was our right back, Darren Cole. He is tall, athletic, can tackle, strong, good balance, and is a willing supporter of the midfield when the team is going forward. He had a couple of runs that took the team fifty, sixty yards up the pitch, a few step overs exhibited too. Yep, I am endangering the lad's progress by saying he looks 'Huttonesque'. I believe he has just turned 17 and is in his first year. I know it's the usual, stays relatively injury free, continues to develop, remains focused, ................etc. If all the boxes are ticked, we could have a decent prospect on our hands. Interestingly, the Rutherglen Glencairn set up is excellent. A good playing surface, a smart new stadium with plenty of concrete terrace, and enough cover for 300ish. There was pie and bovril refreshment, and a PA system that kept you fully informed on substitutions, names of officials, provided updates on other matches taking place. Considering the stadium is now seperated from the rebuilt Social Club by several hundred yards(due to the M74 extension), it's a well planned effort. The last time I attended a Rangers youth fixture on Glencairn's ground, was the junior club's Centenary celebration in July'96. It was a pre-season match for us against their regular side, we achieved a 1-1 draw. There was an excellent crowd for an evening fixture, squeezed into a ground soon to be under M74 concrete.

In the first dozen league games this season, ra Sellik had SIX BIG decisions going in their favour. Bitter Martin and his ilk were content to peddle the honest mistake/even themselves out line. All the referees and assistants involved had one thing in common, they were all Sellik supporters. Brines, Smith, Conroy, Carrigan, Cryans, Murphy, and Wullie Collum.

It was March/April 2005, at Tynecastle. Linesman Andy Davis adjudged(correctly) that Lee Miller had impeded big Soti at the back stick. The referee, Hugh Dallas had his attention drawn to the incident by said Linesman, and a penalty was awarded. A 2-1 victory was secured. Lee Miller was quoted as saying, "somtimes you get away with such challenges". Bitter Martin was commentating for Radio Snyde that evening, he was frothing with indignation at the award and stated, "Rangers supporters will say these things even themselves out, I am having none of it. This championship is tainted with the stench of cheating". Andy Davis was subjected to threats, his address was published on Yahoo websites, and his wife and children received abuse and threats at the school gates. A couple of seasons ago at Rugby Park, Andy Davis was the Linesman on a marginal decision that saw Rangers score. Jim Jeffries came out after the game and stated, "as soon as I noted today's Linesman, I knew we were up against it". TV pictures proved again that Davis was correct, Jeffries apologised, Bitter Martin NEVER has.

The SPL continue to dig holes for themselves reference ra Sellik. Lawwell will have leaked this, debate in both print and broadcast media, build up momentum that will ensure a conclusion of vicTIMhood, and the usual suspects will make the usual reinforcing statements ie Bitter Martin's infamous, "this championship has been tainted wkith the stench of cheating". It's well rehearsed and everyone knows their part and lines. Next season, Sellik should be away from home on Remembrance Sunday weekend. However, the whole world and its' dug knows ra GFITW cannot be trusted to pay respect. Result, ra Sellik are guaranteed a home game where they can applaud the deaths of hundreds of thousands of men and women who laid down their lives for all our freedoms.

Maybe, If we score first on Saturday ............................. and second. The next four league games are all winable, 12 points must be secured. The 8 game run-in is all about bottle.

It's another verse in the Spiers anthem -------------- 'Fantasy'. Odd phone call from mystery bloke leads to an urgent meeting, and concludes with Spiers happily on his knees, gagging on a surprising tumescence. He will have been indulging in a post-coital hug of Toto as he tapped that pish out.

I would urge every Bear to support this exercise in Remembrance. Garry never missed an oportunity to give the young Colts his every support. He cared about our youth development.

Nope, Spiers appeared firstly in Scotland on Sunday, he informed the readership that he heard Rangers supporters singing, 'Klinsmann's a Klansman'. Apparently, we were so impressed with Jurgen's stance on refusing to participate in his Club's audience with ra pope, that we coined and sang stated homage. Of course, it is a false memory on Spiers part, or you could call it a downright lie. I prefer to refer to Spiers continued obsessions as fantasy. Recently, on Radio Snyde he has been telling whats left of their listenership that everybody knows that Rangers achievements in the 60s and 70s are devalued because they were won with considerable help from officials. Now, DJ sits, listens to this fantasy that discredits everything he won in the game, and says nothing. My favourite Spiers fantasy is his verdict on Fergie during his tenure at the Pars, "Ian Ferguson has all the charm of a child molestor". Inside knowledge on Spiers part, or just another articulation of his hatred?

Once again, it's, 'SuperCaleyGoBallisticSellikAreAttrocious'. All in all, a tremendous weekend. Rangers move top of the SPL, the Youths go top of the Youth league, and the third consecutive youth double is fully on track as ra Sellik youths implode. IO might pick up ra Sellik View in my local supermarket this Wednesday, required reading I am sure. The Masons are in for a rough time, that unquantifiable sinister hand has interfered with the brave Bhoys, again.

Over the years, the Bhoy in Corduroy's obsession with fellow Hacks has been a sequence of passing phases. He obsessed over Hugh Keevins for a few years, utilised his Sporting Diary to boom with pride that Nuremberg Hugh had christened him, "the F****n Baptist". It would be a few short months later, that Graham was demanding the erradication of the word, 'F****n'. Graham felt the vast majority of football supporters could not be trusted with the word. Inadvertently, Graham repayed the Keevins favour, ensuring the soubriquet, 'Nuremberg Hugh' would become commonplace. Once again, Spiers repeated Keevins Press Box outpourings word for word, after a Euro game at Ibrox, the build up over the PA system(three film soundtracks and a Union and Saltire flag being waved) was, "akin to a Nuremberg Rally". The Botanical Truth Fairy's next obsession was Glenn Gibbons of the Scotsman, or 'the Great Gibbo' as Graham preferred. Another BIG, BIG, Sellik man, Gibbons became the subject of Graham's increasingly ornate and flowery prose. Graham was begging the Great Gibbo to do lunch with him, the boozier the better. As we are all aware, Graham extended similar invitations to MON and Neil Lennon(he, of the "rippling muscled thighs") through the auspices of his Sporting Diary. Traynor is an obseesion he has returned to, again and again through the years. Twenty years ago, Traynor held the same designation that Spiers succeeeded to, 'Chief Sports Writer' at the Herald. Traynor regularly went from back page headline to front page with his regular spats with Souness. Traynor left the Herald having been headhunted by first, the Express, then the Record. Of course, Spiers was humiliatingly let go, after a several month period of gardening leave. Traynor was successful, still writes for 400,000 readers; whereas, Spiers writes for 20,000 at the Scottish edition of the Times. The real reason for this article, is over exposure. Once again, Alan Dick spoke to a select few about the contents of his soon to be submitted report. He has done this twice before to Forsyth, Ewen Murray, and Spiers. Their various rags had pieces on Monday morning, the Telegraph, the Guardian, and the Times spat venom. Spiers rushed on to Radio Snyde on Monday evening to reinforce the hatred. Incidently, he is tonight too, wonder if he heard the jolly craicsters at Fir Park yesterday? Alan Dick's role as a SPL Observer has been fully exposed, he is as selective as Spiers, Forsyth, and Murray. Spiers is attempting to drag attention back to the dying embers of a story. Graham's attention will be focused on his last months at the Herald, his tenure at the Times has seen it lose a third of it's readership/circulation. Again, love will lie bleeding in the attic, partcularly after wee Poison Pen Phil Gordon has fisted him and administered facial humiliation.

Simply outstanding, all praise to the Bear(s) who executed this prank on a national radio station. Biting edge satire, tremendous timing, a well executed spoof, included all the reference points, and played with lashings of vicTIMhood. The type of thing that Only an Excuse should be doing; oh I forgor, Only an Excuse don't rip the pish out of their beloved Sellik. Phil Differ, the Establishment man protecting his beloved Establishment club.

The cherry on the Helicopter Sunday cake, is that the term, 'the helicopter is changing direction' comes from Radio Snyde Head of Sport, Peter(surely that should be Bitter?) Martin's heart felt commentary that Sunday afternoon. Bitter remains most uncomfortable that many a t-shirt bears the slogan that reminds him of his hooped heroes bottle crashing. Good, isn't it?

I believe the term 'Helicopter Thursday' was coined by former Sellik Bhoys Club supremo, Jim Torbett. He had a standing open invitation to all his young charges to attend his dingy flat in Sighthill on a Thursday afternoon. There was considerable uptake on this offer by the likes of Alan Brazil, desperate to experience rides on the big chopper.

A wee socks tyale I was relating to one of our seperated brethern recently. In the 1970 European Cup semi-final between ra Sellik and Leeds United, ra green'n'grey hooped horrors arrived at Elland Road for the first leg with white socks. Leeds United played in all white, the Referee demanded ra Sellik change their socks. Of course, they did not have a second set and thus had to accept Leeds offer of their reserves team socks. They were coloured ORANGE. The Yahoo was clearly unsettled at the telling of these events, we met again a week or so later and he informed me he had checked it out and told me with tremendous certainty that his beloved hooped heroes had NEVER played in orange socks. I enquired as to the colour of socks that evening at Elland Road, he replied, "GOLD". He could only get comfortable with ra Sellik in green, white, and gold, it was a deliberate action on Sellik's part. As it is often said, Yahoos and the truth, akin to oil and water.

The Black and red socks debate has raged all my Rangers supporting life. I attended in the mid-sixties, Rangers played in blacks socks, red tops. Late 60s, this changed to red socks, white tops. Jock Wallace became Manager in 1973, back to black socks, red tops. John Greig's tenure saw us in all blue socks in 78-83. Jock Wallave reappears, it's black, red tops again. Souness had us in all red socks, ................and so it goes on. Rangers earliest days saw the Club play mostly in black socks, all teams played in black socks until the 20s. Often, these black socks would contain a coloured band(s) at the top to match the jersey. Look at photos of the 1928 old firm final, both Rangers and ra Sellik are in black socks. I imagine black socks for over 50 years was a practical thing, considering the state of pitches in those days. If we accept, Rangers began wearing black socks, red tops around the turn of the last century, then I have heard two very plausible suggestions for these being accepted as our 'official' socks. The first is more plausible(IMO), red and black are the colours of the Parish of Govan. I have even heard the configeration of black with red on top was deliberate, a homage to the funnels(smoke stacks) of the various ferries, tugs, coasters, ....etc that populated the river Clyde in those days. The other, and this could easily be the origination, is that a turn of the century game at Broomfield saw us turn up without socks. Airdrie provided a spare set(there was no law insisting teams wore different socks or shorts then), we won, liked the flash of red, and decided to adopt them. It could have been worse, much worse. Many Rangers players that represented Scotland over a 70 year period from 1880ish to 1950ish, often played in the official Scottish Rosebery colours. Lord Rosebery was the Patron of Scottish football, his racing colours were Pink and Primrose. The football jersey was Pink and Primrose hoops, as were the socks. There you go, returning players from Scotland duty(particularly when we beat England 4-1 in 1901) might have suggested/demanded we play in pink and lemon hooped socks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although Rangers did play in a lighter shade of blue for the first dozen or so years, the derivation of the established nickname, 'the Light Blues' is from the longer, original tagline, 'the Light and Speedy Blues'. Our origins as a team of mainly teenagers from the Gareloch area was a hook to hang considerable interest. Callow youths playing the game with pace and enthusiasm attracted good crowds from the off. Rangers were not a successful team in terms of trophies in their formative years, it was the obvious effort, dash, and skill they put into the game that attracted the crowds.

Nice one of Bernie. My parents were in attendance at Glasgow Empire on the evening Bernie and his brother, Mike attempted to entertain a baying audience. Mike had been on stage for 3-4 minutes, interupting his clarinet playing by telling a few jokes. Groans abounded, the Empire took great pleasure in being the graveyard of English comics. Anyway, seeing it was NOT working, Mike ushered Bernie on to accompany him, earlier than usual. Bernie walked on with all his teeth showing and from the back stalls, "awe naw, there's fucking two of them". A ten minute spot did not reach five.

A small correction to Maineflyers piece, Kevin McKenna was NOT sacked from his position as Editor of ra Sellik View, he was allowed to resign. A small point but crucial, as McKenna next turned up as Sports Editor of Scotland on Sunday. He plucked two youngish journos from regional obscurity and placed them out front on SoS's Sports supplement. Kevin McCarra was on message and Graham Spiers was on track to be the most useful of useful idiots.

I have just read the piece that Maineflyer has posted as an example of Scotzine's output. Please tell me that the Author is a 15 year old callow youth? Someone should send that piece to Graham Spiers, such fantasy will have ra Bhoy in Corduroy salivating. I predict a coming together, the basis of a self-help group. The only area of conflict will arise over who gets to wear the red sparkly heels? We are not in Kansas Loyal RSC.

Graham Spiers has salivated in print on a number of occasions, over Neil's, "rippling muscled thighs".

Yep, Rangers signed Bobby Russell from Shettleston Juniors for �£2,000. The mid to late seventies was probably the last period that senior clubs regularly utilised local Juniors for the purposes of toughening up promising youngsters.

I regularly watched the Youths for a dozen years or so, Charlie Miller being by far the best prospect I have seen. The thing about any Youth system is that it's first priority is to ensure the lad(s) makes a living from the game. They are professional youths and the system should equip them to maintain a standard of life in the professional game. Over the years, Rangers have accomplished this first priority in spades. Even the Yahoos have recognised the quality of input in our system, signing Barry Robson, Steven Pressley, Craig Beattie, ................., etc. Former Rangers youths populate every team. However, for most fans, it is the jump from promising youth equipped to deal with the professional game and first team regular at Rangers. These last years, several youths have established themselves, in fact we have played teams that have included Barry, McGregor, Hutton, Burke, Adam, Smith, .......etc, the majority of the side being home produced. The Rangers support have NEVER been patient with youngsters, there's an initial honeymoon period of half-a-dozen games, then it's inevitably, "not Rangers class". I offer Charlie Adam, first season and he scores 15 goals from left midfield, and he is subjected to uncalled for abuse. Of course, the jump requires more than support from Bears on the terraces. Off field support, living the right life, proper advice from Agent(s), physical development, and graduated level of opposition. These lasst two can be achieved by farming out, it's not new; in days past the Juniors were utilised for these reasons. Further, Rangers have farmed out these last 20 years, John Spencer had a season at Morton. The last thing I will say, is that Rangers do not have a Youth Academy at Murray Park. Six pitches, two hal pitches, and three/four dressing rooms do not compose a Youth Academy. If you visit Ajax, then you will see a Youth Academy, 20 pitches, 30 full time Coaches, a dozen dressing rooms for each age category, ........etc. We do what we do, and in terms of the first priority, it's comparitively successful.

Fellow Bears, Ask your Bookmakers for odds on Spiers securing a full mouth by 5 O'Clock? At this point, Spiers is on his knees on the cobbles of Ashton Lane.

Bluedell, The information I posted from memory was based on a piece in the Herald's Financial supplement in 2003. The hook the piece hung on, was Caroline Black's nomination for Business person of the year(Scotland). The Herald quoted �£14million turnover and almost �£3million profit.