Tannochsidebear

Today we were again in Glasgow Sheriff Court to take on Dundee United in our ongoing action against them over the abandoned match last November. We are delighted to report that DUFC's attempt to get the case thrown out has failed, and we now move forward to a hearing at a date to be confirmed. Also, for tactical legal reasons as per our lawyers, we have decided it would be in our best interests to take them on in Dundee, and this was also approved by the court today. We have also been advised that as this case is now looking as if it will go the distance, we can say nothing further about it. We will of course let everyone know how we get on, and we appreciate all the messages of support we have received, and we hope this is a great start to a wonderful weekend for Rangers supporters.

Yes we are, and it wont get anywhere near a capacity crowd either. Well one end will be full, and in a real friendly party atmosphere, but the rest of the ground..........eerie silence!!

Not sure where I stand on the 18 team league set-up. Adding 6 more teams of a similar standard to Hamilton, Falkirk and St Mirren and taking away 2 games against Hearts, Hibs and Dundee Utd does not improve the competitive nature of the league. It might have more variety and less repetitive fixtures, but will it improve the competition as a whole. But then I dont have the solution to come up with something better. The idea I have been suggesting for a couple of years now was to increase the league to 14 teams, and play each other twice, giving 26 games. The top 6 break away and play each other twice more, giving another 10 games for a total of 36 games, with each team having played the exact same fixtures as everyone else. Also the fixtures are pre-determined before a ball is kicked. All the remaining fixtures are based on the standings at the end of week 26, and for example week 27 would be 1st v 6th, 5th v 2nd, 3rd v 4th. That looks great for the top 6, but is unfair on the team coming 7th, who with a late run could make a Euro slot, but would be denied this and probably have nothing to play for, other than "winning" their own league of 8 post-split. 2 up and 2 down from the bottom 8 makes it competitive for the relegation slots. What looks stupid with this scenario is the fact that the bottom half of the split end up playing 40 games, while the top half plays 36. Some re-branding could be the answer, with the bottom half getting it's own title, trophy etc and with 4 more games to help with the finances as they are not playing with the OF for the second half, it could be palatable to them. So essentially you have one SPL from August to February/March with 26 games. We then have the Champions Race for the top 6 with the extra 10 games and the Relegation Race for the bottom 8 with an extra 14 games. The league is shown as 2 different leagues for the post-split. As I say not ideal and open to ridicule for some teams playing more games than others, and perhaps unfair to one or two teams who just miss out on 6th place, but I believe a 18 team league will not improve the quality, excitement, or competition of the SPL.

Today we were represented at Glasgow Sheriff Court in our small claims action against Dundee United, following their decision not to refund any part of the ticket price for the abandoned game last year. Only when our case was called did we, for the first time, see what defence Dundee United intended to carry out. Their lawyer asked for the case to be thrown out on 2 counts, one being that the case should have been made in Dundee and not Glasgow, and the other being a case of title, meaning that instead of the action being made against Dundee United Football Club, it should have been The Dundee United Football Company Limited. So there we have it, 2 technicalities is what their spokesman said was a ââ?¬Å?vigorous defenceââ?¬Â. They did not want to argue that what they did was right, or legal, or fair. They wanted the sheriff to throw it out without any consideration of the facts of the case. Rightfully, their sneaky ploy was unsuccessful, and our request that the case be continued for 2 weeks to allow us time to consider their defence motion, was granted. Dundee United have shown utter contempt for football supporters all the way through this whole sorry episode, and sunk to new lows today in their attempt to wriggle out of the action with expensive lawyers and sneaky last minute motions. We now know what depths they will sink to in order to avoid the arguments made against them that what they did was wrong and in 2 weeks time we will be more than ready for them. For anyone interested, the next appearance in court is another preliminary hearing to hear the jurisdiction and title legal arguments on Friday 23 April at 2pm in Court 12 of Glasgow Sheriff Court. We were expecting today to be a mere formality to set a date for the full hearing, but United's sneaky underhand tactics tried to catch us out. Next time we will be more than ready for them.

Looked great from the Copland, well done guys. I would go so far as to say that was the best thing TBO has done to date, I really liked it.

thanks for the updates NL, and keep pestering!! Nobody is sure if this guy will be good for us or not, but what is clear is that the status quo is not good for us. Have you at any time asked him, or got an inclination about, about the chances of his deal involving Murray retaining a significant shareholding? That is the one rumour that worries the hell out of me!!

And after this weekend's results Lyon are now top of the French League table, although they ares till far from certain to finish in the top 2 as there are 5 teams within 2 points of the top. Must be the most competitive league in Europe this season.

Must have been a slow news day/week. This story has been true for months, so why now? Lyon first have to beat Bordeaux and will then have to beat the winners of Man U/Bayern, and CSKA must beat Inter and then Barca/Arsenal. They then have to win the CL final. On top of that Lyon will fancy their chances of finishing top 2 in France, being only 2 points off top spot at the moment with a handful of games left. If this was just a story outlining the possible outcomes for the CL line-up next season i'd be fine with it, but the slant on the story is skint Rangers may not get any CL money next season and go bust. Wishful thinking from a rag that has plenty of previous in slanting Rangers stories in a negative fashion.

Thanks guys for the support, much appreciated.

We all remember the farce following the abandoned game against Dundee united last year where United, instead of allowing free entry to ticket holders to the re-arranged game, charged half price entry to the match. We at the Nithsdale Loyal RSC challenged DUFC on this issue, and you may recall a report on these pages saying we were ready to take them to court over this. A further update is now on our website regarding our court date. Link: http://www.nithsdaleloyal.com/

It is arguable if the fan ownership model as seen in Hamburg has actually been "successful" at all. In Germany, there is a totally different mindset when it comes to football clubs and ownership. The different tiers of management and committees at Hamburg is mind-blowing and I wonder how anything gets done at all. I do however think that it would be preferable for our club to be owned by the fans rather than a sugar-daddy type owner. That is the thing I would love to see, and Hamburg's model only really proves that it can work, just like Barcelona and others. Wether it can work in Scotland with our mindset is doubtful, but IMO desirable nonetheless. As for the stadium naming rights, my personal opinion is that if a Company wants to pay �£millions to call Ibrox after their Company, go for it. In the fans eyes it remains our home and Ibrox Stadium, and as long as it remains in our clubs ownership, I dont care what it is "officially" called. For the same reason I dont call our training ground it's official name, but Auchenhowie. If Murray wants to sooth his ego by naming it after himself, that is his right with his shareholding, but it wont be called that by me.

Absolutely. Although I support the RST in principle, I understand fully the concerns of fellow bears regarding the way it has been run, and any successful scheme as outlined in the article (Sunday Herald, full pinch of salt required) could only be achieved by significant changes in all aspects of the RST. I for one would love for the club to be owned and run by the fans like the Hamburg model, but in our society we are a million miles away from that being possible, and will take a major change in attitude and thought from our support to facilitate a successfully run club on that model. Not impossible, but certainly not possible in the short term.

They'll need someone to make the tea and lighten the mood with some old stories.

I can agree with Bluedell that Davis was very inconsistent during the early months of the season, much to my frustration. However his assists tally doesn't lie, and his level of consistency has been much better for the last 3 months or so. I just dont get it with McCulloch though. He is rarely above average, is generally 5 yards away from where he needs to be, has no pace, clumsy challenges and silly free kicks, very little forward progress. Always jockeying opponents when they are running at us. I just dont see where this consistent performer stuff comes into it. He has been truly awful in every position we have tried him in until now, where the busy central areas allow him some hiding room and for other players to cover for him. It is the exact same sitaution as Ricksen for me. Another overpaid liability who should have been punted long before he was. During that 04-05 season, he had a run of games where he was no longer the worst player for a period of about 3 months, strangely at a time when he was negotiating a new contract, when before it he was truly awful, and after the contract was signed he went back to being truly awful. He would be in my top 3 of worst ever Rangers players of the last 25 years. So yes, I am making assertions that the award going to Hartson, whom timmy fans didnt even think was in their top 3 that season, and Ricksen jointly was a complete joke. We had Prso and Novo both scoring lots of goals, and even Boumsong was a better shout even though he only played half the season, and of course big Marv.

Rangers 3 St Mirren 0 Boyd 2, Novo

I wouldn't have McCulloch on a short list of 6 just for Rangers POTY, never mind for the whole country. Really guys, Lee McCulloch???? 2 or 3 decent games does not a season make. From Rangers I would have (in no order) McGregor, Bougherra, Weir, Davis, Boyd and even Miller (as hard as that is to admit) all ahead of McCulloch and have been far more persistent performers this season. From other clubs Stokes is a good shout, as is Webster, but I dont see enough of the other clubs to really make a judgement. Although going on previous winners the contest is morally corrupt. Any competition where winners can include Caldwell, Maloney, McGeady, Hartson and Ricksen is beneath any credibility test as far as i'm concerned.

As much as McCulloch hasn't been as bad as in previous seasons, he is simply nowhere near as good as the other options for centre midfield. Football is a tough business, and managers are paid the big bucks to make sometimes difficult decisions. Walter should have no problem in leaving Lee out of the team, simply on the grounds that we have other players who are better in the position, and are on form. It is hard enough getting Edu, Thomson and Davis into the same team as all should be played in centre midfield, and Lee is simply surplus to requirements when all our other options are fit. Performances like Sunday's from Thomson, Davis and Edu makes you see why Walter chose to sell Mendes in January, despite some of us questioning the sense in the decision.

My name is Dan And i'm a fan And i'm delighted To eat United Loved the Bandit one as well. Classic 80's biscuit adverts. Great how some threads go way off line eh?

Much as his performances have been much improved recently, and fantastic on Sunday, I dont see him as captain material. Ultimately, he is at Rangers because he can stay in Edinburgh with his pals while getting good money he couldnt at Hibs. He is still a Hibs fan, his pals are all Hibs fans, and he is just doing a professional job. A Rangers captain should be so much more, with a lot of off-field responsibility and leadeship required. Not saying a Rangers captain HAS to be a Rangers fan, plenty good captains have not been, but I think Thomson is unsuited to the role.

Ewan Chester is who I was thinking about and couldn't get his name, cheers Metlika. We obviously still have scouts in place, we just have no cash to be able to buy anyone who is recommended. That doesn't mean we should stop looking, as our position could change at any moment if a new owner comes in. I think with Walter's contacts in football, and the good relationship he has had with almost every player he has worked with, if any ex-player spotted someone they thought could do a job for us, i'm quite sure Walter would get a call to give him the name. Of course, I am assuming this all goes on under the radar and in private, so we dont get to hear about it. So we probably get the best of it by having ex-players who still have some loyalty to the club and to Walter, but we dont have to pay them to be f/t or p/t scouts.

Of course not. If the police have received new info that they want answers to, my query is where did this info come from. Was it an anonymous crimestoppers job, or proper policework. Of, probably more likely, the story is complete and utter trash written by our beloved gutter tabloid press. Threads elsewhere seem to indicate that it was a pre-arranged meeting that McGregor attended freely to give his side of the story, not to sort out inaccuracies in his story. Only here could a victim of an unprovoked sectarian assault become the bad guy. I would ask you all to compare the treatment given between this story and the Lennon assault in the west end last year. They, on the face of it, look quite similar stories. Player out for a drink gets done in by an opportunistic piece of low-life. There the similarity ends. Lennon's victim status went way over the top, which was immediately portrayed as sectarian even before any statement was given to police, and all news reports on tv and in the papers was out to catch the perps. The assailant in this case has been instantly forgotten, while an attempt is made to show the victim as at fault. Why was he out? etc. F*cking sick of it, and what makes it worse is that some of our own can see some blame on McGregor's part in being attacked.

If you are talking about checking out future opponents, we already have Durrant and someone else (forgotten the name) that between them go to our next opponents game to see how they are set up, set pieces etc. I have heard a couple of stories of Durrant being at games of teams we are due to play next, purely to have a look at their set pieces routines and how they shape up tactically, and to look for weaknesses. Walter has taught him what to look out for and what kind of report he wants back. Sometimes we wonder if anything tactically actually goes on at our club, but behind the scenes it is quite professional, apparantly.

You have got to wonder where the police got any additional information that they wished to "clear up", and I suppose we are to assume that this needed doing 2 days before the OF game. I smell Timmy's hand in all of this as usual, they are truly desperate low-life scum.

I dont know what I am laughing at more, the notion that Ferguson has something to apologise to the Tranny Army for, or the notion that they will forget about it. Ferguson would be better advised leaving the national set-up well alone, he has nothing to prove at that level, and the team has no chance of qualification anyway.

Well let's hope he does a better job than his last 2 attempts where he has managed to send off 2 Rangers players and infuriate Rangers fans with countless dubious and baffling decisions. In fact reading back the match reports he has denied us penalties in 2 games as well. I just hope he avoids all media outlets for the whole week, and turns up on Sunday and gets every major decision correct, gets most of the minor ones right, and takes a harsh line on persistent fouling. If he does that, I am confident we will win as we are the better side, and are playing at home.