The Real PapaBear

somewhere between none and bugger all - unless they want to find themselves in court. There's no way Rangers FC can be held accountable for any resulting problems, since DUtd are breaking every law in the book by selling those tickets.

call me a conspiratorial bar steward, but here's a wee thought: 1. Reconstruction goes ahead with 12-12-18. 2. The SFA 'reluctantly' accept that Rangers, as winners of div 3 have to be promoted, citing the Stranraer example as precedent. 3. Rangers thus go into the second group of twelve 4.Providing we manage to get into the top 4 of that second group we play 4 SPL clubs, when the groups split into three 8s. 5. Presumably, we'd have enough about us to get into the top half of that group of 8, we get back into the top flight in two years instead of three - and the SPL get thrown a financial lifeline from our travelling support and from SKY. The corrupt muppets at the SFA/SPL get to peddle the myth of sporting integrity, get to enjoy having handed out a good kicking to a wounded Rangers and get to survive because we're back in the top flight.

I think it's most likely a question of being aware of it - or rather, not being aware of it. I have no proof, but my hunch is that thousands of people will have heard of, and dismissed, "some internet petition thing", without being aware of the real effect it could have. If teh club put their weight behind it, and by doing so, lent it credibility we'd break the 100k barrier no problem. I'm insinuating the *possibility* of Green and/or others preferring to let sleeping dogs lie, for reasons unknown to us at present. So far, Chuck has pressed all the right buttons and said and done all the right things - but I don't yet trust him completely. Again, I have no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise to back that up - just a gut feeling.

serves you right for being betting safe and being a wussy. Me, I always bet on the romantic outsider. Mind you, I drive a 7 year old Toyota Corolla.

There are things which are above football and remembering the war dead is one - and we should not attempt to make remembrance a tribal issue. I lost two grandfathers in WWII, neither of them Rangers fans I'm told. One was a Jambo and one had no interest whatsoever in football. I suspect both would be mightily pissed off at the remembrance of their deaths being hijacked by Rangers or Rangers fans. We are not like the morality-free Celtic fans, who desecrate every event and jump on every passing bandwagon by associating themselves and their vile strip with it, always with an eye to the prominence of their colours and without a care as to the dignity of the event or cause they are desecrating with their vile presence. Let's just respect our war dead in the normal way. With silence and reflection. For one minute or two. On the days when those who decide such things say it is fitting and not on days decided by marketing men. We and our football club is less than those we are remembering. And we should remember that.

Traynor needs to start earning his keep. He may not be a Bluenose, but he's working for us now and the monthly article just ain't enough. So let's start naming and shaming, Jim - and let's start asking why the club isn't pushing the HMRC petition. 30,000 signatures when we have a 45,000 home gate - something smells fishy. if the club really wanted this petition to succeed, we'd have it over the 100k barrier in days. The question is *why* don't they.

Aye, but! Leeds were one of *the* top sides in England for two decade before that. Leeds are def a real top English club. West Ham are England's Dunfermline or Falkirk - just with a nicer strip and better youth academy. The *real* sleeping giant of English football is Sheffield Wednesday - a team I always have in my 'falling-asleep-fantasy-british-premiershp*.

'Zappa' and 'an eye for talent': two phrases seldom heard with 6 nautical miles of each other.

Can't agree that Villa going out would be a bigger shock than Leeds. Leeds (although, I can't stand them or their fans) should be/are a natural top 8 club imho. Villa, apart from a one year fluke in Europe are a nonentity, really. Nothing against Lambert ( aye, right ) but I really hope they get punted out the EPL and let an interesting club in to take their place.

Galloway at his best, ripping into the US Senate hearing or arranging the Gaza aid convoy, is an awesome figure. Galloway at his worst, dressing in a cat suit, running a sectarian campaign for the Scottish elections and now abusing Parliament for sectarian, tribal ends, is a deeply, toe-curlingly embarrassing and disgraceful figure. This shameful episode has exposed his innate hypocrisy and sectarianism even more clearly than his disgraceful 2011 Scottish election campaign, where he figured he only needed to find 10,000 celtic supporters who were as bigoted as he is in order to get elected to Holyrood. It says something for the depth of his nasty, sleekit sectarianism that he couldn't find more than a couple of thousand who were worse than he was.

Top man! Don't worry about the weight gain - it's a natural by product of giving up poisoning yourself, since the body doesn't have to work as hard cleaning itself of the poison, so uses fewer calories, so you gain weight unless you also go on a diet - which would be a big mistake. Main thing, kick the fags. Give yourself 6 months of guilt free pig-out time as a reward for kicking the nicotine! Then, after you've been off them for 3 to 6 months or so, start thinking about losing the weight again.

Thank Christ Glasgow City Council didn't take over the running of Rangers - we'd be playing in the Juniors if they had!

dein wort in gottes ohr

Wee tosser deserved everything he got, if you ask me. The FA disciplinary panel have got to look at that incident and let Hazard off on account of how he meted out natural justice swiftly and with no little humour.

Prior to the events of last year, I would have sooner started watching netball than watch Rangers in an English league. However, the nacked hatred, bigotry and vindictiveness we were subjected to by the top flight in Scotland and the SFA has made me change my mind totally. Nothing short of a lottery win would give me greater pleasure than being admitted into the English setup and giving a two fingered goodbye to the game here. Although, I would always be sure to include SFL clubs in our pre-season friendlies as we get ready for another season in the EPL.

it would be four seasons *if* we won promotion every season - but to be honest, I reckon we'd be lucky to get out of the Championship within two seasons, far less one. Even so, if we could have the prospect of playing Arsenal, ManUtd and Newcastle after even 6 years, I reckon 90% of us would jump at it.

Man city have also played one game more at home than we have. I think, prior to that we were 4th in the UK in attendance. Our attendance is higher than any club in Italy or France; only Barca and Real have higher attendances in Spain and Ajax in Holland. Outside of Germany (where the game is just obscenely healthy!), we have the 7th highest attendance in European football.

As ever, D'artagnan, a tour de force in elegant penmanship, only slightly less sharp than the sword you put Spiers to. Je vous tire mon chapeau.

Another excellent piece by CG, although he does make one basic error when he writes: "Now I thought it was a journalist’s job to report information and on occasion to give opinion based on that information? " I'm baffled as to why Chris would confuse Graham Spiers with a journalist.

another consideration is that when celtic play hearts/hibs/aberdeen, it's not only celtic fans paying to view, due to the size of the other teams' respective supports, whereas when it's rangers v peterhead, elgin etc I think it's safe to say that 99% of those watching as rangers fans.

Definitely not a monarchist myself, but I'd love for this to become a 'tradition' so that once we're back at the top the Celtic directors will be faced with the biennial dilemma of being seen to insult the Monarchy or being seen to betray a huge bulk of their fan base. That would be Pure Quality.

LOL! I grew up in the 60/70s and that's exactly what we said about the feckless, no-good youth of the 90s

In which case our record over the years is pretty dire.

McGregor was, for me, a good goalkeeper but nothing more - and he was responsible for some shocking lapses of concentration, one of which effectively put us out of the CL against Kaunus.

wasn't the question "who was the best player we have ever produced"? Baxter has to be no.1 (yes, I know he played elsewhere before joining us - but it was at Ibrox that he fully developed) Super Ally no. 2 Durranty 3 Bazza 4 Henderson 5