D'Artagnan

Id suggest Pete, very time one of those banned songs gets an airing, anywhere, it provides FARE an opportunity to come after us under the umbrella of "Intelligence led Policing". We have the uncanny knack of making that target bigger for them.

Thats a good find Iain & shows what we are up against. Also saw a screenshot on twitter of Powar glorifying a Palenstine flag display at Parkhead. Given UEFA's stance on no political displays at football, you really have to wonder how a man whose organisation acts as an agent obo of UEFA in upholding their artcles, can openly celebrate the breaching of the articles in question.

As predictable as night follows day Pete....

Im not sure I can agree with that Pete - the original aim was to protect club & defend the support. Being subjected to punishment courtesy of a report from an organisation with a very questionable history & conduct, reporting to a extremely totalitarian Football Authority whose Articles would give most legislators a field day, ticks my boxes in terms of defending the support. That said I do think the drive & initiative needs to come from within the club itself - I doubt, as histoty has shown, that it wil stop with TBB.

Absolutely Bill, Ive followed much of this discussion on Twitter & Im concerned at some of the views being expressed, as I believe if some of the strategies of sing it "loud & proud" were to come to fruition that would spell disaster for the club. You dont have to be defence counsel to drive a wedge of reasonable doubt into this debate, in fact some of the evidence has already been presented in this thread. I saw the word "Appeasment" being used on twitter - its not appeasement to box clever in a ring where an unjust narrative, devoid of balance & fairness has already been sown & furthermore, imposed by an Football organisation who are nothing short of dictorial in manner and corrupt in nature. Its not about appeasement - its about survival.

Stunnnin result - Jordan Jones gave us a directness which I feel has been missing in the final third. Just need to tighten up those defensive lapses, I think havin regular back 4 woul go soe way to facilitating this. Given the gleaming praise Flanno recived from the manager he may well have staked his claim for the shirt.

No bud, its a bit more difficult to find out since it became Police Scotland. I wouldnt expect much more from him - given that their primary function at footbll matches is public safety, and any admission that there was a crush is akin to an admission of failure to fulfill that function. Be interesting to hear the match comanders recommendindations on the ticketing procedures at the Chadwick.

I retweeted the many various testimonies and pictures from bears outside the ground, some of them were clearly terrified by what transpired. Tom English & Michael Stewart, neither of whom witnessed it, have sought to dismiss this incident without any evidence - reckless, rancid and worhty of ridicule. The Club really needs to step up - Rangers SLO was present & will have reported back to them, also Club 1872 have numerous testimonies which usurp the sugestion there was no crush. silence is not an option Rangers.

Like deja vu from last season Frankie, inabiliy to keep a clean sheet and lacking inspiration in the final 3rd time, sorry to sound negtive folks, but thats the way I saw it.

I think Bill, that says more about the failings at the rancid BBC tha anythig else. Im hoping the whole organisatio is o borrowed time.

Cheers bud, an enjoyable experience

Agred Craig, Seems we are testing the waters of every legal stage - some you win some you lose. I can see this being a real war of attrition & given what is happening at SD not one they will welcome at the moment.

Thanks Frankie, really enoyed the whole experience.

I would concur Gaffer that there is a myriad of things we can point out which we find distasteful or hypocritical in politicians of other parties, but that is a world away from deliberate and malicious action targetted against our club. and following the fanzone debacle, as well as other instances, the SNP have been shown to be guilty as charged.

I'd say John both Murdo Fraser and Adam Tomkins have made their Rangers allegiances quite clear, but its symptomatic of the point you make that in recent times it was Ulster politicians such as Jeffrey Donaldson who could be relied upon to further Rangers interests in the political forum

Its a funny argument this BD - criticism of fans who base support of political party relative to their sporting affiliation, but no criticism of politicians who make their political decisions designed to inflict harm on a football club.

It wouldnt surprise me John if this had been "leaked" deliberately. A cynical attempt to woo voters of a particular mindset - a hatred of all things Rangers

Its not hard to synchronise this group's hatred of our wider "culture" ie that we tend to be unionist, Protestant loyalist (to varying degrees) with our football club and the debacle of the fanzone, along with Dornan's erroneous accusations against Club1872 is evidence of this. The very fact an MP attending Ibrox, they see as an opportunity to smear him, is a clear signpost as to the depth of hatred they have for our club.

There was a considerable blip in the anti-Alfredo Morelos narrative currently being driven by sections of the media in Scotland. Sadly, the predictable one-way traffic was not brought to a sudden halt by an ex Rangers player speaking out, no, Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch were too busy acquiescing and adding to that negative narrative with criticism of their own. In a week which showed Kirk Broadfoot raking his studs down Alfredo’s Achilles heel, you might have thought the onslaught would abate for a few days – but alas, this is Scotland we are talking about. Instead it was left to Chris Jack of the Evening Times to write an article, https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/17510914.how-alfredo-morelos-has-gone-from-medellin-to-rangers-multi-million-pound-man/ not only defending Alfredo, but in addition, humanising this young man so many have sought to dehumanise with comments such as “buffalo brains “and relating his upbringing to something from the Narcos Netflix series. Jack highlights a young man brought up in extreme poverty, who has never forgotten his roots, who remains respectful to his parents and the country of his birth, and for whom the lessons learned from such a harsh upbringing remain a driver towards success. Perhaps in any other country such a young man would be seen as a positive role model rather than the devil incarnate. But the comments of Ferguson and McCulloch really rankle – their adding to the anti-Morelos narrative serve to give it a sense of normality, when in fact it is anything but normal – it is in fact, abnormal. And no amount of ex Rangers players selling themselves to the highest bidder should allow us to lose sight of this fact. It has been a concerted campaign to demonise our prize asset and the likes of Ferguson and McCulloch, with their strong Rangers antecedents, adding their weight to the millstone being placed round Alfredo’s neck serve to give this concerted campaign a sense of credibility. Ferguson and McCulloch are by no means the worst, Kris Boyd demonstrating his ability to adapt to the anti-Rangers agenda with considerable aplomb following a series of articles and comments criticising his former club. His lack of consistency in his arguments demonstrate Boyd realises which side of the bread requires to be buttered to ensure a favourable return. You make your bed and you lie in it. I hope we as fans and in particular RSC’s will remember those who have served the dirty pieces of silver some sections of the media will pay in order to provide a sense of balance and credibility to that which is unbalanced and lacks credibility. Hopefully the club itself will add some solidarity when the same individuals go begging for tickets. “To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him.

Some may point out this is the third gambling related commentary he has made regarding Rangers players, the previous ones being Black & Barton. He has yet to highlight Griffiths' gambling problems & debts which caused him to be banned from several establishments. Given those facts I dont think he has a credible comeback

I see Celtic Tom has chosen to mention Kyle's previous gambling problems in his latest BBC article, despite getting something of a roasting on Twitter the other day from Frankie, myself & many others for his denial of BBC bias.

Fabulous article.

Concerning how poor Murphy has been in recent games.

Rangers fans could be forgiven their wry smiles on hearing the motto of the Scottish Police Service, Semper Vigilo – Always Vigilant. One could point to the massive banners depicting them as “H** Scum”, somehow smuggled past the “vigilant” officers or perhaps the inflatable effigies which were then hung from the rafters of celtic Park, an action which again managed to escape the gaze of Scotland’s finest. Meanwhile Northern Irish Rangers supporters, carrying the flag of their country, find them being seized by Police Officers as they attempt to enter Ibrox, on the pretext of them being “sectarian”. The fact that the latter has happened on more than one occasion, accompanied by a subsequent apology from Police Scotland, suggests someone, somewhere is not paying attention. The job of the Police is difficult and challenging, particularly at football matches, exacerbated by a recent increase in whataboutery and individuals being faux offended, much of which is played out across social media platforms. Warwick University, WBS Research Projects offers the following explanation on Public Confidence: “For any police force to be effective in safeguarding the public, retaining public confidence is critical. This is because the public are a key source of information, and their trust and cooperation are often key to law enforcement.” But that trust has to be earned and two significant incidents which pertain to public safety, and which rise above the simply annoying or exasperating examples cited in the opening paragraph, have significantly eroded the confidence and trust of Rangers supporters with regard to Police Scotland. The aftermath of the 2016 William Hill Scottish Cup Final still rankles with many Rangers supporters. As someone who was there, and who witnessed first hand the events which unfolded, I sill find it particularly difficult, that 30 seconds after the final whistle standing in the traditional Rangers end at Hampden, I was faced with a Hibs fan standing not 50 yards from me in the six yard box challenging and goading myself and other Rangers supporters to fight. This individual’s course of conduct had nothing to do with joy, celebration nor overexuberance and any attempts to explain it or rationalise it as such are quite simply erroneous. But its events off the pitch which served to undermine confidence in the Police. As Rangers supporters raised questions about the preparation, speed and deployment strategy of the Police, they found themselves in the eye of a storm as accusations were levelled that Rangers fans had used their own children as barricades to hinder and impede officers reacting to the ongoing situation at Hampden. The author of the story, Jane Hamilton from the Scottish Daily Record, appeared to receive corroborative assistance from Callum Steele of the Scottish Police Federation, who tweeted that this version of events was consistent with reports he had received from officers on duty that day. The Independent Press Standard Organisation (IPSO) ruling following a complaint regarding the story can be read in full here: https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=03188-16 Both Jane Hamilton and Callum Steele remain in post. The SFA ordered an independent Commission into the disorder which was chaired by Sheriff Principal Edward F Bowen CBE QC. Regretfully, I am unable to guide you to an unabridged version of his findings, as the SFA, for reasons best known to themselves, have decided to no longer promulgate his report. https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/resources/documents/documents/scottishcupfinal2016report/scottish cup final 2016 commission of enquiry - report of sp bowen.pdf Since publication, Rangers have contested the findings of the report and official statements from the club reflected that. "We can state however that we will be seeking an urgent meeting with the author of the report, Sheriff Principal Edward Bowen, the Scottish FA’s Chief Executive Stewart Regan and his Compliance Officer, Tony McGlennan. It is imperative that we gain insight into the underlying basis for the findings in the report given that we consider it contains a number of factual inaccuracies and contradictions. It is right that the club gives the author and requisitioner of the report the opportunity to comment on our concerns prior to making a conclusive statement.” Such concerns were not without foundation. Although not widely reported by the press, who focussed on the report’s main findings namely: · Police and steward numbers were appropriate · Neither club to blame for crowd trouble · Call for debate on criminalising pitch invasions · Physical interaction between players and fans to be discouraged · Retractable tunnel could improve player safety · Pitch invasion sparked by Hibs fans' high excitement · Overwhelming majority of Rangers fans behaved properly there was also remarks in the report regarding intelligence prior to the match itself. In the absence of the complete report I will refer to this exert from the Edinburgh Evening News dated 5th August, 2016. https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/report-concludes-hampden-pitch-invasion-down-to-high-excitement-1-4195707 In particular, I would draw your attention to this paragraph: “Mr Bowen said he was satisfied both clubs and the Scottish Football Association took reasonable precautions to minimise the possibility of a pitch invasion. He concluded there was no evidence to suggest the pitch invasion was planned, that the Hibs support had not been infiltrated by individuals holding some form of malicious intent, and that while some supporters were affected by alcohol, both male and female, that hadn’t played a significant part in what happened.” On the Monday following the Cup Final, BBC Radio Scotland hastily scheduled a phone in hosted by Kaye Adams, to discuss the events and the aftermath. It consisted of both Hibs and Rangers fans phoning in to offer their own versions on events. I mention this programme because some of the Hibs supporters phoning in made reference to the fact it was all over social media, that in the event of a Hibs victory there would be a pitch invasion. Given the vast galaxy which is social media it is not unreasonable to accept that those responsible for either Policing pre-match intelligence may have missed this, but for the subsequent investigation and report into the aftermath to either miss or totally discount testimony which has been aired by the country’s national publicly funded broadcaster? Rangers supporters are more than familiar with the failings and selective nature of “low-level intelligence gathering” Fast forwarding to last week and the reputation and confidence in Police Scotland suffered further erosion following the Rangers vs Osijek tie at Ibrox, which was marred by violent disorder prior to the match. Concerningly for Police Scotland, criticism of policing arrangements came not only from Rangers supporters but also from Paul Goodwin, former head of Supporters Direct and co-founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, who accused the Police of being blindsided and failing to take into account the violent reputation of Croatian fans. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16398308.police-scotland-deemed-Rangers-match-which-saw-two-stabbed-to-be-low-risk/ Whilst I appreciate I do not have access to the resources, expertise and research facilities of analysts at Police Scotland, my somewhat crude google searches tend to suggest Mr Goodwin may have a point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6dKP4tpzNU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR7WATnpigY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r9DAclKcGY It is perhaps worthy of note that the violence involving Osijek fans in Switzerland was only last year, which makes Chief Inspector Bowater’s assertion that there was “no intelligence” to suggest extra policing was required, particularly difficult to fathom. Warwick University Research Projects, previously mentioned, goes further in its examination of Public Confidence in the Police, citing the various array of measurements used by the Police to gauge and determine such confidence, including customer satisfaction surveys. Of course in order to ensure favourable feedback, Police Scotland could tailor their customer satisfaction phone calls to 3pm every other Saturday when Rangers supporters are likely to be elsewhere, or alternatively, they could afford Rangers supporters the same level of commitment, transparency, protection and treatment which everyone in Scotland is entitled to expect from them.

Some real shockers today, perhaps Beaton's inept performance last season may yet be usurped.