barca72

AS that is a very well thought out piece and there are more than a few valid points contained threin. So too are the replies by dB. I think most fans if they were asked to be involved in an intellectual discussion about the present situation would probably adopt your argument. However, on the day of a game I think they have other thoughts in mind that involve more passionate sentiments. I think dB hits the nail on the head here when he describes his feelings while at a game - "I sang it in a football context, as they are rousing tunes that incite togetherness on the day". There are grounds around Scotland that barely raise a murmur during a match, there are grounds such as Celtic park which are facing falling gates because they have no challenge in their one horse race and therefore their fans are losing their passion. So, having made the statement - "The dinosaurs are gone. We can leave them to history, or we can join them." - to whom do you think it most applies, the crowds who are quiet and lack a challenge, or to the thriving, pulsating crowd who rightly or wrongly sings from an old fashioned P/U/L songsheet? Some may say if it's not broke don't fix it.

In spite of all that Ally still wants to win a cup ... Ally McCoist wants a return to trophy time RANGERS manager Ally McCoist reckons that his summer signings have given him the second-strongest squad in the country – and now he’s hoping to start winning cups as well as promotions. Published: Sun, July 28, 2013 Ally McCoist says last season's squad shouldn't have been expected to win trophies McCoist hasn’t reached a semi-final of any competition since he replaced Walter Smith two years ago and that’s something he’s determined to put right. His side start the new campaign against Albion Rovers in the Ramsdens Cup at Livingston today and he believes that new boys Jon Daly, Cammy Bell, Nicky Law and Nicky Clark can help them claim silverware. “The ones we have signed on free transfers have definitely put us in a stronger position but we have miles to go,” said McCoist. “I’d hope we are now in the position of the rest of the clubs in the top flight - apart from Celtic. A cup run would be nice: that’s the best way of putting it. “St Mirren won a cup last year, which was fantastic. Celtic will start as favourites for every competition and I don’t have a problem with that, but I’d like to think we would be in the mix with the other clubs in the top league. “We have the same hopes in those cups as all the top-flight clubs, outwith Celtic.” McCoist claims that last season’s squad shouldn’t have been expected to win trophies but he believes they’re in a position to do that now. “The cup defeats were a disappointment last year but I got over them quite quickly,” he said. “We’d hope for better this year and we’ll look for improvement. “This year will be different. The disappointment would be far greater because we have a better squad now. “The boys we have signed have that winning mentality - Cammy won the League Cup with Kilmarnock and Jon won the Scottish Cup with Dundee United. “I’d like to think they believe we have the kind of squad capable of going on a run.” McCoist revealed that skipper Lee McCulloch who scored 23 goals last season, will probably start at centre-half against Rovers. “There’s every chance - it’s a position that we’re not strong in,” he said.

Agreed. Don't know about that Mof C bit though.

Rangers' fans getting some great plaudits on twitter ... Lee Rigby flag passed from away fans to home fans to carry over the stands. Class stuff. Lot of respect for Rangers tonight. #swfc #rangers Josh ‏@SteezusChristtt 7m Rangers fans are fucking quality Top support from @RFC_Official #rangers #rfc #swfc #uto #properfans Jamie Harper ‏@jamiefrombrum 3m Quality from Rangers fans. Puts Celtic to shame yet again.

I would say you could add Naismith to those two. I know, traitor #1, but he was good at running off the ball and could give you a good defence-splitting pass. We have Shiels but who knows if he will be consistent and produce his evident abilities. We have MacCleod in midfield but he needs another season or two to really dominate top teams. I think Ally knows this team will need time to gel and is beating the drum for a quality midfielder and a forward who can produce at the top level. We will play a lot better this season than last, but to beat the top teams we need to spend money on quality and I think the board knows that.

Maybe Mather is starting to earn his new salary by sticking to the budget ... http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/416721/Boris-Pandza-drops-wage-demand-to-secure-Rangers-contract Boris Pandza drops wage demand to secure Rangers contract RANGERS are ready to seal a deal for Boris Pandza. By: Scott BurnsPublished: Tue, July 23, 2013 Pandza has dropped his wage demands by £2,000 a week . Express Sport understands the Bosnian international is on the verge of agreeing a three-year deal. A breakthrough has been found after Pandza agreed to drop his initial demands by almost £2,000 a week. The out-of-contract Mechelen defender will take the cut in the short-term but will make up his money in the final year of his contract when Rangers are expected to return to the Scottish Premier League. Pandza agreed to drop his initial demands by almost £2,000 a week The news will be a relief to manager Ally McCoist, who has made Pandza his top defensive target. McCoist is, however, still hoping to add a goalkeeper to his squad.

There are several ways you can look at this news. If we make a comparison on the playing side first, we know that we acquired a bunch of players this season who look good enough to romp the 2nd div. and probably the 1st div. too, but let's be honest they are not of the calibre required for CL football. We will most likely have to spend some cash to buy a better calibre of player and pay a lot more in weekly wages as well. However, to be able to go into the top division and hit the ground running we had better be well oiled and well run by then. Good management and good coaches don't come cheap. If we were paying wages at the same level as the other lower leagues sides then we would probably still win stuff, but we know that is not good enough for Rangers - we need to keep winning and get into Europe. If we don't put all the procedures and structures in place now to maintain high revenue streams but wait until we get into the top division and then expect to pay top dollar wages then we lose the chance to have a settled regime and the benefits that this will bring, e.g. players who are well known to each other for the most part. A natural progression of buying and selling of players and backroom staff who can win us the top title at the first time of asking. We have to be thinking big enough to attract good players. Mather has told us his vision is to build a team to compete with Celtic right from the off. He has said we are within budget. I agree that this does seem like an horrendous size of salary for him and Ally, but when we get back into Europe in three seasons maybe it will seem like a bargain. If he doesn't make it, he and/or Ally, will be hastily re-appraised I'm sure. I know that we have to be fiscally responsible and that this is a bit of a gamble, but when you reach for the stars you have to be prepared to be able to pay for the journey. It does not have to turn into the SDM years again.

Thx for the updates dB, and well done Captain Jon Daly.

Great article D'Art, you have chronicled rather than created the events that took place.

WGS, here are a couple of quotes from Stewarty's post. Maybe the answer could lie in these. Maybe it's a loose, lazy connection for some ... "Bissett agreed when asked if he thought this was remarkable and went on to say: 'There's a cultural Protestantism by which people mean, generally, "I'm a Rangers supporter, or I'm a unionist, or I went to Sunday school"." "In Scotland, certain forms of tribalism are often reinforcing and this makes them more potent and stubborn. Football, religious and cultural allegiances overlap to a significant extent and this blend can find negative expression in what is popularly referred to as sectarianism."

Hopefully, having a pre season that is of a professional full-time team level the players will be able to show that level on the park. I'll be looking for a better standard of football during games this season, on the ground more and a lot less punt and run stuff. Feels a lot more encouraging this season.

I think this strategy of playing high will be the preferred ' norm ' this season, especially when we have an engine in young McLeod. He tackles well in midfield, his distribution is above average, he drives forward a lot, he runs well off the ball to give the ball carrier different options and he certainly knows where the goals are. If the rest of midfield perform this well then we will be alright. The only thing that's bothering me is that the forwards aren't scoring more. Maybe just rusty.

I don't know if I'd totally agree with you there. People aired their different views on a philosophical discussion and seemed to agree to disagree but with a 'live and let live' attitude. The thing that remained intact throughout and the ONE thing that is important is that we all agree that the team we support is Rangers.

Very interesting. So from that do I take it you have no higher power per se, but prefer to believe in the randomness of the Universe? Go in peace, brother.

My signature gives you the answer. Last edited by der Berliner; Today at 07:37 AM. Gæð a Wyrd swa hio scel! I only read in English. If you wish me to know what your signature is saying I'm afraid you'll have to translate for me.

So then, what form would that higher power take?

That, Sir, is an evocative statement. One to which you are perfectly entitled. Can I ask you a question? Do you believe that there is a power higher than man?

Der Berliner post #11 IMHO, religion is a private thing. Having been brought up in a non-religious society really gives you a certain point of view on such debates and at times it beggars belief what is still going on in Britain and other countries with regards to e.g. segregated schooling. And with no disrespect to any practising boarder, no monotheistic belief has been good to mankind, with Christianity and Islam being the worst "offenders", mostly because of their intolerance to others and their own. Suum cuique, as the Romans said. As long as people leave me be, I'll do the same. My dislike for the Scum does not come from their religion, but the way they go about it and their love for murderers and terrorists. When it comes to Rangers, I'm a football fan. You say that religion is a private thing and that you are non-religious, but then go on to insult every Muslim and every Christian by telling them that their respective religions are not good for mankind. You quote the Roman phrase and then go on to prove that you don't leave people alone by telling the scum, and by that I am assuming you mean the R.C. Republican Irish Celtic support, that you don't agree with the way they go about their religion. Gunslinger post #19 i'm one of the few who do attend regularly. i think people have a serious cheek calling themselves protestant if they do ot attend church. Zappa post #20 I kind of agree because there's a level of hypocrisy involved, but it's just the way it is. Here, Zappa is agreeing with Gunslinger about calling Protestants who don't attend church regularly as being cheeky and hypocritical. How much more hypocritical is it for a regular church going christian to be insulting rather than to invite such "fallen" protestants to join him in congregational worship? Save a soul, brother. Gunslinger post #24 oh their are more muslims. but no one claims to be baptist and doesn't go to church. by % We can be absolutely sure of this statement, eh? Calscot post #25 I think if you're mixing up being a Protestant and being a Rangers fan, then you're definitely not a Protestant. You can be a Rangers fan and not be a protestant. You can be a Protestant and not be a Rangers fan. You can be a Rangers fan and be a Protestant. If you think you are a Protestant because you are a Rangers fan then Calscot says you are not a Protestant. It doesn't matter what you really are or consider yourself to be you are definitely not a Protestant. Anchorman considers this to be complete and utter claptrap. I do find it strange that people say they are of a religion but don't go to church. Calscott is entitled to an opinion, Anchorman disagrees and says it is claptrap. If you believe in your religion then it's all about your immortal soul, so why wouldn't you spend a fair bit of your time investing in it? I'm assuming here that Calscott is alluding to the fact that if a person does not go to church then they are not investing in their religion. Back in post #4 Anchorman tells us he has a personal faith, ergo he thinks this is claptrap. You invest time in work and family which affect your mortal life, but surely it's just a blip in the context of eternity? If you believe in it, why neglect it? I assume when he asks the second question he is referring to religion. Is he suggesting that if a person does not go to church then he is neglecting his religion? What about the person with the personal religion, how does Calscott know he is neglecting his religion? Anchorman believes this thinking to be claptrap. If you don't really believe in it, why say you are of that religion? If you don't really believe what? Can anyone define for us just what the check boxes are, to be allowed to be a Protestant? In their absence Anchorman believes this statement to be claptrap. Der Berliner post #34 Originally Posted by Anchorman This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote What a load of complete and utter claptrap In what way? The explanation about Anchorman and Calscott is above. Der Berliner post #37 Originally Posted by barca72 This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote Does this help explain it for you? Bluenoses are born, not manufactured, We do not choose, we are chosen Those who don’t understand don’t matter, Those who understand need no explanation. And in what way does that relate to anchorman's reply to calscot's? Try line #3. Now perhaps Calscott, Gunslinger and Zappa can tell me what a Protestant has to do to be non-negligent and non-hypocritical. Perhaps the greatest single thing to follow the Reformation was the introduction of the printing press. This broke the stranglehold of the Church of Rome. People could have their own Bibles in their own languages. They could now read the scriptures for themselves and make their own determinations. This allowed the general populace to come up with their own interpretations and ideas. This allowed many groups to form within the Protestant church. This freedom of choice in how to express their religion is what made the Protestant movement so strong. No matter how the church and individual groups moved and progressed, and split etc., they were never wrong in that they always had freedom of expression. This was/is true for a large group or an individual. The choice to join a group or not join a group, and whether to conform or not conform is still up to the individual. That powerful tool, the Book of Scriptures, is intended to allow each individual to choose his/her own way forward. No one has the right to tell them otherwise. Whether they are on the moral high ground or otherwise.

Does this help explain it for you? Bluenoses are born, not manufactured, We do not choose, we are chosen Those who don’t understand don’t matter, Those who understand need no explanation.

So now that you have destroyed the popular conception that the Rangers' support is bred from a protestant, loyalist and unionist background why don't you give Kearney a call at the Catholic office and tell him to retire because you have done his job for him. Tell him that he doesn't need to rail against the "proddy" oppressors because all those skewed statistics he spews forth are all wrong, very little of the reported number go to protestant churches so therefore all those sectarian attacks in the statistics can't be used. Tell him to tell his people that it is safe to go and watch a game at Ibrox as those that attend the Rangers' games are really mostly agnostics and atheists. Tell him to tell them that they will be following Scotland's biggest and most successful team along with those in the stadium, as well as millions globally, because the common thread that binds them all is the scintillating football on display. Tell him to tell his readers that the Rangers' support truly believe that the members of the "celtic-minded" cabal of teams and their support who stuck the boot to Rangers last season did so because of a collective sense of "sporting integrity" and not from any sense of religious or political grievance or hatred. Then ask him if he believes it to be true that to first take over a culture you should first take over its institutions. At the same time tell the world that they are welcome at Ibrox, Rangers really are an all-inclusive club. Tell them at the same time that they may be exposed to a bunch of enthusiastic patriotic flag wavers, who chant and sing some strange archaic utterances. Non-religious, of course. When you've done that then you can all resign from the "terminally offended by our background" club.

This from The Edmonton Sun ... http://www.edmontonsun.com/2013/07/09/paul-gascoigne-former-soccer-star-hospitalized Sports Soccer Paul Gascoigne, former soccer star, hospitalized 0 WENN.COM First posted: Tuesday, July 09, 2013 08:54 AM MDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 09, 2013 09:01 AM MDT Paul Gascoigne was hospitalized after collapsing outside a hotel in London. (Reuters/Russell Cheyne//Files) Change text size for the storyPrint this story Report an error Fallen British soccer icon Paul Gascoigne was hospitalized on Monday after collapsing outside a hotel in London. Staff at the Royal National Hotel called for an ambulance after the 46-year-old former sports star passed out, and he was reportedly taken to the University College Hospital nearby. "He looked in a really bad state," a source tells Britain's The Sun. "He was hardly conscious. He was wearing the same clothes he was spotted wearing all the weekend. He was on his crutches but couldn't stand up. He kept wandering in and out of the hotel and then he collapsed." The scare comes just four days after Gascoigne was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in Hertfordshire, England last Thursday. Gascoigne spent time in a U.S. rehab facility earlier this year in a bid to address his alcoholism, but he is believed to have turned to drinking again following a hip operation last month.

I think if we can get a guy of his standard to build the defence around for about 5k-6k pw then he'll do me.

Satisfying read, very good.

http://thedailyranger.wordpress.com/ Shame On You Tom English by thedailyranger Deny everything. The stock response it would seem when you get caught out. It didn't happen, you didn't say it, you didn't write it and even if you did you were misinterpreted. We've certainly familiar with this kind of behaviour, who can forget Graham Spiers lying through his teeth on national television? “I’ve never used the phrase ‘financial doping’…in cheating I didn’t refer to the big tax case, I was referring to the small tax case and I was referring to the non-payment of tax under Craig Whyte” Today though saw another journalist fall victim to the same arrogant trap as Graham who when confronted by his own words completely denied he ever said (or in this case wrote) them. Let's just establish a few facts first though: Craig Whyte bought Rangers for £1 and as part of that deal sold off 3 years worth of season tickets to Ticketus to fund his takeover of Rangers. Essentially buying the club with its own money. While setting up the Ticketus deal Craig Whyte failed to reveal his previous seven year disqualification from serving as a director. Upon purchasing Rangers, Craig Whyte immediately stopped paying PAYE and VAT sending Rangers into a downward spiral that would inevitably lead to administration after the non-payment of £9 million. Craig Whyte has been successfully pursued by Ticketus through the courts and has been ordered to pay back £18m and costs. Craig Whyte is now being investigated by both the police and Governments Insolvency Service for serious fraud relating to the takeover of Rangers. Craig Whyte currently has an outstanding arrest warrant for failure to show up to court in a theft case involving his housekeepers. This paints a very clear picture of a very devious character who is under a serious fraud investigation. Tom English however insists that Rangers fans should feel a deep sense of shame at what has been done in the club's name. This has been a common theme with Tom English as we can see from an article from December: Painting Rangers as innocent defies reality Followed up by this in Feb: Rangers spin can’t take away the disgrace He took to twitter to defend his article: That Rangers Football Club is very likely the victim of a crime doesn't even register with Tom. It's very black and white in his world, Rangers did wrong so fans should feel ashamed, disgraced. Today however saw the Daily Record run with the story: Rangers takeover probe deepens as fraud investigators find new evidence against disgraced ex-Gers owner Craig Whyte When confronted about his previous comments incredibly Tom denied he'd even made them displaying the same selective memory as Graham Spiers did when he apparently didn't call us cheats despite calling us cheats. Incredible stuff from Tom and even when confronted with his own words he dodges the questions and tries to deflect it by changing the subject never acknowledging his wrong doing. Tom would rather lie and dodge than ever apologise for his disgraceful comments that Rangers fans should feel shame at the actions of one man who is quite likely to have committed serious fraud during his dealings with Rangers. He tries to make out that we are somehow twisting his words and misinterpreting him: "Stand by what I meant, not what you appear to think I meant. You're trying very hard to be offended." So just what did you mean Tom when you wrote: "Pay your bills and the shame goes away." In Tom's world being a victim of serious fraud is a cause for shame and disgrace. Tom doesn't seem to care that the people who lost money in Rangers company liquidation are as much victims of Craig Whyte as Rangers are themselves. But no Rangers fans should shoulder that guilt, not Craig Whyte. Again recently we had a piece from Tom telling us how the Hearts situation, having been taken over by a Lithuanian crook and run into the ground is completely different from Rangers being taken over by a Scottish crook and being run into the ground: Hearts and Rangers are no comparison. We're often chastised these days by journalists for this "everyone's against us" mentality but who can blame us when this is what we have to deal with? Shame on us Tom English? No...shame on you.

Peter Ewart from CRO, This Blog Linked From Here Friends of The CRO 28 June 2013SPFL: Bring on the clowns by Peter Ewart | Contributor A new era has dawned: the SPFL is upon us. You would be forgiven for thinking that next to fuck all had happened, and in truth it happened in Scottish football’s own inimitable own style. Not a lot done for much of the day at Hampden—a complete shambles once again, however fitting that may be. The meeting itself did not start until well into the evening. For most of the day the SFL were taken through the ‘due diligence’ of the SPL that had mostly be lacking, led it seems by the Annan Chairman Henry McLelland who has made a habit of being constructively awkward by asking very sensible questions like Why would SFL clubs take any share of historic SPL liabilities? But it was all fine in the end. Move along now, nothing to see here. We now have the brand new SPFL board. Okay, not so brand new at all. Stand by to be utterly underwhelmed and unsurprised Celtic's Eric Riley, Aberdeen's Duncan Fraser and Dundee United's Stephen ‘resolved his professional differences’ Thompson are the 3 SPL reps. Michael Johnston amazingly missed out. “Sorry Michael, remember when you abstained last summer. Oh, and we heard you might be around for too long.” The dozen or so Killie fans protesting outside Hampden got part of their wish anyway. Astonishingly there were no places on the Board for either Stewart Gilmour or Roy McGregor. Funny that. So Celtic’s grip on proceedings continues with Lawwell pulling the strings. They have the dominance on and off the field and their puppets at Aberdeen and Dundee United safely in tow. The bloc of power remains firmly in place; let’s just say it will not be doing us any favours and have done little for the Scottish game. But fuck it, we are not now and never have been looking for favours. What we are left with though is what we’ve been having to do the whole way along—fighting them all the way to get any sort of parity of treatment. That will remain the case as we head into the SPFL. It’s going to take strong leadership at RFC, but we should be up to it. We aren’t the club that’s closing stands or selling players for the season ahead. The good news from yesterday (don’t quote me on that) is that we are full members and have full voting rights in this debacle. Well, as full as voting rights get in this new tiered voting system for second and third division clubs. The SPL retain the power. Craig Mather, in attendance for Rangers, said, "I'm very happy, it's been interesting but we've got there. We've always been active. We continue the road and...be humble.” Now Chris McLaughlin cut a bit out of this quote, so we’ll see exactly what when it makes the RFC website. But Craig, I have news for you: Humble is the very last thing you are going to need to be. You’ll need to get the finger out and defend our corner as Scotland’s biggest club. There are 3 other members of the Board, that come from the current SFL: Hamilton Accies Les Gray gets his reward for banging the SPL's drum throughout, threatening the SFL2 and 3 with SPL2, crying, whinging and generally applying the pressure. Kudos, big man, kudos. To remind you how booming SFL1 is at the minute, Les Gray’s Hamilton, along with Falkirk and Queen of the South, are in the middle of laying artificial pitches. Desperate for revenue? Well you could say that. Alloa’s Mike Mulraney also gets on for the First Division. Head of the Mulraney Group with a number of commercial interests in Central Scotland, he was a fervent critic of Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster’s ‘Armageddon’ paper and of the SPL in general: "The creation of the SPL goes hand in hand with the failure of our national game, the Scotland team have not qualified for anything since it was created, the standard of football has deteriorated and the excitement of Scottish football has deteriorated.” We’ll see if such candour remains now they’ve got into bed with the SPL. His manner and business experience suggests an interesting character to watch amidst the SPFL circus. Finally, for the bottom two divisions, we have Bill Darroch from Stenhousemuir, who we’ll be playing in SFL2. Darroch voted in favour of putting us into SFL1 after the ‘Armageddon’ paper hit. In fact, Stenhousemuir were the first club to declare they would put Rangers — or ‘Rangers Newco’ as Mr Darroch liked to call it — into the First Division. Everybody needs a 'Yes' man. To the 23 SFL Chairman who sold their League out, we can only wait to see what happens. Will the promises of pots of gold at the end of the rainbow come true? I wouldn’t be too hopeful. For Scottish football at large the 30 SFL clubs have swapped a decent SFL model for the failed SPL one with its usual absence of leadership thrown in for good measure. I await Neil Doncaster’s appointment as Chief Exec to make the transformation complete, although they may go through the charade of applications and interviews for such highly prized and presumably very highly paid jobs. For Rangers, well, nothing changes. No one likes us, we don’t care. Try as they may they will not halt our march back to the top. At least it’s not 12-12-18. For this season...