JohnMc

So this all comes down to the definition of the word 'legend' and its recent appropriation to mean 'very good'. That isn't what the word 'legend' means though. A legend is a myth or a fairy story, that's not the the right definition here either though. More appropriately 'legend' also means famous or notorious, and by that definition Miller is the closest in our side to being a 'legend'. For a start has any other player ever signed for Rangers 3 times? That alone surely affords him 'legend' status and a place in trivia questions for years to come. Likewise in 50 years time when our grandchildren are looking at the quaintly named players from the turn of the 21st century the name 'Kenny Miller' will spring out at them. Not only did he sign for Rangers 3 times but he played for Celtic too, really? He is also the oldest ever Rangers player to score a hat-trick for the club, another one for the future trivia buffs to baffle their friends with. He also played fairly successfully in England, scoring memorably at Old Trafford, as well as being the main point of attack for his country for a number of seasons and someone who signed off by scoring a cracker at Wembley in the oldest international fixture in the world. Miller has 68 full caps and captained his country, that alone will see him revered in the future as legendary. He's also played abroad during a time that Scots players have rarely ventured further English League 1 Miller has played in both Turkey and the MSL in North America, plus his time at Cardiff City makes him one of the few players to have played for clubs in three UK countries. Surely though our grandchildren will look at his return to our club whilst we languished in turmoil during the dark days of Ashley/Easdale and co as his greatest move? Not only did choose to return whilst we were at our lowest ebb, he survived the putsch taking place off the field, and the one on it too. It's clear Warburton rates him both for his on-pitch contribution but also for his influence off it. Miller has been signed by 3 different Rangers managers and played for five plus two caretaker managers, has any other Rangers player ever done that? Is Kenny Miller one of the best players to don the light blue jersey? No, far from it. Has he achieved legendary status (and he's not finished with Rangers yet) during his career? I'd argue yes, he's probably the best known and, at times, most notorious Scottish player of his generation. He's created records and he's made big contributions. I've no doubt history will judge Miller as legendary.

Sixteen years, bloody hell. Well done Frankie and all involved. Some of your writers are excellent, but you, and your team, create the environment that enables them to contribute in the first place. If the forum wasn't as well monitored as it is you wouldn't attract the good writers in the first place. A big well done and more importantly a big thank you to everyone who makes Gersnet happen.

Not that it matters but theres an ex-squaddie, a corner-shop-keeper, a student, a publican, a printer and a guy who started off as an apprentice fitter in a shipyard. As 'boards' go it's a broader selection than most I've seen.

Genuine laugh-out-loud moments there, well played. It's odd the sports that attract good writing, cricket as you mentioned, cycling and boxing also spring to mind. Perhaps because football is ubiquitous and matches take place so often that genuine thinking about it is replaced with straightforward reporting. One of the best pieces of football writing is Tony Cascarino's biography (seriously). It was written by an ex-professional cyclist interestingly enough. Very few write better on Rangers than Andy. Anyway, loving the idea of Gersnet radio.

No Calscot I'm not with you at all on this. Tell me, if you, as a man, were in a large crowd of other men and they started groping and touching you, how quickly would you laugh that off? The reality is Calscot that when these acts are carried out by men they carry an implicit threat of violence too. That's why the power dynamic is important in these scenarios. You probably could laugh off over amorous female attention because you know the likelihood of them turning violent or raping you is extremely low. However, that's not the case when the perpetrator is male. Caroline Leckie, is not saying all men are violent or rapists, simply that when large crowds of men choose to harass a female it's a very unpleasant experience. Far more unpleasant than the opposite scenario. Yes but in far fewer numbers and they are considerably less likely to hospitalise you if the mood takes them.

As for Carolyn Leckie I remain one of the few people to have read It's Rangers For Me? the book she wrote a chapter for. I've said before, usually to no avail, but it's a good book and worth reading. One of the chapters in it is arguably one of the most powerful things ever written about being a Rangers supporter. Anyway Carolyn Leckie didn't write that chapter, however the chapter she did write was actually quite good. She was a regular attender at matches, mainly with her brother. She came from a Gorbals family who were all in the Orange Order, her father being quite prominent in it locally. It was interesting that she wrote that her Socialism was created by her Orange background. For her it had been about community and family and she saw socialism that way too. She explained that as she got older she drifted away from football and 'Orangism' eventually rejecting both, but that her family were still heavily involved. She made a good point about not being embarrassed about her background despite many people she met thinking she would be. As for her article I've no idea why people are getting upset about it. It happened a long time ago, she didn't claim it happened last week. What's the problem?

C'mon Calscot, the power dynamic between men and women, even in supposedly enlightened societies like ours, makes that comparison a fallacy. You must be able to see that? I'm sure you're not suggesting that a women should be flattered when a man 'pinches her bum' but it kinda reads that way. A friend of mine attended a Rangers game with his girlfriend, this was back in the 90s. Whilst he was getting something to eat a crowd of young, male bluenoses started to chat to his girlfriend in Copland Road, just past the Subway. When she decided not to join in with their 'banter' or respond to their increasingly lurid comments they started to insult her, 'stuck up bitch' that type of thing. When my friend returned and realised what was happening they guys actually apologised, but to him, not her. One of them actually said, and I quote, "sorry mate, we'd never have said anything to her if we'd known she was with you"! There are dickheads in our society, some of them support Rangers.

I'm surprised at your annoyance here TB, you're really looking for the cloud on this silver lining. Holt and McKay aren't just important players for us they're assets, their form won't have gone unnoticed elsewhere. Securing them on better contracts is a win-win as far as I'm concerned. Holt hasn't settled at any club and McKay looked like he was on his way out of the club before Warburton arrived, so this gives both some stability and confirms to them they are wanted and important something that's important to any person. It also makes it harder for another club to unsettle them. I'd also guess that seeing as Halliday's career wasn't going anywhere in the summer he probably signed with the gentleman's agreement that if things go well his contract will be looked at. I'm pleased it has been. As for the leak, bear in mind how many people would be involved in this; agents, the players themselves, people at the club plus I imagine most of the other players knew about it as did the friends and family of the players, it's probably been an open secret for sometime.

I was given vouchers for Greaves about a decade ago, they accepted them from me in June of last year. Greaves is a proper sports shop though.

I read this article a few days ago. It's about FC United of Manchester but it feels relevant to this thread. http://www.afinelung.com/?p=7297 It strikes me as profoundly sad that someone would feel there is a conflict of interest between the board of the club and of Rangers First. It's a little dispiriting.

One day I'm going to write about how McCoist is the most important manager in Rangers history. One day soon. Surely we're not hawking Hardie around if he just signed a new contract? If Waghorn gets injured we're short of options up-front, surely Hardie will feature before the season is out?

Got to say I'm in entire agreement with this. Falkirk are having another excellent season with a fraction of the resources Hibs or ourselves have. Also, when you see the shambles Dundee Utd have become you realise just how good a job Houston was doing there. He clearly knows how to develop young players.

Lena Martell, REM, The Monkees and Neil Diamond, that's four musical references not ever seen in the same article before, well played. I love that you're getting pulled for your 'SNP Stasi' line, that's hysterical. I'm tweeting a link to The Federal Commissioner of the SNP Records, Renfrewshire Branch. You, my friend, have just become Zersetzung!

I know Douglas Rae, he's a decent man. I've no idea if this incident happened or not, and neither does he, he's going by what a couple of supporters have told him. A couple of members of his family were in the away end during the match though.

There's a misconception as to what the 'winter break' is actually for. Forget about the weather, it's not connected to that, the word 'winter' is misleading in this. The winter break is designed to give players, and so teams, a 'break' allowing them to recharge their batteries for the second half of the season. Popular belief has it that most Scottish footballers are unfit, heavy drinking, junk food gobbling feckless morons pissing their careers away. The reality is somewhat different, most are actually fairly diligent when it comes to fitness and conditioning and almost all professional players during the season play with injuries. The winter break is supposed to help players get over these injuries, either through a complete break or through intensive physio, a small op etc. There is a school of thought that says England, and sides with the majority of their players in the English league, perform poorer at World Cups and Euros because of the lack of a winter break. The intensity and physicality of the football in England leaves players in poor condition by the end of the season. Anyway, put me in the 'League Cup revamp is a further indication that those running the game don't have a clue what they're doing' camp.

Was he very clear though? I felt all along he could have made the story go away in a second by unequivocally stating 'I've no interest in going to Fulham or any other club at this time and won't be leaving Rangers in the foreseeable future'. Had he said that the story dies, but he didn't, he was ambiguous enough to allow the story to run for another day until he eventually did make a very clear statement. For the record I don't have any problem with Warburton using the apparent (and I believe Fulham are/were interested in feeling Warburton out) interest from Fulham to remind everyone he has other admirers. I have no problem with Fulham making advances on our manager and I've no problem with our board intimating they'd improve his package rather than see him leave. Warburton is clearly an intelligent man but I wonder if having not spent his entire working life in football means he sometimes misses the nuances of the professional sport, particularly the media side of it. I'm all for holding the media to account but there was a 'story' here and I don't feel their 'reporting' on it was unfair. By complaining about it we run the risk of being seen to complain about 'everything' and that could lead to us being ignored on the genuinely important things.

I agree, but it's still a story, no? When Dundee Utd were looking for a manager John Hughes was being discussed openly in the media as their favourite despite his contract with ICT and him answering all questions about it with the 'I'm the ICT manager and don't want to discuss another club, thanks' type of line. Football is an industry that runs on whispers, inside knowledge and 'say one thing but mean another'.

The story the BBC ran about the board being willing to increase Warburton's salary and transfer budget was written by Richard Wilson and Alasdair Lamont - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34980312 I wouldn't class either as people who'd purposely try to damage Rangers or Warburton despite their employers. Indeed I'd go as far as to say if they are claiming board sources there might be some veracity to it.

We need to be careful we don't become paranoid here. What Warburton achieved with Brentford didn't go unnoticed in the English Championship and if anyone thinks Fulham haven't considered Warburton for the vacant post then they're deluding themselves. Fulham have been 'rejected' in one form or another by three other managers now. So rather than approach Rangers and be rebuffed again they've leaked it to the press that they're interested in him. That puts pressure on Rangers and also allows them to see how Warburton reacts to this indirect approach. Until last night Warburton was at best ambiguous in his answers to the Fulham questions. 'I'm at Rangers and I've a job to do here' 'it's disrespectful to discuss this' that type of answer simply fuels the speculation. Had he came out and said 'I'm not interested, I'll not be leaving Rangers for Fulham, end of' the story would have ended there, but he didn't until last night. The truth is of course Warburton was interested in Fulham, would any of you not be interested if another company made it known they'd like to employ you and probably pay you a lot more than you're earning just now? So I'm going to speculate that Warburton has weighed up what he currently has and perhaps what out board have intimated he might expect in the future, added that to what he might achieve with Rangers, measured it against Fulham, and decided he's better off where he is. For now. But for the life of me I can't see what the media have done wrong here and we should be careful not to let our distrust of them cloud our view on the reality of professional football.

The once great Valencia are now the play thing on 'super agent' Jorge Mendes, who along with the owner have turned Valencia into a club for bringing players to the attention of larger wealthier clubs, players who just happen to be represented by Jorge Mendes. The list of players Valencia have sold in the last few years is really eye-opening. It's a disgrace but it's a salutary tale, they got themselves into so much debt that they became easy prey. Sound familiar. If you want to see how powerful Mendes is look into the Bebe transfer to Man Utd, a transfer of £7.4 million. He was playing third division Portugese football just five weeks before Man U bought him. Ferguson had never seen him play. Needless to say he played like a third division player. The transfer stinks and some people made a lot of money. So yeah, Gary Neville going to manage a club for the very first time in a country he never played in and he can't speak Spanish. Nothing to see here, move along...

Well done to the board, hopefully an example other football clubs and large sports retailers will follow...

Thanks, I don't know him. He'd a lovely run on that clip.

Who is number 11 for us?

Can the law courts tell an independent body such at the SFA what to do? Surely the only recourse to law would be if they hadn't followed their own procedures? It's clearly just another salvo in the dirty war King and Ashley are fighting, after all even if he get's it overturned King's place would simply be taken by a person of King's choosing, it won't make much material difference.

I'm so pleased you pointed that out, the line 'those players wouldn't have signed for Rangers if it wasn't for EBTs' is simply supposition yet is getting a regular airing currently as if it's irrefutable fact. Murray was a huge gambler, everything about him suggests he would have found a different way of raising the money.