Uilleam

At the bottom of the 3rd page, the writer says "Lastly"; I take it that p4 would be the usual salutations. I don't know why the letterhead is not on the first page of the reproduction.

The Chairman's letter is pretty much on the money. Short of denouncing the liars as liars there is not much more he could have said. In any event, by allowing this correspondence out, any who choose to read it will be in no doubt who is practising deceit.

Page Three (and, naw, no' that yin):

Nothing and no one will convince me that the Chief Constable or Chief Constable Depute penned that ludicrous letter. It has the fingerprints of Humza all over it, and if I was a policeman, never mind the Guv'nor, I would be fizzing. The Club, now, has to tell the truth (and shame the shameless) about its dialogues with the authorities and with political representatives. There is little in Scotland more disgusting than the Sinners showboating on a sea of lies.

Agreed.

Or, fallout, if you will, as this will set Club-police relations back, somewhat. Exactly what the SNP want, is my guess. Tuesday March 09 2021, 12.01am, The Times Football Police attack Rangers for ignoring fan control orders Title celebrations in Glasgow put safety at risk, says deputy chief constable Mark McLaughlin Rangers repeatedly ignored police orders to control their fans as thousands broke the law to celebrate the club’s first league title in a decade, a leading officer said yesterday. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-attack-rangers-for-ignoring-fan-control-orders-bbstr72h9 Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham condemned the “lack of support from Rangers Football Club”, accusing it of failing to help police to dissuade supporters from mass celebration or encourage those partying in Glasgow city centre to disperse. Dozens of supporters were arrested after congregating in George Square and outside Ibrox Stadium after Rangers prised the Scottish Premiership title from Celtic on Sunday. Graham criticised the “disgraceful” actions of the fans and said they had put officers and the community at risk. “I also strongly condemn the lack of support from Rangers Football Club over the messages we repeatedly asked them to put out to persuade fans not to go out celebrating and encourage those who did gather in large numbers to return home,” he said. “It was very clear through the lack of messaging that Rangers did not take seriously their responsibilities in terms of seeking to persuade their fans to celebrate safely and responsibly. “I commend the officers who delivered a policing operation which was entirely consistent with our approach throughout this pandemic. They did this faced with considerable danger, all of which was completely unnecessary and avoidable.” Police Scotland was accused of taking a light touch with the crowd that had gathered in George Square. “Where large numbers of people gather at an unplanned event such as this, we use established crowd control measures to ensure we are keeping the public safe and manage those who are refusing to disperse,” Graham said. John Swinney criticised the “shameful” parties, saying the “silence from Rangers was deafening”. The deputy first minister echoed police claims that Rangers had failed to advise fans to obey public health restrictions and said ministers would make their “extreme disappointment at the lack of leadership clear to the team management”. Dr Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said there was a “real risk” that Covid-19 had spread during the gatherings. Swinney warned that it may lead to “difficult decisions” about easing lockdown. Rangers said they had “actively engaged” with the government and Police Scotland to maintain “a cohesive message regarding public safety”. A spokesman added that Rangers understood the “jubilance” of their fans and highlighted “frustration” about the fact that stadiums had been closed for months. Steven Gerrard, the Rangers manager, defended his players for joining early celebrations with fans on Saturday. From this report it would seem that Poileas Alba abdicated its policing responsibilities, and expected the football Club to pick up the slack. Rangers, "repeatedly ignored police orders to control their fans". Is this actually true? Quite how it was to execute this directive is unclear to me; it should -would, surely?- have been clear to the police that this was a non-starter. Rangers, itself, says, "DURING the last number of weeks, Rangers can confirm that we initiated open dialogue with key stakeholders in relation to the possibility of us achieving a historic 55th league title", and that "We have proactively engaged with our local MP, the Justice Minister, the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the SPFL in relation to maintaining a cohesive message regarding public safety during the Covid-19 pandemic." The Chief Constable says “I also strongly condemn the lack of support from Rangers Football Club over the messages we repeatedly asked them to put out to persuade fans not to go out celebrating and encourage those who did gather in large numbers to return home.” Steven Gerrard -the man whom the fans would be most likely to listen to- did this in two press conferences before Sunday. Perhaps he was not persuasive enough; perhaps his message was not strong enough; perhaps he should have iterated and reiterated the message on social media, until he was, well, blue in the face. Perhaps an uncompromising statement should have been penned by the SNP, as I take it the Chief Constable's was. Of course, even if Humza, or Swinney, or Sturgeon, or even all three, had written a script, for the Club, the question of dissemination has to be addressed, as the 'national Broadcaster' refuses to cooperate with the Club or report on its activities to any meaningful extent. Clearly, the government, and the police, knew that this was likely to happen, but were unprepared. The Club also knew, but quite how it is meant to accept responsibility for events on public streets and squares is anybody's guess. As we are, alas, i m o, unlikely to hear the truth from the current administration, the Club should make public the minutes/notes/confirmatory communications/whatever content, which followed dialogues with government, and police. I would guess that the police underestimated the no. of ecstatic madmen who would hit the streets. For the avoidance of doubt: the supporters were wrong; we can explain it, but we cannot excuse it.

We dodged the entire Royal Ordnance Factory, mate.

We have that many fucking partners we should have DUREX on the jersey.

I think that Frankie should have taken their money and shagged their women.

How much did they offer you?

Henry Winter, never, in my experience, one to shy away from criticising Rangers, observes-positively- in today's Times: Gerrard’s gamble at Rangers pays off Those who believed Rangers were taking a risk when appointing a managerial novice overlooked that he was really the one taking the risk. Taking over a club still recovering from emotional and financial trauma with Celtic so dominant was a gamble. But Steven Gerrard never sees risk, only opportunity, and a man so driven to win has now guided Rangers to the title. He recruits well (Ryan Kent). He handles tricky players well (Alfredo Morelos). He appoints good coaches (Michael Beale). Of course, Gerrard should have highlighted more the risks of fans gathering during a pandemic, but the emotional outpouring was inevitable. Gerrard has restored Rangers’ pride. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/talismanic-youri-tielemans-and-jubilant-steven-gerrard-q5zj36xrt

The Guardian with a decent article by Ewan Murray. (Professor Greenslade, devotee of the Rangers' Tax Case blog and arselicker of bombers, will be less than happy.) 'It's incomparable' – Rangers fans' journey from Brechin to another title (Clockwise from top left) Joe Aribo scores against Celtic in January; Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi celebrate; manager Steven Gerrard and James Tavernier; forward Alfredo Morelos; midfielder Scott Arfield. Composite: Getty Images, PA, Rex Supporters, many of whom feared their club might go under, share their thoughts after a first league title in 10 years Ewan Murray @mrewanmurray Mon 8 Mar 2021 12.00 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/08/its-incomparable-rangers-fans-journey-from-brechin-to-another-title-scottish-premiership The Rangers championship tale cannot possibly begin with the first weekend of this season, but such was the multi-faceted nature of the club’s cataclysmic collapse that perhaps July 2012 and a Challenge Cup tie in Brechin is not a valid starting point either. In the eyes of supporters who have looked on as Rangers – post-administration, liquidation and a level of reputational damage their worst enemies could only have fantasised over – the Premiership flag for 2020-21 absorbs years of pain. And those fans are in many ways a more fascinating case study than the players who delivered this historic moment. Following Rangers, for so long about as difficult a life option as picking wellies over sandals in a snowstorm, suddenly involved domestic drudgery against Berwick, Annan and Montrose. In the background at Ibrox sat, to put it kindly, a series of highly unconvincing characters. “There were times where you began to think: ‘Maybe this is it,’” says David Edgar of the Heart & Hand Rangers podcast that attracts 200,000 listeners to two shows a week. “It sounds ridiculous but if you said the same to Aberdeen fans in 1985, it would have seemed ridiculous to them. “We didn’t want to hear it at the time and people forget but Dave King [later Rangers’ chairman] said just before it all happened that there would be administration and liquidation. He also said the blows to the club were so serious that it would take 10 years. Who wants to hear ‘10 years’ at that point? You don’t want to take that in. “This is the 19th time I’ve seen us win the league. It’s incomparable to any of those. This one is so different because of where we have been. We have lost a lot of people in 10 years. We came close to losing our club a few times, including spiritually. The pilot light nearly went out.” There is always “the moment”. For Jonathan Watson, a Rangers supporter best known in Scottish football circles for his starring role in the cult series Only An Excuse? it arrived as the team sheets landed for October’s Old Firm fixture. “I hadn’t been confident at all at the start of the season,” Watson says. “I looked at the Rangers subs that day and for the first time thought ‘Wait a minute, we have a better bench than they’ve got.’” Rangers went on to win 2-0 at Celtic Park. Like Edgar, Adam Thornton was in Brechin for that 2012 cup tie. Rangers were the champions in the summer of 1994 when, aged eight, he collected his first Ibrox season ticket. Another 10 titles – and multiple other honours – arrived until Rangers’ 54th, and hitherto last, in 2011. “I think everybody thought when this one came along, it would be another nail-biter,” Thornton says. “Since 2 January I have made peace with myself; it’s happening. In a way when you gear yourself up for a while, you have been celebrating a little bit already. It’s huge, the most important of my lifetime and you could argue in the club’s history.” Thornton references “scar tissue” as attached to events since 2012; and no wonder. “It’s not just a case of coming back, it’s about all the charlatans that there have been along the way,” Watson says, adding that what the club has gone through to get back to winning the title is “why it means so much more. I also think it will mean a great deal to those players; one thing the management have done is show what it means to the people who come and support them. This is a huge achievement for everyone.” Nine years ago, Rangers supporters were consumed by anger. The intervening period distorts what precisely that related to but a sense of unjust treatment – by their own board, by football authorities, by other clubs – was once a fundamental theme. With Rangers as champions, revenge lies somewhere in the mix. “We understood that we were hated as the biggest club, we get that,” Edgar explains. “That’s fine. Have a laugh at our expense, absolutely. That summer – and people lost friendships because of this – it went beyond banter. People genuinely wanted Rangers to die. Other football fans, who know how important their club is to them, wanted to take that away from us. We found that too much, it crossed the line. It was cruel. Turn up at games waving tenners by all means but actually saying: ‘It would make me happy to see you lose this thing that means so much to you’? We as supporters were victims.” Including during matchdays. Time-honoured rivalries created to varying degrees with Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibernian were placed into cold storage. “How do you recreate that against Stenhousemuir?” Edgar asks. “It’s like bullying. We have guys running about out there on 10 grand a week. How can you talk down to others? You feel like the much bigger kid playing football with the primary threes. Your options were boring, unenjoyable, unfair football … or humiliation. Not great. The novelty wore off quickly. It was a jail sentence we just had to get through.” The League One campaign in 2013-14 is a case in point. “We went unbeaten but you wouldn’t really have known it from general perceptions,” Thornton says. “It had become a slog.” He shivers when recalling the 1-0 Challenge Cup final defeat by Raith Rovers in April 2014. “We were crying out for any bit of success. You couldn’t really see any way out at that point.” By early 2017, Rangers were back in the top flight but suffered huge European embarrassment at the hands of Progrès Niederkorn. “I was doing a play in Birmingham and listened on the radio,” says Watson. “Pumped by the might of Luxembourg.” Watson later called his friend, the Celtic-supporting Scottish comedy writer Phil Differ. “He picked up and just couldn’t stop laughing.” That, of course, is a harmless side of a routinely bitter Glasgow rivalry that many don’t see. The reason smiling is the best option is that success for Old Firm clubs is cyclical. Celtic are only now being reminded of that. “When I was at school Celtic were winning the European Cup and going for nine titles in a row,” Watson says. “I remember going to Easter Road in 1975, Rangers ‘won’ one each and that stopped the run. It’s all part of the Old Firm seesaw. “When it’s your team, it’s fine. But if you are brutally honest and take an overview, it’s not healthy for the game in Scotland [to have these title-winning sequences]. Then again, you look at leagues around Europe now – England is an exception – and it’s so often between two or three teams.” Stark improvement in Rangers’ recruitment has been key to success. Watson delivers typically sharp humour when illustrating how both halves of the Old Firm used to shop in familiar markets but the underlying point is a serious one. “Nowadays, not only have you not heard of the player but you haven’t heard of the club they’ve come from either,” he says. “Encyclopaedic knowledge of Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly and you’re still struggling.” Crucially, the Rangers support has a squad with whom they can connect. It wasn’t ever thus. Basic though it may sound, fans like their team again. “People talk about footballers being overpaid; there were never footballers as overpaid as the ones in the Third Division for Rangers,” Edgar says. “There were guys playing for the club you felt no connection with. There were people running the club you actively despised. Beyond the stadium, the badge, the fans this wasn’t a big team. There was nothing there to indicate that.” Thornton concurs. “This is the best version of Rangers I have seen since Dick Advocaat [manager from 1998-2001] with the style of football, the success in Europe, outstanding players in every position,” he says. “I remember watching Rangers in Europe and we couldn’t get a kick of the ball. Now we are dominating Benfica for large parts of a game.” The jibes from Celtic’s contingent won’t abate. That wouldn’t be natural. One remains constant. “‘Your club died,’” smiles Edgar. “Well, in that case it took nine years for this club to beat you. Is that better?” The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email. At a point in the future, packed stands at Ibrox will hail the group who broke Celtic’s spell. “I’ve sat next to my dad since 1994 but haven’t watched a game with him for a year,” Thornton says. “You take for granted that you visit this place once a fortnight for most of your life. Adding a title win to that means it will be a special day.” It is hardly football cliche to suggest this really is for the masses.

They need to practice while walking, of course, but...

PRIORITY MATRIX FOR KEY WORKERS Please note the list is neither definitive nor exhaustive but is intended to provide an indication of the type of worker within each group Priority Group 3: Staff directly involved in delivering other essential services. 3 Staff delivering essential services.  Staff providing child care/education in schools in other settings for key workers  Public transport workers  Postal services  Financial services  Food retailers, including food markets, supermarkets, convenience stores and corner shops  Construction and maintenance of essential public services  Court and Crown Office staff  Civil Servants, parliament staff, politicians and other critical decision makers in public sector working on the central response to covid-19  Consular corps  Bookies' runners Journalists and broadcasters https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/advice-and-guidance/2020/04/coronavirus-covid-19-access-to-testing-guide/documents/scottish-government-coronavirus-testing-prioritisation-matrix/scottish-government-coronavirus-testing-prioritisation-matrix/govscot%3Adocument/Key%2BWorkers%2Bmatrix%2B-%2BTesting%2B-%2Bv3%2Bupdate%2B-%2B7%2BMay%2B2020.pdf

If there is, if there was, if there ever will be, a club which is like no other, it is The Famous Glasgow Rangers.

Aye. You can send me a bottle.

I'm having a gin; it's just a gin; but its colours.... ....they are fine

You know this, and you have failed to call down an air strike?

An article from The Times, is below; the most interesting part of it is the coda, tacked on like an afterthought, and as though it was a matter of little significance. "Meanwhile SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell revealed an investigation was continuing into the five Rangers players who broke Covid rules by attending a house party last month, with Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude all facing suspensions. But Maxwell said no action would be taken against Celtic despite pictures which showed players failing to social distance in a Dubai bar during their highly controversial training camp: “From a compliance perspective, there is nothing to see in terms of Celtic in Dubai.” " The malleable Mr Maxwell. Always a transactional appointment, as this makes clear; payback from him, paydirt for his sponsor. Steven Gerrard hits out at John Beaton Rangers manager accepts one-match ban but is unhappy referee did not apologise for error Michael Grant, Scottish football Correspondent Saturday March 06 2021, 12.01am, The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/steven-gerrard-hits-out-at-john-beaton-whf08jz07 The Rangers manager Steven Gerrard criticised referee John Beaton’s attitude last night and said he had failed to apologise for making the wrong call on Alfredo Morelos’s midweek penalty incident at Livingston. Beaton booked Morelos for diving when the striker had been brought down by goalkeeper Max Stryjek. Rangers submitted an appeal and the yellow card was rescinded at an SFA hearing last night. Beaton also sent off Gerrard for confronting him about the incident at half-time and the SFA yesterday issued a one-game suspension which means the manager will be in the stand for today’s game against St Mirren at Ibrox. But Rangers are deeply unhappy that Beaton would not communicate or apologise for making the wrong decision and their sporting director, Ross Wilson, made the club’s concerns clear in a lengthy call to SFA head of refereeing Crawford Allan. A Rangers statement said “no-one will be surprised that Alfredo Morelos’s yellow card has been rescinded”. Gerrard then highlighted that he had apologised for his own conduct after the game. “I reiterate that apology and accept a one-game suspension. As a club, we were extremely disappointed in the attitude displayed by the referee. “We expect to have the ability for managers and officials to have discussion but frustratingly, the referee was not forthcoming. This has also been noted by other managers in recent weeks. After my apology post-match I expected the referee to call to apologise for his part in the incident but I didn’t hear from him. Ross Wilson had a long, frank and honest discussion with Crawford Allan today. Our concerns have been made very clear and we are pleased that they were received openly by Crawford.” Meanwhile SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell revealed an investigation was continuing into the five Rangers players who broke Covid rules by attending a house party last month, with Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude all facing suspensions. But Maxwell said no action would be taken against Celtic despite pictures which showed players failing to social distance in a Dubai bar during their highly controversial training camp: “From a compliance perspective, there is nothing to see in terms of Celtic in Dubai.”

The battle to establish equivalence continues. Really, and no matter how distasteful this sounds, comparing what seems to have happened at Rangers to what has been proven to have happened elsewhere in this city, is like comparing a car thief to the Krays. The Club cannot, and should not, permit itself to be dragged down into the stinking morass of sex crimes and their suppression, out east. Silence -dignified is a moot point- will not help in this regard. The Club is, presumably, acting under advisement, but reticence and seeming lack of action allow misinterpretation and rumour to flourish. It has to say, and to do, something, sometime, preferably sooner, rather than later. Former Rangers coach denies threatening assault victim Marc Horne Saturday March 06 2021, 12.01am, The Times A former coach has emphatically denied intimidating a teenager who complained about Gordon Neely, above, the Ibrox club’s head of youth developent https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/former-rangers-coach-denies-threatening-assault-victim-ncnb9vgtd A former Rangers coach has denied threatening an abuse survivor and telling him he would make his life hell for “grassing” after the allegation was made in an official report. The Scottish FA-commissioned review on abuse expressed concern over an alleged incident in the 1990s where a teenager felt forced to leave Ibrox after he came forward to report being assaulted by Gordon Neely, the club’s head of youth development. Neely was sacked but the report, published last month, claims his victim was then intimidated by another coach who allegedly warned him to “watch his back”. The report said the survivor’s testimony “included a coach openly threatening that whoever had ‘grassed’ his friend and ‘got him the sack’ had better ‘watch his back’ as he would ‘make his life hell’.” The review concluded that the comments, if made, would have been likely to “silence other young players and stop them coming forward in future”. The former coach, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied the allegations, describing them as “outrageous and untrue”. He told The Times: “I absolutely did not say these types of things. I didn’t know about his penchant, what his behaviour was. I was told Neely had left to set up a business.” The report unmasked Neely, who died in 2014, as a prolific paedophile who abused at least three other youths at Ibrox and previously attacked players at Hibernian and the Edinburgh youth side Hutchison Vale. A spokesman for Rangers said the individual at the centre of the allegations had not been employed by the club for a considerable period of time. Comments for this article have been turned off

Red card tomorrow, then.

More worrying is when they open the broom cupboard and find all the XXL tins of worms

I didn't notice the trousers, but I'll take your fashion advice....

All players, coaches, and associated and ancillary staff, who were in Dubai should be banned. First 7 matches of next season should suffice.

Notice of Claim | Alfredo Morelos, Player, Rangers FC Thursday 4 March 2021 Player: Alfredo Morelos, Rangers FCMatch: Livingston FC v Rangers FC on 3 March 2021Competition: SPFL PremiershipOffence: B1k - Commits an act of simulationClaim: Wrongful Caution for Simulation Justification: Referee, John Beaton, is a wankFast Track Tribunal Hearing: Friday 5 March 2021