Uilleam

Kilmarnock 1 Rangers 3 First goal by McKay.

How much are they paying the Belfast bluffer?

For the game @thePiggery, all pressure will be upon them, pressure to perform, pressure to prevail; pressure from the press, from pundits, from past players, from priests , from preachers of hate, from the pungent and piss stained, from the prisons ,.......from Palestine....... As for Rangers, well......our cause is just; the enemy shall be defeated; victory will be ours. Not a piece of cake, granted.

You are being disingenuous. I don't disagree that a Lada is a crap car; I believe, however, that it is not the only crap car. I am no advocate of religion, but I don't think that all the ills of bodies politic, societal, economic can be laid exclusively at its various doors. The leaders with most blood on their hands in the 20thC were Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and, probably Pol Pot, all of whom embraced secular ideologies. Bad government, unfortunately, is not restricted to "non -secular" societies.

You are being disingenuous. I don't disagree that a Lada is a crap car; I believe, however, that it is not the only crap car. I am no advocate of religion, but I don't think that all the ills of bodies politic, societal, economic can be laid exclusively at its various doors. The leaders with most blood on their hands in the 20thC were Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and, probably Pol Pot, all of whom embraced secular ideologies. Bad government, unfortunately, is not restricted to "non -secular" societies.

Very well done. Congratulations to all involved.

How well are the secular societies with secular governments, of, say, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, North Korea, doing these days?

Scratch an "anti-Zionist", and very often, you will find an anti-Semite, hidden underneath. Oh, and those who condemn Blair's Iraq war, as illegal, because it did not have the imprimatur of the UN, are frequently the self same people who condemn the very existence of state of Israel, although it was founded by UN Mandate. Go figure. And let's not forget that Hamas is an anti democratic, repressive, anti-liberal, sectarian, Islamist terror organisation, nor that Hezbollah has as one of its primary goals the elimination of Israel, and that it actively (militarily) supports that nice man Bashar al- Assad in his slaughter of his own people, by poison gas, barrel bombs, etc, acting for, and on behalf of, those equally well intentioned theocrats in Tehran.

Maybe you should have a closer look at the history of Israel, post 1947, and establish just how many wars of aggression that state actually started. Of course Israeli governments may be criticised, but if you had neighbours like they have.......

Thomson, or Sutton? Both would be a result.

Wallace should be in the squad, as, in my view, the Captain of Rangers should be the Captain of Scotland (and vice versa, if you like). As for the match versus Malta, I cannot fathom why Messrs McCormack and Rhodes are not in the squad. Both are goalscorers at Eng Championship level, and surely a Maltese XI is no better than that standard. The manager is a twisted little ogre, so I expect the worst.

If all he ever does is score a hat trick in a victory over the fhilth, his fee would be money well spent, in my view.

Peut etre, peut etre, non https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/22/jurgen-klopp-liverpool-changes-efl-cup-burton-albion Jürgen Klopp could allow Mamadou Sakho to leave Liverpool on loan • Defender could be allowed to sharpen up elsewhere after torrid few months • Klopp says fringe players must accept being on the sidelines Guardian sport Monday 22 August 2016 Jürgen Klopp is believed to be willing to loan Mamadou Sakho out before the end of the transfer window after a chequered few months for the French centre-back. Reports suggest that Sakho, who was banned in April for failing a drugs test before Uefa dropped the case in July, will be allowed to restore his match sharpness elsewhere, having not played in a competitive game since the 4-0 win over Everton on 20 April. Sakho scored in that game but his suspension stunted his progress and then he angered Klopp sufficiently to be sent home from the pre-season tour of the United States after a series of minor disciplinary breaches. A heel injury has further hampered any attempts to re-establish himself in Klopp’s early-season thinking. Any loan move would not signal the end of the 26-year-old’s Liverpool career, with the intention being that he would return ready to reproduce the performances that made him a favourite at Anfield last season. Sakho joined from Paris Saint-Germain in September 2013 and became a key member of Klopp’s side after starting 2015-16 on the bench.

£50M, or thereby, for John Stones of Everton, a player who can bring out the ball from the back, and distribute it, but who many, if not most, pundits believe, cannot defend.

So, where will the £000s donated by rasellik support actually go? http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21705357-allowing-humanitarian-aid-risks-having-it-diverted-hamas-alms-enemy Israel and Gaza Alms for the enemy Allowing humanitarian aid risks having it diverted to Hamas Aug 20th 2016 | JERUSALEM THE indictments this month in an Israeli court of two Palestinians employed by international aid agencies have become a valuable weapon in the Israeli government’s public-relations war against Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007. In the first, a local director for World Vision, one of the world’s largest Christian aid organisations, stands accused of diverting millions of dollars to the armed wing of Hamas; the money, Israel alleges, was used to buy weapons, build fortifications and pay fighters. In the second, an engineer working for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) was charged with building facilities for Hamas. Israeli intelligence officials claim that these cases are only the first in a series that will show how Hamas has co-opted international aid organisations to bankroll its military activities. Hamas denies the claims, and World Vision and UNDP maintain that their activities in Gaza have been closely audited. The evidence, collected by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency, will now have to stand up in a civilian court. But the indictments were enough for Israel’s foreign ministry to launch a major media offensive and for the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to claim in a video posted on Facebook that “Israel cares more about Palestinians than their own leaders do,” since “Hamas stole critical support for Palestinian children so that they could kill our children.” Setting aside Mr Netanyahu’s hyperbole, the revelations underscore not only the continuing efforts of Hamas to build up military capability but also the difficulty faced by aid agencies in getting help to those in desperate need of it in Gaza. All humanitarian organisations working in war-zones face pressure to juggle the often conflicting demands of helping people without being seen to favour one side or another (while also meeting strict rules on good governance and corruption when they may be forced to treat with armed groups to get their aid through). Yet even by these standards Gaza is an especially difficult environment for humanitarian groups. Although Israel is not physically present in the strip (it dismantled its settlements and withdrew its forces in the summer of 2005), it controls nearly all access, bar the Rafah crossing, which is intermittently opened by the Egyptian government. Yet Israel forbids international organisations from interacting with Hamas, which it (like several other governments) defines as a terrorist organisation. “Even the best-organised operations have no choice but to operate in a grey zone in Gaza,” says Michael Sfard, an Israeli human-rights lawyer who advises humanitarian organisations working in the Palestinian territories. “Israel considers every civil servant who is paid by Hamas a terror operative, so even a medical-relief organisation that supplies incubators to a hospital in Gaza can be potentially accused of aiding terror.” Both Israel and Egypt justify the restrictions imposed on travel and imports to Gaza by citing Hamas’s violent activities. Although Israel has kept Gaza under tight control since the Hamas takeover in 2007, the latest prosecutions highlight the difficulty of continuing to do so without prompting a humanitarian disaster. And even Israel’s own stance towards Hamas has informally softened with time. Israel co-ordinates the strip’s civilian affairs through officials appointed and paid by the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. Meanwhile Hamas has its own parallel civil service, with which Israel will not officially deal. Yet only last month Israel allowed the Qatari government to transfer $31m to make up for a shortfall in Gaza’s finances and pay Hamas officials. Israeli security officials say that allowing day-workers to enter Israel and building a seaport for Gaza would not only improve Palestinian welfare, but also reduce the chances of yet another outbreak of violence. Mr Netanyahu has said in recent closed briefings that he would consider such ideas. Yet given his intense public campaign against Hamas, such pragmatism would be a hard sell at home.

1. Who are the Scottish players whom MW might purchase? 2. Which Scottish Clubs are willing to sell to Rangers, at a realistic price for the talent, or at all?

It will take more than M Phillipe Senderos to turn that into a defence.

You may be right. Perhaps I should have added, "Discuss".

You may be right. Perhaps I should have added, "Discuss".

You may be right. Perhaps I should have added, "Discuss".

John Hartson was a bullet dodged.

BBC suggesting that he failed medical.

Rangers 4 Motherwell 1 1st goal: McKay

I assumed, as anyone might, that some concerned Kerrydale accountant had inquired. Surprise that I am wrong, actually.

It's propaganda, an example of what is now called "Post Truth" : you lie like a bastard, the media run with it, despite knowing it is tripe, and it becomes truth, for a proportion of the people who see it. You repeat, more people see/hear/read it, and more accept it as the truth. You repeat...... It was developed in Nazi Germany, in the late 1920s, and 1930s. Here's one that someone prepared earlier, from, without a hint of irony, The Morning Star, only last weekend The Pied Piper Of Govania Wants 55 On The Cheap AUG 2016 Saturday 13TH posted by Morning Star in Sport PR rhetoric to sell season tickets makes way for the stark reality of finances at Ibrox, writes ANDREW MUIRHEAD “Rangers don’t need to spend big to match Celtic.” That was the claim from Rangers manager Mark Warburton this week, days after a Hamilton Accies side which was tipped for the drop this season were disappointed to walk away from Ibrox with just a point. After signing nine players this summer, you would question Warburton’s comments about spending big, especially when you consider the wages that the likes of Niko Kranjcar, Clint Hill, Jordan Rossiter and Joey Barton must be on. Then there are the contract renewals of James Tavernier, Martyn Waghorn and even Warburton himself to consider — all on improved terms. The days of “for every fiver Celtic spend, we will spend a tenner” are over at Rangers. No bank will give the Ibrox side credit. The real reason they “don’t need to match Celtic’s spending power” is simple — they can’t. It might be good PR to put out such a claim to those gullible enough to believe it but the truth is Celtic are on a different level to that of their city neighbours, both on and off the pitch. While Celtic have a strict business plan bolstered by money from a significant season ticket buy-up and European football revenue, Rangers live season by season off the season ticket revenue and once that has been milked dry they beg for scraps from their shareholders to just see out the season. Rangers may have signed nine players this summer, spending around £1 million on transfer fees but they also waved goodbye to eight players at the end of last season — who were either released or their contracts had ended. That sizeable departure freed up wages to cover the imports from Accrington Stanley and others. So not a huge outlay, as they seem to allude to before Warburton’s comments. For all of Dave King’s rhetoric and pandering to the “people,” he has still failed to deliver that £30m he promised he would invest in the club to bring the Ibrox side on an even keel with Celtic. How many of his “promises” has he actually delivered on? We may still be in August but Celtic have already shown this early on that they are head and shoulders above any team in the Scottish Premiership — even when they are not firing on all cylinders. The Champions League qualifier defeat to Lincoln Red Imps is a distant memory at Celtic Park, as Brendan Rodgers and Celtic are on the cusp of qualifying for the group stages of Europe’s elite club cup competition. Only Hapoel Be’er Sheva stand in their way and while they will be a tough test for the Scottish champions, on paper at least, Celtic should march on to football’s promised land. European football is guaranteed at Celtic, no matter the result against the Israeli side. Either way, the added millions in the coffers at the club, along with playing against a higher calibre of opponents, with all due respect to clubs in Scottish football, will give Celtic a boost as they look for their sixth title in a row. It may be a headache playing more games but it is a welcome headache for the players, the manager, the club and the fans alike. While Rangers fans will fall for the latest rhetoric emanating from the offices of Rangers’ PR guru Jim Traynor, one thing is evidently clear: Rangers don’t come close to matching the finances of Celtic and won’t until they regularly participate in European football and stop relying on handouts like beggars with a cup in hand. The image of Oliver with a bowl saying “please sir, can I have some more?” is less desperate. King and the Rangers board are desperate for the club to qualify for Europe at the first time of asking so they don’t need to dip into their pockets again. But with no firm financial footing currently and with a credit level lower than yours truly, the club that plays out of Ibrox will be playing second fiddle to Celtic for years to come. Already, the honeymoon period is over at Rangers as fans rounded on the club’s board for throwing their fellow fans to the wolves following the disgraceful scenes in the aftermath of their cup final defeat to Hibernian in May. Despite initially praising their fans for “defending” their players and officials, the club has now started to issue bans to fans charged no matter their guilt or innocence — as I reported in my column previously. Now that the season tickets have been sold, the pied piper of Govania has thrown down his flute and the realisation will dawn on the gullible people that marched to his tune, that they have been taken for another ride by a “saviour” who was labelled a “glib and shameless liar” by a South African judge. All the while the Scottish mainstream media peddle his press releases freely and pass them off as original copy. The exact same working practice as they did with David Murray, Craig Whyte and for the most part Charles Green — reporting on what they are told by a PR firm rather than what they know or find out. That isn’t journalism, it is club propaganda that Pravda would be proud of. Celtic may have spent just over £3m on Scott Sinclair but unlike some of the “big name” Rangers signings, he hit the ground running against top flight opposition rather than part-timers. He doesn’t have the luxury of playing against so-called lesser teams and while some players or managers complain about the spending power of Celtic in the aftermath of a league defeat, the Scottish champions are a European side and need to bring in players that can do a job at the highest level. If Brendan Rodgers’s side secure qualification to the group stages of the Champions League then the fee that was paid for Sinclair would be covered 10-fold. And even if they fail to beat Be’er Sheva, then Sinclair’s fee will still be covered by the revenue brought in from participation in the group stages of the Europa League. Celtic are at a level both on and off the park that Warburton can only dream of. While he moans about being priced out of moves for English-based players, Rodgers has a scouting network at his disposal that not only covers Europe but also spans worldwide. Rangers on the other hand seem to be signing players who played in the English Premier League a number of years ago — looking for one last pay day — or players from a League Two side more famous for being mentioned in a milk advert in the 1980s than it is for its football. While Rangers seem to run to the media at every opportunity to give them a nice wee puff piece on how they will win the title or how this Celtic player is not in their league, or that they are going for 55 — Celtic are doing their talking on the park and going by the demolition of Motherwell on Wednesday night, in some style. Let Rangers and their fans boast about going for 55, that number of points going by last season’s table will leave them in fifth place The Morning Star was once regafrded as a serious newspaper