Frankie

Let's hope the lad makes a full recovery!

The point of 'disciplining' journalists (or their employer) is to stop/reduce the gratuitously negative stuff. I don't think banning them would do that and would actually increase their profile as well. Action short of a ban detailed by BD (I'm sure others could be equally imaginative) would not give them the increased notoriety of an outright ban while removing the same comforts they have now.

That's exactly how I'd approach it.

I was worried about this a wee bit as the banter between supports can be quite good. However, as Johnny says, by and large, most away supports are poor and don't react so given we're moving in order to have a bigger, better section that's one small negative worth moving past.

Whyte advisers like McKerron etc will talk to a variety of journalists regularly so it is likely that Spiers has spoken to his 'people' recently. However, I'm not convinced he'll be receiving inside info on anything either.

Unfortunately, in this case I think Spiers is correct - I doubt he or anyone else will be banned by the club. However, I do hope that the new regime will take a harder line privately to ensure such bans are not necessary in the first place. That is perhaps more likely.

The Blue Order and Union Bears are delighted to announce that as of next season both groups will be located in BF1, and we invite all fans with desire to improve the atmosphere and further cause of the groups to join us. After discussions with the club it was agreed that the traditional BF4/5 singing section will now be moved to BF1 with the added bonus that the groups would be in charge of transferring new recruits into the section, and also the seating arrangements. This is of course aside from the existing season ticket holders who have been given the opportunity to move their seat anywhere else in the stadium free of charge if they don�t want to be involved in the new section. We are extremely pleased with this, it gives the groups the opportunity to have a section to grow both vocally and visualy in aid of the team. The key points are as follows: All those moving to BF1 WILL recieve a ticket for both Derby games at Ibrox. Once you have registered your intention to move we require you to sign and return a transfer form which we can either email you or meet you in person with. This is also providing the section has not already been filled. We have a few expectation for fans wanting to transfer; we want you to be willing to sing your heart out for 90 minutes and to participate in any displays in the section. Of course we�d like for everyone to contribute to the groups in terms of membership and creating the fantastic displays we hope to produce, but we know that everyone�s circumstances are different and not all are able to take a more hands-on approach. Everyone who currently sits in BF4/5 will not be moved unless you contact TBO and state your intention to do so. Season ticket holders in this area WILL STILL receive tickets for both derby games despite not moving over. Already there is massive interest in joining the groups next season with around 200 people already stating their intention to join. As such if anyone is interested in joining the new section we advise you to contact us at http://www.theblueorder.co.uk and click on the Contact Us link. We need you to provide us with the following details:- Name Address (including postcode) Rangers Number Email Address Telephone Number Here�s to a new era at Ibrox. Existing 'singing section' (BF4/BF5) season ticket holders will be given priority over new recruits however after seven days from now the folk in BF4/BF5 will lose that priority status. TBO/UB

All valid points MF and I'd certainly agree the Assembly - as our official organisation - needs improvement. Obviously that would take time though and I'd much prefer to hear from the new owner in the interim. It will also be interesting to see how Whyte approaches the AGM later in the year. I'm sure McLelland will be keen to recommend the current format.

You can access them from the smilies or simply put their intitials between colons - i.e. : sn : (without the spaces) :sn:

I really don't like McManus but admittedly he has done quite well when playing alongside Weir for Scotland. Surely we have better options available though1

While we're on a stats mission, this article has just become the main site's 3rd most read article ever with almost 4000 unique views...

I've just vomited onto my monitor...

With Sotirios Kyrgiakos likely to be available on a free, should he be considered for a return? The epitome of enigma is the big Greek.

Beattie only had one 2nd prize to his name this season unfortunately... As did McCulloch, Fleck, Alexander, Diouf and, surprisingly for me, Whittaker.

Finally we'll have our user awards (both with regard to football and the informal members stuff) available over the next week or two...

Quite interesting to see how well Lafferty has done in particular. I doubt many of us would have considered him as our best player but the stats suggest he's had a decent season overall (as not all awards were in the last month or so). Considering he was voted the GN Worst Player of season 09/10, that's a decent answer to his critics. Steven Davis also fared better than I'd have thought. I've personally been quite critical but cl;early he still has his admirers amongst our support on a regular basis. His finish to the season was also crucial to our success. Surprisingly Kenny Miller only had one MotM award and one second place despite his impressive contribution before Xmas. Meanwhile, past winner Bougherra (09/10) and last season's unsung hero (McCulloch) didn't feature in the awards all that often.

I should note that the results were collated from the external site votes (not 'my' choice in each match ratings thread). Moreover, our best young players were Weiss (4 MotM awards with 2 second places) and Jamie Ness (2 MotM awards with 4 second places).

After going through the main site's man of the match polls for the season (some games weren't covered but there is a good spread of 36 games including league, CL, UEFA and cup matches), I can exclusively reveal that the player with most MotM awards was: As we've discussed recently the lad has been fantastic this season so this wasn't a huge surprise. However it was very close. Shagger had 5 awards to his name while Naismith, Weiss and Lafferty all had 4. In total, 16 different players had won a match award though which shows our squad did do it's job - no matter how small it supposedly was. I've also collated the results for 2nd place in the match-by-match awards and again a good spread of players have done well here with 18 different players being a 'vice-winner'. Of those; Naismith, Davis and Lafferty again all showed up well with 5 separate 'wins' each. Lies, damned lies and statistics I hear you shout, so we'll have one last poll where I've selected the main guys worthy of your vote. From that we can see the forum's Player of the Year! Have fun!

As it stands we have around 20 'senior' players with the arguable first choice XI as follows: :sw: :mb: :kb: :sp: :sd: :me: :lm: :sn: :nj: :kl: Outwith those players we have: Alexander | Cole, McMillan | Fleck, Ness, Hutton, Wylde | Beattie and Little. This shows we are very short in central defence with Weir out of contract and Bougherra tipped to leave. We must sign at least one central defender - probably two. Central midfield we are strong in but we lack wide players. Problem we have there is if we sign a first-class player who do we drop/sell from the first XI to accommodate them. I'd expect Conway may be more probable for left-side depth. Up front we again have a decent selection but will probably need to move on Beattie before we can sign another player. Can Lafferty be trusted to keep his level of form next season or will Jelavic need another partner? Overall, we still have a decent core of players but IMO defence is a priority. After that it will be a balance of finding players who can supplement our squad and improve competition to ensure a higher level of performance throughout the season.

That's fair enough but I'd have thought it was in Whyte's interests to meet quickly with the support to outline his plans (in a general sense obviously). I wonder how season ticket renewals went. Possibly pretty good given the title win and takeover so will be extremely interesting to see how the fan-owner relationship develops.

I don't think anyone is trying to upgrade our ambitions or hurry the manager into ill-judged hasty signings. More that there continues to be doubts about the ongoing fiscal viability of Whyte. As said earlier, I also don't doubt there is an element of mischief-making here so I'm not overly worried personally. The coming weeks will be interesting though and I'm looking forward to the situation settling down and Whyte really stamping his financial authority on our future.

One of Viola's agents also used to work for James Mortimer.

It's difficult to say really. As with others in the thread myself and the guy who told me this are rather confused. We feel the rumours are unlikely but we're not sure what people would have to gain by starting them directly or indirectly.

Better not tell him Dave's user-name on here.

I'm not the Park family's favourite blogger so afraid you're wrong mate.