Frankie

...Well it is if you're a Daily Mail journalist called Michael Walker! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1217555/The-death-Tommy-Burns-offered-chance-change-fixture-defined-hatred-s-SAME-OLD-FIRM.html?ITO=1490 A disgracefully one-sided and ill-informed article dressed up as a generic piece about sectarianism yet only talks about the issue from an anti-Rangers position. No mention that Bobby Sands was a convicted IRA terrorist, no mention of offensive songs from other supports, only Catholics are killed after Old Firm games and suddenly drums sound like, erm, flutes...! The sad passing of Tommy Burns shouldn't be used by journalists to score cheap points about a subject that is hardly going to be solved through the premature deaths of key figures. Shame on you Michael Walker - even when we are hammered 4-1 at home, you still can't help yourself!

An interesting look from pete at our recent months without our former skipper.... A few years ago I was working in a factory where everyone was of the opinion that if the head of the maintenance department ever quit his job, the whole factory would be in trouble. It could even go bankrupt was the general consensus. He was the only one who could repair everything and anything. At that time the management knew someone was stealing and laid a trap to catch the culprit. To everyoneââ?¬â?¢s shock it turned out to be the irreplaceable head of maintenance. After years and years of service he was fired on the spot. Did the factory shut down? No! What did happen was that his assistant took control, brought in some new ideas and actually improved things. Why am I telling this story? In my opinion, we as Rangers supporters have just witnessed a similar scenario in Barry Ferguson leaving the club. In no way am I accusing Barry of stealing, although some supporters will say he was certainly not earning his huge wages. The common denominator in the two scenarios being that many fans believed up to the end of last season that Barry Ferguson was irreplaceable, and that Rangers could not win the league without him. The doomsday scenario of Barry getting injured and then demoted for the famous boozegate incident meant Rangers were without our irreplaceable ex-captain. Nevertheless, as in the story above, the Rangers team did not crumble and fall but his understudy, Maurice Edu took over in the engine room, and actually improved the Rangers midfield. Rangers went on an unbeaten run to claim the SPL title for the 52nd time. With Barry heading down the M6 to Birmingham in the summer, life without Barry at Ibrox was to begin for real. Injuries to Maurice Edu, Kevin Thomson and Pedro Mendes were to further complicate matters. A replacement was to be found in the unexpected person of Lee McCulloch. Big Lee has stepped in and performed competently, scoring a few from midfield. He has probably been the surprise packet of the season so far. While Lee has performed above expectations, the player we were expecting the most from, Pedro Mendes, has so far failed to produce any sort of form to get the bears exited about. While he was unlucky to be red carded against Kilmarnock his performances have been way down from the form that won him a few player of the match awards last season. With Pedro and Lee both commanding a midfield position, we certainly lack a bit of pace and flexibility. Kevin Thomson has also recently returned to the team and once he has built up the needed match fitness he will probably be the first name on the team sheet, with McCulloch finding himself out in the cold. Walter Smith has been playing Stevie Davis on the right hand side of the midfield but most people agree he looks to be far more effective when he plays through the middle. The fact is we have just too many players trying to claim the central midfield positions. When Maurice Edu returns in a few weeks Walter will be given a further headache of trying to keep all the midfielders happy and playing. Indeed, if Edu hits the form he did at the end of last term then it could be Pedro Mendes who drops to the bench leaving a midfield of Davis, Edu, Thomson and Rothen. Walter could of course play Mendes as well, and go for a five man midfield, which he will no doubt do in European games, but this strategy has not been too successful in SPL games in the past. Certainly, if everyone hits form then it certainly looks like Walter will have a chest of riches to choose from. As it stands though, with Barry playing well down in Birmingham, and with Rangers losing to Seville plus drawing their last three successive league games, the Barry believers will be starting to raise their heads again in a ââ?¬Å?we told you soââ?¬Â sort of way. The fact is that Rangers dropped more points last season with Barry in the team than we did when he was not in the team. Barry has now gone, it is now time to move on with the players we have. Pound for pound Rangers arguably still have the strongest team in the SPL. It is now time for the players to start believing that. Walter Smith has to get the team playing to their true ability and not under-achieving. Starting against Celtic on Sunday, we have to start producing performances befitting of Scottish champions. Barry Ferguson will back us on that. :spl:

Yeah, it's a bit annoying when fans leave early but its part and parcel of the game unfortunately - losing or winning in fact. The traffic situation around Ibrox doesn't help at the moment. Takes around 45-60mins just to get away from the immediate locus because of road closures. Probably explains why some nip off early.

Football Aid is back, and this year will see it celebrating its milestone tenth anniversary! And to help celebrate this ââ?¬Å?Decade of Dreamsââ?¬Â, Rangers FC have once again joined forces with Football Aid to allow Gers fans the opportunity to play on the hallowed turf of Ibrox and in turn raise funds for charity. Read More... http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=844&Itemid=2

Trust membership numbers are certainly directly related to club performance but irony is no excuse for not working hard behind the scenes to maximise their numbers and activity outwith the usual peaks and troughs. I don't know all the new people but I wish them luck in looking to address the organisation's obvious faults while maintaining the good work in other areas.

I'm assuming, like their negative reaction to STS, it is because they have issues with the people involved.

I don't think they could be any worse...

No, that seems pretty low. The numbers are never all that high but usually at least twice the 26/27 quoted. I remember my first AGM in the Partick Burgh Halls and that was probably closer to around 100.

TB: I think the problem is one would have to rejoin the Trust to put across their concerns/suggestions and people are not prepared to do that. The numbers present at the AGM (and the overall Trust membership) are most disappointing but perhaps indicative of the increasing apathy from supporters in the organisation. Moreover the lack of activity within the organisation itself suggests there isn't much for lapsed members (or potential new ones) to get their teeth into. Gerspride is interesting enough and the other external projects Bluedell listed obviously worthy of support but other than that, not much seems to be happening in terms of genuine representative policies. For example, the Trust were asked to be involved in STS where they could join fans of a similar viewpoint in examining various issues allowing for some unified debate resulting in increased pressure on the Assembly (and the club). Yet, they didn't even give the courtesy of a reply. Elsewhere there appears to be widespread interest and support in this project yet the Trust - an organisation supposedly interested in improvement, fan unification and open debate, isn't interested and refuses to say why. I'd contend it is this kind of attitude that is holding the organisation back. That is extremely sad given I'd guess many, many Rangers fans agree with the Trust model and share its aims and objectives.

As sure as I can be mate... :D

Not sure either to be fair... I'm more worried about Chester than Smith though...

Astounded by the relatively few entries I've had from the forums regulars on this... It is a great prize and everyone has a great chance of winning.

Yep, pm me if you need any details...

I'm happy to hear Walter putting a bit of pressure on the men running our club - even if the timing may not be all that great. No-one denies the club is struggling to provide such finance and no-one is suggesting we spend outwith our means. However, people do think the club could be run better in order to improve the overall position.

Yeah, I think the 'anti-football' thing has been over-egged by an omni-present media desperate to find fault with our club and a section of the support desperate to be negative about our club... No-one wants our team to be overly negative or to go into games thinking we can't win. That would be ridiculous. However, sometimes the opposition demands a more tactical, defensive outlook. If that means more European finals and SPL trophies, that's fine by me.

Watch the Damned United and they may give you an idea....

I wasn't online last weekend so didn't have the chance to see the bumped thread... Don't worry, I know who had what points... (I think)....

Depends on the performance tomorrow. If we win and win well, Smith may be confident enough to go have a go on Tuesday. A less convincing display and result, then 4-5-1 will return with Miller up front.

Ah, thanks for that mate - forgot to do this last week!

Cheers mate!

Just to let everyone know of a mistake in the original thread title. The 'zine is available next Tuesday for the Sevilla game; not tomorrow!

Nope, but I will advise him on a range of matters when we meet next week.... :box:

No1 is independent of any website but George has helped me with the STS thing so I'm happy to reciprocate the back scratching. RM and VB provide articles and similar publicity so again that's why they're mentioned. If FF helped me out, I'd be happy to do the same for them obviously... Don't think that's going to happen though given their editor's comments on myself and the STS project.

Yeah, I'm happy to renew Novo and Broadfoot's contracts... Novo hasn't looked quite as sharp of late but I doubt we'd replace him with a better player so I'm happy to keep him for another 12-24 months.

I'll speak with George on Cammy's behalf - I'm sure the wee man and the big man won't mind for future issues...