Frankie

Mate, there are certainly a few 'Rangers friendly' journos but none of them (or their editiors) have the courage or honesty to tell the truth often enough... We were widely pilloried for leaving litter and taking a p!ss in the absence of alternatives. Celtic have had 60 fans fined for drinking/soliciting whores and at least 2 fans arrested for assaulting cabbies and policemen yet only one small part of the Sun mentions it. A disgrace.

Isn't it amazing that we feel the need to highlight an objective, balanced article in the face of so many poorly constructed, agenda-ridden tripe from the usual suspects...?

Let's hope he scores a toe-poked screamer tonight... Well done Fergie - the stage couldn't be set better for one of your dominating midfield master-classes.

I don't think I've ever hoped more strongly for us to win the title (and hopefully more). The reaction from these guys will be so good to watch.

As much as we've improved over the last year I'm not sure we have the overall quality to be able to challenge for this trophy. I'd love to be proved wrong and want to stay in the competition as long as possible but I think the SPL rightly takes priority. Once again the number of chances we create tonight will depend on who plays in the wider roles of the midfield 5 and whoever is selected will need to get forward to support Cousin whilst not negating their defensive duties. Will be interesting to see who will play in the centre as well with Hemdani, Thomson and dailly all vying for the holding role. Wouldn't surprise me to see Davis play wide right allowing Thomson or Hemdani to come in with Dailly man-marking Diego. Bremen are a decent side, doing well domestically with a few good results in the CL earlier this season. Certainly a side genuinely capable of winning the competition. However, as much as they are dangerous on the attack, they're also capable of conceding goals so this should be quite an interesting game with the chance of a fair few goals. As usual, if we play to our strengths and if we take the chances that should come our way, there's no reason why we can't get a positive result to take to Germany.

really is tedious mate... Can't remember them moaning about officials over the last 2 years. You'd think if we had officials in our back-pocket we'd have one something during this time...

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=1 Davis for me...

Delighted to hear this... Cousin has done pretty well this season and while we've still won games in his absence his quality will be needed right until the last game.

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606&Itemid=1 Barry Ferguson for me... :drink:

Sure is... BD is certainly well qualified to analyse and I hope he can do it again for the full accounts later in the year...

The thing with the Traynor issue is that he and Murray fell out a couple of years ago. Perhaps Jabba has weaselled his way back into the good books but I'd certainly like to know what this moonbeam is before I renew my season book...

Submitted by BlueDell The club made a �£2.3 million profit in the first 6 months to 31st December 2007. Sounds good, particularly compared to the loss of �£1.5 million for the same period in the previous year, but is it really? During the last 2 years we have made losses of �£5m and �£6m during the second halves of the year. The extended run in the UEFA Cup may be negated by the increased costs, so we probably make a loss of a similar amount this year. A loss of �£5m added to a profit of profit of �£2.7m means that we would have been looking at a loss for the year of over �£2m (being very conservative), and thatâ��s AFTER we have qualified for the Champions League (CL). What kind of loss would we be looking at had we not qualified for the CL? Given that turnover increased by �£10m due to the CL then we could have been looking at a loss of well over �£10m for the year. The figures show why it was vital for the Chairman to have the Hutton deal go through. This will take us into profit for the year, and will avoid the potentially embarrassing position of making a loss despite qualifying for the CL. The profit of �£2.3m was lower than the �£4m that I had expected due apparently to a higher than expected increase in salary costs, due to more players and it would seem that some of the new players may be on relatively high salaries. Our debt has increased but this is not surprising given the fact that our season ticket money mostly comes in before the end of June and the purchase of Cousin, Cuellar, Whittaker, McCulloch and Naismith will all have had a negative effect. Again the Hutton cash and perhaps some of the CL money still to come the position will be improved at the year-end, but itâ��s too difficult to speculate where we will be by then given the limited information available. So, overall, we are still reliant on both the CL and selling players to keep our head above water. Not a particularly reassuring place to be from a financial perspective. How do our results compare to Celticâ��s? Firstly their half-yearly accounts give a lot more details than our due to their stock market requirements. Rangers are quoted on the PLUS Markets Exchange which requires only a limited disclosure with no balance sheet and only a very limited profit and loss account supplied. It is therefore difficult to any sort of meaningful analysis of our accounts. Celtic made a profit of �£10m but if you strip out the �£4m profit that they made on the sale of players (I believe that we had very little in this area in comparison as the Hutton transfer will be shown in the second half of the year) then they made a profit of �£6m compared to our �£2.3m I believe that the 3 main reasons for the difference are their bigger capacity, our bigger write-off of players due to our purchases and that they have had one more game domestically than us. I believe their profit made on the sale of players was from the likes of Miller and Beattie, and goes to show how important it is for our Chairman and CEO to maximise return from the sale of our players, something that we appear to be guilty of not doing. Their bigger capacity may have added over �£2m to their profit for the 6 months and is something that we are going to have to live with unless steps are taken to increase the capacity of Ibrox.

A superb subtle dig in there from Davie... How long before the green and grey take the huff in the comments section...?

http://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/rstsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=1 THE saying goes it's all about results at this stage of the season. Well, Rangers are grinding them out even if it isn't always pretty. Walter was criticised for his tactics against Panathinaikos, but the end justifies the means in European competition. Scotland needs as many teams going as far in Europe as possible, so well done to all for keeping the flag flying. Gretna on Sunday was one of those games you are never going to buy a DVD of, but, as long as we keep winning, that's the important thing. There has been much talk about bad officiating this week, and while every team has a gripe about officials, surely the fact they are equally bad for everyone can't be used as an excuse? Too many officials are making too many mistakes, and it is time the SFA looked to improve standards. Players, managers and even fans ââ?¬â?? well, some fans ââ?¬â?? are punished when they don't perform to the required standard. I fail to see why referees are not judged in a similar way. David Edgar http://sport.scotsman.com/football/SPL-Fanzone-.3818435.jp

I think the upcoming Old Firm games will be a watershed in this issue. Perhaps not the first game but considering there will be (at least) 3 games within around 6 weeks which will most likely decide the destination of the title, I feel fan behaviour will be high on the agenda given the high stakes involved. Fortunately for us, we have a head start in showing that we can remove contentious stuff from our support. Celtic don't and it's now evident they can't or won't do this. Meanwhile, the authorities (including the SPL, Strathclyde Police, the Executive and ACPOS) continue to fudge the issue before our very eyes. This charade has no answer and it's going to be shown as much very soon.

Nope he didn't.

Aye, I believe he referred to their song about us being 'animals'... Yet he continually ignores songs about huns. Bizarre but any bad press is to be welcome I suppose.

Calling Full-Time on Sectarianism, December 2006 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/12/11144623/0 The 'Sectarianism in Football Working Group' Provide a strategy and action points for tackling sectarinism (sic) in football. Hot air or meaningful, objective action on solving one part of Scotland's so-called secret shame? Fast forward just over one year >>> Another away match - another game where Celtic fans flout regulations their supporters helped set up and enforce. At Ibrox Stadium, Celtic Park, Tynecastle Park, Dens Park, Caledonian Stadium, Rugby Park and Love Street, they have sung chants about 'huns' (as well as songs in support of the IRA). We all note the perceived religious affiliation of the recipients of these 'hun' chants. In Inverness and in Edinburgh, police action (including arrests) was taken against the perpetrators and the matter reported to the football authorities - including the SPL. Incredibly SPL action appears non-existent given the repeated breaches of their 'Unacceptable Conduct' rules - even more so when once considers another club has been warned for only one breach despite the same SPL observer (Alan Dick) being present in two of these games involving the two different clubs. Furthermore, another SPL Observer (Andy Ritchie - former Celtic player) has been present at least 2 of these Celtic games also. Indeed, he was bizarrely quoted in a newspaper that these songs were accepted because they celebrated Celtic's Irish background. Is he a member of the Celtic Trust one wonders? I've also read concerned fans who contact Iain Blair about the inconsistencies above say he dismisses their complaints because the SPL are unable to provide a list of terms/songs in relation to the 'Unacceptable Conduct' rules. The SPL also suggest club punishment is unsuitable because the clubs involved are being seen to discharge their duties to avoid such behaviour. I think that's true for one club whose fans have acted to remove any contentious terms. I'm not so sure for another club whose fans ignore any criticism of their behaviour and continue to revel in such unacceptable behaviour. As such, taking all the above information into account, I think the SPL need to answer the following key questions: 1. Would they agree with several Scottish police forces that the term 'hun' is used by Celtic supporters in a sectarian context? By refusing to act they are suggesting it's suitable. That is causing further confusion and division ââ?¬â?? not removing it. 2. Given the continual police action on this issue and the constant repugnant behaviour of the Celtic support (home and away) in singing these songs, do the SPL consider Celtic FC are doing enough to ensure the removal of terms such as 'hun', 'DOB' and songs in support of the IRA from their fans? It's obvious they are not so the SPL's continued prevarication regarding 'discharge of duties' is no longer acceptable. Why will this club not publicly condemn chants about ââ?¬Ë?hunsââ?¬â?¢ and/or the IRA? 3. What will it take from the SPL to remove these terms/songs from their supporters as current official 'action' is inconsistent and is clearly not working? Having proven non-neutral and incompetent observers will not facilitate consistency in the reporting of rule breaches. 4. If a proscribed list of unacceptable terms/songs has not been created, how can one club be warned and others ignored? Surely individual terms/songs must have played a part in Dick's report? Ergo, why was he negligent in his duties when it involved Celtic? Perhaps such confusion explains why Mr Ritchie is confused about the origins and/or suitability of offensive Celtic songs? Compiling a list isn't easy but not doing so leaves loopholes and doesn't promote equality and parity. 'Football for All' is failing and without genuine action the whole issue is a charade costing the tax-payer hundreds of thousands of pounds (if not more). 5. The SPL and the authorities in general need to involve more fans in order to really find workable solutions to remove the kind of offensive singing we hear on a regular basis in Scotland. As we see above, there are many more questions than answers in this debate. The authorities are not answering these valid questions so need help from those directly affected by the legislation - not pen-pushers who sit in leather chairs while fans pay top dollar. To conclude, I think it's important to make clear that this issue is not about some sort of petty one-upmanship to find fault with one club or set of fans but is a serious debate to discuss how such obvious deficiencies and inconsistencies in the way the authorities are addressing the issue are quite simply not working. By all means have rules and legislation. But by not applying these rules fairly, objectively and accurately these rules only serve to create more problems. Certainly when (or if) the working group outlined at the start of this article meet again full-time won't be called on sectarianism - just on the incompetency of the bodies involved in the charade at personal cost to every one of us.

We played 4-4-2 so him and Ferguson played as orthodox central midfielders.

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=603&Itemid=1 Davis for me... :box:

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=602&Itemid=1 There's only one Nacho Novo!

Aye, I really like it as well... nice combination of colours actually.

Guys, just thought I'd take the chance to promote a Trust member's CD. I know this fella from another forum and he's worked very hard to produce this decent addition to the music of our club. Have a look and listen to the project at the following address. Mention my name and Alex may provide you with a wee discount. http://www.rangersmedia.co.uk/wearetherangers/ :cheers:

Due to running a bit late on Saturday at the Corby RST event we did not get a chance to auction some of the items. One of these items is particularly good and we thought we would give you a chance to bid online. We have 8 match tickets & 8 hospitality spaces in the Wee Rangers Club for the Aberdeen game on Saturday 1st March. To make a bid please email the amount you wish to bid to scottrst@hotmail.co.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it The RST will keep all bidders up to date by email. The auction will finish at 9pm on Tuesday 26th February and all bidders will be notified whether they were successful or not. Hospitality in the WRC includes a glass of champagne, a five course meal & coffee before the game and coffee and sandwiches after the game. This package does not include alcohol but there will obviously be a cash bar available.

No doubt about it. Needs more experience at the top level but he's a fine defender capable of playing for any team - not least the inconsistent Spanish national side.