Bill

He didn’t have his finest performance in a Rangers shirt. Got caught in possession so many times. He can do so much better.

Rangers 5 Kilmarnock 0 FGS Goldson

Those may be decent proposals but rest assured "we" won't be bringing in anything because "we" don't control anything or anyone and the current setup suits those that do. Life is governed by some very straightforward principles, the most basic of which is that those who have power do unto those who don't. The challenge isn't what to do with power but how to get it. This is a confusion that leads to enormous frustration and wasted energy.

Yes, it's strange how we keep on having to re-invent what we once decided was wrong and threw away. I think that's the one consistent aspect of society that never changes. The mistake was giving plebs and women the vote ?

Predictably worthless.

Those are not solutions. It's just a wish list with no means of ever being implemented.

Theres a lot more than the CO involved.

It's the much-heralded Post Truth Era in all its stinking glory and I agree its definitely a change for the worse. It has essentially removed all trace of integrity from the equation of human values. This leaves people who still believe in decency and dignity at a distinct disadvantage and frustrated by their impotence. However the old adage still applies ... it's not describing the problem that counts but describing the solution ... and if there was one then better people than me would have described it long ago.

It's been the reality for at least the last 30 years so it's clearly more than an option

??

On what basis would you take this to the courts. Seriously, no one is ever going to get anywhere with this if we continue to waste time and energy on fictitious remedies and impossible solutions. It is what it is. You either change the relationship between Rangers and the SPFL & SFA to something like we had well before the Murray years or you settle for how it is today. Celtic are benefiting now because they understood better than we did that this is essentially a political battle, not a legal one. Many years ago Rangers was by far the most influential club in the Scottish game but we turned that into a "no one likes us, we don't care" situation. Of course it's not entirely as simple as that but you get my point.

And as far as I can see, words have inviolable meaning and trying to distort that using only-too-convenient legal interpretation is only likely to impress those it’s targeted at. It’s a fudge, otherwise the Lord Advocate wouldn’t be using the old tactic of “absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence”. Like I said, oily.

I think he is being oily.

I think it's unfair the way journalists get such unjustified criticism. There seems to be a complete lack of understanding about the role of a journalist, including a daft notion that they exist to report facts and to do so accurately. In fact, as more fully informed people know perfectly well, the role of the journalist is simply to fill column inches while in the process avoiding legal liability. In that respect, accuracy is totally irrelevant and to expect it is to miss the point completely.

To say that something can be malicious without necessarily having been motivated by malice is, literally, incredible. In fact it's linguistically impossible. The Lord Advocate is playing with words in an attempt to avoid inferring any conclusion that he believes is the business of an enquiry. I can see why he's doing it but the way in which he is trying to separate "malicious" from "malice" is not clever.

I like to see this. I don't think it's particularly important in itself but it says to me that the club is finally outward looking and ready to embrace any opportunity to develop and market the brand. I can see this being repeated elsewhere. Rangers is clearly keen to develop its profile at last. It has James Bisgrove's hand all over it and so far his hand seems to be a very good hand.

Yes, ultimately they can do whatever the hell they like with complete impunity. A bit like a parliamentary enquiry at Holyrood - act as judge and jury and only ever investigate yourself. I've often wondered if supporters might be able to take legal action against SFA/SPFL if they could somehow demonstrate loss. It wouldn't be loss in the same terms as the club or players but it might be a way to show SFA/SPFL incompetence or wrongdoing. At the very least it might shine a light on them and cause persuasive embarrassment. I've no clear idea how this might work but it doesn't seem impossible. I wonder if there's a precedent somewhere?

Even if we "thought" he wasn't guilty, it wouldn't make any difference so long as the referee and the CO "thought" he was. Issues like this aren't about right and wrong, at least not in any demonstrable sense of the word. It's all opinion and interpretation. The football authorities hold all the aces in these disputes and there isn't a single thing we can do about it. It's frustrating and often unfair but it's the reality of it.

Cue an announcement from the Piggery about St Pauli

We can ask but we won't get and on that basis I agree we just have to get on with it.

On what basis?

Incompetence wouldn't amount to maliciousness. "Malicious" describes conscious and deliberate wrongdoing. Surely the only way this isn't a criminal act is if the Lord Advocate decides (for whatever reason ?) that he doesn't want it to be.

Not one thing.

There's an inevitability about this issue and, like having a corrupt referee on the park, there's not a thing we can do about it without either bringing the game into disrepute or releasing the photos of Maxwell, Petrie and Doncaster in the bath together.

I never understood the credit afforded to Weiss. He certainly had some skill but he was also inconsistent and, as you rightly say, prone to bouts of laziness.