Soulsonic5791

They can't blur the lines and have it both ways Frankie. Sturgeon, if she chose to, could shut this dissemination of ' private' views down at a stroke. The fact that she doesn't raises some important questions. Either she has poor control of the party membership; she tacitly approves of the private views; or both. There is absolutely no chance of it being the case that it is neither of the aforementioned scenarios. In their rush to placate the republican elements of the party and thereby engaging with sections of the electorate to win votes, the SNP have taken many voters for granted. They also behave as though they have an absolute majority in Holyrood which, of course, they don't have. Derek Mackay's recent circumvention of due process with regard to loans paid to Ferguson Shipbuilders is one such case in point. The electorate has a long memory and will not be forgiving in forthcoming elections.

A smoking gun if ever there was one.

The republican wing of the SNP feel safe enough to chip away and chip away with the least little thing. If there is the slightest possibility of linking Rangers with negative publicity they will. Sturgeon either doesn't have full control of elements of her party or she approves of what they do on a regular basis. She can't have it both ways. What is hard to stomach is the fact that they have stooped to new lows in targeting Rangers and its supporters to such an extent that our fans aren't entitled to parity of esteem with any other ordinary person in the street because they assume that we identify with unionism and all that that entails in a cultural and constitutional sense. They'll probably assume that we are all in favour of Brexit too. We aren't afforded the same treatment that other strata of Scottish society are because of preconceived notions of what we think, believe in, and consequently how we behave at the ballot box. Morelos getting coined by a St Mirren fan is okay because Rangers fans spilled on to the track and fly union jacks or flags of 'British' origin or other such irrelevant guff. Nothing about a Rangers player getting coined because it is inherently wrong and constitutes irresponsible behaviour. They will suffer in a big way in forthcoming elections. They might not go backwards to the same extent as the LibDems after the coalition, but it won't be far off. Factor in the backlash to the Named Persons Scheme, Vladimir Salmond and his antics amongst other things and it all adds up to a pretty hefty electoral bloody nose. The SNP will reap what they have sown.

Stevie's savvy enough not to alienate the fans. He acknowledges the 'groans and the boos' and does the correct thing by citing the 'standards' of the club. That said, he's at the sharp end of management now whereby for the first time he and the players are under the first bout of sustained pressure from a string of poor results. I thought that his post match comments on Sunday were possibly ill-judged despite being spot on in practically every respect. The balance between laying down the gauntlet to under-performing, largely ordinary, players but still keeping them onside and not further denting confidence, is a big part in the art of management. He obviously backtracked a little on this use of 'threat' when he said in his pre-match comments that he could be sacked too, if a lack of results were to become more regular. Personally, I think it is now becoming obvious to a lot of fans that he needs better players to get us to where we all want to be. Adding additional pressure out of venting frustration by way of conspicuous booing can be heavily counter productive in my view. All you needed to do was look at the number of players lying down on the ground after the final whistle to realise how precarious collective confidence can be. Let's hope that they can get back to winning ways at Greenhill Rd on Saturday lunchtime.

Hadn't seen the interview mate. I thought the booing was a disgrace.

Do they need to boo this early into the season Bill? I could understand this far more if this happened in mid February for instance, not the end of October.

I hear you mate, but to boo limited players especially after their efforts and exploits in Europe is short-sighted to say the least. Expectations are one thing and I'm fully cognisant of Rangers 'standards' but a bit of realism amongst these people wouldn't go amiss.

This is what happens when you hire an unsafe pair of hands like Pedro Caixinha. Unnecessary and self-inflicted doesn't even begin to cover it.

Unfortunately, around where I sit mate, the ire was directed at the players far more than Walsh. Will be interesting to hear what others think.

At full time last night, the booing ringing around the stadium was very disappointing to hear. Whether some of it may have been attributable to yet another poor refereeing performance, this time by Nick Walsh, is neither here nor there. Frustration at dropping points is understandable especially in light of Sunday's result, but to resort to booing players that to a man try, is ultimately self defeating, and on so many levels. Zero humility shown by far too many fans if you ask me and little acknowledgement of the fact that Kilmarnock are a good team. Time to get behind the lads. The last thing we need is to give fuel to a media fire designed to put undue pressure on Stevie.

I have been there when we had many a diddy with real desire down the years. Watch the game back and honestly tell me he didn't amble about the pitch for most of the time he was on it.

Fair enough mate, you are entitled to your opinion. But if you think that that is work rate and putting himself about, you'll be blown away by a player who shows real desire and determination to succeed. He tried occasionally but for the most part he swanned about like Tore Andre Flo. I'll predict that that will be our final glimpse of big Umar unless we have no fit forwards or attacking midfielders available for selection.

Wow. He was hardly interested. Pretty much agree with everything else though.

I think the truth is somewhere in between Bill. Aberdeen are piss poor and deserved nothing out of that game. It's all too easy to stick nine and ten behind the ball and hope for a wafer thin chance on the break or a set-piece. We contributed to our own downfall by trying to walk the ball into the net with, for the most part, two or three players genuinely capable of beating a man. And even then, those guys aren't top notch; well not yet at least. I don't buy the notion that we can't win something this season - it's too early to tell. We'll have a better idea once we play our pals again. I maintain, if we were a bit sharper today, were prepared to shoot at goal and on target instead of trying to fashion the perfect chance, even with the hinderance of Sadiq on the pitch, we should be putting Aberdoom away. SG will be raging. That said, he needs to make changes far sooner. Perseverance is an academy coach's mindset hangover.

P.S. Don't throw the towel in just yet lads.

Shoot ffs. It's amazing what can happen when you do. Oh, and as much as I admire his attitude and work rate, Daniel Candeias is an extremely limited footballer. We can't rely on him to create enough quality chances on a regular basis.

Jeez. During NIAR, Ewen Chester's scouting centred around the Rothman's Football Year Book and his contacts in agentland. This was one of my pet peeves during the first half of Murray's tenure.

Of course they aren't. Rangers are.

Why get repeatedly beat then?

Sounds to me like King is just being obstructive and playing Ashley at his own game by dragging SDI through the courts in the hope that he gets fed up and relents. Hope it works. Will be interesting to see if the verification of SDI's legal fees are indeed found to be too high.

Do we expect anything less from these people? In a word, no.

Meant to say to Shoutin' and Bawlin' last night that he needs to clear the queue on his print spooler. Failing that a re-install of the printer driver should do the trick!

Great to see the young man back. Here's hoping he can stay healthy for an extended period.

Frankie, Sectarianism is an industry. And it is an industry which resides on a one way street. This is never critically discussed in the media because editorial control is in the hands of those who can associate with the perpetually put upon, the perpetually offended and their promoted plight is exploited ad nauseam as a result. Balance is not deemed to be important enough for media owners to sanction a different agenda, otherwise things would be different. And that is before you factor mainstream politicking along socio-religious lines into it. The game is rigged.

Hughie Gallacher? Of course sanctioned by the board of an organisation who saw fit to hire Malky Mackay.