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For clarification the offer has been made by Brian Kennedy. Unlike King's package it doesn't need shareholder support. Board approval enough Board were meeting this afternoon to discuss both options. As yet no word of decision being made. I understand Brian Kennedy has travelled to Glasgow this afternoon. RFC board meeting still on going....

Mike Ashley moves into pole position to take control at Ibrox as Dave King bid fails http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-power-battle-mike-ashley-4499365

DARREN McGREGOR has revealed he’s on course for an automatic contract extension after a solid start to his Rangers career. The defender signed a one-year deal with the club in the summer having left St Mirren at the end of his deal there. Ally McCoist had been a huge admirer of the stopper for some time but he was given only 12 months at Ibrox initially because of his injury history. McGregor suffered two cruciate knee ligament injuries during his four-year stay in Paisley but was fit enough to play 38 times for the Buddies last term. When he switched to the Light Blues, he had it written into his terms that he’d earn a second campaign with the club if he was fit enough for at least half of the games in 2014/15. Given he has been both available and involved in all of the 15 fixtures Gers have had to date, the 29-year-old is on track at this stage. McGregor said: “I think what a lot of people don’t know is I’ll get an extension if I’m available for 50 per cent of the first season. “Just because of the injuries I’ve had, the club has wanted me to be available that often but that’s not necessarily to say I have to play in them. “There is something in place whereby if I’m available, I’ll be here for a second year. Fingers crossed that happens because you can’t complain at working at Murray Park every day. “On the face on it, I just wanted to come in, do well and give the gaffer some food for thought. “To have been involved in every game so far, I’m pinching myself. I’m taking every day and every week as it comes though. “I don’t get too high or too low because it can change in an instant. I just need to focus on motoring on. “Getting a contract with Rangers was great but the hard work just started there. I have to keep showing what I’m all about and try to improve the squad. “Hopefully I’m helping the younger guys out and I’ll continue trying to do that as long as I’m here.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7904-on-course-for-deal-extension

by Alex Oliver | Contributor Dave King’s statement tonight launched a scathing critique of what he believed to be obstructions in his attempt to seek control of Rangers Football Club. Something which jumped out at me more than anything was the following part: "...given the present concerns from supporters that Mr Ashley is using his shareholder status to put pressure on the board to alienate the rights and trade mark of the club in favour of his personal interest." It got me thinking, something in this area has changed since the beginning of the season. The observant will have noticed the 'scroll crest' has now taken precedence over the traditional 'Ready' crest. Given all that has gone on and various whispers of image rights and naming rights being sold for a pittance, it would surely be naïve to suggest that it is simply re-branding. I have collated several examples of where things have changed. CONTINUE READING... http://www.thecoplandroad.org/

Dave King Statement re Rangers FC It is appropriate that I give feedback to the Rangers fans before departing for South Africa. Over the last few weeks Paul Murray, George Letham and myself have constructively engaged the Rangers board and (at the request of the board) Sandy Easdale regarding our proposal to invest 16 million into the club as soon as is practically possible. When investing in any public company there are numerous regulatory and compliance requirements that have to be dealt with. There are also SFA compliance issues that arise when investing in a football club in Scotland. An obvious further complication in Rangers case is the seeming lack of authority of the Rangers board to make decisions without reference to key shareholders who appear to be “the power behind the throne”. Prior to commencing the implementation issues referred to above it is necessary to reach an in-principle agreement with the board that can then be put to shareholders. In this regard it is important to recogniser hat the so-called Easdale Block represents more than 25% of the shares in issue and could therefore block the implementation of our proposal even if recommended by the board. Likewise, a combination of other shareholders could veto our proposal. I attempted to meet with Mr Ashley on my visit but neither he, nor his colleague, Mr Bishop, acknowledged my request for a meeting. This is their right but is unfortunate given the present concerns from supporters that Mr Ashley is using his shareholder status to put pressure on the board to alienate the rights and trade mark of the club in favour of his personal interest. I will make a separate announcement and appeal to fans on this topic at the appropriate time. Our initial proposal to the board was to invest the full 16m by way of equity at 20p per share. The board requested that we consider a debt/equity mix that would reduce dilution for existing shareholders and allow the debt component to be advanced prior to the extended time frame required for the approval of additional equity. We are amenable to this and to working with the board on the mechanics necessary to ensure that this is achieved provided that the full investment is recognised by way of board representation. We wish to appoint an equal number of members to the board and have the key say regarding the appointment of the Chairperson. We will not invest funds and let the existing board determine how these funds are spent. That has not worked well in the past. In any transaction of this nature there are a number of interests to be consulted and considered. The board has apparently engaged constructively on our proposal while advancing its own points as to what it believes is in the best interest of the club and its shareholders. Sandy Easdale has similarly apparently engaged constructively including highlighting some concerns. I have today responded to these concerns in writing. He will now consult with his co-shareholders and hopefully revert soonest so that we can proceed to agreement and the earliest possible implementation thereof. Unfortunately, I have to again deal with a point that I have covered previously. Despite our agreement with the board on confidentiality (that we have strictly complied with) we were faced with the inevitable combination of truth, half-truth and fallacies peddled by Mr Irvine on behalf of his employers. He states in particular that he is voicing Sandy Easdale’s directly communicated thoughts. Sandy has assured me that this is not the case regarding his recent nonsensical utterings. On that point, I have recently had the amusement of reviewing over 100 email communications between MrIrvine and Craig Whyte during the period that Mr Irvine was attempting to advance Mr Whyte’s business interests. My review of these emails indicates to me that he carefully identifies journalists that he believes lack journalistic integrity and ability and can therefore be fed by him for the benefit of whoever pays him. I urge fans to continue to ignore the nonsense that comes from these sources. We have a lot of work to do over the next few months to regain the club. I would not be here without the support of the fans and neither would my co-investors. We are going to need to draw on your support again over the coming months.

Take it with a pinch of salt, keep your fingers crossed or whatever takes your fancy, but there's been rumours in the African press for several days that Bilel Mohsni could be offski to play for Club Africain in Tunisia. See poor translations and article links below. http://fr.starafrica.com/football/mercato-bilel-mohsni-dans-le-viseur-du-club-africain.html http://www.africatopsports.com/2014/10/22/club-africain-bilel-mohsni-recrute-au-mercato-hivernal/ http://www.gnet.tn/revue-de-sport/mercato-club-africain-bilel-mohsni-dans-le-collimateur/id-menu-323.html

Dave King's talks with Sandy Easdale ended without agreement. If this surprises anyone then it shouldn't.

Wednesday, 22 October 2014 16:15 Games Moved For TV Written by Andrew Dickson TWO Championship games Rangers are scheduled to play in December have been selected for live television coverage. The trip to play Queen of the South has been moved forward a day to Friday, December 12 for transmission on BT Sport, with kick-off at 7.45pm. A fixture with Hibernian in Edinburgh on Saturday, December 27 remains on that date but will now start at 12.15pm rather than the original 3pm kick-off time. That match will be broadcast by Sky Sports as the Light Blues round off 2014 with a journey along the M8 to the capital. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7897-games-moved-for-tv

http://www.chelseafc.com//news/latest-news/2014/10/club-statement.html Ron's a big Rangers man - let the rumours begin...!

Copied this from FF, we do have some cretins in our support. I know it's a long shot but the Fifes Finest flag was taken yesterday at the game. These guys are not Ultras or wannabe casuals but just football fans that did a helluva lot to save their club. After the fundraising they had money left over and put it towards this flag...They just want it back no questions...It would reflect well on our club if they were given the flag back. If anybody has it i ll pick it up and drop it off to them

With the next 24 hours likely to be important in terms of this issue, this article from Richard Wilson is a good appraisal ahead of a new thread on boardroom events. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29717979

Rangers boss Ally McCoist has warned Richard Foster he will be fighting a losing battle if he mouths off at his own fans again. The full-back was singled out for some heavy stick from sections of the Light Blues support as their side comfortably beat East Fife 2-0 to claim a Petrofac Training Cup semi-final slot. But the frustrated former Aberdeen defender let rip with his own four-letter expletive in reply during a break in play midway through the second half. That sparked another angry outburst from the away support at New Bay View, leaving McCoist to tell Foster there will only be one winner if he continues to take on the fans. He said: "You will never win that battle with the fans, but the irony is not lost on me that when they get a bit of stick back the toys come right out the pram. "Coming from someone who has had more than his fair share of stick from football fans when I played, I can tell you that you will never win that war. "These things happen. I didn't see the incident but I will have a wee word if it is needed - although I wouldn't have thought so.'' http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/439/9528333/-

I thought id share this with you........ Hi Don Earlier this year Robert Marshall interviewed Rangers Legend Sandy Jardine for WATP Magazine. With all of the off-field issues that go on at the club we thought it would be worth sending this out so that everyone has the chance to read the words of a True Ranger and someone who cared deeply about our club. Sadly, Sandy had a relapse of his health issues and passed on the 24th April of this year. He is greatly missed. Sandy in Royal Blue The Sandy Jardine Interview - Part 1 Sandy Jardine is one of the true legends of our proud club’s illustrious 141-year history. He is without doubt Rangers’ best right back in living memory and can be held up as one of the greatest players to have turned out in a blue jersey. Born in Edinburgh with the Christian name of William, not far away from Hearts’ Tynecastle Stadium, I first remember laying eyes on Willie Jardine (as he was then known) when we played Queen’s Park in a Glasgow Cup match at Ibrox. He scored four goals that day, something that as a 12-year-old I would never forget! It’s fair to say I was impressed. I think to put it in context, if I had to pick a greatest ever ‘World XI’ then Sandy would be my first choice, not Cafu, not Lamb, not even the great George Cohen – he was that good. Some people might disagree but I watched him all through his career at full back and I never witnessed him having a bad game. I have been lucky enough to have known Sandy for a few years now and I was delighted when he accepted our invitation to do an interview with WATP Magazine. There is always something special about speaking with one of your heroes, that little thrill separates them from us mere mortals. Sandy is recovering from a life-threatening illness and it was really nice to be able to speak with him. Sandy, first of all how is your health? “I’m coming along fine Robert, I’m looking to be back working full time next year.” I’ve always known you as a bit of a workaholic so how are you coping at home? “It’s been a bit frustrating but I’ve been working away in the garden, taking things day by day and going walks to build my strength up. Thankfully I have been able to get back to a few games now.” How did you feel when the fans were applauding you in the second minute? “It was both humbling and emotional. I’m really grateful for all the messages of support I have had from the fans. They have been excellent.” Let’s start from the beginning, how and when did you join Rangers? “I went straight from schools football to Ibrox in 1965. I used to get on the train at Haymarket in Edinburgh through to Queen Street in Glasgow and jump on the subway over to Copland Road (as Ibrox underground was known back then). I even travelled with some of the greatest legends of that era: John Greig, Jimmy Millar, Ralph Brand, and later on we were joined by the Fife lads – including Billy Mathieson, Colin Stein, Willie Johnston. It was different then.” They would have been real legends to a young lad like yourself, how did you feel travelling with them? “Oh, they were great! They were always giving me advice and always had a good story to tell.” How did it feel going up the marble staircase for the first time? “You always remember your first time going up the marble staircase. It really epitomises everything about our club – class and dignity.” Moving to on-field matters, I remember you scoring four goals against Queen’s Park in a Glasgow Cup tie as a youngster coming through, what do you remember of that? “I was playing centre forward that night, and everything just clicked for me. It seemed that every time I touched the ball it went into the net.” I remember you as ‘Willie Jardine’ then, when did you become known as Sandy? “The players started calling me it around the time I made the first team, obviously because of the colour of my hair. I’m not really sure when it became my name publicly.” You seemed to play a few different positions before you settled down at full back, how did that come about? “Well, I made my debut in February 1967 against Hearts and played at right wing half. We won 5-1 and I kept my place for the rest of the season. When Willie Waddell came, he converted me to a right full back. I felt I was suited to playing there, and was there for most of my career.” Sandy is being humble when he said the position suited him. He was the first overlapping full back I ever witnessed in Scotland and he was outstanding there. He had everything you could want – stamina, speed, superb at a standing tackle, a fantastic reader of the game who brought others into play, and he was fond of popping up with a goal. I’m not exaggerating when I say he was world class. You were well known for your fitness. How influential was Jock Wallace in that? “Big Jock was brilliant for the players. He introduced the notorious Gullane Sands, which set us up for the season. People might joke about it but there were about nine members of that team that played well into their mid-thirties, which was uncommon in those days. We attributed that to his physical conditioning methods. Jock Wallace used to be an Army PT instructor and was quite revolutionary in what he introduced in training. He even brought in a professional sprint coach, which I felt I benefitted greatly from. We always seemed to score goals in the last ten minutes of games when other sides were tiring. We put that down to our superior fitness and that was due to Jock. The players all loved him, he was honest and upfront with you.” You played over 1100 first class games in your career. Which one was your favourite? “I wouldn’t say I had favourite games. I loved playing in every one. As far as importance goes, then obviously the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final victory in Barcelona in ’72 was the pinnacle of my career. Being a member of the only Rangers side to win a European trophy is something special. I played in the 1967 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final defeat to Bayern Munich, and I never really appreciated how big an achievement it was to get that far. It made me appreciate the victory against Moscow Dynamo even more.” Barcelona is one of my finest memories as a Rangers Supporter, what do you remember of the game? “It was a really good performance from the whole team. We were 2-0 up at half time through Steiny and Bud. We came out for the second half and when Bud added a third we had the game completely in control. The Russians, who were a very good team, scored a goal near the end and added a second with about five minutes to go. It must have been the longest five minutes of my career! The only disappointment was not being able to show the fans the trophy on the night.” That was a magnificent achievement, the single greatest triumph in our history – I thought everyone was fantastic on the night, but Dave Smith in my opinion had the best game of his career. Would you pick out anyone for special praise? “Davie had a brilliant game, but the whole team was brilliant. Throughout my career I wouldn’t like to pick out individuals. We won as a team and we lost as a team. We had a great spirit about us.” Although the team was fantastic on the night, I actually thought the best single team performance in the European Cup Winners’ Cup run was the semi-final at Ibrox against Bayern Munich. What are your memories of that game? “Well we were all-square from the first leg in Germany. Over there, we took an absolute battering that night! But we limited them to one goal. They were a great team, and went on to win three European Cups in a row with half the team being West German internationals. We got our equaliser through an own goal, but strangely in the last ten minutes of the game we were chasing the winner as Jock Wallace’s training methods allowed to keep going for the full ninety minutes. The second leg at Ibrox was completely different. We were always confident of beating anyone at home. That night there was 80,000 people crammed in to Ibrox and the atmosphere was amazing – probably the best I’ve ever played in. We started very brightly, and in the second minute I gathered the ball on the right-hand side, got myself forward and managed to hit the ball with my left foot and it sailed over Sepp Maier and into the top left-hand corner. You couldn’t hear yourself think. We added a second through Derek Parlane, who had replaced John Greig after he failed a fitness test. I had never seen any German team lose self-control the way they did that night, they were even arguing on the pitch. We had really gotten to them.” You must have been so proud to have played in that team? “I was and am. It was an amazing time, playing with great players and great people.” From a personal point of view, the 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup campaign defined the Rangers team of that era for me. We took on the national cup winners of France, Italy, Portugal, West Germany and Russia - some of the biggest footballing nations in Europe. We played with a style that was suited to the European arena and Willie Waddell must take great credit for that. Players like Sandy, John Greig, Derek Johnstone, Tommy McLean, Peter McCloy, Colin Jackson, and Alex MacDonald went on to be the mainstay of the team for most of the next decade. We also had the very underrated Willie Mathieson and Alfie Conn, the sublime Dave Smith, and of course Willie Johnston and Colin Stein. Some of these players must be included amongst the greatest ever to wear a Rangers shirt. And we will leave it here for part one. We have covered Sandy’s arrival at Rangers up to Barcelona 1972. In the second part we will concentrate on his domestic successes, on leaving Rangers and all his subsequent work at the club. We will also cover the march to Hampden and his hopes for the future. I’ll reiterate, it was an absolute pleasure to interview Sandy Jardine. He’s the quintessential Rangers man and everything you would expect from someone who has represented our great club both on and off the pitch for so many years. I was impressed with him as a player since I was 12 years old, and today, I impressed with him as a man.

SCOTTISH football journalism lost one of its most authoritative voices yesterday with the death of Glenn Gibbons. The former chief football writer of The Scotsman, who had borne a serious illness with fortitude for several months, was 69. In a career which began with DC Thomson in Glasgow during a glorious era for Scottish football in the 1960s, Gibbons went on to become one of the most recognisable and formidable figures in his profession in the pages of the Scottish Daily Mail, the Guardian and The Scotsman. Among the many high-profile names in his contacts book was Sir Alex Ferguson, who became his close friend as well as dealing with him in a professional capacity. The former Aberdeen and Manchester United manager led the tributes to Gibbons last night. “Glenn was a journalist of substance,” said Ferguson. “He had a wonderful, lucid writing style but everything he wrote was underpinned by an unwavering accuracy. “His great knowledge of football was complemented by a fearlessness. He always expressed what he believed with courage and style. He was a marvellous chronicler of Scottish football and beyond. He had a passion for the game and his knowledge was unsurpassed. “He was a tremendous source of information and I referred to him regularly, particularly before the publication of my autobiography when he checked out many of the facts. He was simply a great journalist.” As well as being a colourful observer of the action on the pitch, Gibbons was also a pugnacious commentator on football’s off-the-field issues. Peter Donald, the former secretary of the Scottish Football League, was among the administrators of the game who admired his work. “I always found Glenn to be extremely knowledgeable about the game,” said Donald last night. “He understood the political machinations of football and could see inside the story. “He was very well connected within football. You could always speak to him openly and feel comfortable that he would develop and write his pieces without necessarily putting you in the centre of the story. “Glenn was hugely respected within football and I know that I always felt good after speaking to him. I’m deeply saddened to hear of his death.” Gibbons joined The Scotsman in 1999 and made an immediate impact on these pages, being named Scottish Sports Journalist of the Year in 2000. He retired in 2009 but maintained a weekly presence in the paper with his Saturday column. Donald Walker, assistant editor and former sports editor of The Scotsman, said: “Few could match Glenn’s eloquence and authority in the sports pages of the Scottish press, and his passing marks the loss of one of football’s best-read commentators. His experience, judgment and professionalism shone through during his ten years as chief football writer with The Scotsman, and his weekly column was required reading. We will miss him enormously, and our thoughts are with his family.” Gibbons is survived by his wife Mary, son Michael and daughter Samantha. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/english/sir-alex-leads-tributes-after-glenn-gibbons-dies-1-3578697

I was thinking earlier given how so few players play abroad and how the Premiership is full of foreign players, England must be very low down in terms of CL participation. Turns out this season they have only 17, 1 more than Belarus . The Europa league won't make flattering reading either. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2760979/England-field-just-17-players-Champions-League-Spain-lead-way-82.html

Duleep Allirajah sports columnist It’s time to stick up for football fans’ right to trade insults. Freedom of speech is a right that most of us would wholeheartedly defend. The freedom to speak one’s mind is a hallmark of a democratic society; an essential safeguard against injustice and tyranny. We’ll all sign the online petition and buy the wristband when it’s Vladimir Putin locking up members of Pussy Riot. So, why do so many liberals find it difficult to defend free speech for football fans? Why does the Society of Black Lawyers want Spurs fans prosecuted for referring to themselves as the ‘Yid Army’? Why did we allow the Scottish parliament to criminalise anachronistic songs about the war in Ireland? And why no howls of protest when student Liam Stacey was jailed for posting a racially offensive tweet about Fabrice Muamba, the former Bolton footballer who suffered a cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane? Let’s try to unpick this conundrum. The argument for banning offensive football songs contains an implicit assumption that freedom of expression is a right which only applies to speech that has some value. It’s a protection for those with something worthwhile to say: radicals, artists, social critics, comedians and satirists. Football chants clearly don’t fit into these categories. There’s clearly nothing particularly enlightening or artistic about the majority of terrace chants. By and large they’re just playground insults. Some are witty and inventive but most are crude, tasteless and puerile. So why defend the right to trade crass and hurtful insults at football? Take, for example, the notorious Spurs chant aimed at Sol Campbell which alleged that their former captain was a ‘Judas cunt with HIV’. Was this really the type of speech John Stuart Mill had in mind when he wrote On Liberty? I’d argue that this vulgar little ditty is exactly the form of expression we need to defend. Inoffensive speech doesn’t need protection. It’s the offensive stuff that the censors want to curb. When it comes to terrace jibes, it’s not the content of those chants I’m defending; it’s the right to express views or sentiments which cause offence. I don’t care if the chants have little or no artistic merit. The point is that rights are meaningless if we attach conditions to them. And yes this means we have to defend the expression of views we find personally abhorrent. As George Orwell said: ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ Many liberal-minded people would agree that terrace banter, which is traditionally vulgar and insulting, shouldn’t be restricted. But, they will often qualify this by saying that we have to draw a line somewhere. Racist chanting, they would argue, crosses that line. Invariably, once a line is drawn, the boundary is liable to shift. In 2008, two Newcastle fans were arrested for chanting ‘shoe bomber’ at Middlesbrough’s Egyptian striker Mido. In 2009, a Millwall fan was arrested for calling a Gillingham player a ‘pikey’. A number of fans have been arrested for homophobic chants directed at Brighton fans. These arrests raise the question: at what point do terrace insults cross the line? Any such boundary is inherently subjective. One person’s playful banter is another’s hate speech. Dave Kitson, the ‘flame-haired’ former Reading and Stoke striker has argued that jibes about ‘gingers’ are no different to racist chants. Last season three Gillingham fans were arrested for allegedly calling Rotherham manager a ‘fat Scottish wanker’. As soon as you accept that some speech is unacceptable it becomes very difficult to know where to draw the line. As I said, terrace banter isn’t a form of folk poetry; it’s the trading of insults. However, there’s a double standard evident in liberal attitudes to insulting language. Two years ago the actor Rowan Atkinson and gay rights activist Peter Tatchell fronted a successful campaign to amend Section 5 of the Public Order Act which criminalised the use of ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour’. Atkinson quite rightly warned that the outlawing of insults was having a ‘chilling effect on free expression and free protest’. Campaigners pointed to a series of controversial prosecutions under the act including a student who called a police horse ‘gay’ and a 15-year-old who held up an anti-Scientology placard. The campaign to amend Section 5 was laudable but why has there been no similar campaign to defend the right of football fans to insult each? Why is terrace banter any different? Why no crusade to scrap the Football Offences Act 1991 which makes it an offence to ‘engage or take part in chanting of a racialist or indecent nature’ at a football match? Some insults are evidently more equal than others. There’s a distinct whiff of class snobbery at play here; an unspoken belief that free speech is only meant for ‘people like us’, and not for foul-mouthed, white working-class football fans who are easily incited by hate speech. The trading of insults at football matches is largely ritualistic and theatrical. Terrace chants are an adult variant of the ‘your mum’s so fat’ playground jibes. Do we really believe that the Welsh are sheep shaggers or that Scousers are hubcap thieves? I doubt it. Most supporters know the rules of engagement and are pretty immune to the namecalling and taunts. But there will always be some sensitive souls who are appalled or upset by certain chants. However, just because a chant offends or upsets people, it doesn’t follow that it should be illegal. As Tory MP David Davis, who backed the campaign against Section 5, said: ‘The simple truth is that in a free society, there is no right not to be offended.’ There’s nothing noble about terrace jibes. But we cannot be selective about which forms of expression we seek to protect. The right to hurl vile and offensive abuse at a football match might not be a fashionable cause, but it’s the acid test of whether we are serious about protecting civil liberties. Duleep Allirajah is spiked’s sports columnist. He will be speaking at the debate From Yid Army to Green Brigade: free speech for football fans? at the Battle of Ideas festival, held at the Barbican in London on 18-19 October. Get tickets here. http://www.spiked-online.com/freespeechnow/fsn_article/in-praise-of-terrace-banter#.VEJFrRbgVHi

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/f...-call-4457552? ALLY McCOIST has backed Rangers’ move to call off last week’s league clash at Cowdenbeath – and says they will do it again. The SPFL turned down a bid from the Fifers to get it back on after the Ibrox men had it put back due to international call-ups. McCoist said: “Why would I want to play the game now when I can play it later with a full squad? It just doesn’t make sense. “If you have four or five players on international duty, logic would tell you they will be some of your better players. “I’ve got to look after the interests of my club. If we played without four players and lost, I’m not sure there would be much sympathy. Having called games off in the past, it would also be unfair on other teams. If we play Dumbarton when there is an international and have four players out, is that then fair on Cowdenbeath where we called the game off? “So we have to show fairness to everyone but the most important thing is that we have to look after our own corner.” @@@@ I can't think of more than one who would have been missing. And now, scared as we are to face Cowdenbeath, we'll drop points later in the season or go out of cups because we'll be playing three games week with players who train so little they are exhausted after 70 minutes far less 270.

Hamilton Academical extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership with an emphatic win over a lacklustre Aberdeen. A double from Tony Andreu set a roaring Accies on their way as they put Aberdeen to the sword with ease. And a late finish from Mikael Antoine-Curier rounded off a display that proved Alex Neil's outfit are well worth their place at the summit. The win opens up a four-point gap between them and Dundee United. Alex Neil's home side came into the match in buoyant mood, having recorded their first win at Celtic Park for 76 years in their last outing, and they looked up for it from the off, zipping the ball around with pace and confidence as they looked to stamp their authority on proceedings early on. They very nearly found an opening, as Danny Redmond picked up an Antoine-Curier pass to send in a delivery looking for Dougie Imrie but, luckily for Derek McInnes' men, Mark Reynolds was alert and able to get it behind for a corner. With the visitors struggling to find a rhythm, the Lanarkshire club continued to press, looking dangerous with every pursuit. And, they got their reward when Andreu capitalised on slack defending to open the scoring. Following a flowing team move and hesitant Aberdeen defending - with Ash Taylor failing to clear his lines - an Imrie assist gifted Andreu a simple finish. Going behind shocked Aberdeen into action, as they began to stem the flow of attacks and make strides of their own. And, they could have easily levelled terms through Adam Rooney, the ball cannoning down field allowing the striker to get himself clean through, but he scuffed his shot, making it easy for stopper Michael McGovern to mop up. Next up, David Goodwillie had his moment to shine, after Barry Robson set him up in with a pinpoint pass but the impressive McGovern again pulled off a solid save. The tide was turning, however, it still looked like Aberdeen's weak defending could be their undoing every time they were asked questions. They almost found themselves further adrift when Andrew Considine missed a ball through to give Imrie a sight at goal, but his blushes were spared by the quick thinking of Jamie Langfield, who rushed from his line to dispel the danger. Soon after, the New Douglas Park faithful were calling for a spot-kick, after Antoine-Curier juggled the ball just inside the box and claimed for a handball against Robson, only for referee Kevin Clancy to wave away protests. As half-time neared, the trailing 11 had an opportunity to restore parity when Goodwillie managed to make room on the wing and float in for the busy Rooney but he was unable to connect and, in the end, McGovern had enough time to gather. The second half started in the same frenetic fashion of the first, with both teams pushing forward with intent. And, despite Aberdeen seeming to have gained momentum after coming close with a Reynolds header that looped over, their good work was soon undone as they found themselves two down. It was Andreu at it again, rounding off a sweeping charge by slotting in an assured cutback from Redmond. That knocked the wind out of McInnes' players, and they continued to be under the cosh, young midfielder Redmond, linking well with Jesus Garcia-Tena, proving the orchestrator for much of the threat. The Reds needed a spark, and that quickly came when substitute Niall McGinn entered the fray. He was at the heart of a move that almost ended with the deficit being halved, as he headed a cross back across the box begging for a conversion, but the free Rooney could not get the vital touch. Northern Irishman McGinn then came within a whisker of netting himself courtesy of a well-struck set-piece, but he could only watch on as it sailed wide. For all that Aberdeen huffed and puffed, they could not find a way back, and the hosts rounded off a perfect evening when Antoine-Courier connected with Ali Crawford's delivery to calmly slot home, giving them their 10th win in all competitions this campaign and fifth clean sheet on the bounce. Att: 4,093 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29563365

MILLWALL will wear a camouflage kit in their home game against Brentford next month to raise money for injured troops. The Lions have been given permission by the Football League to wear the specially-designed strip, which will benefit an army rehabilitation centre in Surrey. The logo of Headley Court, Leatherhead, is emblazoned on the shirt and £10 from every sale will go to the facility. Millwall hope to raise at least £20,000 for wounded soldiers and have released a YouTube video, featuring manager Ian Holloway, to promote the strip. In the advert, Holloway can be heard reading war poem In Flanders Fields over footage of Lions players and soldiers wearing the kit at Headley Court.

Mike Ashley has many business interests (including Sports Direct) and they have made him a very wealthy man. When he bought Newcastle United in June 2007 and said “Newcastle attracted me because everyone in England knows that it has the best fans in football… don’t get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle because I love football.”….it must have sounded like manna from heaven to the Newcastle support as they may have thought more along the lines of ‘Champions League’ rather than ‘Championship’. http://www.therst.co.uk/coming-soon-ashley-and-the-vanishing-revenue/

I am sure Rangers fans would have enjoyed the feature in Wednesday's Evening Times on Big Jock Wallace. It was a great read and brought back some really fond memories of a man and manager I admired so much and a really successful period for the club. I loved everything about Big Jock. He played a huge part in my career, and those of so many players at Ibrox. He was as hard as nails and he knew how to handle people. If he could handle soldiers in Malaysia, he could handle players at Ibrox. I loved the way he did things. But I don't think he ever got the credit he deserved. We won Trebles and people said that we never played any football. That is very unfair on Jock and his management. He was a man that demanded you gave 100% because people were paying good money to come and he was a real thinker about the game. I can remember an Old Firm game at Ibrox and I was playing centre-half that day against big Shuggie Edvaldsson and he scored two goals. I went in at half-time and Jock said, 'you, a ******* centre-half? Get yersel up front, you are kidding yourself on'. We ended up winning 3-2. I went back in after the game and he said, 'I ******* told you, you are no a centre-half'. If you did your job, fine. He wouldn't shout at you if you didn't win, as long as you were giving your all. Hell mend you if you didn't play well, though. There were times we got a real rollicking. We sat down and the only man that spoke was him. He got the best out of players. Playing under Big Jock was a privilege and I know the fans who saw him and his side hold him in the highest regard. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/big-jock-was-not-afforded-due-credit-at-rangers-184744n.25606899

Mike Ashley has been energised by the battle for Ibrox in a way that he never has by challenge of making Newcastle United competitive. On Saturday afternoon Newcastle United have their eighth crack at winning a Premier League match this season. If they swing and miss, it will be their longest winless run in the Premier League era: worse than the ill-starred 2008/9 relegation season and more desperate than the year that brought Sir Bobby Robson to Tyneside. Throw into the mix an undercooked team light on experience of a relegation battle and there can be little doubt that this is a time for minds to be focused. Even at this early stage survival appears the priority, but that cannot be taken for granted. And where is Mike Ashley? The owner’s scrutiny is not trained on the lame duck manager who is only ever one defeat away from losing further ground with a sceptical support but instead it is in a messy, protracted and potentially long-running takeover of Rangers. The Newcastle owner blew his own cover on Ibrox weeks, months or even a year or so ago. By dodging the share issue and banning a journalist who had speculated on his intentions towards Rangers, he tried the owner’s equivalent of an Ali shuffle – but the knockout punch has not yet been delivered. Rangers is going to be a slow burner for Ashley. Unlike Newcastle – where he found an owner willing to make a quick sale – there are messy and protracted battles to be fought at Ibrox with groups who are not going to relinquish their grip on a potential goldmine anytime soon. The motivation for investing in a fallen club that needs plenty of work is the promise of a potential route into the Champions League. Ashley’s mistakes have made that path impossible for Newcastle for a generation or so, but Rangers’ size and the impoverished standard of the competition give him a chance north of the border. And the Champions League gives him even greater profile than the Premier League in a sportswear market that he fancies a crack at: Europe. There are obstacles to be vaulted, of course: not least rules that state he cannot own majority stakes in clubs in both Scotland and England. But that is a hurdle to be clambered over when the time comes: the important thing is to elbow out the other prospectors sifting through the wreckage at Ibrox. Rangers is time-consuming for Ashley. It has caused him to take his eye off the ball at Newcastle and the consequences of that could yet be catastrophic for a club that appears rudderless, leaderless and entirely without hope at the moment. Ashley gutted Newcastle of people who would answer back to him. Managing director Lee Charnley owes his career to Ashley, and is hardly likely to stand up to him. We all know that Pardew will acquiesce if required. That is the way the owner wanted it – him dipping in and out of Newcastle when it suited him. Ever since Rangers became a serious interest for him, the dynamic has changed. Ashley may be more visible at Newcastle – naming himself as chairman over the course of this year – but he has not been as involved as he was before. A source I spoke to said his greatest hope was that people would run it for him, keeping it ticking along for a while. He simply doesn’t have time for Newcastle anymore. There is a shiny new toy north of the border and the fight for control at Ibrox has energised him much more than the battle to make Newcastle United competitive has. And what is unfolding north of the border is very, very messy indeed. For those still in any doubt, it is worth taking a quick journey through the coverage of Ashley’s actions north of the border. Festering worry about his intentions has given way to outright disgust at the way he has operated in the last couple of months. Just like he has with Tesco and Debenhams, Ashley has struck at a moment of weakness. That is savvy strategy from a sharp businessman, but it doesn’t mean that Rangers fans should be happy about what is happening. Not that many are, despite claims from a couple of Old Firm icons this week that Ashley might be the man to return the club to its perch. The Daily Record’s Michael Gannon wrote a withering editorial two weeks ago challenging that belief: capturing the scorched earth policy of Ashley and his unquestioning acolytes perfectly. Warning that sometimes the devil you know can be worse than the devil you don’t, he wrote: “He is simply out to bag a quick buck at Rangers.” It is a familiar theme when the subject of Ashley and the Ibrox club are brought up: money is the reason he is hanging around. Not necessarily money that will be made directly off the club’s success but more the reflected perks of owning an institution that can reasonably challenge for the Champions League in a couple of seasons with pretty minimal investment. Gannon summed up his latest power play in a couple of damning sentences. “He could have sunk in money at last month’s share issue and it would have gone to the club,” he wrote. “Instead he waited and bought out Hargreave Hale. It strengthened his position and rubbed the board’s face in it after they refused to cave in to strict demands in return for a loan.” It is Ashley to a tee. Stubborn, obstinate and looking entirely after number one. The worry is that Newcastle United’s Premier League status will become collateral in the battle for Newcastle United. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-become-collateral-damage-7943767

Wee Gordy and Mark McGhee no brainer !

After last night’s extraordinary scenes in Belgrade, where the Serbia-Albania match was called off when a drone flew a pro-Albanian flag over the pitch, we look at sport’s other great incendiary political gestures, from Souness to Gazza. • Souness plants flag on enemy territory Graeme Souness was never one to back down from conflict and he certainly found it while managing Galatasaray in 1996. Facing fierce Istanbul rivals Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Cup final, Galatasaray, who had won the home leg 1-0 at home, secured the cup with a 1-1 draw in Fenerbahçe’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. Souness, perhaps emboldened by the victory, decided to celebrate by taking a gigantic Galatasaray flag and planting it in the middle of Fenerbahçe’s pitch. The incident sparked a predictably violent response from the home fans who rained objects down on the pitch, while medal presentations had to be temporarily halted after the Turkish President was hit by a bottle Press reaction was equally furious. Souness was condemned for his insulting gesture and considered responsible for the Fenerbahçe supporters’ riotous behaviour. Funnily enough, Souness didn’t have his contract renewed at the end of that season, having lost out on the Turkish title . . . to Fenerbahçe. Souness though was unrepentant. “One day I would’ve got round to planting a flag at Celtic Park if I’d stayed on as manager of Rangers,” he said later. • Gascoigne plays the pipes Paul Gascoigne could hardly be considered a political animal but he managed to stir up some serious controversy after he played a mock flute during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park while warming up as a second-half substitute. The gesture, which is symbolic of the flute-playing of Orange Order marchers, is considered a Loyalist symbol insulting to Catholics. Gascoigne first made the mime after scoring his first goal for Rangers in 1995 with the suggestion he had been egged on by team-mates and knew nothing of its significance. But this time the gesture infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident. He also received death threats and left Rangers at the end of that season. • Baghdatis sparks furore Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot tennis player, found himself at the centre of a storm at the at the 2008 Australian Open when a video posted on YouTube almost a year earlier showed him holding a flare chanting slogans such as “Turks out of Cyprus” at a barbecue hosted by his Greek Australian fan club. The local Turkish Cypriot community claimed it was a “racist attack” and a “straightforward provocation of our community”, and called for him to expelled from the tournament. However, he was allowed to play on with Baghdatis claiming he was not calling for Turkish Cypriots to leave Cyprus, but rather an end to Turkey’s military occupation since 1974. • Football goes to war Perhaps the only time that a sporting event has resulted in conflict, the “Football War” between El Salvador and Honduras was sparked by best-of-three World Cup qualifiers in 1969. Honduras, who won the first match 1-0, lost the second 3-0 in San Salvador after Honduran players endured a sleepless night before the game, with rotten eggs and dead rats allegedly thrown through the broken windows of their hotel. Honduran fans were also attacked at the game By the time of the third match, won 3-2 by El Salvador after extra-time on June 27, tension had ratcheted up so much that Honduras broke off diplomatic relations By July 14, El Salvador had invaded Honduras. When the conflict ended on July 20, between 1,000 and 2,000 people had been killed and 100,000 had lost their homes. It took 11 years to negotiate a peace treaty. Ironically El Salvador hardly shined in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico either. They lost all three of their group games without scoring. • Black power salutes In perhaps the most famous political protest made in a sporting arena, Tommie Smith and John Carlos both raised a black-gloved fist during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City in a silent demonstration against racial discrimination. The Afro-American pair had finished first and third in the 200 metres with Smith triumphing in a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Smith and Carlos also wore human-rights badges on their jackets along with Peter Norman, the Australian silver medal-winner. “If I win I am American, not a black American,” Smith said later. “But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight.” The response from the IOC was swift, banning both American athletes from the Games and dubbing their actions as “an act of racial protest.” The pair were largely ostracised on their return to the US and Norman was also censured by Australian athletics for his involvement. But their brave action is now regarded as one of the most eloquent statements ever made in the fight for racial equality.