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RANGERS have been praised by Uefa in their bid to rid the club of sectarian baggage. The governing body fined the Ibrox club �£15,500 in June following an appeal against their own not guilty verdict for chanting at last season's Champions League ties against Villarreal. They were warned that future misbehaviour could lead to heavier sanctions. Rangers were also ordered to embark on a sustained campaign to ram home the message to fans that the minority must clean up their act. So far that has included high profile Pride over Prejudice campaigns, a new song book being handed out to fans, and constant messages over the tannoy system that any sectarian singing will not be tolerated. A special hotline number has also been set up for fans to shop those around them who they feel are indulging in inappropriate signing or behaviour. And, in a Uefa document sent to every professional club in Europe - named Unite Against Racism - Rangers have been held up us a model of how clubs can tackle their problems. "Religious hatred manifests itself in many forms in Scottish and Northern Irish football with on-going anti-Catholic and pro-Republican chanting and violence at football matches in Glasgow and Edinburgh," said Uefa. "It might seem daunting to understand how a club could tackle a problem that has arisen from generations of conflict, or a history that refuses to go away. "They (Rangers) have an in-house sectarian and racism monitoring committee that meets monthly to ensure Rangers consistently challenge any inappropriate behaviour. "In addition, the club has entered into official protocol with its police force, whereby the identities of persons arrested for football related crimes are revealed and official warnings, as well as indefinite and lifetime bans, are imposed."

Received the cheque from Craig (cheers m8) for the banner donations and we have a �£10 ballance. The bill for the printing came to �£55.01 (confirmed by Del and Frankie) and I purchased �£5 worth of raffle tickets for Gersnet from the BTB as they contributed to the shipment of the flags. This leaves a ballance of �£10 and we can either keep this for the next banner, spend it on a ruck-sack to transport the banner or more raffle tickets (first prize - corporate hospitality at Ibrox for 2)....!!! Let me know what you would prefer... PS - Thanks to Del for displaying the banner at Killie yesterday and apologies for not helping m8, but the lazy bassas on our bus left me with our flag Cammy F

A NIGHT RANGERS WILL NEVER FORGET 10:00 - 26 August 2006 As the latest clutch of mostly uninspiring European matches found their way onto our screens this week, a radio phone-in debated one of football's mysteries: how is it that Glasgow Rangers have won just a single European trophy? That victory arrived on May 24, 1972, at Barcelona's Nou Camp, when Rangers produced a glorious performance in the first hour of the Cup Winners' Cup final to lead Moscow Dynamo 3-0. Although the Russians rallied and scored two late goals, it wasn't enough to deny a group of players whose names were to be etched into the club's folklore. Author and journalist Paul Smith had a distinct advantage in his quest to interview Rangers' 11 European heroes in his entertaining To Barcelona and Beyond, for his father Davie was widely regarded as the man of the match on that epic night. Smith has written an intimate and, at times, moving portrait of the lives of the eleven before, during and after their European experience. Unlike the current Rangers team, as cosmopolitan a bunch as there is in British football, the 1972 vintage were all Scots. Most played for their country and, in an era when Scotland produced a good proportion of Britain's finest footballers, players such as John Greig and Colin Stein remain legends for club and country. Smith's stories of lesser lights including goalkeeper Peter McCloy and full-back Willie Mathieson highlight the strength of an unusually loyal team bond which has lasted more than three decades. Of course, there were also mavericks. Alfie Conn moved to Tottenham soon after the European triumph having been deemed surplus to Ibrox's requirements. Despite playing fewer than 40 games for Spurs, he became a cult hero, fondly remembered as the player who sat on the ball during a particularly fraught encounter with Don Revie's Leeds. Conn played in the North American Soccer League, as did Willie Johnston, two-goal hero in the final. Johnston's career post-Barcelona included one of the most notorious episodes in World Cup history. He failed a drugs test following the embarrassing 3-1 defeat to Peru in Scotland's opening game of the 1978 World Cup. Despite his protestations of innocence and his exemplary career, it's a millstone which he has had to carry around with him for nearly 30 years. On reflection, there seems to be too little recognition for the team that won Rangers' only European trophy, which seems bizarre considering the quality of opposition they had to overcome. In addition to Moscow Dynamo, effectively the Russian national team, they dispatched Rennes and Sporting Lisbon in the opening rounds before defeating a very strong Torino outfit in the quarter-finals. Yet perhaps their greatest victory was the 3-1 aggregate win over Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. Bayern were about to embark on a hat-trick of European Cup triumphs and half the side, including Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller, were to become part of the West Germany team that won the 1974 World Cup. Poignantly, Rangers' triumph arrived little over a year after 66 supporters died in the Ibrox Disaster and it became a fitting memorial. Nevertheless, Uefa deemed the exuberant celebrations of Rangers' supporters on the Nou Camp pitch a suitable case for punishment. The club was banned from defending its trophy the following season. Meanwhile, that second European success has yet to arrive??? What memories!!! Dave Smith one of my schoolboy heroes. I wish we had him and Tom Forsyth in the team today.

A good friend of mine and 14 others are coming up to Glasgow from Derby for a stag do on the weekend of the Falkirk game. I thought it would be a good idea to take in the match (even though they are all Rams fans I have brainwashed them all into being closet blue noses) Most of them were at the Ted Mcminn benefit match in May and they are looking forward to sampling the famous Ibrox atmosphere. Anyway my mate called the ticket hotline to book the tickets and apparently they can't post more than 7 tickets at one time so he called me and aksed if I could pick them up from the ticket office (which is no problem) then the ticket hotline asked for a �£ 1.25 booking fee per ticket. After spending �£336 on tickets I think they have a cheek asking for this additional booking fee. Fair enough I could accept a 1.25 charge for the whole transaction but per ticket is a bit steep. This is the email of complaint he has sent, Myself and 14 other friends are coming up to see Rangers v Falkirk for my stag weekend. Trying to buy tickets over the phone I was amazed to be told that each ticket would be charged a handling fee of �£1.25 each.After spending �£336 already I declined to pay this. This is a total rip off and cannot be justified in any way. Having watched Rangers play in the Ted Mcminn friendly in May I was looking forward to see many friends again who we met over that weekend. You comments ,without patronising rubbish , would be welcome Anyway rant over, do you agree this is a big rip off or are we just being stingy bassas?

the bheggars keeper now has a criminal record for crossing himself at Ibrox

From the Rangers website...

It was my Mum and Dadââ?¬â?¢s 60th Birthdays recently and as a wee treat, we organised a family day out at Ibrox on Sunday where we took in the Ibrox Tour and then had lunch at the Argyle House restaurant. I have to say that both were fantastic and I would recommend either / both to anyone who is looking for a good day out. Firstly, we partook in the tour experience and our guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the club (and yes, Cammy did throw in some questions!!) and was quite witty. The only thing that the tour misses is a Rangers museum ââ?¬â?? our great stadium has everything, but we could be doing with a museum to house the many treasures / mementos / historical tops, caps, medals etc, that are currently squeezed into corners of Ibrox. We then went over for Sunday Lunch at the Argyle House restaurant and were treated to a marvellous 3 course carvery with side dishes including curry, fish, mushroom dishes etc ââ?¬â?? and donââ?¬â?¢t get me started on the sweet trolly! The staff were all very friendly and helpful. Oh, one last wee note ââ?¬â?? when we arrived at Ibrox for the tour, the security guards inside the main door were reading No1 Fanzine and their critique ââ?¬â?? a good read!! Cammy F

http://www.gersnet.info/fmrangers/newmain/190806.html Firstly I'll start by defining the word hypocrite: Webster's Dictionary has the following: I wouldn't normally waste my or your time by talking about Celtic or one of their players but considering this 'man' is going to be all over the papers for the next few days I think it's only fair we see this wolf without the sheep's clothing. Firstly we'll discuss Lennon's disgraceful claims in Saturday's Daily Record (as proven liar Hugh Keevins did previously a few weeks back) that Rangers didn't sign him in the early 80s as he was a catholic. This simply isn't true and is heresay of the highest order. I'd imagine if this was the case Rangers would not even have asked Lennon over from NI. Why waste time and money if the school-boy signing wasn't to happen because of his religion. Interestingly, Rangers signed John Spencer in 1984 and he was also a catholic. Before that Rangers had dozens of catholic players since our inception in 1872. Certainly seems to counter the Record's claims of signing policies and the like. I'd suggest that Lennon wasn't signed simply because he wasn't good enough. Nothing else. The same article quotes Lennon as saying his father "expressed his grave reservations about me ever signing for Rangers, not least because it could place my personal safety, and that of the rest of my family, at risk from the actions of extremists". Perhaps there is some truth in this statement as I can recall Mo Johnston and Neil McCann both having trouble from such people. Not Rangers fans of course, but Celtic fans who took umbrage when they signed for Scotland's most successful club. Indeed, Johnston has had to make his life away from this country due to the same 'extremists' Lennon's father talks about. Moreover, Lennon himself had trouble from his own fans a few years back - his father self-imposing an exile on himself from Parkhead due to the treatment his son got for his defensive style of play. Do we see a pattern here? Going back to the definition above we read about false pretending and acting. Lennon does a great job of this. Time after time we read sympathising articles from his many similar friends in the Scottish media about how he is the victim of sectarianism and abuse during his time in Scotland. Now, I've no doubt the guy does suffer from the occassional bit of such behaviour and no-one should be subjected to this. Ask Ian Ferguson. Or Mo Johnston. Or Neil McCann. Or maybe wee Lenny should take the advice given to Ian Ferguson by his friend and greatest supporter Martin O'Neill when he was asked about the terrible sectarian taunts Ian Ferguson used to receive from Celtic fans: "He's man enough to ignore it". Speaking of sectarian behaviour and abuse Lennon has been guilty of the very same - strange from a man who abhors it and admits his life has been negatively affected by it? It's been that bad he took it upon himself to call the Rangers bench and fans 'Dirty Orange Bastards' during a heated Old Firm game in November 2004. During the same game he spat on a Rangers scarf right in front of the Copland Road stand. Not that you'll read anything about that in his book I'm sure. Certainly he (or his club) have never shown any regret for his behaviour that day. Indeed, the following year, Celtic made this man their captain. A great role model I'm sure. The following year he was found guilty of threatening behaviour towards officials after another defeat at Ibrox. Some Old Firm (well Rangers) players have actually been convicted of similar behaviour in the past. Not the eternal 'victim' though. Earlier this season we all read the stories about Lennon's cheating with various different women and how he was again guilty of threatening behaviour towards one of his various pregnant girlfriends. Now, some newspapers should never be believed at face value. However, Lennon (and his club) have never denied these stories so I think given the usual urgent PR responses from Celtic when a negative story does appear in the press (it does happen now and again I hear) didn't occur in this case, we can safely assume the stories are true. All of this article so far paints a very different picture from the one you'll read in this weekend's papers. Indeed, one which fits the earlier definition perfectly. Let's not be timid here. Neil Lennon is the worst kind of person one could ever meet. More than half of Glasgow doesn't like the man. More than half of Scotland detests the man. Everywhere he goes he brings the worst out in people. That's NOT, I repeat NOT, because Neil Lennon is a catholic. That's NOT because Neil Lennon is even a Celtic player. It's because Neil Lennon is a cheat. Neil Lennon is a liar. Neil Lennon is a hypocrite who is the very bigot he complains about so often. The same goes for every newspaper and journalist who gives this man (and I use the term loosely) the platform to air his hypocritical views.

Monday August 21st 2006, 11:12 am Filed under: Player News Aston Villa want to bring Manchester United fullback Phil Bardsley back to England. Bardsley made his debut for Rangers on Saturday after signing on a six-month loan at Ibrox last week. However, the People says Villa boss Martin O�Neill fancies bringing Bardsley back to the Premiership before the summer market closes in a permanent deal. Your thoughts please I hope this isn't true as i hope he gets a chance with us. The price is 1mill. Maybe we should beat them to it and sign him.

Sunderland move for Rangers midfielder Rae tribalfooball.com - August 20, 2006 Sunderland are eyeing Rangers midfielder Gavin Rae. Niall Quinn, the Wearside club's manager/chairman, is under pressure after seeing his side plummet to the foot of the table after four straight defeats from as many games. He is keen to strengthen his side and Rae is understood to be in his thoughts. The Scotland international is now completely fit after a succession of knee injuries, but has yet to figure under Paul Le Guen and was on the substitutes' bench again during the 2-0 weekend victory over Hearts. The 28-year-old, signed by Alex McLeish from Dundee for a cut-price �250,000 three years ago, may be tempted to the Stadium of Light as he seeks first-team football to continue to figure in Walter Smith's international plans. Quinn would even take the powerful Rae on a season-long loan and Le Guen may give the move the go-ahead. Rae has made only 14 starts during his injury-plagued stay at Ibrox.

Meanwhile, the manager said that midfielder Gavin Rae can still have a future at Ibrox. Rae was among those tipped to be leaving shortly, but Le Guen revealed he is a fan of the Scotland international. "Gavin Rae is important for the squad and perhaps also for the team," he said. "He did not play in the last two seasons so we have to be patient with him. "Gavin is a very good guy, but even if he doesn't play for the moment, I appreciate his work. I like training him."

Last season's SPL top scorer expressed his disappointment last week after being reduced to a substitute's role so far this season for the 'Gers but returned to the starting line-up in style on Saturday, scoring both goals against Hearts at Ibrox. "Kris Boyd did very well today," said boss Paul Le Guen after the game. "I was very happy with his goals and he showed a lot of responsibilty to take the penalty to put us ahead. "However, you cannot play everyone all the time, for example, Thomas Buffel has played a lot recently, so I want the players to be patient." Surely 1 mill is a joke. Was there not a Russian team who were ready to offer a lot more.

Dosent sound like he is getting impatient as the mhedia suggested earlier in the week, just another example of how the gutter press turn things around to make a decent story.

Just an update to say that the new banner is currently being printed and will be returned to me by the end of this week. Once again, thanks to Del for getting this stitched together and to everyone who donated towards the printing. Hopefully the banner will make its debut at Ibrox on Saturday. Now I'm away back to that 80's video site Cammy F

I remember trying to find this out before as it has often bugged me, but does anyone know the story behind the bike that is always in pictures of the trophy room? Cheers

Taken from SportingLife.com

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=409640&CPID=14&clid=67&lid=7&title=Le+Guen+demands+improvement "Rangers boss Paul Le Guen admits his side need to show a vast improvement after dropping two points against Dunfermline on Sunday. The Glasgow giants could have gone top of the Scottish Premier League had they claimed maximum spoils but had to settle for a second successive stalemate. Last weekend saw Rangers come from behind to steal a point against Dundee United, with the French tactician demanding a noticeable improvement from his players. While accepting the early days of his tenure at Ibrox were unlikely to deliver perfect performances, he is though of the opinion that the current state of affairs is not acceptable. "For us it is a waste of points," he rapped. "I am disappointed with the result and with the way of playing today. "We have to do better and to have more control to win such a game. "Up front we were not good enough and the whole team did not play as well as they did in the first two games. "There is a little bit of a lack of confidence but not enough to explain the results. "We lack control and every player must be aware that he can do better. "I knew that we wouldn't win all the games in the beginning but I know the players can do better so it is normal for me to expect them to do better than they did today." "

The club thinking about the fans for once? http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~880878,00.html FORMER Rangers boss Dick Advocaat will be back at Ibrox on Wednesday August 23 when his Zenit St Petersburg side face the Light Blues and Season Ticket Holders can take in this friendly game for FREE! The Dutchman, who secured five trophies during his successful tenure as Rangers manager and has just signed Fernando Ricksen on a one-year loan deal, will occupy the away dugout for the first time and, as a reward for their ongoing support and commitment, all Season Ticket Holders will take in the action free of charge. The Club is also offering hugely discounted public sale tickets with Adults at just �£7 and Concessions available at only �£3 so bring the family along for what is sure to be a cracking contest. Paul Le Guen will undoubtedly give the majority of his first-team squad a run out against the Russians and recent recruits Lee Martin and Filip Sebo will be out to impress the Rangers faithful. Cheer on your heroes at Ibrox on Wednesday August 23 (kick off 7.45pm) when Le Gaffer locks horns with The Little General!

Ok the start of the season hasnt quite panned out as we hoped but im confident leguen will get it right. all we have to do is get behind the team and give them all the encouragement we can muster. dont bicker, dont pick out our deficiences and most of all dont get on the teams back. Its our job as supporters as well as the managers to motivate the team and we can do that by getting the roar back into ibrox. thats all we have to do. I dare say we will drop a few more points along the way (sooner rather than later) but there are another 35 games to win this league and were only two points of the top. I reckon the next 4 or 5 games will be as bumpy a ride as the last few but by then leguen will have come up against all the teams in the league and he will have a right good idea of what hes up against. The title will go to the wire but when they are dishing out the prizes im confident that well be in their fighting.

He said: "I appreciated the reception I got from the supporters. "It was a great sight to see the stadium all red, white and blue. It's great for the players to receive this kind of backing. "I had heard that our supporters were very passionate and emotional and that was true against Dundee United. "I loved the atmosphere and I hope I can enjoy a good relationship with the fans during my time at the club. I had that at Lyon and I feel it's important." So with the least sectarian chanting and singing for a while and the new boy is still knocked out by the atmosphere. The bigotted prophets of doom take note, your predictions about Ibrox being a morgue are about as acurate as Nostrodamus' end of the world in 2000.

http://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/news/2006/090806.html 09 August 2006 Daily Record Apologises to Trust for Hugh Keevins Article Printed below is an apology from the Daily Record for an article by Hugh Keevins which appeared on Monday 7 August 2006. In it, Keevins invented ââ?¬Ë?quotesââ?¬â?¢ and gave the false impression that he had spoken to someone from the Trust; an impression which both we and the Daily Record are happy to correct. Link to Record Apology 9 August 2006 RANGERS TRUST "IN an article on Monday by Hugh Keevins we attributed part of a quote to Rangers Supportersââ?¬â?¢ Trust spokesperson Stephen Smith which was not made. Mr Smith did speak to the Press Association and it was these quotes which we inaccurately reported. We apologise for the error." Following on from Keevinsââ?¬â?¢s infamous comparison of Ibrox to Nuremberg on Scotsport in April 2006 and a 2003 incident where he inaccurately quoted former Trust Chairman Colin Glass, the Trust believes that this particular journalist has demonstrated he has a serious problem with accuracy and objectivity when it comes to Rangers and Rangers supporters. We have confidence that Trust members and the wider Rangers family will draw the appropriate conclusions and we look forward to the day when Hugh Keevins is denied the platform to voice his offensive, biased and inaccurate ramblings.

The Polish international is the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal following a six-month investigation. A number of complaints were received by police after the SPL match against Rangers at Ibrox on February 12, which Celtic went on to win 1-0. Boruc, 26, is said to have angered a section of the home support after allegedly making the religious gesture. A Crown Office spokesman said: "A report has been received and it is being considered." A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: "The circumstances surrounding the alleged actions of a football player during the Old Firm match at Ibrox on February 12 2006 have been investigated and referred to the procurator fiscal at Glasgow." The Polish goalkeeper, who played during this year's World Cup in Germany, signed for Celtic from Legia Warsaw in July last year.

Has a story about 'Craptic jokers' swapping the Cup Winners Cup for a Lucozade bottle in the Ibrox Trophy Room. Now, this story has only ever been highlighted on 2 websites, FF and Terrorist Minded. So, The Sun MUST have picked this up from either site. Now, this is where it gets interesting - the bottle of Lucazade is a dig at as FF poster who sadly died whilst posting on FF one night - he had a reputation of banter with Tims and always won his arguements with jovality and facts. In fact, the thread on Terrorist Minded about this photo included Tims holding a 'God Bless The Pope' scarf at the FF posters memorial brick outside the Broomie Stand (yes, they actually searched the entire wall for his brick). Tims have also used his name whilst phoning up phone-ins and having digs at him, Rangers and the Rangers fans. There are no depths these these scumbags, yes, that is what they are, won't plummit to. And as for The Sun, they know the whole story, yet print this as a joke by Tims. Aye, some fooking joke. http://forum.followfollow.com/showthread.php?t=134956 Cammy F

Ok i know its still early but most fans have noted we are slightly unstable and slack at the back at the moment. Personally id give it a few more games anyway to see if it improves as Im sure the guys will be working on it day in day out in training over the next few weeks. Im pretty comfortable with Smith at LB and he looks natural in the position. Hutton is ok going forward but is lacking at some defensive duties. Svensson hasnt settled (yet) but again id give it longer. However if it doesnt improve id maybe like to see us go 3 at the back if we sign an new no-nonsense centre half. This would allow us to keep the 2-3 midfield shape but stick a striker up with Prso and keep Adam aswell. Someone mentioned on another thread Dundee Utd were rocked when we had all our attacking options on the park, and i can see a lot more teams coming to ibrox flooding the defence again, so the 3-2-3-2 formation is maybe worth a looking. ______________Letizi_______________ _____J Rod____Newbie____Svensson _______Ferguson____Clement________ __Sionko_______Buffel_______Adam___ __________Prso_____Boyd___________

Ok, I just heard what is meant to have happened on the plane by someone who's very close to the inside of Ibrox. "Ricksen went into the bog with his polo shirt on andcame out wih a wee white lycra style t-shirt on showing off his muscles etc. He came out and started shadow boxing and posing in the mirror outside the loo. The players were in stitches He came back to his seat, lashed down some more port and got the laptop out. He was sitting next to an older guy- not a rangers employee and the old guy was sleeping and had the wee mask thing on Ricksen then pulled the mask away from his face and let it go like an elastic band -the guy near shit himself and wasn't amused The laughter at Ricksen brought a stewardess up to see what the noise was-then she saw the laptop and told him to put it off. He refused and told her to get him another drink and shut up She refused and gave him a dressing down -he then threw the water over her." Apparently PL was in his seat further back - he came and asked the older guy to go to a different seat and he put Lawrence Mcintrye and a steward beside ricksen. Seems West Brom are interested in him. That story is as reliable as any you've heard, maybe more so.