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EIGHTEEN months and counting. A year and a half left of this one-horse race before we have a proper championship again. Assuming Ally McCoist gets Rangers back into the top flight on schedule. He had better deliver, an extra year of the current nonsense and we?ll need chloroform. On occasions I?ve found myself at English grounds where everyone in the media centre was glued to the lunchtime Old Firm game. Southern journalists couldn?t get enough of it. Last Thursday at Newcastle, one of them asked me which division Rangers are in right now. That?s the extent of the interest. If the essence of any sporting contest is uncertainty, the wise men of the SPL gave our top flight a lethal injection two summers ago. Under the guise of ?sporting integrity? they sentenced Rangers to three years hard labour and killed their own competition while they were at it. Clever, eh? It was arguably the most idiotic decision in the history of Scottish football. Boycott threats from the anonymous halfwits of cyberspace saw our Premier League chairmen fold, condemning our biggest league to three years of decline. SFA chief executive Stewart Regan was ridiculed for predicting ?Armageddon? in Rangers? absence. He wasn?t far wrong. Why did every club in the league have to pay the price of Craig Whyte?s ransacking of Ibrox? Did Rod Petrie and Co really believe that ?Sell-out Saturday? nonsense? Did they believe the internet eejits who promised they?d turn up every week to fill club coffers? So much for the moral high ground. Sporting integrity has put Scottish football up against the wall. Yeah, Celtic have been insulated from the fallout by reaching the Champions League proper in successive seasons. But as the growing rows of empty seats prove, Hoops punters are bored stiff with the extent of their domestic dominance. Trust me, if it was Neil Lennon?s call Rangers would be back in the top flight next season. Likewise, I?m told Peter Lawwell wanted to keep Rangers in the big league with a points penalty, before he too bowed to the mob. Thanks to Lennon?s European success, Celtic?s balance sheet is in good nick but defeat in next season?s Champions League qualifiers will have accountants reaching for the valium. Elsewhere the rest of the SPFL is suffering. Rangers? demotion saw every budget in the top flight slashed. When costs have to be cut, youth development is the first casualty. At a time Dundee United are producing a special crop of youngsters, who would vote to shut down the production line? Some silly people have suggested Celtic?s recent hammering in Barcelona was no reflection on the standard of Scottish football. Really? Celtic won the league by 16 points last season without breaking sweat, yet they managed just three points from 18 in the Champions League. What does that say for the rest of the league? Our other European representatives? Scottish Cup finalists Hibs got a crack at the Europa League and lost 9-0 on aggregate to Malmo. Motherwell lost 3-0 over two legs to Kuban Krasnodar, currently ninth in the Russian league. Thankfully, St Johnstone flew the flag briefly with a great win over Rosenborg before losing in the third qualifying round to FC Minsk. Putting Rangers in the poorhouse gave a lot of people satisfaction but was the price worth paying? Under the yoke of the Old Firm, attendances were better, sponsors easier to find and the league table was worth looking at every weekend. With the pair at each other?s throats for Champions League cash, both had to spend to stay in front. A lot of that money went to fellow SPL clubs. Dundee were weighed in for Rab Douglas, Nacho Novo and Gavin Rae. Hibs got an Old Firm auction going for Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson. Kilmarnock punted Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith. Dundee United got a million plus for Barry Robson, while Celtic outbid Rangers for Motherwell?s Scott McDonald. That Old Firm arms race kept both clubs on their toes and helped subsidise the rest of the league. Now we?ve got Celtic trying to get through the entire season undefeated while the rest play for second place and a brief skirmish with the Europa League qualifiers. League One is no less of a freak show where you can watch Rangers playing keepie-uppie with their part-time opposition. Eighteen months and counting.

HUGH saw Jamie Longworth's late goal silence large parts of the Ibrox crowd, but couldn't ignore the voices of those who have lost faith in the Ibrox manager. By the time the final whistle blew at Ibrox on Boxing Day they were hanging over the front row of the stand directly behind the press area and giving full vent to their feelings. Never mind the board of directors that nobody appears to like. Never mind institutional investors, the ins and outs of corporate governance or anything else that has to do with Rangers’ business activities. This was all about the fitba’ and it was personal. The ground was full when the game started and half empty when it finished. And those who had stayed to the end had hung on to let the manager know what they thought about his team’s performance. A draw with Stranraer was, even after 15 successive league wins, the tipping point for the excitable who took their frustration out almost exclusively on Ally McCoist. It ought to be laughable but I couldn’t see anybody smiling. The exact words used were abusive and dripping with resentment, leaving the listener to ?conclude 2014 will be the year when the manager finds out who his friends really are. The Celtic fans who believe McCoist is a protected species should’ve been there to see their theory being dismantled. That group of supporters commonly referred to as the Fat Cats were huddled, if the Rangers fans will allow that word, in small groups and speaking in hushed tones while the Stranraer players were still partying on the pitch. The way the conspirators do in the movies before something distressing takes place. The overall picture presented was of a man at the crossroads. Those who don’t think he’s a legend believe McCoist is a liability. And it’s distressing to watch on when a good man is subjected to such personal vilification. But seeing a school teacher score the goal for Stranraer that taught Rangers a lesson about negligent defending had driven McCoist’s detractors in the crowd over the edge. If Vincent Tan had been his club’s owner Ally would already be on gardening leave while somebody worked out the terms of his severance pay. As it is though, he’s dealing with a chief executive who might insist ?on players ?leaving, rather than joining the Ibrox side so the club’s accounts can be whipped into much better shape going forward. Which intensifies the pressure on McCoist to take the team in an upward direction by relying on his capabilities in the coaching department. And while dealing with a board who have their private thoughts on the manager’s decision to transfer his proxy to members of a Rangers supporters club before the shareholders’ vote at the club’s recent AGM. When McCoist was asked on Monday if there had been any feedback from his employers regarding that manoeuvre he asked, uncharacteristically, if he could be allowed to keep that information to himself. Work that one out for yourself. Some supporters resent the money the manager earns for handling full-time players in a part-time environment, and bring the subject up every time there’s a reason for disquiet. Like failing to beat Stranraer with a goal of a start on their home ground. And there’s another group who will express their enduring affection for McCoist as the player who could do no wrong for Rangers while leaving you in no doubt they don’t think he knows what he’s doing as manager. This is how the Rangers manager will bring in the New Year. He’ll need eyes in the back of his ?head, the skin of a rhinoceros and the patience of a saint. Because the wisened old cynic in me says they’re out to get him.

The bright spots of 2013's Scottish Football may not be bright enough to light up 2014 according to Craig Burley, as lack of a competitive top flight darkens our game. THE new year promises more of the same on the domestic front – and it’s boring as hell. So desperate have we become that the upturn of the national team under Gordon Strachan and the splattering of talented kids at ?Dundee United have people clinging to some sort of hope. But there can be no sane person left in the country who actually believes fans are better served with Rangers trawling the lower leagues while Celtic canter to another title. Since their side tumbled out of Europe, Hoops fans have headed for the hills on match days. Talk of an unbeaten league run has failed to stop punters going for a Saturday afternoon supermarket sweep with the missus. Rangers’ winning streak ended at the hands of Stranraer but who was really buying into club records when those wins came against the window cleaner and your postman? Can’t we just be honest with ourselves Scotland’s top league needs a competitive edge back – even if it’s just a two-horse race. Although they are playing in different leagues now, there has been more squabbling between the Old Firm than I care to remember. But while the Glasgow giants continue to bicker there have been some changes for the good and some crumbs of comfort. Once most of us have enjoyed the World Cup in Brazil we can look forward to qualification for France 2016 under Strachan. So far the signs are encouraging so let’s hope that snowballs into the Euro qualifiers. Youngsters are the lifeblood of the national team and Dundee United might provide a few top talents. That will be a testament to the work done by my old team-mate Jackie McNamara and his staff. Jackie and I both played for Scotland under Craig Brown and he decided it was pipe and slippers time earlier this year. Craig didn’t get enough credit but his departure at Aberdeen offered Derek McInnes an avenue back into the game. He has given the Dons some vigour and added a bit of quality to the squad. His side lost to Motherwell on Boxing Day and that left the Steelmen in second spot. Stuart McCall has turned down chances to move on from Fir Park and that looks like a good decision as Well continue to ride high despite losing some key players. Last year Ross County gaffer Derek Adams was the best thing since sliced bread and the next top prospect. But 12 months later the only reason County don’t prop up the league is the 15-point penalty for Hearts. And what a shame it is to see another great institution in Scottish football head for the lower leagues. But however tough it seems for Gary Locke and the Jambos, they will come back stronger. On the other side of Edinburgh, Hibs seem to have finally made a wise choice in appointing Terry Butcher as manager. The stadium and training ground are all in place but now Terry has to get it right on the field. The big man’s departure from Inverness will have been a blow ?and it will be interesting to see how new gaffer John Hughes copes. Kilmarnock’s fans have been in a bun fight with chairman Michael Johnson while League Cup-winning boss Danny Lennon has avoided the axe at St Mirren after a dodgy start to the new campaign. The start to next season will be vital for our game as Celtic bid to reach the Champions League and Scotland start the Euro 2016 campaign. If results go pair shaped for both then we are stuffed once more. Unless you’re still of the persuasion that the ?domestic game is flying high.

Kris Boyd will end a three-year international hiatus by joining the Scotland squad on the flight to Norway tomorrow ahead of Tuesday’s International Challenge Match in Molde. Boyd was drafted in to the squad by Gordon Strachan to replace Steven Fletcher, with the Sunderland striker permitted by the national coach to return to his club after playing in Friday night’s 0-0 draw against the USA at Hampden Park. The 30-year-old Kilmarnock striker last appeared for his country in a 2-1 victory against Liechtenstein in the UEFA European Championship qualifier at Hampden Park in September 2010. Boyd, who played under the Scotland national coach at Middlesbrough, has stated his desire to add to his 18 caps and seven goals for his country since returning to the SPFL Premiership and rejoining his home-town team, Kilmarnock, after a spell in Major League Soccer with the Portland Timbers. “I never gave up hope of playing for my country again and I am grateful to Gordon for giving me that chance,” he said en route to the team hotel. “I have always felt I can make a contribution at international level and knew that if I kept working hard my chance would come again. Hopefully I can get involved against Norway and show people what I am still capable of at the highest level.” Gordon explained he had no hesitation in turning to Boyd to supplement his attacking options after losing Fletcher, Matt Phillips and Jordan Rhodes from his original squad. “Kris has always said he was determined to return to the international squad. Now he has that opportunity again and I am delighted for him,” said Gordon. “He is a terrific professional who works hard on his game. Having spoken to a lot of people about him, they are of the same opinion as me – that Kris is an asset to any squad with his goalscoring capabilities. “He is playing regularly again at Kilmarnock and that sharpness made him a natural choice when looking for a striker to replace Steven.” Scotland have allowed Grant Hanley to return to his club after experiencing muscle tightness after his part in Scotland’s draw on Friday night, with Charlie Mulgrew also given leave for the trip to Norway.

THERE are certain gifts we all dread receiving at this time of year ... Eric Caldow played in front of 35,000 fans for Rangers on Christmas Day but Rangers fans got possibly the worst present ever on Christmas Day way back in 1965. Their team were edged out 3-2 by visiting Dunfermline at Ibrox in the league. And that painful reverse allowed their Old Firm rivals Celtic to leapfrog them into top spot in the table. Football matches used to be played as normal on Christmas Day if it happened to fall on a Saturday. And Scot Symon's team found themselves up against a formidable side managed by Willie Cunningham on that date 48 years ago. The Gers, who fielded legends like Eric Caldow, Willie Henderson and Willie Johnston, were leading the race for the Scottish title at the time. So nobody, not the players and not the supporters, minded fulfilling the fixture on December 25 in the slightest. "We opened our Christmas presents in the morning and played football in the afternoon," recalled Caldow. "We didn't think we should stop playing just because it was Christmas Day. It was brilliant, great fun." The fans were certainly happy to forego the turkey and mulled wine to see their heroes play and 35,000 turned up. But Dunfermline - for whom a certain Alex Ferguson played up front - were nobody's fools. They had just missed out on being crowned champions the season before when they finished only a point behind Kilmarnock. The Fife club ended up edging a thrilling encounter in Glasgow thanks to a double from Scotland international Hugh Robertson and a strike by Bert Paton. Goals from Jim Forrest and George McLean ultimately meant nothing for the home team whose supporters trudged back home disappointed. The fact that across the city Celtic had thrashed Morton 8-1 at Parkhead to go top of the league on goal average did not help their mood. Caldow said: "I played for Rangers for 16 years and throughout that time we always had good teams. The team we had at that time was no exception. "But we had lost Jim Baxter the previous summer. Jim was as slow as treacle. But, boy, was he good on the ball. All I had myself was pace. I couldn't tackle a fish supper! If I got in trouble I would pass it to Jim and he would do something with it. "We did miss him. Dunfermline were a very good team at that time, too. They had players like Alex Edwards, Hugh Robertson and Alex Ferguson." Ferguson failed to get on the scoresheet that day despite enjoying what he would later describe was the best season of his playing career. The future Manchester United boss scored 45 goals in 51 games - form that would earn him a move to his boyhood heroes Rangers in 1967. Robert McElroy, the author of several books on the history of Rangers, was standing on the terraces at that Christmas Day match against Dunfermline. "With five goals scored it was a thrilling game," he said. "Dunfermline had a very good side at that time and, what's more, were something of a bogey team for Rangers. "Rangers went a couple of years without beating them. In the 1964/65 season, when Dunfermline finished runners-up, Rangers lost home and away against them. "Fergie didn't score that day. But he had a habit of scoring goals against Rangers. He had scored a couple against them at East End Park the year before. "But it was no disgrace to lose to Dunfermline. They qualified regularly for Europe at that time and had some outstanding results. They knocked Everton out of the Fairs' Cities Cup. "It was quite normal for games to be played on Christmas Day if it fell on a Saturday. New Year was a far bigger occasion in Scotland around that time." McElroy added: "The Rangers team at that time was not in the same class as that of the early 1960s when they could field the likes of Baxter, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. "They were a decent, hard-working side. But they were missing John Greig that day. Roger Hynd, the nephew of Bill and Bob Shankly, played in defence." McElroy, though, believes the consequences of that Christmas Day defeat to Dunfermline were far- reaching for Rangers. He explained: "Celtic went ahead at the top of the league table on goal average that day. Jock Stein's side would go on and win the league by two points that season. "If Rangers had won the league that season there would have been no Nine-In- A-Row and no European Cup triumph in Lisbon for Celtic. "Rangers badly missed the class and skill of Baxter that season. He wanted to stay at Rangers. But he wanted more money so he left and joined Sunderland. "He was only after £75 a week. Rangers paid a heavy price, then, for refusing to give him what he was looking for." Rangers only ever played one more game on Christmas Day after that and the outcome was far more satisfactory for their followers. In 1971, they took on Hibs through at Easter Road - and won 1-0 thanks to a last-minute winner from striker Colin Stein. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/christmas-day-match-turned-into-a-turkey-for-light-blues-fans-146366n.23028800

Not going myself so am hoping a few lads I trust to tweet accurately will keep us informed through the meeting. The Rangers board have already arrived ahead of the 10.30am start.

What a difference a year makes. About 12-18 months ago, new legislation was introduced in Scotland which sought to finally, once and for all, get Rangers fans in particular to shut up about Ireland and the Pope both at and going to or from football matches. Don't believe any nonsense about other club's fans, it was aimed at Bluenoses because Bluenoses were and are seen as the primary offenders. I had and have no problem with this: I was sick of such songs and chants at Ibrox and, since my fellow fans didn't show much sign of packing it in themselves, I agreed that they needed the threat of the law to encourage them to stagger into the 20th century, let alone the 21st. The law proved very controversial, but until this week I remained behind it, because Rangers could only benefit from it, even if some individual fans suffered. I am pleased to say that such songs are down to the absolute bare minimum and will, with the right approach, wither and die within a generation. So, the law is a success? Alas, things have become rather muddied. The spotlight has shifted from us to Celtic's fans, due to their repeated singing and flag waving about IRA people, disrupting Glasgow city with marches, singing about Orange Bastard managers from Ajax and generally being obnoxious. Curiously, this focus has been greeted not with societal opprobrium and condemnation, and certainly not legislation, but a willingness to engage with the reasoning behind such displays, deep thinking articles and much intelligentsia driven discussion. Legitimate displays of heritage are suddenly to include singing about terrorists, which unless I am mistaken is specifically illegal under the laws brought in after 7/7 and 9/11. You can dress it up as political activism all you like, terrorism is always wrong. But we have people celebrating it. This is frankly disgusting. As a long serving hand wringer and hater of all Orange ties to Rangers, this willingness to engage with Celtic's terrorist celebrating wing dismays me. Not just because newspaper articles which stroke their metaphorical chin and hmm, hmm, about the rights and wrongs of glorifying murder turns any sane person's stomach, but because it whips the ground out from beneath the feet of those Bluenoses who have argued for the club's fans to drop its baggage. How can I argue that Rangers should drop loyalist links when the rest of the country is falling over itself to analyse Celtic's Irish links? Whether I like it or not, and I don't, I cannot deny that such loyalist links existed. How can I argue that UVF songs are disgusting when the rest of the country has re-classified the IRA as merely a misunderstood political movement, who seem to have let off a few firecrackers by mistake? I am not subtle enough to distinguish between one murder gang and another; if one is allowed, it seems all must be. How can I urge Bluenoses to look to the future when the media in this country are hell bent on grovelling before Celtic's past? If fan A's heritage is so bloody important, surely so is fan B's? The case against sectarianism has taken a huge leap backwards in this country in the last few weeks, and all because some attention has been shone on Celtic's bigots. They are not politically active, they are not the cultural heirs of Finn MacCool, they are a parasitic leech on Scottish football which will do nothing for it but plenty to hold it back. But hey, we want some atmosphere at Celtic park, so that's OK. I imagine thousands of fans will be queuing up to enjoy said atmosphere. Mr Graham Spiers, on BBC Radio Scotland last night, calmly discussed the alleged terrorism-informed Irish heritage of Celtic as displayed by the Green Brigade group of fans - what an insult to both Ireland and Celtic, incidentally - then sounded like he was foaming at the mouth when discussing Mr Paul Murray, the wannabe Rangers director. This man's moral compass is not just broken, it is absolutely shattered. What a dispiriting and dismaying vista. An arch critic of Rangers' sectarian links, Mr Spiers has been at the forefront of pushing for engagement with these deeply misunderstood and intelligent, earnest young men and women, the better to understand why pictures of a 14th century Scottish killer, a 20th century Irish killer, and the suggestion that either are appropriate for the future of 21st century Scotland (or even Ireland), have become visible. The fairly obvious answer - that neither will do, and rather than banging on about centuries past both countries would be better served by looking to the future - is discarded, in favour of agonised intellectual examinations of political disengagement. Anyone who thinks we will revive the electorate by adding some more Irish history to football - this is the serious premise being put forward, by the way - ought to be debarred from even commenting on it on grounds of incipient cretinism. The avalanche of people who have attempted to legitimise utterly inappropriate behaviour by football fans as political has been staggering, but that doesn't make them right! As a paid up online intellectual chin stroker myself, it kind of pains me to say that people who actually have to live with this sort of crap are the ones who have given the best response to it. Mr Tom English and Mr Keith Jackson have given these people short shrift: self-obsessed and self-indulgent has been their judgement, and I would agree. Mr English is Irish, and presumably has an educated understanding of Irish history; Mr Jackson, to judge from his accent, grew up in the environment in which the realities of Old Firm sectarianism are well understood - i.e., broadly meaningless insults between people who go to different schools. Mr Spiers, we know from his insistence on providing us with details of his youth, did not. I won't be dragged into sectarianism just because I am a Rangers fanatic - sectarianism is such a waste of time and energy which embarrasses my club. Granted, any time you have a religion you will have people who oppose it; but it's got nothing to do with football. I'll argue against any Bluenose who wants a debate about our baggage, and have done for a decade. But it just got harder to justify that position (which I will not abandon) thanks to the pussy-footing around in the media, and it's mighty hard to persuade your fellow Bluenose that he out of order when his opposite number in green is molly-coddled to this degree. People like Mr Spiers do the game and the country no favours by indulging one side of this coin while castigating the other. Let's get this absolutely clear - terrorism is always wrong; sectarianism is always wrong; bleating about it at the football is always wrong. It really is that simple. Pandering to bigots will not cleanse Scotland of bigotry, and re-branding bigotry as political activism is about as cowardly and gutless as it gets, allowing those who have spent decades berating one class of bigots to avoid confronting another lot on the grounds of freedom of speech. Mr Spiers recently contacted Gersnet to complain about nine inaccuracies in one of our articles. I would be delighted to hear from him if he could point out the inaccuracies in this one...I won't hold my breath.

Hello Rangers fans! I am a student and Indiana University in the States and am looking for two or three of you to answer some questions for an upcoming ethnographic research project I have. The project examines the sectarianism surrounding the Old Firm and how it influences football culture in Scotland. It would be wonderful if any of you had some time this weekend to answer a few questions anonymously! It's all very informal so it can be done over email or Gersnet or whatever! I just need 2 or 3 more informants representing Rangers FC so if you're interested send me a PM or email me at indianaethnographer@yahoo.com or even post in this thread! Thanks so much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

YOU couldn’t give a section of Celtic’s support a red neck with a blow torch, never mind the green flare they threw on to the pitch at Fir Park. There they were with their banner asking that Nelson Mandela, the ultimate man of peace, be allowed to rest in peace. And then they got on with the wanton damage that saw seats destroyed while Motherwell boss Stuart McCall was subjected to chants about being a “sad Orange b*****d”. Some people just have no sense of irony. The team the misguided had paid to watch is currently in the best form it has enjoyed for a long time. But the football is never enough for those who have taken a weird turn since Rangers went into liquidation. The obsession with insisting that Gers died – and the current side has a history 18 months old – has come with an arrogance that was unpleasant to watch at Motherwell. Lennon said his heart sank when he saw the banners depicting William Wallace and Bobby Sands which disfigured the Champions League game with Milan. Now the manager and his chief executive, Peter Lawwell, have to speak out against supporters who are blemishing the club’s reputation. Celtic have just updated and republished the book detailing their history over the last 125 years – and it is a story well worth the telling. A team started for charitable purposes has always had what their greatest captain Billy McNeill described as a fairytale aspect attached to it. Celtic’s appearance in the Nou Camp on Wednesday night vouches for their decent standing in Europe. And the derision their efforts receive from the rival support at Ibrox is an irrelevance since that is based on the need for something to camouflage their current, lower-league status. It is as unthinking as the damage that’s being done to Celtic’s good name by the unruly element who will now make their club the object of the SPFL’s attention. But all of that unwanted attention is meaningless to the vandals, flare throwers and obscene chanters. If you can embarrass your club while the team is 5-0 up then you don’t do sober reflection. And what’s even worse is that any attempt to draw attention to the supporters’ misbehaviour is always met with a hostility based on a belief that no such incidents ever happened, or could happen, where the Celtic support is concerned. There are signs of old-fashioned hooliganism returning to Scottish football. A flare was thrown on to the pitch during Rangers’Scottish Cup tie at Falkirk causing damage to the artificial pitch. Money is a constant source of concern at Ibrox, particularly when serious-minded men-in-the-know don't rule out the possibility of a second insolvency event. So how regretful should the culprits feel when they see to it that a cheque for damages has to be forwarded from Ibrox to Falkirk? The answer is they’ll probably feel no remorse whatsoever and they won’t until somebody does something to halt a growing menace. The Old Firm game used to be a safety valve that was periodically released to take the steam out of a poisonous rivalry. Now they live separate lives and the result has been the misfits have to release their troublesome instincts in another way. Confession, they say, is good for the soul. The first thing the majority of decent Celtic fans have to admit is they don’t recognise the kind of person they can find beside them today. I also got a close-up look at Motherwell’s incendiary division last weekend because they were fouling the air, and making a nuisance of themselves, in the vicinity of the press box at Hamilton’s ground. They go through their dance routines then let off their toys, at which point several people emerge from the crowd to film their smoke-shrouded pals on their mobiles. Older Well fans, meanwhile, were congregated well away from them and getting progressively more irked by their team’s performance. They made displeasure known in the traditional, verbally-colourful manner then started to leave before Albion Rovers scored the winner. But the dance troupe didn’t have any real sense of how badly their team had played due to the fact they didn’t appear to be that bothered by what happened on the pitch. In the meantime they had caused damage to seats belonging to the club who hosted their game as a courtesy to both Lanarkshire neighbours. That will cost Well money they shouldn’t have to pay at a time when every penny’s a prisoner. Those supporters also threw another canister on to the pitch, forcing the people in wheelchairs to take evasive action. You’d think supporters of a club whose manager was involved in a stadium disaster that claimed the lives of 56 people because of a fire would consider his feelings before setting light to canisters in a stand containing thousands of their fellow supporters. One of the most harrowing conversations I’ve ever had with McCall recounted his memories of that day in Bradford. The hand-burning sensation he felt when he tried to open his car door two hours after the dead and the dying had been removed to hospital. The search for his father that ended in a case of mistaken identity when Stuart was pointed in the direction of a man with first-degree burns. He had only recovered from a deep sense of shock in the hospital ward when he heard his dad whisper: “Son, I’m over here.” Now McCall is working in an environment where we’ve started to breed our own pyromaniacs. It is an offence to enter, or attempt to enter, a football ground while in possession of a flare, smoke canister or firework. Possession of either one carries a custodial sentence if the court believes that’s in order. So why are so many being allowed to endanger health and safety on a regular basis? That’s as much of a mystery as the suggestion that McCall has destroyed his own managerial reputation because his team had an off-day in a Scottish Cup tie. Put that in your canister and smoke it. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-must-stop-rogue-2904421

The Reqs the facts. http://www.rangersmedia.co.uk/requisitioners-the-facts/

Got a phone call earlier on from my parents who live near Airbles station on Airbles Road in Motherwell and they said there's was mega chaos after the match tonight. The mass of police and ambulance sirens interrupted their TV viewing and they looked out to see total chaos. Will be interesting to see if anything is reported in the mainstream media.

A cloud cluckoo land thread on RM is questioning whether fans miss the old firm games. Very bizarre given it is the highlight of the season aside from occasional CL games. Watching us is absolutely terrible at the moment and I can't wait to get back in the SPL playing them again.

The consequence... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/scottish-football/10499198/Financial-gulf-grows-between-Old-Firm-rivals-Celtic-and-Rangers-with-clubs-share-prices-facing-contrasting-fortunes.html The truth http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2250854/Charles-Green-pledges-Ally-McCoist-10m-spend-Rangers-flotation-LSE.html The source http://davidleggat-leggoland.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/what-happened-to-25m-war-chest.html

Fire up the rolls & slice, pour a cuppa and enjoy/suffer the latest epistle from your local Handwringer in Chief. Liberal democracy is a good thing. It certainly has its faults, but overall a system which allows you to disagree with it without consequence is always preferable to one which imposes penalty on speech or thought. You might think, given the experience of the 20th century, that this is a lesson humanity has finally learned, but alas the lesson of history is that mistakes are seldom, if ever, absorbed. These thoughts came to mind last week as I re-read my copy of Clive James's wonderful 'Cultural Amnesia', a collection of essays on the effects of totalitarianism on humanity and the humanities in the last century. As always with Mr James, it is genius written with the lightest of touches: the best kind of teaching. You can pick up a copy for about £3 on Amazon and I'd heartily recommend it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cultural-Amnesia-Necessary-Memories-History/dp/039333354X The defence of freedom of speech was quite the hot potato this week, with some idiot celtc fans feeling the need to compare a 14th century bandido with a 20th century murderer. As if the 700 years in between hadn't taught the Irish anything; no, they were fit to be subjected to medieval methods of warfare. If only they could see how insulting they are to the people they stupidly profess to defend! And in fairness, loud had been the opprobrium from on high within Parkhead. Mr Lawwell don't like it, Mr Lennon don't like it, and surely the final nail for celtc fans, even Mr Spiers, he don't like it. But what is it they don't like, exactly? Well, the timing and the place. Not the picture of a mentally unbalanced killer with a persecution complex added to a natural penchant for psychosis on banners, but the doing of it in such a way as to embarrass celtc fc. In what was probably a throwaway but nonetheless revealing comment last week, Mr Spiers was of the opinion that 'there are rights and wrongs about the IRA but the football is not the place' to discuss them. I have spend a few days trying to think what the 'rights ' of the IRA were and have drawn a blank. Perhaps some other readers can write in with their solutions to this problem. A free bus ride around Belfast town centre, loudly setting out your thesis, will be the prize. On the rare occasions I think about Ireland, I guess that in the long run of history, it will probably end up as the one country. Not exactly plan 'A' to make you popular in amongst the Vanguard Bears, but there it is. But if it happens, it will be through democracy, not violence. Terrorism is always wrong. So here's where poor Clive James is roped in to educate the wretched Mr Spiers and his pals in the east. Terrorism is always wrong. Whether it be Bobby Sands or, as we discovered last week, some madmen in the British Army running about acting like an Argentine death squad, it is always wrong. And using it to score cheap points is always wrong, and not just on the grounds of timing - on the grounds that rehabilitating terrorists in the way that celtc fans and the BBC have done this week ('IRA hunger striker' is so much less aggressive than 'terrorist murderer', isn't it?) is dangerous to democracy. As the lessons of the 20th century showed us, we need to be on our guard against those who would deny free speech. It may seem hypocritcal to ask for free speech and then deny it for the Green Brigade, but with the freedom to speak comes the need to speak with responsibility. No more throwaway remarks about 'rights and wrongs', some things are always wrong. You don't have to be a cynic to wonder where the Scottish Journalist's Book of Adjectives to Describe Current Buns went this week: no 'vile', no 'songs of hate', no 'embarrassment to Scotland in the 21st century', 'no sectarian bitterness', no quotes from Peter Kearney about how awful it all is. Just 'rights and wrongs' and 'maybe the wrong time and place'. We can only hope that such lunatics as Bobby Sands never return to our shores to demonstrate to the likes of Mr Spiers just how thin the divide between liberal democracy and terror in our society is. Hopefully he will get 'Cultural Amnesia' for his Christmas - one way or another, he, and the celtc fans, need to get the message: terrorism is always wrong. But, as always, there's a but. And while it has been lovely to bask in the reflected inglory of the other mob this week, we must be careful what we wish for. For should the amazing happen and Vincent Lunny actually dare chib celtc for once, you can bet he will be on uber-Orange alert for something to even up the score. And we will give him the ammo he needs, I fear. 'What's the handwringer moaning about now?' I hear you ask. Well... 'Super Rangers' for a start. It is going to have to go, and it would be better if we did it rather than had another war. But even that is a bit old hat, and I'm not keen to have that same argument over again. What's bugging me is maybe something that Lunny wouldn't notice, but a super sensitive handwringer such as myself does. When big Daly got us off the mark against Arbroath, about 50 Bears chose to express their happiness with a burst of The Sash. You may think that a coincidence: I don't. I think it was a classless and tasteless riposte, along the lines of 'Aye, well, you may have scored, but don't think we're going anywhere!' At least they left out the add on, which about 10 Bears didn't at kick off. Nevertheless, what a nice touch to thank a model professional. I hope they get over it, and soon. Now, I actually think that reducing the idiot rump of our fan base to about 70 or 80 away fans is something pretty amazing, and the club and most of the fans ought to be congratulated for it. But they won't, you know they won't. In a society which falls over itself to avoid offending the sensibilities of IRA supporters you know that as long as one Bluenose yells FTP we will be hauled up. We could easily lose the musical two fingers to Jon Daly, and we should lose the forbidden line in Super Rangers. It will make them look worse, and that's always good! And especially, we could lose the UVF tribute lines....terrorism is ALWAYS wrong, remember. Weirdly, in Scotland support for terrorism seems to be considered slightly less offensive than what I stubbornly believe is meaningless yells from football fans with a drink in them. You'll never persuade me that the Green Brigade were all steaming when they rattled up what must have been the least catchy slogan last week, and you'll never persuade me that the vast majority of 'sectarian' events in Scotland are little more than Rangers-Celtic tittle tattle. But that's how the chips are falling, thanks in part to liberal consciences like Mr Spiers'. We can't let distaste for the like of him push us away from defending liberal democracy, but there are one or two things we could do to make it better. It may make you feel slightly sick to actually have to tell people this is 2013: it should do. But Mr Lawwell, Mr Lennon, Mr Spiers, and our own hero-worshippers: terrorism is always wrong.

..............to rescue Celtic and Rangers HUGH draws comparison with 40 years ago as he rubbishes suggestions that Celtic and Rangers meeting in the Scottish Cup is needed to save a season that is already dead on its feet. THEY used to be famous. Forty years ago there was one night when the pair of them played two European semi-finals in Glasgow on the same night, watched by 150,000 people. Celtic met Inter Milan in the semi-final of the European Cup and went out on penalties. If they’d made it to the final it would have been the club’s third appearance there in five years. Meanwhile, Rangers beat a Bayern Munich side containing the core of the German team that would win the World Cup in their own country two years later. The win at Ibrox took Rangers to Barcelona, where they won the European Cup Winners Cup. How the mighty have fallen. The police wouldn’t let the pair play in Glasgow on the same day in broad daylight last season. Celtic’s SPL match was moved to Sunday so Rangers’ Third Division game could take place in isolation 24 hours earlier. And an Under-17 Glasgow Cup final between the clubs at Firhill last April was marred by violence inside and outside the ground. Pathetic or what? Now there are those who say the only thing that can salvage this season in the wake of Celtic’s elimination from Europe is the prospect of the Old Firm being reunited in a Scottish Cup tie. Not presumably because it would be an epic match. But it would allow two lots of fans to release almost two years’ pent up frustration caused by them living separate existences. Dragged apart because Rangers lived beyond their means and had to be liquidated on their way to the lower orders. Now look at them. Celtic have been humiliated on the field by AC Milan, embarrassed off it by some of their own supporters. They have been reported to UEFA and will be the subject of a fourth disciplinary hearing in two years. One of their players is the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal concerning an alleged case of indecency and sexual assault. Meanwhile, over at Ibrox, the Serious Fraud Office have been invited to investigate alleged misappropriation of club funds. And the group battling to win control of Rangers from the existing board of directors have made accusations of intimidation against some of their members. Shall I go on? Let’s just say neither club is what it once was because of a lack of statesman-like leadership, and leave it at that. And the fans should take a reality check. There are Rangers supporters, obviously not born when their team went to Barcelona and beat Moscow Dynamo in 1972, who are looking for a street party because today’s side have gone 13 league games without dropping a point. Is that not what should happen when your multi-million pound squad of full-timers face players who need time off work to play some of their matches? Then there’s Celtic being held hostage by the political activists among their support. The Green Brigade by name, Wolfie Smith and the Tooting Popular Front in appearance. I’ll ask Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell a simple question. If it’s easy enough to ban me from his ground for a year and a half for an unspecified reason, why can’t he clean up the club’s image and do the same to those with a list of ‘previous’ the length of your arm? Lawwell says the illicit banner wavers on Tuesday night showed “clear disrespect for the club”. Call me old fashioned, but why don’t the club close down the troublesome area of their ground in that case? Celtic’s ticket office could, at the push of a computer key, give you the name of every occupant of every seat in the problem area. The troublemakers are deliberately undermining their own club. They must have known from past experience the banners would automatically qualify Celtic for UEFA punishment. Hoops boss Neil Lennon says his heart sank when he saw the banners. That was just before his team capsized. The Celtic team who lost to Inter 40 years ago dusted themselves down and went on to win another championship on the way to the first Nine in a Row. The Old Firm were in rude health then. What surrounds them now is just rude. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-itll-take-more-2871417

...........but an Old Firm cup clash could save the season for Scottish football BARRY believes Scottish Cup clash between Celtic and Rangers would give our game a much-needed shot in the arm. LET’S face it, the season is over. It ended on Tuesday night when AC Milan stuck three past Celtic. If we’re being honest, Scottish football is just killing time now until the summer holidays – and we’re not even in December yet. Celtic’s European campaign is over but they already have the Premiership in the bag. Hearts need a miracle to avoid relegation. Again, we knew they were goners before a ball was even kicked. The rest of the world might have one eye on Brazil next summer, with players bursting a gut to win a place at the World Cup. But not Scotland. We’ll be coming? Nope, we’ll be going nowhere. The truth is, on the pitch, Scottish football is done for the season. Unless something crazy happens and Rangers and Celtic come up against each other in the Scottish Cup. Now wouldn’t that give our game a massive shot in the arm? OK, I accept, I’m biased. The Old Firm derby was always my favourite fixture. I miss playing in it and I miss going to watch it. Most of all, I miss the fact that it was the game which captured the imagination of everyone in British football. And I do mean everyone. I’ve played in the Birmingham derby against Villa and I’ve heard others bang on about Real Madrid and Barcelona, AC Milan versus Inter and United-City in Manchester. Listen, I don’t care what anybody says, none of them beats the Old Firm game. The guys down here can’t get enough of it and I know that for a fact because since I’ve been at Birmingham and Blackpool I’ve been running busloads of them up and down to Glasgow every time there has been a derby at Ibrox or Parkhead. That’s all I’d hear: “Haw Fergie, when’s the next Old Firm game? Can you take us to it?” Some of them would have tickets for the Celtic end. Some of us would have tickets for the proper part of the stadium. And at the end we’d get back on the bus and rip each other to shreds all the way back down the M6. But I’m telling you, these guys were still raving about it weeks later. They’d say to me: “Man, I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.” And I’d say: “There you go, that’s a real football game.” These same people always liked to look down their noses at the game in our country. I looked upon it as missionary work. Once they’ve been to one, they understand why it’s such a special game and they can’t get enough of it. So what everyone has to understand is that, to the rest of the world, Rangers and Celtic are Scottish football. End of story. And the quicker they are back battling it out on the park again, the better it will be for everyone. Listen, I might be playing a couple of hundred miles down the road these days but I can smell the poison in the air from down here. There’s a lot of bitterness and bad blood because of everything that has happened over the last couple of years. For the record, Rangers didn’t die. They are not a zombie, they are the same club they always were but I can understand why Celtic are scared of them. It’s because they always have been – and vice versa. It is just part of the DNA in this part of the world. It’s a way of life when you grow up on one side of the divide or the other. It’s why when you’re a youngster it’s the game you dream of playing in. I remember scoring my first goal against Celtic at Ibrox. You just needed to look at my face as I ran away celebrating to see what that meant to me. As someone who prides himself on being a moaning faced git, I never realised my smile could be as big as that. But no other game brings out such levels of emotion. That moment right there was what dreams are made of. If I was still at Rangers and Celtic were down the leagues, I would be distraught. I’d be desperate for them to come back to get those games back four times a season. And I’ll bet you it’s the same for Celtic’s players right now. Their season is all but over, it’s all about going through the motions now and getting themselves over the line in the league. But can you imagine the lift they’d get if they knew there was a derby game just a couple of weeks away? That would more than make up for the disappointment of going out of Europe. Believe me, I’ve been there. You get addicted to them. I remember my big brother telling me about his Old Firm debut, how he was a nervous wreck and how he heard this voice behind him saying: “Calm down son, keep it simple and you’ll get through it.” When he looked over his shoulder, he couldn’t believe it was Tommy Burns who was trying to talk him through it. Well that never happened to me when faced Celtic. All I heard was: “Ferguson, you wee b******, you’re getting it.” And that wasn’t just from the players – it was every time I went over to take a throw or a corner in front of their fans. But that suited me fine. That’s the way these games are meant to be and there’s nothing wrong in being a fierce competitor. I lost count of the number of times myself and Neil Lennon would be at each other’s throats but I’d worry if it was any other way. Yes, it can go too far at times, as I learned the hard way after I was sent off in a 6-2 defeat at Parkhead. You may remember it as the Battle of Bothwell Bridge because I ended up scrapping with Celtic fans after going out for a couple of drinks. It was obviously a huge controversy but the only thing I regret about that night was being stupid enough to go out in the first place. Lesson learned. I never went out after another Old Firm game. If I wanted a beer or a glass of wine, I’d shut the curtains and have it in my house. The feelings around that match were just too explosive to take the risk of going out. So yes, it’s a volatile fixture and yes, emotions will be running high the next time the two of them meet. But it’s going to happen one of these days so the sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. An Old Firm Scottish Cup tie? It just might save the season.

Another weekend with no game...sigh. Here's your Sunday morning 'long piece' a day or so early. Today's musical accompaniment is Hannah Georgas with 'Enemies'. Takes a while to get going but grows on you, kind of like a modern Suzanne Vega. Living with other people isn't always easy. Look at cities - the number of urban dwellers who look for ways to escape tells its own story: living with other people creates tension. So it's no wonder that many of the 20th century's finest thinkers on cities and how to live in them from countries which suffered the most devastation to their cities: having seen their countries convulsed for the better part of the entire 100 years, you can't be surprised that so many French and German intellectuals turned their minds toward how to improve the world for the future. Le Certeau, Foucault, the wonderfully named Lyotard...but what about the Germans? Unfortunately, for many Brits raised on a TV diet these last 40 years, mention of the word 'Germans' brings on a kneejerk reaction where an image of Hitler appears unbidden in your mind, either sauntering 'neath the Eiffel Tower or giving it laldy at one of the lads' night's out he and the rest of the gang were fond of. There he is at the podium, one fist turned backward on his left hip, his right hand karate-chopping an imaginary swarm of bees as he yells 'Niemals! Niemals! Niemals!' A strange man, indeed. But hardly the definitive image we want to take forward of that country, surely? Adolf's ubiquity on British cable TV is now such that it is only a matter of time before someone decides to hive off another arm of the History Channel into a dedicated Hitlery Channel. They may as well: from serious, academic studies such as The Nazis: A Warning From History or The World at War, through well meaning but poorly (cheaply) made cut-and-paste jobs like Secrets of the Nazi Gold to the recent, alarming trend in US low budget movie making to use Nazis as almost a comedy stooge - Nazis From the Moon, anyone? It's a real film, although even it is eclipsed by the appalling bad Nazis From the Centre of the Earth. What Jake Busey, so effective as the ghostly psycho the in Michael J Fox movie The Frighteners, is doing in this trash is anyone's guess: but any answer other than paying off a gangster's bill will reflect very badly on him. Hopefully America, given it provides pretty much the cultural compass for the world, won't go down the Nazi obsessed route the British media is addicted to. If you think the next four years, with day by day accounts of World War One are going to be full on, just wait, if you're old enough, until 1933 - I should think you will have a minute by minute account of what Herr Schicklegruber was up to from the day he assumed power until the Fuhrer's butler served up the cyanide and Lugers in the bunker. Given I'll be 63 in 2033 I imagine I will be either (a) dead or (b) gaga so it won't matter to me. I don't envy the rest of you, though! I suppose it shows how getting your image, your public perception out from under some kind of media imposed identity is not easy. Hence the reluctance in Britain to take people seriously who have names like Mearsheimer, Gadamer, or Bauman. Stuck in a Dr Strangelovian timewarp, we see them as sinister candidates for the experiment room rather than people who may offer something positive. Michael Schumacher, it's true, was popular, but his popularity in the UK was of the grudging respect kind last seen in veteran Desert Rats when they were talking about Rommel. In my lifetime I can think of only Prof.Heinz Wolff, woolly-haired boffin of TV science-fest The Great Egg Race, who has been accepted in Britain. Even he was looked upon with grave suspicion by my mother, although admittedly she was bombed out by the Luftwaffe in the 40's and has never forgiven 'the Germans' since. We as Bluenoses know all too well that if you don't control your own image, others will happily control it for you, and those others will almost certainly have nefarious intent. Our current status in the game - if this were India we would rank somewhere between pariah dog and untouchable street sweeper - have led many, me included, to adopt a defiant stance of 'get it up ye!' and to hold ourselves apart from the rest. They'll need us more than we need them, I have said, and meant it. Now, I'm not so sure. When veteran sociologist Zygmunt Bauman recently took a look at urban life, he diagnosed it to be suffering from two separate but connected illnesses, which, in the time honoured fashion of the intellectual, he gave the unfriendly names of mixophobia and mixophilia. The former sees fear of other groups than one's own run rampant, and those who can do so barricade themselves into gated communities with security guards, gradually losing the ability to communicate with the others outside, the fear of whom grows the more they become unknown. A self-perpetuating cycle where no one wins except, presumably, Barratt Homes. Mixophilia, meanwhile, seems a bit optimistic to me, a happy city with lots of mixing between classes and sects, Bauman foresees 'benign, and often deeply gratifying and enjoyable daily encounters with the humanity hiding behind the frighteningly unfamiliar scenic masks of different and alien races, nationalities, Gods and liturgies'. I remain doubtful how enjoyable daily bumping into hordes of celtc fans would be, especially in a city with trams, but I do take his point: hiding ourselves away in a ghetto will, in the long run, do more harm than good. Hang on , though, I hear you cry. What about Timmy? When O'Neill appeared, they drew back into the cultural enclave, they've never come out of it since and they're doing alright, aren't they? Well, not really, no. Although they have people at the top of the game and are very much the country's strongest side, there are two caveats. First, obviously, we handed it them on a plate, both due to our implosion and our mismanagement of the game during the SPL period. If we were to pursue the Germanic theme of this piece a little further, you could call the SPL period the Weimar Republic and the present lot the early days of Adolf. It certainly looks like a one party state, anyway. Given the delusion which appears to run rampant through their support - 'we bring smiles wherever we go' must rank up there as one of the best lines of this or any other year - perhaps Stalin's self-delusional Soviet Union would be a better comparison. Secondly, in broad terms they are dying every bit as much as the game as a whole. Although many Bears see the Sectarianism Legislation as directly only at them, it reflects a wider belief in Scotland that the day of Old Firm bigotry is past. Teams may be multicultural but the fans you are obliged to step past, usually pished and almost always giving it something from some idealised Irish folk history song book certainly are not. Scottish society, which seems to have been taking a look at itself in recent years (probably due to devolution and the independence referendum) has clearly concluded that shibboleths like the Old Firm are shibboleths no longer and must either change or wither. I think we're both doing a pretty good job of withering at the moment, crowds or no crowds, the mutual hate and societal impact of recent events causing disquiet among those who are fans of neither club. How appealing will the present antipathy be to the generation which comes along after us, which has to have the last few years explained and which, like all new generations, will probably look at us with the same unconcealed contempt my son directs at me when I tell him to cut his nails or tidy his room. Certainly it will keep me going for years, this hate, but as a long term marketing strategy it is lacking. We exist in the Scottish leagues, and we're going to have to come to some kind of understanding with the Scottish leagues. Hans Gadamer, in a book called Truth and Method, explained that mutual understanding can only occur when there is a 'fusion of horizons' between peoples. This fusion can only come about through shared experience and that shared experience can only come about in a shared space: if we exist in a vacuum, our horizons, whatever they may be, will be ignored in favour of everyone else's. Given how much everyone else's appear to accord with those of celtc FC, this is a genuine worry, but more broadly, if the OF continue on their road to cultural isolationism, they may well both be victims of the rest of society's impatience and end up moribund. This may seem needlessly pessimistic to celtc given their CL money, but it goes out as soon as it comes in and even it is far from guaranteed. Another German, philosopher Emmanuel Kant, talked about a general association of mankind: 'allgemeine vereinigung der menschheit'. For this Scot, who suffered at school trying to get his bunged up nose and gutteral, throaty accent around the romantic cadence of French, German is a godsend - it is basically 'say what you see' and none of that Froggie rubbish about silent letters or nasally stops. It even sounds like English. How two countries with so many similarities as the UK and Germany ended up so far apart is one of the great questions of the century gone by, but it's generally ignored in favour of endless programmes about Hitler, Goering and the rest. Unless we take steps to address our current position in the game: no power, no influence, no friends, nothing other than a sometimes useful chip to throw down for small clubs looking for a payday - we may end up more a curiosity rather than a vibrant player, and contribution we might have to make ignored in favour of bone-picking over the last few years. Given the present shambles that is the club, any kind of future vibrancy may seem like lunatic optimism but we fans have a duty to at least try and shove the club into engaging with the outside world. A voice which is constantly telling everyone else to go stuff themselves is unlikely to win many arguments. I suppose at some point we have to engage: even if the ultimate aim remains the annihilation of certain clubs,we don't have to shout it from the rooftops. The AGM is coming up: there will be a possibility of change, though it varies from day to day and depending on who you read. How I hope we seize this chance, for the alternative is terrible: Rangers from the Centre of the Earth, anyone?

CAMPBELL OGILVIE was spot on when he criticised both sides of the Old Firm for their petulant behaviour. But the SFA chairman’s comments about the sniping between the clubs wasting time and money will no doubt fall on deaf ears once more. Why? The petty point scoring we’ve seen from the hierarchy at both Celtic and Rangers recently is not dignified or appropriate. It’s like they are trying to fuel the masses already at boiling point. Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell’s jibe about Rangers was a throwaway comment meant to rouse supporters at the AGM but nothing more sinister. The SFA compliance officer found he had no case to answer for his attempt at stand-up comedy. And as for Rangers being upset enough to file a complaint to the SFA? They have stumbled from one crisis to another in recent months but still find it necessary to get involved in childish debate. Those at the SFA bunker must have thought it was a joke when Gers’ complaint about Lawwell dropped through the letterbox What purpose did it serve other than waste the time of an association already bogged down with more pressing concerns. It makes you sick to the pit of your stomach when you see these two squabble like the biggest kids in the playground. How on earth can you expect punters from both sides of the city to keep the head when the bosses are throwing petrol on the fire. Celtic, for their part, should rise above such petty squabbles. They are financially secure thanks to a sound business structure and money pouring in from UEFA. Why get involved? With a huge Champions League game this week, and the fallout from the trouble in Amsterdam still rumbling on, Celtic need to be focused. Meanwhile Rangers, with another chairman entering through the revolving door, should look in the mirror before anyone pens another letter to the SFA. Somebody should tip this club upside down and give it a good shake. Hopefully then the imposters will fall by the wayside and some sort of normality can be found. Why worry about what goes on across the city when the clubs are poles apart? The teams are leagues apart – both in football and financial terms. I’ve always believed that without these two Scottish football would die a slow death. But if they can’t work together the game certainly won’t thrive. Those who man the Daily Record Hotline should be knighted for listening to this drivel Go on any football forum on the internet and the childish chatter between their fans is pathetic. Should we be surprised when the top brass are at it as well?

Its perhaps ironic that I offer this piece of writing on the weekend of another show of support for terrorist murderers from the green brigade section of the Celtic support. I’m reliably informed however that their Saturday banner was not a public outing of themselves as closet Corries fans but was rather a show of support for Irish terrorism. I should not make light of such conduct of course, as it confirms the existence of a group of people who are still stuck in the past in a conflict which has itself left them far behind. Even Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness have come to realise that the stoic British people of Northern Ireland will not be defeated by the bullet or the bomb and have abandoned terrorism. (Please no sniggering at the back of the class) I’m now going to astound you – Jack McConnell was absolutely right when he described sectarianism in Scotland as our “Secret Shame”. His comments following an Old Firm game were to prove the catalyst to an extraordinary McCarthyesque political campaign to uncover and expose the bigots under the bed. And with men such as journalist Graham Spiers spearheading such such a crusade what could go wrong ? Well pesky academics such as Dr Stuart Waiton and Prof Steve Bruce for starters. The latter having carried out the most in depth academic research into sectarianism in Scotland and written various discourses and books on the subject arriving at the following conclusion: http://truthonsectarianism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/archive-professor-steve-bruce-article.html Dr Waiton’s study is more widespread and in his book “Snobs Law” he argues that football supporters in general are treated as some kind of underclass by the the authorities and politicians. He is particularly condemnatory of those who have led Scotland down a mythical path to a Brigadoon where sectarianism is rife. http://www.thinkscotland.org/thinkpolitics/articles.html?read_full=11857&article=www.thinkscotland.org We owe Dr Waiton another debt of gratitude however. For not only exposing the empty rhetoric of Graham Spiers, but perhaps more importantly, the insidious and sleekit nature of Spiers when his rapidly diminishing credibility or vastly inflated ego is challenged. Graham Spiers Twitter 22.02.2013 Given the propensity many of us have for disagreeing with Spiers – we too must be “faintly bonkers”. Oh the audacity. But exiting from the world of academia its perhaps worthy examining what the real world says about Scotland’s Secret Shame. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-22904552 Race Crimes 4,012 Religiously aggravated 687. Does that make racism Scotland’s Very Very Very Secret Shame ? Are we to see a new dedicated Policing Unit to deal with this apparent epidemic of racism ? Is our funding of anti-racism initiatives nearly six times that of our anti-sectarian ones ? Furthermore of the 40% males in Glasgow convicted of such religiously aggravated crimes who would be willing to bet a large percentage of those crimes occurred in or around the vicinity of Ibrox or Parkhead ? Dont look for a big windfall – the betting is odds on. But perhaps the second most interesting comment in that report is this : “Police officers were the most common target of religiously aggravated abuse” Did I miss something – are our bobbies now plodding the beat sporting large crucifixes or “Proud to be a Prod” badges? Or were these by and large victimless crimes with the religiously aggravated behaviour targeted at no-one in particular ? For those amongst us who like a flutter – Im afraid thats another odds on. I said second most interesting because the article itself reveals the McCarthyesque route we have gone down with regard to sectarianism. In an article which demonstrates crimes against our ethnic minorities is nearly 6 times worse than our religiously aggravated ones, where are the interviews with our ethnic minority representatives or their associated charities ? Why is no-one suggesting a mandatory rehabilitation programme for those convicted of race crimes ? It is after all by far the most common type of hate crime in this country. Sectarianism is Scotland’s Secret Shame – but not for the reasons Jack McConnell alluded to. It is our secret shame because we have condemned ourself as a country publicly for a problem which does not exist, we have allowed ourselves to be brow beaten by insidious idiots like Graham Spiers and diverted money and resources to this mythical problem to the exclusion of a far greater problem within our society. Perhaps the final word should be left to Prof. Steve Bruce.

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=2986&newsID=12878&newsCategoryID=1 Not a surprise...

AS the row over Peter Lawwell's Celtic AGM comments rumbles on, KEITH JACKSON reckons its time both sides of the Old Firm stopped the grandstanding and concentrated on their own priorities. LIKE Alan Partridge, Scottish football is bouncing back. In just 10 months Gordon Strachan has taken this team of ours and stopped it from being a laughing stock. As a result of all his hard work, Scotland are no longer driving from Norwich to Dundee in their bare feet, gorging on assorted Toblerones. Friday’s 0-0 draw with the USA at Hampden may hardly have been inspirational but even so it was yet more proof that Strachan has us on the road to recovery. His players are not losing games against supposedly vastly superior opponents, even when performing well below their own best standards. That’s progress and it comes at a time when things are looking up. All over the country, talented young players are emerging at club level and thriving with the responsibility of first-team football. Stuart Armstrong has just earned his first call-up to Strachan’s full squad while Ryan Gauld and Stevie May will soon be knocking on the door. At last, after years of internal vandalism, we’re getting our own house back in some sort of order. It’s not immaculate but no longer does it make us cringe with embarrassment. Until, that is, someone goes and mentions the Old Firm. I did it once but I think I got away with it. Oh no wait, that will be the sound of a thousand emails cascading into my inbox. A deluge of dementedness. “Don’t call us the Old Firm. We don’t want anything to do with that other mob.” They may hate the living daylights out of one another but what they do share – in fact what binds them together – is the capacity for ferocious bampottery. Every comment passed in public about one side or the other is picked apart forensically by supporters of both. Often the throwing of these titbits results in an online feeding frenzy, where all reason and logic are the first to be devoured. It has been this way since the invention of the internet. But, just lately, the landscape around Glasgow’s uneasy neighbours has become noticeably darker and poisonous. Which is why Peter Lawwell, of all people, should have displayed better judgment than to poke a big stick into this hornet’s nest at Celtic’s agm on Friday. By gratuitously branding Rangers Rory Bremner FC, Lawwell sent this bitter little world into meltdown. Lawwell’s words were a nod and a wink to the most extremist element of his club’s support and, in a way, a green light for them to pursue their own dubious agendas. Sound familiar? It should do. Because it was not that long ago that a certain big-handed Yorkshireman was doing precisely the same thing to win over the masses at the other side of this never so deeply divided city. It’s called grandstanding and, at a time when emotions are so volatile and feelings so raw, it’s a dangerous road for either of these two clubs to be going down, never mind both of them at once. In opposite directions. The sooner this pair remember that their purpose in life is to play the game, not the galleries, then perhaps the rest of us might be able to get on with the business of helping Scottish football back towards a state of good health rather than constantly being forced to rubberneck by these ceaseless attention seekers. And yet no sooner had Lawwell pressed the button on Friday (successfully diverting attention away from an awkward internal debate about paying his employees a living wage in the process) than Rangers responded with a blast of their own. You could almost hear them inside their Ibrox bunker working out the strategy, above the clicking of a PR guru’s Cuban heels. “Right, where’s that statement slaughtering Celtic and Lawwell. That’s genius. Punters will love it.” Talk about stage-managed rabble rousing? It’s almost as if the current remnants of this Rangers board are being given PR advice from the very same strategical experts who presented Craig Whyte to the world as a billionaire and told him how to go about winning friends and influencing people. Oh, wait a minute. They are. Yes, the very same people who said the Daily Record was lying when it first revealed what Whyte was up to with the club’s season tickets – a full seven months before his ruinous business plan tipped the club into administration. Whoever said motivation doesn’t grow on trees clearly hasn’t gone for a stroll down Edmiston Drive since Whyte stuffed the taxman for £15million under the cover of dark arts. That’s the truth of the matter. Whyte plunged Rangers under and his scandalous behaviour has left a black mark on the very soul of this football club which continues to operate at Ibrox, in blue shirts with the same badges and crests. Whyte was a near-death experience all right but Rangers live on. The real nature of the problem facing Rangers today is not that they have ceased to exist (they are still here after all) but rather they have become unrecognisable from their former selves. And to that end, Lawwell had a point. Like Bremner’s Tony Blair, today’s Rangers are a flimsy impersonation of the real thing. But none of that is the business of Celtic’s chief executive, who would surely be better off concentrating on his own club’s continued dominance, especially now that BT Sport are doubling the value of a ticket into the Champions League. Lawwell was right when he said Celtic are now a stand-alone club. They have proved they do not need Rangers in order to survive and to prosper. The less of UEFA’s loot they have to share, the stronger they will become. Rangers, for their part, face a struggle just to keep HMS Ibrox from sinking for a second time. Let them both get on with it, preferably as far apart from one another as is possible in this twisted little world. In the meantime, just don’t mention the Old Firm.

Hello, I was hoping for a few fans opinions on the following: I am currently entering my third year at university and am about to begin my dissertation. For this I have chosen the subject of fan ship. Specifically I am looking at the relationship between Rangers and Celtic fans. The main focus of the study will be how this relationship has changed since Rangers changed operating companies. Issues I will be examining include: Is the relationship as intense considering the two teams are no longer challenging for the same titles? Is this change a benefit for Scottish football and Scottish society, for example is the league more or less competitive? Does the new league structure provide lower leagues more money? Is there a reduction in societal issues such as violence etc...? Or has the loss of the “Old Firm” damaged the commercial pull of Scottish football? Ultimately I want to know whether people believe the relationship between the two sets of fans has changed due to the transformation in Scottish football? As part of my study I am hoping to speak to fans from both sides and ask them their opinion on some of the topics mentioned above, hence this post. I realise a lot of these are in-depth questions and may take some time to answer; I appreciate all the replies and feedback that is given. Thank you in advance for any responses

I think the best thing about this long piece is the trailer, but anyway, here's your Sunday morning... When we got kicked out the SPL, one thing I thought would be good was that when international breaks came around, we at least would have a game to look forward to. The idea that we could have internationalists playing for us down amongst the dead men never occurred to me, and while these dreary weeks without even a competitive international game to watch are dull, they do at least give you a chance to look a the bigger picture. As usual, it's a dispiriting one, with the main news of note being the appointment of a raft of directors at Rangers - temporary or otherwise, time will tell - and celtc's continuing attempts to remove Rangers entirely from the game in Scotland. Booooring!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsSbhdo0kQI So instead of waxing gloomical about the same old stuff I've groused above before, I shall this week offer a menu of possibilities for the future, things the game could engage with and maybe create a freshness about that stalest of products, the SPFL. These are all nicked from other sports, but that's no reason to dismiss them. Other sports are booming, thriving even, in these difficult financial times by innovating: we could learn from them. First up, a boring marketing/community bonding opportunity. BT show French Ligue 1 games, and you see every side has the regional tourist board advertised on their strips. Watching the Aussie football this weekend, I see they are the same. 'Do the CG experience!' exhorts the brightly coloured either Adelaide or Perth shirt (my Australian geography is not great). Given that there's plenty of space available on SPFL shirts, they ought to employ this device to get as much exposure (limited, I admit) for each club's region or city. Given how fast Scots clubs are declining, anything which re-engages them with their communities ought to be embraced. The current rugby world cup is attracting huge audiences in England, Wales & France; at the end of the game, both teams take a lap of honour, during which players pose for photos and sign autographs for fans. Perhaps this ought to be home fans only, and only then after a win, but it's an idea which would take an extra 10 or 15 minutes for the players and which would reinforce the bond between fan and player. And to any player who couldn't be bothered, they would have to shoulder the consequences should they dip in form! Cricket's 20/20 competition has brought in many innovations since it appeared about 10 years ago, nowhere more so than in the magnificent Indian Premier League. Features include an audio link between a fielder (usually the skipper) and the commentators while bowlers are walking back to their mark, or during a drinks break; while the heat doesn't require such a break in Glasgow very often, there's no reason why keepers could not be linked up by an audio tech behind the goal while their team are up the other end of the pitch - in cricket the interviewed player just breaks off should he have to, and goalies could do the same. Likewise, since there have been trackside reporters for decades, let's get them broadcasting the actual sounds of the sideline, rather than some mediated, filtered, cleaned up version. If this causes issues for managers or coaches who can't go 45 minutes at a stretch without effing or blinding, that is their problem - if they want TV money, they can behave to minimum live TV standards. This kind of technical innovation would allow the SFA or SPFL or whoever to approach broadcasters with a fresh product, offering superior access to players or staff, rather than a pale imitation of England's success. The IPL also require their grounds to build a little VIP booth, which is for competition winners rather than high heid yins, and include big comfy armchairs and fridges filled with Pepsi products. Practicalities might make this hard, but we are too much in the habit of saying 'we can't' when we need to be saying 'we have to'. Such competitions and prizes must be a money spinner as well as ideal product placement, an area we need to maximise in order to tempt what appears to be a highly reluctant commercial sector back to our moribund product. Joint managerial press conferences could be introduced, which ought to go some way to enforcing managers to act like adults. I think we can think of the one exception who would still stick out his petulant lower lip, and no doubt the media would be annoyed at losing their precious controversial moments, but the aim is to make the product better and financially healthier. Childish and whiny complaints will not bring in investment, a relatively mature product might. No doubt every reader will have ideas of their own. We all know that the game needs radical change at a purely functional level, especially the 4 games a season nonsense, but there's lots of room for tinkering around the edges and freshening up what is a sorely tired product. Just sometimes we need to turn our thoughts toward what we can do to make the game better, rather than the understandable constant harping on about what's wrong with it. Let's hear it for positive thinking, even just for a week!

IAN REDFORD reveals all about the stress and strains of his Ibrox career, the death of his younger brother and his experience as Darren Fletcher's agent in his new book FOOTBALL is a game of fate. A roller coaster of fortune. During my time at Rangers, Ally McCoist was enduring torture from the fans. It wasn’t his fault the club were struggling – but the fans seemed to be on a mission to destroy him. And things came to a head on March 17, 1984 when we played Dundee at Ibrox in a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay. We started well but Dundee pegged us back to 2-2. The crowd were getting impatient and I remember feeling the enormous pressure of expectation on the players. It got so bad for Ally that at one point the whole of the support began chanting, “ALLY, ALLY, GET TAE F***” And it got worse. First Robert Prytz was sent off then I stupidly saw red as well. We heard their winner from the dressing room. Afterwards, we all just sat in the huge communal bath together, no-one speaking a word. Suddenly Ally just broke down into tears, he was weeping openly. The weeks and months of constant pressure and abuse had driven him to the limits of his tolerance. He looked a broken man and I’m sure no one would have thought it possible for him to come back from such depths of seemingly utter despair. But fate intervened. If Prytz and myself hadn’t been suspended for the League Cup Final with Celtic the following week, I don’t think Jock Wallace would’ve selected Ally. He had no choice, though, and the rest is history. Ally scored all three in a famous 3–2 victory, the winner coming in extra-time from a rebounded penalty. Some things are just meant to be. But that’s the pressure of signing for Rangers – and the day I did back in 1980 was one I’ll never forget. I had only ever wanted to go to London from Dundee and play for Arsenal or Spurs but John Greig had offered a Scottish record £210,000. So I found myself at the top of the marble staircase shaking hands with him. I defy anyone to walk through the doors of Ibrox and not feel they are within the boundaries of a special club. But so many things about my move to Rangers weren’t right. Signing for them was an intimidating prospect for a country boy with low self-esteem. When it came to the finances I was at best naive and at worst plain stupid. I got £6000 to sign on, taxed, £150 a week, a four-year contract and never saw a penny of the transfer fee. I became Rangers’ biggest ever signing for practically nothing! I knew this was a struggling team I was joining. I was also just not fit enough to do myself justice and to handle the immediate pressure. My dad was no help because all he wanted was to see me playing for Rangers. That was his dream. He didn’t want me going to England. To be able to say I played 250 games for Rangers gives me an enormous sense of pride. But the timing was wrong. In that first year I didn’t really feel part of that dressing room. In training I had a major bust-up with Rangers’ most legendary hard man, Tam ‘Jaws’ Forsyth. He seemed at that time like a playground bully. We were playing fives on the ash park at our Albion training ground and I took the ball straight past Jaws. He was getting on a bit and didn’t appreciate anyone doing that to him. Next thing I knew was WHAM! I received a forearm smash. I just exploded in rage. Within seconds Big Tam and I were trading punches. We were separated but Tam wanted ‘afters’ and I was up for it because I was past caring. It turned out to be a defining moment because my team-mates no longer saw me as a big, soft, silver-spooned country boy. Coming from the Perthshire countryside, religious bigotry was new to me. Although I’m a Protestant, I would not consider myself a religious person. Early on at Rangers, I was targeted by a bigot at a party. He was goading me then punched me hard in the face without any warning. The next day at training, I was asked by someone what had happened and if I “wanted it taken care of”. The tension of sectarianism is inescapable when you play for either Rangers or Celtic and, like it or not, sectarianism is responsible for the unique atmosphere that surrounds the rivalry. A bigot is just a bigot – no matter what the colour of his scarf is. It’s naive to think it will all just go away. It never will. The wounds of history will ensure a portion of each new generation, no matter how small, will be indoctrinated in hatred. I was also shocked one night at a Supporters’ Player of the Year function when a fan asked for my autograph and wanted me to sign FTP alongside it. I told him “no way” and he began to rant that I wasn’t a true Rangers player. It was an isolated incident though. Generally speaking, the fans are wonderful and make you feel proud to be playing for the club. The best Old Firm game I played in came in the same week as a 3–0 defeat by Chesterfield in the Anglo-Scottish Cup. We took a slaughtering but playing Celtic was ideal because we had nowhere to hide. We thumped them 3–0 – it easily could’ve been six – and I was voted Man of the Match. But John Greig wasn’t able to find a formula consistent enough to win a title. My frustrations led to me feeling depressed and I was drinking to blot everything – but it solved nothing. It was a vicious downward spiral. Then at the end of 1981 – after beating Dundee United in a Scottish Cup Final replay following my missed penalty in the first game – we met them again in the League Cup Final. I was on the bench. Looking back, I can see that I was very depressed. In the second half United took the lead. I had begun to give up on playing any part in the match. So had my friend Billy ‘Bleeper’ MacKay, so we began to tuck into a box of chocolates that had been lying unopened in the back of the dugout. It was comfort eating! Suddenly, Greig shouted: “Bleeper! Get warmed up.” Meanwhile, I was still stuck in the dugout, feeling even more depressed. Then, with no more than five minutes remaining, John shouted: “Reddy, get your tracksuit off. You’re going on – NOW!” I nearly choked on the last remaining chocolate as I stumbled out of the dugout. I had been on the pitch no more than seconds when Davie Cooper equalised. Suddenly, from munching chocolates in depression, I had only one thing on my mind – scoring the winner. It all happened within a split second. As I controlled the ball, I was aware of a gap just inside the top left of the United goal. My first touch had been good but my second touch was even better. I knew in an instant. My lifelong dream came true. I had just scored the winner in the last seconds of a cup final! In front of me were all those Rangers fans who had witnessed that last-minute penalty miss. Like a maniac I was off and running. Had the stadium doors been open I would’ve needed a fiver to get back in! There were too few of these rare gems in my time at Ibrox but even to have experienced one moment such as this made everything worth it. *** My last appearance as a professional player was a cameo role in Raith Rovers’ remarkable League Cup triumph over Celtic in 1994. I was a sub and don’t remember much about the game – but was crapping myself when the tie went to penalties. As a former spot-kick taker it shouldn’t have fazed me but I didn’t relish it. It went to sudden death and it was Paul McStay’s turn, then mine. I wanted him to miss more than anything in the world. Sure enough, Paul obliged and it saved me the ordeal of another do-or-die Cup final penalty. My previous record was one taken, one missed! *** I remember being happy in my early childhood – but a couple of events ended up having a profound effect on my life. The first was the birth of my brother Douglas when I was five. When he was two Douglas was diagnosed with leukaemia and it was the beginning of a nightmare that makes me feel empty. My sister Jill and I were young and had no idea our little brother’s illness was life threatening. I would regularly say things like, ‘When will Dougie be better, mum?’ I never considered for a minute he might be dying. When he began going to school he was teased because he had lost his hair and was fat because of the chemotherapy and having to take steroids. I hated that. He loved playing football when he was well enough but I would never let him win. He would go running off crying to mum and she would come out and give me such a rollicking. I couldn’t understand why mum and dad seemed to go way over the top but the hurt and anger they were feeling made them protective of him. They kept a lot from us but the time they spent with Douglas at hospital with mum meant Jill and I had to fend for ourselves emotionally. Looking back, deep down, I must’ve resented it. We would sometimes talk about how Douglas was their favourite. The atmosphere at home was not what it had been before Douglas was born. I was subconsciously blaming Dougie for the way all our lives seemed to be changing. I was in my first year at Perth High School when Douglas died. I was playing football for the school on a cold Saturday morning in December 1972 and when we got home I was told he only had hours to live. I bolted from the kitchen, threw myself on the bed and sobbed my heart out. The emptiness I felt during that time haunts me to this day. It was a total, unforgettable nightmare. My life felt like it had just imploded with the shock of it all. Christmas followed just days after the funeral. Somehow mum found the strength to make the effort but dad made it clear he wanted no part of it. Every Christmas after that at home was a tense, anxious and depressing affair. For years it was taboo to even mention his name. Dougie died pretty much a stranger to me. I regret not being able to say sorry for resenting the attention he got and sorry for teasing him and hurting his feelings. But as a young child, I simply didn’t know. Over the years I have rationalised this and forgiven myself for my feelings then. The other big thing to happen was when I found I was stone deaf in my left ear. A specialist told me a nerve had been damaged and there was nothing they could do to save my hearing. He told me contact sports were no longer an option – I would end up completely deaf if I received any blow to the head. But there was no way he was going to stop me doing what I loved. *** After my playing career was finished, it seemed natural to get involved on the business side of football as an agent. One major talent I was involved with in his early years was Darren Fletcher. A French contact tipped me off that scouts were raving about his displays for Scotland schoolboys at a tournament in France. I was asked to get him to Lille and persuaded Darren and his dad to come with me to France to see the set-up. They were impressed but Alex Ferguson got wind of the interest and convinced them Darren’s future lay at Manchester United.

PETER Lawwell will know that such is the relationship between Celtic and Rangers that he cannot make a joke at the expense of his rivals from across the city without there being a reaction, especially a bad joke, especially a joke that plays to the galleries and is a little cringe-making for a man in his lofty position in the Scottish game. By the sounds of it, there was much talk about Rangers at the Celtic agm on Friday. A question from the floor about why so many still call them Rangers, another question about why Rangers were given their licence to play after the tumult of summer 2012 and yet another about whether Celtic’s assets were owned by the club, the inference being that Rangers’ assets are not. This one was answered by Ian Bankier, the chairman, in a way that summoned up an image of John Brown outside Ibrox and his “Show us the deeds” speech. All of this jolly japery might have gone well with some Celtic supporters but it will only have reinforced the view in the minds of their counterparts across the city that a chunk of the Celtic fanbase are obsessed with Rangers (and vice versa). When the Parkhead agm contains so many references to the blue side of Glasgow then you can see their point down Ibrox way. Obsessed? Lawwell had a chance to kill that charge stone dead when asked about the Rangers new club/old club saga. He could have said: “That’s got nothing to do with us, we are Celtic and we’re doing very well thank you very much.” Only he didn’t say that. He said that “Rory Bremner can pretend to be Tony Blair” meaning that the Rangers we see now is only imagining itself to be the Rangers of the past 140 years. It was so unnecessary and Rangers have complained, inevitably. Their support will have demanded, in thunderous union, that the complaint be lodged and Lawwell will have expected it. He’s been around too long to believe that his “wee bit of humour” defence was going to be accepted at face value among Rangers people. This stuff is toxic. The question of Rangers – new club or old – is one that gets under the skin of most fans at Ibrox and Lawwell knows it only too well. Once he said what he said he would have known what was coming next. The thing is, Lawwell is no longer just the chief executive of Celtic, he is now on the professional game board (PGB) of the Scottish FA, a double-act that makes him one of the most – if not the most – powerful man in the domestic game. When he pokes fun at Rangers’ identity he does rather call into question his role on the PGB, a body that is supposed to above such petty squabbling. A few weeks ago he said that if it ever felt compromised in an SFA vote about Rangers – he was talking specifically about Dave King’s mooted application to become a director of the club – then he would consider stepping out of the room and playing no part in proceedings. In the minds of Rangers people, his Rory Bremner gag might confirm that Lawwell will always be compromised on anything to do with Rangers and, frankly, you can see their point. There is another aspect to this, too. Lawwell wants Rangers back in the Premiership, not because he cares about what happens at Ibrox but because it would be commercially beneficial for Celtic. And when they do get back, and when Sky or BT get ready to up their investment in the Scottish game because the Old Firm derby is once again on their horizon, will Lawwell talk of Rory Bremner then? Will he say to TV partners: “Lads, put away your wallets, this is not the same Rangers, the Old Firm game is dead. They’re only an imitation act over there at Ibrox. Don’t bother giving us more money.” No, he won’t. Lawwell seems to have an adaptable view of Rangers. Depending on who is acting the question, they’re either the same Rangers or new Rangers. He seems to flip-flop between two entirely different positions. All the headlines, post agm, have been about the Rory Bremner joke, which is unfortunate, because there was a far more interesting section of the meeting on Friday, a topic that was written about by my colleague, Andrew Smith, in yesterday’s Scotsman. It was to do with the resolution that sought support for “taking all necessary steps” to make the club a living wage employer, thereby ensuring that all staff are paid at the very least £7.45 an hour instead of the minimum wage of £6.31. This resolution was shot down by the Celtic board, who said that it would cost them too much money, about £500,000. All you hear from Celtic’s top brass is how well they are doing financially on the back of Champions League success and player sales so to come the poor mouth as soon as somebody raises the issue of paying their workers an extra £1.14 an hour is a bit much. Especially since they had earlier trumpeted that no club took their responsibilities to the community more seriously than Celtic while also saying charity and fairness was in the club’s DNA. Cue video of the Brother Walfrid story. Brother Walfrid was an inspirational force for good, but as Smith pointed out yesterday: “If you know your history when it comes to Celtic… it will not be lost on you that his [Walfrid’s] vision was sold out within ten years, when the club became a plc, stopped making charity donations of any note and started paying fat dividends to directors… Walfrid later distanced himself from what the club became.” It might suit Lawwell to get himself embroiled in the Rory Bremner situation because the alternative would be that more attention might be paid to the rejection of the living wage resolution, “one of the grubbiest and divisive decisions made by a Celtic board”, according to Jeanette Findlay, chair of the Celtic Trust. Findlay has, it seems, much support from fellow fans on the issue. And that is to their credit. Their passionate arguments have been drowned out by this Rory Bremner affair. It’s sad, but this is the way of things between Celtic and Rangers. How embarrassing if the SFA have to sanction the newest member of its professional game board for an avoidable cheap shot a veritable five minutes after his appointment. Findlay, and others, would argue that the real mortification can be found elsewhere, however. http://www.scotsman.com/news/tom-english-the-way-of-things-between-celtic-and-rangers-1-3191758