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FOLLOWING events on Friday evening at Fir Park Stadium, Celtic Football Club today announced that it has issued precautionary suspensions against 128 individuals preventing them attending matches involving Celtic, pending further investigation. These suspensions will cover matches at Celtic Park and away matches. In addition, the Club will be relocating around 250 season book holders in Section 111 to other areas within the stadium, or offering refunds covering the remainder of the season to those who do not wish to be relocated. Events such as those on Friday night do not represent the Celtic support or the Club. These events were an embarrassment to our great football club and are absolutely indefensible. It is clear that there is an element which has no hesitation in bringing Celtic’s name into disrepute. This is something the Club will not tolerate and we therefore have no other option but to take this action. We will not allow the great name of Celtic to be damaged in this way any more - our supporters deserve more than this. While recent events are very regrettable, we would like to thank our many thousands of fans for the wonderful, positive backing which they continue to give to Celtic. We are sure these supporters will understand the position which the Club is in and we are also sure they will unite with the Club as we move forward. Celtic Football Club is in excellent shape on and off the field. The Club is in a very safe and strong position and we have a young, exciting team working hard to deliver quality football and success for our supporters, as they did on Friday evening with a magnificent performance. This is what we want to be talking about and this is what we want to celebrate. Celtic has a proud 125-year history and fundamental to that history have been our fans. Our supporters enjoy a wonderful reputation earned across many years, many families and many generations. This is something we must protect vigorously.

This makes interesting reading. I await 'sporting integrity' campaigns and boycotts of Rugby Park. Premier League strugglers Kilmarnock are set to have millions of pounds worth of debt written off — at the taxpayer’s expense. The Sunday Post can reveal that the Bank of Scotland — part of Lloyds Banking Group — is considering writing off the majority of the £9 million debt owed by Kilmarnock as part of a deal to settle the club’s future. It is understood owner Michael Johnston has put a proposal to Lloyds, which is 32.7% owned by the taxpayer after the Government’s 2008 bail-out, that will see just a fraction of the debt taken on by Johnston and co-director Billy Bowie. The football club would then be left with no bank debt, instead owing the cash — between £1 million and £2 million to Bowie and Johnston in a “soft” loan. Johnston is under fire from a large section of the Ayrshire team’s fans who want him to give up control of the club and sell his stake to a community-led consortium. But it is understood that even if the club is sold to fans’ groups and local business leaders, most of the club’s bank debt is still likely to be written off. Critics last night hit out at the prospect of a taxpayer-funded bank, wiping out the debt. Eben Wilson, director of campaign group Taxpayer Scotland, said: “Taxpayers, as shareholders in this bank, should be wary that any write-offs do not benefit one individual. “We need all toxic loans made in a time of madness to be made visible and accounted for. “Whether clearing out toxic loans or standing firm on our behalf is the best course of action is up to the bank, but we hope that they will recognise we want the money back that has kept them trading in the past few years.” The Sunday Post understands bosses at Lloyds have already classified Kilmarnock’s debts as “impaired” — an accountancy term for a debt unlikely to be repaid in full. However, this does not mean they have given up on getting some of the money owed. It is thought the plan being worked on is to try to avoid any prospect of the club going into administration, a move which would wipe out much of the money owed to the bank. Paul Goodwin, head of Supporters Direct, which helps start football fan ownership schemes, said: “A deal has to be struck with the bank but the hard reality is that no matter what the outcome is, the club has big debts which need to be addressed.” Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston failed to respond to a request by The Sunday Post for a comment. Lloyds Banking Group declined to comment. http://www.sundaypost.com/news-views/scotland/critics-blast-kilmarnock-debt-write-off-plans-1.162896

I broke with personal tradition yesterday – more due to advancing years than a change of belief. The benefits of the local supporters bus over my own transport had been well argued with an old colleague I bumped into at Gayfield the week before. If I’m honest my increasing propensity for falling asleep at will had made the solitary drive north post match something of a health and safety issue. Having made the necessary arrangements with the Monifieth Loyal bus, come Saturday morning I made my way early to the designated pick up point. Much too early in fact. For those who don’t know Dundee the Kingsway is the main arterial route through the city for those heading north or south. My early attendance at my rendezvous point on a freezing cold day would have normally made for a long cold stand. But not this day. I was literally glowing inside and it was nothing to do with having my daily dose of Ready Break. For bus after bus after bus, packed full of fellow bears, passed as I awaited my transport. All over our country ladies and gents had risen early from their beds, left families and loved ones at home not out of defiance but out of love for and devotion to a football club. It reinforced the understanding within me that no matter the injustice, malevolence, disdain and hatred towards our club – we will never ever be beaten or downtrodden. Its not a single minded determination but a collective one. Its not “I am the person" – Its “We are the people”. But for someone who spends too much time on the net and various Rangers forums trying to apprise himself of the issues of concern to the Rangers support, the issues of the real world Rangers fans provided a refreshing respite from the sometimes near madness of Rangers forums. Whilst internet issues reflect real life issues they do not dominate them in the same way. There is something mystical as well about talking to the more senior members of the bus who can recount stories of Caldow, Baxter, Brand etc. And then of course there is the “crack”. From memory quizzes about Crossroads characters to the merits of Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs - which led to some serious role play. The sight of two guys fuelled by a few shandies dancing the re-enactment of Travolta’s and Thurman’s Pulp Fiction dance in the corridor of a coach doing over 60 mph was one of those “had to be there” moments. “The back of the bus they canny sing”. Perhaps not but by gum they can’t half dance. You know who you are. So a big thank you to the men and women of the Monifieth Loyal and hundreds of other buses like them from all over Scotland and the UK who, week in week out, not for fame or glory but love of a football club, add to the collective assertion. :- We are the People.

A statement on the Green Brigade website read: “Following the events of Friday night’s match against Motherwell at Fir Park, the Green Brigade would like to clarify our position on a couple of issues. “Firstly we do not condone the breaking of seats nor do we welcome pyrotechnics being thrown on the park. We as a group are as disappointed as any about such indefensible behaviour and regret that it happened on our watch. “Whilst it was not members of our group behaving in this manner, we accept the fact that these actions took place behind our banner in what was an unofficial ‘Green Brigade section’ and furthermore that the fans within this area are associated to our group whether they are members or not. “It is particularly disappointing given how hard we have worked as a member organisation of Fans Against Criminalisation and of our own accord to fight the criminalisation of football supporters as we realise the damage that the events of Friday night could have on our efforts to challenge the continued harassment of Celtic fans by Police Scotland. “Ultimately, we should have had greater control of the bodies present within our block and our failure to do so has resulted in events which are unacceptable and we will strive to ensure that such scenes are not repeated.” The extent of Green Brigade involvement at Fir Park is bound to be debated but there can be no doubt that 100 plus thugs were in the ground with a large number of others sympathetic to their actions. Equally obvious was the fact that the police were content to allow the seat breaking and smoke bomb throwing to take place without intervention.

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

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.

How much money has been pocketed by so called board members since Craig Whytes takeover it is an astonishing ammount of money we are talking about close on £100 million pounds has went through the club and what have Rangers football club got for it, well come April we have £1 million pounds left, Now i ask you another question what has Craig Whyte got for it, What has Craig Mather got for it, What has Imran Ahmed got for it, What has Charles Green got for it, What has Brian Stockbridge got for it, What have the Easdales got for it? What will Jack Irvine get for it? Back this board at the clubs Expense as you will need to look yourself in the mirror every morning.

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.

I know I will get Pelter's for posting this, but thought I may get the other side of the coins thoughts. It was taken from RM and put together by a poster called TheLawMan "I recently posted about the Murray myths around debt reduction and Break even Domestic policy however i see today he is still claiming he helped reduce debt. His fans appear to believe him as well, despite the facts disputing what he says. Anyway, i thought i would take things a little further and look at the facts and figures of the people we are being asked to vote for. I know this type of thing normally bores people but I would urge you to read through Murrays CV. First an in-depth look at Paul Murrays Directorships – Past and present. Source : http://companycheck....ector/907102823 Lets start with his current active Directorships: Delamore Holdings (2007 to present) ( -£5m Net worth) – A flower and plant wholesaler – Assets of £1.68m and Liabilities of £1.78m. Cash in bank depleted from £652k in 2008 to £184k in 2012 year end accounts. Points to note. 2012 was a £973k loss following on from a £733k loss in 2011 and a long term loan was taken out to repay short term commitments. R.Delamore Limited (2007 to present) (£1.4m Net Worth) – A flower and plant wholesaler – Assets of £1.5m and Liabilities of £1.45m. Cash in bank depleted from £652k in 2008 to £0.8k in 2012 year end accounts. – Points to note. Due to cash depletion and a Going Concern issue, the company took out a new £2.25m loan to repay other loans and made a £628k loss last year. MGI Investments Limited (2004 to present) ( -£64k Net Worth) – A Management Consultancy firm – Assets of £23k and liabilities of £90k. Cash in bank depleted from £91k in 2008 to £3.6k in 2012 year end accounts. Vicast Limited (2013 to present) – A Business and Domestic Software Company – No information as no accounts filed but should be noted that fellow Directors are Martin Bain, John McLelland and Jacqueline Gourlay. St Marys School, Melrose (2009 to present) – (£2.85m net worth) – Education – Assets of £99.6k and Liabilities of £91.2k. Cash in bank depleted from £85k in 2008 to £6.7k in 2012 year end accounts. In summary, he holds 5 active directorships(there is a duplicate listing for MGI on the website) with a total Net Worth of Minus £814,000. Assets of £3.3m and liabilities of £3.4m. Total Cash of £189k. Now lets look at Past Directorships. Urban Life Properties Limited (2003 to 2009) – Dissolved in 2009 RFC 2012 PLC (2007 to 2011) – In Liquidation Wireless Systems International (2000 – 2002 ) – Dissolved in 2004 Martin Currie European Partners and Martin Currie Investment Management Limited (2003 – 2004) – Dissolved in 2007. Paul Murray was brought on board as MD of this business to launch a new £200m private equity fund. He only managed to raise 10% of target and left the business in 2004 after Currie suspended the launch of the fund. 3i PLC (September 1999 to April 2000) – Still active and a huge business with a £80m deficit of Liabilities v Assets Scientia Ferovia Limited + Scientifics Group Service Limited + Harwell Scientifics + Atesta Trustees Limited + Atesta Holding Limited + Scientifics Limited (all 2005 to 2006) – All non trading. It isn’t rocket science but looking at the above list, his Executive Directorships have been an absolute failure. 3 Dissolved, 1 liquidated, 6 non trading and the only 1 of any note, he only lasted less than 7 months in, and that was 13 years ago. Add that to his current directorships and we really need to ask...... WHY PAUL MURRAY ?? Anyway, lets now look at the total current directorships of Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray, Scott Murdoch and Alex Wilson from the above source. 10 COMPANIES NET WORTH = Minus £27.3m ASSETS = £29.4m LIABILITES = £86.3m CASH in bank = £2.23 million Now lets look at the other half which is principally Somers and Easdale. 13 COMPANIES NET WORTH = £294.9m ASSETS = £3.5 billion LIABILITIES = £3.4 billion CASH in bank = £1.3 billion SUMMARY The current record of Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray and Scott Murdoch is dreadful. Liabilities running at 300% to assets, dissolved companies, liquidations, cash only going one way over last 5 years in all of their companies yet we are expected to believe they are the team to take us forward. Contrast that with Somers companies whose cash has multiplied by millions and hundreds of millions in his companies. Huge assets, huge network, just huge all round."

I was thinking about our 19 game winning run. UEFA have an interesting article on unbeaten runs. http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=esp/news/newsid=1588768.html I'd forgotten that Celtic had gone on a pretty extensive run about 10 years ago. How much I would love to beat that record and catch the excuses and fallout. You just know it makes sense. Seven to go? Europe's longest winning league runs 29 games – SL Benfica (Portugal) 1971-73 28 games – NK Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) 2006-06 25 games – Celtic FC (Scotland) 2003-04 22 games – PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 1987-88 18 games – FH Hafnarfjördur (Iceland) 2004-05 17 games – FC Steaua Bucureşti (Romania) 1988 17 games – FC Dinamo Bucureşti (Romania) 1988 17 games – FC Internazionale Milano (Italy) 2006-07 16 games – Valur Reykjavík (Iceland) 1978 16 games – FC Barcelona (Spain) 2010-11 16 games – Olympiacos FC (Greece) 2005-06 15 games – SL Benfica (Portugal) 1963 15 games – Real Madrid CF (Spain) 1960-61 15 games – FC Bayern München (Germany) 2005 15 games – AC Sparta Praha (Czech Republic) 1999-00 15 games – Bangor City FC (Wales) 2010

He and ex-board member Paul Murray – who is also a member of the group that is trying to win control at Ibrox – met with representatives of 60 Rangers supporters clubs in Belfast last night. And he didn't sugar coat the message that an institution that had designs on being kings of Europe less than 20 years ago remains on the precipice – 18 months after it entered administration. The future can be bright, however, with ambitions to play in a European Super League down the line – but only if the club is on a secure footing. "I personally think that the club is in danger if we don't get a win here," said Malcolm, who is likely to return as chairman if the vote on December 19 goes the way of his group rather than the current board being re-elected. "I don't see how it's going to be funded. The official statement from the last fans meeting with the current board said that they would have £1m cash left in April. "They spent quite a lot of that already in pay-outs so I don't know how much longer it will be before it runs out – probably before Easter if things don't change dramatically or unless they have investors lined up, which they haven't said they have. "We do have, both private and institutional investors, who will back us." The picture in Govan has never looked bleaker. Craig Whyte bought the club for a mere £1 in May 2011 from David Murray. By February the following year it was in administration and within six months Rangers found itself in the Scottish Third Division for the first time in its illustrious 140 year history. While things are improving on the pitch after last season's promotion success, off the field uncertainty remains. Paul and Malcolm are working to put Rangers back on an even keel and rallying the support of the club's Northern Ireland fanbase is crucial to them – hence the reason why they made the trip across the Irish Sea. Paul Murray said: "These are the customers of the club and unlike an English club, in Scotland the fans are the lifeblood of the club with the money they spend on season tickets, merchandise etc. "What I find disappointing is that last Thursday in Glasgow nobody from the current board came to address the fans and they didn't even reply to the email invite to come to Belfast, which I think is a really shoddy way to treat the customers."The fans saved the club last year and to not engage with them just isn't right." Their attempts to gain control of Rangers have met a number of barriers already. Paul was removed from the board almost three years ago. Malcolm was ousted as chairman earlier this year. They are, however, refusing to give up. Even in the last few weeks they have to go to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to win the nominations at the AGM. "I want to get involved to help save the club," said Malcolm (pictured). "This time last year there was a short period when we thought that things were looking pretty good. We raised £22m, had a clean balance sheet, had full asset ownership. Unfortunately with all of our difficulties most of that cash has disappeared on non-investment activities. "Investment activities mean spending money on the stadium or players – that's what a football club does – but the money has been spent elsewhere and it needs tight cash control for the future, new funding – which we have access to -and get the faith of the fans back." "This puts us in a position to go to any of the institutional investors who are still wavering and say we have the customers overwhelmingly behind our group to clean this up for the future. That's why it's important. "I was an institutional fund manager for over 30 years. In 30 years of trying to sort companies out this is the most complex situation I have ever seen, Ending up in the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh to get nominations at an AGM is outrageous and a waste of company funds. It could have been done months ago." It's only five years since Rangers were in the Uefa Cup final. Twenty years ago this season they were in what was effectively a Champions League semi-final against Marseille. Those days can return according to the Malcolm. He said: "Anything can happen, but we have to be in financial health to be involved." That's my mind made up then

@SonsofStruth: PROTEST ON TUESDAY Meet Copland Rd stairs seven o'clock. Protesting Stockbridge and Irvine to be removed from club. SHARE IF YOU CARE.

Anyone know anything about this guy? Only on twitter at the moment. Ian Cathro is the name being touted as the man, who will be brought in to see over Auchenhowie new youth development programme.

VoiceAndColour footballfansceneUK 1h #Aberdeen fans with banner outside #Hampden today in protest against corrupt SFA & SPFL leaders. pic.twitter.com/DlSq47Y6g3 https://twitter.com/VoiceAndColour/status/407131705959411713/photo/1/large

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/scotland/25168496

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.

Saturday, 30 November 2013 13:55 Club Statement Written by Rangers Football Club THE Club is extremely disappointed that a flare was set off from the North Stand at today's game against Falkirk. These devices are inherently dangerous and represent a real risk to fans. players and match officials. Today's incident has resulted in the playing surface being damaged and the Club are now investigating this matter and will be supporting the Police with their inquiries. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/5693-club-statement

...........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.

DONS chairman Stewart Milne today claimed he has “no regrets” over backing the decision to kick Rangers out of the top flight. The 11 remaining SPL clubs voted overwhelmingly to reject the newco Rangers application to join the league in the summer of 2012. The Light Blues are now sitting top of Scottish League One. The absence of Rangers has resulted in a drop in gate revenues for the clubs in the country’s top league. But Milne, pictured, insisted they had to do what was right to retain the integrity of Scottish football. He said: “The important thing is the right decision was made. We’ve had to live with the consequences of that. “It has hit us financially, but not to the scale some people were making out. We have no regrets.” http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/football/the-dons/no-regrets-for-dons-chief-milne-on-rangers-decision-1.158577?

Interesting stuff....

Celtic player James Forrest has been arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault, police have said. The 22-year-old midfielder has been reported to the procurator fiscal over alleged offences of public indecency and sexual assault. The incidents were alleged to have happened in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, earlier this month. Forrest played from the start for Celtic in their Champions League match with AC Milan on Tuesday evening. A Police Scotland spokeswoman confirmed: "A 22-year-old man is subject to a report to the procurator fiscal in connection with allegations of public indecency and sexual assault in Prestwick between 11pm on Saturday 9 November and 2am on Sunday 10 November." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-25102654

Nice to see Celtic showing why Scottish football is so vibrant and dynamic at the moment. Trying not to be too Jim Spence-like in my praise, but it's clear that only getting gubbed 3-0 by Milan is a clear sign of how healthy the SPL is. Surely that's the case. It can't be otherwise....

Certainly didn't do us any favours. Britain’s two State-backed banks have been accused of ruining thousands of small firms by using ‘unscrupulous’ business practices. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds ‘harmed their customers through their decisions and caused their financial downfall’, according to a bombshell report released today. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2512791/Banks-ruin-firms-just-make-killing-RBS-Lloyds-branded-unscrupulous-profiteers.html#ixzz2leLh4Wer Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

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.

Boness 1 v 0 Talbot Great win for the BU' s and a very decent crowd there, including a decent travelling support, to watch a decent game. Cammy F