Search the Community

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

Interesting stuff....

Wednesday 20 November 2013 Hearts administrators BDO hope to persuade the insolvency firm in control of UBIG to support the deal that would take Heart of Midlothian Football Club plc out of administration on Friday. "Tentative" discussions began yesterday and an agreement will need to be reached ahead of the meeting of creditors at the end of this week. Creditors holding 75% or more of Hearts' debts need to vote in favour of the CVA proposal. UBIG are the majority shareholders in HMFCplc, with a 49.9% stake, and are currently being run by Vilnius-based UAB Bankroto Administravimo Paslaugos after being formally declared bankrupt last week. BDO have now managed to establish a direct line of communication with their insolvency colleagues in Lithuania, and talks will continue over the coming days. Herald

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?

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

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

Rangers' biggest shareholders will back the current board at next month's annual general meeting. Laxey Partners Limited increased their shareholding to 11.64% on Wednesday. Colin Kingsnorth, founder and director of the hedge fund, said: "I want to support stability so I think that means supporting all current directors. "Shareholder worries are the use of cash, transparency and corporate governance. The recent appointments seem to address that." Laxey's stance could prove crucial as the current board attempt to retain control, with another group of shareholders, including former director Paul Murray and former chairman Malcolm Murray, keen to oust them. With voting at the AGM expected to be close, the identity of the seller or sellers of the shares is also significant, depending on who they would have backed. But Kingsnorth told BBC Scotland: "I have no idea where the shares came from. I just bought them in the market." Asked if it was conceivable that Laxey could also vote the "requisitioners" - Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray, Alex Wilson and Scott Murdoch - onto the board at the AGM, Kingsnorth added: "Of course I could support the EGM people but I won't because their job is done. "They should claim some credit for forcing the club into action, but now it has I hope they accept that. "They would have supported (the new chief executive) Graham Wallace if he had joined them and I think they should be big enough to support him if the club supports him. "I doubt they will. A spurned chairman just wants to be loved again, but the club has moved on and I hope the new board drives it forward. They have the credibility, so why not. "The fact that cash has been spent badly seems fact, but what's the best thing to do now? "We'll get behind a professional board, make sure we never go into administration again, get the on-the-pitch stuff right." Source BBC ( need you ask )

RANGERS’ new chief exec is a former bigwig at English Premier League giants Manchester City, The Scottish Sun can reveal. Graham Wallace was chief operating officer at the 2012 champions until March. City sources said the 52-year-old Scot, will be unveiled by Gers next week after shaking hands on the deal with chairman David Somers last Wednesday. A source said: “There was a huge response to the advert for a chief executive but Wallace’s credentials blew away all the competition.” Chartered accountant Wallace, from Dumfries, saw off rivals including Dundee chief exec Scot Gardiner, who was also interviewed. He held top finance posts at a string of entertainment giants including MTV Networks Europe, Viacom, Nickelodeon, and IMG Media. Wallace, who lives in Buckinghamshire, was chief financial officer at Man City from 2009 to November 2010, then chief operating officer. He stepped down after the arrival of new chief executive Ferran Soriano, and has been doing consultancy work in the City of London since. The City source said: “He was waiting for the next top job and this is it. His skills and experience will help build Rangers’ global reach.” Wallace’s appointment is part of the current Ibrox regime’s attempt to shore up the board before a shareholders vote on who runs the club at Rangers’ AGM next month. Investment banker Norman Crighton, 47, was announced as a director yesterday.

Daisuke Nakajima quickly packed his bags whilst his editor’s secretary arranged his flights – a 6000 mile journey to cover a story of global proportions. For a country with a history and heritage as rich as Japan’s it was seldom a story emerged from the West with a tale of honour, which could catch the imagination of a country reared in the tales and traditions of the Samurai. But this one most certainly had. Nakajima was returning to Scotland , not to the the city of culture, nor the home of the Scottish Parliament but to of all places Elgin, to report on Scottish football. But this story was not about players, teams, pitches but about fans – a certain type of fan. The type of fans who deserve to be called “extraordinary”, “loyal”, “devoted”. Fans whose actions prove to be the catalyst to reporters journeying across continents. The stories of the Rangers support has now crossed continents seizing the imagination of all who hear. In a country where football has become toxic – they are the antidote. Let us talk not about impersonators – for these truly are the greatest fans in the world. Bar none. Treated with disdain and with malevolence Rangers found themselves consigned to the lowest echelons of Scottish football. But that did nothing to deter the loyal. Still they came in their thousands, following and preserving a footballing institution. It was not for glory – for there was little to be had but out of devotion to a football club. If they had to play in the streets then the pavements would have been brimming. This army of blue legions defied the hatred and machinations of a country, a footballing authority and a less than sympathetic, or impartial media. While others falsified attendance figures, offered two for one ticket deals and extended season ticket sales, the Rangers support broke attendance record after attendance record. On many a week the loyal army following Rangers would outnumber all the SPL attendances. Whose laughing now ? Nakajima never got to see Rangers at Elgin. The match was cancelled due to the demand from the loyal Rangers fans for tickets. But for Nakajima this in itself proved to be a bigger story than the one he had hoped for. Rangers – The Legend goes from strength to strength (even in Japan)

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/295-the-rangers-football-club-selfie

Was reading elsewhere where a Bear suggested only Naismith had been a relative "success" of the players who jumped ship when the old company was liquidated. Now, dont read this wrong i'm not attempting to say they are world beaters but actually there are a few players holding their own in the premiership are there not? Naismith gets semi regular football for a decent Everton team. McGregor is performing well at Hull prior to injury. Whittaker has played in half of Norwich'e league games this year and a couple of league cup matches. Davis is captain at Southampton. Before people start jumping off the deep end and saying this player or that player is crap or e.g. Whittaker hasn't played in the other half of their league games bear in mind that it still clearly shows that he must be a better player than he is given credit for by even our own fans, opposition fans in Scotland and our media. I'm pretty sure Whittaker's goal was typical of his time in Scotland beating 2 or 3 men with a driving run before finishing well from at least 12 yards. A display of pace, athleticism and agility. Those players were part of an era of Rangers football where we competed with Celtic on a much smaller budget yet these players delivered 3iar. Yet it is still always Celtic players who get championed for £5m, £10m,£15m pound moves. Yet I can think of even fewer Celtic players from the last 4-5 years who have gone on to be successful in a better league. Maybe McGeady (don't watch much Russian football) and perhaps Wanyama will show himself to have quality in England? Hooper has struggled for goals thus far. 3iar, more of our players being competitive in tougher leagues. Yet you rarely here of our players being touted for ridiculous sums (not convinced McGeady or Wanyama went for their reputed fees). Just why are our players generally held in less high regard in Scotland even when we are more successful or our players move on to England etc and are more competitive (if not necessarily more successful) then former Celtic players down there. Does this tactic of having their media luvvies bumming up their players values really bring them more cash when it comes time to sell?

Slightly confused here. The Scotland match is currently in the 85th minute but on Sky it's in the 81st?

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.

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.

I suppose this is blogger’s equivalent of the Samurai tradition of Seppuku – their unique suicide rite. At journalism college one of my course tutor’s used to invariably preach about the successful narrator knowing, and writing to the very heart and soul of their audience. This article will do quite the opposite and some may find the content uncomfortable, however I feel it asks a question which needs to be asked. The boardroom battle for control of our club has seen a thorough examination of the character and integrity (or alleged lack thereof) of the various candidates vying for control. It would be fair to say the Rangers support is well versed in the personal character strengths and weaknesses of the Murrays, the Easdales etc. The apparent weaknesses of the “other sides” candidates have been given maximum exposure during the ensuing debate, with the morality factor at times appearing as important as the size of the wallet they, or their backers, bring to our club. All is fair in love and war. Waiting in the wings is a man many Rangers fans would view as our club’s “Messiah” – Dave King. Almost as important as his money appears to be his ability to unite the fragmented factions within our support for he appears to have the unanimous backing of all. Perhaps the eventual winner in our boardroom battle will determined by which side, if any, Dave King decides to ally with. Such unanimous support for King has spared him the moral examination so many others have been subjected to in our boardroom struggle. With the exception of course of the Scottish Press. Let me make one thing clear – the Scottish Press have long surrendered the right to exercise moral judgement with regard to our club. They surrendered such a right long ago with their silence over 5 way agreements, their silence over unlawful transfer embargo’s imposed on our club and their desire to join with the haters in labelling us “cheats”and thus trampling over our right to a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. This discussion is by invitation only, and those out with the Rangers support are not invited, cordially or otherwise. But it is nonetheless, a discussion which has to be had. Judge Southwoods assessment of Dave King in his tax battle with the South African authorities was damning. I’m sure most of you have read it, but to spare you the false morality of the Scottish press it can be found here : http://www.moneywebtax.co.za/moneywebtax/view/moneywebtax/en/page259?oid=56208&sn=Detail Are we satisfied as a support that the coat bearing glib and shameless will be discarded should Dave King return to Ibrox in any capacity ? Will an alleged disrespect for the truth be at odds with a support demanding transparency and clarity with regard to the governance of our club ? Or are the characteristics described by Judge Southwood exactly what are needed at our club in a battle where our enemies are not playing by the rules ? These are difficult questions but we will need to wrestle with them at some point. Failure to do so is just not an option.

http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/5579-club-statement Now that's a statement we can all agree with. Let's hope club means what they say rather than offering a sop to concerned fans.

By Gordon Waddell SPFL and SFA go to war over £1m league reconstruction bill 10 Nov 2013 09:04 BOSSES of the two organisations are on collision course due to a fall-out over who was to foot the bill for the summer's big switchover. THE SPFL and SFA are on a collision course over the £1million tab for league reconstruction. MailSport understands fuming league bosses are claiming SFA chief executive Stewart Regan and president Campbell Ogilvie are reneging on an agreement to foot the full bill for the big switch-over in the summer. However it’s believed Regan is equally adamant that was never the deal they agreed and has the email trail to prove it, leaving the two bodies at loggerheads. The matter has been discussed both at SPFL board level and at a meeting of the 10 Championship clubs within the past 10 days. Former SFL chairmen in particular insist the SFA supremos gave them an unequivocal commitment to foot the bill for the nuts and bolts of the move to one league body at a meeting. At the time the SFA were desperate to see the two bodies unified and a pyramid system in place, putting another brick in the wall of their 2020 vision for the game going forward. But with the legal and accounting costs of dissolving the SFL and SPL, as well as creating the new set-up, the bill has skyrocketed close to seven figures. However, the SFA have issues with what it contains. It’s understood a six-figure pay-off for departing SFL chief executive David Longmuir is included as a “cost” of the reconstruction, one which will be hotly disputed, as well as the accountancy costs of the SFL’s due diligence into the top flight. The SFA’s understanding of their offer was to partially fund the legal costs but to make a wider contribution to the cost of the play-off system, pyramid set-up and parachute payments for SPL teams taking the drop. That deal would have exposed them to a figure in excess of the £1m mark but over a longer period of time. MailSport, however, believes several league chairmen want a hardline stance taken in any negotiations, despite the fact their coffers have swollen in the past week with a £2m a year deal with Chinese TV. It’s also understood the probe commissioned into secret bonus payments made to Longmuir during his SFL tenure is ready to be presented to clubs at the end of the week. The payments – totalling more than £400,000 – were discovered during the reconstruction process. Then-president Jim Ballantyne claimed to have the discretionary power to award the cash without SFL board approval. It’s believed some of the money could already have been paid back – however that may not be enough to satisfy the clubs awaiting the report.

For Fernando by Mal Robinson, Editor of Seventy2 As Editor of a fanzine, producing an issue can throw up some quirky acts of fate, as can football in general. For example former players scoring against their old clubs, or a returning ex-manager being sent to the stands on his maiden homecoming in the opposition dug out probably being the most common. Issue 8 then of Seventy2 was in the planning for a while. As many of you know, each issue of the retro Rangers magazine is themed and we have covered topics like “Legends” and a “Captain’s” and “Champion’s” special in previous editions and so with a few Dutch contacts on our list, we thought why not cover a Dutch special? The focus on everything Oranje and Blue was penciled in for a slot earlier this year, but as in life things get in the way and it is put on the back burner as something else crops up – such as a champions special for the Rangers winning the Division 3 title. The feelers are generally put out with the former players a month or so in advance in a bid to get timings for interviews and the like sorted. And so it was in January of this year I contacted Fernando Ricksen to see if he would be able to feature in our proposed Dutch Special. After a few missed calls and messages we finally made contact and Fernando was only too delighted to come on board for the issue on his homeland. When the time came for his interview via telephone (not all are glamorous and in person) we struggled to get in touch as he had a few physio appointments at the time and as other events took over back at home for Seventy2, we agreed to do an interview at a later date, as the Dutch issue was swapped for other themes. Cometh September 2013 and it was agreed it was time for the Dutch special to come to life on the pages of Seventy2 and again contact was made with an array of former stars and writers with the theme in mind. For some reason though we had no answer from Fernando, but there was still time until the November release of the issue and we would get back to him. Still no contact was had by October, which was strange, with Fernando being the perfect gentleman on the phone, serving up a bit of banter in the process. Then came the shellshock announcement by Fernando on Dutch TV about being diagnosed with ALS (or Motor Neurone Disease) and we were all in shock. Within an instant it became clear the guy needed his privacy at this time, yet we vowed his face should appear on the front of the magazine in a show of support for a player who wore his heart on the sleeve for the Rangers…it was the least we could do. We were blown away with the worldwide message of support for Fernando and got in touch with the Facebook page “Pray for Fernando’ who had amasses an amazing 74,000 followers and well wishers inside a week. They kindly agreed to offer a selection of the tributes to feature in the magazine. As issue 8 became more established, former players also joined in the tributes and these have been included, as has an interview with Fernando’s biographer - Vincent de Vries, shedding light on the making of the book and Fernando’s state of mind in his battle ahead. To complete the picture we decided this awful illness needed some backing in Scotland and so the Motor Neurone Disease association were contacted and it was agreed that 10p from every sale of issue 8 would go to MND Scotland as well as raise awareness for them inside the magazine and hopefully find a cure one day for this disease. It is safe to say then that the Dutch Special out next week has been one of the most fascinating and rewarding to put together and kind of puts life in perspective at times. And so the headline reads on the front cover “For Fernando”. He will be getting a copy and with it the love and support of every bluenose inside and outside of the magazine. WATP Mal Robinson. *To pre order issue 8 of Seventy2 – The Dutch Special visit www.seventy2magazine.co.uk where you can purchase this edition with free postage to the UK only.

Former Rangers players Maurice Edu and Kyle Bartley have told a court they were "intimidated" and "shocked" after receiving racist tweets. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote I thought it's 2012, I just thought society had got over these sorts of comments” Kyle Bartley Former Rangers player The players - who have since left the club - were sent the messages by Michael Convery on Twitter after a game against St Johnstone in Perth on 14 January, 2012. Convery, from the Linthouse area of Glasgow, was found guilty of sending the racist remarks. The players gave evidence at his trial. Bartley, 22, told Glasgow Sherriff Court he found the messages "intimidating" and thought that "society had got over these sorts of comments". US international Edu, 27, described feeling shocked on seeing the messages he had been sent. Although none of the messages were read out in full in open court, it was heard that Bartley was sent a direct comment from Convery and mentioned in a second one and Edu was sent two direct comments. The players saw the tweets while travelling home from the match on the team bus. 'So much hate' Bartley said: "I actually re-tweeted the tweet. It allowed the public eye to see the comments, and I reported it to David Martin, who is head of security at Glasgow Rangers." The court heard the word "monkey" was used. Bartley said it was "a comment he was used to". Procurator fiscal depute Jonathan Kemp asked how he felt on receiving them and the witness said: "I just felt a little bit hurt and disappointed really. "I thought it's 2012, I just thought society had got over these sorts of comments. "Obviously I don't know Michael Convery, I didn't understand why he would have so much hate for me." Bartley was asked about another racist comment which mentioned his name, but wasn't sent directly to him. He said he found it "very insulting". Blamed son Edu said he was shocked and embarrassed when he saw the first message that was sent to him. He told the court that later that day, after receiving another message, he was still shocked and said: "I think that time was when I re-tweeted". The court heard that, in his police interview, Convery told officers he had been suffering from food poisoning and was drifting in and out of sleep in his house on the date of the offence. He told the court he suspected his teenage son was to blame, although claimed he did not see any comments being posted. But he accepted the messages came from his Blackberry phone and his Twitter account. The court heard that there had been searches on Google, hours after the tweets were sent, for "How to delete Twitter". Convery was branded an "unreliable" witness by Sheriff Valerie Johnston. She deferred sentence until next month and continued bail. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-24949377

Scotland's claim to be fighting the cancer of sectarianism and hatred took a severe dent at the weekend. Perhaps sadly, the decision not to hold a one minute silence prior to the Ross County vs Celtic match, came as no surprise to many of us. Its embarrassing, unedifying and sickening to hear a one minute silence being disrupted and dishonoured. But there is something worse, far worse in fact - not holding such a ceremony at all. Because in failing to do so we have acquiesced to the morons, the bigots - we have handed them victory on a plate. Let the moronic and shameful actions of bigots within the Celtic support shame all the devils in hell - rather that than our country is forced to fail to remember the fallen whose sacrifice ensured our freedom from evil and tyranny. This morning I wrote to Ross County asking for an explanation into such an omission on Saturday and in particular who made the decision to dispense with the one minute silence - was it from someone in the club or from outside the club? The Ross County support have previously made their club aware of the importance of Remembrance Day and its significance within their support. http://www.north-sta...oldiers-667.htm Furthermore this is an issue which must ascend Old Firm rivalry and the often tit for tat churlish and pedantic tribalism. It is time for the Scottish press and media to stop avoiding the issue and to speak out - ignoring it will not make it go away. It is untenable and unacceptable that men who laid down their lives in order to defeat that which is unacceptable cannot themselves be remembered and honoured due to the actions and behaviour of some in our society which is in itself – wholly unacceptable.

ALLY McCOIST has welcomed Kenny Miller back to Murray Park to use facilities as he recovers from recent knee surgery. But even though the manager hopes to sign another striker in January, he insists the 33-year-old’s presence at the training ground isn’t necessarily a precursor to a move back to the club. Miller has been getting treatment at Auchenhowie over the last few days and he’s a player McCoist is a huge admirer of. Indeed, he has spoken in the past about being keen to recruit the forward again and would likely be interested if he became available. For the moment, however, Miller remains a Vancouver Whitecaps player – and McCoist has stressed the arrangement in place is simply to help the ex-Scotland star get back to fitness. “It’s great to see Kenny back,” McCoist said. “We’ve got an open-door policy for our former players see a lot of the guys coming back to pay us a visit. “We’ve offered Kenny the rehabilitation services we’ve got so Stevie Walker and the physios are looking after him in the afternoons. “I had a good chat with Kenny this week and he has had a knee operation. He looks well considering it wasn’t that long ago. “He’s as enthusiastic as ever and he’s in good form so he’s talking about getting back playing as soon as possible. “Kenny is still contracted to Vancouver and do you know something? I haven’t even spoken to him about his situation there. “The most important thing for him is that he gets himself fit again and back playing, wherever that may be. “I won’t lie to you. I wouldn’t mind strengthening our forward area and especially now that Andy Little looks like being out for months rather than weeks. “We haven’t touched on any conversations like that at all with Kenny though and he is with another club at this point in any case.” McCoist feels his forward line needs strengthening after a broken cheekbone and jaw sidelined Little until next year. Only Jon Daly and Nicky Clark are operating as recognised strikers at present in the senior squad, with Lee McCulloch playing much more often in defence these days. The club’s second-top scorer with 10 goals, McCulloch is clearly capable of moving forward if he needs to. McCoist doesn’t want to unsettle his side more than he has to though and added: “The skipper has been terrific for us at the back so we’ve only really got Nicky and Jon up front. “If we can, that’s an area where we’d like to strengthen and I’d be reluctant to move Lee back up front for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he’s playing very well where he is. “We’ve also got somebody up front in Jon who is battering in all sorts of goals at the minute so it’s an option to us but I wouldn’t be too keen on doing it.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/5574-kennys-here-to-recover

chucks gona get the jail