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It's come to our attention that some users might not want to see the forum's smiley face images in people's posts and since forum members can't currently switch that feature on and off in our individual user CP like we can for avatars and signatures, then some of you might find this workaround useful... 1. Install a capable ad-blocker such as Adblock Plus. 2. Right-click on a smiley face in any forum post and select "Adblock Plus: Block image..." (see screenshot below) 3. Define your blocking filter rule. As you can see in the screenshot below, in this case we're blocking images from "gersnetonline.co.uk/vb/images/smilies/*" which will be selected by default when you do this in Adblock Plus in Firefox. Just click the "Add filter" button and you're done. Please note that this is just one method based on blocking images from the forum's smilies folder using Adblock Plus in Firefox, but the general concept will also be applicable in other browser software and ad blockers. Please also note that this method will also block our Rangers player images used in match previews and other threads unless you go to the extreme lengths of creating a custom filter rule for each individual smiley face you wish to block and leave out the player pics. So there you go. There's no longer any reason to moan about people using smiley faces.

Looks like he's going to be replaced by Neil Warnock at Forest. Wouldn't require any compensation now...

Tuesday, 11 March 2014 15:30 Ian Doubtful For Airdrie Clash Written by Andrew Dickson IAN BLACK is a doubt for tomorrow’s League One match with Airdrieonians after he sustained a dead leg against Albion Rovers on Sunday. The former Hearts midfielder was able to play the full 90 minutes of the 1-1 Scottish Cup quarter-final draw with the Coatbridge outfit. But he missed training today and has been icing his leg in between treatment sessions so it remains to be seen if he’ll make the starting line-up. Black has been an important part of Ally McCoist’s side this season and has only missed six games in all competitions. If he has to sit out a seventh this midweek, it’ll create an opening for the likes of Robbie Crawford or Arnold Peralta to fill. Kyle Hutton is only making his comeback from a broken leg suffered more than three months ago tonight in an under-20 clash with Dundee United at Dumbarton. That means he wouldn’t be considered to deputise for Black given he has been sidelined ever since he was injured in a game at Partick Thistle in November. Chris Hegarty is another player who’ll appear against the Arabs at the Bet Butler Stadium as he goes from strength to strength following a seven-month absence of his own. But he’s also not ready for a first-team return yet as he makes progress in the aftermath of an ankle injury. Nicky Clark rejoined the squad for full training for the first time after a foot fracture yesterday but needs more sessions under his belt before he’ll be added to the squad. And while Ross Perry is close to getting back to fitness, he’s another who’ll need to appear as an over-aged player for the under-20s before he’ll come into the reckoning again. Lewis Macleod is Ally McCoist’s only other absentee as his time out of the team continues because of a virus. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6495-ian-doubtful-for-airdrie-clash

I watched a wonderful short film this week, on the effect the reintroduction of wolves has had on Yellowstone National Park in America. Wolves were wiped out in the area 70 years ago but several packs were brought back twenty years ago in the hope they would breed and reestablish them. A highly controversial move, the wolves were closely monitored and the effect they had on Yellowstone was studied during this period. As a large carnivore there was much apprehension about the wolves; would they decimate other species, clear large parts of the park of other mammals, indeed would they endanger man? The actual findings were mind blowing. The wolves mainly hunt deer and prior to the wolves return the deer had enjoyed decades with no natural predator except man. As such, they grazed where they wanted for as long as they wanted, they moved slowly through the landscape and their numbers grew and grew. The reemergence of the wolves changed this. The change wasn’t that large numbers of deer were killed (there aren’t that many wolves and there are tens of thousands of deer) it was that the return of the deer’s natural hunter led to a dramatic change in deer behaviour. Previously the deer grazed where they liked but now they were much more cautious and this was particularly noticeable near rivers. The grazing is good there, but it is open, and the deer were easily hunted. As the deer modified their behaviour and avoided grazing on the lower ground the vegetation changed, grass grew longer, bushes and trees reached maturity instead of being stripped back by hungry deer when small. This led to insects returning which in turn brought birds. The longer grass brought rabbits and the eagles who hunt them. Bears returned to eat the berries that now ripened on the bushes, beavers returned and used the mature trees to make dams. Most astonishingly of all the course of the river changed. Previously it meandered, it flooded regularly and the rain ran off the surrounding land quickly eroding the area. Now the increased vegetation soaked up much of the rainfall and its roots held the soil together. So the river ran deeper and faster, it no longer meanders it flows true. The wolves had indirectly been responsible for changing the course and flow of a river. What must be remembered is that wolves weren’t artificially introduced to the area; rather their absence in the first place was artificial. The ecology of Yellowstone evolved over thousands of years and at the top of the food chain was wolves. This large carnivore was meant to be there, nature had decided that a long time ago, the rest of the park actually depended on it. Its removal caused the damage, not its reintroduction. Every aspect of the park relied on the wolf directly or indirectly. Rangers play Stenhousemuir for the fourth time this season on Saturday. We’ve won our two previous league meetings and our meeting in the cup. Our last match at Ibrox saw us triumph by eight goals, our subsequent meetings have been much closer affairs. This match is being played against the backdrop of continued problems in Scottish football. The removal of Rangers from the top flight has upset the trophic cascade, the natural order of things evolved over more than 100 years is seriously out of kilter. Celtic have no serious rival as such and they are now meandering, their club is selling its best players, their manager speaks openly about being unsettled and their support, as well as showing apathy towards attending matches now fill their time by promoting songs about Irish murder gangs, making ill-thought-out political statements or indulging in good old fashioned hooliganism. The game’s governing bodies now no longer even hold the pretence of parity. They award cup finals and semi finals to grounds months in advance rather than wait to see who’ll contest them. Their decisions regarding cup matches and Inverness have bordered on the corrupt, the ticket allocation for the League Cup final being only the latest example. The side who finished second in the country last season, Motherwell, still managed to make a loss of nearly £200,000. The prize money they should have received was drastically cut half way through the season you see, no surprise there. This happened despite them cutting their player budget the previous close season. Still the league has no sponsor, in the top flight the champions and the side relegated was decided before a ball was kicked and the standard of play and player continues to drop. Without its largest animal the competition is reduced, the drive is lost and the revenue that follows it dries up. All of these things are interconnected, remove something from the natural order of things and it takes a long time to recover, if it ever does. Stenhousemuir go into this match with a new manager, former Scottish international and feted wunderkind Scott Booth. Although the current Scotland under 17 coach doesn’t take up his post for a few more weeks we can expect his new players to be eager to prove their worth to him. So motivation shouldn’t be an issue for stand-in coach Brown Ferguson’s side. Stenhousemuir are in a bad run of form with no victories this year, only their early season good results afford them the relative safety of sixth place. Rangers go into the match without Moshni who remains suspended. Cribari did well against Ayr and should retain his place although I expect McCulloch to return to the defence and Foster to drop out. Beyond that the side should pick itself, MacLeod should come into contention if fit again but I expect Bell, Law, Wallace, Black, Daly, Faure, Templeton and Aird to start. I don’t expect a repeat of the early season 8-0 but half that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow particularly if we score early. Stenhousemuir have both suffered and benefited from being in the same league as Rangers. Having the largest carnivore in the country close by drastically reduces the likelihood of promotion for every other club in our division, but it does offer them other tangible benefits. Our presence is artificial though, man made and it is upsetting the natural order of things. The trophic cascade refers to interconnectivity, how removing something from the top of the food chain has consequences all the way down that chain, how these changes can’t all be foreseen or managed and it is vital that chain isn’t allowed to be tampered with artificially. Recent meetings aimed at securing a voice for Rangers supporters in our boardroom should be welcomed, not only by all Rangers fans but also by all football fans. Whatever your feelings towards our club, we are all connected and interdependent, it’s in everyone’s interests that we’re back where we belong believe it or not. The only thing that should prevent that happening is our side not being good enough. Financial stability and accountability are vital, not just for our sake but for every club in the country. Nobody should fear the return of the wolf, its return should be welcomed by all.

From BBC website. In case you are wondering where the League Cup final will be played, The Scottish Professional Football League will make a decision later this week. It will, however, be held in Glasgow, so my detective work suggests that is either Celtic Park or Ibrox Stadium. The Scottish FA has, of course, already chosen Celtic Park for the Scottish Cup final with the national stadium at Hampden Park unavailable at it prepares to host the athletics at the Commonwealth Games. Should we not tell them Ibrox is not available ?

Ajax 1 Scum 0 SCHONE (51) Barca beat Milan 3-1 Table: Barca 4 3 1 0 9 2 10 Milan 4 1 2 1 5 5 5 Ajax 4 1 1 2 3 7 4 Celtic 4 1 0 3 2 5 3

Mon the Jambos!!!!!!!!!!!!! Piss all over these bheasts tonight!!! ...

IT'S PARTY TIME!!!! What a day... What a result...

After a bit of prompting from Miss Bluedell, I'm delighted to announce that our player 'smilies' for season 2010/11 are now ready. As always you simply put the initials of the player between the : : tags to insert your team. You can also use the tags to ensure your formatting is suitable. Single player example: :xx: Where xx are the initials of the player. Team example: :sw: :mb: :sp: :sn: :sd: :lm: :me: :kl: Have fun!

..Please? Specifically one with a wee guy burping!! :fish:

Any chance of a few funky new smilies. We used to have some cools ones before the other board moved - I miss the guy with an uzi!!

On the 10th of February, David Murray did a lot of talking. He talked of the future, and of how rosey things would be in the garden. During that interview, he uttered the following line : Quote: when we make the changes, and if people are not happy, then protest all you want Why then, now that things aren't so rosey, is he using every means at his disposal, to silence those who wish to criticise him ? Murray Pledges A 'Moonbeam' To Banish Long Dark Season Of Despair : Evening Times - Darrell King 10/02/06 Ibrox Crisis : Rangers chief broke his silence after fan protests forced him to declare his hand early. For a man who likes to think of Rangers as his family, clearly being attacked from those within his inner circle was just too much. The 300 fans who protested outside Ibrox after last week's Scottish Cup defeat to Hibs, and the dozen or so who unfurled a 'Murray Out' banner at Pittodrie before Wednesday night's defeat, may have been small in number. But David Murray sensed a major fall-out was on the way - something that may even have ended in damaging feuding or even acrimonious divorce. When the final whistle blew in Aberdeen, Rangers yet again on the end of a defeat, the Ibrox owner and chairman knew it was time to act. Today he has called for unity behind his decision to reveal that his embattled manager, Alex McLeish, will go at the end of the season. In his own inimitable style, Murray also rolled out the big guns - a new manager is more or less in place, huge investment is on the way to fund his rebuilding of this pitiful Rangers line-up and the club is making record amounts of cash. Like the head of the family calling everyone around the table, he has spoken. Now he wants the Rangers support to prepare themselves for what he will bring to that very table - and if they are not pleased, he says they can protest all they like. Murray said : "The fans have been very supportive, but they want to see direction. My job is to get to the bottom of our problems and get this sorted out. I will leave no stone unturned. I am working very hard with Martin Bain to bring all these deals together and bring the direction this club needs. Rangers should not be divided. Yes, we are annoyed, yes, we are upset at results - but we must stick together. That (protests) is not Rangers' way. I understand people have the right to stand outside and protest. But Rangers do things another way, not like that. That's why I meet the Trust, the Assembly, we do it by talking." "It is people's entitlement. It does not sway me, nor does it put me off - I will still do my job to the very best. I can understand 300 people getting bloody annoyed if they felt there wasn't a light at the end of the tunnel - but there is a massive moonbeam of success waiting for us. People must accept there are legal issues, stock exchange issues, timing factors - but this will happen. And when we make the changes, and if people are not happy, then protest all you want - but big plans are on the way for Rangers." Of course, it has taken the combination of the horrendous results and performances against Hibs and Aberdeen to prompt action from the chairman. Clearly, with an Old Firm game looming, he has attempted to throw a bucket of water over what was a simmering situation developing between the rightly frustrated fans and those they follow all over the land. Maybe Murray should have acted sooner. Maybe, looking at things now, it has strengthened the argument that McLeish should have been removed during the shocking run of results in the autumn and early winter months. But loyalty has always been Murray's closest friend. Now he wants his support to put more faith in the man who has been the custodian of their club for 18 years. There is no doubt that his stock is at an all-time low in the eyes of many, but these are not false statements - a new dawn is on the way. "We all have degrees in hindsight, " Murray conceded, "Perhaps I should have spoken after the transfer window. But, after not being able to win for 10 matches, we were undefeated in 10 matches, and sometimes it's best left alone. However, after the indifferent performances of the week, it had to be said. I had to let the fans know we have been working on plans for a long time. There is going to be a major financial input to the club, there is now going to be a new manager and a new structure. I am disappointed it's come to this as we are about to announce very strong financial figures. The club is on a great financial footing after having a difficult time - we are going through record turnover." ED

Am in the process of adding some new Vb Rangers specific graphics to the forum... Hope you all like them... New stuff: - Forum old folder icon - Forum new folder icon - New Thread button - Post Reply button Also a few new smilies for the moment as well.