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Ryan Finnie according to his twitter. Ryan Finnie @Ryanfinnie22 49m Delighted to have signed for GLASGOW RANGERS today onwards and upwards from here.. Dreams do come true #RFC #WATP ❤️??? Left Accies in January.
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A German man has been charged with singing songs in support of a terrorist organisation at a football match in Kilmarnock. Lucas Tussing, 20, allegedly committed the offence at the Celtic v. Kilmarnock game at the Ayrshire club's Rugby Park last Friday. Tussing, of Dusseldorf, denies breaching the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act, and an alternative charge of threatening or abusive behaviour. He was freed on bail at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on condition that he does not attend any regulated football match in the UK. Tussing, who was provided with an interpreter, faces trial in September. http://www.westfm.co.uk/news/local/man-accused-of-terror-song-at-killie-match/
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Scottish Cup success would mean Rangers have had a better season than Celtic
Guest posted a topic in Rangers Chat
http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/19/scottish-cup-success-would-mean-rangers-have-had-a-better-season-than-celtic-4642294/ Thoughts? -
I have taken off the headline, saying that our league win will be "hollow" as that may have distracted from what, for me, is an inarguable piece. ( http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-title-will-be-a-hollow-victory-1-3335530 ) by ALAN PATTULLO Published on the 11 March Rangers could be hours away from the League 1 title. The last but one objective in Rangers’ projected return to the top tier in successive seasons could be complete. Another mission accomplished if they win tomorrow night against Airdrieonians. It will be deservedly so. Rangers have won 25 of their 27 matches. They have drawn the two others. They have scored 84 goals, conceding only 14. They are doing what we all expected them to do. They are doing what they should be doing. But is the journey proving as gainful as hoped? Are Rangers making enough use of their journey back to the top flight? This question was first posed last season when a team of mostly experienced professionals – in several cases, internationals – made swift work of part-time opponents. Then, the same complaint was heard. Rangers are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. They are failing to take a prize opportunity to blood young talent in the first team. More than one person has commented on the underwhelming atmosphere at Bayview earlier his month, when Rangers needed an injury-time penalty to secure three points against East Fife. It was a scuffed victory, set against a backdrop of yelps and shouts from the players that were heard from television screens across the land. It was as uninspiring as it was possible to be. Manager Ally McCoist admitted as much afterwards. He was happy enough with the result, just not the performance. It was far from what he had expected, he said. It was certainly far from what should be expected from what is still, at even casual glance, a team of Scottish Premiership-standard players. For those with the health of Scottish football at heart, it is a slightly deflating experience to study the Rangers teamsheet each week. Doing so will stir far more painful emotions for Rangers fans, since it provides plenty of pointers towards why the club are still hemorrhaging money. Well-paid – some would say vastly overpaid – seasoned professionals playing far below their level is not the only reason why the club are reduced to casting around for loans. However, it isn’t helping. Much was made of how Rangers might negotiate their way back up the leagues when it was confirmed that they would begin season 2012-13 in the old Third Division. While clearly traumatic, some expressed the hope that this would at least provide them with the opportunity to rebuild from the bottom up; to resuscitate the club’s youth development programme. Few can claim that Murray Park has been as successful on that front as was hoped. The most successful graduates are now playing elsewhere. Are there many coming through the ranks? Not on the evidence presented to date. Of the players used by McCoist on Saturday, most would not have seemed out of place in the Scottish Premiership. Indeed, several of them are not only Premiership players, but top end ones. Lee Wallace was one of Hearts’ best players before he made the switch to Ibrox, as was David Templeton. Jon Daly was regarded as a significant loss by Dundee United fans when he departed, while Richard Foster is the epitome of a dependable professional, though when he returned to the club he seemed far from essential to Rangers’ ambitions of winning the title. Cammy Bell, meanwhile, had earned international recognition with Kilmarnock. On the bench, of course, is substitute goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, with the younger Scott Gallacher condemned to play reserve team football following his return to Ibrox after a loan spell with Airdrieonians. Defenders Craig Halkett and Lucas Gasparotto, who qualifies for Canada, are two players whom many expected to have been employed by now, but neither has featured yet this season – not for Rangers at least. Fraser Aird and Robert Crawford, who replaced Aird during last Saturday’s match, are sources of some optimism, as, of course, is Lewis Macleod, the currently injured Scotland Under-21 internationlist. McCoist clearly does not believe others coming through at Murray Park are good enough. If he did, he would have fewer qualms about pitching them into the team, the way that Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara has done at a higher level. It is unlikely that McCoist will be persuaded to do so next season either, in a league where teams need to know how to look after themselves, perhaps to an even greater extent than in the Premiership. So has Rangers’ window for youth development now passed? Probably. They have other battles to fight in any case. But when they do take their place in the top flight, probably in two seasons’ time, the relief may well be tempered by a niggling sense of what else might have been delivered over the course of their exile.
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EAST Stirlingshire head coach John Coughlin said last night that he substituted Jordan Tapping in yesterday’s 4-0 defeat by Peterhead at Balmoor after the 17-year-old schoolboy was reduced to tears by a sustained level of racial abuse from a section of the crowd. Coughlin claimed the youngster was subjected to monkey noises and name calling from members of the home support situated behind the goal that Tapping was helping to defend in the second half. Tapping, the cousin of Hearts midfielder Callum Tapping, scored an own goal in the League Two match and was taken off with 15 minutes remaining. Coughlin said: “Firstly I want to say that what went on had no impact on the result of the game but it was a horrible incident. It was so bad that a couple of our players went to the referee to make sure that he was hearing it. “He took no action at the time but he is including it in his match report. Jordan is just a kid who is still at school and was understandably upset and bewildered at what was getting shouted at him. I looked at him with about 20 minutes left and knew I had to get him off the pitch. By the time I did he was in tears. Whilst no one should have to deal with abuse, a more experienced player or person might have been able to handle it differently but in reality it is not Jordan’s problem.” Referee Gavin Duncan is expected to report the matter to the SFA. Coughlin added: “The Peterhead chairman Rodger Morrison came up and apologised to Jordan after the game. Whilst he acknowledged there had been a problem, no one can quite understand why no stewards were asked to go and get the fans doing it to stop, or even more appropriately, throw them out or get them arrested. “Our players were very upset for Jordan and there was a lot of anger in our dressing room afterwards. They are all very much behind raising this incident as far as possible to show their support to their team-mate.” Tapping, pictured, was applauded off the pitch by his team-mates. One supporter who was at the game said: “The ref stopped the game in the second half and spoke to the linesman. Then he seemed to call the head steward or someone like that. It was good couple of minutes he was speaking to the steward. The steward went over and spoke to someone behind the goal. It was just a single guy that they seemed to be speaking to. When [Tapping] went off, all the other East Stirling players were applauding him off the park.” As of last night, the Scottish Professional Football League had received no complaint. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/east-stirlingshire-s-tapping-racially-abused-1-3325536
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Five people have been arrested in connection with crowd trouble at the Motherwell v Celtic game last week A reported £10,000 of damage was caused to seats in a section housing Celtic fans, a flare was let off in the same area before the game and two green smoke bombs were thrown on to the pitch during the match at Fir Park stadium on Friday. Celtic said they were ''appalled'' by the actions and issued precautionary suspensions to 128 supporters preventing them from attending home and away matches, while 250 season-ticket holders seated in the Green Brigade's corner of Celtic Park are to be moved to other parts of the ground. Police said 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks and one flare were set off. There were also disturbances and vandalism in Motherwell both before and after the game. Officers said five people were arrested in connection with the disorder on Monday and inquiries are continuing. The incident was the latest in a spate of trouble at Scottish football matches. A teenage girl was arrested after a flare was thrown from the Rangers support after their win at Falkirk on November 30, damaging the pitch, and a smoke bomb was thrown from the Motherwell support during their defeat by Albion Rovers on the same day. Last Saturday, 10 people were arrested in connection with football-related disorder before the Falkirk v Raith Rovers match. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/five-arrested-after-celtic-fan-trouble-at-motherwell-match.1386845170 -
Former Rangers director Dave King will fly in from South Africa next week and not leave Scotland until he comes up with a “definite gameplan” for the future of the Ibrox club. The South Africa-based businessman last week urged supporters to withhold season- ticket money and hand it over to the club on a game-by-game basis, amid growing concerns about the League 1 leaders’ finances and governance. The 58-year-old Glaswegian, who invested £20million in the club before it was consigned to liquidation in June 2012, made his plea to fans after Rangers confirmed they had accepted £1.5million in loans from shareholders Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners. King then accepted an invitation to meet the Rangers board after an open letter from chairman David Somers claimed he was “damaging the club” with his statements, although he mocked the tone of the letter, saying he was being “summoned” to explain himself. Backed by the influential Union of Fans coalition, King will first jet into London to meet with investors in the club before travelling to Glasgow where, aside from his appointment with the Ibrox board, he will meet supporters to find a way forward for the Govan club. “I will visit the institutions in London next week and put a schedule together with some of the existing shareholders to understand where they are and how they would feel about a rights issue,” said King. “Also, whether they would participate, whether they would give the rights to someone like me and I would like that out of the way before I meet the fans. Then I will stay up in Scotland for as long as it takes until we have a definite gameplan as to how we will go forward from there.” Former finance director Brian Stockbridge said in October that Rangers would only have around £1m of cash reserves left by April but chief executive Graham Wallace has denied there is a risk of a second administration. King claims the Ibrox board were fully aware of their predicament when they refused his offer of help late last year. “I said then ‘it’s now early enough to anticipate you will not make the end of the year on your current cash balances and let’s now try, and in an orderly fashion, go about a new fund-raising exercise’,” he recalled. “I was happy to be a significant investor, in fact a leader of a consortium putting new funds into the club with the only condition that the funds went into the club. “I was looking for a new share issue and for those funds to go into the club and into the team and really all that’s happened is they have adopted a ‘Nero fiddling while Rome burns’ approach where the inevitability of the next couple of months has come to pass. “They are looking for [fans] to give enough money for season tickets so they can continue for another couple of months before again ending up in another financial crisis. That is what I am trying to avert at this point.” King later clarified that he had offered to invest in Rangers in response to an apparently misleading statement by Easdale, which was read out on Sky Sports News. He said: “I refer to Sandy Easdale’s statement earlier today that I had never had discussions with him regarding putting new funds into the club. “I subsequently engaged in private communication with Sandy and he has confirmed directly to me that he intended his comment to be construed as meaning that I had never offered loan finance to the club. I accept that Sandy’s incorrect statement was merely a misunderstanding and that he was not intending to impugn my integrity.”
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the investigatoin into hmrc???? not heard much in the last year or so.
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http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/ma...016288.article Cohen & Stephen (The Liquidators of Rangers FC) & Ors v Collyer Bristow Late 2013, 5-10 days, Chancery Division For the claimant Cohen & Stephen (The Liquidators of Rangers FC): South Square?s Mark Philips QC leading South Square?s Stephen Robins previously instructed by Taylor Wessing partner Nick Moser, taken forward by Stephenson Harwood partner Stuart Frith For claimants the Trustees of the Jerome Group plc Pension Fund: Outer Temple Chambers? David E Grant, instructed by trustees David Simpson, who is also a qualified barrister For the claimants HMRC: South Square?s Lucy Frazer For the claimants Merchant Turnaround: Maitland Chambers? James Clifford and Matthew Smith of the same set, instructed by Macrae & Co?s Julian Turnbull For the respondent Collyer Bristow: 3 Verulam Buildings? Cyril Kinsky QC leading Matthew Hardwick of the same set, instructed by Clyde & Co partner Richard Harrison . The financial collapse of Rangers FC put in the public eye the club?s relationship with its professional advisers, including Collyer Bristow and former partner Gary Withey. Withey quit the firm in March after he became embroiled in the Glasgow club?s administration because he had advised businessman Craig Whyte on his takeover of the club in 2011. Duff & Phelps were appointed as the original administrators of the club and, in March last year, announced it would take action against the firm. When liquidators Cohen & Stephen took over the wind-down of the club it pledged to carry on the case. The firm has lodged a Part 20 claim against private equity firm Merchant Turnaround. Collyer Bristow stands accused of ?deliberate deception? over Whyte?s doomed bid for the club. The court heard at a pre-trial hearing in April that Collyer Bristow is alleged to have been involved in conspiracy, breach of undertaking, negligence and breach of trust, with Withey - who acted as the club?s company secretary - complicit in the allegations. It was revealed that when Whyte agreed a majority stake takeover offer in May 2011 he also pledged to pay off the club?s £18m debt to Lloyds Banking Group and invest £9.5m of ?new money? in the club. This included £5m for players, £2.8m to HMRC and £1.7m for capital expenditure. That offer persuaded then director Paul Murray and the board not to launch an alternative £25m share issue to generate the money needed to stabilise the club. Instead, the court was told, they agreed to Whyte?s takeover, with Collyer Bristow acting for Whyte. Administrators were called in February 2012 and various parties - including HMRC, private equity firm Merchant Turnaround and Jerome Pension Fund trustees - lobbied to reclaim their stakes in Rangers. The firm says it will vigorously defend the claims. Withey had originally applied to intervene in the case, but has now withdrawn his application. This battle will be closely followed by firms and fans alike as it promises to lay bare the firm?s relationship with Whyte and the club.
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It is widely known that Dave King has settled his issues with the SA tax people. There are also many, many reports that he plead guilty to approx 41 charges which resulted in a massive fine. My question is.....did these charges result in a criminal prosecution & resulting in a criminal record, or was it simply King effectively agreeing to paying the outstanding monies on 41 separate counts with the remaining charges/claims being dropped???? King has been referred to in many reports as a criminal....how accurate is this description???
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It seems like the succulent lamb has moved fields. I doubt there would be many Rangers supporters who, after what has transpired over the last three years, who would suggest some of the articles written about our club were merely “puff journalism”. Of course they didn’t have to dig too deep – after all the Rangers Tax Case Blog and BBC Scotland’s “The Men who Sold the Jerseys” had done all the work for them - all our media had to do was apply their own opinions to the information which was readily available – despite the questionable source and interpretation of that information. And apply their opinion they did, as we all know. Time and time again. They drooled, they dribbled, they salivated over questionable events surrounding our club. But what they didn’t do was dig. No small wonder then that Thomson is also on record as saying : And you know what ? He is right. It finally dawned on me when Lord Nimmo Smith’s SPL Commission report contained the startling revelation that the material used by BBC Scotland in the aforementioned documentary was actually evidence which had been stolen from the Rangers Tax Case. And the response from our media ? Not even a murmur. The fact that the evidence in a case they had milked, salivated, opinionated, discussed in such minute detail had been stolen, appears not to even have raised an eyebrow of curiosity. Imagine for a moment the OJ Simpson trial – and it was discovered the infamous glove had been stolen from the evidence cabinet and the media hadn’t raised a murmur ? Nope – I can’t imagine it either.. But of course this is Scotland land of lazy, sycophantic and incapable of asking awkward questions journalism. Perhaps no-one in the Scottish media wants to ask questions of their own – the journalists at BBC Scotland who received and retained the stolen evidence – a kind of “closing ranks” if you like. Or could it be that for a Scottish Print media in dire trouble, evidenced by the recent voluntary redundancies at The Scotsman, the occasional appearance on BBC Sportsound is a nice little earner in uncertain times ? When the Rangers Tax Case received the Orwellian Award it was hailed as :- It seems history may be on the verge of repeating itself. As the blogger behind Football Tax Havens, ably assisted by the tenacious PZJ, asks searching questions of land deals between Glasgow City Council and Celtic FC, one could be forgiven for thinking that this topic appears to be “off limits” for the Scottish media. Perhaps in the near future another blogger will win an award hailed as ““Displaying focused contempt for those who evade difficult truths, and beating almost every Scottish football journalist to the real story” And if he does – you can bet your bottom dollar there will be even more voluntary redundancies within the Scottish Print media.
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http://www.sportinglife.com/football//news/article/26854/9012286/violence-mars-hoops-clash Violence mars Hoops clash Last Updated: November 6 2013, 23:34 GMT Celtic's Champions League trip to Ajax has been marred by a clash between supporters and police in the centre of Amsterdam before kick-off, following which 15 fans have been arrested. Amsterdam Police told Press Association Sport that fans armed with bottles and sticks attacked plain-clothed police in an incident described as "coming out of nowhere". Eight police officers were injured with one knocked unconscious following the fighting in Dam Square, in the city centre. Police said the majority of those arrested were Celtic fans, although it is believed that supporters from other clubs were also involved. "At the end of the afternoon a large group of Celtic supporters attacked police officers in plain clothes," a spokesman told Press Association Sport. "Eight were injured and one was knocked unconscious. "A few of them had broken noses and needed stitches above their eyebrows and on their lips. "Bottles and sticks were used in the attack which came out of nowhere. "There were 15 arrests, mostly Celtic supporters." Celtic lost the match 1-0 and face an uphill battle to reach the knockout stages of the competition. Amsterdam Police said it expected the number of 15 arrests to rise during the night and that a final figures would be "high". It is thought that fans from other European clubs were involved, although police said they "had kept themselves covered". Celtic supporters had been urged by the club to be careful after an attack on Hoops supporters in a city-centre bar on Tuesday night. Thousands of Celtic supporters flooded into Holland for the Group H game at the Amsterdam ArenA. A statement on the Celtic website said: "Celtic Football Club is urging all supporters in Amsterdam for tonight's UEFA Champions League tie with Ajax to be extra vigilant following an unprovoked attack on Celtic fans last night "The attack in the city centre by an element of the Ajax support resulted in a number of arrests. "Celtic are urging all supporters to be extra vigilant in the city centre and at the Amsterdam ArenA, and to only stick to the advised areas for safety reasons." At the pre-match media conference on Tuesday afternoon, Ajax coach Frank De Boer expressed hope that the tiny percentage of fans he describes as "crazy" would not disrupt the game. UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the Dutch club after some of their supporters clashed with police and stewards at Parkhead last month during a match which the home side won 2-1. The case will be dealt with by UEFA's control and disciplinary panel on November 21. De Boer admitted that some Ajax fans remain a concern when asked if he was confident of the game passing off trouble-free. "I am confident in that but you never know," said the former Rangers player. "There is always some crazy people (who) try to disturb something but hopefully it will not happen."
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A Rangers fan who posted a threatening message about Celtic manager Neil Lennon on Twitter has been cleared of committing an offence. Christopher Hay, 22, was the first person to be charged under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communcations Act in 2012, after writing a message on his social networking site the day the act came into force. Chip shop worker Hay, from Kirkintilloch posted "I seriously do wish that someone would kill that ugly ginger c***, I should've planned my parcel bombs better, next time it'll work #w*****". The comment was posted during the high profile parcel bomb trial at the High Court in Glasgow. Hay claimed it was a "throwaway comment" made by him and not intended to be seen by Lennon. He denied intending to cause fear or alarm or being reckless as to whether he did or not, at his trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was found not guilty by sheriff Stuart Reid. While the sheriff branded the comment "an offensive and threatening communication" he said that after considering all of the evidence, that there was not the necessary criminal intent needed for Hay to be found guilty. The court heard that during a police operation, the post was spotted using keywords on a search facility of Twitter. A designated officer who had to search for offensive messages during the trial of Trevor Muirhead and Neil McKenzie, spotted the message and traced it to Hay. When interviewed by police Hay admitted posting the comment on his social networking site. Although he posted the message, he claimed it was never intended to be seen by anyone except his 23 friends who "follow" and view his posts on Twitter and that he claimed were "close friends". The court heard that Lennon's name was not mentioned in the comment and it was not directed towards him by copying it on to his official Twitter site but was written about him. Hay, a self-confessed Rangers fan, claimed: "I had no intention to cause fear or alarm to anybody. It was an absolute throwaway comment, I didn't intend it to go futher." Nobody re-posted the message on their web pages or commented on it. Hay told the court: "It was a moment of madness". When asked why he wrote it he said: "I have no reason in particular why I sent it. I can't even think why I would write such a thing." Procurator fiscal depute Stephen Ferguson asked: "If Neil Lennon or someone close to Neil Lennon were to see that how do you think they would feel?" Hay answered: "They wouldn't be very pleased about it. Taken aback by it, it's not very nice, not something you want to see." Muirhead, 44, and McKenzie, 42, from North Ayrshire, sent devices they believed were capable of exploding and causing injury. The men were found guilty in March 2012 of conspiracy to assault Lennon, former MSP Trish Godman and the late Paul McBride QC and were jailed for five years. http://news.stv.tv/west-central/259433-christopher-hay-cleared-over-offensive-post-celtics-about-neil-lennon/
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SEVEN members of the Celtic fans’ group the Green Brigade are set to stand trial next year on charges of singing a song associated with the IRA at a number of Premiership and Champions League games. Paul Duke, 37, and Ross Gallagher, 29, from East Kilbride, Christopher Bateman, 28, from Irvine, David Gallacher, 22, from Glasgow, Sean Cowden, 21, from Rutherglen and Kieran Duffy, 18, from Coatbridge, are accused of singing The Roll of Honour at Celtic’s home Champions League qualifier against Elfsborg on 31 July. Mr Gallagher, Mr Bateman and Greg Robertson, 28, from Glasgow, are accused of singing the song on 3 August at a league game against Ross County, while Mr Robertson and Mr Gallagher are also charged with singing at a home game on 24 August against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The men stand accused of behaving in a way “likely to incite public disorder”. A trial date has been set for next June, and the seven men pleaded not guilty to all charges, which they deny. http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/seven-green-brigade-members-face-ira-song-trial-1-3236895
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By Fraser Wilson Former Rangers owner Craig Whyte loses appeal in £17.6m High Court fight with Ticketus 18 Dec 2013 09:59 FORMER Rangers owner Craig Whyte has lost the latest round of a High Court fight with ticket-buying firm Ticketus. Whyte appealed after being ordered to pay more than £17 million to the company earlier this year. He asked Deputy High Court Judge David Halpern QC to overturn the ruling, made by a more junior judge, at a hearing in London. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-rangers-owner-craig-whyte-2938852 But Judge Halpern dismissed his appeal. Ticketus said Mr Whyte fraudulently or negligently made representations which induced the company to enter into agreements related to the sale or purchase of Rangers season tickets, and claimed damages. Mr Whyte disputed the claim. But in April a High Court master ruled against Mr Whyte prior to a trial after Ticketus argued that the former Rangers boss had "no real prospect" of mounting a successful defence. The master ordered Mr Whyte to pay £17.6 million. Lawyers for Mr Whyte appealed and argued that the master's decision to grant a "summary judgment" had been unfair. They said the case should be allowed to go to trial and said Mr Whyte had a "realistic" defence. Judge Halpern heard evidence and legal argument at the High Court in London in November. In his ruling today, Judge Halpern said the master was entitled to give "summary judgment". He said he would have reached the same conclusion. Judge Halpern said Mr Whyte must pay all the legal costs of the appeal - a sum thought to total tens of thousands of pounds.
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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.
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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....
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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.
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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
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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
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chucks gona get the jail
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http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/whyte-and-the-missing-millions/ I am told that former Rangers owner Craig Whyte could be getting his collar felt in the near future. BDO investigations have thrown up what will be an absolutely gigantic story of fraud and forgery on a staggering scale involving Whyte’s purchase of Rangers. Police Scotland are believed to be closing in on Whyte and it is reckoned he could get the maximum sentence available if found guilty. I would imagine Whyte’s extraordinary unpopularity and toxic name might be a problem in terms of his getting a fair trial. No doubt anyone involved with his trial would have to prove they were not bluenoses! On a serious note, this trial will be one of the biggest news stories in years and involves alleged misappropriation of millions. Some of the allegations being made are astonishing and will be sickening for Rangers fans to hear. Should Whyte stand trial for fraud it would certainly strengthen the case made by many Rangers fans that the club’s recent woes brought unwarranted punishment by the footballing authorities. If Whyte is subsequently convicted it would mean that Rangers were themselves the victim of a crime and questions would then have to be asked about the SFA’s role, particularly over how much was known at Hampden about Whyte’s suitability to be involved in football or lack thereof. The scale of wrongdoing alleged is quite stunning and will definitely enhance Craig Whyte’s “bogey man” status used so much recently by the Requisitioners and their mouthpieces. Ironically, someone on the Requisitioner side is far closer to Whyte than anyone at Ibrox, being a former drinking buddy of the disgraced former owner. Although I expect the Whyte story to be hot news for quite some time, the reality is that he is now part of history as far as Rangers is concerned. Despite the pathetic and hypocritical attempts by some to spook the Rangers fans with “Whyte is still involved and pulling the strings” scare stories, the reality is that Whyte has left the scene. The vital thing now is for Rangers to build a board that is not only competent but beyond reproach. The appointment of a great CEO and good Non-Execs would be a giant step forward. The big problem for Rangers fans is the constant pressure to look back to things like the latter years of the SDM Years, the Big Tax Case and the Whyte fiasco, as well as liquidation. These things are referred to relentlessly by enemies of Rangers and a hostile media. The upshot of this is shown in the chronic suspicion that many Gers fans are gripped by in relation to the club’s governance. Yet the real need is to look forward and to be positive about both the present and the future. Fear and paranoia do not make for a healthy environment and Rangers need to eradicate this kind of mindset from the club. I am aware this is easier said than done but I do speak to many Gers fans who are far more upbeat about the club’s condition than the so-called spokesmen who are spreading fear and alarm at this present time. I have been approached very seriously about heading a new fans group and I think if I accept I will make one of the conditions of membership a positive mental attitude in relation to Rangers! As the song goes, “Don’t worry. Be happy. Cos every little things going to be all right.” Gers fans like to sing it. It’s about time we lived it.
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IT IS hard to escape the irony. Three years ago Nacho Novo brought out an autobiography, the title of which riffed on the episode where he was pursued by both sides of the Old Firm when a player with Dundee. I Said ‘No Thanks’ was the unusual title, one that seemed to delight in the choice of Rangers over Celtic that he eventually made. It was a slightly more humble figure who presented himself at Hampden yesterday to help make the draw for the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup. Novo, 34, is now cast in a football wilderness and desperate to avoid being forced into retirement. He has already agreed to be the star attraction at half-term holiday Ibrox stadium tours next week, when he will discuss the part he played in great matches for Rangers. This won’t completely satisfy someone who says he finds it hard to watch games at the moment without wanting to “run down on to the pitch and score a goal”. However, it provides him with an opportunity to run into Ally McCoist, someone he says he has had trouble contacting since his return to Scotland earlier this year. One by one yesterday, Novo picked out the names of clubs, even handing Rangers a home a draw against Airdrieonians. If only it was so easy to pick up a club in his professional car-eer. Even Rangers have said “no thanks”. Or at least that is what he assumes they have said, since he has not heard from McCoist since playing in a Legends match against Manchester United at Ibrox in May. “You know McCoist,” Novo lamented. “It is a nightmare to get him to answer phone calls.” So he has had to accept that his dream of a return to Rangers is over. Novo stressed that he was still in good shape. He certainly looks no different to the Nacho Novo who scored regularly for Rangers, and before that for Raith Rovers and Dundee. Since leaving Ibrox he has played in Poland and also for Huesca and Sporting Gijon in his homeland – indeed, he was playing at the Bernabeu in a league win for Gijon over then manager Jose Mourinho’s side as recently as 2011. From playing in front of 95,000 people to now training alone. “I am starting to get bored, to be honest with you,” he said. “I can definitely do a job for someone.” A trial period at Kilmarnock earlier this season did not result in a contract offer. He has no complaint with manager Allan Johnston, who explained to him that what he really needed was a right-sided midfielder rather than a forward. “He has been brilliant and the thing I like best about Allan is he is an honest person,” said Novo yesterday. “He is a good manager. I know it is not the best situation at Kilmarnock just now, but having been there, his training and everything is fantastic.” However, there is definitely some dismay at the silence from McCoist. He would, of course, argue that he is under no obligation to re-sign Novo just because he is such a fans’ favourite. Indeed, it is possible to wonder whether Novo did himself more harm than good during that Legends game, when he missed several one-on-one chances and then was upstaged by McCoist, who came on and scored twice at the age of 50. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”, seemed to be the gist of what McCoist said to Novo after that, and the Spaniard is still waiting. “It’s a long story,” he admitted. “I always thought I would come back to Rangers and lots of things came out in the papers that McCoist wanted to speak with me but it has never happened. You have to take that as obviously they don’t want you, so that’s football. “You don’t always get what you want and you just need to walk away and work hard.” The rejection, he added, has “made me stronger”, and now he “wants even more now to get back on to the park and give everything for a team who wants me. “He [McCoist] never said anything to me at all, so when that happens, you have to think about other options. “At the Legends game he told me he might be able to bring me back here. He said he’d have a chat with me but he never spoke to me.” So Novo remains for hire, and he was quick to assure those in attendance yesterday that he was still as fit as he always has been, while he claims to have lost none of his pace. There was heavy poignancy attached to Novo’s appearance at Hampden Park yesterday. Requested by photographers to wander out onto the pitch, his mind could not help but flash back to 2009, when he scored the winning goal for Rangers over Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final. It wasn’t so long ago that he was a contributor to a Rangers side expected to win major honours. Now both Novo and his former club are experiencing more trying days, although he still believes his old side have a chance to win the Scottish Cup this season, after being knocked out in emphatic style by Dundee United at the fourth-round stage last season. “They have a bigger squad – probably the biggest after Celtic,” he said. “They’ve done very well so fark, so you never know. In the Scottish Cup there can always be a surprise because the teams are changing. There’s always a team who come into it and do well. “I remember last year I watched Rangers against Motherwell [in the League Cup] and it was probably the best game Rangers had. “I think the boys will really get up for it if they drew a Prem-iership club. They would want to show how big a squad they have and prove themselves.” Novo is hopeful to be fixed up with a club by the time the next round is played, at the start of next month – perhaps he might even be participating in one of the ties. Among the stand-out matches are Alloa Athletic hosting Highland League club Inverurie Loco Works while Raith Rovers travel to Ochilview to take on in-form League Two leaders East Stirlingshire. There are two all Championship clashes – Queen of the South v Hamilton Accies and Dumbarton v Cowdenbeath. Lowland League side Preston Athletic will face League One side Ayr United should they win their replay with Queen’s Park, after last weekend’s impressive 2-2 draw at Hampden Park. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/nacho-novo-still-waiting-for-a-call-from-rangers-1-3130066
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Lifted from FF: ''Thats two younger lads now both under 19 had police come to their doors early morning to arrest them for singing said song. I was also told by a polis up in Ayr that FoCUS are watching out for people singing this now due to the YCV reference''. Just a heads up.
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Regarding the centre-back positions: I think we have a potentially perfect partnership with Faure & Mohsni and I'll be extremely disappointed in the manager if he doesn't give that partnership a proper chance. Both players are French born with French being their first language, so there is no issue with a language or communication barrier between them. They are clearly both very good players, so I see absolutely no reason for not trying to develop a strong partnership between them. The opportunity is so perfect that it would almost be a crime to NOT give that partnership a proper chance. Faure came from a great youth system background, having spent his whole youth career at Lyon and he was being honed into a future French international, having played well over 40 games for the French international youth teams between 2007 & 2011. If we keep him with us and give him the games and experience on our journey back to the top flight, then when we're back up there he could potentially start to get French call-ups and caps which would leave us with a very valuable asset. If it was up to me, the lad would get a new 4 year deal and be getting a regular game at centre-back for us instead of Jig. Mohsni doesn't have the same youth pedigree as Faure, but I've been impressed with most of what I've seen from him and it's easy to see why he was plucked from the depths of part-time lower French leagues 3 years ago to move to Southend and play for Paul Sturrock. Over the past year or so, there's been some quite big clubs sniffing around him and taking him on trial, including West Ham and Birmingham. West Ham even made Southend and offer for him which was rejected! So there we have it... two French gems who could be our perfect 1st choice centre-back partnership and have great potential sell-on value if we need cash when we're back in the top flight. If Ally doesn't see that golden opportunity and nurture their partnership, he and I are falling out!
