ââ?¬Å?No-one Likes Us, We [Should] Careââ?¬Â� ââ?¬â?� Repatriating Rangersââ?¬â?¢ Reputation

[ian1964 10,411]

Cracking post,IMO. Borrowed from another forum.

 

 

Firstly, let me state that I think the latest UEFA ruling on our club has been an absolute stitch-up, an absolutely scandalous farce of a decision.

FARE�s involvement in the whole process has been nothing short of a joke.

Let us face it, we are hardly going to get favourable treatment from an unaccountable organisation whose head is married to a staunch Celtic supporter who hates Rangers!

We simply have to appeal the decision, or run the risk of facing guaranteed greater penalties in the future.

 

There is also the fact that far worse behaviour goes unpunished throughout Europe on a regular basis.

The problem of racist chanting in countries like Spain and Russia is much worse than anything I have ever heard come out of Ibrox.

However, we cannot defend our own behaviour by simply pointing to the fact that others teams� fans are worse.

Yes, the fact our club has again been singled out is not fair, and we have clearly been stitched up by enemies of our club � but if we are clever about this, we can turn recent events into a victory.

 

I would ask this question: do our enemies ââ?¬â? mainly Celtic fans who are motivated and prepared to put the effort into hurting us, Tims with typewriters in the press and ââ?¬Ë?Celtic-mindedââ?¬â?¢ politicians ââ?¬â? really care about what songs our fans sing?

Do they really want us to become, for want of a better phrase, a ââ?¬Ë?family friendlyââ?¬â?¢ club?

Of course they do not!

No, all they want to see is for us to suffer, to continue to be punished by UEFA � and eventually face being banned from Europe.

 

If we manage to turn this all around and become the type of club they claim they want us to be, they would actually hate it.

They will have nothing to complain about and will have left themselves open to be targeted for their own behaviour.

 

I truly believe that this latest turn of events could be the making of our support and club � our enemies have tried to strike us down, without realising that, if they do so, we will only become stronger.

We have a long road ahead of us but it has to start somewhere � and here is how I would go about restoring our reputation and making us a club to be proud of.

 

The first thing we have to do is accept the unfairness of the situation which surrounds Rangers.

Yes, the club absolutely must fight the latest UEFA charges as far as they can, to not do so would have catastrophic future consequences.

However, we, the support, have to do our bit to make sure we are never put in such a position again.

But how do we do this?

 

The only option is for the club to work together with the fans, particularly people like RSC representatives, the Rangers Supporters Trust and The Blue Order.

For too long, the club has failed to seek the opinions of the support � indeed, I would suggest they have been openly hostile to groups like the RST � and look at the mess we are now in.

 

Together we have to come up with a proper plan to ensure we celebrate our unique position of being proud to be Scottish and British, our quintessential Britishness, if you like.

Under normal circumstances, you would think that the Scottish club who pretend to be Irish and, in doing so, hate their own country would be seen as the one in need of having their behaviour and attitudes called into question.

It certainly is a strange and bitter little country we live in.

 

But back to the main point of this post, what can we do to put our own house in order?�

 

We have to realise that the best way to celebrate traditions that we are proud of is not to denigrate that which we are not.

I am not a religious man myself but it is clearly obvious to me that the best way to celebrate our Protestant culture is surely not to criticise other religions, particularly Catholicism.

As far as religions go, Catholicism is the one I dislike the most � but I do not think a football match is the best place to get involved in a theological debate.

I do not think for a minute that even the most staunch of our Protestant supporters would go to the cinema and sing songs about religion, so why do we have to do this at a football match?

 

Likewise, I despise a murderous terrorist organisation like the IRA but, again, do we really need to sing about them at the football?

Most decent people surely hate the IRA but they do not feel the need to publicly sing about them, so why do we?

Let the Celtic fans embarrass themselves by glorifying the murderers.

Let us get our own house in order and show them up for the anti-Scottish and anti-British racist bigots that they are.

 

It is time to celebrate our own culture and everything that makes us great � it is time to celebrate what we are, not what we are based on what we are not.

 

Now on to the bit which will probably be the most contentious issue in this post: what should we sing and what should we consign to the history books?

 

In case anyone levels any ââ?¬Ë?handwringerââ?¬â?¢ accusations at me, let me state that this could not be further than the truth.

I have sung every single song which has got us in trouble in the past� I still have them on my iPod� I still sing them in my own home� my favourite Rangers pub was The Clachan� part of me still thinks all fans should be allowed to sing what they want at the football � yet I will no longer sing anything home or away which will put the club I love in jeopardy.

And nor should any other Rangers fan who professes to love Rangers more than the songs they want to sing.

 

With that in mind, I would put our songsheet into three categories: those which we should celebrate and sing with pride, those which should immediately be binned and, perhaps more controversially, those which are not in my opinion sectarian but still should be dropped.

So, here goes (and I know this is purely subjective, that many are not and have never been sung at Ibrox, and that the list is not exhaustive � this is top of the head stuff):

 

Loud And Proud

Penny Arcade, Derry�s Walls, Paisley Road West, Rule Britannia, Follow Follow (original lyrics), Wolverhampton Town, God Save The Queen, Every Other Saturday, The Sash, The Best, The Blue Sea Of Ibrox.

 

Lose For Good

The Billy Boys, The [so-called] Famine Song, Super Rangers, No Pope Of Rome, Here Lies A Soldier, No 1 Platoon, Men Behind The Wire, We�re Coming, Will You Stand, Daddy�s Uniform.

 

Non-sectarian But Do They Have A Place At A Football Match?

Build My Gallows, UDR4, A Father�s Advice, King Billy�s On The Wall, Fields Of Ulster, I Was Born Under A Union Jack, Gibraltar, Englishman�s Betrayal, Wee Spot In Europe.

 

Again, let me state that I am not claiming to be an authority on the above � I am merely just wanting to start the debate somewhere.

An agreed list, like the above, should be finalised between the club and the support and then printed in the media and distributed on seats etc.

 

I think the majority of our fans are Scottish, yet a lot of the songs we sing about, particularly the ones which land us in trouble, are related to the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Now in no way am I knocking our Northern Irish brothers and sisters � I am very fond of that particular part of the world and I appreciate the huge lengths so many of them go to in order to support Rangers � but should they not be coming across the water to celebrate how magnificent Rangers are, rather than most of our support singing about the issues they have left behind in Ulster?

If this is offensive, I apologise, I do not mean to cause offence on such an emotive subject � all I am trying to say it should all be about The Rangers!

 

Another thing I would like the club to look at would be creating an ââ?¬Ë?eliteââ?¬â?¢ songwriting team in conjunction with our fansââ?¬â?¢ groups ââ?¬â? and fully supporting, perhaps even financially, them.

I would charge this new group of talented and creative individuals to come up with acceptable new songs which celebrate our club.

We should have far more songs about Rangers and our magnificent history, songs about our current players and songs which celebrate our legends.

 

I will end, at last many of you may say, by repeating the title of this post: ââ?¬Å?No-one likes us, we [should] care.

[craig 5,195]

Very good article - would be nice for this this to get mainstream media exposure as it at least makes an attempt at compartmentalising what should and shouldnt be sung at the same time as stating that it isnt necessarily because songs are sectarian but because there is ambiguity about them.

 

It also makes an attempt at showing where we could improve.

 

I like that article.

[biggordy 0]

Certainly a positive move getting away from all the recent defensive manoevering. Will focus the hearts and minds of all right minded supporters.

Perhaps a celebrity supporter or two could be brought in to help things along.

[bluebear54 0]

Thanks for the article.

We need to get our house in order, and we need to regain a righteous sense of pride.

We also need to get the media on board - or at least put ourselves in a position where those attacking us have very little to attack.

But most of all, we need to get smart - not the Club - but us, the fans - and we need to seriously and systematically neutralise those who are attempting to undermine us.

[pete 2,499]

Good article and on a thought basis I could have written it myself. The quality would have been a good bit less of course.