Slightly concerned about feedback from Green's NI trip

[Thinker 857]

The fans in Belfast weren't the first to ask about an orange strip.

 

Green mentioned it a few weeks back.

 

My mate at work said it was brought up during Green's meeting with the Vanguard Bears.

 

It wasn't initially brought up in Belfast, but it was brought up by fans who are enthusiastic about all things orange.

 

My reaction then was "Not the best move for the club right now" and it still is. We need to keep it purely about football for the next wee while at least. Personally I'm enjoying the respite from all the baggage of being "half of the Old Firm".

[amms 0]

Well OP you are in the minority - like it or lump it. If you think there are families out there waiting to support Rangers if we get our PR right then you are (1) naive in the extreme, (2) 'radio frickin rental' , or (3) at the wind up!!

 

If recent events haven't taught you what the rest of this country think of Rangers even when we were at our lowest ebb, then I will suggest (1) above is the most likely.

 

Yeah, actually, I do think there are literally thousands of people out there who would support Rangers if we got our 'PR' right. This ties into the BBC bias thread too. Rangers have lost the support of many of the 'Protestant' middle classes in the West of Scotland, you might not care about that, but it has cost us dearly recently and will continue too in the future if we don't address it. Bringing out orange strips does not help do that in my opinion.

 

Whether people like it or not the Orange Order are viewed as, at best, anachronistic and inconvenient and, at worst, bigoted luddites by the most 'Protestant' people in Scotland. The main Protestant churches in Scotland keep them very much at arm's length, and most 'Protestant' people in Scotland keep the churches at arm's length. They no longer have a natural constituency here, they carry no weight politically and little socially either.

 

So hitching your wagon to that particular star plays well to one particular market, it might indeed be a big seller, but that money will be earned at what cost?

 

The Rangers Standard had an article by the Aberdeen supporting ex-editor of the Glasgow Herald a few months back. It was excellent, he very clearly pointed out that when he'd first came to Glasgow, Rangers supporters were very visibly represented among the professional and mercantile community in the city; they aren't now. We've missed those supporters in the last 12 months. Where were the lawyers, the accountants, the captains of industry and the broadcasters speaking up for us? They existed in the 1960s and 1970s though, so why not now?

 

Ask yourself this, are we viewed as progressive, as inclusive, as being in-tune with modern Scotland? You might reject those notions as being unimportant, but in my opinion you'd be wrong, and as long as those who set the agenda view us that way we'll continue to struggle to not only make our voice heard but to be accepted as relevant. Many of the people who criticise Rangers would have been natural Rangers supporters at one time. Feeling that you can't openly support Rangers because they don't represent you is slightly depressing, yet I personally know a good number of people who feel that way.

 

Most Rangers supporters aren't bigots, they aren't particularly religious and they aren't politically right wing, yet somehow we've allowed that to be the impression so many have of us. Simply not having an orange strip in itself won't change that view, but having one would certainly reinforce that.

[simplythebest 0]

I don't see how were struggling as a fanbase, easily one of the best supported clubs in the world.

[amms 0]

I don't see how were struggling as a fanbase, easily one of the best supported clubs in the world.

 

Do you think our influence matches our numbers?

[der Berliner 3,245]

So now it's the songs we can't sing because it means different things to everybody, where do you stop will we only be happy when we have a Stepford support standing like zombies singing from a songbook which has been cleansed till it wouldn't offend anybody in the world.

 

When that day comes we might as well all go home and turn out the lights and by the looks of it that day is coming rather quickly.

 

No need to go over the top. Someone claimed we had no links to the OO when there is clear evidence that our support* has. No-one - and sure not me - has said that we should shed these ties nor stop singing songs. Still, we are a football club first and foremost and singing sings about the club would sure do no harm either.

 

*On a sidenote, there is no such thing as a unified support, even though the press is very liberate with that notion. Their notion of sectarianism and bigotry are equally messed up. Some amongst us will adore the Protestant notion, some do not bother at all and some even take offense. IMHO, we should first bury the double-standards applied in Scotland these days before thinking to have orange strips and whatnot. As long as our OO links and songs are tied to the terrorist-adoration of the Hooped Horrors, Rangers FC will lose out.

[ian1964 10,411]

Number 8 is mostly right but the black socks have been around since forever and I remember a change strip in the mid fifties, white with one red and one blue band like old fashioned athletes' vests.

 

Anybody any idea why the BHEASTS are wearing black socks now?

[Juancornetto 1]

So we lambast the Celtic support for trumpeting their divisive religious and cultural heritage but encourage our own club to do the same? The last couple of pages of this thread has been a master class in hypocrisy. To "move on" we've to go back to the 17th Century first?

 

Utter nonsense.

[der Berliner 3,245]

So we lambast the Celtic support for trumpeting their divisive religious and cultural heritage but encourage our own club to do the same? The last couple of pages of this thread has been a master class in hypocrisy. To "move on" we've to go back to the 17th Century first?

 

Utter nonsense.

 

Well, I don't think it is as easy or simple as that. One of the main problems lie in the utter misconception in the public about what we* celebrate and what the Hooped Horrors celebrate. It is both stripped to the bones and compared on a level that is utterly ridiculous. We sing mostly about battles of ages ago and people essentially fighting terrorists, while they adore these same terrorists or anti-British behaviour. It does take some real brainwashing to put and debate this on the same wave-length ... not to mention that our songs et al get banned, while those celebrating anti-British behaviour went and still go unmolested.

 

*Again, look at my above reply with regards to "the support".

[GovanAllan 0]

So we lambast the Celtic support for trumpeting their divisive religious and cultural heritage but encourage our own club to do the same? The last couple of pages of this thread has been a master class in hypocrisy. To "move on" we've to go back to the 17th Century first?

 

Utter nonsense.

 

Wrong again if Celtic want to think their Irish Catholic that's up to them, I've no problem with it. What I have a problem with is their love of a terrorist organisation and how they promote it.

 

Maybe someone on here can tell me why Celtic are praised for holding there Catholic heritage up high, but we are called bigots for doing the same with our Protestant heritage.

Edited September 30, 2012 by GovanAllan

[Thinker 857]

Maybe someone on here can tell me why Celtic are praised for holding there Catholic heritage up high, but we are called bigots for doing the same with our Protestant heritage.

 

Are they praised for it? I wouldn't have said so.