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I lived just north of Belfast for a few years during the 1990s. I was there during the 'end' of the troubles and for the Good Friday Agreement, indeed I voted in favour of it. There were 322 people killed during the 1990s alone, 854 during the 80s and over 2,000 in the 1970s. Everyone in Northern Ireland was affected, directly or indirectly. As a Glaswegian I arrogantly thought I had a grasp of the place before I went, I didn't. Like so much in life Northern Ireland is far more nuanced and complicated than some like to portray it. The Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreement was a compromise. It was very difficult for some people to accept it, I knew people who couldn't. I understood why too. For me it came down to stopping the killing. Those numbers of dead above, that would have continued. There are people today alive who otherwise wouldn't be. It's that simple. No one got what they wanted. Republicans had to admit they weren't getting a 'united Ireland' through violence, the only way that was going to happen was through democratic means and that might take generations, if ever. Unionists had to accept that a 'united Ireland' was a legitimate aim as long as it was achieved through the ballot box. Everyone had to accept murderers, sociopaths, gangsters and monsters were not only going to get away with their crimes, but be allowed into civil society, take up important roles of state and have their past whitewashed. Northern Ireland is a better place to live in today than it was when I moved there. It's certainly not perfect, far from it, but police officers can now tell their neighbours what they do for a living, teenagers can work anywhere in the city without the genuine fear they could be abducted and murdered on their way home. That's progress, believe it or not. The price of this is accepting people who were responsible for a lot of the violence, anger and murder now have important roles, make decisions, and walk like statesmen and women. It's a bitter, bitter pill, but surely better than the alternative. I think so, at least.

Callum McGregor has also been nominated for the Scottish Football Writers' Association Referee of the Year award.

Is it just a Scottish thing where everything must be either black or white, it can't be both? It's surely entirely understandable for the CEO and board of the club to feel that an enormous banner showing a figure pointing a gun in the general direction of the away support isn't the kind of image they feel represents them, while also thinking it's not literally calling for anyone to be shot and is entirely in keeping with the type 'edgy humour' associated with ultra groups. It's also fair to think the reaction from media and politicians is farcical. Those are not competing ideas. Likewise, you can feel the events of October the 7th in Israel were horrifying, barbaric and carried out by monsters while still feeling that a lot of what is happened since then in Gaza and beyond is also horrific and barbaric. You can utterly condemn Hamas and also believe that many of Israel's subsequent actions are also worthy of condemnation. Again, I don't see why these need to be competing viewpoints. Lastly, it's ok to be unhappy with the current board and senior management at Rangers and also be very wary of the likely new owners. Because you are unhappy currently surely doesn't mean you should welcome any change that comes. Many were very unhappy with Sir David Murray, and so welcomed Craig Whyte without question. There were influential fan groups offering unwavering support for him right up to us going into administration, this support seemed to be based on the fact he wasn't SDM. I'm not saying the 49rs people are Craig Whyte, all I'm saying is you can be wary of their motives and nervous of their aims while still feeling change is required. Again, these shouldn't be competing ideas.

Someone was on the glue when they bought him and then on the skag last summer when they didn't sell him.

Muscat and Rose sound like names from the wine menu

Good luck for the game I will drink a few of Der Berliner's beers tonight, and bought some ear-plugs too, just to be in the safe side.

Simpler solution, no more yahoos.

A disappointing response on the banner. They should have the balls to not say anything on it.

As we continue to document the board's many failures and play down their occasional successes, I wonder if someone might show me which other European leagues the club with the second highest budget finishes above the club with the biggest budget on a regular basis? For me this is the big elephant that everyone seems to ignore while criticising the club. In Germany Bayern were champions 9 out of the last 10 seasons. In France PSG have won 8 of the last 10. In Spain Athletico have won 1 title, the remaining 9 shared by Real and Barca. In Holland PSV have 4 titles, Ajax 3 and Feyonoord 2 (no title awarded in 2020). In Sweden Malmo have won 7 title since 2014. You get the picture. The disparity in finance makes a massive difference in modern football, in almost every league in Europe. Celtic have spent more on transfers than Rangers every season this decade. Frankie made the interesting point over the page that Celtic have dethroned Rangers as the most successful club on the pitch and the establishment club off it. Fair enough, but the dethroning of the club as the 'establishment club' didn't take place under this board, that happened a number of years ago. The club with the second highest budget finished second.

Why not? Nothing bad has ever come out of Austria.

Must get my name on the season ticket waiting list so I can demand to be taken off it if SG gets the job.

Has to be this currently on sale item . Yup, it's a Jack Butland draught excluder , and yes, you guessed it...it doesn't keep the draughts out either.

The fact this isn't actually a story aside if an elected MP on a charity bike ride requests to stop at Ibrox to help raise publicity for it are Rangers expected to say 'no', we don't like the party you're in? I'm fully aware of who and what Maskey is, stands for and excuses, and I doubt there's many votes in a visit to Ibrox for him. Parts of the Shankhill and the Village are in his constituency, so while he literally doesn't represent most of those people he is their MP too. To criticise the club and the board for for allowing them to visit is unfair. Raising £25k for MND research isn't to be ignored either.

Given the circumstances, that is a really good result tonight. Everything that could go wrong decision wise did and add in two serious injuries to Rice and Sterling, then we bad luck doesn't begin to cover it. Yes, we didn't play well per se but we're still in the tie. Job done.

Thinking back to 1945. While the world rejoiced at the end of the war, life, like football, found a way to carry on. We lifted the Southern League trophy that year – a small beacon of joy in a world still healing. And as our brave soldiers returned home imagine what the emotions at Ibrox would have been like , a community that had undoubtedly seen loved ones go off to fight. That Southern League win in '45 would have been a moment of shared joy, a small piece of normalcy returning as our heroes, weary but unbroken, started to come home. The same spirit that drove our team to victory on the pitch , fighting for what we hold dear, I often wonder what the atmosphere at Ibrox would have been like? To me, it was more than a noise; it was a lifeline, a sense of coming home. I've been on the pitch after I came back from Afghanistan, and I have to tell you, seeing the Blue Sea rise, especially after losing friends, makes you realise the love and support each Rangers fan gives us is truly speechless. To this day, it is still one of my greatest moments in life. The roar of the crowd shakes the foundations of our stadium. I suppose that's the Rangers family. Just like then, it would have been an overwhelming sense of gratitude, a silent understanding of the battles fought on a far greater field. These were not just heroes on the battlefield; they were our neighbours, our family, fellow supporters who understood the true meaning of fighting for what you believe in. Tomorrow, as we mark VE Day, though it is a day of poignant remembrance for us all, especially for those who fell, as a veteran, I'd like to say thank you for the support. It means the world and would no doubt have meant a lot to those returning home to loved ones and family. WATP.

I hope not. He's a relic from the past whose achievements were all bought with a big chequebook.

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Apologising for us when this lot do that 🖕🏻 Fuck right off man

Was it Warnock who brought the banner?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Are we blaming the board for the loss to Malmo? Should they have taken the club further into debt to appease Gerrard and perhaps stopped him leaving? Did many think GvB was terrible choice of replacement at the time? I do hear people say we should have sold Morelos and Kent when they were at their peak. Again, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Had we sold them there would be posters on here criticising the board's lack of ambition, being only interested in money. I feel there's a lack of realism around much of the criticism the board get. I mean the OP suggests you "could pick any half a dozen fans from the crowd and they would formulate and action a better plan to run the club" which is a nice soundbite but is also total and utter bollocks. It's such a ludicrously naive statement. That so many can't look at the people on our board, at their past achievements, at the ability so many of them clearly have, at the time and money they've poured into the club and realise that actually, if they weren't able to achieve everything we all wanted, that maybe, just maybe, it's a much harder job to do than most of us seem to think it is bewilders me. The simplicity so many approach this with is staggering. This board leave the club in a much better place than they found it, they should be thanked for that.

I can talk about Holland. Their game is a community thing. Grandads are playing walking football, The sons are playing senior football and the grandkids are in the youth set up. Depending on the area, every age group has multiple teams. They have perfect grass pitches to play on. They get their money through contribution of all the players paying a monthly subscription and also most clubs have a canteen where beer and wine is allowed to be served. That brings in a fortune. I have said on here and on other websites, that it is a scandal that a team like Renfrew Juniors don't have a club/system that everyone in Renfrew can play football. If they had senior and youth teams, even indoor football all paying contributions then look at what money they could have

A snippet of an Athletic article from February: A director of football does far more than just manage transfers, even if some fans still mistake them for heads of recruitment. Thelwell oversees the medical and sports science departments, the academy and women’s teams and data/analytics. Three years in, his fingerprints are evident across all of them. Jack Nayler, formerly of Chelsea and Real Madrid, was appointed head of sports science in September 2022. Gareth Prosser, Thelwell’s former colleague at Wolverhampton Wanderers, became academy director and Carl Darlington, previously of the Welsh FA, joined as head of coaching. Former player James Vaughan initially returned in the new role of loan pathways manager and now also heads up academy recruitment. There have been promotions for the highly-rated Dan Purdy, now head of recruitment, Charlie Reeves (head of insights) and Matty Hawkes (head of first-team analysis). Data has been moved to the start of the recruitment process, while Reeves produces game reports to be presented to managers and coaching staff. Under Thelwell and Vaughan, Everton’s loan strategy has been revamped, with the focus shifting from winning youth matches to player development. Loans are used for different purposes — to give players the necessary exposure to secure a deal elsewhere and help Everton recoup some money, or to help a potential future first-team player like Harrison Armstrong, who moved to Derby County last week, take the final leap into the senior set-up. Deals contain penalty clauses if a certain threshold of games is not reached. Everton sold Tom Cannon and Ellis Simms for a combined £15m in the summer of 2023 after successful loans in the Championship. Also factoring in the departures of Ishe Samuels-Smith to Chelsea and Gordon to Newcastle, they have made around £70m from academy graduates in Thelwell’s time at the club. They would not have wanted to lose all of those players, but PSR and the financial situation dictated that they had to make difficult decisions. After consultation with staff across all levels, Thelwell, Prosser and Darlington have produced a ‘game model’ to be implemented by every Everton side, with the aim of improving the pathway to the first team. There is a feeling strides have been taken, but an acceptance stocks will need to be replenished at academy level too if Everton are to compete again. It is a familiar picture across the board. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6134154/2025/02/14/kevin-thelwell-everton-future-transfers/

An xG rolling chart? Woke nonsense. Mine is better...

Similar to Buster, between 1978 and 1990 I completed six tours of the Province; two six month affairs, the rest were 3-4 emergency stints. Sinn Fein/IRA came to the table and signed the Good Friday peace deal because they had ran out of road, they had no room to manoeuvre. The Int' chaps, the crystal gazers always spouted the IRA needed at least 2,0000 operatives to stay relevant and effective. We are talking balaclavas on the trigger, bomb makers and layers, recce' groupings, safe house holders, watchers, sympathetic farmers, Doctors, medical professionals, drivers, journos, quartermasters, artificers, .......................... etc. By 1990, the IRA had over 1,500 folks in GB, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Euro, North, Central and, South American jails. There were a few dozen more banged up in the tin pails of Australia, South Africa, Canada and, New Zealand. A few spectaculars, the Barrington sniper rifle campaign and, the desperate proxy bombings were the last gasps. Danny Morrison, the broth of a bhoy that came up with, "who in this room would disagree if the Provos took control on the island of Ireland with an Armalite in one hand and the ballot box ion the other" was in the jail for conducting a pistol whipping a catholic pensioner in a Sinn Fein office, who refused the use of his house as the base for an ambush. The IRA were defeated by professionalism. The civil authority in the UK lost the peace because Blair washed his hands after signing the peace deal. Paul Maskey at Ibrox and a former member of my Regiment facing charges for actions on the day of Bloody Sunday are evidence of that fact.

I sent an email to the address given by @L72and received a response, just the usual format to confirm my son is actually Non-speaking and Autistic but with all the relevant paper work and subject to availability, Broxis Den may become a dream for him to watch the game in a secure environment he feels safe in. Thanks Again 👊

There's a sensory/autistic box at Ibrox. Can inquire about needing special access. https://www.rangers.co.uk/disability-matters-/7DxZjynrP9gtHQuZ77IFx7 Anyways...

I don't think that hating Jews, because they are Jews, puts them on the right side of anything, far less history.

Change the venue to celtic park, the face to lennon’s, the weapon to an Armalite and the text to “Orange scum” and it will still be ok? We made plenty of noise about the hanging effigies and their Flags of War banner.

Undefeated against the forces of Mordor, but I'm looking forward to seeing a proper head coach in place.

Did he not take that photo on his box brownie?

The guy with the sellik tap is Marc O'Rose. Marathe, Steinsson, and sundry others were at Elland Road, last night. Interestingly, so was Daniel Farke. Just, em, sayin', like.

My Samsung phone can pick out Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon, but a photo showing unusual events at Ibrox from across the road is blurry...

I think whats happening is someone needs to upgrade their Nokia for a real phone with a proper camera.

Took a wee trip to see the Sons yesterday, couple of things stood out. 1. Webster our loanee looked a useful player. Son of Andy😳 2. Game was held up in second half due to fire alarm. All fans on the pitch for 10 minutes or so, no fire brigade in attendance. Surely all football grounds fire systems are connected to fire service? 3. Not one person left the ground before full time! Lesson there for some of our fans.

We know what's going to happen. If the team is competing for the league, winning games we're expected to win and giving Celtic a challenge then the majority of fans will be happy. If we're 10 points behind them by November, our new players haven't bedded in and we've just dropped points at home to Falkirk then the pitch forks will be out. It'll be the manager who gets it first, but eventually Thelwell will come under fire and finally the board if nothing changes. Sacking a manager every autumn keeps the fans from outright revolt. A decent percentage of fans couldn't care less who owns the club and who runs the club, if we're winning the league. Look at the SDM years if you think I'm exaggerating. If we're finishing the league as Champions then our new owners could strip the oak panelling from the Main Stand and sell it for fire wood and many in our support would turn up and help them shift it. We're being sold to total strangers, people with no connection or affection for our club, people who's motives we can only guess at, and I'd say the majority of our support are welcoming them with open arms and a decent number are actively cheerleading them. There's little sense of nervousness, no worry or concern from an awful lot of people. Those who do have concerns are told they're happy settling for second and have no ambition. Like most of us I saw our club teeter on the very edge of oblivion not that long ago. It amazes me how many of our support are happy to gamble it all again. It was interesting learning about Athletic Bilbao again recently. A club with an identity, with a purpose, who know exactly who they are.

Once again we're getting entrenched in a binary argument, when both are valid, IMO. On the one hand, it's certainly true that we are an impatient lot, that are generally unwilling to go through the necessary rebuilding phase and get hooked on a quick fix. We are financially unsustainable. Despite knowing it was front-loaded, we overspent stopping their 10IAR and yet most were still expecting us to keep spending. On the other hand, I do think the solution can be as simple as getting the right appointments and the right structure in place. I do think a good coach solves most of it. I have been of the opinion that we've been dragged one way and the next in terms of planning and rebuilding because we've had too many voices in the boardroom - exacerbated because the fans are too impatient to see anything through unless it bares immediate fruit. I'm hoping the takeover will solve most of these issues.

Start to cut the cost of the playing squad then extract profit.

Might have been a different story if the referee had done his job in the first half and awarded a penalty & sent off the defender.

No wonder! You're always criticising them🤣🤣.

Wonder what the odds were at half time for 2-2. Are we giving Dessers the assist for Hagi's strike? He must have known the only way to get the ball to Hagi was to play it off the inside of the post. 😄

Ian Crocker sounds almost disappointed...

Clearly, there's a context to the team selection but it doesn't matter who plays our attitude and complete inability to do the very basics is a damning indictment on current and recent coaching staff. Nevertheless, many of these players really are a disgrace to the jersey.

Fans: League's gone - just play the kids. *plays the kids* Fans:

Reading we've accumulated more coefficient points this season than we did the year we got to thr final.

I'm sure I read somewhere that CD has a better goals per game or minute ratio than Morelos (that's an invite for @Rousseau to prove me wrong). 😀 All strikers miss chances, McCoist did, Hateley did, Boyd did, Kenny Miller did, but the 4 mentioned above played in "partnerships" rather than a lone striker.