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I never intrude into private grief and I never listen to bbc Scotland. But on this occasion I have done both. Well worth the listen. You can almost hear the strains of the Funeral March in the background. If bbc in London need commentary for the next State Funeral Messrs Gordon, English and Bonnar are the go-to guys. Near greetin’.

Ballymena hi! We should receive a good welcome there and of course NI football is doing okay currently, champions Linfield went through to the next qualifying round of the Champions League last night. To be fair they were 3-2 up at home with 7 minutes to go, only a pub team would throwaway a lead from there.

Assuming of course WE actually make the group stages

The only way to make this relevant is for us to do our business tomorrow night. Not fuck it up like a certain shower across this city. Come on Rangers.

On the main site today we have an enjoyable read from @Gizmo231 regarding how Jordan Jones has already changed his style in the short time since moving from Killie. https://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/current-affairs/1048-keeping-up-with-the-jones

He's done well against 2 teams that were fairly open, but the real test will be when he's up against a 9 man defence.

As much as Jones has impressed I think we need to hit the brakes. He's played a few games and looked good but let's judge him after a good run of games, not 2 or 3. Last season there was talk of bids for Coulibaly based on a few games and look how that turned out. I'm not being negative just realistic. Form should be measured on a half a season/full season not a couple of games.

I thought the same last night tbh. Might be the first time I wouldn't mind them winning if it means them having the same schedule as us (If we make it, of course)

Don't agree with that Gonzo. That's a nuclear option and while it might sound exactly like what we have at the moment, it's not. In withdrawing McLaughlin's privileges we did the right thing. BBC Scotland chose to twist that as an attack on journalistic freedom when the BBC down south did no such thing when Man Utd and other clubs chose to ban individual journalists. They simply sent along someone else and coverage continued as normal. They have not been consistent and we have not called them out strongly enough for it. Now consider what happens if Steven Gerrard leads Rangers to the SPL title this season. Former England captain and potential future Liverpool manager wins a title in Scotland as an almost rookie and achieves part of the redemption he is seeking for not having won a league title in a glittering career as a player in England. Don't you think the BBC nationally will be forced to cover that and get an interview with the man? Of course they will because they would look incompetent and stupid compared to all the other media companies that will be desperate to do it. That's the point when if need be the big bosses in the Sports Department will tell Pacific Quay to fuck themselves and send someone from London to do the job that BBC Scotland are incapable of doing. We just need to win the league and then we can't be ignored. Gerrard is box office and a winning Gerrard is like gold, all across the UK. If we ban all BBC journalists, not just McLoughlin (who we have bang to rights), then we have completely burnt that bridge and BBC Scotland can still duck the scenario I have outlined above. At the moment the bridge is still there but nobody is allowed to cross it by the clowns at PQ. Winning the league under Gerrard means the BBC have to cover the story and cross that bridge or they will look like complete idiots to everyone outside Scotland as well as inside.

I'm really looking forward to attending Ibrox tomorrow. I think, given the results this week, we'll all be in good spirits and the main thing is the players start in the right frame of mind. Midtyjlland have some good attacking players, who will enjoy the big pitch.

I think the statement is weak and ineffective. It comes across as a series of observations and avoids any tone of condemnation. Suggesting someone should reconsider their words is NOT the same as demanding an apology for deliberately misrepresenting the facts.

Here are the Romanian highhlights with commentary I did check the match stats and noted that Brown did not get a yellow card for his hand ball in the area. Have they changed that from red to yellow to nothing?

Karma i say karma....

Dearest Tom was a shimmering mess last evening, his emotions over ran. His first final report on the Beeb read, "Celtic are out of the Champions League on away goals". Yep, it's Primary 1 question; we have a 1-1 game, aggregated to a 3-4 result? Tom was a privately educated schoolbhoy.

I didnae bother trying, I just pissed myself....?

I don't think David is suggesting he's the finished article or judging him on two good games but that already he's shown a willingness to adapt his game to suit the team and doesn't seem overly apprehensive about the expectations of him. As David says it's very early days but the signs are positive and let's hope Jones continues with the form he's showed so far.

I’m trying not to piss myself laughing right now?

VAR sounds good in theory. It should identify offsides, penalties and red cards that the referee has missed. It should also stop diving in the box, as any penalty award is subject to VAR and the dive will be spotted. However, the problem at the moment is that it can take ages for a VAR decision to be made. This completely changes the nature of the game. While fans will be informed via screens what is being considered, the hold up of play and the uncertainty is an unwelcomed departure from what we had. As VAR seems to be here to stay, I would like to see a maximum period during which the incident is being considered. It’s my view that if it is so doubtful that it takes minutes to view the incident and come to a decision, it’s not cut and dry that the ref’s decision was wrong. If the decision was wrong it should be obvious, so if a decision cannot be made in 10-15 seconds then the ref’s decision stands.

I think we will start to see the difference between Rodgers and Lennon being at the helm. Rodgers got skelped continuously in Europe but the fans were willing to give him slack because he was a "top drawer" manager. You get the impression that wee Lenny is a few games away from them jumping down his throat. Happy days

This is disastrous for Celtic and a massive boost for us, assuming we can do the business ourselves tomorrow. The best part of £50 million that they could have had from CL qualification in 2018 and 2019 just evaporated instead of being a massive insurance policy for securing them 10 in a row. The £25m from Tierney is gone for sure, just like the cash from Dembele disappeared to pay their wage bill last season. Lets see how they do against us now when the odds are more even.

I knew the Lennon appointment was a masterstroke. Its not just the finances this helps close gaps, if they end up playing Thursday / Sunday also then it helps with our chances of the league. Playing Saturday is a bonus.

A goal on 90+6 too .

If Tav is going it shouldn't be in January when we may be preparing for the final push on the title. We want to release such a key player at such a key time? No thanks. Next Summer is more sensible giving us some time to bed in a replacement with a full pre season.

Not only that they have a sky high wage structure that really needed the CL money.

Rod Stewart in the stands at Cluj game. The occasion requires a song Rod.

The hurt in their voice tonight is quite something to listen to. I try not to pay too much attention to them but ECL qualification would have brought silly money to them and allowed them to pull away from us again, it’s a big bonus.

Remember Broonie ... ?

He should stay; could mean Champions League football and even the chance to play in the World Cup with Scotland! Not a very good chance, admittedly. ?

I'm always baffled at our support's desire to write players off after only a game or two. Or even in some cases, before they've even kicked a ball for us. A lot of what it takes to be a success at our club is confidence and mental strength. So far, Jones has shown signs that he can embrace the challenge and step up to the standards we require. Its early days though. I think the key for Gerrard is having different types of players to suit the opposition and their tactics. Where we play against that attack us or are stronger generally, fast ball carrying counter-attackers like Jones will be invaluable. In other situations, we may need the ball playing trickery of Stewart, or the clever positioning of a (hopefully fit soon) Jamie Murphy could be better options.

As I have posted before screens at Ibrox would have to be re-positioned to allow ALL fans to benefit if this system were to be introduced.

I'm not sure I would even want to win a trophy called , the Tunnock's caramel wafer challenge cup .?

You are the very man to make the trip. Ensure you carry spare copies of Western Isles Tractor Quarterly, blow their minds.

Club 1872 has been in dialogue with Rangers since the events at Rugby Park on Sunday, 4th August which saw hundreds of Rangers supporters placed in a dangerous situation whilst attempting to enter the ground. Following a debrief meeting last Friday, Club 1872 is pleased to share a response from Rangers to enquiries from Club 1872 regarding the events that day. We know that Rangers remain concerned about safety at Rugby Park and we have been assured that they will continue to liaise with Police Scotland, Kilmarnock FC and East Ayrshire Council ahead of future visits. “Following a debriefing meeting at Rugby Park at the end of last week, Rangers is happy to provide an update to supporters, who have been calling for clarification on issues arising from the match against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday, August 4. Rangers felt it appropriate and sensible to wait until after the post-match debriefing session before commenting despite many others, including a Kilmarnock director, Phyllis McLeish, pundits and a politician, William Coffey, making misinformed as well as misleading comments. However, now that the events of last Sunday have been fully analysed by all parties, we can offer a reasoned and fact-based insight into what happened. Kilmarnock’s new ticketing system did indeed fail despite suggestions to the contrary. It has been accepted there was also a failure to deal properly with the problems this caused. There was no recognisable plan of action to deal with such a situation and it was very close to kick off before someone thought the problem, which had started to cause panic among those Rangers supporters, who were being pushed and squeezed together toward the turnstiles, should be brought to the attention of the police. By that time some Rangers fans were being crushed and in a state of alarm, and there are many testimonies which bear that out. Kilmarnock has accepted their ticketing system failed (and that there had been problems with it at the game against Connahs Quay Nomads) despite one of their directors promoting the irresponsible notion there had been no operational problems. We would hope to receive a retraction and an apology from Kilmarnock for having pointed the finger of blame at Rangers fans for the issues which arose ahead of kick off. Those pundits, particularly two BBC Scotland contributors, Michael Stewart and Tom English, who made flippant and insulting comments without knowing the facts of what actually happened, might also wish to reconsider their comments and apologise now that the debriefing has revealed that a ticketing failure, and not the impatience of Rangers fans, caused the problem before the kick off on Sunday. Mr Coffey might also wish to reconsider his own words. No one at the debriefing disputed the view that there would not have been congestion and supporters would have gained admission smoothly and safely had the system operated properly. This view is supported by Police Scotland. Rangers believe it was correct procedure to wait until after the debriefing, called by East Ayrshire Council’s legal services department, who issue the safety certificate for Rugby Park, before commenting. Although there has been an attempt to roll everything that happened at Rugby Park into one issue it is important to retain a sense of perspective and balance. The congestion before the match had no bearing on what happened at the end of the game when Rangers fans went on to the pitch to celebrate a late winning goal. Their presence on the pitch cannot be condoned and Rangers are working with Police Scotland to identify and trace those who crossed the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The same applies to the handful of fans who jumped on to the roof of the enclosure reserved for disabled supporters causing that covering to collapse. Their behaviour endangered the safety of their fellow fans and we are fortunate no one was badly hurt. Those fans will also be dealt with appropriately as soon as they are identified. Rangers believes the safety of all fans to be paramount and will not tolerate this kind of behaviour whether away or at home.”

A few games ? Not even a few hours and they are down his throat

Anyone see his tweet yesterday ? A picture of the board game "Cluedo" with a "j" superimposed over the "e" And he said.... Anyone fancy a game ? Of Clujdo

Of course, however their result doesn't affect us tomorrow, their result does affect us going forward though due to the financial disaster they have suffered, absolutely worth the gloating.

Last night I didn’t know they had a game ‘til I saw the result here. I’ll reserve full gloat until after Thursday.

When I saw they were 1-0 behind I started watching it on a Romanian stream. When they scored the winner I quickly switched to the CTV stream to enjoy the wake. I think the guy said "hard to swallow" "hard to take" or an other variation about 10-15 times in the couple of minutes I listened.

Broonie at fault for their first 2 goals. Shame. If we can win the midfield battle in the forthcoming OF game, we can murder that defence IMO

That's nice. Well done to both clubs and their fans for that.

I could have sworn that, just the other week, various mhedia ran with the assertion that a club like rasellik "Shouldn't have to qualify for the Champions' League". I thought it nonsense then, and, by God, I think it nonsense now.

There's no way Ryan Kent is worth £5m to Rangers.

Excellent work mate and thanks for sharing...

I have a new request underway relating to referrals to the Compliance Officer by the BBC. In no way can it be interpreted as relating to BBC output. Of course they may not have referred anyone from last season but if the art, literature, journalism argument is used then I will appeal that.

I don't know how they get around football rules, regulations, etc. either. None of the other Basque teams practice such discrimination, as far as I know. Mind you, I think that if you are born in the Basque Country (Spain and France), you qualify. You (almost) have to admire them for their dedicated bloody mindedness. However, I do wonder how, nowadays, they would deal with a player who claimed to "identify" as a Basque.

Utter morons talking shite!!!!!

Prefer the old way. The euphoric moment of scoring a goal is what it's always been about - now you are always looking at the ref in case he signals to VAR.

You can't have it both ways indeed. I'd prefer the old way.