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The way this issue is currently being treated in Scottish society is scandalous! Scottish politicians refuse to get involved due to the partisan nature of football and the main club involved. They are all cowards, and I include all parties here, but especially people like Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, who refuse to engage with any of the victims and especially the mother of a victim who committed suicide. Football clubs are not any better and the approach and cover up by Celtic is shameful, from the change in name of he boys' club to the non-existent ongoing investigation, and shows that the ethos of the club is morally bankrupt, I don't believe that our support are blameless either. The BJK chant comes across as celebratory and rather than being constructive, turns a lot of people off the subject. The subject does need to be continually bought to the fore-front and not ignored, but this is not the way to do it. There is a view that Scotland is a progressive society but this shows that we are anything but. Children are one of the most needing of protection and we as a society are failing them in this continued cover-up and refusal to deal with the victims.

I don't care too much about the result -- although I'm buzzing and I'll enjoy the hell out of it -- but I mostly hope the players take a lot of much needed confidence from it; to try to get back to our best.

Superb character shown tonight, hope this kick starts our season

That was never a yellow card, not for the challenge and certainly not for a very weak emotional remonstration.

I wish that chant would stop

Reliably informed that the first of a three part news special will be aired this Friday during C4 news (7-8pm). The series will be about child abuse in Scottish football and will examine what has happened over the last 50 years. Every club that has had issues here will feature but I believe the focus will rightly be on Celtic FC and currently there are still legal battles being fought to try and stop the programme being aired. Alex Thomson editing which may well put off Rangers fans so it will be see how he deals with his previous connections when it comes to this issue. Please keep any chat respectful and on topic. There will be a RFC fan featuring who suffered child abuse at Celtic Boys Club so he deserves our patience.

Borrowed from a thread on FF: I was at ibrox today for the RSC focus group meeting on the future membership scheme. Lots of stuff spoken about and the basic principle of the scheme was laid out, however nothing is set in stone and the club are collating feedback before making a final decision. That being said some of what they are saying you can tell is 100% happening. I’ll try be as brief as I can and explain the basics: • CCCS and the Travel Club are being scrapped • Being replaced with a loyalty system which gets you points • Points will be given for example for buying your season ticket outright (upfront) attending home games (every time it’s swiped for a game you get points), Using seat sub if you can’t go. • End goal is to give points for buying merchandise and using club facilities for functions etc etc • Home game points are worth more than away games, an example was give that it could be a home league game is worth 20 points but an away game 5 points. • Points will also be given for attending friendlies • The Scheme will start by putting everyone into a tier system - Gold, Silver and Bronze. • Your position in this is determined on your loyalty over the last 5 years • It rotates in a similar manner to the travel club, but will be done every 3 years • Away tickets will be distributed similar to how buses work, a top down points system • They are still looking into the best way to involve RSCs, atm they are considering putting RSCs into a tier system like above rather than A+, A etc and then splitting the tickets by a % • They are looking at charging RSCs a membership fee to join, or charging them a per head figure for each member. • This is to eradicate “ghost buses / clubs” which rangers have made clear is an absolute priority for them. That is the basics and it’s still very much getting tweaked every day but this is effectively what’s going to girl the new membership scheme. No details over a price to join were given. What will happen now is they will collage all the feedback and then the feedback from the general fan base before setting out what they believe is the best solution. Either way it’s 100% changing. The club are saying they are trying to please everyone but they want to reward those who travel everywhere, regardless of league position or opposition as best they can given the allocations we receive.

Nah! your talking shite! Gerrard is a shit manager, sack him!. Gerrard must go now!

We were 3-0 down against Shelbourne. Nowhere near the quality of Braga though.

Gerrard deserves credit tonight with his substitutions. Bringing on Aribo, Kamberi and Stewart was very bold and it really paid off.

That's the plan

The key was replacing Kamara and Kent. It gave us a midfield . So pleased for Joe Aribo. Haji is a bit special.

It was stupid but if that is a yellow and applied consistently for that level of dissent then we’d end up with a lot of 5 a side football.

Have downloaded it and will give it a listen at some point over the next few days. A favourable result tonight will mean my appetite for more Rangers stuff is increased, so let's hope I'm listening to it tomorrow!

I can see RSC's having to supply the details of each member who receives a ticket from the RSC allocation.

It’s fair to say 2020 hasn’t really been kind to Rangers so far. A combination of suspensions, injuries, poor form, bad refereeing and awful weather means performances and results haven’t been of the standard required since we return from the winter break. With that in mind, turning our attentions back to European football over the next week might be a welcome distraction for everyone connected to the club. Firstly, as has been the case for the bulk of our Europa League campaign, we’re not really expected to progress against Braga. That lower expectation decreases pressure on the players and may allow them to play with a bit more freedom than they have of late. Similarly, unlike most of the Scottish teams we’ve faced this year, Braga are much more likely to be positive themselves, meaning we get more room to play and actually get some of our attacking players into the game. There’s no coincidence that we’ve often looked more comfortable against European opposition. Games have tended to be more open and we usually do well on the counter. Conversely we also appear happier in a defensive sense with deeper midfield cover for our full-backs, meaning we’re not usually exposed to the counter ourselves like we can be when having to commit so many players forward in domestic matches. Unfortunately, injuries and suspensions means the manager may again be unable to choose his strongest team; certainly in the first leg. Ryan Jack was sent off against Young Boys so misses this match whilst Borna Barisic picked up a knock at Hamilton ten days ago and hasn’t featured since. In terms of replacements, as much as Joe Aribo has proved his worth in Europe, he doesn’t offer the same presence or leadership as Jack so the latter will be a huge miss tomorrow night. Similarly, whilst Andy Halliday rarely shirks any role he’s offered in the team, neither does he offer the same quality of Barisic at left back. Jon Flanagan isn’t in the squad so won’t be an option at wing back. Despite these missing players, the starting XI should still have a fairly recognisable look to it. Defensively we now have plenty experience with McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson and Katic having all played in earlier rounds. The same can be said for our likely midfield three of Arfield, Davis and Kamara who are all capable of not only winning the ball back effectively but are positionally sound and able to keep the ball when we have it too. Further forward we also have several options. Jermain Defoe will miss both these games and Jordan Jones is another who didn’t make the squad for this round. However, Ianis Hagi has impressed since joining from Genk on loan and Flo Kamberi also showed against Livi that he could be a useful alternative should he be required. Most importantly for Rangers though will be getting Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent back in form. The Colombian has been unlucky with some poor officiating ruling out two perfectly good goals in his last two games but hasn’t looked quite as sharp as he did in 2019. The same can be said for Kent who looks well short of confidence and hasn’t done anywhere near as much in a creative sense of late. However it would be a surprise if both didn’t start leaving one more attacking midfield role for either Hagi, Kamberi, Aribo, Greg Stewart, Sheyi Ojo or even the lessor spotted Brandon Barker whom the manager has turned to before in European games this season. Whatever the team chosen, it’s not an easy task at all against Braga. When the draw was made last year, we were certainly more confident than we are now. The Portuguese outfit have since shown better form than us this year though and, although well behind Benfica and Porto in the Primeira Liga, have won matches against both over the last month. With players such as Francisco Trincão (who will be moving to Barcelona in the summer for €35million) they have undoubted quality. Nevertheless, what some of our fans and, perhaps the players as well, have forgotten recently is we do too. As such, this represents a great opportunity for us to restore some of that belief and increase morale with what is effectively a free hit at progressing to the last 16 of the Europa League. With a few months still to go in that tournament, as well as the Scottish Cup and Ladbrokes Premiership, Steven Gerrard’s Rangers can still make a challenge in all three of these competitions and the Englishman should be keener than ever to make that clear to the players. As winter hopefully blows itself out here in Scotland soon, fingers crossed we can see some shoots of recovery in our season by the time we enjoy the warmth of Portugal next Wednesday. Possible team (4-3-2-1):

I am just back in and still don’t know how we won that game , they are a right good team , their pressing in the first half was the best I’ve seen in a long long time . However once we finally got into the swing of things we were excellent and we were the team pressing and Braga simply couldn’t cope . Next week will be very interesting , having Jack back more than makes up for losing Alfie , we simply need to sit in and park the bus .

I’ve just remembered that Ryan Jack will be back for the away leg. That is huge. I would rather have Jack than Morelos i think. Kamberi looks hungry and sharp and has a bit more pace on the counter. But Jack will be great to plug some of the leaks in our midfield.

That’s quite something, and directly down to the manager imo.

Wow - what an unlikely come back against one of the better teams we've faced this season. Hopefully reignite our season now.

Hopefully kick starts Morelos to. I think the real Morelos is still in Colombia and an imposter returned after the winter break. Well done Rangers. We could have easily let our heads drop after their 2nd but now we have a fighting chance to progress

Question. Is Hagi the Romanian Scott Nisbet?

Sensational turn around in that game. Aside from some poor stuff early on in the second half, we improved as the game went and looked like scoring before Braga got a second and appeared to have killed the tie. The reaction was so good though and we could have scored another couple late on. I'm expecting a similar game next week but we can go through here.

Aye, I never had any doubts Ian. No surrender and, as Marv would say, Keep Believing.... I am stuck at work so haven't seen it yet. Looking forward to watching the second half later

Well, dunno what to say about that. YAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Somehow, some way we believe again. Let's hope this can transfer to the league form too.

Good side; very good. To be honest, though, a wee bit of composure and we can score. Then we're right back in it. It is bizarre.

You can't take away the fact this Braga side is quality!

Scandalous booking, you have to ask why he was booked for that!. Morelos now misses the next match, should he be subbed now in case he gets sent off??

A bizarre game. We can't hold onto the ball at all but could easily have had three goals Meanwhile, Braga do look good in possession could have scored three themselves but have a pearler to thank for breaking the deadlock. Unfortunately, once again we have too many players off the pace and with an awful touch. Davis, Kamara, Tav and Kent can't seem to control the ball at all and that's not good enough at this level. I suspect Aribo will come on for the second half as he is someone who can take the ball in tight areas and use it well. You'd fancy there has to be more goals in this period and we have to hope we grab at least once if we're to stay in the tie.

Opposition tactical breakdown. Superb stuff. "Braga regularly use an adaptation of the Salida Lavolpiana concept - method as a means of progressing the back from the back & escaping 1st line of opposition pressure on the ball..."

Yes I meant to say that the tables have turned on our side as well of course. I amn't too worried about form personally but I am worried about Jack's absence. My prediction over the two legs is that Braga's superior quality in the final third will show. My hope is that we can rattle them at Ibrox and nick a win and then hold out in Braga.

I think the CCCS will still operate for home games.

Call me cynical, but I wonder whether the term "Old Firm" will be used more often than "Celtic" ... as it is something that reflects negatively on them. The important aspect of child abuse aside (as it IMHO needs no explanation how we all feel about it), given the way other countries have dealt with it, even "the English", it is utterly shameful how the topic is being handled in Scotland by those in power at nigh all strata of society, media and politics. One need not go into the paranoic depths of talking about a Catholic / Celtic Conspiracy, but seemingly one "does not speak about the Fight Club", whether being directly involved or thriving in its environment.

Maybe the bulges in the carpets at Castle Doom will start to diminish as the carpet is looked under.

It could be because getting away tickets is relatively difficult? Many only get allocated 3 a season, I believe. I wonder how they'll deal with supporter club allocations? They won't know who gets given the ticket from the allocation.

Of course I do, I thought that was obvious.

Those that follow the blog & what I have been saying about Elite would have known this was inevitable Got to trust the new Commercial manager

knowing SD won't match terms and proving it in court are 2 different things. SD will put something together that will make it very difficult for us.

Or is this so that when we are in court next year , we can prove that we publicly opened up the bidding to any company .

Yeah, that's why Kamara is a stick-on.

It depends how Braga approach it. Their games against Porto, Sporting and Benfica were tight, 1-0 wins, so they can defend. They play 5-2-2-1, which suggests counter-attacking, but they seem to have matched the above teams for possession, 50/50. (Or, the Portuguese game is based on the transitions?) If they are going to sit back, we'll need Hagi's creativity. If they want to play, then a more counter-attacking player like Aribo, Arfield will be needed. If they are good on transitions, we might be better letting them have the ball and counter. I think I'd leave out Hagi; go with the aggressive, pressing players that can counter. We can always bring Hagi on late on if we need some creativity, when the space will appear. I just noticed they get a lot of fouls and free-kicks -- this could be an exasperating match!