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In 1939, a small local difficulty emerged in Europe; some went so far as to call it "The Emergency". The Scottish League was abandoned. Five (5) rounds of games had been completed, and Rangers was, of course, top. The League competition officially re-emerged in the 1946-47 season. The football authorities, with govt consent, set up Regional Leagues, comprising two leagues of 16 teams. Rangers won the Western Division, Falkirk the Eastern. There was a play off which Rangers won. It is at least arguable that the precedent is set for abandonment of this season's competition, no Championship may be awarded, nor winner declared. 1939–40 in Scottish football Division One champions Abandoned Division Two champions Abandoned Emergency league competition champions Rangers Scottish War Emergency Cup winners Rangers Junior Cup winners Maryhill

Same. I thought he put in a great shift, with little support roundabout him. We shouldn't forget that Bayer really are a class team though. Difficult playing against those teams. I suspect that Gerrard actually wanted us to play with a low block, give them plenty of possession until they got to the final third where the space would be squeezed. Worked well until the penalty in fairness.

The Joint Response Group can confirm the decision of the Scottish FA Board to suspend ALL domestic professional and grassroots football under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA until further notice. Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive: “Since the guidance outlined by governments last night we have been engaged in extensive dialogue to clarify the position and implications of that guidance for Scottish football. “Today’s announcement is made in the interests of public health but, equally, the health and safety of players, match officials, and staff across the game. This is of paramount importance as the country enters the ‘delay’ phase of the coronavirus pandemic. “It is also why the Scottish FA is compelled to ensure that the suspension is cascaded through the non-professional and grassroots games until further notice.” https://news.stv.tv/sport/all-scottish-football-football-suspended-until-further-notice?top

Very rare for a league to be won mathematically (is there any other way ? ) at this stage of the season. Poor Hearts too. I have a solution to the problem though. Input all results from 2019-20 into Football Manager and let the game decide. They could stream the games live and we could all watch and continue to discuss The Rangers on the forums. ?

There is a lot of panic and a lot of misinformation at the moment. I've found that very little makes sense to me, as much of the guidance appears contradictory. I started to look into this for myself rather than relying on politicians, newspapers and others. It's now starting to make more sense and this is what I've found out.: - The main reason it is regarded as being more serious is because of the transmission rates. For normal flu it's around 1.6 people being infected by each previously affected person, whereas its 2.4 for this one. That is actually a big difference, but makes sense why it really doesn't matter if we have large football stadiums. Even if 10 people are infected it means only 24 others will be, regardless of the size of crowd. - The virus is not dangerous to the vast majority of people, and in fact in itself it will be unlikely to kill anyone. The reason the NHS is concerned is because it affects the breathing in some people. As there are many people with heart conditions, high blood pressure and obesity, it is likely that they will require additional respiratory support and with these being in limited supply it is this lack of supply that will result in deaths, not the virus. Apparently there are also drugs that can help with respiratory problems, but they are not manufactured in enough quantity to support this spike in demand. - It is NOT seasonal. In other words, it is unlikely to be killed in the summer. This means that all such stories suggesting it will disappear in the next few weeks are nonsense. - It is not yet clear if the same person can catch it twice. There is strong evidence from previous coronavirus outbreaks that our bodies build a defence to prevent it but there's no guarantee this strain is the same. Then again, there's no guarantee it won't. - The reason China has had such a high death rate (3%) is because there is a high majority of people who smoke there. Apparently it's the same in Italy where approximately 60% of people smoke. I had no idea it was so high. Again this is the reason why children are largely unaffected. Unless they have an underlying health problem, most will not even know they have it. It's the respiratory problems that kill people, or make them very unwell. - International travel makes no difference at all. The experts predict it's already in every country now anyway so it makes no difference. Couple this with the fact that transmission is only likely to be 2.4 further people, it's very low risk of this making it worse than remaining in your own country. - This works like all other airborne viruses so face masks will not work. The funny thing is that washing hands is not nearly as effective as I thought it would be. As it's airborne you can wash your hands as much as you want but it will do only a little to reduce your chances apparently. Remaining isolated will stop you from getting it, but of course if we all do that there will be other problems when the country grinds to a halt. I suppose that's the balance the experts are wrestling with. I've got my own conclusions and recommendations based on what I've found out but didn't want to mix facts with opinions on this particular post. I just wanted to share the facts with my fellow Gersnetters. What this does suggest is that we need to create a new operating model that works. Delaying matches is not the answer because this will not go away anytime soon. Equally, banning large gatherings is not the answer either. I don't know what the answers are but at least now I feel I understand the problem better. I hope this helps you too.

My view is that the 500 rule should have been adopted immediately. I know that would have had an impact on last night and Sunday, but people's health has to come first. I didn't go last night because of the risks. I suffer from asthma. I will be taking my very elderly mum to the supermarket at the weekend. My asthma was also quite bad yesterday and I was coughing a lot and thought it would be inconsiderate to go along and cough and potentially cause others some worry because of it. I'm still undecided about Sunday but veering towards not going. If I remain healthy then there will be plenty more in the future.

You only deserve a league title when you complete a season and finish on top. This has not happened yet.

But Neil, the league is not at an end, i.e. finished, it is merely abandoned, i.e. unfinished. You are not Champions, you do not have an uncatchable lead in the league, and there is still a quarter of the league programme to play. Nothing is decided, so titles cannot be claimed. In the interests of sporting integrity, nothing can be awarded until the mathematics are conclusive. A significant lead is not a victory. If you need a reminder as to why that is the case, ask your fellow scum players from the 2004-05 season about how a substantial lead with some games left to play doesn't get you a medal. GIRFUY you utter scumbag!!!!!!

For a terrible moment I thought the next line was going to begin with the word “Stewart”.

SFA decide to suspend all scottish football until further notice as they realised it would be easier doing this than getting 800 celtic fans to wash their hands on sunday! ? ???

If only government could act with such decisiveness.

The EPL is now suspended till first week of April - and the suspension could be extended beyond even that..... so it becomes ever more difficult to see the season being able to be completed. Null and void HAS to be the only choice - you cannot hand a title to a team just because they are 16 points ahead (13 if we win our game in hand) with so many points still on the table. If we were to win the two remaining OF games that deficit is 7 points - not insurmountable - just ask Marvin Andrews..... They can't award them the title - doing so would add the biggest of asterisks ever in the game. Sadly (and I say this as an Arsenal fan with no real love of Liverpool), the same has to be said of Liverpool because, presently, they aren't mathematically guaranteed to win the league - they only need one more win I believe and no doubt would get it.... but if it is mathematically possible for them to be caught then they cant be awarded the title.

Sensible decision. I'm glad they've done it.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. JohnMc's post is pretty much spot on, except the bit about 'many of us' losing loved ones. Keep the frail and elderly mainly in isolation, have people working from home, wherever possible and with the ceasing of large gatherings, I think most of us will emerge unscathed, with our relatives still here. The yahoo reaction to not getting the title would doubtless be hilarious.

Okay, cancelling gatherings of 500 or more isn't because of the danger the gatherings themselves bring for those present, it's to ease the burden on police and ambulance/hospital staff required to attend or deal with these events. While I'd have postponed all 500 plus gatherings before now I think it's unwise to shout conspiracy about it. Whatever your views on politicians let's give them the benefit of the doubt that they're following the best advice, rightly or wrongly. We're looking at 4 to 12 weeks of major disruption, almost certainly many of us will lose people we love in the coming weeks, perhaps this isn't the time for political point scoring. The thought that Celtic won't actually be given the title and that Dundee Utd won't get promotion is almost, almost, worth the pain of the last few months. If we don't finish the season, and I can't see how that'll be possible, the season has to be called void. I'd have no problem with them giving Celtic the Champion's League place as they're currently top and giving the Europa spots to us, Motherwell and Aberdeen, but there should be no title awarded in any division and no relegation or promotion. As painful as that might be for some clubs we're in unprecedented times and that calls for unprecedented measures.

We win on Sunday and they won't get it. Call me a cynic but I think that's why the SNP are willing to put 50000 people together 24 hours before health concerns dictate that more than 500 could potentially kill you or your loved ones. Think about that for a second......

I do to a large extent. They bought the bulk of the current starting line up. I'd keep SG on for now but mainly because I see no good alternatives.

IMO tactics being used now are what they are being asked/told to do it seems to be zonal than free flowing and completely understand your point.

"Weak, feeble, poor, abject, pathetic". A week away, on an island where the sunshine spends the winter. Relaxation, catching up with some old friends, the occasional culinary triumph, and listening to Malloquines express growing concern over the number of cruise ships docking daily in Palma. Incubators of virus or necessary bringers of tourism euros? Last year, the viral complaint was these cruise ships are all inclusive and they buy nothing in Palma. I read an article in the island paper, 'Ultima Hora' questioning any indulgence of Mallorquine culture by those cruising? They asked, 'how many ate Sobrasada and drank Tunel? The herb liqueur is a big ask but Sobrasada is a picante tasting sausage of the parts of a pig no one wants, including the squeal. Last evening, I drove from the Airport to the game, turned on the national broadcaster for team news. David Currie had Chic Young and Billy Dodds talking all things coronavirus. Clubs without appropriate insurance will be sweating, Directors are breathless at the prospect of sudden stoppage of income flow, and concern for the plight of Scott Brown and Neil Lennon not being awarded the championship, was vomit inducing. Currie aplogised for the introduction of a stuck pig with a booming squeal, Tom English had been stuck in traffic and was 15 minute late. Tom rattled the pathetic nature of Scottish football's hand to mouth existence. He wasn't surprised by it, and the SPL and SFA statement on no emergency funding in place was expected. BBC Scotland's Chief Sports Writer was mid flow in his Scottish football condemnation when Liam McLeod appeared with team news. Rangers were given as a 4-3-3 and substitutes named. Bayer Leverkusen were named with accompanying pen pictures. Their values were purred over and the last two mentioned had added endorsements, both were French under 21s and good friends with Odsonne Edouard. Rangers were facing a big step up from Braga. Tom was asked to comment on the given team news, and Tom continued his curmudgeon tone, .......... weak, feeble, abject, poor, pathetic ...., etc. I thought, here we are in the middle of March, a Scots team has made the last 16 of the Europa Cup, having started in late July. Seventeen games of success, adding to the Scottish co-efficient and breaking a few records. Where is the balance? Objectivity is unwanted and it's interference will not be allowed. Pig headed bluster determined not to praise the club continuing to carry the Scottish standard in Europe. Tom raised questions on Gerrard, Morelos, Kent, Tav', and Goldson. They have no mental toughness, "Celtic asked the questions and they have no answers". On the night of possibly Scots participation in Europe ending for another season, the Chief Sports Writer off BBC Scotland told us, "forget Europe", they cannot compete with Hearts, Hamilton, and St Johnstone. Suffice to say, he turned up late and gave us his preferred prejudice. A celebration of Scots participation in Europe cannot be expressed if it's the wrong Scots club. Further, expressing solidarity with Michael Stewart, Jum Spence, DrStu', and all the haters is far more important going forward .................... to talk about rugby or ra Sellik. I switched off, turned back on in an attempt to receive an explanation over the VAR decision. Big Dick, Liam McLeod, Billy Dodds, and Neil McCann were in a PQ studio declaring a definite penalty. Then, they returned to Coronavirus and Big Dick introduced a text he had received from his daughter, 'the Fintry Amateur Dramatic Society have announced the postponement of their production of Calamity Jane in April, it will now take place in October'. Fitting really, reveals PQ's priorities better than anything written on this thread!

Statement from RFC: https://business.facebook.com/notes/rangers-fc/coronavirus/3110632318955502/?__tn__=-R

I think we could do very well if Morelos, Barisic and Tavernier went - the fear, obviously, would be that we would be losing three of our best performers - we need to ensure we get top money for them though. Barisic, for me, is a better player than Tierney and, whilst he is older, he is entering his prime - so 20 million should be the least we expect. That is good money and a healthy profit given we only spent 2 on him. Tavernier has been a fine servant - I would be expecting more than the 4 or 5 million being asked of him too. It is EPL clubs looking at him where they spend 80 million on Harry McGuire ? - 5 million is peanuts - we should be holding out for double that IMO. Which would also give us decent enough money to replace him. Morelos I would still be expecting 20+ million even given his recent struggles. That would give us about 50 million in the bank (or at least to be banked) - we wouldn't spend all of that on players clearly as we would look to retain money in the bank. But that would be a sizeable pot of money. Hagi and Kamberi would cost about 5.5 million between the both of them. We would then need a replacement for Tavernier (unless Gerrard thinks Polster and Patterson are sufficient - depends on what he is looking for given he would lose Barisic's attacking/crossing on one side and Tavernier's on the other) and Barisic - you just have to hope we can find another Barisic, possibly again in the Balkan leagues for a fraction of the income we get from him. Kamberi would potentially be a Morelos replacement but I would say we would also need a prolific striker. Hagi could be the #10, but I would also like to see someone on top of that who can beat an opponent and thread a ball. At the end of the day, it is never easy to lose your best players but a) Morelos and Tavernier have lost form of late so aren't providing as much as we could be doing with b) it would be a lot of money to leave on the table potentially and c) that money could provide more than adequate replacements as well as strengthen the squad. It all comes down to our recruitment - and I like the moves that Ross Wilson made in January - Hagi and Kamberi have made immediate impacts - as of now, I trust Wilson to get the recruitment side of the football operations right.

I would argue that the teams we have played in Europe have actually come out to play against us, which helps us. We have dominated Celtic in 5 of the last 6 OF games.... they come out and play against us..... everyone else sits in and parks the bus. It isn't that they aren't good enough, it is that we haven't found a solution to the teams that park the bus.

Excellent @craig, that's exactly the sort of logic I was looking for ??

As its mathematically possible that we could catch them make them share next year's champions league money

Listening to some of the doctors/scientists yesterday they dont expect this virus to peak until August that's usually when seasons start , so draw a line under this season and just declare it void .

Obviously I want that to be the case as far as our league is concerned. I just want to be given licence to be a little hypocritical because I'd like our win bonuses and coefficient points to stand from the Europa this season. I'm trying to convince myself that there's a logical difference between the two, so we can justify this. The only reason I can come up with is that we are the people and they are just filthy soap dodging criminals.

This is end of the season. I just hope the NHS can get to the point where it can cope with the demand on it's services, otherwise they will have to maintain this for a few months more, meaning the start of next season could be delayed also. Now comes the tricky part. All of the leagues and competitions need to work out how they will handle awards of prizes, money, coefficient points, etc.

If every runner in the grand national fell the winner would be decided by whomever remounted and finished the course no matter what the course and distance has to be completed there should be no difference in football .

I would contend that to deserve it you need to be mathematically impossible to catch.

Goldson for me after slating him last game kept it simple no silliness.

GOOD POINT BUT I WILL FOCUS ON SELECTIVE QUOTATION FROM GUARDIAN ARTICLES INSTEAD.

I actually thought they might just revert to last season's European placings if the season was void?

Aye, I reckon Craig hates Polster because of Brittany! Pictures of her placed all round his house. Maybe he is asking the servants if "they know a guy" who could do with the money......?. Seriously though, he did cost us the third goal, but I can't blame him the way Craig does as he was just on the park?

Quoting the Guardian?!?! ?????

That's a bit dramatic. I've heard the government say repeatedly that there is very little risk if you're attending large sporting events. The only reason they want to stop them is because they require police, ambulance and other resources to be on site as standard, and they'd rather not have them used like this for now. Like everyone on here, I'd find it hilarious if Celtic were denied their title, but they do deserve it. We are not even close to them at the moment so I don't have a problem if they're awarded it before the split takes place. As I've said though, it would be great fun if they didn't.

Not read through this thread but gonna put my opinion out on tonight's game. First half we didnt get in their faces, wasn't up to much and penalty kinda mucked us up a bit but second half I felt we gave them more of a game, beaten by a quality side and obviously a step too far. Not too disappointed in team tonight considering how form has been of late, been a good run and should be proud of that. Seen a few fans slating team tonight, one saying it was embarrassing which I don't agree with, interested to see what the forums take on it is

Just back. They're a better team than us and it was a fair result. I felt we were okay in the second half but the first half was hugely disappointing. Little effort to get stuck in an seemed content just to make up the numbers. Something is wrong at Ibrox. Maybe the players, maybe the manager...maybe a bit of both. Changes will have to be made. Arfield was my MOTM. He looked like he cared, at least.

Just playing against a much better team tonight. A couple of disappointing moments. Kent and Morelos were often caught flat footed. Davis continues to baffle with his back passes. Can't be too critical of them though.

Not throwing any players under the bus tonight. Maybe some of players struggled as they were up against far superior players? None of players hid tonight, they were just up against class opposition They were a better team than us, had better players than us and that showed tonight. However, let's reflect on a wonderful European campaign where we have put Rangers back on the map and made the club some much needed money.

As long as it is mathematically possible we could win the league there is no way the title should be given to them! but it is the SFA we are talking about so it wouldn't surprise me if that happens, the Rangers board will just meekly accept whatever decision is made.

Agree but Nippy's party are not doing anything about the child molesters which to me is showing favouritism to that club and would no doubt be happy to help them in their quest.

The SNP are hoping that their voters win so they can help them in their claim to be awarded the title.

It’s simple. A season is 38 games. If you can’t play 38 games you can’t have a result.

Our spell in the lower leagues was a chance missed for sure. And, even though I would agree with you regards being poorer than Celtic in terms of youths making the first team, I would contend that our top league hiatus helped them with that because the league title was never in any doubt - they could afford to bring in 3, 4 or 5 youths because they were always going to win the league by a landslide. The question would be how many of their youths have made the step up since we returned to the top flight - and I don't think they are in much better shape than us in all honesty.