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Humza Hates H-u-ns. I thought I would wait a week to see the extent of PQ's limit of exploitation? As stated two posts up, there has been a significant change of phase, Michael Stewart defined it, "sectarianism is racism". It's a stick fashioned to beat Rangers supporters. UEFA have already closed an Ibrox stand and PQ is heavy with anticipation. There are no shortage of volunteers wanting to be seen wielding the stick. Hitting H-u-ns fills the usual suspects with a feeling of immense well being and as we have seen on numerous past occasions, a guaranteed good career move. The prepared ground at PQ is very safe H-u-n skelping ground. So safe, both the First Minister and last week's Justice Minister, Humza Yousaf had no hesitation, they stepped on and added a few skelps. Humza revealed BBC Scotland asked him to comment on the doctored video sourced from, 'WullieWanker'. Humza pushed the limit of exploitation right into the Thornton Suite, suggesting Rangers players sang sectarian(racist) add-ons and demanded if the video was proved to be validated, "those players involved should be shown the door". Police Scotland decreed no criminality, Humza is back on the Sunday Show this morning; this time as Health Minister continuing to push sectarianism is racism and last Saturday was all about anti-Irish racism. The National Broadcaster and the Scottish Government have accepted Call it Out's narrative, the leaders of the organisation, Jeanette Findlay and Angela Haggerty are regular contributors to all means hosted by BBC Scotland. The safety of the PQ ground is such that the man who has just spent three years as Justice Minister has NEVER been asked for comment on the list of malicious prosecutions of former Rangers owners currently going through the High Court, likely to cost the public purse in excess of £300 million. Further, he has NEVER been asked as to the progress on an official inquiry initiated by himself, on the disappearance of all evidence against nine fellow Celtic supporters who hanged effigies by the neck, from the North Stand above dozens of 'Kill All H-u-ns' flags. Three years and counting. I welcome the Club's attempts to take Humza to court over comments made, but I fear it could be a difficult and costly way to go. However, several of the Rangers players being accused by Humza courtesy of WullieWanker, are practising RCs. They have sensitivities and the Club as their employer must protect those sensitivities. If we leave it to Call it Out to address the sensitivities of Rangers numerous catholic players, we will waiting longer than a Humza instigated inquiry to reach publication. Discipline? This is a subject I find myself returning to frequently. What is it about individual and collective discipline that an element of our support cannot grasp? Being a Rangers supporter carries responsibilities. Marching from Ibrox to George Square twice in a two months period, initiating tens of thousands of pounds of pyro', banging drums and, chanting love for Rangers can just about be explained away as, "exuberance". There is a well established precedence. Here's the but and it's a big BUT. As soon as you bellow, "fcuk the pope", you are fcuked. Like the vast majority of Rangers supporters, I did not attend and there's no doubt that elements of the 25,000 that did trap, let us all down. If you have an issue with the pope and there's plenty, find a better way to present it. Pope Francis was a parish priest, Monseigneur and, a Canon during the Facist Military Junta that governed Argentina for eight years in the late 70s to mid-80s. Thirty thousand people were disappeared, mostly taken up in choppers and dropped into the Andes. Francis said nothing. Over a thousand children of those disappeared were put up for adoption to approved families, Francis said nothing, ............ etc. I am sure Angela will listen if you call it out? Here's an example of good discipline that will not impress, but should be acknowledged. The Green Brigade have had several opportunities this last fortnight to get active in support of their preferred prejudices, they have deferred, hunkered down knowing any actions would have ran interference upon the constant artillery targeting Rangers and Rangers supporters. Of course, they have been told not to run interference and have adhered. The Club saw the ambush waiting and they liaised with both the Council and Scottish Government to avoid the trap. The Club asked for ten thousand fans to be contained inside Ibrox on each of four days, essentially repetitive trophy presentations. This was akin to two seasons past, the creation of the Fanzone. Then, the SNP led Residents Committee of Cessnock and Ibrox told Rangers they were more interested in the health and well being of children and not interested in booze'n'burgers. Ibrox is the ground of tactical importance and on both occasions, the council and Scottish Government took the decision to deny containment. They wanted the march because they knew considerable political capital could be made. We can all understand the emotions involved. We have been battered from pillar to post during what our enemies refer to as, 'the Banter Years'. There is a decade of frustration to be exercised and numerous targets to be engaged. In the past, I would advocate leadership. Having experienced five years on the RST Board exercising said leadership, I realised there is an element of our support that do not want to be led. In effect, nihilists determined to bellow, 'fcuk the pope'. On Friday night, the young team did something wonderfully creative, an aesthetic unseen before; they lit up both sides of the Clyde with flares, for a distance of a mile. Right in front of PQ too. Less is more, why not leave it at that? Even the Bouncy of the Squinty, a fantastic piece of vibrance, leave it at that? No, we over egged it, marched along the Broomielaw and invested George Square for a second time. Where is the discipline, where is the leadership? Imagine marching your troops into a square where you can be easily contained, cordoned and, controlled. Police Scotland will enjoy shooting fish in that particular barrel for months to come. Five March. Five March is a restaurant on the western side of Charring Cross. It's proprietor, Joanna Nethery was on the Sunday Show last Sunday. Prior to Humza levelling both barrels, the discussion topic was Glasgow remaining in lockdown and how this was effecting the hospitality sector? Joanna was upbeat and articulated a dichotomy on Lockdown extension. The compensation available was inadequate, "it doesn't touch the walls" but the First Minister's leadership throughout the pandemic, "absolutely wonderful, she has led the country faultlessly". Joanna's smile was beatific whilst praising Nicola. I have read and listened to the reactions of numerous Glasgow restauranteurs on extended Lockdown and they are bitterly invective at Nicola's continued draconian stance. There is no empirical evidence linking the virus spread to folks attending prepared restaurants. It would appear Joanna was speaking alone. You make a couple of calls and are rewarded with information. Five March is so named because it commemorates the fifth of March 1770 - the Boston Massacre. The Army fired into a Colonial demonstration, killing seven protesters. This was the catalyst for the American War of Independence. A pretty obscure name for a Glasgow eatery? However, Joanna and partner, Kevin Small believe England treats Scotland as a colony. It's a delicious secret for those in the know. Go back a dozen years, the original PQ Gang Hut was based in the Admiral Bar in Waterloo Street. Down stairs at the Waterloo was where Phil McFournames held his briefings and presentations. The eclectic mix attending shared information and took decisions, it was good to be a man in the know. Now, we know BBC Scotland is biased against independence because there was an impromptu demonstration of four thousand Nationalists carrying laser printed placards of Nick Robinson, who had annoyed Salmond or Sturgeon during the 2014 Referendum. It's heartening to see PQ acknowledging the old management team of the Admiral Bar, Joanna and Kevin whilst advertising the new Gang Hut eatery and turning up the volume on a very specific message. Worshipping at the altar is not enough, you must be seen to be doing so. I was thinking about opening a restaurant celebrating Scotland's colonial past, the Darien Scheme, anyone want to book a table?

Can’t fail. If you go bust, the English will come and bail you out.

Makes no real difference to St Johnstone I don’t think. 1 round and out as per usual.

I suppose that the Club is of the opinion that it has a broader back than any/all of those individuals it wishes to pursue, and that it has a very decent chance of obtaining a judgement against them (all of them, hopefully). Those who the Club wishes to pursue have to consider their costs against the likelihood of a successful defence, and the likely financial fallout of an unsuccessful one. By going onto the front foot with a series of, on balance, winnable cases, the Club may be able to force the targets to, say, admit liability, issue profuse and public apologies, accept the Club's costs to date, and make a token payment to a charity of the Club's choosing. I hope to god it is acting under advisement on this.

What is the club supposed to do? There are universal howls of criticism from fans when Rangers does nothing or makes a toothless statement. Now that the board have instigated legal proceedings we have fans questioning the wisdom and cost. Make up your fucking minds.

From what I remember from the 1977 tv documentary, that section of the Millwall support were called 'Treatment'. F Troop (who I think included the infamous Harry the Dog) just looked like the typical 70s hooligans of the time.

I spent a year as a Staff Officer in '84, based at the Duke of Yorks Barracks, Chelsea. It was the nearest I ever had to a 9 to 5 job in my sixteen years in the Army. Initially, I tried Stamford Bridge, then White Heart Lane and Highbury. I had a go across the river at the Old Den, it was better, nearer the Scots experience. However, I settled most Saturdays/midweeks at Griffin Park. A good going Brentford could attract 12,000 fans. It was perfect for football, a dozen pubs within a five minute walk of your seat/preferred standing position. I would like to see Brentford go up too, they deserve it. Brentford were/are a real community club. Back in the day, I would nip into a pub, the Horseguardsman and regularly meet a multi-generational Brentford supporting family. The old lad had memories going back to the 20s-30s. He related Brentford and Millwall would deliberately target Scots players as the spine of their teams, the character of the clubs was hard and gritty. I attended a Brentford - Millwall fixture, it was different, the Millwall mentalists turned up in green surgical gowns. Seriously, a couple of hundred standing there in masks and gowns? I believe they called themselves, 'F Troop'?

Lost count of the number of times the 2016 final was mentioned.

John I’m an avid reader though seldom poster of GersNet, but feel compelled to state that your post on last week’s events was absolutely brilliant. Heartfelt and I’m sure echoed the thoughts of many Bears out there. I can only simply say Thanks!

Good ol Spurs

I received some criticism on here when I said I supported all Scottish teams in Europe because we needed to up our co-efficient. Now I'm delighted to say that it was only increased because of our efforts entirely.

Chelsea need to sign some proper strikers - their conversion rate is atrocious. I'm pleased to see them get a CL spot, though.

""When Rangers clinched their first league title in a decade, a couple of months ago, I wrote in this newspaper’s daily sister title about the shame I felt as a fan; how disappointed I was that the club had failed to do what it could to prevent fans gathering outside Ibrox to mark the triumph." Andy, if you read this then please take some time to reflect on your life. You can earn your living in any number of different ways. You don't need to debase your existence by grovelling like this.

I was quoting Andy Mciver, who wrote the Herald article.

There is going to need to be a serious uptake from the other clubs next season , the points won are now divided by 5 instead of just 4 , for our country coefficient, it makes a huge difference . That’s why some of the smaller countries do so well , their small teams pick up loads of europa league points , will be interesting to see how this knew competition affects things .

It’s Not What You Say, But What They Hear I made a mistake last Sunday. In a pique of frustration over the inevitability of much of Saturday night’s events and annoyance over some of the coverage it garnered, I sent a Tweet. As Tweets go it was quite long, and was an attempt to remind people that Rangers supporter’s who fight police officers, or themselves, on a Saturday night in town are no more representative of me, or the vast majority of our support, than the Rangers supporter’s who went bird watching, long distancing running or line dancing are. I wish I hadn’t. I’m not a prolific Tweeter and I rarely Tweet about football. If you want occasional photos of my local park, perhaps some obscure research on birds or the occasional insight into international events, maybe I’m your guy, otherwise best ignore me, I’m there to learn, not teach. Prior to Sunday I doubt I’ve ever sent a Tweet that was ‘liked’ more the a dozen times; I’m not interesting or high profile, and I’m okay with that. An hour or so after pressing ‘Tweet’ I was very surprised to learn over 100 people had liked, retweeted or positively commented on it. Almost all seemed to be fellow Rangers fans who had clearly been feeling something similar. This continued for a few hours, numbers increased and my phone battery complained. A couple of friends texted me to say they’d read it and enjoyed it, even my sister, who I didn’t know even had Twitter, called to mock me. All good so far. Then, sometime around mid-afternoon on Sunday, supporter's of the second best side in Glasgow came across my Tweet. The comments changed. I’ve not read them all, there are simply too many and life is too short, but I got the general gist and some clear themes emerged. My claim that it was a “minority” of Rangers supporters who were involved in any disorder on Saturday was widely ridiculed. Also, I’d failed to mention sectarianism, or “anti-Irish racism” as many seemed to call it. Lastly, that drunken, loutish behaviour is recurring and unique to Rangers supporters. The ‘minority’ issue is easily dealt with. I think it’s fair to say Rangers have somewhere around 500,000 supporters. It might be more than that, it might be less, but I think it’s a conservative estimate to suggest that 10% of the population of Scotland would describe themselves as supporter’s of Rangers. Some of them might be nominal, a club they followed as a child but take less interest now, others will attend every match, home and away. The only definition of a Rangers supporter I accept is that they want Rangers to win. Estimates of the total crowd numbers at Ibrox and later in the city centre vary, somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000. 20,000 people is barely 4% of our support, and it’s worth remembering that Chief Supt Mark Sutherland of Police Scotland described that crowd as “largely peaceful in nature”. Even if someone wants to complain that everyone present was breaking Covid guidelines and so at least technically in breach of restrictions, it doesn’t change the fact that the other 96% of the Rangers support weren’t. As for those who actually engaged in vandalism and violence that was a very small percentage of those present and a tiny fraction of the Rangers support. For me those are simply irrefutable facts. I don’t know what ‘anti-Irish racism’ is. As far as I know the Irish and the Scots are the same race. Having lived in both I can also say that in my experience we’re largely identical in almost every measurable way. I’m unaware of any systemic discrimination towards Irish people in Scotland, certainly not in this century at least. I didn’t mention sectarianism as I was unaware of any taking place. I wasn’t there, and I’ve not watched many of the videos that have been circulating. If there was sectarian singing or chanting then I condemn it. The anti-Catholic chants and songs still exist among a section of our support, and, away from the stadium and often after a few drinks they sometimes make an appearance. I wish they didn’t. I expect our board wish they didn’t and I can only imagine what some of our players must think. It’s embarrassing. It would be disingenuous to say nothing has changed in this regard over the years, but it would be equally wrong to say this has disappeared, it hasn’t. I can understand why someone who feels these chants are directed at them reacts with fury when they hear them. That said it surprises me to see how many people liberally sprinkle the word ‘hun’ around their timelines when questioning my views. The refrain, when challenged, seems to be that the word isn’t sectarian and isn’t an idiom for ‘Protestant’. A ‘hun’ apparently is a Rangers supporter. Unless it’s a Hearts supporter. Or maybe an Airdrie supporter, and sometimes even a Morton or Kilmarnock supporter. This is the thing about the English language, the meaning of words changes over time and between people. My children regularly describe something positive as ‘sick’, this puzzles me and makes me feel old at the same time. The meaning of the word ‘sick’ has changed. I took a trip to Belfast before Covid hit. It’s a city I know quite well having lived there for a while a few decades ago, but it’s also a city that’s going through such huge change that parts of it were unrecognisable to me. I decided to do the first time visitor thing and take a bus tour to reacquaint myself. The Belfast bus tour takes you to places that are famous and infamous. It doesn’t hide its past, you see the city warts and all. We visited various ‘interfaces’. An interface is a euphemism for a border, in Belfast that’s where a republican area meets a loyalist area. These are bleak, people-less areas, dominated by high fences and walls, where territory is clearly marked by graffiti. Much of this graffiti is sadly familiar to a Glaswegian and I’d little trouble understanding just whose territory we were leaving or entering. Something unfamiliar did catch my eye though, 3 letters that made a regular appearance as you entered loyalist areas; KAT, and 3 similar ones when you entered republican areas; KAH. The tour guide explained that KAT stands for ‘Kill All Taigs’ and KAH stands for ‘Kill All Huns’. On the streets of working class Belfast it seems that Taigs are Catholics and Huns are Protestants. Not unsurprisingly I’ve recently started to notice these initials in Glasgow too. Now I’m willing to accept that not everyone who uses the word ‘hun’ does mean all Protestants, but that doesn’t mean it’s not what I hear when it’s said. And while some might not use it that way, others clearly do. Meanings change, it’s all of our jobs to keep up with that change, not just Rangers supporters. Lastly, why is it always Rangers? This takes us directly into ‘whataboutery’ country again and I’ve little desire to spend more time there. Suffice to say that over the years I’ve seen violence, first hand, sometimes at very close quarters, perpetrated by supporters of Aberdeen, Dundee, Motherwell, Airdrie, Kilmarnock, Morton, Clydebank, Partick Thistle, Hibs, Hearts, Falkirk, Clyde, St Mirren, Sunderland, Glentoran, Linfield, Cliftonville and, believe it or not, Celtic. Rangers don’t have a monopoly on bams, but I’m not going to pretend we don’t have any either. That there was disorder on Saturday night didn’t come as a surprise to me. I’ve lived in Glasgow long enough to know that there are people in our society for who a Saturday spent drinking will greatly increase the likelihood of them being involved in violence. That hard drinking ‘get mad wae it’ culture is alive and flourishing among a section of our society. I don’t think the blame for that can be laid at the door of Rangers directors, players or indeed me. The Scottish Crime Survey of 2018 recorded that 46% of all violent crime in Scotland is alcohol related. 41% of all prisoners in Scotland report being drunk at the time of their offence, that figure rises to 60% for young offenders. The STAG Trauma Report in 2015 records that alcohol was associated with 33% of all major trauma patients, that number doubles when just recording male patients. Alcohol related death is 7 times higher in Scotland’s most deprived areas and alcohol related hospital stays are 8 times higher in Scotland’s poorest communities. Again, the figures are higher for men than woman. Despite this I’ve yet to read anyone ask what Smirnoff, Buckfast or the makers of MD 20-20 had to say about last Saturday night, far less suggest that everyone who drinks alcohol should be ashamed of themselves and demand action be taken. Rangers draw their support from across Scotland and beyond, but the post industrial heartlands of the central belt are where we draw the bulk of our support. These areas have more than their fare share of economic black spots and deprived communities. None of that is an excuse for violence or religious intolerance. Indeed the majority of people brought up in these areas aren’t violent or bigoted. But the power to change the people who are, to improve their schools, to broaden their horizons, to perhaps give them ambitions beyond the weekend, to deal with whatever demons they currently try and drown and to instil a pride or self worth clearly lacking in some of them doesn’t lie with Steven Gerrard or the Rangers board. It lies, quite squarely, at the feet of those elected to represent these communities; politicians. That’s ironic, because some of them have been very quick to point fingers of responsibility elsewhere this week. It does feel that some people see Rangers as responsible for the actions of everyone who supports them at all times. There were 54 arrests and 429 crimes at T In The Park a few years ago yet no one suggests The Stone Roses are held responsible for that. There is a limit on what the club can do and should be held responsible for. I’m surprised that even needs stated. But then maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s strange that now we have so many ways of communicating with each other more than ever people still only hear what they want to hear.

Just waiting on headline"The Awards Ceremony" should have been delayed till after cup final followed by Calum Davidson for Manager of year and his club for Team of year.

I wasn’t meaning in terms of blaming anyone. I thought Lawwell’s home being firebombed would have been a far bigger story. Apparently not.

I hope Rangers aren’t going to spend money on litigation that may be fruitless. It’s not just the expense. Think of the enemy’s preening when failure is hailed as exoneration by the press. Let’s hope the advice is 85% + chance of success and let’s hope the advice is sound. Better to issue a statement that A, B and C, from positions of responsibility, have recklessly made pronouncements based on false evidence, that A, B and C should retract and apologise and that failure on their part to do so can be seen by the general public as defiance of the truth thus affecting the credibility of any future utterances of A, B and C. That would pass the risk of litigation back to those who mouthed off. Rangers cannot do anything much about the defamation of supporters, the claims of Sturgeon and others about vile anti-Irish, anti-Catholic conduct. That needs somebody like Andrew Neil.

Lincoln, despite being poor the first half, were by far the better side. They have a young team and play a nice brand of football. Sunderland were poor; their tactics were to basically lump it up to the two big forwards. It is a shame for a club of that size. They need a rebuild, a la Southampton. I believe most of their players are actually out of contract at the end of the season, so it's a perfect opportunity. Will the fans accept it, though? I thought Barnsley were poor. They tried but they just lacked the quality on the final ball. Swansea didn't do much, but they were pretty solid, and took their goals clinically over the two legs. Grimes' goal was class. I'd like to see Brentford go up.

I was at Easter Road that day more in hope than expectation, and my mobile at that time had a radio in it too so as it was getting towards squeaky bum time and our game was effectively a dead rubber ( as a 1-0 win for us was enough for both teams to meet their goals and so the ball was just getting passed about the midfield with neither side committing to going forward) I was trying to hear the radio coming through from Fir Park. There had been nothing happening there either and a few false alarms had spread across the away end during that period. Then a bit of a cheer went up, I put the radio back on and with dozens of bears around me looking for confirmation I heard that Motherwellhad equalised and the place totally lost it. It was all about the full time whistle by then and Fir Park had to be in injury time as our game was done, and another almighty roar went up and I was trying desperately to hear what was coming through and all I heard was Rangers are champions and I thought that meant it was FT at Fir Park. Cue celebrations like never before. It was only about 10 mins later while we were waiting on the helicopter bringing our trophy that I found out that second roar was a second goal for Motherwell. The thing I won’t forget about that aftermath was when Hibs were doing their lap of honour for their fans to celebrate European qualification and Sunshine On Leith was blasting across the PA system, we were joining in on it too. To this day that song takes me back to Helicopter Sunday and I still get goosebumps when I hear it.

Brentford win, and move on to the final, where they'll play either Swansea or Barnsley. Fabulous game.