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John 'Jerry' Kerr was within weeks of ending his dozen years as manager of Dundee United when Rangers pitched up, hoping to at least secure a point to keep them out of the relegation zone. The speculation was that 34 year old Jim McLean would journey the length of Dens Road to take over from the retiring Kerr. The west Lothian born Kerr had previously been both a Rangers player and Coach. He managed United to home and away wins over Barcelona in 1966. Jerry was a mixture of old school and the innovative. He is credited with United being called, 'the Arabs'. In the early-mid sixties the Tannadice pitch was such a ploughed field that Kerr's solution was to flatten the surface with tons of sand. The innovation was inspired by his wife, Barbara. She suggested United change from their traditional black and white colours to tangerine after a pre-season visit to the States in 1969. It was a most popular move, as a schoolboy playing amateur football at that time; it seemed every other side played in the kit. The Tannochside RSC bus departed early, pre-match lunch was taken at the Isle of Skye Hotel, Perth. Again, playing for the school mitigated against attendance and I was confined once more to the Fir Park enclosure. Morton and a free pie was poor return. Dundee United lined up : McAlpine, Rolland, Cameron, Markland, Gray, Henry, Reid, Copland, Gordon and, Devlin. Rangers ran out with : McCloy, Jardine, Mathieson, McKinnon, Smith, Greig, Henderson, Conn, Stein, Fyfe and, MacDonald. The given attendance was 17,000. As stated, BBC Radio Scotland's match day coverage began at 15.30hrs, live commentary began at twenty to four. A clearly excited David Francey was garrulous, Rangers were unexpectedly three up after half an hour. Doddie had notched a double and Colin, Colin Stein had also arrived at the party. The news improved just before half time as the Skipper scored a fourth. At Fir Park, John 'Jumbo' Muir was revelling in 'Well fan cult status, he was remonstrating with Keeper, Keith MacRae over Morton's goal in a 3-1 claret and amber victory. Rangers went nap in Dundee through Sandy Jardine just before the hour mark and Jackie Copland finished the scoring with a final minute consolation for the Arabs. A 1-5 victory was unexpected among both the Rangers support and the Portuguese press. A Bola's headline screamed, "They're a Lot of Big Horses". Apparently, we had frightened Dundee United to death and had given the ball a doing too. Evaluating our players A Bola painted a colourful picture, "McCloy is very tall and possessed god hands and reflexes". The only rated defender was John Greig, "however, he is more than a defender, he attacks like a grown up". The midfield was rated, "Jardine is fulcral to all Rangers attacks, combines well with Penman and Fyfe". Our forwards were scattergun, "Henderson dribbles too much, Stein is the great demolition man and, MacDonal has a common name but an uncommon approach". Finally, A Bola's concluded, "the old firm rivalry is not what they say, there are no deaths". Rangers were struggling to stay in contention in the Championship but the Tannadice victory had moved us up to ninth in the table. It was official, we were mid table opposition. Sporting Lisbon had won all six of their opening league fixtures and were sitting proudly at the top of the Portuguese table. They were due at Ibrox midweek and a huge surprise awaited as they emerged from the tunnel.

Haven't had a television licence for many years and i don't intend to start paying now , ?

I renewed my TV Receiver Licence under protest. Several protests, actually, one of which was the BBC Scotland fiasco with regard to Rangers. Here is what BBC Audience Services say. Rangers continue to operate an exceptional ban on one of our journalists which severely restricts our ability to report freely from Ibrox. We hope you’ll understand that, in order to maintain public trust in the impartiality and independence of our reporting, it is the BBC’s responsibility to determine who should report, on its behalf, on any particular story or organisation. It would be inappropriate for us to allow any other body or organisation to pick and choose which BBC reporters should or should or should not provide our news reports. We have offered to return to Ibrox to provide match commentaries and interviews etc. while we try to find a permanent solution to the overall dispute, but Rangers have said this is unacceptable. We continue to speak to the Club as we seek to find a mutually agreeable solution to the current impasse. I’m conflicted here. While I understand that others have different needs from the Broadcaster I personally don’t want any Sportscene/Sound people back at Ibrox because they will just carry on where they left off but it’s the principle that matters. I’ll be answering the letter to see if I can persuade them to reply more substantively and more accurately. (What “ban”?) In addition, they are silent on the Manchester United/Dundee United scenarios on which I invited comparison. One of the non Rangers matters I raised was the futility of the BBC Scotland Channel. They tell me it’s the most watched digital channel between 7pm and midnight. After BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV/STV, and Channels 4 and 5. What an achievement. I wonder who came sixth. ALBA?

Last Sunday we had the pleasure of presenting the Founders Story in Rutherglen for the St John Operative Lodge and visitors,a fantastic afternoon of celebration was had by all. At the end of the presentation our Restoration Donations bucket was sent around the hall and the brilliant amount of £87.12 was raised. This will help to ensure that our restoration work continues over the coming weeks. We’d like to sincerely thank all who attended for their overwhelming generosity and in particular Scott MacKinnon for a cracking event. If you’d like information on hosting a Founders Presentation event please email us for details at thefounderstrail@gmail.com or call 0790 2855536 for a chat.

"Off the radar", Compo, "Off the radar".

He and Alan Pardew will be 1 and 2 at Newcastle with Lennon as Director of Football

Gerrard will move on be it Newcastle, or some other team somewhere down the line. I'm sure our Director of Football will not only be looking at players to improve our team but also managers and backroom staff. However, with no disrespect to SG and his staff, I'm sure Newcastle and their fans will be looking for a manager with a proven record. They are on course to be relegated, wonder what Big Sam is up to?

He doesn’t have the fitness levels of a Kamara or Jack and Davis should be coming on for him when he tires.