Leaderboard

Similar to Frankie, the first couple of years on the RST Board(2003 and 2004) I had a fair bit of correspondence with Nil by Mouth. One of the RST's early members was a regional full time Trade Union Official. He penned two letters addressed to NBM, both told of a Trade Union member suffering sectarian abuse at place of employment and, asking for a meeting to impart advice. The only difference in the correspondence was in one letter the abused person was a Celtic supporter, the other letter concerned a Rangers fan. Within the week, NBM replied to the letter reference the Celtic fan. The aforementioned Trade Union Official was invited for a chat. A subsequent telephone call told the Official NBM were keen to use the circumstance to right a wrong and harvest publicity. After a wait of six weeks, the Official penned a second letter concerning the Rangers supporter because he had NOT received a reply to the first one. The RST exposed the hypocrisy, the Chair acknowledged receipt of the Celtic letter but had no records of the two letters reference the Rangers supporter. The RST formally extended an invitation to NBM founder, Cara Henderson(girlfriend of the murdered, Mark Scott) to attend an RST Board meeting and the first RST AGM. Again, we received no replies. The nearest NBM ever got to being on side with a Rangers grievance was the two effigies occurrence. Both hanged by the neck from the roof of the North Stand-Curve at Celtic Park. Both had hands tied behind their backs, one was replete in an orange collarette, the other in a Rangers scarf; the strange fruit twisted in the breeze for 45 minutes. Beneath was a huge banner proclaiming, "they hung out the banner of war" and a further two dozen smaller flags emblazoned with, "KAH" - kill all H--ns. Nil by Mouth declared it sectarian. Nine members of the Green Brigade were arrested, charged and, appeared in court. They all pled not guilty and the trial date was set for three months hence. At the second court hearing the nine charged were informed all charges were being withdrawn by the PF because all evidence had disappeared. We were promised an investigation reference the evidence being disappeared and and findings would be published in a report. Five years and counting. NBM does not reply to correspondence asking for continued support to ensure the report is published.

I haven't dealt with them personally but from what I've read they just seem like a more state authorised version of Call It Out. In other words, a bunch of yahoos who see sectarianism as a one way street.

Interesting to see Nil By Mouth downplaying bigoted tweets by just describing them as derogatory, and saying that donating to charity would basically brush it under the table.

"More than a Sporting Chance". Times have changed quite considerably in the last half century. Within minutes of a Euro draw, we have reams of information on our opponents. Back then, we relied on a Journalist with a good contacts book to tell us the club's players to watch, where they came from and, our chances of progression. The Sporting Club de Portugal were better known as Sporting Lisbon thus I knew they came from the country's capital city. I knew three of their players had represented Portugal against Scotland the midweek before, they had won the ECWC several years before and, Benfica were their great rivals. I did not know what colours Sporting wore? Autumnal nights at Ibrox under the floodlights were a great excitement. Fifty-five thousand others agreed and as Rangers emerged from the tunnel the cheers began. The old Main Stand contained wooden furniture and flooring. Twenty-odd thousand feet drumming made an eerie sound, it was a bass throb-like back beat. When Sporting emerged, the cacophony was strangled, then morphed into a mixture of cheers and jeers. The Portuguese were replete in green and white hoops. Constantly we are told, ra Sellik's colours are unique and Sporting's jerseys are the nearest I have seen to the separated brethren's green'n'grey. I was sandwiched between my old man and Grandfather in Section G, the seats immediately to our front were empty. As the welcome for the teams began to drift, an entourage carefully guided a very ill man to those seats. It was Lex McLean, days after cancer surgery. He was swaddled in an overcoat, wore a Cossack hat and, had a tartan wrap placed on his lap. In the centre circle the Skipper removed a bandage from his face and head before the stiffening wind did it for him. In those days Rangers pre-match build up was spent at Largs. On the Tuesday afternoon, in a relaxing game of fives Greig had kept his eye on the ball and ran straight into stacked benches. It took ten stitches under the chin to stem the blood although this did not stem his enthusiasm. He was told not to shave until the stitches had been removed, Greig announced he would not shave until Rangers were out of Europe. The teams that evening were Rangers : McCloy, Jardine, Mathieson, Greig, McKinnon, Smith, Henderson, Penman, Stein, Fyfe and, MacDonald. Sporting Lisbon : Damas, Laranjiero, Hilario, Goncalves, Calo, Carlos, Chico, Nelson, Yazalde, Vagner and, Dinis. The tie was done and dusted in thirty minutes? Rangers raced into a 3-0 lead as the Portuguese keeper struggled with the swirling wind. The first arrived in the ninth minute, Stein had been fouled and Andy Penman stepped up to flight the ball into the box. Clearly the Keeper floundered in the vortex and Stein nodded into an empty net. This was Penman's last contribution to both game and campaign, he limped off to be replaced by Alfie Conn. Ten minutes later Henderson was upended and Dave Smith set up to provide from the set piece. It was a glorious thumper from Colin Colin Stein, forehead to the rigging. Another ten minutes, another free kick, this time Conn touched the ball to Henderson, he jinked right and let fly an unstoppable shot from the corner of the box. Three nil was the half time score. Often my Old man brought a newspaper to the game. Half time entertainment was the guy who owned the local record shop playing a selection of Engelbert, Matt Monro, Sinatra ballads. Anyways, the then broadsheeted Scottish Daily Express was removed, unfolded and, perused. It had a feature by John Fairgrieve on Sporting's main man, an Argentinian called, Yazalde. He was prolific and earned the nickname, 'O Abono de Familia' - the family subsidy. His record of 46 goals for the club that season won a lot of Escudos in win bonuses for team mates. Dad thought Fairgrieve was the best. The second half was bemusing, the Derry demanded all out attack and more goals, the players did not know whether to stick or twist. Hesitancy was abroad and Sporting stepped up, notching their first in the 70th minute. A parried shot from McCloy fell to the Brazilian, Chico. He looked offside and his half hearted scuff found the net. The Linesman raced to the centre line. It was all Sporting and with five minutes to go, Rangers fans were whistling for the end. Two minutes left and Gomez stole in at the back stick for the visitors second. The match finished 3-2. As the crowd filed out of the old Stadium, the feeling was the pendulum had swung. Lex McLean was being helped from his seat and my Grandad asked what he thought of the tie? A half smile crept across an ashen face, "we have more than a sporting chance". Willie Waddell agreed, he remained bullish, "we're in front, they have to catch us". A relieved Fernando Vaz offered, "Rangers were brilliant in the first half but our two second period goals has put the tie in the balance". Likewise the respective press were also diverse in interpretations. The Record's John MacKenzie cut to the chase, "the performance of last night's defence in the last half hour leaves me with no confidence that they can stand firm in Lisbon". Ken Gallacher nailed the dichotomy, "the first thirty was their finest attacking performance in Europe, the last twenty was the most depressing". One element of the Portuguese press shone a different light, A Bola claimed, "the Scots goals all came from dubious free kicks. The Scots overindulge in provocations and commit foul after foul. They're hard, more than hard, they're violent". Other Lisbon blats were more respectful, Diario de Noticas had a headline, "A Hurricane named Stein". Apparently, Colin was the epitome of a player in the paradigm of wet and windy conditions. It got quite romantic with Sandy, "this player is an artist in the art of playing football, full of style and suppleness, a player with talent and class". The Journal do Sporting liked Alfie Conn, "he is magnificent with a motor never going out of tune". However, their main headline was, "A Defeat that's a Victory". It went on, "everything was against Sporting, the weather, the crazy support, the Officials" then went well flowery with, "the Lions vibrations set a second half rhythm spreading out to Loch Lomond" - what's Portuguese for Spiers? Two Sporting players gave post match interviews. Calo thought Rangers were more of a team than Scotland, specifying the Gers attack as more dangerous. The influential Yazalde was in no doubt, "their defenders are fearsome but if we can score first in the return the tie is ours". The return match had everything, ninety minutes, then thirty minutes extra time, then a coin was flipped, then the Ref' ordered penalties to be taken, then John Fairgrieve grabbed Willie Waddell with a copy of the UEFA rules .............. Remember, "we have a Sporting chance"!

John Needham has problems. He has regularly indulged in sectarian, dehumanising and, demonising broadcasts(ie Tweets) over a dozen year period. He was charged by the Police reference assaulting his wife - did this make court? He was not alone in lampooning Rangers during the club's financial collapse. However, when doing so his designation was as a senior managerial role at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Did he know Fred the Shred? How much did the British Government spend bailing out the financial basket case known as RBS? What was his Username on the Rangers Tax Case Blog?

I didn't realise until today they receive funding from the Scottish Government. Scotland is such a cesspit of corruption and nepotism and won't be anything else until this government is ousted. I can't understand why the question of the dominance of less than 20% of the population is tolerated in Government and organisations throughout Scottish society. If it were the other way about we would never hear the end of it. Until this is addressed nothing will change.

NBM (like FARE) are an agenda-driven organisation who target their selected individuals & organisations with the aim of causing maximum damage to them. However their lack of integrity is apparent when they disregard other individuals & organisations who are blatantly guilty of the same offences as their targeted ones. I’d suggest maybe these individuals & organisations are represented with NBM & FARE. To me they have no real genuine interest in achieving the aims they claim to support and are little more than a group of unaccountable pond life seeking to destroy their selected targets with the help of others in authority. Fascism in all but name. Unfortunately politicians & organisations such as football’s governing bodies are scared to challenge these partisan groups for fear of accusations which should be a big concern to all in a so-called free democracy.

Have Rangers always had this 'take the foot off the gas' mentality? I recall being a kid, in the 80s and early 90s and noting it. Games where we could easily win 6 or 7-0 but have instead slackened off after 3 or 4. We're currently as bad as ever for it -very frustrating ...sorry to go off on a tangent on such a great thread.

I should have been more trusting

I had "correspondence" with NBM as part of a complaint I made after witnessing an incident at Parkhead. This was years ago (at least 15). I'll see if I can find the correspondence.

Thanks 26th. I'd heard of the first story but never more details. A cognisant support and club should've nipped it in the bud back then.

What are your thoughts, folks?

Likewise. I think I wanted to believe it was more than just another celtic prop. I can't see anything suggesting otherwise. Some mind-benders from 10 years ago... I'm not sure how much of your grievance is related to football rather than sectarianism. I'd be cautious however about saying the campaign of the IRA and others like them is about religion, most people would regard their objectives as political.

Always feels like a matter of time, dreading it.

For 'inappropriate' and 'derogatory' you can read 'sectarian' and 'threatening'. It's interesting the mental gymnastics used in the narrative when discussing bigotry aimed towards Rangers fans.

NBM? DNR

Had some dealings with them on my time on the RST board and found them opaque and inconsistent. They almost always only want to offer comment if consulted by the media and rarely grasp the nettle themselves which made their statement of last week about 4LHAD all the more jarring.

Felt Roofe was our best player yesterday and the lad is starting to come into some good form. Let's hope he doesn't get injured...

Away to St Mirren after a European match was a very tricky tie so I’ll take the 3 points, especially after going 1 down so early. Our record of coming from behind to win away from home is terrible. So I’m very happy with the points, on to the next challenge.

I think they actually have a very good squad. If you put Guardiola, Klopp or Tuchel in charge of that Man Utd squad, they go close, IMO. Maybe strength in depth is what they are lacking, but that first team squad is pretty good.

After a poor first 25 minutes or so, I thought we played okay today. As usual, we didn't go and try to get more goals and that resulted in a nervy last part of the match. To be fair to them, I thought St Mirren played very well to begin with. They looked very confident and passed the ball around in a manner unexpected of a Scottish diddy side - sometimes you have to acknowledge the opposition when they're good. How many RoI players did they have? Unsurprising that they tried so hard.

He'd charge a few grand to tell you at an after-dinner speech, probably. That's his preferred method of communicating his social(ist) conscience. I love it when Man Utd are suffering. Horrible club.

Liverpool, Man City and maybe Chelsea look head and shoulders above the rest of EPL. Straight shoot-out between those 3 for the title. Big rebuilding job ahead for however replaces Ole at Man U.