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A Killie Pie followed by a Glass of Barolo. The Miners Strike was over, power had been restored and, Neil Young's Harvest was the new number one Album. The needle and the damage done was uppermost in the mind of our Skipper, it was rumoured John Greig had taken a Cortisone injection. Heart of Gold had a hook melodic chorus enhanced by Linda Ronstadt's soaring vocal, the combination of gruff and sweet harmony only intermittently available in Rangers midfield. Spring had sprung and the Board attempted to mend a misfiring middle order by bidding £45,000 for St Johnstone's purring feline, John Connolly. The offer was rejected, Everton bid £75,000 the very next week and was accepted. Tannochside RSC's bus was awash with further rumour. Rangers through the auspices of Programme sponsor, Ian Skelly were offering Wullie Henderson a Ford Granada to return to the fold. The car had been newly launched and I could see why it would solve a walkabout problem, Wullie had staged a Walkout. We arrived at Rugby Park without Henderson, our faith lay with Alfie Conn. Eighteen thousand gathered to see Killie run out : Hunter, Dickson, Cairns, Maxwell, Rodman, McGrory, McSherry, Gilmour, Mathie, Morrison and, Cook. Rangers - McCloy, Jardine, Mathieson, Greig, Jackson, Smith, McLean, Conn, Stein, MacDonald and, Johnston. Then, Rugby Park was renowned as possessing the best playing surface in Scotland. We witnessed a tentative first forty-five but football arrived in the second period. Sandy Jardine opened the scoring in the 48th minute, Ross Mathie equalised on the 55th and, Conn burst from midfield to round Scottish international Keeper, Ally Hunter and notch the winner just after the hour mark. Heading back to deepest, darkest Lanarkshire after a 1-2 victory at killie, meant a journey through the Fenwick Moors. The gloom descended, a couple of older men on the bus lamented Alex MacDonald, he was 'a corner boy' and no match for the classy Italians. We were reminded Rangers had never made it past Italian opposition in Europe. There had been three attempts with only one victory in six games, a 1-0 win against Inter Milan in 1965. Torino were challenging City rivals, Juventus for top spot of the Scudetto, Waldorf and Statler chirped again, "if DJs no fit, we're fcuked". Derek was 18 and Gaffer, Willie Waddell had ordered Club Physio', Tom Craig to work around the clock on his troublesome thigh muscle. Torino's Manager, Giagnoni had also attended Rugby Park and he lionised both Dave Smith, "so artistic" and John Greig, "the power and the strength". The Scottish Daily Express carried a double page broadsheet article tying in the Ibrox Disaster with the tragedy visited upon Torino 23 years earlier. The Granata(the Pomegranates due to their burgundy jerseys) were traveling back to Turin from a friendly against Benfica, their plane clipped the 2,200 feet Superga peak on approach and the resulting crash killed everyone on board. The team were known as, 'Il Grande Torino' because they were in place to win their fifth successive Scudetto. Torino fielded their Youth team in the last remaining fixtures, the opposition did likewise as a mark of respect, the Pomegranates succeeded in their five-in-a-row quest. Torino were the club of the Turin people, most supporters worked for the town's biggest employer, FIAT and the motor company owned Juventus(the Bosses club). Rangers took a squad of 17 players and based themselves thirty miles from Turin, Asti was the heart of Piemontese wine production. The previous three years had seen the advent of a pre-season tournament, 'the Anglo-Italian Cup'. It had been televised and was popular. Four mid-table clubs from each country competed and the English media quickly became outraged at the Italian teams constantly surrounding the Ref', committing sneaky fouls and, simulation. Willie Waddell caught the drift and played a pre-match blinder. He sympathised with match Ref', Kamber of Switzerland. He utilised a British - Italian match up taking place the evening before the Rangers game. Juventus were playing Wolves in the same ground, the Comunale Stadium in a Fairs Cup quarter final and Waddell took the entire squad along as an acclimatiser. He told the press, "Everyone knows the Latin temperament but I don't expect any trouble in our game. Torino are too intent with getting on with the job". He added with the Juve' game about to start, "Unlike other Italian sides, Torino have no prima donnas". Fellow Scot, Jim McCalliog scored Wolves goal in a 1-1 draw and Big Derek Dougan was a choirboy. Waddell celebrated his 51st birthday at the game and after match, he invited Wolves Boss, Bill McGarry to enjoy a glass of Barolo. In vino veritas, the light coloured drop is notorious for delivering quite a bang, traditionally 14% plus. Willie was worried about Torino's Italian international centre forward, Claudio Sala. McGarry assured the Deedle that the sodden turf of the Stadio Comunale had been well cut up and 24 hours would not improve the situation. Waddell smiled, he knew DJ had passed a fitness test that late afternoon, but DJ at centre half would have no responsibility for Sala, Club Captain, John Greig was to be the man marking Soldier Blue. Rangers won the toss and elected to kick-off. Greig whispered to Doddy to lay the pass back a little short. Sala noted the lack of weight on the ball and rushed to intercept. Ham and Egg prepared to put in a solid tackle ........................ Tune in tomorrow for the match report.

I want to hear the newly appointed Disability Access Officer announcing a new purpose built facility Get our fellow Rangers fans out of the wind and rain.

and when they drag us down as their reputation is destroyed? we should be making them a Toxic brand not helping them. In a decent society they have already made themselves a toxic brand.

Terrific stats. Tavernier has been a good player for us and some of his recent performances have been up there with his best. Now, as captain he'll surely be desperate to lift the cup aloft at Hampden - get it done!

Here's what I think about us playing the vermin in an overseas friendly...

Was a little concerned about this fixture due to the missing bodies in midfield but the replacements stepped in and filled the gap. Sands and Ramsey done well yesterday. Another great game from Tav and a nice cameo from Lowry. For me Lowry needs to play the games at ibrox v the park the bus/10 men behind the ball teams as he has that something that can help unlock it. Nice to see Charlie McCann get his debut sure there will be more to come. Good to see the manager use his subs well On Sands, I've posted a few times how he looks like a centre back playing in midfield and felt the same yesterday. But that's not a bad thing in the right team. Think Marcel Desailly or Fernando Hierro. Not comparing him to them quality wise but the value that type of player can offer in the right team is often overlooked.

Oh and why have we reverted to our 1980/1990's songbook in last few away games?

3 trophies in six days. League title Scottish Cup and Europa League

I've already decided I'm not going back to Hampden until we win there again, so hopefully I'll be back in May.

What are your thoughts, folks?

Ive been actively following Rangers since 1983 and always believed that Gary Stevens was the best right back I had seen play for us, now I'd say that honour now goes to Tav.

Hard to quibble with James Sands who joins Ryan Jack and John Lundstram as the key reliable people in the engine room who allow others to perform.

And another moan - why can't our fans sit in the seats they are allocated? Had about 20 people crammed in between 5 or 6 seats where I was!

The Chelsea lads goal was reminiscent of Bergkamp at his pomp a wonderful goal .

Another good team performance, if just a wee bit wasteful in attacking areas now and again. Thought Tav was immense again but no quibble if Sands gets it as he impressed me too.

Sydney. It's a form of protest against the board (this is a statement of fact, nothing else). Good result today. We should really have scored more.

As soon as he gets the ball theres only one direction hes going... towards the opposition goal. I love his directness and you can see a mile off that hes an intelligent player. We need to start giving this kid more game time. He is far too good to be on a bench warmer. Sands as well is looking the part with every kick of the ball he kicks. He strolled through the game effortlessly and must surely be staking a claim for a regular slot. If anything hes an excellent backup for jack. Chuck lundstram into the mix and we have excellent options in the midfield. I was never a fan of the kamara davis and aribo midfield, I found it far too negative and unproductive and the root cause of many of our problems throughout the season.

depressing stuff

Reports suggest former Rangers player Alexei Mikhailichenko has signed up for the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Army. Best of luck to him - he certainly gave us some good memories.

Miko and Kuznetzov both played a huge part in my first and favourite derby at the Piggery (4-2 on NYD '94). An unforgettable day.

Great post as ever John. With regards to the 1990 friendly, did big Oleg Kutsnetsov not score a beauty in the opening stages and we subsequently signed him shortly after? (Only to be injured in one of his first games)

I've not seen this mentioned anywhere but we played Dynamo Kiev in a friendly in 1990. Europe was going through seismic change, the Berlin Wall had fallen the previous year, Poland and Hungary had broken free from Communist dictators and the entire map of Europe was about to change as the Soviet Union was beginning to dissolve, events we're still feeling the consequences of today. For many of us at that time Dynamo Kiev were a 'Russian' side. Many people used the term Russia and Soviet Union interchangeably. Despite some of the great Soviet sides not actually being Russian, (Dynamo Kiev, Dynamo Tbilisi and Dynamo Minsk) there was a lazy shorthand in the West that Russia and the Soviet Union were the same thing. I grew up knowing a few Scottish Communists, I knew a guy who used to go to Moscow every year for the May Day parade and sent postcards home to everyone he knew. But he never explained the geography or ethnic breakdown to me, they were all comrades in his eyes. It's funny looking back. We'd played Dynamo Kiev in a memorable European Cup match in 1987, for many who were there it was one of Rangers greatest evenings. Dynamo Kiev were one of the best club sides in the world. European Cup winners in 86, semi finalists the following season they were rightly strong favourites. If you listen to Archie MacPherson's commentary of that match he describes Kiev as 'Russian', something most of us thought at the time. Anyway, that match has been written about a lot and is well documented. So I guess we'd made a connection with the club and somehow this led to a friendly being arranged that summer. Again this was unusual as Soviet teams rarely took part in friendlies in 'the West'. But then Europe was changing and Dynamo Kiev, having had successful runs in European competition were better placed than most to benefit from them. Anyway, the reason I thought of this match was it was the first time I remember reading about Ukraine being a separate nation from Russia. I had heard the name Ukraine from school history classes, but I'd never thought of it as a country in its own right. Dynamo Kiev had an iconic strip, that wonderful stylised capital D on white shirts and navy shorts, however on that day Rangers presented Dynamo with a new strip, it was a yellow top with blue shorts, the symbolism of which was largely lost on me then but is quite important today. Ukraine hadn't yet become a separate nation, but was clearly taking steps towards it and as arguably their most visible symbol Dynamo Kiev were nailing their colours to the mast. For all intents and purposes Dynamo Kiev were the Ukraine national side, they were certainly the best side in the country and many of their players were already Soviet internationals. I wonder if it was Rangers idea to give them the strips, or if someone from Dynamo Kiev initiated it. Dynamo wore them for a couple of seasons as Ukraine established itself as a nation, then they reverted back to their traditional colours. Dynamo Kiev have a fascinating history, truly remarkable. Dutch writer, Simon Kuper, wrote an extraordinary chapter on them in his book 'Football Against the Enemy' (a book with a chapter on Rangers too) and Andy Dougan, who wrote for the Evening Times for many years, wrote about Dynamo Kiev during WW2, again an astonishing story. As for Miko, he split our support. I remember someone telling me that John Grieg was announcing the sides to a corporate box at Ibrox one day and when he came to Mikhailichenko's name in the starting 11 he muttered "it canny be raining then', I don't think he was Grieg's type of player! Whatever lack of fight he might have demonstrated on the pitch he's clearly got no shortage of courage when it really matters. Good luck Alexei.

Wishing on a Red Star. As we have already discussed on this thread, BBC Scotland largely ignored Rangers knocking out Europa League favourites, Borussia Dortmund from the tournament. I do not mind PQ decided our Ladies and Mens Olympic Curlers journeys to winning Gold and Silver medals respectively was deemed more worthy of coverage. I do not mind they decided the Celtic - Bodo Glimp tie in the Europa Conference League was more worthy of live commentary and, I don't mind the machinations at Aberdeen are considered more worthy for the bulk of discussion over the period. All PQ had to do was pay BT Sport the required amount to show the game's goals . They did not. At the start of the season, RAB Cosgrove provided first evidence of BBC Scotland's take on matters Rangers, "ah don't get it, Rangers fans are standing on the side lines, beelin". RAB repeated this line a few times and if you think about it, BBC Scotland were deliberately putting us on the side lines and their reaction was to ignore us and our aspirations. Even Michael Stewart gave up on his weekly 'Trial by Sportscene'; demanding numerous retrospective red cards for Morelos. It could be argued PQ is just reflecting Scots wider society's take on the Club, not one of the SNP's 108 MPs and MSPs support Rangers. Those credentials were flashed again last week when none of the SNP MSPs at Holyrood signed the early day motion offering congratulations to Rangers on their 150th anniversary, including First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon whose constituency includes Ibrox. However, BBC Scotland is contracted by the License Fee to provide a service, even to Rangers supporters. I detect a slight change this week in the wake of the Red Star game. On Thursday night after Midnight, BBC Scotland's last news bulletin carried the Ranger result and having paid BT Sport the necessary fee, showed Rangers three goals with a Kheredine Idessane voiceover. Today, Cosgrove and Cowan mentioned the result at the top of the show, then talked endlessly about last night's Ayrshire Derby. Mention it early, then consign it to the sidelines is the current Immediate Action - coping mechanism. Jum Spence wears his black heart on his Twitter sleeve, he Tweeted 17 times when Dundee United defeated Rangers earlier this season; on Thursday evening he issued one Tweet, "penalty to Rangers". Later, he reinforced this broadcast by claiming, "it succinctly captures events at Ibrox". PQ's journey with the Rangers - Red Star Belgrade tie began with a wishing on a Red Star moment(apologies to Rose Royce). Four days before the game, the headline on the Website was, 'When Red Star beat Rangers on the way to Euro' Glory'. A dozen paragraphs lionising the Red Star team that won the European Cup, particularly since, "they drew and brushed aside Rangers". As the article went on it sharpened, "the Belgrade side routed Rangers on the way to their greatest triumph". The relevance of events 32 years ago were tied into current times with, "BBC Scotland can reveal Red Star are privately pleased to be paired with Rangers". It was the last paragraph before PQ threw in a bit of balance, "nonetheless GVB's men will aim to channel the spirit of 1964 and 2007, two years when Rangers got the better of Red Star". BBC Scotland's various contributors to the numerous shows on Scottish football constantly opine, even bitterly moan about folks missing opportunities to talk up Scottish football. The above preview fails but the real piss on your chips moment arrived during the two and half hour live coverage of the game itself. BIG Dick hosted Richard Foster, Charlie Adam and, Leeanne Chricton. Now, Charlie was enthusiastic but his emotion did not influence Big Dick. After 25 minutes, I tuned in whilst seated in Bar'72. I wanted to find out the reason for the award of our penalty. Rangers are winning two zip and Big Dick is NOT talking up the Scottish game, "we have had twenty five minutes and the ball has been in play for barely sixteen or seventeen minutes, this is not what VAR is for". I was deliriously happy with VAR, everyone around me was in agreement. The fact that PQ cannot be arsed to walk half a mile to the Stadium and participate in the atmosphere of a Scots team achieving a victory that again improves the National co-efficient, is a big part of the problem. Any given Sellik Euro game, we have Big Dick with the Blarney Twins constantly eulogising the green'n'grey hooped heroes, straining to heard over the Stade de Gadd PA banging out the Irish music. VAR had failed Big Dick, lamenting Red Star's offsides constantly but, relief arrived at one minute to ten(four minutes after the game ended) when BBC Scotland's football coverage finished. At half time I tuned in once again and Big Dick did not discuss the first forty-five happenings - two goals, three VAR decisions, a converted penalty, a saved penalty, five minutes added time, ............. etc; the weekend's Scottish Cup fixtures and the Dundee - St Johnstone relegation fight were deemed more important. Could you imagine BBC Scotland doing similar during half time at a Sellik Euro game? On Friday morning, GB's Para-Olympians were front and centre, by Noon the Ayrshire Derby was being previewed but, none of it runs interference on Big Dick's summary before the second half began, "busy first half, Allan McGregor was lucky to get away with a fumble, Ryan Kent's penalty was certainly a controversial one, Red Star also missed a penalty as well as having the ball in the Rangers net twice but not counting, however Rangers are two nil in front and, errrh well errrm that is good for Scottish football" That last line, I am sure as Big Dick uttered it he had his fingers crossed, whilst wishing on his Red Star?

One of laziest players I've ever seen but would have him in my team every week. All the best Miko, horrible situation to be in and braviest or brave decisions.

The lack of sound judgement from our board of directors is threatening to become Sturgeonesque. Even worse in this case is their complete lack of responsiveness to overwhelming supporter opinion that this game in Sydney should not take place.

The Tom Tom Club. Oh the anguish! Yesterday, BBC Scotland's Chief Sports Writer, Tom English Tweeted, "The BBC has asked me to delete a tweet I posted at the weekend about Celtic's statement on Shane Warne, as it did not meet Editorial standards". Tom had found Celtic's comment on the death of the Australian international Cricketer to be akin to ambulance chasing. FC Separate Entity saw an opportunity to tie in and reinforce their new found love of all things Australian. They posted a photograph of Shane Warne sporting a training top with Club sponsors, 'Dafabet' - the online gambling company prominently displayed across his chest. Underneath the photo it read, "Everyone at Celtic FC is saddened to hear of the death of Australian Cricket legend, Shane Warne. The thoughts and prayers are with Shane's family at this extremely sad time". Now, as Rangers supporters we know Tom's Twitter account is a personal account and NOT BBC Scotland's responsibility because that is what we are told when we complain about some of his comments on the means. It's the very same with Chris McLaughlin et al. Why has BBC Scotland changed their practice? The Chief Sports Writer's response to Celtic's opportunism was, "Shoehorning in a promotion for the Club's sponsor? This is so crass". Of course, Celtic could have utilised any one of 100,000 stock photographs of Shane Warne in his international pomp. Shane's career spanned 24 years, his international period lasted 15 years, he never wore a Dafabet top whilst playing. Anyways, the Yahoos bombarded Tom with every complaint apart from the usual anti-Irish one. They got on to his employer, BBC Scotland and demanded an apology. Pacific Quay did not do their habitual thing ie Tom's Twitter is a personal account and not our responsibility, no they turned 180 degrees and told Tom to delete the Tweet. Tom became most compliant and did as he was ordered to do, he deleted his Tweet. These last five years, BBC Scotland has justified it's continuing stance on delivering a lesser service to BBC License Fee paying Rangers supporters upon the principle of, 'Journalistic Freedom'. I would have expected a host of senior, experienced Journos at PQ to be publicly pleading with Tom to adhere to those principles of journalistic freedom? Nah, they are all searching the building for Editorial Standards.