andy steel

You're entitled to your opinion and you'e entitled to be angry.

But that report specifically states that we will only be allowed to join the SFA - not SPL or SFL, but the SFA - if we give up a right we're entitled to under both the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. It may seem ridiculous to bring those agreements into this context, but they were hard won with buckets of blood - you might say humanity was up to its knees in tyrants' blood - and to insist on the abrogation of those rights in order to allow membership of a club is just not on. In short, they are not allowed by law to insist on this aspect of the deal. Now, Rangers might say it's a price worth paying. But it makes me very nervous indeed.

I really do object to the football authorities obsession for operating without fear of legal challenge. That kind of thing - those at the top being free from effective questioning - didn't so us much good, did it?

I wish him all the best. I wouldn't have transferred across to NewCo because I would have worries about what would have happened next - whether it is Charles or Bomber or Colonel Mustard who was in charge. The club is a total shambles and if I had the chance to get out I'd have taken it. If I, who's been going since 1985ish feel that way, how can I blame someone starting out on their career? Yes, staying then leaving for a fee would have been better but in the circumstances, I don't blame anyone for doing a runner. It's hard to take, but understandable.

wrong thread.

At last someone recognises the weakness of this 'football should be apart from the law' bullshit.

Salim hasn't gone yet, has he? <dismay> Salim! Salim! Salim Kerkar! I love that, it's my favourite chant. Makes me feel like a guy in Tripoli or somewhere.

Well, I liked him. I thought he looked like Lenin, there on the steps.

As we disappear over the horizon into an uncertain future, it's time to examine what the grassroots revolution 'led by the fans' will mean for the game in the country as a whole. Everyone knows there are a lot of unknowns, and even more of Rumsfeld's unknown unknown's, but there's little point waiting until the damage is done before complaining - as a Bluenose, I should know. Now that upstanding morality has been established, the key question for football fans must be: will standards improve? Almost certainly not. The reason standards in the SPL are shite is not because of a lack of money, or facilities, or because big bad Rangers were causing it. It is because the coaches are crap - playing a style of football even England or Ireland, those relics of the past who briefly spoiled the mighty Euro2012 juggernaut of football, would reject. If the revolution comes with the dismissal of the old guard and the appointment of coaches who get teams playing real football it might improve; the last man to get a job in the SPL, John McGlynn, is unlikely to be mistaken for Joachim Loew. We (Rangers) have been bad enough in Europe; anyone who thinks St Johnstone are likely to record a better performance is either a Perth fan positive to point of delusion or needing to visit the doctor. A Dundee United fan said the other day that the last time the old firm were in dire straits, Scottish football benefited from it in the form of the strong DUFC and Aberdeen teams of the early 1980s. This is true. But to suggest that such a scenario is likely to recur is overly optimistic. It ignores all the qualifiers one must take into account. When Jim McLean was constructing his title winning side, he was able to tie players to long term deals for modest reward, and to decide when and for how much they would leave Tannadice. The days of the autocratic manager holding all the cards are long gone - should Dundee Utd assemble a team capable of reaching the European Cup semi final again, it would be scattered to the four footballing winds before it had a chance to play so much as a July qualifying round. Added to that, with only one side in Scotland worth moving to, the lure of England would increase. Any player who fancied a move would be off like a shot, contract or no contract, and, with all the cards in his hands, the club cannot be sure of a decent return on any players sold. Motherwell recently revealed that their financial position was precarious owing mainly to their failure to secure a player trade either in January or the summer. This would be the default position of any Scots club - and English clubs would know it. While they may be cash rich, I fail to see why they'd willingly give a Scottish club £300,000 when they only need pay £50,000 for a player. Ironically, given the resentment other teams fans' felt about Rangers poaching their players, the lack of Rangers makes them even more vulnerable to the same thing happening - and for less. The success of Aberdeen, too, is hardly likely to be repeated unless that club can unearth another manager of the class of Alex Ferguson. This is only a hunch, but my money is on them faililng to do so. We've seen their decline since Ferguson's days from Cup and title winners to perennial relegation candidates - I remain to be convinced that the loss of Rangers is going to reviltalise them to the degree that they will once again challenge for Scottish, let alone European, silverware. Were Willie Miller playing now, he would not have been a career Aberdeen player, nor would Leighton, or McLeish, or the other greats from that period. The best players will either go to celtc or England. This may well lead to a better Scottish national side - all well and good - but it's not going to improve whatever the top division in Scotland is called. Hibs fans have issued a statement suggesting an absence of Sky will see the return of 3 o'clock Saturday games, and with it a surge of support from hitherto stay at home fans. This ignores the point that Hibs have had plenty of such games without coming close to filling the newly built Easter Road; the same can be said for every club outwith the detested Glasgow duo. True Believers, lovingly handling samizdat copies of the Collected Shreikings of Jim Spence while huddled in a dingy Dundee backstreet, may buy into this golden dawn which is, apparently, just around the corner. Anyone capable of actually analysing the situation - and there's precious few of those around - ought to be filled with foreboding at what this revolution is going to cause.

Thanks for all that Stevie! Very much appreciated.

Well....I suppose you could always argue that the creditors were equally entitled to their money. So, in a karmic way, it comes around. At the very least it can be used to counter the argument that we shafted creditors....now we've been similarly shafted.

Is the fact that Brown is asking who owns the deeds suggestive that something is amiss there? For all Brown may be dismissed as an idiot in business terms, probably because of his accent, he's no fool - but I doubt he has enough business savvy to spot this one all on his own. Someone has pointed him in this direction, and presumably for a reason.

Ugh. No thank you, piss off. He and his half wit cronies aren't going to be at Ibrox tonight, are they?

Still, an interesting read for all that.

My God, SSN employ some truly beautiful women. That was a treat, especially coming after Bomber's coupon.

Have been for a coupla days, since I first forced myself to type that I thought we had had it. Haven't seen anything since to persuade me otherwise.

Ffs, even a pre-season match must have integrity nowadays. Nothing more than a fan fleecing exercise, always were and always will be.

Or - stay and fight and try to make it better.

he does have a problem with keeping his mouth shut about other clubs/players. But this would be nuts to post online.

Why would Alexander stay, though? He is an international class goalie. Accepting a contract offer from a club with no players or fixtures is unlikely to appeal in the way being No.2 at title contenders did.

Whereabouts is Cathkin Park? Amazing that it has escaped development all these years.

I don't know, mate. I think there are too many fans with different opinions on subject A, B or C to ever have a united front on anything. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a reflection on the size of our fanbase.

I am not set to 'be offended' when journalists say nasty things about us. Maybe I have an especially thick skin, but I don't think so; I just don't mind too much what people I don't know or care about think of me. I have complained once over something to do with Rangers, and that was when GMP prevented me catching a nap after the UEFA Cup Final and insisted I drive into the next constabulary area, which I did with one eye shut since I was sleeping, to all intents and purposes. That definitely merited a complaint. The irony of the road signs saying 'Don't Drive Tired' has not been lost on me since. Anyway, point is, I don't get het up about stories in the media. I didn't even get too het up about this one initially. Seemed like another twat without a clue about the culture here wading in and making a hash of things. Insensitive certainly and far from impartial but if C4 are happy, I can sleep at night. Learning that he did in fact know what the purpose of the statue was, despite initially claiming he didn't, made it a bit worse - what a creep, I was thinking. But he apologised, after a fashion, which was good enough for me. The tweet from Lesley Riddoch, describing him sitting on a train reading understandably angry tweets from Bears calling him for everything and laughing takes things beyond the pale for me. Laughing? At this? At using a memorial to dead football fans to get a laugh?? Alex Thomson is not a nice person.

Cream goes sour, sometimes, as well.

Plus ca change