andy steel

VB post on Manchester is the last place on earth etc was an example of a poor response, though - adolescent religious paranoia. Nothing to do with style or trivia, everything to do with how one perceives oneself and/or Rangers. MF's approval of VB seems in stark contrast to his antipathy to the RST, but afaics they both claim ownership of the soul of Rangers and are not shy about putting forth their agenda. I don't see much difference between the two. MF, why are you pretending you weren't aiming that dig at Bluedell when you were? Weird scenes inside the goldmine.

Sorry, Cal, the rivers of pish and ankle deep refuse we left behind in Manchester was a disgrace imo, but I don't think I singled us out. Isn't there a bit about the Scotland fans as well? I'll re-read what I wrote. EDIT: There is! Give me a break! One wonders just how much more out of touch with reality it is possible for GMP to be. UEFA Cup Final, once-in-a-lifetime, 200,000 travel. Testimonial for unpopular Mancunian wazzock...you'd be lucky to get 5,000 Bears going to that. But meh...

17 users say thanks? I'm not having that.

Well, a Motherwell director would know. I suggest you name the chap so we can ask him ourselves.

Danny, you've got to be joking...the Evening Times is an appalling excuse for a Parish Gazette. There's only so many glum tenants pointing to their damp walls, or have-a-go heroes refusing to let their rampant palsy allow a spotty youth to steal their pension book, or "Local Heroes ™" brightening the day of disadvantaged urchins I can take before I boak...and that point was reached in about 1990, as I retired from a hard day's studying to see the headline "Cannabis to be decriminalised" in said organ. Needless to say, several hours later our band practice had been subverted by the false hope raised by the story. In the words of Bill Bailey, cannabis should be re-classified in the same category as that of a very strong onion; it hasn't happened yet. Sod the Evening Times! Do they still run the "Gall" cartoon?

I haven't read beyond this post, so apologies if I'm repeating what has already been posted. I certainly hope I am. The 'general consent' might have been get shot of Walter...it certainly wasn't my opinion and in all fairness, it wasn't 100% amongst the people I know. Some wanted another manager, but almost always it was someone who would have needed the shekels, a la Dick Advocaat, to implement their plan. Given that that is a non starter, anyone hoping we got a big name was living in fantasy land afai(was)c, so I didn't give their opinions a lot of credence. Your analysis of European football would have been true some years ago, but it simply isn't anymore. Clubs at our level can only set out hoping for a sneak win in CL and if it happens, great, but it's a surprise. It DOES cost a fortune to compete or even challenge at that level; we don't have the cash; bluntly, we have little or no chance and there's no justification for blaming Smith for that. We're in no position to implement new ideas; I can only assume you're under the age of 35 because if you'd seen some of the pish soming out the East End during 9IAR, you wouldn't rate the current unfortunates paid to suffer in the green and grey hairshirt as the worst you'd seen - Andy Payton? Ian McKnight? The unforgettable fire himself, Anton Rogan? Here I must digress - after one of Anton's routine Old Firm nightmares, in which this time he had distinguished himself by punching away a cross and gifting us a penalty, the chaps in the back of Colliers (pub in Johnstone) that night incurred thr wrath of manageress Alice by waving their fists in the air and singing "Let's all do the Anton, let's all do the Anton, na na na nah, na na na nah!" many, many times. Happy days indeed. Though perhaps it's not such a digression - another Colliers memory I have if of myself and the 6 or 7 chums who had watched the second leg of the Leeds CL game all those years ago, sat at a table awash with liquid, offering up their glasses for the final toast of the night. We had already toasted more or less the whole team, with special cheers for Hateley and McCoist. It was my honour to propose the toast to Walter Smith that night...I have proposed many toasts to him since. He has been MY manager since I was, what, 20? 21? He's done more for the club than any other player or manager I can remember in my lifetime...I can't accept people thinking he's done. He's in with the bricks for me. I totally refute your suggestions...I lift my glass of middle aged red wine to the man who has been Rangers for the whole of my adult life, and who I hope continues to be Rangers for many years to come. Gentlemen, I give you, Walter Smith.

Even in a dire scenario - we struggle along for 5, 10 years, paying off the bank and having little or no success. Then, when we are clear of the debt, I would assume someone fancies owning the club, comes in and we start again, only this time with a rigorous and imaginative financial structure in place, rather than borrowing on a vast scale. I can't speak for others, I suppose, but I'll still be there supporting, and I feel 99.9999% of us will be the same. Suppose we have to go through a drought, I can live with it. 'An empty shell of a once great club' - as long as but 100 of us remain alive, I can't see it.

You have to say, we are being left light years behind even the Championship. At this rate, we'll be lucky to compete with the Unibond league.

It certainly beats giving the likes of Stuart Beattie a run out with 8 weeks of the season left, since we were so far behind it made no difference...if Steven Davis and Kenny Miller are to be with us next year, they must be rested ASAP.

Won't be up to Walter, though.

That photo of Miller looks like he has dyed his hair peroxide...took me a second to realise it was Naismith behind him.

Nursing a massive hangover all day so 'subdued' is the very word. Still shed my usual tear at the final whistle, though.

No interest in their socio-political-familial views: if they make us better, or thinking about next year, keep us afloat, that's all I care about. I can't say any of these bullshit links fill me with joy, but that's got nothing to do with outdated nonsense which we quite right berate the likes of McGeady for.

Most salient post in the thread. The myth of the 'US market' or the 'far east market'...I would point you to the 16,000 attendance the last time they played, as quoted in the article; unless there's an English angle, the TV bods will lose interest (at least, they won't be offering the huge amounts of money of legend) with that pitiful kind of fan appeal. I remember a Playing for Rangers annual I had when I was young, it was the season after we did a NZ and Oz tour, must have been nack in 83-84 ish. The attendances weren't that enormous then and I can't see any reason why they would be of a size to tempt foreign broadcasters and spectators now.

I viewed his habit of getting riled, and showing it, by the fatuous and immature sniping of the media as a strength. You can hardly berate him for acting as anyone normal would on one hand, then moan about getting a blazer (with, no doubt, the requisite PR skills to avoid answering anything) to replace him.

It was amusing to hear Campbell Ogilivie being touted as a replacement. As if timothy would wear two man with Rangers connexions in a row!

It's been years since I bought a shirt - well, I got one special like for Manchester, but that apart - but I'd pay good money for that Adidas one.

I wonder if DMB will still be a Rangers player come the pre-season?

At the risk of defending a journo, I woud aver that we have an example of poor editing rather than poor writing.

On paper maybe, but in the flesh there's a world of difference between a reserve game with no-one watching and when your mistakes don't matter, and a game in which you will be reported on, broadcast, and subject to the withering eye of the punter. Also, it's not as if it would be 11 youngsters v 11 youngsters, so they'd be playing with and against experienced pros, something they wouldn't get in the reserves. So there's more than just the three points (with associated payout for league placing at the end of the season, plus win-bonuses which I assume don't apply much in the stiffs) at stake, there's the priceless experience of playing in the first team.

There's a counter argument to that, though, which is that for football to develop organically, to bring through new players, give managers a fair crack of the whip, introduce new styles of play and so on, there needs to be a period of competitive games which will not make or break a career or, in the current circumstances, break a club. I know this makes the word 'competitive' slightly anomalous, but we've seen what the politics of failure (failing to make the top 6) has done to the standard of our game. There are other reasons, too, but that has to be high up the list. This might mean that a portion of the season will appeal only to the purist, who is interested in seeing the latest young players, or who is attracted along to a game with the promise of a 4-2-4 formation and the implied glut of goals...a bit like Test cricket, which is dying on it's arse around the world except in England. It goes through peaks and troughs, but when they get it right it utterly absorbs the nation - witness the last two tours by the Australians. Overall, the split is impacting negatively on the SPL: fans, managers and writers are all whining about it to a lesser or greater degree. Call me a purist, but I think it has to go.

There 101 reasons why, during our run of dodgy results which morphed into good ones, Rothen was not re-introduced into the team: none of them make him a scapegoat. Steven Naismith was out for a good long time, not always with injury I think (although I will stand corrected since my memory is shocking). Walter Smith looked at how we were playing, decided what the team needed to play better and came to the conclusion that Jerome Rothen would not fit into the scheme he had in mind: I just can't see how that becomes scapegoating anyone, with all it's pejorative associations. Fair enough for the player to be miffed, and to divert attention away from his own potential failings and onto some (to me) contrived personal clash with the management, but I don't see why any fans would accept that argument. As to the rest of this thread, I'm equally baffled and propose to keep well out of it.

Where does this 'Rothen is the scapegoat' come from? Why not 'Rothen was dropped and we staggered to wins, so he didn't get back in, plus his mystery illness didn't help, so why doesn't he shut it and stop whining?'

There would be some weight behind his gripe were the team to have played worse since he left. He ought to have started asking himself questions years ago, maybe then he wouldn't have ended up a bit part player in a shit league.

What language are these people speaking? Black Friday? CU? Dianogah? Wtf?