andy steel

I quite often think things were better when there weren't phone ins every night, and people going ga-ga on the internet. But without both those things, this wouldn't have happened, and even if this particular example doesn't end up as we would like there's no doubt clubs will be forced, under penalty of the law, to change the way they treat supporters. And if they can be forced to change on this front, maybe other ones as well? This is a brilliant development, and I'd like to say well done and thank you, thank you to the people involved.

Altogether now: Keano! Keano! Just a shame we aren't playing the tims soon.

Even Keane can see Mopery for what it is.

Another season, another new manager. It's starting to seem as though the Glorious 12th, the traditional start of the grouse hunting season, has been replaced in Scotland by the hunt for a new manager of the national football team. As George Burley's inglourious basterd of a reign comes to an end, the name put forward so far have reacted with all the delight of Dracula being awoken by a door to door garlic salesman. Graeme Souness, Mark McGhee and Owen Coyle have formally declined to be considered, while David Moyes doesn't even have to say anything for the nation to know he's staying put at Everton. There's always the chance Sir Alex Ferguson will fancy a bit of part time managing in between tilts at the Champions League, but it's a slim hope. And Rangers boss Walter Smith as been there and done that: is he likely to go back again? The fans have been reduced, only a few days after Burley's sacking, to rootling about in the bargain basement bin of managers. The first rule seems to be that they need to be unemployed, given the parlous state of the SFA's finances. The second, as always, is that they are a new broom, with which they will sweep in a new era of success. And the third is probably that foreigners are still verboten, after the dreck-shreck of the Berti Vogts period. We can safely rule out Terry Butcher, then. Two coaches have at least thrown their hats into the ring. Jimmy Calderwood, late of Aberdeen, and John Collins, late of Beveren, have declared they would be willing to talk. While neither set the pulses racing, they at least have the cachet of being educated, football-wise and other wise, abroad: Calderwood in Holland, and Collins in France. They would certainly bring a different approach to the job, but it's debateable at least that it would be any more successful. While both have their merits, I suggest a more radical solution. The SFA should approach BBC Scotland and ask it's football chunterer Murdo MacLeod if he fancies a crack at it. Anyone who listens, despite themselves, to the radio coverage the station provides can't fail to have been impressed by his tactical nous, his ability to spot a player, his passion for the cause. It would remain to be seen if he can transfer his passion for Celtic into the international arena, but it would be interesting to see - after all, the man played at the World Cup for Scotland. MacLeod also has the benefit of a continental education - this time in Germany - to broaden his horizon. Fans often sarcastically call upon commentators or writers to put their money where their mouth is, but no-one in their right mind would want to see James Traynor or Chick Young in charge of a football team, unless it were some "The Producers" style destroy-from-within mission. I'm serious here: MacLeod spots where teams (alright, Celtic) are underperforming and can suggest convincingly where teams (oh alright, Celtic) can change for the better. The man understand football and footballers. The only fly in the ointment I can see is that before every game he'll probably still tip Celtic to win, but we can use that to our advantage: think how confused foreign coaches and media will be. Murdo: your country needs you. What do you say?

"Good morning, students. Today, you are to be lectured by Professor McCulloch."

Sorry if this is a bit dated! Anyway. 'A thistle with graceful leaves'. So wrote Meleagar, the Argonaut, describing the rather filthy Greek poet Archilochos. You can't help thinking the epithet neatly sums up The Rangers, too. Only the most cyclopic of fans could deny we have 'issues', as the modern parlance has it. Social behaviour, constantly in a state of flux, demands a lot of crowds: be they pickets on the line, protesters at a summit, or football fans. We've failed at times; Manchester, Barcelona, and now Bucharest. And now we receive yet another UEFA fine, this time 18,000GBP, for recent disorder in the game against Unirea. It's a measure of the nervousness with which UEFA's decision was awaited that this has been greeted as virtually a victory, or vindication. How can being fined for crowd trouble be positive? I think it's because Rangers fans are being 'conditioned' to think the worst, and who can blame them? A constant stream of newspaper, radio and TV reports, in the most hyperbolic language, forecasting a just and deserved chastisement coming down from on high, or at least from Switzerland. Leaving aside the crass, sensationalist nature of these reports, this raises two points. Firstly, that we are our own worst enemies: if we didn't read these papers or listen and contribute to these programmes, they would soon be struggling. Secondly, and far more importantly, for all the faults we share with every other set of supporters in the world, we have much to be proud of. It may just be me, but the drip, drip effect of negative coverage these last years has brought a bit of doom into my following The Rangers, and I need a dose of reality. Who hasn't been on a trip somewhere, and been at the end of some kindness from a stranger? Who hasn't fallen into easy conversation with the bear beside them, regardless of never having clapped eyes on them before? Cutting through the Scottish macho reserve: at the Title party at Ibrox last May, I hugged, danced and cried with a bunch of people about whom I knew nothing other than this - they were Rangers men, and that was enough. And on the field: a trail of wonder, blazed from Alan Morton, through Willie Thornton, Davie Wilson, Davie Cooper and Brian Laudrup. That's a drop in the ocean of talent that has graced pitches the length and breadth of Scotland for the last 120 odd years - you could fill a book with names. It's time to remember the positives about being a Rangers man. There will be times when you wonder what your fellow fan has been drinking, and why no-one told him he'd had enough; but there will be many, many more times when you feel the bond of comradeship that comes from following our team. Yes, we're prickly and if you are doing us down you can expect a furious response, but the Blue Rose of Govan is a thing of beauty. Hell, we even have a load of manure delivered twice a season to keep it healthy!

Collins and Calderwood together seems like a reasonable enough duo to me, never mind either or. Calderwood would certainly bring the fire, while if nothing else Collins would insist on professionalism. I'd much rather have those two than Levein, whom I neither rate nor think would be able to cope with the limelight. Collins would get the media off Scotland's back also; given that they've spent the last few years bumming him up as the best, most cosmopolitan, brightest coach to come out of Scotland, I wonder how long it would take them to stick the knife in?

I reckon you're underestimating bots in your figure, there, Zappa.

Who is saying Gersnet is anti-Trust?

That was classic. Souness just had it. As for the piece, I took it more as a mix of the UEFA fine and a desperate need to file 2,000 words or so once the initial piece - "UEFA hammer neo-Nazi Rangers, Europe rejoices" - became untenable. But I have to point out, I'm not bothered one way or the other. It didn't wind me up, it didn't amuse me, it didn't make me think. It was just...nothing.

Ah yeah, I remember hearing him on Radio Scotland some time back; the accent was a bit of a surprise given the 'issues' surrounding football in these parts. As I said in my earlier post, if you've got more experience with him you're probably more sensitive to his prejuidices. SuperAlly asks why I 'play down' the tim pitch invader. I haven't really thought about it, but off the top of my head what I wrote in the earlier post covers it, that fighting seems to me to be more worthy of punishment than what that wallah did. As he points out Celtic were fined for repeated offences; I didn't know that, but given that it seems reasonable enough. As for the rest of your boring moan, if you want me off your board just say so. Calscot writes: I would agree, you can't. It's a mix and mash thrown together to fill some space, I can only guess. But not having been exposed to the guy much, I just don't get the same level of Rangers-bashing as the others.

Well, call me a lily-livered, hand-wringing wishy-wshy PC type, but I'm not getting the same level of hatred that everyone else is. If he's having a go at anyone is seems to be Michel Platini, on the (to me) accurate grounds that he's a hypocrite. And I would have to say, in all fairness, that fighting of any kind ought to be punished with a steeper fine that a manky tim running past the AC Milan keeper. I don't think either were particularly serious but could have become so, so I guess there is a need for something to be done. But then, I haven't read SoS since they went all right wing Catholic some years ago: I'm not religious, and the weekly soundbites of whatever cardinal or bishop is in place interested me not a jot. So anyone who is exposed to that sort of agenda is probably a bit more sensitive to it than I am.

Cor blimey, you guys know how to roll out the red carpet! I agree totally with Totti. The attitude of Scotland and young Scottish men is dreadful when it comes to alcohol; until that issue is addressed I don't hold any hope of seeing the other problems of society sorted out. But in fairness to McGregor, it wasn't his immature bevvying that got him banned, it was the V signs. Even more childish I agree, but there's no reason to it! We can overlook someone getting slaughtered, but flicking the vicky is a sine die offence? No-one comes out of this looking good, and given (I would assume, having spent the day in bed) the performance of Marshall yesterday the need for a top class deputy to Gordon is ever more pressing.

Cheers, man, this one should be easy enough to get online. I'm stuck in with an ill son anyway, so hopefully the teams can entertain us with a no-holds barred riot.

Pretty sure it was Ramos who bought Hutton. But, hey. There'll be more of this until the end of January.

You might be quite right for all I know, but my take would be that if the media hysteria over the last 14 days resulted in what was a fair punishment from UEFA, their powers may have been over estimated.

I doubt UEFA will be aware of his or the RST's existence, tbh.

When is the game?

I actually did rate him, unlike Gazza. I thought he looked a real player and certainly about 200 times better than the current comedy duo they are entertaining Scotland and Europe with. Very sad. I wonder if he is suing Ganea? I would.

Apologies! The Gersnet Classical Greek scholar community is plainly larger than I anticipated.

Since I don't read him anymore, how did he lose his discipline?

My thought exactly. But mistrust won't get us anywhere, I suppose.

<contemplates essay on Athenian political structure and influence held by generals, and wonders whether to read Thucydides or just ask BmcK and Cotter>

I hope we can forget about this for the foreseeable - it's the most boring non story ever.

Not very well! In classical Greece, the democratic structure was such that an elected 'council' of officials were elected each year. It wasn't a few, it was thousands of them, and people seemed to be willing to do one of the many, many jobs on offer. Just about at the 'top' (misleading but near enough term) was a council called the Archons, the primary one of whom was called the Eponymous Archon - that is, the year was named after him. So when I take up my job, instead of season 09-10, we would write, in the Season of Andreasicus Johnstonopolis, Rangers took the treble. Someone referenced the Athenian democracy in a thread somewhere, sorry. But it is worth looking up as an example of how such ideas can work, obviously in the broadest possible terms.