andy steel

Horrible choice of words. Like something you would be charged with during the Stalin purges. Ugh.

What the devil are they up to? Keevins toadying to the celtc fans, Traynor cosying up to us...although he is right, it must be said.

A thread that started with cobblers ends with cobblers!

It's unreal the things cookies fling at me. Yesterday it was mature Lithuanian women...where did that come from? No need for anything that costs money to shift the gut, anyway. Losing weight should always bring with it a financial saving, since (a) you don't buy so much crap while fruit & veg are cheaper, plus (b) if you are puffing your way around Steelonia on a bicycle you can hardly be spending money. If you can add to that staying off the bevvy (hardest part for me) it's amazing how much you can save. GS - 3 stone is my target, but the problem is the next 6 months includes Xmas!

I will..and when they want to leave, I will carry their bags. Anything which gets them away from the game up here has got to be for the benefit of all. If they can work it, good luck to them.

Well, I have dropped 6 pounds in the last three weeks. But I'm still a fat sumbitch. And you're spot on - the future is podcasts, though not daily. We've seen how you have to fill up the lack of content with contrived drivel (just look at Keevins) - I wouldn't want to go down that route at all.

<flutters eyelashes> My tits are bigger than most of the girls in The Sun, sadly.

I'll do that as well.

I'd apply for that if it was going. I'd last about a week, I think.

Ugh. That made my dinner go all queasy in my belly, and I only read the first couple of 'paragraphs'.

The only sane explanation of this decision is that it clears the way for Rangers, too, to be cleared. Chances of that being the case are slim, though. I prefer the 'it's insane' explanation.

Superb! Any win over them gets the thumbs up from me.

Sorry, Pete - I thought everyone would see it on the news.

Bizarre to see players going on loan to a club in a higher league than us!

No-one likes the sound of their own voice more than I, Kenzie. You lay down a 5,000 word post and I'll lay down a 10,000 one! I am delighted to say that I received a pleasant email from Mr Waddell earlier today and that the matter is completely closed on that score. Sincere thanks to Gordon Waddell.

I took a trip to the cobblers' shop in Johnstone the other day, to get a key cut. I have never been able to understand why shoe repairers took on key cutting as a side line - there's no particular connection that I can think of, unless perhaps some historical one now lost. I haven't been to a cobbler's for some time, but I am pleased to report that they still have an aroma of shoe and bag leather, mixed with oil, metal and time. Slower time, it seems, than you get in most shops. Modern power equipment is disdained amongst artisans, and if my cobbler has any he keeps it well hidden. I'm delighted to say that the current owner is the son of the old craftsman who worked there what seemed like forever; this continuity delights me, though whether it delights the son is another question. Ironmongers used to have this atmosphere, this character; they are a sadly missed, to me at any rate, feature of the High Street. I remember the little trays the ironmonger had behind the counter, containing everything from light bulbs and fuses down to the smallest grade of nail imaginable. I don't believe you can purchase nails any more cheaply from B&Q than you could from the local shop; but you certainly don't get the hit of paraffin and well-worn overalls that have remained imprinted on my memory from childhood when I think of an ironmonger's. These memories of how towns used to be have been in my mind for footballing reasons, too, as we set out on our adventure to new outposts of the game. Peterhead, Elgin, Annan...to the fan who has never been, there's the ability to idealise these places as some kind of link with his or her past, a place where perhaps the icons of the 60s or 70s remain, having somehow managed to avoid being crushed under the Thatcherite social revolution. Given the only news I read about Peterhead recently was the conviction of around a dozen fishing skippers for fraud on a scale (arf!) to leave Craig Whyte green with envy, this is perhaps a pious hope; but it's there, nontheless. Given our summer, it's no surprise that I'm keen to find continuity, even if it is only in my head. A glance at Annan's community hub website only reinforces this imagined town. While the biggest town nearest me (Paisley) invites people from 'X Factor' and such like to do the Christmas duties at the Cross, in Annan a group of volunteers takes it upon themselves to do so, preparing, delivering and, apparently, being criticised for their Christmas parade down the High Street. The contact name for this group is Mrs Joyce Wylie. If that's not a name redolent with Scotland past, I don't know what is. I imagine a lady in her 50s, solidly married, successful children, Kirk elder perhaps. Playwrights, especially TV ones, often take such people and depict a life of debauchery behind prim appearances; lazy writing, casting their own prejuidices and inadequacies upon others, for whose perceived lifestyle they possibly harbour more than a smidgin of jealousy. This scenario is one Rangers fans are more than familiar with! While no life is without personal tragedy, I prefer to imagine Mrs Wylie in the terms laid out above and nothing more, and I imagine her to be part of a town akin to the one I grew up in and nothing more. Harsh reality is likely to intrude upon my vision of Annan-in-the-Head - no doubt there, like everywhere else, issues of alcohol, drug abuse and economic difficulty are every bit as present as they are here in the gloomy central belt. Even so, I hope there's an element of the continuity seen in the cobblers shop there. With The Rangers we already knew, but have learned again, how important it is to maintain a sense of identity with who and what has gone before. I've seen that link break completely in my town (not that it was ever there much) and I imagine most of us who live in Scotland could say the same. So as we line up against their team, I prefer to imagine Annan as in some way linked to our past. And I'm happy that their team is playing my team, at least until they spoil it by playing better than us, if Berwick was anything to go by. We are seeing links to our past forged anew, and these new links will, in their turn, become historical ones. To be present at such moments is a tiny consolation for the agony of the last year. Goodness knows, our keystone (The Rangers) has taken a battering over the last year and more; I hope Annan and Mrs Wylie, both real and imagined, escape such a fate. As to the team, I would shift McCulloch to CB and start with Kyle. Been very unimpressed with him so far and I'd like 90 minutes to see what he can do; an away tie, with a battering ram up front, seems a good place to try it.

Fair point - but it's a bit rich coming from us! It took going to the very brink of extinction to persuade us to play some young players, and even at that we prefer expensive (and possibly poor - time will tell) imports.

Apologies to all Ardrossan Bears - it's one of my favourite places coz it has nice Scottish architecture and means I am almost on Arran.

I don't remember the time when Scotland had this wonderful police force. They are - as they must be - the means by which the elected government maintains a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. It's only when that force is used against you that you notice it might not always be quite fair. I can't see a better system available, but that doesn't mean it's great, either then or now.

Please. This kind of half-assed, backward looking nonsense does Rangers no favours at all. If you were looking to kill the chance of any investigation into HMRC leaking, the surest way to do it is to wrap the whole idea up in some Kafflik Konspiracy package.

Lawwell on the TV deal seems perfectly normal to me - in fact, I'd be amazed if Sky didn't insist on top level celtc involvement. Course, they didn't realise they were backing the wrong horse (see the viewing figures) but that's not a line worth pursuing if we want to put the boot into Neil Doncaster.

There is a thread already in Gersnet Writers about this post. The section about the Ardrossan fans generated much comment in particular. I don't know how to shift the whole thing while editing the irrelevant posts, so I've just lumped the OP in here. Had to get it posted sometime. Apologies to admin if this causes extra hassle!

Another international week, and the football boredom set in early. Although some Bears have given up on Scotland after the recent Ian Black debacle, added to the SFA's somewhat harsh stance against us, I still hope we win games. It's just that I'm 41, and I know we won't. The well of optimism runs dry regarding the national side at some point, with me it was about 1986. You could see other countries in the Mexico World Cup being far superior to us (Denmark are a good example), countries we would previously have beaten, and I saw nothing then or now to suggest we would catch up. Decrying such ideas as passing football or a sane league structure, our only answer is to look back nostalgically. I heard Chick Young extol the virtues of our execrable 1998 World Cup squad, which featured such footballing giants as Gary McAllister. No-one would deny he had a late career swansong at Liverpool, but in a Scotland shirt he was poor. Not for nothing was he, too, the recipient of boos from the ever patient tartan army. Perhaps he can have a word with Ian Black. But he should mind what he says, or more accurately how he says it. Several incidents this week have focused my attention on language, on the power of words and what people are prepared to tolerate. Firstly, a poster on here who repeatedly uses language abusive to the mentally handicapped to describe people he doesn't agree with prompted me to make a whiny complaint to admin. His comments were removed. Well done, Gersnet. Secondly, the Daily Record writer Gordon Waddell, in describing what he considers Charles Green's wall of indifference to the outside world, suggested he must be 'off the spectrum'. This, for those who don't know, refers to the autistic spectrum and if Charles is indeed such a case, would presumably spend his days in some Govan version of locked in syndrome. Mr Waddell's point is clear; his use of langauge is very regrettable. In his Record profile, the unfortunately bearded Mr Waddell is referred to as seeing the game as a fan would. This is on the grounds, apparently, that he is a Falkirk fan. Old Firm fans are never afforded this accolade, by the way. Plainly, we only see the game as a bigot/glory hunter/Republican/Monarchist/etc etc etc would see it. Tam Cowan, in his early days, was similarly promoted as being just a normal fan, since he follows Motherwell. An interesting insight into how the media is terrified both of offending either half of the Old Firm by - shock! - suggesting that some of their fans might just be football fans, and equally of diluting that pishy mixture of manufactured hatred which sees Old Firm rivalry continue, and keeps newspaper sales up. Alas, however, that attitude probably does sums up how ordinary fans see things like autism or handicap. Anything vulnerable is fair game, especially if one has low self-esteem to begin with; everyone, it seems, needs someone they can kick below them. For that poster on Gersnet it is the mentally handicapped, or perhaps 'tims', for the media it could be the mentally ill or Old Firm fans. I suspect that, for the media, the two concepts are closely linked and while it is statistically likely that two clubs who can muster around 110,000 paying fans every week will contain a fair amount of people who may qualify for the tag 'mentally ill' (itself a problematic expression), were they all in the same psychological boat Scotland would be a strange, strange place to live indeed. It is odd, sometimes. But it's not that bad! It was the aforementioned Charles Green, who, in a statement the length of which would leave even me puce with envy, emphatically set out Rangers position regarding the SPL investigation into EBT's and in so doing reinforced my belief in the power of words and the care with which we must use them. I freely admit to bias: I think the SPL have got it in for us. But I loved this statement, not just for it's stance but for it's language. Clear, precise, setting out the contradictions in the SPL's position toward Rangers, Sevco, company and civil law, it was a masterclass in how to use words to rally your troops, advance your position and summon up strength for the fight ahead. His statement reflected well on the man. And what we say and does reflect on us, our family, and in this context on our club. When I was at school, the headmaster was firm on this - when in the colours of Johnstone High, we were ambassadors for the school and as such, our behaviour was expected to match his standards. Needless to say, not all pupils listened, but at least one did. The same concept, instilled in me at 12, applies when I am wearing Rangers colours. Not just a top or scarf, but my actions as a Rangers fan. How I behave reflects on the club, be it sweary songs on the tube...or worse. When those two idiots from Ardrossan decided to humiliate me (I don't claim to speak for any other fan) by sending some kind of device to various Celtic fans, it reflected unbelievably badly on Rangers. I felt the club should have commented, as a poster on here last week said they did. Should Rangers comment on any act of villainy by their fans? Of course not. If, as a loyal Morrison's customer, you sent a device to the manager of Asda, I would expect Morrison's to tell you never to darken their door again, but I wouldn't expect your energy supplier to be much concerned. If, as a loyal EDF customer, you sent a device to the boss of Scottish Power, I would expect EDF to cut you off, but I doubt Morrison's would go to the same length. It all depends on your 'colours', on the context of your actions. So it is with langauge. Choosing your words carefully does matter. No-one chose his words more carefully than Shakespeare. Nowhere, not even in the little performed 'Timon of Athens', does Shakespeare have a character say 'Rangers Then, Rangers Now, Rangers Forever'; but if he was writing today, and halfway through 'The Tragical Historie of David Murray the First', I reckon he'd hand Sir Charles of Green a speech like the one he delivered yesterday. You might have seen, during the Olympics, Kenneth Branagh & Timothy Spall quoting some lines from 'The Tempest': "Be not afeared; The isle is full of noises, sounds & sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not." I don't know if Mr Waddell is a fan of Shakespeare. I hope so, since words are his living and anyone with a passion for writing can't afford to deny themselves the sheer pleasure of the Great Englishman's writing. I think it would help him, too, to understand that all of us with power denied to others - even a little, Daily Record sized bit of power, or a teeny, Gersnet sized blob - need to think carefully before saying little things which can have a big effect. Not all sounds are sweet; not all give delight; some hurt.

Not if you don't care, it isn't.

If they want to piss off, fine by me. I'll hold the gate open at Berwick for them. I agree with the concept of rejigging the league but on SFL terms. Our ideas of reconstruction in the past have been shown up to be pish from 1976 onwards, so I'm absolutely fine with the concept of our fellow diddy teams taking the reins for the next game of musical chairs. The OF hogging the cash has led to one of the worst leagues (standard wise) in the world, so why not try spreading it out. In short, I think I've learned my lesson.