26th of foot

He went through the entire league season undefeated until the last game of the season at Ibrox against Aberdeen, we lost 2-3. Before us, Davie White took Clyde to third in the league and, after us won the League Cup with Dundee.

I remember 1967 after Scot Symon was dismissed, the cry was, 'Rangers need a tracksuit manager'. Maybe today, we need a balaclava manager? Neil Lennon remains available, just saying.

We must admire the Firing Squad, they were assembled and waiting. Ready, aim, ................ Flame, heat and, light ensues. Let us hope the light extends to embrace the entire Rangers support? Steven Davis is our twelfth Manager in 12 years. The support must attempt to emulate the patience exhibited by the Firing Squad?

The current situation reminds me of two previous periods in our club's history. I am referring to the emotions being exhibited by the majority of the attending support. Patience is a virtue rarely on show at Ibrox. The atmosphere is feral. The first period was the end of Davie White's tenure in 1968. We had drawn 1-1 in Poland against Gornik and expectations were high for the Ibrox return. It got better after Jim Baxter notched us ahead after several minutes in front of a huge crowd. Gornik began to play and handed us a football lesson. The game finished 1-3. A reported 12,000 fans stood in Edmiston Drive demanding White be sacked. He was. The second period was the end of John Greig's time as Gaffer. After five seasons, the law of diminishing returns was firmly established. Ham and egg was a true club legend and I witnessed several incidents of grown men swapping both words and punches in the stands over should he stay or should he go. The Board eventually decided upon the latter and reappointed Jock Wallace. I see problems in removing Beale. The Board will not want to admit a mistake and will hide behind the arithmetic. The cost of paying off the current Manager and his large staff plus compensation for the preferred target and his staff. Of course, there is the argument we cannot afford not to terminate his contract. We are 18 matches into this season including friendlies and I do not see a pattern of play. Our football is tedious and ponderous. In the last dozen years, we have had eleven Managers, six permanent and five temporary. It will be most difficult to attract the right man because there is largely no sense of continuity. The job has become a poison chalice. The one person awarded most time was Gerrard and he delivered the title. The support invested in the Liverpudlian because they saw obvious progress both domestically and in Europe. This should be a concurrent exercise, the club might find a Manager but the support must find patience.

The anticipation for a Rangers against the Mutton Molesters only begins when Chick Young takes to Radio PQ to inform us that Rangers have made a Friday night bid for Eoin Jess.

Rangers 2 Aberdeen 1 FGS : Sima.

They are consistent. Forty years further on and an Argentine Military Junta ordered the invasion of the Falkland Isles. Two and a half thousand British citizens had their democratic lifestyle forcibly removed and were subject to a mixture of house arrest and strict curfews. Even worse, they were compelled to drive on the right hand side of the road. After the conflict where I faced vicious penguins and the odd livid albatross, I returned to find Sellik supporters chanting support for fascist Argentina and lionising, "the Malvinas".

Well, that squares a circle. During Autumn of 1940, Sellik Park was subject of a Government order for temporary closure because of pro-Nazi chanting from the terraces.

Christmas!

Back in the day, serving soldiers wounded during service were issued with a blue tunic and trousers. This allowed the wider public to know they continued to serve whilst recovering from their wounds. I suggest the Club could pay a similar courtesy to the support. Allow Danilo, Matondo, Raskin, Roofe, Cantwell, Lawrence, Yilmaz, ........... etc to wear the above, 'the Treatment Room top'.

Again, within the Highway Code under the guise of, 'Staggered Junction'.

I suspect the inspiration is the cover of the Highway Code some forty-odd years past? If you look carefully, you will see the warning triangle for an unmanned railway crossing.

It is midweek, it is Livi', it is live on the telly, it is the weather, it is awful viewing this current Rangers team, it is the majority of the attending support purchasing the Euro package, it is ........................ etc. We are used to 50,000 plus sell outs thus when only 35,000 plus trap, then it appears not so good. Asking a question makes me feel better and, the question is : what was the attendance last evening at Sellik's League Cup quarter-final?

Rangers 2 Livingston 0 FGS : Roofe.

I attended my first Rangers match at Cathkin Park in 1962, Jim Forrest was our centre forward. Jim was prolific, he had a plethora of very good inside forwards, wingers and, half backs supplying him. Mercurial is the best word to describe him, a fluidity that was most difficult to contain. His end at Rangers was most undeserving. In fact if he and his cousin, Alex Willoughby had been retained, we would have won the European Cup Winners Cup in Nuremberg in 1967. We lost 1-0 to Jock Wallace's Berwick Rangers in the third round of the Scottish Cup at the end of January'67 and the then Chairman, John Lawrence demanded scapegoats. Forrest, Willoughby and, George(the Dandy)McLean were deemed het. They were sold for comparative peppercorn fees to Aberdeen and Dundee. Jim notched 145 goals in 163 games.

Watching the Matondo drama on Sunday, I was reminded of Naismith at Pittodrie 13-14 years past.. Naismith fell with no one around him, was treated, got up and played on for several minutes. He fell again and was removed, later diagnosed as a cruciate tear and, disappeared for nearly a calendar year. Matondo was down twice, received treatment on both occasions before going down again without contact. I suspect there will be a later diagnosis?

I look forward to viewing the XG Cup in our trophy room, it equals Sellik's Hit the Post against Real Madrid Shield? Livi' will be stuffy as usual, who scores first will determine the readiness of the assembled firing squad. I am not excited by the game although it is crucial for the future welfare of our club. A home quarter-final tie in the League Cup should be enough incentive for a lot of misfiring players. The Yahoos are out and we are three games away from silverware. It is down to the players, play for thirty minutes, notch a couple and, give themselves time until a Hampden semi-final. They have got to find the desire or the Manager has to find a way to install it. Our back five have managed three consecutive clean sheets, continue that sequence and, at least we take it to penalties? I should add a ground for optimism, we thrashed Morton 2-1 in the last round at Ibrox.

Rangers 2 Motherwell 1 FGS : Dessers.

Compare and Contrast? We have experienced two nights of Scottish clubs participating in European competition this week. How have PQ CSC reported the attempts by Sellik, Aberdeen and, Rangers on their Scottish Football website? This webpage is important for Auntie's perspective on posterity, it is the equivalent of newspapers' cuttings libraries. In future when recalling events from a previous fixture between two clubs, this will be their first and major point of reference. First up on Tuesday evening was ra Sellik, Martin Dowden filed several reports from the Netherlands as ra green'n'grey hooped horrors took on Feyenoord in the Champions League. We can thank Annie McGuire back in the day for informing the listenership, "both Martins, Dowden and Conaghan are really good Celtic men". Positivity is Martin's mainstay when reporting on his heroes, no mention of the club's several year long Euro difficulties. His post match report was more of the same, nine man Hoops were brave : "In the aftermath of another Champions League defeat, it would be easy to say, 'same old Celtic'. The result - losing 2-0 to Feyenoord in Rotterdam in their opening group game - seemed familiar at this level but, at times this display was an accomplished display by the Scottish Champions. The script felt different though, and perhaps offers encouragement ahead for Celtic's upcoming home fixtures. Rodgers side played well in the first half, better than on many away days, before the hammer blow of a concession deep into injury time signalled the start of the demise". Now, Feyenoord had two goals chopped off, a penalty miss and, two goals awarded. Sellik had two players red carded. All these decisions were checked and approved by VAR. I understand PQ literally has, 'a Celtic State of Mind' two of that particular site's Podcasters are employed by the national broadcaster; however, long term employees of Auntie should be encouraged to report objectively. Adopting a more comfortable fan media stance allows Martin to crop the game to one half. Further, Feyenoord had the advantage of a greater budget. Last evening's starter was Aberdeen in Frankfurt for the Euro-Conference League. Dandy Don fan and BBC Scotland's Digital Editor, Tyrone Smith played a Pittodrie hand, positively bullish with established PQ bon mots sprinkled around, "one of last surviving members of the team that won the Europa Cup two seasons ago is the Keeper. Of course, he broke Rangers hearts denying Ryan Kent in extra time and saving Ramsay's penalty in the shoot-out". He concluded, "Aberdeen showed mentality, desire, fight and, tactical know how in abundance against their expensively assembled German side". Thus, two Scots sides endured battling defeats and added zero to the decreasingly important national coefficient. If Sellik had hit the post again, how much would the efficient accrue? The Rangers - Real Betis is PQ postres on the Euro' menu. If Sellik get a good Sellik man and Aberdeen can rely upon a Dandy, Rangers receive Kerrydale Insane(Kheredine Idessane). The privately educated Kheredine focused on Michael Beale's difficulties in build up, no problems because he was writing what the majority of the Rangers support were saying. The game itself was different because his initial report after the game began, "Real Betis will absolutely feel hard done by because they had Rangers on the back foot for long periods of the game". I say initial because by this morning Kheredine's report had been disappeared. Replaced by Scott Mullen telling us, "Sima goal gives Rangers narrow win". Kheredine's report read as if Kheredine and his PQ CSC chums felt hard done by the expensively assembled Andalusian's outfit inability to defeat a struggling Rangers. Rangers have played five Euro games this season so far, have won two, drawn two and, lost one. Rangers have and are consistently adding to the national coefficient but, no one at BBC Scotland will be allowed to mention the fact on their web page. PQ CSC are reverting to warmer, more comfortable memories of Pedro standing in a hedge after Progres Niederkorn knocking Rangers out and when Sellik hit the post against Real Madrid.

Well done Rangers. We hung in there for the first 40 minutes, then stepped up. I think we controlled the second half, the Keeper and Kemer Roofe were outstanding throughout. I believe the last time we won against a Spanish team in European competition was Osasuna in 1985, Hugh Burns rampaging through the puddles and Craig Paterson scoring.

As Rangers supporters we have been subject to a few Peter Decisions this season already. The lines are drawn depending upon the colour of the jersey here in Scotland. It is the path of least resistance to deliberately err on the side of ra Sellik. During Brendan's first spell at ra Stade de Gadd, Referee Don Robertson awarded Ross County a last minute penalty to secure a 1-1 draw, Brendan used the post match interview, "the Ref' will not have a future in the game if he continues to make similar decisions". The last old firm match saw the fruition of Don. Sellik have worked hard at it for decades. Sir Robert Kelly's history of Sellik published in the early fifties has an opening chapter entitled, 'the first disallowed goal'. Sir Bob relates a tale of injustice from a home game against Hearts in 1908. Private Detctives have been hired by the club to follow officials and, when this fail fails, they can rely on an ardent fan, Kevin Dunn from the green leather heated comfy seats to throw a bottle at the Dllas family home. However, Kevin was not finished, he was so upset at his beloved green'n'grey hooped heroes losing the game 0-3 and league to Rangers, he grabbed a golf club and proceeded to smash 13 of the 14 double glazed windows of the house with entire Dallas family inside. We experienced a Referee strike a dozen years past because of increasing levels of Sellik encouraged intimidation. The above Kevin Dunn was convicted in court, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay cost of damages amounting to £4,000. Kevin owned a double glazing company and after his court appearance he was applauded and cheered back to his North Stand seat. Cheerleading is not restricted to the stands, both the broadcast and print media can be relied upon to emphasise or ameliorate. Last evening in Rotterdam, Sellik lost 2-0 and finished the game with nine men after two red cards. Peter has now taken over an important job in UEFA and the work to rid the organisation of officials with Masonic tendencies will have already begun.Ra Sellik Skipper, Calum McGregor was at his enlightening best in the post match interview, "in UEFA competitions the leniency isn't very high". Calum knows the foul to cards ratio in Scotland is hugely in his club's favour, he is exasperated that continental officials are not yet on message. Michael Stewart is a former employee of Sellik TV and he knows what he has to do to ensure the continuance of his associate membership of PQ CSC, "what is VAR for"? The Rangers hater went further, "what is the point in VAR if it does not recognise wrong decisions"? Michael was adamant the penalty decision was wrong and Lagerbielke should have remained on the pitch. He is alone in this opinion for the moment. Michael is confused because when Lagerbielke dallied on the ball and was robbed for Roofe to score, it was disallowed as he glibly stated, "it is in the rules". Michael prefers Peter's rules to UEFA rules. In 37 Champions League games Sellik have managed one clean sheet, conceding 89 goals. However, what we must remember as they carry the Scottish standard in Europe, they hit the post against Real Madrid. We are five years away from that incident constituting a goal furra Sellik under the ensuing UEFA directive, 'Peter Decision'.

Ah, this is the worst. Do the arithmetic, Ronnie was born during the Govan blitz. The Luftwaffe were hammering the Clyde shipyards and Ronnie's Maw decided the shelter were not for her or her newborn. Ronnie had it tough from. the start. Twenty years past and the RST was founded. We had our second annual dinner and Ronnie accepted an invitation. The accompanying programme for the bash had several old Rangers and I was tasked with providing biography pen pictures. I spoke with Ronnie and asked if he felt his time was 25 years too soon, given the contracts being handed out in the decade surrounding the turn of the century? He answered his contentment was to have played with Rangers and Scotland. I remember my Old Man returning from Lisbon in '71 and he had less than expected enthusiasm for Rangers progress to the ECWC quarter-finals. Ronnie had broken his leg during the match and Dad reckoned it was too high a price to pay. Ronnie remains a true Ranger.

I am in a bijou cove in southern Brittany, la Foret de Fouesnant. I discovered this place about 17-18 years past and have returned on three occasions. There's an old port with a cafe Tabac and a Coquillage. A couple of kilometres up the hill, there'a patisserie and Traiteur dominated by a Madame. Always up for a culinary adventure, I venture up said hill and inquire: "Madame, avez vous des ootsiders"? She relies, "qu'est que c'est ootsiders"? I tell her of an acquaintance who schooled avec le Premier Ministre d'Ecosse a Grammar de Hutchie, le Maitre l'Etiquette. He advises huitres be accompanied by deux ootsiders de pain carre et ketchup. I am the recipient of the Gallic shrug. I will need to ask Humza? I should have stuck with les Bullots.

We won 0-2 deservedly because largely, we controlled the game. However, we remain turgid to watch and Danilo's compound fracture compounds our ongoing situation. I suspect they will smell blood in Seville? Now, the important stuff; any suggestions on the accompaniment to fresh oysters? I love the traditional mignonette of red wine vinegar and shallots, also fond of Tabasco and, think some fresh squeezed lemon juice is the thing. Anyone ever attempted the Chablis with peppercorns?

Turgid. I am off to shuck my oysters until the second half.