Scott7

Did I hear the orange bloused presenter say Rangers were relegated and stripped of titles ? Could have misheard the last bit.

Otherwise what a waste of time. Pity it hadn't been Forlanss or Bluedell or BH or some other articuLate bloke with a bit of expertise to argue the case.

According to Haggerty Rangers didnaemwin the tax case, so they didn't . Fair enough. The HMRC appeal was for the most part refused. Slight difference but largely the same outcome. But, she says, there will still be money due to,the taxman so we'll all have to putmthatnin our pipes and smoke it. I reckon this dame has a future on Radio Bahgdad.

The operation has been successful but the patient is still at death's door. Time to remove the leeches.

Aberdeen is doing fine. Free Grampian!

Very good point, BH, especially what you say about Ralphie but on reflection I think M&B were the first twin striker pair with Millar slightly back but not so far back as to be deep lying in the Revie style.

The first deep lying cf was Hidegkuti alongside Puskas for Honved early 50s. Don Revie took it up very successfully for Manchester City. Can't think of any Scots. Alec Young of the Hearts?

BBC Alba - better than nothing, I suppose.

RPB, I suspect you may be a politician of some sort. First it never happened. Then Robertson is not defence spokesman. Then maybe it did happen but I got it wrong.

Robertson's words eg: "....Scotland would want to play a full part in international missions ...." and " .... maintain a battalion in Afghanistan...." are not a commitment but they are a clear expression of intent.

I did not say a non-nuclear policy was laughable. I disagree with it but it is a valid contention. I'm in favour of walking quietly but carrying a big stick.

It is the fluidity of their policy that is laughable. No sending our boys off on foreign ventures on the one hand and on the other retain almost every defence establishment in the country and re-form disbanded regiments. What on earth for? Who is peace loving free Scotland going to fight? FP, SAR and aid to the civil power is all that's needed, surely.

That programme is no longer viewable on iplayer and even if it were, the person being interviewed is not the SNP defense spokesman. If you have a link to a viewable programme or a transcript, I'd be grateful for it.

Robertson was SNP Defence spokesman in Parliament at the time. There could not be many Wardrooms or Officers Messes that he did not set foot in.

I can't provide any link to the programme other than BBC archive so you just have to accept that the account I give is accurate. The interview covered more than defence but when they got round to that subject Neil asked why Scotland would need any defence forces other than Fishery Protection, SAR and a few troops to aid the civil power. Robertson replied that Scotland would want to play a full part in International missions which would include maintaining a battalion in Afghanistan and providing troops for any other crisis that might arise. Robertson used the in Sudan as an example.

Bear in mind that SNP defence policy has always been laughably fluid. Non-nuclear minimalist on red Clydeside, armed to the teeth elsewhere such as Robertson's own constituency with two RAF airfields and a TA RE Squadron.

More than this I cannot give you, RPB. You just have to accept the account of a trained observer or awa an' speir at the mannie himsel'. He'll have cleared his memory bank. Neil gave him a torrid time. Big English bully, so he was ..... Oh, wait.

He did indeed leave Rangers but not entirely of his own accord.

Thanks for correction! I had forgotten about him and Sammy Baird till I looked back the teams.

Who could forget big Sammy?

need more than that if it's to be credible, mate

BBC News, Straight Talk with Andrew Neil, 27 March, 2010.

Matthews? If only, BH. Andy Matthew, signed from East Fife. Did well enough until Davy was ready.

I'd be interested in the source of these claims, because I don't think the SNP defense spokesman said any such thing.

BBC TV interview with Andrew Neil about 2/3 years ago.

The best centre forward I ever saw at Ibrox has died.

Puskas and Gento were on the park that night as well.

I've only twice had the government I voted for but that's democracy.

I think the discussions here prove beyond doubt that football has next to no affect on politics.

A couple of years ago the SNP defence spokesman affirmed that they would keep a Scottish battalion in Afghanistan and send another one to the Sudan plus keep two NATO standard airfields in the north east of Scotland (but no nuclear weapons, of course - somebody else can do the umbrella defence)

You are quite right. Politicians have made a horlicks of things. I'm just not convinced that Scots politicians are any better just because they are Scots

Anyway, I'm here for the Rangers. Admin should close this topic or reduce it to the lounge or even better ban politics. I hold up my hand. I'm one of the worst offenders.

Who exactly are "they" who don't allow us to spend the money we earn? I know that it's posh public school boys at present but was it not Gordon Brown not so long ago? And was he not in office partly because of a phalanx of Scottish MPs?

Any news of that pesky disappearing arc by the way?

Am I an oppressed, hard-done-by feartie? Naw so the vote's naw as well.

Titbits, rewards, pats on the head. Good puir auld Scotland rhetoric but what exactly are they? Can you describe them? And the arc of prosperity - where did that go? Two of the components went bust and the third didn't want to know.

I think I'd look at New Zealand rugby first.

I remember Argentina very well. We had a team of decent footballers (wish we had them today) and a manager who could motivate so well that the players thought they didn't have to work. Simple as that.

A football defeat is disappointing, often bitterly so but you get over it sooner rather than later but it doesn't affect the national psyche whatever that is.

I suggest that the RBS failure was a greater disaster than a World Cup collapse. Were they among others not an example of Scotland's great skills and energy, part of Mr Salmond's "arc of prosperity" - Iceland, Ireland, Scotland and Norway? Whatever happened to the first two?

Governing is a helluva difficult thing to do. You can't get everything right all of the time. I've seen a dozen come and go and they're all much the same. Some good things. Some bad things. Mrs Thatcher was right for her time. Blair was right for his. You can put the government in Drumnadrochit and wrap a kilt round it but it will still be a few telling the rest of us what to do.

The few seem to be getting more and more inept because most of them have never done anything but politics. Watch parliamentary set pieces on the telly and you'll see cringingly ignorant grandstanding. Holyrood is worse than Westminster.

And none of it has anything to do with football in general or Rangers in particular.

The white collar's fine - Tiger Shaw wore one - but the wee stripes are daft.

If you go to Buckie as a visiting supporter, you're lucky to get out at all.

I'm sure he'll try. The roadblocks at Banff could be tricky.

Davie Cooper looked poor and uninterested quite a lot in his early days. Took ages for Super himself to find any kind of form. Most Players need time to develop. Very few step onto the park and look the business from day one and what's more important, keep it up for many more days to follow. Caldow, Scott, Brand and Henderson are examples. Forrest was,another. There are more but I can't recall offhand.

A lot of others served their time at QP when that club was performing in the top league.

It's easier for young players at other clubs. They can have an outstanding match then a couple of quiet ones before being "rested" without folk moaning that "he's not united/hibbee/killie/class. He gets some more games and gradually develops. That could be McKay but he needs an uncle Scot Symon or a Sergeant Major Jock Walllace to put him right. Probably a combination of the two. Step forward, Ally. Oh dear ..........