JohnMc

I don't think luck has anything to do with those stats.

During the Battle of Aisne, on the Western Front of WW1, two men were given the unenviable task of capturing an enemy machine gun post. It was a suicide mission, nevertheless the soldiers followed their orders and attacked. One of the men was Private George Wilson of the Highland Light Infantry, the other man’s name hasn’t been recorded for posterity. Private Wilson received the Victoria Cross for most conspicuous gallantry, a medal you can still see today as it’s displayed in the HLI museum in Sauchiehall Street. Wilson survived the mission and the war. His comrade that day was killed before the enemy machine gun post was secured. Writing about the nature of fate and luck Sergeant Thomas Painting, who was present at the battle, retold the story “Private Wilson from the HLI and one our men attacked a machine gun. Our man got killed but Wilson captured the position. Wilson got the Victoria Cross and our man got a wooden cross, that’s the difference.” Luck, fate or whatever you want to call it is that most elusive and valuable of commodities in football too. Sure, you make your own luck. 30 years from now history will record that Cyriel Dessers scored an injury time winner in a classic 4-3 victory. It’s unlikely anyone then will care that he had 10 or so good chances to score before that. He scored the winner, that’s the only stat that counts. Lucky Cyriel. Lucky Rangers to have him. Unlucky Dundee to keep allowing him to get chances. Luck has been on my mind watching Rangers this year. Had James Tavernier not missed a stoppage time penalty against Queens Park we’d probably have gone on and won that cup tie. Lucky Rangers would have been the gist of the headlines. Clement would have hung on for at least another few weeks, almost certainly until the Fenerbace tie. Luck had something else in mind, no VCs for Phillipe. Barry Ferguson might just be a lucky manager. Certainly he’s incredibly lucky to actually be the Rangers manager. He’s not nearly qualified for the job, indeed I’d argue he would have been lucky to ever get another senior managerial job following his stints at Kelty and Clyde. Yet now he’s managing the biggest club in the country. Not only was Ferguson out of work and available, but so were Allan McGregor, Neil McCann and Billy Dodds, who along with Issame Charai have been unable to fix our defensive frailties but have found a bit of steel from somewhere. A lucky find. Incredibly, Ferguson’s Rangers have yet to win a match at Ibrox. The Fenerbace game was actually a horrible performance, lacking in everything we’ve come to expect from Rangers in the Europa League. Yet we’ve all forgotten about that because Jack Butland chose that moment to re-find the form that made him an England international once upon a time. A 2-0 defeat that felt like a win. We left Ibrox relieved and ecstatic, almost forgetting we’d carried a lot of luck that evening. Our support returned to Parkhead and watched Rangers deservedly go in ahead at the break, before succumbing to Celtic’s Japanese footballers once again. We know how this story normally ends, yet this time it didn’t. Celtic’s defenders decided defending wasn’t for them, Igamane got the break of the ball and delivered a finish so beautiful that should also be displayed in a museum in Glasgow for everyone to admire. Ferguson’s Rangers seem to have all the same weaknesses as Clement’s, yet somehow they feel different. I think, and I say this quietly so as not to break the spell, but I think we’re carrying some luck for what feels like the first time in years. The Dundee disallowed goal, their point blank miss in the second half, oh we’re definitely carrying some luck. It’s about time frankly. Napoleon was once criticised for winning battles through luck. He replied that he’d ‘rather have lucky generals than good ones, lucky ones win battles’. Is Barry Ferguson a lucky general? I hope so. Unlike 8,500,000 others Private Wilson VC survived the First World War and returned to Scotland to resume his life. However, Wilson was taken by TB in 1926 without reaching his 40th birthday. Everyone runs out of luck, eventually.

Do you mean 'why'? Or are you actually a native American saying hello to me? Maybe that's what you mean by Western cultures.

Who decides what's "incompatible with Western cultures"? Indeed, perhaps you could explain what you mean by Western cultures? Is that yogurt made by cowboys?

Seems the right thread. https://x.com/RangersFC/status/1906753357789929803

Maybe, but it's semantics and I doubt UEFA will see it that way. I also doubt the club will make a defence based around whatever the banner meant, I suspect they'll point to the fact the club aims to be as inclusive as possible and the banner wasn't sanctioned and has been criticised and hope for leniency.

"Further, the club has also been charged by UEFA for the throwing of objects at the home match with Fenerbahce. This is becoming a regular occurrence, not just at Rangers matches, but across stadia in Scotland. Indeed, our players and staff were targeted with missiles at Parkhead on Sunday." Literally in that statement.

I've no idea what 'defend Europe' means either, but it's open to interpretation. Keep - retain, maintain, resist Woke - fuck knows what they mean, dog whistle term for something that wasn't around in the 1950s. Foreign - something not of this country, not of this culture, different from 'us'. This is the problematic word for me. If it had said 'keep woke ideologies out' it's political, the use of the word foreign changes the meaning for me. Ideology - a concept or system of ideas. Out - away, not near us. As I said only those who wrote it know what they meant, but its ambiguity is a problem, it can be read a number of ways and one of those ways is as racism.

Did you actually read the club's statement?

Hey, it's bad enough Dell is bringing women to the fitba, just how woke is he?

In that case you should ask the club. I don't think that's what the banners was about but who knows, maybe it was.

Knock yourself out, Dell. I mean it's got very little to do with the banner and the charge, but if it's important to you raise it.

Sorry, is 'over the Atlantic' not 'foreign' then? I mean you read it how you want, but the word 'foreign' is used and its meaning is fairly clear and agreed upon.

That's as strong a sentence as I can recall the club ever making publicly. I personally wish they'd made it right after the match instead of waiting for a charge from UEFA, but better late than never. Whether UEFA should be sanctioning clubs for banners is moot, it's their competition, they make the rules, so if we want to play in the Europa League we need to adhere to them. As for what the banner meant, only the people who created it know what they actually meant. Of course what someone means and how it's taken are not always the same thing. We've been over this countless times before on forums and I suspect we probably will again. That's the danger with language, it can be misunderstood, or indeed understood all too well depending on who is hearing it. The term 'defend Europe' when playing against a Turkish club from the Asian side of Istanbul could be taken all sorts of ways. Likewise while playing against a club from a predominantly muslim country a message like that could be read in various ways. As for 'keep foreign ideologies out' how anyone can read that as anything other than racist is beyond me. Whether someone was trying to make a bigger social or political point or was upset at the LGBT flag on the Govan stand and the planned Iftar only they know. But I suspect any gay supporters or Muslim ones might have felt the banner was aimed at them, whether that was meant or not. I imagine personal politics will come into play on this. Often objections to 'political' messages depend a lot on whether you're in agreement with the message or not. Either way it's such a shame that we find ourselves talking about stuff like this again.

A hotel, a school, a shopping complex and a car park? Are we moving to somewhere else then? I'll settle for a fit centre half and a left winger.