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JohnMc

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Everything posted by JohnMc

  1. JohnMc
    McGregor is a smart cookie and what he's achieved at Ross County is remarkable. We kind of take it for granted that they're a top flight side now but it's still astonishing, Dingwall has a population of less than 5,500 people, even when you take in the surrounding countryside you're not looking at more than 15,000, that's about the same size as Cumnock! Wasn't it McGregor who refused to back the first 're-structuring' proposed by Celtic and Dundee Utd a couple of years back? Also Ross County weren't in the SPL the season we were demoted.
  2. JohnMc
    I think you are right to worry. I was in a restaurant on Saturday night named after Fausto Coppi, it had a cracking big picture of him on one of the walls. If your island bagging extends to that large one to Scotland's south west I'd recommend a visit.
  3. JohnMc
    I used to work with a member of a fairly well known Glasgow based supporter's club, who from what I could see seemed to be a front for organised shop-lifting. Every second monday we were offered all sorts of unlikely apparel and fancy goods as the department stores of provincial Scotland were visited. Trips to Europe were a big deal as serious money could be made. Rangers drew Dynamo Kiev, then in the Soviet Union and pre Glasnost. Somehow about 12 of them got visas and went to the future Ukrainian capital on a shoplifting spree with a football match thrown in. I had visions of them pushing babushkas to one side in the queue for cabbage in the local GUM store but no, in a state with no official crime they were in their element. They encountered some issues at Glasgow Airport though as each of them was wearing a genuine ladies Russian sable fur coat with matching hat, all claiming it was their own and they'd worn them on the way out. The sight of a tall, overweight, middle-aged Glaswegian man wearing a size 10, £4,000 ladies fur coat over his Rangers top was no doubt one of the more peculiar sites that day at the airport. A few years later Rangers drew Stuea Bucharest and they moved heaven and earth to arrange another potentially lucrative trip beyond the Iron Curtain. However this time on their arrival they were prevented from leaving their hotel by armed police and each person on the trip found they were followed by two Romanian secret policemen at all times. My favourite story though concerns a Celtic supporter's club a different work colleague was on. Celtic were drawn against a side from the then Yugoslavia, still a communist country although more open to visitors than the Warsaw Pact ones. The match was to take place in what is now Bosnia for some reason so this club decided to stay in Italy and simply cross the border on the day of the match. This was long before the Euro so they all had Italian lira, a much derided currency at the time. This was then changed into whatever the Yugoslav currency was, but they were warned that they would not be allowed to take any Yugoslav currency out of the country when they left and that even if they did it was practically worthless in Western Europe. As such after the match the entire bus decided to pool all the Yugoslav money they all had left and spend it on fags and booze. Well it tuned out these were both quite cheap in Yugoslavia and this bus was literally buying every single packet and bottle in every small town on the road to the Italian border. Word was getting out and as they would enter the next town the locals would have already packed up thousands of cigarettes and cases and cases of vodka and beer and lined them up on the pavement. Having literally emptied every town of cigarettes and alcohol they arrived in the last village at the border. There was nothing left to buy yet they still had money. As my pal said it probably wasn't very much but it looked like loads, hundreds and hundreds of notes were left and as they discussed what to do with it someone shouted 'there's a lassie with a pram, go give it to her and the wean'. So two drunk and pretty stupid Tims jumped off the bus carrying a very large wad of notes, approached the unsuspecting lady, pointed at her pram and offered her the money. The woman screamed, loudly. The guys were bewildered, speaking not a word of Serbo-Croat they once again attempted to give the woman this money 'for yer wean, hen, it's for yer wean' and the woman once again screamed, pulling the small child close to her. Her screams alerted other locals and a loud conversation between the now hysterical woman and some of her fellow villagers resulted in a several local men appearing. They weren't happy. Although not able to speak the local language the bus load of Tims were able to recognise that universal sign of an angry man pointing a shotgun at you as evidence that there might have been a misunderstanding. The two pissed idiots who'd led the woman to believe they wanted to buy her baby backed slowly towards the bus. As a footnote they discovered that at least one of the villages had sold them bottles of vodka filled with water and the Yugoslavian cigarettes aren't that good.
  4. JohnMc
    I've long ago given up trying to understand the Media House strategy for the Easedales. They become more unpopular and appear more incompetent with every passing day, that surely can't be the aim. I can only assume someone is paying or has paid the Easedales to front this, nothing else makes sense. No matter how thick skinned or intractable they might be there is no way their Rangers gig is worth the hassle for them now. Yet they continue, determined to cling on for no obvious benefit. So I can only assume the benefit isn't obvious. Ashley's PR is fine though, with every passing day his reputation as shrewd, cold and ruthless is enhanced, the city institutions can relax safe in the knowledge he carries no sentiment and can't be swayed by public opinion, only money matters. Apart from that I don't believe you've not read that book, I've seen those pictures of you on Facebook in tight lycra, no way a man of your age actually gets on a bike!
  5. JohnMc
    This is my new favourite thread. I've always known I'm a moron, it's gratifying to finally confirm it publicly.
  6. JohnMc
    Hang on, why isn't my picture on the front cover?
  7. JohnMc
    I think i've voted correctly this time. That's quite the post BH. I'm not sure anyone is suggesting he's Andrew Carnegie but as CVs go his isn't bad. Aren't all successful business people basically 'super salesman' or have I missed something in the last 20 years?
  8. JohnMc
    I seem to be the only person who voted for the removal of James Easedale and Somers. Or maybe I've voted for them to stay. Well seen it was bloody accountants who created this poll.
  9. JohnMc
    Yip, it's far from satisfactory. I just find myself measuring it against our normal scales of self harm, it's a skint knee rather than losing a limb. I imagine that Newcastle not having a manager for most of January played a part in this. Carver was only confirmed as caretaker until the end of the season last week, I imagine if someone new had come in they'd have wanted all their players available. They're almost as dysfunctional as we are, so who knows.
  10. JohnMc
    Rangers managers have in the past been told they couldn't pick a player. Normally for financial reasons as going over a certain amount of games triggers a payment. This is different from being told you do need to pick someone of course. I'd be surprised if being told to play someone isn't more widespread than we think. I doubt it happens with young players but I'd be really surprised if directors haven't told a manager he must play a 'star' player no matter their fitness, training or discipline etc. I've also heard of prominent players demanding certain other players are chosen and others aren't. This is not uncommon.
  11. JohnMc
    First thing to remember is the five players are entirely blameless in all this, they're doing what they're told. So a warm welcome to Rangers from me at least. Like most people I've my reservations. Firstly from a footballing perspective parachuting in five players from one club will create a clique in the dressing room. These five will know nobody but each other, they'll be in a new city and they know it's a short term thing, assimilating them into a 'team' mindset will be a challenge. They are inexperienced players albeit they might be talented. I'd expect even young players from an EPL side to be of a higher standard than most in our league, but attitude and workrate will determine that. However had we brought in five fringe players from Chelsea or Man Utd I feel we'd be greeting this news with more enthusiasm. The fact it's Newcastle clearly means Ashley's hand is behind it, however we need new players so in the circumstances this might be as good as it gets. Of all the stuff that's happened to us in the last few years, particularly the stuff Ashley has been behind or involved in this strikes me as the most benign. It's not ideal and it doesn't address the real problems we have and it's probably a bad portent for what he sees Rangers as. But in the grand scheme of things I can live with it for now.
  12. JohnMc
    Frankie, Zappa, do you want me to post the preview straight onto the forum, it's pretty much ready?
  13. JohnMc
    Great Andy, really enjoyed that.
  14. JohnMc
    Actually I think it'll backfire. Reading an English based general football messageboard yesterday and without exception everyone was laughing at it or pitying the people who did it.
  15. JohnMc
    Some harsh criticism on this thread. We were 'sparkling' in this game Hutton in particular looked world class and Adam's goal was a beauty. We were good in the return leg too despite losing.
  16. JohnMc
    I'm still not sure if this is just an elaborate wind-up. Anyone who thinks the soul of a football club is weighed by it's date of incorporation, the issuing of shares or its annual report clearly knows absolutely nothing about being a football supporter. Why did they build a statue to Brother Walfrid instead of the Chief Executive of BDO if corporate structure is so important to them? Continuity is vital for supporters so it doesn't surprise me our enemies choose it as an area of attack, but it doesn't matter what they think, the truth is we are Rangers and as long as we remain we always will be. I've a feeling this is a riff I might return too next weekend.
  17. JohnMc
    Celtic under O'Neill were route one, long ball, win set pieces. It was only having Larsson in their side that gave them any guile, other than him they were all power and strength.
  18. JohnMc
    That's an interesting point, I wonder how important that is. Struth, Whyte, Wallace, Souness, Smith, Advocaat, McLeish and Le Guen never pulled on the Light Blue. McCoist, Greig, Waddell and Symon did. At first glance you'd have to say the first group was considerably more successful than the second. However it would be wrong to place the reason for that firmly on who they played for. Whyte and Le Guen didn't exactly excel, likewise both Greig and Waddell it could be argued were victims of timing and circumstance. Also the greatest British manager of the last 50 years was a Rangers player, he just didn't manage us. What ex-players are realistic candidates? Davies is often mentioned, Derek McInness too. Guys like Arveladze and Van Bronkhurst, Barry Ferguson, Ian Murray and Steven Pressley and Davie Weir are still learning their trade, they might become great mangers, average ones or bad ones, time will tell. At the other end of the spectrum you've got Jimmy Nicholl doing great things with Cowdenbeath, and the much travelled Bobby Williamson with untold experience and insight. Yip, none of them is exactly filling me with anticipation either.
  19. JohnMc
    Allan Mcgregor spent most afternoons in the William Hill on Kelvingrove Street. I've no idea if he bet on football or not but gambling is endemic among footballers.
  20. JohnMc
    I'll do it. Some words need said.
  21. JohnMc
    McDowell never wanted the job and seems to be saying he's unable to do it. We should respect that. Gordon Durie stepped down as East Fife manager because the of the toll it was taking on his health, there's no way he's capable of taking the Rangers job, even short term. If Jig does get the job on a temporary basis I hope we all support him. It's worth remembering that the mess the club is in is not the fault of any of the three men named above.
  22. JohnMc
    What do people expect the fan's board to say here? They can issue any amount of statements but in reality they are powerless to prevent the board doing whatever they want. We all are. To criticise the fan's board for being impotent on this is to miss the point that all fans are impotent currently. Do any of us think the board didn't know what the reaction to this was going to be? Do any of us think a strongly worded criticism of this potential action would make any difference to the ultimate decision? None of that means a fan's board isn't a good idea. They can still give input on subjects, they can still provide a formal conduit between the club and the support, but people have to be realistic about what they can influence. The time and energy expended could be much better spent. If people want to make the directors know about their anger over this then arrange a large, noisy, legal protest outside McGills bus depot or even better outside the distribution hub of Sport's Direct. Take the fight to them. Everyone on this messageboard knows how Forlan's Sister feels about the club and it's current custodians, it's fair to assume our board of directors do too. It's not his or anyone else's fault they don't care.
  23. JohnMc
    From this thread I think we can take it that Der Berliner doesn't have to work with or live beside many Celtic supporters. Trust us Db, if they hammer us life will be intolerable for a long time for those of us who have to 'interact' with them on a daily basis. Frankly if they only beat us by 2 it'll be them who'll be complaining the most. All the tims I know see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to destroy us. If the worst comes to pass Db you might need to find room for a few thousand lodgers!
  24. JohnMc
    Is that real? No one, but no one, pays £3k for an ad in the Herald these days!
  25. JohnMc
    I've not read anyone suggesting we should limit our players or coaches to Rangers supporters, no one at all, that part of your post is a complete strawman. Being owned and run by people with an emotional connection to the club doesn't seem to have hindered Bayern or Barcelona or Real Madrid. I think we should always remember the caveat placed on 'Rangers Men' is not just any Rangers Man. Park and Letham have strong business backgrounds, King does too, but he also has baggage that concerns some. If for example someone was suggesting that I should take control of Rangers simply because I'm a 'Rangers Man' then that should rightly be derided, Mr Sarver is clearly better qualified than me, but when comparing him to the '3 bears' or King then it's far less cut and dried, indeed on balance the people who understand the club, the support and indeed the sport seem more preferable.
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