Assembly Chorus Of Approval..

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Rangers face a battle on two fronts to restore their reputation this season. While Paul Le Guen's arrival has addressed last term's domestic descent to third place, David Murray, the Rangers chairman, is at the vanguard of a more complex and potentially more costly situation.

UEFA's decision to impose a heavy censure and a fine of �£13,000 for "repeated breaches" of its ethical code is the first wave of the governing body's clampdown on bigotry.

Murray gave an impassioned interview to Rangers TV last week, urging supporters to show respect and integrity throughout the season.

The Herald understands there are plans to reinforce the point at the first home game of the season, against Dundee United on Saturday, with anti-discrimination banners and possibly even subtle amendments to the pre-match music. One song, Wolverhampton Wanderers, which celebrates a European Cup Winners' Cup victory against the Midlands side in 1961, is almost certain to be featured.

Last night, Jim Templeton, president of the Rangers Supporters' Assembly, offered his organisation's unconditional backing to the battle against bigotry after attending a meeting with Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, and Murray, to unite the club and its right-minded supporters.

"We have made a lot of progress and you saw from what David Murray had to say at the end of last week how serious the club are about tackling the problem," he told The Herald.

"We will be happy to help in any way we can. There are plans already under way for the first home league match of the season to force home the point.

"We have to cut out the sectarian problem. If you go back to my younger days, say 20 years ago, and compare it to today, there has been vast change for the better. Year-on-year there has been a controlled improvement and that has to continue."

UEFA have taken a particularly dim view of The Billy Boys, which includes the line "up to our knees in ****** blood", and have threatened stadium closure or even suspension from European competition if the level of sectarianism continues.

However, the UEFA directive has spawned an indignation among an element of fundamentalist Rangers supporters. While there has been an audible hush around Ibrox at the contentious part of The Billy Boys, there are some who have deigned to sing twice as loudly to compensate, not least during the pre-season friendly against Middlesbrough.

On Sunday at Fir Park the difficulties in controlling the away support were exposed with sporadic bursts of sectarian chanting, especially before the game against Motherwell.

"As has often been said before, this is not simply a football problem but a society problem and we cannot tackle it on our own," said Templeton.

"In Linfield, for example, some people were out to prove a point. You get resistance in any walk of life but you need to put pressure on people not to go down that road. The vast majority of Rangers fans do not have a problem with sectarianism but it is everybody's responsibility to ensure there is no damage done to the club."

Rangers fans' issue with UEFA over identifying The Billy Boys as an offensive song centres on the fact various clubs have adopted their own version.

"We shouldn't be up to our knees in anyone's blood," said Templeton. "We should encourage everyone to come on board and get away from it. You have to consider there are other clubs who sing the same song with one word of difference. Look at the Middlesbrough game. They started their version and it was natural that the home fans would react."

The sectarianism debate has been intensified since the appointment of Le Guen, Rangers' first Roman Catholic manager. The continued singing is doubtless a source of acute embarrassment to Murray, who pulled off a major coup in attracting one of Europe's most coveted young managers to Glasgow.

"When the club announced Paul Le Guen was the new manager I never met one Rangers supporter who cared about his religion," said Templeton. "We had no idea what Dick Advocaat was and could not have cared less. The team is full of Catholics and now we have our first Catholic manager. It makes no difference."

UEFA and the Scottish Football Association are now obliged to monitor the behaviour of Rangers fans both in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague and in the UEFA Cup. From next month, government legislation means police forces can impose banning orders on supporters found guilty of sectarian or discriminatory singing at football grounds.

Templeton is receptive to any measures that will address the problem but maintains UEFA's cack-handed approach in the first instance ââ?¬â?? they found Rangers not guilty only for the appeals body to overturn that decision ââ?¬â?? may prove counter-productive. UEFA investigators gathered evidence from two separate fronts: first, the atmosphere at Ibrox on the night of February 22, when Villarreal played in Glasgow; and, second, the conduct of Rangers supporters in Spain for the Champions League return leg.

He said: "I think the UEFA directive was aimed in the wrong direction. If they headed down the *** road people would be more receptive."

Templeton has also written to the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police seeking a full apology on behalf of fans after their decision to cancel a proposed pre-season game against Bolton Wanderers, claiming inadequate stewarding and safety concerns.

"They never consulted Derby, Ipswich or Newcastle, where [Rangers] fans have travelled recently with no problems, but instead Liverpool, based on a problem eight years ago," he said