UEFA verdict

[Norris Cole 0]

Oh Britney will be brimming with disgust at UEFA for not throwing us out of Europe. I hope he doesn't burst a blood vessel.

 

Or heaven forbid, anything worse.

[chilledbear 16]

As a priority should we not be making sure we are never up before UEFA again? We just cannot take the chance of a banning happening. Look at the finances last year because of our non involvement in Europe.

[maineflyer 0]

Leading Rangers fan my arse. Prostituting himself to the Rangers-hating Scottish media, giving them the words they want to hear - what the fukk is 'leading' about that. What is it about these self-promoters that prevents them talking for Rangers rather than trying to appear sage-like by issuing dire warning about the conduct of Rangers fans?

 

I thought the RST at least pretended to represent us, to act in our best interests, but it looks like they're still mainly interested in how they themselves come across. Being Mr Reasonable isn't actually their job.

 

What the fukk is Edgar doing claiming that UEFA were somehow lenient becasue Rangers have crippling debts. Will these performing arseholes never leave the stage?

 

 

LEADING Rangers fans last night warned the Ibrox legions to stay clear of trouble - because UEFA will never again be so lenient.

 

Rangers Supporters Trust spokesman David Edgar revealed his relief at yesterday's decision to only fine the club �£18,000 for last week's Battle of Bucharest plus the cost of any damages to the stadium.

 

He reckons European football's governing body let them off so lightly because of Rangers' colossal debt.

 

But Edgar doesn't believe they'll be so lucky next time.

 

Being forced to close Ibrox or even getting chucked out of Europe altogether has already been mooted.

 

The prospect terrifies Edgar. And now he has warned the supporters who will travel to Spain for the Champions League clash with Sevilla to turn the other cheek - no matter the goading.

 

Edgar said: "From the supporters' point of view we are glad UEFA used common sense and took into account the club''s crippling debt.

 

"But we can't keep doing this. There will be no second chance.

 

"Now Rangers fans who travel abroad have to be above reproach.

 

"If there is provocation of any kind then we must rise above it. There cannot be any more trouble.

 

"Maybe it would be better if the Scottish police travelled with the support so there was no direct contact with a foreign police force.

 

"Uefa don't really care about why an incident has happened or how it came to be. If there is any more trouble they will come for Rangers.

 

"Our card is marked. If we come up in front of that disciplinary body again then we are going to get a heavy punishment. That is natural.

 

"It is unfortunate that, in this case, there were extenuating circumstances, but from now on supporters must ignore any provocation because the outcome could be dire."

 

Privately, the club feared far worse was going to hit them than a paltry fine after Gers fans had been involved in a rogues' gallery of shameful scenes.

 

There was last year's Manchester mayhem at the UEFA Cup Final.

 

And in 2007 the club was fined �£8000 on an improper conduct charge for fans' behaviour at an away UEFA Cup game against Osasuna.

 

Before then supporters indulged in sickening chants at Villarreal as well as attacking the opponents' team bus. The club were penalised little more than �£20,000 for those 2006 incidents.

 

Andy Kerr, president of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, claimed he knew his club were going to get let off the hook again. But like Edgar he has fired an apocalyptic warning over what might happen if the thug element rears its ugly head again.

 

Kerr said:"The fine is in line with what we expected and possibly not as bad as it might have been.

 

"However, this cannot happen again. We've been to the table several times and there have been occasions when fans have had justifiable complaints about stewarding and policing arrangements.

 

"But we must ensure we're never back at the table again. If there is a feeling that one venue is going to be particularly dodgy, then let's plan better before we go there.

 

"There has been a suggestion that a fan or fan representative even be involved in pre-match planning and that's an idea with merit. Let's also undertake our research when a game is taking place at the stadium we'll be visiting rather than a quiet Tuesday afternoon."

 

Rangers fans' day began with the news the club was more than �£30million in debt.

 

Edgar has called 2009 the club's Year Zero after they revealed the extend of their money woes.

 

But the powerful RST hope their club can look forward with a lot more hope, even if the former chairman was not allowed to escape criticism. Edgar said: "The figures are slightly worse than we feared. We believed it was going to be �£30m.

 

"Although it must be said this has come before the Champions League income of this season and the wage cuts in the summer, so it will improve.

 

"But this is an indictment of the shoddy management of the previous regime.

 

"I read a statement from Alastair Johnston praising the business acumen of Sir David Murray but considering we are �£31.3m in debt that is a false argument to say the least.

 

"However, there is no point in continually lamenting the previous chairman, no matter how justified we believe we are in doing so. It's time to move on. We have to look at this asYear Zero.

 

"This has to be as bad as it ever gets for Rangers."

[Frankie 8,486]

Interesting observations from Ewan Murray at the Guardian....

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/nov/13/rangers-violence-unirea-urziceni

 

It was half-time at Tannadice just under a fortnight ago when the match referee, Mike Tumilty, decided monsoon conditions meant it was time to halt Dundee United's match with Rangers. Three days before what has been dubbed the "Battle of Bucharest" the visiting supporters took the decision with good humour. Rangers were 1-0 up at the time and some of their fans even entered into convivial banter with journalists who stretched their legs among their number.

 

From reading some of the reports of what occurred at the Champions League encounter with Unirea Urziceni, you could have been left to wonder just how the Rangers following did not pull Tannadice down, bit by bit before turning their attentions to the members of the fourth estate.

 

Uefa's decision to merely fine the Ibrox outfit some �£18,000 for the half-time trouble in Romania was met with relief in Govan, make no mistake about that. What occurred at the Steaua Stadium was blown out of all proportion, given the relatively small numbers involved and bizarre attempts by local security officials to restore order. The throwing of seats from the visiting end was ludicrous, impossible to condone and the latest representation that Rangers' support abroad require more watching than your pet scorpion.

 

Eyewitness accounts highlighted what an utter shambles this occasion was, with stewards hardly likely to placate the very supporters they had denied entry to for an undue amount of time. But, put in context, this was potentially disastrous for Rangers.

 

When the manager, Walter Smith, is openly discussing the possibility of a European ban, it is clear the club's officials feared the worst. Trouble – again on varying scales, it must be noted – during European games in Villarreal and Pamplona mean Uefa is perfectly aware of Rangers and their following. It is understood Rangers were privately threatened with partial stadium closure after their previous fine from European football's governing body in 2007.

 

It must be noted that gross exaggeration and misuse of language surrounded the Unirea affair from the start. It has not, unfortunately, been studied in isolation by many apart from Uefa. Discussions took place regarding "stomach churning" trouble in Romania – which leaves you to wonder how mass tragedy, rather than a 15-minute fracas between football fans and stewards, would be described – while the Rangers support had further "underclass" allegations made against them. That the Glasgow club has a troublesome element when travelling abroad is hardly in doubt, but the wild castigation of their wider and perfectly decent following is out of line.

 

Such stinging criticism routinely provide little advice or scope for how "the Rangers problem" can be rectified, which leaves one to wonder how on earth the chief executive, Martin Bain, is expected to come up with viable solutions. "Ban the club, ban the fans" has perhaps been the most consistent theme of the last 10 days; would such a penalty, under any normal circumstance, not lead to the legitimate criticism that a minority are being allowed to win at the expense of other innocent fans?

 

It is high time Rangers' security officials took a leaf from the book of their English counterparts and, presuming they can identify those involved in foreign acts of indecency, made sure passports were handed into police stations around the time of European games. The policing of who receives tickets for such encounters must also be more rigidly studied, even if that means a reduced number being available. The potential penalties are now too high for Rangers to be lenient with the distribution of briefs.

 

Bain has fallen into the trap of pointing to the fact that anyone involved in disorder simply cannot be a Rangers fan; someone should alert the chief executive to the fact that it is possible to have both a passion for a football club and an inkling for violence. It would seem rather daft, after all, to spend thousands of pounds following a football team when you could rampage around your own city centre of a Saturday night. Blunt truths, sometimes, get lost amid the hubris.

 

Bain, though, has more seriously been the victim of unnecessary abuse. Rangers supporters have, in the past, condemned their chief executive for not speaking out enough to defend them in times of trouble. When Bain does exactly that, as in the immediate aftermath of the Unirea encounter, he is savaged by the written press for not taking the facts into account. It must have been lost somewhere in translation that after the game, as in Glasgow Airport the following day, he highlighted his gross displeasure at a minority of aggravators before turning his attentions to shortcomings on the organisational front.

 

He was clever in his statement last night, refusing to admit of course that Rangers were mightily relieved that a severe punishment was avoided and again turning his ire to the problematic group. There is a theory that Bain and high-ranking officials of the club would have liked a stadium closure as if to teach that moronic element a lesson.

 

But in these harsh financial times, it is fanciful to suggest Rangers can do without the �£2m in gate receipts which would be gleamed from the upcoming visit of Stuttgart.

 

Violence witnessed across Europe and leading to severe Uefa penalties is considerably more serious compared with what occurred in Bucharest, albeit it is a continued touch of fortune for Rangers that the football authorities chose to focus on the fine atmosphere inside the City of Manchester Stadium for the Uefa Cup final of 2008 and passed the madness in the streets on to the police.

 

Other instances apparently go unnoticed, such as the bus load of Dynamo Zagreb supporters who were somehow allowed to remain in Edinburgh for a few hours after this season's Europa League qualifier with Hearts before a mini-street battle ensued. The Rangers following, remember, are yet to aim fireworks at players.

 

Yesterday's Uefa decision, mercifully for Rangers, was simply about basic context of one incident. If offending continues, though, the club surely cannot be as lucky as European football's governing body gradually – like some journalists already are – grows weary of this sort of thing.

 

A higher Strathclyde Police presence and media scrutiny than normal will follow Rangers to Seville next month. Only those with serious mental or common decency issues would consider overshadowing the football match there; it is time for the minority either to be seen off at the pass, or heed what is surely a final warning.

 

When his prot�©g�© Murray is even poking fun at him, it shows just how irrational Spiers has become.

[Tannochsidebear 2,403]

WTF, a balanced article by a Scottish journalist. How the hell did that get out?

 

A good read that, proper jornalism.

[maineflyer 0]

WTF, a balanced article by a Scottish journalist. How the hell did that get out?

 

A good read that, proper jornalism.

 

Agree with you there TB, it was a very good read. All of which makes it all the more cringeworthy that our own make-believe representatives of whatever flavour you choose cannot issue statements that are equally balanced and sensible.

 

And it does make Spiers look like the bitter little arsewipe by comparison.

[Frankie 8,486]

Although I think your criticism is a bit strong MF, I agree that the Trust coverage has become rather saturated of late - hence the possible reason for their analysis of the situation going beyond that of what was required.

 

I, for one, wouldn't fancy speaking publicly (and by and large Edgar et al do a good job) but sometimes less is more. I appreciate this is an important period for the organisation though and they're trying to make the most out of that via the media.

 

Let's try and keep the criticism constructive please...

[maineflyer 0]

Although I think your criticism is a bit strong MF, I agree that the Trust coverage has become rather saturated of late - hence the possible reason for their analysis of the situation going beyond that of what was required.

The reason the criticism is strong is that, in my opinion, they continue to perform to entirely the wrong audience for all the wrong reasons..... that's the reason they continue to underachieve and is unacceptable. Saying nothing at all would be entirely a better course of action.

 

I, for one, wouldn't fancy speaking publicly (and by and large Edgar et al do a good job) but sometimes less is more. I appreciate this is an important period for the organisation though and they're trying to make the most out of that via the media.

The organisation is entitled to promote itself but I'd rather they found a way to do it without actively adding to the criticism of the club or supporters, much of which has been way over the top about the Bucharest affair. The RST has no need to add fuel to the flames.

 

Let's try and keep the criticism constructive please...

I'm sorry Frankie but calling Spiers a bitter little arsewipe seems entirely fair and factually accurate..

[Zappa 0]

How on earth would David Edgar know that "UEFA used common sense and took into account the club''s crippling debt"?? Was he at the UEFA disciplinary hearing? Was he told this by someone who was at the hearing or is the comment just drivel? Interesting point because with that one comment he paints a picture which depicts UEFA having taken pity on Rangers FC & I'm highly doubtful of that having been the case.

[craig 5,199]

By making that comment he also, quite possibly, has forced UEFA into this being the last chance saloon for our fans. By telling the media it is the last time we will see leniency you can guarantee that WILL be the case.

 

Why not, as maineflyer says, just be quiet. I actually used to like some of the comments made by Edgar but, more and more, I get the feeling that he and the Trust are making comments on the Trust's behalf, not the support.

 

I may be speaking out of turn but recently some of his comments seem to have been without thinking through the repercussions of any statement made.