calscot 0 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I have no doubt whatsoever that what we read about transfers in newspapers is utter gobshite.The greater part is invented and manipulatively thrown out there by money hungry agents - whom I would be perfectly happy to have propped up against a wall. Figuratively of course. A large part is also construed by the media, feeding on the scraps of information they are fed, and eager to maintain their sales and their belief that they still bring "news" to Joe Public. In between this unholy alliance, we have the Clubs, who alternate between basking in the afterglow of receiving the news that they are linked with Player X, licking their lips at the thought that their latest 17 year old sensation is worth 15 million, or testing the media with another lure in order to drum up season ticket sales. As an example, CFC take this to high extremes - witnessed recently when they were linked to Zlatan Ibrahimović yet wisely changed their mind in favour of that Griffiths chappie. Why we lap it up - or even more, believe it - is a sublime mystery I have yet to get to the bottom of. I think times have really changed. I remember about 20 years ago, the Internet was getting off the ground and every day I'd be trying about 6 or 7 different news sites desperate to find Rangers news and transfer information. It was a time when transfer news was fun as it was during 9iaR and the start of the CL, so we had money to burn on famous internationals and have what seemed like a huge squad. Papers and their online analogs would usually only print stuff that had some substance as they'd only so many column inches to fill and so would use them to cover all teams. There was little room for unsubstantiated rumours for all clubs. But I suppose, people like me and others had an insatiable appetite for this kind of news and a premium phone line company started to fill the void (Club Call?) with any tenuous rumours (although premium phone calls were not for me). This eventually went online for free but with monetisation from adverts. I think they were cornering the internet market and so everyone else had to join in to keep circulation numbers up and with tons of online space compared to a paper, they could afford to quickly reprint and rehash any old information that became available and if there was a dirth of that, they could just start making it up. So then the likes of NewsNow came along to aggregate this news and we became overwhelmed with what started out as a ton of repetition of the same copy from the likes of Reuters with the odd tweak and then regurgitation of the crap that was either rumour or just made up to fill the gap. Now we just have a load of rubbish to make a headline so you will click on it with tenuous connection to a misinterpreted quote or leading question like "Would you ever consider going back to Rangers?" answered with a cautious, "Well, I'd never rule it out completely", becomes, "X lined up for a return to Rangers". The thing that makes it worse is with the position we're in, transfer are neither interesting due to the low quality and free nature (as well as being limited to a couple of days plus one small window in two years), nor desired, with the latter due to the other rumours of us running out of money imminently. NewsNow is now full of absolute pap mixed in with Rangers hating editorials which come across as sheer propaganda. The only light in the overwhelming darkness are some of the better fans' blogs from the likes of here and TRS. We've gone from being desperate for news to being disdainful of the sea of excrement that we're confronted with and it's no wonder that forums are thriving while newspapers are dying. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebear54 0 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Spot on Calscot. We're going through a fundamental shift away from newspapers as the primary source for decent Club news. The interesting question is what will be the source for Club news in - say 20 years time. It's encouraging to believe that it would be from the likes of here and TRS instead of the likes of our present media in Scotland. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I have no doubt whatsoever that what we read about transfers in newspapers is utter gobshite.The greater part is invented and manipulatively thrown out there by money hungry agents - whom I would be perfectly happy to have propped up against a wall. Figuratively of course. A large part is also construed by the media, feeding on the scraps of information they are fed, and eager to maintain their sales and their belief that they still bring "news" to Joe Public. In between this unholy alliance, we have the Clubs, who alternate between basking in the afterglow of receiving the news that they are linked with Player X, licking their lips at the thought that their latest 17 year old sensation is worth 15 million, or testing the media with another lure in order to drum up season ticket sales. As an example, CFC take this to high extremes - witnessed recently when they were linked to Zlatan Ibrahimović yet wisely changed their mind in favour of that Griffiths chappie. Why we lap it up - or even more, believe it - is a sublime mystery I have yet to get to the bottom of. They weren't really linked with Zlatan. He just made a throwaway comment about maybe playing for them one day. And whenever we are interested in a player Ally always confirms the interest publicly so we know whats true and what isn't. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,720 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Thing is, I always thought he was a good player for Hearts and back in the summer of 2011 I suggested that he wouldn't be a bad signing, but you guys said he had a bad rep or kept bad company over your way, so that put me off him more than his reputation for dirty tackles etc. Since we signed him though, I think he's generally done well for us. He's no Steven Davis, but I do think he'd be handy to have around when we get back to the top flight, so probably wouldn't be against him getting a contract extension. The only downside is that he turns 29 next month, so he'd be over 30 for our return to the top flight which isn't ideal. A wee bird tells me he had a guest at Ibrox with him yesterday in the players lounge, his best mate Paul Swan who is a Hearts fan,yet runs with the HIVS casuals!! and is a Rangers hater! Andrew Whitson and Paul Swan are first 'football act' convictions http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-17355788 Bigotry law: Hibs pair first to be convicted http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/bigotry-law-hibs-pair-first-to-be-convicted-1-2170925 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,743 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 At the end of the day, people may have to accept that he's a professional footballer paid to do his job. He might be a Bear, he might not be a Bear. He might have dodgy friends or not. As long as Ian Black the player gives 100% each time he turns on our colours, that is fine enough for me. If his private / social life matches that, all the better. If not, you'd hope he does not tarnish the club's name. You do wonder what our former players indulged in in years and decades gone by, when media attention and focus was not as vicious as it is nowadays. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cooper 0 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Black is a nyaff who should be nowhere near our club. More rumours last week sweeping Edinburgh about what he is still getting upto as well. He doesn't give 100% so where does that leave him? He doesn't care. He is sh*te and offers our team nothing. Can't defend, can't attack, doesn't create, doesn't break up play, he jogs around with his chest puffed out as if he is Mr Rangers. He is an imposter. I feel sorry for the likes of Crawford, MacLeod, Murdoch and Peralta who can't get in the team ahead of him. They are certainly no worse. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,743 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Ian Black was, for the second week running, the best player on the park. As opposed to last season, Black gives 100% of what a Black is able to offer this season ... and consistently. If all players would be able to do that, we'd be even better off than we are now. His problem with some is that he was and will remain some sort of hate figure. At the end of the day, somesuch should not taint any objective judgement of the player rather than the person. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,653 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 I thought Black was excellent yesterday.......... Long may that continue 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chibmark 19 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 I met him last night at the Blythswood hotel. He was with a young thing and a large bloke who was with a big chested thing. My wife and I were having dinner and he was in the adjoining booth with his party. Nothing remarkable happened in the slightest. The only negative being that he probably went for 4 cigarettes in the 2 hours or so that he was present. The wife and I then went upstairs to the cocktail bar and shortly afterwards headed to bed and played hide the sausage. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,720 Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 I met him last night at the Blythswood hotel. He was with a young thing and a large bloke who was with a big chested thing. My wife and I were having dinner and he was in the adjoining booth with his party. Nothing remarkable happened in the slightest. The only negative being that he probably went for 4 cigarettes in the 2 hours or so that he was present. The wife and I then went upstairs to the cocktail bar and shortly afterwards headed to bed and played hide the sausage. That's the guy I'm on about,the Rangers hating Hearts fan who runs with the HIVS casuals:) 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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