ranger_syntax 4,320 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I am a properly-developed grown-up and I exercise the right to examine the nonsense that I am fed. But part of the deal now with Scottish football is you agree to have your intelligence insulted at regular intervals without ever complaining about it – or even admitting that it’s happened. Most remarkable for a tabloid hack to say something like this. I think I had better direct Hugh to one of my favourite parts of a good book. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 7,030 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 both clubs can only play what's in front of them 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,320 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Don't see how you can disagree with anything he said there It's quite easy to see why someone would disagree with the following at least. And spare me this ongoing fantasy about the Ramsdens Cup forming part of a hoped-for “Treble”. That word is being used by those who clearly don’t mind having their intelligence insulted. This is just inserted as bait to provoke argument from Rangers fans. It's not a serious point. Winning three trophies is a treble and it doesn't require a great deal of sophistication to acknowledge that [League 1, Scottish cup, Ramsdens cup], although a treble, is not as prestigious as [Premiership, Scottish cup, League cup]. I'm using this word and I'm not having my intelligence insulted. I wonder if Hugh ever described the '98 - '99 season, [European cup, Premiership, FA cup], as a treble for Manchester United? If so would he have refused to describe [Premiership, FA cup, League cup] as a treble thereafter? I think not. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I don't know, I think Keevins has a point. The term 'treble' when used in Scottish football means winning the top league, the Scottish Cup and League cup. I mean if we did win three trophies this season would we be happy having them added to our current record 'treble' haul? I wouldn't. I'd celebrate the victories, particularly the Scottish Cup which really would be an achievement, but in all seriousness the Ramsden's Cup and whatever the division we're in just now title is called should be gimmes. Yes approach them professionally, yes do everything to win them, but let's keep them in perspective. Keevins main point about Celtic is spot on too. They've had a really poor season, if this downward trajectory they are on continues things might be quite interesting when we return. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,320 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I don't know, I think Keevins has a point. The term 'treble' when used in Scottish football means winning the top league, the Scottish Cup and League cup. I mean if we did win three trophies this season would we be happy having them added to our current record 'treble' haul? I wouldn't. I'd celebrate the victories, particularly the Scottish Cup which really would be an achievement, but in all seriousness the Ramsden's Cup and whatever the division we're in just now title is called should be gimmes. Yes approach them professionally, yes do everything to win them, but let's keep them in perspective. I wouldn't count them alongside the more prestigious treble. Nothing is going to get around the fact that there are three of them though. Might also be interesting to know if anyone has ever won three trophies that was not [Premiership, Scottish cup, League cup]. For example the Glasgow cup* might be counted in a treble if not the treble. Look at this awful page, which at the time of posting at least, refers to a 'quintuple' that includes the Glasgow cup. *I gather that this was a more serious affair back in the day. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Aw, c'mon, I looked at that page and my eyes are bleeding now! Yes, they are literally a treble, but they aren't the treble, and we devalue those past achievements if we try and rank this alongside them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgacus 8 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 It is marketing...what does he expect the club to say... we're playing in this tinpot tournament and we don't really want anyone to come and watch? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,320 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Yes, they are literally a treble, but they aren't the treble, and we devalue those past achievements if we try and rank this alongside them. Agreed and I hope all Rangers fans see it that way. The problem for Hugh is that his point depends on the idea that there are some Rangers fans who actually believe that both trebles have equal status. All Rangers fans that I know can count to three. No Rangers fans that I know have ever indicated that the treble we could win this year is of the same status as the treble. What I am most eager to discover is how enjoyable it will be to find ourselves celebrating a Scottish cup win to complete this lesser treble. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy steel 0 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 RS has nailed it already afaic, but on a slightly different tack I think Hugh's piece smacks of a certain, and for him typical, resentment at Rangers displaying anything other than grovelling contrition. He often told us, when he was starting out in Edinburgh, how the establishment in the city considered Tynecastle to have a better class of customer; your institutionalised bigotry, if you like. Hearts' financial woes have been reported with the utmost sympathy, though: how on earth did this bastion of discrimination become a cuddly toy? Probably a mix of society moving on, the issue not being that serious in the first place, and, crucially, a chance to move away from their past and develop a slightly different identity. At no time have we ever been allowed that space: the same people who bang on the loudest about how we missed 'a chance to change' are the ones who insist the world remember and denounce our very existence. Hugh's piece plays into this attitude: down and almost out, Rangers have no right to celebrate anything, neither a win over Dunfermline nor a haul of trophies. No, there'll be no happiness allowed, only grovelling apologies, an ongoing apologia for some socio-political baggage which was passe in the late 90's and is now more or less the preserve of obsessives of whatever stripe, and a continual self-flagellation for the fate which has befallen us since the advent of HMRC & Craig Whyte. In the final analysis, though, the breath taking nerve of Hugh Keevins criticising other people for insulting the intelligence means the reader struggles to accord this piece any credibility at all. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 6,082 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Nuremberg Hugh has been penning that article for over 30 years. The thought process is simple. He wants to criticise his beloved Sellik(well, they've banned him for nearly two seasons) and knows the fundamentalists will not swallow the unpalatable unless the pill is sugared. Thus, criticise Rangers and Rangers supporters for aspiring to hope. The latter remains vivid in the short term memory, and hopefully the former journeys to the long term. The last item left in Pandora's vessel was hope, Nuremberg wants the lid welded closed. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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