Frankie 8,562 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Looking forward to reading and reviewing this book in the coming few weeks: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-Under-Union-Flag-Bissett/dp/1910021121/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404410171&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Born+Under+a+Union+Flag%3A+Rangers%2C+Britain+and+Scottish+Independence A book about the relationship of a football club to a political decision? On one level this is madness. But in Scotland it makes perfect sense. What do Rangers mean to Scotland and what does Scotland mean to Rangers? What do Rangers mean to Britain and what does Britain mean to Rangers? How does the club and the game interact with the world around it? Questioning how British and Scottish identities fit into supporting Rangers, Born Under the Union Flag provides the first solid exploration of the relationship between sport and national identity. Well-known and informed contributors from both sides of the independence debate, including Harry Reid, Iain Duff, and Will McLeish, all lend their disparate viewpoints this book, showing just how nuanced and difficult the discussion really is. A must-read for anyone interested in Rangers, the history of Scottish football, or the independence debate. Like a great football match, when the final whistle is blown, the players will shake hands and move on. If they have any sense, the winners will be magnanimous in victory; the losers will rue the day but accept the result nonetheless. I guess the one thing neither side wants is a draw and a replay. But that s up to the voters. I know Ally and Alan (and the other contributors) have worked hard on this so it should be an interesting read and useful accompaniment to the Referendum debate. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,406 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 I'm sorry, but what a lot of absolute nonsense that sounds. I wont be buying/reading that opportunistic nonsense. The only thing Rangers fans agree on, is that we dont really agree on anything. As for the 3 questions it poses, Rangers mean absolutely nothing to Scotland nowadays, and vice versa. That was clearly shown when we went into administration, and instead of helping one of the country's most globally known "brands" the commentators and politicians lined up to have a good old kick. While I would think a fairly decent majority of Rangers fans would support the NO campaign, (perhaps slightly more than the national opinion polls ATM) I cant believe anybody would vote on an issue so important to the nation's inhabitants based on their football leanings. I for one am totally opposed to the Independance nonsense, based mostly on the economic argument, but if Rangers fans were mostly in the majority for YES, it wouldnt make me think that I should tamely follow and vote YES. Unfortunately Rangers are now such a non-event in National, UK, or World terms that any attempt to combine our club's fans and fortunes to the argument about breaking up the UK in favour of Salmond's barmy army of tartan tosspots, is quite simply opportunistic claptrap. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,562 Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 I'd like to think your comments are represented in the book, TB. I certainly don't believe many people will use a football club to decide their vote but it's worthy of discussing in and around the overall context of Rangers in the wider sporting and social community. Certainly the contributors are well worth reading by and large. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neutralscot 0 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Alex Salmond – Why Rangers Football Club PLC (in administration) Must Be Saved Mr Salmond was briefly interviewed on the BBC yesterday regarding the position of Rangers. Below is a transcript of what he had to say. “My appeal to Rangers and to HMRC is – can’t we agree on a sum that’s due and a means of paying it that allows Rangers to continue as an effective functioning football club in Scotland because Scottish football, even Celtic, needs Rangers. Scottish football needs Rangers. “We want Rangers to survive and that should be a key goal and requirement prevailing on nut just Rangers, not just Craig Whyte, but HMRC as well.” When asked about the need for regulation in football, he replied, “There are processes going on at the present moment. “In the last few weeks I contacted both Rangers and HMRC, whose record in court is not particularly good at the present moment and I said once this Tribunal which is adjudicating on what genuinely owed – once that Inland Revenue Tribunal sets a sum – can’t that not be agreed as the sum that has to be paid and a time scale agreed to allow the club to pay it without going out of business. “Now that seems to me an entirely reasonable proposition that would allow the Inland Revenue to get what they are due and allow Rangers to pay their obligations but continue as a vibrant part, not just of Scottish football, but of Scottish culture. I still think that is the best way forward. “Perhaps people should concentrate on coming to an agreement and moving forward and keeping Scottish football intact with a great future. “I want to see Rangers continue for the next century and more, contributing to the excitement and fun of Scottish football.” =============== Without wishing to be involved in a political debate, it is irrefutable and highly admirable that fat jambo Alex Salmond lobbied on behalf of Rangers. I'd say he was about the only politician who paid anything other than lip service to ranger's plight. Political opportunism?? Maybe. Who cares. Ironic that the best defender of rangers (an unofficial 'unionist' club) was a Scot nationalist. Maybe an official gesture of gratitude would be appropriate at some point from rangers. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neutralscot 0 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Frankie, I believe some hardline celtic fans use their football club / faith (ha ha, not at catholicism, but the idea that any of them are actually practising christians) as a reason to be anti SNP and pro Labour, believing the SNP are anti catholic and anti celtic, but labour are not. Lunacy yes. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,406 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 I have just read the forewords and contributors list and I still don't get what they are trying to achieve. If only all these fans were as vocal about the abomination of a board and used their journalistic skills to uncover some truths that could help our club, rather than this attempt at something not quite clear, we might get on better. Safe to say I wont be buying, but I am sure some will and it may well be what they are looking for, if the book actually has a point to make at all, which is not at all clear. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,830 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Are the contributors YES & NO to this book Bears? If not it looks like just a money making exercise and no doubt will show the usual stereotypical Rangers fan as Protestant, Loyalist, Unionist, etc. I'm none of these, and will be voting YES but my political & religious views have hehaw to do with the team I support. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real PapaBear 0 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 said it before and I'll say it again; anyone who allows the biggest decision they or their children will ever have to face to be based on 11 men kicking a ball should have their right to vote taken away from them. As your kids start having to pay to go to university (as they do in England), and as your NHS becomes ever more privatised ever more quickly (as it is in England) and as you have to start to fund your parents nursing home (as they do in England) the colour of your football team's shirt might start to seem less and less important and your decision to vote NO more and more regretable. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 As a member of the SNP in the sixties, also a member of the OO in the sixties. I have to say your vote has nothing to do with your football team, religion or what flag you would follow. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hildy 0 Posted July 4, 2014 Share Posted July 4, 2014 There seems to be more books about Celtic than there are about Rangers. I'm not sure of actual figures, but the impression has long been that the other side is more inclined towards literary attempts than we are - even though much of their material is romantic claptrap and revisionism. For that reason, I welcome a larger Rangers footprint in the world of books. It's healthy that a greater effort is being made to articulate who we are, what we stand for and what we believe in. We are a broad church. That's why a full explanation of the Rangers identity - in book form - is more than welcome and long overdue. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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