Hildy 0 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Do you remember when we knew what Celtic players looked like? Do you remember how we would listen in nervously when they played, hoping that they'd falter? The football landscape has changed so much in Glasgow that the city is no longer an Old Firm goldfish bowl. Instead, the two sides function in separate atmospheres. With no Old Firm interaction, each has become a stranger to the other. The current Celtic team could walk past me in the street and I probably wouldn't know who they were. For Celtic fans, due to Rangers being run as a retirement home for elderly footballers, they have no difficulty in recognising Rangers' established guys, but many of our players are unfamiliar faces to them too. There was a time when fans of each side knew the other lot almost as well. They didn't need to learn the enemy team, they just knew it. Not so long ago, a Rangers-supporting friend of mine used to chat fairly regularly to a fellow dog walker. It turned out that he was talking to a leading Celtic player, and yet he had no idea. This surely couldn't have happened in the past. We knew them and they knew us. Now, Celtic's profile has dipped as a consequence of Rangers being in the football wilderness. Ours has dipped too, of course, although Rangers is such a dysfunctional entity that it retains a profile of sorts by providing a daily source of amusement to the nation. Apart from the obsessed element in the Celtic support though, which keeps Rangers under intense scrutiny at all times, there is a realisation within the Celtic fraternity that the game is up for Rangers. The laughter has abated and they even feel a degree of sympathy for us. They are looking at a future now that might not be seriously challenged by Rangers, and as they come to terms with it, there is a grudging realisation that they are poorer for it. Now that the big two has been reduced to the big one, the intensity has disappeared, the temperature has cooled and the colour has faded. Celtic fans are living in a monochrome world where the competition is either walkover material or too good for them. It is a bore. It's not boring being a Rangers fan, though. The football may be rotten but when was clinging to a life raft ever boring? Rangers fans are living out an outrageous soap opera where each twist is more absurd than the last one. This Rangers saga could not have been made up or engineered even by a bitter and hateful enemy. It is a tale of woe beyond imagination and comprehension, and with every day that passes, the realisation dawns that bouncing back is hard to do when the ball is burst. The leading figures at Rangers have become cartoon characters. There is nothing that they do which shocks or surprises. Talk of the stadium being sponsored for the grand total of £1 is eminently believable. This is the calibre of people Rangers FC is run by in the 21st century. Every statement, announcement or comment from the club is greeted with ridicule and dismissed as being symptomatic of a failed and toxic regime. Rangers has ceased to be a credible entity. It is crumbling and falling apart. We are often reminded when we complain about politicians that we get the governments we deserve. If the same can be said of the governance of football clubs, the Rangers support must have been guilty of something dreadful, or maybe we're just not that bright. Either way, Rangers fans have an allegiance to a club that is an asylum for the clueless, the calamitous, the absurd and the avaricious, and it is conspicuously rotten from the front gates of Auchenhowie to the top of the Ibrox Stadium flagpole. I have long believed that Rangers had a sell-by date. I always suspected that it was going to become an unwelcome institution in a changing world. I was concerned too that it would fail under 'private' ownership. The only solution was to become a fan-owned club that embraced a new enlightenment, but our failure in this area has been as embarrassing as it is shameful. As we remind ourselves, almost hourly, what a mess it is at the top of the house, we really have to take account of our own inability to properly attempt some kind of rescue. We may have been turned over, but we have been passive, mostly inactive and even apathetic during this crisis. As per usual, we wait on a saviour, and if there isn't one, we just keep waiting anyway. When the lights go out at Ibrox, or when they become so dim that they can barely be observed, ask yourself - how will Scotland remember Rangers? Fifty years after Rangers' passing, how will our children and grandchildren remember the football club that is so much part of our lives? I suggest that Rangers will be remembered with the same kind of affection that BBC Radio Scotland and Radio Clyde currently have for our club. We will not be fondly remembered or missed. The country will be glad to see the back of Rangers and it will speak of us in a highly derogatory tone when enough time has elapsed to make us a distant memory. Bearing in mind our current predicament - and we are all aware that another collapse could be close - not only would we lose a club that is dear to us, as people, we would be marked down by history for having an association with a club that will almost certainly be remembered as a monument to bigotry. And with this double whammy in mind, what do we do? We wait, and wait, and then wait some more. History won't be kind to us for this either. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barca72 440 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 That is just about the most negative and depressing post I have seen on here. You have Rangers dead and buried already - " When the lights go out at Ibrox, or when they become so dim that they can barely be observed, ask yourself - how will Scotland remember Rangers? Fifty years after Rangers' passing, how will our children and grandchildren remember the football club that is so much part of our lives?" Are you trying to get the Rangers' support to accept that the death of the club is inevitable? Not a chance is that acceptable. You are trying to infer that the Rangers' support is responsible for this situation - " If the same can be said of the governance of football clubs, the Rangers support must have been guilty of something dreadful, or maybe we're just not that bright." Again that is completely wrong and unacceptable. The Rangers' fans are in no way responsible for the club's present plight. You are even trying to implicate Rangers for the condition of the C1888c fans - " Celtic fans are living in a monochrome world where the competition is either walkover material or too good for them. It is a bore." Again unacceptable. In 2011 their own CEO, the man mostly responsible for engineering Rangers fate outwith Whyte, said that they were no longer a part of the Old Firm, that they had a strategy for going forward, and that they would flourish as a club on their own. Tell that to the C1888c fans. Also, if you are looking for a reason as to why - " the intensity has disappeared, the temperature has cooled ", maybe you should think on The Lurgan Bigot having disappeared from the picture. There is no way we are responsible for, nor should we waste time on being empathetic towards, anything to do with the C1888c club or their support. If there are any Rangers' fans so affected by your post that they would consider not going to any more games, would you be happy? You are entitled to an opinion but if you publish it then you can expect it to be challenged. Really, and this is only a personal observation, if the present situation of the club has you that depressed maybe you should talk to someone. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 In 2011 their own CEO, the man mostly responsible for engineering Rangers fate outwith Whyte, said that they were no longer a part of the Old Firm, that they had a strategy for going forward, and that they would flourish as a club on their own. You have done a good job in backing up Hildy's point. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhunter 0 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Do you remember how we would listen in nervously when they played NO The football landscape has changed so much in Glasgow that the city is no longer an Old Firm goldfish bowl. Instead, the two sides function in separate atmospheres. With no Old Firm interaction, each has become a stranger to the other. The next OF game will be the most poisonous on record. The current Celtic team could walk past me in the street and I probably wouldn't know who they were. I don't think i could ever forget terrorist supporting irish elvis batterer stokes, the wee hunchback perve or thumbheid griffiths The laughter has abated and they even feel a degree of sympathy for us. Garbage. If the same can be said of the governance of football clubs, the Rangers support must have been guilty of something dreadful, or maybe we're just not that bright. Deary me I have long believed that Rangers had a sell-by date. Really As we remind ourselves, almost hourly, what a mess it is at the top of the house, we really have to take account of our own inability to properly attempt some kind of rescue. We may have been turned over, but we have been passive, mostly inactive and even apathetic during this crisis. As per usual, we wait on a saviour, and if there isn't one, we just keep waiting anyway. Not really when you see the countless fan's groups that have sprung up and share buying schemes. I suggest that Rangers will be remembered with the same kind of affection that BBC Radio Scotland and Radio Clyde currently have for our club. I can only hope and pray that i don't live in a Scotland populated by the sort of scum that ply their wares in those 2 scum riddled institutions. We will not be fondly remembered or missed.We would be by the fans who cared about the club. Bearing in mind our current predicament - and we are all aware that another collapse could be close - not only would we lose a club that is dear to us, as people, we would be marked down by history for having an association with a club that will almost certainly be remembered as a monument to bigotry. Can't really by this point believe what i'm reading to be honest. If there is to be an epitaph written i hope to god its not by you. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whosthedado 1,680 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Bloody hell - where's the nearest cliff after reading that! Listen I know things are bad but FFS. Hopefully if and when I have kids they will grow up and support the same team as I support. Jeez if I wasnt depressed about the situation before I certainly am now 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Bloody hell - where's the nearest cliff after reading that! FFS, that's a bit drastic mate! Just become an emo and start cutting yourself. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 How can people actually use the overly negative logic with a straight face ? If we were a flood we would be at 'Danger to life'. Things have been rock bottom for a while and yet get progressively worse. It seems the only thing keeping us an ongoing concern is ****s milking us, not any actual tangible effort to continue. You could say the fans keep us going yet many of us are not doing that now. This is the first season in my life I haven't bought a shirt and I haven't been at Ibrox in over a year. I know for a fact others on here are the same. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 You're not very Rangers minded Hildy. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 You're not very Rangers minded Hildy. He is a terrific poster. What does 'Rangers minded' mean now? It's not displayed at the club at any level. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 He is a terrific poster. What does 'Rangers minded' mean now? It's not displayed at the club at any level. No question about his posting quality. but hie's just not right in the head or Rangers minded as i call it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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