ian1964 10,761 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 ...and their football will transform the Scottish Premiership... don't rule him out as a potential England manager Mark Warburton's Rangers are easy on the eye and play out from the back Rangers' quality football will transform the Scottish Premiership Gary Mackay-Steven's lack of progress at Celtic has been disappointing An estimated 100,000,000 watched the Old Firm game around the world... Rangers' return to the top flight will bring passion back to Scottish football By Adrian Durham for MailOnline Published: 07:02, 19 April 2016 | Updated: 08:01, 19 April 2016 As I walked up to Hampden Park for Sunday's Old Firm game, I wondered if Mark Warburton ever thought there would be a scarf with his name emblazoned across it for sale outside a football ground. I know for certain he would be bewildered to find that Mark Warburton scarf next to a William of Orange scarf at the same market stall. Inside the ground the atmosphere was electric; I was dismayed to see some terrible banners held up by both sets of fans at either end of the ground just before kick-off. Words like 'paedophiles' and 'hun scum' don't belong in football grounds. The songs sung by the crowd were predominantly sectarian; it's an issue that will re-emerge massively with the return of regular clashes between Celtic and Rangers – will the authorities ever get on top of it? More needs to be done. But I'm not interested in religion, and not interested one bit in bigotry. I am interested in football, and what followed was a wonderful game – with Rangers playing some super stuff. Warburton has something special going on at Ibrox. They play out from the back, he trusts his players to pass the ball and it's so easy on the eye. Don't underestimate the potential value to the national team of what Warburton's doing: he is coaching several Scottish players, and giving them confidence on the ball, and the ability to pass and receive the ball. It won't be long before the national team benefits from that. In stark contrast, the lack of progress made by Gary Mackay-Steven since he arrived at Celtic over a year ago, is massively disappointing. He was utterly dreadful on Sunday in a game that totally passed him by. Rangers' quality football will transform the Scottish Premiership – other clubs will follow suit, and that can only be a good thing. Warburton's aim is take Rangers back into the Champions League. If he does that, and Rangers show up well in Europe's top competition, don't rule out Warburton's name being linked with the England job in the future. His teams play wonderful football. On top of that he is a diplomat who has handled the Old Firm rivalry with class and ease, and he is brilliant with the media. He ticks so many boxes with the Football Association. What I really liked on Sunday was the fact that he told his winger Barrie McKay to stay on the wing. This 21-year-old hugged the touchline, and he tormented Celtic. A year ago I gave Jamie Vardy 10 out of 10 for his performance as bottom of the table Leicester won at West Brom. And I'm giving McKay 10 out of 10 for his display on Sunday. Even without his breathtaking wondergoal the 21-year-old was the absolute star of the show. Great game, great drama, and a brilliant show from Rangers, with the victory to back it up. There can't be anyone but the most hard-boiled Celtic fans left who thinks Rangers haven't brought something absolutely massive back to Scottish football with their return to the top flight. They'll bring some football quality for a start. But they'll bring so much more. A sub 20,000 crowd turned up at Saturday's semi between Dundee United and Hibs, and probably even fewer watched it on TV globally. On Sunday, over 50,000 were inside the same stadium for the Old Firm game, and an estimated 100,000,000 watched around the world. Passion has returned north of the border. It's obvious Scottish football was desperate to get Rangers back in the bigtime. But it had to be a good Rangers, one capable of being competitive. In a short space of time, Mark Warburton has delivered on that – he's the Englishman coming to the rescue of Scottish football. Sunday was just the beginning. Fair play to the likes of former Celtic captain and manager Neil Lennon, showing himself to be a class act for speaking positively about the return of the Old Firm game. Hard to swallow for some, but it's the reality. You might dislike Rangers a lot. But if you care about football in Scotland, you should be relieved and grateful they're back. Although I appreciate that some may feel they need to say something different publicly. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3547008/Mark-Warburton-special-going-Rangers.html#ixzz46G6Xrd2b Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Were the songs predominantly sectarian? Follow follow seemed to be our most prevalent song followed by No Surrender. There was a rendition of the Billy Boys but I couldn't make out if the offensive line was sung. Then there was a lot of the Magic Hat song, as well as Can you hear Celtic sing and You're getting sacked in the morning. As for Celtic fans, hardly heard them. Sounds like the reporter has assumed or been told it was sectarian and I don't know what problem he has with a former English and Scottish king who saved our nations from French expansionism. Paedophile has nothing to do with bigotry either. Now "Hun scum", that is sectarian and no milder than FB - which is actually arguably anti-terrorist. It's obvious he's not interested in sectarianism enough to put effort into being accurate, but he's interested enough to libel a load of people. Maybe that's what the fighting fund could have been used for. Sue every defamation of character in the press that has a good legal case. Again and again. They would soon get the message that we're no longer a soft target to paint as perpetual villains. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Durham is our Graham Spiers but with a lot more knowledge about football. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 "Rangers' quality football will transform the Scottish Premiership – other clubs will follow suit, and that can only be a good thing." If only.................... but I don't buy that. Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts aside, it will be 10 men behind the ball with the rest of them. Same shite as this season 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 7,217 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Its like night and day after the dross we have had to watch and put up with these past few seasons , maybe some of our artistic fans could make a huge banner thanking mark warburton 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I see a white horse crossing the Boyne with Mark Warburton on it 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 (edited) An Englishman doing something special in Scotland, and you think of Ireland..? Edited April 19, 2016 by calscot 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 An Englishman doing something special in Scotland, and you think of Ireland..? nice one. He could be leading a group of roundheads. Warburton's New Model Arm,y 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,823 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 nice one. He could be leading a group of roundheads. Warburton's New Model Arm,y I think we'd be Cavaliers would we not? Roundheads were Republican. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 6,170 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Yeah but the Roundheads were efficient whereas the Cavaliers were er, cavalier. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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