the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 as odious as he is he is right. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 15,294 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, the gunslinger said: as odious as he is he is right. Not really. Issuing a generic statement would be worse. And I'm not sure cowardice is what he really means but he is a bitter hack, devoid of rationale when it comes to Rangers, so who knows. I don't get this desire for an immediate statement regarding something this serious. Particularly on the back of an edited then re-edited etc. report by an organisation several victims have already stated they don't trust (neither do I). Edited February 16, 2021 by Gonzo79 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 3 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said: Not really. Issuing a generic statement would be worse. And I'm not sure cowardice is what he really means but he is a bitter hack, devoid of rationale when it comes to Rangers, so who knows. I don't get this desire for an immediate statement regarding something this serious. Particularly on the back of an edited then re-edited etc. report by an organisation several victims have already stated they don't trust (neither do I). i guess that all depends what we do in the end. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,748 Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 4 hours ago, craig said: You are wrong, bud. No journalist is barred AFAIK - folks like McLaughlin have had their press privileges revoked, but they still aren't barred I used his words as quote there ? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleam 5,948 Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 Without comment, for the moment: Prolific paedophile Gordon Neely abused me at Rangers, says former player Marc Horne Saturday February 20 2021, 12.01am, The Times The anonymous player says he was abused in the manager’s dressing room at Ibrox https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prolific-paedophile-gordon-neely-abused-me-at-rangers-says-former-player-p95wfm36v A former top-flight footballer has come forward to claim he was repeatedly abused in a manager’s office at Ibrox while he was a youth player with Rangers. The retired professional alleges he was indecently assaulted by Gordon Neely, the club’s head of youth development, in the late 1980s. Neely was unmasked as a prolific paedophile in the report into sexual abuse within football, which was commissioned by the Scottish FA and published last week. It found he sexually and physically abused at least three other youths at Ibrox and previously molested other young players at Hibernian and Hutchison Vale, an Edinburgh youth side. It prompted the player, who went on to have a distinguished career in Scottish and English football, to speak publicly about his experiences for the first time. “Neely abused me five or six times in the manager’s dressing room at Ibrox,” he said. “I’d dreamed of playing for Rangers since I was a child and was scared I’d be let go if I told anyone, so I said nothing.” On the first occasion, when he was 15, Neely accused him of drinking at the weekend, which he denied, and told him he could either lose his place in the team or accept a punishment. “I was a Rangers fan growing up and I didn’t want to stop playing,” said the former player, who has requested anonymity. “I was confused and didn’t know what was going on.” Neely pulled down his shorts and underwear and spanked him. The abuse then continued on a number of occasions. “One time, in particular, really sticks in my mind,” he said. “I was injured and Neely asked me to come in. It sounds odd now but I remember feeling really important because I was getting to go into the stadium during the day. “The abuse took place in the office that was usually used by the manager. I can remember it like it was yesterday. It had a desk but there was a shower and changing area further in the back and that’s where Neely would lead me.” Unable to take any more, he sacrificed his dream to play for his boyhood heroes and walked out. “Looking back now I’m so glad I had the guts to leave when I did,” he said. “Nobody from Rangers ever asked me why I was leaving or if there was anything they could do to change my mind.” He put his ordeal to the back of his mind for decades but decided to give a full account to Police Scotland two years ago. They informed him Neely had died of cancer in 2014, aged 62. Publicity surrounding last week’s report convinced him to speak out and seek legal redress. In 2018 another alleged victim of Neely was told he should pursue his complaint with liquidators. He was told by lawyers that Rangers was owned by a different company when the abuse took place and that duty of care was not with the present owners. The latest survivor to come forward insists that that position is ethically unsustainable. “Rangers can’t hide from the fact that the abuse took place at Ibrox,” he said. “It happened in their stadium, irrespective of who now owns it.” Rangers has strenuously denied any wrongdoing. The club did not respond to a request for comment but previously issued a statement saying: “It is understood the individual was dismissed immediately and that the police were informed. All employees adhered to the strictest codes of conduct.” 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker 887 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 3 hours ago, Uilleam said: In 2018 another alleged victim of Neely was told he should pursue his complaint with liquidators. He was told by lawyers that Rangers was owned by a different company when the abuse took place and that duty of care was not with the present owners. Whenever this incident is reported it's always phrased as "was told by lawyers", rather than "told by Rangers' lawyers". It's not clear if anyone acting on behalf of the club was actually contacted. The wording could just as easily be read to mean that the lawyer the complainant approached to represent him advised that the case wasn't worth pursuing. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleam 5,948 Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 Abuse victims deserve apology, minister tells Rangers Rangers telt!! (That'll play well with the demographic) Well, not quite: SNP Minister for Public Health and Sport, one Mairi Gougeon (no, me neither, but she represents Angus North and Mearns, has a Degree in History, from Aberdeen, and is married to a Frenchman), has said that, “Any clubs where young people suffered such abuse should apologise, and they should do so unreservedly. That is the least that the individuals and families who were impacted can expect.” The over-zealous sub-editor, again, eh? I used to think better of The Times.... I would have to speculate -hope- that the Club is acting under advisement. The obsession with apology, rather than punishment, is quite marked, and wide spread. Of course it's become a bandwagon, festooned with virtue signals, for head nodders like Spiers, and for others. My worry is that apology, no matter how anodyne, is seen, quite coldly, and calculatedly, as an end in itself, and an end to the matter: everybody has apologised, let's draw a line and move on, for the good of society, for the good of the game, for the good of Scotland. Actually, this is all part of the 'equivalence' narrative, which posits that all clubs were affected, so they are all the same, laying aside any matters of scale of abuse, timescale over which it occurred, and its concealment. I think that the victims have a right to know what happened, how it happened, how it was allowed to continue; I think also that the country has a similar right. It is a dark chapter in sport, but concealing it, and concealing the concealment of it, is not any way forward. A full independent inquiry is. Abuse victims deserve apology, minister tells Rangers Marc Horne Tuesday February 23 2021, 12.01am, The Times Rangers have yet to make an apology to survivors of child sex abuse at the club and have denied wrongdoing https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/abuse-victims-deserve-apology-minister-tells-rangers-n3t580rpv Scotland’s sports minister has warned Rangers and other football clubs that they cannot stay silent over the “abhorrent” sexual abuse that has scarred the national game. An independent report commissioned by the Scottish FA ordered clubs who had failed to protect young players to offer an “unequivocal and unreserved” public apology to survivors. The Scottish FA, Motherwell, Hibernian, Falkirk, Partick Thistle, the Highland league club Forres Mechanics and Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, an Edinburgh youth team, released statements expressing contrition. Celtic, whose feeder clubs are embroiled in an abuse scandal spanning three decades, reiterated an apology from last year in which they said they were “very sorry” that such events took place. Rangers, however, have failed to make a public statement since the report was released this month. Mairi Gougeon, the minister for sport, said that clubs could not evade or ignore recommendations made by the Independent Review of Sexual Abuse in Scottish Football. “The abuse that those young people were subjected to was abhorrent,” she said. “I can only imagine the impact that it has had on them and on their families. “Any clubs where young people suffered such abuse should apologise, and they should do so unreservedly. That is the least that the individuals and families who were impacted can expect.” She said the government would work with the Scottish FA to ensure compliance, adding: “It is vital that those recommendations are implemented. I am sure that the individuals affected by this and their families would absolutely agree with that.” Gougeon was backed by Johann Lamont, the former Scottish Labour leader and co-convener of Holyrood’s crossparty group of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. “Clubs must understand the scale of the harm done and they should apologise,” Lamont said. “The report makes shocking reading and it merits a very serious response. Survivors deserve nothing less.” Last week a former top-flight footballer told The Times that he had been repeatedly abused in a manager’s office while he was a youth player with Rangers. The retired professional alleged he had been indecently assaulted “five or six times” by Gordon Neely, the club’s head of youth development, in the late 1980s. “I’d dreamed of playing for Rangers since I was a child and was scared I’d be let go if I told anyone, so I said nothing,” he said. Neely was unmasked as a prolific paedophile in the report, which found he had sexually and physically assaulted at least three other youths at Ibrox before being sacked in 1991. He had molested other young players at Hibernian and Hutchison Vale. Rangers failed to respond to a request for comment. The club has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and insisted that Neely was immediately sacked and reported to the police when it became aware of concerns. An article appeared in the official club newspaper at the time of his resignation, saying that he was leaving to go into business and wishing him “every success”. Neely, who died in 2014, bought a large guest house in Perthshire and continued to abuse boys while working as a freelance coach. Independent investigators concluded that they had been “unable to confirm” whether the police had been informed at the time. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc 2,765 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I just hope the club are working on this in background, talking with victims, offering support and dealing with it away from the media. The interview with the former player suggests otherwise unfortunately. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Ranger certainly appear to be handling this awfully and every minute without a proper response heaps on more embarrassment. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 6,018 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Not doing something is not necessarily failing to do that thing. Oh and never mind the ghastly celtic, let’s get after Forres Mechanics. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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