Rangers FC Thread

[RAB - P]

Berwick 1 Rangers 1

RANGERS' first league match in England ended in disappointment and frustration with Berwick coming from a goal down to snatch a deserved point.

The Light Blues went a goal up in first-half injury time with Andy Little netting his seventh goal of the campaign in front of watching Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neil.

But Ian Little's men rallied after the break with substitute Fraser McLean netting the equaliser on 62 minutes.

Rangers should have regained their lead immediately with Francisco Sandaza and Lee McCulloch missing opportunities.

But Berwick finished the match far stronger and will perhaps be disappointed not to win this historic clash.

Shielfield Park was basked in sunshine prior to kick-off with a 4,140 capacity crowd surrounding the shale track which is also used by the Berwick Bandits Speedway Club.

Greek defender Anestis Argyriou was handed his debut after signing a two-year deal yesterday while Ross Perry returned to the starting line-up after a spell out with a calf injury.

Sebastien Faure was also named on the five-man Gers bench but there was no place in the squad for Kirk Broadfoot who is struggling with a hamstring problem.

Rangers started the match positively and on two minutes Lewis Macleod picked the ball up on the left but couldn’t get enough curl on a shot which flew past Youssef Bejaoui’s far post.

Referee Mike Tumilty then had to issue the first yellow card of the match when the combative Lee Currie produced a late challenge on Ian Black in the centre circle which left the Gers ace lying in pain on the turf. It should have been red.

But this got the home support fired up and Neil Alexander had to be alert to hold two long-range efforts from Berwick’s Kevin McDonald and Neil Janczyk.

Credit must go to the Wee Gers for their first-half display as they made it tough for the visitors to get out of first gear and Ally McCoist cut a frustrated figure in the technical area.

The opening goal, however, arrived in injury time and it came from a well-worked set piece.

After Janczyk had fouled Black 30 yards from goal the former Hearts man dinked a clever cross to the back post with the Berwick defence expecting him to shoot.

The unmarked McCulloch nodded the ball back into the danger area and Little, who is full of confidence, lashed it high into the net from eight yards.

After the break Berwick responded well and having created a couple of early chances at the start of the second period they equalised after the hour mark.

The ball was played over Perry's head and McLean latched on to it before hitting a low, left-foot strike across Alexander into the bottom corner of the net.

Understandably the Berwick fans went crazy but Rangers really should have regained their lead immediately when McKay slipped a great pass to Sandaza but his shot was blocked by the legs of Berwick keeper Bejaoui.

McCulloch then darted through the middle to get on the end of a flick on but his powerful right foot drive from 18 yards flew inches wide of goal.

On 75 minutes the away support had their hearts in their mouths when Berwick’s scorer McLean had another chance but his right foot drive from a tight angle failed to trouble Alexander.

The Gers keeper then had to pull off a wonder stop to deny the lively number 14 who targeted the top corner from 25 yards.

From the resulting corner the ball was nodded into the net by Berwick defender Chris Townsley but the referee had already blown for a foul which looked a harsh decision.

This was to be the last bit of action from an afternoon the Rangers players will want to forget and forget quickly.

Berwick will get a lot of praise for their gritty display, and rightly so, but Ally McCoist admitted he was 'frustrated and angry' after the final whistle and once again the 90 minutes showed that three points in the Third Division are never guaranteed.

 

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RANGERS kicked off their SFA Youth Cup campaign with a win as they beat St Johnstone 2-1 in the first round at Ibrox this afternoon.

Goals either side of half-time from Callum Gallagher and Andy Murdoch were enough to see them through, despite Liam Caddis’ equaliser in between.

The win was warmly welcomed by coach Billy Kirkwood and a decent home support, who had seen Gers fall at the first hurdle last year against Dundee United.

Whether the Light Blues can repeat their achievement of reaching the final each year between 2007 and 2011 is another matter but they’re off and running for now at least.

This was the under-20 side’s first outing of the season and it went into the game minus a number of eligible players against a side which already has competitive action under its belt.

The likes of Barrie McKay, Lewis Macleod and Robbie Crawford were all on first-team duty at Berwick while players such as Kyle McAusland were out injured.

That meant the squad was made up largely by youngsters from last season’s Glasgow Cup-winning under-17 side.

Saints actually started better and had a chance to go in front through Callum McConnell but he lifted his shot from the edge of the box over the bar.

The miss was to prove costly after 17 minutes as the home team hit back and took a lead with a well-worked goal.

Gallagher opened the scoring, heading back across Perth keeper Craig Reid’s goal after a lovely clipped cross from the left by Tom Walsh.

Jamie Burrows then set about trying to get a second and his strong running took him through the heart of St Johnstone’s midfield into the penalty area.

But having won back the ball after losing it briefly, he looked on with disappointment after setting up Walsh and seeing his curler being held by Reid.

Gers might have had a penalty shortly before the break when Gallagher was upended around the 18 yard line by Chris Moffat.

But the referee ruled the foul had occurred outside the box and Matt Clarke’s resulting free kick was both poor and lacking direction.

Kirkwood’s side continued to press after the restart and powerful work by Burrows on the right flank deserved better than Gallagher’s consequent poor connection.

Burrows himself should then have done better with his low strike from 16 yards after being fed by Gregor Fotheringham but he fired straight at Reid.

Scoring then with quarter of an hour to go would surely have sealed a win for Rangers but just seconds later they were pegged back as Caddis levelled from close range.

Kirkwood threw on Dylan Dykes and Jordan Wilson for Fotheringham and Gallagher as his team began tiring.

And with 10 minutes left mixing things up a little paid off as Murdoch fired a superb rising shot into the back of the net.

The midfielder connected with the ball ever so well on the edge of the box and Reid had no chance of stopping it.

It wasn’t a great surprise to see the visitors push hard for an equaliser as time began to ebb away from them.

But they couldn’t restore parity for a second time and it is Rangers who will go into the draw for the next stage.

RANGERS: Currie; Sinnamon, Gasparotto, Pascazio, Clarke; Fotheringham (Wilson 79), Murdoch, Aird, Walsh (Stoney 86); Burrows, Gallagher (Dykes 79).

ST JOHNSTONE: Reid; Tobin, Moffat, Rodger, Steeves; Gray, McIntosh, Stewart, Caddis; Kane, McConnell (Thomson 71).

 

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Sport Football Football News Rangers FC
By Derek Alexander 3 Comments 26 Aug 2012 11:25
Rangers investor in £6m donation to Palestinian orphans

Arif Naqvi's firm made the donation to a trust who pay for orphans in Palestine to go to school.



RANGERS money man Arif Naqvi donated more than £6million to orphans whose *parents died during violence in the Gaza Strip.

Wealthy Naqvi’s Abraaj Capital put the cash into a trust who pay for Palestinian *youngsters to go to school.

More than 1800 children whose families were killed in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in 2009 are to benefit from the cash.

Naqvi, 50, agreed to hand over more than £6million at a Middle East economic summit with King Abdullah II of Jordan three years ago.

Naqvi said at the time: “After the tragic events in December and January, we are now *focusing all this year’s philanthropic resources on ensuring education for the children in Gaza whose future would *otherwise be in question.”

The Dubai-based businessman was revealed as the largest single shareholder in Rangers on Friday. He took control of almost 18 per cent of the club after investing £2million in June.

Naqvi is also the man behind Blue Pitch Holdings – listed as the main shareholders in Charles Green’s consortium, with 23 per cent of the club.

His private equity firm are one of the largest in the world, with offices in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Yesterday, a source said he was unhappy that his role in newco Rangers has been unveiled.

The source added: “Naqvi really wanted to stay in the background at Rangers.”

It was also revealed on Friday that Rangers boss Ally McCoist owns around 4.5 per cent. Other investors include Imran Ahmad and Richard Hughes of Zeus Capital.

 

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Celtic minded to boycott Carrots
Furious celtic fans will be threatening to boycott supermarkets and Green Grocers when they hear of the true origin of the 'Orange' Carrot from East Links family park in East Lothian.

 

[phezo]

a carrot a day keeps the tims away.

 

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Willie Vass Pictures From Today
Berwick Rangers v Rangers 26th August 2012 | Willie Vass Archive

 

[albob]

Celtic minded to boycott Carrots
Furious celtic fans will be threatening to boycott supermarkets and Green Grocers when they hear of the true origin of the 'Orange' Carrot from East Links family park in East Lothian.
View attachment 68356

View attachment 68357

Carrots -- available in many other colours !!!

Purple Maroon Carrot

 

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they were originally purple (which would enrage the celtic minded almost as much I guess).

They were purple till The Glorious Revolution.
The future is bright, the future is carrot....

anyone looking in this is a bit of fun lol

Carrots -- available in many other colours !!!

Purple Maroon Carrot

 

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Going Down With Heads Held High
By GRAHAM RUTHVEN
Published: August 26, 2012



GLASGOW — “Rangers then, Rangers now, Rangers forever,” shouted the Scottish soccer club’s new owner, Charles Green, in front of almost 50,000 fans on hand for the team’s home opener Aug. 18. “Today is just the start of the journey,” he went on defiantly.
Goal


Actually, Rangers had begun their downward path a week earlier, and it has taken the club to the very bottom of Scottish soccer. Having suffered bankruptcy and forced exile from Scotland’s top division, the club, normally one of the top two in Scotland alongside its archrival, Celtic, will play a schedule this season that is more than mildly surreal. It is as if the Yankees were suddenly consigned to spend a summer in Class A.

With the Rangers three divisions away from their normal home in Scotland’s Premier League, and no quick path back to the top, the first weeks of their 2012-13 season have been either depressing or humorous, or both, depending on one’s point of view.

It began on Aug. 11, when Rangers opened the season in tiny Peterhead, an archetypal fishing town in northeast Scotland. Rangers fans in blue who traveled to the game were in high spirits — “We’re saving Scottish football, starting at the very bottom,” one claimed — and they swarmed over a stadium so small that every seat in the main stand was reserved with a fan’s name on it.

The team Rangers would be playing — Peterhead F.C. — consisted of part-time players. “Fat amateurs,” defender Dorin Goian said dismissively.

Makeshift television positions were erected around the perimeter of the field, with the announcers taking their place on the roof of the grandstand, a position so precarious a strong gust of wind might have carried them into the North Sea. They were still more secure than those who scaled trees or anything tall enough to give them a ticketless view.

“This would be an awesome college stadium,” Carlos Bocanegra, the defender who is the captain of Rangers and of the United States national team, said as he surveyed the scene. “The fans are right on top of the field, which is unusual. But we see a lot of those kinds of stadiums in America, so perhaps I’m more used to this sort of environment than the others.”

The notion that life at the bottom would be an unbroken procession of easy victories for Rangers was shattered when a plumber and a marine engineer put two goals past goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who is also the goalkeeper for Scotland’s national team. A game that began without the fanfare Rangers and their fans were accustomed to — no anthems or handshakes, no visiting luminaries — had embarrassingly ended in a 2-2 tie.

That was just one more blow for Rangers, and one more insult added to the pile for their fans. Yet as the supporters traveled back to Glasgow, there was something they could be proud about. On a day proclaimed Sellout Saturday throughout Scotland in a campaign to prove that soccer could flourish with one of the two biggest teams out of the top division, the game in Peterhead was the only one in which every seat was taken. Yes, the attendance was a mere 4,485, but that was still 10 times the average head count at the stadium.

“The circus can move somewhere else now,” Peterhead’s coach, Jim McInally, said after the game.

Indeed it did. Rangers returned to Glasgow for the next Saturday’s home game against East Stirlingshire, a team whose travails were immortalized in the middle of the last decade in a best-selling book titled “Pointless: A Season with Britain’s Worst Football Team.” Still, 50,000 fans turned up to listen to Green’s passionate public address and to watch Rangers glide to a 5-1 victory.

In all of Britain, only Arsenal, a kingpin in England’s Premier League, drew a bigger crowd that day.

The fans? They sang Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” with its famous line that “every little thing gonna be all right.” One of the newest Rangers players, Ian Black, had been booed by Scottish fans days earlier while making his international debut in a friendly against Australia. When he took the field for his club, a banner was unfurled in the stands that read: “Welcome to our world Ian Black. No one likes us we don’t care.”

That sort of defiance is one way for fans to get through the next few seasons as Rangers try to navigate back to the top division. Others seemed more philosophical.

“Teams will come here and have the time of their life,” one fan with a Union Jack draped over his shoulders said as he looked ahead to other tiny clubs coming to Glasgow to play before big crowds.
Goal



“We might have to give up a lot over the next few years, but we’re propping up the rest of Scottish football. People will look back on this and thank Rangers for that.”

Other fans seemed to feel a degree of shame about what had happened to their team.

“We feel there is maybe a chance to redeem the club for the wrongs done to the game,” said Chris Graham, who runs a Web site called the Rangers Standard and is something of an unofficial spokesman for the team’s supporters.

“The fans have already tried to take some responsibility by paying off small creditors themselves,” he said. “Further redemption can come from making lower-league clubs financially secure simply by raking in money from a full house when they play us. I think the fans should take enormous credit for wanting to right wrongs that were not of our making.”

But some fans are clearly bitter. A quick search on Facebook reveals various groups of Rangers fans pledging to boycott the Scottish Football Association in retaliation for the punishment meted out to their team.

Some believe an innate jealousy of the club nurtured a movement to punish Rangers as harshly as possible. Green himself claimed the club’s demotion had been driven by bigotry and “all the wrong motives,” a comment he has now been asked to explain to an independent judicial panel.

The social impact of Rangers’ demotion has been the subject of intense debate in Scotland; some even warned of social unrest if the team was sent to the bottom.

“Nonsense,” Graham says, now that the club has ended up there. “The biggest impact will be a determination to ensure the club never again comes so close to disappearing. This club can never die.”

Meanwhile, a long season in the fourth tier lies ahead. On Sunday, in their second away game, Rangers could do no better than another tie, 1-1 against Berwick. Eventually, every little thing may be all right, but not yet.

 

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McCoist: Gers must adapt

Ally McCoist has told Rangers they must quickly learn to adapt to life in Scottish football's bottom tier following Sunday's draw at Berwick.

The Ibrox side are still waiting for their first away win in the Irn-Bru Third Division, having also shared the points at Peterhead on the opening day of the league campaign.

Brechin also ran McCoist's men close in the Ramsdens Cup, with an extra-time winner required to progress, and the manager insists his side should have seen enough by now to realise exactly what they will be up against this season.

He said: "It's a fact, every away game is going to be a Scottish Cup tie. That's the way it is, that's what we are going to be faced with.

"Teams will be up for it, they will be aggressive, they will be in your face. They will also try and play, it's not kick and rush.

"It's something we are going to be faced with and they've got to realise that - they must realise it.

"They've had four away games now and every one of them has been the same in the respect that the opposition has rolled up their sleeves, shown no respect and got in our faces.

"That's the way we would expect it but, at this moment in time, we are not reacting to it too well."

Asked if his players have an attitude problem, McCoist added: "That's probably as big a criticism as you could level at any player so I would be loathe to say that.

"We've certainly got problems in terms of the way we are playing because that was miles short.

"It looked as though there was a lack of confidence, a lack of sharpness."

The day started well for Rangers when Andy Little netted his seventh goal of the season to open the scoring on the stroke of half-time.

Berwick hauled themselves back into the game thanks to Fraser McLaren, before Chris Townsley was unfortunate to have a last-gasp goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

McCoist said: "Ian [Little] should be proud of his team because they fought and got at least what they deserved.

"But, having said that, I've got to look at it from our point of view and there were very few, if any, aspects of our performance that I could give pass marks to."

Referee Mike Tumilty ruled that goalscorer McLaren fouled goalkeeper Neil Alexander at the corner before Townsley netted what would have been a famous winner.

McLaren said: "It was very disappointing. I was just standing my ground and he ran into me and keepers get everything, don't they?

"We've just got to deal with it. It should have been 2-1 but we'll take the draw. We would have taken that before the game."

 

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RANGERS, LAWWELL AND A STRANGE TV DEAL

ONE of the things which most Rangers supporters were aware of is that it would take time for the team to adjust to life in the Third Division…especially away from home.

And that much was once again underlined in Berwick when, after struggling to grab a late equaliser in Peterhead, Rangers were lucky to escape with a point from the Wee Rangers.

But it is the medium which delivered the action to the vast swathe of the Ibrox club’s fan base, television, and what the worth of the Peter Lawwell brokered deal with Sky and ESPN, who piggy-back on Sky, is actually worth to Rangers, which is interesting.

According to my mole at a Scottish Football League club, the very best Rangers can expect from the Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell brokered television deal is no more than a measly seven grand.

While Peter Lawwell’s Celtic will pocket a cool couple of million – at least - from the deal he set up with Sky and ESPN.

Why is that gap as wide as the Grand Canyon?

For the viewing figures for Rangers matches on Sky and ESPN will be around the same as those Celtic games which are being shown live. In fact, there is an argument of Scotland’s demographics to be put forward for Rangers getting more viewers.

Plus the novelty value for English football fans, particularly the anoraks, which may see the Rangers games’ viewing figures swollen even more, taking them even further ahead of those tuning in for then same-old-same-old diet of Celtic away to St Mirren, Kilmarnock, etc.

Therefore, there may be many who will come to the conclusion the huge disparity in the amount of money Celtic bank, compared to the chicken feed heading to Ibrox, was factored in by the man who brokered the whole television deal, Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, working in tandem with Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster.

The overwhelming avalanche of circumstantial evidence certainly may suggest to many that Celtic’s minimum of £2M television cash, compared to Rangers’ £7,000, is just another example of how Peter Lawwell manipulates Scottish football from the boardroom of the Scottish Football Association and the SPL too, due to privileged access handed to him by Neil Doncaster, to the detriment of Rangers.

The fact is that when Lawwell was negotiating with Sky boss Barney Francis, he should have been doing so on behalf of all of Scottish football and not just for what he could get out of Francis for Celtic.

The perception of many is that Peter Lawwell is not to be trusted to do that. Even though Neil Doncaster, for no apparently good reason, gave Lawwell the manadate to do just that.

Yet without Rangers being part of any new deal and any renegotiated contract , neither Sky nor ESPN would have coughed up quite so much cash as they did, with the possibility of them walking away in nine month’s time, not as remote as some complacent SPL chairmen may try to convince themselves.

In short, what Rangers may feel they are looking at, what the club’s fans seem to believe they are seeing, is yet another carve up which has sliced chunks off Rangers’ earning power.

But what can Charles Green do about it?

After all, the Rangers matches which have so far been shown live have all taken place away from Ibrox Stadium. But Ibrox is due to open the doors to the television cameras for the first time this season on Sunday when Third Division table toppers, Elgin City visit.

Charles Green knows he owes the near 40,000 who have bought season tickets, to pour £12M into his coffers.

He also is keenly aware he owes nothing to the Peter Lawwell deal which is earning Rangers a paltry seven grand a year.

It is just another aspect of the different circumstances Rangers must become accustomed to of life at home and away from home in the Third Division.

 

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"Rangers are drawn to face Forres Mechanics away in the Scottish Cup Second Round. The game is scheduled for Sat 29th September."

we can all stand on the road outside and see the game its that small, im only 20 mile away from there lol
Forres Mechanics Football Club, Forres, Moray - Google Maps

Scottish FA ‏@Scottish_FA

William Hill Scottish Cup second round draw:

Cove Rangers v Golspie Sutherland,
Fraserburgh v East Stirlingshire,
Forres Mech v Rangers
Elgin City v St Cuthbert Wanderers,
Dalbeattie Star v Stirling Albion,
Queens Park v Irvine Meadow,
Stirling Uni v Bonnyrigg Rose
Berwick Rangers v Wick Academy,
Selkirk v Vale of Leithen,
Inverurie Loco Works v Huntly/Wigtown and Bladnoch,
Deveronvale v Peterhead
Clachnacuddin v Formartine Utd,
Civil Service Strollers v Turriff Utd,
Montrose v Shotts BA/Edinburgh City,
Buckie Th/Rothes v Annan Ath
Clyde v Nairn County.

Ties to be played Sat 29th September.

 

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Taking offence on the offensive. Article
Taking offence on the offensive
by Bill McMurdo | CRO contributor | @williammcmurdo |

At some point during the David Murray regime the now-disgraced former owner lost interest in defending Rangers from its many detractors.

Accusations went uncontested and slights were not opposed by a man obsessed with image and publicity. David Murray was evidently peeved enough with his club’s own support to leave them – and the club by extension – twisting in the wind. A cold, bitter wind as it would turn out to be.

When the swell of bad feeling toward Rangers reached tsunami proportions, partly due to envy of the years of success on the field under Murray’s stewardship and definitely not helped by a mounting arrogance, it has to be said the abandonment of any defensive structure PR-wise by “Sir” David left the club woefully exposed to its enemies.

The lean few years at the end of the Murray era, followed by the plunge into the abyss thanks to the pinhead Craig Whyte, saw a once proud club mercilessly and savagely picked on by the slavering hordes of Rangers-haters.

Defending Rangers under mountains of abuse, vilification and accusations from media, pseudo-intellectuals and self-serving politicians, not to mention religious agitators, fell to peripheral supporters’ organisations and individual fans, as well as blogs like “If You Know Their History.”

During this shameful time, all David Murray had to do was employ a PR man to work solely on stuff like the “If You Know Their History” website and throw the many instances of misdemeanour by Celtic fans, officials and players in the teeth of Rangers’ enemies. Instead, Murray sat back and let Rangers be the whipping boys.

In the past couple of decades, Scotland has been engulfed by an ocean of pretend hurts and offences suffered by people whose lives have apparently been terribly blighted and scarred by Protestant bigotry – mostly perpetrated by the fascist Rangers supporters. The “offended” have come out in droves, using the digital age along with good old-fashioned letter-writing to tell the world of their suffering at the hands of the cruel Rangers thugs that follow the big bad team at Ibrox.

This ocean of offence is a carefully-orchestrated campaign to discredit Rangers and keep the massive support the club has in check. There are political forces in Scotland that clearly see the Rangers fanbase as a massive obstacle to their own designs for Scotland’s future. This cannot be brushed off by Rangers fans who only want to focus on the football; it is clear that Rangers’ enemies have more than footballing reasons driving their agenda.

Lessons must be learned from all of this. The culture of Rangers-hating has become so established and accepted that it has permeated every footballing body in the senior game. Both the SPL and the SFA can now make up rules as they go along, flouting all semblance of natural justice to both wreak terrible damage on Rangers while at the same time extorting the club’s commercial power.

You just have to wonder what would have happened if Murray had put a guy on 30K a year ten years ago to be a PR hitman dredging up dirt on anybody attacking Rangers Football Club.

Thankfully, there is a growing army of bears now doing just that and pretty much unpaid. Some are a bit over-zealous and make mountains out of molehills but many are spot on and effective in exposing the anti-Rangers agenda, as well as uncovering the weaknesses and shoddy dealings of Rangers’ enemies.

The club must be proactive now when it comes to these matters. There should be a Bureau of Offence in Ibrox, highlighting every little snide comment and sneaky attack on the club, like the recent incidence with the PA announcer at Falkirk. Every bigoted comment on football message boards directed toward Rangers should be noted and filed with the SFA.

In fact, we really should as Rangers supporters create our own ocean of offence and flood the SFA, Scottish media and UEFA with our own hurts and grievances, highlighting the bigotry of the Rangers-haters who spread their bile all around us.

It’s time to give the haters a dose of their own medicine. After all, they have proven one thing beyond any shadow of a doubt: Even pretend offenders get listened to.

I know some bluenoses will balk at this, feeling it is beneath them. And they are right.

But it is a dirty war we are fighting and we need to fight accordingly in order to win.

There are so many people around these days who use their own pseudo offence to get what they want. Maybe it’s time for us bears to say, “We do being offended!”

Maybe it’s time we bluenoses started to do what others do so effectively, i.e. use grievance as a weapon.

I don’t know about you but I am starting to feel mighty offended here...

Who can I complain to?

 

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Alex Thomson-Downfall | The Rangers Standard

Alex Thomson-Downfall

By Chris Graham

When Alex Thomson first became involved in the Rangers story I have to admit I was surprised and intrigued. Here was, on the face of it, an independent voice with a good track record in his profession. The story was crying out for someone, without an agenda or exposure to the Scottish media goldfish bowl, to introduce some dispassionate analysis. A few months on, not only do I find myself wondering what Thomson has contributed beyond regurgitating and attempting to legitimise 'Celtic minded' blogs, I also find myself questioning his integrity as a journalist.

Thomson was prone to hyperbole from the start of his involvement. His interview with Hugh Adam on so called "dual contracts" was his first major contribution but was essentially a rehash, on camera, of a Daily Mail story a couple of weeks before. He tried to claim this as an exclusive.

It was uncomfortable viewing even in its edited form - a sick old man bumbling his way through the answers to questions it was not entirely clear he understood. However, the alarm bells really started ringing when I spoke to several people in the media who, by sheer coincidence, have viewed the full, unedited tape of Thomson's interview with Adam. They all stated that it was some of the poorest journalism they have seen and were genuinely shocked as they had previously held Thomson in high regard, at least professionally.

Thomson allegedly badgered the sick, frail Adam – repeating the same questions several times, each time receiving different answers. He allegedly asked several leading questions and suggested answers to the bewildered old man. It would then appear that the interview was edited to do the maximum possible damage to Rangers. I put this to Thomson and he denied that he still had the tape. I've been told since that it would have been standard practice for it to be kept in a media library. Either way, I very much doubt he would want anyone to see it.

I wasn't sure at the time what to make of this information. It seemed odd to me that Thomson should try to engineer a certain result for the interview. After all he had no obvious reason to wish to do so, did he? I put it down to him perhaps being desperate to find the smoking gun he had announced when he first arrived in Scotland. In hindsight it makes much more sense.

Thomson then embarked on a series of blogs. These all had a certain familiar tone of condescension, mocking and hostility towards Rangers. He tried to blacken the name of club legends; he attacked John Grieg and Walter Smith despite no wrongdoing on their part, all the while ridiculously claiming he was trying to help Rangers fans. He also posted a cartoon mocking the Ibrox disaster statue on Twitter despite knowing the nature of the statue and its importance to Rangers fans.

Despite this, he was still given the benefit of the doubt by many. I have spoken to him a couple of times and I know other Rangers fans have too. He's been asked to look into some matters of concern but always comes up short of doing the job properly. The most recent instance of this failure was his patronizing blog on the Harper MacLeod conflict of interest.

For a so-called impartial observer he has refused point blank to investigate any of the murky goings on in the SFA or SPL. He has never once questioned the machinations of these bodies unless it has been to make the ridiculous assertion that, despite all evidence to the contrary, they have been trying to assist Rangers. His attacks on Campbell Ogilvie, a man who had already completely removed himself from anything to do with the Rangers matter, were a carbon copy of the line taken by Celtic bloggers. The contrast in his ability to pillory Ogilvie but ignore the continued involvement of Peter Lawwell on the SFA board and Eric Riley at the SPL was stark.

As if all the above was not enough, there is now another reason to question his judgment and integrity.

Thomson has written the foreword for a book by the Celtic blogger, Phil Mac Giolla Bhain. This book, predictably, is about Mac Giolla Bhain’s obsession, Rangers. Thomson has ridiculed those questioning his involvement by stating that his endorsement of the book is not endorsement of the author. This is utter nonsense. Public figures like Thomson, no matter how egotistical, do not contribute to books written by extremists who operate on the fringes of society unless they agree with them. If Nick Griffin or Abu Hamza wrote a book about Newcastle United (no more ridiculous than Mac Giolla Bhain writing one about Rangers) and Thomson enjoyed the prose on the team he supports, would he contribute? The idea that he can ignore the writer’s previous conduct or be insulated from it is ridiculous.

Mac Giolla Bhain has dehumanised Rangers fans in various hideous attacks on his blog. None of these has been worse than "The Incubator" in which he describes fans as the byproduct of experiments by his "Professor Struth". Fans are grown from "the sperm of a criminally insane murderer", with the mother a "ten thousand pound gorilla". The "creatures" created have "urine so toxic that it could spoil an entire city" and "police dogs would contract diseases if they got their teeth into them". It goes on and on like this. If this blog had been written about any other group of people in Scotland then Mac Giolla Bhain would currently be in jail.

Alex Thomson has now been confirmed as a close associate of this man. A man who was described to me recently, by a well-known Irish journalist, as "a dangerous tactical bigot". A man who goes out of his way to stir up hatred and tension in Scotland whilst sitting in his adopted home of Ireland. A man who recently met with Celtic Chief Executive, Peter Lawwell in Philadelphia.

Thomson has been informed of Mac Giolla Bhain's hate filled ramblings and refuses to confirm whether he has read them or to condemn them. One conclusion to be drawn is that he has read them and that he endorses them. Either that or he is operating an "ignorance is bliss" approach to his literary partner. Neither is acceptable.

Through his recent attacks on David Leggat, Thomson has again shown his association with Mac Giolla Bhain and also Celtic supporting ‘journalist’, Brian McNally. Even putting aside the rights and wrongs of the case, that Thomson should enlist the help of these two with the NUJ tells its own story.

Thomson’s own complaint was utterly dismissed. The police investigated it and, with no evidence of any wrong doing, dropped the case. Thomson has described this decision as “possibly corrupt” – an extraordinary allegation. For their part, a Strathclyde police source was quoted in the Telegraph as saying “Strathclyde Police found no evidence to support Thomson’s complaint. Frankly, it was laughable”.

It is my firm belief that Thomson was persuaded by people like McNally and Mac Giolla Bhain to get involved in this story. Their ‘helpers’ on social media were very active, around the time of Thomson's enlistment, in lobbying UK journalists with their propaganda. Most didn’t bite but it appears Thomson did. Channel 4 News is not as high profile as many other news programs so perhaps Thomson saw a chance to raise his profile – an aim which has been successful.

Since being recruited, Thomson has, in my opinion, sung to the tune of these people and made a mockery of his professional standards. The interview with Adam now makes perfect sense. He clearly had a preconceived idea of what was required and duly obliged. His attempt to dismiss concerns over the involvement of Harper MacLeod with both Celtic and the SPL is transparent. It will also fail against a backdrop where many of the concerns of the club and fans are in the process of being legally verified.

I now find myself in the curious position of watching Thomson's reports from Syria and wondering if he is reporting fact or more agenda driven fiction. One can only hope his suspension of journalistic and personal integrity has been limited to reporting on Rangers. That he had the brass neck to criticise the Scottish media for sycophancy to Rangers whilst embarking on a factually deficient crusade at the behest of others is quite remarkable.

I've gone from being surprised and intrigued by Thomson's involvement to being disappointed and angry. The people still working to damage Rangers should know though that they themselves are now increasingly coming under the microscope of public scrutiny. They may find the light that shines on them is not so welcome. The Rangers fans were not ready for the online assault the last time, but we are now.

 

[J]

Fook me the mHedia actually reporting it.

Assault and pepper: Celt fans are sprayed after pub brawl | The Sun |Scottish News

 

[J]

Pmsl all fooked out the league cup
By sfl clubs.
Ross county
Hivs
Killie

 

[surfbum]

MATT McGLONE, PHILMACGIOLLABHAIN AND BRIAN PATRICK McNALLY

THERE has been a lot of interest among Rangers supporters following my revelation I had resigned from the National Union of Journalists after an attack on free speech and fair comment by two its members, Brian Patrick McNally and Philmacgiollabhain.

Just to refresh memories, Brain Patrick McNally is a sports writer with the same company which owns the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, the Mirror Group. He is based in the north east of England

Brian Patrick McNally has frequently been dismissive of the efforts of sports journalists in Scotland, which must include his Mirror Group colleagues on the Record and Sunday Mail whose sterling work provides the profits which keeps Brian Patrick McNally in a job.

Those comments are all a matter of public record on Brian Patrick McNally’s official Mirror Newspapers Twitter Account.

His Twitter account – a record of which I have – is also littered with snide, nasty remarks about Scotland in general and Rangers and their supporters in particular.

In these things he shares the same views with another Glasgow born Scot, Philmacgiollbhain, who like Brian Patrick McNally no longer lives and works in Scotland, but unlike Brian Patrick McNally, who still lives in Great Britain, Philmacgiollabhain has moved to a foreign country.

Philmacghoillabhain is now domiciled in the Rebublic of Ireland, in Donegal where he is the near neighbour of the Guardian’s media commentator, former Daily Mirror editor, Roy Greenslade.

There will be more about Greenslade later this week.

For the moment I would like to follow a trail which started in the early weeks of this year when I wrote about the man who runs the Celtic Fanzine, The Alternative View, Matt McGlone.

McGlone wrote, in the issue of The Alternative View, dated February of 2012, that I had seven days from the date of publication, which he quoted as being January 14th, to publicly apologise.

The alternative, again according to what Matt McGlone wrote in that February edition, was if I did not apologise I should legally consider my position.

They were mealy mouthed weasel words from Matt McGlone. Legally I was – and remain – on firm ground. No defamation occurred. Now, I have no knowledge as to whether Matt McGlone took professional legal advice as to whether he had a chance of pursuing me for defamation.

Or whether he just spoke to one of his many highly placed and extremely experienced journalist Celtic supporting pals to get their view.

Either way, Matt McGlone’s seeming threat of legal action was not forthcoming.

What was forthcoming was a complaint to the National Union of Journalists’ Ethics Council about something I had written about him, by Philmacgiollbhain, one of the main contributors to that same February 2012 edition of Matt McGlone’s Celtic fanzine, The Alternative View.

So what do we know?

Well, we know that Philmacghiollabhain describes himself as a National Union of Journalists activist and sits as a member of the Republic of Ireland Council of the National Union of Journalists.

We know too that I wrote something which got Matt McGlone up on his high horse and led to him writing about some sort of veiled legal threat to me. Which did not materialise.

We also know that not long afterwards I received a complaint from the National Union of Journalists’ Ethics Council regarding a complaint made about me by Philmacghiollabhain, who has high level connections within the National Union of Journalists inside the Republic of Ireland.

We know that Philmacghoillabhain and Matt McGlone are connected and that Philmacghoillabhain writes for Matt McGlone’s Celtic Fanzine, The Alternative View.

We know too, I received a similar complaint from the National Union of Journalists Ethics Council concerning a complaint me about me by Brian Patrick McNally.

Now I can add to that knowledge. Now I can reveal there is a link between Philmacgiollabhain and Brian Patrick McNally.

And when I return to the subject of Roy Greensslade I shall also go into the details of how Brian Patrick McNally and Philmacgiollabhain are linked as more than just Twitter pals.

Oh what a tangled web they weave….

Brian Patrick McNally, the Scot who hates Scotland and Scottish journalism and who is employed as a sports writer by the same Mirror Newspaper Group which owns and publishes the money making Daily Record and Sunday Mail.

Philmacghiollabhain, another Scot who writes hateful, spiteful and totally untrue things about Scotland and who writes for Matt McGlone’s Celtic Fanzine, The Alternative View and who holds a senior position inside the National Union of Journalists.

Matt McGlone, who owns, runs and publishes the Celtic Fanzine, The Alternative View and who issued a veiled written apparent legal threat to me, which did not materialise.

Just about the same time as Brian Patrick McNally and Philmacghoillbhain were preparing their complaints to the Ethics Council of the National Union of Journalists.

And there's more. My investigations are continuing in an attempt to uncover any other links.

Will there, for instance, be any link between Matt McGlone and any paid official of the National Union of Journalists?

On second thoughts, forget a tangled weave. Rabbie had the right of it.

Such a Parcel of Rogues....

In more than one nation too.

 

[surfbum]

PHILMACGIOLLLABHAIN'S ATTACK ON RANGERS FANS

WHAT follows is a reproduction of a blog which was published by Philmacgiollabhain.

After reading it you may feel no self respecting trade union in the British Isles would tolerate a man who expressed such views.

That anyone who seems to be drowning in such a bile of bigotry would not be allowed to remain as a member of any trade union in the British Isles.

You would be wrong!

For Philmacgiollabhain is not merely a member of the National Union of Journalists. Philmacgiollabhain holds not one, but two positions of power at the top table of the National Union of Journalists.

Philmacgiollabhain is a member of the National Union of Journalists Republic of Ireland Council.

And Philmacgiollabhain has recently been appointed as the editor of the Republic of Ireland National Union of Journalists – that’s the same NUJ to which Scottish journalists belong – very own magazine.

Below is Philmacgiollabhain, in his own words.

++++++


"Professor Struth had waited a long time for this day.

“They laughed at me in the institute. Laughed at me. AT ME!!!!!”

Now it was time and soon the world would know their folly in underestimating his genius.

He had, ahem, acquired the sperm of a criminally insane murderer doing a life sentence.

His decision to use a ten thousand pound gorilla as mother was inspired.

Struth was convinced that these two were close enough to breed and he was correct.

Once impregnated it just sat in the corner and didn’t say much, but he was always aware of its presence.

He was betrayed by a colleague and the ethics council had rescinded his licence to work in the field of genetics.

And they said he was mad!

Ha!

However, it wouldn’t have worked without the new type of incubator.

That was the key in all of this.

It was a cultural womb.

That was his breakthrough discovery.

Dodgy DNA just wasn’t going to make what he imagined.

The carefully selected genetics weren’t enough to fashion this creature.

His creature!

The music of Ulster flute bands was piped into the sealed unit.

He knew this could cause hearing damage, but it wasn’t in his plan that this creature would do much listening anyway.

Contained within this artificial womb he would nurture his baby Billy Boy.

Struth pumped in a unique food supply comprised of cheap lager and liquidised burgers.

Growth would be rapid due to the infusion of more steroids than in the Loyalist wings at Long Kesh.

It was important that no intellectual distraction or moral dilemma be allowed to contaminate the controlled environment.

The creature would come ready made with a series of responses that would appear inexplicable to ordinary humans.

The thing was shown images of Catholics Schools, Priests, Celtic, but most of all NEIL LENNON!

Each time an electric shock would be administered.

Concepts like tolerance, pluralism, and a benevolent curiosity in other people and other cultures would be anathema to this creation.

He knew his creature would be perfect.

This one was a prototype, but it could be programmed to hate any ethnic minority they just had to change the toxic mix in the incubator.

Soon he would have a modern production facility capable of churning out thousands of them.

No!

Millions!

Once cloned his beast could be exported to any regime that wanted to inflict chaos on a neighbour.

This was a truly horrible weapons system.

Sending several thousands of these hybrids into a city would paralyse it for days.

Suddenly and without warning policemen would be attacked for no discernible reason and normal riot control methods wouldn’t work.

Rubber bullets would simply be lost in the rolls of blubber.

The creature had been designed to have wrists so fat that they would be too thick for a regulation police handcuffs.

Even police dogs would contract diseases if they got their teeth into them.

The creature was also a platform for chemical warfare.

It had urine that was so toxic that when deployed in public places, like war memorials, it could spoil an entire city.

Struth had a contact in the Spanish interior ministry who wanted to stage a riot control exercise and use the system in Barcelona.

The professor was convinced that when it came to asymmetrical warfare his creature would have no equal.

The illiterate, drunken, urinating brain dead rioter would define urban combat in the 21st century.

In the age of the smart bomb his creature would now allow a commander to deploy weapons grade stupidity onto the modern battle space.

The thing had a microchip inserted into the back of its thick neck.

This meant that a rudimentary message could be sent at the same time to thousands of them

The communication could not be complex, but basic information could be processed.

This allowed many of them to be deployed using simple commands from one person of only average intelligence.

It was perfect!

The Hybrid Unique Networked System would make Struth famous.

Due to a lack of funds the professor had been forced to adapt a large wheelie bin, but it did the job.

To keep out the outside world he was forced to wrap the incubator in bin bags, the umbilical cord the exhaust pipe from an old ford transit.

The pygmies at the university had cut his funding, but he would show them!

Ha!

Once this creature would be seen in action then the contracts and the orders would roll in.

It was now time, because if he left it in there any longer then the creature would be too big to get out of the incubator.

Using a block and tackle on the roof he pulled on the rope.

The plastic womb was tipped over, the bin bags were split open and sludge ran out all over the garage floor.

The huge creature was revealed to the world and it rolled out and rolled and rolled.

It was only stopped by the garage wall and it started to stumble to its feet.

Agility and grace was not part of the design specification of Struth’s creature.

The huge hulking abomination then stumbled towards the professor.

It opened its large mouth and the smell hit the scientist like a slap.

Struth stared and trembled slightly in awe of what he had created.

Finally it spoke:

“We are the people!”"

++++++++++

Now, I am pretty sure there are many honest, decent, hard working and fair minded journalists in Scotland of differing race, colour, class and creed who are fully paid up members of the National Union of Journalists, but who had no idea until now that they shared a trade union with a man of such views as those expressed above by Philmacghiollabhain..

Far less that such a person as Philmacghoillabhain held not just one, but two positions of such power and influence inside the National Union of Journalists, to which they pay around £300-a-year in membership fees.

Those journalists who work for the Daily Record and Sunday Mail may be further shocked to learn of the true views held by Philmacghiollabhain, especially as he is such a close associate of a fellow Mirror Group Newspapers employee, Brian Patrick McNally.

They may feel that this blog by Philmacgiollabhain is worth being brought to the notice of the National Union of Journalists’ Ethics Council.

They may feel it is worth their while bringing it to the attention of the National Union of Journalists’ full time paid organiser for Scotland, Paul Holleran.

While any other journalist who may have written in praise of Philmacgiollabhain in any publication or media website, may now feel contrition.

The defence of the right of free speech and of fair comment is a noble cause. But the right of free speech does not extend to someone running into a crowded hall and crying “fire” when there is none.

But these are matters for Philmacgiollabhain’s fellow members of the National Union of Journalists. They bhave it in their power to instigate proceedings against Philmacgiollabhain.

What about the members of the general public? What can they do?

Well, here’s a thought. On his blog Philmacgiollabhain describes himself as a Rebel Journalist and lists the newspapers and magazines he claims to work for.

He is a member of the National Union of Journalists and wants to be taken seriously as a journalist. The question which then has to be asked is this.

Is what Philmacgiollabhain writes on his blog journalism? Is it subject to the rule of the Press Complaints Commission?

Now, I am not going to say yea or nay. But it is perhaps something which is worth putting to the test by complaining to the Press Complaints Commission about the Philmacgiollabhain blog reproduced above.

Whether they decide to take action or not, whether they decide to seriously consider the complaint(s) and either uphold them or not, will be an interesting story to follow.

And one which is surely in the public interest and which will just as surely generate much public interest and publicity.

The Press Complaints Commission need complaints to be made in writing to – The Press Complaints Commission, Halton House, 20-23 Holborn, London EC1N 2JD.

 

[surfbum]

Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

Ally McCoist confirms that he expects Carlos Bocanegra to stay at Rangers and is available for the next two games.


Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

AMcC - Charles Green has agreed a free transfer with Kirk Broadfoot and expects it to be sorted out shortly.

Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

McCoist is not aware of any interest in Barrie McKay from Everton.

Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

AMcC - Maurice Edu is still awaiting international clearance.
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Rangers FC Official Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

AMcC - Not made a final decision on any trialists. We'll continue to monitor them.

Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

AMcC - We played extremely poorly at the weekend and we fully expect that to change tomorrow.

Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official

AMcC - Not been surprised by the standard as I know a lot of the coaches and managers; they want to play the game in the right way.
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Rangers FC Official ‏@RFC_Official



AMcC - Hopeful that Dean Shiels and Lee Wallace will return tomorrow. No other injury concerns.