FOOTBALL IS WORTH DEFENDING – Guest Post by JohnBhoy

For many decades the Scottish establishment shamefully allowed the old Rangers and their fans to contribute their “traditions” to the fabric and image of Scottish society, most notably evidenced by their scandalous century-old Catholic Footballers Need Not Apply employment policy; their fans’ hate-filled sectarian singing; disgraceful rioting home and abroad; and all nourished by their uber superiority WATP world-view. Such was the hubris within Ibrox that a director felt brazen enough to sing about being “knee deep in Fenian blood”. Rather than directly address these demonstratively anti-societal customs, an attempt was made to have Celtic remove the tricolour from its stadium: whilst Rangers could celebrate its “traditions”, Celtic’s dignified nod to its ancestral roots was to be condemned. As recently as 2008, Rangers hooligans were rampaging through Manchester fighting with police. Not a whimper from the SFA.

Ironically, it took Rangers to kill off Rangers. Their decision not to pay the Queen’s taxes and honour debts due to honest service suppliers, whilst dispensing huge payments to all and sundry, meant that the club, paradoxically, betrayed the very cornerstone of Scottish Presbyterian economic philosophy they espoused others to follow. Instead, they lived beyond their means and, dishonourably, at the expense of others.

THE DEATH OF RANGERS FC – Guest Post by JohnBhoy

There are those who maintain the myth that the Rangers FC formed in 1872 is the same club pre and post liquidation 2012. Here is why Rangers FC no longer exists.

MAIN STREAM MEDIA (MSM)

When it became clear that liquidation was inevitable for Rangers the overwhelming response from the msm was that Rangers, including its history, would cease thereafter. Here is a small selection of quotations, succinctly capturing this widely held view in the media:

– The Herald: “Air of unreality as 140 years of history is formally ended in less than nine minutes” (The Herald, 15 June 2012: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/air-of-unreality-as-140-years-of-history-is-formally-ended-in-less-than-nine-minutes.17876625).

– Roddie Forsyth: “Rangers in crisis: the final whistle sounds on Rangers’ 140 years of history” (The Telegraph, 12 June 2012: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/9327256/Rangers-in-crisis-the-final-whistle-sounds-on-Rangers-140-years-of-history.html).

– Jim Traynor: “Rangers FC as we know them are dead. It’s all over. They are about to shut down for ever…They’ll slip into liquidation within the next couple of weeks with a new company emerging but 140 years of history, triumph and tears, will have ended… No matter how Charles Green attempts to dress it up, a newco equals a new club. When the CVA was thrown out Rangers as we know them died.” (Daily Record, 13 June 2012: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/james-traynor-spl-will-not-be-able-1129166).

JohnBhoy Offers Us His Way Forward For Rangers

JohnBhoy, one of the regular commenters here, posted the comment below in response to a comment from a Rangers supporter. I thought it was worth posting on its own account.

Thanks John!

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RANGERS: THE WAY FORWARD

I don’t know if the game needs specifically a strong Rangers, or Celtic for that matter. There is an argument that the strangle-hold of the old firm has hindered progress in the Scottish game. It needs competition.

I WON’T LIE TO YOU – JohnBhoy Reflects on Ally McCoist’s Favourite Phrase

By JohnBhoy from the comments on the previous thread:-

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Ever notice that Ally McCoist precedes many of his comments with “I won’t lie to you”. He tends to do this when he doesn’t want to lie to us. Examples:

– On Lennon Closing the Gap
“I won’t lie to you, it’s a little bit disappointing…”

– On Signing Target Broznek
“He’s a player we were looking at and – I won’t lie to you – we were sort of interested in but there were no specific bids made and I didn’t have any contact with the player or the agent.”

A QUESTION OF BALANCE – a Guest Post by JohnBhoy

JohnBhoy posted this as a comment on an earlier thread. I thought it worth a “guest post” slot.

Thanks JohnBhoy!

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The old Rangers understood the theory of balance. If all competing influences have parity – similar club size, domestic fan base, financial clout etc. – then this could present the dangerously unpredictable fiasco of a level playing field, leading to ludicrously unfair equal competition between two city rivals, namely Celtic and Rangers. Thankfully, EBTs came to the rescue and redressed the balance in Rangers’ favour. That is the kind of equilibrium that appealed to the old Rangers. For every fiver that you pay in tax, we’ll pay ten less.

The new Rangers likes balance too, in a variety of contexts: financial balance (no debt, courtesy of unpaid creditors), football balance (leapfrogging The Spartans FC to gain entry to the SFL without the need to follow the same rigorous, competitive application process), social balance (march on Hampden, boycott etc.) and msm balance (James Traynor, writing for The Daily Record while seeking, and finally securing, employment with Rangers).