An utterly shameful Saturday

“Watershed” was a term coined to describe the aftermath of events at Berwick. I would have to agree completely. I never thought I would live to see the day that the son of the manse offered a more resolute defence of the Rangers support than some of our own.

But I did. On Saturday night sportsound he highlighted the fact that the Rangers support have made considerable strides forward in recent times, as opposed to the Celtic support who appear, to have taken backward steps.

Reading some of the comments on various forums on Saturday night, one could be forgiven for thinking our club had been hi-jacked by some ultra right wing group of right wing Protestant uber zealots determined to use our club as a platform for their political and religious beliefs. But let me put your minds at rest – I'm assured there are no plans for Rangers to take the field with an image of John Knox replacing our famous RFC badge.

Between descriptions such as “knuckledraggers” and “sectarian bigots” appeared to be an element of surprise and investigation as to why a song so long forgotten in our repertoire had suddenly reared it's somewhat ugly head. Might I offer an alternative explanation as to what transpired on Saturday. Rather than our club being held hostage by some fanatical religious group, might I suggest that perhaps a group of misguided young lads decided to sing a song that they thought would be amusingly reflective of the current vacancy in Vatican city.

Of course it wasn't amusing nor particularly clever but what cannot be denied was it caused something of a watershed moment within our support. I have to say that after reading and listening to some comments on Saturday night I had some pangs of jealousy. I wish I had led such a clean, sin free life, unaffected by the stupidity or misjudgement of youth as some appear to have led.

As a young marine I remember being described as a “wild un”. Fortunately whenever that wild nature surfaced and resulted in some incredibly stupid actions, there was always a nurturing, guiding hand on my shoulder gently rebuking, re-directing and setting me back onto the straight and narrow, On my wall at home is a medal plaque filled with decorations and campaign medals. It serves not as boast of reckless courage, but as a testimony to those who saw through the recklessness, the stupidity and exercised a considerable degree of faith and belief in me and what I could become. Had such nurturing in the aftermath of such stupidity, been characterised instead however, by public vilification, condemnation and humiliation, I very much doubt there would have been any medal plaque.

But Saturday's events gave birth to considerable myths. One of which force me to indulge in a word I detest. “Whataboutery”. It's easy to dismiss whataboutery. But what should not be forgotten is that when Rangers fans indulge in whataboutery what they are actually defining is a considerable imbalance with in our press and media which has gone on for years. Saturday's irresponsible singing undoubtedly gave the enemies of our club some ammunition for their gun. That is not the real problem however. The real problem is that they find ammunition without irresponsible behaviour by the Rangers support. From false inferences that the bouncy celebrates a sectarian killing to blatant lies recently from McNulty that the Rangers support sang the famine song.

Another myth which has arisen seems to be that we can do nothing about such imbalance or tackling damaging press lies and inaccuracies until “we get our own house in order”. I have one question for the proponents of this theory. Has this stopped Celtic FC ?

I'm firmly of the opinion that the singing on Saturday is little more than a blip, a deviation on a successful course we are currently chartering as a support. If this course was to show a series of continual and regular blips then perhaps there would be some kind of justification for the internal examination which took place on Saturday.

It's perhaps ironic that Saturday's events became the catalyst for considerable theological debate in many Rangers online communities, with some suggesting it's time for our club and support to exorcise whatever lingering spirit of our Protestant heritage remains.

I would disagree. I think events on Saturday night show there is a considerable need for some true Protestant virtues amongst our support – tolerance, forgiveness and nurturing.

Dear Chief Constable..

The Chief Constable
Strathclyde Police Headquarters
173 Pitt Street
Glasgow
G2 4JS

Dear Mr Corrigan,

I write to you in my capacity as a former shareholder of Rangers FC, the company of course fell into liquidation in 2012. During the lead up to the unfortunate set of events which led to liquidation the company had been offered for sale by the then owner, Sir David Murray. Ongoing at the time was an investigation by Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) into the use of Employment Benefit Trusts by the company.

During this period a web blog named the Rangers Tax Case appeared on the internet. This website made a series of frequent and consistent revelations with regard to documents pertaining to this investigation, causing the few journalists who viewed same to claim they were “sourced from within HMRC”. Furthermore in addition to the presentation of these confidential documents on the internet were a series of commentaries by the authors of that blog, which were often inaccurate and erroneous, designed to give a misrepresentation of both the integrity and standing of the company. As a consequence of this the company became almost unsaleable with confidence in it's integrity and management seriously undermined.

I understand from press releases that Sir David Murray' aforesaid, following the result of a first tier tax tribunal has instructed his legal representatives, Levy McRae to write to Crown Office asking for an investigation into the leaking of such confidential information.

To date, despite being an shareholder with a financial interest into such an investigation, I have not received any communication that a criminal enquiry has been launched.

I would therefore be grateful if you could confirm whether such a criminal investigation, is in fact underway.

If it is not then I would like to register a formal complaint into the leaking of confidential information with regard to a company in which I was a shareholder, and I would ask you to, in view of the gravity of the crimes associated with those leaks, in particular the possible leaking of documentary evidence by an investigative body, to cause officers at your disposal to undertake the necessary investigation.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Yours sincerely

Is it time to forgive, forget and move on ?

Some of us remember when the Rangers “Superstore” was a small shop where you could barely swing a cat.

Some of us remember when follow follow meant boarding the Kelvinhaugh Ferry when the subway was being modernised.

Some of us remember the gauntlet of hate we had to run along the Clydeside Express in order to board that ferry in the days before Rangers and Celtic played at home on alternate weeks.

Some of us remember a 16 year old kid ending a 4 year barren spell and sending us into absolute rapture.

Some of us remember when a customised hard builders hat was compulsory wear.

Some us remember when a Coop free kick hit the back of the Aberdeen net with such ferocity that some of us thought he had hit the bar.

Some of us remember exactly where we were when we were told Coop had been taken to play for Heaven's Eleven.

Some of us remember a rollercoaster Sunday, when a helicopter changed direction.

But all of us have a duty to remember what has been done to this club over the last 12 months. Tell your children, and your children's children so that they are prepared for the future.  That they don't make the mistakes we made of relying upon justice, fairness and a respect of due legal process and the judgements of courts to protect our club.

Of expecting there to be moral guardians in the press to uncover and highlight truth, politicians who would sustain and uphold principles, or of football authorities to exercise their duties devoid of fear, favour malice or ill-will.

Ignore out of sight those who urge us to “forgive, forget and move on”.  Treat them and their suggestions with the contempt they deserve, in the same way they ignored the injustices which were wrought upon our club and the utter contempt they showed towards us.

If that means carrying  a heart of darkness, then so be it.

“To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe.”

(Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness 1902)

Rangers : The club which will not die

PART 1 – THE LYNCH MOB

Like a hate filled lynch mob, they descended upon their quarry of Rangers Football Club. Their euphemism of “Sporting Integrity” providing some kind of false moral platform to justify their actions. Euphemisms are terrible things, contrived to disguise the true nature of both mankind's motivations and failings. “Ethnic cleansing” is a perfect example.

The more observant among us saw that their true motivations ranged from bigotry jealousy and several other wrong and distasteful motivators. But if evil is to flourish good men must remain silent, and to their eternal shame they not only obliged, but at times sought to justify and glorify the actions of the hate mob.

The SPL chairmen have duly capitulated. A month ago the proposed SPL vote, due to take place on Wednesday, had a decent chance of saying "yes" to Rangers. Now there is no chance of that. SPL club chairmen up and down the country have been brow-beaten by their own supporters. A voracious, voluble, impassioned type of democracy has won the day.

I witnessed this overflow of feeling in the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock last Thursday night. Michael Johnson, a Kilmarnock chairman who has been the most willing and prominent to hint at saying "yes" to a newco Rangers, received a verbal battering from a throng of fans.

(Graham Spiers, Glasgow Herald, Saturday 30^th June 2012)

The lynch mob were convinced that their day had come, and on the back of threats of boycotts, should the more rational in our society not bow to their will, came the verbal assurance that they would back their clubs to the hilt, promising the coming months would be characterised by sell out Saturdays. Their motivations were not driven by a love for their own club but rather their abject hatred of Rangers evidenced by a poll (Source Daily Record) which showed that 55% would rather see their own club die than see Rangers re-elected to the SPL. Someone should have reminded them to be careful what you wish for.

These champions of “Sporting Integrity” appear to struggle with the concept of integrity and honouring your promises.

The prospects for the current year would “continue to be tough”. Derek Weir felt that the club (and other SPL clubs too) had been let down by the fans who had influenced the vote over the summer with the promise of increasing attendances – it hasn’t happened. The club will be asking for use of the Society’s overdraft facility in March.

(Motherwell Football Club AGM 2013)

But we are talking about a country which, contrary to it's claims of being “the best small country in the world”, displays all the characteristics of being the best small minded country in the world. Justice, fairness and proper legal process were trampled over, not only by the lynch mob, but shamefully, also by those whose duty it is to protect us all from lynch mob mentality. A chain of events were set in motion which saw Rangers football club, who subsequently would be exonerated of the accusations against them, consigned to the lowest tier of Scottish football.

In time, and in the future many will blame the lynch mob. But what of the moral guardians of our society who had a duty to protect us from the rabid irrational thought and conduct of lynch mobs. Whose responsibility it was to remind everyone of the founding cornerstones of our society such as a presumption of innocence until proven guilty ? They were, and they continue to be, to their shame, silent. And in this silence is their indictment. An indictment which cites cowardice, neglect of duty and abdication of responsibility. Remind them of this when they come to your door in the future canvassing for your vote or they urge you to buy their newspapers.

The name Alex Mooney will not be known to many. But it should be, for Alex appears to capable of seeing that which so many others chose to ignore. His article in The Rangers Standard – “The Witch-Hunt which shamed Scotland” - is written by someone outside the Rangers community, with no great love for our club. The observations he has made serve to usurp any future claim by those who have shirked their responsibility that they were ignorant or unaware of what was going on. For us as Rangers supporters it serves as a grounding and reminder that we are not viewing what has been committed against our club through blue tinted spectacles, nor as one suggested, suffering from a “persecution complex”

PART 2 – THEIR SHAME KNOWS NO BOUNDS

Whenever there is injustice, you can bet your bottom dollar their will be lies. The empty stadia, the fabricated official attendances, the bundle ticket offers (buy two get one free), the failure of sell out Saturdays demonstrate not only the lynch mobs lack of sincerity, but perhaps more significantly the lack of care , concern or commitment for their own football clubs. You have to ask what kind of individual it is who can motivate themselves highly to express their hatred of another football club, but appear lacking when asked to show the same level of commitment towards supporting their own. Furthermore glowing reports of the success of the SPL permeated our ears (“The SPL is booming”) until last week Keith Jackson broke ranks and declared the SPL was dead on it's feet. Not so much boom as bust.

It's now the turn of the SPL, to understand what it feels like to be viewed as toxic. Small wonder as they lurch from crisis to crisis that they have failed to attract a sponsor. If they could see themselves, as others outside Scotland see them, perhaps then they would understand.

Worse was to come however, as the club who so many had condemned, so many had accused, were exonerated by a panel of real tax experts. But there was no outpouring of remorse, no condemnation or examination of the failings which saw the innocent tried, convicted and punished Judge Dread style, by a lynch mob, an incompetent (or as one described them “corrupt”) Football Authority, and a cowardly media.

And there are indications it may get a whole lot worse. As the criminal investigation into the Rangers takeover reaches it's conclusion there have been rumours that the club themselves appear to be the victims of a crime. This will have considerable ramifications both legal and otherwise. Particularly in the east end of Glasgow where some believe they have a monopoly on victim status. Perhaps should it be confirmed that Rangers are the victims of a crime, Celtic will feel moved to write to the Lord Advocate seeking “clarification”.

But perhaps the lack of shame or contrition is best summed up by BBC Scotland and one of their reporters, Jim Spence. “Obsessive” has been a word coined in respect of the Rangers haters, but let me suggest a further addition to the dictionary – Delusional. As my fellow blogger Chris Graham recently reported Jim appeared on the BBC Sportsound Show on the anniversary of our clubs slide into administration where he declared (faster than than you could say BBC Charter) “ Rangers are a new club although Rangers fans will argue the toss on that” . No actually Jim the SFA, UEFA and the very learned Lord Nimmo would argue the toss with you about that, but don't let facts, logic or legal authority stand in the way of your delusion. Which just goes to show – Its not the size of the brain which is important – but how you use it.

(As a side note I found myself driving through Birkhill, a small village on the outskirts of Dundee recently. My attention was drawn to a poseur extraordinaire jogger performing a warm up right at the side of the road, complete in questionable and not very flattering running tights. It was none other than the delusional Jim Spence. I had to pop into the local village pub – the Birkhill Inn – for a shandy after such a shock. But I could not possibly comment on suggestions that Jim's running tights are the subject of considerable mirth in the village and have earned him the nickname “Tiny”)

PART 3 - LOVE CONQUERS ALL

Sammy rises from the sofa, an improvised bed he has been accustomed to on the eve of match nights. No point in waking up the whole family. A check of the clock reveals its 4.30 am. Two cups of coffee later and with the brain kick started he leaves the house, shutting the front door quietly, for the drive to Larne; where, after meeting up with fellow Bears, he boards the ferry for the 2/3 hour journey to Cairnryan. Then the drive up to Glasgow, perhaps time for a very swift refreshment, and Sammy then heads for his beloved Ibrox. 2 hours later Sammy starts the intrepid journey once more, and if lucky, arrives home round about midnight. Home, tired but deeply satisfied. He has seen the Rangers.

On another weekend, on another continent, a Japanese reporter boards a jet to fly 6000 miles to report on a phenomenon. His destination is Elgin in Scotland. Guys like Sammy are the source of that phenomenon. For Sammy and thousands of others like him are part of a support who will not let their club die. The Japanese reporter never got to see the match of course, it being cancelled as the demand of the blue legions for tickets led to an excess of tickets being printed and sold. Of course for a Japanese reporter spared the mindset of Scottish media, this was a sensational climax to his journey. The ultimate scoop.

The Rangers support are defiant, but it's not defiance which motivates us. It's love and loyalty for a football club. Some, even in our native Scotland appear to be incapable of grasping that fact, or perhaps they just don't want to. You have to wonder if a Japanese reporter can grasp that fact why can't others closer to home ?

The lynch mob operated on a manifesto of hatred, lies and accusation in order to shame Rangers. The Rangers support continues to shame Scottish football by operating on a manifesto of love, loyalty and truth. “We will follow in the footsteps of our team” And we did and will continue to do so. The broken records are no longer the oft repeated euphemism of “Sporting Integrity but are in respect of attendances for a club in SFL 3. That club is Rangers, our club, and the support which is earning world wide recognition and respect is us.

But something else has happened. The Rangers support has become awakened to the hatred vented and generated against our club. Some of us bloggers have been alerting our support to this for years, often without success, but that time has well and truly passed. And long may it be so. Perhaps the spirit and soul of this club, “Ready” was not quite as it should have been when this crisis hit us, and when some seized the opportunity to vilify us, we were not quite as prepared as we should have been. That will not happen again. Their hatred has been exposed, the depths they are prepared to sink to have been revealed. The Rangers support is mobilising, awakening, both spirit and soul have been renewed.

It will be 12 months which will be remembered as the year hatred was allowed to triumph over reason, when the unjustifiable was excused, and a country called Scotland shamed itself.

But it will also be remembered for the phenomenon which is the Rangers support. Rangers are coming, and this time we are “Ready”

Mr Green - we ain't wearing that T-Shirt again

"As a club we are not just ready to move on - we have moved on “

Its not even a week since Charles Green declared these words to a watching world. On the back of a hugely successful shares issue, resting clear at the top of our current league and with a tax tribunal exonerating this club from the shameful, barbed and misguided accusations of many, there was every reason for us to look forward from an annus horribilis.

Central to that upbeat feeling was a spirit of togetherness as well as considerable pride, as the Rangers support became the epitome of loyalty to a football club, the jaw of the world dropped as it witnessed the heroic efforts of the Rangers support, from the purchase of season tickets and exercise  of faith in an unknown chief executive, standing shoulder to shoulder in a determination to follow this club to a selection of grounds which tend to be more narrow than broad. This is the same support whose fervour, faith and desire to see their club resulted in the cancellation of an SFL match due to the over sale of tickets.

With the financial outlook looking secure, a Chief Executive who appears willing to fight for this club and it's support, pledges of prospective security and stability for the future, you could be forgiven for thinking everything is rosy.

But quite clearly it's not.

Today Rangers supporters will be awakening to a press story carried by the Daily Record, of a power struggle within Ibrox. A fairly detailed report with the ubiquitous “source close to the club” claiming that Charles Green has threatened to quit amid an unresolvable rift with Malcolm Murray.

Once again we as a  support are plunged into confusion and not undue concern about events at our club. Are we to return to those dark days of that annus horribilis of trying to ascertain the truth between club statements and contradictory media reports ? Is there any validity to this story or is it merely the latest in a series of attempts to de-stabilise our club ? If its the latter then might I respectfully suggest our Head of Communications follows through on the implications of “Word of advice gentlemen. From now on be very careful when talking or writing about this club”

REMINDER TO THOSE WITHIN IBROX – this support have been here got the T-Shirt and we have absolutely no intention of donning it again.

The Goose, The Gander & The Succulent Lamb

Alex Thomson's latest blog offering about succulent lamb journalism had me, quite literally, aching with laughter. The amusing part for me is that Thomson himself has built and risked his professional reputation in Scotland exclusively around the succulent lamb which is Rangers, gaining either fame or infamy, depending on your perspective,  for a series of blogs concerning Rangers, their support, and, as of his latest blog offering, some of Rangers employees.

His latest offering in fact prompted me to have a look at Alex in the same forensic way which he looks at our club, its support and employees. As some of you may remember several months ago I was made privy to a series of e-mails Alex Thomson exchanged with a Rangers supporter. Given his recent penchant for revealing  the content of private e-mails, I'm sure  Alex would agree that's what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Alex arrival in Scotland was prompted of course by the incompetence of Scottish journalists who according to him were “too lazy, sycophantic and incapable of asking awkward questions” with regard to Rangers financial affairs.  Which was in itself rather strange as the Rangers support were in something of an uproar over press comments such as “tax cheats”, “financial doping”  with our club being likened in one particular column as something you would gladly punch in the face until your hand hurt.

But according to Alex “Glasgow was different”. The man who had reported from war torn Sarajevo, Mogadishu, Kabul, Islamabad, Tripoli and Baghdad, (Alex apparently could list a few more names but he very kindly didn't want to bore us) suddenly was the victim of an alleged online threat, in former city of culture Glasgow. Alex reported this threat to Strathclyde Police. In actual fact though, Alex was very much ahead of the game and his actions were motivated by a desire to expose the lazy and sycophantic, those incapable of asking awkward questions.

All fine then because the Sun says so.

All fine because the police say so.

Dear oh dear we don't like to question things do we?

And yes, I knew full well that was a spoof account because I'd been told. By using it I wanted to achieved two things:

1. I suspected the two Glasgow journalists would immediately play down the issue of intimidation. They did thus exposing the problem.

They did.

2. I strongly suspected it would embolden David Leggat into behaving even more stupidly by issuing more threats convinced I'd been duped.

He did.

Which begs the question that if he knew it was a spoof account, and I'm reliably informed the person behind the spoof later apologised to him, why did he waste the time of the Police ?

But furthermore, knowing it was from a spoof account why did he tweet the following ?

https://twitter.com/alextomo/status/235037161722888192

Sorry, perhaps it's just me but I'm struggling a bit here....Thomson knew the threat came from a spoof account, the perpetrator of this spoof later apologised to him and yet Strathclyde Police's conduct according to Thomson “was shameful quite possibly corrupt” ? Heaven help us.

If that allegation against Strathclyde Police is Thomson's normal form of logic then thank goodness Glasgow is indeed different.

Of course careless tweeting has been something of an Achilles heel for Thomson. On the 26th June 2012 he was forced to issue an apology to the Rangers support following an inappropriate tweet concerning the Ibrox Disaster memorial. Attempts of course to claim that he was unaware of the significance of the memorial were somewhat usurped with a review of his own blog of 8.3.2012,
where he commented :

“Outside one corner of Ibrox a monument stands to the 66 who were crushed to death on a cold, foggy January night in 1971″

I mentioned of course Thomson's reputation in the opening paragraph, one which he has staked writing the foreword to the book Downfall. A planned serialisation by the Sun newspaper was abandoned in fairly acrimonious circumstances with the newspaper claiming the author was “tarred with a sickening sectarian brush”  Such a stain and public humiliation seemed to galvanise Thomson into action with a suggestion that the Sun newspaper was one of a number of victims of threats and intimidation from Rangers supporters.

Logic breaks down here again unfortunately as the Sun newspaper do not appear to have made any report to the Police concerning these allegations of threats. Of course perhaps it could be argued that the wasting of Police time with false allegations of physical threats is the domain solely of the unscrupulous... a kind of journalistic underclass.

Tweeting does not appear to be a particular friend of Thomson, as it appears to have a tendency to bite back at him big time. His criticism via twitter of MSM, for failing to review Downfall was one such instance.

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/best-scottish-sport-reads-of-2012-1-2693614

The sirens started to sound at the first of several references to Rangers supporters as “the Ibrox klan”. The author makes no attempt to disguise his hatred for Rangers, stating at one stage “please let this football club die”. And yet he yearns to be taken seriously as a journalist, repeatedly complaining that no-one from the mainstream media ever calls him. As the tale unravels, Mac Giolla Bhain starts to disappear up his own rear, declaring: “I am aware of my own contribution and I rather like the guy I see in the shaving mirror every morning.” These are two classic mistakes: believing you are the story, and wanting a story to be true. When it’s not.

But perhaps its Thomson most recent offering which underline the depths he will sink to in order to salvage something of his beleaguered reputation. His succulent lamb “expose” revealed far more than James Traynor going about his normal business as a reporter. It revealed that Thomson is willing to use or sacrifice anyone in order to save that reputation. For in revealing those private e-mails he held up his source like some sacrificial lamb to expose a journalist doing what journalists do.  If this was an attempt to alienate the Rangers support towards James Traynor it failed miserably. In fact it generated more discussion as to why Whyte was briefing against our club.

So not only do we know who Thomson's source is now, we know he is a thoroughly discredited individual who has lied on numerous occasions.  But of course perhaps I fail to give Thomson credit, perhaps there is some bigger plan at work here as per his motivation with his complaint to Strathclyde Police.

Or perhaps Alex Thomson is just a complete and utter liability, who has not only damaged his own reputation in Scotland with some seriously flawed judgement, but also that of Channel 4  news, who like Thomson's links to a man described as being “tarred with a sickening sectarian brush” mean they are guilty by association.

Rangers support prepare for Shock & Awe

I have to hand it to Charles Green and Jim Traynor, they have managed to do in just a few months what my many years blogging has failed to achieve – upset the press/mediafia and send them into panic mode.

What other reason could there be for the increased attempts and sustained attacks which are quite clearly an effort to besmirch and undermine the credibility of Charles Green and James Traynor amongst the Rangers support.

Leckie, Keith Jackson and Waddell have all  fired their long range rockets of “forgive and forget and move one”accompanied by “Rangers are offensive” in recent weeks. However these assaults seems to have had little impact in achieving their goal and it now appears the infamous and feared “shock and awe” is about to be unleashed upon the Rangers support by that veritable vanguard of Rangers destruction – BBC Scotland.

This benchmark, this epitome, this champion of objective and neutral broadcasting  has been called upon to aid the forces of Rangers bashing, in what can only be described as a textbook pincer movement. Shock and awe is about to be unleashed upon the Rangers support by BBC Scotland in the form of Alex Thomson and Paul McConville.

These latest mercenaries bring with them a considerable history of battle honours. The former you may remember provided the foreword to a book written by an individual who has been labelled as   “ tarred with the sectarian brush”.   A book which prompted the following review from The Scotsman newspaper :-

The sirens started to sound at the first of several references to Rangers supporters as “the Ibrox klan”. The author makes no attempt to disguise his hatred for Rangers, stating at one stage “please let this football club die”. And yet he yearns to be taken seriously as a journalist, repeatedly complaining that no-one from the mainstream media ever calls him. As the tale unravels, Mac Giolla Bhain starts to disappear up his own rear, declaring: “I am aware of my own contribution and I rather like the guy I see in the shaving mirror every morning.” These are two classic mistakes: believing you are the story, and wanting a story to be true. When it’s not.

This is the same individual who went running to Strathclyde Police with tales of assault and corruption amongst the press in Scotland, only for Glasgow's finest to dismiss his claims out of hand. This prompted the aforesaid Thomson to claim the Polis were in on the corruption as well. Ah nothing like a good old conspiracy theory to cover up your own shortcomings or lack of moral fibre or integrity.. He is also the same individual whose duplicity was exposed when he denied knowing the significance of the Ibrox Disaster memorial. Still, he will be in good company at BBC Scotland – the seem to like employing persons skilled in the art of duplicity and denial – hence why Graham Spiers got a job.

However its good to know that BBC Scotland are using my licence money in a responsible manner by importing guests of impeccable professional credentials whose personal integrity is beyond reproach. I do wonder however if McConville's appearance on BBC Scotland will prompt the Law Society of Scotland to send along an observer given the strict conditions they placed upon him at his Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Hearing, after he failed to pursue compensation claims in respect of miner's relatives which led to his public humiliation.

But with his professional integrity and reputation in tatters Mr McConville has attempted to restore his battered personal reputation by way of his web blog – Random Thoughts On Scot's Law. Mr McConville has a penchant you see for apparently waffling on all matters legal. He likes nothing better to ruminate over all aspects of the law in Scotland. It might come as a surprise to some of you that he only managed to ever ruminate once over Scotland's worst ever mass murderer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, and his subsequent release from prison on compassionate grounds. Compare this to his many hundred Rangers related articles and you will see that his ruminating is particularly one dimensional. A fitting qualification of course for a BBC Scotland appearance.

So with the ominous approach of Shock and Awe are Rangers supporters everywhere scrambling for cover ?

No not quite. Instead we are laughing at you. And laughing very loudly.

Scotland's Offensive Bill

I noticed that Gordon Waddell's column in the Sunday Mail raised a few eyebrows amongst our support. Probably blood pressure too. You have to hand it to the Scottish Press they don't just get things wrong, they get them terribly wrong.

I said a while back that until they walk about in our shoes for a while, the differences in perception are going to poles apart. Actually, delete “poles” and insert “universes”. And while Keith Jackson was thumping out the old “forgive, forget and move on” melody, Leckie obviously didn't take my advice about shoes, and saw fit to describe Rangers as “offensive”. Furthermore he seems to suggest that we should be going on a “charm offensive”.

Oh how I laughed. All the way to Waterstones in fact where I bought Leckie a copy of an English Dictionary. Because those universes seem to be keeping us galaxies apart in our interpretation of the word “offensive”.

So let me get this right. The club who have been, and continue to be, treated unjustly by the Scottish Football authorities, who have been lied about in various press columns and in the media, who have been subjected to the most vicious and malicious witch hunt in the history of Scottish sport, should themselves be going on charm offensive ?

You have to hand it to Leckie, as the ridiculous scale goes it's on a par with suggesting a rape victim deserved her fate because she happened to be wearing a short dress.

Of course the “forgive, forget and move on” and the “Rangers are offensive” campaigns work well for the Scottish Press. They don't have to examine their own roles and failings in the witch hunt which was waged against Rangers. No need to address their own culpability, responsibility and failure to act as the “moral guardians of society”.

Determining and treating someone as guilty before verdict, that to me is “offensive”. Offensive to the fundamental principle that a party should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Blackmailing a party to accept something which a Scottish Court has deemed unlawful, as a pre-requisite to granting a licence to play football – that to me is offensive.

But perhaps most offensive of all is that coward's like Bill Leckie and his ilk fail to ask the questions of those who have abused their power, who are accused by many (outside the Rangers community) of bullying, intimidating and lying in their Machiavellian exploits, and yet continue to govern our national game.

Seems Scotland has more than one “Offensive Bill”.