With the two great warriors of sport set to commence battle in one of the great arenas in the land….oh sod that.
I’ll leave the hype to the PR people.
We’ve been keeping an eye on some of the more staunch reporting this week, as an optimisitc “rangers ” prepare to host Celtic in what will be, by the time kick off arrives, a title decider.
Keith Jackson, of the Record, didn’t want to be left out. so he dug up Walter Smith, and had a chat with him.
And the love they have for this great man shone through, at a level that makes Piers Morgan merely a distant admirer of Donald Trump…with the most beautiful prose… when the wise old man of Scottish football is asked if the new club-they don’t call it that of course-can win the league this year…
Smith pauses for a second to squeeze hard on his silvery chin.
It is almost as if he’d rather not have to go here. But somewhat surprisingly he nods and says: “Who knows in football? You just don’t know.
“The first aim from a Rangers perspective is to prove they can match Celtic on a consistent basis. The three games that are coming up will give everybody at the club an indication of whether they’re capable of doing that or not.
“It looks to me as if they are going into this game in good spirit. But there have been parallels before – for both Rangers and Celtic teams.
“This time it’s up to Rangers to show they can catch up with Celtic. It will not be an easy task but that’s the nature of this rivalry.
“Celtic have had it their own way for a long time. But now if things are settling down at Rangers and if they are ready to put in a challenge then this is the time they’ve got to do it.
“Even if they win the game on Sunday they need to continue to show after it that they are going to keep matching Celtic all the time. But so far you have to say Murty has done a really good job of it.
Oh, that reminds me…we hear from one of the disgruntled ex staff over there that there is a bit of discord between a number of the backroom staff, which could be the real reason for the deflector shields getting switched on again.
I’ll try to summarise it.
Kenny Miller-remember him ?-is still pissed off he didn’t get the management gig he was promised, Graeme murty is pissed off that Jimmy Nicholl is actually running the show, and Jimmy Nicholl is pissed off he’s not allowed to go on the Louden to Ibrox march before the game, as he has to conduct the players singalong, and not the fans one.
So the Fat Controller over at Level Crossing number five has blown his whistle and waved his flag and out come the feelgood stories..
and there is to be no talk of anything except the Final Victory…
Oh, that and the fact that the daft bastards filled in the application form for the payday loan wrong, and have only gone and put £3m when they really needed £5m.
Then again, accountancy never was their strong point, was it ?
So, despite what you read this week, they are actually making plop plop in the pants.
Along with smith entering the fray, they saddled up old warhorse Graeme Souness..
Rangers are a bit closer and that’s good for Scottish football – it’s certainly good for Rangers,”
“Celtic are still a bit in front. It would go down to three points, they’ve never been closer to them, and this weekend will tell us a great deal.
“Obviously as an ex-Rangers man I want that to happen, but I think it would be good for Scottish football to give us a competition again so its not a one-horse race.”
It used to be a two horse race, but one of the horses died.. replied Kevin
After Souness came Captain Baz, who is still hoping for some sort of job at ibrox, and is currently undertaking a roofing apprenticeship…
To show he understands what it takes to be a manager, he has picked his combined Celtic/”rangers ” eleven, presumably misunderstanding the rules for sundays match, and it makes, er, interesting reading…
Foderingham; Tavernier, Bates, Martin, Tierney; Forrest, Brown, Ntcham, Murphy; Morelos, Dembele.
six ibrox players make the side, none of whom are international footballers, and none of whom would get a game for any other side paying equivalent money anywhere else in the world.
Except Morelas , of course, who could get £75,000 a week in china and a cut of an eight figure transfer fee.
But all three of these Ibrox legends were trumped by the scoop in the Express, which finally managed to get a story right when it revealed that David Murray, now vindicated by the media, wants back in at Ibrox, and they have provided the platform for him to begin his campaign to be vindicated by the supporters who once looked at him pretty much the way Keith Jackson was gazing at Walter smith in the extract above.
Remember, there is turmoil in the board room, turmoil in the dressing room and turmoil amongst the support, whichever way they dress it up, and boy are they spending big on costumes..
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Rangers chairman Sir David Murray considering investment in Glasgow giants
SIR David Murray is considering a shock move to invest in Rangers again.
Not really a shock for anyone who has followed this story.
He dumped the club because he couldn’t pay the bills, they went down, and now a new club is there ripe for investment. Along with the added bonus that the soppy sods who follow follow it actually think its the one Murray killed six years ago.
That was always the plan, from the minute Hector wrote to Murray and put a big number in red at the top of the page.
And it stinks.
And yet the report, unusually for the Express, makes perfect sense , and on the face of it, there’s nothing to prevent it happening..
The former chairman stepped down and sold his Ibrox shareholding for £1 to Craig Whyte in 2011. But it’s understood Murray is weighing up a move to buy back into the club.
He could buy out existing shareholders or try to muscle in on the upcoming share issue – if the current board give him the go-ahead. Rangers are set to announce a share issue but it is unlikely to be a public flotation.
The move was passed at the club’s last AGM, but shares would only be offered to existing shareholders and preferred purchasers. Current chairman Dave King may be reluctant to allow Murray to buy into the club again.
The pair had an uneasy relationship when King lost millions when he initially invested under Murray first time around. It could all come down to the level of investment Murray would be prepared to offer.
The 66-year-old’s time at Rangers was tarnished by the way he departed. The sale to Whyte saw the club go into liquidation in 2012. Rangers had to start again in Scotland’s bottom tier before being taken over by Charles Green and his consortium.
King goes, Murray buys in.
Its that simple.
And normality will be restored…
But at this embryonic stage of the plan, it all kind of depends on the hordes, after all, Murray won’t use his own money to buy the shares, which of course, cannot be sold in the normal way shares are sold…and one wonders who will lend him the money to pay off King…
And Murray being Murray, he won’t be paying up front….
There’s a long way to go though, judging by the responses on one Rangers Forum… where there are comments such as this, which sort of sums up the mood..
It’s criminal that that c*** has been allowed to move undervalued assets to his family during the receivership & liquidation of MIH.
All whilst under-funding the pension scheme of his employees.
Bailed out by the British tax payer – that’s how he has accumulated his new found wealth. He should be looking at gaol time, not an investment in our club that he shafted by knowingly offloading it to a criminal, to keep his bankers happy.
Hopefully karma will be visited on this charlatan & Dave King knows exactly who he is, so hopefully tells him to take his stolen money & GTF!
If there was an investigative journalist left in Scotland worth his salt, he’d have had his knighthood removed long ago & we’d never have to hear from him or his 2 arsehole sons again!
Though never let it be said they don;t have a sense of humour, if not a sense of self awareness…
You may have noticed a rather bluish tinge to this particular diary, thats because its the only place you’ll find the hype is being dismissed for what it is.
Or perhaps “scam ” is a better word….
That compliance Officer Report is probably the most important document in the history of Scottish football.
We have to hope its honest…
On a different but similar note, does anyone fancy this ? From Glasgow Live…
Rangers v Celtic game to be shown on big screen in Glasgow – and you can have brunch too
Rangers have the chance to cut their rivals Premiership lead to just three points
Football fans who don’t have a ticket for Sunday’s Rangers v Celtic match can watch the game on a big screen in Glasgow.
Head along to BAaD (Barras Art and Design Centre) to take in the Scottish Premiership clash from 11am, with full commentary from 11.30am on Sky.
And you can also enjoy Sunday brunch before the main event kicks off at midday.
Rangers have the chance to cut their rivals Premiership lead to just three points
( thats twice, in case you missed it the first time )
The game will be shown live in BAaD’s fully covered and heated courtyard with full match commentary on the giant LED Screens.
Entry is free however booking is strongly recommended.
It’s a child friendly showing and past screenings have been very welcoming, dare we say it, ‘bam free’ events, so this is your chance to sit back and enjoy the game with some food.
According to their facebook page, 46 people are going.
I think I know two of them..
Yesterday we showed this picture..
Caption: ‘right, things are getting tight we need that water main from the church back on line’
Today…