Thoughts From A Sofa 4

El cormaco sent us this before last nights game, which gives us something else to think about today.

I have not put anything down for some time – work gets busier and busier as the Tories fun public sector cuts continue to bite.

The gnashing of teeth over Ibrox way over a bad tackle – and it was a bad tackle to be fair, is quite a sight to behold, as are the protestations of racism by Mark Burchill.

To see fans of 2nd Rangers bleat about heavy tackles and needing to protect flair players whilst having cheered Elbows, Hurlock, Hateley, “Bomber”, Moshni the karate kid, Fergusons I & B etc etc etc, really is some feat of collective amnesia.

After the game where Bougherra committed an absolute shocker – and was red carded to be fair, and then put his hands up to the referee where was the condemnation of dangerous play and of a player physically intimidating an official?

It’s “a man’s game” unless the man in question is wearing a royal blue jersey with 5 fake stars in which case it’s “an entertainment business”. As others online have noted the 2^nd Rangers are carrying a very small squad this year, a few key injuries could really cause them problems and it seems the Warbmeister is laying down the ground rules to refs for the rest of the season

To be some what fair its normal practice for fans to be selective in what they complain about – a handball by our centre half goes unseen, shrug of the shoulders and wee puff of the cheeks signifying  “we got away with one there” , happens at the other end and its an outrage. As a supporter you have the right to have a blinkered view and wail against the injustice, what you don’t really have a right to do is publicly lay it on the line for referees to start favouring your teams “flair players” via your be-knighted manager

With Muir at the weekend it’s impossible to defend his failures to give the decisions, but I’ll stay away from saying it’s a conspiracy or anything, I think he is just exceptionally bad at his job.

But if Ronnie came out and said refs must start awarding Celtic more penalties because we attack a lot I d have a problem with that comment – each and every decision should be based on its merits alone and in isolation from others

Something however that both sides of the Glasgow football public could find common ground on is the absolutely abysmal quality of refereeing in Scotland.

Burchill was – clumsily – trying to protect his player – don’t crucify this young Scottish boy – we might need him one day, but in time honoured Sevcologic this can now be happily shared among the thick on twitter as proof positive Burchill is a racist,  and as an ex Celtic player it is no wonder.

Again, this from a fan base that call the Famine song “banter” and the Billy boys part of “their culture” it takes some cojonnes to protest loudly of racism. As ever their intellectually challenged fan base circle the wagons, strike out for some one to attack – Burchill in this case, and take no time whatsoever to consider putting their own house in order with regard to racist singing etc.

That the RST are leading the way in condemnation with their usual stodgy, over blown sense of self importance style – they of Chris “48 hour director” Graham and his homophobic / anti Islamic tweets and who warned of dire behaviour of Celtic fans prior to the League cup semi final and then resolutely said nothing at all about the very vocal singing of illegal songs by the 2nd Rangers fans gives their complaints zero credence whatever.

I said it before but expect no one to remember so that’s fine, but I believed the lad at Aberdeen (Logan?) at the time and was glad to see Tonev bombed out, and Griffiths song was ignorant and didhim no favours, though I would not make a case this signifies he is a racist. However at the time there was quite a lot of debate among Celtic fans over whether or not he should be bombed out of the club. I feel proud to call myself a Celtic fan, one of the many reasons for which is the “open to all” policy we have, including recent “immigrants Welcome” banners and donations to the refugee crisis.

At old Rangers they had Andy Goram wearing back armbands after the death of a prominent loyalist (or his granny depending on who you believe) a 100 year sectarian signing policy and a 100 year plus sectarian singing policy, reaching its nadir with the “bantz” laden Famine song. But now want the moral high ground over poorly phrased comments a manager made in trying to ask for his player to be given a little slack, throwing big “racist” accusations around the place as if Combat 18 had never given a flyer out around Govan in its life.

Its frustrating really, not living in Glasgow I don’t have “decent bears” as friends though they do exist in great number no doubt, but time and again on social media their voice isn’t heard and it’s the “no Surrender” “WATP” hypocrite mob whose voices are heard (along with the sound of their knuckles dragging on concrete), and who set the agenda in which the decent ones also have to operate.

Anyway, hell mend them, they’ll be getting their pockets fleeced again soon enough, becoming the “co investors” to the original “co investment” they made when buying season tickets, but THIS IS A GOOD THING if you choose to believe any of them.

Fan ownership I happen to believe is a good thing, and long term may be a route out for them, but while they continue to cede control of their shareholding to Dave King and are prepared to let him dilute it to keep the show on the road by issuing new shares if anyone is mad enough to want to buy them, then they really are architects of their own downfall, and again they  circle the wagons and stick their fingers in their ears when anyone tries reasonably to point this out to them.

Out of curiosity do you have a most Hunnish Hun – the dirtiest player of dirty players who played for either Ibrox club? I only go back to the 80s, and I m sure players could be really really dirty before that, but I always thought Bomber was particularly bad – he had little noticeable football ability – his only role was to go around snapping into tackles and being a dirty Hun, knew this and revelled in it. I also had a strong detestation for Ian Ferguson, again plenty dirty but he just, well how can I put this… he just looked like a Hun.

Last thing, to be clear I use the word Hun and will continue to do so. I am not referring to people who are Protestants or any other faith for that matter. I am referring to the most moronic, union jack waving anti Irish / Catholic bigots who when seeking a football team to follow almost all gravitate towards first rangers and now their Tribute Act. Many Celtic legends were not Roman Catholic, and not for one second do I have a problem with that. And some Roman Catholics are Huns – Novo, Amoruso etc, so to any one who wants to call me a hypocrite on this that’s fine, but I am comfortable that I use the word Hun not with any reference to faith or nationality but to a state of mind exhibited, and one which I detest.