Crime of the century ?

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Its is ridiculous...but that seems to be the rational of your arguement. We cannot defend ourselves until we are perfect.

Even though the lies I refer to do has little to do with the vocal minority you refer to.

But the problem will not be resolved when guys like you are willing to let Spiers call you a bigot....without substance, without evidence, without justification.

I'm not willing to let him call me a bigot - and I dont think he ever has. Everytime I have read him commenting on Rangers fans he always says something along the lines of 'the majority of Rangers fans are decent, ordinary, football loving people', etc.

It matters not that it has little to do with the vocal minority because the fact is if we defend ourselves then they will just deflect and point out things that we can rightly be criticised for, we will never win until we clean it up.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

I'm not willing to let him call me a bigot - and I dont think he ever has. Everytime I have read him commenting on Rangers fans he always says something along the lines of 'the majority of Rangers fans are decent, ordinary, football loving people', etc.

It matters not that it has little to do with the vocal minority because the fact is if we defend ourselves then they will just deflect and point out things that we can rightly be criticised for, we will never win until we clean it up.

Once again your assertion is erroneous.

Perhaps before you engage in multi page arguements you should be sure of your facts.

Speirs called everyone of us bigots. "To a man".

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

I'm not willing to let him call me a bigot - and I dont think he ever has. Everytime I have read him commenting on Rangers fans he always says something along the lines of 'the majority of Rangers fans are decent, ordinary, football loving people', etc.

It matters not that it has little to do with the vocal minority because the fact is if we defend ourselves then they will just deflect and point out things that we can rightly be criticised for, we will never win until we clean it up.

Once again your assertion is erroneous.

Perhaps before you engage in multi page arguements you should be sure of your facts.

Speirs called everyone of us bigots. "To a man".

Show me where - I genuinely didn't know that. From what I have read of his I would be extremely surprised.

[Edin-Bear-ugh 1]

Why can't we stand up and show we will not take it as a club

We want to move on. Let's shop the ones who do us wrong.

99.999999999% percent of us are and were ambassadors for our club in Manchester.

Yet those few who fought with police, and became drunken foul mouthed cretins shamed us (yes. I am aware the police were far too forceful and out of hand). These are the non true fans.

We shop them. And we shop the ones who persist and continue to sing and shout out about non Gers items.

It's a fucking football team. Not a bloody paramilitary gathering.

If you are more interested in fucking the pope, wading knee deep in F*nian blood or worrying about a lack of tatties then fuck right off.

We at rangers do not need they sort.

[Martinblair1690 2]

Why can't we stand up and show we will not take it as a club

We want to move on. Let's shop the ones who do us wrong.

99.999999999% percent of us are and were ambassadors for our club in Manchester.

Yet those few who fought with police, and became drunken foul mouthed cretins shamed us (yes. I am aware the police were far too forceful and out of hand). These are the non true fans.

We shop them. And we shop the ones who persist and continue to sing and shout out about non Gers items.

It's a fucking football team. Not a bloody paramilitary gathering.

If you are more interested in fucking the pope, wading knee deep in F*nian blood or worrying about a lack of tatties then fuck right off.

We at rangers do not need they sort.

Shop fellow fans? No chance.

[kplfishtank 4,745]

Why can't we stand up and show we will not take it as a club

We want to move on. Let's shop the ones who do us wrong.

99.999999999% percent of us are and were ambassadors for our club in Manchester.

Yet those few who fought with police, and became drunken foul mouthed cretins shamed us (yes. I am aware the police were far too forceful and out of hand). These are the non true fans.

We shop them. And we shop the ones who persist and continue to sing and shout out about non Gers items.

It's a fucking football team. Not a bloody paramilitary gathering.

If you are more interested in fucking the pope, wading knee deep in F*nian blood or worrying about a lack of tatties then fuck right off.

We at rangers do not need they sort.

im not even sure you are clever enough to be an idiot

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

Show me where - I genuinely didn't know that. From what I have read of his I would be extremely surprised.

To paraphase he described the Rangers support as a bunch of bigotted troglidytes and finished off his rant with "To a man"

If you dont believe me ask around.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Show me where - I genuinely didn't know that. From what I have read of his I would be extremely surprised.

To paraphase he described the Rangers support as a bunch of bigotted troglidytes and finished off his rant with "To a man"

If you dont believe me ask around.

Hmmmm if true then that is just a blatant lie.

I would like to know the circumstances and the context surrounding it though.

But comments like that are always going to hit us unless.....you know the rest.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

A bear called Jaz who is now on VB penned this catalogue some time ago. It is an outstanding piece of research and work.

Spiers had started his one-man campaign of anti-Rangers bile long before he joined the Herald. One of my earliest memories was his blatant lie that Rangers fans sang (about German superstar Jurgen) “Klinsmann’s a Klansman” at Ibrox. Complete and utter bollocks. He further claimed that Rangers fans sang songs about the tragic death of former Celtic player Tommy Coyne’s wife. Complete fabrication. Another contention of his was that former Ranger Ian Ferguson had “all the charm of a child molester”. A pleasant analogy I’m sure you’d agree. I would wager that Spiers would not express his strikingly odd views during a face-to-face meeting with our former midfielder.

In July 1996 whilst with Scotland On Sunday he penned a deplorable attack on the late great Jock Wallace the day after he passed away, the inference being that Wallace was a bully and a bigot and responsible for sectarianism in Scottish football. Spiers twisted insinuations flew completely in the face of former Celtic captain Andy Lynch who said this on hearing of Wallace’s passing “He would always take the time (prior to Old Firm encounters) in the nervy pre-match atmosphere, be it at Parkhead or Ibrox, to come and give me a warm handshake or hug and sincere best wishes……smart, kind and sensitive. He will be sadly missed.”

Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell echoed Lynch’s sentiments “It doesn't matter what side of the fence you were on, I don't think you will find anyone in Scottish football who had a bad word to say about him. It was always a pleasure to be in his company and talk to him. His crack was different class.'' Almost correct Tommy. You WILL find someone who has a bad word to say about him. Graham Spiers.

Bad-mouthing deceased Rangers heroes has since become a theme for this creature. He has written disrespectful articles on late greats Bill Struth, Jim Baxter and Davie Cooper. Of course as with Wallace none of them were here to defend themselves. Spiers wrote the following on the eve last seasons’ League Cup Final against Motherwell, a game dedicated to Coop’s memory:

“More remarkable, though, amid the media and marketing frenzy surrounding the game, is the way the memory of Cooper's career has become lodged halfway between legend and myth………..One problem with the Davie Cooper legend is that, as with many public personalities who die young and become subject to mythology, it doesn't wholly square with the facts of his career. For a so-called "genius", you would certainly have expected Cooper, who died at 39, to have won more than his 22 international caps.”

To write the above just hours prior to a game played in tribute to Davie where his family would be in attendance was nothing short of despicable.

On Struth: “Bill Struth was either an idol or an idiot depending on your point of view”. There you are Mr. Murray, according to Speirs you may have unveiled a statue of an idiot at half-time during the Moenchengladbach game.

Now on to you and I, the Rangers support. Commenting on the Manchester United v. Rangers match last year he described us as “A stinking bigoted cesspit of sub-humanity”. Let me remind you that there were NO arrests at the match. A Manchester United publication later described the game as having the best atmosphere of the season due to the visiting Bears. Some other lovely descriptions of you and I from Mr. Spiers:

6/11/03

“Rancid chanting…..total embarrassment……putrid stench…..savages….poisonous singing…..desecration…..cavemen…...wholesale yobishness…..vile troglodytes…..stinking, bigoted, religious stuff……backward culture…..almost to a man”.

29/11/04

“David Murray is on the back foot…..at Rangers, by general consent, the sectarianism is worse than it is at Celtic……It was an experience that reminded me again of how widespread and malignant bigotry at Ibrox is……It is folly, not to say a cultural disservice to Scotland, to denounce O'Neill for what he said this week…..Rangers, in particular, have a major problem with bigots”.

“Compare and contrast their shameful behaviour with that of Celtic, who on the road to Seville last season, represented Scottish football immaculately” (I suppose they did, if you don’t include the stabbing in Seville, the riot in Blackburn, the Provo banners, the booing of Porto as they lifted the trophy, planes being diverted to Cardiff etc. etc. etc. But why let the FACTS get in the way of a dig at Rangers eh Graham?)

I think Spiers has made it very clear how he feels about US the supporters’ ladies and gentleman, but what’s his views on our club?

8/10/02

"Like the Rangers orange strip, the song ('Follow, Follow') cannot be listed among the great criminal acts, it merely offends”

25/4/04

“Nor can I recall Rangers being disparaged in 1972 when they won the Cup-Winners' Cup; a tournament which, by definition, was painfully inferior to the European Cup, indeed a prize which many placed third in the list of Europe's club baubles behind the UEFA Cup.”

12/8/04

“Please can I be spared any whining from Rangers over this and other criticisms?” “(Rangers) the most paranoid club in Scottish football”.

Fair to say he’s none to keen on our club either! But what does he say about our biggest rivals I hear you ask? Surely in the interest of neutrality and parity, Celtic are afforded the same malevolence?

23/8/02

“Celtic, though, as a football institution, quite rightly remains a symbol of Catholicism. The Celtic strip, as famed and proudly known around the world as it is, still cannot be divorced from one of its cultural parents, which is the Catholic faith.”

4/3/04

“Even high-brow Herald readers, hauling their noses away from such works as Jacob Bronowski and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, may have noticed the palaver that is being planned by Celtic supporters in time for Sunday's slaughter - erm, I mean match - against Rangers at Parkhead.”

25/3/04

“I repeat my main contention: that Larsson's contribution to Scottish life and culture, via the game of football, has been immense. In a sordid football age, his role-model status has also been impeccable.” (Deliberately breaking Gus MacPherson’s leg aside presumably).

1/4/04

“Following Sunday's win at Ibrox I met one Celtic player, a man I remain a great admirer of, and whispered to him: "I fear for some of the alcoholic carnage of you lot over the next few days, it's been a long wait." He smiled and looked at me with rivulets of anticipation dribbling from his chops.”

6/5/04, 22/1/04, 27/11/03, 4/4/02, 7/3/02,

“In one of my favourite magazines, The Alternative View….. the shockingly good magazine, The Alternative View……It was with great joy that I received my copy the other day of The Alternative View, a genuinely enjoyable football magazine of a Celtic persuasion…..the excellent Alternative View, a new mag set up by my old malapropic mucker himself, Matt McGlone….. After 36 years of unchallenged success, the Celtic View at last has a commercial rival…..If I tell readers that Matt McGlone is the brains behind this venture, you may well share my intrigue….. a Che Guevara figure among the fans who helped ease Fergus McCann into place….. I have seen the first edition of The Alternative View, and, I must say, it looks very good. (This is just some of a number of plugs he gave for his bigoted mate McGlone’s failed Celtic magazine in the pages of the Herald).

20/5/04

“Lennon's symphony is music to my ears - My sporting highlight of the past week must be the moment when I was called upon to break the news to Neil Lennon that James MacMillan, Scotland's most distinguished composer, had written a piece in his honour. It is always a minor joy catching up with Lennon.” (In fact Graham loves “Lenny” so much he excused him his spitting on a Rangers scarf and mouthing “orange bastards” to the Rangers support. A strange stance for an individual who has propelled himself to the forefront of McConnell’s anti-bigotry campaign wouldn’t you agree?)

“Celtic have a moral right to this league” (on the day before the 2003 title deciders).

“35,000 Celtic fans singing The Fields of Athenry made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up” (Seems Spiers likes the “tottie famine, rebelling against the Crown” ditty. Compare and contrast with his viewpoint of Follow Follow above)

WARNING: Please have a basin handy prior to reading the next quote.

22/01/03

“I must admit, if I ever fulfil my ambition of having a very splendid private dinner with O'Neill, it will be the one question I'll certainly get round to asking: ''Why were you so horrible to us over that new contract saga?''

I’m sure you’ll agree it’s plain as the nose on your face who are Spiers favourite team down Glasgow way.

Last season I attended a Rangers v. Aberdeen match at Ibrox. Meeting up with my good friend North East Bear post match, he told me he’d been sitting directly behind Spiers. After 6 minutes the Aberdeen fans broke into their “Nice One Simmy” routine, rejoicing in the injury inflicted on Ian Durrant by Neil Simpson, which effectively ruined the wee man’s career. North East Bear pointed this out to Spiers. He further pointed out bile coming from the Aberdeen section revelling in the death of 66 people in the Ibrox Disaster and the death of Davie Cooper at both half-time and full time. Spiers in his Monday morning match report PRAISED the Aberdeen fans for singing “Nice one JIMMY” claiming they were showing support for their manager Mr. Calderwood! North East Bear wrote to the Herald editor pointing out Speirs perversion. Needless to say he received no reply. For the record, Darrell King of the Evening Times stated on Real Radio that anyone who claimed they couldn’t hear the word “Simmie” (as opposed to Jimmy) was kidding themselves on. So there you have it. Spiers is prepared to tell LIES to antagonise Rangers fans. A fellow sports journalist and Newsquest employee confirmed that to be the case.

Whilst on the subject of wee Durranty, please note that Spiers once claimed in Scotland on Sunday that Simpson wasn’t the only one to raise his boot in the tackle, of course inferring that Durrant was also looking to inflict injury. Revisionism at it’s very best. Commenting years later on the incident, Spiers claimed “Rangers fans carry this around with them in much the same way as Phil Boersma carried Durrant”. Real classy eh?

Back to more recent times and the Alex Rae incident during a Euro fixture last season. Spiers led the case for the prosecution (ably aided and abetted by Radio Clyde it has to be said), finding Rae guilty on all counts.

“For days, almost inconceivably, Rangers had denied that Rae had done anything wrong.”

”The response of Alex McLeish, the Rangers manager, to Rae's kick had bordered on the inane.”

"While just about every neutral regarded the challenge as despicable, McLeish referred to the criticism of Rae as ‘hysterical’ and had the temerity to claim that Rae's challenge on Dadu was "not premeditated".

"Rangers got caught up in gauche attempts to defend the indefensible"

"McLeish insults everyone's intelligence, not least his own, in presenting such a fatuous defence of his player."

"UEFA, like the rest of the country, have laughed at this preposterous interpretation by Rangers."

"Apparently, for those who know how to access these things, the berserk hotlines and websites of the club's supporters have almost depicted the rest of us as making up this outrage." (Notice the "for those who know how to access these things", the inference being that your average Bear is not intelligent enough to use a PC).

"There remains something risible and worryingly paranoid about Rangers believing that neutrals, the media, and UEFA have got together to have it in for the club."

"Rangers are left lacking respect."

Let’s make one thing clear. Dadu got up and walked away. No lasting damage was inflicted. He played for his club regularly for the rest of the season. James Wesolowski, the 17-year-old Leicester player who was brutally assaulted by Bobo Balde during a recent so-called “friendly” will be lucky to recover and play the beautiful game again. I await Mr. Spiers condemnation of the Celtic thug. It should also be noted that Spiers didn’t bother with a vitriolic attack on his beloved Larsson when he deliberately snapped Gus MacPherson’s leg. Perhaps Celtic players shattering opponents limbs is of no consequence to the little creep.

Onto another point. Speirs gave a lecture on sectarianism at Turnbull Hall, Glasgow University, on behalf of the Newman Association on the17th March 2005. Said lecture was conveniently arranged for the same night as an important Rangers league match. I dare say Spiers wouldn’t want to run the risk that any of us “poisonous stinking bigoted cavemen” would turn up and challenge his lies. An East End of Glasgow Roman Catholic schoolteacher stated the IRA song Boys of the Old Brigade was intellectually superior to any Rangers song and was a cultural representation of Celticness. Speirs refused to challenge the bigot. One dreads to think what kind of poison this crackpot is polluting his pupils’ minds with.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

Maybe you were excused after all TWB - the actual quote was "almost to a man"

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Also because our 'naughty' songs are far more audible than theirs are.

What songs do you have in mind?

Derrys Walls? The Sash? Rule Britania? UDR 4? One of the naughty songs like that manti

Pretty sure he was asking me, there.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Maybe you were excused after all TWB - the actual quote was "almost to a man"

Ah, I remember reading that article on Vanguard Bears before.

I would still like to see his (Spiers) comments in context though.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

Maybe you were excused after all TWB - the actual quote was "almost to a man"

Ah, I remember reading that article on Vanguard Bears before.

I would still like to see his (Spiers) comments in context though.

Do you not think there is quite enough there already without seeing the context of that comment ?

[caseyjones 3,009]

Why can't we stand up and show we will not take it as a club

We want to move on. Let's shop the ones who do us wrong.

99.999999999% percent of us are and were ambassadors for our club in Manchester.

Yet those few who fought with police, and became drunken foul mouthed cretins shamed us (yes. I am aware the police were far too forceful and out of hand). These are the non true fans.

We shop them. And we shop the ones who persist and continue to sing and shout out about non Gers items.

It's a fucking football team. Not a bloody paramilitary gathering.

If you are more interested in fucking the pope, wading knee deep in F*nian blood or worrying about a lack of tatties then fuck right off.

We at rangers do not need they sort.

'We at Rangers'.

Who exactly are you?

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

Maybe you were excused after all TWB - the actual quote was "almost to a man"

Ah, I remember reading that article on Vanguard Bears before.

I would still like to see his (Spiers) comments in context though.

Do you not think there is quite enough there already without seeing the context of that comment ?

No, context is everything when talking about journalism or this subject.

[BoltonLoyal 2]

Why can't we stand up and show we will not take it as a club

We want to move on. Let's shop the ones who do us wrong.

99.999999999% percent of us are and were ambassadors for our club in Manchester.

Yet those few who fought with police, and became drunken foul mouthed cretins shamed us (yes. I am aware the police were far too forceful and out of hand). These are the non true fans.

We shop them. And we shop the ones who persist and continue to sing and shout out about non Gers items.

It's a fucking football team. Not a bloody paramilitary gathering.

If you are more interested in fucking the pope, wading knee deep in F*nian blood or worrying about a lack of tatties then fuck right off.

We at rangers do not need they sort.

Three little words which say more about the type of 'man' (i don't have the gall to call you a Bear) you really are.

If you're interested in grassing blokes up who are supposed to be your brethren, men who you should be standing shoulder to shoulder with them through thick and thin, then it's you who should fuck right off.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

I would say there is plenty in context within that article to make the blood boil.

Well I know mine certainly does.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

I would say there is plenty in context within that article to make the blood boil.

Well I know mine certainly does.

There certainly is - I just find it strange that the comments we are talking about are posted with no explanation of the circumstances surrounding them.

Very strange.

[dummiesoot 16,263]

Funny how some like to condone Speirs for bile yet are quick jump on the mopery bandwagon and blame us!

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

I would say there is plenty in context within that article to make the blood boil.

Well I know mine certainly does.

There certainly is - I just find it strange that the comments we are talking about are posted with no explanation of the circumstances surrounding them.

Very strange.

Nothing strange about it all - Jaz has posted the comments verbatim and provided explanations to the context of a good number of them. Had he posted the context of every quotation the article would have run for pages and pages.

To be honest some of the comments dont require to be put in any context.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

Funny how some like to condone Speirs for bile yet are quick jump on the mopery bandwagon and blame us!

Yes it is DO.

In fact it is......Very strange.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

I would say there is plenty in context within that article to make the blood boil.

Well I know mine certainly does.

There certainly is - I just find it strange that the comments we are talking about are posted with no explanation of the circumstances surrounding them.

Very strange.

Nothing strange about it all - Jaz has posted the comments verbatim and provided explanations to the context of a good number of them. Had he posted the context of every quotation the article would have run for pages and pages.

To be honest some of the comments dont require to be put in any context.

6/11/03

“Rancid chanting…..total embarrassment……putrid stench…..savages….poisonous singing…..desecration…..cavemen…...wholesale yobishness…..vile troglodytes…..stinking, bigoted, religious stuff……backward culture…..almost to a man”.

This one does require context as he seems to have picked out certain phrases with absolutely no explanation as to why Spiers said them or what the article was about.

And it is certainly not verbatim.

[mmrfc1873 48]

Funny how some like to condone Speirs for bile yet are quick jump on the mopery bandwagon and blame us!

I've seen no evidence of this.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

And it is certainly not verbatim.

How can you say that when you have not even seen the original article ?

Very strange.

[TravelingWilBEARy 4,319]

And it is certainly not verbatim.

How can you say that when you have not even seen the original article ?

You said it first - Have you seen the original article?