a message to the media

[Guest orangpendek]

on wakening for work yesterday afternoon i was unfortunate enough to hear the pan loaf tones of roddy forsyth on the radio, exchanging toe-curlingly awful badinage with 70s throwback, fat boab traynor. 3 things forsyth said held my attention:

1- he claimed to have been named as a rangers hater on a fans forum.

2- they both alleged the anti-sectarian drive shoudl have started years ago

3- when ian paisley leaves you behind, you know you're wrong.

in the light of no.1, i've decided to send him this wee message, hoping he sees it.

football does not exist in a vacuum. it is affected by, powered by, buffeted by, various forced at work in society and in the corridors of power both political and sportif. in this wee corner, the west of scotland, for some 30 odd years, the violence being played out on a daily basis a very short distance away by and to people who have relatives and friends living here, formed a large part of how the 2 main communities (protestant and catholic, if only nominally) related to one another. depending on your viewpoint you were for or against a side. doubtless there were neutrals or 'ecumenicals' but i doubt many were to be found inside ibrox or parkhead. this allegiance, or support, whether lukewarm or vociferous, was expressed primarily through the 2 football clubs in glasgow. this, imo, prevented us being dragged down as we so easily could have been into far more serious factional violence than ever we saw here. now, with the situation in n.ireland very different, it's entirely possible to attempt to move on from the past, but to claim it should have started years ago betrays an appalling ignorance of the subject, one so great in fact it would be better if you, mr forsyth, refrained from furthur comment on it. a forlorn hope i know but i make the appeal anyway.

as for being left behind by ian paisley - i understand the firebrand doctor has agreed to form a political administration with sinn fein. well, i applaud his courage - i for one certainly couldn't sit in a room with that sort of person. not politicians, not heroes of the struggle, but common psychopaths and hoodlums who in any sane society would have been locked up years ago. but i digress. i haven't heard of dr paisley changing his opinion that the church of rome is still antipathetical to christian teaching, or that the reformation has brought about the greatest benefits to this and other countries. so unless you're suggesting that rangers fans are bigots on political grounds, once again you're showing ignorance of the subject! make up your mind - either this is a serious issue that must be tackled, or it's worthy of some flippant asides when you feel like it. you really can't have it both ways.

thank you for your time, i feel better now.

ps- as for being a rangers hater, it's entirely obvious you are a celtic man, and as such would quite properly hate rangers - what's wrong with that? if only you had the courage you call for in others to publicly nail your colours to the mast instead of hiding behind laughable claims of objectivity! we've to stand up and be counted, and this from a man who hasn't even got the guts to admit which team he supports! to be blunt, i suggest you go back to being the 10 second voice of scottish football on radio5 where your colossal ignorance won't matter.

[*Manticore* 1,893]

Traynor is a Rangers hater.

There ya go, named on a forum.

[Frankie 505]

At least, Forsyth and Traynor would be allowed right of reply if they decided to join said forum.

We aren't in their publications/radio shows.

[minstral 5,375]

i think they might be members on here. <_<

[calderbear 0]

Traynor is a Rangers hater.

There ya go, named on a forum.

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest a couple of names to add to your list:

Hugh Keevins

Davie (Peace Process) Provan

[Guest orangpendek]

i ain't got a problem with celtic fans hating rangers, after all we hate celtic. it's when they tell us we should stand up and be counted when they won't even admit what team they support, presumably for fear of retribution....rank hypocrisy.

[nvager 498]

Plenty of that going around in the press and tv - all the time!

[Guest orangpendek]

true, but we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking it's only us that gets it...i'm sure gordon brown feels a bit aggrieved from time to time, as did john major and most celebrities from a-z lists.

[Frankie 505]

true, but we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking it's only us that gets it...i'm sure gordon brown feels a bit aggrieved from time to time, as did john major and most celebrities from a-z lists.

In terms of sporting related sectarian and offensive song criticism we are the only team who gets it in Scotland.

2 weeks ago Aberdeen fans came to Ibrox and sang (to a man) about our disaster and one of our players being injured. Not only that they assaulted stewards and police and threw missiles from start to finish. Several of their fans also attempted to eneter the field of player after the 3rd goal.

Disgusting behaviour but it received little or no media coverage or condemnation never mind authority intervention or punishment.

[Guest orangpendek]

they'd have been better offering their fans the strips and sitting the players in the stands, as usual they were crap.

nevertheless my broad point stands, that unfair and selective media coverage is neither something new nor confined to rangers. i'm not saying it doesn't happen - plainly it does and is. my point is that it happens to loads of people and organisations all over the uk, and reflects more on our media than, say, our football clubs. who are the least admired professions in the uk? after the politicos, why it's the journos! so i'll take their self-righteous claptrap with a 3lb bag of saxo, thank you very much.

[Frankie 505]

Of course it happens to other organisations within other fields but strictly within the confines I mentioned, we're the only ones receiving the daily criticism and attacks.

[Guest orangpendek]

true, true. i would put that down to the people doing the writing 'not being rangers fans,' if you know what i mean. i can only speak for myself, but the opinions of those who are not bears regarding the club don't mean a lot to me. if we put ourselves in a position where they can report that we've done something that will materially affect us, like losing points or money, i'm sure they will report it with glee but it'll still be our fault. apart from that, i shall continue to treat their feeble attempts at character assasination with disdain.

[Frankie 505]

All very admirable ignoring it mate but the neutral isn't and neither are the authorities.

Netx year will see us punished in the SPL for so-called offensive songs. Yet, we still don't know what is acceptable while other teams get off Scot free.

That is the danger here and it affects us all.

[Guest orangpendek]

don't see why. if we don't sing npor, the forbidden lines in ff and simply the best, we should be ok.

listen i may seem a bit unconcerned but i do believe it's a storm in a teacup and will blow over. 2 or 3 songs have to go, so they'll go.

[Frankie 505]

don't see why. if we don't sing npor, the forbidden lines in ff and simply the best, we should be ok.

listen i may seem a bit unconcerned but i do believe it's a storm in a teacup and will blow over. 2 or 3 songs have to go, so they'll go.

No, that's where you're wrong. We're already doing that (in the main anyway) and still the criticism comes. First it will be Derrys Walls and the Sash, then it will be the Union flag. See chip, chip, chip thread last week.

And you still haven't addressed my point about other club's getting away with it.

[Danny 9]

Interestingly what is being conveniently overlooked in this thread is Forsyth's praise of Murray, and of his achievements in 9IAR in particular, and that the message board who named him as a Rangers hater also produced a publication in which they named SDM, Bain, and LM as 'cancers' of the club. Bit of hypocrisy there.

What is also being conveniently overlooked in this thread is the criticism that the anti-sectarian drive didn't start sooner was NOT aimed at Rangers, it was aimed at society and football in general.

[papaguy51 912]

Due to my course, I speak to a number of journalists.

They say that some of the anti-Rangers bias in the media is nothing short of shocking. Im often told that a vast number of journo's would love nothing better than to see Rangers crash and burn.

It's not the journo's who are writing the stories that are the problem, its the people above them that are to blame for some of the ridiculous coverage we get.

[Frankie 505]

Danny,

I never heard the programme so can't comment.

Can you tell me why Radio Scotland and the BBC haven't discussed the disgraceful antics of the Aberdeen fans? Also, why won't the likes of Forsyth and Traynor offer solutions instead of the contact sensationalist attacks on Rangers FC?

[Danny 9]

Due to my course, I speak to a number of journalists.

They say that some of the anti-Rangers bias in the media is nothing short of shocking. Im often told that a vast number of journo's would love nothing better than to see Rangers crash and burn.

It's not the journo's who are writing the stories that are the problem, its the people above them that are to blame for some of the ridiculous coverage we get.

Traynor said to a caller on his show that the quality of journalism in this country is poor, and that there are too many agendas rather than pure reporting.

[Danny 9]

Danny,

I never heard the programme so can't comment.

Can you tell me why Radio Scotland and the BBC haven't discussed the disgraceful antics of the Aberdeen fans?

How would I know?

Also, why won't the likes of Forsyth and Traynor offer solutions instead of the contact sensationalist attacks on Rangers FC?

What sensationalist attacks on Rangers?

[Frankie 505]

Traynor said to a caller on his show that the quality of journalism in this country is poor, and that there are too many agendas rather than pure reporting.

Yep, and he's one of the main contributors to the poor quality.

[Frankie 505]

Danny,

I never heard the programme so can't comment.

Can you tell me why Radio Scotland and the BBC haven't discussed the disgraceful antics of the Aberdeen fans?

How would I know?

Also, why won't the likes of Forsyth and Traynor offer solutions instead of the contact sensationalist attacks on Rangers FC?

What sensationalist attacks on Rangers?

I just thought you might have an idea given you're suggesting their partiality is beyond reproach.

How about Traynors quotes about the Rangers fans being the worst in Britain. That's pretty sensationalist. Or how about his sister papers's front page exclusive on a few morons in Pamplona? That was pretty sensationalist.

[Danny 9]

Traynor said to a caller on his show that the quality of journalism in this country is poor, and that there are too many agendas rather than pure reporting.

Yep, and he's one of the main contributors to the poor quality.

I would agree with that. His written commentaries are simply gutter.

[Danny 9]

I just thought you might have an idea given you're suggesting their partiality is beyond reproach.

I wouldn't ever say any media outlet is neutral, quite the contrary. Most are caked in bias for one reason or another. I would say the BBC are pretty good overall though, and indeed you defended Gordon Smith as one of the best pundits around?

How about Traynors quotes about the Rangers fans being the worst in Britain. That's pretty sensationalist. Or how about his sister papers's front page exclusive on a few morons in Pamplona? That was pretty sensationalist.

That's not attacks on Rangers, that's attacks on the actions of some fans? Traynor and Forsyth defend the club. It's the FTP brigade their campaign centres on as far as I can see.

And all good Rangers want to see the back of that I'm sure.

[Guest orangpendek]

ok.

1- so journos would like to see us fall. that's what rivals do, and i don't have a prob with it.

2- if forsyth was saying society should have dealt with it, again he is ignoring the forces at work on that society and i for one am glad the main means of expression here was shouting a football match. naive to claim we could ignore the troubles when they were so close, and clearly wound up so many people.

3- his highlighting of the 'cancer' quote was over the top. one person's opinions hardly stands as representative of the rangers support as a body. again, it shows poor judgement, not for the first time with this broadcaster.

4- i don't agree about the chip chip theory. if we are told these songs are acceptable then if we continue to sing them we can ignore complaints. for goodness sake, we don't have to jump when they says so.

5- as for other clubs getting away with it, i don't support 'em and i don't care particularly what they do. i know they are in the main envious saddoes who are trying to wind us up at every opportunity, and nothing is too low for them. but i kind of stopped reacting to that sort of thing in high school.