Scotland's Offensive Bill

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

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”.

[Guest Andypendek]

Granted he's a tool, but the more polarised the disconnect between fans and media, the easier it will be to persuade people to stop buying their product.

The last thing I want is the likes of Leckie trying to worm his way back into favour in order to protect his job.

[TAFKA 545]

Sadly I think it might take a number of years before a calm sense of perspective and reflection is possible.

I've noticed recently, in the wake of our success in the big tax case, there has been a slight shift towards hating us, not for tax avoidance but for other debts and - my personal favourite - triumphalism.

Yep - we enjoyed winning too much.

Everything that happened last summer was about envy and settling old scores.

And, in terms of Leckie and the rest, it still sells papers.

[macranger 296]

But you's are all forgetting, it was nothing to do with hating us or wanting us dead. It was sporting integrity. Remember, they listened to the fans. The same fans who were going to boycott their own clubs if they let us in the spl. But when we mention a boycott, we're bad boys. I have to laugh at some of these idiots, there's no place for boycotts in football said thompson at scumdee utd. Does he even read what he says? But the incident where they charged us to get back into a replay got conveniently brushed under the carpet, so it was made to look like it was only about them voting us out.

[elephants stoned 2,994]

Lets face it the mhedia want to sell papers, and what sells papers? Controversie and outrage, the mhedia even an unbiased mhedia which is pretty outlandish these days, dont want storys of redemption and Rangers putting in the hard work to get back to the top, they want storys of financial ruin and dodgy dealings, we gave them plenty of that a year ago and i bet their papers started selling alot better in Scotland due to upset Bears and gleefull taigs. Now the troubles are over if you'll forgive the use of that phrase, the paper sales are dropping again so they will just make it up, look at the shamefull Gazza story from the sun anything to sell papers and Rangers sell's papers. Sad but true.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

Lets face it the mhedia want to sell papers, and what sells papers? Controversie and outrage, the mhedia even an unbiased mhedia which is pretty outlandish these days, dont want storys of redemption and Rangers putting in the hard work to get back to the top, they want storys of financial ruin and dodgy dealings, we gave them plenty of that a year ago and i bet their papers started selling alot better in Scotland due to upset Bears and gleefull taigs. Now the troubles are over if you'll forgive the use of that phrase, the paper sales are dropping again so they will just make it up, look at the shamefull Gazza story from the sun anything to sell papers and Rangers sell's papers. Sad but true.

I think it reads more ridiculous than contraversial ES - but I get your point.

[Every Other Saturday 128]

It's time to use our own media and only our media - no more purchasing the bile that counts for 'sports journalism' in this country. If every Rangers fan bought into our media and totally ignored these sniveling trolls they would soon seize to exist or quickly change their tune. We have some wonderful bloggers and the club is now fighting back - if we can all unite behind this we would succeed. I'm hoping JT & CG are thinking along the same lines.

Rangers fans only for The Rangers.

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

It's time to use our own media and only our media - no more purchasing the bile that counts for 'sports journalism' in this country. If every Rangers fan bought into our media and totally ignored these sniveling trolls they would soon seize to exist or quickly change their tune. We have some wonderful bloggers and the club is now fighting back - if we can all unite behind this we would succeed. I'm hoping JT & CG are thinking along the same lines.

Rangers fans only for The Rangers.

Well given Traynor's most recent piece EOS there certainly seems to be acknowledgement from within Ibrox that there needs to be a change of tune. We really need to focus and concentrate our efforts on a particular commercial boycott, to ensure such change takes place.

[Dutchy 1,200]

Och well, jounalists. There's no news like bad news and theres nothing bad happens in Scottish football without it being Rangers' fault.

I've said elsewhere that I like to read stories about Rangers, even the negative ones(like may be the wrong word in that case), but the venom has just been too much to bear and I'm happy to not read their shite for a 3 month period. I don't see any change of direction from these cunts in 3 months, but the club's advice to not take in their pish has given me justification in ignoring them.

I do read what Rangers have to say though and I'm hoping to read after my 3 month abstenance about Rangers taking action, I can only imagine legal action as being the approiate response, but I'm hopful there will be some action to read about as well as our crusing of the 3rd div title.

[californiadreamin52 339]

I would expect more of this shit as we get strong, because they failed to finish us off. They now fear our retribution and anger the only victims now will be our enemies

[StublueKPL 524]

It's time to use our own media and only our media - no more purchasing the bile that counts for 'sports journalism' in this country. If every Rangers fan bought into our media and totally ignored these sniveling trolls they would soon seize to exist or quickly change their tune. We have some wonderful bloggers and the club is now fighting back - if we can all unite behind this we would succeed. I'm hoping JT & CG are thinking along the same lines.

Rangers fans only for The Rangers.

I'm all for jim traynor as he is a decent journalist and has a bit of fight in him. However, rangers fans only? I could pick up on a few of his previous articles which would certainly not make him a big rangers fan. Far from it if memory serves me correctly.

[uloyalist1690 3]

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”.

Any where i go there are piles of daily rebel and the sun especially stacked and unsold, keep walking past, daily express much more neutral and anti- SNP

[elephants stoned 2,994]

I think it reads more ridiculous than contraversial ES - but I get your point.

Tbh I have not read the waddle or leckie articles as I don't want to offend my eyes but as a general point that's what the tabloids like. Someone once told me the only thing they are good for is tits and outrage except it seems the journos are now the tits.

[gary2006 123]

I really think its time to pick a newspaper and really publicly try and finish them. it's simple maths there was 46 thousand of us at ibrox on Saturday if everyone of us stuck together and said stick your daily record the record wouldn't last a month

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

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”.

Dismantling this intellectual pygmy was like taking candy from a baby for you, hardly getting out of second gear.

He is indeed a dolt, as he casually dismisses suggestions of bias, while exercising that very bias.

Mr Leckie apparently doesn't do self-awareness.

He, like so many others, starts from the position that Rangers are wrong, then invents his convenient but unconvincing "justifications" for his case. Real journalists, which are rare on the ground these days, offer the facts before drawing any conclusion, which was the tradition that more than just the print media used to observe. Some things just decay over time and Scottish football journalism is on a terminal decline at a rate far greater than that of the much lamented game itself.

[The Dude 20,026]

I really think its time to pick a newspaper and really publicly try and finish them. it's simple maths there was 46 thousand of us at ibrox on Saturday if everyone of us stuck together and said stick your daily record the record wouldn't last a month

That would only work if all 46000 bought the same paper on a regular basis. If only 4000 of them buy the record then its not going to 'finish them'.

[Teamgers 1,214]

Any where i go there are piles of daily rebel and the sun especially stacked and unsold, keep walking past, daily express much more neutral and anti- SNP

I just changed to that very paper this week, much much better read imo!

[gary2006 123]

That would only work if all 46000 bought the same paper on a regular basis. If only 4000 of them buy the record then its not going to 'finish them'.

it would be a start .if the support stuck together finishing the record would be achievable

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

it would be a start .if the support stuck together finishing the record would be achievable

I think a concerted, organised and focussed campaign by our support could be the catalyst to a considerable change of attitude by any of the Scottish tabloids. However Im sure the Daily Express are lapping up all those deserting the Record & Sun in their droves.

[broxi74 127]

I've been boycottin the record from 2004..now my own personal boycot has extetended to loraine kelly. That cow isnt gettin any air time in ma gaff!lol

[geronimoo 1,488]

I haven't bought a paper in a long time now, I have no boycott thing going on I'm just fed up with the lie after lie, I don't mind our club getting a bit of bad publicity so long as the story is true, anything that is in the public needs to face the fact that if they step out of line it will be spread across the papers and it also let us fans see what is going on, but lately it just seems to be a journo hears a stupid rumour, he then ponders over it for a week or 2 and throw another bit in, it then gets put in the papers and just starts to snowball from there with even more shit thrown in.

I don't expect the club to get any favours but I do expect the club to be treated fairly and equal with everyone else.