I am at a loss to why anyone would wish to improve his standing among his tribe by assisting him to martyrdom. Let’s all give those wise fellows of the Celtic Board the opportunity to deal appropriately with their manager’s predilection to violence – in every aspect of his life.

Lets us give him not the oxygen of publicity, but instead wish him and his kind a long and happy retirement – preferably down the Shankhill. That way he won’t have to deal with a balanced, plural society. A communion of equals.

…. the small matter of football

I watched with pride and confidence the composure of Naismith, Weir, and Whiticker, as they guided the hand fate to beat a very good Dundee United side. For an ugly moment I felt Scottish Football wasn’t in the parlous state I frequently alluded. In fact a few moments of pride captured my sentiment as my eyes ran over the line of the old wall, adjacent to the technical area, I sheltered behind in those bleak mid-winters of yesteryear. I welled up – or was it the torrential rain? Most likely rain.

The ghosts of triumphs past danced across my inner eye as Willie Waddell tripped the wing, magicing the cross to the head of Kitchenbrand with which he’d demolish the posts (rather than score). Did they ever play together? Memory is such a fickle thing when recalling the romance of youth in football past. Was that Fergie that fell rather than scored? (we called him Fergie, or young Fergie back then, not Sir Alex or God).

Eh? The past. How we loved our heroes! And there were none like Scott or Henderson putting the impudent interlopers to the sword. Caldow swerved and manoeuvred the twenty pound soaking leather to Niven as big George kept things safe at the back.

But the quality and style fetched me back from the warmth of recall to football present as Walter urged, in his firebrand mode, that his men of the moment be all they can be.

But in that moment of victory, when the old songs that would call the faithful to arms in times long passed, rang out in my reverie, I was grateful for the rain as I sang my pledge to long lost tribal loyalties. In these moments the last thing I needed was Walter to rise to the call for his esteemed presence to bow away gracefully as he hugged his most precious legacies – no, not his all be last team – his grandchildren.

Mercifully, the vision of football future hove into view as one young Mr McCoist made a modest, cursory appearance to haul me back to reality.

Does he need to spend money to make things even better? Just an aside: How do you make things better than coming first boringly often? However, he probably does if he’s to resurrect our hopes for doing something convincing in the Europa League or possibly even the Champions’ League. It was indeed a happy football carol.

But ….. the moving finger writes and having writ moves on ….

Talking Finance

Modern financial disciple demands that a business ignore its customers, their wants and needs, create a monopoly position for itself, pillage the poor and needy, the faithful, the stupid; get direct debits, to access bank accounts, as frequently as possible from the gullible, and create a system and a workforce sufficiently degraded to allow for an explanation of incompetence to account for over billing, and banditry.

Mr Whyte promises front loaded investment and financial discipline. OK, but hold the show! What did we do to him? We’ve just kept his latest investment opportunity (in case you weren’t listening while I was talking, that means Rangers Football Club) alive for more than a hundred years.

But isn’t Rangers an altogether other investment opportunity? For hopes, for dreams. Modern consumerism is largely devoid of meaning, cultural communication, social integration.

Football exist for exactly the opposite purposes to financial discipline; fraternity, brotherhood, honest endeavour, spiritual questing.

Firstly, there was that pinnacle of technical ability, the European Cup campaign of ‘92/93, when one more win added to the ten in the bag would have seen Walter stand to win the European Cup. No other Rangers’ manager can make such a claim. Not even the Dutch master nor the mighty Souness, although the latter was indeed far sighted in identifying the huge potential locked up in Walter’s grim adherence to duty, unimaginable fitness, something we don’t acknowledge nearly enough , and unmatched managerial apprenticeship, that included assisting Jim McLean scale the dizzy heights of Scottish and European football.

The second triumph was to match Jock Stein’s nine-in-a-row, and I suppose there was a cosmic inevitability to falling in the tenth season, at that final moment. To dominate such an implacable barbarian hoard for such a period is indeed a triumph of personal will and faith in the cause, over reasonable expectation. And may yet prove unique in the modern era. But that’s what makes football the world’s favourite game, you just cannot ever know.

Being a Rangers man of football his whole life, I’m sure Walter will take little credit from his other achievements. Like when he was taken to Manchester United by his great colleague, friend and mentor Sir Alex, to provide a steel for his all conquering phalanx; that elusive quality without which the brave falter and expire. Or when he was charged to expense £50,000,000 to improve an already dashing side. That was a huge challenge – improve the good. But Walter always knew the good was the enemy of the best and put his shoulder to the wheel once more.

I’m sure too that when he and Sir Alex fell heir to the great Jock Stein to take Scotland to the Mexico World cup in ’82, it was just another day at the office.

The great must inevitably accept the exceptional as their ordinary jurisdiction, and so must our Walter Smith OBE.

We have to accept that an era has come to a close. He heard Rangers’ and Scotland’s call to arms, never faltered and performed without pride, hubris, or self acclaim. Rare among his kind, he has set standards of behaviour not only for all future Rangers managers, but for all of those seeking to lead in the beautiful game. His magnanimity in triumph and graciousness in defeat tell us that the game is not a matter of life or death – it’s more important than that, and much too important to get angry over.

When Walter joined Rangers with Graeme it was a homecoming to a place he’d never been before. And true to his ethic he has been quick to share his failings and recant them, while speaking none at all of his heroic deeds, performed far and wide.

A modern Knight could not be more ably conceived, conduct himself more befittingly, not carry the flag more valiantly. Lets urge Alex Salmond and David Cameron to play their part and get the job done.

Again, I say: We lost out when the great Jock Stein was overlooked for his knighthood; lets make sure we don’t loss out with Walter.

I do not wish Walter a long and happy retirement from football, as is customary in these circumstances; it would surprise me not at all were he to reappear as coach of his local church team or leading Real Madrid to an El Classico. He’d that good.

I hope we knew what we had and appreciated it, but I suspect we heard the louder voices and did not. Let this not be an epitaph but a valediction; the boy done good.

When young, a prankster, when grown, feet of clay, Alistair must now step up to the plate and give us the man.

So where does Walter stand in the list of Rangers Managers? Probably the best.

But how can any of them be failures when they managed Glasgow Rangers?

But they won’t be charged and tried because they’re Rangers fans, but as suspects in an attempted murder case. Of course that will not stop the rabid media, lusting for their next jag, connecting them with people singing the Sash on a Saturday.

Not much will be said of Lennon or his provocative conduct in or out of football. Why should it be? He’s only a football club manager, isn’t he? Well  ….. possibly   …..

However, anyone who has followed the history of those noble tribes, Rangers and Celtic fans, know better than most that there is an abiding principle of self endangerment. The putting of oneself in harm’s way. And Mr Lennon has not been slow to self endangerment for his sectarian views and motives – in his private life, business life, his professional life, He’s always been willing to start the ruckus, anyone even slightly connected to Celtic knows this.

It is also well known he’s a self serving, prickly twit of dubious morality. It was there for all to see when he tried to assault Mc Coist, Rangers’ Assistant Manager, and on television too. This guy is a threat to public order wherever he goes. He does this deliberately with the explicit intention of being revered as a warrior for the cause.

Does all this mean he’s fair game for murder. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

And the full force of the law should be brought to bear to find his assailants with all possible haste.

But when Monsieur Platini throws in his lot with Lennon does he actually support him in all his works ? He has not said it is otherwise.

So what is Platini’s motives? Does he intend to stand with all football managers who find themselves under threat? If not what’s his Lennon connection? We know already that he’s taking a stand against Rangers Football Club, supposedly in the interests of cracking down on sectarianism in their fans, but not against Celtic.

We all have to be concerned at Platini’s unqualified support for Lennon. Someone has to ask the question, why on earth would he set himself up as a one man arbitration council, then condemn Sir Alex while supporting Lennon? And all this based on what? His own super intuition?

The forces of law and order in Northern Ireland have been looking for someone just like this for forty years; someone who can, on no evidence and little acquaintance with the subject instantly know the motives for heinous crime. He was wasting his time all those years being a footballer. (Some say he was anyway!)

The preference of most people would be for Monsieur Platini to be campaigning for angry prejudiced, sectarianists, people like Lennon, to be excluded from football entirely. The Celtic board know he’s trouble waiting to happen, a liability, and not worth the effort, and Rangers could do them a favour by winning the title this season to let them give him the boot.

Does all this mean its OK to bomb him?

NO, NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

The faster his would be killers are brought to justice the better for our beloved Rangers.

I have to say I have always been concerned at the visibility of Mr Whyte’s money, or more correctly, invisibility.

I heard from some self attested media insider-luvies he’s been in everything from coco plantations to security companies in Easterhouse, and along the way he’s amassed billions. If so what’s the issue? He claims to be Rangers through and through, so why hesitate? Is the cost too much? Is the Bank of Scotland needing more than the club is worth to settle Sir David’s debt?

That brings me to another other point. How did we get into this mess? Having to sell everything to pay an urgent debt, players, club, anything.

We were told Sir David was the coming man, his business acumen and credentials utterly beyond question, a latter day Braveheart no less. And furthermore, for all you doubting Thomases he’s got billions to invest. He’s in steel, office furniture, overseas investments, substantial American interests, and so on. A Rangers man, through and through (except when he tried and failed to buy Ayr United the year before he bought Rangers).

But wait a minute, hold it right there! This sounds familiar, does it not? Isn’t Whyte yet one more guy whose life is so vacuous from his all conquering success he needs another interest to liven thing up, and isn’t football just the jag? The rush, the fame, the fortune; the saviour. And just to make it more interesting he’s going to do the job so badly we all need to be reassured of his billions to bank roll his visionary deficit when he buys himself an insolvent Scottish Football club. Our club.

Is it too much to ask why he would be any better at stewardship than Murray?

Is it also too much to ask for a clause to be inserted in the memorandum and articles of association of Rangers Football Club that the club cannot be used as security to fund loans, OF ANY SORT.

I don’t recall Murray telling us all that he would be giving those nice people, the bankers, the power of live or death over the our club. Wasn’t he too going to be the club’s saviour? That was before the club was eventually touted around for a buyer, millions in debt and every asset including players up for grabs, with Walter’s wages unpaid.

That was a disgrace of epic proportions. To invite the man to rejoin the cause, to save both the moral credibility of the enterprise AND turn around its football fortunes, which he did, then not pay him will live long in infamy.

The only stewards in whose hands our magnificent club can safely be left are the fans. The sooner a buy-in of sorts can be arranged the better for all. Surely that cannot be beyond the current owners, The Bank of Scotland, to put together.

Fifty quid a head from the half million actual supporters in Scotland would sort the solvency; another £50 each would sort the refinancing of the first team. If that’s not enough we could always hawk Murray Park, it always was a work of Hubris.

For one I’ve heard enough from the ‘official’ fans site about how well Murray performed. We’re all adults, we can handle the facts, so lets start telling the truth.

That’s right, that game that inspires us to turn out in wet and wind. And there’s been quite a bit of wet and wind around too.

The playing staff are either in old age or they are insufficiently acquainted with the Rangers’ tradition that they cannot be trusted to “keep-the-heed” when set upon by the protagonists; those troublesome pretenders.

Cool heads only please on Sunday, no well intentioned retaliation, however much you are provoked by sectarian slanders. We need this game, just this one game, and the opposition falls apart.

Fortunately there is one man upon whom we may rely in this troubled hour, Walter Smith. He is the only one capable of picking the winning team, keeping a cool head, weighing the options, and can be relied upon to be magnanimous in victory. And hopefully that saint of derbies past, Super Ali, can inspire the unsteady, strengthen the frail, and lead the line. Its just the right training for next year when he has to burn midnight oil and the telephone lines to Super Walter.

This is something else we always knew!

A true blue always wins through!

Honours All Round

When Jock Stein, in that great Scottish tradition, pulled miracle after miracle out of the hat, with dignity and composure, energy and skill, he was passed over in favour of Sir Alfred. Let that not happen again.

The campaign starts here for Sir Walter, another Stein for different times, for services to the greatest game on earth, our game - football.

And two Rangers fans are the latest to be caught this way, they have been charged with assaulting two police officers during the violent clashes at the 2008 UEFA Cup final in Manchester.

Mark Stoddart  and Scott McSeveney were charged yesterday after their alleged attacks were captured on video.

About 150,000 Rangers fans travelled to Manchester for the match between the Glasgow club and Zenit St. Petersburg on May 14, 2008. Violence erupted when a big screen in the largest fan zone failed to show the game.

Groups of supporters clashed with police in a five-hour battle, with officers suffering broken bones and bruises.

It is about time this crap stopped and we can all enjoy our game without these dicks making it a hazard to go to some games as they can’t keep their little temper tantrums in check.  Get a grip boys.

Are these fans? What do you think?

When footbal was interesting and Glasgow Rangers won.

The answer to that told more than just your choice of football team.  There was the odd maverick who supported Patrick Thistle or Dumbarton, or even Motherwell.  Poor kids – must have had parents that had no real influence.

So I’ve been a blogger for a while in other places – I have always thought this was a topic that could get me into too much trouble.  So now I have reached the f-it stage.  Here will be my thoughts on football and Glasgow Rangers in particular.