Chance for Celtic to 6 points clear with a game in hand this weekend, out of Europe, unsuccessful in the League Cup. Gerrard should be under severe pressure.
The European results covered a lot of cracks for Gerrard earlier in the season, he canât fall back on them in the second half of the season.
@Bandage
i know this is embarrassing with you following Celtic and all but on BTâs coverage of the Kilamrnock/Hearts game now Chris Sutton just told the viewing public that Alan Power was the best midfielder in the SPL - power is a dub of course
surely as the forumsâs foremost Irish / Scot youâd have thrown in your lot with Kilamarnock by this stage ? - they appear to have taken over from Hearts as the club of choice for irish footballers- I presume Powerâs partner in the middle Dicker is the fella who played with the Macmillan brothers at UCD?
oh yeah - Andy Boyle has joined Ross County as well and one of the aforementioned Macmillanâs has gone to Hamilton who play their home games in the phoenix park
0 0 after 8 minutes
Game behind closed doors for some reason
No sign of the sammon of college but Colin Doyle who played for Ireland v France in Paris in June is between the sticks for the diet huns cc @Bandage
Edit
Jake mulraney also playing
Cc @Bandage
Signing back in
80 minutes 1-2
Yes good point
Naismith is a fine player still
Absolute handful up top
New signing Alex Bruce on the bench. Brophy must be injured and Kris Boyd is suspended after kicking Graeme Shinnie up the hole last week.
Broadfoot is some gypsy though
A real warrior at the end there after sustaining the eye injury.
Did you know that Oliver Lee the Hearts centre midfielder is a son of ex Charlton and Newcastle midfielder Robert Lee?
KB is Rangers through and through.
Had to nip out there to buy drink sorry lads
Got one of those family Heineken 8 packs in supervalue. Grand green box and all . Canât beat that value cc @Tassotti
some great stuff here,
In the wake of Rotherham United defender Kirk Broadfoot being handed a ten match ban by the English FA for aiming sectarian abuse at Republic of Ireland international James McClean, fans of Broadfootâs former club Rangers have praised and celebrated the former Scotland international.
McClean, now at West Bromwich Albion, was alleged to have dived to win a free kick during Wiganâs 2-1 win over Rotherham back in March â this resulted in the defender targeting McClean with comments that breached Rule E3(1).
Rule E3(1) is: an âAggravated Breachâ where it includes a reference, whether express or implied, to any one or more of the following :- ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion or belief, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation or disability.
Wigan scored from the resulting free kick.
Broadfoot, who played 118 games for Rangers between July 2007 to September 2012, is now seen as a hero to elements of the Rangers support over his abuse of McClean.
Why? Well it seems that these elements have taken exception to McCleanâs decision to turn his back on the English flag and the national anthem during West Bromâs pre-season tour to the USA.
This followed on from the Irishmanâs continued refusal to wear a poppy in the month of November during matches that fall over the remembrance weekend.
McCleanâs reasons for taking his stance revolves around the actions of the British government â particularly the military in Northern Ireland and the Bloody Sunday incident.
Those Rangers fans, who are staunchly pro-British and celebrate Armed Forces Day as if the British Empire was still in its heyday, see McClean as a traitor, an enemy of the state, as a republican terrorist sympathiser and to add to their hatred of the Irish international â he has supported rivals Celtic since he was a boy.
On the Rangers forum, Follow Follow, which was born from the sectarian fanzine* of the same name â fans voiced their support for Broadfoot and denouncing McClean.
Wave after wave of abuse â offensive, bigoted and all painting Broadfoot as a hero â was posted on the fan forum run by a man who has been used by the Scottish mainstream media as a spokesperson for Rangers fans over the past few years.
Listed below are some of the comments posted:
Follow Follow member Govanx said: âIâm in hero worship mode here. Well in big man! Fkin loving it! Meanwhile that **** can continue with his Fenian shit without fear of retribution. Fkin sad!â
Invernesscaleywho posted: âBig Kirk a real bluenose and one of us, copped some shit from some of the FF Maradonaâs in here. If the story is true well done the big man. F#ck McClean, inbred scum.â
HMS added: *âThat is a ****ing joke, that scumbag insults our nation every day he wakes up and Kirk tells him the truth. McClean is a vile ****ing terrorist loving ***wit. I hope he suffers a career threatening injury.â
HBurgh_bear said: âOnly one Kirk Broadfoot! The sooner McClean breaks his neck playing football the better.â
Leerfc51 wants the Rangers fans at Easter Road over the weekend to pay tribute to their former defender in song, he commented: âGood man Kirk is, he deserves a acknowledgment for his services and commitment to the cause from the traveling support at Easter Road tomorrow which I am sure will happen.â
These are just some selected posts from one specific Rangers fan forum, there are a multitude of other posts on numerous Rangers forums all lauding Broadfoot and targeting McClean with vile abuse and bigotry.
Fridayâs article in the Herald by Gerry Braiden, which reported on Broadfootâs ban, highlighted the fact that the English FA implemented UEFAâs strict liability policy â this led to Broadfoot being hit with one of the biggest bans imposed for âverbal abuseâ.
The English FA put our own Scottish FA and clubs to shame for refusing to impose UEFAâs policy in our game to help take action against those perpetrating sectarianism, bigotry and hate filled bile. This impotence has seen a rise of the sort of bigotry that is being aimed at McClean and that is being sung and chanted from the terracing.
So while these individuals are allowed to peddle their hate filled bile, then surely McClean has every right to stand up for his own beliefs. The incidents that McClean has hit the headlines over is not about hating British people â the Derry-born footballer cannot pay tribute to the British Army, including its commander-in-chief the Queen. Can you really blame him?
Do such political beliefs have a place in football? You can argue that politics should not be brought into football stadiums and I am certainly a backer of this, but when you have the Americans playing national anthems before their games and clubs parading the Armed Forces in their stadiums â then surely those whose stance differs from those glorifying the long dead British Empire should be allowed to have their say also â free from abuse, from hatred and from threats of violence?
Does McCleanâs actions differ from those of American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony in the 1968 Olympics?
Smith and Carlos took their place on the podium before they bowed their heads and raised their clenched fists in the air as the American national anthem was played. At the time, the protest was linked to the then militant Black group â the Black Panthers â but in Smithâs autobiography published later â the gesture was a âhuman rights saluteâ.
The fact that Broadfoot is being lauded and hero worshipped for sectarian abuse says a lot about those supporting the former Scotland international. And its not positive.
McClean has ever right to choose not to wear a poppy and to not face an English flag or sing the British national anthem.
From my own experiences and beliefs â I wear a poppy every November to commemorate those who fought for our freedom during the two world wars. I donât wear it to celebrate the British Armed Forces or to celebrate war nor the state who sent so many to their deaths.
I also do not sing the British national anthem when others around me do so â I stay silent. The English-based school that I went too during my AâLevel studies would have students sing the national anthem each Sunday morning at church â attendance was complusory but I chose to stay silent at the national anthem. Did my stance disrespect anyone? Not in the slightest.
McClean should be the one praised for standing by his beliefs rather than conforming like sheep who is afraid of upsetting the apple cart and stepping out of the PC party line which we seem to be as a nation nowadays.
Broadfoot, meanwhile, should be held accountable and shamed for his abuse of McClean. He should not be lauded nor paraded as a hero. This is a guy who as a footballer was criticised and abused regularly by Rangers supporters for his poor performances in a Rangers jersey â now he is labelled a legend, a real bluenose and one of the people!
You really canât make it up! I fully expect to see Broadfoot doing a tour of supporters clubs as a guest speaker once he retires making a living off this solitary disgusting incident.
** Former Rangers owner Sir David Murray banned Mark Dingwallâs Follow Follow fanzine from being sold in and around Ibrox for its sectarian and bigoted content.*
Heâs a great character tbf. Not enough unashamed bigots coming through these days, the Jimmy Bells, Andy Gorams, Bob Malcolms of the Scottish game are dying out. Everythingâs becoming a bit sanitised.
from the other thread coutesy of @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy but an absolute classic
Mrs Colin Stein, me and my youngest are currently enjoying a wee week in Benidorm. Before we came she bought us both a Union Flag beach towel. Each night they fly proudly from our balcony separated by the bairns Rangers towel. I watch some of the locals walk by, stop and stare at the display and then discuss it, no doubt recalling that momentous night in Barcelona in 72 or the up and coming return visit by the Bears.
Anyway at the poolside yesterday I was approached by a cockney guy, who explained he was a Chelsea supporting serving soldier (and Bear friendly) and asked if the flag display was mine. I said yes, and he said he didnt want to sound cheeky but that the towels were sometimes flying upside down. I thought he was being petty, but he explained he expected more from the Quintessential British Club and that it was that attention to fine detail that made us different from all the rest. I was impressed that he was aware of the Quintessential mantle and I promised to make sure that the flags flew properly in future. Well the wife actually becasue shes in charge of that sort of thing.
Last night as I sat in my balcony I watched my new Chelsea mate and his family return from the town. He stopped outside my balcony, proudly saluted the towels and then carried on to his apartment.
St Mirren visit Ibrox today. Is Duckens Nazon likely to be involved @mickee321?
Todayâs fixture brings their meeting earlier this season to mind. The Paisley sideâs fans got wind in advance of a planned display by the home side along the lines of âOur Club, Our Cityâ and unveiled this simultaneously:
is chic charnley still playing for Partick Thistle?