30 years on, a different perspective

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As Number_Eight (RIP) used to say "You are one of two types of fan: the type who admits they were born into the Protestant club, or the the type who won't they were born into the Protestant club but knows they were".

An interesting quote but a bit irrelevant in this context. I haven't seen anyone deny Rangers traditions. Whether they continue to adopt them as reasons to support Rangers is surely up to the individual.
 
What a car crash of a thread with some insane views
The OP was merely to look again at that signing in 1989...and to offer some debate as to whether it was as crucial and era defining as some say. Not sure why anyone started derailing it with ludicrous posts.
 
Rightly I suppose most fans buy the line that the signing ruined Celtic and changed us for the better. We were now to be inclusive, modern and PC.

On the field he did okay. No impact in Europe or the cups, but hard to say what else could have changed Europe for us back then. That's a huge thread on its own. We did win one cup but he didn't feature in the 2-1 over Shame FC.

What certainly didn't happen was hegemony. After NIAR continued its merry way we lost focus and since his signing it's 15 titles each. The idea this might finish them was flawed. Our own mismanagement was so much more crucial than one signing.

We also got nowhere in terms of "Oh you signed a Tim, well done. Mainstream society loves you now". It's got worse and worse. We're now more hated than ever. The advent of devolution for example is worth a million more posts than 1989.

It's also left huge issues for us with identity, modernity, and what we represent. Our enemy remains unchanged since 1887....and yet has still hidden behind the cloak of being "politically correct". We're now closer to fans attacking our own traditions, history and foundations than attacking Nonce FC. Everyone wants everything watered down or removed. Did 'the signing' open the doors to this wave of self loathing? Was the smug reaction of Souness and Murray that they had taught people like me a lesson misplaced?

I'd argue the signing changed very little for us.

Anyway it's just an opinion and hopefully thread can stay polite and fair.

The signing of Mojo allied to their own boardroom mismanagement came close to finishing them, if not forever then for a generation. Even on winning the league preventing 10iar they imploded the following year and we were able to take advantage.

However the goal of 10iar took its toll on us. This desire led to a team being taken to its last breaths, bereft of an injection of fresh blood because of the fear that it would take time to bed in the new players required. A young Barry Ferguson was never given the opportunity to play and may even have been lost because it was to big a gamble to play him. The seeds of our own later disaster were sown from the need to replace almost an entire team overnight while remaining competitive.

Did the signing of Mojo make us more loved, no but was that the object of the exercise? After that signing there were no barriers and better more influential players arrived who we might never have seen in a blue jersey. Some were foreigners who may have come in any event but the Mojo signing made it easier for the likes of Neil McCann to play for us and to buy into our club.

What is tradition and how far do you let that word dictate your future. Historically Queens Park strongly believed in their amateur tradition and refused to have professional players. How laudable that they stayed true to that principle, but look at the cost. Our enemies still see us as big bad prods, bigots one and all. One member of the fourth estate will tell you we are knuckle draggers to a man. We will never change their mind set regardless of what we do. This though is their problem and as time goes by it will be seen that they are the problem not the solution. However the status quo of pre Mojo could not have been maintained and would have become a millstone in the days of equality and diversity and changing political climates.

In terms of what it might have changed, that is difficult to assess and was always going to be a long term play. For me I tend to look at the names of the players coming through the ranks at The Hummel. I’m old enough to remember that Daniel Fergus McGrain was allegedly not scouted because of his name. That’s not a worry we have anymore and may dilute what was a safe and steady throughput of talent at the other side of the city. Is this the Mojo signing’s legacy?
 
Rangers are a culturally Protestant club .
It wouldn't matter who we signed as this will not change the mindset of most supporters. We will always be a Protestant club.
Religion is pretty much bullshit to most people these days anyway, but traditions will continue.
We are hated by the filth and always will be .
That's life
 
Probably because you felt the need to have a sly dig at certain types of Rangers fan in the OP.
Only ones who attack our own traditions, and our past; or who try and involve us in absolute horseshit that has nothing to do with us like LBTG flags, the SNP, and misusing social media for political ends.... and the like.
 
Only ones who attack our own traditions, and our past; or who try and involve us in absolute horseshit that has nothing to do with us like LBTG flags, the SNP, and misusing social media for political ends.... and the like.

Interested in your use of the word "us" in this post. Does us = the Rangers support as a whole or does us = cultural protestants?

The Rangers support already heavily engages in "absolute horseshit that has nothing to do with us" every game when they sing about the UVF, the IRA, Bobby Sands, The Pope or whatever else so that's not exactly anything new. Seeing as we presumably have LGBT supporters I'd say it's probably more justifiable to wave a LGBT flag as it is to sing about any of the above.
 
You are from a far stauncher background than the OP then.
Possibly, I couldn’t tell you EoLs background or where he’s from.

I just find his claim to be a Rangers ‘fan’ to be utterly baseless.

Now he’s saying that Catholic Rangers fans, which there are plenty of through mixed marriages, should be denied the chance to play for Rangers as their parents decided to sign them up to a different version of Christianity than the type he subscribes to.

It’s actually quite sad that he feels this way and likely influences others with this divisive mindset.

We have enough enemies without splintering the support up.

A Rangers fan should want Rangers to win games - that is all. (IMO)
 
Possibly, I couldn’t tell you EoLs background or where he’s from.

I just find his claim to be a Rangers ‘fan’ to be utterly baseless.

Now he’s saying that Catholic Rangers fans, which there are plenty of through mixed marriages, should be denied the chance to play for Rangers as their parents decided to sign them up to a different version of Christianity than the type he subscribes to.

It’s actually quite sad that he feels this way and likely influences others with this divisive mindset.

We have enough enemies without splintering the support up.

A Rangers fan should want Rangers to win games - that is all. (IMO)

You are doing quite well with splintering the support yourself with that post.
 
There is nothing divisive about that post at all.

You just want one of us to get banned for saying we hate Papes! Not going to happen...

"Double cross, and sneaky dealings
That's what you get, with all things...."
 
Only ones who attack our own traditions, and our past; or who try and involve us in absolute horseshit that has nothing to do with us like LBTG flags, the SNP, and misusing social media for political ends.... and the like.

The bottom line is Rangers = its supporters

In years gone by Rangers supporters tended to be, in the main, from a very similar background, hence culturally Scottish (and Northern Irish of Scots decent) working class prods.

Society has changed and therefore the make-up of the Rangers support has changed, therefore Rangers will change. Its inevitable and should be embraced.

While many of our support will come from a steadily secularised but culturally Scots/Irish protestant background. Many will not identify as such:

- Many religions will be represented from multi-ethnic Glasgow and beyond: Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, even Roman Catholic through inter-marriage and other softening attitudes
- Many political viewpoints: left, right, centre and anything in between, even Scottish nationalist
- Many supporters will be from the LGBT community

This is all fact - calling fellow fans 'handwringers' and the like, and denying the concept of change is ridiculous.

Rangers will be here long after any of us has exited stage left and will always represent the sum of its parts like it always has done.
 
You just want one of us to get banned for saying we hate Papes! Not going to happen...

"Double cross, and sneaky dealings
That's what you get, with all things...."
You are a parody of yourself and I don’t want anyone banned.

You will turn your back on the Club when another Club that adopts your ‘values’ comes along.

I’ll be a Ranger until my dying breath ‘no matter what’.
 
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