Sir Alex at Ibrox last night meeting RvN

Some hurty words? He made it easy for the club’s enemies to go and tar us with the sectarian brush and given his stature within the game that was horrible PR. He loaded the gun for mentally challengeds and other haters alike. It’s even worse when you factor in that some of what he was saying was lies.

But because he’s the probably the best club manager ever and people want to believe that we’re special to him, let’s just forget all about that all of that and his assurance that he only supports us to wind up his mentally challenged loving son, in favour of pretending he loves us? Nah, I think sweeping all of that under the carpet is a bit more desperate. He certainly loved Walter, but someone who loves the club doesn’t say what he’s said past and present.
There is no doubt that his time at Rangers was the biggest disappointment in his career.
Further he will have felt hurt over it.
As for the many books written, how much interest do you think busy top class professionals give to these ghost written reads?
The writers want controversial titbits to sell to newspapers which brings in the dough, and often will secure this with leading questions.
I could ask you leading questions carefully sculptured to fit the social mores of the era that could be edited to suit a preferred agenda, and it might not make you out to be the red hot Bear you really are.
Add to that, in the world of left wing journalism, especially some years ago, the club was a juicy target for many who used us as a political and social football.
Sometimes you have to look very deep to understand the social nuances surrounding even the most shallow of constructs.
Rangers have many layers of enemies because the club actually represents cultural and community values that others detest.
Ferguson would have felt very much at home last night, because he was.
 
Some hurty words? He made it easy for the club’s enemies to go and tar us with the sectarian brush and given his stature within the game that was horrible PR. He loaded the gun for mentally challengeds and other haters alike. It’s even worse when you factor in that some of what he was saying was lies.

But because he’s the probably the best club manager ever and people want to believe that we’re special to him, let’s just forget all about that all of that and his assurance that he only supports us to wind up his mentally challenged loving son, in favour of pretending he loves us? Nah, I think sweeping all of that under the carpet is a bit more desperate. He certainly loved Walter, but someone who loves the club doesn’t say what he’s said past and present.
There is no doubt that his time at Rangers was the biggest disappointment in his career.
Further he will have felt hurt over it.
As for the many books written, how much interest do you think busy top class professionals give to these ghost written reads?
The writers want controversial titbits to sell to newspapers which brings in the dough, and often will secure this with leading questions.
I could ask you leading questions carefully sculptured to fit the social mores of the era that could be edited to suit a preferred agenda, and it might not make you out to be the red hot Bear you really are.
Add to that, in the world of left wing journalism, especially some years ago, the club was a juicy target for many who used us as a political and social football.
Sometimes you have to look very deep to understand the social nuances surrounding even the most shallow of constructs.
Rangers have many layers of enemies because the club actually represents cultural and traditional community values that others detest.
Ferguson would have felt very much at home last night, because he was.
 
SAF: Grew up in Govan, BB lad, no doubt lifted over many an Ibrox turnstile when a wean, played for Gers, all that and more can't erase that from your DNA. When Ferrgie returns to that beautiful red brick frontage in Edmiston Drive, I think the memories will stir. For many (most) of us it was our first love. Same for Sir Alex, but he'll probably no say it.
 
There is no doubt that his time at Rangers was the biggest disappointment in his career.
Further he will have felt hurt over it.
As for the many books written, how much interest do you think busy top class professionals give to these ghost written reads?
The writers want controversial titbits to sell to newspapers which brings in the dough, and often will secure this with leading questions.
I could ask you leading questions carefully sculptured to fit the social mores of the era that could be edited to suit a preferred agenda, and it might not make you out to be the red hot Bear you really are.
Add to that, in the world of left wing journalism, especially some years ago, the club was a juicy target for many who used us as a political and social football.
Sometimes you have to look very deep to understand the social nuances surrounding even the most shallow of constructs.
Rangers have many layers of enemies because the club actually represents cultural and community values that others detest.
Ferguson would have felt very much at home last night, because he was.
You’re making it sound as though he was tricked into it, but he’s alluded to it several times so you’re really reaching here. He said it, it was ridiculous. And what Rangers man says he only cheers the team on in OF’s to wind up his son? What big Rangers man even allows his son to grow up supporting them.

He probably did love Rangers when he was a kid, but after his playing career he’s just been unbelievably bitter and he’s not shown any signs of being someone who has any great love for us. Man Utd are his Iove.
 
What people forget in the "is he a real Rangers man?" debate is that Alex Ferguson is first and foremost an Alex Ferguson man. If that wasn't who he is - abrasive, single-minded, egotistical - he simply wouldn't have had the career he's had. Ferguson would have been a failure at Aberdeen if he hadn't gone out to beat us every chance he had. He would never have made it to Old Trafford, and even if he did he wouldn't have lasted long if he was constantly talking us up. That's not a knock on him, it's just to say that without that ruthless me-first streak, there's a fair chance he would have ended up a pundit on Scotsport and not one of the greatest football managers in the history of the game.

Most of us can be who we are in our jobs without any conflict of interest over our love of Rangers. I think a lot of former players, even beloved ones, probably have things in their relationship with the club that are complicated and that we as normal fans don't have insight into. Do I believe Ferguson's story about him being marginalised? No. But I've no doubt Ferguson deep in his heart still has a lot of affection for the club, that doesn't change. And I think it's great that we have that association, even if it's not what some would like it to be.
 
You’re making it sound as though he was tricked into it, but he’s alluded to it several times so you’re really reaching here. He said it, it was ridiculous. And what Rangers man says he only cheers the team on in OF’s to wind up his son? What big Rangers man even allows his son to grow up supporting them.

He probably did love Rangers when he was a kid, but after his playing career he’s just been unbelievably bitter and he’s not shown any signs of being someone who has any great love for us. Man Utd are his Iove.
Manipulated rather than tricked perhaps. Most books written about him were put together without his input, thus something in one book gets repeated and often enlarged upon many times over as others seek to use it and invest in it their own prejudices and interpretations.
His brother is/was a season ticket holder, I suspect one of the core themes in their discourse continued to be a shared interest in Rangers.
Ferguson wasn't at Ibrox on Tuesday to see Rangers lose.
 
In Ferguson's first autobiography he makes it clear that he was married when he joined Rangers and the club knew who the local lad was married to. He says he left very reluctantly after being frozen out of the team in Davie White's time, following that Cup final defeat. He also says he was raging that, soon after he left, White was replaced by Waddell (especially as folk at Ibrox had tried to tip him off about it).
Willie Thornton I believe told him that changes were afoot and things were changing.
 
There is no doubt that his time at Rangers was the biggest disappointment in his career.
Further he will have felt hurt over it.
As for the many books written, how much interest do you think busy top class professionals give to these ghost written reads?
The writers want controversial titbits to sell to newspapers which brings in the dough, and often will secure this with leading questions.
I could ask you leading questions carefully sculptured to fit the social mores of the era that could be edited to suit a preferred agenda, and it might not make you out to be the red hot Bear you really are.
Add to that, in the world of left wing journalism, especially some years ago, the club was a juicy target for many who used us as a political and social football.
Sometimes you have to look very deep to understand the social nuances surrounding even the most shallow of constructs.
Rangers have many layers of enemies because the club actually represents cultural and community values that others detest.
Ferguson would have felt very much at home last night, because he was.
This is stretching it a bit BB, I think. I'm reticent to disagree with you, and you do go well further back than me, indeed how you describe Jim Baxter has been so brilliant to someone like me, who never saw him, that it gave me some sort of an appreciation I hadn't had before, but are you really describing, here, someone who knows the media like the back of his hand? I just don't buy this, sorry.
 
Everything I've heard about Ferguson suggests that he's not particularly passionate about supporting Rangers, but he's a bonafide expert on our history and still watches our games. He's had a complicated relationship with the club and went through a phase of really resenting Rangers , but he's moved past it and come back to having a soft spot for us.

He's a United man anyway.
 
Some amount of highly bitter people on this thread.
Threads like this bring a fair collection of posters determined to belittle a perceived support from any "celebrity" for Rangers. Often a theme running through their accounts.

The thing with any professional in football, be it playing or coaching, is that there comes a point early in there life where their own career becomes the main thing in their life. Not the support of any club that got them interested in the game initially

To get to where Ferguson reached in management takes a bloody minded attitude to do things his way. That is probably reflective of him as a person. This is certainly not a criticism.

People are upset that he has said a few "bad" things about Rangers in the past. If that is his opinion, then fine, deal with it. Professionals at the top of sport are not going to say things just to keep people happy. Far from it.
 
He used exactly those words. He was asked why he was so angry after winning the ‘83 SCF vs Rangers and was asked if it just about being the best team in Scotland and he made it clear it was more about ‘putting the knife’ in Rangers.
I’ve never met the man but it does sound like he’s a ‘Rangers man’ in Rangers circles, not so much when speaking of us in public.
The guy was managing a rival football team at the time. He was doing exactly what he should have been doing. We have fans who moan about lack of professionalism from tim supporting players from other clubs when they play Celtic. Yet they appear to want exactly the same from Rangers men.
 
Some amount of highly bitter people on this thread.
But this is surely quite normal when we’re talking about a man who made up a load of bollocks to tarnish the image of the club. I’d be more concerned with anyone who wasn’t bitter about that. And tbh I’d rather be bitter about it than engage in the “please love us” type nonsense we generally see from tims whenever they engage with anyone of real fame.
Threads like this bring a fair collection of posters determined to belittle a perceived support from any "celebrity" for Rangers. Often a theme running through their accounts.

The thing with any professional in football, be it playing or coaching, is that there comes a point early in there life where their own career becomes the main thing in their life. Not the support of any club that got them interested in the game initially

To get to where Ferguson reached in management takes a bloody minded attitude to do things his way. That is probably reflective of him as a person. This is certainly not a criticism.

People are upset that he has said a few "bad" things about Rangers in the past. If that is his opinion, then fine, deal with it. Professionals at the top of sport are not going to say things just to keep people happy. Far from it.
He says he only cheers us on in OF games to wind up his son, is there even any need for any of us to belittle claims that he’s all about Rangers? It seems like he’s done that himself.

And RE the last paragraph, if it was some run of the mill manager like Bobby Williamson telling porkies about us, do you think he’d get a free pass for lying about the club in order to paint us as some sectarian institution in a way that is often still used to put us down even today? Of course he wouldn’t, SAF is only getting that luxury because people love the idea of someone of his ilk being a big Rangers man.
 
But this is surely quite normal when we’re talking about a man who made up a load of bollocks to tarnish the image of the club. I’d be more concerned with anyone who wasn’t bitter about that. And tbh I’d rather be bitter about it than engage in the “please love us” type nonsense we generally see from tims whenever they engage with anyone of real fame.

He says he only cheers us on in OF games to wind up his son, is there even any need for any of us to belittle claims that he’s all about Rangers? It seems like he’s done that himself.

And RE the last paragraph, if it was some run of the mill manager like Bobby Williamson telling porkies about us, do you think he’d get a free pass for lying about the club in order to paint us as some sectarian institution in a way that is often still used to put us down even today? Of course he wouldn’t, SAF is only getting that luxury because people love the idea of someone of his ilk being a big Rangers man.
Most of us don't lose a great deal of sleep with opinions spouted by others.

Different if it's bordering on defamation or such like but an opinion or throwaway comment? Not for me, got far too much in the real world to occupy my time.
 
He was a guest at a Celtic event a few years ago and referred to us as 'That lot across the City'.

Rangers man my arse! He hates us.
 
Most of us don't lose a great deal of sleep with opinions spouted by others.

Different if it's bordering on defamation or such like but an opinion or throwaway comment? Not for me, got far too much in the real world to occupy my time.
I wouldn’t lose sleep over it either. It never even crosses me mind until a Ferguson discussion crops up and someone actually alleges that he’s a top Rangers man.

And it wasn’t a throw away comment, he’s said it more than a couple times and he’s had it put down in print and on video. Like I just said, if it’s a lesser manager and a lesser name absolutely no one is willing to brush something that damaging off as a mere throwaway comment. There’s a fair bit of denial because it’s SAF and the idea of him as a big lover of Rangers is too appealing to some.
 
Ferguson was desperate to sign RVN in 2000. Then Man Utd pulled out saying after the medical his knee was dodgy. PSV went mental and claimed it was fine. Ruud then collapsed in training and did his ACL in, which was caught on video clip.

Then he recovered, Fergie signed him and Van Nistelrooy absolutely ripped it up. A fantastic player.
Another top signing by SAF at the time
 
It wasn't quite that. I saw that interview a few years ago, on RTV and it was a little bit more nuanced than you describe here.
In fairness I was paraphrasing. In any case by that time Waddell had no say in the running of the club.
 
The guy was managing a rival football team at the time. He was doing exactly what he should have been doing. We have fans who moan about lack of professionalism from tim supporting players from other clubs when they play Celtic. Yet they appear to want exactly the same from Rangers men.
You say that as if I expected him to lie down to Rangers. My original point was that it was a strange choice of words for a supposed Rangers man to say he wanted to put the knife into us specifically rather than be the best team in Scotland. Bear in mind we were finishing 4th at the time.

Coupled with the fact he’s quoted as saying he only supports Rangers in old firms to wind up his son and takes more of an interest Queens Park, I don’t think he’s as big a Rangers man any more as people would have you believe, if at all.
 
You say that as if I expected him to lie down to Rangers. My original point was that it was a strange choice of words for a supposed Rangers man to say he wanted to put the knife into us specifically rather than be the best team in Scotland. Bear in mind we were finishing at 4th at the time.

Coupled with the fact he’s quoted as saying he only supports Rangers in old firms to wind up his son and takes more of an interest Queens Park, I don’t think he’s as big a Rangers man any more as people would have you believe, if at all.
He is definitely a Rangers fan.

Although it's obviously slightly different for men who have spent decades at the highest levels of the sport with different clubs etc. It's not really comparable to match going obsessives like most of us on here, as they will have emotional ties to other clubs and have been out of the goldfish bowl too.

He said recently he wouldn't have achieved what he did in the game without the standards instilled in him at Rangers.
 
There’s a few myths about Ferguson, like how he led an apprentices strike in the shipyards - although he worked in a typewriter factory in Hillington Estate.
My mother’s family lived round the corner from him, in Orkney Street, one of my aunts remembered him from Broomloan Road school and said “I didn’t like him, not many people did”.
 
Bollocks, he was a Rangers supporter as a boy and a Rangers player as a man.
It has been said by someone who knows him well that he always continued to keep a healthy interest in the fortunes of Rangers and watched us on television whenever he could, even attending TV studios to get special viewings of important Rangers games that weren't available elsewhere.

He may have criticised various aspects of the club for different reasons over the years, but ffsake you should spend more time on here!
And given the way he was treated (regardless of what degree you think it was hyperbole), i think its admirable that the Govan boy still shines through.
 
I was in the 168 BB run out of the Govan Parish on Elderpark street. Alex Ferguson dropped in a few times when he was a Rangers player and always talked about his Govan roots and his love of the Gers and the Boys Brigade Take from that what you will.
 
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