Why don’t the club call a spade a spade?

Otto Bear

Well-Known Member
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The club have written to Scottish Government to address their claims that Rangers didn’t do enough. Also the Scottish Government were being disingenuous regarding UEFA watching regarding the Euros and UEFA rubbished this claim which was made by several politicians.

In Rangers letter to the Scottish Government Rangers highlight that they were the ones to engage police, and the government on this matter of safety and fans gathering. On 5th March, the Scottish Government said they would get back to Rangers to firm up the wording proposed, and the Scottish Government failed to do this. Fans started gathering and Rangers did not have approved wording but used the tannoy system to ask fans to disperse. They also had Gerrard state pre and post match fan safety was a concern amidst the pandemic and should not gather.

The Scottish Government in their reply to Rangers’ letter have not denied that the wording was sitting on their desk. They have the audacity to suggest Rangers, a football club, and Steven Gerrard, a football manager, should have done more.

It had been posted online for months that fans would gather outside Ibrox and at George Square. The police and Scottish government must surely have been aware of this. And if they weren’t then Rangers brought to their attention back in February. They could have also referenced what happened in Liverpool when Liverpool won the league.

The Scottish Government and police could have avoided this with planning, by guarding off George Square and by putting up the big steel fences around Ibrox that they use on Old firm days of old (when they had the Broomloan).

The Scottish Government and Police have failed in their duties and have tried to go on the front foot with mud slinging at Rangers. If they honestly thought Rangers posting a message on Twitter was going to ensure a different outcome then they are completely inept.

The post from Glasgow City Council (Susan Aitken) about the benches and the words from John Swinney yesterday is a collusive attempt to sling mud and avoid the SNP’s role in all of this being questioned ahead of the Scottish Elections in May. They were taking a bit of heat on Sunday for not taking action and have tried to put it on the club.

I have one question... why don’t the club call them out on this publicly? They can have no defense given they confirmed the club raised this to them in February.

The Scottish Government have failed in their duties here to maintain public safety, the faux outrage at Rangers as a club is abhorrent.
 
I've pissed off so many natzis on FB by asking them if they expected Stevie G out blocking roads whilst Douglas Park arrests folk in the street.

It's not Rangers Football Club fault that the SNP and their natzi police force have zero control over the country.

That's the point I'd be pushing.
 
The club have written to Scottish Government to address their claims that Rangers didn’t do enough. Also the Scottish Government were being disingenuous regarding UEFA watching regarding the Euros and UEFA rubbished this claim which was made by several politicians.

In Rangers letter to the Scottish Government Rangers highlight that they were the ones to engage police, and the government on this matter of safety and fans gathering. On 5th March, the Scottish Government said they would get back to Rangers to firm up the wording proposed, and the Scottish Government failed to do this. Fans started gathering and Rangers did not have approved wording but used the tannoy system to ask fans to disperse. They also had Gerrard state pre and post match fan safety was a concern amidst the pandemic and should not gather.

The Scottish Government in their reply to Rangers’ letter have not denied that the wording was sitting on their desk. They have the audacity to suggest Rangers, a football club, and Steven Gerrard, a football manager, should have done more.

It had been posted online for months that fans would gather outside Ibrox and at George Square. The police and Scottish government must surely have been aware of this. And if they weren’t then Rangers brought to their attention back in February. They could have also referenced what happened in Liverpool when Liverpool won the league.

The Scottish Government and police could have avoided this with planning, by guarding off George Square and by putting up the big steel fences around Ibrox that they use on Old firm days of old (when they had the Broomloan).

The Scottish Government and Police have failed in their duties and have tried to go on the front foot with mud slinging at Rangers. If they honestly thought Rangers posting a message on Twitter was going to ensure a different outcome then they are completely inept.

The post from Glasgow City Council (Susan Aitken) about the benches and the words from John Swinney yesterday is a collusive attempt to sling mud and avoid the SNP’s role in all of this being questioned ahead of the Scottish Elections in May. They were taking a bit of heat on Sunday for not taking action and have tried to put it on the club.

I have one question... why don’t the club call them out on this publicly? They can have no defense given they confirmed the club raised this to them in February.

The Scottish Government have failed in their duties here to maintain public safety, the faux outrage at Rangers as a club is abhorrent.
Not disagreeing with you but how would you 'call them out'? Specifically, who should do and say what via what channels?
 
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Let's publish all our correspondence on the website and all replies we have had over the issue. Lets see how smart kranky and swinny are when this chain comes out

I believe our lawyers worded the letter. Let's challenge the allegations head on.
 
Can you imagine Jimmy Bell’s reaction when somebody tells him he’s got to prepare the water cannon & the full riot gear as well as the first team kit?
 
Have to play it carefully.

No good comes from riling up the party (Nazis) in power.

This all day long. Getting into a slanging match with the government, regardless of which party is in power and certainly the nats, is not going to end well given the amount of negative press flying around about the club and support.

Make moves behind the scenes. Have discussions with the police and SG. Ensure we’ve got all our own bases covered. Then, when the time is right and the dust has settled the club can set the record straight.

The nats are happily using this as a distraction from the current sh*t show they’re presiding over. We’d only be helping them by kicking up a whole load of dust for them to use to hide their multiple scandals in.

We’ve gone down the route of lashing out at everyone and everything in an “yees are all out to get us and yees are all c*nts” style before and it never, ever gets you the result you want and need. It makes a lot of the support feel good for about 20 minutes but other than that it achieves nothing and is quite frankly and amateurish approach to PR.
 
Not disagreeing with you but how would you 'call them out'? Specifically, who should do and say what via what channels?
A statement highlighting the version of events. Highlighting again what Gerrard said pre-post match. Highlighting we announced from stadium for crowd to disperse and then highlighting that the Police and Scottish Government having been made aware of this by Rangers on 24 February should have planned for protection around the stadium and George square which were suggested online months ago as areas where fans would congregate. A message on Twitter wasn’t going to cut through the raw emotion of the fans. The Police and Scotttish Government failed in their duties and we should highlight this.

Does anyone have the clip from Peter Adam Smith questioning John Swinney yesterday? I had it on Twitter but can’t find it. Our statement was released during his TV appearance and Peter Adam Smith questions Swinney with reference to fans walking by police to off license at George square and buying alcohol then walking into square and drinking it. The “Rangers should have posted on Twitter” defense is honestly comical.
 
The SNP , it’s members , voters and supporters absolutely despise Rangers both the club and fans . Do we really need the club to come out and tell us this ? It’s as clear as day and has been from day dot . We are the antithesis of what they believe in and their vision for independence and republicanism . Just go on Twitter , do a bit of research on SNP mp’s . There’s a common theme . Rangers are a great Scottish institution who’s history is world reknowned , we proudly fly the saltire and the Union flag side by side . The SNP hate this , they see Rangers as something to get rid of , a problem on their landscape .
 
I find it all rather amusing, if I'm being honest.

Long may their pain continue.

And everyone can rest assured that zero will come of it, so take it all in. It's certainly nothing to get stressed over.

Beautiful, times.

Political smoke and mirrors will continue and as said despite all the headlines they cant change the 55. I do wish the BLM would stop being used as an example from our side as only takes any defence into another hot area - stick to how the celebrated in Perth (congrats to them) and rioted with police injured at Sharkhead,
I am in no way anti police and from what I read they handled well on the ground so again the smokesman crap is best ignored.
 
Yesterday’s ranting by a politician who will be facing a no confidence vote later this week should be seen for what it is-a desperate attempt at deflection by someone well past their sell by date. Hold on-deflect and deny... where have I seen that before
 
Great post OP.

I think the SNP could’ve chosen their tone more carefully rather than throw the club and supporters under the bus to absolve themselves of any blame.

Not that I have much sympathy for Celtic in the whole Dubai debacle (they should’ve known not to go), but the SNP did throw them under the bus as well despite authorising the trip. You then had a war of words between the club and the government. Not going to lie, I did enjoy it but at the same time the government proved to be liars then and it’s happening again now.
 
And the big imaginary game of Dream Team/The West Wing inside folks heads continues.

Wonder how long before someone says "Robertson is weak!"

are you saying real life doesnt work the same as it does on television!?

As I was going to start a team of superheroes to help us out, are you saying it wont work?
 
I get that we made contact first and that the SNP and the media couldn't wait to put the boot in whilst ignoring the good work of the Rangers fans.

However, I do think Rangers could have done a wee bit more, a few social media posts wouldn't have made much difference but would certainly have helped with the current PR mess and our PR team should have been aware of this. Clearer messaging from Gerrard would also have helped although I'm not sure this was his responsibility.

Perhaps a statement from the MD or Chairman asking people not to attend Ibrox after it was obvious this was happening early on Saturday morning?

Just because people like Aitken and Dornan hate Rangers does not mean that we have to lose our ability to fairly analyse this situation.
 
The club have written to Scottish Government to address their claims that Rangers didn’t do enough. Also the Scottish Government were being disingenuous regarding UEFA watching regarding the Euros and UEFA rubbished this claim which was made by several politicians.

In Rangers letter to the Scottish Government Rangers highlight that they were the ones to engage police, and the government on this matter of safety and fans gathering. On 5th March, the Scottish Government said they would get back to Rangers to firm up the wording proposed, and the Scottish Government failed to do this. Fans started gathering and Rangers did not have approved wording but used the tannoy system to ask fans to disperse. They also had Gerrard state pre and post match fan safety was a concern amidst the pandemic and should not gather.

The Scottish Government in their reply to Rangers’ letter have not denied that the wording was sitting on their desk. They have the audacity to suggest Rangers, a football club, and Steven Gerrard, a football manager, should have done more.

It had been posted online for months that fans would gather outside Ibrox and at George Square. The police and Scottish government must surely have been aware of this. And if they weren’t then Rangers brought to their attention back in February. They could have also referenced what happened in Liverpool when Liverpool won the league.

The Scottish Government and police could have avoided this with planning, by guarding off George Square and by putting up the big steel fences around Ibrox that they use on Old firm days of old (when they had the Broomloan).

The Scottish Government and Police have failed in their duties and have tried to go on the front foot with mud slinging at Rangers. If they honestly thought Rangers posting a message on Twitter was going to ensure a different outcome then they are completely inept.

The post from Glasgow City Council (Susan Aitken) about the benches and the words from John Swinney yesterday is a collusive attempt to sling mud and avoid the SNP’s role in all of this being questioned ahead of the Scottish Elections in May. They were taking a bit of heat on Sunday for not taking action and have tried to put it on the club.

I have one question... why don’t the club call them out on this publicly? They can have no defense given they confirmed the club raised this to them in February.

The Scottish Government have failed in their duties here to maintain public safety, the faux outrage at Rangers as a club is abhorrent.

Do you think if they closed Ibrox and George Square, the 55 celebrations would not have happened?

IMHO, they were always going to happen, and keeping it within two known locations would be easier to contain.
 
Without doubt they are deflecting this on to Rangers it’s deliberate and calculated to rally support against the Union.A British and unionist institution being attacked by the Natzi,s after bad publicity about the liar Sturgeon and the split in their party.We have to fight back by getting the truth out there they’ll all be patting each other on the back after that lying bastard Swinney,s faux anger at gatherings in the streets.Lie,deflect any negativity that’s their mantra.
 
Would it be worth it? The natzis are never going to let mere facts sway their opinions.
 
I get that we made contact first and that the SNP and the media couldn't wait to put the boot in whilst ignoring the good work of the Rangers fans.

However, I do think Rangers could have done a wee bit more, a few social media posts wouldn't have made much difference but would certainly have helped with the current PR mess and our PR team should have been aware of this. Clearer messaging from Gerrard would also have helped although I'm not sure this was his responsibility.

Perhaps a statement from the MD or Chairman asking people not to attend Ibrox after it was obvious this was happening early on Saturday morning?

Just because people like Aitken and Dornan hate Rangers does not mean that we have to lose our ability to fairly analyse this situation.
Sorry buddy but this is complete garbage.

Folk were going regardless of any messaging in the run up to Saturday. No amount of Statements or Social Media posts, or even the tannoy announcements on the day were going to change anyone’s mind.

The point that is being made is that the Govt were engaged and did nothing, and are now trying to shift that blame to the club.
 
You deal with government and politicians completely different from dealing with the football authorities.i am really pleased we have a politician in charge of pr and a politician who has operated in the murcky politics of Northern Ireland
 
The club have written to Scottish Government to address their claims that Rangers didn’t do enough. Also the Scottish Government were being disingenuous regarding UEFA watching regarding the Euros and UEFA rubbished this claim which was made by several politicians.

In Rangers letter to the Scottish Government Rangers highlight that they were the ones to engage police, and the government on this matter of safety and fans gathering. On 5th March, the Scottish Government said they would get back to Rangers to firm up the wording proposed, and the Scottish Government failed to do this. Fans started gathering and Rangers did not have approved wording but used the tannoy system to ask fans to disperse. They also had Gerrard state pre and post match fan safety was a concern amidst the pandemic and should not gather.

The Scottish Government in their reply to Rangers’ letter have not denied that the wording was sitting on their desk. They have the audacity to suggest Rangers, a football club, and Steven Gerrard, a football manager, should have done more.

It had been posted online for months that fans would gather outside Ibrox and at George Square. The police and Scottish government must surely have been aware of this. And if they weren’t then Rangers brought to their attention back in February. They could have also referenced what happened in Liverpool when Liverpool won the league.

The Scottish Government and police could have avoided this with planning, by guarding off George Square and by putting up the big steel fences around Ibrox that they use on Old firm days of old (when they had the Broomloan).

The Scottish Government and Police have failed in their duties and have tried to go on the front foot with mud slinging at Rangers. If they honestly thought Rangers posting a message on Twitter was going to ensure a different outcome then they are completely inept.

The post from Glasgow City Council (Susan Aitken) about the benches and the words from John Swinney yesterday is a collusive attempt to sling mud and avoid the SNP’s role in all of this being questioned ahead of the Scottish Elections in May. They were taking a bit of heat on Sunday for not taking action and have tried to put it on the club.

I have one question... why don’t the club call them out on this publicly? They can have no defense given they confirmed the club raised this to them in February.

The Scottish Government have failed in their duties here to maintain public safety, the faux outrage at Rangers as a club is abhorrent.
I have the opinion that some failures of government are intentional. I'll reference Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The infrastructure and methods for responding to that crisis were all in place already. The fact is that the administration at the time did not execute on the relief efforts and many were left to fend for themselves and, ultimately, many died.

They then went about pointing at FEMA and claiming it wasn't fit for purpose. That let them then reorganize the agencies all under one Homeland Security umbrella and hand out contracts to donors as well as have a single point of contact to more easily manipulate.

Much like I've seen mentioned in the Scottish police thread how they brought all the different areas under one Police Chief.

They were either inept or willfully neglected their duties in order to achieve the desired outcome; distract from their current troubles and vilify a group of people that mostly identify as unionists, their sworn enemies. I tend to believe the latter.
 
I've pissed off so many natzis on FB by asking them if they expected Stevie G out blocking roads whilst Douglas Park arrests folk in the street.

It's not Rangers Football Club fault that the SNP and their natzi police force have zero control over the country.

That's the point I'd be pushing.

No matter which party is in power and no matter how much resources you could throw into policing/law and order/justice, there is absolutely no way a government or its law enforcement agencies can exercise full control over the country or even a small fraction of the population.

Law and order and keeping the peace and everyone in the country safe depends largely on the people themselves deciding to behave in a decent and considerate manner to others.

It is fair to say that the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Rangers fans in the UK decided to avoid coming out to celebrate and did obey the restrictions and advice the club gave. If there had been no pandemic we would've seen celebrations absolutely off the scale in Glasgow and elsewhere.

Spontaneous things happening like this generally can't be prevented and even with the possibility of the league being won, it would be very hard to predict the exact numbers who might show. When it does happen, the best course of action is usually the same one the police followed on Sat/Sun - tolerance and intervention as a last resort. That is usually best to prevent any reaction from people in the crowd or gathering, and to preserve the very thin resources they have available.
Rangers need to come out and back the police on the common sense approach that was applied to the fans [and the players] being allowed to celebrate and push the spotlight back on the government for the double standards quite a few individuals in positions of power and social media influence are showing towards football fans and even certain clubs - criticism of football gatherings while tacit acceptance of 'certain' protests which fit their political rhetoric is unacceptable hypocrisy.

If the government has lied over communications and contact with Rangers over the past month, this is an open goal for us especially after the nightmare they've had with the Salmond emails/legal advice.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, in last weeks papers, the Police ha stated their leave would be cancelled and fans would be prevented from going to Ibrox and George Square as surrounding roads would be closed, I honestly don't think I dreamt this
 
The question is could this have been anticipated and, therefore, planned for.

The answer is quite obviously yes. It was clear that at some point in the season one side of Glasgow was going to be celebrating a "significant" title win. As far as planning for that event there are numerous examples of how fans were likely to react - Liverpool, Leeds, Arsenal, St Johnstone and, of course, the mhanky mhob themselves.

What was initially unknown was which half of the city would, in fact, be celebrating, when it was likely to be and at what stage of lockdown would the country be in when it did happen.

Well it's been known for some time that it was highly likely to be the blue half of Glasgow celebrating - which, even ignoring the social media posts telling everyone the plans, ought to have assisted with logistics.

They have likewise known for some time that this seasons title was not going to the last day and was most likely to be clinched this month or early next month. Following the previous round of games it was known exactly when we would have the first opportunity to win it and what the situation would be re lockdown if we did.

It seems evident that the Police did, in fact, have a plan although, as you may expect, they were probably more focused on planning around what happens if we win it on the 21th. They clearly did have contingency plans for the title being won earlier than that and, by all accounts, they managed the situation very well at the weekend.

The Nats were probably hoping for a different outcome but, once they were resigned to a Rangers victory, were probably hoping it wouldn't be won until after the old firm game and after lockdown had been eased.

What happened though, with us winning on this particular weekend, was like a gift from the Natsi's God - the perfect squirrel to remove oor Nickla fae the front pages. Look over there - big bad Rangers stealing ra sellicks bauble and parading through the streets in triumphalist fashion, chanting we are the people and waving their Union Flags in oor cnutry - and worse than that they're no' even wearin' masks or nuffin and ah cannae visit ma granny.

It's all political and all irrelevant noise.

The only noise that matters is -

Shhh...

Glasgow Rangers Champions oh oh oh oh oh oh ohhhh.
 
I think it's clear the Scottish Government and the media wanted this to happen - when it became obvious that we'd be champions, they have taken absolutely no steps to facilitate any kind of "acceptable" celebrations, and have actively ignored Rangers' attempts to get some dialogue going. I think they wanted us out in the streets celebrating, so that they can vilify big bad rangers again. Now the narrative is skewed away from 55, towards criticism of the club, fans, board, manager
 
i'd rather the club acted intelligently and fought a fight in a way that sees us win rather than being crass and having regrets

i trust the club on this one
Win what though? There's nothing to win. The noise will die down in a few days and something else will take over the news.
 
Tit for tat on social media, OP? A daily statement?

I'd rather it was dealt with in the manner it seems it will be...professionaly.
I’m not saying a daily statement or tit for tat. I’m saying we should have just put our side across when they tried to throw us under the bus. Instead, we are under the bus and not willing it seems to publicly put things straight.

I’m NOT criticizing the club here whatsoever. I just feel aggrieved that the SNP and Police are attacking us in a statement for something that was completely out with the clubs control and SHOULD have been controlled by both the SNP and Police.
 
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Win what though? There's nothing to win. The noise will die down in a few days and something else will take over the news.
there's lots to lose and win on a daily basis, be it relationships, how we're portrayed, how we can extend our influence, all these tiny little things add up
 
I think the best time to call them out would when the season is over and they cant do anything to Rangers
Rangers should make numerous announcements about celebrations on the last day of the season now.
Then we can turn up in our thousands to celebrate and they couldn’t blame the club for lack of warnings.
 
Rangers should make numerous announcements about celebrations on the last day of the season now.
Then we can turn up in our thousands to celebrate and they couldn’t blame the club for lack of warnings.
By the end of the season Sturgeon may not be in a job
 
The club should release any emails etc that shows Swinney lied and add a short statement saying they don't understand why Mr Swinney found the need to lie about matters to the nation.
 
The club should have made a couple of statements in previous weeks solely to deny the haters the opportunity to say we hadn't x, y and z. We're not too smart at getting out in front of the story, though, and this amateur aspect has to be addressed.
The club should say no more on this as things stand.
 
I've pissed off so many natzis on FB by asking them if they expected Stevie G out blocking roads whilst Douglas Park arrests folk in the street.

It's not Rangers Football Club fault that the SNP and their natzi police force have zero control over the country.

That's the point I'd be pushing.
In any kind of reasonable society you'd be correct.
Scotland 2021 is many things, reasonable isn't one of them.
The scum that sit in government will see this as an opportunity to go after the game in general and our club in particular.
 
I get that we made contact first and that the SNP and the media couldn't wait to put the boot in whilst ignoring the good work of the Rangers fans.

However, I do think Rangers could have done a wee bit more, a few social media posts wouldn't have made much difference but would certainly have helped with the current PR mess and our PR team should have been aware of this. Clearer messaging from Gerrard would also have helped although I'm not sure this was his responsibility.

Perhaps a statement from the MD or Chairman asking people not to attend Ibrox after it was obvious this was happening early on Saturday morning?

Just because people like Aitken and Dornan hate Rangers does not mean that we have to lose our ability to fairly analyse this situation.
It’s missing the real point BB. No matter what we or the Govt or Police put out there was always going to be gatherings. To think otherwise is negligent or extremely naive. By all means criticise the fans. There is no defending it but to try and blame our club is one step too far. I pay my taxes and for that expect the Police and Government to deal with public order. Not a football team on a day when we didn’t even play FFS!
 
No matter which party is in power and no matter how much resources you could throw into policing/law and order/justice, there is absolutely no way a government or its law enforcement agencies can exercise full control over the country or even a small fraction of the population.

Law and order and keeping the peace and everyone in the country safe depends largely on the people themselves deciding to behave in a decent and considerate manner to others.

It is fair to say that the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Rangers fans in the UK decided to avoid coming out to celebrate and did obey the restrictions and advice the club gave. If there had been no pandemic we would've seen celebrations absolutely off the scale in Glasgow and elsewhere.

Spontaneous things happening like this generally can't be prevented and even with the possibility of the league being won, it would be very hard to predict the exact numbers who might show. When it does happen, the best course of action is usually the same one the police followed on Sat/Sun - tolerance and intervention as a last resort. That is usually best to prevent any reaction from people in the crowd or gathering, and to preserve the very thin resources they have available.
Rangers need to come out and back the police on the common sense approach that was applied to the fans [and the players] being allowed to celebrate and push the spotlight back on the government for the double standards quite a few individuals in positions of power and social media influence are showing towards football fans and even certain clubs - criticism of football gatherings while tacit acceptance of 'certain' protests which fit their political rhetoric is unacceptable hypocrisy.

If the government has lied over communications and contact with Rangers over the past month, this is an open goal for us especially after the nightmare they've had with the Salmond emails/legal advice.
Good post.
 
The club should have made a couple of statements in previous weeks solely to deny the haters the opportunity to say we hadn't x, y and z. We're not too smart at getting out in front of the story, though, and this amateur aspect has to be addressed.
The club should say no more on this as things stand.
Whilst I think we are being used as 'patsies' in all of this by ScoGov I do have to agree with this. I actually expected the Club to come out with a statement about not congregating well in advance of any celebrations. It was well known that when we clinched the title it would happen regardless.

Equally I have to say I was surprised by the sheer numbers that turned up on Saturday - and I suspect the Club were just as surprised. I envisaged a couple of hundred responding to the UB tweet not the volume we saw. After that the Sunday thing was inevitable. Arguably we were caught on the hop by the speed at which things moved and expected 21 Mar to be the date we clinched the title?

All that said, I've had a whale of a weekend watching all the footage. And wishing I could have been there. I can't pretend I wouldn't have been laying into the Dhims if the shoe had been on the other foot though.
 
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