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Needing a strong Rangers in Scottish football is nonsense

fatshaft

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fatshaft

fatshaft

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If you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it – and you will even come to believe it yourself.

That might be a winning strategy for the likes of Donald Trump but there are certain slogans in this neck of the woods that really need to be stamped out because too many folk take it as gospel.

Alex McLeish fell into the trap last week with the line that has most of the nation rolling its eyes like the missus when you say you’re only popping out for a couple of pints.

Scottish football needs a strong Rangers. Ah, that old chestnut.

It has been heard so many times punters at the likes of Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts don’t even get riled up any more. They just sigh in disappointment at the tired cliche.

Let’s get one thing straight. Rangers need a strong Rangers. The long-suffering supporters at Ibrox have had it so tight in recent seasons the slightest chink of light feels like they are coming out from a bunker in the aftermath of a nuclear winter.

The sun’s out and the air doesn’t taste funny yet they are still a tad concerned there might be radiation.

A Rangers at full tilt again is good for them and, who knows, Steven Gerrard might be the man to lead them to a new dawn.

Either way, for goodness sake let’s not peddle the need for Scottish football again. Look where that got us last time.

Top brass like Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster came away with this patter when the bomb went off in Govan and they nearly Gerald Ratner-ed us down the gargler.

But Scottish football survived while Gers went on their wandering journey. Some will say it did pretty darn well. By the time we get to the late 2030s there’s going to be some cracking 25th-anniversary 
gatherings in Paisley, Inverness, Dingwall and Perth.

Back in the present day, Tynecastle and Easter Road are rammed every week, Aberdeen are packing out Pittodrie, while the likes of Motherwell and Kilmarnock have been so good this year they’ve laid trails of breadcrumbs for fans to follow to Fir Park and Rugby Park.

The Dons could finish runners up for four years on the spin for the first time in their history, Hibees could be celebrating their best top-flight finish in decades, likewise Killie.

We know the Old Firm is the big draw but there’s so much more to Scottish football. Yes, the television deal is up for renegotiation in the next few months and the marketing guys will pitch it as Brendan Rodgers v Stevie G. There’s a heck of a lot more on offer than just those two though.

A strong Rangers is good for Scottish football – but so is a strong Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts, Dundee United or whoever else.

There are plenty of youngsters who only know a league won by either half of the Glasgow divide.

But those of us who grew up in the Seventies and Eighties didn’t just think a Playstation was the box you kept your yo-yo in.

We also watched a different Scottish football. Kids in Glasgow playgrounds used to pretend to be John Hewitt, Paul Sturrock or Gary Mackay.

We’re not going to get back to the days when the Dons were beating Real Madrid in European finals as the UEFA fat cats have the game sewn up.

But don’t think we’re alone in that boat as there are plenty of former great football nations who have been stomped over by the big boys in the last couple of decades.

There’s a lot to like about our madcap game right now though, rough edges and all. This week alone there’s been wee boys getting stung by jaggy nettles at Firhill while Partick Thistle and Ross County scrap out a nerve-shredding cracker and a Dundee United goalkeeper doing cartwheels to celebrate a goal and ending up on a stretcher in the process.

Don’t tell me that stuff’s not box office. Everywhere we look there’s great goals, massive barneys and some moments of utter lunacy.

Scottish football isn’t just about Celtic and Rangers in a shoot-out for the title – by Eck, they are just part of the whole bonkers package.

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John Lambie

John Lambie

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while Partick Thistle and Ross County scrap out a nerve-shredding cracker

 

6 minutes ago, fatshaft said:

I agree with every line of this piece

I don't blame you for not tuning in.   It was anything but a cracker. 

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wastecoatwilly

wastecoatwilly

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13 minutes ago, fatshaft said:

...says Michael Gannon :thumsup2

Are Journalists in this country actually starting to journo? I agree with every line of this piece (apologies for the source)

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/needing-strong-rangers-scottish-football-12488917

 

 

Fecker you made me click bait on a daily record story DOH!

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Ken Fitlike

Ken Fitlike

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15 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

What Scottish Football actually needs is a weak Celtic

what particularly gets up my nose is when Celtic fans sneer at all the clubs who get UEFA solidarity payments and whine ' you should be grateful to US. WE earned that for YOU.

..... these payments, while a welcome boost to all recipients, is a pea-shooter against a missile strike compared to the sums Celtic get ( yeah, yeah, well done on qualifying for the group stages and all that) This does very little to redress the huge financial distortions.

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Gaz FFC

Gaz FFC

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38 minutes ago, fatshaft said:

If you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it – and you will even come to believe it yourself.

That might be a winning strategy for the likes of Donald Trump but there are certain slogans in this neck of the woods that really need to be stamped out because too many folk take it as gospel.

My favourite is footballers getting paid a fortune because "it's a short career"

Fair enough then. You must retire at 40 and never earn another buck doing any other job.

Stevie G probably isn't getting paid at Rangers.

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Dons_1988

Dons_1988

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14 minutes ago, Gaz FFC said:

My favourite is footballers getting paid a fortune because "it's a short career"

Fair enough then. You must retire at 40 and never earn another buck doing any other job.

Stevie G probably isn't getting paid at Rangers.

I think that quote is normally used for players changing clubs with money as a motivator.

It is like any career that they try and maximise their earnings, as you say it is a short career therefore why would anyone not do that.

Not sure if anyone has argued that's why they earn such an inflated pay packet as whole to a normal job.  That is clearly determined by the market conditions they operate in as opposed to the length of their career.

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wastecoatwilly

wastecoatwilly

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12 minutes ago, Ken Fitlike said:

what particularly gets up my nose is when Celtic fans sneer at all the clubs who get UEFA solidarity payments and whine ' you should be grateful to US. WE earned that for YOU.

..... these payments, while a welcome boost to all recipients, is a pea-shooter against a missile strike compared to the sums Celtic get ( yeah, yeah, well done on qualifying for the group stages and all that) This does very little to redress the huge financial distortions.

Win the other 34 games and Aberdeen win the league,Celtic's resources have NO effect, football is about football knowledge, the coin is overrated and an excuse to football clubs that are not good enough.Will be interesting to see what Steve Clarke can do with a full season in charge at Killie only lost 3 games in 25 in the league before the split.

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Dons_1988

Dons_1988

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3 minutes ago, wastecoatwilly said:

Win the other 34 games and Aberdeen win the league,Celtic's resources have NO effect, football is about football knowledge, the coin is overrated and an excuse to football clubs that are not good enough.Will be interesting to see what Steve Clarke can do with a full season in charge at Killie only lost 3 games in 25 in the league before the split.

Oh god not this again.

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Meeniedee

Meeniedee

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I think in the long run Scottish football would benefit with no Celtic or rangers...I think crowds would go up as the majority of teams in the premiership are quite evenly match and imagine every season starting with clubs of nearly every top team thinking they have a wee chance of winning something here.

 

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Dons_1988

Dons_1988

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You can't have it both ways,Steve Clarke is an example, money v people 


It’s a nonsensical argument. It has no basis in fact or logic.

You’re not even arguing that the impact of resources is overstated. You are saying it has NO impact.

I’m sure Steve Clarke would also tell you it’s a dribbling moronic argument.
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