So far no one has made a movie of the life of Sir David Murray.
I can’t think why as there is certainly enough dramatic material.
The story arch is all there and the character bio is engaging.
The young businessman who triumphed despite the appalling personal tragedy of the loss of both legs in 1976, following a serious car crash after a Rugby match.
The loss of his wife Louise in 1992 due to cancer.
In this movie there are also strong supporting roles for good character actors.
With broody tough guy Souness and the genial white haired Walter Smith all good strong dramatic roles.
There is even a cast of thousands.
The extras should never be the story of a movie it should be about the central characters.
Braveheart was never about the FCA lads at the Curragh dressed up for the day as Highlanders it was about the Wallace.
However, in Murray’s story it is the extras that are the real story.
It isn’t like that in the real movies.
Steven Spielberg would have none of that.
How would you shoot the battle scenes from “Saving Private Ryan” if the US Rangers started to behave like Glasgow Rangers?
Heading for Omaha beach they suddenly start a drunken barney among themselves in the Landing craft.
What would Cecil B De Mille do if the Israelites, instead fleeing out of Egypt on que, decided instead to use the pyramids as a public urinal while singing the “Billy Boys”?
It is the extras in the David Murray biopic that have been the cause of his greatest misfortune.
In the movie of his life Sir David Murray has wanted to write the script and direct the action. In that he is no different to any businessman who has made it to the top.
Like most powerful men in the western world in the last 50 years he has known the need for control over the media.
He lives a rock star lifestyle, but instead of being known for number one hits he is, instead known for being the owner of Rangers Football Club.
He made an alliance with Rangers supporters.
He will now know the extent to which he is riding a tiger.
As Rangers chased a record equalling ninth championship in a row Murray attracted investment from ENIC when they bought a 25% stake in their club for £40m in 1997.
Having lost out on a record breaking ten in a row Murray decided that domestic dominance wasn’t enough. He would make Rangers a force in Europe and the ENIC money would be part of bank rolling that assault on the champions league.
The man to lead Rangers into Europe would be Dick Advocaat.
Murray believed in “the little general” and indulged him.
It looked, initially, that Murray and his Dutch coach would usher in a generation of domestic hegemony and build serious European credibility.
Like the economic miracle that Murray has been part of since the 1980s there was no secret formula. It was actually a global overdraft.
The Rangers portion of that credit line was used up by the Dutchman’s buying binge.
Advocaat was, essentially, allowed to bankrupt Rangers in his treble winning first season of 1998-99, the Dutchman cost Murray a £32m gross spend on players.
For a single season it was a British record.
This was the period of fawning journalism. Many recall James Traynor’s hilarious dinner date piece where Murray held court as the captivated Daily Record journalist informed his readers about what was on the menu as he dined with the Rangers owner. Apart from Traynor’s complete lack of journalistic objectivity was Murray’s hubris following Celtic’s title win stopping the tenth consecutive league win for Rangers.
“Neither am I willing to stand aside and allow another club to overtake Rangers. The failure of last season hurt me a lot and that pain was something I didn’t need nor want.
“It is also a pain which I never want to suffer again, but by God that sort of thing just makes me even more determined to succeed. I am still as driven, still as enthusiastic and I will welcome the challenge of anyone out there.”
This drooling journalism has, inevitably, spawned its own dedicated website (www.succulentlamb.com).
As Rangers spiral towards administration no doubt a www.humblepie.com would be more appropriate.
With a venal media in competition to conjure up the next best compliment to Murray and his business acumen the Rangers support were also on message.
The traditional party tunes of Ulster Loyalism were still allowed within Ibrox. Every home game the streets around Ibrox stadium the words of “the Billy Boys” were clearly audible.
The media, with very few exceptions, didn’t question Murray’s business model for Rangers or the behaviour of the fans.
All was well in the world.
The new millennium should have belonged to Murray and Rangers.
That was in the script and the funding for the next epic production was in place.
Like an out of control movie director the little Dutchman continued to spend like well like it wasn’t his money.
Tore Andre Flo for £12m was the zenith of the lunacy.
Advocaat spent like a shoplaholic with a no limits credit card.
The problem is that he wasn’t spending Murray’s money.
The Scottish entrepreneur was merely a middleman between the Dutchman and the bank.
Murray loved Dick and the bank loved David.
It had to end in tears.
Ranger’s debts spiralled and the club has never fully recovered.
There were warnings from within, but Murray does seem to have listened.
His business model for Rangers and so it seems Murray International Holdings (MIH) was to borrow, speculate and gamble that the only direction for economy was up.
In 2002 Hugh Adam who had resigned from Rangers in 2000 went public with his concerns for the club he had served for decades.
Adam knew, commercially speaking, where the bodies were buried.
He wrote a piece for the Scotsman, which was published on 14 July 2002.
The sub editor didn’t have to think too hard for an appropriate title.
“Murray in over head” was damning and, more to the point, unanswerable.
“I have read the eulogies to David Murray over this past week with amusement and bemusement, for they owe little to the facts. Far from being the master in the market, as he has been portrayed, in purely business terms Rangers fared badly during David’s 14 years as chairman of the club.
Exactly how else can losses of £80million over the past five years – despite almost £60million of outside investment in that time – be explained? If you are one of the media sources grateful to David for always being available on the phone and giving quotable ‘lines’, it would seem these can be dismissed as an unfortunate by-product of a necessary outlay to achieve unparalleled success; or the nine-in-a-row years, if you prefer. I beg to differ.”
Adam stated up front that he had parted from Rangers on bad terms worth Murray and that, obviously, coloured his judgement of the Rangers owner.
However, it didn’t mean that his analysis for Murray the businessman and Rangers financial future didn’t have some veracity.
“We endured strained relations throughout our time working together because I never depended on him for my income and so could be an independent voice in what was otherwise a one-party state. David tends to only appoint toadies and didn’t like the fact I was not prepared to be one.”
This is one of his weaknesses as an executive. Another is the fact that he is simply not an astute businessman. Rather, he is an impresario, a showman, what might be termed a buyer and seller, this extending even as far as the manner in which he has sold himself and his club through a willing media. No football club chairman in the history of the Scottish game has found his name in the papers above more sympathetic articles than David. Even when the tales being told amount to bad news stories.
This is one of his weaknesses as an executive. Another is the fact that he is simply not an astute businessman. Rather, he is an impresario, a showman, what might be termed a buyer and seller, this extending even as far as the manner in which he has sold himself and his club through a willing media. No football club chairman in the history of the Scottish game has found his name in the papers above more sympathetic articles than David. Even when the tales being told amount to bad news stories.
None of this needs any spin or embellishments.
Adam worked closely with Murray-as closely as anyone at Rangers on the business side.
Quite simply the man described by Adam was no businessman more of a riverboat gambler.
By 2004 the club’s debt stood at £82m.
Only Graham Speirs, chief Sports writer of the Herald, now of the Times, broke ranks in Scotland and wrote about the impending financial disaster that Murray was taking Rangers into.
Speirs also wrote about the “bigotry issue” which, Speirs claimed, was much worse at Rangers than it was at Celtic.
In happier times Speirs spent time on Murray’s holiday home in jersey where the entrepreneur stated that:
“I’d love it to become a kind of dynasty thing. I’d love one of my boys to take over from me at some stage and drive the club on. I think that would be really satisfying, to have that family association with Rangers.”
That was in 1998 as he marked his decade in control of Rangers.
Now, of course, Rangers are in control of him.
Murray, stung by criticism from some brave souls in the media like Speirs about the debt problem at Rangers, moved more flags on maps in his bunkers. Another share issue that raised £51.5m, of which £50m came from Murray’s own businesses.
In reality Murray merely moved the Rangers debt into MIH’s accounts proper.
Unlike Fergus McCann’s share issue, which financed the building of a new stadium, the £1.5 million of new money generated for Rangers was a humiliating failure for Murray.
Failure is something that Sir David Murray isn’t used to.
From 2005 onwards the emotional contract that Murray had with the Ibrox faithful came under increasing strain.
He had promised explicitly to deliver on-field success. He had also, implicitly, pandered to the darker emotions of the club’s support.
The orange away strip, the world was told, was in recognition of the Dutch manager and the large contingent of Dutch stars in the team.
No one was fooled.
Another away top looked suspiciously like an England top.
All the while the traditional songs of settler supremacy in Ireland and empire Loyalism were belted out with impunity.
The first time I saw a different Murray was when he squirmed as he was, for a change, asked tough questions by a journalist.
Screened in February 2005 Murray was interrogated about the singing of the Billy Boys.
He didn’t know it then, but Murray had UEFA censure, the Manchester riots and the PR disaster of the Famine Song all in front of him.
All delivered by the unruly extras on his epic, a production that was so over budget there was no longer a budget.
Since 2006 the extras have been looking on as the stars in the production have failed to provide on field success and their repertoires of songs, old and new, could end them in court on criminal charges.
Not surprisingly, and never a pretty bunch to start with, the hard-line Rangers fans are now revolting.
Their racist outpourings on message boards and on the streets of Manchester makes Rangers even less attractive to any potential buyer.
Like a bad tempered movie mogul on his favourite project,the movie that will be his legacy, Murray is going through managers like so many underperforming script writers.
As I write this there has been a new development in the Scottish media.
The first green shoots of a widespread criticism of Murray.
The once timid hack pack, perhaps sensing that Murray’s power maybe on the wane feel somewhat safer to tell Murray’s customers what everyone in the Scottish media have known for some time.
The emperor has no money.
He promised to the Rangers supporters that he would deliver on-field success.
The reality is that Murray’s Rangers last won the Scottish Premier League in 2005.
His team currently trail rivals Celtic by five points and the Rangers first team squad is being auctioned off to meet bank payments that are due before the summer.
I will soon post an article, exclusive to this site, by a financial expert in the USA who has been examining the accounts of Murray International Holdings (MIH) at my request.
Ray McKinney is President of Chemera Consulting LLC (Philadelphia, PA). He holds a B.Eng (hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.
An experienced turnaround manager, his expertise is in corporate restructuring.
In short he is an excellent person to analyse the current commercial and financial health of any company.
Ray is quite unequivocal that, technically speaking, MIH (and Rangers) are insolvent. Murray’s companies owe more than they are worth.
The Rangers owner has borrowed massively against assets, including Ibrox stadium that have been grossly over-valued.
Ironically it is the esteem, which Murray has been held in Scotland for being the owner of Rangers and the man with the Midas touch that has allowed him to construct the scenario, which had led his empire to the brink of ruin.
Until recently most scriptwriters would have tacked the Murray story as a feel good uplifting triumph of the human spirit.
Now the only way a producer would give the Murray story the time of day now would be as the story of a man with too much pride who fell in with a bad crowd.
Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
It is,I must admit, a nice feeling to be vindicated on this issue.
Very nice.
October 26, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Big Mac
My God check the date! Phil, you are a legend. Utterly, utterly outstanding work. In any other place your sideboard would be creaking under the weight of awards, yet I believe none has come your way. Very strange in a world where the absurd Keith Jackson is the current Sports Writer of the Year.
Our day will come (there’s a very good chance that it already has…).
September 21, 2012 at 8:40 am
max
And exactly what “Scottish court of law” would that be ?
william, Please give the country of your birth the decency of giving it a capital letter!
And that would be ‘suRprise’.
February 12, 2009 at 11:53 am
william
Max,
you have no case to rest !
John,
What exactly is a currant bun, Is that slang for Hun, I believe that word has been classed as racist and sectarian in a scottish court of law.
I am suprised that a campaigning “failed” Journalist has allowed such sectarian racist abuse on his web page.
Anyway John, what do you consider delusional about my factual posts
February 11, 2009 at 7:11 pm
John
Deary me,
Good article spoiled by the usual rantings of a delusional currant bun…
February 10, 2009 at 11:01 am
max
I rest my case.
February 9, 2009 at 3:40 pm
william
Rangers fans arrested in Barcelona = 0 zero , nil, nada, zilch, 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
It is just a shame that a bar owner and innocent patron both required hospital treatment after being attacked by a rabid celtic fan. The thug was given a reduced sentence of only 4 years after his family paid £2,300 in compensation to his victims.
Max, was your post above and in 24. 25 did you write it yourself, or was it another one of the obsessed by Rangers, Celtic Fans,
February 9, 2009 at 2:25 pm
max
Barcelona-
UNDESIRABLES
THUGS
LOWLIFE DRUNKARDS
AN EMBARRASSMENT
DON’T COME BACK
Manchester-
VICIOUS
HORENDOUS
ATEMPTED MURDERERS
February 9, 2009 at 11:48 am
william
you neglect to mention that Barcelona police said the Rangers fans were extremely well behaved and their were NO arrests, do you understand that Maz 0 thats zero %, none in fact in the 18 or so euro games before Manchester there were NO arrests, In 9 away games.
Ask the spanish Bar Owner and his patron who had a glass stuck in his face how they feel about Glasgow Septic, Ask the Rapid Vienna players and officials, ask the people of Burnley and Blackburn, Or the shoppers on the Fulham Road.
I seem to recall a you tube clip from a spanish tv programme making fun of drunken incoherant Septic fans.
GFITW, you are having a laugh
February 8, 2009 at 7:17 pm
max
Please read posts 24 & 25 again.
Undesirables?
Thugs?
Lowlife drunkards?
An embarrassment?
DON’T COME BACK?
February 7, 2009 at 6:36 pm
max
Yet more incoherent rambling!
I posted what the Spanish press had to say about your ‘support’, which you have read.
What’s your opinion of what the people of Barcelona had to say about Crimewatch FC?
I think the phrase used was “undesirables”.
February 7, 2009 at 6:29 pm
william
Another own goal Max,
Rangers fans arrested in Barcelona = 0
Rangers fans sentenced to 4 years for sticking a glass in spaniards faces =0
I am afraid Celtic football clubs fans are guilty of the above.
If you require further education, I will be happy to provide
February 7, 2009 at 5:44 pm
max
Recently I’ve refrained from mentioning posters by name, but I feel I need some clarification from ‘william’.
In earlier posts you were quite adamant that the rangers ‘supporters’ in Barcelona were perfectly well behaved, and caused no problems whatsoever in the city and accused me of lying when I suggested that the good people of the city were less than happy with the rangers ‘supports’ behaviour.
Yet when I post a full translation of what the Spanish had to say about the oh so dignified rangers ‘support’ ( from El Mondo Deportivo), your response is, “I totally agree with you max, good stuff”.
Is this an admittion of rangers ‘supporters’ foul behaviour in the city or an agreement of what the author has to say about your team, your style of play and the less than complimentary opinion of your traveling ‘support’?
February 7, 2009 at 1:42 pm
max
Not that it matters to me but what religion was Oskar Schindler?
February 7, 2009 at 8:56 am
max
It makes me wonder, what stance were the Presbiterian, protestant, Lutherians, Methodists….etc taking in Germany, Austria, Holland France….etc, while this was all going on?
February 3, 2009 at 4:08 pm
william
Ryan,
I know very little about the BNP, you obviously know more, You can try and read what you want into my post, but it is straight forward. The BNP claim to be British Patriots, The last place they would recruit would be Parkhead, because Celtic are an anti British club, formed to help Irish Catholics ? The majority of Celtic fans are anti British, Celtic have links to Irish Republicanism and that is a fact, Poppy sellers were harrassed by Celtic fans last year.
Benedict joined the Hitler at 14, Once he was 16 he joined the Anti aircraft corps, but I am more concerned with Pious XII and the Devout RC anti jewish leadership of the Nazi regime.
DeValers ran for cover after WWII just like many others who had associations with the Nazi’s. He sent Sean Russell to meet the Nazi’s. He sent his sympathy to the german embassy after Hitler’s suicide, This was after his extermination of the Jewish people was common knowledge,
The Roman Catholic church has persecuted the jews for centuries,
This can also be searched and evidence secured.
You can find the details about arrested celtic fans if you search it Ryan, try it, others seem to be able to cut and paste on here, i am not.
February 3, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Ryan
I have already responded to your posts about ROI, nazis, etc. on another blog. If you didn’t bother to read it then that is up to you.
So you still admit that the bnp only recruit patriotic British people then? ‘True patriots’ with links to the extreme far-right nazism? Doesn’t that make a mockery of a lot of the points you have splurted on these pages?
Anti-semitic protests outside Starbucks?!? This is hilarious. Anti-capitalist protests turned into something sinister by Mr Brainwash? I wasn’t even aware that Starbucks was owned by Jews.
If Ireland is so anti-Semitic then please explain to me the origins of the De Valera forest plantation in Nazareth. Go on, you know you want to.
Pope Benedict XVI has openly admitted being forced into the hitler youth as a youngster. I suppose if you were a 12 year-old in oppressive nazi Germany then you would have stood against them would you?
I didn’t invent the floodlights story re Celtic park during WWII. I’m sure others have read it in disbelief as well. Although it may pain you, at least allow me some credit. I simply lifted it from another website altogether to highlight how some people could actually start to believe utter balderdash if they read it and it is repeated often enough. Was it you who made up the ‘Celtic park closed due to support of nazis during WWII’ with no basis in fact? Other than the fact you WISHED it were true.
I will comment on the fans arrested when the full facts appear. If the fact wasn’t highlighted by the mhedia (sic) as you claim how come you know about it?
February 3, 2009 at 9:39 am
max
SIR Oswald Mosley?
Nevill Cahanberland?
The king of Britian himself Edward VIII?
If the british government thought they could have stayed out of it they would have and made many attempts to do just that, much to the BRITISH royal family themselves ecouragement.
Don’t kid your self, Britian entered the war to ‘save the world’ it done so because it had no choice, other wise they would have been more than happy to stand back and watch the Nazis to do as they pleased on the mainland.
The main heros of WWII were the russians who laid down the lives of MILLIONS to win the war.
Next you’ll be telling us the yanks won the war!
The bill they CHARGED us for the use of every soldier, tank, aeroplain, bomb and bullet btw was only finally settled the year before last.
And btw, they never entered any war BOTH Germany and Japan declaired war on them first.
February 3, 2009 at 8:39 am
william
Ryan, your posts are hilarious, Tell us that one you invented about the floodlights again, thats a belter, PMSL, So now I am a member of the BNP. LOL. I responded to one of your earlier comical rants about why the BNP did not recruit at Celtic Park, why would they, how many patriotic British people are you likely to find there ?
If you are going to try and deflect and deny the association between Irish Republicans and the Nazi’s then respond to my factual posts, do not deflect and deny without any info to defend your claims. Do you also deny that anti semitism has been rife in the ROI since its inception. It is still rife today, Including demonstrations outside Jewish owned companies, encouraging people to boycott companies such as Starbucks. do don’t do Irony, Do you ?
Pope Pious XII links with Hiltler are historical facts, He based the 3rd reich on The Order of the Jesuits, Hitler, Himler, Gorbaels were all devout Roman Catholics and signed a Corduit with Pope Pious (paccelli)
Maybe you should be looking at Bishop Richard Williamson,
who has been welcomed back into the church by Pope Benedict (previously of the Hitler youth)
Bishop Williamson has publically stated that no gas chambers existed and only 300.000 jews perished in Nazi concentration camps. I will personally post this on all of Phils blogs as freedom to reply is the right of everyone in a democratic society.
On another point, are you aware that 3 Celtic fans were arrested at Inverness yesterday for sectarian breach of the peace, thats less that the last time they visited
February 2, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Ryan
What the good folk on here should always bear in mind that, when it comes to reading or responding to the inane, deluded, loonball rants from a certain poster (no names necessary), this is the very same individual who has posted a comment regarding his beloved bnp only being interested in recruiting ‘true patriots’.
These will be the same ‘true patriots’ who revel in Holocaust denial and have close links with a certain combat 18 (and we all know how they got their name).
This individual tries to tie Ireland and the Vatican / RC church with the most tenuous links to Nazism and Germany during WWII and then call this shower ‘true patriots’! At least he is up front in his sheer vitriolic idiocy.
Dear oh dear. Was your name and postcode recently part of a leaked memo that was published on a website recently? You know the one with details of ‘members’?
Try this site and see if you know of any closet Nazis:-
http://www.localgibson.com/bnp/
Self-denial and delusion are all part of the package when it comes to re-writing history in an vain attempt to pass the buck from one’s own evil thoughts and deeds.
I have read postings on various websites which deny that Rangers FC ever had a sectarian signing policy for a huge slice of their history (1910-1989?). Instead, these rabid delusional loonies actually state that Catholics were either too bigoted to sign for Rangers, or were too scared of the reaction of there own communities if they did! I ain’t making this up and have seen this ‘theory’ posted more than once. They are also usually the same slime who claim that Celtic were started with the sole intention of stopping integration of (Irish) Catholics with the ‘natives’! As if this wasn’t enough of a problem at the time anyway! (No Irish, No Dogs signs anyone?)
The old mantra of ‘keep repeating this to yourself and you will eventually believe it to be true’ is completely relevant when it comes to idiotic revisionism that a small minority of internet jellyheads have been indulging in over the past couple of years. The sort who will joyfully slander dead people who have no obvious comeback.
I wish this to be posted on all of Phil’s blogs for all to read if the house rules do not forbid it.
February 2, 2009 at 8:50 am
efann
I see all the huns are still in denial about everything they have done.
Is great craic dropping in here every now and again and reading their posts
Keep it up bluenoses. We believe you – everybody across europe make sit up. No honest they do. You’re really great guys.
February 1, 2009 at 9:19 am
william
I totally agree with you max, good stuff
January 30, 2009 at 9:54 pm
max
As I said I paraphrased from memory, so here’s a translation of the article to which I refered.
From El Mondo Deportivo
8 nov 2007
Dear Rangers, don’t come back to Barcelona!
And not because your team are a bunch of cloggers, which they are. It’s not that: the Camp Nou often has, weak boring teams that only defend, run and foul, teams that have no place in the top tier competitions. But rangers run, foul and defend badly. Their defenders are butchers, the midfield have three feet and the forwards are wardrobes!
Most of all it would be preferable if rangers never come to Barcelona again because every time they do they wreck it! You (rangers ‘supporters’) destroyed the Camp Nou seats 35 years ago and this time we’ve had FORTYEIGHT HOURS OF THUGGERY AND PROVOCATION,FIGHTING AND LOW LIFE DRUNKARDS ALL OVER THE CITY, WHICH YOU”VE MADE A MESS OF AT YOUR WHIM!
STAY AND VOMIT IN YOUR OWN HOMES, URINATE IN THE CORNER OF YOUR OWN LIVINGROOM, FIGHT WITH YOUR OWN NEIGHBOURS CELTIC (WHO DESERVE A MEDAL FOR PUTTING UP WITH YOU!) AND FOUL THE STREETS OF GLASGOW. DON”T COME BACK TO BARCELONA, YOU”RE AN EMBARRASSMENT! And while we’re at it, don’t play in the Champions League. You’re not up to scratch EITHER ON A SPORTING OR HUMAN LEVEL.
Their are noisy supports who, even though they drink large quantities of beer, make friends, not you lot, because you turn EVERYWHERE you go into dumps, YOU ARE UNDESIRABLES!
The author then goes on to berate those Spaniards who sold rangers ‘supporters’ tickets that where not allocated to them, before finishing-
“BUT BEST OF ALL WOULD BE NEVER BEING DRAWN AGAINST RANGERS EVER AGAIN!!”.
Just about says it all really.
Big word up to KDS.
January 30, 2009 at 10:49 am
max
Questions were asked in the spanish government as to why the rangers supporters were allowed to use one of the most beautiful cities in Europe as a toilet!
The answer?
The Barca police decided, knowing rangers ‘support’ reputation, decided on a non confrotational approach fearing another riot (in other words, let them in , let them do what they want, then get them out), and it was assured to the City fathers and the country in general, that it would never be allowed to happen again.
The media afterwards said it was their “worst football axperience EVER”, and I paraphrase, “Please stay in Scotland and fight with your City rivals Celtic who quite frankly deserve a medal for puting up with you, DON’T COME BACK!”.
January 29, 2009 at 12:46 pm
max
Police in Villarreal would be very interested in witnesses to AN OBJECT being thrown through and smashing the Villarreal team bus window.
They’re specifically interested in which direction the ‘big boys that done it’ ran away!
No one can legislate for one individual headbanger who glasses someone, an incident that I believe Celtic supporters subdued and held fast until the police arrived.
Something I’m sure the Zenit supporter stabbed at OT would testify to!
January 29, 2009 at 12:28 pm
william
Max, your ignorance of facts is actually quite worrying, you have Lisbon, a couple of thousand of you, you invaded the pitch. we had barcelona, tens of thousands and we invaded the pitch and the spanish police over reacted, We also played 2 previous euro finals before barcelona, any stories about them ? Oh and you have seville, where you stabbed each other ! So now the Villareal bus was hit with a brick ? bwhahahahahaha, I was standing beside it and it was hit by a can of beer numbnuts, Did the villareal supporter witness the violence when he played Celtic ? because the villareal and rangers fans applauded each other at the final whistle, Can you please tell me how many Rangers fans were arrested in Barcelona recently, well here is the answer, none, zilch, nada, zero. Barcelona underestimated the volume of the Rangers support and did not cater for them adequately, They realised this and made proper provisions for the sunstantially smaller celtic support, Meanwhile in a Spanish bar, An innocent spanish drinker and bar owner were having glasses stuck in their faces by a Celtic fan, He rightly received a 4 year jail sentence.
Any windows left in that glass house of yours
Max or did you give them the Hugh Dallas treatment
January 27, 2009 at 6:26 pm
max
Very selective in your replies william!
We had Lisbon, we were acclaimed across the globe as the greatest support in the world.
You had Barcelona (72) and had to be presented with the cup in a toilet.
We had Seville, which resulted in the Mayor of the town taking a full page in the Glasgow Evening Times to thank our support for making it such a “great sporting occassion” telling us that we our friends and our families would ALWAYS be welcome in the city.
You had Manchester….. see Crimewatch tonight at 9pm.
We had Villreal, they started a CSC in the town after we left started by a man who swore he would never go to another football match because of football violence, until he followed the Celtic support to that game and seen the goodness and joy that the sport SHOULD be about.
You threw a brick through their team bus window.
We have a lasting friendly relationship with Barcelona and their support after meeting them several times in Europe.
You were described as “the worst football experience EVER” after you treated their beautiful city like a toilet.
During this time we recieved accolades from both FIFA & UEFA for our support.
You became the first team in British football to be banned from Europe.
Everywhere you go you riot and it’s NEVER your fault, “the police were heavy handed”, or “some other big boys dressed like rangers supporters done it and ran away”, but I think you’ve bitten of a wee bit more than you can chew when you tried that malarky with Her Royal Majesties thin blue line in manchester!
To paraphrase-
“Horrendous vicious attacks”, “I’m relieved I’m not investigating the MURDER of a police officer”, “PC Goodwin was VICIOUSLY ATTACKED”, “they were trying to kick his head in, if they’d got his helmet off he would have died”, “We are more determined than ever to bring those responsible to justice”.
Detective Superintendent Geoff Goodwin.
I live outwith the UK and would love to say, I’ll enjoy watching your ‘support’ drag your club through the gutter on Crimewatch tonight, but I can’t!
I’ll be DEEPLY ashamed of my City and my Country.
January 27, 2009 at 3:11 pm
william
My My, those figure above re the banning orders do tell the real story, any offers or dispute or will we accept that Celtic’s fans truely are Scotland’s Shame. it appears we have several people living in glass house now looking for a more adequate glazing solution
January 27, 2009 at 8:56 am
max
Isn’t it amazing what you can get for a pound these days…………..????
January 26, 2009 at 5:09 pm
The4LeafClover
An insightful article by the author which confirms, due to MIH’s problems, it is likely Glasgow’s 2nd biggest club will spend a few years in the wilderness after the excesses of the 90′s and early 00′s.
I look forward to one, just one, bluenose to refrain from the personal abuse and bigotry (and note – Phil was not the author) and actually address the points raised.
January 16, 2009 at 10:23 am
Hans Christian Anderson
Universally Welcome Ian?? Not according to the “official” figures.
Home Office Banning Orders
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/football-disorder/?version=2
2008 Celtic 22 Rangers 0
2007 Celtic 8 Rangers 2
2006 Celtic 5 Rangers 3
2005 Celtic 9 Rangers 4
2004 Celtic 9 Rangers 4
January 15, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Hans Christian Anderson
Can we talk about a book deal??
PS Maybe you could write an article on the Celtic ambassadors to Blackburn. Dr Death did in his home office banning orders report. Now theres a story Graeme Spiers will never tell.
January 15, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Ian
William, we are still universally welcome , can you say that for yourselves ?
excuse the ignorance but what is GFITW all about? Humour me .
January 15, 2009 at 7:12 pm
william
“Ambassadors to Spain” would that be the Celtic Fan that stuck a glass in the face of an innocent Spaniard in Barcelona then tried to do the same to the barman who tried to protect his customers, If you dispute this, He was given a 4 year jail sentence in a Spanish Court. GFITW ??????.
Do you not recall the arrests and rioting against Celta Vigo either, strange that ??
January 15, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Ian
Hello mr William Anderson,or as I reffered to you “Wullie A” the A being for Anderson.The ‘Clergyman’ was in reference to the comments you left of Phil’s blog “Clergyman attacks …love song”.
So you believe “plastic Irish” and “unemployed tim,now there’s a shock” are not racist comments!!!!!!
Wullie A , sorry, William Anderson, there is no hope for you.
P.s. What is over? and where have I to go? let’s see if you can answer they questions without being racist.Scotland’s Finest sporting Establishment???sectarian signing policies, racist chants and banners , Ambassadors to Spain , need I go on…
January 15, 2009 at 1:17 pm
William Anderson
Ian
Let me explain this veeerrryyy sloooooowly, just for you. I’m William Anderson, not signed in as William. Now I know you are showing classic signs of that west of Scotland victimhood/Paranoia, but believe it or not, we are different people.
Now let me see! Racism? Where was I racist Ian? You see Ian, you come across, as something of a dolt. Calling people racist for telling the truth.
Next you’ll be telling us, murdering Protestants is political.
Bigoted comments from my clergyman? Ian, I’m not religious in the slightest, but you carry on with your paranoia, it’s very amusing reading your sad little man comments.
Tell me Paranoid Ian…what was bigoted about the Ministers comments?
Now if you want to talk about bigoted clergymen in Scotland, I’m up for that. Now where shall we start on this one?
Punch a pape O’brien, Glasgow will be all Catholic very soon – Archbishop Winning.
Or how about the old nazi in Rome? Now that was reall racism, not kid on nonsense like calling someone a Tim.
It’s over Ian… you can go now.
January 15, 2009 at 8:48 am
Ian
Arrrrrgh ! Its Wullie A again,
Your numptyness proceeds you sir. I thought I’d look at a different subject, and here you are again surpassing your bigoted comments from ‘clergyman’ now you are showing real racism.sad , oh so very sad.
January 14, 2009 at 6:05 pm
William Anderson
What an unhealthy obsession our Phil has with all things Rangers and Protestant. It appears to be a peculiar disease which inflicts itself upon the serially offended plastic Irish. Wee Phil, must wake up in the morning with nothing better to do (unemployed Tim, there’s a shock eh?) and think what nonsense he can think of aboput Scotland’s finest sporting establishment.
I’m sure he’ll be writing sometime soon, about poor wee Neil Lennon, the victim of a sectarian attack in Glasgow>
Oh! I forgot, he started the fight and got his come uppance. Where are are the journalists now, who said he was attacked for being Irish, what happened to the bottle attack from behind?
Phil, you are a sick man, those kids should be removed from you. After all! you constantly place them in positions, where they are constantly terrified of those big bad Rangers fans.
Tick tock Phil, tick tock.
January 14, 2009 at 6:33 am
Ronnie Docherty
Enlightening Hollywood script synopsis.
Cant wait for the tragic final scenes where the Huns sack the Temples while Murray and his cohorts, holed up in Charlotte Square eating succulent lamb and drinking private estate wine, cook up more moonbeams.
January 13, 2009 at 11:25 am
John Johnston
Phil great article. This has been a long time coming, for almost the whole of the last century the Scottish press were complicit in Scotlands shame.
It took the good people of UEFA to point out that civilised societies don\’t allow blatant racism and sectarianism to be flouted so openly.
I await your next article with patience.
January 13, 2009 at 9:48 am
Joe
Great article
January 13, 2009 at 8:38 am
Stephen Carey
Another great read Phil, can’t wait for the financial analysis.
January 12, 2009 at 8:21 pm
tom russel
Phil being a Rangers supporter i agree totally about murrays mis management of the club.The Glasgow Rangers you speak of is not the one i know.Maybe i am lucky and the circle of friends i have that support Rangers are not bigots.I myself have wrote to the club about both the famine song and the jock stein one.The reply was a fairly standard we are dealing with it behind the scenes.Whilst i know all around me at Ibrox are people who live in the dark ages i feel there is hope for the next generation.My son is friends with celtic fans he is ten they laugh and joke about football.The way it should be i have never heard any of these kids mention fenian,proddy,orange or tim.Though i have heard them swear,my son is brought up to believe everyone is equal.I hope the Rangers fans move on leave the bigotry in the past and get back to the fun side of football.One last thing there are many decent supporters at Rangers who are now making there voice be heard in all that is wrong watch this space change is coming.
January 12, 2009 at 10:55 am
Ryan
Fantastic article Phil. Massive kudos yet again.
Noe more succulent lamb or finest red for the laptop loyal nowadays. Pies and bovrils all round (to be deducted from expenses obviously).
I would advise anyone who hasn’t read the above mentioned James Traynor loveathon or the Hugh Adams article in full to do so. Surely Mr Adams has no agenda, like what some deluded Rangers fans believe the ‘mhedia’ as they have christened them, have when it comes to their beloved ‘No-one likes us, we don’t care’ football club.
Now to wait for the ‘whataboutery’ hilarity to start because one side is as bad as the other, isn’t it?
January 12, 2009 at 9:34 am
Phil McMahon
Phil. A belter of an article. Highlights the fact that things can only get worse for Murray – here’s hoping. Look forward to the aforementioned financial analysis. Keep up the impressive work.
January 12, 2009 at 4:49 am