Big John Hartson

[Bib Fortuna's Maw]

Lenny is right to put boot into Gers By JOHN HARTSON

Published: 04 Feb 2012
Add a comment
RANGERS are a laughing stock.
And going by what he said yesterday no one is chuckling more than Neil Lennon.

He owes the Ibrox club NOTHING after all the abuse he's had from their supporters down the years. Yesterday he spoke like a man pretty pleased they're now a club in the grubber.

Funny that... no one can be surprised he feels that way. Personally I can understand why he's taken his pot shot. If it was any other club he'd probably have kept his mouth shut and resisted the temptation.

But this is Glasgow. This is life at the Old Firm.

I can imagine Lenny picking up his paper every morning this week and grinning from ear to ear while he's been eating his cornflakes.

It has been one thing after the other with Rangers with the club virtually down on its knees. If anyone thinks Neil isn't delighted about that they're kidding themselves on.

Apart from anything else he is 100 per cent RIGHT in what he says.

Rangers have brought this mess upon themselves.

What was it David Murray said all those years ago? For every fiver Celtic spent he'd spend a tenner... hollow words now, don't you think?

Murray clearly saw this coming because as far as I can see he bolted before the s*** hit the fan.

He left Craig Whyte to deal with it and he's now the one getting it in the neck.

Listen, I'm not going to claim to know everything that's going on behind closed doors these days — does anyone? But as an outsider looking in the club is in the depths of despair and they have absolutely no one to blame but themselves.

You can argue the Celtic manager would be better keeping his opinions to himself.

Rangers have been SPL champions for three years on the bounce, let's not forget.

Some might say he'd have been advised to wait until he's got the championship trophy in his hand before speaking his mind.

But where would the fun be in that?

Lenny has clearly had a close eye on the situation at Ibrox and wanted to have his say. If anyone has a problem with that, tough.

It might come back to haunt him, of course it might.

But he's decided to take a swipe at the team on the other side of the city and I for one refuse to have a go at him for that.

If it was me I'd probably do the same thing. Let's not under-play this, Lenny is HATED by virtually every Rangers fan out there. They despise him and the club he manages.

If it was Celtic in this situation the punters who go to Ibrox would probably be singing songs about it.

I don't have a problem with that. It's the world we live in and if you don't like it then I have a solution. Move.

While a lot of Rangers fans might be appalled at what Lennon had had to say for himself I imagine most probably expected it.



He's just being honest, at the end of the day. If he said he felt sorry for Rangers as a club it would have fallen on deaf ears.

That said, reading his quotes, he actually says the people suffering most are the Rangers supporters so maybe he does feel for them in a strange kind of way.

But having sympathy for that club? Not on your life. <getthemteltbigman>

One thing I would say is that the title race isn't over. Rangers can still win the league. Ally McCoist will believe that, regardless of how bad things are at Ibrox right now.

And trust me, so will Neil Lennon.

Everyone seems to think the championship race is over because Nikica Jelavic has left to join Everton.

Not me. And I'll guarantee both Old Firm bosses will agree with me.

McCoist is in a dark place right now. He's been given virtually no backing by the club's owner Whyte and Rangers are in a desperate state.

But anyone who thinks the title is finished is ahead of themselves. I just don't believe it.

Sure, Celtic are firm favourites now. They are a point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. But Rangers are more than capable of going on a run and keeping their four-in-a-row bid alive.

For a start you can't tell me Jelavic has been outstanding this season.

He's played well at times but hardly ripped the SPL apart.

Don't get me wrong, it's obviously going to be really difficult for Rangers because of the off-the-field situation.

Their supporters are worried about how things are going and I can totally understand where they are coming from.

And clearly they would have no chance of retaining the title if they went into administration and were hit with a ten-point punishment.

But if you thought Lenny had a smile on his face yesterday wait and see what it's like if that happened.

His grin would be fixed on his face for months.

What Lenny said

"I have a certain sympathy with Ally McCoist because it's his first year in the job and I'm sure he didn't envisage the problems he has had.

"But somebody must have seen it coming. Do I have sympathy in that respect for them? No.

"Have they brought it upon themselves as a club? Yes.

"We have cut our cloth accordingly for years and have had to bite the bullet a few times.

"In my opinion, it would work that way if it was any club."

[DevAdvocate]

They don't like it up em.

[Bib Fortuna's Maw]

They don't like it up em.

Don't Panic

[SaTan's Evil Twin]

The past couple of months have been absolutely fantastic.

In December there was the collapse and the surrender of a possible 15 points gap.

Then there was the January transfer window and the debacle of trialists turning up at Murray Park and being turned away because Rangers couldn't even afford their wages. Then they were gazumped by Hibs for a Honduran. Hibs for ****'s sake

And of course January saw the departure of Jelavic for a £5m+ add ons. This led to a pathetic and unneeded bid for Grant Holt which Whyte knew was never going to be accepted. The month was topped off with McCoist storming from Whyte's office with a piece of paper in his hand for which he's obviously been told there would be no new players despite the list of injured players.

And just when you think it can't get any better they go and get dumped out the Scottish Cup by Dundee Utd at their own midden and lose out on another potential £1.5m in revenue!

And it's only going to get worse

[Trevor Santos]

I heard Lennon's interview. He never took a pot shot at all. Why is tumour boy stirring things up? dont think lennon will like this one bit.

Lennon even said he had sympathy for rangers fans.

[DevAdvocate]

I heard Lennon's interview. He never took a pot shot at all. Why is tumour boy stirring things up? dont think lennon will like this one bit.

Lennon even said he had sympathy for rangers fans.

Rangers fan in Lennon defense shocker.

[Trevor Santos]

Do you not agree though?

[Bib Fortuna's Maw]

Hartson works for the Sun and they used the "amazing swipe" language.

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scot...this-mess.html

The first line is Hartson suggesting Lennon is having a chuckle (probably true - he's only human) but the rest of his column is fairly spot on.

[Bib Fortuna's Maw]

I had a quick look on JA (I know, I know) but someone has uncovered this pearler

The Gers Forum
International Opportunities for a Sleeping Giant
by shorerdbear
View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Published on 05-02-2012 21:01

In May 2011, Craig Whyte took over Rangers Football Club from Sir David Murray for the sum of £1. Whilst there is plenty of conjecture over what will happen with the HMRC Tax Tribunal which they are currently contesting, there has been a concerted effort by the new regime to exploit opportunities for the Rangers brand worldwide, which had previously gone unexploited or unreported by previous owners. Here is my take on what would happen if I were in charge. As a Rangers fan, these efforts haven’t gone unnoticed and are appreciated by myself.

The biggest uptake of the game of football over the last 5-10 years has come from the Americans. The Beckham/LA Galaxy deal has helped grow the sport in a country traditionally dominated by the NFL, the NBA and to some extent (although dwindling) the MLB. The Major League Soccer now boasts some great players who are currently showing they can stand toe to toe with the best in the world, coinciding with the numbers of Americans coming to Europe at an all-time high.

Rangers currently have 3 Americans on their books; Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya and Captain America, Carlos Bocanegra. Two are established internationalists having played in the 2010 World Cup whilst Bedoya played in last summer’s Gold Cup.

There have already been talks between Rangers and Fox Soccer Channel to broadcast some games in the USA. If they can create a concrete deal here whereby there is consistent, high quality coverage of a league struggling compared to it’s bigger more-corporate neighbour (the EPL), whilst reinforcing the fact there are “Yanks Abroad” playing, we could increase brand awareness and potentially gain some fans Stateside.

We already have quite a number of fans in America, albeit mostly ex-pats – You only have to check out the website for the North American Rangers Supporters Association (NARSA) to show you there is a market there to exploit. The yearly NARSA Convention is in it’s 20th edition this year and is sure to be yet another success and will no doubt have some Rangers legends there, if not current playing staff.

However, I would look to make the convention later in the summer (at the moment it’s currently in June). My reasoning behind this is that Rangers, in an effort to grow the brand Stateside, would have to go on a pre-season tour to really get some fans on board. If the NARSA convention is moved later, we can create a cohesive, integrated convention and pre-season tour Stateside which would benefit the fans and the team. They only need to play one pre-season game and have a couple of open training sessions where the convention is held, and we could create a spectacle that’d make Americans sit up and take notice. Maybe we could even play it in Southern California,the home of current Rangers players Maurice Edu and Carlos Bocanegra to create a more homely feel among local press.

My other suggestion is we try and contract Nike for our kit manufacturing again. Some of our nicer kits have come from the brains at the Portland-based company, and again are a global brand. Umbro are a good brand, and have given Rangers some lovely looking kits, however are unknown in the States (Man City and New York Cosmos shirts aside).

Various gripes I’ve heard from Americans is that it’s not worth their expense to import Rangers shirts, either individually or as a Sportswear store for limited (at the moment) demand. With Nike, you automatically move into prime retail locations such as 5th Avenue, New York City or on Union Square, San Francisco, as well as the newly opened Nike Store in Glasgow. For Nike, their benefit is having their brand on both teams of one of the greatest derbies in world football in the Old Firm. They would also benefit from significant advertising Stateside if we did a pre-season tour over there. Perhaps now that Kris Boyd (Ex-Rangers) plays in Portland for the Timbers, we could do a Nike-unveiling, Rangers-Portland-playing, Convention/Pre-Season. That would be quite something if that all slotted into place.

America is only one country though, and for Rangers to truly grow into a global brand, they need to exploit business opportunities worldwide. Around November-time, Rangers announced talks with Corinthians, one of Brazil’s biggest clubs over a potential link.

“Overall, we felt there was quite a lot we could do to develop their business and from a football side there may be opportunities for youth players to come to Glasgow and vice versa.

“There is also the potential that we could set up friendly games either in Sao Paolo or in Glasgow. We had a very healthy meeting but our discussions are still in the early stages.” – Ali Russell, Rangers.co.uk

Again, much in the same way the American activities would work, increasing knowledge of Rangers and the Scottish game would help commercial activity, even if it is minimal in this case. Young Brazilians coming over to the SPL could also substantially improve the game that we currently endure, potentially helping us with European endeavours, and maybe improving the Scottish game (and players) technically.

The appointment of Misha Sher as Global Partnerships Director is yet another step in the right direction from this regime to really push the idea of globalising the Rangers brand. After all, Rangers are the most successful team domestically in the world with a proud tradition of excellence on the pitch, and despite the Scottish game floundering under the pressure of inflated wages from next-door whilst crowds are at their lowest for a while, Rangers are potentially in a very strong position commercially, if exploited correctly.

'tis a fleshwound

[DevAdvocate]

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

[Pud]

Paper asked Lennon a few direct questions
He answered

It's as simple as that ... however, it then gets blown out of all proportion!

[Ian Beale]

i should be on the telly cos of my sheer comedy

http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/84255

[SaTan's Evil Twin]

i should be on the telly cos of my sheer comedy

http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/84255

"This has to be the most stupid article ever. Who ever you are you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself."



Man they take things seriously over there

[VenomPD]

That place is ****e!

Terrible, somehow even worse than 606. Probably because all the wums came here and most of the serious posters/mopes went to Ja.

[Bib Fortuna's Maw]

i should be on the telly cos of my sheer comedy

http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/84255

I've just heard that, apparently, Lorraine Kelly was laughing at Rangers on her woman-y TV show this morning.

Nothin' on Beale's belter here, right enough

[Ian Beale]

banned ffs

[VenomPD]

banned ffs

Didn't EDGE get banned on there once before he'd even posted anything?

At least on here you need to post child porn with the mods face on it to get a proper ban.

[Trevor Santos]

i should be on the telly cos of my sheer comedy

http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/84255

link no worky?