The Enemies of Rangers Football Club written by Chris Graham

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FEBRUARY 16, 2012

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Winston Churchill

It has been interesting, if not surprising, to watch the emergence of the enemies of our football club over the past few days. I think there is a danger over this period when our minds are rightly focussed on making sure Rangers survive and prosper that we forget some of the people who wish to see the club die. There are some obvious ones who we are well aware of already like Philip McGillivan and Peter Lawwell but there are others who will now be jumping on the bandwagon. So, with that in mind I’ve decided to keep a note of them. This post will be updated with the names and quotes from the people who want to see our club go out of business and are revelling in the possibility.

1) Mike Small – ” Who?” I hear you ask. Well it seems Mike is a friend of Philip McGillivan (Rangers hater and IRA supporter). He is described on the Guardian website, who gave him the platform to spew his hatred, as “the Editor of Bella Caledonia”. This in fact appears to be a blog much like this one but Mike clearly has ideas above his station. I won’t be providing links to either the Guardian piece he wrote on the 14th February or his blog because, frankly, I would prefer not to give them the hits but let me provide you with a few quotes from it.
“The club’s slide into administration could help rid Scottish football of ritualised bigotry and intergenerational hatred”

“After the loyalty she has been shown over the years, how can Her Majesty allow her Revenue & Customs to behave in this manner?”

“Establishment voices mutter confidently of the club’s fanbase and that the “”club will never die”. Such macho posturing is a default setting from the club’s supporters (who numbered 17,822 at the recent home defeat to Dundee United)”

“Rumours swirl that Graeme Souness waits in the wings like a moustachioed Sauron.”
I’m sure we can all agree that Mike is a funny guy….He may just be an idiot who believes everything his pal Philip tells him but I suspect he has his own hatred to keep him going, with his perception that Rangers are the root of all bigotry being a particular give-away.

2) Iain McGill – Again a rather obscure one but he is the Conservative Party candidate for Edinburgh Central and as such represents his party in what he says. He is also pictured on his website shaking hands with David Cameron. I wonder what the PM would think of McGill’s views after his wholehearted support for Rangers today? Mr McGill had the following to say on Mike Small’s piece in the Guardian:

When challenged on why he found it a good thing that hundreds of people could potentially lose their jobs he had the following to say (let me apologise for his spelling):

Mr McGill not only has political aspirations but describes himself as a “businessman”. He is a director of Harmony Employment Agency http://www.harmonyemployment.com/meet-the-staff.html. Maybe he will find that Rangers fans who unwittingly use his services may decide not to, given his hatred for our club? Then perhaps he will see just how funny it is when businesses get into trouble and people face losing their jobs. Anyone who is not on Twitter and would like to contact Iain to discuss his views can do so via this link http://www.voteiainmcgill.com/contact.aspx

3) Peter Lawwell – Well he had a chance to act in a dignified and magnanimous way but that isn’t really Peter’s way is it? Despite all evidence to the contrary he is adamant that his club don’t need Rangers. Perhaps he thinks people are interested in the outcome of a one team league? But really it’s just another chance for him to have a dig. Here is the quote today, I’m sure there will be many more…

“We are very disappointed with the First Minister’s claims that Celtic ‘need’ Rangers and that Celtic ‘can’t prosper unless Rangers are there’.

“This is simply not true. In a series of interviews given just three days ago, we made it abundantly clear that Celtic has a well defined strategy and a business plan independent of the fortunes of any other club. That remains absolutely the case.”

4) Matt McGlone – Now I hesitated to add this because Matt’s performance on Scotland Tonight on the 16th February was so shambolic that he’s more a figure of fun than a serious enemy. Indeed you could argue that the sight of him and Michael Kelly bickering was a genuine moment of light entertainment for us in hard times. Perhaps one day we will learn what the stuttering McGlone means when he says that Celtic are a “culture of people”?

However he has been added because despite the clown like fashion in which he put his point across there was no mistaking the hatred and desperation behind it. Michael Kelly might have been added too but actually after getting off to a bad start with the political point scoring he obviously felt necessary he seemed to return to his senses and realised that Celtic do indeed need Rangers and that Rangers “will continue”. Of course with crowds of 60,00 every week at Celtic Park ( no sniggering) they will soon be playing in the EPL…….

5) Neil Lennon – Well it was never likely that old popcorn teeth was going to be able to keep his mouth shut was it? Fresh from moaning about people commenting on his club he decides to comment on ours. Suffice to say he just couldn’t stop himself but with his past behaviour and abuse of our fans and players he could have been on this list straight away anyway.

Lennon has also now called for Rangers to be stripped of titles and urged the media to dig up as much dirt on the club as they can. I’m sure they’ll do just that Neil.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2102769/Neil-Lennon-wants-Rangers-titles-stripped.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-Rangersmail&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Update: Further remarks on the club he doesn’t comment on came on the 27th February….
“We haven’t taken a gloating theme. He’s using the words dignity and class, well Rangers are the ones under investigation, they’re the ones who the police have been called in to look at. It’s nothing to do with our football club. We were asked the question, ‘do we need a strong Rangers?’, and we don’t. We are self-sufficient.”

6) Hugh Keevins – Once again this is not a surprise name to appear on the list. Hugh has a long history of putting the boot into Rangers whilst sticking up for his team, Celtic. However this time he’s written a piece in the Daily Record ‘blog’ on 19th February which even the Celtic View might have thought twice about publishing. It’s long been a tactic of the media in
Scotland to feed Celtic fans’ paranoia and this should do the job no matter what the outcome of Rangers’ administration. Well done Hugh, it’s quite possible that somebody, somewhere will be the victim of an act of violence because you felt the need to write lies in your paper. I’m sure the irony in the last quoted line of his ridiculous article won’t be missed. It’s you and your ilk who stoke the hatred with lies Hugh – and you know that.

“ the unmissable smell of favouritism has started to rise from Rangers’ journey back from administration”

“Celtic fans have carried the firm conviction for 100 years and more that Rangers are the ‘Establishment’ club in Scotland – and now they’re getting evidence to support their claim”
“ he said Rangers were “part of the fabric of society” in Scotland. Which makes Celtic what, precisely?”

“ the public purse has been dipped in a way that’s given cause to widespread concern and police intervention”

“Severe penalties will need to be imposed on the Ibrox club”

“a repeat of last season’s unedifying end to the championship looms on the horizon”

“now’s the time for the leading players in this off-field drama to be careful what they’re saying for fear of inflaming an already combustible situation”

7) Vespbar, 14 Drury Street, Glasgow G2 5AA – Obviously there are lots of Celtic bars out there that Bears would not frequent and vice versa. However, Vespbar in Glasgow’s city centre doesn’t advertise itself as such. It’s owners however have adopted the highly suspect “Jelly and Ice Cream when Rangers die” slogan to attract Celtic fans to their bar. I think it’s important that Rangers fans know just what the views of the owners of this place are and hopefully you will all choose to avoid it.

They have since deleted the offending tweet although they are retweeting Celtic fans on a regular basis with the #jellyandicecream tag. A tag which, if I supported a club that was embroiled in a child abuse scandal, I might choose to avoid…

“Got the Celtic game on today, showing on our big screen (120 inches). Ice cream and jelly at full time. ;-) “

Update: Suzie McGuire who owns the bar with her husband Jim has since posted several comments on the blog and also issued the following apology -

“I am indeed happy to apologise to anyone who thought my husband’s comments anything other than banter.

We are certainly not republican’s, supporters of any form of violence or bigotry or child abusers or any such horrible things. I certainly did not gloat at anyone losing their jobs, or in any way shape or form suggest rangers should die. Am i happy at you losing the league, yes, but only if by more than 10 points as i believe in fair play.

My husband thought ice cream and jelly a celebratory party happy banter for celtic supporters and yes a wind up to rangers fans, but we certainly had not realised it had ira connotations, naiveté perhaps?Or maybe just no knowledge of ira information Which i am glad about, I wouldn’t want to know anything about that bile.

My sky sports have every game and anyone minus colours is welcome, although we are a predominantly celtic support bar on match day and I wouldn’t want anyone under any false illusion, but rangers supporters who enjoy banter and not bigotry are welcome.”

8) Stuart Cosgrove – Stuart is a busted flush. It seems perhaps he knows this since his ‘comedy’ show “Off the Ball” on BBC Radio Scotland seems to have become more and more bitter as time has passed. Stuart seems to know about a criminal tax investigation that the rest of us are not aware of. He also seems to think he knows the outcome of this fantastical investigation which he unveiled on his show on the 18th February. Stuart has previous as a Rangers hater and is a big fan of using the word “hun” on his show. Not likely to be the only BBC employee on this list by the time we are done.

“Rangers have cheated their way to titles with illegal tax mechanisms”

9) Brian McNally - The current situation at Rangers is a wet dream for someone operating at McNally’s level of hatred, bigotry and mentalism. He could actually be as bitter as his best pal Philip. Here is a just a selection of his rants on Rangers. You’ll note he also accuses Rangers of tax evasion – one for the lawyers when all this is sorted out.

10) Howlin’ Mad Joe O’Rourke (Celtic Supporters Association) – If there is someone at the Celtic Supporters Association with a knowledge of basic punctuation and spelling then they should get a hold of Mad Joe pronto! Prone to the most extraordinary rants, filled with inappropriate semi colons, Joe’s favourite topic is not actually his apparently beloved Celtic but the “Evil Empire” of Rangers. Joe is a bigot ( a proper one) and a mentalist. He’s another who I could fill this page with quotes from but just have a look at the CSA website if you don’t believe me.

I can’t sum up my feelings on Joe better than one of my favourite ‘Twitterettes’ so I’ll leave the final word on him to her -

“Mad Joe O’Rourke can take his “green pound” and bang it right up his hoop. He is a demented bampot”.

11) James Cook (BBC) – James has appeared on this blog before. He is the chap who mis-edited the interview with Ally McCoist to make it look like he was laughing about sectarianism. James is twitter chums with Philip Three Names and is a big fan of Celtic blogs which he likes to link as sources for his outlandish stories.

On 07/03/12 James decided to post a picture of Sasa Papac’s car number plate on his twitter and despite being informed of his “mistake” he left it up for several hours. He’s rather prone to ‘mistakes’ involving Rangers.

He also has some difficulty coming to terms with any good news relating to Rangers. One to watch and not allow near Ibrox under new owners.

I would ask those of you who read the blog to post comments here or tweet me including the names and quotes from people who revel in our misfortune over the coming weeks and months. If you can also provide links that would be helpful. I will update this post weekly so that when RFC is back on its feet we have a record of those who spoke out against us.

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