By Stuart Crawford
Ho hum. Rangers are in the news again for all the wrong reasons. No, not their recent drubbing by Dundee United, nor the never-ending saga of the buyout by Craig Whyte, but once again because of their fans.
Apparently a sizeable section of them are unable to refrain from singing and chanting about historical events which have little or nothing to do with football, and which are generally accepted nowadays as being inappropriate.
It was ever thus, I’m afraid. Some of those in the Copland Road stand are either not bright enough to understand the ramifications of their actions, or possibly they just don’t care – which begs the question whether they are bona fide supporters at all. Neither do they seem capable of learning any new songs, ones which don’t offend. Which is a pity, both for the vast majority of decent Rangers supporters and also for the club itself.
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Basically, these people have a sort of vicarious death wish, for it has been plain enough what is going to happen if they don’t desist. UEFA is currently investigating the latest nonsense, which happened when Rangers played PSV Eindhoven. This might result in a ban on supporters and some games being played behind closed doors at Ibrox, or a hefty fine, or more likely both. Is this what the moronic choir wants? The club’s response has been a tad underwhelming. Sure, chief executive Martin Bain has spoken out again and again, and the club has made significant efforts to get the anti-sectarian message across. Outgoing manager Walter Smith has added his voice to those condemning the perpetrators, while leaflets and advice have been handed out. That said, there also seems to be a collective shrug of the shoulders by club and officials – suggesting that they’ve done all they can and we just have to live with it. That’s a bit of a cop-out. There are many more measures that the club could employ if it was to treat the miscreants seriously. For a start, they must know who most of these people are. It’s all too apparent on match days where the singing and chanting originates from, even for those of us who watch on television. It can’t be beyond the wit of man (or club) to record the culprits on camera as evidence to be used later. Neither should it be too difficult to place stewards and police – plain-clothed if you so wish – among them, to witness at first-hand their actions. I can quite understand why mass arrests on match days should be avoided, but individual arrests after the game should be more manageable. After all, that’s how the Met do it when confronted with mass criminal activity at demonstrations. All of this is currently being played out against the background of the off/on takeover of Rangers by Craig Whyte, Scottish businessman and self-made multi-millionaire, of whom most people speak warmly. Whyte appears to be, quite rightly, taking his time over due diligence, for Rangers’ financial position is hardly appealing. To have the threat of UEFA action hanging over the club is not likely to encourage him to rush. So the club’s future remains in limbo, for the time being at least. The net effect of all this is to damage the Rangers brand even more. Memories are long in the football world, and the riots in Barcelona in 1972 are still fresh in the mind for many. The Rangers manager on that day, Willie Waddell, had this to say of the fans’ behaviour: “It is to these tikes, hooligans, louts and drunkards that I pinpoint my message – it is because of your gutter-rat behaviour that we [Rangers] are being publicly tarred and feathered.” Waddell's words have a renewed relevance 40 years later. More recently, the club’s reputation was badly damaged by its fans’ behaviour in Manchester in 2008, when ticketless supporters who had travelled to the venue of Rangers’ UEFA Cup final against Zenit St Petersburg caused widespread injury and damage in the city centre. While neither of these debacles seem to have had an overtly sectarian strand, they hardly enhance the club’s popularity with the wider audience. To many, it appears that the club’s response to this litany of justified criticism is one of cognitive dissonance, with rather pathetic pleas of being the victims of general disapprobation which could be levelled at others as well. While the problem with some of its fans is acknowledged – and there is a growing realisation that the minority of micreants might actually be quite sizeable – perhaps the true seriousness of the situation has yet to penetrate the club’s collective psyche. Let’s make no mistake here: the Rangers FC brand is holed below the water-line and is sinking rapidly. A ruthless and energetic rooting-out of the club’s more bigoted and uncaring supporters is urgently required, and the means are there to do it. All it needs is the political will. Meanwhile, if I were Craig Whyte, I would continue to proceed in a leisurely fashion…Want to discuss other issues? Join the debate on our new Scottish Voices forum
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