While at times Scottish football’s obsession with Rangers can be rather amusing, it is still something we as Rangers fans should monitor closely.
When fan sites, blogs and social media accounts of several top flight clubs spend most of their time talking about Rangers, it would be easy to fall in to a trap of either ignoring, or simply countering the wave of lies, fantasy and hatred coming our way, without actually looking back at the source of the nonsense, and drawing attention to the conduct of other clubs and their supporters in Scotland.
Of course, before we do so, we should prioritise what is worth responding to, what should be mocked, and what should be challenged.
It should go without saying that the “new club” brigade should be ignored or mocked, as every avenue has now been explored by the deranged Rangers haters who have spent time and money trying to have Rangers history wiped out.
It is to our testament that, with all the events of the last 4 years, we are still standing and in a process of progressive rebuilding that is giving us hope for the future. We are where we are, and I believe that the experiences of the last 4 years should ensure that the club itself is more aware than it has ever been agendas at work against the club.
For the fans’ part, many will fight to ensure that those operating the club do not make us vulnerable to those who would do us harm, and will also seek to ensure fair treatment and parity in everything that we do.
It’s a tough fight, but we should have more than enough resources to cope.
It seems that Scotland’s newspaper editors have their heads in the sand with regards to the ongoing falls in circulation and the rise of social media.
Instead of addressing the imbalanced and agenda led reporting about our club, which is accelerating the drive of fans towards fans’ forums and social media in greater and greater numbers, they continue to push, or allow journalists to write utter rubbish where it concerns Rangers.
The reporting of the last few days is a perfect example.
The mainstream media on Monday had a heavy focus on Harry Forrester not being sent off, and speculated about James Tavernier leaving Rangers for Turkey a week after him signing a new deal at Rangers.
It has also emerged this week that there is a point blank refusal of any media outlet in Scotland to report Celtic fans’ partaking in an IRA themed karaoke at Tynecastle last week.
The Daily Record then decided to stir the pot about a proposed meeting between Rangers and the SFA to discuss the Cup Final report being cancelled. I’m sure there is enough discord between the club and the SFA without the Record stirring the pot and attempting to get Rangers fans involved (as is clearly their intention).
Furthermore, while Rangers are also facing strong criticism about our start to the season, Hearts and Aberdeen have been less than inspiring, with both sitting underneath Rangers in the table.
Last night, the Record again ran a non-story with grainy video footage of an apparent heated discussion between Rangers fans and Celtic fans outside Glasgow Central Station, while somehow managing to mention the Rangers fan (or fans) wearing Rangers colours, but failing to identify the Celtic fans.
Let’s put this in to context, the other individuals involved were wearing Palestinian flags, just an hour before thousands displayed them against an Israeli team.
It’s not rocket science to work out what was going on here.
In the report, despite no footage to suggest one side was more the aggressor than the other, Rangers fans were labelled thugs, and the Celtic fans as generic “supporters of the Palestinian cause” while the Record credited the shameful piece with a generic “Record Reporter” byeline.
Rangers are most definitely back, and attracting the exact same attention in 2016 as we have always done.
Yes, it’s something to be proud of that our club is the biggest show in town, however, that has its drawbacks, and I would suggest that, while we have other areas to concern ourselves with in different ways, such as the ongoing retail dispute, and the lack of clarity over the operating business’ finance, that we as a support need to draw attention to what is happening elsewhere.
We expect trash reporting from the National comic, or the Scottish Sun, but the Record in recent weeks has plumbed the depths more than any of them. It’s almost as if editor Murray Foote has a chip on his shoulder about Rangers replacing Dundee United in the Premiership.
If I was Murray, I’d be more concerned about my day job than my hobby.
The message here is clear.
Don’t buy the Record.
Don’t read it.
Don’t click it.