Fraser Wilson of the Daily Record has delivered a tear-jerking contribution towards The Banter Years with an incredible piece showing that the spirit of Succulent Lamb most definitely lives on.
It is par for the course for legacy publications to drool over whoever is in charge at Ibrox. Mark Warburton was simply waiting to take over as England manager, Mister Gerrard was the obvious successor to Jurgen Klopp while a year ago everyfing that Micky Beale was finking about was treated as the Gospel from a Soccer Revolutionary.
These days the chubby kids coach spends his time on Sky Sports News discussing people that can actually do the job he has failed miserably in.
Succulent Lamb was a product of the Dave Murray era in charge of Rangers when reporters went overboard to describe the magnificence of the Ibrox chairman.
Grand plans for global domination were shared without a dissenting word while the reader was reminded of Murray’s highly successful vineyards in the south of France, his property empires, his multiple business successes and how fortunate Scottish football was to have such a far sighted leader.
In May 2011 Murray shifted his Ibrox empire for £1 with the billionaire, Craig Whyte inheriting the drooling adulation.
Since his appointment at Ibrox in October Philippe Clement has been described as a proper football manager which says more about his predecessors than it does about the former Monaco boss.
With the media hanging on his every word Wilson went into overdrive as he shared the devastation of Wednesday’s postponement of the match away to Dundee with the Record‘s rapidly shrinking army of readers:
The images of Rangers and Dundee officials watching referee Don Robertson plod around a saturated Dens Park ahead of another inevitable call-off were beamed out across the world on TV.
But it was a sight hidden from the public glare at the team hotel back in St Andrews that Philippe Clement reckons really brought home the harsh reality of the farce that is making a joke of Scottish football.
The Gers boss told how he’d come face-to-face with a father and son who had travelled hundreds of miles from Wales to watch their beloved side take, what they hoped, would be another step towards the title.
Tears were streaming down the six-year-old’s face when he discovered there would be no game. If that wasn’t hard enough – it was the second time they had shelled out to make the journey full of hope only to see their excitement drowned by the dodgy Dens surface.
Clement has had to cancel days off for his players and redraw his schedule for the packed next few weeks. But it’s the impact on the punters he feels just as bad.
He said: “You guys maybe don’t understand but we have a very busy schedule, you are preparing everything, training and preparation. The guys almost don’t have any free days. They will have two free days this month. I’ve had to take one off now because we had to change our programme.
“So there’s a lot of things around it. Yesterday when we were in the hotel I saw a father with a small boy, it was the second time that they’ve travelled from Wales to St Andrews for the boy to see a Rangers game and it’s the second time the game’s been cancelled.
“It was a boy of six, seven years old who was crying. There’s a lot of things around that, all the fans coming there from Wales, from England, from Northern Ireland, from all over the place the first time a few weeks ago and now again.
“This is really bad for the image of football in Scotland. Everybody needs to realise that and it needs to be avoided. It’s important to make the right decisions that this cannot happen any more.”
Perhaps if Clement hadn’t been utterly terrified of playing in the midweek ahead of facing Celtic he would have been spared the heart-breaking trauma of sharing an expensive hotel with a six-year-old from Cardiff dragged 400 miles north in midweek by the ego of his Dad.
At the end of this season Clement is expected to clear the streets of Glasgow from litter and graffiti and Phil in every pothole in the country with full coverage in the Daily Record.
Fraser Wilson is a dedicated fan of Queen of the South, Jim Traynor lives for Airdrie and Chic Young is St Mirren daft.
Who is the least trusted referee in Scotland?
Beaton- a back catalogue like no other
Collum- has never had his eyes on the ball
Dickinson- the dangerous rising star
McLean- nothing will beat the Caley Thistle semi
Robertson- Tynecastle was an all-time low
Walsh- Utterly compromised by the day job
Since when was Wales in Ulster?
Lol then why does the Belgian Beale pay for the guy and his kids accommodation and travel expenses,twice.
Actually reads like a parody of a Daily Ranger article in Not The View circa 1994!
My pick in that one was of course “This is really bad for the image of football in Scotland.” says the manager of a club defined across two iterations by belligerent ethno-religious hatred and with a fanbase prone to rioting over many decades. You couldn’t actually make that up. It’s beyond parody.
He is takingbhis guidance on this from wee Quark aka Alex Rae.
Now we all know the cheating this season is more blatant than ever it really has been taken to another level and a new extreme.
So the shit must be ready to hit the fan at ibrox should they not claim that £50-70 million European champions league money this season,to the extent that sevco will go bust and get liquidated just like the previous klub that played out of ibrox.
That can be the only reason for the cheating to be so blatant,they know it and so does the SFA/SPFL and everything will be done in their power to stop that happening,hence the cheating going on in plain sight.
It would have been a nice touch if he had made sure the young boy and his dad were made guests at their next game, home or away! But there again, like most things coming out of their club, I take what they say with a shovel full of salt.
I see mr clement has turned out to be like them a dirty liar this prick has been in scotland 6 months our something and the media in scotland sucks his tadger the jounralists are dirty scumbags and write more lies than jackanory how can some celtic fans buy that record our the sun they must be daft giving any of they papers money as for the sevco manager i hope this prick gets the sack because if he gets handed this title buy the cheating officials i hope there a war coming and they cheats get chased right our of Scottish football these biased officials are embarrassing our game and the english at laughing at us through cheating officials corruption sfa.spfl its a fucking joke and that bastard p.lawwell Nicholson are sitting on there arses counting our money wake up fans and exspect our next 6 game to be hard buy the official on the park dirty cheating scumbags..
Fraser Wilson of the daily Record …he covers the “Loony Joons ” for the newspaper ? A rag which is circling the drain quicker than Inaction Jackson can predict the future ? SCOTLAND’S CHAMPION …..
Why wasn’t Tannadice Park offered by United. Dundee should improve drainage
of the pitch.
a) doesn’t have VAR
b) if CP was unavailable for any reason, would Ibrox Park be your first choice alternative?
Chic Young a St Mirren supporter,and I’m the queen of Sheba………..