Scottish cup shame – why the media blames Rangers

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Scottish cup shame – why the media blames Rangers

After the atrocities at Hampden last weekend where a horde of Hibernian ‘fans’ stormed the pitch, attacked Rangers players and staff and goaded rival fans, it is safe to say something of a hive has been stirred in Scottish football.

From the majority of fans in this bitter little hole trying to pin the blame on Rangers fans playing the victim, to everyone of an Ibrox persuasion rightly defending themselves against the ridiculous provocation this entails, it is safe to say a new bitterness has enveloped the game that was already saturated in arsenic.

The media have especially stirred the hate surrounding these calamitous events of nine-days past; from the Sun referring to the Hibs’ yobs as ‘fans’ who Rangers fans ‘retaliated’ against mere ‘goading’, to the Daily Record and Jane Hamilton’s remarkable flights of fantasy blaming the lethargic police response on Rangers fans deliberately blocking Strathclyde’s finest from accessing Hampden properly, we have had some ugly lies and falsehoods circling around this distasteful set of affairs within the Scottish press.

However, the Record’s Gordon Waddell went one step further over the weekend; he managed to blame Rob Kiernan and Andy Halliday for what Hibs fans did.

Despite everything we know, everything we have seen, all the evidence; Waddell pinned the blame on Kiernan and Halliday by saying Halliday kicked back and Kiernan ‘went back for more’. Beyond the staggering connotations here (that grown men should let themselves be attacked without any sense of self preservation) is the simple fact that the message this sends is to justify what Hibs yobs did.

Yes, Waddell conceded that their fans should never have done what they did, in storming the pitch and causing mayhem, but to then administer responsibility to Rangers players for being hit and wanting to defend themselves is a new level of gutter tabloidism and immoral opinion masquerading as ‘journalism’.

It is a new level of sick PC that argues that professionals should not hit back if assaulted – that they have some kind of responsibility to ethics if they so much as dare lift a finger when being attacked.

It must not be forgotten that Halliday himself was being protected by referee Steven McLean and his brave assistants, along with Bobby Madden who chased after another Hibs thug; ergo to pin blame on these people for surviving is something beyond the pale.

These guys, players, staff and officials alike, did what they had to to avoid anything truly nasty from materialising (as what did happen was not nasty enough).

They deserve praise for not beating their assailants up, frankly, rather than condemnation for daring to hit back.

I wonder if these journalists’ families would be happy seeing others condemn them if they defended themselves and their loved ones against a gang of Neanderthals.

Probably not.

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61 COMMENTS

  1. If they had kicked a player black and blue, I am in no doubt that Rangers would be asked to foot the bill for new trainers for the thugs.
    What I am uncertain about is the lack of noise from the SFA, Police and the first minister of Scotland. My memory is not great but I think I recall Motherwell fans goading us last year after a pitch invasion! If either side of the old firm had invaded the pitch against anyone, they would be hangout to dry.
    What sort of country do we live in when the winners cannot do a lap of honour and the runners up cannot collect their medals. If we Scotland want to be taken seriously as a football nation, we need to punish Hibs, Motherwell and their fans.

    Iain

  2. I think both sets of fans that were involved in the awful scenes we saw should be ashamed with themselves. Hibs fans that tore up the pich,destroyed goalposts, attacked fans and players should be held to accoun. Also our own fans that were seen attacking hibs kids that look as young 12 is vile and our board trying to say that we were just trying to help our players was just a joke. When was attacking kids helping our players. To be honest both sets of fans should be seen and dealt with in the same way. I don't see what either club could have done different. The fault lies with BOTH sets of fans

    • what a load of pish you talk our board is right and you are wrong are you a tim is disguise FOOLISH PRICK

    • Missed the point they're if hibs fans regardless of invading the pitch ,that's not the problem .For fans to be allowed to go to the rangers end shouldn't have happened.Theirs also assaulting the players and staff .I agree that the rangers supporters of which was a a very small amount compared to the hibs fans of which were just out to cause trouble .The policing was my adequate for what happened.They should have had a plan in place in case the crowd invaded the pitch .So it is the sfa and police I blame for not ensuring the fans and players were protected.

    • Missed the point they're if hibs fans regardless of invading the pitch ,that's not the problem .For fans to be allowed to go to the rangers end shouldn't have happened.Theirs also assaulting the players and staff .I agree that the rangers supporters of which was a a very small amount compared to the hibs fans of which were just out to cause trouble .The policing was my adequate for what happened.They should have had a plan in place in case the crowd invaded the pitch .So it is the sfa and police I blame for not ensuring the fans and players were protected.

    • Crap. The fault lies with the Hibs thugs and the police who left Rangers players, staff and innocent fans to fend for themselves. Utter cowardice and derelictionb of duty by Police Scotland.
      If the rangers fans had fled the scene then these Hibs thugs would have been over the fence in pursuit. The carnage that would have followed doesn't bare thinking about. Police allowing the disabled and their carers to be threatened and abused is an absolute disgrace.
      It was the few Rangers fans who responded to the threats that halted the horde and turned them back. NOT THE POLICE. It is right that the police carry out an investigation. It is right for the SFA to carry out an investigation. It is IMPERATIVE that a fully independent investigation be held into the disgraceful conduct of Police Scotland.
      The parents of children who were terrorised and abandoned by a gutless police force should be seeking redress, through the courts, against those responsible for the utter dereliction of duty by these cretins in uniform pretending to be "policemen". Shame on them.
      The Hibernian thugs? What else would you realistically expect from those morons?

    • Is that G for Grouse?You wouldn't be from Edinburgh by chance would you?Total pish mate nobody attacked any kids unless it was Bufters(hibs fans)trampling poor disabled kids.The whole crux of the matter is that Grouse/Bufter/Hibs fans attacked Rangers players BEFORE any Gers fans took to the pitch. This is being overlooked/ denied by all and sundry. Also why would we as fans stop the polis going on to crack a few Bufter skulls?Just wouldn't/didnt happen!Did you see the picture that tad**r in the Daily Rebel decided to print?Now youtube etc is awash with images of Gers players being attacked,and I've yet to see ONE in a newspaper but that f*d finds one of a Gers fan brandishing a cornerflag! I don't condone that for a second but I want recognition of the root cause of the whole thing on the day.

  3. Waddell is one of the poorest and most biased reporters in Scottish Football–an arrogant imbecile who is in good company with that other BBC rat McLaughlin.He should be banned from Ibrox along with him. Let's make sure we make his life as uncomfortable as we can by challenging every biased statement he makes in print and on air.We are far too reticent when it comes to exposing his rants and bias in favour of his favourite team Falkirk.Best not to buy that rag he works for and cut off finance until they get rid of him.

  4. no one should have gone on the pitch and those Hibs fans that did and attacked our players deserved every kick aimed their way

  5. Precedents have been set. If it's good for everyone else then it's good for the old firm. We can write anything off as emotion and cite Motherwell and hibs as examples. There should be no double standards in law and if there is, use it to your advantage.

  6. G.. obviously you weren't at the game,I was and the hibs thugs were threatening to come into the seating area where families and young children were. What you're saying is people shouldn't defend themselves or their families.Also if the police had done their job properly the hibs thugs wouldn't have got up the pitch as far as they did and the Rangers fans wouldn't have gone on the pitch.KPG

  7. One person was seen to attack young boy a coward but do not let that deflect from the truth hibs fans are the ones who caused the trouble if someone challenges you it's hard to turn your back and walk away as the jobs fans would have taken that as easy and assault many more Trouble is a problem in Scottish football but it seems the only two teams who get the real blame is Celtic and rangers mostly the latter as they are victims of the success they enjoyed everyone has to have a go in this tim society that has been adopted in Scotland

    • jim traynor why do you spend all your time om here you should be doing your job instead of trying to cause more trouble

  8. if u think waddell was bad u should have read neil cameron evening times he blamed rangers fans for the whole episode,something has to be done about these people,they should not be allowed inside ibrox again. times/sun/record/herald/scotsman/they cannot wait to get their teeth into us.

  9. Unfortunately this is pretty much what people from outside Scotland now expect when you see anyone or anything that is seen to be 'pro-British'. they appear to be fair game for the press and abhorred by the rather violent mob of miscreants that attach themselves to the SNP and to a number of Football Teams, in particular Celtic, (which of course is expected given the large Republican element that follows them), and sadly now, Hibs, a side that historically carried a respectably support but that now carries a rather sinister and quite vile minority in its support. What happened at Hampden was the result of the failure of the Security Company and the Police to do their duty. (Had this been Rangers fans marauding on to the pitch, tearing up the turf, wrecking the goalposts and attacking the opposition players you can bet that by now we would have been crucified, found guilty and everyone from the SFA and the Authorities down to the supporters of our opponents would be demanding that we were thrown out of Europe, banned from the Scottish Cup, and most likely forced to play all our Home Games behind closed doors). So why are the Powers that Be taking so long to decide on Hibs fate in what should be an open and shut case. At the very least they should face a lengthy ban from the Scottish Cup and they should face a significant fine. As for anyone that was seen on the pitch at the end they should face a banning order and that includes any'High Profile' Hibs supporters that had the same limited intellect that warranted them being on the Park at the end of the game.

    • @ Tom Anderson The reason they're taking so long is how can they blame rangers fans and the club and make it sound plausible. I live in England and there is defiantly an anti british agenda coming out of scotland.you would have thought the nationalist won the referandom

  10. Fact is it is our fault we gave these bastards a foot hold in our country and sat back while they took over

  11. For fuck's sake dry your eyes and stop hiding behind a bit of trouble so nobody pays attention to the fact you were crap on the day. As the song goes stokesys on fire ��

    • simply the best playing in the spl next year where will you be you scum where s stubbs now you pricks watp no surrender

  12. Historicaly carried a respectable support?LOL I take it you don't remember their 2 bob casual outfits circa 80s and 90s?Hard hard men they were.Thoroughly deadly at smashing supporters buses and pub windows showering OAPs with lethal shards of plate glass the size of daggers.Cowardly doesn't begin to describe that mob unless they outnumbered you 50-1.Nothing has changed nor will it ever change.Beneath contempt.What I found most disturbing was the amount of "burds" leadin the charge onto the pitch!WOW!Darlins man!

  13. First of all, I've been a Rangers fan from day dot. And, like the rest of you, I've studied a lot of the post-game video footage of the Scottish Cup Final on Youtube. I try to look at situations as they are, rather than through a blue lens all the time. Though I haven't seen footage of the players/staff being attacked, I do believe it happened; I would imagine that these attacks were carried out by a few Hibs fans – just a guess. What I did see on Youtube was hundreds/thousands of Hibs fans goading Rangers fans – but, unless I'm mistaken, goading is not a criminal offence. What concerned me most was that our adult male fans looked shit-scared. What else I saw was a Rangers fan manhandling (some might say attacking) a young Hibs boy who looked no older than 7 or 8. I also saw photos of a c.40 year old Rangers fan (from Ulster, according to the papers) booting a young Hibs fan in the face (the Hibs boy looked no older than 15 or 16 and was already on the ground before he was kicked). Apart from that, I saw a punches thrown by both sides – very much 50/50 jobs..they hit one of us, we hit them back, or vice versa. And plenty of handbags at 50 paces. I saw a couple of our fans (adult males) lying sparko too; and we can assume that they didn't venture onto the pitch to try to get autographs.

    Stewart Robertson's unprofessionalism is a bigger concern to me than anything the so-called 'haters' say. When the Club speaks/issues statements, we need reason, objectivity and language free from emotion. Not only did he defend the 2 club statements from that day/the next day (statements which were very far from being measured or appropriate), but he has also, despite having had several days to consider all the video and photographic evidence that went public, disregarded all the new information that was available to him when he went on tv a few days later.

    We got pumped at the Final – on the pitch, off the pitch, in the stands (by that rendition of Sunshine Over Leith – an anthem that we have no match for). If we're a big club, we need to be big enough to admit that we lost that day, big style. We also found out that our Chief Executive is – if these last couple of weeks are anything to go by – a bad judge of events, and this bleating, unreasonable part of his character will rear its head again in the future.

  14. Its a bad day when our own fans go against us,when r u buying ur new Celtic top idiot,guys like u shouldn't b allowed to support the great Glasgow rangers,go to the manky mobs forums where you belong,or are u a closet hibee.WATP.

  15. We need a new political party in this country . The SNP has been highjacked by the tims who deserted the Labour party in droves , in the hope of turning Scotland into something akin to the Irish republic . Most of us couldn't bring ourselves to vote Tory or Liberal , so we need a new option . A left of centre party that stands for a Federal Scotland within the United Kingdom , retaining the Monarchy , retaining the nuclear capability of the UK and equality and fairness for all of Scotlands citizens . I believe such a Party would halt the SNP in their tracks and end the relentless march to republicanism .

  16. Perhaps better if Sevco just gave it all up and let Scottish football get on with things as they did when they were not in the top division. It is clear they are not needed for the success of football in Scotland. Their return to the top division will bring hatred, bitterness and sectarianism to our society. For the greater good….go somewhere else…NOW.

    • Lol you would love that? Sevco. When the planets align and the Rangers prevail, 55 will be delivered. Then what? 55agic number.

    • You have contradicted yourself twice in that pathetic paragraph.

      As for 'success' – strange measure of success to see revenues drop signifigantly over five years.

    • Clear we are not needed??? Septics empty stadium says very very different mate. The severity of your delusion is mind boggling to say the least!!! Why are you even here? Because it's all about the Rangers, that's why!! Poor wee dimmy. Take your wee boggin a*se back to snake mountain where you belong and stay off the rangers pages.

  17. When the independent enquiry is complete, previous behaviour will be taken into account before punishment is handed out.
    Hibs have no previous for pitch invasions and rioting in the stadium. Unfortunately we have a record as long as your arm…….Hampden twice, 1965 and1980, Birmingham, Newcastle, Pamplona, Barcelona, Manchester.

    • Because it only happened once players and officials were attacked, you should get off with it? Punish Rangers after they were punished previously? Punish then AGAIN? really?

    • You celik mhanks have previous,rioting in Amsterdam.Burnley. Manchester. Fir park. Tyncastle. Dens park

  18. Robertson is a clown. His last statement talking about finance was absolute gibberish and made no sense whatsoever……….not impressed at all.

  19. nobody likes us we do nt care your wee shit team is in the champainship we are up with the big boys stubs is running scared we are the people no surrender

  20. It's typical of the celik mhanks to condone violence against Rangers players,they attacked Ally Maxwell at parkhed and have a history of attacking referees

  21. hibs offered ye's a square go n all ye could do was break into a renditiion of billy boys lol

  22. Probably any criticism that has come has came about because of the statements released by the club. The first one was out far too quickly, after the pain of defeat and the scenes that followed the best thing would have been for everyone to calm down first and no kneejerk reactions. The second statement really should have been much better. The problem for me is that fingers were being pointed every direction and rather than even acknowledge own fans bad behaviour it was almost condoned. I think this is where the problem lay. Everything else would have been ok had the club came out and said it was unacceptable for fans to be on the pitch and lifetime bans would be served to all found to have acted improperly. Then there would have been a higher moral ground to take.

  23. Anonymous 30 May 2016 at 20:45. It would seem from your post that you don't look through a blue lens very much at all, never mind all the time. I don't condone the Rangers supporters who were on the pitch and think they deserve to be punished, but from what I saw, it was a small number compared to the amount of Hibs supporters, a great many of whom were obviously not there just to celebrate. As for the club statement, I think you're the first "Rangers supporter" I've known to take issue with it, as fans seem to be happy that Rangers have, at last, found their voice and are now prepared to stand up for themselves. Other than the misguided part about supporters attempting to defend the assaulted players, which seems unlikely, it was a good statement naming a few of "the usual suspects"(some of the "so-called haters" you mention?) who constantly attack the club, and asking reasonable questions about why there had been no condemnation of the trouble from the SFA, Hibs or the politicians who, in recent times, haven't been slow to get in on the act. As for Stewart Robertson, as far as I'm aware, the majority of Rangers supporters are more than happy with his performance. And why mention getting "Pumped" as you so nicely put it? That's not the issue here and neither is "Sunshine over Leith," which you, rather bizarrely, feel the need to mention. There's not one good word about Rangers or the supporters in your post and my guess is that you are, at best a hand-wringer/apologist who's content to let anyone have a go at us while we maintain our dignified silence or, more likely, just another timposter.

  24. I am a Rangers fan who watched the cup final on TV. As soon as the hibs fans came over the barriers I said there was going to be trouble. I said that because I thought the Rangers fans would react and when I saw the hibs fans running beyond their players towards the Rangers end I knew it was a certainty. What I didn't realise at the time was that Rangers players were being attacked and my anger at that is only starting to fade now. Bearing in mind what happened with the pitch invasion against Motherwell last year and now the hibs invasion at the cup final I believe that the Rangers support need to be on their toes at games next year. In the unlikely event of opposition fans coming onto the park in any game next year in numbers higher than the players could handle then the Rangers fans need to realise quickly that the security measures have obviously broken down. In this case the Rangers fans need to get on the park in numbers in case any of our players are attacked. Ideally the fans would get on the park only to protect our own players and fans, however when opposing sets of fans get on the park it is likely that trouble will start. I know this might seem extreme to some Rangers fans however the authorities need to realise how angry the Rangers support are becoming and that they must do all they can to ensure there are no more pitch invasions in Rangers games for the foreseeable future. If not then I believe the Rangers support would be willing to get involved much more quickly with possibly more serious consequences than the eventual outcome at the cup final. Although Rangers fans will not get any praise for the way they responded to the hibs fans at the cup final I believe they got it just right by attacking enough to keep the hibs fans away from the Rangers terraces but not attacking so much that they caused a stampede within the hibs fans. I have thought of what I would have done if I was on the terraces that day. For starters I would have stayed in the ground to clap my team up the steps to get their runners up medals and basically thank them for all their efforts over the season. By the time the pitch invasion started I believe the staircases were packed full of people leaving so there would be no quick exit if required to get away from hibs fans making there way towards the Rangers terraces. As the hibs fans worked there way nearer to our fans with some trying to get over the barriers I would have been looking around assessing the situation. The first thing I would be assessing is whether there were children or elderly people around who shouldn't be on the front line of any trouble. Also not being a hero, I would be be looking around assessing whether there were enough Rangers fans left in the ground to deal with the threat of the hibs fans. If this was the case I would gradually be working my way down to the front of the terraces where other like-minded people would be gathering. As the hibs fans continued to come forward aggressively I would be thinking whether we are better waiting for them and fighting in the stands or whether it's better to take the fight to them and onto the park and therefore away from the main body of Rangers fans who could come under threat. I would have picked the latter option to try to seize the initiative and take any trouble away from vulnerable fans and also I believe it would be less dangerous than fighting in the stands with the potential for people being knocked down stairs etc… When on the park obviously there was violence but in the absence of sufficient police there would be no other way to repel the aggressive hibs fans. So in trying to review the actions of the Rangers fans at the end of the cup final I believe they barely put a foot wrong. No one in authority can be seen to thank the Rangers fans as there was violence involved, however they helped safeguard their own supporters while only fighting with hibs front line troublemakers. The police need to up their game for next season.

    • That is exactly what is wrong with the fall out from this game. Supporters should never enter the field of play. If one set enters the field of play the other set should never follow suit. This vigilante approach has absolutely no place in the game and unfortunately the club statement almost condoned it. It is up to the authorities to come down as hard as possible on supporters who do enter the field of play to send out the message in the strongest possible terms that it will not be tolerated. But to start suggesting supporters get on the war footing is clean bananas and would drag the club right into the gutter. To be honest supporters like you are not welcome in football stadia.

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