Leech, bloodsucker, plunderer, robber, thief, mugger, destroyer, obliterator and annihilator are just some of the words that come back at you when you enter 'parasite' into the thesaurus on your computer. All appropriate words individually and collectively that could be used to describe Rangers Football Club and Alex McLeish. Why is it that in the world of football there is no sense of loyalty or integrity from the people who are lucky enough to be involved in it? McLeish considers himself to be an ambitious man and uses this as one of his excuses for joining the Huns.

His club will always finish either 1st or 2nd in the SPL. They will always be joint favourites to win both Scottish cup competitions. They will always qualify for Europe and they will always go as far as they are entitled to considering they are restricted to competing with Scottish teams in the domestic league. What is ambitious about running a club who are guaranteed success every year before a ball is kicked? If McLeish was truly ambitious he would have stayed at Hibs and led them to the kind of success that is taken for granted by both sides of the Evil Empire.

McLeish began his managerial career by inheriting a successful team built by Tommy McLean at Motherwell and he took them from being European contenders to relegation avoiders. He joined Hibs and completed the work started by Jim Duffy to ensure we dropped into the 1st Division. If Hibs had not won the 1st Division by a mile it would have been as a result of staggering mismanagement considering the experience of the team and size of the playing staff so McLeish can hardly point to that as a confirmation of his expertise. If his Rangers adventure all goes horribly wrong it is unlikely that he will find many sympathisers in Scotland. Appointing him is actually a very shrewd move by Advocaat as, if Rangers manage to close the gap on Celtic to a respectable distance and progress in Europe, then good old Dick will take the credit. However, if the Huns bomb in Europe and drop further behind Celtic guess who will be presented as the incompetent mug?

Now that's off my chest let's look at the lighter side of it all. I was surfing the web and thought I would check out the January sale bargains on www.bluenosescumbags.com. There are a number of decent looking books that you might be interested in so here are my favourites. "The Spiritual Value of Integrity and Loyalty" by Alex McLeish. "My Personal Guide to Philosophy" by Barry Ferguson. "Football Skills Made Easy" by Bert Konterman (admittedly this is a very thin book, but worth the price nonetheless) and that old favourite "Injuries I Have Had" by Michael Mols. My recommendation for quirkiest item is the Tore Andre Flo novelty Banana Skin. Obviously not the one he throws down just before he attempts a shot on goal but it is a very impressive replica. In the shops for 2002 will be a remake of that Paul Newman classic movie "The Colour of Money" so place your order now before Mr McLeish snaps them all up.

Did you laugh as much as I did when it was reported that Barry Ferguson wanted to leave Glasgow to escape sectarian bigotry? No-one could fault him for wanting to escape the knuckle-dragging fraternity who populate the west of Scotland but he was obviously not up to date with events when he announced Leeds to be his destination of choice. Would wee Barry be comfortable associating himself with the Leeds players who seem to enjoy themselves beating Asian students unconscious and then lying to the Police and courts? Yes, the mindless thugery and racial intolerance of Leeds would be a far cry indeed from dear old Glasgow toon.