HAVING reported on every one of Rangers' 10 away trips in what was a remarkable European campaign, I've seen just about everything there is to see from the fans who followed their team into nine different countries.

From way back in Montenegro in August, to Manchester the other night, the overwhelming majority of the Light Blue legions have been excellent and behaved superbly.

However, the disgusting scenes witnessed the other night at the Uefa Cup Final against Zenit, beamed around the world courtesy of the authorities' CCTV images and newspaper stills, were a disgrace, shaming Rangers and prompting condemnation from the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, along with every other right-minded citizen.

A few hundred thugs tarnished what had been an amazing experience of passion, colour and friendliness in the English city.

It all went sour as darkness and madness descended. They chased and fell on a riot policeman like a baying pack of wolves, wrecked cars in their path, and behaved like violent imbeciles.

It may have been a minority, given that estimates put the number of Rangers fans in Manchester as close on 200,000.

But there was more than enough of them to shame a club who have battled hard to improve the image of their support. Clearly, for all Rangers' efforts, there is still work to be done and Wednesday night was an enormous setback.

People are not concerned by who did what, or who was to blame. All they see are men in Rangers strips going wild, and they make their own judgments.

A couple of years ago, Rangers were in serious trouble with Uefa. Continued sectarian chanting among their support had the beaks in Nyon threatening closure of Ibrox after they pursued the club upon monitoring discriminatory' songs in Villarreal.

It was a watershed moment for Rangers. And those who run the club, Sir David Murray and Martin Bain, declared that the days of singing about the Pope and Fenian Blood had to end - or the club would suffocate itself, and die.

There has been a huge improvement from the Rangers fans in terms of the song-sheet, though there still is an element locked in the past.

The club were fined in Pamplona just over a year ago for one distasteful song after the final whistle, and there was an SPL reprimand for more sectarian nonsense at Inverness on the first day of this SPL season.

Sectarian singing was also evident on the streets of Manchester, but it was eclipsed by the violence which erupted.

It's as if these people feel compelled to rile up against anyone attempting to change them. But, as one fan I saw bellowed back at such a group of morons: "You don't deserve to wear that jersey".

The decent majority have had enough.

Those who continue to sing about Jock Stein within grounds and belt into the FTP numbers need to have a right good look at themselves.

It isn't clever, and it has no place in society or football. It's as if they believe the street is somehow different from a stadium, and this is something Rangers struggle to control.

It is a social problem, not just a football issue.

But getting back to Europe, from that first tie against Zeta, through to Belgrade and then into the Champions League against Lyon, Barcelona and Stuttgart. there was not one arrest among the travelling Rangers support.

Around 25,000 went to Barcelona, and there were problems. I am not suggesting for one minute they are all angels, but every club has idiots.

The scenes in Manchester, though, were not about idiots. They were about those willing to descend into widespread and wanton violence and disorder.

Well over 30,000 Rangers fans had travelled abroad before the turn of the year, and not one had ended up in a cell.

Sure, they had a good booze. At times you cringed at some of the behaviour, but most of it was no worse than the stuff you see on stag nights going around Europe or the UK almost every weekend, and represented more or less the problems that most major clubs have when supporters travel abroad.

When the Uefa Cup kicked-off back in February, there were no major fan problems. Athens, Bremen, some 6000 fans in Lisbon, and then Florence, all negotiated without an arrest, the behaviour in Italy even earning praise from the mayor of Florence.

Then came Manchester. The authorities were caught cold by what came their way between Monday and Wednesday; we all were.

Having been down there and witnessed the invasion first hand, it was unbelievable.

In my opinion, the authorities were completely caught out by the sheer numbers. The arrangements they thought would suffice were never going to be enough.

They had laid plans to accommodate 100,000 fans, with contingencies to deal with a further 25,000. But there were 75,000 more than that, and Manchester just burst at its seams.

Myself and other press colleagues were in and around the city over the three days, and there was no scent of trouble even though it had been swamped by red, white and blue.

Dads, mums and their kids, groups of girls, fans from all over the globe; they milled around, filled squares, pubs and bars, danced and partied and drank like fishes. But there was nothing sinister, not until Wednesday night.

Inside the stadium, the Rangers support had been a credit to themselves and the club. But that was undone by a dreadful incident when a Zenit fan was stabbed.

The Rangers fans applauded Zenit when they went up for the trophy, and didn't get involved when some Russian fans tried to goad them onto the pitch after their invasion.

At full-time, you looked around and saw a support who were immensely proud of their team, and the feeling from the players was mutual.

However, as we negotiated a tense 30-minute walk back to our city hotel, the whole atmosphere changed.

Sirens wailed, and you knew it had kicked off somewhere. We never imagined how bad.

It was sod's law, of course, that one of the giant screens in the three fan-zones failed, but the failure of a TV screen doesn't excuse lobbing bottles, attacking police lines and vans, or acting like mindless thugs.

It was sickening, and Rangers should get the CCTV pictures and try to identify the culprits.

Clearly, many of those involved don't go and watch Rangers regularly.

Those who do are only too well aware of the sanctions the club faces, and the campaign before Manchester had been trouble-free.

Those rioting the other night don't give a jot about Rangers, or their fellow fans.

They cared not that when the riot police retaliated, innocent supporters were caught by batons and shields.

No wonder Bain and the club's head of security, Kenny Scott, wear the look of exasperated men. They must wonder if it's all worth it.

They started off behind the eight ball in terms of the sectarian issue, and have made successes. They need to do the same with this moronic element that attached itself to the decent support and gorged on mayhem in Manchester.

Weeding them out, and banning every one of the 42 arrested, is a must for starters.

But Rangers have been sent spinning; a reputation that was slowly improving is now destroyed.

That damage will last longer than the material damage caused the other night. For those tens of thousands who went to Manchester, behaved, and cheered their team and savoured a fantastic occasion, that is the real shame.