Jon Daly, a Catholic from the Republic of Ireland, has signed for Rangers. There has been a minor fuss about this event in sections of the Scottish press.

Has the fuss been justified?

For unfortunate historic reasons to do with Rangers FC, yes. In terms of the Rangers of today, seeking to be modern and "cleansed", no.

Quite a number of Rangers supporters, seeing their club yet again being depicted as some sort of 19th century caricature, have been dismayed by the media coverage of Daly's arrival. And their frustration is perfectly justified.

I meet scores of fresh-faced, new-generation Rangers fans - students, teachers, accountants, office workers - who have no truck at all with the old bigotry associated with the club. In fact, they are left nonplussed by these old sores, which they have neither known, nor felt, nor wish to be any part of.

There is a new generation of Rangers supporter which is pretty impressive. To paraphrase Walter Smith, who often lamented the political/religious "baggage" around Ibrox, these supporters just "love the club for the club's sake".

To such fans, the arrival of Jon Daly is fine. His racial and religious background is an irrelevance. Indeed, their view of some of the press coverage around Daly's signing - and questions asked of the striker in coming to Rangers - has been cynical and infuriated.

On the other hand, given that Daly's arrival represents another cutting loose with the past by Rangers, it would be odd if the Scottish media had not passed some sort of comment, or provided some historic context.

Without labouring the point, a high-profile Republic of Ireland player signing for Rangers seemed long overdue. That country's production of football players has been impressive for 25-plus years, and it seemed that just about every other principal club in Britain had managed the feat of enlisting at least one of them.

Rangers had not - and some not infrequently noted it. It offered an unfortunate impression of old, outdated attitudes prevailing at Ibrox. I don't believe that to be the case today - but the suspicion lingered.

Rangers FC will never fully escape its embarrassing past. The club over decades espoused a sectarian policy which disparaged Catholics and, in turn, fuelled a boorish terracing attitude towards Republic of Ireland players.

The modern Rangers has moved on from those days, though the smell occasionally lingers. Three years ago I sat inside an executive office at Ibrox when a Rangers director, with whom I had got into some minor dispute, said to me: "Graham, the previous policy at this club was disgusting."

It is that previous policy which means that, when such as a Jon Daly from Dublin signs for Rangers, some today will pass comment.

We don't need to obfuscate here. The vast majority of Rangers fans are utterly unconcerned by their new striker's background. It is a non-issue to them.

On the Rangers fans' message-boards, the odd nutty objection is still aired to Daly's arrival, but that is the nature of these things. In Rangers' case, the bigots among the club's support-base are well and truly being left behind. Let these guys howl at the moon…they are done for, they are finished.

Amid all this, Daly's own attitude has been refreshing. Indeed, he echoes what the modern Rangers supporter is all about.

I was told back in February by Rangers that Daly was on his way. Apparently, the player really wanted to sign for the club, he was very excited at the prospect. Indeed, barring a medical mishap, Daly's view was that he would be going nowhere except Ibrox.

The player has been bemused by the fuss over his arrival. He is not oblivious to Rangers' unfortunate history, but nor does he consider it a "live" issue today.

Good on this player, I say. I hope Jon Daly is a thorough success as a Rangers player.

Rangers cannot evade its past - we have seen this yet again. The club, with an abysmal policy, established a reputation from which, in the modern period, it is taking decades to recover.

Jon Daly's arrival is one more staging post. And a significant one.