A Guest blog by redlichtie for TSFM
From what I can see Mike Ashley is likely to be the only game in town for RIFC/TRFC fans unless they want to see another of their clubs go through administration/liquidation.
That particular scenario potentially allows for a phoenix to arise from the ashes but on past evidence it is probably going to be an underfunded operation with overly grandiose pretensions taking them right back into the vicious circle they seem condemned to repeat ad nauseam.
Ashley has the muscle to strongarm the various spivs to give up or greatly dilute their onerous contracts and I suspect that is what has been happening behind the scenes.
From Ashley’s point of view I believe that what is being sought is a stable, self-financing operation that he can then sell on whilst retaining income streams of importance to SD.
I also suspect that he will come to some arrangement with the SFA to dispose of his interest once he has stabilised the club.
The problem for RIFC/TRFC fans is that Ashley is not going to fund some mythical “return to where they belong”, though that is beginning to appear to be the second division of the SPFL where they are heading to have a regular gig.
Like at Newcastle, Ashley will cut their coat according to their cloth. This will mean, again like at Newcastle, a mid-table team with good runs every so often. If the finances can be fixed then they will have an advantage over most other Scottish clubs but in the main we will be back to actual footballing skills and good management being what is important (pace “honest mistakes”).
With recent results and footballing style clearly those are issues that will require attention and McCoist seems likely to present RIFC/TRFC with an early opportunity to address at least one aspect of that if he continues with his current “I’m a good guy” press campaign. It may take just one unguarded comment or action and he will be out.
But will the Bears go for Ashley’s plan? So far they seem antagonistic and still cling to their belief that the world owes them a top football club regardless of cost.
If the fans don’t get behind the current entity I can see Ashley deciding the game’s not worth it and cashing in his chips. Some ‘Rangers Men’ will probably turn up and create a new entity for The People to believe in and Ashley will continue to draw in income from shirt sales and, most likely, charging fans at the world famous Albion car park which he will then own.
The upcoming AGM is crucial and from what we have seen of Ashley so far he gets what he wants.
The crushing reality about to descend on The People is that there really is no Santa Claus. A Sanity Clause, perhaps but no Santa Claus.
Madbhoy24941 says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:09 pm
‘..When is an interview not an interview?
When the questions are loaded and predefined and responses equally worked out in advance, it is a very poor excuse for journalism..’
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I suppose it is neither here nor there where the initiative for that ‘interview’ came from.
I would guess that it came from the BBC and was warmly accepted by Doncaster.It may have come at Doncaster’s request- and was warmly accepted by the BBC.
In either case, I do not doubt that it was pre-scripted and rehearsed, and for the reason you advance.
Not poor journalism but, perhaps (and certainly in my opinion) highly ethically questionable journalism.
Will we get ‘clarity’ on this from the BBC? or from Doncaster?
I laugh out loud, sardonically.
Does anyone know the status of Brechin, Stranraer and Annan? As far as I can see they have no company attached to them, so presumably they are still unincorporated associations (ie Clubs, in the true sense). Alternatively they have companies with unexpected names.
http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-neerday-game/
taking the Doncaster nonsense apart
Auldheid says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:52 pm
‘..John Clark
Cheers and snail mail is best. Perhaps recorded delivery?’
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Recorded delivery it will certainly be.
ecobhoy says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:39 pm
I wonder how long it will take BDO to contact Mr Doncaster and request that he confirms his position and that of his employer, in writing, to them?
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We should write to BDO, cc’ing HMRC and our local MPs, and ask why this “entity”, which was the most important (and therefore most valuable) asset of Oldco, was transferred free of charge to Newco.
Remember that when Sevco bought the “business and assets” of Oldco, the membership wasn’t included.
Sevco paid £5.5m for all of the assets and the argument for that price was that the assets were only really valuable if used for football and, given that wasn’t guaranteed as there was no club yet, £5.5m was a fair price.
Once the club was transferred free of charge to Sevco, an IPO later occurred valuing the newly re-combined entity at aporox. £50m.
Therefore it stands to reason the club is worth around £23m* which is still to be paid to Oldco. As taxpayers, we all have a stake in this and I urge each of you to make as much noise as we can. Remember, this is a time of food banks and austerity. Why should millionaires get away with defrauding the taxpayer whilst disabled people are being hit by the bedroom tax? This is so much bigger than football now.
Also, if anyone holds shares in any other football company, I’d write to the CoSec and NOMAD asking why they haven’t disclosed in their risk disclosures that the SPFL and/or the SFA ultimately control the most valuable part of the business. You may be entitled to compensation if your shared have lost money if this hasn’t been explicitly stated.
* The IPO valued RIFC at £50m on listing, minus the £22m the offer raised raised minus the £5m paid for all of the other assets means the “club” must make up the remaining value.
Is Doncaster’s latest media embarrassment something to do with the rumoured sponsorship? And a demand for THAT fixture?
Simply don’t see his opinion as reconcilable with liquidation.
The SPFL Rule Book states:
So the ‘club’ doesn’t get the SPFL membership but the owner and operator – who appear to be a duopoly – does get it. So despite the word ‘club’ appearing non-stop in the SPFL Rules to describe the triple combination of club, owner and operator it’s the owner and operator that have the membership.
Not surprising since in reality and in legality the word ‘club’ means absolutely nothing except of course in the minds and hearts of football supporters and I don’t have any problem with that.
OK so when the owner and operator are kicked-out of the SPFL and have to relinquish their share what happens to the club. Does it continue and get the vacant membership in the SPFL.
Well if you believe what Mr Donacster and the Hampden Faeries say which is: ‘The member club is the entity that participates in our league and we have 42 member clubs’.
Methinks you are playing with words Mr Doncaster to the extent that IMO it forms a tissue of lies. Let me remind you of what your rules state:
The SPFL membership isn’t held by a ‘club’ but by the owner and operator of that club and when the owner and operator cease to be a member of the SPFL then the club is no more. Quite simply it dies as far as the SPFL Rule Book is concerned
It doesn’t replace its owner and operator as the SPFL member – it can’t because it isn’t a legal entity it’s simply a fiction which you have used to cloud the reality which befell one of your members now in liquidation.
But of course we have been over this ground before with the 5-way agreement which is so toxic it still has to be buried from public view. You have leant nothing from the past and are therefore doomed to repeat the indignities you have inflicted on the sporting integrity of Scottish Football.
I generally keep out of the OC / NC debate on the basis it’s circular argument that will never find resolution.
Certainly not by proclamation from a discredited figure like Doncaster.
On the one hand i take the view if Rangers supporters want to claim it as their club then , I really don’t care . Thats up to them. I want a rival to hammer again, and to gloat over when we win , so i’m relaxed if they claim its the same club.
Technically its obviously not, but emotionally it is to them, and in this case emotion would carry more weight for me if the circumstances were reversed.
What causes the debate to be prolonged for eternity is the big lie perpetrated by Rangers supporters ( the majority , not all) . That lie is that they were badly treated . When in fact everything they suffered was self inflicted. Add in the fact that the real architect of all of this is apparantly untouchable , at least as long as the wholly discredited Campbell Ogilvie protects him from his tainted and conflicted position.
There is one question that however does need to be answered, or 2 actually.
1 Is it correct that a club which has defaulted or is overdue in social taxes is ineligible to play in Uefa competition
2 If the answer to 1 above is Yes, and Doncaster is correct in stating same club, then would this not mean that Rangers will be barred from Uefa competition until all social taxes defaulted on under Oldco are paid in full
And if not , why not ?
I wonder what it would take for the SPFL to actually activate this Rule?
Of course if a club as defined by Doncaster can never die then they might as well scrap the rule – och I’m sure they’ll keep it to keep those didy teams in line right enuff.
Getting hard to know which ones are the diddy-teams though 🙄
For me no team is a diddy one when they live within their means, the players and support give their all and sporting integrity is part of their credo.
A belated happy new year to all at TSFM and especially the youthful “Essex and other Home Counties Branch”
But on a serious note. About a month ago the talk on TSFM was of how to break through into the mainstream and get the message out there that for sport to be true sport the governence must be competent with the rules applied equally to all without fear or favour.
The mince spouted by Doncaster today will no doubt be lapped up by the Lamb Munchers and it appears to me that the ground is being laid for the next stitch-up.
This shower need holding to account. How can it be done?
andy says:
January 1, 2015 at 7:12 pm
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http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-neerday-game/
taking the Doncaster nonsense apart
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Brilliant piece @andy. Thanks for linking to that. TSFM appears to have a brother from another mother.
Barcabhoy says:
January 1, 2015 at 7:29 pm
“We” have rivals, one of them even went top of the, uncompetitive and boring, premier league today.
What “we”, Scottish Football, and, dare I say it, society at large, really don’t need is a return to the re-enactment of the religious wars of the 17th Century every other bloody week in Glasgow.
That Doncaster has once again engaged in the spreading of bullsh!t, should come as no surprise, what I want to know is if he was speaking as an individual, or with the agreement of his board.
Frankly, I don’t believe he has the balls to go off piste, so really, we should be questioning the following people:
“Ralph Topping (Chairman), Eric Riley (Celtic), Stephen Thompson (Dundee United), Duncan Fraser (Aberdeen), Eric Drysdale (Raith Rovers), Mike Mulraney (Alloa Athletic) and Ken Ferguson (Brechin City).”
Instead of once again concentrating on this over paid monkey, we should be looking to the organ grinders standing behind him.
Barcabhoy says:
January 1, 2015 at 7:29 pm
I generally keep out of the OC / NC debate on the basis it’s circular argument that will never find resolution.
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BB – like yourself I tend to give the OC/NC discussion a widish berth.
With Doncaster I don’t see it as an OC/NC discussion but more exposing his twisting and wilful distortion of the SPFL Rule Book to show favour to 1 member club out of 42.
Your UEFA Question is very valid and answers are required. Returning to Doncaster the more I see him in action the more I regard him as a thicko – but there’s more to it than that – however the sooner he’s gone the better for Scottish Football.
Auldheid says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:52 pm
John Clark
Cheers and snail mail is best. Perhaps recorded delivery?
Ecobhoy
Not at PC but did TORs of LNS Commission ask him to specifically rule on the same club matter or did it come about in terms of justifying which entity should face the consequences of his judgement?
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From memory it related to the apportioning of the punishments. But since you raised that I am now wondering whether the recent talk about withholding tv money from Rangers – was it £250k? – was that perhaps the LNS fine on oldco.
Is this why Doncaster has gone down the continuing club route and innocently blundered or is it because he sees the opportunity to do a favour for the Three Amigos? I always thought the Oldco LNS fine would have been covered under the aegis of a fooballing debt anyway.
I’m afraid too many vinos have passed my lips to face LNS tonight – perhaps tomorrow 😎
As a Clyde fan that has seen my club spend several years putting debt repayment ahead of “success” on the pitch, I find Mr Doncaster’s comments offensive. We shouldn’t have got into the situation we were in but it looked like we were doing the right thing to get out of it. It seems we’ve been mugs. I’m sure fans of clubs in a similar position will feel the same.
Who will sponsor football clubs, knowing that the League accept that the money goes to a company that could trouser it, liquidate and hand the club to another company to do the same?
Can he confirm who Airdrieonians actually are?
wottpi says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:48 pm
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I of course have never met Mr Doncaster, he may be a nice chap, however from what I have seen on TV and read in the media he strikes me as one of those unprincipled windbags I have come across in life who probably has a raft of people below him wondering how he ever managed to get promoted to five levels above his degree of competency.
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I have, and as UpTheHoops posted at 6.15pm he is a very arrogant man.
I was delighted when he left NR1 in 2009, having taken NCFC to the brink of administration, coupled with relegation to the third tier for the first time since 1960.
His utterings recently seem to imply that he has no concern about clubs suffering insolvency events. I can assure him that shareholders and fans of NCFC do not share his devil may care attitude and since he left, the club has repaid every penny of external debt incurred during his disastrous tenure.
I was equally shocked and devastated when he appeared at the SPL as I could only see the same level of incompetence occuring there, having seen first hand his modus operandi.
This latest foot in mouth outburst sums him up. Even when spoonfed by a friendy journo, he still managed to talk total gibberish at times.
Imagine how he’d perform under duress from a Paxmanesque interviewer.
Scottish football deserves better than Neil Doncaster.
I mentioned Article 12 of FFP to Ecobhoy. Here it is.
Chapter 2: Licence Applicant and Licence
Article 12 – Definition of licence applicant
1 A licence applicant may only be a football club, i.e. a legal entity fully responsible for a football team participating in national and international competitions which
either:
a) is a registered member of a UEFA member association and/or its affiliated league (hereinafter: registered member); or
b) has a contractual relationship with a registered member (hereinafter: football company).
2 The membership and the contractual relationship (if any) must have lasted – at the start of the licence season – for at least three consecutive years. Any alteration to the club’s legal form or company structure (including, for example,
changing its headquarters, name or club colours, or transferring stakeholdings between different clubs) during this period in order to facilitate its qualification on
sporting merit and/or its receipt of a licence to the detriment of the integrity of a competition is deemed as an interruption of membership or contractual relationship (if any )within the meaning of this provision.
The latter highlight refers to any documentation of relationship between an owner company and club (for John Clark)
My thinking for what it is worth, is that we are 4 or 5 months away from ST renewal. If we had an objective, like making purchase of STs conditional on the introduction of Article 12 in particular and the financial fair play principles regarding income to spend, tailored for the domestic game (which we understand from Barcabhoy is being resisted in some parts of the game) then we will have the same leverage that caused the SPL to act properly the last time they and SFA attempted to swerve integrity.
I was encouraged by the e mail to Hearts posted earlier because whilst I think Celtic as the club with most supporters should be showing leadership, other clubs need to get behind whoever does take the lead in order to change the culture that wishes to anchor Scottish football to the past.
Only the provenance of certain documentation is keeping the public lid on what happened behind the scenes at the SFA in 2011 and 2012, but if the story that documentation tells gets articulated and more widely disseminated in the coming months, then the majority of supporters, including those of TRFC who will be protected by the introduction FFP (if they can stand what that also means in football success terms), will not want to renew STS without some commitment to bring in FFP domestically.
upthehoops says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:15 pm
Re Neil Doncaster. A current grade 1 official told me that he is a very arrogant man.
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First of all I’m sure everyone here will appreciate the irony of one of our Grade 1 officials describing someone else as arrogant!
Secondly with regards to Doncaster’s interview well he has just consigned ‘The Rangers’ to never playing in Europe as they have outstanding NI and Income Tax payments to the tune of £20M. This is even before you get to the EBT scheme.
Well done Neil, played a stormer as usual. T1T!!!
I honestly have no problem with ‘The Rangers’ fans believing they are the same club however just because they live in a fantasy world doesn’t mean everyone else should.
Must go my Oompa Loompa is bringing me some tea!!
The Cat NR1 says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:04 pm
==============================
Doncaster will never be subjected to the type of interviewer that would not let him away with what we’ve witnessed today. As for Chris Mclaughlin, he may be a very nice man – I don’t know – but for some time I have considered him a complete waste of licence fee payers money. His subservience to Neil Doncaster only strengthens my view.
justshatered says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:18 pm
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upthehoops says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:15 pm
Re Neil Doncaster. A current grade 1 official told me that he is a very arrogant man.
—————————————————————
First of all I’m sure everyone here will appreciate the irony of one of our Grade 1 officials describing someone else as arrogant!
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Firstly the official I know is not at all arrogant in the dealings I have with him, but they are of course not football related. What he told me was he had attended meetings where Doncaster was present, and that was where he formed his view.
upthehoops says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:25 pm
Of course I’m only trying to be funny in my own childish way but when he was telling you was he gesticulating like a really bad actor and did he pull a stern face.
Happy New Year all.
Why after nearly 3 years has Mr Doncaster stated that they are the same team, when he was actually NOT asked this question? Why not state this earlier?
Why was Mr Ashley denied having a bigger state in the company? I would guess that the appearance of the 3 bears has met with the SFA,s approval and one man (that I know of) in the corridors of power at the SFA is rubbing his hands in glee. There seems to be many teams in Govan and not all have the the same name. Their fans have the emotional tie, I can accept that. Nobody but nobody should have the same emotional tie in the SFA and we all know this is not true. This month could be very interesting. Our game on the field is doing really well at the moment. Statements like Mr Doncaster’s is damaging to the game and treats ALL fans with contempt. The SFA are not fit, really not fit for purpose. Shame on them and again shame on our SMSM.
Rhaps,
Now Doncaster had given you the green light, why not buy in nufc’s first 11 on a promise, get promoted and then liquidate. In fact whilst we’re at it, after that go again with your shiny new company operating thingy and get in mcfc’s first 11 to win the premiership. Et voila, same routine again, get in bayern’s squad and the champions league, so beloved of SDM will be yours.
Does it not strike you as strange that the head of the league in question would hold this view?
As I said yesterday on this very forum. Two bodies in Scotland aside, everyone else in Scotland and the greater world (those that care) are welcome to the whole ethereal immortal cloudy thingy. The SPFL and the SFA do not have that luxury.
Usually I catch up with the blog before posting, but I’ve not read today’s posts, so apologies for any unwelcome, unintended repetition. First of all huge congratulations (from a Celtic fan) to the Dons for being top of the league tonight, and secondly almost as big congratulations to United, Accies and Caley for being within five points of the deserved league leaders. Thirdly Hearts deserve even more credit for their magnificent response in every sense for their response to their difficulties.
My main reason for posting, however, was following suggestions on the blog in the last couple of days that Only an Excuse had never had a single sketch featuring the recent ex Rangers and Sevco manager. I have just finished watching this year’s OaE. These are my observations:
Sky+ is better than sliced bread.
OaE continues it’s exponential decline in quality. Of the football sketches (see below) I only found the Macca and Charlie ones funny, but even those were simply more of the same.
Despite the second (after 2012) most eventful year in the history of Scottish football, almost half of the sketches were devoted to non-football topics. The Johann Lamont sketch did make me laugh.
RD, WGS and MON all featured. In the interest of fairness, The Beast did too, but no McCoist sketch. My wife who has little interest in football and had no idea about the suggestion that OaE were avoiding the sleekit one as a topic, asked me at the end ‘where was a McCoist?’
Perhaps OaE don’t have an actor that can do Sleekit justice. But in a year when 90% of the juicy stories have been about the new club, it was astonishing to me that they barely featured at all.
I sort of dismissed the accusations made a couple of days ago as slightly petty, but on reflection and after watching last night’s show I recognise I may have been wrong. In one of the most eventful year’s in the history of Scottish football, they spent about half of a thirty minute show on a politics theme!
Neil Doncaster’s comments today bring the whole of Scottish football into disrepute. Was he speaking for himself … or is this the official position of the rest of the member clubs?
http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/a-moment-of-clarity/
ecobhoy says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Read your comment and stumbled upon an Angels’ wisdom!
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/myths-and-legends-the-spfl-and-the-250k-fine-of-rangers/#more-4317
Shady deals with Shady people
Paul brings light to the shade!
The latest from Sons of Struth
upthehoops says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:18 pm
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The Cat NR1 says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:04 pm
==============================
Doncaster will never be subjected to the type of interviewer that would not let him away with what we’ve witnessed today. As for Chris Mclaughlin, he may be a very nice man – I don’t know – but for some time I have considered him a complete waste of licence fee payers money. His subservience to Neil Doncaster only strengthens my view.
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Indeed.
The SMSM give the impression that they do not share our love of the game with their approach.
I suppose that’s stating the obvious as asking the questions that they should be asking is part of the raison d’etre of TSFM.
The BBC Scotland sports pages on the BBC website give the impression of a corner shop mentality and the pre-occupation with all things Rangers is an embarassment, so the Doncaster episode is no surprise.
Auldheid says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:08 pm
My thinking for what it is worth, is that we are 4 or 5 months away from ST renewal. If we had an objective, like making purchase of STs conditional on the introduction of Article 12 in particular and the financial fair play principles regarding income to spend, tailored for the domestic game (which we understand from Barcabhoy is being resisted in some parts of the game) then we will have the same leverage that caused the SPL to act properly the last time they and SFA attempted to swerve integrity.
Auldheid,might I ask if have you tried to engage any supporters club associations in this endeavour? Starting with Celtic whose associations I, perhaps naively, presume have contacts with other SPFL supporters clubs. The result of such soundings would be enlightening.
Apologies for being a bit off topic – article about Sports Direct’s modus operandi.
Zero hours contracts – the elites way of trying to cheat working people out of all gains made in the last 100 years.
http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/sports-direct-worker-too-scared-to-call-in-sick-is-left-paralysed-by-blood-clot-1-7026647
How’s Neil’s sponsor search going ? Maybe should try some banks again. They must be delighted with his thinking.
OT but couldn’t help it. A reminder ( to me anyway ), how this started and why we do this.
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/an-appreciation-of-the-rangers-tax-case-blog/#more-1753
God bless and a Merry New Year! ( Eddie Murphy, Trading Places style )
justshatered says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:39 pm
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upthehoops says:
January 1, 2015 at 8:25 pm
Of course I’m only trying to be funny in my own childish way but when he was telling you was he gesticulating like a really bad actor and did he pull a stern face.
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No and no! It was me who asked him if he’d any experience of dealings with Mr D.
If I was a fan of ‘same club’ Rangers tonight, I would be foaming at the mouth even more than the fans of the other Scottish clubs tonight’ after Doncaster’s comments.
I would want to know:
Why were our ‘same club’ who had finished second in the top tier made to continue in the fourth tier when no rule, regulation or mechanism allows for such an event?
Related to this, why were our ‘same club’ made to enter the Scottish Cup in season 2012-13 at the second round when the rules clearly stated that our league position should have resulted in the ‘same club’ entering in the third round?
Why were ‘Naisy’ and other players of the ‘same club’ allowed to unilaterally terminate their contracts and leave?
I sometimes have a peek at rangersmedia but not today, but I’d be amazed if these questions are being asked there or anywhere else Sevco related. They know the truth at least as well as we do. As for Doncaster I tried to ignore his rather glaikit appearance and recognise that (unlike the SFA) he did have commercial rather than just sporting integrity considerations, but in my view he has remarkably positioned himself ahead of Stewart and Campbell as the first needing sacked.
Neil Doncaster is a man who is incapable of doing his job. He has failed to secure any main sponsor for the entire SPFL, he has failed to negotiate a TV deal that is anything approaching the market value for leagues of equivalent size and viewing audience across Europe.
He is, however, universally, backed by all member clubs. Thus his incompetence is de facto a measure of the incompetence of all of the member clubs.
Similarly with his defiance of previously accepted definitions of club and with his moral disregard for the creditors of bankrupt clubs and of dubious and patently unsuitable individuals running said clubs.
Doncaster’s odious comments, incompetent actions and blatant dishonesty are an accurate measure of the views and opinions of all member clubs.
None of us on here should doubt that, and if , unlike me, you still choose to follow a club within this organisation, then you lend tacit support to this individual.
Doncaster getting a lot of flak here. But he is ONLY an employee, doing as bid by those that emptoy him. OK, he’s failed to do his job properly in terms of providing commercial income, but there is no way that his words today can be seen as anything other than the agreed party line from the likes of Steven Thomson et al. And that is the most disturbing aspect of today’s bombshell (to paraphrase Alan Partridge).
Allyjambo says:
January 1, 2015 at 5:00 pm
“There is something behind his utterance today,..”
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Doncaster’s OCNC comment did seem out of place in the context of the interview. He started off talking about highly pertinent historic Scottish trophy wins and ended up giving a technical outline of a corporate mechanism that many would recognise as flawed. Chris Mclaughlin’s question in this regard is edited out of the interview so the context whereby this question would arise is missing. Why cover an item in a review of 2014 that dates back to 2012?
So I’d agree with you; why make this statement now?
The problem with the whole OCNC debate is that it has been based on emotion and expediency rather than logic. If, as many suspect, LNS/Doncaster logic is fundamentally flawed, how will such a flaw manifest itself? Will it become apparent when some crucial and pending decision is required to be made and will its perverse consequences cause further catastrophe later on? We’ve already seen that LNS registration decision can potentially give rise to all manner of subsequent controversy. Surely it can’t be the case that such fine minds have discarded the possible effect of precedent in favour of short term expediency.
Bryce Curdy says:
January 1, 2015 at 10:21 pm
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If I was a fan of ‘same club’ Rangers tonight, I would be foaming at the mouth even more than the fans of the other Scottish clubs tonight’ after Doncaster’s comments.
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And the likelihood of a higher points deduction in the event of a future insolvency event. The lower deduction could be overcome and a play-off place secured, but a higher deduction surely would leave too much to do to get even fourth spot.
However, the Doncaster Interpretation must mean that the higher deduction would apply.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30653648
Hats off to Partick Thistle for this.
A story that does show Scottish football in a good light on the BBC Scotland football pages, although the news pages would be more appropriate.
In the last few days…
Laxey’s bail out…
McLeod is sold off before the transfer window opens…
On the 1st of January the BBC provide a Doncaster interview where a review of 2014 results in the definition of a club?…
Is there a major event on the horizon?…
How easy or difficult would it be to explain why a major national competition semi final could not take place…or allow a new club to play in the semi final in place of a liquidated club…or do the rules permit a defeated quarter final club to be reinstated?…can all of that be explained without contortions of epic proportions and major embarassment?
If it is the same club…why does a senior figure feel the need to plead for or even mention his definition of a club?
May I suggest he gives Donald Finlay QC a call.
My e mail to AFC’s Mr Milne-
“Good morning,
Firstly, congratulations on our club’s great results and current league position.
Unfortunately in this new year Mr Doncaster has chosen to make outrageous comments around the corporate / club status of The Rangers FC.
Can you assure me that this is not a view supported by AFC / AFC’s officials at the SPFL.
If this is not the case, can you let me know if AFC will challenge Mr Doncaster’s comments?”
I suspect others will be contacting their clubs. Maybe Mr Doncaster has upped the game and fans maybe now can’t wait until this madness goes any further before reminding the clubs again that they need the fans.
scapaflow says:
January 1, 2015 at 7:45 pm
‘..Instead of once again concentrating on this over paid monkey, we should be looking to the organ grinders standing behind him.’
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Indeed we should, and I have prepared the following letter,addressed to each member and the chairman of the SPFL Board at their individual club addresses ( Hampden Park in the case of Topping), for snail mail posting tomorrow.
“Dear……..
Let me first wish you the compliments of the season.
Then let me come straight to the point.
Neil Doncaster, the Chief Executive of the SPFL of which, of course, you are a member( in Topping’s letter, Chairman), declared in an interview with the BBC on 1st January 2015 that ‘The Rangers FC’ currently playing out of Ibrox Stadium is the SAME club as RFC(IL).
I have no wish to discuss in this letter the manifest absurdity of such a proposition (or the consequences that would flow if that proposition was indeed true!)
I simply ask: was Doncaster expressing the considered view of the SPFL Board, or was he speaking out of turn?
You should not need me to advise you that you should consider your answer very, very carefully. Many thousands of football supporters, the life-blood of the professional game in this little country of ours, are keenly interested in your response.
Yours sincerely
me (real name and address)”
I will, of course, post on here in due course,any replies, or failures to acknowledge or reply.
finchleyflyer says:
January 1, 2015 at 10:34 pm
……………..
You could be right in so much as…he has been told to make such a comment…in preparation for a likely event taking place…however the double edge is by accepting the same club nonsense…cements a lie…and by not accepting it…kills the aspirations of the new shareholders who will be investing in a new club…
Because he is employed by others does not give him licence to be dishonest and inept.
On the Doncaster interview, would a “club” be able to liquidate on a Monday morning then someone buys the assets Monday afternoon and the “club” plays it’s league game on the Saturday?
p.s. DIY frontal lobotomies are irreversible! 😈
ecobhoy says:
January 1, 2015 at 6:34 pm
“The more I look at the Doncaster Clanger the more I think about FFP Regulations.”
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I think that has to be the test right there. For Financial Fair Play to be implementable then it needs to be possible to throw a blanket over the entire entity that is considered to be bound by competition rules. If it is possible to have semi-detached relationships with competitor clubs then the whole system becomes a farce.
There is a danger of bursting a blood vessel when exercising the OCNC debate. Personally I can’t get too fraught by it. If Rangers fans wish to recognise continuity then they will have to contend with the barbs of their fellow supporters. However for the governing authorities to lapse into creative invention is not something worthy of serious consideration. All these definitions will thrash themselves over the full consequences of time. Flawed rulings and judgements will eventually be shown up for what they are as the process of operating the system exposes all the machinations.
The only doubt that exists is to how much inconvenience, confusion and potentially injustice will be meted out before custom and practice makes sense of the plans of mice.
@Paulmac2
you may have hit it on the head, (I forgot about the semi-final), so if The Rangers are liquidated between now and then would “the club” be able to compete in the semi-final?
p.s. all lobotomies are irreversible! 😳
And, thinking quietly about it, there is the BBC, and there is the CEO of the SPFL, quietly agreeing that it is time some definitive statement was made to stop all the pesky internet bampots once and for all.
What better than a final, definitive diktat by none other than the CEO himself, aided and abetted ‘gravitas-wise’ by the BBC! After all, what greater authority could a chap have than an accepting nod from such a hallowed institution!
We know who is ‘in charge’ of Football.
Who is the Controller of BBC Radio Scotland? Time to ask some questions, I think.And with more justification-because you and I pay him/her more directly than we pay for Doncaster.
While the Orla Guerins and Alex Thomsons of the world risk life and limb to report facts, what do we have in BBC radio Scotland in the relatively insignificant matter of sports reporting?
Yes. You’ve got it in one five-letter word, beginning with sh.
Castofthousands says:
January 1, 2015 at 10:37 pm
‘ Will it become apparent when some crucial and pending decision is required to be made and will its perverse consequences cause further catastrophe later on? ‘
———
There cannot be a club owner/board of directors of a club who or which is not asking: what about me?
The member clubs of the SFA must be asking themselves how they would be treated ( or in some cases,reflecting bitterly on how harshly they WERE treated in the past) by their business associates.
Which of them is not going to demand the absolute right to shed any debt without realistic footballing penalty? Which club is not gleefully going to go bust, give two fingers to its creditors, and carry on trading without realistic sporting penalty?
The SFA/SPFL, and Doncaster in particular by his utterly fatuous pronouncement, have made an absolute farce of themselves- and insulted and spat in the face of the many honoured and honourable clubs which respect the idea of Sport and Sporting Integrity.
Worse, they have spat in our faces.
Even worse,they have spat in my face.
I will seek satisfaction, were I to die on the turnstiles.
martin c says:
January 1, 2015 at 11:27 pm
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On the Doncaster interview, would a “club” be able to liquidate on a Monday morning then someone buys the assets Monday afternoon and the “club” plays it’s league game on the Saturday?
p.s. DIY frontal lobotomies are irreversible! 😈
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The answer would seem to be yes, but the appropriate points deduction would still be applied for suffering an insolvency event.
That wouldn’t have any impact on cup competitions though, would it?
easyJambo says:
December 31, 2014 at 2:34 pm
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Neil Doncaster touting SPFL sponsorship at £1.75M a season.
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/aberdeen/305082-spfl-title-sponsorship-price-tag-revealed-in-leaked-e-mails/
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Looks like Doncaster’s totally f**ked up any chance of that happening, unless one of the publicly bailed out banks are interested.
pau1mart1n says:
January 1, 2015 at 9:57 pm
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How’s Neil’s sponsor search going ? Maybe should try some banks again. They must be delighted with his thinking.
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Sorry, I appear to have unwittingly copied your earlier post of 9.57pm almost verbatim in mine above at 12.32.
Doncaster’s comment today are as ridiculous as they are infuriating to all supporters, doubtless (beyond the initial gloating), those of the new rangers.
However, as in the summer of 2012, the comments made are extremely dangerous.
If we accept that a “club” can divorce itself from all liabilities, can apply for immediate reinstatement to the top league and get a vote on that proposal, then the possibility absolutely exists that 11 of the 12 clubs who constitute the SPFL Premiership could agree, en masse, to shed their debt, all liquidate, retain all players via TUPE, vote each other back into the league and kick off a new season as if nothing untoward had happened. The only substantive negative would then be participation in European competition (hardly a major disincentive given the minimum participation of recent years). This is plainly ludicrous but exists as a possibility in Doncaster’s world.
The changes since 2012 in the fortunes of many clubs makes this idea even less likely thankfully as going down this road makes all sponsorship and commercial agreements open to massive abuse by the clubs.
Incidentally, I do believe that the current structure of the new rangers does actually allow for the club (TRFC) to be sold as a going concern regardless of the fate of the holding company (RIFC). That is could happen now in no way contravenes the fact that it could not and did not happen in 2012.
Lets try and join the dots.
Three “real Rangers” men are currently trying to wrestle control of the “Club” from spivs who do not suffer from the affliction known as Rangersitus.
The business is widely reported to be a basket case, with multiple onerous contracts that (we believe) can only be extinguished by liquidation of the subsidiary company.
Problem is, the subsidiary company holds the licence from the governing body and membership of the trade body that together allow it to conduct its business. So in theory, those holding onerous contracts hold all the aces – since liquidating the subsidiary means that it ceases to trade. It is assumed by the spivs that those suffering Rangersitus will never do anything that will result in the subsidiary ceasing to trade.
It is well known that within the governing body and trade association Rangersitus is endemic.
Recently, the SFA (governing body) surprisingly refused to sanction MA (someone immune from Rangersitus) increasing his stake in the Club’s holding company. Apparently depriving the company an investment of several million pounds.
MA has already lent the company’s subsidiary £3m – secured on heritable property.
It subsequently transpires that 3 bears have already offered to underwrite a new share issue in the holding company to the tune of £6.5m
Later, the 3 bears buy-out the biggest single shareholder (Laxey) for around £2.7m.
No-one can understand why the 3 bears have bought in and have offered to invest in the holding company. How can they turn it around when the onerous contracts are in place? How can they save the company?
Maybe they don’t want to. Maybe they are purposely positioning themselves to take the nuclear option, Liquidate the company and sell the assets to other “real Rangers men” who will carry on the business under a new company.
For that to happen they need to know that the governing body are on board.
The SFA may have publicly signalled their approval of this plan by its refusal to OK uncle Mike’s increased involvement. Certainly, Neil Doncaster’s unsolicited intervention tells us that the SPFL can be relied upon by those with Rangersitus.
Perhaps it is pure bluff, in an effort to renegotiate the most onerous of contracts. If so, I think it will be called.
My money is now on a mid-season voluntary liquidation of RIFC – causing a subsequent administration of the subsidiary TRFC.
A short period (4 or 5 days) allowing the administrators the opportunity to renegotiate the contracts: failing which, a sale of business and assets of the subsidiary will be made to a new company.
The SPFL will transfer TRFC’s share to the new company and that company will apply for another transfer of the full membership originally held by RFC (IL). The new company will apply for derogation of the financial requirements of the Club Licence and a new licence will be granted.
As far as the SPFL is concerned “Rangers FC” will be able to continue to play out the remainder of the 2014/15 season with a 25 point deduction.
The SFA will say that it is for the SPFL to set the rules and regulations for its competitions and it is still up to the fans to decide if it is the same club.
Season 2015/16 will see season ticket sales plummet for clubs throughout the country and record low attendances in the SPFL.
Scottish football will never recover.
Happy New Year!! 🙁
One final thought before lights out.
How much of the assets of RFC PLC (IL) would CG
have had to buy for the Doncaster Interpretation to be applicable?
Assuming that the Sevco purchase is a precedent, how much of the assets would any combination of number of Bears/types of Knight need to buy from the liquidators of RIFC PLC/TRFC Ltd for the DI to apply to RFC III?
If the assets were split up, as would appear likely to be the case, how would they decide on the ranking points of each asset in the event of a dispute over the succession, or is there an as yet undisclosed document setting it out, along the lines of The Succession to the Crown Act 2013?
gunnerb says:
January 1, 2015 at 9:38 pm
Auldheid,might I ask if have you tried to engage any supporters club associations in this endeavour? Starting with Celtic whose associations I, perhaps naively, presume have contacts with other SPFL supporters clubs. The result of such soundings would be enlightening.
++++++++++++++
It would indeed. It was one of a number of points in my thinking. There are a number of ducks to get in a row.
Might be worth considering that Doncaster’s remarks might be a marker laid down in advance of any litigation that may take place over the payment of the LNS fine. I think that is a far more likely motivation than a need to draw a line under the matter all of a sudden. Like others have said, Doncaster didn’t just decide to make than announcement out of the blue. My money is on the SPFL leveraging the payment of that fine.
Also interesting that LNS, whilst holding that the ethereal entity is the club, still managed to differentiate between the entity (a kind Holy Duality Mystery of two-persons-in-one-club) when the fine was imposed.
My good friend Stunney, with all the resources of his Jesuit mindset to hand, once tried in vain to explain the Holy Trinity to me. Doncaster and LNS have now succeeded where Stunney failed.
According to the ND/LNS Book of Lobotomy, I can now deduce that God the Father (GTF) got liquidated, and his son (GTS) took over (whilst still – OBVIOUSLY – God). He did no better than the old man so after a second liquidation, the real ethereal entity (GTHG) stepped in. Same God though.
Ironic that this kind of High Church doctrine would come to the rescue 🙂
Totally not at all like the Led Zeppelin scenario. Jason Bonham is NOT his dad. therefore, the entity that played the O2 in 2008 was NOT Led Zeppelin, but in fact E.S. Clydebank 🙂
HirsutePursuit says:
January 2, 2015 at 1:07 am
16
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__________________________________________
Correct.
Fans revolt 2 called for?
What other club in the 42 club league would be afforded such generosity by the governing body in the face of mismanagement and overspending. Not unprecdented mismanamngemnt and overspoending this time, but ‘de rigeur’ mismanagement and overspending.
If Sevco liquidate, a TOTAL 41 club fans boycott of ALL fixtures, all clubs is required UNLESS the club reform with a name that is sufficiently respectful to the rest of Scottish football and does not seek to deny or gloss over the painful history that ALL fans (Rangers/TRFC included) have suffered at the hands of our incompetent adminsitrators.
My suggestion would be ‘Glasgow Rangers 2015’.
A nod to past glories for the decent Ibrox faithful.
It could be abbreviated to Rangers for convenience. There is no desire to rub the noses of the long suffering Ibrox support in the pain of the past mismanagement.
But the insufferable element need to be brought to order with alacrity for the good of the game.
Or let the other 41 clubs fold. For sporting competition will have died. Strangled at birth. Before the altar of arrogant misgovernance.
Neil Doncaster has just assured that I will not be attending subsequent ICT matches btw.
A line has been crossed.
Until he goes, I stay away.
I also have a theory that might explain MASH thinking:
Its a TAX thing isn’t it?
SD are cash rich. They are profitable.
The most tax / cash efficient way to extract value from a business is NOT to make profits. Tax is due immediately in cash, at hefty rates. That cash is no longer available to the business as an asset for investment/ expansion/ financing etc.
It is better – from a tax point of view (although more risky from a business persepctive) to add value to the business and then sell shares in the (expanded and more valuable) business on the back of its increased cash generating capacity. CGT is far more easily avoidable – both legitimately and otherwise – than corporation tax via offshoring and the like.
Every penny that MA pumps into TRFC/RIFC is a taxable loss at one end, straight of his bottom line. Less money for George Osborne.
But every piece of benefit he derives as a result is equity based. Depending on the structure of the holding company and the time over which this gain is realised, its a far better (‘legitimate’) tax avoidance proposition.
I can see how MASH investment in RIFC could make sense in such a ‘risk ramp’. He is only really gambling money that would otherwise go to HMRC, after all.
He derives ‘naming rights’ worth £1 and pays tax on these – pennies. While accruing losses on shareholding in millions (offset against other profits – many of which are derived from Ranger Retail) while also acquiring commercial property at face value (no loss nor gain upon which to pay tax) into the bargain, which carries appreciable arbitage with respect to his core business.
SD share price increases on the back of this activity ( free column inches, Marketing budget etc.!).
Far too late for fan revolts, I fear.
No-one should have had any truck with any aspect of Scotish Football after Sevco played Brechin, in breach of so many rules that one cannot begin to count.
The behaviour of the clubs – without exception – was unforgivable even then. We were being smothered with excrement by our clubs from a great height. Most fans decided that a victory had been secured with the New club in SFL3 and moved on. In fact it represented a total defeat for the sport of football.
To this day, I am convinced that the only regret the club chairmen of the SPL clubs have about destroying the fabric of the sport is that their fans would not allow them to put the New entity straight into the SPL.
I genuinely cannot understand the loyalty of fans – decent intelligent, morally sound individuals – to their clubs who were ALL complicit in this act of treachery to the sport. This loyalty has been systematically and cynically abused by all concerned.
Resin_lab_dog says:
January 2, 2015 at 3:36 am
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I also have a theory that might explain MASH thinking:
Its a TAX thing isn’t it?
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Resin_lap_dog…I agree entirely, it sure is a tax thing…however, this whole omnishambles has become so convoluted that the ultimate outcome, for faceless spivs as well as MASH, simply cannot be forecast, despite your excellent illustration of the Corporation Tax/Capital Gains Tax machinations… 👿
Confirmation to AIM this morning that the MacLeod money is required urgently for working capital.
Also that the three bears bought 5m, 5m and 3.3m separately.
@easyJ, you’re the early bird!
Third parties? Who might that be?
Castofthousands says:
January 1, 2015 at 11:32 pm
There is a danger of bursting a blood vessel when exercising the OCNC debate. Personally I can’t get too fraught by it. If Rangers fans wish to recognise continuity then they will have to contend with the barbs of their fellow supporters. However for the governing authorities to lapse into creative invention is not something worthy of serious consideration.
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On Hogmanay I shared a glass with two of the best guys I have ever known, both Rangers fans. We did not have a detailed OC/NC debate, but they clearly see the entity they support as being the same, while realising there are technical and legal aspects to it. To be honest I don’t think I’ve ever read anyone on here denying any Rangers fan the right to think that way. Incidentally neither of them renewed their season ticket and are now not attending games at all.
As for Doncaster I don’t think words can describe how ill advised his intervention was yesterday. Rangers fans may welcome his comforting (but legally incorrect) words but it does not change the fact their club is falling down a black hole with no one willing to throw away the £50-100M to restore what they truly desire. For the rest of us all Doncaster has done is alienate us even further, and reinforced the notion that only the health of one club is of any concern. Worse still, he has conveyed the completely wrong notion that Rangers can continually run up any level of debt (if someone daft enough to let them) ditch it, and still carry on regardless.
For the past two seasons at Celtic Park during the league title presentation I believe Doncaster got off very lightly – he was almost ignored. If (and it is becoming more of an ‘if’) Celtic win the league this year then I hope the fans let him know vocally how they feel in what will be a live TV public setting. The same hope goes if it is Aberdeen, or possibly even Dundee Utd fans who are cheering a league trophy presentation. He has acted in a disgraceful way, and should be told. We know he will ignore every e-mail and letter, whether it is registered post, recorded delivery, or delivered by hand. However, there will be one opportunity for one group of us to let him know in know in a very vocal manner how disgraceful his actions have been.
easyJambo says:
January 2, 2015 at 7:26 am
Confirmation to AIM this morning that the MacLeod money is required urgently for working capital.
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Sold to pay the leccy bill – if I was a Bear I would be gutted.
He was probably their last hope to build a Rangers team around.
HirsutePursuit says:
January 2, 2015 at 1:07 am
38 2 Rate This
————
Fascinating @HP.
If the Ashley camp maintains boardroom control, though (the SoS seem to think that camp will), it still holds all the aces.
The three bears don’t have enough clout yet, surely. Wouldn’t there need to be others willing to step up and buy out other investors? Thing is, if Laxey were powerless to effect change, — and they must have had some allies — what can these well-meaning bears achieve, even with more getting on board? They seem more honey bear than grizzly, so far.
iceman63 says:
January 2, 2015 at 3:52 am
I genuinely cannot understand the loyalty of fans – decent intelligent, morally sound individuals – to their clubs who were ALL complicit in this act of treachery to the sport. This loyalty has been systematically and cynically abused by all concerned.
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Rightly or wrongly I believe my first duty as a football supporter is to my club which is Celtic.
I have watched the vile and sectarian motivated attacks on my club down the decades and have formed the unshakeable belief that a strong vibrant Celtic provides one of the pillars to bring about sporting integrity to the wider game.
But to do that they had to survive and it’s been a bloody long and hard fight as it always is for the under-dog continually derided by the Establishment.
Those days have gone and we are moving forward and will move further with fans of every decent club fighting for what is right. If they chuck-it and walk away our beautiful game will end-up in the sewer. And as part of that fight-back I hope to welcome increasing numbers of Bears who come to recognise that they too have been victims of a lazy, complicit media, partial governance, and cowardly politicians worried about losing a handful of votes.
To be complicit in an act of treachery IMO means that you have to be aware of the objectives and mechanics of that treachery. Very very few fans were and they were usually of the blazer-seeking variety irrespective of the colour.
The rest of us with the help of the internet have information previously kept from us by the SMSM, a means of mass communication rather than SMSM PR releases, and a tool to fight back.
It’s that ‘tool’ that requires a lot of development and that takes a lot of hard work but once we fashion it into something fit for purpose we will have our victory – of that I have abslolutely no doubt.
So this is not the time to sit and bury out head in our hands over past defeats but a time to ALL band together and take them on and to use the stirring words of an old Trade Union mentor:
iceman63 says:
January 2, 2015 at 3:52 am
The behaviour of the clubs – without exception – was unforgivable even then. We were being smothered with excrement by our clubs from a great height. Most fans decided that a victory had been secured with the New club in SFL3 and moved on. In fact it represented a total defeat for the sport of football.
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I do think it is worth pointing out that one of the 30 SFL clubs voted against admitting Sevco to the SFL at any level. I believe that club was Stranraer, but I stand to be corrected.
On your main point, yes, I agree entirely, everything that has gone on over the last 3 years is the responsibility of the clubs. I was a bit slow on the uptake, but in April 2013, with the coronation of Ogilvie for a second term, and the bumper bonuses to Regan and Doncaster, even I woke up to the fact that these guys are just a front. At that point I turned my back on senior football after nearly 60 years of parting with my cash on a weekly basis.
Those of you who don’t like Doncaster’s latest message need to consider this- he is speaking on behalf of the clubs. If he wasn’t, you would soon hear about it, because then Doncaster would be out the door in jig time.
Resin_lab_dog says:
January 2, 2015 at 2:31 am
Neil Doncaster has just assured that I will not be attending subsequent ICT matches btw. A line has been crossed. Until he goes, I stay away.
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I would never tell another fan that he shouldn’t not support his club as that is usually a very personal decision.
However I would hope that you might fight to explain what you have done on ICT fan sites to educate others.
I’m not telling my granny how to suck eggs – there was no need as she couldn’t affors to buy them. But it’s usually counter-productive to tell other what to do in my experience.
Far better to explain why you have taken the decision to stay away and what you hope top achieve by it. You must also retain a dialoguw with your club and organised supporters groups of it no matter where they are based and that’s the beauty of the internet.
Local papers are always easier to get a story into than the SMSM – it all helps. Not glamorous but many drops of water on a stone do eventually have an effect.
And Sporting Integrity in Scotland is a worthy cause worth fighting for.
This really is the time to push and not crawl away in abject surrender – we can win this one because we have the numbers and we hold the principled moral high-ground.
Clear the spivs out of football governance – that should be our call.
I’m sure Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg would have approved 😆
Just for the record (small R) I recall ND being ‘welcomed’ appropriately to the stage to present AFC the league cup in March.
Both of my clubs, big and small but both proudly carrying the Diddy banner, have been reminded this morning that me Doncaster is playing with a fire that needs no fanning!
Resin_lab_dog says:
January 2, 2015 at 2:31 am
58 0 Rate This
HirsutePursuit says:
January 2, 2015 at 1:07 am
Only way to stop this is for all fans to send an email to their club letting them know their feelings.
Sorry if already posted up
http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-neerday-game/
very good dissection of Doncasters double speak
James Forrest says:
January 1, 2015 at 9:02 pm
Excellent piece, James, thank you for putting my thoughts into writing. I am so very angry about this latest example of why Scottish football in in such a mess (organisationally), and the way the MSM aid and abet it’s corruption, I genuinely feel sick.
That ND has written what he has is bad enough. The question, as always, is why and why now. If it’s part of a very simplistic bums on seats play down edmuston drive along with the three bears then that is bad enough. Bad enough in so far as I have yet to see any effort whatsoever out with individual club initiatives to address the same problem elsewhere. If however it is bt a prelude to what we all suspect, and have suspected for some time, as to what is coming next then we are definitely at late spring 2012 all over again.
I do hope mr D isn’t hiding behind a new found top league competitiveness to make the statement. The fans, and indeed clubs might just call his bluff on that one.
Stuff doesn’t just happen.
By that I mean The Pantomimic Ashley SFA rebuke, The Doncaster New Year Proclamation and I’d also include the 5 way agreement and other stuff which didn’t just ping into existence.
None of the cringeworthy machinations and proclamations we have observed was off-piste by maverick administrators.
They are doing what they are briefed to do.
They are very well paid for it and well bonused too.
And they discuss it all with lawyers and PR guys who are all ultimately paid by the fans who are the base line stakeholders and funders because without us they would have nothing.
Our clubs are complicit totally in what their paid executive officers do and say.
Our clubs.
All of them.
The wee guys won’t speak out because they are afraid it will lead to isolation but if one or two of the bigger clubs with SFA representation do something then we’ll witness a sea change.
Where is Turnbull Hutton when he is needed?
neepheid says:
January 2, 2015 at 9:16 am
Those of you who don’t like Doncaster’s latest message need to consider this- he is speaking on behalf of the clubs
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In fairness to ND and his position vis OC/NC, agree with it (as in many respects I do) or not (the position of almost all on here),at least he’s open about it…
…and it’s not as if his views on OC/NC are new….the following gives his position pre-LNS (18th May 2012)…
“The football club will continue to be there [in the SPL]; it’s only the corporate entity that changes.”
My problem is with the silence of the governing body on the matter and it’s failure to deal with the issues which arise from adopting this position in an open and honest manner…they do a disservice to all fans, including Rangers fans through this silence.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/rangers-takeover-doncaster-reveals-newco-could-escape-spl-exit-1-2302872