The purpose of The Scottish Football Monitor is to pay homage to, and carry on the work of the groundbreaking RangersTaxCase blog (RTC). The aim of the Scottish Football Monitor is to cast a questioning and watchful eye on Scottish Football officialdom and the compliant mainstream media (MSM).
Scottish football, in the immediate wake of the Rangers FC liquidation, faces great challenges. The MSM have provided no sensible checks or balances on the actions of the authorities. The Scottish Football Monitor aims to provide those checks and balance.
The cosy relationship that has existed between the media and people at the top of Scottish Football has dissuaded those who may otherwise be moved to blow the whistle on wrongdoing. The Scottish Football Monitor aims, through time, and by winning the trust of ordinary fans, to fill a gap in the football media in Scotland that has been up to now filled only by RTC.
The Rangers FC saga, its consequences, and consequences of the accompanying stream of untruths and misdirection fed to us by the MSM is far from over. RTC was successful in getting the previously buried truth of the Rangers tax case into the mainstream despite a hostile MSM reaction. The Scottish Football Monitor hopes to use the skills and expertise of those in our community to a cast light on matters that those in authority would have concealed, or at least present alternative arguments to those being presented as having none.
Scottish Football Monitor asks contributors to remember only a few things;
1. The site is not the domain of any one club and is open to fans of all clubs.
2. Absolutely no discussion with regard to religion should take place.
3. Posters should refrain from using foul or abusive language.
Welcome to The Scottish Football Monitor
I don’t know which journalist’s are following this new blog yet but if they are reading then perhaps the likes of Brian McLaughlin or Jamie Borthwick or Mark Daly or Alex Thomson etc might try to get some answers from Neil Doncaster & Iain Blair at the SPL about Martin Bain & John McClelland’s actions on the SFA management board, it would seem to be clear that they failed to ensure the rules of the SPL were being upheld and did not act in utmost good faith to their fellow management board members nor the SPL clubs.
timtim says:
August 2, 2012 at 22:11
——
You forgot Regan drawing a line under it with his new SFA ruler.
Hi everyone – checking out the new place – lots of old faces on here I see – excellent!
Test
I’ve TUPED over.
The new blog only need one thing to be successful.If the quality of contributors continues to be of the high standard set on RTC,then the future will be assured.Embracing fans of every club whether SPL or SFL is paramount.Only by making the blog available to everyone will we succeed.
PL,thanks for taking this on.
PL – Good luck, bon chance, Ádh mór agat.
Now the ‘independent commission’ is in place, we await BDO to bring forth the pliers and blowtorch.
yarmy says:
August 2, 2012 at 21:23
Players. Is it beyond the scope of the SPL appointed commission to investigate managers, directors and other employees (or ex employees or referees)?
They aren’t investigating tax evasion/avoidance; that’s a job for HMRC (and they have already delivered their verdict). They are investigating whether or not players received payments outside their standard contracts that were not declared to the SPL/SFA
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When someone in the SFA knew about the payments then it could be argued it had been declared!!
As for the players only, this would be correct procedure, EBT’s could quite legally be paid to Walter, Martin, David etc and would not be covered or required to be declared to the SPL.
What they done may not look great to Rangers supporters but is not in breach of any SPL rules, and still may have to be proven to be illegal tax avoidance.
TSFM, you look like a broken man already!
I suppose the question is that although we can ask as many questions as we like on this forum how can we enforce the change through the system that needs to take place?
Test
Pars Fan says:
August 2, 2012 at 20:52
Is this just a Celtic message board or can any fan post? Pars fan
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I hope it is all inclusive Pars Fan. I’ll be very disappointed if it’s not.
I’m a Celtic fan by the way….but you probably figured that already….
Lubo115 says:
August 2, 2012 at 22:15
0 0 Rate This
I take it that if the enquiry finds them guilty then any punishment can be passed to The Rangers?
If it can’t as they say it was the previous owners then what’s the point in wasting everybody’s time?
I’m not interested in titles getting passed to the teams that were runners up as we all have the memories of the days we didn’t win it and that will never be changed. That being said the records should be altered if it is proven that they did cheat.
This could be the deciding factor if they want to try and keep history.
Time to decide if they are new or old, can’t have it all ways
=======================================
Such as return of illegally gained prize-money? Sevco have already agreed to pay Rangers’ footballing debts as a condition of the transfer of Rangers’ SFA membership. Charles wants this issue to go far far away, as it could create a substantial dent in the new club’s finances.
It is important to remember that the competition was only tainted by the cheats. Expunge the cheats from the records and award the prizes (and prize-money) to the true winners. Bump up every other team’s position too and recalculate their prize-money.
This is not a “punishment” – removing the rewards gained by illegitimate means is simply a consequence of being caught.
As punishment, I would advocate a 10-year ban from the SPL.
lookin forward to reading your work,
and stickin it to the man
all the best
I heard they were negotiating with Green Chatreuse……
02/08/2012 18:41:49
SPL Press Release
The Scottish Premier League today announced that it has appointed an independent Commission to inquire into alleged EBT payments and arrangements made by Rangers
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Whats the betting this announcement is a secret clause in the agreement made between Regan on his knees and King Charles on his throne?
Even more so whats the betting this investigation will studiously avoid money laundering through the EBT accounts of former RFC employees?
Its purpose is self evident
1 To persuade Sevco to honour the SFA by agreeing to join the 3rd Div
2 To help Sevco deal with title stripping by deliberately confusing two separate issues
illegal player registrations ( SFA `s business)
and
tax avoidance (none of SFA`s business)
3 To allow Regan to get to sleep without worrying about his windows being put in by unfriendly Loonies Also to give a decent time interval for Regan to “gracefully resign” ( at least in his eyes) and get out of Scotland
Corruption upon corruption
This Blog is badly needed
TSFM says:
August 2, 2012 at 22:44
Don’t know if this has been covered in the past few days, but I notice that Sevco had Tennents logos on their strip.
Does anyone know if they negotiated the deal with Sevco, or if it is all smoke and mirrors and they are simply using the logos to add to the impression that they are Rangers?
===============================================================
Check out the Rangers pdf on the season ticket page.
Tennents appear to be the sitting tennent at the bars in Ibrox, it is now a tied hoose, a big tied hoose,
No hospitality, no credit, cash only, for meals and drink.
TSFM says:
August 2, 2012 at 22:44
1 0 Rate This
Don’t know if this has been covered in the past few days, but I notice that Sevco had Tennents logos on their strip.
Does anyone know if they negotiated the deal with Sevco, or if it is all smoke and mirrors and they are simply using the logos to add to the impression that they are Rangers?
====================================
This is the last I heard…
http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2012/07/14/tennents-continues-discussions-over-sponsorship-newco-rangers-hangs-balance-club
rangerstaxcase says: August 2, 2012 at 21:28 0 0 Rate This
yarmy says: August 2, 2012 at 21:23
_____________________________
You nailed this issue. The SPL will regulate players alone and that will limit the scope of the inquiry.
_____________________________
So new enquiry (under the auspices of the SPL) into players registration and BDO unravel the tax evasion but potential collusion (CO et al) goes under the carpet ?
___________________________________
Not necessarily under the contract. My orginal point was to highlight only players’ contracts falling within the scope of the SPL independent commision investigation. This seems correct as the investigation concerns the eligibility of players’ registrations and whether they complied with SPL rules. If they didn’t then sanctions can then be levied. Removal of titles and trophies.
The FTT when it reports will presumably provide the evidence of tax evasion which will allow successive directors of RFC(as was) to be prosecuted.
BDO will investigate on behalf of HMRC (is that how it works) and may also uncover evidence where prosecutions can brought. Illegal payments to managers, ex managers and any other potentially corrupt recipients.
Then we have the police investigation into the acquisition of RFC by Whyte.
So that gives us 4 separate investigations that provide the opportunity to disclose the scale and scope of the abuse that has taken place within our game and the fraud perpetrated on us all as tax payers.
They’re going to need a very big carpet. This blog exists to make sure that they don’t even think about fudging their deliberations. It’s not over yet. Does anyone trust any or all of these investigators?
When are BDO going to takeover from duff & duffer?.
After a few slower news days since Sevco began their great adventure at Brechin and RTC decided to wind down the original blog Iam glad that by sheer syncronicity the new blogs first full day in existance is accompanied by news of the SPL independant enquiry which has helped to give the new blog a definite sense of continuity and traction and thankfully it didn’t die in childbirth. 🙂
Charlie Brown raises a good point regarding the lack of action from officials involved in the dual contracts and EBTs to players.
Whilst it is disappointing that the SFA has limited the enquiry to players, I believe that once they report and the seriousness of what has been going on is made known, a tipping point will be reached which the msm and any dark forces will not be able to counter. RTC’s book might also be a factor. The public and media do like a good scandal, and this is likely to be the biggest one in UK sporting history. I don’t think that the Scottish media will have it their own way, Alex Thompson and the Telegraph will not be alone in bringing this out into the open. We are also awaiting Mark Daly’s next episode.
As RTC said in his last blog, who would have believed that RFC would have fallen so far down the leagues and be under so much pressure. The same will hopefully happen to those in positions of responsibility who have colluded with the decade plus of misconduct. They may also be outed by the FTT or BDOs liquidation work.
Its also possible that clubs will replace Doncaster, Regan and Ogilvie and the new incumbents will be more likely to see justice done.
Of course, fans and bloggers will need to keep up the good work.
highlandjaggy says:
August 2, 2012 at 22:57
‘When are BDO going to takeover from duff & duffer?.–‘
–
I refer to my post on RTC (sob!) a few days ago.
‘Administration ‘ can end only when the Court ( in the shape of Lord Hodge) decides.
Lord Hodge has still to consider the report submitted to him by D&P on whether they took all appropriate steps to ensure that they were not in a ‘ conflict of interest’ situation in accepting appointment as Administrators.
From the Court of Session Rolls, no hearing is scheduled by LH next week. He is probably still on vacation.
Best hope is that this is the last week of his vacation, and that he might be back to work next Monday. Even at that, he’s not likely to schedule a hearing until at least the Friday of next week, and more likely the Friday of the following week.
If he is satisfied with the report, he will order and end to Administration, and the BDO rottweilers will move in.
I’ve absolutely No Idea what he will do if he is Not Satisfied!.
highlandjaggy says:
August 2, 2012 at 22:57
—————
according to Imram on the spoof Tommy call it wouldnt be until September
but I wouldnt take his word on anything .
Hopefully the BDO takeover will finally see some real action whenever it arrives.
As for anyone wondering about the all inclusiveness of this site I dont have any doubts
it will be open to all who take an interest and conduct themselves politely.
We have a common enemy – corruption – and if corruption was found within Celtic then
they (or any other team) should be villified with the same gusto as Rfc* has been
Shneeb
I have a different take on things from a purely Celtic perspective based on recent history of their dealings with the SFA.
Back in November 2010 as Celtic pursued the SFA on Dougiegate Celtic did a deal on SFA reform using the threat of a judicial review because of Dallas and company, if the SFA did not put their own house in order, particularly the Discipline system that invariably favoured Rangers in outcome terms.
The leverage Celtic allowed John Reid to announce at the AGM that “those days have gone” and the SFA voted for the McLeish reforms in June 2011 and the Disciplinary system changed.
The parallel with today is that by being club who have suffered most in financial terms by the SFAs failure to do their job properly when granting a uefa licence Celtic have a compensation case against the SFA for failing to do their job.
I have yet to be convinced the SFA did not know they were bending to breaking point, if not breaking them,the rules last season alone when a licence was issued in spite of an unpaid tax bill (the wee tax bill) being a known fact. The dates and info that would have killed any suspicion have never come out.
This potential compensation claim gives Celtic the leverage to demand further reform, particularly on club licensing in exchange for not pursuing compensation from the SFA.
I cannot see Celtic who have shareholders to answer to not insisting this investigation takes its full course but being prepared to set aside compensation in exchange for the kind of changes that will restore lost integrity and trust and so be for the good of the game.
This blog is a great idea, which I hope will provide much discomfort for the Scottish Football Establishment and the Scottish MSM. Just when they thought the worst was over….
rangerstaxcase says:
August 2, 2012 at 21:26
__________________________________
Thanks RTC. Gratified and relieved that the archive is staying put.
I’m on the Twitter thing as we speak, thanks for the advice. Although some inconsiderate so and so has snapped up TSFM and TheSFM!
So what happens if Lord Hodge isn’t satisfied with D&P, does he install new administrators?.
the taxman cometh on August 2, 2012 at 22:05
Think these are his flight numbers back from the moon 🙂
Captain Haddock says:
August 2, 2012 at 23:10
CH it was interesting to note that Campbell Ogilvie who was Rangers chief football administrator and who would have guided the registration of their players over a long period of time has claimed he had no personal knowledge of the details within the players contracts of what was submitted to the SPL & SFA. Now I don’t believe that he had zero knowledge as he claims however if we accept that due to his changing role at Ibrox he has at least a thin claim of plausible deniability then the same cannot be said of Martin Bain, Andrew Dickson and John McClelland who as the C4 News shred-gate revelations revealed were fully aware of what they were doing. They had a duty of care both the Rangers and also to the football authorities to ensure that Rangers players were being properly registered. They knowingly failed in that task & responsibility – in short they deliberately cheated. Ogilvie might be able to wriggle out of that although he is still massively conflicted and should resign as a matter of honour & principle not least to protect the SFA’s reputation if not his own. Surely there can be no such hiding places for Bain, McClelland or Andrew Dickson?
I welcome this new addition to the landscape of Scottish football.
One of the things that plagued me on other sites was words of warning from other posters “don’t hit on the [insert name of disreputable tabloid]’s site….”. I am sorry, but if you want to monitor something, you have to know what it is doing and that means reading, watching, listening however unpalatable.
The way to strength is to know your enemy and you can only know your enemy by understanding what it is, what it says and how it acts.
It matters little if they get some more hits on their website; if they are to be outed as being dishonest, lazy, biased etc., they have to be studied.
The combined efforts of RTC, Mark Daly and others ensured the Rangers disgrace could not and would not be swept under the carpet.
This blog can go a step further; identify the good guys – the honest, passionate but dispassionate, intelligent and respectful – and distinguish them from so much lamb fodder that we have had to put up with over the past decades.
Let’s expose the latter and extinguish them, however long it takes, from having any more influence in the game we all know and love.
Ad multos annos
SS
Just signing in — in case you lot thought you’d lost my wee giggle posts. keep up the good work guys
RTC, have you negotiated a serialisation deal for the book with the MSM yet?
I would love to see The HON attempt to put a positive spin for Rangers on any chapters from your book.
Stunney, can publish on here so that no one has to buy, you get paid, payback time.
I have a feeling, that the whole question of dual contracts, is going to end up at the front doors of Hampden
I think that there are people within the SFA/SPL who are probably feeling just a little bit nervous and worried
No proof, but as I said just a feeling
TSFM says:
August 2, 2012 at 23:22
Have you tried OfficialTSFM ?
TSFM says:
August 2, 2012 at 23:22
0 0 Rate This
rangerstaxcase says:
August 2, 2012 at 21:26
__________________________________
Thanks RTC. Gratified and relieved that the archive is staying put.
I’m on the Twitter thing as we speak, thanks for the advice.
Although some inconsiderate so and so has snapped up TSFM and TheSFM!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’ll be that sneaky feckin’ Murray
Auldheid says:
August 2, 2012 at 23:15
Auldheid thanks for posting that information as I wasn’t aware of that however as we have seen recently the threat of going down the judicial review route is a bit of a MAD (as in mutual assured destruction) threat to make as actioning it in the courts would bring down a whole world of shit from FIFA & UEFA on both parties and could see no european football or even no football played by the litigators?
Late I know to say it but hard luck Dundee Utd … still 2-2 is not a bad result but going to Moscow with no lead will be very tough. Best of luck though, strange things sometimes happen.
I don’t think results by any of the Scottish teams – even the defeats – have been humiliating. If our season started a little earlier (or we had summer football) we might very well have done better. But I expect only Celtic will make it through.
Hope that’s not too off-topic.
On June 18 the spl issued a press release that confirned rangers would face disciplinary charges as aresult of a prima facie case been established by harper mcloud.
That result of that investigation took was announced about ten weeks after it started.
Now we are told that insted of an independent panel sitting to decide punishment its a new investigation as well.
Nothing short of of a cowardly scandal.
Already found guilty
Excuse ma grammar n spelling in the above post typing in the dark.
hope sfm is as good as rtc i also hope we all work together for the good of scottish football let all fans unite on here and take forward ideas for the good of the game not just our own club but all clubs too make them all stronger finacially and football wise the newco affair pulled everyone together lets take it forward in a way that leaves all the old baggage aside for the love of scottish football and not forgeting the bad guys keep our eyes on them.
Evening all. Pleased to see the usual names posting on here, fighting the good fight. But what is with the funny gravitars(?)?.
Have Sevco been given SFA membership yet or does it continue to go to the wire…..again?
slimshady61 on August 2, 2012 at 23:27
Does SSB count lol 🙂
First time I’ve come on here. Looks good so far but what is with these pictures beside your names? Has the feeling of Jack & Victor walking into The Clansman and all the locals have bought cheap Halloween masks and put them on 3 months too early!
PL, firstly I want to say thanks for doing this.
I think most of us who have TUPEd over from RTC have a clear interest in calling to account those in the MSM, the very people who are actually meant to do the calling to account on our behalf.
We should contain to name and shame those journalists and broadcasters that spout drivel, who play fast and loose with the truth and who pursue their own agandas, or worse still, the agendas of others.
But in the interests of a balance I have a suggestion to make. I think each month we should also name the journalist or broadcaster who is doing a good job, who is actually asking the questions fans want asked, who challenges those in football when they aren’t telling the truth.
Our own version of the Oscars and the Razzies.
Lord Wobbly on August 2, 2012 at 23:32
Who else had a penchant for setting up companies with similar names 😉
self assessor @ 23:40
Meeting tomorrow at hampden to decide!!
TerryONeill says:
August 2, 2012 at 23:39
Excuse ma grammar n spelling in the above post typing in the dark.
======================================================
Why do you keep your Granma in the dark? Are you Norman Bates?
Hello everyone, just to chuck my hat in the ring. I am tuped, duped, dualled and ready to go.
Looking forward to this next chapter.
Auldheid says: August 2, 2012 at 23:15
_____________________________
I do hope you are right. I am not really too bothered how the truth comes out as long as the whole truth does actually come out. If Celtic can influence this then great.
It is clear that the ‘authorities’ are bending over backwards (or forwards as has been previously suggested!) which suggests there are some spectacular skeletons to be outed. It cannot just be about keeping the Rangers cos the game needs the money.
highlandjaggy says:
August 2, 2012 at 23:23
‘So what happens if Lord Hodge isn’t satisfied with D&P, does he install new administrators?.’
—
“Administrator’s conflict of interest
Claims of a conflict of interest can arise if an insolvency practitioner who has been acting as an adviser to the original company, to its directors or managers or to an interested third party, is then subsequently appointed as an administrator to execute the sale of the business, as they may have previously given advice to one or more of the interested parties. ”
Just reading that little passage would suggest that if Lord Hodge is not satisfied, D&P could be had up on charges of conspiracy to defraud and/or commercial corruption/bribery and so on.
On the face of it, every action they took as Administrators would then be highly questionable.
Their CVA ‘offer’, their rejection of some bidders, their granting of ‘exclusivity’ to CG with rights- to- buy, their ridiculous knock-down price, their agreement to allow the name change, and so on, all might have to be declared invalid.
What kind of a mess that would leave is scarcely imaginable.Back to ( and I hate this word) square one? New Administrators as from the beginning? Straight into liquidation, selling of players , redundancies, sale of properties to give the creditors a better deal?
Who knows what the Law would say?
But if I were D&P, I’d hope that Lord Hodge will be satisfied!
Charlie Brown
My feeling on your point is that the threat will be enough because seeking compensation is what justice demands and FIFA would tell the SFA to sort it out (sound familiar) and what is required to restore integrity.
Given that all Celtic would be seeking is proper adherence to FFP rules I cannot see the SFA convincing FIFA that Celtic are being unreasonable.
Sometimes the might of right is so strong even the most devious cannot prevail against. No Celtic hold all the leverage cards and once the old hold on the SFA is cleared out I can see Regan pursuing steps to stop a repeat of what he has to cope with, with some Yorkshire relish.
A prima facie case presented by Harper McLeod, while being only that, would be a difficult finding to dismiss, or attempt to gloss over.Given the possible enormity of the wrongdoing, and precedents set with smaller clubs over relatively trivial errors of registration, it’s not surprising perhaps that the SPL have fielded this to an independent commission. The sanctions that would be required in this case, while hard to imagine , if applied to SevCo, would have to be terminal, one way or another
There is also the interesting question , as others have suggested, of the extent to which the prima facie case involves the SFA, and the SPL would need that to be independently investigated.
EBT inquiry and EBT investigation
Disciplinary charges will be brought when the future status of Rangers FC is clarified and prior to the start of season 2012/13.
This statement comes from the SPL press release after the investigation
18 th June 2012
TSFM
Can you let me have your email via Paul at CQN I have some resources that might go in the About section that will provide some bloggers with historical info on trying to reform the SFA that might be of use.
Good to see the new site up and running. Now,how to tell her indoors. She was so happy when I told her about RTC.
Could it be possible that a patsy has already been picked to take the fallout for the double-contracts?
Could C.Olgilvie, (who’s position has already been questioned) take the brunt of the 2 contract issue and claim he had the info but hid it and thus he resigns?
I know its a bit far-fetched, but nothing in this farce would surprise me when it comes to saving face for the ibrox team.
Aha, there you are …glad you could make it!
🙂
The match at Tannadice tonight was a belter. Full house, great performance from DUFC and Scottish football looking very healthy indeed for having just experienced armageddon.
Dungcaster’s financial scare tactics have been exposed and SevCo are safely berthed in Div. 3.
I almost feel optimistic.
Yesterday I wrote about receiving an email from the Herald announcing the return of Graeme Spiers to the paper, and hanging this news on recent events and what they referred to as the ‘demotion’ of ‘Rangers’. I took issue with the accuracy of the terms they used and today received a reply from the Digital Editor (which I can’t quote as they claim confidentiality and copyright) along the lines that I was technically correct, but everyone knows it’s Rangers really so let’s just move along. So in other words, they know the language matters but they don’t care, and are happy to go along with Green and Co’s obfuscations. And they wonder why people are stopping buying papers.
By the way,the very much “On-Topic” Parody Guy, Billy No’well is doing a live set of all his songs at the Hoops bar on Sunday.
Free entry at 6pm if you’re interested.
Check his stuff out on youtube if you dont know it.
His songs are like a musical timeline of everything that’s happened in Scottish Footy for the last year.
Auldheid on August 2, 2012 at 23:15 12 0 Rate This
Auldheid
Did Alex Thomson not claim to have a source in Hampden that told him off the record that Rangers should not have got a licence last season to play in European competition.
I actually thought more would have came of that but it seems to have been brushed under the carpet along with the fact that Campbell Ogilvie has a loan from one the SFAs member clubs.
I heard some of the clyde ssb show tonight. Had to switch off. Dummies answering questions from morons. Never again. An absolute fud fest. Switch them off people. It’s the only way to get rid of them. I don’t buy their papers and I won’t listen to their phone ins. They’re an irrellevance. You don’t need to hear them and you don’t need to read them.
Is there a deadline day tomorrow?
Transfer of share to Dundee?
Conditions satisfied for transfer of SFA membership?
Has anyone told the paperboy(stunney) that we’ve moved address? 🙂
The scottish sports msm = personal agenda driven liars. 95% of them blue noses. Totally rubbish journalists, all part of a club that stops the truth from hurting their fellow bears, or does it. They’re so dumb they don’t realise the damage they’re doing to our game.
Well done! As a creative…. I’d like to help. If you need ‘marketing’ services please tweet ( @thehoshot67) yes it’s an old cartoon ‘handle’ 😉 alongside a lisbon lion goalscorer. )
Anyway. Very much behind this!
Great luck! ;
TSFM thank you for taking the baton from RTC withdrawl will not be as painfull.
DR S
Ok, what’d I miss?
SPL appoints independent body to probe Rangers player payments
Former Rangers owner David Murray has denied that dual contracts were ever used
By Stephen Halliday
Published on Thursday 2 August 2012 21:27
THE Scottish Premier League last night announced it has appointed an independent commission to look into alleged EBT (Employment Benefit Trust) payments and arrangements made by Rangers in relation to players.
The commission will determine whether the club breached the relevant SPL rules in relation to alleged EBT payments and arrangements for players between 2000 and 2011. The commission will have powers to determine what sanctions, if any, are appropriate if they decide that any breaches occurred.
The SPL probe was launched in early March and delayed for months by the failure of Rangers’ administrators to hand over documents.
There has been talk of the Ibrox club being stripped of titles if found guilty and the issue is a sticking point regarding Rangers newco’s bid for membership of the Scottish Football Association.
Charles Green’s club, who were voted into the Third Division of the Scottish Football League by the SFL clubs after being refused admission into the SPL, gained conditional membership of the SFA last Friday which allowed them to play against Brechin City in the Ramsdens Cup last Sunday.
The SPL had “reserved its position” over their probe but Ibrox chairman Malcolm Murray said at the time: “We still have outstanding issues with the SPL but we will challenge them at every turn.” Rangers manager Ally McCoist declared he would never accept the Ibrox club being stripped of titles.
The new SPL season kicks off tomorrow and the demise of Rangers this summer has led many to assume the top flight now faces the prospect of becoming a one-horse race for the foreseeable future. But Willie Miller – the captain of the last side other than Celtic or Rangers to clinch the title when Aberdeen were victorious 27 years ago – yesterday said that so long as there are other runners and riders in the stalls, he believes there is hope that a fresh challenge can be presented to Celtic.
He even dares to suggest that his former club may emerge as the surprise packages in a campaign the bookmakers contend will be the most predictable yet. “Aberdeen could be dark horses this season if they can keep their key players fit,” said Miller.
“Celtic are going in as clear favourites but you haven’t got Rangers taking points off the other teams now.
“It might give other teams, particularly those who competed well last year like Motherwell, Dundee United and Hearts, an opportunity. I’d also like to think Aberdeen will take the opportunity to get themselves up there, certainly to be challenging for the European spots.
“Is anyone going to be better than Celtic? I’m not going to say that will be the case, but I’d hope the other clubs will push them hard. I hope it’s not just a procession towards the title.
“You never know, Celtic might just think it’s going to be too easy. Neil Lennon will be doing his best to ensure his players don’t think along those lines but I know, having been a player myself, that it’s easily done. If you think it’s going to be an easier campaign for you, you can get lulled into that false sense of security. If that happens to Celtic, it will give some of those other clubs a chance to put pressure on them.”
Despite his dismissal as a director of Aberdeen in June, Miller remains a committed supporter of the club with whom he will always be associated. Ahead of tomorrow’s SPL opener at Celtic Park, he feels they are well set for a good campaign under Craig Brown following the summer recruitment of wingers Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn.
“I want to see Aberdeen doing well,” added Miller. “The last time I left the club, as manager in 1995, the team I put together won the League Cup later that year. I was at that game, cheering them on. So I’ve got too much affection for the club to wish them anything other than well for the coming season.
“Saturday could be a good yardstick for Aberdeen, an indication of how well they are going to do this season. They have brought in players during the summer that they had to bring in, lads with flair and width. It’s been obvious for a while that Aberdeen have been pretty solid defensively but lacking in creativity.
“So with the experienced players Craig has brought in, along with a much fitter squad after all the injury problems he had last season, he has got a
decent squad to pick from.
“It’s a good time for Aberdeen to go to Parkhead, with Celtic having one eye on the second leg of their Champions League qualifier. Maybe that will affect Neil’s team selection. If he does think the league is going to be easier in the absence of Rangers, then he might be tempted to make one or two changes to his side. It could give Aberdeen a chance to spoil the party.
“The challenge for Aberdeen and the other teams is to try to get to a standard where they are capable of beating Celtic regularly, not just on a one-off occasion. If we could do that, then Scottish football would be back to having a competitive league again.”
Miller was in Glasgow yesterday, promoting ticket sales for Scotland’s friendly international against Australia at Easter Road on 15 August.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/sfl-division-three/spl-appoints-independent-body-to-probe-rangers-player-payments-1-2447404
Hello Mr Moderator can I come in? 🙂
sorry was just testing to see if the first post was held in moderation, glad to see the new name and already a huge backlog of comments to keep me “busy”, an aside, I was pondering as this is a new blog should “longtimelurker” rename as “newlurker” ? 🙂
Twitter stuff sorted:
@TheSFMonitor
re the twitter account (great) another thing that could help with twitter visibility of issues, comments, blog replies etc is to suggest a hashtag to use when tweeting on that subject.
Excellent idea to continue the good fight against corruption and unfair practices 🙂
TSFM says:
August 3, 2012 at 01:38
Lots of top posters have already TUPED over, but off the top of my head, we are missing, Hugh, Stunney, Corsica, Barcabhoy, Paulie Walnuts & the Don.
Back in February, Rab posted this:
“Auldheid
EasyJambo – Paulie Walnuts – Don Dionisio – OnandOnandOnand
BarcaBhoy – Hugh McEwan – Paul McConville – Corsica
Lord Wobbly – The Black Knight
This is how i see the team lining up.
Gk. Auldheid. Simpson ( faither) the sensible one.
Rb. Easyjambo. Mcgrain. Reads the game outstanding.
Ch. P Walnuts. Mcneil. A leader.
Ch. The Don. Elliot. Imperious. Italian connections.
Lb. OnandOnandOnand. Gemmell. Totally respected bluenose.
Lw. Barcabhoy. T Burns. Awe the twists and turns.
C Mid. Paul McConville. Mcstay. Intelligent, articulate maestro.
C Mid. Hugh mcEwan. Hay. Hardman, nuff said, right.
Rw Corsica. Di canio. Temperamental genuis.
St. TBK. Sutton. Straight talking, no nonsense. Big game player.
St. L Wobbly. Macca. Likes a drink, likes a laugh, likes the ladies. Loves scoring.
Sub. Me. Peter grant. Likes to point and shout a lot but canny actually play, but just loves celtic.
Manager. RTC. Big Jock. Ahead of his time. The greatest. Immortal.”
A fine side and if they all agree to transfer over ahead of the new season then I am sure it will be another memorable one.