About the The Scottish Football Monitor

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

This entry was posted in General by Trisidium. Bookmark the permalink.
Tom Byrne

About Trisidium

Trisidium is a Dunblane businessman with a keen interest in Scottish Football. He is a Celtic fan, although the demands of modern-day parenting have seen him less at games and more as a taxi service for his kids.

2,167 thoughts on “About the The Scottish Football Monitor


  1. Captain Haddock says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:03
    What you say throws another problem into the mix ,I must say the signing policy seems very strange to me and if as you say the scam from the cup game forces certain players to stay at 2012 fc that really would be a new low for Scottish football .
    Funnily enough F Wishart has been very quiet lately ,he couldn’t have a conflict of interest could he


  2. The idea that this blog will stop talking about the Rangers/Sevco situation is absurd. I have no doubt that the true test of our mettle will come if we are ever faced with unpleasant truths about our own clubs, but consider what is still on the agenda for now;

    • a potential unpaid tax bill of £90m +
    • Liquidation of RFC with potential for criminal charges
    • SFA and SFL allowing a new club into the leagues whilst apparently shredding their own rule books to facilitate it.
    • The burying of a commissioned report into wrongdoing in the Scottish game
    • An enquiry into an alleged systematic breach of rules over a ten year period

    And that’s only the scratching the surface. We could go on about European football licences being awarded, the SFA President’s conflicted position…

    What is the common denominator here? It’s Rangers of course.

    As a Celtic fan, I find it uncomfortable to be in a situation where I am constantly criticising the way they have handled their affairs. However it is an elementary error to conflate the wish for fairness with anti-Rangers-ness. It would be a more uncomfortable situation if we shrugged our shoulders and said nothing.


  3. And another thing (, as my wife tends to say): what’s with the wee avatars? I tried to get one of my own but it seems my nom-de-plume is already in use. Any whizz-kid ( like maybe someone in their fifties) able to tell me how I can change my avatar without having to use a different email address?
    ( It’s Friday night, and I’m in a relaxed and genial mood, waiting to see the grandkids in Oz,courtesy of Skype, when it’s morning time there)


  4. Creditors report states rfc owed

    SPL 22,500

    SFA 11,089

    SFL 3,859

    A total suspiciously close to 36k (37,448).

    Will we get clarification from the FA or Southampton as to how much cash actually changed hands, or can the SFA claim these debts as satisfied without proof of payment.

    Can we ( by that i mean someone other than me who knows what they are doing ) access the SFA accounts so that we ( by that etc etc ) can be assured that all is as it should be.


  5. Geordie Bhoy says:
    August 3, 2012 at 21:55
    I would be stupid not to wonder if my own club was part of the corruption in our game regards the actions of the SPL/SFA but I must say I don’t think they were TBH .
    I have my reasons for thinking this way but if I’m proven wrong then I will have been vindicated in my belief that the system we had was deemed to failure and would fight even harder against the return to such a set up


  6. Was very downhearted when RTC closed his/her blog, although I only posted on it twice, just to congratulate RTC and the great posters, because like everyone else on here I was sick to the stomache of the churnalism (Jabba especially) to prevent minimum damage to a club that has cheated Scottish Football for years.
    RTC (and posters) gave me belief that some sort of justice could be achieved, by means of internet bampots , and I then started to feel we could take the msm on, and show them up for what they are MSM TRIPE.
    You see, I admit to being not very educated, but I was’nt that stupid either to swallow msm succulant lamb reporting, and to go on RTC every night was a real education for me, the blog educated me on real journalism and reporting and also showed me where I could be very ignorant, of other teams and their fans, as in they really dont matter, how wrong I was. The way the full Scottish football community stood up to the bully boy tactics was brilliant and very refreshing for the game, all because of RTC.

    So to see that this new blog is up and running has made me feel really upbeat for the future, I feel we are in safe hands with the usual great posts and beady eyes keeping track of the corrupt people in our game.

    ConGratulations TSFM


  7. Domaine Jessiaume says: August 3, 2012 at 19:48

    Rather than lazily throwing around accusations of lying why not check your facts and look at what I have posted before and whether it turned out to be correct or not.

    When I posted a totally accurate summary of the 5 way agreement a few days before it was revealed, Easyjambo said I was trolling among other stupid remarks. Confusing the fact that you dislike what someone says with choosing not to believe it is very followfollow if I may say so.

    Take it or leave it guys but don’t tell me I am making something up.

    You could say you believe I am mistaken; you have hinted that if October is the plan then Chicco will think better of it, maybe so. But accusations of trolling (previously) and making stuff up (now) are just baseless, and frankly impertinent, assertions of a (self-important) opinion.

    ====================================
    DJ – I accept that you may have a good source close to the discussions between the footballing authorities, RFC(IA) and Sevco and I welcome your posts when you supply new information which is sourced in some way.

    However your recollection of our exchange on RTC is incorrect.

    My “trolling” remark was made because you preceded a statement with “I hear”. You say that I made the comment in response to you posting a “totally accurate summary of the 5 way agreement”

    I did check back and here is your post that I challenged on the RTC blog.

    Domaine Jessiaume says: 24/07/2012 at 11:13 am

    I hear the SFA, SPL, SFL are on the point of agreeing to drop the dual contracts investigation, acknowledging their will be no striping of titles and transferring the membership.

    Integrity was nice while it lasted.

    The last I heard was that the dual contracts investigation is still very much alive, therefore your summary wasn’t “totally accurate” .

    I also explained my position on believability which is not as you describe above.

    easyJambo says: 24/07/2012 at 2:00 pm

    Domaine Jessiaume says: 24/07/2012 at 12:08 pm
    That’s a bit off, EJ. Don’t play the man rather than the ball just because I say something you would prefer not to believe.
    =============================
    On the contrary, I would be delighted to believe what you said. I might not like the outcome but believability normally comes from a bit more that “I hear ………”

    Had you initially stated that that you had heard from a “professional” working on behalf of “X” or “Y” then I would not have considered questioning your source.

    I am happy to apologise for suggesting that you were “trolling”, but in return I ask that you don’t misrepresent what I have said previously.


  8. john clarke says:
    August 3, 2012 at 14:04
    11 0 i
    Rate This

    Nawlite says:
    August 3, 2012 at 13:31
    ‘……We can ask – and indeed some have asked – the powers that be (!), but without insiders, how do we actually force them to answer publicly? I’m hopeless and can’t help ….’
    —-
    Do not despair.

    It is disgraceful that none of the MSM hacks has the elliptical male appendages to do this. But we know that already, so we must do it ourselves.

    I’ll get my letter off asap.

    =======================================================================

    JC…glad to see your wordsmithness has tranferred over to the SFM site…lesser mortals like me would have used the now overworked “cojones”…but then again…


  9. jonny says:

    August 3, 2012 at 22:06

    27sclash says:
    August 3, 2012 at 21:34

    No matter the made up name for the licence ,you are correct regards the message sent out to all the other struggling clubs but you forget one very important fact none of them are /were RFC it really is a simple as that I’m afraid
    ———————————————

    Therein lies the trap. Should another club (who find themselves in a similar predicament) seek similar dispensation in the future are refused! What then? Rules to be re-interpreted? To be administered on a club by club basis? The SFA are between a rock and a hard place. A whole new rule book may need to be written up now. And it is the fans, especially those who part with their hard earned, that must be involved. That involvement can come through the respective clubs and their fan sites. RTC has shown that there are many, many fans who are not neanderthal, who have shown a deep understanding of the rules and regulations. This site is going to show that continiuty. I, for my part, am slightly more intelligent than a neanderthal and I can count to em er. I can count ok!


  10. rab says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:03
    1 0 Rate This
    Frank forrest.

    I remember seeing somewhere ( cant mind when or where) that southampton would be using the FA and tha SFA as a go between to deal with the transfer fee ( if any ) for davis.

    The 196k to be deducted, is this the 160k fine and what else. I think the creditors report showed the SFA and SPL were owed sums in the region of 15-20k. Could this 196k be closer to the nominal fee thats in debate just now. Are the SFA and SPL about to satisfy their debts and pass on any surplus to TRFC while member club debts go unpaid.

    ————————————————————————————————————————-
    cheers for that rab and i don’t doubt your figures. i feel that if there is a fee involved and the sfa are acting as go betweens then they should deduct whatever is owed to other scottish clubs by the former rfc. i can’t understand why there would be a fee involved in the first place though. the remainder of any “fee” needs to go straight into the pot to pay other creditors and not used to run the newco. i simply cannot understand why soton paid any fee whatsoever for a player who was, in effect, a free agent.

    when is all this going to end? You’d never see anything like this in any other country in the world. sickening in extremis.


  11. Captain Haddock.

    There are so many questions like the ones you raise accumulating daily and just hanging around unanswered.
    A big problem in getting any straight answer lies in the fact that there are too many separate entities involved who can fudge, prevaricate or pass the buck when approached.

    I think to have any chance of getting anywhere we need to focus on just one. The SFA.

    It is their silence that allows everything else to happen.
    Make them accountable and the others will have nowhere to turn.

    Easier said than done, I know, but maybe it is something that this forum can try to do.

    Just start with a few straightforward questions to them that they cannot fob off to anyone else.

    Ask the questions. Keep asking. Publish the responses or highlight the lack of them.

    My starter for 10 would be to ask how they intend to treat the historical record of the soon-to-be -gone Old RFC.
    Do they consider it to have died with them or do they see it continuing under the New RFC.

    Me (Celtic supporter) and my brother (Rangers/The Rangers/Whatever supporter) can argue about this all we like.
    But what really matters is how the SFA intend to see things.

    Once we get an unequivocal answer from them on that then we have a firm foundation on which to base other questions concerning this particular farce.

    It’s not exactly a difficult question to answer, you would think.


  12. ClashCityRockers says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:36
    0 0 Rate This
    jonny says:

    August 3, 2012 at 22:06

    ————————————————————————————————————————-

    Jonny, i couldn’t agree more with your statement. The next club to unfortunately find themselves entering an insolvency event will be treated completely differently. i would be absolutely delighted were uefa to get involved in this. despite two personal emails sent to them, i have had no reply. i sincerely hope that they are keeping a close eye on this situation, but i doubt they will ever take action as they state that they have complete faith in the governing bodies to act appropriately. i find that strange as no one in this country or at least any reader/contributor to this site, would appear to have any faith in our governing bodies.
    the whole scottish football administrative system is rotten to the core and is too far gone to be righted. personally, i believe the whole system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt from the bottom up.

    apologies for the rant.


  13. TSFM says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:30
    ‘John,
    You can pick another name on WordPress/Gravatar, but still use John Clarke as your display name.
    Think the current avatar looks good though :-)’

    It’s a lovely wee insecty thingy, I agree. Mebbes I’ll keep it, mebbes not ( if I can manage the technical feat of changing it and if I can summon up the energy to try).


  14. One puzzle that remains unresolved is

    What is the CW end game ?

    His £27m floating charge has the same validity today that it had on 14 Feb when he announced Administration
    He got his preferred Administrators into place and events have more or less progressed as planned towards liquidation.
    CW transferred his FC from RFCG to Liberty Corporate in the name of his father Thomas Whyte
    CW also gave his approval to the name change for RFC(IA) and made no objection to the sale to Green
    He owes Ticketus £27m and they also have been very quiet despite lining up the liquidation of Ticketus LLP by creating a floating charge in March over all their assets in the name of another Octopus co called Fern Trading
    .
    The only solution that makes any sense is Ticketus having a forward committment from Green to repay their CW debt of £27m from future ST sales of Sevco. This committment being made as an offset against the CW FC

    When BDO take over RFC(deid) it may become clearer whether the CW FC and the Ticketus debt are still lying on RFC(deid) books or whether both have moved to Sevco .Likewise it will become clearer if Green has actually bought the assets or simply the illusion of an RFC(deid) “club”


  15. John Clarke

    I can think of one supporters trust who might share your view and it will not be the first time a meeting called for one purpose came away with another due to circumstances.


  16. Frank Forrest

    OT too.
    Mother Night is mine…… I think.
    I’ve realised that it’s so long since I read most of them that the details are fuzzy.
    Perfect excuse to start at the beginning and work my way through them again.

    Anyway, retiring for the evening now.

    Till later.


  17. jonny says:
    August 3, 2012 at 21:04
    two panda
    so are you saying CG is issuing chips he can’t cash in
    ____________________________________________

    I`ve nowt against or for CG. It`s a general hype their [sevco] supporters have more money power than in reality

    Their typo fans won`t buy-in shares / chips because they can’t – through no fault of their own in a recession. I`m not rfc but I abhor any rich spivs pillaging any honest guys supporters and ruthlessly played by a disingenuous PR and oft fatuous MSM. Why should any club supporter believe anything these pickpockets sponsor and claiming fees in the process?

    It used to be you paid at the turnstiles and that was that – and you got Internationals and World Cup, European games, colour, texture and entertainment and not unimportant – characters in the game

    Now you need permission from the TV companies to take a leak. Ask higher authority what`s the score is and the MSM spout their [PR sponsored] idea of “common sense” for the good of the game. Third rate journeymen kiss the badges on the front and back pages. Placemen footy execs in expensive suits interviewed by fawning spineless journos. Other media cynically exploit and phone-ins for the benefit of double glazing and loan companies ads. It is 99% crap. It has no core or soul.

    The RFC saga has exposed the nonsense, corruption, omerta and malfeasance prevalent.

    Alas, the cerebrally and morally challenged MSM show no intention of changing their cosy relationships and are content to let the rot infest unchallenged if it gets in the way of a restaurant bill and a grubby handshake, or rather their percieved influence in what in fact is a vacuum in reality

    So – rant over

    Yes jonny – if he did – he`d be issuing chips he can’t cash in – that kid of money aint there


  18. Kilgore Trout says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:45
    I am afraid the question you want answered was asked in the latest interview with SR and I don’t think you will like the answer .
    He refused point blank to give an unequivocal yes or no (total disgrace I know ) .
    My reading into this was that the very fact they had bent every rule then ended up just ignoring the rules just to keep the pretence of ragers existence alive would have led him to be shouting from the rooftops that ragers was one in the same .The very fact that he did not told me all I needed to know .
    Also the fact that he said it was up to the fans of the club to decide if they were the same club sort of gave the game away unless your a MSM junkie


  19. Just heard from a Div. 1/2 ref that the rangers games will be refereed by some of the lesser known/used SPL refs but the linesmen will still be younger less experienced officials. Don’t want any dodgy decisions going against them?


  20. jonny @ 23:05

    Was just about to log off.

    Quite breathtaking! I’ve been a busy with real-life stuff this week so that one passed me by.

    Particularly “it was up to the fans of the club to decide if they were the same club”.

    The CEO of the SFA said that??

    Absolutely staggering.

    Now I really do need to lie down.


  21. Essex beancounter says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:35
    .’…JC…glad to see your wordsmithness has tranferred over to the SFM site…lesser mortals like me would have used the now overworked “cojones”…but then again…’
    —-

    I wasn’t sure how to spell ‘cojones’!

    (And you’ve incidentally and unconnectedly reminded me that I think( but it’s not for me to say) the developing convention is to refer to the site as TSFM, something which i did not notice when first I posted on it.)


  22. twopanda bears says:
    August 3, 2012 at 23:04
    That is the problem with the game we love ,we still have players thinking that the good times ain’t ended yet and the gravy train is still on the rails ,once the sub prime EPL falls on it’s erse things will improve ,until then we will have to find our own level in Scottish football .
    Believe me there will always be more players willing to play football than there is places in the pro game and they will drop their wage levels just to get a club.

    What we as fans have to do is make sure we have a voice to make sure some of the money saved id passed down to ensure the ticket prices are reduced also .


  23. Auldheid says:
    August 3, 2012 at 23:02
    ‘…I can think of one supporters trust who might share your view and it will not be the first time a meeting called for one purpose came away with another due to circumstances.’

    A delphic utterance!
    Will you be at the conference representing a supporters’ trust? Or, perhaps, will that supporters’ trust of which you know be represented at the Falkirk conference?


  24. Kilgore Trout says:
    August 3, 2012 at 23:13
    I am afraid he did .
    IMO that is yet another example of how the game as we knew it was destined to fail ,DM was allowed to kill ragers and the fans were so blinded they were to late to stop him .
    He could not have achieved this without the knowledge of many peepil in the know ,yet the fans were treated to a tissue of lies for years ,even so that to this day they are still in denial .

    Money is not improving the game it is corrupting and killing the game from the bottom were the prices are keeping fans away from the grounds ,to the top where TV money is encouraging them to stay in the house rather than go to games .

    the difference in the EPL /SPL is that the SPL tv money forces our clubs to rely on their fans to pay more to cover the poor TV deal ,the EPL on the other hand gets more than enough to affford the clubs to charge the fans a lot less at the gate ,yet they choose to still price fans out of the game as they are still overspending what they are earning and are more in the hands of the TV companies hands as ever before .

    The more you look at modern day football the more it shows you that we, the fans are just seen as extras in some TV show that strives for more and more viewers /subscribers and are treated as such


  25. 2 questions ? Who is going to watch any football live this season (on the pitch, not the telly), and PL, are you my old school mate BL fae Foxbar ?


  26. DJ – I accept that you may have a good source close to the discussions between the footballing authorities, RFC(IA) and Sevco and I welcome your posts when you supply new information which is sourced in some way.

    However your recollection of our exchange on RTC is incorrect.

    My “trolling” remark was made because you preceded a statement with “I hear”. You say that I made the comment in response to you posting a “totally accurate summary of the 5 way agreement”

    I did check back and here is your post that I challenged on the RTC blog.

    Domaine Jessiaume says: 24/07/2012 at 11:13 am
    I hear the SFA, SPL, SFL are on the point of agreeing to drop the dual contracts investigation, acknowledging their will be no striping of titles and transferring the membership.
    Integrity was nice while it lasted.
    The last I heard was that the dual contracts investigation is still very much alive, therefore your summary wasn’t “totally accurate” .

    I also explained my position on believability which is not as you describe above.

    easyJambo says: 24/07/2012 at 2:00 pm
    Domaine Jessiaume says: 24/07/2012 at 12:08 pm
    That’s a bit off, EJ. Don’t play the man rather than the ball just because I say something you would prefer not to believe.
    =============================
    On the contrary, I would be delighted to believe what you said. I might not like the outcome but believability normally comes from a bit more that “I hear ………”
    Had you initially stated that that you had heard from a “professional” working on behalf of “X” or “Y” then I would not have considered questioning your source.
    I am happy to apologise for suggesting that you were “trolling”, but in return I ask that you don’t misrepresent what I have said previously.
    =================================

    You’re correct, I did misremember the context of your remark. I did not intend to misrepresent it so please accept my apology for the very laziness I castigated Slimshady for further up.

    However, prefixing a post with “I hear” is not improved by inserting instead “I have read a confidential document which states…” or “I have spoken to Charles Green who says…” It could all be BS. For you to say the use of “I hear” meant you regarded me as trolling but that a professional adviser being cited would have led to you treating the post differently is a little ridiculous.

    On this blog we either take people at face value until they prove they do not merit that courtesy, or we don’t. This blog is either different, or it is not. So I am afraid I regard your post on 24 July at 2pm as weasel words. I didn’t accept your explanation then and I don’t accept it now.

    My post that day was an insight into how the negotiations were going and the mood was very much that Sevco were holding a gun to everyone’s head and a climb down was looming large. (Later I prefigured pretty exactly what would be in the 5 way agreement. It was this later post I recollected (wrongly) that you had disbelieved and described as trolling.)

    The point is, though, that to do that at any point is poor form and frankly discourages people from posting information.

    I am grateful for you taking the time to clarify matters and I will stop boring everyone with this now.

    I will post information in good faith when I can, but I will not say how I know, and people can make of what they will. I will not rise to the bait in future when accused of trolling, making stuff up etc.


  27. Firstly, thanks and congrats to TSFM for taking up RTC’s mantle and carrying on the fight.  

    Secondly, and apologies if this has already been covered, has there been any additional official comment on the transfer of the SPL share beyond the rather bland statement that was put out earlier today?

    “At eight minutes past ten this morning, the member clubs unanimously approved the transfer of Rangers’ SPL share to Dundee Football Club.

    Dundee FC is now a member of the SPL.”

    One thing that I have learned from RTC and from Paul McConville is to be suspicious of any statement made by the footballing authorities, as what they don’t say is often more important than what they do say.  I this case, while the member clubs have unanimously approved the transfer, and while Dundee are now a member of the SPL, the statement doesn’t explicitly link these events as cause and effect.  Specifically, it doesn’t say that Rangers’ SPL share has been transferred to Dundee.  Nor does it say that Rangers (whoever “Rangers” are) no longer hold an SPL share.  

    How far into paranoia is the thought that Dundee have been issued a new SPL share and “Rangers” (though not necessarily Chuckie’s current legal entity) have retained the existing share in order to expedite their return with or without league reconstruction?


  28. By the way, EJ, just for the record, my summary of the 5 way agreement was “totally accurate” as I am sure you will check.


  29. Frank Forrest says:
    August 3, 2012 at 22:50
    I too am puzzled as to Uefa/Fifa lack of involvement in this scandal but may I point to the fact that for HMRC ragers may be a test case for going after bigger fish and if they get too involved in this they may be accused of being lenient on others .The fact that ragers went to the cival courts and nothing seemed to have been done about it leads me to think the SFA screwed up and that is why Uefa stayed out of it ,but IMO if ragers are caught for the EBTs then Uefa know many more bigger fish will be in HMRC sights soon enough .

    Here is one to ponder ,I hear Arsenal have already settled up with HMRC regarding EBTs and I believe Arsenal were interested in taking PL on board but he stayed with Celtic ,do you think PL advised Arsenal that EBTs were a ticking time bomb ,I think Celtic saw this coming and sorted the Juninho deal out in full knowledge that DM was on the road to oblivion


  30. paddymacvey says:
    August 3, 2012 at 21:45

    Thank you for the considered reply and suggestions, one thing about supporters direct is that its aim seems to be more with working with clubs on ownership and representation. however the governing bodies are secondary to that, it has led me to think about the very nature of the SFA/SPL/SFL bodies, I mean what are they in the business entity sense? they are closer to clubs or trade associations, but they effectively run a cartel with no consumer, shareholder or regulatory oversight. Often the problem we have as fans is we make the problem too big to solve – i.e. it has to be an all or nothing reconstruction, why not start smaller but more direct – for example why cannot there be a directly elected fan representative on the board and committees of the SFA – independent of the clubs and accountable to the fans. why are SFA meetings and tribunals typically held in camera, in this day and age why are they not publicly broadcast (podcast or video or even the minutes made public? there is no sound business or competitive reason not to (some relating to financial contracts with sponsors etc would be excused)


  31. I wish RTC had never left, I bloddy hate the alien face which stares at me when I’m trying to post, and try as I might, I can’t change it, Gravytar won’t accept either the username or email which are displayed right below, I give up, away to bed. Hopefully you can see the thing with the green face.


  32. following on from my last post – the long history of perceived paranoia, double deals, favouritism, would not have persisted if the meetings and reasons behind decisions made fully public. What would be the downside? (aside from nutters such as those who hounded Mr Hutton) maybe as well as a SOS we should have a transparency saturday – not turn up – if the SFA cannot be transparent then the fans will be! That may force some pressure on them from the club chairman. Again we don’t need to turn into a rabble but we need to apply pressure not just comments. We need inclusiveness – all fans, all clubs, all fans orgs, even the MSM.


  33. Good peoples of the blog, old and new,

    I’d like to pay respect to http://honestyinsport.weebly.com/index.html.

    I found this to be an absolute god-send as a resource when it came e-mailing those clubs and chairmen who needed to be contacted during the fight to stop the admission of Sevco into the upper tiers of our game.

    I think it would be a good idea if we here, could follow suit, and build a library of contact details, names/departments/governmental bodies/editorial executives etc. to whom we should direct our enquiries, and ask the questions that are not currently being asked by our inept press.

    I don’t know how this could be done, but I’d imagine it wouldn’t be that difficult to add a “who to contact” page.

    Whilst I appreciate the heartfelt condemnation amongst ourselves, it does seem at times that we are all nodding along together sagely with harmonious indignation, but to little effect.

    We need to be more organised than they are, and we need to aim all of our arrows at the same targets.


  34. Bluff & Bluster says:
    August 4, 2012 at 00:11

    Great post – i especially agree with your last point, another I would add to this is sometimes the MSM can be our friends, Alex Thomson was a great example of that, we need to reach out to the inquisitive, dare I say hungry journo’s and have them help, there are stories out there!


  35. De Profundis says:
    August 4, 2012 at 00:06
    2 0 Rate This
    Ah, Sweet Jesus, would you look at it!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Brilliant! 😀


  36. Bluff & Bluster says:
    August 4, 2012 at 00:11

    Great post – i especially agree with your last point, another I would add to this is sometimes the MSM can be our friends, Alex Thomson was a great example of that, we need to reach out to the inquisitive, dare I say hvngry journo’s and have them help, there are stories out there!

    note to self – don’t use hvngry again 🙂


  37. May I suggest that all the SPL clubs start looking at more inventive ways of getting bums on seats now that the TV companies have told all the clubs how much they are putting in .
    It’s the job of the TV companies to keep fans in the house it’s the clubs job to get them out the house and into the ground ,the TV companies know this , the TV companies are not our clubs allies they are our rivals .Let the battle begin


  38. Feel like I’ve won The Gold Medal. Tried many times to post on the old RTC website, but was always blocked.

    I’d just like to say, as a non Old Firm Fan, with regards to the Rangers scenario,The Scottish Football Authorities have been an absolute disgrace in their management of this fiasco. From The SFA- SPL – SFL downwards, the whole lot of them should be held to account for the damage they have done over the last year.

    Mess’rs Reagan & Doncaster should resign now, as both are pretty inplicit in the greatest cover-up our Game has ever seen. The whole thing stinks to the high heavens.

    Can’t help thinking of the cheating Badminton players who were disqualified within hours at The Olympic’s. Apparently, all in the name of “Sporting Integrity” !

    If only our Footballing Authorities had the same standards ?

    As If !


  39. John Clark

    I’m a member of a trust but not in any executive capacity. I’m going to check their stance on this issue and see if they are up for a fight.

    I’ ll get back to you.


  40. Bayviewgold

    Dont get me started on the inadequacies of the SFA.

    There role is unclear as is the relationship with the SPL. There is no clear demarcation of responsibilites and I could not find an up front mission statement which tells me they are not sure of their role.
    There has been some improvement in transparency in terms of making their rules public on line but because they are accountable to no one but themselves they can break their rules as suits and carry on regardless.

    The SG in spite of the importance of football to the social fabric of Scotland refuse to ask questions and there is no mechanism for making them accountable because they do not want supporters in any position to influence them as that makes a cosy existence uncomfortable.

    They are the masters of our game and poor ones rather than the servants they should be.


  41. Philip José Farmer

    If ever there was a blast to the past! Read all of his Riverworld books as a teenager. Vague memories of people dying and finding themselves reborn upon the river clyde as a newco amidst very famous people.


  42. The reason IMO why UEFA have given the rangers(in liquidation) debacle a wide berth is for one reason …..
    Financial can of worms!

    Many clubs abroad alike ourselves have been possibly cheated by fielding inelligible players if they are found guilty of dual contracts .
    These cheated clubs will sue UEFA whom I presume will sue the SFA if this turns out to be true !

    But the I’m sure over the months that have been lapsed conveniently will have been very productive in the shredding dept for everyone !


  43. There are more, but let’s start with the role of honour Turnbull Hutton, Alex Thomson, Mark Daly.


  44. Ah yes. Same format, same civilised decorum, same old posters ( and auld heids. . . and same faces ). Like a comfy armchair.

    Now, where’s Stunney with the papers ?


  45. Auldheid says:
    August 4, 2012 at 01:03

    Thanks auld yin 🙂 there is something here that I am struggling to articulate well and is larger than the whole rangers fiasco, it is this lack of accountability, in any other field or organisation if Neil doncaster had rubbished his product and organisation as he did as a CEO he would be ousted immediately – but a football org? he ignores the criticism and carries on. But ! there is no game without us, we can remain as sheep or start the grass roots revolution, me for one I am tiring of tugging the forelock. Accountability or lack of it is the root cause of all this. So as an aim (and moving away from the rangers bashing) how do we work to make the SFA/SFL/SPL accountable – pressure! think Ceauşescu – they are in power they are not going to give in without pressure – to borrow a phrase we arra peepil – let’s focus and drive change, everyone here should write to their local clubs, supporters orgs, and ask for the first steps : the SFA should have fan representation on all committees, and secondly all committes meeting/minutes should be public (except those with commercial deals or trade secrets). I cannot attend supporters direct meetings in person (no I am not in jail) but if someone can volunteer and report back – this would be a start, I can volunteer to write and email and publish any response – any volunteers?


  46. This is copied from Sky. It states that Newco have been given full membership. I understood that they were meant to get an associate membership. Can anyone clarify? and what is the difference and the consequences? Sorry to bombard with questions this early but I’ve just finished a nightshift.

    The Scottish Football Association have confirmed that the Rangers newco have been granted full membership.

    Charles Green’s company, who changed their name from Sevco Scotland to The Rangers Football Club this week, were granted a conditional licence last Friday after applying to transfer the membership of the soon-to-be-liquidated Rangers.

    That allowed them to field a Rangers team in the Ramsdens Cup against Brechin – a game they won 2-1 after extra time.

    Full membership depended on Rangers’ Scottish Premier League share being handed to Dundee – a formality that was completed on Friday morning.

    A statement later on Friday read: “The Scottish FA can confirm that The Rangers Football Club Ltd have today received confirmation that full membership of the association has been transferred.”


  47. bayviewgold at 05:49
    Auldheid says:
    August 4, 2012 at 01:03

    Thanks auld yin there is something here that I am struggling to articulate well and is larger than the whole rangers fiasco, it is this lack of accountability, …
    ______________________________

    Highlandhibby at 06:26

    This is copied from Sky. It states that Newco have been given full membership. I understood that they were meant to get an associate membership.
    _________________________

    Obvious links here. The rules as they stand say associate membership for any newco I believe for three years but no share of League revenues during that time. Without a share of League revenues any newco has no business case, and therefore couldn`t qualify for membership – so what`s the point?

    If a rule is unworkable, pointless, whatever, all they need to do is amend or remove it by consensus in an accountable transparent manner and explain why. There is no need to create problems – create solutions

    To be fair that particular rule appears to have no merit, but proper visible procedures to correct are missing.

    At the moment it “appears” more backdoor strings have been pulled to skip another hurdle but leaving that same obstacle for future entrants which is patent double standards. This is improper governance.

    This corrodes faith in the game.


  48. RANGERS face a probe from an independent commission into EBTs – and it will have the power to impose sanctions if the club is found guilty.

    The SPL has appointed the group to decide if the tax scheme broke league rules and one possible punishment is stripping Gers of titles they won between 2000-2011.

    An SPL statement said the commission has powers to “determine what sanctions, if any, are appropriate.”

    The DR really went to town on the biggest story in Scottish Football History.
    What a bunch of feckin’ tossers.


  49. Thanks Panda, Could it be they got a full SFA membership and are only getting an associate SFL license. Or am I confusing myself and need to lie down?


  50. Highlandhibby says:
    August 4, 2012 at 07:04

    Exactly as you say – it’s possibly open to question even challenge


  51. Stunney delivered the papers as ever and we all owe him a big Christmas tip. But today’s Scotsman will not make pleasant reading. It is revealing in three respects. Firstly the ‘interview’ with Walter Smith and Gordon Strachan was no such thing it was a marketing opportunity for Ladbrokes. They were being paid or would not have offered their opinions. Smith’s ‘nightmare’ (nae Rangers) was particularly galling. His big idea is that recent events may impact on the Scottish national team. That’s the national team Smith walked out on in breach of contract, to re-join Rangers and the national team that has had the biggest number of early call-ffs through injury from a single club – Rangers. But by far the worst factor was that the interview was conducted in Ladbrokes ‘sponsors’ jerseys, which were cast in the old dye of – blue and green. Are they still going to persist in these pathetic rituals. I hope not.


  52. De Profundis says:
    August 4, 2012 at 00:06
    9 0 i Rate This

    Ah, Sweet Jesus, would you look at it!

    ========================================================================

    …”out of the depths I have cried to you…”…please make these bloody little faces go away..!


  53. The red haired one….

    “But this is the chance for the phone-in fans, the keyboard cowboys, to get out there and actually go and support their teams.”
    _____________________________________________________________________________

    I took great exception to this one describing his CFC critics as… “Kestrel swilling, trainer garbed, possessors of scheme attack dugs….”

    As per his usual MO, too handy and disparaging with the mouth music.

    He might care to follow my example – thought I doubt that he will be spotted at many SPL or SFL games this season following this summons to attend.

    Purchased an extra ST at Celtic Park for a young chap who is struggling a bit with a growing family. Purchased a ST for St Mirren – I’ll probably only get down there on 3/4 occasions when there is a Sat/Sun fixture split. If neither has a Sat fixture then I might even attempt an excursion up the Maryhill Road. Delighted to do so.

    (Sevconia Strollers? Nae chance 🙂 )

    I claim no hero status, far from it, but GS does not half pee me off at times when he indulges in provocative language.


  54. TSFM says:
    August 4, 2012 at 01:35
    13 0 i Rate This

    I’ve taken off the generated Gravatars folks. I felt De Profundis’s pain

    ============================================================================

    TSFM…sorry but posted re De Profudis’ pain before I read your post…invocation to Deity successful on my part.

    Thank you for your efforts and best wishes with the site.

    PS it was of course you who fiddled with the avatar thingies..and not Deity…?

    Surely you have not been deified yet…?


  55. stunney says:
    August 4, 2012 at 03:39
    3 0 i
    Rate This

    http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rangers-newco-spl-without-rangers-a-nightmare-for-scottish-football-says-walter-smith-1-2450045

    Aye, it’s a nightmare for you, ya hurting myth.

    =======================================================================

    Stunney…thank you for continuing to “bring the papers in” to this site…much appreciated and hits the MSM in the pocket!

    I would say that this is the first time I have seen you comment re the contents…so it shows just how ludicrous the “We need Rangers” myth has become.


  56. Stunney getting the papers in as ever.

    At the great risk of abusing the wonderful currency of the cycling story at large, chapeau sir.


  57. jonny says:
    August 3, 2012 at 23:55
    11 0 Rate This

    B assured UEFA have no intention of intervening, no matter what happens. They are the same as SFA/SPL and Platini comes out the same box as Doncaster and Regan. Do not expect any sporting integrity from that direction.


  58. A question for the SFA.

    “I see that The Scottish Cup, your showpiece competition, get underway today with Preliminary Round ties between Keith & St. Cuthberts and Fort William & Preston Athletic. Good Luck to them all and I hope they enjoy the experience. Especially those for whom this is their first year in the competition. On that note, could you please tell me how many teams competing this year fall into that bracket?”

    Can’t be a hard one, can it?

    If someone with more experience in these matters wants to ask them this feel free.
    If not, I’ll do it myself later today. But, for now, the hills are calling!


  59. Walter Smith: “It’s all right to come up with comments like sporting integrity, but the main thing is for Scottish football to gain a level of respectability and I think we are in danger of losing that.”
    Smith says he is not complaining about the other clubs’
    decision, but is adamant that the “financial implications” will be deadly serious.
    “This will just exacerbate what has already been happening in
    Scottish football,” said Smith. “In terms of finance we are
    already having a big enough struggle without Rangers having
    to go to the lower divisions for three years.”

    http://m.scotsman.com/sport/rangers-newco-spl-without-rangers-a-nightmare-for-scottish-football-says-walter-smith-1-2450045
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    First Mr Smith, what level of respectability would Scottish football have if it had allowed the cheating club that was Rangers to remain in the SPL? As it happens, the decision was taken out of our hands when Rangers died as a result of failing to achieve a CVA. Then we had the ludicrous suggestion that Sevco should somehow waltz straight into the SPL. When that failed, efforts were made to crowbar them straight into SFL1. That too failed but Sevco still managed to climb up over numerous more deserving non-league clubs (ironically Gordon Strachan’s Spartans being one) to grab a spot in SFL3 that they were not entitled too. And still they weren’t happy.

    Smith goes on to say “In terms of finance we are already having a big enough struggle without Rangers having to go to the lower divisions for three years.”.

    Did Walter ever consider the financial impact on clubs that were forced to try and keep up with the runaway train that was Rangers? That perhaps if Rangers hadn’t cheated all those years then maybe some clubs wouldn’t have stretched themselves beyond their financial limits in order to maintain a modicum of competitiveness?

    Why Walter Smith thinks that preserving that would in any way give us respectability is beyond me.
    As it is, a club with no verfiable accounts and no verifiable source of funding has been given a leg up into the SFL. That club is now busy bringing in players reportedly on contracts that are way beyond its means and status. How does that give Scottish football any credibility or respectability?


  60. stunney says:
    August 4, 2012 at 04:42
    ————–

    Cheers stunney. Having all these links in one place really helps with the morning round-up. It was much appreciated on RTC too.

    And I hope my observations about potential copyright issues didn’t offend. They were meant in no way to be personal.

    😉


  61. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/smith-warns-downward-spiral-is-inevitable.18360049

    So in another completely difficult-question-free article Walter NoSurname informs us (again) that we are all doomed – in a Dad’s Army stylee – even though it is becoming ever clearer that financial Armageddon has not, in fact happened. Who knew?

    He then comes away with this belter:

    “It’s all right to come up with the idea of ‘sporting integrity’ but the main thing is for Scottish football to gain a level of respectability and we’re in danger of losing that.”

    Jeezo. Kind of sums up what went wrong at Ibrox. Yes Walter, Scottish Football is in danger of losing respectability and it is largely because people like you, your former bosses and your collaborators in the SFA wouldn’t know ‘sporting integrity’ if it slapped your heid like the Tango man.

    What a numpty. And shame on the Herald for printing this mince without any sort of critical analysis.


  62. Lord Wobbly
    Nail on head ,Walter Smith was part of the problem ,why does the Scotsman think he will provide any solution .
    The fact that the MSM keep asking this man for his opinions on what is best for Scottish football whilst completely ignoring his part in this scandal should tell everyone that as far as the MSM is concerned it’s just business as usual


  63. Can anyone confirm why the new team have to wait till Tuesday to play their very first home game?


  64. So much more to unfold in this saga – I genuinely believe it is too massive to fit under even the SFA’s carpet.
    In the meantime I hope that we see record 1st day crowds this weekend and that everyone enjoys the footie – remember that?


  65. A new era begins.

    It will be interesting to see the attendance figures today.

    I’m off to Parkhead today with my Hibby son (his first visit) and hope we will take in more games in more grounds throughout the year.

    I’m hoping for a good crowds today and would hope this goes on throughout the season.

    Good luck to one and all today.

    And may the team you’d like to win win:)

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