Accountability via Transparency.

Where transparency exists accountability inevitably follows.​

This is an extract from a post on SFM from 2015. The subject was Transparency and Slow Glass

The message then was that football governance has to catch up in realising that football has to become more transparent in its dealing with supporters and so more accountable to them.
That transparency is already here via social media because of the ability to share, but the light of truth is constrained by Slow Glass.
Slow Glass from a short story by Bob Shaw slows down the light passing through it.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_of_Other_Days
In the story and others, you have Slow Glass of different thickness in terms of the time it takes for the light to emerge.
You have Glass a day thick/long to Glass ten years thick/long and more.

Resolution 12, if measured from the Celtic AGM in 2013 when it was tabled and adjourned, has taken 6 years for the light of truth to emerge, although it could have happened sooner had main stream media removed the dust of PR that slows the light, but light is inexorable and it is emerging at an archive of events since 2011 that can be read at

https://www.res12.uk/ 

It is in two parts.

Part One
relates to events in 2011/12 including a very interesting link between UEFA Licence 2011 and the commissioning of Lord Nimmo Smith to investigate use of EBTs with side letters by Rangers FC where non-disclosure benefited Rangers FC in 2011 AND 2012.


Part Two
concentrates SFA activity (or lack of it) from 2014 to date as result of the adjournment of Resolution 12 in November 2013 that provided shareholders with the authority to seek answers.
The archive has been constructed in chronological sequence to help readers understand better the detail and separate what took place in 2011/12 which is in the past, from the SFA handling of shareholders legitimate enquiries from 2014/15 to date, which remains current and is a mirror of SFA performance in respect of the national football team.
Many narratives will emerge as a result of the transparency, some Celtic related, but a system of governance, that is accountable in some way to supporters as stakeholders in the game, can only benefit the supporters of all clubs and they are encouraged to read through the archive.

As Phil Mac Giolla Bhain has written here in respect of Celtic and the SFA

Resolution 12 information on new website

accountability has to be the outcome of transparency to wipe the face and soul of Scottish football clean.

How that is achieved will be up to Scottish football supporters everywhere to take forward via their Associations and Trusts, in collaboration with the clubs they support, but it does seem to me, and I know others with more legal experience, that the SFA would find it difficult to resist a challenge to their refusal to engage with people (in this case minority shareholders of member clubs) who are affected by decisions that they make.

This entry was posted in Blogs, Featured 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.

1,204 thoughts on “Accountability via Transparency.


  1. The SMSM is reporting that the SFA high heid yins are meeting today – with McLeish's position on the agenda.

     

    [No breathless 'EXCLUSIVE!' or 'LIVE' reporting from Keef this time…  indecision ]

     

    IF Maxwell and assorted SFA buffoons have done their jobs properly, then the decision – and a legally negotiated settlement – has already been agreed.

     

    The meeting should simply include the rubber stamping of McLeish's payoff – which will include a premium for McLeish to keep his mouth shut.

     

    McLeish's appointment was a flawed process, and ultimately a rush job.

    If he goes tomorrow, then another rush job will be required to get a bum on the manager's seat before the Cyprus game.

     

    The SFA will continue its SOP of lurching from one self-inflicted crisis to another – and in the complete absence of learning or improving.


  2. Cluster One 17th April 2019 at 21:58

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

    My view is were Murray to invest in Rangers it would be to a media fanfare of 'coming back to right all the wrongs that he personally felt so guilty for'. The 'wrongs' of course would be those percieved to be against Rangers and their fans. The shafting of the pubic purse would not be a consideration.

    Murray would be given the red carpet treatment by many in the media, and if there was significant money on the table the SFA would find a way to let him in. Even those in the media who disapproved would maybe write one condemnatory article then tell us all to move on, similar to when the SFA refused to allow an independent investigation into how they handled Rangers illegal tax evasion.  The media are still willing to see the same corruption in place. They could do something about it if they wanted to, because it is unlikely the SFA could survive without reform if the mainstream media decided to run with the info that is already in the public domain via social media. However, it seems to me that Rangers overcoming Celtic at any cost remains their prime objective. In fact, the SFA in its current form is probably the main enabler required for that. 


  3. Easyjambo@21.27 yesterday 

    Looks like another potential Resolution 12 type issue is developing in Ireland. There could be implications for Scottish football especially if UEFA agree to award the licence to St Patricks. 


  4. Ex Ludo 18th April 2019 at 08:15 5 Easyjambo@21.27 yesterday Looks like another potential Resolution 12 type issue is developing in Ireland. There could be implications for Scottish football especially if UEFA agree to award the licence to St Patricks.

    _______________________-

     

    Actually, EL, it looks like it's almost the exact opposite from Resolution 12, which was only necessary because the club, Celtic, had failed to take action over the apparent fraud committed by Rangers. Looks like St Pats haven't waited for their fans and/or shareholders to force their hand.

    Well done St Patricks FC.


  5. easyJambo 17th April 2019 at 21:27

    '…@TheSFMonitor Hi, I think some of your followers will find this interesting. Can't imagine it will get much coverage in Scotland: https://t.co/b5Fc0yNTHM'

    ______________________

    From the 'Irish Times' article referred to in the tweet cited:

    '..The other point raised is in relation “overdue payables” or debts owed to other parties within the game. In their letter, St Patrick’s Athletic suggest that there are still football debts owed by the former Waterford United."

    "This, Kelleher argues in the letter, is a precedent that St Patrick’s Athletic clearly feel should be followed. There are, he states, a number of other examples of clubs across Europe being excluded from Uefa’s club competitions on similar grounds."

    A look across the Irish Sea would let Kelleher know that there is one UEFA-delegated licensing authority apparently prepared to lie in order NOT to exclude a particular, unentitled club!

    The FAI has already had its funding from Sport Ireland suspended for other reasons. Maybe it too is rotten enough to lie to UEFA on behalf of a club?

    At least, though, St Pat's has raised the matter before the formal announcement of license awards.


  6. AllyJambo@09.59

    Point taken AJ. It will certainly present a test for the much vaunted UEFA financial fair play rules. 

    Speaking of financials. Much has been made of the Spurs victory last night, painting it like a David v Goliath battle. Spurs revenue in 2018 was £381 million with a retained profit of £112 million. In the same year Man City reported income of £500 million but a profit of £10.4 million. In very simple terms it looks like Spurs had an extra £100 million more to spend at the start of this season.


  7. …and off the top of my head…

    I'd guess that Ajax's financials are nowhere near Spurs or City,

    but much closer to CFC's numbers.

    indecision


  8. easyJambo 17th April 2019 at 12:51

    Do we know if the reported £4.2 Euro windfall has hit the Ibrox bank account yet?

    Either way,  is it correct to assume that the reported Close Bros financing in February of this year appears to indicate that this additional income has either:-

    1) already been spent or

    2) it will simply go straight out the door as soon as it comes in.

    The need for a mid-season loan despite a significant increase in income suggests to me that the club from Govan are still spending every single penny, and possibly more,  than is coming in and yet they still remain some distance of getting their hands on any silverware.

    It can only go on for so long before the wheels come off, either that or something comes out of left field to resolve the ongoing financial position.

     

     


  9. Ok I’ll start the rumour. A taxi driver told me that Walter Smith has been sounded out and is waiting in the wings but keep it to yourself ok?


  10. easyJambo 17th April 2019 at 16:12

     

    Oh you little tinker!

    Do you not realize there are some people out there who would love to see both their own stadium and away games completely filled with one set of fans.

    As per the article the other day in the Scotsman showing TV appearances for SPFL clubs,  we know where the main focus of Scottish Football is. angry


  11. Ex Ludo, another taxi driver assured me it is McCoist's job…

    enlightened

     

    But, he would – for the SFA anyway – be a good fit.

    Similar to McLeish: from the EBT era, and a failed, unwanted manager.

    He also comes from a 'preferred background'.

    He's available and – relatively – cheap.

     

    And his main USP?

    The SMSM will just love his cheeky chappy interactions!

     

    Aye.

    Just give the job to sleekit…and empty the Hampden athletics stadium for good…


  12. I was told on the Maryhill omnibus that Wee Barry is a shoo-in . He's bankrupt , you know .


  13. wottpi 18th April 2019 at 11:33

    easyJambo 17th April 2019 at 12:51

    Do we know if the reported £4.2 Euro windfall has hit the Ibrox bank account yet?

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

    Yes. It was included in the interim revenue figures and was key to them reporting a profit for the first half of the financial year.


  14. Know what? I wouldn't mind McCoist in the Scotland set up in some capacity – assistant coach/social secretary maybe, but the SFA wouldn't dare appoint him as manager….would they?

    The funny thing is, we all know it's not beyond the realms of possibility. We all know it should be Steve Clarke or Alex O'Neil, the two most progressive Scottish managers who are most readily equipped to improve teams through tactics, preparation and motivation, but we all know it won't be.  It'll be some old school dinosaur who thinks that we can win games simply through 'passion' alone, by beating our chests like a gorilla on Viagra.

    Has anyone sent out the 'Walt Signal' yet?


  15. AmFearLiathMòr, the blazers switched on the signal a few weeks ago.

    But nobody's realised yet that it's not plugged in.

     

    And even if it was plugged in, The Walter just won't see it illuminated above Hampden from Helensburgh – as his eyesight is not what it used to be.

     

    I'll get my cape…


  16. Love him or loath him, he doesn't mince his words and doesn't like TRFC all that much. He's not too keen on the TRFC supporting press either, it would seem. I get the impression he would have liked to tell them where they could stick their 'Rangers'-centric questions as he got up from his seat rather unceremoniously. Clearly a man sick of this constant "Hearts' most saleable player on way to Ibrox" crap whenever the two clubs are about to meet.*

    Oh, did I mention it's Craig Levein looking rather disdainful towards the Ibrox…, oops sorry, Scottish media hacks, and giving them a bit of a shock it would appear?

     

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1118820317491867648

     

    * Not only Hearts, of course.


  17. Half hoping giving McLeish the boot may be a turning point in the SFA finally realising they need to buck up their ideas and get the finger oot.

     

    Not holding my breath as we will have to see what the next move is, but one can dream!!


  18. easyJambo 18th April 2019 at 13:29

     

    So in the words of Boris,  the Euro cash has mostly likely been spaffed already!!


  19. Headline from the DR;

     

    "Charlie Nicholas slaughters SFA as he backs Malky Mackay to fix 'broken' Scotland team"

     

    smiley


  20. wottpi 18th April 2019 at 16:11 

    '..Half hoping giving McLeish the boot may be a turning point in the SFA finally realising they need to buck up their ideas and get the finger oot.

    Not holding my breath as we will have to see what the next move is, but one can dream!!'

    __________________________

    Or have nightmares about another amateurish, monocular, parsimonious approach to someone in the Scottish scene who was already passed over in favour of McLeish!

     The dreadful mess the SFA made of the last appointment has to be atoned for: and no one on the selection committee that appointed McLeish should have any hand or part in appointing a new National coach.


  21. According to Raman on STV, the SFA failed to put anyone up for interview regarding today's events. (He also stated that the SFA didn’t put anyone up when McLeish was appointed.)

     

    The definition of the phrase 'bunker mentality', according to Merriam-Webster, is:

    a state of mind especially among members of a group that is characterised by chauvinistic defensiveness and self-righteous intolerance of criticism.

     

    What would be the definition of the phrase 'Hampden bunker mentality'? Exactly the same. We deserve better. What is Ian Maxwell doing? Isn’t a CEO supposed to step up & ‘own’ situations like this?


  22. upthehoops 18th April 2019 at 07:09 41 2 Rate This Murray would be given the red carpet treatment by many in the media, …………………. And i will be right here to remind those media puppets of their criticism of Murray way back in 2012.yes


  23. AmFearLiathMòr 18th April 2019 at 13:32
    Has anyone sent out the ‘Walt Signal’ yet?
    …………………
    I hear a guy called Murty is always a good stand in.
    Ok i’ll get my coat.


  24. Jingso.Jimsie 18th April 2019 at 19:25

    '..Isn’t a CEO supposed to step up & ‘own’ situations like this?'

    A CEO is virtually powerless when there are Board-room factions that he is unable to reconcile: his 'authority' comes from the policy decisions of the Board, and there's precious little sign of the SFA Board actually operating as any kind of united Board.

    The fact, as I believe, is that the whole nonsense of the 5-Way agreement was pushed through by a minority of the SFA Board , helped by a minority on the SFL Board,  on the basis of hysteria about 'Armageddon' for Scottish Football , hysteria quite happily and sedulously whipped up by both Regan and Doncaster at the bidding of a minority of the SFA Board. The damage that that has done is there to be seen

    Additionally,the discovery that the SFA Board had, allegedly, wrongly helped an ailing club to  some few millions of  quid to which it was not entitled added fuel to the fire of discord. And its refusal to have that matter thoroughly investigated has just added to the belief that there is maybe a cover-up of some very dirty work-by a minority.

    The SFA as presently constituted is a busted flush- and, in the opinion of many, some of its past and present Board members ought to be 'busted!'

    As is well known, a house divided against itself, cannot stand for long: advocates of honest sporting competition and honest dealings generally cannot stay in the bed  indefinitely with people who know not the meaning of sport or fair dealing. 

    In my view, the entire Boards of the SFA and the SPFL should resign en masse, and fresh elections (from which the present members would be barred from standing) should be held.

    That might be tough on such honest members as there are: but it's the only way the Augean stables could be either cleansed or confirmed  as being beyond all redemption, in which latter case, we can say goodbye to any hopes of a clean game.

    As for not putting anyone up for interview, Greig Mailer, the SFA's Head of Communications , shot the craw the other week!angry


  25. The relatively new SFA CEO Ian Maxwell is not the solution but very much part of the problem at the SFA.

     

    His own meteoric rise to CEO from Patrick Thistle – where he seemed to have gained all of his post playing, business experience – was perhaps not unlike Gordon Smith's appointment.

    Someone inexperienced, without professional qualifications, who could be relied on to not rock the boat.

     

    Now, that might be a very unfair opinion about Maxwell.

    But, today was the day when he should have shown leadership.

    He should have stood on the steps at Hampden to face the media and read out a statement, followed by a few questions.

    The fans – including very cynical Internet Bampots no – would have appreciated the effort to communicate directly with the long suffering fans.

     

    …and Maxwell missed an open goal to easily distance himself from McRae and Petrie and the whole McLeish shambles. 

     

    [I still think Maxwell totally cocked up by – allegedly – leaking to the SMSM about the "deeply worrying episode" involving McLeish – prior to the San Marino game.

    As a result the SFA probably had to pay up his contract in full.]


  26. Shug@07.19

    The take away for me from the PMGB article is the admission in court that there is no money currently available to settle any damages (and court costs presumably). Serious stuff.


  27. Ex Ludo 19th April 2019 at 08:29 Shug@07.19 The take away for me from the PMGB article is the admission in court that there is no money currently available to settle any damages (and court costs presumably). Serious stuff.

    _____________

    I suspect, should any damages be as substantial as some commentators say, or even just half-way towards substantial, that new loans will be required, and that this time round Close Brothers will be seeing their rather healthily high (from their point of view) interest payments continuing for some time to come. What's more, should TRFC face some insolvency event (not necessarily administration but don't ask me what else it might be) as a result of this case, then don't Close Brothers have an interesting wee bit in their security where the assets under charge automatically go to them? If that was to ever come about it would mean more than just lost revenue for the club, for as well as losing some heritable assets, car park and a dilapidated building, a part of Ibrox infrastructure would no longer be under the control of the club, making, I am sure, Ibrox as an asset less valuable to future club investors/buyers.

    At some point, surely, the chickens have to come home to roost, where one of the many court cases has the kind of impact we've long anticipated, and maybe that point is fast approaching?


  28. Allyjambo@10.03

    I don’t believe this particular case will deliver a fatal blow but the aggregation of the costs in all the cases which have gone against TRFC have surely moved the likelihood of an administration event from possible to probable and from the long to the medium term. 


  29. Ex Ludo 19th April 2019 at 10:28
    6 0 Rate This

    Allyjambo@10.03

    I don’t believe this particular case will deliver a fatal blow but.
    …………………..
    But the long term financial implications could be crippling.
    A bigger loan to pay off Ashley’s damages and a rather healthily high interest payments on that loan for some time to come.
    And still Ashley is not walking away.
    How does Mr king still retain any credability and also spin that one to the ibrox crowd.
    Will hummel be pleased?
    The ramifications if king loses this Ashley court case in a big way could see this “dominant force” crippled for a long time.


  30. Ex Ludo 19th April 2019 at 10:28

    Allyjambo@10.03

    I don’t believe this particular case will deliver a fatal blow but the aggregation of the costs in all the cases which have gone against TRFC have surely moved the likelihood of an administration event from possible to probable and from the long to the medium term. 

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    I'm not sure I agree that this latest blow won't be the fatal one until we are appraised of the full quantum of the award against Sevco plus costs.

    The latest loan from Close proves they have no liquidity. If that loan can be paid off in part from Europa League money that is still to be paid out they will still have to dip into significant amounts of season ticket money. But the season ticket money is already spoken for because it is required to pay an excessive wage bill for an array of duds plus other running costs.

    There comes a point in the lifecycle of every failing business when injecting fresh capital is just throwing good money after bad. Sevco passed that point months ago.


  31. Is anybody running a book…

    on the date of the first, organised protest by the bears, outside the Close Brothers office in Glasgow?

     

    I'll get my coupon…  mail


  32. I've been having some fun trying to explore what happens under UK law if a company cannot pay damages awarded against it to a third party.

    Most of the sites that come up seem to relate to the USA scene and/or to individual litigants.

    But I get the impression that the "escape route" is Insolvency, with the 'damages debt' just becoming another unsecured amount of debt, tough titty for the one who won the damages!

    It would also be possible, I suppose, for the Court to decide that the debt should be repaid in instalments- so many grand /million a year.

    If ,as PMcG believes, the damages against TRFC  are in the millions,I would not be surprised that ,with the exaggerated regard the Courts and the business world have for saving a company' rather than nailing shameless,careless, useless and sadly not legally well-advised 'directors', that is what might happen in the case the impecunious TRFC Ltd.

    Anything to keep that show on the road!

     

     


  33. John Clark 19th April 2019 at 12:48

    It would also be possible, I suppose, for the Court to decide that the debt should be repaid in instalments- so many grand /million a year.

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

    How about say £500k a year for five years to be repaid in lieu of dividends from a new and extended retail agreement with SDI, with the club to make up any shortfall in the event of insufficient revenues or a boycott by fans.


  34. easyJambo 19th April 2019 at 14:25
    How about say £500k a year for five years to be repaid in lieu of dividends from a new and extended retail agreement with SDI, with the club to make up any shortfall in the event of insufficient revenues or a boycott by fans.
    …………………………
    Just how embarrassing would that be for the ibrox fan base?
    No doubt king and his L5 puppets will spin it as a great deal. But could the gullible fan base be duped just one more time?


  35. easyJambo 19th April 2019 at 14:25
    How about say £500k a year for five years to be repaid in lieu of dividends from a new and extended retail agreement with SDI,
    ………………
    And free SDI advertising on the new to be built high fence at no longer murray park.
    …………….
    Oh! that reminds me. All this twitter fun that murray could invest?
    Would part of the agreement be.
    Give no longer murray park it’s name back.


  36. shug 16th April 2019 at 09:25

    As far as I am led to believe mcinnes getting sent off had very little to do with reacting to the so called chants that is just the deflection tactic he is using he reacted more than once to these so called chants but he was seemingly sent off for encroaching onto the pitch whilst trying to get some instructions to the far side of the park the 4th official told him to remove himself from the pitch mcinnes then blew up at the official and that was when he was sent off.

    It seems not Shug! From BBC website:

    Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes and assistant Tony Docherty have been charged by the Scottish FA after both were sent to the stand during last week's defeat by Celtic.

    Docherty was dismissed at half-time and has accepted a one-match touchline ban for misconduct.

    McInnes was sent off after making a gesture towards Celtic fans during the Scottish Cup semi-final.

    He has until Thursday to respond to the charge with a hearing set for 3 May.


  37. bordersdon 19th April 2019 at 15:11

     

    0

     

    0

     

    Rate This

     

     

    shug 16th April 2019 at 09:25

    As far as I am led to believe mcinnes getting sent off had very little to do with reacting to the so called chants that is just the deflection tactic he is using he reacted more than once to these so called chants but he was seemingly sent off for encroaching onto the pitch whilst trying to get some instructions to the far side of the park the 4th official told him to remove himself from the pitch mcinnes then blew up at the official and that was when he was sent off.

    It seems not Shug! From BBC website:

    Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes and assistant Tony Docherty have been charged by the Scottish FA after both were sent to the stand during last week's defeat by Celtic.

    Docherty was dismissed at half-time and has accepted a one-match touchline ban for misconduct.

    McInnes was sent off after making a gesture towards Celtic fans during the Scottish Cup semi-final.

    He has until Thursday to respond to the charge with a hearing set for 3 May.

     

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

    Ah it's on the bbc website so it must be the truth even though the bbc lie constantly. 

    Naw he wasn't sent off for responding to abuse but we are all free to believe what we want. His w++nker gesture as he went off was not directed at fans.


  38. Shug @ 15.32

    ————————————————-

    Surely the reason for his charge will be documented on the "charge sheet" and not open to interpretation? If you are correct I will accept that.


  39. "until we are appraised of the full quantum of the award against Sevco plus costs."

     

    or as normal people might say – until we find out how much it's going to cost them.


  40. shug 19th April 2019 at 15:32

    bordersdon 19th April 2019 at 16:02

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

    McInnes was charged with the following: – Disciplinary Rule allegedly breached: Disciplinary Rule 203 – No member of Team Staff shall commit Misconduct at a match.

    The Judicial Protocol offers a Low End sanction of  a 2 match suspension, a Mid Range of 5 matches and a High End of 10 matches, for a breach of that rule.

    The Compliance Officer has the option of offering a fixed suspension, which would be reduced by one match if accepted, if she considers the rule breach to be at the "Low End". The absence of such an offer suggests that the rule breach was considered to be more serious.

    I don't know if encroaching on the pitch or using foul and abusive language towards a match official is deemed to be worthy of anything more than a "Low End" sanction, unless the individual concerned already has a record of similar conduct or has an active suspended sanction pending.

    One precedent for gesturing to opposing fans I can recall was Pat Fenlon, manager of Hibs, at the 2012 cup final.  He was given a four game ban, two of which were suspended.

    4. Offers Of Fixed Suspension for members of Team Staff

    4.1. Where the Compliance Officer issues a Notice of Complaint alleging a breach of Disciplinary Rule 203 and where he also considers that if established, the Tribunal would likely Determine a suspension at the Lower End of the Scale of Sanctions for that breach of Disciplinary Rule 203, the Compliance Officer may append to the Notice of Complaint an offer of Fixed Suspension.

    4.2 The “Fixed Suspension” offered in the offer of Fixed Suspension shall be for a period of suspension calculated by reducing by one match the period of suspension provided at the Lower End of the Scale of Sanctions for that Disciplinary Rule 203.

    4.3 If a member of Team Staff wishes to refuse an offer of Fixed Suspension, he shall deliver his written refusal to the Compliance Officer and to the Secretary before 1pm on the third Working Day after the date of delivery of the Notice of Complaint. Where a member of Team Staff has so refused an offer of Fixed Suspension, the alleged Rule breach will be dealt with by the Disciplinary Tribunal under the terms of the Protocol. If the breach of Disciplinary Charge 203 is later found proved, the Disciplinary Tribunal shall not apply the one match reduction provided for at Paragraph 4.1.1 of this Annex D,
    above.

    The hearing date for McInnes is next Thursday, so we will just have to wait and see.


  41. Re: the Scotland manager dilemma.

    The SMSM could / should be asking of the SFA;

     

    "What has been done – even recently – to help understand and identify a successful plan to qualify for a Finals?

    For example, how many fact finding missions have been conducted on the FA's of Iceland, Wales, Croatia, Belgium, etc?

    How did these small countries qualify – and over achieve – at Finals ?

    What has the SFA learned from other small countries FA's in the last 20+ years?"

     

    I would guess Hampden has learned nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

    Because they didn't ask, and couldn't be bothered visiting these countries to learn.

    The SFA is an inherently stoopid organisation, condemned to forever repeat its mistakes, over and over again.

     

    The actual appointment of Scotland team manager seems almost incidental to Scotland's hopes of a qualification.

    Does anybody think we will qualify in the next 20+ years…?


  42. When discussing the SFA there is a tendency among many commentators to treat the organisation as if it was somehow separate from the rest of Scottish football. It could certainly be argued that it is out of touch with the game that it is meant to be developing and promoting.

    I don’t play golf but have a number of friends who do and who are also members of various clubs. There is a common theme gripe among them when talking about how the various committees and office bearers take decisions. No one is ever happy but there are procedures in place which can bring about change but those who complain about decisions never want to push for change.

    It’s been said before and no doubt it will be said again that the SFA is in effect the clubs and the clubs are the SFA. Scotland has not qualified for a major tournament since 1998 (21 years and counting) None of the clubs seem to be happy with how disciplinary decisions are made and there certainly appears to be major inconsistencies. It certainly seems to me that the members (clubs) can’t be bothered to  push for significant change and are content to only look after their own interests. Like the golf club members they like a moan and that’s as far as it goes. 

     


  43. Ex Ludo @ 1033:

     

    There are certainly corollaries between how (as per your example) golf clubs & the SFA are managed & run.

     

    The element frequently at play in such organisations, which you don't mention, is cronyism.

     

    The SFA is rife with examples of the 'old pals' act', from the Queens Park connections of Mackay & Maxwell to board & committee members who aren't there because of their abilities, but length of service. 

    I also suspect that there are only a couple of people who can hand out sweeties & staying on their good side is imperative if you want the foreign travel, hospitality etc..


  44. While we are on the subject of the SFA, I've been catching up on the current state of play with the "pyramid" below the SPFL.

    The SFA proposals seek to incorporate the West Juniors at Tier 6 (below the Lowland and Highland leagues) and at the same level as next season's new East of Scotland Premier League.  The proposals were unanimously rejected by the Lowland League clubs (15) and the EoS Clubs (39) amid concerns about alignment of fixture calendars, disciplinary procedures and licensing issues. I think the real reason for the rejection is that the West Juniors appear to want to be part of the pyramid and receive the benefits of such, but to retain their autonomy.

    Anyway, there was a meeting of the licensing committee of the SFA a couple of days ago, but no announcements have been made as to the outcome.  This may be the result of Theresa May's, sorry Rod Petrie's, intention to force through his deal or no deal against the wishes of the LL and EOSFL at a meeting next week. There is a view among the EOS clubs that Petrie will say that clubs will have to accept his deal or no new licences will be issued.  That would have a serious impact on those clubs who have spent money on their grounds to achieve a licence and facilitate access to grants, the Scottish Cup and other revenue streams.

    However, this is the SFA we are talking about, so I wouldn't put it past them to try such a move.


  45. Here's a sensible, rational decision.

    Forget about a Scotland team manager.

    Forget about having a Scotland team, for the duration.

    [Perhaps pending a total, top to bottom shake up of the SFA. I know…]

     

    The money and resources which would be wasted on another Scotland manager and his assistants…

    should be redirected instead towards the ladies' Scotland team.

     

    The ladies have already displayed skill, passion and motivation to qualify for a WC.

    How far could they develop IF they were given more – and better – resources?

     

    The Scotland ladies team is FAR more deserving – and it would be money well spent, IMO.


  46. Have Hearts become the new Aberdeen when it comes to playing sevco,is big Craig taking tactical lessons from wee Deek. They started the season so well but have fallen by the wayside.


  47. Mike Ashley lost £150m when Debenhams went"bust". Could he be about to recoup a large chunk of that from The Rangers? The outcome of the court case will be eagerly anticipated by him and a lot of others.


  48. Should the SFA be having words with TRFC overe Mr Robinson's admission in court that he only has responsibility for day-to-day matters and takes instruction from the chair of the RIFC board for all else ?


  49. paddy malarkey 20th April 2019 at 18:16

    '..Should the SFA be having words with TRFC overe Mr Robinson's admission in court…'

    *********

    The SFA must know the reality of the governance of TRFC Ltd, namely, that Robertson  (I think you meant to write?) is in the same servile position as Eichmann : only obeying orders!

    Telling a Court  -presumably on oath-  as much doesn't really add anything. 

    And Roberson  surely knows that whether King was/ is acting as a de facto director  does not let him (Robertson)off any hook if it were ever to come to, say, the Directors of TRFC Ltd being held personally responsible for the (alleged)'damages debt ' in the event that TRFC Ltd cannot pay and get no time to pay, but have to go into Administration.

     


  50. paddy malarkey 20th April 2019 at 18:16
    15 0 Rate This

    Should the SFA be having words with TRFC overe Mr Robinson’s admission in court that he only has responsibility for day-to-day matters and takes instruction from the chair of the RIFC board for all else ?
    ………………….
    Seeing that Mr king has never been passed as a fit and proper person( the same as Alistair johnston, oh by the way how is that going SFA?) To take charge of any football related matters, you would expect the SFA to be all over this.
    Hello, hello the SFA, WAKE UP YOU FECKING CLOWNS.
    sorry about the language.


  51. John Clark 20th April 2019 at 18:51
    12 0 Rate This

    paddy malarkey 20th April 2019 at 18:16

    ‘..Should the SFA be having words with TRFC overe Mr Robinson’s admission in court…’

    The SFA must know the reality of the governance of TRFC Ltd, namely, that Robertson (I think you meant to write?) is in the same servile position as Eichmann : only obeying orders!
    …………………
    Put that along with king, i did not know about anything murray did but his office was two doors down. Ogilvie it had nothing to do with me…. even though my signature is all over it.
    To Gordon smith I could not do my job, but hey the pay is good.
    to walter chairman, i don’t have the first clue what i’m doing here but if it sells season tickets and i’m getting paid great.


  52. Cluster One 20th April 2019 at 20:21

    '…you would expect the SFA to be all over this…'

    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

    May I move a small amendment to your statement, Cluster One? 

    I move that , before the words 'you would expect' the words ' if it weren't for the 5-Way Agreement and the suspicious failure to have the Res 12 issue thoroughly and independently investigated..' should be inserted.

    Recent history, I submit, has shown that what we can 'expect ' from the SFA is deceit, double-dealing, abandonment of Sporting Integrity and a 'Governance policy' paralysis:

    and, basically, utter incompetence at Boardroom level. [ Thankfully, there are  administrative people doing a competent job of keeping the mechanics of the game functioning reasonably well, and they are not at all subject to my censure]

     


  53. And a light-hearted anecdote: 

    I happened to be in a supermarket in the south of Edinburgh earlier today ( against my natural inclinations, of course, but wives are wives, and have to be obeyed) and there was a guy with a Scotland national team shirt on as we waited at checkout. 

    I turned to him and said " right! You've got the job!"

    His response was " Well, I couldn't be any worse than what we've had!"

    And we laughed.

     

     


  54. Eye-catching headline from the DR;

     

    "SFA appoint former Aberdeen striker as director in first sign of boardroom shake-up

    Malcolm Kpedekpo is seen as being a major moderniser in the bid to shed the blazer culture still shaming the top of the game’s hierarchy…"

    By Gordon Waddell 06:00, 21 APR 2019

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

    Sounds promising?

    The article then goes on to disclose that this guy will actually be a Non Executive Director.

    The clue is in the name: he will have zero Executive authority to drive the long overdue changes needed at the SFA.

    He will probably attend or chair various sub-committees.

    A 'moderniser' for the SFA?  Don't think so.

     

    But…it does smack of a pathetic attempt by Petrie to soften the resistance to his upcoming, unopposed elevation to SFA President.

    A cheap PR stunt to try to appease the fans who demand change.

     

    The SFA continues to bumble along, and blithely treating the paying customers with utter contempt at every opportunity.

    angel

     


  55. StevieBC 21st April 2019 at 10:21

    '….The article then goes on to disclose that this guy will actually be a Non Executive Director.'

    *************

    According to the UK Institute of Directors, non-executive directors are expected to focus on board matters and not stray into ‘executive direction.'

    They're also expected to provide independent views on standards of conduct.

    Not that I'm likely ever to be asked, I think I might find difficulty in being a non-exec director on the Board of  a sports governance body which refuses to have an open investigation into why ,by any ordinary reckoning, an unentitled club was granted a UEFA licence, deriving a few million pounds from being granted that licence: 

    or which could so abandon sporting integrity as to create the Big Lie of the  5-Way Agreement.

    Both of those matters clearly involve questions of  ethical 'conduct' in deciding what is good for the business.

     

     

     


  56. I was just fiddling about on the SFA website (as I do from time to time) looking to see who  the current non-exec directors are ( there appears to be only one at the moment-Ana (sic) Stewart , appointed 2017), when I noticed that there is a Professor Grant Jarvie on their Equalities and Diversity Advisory Board.

    Can this be the same Prof who dismissively and deflectingly told  a gathering of (largely overseas) students) that my questioning of Regan ,who was addressing the gathering on the workings of the SFA, was just about 'a west-coast inter-club rivalry thing' ?

    Is this  rhetorical question?broken heart


  57. I suppose with Petrie's appointment to President, the SFA is publicly signalling that it is prepared to continue ignoring its ‘2020 Vision’ objective of;

     

    "Respected and Trusted to Lead"

     

    for several more years?


  58. Andrew Smith's (rather hidden/buried) article in the Scotsman/Scotland On Sunday:

    'As depressing as any of the myriad muck-ups exposed by the inevitable jettisoning of Alex McLeish this week was the universal shoulder-shrugging that accompanied the Scottish FA putting their latest manager out of his misery.

    The football-supporting fraternity in this country are losing their passion for the national team. And that may be the greatest charge that can be laid at the door of the SFA suits. The cataclysmic 3-0 thumping in Kazakhstan last month may have made McLeish’s position untenable. But what, it seems pertinent to ask, could ever make the positions of the SFA president or his vice-president untenable? Infuriatingly, the answer is absolutely nothing, it would seem.

    Alan McRae should have left the building after he toe-curlingly talked of bringing in a friend whose testimonial committee he had headed up three decades before when, as president, he went in front of the cameras as McLeish was introduced to the media 14 months ago. The honorary president of Cove Rangers and partner-in-crime and SFA vice-president Rod Petrie were told by everyone they wouldn’t listen to that it wasn’t right to turn to a man who had struggled in the dug-out for most of the preceding decade.

    Yet, now that everyone they chose not to listen to has been shown to have been wise ahead of the event, neither man has even fronted up to offer any pleas in mitigation for their mess: a mess they caused while the SFA was without a chief executive after Stewart Regan was forced out for a failed, and ultimately haphazard, pursuit of Michael O’Neill. At least, though, O’Neill was a figure whose attractiveness for the post was beyond question.

    McCrae will head off into the sunset in a couple of weeks at the end of a four-year tenure in which the Scottish national game has endure new lows.

    That he will be replaced by Petrie feels like a sick joke. If the pair weren’t so utterly shameless – which makes for a lethal combination when wedded to their hopelessness – they would recognise that they should have stepped away the moment they pushed McLeish out of the door. It isn’t just in the cabinet of the UK government that any notion of collective responsibility appears to have completely fractured.

    Petrie is a man who would take the charm out of any charm offensive. A shunner of public pronouncements whenever possible, as Hibernian chairman he presided over the club’s longest exile from the top flight in their history. Yet he never appeared to consider whether he ought to retain his position within the Easter Road hierarchy. An unctuous individual, the idea that he would have any input into choosing a successor to McLeish causes the heart to sink. McLeish was a symptom of the mismanagement of the national team, not the root cause of it.

    It is understood that chief executive Ian Maxwell will take charge of the recruitment process. Does anyone really believe, though,
that Petrie won’t be lurking somewhere in the background as a malevolent presence?

    The bowling club mentality that pervades as a consequence of the SFA’s structures – which Regan, to his credit, set about modernising – appears a permanent impediment to real progress. It also, ultimately, drains the association of the funding necessary to facilitate real change. Any board member of the SFA might want to consider the turn-off the national team has become to the very people that they must attract to the game. A crowd of around only 15,000 is expected when Cyprus take to the Hampden turf for a Euro 2020 qualifier on 8 June. The figure appears set irrespective of who is in charge of the Scotland team. Nevertheless, the desperate talk is of some short-term fudge even Theresa May would blanche at, with performance director Malky Mackay and under-21 manager Scot Gemmill being appointed on an interim basis. That would practically have the turnstiles grinding to a halt.

    Such an attendance would once have been an outlier at Scottish football’s home for a competitive fixture for the national side. Now, it is merely a norm, with McLeish’s four games in charge never seeing the arena even close to half full. Indeed, across the past three years, only three times have there been more than 22,000 for a Scotland game at the stadium. This apathy has taken such root that the 36,000 turn-out for the Euro 2016 qualifier against tiny Gibraltar feels as if it belongs to a different footballing lifetime.

    Maxwell must seek to adress this drop-off by avoiding the temptation to be clever-clever and ponderous in signing up a replacement for McLeish. That means quietly, and quickly, making the necessary move to put Steve Clarke in charge. The Kilmarnock manager as good as said he would be interested on Friday. There is no reason to look beyond a man whose coaching calibre is beyond dispute, in part fashioned among the glitterati of Chelsea and Liverpool. The 55-year-old has made the Rugby Park side so much more than the sum of its parts with a remarkable revitalising of the club across the past year-and-a-half.

    Scotland’s parts are burgeoning with the stratospheric gear-shifts that the careers of such as Andrew Robertson, Ryan Fraser, James Forrest, Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and Scott McKenna have enjoyed in the past couple of years.

    This crop, and a clutch of others, offers the sort of raw materials that Clarke has proved he would be more than capable of moulding into a competitive, effective football team.

    When he was placed in charge of Kilmarnock, then bottom of the Premiership, there was a dwindling interest in the club across the Ayrshire town – it was said this represented a permanent decline. He demonstrated that this wasn’t the case. As an audition for Scotland, it seems entirely apposite.'

    https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/andrew-smith-it-s-time-the-leaders-at-hampden-paid-for-their-failings-1-4912219

     


  59. Jingso.Jimsie 21st April 2019 at 19:39

    '..Andrew Smith's (rather hidden/buried) article…'

    I disagree with Andrew Smith  when he says 'The football-supporting fraternity in this country are losing their passion for the national team. And that may be the greatest charge that can be laid at the door of the SFA suits' . 

    In the abstract, and speaking in the most general terms, surely the greatest charge that can be laid at the door of any sports governance body is that it itself is a cheat!

    Honest men can be incompetent, inefficient, ineffective. (I myself have occasionally been described as being   all three, sometimes simultaneously, and in highly colourful language, at that!) 

    And, of course, they have to be replaced  by competent people.

    Dishonest men , however gifted in terms of competence, efficiency and effectiveness, are a different kettle of fish.

    And dishonesty  concomitant with incompetence etc would be a right recipe for disaster.

    Wouldn't one say?

     

     


  60. The Sevco 5088 case has been niggling away at my disjointed memory synapses .

    I know that at some point the word 'novated' appeared somewhere as an explanation why SevcoScotland's name surprisingly appeared on the SAP agreement instead of Sevco5088.

    Can anyone pinpoint where that was, who used it and in what context? Was it the Administrators, or CG, or someone in the SMSM? 

    I can remember that at the time I wondered whether Sevco5088 had simply changed its name, (in the same way that RFC plc changed it name to RFC 2012 to mislead people into thinking that it was some entity other than Rangers of 1872 that went into Liquidation!) 

    If there had been 'novation' then there would have to have been a SAP agreement that had been signed by Sevco 5088. If there was/is no such document, then whoever trotted out the 'novation' explanation was lying. 

    Of all the many liars variously involved in the saga, who was it in particular that thought of the 'novation' idea?

     


  61. JohnClark@22.54

    I think you might be thinking of a deed of novation which I believe is the legal document required in transfer of ownership? Again from memory this document required the signatures of Messrs Whyte and Green but there was some doubt over the authenticity of one of these gentleman’s signature. 


  62. JC,

    Imran Ahmad provided Sevco 5088 with a £200k loan before the existence of the current club (TRFC) or its holding company (RIFC).

    Thr RIFC board agreed to repay this loan on the basis that Charles Green was the sole shareholder and director of Sevco 5088 (and therefore a related party to RIFC).

    My memory says that the debt was purportedly novated from Sevco 5088 to Sevco Scotland on the word of CG and IA – but no paperwork was ever produced.

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