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
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.
John Clark 15th May 2019 at 16:06
FIFA should have been down on UEFA, and UEFA on the SFA like a ton of bricks right from the day the 5-Way Agreement was made public.
………………….
I believe a signed 5 way agreement has never been made public. From what i remember 6 draft 5 way agreements have been written and re-written, but there has been no signed copy by all 5 parties made public.
May just be the reason FIFA have not been down on UEFA, and UEFA on the SFA like a ton of bricks
Another day another hearing …….. this time in Glasgow Sheriff Court
Friday 17 May 2019
Opposed Motion Hearing
Sheriff Unallocated
David Grier v Philip Gormley QPM, Chief Constable, Police Scotland GLW-A988-17 Fleming & Reid
————————————————
An "Opposed Motion", sounds intriguing. I wonder what it's about?
I think I heard right on the radio news earlier it looks like the Scotland Job may be down to
McInnes, Clarke and Gemmill.
All could do a job I suppose but it that it?
For all the talk of Scotland having great coaching courses that the rest of the world admire etc etc etc we are limited to a choice of 3 people.
Gemmill has no real standing in the managerial game.
I think McInnes may well stay at Aberdeen
Clarke has done a good job with Kilmarnock given what he had to work with but for all the praise seen them twice this season come away with 3 points due to late single goal winners at Tynecastle. Well organised in terms of sucking up pressure and hitting on the break but both games ranked pretty ordinary to dire to be honest and a poor Hearts team could have easily won at home as they did down at Killie.
He may be best of such a limited short list and would be my choice, but how much of a compliment is that given the lack of options.
Cluster One 15th May 2019 at 19:06
'…I believe a signed 5 way agreement has never been made public…..'
++++++++++++++++
Silly me, Cluster One. You're right.
The signatories all supposedly took an oath ( sword-point , perhaps, pressed to naked breasts,
)never to divulge the truth. Or maybe, more prosaically, they just signed a 'Non-disclosure Agreement'!
Of course, if , when one signs such an agreement , one knows that any part of it relates to criminality or a criminal offence, one could find oneself in soapy bubble!
More importantly, if one signs it in good faith but discovers subsequently that it involved some kind of legal hanky-panky, not only is one free to repudiate the Agreement, but one has a positive duty under Law to do so.
'Legal-hanky' might include, hypothetically, the pretence that a certain sports competitor , newly entering the competition, was really a world record-breaking crowd puller which had recently died in unfortunate circumstances, in order to trade and cash in on its name.
[Note: 'legal hanky-panky' is not exactly a term of art . But you know what I mean]
John Clark 15th May 2019 at 22:01
[Note: ‘legal hanky-panky’ is not exactly a term of art . But you know what I mean]
……………….
Big smile.
…………………….
wottpi 15th May 2019 at 20:53
McInnes, Clarke and Gemmill.
………………
A time ago on SFM I said it could be Gemmil as the SFA would follow the ibrox model and appoint an under 16 0r was it 18 coach Gemmil was/is.
I hope i’m wrong.
easyJambo 15th May 2019 at 19:45
'..An "Opposed Motion", sounds intriguing. I wonder what it's about?'
+++++++++++++
Having attended to every wish and whim of Mrs C on this almost Brisbane-like day ( garden centre, supermarket shopping, some digging and re-planting and such like, lunch al fresco and such like), I felt emboldened enough to suggest that I might travel through to Glasgow on Friday, to find out.
I was given the green light, or green thumb.
So, I intend to travel through.
I have not been to the Sheriff Court building before, although I passed it on a daily basis when I worked south of the Clyde so I know it's just across the river from the High Court where the alleged conspiracy trial took place.
But of course Grier's business is a civil matter.
If he is there in person, I'll try to have a word.
I waited and waited for word and the outcome of King at Court on Tuesday but there doesn't seem to be any mention of it. Was it cancelled or am I mistaken about the date?
Ballyargus 15th May 2019 at 23:08
'..waited for word and the outcome of King at Court on Tuesday..'
+++++++++++++
Like the rest of us, Ballyargus!
Remember, though, that the Hearing had only been partly heard, and that on Tuesday there (presumably) were still further submissions. So the judge was not likely to pronounce his decision there and then. He would need time to write his 'opinion'. And we know that that can take as long as it takes!
But I think the question is not about whether SDIR has won, but about that word 'quantum': how much in damages.
And, of course, yer man , the glib and shameless one, is the appellant above all appellants. Whatever the 'quantum', or the decision, yer man will appeal. Anything to avoid having to pay now and upfront.
It's just the way he is.
A way that, in my estimation, is no acceptable way at all.
Yes, BBC online is reporting – or has been briefed – about the 'imminent' Scotland manager appointment.
Supposedly it's either Clarke, McInnes or Gemmill.
Which, IMO, is total bollox.
There is no choice.
Regardless of Clarke's family being in England and potential roles down south – he has called out the SFA incompetents at every opportunity and very publicly. So not a choice.
I saw on TV an Aberdeen director stating categorically that McInnes would like to manage Scotland at some point in the future, but he prefers to focus on club level for now. So not a choice.
Gemill, I don't believe, has spoken publicly about the national vacancy, but others have talked up his abilities. He has no real managerial experience which you would expect of a national manager. But he is already an SFA employee and a cheap option. So Gemmill IS the choice.
And what an underwhelming appointment that would be…
[Unless the SFA is being smart – I know – to manage expectations. They could unveil someone / anyone else, and supporters might simply sigh with relief because "well, it could have been Gemmill."]
Thanks for that JC.
I am quite certain that he will drag it out as long as possible.
Is the shop St Enoch's Square still open despite the ruling? Also I believe he opened another in Belfast. How does he get away with all these moves, it's as if he's coated in Teflon.
Ballyargus@23.56 yesterday
The Teflon coating only provides a temporary delay to the inevitable. Once the “quantum” is established and an appeal is lodged it still hangs over RIFC like the sword of Damocles, a material uncertainty if you will, making a loss making business even more of a loan risk than before. Of course financial relief is available but the rates will be horrendous. At the very least there will need to be some severe cost cutting which has not been evident since 2012. JJ has hinted at eye watering costs landing on RIFC. That may be the case but as always the spin put on any negative result by the media will be interesting to observe.
Ballyargus 15th May 2019 at 23:56
'…St Enoch's Square ..'
==================
Ach, man! You've just brought back memories of 'The Square Peg'.
Happy memories of a colleague who ( I think ) did not tell her civil service bosses[ a requirement in that era] that she worked part-time in the pub of that name in 1969.
See this SFM! the wonderful paths it can lead a chap into.!
John Clark 16th May 2019 at 00:44
JC this might be of interest.
https://www.oldglasgowpubs.co.uk/squarepeg.html
John Clark 16th May 2019 at 00:44
In my Civil Service experience (as a Provan Bear) such employment would have bestowed shame and infamy. Pubs were most certainly not for working in 🙂
Although my guilty secret is that in my (post-Civil Service) student days, I actually worked a few shifts in the Square Peg (seconded from Sloans in times of staff shortages).
In recent times the SFA has;
agreed it has no power over a member club,
failed to find a substantial sponsor for the national team and the Scottish Cup,
badly bungled the appointment of a manager (this will emerge as catastrophic in coming months),
shamefully bungled the sacking of the manager,
ham-fistedly arranged cup semi-finals at times and places with no regard for fan safety or convenience,
turned the disciplinary system into a Rixian farce,
created a succession for office bearers that pays no regard to the character or abilities of those succeeding,
are about to again bungle another managerial appointment.
On the whole, and relatively speaking, probably quite satisfactory.
Bolton Wanderers: Kevin Nolan and Kevin Davies on club's 'heartbreaking' plight
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48262389
Kevin Nolan says he is "heartbroken" by Bolton Wanderers' plight, while fellow former Bolton star Kevin Davies fears more clubs may face administration.
Bolton went into administration on Monday and will start next season with a 12-point deduction in League One.
The club have set up an emergency food bank with donations from local businesses to help staff who have not yet been paid their April salaries.
The Trotters were the first EFL club to enter administration for six years.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were one or two more, with other clubs that have been to court recently," 42-year-old former striker Davies told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"There's an overriding factor about the way football clubs have been run.
"The EFL, the PFA [Professional Footballers' Association] and the FA need to look at this a little more closely, because outside the Premier League it can be very difficult for clubs to maintain the sort of sustainability that everyone is trying to achieve."
Davies scored 73 goals in 351 league appearances for Bolton over a far more successful spell in the club's history between 2003 and 2013.
'A sorry state of affairs'
Ex-midfielder Nolan, who made 257 league starts for the club where he started his career as a trainee in the 1990s, hopes Wanderers entering administration can prove to be the start of a positive chapter.
"All of us who love the club, we're hoping this is now the start of something and [the club] can look forward again," Nolan added.
"To be putting food banks up is a sorry state of affairs. It's heartbreaking to see. I'm still very close with a lot of people there behind the scenes.
"There are people who have been there through thick and thin for Bolton who are now having to rely on food banks to make ends meet – it's so sad.
"I'm hoping this administration can get the club back on an even keel. It's a special club. We had some special times and I hope this is the start of more special things to come."
For the food bank, businesses have helped provide toiletries and nappies, as well as tinned goods, pasta, rice, freezer meals, frozen vegetables and bread.
And the Community Trust have also been given assistance from within the wider football community, including an unnamed Championship club believed to be Preston North End.
Players are still owed wages for March and April, while the club could face further sanctions from the EFL after their final home match of the season against Brentford was ultimately called off when the playing staff went on strike over going unpaid.
BBC2 Daily Politics 15/5/19. Discussing tax avoidance Treasury Minister Mel Stride said “….we went to court to shut down the Rangers Football Club.”
Rufus Otis and Hugo
Sometimes even the Tories get it right 🙂
Big Pink @ 1026hrs:
Don't forget they've also had the opportunity to bask in the reflected glory of Shelley Kerr's team actually getting to a World Cup. That'll make for a lovely summer "Jolly Boys' Trip" to France for the blazers…
Jingso.Jimsie
They will no doubt be looking to take credit for the womens' achievement – even though none is due to them.
Won't stop the passports being looked out of course …..
Rufus Otis and Hugo @11.31
Oooft!
https://twitter.com/frpaulstone/status/1128938836225142784?s=21
Reality check.
https://twitter.com/record_sport/status/1128907933989785600?s=21
A fairly rambling article courtesy of the DR.
https://twitter.com/stancollymore/status/1128944077867761664?s=21
Money and football again.
John Clark 15th May 2019 at 22:47
You have an email.
https://twitter.com/dbestseventy2/status/1128991529970884609?s=21
And the court cases just keep on coming.
https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/17640844.convicted-criminal-rafat-rizvis-200k-claim-over-services-provided-by-rangers-set-for-courtroom/?ref=mrb&lp=6
………………………
One for the court guys.
This could be interesting in what may be said.
Ballyargus 16th May 2019 at 08:48
'….JC this might be of interest.'
====================
Yes, indeed, thanks, Ballyargus.
The latest image (that of the Christmas Menu) shows 1976- seven years after my last visit to the Square Peg, in 1969. Them were the days!
easyJambo 16th May 2019 at 14:15
'..John Clark 15th May 2019 at 22:47
You have an email.'
===============
Thank you, eJ : I have just replied to you.
Ex Ludo 16th May 2019 at 18:16
'…And the court cases just keep on coming'
—
'..Cluster One 16th May 2019 at 19:23
'..This could be interesting in what may be said.'
========================
Lord, the bottom-feeders come greedily up to the surface again!
I wonder does any one of the many people who hoped to make some money out of the Liquidation and consequent death of RFC 1872 as a football club ever sit of an evening cursing himself for being stupid enough ever to associate himself with any other of the many people!
How do guys like that ever trust anyone like themselves?
I pencil in June 12 , and forewarn Mrs C not to commit me to any engagements on that day.
[In which connection, can I say that on reading some material about 'opposed motions' I have concluded that tomorrow's business in Glasgow Sheriff Court is likely to relate to some procedural matter rather than to anything of meaty substance about the case.
I have therefore decided not to make a rush-hour drive on a Friday morning to get to Glasgow in time for the hearing.
Oh, for the days when one could go on an overnighter in order to attend a meeting 'early' the next day- and have it paid for!]
Rufus Otis and Hugo 16th May 2019 at 11:31
'..Treasury Minister Mel Stride said “….we went to court to shut down the Rangers Football Club.”
=======================
That was not the impression that the HMRC person gave when he made this statement:
"Liquidation will enable a sale of the football assets to be made to a new company, thereby ensuring that football will continue at Ibrox.
"It also means that the new company will be free from claims or litigation in a way which would not be achievable with a CVA. Rangers can make a fresh start."
To this day, I believe that whoever 'authorised' such a self-contradictory statement was either utterly incompetent as a tax official, or influenced by the same kind of partisanship that our SMSM showed (and continues to show)
It was a disgraceful statement , in effect supporting the perpetrator rather than the victims of a tax cheating scam.
This view , when I sat at the appeal hearing by the Upper Tier Tax Tribunal in Edinburgh ,was not altered .
The HMRC case was so poorly presented that I was ready to believe that HMRC's heart wasn't in it.
Just as I believed that Dr Heidi Poon's superb minority opinion in the First Tier hearing showed up the other two as being, in my opinion, shallow ,superficial and far too casual in their approach.
It took a real lawyer, Mr Ghosh QC, to cut through all the flim-flam, protective nonsense, and ensure that the Court of Session delivered the truth.
And the UK Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Session, in their decision pronounced by Lord Hodge ( who, remember to his credit, had had serious questions asked of the Administrators)
As I remember, when I wrote to HMRC about that 'Rangers can make a fresh start' statement, I got a reply saying that they could not comment on individual cases!
"Investment was found and the assets of the club were bought by the Charles Green consortium," says the MLP Law blog.”
The above is a quote from the Evening Times piece on Rizvi vs. Rangers*
MLP were the solicitors who helped sort out a similar problem Rangers * encountered with Orlit Enterprises back in the day. Just when you thought things were going a bit quiet. MLP obviously very careful with the above quote in stating that it was the assets of Rangers (IL) that were bought.
I note that Man City has been referred to the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body, after investigation and reports by real journalists on Der Spiegel and 'The New York Times'.
'The Scotsman' today has John Lees writing that " these reports alleged City had deceived UEFA about its finances and had inflated the value of their commercial deals , and hid payments to players and staff from the wage bill." ( my bold)
And 'The New York Times' of yesterday has an extended piece on this link
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/16/sports/soccer/uefa-champions-league-manchester-city.html
From that piece I give you this para:
"Failure in the Manchester City case could be met with resignations from UEFA’s investigators, who might conclude that their reputations would be damaged by the organization’s inability to enforce its own legislation and the impression that, when faced with a challenge from a powerful club, the concept of financial fair play was meaningless."
Surely no club, however powerful, would ever, anywhere, be allowed to get away without punishment, for deceiving its Governance body and UEFA about the state of its financial affairs generally, or without sporting punishment for lying about how much it was paying its players and necessarily thereby obtaining sporting advantage
What's that, you say? Who? Rangers of 1872?
I think I'll ask Der Spiegel and the New York Times where they were in 2012, and give them the link to the Res 12 information.
It would appear then that UEFA's investigators have actually carried out their task correctly and with integrity. An integrity that contrasts starkly with that of the SFA's investigators, whose function was to cover up the wrong-doing that took place.
It seemed odd to me that if high profile clubs could be taken on by UEFA, the RFC situation could be ignored, but perhaps it is the obscurity and scarcely significant status of Scottish football abroad that has allowed the corruption here (both the fraud itself and the subsequent cover-up) to go past unnoticed.
https://twitter.com/kennyboyle1/status/1129315609819394048?s=21
Money and football again.
Interesting development re: Man City and FFP.
Can't see why UEFA would want to have a potential showdown with Europe's top clubs, if they did in fact take meaningful action against City.
Ironically, FFP could be exploited by the top clubs as the big stick which will 'force them' to create their own 'Champions League' franchise.
Being consistent, I'd guess UEFA will roll over…and impose a financial penalty!
UEFA – or FIFA – and Fair Play in the same sentence is a bit of a joke anyway.
Flanagan had his 2 match ban for elbowing Brown rescinded?
Why?
I try not to make comment in matters directly involving Celtic however the announcement that Jon Flanagan’s appeal against his retrospective red card has been upheld is surely beyond the pale for any fair minded person. To make matters worse the assistant manager at Mr Flanagan’s club was quoted as saying that the incident was nothing more than a “coming together “. It is impossible to judge which body is running Scottish football now. On paper it is the SFA but in reality it looks increasingly like it is the 7 year old member club based in Govan. Over to you Mr Lawwell.
I think Tom English has called it correctly.
Tom English @TEnglishSport
No such thing as a red card offence in Scottish football anymore. Every club should appeal everything next season. Decent chance of winning. Chaos guaranteed
That said, I do think there is an increasing tendency to re-referee games after the event.
The three man referees panel is just another sounding board for opinions. If Kevin Clancy reviewed the footage and thought he got it wrong, then it is his (revised) decision that should matter. I assume that he did think he got is wrong and that is why the referees panel got involved in the process.
If the referees' assessors consider that the referee got it wrong during the match, then the implications of that should only affect the referee.
Well, since the tea & biscuits "Referees Summit" at Perth in February…
does anyone think that the refereeing standards has improved?
I think since February the standards have noticeably declined further.
So, is any improvement to refereeing standards simply 'on hold' until / unless VAR is implemented?
And yet again: why would any decent manager want to associate with the incompetents at Hampden?
If – somehow – Steve Clarke becomes Scotland manager I'll buy a ticket for the Cyprus game!
[Won't attend but I'll buy a ticket.
]
The SFA's (Ian Maxwell) response to Bonnyrigg's latest appeal.
The bit I've highlighted is a shocking admission by the SFA that they don't want significant numbers of new members despite their supposed support of the "pyramid". In simple terms, Rod Petrie lied to them at the meeting in April.
Needless to say, Bonnyrigg has responded with the following statement.
https://mobile.twitter.com/jamesdoleman/status/1129437719590051840/photo
22m
Full Judgment in the case of Sports Direct Ltd V Rangers International over merchandising rights. It's long and very legal, but conclusion suggests Judge has told them to sort it out amongs
https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Comm/2019/591.html
easyJambo 17th May 2019 at 18:47
'…The SFA's (Ian Maxwell) response to Bonnyrigg's latest appeal.'
====================
"The BBC have the right to choose matches at variable kick off times, which may well require floodlighting at venues given the time of year, meaning that the number of games available for selection could be severely limited.
Am I alone in thinking that that is a very weak argument?
Surely the agreement with the BBC could be easily re-visited?
theredpill 17th May 2019 at 18:49
'..Full Judgment in the case of Sports Direct Ltd '
====================
No, I think James D is a bit behind! He has cited an 'old' judgment.
There has been action since, the result of which we still await.
Redpill@18.49
Strange, strange decision.
Apologies J C
I thought it was up to date.
There are a raft of shameful statements in Maxwell's response to Bonnyrigg
So he didn't know the SFA's own rules on the matter and the absence of an appeal process is a disgrace.
So why is there an option in the SFA's licensing rules that allows derogation. Maxwell was present at the same meeting in April at which Petrie said that derogations would be considered.
The SFA have a cheek saying that it is too close to the new season as they were meant to have announced the licensing decisions at their February board meeting, but cancelled that meeting, then delayed the announcement by three months. Perhaps the SPFL playoffs including the Cove/Berwick play-off tomorrow should be called off as some clubs don't know what league they will be playing in next season.
That was nice of Maxwell to acknowledge that the SFA changed the licensing criteria two months after Bonnyrigg and others made their applications. Unusual that 12 clubs would seek membership? I thought the SFA's stated aim was to promote community clubs in obtaining licences which demonstrate that they have facilities, infrastructure, coaching and youth set ups aimed at developing the game both at senior and grass-roots levels. Consider the impact of admitting 12 clubs instead of 6? WTF is he on, unless the existing member clubs don't want new clubs admitted as full members.
So why allow clubs without floodlights to enter the Scottish Cup in the first place. Bonnyrigg has already qualified to take part in next season’s competition as EOS champions. Camelon (another rejected club) has also qualified. Auchinleck reached the 5th round last reason, beating Ayr in the process. They don't have lights ……. and that was a major problem had Hearts drawn with them at Tynecastle. Is it not beyond the thought processes at Hampden that Auchinleck could have played any midweek games at Rugby Park or Somerset Park, or any other ground with lights? Just watch for Whitehill being drawn to play Bonnyrigg in next season's competition.
Considering the game as a whole, rather than individual club circumstances? So the SFA finds it easier to express a "can't do" approach rather than a "can do" approach. Typical of blazer and committee led organisations.
" He's a liar" says Robbo of the 4th official. "I'm going to start speaking out now" (Sportsound , this evening)
And I understand his anger and frustration.
Alan Preston , earlier, was bemoaning the fact that after a lifetime in football, he now did not know what was or wasn't a yellow or red card offence, and his conclusion was to tell every club to appeal against disciplinary action as a matter of course.
Both guys , consciously or unconsciously, are reflecting the fact that Scottish Football Governance , having cobbled up the nonsense of 'conditional' membership, having allowed 'Brysonism', having created the 5-Way Agreement, and having(possibly) been complicit in hoodwinking UEFA into granting a UEFA competitions licence to an unentitled club, etc,etc, etc. is an absolutely busted flush.
Scottish Football will not be right until the Truth is acknowledged.
The SFA may huff and puff with might and main, but it has lost all moral authority, and two fingers may justly be given to it when it seeks to impose 'discipline'
StevieBC 17th May 2019 at 17:46
There’s a lesson in hindsight to consider. Never has so much refereeing tumult enrapt the Scottish game so much since MMXII A.D. That said, I’m mindful of the stramash which ‘followed’ the 2015 6 – 1 double header aggregate drubbing on 31 May 2015.
There’s a clear and present solution. Promote all of those officials that ‘regularly’ oversee the competitions in the Premiership and lower leagues to our Premier League. ‘Nothing to see’ down there. Apparently.
Hope all are well. I’ve been tuning in. Honest.
*championship not premiership ?
I turn to BBC Scotland news website and find this
"Celtic cite 'huge embarrassment' after Rangers' Jon Flanagan escapes ban"
2 hours ago
Aye, very good, Celtic!
What about the huge embarrassment of happily accepting that your shareholders may have been (allegedly) ripped off a few million quid?? Not a cheap about that, is there?
stifflersmom 17th May 2019 at 23:21
*championship not premiership
==================
We knew what you meant, no worries.
easyJambo 17th May 2019 at 22:17
'..and the absence of an appeal process is a disgrace.'
===============
I agree, and I am truly amazed that there isn't one!
easyJambo 17th May 2019 at 22:17
There are a raft of shameful statements in Maxwell's response to Bonnyrigg
At the last meeting we have been told Mr Petrie allegedly got upset when called out as a proprietor of mis truths.
I'd say the floor of that particular meeting called it right.
I note one particular para in the Bonnyrigg reply and wish them all the luck in the world should they choose to follow it because this all deserves more publicity and outfits like the SFA who benefit from public funding should be held to proper account.
this is however not the end of the road for us, as despite the labyrinthine nature of the different articles and licensing documents, there is still one option open to us which we are seeking guidance on from parties outside of the club whether to pursue.
Go for it guys.
Go for it for all the wee clubs and fans who get treated like second class citizens.
Go for it knowing that Ian Maxwell would not have wanted Partick Thistle to be treated the way he is now treating these member clubs.
Go for it knowing that Rod Petrie would not have wanted his childhood club Aberdeen, or his current club Hibs to be treated like this either.
Ask why are they happy to do to others what they would not have accepted being done to their own clubs.
A wee reminder to give us a laugh – instead of greetin’ – at the state of Scottish football governance.
One of the 4 'strategic pillars' of the SFA's 2020 Vision statement;
I haven't had any respect for the SFA for at least 20+ years…and counting.
I wouldn't trust any of the blazers to make a cup of tea.
The only 'lead' at Hampden is of the metal variety: the SFA is like a lead weight, forever dragging Scottish football downwards…
https://twitter.com/dariuszmioduski/status/1128669377245663232?s=21
Finally, a statement worth reading.
In the past few weeks we've seen…
1. A referee who makes an error in the application of the Laws, thus denying a team a chance to press for an equaliser, much discussed in the MSM & on social media. His next appointment? A high-profile, televised fixture.
2. A referee who fails to send off a player for violent conduct. Again much-discussed in various media & at the SFA. The referee's next appointment? A high-profile, televised fixture where he makes a contentious (actually a wrong) decision that changes the course of the game.
When Mr. Fleming appoints (or rubber-stamps the appointments of) referees, is he, in any way, aware of referees' last performances? Does he actually care anymore?
I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect that Mr. Collum will have his hands full at Rugby Park tomorrow, as will Mr. Thomson at Celtic Park.
StevieBC 18th May 2019 at 08:21
'..Respected and Trusted to Lead..'
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A letter-writer [one Robert M Dunn]in todays' "The Scotsman", writing about the 'post-truth utterances' of politicians is reminded of Jonathan Swift's essay in 1729 " The Art of political Lying" in which Swift uses the word 'phantatuestics', meaning 'a system of lying, deceiving, or fantasising'
It seems to me that since at least 2012 there has been no basis on which the SFA can be described as a body worthy of respect or trustworthy in the their leadership.
On the contrary it is plain to me that it is a body whose utterances are best treated as 'phantatuestic'.
JC@11.44
A new word enters the SFM lexicon. Hat suitably doffed.
Ex Ludo 18th May 2019 at 13:54
'..A new word enters the SFM lexicon. Hat suitably doffed.'
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It was a new word to me, and I'm glad I read Mr Munn's letter and learned it!
But there should be an ‘s’in it, as people probably guessed:phantastuestic.
Clumsy fingers on my part.
https://twitter.com/mattleslie74/status/1129870387620253696?s=21
Journalist asking pertinent question of a football club manager. It’ll never catch on. Any students of body language care to interpret Pep Guardiola’s body language?
The blog having gone all quiet( unless my refresh button is kaput! as characters in the war-comics of my primary school days used to say), I toyed with the idea of sending an email to Tariq Panja, whose report about Man City's troubles was in the New York Times on 13th May.
I was thinking of making the observation that while it is important that the alleged wrongdoings of an individual football club be investigated and reported on ( as Der Spiegel and the NYT have done in relation to Man City), it might be more important to turn an investigative eye on any sports Governance body that might, on the face of things, be something less than the clean potato.
Panja's article has a 'contact Tariq Panja' email thingy which doesn't give an email address but gives boxes in which you put your own email address and then write your message , tick the 'I am not a robot' box, and send.
Tried it. Feckin thing showed no sign of anything happening!
So I looked up Tariq, only to find that he's an English journalist ( used to work for the Guardian).
And probably takes the SMSM line of acceptance of the Big Lie orchestrated and choreographed by the Governance body of Scottish Football – the SFA. Nothing to see here, let's move on.
So why bother writing to him? It would be like writing to the DR or Pacific Quay!
Where are our Bernsteins and Woodwards when we need them?
[The New York Times website tells me that over a thousand email 'letters to the editor' are received each day. In that context, I don't suppose the doings of an impoverished tuppence h'penny SFA take any precedence.]
Ex Ludo 18th May 2019 at 23:27
'..Journalist asking pertinent question of a football club manager. It’ll never catch on.'
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I don't really know my way around Twitter and tweets and refeckintweets , but my eye was caught by this when I opened ( a few minutes ago) the link you gave, Ex Ludo.
"Matthew Leslie @mattleslie74 26m26 minutes ago
So corruption should be ignored? Look what happened when some media folk turned a blind eye to the dodgy EBT abuse at Rangers. That club died and those same reporters who should have highlighted it years earlier now have their reputations stained indelibly."
'reputations stained indelibly' is true.
If any of our SMSM had been vegetarians instead of being hooked on succulent lamb the whole ridiculous nonsense of SDM's personal wealth funding RFC of 1872 would have been questioned.
But I suppose that if even the directors were dumb enough to bow and scrape to Murray -as they did- it is not to be wondered at that the hacks swallied their lamb like Odysseus' men swallied the grub that Circe gave them, and turned into swine !
They were restored to normality after Ulysses got his leg over the said Circe.
No way can any of the guilty SMSM 'Big Lie' propagandists ever get back their reputations!
No matter who gets his leg over whom!
<
https://twitter.com/rabehouserocke1/status/1129804076735180801?s=21
Fans voting with their feet (and wallets)
https://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/1129810729480130566?s=21
Money and football again.
Well, since it's the last league game for top 6 SPL teams…
After a week of ridiculous, over the top 'celebrations' by assorted TRFC players / pundits – and with complementary, fawning support from a compliant SMSM – for merely 'winning 3 points’…
How will they all react IF Killie gives Steve Clarke a tremendous send off with a home win today – and secure their highest league position for several decades?
StevieBC 19th May 2019 at 14:45
……………
Do you have this weeks winning lottery numbers?
How will they all react IF Killie gives Steve Clarke a tremendous send off with a home win today – and secure their highest league position for several decades?
https://twitter.com/dailymirror/status/1130224106840952837?s=21
Money and football again.
Up betimes this morning, Radio Scotland on, and what do I hear?
At 6.50, someone called Craig Jones of the Advertising Standards Agency blowing that organisation's own trumpet about their new apps that help them to keep an eye on adverts on the internet blah blah blah.
As far as I'm concerned , the Advertising Standards Agency's readiness to accept that TRFC Ltd's claim to be RFC of 1872 is valid makes that organisation as much of a joke as the SFA, when it comes to being any kind of 'regulatory ' Authority!
According to the SMSM the SFA has put all its eggs in the one basket, I.e. Steve Clarke.
It has been curious the last week or so that players, pundits have been quoted as saying how good he would be for Scotland.
But, of course, nothing from Clarke himself.
Clarke might have very good personal / family reasons for taking the Scotland job now – and the SFA would be extremely lucky.
But, on purely managerial abilities, he's got far too much potential at club level. If he's 'ruthlessly ambitious' like another SPL manager who left Scotland recently, Clarke would only be using the SFA as leverage for a better deal elsewhere.
…or am I being too cynical…?
StevieBC @11.21
Stevie Clarke is certainly the housewife’s choice so to speak but his speech to the crowd at the end of the game yesterday did not sound remotely like a farewell. In addition he has European football with Kilmarnock to look forward to now. Of course, he has been outspoken in much the same way Craig Levein was before he got the Scotland job so history could be about to be repeated.
Don’t see how Clarke, who has been lauded for speaking truth to SFA power, can avoid a hypocrisy charge if he takes the job. For that reason, I hope he doesn’t.
https://twitter.com/the_tman10/status/1130473795427414017?s=21
Oh well. The SFA are probably thinking that they can control him if he’s under contract to them. I hope he gets a free hand to do the job.
Soooo , €3 million was the only bid for Morelos , according to Stevie G . He obviously hasn't been shown the bid for €9million that silenced the BBC reporter .(was that before his time ? Even so , you would have thought they would have had it framed and on display – bugger all else to show ).