Good Evening,
Whilst it is understandable that the continuing events at Ibrox remain a hot topic among all Scottish Football Fans — especially given the views of some sections of the press on such events– the never ending rush down the marble staircase is certainly not the only show in town.
The other morning we were treated to the “scoop” that Alistair Johnstone is afraid that Craig Whyte– the once proclaimed Multi Billionaire from Motherwell- may well still be pulling all the strings at Ibrox! This is a fear which is shared by those who walk the corridors of Hampden Park as they, too, are terrified of the prospect of Whyte returning in some shape or form and coming back to haunt them, especially as he has been deemed unfit and proper, banned sine die, and generally ridiculed for his past actions.
However, the Hampden jackets know fine well that their realm only stretches so far and that if by means of the proper application of company law, contract or some other piece of paper Whyte controls the shareholding of the self proclaimed “parent company” to the football club then they are in a fix. In fact, I will wager that they just would not know how to deal with such a situation as after all RIFC PLC neither holds a licence to play football nor is a member of the SFA and so, on the face of it, who owns it has nothing to do with them.
At this juncture, no one in authority knows who Blue Pitch Holdings are and, strangely, no one in authority knows who Margarita Holdings are either! Yet these two “holdings” whoever they may be, may well hold all the power down Govan way…… with the SFA completely powerless to find out who they are let alone get into any dialogue with them. All the SFA can do is talk to the appointed Directors and officers of The Rangers Football Club Ltd.
This, is a most unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Meanwhile, they will have no difficulty in finding out who the new shareholders of Dunfermline Athletic are. Those shareholders will come from the fanbase and will be clearly registered at Companies House, with the result that ultimately those fans/shareholders will appoint Directors who will then attend meetings and speak and opine on their behalf and in essence be the ” Voice of Dunfermline” at Hampden.
Perhaps, similar will follow from Heart of Midlothian?
However, those at Hampden — if they have any sense at all– will be most wary of events happening in the east end of Glasgow come November.
In the middle of the month, Celtic PLC will hold its AGM and amidst the items on the agenda is the fan driven notion that the Club— through its Directors—- should go further in holding the SFA to account and enquire into the granting of club licences, and in particular how it granted Rangers a club licence that allowed entry to the Champions League in 2011 when the small tax case was outstanding.
The Celtic board have deemed this motion as “Unnecessary” and in support of that contention have released documentation showing that they raised this very issue with the SFA on behalf of the shareholders and fans. Further– and here is the rub— The Directors reveal that they were not satisfied with the SFA response and have disclosed that they took the matter further and wrote to UEFA.
Ultimately, UEFA also provided a reply, which backed the SFA approach and which Celtic had little option but to accept in the absence of admissible contradicting evidence..
It is on this basis, that Peter Lawell and Co say the AGM motion is not necessary. Note that saying that the motion is not necessary, is not at all the same thing as saying that what the motion seeks to achieve is not necessary or does not have the support of the board!
There will be those at Hampden who severely hope that the Celtic Board are successful in voting this measure down as obviously they deem their original reply sufficient and would like to end the discussion there.
However, my own view, is that whether the motion is successful or not, there are those within the SFA who will recognise there is trouble staring them in the face here. Real Trouble!
Let’s recap for a moment and draw some threads together.
Celtic’s past Chairman, Dr John Reid, said only a couple of years ago that the SFA was clearly not fit for purpose. He did so in the context of events surrounding Neil Lennon and other matters, but was unshakably robust in his condemnation of an institutionalised uselessness which he saw pervaded the Hampden ranks.
Prior to that, Henry McLeish produced a report which stated that he too had concerns about the Governance of Scottish Football and called for openness and transparency.
In the intervening period, we have seen Mr David Longmuir, former Chief Executive of the Scottish Football League, find himelf without a position following reconstruction– and this partly as a result of club chairmen being apparently kept in the dark about his payment, bonuses and expenes. I understand that there was considerable anger from some at the way in which they had been treated by Mr Longmuir.
Then there is Mr Campbell Ogilvie, El Presidente, who himself benefited from a Rangers EBT and who held sway at Ibrox during a period of time when Rangers– by their own admission— made unlawful and illegal payments to three high profile players in breach of tax laws and SFA/SPL rules. It is these breaches and the consequent Wee Tax Bill which has caused all the angst among Celtic fans and has lead to the highly regulated legal step of tabling a motion at the club’s AGM.
Basically, the position seems to be, that as at the due date when the appropriate documents and declarations were made for a Euro Licence by Rangers for 2011, the wee tax bill was outstanding and due. If it was overdue, then the SFA could not and should not have granted them a licence……. and potentially Celtic should then have been put forward as Scotland’s representatives in the Champion’s League.
However, that did not happen, and Ranger’s were granted a licence– something that the Celtic Directors clearly felt was not correct.
They may have disagreed with the awarding of the licence because there were those at Rangers at the time who declared that a payment to account had been made to the tax office– allegedly £500,000– and that they had entered into an agreement to make payment of the balance by instalments. Had that been so, then all would have been hunky dory and no more would have been said.
Alas, however, no such payment appears to have been made at all, and no such agreement was entered into and so, on that basis, the tax bill was overdue and outstanding as at 30th June in terms of Article 66 and as such no Euro Licence should have been granted.
However, the argument does not end there.
Auldheid, has posted frequently on these pages about the ins and outs of the licensing provisions and the mechanism and so I will leave that detail to him as he is far more expert in these areas than me.
Now, one of the SFA functions is to have an auditor– someone who can check books, contracts, paper work and so on, and it is part of the SFA licensing function to be satisfied that all the paperwork is of course correct and in proper fashion before they issue any licence.
In this case, it is alleged that the SFA did not perform their function properly.
In relation to the wee tax case, it is said that either they did not make sufficient enquiry of Rangers re the payment to account or the agreement which they were told was in place. At the time it was mooted in the press that no such agreement was in place as at the relevant date ( June 30th ) and a simple check with the revenue would have shown the truth of the matter.
Yet, for whatever reason, no such check appears to have been made, and if you recall a Radio Scotland interview with Alistair Johnstone, Rangers submitted the forms, the SFA replied with one or two enquiries about the BIG tax case which were answered, and thereafter the Licence appears to have simply dropped through the letter box without further ado.
You will also recall that the existence of the wee tax case became known BEFORE Craig Whyte bought David Murray’s shareholding in May 2011. In fact it was the subject of News Paper headlines weeks before the deal was completed, and so the fact that there was a wee tax bill was well and truly in the public domain.
When it came to filling in the appropriate forms,either, the SFA were mislead by those then at Rangers with regard to that tax bill, OR, they simply failed to do the requisite checks and make reasonable enquiries before they issued the licence.
However, the uncomfortable fact also remains, that one of the chaps who must have been in the know re the admittedly unlawful and offending side letters, contracts and payments to the three players concerned was Campbell Ogilivie who was on the Rangers Board at the relevant time when the contracts and irregular payments were made under the Discount Options Scheme from 1999 to 2002/3. Indeed he may even have initiated the first payment to Craig Moore in 1999. I reiterate that no one has ever contested that this was an unlawful scheme, and the irregular payments and paperwork are not denied in relation to that scheme.
There are Celtic shareholders who believe, rightly or wrongly, that when it came to the granting of the Euro Licence, the SFA did not play them fair on this occasion and that the wheels within Hampden were oiled in such a way that Rangers were favoured and Celtic were disadvantaged. It is a point that looks to have already been considered by the Celtic Directors in 2011, with the result that they concluded that they should formally write to the SFA and seek clarification.
However, we now have the prospect of those same directors having to go back to Hampden and say ” Sorry, but I am forced to bring this up by my shareholders. I have a legal duty to them to enquire further”. Even if the motion is refused, the point has been made– there are shareholders who are demanding answers– just as shareholders of other clubs demand answers about the ever so secret 5 way agreement and other matters which have hitherto been not for public consumption.
The SFA have nothing to fear of course as they can simply repeat their previous answers,demonstrate that all was above board, and rest easy in their beds.
Except that answer did not satisfy the Celtic Directors on a previous occasion as they decided to take the matter to UEFA, and it would appear that some Celtic shareholders remain dissatisfied with the known stance of the SFA and so they want the Directors of the club to delve further. Without wishing to point out the obvious, if it turns out that the 2011 Licensing process was somehow fudged and not conducted rigorously or that those at Hampden were in any way economical with the truth or omitted certain details from the previous explanation, or covered up a failure in procedures—- well such omissions have a habit of becoming public these days whether that be through the internet or otherwise.
The point here is that the actions of Hampden officials are coming under organised, legal and planned corporate scrutiny over which they have no control. The Blazer and club mentality that was once so widespread within the governing bodies is under increasing attack and is being rendered a thing of the past.
In short, the move by Celtic shareholders, is making it plain that they will demand proper corporate governance from their club in ensuring that any alleged failure in corporate governance by the SFA or SPFL is properly investigated and reported on.
Of course, if it turns out that the 2011 Licensing process was somehow fudged and not conducted properly for whatever reason, then it could be argued that Celtic were disadvantaged in monetary terms along with other clubs who may have been awarded Europa League licences, then the consequences could be cataclysmic. Hence a tendency to circle the wagons rather than admit to failures in the process that need addressing.
It is this reluctance to come out and accept that the licensing process appears to have failed, say at what point the process failed and what needs to be done to address those failures that in many ways has driven the resolution. It is clear to all that something is amiss but the SFA will not admit it, probably from fear of the consequences of doing so? Perhaps some form of indemnity, a lessons learned enquiry with no prejudice might help?
It would come as no surprise to me at all if there were those at Hampden who live in dreaded fear of admitting that their processes were flawed and that a grave mistake was made. Under these circumstances, there may well be those at Hampden who simply wish that Celtic and their fans would just go away!
ratethisthenyabampots says: (83)
October 29, 2013 at 4:44 pm
‘Rangers power battle: Dave King gets all clear to return to boardroom but needs rubber-stamp from Ibrox advisers’
With that headline they’ve actually upped the level of untruth by implying that AIM have given the all-clear for King to return to the board, while the article itself doesn’t contain one quote that even remotely suggests this.
The additions at the end of your post, though, may explain why TRFC have downgraded their Nomad, twice. Looking for one whose lack of reputation might lead them to pass a ‘glib and shameless liar’ and convicted criminal as suitable to join the board of an AIM listed company.
wildwood says: (20)
October 29, 2013 at 3:46 pm
9 0 Rate This
The questionnaire will be a skoosh for DK since he hasn’t been convicted of anything and hasn’t had any adverse press
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be fair, he’s paid for his crimes. Quite literally.
john clarke October 29, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I have received a reply from the BBC totally ignoring my main point….
Ewan Angus, Commissioning Editor, BBC Scotland…
Dear Mr Angus…..I regret you have not addressed the more serious of the two points I raised…… that you might have established before you replied……do me the courtesy of replying properly without any deflectionary and patronising waffle.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Good luck John.
I can almost understand why the Red Tops and The Herald print the rubbish they do.
They are in their death throes and because of historic tribal population dynamics, and their Glasgow bases they start from a biased point of view.
Nowadays they have pages and pages and pages of colour pulp to fill with less journos on their books but fill it they do with the help of the PR spoon feeders like Mafia House.
And the contradictions between their editorial stances on stuff like tax evasion at the front of the paper and their acceptance and promotion of it at the back seems never to bother them either.
Interesting times ahead for them all as they have to face new economic realities.
But the BBC should be different.
The BBC is not commercial.
It should be impartial and honest and its charter sets out to say it should be.
In our complicated wee country that is not the way it works in practice.
Our BBC is seemingly inherently sectarian and practising misinformation on a planned and regular scale.
The demise of and the fun and games surrounding Rangers/ Sevco/ etc and the current ongoing BBC editorial policy demonstrates clear characteristics of bias and misinformation.
And that is just plain wrong in 2013.
Ewan Angus – just get your team to tell the truth using facts.
Hard facts even if they contradict the bilge that Mafia House are briefing you to give us.
It is that simple.
Scottish Football needs BBC journalists and commissioning editors who are not in the proverbial pockets of third party organisations like Mafia House.
alexander276 says: (8)
October 29, 2013 at 5:02 pm
So does King think that ‘allegations’ are a bigger drawback to his plans than 41 convictions resulting in 41 two year jail sentences?
Allegations = maybe not fit and proper.
Convictions = well that’s sorted out nicely then.
‘Their response was that because it was only allegations they would take representations from my legal team and if they could convince them I had a strong case then there would be no issue.’
If King is basing his confidence on this then his sanity would have to be put at the same level as his honesty. If ‘allegations’ require representation from his lawyers to convince the SFA that he had a strong case, my god, ‘convictions’ must surely require representation from the UN, or maybe CrooksRUs!
if he’s on tonight can someone ask billy dodds for his “newsreader who never made it”
the media in scotland, both broadcast and print, have for as long as i can remember favoured both the teams playing out of govan.
i think the majority view on here would agree with that statement?
so, what would these media outlets have to do to find favour with the fans of these teams?
just wondering…
Sometimes it is like floggin a dead horse
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24730726
Admin 2 anyone 🙂
Forget the parking tickets and 41 counts of administrative errors.
Here is the deal…..
A bunch of spivs are now running away from Ibrokes with large sacks of cash…..
They duped CW into getting the keys for Ibrokes via Sevco Scotland
He in turn had duped Sir Davide De Murrah – owner of vineyards and purveyor of fine wine – to sell him the club for a quid.
The same bloke duped DK into (under his own admission) handing over 20 million quid – for a non executive position on RFC-NIL.
Now given that the food chain order has DK at the bottom………..
Would you really want someone who can get duped out of 20 million by people who are duped by other better spivmeisters? If so, would be best if it is ensured by the Peepil he is not allowed near the spam emails from HKG vicars and Nigerian bankers looking for his help……………
The SPFL chairmen all may be boring, penny pinchers who won’t sign a decent forward at times, take the plug out of the toaster and water down the sherry – but none of them have been stupid enough to have lost 20 million…….
Scotland needs fit and proper people!
Lord Wobbly says: (944)
October 29, 2013 at 5:19 pm
…
To be fair, he’s paid for his crimes. Quite literally.
======================================
Hope you don’t mind LW, but I prefer ;
To be fair, he’s paid for his liberty. Quite literally.
John Clarke and Finloch
It is really quite scary the way that the BBC have, with one or two notable exceptions, covered this on-going saga. I, and I’m sure many others on here, grew up believing that in all areas other than, say, national security, the BBC would never publish anything it wasn’t 100% certain to be accurate, though obviously breaking news would inevitably prove difficult to hold until checked. But this is not breaking news and there’s been plenty time to check facts and ensure accurate reporting, or at least correct mistakes and ensure further reporting was factual. Generally, though, sports reporting doesn’t carry the same need for truth and accuracy, though there is no excuse for it not being honest and accurate. But this is not a sports story. It is a story of deceit and corruption, at high levels within society, and involves powerful people: but not all that powerful. The scary thing is, if they are prepared to ‘go soft’ on the people involved with RFC/TRFC because of their power, just how soft do they go when reporting on government or the fat cats in the City and other luminaries. The fact that they are prepared to downplay the level of criminality of a very wealthy man, just because he’s involved with TRFC, must open up questions of their reporting on far weightier matters involving far more prominent and important institutions and people.
And there really is no excuse for it.
When I think of John McKay, I think of the late John Toye and the late Bill Tennant, two of his predecessors.
Both had shall we say a fondness for the drink – it was once said that Bill Tennant, owner of the Marie Stuart Hotel on the south side of Glasgow, drank more of his own booze than all his guests combined. And if I recall correctly John Toye died a particularly sad and sorry death.
Neither of them was particularly good at his job, in fact they were both pretty poor if truth be told and they probably left barely a mark on the consciousness of those who watched them over the years.
But compared to them John McKay is a complete nobody and will always remain so.
I don’t believe Dave King should be allowed within a million miles of any directorship anywhere in the world. Given his and Paul “wealth off the sonar,” Murray’s track record at RFC (IL) why would anyone want either of them as a director? They were part of a board that had the benefit of a sizable year on year season ticket income plus Corporate and Commercial income, EUFA income, £20m from Dave King, £40m from Joe Lewis, unpaid tax on EBTs, unpaid Income Tax and NIC. Despite all of this they still couldn’t prevent their club from being liquidated. It might be a laugh to let the Laurel and Hardy of business and corporate governance have another go at running a football club.
very ot I take lord bishops statment regarding clubs to mean an entity is a club or a company .It cannot be both at the same time.
wottpi 6.10pm
Admin 1 surely. 😀
andygraham.66 says
October 29, 2013 at 3:49 pm
http://www.nufcdirect.com/puma-rangers-rain-jacket-mens-374990?colcode=37499018
Newcastle fans not happy on twitter
——
This must be one of the products that the bears were complaining falls apart … go out in the rain and the badge will fall off, the quick coat of blue paint will get washed away and they’ll be left with a stripy black and white item from NUFC’s overstock shed … 🙂
The Mens Puma Rangers Rain Jacket provides a great look for any fan of the Gers on a wet match day thanks to the club badge and sponsor to the left chest, Puma logo’s to the sleeves and a large sponsor print to the back.
This Newcastle United jacket sports a traditional zip up design with zipped pockets to the side, and features a full hood and a lightweight design for total comfort during bad weather.
slimshady61 says: (284)
October 29, 2013 at 6:25 pm
How dare you sully the name of Bill Tennant. A hero for his good night on the news/magazine prog at the time. Fanny Craddock had been on making donuts, at end of prog he said, thanks for watching, be back tomorrow at same time and, if your baking, I hope all your donuts turn out like fannies! Cue the hand operated camera shaking as cameraman pished himself.
Another similar story, think it might have been big Arthur Montford, at Ibrokes for rangers v ajax game. He was reading out all the Ajax players who were internationalists, he said, “in fact you could quite literally say that the Ibrokes pitch is liberally sprinkled with dutch caps”!! Again the shaking of camera!!
i think i missed a word out of my earlier post
more
can you guess where it would be placed?
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/oct/29/daily-record-rangers
The reputation of the Daily Record Sports desk continues to grow…
The SFA should start a commission to look into integrity in the governance of Scottish football. If they call it SFA Integrity, it’ll be the shortest report of all time. The name of the commission and it’s findings will be the same.
Question:
Why does King want to be chairman? Why doesn’t he want to be CEO? Isn’t that where the real power is.
StevieBC says: (859)
October 29, 2013 at 6:14 pm
7 0 Rate This
Lord Wobbly says: (944)
October 29, 2013 at 5:19 pm
…
To be fair, he’s paid for his crimes. Quite literally.
======================================
Hope you don’t mind LW, but I prefer ;
To be fair, he’s paid for his liberty. Quite literally.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUCH better.
OFOG’s take on the Return of the King.
http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/past-present-future/
I think some people are in for one Hell of a shock.
I have noted earlier comments that people have actually had a response from the BBC.
Luck you. I’m still waiting for one that I made on 4 September 2013. I thought it was a simple matter.
An article had appeared on the website and it referred to ‘Rangers’. ‘the company’ , ‘the club’, ‘Ibrox’, ‘the directors’, ‘the board’ and ‘the shareholders’. I wrote and asked what they were referring too? I pointed out that there are several companies, each separate legal entities, each with their own boards of directors, each with separate shareholders, each with the word ‘Rangers’ in their titles and all with the word ‘Ibrox’ in their address. So, what legal entity was being referred too in the article? As I said, a simple question.
I received my first acknowledgement on 6 September. On the 14 October, having heard nothing more, I phoned to chase it up. Today, I received a further acknowledgement giving the BBC another 10 days or so to formulate their reply.
Maybe the answers to simple questions are more difficult than I thought.
A poster (Franco 67) on Phil’s site posted this. . .
Franco67
October 29, 2013 at 12:51 pm
It’s usual piss poor Sevco propaganda to test timmy out……..@FrPaulStone: Hi @Record_Sport Does your reporter John Ferguson know that an AIM rep would have broken the law by speaking to him? http://t.co/PJU7oPbuRz
The Lying King and his Falcon
[11] As Streicher JA pointed out –
‘An interdict at the instance of a creditor preventing his debtor, pending an action instituted or to be instituted by the creditor, from getting rid of his assets to defeat his creditors has for many years been recognised in our law [Knox D’Arcy Ltd v Jamieson [1996] ZASCA 58; 1996 (4) SA 348 (A) at 372C–F]. It is similar to the Mareva injunction in English law.’5
He also quoted6 Lord Donaldson of Lymington MR7 who said:
“We live in a time of rapidly growing commercial and financial sophistication and it behoves the courts to adapt their practices to meet the current wiles of those defendants who are prepared to devote as much energy to making themselves immune to the courts’ orders as to resisting the making of such orders on the merits of their case.”………………………….
It reminds one of the farmer who in order to escape paying tithe destroyed his whole crop.8 The Romans had a short answer for such conduct: ‘Malitiis non indulgendum esse’ – there must be no indulgence to malice
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2007/160.html
James Forrest says: (12)
October 29, 2013 at 7:47 pm
James, once again, thanks for restoring my faith, and presenting the facts. Maybe one day someone in the MSM will do the same.
Sorry, just re-read that last bit, Nurse, it’s time for my medication!!!
PhilMacGiollaBhain
==========================
It’s a pity they didn’t do what you suggested (and indeed did) and do a wee bit of investigation work rather than just regurgitate a press release.
It really is pathetic, they try to portray themselves as a newspaper when in fact they are little more than a media outlet for Rangers’ propaganda.
I don’t suppose that is particularly new, but seeing it highlighted like this, by folk like yourself, can actually be quite shocking. The worrying thing is that people may actually be starting to get de-sensitized and see it as just more of the same.
It’s kind of like the 5 players where Rangers were found to have evaded tax. People don’t really talk about it because it was “only five” and “only £2m or £3m tax”. Taken on it’s own it is quite shocking, but in the context was portrayed as a victory for honesty and dignity.
Or being found guilty of having dual contracts, but the penalty was only a couple of hundred thousand pounds fine, so everything was OK.
Keep up the good work Phil, we need people who don’t give up and who don’t get de-sensitized to it.
Can anyone help please?
When I click on the link for OFOG by James Forrest I can’t read any of the post.
I am using windows vista and not very ICT literate.
Re OFOG (which is another great post) there is something in there that I’m not sure I agree with, it is also something that is re-iterated in the SMSM often. It is, that DK invested £20M of his own money into rangers and lost it, but still stayed with the club, thereby helping his reputation as a “rangers man” but was it not true that some time after that event there was a payment FROM rangers to his account of at least £15M, which formed part of the tax case in south Africa, so at most he ‘lost’ £5M but that doesn’t take into account any other payments made or salary or expenses or benefits claimed during the time he was on the board and didn’t appear to really participate much.
Or have I mixed this up? can one of the more learned correct my thinking?
ptd1978 says:
=========================
I think the CEO’s job is actually to run the business, if not quite on a day to day basis then as near it as makes no difference.
The Chairman is more involved in strategy and direction. Big picture kind of stuff.
Part of Rangers problem for years in my opinion is not really having a CEO worthy of the name, or a Chairman whose first priority was the club itself.
Celtic have had Ian Bankier, John Reid and Brian Quinn in the chair. Top people in their chosen fields whose involvement in the club is or was through choice and not necessity. They have also had Peter Lawwell, actually running the club. The rest of the board is pretty impressive as well.
Rangers had no-one of note in the chair for years, and when David Murray wasn’t actually sitting in it he was pulling the strings, to his own ends. His main priority was saving MIH and keeping the bank onside. His puppet was Martin Bain, doing no more than his masters business. The new club Has had people like Walter Smith in the Chair, and Charles Green or Caig Mather as CEO.
Bottom line Rangers have dreadful management, whether it be in the boardroom or in charge of the playing squad. In addition to sorting out their finances they really need to sort that out to have any chance.
Sorry, I wandered off there.
@Tif Finn
Thanks.
It took me TWO phone call to demolish that DR “article”.
🙄
That isn’t a boast on my part, it is an indication that the DR simply regurgitated a Sevco Press Release.
Really shameful stuff.
Stenhousemuir – v – Sevco
A blatant dive by a Sevco player, just on the edge of the box and a ‘free’ kick is awarded to help Sevco !!
Quel surprise
ptd1978 says: (99)
October 29, 2013 at 7:11 pm
1 0 Rate This
Question:
Why does King want to be chairman? Why doesn’t he want to be CEO? Isn’t that where the real power is.
=====
CEO will have to do what the owner wants, where is the real power and why this charade
jimlarkin says: (584)
October 29, 2013 at 9:03 pm
Stenhousemuir – v – Sevco
A blatant dive by a Sevco player, just on the edge of the box and a ‘free’ kick is awarded to help Sevco !!
Quel surprise
———————————–
Not exclusive to Rangers so let’s not make it about them, it is a cancer on the game just now and will only stop when it is taken serious. Players should be sent off or given a ban if reported later, i hate it when Celtic players do it and would love more managers to come out and give their players abuse when it is clear.
Madbhoy24941 says: (301)
October 29, 2013 at 9:35 pm
================================
I’d hazard a guess each and every one of us on here detest players diving. I’d hazard another guess we easily spot dives by our opponents, but less so by our own team. I do believe it is more endemic among some teams than others though. Much depends on the Manager I suppose.
vv
Bayview Gold says: (978)
October 29, 2013 at 8:27 pm
========================
King has stated previously that he took no salary or expenses during his time of not fulfilling his duties as an NED.
Just read the OFOG article by James Forrest. Interesting views on Rangers not being permitted by UEFA to play in Europe in 2 years due to FFP rules. Wouldn’t it be up to the SFA to ensure they ‘meet’ the criteria?
Why do I feel I’m going round in a circle!
eddie rice says: (46)
October 29, 2013 at 8:03 pm
‘….. ‘Malitiis non indulgendum esse’ – there must be no indulgence to malice.’
———
Which happily seems to be the line of approach of both Dr Poon and the judgment in the AAM case. 😀
James Forrest says: (12)
October 29, 2013 at 7:47 pm
Spot on as usual, James. The only thing you are forgetting is that TRFC are so important to UEFA that things like rules won’t count for them. I’m sure as I type that there is someone at UEFA headquarters working feverishly to find some loophole to ensure TRFC’s participation in Europe regardless of how many rules they break or criteria they don’t meet. Unless, of course, no one outside of Scotland is actually aware that they are the peepil, or even what that ridiculous claim might mean!
I’m not certain but I’d expect that SARS is keeping a weather eye on Mr King’s financial matters and should, say, £20m turn up in TRFC’s coffers to purchase shares in King’s, or one of his businesses, name then they’ll be requesting the services of HMRC, or some investigator, to track where the money has come from with a view to opening up proceedings again. I can’t see the SA Foreign Exchange Officials viewing any application from King to move money from South Africa treating it favourably, unless it is likely to make him an income that can be taxed there – and an investment in TRFC/RIFC isn’t going to achieve that. I’m sure King will be able to use his fortunes, hidden in various tax havens, to get involved, quietly, with many companies throughout the world, but a certain bunch of internet bampots will never let him get involved quietly with TRFC!
Charlotte Fakes III @CharlotteFakes3 8m
Rule I38 set to be invoked should Rangers not hand over £250,000.00 to the SPFL.
http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthespfl_1375800603.pdf …
#EBT #RamsdensCashGrab
The rules of Rod 😀
upthehoops says: (595)
October 29, 2013 at 9:52 pm
Why do I feel I’m going round in a circle!
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If it’s any consolation, we all feel like that. ❓
Charlotte Fakes III @CharlotteFakes3 11m
Rule I38 set to be invoked should Rangers not hand over £250,000.00 to the SPFL. http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthespfl_1375800603.pdf …
So the mighty Rangers have reached their first cup final. What a shame those fans are going to be denied the excitement of Hampden! I do hope the Celtic Board realise there will be nothing inflammatory whatsoever about informing the relevant people in the morning that Celtic Park is unavailable for the final before they ask. What utter folly that would be, despite media darling McCoist making a pitch for the stadium as a final venue at the weekend. I’ve also saw it suggested Easter Road may be the venue. More fool the Hibs board if they allow it to happen. A simple ‘not our problem’ would suffice!
Travelling back from the wonderful Bo’ness a little earlier, I heard the description of RIFC’s goal against Stenhousemuir.
I sincerely hope that others who actually saw the goal will be able to persuade me that it was a ‘genuine’ goal, caused by a wholly involuntary mistake by the goalkeeper.
Because for the life of me, so poisoned has the football air become since McCoist’s defence of , and the ludicrous penalty inflicted on, Ian Black, that, despite my best endeavours to remain open-minded, a little cynical thought crossed my mind, and cannot quite be shaken off.
Honest to God, the damage done to the game by the protectors of fraudsters, cheats and convicts is possibly irreversible.
Can we believe anything?
Will some kind Stenhousemuir fan re-assure me, please?
John Clarke, the goalie was Chris Smith. He’s hardly the safest hands in soccer!
Final should be played at Livingston as usual. Give “Rangers” 5000 tickets and let them get on with it.
upthehoops says:
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As I understand it, and I can’t remember where I read this, Celtic Park is too expensive to hire for the Ramsden’s Cup Final.
Am I not right in saying that the prospective venues are Easter Road or Almondvale Stadium (The Energy Assets Arena).
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Tic 6709 says: (515)
October 29, 2013 at 9:43 pm
5 0 Rate This
Bayview Gold says: (978)
October 29, 2013 at 8:27 pm
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King has stated previously that he took no salary or expenses during his time of not fulfilling his duties as an NED.
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I chuckled, quality satire.
John Clarke . 20.11
John, surprised by your comments..especially someone with your obvious intellect .
Why would you and in fact anyone ,other than a Rangers, Raith or Stenhousemuir fan ,
on this site even care for one second about the outcome of this game or any of their games?..I only found out they were playing reading Posts on here.They are currently football wise a complete irrelevance …grubbing around the lowest levels of professional football in Europe
.Every match they play as the Yanks would say is a complete ‘goat rodeo’ given the ludicrous expenditure incurred on their players Vs the competition they face …
My vote is all intellectual and emotional energy on this site is spent figuring out how, for the long term good of Scottish football, to get the SFA and the country’s media turned round from their current ludicrous behaviour and not worrying about this crew scrambling and scraping past some part timers
So to summarise the last 24 hours:
1. Dave King – Convicted South African Tax Cheat. Just as in Monopoly, he was given a “Chance”. Pay £41,000,000 or go to jail for 82 years. He paid the £41,000,000 fine – WTF did he get that from? Surely if he could pay that, he could also have paid the original taxes as well?
2. Just to re-iterate 1 above – HE IS CONVICTED! He is a CRIMINAL!
3. Mr King makes a flying visit to his “Homeland” to test the water. First visit to a Bus Garage behind Glasgow Airport. As a co-incidence, his PR has just shot up within SMSM. Inspector Reagan suddenly crawls from above his parapet at the SFA, DR reports that the “Financial Masters” from AIM & LSE are happy for him to be involved with Sevco. Ahh!! The Messiah is here.
4. Hold the front page! LSE & AIM are not happy with DR report, which is amazingly amended!
5. Nazi salutes are excused as a joke.
6. The Chycophant re-emerges at the Ramsdens Cup semi final, and has the cheek to enlighten us all that in his opinion the League Cup is diminished this season without Sevco (how ironic!). p.s. Did anyone else listening on radio tonight notice Mr Youngs new pronunciation of “RRRRRRangers!” when mentioning the New Club Sevco. I think he has been listening to old rewinds from “Andrew of Bridge of Weir” on the old JT show, “Your Call”
7. Some presenter on STV has a thing about Paul McStay. Well, the presenter is a Numpty. Paul McStay could have gone anywhere in the World, and I for one am glad he stayed in Scotland. A wonderful Footballer, a wonderful Man, and a true Gentleman as well! In fact, a wonderful Role Model for any young footballer! The Guy is a Legend, and I say that as a St Mirren supporter! Loyalty to Clubs from players is well gone now. Paul was obviously happy where he was, why go elsewhere?
8. Saw Sevco on BBC Alba tonight. What does the “1872” mean on the back of their shirts? And the 5 stars on the front of their shirts? Is the 1872 a new SAGA sponsorship for 18-72 Year olds to go on holiday? I’ve already sussed the 5 stars – They were formed in 2012, so add 2+0+1+2. Their PR is ingenious!
What is it people do not understand?
A South African court described him as a glib and shameless LIAR!
Therefore you cannot trust a word that leaves his lips…
However the Daily Record appears to accept and promote everything this criminal states…without challenge…
IMO there is no one on this planet called Earth…regardless of their crimes who the SFA would prevent from joining a club playing at Ibrox…
SFA…Shameless Football Association
Tailothebank.
For a poster of your intellect I’m quite amazed that you demean yourself, the lower leagues and part timers. “grubbing around the lowest levels of professional football in Europe”. Oh dear. You just offended most of Scotland I imagine.
Ratethisthen…..
On that point. I agree ..Mea Culpa!..hopefully on the wider point you agree!
Tailothebank.
Scotland (and beyond) accepts your correction and concur. Fair play.
As you were TSFM
Tailothebank says: (39)
October 29, 2013 at 10:49 pm
‘John Clarke . 20.11
John, surprised by your comments….’
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With respect, I don’t think you have any reason to be surprised.
The lies and cheatery of SDM, CW, CG and their successors speak volumes.
The lies and deceit of the Footballing authorities scream in our ears.
The revelations of ‘bet against your own team in games in which you are playing’ howl enough to burst our eardrums.
The reaction to those revelations of the football ‘Establishment’-from managers to the SFA- is beyond endurance.
We must now expect orchestrated cheating on an enormous scale. on behalf of an illegitimate new club. Just as we expect attempts to legitimise a convicted criminal!
The description of the goal scored by that illegitimateclub, to ears already blasted by lies and deceitful double-speak, made it sound like a goal conveniently manufactured.
I cannot, and do not, assert that it was so manufactured.
But the huge damage done by that wicked, now dead, club and by the equally wicked conmen in charge of the new illicit club, has affected us all.
Carry on.
One of the recurring themes of this blog is the pathetic quality of SMSM coverage of the massive issues affecting oor beautiful game: inept or corrupt – take your pick.
The quality of BBC reporting is particularly galling since we feel it is a service that is payed for by the tax payer and really ought to be above the level we have come to expect from the red top rags and other media baron outlets.
How is it possible that the BBC, that allegedly grandest of institutions, could have reached such pitiful levels of journalism?
I don’t claim to have the answer, but I would like to put forward a possible contributing factor.
Back in the pre-Thatcher days, a job as a BBC journalist was quite probably a job for life. You were paid to do a proper job of reporting the news, and my guess is you could probably bank on keeping your job as a respected journalist pretty much for the duration.
The security of knowing you had been entrusted with such a presitgious position would, I imagine, go some way towards reinforcing professional expectations and the demand for high quality copy.
I am sure there were exceptions.
Fast forward to the modern journalist working for the Beeb. How many of them are on a permanent contract that they will have reasonable expectation of retaining for the duration of their working lives?
My guess? Not many.
Thatcher’s revolution introduced the widespread introduction of fixed term contracts, outsourcing, the use of external consultants instead of in house experts. I bet there are a good many readers of this blog who directly benefit from this. Hell, a large part of the economy appears to be dependent upon it now.
However, as with so many of Thatcher’s innovations, there was an unintended downside.
Take away the commitment of an organisation to its work force and you inevitably erode the worker’s commitment to the employer.
How many of our current crop of BBC sports reporters are working and writing today, with half a mind on tomorrow when they are just as likely to be looking for a job as a PR expert, or a pundit for one of the red tops?
It is not an incredible scenario.
If you want people to behave professionally, I think you got to treat them like professionals, pay them like professionals and employ them like professionals.
Thanks to Thatcher and the unfettered capitalist free market idealogues that destroyed professional working practises across the public sector (I know – I work there – I also know there were abuses etc etc), we see erosion of professional standards across all sectors. The BBC are only one example of a common malaise.
On the day when Coulson and Brooks arrived to be tried in court, I think it is worth remembering that the corruption in the MSM extends far beyond our SMSM sports hacks. Here’s hoping the justice system sends a clear message that the standards that these two set are not acceptable and justice is done to them. Might be a much needed wake up call to the media in general.
ratethisthenyabampots says: (84)
October 29, 2013 at 11:20 pm
Tailothebank.
For a poster of your intellect I’m quite amazed that you demean yourself, the lower leagues and part timers. “grubbing around the lowest levels of professional football in Europe”. Oh dear. You just offended most of Scotland I imagine.
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Tailothebank says: (40)
October 29, 2013 at 11:31 pm
On that point. I agree ..Mea Culpa!..hopefully on the wider point you agree!
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Let’s face it, life without Sevco won’t exactly be “Armageddon”
The lower leagues are Scottish Football’s Bread & Butter! You can’t have a league at all without Teams in it.
There are Towns up and down this Country proud of their local teams, with a hardcore support, no matter how small they may be. These same towns have their own local Press who report daily or weekly on the progress/ local stories pertaining to their team.
Without wishing to give my location away, my local team gets a helluva lot of weekly exposure. Sometime 3 pages! They’re lucky if they get a throwaway line in the Dr or S*n.
Here’s my dream!
Sevco are finally put out of their misery. Celtic on their own will certainly be invited to the English EPL (They won’t get there with the Sevco baggage tagging along!)
The rest of Scottish Football will find their own feet, and have many exciting seasons with many different League and Cup winners each year. Sevco supporters will also find their new homes! After a few years reality will hit home, and even if it is supporting East Stirling, Pollock Juniors or Dalry Thistle, Scottish Football will be the winner.
It’s nice to dream!
John Clarke ..1144
I agree with these sentiments..
what is going on in this entire affair is absolutely scandalous .. your list..plus much more…eg
Openly defying liquidation laws, alienating massive assets from honest creditors etc ..the various offenders have to be brought to justice ..even if it takes years a la Hillsborough
it might be just me but.. But I know there are others.. …I just feel that RFC or whatever they are these days just aren’t worth the candle anymore..I don’t care what they do now .from a footballing perspective ..given the growing extremism developing in their ranks (and btw I really dread next season… assuming a certain team don’t head downwards and miss them on the way up) .that was my point.
.and as we say ad nauseam on here
They aren’t the targets anymore …if the SFA can get cleaned out over the next year or two RFC i believe will become less relevant to us all
Zilch says: (98)
October 29, 2013 at 11:46 pm
‘ Here’s hoping the justice system sends a clear message that the standards that these two set are not acceptable and justice is done to them. Might be a much needed wake up call to the media in general…’
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I hope so too.
But the crime of illegal phone-hacking and using the information garnered by such hacking is one thing.
The truth of the information obtained thereby may not be in dispute.
Our MSM, however, are not interested in truth-whether legally obtained or otherwise.
Their crime is actual falsehood, pure and simple.
They have not even the defence that what they report is truth,no matter how illegaly obtained.
bobferris says: (151)
October 29, 2013 at 10:19 pm
‘.., the goalie was Chris Smith. He’s hardly the safest hands in soccer!’
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Thank you, bobferris.
I go to bed, calmed in mind and body. I do still believe that our footballers are like me( as I was!): play for their own personal pride and their sense of team.
The betting thing nevertheless is a wee bit problematic, and in my opinion, has not been satisfactorily resolved by the SFA.
Fairly certain this has been posted before and unsure if it is THE most up to date copy, but the rule pertaining to insolvency events for clubs in the SPFL…
E Club Financial Arrangements
Insolvency
E1 Subject to Rule E5, where a Club suffers or is subject to an Insolvency Event that Club shall be deducted 15 points in the League.
…
E5 Where a Club, whether owned and operated by the same or a different Member, suffers or is subject to an Insolvency Event which results in a deduction of points in terms of these Rules and within 5 years of the date of such Insolvency Event suffers or is subject to a further Insolvency Event which is not part of the same Insolvency Process as the Insolvency Event then suffered, the points deduction applicable in terms of Rules E1 in respect of that second or further Insolvency Event, shall be 25 points with the 15 points in Rules E2 and E3 being 25 Points.
http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthespfl_1375800603.pdf
The unrelenting stench of WTF oozing from Hampden and Ibrox is only detectable to those who know the truth.
I live in Aberdeen and work alongside many Dandy Dons. They love their team and they love football, but from talking to them about the Sevco pantomime, I know that they get their facts from the redtops, BBC and Northsound.
I think it was in Al Franken’s book ‘Lies and the lying liars who tell them’ that I read of a study showing that of all the news channels, the viewers of Fox News were the most misinformed on a wide range of topics. That’s the power of the media.
I read Pilger and Chomsky and I’m not surprised that the media can’t be trusted on important matters of state.
I’m not shocked that the redtops and the so called quality SMSM sports hacks peddle piss poor puff pieces about our friends from Govan, I am shocked that the BBC sports and news departments propogate the innacuracies in what is, in the grand scheme of things a small nation’s sporting scandal.
What makes this story so toxic to truthtelling? Is it political interference due to the upcoming independence referendum and the leanings of the Govan Demographic? Is it Apronic? Is it simply pro Rangers bias? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the truth be broadcast to as wide an audience as possible.
After Regan’s crap on Saturday and the reaction here and on other sites, It struck me that instead of complaining we should try to get the major players interviewed by a proper journalist, inspired by fergussingstheblues I suggested Phil Mc. or put forward a spokesperson (armed with the simple skean dhu of truth) to be interviewed.
There are many on here who, if their spoken word is as eloquent as their prose, could start the process of tearing down the wall of unadulterated bullshit which is preventing the truth from being told.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
paulsatim says: (595)
October 29, 2013 at 7:01 pm
slimshady61 says: (284)
October 29, 2013 at 6:25 pm
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And for all those looking for a light-hearted chuckle…
http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5056
Was in Glasgow for a long weekend with the Mrs. Rain was p!ssing down for a while on Sunday, so decided to jump on the subway, got off at Ibrox and walked to see the stadium, having never seen it in the light of day.
I looked at the deceleration, proudly displayed on the gates in blue and white – Rangers Football Club Ltd.
Separation of Club and Company my ar$e. Two sides of the same coin.
Just a thought on the Dave King Saga. If, like Mr McColl he declared that he would not be investing any of his mega millions into TRFC would he still be lauded as the saviour. Would his business acumen and knowhow be enough to allow the SMSM to continue to fawn over him? Would the ‘fit and proper person’ debate be irrelevant? Is Dave King actually behind one of the faceless investors already at the healm?
One puzzle, of many, with the sevco saga. All these investors, money apparently no object, waiting to plough enormous piles of non returnable cash into sevco’s revival. Why was the original IPO (‘the most successful share issue in modern history’ ©Chuckles), not as successful as hoped? What stopped Iran McColl, Dave King, Graham Duffy and all the other ‘billionaires’ from diving in?
What does Kieron Prior (of the ‘off the radar’ IQ ©DR). Make of the view under the hood now that he’s had more than ample time to crunch the numbers?
Home tie at the (insert current name here) on Friday, all stands open?
Broadswordcallingdannybhoy says: (119)
October 30, 2013 at 2:02 am
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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Thanks Broadsword, this quote from your excellent post is brilliant! I have felt this way for some time, but it’s great to see it summed up as above. I stopped buying newspapers quite a long time ago now.
I even have to restrain myself from giving my Dad a lecture when he asks me to bring him the “Sin” I think it’s called.
I know it’s difficult for some to stop relying on MSM for news- even when they know it’s propaganda!
The fact is, when someone has truly had enough and they break free, it only takes a short time before they are not even interested in the paper that’s left on the train. What a great feeling that is. Mental hygiene!
upthehoops says: (596)
October 29, 2013 at 10:03 pm
55 2 i
Rate This
So the mighty Rangers have reached their first cup final………… (edit)
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I agree with you 100% except your opening line. The mighty Rangers do not exist anymore,
Should we be saying congrats to Scotlands newest club for getting to a cup final in only their second season?
C’mon Raith
I should have added that the ‘Bamboozlement’ that Broadsword refers to is a powerful, insidious tool of control.
To fully implement their hidden agendas and attempt to do harm secretly, they throw in some truths among the lies and the bamboozlement is complete for many!
If they would just print 100% lies and spin, people would realise much sooner that they are being conned, but
that would be fighting fair and we couldn’t have that, no way!
Apologies for ranting on, but you probably realise I feel a wee bit strong about all this. 😡
Zilch, that’s a reasonable theory, but I think your premise that the BBC Scotland sports staff don’t have security of tenure isn’t quite right – how many years has Chick Young worked for there? Richard Gordon, Murdo McLeod, Kenny McIntyre? The issue may be more accurately defined as there being no journalists employed, just reporters, who tend to report/repackage what is laid on a plate for them. Some occasionally manage to go beyond regurgitation – Spence and Cosgrove, English, but I don’t think the company hired them as journalists.
Sevco need cash, everyone knows it, Ally demands it, BS went to South Africa to secure it…….Dave king has it. Lets say Sevco need 10 million to keep the insolvency wolf from the door……why on earth would DK cough up, knowing that current spending would quickly burn it leaving him shovelling his ‘hard earned’ into the Ibrox furnace. Would it not be infinitely more sensible to wait till Sevco went into admin/liquidation then ‘do a Chuckles’ pick up the assets on the cheap with all the clocks zeroed? The hapless Ally out the picture, those wildly over paid Blacks and Sheilds off the balance sheet, and the bears ready to embrace Triggers Broom mark 3. Is this a possible outcome?…..or would DK be left asking ‘whaurs ra deeds?’
fergussingstheblues says: (64)
October 29, 2013 at 11:57 pm
Here’s my dream!
….. Celtic on their own will certainly be invited to the English EPL
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Do the EPL rules allow that?
redetin says: (244)
October 30, 2013 at 9:02 am
Oh lord, not this fantasy again, its about as likely as Rangers getting a boardroom filled with genuine Billionaires.
As I understand it First issue is UEFA, then SFA permission , then ALL the English clubs would have to vote on admittance with I think 2/3rds majority, would Celtic be allowed to skip leagues?
There may at some point be some sort of pan-Europe set-up, but, I wouldn’t hold my breath, akin to herding cats.
Celtic are in Scotland, much better to stop colluding with current set-up and, instead grow a set, and sort the so and so’s out!
EDIT
Not forgetting that compared to the EPL, Scottish Football finance is a paragon of virtue. There is a huge brick wall waiting for the English clubs, and when they hit it, its going to get very ugly…
Wall to wall media coverage and discussion about The Return of the King and a great blog from James Forrest.
Call me cynical but I don’t think anything is quite as it seems with Mr King and his return.
So attempting to cut through all the kak. (good South African word in common parlance) and understanding that the essence of effective spivery is planning and timing.
I’d bet a rand or two that the worthwhile real estate assets are long aligned to future rental revenues or a windfall bonus for those mysterious money men who own the holding co.
So the only crucial thing is the timing of when the end game kicks in.
The cash burn is reducing the available period each day but it is a side show to keep up appearances that all is well.
The trigger is surely not when it runs out of cash but the date when the penny shares crystallise?
Hence the AGM that was wasn’t and now isn’t.
Hence the arrival and obfuscation of the King with his plans for “leading” fund raising activities.
He might just be Craig’s “David Fairclough” , a super sub who was never in the starting Liverpool line up but won many a game for the club, – (for younger bampots)
Was this the strategy and game plan that was agreed at Corsica’s Zurich Meeting when seemingly non aligned and even opposing individuals secretly met up.
Mr King is certainly fronting the line and leading us all a merry dance?
More a master magician’s assistant than a squirrel.
scapaflow says: (1067)
October 30, 2013 at 9:21 am
EDIT
Not forgetting that compared to the EPL, Scottish Football finance is a paragon of virtue. There is a huge brick wall waiting for the English clubs, and when they hit it, its going to get very ugly…
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….. maybe that would be Celtic’s route into EPL, replacing a club that folds?
I think we’ll find that the impending brick wall for the EPL is in fact made of papier mache. There’s not a government alive that would allow the major clubs down there to go to the wall en masse. If HMRC go after any of them then the Bryson law will be invoked “they didn’t know they were doing wrong so we can’t retrospectively punish them”