The recent revelations of a potential winding up order being served on Rangers Newco certainly does have a sense of “deja vu all over again” for the average reader of this blog.
It reminds me of an episode of the excellent Western series Alias Smith & Jones. The episode was called The Posse That Wouldn’t Quit. In the story, the eponymous anti-heroes were being tracked by a particularly dogged group of law-men whom they just couldn’t shake off – and they spent the entire episode trying to do just that. In a famous quote, Thaddeus Jones, worn out from running, says to Joshua Smith, “We’ve got to get out of this business!”
The SFM has been trying since its inception to widen the scope and remit of the discussion and debate on the blog. Unsuccessfully. Like the posse that wouldn’t quit, Rangers are refusing to go away as a story. With the latest revelations, I confided in my fellow mods that perhaps we too should get out of this business. I suspect that, even if we did, this story would doggedly trail our paths until it wears us all down.
The fact that the latest episode of the Rangers saga has sparked off debate on this blog may even confirm the notion subscribed to by Rangers fans that TSFM is obsessed with their club. However even they must agree that the situation with regard to Rangers would be of interest to anyone with a stake in Scottish Football; and that they themselves must be concerned by the pattern of events which started over a decade ago and saw the old club fall into decline on a trajectory which ended in liquidation.
But let me enter into a wee discussion which doesn’t merely trot out the notion of damage done to others or sins against the greater good, but which enters the realm of the damage done to one of the great institutions of world sport, Rangers themselves.
David Murray was regarded by Rangers fans as a hero. His bluster, hubris and (as some see it) arrogant contempt for his competitors afforded him a status as a champion of the cause as long as it was underpinned by on-field success.
The huge pot of goodwill he possessed was filled and topped-up by a dripping tap of GIRUY-ness for many years beyond the loss of total ascendency that his spending (in pursuit of European success) had achieved, and only began to bottom out around the time the club was sold to Craig Whyte. In retrospect, it can be seen that the damage that was done to the club’s reputation by the Murray ethos (not so much a Rangers ethos as a Thatcherite one) and reckless financial practice is now well known.
Notwithstanding the massive blemish on its character due to its employment policies, the (pre-Murray) Rangers ethos portrayed a particularly Scottish, perhaps even Presbyterian stoicism. It was that of a conservative, establishment orientated, God-fearing and law-abiding institution that played by the rules. It was of a club that would pay its dues, applied thrift and honesty in its business dealings, and was first to congratulate rivals on successes (witness the quiet dignity of John Lawrence at the foot of the aircraft steps with an outstretched hand to Bob Kelly when Celtic returned from Lisbon).
If Murray had dug a hole for that Rangers, Craig Whyte set himself up to fill it in. No neo-bourgeois shirking of responsibilities and duty to the public for him; his signature was more pre-war ghetto, hiding behind the couch until the rent man moved along to the next door. Whyte just didn’t pay any bills and with-held money that was due to be passed along to the treasury to fund the ever more diminished public purse. Where Murray’s Rangers had been regarded by the establishment and others as merely distasteful, Whyte’s was now regarded as a circus act, and almost every day of his tenure brought more bizarre and ridiculous news which had Rangers fans cringing, the rest laughing up their sleeve, and Bill Struth birling in his grave.
The pattern was now developing in plain sight. Murray promised Rangers fans he would only sell to someone who could take the club on, but he sold it – for a pound – to a guy whose reputation did not survive the most cursory of inspection. Whyte protested that season tickets had not been sold in advance, that he used his own money to buy the club. Both complete fabrications. Yet until the very end of Whyte’s time with the club, he, like Murray still, was regarded as hero by a fan-base which badly wanted to believe that the approaching car-crash could be avoided.
Enter Charles Green. Having been bitten twice already, the fans’ first instincts were to be suspicious of his motives. Yet in one of history’s greatest ironic turnarounds, he saw off the challenge of real Rangers-minded folk (like John Brown and Paul Murray) and their warnings, and by appealing to what many regard as the baser instincts of the fan-base became the third hero to emerge in the boardroom in as many years. The irony of course is that Green himself shouldn’t really pass any kind of Rangers sniff-test; personal, sporting, business or cultural; and yet there he is the spokesman for 140 years of the aspirations of a quarter of the country’s fans.
To be fair though, what else could Rangers fans do? Green had managed (and shame on the administration process and football authorities for this) to pick up the assets of the club for less (nett) than Craig Whyte and still maintained a presence in the major leagues.
If they hadn’t backed him only the certainty of doom lay before them. It was Green’s way or the highway in other words – and speaking of words, his sounded mighty fine. But do the real Rangers minded people really buy into it all?
First consider McCoist. I do not challenge his credentials as a Rangers minded man, and his compelling need to be an effective if often ineloquent spokesman for the fans. However, according to James Traynor (who was then acting as an unofficial PR advisor to the Rangers manager), McCoist was ready to walk in July (no pun intended) because he did not trust Green. The story was deliberately leaked, to undermine Green, by both Traynor and McCoist. McCoist also refused for a long period of time to endorse the uptake of season books by Rangers fans, even went as far as to say he couldn’t recommend it.
So what changed? Was it a Damascene conversion to the ways of Green, or was it the 250,000 shares in the new venture that he acquired. Nothing improper or unethical – but is it idealism? Is it fighting for the cause?
Now think Traynor. I realise that can be unpleasant, but bear with me.
Firstly, when he wrote that story on McCoist’s resignation, (and later backed it up on radio claiming he had spoken to Ally before printing the story), he was helping McCoist to twist Green’s arm a little. Now, and I’m guessing that Charles didn’t take this view when he saw the story in question, Green thinks that Traynor is a “media visionary”?
Traynor also very publicly, in a Daily Record leader, took the “New Club line” and was simultaneously contemptuous of Green.
What happened to change both their minds about each other? Could it have been (for Green) the PR success of having JT on board and close enough to control, and (for Traynor) an escape route for a man who had lost the battle with own internal social media demons?
Or, given both McCoist’s and Traynor’s past allegiance to David Murray, is it something else altogether?
Whatever it is, both Traynor and McCoist have started to sing from a totally different hymn sheet to Charles Green since the winding up order story became public. McCoist’s expert étude in equivocation at last Friday’s press conference would have had the Porter in Macbeth slamming down the portcullis (now there’s an irony). He carefully distanced himself from his chairman and ensured that his hands are clean. Traynor has been telling one story, “we have an agreement on the bill”, and Green another, “we are not paying it”.
And what of Walter Smith? At first, very anti-Charles Green, he even talked about Green’s “new club”. Then a period of silence followed by his being co-opted to the board and a “same club” statement. Now in the face of the damaging WUP story, more silence. Hardly a stamp of approval on Green’s credentials is it?
Rangers fans would be right to be suspicious of any non-Rangers people extrapolating from this story to their own version of Armageddon, but shouldn’t they also reserve some of that scepticism for Green and Traynor (neither are Rangers men, and both with only a financial interest in the club) when they say “all is well” whilst the real Rangers man (McCoist) is only willing to say “as far as I have been told everything is well”
As a Celtic fan, it may be a fair charge to say that I don’t have Rangers best interests at heart, but I do not wish for their extinction, nor do I believe that one should ignore a quarter of the potential audience for our national game. Never thought I’d hear myself say this, but apart from one (admittedly mightily significant) character defect, I can look at the Rangers of Struth and Simon, Gillick and Morton, Henderson and Baxter, and Waddell and Lawrence (and God help me even Jock Wallace) with fondness and a degree of nostalgia.
I suspect most Rangers fans are deeply unhappy about how profoundly their club has changed. To be fair, my own club no longer enchants me in the manner of old. As sport has undergone globalisation, everything has changed. Our relationship to our clubs has altered, the business models have shifted, and the aspirations of clubs is different from that of a generation ago. It has turned most football clubs into different propositions from the institutions people of my generation grew up supporting, but Rangers are virtually unrecognisable.
The challenge right now for Rangers fans is this. How much more damage will be done to the club’s legacy before this saga comes to an end?
And by then will it be too late to do anything about it?
Most people on this blog know my views about the name of Green’s club. I really don’t give a damn because for me it is not important. I do know, like Craig Whyte said, that in the fullness of time there will be a team called Rangers, playing football in a blue strip at Ibrox, and in the top division in the country.
I understand that this may be controversial to many of our contributors, but I hope that this incarnation of Rangers is closer to that of Lawrence and Simon than to Murray and Souness.
Senior says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 01:19
Ordinarily I would agree but when the chair of the appellate body is on record as being financially indebted to the appellant, well ….. let’s just say it muddy’s the water somewhat 😉
Stand back guys:
As I see it there are only 5 possible outcomes from Tomorrow’s deliberations.
1. RFC, as was were almost irredeemable corrupt & cheated for at least a decade.
2. Scottish football governance is irredeemably corrupt.
3. Both 1 & 2 are correct.
4. Lord Nimmo Smith is a judge of the stature of Solomon, but – unfortunately, somebody has already sliced the baby in 2, anyway, in readiness for the inevitable verdict. (1 Kings 3:16-28)
5. Hillsborogh style perversion of the course of justice is perpetrated.
I don’t see alot for anyone to celenbrate.
I’m a Caley fan (shhh….. it is cruel to mock the afflicted!). What do I do?
4 of these options require a complete reorganisation of the way that game is adminstered,involving a complete change of personnel, and – ideally- a prosecution or 2 of currently serving officials, or me and my sons briefs are on ebay. For buttons. Postage, in fact.
The one option that doesn’t is 1.
And that only works if it is the right one, with some decent proof.
If that is the case I don’t care how many Rangers fans make how much noise. Screaming doesn’t make you right. (But an apology goes some way towards rehabilition.)
If its anything else, then somebody somewhere has wasted alot of innocent pigs bladders needlessly!In which case Adios! To either me & my son, or Messrs regan/doncaster/ogilvie.
Not that we’ll be missed!
But google the words ‘a priori’ and ‘post hoc’ before making your own decisions.
My @rse is making buttons…………roll on noon.
borussiabeefburg says:
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 18:40
“A point for us as Scottish football fans to monitor: presently fans at Dens Park are up in arms about the club’s CEO, and the appointment of John Brown. Rumours abound that Gardiner, the CEO, who has Rangers connections, is trying to force out the directors in order to secure the club as chairman, on the cheap as it were……………………
…………………….Nonetheless, currently any involvement by either Green or Hope/Vaughan is simply rumour.”
—————————————————————————————————————–
Jonathan Hope = MediaProSports = Stephen Vaughan = Chester FC = Refresh Recovery = Gordon Craig = MediaProSports + L.Gardner + Texas plc = Charles Green.
05.29
The Mrs is going absolute nuts – she has just twigged that internetbampottery is going to go off the scale today and that she is not going to get much sense out of me today.
For those who are so inclined a classic hit to start the day – The mighty WAH! – The story of the blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yEwblnubC8
The hits keep on comming with TSFM – [can we set up an internet radio station – TSFM :-)]
Well here we go.this day will pass like any other .part of me says it will be a decision based on the facts presented and a fair decision made ,the other part says like juventus scouting a Spanish referee the law will be proved to be an ass once again.
Looking like coverage will be minimal outwith Scotland as the the Blues Brothers serve up a useful diversion.
Disclaimer: The above comment is in no way to be construed as a reference to the nickname of the Chelsea manager.
Maybe a little off topic considering the impending announcement but… Another cracking night in The SPL, lots of goals (goal of the season in there), lots of action and many games without a clear result until the final whistle.
onceabhoy says:
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 23:32
One of the most disappointing aspects of the wait for the LNS findings is the apparent distrust felt by the ordinary fans throughout the game in Scotland.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Not just football fans onceabhoy, I suspect many, many people with little or no interest in football feel the same level of distrust and suspicion.
The implications of a whitewash will ripple through the whole of Scottish society and not just football and fully confirm to a lot of people that the law in our little country is as bent as the organisation that most if not all of our judges are part of.
Lord Wobbly, Saturday
I appreciate you’ve probably been out and about today but, when you get a moment, I’d appreciate it if you could reply to my earlier query. I’d hate to have to keep on at you in the same way you badgered Barca
Do you believe that Barca’s nuclear comment made any
difference to the sequence of events that led to Rangers
liquidation?
———————————————————————————————————-
I believe it was made in an attempt to further stoke the fire and influence clubs/ supporters in the then up and coming votes and proposed boycotts.
It was made at a time when the RTC site was something of a reference for ongoing opinion about all things involving the Rangers saga.
Few posts on the RTC blog throughout it´s time produced so much discussion, “hope” and millions of words typed into computers, but all on what ?
Something that didn´t exist but always had a easy path of plausible deniability ??
As far as coverage outside Scotland goes, Rangers = ex-Rangers people who have a strong English media connection, therefore Souness and Hateley etc and their type are the extent to which the club (/ franchise these days?) are given an outlet. McCoist is on the list, no matter if he’d scored a million goals and won the champions league, he’s only there because he’s the cheeky chappie from ‘a question of sport’. The reason C4 can give time to the Rangers story is greatly helped by the fact that they have someone in house capable of talking about it and who is a known face on English TV. Who is there otherwise who is considered known enough and can give the other side of the story to Hateley etc?
Celtic
Peter Lawell
Barcabhoy
big Phil
RTC
Internet bampots
me
you
All of the above are innocent.
Whatever happens today will be the result of Ranger’s(IL) actions,no-one else.
Unfortunately,all I think will happen today is that another fudged result by the authorities will be forthcomng.
We put our trust in the SFA,SPL,Lord Hodge,Strathclyde police(whatever happened to that enquiry),and were let down every time.the estblishment obviously have decided that a Rangers in any form,whether old/new,guilty/not guilty of tax evasion and still riddled with a sectarian element must survive and prosper in Scotland today.Even the 1st Minister interceded on their behalf,calling them the “fabric of Society”.
I fear today Lord Hodge will will just confirm what most of us already suspect.
Result – best
Rangers found guilty of fielding improperly registered players
Consequence all games in which this happened changed to 0-3 defeats, titles and cups removed from record books
Punishment – life time bans from the game for all officials, directors or other staff involved.
Punishment – Multi-million pound fine, payable under the terms of the 5-way agreement by Sevco Rangers
Consequence – Sevco Rangers fold, while a certain individual makes his escape with a carpet bag full of tenners.
Consequence – Ibrox closed and demolished to make way for housing, Murray Park taken over and redeveloped as national football skills academy
In separate move the Scottish government announce that from the beginning of the next academic year all Scottish children will be taught in a unified secular educational system.
Result – worst
Rangers found that they might have been guilty of a technical offence considered not to be as heinous as forgetting to date a registration form. Wrap on knuckles. Sevco Rangers awarded several million in compensation due to the hardship they have been forced to endure.
League reconstruction rushed through with Sevco Rangers invited to join top tier.
“Anti-Sevco” blogs closed down and all regular contributors rounded up and taken to special camps.
All independent viewpoints banned – “you must be for us or against us!” The word “Sevco” banned.
Result – actual
Somewhere in between with lots of fudge.
TallBoy Poppy (@TallBoyPoppy) says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 03:41
borussiabeefburg says:
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 18:40
“A point for us as Scottish football fans to monitor: presently fans at Dens Park are up in arms about the club’s CEO, and the appointment of John Brown. Rumours abound that Gardiner, the CEO, who has Rangers connections, is trying to force out the directors in order to secure the club as chairman, on the cheap as it were……………………
…………………….Nonetheless, currently any involvement by either Green or Hope/Vaughan is simply rumour.”
—————————————————————————————————————–
Jonathan Hope = MediaProSports = Stephen Vaughan = Chester FC = Refresh Recovery = Gordon Craig = MediaProSports + L.Gardner + Texas plc = Charles Green.
—————————————————————————————————————–4
Sorry I’d never got back to your query: but these are nice connections!
Trepidation waiting for High Noon…….
It sounds as if LNS has kepy the decision under his wig so to speak – it appears that this will first be presented to the SPL at 10.00 and then to the media at 12.00.
Like most others, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Will be doing my level best to avoid Radio Shortbread on the way home, as TRFC apologists will be rolled out whatever the verdict. I always try and avoid Clyde SSB, for the sake of my blood pressure/sanity.
Back later…
I wanted to post this BEFORE 12 oclock.
I see some other personon here picked up on Green saying TWO WEEKS ago that today would be the decision. How did he know? Was he told findings in advance? Is his silence in last 2 weeks part of the “deal” Charles “just don’t shoot your mouth off and everything will be ok”
With all that has happened in the past, I, like many other fans have deep misgivings of a fair result. I can see TRFC getting off with a warning at worst. Hope I am wrong.
We were wondering why Mr Green was so keen to settle the oldco’s football debts a week or two back. Perhaps we will find out why at Noon today.
Seriously, I’m lost for words. I know it’s an opinion piece but how can a mainstream newspaper allow such inaccuracies to go out. They still don’t understand what’s going on do they?
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mark-hateley-fear-future-game-1734774
We’ve lived through key deadlines before but I’ve noticed three distinct differences this time.
We have had no onslaught from PR companies like Media House.
The Ibrox output has also been deafening in its silence and the usual suspects strangely absent.
There have been no orchestrated or unintended leaks that I’ve seen.
The only sevco-ites propaganda is strangely coming from the BBC.
I’ve just heard the hapless Phil McGlaughlin espousing that the “biggest” penalty they face is stripping of titles and wonder why he has bought into that particular and fundamentally flawed Charlie-ism.
He’ll be telling us soon that “They’ve been punished enough”.
I remain cynical however that we have anyone in SFA/SFL/SPL who are genuinely honest in a “without fear or favour” way so sadly any findings and any decisions will be a fudge and a wee slap that makes no waves.
And my message to Regan is to quote a film.
“Go Tell the Spartans”
They were the heinous villains who were rightly and summarily chucked out of the cup. They suffered from their actions and forfeited a lucrative tie vesus the Jags – A game that would have brought up to 50% of their annual income requirements.
Their crime was not double dating a signed form, which is surely much worse than the simple player income registration administration errors by Campbell’s ex employers.
And don’t forget the Annan youngsters were equally criminal as were Salvie Boys club who used a wrong date.
All Heinous crimes in the eyes of Regan and Co.
Without fear or favour should be all embracing Mr Regan.
Our game will be better when we have removed all those who signed or puppeteered the 5 way agreement and the temporary membership compromise for their pals.
Morning troops……in just over 2 hours, i may no longer be a fan of Scottish football….i suspect whichever way the result goes, the Scottish game will suffer in some way – with good fans simply chucking it and bad fans venting their anger and protesting.
However, justice must be done.
I have no faith in the SPL/SFA harshly punishing “Rangers” over this…but one thing that does give me some comfort is that the SPL/SFA already have what they wanted – a club called rangers, playing in blue at Ibrox with (most importantly) 45k watching punters (and many more on tv/radio)
Now that “rangers” are “in” then any punishment short of killing them off (hefty fines) or expelling them – will be managed by the club and authorities
IF Rangers are found guilty, then they have to be punished fairly – otherwise it will be every other club in the land that suffers as good fans walk away. I can’t see the other clubs allowing them to get off with it – knowing it is them that will suffer the most.
dixonbainbridge71 says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:19
======================================
Dixon, that’s so sad. Football players who’ve played at a high level are often regarded as none-too bright and self-consumed but for anyone to pay him money for that pathetic nonsense, even to fill space in a crappy red top, is cruelty. It’s probably a waste of money too as the circulation figures shown above (iamacant says:February 27 at 22:51) show.
finloch says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:26
We’ve lived through key deadlines before but I’ve noticed three distinct differences this time.
We have had no onslaught from PR companies like Media House.
The Ibrox output has also been deafening in its silence and the usual suspects strangely absent.
There have been no orchestrated or unintended leaks that I’ve seen.
———————————————————–
I do wonder if the deafening silence from all the Sevco apologists including the new Ibrox propaganda minister is because the result is going to be a bad one. Difficult for Charles to go around trying to talk up the share price etc when he knows a huge train wreck is coming over the horizon. Powder being kept dry for a dignified damage limitation exercise after the announcement (assuming Traynor et al can do dignity). Or am I just clutching at straws?
Awaiting the outcome of the LNS enquiry today I cannot help but recall the OJ Simpson case from a few years back when he stood in the dock accused of murdering his missus. As I recall the overwhelming evidence in the case pointed to a ‘Guilty as charged’ verdict. Everyone and his dug believed that the man was guilty based on the evidence provided. A forgone conclusion then. I am sure anyone of a certain vintage that can remember the outcome of the case was completley baffled by the Not Guilty verdict that was returned. It seemed that the OJ Simpson brand wass so big in the good old US of A that the court could not find it within themselves to proclaim guilt. Case dismissed. I am sure that LNS has looked at the evidence against Rangers 2012 and his judgement is based on facts and not on the fact that there is a brand to be saved.I am sure his professionalism and honesty will have guided him accordingly
Carfin,
Your analogy of OJ is quite an apposite one. However, one might take comfort in how his story played out subsequent to the “not guilty” verdict. Essentially, the trial finished him; no one thought he didn’t carry out the murders, and the OJ brand was ruined forever. He now ekes out a tawdry living on the margins of celebdom. There’s a lesson there for Sevco/RFC (IL).
TallBoy Poppy (@TallBoyPoppy) says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 03:41
borussiabeefburg says:
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 18:40
“A point for us as Scottish football fans to monitor: presently fans at Dens Park are up in arms about the club’s CEO, and the appointment of John Brown. Rumours abound that Gardiner, the CEO, who has Rangers connections, is trying to force out the directors in order to secure the club as chairman, on the cheap as it were……………………
…………………….Nonetheless, currently any involvement by either Green or Hope/Vaughan is simply rumour.”
—————————————————————————————————————–
Jonathan Hope = MediaProSports = Stephen Vaughan = Chester FC = Refresh Recovery = Gordon Craig = MediaProSports + L.Gardner + Texas plc = Charles Green.
====================================================================
I think it worth remembering the recent announcement that Green had been approached by D&P re three other clubs that were in financial difficulties. Be nice to see if D&P turn-up anywhere in the links.
This so exciting that I’ve decided to brush everything under the carpet, before sitting on the newly whitewashed fence, eating some fudge whilst looking for squirrels.
Carfin
Would it be fair to say that “the brand” involved is influencing the general opinion on this site ?
That said opinion would therefore be loaded to differing degrees dependent on individual posters ?
That in the enviroment of Scottish football that the above is always going to happen ?
That said opinions should be disregarded and the LNS verdict be accepted ?
HirsutePursuit says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 00:49
——
Thanks for posting that again, Hirsute. It’s all very clear. This aspect is going to be one of the most interesting things both in today’s announcement and possibly in what follows.
I’m usually very partial to a little bit of fudge from time to time but I think any fudge today would leave a very bad taste in the mouth. I too, will know this afternoon if I will ever spend a penny on Scottish football again. What would be the point if the odds are so stacked against every fair minded club? Oh. One more thing. Mark Hately. Conspiracy? Really?
timalloy67 says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:12
I wanted to post this BEFORE 12 oclock.
I see some other personon here picked up on Green saying TWO WEEKS ago that today would be the decision. How did he know? Was he told findings in advance? Is his silence in last 2 weeks part of the “deal” Charles “just don’t shoot your mouth off and everything will be ok”
………………………………………………………………………….
For Green to know in advance he would have to have heard it from the SPL/SFA as they commissioned the report as even in our crooked society I dont think the courts would give him info before it was presented to the people they are commissioned by?
Now if he has heard anything from the SPL/SFA then that would mean that the clubs who sit on these boards have sanctioned it and if this comes out it would be financial suicide to say the least.
I think there was maybe communication from the court to the interested parties to say that the 28th was the date findings would be released and Green simply cant keep his mouth shut.
The closer it gets the more confident I feel that Rangers will be thoroughly dammed by the report leaving Green with no option but to wipe his hands of it all and admit that Rangers oldco are a different entity and also leaving the SPL with no option but to through the book at them.
Surely LNS cant go against HMRC who have spent years already and are continuing to so along with spending millions on trying to prove these payments were contractual.
timalloy67 says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:12
There well be an element of truth in what you say and the silence of CG and his PR man has been deafening, they may well have been told something in advance.
My hope for today is that we officailly see the new entity Rangers2012, that’s how I will always now refer to them. It should be reflected on all their new branding, retro stuff is different but shall we see a star less ? I can hear Perry Como sing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t_PDU5RmBw
.
can you feel the tension 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MooNISe8aM
Found this on the Rangers website ..
http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/3456-skipper-eyeing-comeback
Is there nothing else happening today?
greenockjack says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:49
Would it be fair to say that “the brand” involved is influencing the general opinion on this site ?
======================================================================
I have never been of any opinion other than if positions were reversed and it was Celtic instead of Rangers then the arguments and spin used would be exactly the same.
In some ways this says more about the make-up and motivation of major sections of the internet community. The problem, as I see it, comes in trying to divine just how far this extends into active football fans who attend games and the wider Scottish community who have little or no interest in football or any religion. And there is also the subset who might be interested in football but have no interest in the ‘history’ of a club other than in strictly footballing terms.
We are being assured on Darkside sites that if LNS finds against them then there will be utter mayhem on the streets. Well perhaps we have reached a tipping-moment in Scotland where courage and not cowardice is required.
If there is mayhem on a large scale then the civil authorities will deal with it and we all have a civic and I believe moral duty to do nothing that would inflame the situation. But if the response is muted then we may have a golden opportunity to really move forward and this will require that all people of good intent work with those within the Rangers Family who wish the same.
However, if cowardice wins the day and I truly hope and believe LNS is above that, then I believe we will see an acceleration in the decline of Scottish football as we know it although it will survive at lower levels in communities all over Scotland and that also might be no bad thing.
Today is THE day. The day when we find out what our game is all about. Is it still linked in any way to the romanticised view of olden days when men worked all week in poor conditions and looked forward to walking up to the pub to meet a few mates then wandering on to the stadium in time for kick off? When there was little else by the way of entertainment?
Is the game in Scotland one where it can honestly be argued that, even though we think the ref and his masters are obviously against us, the decisions even out over a season? People are only human, honest mistakes will be made. Remember you have the benefit of slow motion multi camera replays.
Or is it Scottish footballs American Pie equivalent? Either way many may well be lost to the game as fans.
The evidence is there for all to see thanks to new media. No more hiding in dark corners and whispered corridor meetings in the knowledge that fans can be kept in the dark. What is said now is digitally recorded and available to all forever. Reputations are on the line.
I wasn’t alive when JFK was assassinated. I will remember for the rest of my life where I was today. That is what this day means to the vast majority of Scottish football fans. We have the chance to begin a new era today.
No more Old Firm. Despised by many including fans of both. Me as a Celtic fan. I don’t miss it. I don’t miss the bile. I don’t miss the hatred. I look forward to a new enemy coming through the ranks, one who we can face on a level playing field.
onceabhoy says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 10:12
I wasn’t alive when JFK was assassinated. I will remember for the rest of my life where I was today. That is what this day means to the vast majority of Scottish football fans. We have the chance to begin a new era today.
========================================================
Er, no. A sense of proportion please.
Keep an eye on the share price from 10.30am….
Today of all day’s Doncaster is out of the country on business. Unbelievable. I also hear that LNS is in Qatar. Surely not.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/d-day-for-rangers-as-club-awaits-verdict-over-title-stripping.20375636
Anyone passing Hampden?
Just wondered if there was any signs of senior officials throwing themselves out of upper storey windows? Might be the first indication of a guilty verdict.
BBC Chris McL says no title stripping. Nothing else though…
Chris McLaughlin @BBCchrismclaug
#Rangers will not be stripped of league titles. More to follow…
Word on Twitter is Guilty but no sanctions.
thebasharmilesteg says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:34
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I would suggest the opposite..
They have an inclination on the findings….their silence coud be based on knowing they will not receive the punishment expected….a big PR push will follow the announcement that they have been cleared…when in fact the report will hint at or suggest the opposite…the record books will be adjusted (privatley in about a years time) allowing Charlie to suggest no titles have been stripped from the history that you cannot buy but pretends he can!
So at this moment in time…there are SPL representatives in a meeting thinking the following…
Aberdeen…Fits Greens number I need a laugh?…
Celtic….We thought so…
Dundee….When’s lunch…
Dundee Utd…pay back time…
Hibernian…Zzzzzzz….Zzzzzzz
Hearts…Does that mean we get paid?…
ICT….I wish we had voted for them to join the SPL…
Killie….(fingers in ears….la la la la la)
Mudderwell…..We beat the Cellic last night…
Ross County…I drove all that way to listen to this p!sh?…
St. Mirren…Are we goona need anti terrorist advice?…
St Johnstone…How much compensation are we entitled to?….
Info on the slim side as yet.
54 to 54
The BBC can’t even get the Motherwell Celtic score correct on their website so hopefully Chris is wrong, mind you that’s maybe why folk are out the country
Guilty but no punishment?
Only in Scotland could this ever happen.
Sorry scratch that, only in Scotland, if the club concerned is Rangers, could this ever be allowed to happen.
Utter farce!
Araminta Moonbeam QC says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 10:31
0 1 Rate This
Word on Twitter is Guilty but no sanctions.
…………………………….
Bbc headlining “no stripping of titles”.
Alex Tomo confirming BBCChrisMcL tweet.
alex thomson@alextomo
Rangers will not be stripped of titles – unclear what rules (if any) were broken
I would use the word unbelievable but it’s not really
Paul McConville @Paulmcc12
Nimmo Smith Commission Report is embargoed till noon. However it’s clear that findings, esp on p46, “devastating”.
Technically impossible. If they played inelligible players the results go 0- 3. Therefore they did not win the games or the competitions in which they were played. Therefore the titles fall automatically. As has been said here ad infinitum, it is not a matter of punishment but one of consequences. You can’t have the cause without the effect. Whatever the SFA may say every decent fan in Scotland will KNOW those titles were never won.
A busy day, STV reporting that McGlynn has left Hearts by mutual consent
McGlynn leaves Hearts ‘by mutual consent’.
Sheelagh McLaren @sheelaghmclaren
John McGlynn leaves #Hearts
If what we hear is true then in future every club that has gets punished for dotting a “t” and crossing an “i” will have a right to have their cases overturned.
The SFA would be better off just scrapping their rule books and let football be a free for all where the biggest bully always wins.
This is torture. Worse than the SPL vote.
*presses CMD+r*
1. Graham Spiers@GrahamSpiers
I’ve not yet seen Nimmo Smith reasons but am glad of bulletin of no title stripping for Rangers. What a ludicrous mess that would have been.
Twitter
I am not surprised…
If true….then it confirms that illegally registered players are permitted to play in Scottish football…
I believe UEFA should be asked if this is correct that illegally registered players are allowed to compete in professional football?…
I would hope the LNS findings will find their way to FIFA’s desk for their opinion! Although I doubt it…
Hearing one of the proposed sanctions in the LNS report is a three match touchline ban for Neil Lennon.
torrejohnbhoy says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 10:45
Paul McConville @Paulmcc12
Nimmo Smith Commission Report is embargoed till noon. However it’s clear that findings, esp on p46, “devastating”.
……………………………
It would appear….not that devastating!
when will i get my dancing chic young though ??
you get what you pay for…….
regarding an “appeal”
can any spl club’s fans appeal the decision – if what is being reported is true
– that no “consequences” of cheating = acceptable behaviour ?
if it is true and they have “got awy with it”, then am done with fitba.
what happens if you don’t pay your tax = you carry on as if nothing has happened
what happens if you don’t pay your debts = you carry on as if nothing has happened
what happens if you don’t play by the rules = you carry on as if nothing has happened
absolute sh1te
Twitter now suggesting ‘other sanctions’ to be applied. So, touchline ban for Neil Lennon probably a go-er. Or fine a club in liquidation. Well done, everybody.
Rangers have been fined around £250,000 by the Scottish Premier League after being found guilty of failing to correctly register players.
An independent commission, chaired by Lord Nimmo Smith, has ruled the club breached SPL rules by failing to disclose to the league all payments made to players for playing activities, ruling them ineligible.
The fine is payable by the oldco, and not Charles Green’s new company, which purchased the club’s assets in July 2012.
The club faced being stripped of up to five league titles by the commission but will remain as SPL title winners in 2002/03, 2004/05, 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11.
The commission had the power to impose any of 18 available sanctions, including the annulment of results involving ineligible players and/or withdrawing titles.
SPL sanction G6.1.3 states: “Upon determining that a breach of or failure to fulfil the Rules has been established, the Board or, as the case may be, a Commission may…impose a fine.”
The guilty verdict is in relation to the club’s use of Employee Benefit Trusts to reward players. Payments made through the scheme were not declared in their contracts, with Rangers arguing they did not require to be as per SPL rules.
The commission has ruled it was necessary for Rangers to declare the payments and, as such, has declared players improperly registered were ineligible to participate in league matches.
Rangers have the right to appeal the Commission’s decision through the Scottish Football Association.
If the club register an appeal at Hampden, the governing body would convene an Appellate Tribunal under the terms of their Judicial Panel Protocol.
The Appellate Tribunal would consider all evidence submitted but could also ask the interested parties to appear in person to answer questions. No timescale for a decision is specified in the Scottish FA rules.
Really, whats the point any longer?
Why not just promote them to the spl right away and get it done with, I will certainly never watch another game involving any scottish club and my interest in Scottish international football has also ceased.
This is an utter nonsense, and can mean only one of two things.
1/ LNS is a crooked incompetent coward
or
2/ Not all information was presented by the SPL
I also thought his job was to determine level of guilt and based on his findings the SPL would decide the punishment, if Rangers made undisclosed payments then they broke the rules and these players contracts were not properly registered.
Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 11:05
“The commission has ruled it was necessary for Rangers to declare the payments and, as such, has declared players improperly registered were ineligible to participate in league matches”.
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Surely some punishment must follow for this. Maybe the bears are getting carried away with things just a tad too early.
ratethisthenyabampots says:
Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 09:54
I too, will know this afternoon if I will ever spend a penny on Scottish football again.
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An unfortunate turn of phrase, sir, but entirely in keeping with the alleged offences of Rangers FC who are accused of going a step further and actually defecating on Scottish football.
Think we need to hang fire and see what sanctions if any are being dished out.
Title stripping, while popular, was always going to be a long shot.
The main thing is the gulity verdict.
Green said he would challenge title stripping in the courts but was quiet on any sanctions less than that.
If they have been found guilty then they may just have to ‘man up’ and accept that. Therefore no appeal to the SFA and forever more they will be known as the club that cheated their way to titles regardless of what is on the record books.
Oh and someone coming out with a public apology would be nice 😉
about a fortnight of campbell and chics nights out.
So I guess we were all wrong about Rangers.
Largely innocent of tax liability (subject to appeal) and although guilty of playing ineligible players over several years, not guilty enough to merit any meaningful punishment.
A series of eminent lawyers have spent a lot of time considering these issues – is every Rangers Hater so biased they are unable to view anything related to the club objectively?
Scottish Football, which has been in intensive care for sometime, died today.