How Celtic Turned the Tables on their Glasgow Rivals by Stephen O Donnell:
A Review by Auldheid.
Stephen’s previous publication, Tangled Up In Blue provided a detailed history of the rise and fall of Glasgow Rangers FC PLC from 1872 until their demise in 2012. Clearly a lot of research had been done to cover the period in such detail and his follow up publication Fergus McCann v David Murray etc carries on with that tradition. It is a smorgasbord of a book with many different issues succulently served up in its 350 pages.
It tells of events under David Murray’s tenure at Ibrox which began in November 1988 and ended in May 2011 when he left Craig Whyte holding the rope that became a noose just under a year later in April 2012 when Whyte was found guilty of bringing Scottish football into disrepute whilst Murray claimed he was duped.
Readers of the book will come to the conclusion that if anyone did the duping it was David Murray and it wasn’t just Craig Whyte he duped but Scotland’s national game. If ever Murray were to be tried for crimes against Scottish football then this book would be cited as evidence.
It was against the background of David Murray’s tenure at Rangers that Fergus McCann first arrived on the scene in April 1989 with proposals to inject £17M of New Capital into Celtic that the Celtic Board rejected as per minutes:
Proposals put forward by Fergus McCann to provide finance for various capital expenditures were unanimously rejected by the Directors’; and then again in August of the same year: ‘Mr McCann’s latest proposals were discussed and it was hoped that this was a final discussion on the subject. Latest proposals were rejected by Directors.
Fergus later returned to the fray and the chapter on how he was successful in ousting the Board in 1994 is an informative read, particularly if in that period single parenting cares took precedence over caring for Celtic.
I was amused reading the tale of discontent aimed at the old Board after a Ne’erday 4-2 defeat to Rangers in January 1994 when a bemused Walter Smith was watching the hostility aimed at the Celtic Directors box, one fan in the main stand screamed at him, ‘What are you looking at, it’s got fuck all to do with you.”
For me anyway there were a few “not a lot of people know that” moments like that in the book.
The contrast between Fergus McCann’s and David Murray’s style was immediately evident, but the impact of Fergus’s shorter tenure from 1994 to 1999 became more than evident after McCann left and the author does not miss the role servile journalists played and hit the wall for turning Celtic supporters against McCann during his tenure, whilst they dined on Murray’s succulent lamb. A role that in the end helped bring about Rangers end, but not the culture of servility when covering the activity of Rangers FC PLC successor club from 2012.
Sky TV get it in the neck too and if David Murray played the part of Colonel Mustard in killing Scottish football through his financial recklessness and duplicity, Sky are the lead pipe whose toxicity still dictates the nature of the current state of play.( I said it was a Smorgasbord)
Fergus kind of did what it said on the tin. In his case a tin of nippy sweeties, but it was interesting to read about his early years when even then he was described as “a cheeky upstart” but his “idiosyncrasies” and appearance under a bunnet, disguised a sharp if impatient business mind where for him getting straight to the point was akin to procrastination.
So too has Murray’s early years been covered including his rejected attempt to buy Ayr Utd, a rejection by Ayr Directors, who considered Murray was too hot headed and most volatile, that infuriated him.
Their conclusion that he was trying to get Ayr United on the cheap with only £125k of his own money involved was an indicator of his strategy of using other people’s money to invest and not his own. Other people including unsuspecting taxpayers to a tune of £50 million or so.
As you follow the narrative of both Fergus McCann and David Murray and the events that surrounded them, you end up wondering how so many could have been fooled for so long by one guy, but when you have the Scottish media in your pocket it was difficult to separate fact from fiction during the tenure of both. You also wonder how Murray remains a Knight of the Realm since.
Luckily for Celtic Fergus knew business fact from PR fiction and avoided the illusion in which Celtic’s main rivals continue to struggle to this day.
The great pity is that few, if any of the Scottish main stream media will even give this book a mention, because if you don’t write about it, it never happened, except it did and this book is proof.
I therefore recommend anyone interested in the future of our game buys it and asks, is it not now time to revisit the purpose of Scottish football?
Auldheid
StevieBC 14th October 2020 at 20:55
"..I can’t find anything to confirm an RIFC request for a filing extension – but again, there may be CH information gaps due to volume / Covid impact?"
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Regulations were passed, StevieBC, under which CH are allowed to apply (without the need of application) automatic extensions in various sets of circumstances and under prescribed conditions. It looks as though CH just does it on the companies' CH page without the particular companies having to ask for extension or provide further info. (Not that CH actually checks what any lying board might tell them)
key in
Temporary Changes to Companies House filing
and open the link and you'll get all the bumph
Thanks for that JC.
Personally, I think the extension granted to companies to file their accounts is a bit of overkill. I can understand it for companies that have not been allowed to come out of lockdown as yet, but for football clubs, most have their year ends at the end of June, with a few at the end of May.
I can't believe that any club will not have confirmed their year end financial position before now. I do get the current uncertainty around their "going concern" status, but that is unlikely to change much in the short term. There will be warnings in the accounts of every club.
Listed companies may be subject to different rules about publishing their trading positions (not the full annual report with notes to the accounts). Celtic would be the only club in that category. They published their annual trading results on 27 September last year. The full report was published on 25 October.
RIFC published their accounts on 1 November, Hearts on 15 November, and Aberdeen on 24 November.
Some of us believe that BBC Radio Scotland imposed a ban on their football commentators and pundits prohibiting them from introducing ,or allowing others to introduce, the topic of the disgraceful Big Lie lie that disfigures Scottish Football, and that they do not shrink from punishing anyone who attempts to defy the ban.
At about 9.45 this morning, I heard something which made me think that perhaps this desire to muzzle discussion might extend to muzzling criticism of BBC Radio Scotland in the matter of phone-ins about Covid-19.
The saccharin-sweet Stephen Jardine's mask slipped a little as he gave very short-shrift to a lady caller, beautifully articulate, who voiced the opinion that the BBC goes out of its way to undermine the attempts of Government to control the virus by refusing to back the and encourage the government measures.
The caller said that instead of actively encouraging people to support the advice and instructions of the medical experts and government, BBC radio Scotland went about asking folk in the street ,or on phone-ins, whether they think this or that measure is 'fair'. She put on a wee whiny wheedle-y tone of voice ( a bit like the saccarin-sweet tone that Jardine uses ) when she said 'is it fair', making the point that the general run of folk, just like her herself, have no personal expert knowledge ,and that it wasn't a matter of childish views of 'fairness' when it comes to lives, but a matter of the broadcasting authority's duty to support the health measures deemed necessary by the Government and health experts rather than encourage the airing of uninformed opinions.
And Jardine had no time for her . No way.
He rapped out in less than honeyed tones some response about 'balance' of 'opinions', and ended the call.
Even Mrs C, busy with her word-puzzle and listening with half an ear, looked up at me in surprise at the change in tone, and said something about Jardine having a hissy-fit.
Much in the way of his football journalist colleagues, he rapped out some rubbish about balance and democracy ….and promptly ended the call with no right of reply.
It sounded to me that he was following an editorial line as well as taking the huff at what he thought might have been implied by the use of the wee whiny tone.
I have just recorded my take on that little episode. I pass no comment on the Government's measures against the spread of the virus.
https://twitter.com/ClusterOne2/status/1316697040735395840/photo/1
…………..
Found something we spoke about the other day.
HMRC IS READY TO INVESTIGATE INDIVIDUALS JUNE 13, 2012
I know he is a dour as a wet day on the Ayrshire coast but that has been a decent string of results from Steve Clarke and achieved with a decent number of players who are or were recently plying their trade in the SPFL and also not just those playing for Celtic.
Of course you want Robertson and the likes to be involved but glad to see domestic players getting involved in the squad as opposed to, what I always thought was sometimes, the over reliance on those who came from the lower English divisions.
Wottpi @ 16.41
It might not be super sexy football at times but I agree it's good to see Scotland getting a decent string of results.
I see that Doncaster has made public comments about the possibility of Scottish footy fans travelling to Blackpool or other northern England cities to watch the CFC v. TRFC game in pubs.
Who the @#%$ does he think he is?!
The SPFL CEO who simply blanked supporters of SPL teams in 2012, and has generally treated fans with contempt since.
Supporters' feedback is neither sought nor wanted by Doncaster.
He should have kept his opinions to himself, IMO.
I’ve been watching the demise of Macclesfield Town FC and its resurrection as Macclesfield FC, with a modicum of interest, given the similarity of events to RFC in 2012.
The previous owner wasn’t able to find a buyer when the club hit financial problems, so the oldco was wound up on the order of a judge, about a month ago, because it was unable to pay its debts to HMRC and others.
The Receiver has since sold the business and assets of the oldco to a third party, Robert Smethurst, who is seeking to resume football in the town. Robbie Savage has already been appointed to the Board as Head of Football Operations.
The interesting part for me is the difference in the language used by different parties to describe the purchase and the new set up.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/macclesfield-town-fc-official-receivers-update
The above statement has echoes of what Duff and Phelps claimed to have sold as a “Going Concern” (after the CVA failed!) and what an HMRC official said about the continuation of football at Ibrox.
Now contrast that with what was stated by the buyer in a press statement put out on his behalf. (full document tweeted by Robbie Savage)
https://twitter.com/RobbieSavage8/status/1315990615876931584
Some extracts
New club? Old club?
It seems that football people quickly attach themselves to the continuity of a club of the same or similar name, while businessmen like Smethurst and Green know precisely what they have bought.
easyJambo 15th October 2020 at 22:15
I’ve been watching the demise of Macclesfield Town FC and its resurrection as Macclesfield FC, with a modicum of interest, given the similarity of events to RFC in 2012.
……………….
Also watching with interest
There are a few people on here who like their poetry
and literature'
So let me share this with you. (and everyone else)
Apologies if this is a "well kent" poem. I had never heard of the poem nor the poet.
Heard Sir Larry recite it on World at War and had to look it up. One of the saddest and most beautiful things I have ever read.
By the Russian Jewish poet Pavel Antokolsky, a year after the death of his 18 year old son Lieutenant Vladimir Antokolovsky, killed in action on June 6th,1942…
"Son"
Do not call me, father, do not seek me,
Do not call me, do not wish me back.
We’re on a route uncharted, fire and blood erase our tracks.
On we fly, on wings of thunder, never more to sheath our swords.
All of us in battle fallen, not to be brought back by words.
Will there be a rendezvous? I know not.
I only know we still must fight.
We are sand grains in infinity, never to meet, never more see light.
Farewell then my son. Farewell then my conscience.
My youth and my solace my one and my only.
And let this farewell be the end of a story,
Of solitude vast and which none is more lonely.
In which you remain, barred forever and ever,
From light and from air, with your death pangs untold.
Untold and unsoothed, not to be resurrected.
Forever and ever, an 18 year old.
Farewell then, no trains ever come from those regions
Unscheduled or scheduled, no aeroplanes fly there.
Farewell then my son, for no miracles happen,
As in this world dreams do not come true.
Farewell…
I will dream of you still as a baby,
Treading the earth with little strong toes,
The earth where already so many lie buried.
This song to my son, is come to its close.
HS
StevieBC 15th October 2020 at 21:56
I see that Doncaster has made public comments about the possibility of Scottish footy fans travelling to Blackpool or other northern England cities to watch the CFC v. TRFC game in pubs.
———————————————————————————————-
And anent the suggestion that the Celtic v Rangers* game be free to view he says "SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said it would be "unreasonable" for the broadcaster to "give up Scottish football's "crown jewels"".
Says it all really!! Just let them play each other 38 times a season then Neil?
bordersdon 16th October 2020 at 11:51
“SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said it would be “unreasonable” for the broadcaster to “give up Scottish football’s “crown jewels””.
……………..
And some ibrox fans would have you try and believe that he never did all he could have to try and shoehorn an ibrox club into the top flight back in 2012.
In 2012 he tried to boot scottish football fans in the crown jewels.
One of the benefits I have received from the posts and observations of contributors much more savvy than I is the acquisition of the beginnings of some interest in trying to learn something about the workings of that hazy, ill-regulated world of finance in which all kinds of dishonest chancers try to find ways to rip us off.
I still yield to no one in the depth of my ignorance of 'money' matters.
However, I've begun to learn (and just partially understand )some of the stuff that Companies House relates to: the setting up of companies, Articles of Association, directors' duties. shareholders' rights, difference between PLCs and Limited Companies, Community Interest Companies, Registered Charities, LLPs, different kinds of shares, 'holding companies', 'subsidiaries', and so on.
Yesterday, I discovered that there is such a thing as a PCC. I had not come across that acronym. It stands for Protected Cell Company , and 'A protected cell company (PCC) can be thought of as being a standard limited company that has been separated into legally distinct portions i.e. cells. The income, assets and liabilities of each cell are kept separate from all other cells."
How did I come across it?
Well, I was intrigued by the sale recently by the National Trust of Scotland of the isle named 'Insh', which had been left to the NTS in the will of its last owner (for the benefit of the people of Scotland as represented by the NTS)
It was reported that the island was sold to West Coast Heritage Limited.
According CH, this is a one-man company incorporated on 13 December 2019, company number SC 49594.Share capital £1.00, one shareholder-David Stuart Mackman, with its registered office in Gorebridge.
Having recently been interested in the money borrowing practices of certain companies of interest to this blog, where (in the equivalent of my da's 'good suit' at the pawn shop) assets such as, say, football grounds are pawned for a few bob until redeemed by clearance of the debt, I looked to see whether West Coast Heritage Ltd had borrowed money and, if so, what they had 'pledged'.
There are 9 outstanding 'charges'.
All of these are in favour of '
Soho Wealth PCC LIMITED/Cell C
Who they, I wonder?
So I key in the name as given- Soho Wealth PCC Ltd /Cell C
I do not find that name on the CH pages.
The nearest I find is
SOHO WEALTH LIMITED
So I look that up.
I find that it was incorporated on 24 June 2016, registered address in Perth (Scotland)with company number
SC538776 -and Dissolved on 2 October 2018 after Voluntary strike-off.
It was a one-shareholder company, the sole shareholder being Steven McColl.
Fair enough.
I then looked up what appears to be the current website of Soho Wealth
https://www.sohowealth.co.uk/
There's a picture of a Steven McColl.
Down at the very bottom in the very small print are the words ".Soho Wealth is not regulated by The Financial Services Authority.'
I assume that it is not the dissolved company (dissolved before the 'charges' were created) that made the loans to West Coast Heritage.
How can I find out who did? In the ordinary way of things I thought that info would be available.
I'm sure there is a perfectly straightforward explanation to do with the nature of PCCs and their subunits/cells or whatever.
Can anyone fill me in, please?
Higgy’s Shoes @ 23.24
I am one of the ‘Terracing Tams’ who laments the passing of the days when football and Saturdays were synonymous so, in keeping with your point about poetry, I came across this from Glasgow poet Tom Leonard:-
“hey jimmy
lookslik wirgonny miss the gemme
gonny miss the GEMM jimmy
nearly three a cloke the noo”
Ah – the days of wine and roses!
Higgy's Shoes 15th October 2020 at 23:24
"There are a few people on here who like their poetry
and literature'"
A moving piece, for any one of us, fathers or mothers, which reminds us that football comes a poor second to a whole lot of other more important things!
"""""""""
bect67 16th October 2020 at 18:39
"Ah – the days of wine and roses!"
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Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in 'Days of Wine and Roses' : a wonderfully acted film, if a bit depressing.
It also had Jack Klugman who later partnered Lennon in 'The TV series of 'The Odd Couple'.
Is the BBC paying for the use of the theme music for that show on 'Off the Ball', and if so, how much?
easyJambo 15th October 2020 at 22:15'
'..I’ve been watching the demise of Macclesfield Town FC and its resurrection as Macclesfield FC, with a modicum of interest, given the similarity of events to RFC in 2012.'
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[I've only just seen and read that interesting post, eJ (and, btw, I wish you joy of the result tonight, no harm to Dundee. I think I understood for the first time the whole idea of a goalkeeper as an actual football player- the aimless kickouts by Dundee's goalie almost always led to a Hearts forward attack because they won possession. Mrs C will testify as to how many times I yelled ( as an objective, unemotionally involved spectator) 'don't simply kick the ball out, pass the feckin thing so that something might be built up'.)]
On the Macclesfield business, I smiled when I saw the pitifully small levels of debt involved, that, small as they were, resulted in 'dissolution' on 16 September and an end to 146 years of football history, and read the linguistic scramblings by various people to try to pretend that the new club [ and, of course, on incorporation as a company in 1929 , the directors all swore that they consented to be directors not of a 'company' called Macclesfield Town Football Club, but of a FOOTBALL club !]
For a 'vox populi' of fans see this link ( echoes of Jabbas headlines!)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/54214101
(will anyone at BBC North West be disciplined for that?)
As has often been said, football fans are free to believe what they like, to transfer their affections to a new club which claims to be representative of , reminders of, the football club of their childhood and family memories and affections and immediate social culture.
My sole difficulty arises when a Sport's governance body spits in the face of sporting truth and 'officially' caters to untruthful sporting claims .
Everyone in Macclesfield may very well support the new 'Macclesfield FC' with all their hearts and fervour as if they were supporting the quite different football club that had been the now sadly dead Macclesfield Town.
But if the FA's record books do not show that the club that was Macclesfield Town FC ceased to exist, and that Macclesfield FC is a newly created football club in the world of English professional football, then that FA will be defying truth, and lying, just as our SFA did and is doing.
(And, actually, I don't know yet whether the new Macclesfield FC has actually applied for and been admitted to the FA ,in some kind of equivalent to the 5-Way Agreement that would allow it to claim that its date of foundation was 1874 ,or whatever!)
But I've seen the same journalistic 'linguistic' contortions' trying avoid the point: evidence, perhaps, that the EMSM are just as frightened (though for other reasons, perhaps) as the SMSM is in the matter of reporting truth about the actual death of football clubs.
“It also had Jack Klugman who later partnered Lennon in ‘The TV series of ‘The Odd Couple’.”
An exceedingly odd couple…
Would that be John or Neil, JC?
The perils of appealing !
In my inbox today
"Lausanne, 16 October 2020 –
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing in the appeal arbitration procedures filed by the Italian MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) took place on 15 October 2020.
The panel of arbitrators will now deliberate and finalise the Arbitral Award containing their decision.
It is expected to be notified by mid-November 2020.
The final award will be announced on the CAS website.
The proceedings concern the decision taken by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) International Disciplinary Court decision dated 31 March 2020 (the Challenged Decision) in which Andrea Iannone was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation and an 18-month period of ineligibility was imposed on him.
Andrea Iannone seeks to have the Challenged Decision annulled, whereas WADA requests that the Challenged Decision be replaced by a new decision imposing a four-year period of ineligibility on the rider."
If you were Andrea Iannone's honest Counsel would you advise him to
withdraw his appeal and accept the 18-month 'ineligibility'
or tell him he has a good chance of winning?
"
fishnish 16th October 2020 at 23:49
'..Would that be John or Neil, JC?'
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sadly, I'm old enough not quite to have really got into Beatlemania: I was no longer a teenager at the critical time!
And poor John Lennon, God rest him.
No, Jack Lemmon.
Superb actor: watch if you can the film " The Apartment"
Big Pink 14th October 2020 at 00:53
For avoidance of doubt – and unnecessary decline in to martyrdom and victim hood. No poster has been banned on the forum. I know this may disappoint some who would choose to die on a hill the proportions of a sultana under an Axminster, but everyone is good – though some are naturally gooder than others
========%%%=========
Briefly and to further clarify – a post of mine was uploaded one minute and gone the next. I used inverted commas with the word ´ban` in my Test post because I simply couldn't be sure of what had happened with the post that went missing. No wish for martyrdom or victimhood.
Talking about clarification, Neil Lennon has been very publicly looking for it of late concerning the availability of Ryan Christie for a football match.
“We want answers to some questions and I am sure our supporters will be the same. We have had no clarification. If anything, we have just been met with complete resistance."
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ryan-christie-out-rangers-clash-22859282
Is the Parkhead bubble so effective that he has forgotton about the seriousness of the pandemic ?
Perhaps someone can refer Neil to what the PLC were saying in their statement after the Bolingoli incident.
"We have led the way in working with the football authorities and Scottish Government to establish the most rigorous, effective protocols and working practices, which ultimately led to the resumption of football. We could have done no more in this area."
http://www.celticfc.net/news/18417
Looking to selectively self insolate from the protocols is surely a step too far, even for Peter
bordersdon 16th October 2020 at 11:51
======================================
Which part do you disagree with, do you not think it is the most watched game in Scottish domestic football, of most interest to people outside of Scotland and therefore the biggest draw for a televised match.
I have no problem in slating the man, but I don't see what is wrong with that comment.
Homunculus @ 10.00
—————————————————————————–
It is the attitude he has that nothing else matters in Scottish football that bothers me. The fact that it is the biggest draw in Scottish football is not disputed, especially but not only because it is marketed as the "Old Firm". Not sure Scottish football, or Scotland, should be too proud of the reasons behind why it is such a draw. Personally I have little or no interest in the bigot fest!
bordersdon 17th October 2020 at 13:19
Why would you, you don't support either team.
I have little interest when Dundee play Dundee Utd.
Homunculus 17th October 2020 at 14:37
————————————————————————-
Oh I can have an interest in matches that do not involve my team. Just not the "Crown Jewels".
Am I the only one waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the blog obsessive to explain that today's result is all part of Peter's masterplan ? It was a comprehensive defeat in a pretty poor game for his club , and I find it difficult to fathom out his intentions . It's almost like he's not in control .
Homunculus 17th October 2020 at 14:37
Why would you, you don't support either team.
I have little interest when Dundee play Dundee Utd
_______________________________
I enjoy the Tayside derby when it happens usually a great game
Speaking of poetry ( as some were the other day!) I simply have to refer to the prize-winning poem that was published in yesterday's 'Scotsman'. I daresay it was widely mentioned as a news item and that most of you will have seen it and read it.
If you haven't, it's worth a read as an (incidental) reminder that there are other concerns than football news, good or bad!
“TOTAL”
All slow summer long £ 9.99
I have been living £ 6.90
in a glass jar of anxiety £16.60
and dreading £ 7.68
a day in August £ 6.57
when a devious envelope £12.90
with a barbed paper tongue £ 3.76
will slither through the door £ 2.46
to determine my fate £ 6.83
with only a few letters: £ 5.80
grades that might £ 5.45
be as sharp as blades £ 9.90
or as soft as rising dough £ 5.67
At the end of the day , is this £ 3.54
all that I amount to? £12.80
five letters on a flimsy £ 6.53
ghost of paper? £ 6.45
The narrowest indication £ 3.87
of my past £ 7.90
and my future . £14.90
God, these £ 1.65
endless days of waiting £ 8.76
and balancing on these
tenterhook £17.76
cobweb tightropes just
won't do £ 4.50
they just won't do £ 14.90
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I don't want to be calculated £ 8.76
counted , £ 6.84
or summed up £ 7.36
in cold numbers and letters £ 3.56
that are typed by robotic
fingers £ 4.90
that have no grace nor growth,£ 23.90
because I am breathtakingly £ 16.00
three dimensional, and £ 5.35
to total me £ 2.95
would be like £ 0.90
trying to add up the breeze.£??.?????
*// Please retain receipt for your
records//
Poem by Anna Gilmore Heezen (aged 17) published in 'The Scotsman”on 15 October 2020
Anna, a pupil of Kilgraston School, was the Scottish winner of the global 'Foyle Young Poets of the Year' competition.
The poem was written a week before 'results' day, and relates to 'examination stress' and the summing up of the worth a whole personality as if personality were nomore than supermarket purchases summed up on a till receipt.
Anna is not personally known by ,or related to, me. And I have received no money for drawing attention to her work, but a great deal of pleasure at her poetic inventiveness.
Aye, okay, the sweet balm of poesy is OT!
Just glad I've not been banned!
Good to see some creativity from the young Anna, an excellent effort. She refers to numbers and as a pupil at Kilgraston, she won't have many worries collecting receipts with a long of list of them. It made we wonder if in 2020 you can to a degree, buy creativity, or at least the space in which to find it….or is adversity still a place that can produce the very best creation ?
This made me think about the relationship between creativity and money. Not as good as Anna but here goes……..
Elyanousi £16.5m
Barkas £4.5m
Duffy £2m
Laxalt £13m
Ntcham £5m
Ajeti £5m
Klimala £3.5m
Brown £4m
Ajer £600k
Turnbull £3m
Taylor £3m
Frimpong £400k
TOTAL……………….0
———
I think of Liverpool and Man Utd and their commercial proposal last week alongside where the world finds itself and wonder if greed will end up cracking the golden egg or are the new generations ever more moulded and compliant, as per the need of those with the power to do so.
reasonablechap 18th October 2020 at 08:55
This made me think about the relationship between creativity and money.
______________________________________
I'd have hoped that a fan of the current club playing out of Ibrox such as yourself might automatically have thought of the circa £154,000,000 owed to 276 creditors that was creatively described as having nothing to do with Rangers Football Club and everything to do with a fictitional holding company.
Highlander 18th October 2020 at 09:20
'..creatively described as having nothing to do with Rangers Football Club and everything to do with a fictional holding company.'
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Highlander, go to the top of the class!
That is a brilliantly clever and truthful observation anent the ugly, rotten, evil untruthfulness of the minds and hearts of those in Governance of Scottish Football and of those selfish , greedy s.ds who ripped off so many shareholders, small businesses and taxpayers generally.
Re A poem
2012
AK Ray, Ross Hall Hospital, Glasgow, £150
ADI UK, Preston, £7620
AS St Etienne, France, £252,212.39
ASL, East Sussex £2514
Acies Group, Edinburgh, £2340
Adrian Coll, Balloch, £1600
Alan Duncan, Glasgow, £1400
Alexander West Property, Glasgow, £2807
Alison Walker TV, Bearsden, £600
Alliance Video, Surrey, £204
Aon Limited, London, £14,151
Arena Imaging, Derby, £336
Argyll and Bute Council £406.80
Arsenal Football Club £136,560
Astra Hygiene Supplies, Dumbarton, £61.27
Audi Stirling £396.05
Azure Support Services, Macclesfield, £523,949.71
Azzurri Scotland, Burnley, £34.63
BTWShiells, Belfast, £2917.39
Barr Environmental Limited, Cumnock, £264
Base Soccer Agency, London, £52,560
Bauer Radio Ltd (Radio Clyde) £702
Beyard Services, Beith, £5559.60
Bhutta’s Newsagents, Glasgow, £567.45
Big Think Agency, Glasgow, £14,265.60
Blooms UK Limited, Glasgow, £70
Brabners, Manchester, £12,999
Brentwood Estates, Manchester, £42,963.06
Brian Proudfoot, Glasgow, £2802
British Gas £1562.42
Ibrox Stadium (Image: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
BT £1292.13
Business Cost Consultants, Glasgow, £6240.60
Business Stream, Edinburgh, £9727.22
CNP Professional, Cheshire, £719.96
CRE8, Gloucester, £68,406.70
Cairn Financial, London, £4127.60
Cairns & Scott Caterhire, Glasgow, £762
Cameron Presentations, Glasgow, £8795.99
Campbell Medical Supplies, Paisley, £3386.73
Camtec, Hertfordshire, £552
Canniesburn Taxis, Bearsden, £269.69
Capital Solutions, Edinburgh, £11,423.40
Capito Ltd, Livingston, £1049.69
Carberry’s Coaches, Portadown, Co Armagh, £1200
Carnival Chaos Production, Edinburgh, £672
Carol Govan, Glasgow, £600
Cask Productions, Glasgow, £1980
Cask Sports, Glasgow, £2919.60
Catercare Scotland, Stewarton, £420
Charlton Chauffeur Drive, Glasgow, £792
Chelsea FC £238,345.43
Childcare Vouchers, London, £1143.74
Chilli It, Chester, £416.52
Chris Clarke, Kilmarnock, £150
Christine Siebelt, Milngavie, £1100
Citrus Office Solutions, Lancashire, £4304.24
City Electrical Factors, Glasgow, £215.40
Clyde Productions, Glasgow, £180
Coca Cola £10,133.91
Colin Suggett, Sunderland, £741.80
Collstream Limited, Derby, £5779.37
Collyer Bristow, London, £40,691.22
Colours Agency, Glasgow, £1980
Computer Links, Livingston, £2146.32
Computershare Investor Service, Bristol, £23,855.03
Craig Services & Access, East Sussex, £900
Culture & Sport Glasgow £10,338.96
Daily Record & Sunday Mail £312
DealBureau Commercial Finance, Southend, £10,000
Decco Limited, Glasgow, £174.72
Dell Computer Corporation, Berkshire, £272.85
Direct Medical Imaging, Lancashire, £230
Disclosure Scotland £372
Dominique S Byrne, Nuffield Hospital, Glasgow, £160
Dr David A S Marshall, Bridge of Weir, £160
Dundas & Wilson, Edinburgh, £24,027.84
E.ON £8827.14
Eagle Consulting, Inverness, £40
Eagle Couriers, Bathgate, £96.60
Eden Springs, Blantyre, £644.64
Edinburgh Audi £5197.08
Electrical Waste Recycling, County
Durham, £18
Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Stirling, £9000
Events Audio Visual, Clydebank, £300
Exchequer Corporate Finance , Surrey, £4000
Executive Hire, Harlow, £1060
FES FM, Stirling, £80,874.93
FL Memo, London, £116.86
FX Signs, Glasgow, £15,546.56
G Media Mangement, Cheltenham, £995
G4S, Surrey, £295,036.24
GTG Training, Glasgow, £396
Gareth Neil Design, Glasgow, £3200
Gerry McGeoch, Glasgow, £150
Glasgow Audi £1041.62
Glasgow City Council £5000
Glasgow City Council (Council Tax) £2008.21
Glasgow Leading Attractions (The Willow Tea Rooms) £1525
Glasgow Taxis £TBC
Glencairn Crystal Studio, East Kilbide £354
Gordon McKay, Blackridge, £150
HOBS Reprographics, Glasgow, £270.15
HSS Hire Service £67.10
Hamilton Brothers, Bishopton, £115.56
Hay McKerron Associates, Milngavie, £3600
Hepscott Water Systems, Morpeth, £1190.28
Hrvoje Bojanic Beethoveova, Zagreb, Croatia, £2898.42
Hutchesons Eductational Trust, Glasgow £550
ILC Media, Preston, £2040
IMG Media, Chiswick £180
Impact Signs, Cumbernauld, £9482.79
Integrated Cleaning Management, Hampshire, £3329.19
Iris Chorus Application Software, Devon, £5973.60
Iris Ticketing, Devon, £37,210.42
Iron Mountain, Livingston, £1271.16
JCM Business Consulting, Paisley, £2745
JJB Sports £19,390.59
James Gordon (Engineers), Galston, £1437.68
Jewson, Glasgow, £930.60
Joe Lennon Picture Framing, Bearsden, £840
John Deere, Gloucester, £41,191.59
K7X, Ayr, £240
Kalamazoo Secure Solutions, Birmingham, £4017
Keith Hawley, Glasgow, £2600
Kevin Cameron Radio Service, Paisley, £600
Kube Networks, Glasgow, £7672.08
L & S Litho, Glasgow, £17,035.04
Lothian Power Clean, Larkhall, £194.34
LSK Supplies, Glasgow, £178.58
Lawrie Furnishings, Paisley, £607.20
Limelight Networks, Arizona, £2333.49
Link Seating Limited, Worcestershire, £606.98
Loomis UK, Nottingham, £2248.08
Louis Grace Electrical, Glasgow, £1087.84
Lyco Direct Limited , Milton Keynes, £2381.27
MSM Solicitors, Paisley, £420
MacGregor Industrial Supplies, Inverness, £106.76
Mackinnon Partners, Gourock, £200
Manchester City FC £328,248.71
Manea Florin Bucharest £37,500
Mar Hall, Bishopton, £5511.90
Marsh Ltd UK, Norwich, £779.10
Martin Dawes, Warrington, £654.74
Media House, Glasgow, £19,200
MediaCom, Edinburgh, £11,544.42
Menzies Hotels, Derbyshire, £257.40
Michael Douglas, Glasgow, £100
Milngavie Mini Market £413.29
Modular Property Holdings, Glasgow, £20,930.22
Motif Promotional Clothing, Glasgow, £27.29
Murray Group Holdings, Edinburgh, £278,964.30
Nairn Brown (Glasgow) £1492.50
National Car Rental, Leicester, £162.52
Navyblue Design Group, Edinburgh, £6960
Newline Products, Glasgow, £7001
Newsquest (Herald & Times) £1500
Nexo S.A., France, £1799.37
Nicola Young, Glasgow, £3500
Noble Grossart, Edinburgh, £18,612
Nordic Scouting, Oslo, £20,000
North Glasgow College, £11,041.80
OHSS, Edinburgh, £234
OfficeFurnitureOnline.co.uk, Dumfries, £338.40
Ooyala, California, £733.92
Opal Telecom £169.72
Orebro SK £150,000
Oxford Hotels & Inns (Carnoustie) £3709.96
PR Newswire Europe £300
PTS – Plumbing Trade Supplies, Leicester, £30.42
Paramed, Howwood, £1050
Parklands Country Club, Glasgow, £500
Parks of Hamilton £7256
Paton Plant, York, £1450.16
Perform Group, Middlesex, £346,097.43
Pineapple Aroundshot, Co Durham, £2316.96
Pineapple Photographic, Co Durham, £5875
Ping Network Solutions, Glasgow, £4020.25
Plum Films, Edinburgh, £3000
Posh Deli, Glasgow, £260
Postage by Phone, Essex, £510.80
Premier Cash Registers, Glasgow, £12,600
Prime Commercial Properties
Management, London, £10,805.53
Professional Pre-Season Tours (Libero), Glasgow, £60,000
Quick Shift Tyre Service, Glasgow, £48
R.F.Brown, Hamilton, £1681.44
RBS WorldPay, Cambridge, £180.66
RS Components Limited, Northants, £204.95
Rangers Lotteries Ltd, Glasgow, £105.80
Reed Business Information, Surrey, £2764.80
Renfrewshire Council HQ £108
Restore Scotland, Paisley, £579.74
Rigby Taylor Limited, Bolton, £10,762.16
Rodgers Sercurity Systems, Glasgow, £342.50
Ross Hall Hospital, Glasgow, £770.50
Ross Promotional, Glasgow, £1022.88
Royal Mail £3262.54
SDL Group, Glasgow, £1350
SG World, Cheshire, £577.56
SIR Teknologi, West Sussex, £TBC
SK Rapid, Austria, £1,011,763.44
STRI, West Yorkshire, £17.28
Saffery Champness, Glasgow, £31,028.01
Scot-West Business Forms, Glasgow, £749.60
Scotprint, Haddington, £7514
Scotrae Productions, Greenock, £17,058.94
Scottish Ambulance Service £8438.40
Scottish Hydro Electric £62,527.30
Scottish Power £302.44
Search Promotional Merchandise, Buckinghamshire, £6240
Shanks Waste Management, Southampton, £122.58
Sharon Agnew, Glasgow, £460
Shawfield Timber, Glasgow, £786.24
Shell UK £7637.94
Shields Land Rover, Glasgow, £246.75
Shred-it Glasgow £444
Sign Plus, Dunfermline, £2473.22
Signature Industries, London, £1507.90
Simplewaste Solutions, Clydebank, £17,626.26
Sinclair Pharmacy, Glasgow, £1909.79
Slater Menswear , Glasgow, £688.31
Solutions.tv, Glasgow, £2652
Sound Acoustic Productions, Glasgow, £12,000
Souters Irrigation Services, Cumbernauld, £456
Spike Multiedia, Giffnock, £5312.50
Sporting iD, Tyne and Wear, £144.70
Sportopps.com, Belfast, £150
Sports Alliance, Bury, £2006.65
Sports Revolution, London, £5034.52
Stellar Football, London, £72,000
Stirling Fire Protection £1149.30
Stockline Plastics, Glasgow, £258
Strathclyde Police £51,882
Striking Imagery, Cumbernauld, £113.51
Stuart MacMorran, Clydebank, £422.50
Summit Asset Management, Surrey, £70,555.88
Susan Thomson Your Sonsie Face,
Glasgow, £40
TNT £1255.39
Tabs FM, London, £1980
Tellcomm Limited, West Midlands, £6435.89
The Arco Group, Hull, £443.43
The Brite Bulb, Bishopbriggs, £3209.64
The Burnbrae, Bearsden £1403.88
The Business & Property Bureau,
Bearsden, £7376
The Business Incentives Group, Glasgow, £1893.60
The City of Edinburgh Council £90
The Fees Company, Edinburgh, £118.16
The Financial Times £3480
The Scottish Football League £3859.92
The Premier Property Group, Edinburgh, £103,210.96
Thistle International Freight, Paisley, £128.42
Thistle Storage Equipment, Cumbernauld, £140.40
Thomas Cook Sport, Manchester, £129,216.56
Ticket Team, Netherlands, £873.36
Ticketline Network, Manchester, £11,668.67
Trade UK (Screwfix) £77.01
Trident Trust Company, Jersey, £40,689.90
UK Fast, Manchester, £689.78
US Citta di Palermo, Italy, £205,513.04
Umbro £1756.05
University of the West of Scotland £135
Vodafone £204
Voicescape, Manchester, £786.84
William Henderson, Glasgow £275
Yuill & Kyle Solicitors, Glasgow £1,486.80
Celtic FC £40,337
Dundee United FC £65,981.49
Dunfermline Athletic FC £83,370.13
Heart of Midlothian FC £800,000
Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC £39,805
SPL £22,500
SFA £11,089.04
HM Revenue & Customs £14,372,042
Ticketus, London, £26,700,000
Debenture Holders (various) £7,736,000
Season Ticket Holders (various) £TBC
Employees Various £TBC
Big Boab 1916
Sit beside Highlander at the top of the class!
Lest we forget should be the title!
Apologies for my misspelling of the word fictional in my previous post above. It appears I may have inadvertently invented the word ‘fictitional’. I rather like it and can see it being used to describe a host of circumstances, such as the press releases from Ibrox and Hampden. Thanks to JC, who clearly noticed my error but spared my blushes by not mentioning it.
reasonablechap 18th October 2020 at 08:55
This made me think about the relationship between creativity and money.
…………….
That got me thinking of how creative Ally McCoist was in getting a Golden contract and become the highest paid manager in scottish football and at the same time managing a team in the lower divisions of scottish football.And no one knew until a certain court case that he had a Golden contract, how creative was he in keeping it concealed, even walter never knew about it.
Don't want to talk about a certain football game, but the SMSM coverage instead.
Another reason why I'm quite happy to see the likes of The Sun, The Glasgow Times, and others bite the dust.
Their Scottish football coverage over the last week sunk to a new low, IMO.
The focus was pretty much all consuming about the game at Parkhead, [Scotland game aside].
The usual saber rattling by assorted 'pundits' and other nonsense – as per usual.
But, there were a few articles which seemed to reach new depths.
– The story about a pin showing a TRFC employee holding up the head of the CFC manager. Ok, there are morons everywhere in life – but why would a newspaper choose to even report such an offensive story, if only to stir up trouble?
– Another story included a "p@rn star" (?) attacking a fan. That was the gist of the headline and accompanying photo. Why? Why would any paper publish such nonsense?
– And there was the breathless reporting of 'trouble' outside Celtic Park – with riot vans 'summoned'. The story included the unforgettable – and puzzling – quote that;
"…Celtic fans stormed parking lots surrounding Celtic Park".
I know I'm probably daft for even looking at the SMSM, but curiosity got the better of me.
I didn't read one decent footy article last week in the SMSM.
I do however, occasionally read decent footy articles in other sources such as The Guardian (footy!), The BBC, (excluding Scotland).
The SMSM adds nothing to sports coverage, IMO, so won't be missed!
Highlander 18th October 2020 at 11:53
'…who clearly noticed my error but spared my blushes by not mentioning it.'
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Actually, Highlander, I think you may indeed have invented a very useful word in 'fictitional' that beautifully introduces concepts of 'factional' and 'factitious' into the concept of 'fiction', such as to suggest that the SMSM football journalists were ,and are, both seriously partisan and (in consequence) deliberately misleading in their failure to tell the full truth about 'The Liquidation', or denounce the Big Lie or push for investigation into the Res 12 issue.
And after such good, honest day one banner headlines as well , about the end of 140 years of history ! (How JT in particular must squirm at the recollection!)
I doubt if History has any other example of such a volte-face: not even the bl–dy German press in the 1930s embraced Nazi untruth anything like as quickly or as accommodatingly as the SMSM embraced and endorsed the SFA/Ibrox 'Big Lie'
[ Even as I write, there are some German words ( 'vessel and horse?] and a bit of a tune with them ,echoing in my head from having heard a BBC Radio 4 programme a few weeks ago., which had something to do with the history of the Third Reich. Can't quite pin them down exactly. I would ask the BBC, except that I might not trust their answer!
]
bigboab1916 18th October 2020 at 11:31
"Re A poem
Susan Thomson Your Sonsie Face,
Glasgow, £40."
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I agree with bect67 18th October 2020 at 11:38
'Sit beside Highlander at the top of the class!'
In the interests of absolute truth, I need to ask: wasn't the face painter paid by some Rangers fans who were embarrassed at what Murray's cheating had done to so many 'small' people?
I may be wrong in that, of course.
And in the passing, as regards private schools, I came across this on the website of one such school
". OUTSTANDING 2020 EXAM RESULTS WITH 100% PASSING ALL ADVANCED HIGHERS'
And I was immediately grateful for Highlander's new coining of 'fictitional'.
I know a man who as a boy went to a private school. He was not all that clever at one particular subject, struggling to get a 'decent' pass mark in mock examinations in that subject.
There was absolutely no way that he was going to be put forward for a ' Highers' in that subject! The school was not going to take any chances on anyone who might fail and thereby damage the school's academic achievement percentage!
So, while it may be true that '100% passed all advanced Highers' it may also be the case that only those pupils were put forward whom the teaching staff were pretty certain would pass!
In my own school days, there were ,out of a class of about 30, only about 4 put forward for the then Higher maths ( and bugger the American 'math'!).
The 'weakest' of these ended up working for NASA at Cape Canaveral!
Fictitional?
A very good word indeed!
No, my post of 23.21 above was incorrect in a detail: there were 6, not 4, chaps put forward for the Higher Maths ( all of whom, unsurprisingly, passed) I remember very clearly the names of 4, but I've now given myself a cause for anxiety! FFS, how can I not remember the other 2!
John Clark 18th October 2020 at 22:52
I think you are right in that Rangers' fans paid the face painter and other small debts , but they would still appear on the list of creditors of the club that was sent to liquidation .
paddy malarkey 19th October 2020 at 00:14
'..they would still appear on the list of creditors of the club '
""""""""""""""
Yes, of course, the wretched, dishonourable 'knight' ( God save us, that we should still 'honour 'dishonourable people!) still owes the girl , and all the other people his cheating damaged.
Will he pay them?
Not a chance!
Guys like him, and there are, as we have learned from the 'saga', plenty of them?
There is probably not a place in hell hot enough to punish them adequately!
StevieBC 18th October 2020 at 14:56
Don't want to talk about a certain football game, but the SMSM coverage instead.
Another reason why I'm quite happy to see the likes of The Sun, The Glasgow Times, and others bite the dust.
Their Scottish football coverage over the last week sunk to a new low, IMO.
The focus was pretty much all consuming about the game at Parkhead, [Scotland game aside].
I know I'm probably daft for even looking at the SMSM, but curiosity got the better of me.
The SMSM adds nothing to sports coverage, IMO, so won't be missed!
===========%%%============
Was it not The Sun that decided that you wouldn't be missed when they banned you ?
At least I think it was you that recently informed the blog of this. Apologies if it's a case of mistaken identity.
I'd ask if in fact all of these publications are going to bite the dust. What IMO seems to be happening is that they are all in the midst of a long ongoing adaption to digital and they know fine well that the print format is gradually being squeezed out.
Regarding Scottish fitbaw, the sensationalist redtops now seem to publish much more online material, constantly changing their online backpage throughout the day with stuff that would never have previously got past the editor. They trawl about related websites looking for any old muck and rubbish that they think will produce clicks….and they seem to get them. If you consume that, then don't be surprised to see a large percentage of rubbish.
My take is that the old broadsheet publications have generally lowered themselves to tabloid content level and the tabloids are now comics.
Do newspapers retain an important level of influence?
Somewhat diluted due to more online competition but as it stands, they are still major players in the influencing game. A major downside for the punter is that generally there will be more power concentrated in fewer outlets as the economic carnage begins to be more visual and damaging. This is also true at levels way beyond and more important than the fitbaw.
I mentioned Julian Assange recently. Look what happens to an organisation that exposes corrupt power and has a 100% accuracy level. The government and agencies would rather invest in the Integrity Initiative, accuracy isn't desirable. That is important as to how the whole business standard is run, including Scottish fitbaw. IMO if you really want change you have to aim high.
Stevie, as for the press or any fitbaw media, I'd advise you to lay off it for a few days as the new low that you speak of levels out.
reasonablechap 19th October 2020 at 08:52
……………
Go into any Newsagents in the morning and what use to be a stack of newspapers has just become a small bundle. Most just have a few issues of each daily now,and even they don’t sell out. By this time next year i believe if you want a newspaper you will have to order it, like ordering a magazine from the shop.
John Clark 19th October 2020 at 00:53
paddy malarkey 19th October 2020 at 00:14
‘..they would still appear on the list of creditors of the club ‘
………………………..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/17543328
…………..
I believe the fighting fund paid the face painter. happy to be corrected. nice gesture but then spoiled when they pick and choose who to do a nice gesture to. kind of a ruines the whole appeal of the whole thing. Even trying to do some good they can’t shake off that victim hood mentality.
It would be nice if they let the customers know the questions and results , just raw data rather than spin .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54604857
Cluster One 19th October 2020 at 11:14
Quite a few small businesses and firms were paid by Rangers Fans Fighting Fund , but they were and still are creditors of RFC(IL) . I thought it was a great gesture from them .
I don't know if I'd fancy being in TRFC's shoes this week , with a visit to Belgium , where the spread of covid-19 seems to be beyond the authorities ability to control .
How pleasant to see a company being bought out of Administration and thereby kept alive!
That’s how I read the news that ‘Flybe’ has been bought out of Administration as a going concern by Cyrus Capital LP ltd., a hedge fund of which the 75% shareholder and ‘person of significant control’ is Mr Stephen C Freidheim, of the New York parent company of the London Cyrus Capital LP.
Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. is an investment fund managing more than $291 million .
Interestingly enough, I note that
“Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. closed its position in ‘American Airls Group Inc’ as recently as 14th August 2020. It sold the previously owned 3,823,547 shares for $46.6 million”
What I have just written is true and easily verifiable but, honestly, I scarcely begin to understand it!
The basic point is that ( as far as my limited intelligence goes) Flybe will not enter Liquidation, the Administrators having done a better job than Duff and Phelps, but will be bought as the legal entity it is.
Ownership will of course change, but there will be no need to apply to the Civil Aviation Authority as a brand new legal entity seeking an operating licence in the way that the brand new TRFC had to seek ,beg for, admission ( and consequent entitlement to to SFA membership) into Scottish professional football as a brand new football club with not one ‘legitimate’ game of football to their credit at the time except as ‘Club 12’
I’ve had a very enjoyable couple of hours on and off today , in and out of the Companies House website and looking up one or two links this evening, which included looking at the ‘Flybe’ administrators’ report ( and their eye-watering ‘remuneration’)[ I definitely made the wrong career choice!]
Just afore I go in to join Mrs C in watching episode whatever of ‘Hidden’, I will look up Mr Stephen C Freidheim, to see what is publicly known about him.
My post of 23.12:
"Freidheim has served on several corporate boards, including that of the airline Virgin America, which he also cofounded. He chairs CFR’s Investment Committee and the executive committee of the board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He serves on the Yale University Council and the advisory board of the Tobin Center for Economic Policy.
Freidheim received a BA in economics from Yale University."
I'll go and watch 'Hidden' now!
Recently we had Liverpool and ManU test the water with their "Project Big Picture" – to shake up the EPL in particular.
Now, we've just had some EPL clubs' supporters loudly protest against Pay Per View for additional games, at £15 a pop.
Newcastle fans organised themselves to pay this match fee instead to a local food bank – raising c.£19K as a result.
Presumably, the draft, (& final), "Project Big Picture" will be based on robust TV ratings/subscriptions/revenues?
Presumably, underpinning the projections are ever increasing viewing numbers?
This push back from NUFC fans and others might raise some doubt on the assumptions made by the American owners of Liverpool and ManU?
reasonablechap 18th October 2020 at 08:55
I think of Liverpool and Man Utd and their commercial proposal last week alongside where the world finds itself and wonder if greed will end up cracking the golden egg or are the new generations ever more moulded and compliant, as per the need of those with the power to do so.
=====================
I wrote the above a couple of days ago….Good to hear of a positve push back from Newcastle Utd. fans.
Today I read the news….
Talks have taken place over the creation of a new £4.6bn European Premier League, involving the top sides from across the continent.
Sources told the BBC that discussions are still at an early stage but the plan would involve replacing the Champions League with a new format.
Industry insiders confirmed talks involved Wall Street bank JP Morgan.
But the project is said to still have a "long way to go" and the deal "may not happen".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54621189
=============
Many financial vultures are currently very active looking to take advantage of the current world health crisis with a reset that they are at the heart of. As far as European football is concerned, I think they underestimate the revulsion that will build up amongst a client base that will already be squeezed until the pips are long gone. Real poverty and misery are coming to parts of the West, like we haven't seen since in most of our lifetimes and billionaire football won't go down well.
As someone who has a keen interest in rugby I peruse various blogs and news sites on that sport.
This caught my eye
https://scottishrugbyphilosopher.blogspot.com/2020/10/iam-told-long-awaited-sruaccounts-for.html?m=1
The writer is an old sports journalist who obviously keeps in touch with his contacts.
specifically it was this comment that caused me to pause
“It seems, dressing rooms (possibly) and shower rooms (definitely) will require a lot of adaption before they can be used.”
this could be the death knell for community sports of all types not least football sides. it’s hard enough keeping facilities open at the best of times but doing major works on top of the clubhouse being closed could be the final straw
I have no idea if this is a goer or not has anyone else heard anything?
dom16 20th October 2020 at 17:41
'I AM told, the long-awaited SRU Accounts for season 2019-20 will be released before the end of the month. Things have naturally been delayed because of the Covid-19 restrictions, but, they are apparently ready to be signed-off at an upcoming meeting."
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Your Rugby link ,dom16: my eye was caught by
'I AM told, the long-awaited SRU Accounts for season 2019-20 will be released before the end of the month. Things have naturally been delayed because of the Covid-19 restrictions, but, they are apparently ready to be signed-off at an upcoming meeting."
Surely the SRU is not shy about publishing its accounts (like RIFC plc ?)
Perhaps ,like RIFC plc , they will take advantage of the extension of time given by Companies House, and not post their accounts until into next year?
JC
The SRU have played with their accounts for a number of years. Miraculously last year they were “debt free”. That’s if you ignore short term debt and debentures totally over £20m
They also operate the two professional teams but lump all high performance spend into one bucket so you can’t work out what each team actually spends/costs.
this years accounts have been caught out by Covid and lack of an independent audit as many companies have.
oh and the CEO earned nearly £1M last year 18/19.
Apart from that all tickety boo
dom16 20th October 2020 at 21:27
‘…oh and the CEO earned nearly £1M last year 18/19.’
“”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
Thank you for the information in your post, dom16.
I vaguely remembered a wee stooshie about the CEO’s earnings , and a quick google brought up this
“The controversial £933,000 head of Scottish Rugby is hiring front-line staff at below the living wage, the Sunday Mail can reveal. Adverts for staff at less than the £9.30 an hour seen as necessary to fund a basic life were published in the same week that Scottish Rugby Union CEO Mark Dodson’s outrageous salary emerged”
Mind you, it was the Daily Record that reported that, so there’s every possibility that scarce a word of it may have been accurate or reported in proper context ( eg spelling out how much was basic salary and how much might have been performance bonuses)
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rugby-union-boss-paid..
'Liverpool and Man U in talks about joining a new European Premier league " of 18 teams, I read.
It's a wonder that our SMSM journalistic sleuths aren't already 'reporting' that TRFC will be one of the 18!
Whatever the present attitude of UEFA, there does seem to be the beginnings of a real push by the billionaire clubs.
dom16 / JC;
That SRU CEO salary level is a surprise.
It then leads onto the observation that our very own Doncaster and Maxwell must feel seriously underpaid at only c.£400K / £300K p.a.!
'Generally', I don't have a problem with CEO's earning large, highly incentivised incomes – as long as they are delivering obvious and significant improvements.
I can't comment about the SRU CEO, but from what I've seen of the SFA and SPFL/SPL CEO roles, they seem more like 'Chief Administrator' type roles – rather than dynamic, organisational leader type roles.
Hence, both Doncaster and Maxwell are probably seriously overpaid for what they actually do, IMO.
To state the bleedin' obvious, again…
Stevie,
Dodson was considered a ‘rain-maker’ when he was appointed: he was expected to bring in multiples of millions of quid in investment & sponsorship every year. He was also expected to operate at a very high level in the corridors of power, both rugby & political. I can’t comment on how well he meets his those KPIs.
As to his (reported) salary: you have to remember that Scotland’s rugby team is ranked eighth in the world. His stipend is likely commensurate with others (perhaps not all, though) in the top ten, even though the SRU is a relatively small operation.
Scotland’s football team isn’t in the top ten; it’s barely in the top 50 at 49: I doubt that their counterparts in Ghana & Costa Rica (who are joint 46th) & Jamaica (who are 48th) have salaries that are similar to those of Maxwell & Doncaster.
Hommunculus
"I have little interest in Dundee v Dundee Utd" (or anyone else except Celtic it seems)
I think we have already worked that out
HS
Fernando Gaviria has tested positive for covid-19 for the second time in a year in the Giro de Italia . Maybe any immunity is short lived , which to me would suggest that we are never going back to what was previosly regarded as normal .
John Clark @09.31
The Harlem Globetrotters are coming to a stadium near you. Well maybe not in Scotland.
thanks JJ. I have to say that’s the first time I’ve heard that Dodson was a “rainmaker”. He’s nicknamed TCD in rugby circles – that female anatomy Dodson.
his track record at Guardian Media group wouldn’t support that either as back copies of Private Eye will attest to.
what is interesting though is the eye watering amounts of money that some sports administrators get. It is after all what they are.
Dodson is also more highly paid than the CEOs of England and Welsh rugby for running a much smaller organisation.
you may also recall the stoosh during the World Cup in Japan when we were eventually fined £70k for indiscreet comments from Dodson
Higgy's Shoes 21st October 2020 at 14:07
Hommunculus
"I have little interest in Dundee v Dundee Utd" (or anyone else except Celtic it seems)
==================================
I'll just put in what I actually said as you have chosen to misquote me for some reason.
"I have little interest when Dundee play Dundee Utd."
I have no issue in how you interpret my words, but please don't change a quote if you are going to use the facility, it really is a bit off.
It also really needs the context, it was a reply to "Personally I have little or no interest in the bigot fest!"
People might not like Neil Doncaster daring to suggest that Celtic playing Rangers is the biggest draw for television purposes. That doesn't make what he said incorrect though.
What's the saying, play the ball not the man.
I note the discussion on the renumeration packages of CEO's.
It would be remiss of me not to bring the best paid CEO in Scottish football into the conversation. IIRC Peter, reportedly trousered around a million sterling in one recent year.
Maybe he is being underpaid what with his current workload. Whilst he successfully helped avoid an independent investigation into his friends at the SPFL back in the summer, he is now carrying out his own, looking for a mole.
A serious point though, the levels of renumeration for CEO's relative to ordinary workers wage started to get out of control in Thatchers 1980's and have since only got worse. Now would be a good time to reduce them significantly accross the whole economy.
The skewed distribution of wealth is at the root of much of what is wrong with the whole shooting match, never mind Scottish football. That wealth has purchased power and have rigged so called democracies and so called sport.
In the 1930's there was a recognition that you could only squeeze those at the bottom so much before you had to give something back, otherwise they would rise up against you. Today, those up on high think they can ride it out and keep squeezing.
For Scottish football, IMO the outlook is bleak.
Over at Parkhead, my guess is that whilst the fans talk of 10*, priority number one for Peter is to secure a lucrative place for the PLC within any major European footballing reorganisation. If successful, his renumeration could get even higher but it poses a question…..
How comfortable with such a direction of travel would the PLC supporters be ? I know I wouldn't be if it were my team. There is currently much more at play than just football.
The direction of travel of Scottish Football altered dramatically with the creation (for utterly sordid reasons) of the Big Lie: the sport in Scotland was contaminated, and remains contaminated. The path of Sporting Integrity and honest recognition of sporting achievements etc was abandoned, and lies were told to accommodate a new club's false claim to be something that it most emphatically is not.
The creation of whatever kind of new leagues would not of itself involve the Football authorities having to create, support and propagate sporting untruths that defy all reason ,common sense and commercial and football 'law'
There is a Q&A interview with Stuart Gibson on the Evening Times website.
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/18815531.rangers-q-stuart-gibson-5million-share-purchase-future-ibrox-investment-becoming-director-gers-finances/?ref=twtrec
Here is an extract that appears to suggest that TRFC will be fine financially for a while.
easyJambo 22nd October 2020 at 22:46
'..Here is an extract that appears to suggest that TRFC will be fine financially for a while.'
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I've just read the whole piece, eJ, and thanks for posting the link.
It is a quite brilliant piece: a simple, humble, self-deprecating 'loyal fan not looking for anything'
According to Companies House, Aberdeen has just issued of 9,074,220 new shares at 32p, raising £2.9m.
easyJambo 23rd October 2020 at 14:11
'…Aberdeen has just issued of 9,074,220 new shares at 32p, raising £2.9m.'
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Have they a pressing need for cash (perhaps for covid-19 related expenses?) and difficulties in borrowing?
John Clark 23rd October 2020 at 18:43
Have they a pressing need for cash (perhaps for covid-19 related expenses?) and difficulties in borrowing?
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I'm unaware of them having any debts to be repaid since Dave Cormack took over. However, like all clubs, they are spending money just keeping things going with reduced income, so I think the cash will just be used for operating expenses.
Think you are right EJ. Never good to raise capital to meet operating expenses? Needs must for us I'm thinking. What other new club has being doing this for years??
Once regime change came about in 2015, Rangers plan was always to go with a structured loss for a number of years that would be financed within the rules. IIRC around five years was the projected timescale within which we were looking to regain the League Championship, get the building blocks in place regards the business and look to break even / run at a profit.
There have been setbacks along the way but we seem to be getting there *
* However it has to be noted that the economic fallout from the pandemic is an existential threat for all clubs. In a bad case virus scenario, I think it could become deadly for some clubs at the back end of this season / summer 2021 when many fans may be unable to renew or continue their financial support for their respective clubs.
reasonablechap 23rd October 2020 at 22:31
“…the pandemic is an existential threat for all clubs.”
Could you just hold on until I get my popcorn before you go on to explain how an immortal metaphysical entity such as a football club could conceivably have its very existence threatened?