1,142 thoughts on “Here we go again”

1. 
   

   It’s interesting that club* 1872 have bought the latest tranche of shares , firstly they are not usually given the opportunity to increase their holding and secondly having already agreed to purchase King’s shares they have opted to first buy from the club*. I imagine King will not be too happy seeing £430 000 slip through his fingers .
   They are usually lenders of last resort by this board so it could indicate their funds are beginning to dry up but it could also be an opportunity to get back at King as I imagine the relationship isn’t as happy as it once was.
   £430 000 is not an insignificant amount for club* 1872 and it will take a while to refill the coffers to start payment to King . The recent announcement that the Ibrox entity are snubbing the media may point to trouble at mill and this 430k may be the source of the fire that’s emitting the smoke. Will be interesting to see if King still has some sway over his pet journos .
   The Super League seems to already be holed beneath the waterline with a couple of EPL members having 2nd thoughts on participating . If Super League 1 is a non starter then Super League 2 is going nowhere soon and regardless of what a few locals may believe Celtic or Rangers* will not be elite enough to replace them in the eyes of JP Morgan .
   One positive aspect of all this is if the fans begin to take back control from the oligarchs and return it to the people.
   Enough ranting from me ,I’m away for a prawn sandwich.
2. 
   

   SG on the bookies list for Tottenham. Makes for an interesting thought process, does he stay as the big fish in a little pond, or opt for the little fish in the big pond matching wits with many successful and proven managers. The backroom staff would no doubt go as well as they appear to have their wagon attached to his horse. Must be some concern in the blue room as it would be a step closer to Liverpool and would save blushes if it didn’t work out at Tottenham rather than tarnish his Liverpool halo. …. Covid 5 decision stuck somewhere in the “cloud”.
3. 
   

   Albertz11 20th April 2021 At 08:35

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   Vernallen 20th April 01.23

   The latest share issue raised £430k.
   When Dave King and others gained control of the club back in 2015 it was made clear that any shortfall would be filled by investors including himself.
   This is exactly what has happened and so i’m not sure why anyone seems surprised.
   ………………………………………….
   I am only surprised they are still doing it, as even Dave king at his last AGM in 2019 said they can’t keep doing it.
4. 
   

   https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19244894.ex-rangers-chief-charles-green-unwilling-testify-56-8m-claim-ibrox-sold-off/
   Ex-Rangers chief Charles Green unwilling to testify in £47.7m claim that Ibrox should have been sold off.
   Former Rangers chief executive Charles Green has refused to give evidence in a £56.8 million action brought by a financial firm over claims Ibrox should have been sold to pay off debt.

   The Court of Session has head that Mr Green has been unwilling to give as statement after being called in by the club’s former administrators, David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, over allegations they should have sold off the stadium and other assets while in control of the club when it went into financial meltdown ten years ago
   He knows where the bodies are buried.
5. 
   

   In my post of 15 April at 19.57, I mentioned that I had on that day ” managed to catch the beginning of the cross-examination of the lady Det. Inspector in the Grier damages action.”, but I was hesitant about putting my notes of that on the blog.
   But having now already put notes on the blog, for consistency’s I put the notes of that hearing of part of the DI’s evidence given on 15 April.
   It’s entirely at the discretion of the SFM monitors whether they let me post them-I claim no special right to bore people who may not be at all interested!
   But for those who have read the other bits, this bit adds a little more detail
   David Grier v Lord Adcocate, David Grier v Chief Constable , Police Scotland,
   Virtual hearing, 15 April 2021.
   Witness, Det Insp Jackie ( Jacqui?) O’Neill 10.30 a.m
   [Mr Duncan QC is ‘QC’ and DI O’Neill is ‘O’N”

   Lord Tyre presiding Judge

   Mr Duncan QC: Can you hear me?
   O’N: Yes
   If we look at Bundle (page 1721 for the operator, who put documents on screens of the legals and witnesses, but no one else)
   {delay while operator finds the document and puts it on screen)
   You see photographs of disks with elastic bands?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: what are they?
   Documents belonging to DWF/HFW.
   QC: [to p.1719, please. Zoom in on image.] Are you able to read that?
   O’N: Need to refresh your mind?
   O’N: No.
   QC: Were they opened?
   O’N: Not at that time.
   QC: Do you agree it would have been improper for those envelopes to be open.
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: Who was in attendnce at DWF- you, Robertson, Gregory, Logan..Anyone else?
   O’N: No.
   QC: This was to return envelopes. Something annoyed Mr Gregory?
   O’N: Yes, disks had been removed from envelopes.
   QC: There’s another view of the table..boxes, notebooks, disks…
   O’N: yes.
   QC: Did Mr Gregory take photographs?
   O’N Yes.
   QC: Whose notebook is in th photo?
   O’N :Not mine.
   QC: Who packed the boxes?
   O’N: I would have been involved in it.
   QC: Was there anything unusual
   O.N Disks were in production bags.
   QC: Are the bags transparent?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: Could you see whether the disks were outside or inside the envelopes?
   O’N: Inside.
   QC: Nothing unusual..?
   [ed: I missed any reply that was made]
   QC: Did Mr Robertson say anything to you on the way down, to Manchester.
   O’N: I honestly couldn’t tell you, with the passage of time.
   QC: What was your understanding of why you and D I Robertson went down rather than a police constable just to sign certificate? An. Other enquiries to be dealt with ? Why did you and Mr Robertson go down
   O’N: Because we had been involved.
   QC: Did you and Mr Robertson return every production?
   O’N: No..
   QC: 20/10/2017.How did disks end up being outside the envelopes, on the table?
   O’N: I had a list, sitting at the table. The boxes on my right-hand side on the table. Ticking off certificates etcetera, and labels, handing them to Adam Logan and (?), to put them in the box.
   QC: Could you see what Mr Robertson was doing before handing over to you/
   O’N: The boxes were piled up, like conveyor belt ,with the disks out of the envelopes

   QC: Can you think of any possible reason why the disks would be out?
   O’N:No
   QC: On this other image..elastic band seems to be relaxed.[ ed: that’s what I think I hear]…?
   O’N: Yes
   QC: Do you recall Mr Robertson opening the production bag? How was it opened?
   O’N: I can’t recall. Usually by scissors..
   QC: There were spare elastic bands, so that Mr Robertson could put them on the bags. Any reason why only 3 had bands?
   O’N: [ I could not make out what the witness said]
   QC: [began his sentence with “What was ..” , stopped, and began again “ The disk should not have been taken from envelope.. What did you do?
   O’N: Can I refer to my statement?

   Lord Tyre (intervening) I prefer that you answer before referring to your statement.
   O’N: [ed; again could not make out her response: it might simply have been a ‘yes,m’Lord’]
   QC: and Mr Gregory was angry?
   O’N: yes.
   QC: So angry that he took photos?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: Do you understand that Mr Robertson thought there was nothing wrong about what had happened?
   O’N: Not sure.
   QC: You acknowledge that something had happened that shouldn’t have?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: You travelled straight back?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC What did you say to Mr Robertson.
   O’N: I can’t remember
   QC: What was Mr Robertson’s response?
   O’N: I can’t recall.
   QC: Are you saying you don’t recall?
   O’N: It wasn’t a .[ ed: my scribble looks like the letters ‘lny’ or”lng’]..
   QC: Did you say that it is out of order?
   O’N: No.
   QC: You’re a police officer of some years standing and used to asking questions- are you saying you can’t . Did you ask him why he opened the envelopes?
   O’N: Possibly
   QC: Did you or didn’t you?
   O’N: Probably did.
   QC: You’ve gone from ‘possibly’ to ‘probably’. You would need a full conversation took (sic)place so that you could report to Crown Office?
   O’N Yes.
   QC: But did you ask Roberson about the full circumstances when you were in the van?
   O’N: I honestly can’t remember. We must have done if I could report it back to the Crown office.
   QC: Did you take any notes.
   O’N: not on that day.
   QC: This was sticking out like a sore thumb, an event worthy of memory.
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: Look at 3937 (3934 for the operator….blow-up the top half) An email from you, 9th October to Caroline Mcleod of the PFS, copied to Robertson: Operation IONA update:
   “ confirmation….. Did you see Mr Stevenson before Mr Robertson, did you speak to Mr Robertson over that weekend, email or anything?
   O’N: [ed :If there was a reply I missed it ]
   QC: Friday 6th October arrangements were made to return 45 boxes (containing about 4000 documents) to Duff and Phelps..
   [There was a gap on my line for long enough to make me think connection had been broken)
   then,
   QC: Why did you record that Gregory began looking though the boxes?

   O’N: ( indistinct response)
   QC: Did Mr Robertson say it was unusual..?
   O’N: [indistinct response]
   Why was that paragraph inserted? Did Mr Robertson ask you to put that para iin?
   O’N: No.
   QC: [reading] “Boxes were checked..ticked off… Gregory asked why there were disks that had been removed.. Robertson said so that they could check the disks were present.”
   Do you understand that explanation
   {ed: I accidentally put my phone on ‘hold’ at 11.15, thought it was the court system that had a fault and did not discover the mistake until a full 2 minutes later)
   then,
   QC: Either you said nothing or raised it with a more senior officer? [Did you raise it with Eddy Thomson?
   O’N: No..
   QC: A serious matter: you had witnessed a senior officer doing that, are you telling me that you think it acceptable not to report it?
   O’N: I can’t prove that it was reported. At the very lest it would have been on the Monday.
   QC:[ed: missed what he asked]
   O’N: If Det Superintendent Thomson had asked for written report…
   Q:C: We have three statements from DSU Thomson and there is no mention. Is it your evidence that you reported ..it to DSU Thomson?
   O’N: There is no way it would not have been reported.
   O’N: Did you over the weekend email to Robertson?
   O’N: I can’t remember.
   QC: Did you hear from Caroline McLeod ? A reply from her? You can’t recall?

   11.45.

   QC: The witness statement from Philip Betts This was the first statement from Mr Betts.
   O’N: Not necessarily..
   QC: We see that , 2nd April 2013 at 10.15 , a statement
   taken by DSR Robertson and DS O’Neill. Was this the first time?
   O’N: No, we met him the week before.
   QC: When was this?
   O’N:[ ed : gave some details of meeting at Stanstead airport]
   QC: What do you understand about a police constable disclosing information to someone who may be accused?
   O’N:[ed: missed the reply]
   QC: {reading] “Wednesday 27th March 201, Radisson Hotel..Phil Betts, JR…” How long did the meeting take?
   O’N: About one and a half hours
   QC: A good deal of detail gone into.. Ticketus deal, Betts… Why was there no formal statement obtained?
   O’N: The formal statement was taken week later.
   QC: But different date and place, and contains different details. Why did your notes not say that a statement was taken on that day? What was the difference?
   O’N: (ed: don’t know what the witness said in reply)
   QC : We have a man who is interviewed in the presence of his solicitor and that was not a ‘statement’?
   Why did you not disclose that Betts had made a statement ?Did you submit your notes? Did you compare what he said at the Radisson with his ‘formal’ statement?
   O’N: No.
   QC : [reading next page] “… met me I St Paul’s and took me to Octopus offices. Don’t think John Ross, Bryant, NF [Nigel Farr, colleague of Betts] CW asked for pof (proof of funding)”
   Right hand page…bottom right. [from 6th line of writing]
   Ms O’Neill, …there’s a good deal of information in those handwritten notes abut what Mr Grier may or may not have known about Ticketus..
   The obligation would have been to tell the Crown, who would no doubt have passed iit on to the defence. Why was this not done?
   O’N: It was an initial statement..
   QC: Why is it a matter of hindsight? As an experienced police officer..?
   O’N:: Those notes were never intended to be a statement.
   QC: Are you saying that Mr Betts would have right to change what he said?
   O’N [ed: I could not make out what the witness said]
   QC: but at the time Mr Betts was a suspect, not a witness.
   O’N: I might not have taken any notes.
   Qc; Are you saying that in an interview with suspect in the presence of his solicitor you would not have taken notes?
   O’N: I…
   [ed: I give the next couple of questions exactly as they are positioned on the paper I scribbled on.
   QC: Did you know that Betts was a Director of Wavetower?
   police decision or Crown decision
   are you referring to
   [ed: not entirely sure who said
   was saying what]
   QC 15/3/2013
   are you suggesting that there had been dealings
   with Betts before 20/32013

   QC: did you have any doubt about Bett’s honesty?
   O’N: No.
   QC: Did you become aware that Mr Gilhooly of HMRC had doubts?
   Statement taken 27th May 2013 by you from Mr Gilhooley, wth DC Gordon Black present. Just read that to yursef, please………………Does that sit well with your recollection?
   O’N: Yes
   QC: Page 1515,last paragraph. EBT and debt collection. 27/05/14 about honesty of Betts. What did you do? Who did you tell?
   O’N: :It was highlighted to Crown
   QC: You were at the Shard search?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: A photograph of a file , the Black File, was seized. Where was it found?
   O’N: In a cupboard.
   QC Who found it?
   O’N: I did, with Carol..
   QC: It’s clear that this related to a ‘legal case’
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: What did you do?
   O’N: Took it to the conference room
   QC: And you would then put it into a documents bag, labelled…
   O’N [gave a very brief description of the usual bagging and labelling process]
   QC:314 pages-a substantial amount?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: What were you looking for?
   O’n: Evidential material to support the case.
   QC: How long did it take you?
   O’N A quick flick through.
   QC: Did you start from the beginning and go through to the end?
   O’N: Just a quick flick.
   QC: It must have been obvious that it related to a legal case?
   O’N: I wouldn’t be looking at it with any knowledge of legal PP.
   QC: But you’re agreeing that it was obvious.
   O’N: Yes.
   QC: An ‘initial sift’ as opposed to examination of a file.
   O’N: A quick flick is an initial sift, to see if related to warrant.
   QC: How would you tell? Were Duff and Phelps given a copy of the warrant? Or were they deliberately not given a copy of the search warrant?
   O’N: I don’t know.
   QC: Schedule 9, Cash Flow forecast. Do you recognise?
   O’N: Yes.
   When did you identify that this, on an initial sift, that this was an important document?
   O’N:The same day
   QC: How?
   O’N: The reference to Ticketus.
   QC: Whereabouts?
   O’N: About page 288.
   QC: Did any prior pages give you evidence?
   O’N:[ I think she said No,] while the QC continued “ Why did you continue with the sift once you saw that it fell wthin the warrant.? Did you call Mr Robertson over to say ‘look what I found’?
   O’N: Yes.
   QC [ ed; not heard]
   O’N: I believe it showed that Duff and Phelps had that information.. A brief review of material to establish if it fell within warrant, if it was then it was not examined.
   QC: Why did you keep looking at it while in the Shard? Bundle 1, page 1954. Can you confirm this email of 30th January 2014 shortly after Shard assertion of Privilege as at 30th January 2014 that as at 30th January 2014 the question of Privilege had not been resolved…

   [ It was now about 1.55 pm and I had to disconnect from the hearing to attend to other matters}
6. 
   

   Timtim 20th April 2021 At 22:42

   If Super League 1 is a non starter then Super League 2 is going nowhere soon and regardless of what a few locals may believe Celtic or Rangers* will not be elite enough to replace them in the eyes of JP Morgan .

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

   I agree, but it should never be forgotten that the Scottish Media at one point in the late 80’s / early 90’s were more than happy to push the idea that Rangers would be in a European Super League. This nonsensical notion was of course driven by the now disgraced David Murray whose words were along the lines of “when it comes we will be in it, but Celtic won’t have a ticket to the party”. The media lapped this up of course and used it to deride and ridicule Celtic even further, amid forecasts of them being “left behind forever”.

   Michael Kelly of the old Celtic board complained bitterly on his exit that football success is ‘cyclical’ and that success would have come to Celtic once again. Whether it would have under his watch is debatable, but come again it did under new owners, and none of it required a questionable relationship with a bank, nor did it require using taxpayers money to fund success on the pitch. It is also worth noting once again that the bank who funded Rangers, tried all they could to put Celtic out of business.

   The lesson to be learned of course is that money from questionable sources under the stewardship of megalomaniac owners who are fawned over by an unquestioning mainstream media is not always what it seems. There is also a lesson that clubs should stand on their own feet financially, but that clearly hasn’t been learned in some quarters.
7. 
   

   Ach, doesn’t it make one puke?
   “Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister and Celtic caretaker boss John Kennedy both expressed their opposition to the [ super-league] project yesterday, echoing the feeling across the game that the closed shop nature of the breakaway competition was an assault on sporting merit” [ Phil Johnson, “The Scotsman” today]
   Where was , is, their sense of sporting merit when it comes to accepting that the Scottish Football authorities can create a lie and award a football club ,founded in 2012, titles and honours that it never could even have competed for, let alone win?

   Honest to God, the sickening hypocrisy of Scottish Football is worse than the wicked cheating by RFC of 1872 that caused its death as a football club, and caused the need for the lie.
   [As an aside, the accompanying front-page picture caused me to chuckle: it shows a demonstrating crowd of football fans , a line of police officers, fans bearing placards .
   One of the placards in the middle distance instantly caught my eye. ” RIP CFC” it said.

   For a nano-second I was back in 2012 when our James Taylor’s newspaper had banner headlines about the death of RFC and the end of 140 years of history, and of how very quickly the truth of RFC’s actual liquidation and football death was quickly , to Taylor’s and his newspaper’s eternally disgusting shame and disgrace, was quickly denied.
   The placard referred of course to Chelsea FC and its part in the ‘Super league’ agreement.]
8. 
   

   @ John Clark – I find your court room reports fascinating (not least to see the hours the Courts keep – they don’t appear in danger of breaking many harnesses…). From a selfish perspective i would be grateful if you could point me in the direction of a summary of what the charges are against each of the various protagonists.
   Thanks in advance.
9. 
   

   https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/19248396.rangers-add-major-new-shareholder-investor-information/
10. 
    

    As an aside. My eldest daughter received football kit today from local team. Came direct from manufacturers and included their brochure for football trophies. I can get customised trophies from £1.99, free carriage for orders over £100 and dispatched within 2 days. I reckon by the weekend I could have the most successful football club in history for about £200…
11. 
    

    Wokingcelt 21st April 2021 At 16:20
    “..in the direction of a summary of what the charges are against each of the various protagonists.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Thank you, Wokingcelt.
    It’s important to note that this is a civil , not a criminal, case.

    David Grier was arrested , detained and indicted ,wrongly, and any and all charges that he had been implicated in a criminal conspiracy with CW an d Whitehouse and Clark and a couple of others were dropped absolutely.

    The Inner House (Scotland’s highest court of appeal in civil cases) decided in 2019 that the Crown had no immunity. Under that Court ruling, a person who has been prosecuted without sufficient evidence and maliciously has a right to seek damages,

    Grier brought such an action for damages for wrongful ‘malicious arrest’ against both the Lord Advocate and the Chief Constable, and that is the action that is currently in Court.

    It’s to be noted that the burden of proof is on the ‘pursuer’: that is , the Crown and the Chief Constable DO NOT have to prove their innocence-Grier has to prove their guilt.

    As I understand things, part of trying to prove that there was ‘malice’ would require the pursuer to show that the Crown/Police had no reasonable, legitimate grounds for BRINGING a prosecution.

    I’m not a lawyer, of course, so I may be fuzzy or plain wrong, but that’s what I understand .

    I probably don’t need to, but I should perhaps mention that this present case does NOT involve a jury, and ,of course, the Judge will hear every last word of evidence ( not just bits and pieces!] and will carefully, determine the facts and apply the law to the facts, only after he has done that.
    I hope that helps.
    ps. When you see the number of pages of material that have to to read and studied out-of-court, I think it’s a wonder that the actual time spent in court is able to be so much.
    These guys- Judges, Counsel, solicitors really do put in the hours .
    What we see in the court room is only part of their day’s work.
12. 
    

    Thank you Mr Clark. And apologies if any lawyers/legal folk took offence at my off-hand comment!
    I understand that the Scottish Government/p
    Police Scotland have already paid out compensation to some of the Sevco actors. Is the cost (of this leaving aside unpaid income taxes) to the taxpayer known?
13. 
    

    Another major shareholder added to the ever growing list at Rangers. I would like to see what they envision as a return on their investment, and, when that might happen. I would put that in the category of the SFA’s verdict on the Covid 5 appeal outcome, somewhere in the year 2525.
14. 
    

    Wokingcelt 21st April 2021 At 21:44
    ‘.. Is the cost (of this leaving aside unpaid income taxes) to the taxpayer known?’
    ++++++++
    If I may refer you to this link as a starting point.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55983492
    There is the possibility of claims from others!
    And, apart from the sums in damages, there are the expenses ( as they are known in Scotland, ‘costs’ in England) of the court proceedings
    All coming from the tax-payer, ultimately.
15. 
    

    [quote]HirsutePursuit 20th April 2021 At 15:59
    5 0 Rate This

    Works ok when visiting the sfm site on Opera browser. But, when using Chrome, I get a scary privacy message saying that attackers might be trying to steal passwords, messages or credit card details.

    It includes the following line – suggesting a problem with the site’s SSL certificate.

    NTE::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID

    Anyone else see this message[/quote]

    Do you access via a bookmark from Chrome? I suspect you are using an old bookmark to https://www.sfm.scot/ which is still active (as an archive) but it would appear the https certificate on its web server has expired. In Opera I suspect you have https://blog.sfm.scot/ which does have a valid https certificate on its web server
16. 
    

    Cluster One 20th April 2021 At 23:24
    ‘..The Court of Session has head that Mr Green has been unwilling to give as statement after being called in by the club’s former administrators,’
    +++++++++++++++++++++++=
    I missed that, Cluster One: I had kind of forgotten that case, which is of far greater interest in the scheme of things than the personal claims for damages by individuals, interesting enough as they were/are in throwing light on our legal system and how it operates.
17. 
    

    John Clark 22nd April 2021 At 09:14

    Cluster One 20th April 2021 At 23:24
    ‘..The Court of Session has head that Mr Green has been unwilling to give as statement after being called in by the club’s former administrators,’
    +++++++++++++++++++++++=
    I missed that, Cluster One: I had kind of forgotten that case, which is of far greater interest in the scheme of things than the personal claims for damages by individuals.
    …………..
    Isn’t this kind of missing the point John. Rangers Football Club was liquidated and Ibrox WAS sold off to help pay the debt, ……But it was sold off under-value.
18. 
    

    On the subject of CG’s reported unwillingness to give evidence, I’ve been fiddling about trying to find whether anyone can be compelled to give evidence , in civil cases.
    I note this link

    https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_taking_of_evidence-76-sc-maximizeMS_EJN-en.do#toc_2_8
    from which I have lifted ths:

    “European Judicial Network
    (in civil and commercial matters)Scotland

    Taking of evidence – Scotland

    2.8 Are witnesses obliged by law to testify?
    Generally speaking, any witness who is cited to give evidence is required to do so.

    2.9 In which cases can they refuse to give evidence?
    In cases where a witnesses has privilege against answering questions e.g. communications between a legal adviser and his or her client. There is also a general rule in Scots law that a person cannot be forced to incriminate themselves. A witness is entitled to refuse to answer a question if a true answer may lead to a crime or involves an admission of adultery as an untrue answer could lead to a charge of perjury.

    2.10 Can a person who refuses to testify be sanctioned or forced to give evidence?
    If a person refuses to give evidence then he or she can be forced to testify under threat of a charge of contempt of court. It is also possible to lodge as evidence a previous statement the witness made if they now refuse to give evidence. ”
    I wonder whether any one of these situations applies to witnesses in the BDO civil action who are living in France?
    If so, would it still apply now that the UK is no longer a member state of the EU? Is there extradition for civil matters?
    Can CG be legally compelled to give evidence as to how the purchase price of some of the major assets of RFC was arrived at?
    What fun and games!
    But shoosh, you’ll frighten the horses!
19. 
    

    I am at a loss to understand how Mr Green will get away with refusing to give evidence in this case.

    I have given evidence in civil cases a handful of times – criminal cases lots of times. It was always made clear to me that attendance in the civil courts was compulsory. I recall on one memorable occasion many years ago, having to give evidence in a civil case at the court of session in Edinburgh. I had been involved in this case where the incident had occurred almost 6 years prior to the court case. My part in it was extremely minor. The court appearance clashed with a final professional examination I should have been taking that day. My employer got in touch with the court to explain that to attend and give evidence would mean missing the exam. Their reply was almost, “…and your point is?” I had to attend court and missed the exam. It was infuriating because I was in the box for no more than 3 minutes and answered a series of yes/no answers before being dismissed. (“Were you in such and such a place on this date?”, “Yes”. And did you see so and so there?”, “Yes.” “And did you speak to him?”, “Yes”. “And did he say, such and such?”, “Yes”. “Thank you. No more questions my lord”. )

    Had this been a criminal case, the procurator fiscal, unless there was a chance the case would have collapsed without my evidence, would undoubtedly have excused me given my minor role. I had been excused court attendance for much less many times over the years.
20. 
    

    John Clark 22nd April 2021 At 09:14
    I missed that, Cluster One: I had kind of forgotten that case, which is of far greater interest in the scheme of things .
    https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19244894.ex-rangers-chief-charles-green-unwilling-testify-56-8m-claim-ibrox-sold-off/
    ……………………………
    It is all very hush, hush you would never know there was the case you reported on JC or the up and coming BDO case against the administrators, i only stumbled on the charles Green link while looking fore something else.
    May 4th 2021 for your Diary.
21. 
    

    Is it just me?
    Has the whole RFC of 1872 saga turned me into a rank rotten cynical sod?
    The misleadingly named ‘Rangers Football Club’ website tells us that ‘Perron Investments Ltd ‘has 16 million+ shares in RIFC plc.
    It tells us that John Halstead declares himself to be the beneficial owner of those shares.
    I’ve spent a bit of time looking at the Companies House register.
    I cannot find any company registered therein in the name ‘Perron Investments Ltd’ (There is a Perron Ltd, but that’s a wee dormant company with one shareholder]
    Perhaps I’m missing something?

    I look up ‘John Halsted’
    Well, there is a ‘John Combotekrash Halsted’, American,but resident in England, who is indeed a Managing Partner of Pamplona Capital Management, which the ‘Glasgow Times’ article (presumably having been told as much) reports him as being.

    Now, I’m not making connections where there might not be any, but I had a wee smile to myself when I read this article by ‘moneynerd’ : https://moneynerd.co.uk/pamplona-capital-management-debt/?nab=1
    ” What is Pamplona Capital Management?
    This is a group of investors who have collectively put up £100m to buy portfolios of loans and credit card debt.
    US hedge funds, private equity firms and even pension funds are among investors. These United States investors secure debt packages from big-name banks and lenders here in the UK.
    They are also known for buying debt managed by IVA agreements. For banks, selling IVAs is a way to reduce risk and free up capital. For the person paying the IVA, it means potentially being hounded by an unknown debt collection agency if they default on their payments.
    Who Owns Pamplona Capital Management?
    Pamplona Capital Management in London is not a solicitors or debt management company, but it is a capital management firm. They’ve got dozens of investors and have raised millions to acquire and profit on consumer debt.
    95% of their investors are based in the US but their focus is on UK-based consumer debt.”

    There is a delicious wee irony in the fact that a Managing Partner of a (whatever else) debt-collecting ‘investment’ company is the beneficial owner of the shares invested by another company which is a significant shareholder in a financially struggling football club living on borrowed monies!
    Is it just me?
22. 
    

    John Clark 22nd April 2021 At 12:53

    Although it doesn’t meanhe can’t be President John C Halstead is listed as having resigned as a director of Pamplona Capital over 2 years ago. He has either resigned or the company has been dissolved in the case of his 6 other UK Directorships.

    Isn’t there a lot of Bull in Pamplona? There are certainly a lot of Pamplona’s at 25 Park Lane. At least 4 Registerd Companies/Partnerships registered there with Pamplona in the name.

    There is a Perron Investments LLC registered in Joe Biden’s backyard of Wilmington Delaware . You can do a search on Delaware’s state government web page https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/eCorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx (File number is 5687794). It doesn’t list directors/owners and it was only created at the end of last month.

    Was it Dave King who inferred money laundering or other criminal activities amongst suspended shareholders?
23. 
    

    Tykebhoy 22nd April 2021 At 13:50
    ”..Isn’t there a lot of Bull in Pamplona?”
    +++++++++++++++++++
    Nice one.
    And this, about Delaware as tax haven:
    “Delaware Division of
    Corporations
    Annual Report Statistics

    A Message from the Secretary of State – Jeffrey W. Bullock

    “Delaware’s business entity franchise saw another year of healthy growth in 2019. The total number of LLCs registered in the First State crossed the one million mark and we continue to be the domicile of choice for members of the Fortune 500 and newly public companies, with approximately 89% of all U.S. initial public offerings last year.

    Statutory changes adopted by the Delaware General Assembly in 2019 consisted of relatively minor revisions to promote consistency and provide additional clarity with respect to business entity division. In keeping with longstanding tradition, the revisions were recommended by a panel of experts in Delaware corporate law and jurisprudence, and acted on by the Legislature in a process largely free of political influence.”

    Image representing 68.8 percent of all Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware and more than 1.5 million legal entities are incorporated in Delaware.
    https://corp.delaware.gov/stats/
    ‘Only fools and horses’ allowed us to laugh at DelBoy.
    I suspect that the real life Delboys are nothing to laugh at, as they laugh at us and our naivety and the politicians who are their friends!
24. 
    

    Appellate Tribunal Update | Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear, Dapo Mebude, Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu (Rangers FC)
    Thursday 22 April 2021
    Alleged Parties in Breach: Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear, Dapo Mebude, Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu (Rangers FC)

    Date: 13/14 February 2021

    Disciplinary Rules allegedly breached:

    Disciplinary Rule 24 – A recognised football body, club, official, Team Official or other member of Team Staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall be subject to and shall comply with the Articles, the Laws of the Game and the rules, procedures and regulations, bye-laws and Decisions of the Scottish FA.

    Disciplinary Rule 77 – A recognised football body, club, official, Team Official, other member of Team Staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall, at all times, act in the best interests of Association Football. Furthermore such person or body shall not act in any manner which is improper or use any one, or a combination of, violent Conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.

    Principal hearing date: Thursday, 25 March 2021

    Outcome: Suspension of 6 matches applied as follows: 4 matches immediate and 2 matches suspended until End of Season 2020/21.

    Determination appealed

    Appellate Tribunal Hearing (on 20 April 2021) Outcome:

    Appeals dismissed;

    The Decisions of the appealed Tribunal are affirmed and the original sanctions are re-imposed.
25. 
    

    Paddy Malarkey 22nd April 2021 At 17:09
    ‘..The Decisions of the appealed Tribunal are affirmed and the original sanctions are re-imposed.’ (Covid-5)
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Good spot, PM.
    Penalty immediately effective I would imagine.
26. 
    

    Somewhat cryptic response .
    RANGERS notes the outcome of today’s appeal.

    We remain disappointed in the result. Furthermore, we believe this outcome highlights the inconsistency of decision making in the Scottish FA’s disciplinary process.

    We are cognisant that the approach taken by other football associations across Europe has no resemblance to that of the Scottish FA. We urge the Scottish FA to be open minded to learn from other football authorities.

    We now focus on Sunday’s quarter final at Ibrox.
27. 
    

    If Rangers have banned all newspapers from Ibrox, why don’t the papers retaliate by not printing the countless press releases they issue. Most of them have nothing to add to the on going concerns, issues, etc, surrounding Scottish football.
28. 
    

    In the honeyed words of a QC questioning a witness, perhaps someone will help me with this, so that I’m sure in my own mind of my arithmetic: I have been known to get my arithmetic wrong.

    After the RIFC plc share issue of reported date 9 April 2021, their total shares in issue figure was 388 291 1872

    And after the issue of 2 150 000 shares of reported date 19 April 2021, that total was increased to 390 441 872

    Deep down in the bowels of the website used by ‘Rangers FC’ it is reported that the chap called John Halsted [ cf. my post of 12.53 today] is the beneficial owner of the 16,250,000 shares [4.16% of the total] held in RIFC plc by Perron Investments LLC,

    I conclude that Perron Investments LLC is not a NEW shareholder, but must already have held such number of shares as an additional 2 150 000 would raise to that percentage level of the total that is required to be reported as ‘significant’ and the shareholder named.
    Am I right or a meringue?
    If I am right, then the managing partner of a company that[among other things] buys up IVAs ( Individual Voluntary Arrangements [=debt repayment agreements ] may personally have been a shareholder since the first day that RIFC plc lost any normal credit facility and had to resort to loans from this, that and the other quarter.

    Loans that a perhaps worried lender sells off to , perhaps, such companies as Pamplona ,or whatever, to make sure he gets most of his money back.
    I’ve no real understanding of these things, of course, but I think I’d feel a wee bit uncomfortable if I were a shareholder in a company alongside a shareholder who might profit if ANOTHER company, of which he is a managing partner, were in control of debts ‘sold’ to it by the company of which I am a fellow shareholder.
    If I were a contributor to Club 1872, for example, I think I would be a wee bit annoyed!
    If you can make sense of that.
29. 
    

    I have made a note of the access number for the [final?] day ‘s Grier hearing tomorrow.

    All other things being equal , I hope to tune in to hear any kind of final submissions on behalf of the pursuer and defender[if that is what happens?]

    I gather from an informed source that an important witness appeared to concede that the prosecution case was ill-prepared ,ill-researched and sort of scatter-gun in approach.

    If that is true, the question has to be asked: was that, could it have been, because of deliberate intention to ensure that any prosecution would fail?
    or because of an unacceptable level of sheer incompetence?
    Will we ever know the truth about the whole disgusting Liquidation ‘saga’ and its consequences, and all the many lying cheats and ,perhaps, some innocent folk involved or caught up in it?
    The baddies themselves , of course, know who they are.
    And know how much they are despised by the rest of us in the abstract, and how much more they would be despised face to face and in the flesh.
30. 
    

    If Kris Boyd wasn’t a former Ranger’s player would he garner the press coverage for his comments regarding anything in Scottish football.

    Rangers ask the SFA for consistency in rulings regarding suspensions, etc. Since it took almost two months to hand down a final verdict and Rangers having use of the players involved that borders on the comical side of things. If they want the SFA to follow the rulings of other European leagues, I see more dossiers being created as rules are followed.
    And, finally the media still going on about the “invincibiles” as the league draws to a close. Again they fail to mention that they would be the second Scottish team to achieve that feat, as they were second to nine a row, have never achieved a quadruple treble, and the list goes on. Those achievements by another Scottish club stand far brighter than the alleged 55. Oops, almost forgot the trophy from 1967.
31. 
    

    John Clark 22nd April 2021 At 23:34

    Wasn’t it suggested Club18-72 bought the 215000.
    16.25m were alloted on 19th March Companies House allotment of shares
    which is 7 days before Perron Investments LLC in Delaware was Incorporated. A further 31 million shares were allotted between those two transaction and in total this RIFC Financial Year just shy of 130m shares have been alloted raising just under £26m or more likely converting debt to worthless equity
32. 
    

    Just to say I that I had to go out early-ish this morning, and got back in a short while ago,
    I connected with the ‘virtual’ hearing but only to hear Mr Moynihan questioning a woman witness (possibly a financial expert) about the basis of her calculation of the amounts of money claimed as damages by Grier [salaries, bonuses lost compared with the calculations of the figures in the Rawland’s Report (?)
    I frankly lost interest after a few minutes!
33. 
    

    Tykebhoy 23rd April 2021 At 10:15
    ‘..which is 7 days before Perron Investments LLC in Delaware was Incorporated.’
    +++++++++++++++++++
    Good point, and I’m happy to defer to your greater knowledge.
    The saga, I’m afraid, has led me to be ready not to believe a word of anything that comes from Ibrox given the rotten foundations of TRFC?RIFC plc and how the fiction has to be maintained.
    I think I would still not be happy as a shareholder in an enterprise which also had a shareholder with a ‘vulture’s’ interest struggling , debt-laden enterprises!
    No personal disrespect to Mr Halsted, of course.
34. 
    

    With regard to the COVID 5, a few observations from me:
    1. There needs to be greater transparency such that the basis of the appeal is made public (even if after the decision if to do beforehand would be deemed unfair). Clubs might think twice that being the case.
    2. No apparent jeopardy from making a baseless appeal for sporting advantage. In such cases an additional penalty should be applied – I don’t think the player(a) should bear this as it may well not be their decision to appeal. A financial penalty should apply to the club (based as % of that club’s turnover).
    3. The timetable for the determination of sanctions and appeals should follow a weekly drumbeat (after all, last time I looked games are played every week during the season). Applying an amateur-game committee style approach to a professional game is untenable.
    4. Sanctions for breaching any rule or regulation should be established and communicated to all at the start of the season, removing opportunity for “discretion”
35. 
    

    SG is apparently upset he is losing some players for four games, but, has nothing to say about the use of said players during the long drawn out saga of awaiting a final decision. I know Patterson played in many games but did the other two members of the senior squad get any games, minutes, etc. Surely they must have been missed in such an illustrious season.
36. 
    

    “Dear Sirs,
    Are you yet in a position to favour me with a reply to my email of 11 March 2021?
    I have no other email address for Mr Ceferin.
    Yours faithfully ,”
    I sent that as an email to Ceferin’s law firm half an hour ago.
    Your man Ceferin has had plenty to say these last few days.
    I wish he paid more attention to his law firm’s manager, who seems to have a staff who do not respond to emails!

    Or maybe they did pass on to him my earlier emails, and he himself has opted to ignore?

    Either way, black marks to him from me , and I will view him with the same dark suspicions with which I view the SFA.

    Of course, obtaining replies is not the prime objective- it is the ‘putting on record’ of assertions that is important.

    And a great example of that is the wonderful final exculpation of the post office folk , and the disgrace of those who prosecuted them. The Post Office has been shown to be ready to lie and have people sent to jail.

    I believe that lies were told, myths created, by Football Governance in Scotland.
    I believe that those who I believe lied, know that they lied, and may very well be afraid that somewhere down the line someone will be as ready to spill the beans as , it seems, was the late Gary Withey in the matter of the purchase of RFC by CW.

    I may be long dead and gone by that time.
    But the record will show that at least one person continued to insist on Truth, and future historians of football in Scotland will not be able to ignore that,
    Unless , like what used to be called ‘linesmen’, they commandingly scream ‘Red Card, Red Card’ in a paroxysm of excitement!
    [tongue a little bit in cheek]
37. 
    

    Graham Spiers in his Times Column today is the latest Scottish football journalist to pour scorn on the ESL, and to savage the greed of the elite. Spiers is far from the worst, but like the rest he turns a blind eye to the utter corruption that has taken place in the Scottish game since 2011. In my view that makes his words as hollow as the rest. I have no idea if Graham reads this blog, but all I will say is cheats do win, and Scottish football is a prime example of that. Not only do they win, the Scottish media celebrate them winning.

    If the ESL ever happens I don’t expect my club to have an invite. That being said I would gladly welcome any opportunity to escape the clutches of a Football Association and media that in 2021 still reflects the prejudices of the 1950’s. If that ever happens, the Scottish football media can influence nothing, no matter how many lies they support.
38. 
    

    Nice piece from Gerry Hassan on super league and other football matters.
    https://www.scottishreview.net//GerryHassan567a.html
39. 
    

    Upthehoops 24th April 2021 At 10:33
    ‘… Spiers is far from the worst, but like the rest he turns a blind eye ‘
    +++++++++++++++++
    Quiet night tonight.
    This allows me to mention again the extraordinary lack of interest shown by, for example, Douglas Fraser,[the undoubtedly very able and up-to-the-minute business chap on BBC Radio Scotland,] in trying to explain to us how
    a football club in compulsory Liquidation in 2012 , deprived on that account of any entitlement to membership of the SFA , can somehow be alive and well?

    I saw Fraser in Court twice in the early days, but I have never seen him give any explanation as to how that could come about!

    I venture to suggest that he knows it to be an impossibility at least as well as he knows on which side his bread is buttered.

    It is absolutely beyond doubt that RFC of 1872 was NOT bought out of Administration, but entered Liquidation.
    Its hundreds of creditors were not paid what they were owed,
    The club was not ‘rescued’ by restructuring, reducing costs by redundancies, or by selling off assets, or any of the other possibilities of avoiding Liquidation and carrying on in existence as the same club .
    No. It went into Liquidation, where it still is.
    Everybody of however low an IQ KNOWS that!

    And it is absolutely unbelievable ,and unacceptable ,that financial/business journalists should meekly buy into what, at the beginning and at the end of the day, is a monstrous fiction.

    The murdered Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia , journalist in Malta, would look not so much with scorn, but, WORSE , with PITY on such craven abdication of any notion of ‘journalism’ by our SMSM.
    Honest to God.
    What sporting times we live in!
    And what journalistic reporting times!
40. 
    

    ‘After 150 years, the Spiders went pro in 2019′ says John McLellan in the piece he has in today’s [Saturday]’The Scotsman’ about the Super League.
    And, God forgive me, my mind immediately came up with ” after 140 years the Glasgow Rangers of 1872 went into Liquidation’.
    As it happens, both those statements are true!
    I love it!
41. 
    

    For weeks now we have had the Scottish media moaning about racism in football on back of the Kamara incident. Football needs to rid itself of racism, etc, as the stories rolled out ad nauseum. Yet today one of the papers referred to one of Ranger’s target as the Copper Bullet. I realize his national team is referred to as the Copper Bullets but to affix this tag to an individual player of color is hypocritical based on the recent stance on racism. It is not surprising as not many members of the Scottish media appear to be blessed with an iota of common sense.
42. 
    

    Vernallen 25th April 2021 At 01:39
    ‘….to affix this tag to an individual player of color..’
    “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
    I may be wrong, of course, but I think perhaps the team’s nickname is self-adopted and not in anyway intended to be a self-insulting reference to skin colour.

    “The side is nicknamed Chipolopolo (the Copper Bullets) as copper is one of the south central African nation’s main exports”
    https://www.bing.com/search?q=why+is+the+zambian+national+football+team+known+as+the+copper+bullets&form=ANNTH1&refig=316e40809e0c4004980e1313d47a145b
    [that’s a helluva long link!]
43. 
    

    I had an idle moment this morning in which to read the judgment of the English Court of Appeal(Criminal Division] in the Sub-postmasters’ appeal.
    https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2021/577.html
    I was struck by this: ” .. two cogent lines of argument in relation to abuse of process were available to each appellant: first, that the reliability of Horizon data was essential to the prosecution and conviction, and it was not possible for the trial process to be fair; and secondly, that it was an affront to the public conscience for the appellant to face criminal proceedings.”

    That little phrase ‘”an affront to the public conscience” EXACTLY describes the Big Lie in Scottish Football, in my opinion.

    It is an affront to the public conscience that TRFC is permitted to claim to be RFC of 1872, while not being legally liable for the tens of millions of pounds of debt that cheating club owed to the public purse.

    It is an even greater affront to the public conscience that the SMSM , including the BBC, not only buys into the Lie, but actively supports and propagates it.

    We are as ill-served by such a Parcel of Rogues in the SMSM as was the nation of Scotland by the lying political masters slated by Rabbie:rot their bones. in their unhallowed graves
44. 
    

    Can we now remove the adjective “invincibles” from any descriptions regarding Rangers/Sevco from the 2020/2021 season refer to the potentially the unbeaten league season. They have fallen in two cup competitions to clubs whose combined payroll may not even be close to that of Rangers. Perhaps the lack of nous from SG and the lack of same from NL in regards to the league led to an inflated sense of its ours because we are Rangers/Sevco. Looking back at their track record in Scottish cup competitions this should not have been unexpected. Too much focus on European success and not minding the store come to mind. I sense another round of share issues to cover the loss from this cup competitions. Also removes the Liverpool job from any conversations.
45. 
    

    Well.
    ” I couldn’t believe the space I had.
    I’ve had it against me many times, you’re just shouting for somebody to pick the keeper up but everybody’s got a man and you float about and try to get yourself on the end of it.”

    So said Zander Clark, in his post-match interview tonight.

    Numerically, of course, that’s not the case, The taker of a corner kick reduces the attacking team to nine outfield players , while the defending team still has ten, so there is a ‘spare’ in terms of man-matching.

    I suspect that in future, when the opposition goalie comes up for a penalty in the dying moments, someone will be told specifically to mark him.
    Calum Davidson is quite clearly much more of a savvy football game strategist and tactician than your man Gerrard,
    John Barnes, [was it? ]the Sportsound commentator, annoyed me by a throwaway reference to ‘Rangers’ not having won the cup since 2009…as if it were RFC of 1872 that was playing tonight…
    Honest to God,
    What the hell is wrong with him and his like, peddling a ridiculous piece of nonsense as though their very lives depended upon it?
    Bad cess to him for propagating the myth, fearfully doing as he is bidden by his heavily truth-challenged Pacific Quay masters.
    Not that I’m any kind of Jim McLean, of course, I hasten to add.
46. 
    

    Vernallen 25th April 2021 At 22:48
    ‘…Also removes the Liverpool job from any conversations.’
    ++++++++++++++
    Unquestionably so.
    Gerrard was appointed for reasons unconnected with his supposed abilities as a football team manager.

    No harm to the man, superb player that he was, but he was not employed by TRFC for any reason other than that he was a ‘name’, a well respected name, but respected only as a footballer of great talent.

    As a football manager/coach he has failed to deliver anything very much, and certainly not anything of such merit as would persuade any serious football club that he was worth hiring.
47. 
    

    Apparently the SFA are considering introducing a new rule where teams with “Saint” in their names are not allowed to play in Cup competitions. I bet they would if they could get away with it….
48. 
    

    Officials are looking into reports of a possible minor earthquake in sections of Glasgow last night. Fortunately after further investigation it was found to be Rangers fans falling off the bandwagon lamenting the fact that Cup competitions aren’t their cup of tea. The supposed double wasn’t to be and now some of their fan sites are looking to dump players as well.
49. 
    

    In amongst a plethora of other ‘facts’, which he likes to give us, Jonathan Sutherland I’m sure stated on Sportscene that the victory by St Johnstone was ‘Rangers first domestic defeat of the season’. Did I hear him correctly? If so, a couple of points:-

    Does Jim Goodwin know this?

    Who is his fact checker ?

    If I misheard/misunderstood Sutherland’s utterance, I will of course come back on here and apologise!
    Maybe we are witnessing a sub-species of the cancel culture i.e the St Mirren defeat didnae happen coz it might mean wir no’ invincible!

    On the subject of invincibility, ff TRFC go through the League programme undefeated, this will still be placed on a par by our beloved SMSM plus usual deluded Sevco apologists (too numerous to mention by ‘ye ken them weil’) with Celtic’s invincible season.
50. 
    

    Not being a supporter of a team that hovers around invincibility , I looked up the word in various dictionaries and the consensus appears to be ‘too powerful to be defeated or overcome’ , so I can see it being applied to a current league campaign(if defeat can be avoided in the remaining fixtures ) but not to their entire season . RFC(IL) actually had a perfect league season in 1898/99 , winning all 18 league matches , if we are only considering league fixtures .
51. 
    

    You’re right Paddy. I reckon, in short, that an ‘undefeated -in-the – league’ season would be spun to pander to Sevcoites as per the SMSM narrative.

    Real relativity and comparability (with Celtic’s achievement) be damned!
52. 
    

    Bect67 26th April 2021 At 14:35

    ‘On the subject of invincibility, ff TRFC go through the League programme undefeated, this will still be placed on a par by our beloved SMSM plus usual deluded Sevco apologists (too numerous to mention by ‘ye ken them weil’) with Celtic’s invincible season.’

    Celtic did not have an invincible season. They were unbeaten in 47 domestic games but suffered five defeats in Europe.

    Lincoln Red Imps 1 – 0 Celtic
    Hapoel Be’er 2 – 0 Celtic
    Barcelona 7 – 0 Celtic
    Celtic 0 – 2 Borussia Monchengladbach
    Celtic 0 – 2 Barcelona

    No doubt Rangers fans will focus on the league season and proclaim themselves invincible (if they manage to avoid defeat in the remaining fixtures) just as you have ignored the defeats Celtic suffered in Europe to claim an invincible season in 2016-17.
53. 
    

    A little light reading from Wiki
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unbeaten_football_club_seasons
54. 
    

    @Beck67 – thought I posted earlier so this might repeat. I would focus solely on the respective league campaigns. In 2017 Celtic gained 106 points, with 106 goals and +81 GD. With 3 games to go TRFC can gain a maximum of 102 points with a current 81 goals scored and a GD of 69,
    So in any comparison I think my question would be “what’s your point caller?”
    But then again, would I rather have 2017 or 1967 when we lost twice in the league campaign? Let me think about that ?… Tell you what, I’ll have both!!!
55. 
    

    Here we go again indeed !
    Saw this online – I thought it was still Al Ahly with 118 officially .
    https://content.invisioncic.com/Mrangmedia/monthly_2021_04/Screenshot_20210312-183125_Twitter.jpg.d68a0291d1ae171b12c8b8e038d4713c.jpg
56. 
    

    incredibleadamspark

    I don’t recall anyone claiming an invincible CFC season which included Europe. That would just have been plain daft. You and I (together with anybody’s granny who may be interested) KNOWS I and other Celtic minded supporters were referring to the domestic scene.

    So… ur ye hivin a laff?

    Unless you have a jealous/envious agenda, you must know the context in which Celtic’s invincibility is placed. Having said that, I do concede that anyone who looks long and ungraciously enough (as you seem to be doing) will find an argument which suits a pre-determined narrative.

    Out of interest, I wonder who first used the invincible tag regarding to Celtic’s achievement.

    So … ‘geezabrek’!
57. 
    

    I can’t see David Robertson being invited to Ibrox anytime soon after his recent media interview. Some of the better clips, “well short of invincibles, “not quite back to their best,” “not back as a dominant force”. Not the standard interview from former Rangers. It will be interesting to see comments on Rangers blog sites.
58. 
    

    Bect67 26th April 2021 At 22:58

    I reckon that everyone and their granny would know that any ‘invincible’ tag affixed to Rangers season (if they avoid defeat in the league) would know it would be in reference to the league. Unless they had an agenda themselves to manufacture some sort of outrage to suit a predetermined narrative.

    Such manufactured outrage is pretty tedious and a waste of everyone’s time so let’s just take each other in good faith, shall we?

    If Rangers can remain undefeated in the league then that would be some season for them. Celtic also has a fantastic undefeated domestic season. Both are worthy of celebrating.
59. 
    

    Incredibleadamspark 27th April 2021 At 07:08

    Surely there is no argument that to remain undefeated in three domestic competitions is a superior achievement to remaining undefeated in only one? Of course Rangers would be league invincibles should they achieve that, but from what I can see is that most Celtic fans are annoyed that the media keep shifting the goalposts in terms of the definition in a desperate effort to get parity with Celtic’s 2016-17 season. I am genuinely struggling though to think even the post partisan Rangers fan would not admit an invincible treble is a far superior achievement, although I won’t blame Rangers fans for the appalling bias of the Scottish media, apart from the Rangers fans in the media who perpetrate it.
60. 
    

    Upthehoops 27th April 2021 At 07:31

    No argument whatsoever. But I’d respectfully suggest that fans on both sides can be guilty of goalpost shifting when describing one achievement and another (potential) achievement.

    I’ve read plenty of opinion on the subject and I’d say it’s far more balanced than your suggesting.
61. 
    

    A video has appeared on the internet where what appears to be sectarian abuse is directed towards a St Johnstone player when they equalised against Rangers at Ibrox. There were no fans at the game so the alleged abuse must have come from someone acting in an official capacity either on or off the field. Many people on social media have shared the video with mainstream journalists, Rangers and the SFA. One video seems to show the fourth official turn round on hearing the abuse.

    I expect there will be a full and immediate investigation into this by all three parties…there will be, yes? If not, why not?
62. 
    

    @UTH – I’ve not seen the footage but if as clear as is suggested then a fourth party, namely Police Scotland, should also be investigating as such abuse is I believe classified as a hate crime. Interesting decisions to be made by many.
63. 
    

    Workingcelt and UTH

    Strange nothing has appeared in the mainstream media. This was major news for them a couple of weeks ago when Rangers were the aggrieved party and now the shoe appears to be on the other foot. Of course chasing major stories involving Scottish football ( especially ones that appear to be true) is not in their journalism background. EBT’s, etc come to mind. Now that the media are apparently banned from Ibrox it would be a good time to do some actual digging and see what lies below the surface, continual share issues, what is the financial situation, are payments to suppliers up to date, are transfer fees paid, on the other hand that sounds too much like work, they’ll just wait for the press releases.
64. 
    

    I’ve been trying to find out about this and it appears it’s mostly Celtic blogs (absolutely nothing wrong with that) and their users who are commenting on this. From what I’ve seen the original video was posted on St Johnston’s Twitter and no complaint has been made by any player or the club themselves.

    I’d urge anyone who’s interested to find the clip themselves and make their own minds up on what is shouted. My own view is that it’s very difficult to make out the words shouted at the end and it’s far from an open and shut case. I’ve only seen one clip but maybe there are others with clearer audio?
65. 
    

    Incredibleadamspark 28th April 2021 At 06:58
    ‘..I’d urge anyone who’s interested to find the clip themselves.’
    ++++++++++++++++
    My view, on the contrary, is that the onus is on posters to provide a link to the source(s) they use as the base for their comments!
    Otherwise, their comments are of little more value than anything the hack journalists might put in their opinion pieces.
    I for one have neither the skill nor the patience to go hunting for you tube clips or fan blogs. [bad enough having to read those that are sometimes referred to!]
66. 
    

    Wokingcelt 27th April 19.06

    Having seen the clip it is not clear what was said and who said it.
67. 
    

    Having seen another video of the incident at Ibrox on Sunday.

    Seems pretty clear that what was said was “How we not f*****g organising ourselves, picking people up.
68. 
    

    Albertz11 28th April 2021 At 14:12

    Having seen another video of the incident at Ibrox on Sunday.

    Seems pretty clear that what was said was “How we not f*****g organising ourselves, picking people up.

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

    Very plausible, except nothing is perfectly clear. Others are as equally clear that abuse including the word ‘fenian’ can be heard. I am sure the modern anti-racism, anti-sectarianism, and anti-discrimination Rangers will ensure everything is cleared up given the accusations.
69. 
    

    If you listen carefully you can hear, quite clearly, and it has been suggested elsewhere that it’s Allan McGregor, screaming, “you’re having an F… orgasm ya F… Fenian C….”. If you can’t hear that it because you don’t want to hear. As usual nothing will come of it but substitute “Black” for “Fenian” and all Hell breaks loose.
70. 
    

    Whatever was uttered is a lot clearer than whatever was whispered in Kamara’s ear. Only the reaction is different, but such language is in every day use in Scotland, so that is of little surprise.
    However a clear opportunity has arisen for Sevco to issue a statement saying the allegations have been brought to their attention, alongside a full denial and the listeners have misheard the comment. This could be backed by an assurance that Sevco would never tolerate such behaviour and would have taken robust action if their “investigation” had found it to be true.
    A clear condemnation of sectarian language with no admission of guilt….Perfect!….It would go a long way.
    But they won’t. !
71. 
    

    Albertz11 28th April 2021 At 14:12

    Having watched a clip from Premier Sports, although the commentary gets in the way a bit, I don’t hear any sectarian abuse. It really does sound like McGregor saying “How we not f*****g organising ourselves, picking people up?”

    I’m sure that will clear everything up…..
72. 
    

    IAP 28th April 18.50

    No doubt that was what was said.

    Absolutely no sectarian comments whatsoever.
73. 
    

    As previously noted I haven’t viewed any footage but I would be amazed if in the circumstances any professional football player would say “…organising ourselves, picking people up…”
    “Picking people up” – did he really say that?
74. 
    

    Wokingcelt 28th April 21.09

    Having just conceded a last minute goal at which there was both a lack of “organisation & picking people up” then yes it makes perfect sense.
    Now as for orgasms !!!! anyone want to explain that?.
75. 
    

    https://voca.ro/1o1pVHPp5Seb

    Having an orgasm ya fenian cnut 17 seconds in

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