Given the recent heightened focus on the refereeing standards in Scotland, I was asked to update a previous blog from 2010 that included suggestions for changing the way refereeing is managed in Scotland .
Having had a look at original my thoughts are “ here we are again”, for the very same reasons the blog was penned in 2010.
Why?
Because the refereeing issue is in my view connected to a lack of proper financial controls that create moral hazard, where one party can act with reckless abandon (see Rangers latest accounts), but other parties, as happened in 2012 are left to face the consequences.
So I’ll just repeat the suggestions made then but with an added comment on the proposed use of VAR, and how that and proper financial controls can save Scottish football from itself. First the Referee Service
Note the word “service” for this is the way that much of what the SFA do should be viewed. The SFA provide a number of services to the clubs who play in Scotland. They should not be seen as their masters but their servants. Or in modern terms the clubs in their professional leagues are the customers and the SFA the service providers. This change of attitude would allow competition to provide such services to enter the scene and so improve them.
This would be a huge cultural change but it has to start somewhere and here we are again under starters orders IF supporters act to bring the change about by calling their clubs to account for allowing the past to repeat itself today as a result of the notorious sporting integrity breaking Five Way Agreement, that UEFA never clapped eyes on where our game became a franchise and clubs where stores that changed from Mr Noodles to Nachos but were still the same because they sold food.
Anyway!
The Referee Service
This would be split with the SFA doing the recruitment, training and match appointments (having taken the nature of the game to be officiated into account). However the monitoring and evaluation would be the province of the customer, using referees or ex refs from anywhere to mark to a standard set by the customer. This spilt of responsibilities would prevent any one person being in a position to exert his own influence on referees as a result of being part of the appointment and evaluation process. It would safeguard the SFA from the kind of suspicion that led to the referees’ strike and lead to a higher standard of referee because the customer would be setting the standard not the supplier (as happens everywhere in business but football) If it did not, it would free the SPL/SL to hire their own referees from wherever they could get them. A bit of competition never did anybody any harm and that includes our referees who, if they reached higher standards, would be in more demand outside Scotland.
Here is the addition brought on by the introduction of VAR which is just another service. Use this “here we go again” opportunity to put the VAR service AND the refereeing it watches over out to tender. The VAR supplier is also the referee monitor service to the leagues and the SFA become trainers and developers at lower levels of professional referees and work with the VAR service under a contract that rewards both parties.
The Licensing Service
This needs to be calibrated to meet the financial position of Scottish clubs. The principles in UEFA FFP that stipulate what is to be treated as allowable income and allowable debt continue, but regulating controls to prevent clubs going bust or acting in a reckless financial manner need introduced. Points deduction is no deterrent if such recklessness creates huge points gap at end of season when the CL money is at stake. Nor is the threat of losing all won by that recklessness a deterrent, when the nature of how it was won is downplayed then ignored and airbrushed from football history.
If survival depends on access to CL geld then referees , as matters continue to stand will come under the kind of scrutiny that unless addressed, leads to an ever growing suspicion, because here we bloody well are again, that our game is bent .
Worse it leads to thinking that the clubs like it that way but ignore that their supporters do not and will continue to ignore until supporters vote with their feet.
In short the Licensing Service that is supposed to protect the financial well being of Scottish clubs has failed. It perpetuates a moral hazard almost by design that caused Rangers demise in 2012 and that failure and how it was dealt with under the 5 Way Agreement has undermined the integrity of our game, causing increased scrutiny of referee decisions and if not dealt with this time will eventually kill football in Scotland as a sport.
VAR however if introduced as a professional service on lines suggested should encourage more prudent financial behaviour in future by making reckless behaviour so risky it will stop and with it the moral hazard it creates.
Highlander 10th December 2021 At 12:21
I think that if you look at footage of corners taken by the away team at any Premiership ground , including Tynie , you will see lots of airborne objects . Holier than thou ?
Highlander, if you look back to the last page I said “I echo your sentiments on the throwing of missiles”. I thought you would have inferred from that my agreement with your comments on the idiots in the Celtic support, (and any other team for that matter) who throw things at football matches.
Equally, I don’t recall you making a case for points deductions or replays etc when the Hearts fans are involved???
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/4902601/hearts-fans-celtic-bottle-murrayfield-stephen-mitchell/
And of course, probably even worse than throwing something, actually running onto the field and attacking an opposition manager merely doing his job.
As a wise man once said “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”….oops!!!
normanbatesmumfc 10th December 2021 At 13:00
I’m not a hypocrite, nbmfc, so I’d have every last one of them held accountable, including Hearts fans of course, which is part of the point I made on a previous post. If strict liability was introduced, the morons who ruin our game would likely desist, knowing that their club would either have their stands closed down or even suffer a points deduction.
I don’t intend getting involved in a debate over which of our individual clubs has had the most offensive support throughout their entire histories, because I’m the kind of guy who’d want to save your blushes, and I also want to make clear that my take on Kyogo’s propensity for simulation was not formed exclusively by the Souttar incident, but has been cumulative over several different exploits.
I’d suggest that anyone denying that he is a lightweight drama queen who falls over when someone breathes within the same postcode as him really has to get their green goggles surgically removed.
Highlander
You make an excellent point regarding Barrie McKay’s treatment at Celtic Park last week. I was surprised and disgusted, and a little dispirited that it occurred. It is also correct to call it out here, as indeed it would be if the TRFC support were guilty of the same crime.
Sadly though it is not a new phenomenon. I know several ex players who claim to have enhanced their income by collecting the 50p pieces chucked in their direction at various venues – something that routinely goes on to this day.
Indeed one coin of that denomination cost Celtic a place in the 3rd round of the ECWC as far back as 1984.
Rightly or wrongly, UEFA imposed their own version of Strict Liability on that occasion. The Scottish authorities steadfast refusal to do likewise ensures that it won’t go away.
On the specific incident though, I was deeply embarrassed by the actions of those involved. To be fair to the Green Brigade, from whose location the missiles appeared to come, I think they will be as appalled and embarrassed as I was, because whatever folk may think of their politics, that is IMO out of character.
Not so sure about the Kyogo point though. Makes a meal of things a bit sometimes, but not in the same league as Stan Petrov (to use a Celtic player as an example, lest the Whatabouttery alarm is raised) ?
Highlander
Your post tagging Strict Liability crossed with mine.
And I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments – right up to the Kyogo bit where my green goggles filtered your thoughts away?
I’m all for stronger punishments for such behavior but points deduction is not one of them. That would be so open to abuse. Imagine the last game of the season and the top 2 teams are neck and neck. What’s to stop a fan of team A getting a ticket for the team B fixture, joining the team B fans in their section of the ground. He then produces a bottle which he throws onto the pitch before following it on and being arrested. Team B get docked points, Team A win the league and the rogue fan is fined, (probably paid for by crowd funding by team A fans). This punishes the players who are in no way to blame.
I would agree with ground closure, starting with sections where the incidents take place. Increasing the length of time of closure and possibly sections of the ground closed if the problem persists. Thereby punishing the clubs if they cannot find a solution to fan behavior in their stadium. If it’s away fans persisting, refuse tickets to that club for future matches.
Highlander @ various times!
Although you regularly make some good and thoughtful points, it behoves me to enquire as to what exactly your problem is with Kyogo Thou doth protest too often and excessively about the lad as if he ‘invented’ diving, and your constant ‘whining’ is getting tiresome – to me at any rate.
You don’t suffer from Japanophobia by any chance (in which case you will be forgiven – to some extent).
bect67 10th December 2021 At 15:58
Highlander @ various times!
Although you regularly make some good and thoughtful points, it behoves me to enquire as to what exactly your problem is with Kyogo Thou doth protest too often and excessively about the lad as if he ‘invented’ diving, and your constant ‘whining’ is getting tiresome – to me at any rate.
You don’t suffer from Japanophobia by any chance (in which case you will be forgiven – to some extent).
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Have you considered that any perceived ‘whining’ might just be your annoyance that somebody should have the temerity to be critical of a player from your club, especially as SFM is not in any way partisan. You could always do what most of the rest of us do and simply skip the posts/posters you dislike or disagree with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbIIezkK5lg
As for Japanophobia, I’ll leave you to nippon to Youtube and formulate your own slant on Kyogo’s inability to remain upright. I have no problems with either Japan or the Japanese.
I’m perfectly entitled to express my opinion and I fully endorse your right to hold the wrong one.
https://www.serpentsofmadonnina.com/2016/8/11/12427728/borussia-monchengladbach-vs-inter-milan-when-a-can-of-coke-saved-inter
“You’re right from your side and I’m right from mine …” (Bob Dylan)
Maybe that sums up our relative positions… and I fully endorse YOUR right to be wrong.
More seriously, I think your use of the racist word ‘nippon’ is egregious (in any context).
bect67 10th December 2021 At 17:45
More seriously, I think your use of the racist word ‘nippon’ is egregious (in any context).
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Oh FFS! So in your world, typing the former name of a country is forbidden? I’ve just spent ten minutes Googling the word and can find nothing that backs your argument.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/nippon
Next you’ll be claiming it’s offensive to eggs to use the word egregious. Before I crack, I’ll avoid tiptoeing on eggshells and end the discussion here rather than sidetracking the site.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC425159/filing-history
George Letham resigns position as a director of TRFC
Kenneth Barclay (accountant) and David Graham (DUP man) appointed
Letham one of the original 3 bears with 4.5m “invested” of which 1m came in just last month
Ally of Dave King
Trouble at mill?
Highlander
I think we could conclude by agreeing that you have a negative narrative about Kyogo which you wish to perpetuate, but, please, let’s not start trading You Tube videos !!! Something about ‘glass house’ comes to mind. The ‘wee man’ has certainly got inside your nut!
May I now have my final word? NIP (even on Google) is accepted as a derogatory term for a Japanese citizen. That was my point – but thank you for the educational input.
As for FFS – don’t swear at me boy!
So as your done, so am I. We, therefore, are dun!!
Big Pink 10th December 2021 At 15:04
‘.. tagging Strict Liability .’
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On ‘strict liability’ I’ve been trying to get my head round the suggestion that the concept of ‘strict liability’ could or should be applied to situations where those to be deemed subject to it could not REASONABLY be held responsible for the bad/criminal/disruptive behaviour of (perhaps) many hundreds of individuals gathered in a sports stadium.
Obviously, the operators of places of entertainment -night-clubs, theatres, sports arenas etc- have legal liabilities in respect of the physical safety of staff and patrons from injury or from harm arising from, say, safety deficiencies in premises, inadequate fire precautions, couldn’t-care-less staff/undisciplined staff , inadequate lighting and so on and so forth.
It cannot be right that , except in the most EXTREME cases , they can be held liable for the criminal actions of any or each and every member of the ‘audience’ who commits an offence on their premises.[An example of what might be extreme is given as being where an explosives factory is in a city centre, when the operators would have to be held ‘strictly liable’ in the event that anyone was able, intentionally or otherwise, to cause an explosion!]
Anyone remember the days when, the baddy in class not owning up and no one being foolish/brave enough to name the culprit, the whole class got the belt?
Or the vicious ancient Roman army practice of ‘decimation’ where as a lesson to every soldier when there had been serious indiscipline or ‘cowardice’, every TENTH MAN AT RANDOM was condemned to be slain by his immediate comrades, the guys he had fought alongside?
My spirit shrinks from such a wicked principle as punishment of the innocent!
However, my philosophical musings were cut short when I came across this other example of the application of the principle of ‘strict liability’.
“Keepers of species that are normally considered “wild” in that region are strictly liable for the harm these pets cause if they escape, whether or not the animal in question is known to be dangerous. Because such animals are known to revert to their natural tendencies, they are considered to be wild no matter how well trained or domesticated.”
And I’m only half-jesting when I say that I might just be able to see why and how strict liability might possibly be applied to operators of football clubs…
I need to think about that!
[In passing, I was dismayed to read of the death of Stephen O’Rourke QC. Not that I knew him personally, of course, or his family; but one of my sons is named Stephen, and he is of the same age, and if he were to die at that age…..
So, let me say ‘requiescat in pace’ [ which is not ‘Rest in Peace’ but ‘May he rest in peace’: i.e. not an order to him, but a pious request that he may rest in peace!]
Timtim 10th December 2021 At 21:57
“..and David Graham (DUP man) appointed”
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Well, the TRFC supporters will hope that he’ll be a whole lot more effective as a Director than he was as a PR man.
He’s got something to prove. Is he a shareholder to any great extent, with a personal financial stake in the new club?
Good spot, Timtim, btw.
These little changes are announced at times when the world is pre-occupied by other things.
Trouble at mill?
Almost certainly.
‘Rats in a sack’ thrown into the Clyde isn’t in it: in the meaning that it’s each man for himself, trusting nobody, but each having to find allies in the struggle.
[Not unique to RIFC plc, of course, but probably a daily occurrence in the boards of plc’s anywhere]
bect67 10th December 2021 At 22:08
Having this evening sampled a few glasses of vino collapso, I’d earlier strongly advised myself against replying to you, having previously typed what were intended at the time to be my final words on the matter.
However, you’ve left me with no alternative but to respond, in view of the absurdity of your most recent post.
“I think your use of the racist word ‘nippon’ is egregious (in any context),” said bect67.
“So in your world, typing the former name of a country is forbidden?” replied a bemused Highlander (Nippon is the former name of Japan in the same way that Alba is a former name of Scotland).
“NIP (even on Google) is accepted as a derogatory term for a Japanese citizen,” said bect67, quoting a word (“NIP”), that Highlander hadn’t used – in order to imply that he had used it, in a pathetic attempt to justify his totally inaccurate and false accusation.
That really is my final word on the matter, unless bect67 wants to embarrass himself any further?
Timtim 10th December 2021 At 21:57
‘..Kenneth Barclay (accountant) ..’
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Just so we know, Timtim: is it this Kenneth?
“Kenneth Barclay
Chair
Kenneth Barclay previously held the role of Chair, Scotland for the Royal Bank from 2012 to 2016. During his career he undertook numerous executive positions in Edinburgh, London, New York and Hong Kong. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.
On leaving RBS he chaired the Government initiated review of Non Domestic Rates.
He currently chairs The Lens, a SCIO Registered Charity, which aims to create and improve entrepreneurship with the third and public sectors. He is Chair of Social Investment Scotland and the Chair of Scottish Children’s Lottery.”
Some of us had serious questions to ask about Bank of Scotland/Lloyds some years ago: will we have questions to ask about former senior folk in Royal bank of Scotland on the board of a nine year old club claiming to be 149?
Albertz11 — 10th Dec 2021 — 9:46
So we have at least $1 million in the bank, and, perhaps another million if the team advances. Unknown is the hospitality, etc. Potentially 2.5 million versus the losses reported does not make much of a dent in the reported financials. What is unknown is the cost of participation in the tournament, travel, hotels, meals etc so the end number may not be as rosy as projected.
As an aside to the feel good factor for the team advancing a quick look at the overall standings show that 17 teams finished the group stages with more points than Rangers, and 3 finished with the same number of points. Ten teams finished with more points than Celtic and four were at the same level. I know each group was different but still is not a good reflection on Scottish football if you are basically middle of the overall pack. Just another way of looking at things without blue or green tinted spectacles.
vernallan 11th Dec 01.59
The losses you refer to are covered by investors, including this seasons shortfall, and as a result any monies gained from progression to the knockout stages is additional revenue the club haven’t budgeted for.
I would suggest that losing to Luxembourg’s fourth best team and a ranking of 265, to 3 successive qualifications to the knockout stages of the Europa League and a provisional ranking of 38 is worthy of praise.
As for your points comparison i could counter and say that Rangers total points last season (102) would have seen them crowned the champions of the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A.
I’m honest enough to say my blue tinted spectacles are well and truly on.
Timtim 10th December 2021 @ 2157hrs & 0956 this morning –
These are directorships of the football club, not the holding company which controls the football club. Changes in the board of TRFC are relatively meaningless as it’s the RIFC board that has all the power.
I suspect that Mr. Barclay has been brought on board for his connections in the licenced/hospitality areas, particularly as TRFC has a big birthday (!) coming up. Plenty of booze to be sold in the refurbished environs of Ibrox in the next year or so!
Jingso.Jimsie 11th December 2021 At 11:29
“…..as TRFC has a big birthday (!) coming up. Plenty of booze to be sold in the refurbished environs of Ibrox in the next year or so!”
ooooo
As it will be their 10th. birthday, I believe that would be inappropriate.
John Clark 10th December 2021 At 23:29
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Timtim 10th December 2021 At 21:57
“..and David Graham (DUP man) appointed”
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I’ve heard Mr Graham’s parents are very wealthy. They might not be disposed to throwing that wealth at a black hole in the Ibrox accounts, but then again they just might.
macfurgly 11th December 2021 At 14:22
‘…As it will be their 10th. birthday..’
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I expect that the SFA and SPFL will in due course ‘formalise’ their Big Lie by unblushingly and openly congratulating the lying club on its falsely claimed 150th birthday, as will, of course, the fawning succulent lamb eaters.
That such creatures should serve in offices of trust in the business of Sport or in ‘sports reporting’ disgusts me.
John Clark 11th December 2021 At 21:05
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I expect that the SFA and SPFL will in due course ‘formalise’ their Big Lie by unblushingly and openly congratulating the lying club on its falsely claimed 150th birthday, as will, of course, the fawning succulent lamb eaters.
That such creatures should serve in offices of trust in the business of Sport or in ‘sports reporting’ disgusts me.
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It just goes to show the cultural power ‘Rangers’ hold in Scotland. I can’t think of any other club who the authorities would do cartwheels for to claim they are the same club. The fact Hearts and Dunfermline fought tooth and nail to avoid liquidation says it all. Why bother if there is such an easy alternative route?
upthehoops 11th December 2021 At 21:38
‘..The fact Hearts and Dunfermline fought tooth and nail to avoid liquidation says it all.’
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Yes. Why doesn’t every failing club not simply refuse to pay its social taxes and other debts, get some duff , incompetent Administrators to handle the ‘Administration’ with the result that the club goes into Liquidation , if the club can carry on as before but free of debt?
I think that the FCA and the Insolvency people have something to answer for, in accepting the RIFC plc IPO Prospectus as being anything like a truthful document.
It is, in my opinion, absolutely plain that RIFC plc is not the holding company of the Rangers of 1872 football club which is sitting in Liquidation as RFC 2012 plc. And no one has produced any evidence that it is!
@upthehoops
I understand the wealth is with his in-laws and if that’s the case may not be easily accessible to him .
A what if scenario — What will the SFA do if Omicron forces a shut down of league play just before or just after the half way point of the season. The Blue Crew will be clamoring for a title , if they are still in first place, if they aren’t they will no doubt be looking for the season to be erased. What will the Green Group of. There is much more at stake with this potential shutdown with the riches of the CL possibly on offer.
VernAllen
I think reverting to matches in empty stadia is more likely than a shutdown, but even more likely is the effect Covid infections will have on all competitions.
Teams competing for divisional titles may well be hostage to an infection lottery, and the outcomes could be even more severe in cup competitions.
We may see requests for postponements all over the leagues and cups. The important thing will be how consistently rules are applied.
vernallen 12th December 2021 At 01:37
“..What will the SFA do if Omicron forces a shut down of league play just before or just after the half way point of the season.”
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Such a low opinion do I have of the moral values or moral/political courage of the SPFL, the SFA and the Scottish Government that I believe that nothing to do with public health considerations will be allowed to remove the possibility of TRFC winning their second Premier league title in a row!!
You see, once dishonesty has so denied Sports truth as to allow a 9 year old sports club to claim the sports achievements of a much older club that ceased to exist 9 years ago, it is impossible to have any trust in the governance of the Sport for as long as the untruth is fostered and maintained.
Lie will where necessary be heaped upon lie: it’s what liars have to do.
Big Pink 12th December 2021 At 11:11
‘..We may see requests for postponements all over the leagues and cups. The important thing will be how consistently rules are applied.’
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Do we know whether our football ‘governance bodies’ have a settled, agreed policies about precisely when and in reaction to what specific circumstances the season would be deemed to have ended if Coronavirus is as infectious as the medics appear to be saying?
Not every possible situation can be foreseen, of course, but is there any planning about the minimum number of leagues games that must be played for the season to be deemed to be completed and titles awarded rather than deemed to be written off, null and void, no titles ( or Scottish cup awarded ( or even League cup, if the new variant really takes off!)?
Would it be at all fair to let any team in the Premier league ‘win’ the League title because other contenders had been unable, because of covid, to play the same number of games?
Must there be a title winner?
I confess that I’m not aware of anything that has been officially announced by UEFA ?
If there has been, either I’ve missed it, or the SMSM has not thought it necessary to report it!
Been having a laugh on a skype from Oz from the granweans/son and daughter-in-law in Queensland, during which Boris was mentioned.
I’ve just sent a request to the FCA asking if they would kindly tell me what was the ‘holding company’ of company number SC004276, a company which entered Liquidation in October 2012.
It cannot be a state secret ( like maybe some Christmas parties) so I may get a response! Which of course might be an untruth!
[Honest to God, where are we at when we now EXPECT untruth from those whose wages we pay, whether directly through taxes or indirectly through paying at the turnstiles ( or tv equivalent)?]
My post of 23.25 above refers.
I have had the automatic response at 23.07:
“Thank you for e-mailing the Financial Conduct Authority’s Information Disclosure Team”
We’ll see what kind of reply might be forthcoming in the fullness of time.
I will of course report in due course!
And report truthfully!
Another weekend of moaning about calls, non-calls, and hoped for calls in Scottish football. Is it possible that the game has passed some of the current officials by and they are befuddled by tactics, ball movement etc. Is it possible their idea of how the game is played now as compared to years ago is affecting performances. Are they being influenced by the constant barrage of complaints from pundits, ex-players, etc. Why not take a look at officiating procedures in other sports leagues, a number of which have doubled the amount of referees working games so as to prolong their careers and provide an extra set of eyes on the action. The wear and tear of an official covering a soccer game (football) has to be a concern as they are continually covering the length of the field and are often left well behind the fast break of a team and while trying to catch up may be distracted by trying to cover all that’s going on.
From the Scotsman this morning –
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/rangers/hearts-0-2-rangers-extras-roy-makaays-long-chats-with-data-analysts-referees-stand-out-stats-that-paint-picture-3492231
‘Referee watch: Nick Walsh booked 11 players. Needless. There were some tackles that needed addressing, but it was not a dirty match, which is what the card count suggests. Furthermore, he has now refereed three Rangers matches this season and sent off an opposition player in each of them after Josh Ginnelly’s late dismissal for Hearts, and across all teams and competitions this season, he has red-carded eight players in 20 appearances.’
(Incidentally, the HoMFC manager thinks there were 13 YCs in the match. The BBC reports 11.)
Those statistics reflect poorly on Mr. Walsh & his ‘game management’. They indicate that, to some extent, the game got away from him. Is he really one of the best that Crawford Allan & the SFA can produce?
Re my post at 1111hrs –
The Scotsman appears to be incorrect. According to his page on Transfermarkt, Mr. Walsh has red-carded 9 players in his 20 appearances this season.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/nick-walsh/profil/schiedsrichter/8413/saison/2021/wettbewerb_id//plus/1
At least UEFA had the cojones to admit publicly to making a mistake and correcting it timeously .
paddy malarkey 13th December 2021 At 13:53
‘..At least UEFA had the cojones to admit publicly to making a mistake and correcting it..’
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Well, pm, I reckon it’s a whole lot easier for UEFA officials to admit that an accidental mistake has been made and take steps to correct it immediately than for our SFA to own up to having deliberately and calculatedly adopted a policy of lying, creating the ridiculous 5-Way Agreement and binding [the all too willing ] adopters of the lying policy by an NDA, such was their guilty fear of the truth ever being exposed.
[It will be, of course, in the fullness of time, when some signatory to the ‘Agreement’ fancies getting a few bob by coming clean in ‘a book’ written from his death-bed dictation in order to get a few bob for his family, and to claim that he personally ‘never done anything wrong’ but was forced into agreeing !]
Uefa officials are not protected by the general run of newspapers/journalists in Europe to anything like the same ‘degree’ as are the SFA and the 5-Way Agreement by the wretched, truth-denying hacks of the SMSM.
And as a certain Graham EBT something or other was wont to say: ‘that’s for sure’
https://twitter.com/Chris_Jack89/status/1470521791160504337
Apparently Dave wants to come back again . What is it they say about bad pennies? Problem for Dave is that opinion is split on the board and with the fans as to whether his return would be of value. His cold shoulder status is still active , his company is still in dire straights , the Sth African economy is not in a good place and the likelihood is that his intent is to take cash out the club* than put it in. He does though remain the largest shareholder and if he can muster enough support from others then Park may not be able to stop him. The question must be why does he want back ? Is he missing the attention and adulation , does he sense the CL money could make the difference or is he intent on stopping his shareholding being diluted by other board members. I’m sure the reason is first and foremost for his benefit rather than what he can do for the club* . Maybe he’s just realised it’s better to be inside the gazebo pissing out than outside pissing in .
Timtim 14th December 2021 At 00:04
‘…I’m sure the reason is first and foremost for his benefit rather than what he can do for the club*’
%%%%%%
The boy from the ‘mulk seems to me to have an extraordinary ability to piss bifurcatively, in two separate and opposite streams!
And, curiously, both streams seem to spray simultaneously on the 500 million!
I love it when the bad guys fall out with each other.
Me too JC , I cannot see anything harmonious on the horizon here . King voting against Park Jr is a public slap that father and son will not take kindly to . With club 1872* unable to buy his shares King is left with few options . Selling them on the open market just isn’t going to happen (see recent share issue for details) so trying to force current board members to buy him out seems like his only option . On the plus side the price has gone up from 20p to 25p per share ……… Worth reminding ourselves that King urged people to vote against the CVA in 2012 and is possibly one of the few who knows where the deeds really are as well as all the bodies . All we need is Mike Ashley to finally turn up with a ring fencing order and the party can begin
As expected, Brother Walsh proved to be the safe pair of hands required for 3 points at Tynecastle on Sunday. Hearts denied a stone-wall penalty when Goldson standing in his own 6-yard box, used his hand to deflect a cross to safety.
Although I expected Halkett or Haring to be the redcardee, (both were booked) it fell to Ginelly to be the victim of the Walsh trigger finger. Incredibly, Brother Walsh has sent of a Rangers opponent in 5 of his last 7 games involved. No wonder he’s climbing the ranks.
Even more remarkable, it is now 102 weeks since a Rangers player was red-carded by a Scottish referee. One might be mistaken for thinking they are angels but of course they had 4 players sent off in their first 6 European ties this season, which suggests something else.
Meanwhile, along the M8, Euan Anderson was doing his utmost for Motherwell to get something at Celtic. An early James Forrest goal-bound toe-poke diverted 5 feet round the post by the excellent Kelly in goal for M’well, decision goal kick. Still within the first quarter of the match, twice Celtic broke out of defense only to have the player in possession cynically fouled a M’well player. Stonewall yellow card fouls except of course in 2 scenarios;
The offending player is wearing a The rangers strip
The offending player is playing against Celtic.
This refereeing performance was a mix of shocking anti-Celtic bias and sheer incompetence in decisions for both teams. Mr Anderson’s “punishment” for such an inept display? The rangers at home v St Johnston tomorrow. I wonder how that game will go???
Honestly, the Scottish referees performances would be less farcical if Brian Rix ran onto the pitch and dropped his trousers every week.
My post of 12th December 2021 At 23:41 refers:
Here is the reply to my query to the FCA:
“FCA – Individuals Inbox consumer.queries@fca.org.uk
To:
Tue, 14 Dec at 14:21
Dear …
Thank you for your recent Freedom of information request form via email, that’s been passed to me as best placed to respond to you.
I understand you ask what is the ‘holding company’ of company number SC004276, which entered Liquidation in October 2012.
Our remit
We’re responsible for authorising firms offering financial services and products to consumers in the UK. For example, a firm dealing in investments would have to comply with our rules. However, I think it’s important to be clear with you in that Companies House is operationally separate from us and so I strongly suggest you contact them directly for assistance with your query and you can do so by clicking the name hyperlink.
I trust this information is helpful and wish you the best going forward.”
Silly me!?
Well, I’ll fire off an email to Companies House , although I seem to remember getting some kind of crap response ( on a different matter) from there a couple of years ago that made me think not too highly of them.
normanbatesmumfc 14th December @ 13.37
More about the Brothers with Whistles ‘fraternity’ …
“We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive Rangers* columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views” (Ibrox News).
(At least that explains his recent agenda loaded, anti-Celtic ‘drivel’, and clears up my confusion as to why he would spout such , whats the fancy word, oh yes p***).
“The referee has been confirmed for Rangers* v St Johnstone (Euan Anderson) and the Gers* have an outstanding record when he’s in charge”. (Rangers News).
Nuff said! Now go to the top of the class Euan!
normanbatesmumfc 14th December @ 13.37
“The referee has been confirmed for Rangers* v St Johnstone (Euan Anderson) and the Gers* have an outstanding record when he’s in charge”. (Rangers News).
Personally, I would hope that the gentleman concerned fails to live up to the standard clearly expected of him – on this occasion.
bect67 15th December 2021 At 11:21
‘..(At least that explains his recent agenda loaded, anti-Celtic ‘drivel’, and clears up my confusion as to why he would spout such , whats the fancy word, oh yes p***).’
%%%%%%%%
What, I wonder, explains this appalling example of poor, very fundamentally poor, newspaper reporting?
From today’s ‘The Scotsman’:
” ..The 66-year-old [i.e. King] said ‘ Now that my business interests in South Africa have been stabilised following the devastations of Covid, I have advised the board of RIFC plc that I am available to re-join the board and offer my services to the further development of the club. I remain the largest shareholder shareholder of RIFC and look forward to many years of service to the club and, most importantly, to its supporters.’
King’s statement of intent comes after George Letham stepped down as director, with Kenny Barclay and David Graham stepping up. Graham, who held a role as head of communications at the club, moves up to communications director, while Barclay will take up a position as finance director.”
What a useless toss-pot of a hack must he be who wrote that report?
Or did he knowingly and deliberately , like King, fudge the sharp distinction between the Board of TRFC and the Board of RIFC plc, to keep the pretence up that the RIFC board is somehow the board of a ‘continuity Rangers of 1872’ that somehow is still operating in Scottish Football , and sitting in Liquidation awaiting dissolution?
Either way, I think that, like many of his colleagues, he is nothing but a propagandist whom the ICIJ would never in a month of Sundays acknowledge as a serious ‘journalist’
[And what , incidentally, are we meant to make of the idiocy of the SFA which would allow someone whom they might consider as ‘not a fit and proper person to be a director of football club’ to become a director of the board of the holding company which controls every aspect and action of football club?]
@JohnClark
Might be of interest to you.
https://innertemplelibrary.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f51e5fed7ee077ceafefec323&id=6d391ef572&e=bc70fa8710
Think it’s another loss to the TRFC Ltd
Right now, the BBC main online page has the headline “Rangers stretch lead with win….” A*seholes! Hope they’re hurting now both games have finished.
dom16 15th December 2021 At 20:02
‘..Might be of interest to you…’
%%%%%%%
Just this minute saw your post, dom16: I’ve been regularly dipping in to Baillii , but missed that judgment, which I will now read with interest, and thank you for spotting it!
nawlite
How about this from Mail Online ( at 21.48)? …
‘Visitors drop more points in Scottish Premiership title race’
Premature, lazy, lazy reporting and incompetence from someone whose job it was to update the ‘desk’? Ye couldnae make it up – oh, wait a minute, the reporter jist did!
As President of the Paranoid Celtic Supporters Association, I demand to know his/her name – and that ‘heads roll’!
My post of 15th December 2021 At 22:19 refers.
I clearly have not read the whole judgment: I jumped immediately to the
“Conclusion
For the reasons explained above, I allow SDIR’s application for an order under paragraph 18 of CPR PD51U for the disclosure of the Castore Agreement, as well as the Castore Quarterly Statements (to include documents containing the accompanying information within the meaning discussed above) for the 2020-2021 season, but not the Quarterly Statement for the first quarter of the 2021-2022 season.”
And I comment : not only the PR function at Ibrox makes a hames of things: their legal advisers seem not to be all that good at estimating their chances of winning in Court!
Or, in fairness, perhaps Counsel may be unable to persuade their thick-headed clients of the relative weakness of their case, and bowing to their wishes, does the best he can. No skin off his nose!
I will now read the whole judgment to get to understand the issues ( as if!)
bect67 15th December 2021 At 22:46
‘.How about this from Mail Online ( at 21.48)? …
‘Visitors drop more points in Scottish Premiership title race’
%%%%%%%
I refer you to Shakespeare’s “King Henry IV:
‘Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought:..’
That line is considered to be the origin of the phrase ‘the wish is father to the thought’.
Whatever else about Shakespeare personally, he had human nature sussed to a T.
The Mail-on-line writer sounds to me a bit like the Kenny McIntyres and the other Sportsound chaps [ honourable exception , the man who shared his taxi in Paris with my younger son in World Cup 1998] who always sound eager to report bad news about Celtic at every turn, while happily propagating the myth ( at licence -payers expense!) that TRFC are the same club that they fondly remember as being Rangers of 1872!
May their quills run dry and their accreditation cards as ‘journalists’ be revoked!
Honest to God!
I await a shedload of comments about how it took 97 minutes for a bluenose-biased ref to help defeat 10 man Ross County…
This should be an end to whataboutery.
The bigger clubs get the breaks, purely by chance.
Utter tosh fishnish!
The added time was primarily due to Starfeldt receiving treatment for a lengthy spell. Treatment for being forcefully elbowed in the face! A head injury which should according to the rules, have resulted in play being stopped, but Ross County and the blue-nosed MIB decided otherwise. Starfeldt’s protestations at Muir and his fellow officials selective vision resulted in a yellow card, while the thug wielding the elbow escaped punishment.
Was it deliberate or accidental, debatable, but the officials handling of the incident was deplorable and once again to the advantage of Celtic’s opponents. Given there were other time-wasting incidents, (where strangely a ball could not be located for a restart??) and a number of substitutions, the added time was justified.
The winning goal could have course been scored earlier, when a County player in his own penalty area, used an out-stretched elbow to block a McGregor shot. A stonewall penalty for The rangers, but alas, not for Celtic. It’s almost like the MIBs know VAR is coming and are doing their utmost to squeeze in as much bias as they can, prior to its introduction, when they will need to limit their bias to “too close to call” anti-Celtic decisions.
Great spot dom16.
It would appear, having already won their compensation case, (further deliberations on quantum of damages discussed) against The rangers deal with Hummel, SDIR are now going after the Castore deal and associated loss of profits!!
Oh dear, they can only kick this down the road for so long but at some point, The rangers are going to have to stump up. With each passing week/month they continue to work with a retail partner, without having given SDIR matching rights opportunity, the higher the compensation costs will be.
Just like the first Rangers club who were told they would need to settle outstanding tax liabilities due to improperly run tax-avoidance schemes, the need for cash is so desperate, they carry on regardless with heads buried in the sand. I can just picture The rangers BoD at their meetings when SDIR compensation claim comes up as an agenda item. Sitting with their fingers in their ears singing la la la to themselves.
The Scottish Government and HMRC are also propping up this financial basket-case, which will no doubt end badly. “We are The people, we’ll do things our way!!”
fishnish
I think the TU/TD will tell you most of what the ‘community’ thinks about your most recent ‘stirring’ post (couldn’t resist that mini comment from myself!). In a constructive and positive way, that has served me well in the past (learning points etc) at any rate- enabling me to appreciate other views.
normanbatesmumfc 16th December 2021 At 10:40
“. Sitting with their fingers in their ears singing la la la to themselves.”
%%%%%%
That observation threw me back to Para 30(7) of the judgment, which is ‘Rangers’ rebuttal of the assertion by SDRI that some documents are ‘adverse’ to SDRI and known by ‘Rangers’ to be so:
“(7) The Castore Documents are not known adverse documents. They are not adverse to Rangers’ case. Indeed, they are not relevant to the pleaded issues at all. Alternatively, if they are adverse, that is not known to Rangers, which believed at all material times (and continues to believe) that the Castore Documents are not relevant to the pleaded issues.”
I personally would not place any reliance on the stated belief of the Directors of RIFC plc about any matter whatsoever – because they believe and loudly assert their belief that RIFC plc is the holding company of Rangers FC of 1872.
If they can believe that , they are either credulous fools or…..something else.
And in contrast to the jubilation earlier in the year when ‘Rangers’ had a part win against ‘Ashley’, I haven’t seen any mention in the SMSM of the present judgment.
normanbatesmumfc 14th December 2021 At 13:37
“Honestly, the Scottish referees performances would be less farcical if Brian Rix ran onto the pitch and dropped his trousers every week”.
Sorry if this has been covered. I don’t have time at the moment to scroll back.
What about Madden’s performance at Celtic Park recently v Hearts.
Firstly, I have no problem with the goal (Yes it looked offside but it was tight and that wasn’t Maddens fault, the linesman is surely responsible). This one actually directly evened it self out. Celtic had a perfectly good goal chalked off at Tynie earlier this season.
But to make up a rule that doesn’t exist and then implement it (the Jota injury) is baffling.
Of course no one at the SPFL has explained why Madden did what he did. Or whether he was punished (no laughing at the back).
The BBC and The Rangers have famously fallen out.
But you just know that if they (TR) allowed Chris McLaughlin(?) back then the BBC would jump through hoops to accommodate them as if nothing had ever happened.
I watched the recent The Rangers match v Hearts at Ibrox on The Rangers TV.
Joe Aribo, probably their best player this season, was only booked for a straight leg, studs up, over the ball challenge on Heart’s Cammy Devlin which got him just below the knee.
Even Alex Rae suggested that Aribo was lucky to escape a red card and suggested that it might be one for the compliance officer.
But guess what, the BBC didn’t show the tackle on Sportscene therefore the compliance officer didn’t get involved….. and Aribo doesn’t cop a 2 game ban
So, does anyone know how the system works. Is the CO only allowed to watch footage that was shown on the BBC. Could you send him evidence from a Club TV station or Youtube?
Obviously not.
HS
Coming back for a minute to the recent court judgment: is there anyone on this blog who could begin to sketch out for us what might be the kind of volumes of merchandising that were sold by Elite and Hummel , the revenues therefrom that SDRI might eventually calculate as representing what they want in damages?
I note that about £20M is stated in the Celtic plc annual report as attributable to ‘merchandising’.
Now, at an idle moment and on a wet day, I’ve been in the Celtic store at Celtic Park.
I assume that the kind of stock there is what every club may have in its own colours etc ,to some degree or other, and that’s the stuff that is ‘merchantise’
I think we know[ I haven’t checked the detail] that CG was heavily criticised for the lousy contract he had made with Elite and Hummel under which TRFC got a smallish percentage of the profits from ‘merchandising’.
But, of course, what matters is not how much TRFC got, but how much SDRI WOULD have got if RIFC plc had not been in breach of contract!
Now, if Celtic plc’s ‘merchandising’ could produce some £20M of revenue, what revenues might 500 million fans ,eagerly buying ‘taps'[at what, 60 quid a pop?] etc at ‘Rangers’ shops, webstore and what-not , have produced for SDRI?
The mind boggles at the prospect of SDRI being able to claim even a quite smallish fraction of £20 million.
It would be useful to hear the views of someone who knows something about that world.
Is this what RIFC plc may be facing- a claim for damages in perhaps ten-plus millions of pounds: which not even the most generous lender could contemplate meeting?
The trial is set, I think, for June of next year, so perhaps the verdict would be given during the close season.
If RIFC plc were to lose, they would be bust by the start of season 22/23- and if by chance they had won the League this present season, they’d be out of the game, in Administration heading for Liquidation, and any CL monies they might earn in the early rounds of the CL would not be enough pay their debts.
Then all the fun and games would begin again.
And Goebbelsianism would again be the philosophy of the SMSM.
A MINIMUM of 6 minutes injury time will be played , this is of course to ensure that injuries and time wasting that occur during injury time is added on to the injury time so when the multitudes of fans and journalists on social media were pointing out that Ralston scoring with 6 minutes and 5 seconds on the clock was the ref conspiring to ensure Celtic were being favoured they are merely showing their ignorance of the rules . My favourite response of the night was one twitter user saying “ffs they’re moaning about 5 extra seconds being added to a game, this coming from people who added 140 years to their history.
@JC 22:52
I believe the merchandising is a lower figure than Celtic but a figure of 10m+ had been mentioned as what Ashley could expect but as time rolls on that figure may be getting higher and of course a rate of interest would be added for the delay. If Ashley is also due what Castore has been selling then the increased sales due to the league win euphoria could be the icing on the cake. It may part explain the attempted return of King , if he believes Ashley may sink the ship he wants as much control as possible. Would he vote against a cva , set up another sevco holding company and buy the stadium on the cheap using a frontman . Surely they couldn’t do it all again !!
Higgy’s Shoes 16th December 2021 At 18:36
‘..So, does anyone know how the system works. Is the CO only allowed to watch footage that was shown on the BBC. Could you send him evidence from a Club TV station or Youtube?
Obviously not.’
%%%%
Yes, that is a fundamental question: on what basis of evidence is a Compliance Officer empowered to raise a ‘complaint’?
The Protocol is by no means clear on the point, as far as my quite serious reading of it goes.
Clearly, football ‘justice’ cannot depend on whether the CO attends a particular match in person, or watches a particular TV live broadcast of a match!
That would be a nonsense, and perhaps the SFA should publish/explain more fully exactly what it is that the CO uses as his/her reasons for raising a ‘complaint’?
Timtim 16th December 2021 At 23:19
‘.. It may part explain the attempted return of King , if he believes Ashley may sink the ship he wants as much control as possible.’
%%%%%%
Timtim, I will not claim to have made that immediate connection with the guy from ra ‘mul’k- credit to you.
When you think about it, anything that that wretch CG could do and get away with, our wretched Dave could certainly do, in the certain knowledge that any new club he set up after the liquidation of RIFC plc and TRFC would be instantly recognised as RFC of 1872 by our already forsworn , lying football governance bodies!
Oh, lord: there could be an infinite number of deceased RFCs of 1872 !
Honest to God!
What a deeply, deeply, deeply compromised ‘governance’ of Scottish Football we have.
JC,
“I think we know[ I haven’t checked the detail] that CG was heavily criticised for the lousy contract he had made with Elite and Hummel under which TRFC got a smallish percentage of the profits from ‘merchandising’.”
IIRC, CG set up the lousy deal with Sports Direct as Ashley was prepared to be the “lender of last resort” when no one else, (quite rightly) would lend them “one thin dime” to coin a (Bunnet) phrase. In the ensuing years there was much gnashing of teeth at the pittance The rangers were getting from the deal, hence the “settlement” with Ashley paying him handsomely to get out of said contract and getting some other mug to buy his shares at a premium.
Triumphed as a great The rangers win in the press, although the “matching clause” in the termination agreement did not make the news until further down the line when the Elite/Hummel deal was arranged, (by the SA career criminal rather that the Yorkshire con man).
Ashley as we know has already won the case re the Elite/Hummel circus, the quantum of his compensation still to be decided. He is now after the Castore deal and each passing day, with every piece of merchandise sold, the potential award for compensation on that deal increases. Desperate for the money now, they plough on regardless. Gross mismanagement if you ask me.
As to quantum?? I believe I read somewhere, they had trumpeted sales of 250,000 strips in their accounts. I don’t know if that’s correct and would not believe a word in that tissue of lies but if it was; 250,000 x say £40 profit = £10m. Ashley’s share would I’m sure be at least half of that. Then multiply by the years in operation and add-on the Elite/Hummel dues and we are looking at an eight figure compensation, plus interest.
I doubt Ashley will push for payment until at least they have won the league title this season and borrowed their way to a Champions League group stage place. He’ll have a better chance of getting paid then, although the queue for pay out could by then be down to the Paisley Road!!!!
normanbatesmumfc 17th December 2021 At 12:12
‘..IIRC, CG set up the lousy deal with Sports Direct,,’
%%%
Thank you for that helpful clarification, nbmfc.
As far as Castore is concerned, though, aren’t they in the clear because SDRI was given the option to match, but declined, and have no quarrel with Castore and no claim on them?
I think all SDRI wanted is information from Castore about their sales, prices and revenue so that they could estimate what SDRI’s sales revenue would have been if they had chosen to take the contract when they could have, and on that figure work (by experts!) calculate howmuch they should claim in damages.
[I don’t think Castore will lose, because they seem not to have done anything wrong.But
whether Elite/Hummel can be faulted for not making sure that RIFC plc was not breaching an existing contract might be another matter.
None of them did themselves any favour by doing business with the Del- boys, that’s for sure!]
Is the reason SDRI didn’t match the Castore deal because behind the Castore curtains is Mike Ashley pulling their strings? Also is their future litigation between Hummel/ Elite and TRFC/RIFC expected ? As for the ongoing and escalating health crisis how damaging will a closed doors situation be for all clubs ? questions questions questions
Should it come to pass , heaven forfend, then professional football should no longer be cossetted and insulated from the natural economic downturn of pandemic restrictions.No more tax breaks, no more special allowances. It is high time for a leavening and especially for the English premier league, distorted as it is by leveraged buyouts and unsavoury investors allied to Skytv and the media in general trumpeting ‘the best league in the world’ .Football supporters have been shafted and ripped off for more than twenty years now. Ticket prices rocket rather than being subsidised by tv revenue and the game becomes ever more distant from the fan…..aaannd breathe.
Apologies for the ‘rant’ but my better half just sticks her fingers in her ears and goes La La La. Reminds me of a certain board of directors.
Timtim 17th December 2021 At 20:18
‘… is their future litigation between Hummel/ Elite and TRFC/RIFC expected ?’
%%%%%%
Yes, Timtim:
From para 7 of the judgment the other day (the ‘disclosure judgment of 13 December):
“The hearing of the application has been expedited given that the documents, if disclosed, are said to be relevant for consideration by the parties’ experts, whose reports are to be served in February/March 2022, before the trial fixed for June 2022.”
As regards Ashley and a connection with Castore, I don’t think there is one. He’s not any kind of shareholder of J Carter Sporting Club Ltd ( which is the company that trades as Castore)
@JC just found it strange that Ashley would sign up to this (before he sold the club)
Castore, the rapidly expanding British sportswear group, has agreed a multi-year partnership with Premier League football club Newcastle United FC. The landmark agreement will see Castore become the club’s new on and off-field partner, from the start of the 2021-22 season.
Including the costs associated with the death of the first club, Have any other organisations robbed our country as much as Rangers and Sevco?
https://planetradio.co.uk/clyde/sport/football-news/rangers-legal-bills/
Corrupt official 18th December 2021 At 12:20
‘…Including the costs associated with the death of the first club, Have any other organisations robbed our country as much as Rangers and Sevco?’
%%%%%%%%
In my opinion, Corrupt Official, the 5-Way Agreement was deliberate denial of truth, by
frightened/ or partsisan (or both) so-called Governance bodies. It was not ‘incompetence’.
And farcical pretendy ‘prosecution’?
If that was due to mere incompetence, by heaven, heads should roll in several areas of public life. There’s no sign that I can see of that happening soon.
Is there a parallel situation in football history? -a botched Administration (happily found and proved to be so by two sterling Liquidators, honour to them),and an utterly ‘botched’, from beginning to end, prosecution of persons accused of fraudulent purchase of a football club?
John Clark 18th December 2021 At 13:43
Corrupt official 18th December 2021 At 12:20
%%%%%%%%
In my opinion, Corrupt Official, the 5-Way Agreement was deliberate denial of truth, by
frightened/ or partsisan (or both) so-called Governance bodies. It was not ‘incompetence’.
I couldn't agree with you more John. A successful prosecution was never going to come about, because the natural conclusion of it would be the annulment of Sevco, as it was born of a criminal construct.
If they were to go down they would not be going alone. The simple defence tactic of, "Put us in the stand, and we will openly and honestly tell the courts (and the public) who did what and why!", was all it took for the powers that be to keich their drawers.
It was a much needed distraction at the time though. Without it a lot of angry bears would be demanding answers of those who would rather remain two steps removed.
Giving them a kiddy on club and something to shout back at Timmy, bought their appeasement.
Much like the raging bull attacking a red cape is distracted from the matador.
It does pose the question, Why is having an element of control over that fan-base so important to the fabric of Scottish society, that atrocities were indulged from levels above the jurisdiction and “powers” of the SFA?
They say every day is a school day. Over the past few days I’ve learned that you can only catch Covid at Hampden Park when Celtic are playing Hibs in the League Cup Final. Firstly on Thursday Professor Jason Leitch said on Radio Scotland he is “really worried” about the League Cup Final, in particular the fact that fans will be travelling on packed supporters buses, public transport buses, and trains. Then the esteemed journalist Graham Spiers took to Twitter yesterday to voice the same concern, while admitting he would be at the game himself. Tonight the Right Honourable Ian Blackford MP added his voice to the debate on Twitter, asking why the SPFL are not postponing the game. Three intelligent men, who bizarrely all chose to focus only on one game. I do know that there has been close on 100,000 people within Ibrox these past four days, and I am willing to bet that many travelled there on on packed supporters buses, public transport buses, and trains. Maybe Covid is selective in who it targets…every bit as selective as the three I’ve mentioned who really should have thought about what they’re writing.
Timtim 18th December 2021 At 09:55
‘..just found it strange that Ashley would sign up to this (before he sold the club).’
%%%%%%%
I’m not any kind of businessman,Timtim, and hearing in recent times of levels of mucky behaviour in the government/big business world as well as the dirty wee doings of lesser businessmen in earlier times, nothing would surprise me! [ If I thought about often enough, I’d begin to question which crooked business people may be profiting from any little purchases I make!]
Castore , however, as a relatively new start-up in the huge world-wide market that there is in sports goods etc, has certainly got off to a good start in building up its brand name.
Perhaps the possibility of buying into it and swallowing it up, might have been in the back of Ashley’s mind?
But now that Ashley is away from NFC there isn’t even the connection of a club/Castore business deal?
Who knows, though? Maybe son-in-law and ‘heir’ to Ashley will be watching Castore as well as other competitors in the field?
[ And, whether a word of Castore’s advertising is true or not( and I’m not saying it’s not] it is very good -nothing brash, moderate in tone, one might say ‘dignified’ with the subtle suggestion that it’s not just better athletes, but somehow a better class of people who buy their stuff!]
upthehoops 18th December 2021 At 20:09
‘..Three intelligent men, who bizarrely all chose to focus only on one game.’
%%%%%%%%
Come now, UTH, you must surely know that being ‘intelligent’ is not in itself a guarantee that one is virtuous?
I mean, come on, Blackford is a politician, for heavens sake! and Speirs is a jobbing journalist!-the two most suspect ‘professions’ in the view of most people .
As for the Prof, well, he is an Airdrie man, so maybe some allowances can be made for him! He’s got some ground to make up to catch up with the Nobel Prize winner frae Murrerwell, honoured guest at Ibrox!
[ And the Nobel prize-winner did not win his prize by ignoring the objective evidence, the way he seems to have ignored the objective evidence of the Liquidation of RFC of 1872! Perhaps he does not understand, for all his intelligence, that Truth is indivisible?]
John Clark 18th December 2021 At 21:40
Come now, UTH, you must surely know that being ‘intelligent’ is not in itself a guarantee that one is virtuous?
I mean, come on, Blackford is a politician, for heavens sake! and Speirs is a jobbing journalist!-the two most suspect ‘professions’ in the view of most people .
As for the Prof, well, he is an Airdrie man, so maybe some allowances can be made for him!
+++++++++++++++
I know John, but surely some joined up thinking wouldn’t go amiss? If you are going to go public and say you are worried about a large scale football match, or that you don’t think it should go ahead, then to ignore the fact that two near 50,000 crowds attended games in the same city within a space of four days gives rise to conspiracy theories that might not even exist. I see many on Twitter saying tonight that Blackford is a Hibs fan. I do hope he is not going near the game! Spiers has also said he is attending, but I’m sure Covid knows to stay away from the good people of the Scottish Media.
On a more serious note I had Covid in November, and I would not wish it on anyone. I still have some residual effects of it, and my GP reckoned if I wasn’t double jabbed I may well have been in hospital. I now have my booster. If Politicians, Journalists and the National Clinical Director want to go public with concerns I support them. However, to be selective in what they are concerned about is just plain stupid and we are entitled to expect better.