Is Stewart Regan, Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Football Association a DIDDY?
Disingenuous: Incompetent: Dishonest: Duped? You decide.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Scottish Football Monitor sorority/fraternity jury, who want an honest game, honestly governed, are invited to pass judgement on Stewart Regan, the CEO of the SFA.
The main stream media are finally asking questions of Regan’s performance in that role, but based on a rather shallow (by comparison to what he has presided over) single issue of the recruitment of a national team coach, and not his character.
Maybe we can help the three monkeys media men (you know who they are) push for change at the SFA. How? By highlighting for them the appropriate response to Regan’s performance on the basis of what follows if he really is a DIDDY.
Disingenuous is defined as:
not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.
Evidence of such can be found in the written exchanges with the SFA that Celtic initiated on 27th July, and continued on 18 August, 21 August, 4th September and 7th September 2017; and published on the Celtic web site with SFA agreement at http://cdn.celticfc.net/assets/downloads/SFA_Correspondence.pdf
This from the SFA letter of 18th August 2017:
Comment: the statements are not alleged, they are a matter of court record and if untrue represent perjury.
…. And then this from subsequent SFA letter of 4th September 2017
Both paras give the impression that the SFA were unaware that Rangers had accepted the liability without question before 31st March 2011. Yet the SFA’s attention was drawn to this fact in July 2015 by lawyers acting on behalf of Celtic shareholders as follows:
- Our information in respect of this £2.8M in unpaid tax is that Rangers PLC had been alerted in November 2010 by HMRC that they would be pursuing payment of this exact sum.
- From that date onwards, the Directors of Rangers PLC should have known there was a potential liability to HMRC for back taxes specifically relating to payments made to Tore Andre Flo and Ronald De Boer. These sums became an accepted liability in March 2011.
- Matters had been brought to a head on 23 February 2011 when HMRC presented Rangers with a written case for payment of back tax owed in respect of Flo and De Boer. As your department may well be aware, that case for payment involved hitherto undisclosed side letters which were found to be an adjunct to their declared and disclosed contracts of employment.
- Those contracts of employment were, of course, disclosed to the Scottish Football authorities (including the SFA) as part of the necessary compliance procedures followed by all clubs and demanded by both the SFA and UEFA.
- Additionally when replying to the initial enquiries by HMRC in 2005 regarding these alleged side letters and ancillary agreements, the then Group Tax Manager of Murray International Holdings (MIH) acting for Rangers PLC on tax matters, apparently advised HMRC that no such agreements or side letters existed.
- It ultimately proved that these representations to HMRC were completely untrue and without foundation. The tax Inspectors concerned in turn saw these false misrepresentations as being an attempt to simply hide the true financial position and an attempt to avoid paying the taxes which were lawfully due on the contracts of the players concerned.
- As mentioned earlier, Rangers PLC accepted liability on 21st March 2011 for unpaid tax having taken legal advice on the matter.
- In turn, HMRC then chose to formally pursue payment of the back taxes and penalties in relation to these two players, all in terms of HMRC’s debt recovery procedures under what is known as regulation 80.
- Prior to 31st March 2011, there was clear knowledge within Rangers Football Club of the liability to make payment for these back taxes and, as can be seen from the attached documentation, by 20th May 2011 HMRC had served formal assessments and demands on Rangers PLC for the sums concerned.
The impression given by Regan’s reply to Celtic is that the first time the SFA were aware there might be an issue on granting was in June 2017 as result of testimony at the Craig Whyte trial. This is clearly not the case and the only explanation that would clear Regan of being disingenuous is a that he was incompetent as in not knowing what the SFA already had in their possession, however a bit more on being disingenuous before looking at incompetency.
The above extract of the exchange of 4th September where Regan mentions Celtic being satisfied on the UEFA Licence 2011 issue was challenged by Celtic on 7th September 2017 as follows:
“on the matter of the Licensing Decision in 2011 it is not accurate to describe Celtic as having been “satisfied” at any stage. Like everyone else we were in a position of responding on the basis of information available to us. In correspondence, Celtic raised continuing concerns as did a number of Celtic shareholders.”
In dealing with the Celtic shareholders the SFA and Regan appeared keen to welcome from the early days of correspondence that only the process after granting i.e. the monitoring phase of June and September was being questioned and not the granting itself. That was the case initially but as new information emerged in respect of what UEFA judged to be an overdue payable, upheld by the Court of Arbitration on Sport in 2013, focus swung back in 2016 to the significance of what the SFA had been told by the Res 12 lawyer in July 2015. However the emphasis the SFA put on shareholders accepting the grant was in order was puzzling at the time. The suspicion since is that the SFA did not want the circumstances around the granting investigated and the SFA and Regan were being disingenuous in their attempts to keep that aspect under wraps. especially when their defence of not acting as required in 2011 was based around when the SFA responsibilities on granting ended and UEFA’s on monitoring began. (for more on that read the Incompetence charge)
In response to a separate point in Regan’s letter of 18th August about the QC advice on there not being a rule in place at the time to use to sanction Rangers or the limited sanctions available to a Judicial Panel, Peter Lawwell responded on 21st August to Regan’s disingenuousness as follows:
” In your letter you refer to advice from Senior Counsel that;
‘there was very little chance of the Scottish FA succeeding in relation to any compliant regarding this matter and that, even if successful, any sanctions available to a Judicial Panel would be very limited in their scope.’
As I said in my last letter Celtic considers that this misses the point. The fact that disciplinary sanctions may not be secured is in our view not a reason for Scottish football to ignore the opportunity to review and possibly learn lessons from the events in question.”
Although they didn’t refer to it in that reply of 21st August, Celtic could have pointed out the following catch all rule in existence in 2011 (and presumably earlier) under Article 5 in SFA handbook.
5. Obligations and duties of Members (where all members shall)
5.1 Observe the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship in accordance with the rules of fair play.
This Article could have been used to demonstrate sporting dishonesty by Rangers FC. However by recognising this Regan would be on a collision course with an issue that he wanted to avoid at all costs;
whom to sanction? Rangers FC? The Rangers FC? Those currently at The Rangers FC who were officials or on the Board of Rangers FC in 2011?
Consequently, the SFA chose to hide behind QC advice – but to protect whom? Not the integrity of the game. Here is a suggestion to restore it:
That the Rangers FC admit that the trophies won in the EBT years were won as a result of clear wrongdoing (the wrongdoing Regan was so desperate to say never occurred – see later), and that The Rangers give them up. Surrendering them is not being defeated, it is simply the right thing to do for the game AND for Rangers to restore some integrity to themselves.
If they want to lay claim to their history, lay claim to all of it, just be honourable and act with dignity and we can all move on.
In summary then, Regan is being disingenuous by pretending to know a lot less than he does – and on that note the case of disingenuousness ends.
Incompetence: is defined as;
lack of ability to do something successfully or as it should be done:
Whilst a CEO would not be expected to know the minutiae of any process, he would be expected to seek such information before going public to defend the SFA’s position.
On 23 October 2013, Stewart Regan had an interview with Richard Gordon on BBC Sportsound. Excerpts from it can be heard at http://www.bbc.com/sport/scotland/24685973 . Interestingly or strangely, the following excerpt regarding the lines of responsibility between the SFA and UEFA fell on the BBC cutting room floor.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6uWzxhblAt9YktGc0kwWjJCY1E/view?usp=sharing
In it Regan is saying that the 31st March is a key date and AFTER that date, the SFA having granted the licence on evidence provided to the SFA (now under Compliance Officer investigation) have no more responsibility in the matter. Richard Gordon asks Regan to confirm that after 31st March there is no other course of action the SFA could have taken. To which Regan answers “Correct”.
This understanding however does not stand up when compared to the information supplied to the Res 12 Lawyer on 8th June 2016 by Andrea Traverso, Head of UEFA Club Licensing and so ultimate authority on the matter.
That letter (more famous for its new club/company designation of the current incumbents at Ibrox), confirmed that the UEFA Licence was not granted until the 19th April 2011, so Regan was wrong on his dates, but even more significantly UEFA stated that the list of clubs granted a licence was not submitted to them until 26th May 2011.
This raises the obvious question (though not so obviously to Regan);
” how can UEFA start monitoring until they know who to monitor?”
More significantly, and one for the SFA Compliance chap to consider, should the licence have been granted, irrespective of what “evidence” the SFA Licensing Committee acted on in March 2011 , when it was obvious from a HMRC Letter of 20th May 2011 to Rangers, that HMRC were pursuing payment of a tax liability which could no longer by dint of being pursued, be described as “potential” which was the justification for granting at 31st March/19th April?
Here ends the case of incompetence.
Dishonesty;
lack of honesty or integrity: defined as disposition to defraud or deceive.
The line between incompetence and dishonesty is a thin one and so difficult to judge, however some discernment is possible from observation over time.
On 29 March 2012 Stewart Regan was interviewed by Alex Thomson of Channel Four news, a transcript of which with comments can be found on a previous SFM blog of 8th March 2015 at
https://www.sfm.scot/did-stewart-regan-ken-then-wit-we-ken-noo/
It is a long article, but two points emerge from it.
Stewart Regan bases his defence of SFA inaction on the fact that at the time of the interview no wrongdoing had occurred . Regan emphasises this rather a lot. Had he been an honest man, he would have confessed that this defence fell when the Supreme Court ruled that wrong doing in respect of Rangers’ use of EBTs had occurred.
This extract from Regan’s letter of 4th September 2017 beggars belief in light of his position on wrongdoing during interview with Alex Thomson.
” The reality is that the final decision in “The Big Tax Case” signalled closure for many involved in the game. It is hard to believe that a “wide review” no matter how well intentioned and how wide ranging could ever bring closure in the minds of every Scottish football fan and stakeholder.”
How on earth did the Supreme Court decision signal closure to Regan given his emphasis on no wrong doing?
Had Regan (in response to Celtic in August and September 2017) acknowledged that wrongdoing had taken place, then that at least would have been honest, but the defence of not acting was on the grounds that admitting dishonesty would be raking over old coals. An honest man would have accepted that the situation had changed, and some form of enquiry was necessary, but instead Regan fell back on unpublished advice from a QC.
The second point is a new one. Regan was asked by Alex Thomson in March 2012
AT: But did anybody at any stage at the SFA say to you I have a concern that we need an independent body, that the SPL can’t and shouldn’t handle this?
SR: Well under the governance of football the SPL run the competition
AT: I’m not asking, I’m saying did anybody come to you at any stage and say that to you. Anybody?
SR: No they didn’t as far as the SPL’s processes is concerned. The SPL ,
AT: Never?
At time of interview in March 2012 this was true but 2 months later on 25th May 2012 the issue of a Judicial review WAS raised by Celtic
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/celtic-still-pressing-sfa-for-inquiry-8p25q8wbb
for the same reasons that Regan had ignored in 2011 as the LNS Commissioning proceeded apace and Regan continued to ignore in the 2017 correspondence. An honest man would have recognised that his truth to Thomson in March was no longer true in May 2012 and acted. He didn’t.
These do not appear to be acts of an honest man, rather they appear to represent the behaviour of a man who is being dishonest with himself; although perhaps Regan was simply duped?
Duped is defined as;
“ If a person dupes you, they trick you into doing something or into believing something which is not true.”
In his e mail of 7th December to Ali Russell, then Rangers CEO , after a discussion on the 6th December 2011 with Andrew Dickson, Rangers Football Administrator and SFA License Committee member in 2011, Regan set out the basis on which the SFA granted a UEFA License in 2011.
This was a letter from Ranger’s auditors Grant Thornton describing the wee tax liability of £2.8m as a potential one with the implication that it was subject to dispute, an implication carried into the Interim Accounts of 1st April 2011 signed by Rangers FC Chairman Alistair Johnson.
The true status of the liability and the veracity of statements made that justified the UEFA License being granted are under investigation by the SFA Compliance Officer.
However Regan’s belief that the liability was disputed and therefore hadn’t crystalized, is supported more or less by his Tweets at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6uWzxhblAt9NG5CNXcwLW9RZjQ/view?usp=sharing
The case that Regan was duped is a plausible one, at least up to 2015, but I would contend that the SFA responses to Res 12 lawyers after July 2015 suggest that whilst the SFA may have been duped initially, they subsequently appeared more concerned with keeping events beyond public scrutiny (like the effect on the licence issue of HMRC sending in Sheriff’s Officers to collect a £2.8m tax liability in August 2011).
At this point, based on the foregoing –
You the SFM jury are asked to decide: Is Stewart Regan a DIDDY?
Copy paste this link for GUILTY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejizOV-IQEM
And this for NOT GUILTY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwXGdgFZmNk
The Sin of Omission by Margaret Sangster ends:
And it’s not the things you do, dear,
It’s the things you leave undone,
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.
TincksFebruary 16, 2018 at 14:46
For the sake of argument, let’s accept LNS as the final a definitive word on the EBT issue.I seem to recall that the offences were described as “second only to match fixing” in their seriousness. Alex McLeish has, in his own words stated that the purpose of the EBT scheme was to get players on the books and on the pitch who they could not otherwise afford. This has been confirmed by evidence from others given under oath. AM was himself a beneficiary of the EBT scheme.Just what is anyone doing in any position either within or appointed by the SFA who has a connection to this period of Ranger’s history?
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I’m afraid your recollection is wrong, it was the withholding of Income Tax and NI, by Whyte’s Rangers, that was given that description.
Allyjambo
February 16, 2018 at 15:00
==============================
Whether an £11m bid can be turned down is now the topic of heated debate in a well know Rangers supporters forum.
HomunculusFebruary 16, 2018 at 14:56
DarkbeforedawnFebruary 16, 2018 at 10:04He only had 10 games previously, and they came on the back of a good foundation build by Smith and followed Smith’s strong run of results and a great air of positivity and belief in the players.==========================It’s such a pity he walked out after such a run of results and belief in the players.He stepped down from the national team in January 2007 to return for a second spell at Rangers, only months into the Euro 2008 qualifiers.Smith would have preferred to complete the campaign, but could not resist the emotional pull of Ibrox.“I hope people can understand that it wouldn’t have happened [with] any other club other than Rangers,” Smith said.
__________________________
Presumably he’s talking about the disgraceful use of EBTs that ‘any other club other than Rangers’, wasn’t using. No wonder the ‘pull of Ibrox’ was so strong!
AJ,
Thanks for the correction.
Can hear Captain Mainwaring’s voice in my head, “Stupid boy Tincks”
Homonculus, I am with you there. For all I’m a Rangers fan, the thought that we could finally have been going to the Euros (I even had flights organised) pained me so much when he left. That added to the fact I never wanted to see PLG go so soon, it took a while before I accepted Smith as Rangers manager again.
TINCKS –
I think its because they don’t realy think they did anything wrong, as they are …well..entitled?
HOMUNCULUSFEBRUARY 16, 2018 at 15:09
If there actually was one, it wouldn’t be turned down.
Last night Celtic turned in a brilliant performance against one of the better teams in European football. So, BBCScotland’ ‘Drive Time’ tonight comes up pieces on McLeish, Morellas and the Winter Olympics. Pathetic.
I think the best thing for the overall situation would be for Celtic to rule out all of their players though injury, illness etc for every game until Eck is fired. It shouldn’t take long, then we can put even more pressure on. Maybe Eck will be a blessing in disguise and we can finally root out the masons. I doubt it, but that would seem the sensible option for Celtic to choose. This isn’t about benefitting Celtic; rather it is a unique opportunity to finally install people of professionalism and integrity right at the heart of the Scottish game.
I seem to recall Alex McLeish was once manager of the Scottish national football team. I’m pretty sure that’s the case – right?
I was quite surprised (but only quite) when last night the BBC reported his reappointment to the role using footage of him wearing a Rangers scarf.
I guess they must have lost all the footage of him when he was previously the Scotland manager?
Yup. That must be it.
What other possible reason could they have for using that footage?
Couldn’t possibly be a GIRUY to anyone who has a passing interest in sporting integrity, payment of social taxes or concern that the SFA / Scottish Establishment has shown persistent bias towards one club at the expense of ALL others?
Shurely shum mishtake…
TincksFebruary 16, 2018 at 15:26
AJ,Thanks for the correction.Can hear Captain Mainwaring’s voice in my head, “Stupid boy Tincks”
_____________
Don’t give him your name, Tincks!
Anyway, it’s a mistake many seem to make, but I think it’s important not to be caught out when arguing our case with imperfectly credited quotes – a bit like using ‘imperfectly registered’ players!
The thing is, if LNS had said that, it would have been impossible to let Rangers off so lightly.
‘helpmaboabFebruary 16, 2018 at 17:18
‘….So, BBCScotland’ ‘Drive Time’ tonight comes up pieces on McLeish, Morellas and the Winter Olympics. Pathetic…’
______________
And we have good old BBC Radio Scotland at it: ‘vox pop’- four (no doubt non-randomly chosen)people interviewed, and all four in favour of McLeish’s appointment!
And we now have a sickeningly sycophantic interview with McLeish, conducted by no less a person than an Assistant Editor,Sport. The man who possibly keeps MCIntyre,Young etc in unwarranted positions of radio influence.
All mates together, no hard questions asked. “All systems go from now on, Alex, is it not?”
Honest to God!
The north Vietnamese are better served by their media!
UPTHEHOOPS
FEBRUARY 16, 2018 at 16:31
====================================
It is very easy to get people to believe something that they desperately want to believe.
It’s not a secured loan, it’s an overdraft.
A club is offering £11m for a player and the club are rejecting it.
And I see the DR is getting the kind of dickhead of an editor it deserves, an editor who can say this
” Dick said: “It is an incredible honour to be asked to lead the finest group of journalists in the country.”
I think I am losing the will to live!! Alex McLeish, a dickhead and Morelos story?? And it’s Lent!!!! Have stopped smoking so please pray for me!!
I’m afraid my IT skills let me down again, so I can’t give a link to it, but I’ve just watched the SFA/McLeish short video presser on twitter and, to put it mildly, it was an embarrassment. It has McLeish looking, and sounding, like a man who’s unexpectedly benefitted from some great big joke, while Alan McRae grins like some half-witted schoolboy. Scottish football is becoming sadder and sadder with each SFA appointment.
Although the video was a BBC one, I can’t see it on their website, it’s almost as though they are being kind to two bears – sorry, I should have said the SFA president and the new Scotland manager – by limiting the recording’s exposure.
Alan McRae really does look out of his depth, which is probably why he was appointed in the first place.
AllyjamboFebruary 16, 2018 at 19:28
Totally cringewothy. It appears that McRae was ‘tired and emotional?’
jean7brodieFebruary 16, 2018 at 19:37
No wonder he was ‘tired and emotional’, he was sitting right next to one of his heroes from the ‘Cheating Years’! In fact, it’s dawned on me what it was he looked like – a little boy totally dumbfounded by the nearness of his hero.
From that clip alone, it is easy to imagine him being manipulated by the likes of Regan and Petrie, humiliated, even, without ever realising it, and just smiling through it all.
ZilchFebruary 16, 2018 at 18:13
I seem to recall Alex McLeish was once manager of the Scottish national football team. I’m pretty sure that’s the case – right?I was quite surprised (but only quite) when last night the BBC reported his reappointment to the role using footage of him wearing a Rangers scarf.I guess they must have lost all the footage of him when he was previously the Scotland manager?Yup. That must be it.What other possible reason could they have for using that footage?Couldn’t possibly be a GIRUY to anyone who has a passing interest in sporting integrity, payment of social taxes or concern that the SFA / Scottish Establishment has shown persistent bias towards one club at the expense of ALL others?Shurely shum mishtake…
___________________
All things ‘Rangers’ is such a big part of the SMSM’s life that they probably didn’t even notice he was wearing that scarf.
If they were aware of it, they probably only saw it as something that might upset Celtic supporters, and that the rest would just see it as part of the true order in Scottish football. It adds to the insult to us all.
Has any media outlet mentioned, at all, the fact that he has been unable to secure a job in football management for some two years now?
ALLYJAMBOFEBRUARY 16, 2018 at 19:28
Scottish football is becoming sadder and sadder with each SFA appointment.
————–
And we have still to see who McLeish will have as his number two
helpmaboab February 16, 2018 at 17:18
Last night Celtic turned in a brilliant performance against one of the better teams in European football. So, BBCScotland’ ‘Drive Time’ tonight comes up pieces on McLeish, Morellas and the Winter Olympics. Pathetic.
———
The BBC One sports slot on a Friday evening is usually more comprehensive than for the rest of the weekday evenings, and so it was tonight. We had the introduction of our new Scotland manager followed by coverage of the winter Olympics with footage of the snowboarding event. Then we had a piece on Gregor Townsend signing autographs in the borders and, finally, we had . . . erm that was it. Absolutely no mention, report or footage of last night’s EL match at Celtic Park despite it being the most significant game for a Scottish team this year in our national sport. It’s as if the sports editor at Pathetic Quay had taken a deliberate decision to exclude news of the Celtic victory from the eyes and ears of the nation – surely not?
I viewed the BBC Scotland Twitter interview that McLeish gave during his press conference. At first I thought it was a spoof with Jonathan Watson talking out of the side of his ‘mooth’. What gave me more concern was the auld timer lurching about at his side like a drunken sailor. I started to laugh then I realised that the foil was in fact the SFA El Presidente who was responsible for masterminding Big Eck’s re-appointment. McRae refused to answer any questions to the assembled audience. So much for the SFA’s policy of transparency. Was he expecting the questions to be too taxing? – skuze the pun.
jean7brodieFebruary 16, 2018 at 19:20
“………….Have stopped smoking so please pray for me!!”
whyquit.com once on the site the two books all you will need plus all the support, you have taking a brave step and not for lent but for you. I am 2 and half years it gets so much easier believe me and everything on this site books, videos all free and why, because they believe in you.
whyquit.com/ffn/index.html
whyquit.com/joel/#book
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2018/02/16/the-asterisk-association-get-their-real-rangers-man/
HomunculusJJ must be following you on SFM. 🙂“Note to Tartan Army – Stump Up For McLeish’s Advance Payment Notice”“Word reaches me that McLeish was sent an APN for £901,000 by HMRC. I am led to believe that he negotiated a repayment plan. The salary from the SFA, paid for by the supporters of Scottish Football, will be used to pay off his overdue tax and NI contributions.”
Comments by ex-managers, SFA and SPFL officers, players and pundits “enuff tae gie ye ra dry boak”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/43083076
Comments by fans spot on!
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John Smith: An utter shambles of a press conference which will mirror exactly Alex McLeish’s tenure. An outrageously poor appointment. McRae looking on gormlessly as always. Rank incompetency. It’s embarrassing. No more national team for me.
Mightwell1886: Look, can’t even do a press conference right. McRae can’t even crack a smile he’s that embarrassed.
Kevin Meldrum: It’s not only the worst case of job for the boys, but a backward step of epic proportions. With exception of Malky there was no poorer option. Joke appointment that shows how useless the SFA are.
Craig Mclauchlan: I can’t recall this much anger and disappointment at a Scotland appointment.
William Devine: SFA could not pick their noses.
McLeish proving how out of date he is with Scottish football
Alex McLeish appointed Scotland National Team
Friday 16 February 2018
https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/alex-mcleish-appointed-scotland-national-team-head-coach/?rid=13925
The Scottish FA is delighted to announce Alex McLeish as the new Head Coach of the Scotland National Team.
Alex takes charge of the National Team for the second time, having previously held the position in 2007, during which time he came within minutes of leading the team to UEFA Euro 2008.
During his first spell, he recorded the highest win percentage of any Scotland manager, with seven victories from his 10 matches at the helm.
He led Scotland to a memorable 1-0 win over France in Paris in 2007, James McFadden’s strike in the Parc des Princes becoming one of Scotland’s most iconic goals of all-time.
During a distinguished playing career, Alex was capped 77 times – becoming Scotland’s fourth most decorated internationalist – and represented his country at three FIFA World Cups, Spain 82, Mexico 86 and Italia 90.
At club level he made nearly 700 appearances for Aberdeen, winning 13 trophies, including the European Cup Winners’ Cup and European Super Cup.
His first match in charge of Scotland will be at Hampden Park on Friday, 23 March against Costa Rica, followed by a trip to Hungary four days later.
Alex McLeish: “It is a tremendous honour to be named Scotland National Team Head Coach.
“I am incredibly fortunate to have had the chance to lead my country already and I am immensely proud to be in this position for a second time.
“There is much to be positive about in Scottish football, with players playing at the highest level and promising talent breaking through.
“With Hampden Park as one of the host venues for Euro 2020 we have an amazing opportunity to showcase our talents to the world from our own back yard.
“I am relishing the challenge of leading us to a major tournament and I cannot wait to get started.”
Alan McRae, Scottish FA President: “Alex McLeish is a true Scotland legend and a natural leader who has enjoyed success at club level in Scotland and England and at international level.
“It is a rarity to be in a position to appoint someone who has experience of successfully managing their country and we are delighted to reach an agreement with Alex.
“During the recruitment process he received resounding endorsements from several influential figures in the game which helped establish him as an outstanding choice from a strong list of possible candidates.
“Alex has demonstrated a desire and ability to get results with the national team and we believe that he is best placed to inspire our talented group of players to glory.
“With Hampden Park hosting matches at UEFA Euro 2020 it is more important than ever before for Scotland to qualify for a tournament finals and we believe that Alex is the exemplary candidate to guide us there.”
sannoffymesssoitizz February 16, 2018 at 21:02
HomunculusJJ must be following you on SFM. ?“Note to Tartan Army – Stump Up For McLeish’s Advance Payment Notice”“Word reaches me that McLeish was sent an APN for £901,000 by HMRC. I am led to believe that he negotiated a repayment plan. The salary from the SFA, paid for by the supporters of Scottish Football, will be used to pay off his overdue tax and NI contributions.”
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He’s obviously got his Alex McLeish’s mixed up.
HMRC will be chasing the old “Alex McLeish” for tax due. Meanwhile “The Alex McLeish” has been appointed by the SFA and his salary will be safe from the tax man.
But as far as the SFA is concerned, we have all got to accept him as the same Alex McLeish.
A(nother) Permanent Embarrassment And An Occasional Disgrace
The SFA presser that’s been “disappeared” from the BBC Scotland website.
President Alan McRae’s psychophantic cronyism exposed for all to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwCRI0lNFKw
Mrs Zilch and I have been members of the Scotland Travel club for years. A couple of decades by now. With the kids getting a bit older now, she was recently talking about getting them memberships too. It’s pretty cheap and they have enjoyed (sort of!) going to some recent games. (The wee man greetin’ his eyes out against Lithuania was a real lesson for him in what it means to be Scottish).
Going to the Scotland games has been a really nice bit of our relationship for all this time. It is part of who we are. It’s part of our identity. (weirdly)
When we go we usually meet up with cousins and uncles too. It’s a big family thing.
So our memberships are up for renewal now.
I am going home tonight to tell her I can’t bear to give the SFA a single penny.
I’m going to tell her that I can’t stand to have my kids looking up to a guy like Alex McLeish who has openly admitted he cheated both the tax authorities and the rest of Scottish football so that he could gain an unfair advantage on EVERY team in Scotland.
I’m going to have to tell my kids that their national team is now off limits because it is in the hands of corrupt people who are liars and cheats – that this is not how sport is meant to be run.
We always send the wee man to his football training wearing a Scotland top. I would prefer a Celtic top, but Mrs Zilch is worried about the sectarian side of Glasgow and wants to keep him safe. I guess we will do what so many others have done and get him a Barca top or some other team we have no real affiliation with. This is the state of Scottish football and Scotland in general.
I will be taking the wee man to play a 7-aside match on Saturday afternoon. The guys that train them and organise the team are totally brilliant. They are there multiple evenings during the week and on Saturdays too, teaching them how to play the game, and really drilling into them a sense of sportsmanship. I will take far more pleasure out of being there and being involved at that level than I will with any part of the professional game in this country.
The SFA are slowly strangling the life out of the game in this country. Hell mend them. If Scottish football only exists to support a Rangers ascendancy and the parasites that Ibrox spawned – well it can die a thousand deaths as far as I am concerned.
I should have done this a long time ago – I know. Somehow this is some sort of final straw for me.
Zilch, That is profoundly sad and inspiring in equal measure. I hope it is not long before there is enough change in that area before you and your family can go back to supporting Scotland again.
The votes from the Bogs Dollox household are now in and I can announce, without looking completely out of my depth, that this is a shocker of an appointment.
Big Alex is not a good manager, in the same way Walter isn’t. Both need tax free money behind them in a crap league to make them look good.
McLeish got Birmingham relegated twice, lasted less than a year at Villa, 40(Forty) days at Nottingham Forest. After that who knows where he was apart from being unemployed for 2 years because NOBODY rates him.
All this was before we Motherwell fans were glad to see the back of him when he legged it to Hibs and sank them for a decade.
Those are just the footballing reasons which one would think the SFA would look at before appointing anyone.
Phil McG thinks it is a FU to the rest of Scottish football. I’m not going to disagree with him but even Shuggy Keevins is almost in agreement.
Really good post there Zilch.
For those of us who don’t attend Scotland games we can be rather blase about boycotting etc.
But it seems the TA troops are there for the occasion and community – and the quality of Football on offer is secondary?
The SFA may have achieved a quick, cheap option with McLeish’s appointment.
But, they could pay a higher price in the long term: in the absence of Finals participation the revenue from friendlies and qualifying games will become increasingly important to the SFA.
So, you would think the blazers would NOW try to engage with the paying punters?
A hugely unpopular appointment.
And before a CEO is appointed !
If McLeish produces poor results, the CEO is perfectly entitled to criticise the manager: McLeish is not his choice.
If McLeish produces decent results, he will be gone to a Championship club for two or three times what he is earning at Hampden.
…well he does have a tax bill to pay…
That press conference is something else. A weird cross between a best man’s speech and a eulogy by El Presidente – and Alex (or is it Alec?) says he’s delighted to have the job whilst at the same time looking like someone has pished on his chips…
Watched that clip Sannoff posted. It truly was cringy, McRae just adores McLeish. Not hard to see why he shoved McLeish forward for the job.
As Bogs Dollox says McLeish didn’t leave Fir Park with many friends. I read elsewhere tonight it was the same with Easter Road. Hibees can’t be bothered with him.
So why the adulation from Petrie? Well lets face it, Hibees cant stand Petrie either. The man would sell his soul to the devil to climb the greasy pole at the SFA. What a pathetic aim in life. He has lost the plot.
I honestly hope it all comes crashing down on him. What will he be left with?
THE_STEED
it looked like a sketch from alan partridge,in fact he woud be proud of that scene,shameful
Quick question. If you were applying for a job would you put forward Petrie and McRae as your references?
You’d have to hope it was someone with no knowledge of Scottish football who was going to interview you.
That press conference says it all really.
Scotland have the nucleus of the best side we’ve had for years in the Celtic players. There are some seriously good young players coming through elsewhere and a few old heads to make the transistion happen smoothly. This is the time for a talented and experienced coach to make it happen, from left field if necessary. We are on the cusp. We get McLeish because McRae has known him for years and he and Petrie want to cover their derrieres and keep it in the Rangers family, paying a needy RRM’s EBT taxes to boot. McLeish has no CV for this job. He won titles with an EBT fuelled squad and failed everywhere else. He was with the national team for less than 1 campaign. He is there because he is the next Rangers man that needs a job.
I’m with Zilch above. I have been to two World Cups with the Tartan Army and I was quietly looking forward to reliving those youthful experiences in my old age. F that now. This is possible, as others say, “Only in Scotland”. There must be some way to get rid of this lot and put our national team in the hands of those who are capable, not complicit.
I despair, I really do.
Even the suit jacket and ties in the interview they are wearing know they are talking shite. Is that normal to keep reaching out to grab the other guys arm during the presser as if to keep confirming he has not bolted.
macfurglyFebruary 16, 2018 at 23:40
Scotland have the nucleus of the best side we’ve had for years in the Celtic players.
___________________________________________________________
For Scotland to improve those talented Celtic players need to move on to a higher level (fingers crossed they play for Scotchlandshire Eh?) in the EPL as did Dalgliesh etc.
The specific question which McCrae refused to answer was regarding the process followed by which McLeish was chosen as manager. It was a fiasco of a Press Conference from start to finish involving two men who came across as being extremely ill at ease – and no wonder! They were in and out of there quicker than you could say Employee Benefit Trust. Not that any of the Press did. They had a duty to explain to the paying customers how they arrived at this decision but instead made excuses that they had to leave for another engagement. What was more important than explaining to the Scottish public why they have made this incredulous appointment?
McCrae could not even manage a polite expression when handing over the Scottish cup to Hibs and then Celtic.
What on earth is that bitter little man doing anywhere near decision making in Scottish football? I’m finished with it.
MACFURGLY
There must be some way to get rid of this lot
there is,don’t go to another game,it’s all money
Helpumoot, I wouldn’t give up in supporting whichever team you support because of that mob at Hampden. By all means boycott Scotland games if you so wish but not your club.
It would be better to contact your club and let your feelings be known to them.
JIMBO
if all fans come april/may don’t buy/renew season books and they are asked why,and the answer is the sfa,trust me there will be a clear out,ask the rangers about getting straight into spl,that was fans that stopped that from happening
Bogs DolloxFebruary 16, 2018 at 23:59
——–
I’m not sure I get your point, but I certainly remember watching Dalglish score for us at Tannadice from near the touchline in the season before he went , eventually, to Liverpool. I was at Anfield too, for the ex-pat Joe Jordan handball, and so on.
The Celtic players are high on confidence, with Champions League experience, albeit not always good, and are playing together every week to gain the understanding that national teams don’t always have. This, in my opinion, is a big advantage. McGinn at Hibs, Cochrane at Hearts and Christie at Aberdeen are examples of others that might make an inspirational difference to our national team. I’m told there are others at Leeds, Fulham and Man. Utd. who might do too.
Again, in my opinion, we need to look to the future and to build a team for the next two campaigns and McLeish is not the man for this. He has no history whatsoever of having been successful other than with experienced players from England during the EBT years.
The Celtic players may well in due course go to England. If they end up at Birmingham I would be disappointed.
What is “Scotchlandshire”, and what’s your point?
tonyFebruary 17, 2018 at 00:08
—–
True, but that means standing back and watching the hostages die. I don’t have an answer, but visible protests at matches seem to me to be a better option. Those protesting are seen to be supporters.
Tony, I don’t feel the hunger now for action the way it was back then. The appointment of a Scotland manager by the blazers is not comparable with what they tried to do with Sevco. Plus there was a rallying site in Rangers Tax Case which has not been emulated since. This site comes closest being a multi club forum and having cheating, corruption and the media in it’s sights.
But back in 2011/12 everyday was a revelation. It was new to us and some incredibly well informed posters. The cheating and corruption knowledge is almost normalised now.
I would wait and see what the reaction is to the compliance officer’s investigation. That could be the catalyst for action. That might be the time when fans get some fire in their bellies again. Might not even need a threat. Could be resignations all over the place.
Apologies too! (Nah that’s a hope too far).
I was reading some poetry tonight, and under its influence [no, it was not ‘Odes by Johnny Walker”] I was transported into the near future, when, during demolition work on Hampden Stadium, a copy of a letter from a job applicant seeking a reference is found.
The letter read as follows:
“To: Mr …, Hampden Park, Glasow
SIR,
When I had the honour of being introduced to you at ….. House, I did not think so soon of asking a favour of you. When Lear, in Shakespeare, asked Old Kent why he wished to be in his service, he answers, “Because you have that in your face which I would fain call master.”
For some such reason, Sir, do I now solicit your patronage.
You know, I dare say, of an application I lately made to your Board to be admitted as manager of the national team……
………..
………..
I know, Sir, that to need your goodness, is to have a claim on it; may I, therefore, beg your patronage to forward me in this affair, till I be appointed ……..”
Still under that poetic influence, I had a sense of deja vue:
I knew I had seen a very similar letter before! Written by an actual poet!
Out of my reverie, I’m damned if I can think of his name, but he came frae some place in Ayrshire. Ran guns to the terrorists in France, as well, I believe, but kept his civil service job.
And well knew how to use words, such as ‘master.’
HelpumootFebruary 16, 2018 at 23:59
‘..The specific question which McCrae refused to answer was regarding the process followed by which McLeish was chosen as manager.’
_________________
Peter Lawwell, in the interview with Tom English, was at pains to stress that there were good, experienced, people on the SFA board.
Where was there any kind of recognisable ‘process’ in the appointment of Alex McLeish?
Lawwell must have had his tongue in his cheek, big time!
It is beyond belief that the President of any kind of organisation, any kind of employing authority, any kind of job interview board, could introduce a new manager by stressing his or its personal connections and friendship with the successful ‘candidate’!
And it does not say a helluva lot for the ‘good, experienced people’ on the board that they should have allowed such an appointment, an almost ‘nepotistic’ appointment, to be made ‘unanimously‘!
Dear God above, that we should have had to listen to such sh.te!
Remember, the SFA does get public monies. Not just monies from the public who are football supporters .
But Tax-payers’ [and Alex McLeish( in the present context) was not one of those] monies.
And as a taxpayer myself, I say ‘sod this for a game of soldiers’, and will continue to insist that the SFA be called sharply to account for
its ineptitude,
its willingness to sell the soul of Scottish Football
for its undoubted complicity in the cheating of SDM, if only by supervisory incompetence
for its cowardly resistence to allowing an independent investigation into its de facto complicity with a cheating club,
and for (what must surely be) its inhibition of the investigations by the Compliance Officer into the licence award to RFC.
How long can it take to investigate the correspondence between what a club says about its tax due situation, and what the SFA says to UEFA about that club’s tax situation with the real situation?
Jimbo, I have no intention of giving up my support for my team. But I won’t knowingly put another penny the way of the SFA via Scotland matches or my own team’s participation in the Scottish Cup.
JC, there was a process, a process which has been followed for decades which brought us Farry, Ogilvie, Gordon Smith, Regan and a host of other ‘placed’ men at the top of Scottish football. That process gave us a bent media – I mean look at what we are being asked to swallow even recently, 11 million now for Morelos! It was a process which gave us a biased refereeing fraternity – Dougie/Dougie, Dallas and his ‘hilarious’ emails, six match officials mysteriously missing a stonewall penalty for Celtic in a semi final (I choose that particular incident out of the many as it proved collusion.)
That process allowed teams to be cheated out of their rightful place in Europe, an attempt to put Sevco in division one, the five way agreement, LNS, etc.. etc.. etc..
I do realise that I’m speaking to the converted, John. All any of us want is ‘sporting endeavour’ and we are being denied it.
Here is a link, I hope works, to the video of McLeish’s presser that I spoke of last night but couldn’t work out how to do a link (and maybe this doesn’t work).
Anyway, it is the same as that posted by Sannoffy… (minus McRae’s speech) further up the page, but shot from a different angle and shows McRae during our country’s new football manager’s waffle. Believe me, if you think McRae was bad while speaking, he’s even worse while listening to his hero, like a primary schoolboy, needing a wee, but doesn’t dare leave the room because he is so excited to be sitting next to a ‘big boy’ who’s the best at, well, just everything!
To think that this man was involved in the recruitment process of the new Scotland manager, what sort of input could he have given, no matter who was under consideration?
https://twitter.com/BBCSportsound/status/964473019589677058
Helpumoot. In your post you describe,in essence, a self perpetuating oligarchy which mirrors Scottish/British society in that the same families which have controlled property and power since the time of Henry VIII are still in charge. Fairness and transparency mean nothing to them.
bigboab1916February 16, 2018 at 20:43
_______________________________________
Thanks for the link and the kind words pal. I will need all the help I can get.
Two good points made there. Despite due process we still got landed with Farry, Ogilvie, Smith and Regan. An oligarchy indeed.
One commonality is they ruled without fear but with favour.
These people worked without fear of consequence. Sure, the ‘Bunnet’ holed the ship with Farry but the ship didn’t sink. That is why we need this edifice to come crashing down. Hopefully the compliance officer report will be the beginning of that. If it is as bad as it should be, heads will roll. But not all of them. Not the quiet nodding puppies in the background. The people who sat on their thumbs doing and saying nothing to challenge the status quo. We need a bigger and wider independent investigation to expose the corruption and faults in it’s entirety.
Future incumbents should be aware of consequences. They should rule with some healthy fear.
I like the idea of creating a job description for all the senior jobs at Hampden and engaging outside consultants to ‘head hunt’. No more jobs for the boys.
Then as Auldheid says a Project Manager with real authority to work alongside the board to ensure good, agreed, fair goals are achieved. Not by blazers. But for blazers. For their own good and the good of all Scottish football.
Scotland have Alex McLeish as no decent manager wanted to be employed by the SFA.
Having watched McRae recently, if you went to a meeting with him to discuss employment would you then take the job he was offering you.
Clearly McLeish is desperate for a job, he may have no options available to him. That is certainly what it looks like from outside.
So we have a pathetic, ineffectual administration employing a poor manager desperate to take any job.
The future’s bright.
We all know that the current Morelos stories are ‘guff’, but do the hysterical, brazen and increasingly desperate SMSM really think that they can be instrumental in convincing ‘hard-nosed’ Chinese businessmen to part with the amounts being spoken of (latest – £20m) for a player who will be sold in the summer for a generous £5m tops (we’re talking genuine bids here!)?
The use of ‘fake news’ is any sphere is, variously, pathetic, confusing, infuriarting and disturbing enough for those of us, with a social conscience, who live in the real world, but here (in the small ‘pond’ of Scottish football, the SMSM have taken it to a new level, no doubt encouraged by the fact that the SFA are already playing their part in trying to elevate the ‘Mighty Rangers’ to their rightful position at the top … . So why let the truth get in the way of a good story designed to pander to a specific readership.
As an aside, my father (over 50 years ago!) wo
Finally, Murty seems like a genuine and nice guy caught up in a PR propaganda charade. He must be squirming inside.
Oops – don’t know how the following disappeared!
My father (over 60 years ago) would describe the Daily Record as ‘The Ha’penny Liar’. How prophetic
As I mentioned in a previous post, I genuinely don’t think the SFA thought they could get anyone better. McLeish is without a doubt third choice at best. I’m sure there will have been enquiries made to Clarke, Lennon, McInnis but there was no chance they would take it at this stage in their career. MacKay would have likely turned it down after the way he was treated on the day we played Holland. Moyes is gainfully employed, Ferguson was never going to come out of retirement and the SFA appeared to set a remit that only a British manager would do. Someone like Cathro would have been a bold appointment but then the SFA are hardly bold. Souness wouldn’t leave his cushy number at Sky, and anyone of the other Scottish managers like McCoist, McColl, Ferguson etc would have been met with the same reaction.
One thing that seems to get missed here is Eck is not actually a RRM. He’s an Aberdeen fan who once managed Rangers. And he was hounded out of Rangers after taking us to third place in the league. Remember the Aberdeen banners ‘come home agent McLeish, your work is done’?
In order of my preferences for manager out of the possibilities. Obviously my first choice would have been keep Strachan for another campaign (another example of SFA ineptitude – he flops in Euro 2016 qualifying, the fans call for his head and he gets an extended contract. We finally seem to be getting somewhere and the future looks positive, the fans want him to stay and the SFA sack him!)
1. Lars Lagerbäck
2. David Moyes (wait until summer when he will likely be out of work. No rush to appoint)
3. Ian Cathro
4. Graeme Souness and Joe Jordan management team.
5. Alex Neil
That’s assuming we would never be as bold as to approach a foreign coach with a big reputation such as Van Gaal or Advocaat!
A new one for the glossary:
DOWNSIZING
Ewan Murray in the Guardian describes McLeish’s success in the EBT years at RFC as achieved ‘when faced with downsizing‘. Nice one Ewan. Not a word in the article about the tax avoidance & financial doping that went on.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/feb/16/alex-mcleish-scotland-scottish-fa
I find the article itself somewhat muddled.
The first couple of paragraphs state that Eck is a well-respected, highly-thought-of football man, with extensive knowledge & contacts.
The rest of the piece seems to make out that, despite his qualifications, he’s a panic appointment & not really the right man for the job.
DARKBEFOREDAWN
FEBRUARY 17, 2018 at 10:59
================================
I couldn’t care less if he’s a real Rangers man, a real Aberdeen man or a real anything else man.
He’s a tax cheat, he walked out on the job before, during a campaign and he’s not a very good manager.
He has got the job because no-one decent wanted it. I blame that on the SFA, not the team or the support.
Homunculus, you are actually touching on a point which I have seen no mention of anywhere. There is no doubt that McLeish is desperate for a job. (He asked straight out on national television for the Sevco job. There was no interest shown whatsoever from Ibrox – in my opinion, one of their better decisions.)
There were a lot of comments after that appearance on tv about his, let’s just say, ‘health.’ He looked awful, made bizarre comments throughout and left me feeling that all is not well with him.
This appointment may very well destroy the man. Its actually quite sickening.
Homunculus, I think we are both in complete agreement with regards his limitations as manager and the fact he walked out on the team previously. Personally I couldn’t care less if he is a tax cheat if he was a good manager, but he isn’t. Likewise I wouldn’t let MacKays past scandals put me off if I felt he was the best manager for the job.
For me the success of the Scottish team is all I care for, and whether that involves cheering on someone I would normally hate like Neil Lennon then so be it. I just can’t help but feel hugely underwhelmed and disappointed that we have gone from the optimism of O’Neill to a manager who stopped being relevant 10 years ago
. Was the limitation of Scotland manager candidates drawn up from ex Rangers managers 2000-2010? Would Paul Le Guen have been the next man they approached?
To further my rant, why get rid of Strachan when we had no manager to replace him? If it was to get him off the wage bill as we knew he wasn’t going to be in charge of the next competitive games then why employ an out of work manager when we have 8 months until our next competitive game?? McLeish was still going to be unemployed then. It is just one major shambles after another
DBD, The general opinion of Alex McLeish seems to be that by and large he is a decent enough guy. I appreciate he is more of a sheep follower than a Son of Struth.
However two criticisms of him just wont go away. He walked out on the job before. As I said previously he should have seen out his contract then followed his nose (money). There would have been less of an outcry this time round had he did that, not entirely but somewhat.
But the biggie is he was an EBT recipient. You can look at this in two ways. From a legal perspective he would be told that it was all legal and above board. Tax avoidance rather than Tax evasion. And lets face it all the wealthy and famous indulge in it some way or another. It was and is rife. So he followed his nose (money). We have to search our hearts if we are honest and ask ‘would I have done anything differently?’.
Then there is the moral case. I read recently that all the tax and NI money evaded by Rangers EBTs could have built a hospital. Not sure that it is true but it does get the message across about not paying your tax like the rest of us have to do. OK, all in we pay at most is 25% of our earnings (Before VAT, road tax, duty, council tax etc.). The rich should pay a higher proportion.
Football players and managers, those who are extremely well paid, even if they pay all their dues, have a lifestyle possibility we can only dream of. Why can’t they settle for that? Why be so greedy and selfish?
This is what is haunting McLeish now. At least if he has a conscience.
DARKBEFOREDAWNFEBRUARY 17, 2018 at 10:59
One thing that seems to get missed here is Eck is not actually a RRM. He’s an Aberdeen fan who once managed Rangers. And he was hounded out of Rangers after taking us to third place in the league. Remember the Aberdeen banners ‘come home agent McLeish, your work is done’?
============================
I think you will find he IS a Rangers man. I have read interviews with him in the past about his upbringing. Absolutely nothing wrong with being a Rangers man of course. What IS wrong in my view is his part in the huge illegal tax scam Rangers were involved in, and his attempts to justify it as being necessary to compete with Celtic. In my view he was involved in organised cheating and approves of it. I don’t think anyone like that is deserving of the Scotland Manager’s job, although it is easy when his employers also endorsed the cheating that took place.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Have to confess that my spider senses were tingling when I heard that there is to be a “charity” match at Ibrox. All seems to be rather hurriedly organised , given that they don’t have anyone to manage the away team yet. Maybe I’m just being overly cynical,although, given what transpired the last time Rangers and charity organised a football match maybe cynical is the right thing to be.
Couple of things sprung out at me when reading the blurb about the match which was posted on Rangers website, here’s the paragraph that interests me.
The Rangers Charity Foundation and the Rangers Youth Development Company will share the proceeds from the game. The Rangers Youth Development Company profits are directed to the Clubs’ Youth Department to provide the support for the many exciting youth initiatives being introduced by our Academy, while the donation to the Foundation will help it continue to be a force for good on behalf of the Rangers Family supporting a range of charities and life changing programmes in the community.
I’ve underlined 2 words, share and profits. Can we assume that given they have used the word share instead of split that the money will not be evenly distributed between the 2 organisations? If so will Rangers announce pre-match what the distribution will be?
Look now at Rangers Youth Development Company. I take it this means literally that this is a stand alone company,one which has employees and overheads? Now look at the word profits.
The Rangers Youth Development Company profits are directed to the clubs youth department. How can it be right that a charity match seems to be donating monies to a business organisation within the Rangers umbrella of companies? Surely it can be seen that although Rangers website states that monies donated to the Youth Fund are ring-fenced, anyone can see that an unscrupulous organisation could quite simply move a lot of its day to day staff onto , from for instance the administration department, over to the Youth Development department. A nice way to use charity money to pay staff on Rangers day to day workforce.
Can anyone pooh pooh all this? Would genuinely like to be told I’m talking rubbish.
DARKBEFOREDAWN
FEBRUARY 17, 2018 at 11:21
Personally I couldn’t care less if he is a tax cheat if he was a good manager, but he isn’t.
===================================
Then that is where we totally disagree.
He could be the best manager in the World and I wouldn’t want him. Who the national manager is reflects on our whole game.
We are saying that we don’t have that much of an issue with tax cheats. They are speaking for you, not for me. You “couldn’t care less”.
DARKBEFOREDAWN
“someone I would normally hate like Neil Lennon”. Why would a sensible person like yourself hate anyone? What has Lennon done on you to make come out with such a statement? I must admit I was surprised to read this and even more so when I realised it was yourself as the author.
BALLYARGUS, I guess hate is too a strong word. As a player the way he held himself after the horrific abuse for the National Team and the way he came out about depression was a real breath of fresh air and I had a great deal of respect for him. However as a manager I lost all of that respect for him the way he conducted himself on the touch line. I always felt sorry for him as no human should suffer the abuse he did, but it did seem to (understandably) turn him into a nasty and bitter person. Between him and McCoist as managers of the biggest teams in the land in 2011 I felt they were both guilty of winding up the rival fans and inciting more hatred.
Crazilly though when you think of the criticism McLeish is getting, Lennon too has been accused of robbing the tax man. But again I feel sorry for the likes of him, Hartson and Robinson for the ruling. When an accountant comes and asks if you would like to ‘legally’ reduce your tax outgoings, I would think the vast majority would agree. That so many people are facing financial ruin on the back of accountants advice is something I’ve never been comfortable with.
I think the point I was trying to make was lost by my poor choice of words. My point was that even if it was a manager who I disliked for non football reasons, if I felt it was the best appointment in terms of footballing success I would put my personal feelings on the matter aside. I used Lennon as an example, but I could equally use McCoist who I actively dislike for a huge number of non footballing reasons that I could write a whole blog on.
McLeish is the wrong man for two purely footballing reasons: 1. He left the team for purely financial reasons which should automatically rule him out of consideration. 2. He’s a backwards step – a manager who even at his peak was never as good as his records show.
DARKBEFOREDAWN
FEBRUARY 17, 2018 at 12:32
Crazilly though when you think of the criticism McLeish is getting, Lennon too has been accused of robbing the tax man.
============================================
LOL, I was waiting for the whatabouttery.
Has Neil Lennon also been appointed Scotland Manager then. Alex McLeish has.
Have Alex Fergusson, Rio Ferdinand and Sven Gorran Eriksson been as well. Gareth Southgate can’t have been he’s the England Manager. Billy Dodds, I suppose he is a possibility for a place in the Scotland lineup as is Gordon Durie, who has already declared himself bankrupt. As indeed has Barry Ferguson, who probably re-invested some of his EBT money in the film schemes he was involved in.
Oh and Alex McLeish is a tax cheat, of that their is no doubt.
HOMUNCULUS, if we were to rule football managers, players, celebrities, politicians, CEOs or bankers out of certain jobs because of tax avoidance or evasion we would have a very small pool to choose from. Unfortunately that’s the world we live in.
misterlightbulbjokeFebruary 17, 2018 at 11:38
‘……..when I heard that there is to be a “charity” match at Ibrox. ..’
___________________
Again, in the interests of objectivity and fairness and all the things we want to see acknowledged in Scottish Football, I give the following:
Apparently, the ‘Rangers Charity Foundation(SC 0033287) was wound up and replaced by Rangers Charity Foundation SCIO, SC047681 Registered charity from 30 August 2017.
If you scroll down on this link
https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/search-the-register/charity-details?number=SC047681#results
you will see “Notes: This SCIO has been set up to replace Rangers Charity Foundation SC033287.You have advised us that Rangers Charity Foundation SC033287 intends to wind up and transfer the assets and liabilities to Rangers Charity Foundation SCIO (SC047681). ”
You will also see a considerably expanded statement of objects.
The ‘old foundation’ was as sympathetically dealt with by OSCR as ‘oldco’ was by the SFA, notwithstanding that the behaviour of Foundation’s trustees “constituted misconduct”.
Reading the expanded statement of objects as against the objects of the wound-up Foundation, it seems that they have tried to make sure that they can siphon money (legally) from Charity matches to the Rangers Youth Development Company.
“Object 4.8 The provision of recreational facilities, The provision of recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities or activities are primarily intended. “[my italics]
They got off with a scam the first time. Even OSCR wouldn’t let them away with a similar scam.
DARKBEFOREDAWN
FEBRUARY 17, 2018 at 12:59
===========================
I am talking specifically about the newly appointed Scotland manager here. Mention of “players, celebrities, politicians, CEOs or bankers” is irrelevant, none of them have just been appointed to that post.
It is a declaration by the SFA that they don’t care about tax cheating (there’s a surprise), or that the new manager owes HMRC something like £850,000 (minus anything he has already paid) and that if he fails to pay them will be made bankrupt.
You “couldn’t care less”. I think it’s a big issue. I respect your opinions and values, and your right to express them. I just don’t agree with them.