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.
DARKBEFOREDAWNFEBRUARY 3, 2018 at 16:49
If he/she sees TRFC as being the same club as RFC the they are just as deluded as you . The fear of social unrest is surely over – surely time to spit out the truth and learn to live with it . Most football fans I know, including a lot of TRFC fans , accept your club is a new club and can point to the reasons why this is so . It has been accepted by the courts . Remember, Charlie didn’t buy the shares of the old club/holding company thingy as he said he didn’t need them anymore once the CVA had been rejected and it had been placed into liquidation . He started a new club and didn’t try to hide it until pressure was applied by the Scottish football Establishment ,and he could see how much capital he could make from their weakness and impotence. My impression is that the old club had never been taken to task for their transgressions , and that their fans (old club and new club) see the consequences of their actions as punishments rather than the logical outcome .
HOMUNCULUSFEBRUARY 3, 2018 at 17:39
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DARKBEFOREDAWNFEBRUARY 3, 2018 at 17:01
GunnerB, my point still stands. Change punishment to justice and would everyone be willing to lose the chance of a very good leader if they were not going to go for “justice”? The end goal is the same – strip Rangers of titles and declare a new club. However it is dressed up, it seems that is the only single prerequisite on here to being a CEO of the SFA. People on here seem to be happy to have a completely inept leader who may be a shambles but would deliver “justice”. I think that’s a very dangerous mindset.
————-
Bit OT.
How do you do that highlight, bold type thing as i always have to copy paste to show the part i am responding to.
Paddy, that is again open to interpretation as to what you consider a club as. I have argued the NC/OC and wont do so again here as there will never be an agreement. I to know many Celtic fans who think of us as the same club (and not a single Rangers fan I know would disagree). But surely the point here I more than that? It is the governance of our game, and the aspirations of our national team! Surely this is more important than an east coast/west coast argument? The next CEO should be someone who can apply the rules, get us the sponsorship we need and get us into a major tournament in the first time in over 20 years! It should not be their interpretation of a ‘club’ nor their willingness to dig up the past.
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past
DARKBEFOREDAWNFEBRUARY 3, 2018 at 18:00
This bit I agree with
The next CEO should be someone who can apply the rules, get us the sponsorship we need and get us into a major tournament in the first time in over 20 years!
The other bit isn’t open to interpretation . If you refuse to see the truth, there’s no helping you . The old club died with its honours . Some would have asterisks(me) and others would have stripping wrt the honours won by deceit and cheating . Whatever is decided, you are going for #1.
DarkbeforedawnFebruary 3, 2018 at 18:00
“…It is the governance of our game, and the aspirations of our national team! Surely this is more important .’
_____________________
Truth is far more more important.
Anyone who aspired to be CEO of a company composed of sports clubs, who saw nothing wrong in a cheating sports club being allowed to keep honours and titles that were ingloriously, illicitly , ‘won’ , automatically rules himself out as being himself a cheat by nature.
If he were also to assert that a 6 year-old club , freshly created and newly admitted in 2012 to professional football, is one and the same as a club that was founded in 1872 and lost its existence as a football club in 2012 (while as a legal entity it is awaiting formal dissolution) then he would be suspected of being mentally ill, or lying to himself, or simply and cynically on the personal make, regardless of principle.
I don’t see how anyone could be trusted to be the type of leader that we all want if they tried to build a new house of integrity, transparency, fairness and good governance on top of what we know to be rotten foundations that undermine all of those things.
It’s not raking over old ground, it’s clearing the rot, so they can dig a strong foundation for the necessary building work.
As an aside and as respectfully as I can, I would say that DBD is afforded a fair degree of flexibility here in his/her continual posting about Rangers vis a vis the new SFA CEO. I say that in so far as if you accept the position that It’s how the new CEO deals with ‘Rangers’ that dictates the person chosen then it is to accept the deal is done and one of the following three outcomes is required (which he/she acknowledges arent going to happen.)
A/. That they explain it’s a new club (not going to happen).
B/. That they explain why the old club won’t receive further punishment if merited (unlikely at this stage).
C/. That they somehow explain, if it is the same club, how the liabilities were conveniently considered company debts whilst the history and trophies, intrinsic to the value of the company, somehow magically manifested themselves to the club but specifically not the company. Again I would consider that unlikely at this juncture.
Where the problem lies is if the new incumbent chooses to continue the current policy of simply saying nothing, explaining nothing and committing to nothing.
Move along works just fine if you accept the continuation myth and you continue to argue the toss about historic punishments, penalties, trophy records or whatever else you want to argue about. If you’ve driven your old car off a cliff you can argue the toss about whether it be impounded for dangerous driving or remembered for its trophy laden race record. You still haven’t got THAT car, whether you like it, whether it sits better within the framework of your arguement or not.
You cannot judge the new CEO on their ability to explain the impossible if that requires you to first accept the impossible and attempt to work backwards from there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQJ088NKqA4
IMO, the short list for next SFA CEO is a given.
Only those club CEO’s, directors or chairmen who had the moral fortitude and resigned their SFA appointments – in protest at how the organisation is run – at anytime since 2012, should be considered.
… :tumbleweed: …
Ergo, the new CEO should be new to Scottish football, IMO.
SMUGAS
FEBRUARY 3, 2018 at 20:29
Very well put Smugas. As you know, the football authorities took the rigid stance that Rangers must continue to exist, regardless of all else.
Unfortunately for them, when you work backwards from that desired outcome and look only at the facts, their bastardisation of the truth begins to unravel.
So much so that I actually pity those who continue to promote the same club fallacy, because the reality is that deep down they too know the truth, even although they can never ever admit to it. It must be incessantly gnawing away at them, without respite. What a wee shame.
A random thought. Th£ Rang£rs allegedly declined circa £7m for El Buffalo. Is this the same outfit that were unable to adequately convince a fifteen year old starlet that his future lay in Govan and not Stamford Bridge?
There are parallels to be drawn here. They’ve suddenly become a business that are prepared to forego, albeit in the meantime (allegedly), an immediate cash injection of that amount and continue to pay somewhere in the region of £7k a week for a young striker riding his luck in the Scottish Premiership.
The younger of the two, based on sensible media reports, in my opinion, would have merited a sufficient salary to convince him to stay. The reality is, the rang£ers don’t take gambles when cash is on the table.
Safe to say, the cash was never on the table.
We sometimes have a go at the scottish reporting.But i found this that was not part of the norm.
However it was rangers descent into Liquidation which saw Regan jump from frying pan into the fire.
Both he and League counterpart Neil Doncaster were castrated after claiming the scots game would face Armageddon if the newco Ibrox outfit was not allowed to join the old First Division after their 2012 relaunch.
———-
By relaunch i hope the reporter ment start anew…But not bad
CLUSTER ONE
Castigated Cluster, Castigated……Is there fresh cause for optimism in your post?
It is a lot better than rangers fall into the bottom league.
STIFFLERSMOMFEBRUARY 3, 2018 at 21:36
———–
I need my eyes tested
Cluster OneFebruary 3, 2018 at 21:31
“….were castrated….”
stifflersmomFebruary 3, 2018 at 21:36
“.Castigated Cluster, Castigated….Is there fresh cause for optimism in your post?..”
__________
Ha,ha.
Methinks they were already, morally at least, like Goebbels in that department, judging by the many calls made to them to ‘grow a pair”. ( and now ‘Colonel Bogey’ is worming in my ear!)
Thanks SMUGAS. That’s why I genuinely think anyone who comes in will be not be tasked with looking into the past. I do feel the ‘Rangers scenario’ is a completely thankless task for the next leader. They would be going against the grain in as far as the rest of the governing bodies, club chairman and the SMSM is concerned. It would be framed as he/she bowing down to pressure by ‘internet bampots’. And that’s why I don’t believe anyone coming in will do anything regarding OC/NC and the EBT years.
So with my logic over why we should discount the Rangers scenario (rightly or wrongly) from the equation, I choose to look at what other attributes should be looked for in a CEO when you look at it that way, Budge seems a very good option.
The new CEO will be selected, by those who don’t want investigated….Nuff said.
I get pelters on here all the time. I don’t care much. I have friends too. I love Celtic, I love Ireland but I also love Britain and what we did in WW2. Here’s my favourite march:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcIgoaUMOIw
Was told today Regan is away because of the Hampden/Murrayfield announcement. This was from a football official with links to one of the board who decided they’d let Regan go. Glasgow is a football city, Edinburgh’s rugby, apparently.
When questioned if the long awaited Compliance Officer’s report was an influence, the football official was puzzled, and had no idea what the question concerned. On being informed of the detail, the bloke told me that is an issue for Rangers and Celtic.
It’s an ignorant world.
Jimbo, you and I sound very similar albeit supporting different teams. I love Rangers, I love Britain and I love Scotland most of all. I support all of the home nations in tournaments including Ireland to the dismay of many of my Rangers friends. But nothing gets me fired up, or for that matter as upset as Scotland games!
I’ve been thinking about a new topic on the forums section of the site. Since the music one has passed without much fuss nor disruption to the main site anybody got any objections? It will be slightly controversial but totally fine. In fact I guarantee it. I promise.
I keep forgetting about the other forum but by all means Jimbo go ahead and I’ll try and attend more than I do just now
borussiabeefburgFebruary 3, 2018 at 22:32
‘… the bloke told me that is an issue for Rangers and Celtic….
It’s an ignorant world.”
__________
As a certain university professor tried to suggest to some overseas sports students in Edinburgh, I seem to remember, when the former CEO of the SFA was doing a ‘presentation’ about the SFA.
Ignorance in a professor? Not acceptable.
Butting in to deflect if he didn’t know what he was talking about speaks more of partisanship than ignorance!
Another one. BTW it includes St. Patricks’s Day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK0AfgTapEI
(I’ll be back on to football soon.!)
DBD, Don’t know if you watched my second clip. But last year I marched down the Royal Mile on the road with my band to open the Scottish Parliament. It was memorable.
I just watched it there. Are your band in Edinburgh again this year?
DBD, For many years I marched that parade as part of the annual miners gala in Edinburgh. Proud to be Scottish but proud to be Labour too! We still friends?
Haha of course! My close friends are from every walk of life. Politics and sport should never be a barrier to that.
That all went wrong.
DBD, This is for you mate, I love this song, played it a million times.
But you have to listen to this song for …..everything…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Z8f42fF8M
Ah, good old Rabbie Burns! Although forgive me if my usual patriotic optimism is slightly muted tonight after that result in Cardiff today
And thank you DBD for taking my post constructively in the manner it was intended.
i guess what it comes down to is can you rebuild a game based on an unanswered question? And one that is not unanswered in a piece of string, meaning of life way but rather in a not liking the inescapable answer kind of a way.
Now Doncaster’s pathetic wee MBA thesis I’m sure concludes that yes you can. That we’ll all hate each other even more and the game will thrive on the renewed rivalry. But at some point, shortly after he’s gone (hopefully) something trivial will happen that will split the lie asunder. I don’t know what that will be but my guess would be a mid level small club probably in L1 going to the wall. Then the cold harsh reality of dealing with real world items like cash and debt will come to the fore. And a banker to a new owner will be asked for money to achieve a CVA so they can get relegated to L2 ‘with pride’ when, of course, the same end can apparently be achieved by not spending money on a CVA. And I suspect said banker will be less metaphysically inclined.
and the sadness is. Regan and Doncaster’s wee project makes that occurrence more likely. Not less.
Jimbo,
i understand youll be having having trouble getting off to sleep tonight without the requisite three points safely stashed away. But don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. Hopefully!
Completely OT, I know, but jimbo’s earlier post with a picture of the band of the Grenadier Guards, and what ‘ we’ did in the Second World War, sat very nicely with my recent experiences: we had a visitor from the U.S. ( a friend of my son) staying with us last week and a half. The conversation one evening turned around the use of the word ‘Yank’ : he was anxious to know whether we ( in the UK)used it as an insulting, derogatory word.
As it happened, I had been reading ” HMS Inflexible” by A E Langsford, ( fiction, and quite good) , so I fetched the book, and turned to the page on which this is written:
” There was a tense moment of waiting. According to intelligence reports the Japanese had no carriers left which were fit for sea, but there was always a chance.
“It’s the Yanks,sir”
“Ask them which ship”
There was another burst of dots and dashes from the strange ship. “Lexington, sir”
“She’s signalling, sir: ” Good to see you at last. How did you weather the typhoon?”
Thurston thought for a moment. Lexington was a brand-new ship, with, no doubt, a cocky young complement bursting to prove that they and their ship were about to win the war single-handed.
“Oh, ask them what typhoon”
There were smiles all round, and an eager wait for the Americans’ response, but there was no reply.”
Our guest , a really delightful guy, a modest American, understood exactly what that exchange indicated, the readiness to accept ‘Americans’ as friends of whom we are in a friendly way envious , and whose tendency to boast about their country kind of annoys us.
https://johnjamessite.com/
A Poisoned Bucket
“In the hours after Regan’s departure there was a thread on a website about who might succeed him. Hibs’ impressive leader, Leeann Dempster, was mooted only to be shot down by some contributors because she, apparently, once held a season ticket at Rangers. That’s an isolated and perhaps extreme example of the bitterness that’s out there, but this is not a poisoned chalice of a job we’re talking about, it’s a poisoned bucket”.” Tom English – BBC Freemasonry.
Now that the odious Stewart Regan has kicked the poisoned bucket, thoughts turn to his legacy and successor. Alan McRae, the former Cove Rangers supremo and now president of the SFA, took his tie out of his soup to write a glowing valedictory to Regan. Forgive me if I demur.
Regan faced three challenges in 2011-2013. How he dealt with them defined his legacy. When the SMSM finally woke up to the fact that Rangers were ineligible to compete in UEFA tournaments in 2011/2012, Regan followed up a call with Andrew Dickson with an email to the then Rangers Chief Executive Ali Russell. The Tax Justice Network wrote:
“The close relationship between the SFA and the club (Rangers) is also a concern. It is difficult to imagine any regulator, in any other sector, running press statements past the people they were regulating for approval. It is even more difficult to understand how a regulator can be seen to be impartial if it drops public statements it was planning to make about a company they regulate on the request of the company and arranges a private dinner between the chief executives in the following weeks.”
Regan lied that the £2.8m due to HMRC had not crystallised. Testimony under oath at the Craig Whyte trial unequivocally refuted this lie of convenience. To my mind Regan and his corrupt cabal of colleagues at the SFA, including President Campbell Ogilvie and Licence Committee member Andrew Dickson, wilfully ignored an overdue payable to grant Rangers a UEFA licence, in contravention of UEFA statutes on social taxes. Craig Whyte in his correspondence to Russell to veto Regan’s proposed press release, reminded Regan that the SFA were up to their necks in this fraudulent conspiracy and would be severely compromised if Regan’s proposed press release saw the light of day. I published it in full.
Regan should have been sacked on the spot.
However this was as nothing to what Regan wrote in 2012:
Dear all,
Many thanks for your contribution and support over the last two weeks in trying to deliver a programme of change that will move Scottish football forward whilst addressing the need to deal with the Rangers matter with integrity and in line with our own values as an organisation.
I was hugely encouraged with where we got to last night on a long and tiring phone call and I thank all of you for your efforts to move this issue forward.
I thought it would be helpful if I summarised where I think we are:
1. The Rangers Football Club will be relegated to the 1st Division of the SFL with immediate effect and will be replaced in the SPL by Dundee FC.
2. The television rights for Rangers FC matches in the SFL will be purchased by the SPL for the sum of £1m as a one-off fee for the season 2012/2013.
3. The two leagues will merge into a single league body – The Scottish Professional Football League – effective season 2013/14 – with a working party set up immediately involving representatives from the SPL, SFL and (if required) the Scottish FA to plan the integration of the two bodies – people, rules, rebranding, commercial considerations and so on.
4. A new Board of Directors will be appointed to govern the single league. The make up of this Board will consist of an Independent Chairman, CEO, 3 representatives from the Premier League, 2 representatives from the Championship/Leagues 1 & 2 and 2 Independent Non-Executive Directors.
5. Play-offs will be introduced immediately with the first matches taking place at the end of the coming season 2012/2013.
6. Enhanced parachute payments will be implemented from the end of the season 2012/2013 to soften the landing for club(s) relegated from the Premier League.
7. A revised all-through distribution model will be put in place to provide: a) An all-through distribution model for clubs 1-22 and a minimum guarantee for 20 clubs in Leagues 1 & 2, equivalent to what they would earn under the current settlement agreement.
8. A Pyramid System will be put in place which open up the bottom of League 2 effective from the end of season 2013/2014 with the first opportunity for promoted clubs to enter the league being 2014/15 thus allowing for licensing to take place.
9. Consolidation below the Third Division to take place to create a Lowland & Highland League structure effective 2014/15 with appropriate play-offs and promotion/relegation to be put in place. Clubs to be briefed that the previous season 2013/2014 will involve the opportunity to enter play-offs for the first time.
In terms of actions/timings I think the following needs to happen in this coming week:
A) A joint statement today from all 3 bodies confirming that productive discussions have taken place on a new blueprint for Scottish football. Consultation will continue over the next two weeks with a view to clubs getting together week commencing 2nd July to try and agree the way forward. (D Broadfoot to provide this and circulate to DL/ND for approval)
B) Rod P / Jim B to finalise the all-through financial model by Wednesday this week latest.
C) Neil / David to finalise the detail on Governance, Commercials and Play-Offs (ideally Monday/Tuesday) and incorporate these, plus the financials in B) above into a legally binding Heads of Terms ‘draft’ for presentation to each league body w/c 2nd July.
D) DL to organise SFL Board Meeting w/c 25th June to gain buy-in to the plan and also arrange an all club meeting w/c 2nd July
E) ND to gain support from SPL Clubs 28th June
F) SFL Clubs Meeting to be planned for 3rd July
G) SPL Club Meeting to be planned for 4th July
H) Scottish FA Board to sign off on the final plan post 4th July. Subject to approval all bodies (including Newco) to sign legal documentation.
I) Agree joint communication strategy
J) In parallel to A-D above, could Rod Petrie please brief Charles Green confidentially on the discussions from a Scottish FA perspective so that there are ‘no surprises’ and there is a general acceptance of the plan plus all of the other conditions discussed e.g. transfer embargo, fines, repayment of football debt, waiving rights to legal challenge, acceptance of relegation and so on.
K) Andrew to ensure our check list of disclosures relating to Newco and Fit & Proper Person criteria are delivered by 2nd july. The Board will need these plus the Heads of Terms above in order to complete this plan.
The Scottish FA Board have agreed to provide a one-off restructuring budget of £1m on condition the above plan is delivered.
I hope this covers everything.
Speak soon….now off to the airport!
Regards
Stewart”
Note how Regan delegates his attempt to shoehorn Charles Green’s basket case of assets to others and slips away on vacation lest the shit hits the fan. This plan was stillborn. True to form when Greenturned up to sign Draft 6 of the Five Way Agreement, Regan was leaving on the pretext of a social engagement. If a close family member had expired, he could have risen the following morning and driven to Durham. This was not the case. He chose to distance himself from the horse-trading lest it break down and he be called out as a fraud by Charles Green.
He should have been sacked on the spot for this dereliction of duty.
I have chosen to reproduce an excerpt from JJ Passim: An Open Letter To Stewart Regan, which was published 8 months ago and can be found in my archive. The foreword in Green Italic typeface is from Joe O’Rourke:
Another question which is being asked by football supporters of all clubs is in regards to the criteria which must be met to be awarded a European spot by the SFA for season 2017/18. Do all the clubs in Scotland which have been awarded a place meet the criteria?
I also note with interest this morning in the media, your colleague (should that be Brother?) SFA President Alan McRae state that it would be a “very boring and dreary” season in Scottish Football if our Invincible Treble Winners aren’t challenged. McRae doesn’t want just any team to challenge, he just wants it to be Rangers who are doing the challenging. I’m sure his predecessor will be proud of him.
This is coming from a guy who has contributed absolutely nothing to Scottish Football, at Amateur or Highland League level, a guy like you has been an embarrassment to Scottish Football, and those in power at UEFA must wonder how you both got into your high level positions.
Finally Mr Regan, I would like to ask you if you have changed your position on the questions sent to you by the group of Celtic Supporter Shareholders known as “ Resolution 12”. Although I never followed the Craig Whyte trial very closely, I read enough to suggest that contrary to what you claimed, the Tax Liability had Crystallised and therefore a European Licence should not have been issued to Rangers.
That means without a shadow of a doubt one or more people were telling lies, the question is Mr Regan were you one of them? I don’t expect you to answer that, but I thought I would ask the question anyway. There is also the case of the DOS/EBT with side letters schemes ran by Rangers; was the full truth put before Lord Nimmo Smith? Again were one or more people telling lies?
That only leaves me to reiterate the position of the Celtic Supporters Association. After the six blind officials match at Hampden our members passed unanimously a “Vote of No Confidence” in you, I think you can safely add your colleague Mr McRae to that now. I also think it is time that you actually asked the supporters of all the member clubs in Scotland if they have any confidence in you to take Scottish Football forward. I would safely predict that UKIP would be more popular than you. For the benefit of Scottish Football please go now.”
Joe O’Rourke,
General Secretary,
Celtic Supporters Association,
Independent Shareholder in Celtic Football Club.
JJ: Stewart Regan has been exposed in a blatant lie. Given his attempt to cover his arse in an e-mail to Ali Russel and Andrew Dickson he is fully aware of this lie. The DOS/VSS tax debt crystallised at the beginning of March, 2011. To state that it had not crystallised at the March and June cut-off dates is a lie. Stewart Regan lied to assist Rangers as he concurs with McRae’s view that a strong Rangers is good for Scottish football. His lies were to the detriment of other clubs who paid their social taxes.
However let’s not hang Regan for a lamb when we have the sheep of his involvement in the LNS fiasco. Could someone explain to me why the Chief Executive of the appellate body, the SFA, saw fit to impose himself on a supervisory committee apropos a Scottish Premier League inquiry? If Nimmo Smith – Lord is just an honorary title – had come to the rightful conclusion that Rangers had gained an illegal competitive advantage would Regan have buried it? What part did Regan play in limiting the scope of the LNS inquiry to exclude the illegal tax evasion of the DOS/VSS scheme? Why was the compromised Campbell Ogilvie allowed to lead testimony for Rangers to save his own neck? Why was Sandy Bryson allowed to fudge a binary issue with the preposterous ‘imperfectly registered but eligible?’
Why was Andrew Dickson who submitted Craig Whyte’s application to be a football director not censured by the SFA? It is common knowledge that Dickson did not disclose that Whyte had been previously disqualified as a company director for seven years. Dickson had full access to the Titon report.
In his role as an experienced administrator regarding club licensing what part did Dickson play in advising RFC Finance Director Ken Olverman how to report the status of the DOS/VSS bill to UEFA given that Dickson knew that it was an overdue payable that had crystallised in March?
Why was Mr Dickson not censured for knowingly withholding the side letters detailing EBT payment to players, managers and directors from the SFA and SPL? Did he fail to mention his own EBT of £33,000?
Could Mr Regan explain why a central figure in the EBT tax evasion of Rangers was elected to the SFA congress in 2015?
Why was Rod McKenzie of Harper Macleod solicitors also appointed to the SFA congress in 2015? Was this his recompense for only looking under the rocks that the SFA had deemed ‘appropriate’ for the LNS commission?
As the ultimate arbiters of the Scottish game why do the SFA allow the SPFL to engage in the lie of Continuation? Does it not behove the SFA to contact Neil Doncaster to take him to task on his transposition of historic titles to a new club formed in 2012? The SFA know that Rangers Lite are a new club as they initially issued them with a conditional licence.
As for Regan stating that Whyte was still banned from Scottish football did he think that Whyte gave a flying fuck about his perspective? To suggest that the SFA handled the Rangers implosion with the utmost probity and without fear or favour is the rhetoric of the revisionist.
Scottish Football does not need a strong Rangers. It needs a strong SFA.
The LNS Commission was a sham. Allowing Campbell Ogilvie to advance a skewed narrative that saved his neck and the stripping of titles was unconscionable. Bryson’s ‘imperfectly registered but eligible’ statement was also a blatant lie. Each and every game in which Rangers fielded or had an ineligible player in their squad should have resulted in a 3-0 win for their opponents. If Regan had shown some leadership and applied SFA rules we all could have moved on.
Regan’s legacy is that we cannot move on and allow tax evasion to go unpunished. The SFA should be abolished. It should be subsumed as the SFL was into the SPFL. Neil Doncaster and Rod McKenzie should play no part in this new organisation.
As for English’s advocacy of Leeann Dempster how can one possibly allow a Rangers season ticket holder of 20 years, who is of the view that we should Move On, to maintain the SFA’s status quo?
Was English giving a nod to the cabal of senior Freemasons who run BBC Scotland?
If Dempster is given the SFA gig Scottish football is going to hell in a poisoned bucket.
Smugas, what I like about this site is the open to all nature, and the fact that different opinions are constructed in a reasoned and balanced basis. Every opinion and view is welcomed. The posters (with the exception of that loon Ernie who used to post on here) put across counter points and views with respect and never resort to the usual ‘playing the man’ abuse of other website (shut up you taig/hun/insert appropriate insult, your club died, etc). I genuinely do wish other decent fans of other clubs would join as although it’s predominantly Celtic fans, it does appear to be the decent reasoned Celtic fans!
Brilliant JC, “the readiness to accept ‘Americans’ as friends of whom we are in a friendly way envious , and whose tendency to boast about their country kind of annoys us.”
Nothing has changed. We love and annoy them as much they love and annoy us. (Actually they don’t!, they are by and large good people, as are we).
Jc @ 0.07
i forget the writer who once opined,
”Americans are the only race who will make a point of asking a visiting exchange student whether they prefer their own country to the USA and then be visibly disappointed, shocked and offended all at once should they dare to answer in the affirmative”
Bryson maybe? (Not that one!)
Rewriten to get through mods!
Smugas, what I like about this site is the open to all nature, and the fact that different opinions are constructed in a reasoned and balanced basis. Every opinion and view is welcomed. The posters (with the exception of that loon Ernie who used to post on here) put across counter points and views with respect and never resort to the usual ‘playing the man’ abuse of other website (shut up you ta-*g/h*n/insert appropriate insult, your club died, etc). I genuinely do wish other decent fans of other clubs would join as although it’s predominantly Celtic fans, it does appear to be the decent reasoned Celtic fans!
Anyway for those that are interested at the birthday bash I was at tonight I had Chicken Supreme with peppercorn sauce. It was lovely. Plus about 5 or 6 large glasses of expensive white wine. I tried to talk about the game today but nobody was interested. I missed you folk.
Jimbo, what’s your definition of a good white wine? I’ve only recently converted from red and had the preconception that Chablis was the only way to go but have recently learned the joys of very nice Sauvignons and Reislings so I am all for further suggestions. It seems only right to try as many as possible, for pure educational purposes of course.
And apologies for the non football chat (new wine forum anyone?) but I have to say I love the snobbery by the uneducated who say they would never drink a Chardonnay yet proclaim to love Champaign
DBD, My current wine is PINOT Gritto I think. My honest opinion is that any white wine provided it is properly chilled is beautiful.
Don’t go near red wines my friend, they are leathal. They make you unwell. White wines (all of them) are healthy and good for you. At least that’s my experience. (Hic)
I’ve always been lucky that in general I never get hangovers (much to the dismay of my friends; just wait till you turn 18, just wait till you turn 21, just wait till you turn 30, just wait till you turn 40!) but red wine was the one thing that gave me headaches hence my recent move towards the white variety and I must say I far more enjoy it!
Just read your post which came up whilst I was typing. Champers? Went on a flight from Glasgow to the Champagne area of France one morning. Champagne breakfast on flight! Don’t want to bore you with details but I was pished at the end of it all.
Haha I always blame it on the bubbles
DBD, When you were talking about – wait until your this age and that – I heard that all my life about putting on weight! I’ve always been slim but wanted to be a bit heavier. Everyone said just wait until your……. Never happened! Glad now I suppose.
Jimbo, there’s nothing more satisfying than proving them all wrong! On that note I really better get to sleep as I’m up in the morning. A very good night to you and all the SFM posters
Goodnight DBD, your always good company.
I suppose that’s me on my todd now. I don’t care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Z8f42fF8M
And by the way all my killie friends you deserved to win today! OK? Happy now?
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side. The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling, It’s you, it’s you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow, Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow, And I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow, Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so!
But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying, And I am dead, as dead I well may be, Ye’ll come and find the place where I am lying, And kneel and say an “Avé” there for me;
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me, And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be, For you will bend and tell me that you love me, and I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!
paddyontherailway made a good comment re Regan this morning.
“Speaking of Stewart Regan, I don’t understand why everyone’s got it in for him specifically. Was anything any different before he came along? And will anything be different now that he’s gone? The clique that exists at Hampden is the same, self-perpetuating clique that existed at Park Gardens; not a thing has ever changed. Like in practically every sector in society, you need to play the game properly to get ahead. It seems that at the SFA one needs either Masonic connections or to have a touch of the Orange brush. I’m afraid the revolution won’t be starting with the departure of Regan.”
Here’s a link to the article if anyone wants to read it.https://paddyontherailway.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/stats-status/
BALLYARGUS
FEBRUARY 4, 2018 at 09:22
============================
Well that’s that, no point in even trying to change anything. Let’s all just pack up and go home.
Conversely one could look at the times when things have been changed, some which have seemed impossible at the time. However with perseverance they have changed for the better.
Here are some STANDARDS that I believe SFA should be adopting in their dealings; any prudent CEO would demand good business practice for SFA. It can take 3 years, but with a good organisational consultant and the will to do it SFA could be turned around. Acknowledged as the best fans in the world? The fans put a lot into it. Now the governance and support organisation needs to be turned around.
Here are my thoughts (partly coming from my experience in big oil company which had some governance issues in its time):-
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
Governance bodies. Roles and duties stated. Independence of each governance body. Independent external oversight of governance.
Chairperson
CEO, Directors
Officers
Supervisory Board – independent oversight of the Board of Directors.
TRANSPARENCY
Policies, procedures, minutes of meetings, correspondence, commercial agreements, with appropriate protection for Commercially Confidential information.
Decision making and resolution of disagreements.
Press Access.
Responding to public or supporter communications.
Complaints procedure; publication of complaints and responses.
Risk Management: risk matrix, risk assessment and response strategies.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Named positions and individuals who have the responsibility for delivering standards and performance.
Breach of duty.
REMUNERATION
Decisions on salaries, bonuses.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Annual written statement to Board by those in positions of power and influence.
Independent scrutiny of C-O-I statements.
FINANCIAL PROBITY
Open and detailed financial statements, annual reports.
SUPPORTERS
Fair communication channels.
UODATED RULES
1. For SFA and its Officials.
2. For Clubs & Officials.
INDEPENDENT SCRUTINY
Organisational effectiveness review (every 3 years) against “fit for purpose” criteria.
Internal “sensing” of SFA staff views of organisation (effectiveness, trust).
External “sensing” of SFA effectiveness.
If SFA achieves a good deal of the above in 3 years then there is hope; if they insist of having the same vested interests continue to run the organisation as before, then I can only see more hidden agendas, risk taking and ultimately failure to deliver fairness in the game for the fans and the clubs.
Rangers chairman Dave King to be more hands-on as he decides to spend more time in ScotlandThe Ibrox chief has been based in South Africa and leaves the day-to-day running of the club to others but is now set to be more visible to fans.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-chairman-dave-king-more-11967559
—————–
I believe that DCK is restricted to 90 days per year visitation rights.To exceed 90 days would bring him into the tax system in this country. How will it be for the SFA when king said he would not act as a shadow director?
CO, I’m sure I read that King was only in Scotland for 6 days in total 2017. He could spend 10 times longer in 2018 and still have 30 days left over for all his court appearances!
DarkbeforedawnFebruary 4, 2018 at 00:42
‘…. put across counter points and views with respect and never resort to the usual ‘playing the man’ abuse of other website (shut up you ta-*g/h*n/insert appropriate insult, your club died, etc). ‘
__________
It is a bit disingenuous of you, Dbd, if I might say so with respect, to include ‘your club died’ as being of the same nature as offensively used terms of abuse.
No offence is intended (by me) anyway, when I state the truth that the RFC of 1872 ceased to exist as an authorised, participating member of a Scottish Professional Football league and a member of the SFA.
Those memberships were, as a matter of law and Football rules, extinguished by Liquidation.
Was there a hint of longing in Craig brown’s wee voice 5 minutes ago, when he asserted that if Ernie Walker was still CEO ( or, as then styled, Secretary) of the SFA, ‘Rangers’ would have been fined half a million, not ‘relegated’ and things would hve moved on from there’ (Sunday Sportsound, BBC Radio Scotland)
I’ve no doubt that old Ernie would have tried!
And I’ve no doubt that Craig Brown is among the principal deniers of the death of RFC 1872, and will his not inconsiderable influence to maintain the denial.
JC, my apologies if you took offence by that, it was certainly not my intention. In fact I don’t have any issue with the points of view on here regardless. I had meant it more than on other sites whenever I make a point, no matter what the topic is on, if the person doesn’t like my point they resort to childish taunts “shut up h*n, your clubs dead”. I think it’s quite safe to say you certainly do not fall into that camp!
I’d love to hear his reasoning as to how a company/club in administration could possibly have dealt with a half million pound fine, not to mention what would have happened when they failed to achieve a CVA
Would anyone like to guess which modest blogger said the above recently?
“That’s for others to decide“, he informs us, before performing an immediate u-turn and deciding it was indeed himself who heroically and single-handedly presented Stewart Regan with his P45.
Since I already know the answer to who the blogger is, I’ll have to amuse myself instead by guessing who the “trusted source with six decades in the media” is. So far I’ve plumped for Bruce Forsyth, although it could be any one of the hundreds of voices JJ hears in his head, now that I Mensch-on it.
HIGHLANDER
FEBRUARY 4, 2018 at 13:48
=================================
An extract from the blog Ballyargus linked to earlier.
https://paddyontherailway.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/stats-status/
I was having a look about on this website and discovered a few things that I didn’t know existed. I can see how many views my blog has had and which countries they come from. Just like JJ, I’ve found a long list of countries, on every continent (well, apart from Antarctica), where people have viewed my blog. Unlike JJ, however, I am under no illusions about what this means. He goes on and on about his worldwide audience, as if he’s the modern-day equivalent of the BBC’s World Service. He honestly believes that he’s influencing opinion all over the Globe. Unfortunately, there’s another service provided by WordPress (where both he and I have our blogs), which puts a whole different slant on things.
As well as letting you see your site’s stats, WordPress also has a spam filter, which stops all those messages that nobody wants from reaching you. You can imagine the type of thing: begging letters, scams requiring you to hand over your bank details and offers of marriage from women living in dodgy locations. WordPress might stop all this shite from coming through but I’ve no doubt that it adds to your number of views. You’ll get folk, as well as robots, all over the world searching for blogs that they can send their money-making messages to. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that all those countries looking at your blog isn’t actually a testament to your readership but, rather, to the diligence and widespread nature of all these con artists. I find it hard to believe that folk in Qatar, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Colombia etc. etc. are actually interested in what I have to say. If JJ was honest with himself, he’d feel exactly the same way.
Deluding himself about his huge audience obviously leads JJ to believe that he’s got a lot more influence than he really has. He now thinks that he was responsible for Stewart Regan’s resignation. I mean, get a grip, pal! Unfortunately for JJ’s increasingly inflated ego, his followers seem to be encouraging him in his delusion.
===============================
Am I close.
You got it in one. My next clue was going to mention the fact that his site apparently has had 18million hits so far, yet some of his daily blogs close with only two or three comments by his readers. Either he’s a very very strict moderator, or he’s somewhat confused about his decimal point placements.
Anything on JJ’s blogs are usually 5* entertainment. I have never known such a fantasist! I started reading his blogs out of morbid curiosity when he started out pretending to be a disillusioned Rangers fan. He was a season ticket holder in the ‘Club Deck Stand’ and only had the good of the club in his blogs. When his true identity was uncovered as a Celtic man from Greenock he quickly changed the narrative. He would break ‘exclusive after exclusive and when it would prove to be a complete fabrication, he would quickly remove the blogs or rewrite them to make it look like he was right all along. The fantasy of the death threats really top any of his other fabrications. To think he can’t come to the country for threats, when the likes of Auldheid and PMG probe far far more and fight far more than he does without any trouble. Then there was the virtual table, and the fact he sent his supposed right hand man to collect his award, who in an incredible coincidence just happened to be the person JJ himself was outed as several months earlier. I’d love to know how many of the posters on his site are actually him. It’s also good fun to read his begging posts he puts up at least once a week.
In all seriousness though, between the blog, his split personalities and his incredible conspiracy theories he does seem a very very unhinged man who undoubtably needs help.
DARKBEFOREDAWN
FEBRUARY 4, 2018 at 14:26
He was a season ticket holder in the ‘Club Deck Stand’ and only had the good of the club in his blogs.When his true identity was uncovered as a Celtic man from Greenock …
=====================================
He’s a Morton man now.
“Morton’s win against play-off rival Dunfermline puts them in the box seat for one of three berths. They have been in a rich seam of form of late. Long may it continue (I wear my love of this club on my sleeve).”
Who clearly doesn’t know that HMRC have their own criminal investigation arm and if they suspect fraud that is who investigates it. The same HMRC who arrested Rangers’ bank accounts, moved to wind them up and rejected the CVA.
I see the the populist agenda of merging the SFA and the SPFL has started with Roy McGregor for one proposing it. We need to be very wary of combining the running of the league and the governance of the game. I accept that there may be some unnecessary duplication around some commercial aspects but it is a flawed proposal. For a start the SFA covers a lot more than the SPFL including fitba at all levels, genders and of course internationally with our national team and representing us at UEFA and FIFA, neither of whom are the least bit interested in running anyone’s national league set up. So the idea is a non runner but the worst part is the idea that the likes of McGregor, Milne, King, Lawell etc etc would run their teams, the league AND be self regulating. It’s bad enough that the SFA haven’t had the cojones to truly govern of late without shutting the door and giving the key to the inmates!
It is completely disingenuous of McGregor to ascertain that separating the commercial, trade organisation (The SPFL) from governance (SFA) is unique to fitba. He’s in the same industry I was in and knows damn well that continuing to fight for self regulation is a basic principle of neo liberalism, i.e. corporate welfare, to get those pesky regulators and their nit picking laws off their entrepreneurial backs. If anyone is happy with this shower of moving on chairman self governing just remember we have no idea who is coming along the pike. No, we need an SFA with integrity to govern our game and the big clubs who want to divvi it up.
This morning’s(online version) of the Sunday Mail/ Daily Record has a new campaign started, it wants to set up a Scottish Football Federation. Their new body would amalgamate the SPFL and the SFA. Goodbye old SFA, full of your little difficulties like investigations over Rangers UEFA licence of 2011 hello SFF.
The Sunday Mail also tells us why we are suddenly seeing so much of the previously hidden Chairman of RIFC, one Mr Dave King. Apparently now is the time for Mr King to “take a more hands on approach” at Rangers. I dont think Dave King is suddenly in Scotland because he’s worried about the running of Rangers, Mr King is far more concerned I believe with who’ll be in charge at the SFA, that’s why he’s in Scotland.
We know from reports he visited the enemy of the Peepul the Daily Record premises last week. What could be the outcome of that visit? What was its main purpose? I believe the Scottish Football Federation, lead by Leann Dempster was Mr King’s idea but lets look at what the Record are writing, here a few quotes from Michael Gannon’s piece in today’s paper:
Dempster would fit the bill but there wouldn’t be much point if they stuck her in the usual SFA straitjacket.
A Scottish Football Federation could unite the clubs, sweep away the blazers and bureaucracy, form a proper business with a plan of attack, setting the agenda rather than being dragged along by it.
Just give Dempster a blank page to make a fresh start.
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, there will be no 2011 decision on the awarding of Rangers’ Licence ‘ cause we’re all getting a blank page in a room where all the blazers are swept away and the usual SFA straitjacket will be tossed into a dark cupboard, onwards to a “fresh start”.
Hibs best advertise Leann Dempster’s job just now.
I think that what we need s a new organisation to audit and regulate Scottish football governance that is independent of all of our clubs in all leagues. That would leave the SFA to be responsible for the oversight and management of our international teams and the Scottish Cup.
As you can see from his latest blog “John James” thinks otherwise.
Doing SFA For Fair Play
https://johnjamessite.com/
Which seamlessly leads me to my thesis apropos abolishing the SFA. An independent and respected body, the Tax Justice Network, published a 19 page report viz Doing SFA For Fair Play which took the SFA to task.
This report poses the following question:
” Is the SFA an organisation capable of fixing itself and adopting the required standards of transparency, accountability and fairness that fans of Scottish football deserve?”
The report concludes:
” The evidence does strongly suggest that the SFA is unable, if not actively unwilling, to ensure fair play.”
Which begs the question why should one allow it to continue? Why not make strong representation to one’s member club, with the threat of a season ticket boycott, with a view to dissolving this odious organ?
If it cannot ensure fair play it should not govern our game. The Tax Justice Network looked at two instances, both involving former club Rangers, which highlight the systemic failures of this anachronistic organisation.
The first of these is Rangers’ use of employment benefit trusts (EBT). The authors of the report asserted:
“In order for EBT to work as a tax avoidance scheme the payments from the trust needed to be independent of the club. If HMRC could see that Rangers players were being paid to play then they could tax any payments as if the players were being paid directly by the club. To get around this problem, Rangers’ contracts registered with the SFA did not include the EBT payments.”
To compound matters:
” The club issued “side letters” to the players, guaranteeing payment. These letters promised payment but the terms and existence of the agreement was kept out of the players’ contract and away from the eyes of HMRC and the SFA.”
In 2005 the club denied the existence of the side letters to HMRC. By 2007, a dawn raid by City of London Police on an unrelated matter, revealed that the club were lying. By 2009 a ‘visit’ by HMRC to the SFA revealed that the EBT and side letter agreements had not been revealed to the SFA.
The predecessor to EBT, the Discounted Option Scheme/Value Shift Scheme, had been determined to have been an unlawful tax avoidance mechanism on the precedent established by an HMRC test case against Aberdeen Asset Management. Side Letters were also issued. These side letters were also concealed from HMRC and the SFA.
On ‘The Wee Tax Case‘ a HMRC Inspector wrote:
“I have decided to make these assessments as it is my view that the amounts reflected in the assessments arise due to the deliberate failure or fraudulent behaviour of the company.”
At this juncture the police should have been contacted. Wilfully lying to HMRC and making false HMRC returns is punishable by imprisonment. But not in Scotland where the Rangers head of security was a former Police Superintendent who had clambered up the greasy pole with the assistance of his Freemason brothers.
The Failure of the SFA to govern and the failure of Strathclyde Police to uphold and enforce the law is unconscionable.
Strathclyde Police are no longer with us. There was a recognised need to reform. The SFA, which is incapable of reform should be abolished.
One man is singled out in the Tax Justice Network report. Campbell Ogilvie, a liar’s liar, stated in person to the LNS enquiry:
“Nothing to do with the contributions being made to the Trust fell within the scope my remit at Rangers.”
Ogilvie claimed that his first contact with EBT was his severance payment of £95,000. Which leads to the scope of the LNS commission which excluded DOS/VSS from its considerations. Was this due to the unseen hand of Stewart Regan to conceal the fact that the President of the SFA executed a payment to Craig Moore via The Montreal Trust? I published this letter. It was seen by my readers. It was not seen by the LNS commission as the timeline of the commission was changed.
Regan, Ogilvie and Doncaster subverted the LNS enquiry. Regan should have been dismissed for this imbroglio of deception. Ogilvie should not be a UEFA match day delegate. Doncaster’s time will come.
When it was revealed that the substantive part of 55 Rangers players’ salaries had not been registered with the SFA, this odious organ sent in the clowns in the shape of Sandy Bryson who declared that:
‘the players were imperfectly registered but eligible.’
I rest my case. This organisation is incapable of reform. They sacked Gordon Strachan, with a conspicuous absence of succession planning, leaving the National Team rudderless. They have failed to qualify for the finals of any tournament for 20 years. Their Scottish Cup draws, covered live, descend into farce when the frozen balls break open.
This organisation is unfit for purpose. It must be subsumed into the SPFL.
The SFA have lost more than Regan and their sponsor. They have lost the plot.
He better watch going after the SFA, they will go after his life and he probably won’t get the protection of the ‘Kung Fu Tims’ or whatever he called them
misterlightbulbjoke February 4, 2018 at 14:55
Here’s how BBC Sport Scotland reported the Sunday Mail’s campaign including quotes from Roy McGregor.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42936830
SFA and SPFL should unite, says Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor
The Scottish FA and Scottish Professional Football League should unite as one governing body, says Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor.
The Sunday Mail newspaper has launched a campaign backing such a move.
And MacGregor told BBC Scotland: “We’ve got a league system and we’ve got a governance system.
“There’s less duplication than in the past, but I do think it’s still there and I think both organisations can live within one structure.”
◾Hibs boss unsurprised by Dempster link
◾McLeish calls for reform
◾Regan steps down as SFA chief
The calls come after Stewart Regan resigned last week as SFA chief executive following the failure to persuade Michael O’Neill to switch from Northern Ireland to succeed Gordon Strachan as national head coach.
With the SFA now without a chief executive and team boss, businessman MacGregor thinks it is an opportunity for the SFA to review a system that does not allow its top officials sufficient autonomy to make decisions.
“It’s football, it’s a crazy game and we don’t do things they do in normal businesses,” he said.
“But, with disappointment, there are great opportunities and it is an opportunity to actually have a look at the way things are done and look at the way the set-up is, look at the way appointments are made, look at trying go get something fresh, something new.
“There are challenges with the SFA with the structures there and normally the chief executive would have a bigger say along with the chairman in how a business was run and maybe it’s time to have a look at it.
“It is stupid that we have two commercial teams selling both organisations and there will be other areas of duplication.
“So I think it is a chance to begin to look with open eyes at whether change – and radical change – is actually needed.
“I do think governance and entrepreneurship can live side by side and I would encourage the people at the top to look at that.”
Hibernian chief executive Leanne Dempster has received backing from some within Scottish football to succeed Regan.
“People like Leanne have been mentioned and she would be absolutely terrific – she’s fresh, she speaks her mind, she’s been in a business and someone like that as a chief executive would be absolutely wonderful,” MacGregor said.
“Let’s hope the people at the SFA are imaginative.”
MacGregor expressed sympathy for Regan, who had been in post for eight years.
“In all my dealings with Stewart, I found him really good,” the County chairman added.
“He’s had a difficult job because he’s working in a system that’s very committee driven and, even at the time we were appointing a manager, to have to wait so long to get people to agree the job description and salary seems absolutely crazy in the business world.”
Let’s hope that the pernicious influence of Petrie and McRae is ignored.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alex-mcleish-targeted-next-scotland-11967014
Alex McLeish targeted as next Scotland boss by SFA vice-president Rod Petrie By Gordon Waddell
The Hibs supremo wants a boss in place before friendlies with Costa Rica and Hungary and has the support of Alan McRae.
Rod Petrie will push for a quick appointment of Alex McLeish as Scotland team boss.
But the SFA vice-president faces a fight getting his choice ratified by the SFA board.
MailSport understands the Hibs supremo wants a boss in place before the March friendlies with Costa Rica and Hungary.
Despite the support of president Alan McRae, it’s understood McLeish is an unpopular choice.
And the board – who swatted Petrie and McRae’s attempts to save Stewart Regan from his demise on Thursday – may not let them dictate the choice of boss.
However, neither interim boss Malky Mackay nor U21 gaffer Scot Gemmill will have the reins for next month’s friendlies.
Thanks for posting sannoffymesssoitiz I hadn’t seen that. More proof of the fix being in.
There will never be an announcement from the SFA’s compliance officer over the awarding of the licence. There just simply cant be. Leann Dempster will lead us onto our”fresh start”. Even last weeks announcement by Graham Speirs of her 20 year season book at Ibrox is beginning to look like putting out fires before they start. Fix is in.
BRTH tweeting a rumour that the SFA is looking at cheap office space at Eurocentral.
Mibbees the blazers would regard such a move as progress.
…well the SFA would be positioned a wee bit closer to a Euro’s.
I’ll get my ticket.