Reflections on Goalposts

A recent autumn storm caused the destruction of the metal goal fame in our garden. The small goal with the weather-beaten net had fallen into disuse. But I liked it seeing it there on the grass. I suppose I half-expected, half-hoped, it would be used again. Once, it was a father and son thing and had been constructed carefully from a nice set of plans. At the time, it impressed both son and daughter no end. But that was then, this was now.

One of our trees, blown over by the recent high winds, caused the goal frame’s final demise. As I unscrewed the twisted metal I thought of the hours of innocent fun it had given us. It had been the scene of many goals and not a few great saves. My son, who is soon off to uni, smiled thoughtfully as I mentioned that this was the end of the ‘goalposts of childhood’. Perhaps he knew what I meant.

My own childhood goalposts had been ‘doon the back’. Drawn with chalk on the red brick of the ‘sausage wall’ at one end, and on part of the ‘wash hoose’ at the other. Many a league, Cup and international match was played out between those goals on the Dennistoun dirt. We once put on a parallel version of a historic England v Scotland match while the real match was being played at Wembley. Jim Mone sitting on one of the dykes had a transister radio to his ear. As we played our match he chalked up live score updates on the wall — our Twitter and FaceBook anno 1967. What a day.

We did use a pile of jackets up on the old Dennistoun cricket pitch, but only rarely. Mostly, we played on the red gravel surface at the Finlay Drive entrance. That pitch was fitted with real goalposts — like the ones they had at Hampden. Or so we imagined.

These sentimental memories of receding years accompanied my removal of the ruined metal goal frame. But, as you can imagine, it seemed an almost symbolic act. For fans of Scottish football the ‘goalposts’ that once defined the game of our football childhoods — have not only been moved, they’ve been been twisted and mis-shapen out of all recognition.

The past decades have seen a fundamental change in the way our game is run and governed, at home and abroad. Money is now king and sporting consideration is a luxury we sometimes have to put to one side — or at least, so we’re told.

At the risk of stating the obvious, sport, if it is to mean anything at all, has to be based on clearly defined rules and principles. These rules must be applied equally to all the participants, they are certainly not optional extras. However, to misquote and paraphrase George Orwell, ‘all teams are equal, but some teams are more equal than others’ — at least, when it comes to Scottish football.

The efforts by the SFA to re-interpret rules to fit the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the demise of Rangers FC in 2012 have left most of us scratching our heads. Much of the Scottish media has backed up the SFA’s efforts, something which has added to the general confusion and chaos. In fact, it’s become clear that the death of Rangers, as we knew them, has been such a traumatic event that it must be denied. The authorities and media seem to have been so besotted with one club that its loss is out of the question. And so, it’s been gifted a bizarre kind of immunity from liquidation and death that implies its on-going existence, long after it drew it’s final breath.

This situation has opened the door to a legion of businessmen on the make. They have been allowed to perpetuate the myth, with SFA blessing, that they ‘saved’ Rangers. And their unwavering message is, that they can only succeed if fans keep giving them their hard-earned cash. To those outside the blue bubble it looks like a huge con trick. If the only source of real money in football is the fans, then the Ibrox faithful have been royally fleeced.

How different it could have been if the former club had been allowed a dignified end. A year out of the game would probably have allowed fans to restart a newco of their own. They could have applied for entry into the professional leagues along with the other clubs waiting in line. Chances are they would have been given special dispensation, and walked straight into the bottom tier. Of course, they would have claimed to be the continuation of the spirit of the previous entity — but would anyone have argued against that? How different it could have been if the rules governing the game had been respected. The SFA may even have kept their dignity intact and the press not felt obliged to print half-truths, falsehoods and lies.

You’ve got to wonder why Dunfermline and Hearts fought so desperately to avoid liquidation. After all, the Scottish football authorities now seem intent on convincing us that liquidation has little or no effect on a football club. Even past sins, such as wrongly-registered players are as naught — if, at the time, they were thought to have been registered correctly. By this logic, we have to ask: if a ‘company’ running a ‘club’ bribes a referee, will retrospective action will be taken against the ‘club’. The players and the club, after all, will have done nothing wrong. And since the referee was not known to have been bribed, and not struck off, he was qualified to referee the match in question, at the time. Using the SFA thought process, the result would probably be allowed to stand. Personally, I’m not sure I follow SFA logic. They’ve ‘moved the goalposts’, and (you saw it coming) bent them into an unrecognisable shape.

Which brings me back to our garden. The old metal goal frame is waiting to be driven down to the local re-cycling centre. The twisted metal and worn-out net are useless. Ruined by forces beyond our control. There is no interest in a replacement at present. Perhaps, if we have grandchildren, they will show an interest in football. If they do, I’ll build a new set of goalposts. They’ll be straight and true, the way the goalposts of childhood should be. The way goalposts should always be.

4,642 thoughts on “Reflections on Goalposts


  1. Michael Stuart and Mr Cosgrove’s input on BBSportsound was a very accurate account of Ally’s position. This was also backed up be a couple of callers. Ally has been getting the easiest of times from the SMSM in the past which is beyond any reasonable doubt. It has always been the case with managers and directors of the Govan club going back a long long time. This cosy relationship has been to the detriment of Scottish football. Now for some reason the truth is starting to be reported by the SMSM which as mentioned previously may not bode well for Ally and the Govan club. Ally has a shocking record in all cup competitions, his team are not playing the best of football, he backed the players which is not what Graham Wallace should tolerate. Ally has no respect for the club or it’s fans and has just filled his pockets regardless. Let us not forget he backed Mr Green which then sold season books to the hordes (until he gave his seal of approval ST were not being sold). He has 1 million of the penny shares but has no idea of the club’s financial position, how utterly absurd as the manager to actually state this. The club has not cut the playing staff numbers yet, they are losing a Ally’s annual salary (I include bonuses in this) a month. They will need investment ( I mean early ST sales) but what is going to be the carrot this time. Can Mr Wallace sack Ally (the poor coach but richest manager in Scotland). Is Dave King the solution (Tom English thinks not). Cuts have got to be made, interesting times ahead.
    55 and counting (Govan squad)
    5 days and counting (transfer window)
    No accounting for (Ally’s wage)


  2. ecobhoy says:
    January 26, 2014 at 10:26 am

    Certainly I think the further division that King is stoking-up in the Rangers support could well lead to the final split between the ‘old ways’ and those interested in supporting a football club that lives within its means and doesn’t march to the old tunes of Glory Days now past
    —————————————————————————————————————————————————
    Not sure I see a “final split” in any dramatic sense such as 2 (or would that be a 3rd and 4th?) Rangers. What there is, is a growing realisation amongst the Bears (and some of the press) of the mess they are in. There is no billionaire awaiting in the wings; there are no Rangers men willing to pony up enough cash to win them baubles; that they have spent £ms on players and created nothing other than an increasing gap between them & most of the Premiership, let alone Celtic.

    In tying themselves to the incredulous myth of the same club they allowed “Rangers” to carry on as if nothing had happened. Leaving the spivs to one side, this meant paying the likes of Black, Shiels, Templeton et al £000s of per week they weren’t worth; £500k buses; meals & stopovers at Turnberry and Carnoustie before matches; a coaching budget that would make an EPL side blush – the largesse has been astonishing.

    They are only halfway through their “journey” but its already clear, It has been an opportunity missed, a miss of Chris Iwelumo, Gordon Smith or Van Vossen proportions.

    Those that see it are in the minority but by “being” the same club they are now crippled and with worse financial prospects than before Feb 2012.

    Nobody really cares enough to fund again what they had.

    That truth is sinking in.


  3. I really think it is worth bearing in mind McCoist’s incredible performance in Rangers’ last ever season. When he did have a full squad of World beaters. None of whom left on administration.

    He managed to lose a 15 point lead (which Keevins said was impossible), got knocked out of both the CL and Europa Cup at the earliest possible opportunity, to teams which the SSM described in the most patronising of terms and got knocked out of the cup by Falkirk.

    McCoist really did play his part in the demise of Rangers. He is doing the same thing again.

    To lose one football club is an accident, to lose two …


  4. Surely as this week progresses the news comming out of Ibrox on a daily basis is not going to be good for all concerned down Govan way with cuts and possible staff movement outwards ,if this is not the case then by midnight Friday the Armagedon that was spoken about will be a reality but not to whom Regan and co thought ,a big week ahead down Govan way,fasten the seat belts.


  5. The situation surrounding TRFC is full of irony at the minute. On the one hand, the fans of the club don’t want to see an exodus of players – and neither do those who wish them ill.

    The fans of the club want to see new talent (cue top Jambo performer this term Ryan Stevenson) – their detractors also hope he signs.

    One of those strange circumstances where counter-intuitive thinking is accepted as the natural order. Club can go bust if it doesn’t reduce its wage bill – so let’s increase it.

    Several months ago, I spoke to  the former Chief Executive of a Football League club. He said to me,

    They (the Rangers men including Malcolm Murray and Jim McColl) just don’t get it. They apply sound business logic in their mostly successful pursuits, but when it comes to Rangers they just don’t seem to understand the economics of it all.

    None of them wants to be the guy who tells the Bears that the cupboard is bare.

    Contrast that with Fergus McCann; he didn’t care about upsetting people. He did what was best for his club, and bugger the rest of them.

    Okay, he was extraordinarily good at his job, but these guys who want to save Rangers are actually so blind to the reality that they will destroy them all over again.

    Until that particular and perverse Catch 22 is resolved, both the fans of TRFC and their “haters” will be getting their wish.


  6. Indeed, a huge week for Rangers.

    They have already admitted to having to save money and have asked the players to take pay cuts. The players declined. Other than the FD leaving I have seen no evidence of cost cutting, and they can hardly work without a financial director so that is unlikely to be a saving anyway.

    So there is no doubt that there need to be cuts, and considerable ones. However to a very large extent that is out of their control. No buyer and no-one willing to pay the ludicrous wages means the player is going nowhere. So the cuts have to come elsewhere.

    The problem is where. They had the opportunity of a fresh start and declined it, they are now suffering the consequences of that type of thinking.


  7. There is definately something bad in the air for the RIFC ,the last of the Briggs gang has left the scene of the crime ,but not without clearing the vault ,I also suspect there is a little surprise to come as a leaving present apart from the Thank You note ,with the White Knight expected to ride into Dodge shortly I would check the size of his saddlebags ,he will not be visiting for the fun of it,is it not coincidence that White returns just after the Briggs gang that done him over has now departed,whats the catch,if he does appear over the horizon the bears should be afraid ,very afraid.


  8. Tif Finn says:
    January 26, 2014 at 5:03 pm
    33 0 Rate This

    … McCoist really did play his part in the demise of Rangers. He is doing the same thing again.
    ————

    He still has his defenders who call the phone-ins:

    “If it wisnae fur Ally we wudnae huv a Rangers the day.”

    But there are more and more callers who mention the huge salary and the shares — and the dire style of football. How would it have been if he’d followed John Brown out the door?


  9. torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
    January 26, 2014 at 4:14 pm

    Did he mention if any club is willing to match the reported £8k per week Mr Templeton earns,that is,if Mr Templeton is willing to walk away without some sort of payment?.
    ——

    I think he let the cut-price offer simply illustrate financial desperation (again, if that is actually the price tag TRFC have put on Mr T).

    Mr T will have no intentions of leaving, I’m quite sure, until (in common with all the other players) his pay fails to turn up in his bank.


  10. TSFM says:
    January 26, 2014 at 6:26 pm

    They (the Rangers men including Malcolm Murray and Jim McColl) just don’t get it. They apply sound business logic in their mostly successful pursuits, but when it comes to Rangers they just don’t seem to understand the economics of it all.
    ————————————————————————————————————–
    Slightly different but in my lifetime I have had personal experience of three very successful businessmen who decided to plough lots of money into also turning their hobbies into businesses. All three of the hobby businesses went bust and one of the guys lost his main business as well as a result of the spectaular failure of the hobby business.

    A salutory lesson – these were three very successful businessmen and yet each bombed in a hobby business even though they had a lot of experience in the core activity albeit as a hobby. Two of the hobby businesses failed while the cash providers were busy at the day job. Funny they both had good management teams in the day businesses and let them manage but they wanted to control the hobby business at a personal level even though they spent little time there – the failures were inevitable.

    The third hobby business, which brought down the cash-cow parent company, fell prey to the activities of spivs who robbed both businesses blind and departed leaving a very skint and puzzled guy behind. Even though he spent a lot of time in the hobby business he really didn’t understand how it worked – basically all he was interested in was enjoying the hobby side of it. The spivs also facilitated the pursuit of his hobby by helpfully agreeing to oversee the main biz as well – duh!


  11. Angus1983 says:
    January 26, 2014 at 3:23 pm
    ………………….
    For all the downers people here seem to have on the Scotsman/SoS, I find their fitba coverage much better than the Glasgow press
    -============
    What ever else I find fault with it for, the Scotsman has always had a good wide range of reporting on Scottish football. They even have a far better coverage of WoS clubs – the lower leagues anyway – than the Herald. ( I mean aside from one obvious lower league side which gets too much coverage).


  12. Tif Finn says:
    January 26, 2014 at 6:36 pm
    They had the opportunity of a fresh start and declined it, they are now suffering the consequences of that type thinking.
    ===========================================
    The phrase ‘Rangers need a Fergus McCann’ is beginning to crop up again, both in new and old media. Those of a blue persuasion who are saying it would do well to remember that in the first full season after Fergus took over Celtic finished 4th in the league. The money to match what the Bank of Scotland were giving Rangers simply wasn’t there, but solid foundations were being built, and it was the 4th season under Fergus before the league was won, and on the very last day of the season. That type of approach completely flies in the face of what Dave King and the Rangers support demand, which is instant parity with Celtic.

    Rangers don’t need a Fergus McCann, they need another Bank of Scotland.


  13. we walked him dry before we went home, to avoid awkward questions about where we had been.! 🙂


  14. TSFM says:
    January 26, 2014 at 6:26 pm

    Hardly be it for me to disagree with your analysis but there is actually a third type which probably includes most of the contributors here;
    People who wish to see competition on an honest level and who deeply mistrust the persons charged with governing our sport for the good of all. That is ALL clubs who attempt to play the sport by fair means.

    When fans of all clubs are dictated to by these people and told that the ruin of their own clubs are at stake if they do not abandon all sense of fair play and destroy the rule book then there is a need for an eye to be keep on those very same individuals. The same applies to the beneficiaries of these broken rules.

    Irony can be the harshest form of wit when a mind set, so deeply entrenched, destroys all that it holds most dear with its own delusion.

    I personally only want to see teams compete on a level that they can reasonably afford. I do not wish to see any team slip into the void but by the same token I would dearly love to see a Dodo or a dinosaur (at a safe distance) but, evolution with one and man with another, makes that impossible.

    I once wrote on the old RTC website that the collapse of RFC was and evolutionary process. It was simply an organisation that had out lived its natural course. Unfortunately the people in charge of our sport could not see this. If you speak to RFC/’The Rangers’ fans and ask when they actually started attending games most will say 1986. Now if you were a 15 or 16 year old twenty seven years ago when the ‘no limits’ life style arrived then you simply will not accept anything else. Twenty seven years of living out with your means, and spending other peoples money, has created this mind set and that is another level of the irony. The customer base that was drawn to the club(s) by the largesse will be driven away by the truth and a tightening of the belt.
    Until this conundrum can be successfully addressed then I fear they are locked in a death grip with themselves and despite all that is written here we are but spectators in this affair.
    We can but offer advice, all be it sometimes in a humorous way, but most of all we are the witnesses to this scandal when a governing body cast aside its own rules for the benefit of one club/company.

    All we can do is be vigilant for more attempted skulduggery which of course will be for the benefit of ‘our clubs’ and no one else!!!


  15. I have a medium sized theory. Bear with me.

    “The Chris Akers and Andrew Ellis show now begins.”

    This was the opening line of Charlotte’s first post on TSFM on 11 May last year. Although Ellis had an interest in Rangers at one time, Chris Akers has never featured in our pantheon of the absurd.

    A feature on Radio 4 I mentioned previously was repeated tonight. I may have missed the last part of the feature first time round but I picked it up this time.

    This feature revolved largely around the allegation that Royal Bank of Scotland was deliberately distressing clients to take advantage of their property portfolios. The bit I missed last time round but which I heard this evening concerned the subsection of the bank that took possession of these distressed assets. It is called ‘West Register’. This, by some strange coincidence is also the name of a large building located on Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square. It is not the headquarters of ‘West Register’ as far as I can see but merely the name that has been borrowed for this particular arm of the bank.

    Other posters will correct me but I don’t think it was RBS that underwrote SDM and Rangers. It was Bank of Scotland I believe. Leaving aside that glaring anomaly due to its inconvenience, I will continue unabated.

    Chris Akers was/is involved in all sorts of sporty stuff. Some time ago I noted that five-a-side football pitches are an interesting investment. They are sometimes set up on brownfield sites at what I suspect would be relatively low cost. These complexes take up quite an area. I thought that this was a shrewd move since the 5-a-side income might pay the interest on the initial land investment. If you can keep the business going for a decent term there is always the possibility that what was at one time unpromising real estate might eventually become valuable if the area it sat in began to become redeveloped. So the initial land purchase and site development could be financed by the 5-a-side business with the prospect in the medium term that the land may become valuable and allow the initial investment to be paid off and accrue a handsome profit.

    Now lets scale this up. Football clubs are typically 100 years old. The character of the areas they occupy will have changed significantly over that period. There are many well known cases where football clubs have sold their original stadia for redevelopment and used the funds to set up further out of town. Geographical inconvenience is not the highest factor in a football supporters calculations since he/she will follow his team to the end of the earth.

    Whilst a number of clubs have done this in a controlled manner ensuring that the profit accrues to the club business, it may not have escaped the notice of the spivs that forced relocation might allow them to take advantage of the profits of any sale.

    Back to West Register. They hold the property assets of now defunct (post-distressed) businesses. They might even run some of these businesses (hotels, business parks) to help pay the interest they would get if they had just put their money in a current account (not very much presently). Huge organisations like RBS might be in a position to retain such property assets for quite some time. They will have all sorts of analysts that might predict distant future profits if these assets can be retained for sufficiently long.

    So what about if Chris Akers sets out on a new venture. Distressing football clubs to inherit their grounds. After all, there are thousands of such sites all round the world. You’d just need someone big enough and greedy enough to fund the process.

    So say part of SDM’s agreement to rid himself of Rangers was to become part of such a scheme. The Bank must have its pound of flesh after all. If RIFC inherits Ibrox/Murray Park in return for paying off TRFCL debt then not only are the assets gained but a willing tenant is thrown in for good measure. This will pay the bills until the area comes up in value. Many stadia are located fairly close to city centres. Ibrox, though not in promising territory, is now close to the new Clydeside developments that have taken place over the last decade. It may be that in another ten years Ibrox becomes quite valuable. Murray Park may not have any chance of housing development planning permission at the moment but if you work on those city councilors over the next few years, who knows what might transpire my friends.

    While you are masticating on the possibilities please allow me the liberty of posting a bit of music that is in keeping with the tone of such schemes and whose lyrics do not lack pertinence.

    http://youtu.be/8Go9F_R_K5U


  16. Was there a special event on at ibrokes yesterday
    . . . Did Sevco request that the 500,000,000 fans turn up disguised as empty seats ?


  17. Castofthousands says:
    January 26, 2014 at 7:37 pm
    5 1 Rate This
    ———–

    Interesting read. Are you saying that the Ibrox spivs are actually agents of a bank?


  18. Danish Pastry says:
    January 26, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    “Are you saying that the Ibrox spivs are actually agents of a bank?”
    —————————-
    I hadn’t really thought that far ahead but now that you mention it, there is a certain logic to such a conclusion.

    However it may be that the spivs are just ‘adventurers’ who can be hired for particular tasks. If there was a big plan then compartmentalising the actors would prevent the whole scheme becoming public.


  19. Cluster One says:
    January 26, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    we walked him dry before we went home, to avoid awkward questions about where we had been.! 🙂
    ======================================================

    we squeezed them dry then walked away, awkward questions ,what are they ?
    château 😉


  20. Castofthousands says:
    January 26, 2014 at 8:25 pm (Edit)
    2 0 Rate This

    Danish Pastry says:
    January 26, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    “Are you saying that the Ibrox spivs are actually agents of a bank?”
    —————————-
    I hadn’t really thought that far ahead but now that you mention it, there is a certain logic to such a conclusion.

    However it may be that the spivs are just ‘adventurers’ who can be hired for particular tasks. If there was a big plan then compartmentalising the actors would prevent the whole scheme becoming public.
    ————-

    Another secret society? Help ma not-so-secret boab.

    Hasn’t the pattern, until now, been fast in-and-out, cash & carry, no-thought-for-tomorrow spivs?

    I thought the bank just wanted the money owed by the club from the DM era, what they could salvage, at least?


  21. With a recent shift (I’ll not go so far as a sea change) in some sections of the media toward more obvious criticism of the Ibrox club and its manager, I wonder if there has previously been some sort of gentlemen’s agreement with the SFA/Sevco to endorse the same club myth. This may have been on the basis that the club behaves like a football club and doesn’t leave the editors/journalists/broadcasters with more egg on their faces. I think some have now had enough oeuf de visage and see the scam/sham for what it (more obviously) is, hence the change which will, no doubt for some, result in the “I knew this all along but was keeping it for my autobiography” response. Maybe another five way agreement has been broken. Seeing that the Ibrox club may not be able to save itself, the media could be moving to a slightly different self-preservation mode. Cowards.


  22. Just a thought ,the fans meeting with Wallace this Thursday,anyone see this going ahead.


  23. FIFA says:
    January 26, 2014 at 8:57 pm
    ‘..Just a thought ,the fans meeting with Wallace this Thursday,anyone see this going ahead.’
    ———–
    Perhaps it will be Wallace’s opportunity to explain why he has to let Ally go and still keep them onside until Season book time?
    Taking one thing with another, I think Ally’s days as Manager are coming to an end. He’s now just an embarrassment, as well as a financial liability.
    And there’s a wheen o’ experienced, sensible managers presently unemployed who would jump at the chance at the job , at a small fraction of Ally’s salary.

    Ally’s fear of his salary being leaked, and his attempts to have it kept secret, were the last nail in the coffin.
    He has indeed, as I think Jean7Brodie said, outlived his uselessness!


  24. justshatered says:
    January 26, 2014 at 7:32 pm
    ‘…….If you speak to RFC/’The Rangers’ fans and ask when they actually started attending games most will say 1986.’
    ————–
    That’s an interesting point, and i wouldn’t dispute it.
    Does anyone know whether there are any published figures relating generally to the demographics of the fan bases at particular clubs?


  25. Castofthousands says:
    January 26, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    12

    3

    Rate This

    I have a medium sized theory. Bear with me.

    _________________________________________________

    Interesting idea but I don’t buy in.
    Follow the money:
    This all ended up in the pockets of wealthy footballers. The banks took a bath on the SDMs RFC rampage and at best got back some of the money that they should never have lent. Not the MO of the akers scheme at all.

    As I understand it, in Akers scheme
    1. the bank makes a good advance secured against a valuable and realisable asset that increases in value ( whereas RFC/HBOS was an insane advance secired against worthless and unrealisable assets)
    2. When the assets subsequently increase in value (Ibrox property portfolio didn’t! – except in the fantasy world RFC accounts) the bank then pushes more credit than he can afford onto the schmuck they are trying to put one over on. ( whereas SDM was using ‘close ties’ with his banking (ludge?) chums to get soft credit – all too cosy. Only after the financial collapse did the banks new owners get a nasty surprise! )
    3. The Schmuck begins to default. So the bank charges interest, charges and defaults at a punitive rate, trapping the schmuck, but it does not call in the debt – instead they let the loan ramp up. The bank basically lends the punter even more money in order that he can almost, but not quite, service his debts to …er the bank. This costs the bank nothing whatsoever.. (…whereas SDM got more and more credit to buy and pay players, not to pay the financiers he was tapping)

    4. When the debt is big enough, but still less than the asset value against which it is secured, bank forecloses and steals the increase in property value that would have gone to the punter had he not taken the credit they pushed onto him, to satisfy the punitive credit and interest costs that these credit advances incurred. (whereas in SDM/RFC case, the bank sweated to get back some of the money they had recklessly splurged against an insane business case)

    Basically, with RFC/SDM the reckless debt ended up in the pockets of overpaid players, not fat cat bankers.


  26. Given the outpourings from Ibrox over the last week , it seems to me that the running out of money option is still the favourite. Ally’s squealing to the press mentioning SDM and Paul Murray , and Mr King musing about the possibility of taking a beating at Celtic Park , all point to one thing that the Rangers old guard are in full scale panic mode. The plumb lady has cleared her throat and has reached over for the glass of water …

    There is no possibility of a game changer in terms of transfer monies or rich Russians , so the only feasible strategy is to randomly make 1 in every 3 or 4 staff members redundant and to sell and leaseback the ground.

    If the redundancies take place there will be a full split throughout the club with McCoist being pushed out the door …….. Due to insubordination ………… the whole season book, sale and leaseback will need to be packaged as a measure to keep the club afloat whilst the cost savings and redundancies kick in …… money or lack of it talks …. Matter of weeks ( single figures ) before the next episode of the comedy drama , before the clocks go forward methinks.

    On the football style front, Rangers has always been a team that liked to get the ball up early ( exception was the Laudrup, Nueman, Van Bronckhorst funded BoS team) , and their tactics involve a third man runner ( left back at the moment) and / or a punt from the RB to the centre forward , play for a knock down or a free-kick. You could perhaps understand this in dodgy away pitches in the winter but it seems that the poor fare applies both home and away.

    Rangers with their current team would be somewhere between 5th and 7th in the SPL given that they would get more injuries playing at a higher level and their squad would be stretched ……. They are coached it’s just 25 years out of date.


  27. I too have a theory, not as exciting but probably more likely:

    2012: CG brokers a deal to buy Rangers, he needs CW’s shares and he is invited into the deal, the CVA fails, CW is mugged and 20 million is raised in an IPO.

    2013: CG proposes serious cuts to reduce unforeseen losses, an internal split ensues coinciding with the CW revelation, CG and Ahmad depart and shed their shares.

    ….and that is it, I simply do not see any evidence to support a more elaborate story, Rangers starting from the bottom was never going to be easy, CG was a bull in a china shop CEO who ran Rangers as effectively as CW. CG just could not cope with the TUPE losses, the JJB collapse and the expectations of his customers, like CW before him he was out of his death, asset strippers rarely make good CEO’s, the absence of personal risk makes them reckless.


  28. john clarke says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    Does anyone know whether there are any published figures relating generally to the demographics of the fan bases at particular clubs?
    ———————————————————————————-
    Don’t know anything about fan bases but I have learned a lot about base fans.


  29. The thing is, McCoist has already said he doesn’t do walking away.

    Will he walk away from a years wages, for the good of the club.

    I very much doubt it.


  30. neepheid says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:40 pm
    3 0 Rate This

    http://www.raithrovers.net/rrfc-news?id=12691

    A lot more like dignity than some recent events at another club- in my opinion.

    ====================================

    1st outing at the ramsdens cup final by any chance?!!!


  31. expatbhoy on January 26, 2014 at 9:36 pm
    7 2 Rate This

    I too have a theory, not as exciting but probably more likely:
    ———-

    At the time, Green and Ahmed’s departure seemed ‘manufactured’. They wanted out. Ahmed’s court case was/is a puzzler. Maybe he hoped friends still in place would have settled out of court, and siphoned off more cash that way?


  32. I think they just put as many irons in the fire as they can think of, to keep their options open for taking money out.


  33. john clarke says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    I don’t know completely about RFC/’The Rangers’ but if you consider their average attendance pre 1986 was about 18,000. then over 25,000 season tickets have been sold on top of this. Now if the average age of the person buying was 20-25 then those people are now in their late forties or early fifties.
    Like most clubs they will have issues tempting the younger audience in through the doors as other pursuits have taken over.
    A problem every club has are the same people renewing every year but not attracting new clientele. This is fine when you are selling out your ground however when your not, and your fan base is getting older and older, then you have problems.
    The problem for ‘The Rangers’ is the mind set of spend, spend, spend. The well is dry and nobody is willing to pay for their ego trip!
    I certainly know where I sit that it has been the same faces for the last ten years. Some seats are now empty and are not being filled. This is the general down turn in the sport but I don’t know what to put this down to; lack of ‘The Rangers’ I don’t think so, poor economy possibly, total disillusionment in the corruption of the sports administration certainly.
    Aberdeen and Dundee United seem to have increased crowds. Hibernian and Motherwell seem to be the same. Hearts are getting outstanding support from their fans to help them out of their financial hole.


  34. Danish Pastry says:
    January 26, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    “I thought the bank just wanted the money owed by the club from the DM era, what they could salvage, at least?”
    —————————–
    I think the raison d’etre would be money. Exactly how the network of individuals that would be assembled to concoct such a scam were connected would be a secondary concern. I remember reading something about Chris Akers being part of some kind of dining club. Of course, if there were a long established pre-existing organisation that could be relied upon then all the better. I suspect that such organisations are a bit like ponsy schemes with the main players making all the money and the new entrants being dumped on. However the motivating factor might be that ‘if you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win a prize’.

    The ‘fast in fast out, no thought for tomorrow spiv’ might be an indication of the compartmentalisation. They are only reading their own line of music. Any overall orchestration could be beyond their ken.

    The bank got their money since CW bought the debt. However SDM was in for a lot more than just Rangers squanderings. Maybe SDM was required to do a bit more than simply dump Rangers for £1.

    For reasons not logical, I am reminded of the bank executive that was shot dead on his doorstep in Nairn. No-one was ever arrested for this murder as far as I know. When you are dealing with such large sums of money who knows what pressures might be brought to bear. For all we know SDM may just be another patsy, just on a different level.

    All idle speculation of course. Highly unlikely to have any resemblance to reality.


  35. Danish Pastry: ” At the time, Green and Ahmed’s departure seemed ‘manufactured’. They wanted out. ”
    ———————————————————————————————————————-

    I am unaware of any events that would lead to this conclusion, I doubt CG intended the CW leak or intended to use racist language, the other side of the coin is a very public split between CG/Ahmad and MM and Ally.

    We have no evidence they wanted out, and there cannot be too many reasons for wanting out at this time.


  36. expatbhoy says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    11

    2

    Rate This

    I too have a theory, not as exciting but probably more likely:

    2012: CG brokers a deal to buy Rangers, he needs CW’s shares and he is invited into the deal, the CVA fails, CW is mugged and 20 million is raised in an IPO.

    2013: CG proposes serious cuts to reduce unforeseen losses, an internal split ensues coinciding with the CW revelation, CG and Ahmad depart and shed their shares.

    ….and that is it, I simply do not see any evidence to support a more elaborate story, Rangers starting from the bottom was never going to be easy, CG was a bull in a china shop CEO who ran Rangers as effectively as CW. CG just could not cope with the TUPE losses, the JJB collapse and the expectations of his customers, like CW before him he was out of his death, asset strippers rarely make good CEO’s, the absence of personal risk makes them reckless.

    _______________________________________________

    Agreed.
    Plausible on every level.
    CG et al realise that they can’t cash in on Zadok the priest (plan A) because of the fans revolt, and so decide to follow plan B: stiff the investors and hit the high road with as much loot as they can before the hibernating bears awake from their slumber, tossing a few squirrels to the :slamb: along the way to keep the heat off, while the more nefarious elements of TRFC support could always be relied upon to intimidate anyone who might interfere with the plan by daring to ask pertinent questions.

    And Alistairs role? Judas goat.


  37. My view of Stockbridge’s departure is that we now have a sacrificial lamb to go along with the succulent ones*.

    He got his (contractual) payoff and his penny shares. He was hated by the fans but loved by the board whose board policy he’s implemented and will I am sure get a good reference… The fans now have their scapegoat and the board can say “we listened and acted, now let’s talk season tickets…”

    BTW I know players, managers and coaches get fixed contracts – their time at a club can be short-lived through no fault of their own, but surely those in executive positions usually abide by more normal contractual rules. Did I read that Stockbridge got £200k? So did he have a rolling 12 month notice period? Is that normal for accountants? I only ask as some colleagues with 12 years loyal (!) service have taken redundo. Seems to my Brain Stockbridge (BS? are you serious?) got a really good deal here…


  38. Resin_lab_dog says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    “Follow the money: This all ended up in the pockets of wealthy footballers.”
    ———————–
    Yes I take your point.

    However I think the alleged distressing of companies in the RBS case was a tactic rather than a strategy. The bank boys didn’t have a clue how the economy worked, they just new that if they betted on ever increasing share and assets prices they would gain in a rising market. When the music stopped there were a lot of bums without upholstery. Any plan B would have been jumped upon in 2008 since there were private school fees etc to pay. When some genius allegedly came up with the idea of distressing assets a wee disco light was illuminated.

    In such a scenario the likes of SDM only became vulnerable post-crash. Someone like SDM might have had to pawn whatever he had, even his dignity.

    You’re right, the players did end up with the money. That might have been palatable whilst everything was on the up but when it came to the crunch reality kicked in. If someone, the likes of a Chris Akers or whoever, did have an off the peg business distressing scheme tailored for sport, perhaps this became a last resort for those wishing to avoid public humiliation.

    It might be pure speculation but it is a tad entertaining.


  39. As we watch, Ice Cream cone melting in hand whilst staring in awe as trfc and this debacle unfolds, I think it is time, obviously to keep up with the shenanigans down ibrox way but to spend a bit more of our focus solely on Doncaster, Regan and Ogilvie, and let’s go see if our forensic efforts can discover a few odious previously hidden connections that may bear shall we say fruit, if not oranges?


  40. neepheid says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:40 pm
    ‘….A lot more like dignity than some recent events at another club- in my opinion.’
    ——–
    And I’ll buy one.


  41. indy14 says:

    Or people can focus their attention on what they consider to be important issues and if they think something is worthwhile bring it here for others to consider.


  42. Indy,

    You’re right to put the focus back on the complicit triumvirate.

    Interestingly though the best thing they can do at present is to sit back and do precisely nothing and see what way the grotesque death throes of the young pretender swing. The only action we should have a right to expect is an acknowledgement that an unsustainable purchase policy has exceeded a potential points penalty. You would think it would be in the interests of the game to address this particular point.

    Anything else is just cushioning, padding and ass covering.

    I’d give anything to be a fly on that particular wall over the next 3 weeks or so. It’d be the stuff that books are written of.


  43. indy14 says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:07 pm
    ‘…. a bit more of our focus solely on Doncaster, Regan and Ogilvie, ‘
    ———–
    The third named is the lynch-pin. The first two are mere bagmen, hirelings no more, no less, who might come up with ideas, certainly, but need authorisation and/or support from their presidents.
    In my opinion.


  44. john clarke says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    2

    0

    Rate This

    indy14 says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:07 pm
    ‘…. a bit more of our focus solely on Doncaster, Regan and Ogilvie, ‘
    ———–
    The third named is the lynch-pin. The first two are mere bagmen, hirelings no more, no less, who might come up with ideas, certainly, but need authorisation and/or support from their presidents.
    In my opinion.
    ____________________________________________

    You are so right.
    There is a man whose silence speaks volumes.
    Just as Ally is the Judas goat, Cambell must surely be the ’eminence grise’… who’s continuing -albeit tacet- presence would be otherwise inexplicable.

    The only alternative is that Mr Ogilvie is in the same boat as Ally: Both clinging leech like to a well paid job that fortune has handed them despite their limited aptitude, no matter how much harm is done to the institution whose interests they are meant to serve, because they have neither principles nor dignity and would struggle to earn a living subsequently if left to their own merits outwith the sinecured existence in which they find themselves.

    Hmmm….


  45. expatbhoy says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    I too have a theory, not as exciting but probably more likely:

    2012: CG brokers a deal to buy Rangers, he needs CW’s shares and he is invited into the deal, the CVA fails, CW is mugged and 20 million is raised in an IPO.

    2013: CG proposes serious cuts to reduce unforeseen losses, an internal split ensues coinciding with the CW revelation, CG and Ahmad depart and shed their shares.

    ….and that is it, I simply do not see any evidence to support a more elaborate story, Rangers starting from the bottom was never going to be easy, CG was a bull in a china shop CEO who ran Rangers as effectively as CW. CG just could not cope with the TUPE losses, the JJB collapse and the expectations of his customers, like CW before him he was out of his death, asset strippers rarely make good CEO’s, the absence of personal risk makes them reckless.

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    I tend to agree and would add that CW may well have been brought in as the fall guy, but THEY never reckoned with Charlie and Imran when first THEY practiced to device.

    This guy puts it a wee bit more succinctly:

    The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
    Gang aft agley,
    An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
    For promis’d joy! 😉


  46. Castofthousands says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:05 pm
    £££££££££
    Imagine you owned a piece of land, say a car park, adjacent to a, for talking’s sake, a football ground. This land is effectively worthless because of it’s proximity to the hypothetical football ground. It’s only use would be as a car park. Except…you own both the football ground and the car park. You, by increasing demand for tickets at your ground, make the car park more attractive to well-heeled fans wishing to pay that bit more not to get wet. But there’s another way that your car park has now become more beneficial. As a result of increased, and guaranteed, income, the land itself becomes something on which you can secure loans!
    But wait! Not only can you borrow money from a bank with which you are involved in a joint property venture, you can also, after some judicious spinning in the MSM about Super casinos and hotels, flog the land to the bank in the joint venture! WHEW!
    Then the government decides not to allow the Super casinos AND the football club (the fans of which park there) goes tits up. What to do?
    The only logical thing, from a bank with a big slice of tarmacadam point of view, is to sell the car park back to the new club for a little above purchase price.
    Then they can secure a loan on it in order to play out the season.
    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/ibrox-car-park-deal-may-cause-unrest-1.680052


  47. Castofthousands says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:05 pm

    2

    0

    Rate This

    Resin_lab_dog says:
    January 26, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    “Follow the money: This all ended up in the pockets of wealthy footballers.”
    ———————–
    Yes I take your point.

    However I think the alleged distressing of companies in the RBS case was a tactic rather than a strategy. The bank boys didn’t have a clue how the economy worked, they just new that if they betted on ever increasing share and assets prices they would gain in a rising market. When the music stopped there were a lot of bums without upholstery. Any plan B would have been jumped upon in 2008 since there were private school fees etc to pay. When some genius allegedly came up with the idea of distressing assets a wee disco light was illuminated.

    In such a scenario the likes of SDM only became vulnerable post-crash. Someone like SDM might have had to pawn whatever he had, even his dignity.

    You’re right, the players did end up with the money. That might have been palatable whilst everything was on the up but when it came to the crunch reality kicked in. If someone, the likes of a Chris Akers or whoever, did have an off the peg business distressing scheme tailored for sport, perhaps this became a last resort for those wishing to avoid public humiliation.

    It might be pure speculation but it is a tad entertaining.

    _____________________________________

    Mebbes aye mebbes naw.
    Forgive my sceptcism.
    “The bank boys didn’t have a clue how the economy worked,”
    – basically, they could have believed SDMs insane RFC property valuations.
    Not implausible.

    But it still falls down in some important aspects.

    1.Was SDM part of the establishment or a victim of it? I say the former.
    2.Were the soft loans ‘favours’ or a trap? I say the former.

    My evidence for 1 is circumstantial. RFc were ‘establishment’ SDM was troo bloo etc.

    I have never shaken hands with the guy, but I would not be surprised if the handshake he employed with his banker was not quite the same as the ‘firm solvent’ grasp I use when discussing finance with some spotty youth from NatWest who is being paid solely on the strength of his ability to punt me a credit card I don’t need which carries usurous interest rates and a basketful of asymmetric penalty clauses.

    I suspect – without credible evidence- that SDMs handshake might well have involved folded fingers and knuckle massage.

    My evidence for 2 is firmer.

    BOS was taken over by Lloyds group, blessed with conventional bankers… Who promptly filled their trousers with semiliquid brown material and immediately began significant efforts to delicately unpick as much of the MIH trainwreck as they could without collapsing the circus tent on their own heads.

    So occams razor says mebbes naw.

    ______________________________________


  48. expatbhoy says:
    January 26, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    1

    9

    Rate This

    Danish Pastry: ” At the time, Green and Ahmed’s departure seemed ‘manufactured’. They wanted out. ”
    ———————————————————————————————————————-

    I am unaware of any events that would lead to this conclusion, I doubt CG intended the CW leak or intended to use racist language, the other side of the coin is a very public split between CG/Ahmad and MM and Ally.

    We have no evidence they wanted out, and there cannot be too many reasons for wanting out at this time.

    ___________________________________________

    Expat,

    from my recollection, both CGs and IAs departures were extensively predicted on TSFM by many astute posters (from which I exclude myself) well ahead of time, on the basis that a ‘grab the money and run’ scenario was in effect. (Spivvery 101).
    It was the ‘how’ not the ‘whether’ or ‘when’ that framed the discussions in this forum at that time. So on this one, I have to say that there is a great deal to suggest that the departures were, indeed, manufactured. That kite won’t fly m8.


  49. upthehoops says:
    January 26, 2014 at 2:44 pm

    105

    0

    Rate This

    Den says:
    January 26, 2014 at 1:36 pm
    =========================
    It was interesting to hear Michael Stewart say on Sportsound Extra that McCoist had phoned him over comments he made, and basically told him if it didn’t stop there was going to be an issue. Who, exactly, does McCoist think he is? Incidentally, given the performance of Michael Stewart on the show, McCoist’s attempts to silence him have not worked in the slightest.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    He’s played it exactly right by calling the bully out and telling everyone what happened. Anything further from Young Alistair should also be aired on Sportsound. I’m liking Stewart a lot on Sportsound and look forward to the day when he takes over from Derek Johnstone on SSB.

    It would be good if the MSM journos had as much bottle as he has but I acknowledge that MS is in a different position from them.


  50. Indy14@11.07 ,

    I think it is time, obviously to keep up with the shenanigans down ibrox way but to spend a bit more of our focus solely on Doncaster, Regan and Ogilvie,
    ———————————-
    I couldn’t agree with you more mate.
    Imagine the scene. The Rangers, debt free and inserted right back into the SPL. Cash rich with £22m IPO money and a very healthy ST tranche in the bank, a full compliment of playing staff who would certainly have TUPE’d on existing contracts, and be bolstered by some new additions.
    All would be swept before them! (there would be no need to retain AMcC to sell ST’s).
    Possibly a 5/10 year run unopposed to the CL, stretching the financial gap further. The old duopoly with Celtic abandoned.
    Forget about Masonic conspiracies,Rangersitis or anything else. Think about setting up illegal DOS schemes and accepting immoral, if not illegal EBT loans, Think about good old fashioned greed!
    In the unsavoury world of sleeze and spivs, offshore hidden bank accounts and shareholders. What would really, really persuade somebody to grant a hooky membership and invent secret 5way deals square in the face of public scrutiny.
    Spivs operate by using Russian dancing girls, and supplying more drink to high ranking officials than they can handle. Whatever it takes to pave the way!
    The Scottish game needs The Rangers? Armageddon? Bull.!
    It would take more than a wee dose of anti-biotic resistant Rangersitis ,to try to pull that heap of crud off.
    Obviously that is just a wee idle speculation on my part, and I am not alleging that SFA/SPL officials really are corrupt enough to accept illegal payments. Heaven forbid.


  51. Hmmm…

    When it comes to journalism…. why is it that – for all his many faults – when reading Phil MacGiollaBhain, its like being there at the game, whereas reading BFDJ is a bit like watching it on Sportscene?


  52. Smugas says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:44 pm
    You’re right to put the focus back on the complicit triumvirate.

    Interestingly though the best thing they can do at present is to sit back and do precisely nothing and see what way the grotesque death throes of the young pretender swing. The only action we should have a right to expect is an acknowledgement that an unsustainable purchase policy has exceeded a potential points penalty. You would think it would be in the interests of the game to address this particular point.

    Anything else is just cushioning, padding and ass covering.

    I’d give anything to be a fly on that particular wall over the next 3 weeks or so. It’d be the stuff that books are written of.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Is it time they employed a full time Chartered Accountant who can monitor clubs more closely as regards their attempts to buy glory?

    I know of one who has recently become available who would fit in really well.


  53. barcabuster says:
    January 27, 2014 at 12:57 am,

    I think it is time, obviously to keep up with the shenanigans down ibrox way but to spend a bit more of our focus solely on Doncaster, Regan and Ogilvie,
    ———————————-

    I I am not alleging that SFA/SPL officials really are corrupt enough to accept illegal payments. Heaven forbid.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    I know you are not alleging illegality. None of us are. However, what if the UTT finds against the Rangers EBT loans where that Campbell Ogilvie has got one for £95K ? I’m no lawyer but that would be illegal. Yes?

    Whilst on the subject I would also mention that Hearts, where, Campbell Ogilivie also plied his trade, had a big tax problem. Where they were slapped with a bill for £1.5m for the same old crime of PAYE & NIC evasion/avoidance.

    Now he’s at the SFA but has clearly cleaned up his Act. Which is good.


  54. On the theme of McCoist having now reached his sell by date I was wondering how his departure could be portrayed by the various parties to their own benefit and what the process might be. What might then happen in the aftermath?

    With a current scenario where McCoist has done and said enough in any normal company to have earned dismissal I was wondering if one last straw could break the camel’s back? Could complaints about what Michael Stewart alleged McCoist said on the radio be that final straw? Has McCoist brought Rangers and Scottish Football into disrepute? Another dog whistle?

    Let’s just say for the sake of argument that is in fact the case or some other pretext arises. A difficult meeting is held with McCoist and cards are put on the table. Resign or be sacked – resistance will lead to something quite messy and reputations will be destroyed. (Charlotte perhaps showed just the tip of a potentially embarrassing iceberg.)

    An announcement is then made that McCoist is leaving the club, having left it set fair for promotion but still sorely in need of financial savings to which he is graciously contributing.

    McCoist, the hero, selflessly stepping aside (not walking away). Not sacked, head held high, but with bags packed with the cashed in 1p share proceeds. A quid (or 20p) pro quo. Mediadom alongside Souness beckons.

    “I’ve made the ultimate sacrifice to save the clumpany I hold dearest. Buy season tickets now to help them get over this hump (RL : told you earlier a camel was involved…).

    The Board thus get shot of their one-man unofficial handicapping system and recruit a stop-gap replacement from within the wealth of playing talent assembled by McCoist (I know, stretching things a bit here). The stop-gap agrees to do the manager’s job for experience i.e. no extra pay.

    End result all parties reasonably happy at what could have been a pretty bloody denouement.

    McCoist then joins SDM, DK, PM, WS, etc in a consortium to save TRFC from administration and buy the clumpany for £1, taking a lease on Ibrokes from RIFC who have transferred the property assets from TRFS in settlement of the huge debt they have run up. All very legal and neat.

    Scottish Football needs a much stronger assertion of rules and regulations with fans alive and resistant to another cry of the Armageddon wolf. Oh, and the re-emergence of CW to throw a spanner in the works.


  55. Yerevan says:
    January 27, 2014 at 2:16 am

    According to Stuart Bathgate in The Scotsman “it now looks like that recovery will be completed sooner rather than later.”

    http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/stuart-bathgate-rangers-saviours-wanted-1-3281895?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    I know we aren’t supposed to have a go at writing styles on here but can I just ask if “Stuart Bathgate” was once a cheerleader at Ibrox.


  56. GeronimosCadillac says:
    January 27, 2014 at 2:35 am

    I know we aren’t supposed to have a go at writing styles on here but can I just ask if “Stuart Bathgate” was once a cheerleader at Ibrox.
    =================================
    That Stuart Bathgate article is nothing other than a souped up version of someone arguing blindly in a pub, saying ‘listen…this is Rangers we’re talking about here’.


  57. According to Stuart Bathgate in The Scotsman

    “Imagine Rangers as a patient, lying in the operating theatre a couple of miles down the road at the Southern General. Green would be inside the room, bragging about how he had grown to love this stricken individual – and doing nothing effective about it. King would be somewhere further away, possibly even thousands of miles away, insisting that something had to be done to get this fallen giant back on his feet – and doing nothing effective about it.

    And Wallace? Maybe, just maybe, we can envisage him as the surgeon who has examined the case in cold blood, settled on a prognosis, and is now carrying out a course of action that he is sure will be effective. And maybe – albeit at the risk of hyperextending this medical metaphor – we can envisage two of Wallace’s colleagues there too, playing their part in an operation designed to end in the restoration of rude health. “


  58. “What is more, it probably has its roots in the assessment that many neutral observers of Rangers would make. To those who can remain impartial, neither desperate for a rapid resurrection nor hopeful of a continued decline, there has been one central question about Rangers ever since the club went into administration nearly two years ago. That is, not if they will ever recover from their financial woes, but how long it will take.

    Given the size of the support base, eventual recovery appears certain. The timing will be variable, depending on how soundly or otherwise Ibrox is run. Without full knowledge of the state of the club’s finances, we cannot be certain, but at least judging by the way in which Wallace and his key colleagues are going about their business, it now looks like that recovery will be completed sooner rather than later.”

    Let’s gloss over the fact that, like most Rangers supporters he appears to acknowledge that administration took place but at the same time ignore that it became liquidation. He must know that it was the same entity which went into administration which also failed to achieve a CVA and as such is now in liquidation. How anyone can separate the two is beyond me.

    More importantly his central point appears to be “Rangers are too big to die”. That was not true before and it is no more true now. It is that level of nonsense which really serves the support badly. No entity is too big to die, if it is managed badly enough or has enough bad luck. Rangers are heading towards oblivion and other than being serial deniers no-one seems to actually be trying to do anything about it. The support and the press have learned nothing from it happening before and they will happily sit back and watch history repeat itself because the mantra “Rangers are too big to die” is one of the things the new club inherited from the old.

    I await with interest their cries of “How did this happen, what could have been done”.


  59. GeronimosCadillac says:
    January 27, 2014 at 2:35 am
    Yerevan says:
    January 27, 2014 at 2:16 am

    According to Stuart Bathgate in The Scotsman “it now looks like that recovery will be completed sooner rather than later.”

    http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/stuart-bathgate-rangers-saviours-wanted-1-3281895?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    I know we aren’t supposed to have a go at writing styles on here but can I just ask if “Stuart Bathgate” was once a cheerleader at Ibrox.
    ====================================================
    I think there is a huge difference between the importance of writing style on a blog such as this and those which are expected from a trained journalist on a national newspaper. Such a journalist, with a few gifted exceptions and Mr Bathgate doesn’t fall into that category I’m afraid, has to provide more than candy-floss to explain important issues. Things like knowledge of the issues involved, balance, objectivity and integrity and again IMO Mr Bathgate has failed all those tests and many others.

    He has regurgitated a piece of PR puffery which will see the original supplier of the succulent lamb earning a bonus fee this week. Indeed now that Mr Bathgate has emerged from the journalistic shadows I predict his career will have an autumn blossom before his usefulness at spreading propaganda comes to an end.

    His career can be seen at http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/stuart-bathgate/26/86b/22b and reveals that his main expertise seems to be in rugby reporting and no doubt he has many contacts in that area.

    I know the Scotsman is in dire straits but are there no actual financial or business reporters left in the building?

    Yet again the most important business story in Scotland is handed to a sports journo whose sycophantic approach would be out of place in a parish magazine let alone what used to be a quality newspaper.


  60. coatbrigbhoy says:
    January 27, 2014 at 6:41 am

    According to Stuart Bathgate in The Scotsman

    “Imagine Rangers as a patient, lying in the operating theatre a couple of miles down the road at the Southern General. Green would be inside the room, bragging about how he had grown to love this stricken individual – and doing nothing effective about it. King would be somewhere further away, possibly even thousands of miles away, insisting that something had to be done to get this fallen giant back on his feet – and doing nothing effective about it.

    And Wallace? Maybe, just maybe, we can envisage him as the surgeon who has examined the case in cold blood, settled on a prognosis, and is now carrying out a course of action that he is sure will be effective. And maybe – albeit at the risk of hyperextending this medical metaphor – we can envisage two of Wallace’s colleagues there too, playing their part in an operation designed to end in the restoration of rude health. ”
    ====================================================
    A couple of comments oft aimed at surgeons:

    * They bury their mistakes
    * The operation was a success but the patient died

    However nice to see that in addition to a clutch of CAs at Ibrox we now have a ChB which should come in handy when the bloodletting starts in earnest,


  61. Resin_lab_dog says:
    January 27, 2014 at 12:34 am
    expatbhoy says:
    January 26, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    Danish Pastry: ” At the time, Green and Ahmed’s departure seemed ‘manufactured’. They wanted out. ”
    ———————————————————————————————————————-
    I am unaware of any events that would lead to this conclusion, I doubt CG intended the CW leak or intended to use racist language, the other side of the coin is a very public split between CG/Ahmad and MM and Ally.

    We have no evidence they wanted out, and there cannot be too many reasons for wanting out at this time.
    ___________________________________________
    Expat,

    from my recollection, both CGs and IAs departures were extensively predicted on TSFM by many astute posters (from which I exclude myself) well ahead of time, on the basis that a ‘grab the money and run’ scenario was in effect. (Spivvery 101).

    It was the ‘how’ not the ‘whether’ or ‘when’ that framed the discussions in this forum at that time. So on this one, I have to say that there is a great deal to suggest that the departures were, indeed, manufactured. That kite won’t fly m8.
    ===============================================
    There are a number of reasons that could be advanced to explain the hasty departure. The one I believe to be the trigger was the fact that Green thought he had buried Sevco 5088 by arranging for it to be wound-up so all the dangerous connections with that company could be put to bed.

    Then – out of the blue – up popped CW and AE announcing they were also directors of Sevco 5088 – always remember Green tried to have them removed as directors but The Registrar declared them as directors and the baw really was oanra slates.

    The key to everything has always been and remains Sevco 5088 and CW will have tapes and docs to prove his tale – but what he wants is dosh and he will only reveal the ‘true’ story if he doesn’t get a pay-off. Strangely enough he may be in a position to get a deal from the new Board as I think Green was too scared at loose-cannon CW to give him any payment.


  62. coatbrigbhoy says:
    January 27, 2014 at 6:41 am
    5 0 Rate This

    According to Stuart Bathgate in The Scotsman

    “And Wallace? Maybe, just maybe, we can envisage him as the surgeon who has examined the case in cold blood, settled on a prognosis, and is now carrying out a course of action that he is sure will be effective.”

    =========================
    Surely if a surgeon is examining a case “in cold blood”, then the patient has already died? Wallace carrying out an autopsy,perhaps?

    Joking aside, that piece in The Scotsman is a poor piece of writing- I refuse to call it journalism.


  63. Tif Finn says:
    January 26, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    @ Eco

    If you haven’t seen the advert a position has just opened up which you seem ideally suited for. (Sorry if this has already been brought to your attention).

    Search Trained Personnel Required – Apply within
    http://forum.followfollow.com/showthread.php?t=994673
    =========================================================
    Now why do I think I might be found unsuitable for the position as I refuse to wear blue-tinted blinkers – just for the record btw I also refuse to wear green-tinted ones 😆


  64. ecobhoy on January 27, 2014 at 8:59 am
    2 0 Rate This
    ———–

    He also announced that he would be gone when he had made his money.

    And the French magazine article depicting Charles in front of his new chateau equine mentioned that he’d only bagged the bargain after a search of the area, so his retirement home was ready and waiting. And that article was 4-5 months old by the time it turned up in the Scottish press.

    I think you’re right about the CW tapes hastening his exit. The important part may have been that those audio bombshells were not seen as the main reason.

    What Imran got out of it in total is a mystery to me. As was the short stint Charles did later — although I have a theory as to why a bit of cross-border commuting might have suited him well at the time.


  65. Regarding filing at Companies House:-

    When a director of a company resigns (or is removed) as a director, there is an obligation on the company to file notice of that change at Companies House within 14 days of the change occurring. However what goes to Companies House is just that – a notification – it is not the filing that makes the change effective. It is not uncommon for changes to happen but not be notified.

    So you can get a variety of situations:-

    Mr X could be a director of a company (but because no notification has been filed at Companies House – no one outside the company knows that he has been appointed – but he is still validly appointed);

    Mr Y might have ceased to have be a director (but because no notification has been filed at Companies House – no one outside the company knows that he is no longer appointed);

    Mr Z might have been appointed as a director and then resigned (but because no notification has been filed at Companies House – no one outside the company knows that he was ever a director).

    The point is that directors are appointed effectively when they are appointed (usually by the other directors) – not when Companies House are told that it has happened.

    Failure to inform Companies House of changes in directors can give rise to a fine but my understanding is that this is rarely enforced (at least it never used to be enforced).

    Of course being registered on an exchange (like AIM) gives rise to its own reporting obligations over and above those owed to Companies House.


  66. HEALTH WARNING – This post will trigger onset of the Bleeding Eyeball Syndrome which removes blue-tinted vision permanently. If you wish to remain myopic then look away NOW!

    Some of you might have read my ‘deconstruction’ of the claims made by the the Bear Land ‘Experts’ and I won’t return to the detail – But it’s clear that having had their falsehoods exposed the grey beards behind this sectarian-based attack have regrouped and are trying a fresh tack to divert the attention of thinking Bears away from what is going down at Ibrox.

    The Bear ‘Leaders’ want to prove there are no ‘ground problems’ at Westthorn which justify the large discount given by Glasgow Council on the price paid for the land by Celtic. Any sane Bear reading my posts or doing their own research can easily verify the numerous ground problems including at least 4 pit shafts and extensive abandoned deep-level mine workings.

    So let’s look at the latest moves where Glasgow Council has refused to supply a geotechnical report to a Bear Land ‘Expert’ in respect of the Westthorn site but has confirmed it will supply the information provided in the report.

    This has sparked fury in Bear Land with calls for a mass Freedom of Information email campaign to force the information out of Glasgow Council. Given the abysmal failure of the Bear HMRC email campaign I’m sure Glasgow Council can sleep easy.

    One Bear provides a laugh when he writes: ‘Surely a complete disclosure would negate once and for all any suggestion of impropriety over this sale, and in addition completely usurp any wild and unsubstantiated claims the abnormals had been exaggerated in order to reduce the price’. Seems to me that nothing could ever satisfy ‘the abnormals’ whose stock-in-trade is ‘wild and unsubstantiated’ claims.

    The Bears are jumping up and down because Glasgow Council have cited the Court of Session Judgement: Glasgow City Council and Dundee City Council v Scottish Information Commissioner [2009] CSIH 73 and advised them: ‘You have the right to the information set out in a requested document, but not to the actual document itself. We therefore provided you with an extract from the geotechnical report and set out the basis upon which a valuation was agreed for the site.’

    This apparently doesn’t suit the Bear agenda which demands the document and nothing but the document! The fact that they can have all the information it contains is apparently of no importance and proves to me that they have zilch interest in whether the price paid by Celtic is fair or not. The whole PR campaign is to tie-up thinking Bears and stop them actually trying to work-out what is happening at Ibrox.

    I never cease to be amazed at Rangers supporters who profess absolute loyalty to the Crown and then attack judgements of Her Majesty’s Justiciary. The Court of Session Inner House judgement has nothing to do with football and might actually contain a sting in the tail for the misguided Bear mass FoI email campaign (To be dealt with in a later post).

    Basically Glasgow and Dundee Councils were asked to provide property notices and orders under FoI requests by a lawyer acting for an anonymous client – eventually revealed as Scotland’s largest private search firm. It gets a little complex but fellow anoraks can read a truly fascinating landmark decision which is very important to FoI requests at: http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2009CSIH73.html

    The client, which turned out to be Millar & Bryce, sought info from the councils via the FoI mechanism so they could sell that information to the Public. The councils refused to provide the info for a variety of reasons not least that they would lose the valuable income they derived from selling property certificates to the public which would mean a loss in revenue ultimately requiring to be made good by ratepayers and taxpayers or a cut in services.

    The lawyer and Millar & Bryce appealed to the Scottish Information Commissioner who found in their favour against the Councils who then appealed The Commissioner’s decision to the Court of Session where 3 judges decided: ‘The term “information” is defined widely in the The Act.

    ‘The Court in this case took the view that it is implicit within that definition that a distinction has to be made between a record and the information that is contained in that record. Having made such a distinction, the Court then concluded that Section 1(1) of The Act entitles an applicant access to information and not to a particular record in which that information is contained.’

    The Bears have again been whipped into a frenzy of paranoia that Glasgow Council is hiding behind a Court of Session Decision so as not to hand over the Geothermal Report on the Westthorn site. The utter selfishness and ingrained delusion of entitlement of a section of the Ibrox support never ceases to amaze me. Their actions betray that they have no wish to be part of an inclusive Scotland but wish to control it absolutely and ignore any laws that interfere with the success of Rangers.

    They apparently, even after their club ceased to exist and ended in liquidation because of its cavalier attitude towards paying taxes and debts, still appear to think their needs are greater than anyone else. They just don’t appear capable of grasping the very simple fact that Glasgow Council has to apply the judgement universally.

    It cannot make exceptions without the possibility of breaching the Court of Session ruling by setting a precedent which could ultimately cost the Citizens of Glasgow dearly in having to fork-up for inevitable council revenue losses.

    To be continued as other aspects of the Court of Session Decision are of particular relevance to bampots and clatterers but even my eyeballs can only handle so much 😯


  67. Exiled Celt says:

    January 25, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    Interesting that instead of encouraging the young team playing for Hearts, Ryan Stevenson decided to go to Ibrox to watch a game – no issue with players watching games, but surely it must be when your own team is not playing?

    http://willievass.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/250114-Rangers-v-Arbroath/G0000hsfCqJwPeR4/I0000xmeO6Rdh9.w/C0000ThqwCLASK_4

    Given that he nearly joined the Sevco team along with Templeton, would make me wonder what is going on if I were a Hearts fan……………
    _____________________________________________
    That reminded me of something that happened at work a long time ago. Two younger lads working in our office, both Rangers fans and regularly went to Ibrox together. One got the heave for thieving (lucky not to go to jail) and the other was told not to fraternize with him or risk disciplinary action. Sounds hard, but believe me, it was fair in the circumstances.

    A good few months after the dust had died down a Celtic fan, a really good guy who’d suffered pelters from both these guys, came in one day. p*ssing himself with laughter, and showed everybody the ‘is this your face?’ competition in the Rangers programme. Guess who’s face was circled, and who was sitting beside him!!

    To be honest, I could see Stevenson doing a job for TRFC, and I think Hearts are looking to off-load him if they can get permission to sign a replacement. He’d be one of the cheaper players at Ibrox, and maybe an ideal replacement for Black if they can off-load him. Still, maybe with the possibility of both sides meeting next season he was on a scouting mission 😉 It’s possibly significant, though, that he is in the crowd rather than the directors’ box.


  68. EKBhoy
    ‘On the football style front, Rangers has always been a team that liked to get the ball up early ( exception was the Laudrup, Nueman, Van Bronckhorst funded BoS team) ‘

    The Bank Of Scotland team.I like the sound of that.


  69. helpmaboab says:
    January 27, 2014 at 10:19 am
    ‘….The Bank Of Scotland team.I like the sound of that.’
    ———
    I don’t like the sound of that!

    What with the now -beknighted Goodwin of the RBS and the favours shown by BoS to the still un-beknighted SDM, we have been very ill-served by our ‘Scottish’ banks.

    Bad cess to both of them.


  70. From one of the guys on KDS.
    I obviously can’t confirm but best wishes to the lad if true.It’s not nice losing your job.

    “My mate at work just told me he got a text from his friend saying he’s just lost his job at Sevco, says he was a grounds keeper. Didn’t know they actually had any of those.

    Did someone not say there was hints of job losses for today?”

Comments are closed.