Scottish Football: An Honest Game, Honestly Governed?

A Guest Blog by Auldheid for TSFM

Honesty requires both transparency and accountability. In pursuit of honest, transparent and accountable governance of Scottish football, and only that objective, the following letter, with attachments, has been sent to SPFL lawyers, CEO and SPFL Board Members.

An honest game free from deception is what football supporters of all clubs want. It is the action the letter and attachments prompt that will tell us if there is any intention of providing it.

It is a response on behalf of readers here on TSFM, but the sentiment which underpins it is almost universally held amongst fans of all clubs.  Importantly it is a response directly to all clubs, especially those with a SPFL Board member, that will make the clubs and the football authorities aware just how seriously supporters take the restoration of trust in an honest game, honestly governed.

The annexes to the letter contain information which may be published at a later date. We thought it appropriate to first await any response from any of the recipients.

Please also draw this to the attention of friends who are not internet using supporters and love their football and their club.

Auldheid

__________________________________________________________________

Harper MacLeod
The Ca’d’oro
45 Gordon Street
Glasgow
G1 3PE
19 Feb 2014
Copy sent to SPFL CEO and Board Members *
Dear Mr McKenzie
We the contributors to The Scottish Football Monitoring web site write to you in your capacity as the legal adviser employed by Harper MacLeod to assist the Scottish Premier League (now the Scottish Professional Football League) to gather evidence and investigate the matter of incorrect player registrations involving concealed side letters and employee benefit trusts as defined in the eventual Lord Nimmo Smith Commission.
We note from the then SPL announcement that set up an enquiry that the initial date range to be covered was from the inception of the SPL in July 1998, but that was changed to 23 November 2000 because, according to our understanding, that is the date of the first side letter supplied by Rangers Administrators Duff and Phelps. It is also our understanding that the SPL asked for all documentation relating to side letters as well as the letters themselves.
It is a matter of public record that Rangers Administrators failed to supply the SPL all relevant documentation. Indeed the seriousness of not complying with SPL requests was the subject of an admonition of Rangers/Duff and Phelps from Lord Nimmo Smith under Issue 4 of his Commission.
Quite how serious that failure to comply or concealment was in terms of misleading the Commission and so Lord Nimmo Smith can now be assessed from the information contained at Annexes 1 to 10 attached.
We think that as legal advisers to the SPL (now the SPFL) you have a responsibility to make them aware that their Commission was misled by the concealment of documents starting on 3 September 1999, and signed by current SFA President Campbell Ogilvie, whose silence on the ebt matters referred to in the attached annexes* is questionable at the very least.
This letter but not attachments is being posted on The Scottish Football Monitor web site as this is matter for all of Scottish football and support for the issue being pursued to establish the truth can be gauged by responses from supporters from all Scottish clubs once the letter has been published there.
A copy of this letter with Annexes has also been sent to the SPFL CEO and members of the SPFL Board.
Acknowledgement of receipt and reply can be sent by e mail to:
(Address supplied)
Yours in sport

On behalf of The Scottish Football Monitor contributors and readers. http://www.tsfm.org.uk/

Addressees copied in
Neil Doncaster CEO
The Scottish Professional Football League
Hampden Park
Glasgow G42 9DE

Eric Riley (Celtic),
The Celtic Football Club
Celtic Park
Glasgow G40 3RE

Stephen Thompson (Dundee United),
Tannadice Park,
Tannadice Street,
Dundee, DD3 7JW

Duncan Fraser (Aberdeen);
Aberdeen Football Club plc
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Street
Aberdeen AB24 5QH

Les Gray (Hamilton),
Hamilton Academical FC
New Douglas Park
Hamilton
ML3 0FT

Mike Mulraney (Alloa)
Alloa Athletic FC
Clackmannan Road
Recreation Park
Alloa FK10 1RY

Bill Darroch (Stenhousemuir).
Stenhousemuir F.C.
Ochilview Park
Gladstone Road
Stenhousemuir
Falkirk
FK5 4QL

This entry was posted in General by Trisidium. Bookmark the permalink.
Tom Byrne

About Trisidium

Trisidium is a Dunblane businessman with a keen interest in Scottish Football. He is a Celtic fan, although the demands of modern-day parenting have seen him less at games and more as a taxi service for his kids.

3,234 thoughts on “Scottish Football: An Honest Game, Honestly Governed?


  1. justshatered says:
    March 30, 2014 at 5:19 pm
    1 0 Rate This
    ———–

    Did St Johnstone, Hibs or Motherwell actually make any money out of Europe this season? I’m guessing not too much. The bizarrely difficult qualifying, often in faraway places, has become something of a joke.

    So, the domestic league has to offer more, and preferably at a lower price. In the current situation, Celtic will probably secure the minted CL qualification spot for the next 3-5 years. And good luck to them, too. If they do this via a 12, 14, 16-team league it will make no difference.

    I could imagine that there may be moves next season to finally listen to the fans, and to grow the top league and include more end-of-season drama. Although the motives for punting 4 up to the top tier might be to make sure a team with a large support, but a bad financial record, is elevated, I still think it would be a step in the right direction.

    Even this year’s half-hearted attempt to introduce extra promotion and relegation has created more interest.

    Make all of the leagues more dynamic. The end of season dramas will surely be appealing to broadcasters and sponsors.

    The pie in the sky of the CL and Europe is becoming a distant dream. Get the domestic game healthy again. Explore alternative cross-border stuff (Anglo-Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Nordic?). One country doing the right thing is a majority of one.


  2. justshatered says:
    March 30, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    Great post and I take your point that an increased risk to Celtic’s prospects of reaching the group stages could “kill the golden goose” that underpins my earlier suggestion. Your final comment about the football version of the Harlem Globe Trotters sounds sadly pretty near the mark.

    CL group qualification involving, as it does, a roll of the dice with £20m plus riding on it poses a fundamental challenge to developing greater competition in Scotland, yet equally the CL itself is a competition that only a few are ever likely to win. In a way the overall competitiveness in Scotland would be better served by Celtic failing to qualify rather than my previous proposal. What a mess… how did it come to this!


  3. Danish Pastry says:
    March 30, 2014 at 5:58 pm

    I take your point but a ‘majority of one’ concept will eventually damage our sport in the longer term.

    Taysider says:
    March 30, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    It does raise the interesting subject. Should we as a nation attempt to abandon European competition to fix our domestic league?
    Will the failure to qualify damage the national team as well as the lost revenue not to mention prestige it brings our league?
    I really do not know what the answers are but I still feel Europe will assist our league but the financial disparity tells me it won’t. I really don’t know the answer to the conundrum.
    We like to think our clubs are standalone entities however we are all interdependent on each other. At the same time we operate in a competition business where the rich get richer and those that flounder are lost. Well nearly all are lost!
    At the same time within our nation the money made is dwarfed by that earned in at least seven or eight other leagues throughout Europe.


  4. justshatered says:
    March 30, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    Remember Champions League money is not even distributed evenly within the groups as prize money is dictated by the population of your nation not on your fan base. So basically a club from Scotland will receive millions less than a club from France, Germany, Spain, England, and Italy.
    ———-

    Are you sure about that?
    Surely the prize money is based solely on individual club achievement?
    However, I believe the TV money is distributed on an uneven basis and so the total cash available to a club does depend on the country of origin.
    Since this is what counts when all is said and done, I suppose you’re right after all.


  5. justshatered says:
    March 30, 2014 at 6:22 pm

    Will the failure to qualify damage the national team as well as the lost revenue not to mention prestige it brings our league?
    ——

    What, this national team …(the team against Poland in our last game)?

    01 Marshall
    02 Hutton (Bardsley – 67′ )
    03 Mulgrew
    08 Brown
    04 Martin
    05 Greer
    06 Bannan (Robertson – 67′ )
    07 Morrison (Fletcher – 45′ )
    10 McCormack (Adam – 76′ )
    09 Fletcher (Naismith – 45′ Booked )
    11 Anya (Burke – 92′ )

    (clue: spot the percentage of Scottish-based players. 😉 )


  6. BigGav says:
    March 30, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    It may have changed recently but the last time I checked Lyon, despite an average home attendance of 30K in the group stages, got approximately £3.5M more than the Scottish champions basically because they came from France with a population of 65M plus.
    I must stress that this is TV money but you are correct that the money given to clubs in the group stages for points and victories is the same however it is TV revenue which makes up by far the majority of the money clubs receive.


  7. BigGav says: March 30, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    Are you sure about that?
    Surely the prize money is based solely on individual club achievement?
    However, I believe the TV money is distributed on an uneven basis and so the total cash available to a club does depend on the country of origin.
    Since this is what counts when all is said and done, I suppose you’re right after all.
    ====================================
    Financial distribution breakdown for the CL last season

    http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/Finance/01/97/52/97/1975297_DOWNLOAD.pdf

    Juventus earned €10M more than winners Bayern Munich because of the split of TV between clubs of the same country


  8. justshatered says:
    March 30, 2014 at 6:22 pm
    1 0 Rate This

    I take your point but a ‘majority of one’ concept will eventually damage our sport in the longer term.
    ————-

    I can’t see how trying to revitalize the domestic game, and seeking to explore other avenues of competition for the broad church of teams will harm football in Scotland, or any country.

    Status quo and bowing unquestioningly to the UEFA monolith is hardly an encouraging option, unless you are one of the few clubs enjoying elite status.

    The CL seems like UEFA’s attempt to create a Pan European Super League by other means. The way it’s going there could well be a breakaway elite, with the top teams who ‘lack competition’ leaving their domestic leagues behind. The concept was shunned by domestic associations some years ago I believe, but it could be arriving by stealth.


  9. Angus1983 says:
    March 30, 2014 at 7:56 pm

    Yes that’s fine now however devoid of European revenue, and more importantly the experience of playing foreign opposition, then ten years down the line the national may struggle to compete against pot four or five teams. I may be wrong but at least nine of those players have European experience. That lack of experience at the top level I think will be crucial.


  10. I’ve always marvelled at terms such as ‘Financial Fair Play’.

    In the football context the driving idea is to prevent clubs spending more than they earn in pursuit of sporting success, to a degree which could ultimately threaten their existence. Cash ‘gifts’ from generous ‘benefactors’ would be eliminated from the sport making a level (or at least a less undulating) playing field for all.

    It’s not a bad idea, particularly if you value the existence of the club you support more than any short term success that might be achieved by potentially damaging overspending.

    ‘Financial Fair Play’ however remains an oxymoron. What exactly is ‘fair’ in a sporting context about having more money than your competitors? Even if the money in question is entirely legitimate and/or sustainable.

    In professional football the club with the most money to spend on players more often than not – wins.

    Above all other considerations money is the determining factor in achieving success. If you are looking for a definition of capitalism at work, a particularly brutal manifestation is available. A glance at the football league tables across Europe is likely to prove informative.

    Sport in its simplest forms is two guys hitting each other within a restricted area until one of them falls down and can’t continue, or a group of people starting from the same point, rushing toward a finish line that will determine the fastest.

    Even in boxing or track racing money can have a seeming fair but telling influence. Leaving aside the gambling induced ‘taking a dive’ historically associated with boxing, in these sports as with others, athletes with access to suitable financiers (often governments) will reap the rewards of better trainers and better training facilities and equipment than many of their competitors.

    Advantages in individual sports gained by spending money are always going to be more difficult to scrutinise than is the case with team sport. Not to labour the point but in individual sports you can’t replace the athlete by buying a better one.

    Professional Football has a different landscape, buying a better player is something football fans are hugely in favour of, and who can blame them, this is what provides excitement for the games ahead and is just the kind of thing likely to induce them to buy a ticket.

    The question of what is fair still remains. Some football clubs with a large fan base and consequent access to TV revenue will always out-bid their competitors for the best players and cement the inevitable dominance achieved by gaining further wealth through the gold mine of European competition.

    If we actually wanted to be fair in a sporting sense, given the power of money to determine the outcome of football matches, the only (this will never happen) way of achieving this would be to split all monies generated from all competitions through attendance, TV revenue and performance evenly between all of the clubs involved.

    I do wonder sometimes if being fair is actually what we want from football. Certainly we would all want a set of rules that are evenly applied to each individual game and overall governance that was acceptable and applicable to all clubs.

    But beyond that, the money influence, the thing which actively derives results and makes champions of challengers remains beyond football governance unless there is some deficiency in the bearer.

    In spite of my personal views on this people are, if you’ll pardon the expression buying into the money game. In the EPL in particular the endless cavalcade of extraordinary managers and wildly expensive players whose every mundane thought and action lights up the internet has provided broadcasters with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of sellable airtime.

    We seem content with an idea that money, good money, that is to say acceptable money sustainably derived is to be the unchallenged and unchallengeable determinant in European football.

    Financial play is the only game in town (or continent). Fair?… you pay your money and make your choice.

    For those interested in Scottish football, a useful start in determining how monies generated from the champion’s league could be equitably split might best be served in firstly overcoming the ‘Financial Play’ imperative that restricts Scottish clubs and clubs from other nations from participation in the competition directly.

    Achieving success in the top division in Scottish football as delightful as it is for those who attain it comes with no guarantee of participation in the so called ‘Champions League’.

    Just like ‘Financial Fair Play’ the ‘Champions League’ is another oxymoron. As it happens not all the participants are champions in their respective countries, and for the most part it’s not a league.

    That said in terms of global interest and financial gain it has been a huge success. Which brings me back to an earlier thought, Is being fair what we want from football?


  11. Posters seeking the detail on CL payments could do worse than looking out their copy of the RIFC IPO document (share prospectus). My copy fell victim to a virus, but, while admittedly the figures will be slightly out of date, a whole page and more was devoted to CL group and knockout stages, and the oodles of cash a bunch of chaps could trouser, by playing in same.

    This was for a football enterprise in the first half of its first season in the fourth echelon of the Scottish game. It was when I realised that the whole thing was doomed. And that I may need an incontinence solution sooner in middle age than I had imagined.


  12. I’ve heard the phrase “soft investment” often in the Dave King saga and even on here.

    What on earth is it? Free money?

    Genuinely flummoxed.


  13. ianagain says:
    March 30, 2014 at 10:18 pm
    ——————————————————
    Thank goodness you asked that ianagain. I was wondering too but didn’t have the guts to ask 😳


  14. Martin says:

    March 30, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    Martin, I don’t think money and some form of fairness are necessarily mutually exclusive. A number of sports where money is massive at least appear to make some compromise with fairness. For example, American sports – NBA, NFL etc – at least try to level the playing field by using the draft system to allow the poorer performers to obtain the best potential players. In F1 they’re at least trying to limit the power of money by reducing the differences between the cars. Don’t get me wrong, I know it still means tons of money going to individual performers and agents and there are no doubt bungs and all sorts in relation to the draft. I also have no doubt that there is corruption (at the top level?) in F1, but even these sports can point to something they are doing in terms of attempts at engendering fairness. I’m not sure football can really point at anything it does to counteract all the evidence that money has corrupted it e.g. player salaries, alleged bungs to decision makers re allocation of world cups, players cheating to win, referees being bought, scheduling for TV rather than the fans etc. Apologies for ranting and generalising.


  15. Ian/Jean,

    “Soft investment”….

    WRT RIFC/TRFC it means they are soft in the head.

    Scottish Football needs home receipts to be split 50/50.


  16. redlichtie says:
    March 30, 2014 at 10:39 pm
    —————————————————————
    Och, I knew that already. 😉
    However we are discussing investment here and that is three syllables so they might be lost!!


  17. Martin says:
    March 30, 2014 at 8:56 pm
    &&&&&&&
    For years football has occupied a financial twilight zone. Normal business rules don’t apply. Clubs hold the deluded belief that you must spend beyond your means in order to ‘reach the next level’. Leeds, Aston Villa, Hearts & Newcastle all tried to spend to succeed. The EPL is a financial basket case artificially supported by Sky/BT money. If that tap’s suddenly turned off which company will step in with funding at similar levels?


  18. Soft investment = cash injection with no (public/recorded) expectation of any recompense (or repayment). See also EBT, Side Letter


  19. Fisiani says:
    March 30, 2014 at 3:04 am
    ——————————————-
    Fisiani, the admin button will be pressed once the unexpected cup run is over. That promises lucrative cash, from the rental of Ibrox, the gate money and the TV money. Should they unexpectedly beat the Arabs, the ba’ will truly be on the slates as not pressing the admin button before the end of the season runs the risk of a 15pt penalty next season.

    The reason potential administrators were briefed last month was that no one in his or her right mind expected Ally to manage a run in the cup which is wholly understandable.

    Taysider, which “deserving” club do you think would benefit most from a trust (a European Benefit Trust – or EBT for short) set up by the SFA, funded solely by Celtic’s CL money?

    I’ll give you a guess, it’s a club from Glasgow and it’s not Celtic. This is not going to happen and Stuart Cosgrove is simply mischief making in suggesting it.

    Scottish clubs already get a freebie from Celtic’s European exploits and are grateful for it. What is killing interest in our game is playing each other up to 4 matches per season – that needs to be cut to 2 games in bigger leagues. But it is the Aberdeens, Motherwells & St Johnstones of this world who insist on it, in an attempt to milk the cash from home games with Celtic plus TV money.


  20. REDETIN

    I have no idea on what D Kings ‘angle’ May have been on his £20M loss, however, football seems to be as ropey as ever.
    The future looks bright!


  21. I’ve decided to sue Ladbrokes, they didn’t disclose that John Terry was going to score an og, or that Liverpool were any feckin’ good at the start of the season yet these robbing gets took my investment!
    I will bet again if they agree to refund my stakes since 2000 and surrender the key to the shunky as security for future bets.


  22. With regards to Dave King’s £20m, I tend to side with Jackson’s “understanding” that this issue relates to a badly-worded report that gives the impression that King received an income of £18m from Rangers.
    This issue was discussed on KDS last week and I will provide a few pertinent snippets,
    Before doing so I would like to point out that I am not averse to the idea that King and Murray finnagled the whole “investment” to maximise the deal for both parties.
    However, I have seen no evidence to firmly support this contention although I would be delighted to view it if anybody has anything more concrete.
    As it is, some people on KDS appear to accept that King genuinely lost his money.

    A poster on KDS said: “It’s been mentioned before on this thread, and most recently on the Press thread, that Dave King didn’t lose £20m by investing in Rangers (RIP) as he got £18m back, so the loss was (relatively) minimal.

    “I’ve searched the web and the only source that I can find to support that is from this website, which has been quoted several times on other sites as ‘proof’ that he had income from Rangers amounting to R200m (which could be about £18m, depending on which exchange rate was used in the past 5 years). However, looking at the quote in detail, it doesn’t really make sense.”

    http://www.bdlive.co.za/articles/2008/11/11/king-s-tax-assessment-valid—sars;jsessionid=D94247E2C4B995285D8D676FA23047AB.present2.bdfm

    One reply said: “It also says that it’s his biggest claim. Why would King be claiming income? The report doesn’t make sense.”

    “Isn’t it King’s tax assessment in that it SARS assessment of King’s liability due to the assets/income he has? Presumably with no legitimate explanation of funding or tax having been paid. I don’t see how a house and a car or whatever can be used as a reason to reduce a tax liability.

    “But it’s so badly worded and inconsistent it might as well have been a sevco press release.”

    Another poster replies: “I agree with you about the assets not reducing the liability. I think that it was a case of King having the dosh to buy these items and how could he have done that with the miniscule income that he declared to SARS.

    “My issue is that readers of that article have looked at “R200m income from Rangers” without looking at the rest of the piece and accepting that phrase in isolation. Which I believe is nonsense.”

    If anyone can further enlighten me on this issue I would be most appreciative.


  23. upthehoops says:
    March 30, 2014 at 4:06 pm

    14

    1

    Rate This

    JimBhoy says:
    March 30, 2014 at 3:48 pm
    ==========================
    I think Butcher will cut it at Hibs as well, but he needs time to put his stamp on them. The thought crossed my mind today that Hibs could go down as well this season. How would a well managed club like Hibs, and a Hearts out of Administration, square with getting the final part of ‘the journey’ completed?

    ________________________________________

    Butcher and Malpas WILL cut it if allowed time at Hibs and they need to be.
    It wasn’t that long ago Caley fans wanted Butcher’s head on a plate.
    But Malpas can find great talent for free.
    And Butcher can yell it into a fighting unit.

    The problem Hibs have at the minute is that Butcher isn’t interested in doing anything with the players he inherited.

    And when he (actually Malpas) brings his own guys in they will look like shit for half a season until Terry gest them spick and span.

    So my advice to Hibs fans:

    Write this season off – the changes are happening off the park
    Don’t expect great shakes next season (Butcher took us down remember) because the players brought in (for buttons) wont have gelled.

    Stick with it and in 18-24 (maybe 36) months time when you are kicking Aberdeen’s a**e and putting the wind up Celtic, while selling players for a profit… then you can act all smug.

    Butcher played for England in the world cup. He knows football.

    He ran successful businesses unrelated to football subsequently. He is financially very astute. Football is not his living these days.
    Caley was his hobby.
    He enjoyed it.
    The crowds weren’t big enough. So he moved to Hibs.
    Hibs are now his hobby. He is doing something he loves, for the fun of it. He happens to be good at it. He attracts likeminded souls. Money never comes into it.
    He is and never will be under any pressure.
    He is the best ‘long term’ appointment Hibs could have envisaged. Well done! (With acertain amount of resentment from a Caley fan)

    In the same way that TRFC fans will look back in wonder in yeasr to come at how completely Mr. A.McCoist moved so completley from hero to villain, I expect Butcher to do the exact opposite in the eyes of the Hibees.


  24. Lots of interesting stuff on here over the last couple of days. Here’s my 2 euro’s worth.

    1. Dave King never got £18 million back from Murray. The view he did has arisen because SARS saw he invested £20 million without any obvious source of income, and therefore assesed an income charge on him.

    2 Splitting the CL income amongst all SPL clubs won’t do much to improve competition in Scotland , but would do a lot to destroy Celtic’s European calibre , which would reduce the chance of qualifying for the CL. So any redistribution of CL income is likely to be very temporary, given there is a good chance there won’t be any revenue to distribute if weakening our champion club is the outcome.

    3 If we want to have a more equable distribution of income the place to start is the SPFL TV contract. Scotland as a business market contributes roughly 10% to SKY and BT’s subscription revenues. In return Scottish football receives 1.4% of the money SKY and BT invest in UK football.

    Scottish consumers are subsidising the EPL to the detriment of their own game. The SPL have failed and failed again to provide a TV contract that remotely reflects the amount of money Scottish consumers invest in subscription based television . There will be heightened interest in 2015/16. Planning for a TV contract, either with a partner or direct subscription via SPFL TV should be well under way. I suspect though that the usual inertia will prevail under the less than inspiring leadership of Neil Doncaster

    4 Hibs…. What did Butcher expect. He has a squad of players, many of whom have no contract to be at Easter Rd next season. He then publicly flays them. He can’t be surprised when the response is unsatisfactory. I’m not sure what to make of Butcher. He is clearly bright and articulate, he did terrifically with Motherwell and ICT, yet he has a flippant approach which doesn’t seem to work when the expectations of the fan base are more demanding. Derek McInnes has shown a good manager can quickly turn around a big Scottish club. If I was a Hibbee i wouldn’t be overly confident Butcher will be anywhere near as good a fit at Hibs as he was at ICT

    5 Graham Wallace. I understand that the date of his appointment to Rangers Retail may or may not be January 2013. The document at Co Hse might contain a typo. It might not though. I have never believed that Wallace came out of left field on the strength of a decent CV and a positive job interview. The shareholders who control Rangers do not need an outsider who might torpedo their plans.
    This isn’t to say Wallace isn’t a capable CEO , he appears to be. However I very much doubt he is at odds with Laxey , Blue Pitch or Margarita. He wouldn’t have got the job if he was going to cause them a problem.
    If Wallace states specifically he had no connection of any kind to Rangers Retail prior to his appointment as CEO of RIFC plc, then I have no problem accepting that. However as long as he says nothing about the legal date of his appointment being January 2013 , as per the AP01 at Co Hse, then questions will remain


  25. Danish Pastry says:
    March 31, 2014 at 7:24 am

    Saw some twitter comments on the Jim Spence story from last year. Apparently, BBC Trust ruling in favour of Sportsound and Jim.

    Did I miss this on here? Otherwise pages 73-79 of link below (carried by @scotzine a few days ago). End of story. A stramash in a tea cup — but for personal and professional bother caused to Jim Spence!

    http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2014/jan.pdf
    ===================================
    Well Spotted Danish!

    Well the petty complaint of the ‘easily offended’ was booted ootra park as was expected.

    I never cease to be amazed at the energy PR-led Bears expend on attacking all and sundry who attempt to comment fairly on their club and wonder if this is part of a ploy to create and deepen the ‘victim mentality’ amongst the Rangers support to convince them that every hand is turned against them so they have to hang together.

    All this organisation and email campaigning which have now spread to the EC and yet this swatch of fans appear to have no problems or views on how their club is being run and seem to be oblivious to imminent financial disaster.

    I often wonder whether they actually are Bears or just an anonymous ‘boiler-room’ operation run by operatives working to a script.

    It’s certainly evident this ‘movement’ is active online on a minority of ‘fan’ websites and tiny support groups where no discussion that question the club management is brooked and anyone doing so is immediately labelled as ‘Timmy’ and ostracised.

    I seem to remember Salvation Army founder General Booth observed something like: ‘Why should the Devil have all the best tunes?’. I feel perhaps if Bears had listened to some of the early ‘Timmy-style’ warnings and adopted them they might not be currently facing such a precarious financial future.

    However the BBC report is well worth a read and clearly demolishes the orchestrated complaint campaign and I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall while they were reading all those ‘reasonable’ complaint emails 😆

    However there is one thing in the Beeb report I find especially interesting when the senior adviser states she did not believe that:

    ‘Taking account, of the subject and nature of the content and the likely audience expectation, listeners would have been misled by the use of the word ‘club’ rather than the word ‘company’.

    IMO she either doesn’t understand what has happened within the Rangers support or diplomatically decided not to travel that road for fear of sparking a further flood of complaints from the ‘easily annoyed’.

    Sadly I believe that most supporters genuinely haven’t got a clue when it comes to differentiating between RIFC, TRFCL, Rangers and ‘Club’ and whether ‘club’ changes depending on the context viz whether speaking of TRFCL or RIFC. Indeed I doubt if many fans fully understand or are aware of the relationship between RIFC and TRFCL.

    And this failure in comprehension isn’t solely the fault of the fans as they have been deliberately fed a diet of smoke and mirrors and bullshit to keep them dumbed-down and not asking awkward questions. Sadly, just about every one of their fan ‘leaders’ played along with this deception possibly in hope that a blue blazer might come winging their way.

    Recently some of the new kids on the block are starting to seriously question and challenge the incumbents and flex the muscles of ‘fan power’. There’s a long way to go as they have to break an almost life-long addiction of many Bears to the ‘sugar’ fed to them by money burning glory-seekers.

    But who knows? We certainly live in interesting times 🙄


  26. Interesting read on Southampton’s financial situation on BBC’s web site. The language used is very similar to that around Govan these days, however, if you look at this summary (from the article). the revenue numbers are pretty amazing!

    “Total revenue increased 213% to £71.8m (2012: £22.9m) with average league attendances up from 26,427 to 30,807.
    Broadcasting income grew from £5.6m in 2011/12 to £46.9m in 2012/13.
    Match day income of £11.8m in 2011/12 has risen to £16.9m in 2012/13.
    Commercial income increased from £4.8m in 2011/12 to £6.7m in 2012/13.
    Total group wages, including player wages, increased to £47.1m in 2013 from £28.7m in 2012.”

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26813363


  27. Barcabhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 8:36 am

    3 If we want to have a more equable distribution of income the place to start is the SPFL TV contract. Scotland as a business market contributes roughly 10% to SKY and BT’s subscription revenues. In return Scottish football receives 1.4% of the money SKY and BT invest in UK football.
    ———————————————————————————————-
    I agree totally this is the best and easiest way to raise revenue for the whole of Scottish football without taking it off the country’s currently most-successful European club and revenue earner from that source which already benefits Scottish Football generally.

    The SPFL need to get real professionals working for it who are up to date with the huge advances in both video technology and the setting-up of new internet-based TV platforms. It’s the coming wave and soon Uncle Tom Cobley and all will have their own TV station as the costs of doing so have dropped dramatically.

    If we had people of vision at the top of Scottish Football then they would be well along the road to creating a TV platform and selling their output to other TV companies who are always hungry for fresh content.

    Sadly I feel the deadbeats at the SPFL and SFA know they aren’t up to the challenges involved and most certainly don’t have the necessary skills and above all else don’t have the bottle. They are happy to sit in their comfortable sinecures leeching the financial blood out of the Scottish Game with as little effort as possible.

    But these are merely the paid emnployees of the people who really need to get a grip and that is the club chairmen in Scotland. The current TV deals are pathetic and either have to be improved or new platforms created which, in turn, would generate big increases in ad and sponsorship levels as well as interest in the game.

    Community TV is here and ready for a big breakthrough especially with the hi-speed Broadband roll-out already underway in Scotland.

    Various local TV station franchises have been allocated and more are following and STV have secured the Edinburgh and Glasgow franchises which are due to start broadcasting shortly.

    Is anyone at Hampden even aware of what is happening out there – I hae ma doots as they seem incapable of showing they have any understanding of football which is meant to be their area of expertise.


  28. Barcabhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 8:36 am

    “Scottish consumers are subsidising the EPL to the detriment of their own game.”

    “Planning for a TV contract, either with a partner or direct subscription via SPFL TV should be well under way.”
    —————————————–
    Barca, the problem with this model to me is that although many people subscribe to Sky, how many would swap that or pay on top of it just to watch the SPFL?

    BT Vision are now looking to be a player in the sports TV market so that might help come the next bidding but I think the days of looking at SPFL TV are long gone (and probably for the good).


  29. Waldo wants cuts, Ally want s more players and a better scouting system. Mols has a bit of a light bulb moment and offers the services of the old rangers players worldwide to help Ally, scouting to get more players..Ally warning Lennie that the Celts will struggle next season due to lack of a challenge from rangers. Lack of cash flow crippling the Govan club, losing £1m and more per month, second most expensive player payrole in Scotland, the football on offer is apparently very poor…. One might think criticising other well run clubs and wanting to add to their payrole may sound like Ally is out hunting squirrels..

    I say again no club should win their league or be promoted if they go into administration due to spending more than they could afford to win that league. It just isn’t fair…


  30. ecobhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 9:17 am

    ………………..The SPFL need to get real professionals working for it who are up to date with the huge advances in both video technology and the setting-up of new internet-based TV platforms. ………………………”

    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    Jim Traynor?


  31. quinas says:
    March 30, 2014 at 11:40 am
    16 4 Rate This

    Dave King did lose £20M to RFC, all evidence suggests so, Phil checked with SARs re talk of RFC income of £18M from Old Co.this is an urban myth.
    It looks likr DK got ‘duped’ by Super Duper Sir Dave!
    —————————————————————————————————————————

    I did indeed check it.
    Both SARS and the National Prosecuting Service (NPS) were very helpful.
    They both doubted the provenance of the story that alleged that DK somehow got £18M of his £20M back from RFC.
    They certainly did not believe it.
    My own settled view is that DK did indeed invest £20M in RFC and that he lost the lot.


  32. Para Handy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 9:29 am
    Barcabhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 8:36 am

    “Scottish consumers are subsidising the EPL to the detriment of their own game.”

    “Planning for a TV contract, either with a partner or direct subscription via SPFL TV should be well under way.”
    —————————————–
    Barca, the problem with this model to me is that although many people subscribe to Sky, how many would swap that or pay on top of it just to watch the SPFL?

    BT Vision are now looking to be a player in the sports TV market so that might help come the next bidding but I think the days of looking at SPFL TV are long gone (and probably for the good).
    ==================================================================
    I really think you are missing the amazing technology jumps we have seen recently in terms of hosting internet-based TV and that has been coupled with a slashing of set-up and storage costs for your own platform. I even know of a Scottish school that has set-up its own TV station which is cheaper to run than issuing its traditional printed newsletter to parents. That is the future as the print media is finding to their cost.

    Paradoxically it has never been cheaper than now to print your own independent local paper as those with printing presses are basically doing silly-money low-cost deals just to keep their presses turning and defray some of their standing costs. So for some local groups or special interest subjects that’s a good move.

    But nothing beats video and TV and that is what’s happening with dozens of inventive ways of making money out of it. I just wish I was younger and I would be right in there as there is a wave to jump on rather like desktop publishing was and internet-TV is currently at the stage desktop publishing was in the 1980s.

    But its progress will be much much faster such is the pace of new technology and new consumers who will never have the ‘pleasure’ of eating chips on the last bus home with ink-stained fingers. Tempus fugit and the older I get the more it accelerates 🙁

    The beauty about local and special interest internet-based TV is just that it is tailored specifically to the interest of specific groupings and the cost reductions which have been happening over the last 18 months in equipment and memory storage rental coupled with big technological advances in hardware and software is setting the stage.

    Savvy colleges are moving into training video students in a big way – that is the new journalism and amalgamates the old reporter/snapper divisions into a video journalist. Some of the stuff the youngsters are doing is amazing and opens all sorts of commercial and personal opportunities for them.

    I totally agree that an SPFL TV station on a Radio Shortbread style is for the birds and would attract little interest. But if we could sweep away the tired and boring pundits that get ‘pensioned-off’ to cover Scottish football and let fresh creative talent floursih then they will create the audience to sustain the project.

    And you have to stop thinking of covering things in terms of just showing a football game on TV as there is so much more than can be added to a local TV channel to increase income on top of mere subscription charges especially via advertising. If you have a team playing in a touristy area then you also make the station the local visual tourist hub and help generate income for the area which, in turn, helps the football club as well as the wider community.

    We really need visionaries here and not the old blazers nodding-off at Hampden. They just can’t cut-it and will be wept-aside sooner or later anyway either by destroying our national game or a new injection of freash blood and talent who can energise interest and generate income.

    And don’t just think of an added subscription as a ‘burden’ because it needn’t be that way as major players like Sky and BBC and the emerging local TV stations are hungry for ‘live’ content that football clubs posess the access key to.

    Slowly as the print media collapses the big media groups are realising that their online sites can’t just be replicas of their old printed products. The new generations want live, snappy action and so the media groups will cut costs by not producing the material themselves but by buying it in.

    The old media model is changing because if it didn’t then it would disappear totally and that won’t be allowed to happen as there’s too much money to be made by future-proofing it. Advertisers and PR people want to get their message out there so will back the move nad Murdoch who has always understood how to make money out of the Nedw Media is pouring gazillions into the moves.

    However Para handy perhaps we just don’t have the drive and talent in Scotland to embrace the challenge and will just sit bemoaning our dismal fate whether inside or outside the Union. I’m nearly 70 and can see the spectacular opportunities that are out there which can be turned into reality with the new technology.

    The youngsters will do it anyway no matter what us old codgers think but they might take their talents elsewhere which has historically been Scotland’s loss.

    So let’s hope there are currently some of those Visionaries we need with some sort of power and influence that can create a home-grown video industry which can sell Scotland to the world via the internet as we have a helluva lot to offer and not just football.


  33. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    March 31, 2014 at 10:12 am

    My own settled view is that DK did indeed invest £20M in RFC and that he lost the lot.
    ______________________________________________________________________

    I can understand that the investment became worthless. But could this capital loss be offset against taxable gains made elsewhere in the DK empire (assuming it was a DK company investment).


  34. Campbellsmoney says:
    March 31, 2014 at 10:08 am
    ecobhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 9:17 am

    ………………..The SPFL need to get real professionals working for it who are up to date with the huge advances in both video technology and the setting-up of new internet-based TV platforms. ………………………”

    ——————————————————
    Jim Traynor?
    ————————————————
    I love starting a new week with a good laugh and that’s one of the best I’ve had. I’m afraid that the latest seismic shift is finishing-off the last few technophobe dinosaurs plodding around the tarpits of west central Scotland searching in vain for once-succulent lamb in a desperate bid for survival.

    Still he did well technology-wise during his spell at Ibrox 😆


  35. Para Handy @ 9.16am:

    The frightening thing about that article is it comes less than five years after Southampton last entered administration. Football finance is ridiculous, and that club is just one example. The most laughable aspect of the entire situation is that Southampton is a club which I’ve often seen praised for their supposedly sustainable approach and for doing things “the right way”. Haemorrhaging money is never doing things “the right way”. The sooner football as a whole wakes up to that fact, the better.


  36. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    March 31, 2014 at 10:12 am
    “……………My own settled view is that DK did indeed invest £20M in RFC and that he lost the lot……………”

    ————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    Phil, did he invest it in RFC? There has been some suggestion that it went to some part of the Murray Group rather than into RFC. A quick google (I know) suggests that DK’s Ben Nevis co provided £20m to “Murray Sports” and that “Murray Sports” invested £32.5m into RFC as part of a rights issue. Was DK (or indeed Ben Nevis) ever actually a shareholder in oldco RFC?


  37. JimBhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 10:05 am

    I say again no club should win their league or be promoted if they go into administration due to spending more than they could afford to win that league. It just isn’t fair…
    —————————————————————
    But Jim it’s the Rangers Way as endorsed by the SMSM and SFA 🙄


  38. @Ecobhoy Administration planning for the latter part of the season whilst amassing huge debts to win that league may actually be a sound yearly business plan..I would think though after 3 or 4 times the SFA would put a committee (Ogilvie, Bryson and Lunny perhaps) together to see if those strict hard and fast rules need changing. 😆


  39. In answer to my own question about DK’s shareholding.

    From the Oldco accounts to June 2010:-

    DK was an “authorised representative” of Metlika Trading Ltd (a BVI company).
    Metlika owned approx 15% of Murray Sports Limited.
    Murray Sports Limited had a subsidiary (I think a 100% subsidiary) called RFC Investments.
    RFC Investments owned 34.2% of Oldco.

    That would appear to have been DK’s “investment in Oldco”.

    So to be clear – DK had an interest in a company (Metlika) that had an interest in a company (MSL) that had an interest in a company (RFC Inv) that held 34.2% of Oldco.


  40. Still no accounts, names to shareholding or deeds.
    So anything is still possible, but not in Leeds.
    Just revising, carry on.


  41. ecobhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 10:30 am

    I really think you are missing the amazing technology jumps we have seen recently in terms of hosting internet-based TV and that has been coupled with a slashing of set-up and storage costs for your own platform. I even know of a Scottish school that has set-up its own TV station which is cheaper to run than issuing its traditional printed newsletter to parents. That is the future as the print media is finding to their cost.

    But nothing beats video and TV and that is what’s happening with dozens of inventive ways of making money out of it. I just wish I was younger and I would be right in there as there is a wave to jump on rather like desktop publishing was and internet-TV is currently at the stage desktop publishing was in the 1980s.

    The beauty about local and special interest internet-based TV is just that it is tailored specifically to the interest of specific groupings and the cost reductions which have been happening over the last 18 months in equipment and memory storage rental coupled with big technological advances in hardware and software is setting the stage.

    And you have to stop thinking of covering things in terms of just showing a football game on TV as there is so much more than can be added to a local TV channel to increase income on top of mere subscription charges especially via advertising. If you have a team playing in a touristy area then you also make the station the local visual tourist hub and help generate income for the area which, in turn, helps the football club as well as the wider community.

    And don’t just think of an added subscription as a ‘burden’ because it needn’t be that way as major players like Sky and BBC and the emerging local TV stations are hungry for ‘live’ content that football clubs posess the access key to.

    However Para handy perhaps we just don’t have the drive and talent in Scotland to embrace the challenge and will just sit bemoaning our dismal fate whether inside or outside the Union. I’m nearly 70 and can see the spectacular opportunities that are out there which can be turned into reality with the new technology.

    So let’s hope there are currently some of those Visionaries we need with some sort of power and influence that can create a home-grown video industry which can sell Scotland to the world via the internet as we have a helluva lot to offer and not just football.
    =================================
    Eco, I am aware of the technology and have good friends who are heavily involved in local TV as well as MSM TV not just here but in other European countries and North America. The challenge is, as always, where does the money come from? It is always from the punter; either directly via subscription or indirectly buy purchasing the advertised products.

    As we are all aware, Scottish football is effectively stagnant and struggling to find sponsorship for which the powers that be are fully responsible, however, even prior to the shenanigans, corporate money was hard to find and this is unlikely to change.

    As for advances in desktop publishing being the model, look at what it has done to the media and I include all types of publishing in that. Another area where new, cheap technology has had an impact in terms of access to production tools and the market is music and there we can see that many have gone out of business as not only can they not compete with individuals, online start ups, etc., but the whole business model has been radically altered and not in favour of anyone other than the already rich media companies who managed to adapt which has led to more control being in the hands of less.

    I think there are many people in Scotland (or from Scotland but now living elsewhere) who are able to be innovative and think radically but I don’t think many of them are willing to spend the time and energy on a failing sport that generates more negative PR, even when seen to be well run, than many others.

    I believe that Scotland can be sold well internationally and is in some cases – ironically the media industry is one of our strengths (although not so much the news media 😛 ) – but I cannot see SPFL games being a great advert for the country and sellable outside of the ex-pat market even with a new, improved, fresh and radical approach to promoting them.

    You need to have a product that can be sold, plain and simple. We don’t and no ideas I have heard; crazy, madcap or otherwise makes me think differently.


  42. Who are World Champions …..Spain

    Who are European Champions…… Spain

    Which country has the highest European club co-efficient …….Spain

    Benchmarking and learning and adopting best practice are undertaken in business on a regular basis by successful companies large and small

    Scottish football is hardly in a position to only learn and improve based on its own experiences . Of course , local factors need to be considered, and not all practice in benchmark countries will be appropriate . However much will .

    League structure is one such . To discuss the potential benefits , it is necessary to understand the structure . So allow me to throw this out for the blog to consider.

    Spain has a pyramid structure which is both merit based and has a Regional aspect. At the Apex is La Liga. This is where the biggest clubs play . The league has 20 teams with 3 relegation places each season. The top 4 qualify for the CL , 3 automatically, with one entering the non champions qualifying route.

    The Segunda Division A is the equivalent to the Championship with 4 teams being relegated each year . The top 2 are automatically promoted , with 3-6 entering a playoff system for the final promotion place.

    B teams are eligible to play in this division but are not eligible for promotion. Currently Barca B are in a playoff spot , and should they finish that way team 7 will take their place in a playoff . The only other B team in this league is from Real Madrid , who are one place and one point above automatic relegation. Segunda Division A has 22 teams

    The next level is Segunda Division B , which is split regionally into 5 leagues of 20 teams. The top 4 in each league enter a playoff for the 4 places available in Segunda A .

    These regional leagues include 9 B teams and 1 C team (Real Madrid) . Promotion and relegation are as per Segunda Division A. Interestingly only one B team is in a playoff place out of these 5 leagues, proving that competition is real .

    Below this we have Tercera Division of 18 regional leagues of 20 teams .

    Cup competitions are open to all .

    What can we learn from this ? I would suggest regionalisation is important , and allowing B teams outside of the top division is also important.

    Spain isn’t Scotland , the population is 8 times as large and weather isn’t a factor , however I see this structure as better than we have just now


  43. Para Handy says: March 31, 2014 at 1:14 pm

    Can any of the Jambos shed any more light on this? From this article it is not looking good.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26817253
    ===============================
    This isn’t really anything new. Money was always going to run out at some point. BDO had previously said end of January, then February, then March etc. The period was extended by good home gates, league cup semi and the transfer of youngster Adam King to Swansea.

    However on this occasion there is no money to be immediately generated from within the club. BDO have stated that they won’t sell season tickets for next season while some uncertainty remains.

    I think that BDO are simply pushing UBIG and Ukio to make the CVA deal happen after months of delay due to the slow pace of Lithuanian administration processes. The main sticking point is the handover of the 49.5% shareholding by UBIG. There is probably some brinkmanship at play, as some creditors may feel that there is more money to be obtained from FoH and Ann Budge. You may recall that BDO also played the same tactic with Portsmouth (first time round) and Dunfermline had their last minute hitch that ended up in court.

    The next scheduled meeting in Lithuania is on 7th April, from which we should get some clarity.

    FoH have already collected £1M in pledges so there is money available for working capital should it be required to cover a few weeks, but I’m sure that it will only be committed if there is prospect of a quick resolution.

    Liquidation is always a possible outcome of any administration and Hearts are no different in that regard. Liquidation will not get UBIG or Ukio any more money, so I remain confident that a deal with both Ukio and UBIG will be finalised in the next few weeks.

    Hearts administration would have been over months ago had it not been for the complexities of its parent company and its major creditor both being in administration at the same time. FoH were in a position to do the deal before Christmas so, in normal circumstances, would already have been funding the club through to the end of the season.

    Hearts fans contributions and BDO’s management of the administration period have been excellent. The club has survived on a break even basis since 19th June. If we get to the end of April, that will be more than 10 months running the club, without two thirds of their normal season ticket income which had been spent by the previous regime before the club went into administration.


  44. Campbellsmoney says:
    March 31, 2014 at 11:46 am

    So much weight, in assessing King’s credentials as the messiah, is put on his £20m lost investment. It may well be that he invested all of the £20m from his own pocket, there’s a first time for everything, they say, but in the interest of transparency (you know how he likes to say the bears deserve this), wouldn’t it be a good idea for one of the leading bear mouthpieces to ask him to describe, in some detail, how his investment was structured? Shouldn’t be a problem to reply as it will have been carried out, all above board, by men of honour. Even if they just asked, ‘did you hand over a cheque, from your own personal account, for that amount? Or was it done electronically, from your own personal account? And so the loss was entirely your own?’ Just something along those lines might suffice. Of course, they might just remember what a South African judge once said, and prefer not to ask.

    Even if some TRFC supporter, with the financial nous of someone like yourself 🙂 , were to read what you’ve just written, and check for themselves, then approach King, or those with a line to him, to ask for clarification, it would be a step in the right direction. Of course, that just won’t happen, for he is their last hope (of returning to (continuing with) the old ways), and there is no evidence to suggest that any of the Ibrox club’s supporters want things to change from that style of ‘Rangers way’, and so no one is prepared to risk chasing King, and therefor the dream, away.

    There (then, now, and for the foreseeable future) lies their dilemma.


  45. I’d like to add to easyjambo’s appraisal above of the BBC’s report, by their excellent financial correspondent, Bryan McLaughlan, who has previously brought us high quality reports on the insolvency of RFC and the shambles at TRFC. (Sorry, couldn’t resist a dig at any member of the SMSM’s sports section 😉 )

    After reading his report I now know exactly the same as I did before reading it, and that is summed up as; Hearts urgently need to get out of administration, and it’s very much squeaky bum time. The Lithuanians were always going to play hardball at some point, and I trust Bryan Jackson, of BDO, to play just as hard back, but this is the time for good poker players, and not the time for any secrets to be leaked to the press. I doubt any have been. If BDO, or anyone from Hearts or FoH, have told any reporter, anything, it will be controlled information. The same will be happening from the other side.

    My opinion only, of course. For technical information, as always, see my fellow Jambo, Easy’s post 😀


  46. Campbellsmoney & PhilMacGiollaBhain

    From RFC’s 2000 accounts:
    Chairman’s Statement
    Our significant investment in players in recent years has caused borrowing levels to rise. Your Board wished to reduce the club’s reliance on short term borrowings and on 30th March raised £38M by way of a 1 for 3 Rights Issue, principally subscribed by Murray Sports Ltd (£32.3M) but also supported by 3,552 small shareholders.
    :
    :
    In conjunction with the Rights Issue referred to above, Dave King, a Scottish born businessman now based in South Africa, was invited to join the Board as a non-Executive Director.


  47. Allyjambo says:
    March 31, 2014 at 2:36 pm
    I hope this gets resolved quickly with a CVA.
    I have-sadly-noted that some dignified folks are urgently wishing the death of HMFC.
    Clue: They’re not Hibees….


  48. neepheid says:
    March 31, 2014 at 1:41 pm
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26812623

    From the “quiet man” Regan on the semi-final shambles.
    ___________________________________________________

    What a load of eyewash!

    I particularly got a good wash of my eye from the following:

    “But Regan insists such a change of plan is not realistic and that the financial aspects of the venue choice were only “part of the reasoning”.”

    Well yes, Mr Regan, we all knew there were other reasons than ‘the financial aspects’, by which, I presume, you refer to the financial aspects of the competition, and not those of the club which benefits, in so many ways, from your decision. The fact remains, one club, the one that has caused so much trouble for our sport, the one which is in so much financial trouble it could cause even more chaos in the not so distant future (and passing the semis their way aint gonna change that, just, maybe, see them closer to the end of the season), the one that, of all the clubs under the auspices of the SFA deserve less of a leg up than any other, is yet again getting undeserved assistance from you and their supporters at Hampden. Your inability to stage one semi at Ibrox and one at Celtic Park, speaks volumes for you and your crew, regardless of your excuses. If that’s the best you can do, get up, go, leave our game! And take Ogilvy with you!


  49. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    March 31, 2014 at 2:44 pm

    Cheers Phil.

    Hearts deserve all the brickbats that come their way. They’ve taken a risk (or had it taken in their name) and took what glory came their way, so now it’s payback time. We Jambos just have to accept that, and hope that through the respect we seem to have gained, for the way the club and support have handled the situation, we will be able to go forward, and retain that respect, should the CVA be achieved.

    As to those who once liked to think of us as their (wee) cousins; *expletive* them, we were never like them, because we do care (how others see us)!

    NB There has never been any link between Hearts and Rangers, but there are important historical links with Hibs, recognised on their website. We were never their(RFC) cousins, or any other epithet some would like to give us. We are, were, and will always be (remembered at least) as The Hearts/Heart of Midlothian FC. Nothing more, and definitely nothing less.


  50. Para Handy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 1:08 pm

    As for advances in desktop publishing being the model, look at what it has done to the media and I include all types of publishing in that. Another area where new, cheap technology has had an impact in terms of access to production tools and the market is music and there we can see that many have gone out of business as not only can they not compete with individuals, online start ups, etc., but the whole business model has been radically altered and not in favour of anyone other than the already rich media companies who managed to adapt which has led to more control being in the hands of less.
    =======================================================
    Lots of what you say I either agree with and I recognise many of the difficulties you flag-up but if we sit and do nothing I have no doubt that football in Scotland will slowly collapse in terms of fielding full-time teams.

    And part of that is that other sports, including many news ones, have or are adapting to new media and the younger generations are drawn by the inter-reaction that is taking place between them and the sport they are either watching or involved in.

    However I would say that I wasn’t proposing desktop publishing as the model but more referring to it as an earlier wave of new technology which radically altered the media landscape both in terms of the printing and actual production of printed publications.

    What I was trying to say was that I believe that internet-based TV – especially with community/special interest – will completely revolutionise many areas of the media, sport and other fields. And you are correct that those with money will make the most of the opportunities which arise but that has been the nature of capitalism since the Luddites were swept aside.

    We must never forget the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been created through desktop publishing with many small companies companies being formed in media and allied professions which have grown enormously. This technology growth has continued with the steady rise of online internet news companies whether individuals or small groups of like-minded people have enormously expanded the range of alternative news available to the public.

    I don’t see desktop publishing as a negative factor, as you seem to, because in removing home publishing from the letraset era it meant many printers and publishers who charged enormous rates were unable to compete. The rates charged weren’t just down to profit but because of the very high wages paid and the cost of equipment which the gifted amateur in his garret wasn’t subject to.

    However it wasn’t desktop publishing that did for newspaper publishing IMO. Obviously the new technology era ushered-in by Eddie Shah at ‘Today’ and followed-up by Murdoch and the breaking of the print unions had a major part to play in changing the landscape. It’s something which I have seldom seen commented on but Scotland didn’t go through the same kind of Wapping Upheaval because there wasn’t the same barriers to introducing technological change and it was coming in although slowly prior to Wapping.

    Although the print unions were strong in Scotland they didn’t match the power wielded by them down south where they dictated to the newspaper management and owners. New technology provided the solution to breaking that power.

    There are many reasons as to why newspapers have collapsed but I view one of the major factors as failing to attract new customers/readers and the loss of existing readers which was accelerated by the useless journalism on offer as wages were cut and professional were cleared-out to be replaced by – well I think it best that I don’t dwell on the lack of ability of the replacements as it depresses me.

    As to the music industry that is a complex area but from my little knowledge of it it seems to me that a major problem for musicians has always been the difficulty in enforcing copyright and in many ways that has become harder in recent years.

    However the revolution that happened and the free internet file transfers that followed were always going to happen and the only way probably to control that was through the Big Boys getting involved to protect their revenue. I still think that the cheapeness and ease of producing music has created an explosion in terms of creating tunes, lyrics and performers. Some will make money and be more in contrrol of their destiny than they ever were in the bad old days when the Record Label was as big a bogeyman as the Press Barons.

    One thing I have learnt about life is that it constantly changes and evolves and old skills disappear and it’s necessary to inculcate an aptitude to continually adapt to changing circumstances – there are very few jobs for life these days.


  51. neepheid says:
    March 31, 2014 at 1:41 pm
    2 0 Rate This

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26812623

    From the “quiet man” Regan on the semi-final shambles.
    —————————
    His performance on Radio Scotland was equally as weak.
    Richard Gordon gave him an easy time of it really but his performance was terrible.
    Nothing about the fairness of one team being at home in a semi final. Nothing about the other semi final having less than 20k at it(due to location and 12.45 kickoff on a Sunday!)
    This clown is part of the problem not the solution and needs getting rid of pronto!


  52. Allyjambo says:
    March 31, 2014 at 3:27 pm
    The man who got me into journalism is a massive Jambo.
    As a wedding present for me he created a collage from a museum exhibition to Edinburgh lad James Connolly.
    He’s hardly a cousin of Ibrox…
    We’re still mates.
    The only point of contention between us (this was years ago during the outbreak of Russian hat wearing at Tynecastle) apropos Romanov was that I couldn’t see this ending well.

    I think HMFC fans have won a lot of respect in the way that they have dealt with what has been dropped on them from Lithuania.

    In that sense you couldn’t be more different from some other fans in Scotland in how you have behaved throughout this…


  53. In regard to the SPFL tv channel type of idea mentioned above, has anyone who has a smart tv noticed the NHL and MLB apps that are available? Basically you can subscribe to them and get all kinds of live and delayed coverage etc, all dedicated towards the league’s brand, not a tv company’s.

    It amazes me that a football league somewhere in the world hasn’t jumped on this idea yet. Just imagine – all the subscription money AND advertising revenue going straight to the league, with no media empire middle-man.


  54. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    March 31, 2014 at 3:50 pm

    Nice wee story about your Jambo mate, we do get everywhere, you know 🙂 and are great at sneaking into weddings 😳
    Sometimes, well whenever I think about it actually, I wish we Scots were more inclined to celebrate our similarities, rather than our differences. Which is something I find so appealing about TSFM. It breaks the mold.


  55. Allyjambo says:
    March 31, 2014 at 4:14 pm
    He and his good lady were invited to the big day and I was delighted that they accepted our invitation.
    I was expecting (more) towels. 😉
    The Connolly collage was inspired-it must have taken him fekkin ages 😮
    There isn’t anything wrong in acknowledging differences.
    The key component is respect.
    I’m just back from a conference in Lisbon on diversity in the media.
    My Jambo buddy has no issue with the Irishness of his Donegal based pal.
    If I had been a soccer player instead of a spirited middleweight then I would have declared for Ireland-he gets that too.


  56. I noticed today that the new England World Cup shirt will retail at a competitive 90 POUNDS 😯
    Haven’t Rangers’ fans been punished enough?

    Anyway, when is the 120 day review due: we must be close now?


  57. The standout for me in Mr Regan’s announcement was the following:

    “To change it very quickly at the last minute would mean an awful lot of last-minute planning and perhaps not being able to deliver the spectacle that we want, in the way that we want to do it.”

    What spectacle exactly does he want? I think we can probably guess, which is why they’re doing it the way they want to do it – notably not the way anyone else wants! To get the best possible chance of the desired outcome.

    Unfortunately for Mr Regan and his cronies, and despite the dice being loaded, Rangers are quite simply going to take a sound beating off Dundee United.


  58. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    March 31, 2014 at 4:29 pm
    “He and his good lady were invited to the big day”
    _______________

    I guessed he was invited, he gave you a prezzie after all 😉 it’s just something that’s amused me for many a long year after sitting in a hotel bar in Elgin where a wedding was taking place. There were three or four guys going in and out of the wedding, having a dance, then sitting down next to us having a drink. We asked who’s wedding it was and none of them knew. They just gate-crashed weddings there every week 😆 . Doubt any were Jambos though, probably a crowd of them Dons fans (ICT were still in their separate components then), you know what they’re like… Tin hat on, honest lads, it was a joke 😳 Ouch, ouch, memo to self, must get a new tin hat…


  59. Ninety Pounds?

    as in €109 ?

    OMG….

    The ‘match’ version is 90 quid, and the ‘stadium’ version is 60.

    Nope, I’ve got no idea either.


  60. ecobhoy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    Lots of what you say I either agree with and I recognise many of the difficulties you flag-up but if we sit and do nothing I have no doubt that football in Scotland will slowly collapse in terms of fielding full-time teams.
    =====================================
    I remember in the 70s when the talk on the terraces at Firhill was about going completely full-time (I always love to point out that we won the League Cup in 1971 with a mix of part and full timers 😛 ).

    Historically, Thistle’s average attendance has placed them around 14th in Scotland and as a Club, have over-achieved over he years as, apart from some very dark days, we seem to be in the region of 8th to 14th in terms of league position.

    Long term, I don’t think Scotland can support more than maybe 20 full-time professional clubs (and even this is a push I reckon). That is part of what makes going to a larger top division so hard as effectively it would include all the full-time teams and anyone being promoted would be at a massive disadvantage as they would have to change their whole model (see Barca’s post on Spanish league’s above),

    I would argue that two of the main contributors to Scottish football’s struggles were when the teachers (probably rightly) said they wouldn’t run extra-curricular sports for nothing, which lead, for example, to my own school going from fielding 7 Saturday teams every week to barely having any and the fact that you can earn more selling pies at Gregg’s or answering phones than you can as a professional footballer at the top of whatever we call the second tier now. I realise the latter point is perhaps slightly tenuous but I remember when Thistle signed Liam Buchanan, who was a plumber, and he effectively took a drop in money to come full time from part-time Cowdenbeath. It was only John Lambie’s dulcet and educated tones that convinced him (plus that as a qualified plumber, he had a job after football).

    As to desktop publishing, I actually think it is a great thing because it provided the opportunity for real news to be reported rather than propaganda. I have had the misfortune to be involved in events which made it into main stream media, in one case internationally. In all of them, the reporting was often inaccurate at best, if not a complete misrepresentation of the facts as actually known and briefed to the media. This spans from the 1980s to very recently and as such, I have always looked on media reporting with a big box of Saxa and my mates in said media offer only the defence that they have to report it that way to sell it…


  61. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    March 31, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    y4rmy says:
    March 31, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Ninety Pounds?

    as in €109 ?

    OMG….
    _______________________________

    At that price, Phil, I take it you won’t be rushing out to buy one then 🙄

    Can’t wait to see the plonkers in my local wearing them, at least I’ll know why they can’t afford to buy a round 😆


  62. All this MSM rhetoric about a tax cheat being a genuine fan investor is just nonsense

    At the very best
    Any Spiv outsmarted by a fellow Spiv into investing £20m of OPM in a football club has only one motivation for getting involved again And thats to get his OPM back
    ………………………………….
    Spivs have no moral compass
    Nothing comes before money


  63. Allyjambo says:
    March 31, 2014 at 3:27 pm
    ——————————————
    Maybe Hearts did spend beyond their means for 4-5 seasons but it is nothing compared to the serial cheating that went on at Ibrox over a much longer period.

    And ultimately Hearts’ runners up spot in 2006 gave rise to a memorable banner at the Celtic end in the next OF game
    “You came 3rd in a two-horse race”


  64. Allyjambo says:
    March 31, 2014 at 5:05 pm
    I thought the Ibrox chap wearing England top was an urban myth, but apparently not…
    An expensive hobby for sure…


  65. easyJambo says:

    March 31, 2014 at 5:44 pm
    Imran Ahmad’s case against TRFC, at the Court of Session, was due to start tomorrow 1st April. I can’t see it in the CoS Rolls on the Scotcourts website at the moment. Anyone know if it is still on?
    =======================
    I think it was put back until Feb 2015 EJ.

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