A Guest blog by @heavidor:
Given The Takeover Panel’s success in procuring a Court of Session order to compel Dave King to make an offer for all Rangers International Football Club Plc shares not owned by the Concert Party it would be impossible for King to remain a director unless he complies with that Order.
The co-option of Barry Scott to the board and the elevation of Alistair Johnston as a person with significant control could be construed as repositioning, however it will be whether King makes an offer of 20 pence per share to all the shareholders not included in the Concert Party or not that will determine what happens next and we shall know later this month.
(King resigning) is the correct thing to do and should have already occurred. Instead, Rangers financial reputation has been dragged through the mud by association.
Irrespective of whether King complies with the Court Order or not this story is far from over, and it will continue to hamper Rangers’ prospects until it is conclusively resolved. A King resignation as a director of RIFC would reduce the prospect of contaminating the club, its directors and advisors from the full effect of cold shouldering should he decline to make an offer.
That would mean that King, as distinct from RIFC, had financial pariah status and not the club. That is the correct thing to do and should have already occurred but, instead, Rangers’ financial reputation has been dragged through the mud by association with King.
What should not be underestimated is the reality of cold-shouldering, not for just the offending party, but for those involved in business with the offending party. The consequences are dire for the individual or organisation who falls foul of the rules, making it impossible to carry out normal business activities within the sphere of influence of The Panel, and the same consequences face those who shelter the cold shouldered.
It should be appreciated that there are members of the RIFC that are members of regulated financial professions who would be further prejudiced through association with a cold shouldered non-resident King.
Perhaps unfortunately for a large slug of the mainstream media and football authorities, financial pariah status pursuant to cold shouldering in the UK coming on top of criminal convictions in SA would be impossible to spin in any positive way or to maintain continued fit and proper status. I mean, we could have the SFA cold shouldered, couldn’t we? All said though, the cognitively dissonant will carry on regardless.
If King does the right thing by resigning from the board, it is still important to appreciate that the ‘4 Bear’ Concert Party as determined by The Panel will continue to exist irrespective of how Kings deals with the instruction to make an offer for the shares. This is the elephant in the room that remains.
The Concert Party via their shares and loans will retain the same level of control they currently have, and therefore remain compelled to abide by The Panel’s rules.
King’s resignation would not remove that impediment.
It doesn’t end there. By challenging the authority and insulting the intelligence of The Panel and the Court, King has ensured all large share transactions in RIFC will be scrutinised and questioned and could additionally determine, for example, that the Concert Party is increased to include Club 1872 and Barry Scott on the basis they are working in concert with King and/or other concert party members.
There are some who think that The Panel has been slow to respond and impose sanctions and that they are all bark and no bite. It would be wrong to think so. The reality is that King has moved the whole dispute into uncharted territory. There has been no precedent for such continued brazen and naïve flouting of Panel rules. Accordingly, The Panel has chosen to move at its own pace, dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s and I suggest they’re being methodical rather than indecisive in dealing with the estimable Mr King.
The true value of RIFC shares was a key point in the recent court case with all kinds of claims being made. Some think that the lack of significant arm’s-length trades makes it impossible to arrive at a correct price, and others say that the price paid to Mike Ashley in recent trades is the benchmark. In my opinion, neither is correct. Current and prospective shareholders have the financial figures in the accounts to work with, and can determine the real worth from there. On that basis it is clear to me the shares are not worth anything like the last alleged trading price on Jenkins. Rather it seems that the shares only have nominal value given the business has never declared a profit, continues to lose money and is reliant upon ongoing shareholder loans to stay in business.
Any subsequent share issue – even with King gone – could muddy the waters further; The Concert Party members may expose themselves to another Panel instruction to make another offer should any of its members acquire more shares without coming to an arrangement with The Panel beforehand.
To illustrate such an arrangement, Dermot Desmond got Panel permission to increase his shareholding above 29.9% the last time Celtic had a share issue. This is preferable to trying to hoodwink the financial authorities with tall tales.
It should be clear to all followers of RIFC’s financial travails that the status quo is unsustainable. So, the question is ‘what’s next’? The chairman’s statement that accompanied the annual accounts once more talked about loan to equity conversion without reference to the impact of the existence of a Concert Party amongst the RIFC Board of directors and providers of loans. This is remarkable any such conversion cannot take place without the permission of The Panel and/or without dragging the other directors and lenders in the quagmire with another possible offer for the shares not owned by the Concert Party.
.. the shares only have nominal value given the business has never declared a profit, continues to lose money and is reliant upon ongoing shareholder loans to stay in business
So, what should happen and what is required for RIFC to rid itself of this terrible yoke? The answers are pretty obvious; King should make an offer of 20 pence per share to all those shareholders not included in the Concert Party. He has said the shares are worth more than that and that no one would accept. If he’s correct he has nothing to worry about and he would create a clear path forward for Rangers. He would also resolve the dispute with The Panel, creating the conditions for a debt to equity conversion.
So, why might that not happen? Because if the shares are worth 27 pence as the directors have suggested that means the loan to equity conversion would have to be at the same price and, of course, if the shares not worth anything like that there would be a rush to accept 27 pence and the ball would be on the slates, so to speak.
It appears to me the board is stuck between a rock and a hard place, that King will resign, and that there will be no offer.
If this happens the position would be precarious. The current board doesn’t have the credibility, money or experience to take Rangers forward. Being a true blue should not be the defining characteristic of what’s required to make Rangers competitive but it appears to be the preferred qualification of most of their customers.
I believe Rangers need a need owner with a controlling shareholding and deep pockets to sort out this mess, and I have reason to believe this view is shared by some of those with influence.
That is not to say that a solution is imminent, but the reality check is at least a start.
BP, Obviously I’d love an off topic chat side line to the site. To talk about music, television, films, hobbies, interests. Whatever. In the same spirit as the main site. That of respect and friendliness. And multi club.
A big brother’s little brother type of approach.
But the main thrust of the site can only ever be about football governance and the media. In a Scotland wide type of way. With in depth analysis. If ever an Ernie B type of thread endangered the respect that the site is held in, I would pull the plug on it. But you can monitor it on a trial run.
I personally wouldn’t go down the road of single club threads. That area is well covered in social media. From my experience in reading them, even the best ones can be tainted with acrimony and arguments. Very heated at times. I’d stay well away. Our strength is our unity and purpose. A light hearted B thread is a gamble worth taking however. In my opinion.
Jimbo
Wee trial for anyone who wants to have some fun.
I’ve set up a bbPress forum (basic but functional) at sfm.scot/forums
The only Forum on there right now i entitled Erne Bee Chat and there are a couple of gibberish topics created. If the test is successful we could set up different forums based on your suggestions.
I’d recommend patience since a new thing like this will no doubt meet with a conservative response.
There is also a view that many people feel marginalised by the Blog thread and intimidated by the blog consensus. If this is moderately taken up, that might help us become more inclusive, because any registered user can set up any topic he or she wishes to set up.
I don’t think it can replace the editorial model we have now, but it may enhance it. High hopes maybe, but we should never shirk change.
That’s super BP. Got these error messages a couple of times:
ERROR: Slow down; you move too fast.
ERROR: Duplicate reply detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
Btw, I understand what you mean by being intimidated by the blog consensus. I honestly don’t know a way round that on the main site. Even a really decent bear – I’ve forgotten his moniker at the moment – rarely comes on now. It must be wearisome coming on every day to read the issues surrounding your beloved club being discussed in a negative way (from his perspective).
So yes if he was able to come on to the forum and enjoy the chat that would be great. There’s plenty to talk about.
“I have a dream. Where football fans can come together in perfect harmony” Martin Luther King.
I think that’s a good idea having the forum button at the top of the page. To posters who don’t want to participate the front page will look and feel like it always has done.
Today’s Herald proclaiming that Rangers have put a £10m price tag on Alfredo Morelos. Yet according to them everyone else’s best players are worth buttons. From a reported £1m to £10m on the strength of only scoring in the Scottish league, with most goals against bottom six clubs? No, I can’t work it out either!
If Rangers get past Fraserburgh in their rearranged game they will be away at Ayr United.
2 successive away ties despite cash flow shortages
Did someone forget to put the heated ball in the drawbag?
UPTHEHOOPSJANUARY 22, 2018 at 07:15
Just to let everyone know if the Kylie Minogue comes calling for a date I’m claiming myself unavailable at any price.
The Morelos story is of course pure pish.
Morelos to me is just another Joe Garner type. He seems to enjoy the physical side of things up front and clearly can score a few but is hardly setting the heather alight. Around £1m from a Championship club may be worth a punt for a young upcoming striker but that’s about the limit of it.
Without getting too low brow, the transfer values quoted in the SMSM regarding T’Rangers is like the lie detector on Jeremy Kyle Show, when one partner is found to have cheated and the injured party goes mad shouting ‘I told you so’. Only they then go on to claim the test is rigged when they subsequently fail their own test.
Either you are forced to face reality or you live in a constant state of denial blaming everyone else for your own mistakes and lies.
The MSM in paper format are really slow on the uptake that this kind of nonsense is only going to help keep them going for a limited period of time before folks just switch off all together.
If anyone has had the misfortune to pick up some of the tabloids feeds through their cookies you will know how they just repeat the same stories again and again (as a means of easily filling column inches) in the hope that people daft enough will to get hooked in.
The site below highlights such rubbish.
http://expressbingo.org.uk/
While some folk will love it, the falling readership levels surely shows this is an approach doomed for failure.
How do you value a player? It’s not an exact science and most of the time it’s paper talk. Recently I’ve seen £10m for Morales, £5m for McGinn and £40m for Dembele. Do folks really believe the fees mentioned in the media? I doubt it. It fills a space and gets people talking.
I guess it’s up to the selling club to get as much as they can and the buying club to pay as little as possible. Both would also be looking to do a deal on favourable terms to themselves. If a few clubs are interested then the price can go up to a ridiculous amount or you might get a player for less than expected if their club is keen to sell, for whatever reason.
I thought Steve Clarke, when talking about the rangers bid for Jones, summed things up very well:
“There’s been nothing apart from the initial bid, I don’t understand what all the furore was about.
“It’s a normal part of football business, Rangers made an offer for a player that we value quite highly here at Kilmarnock, we felt it was too low and turned it down and that was that in a nutshell.”
upthehoops
January 22, 2018 at 07:15
Today’s Herald proclaiming that Rangers have put a £10m price tag on Alfredo Morelos.
===============================
If Rangers manage to hang on to him during this window it will be like having signed a £10m player.
Any other club fancy that just put a nonsense valuation on one of your players. Be warned, your support would really have to be gullible to go with it though.
4 or 5 loans and having hung on to a £10m player, not bad business that. Things are definitely on the up.
I think the forum idea is a good one, but I agree it shouldn’t be broken down by team. One forum for all Scottish football would be good. There are a number of us bears who are equally as p’d with the Level 5 nonsense we read in the SMSM. £10m Morelos? We’d bite there hand off for £2m at the moment. A 100% profit after 5 months??
INCREDIBLEADAMSPARKJANUARY 22, 2018 at 10:14
Totally correct and of course a range of other factors come into play.
E.g. Berra and Naismith, presumably having decent money in the bank, wanting to return to Scotland has been used to Hearts advantage where they can be still offered a decent level of football in front of a decent home crowds while not breaking the bank. If the two were money grabbers they would still be down south. I have no doubt, from what we know about Naismith, Hearts current ethos and the work being done with Save the Children, Foundation of Hearts etc and being charmed by Budge and Levein all helped swing the deal.
On yesterdays showings Naismith could be a huge addition to a squad being lead by Berra who is just a rock at the back.
T’Rangers are still a draw for some lads but given the manner in which to old and new club have been run recently I can see the tarnish coming off the ‘its a club I’ve always wanted to play for’ slant.
These days with so many options available and the chance of decent money even in the lower English leagues it is the attention to detail and, like the McInnes affair, showing people they are wanted that helps convince your better signings to come on board.
Lord knows (as seen at Tynecastle over the last couple of seasons) there are plenty journeymen and loan players of varying quality out there would can fill the team sheets. Signing folks is easy but getting the right peoplein to develop a team takes a bit of resolve and hard work.
Football is a simple game and a very close knit community. The game as whole appears to be getting wise to the reality at Ibrox and stories about T’Rangers behaviour will soon circulate, especially within the British game.
At present they have a dysfunctional board, a temporary coach, a mixed bag of a squad and an uncertain financial future. As I keep saying they should be given credit for being third in the league given all of the above.
However IMHO all that really seems to be on offer, in terms of attractiveness, is playing in front of the large home crowd every second week.
Whether or not they have the cash to pay wages long term will be seen in due course. However as I said above and the other day, most players can get a gig somewhere else with relative ease, if they so desire should an insolvency event occur. It is the life of the majority of professional footballers to not get too attached to a club and move on when necessary.
Players will still take up offers to play at Ibrox but one has to wonder what their motives are. The only thing I can think of it that it is easy to take money of a desperate gambler.
Big PinkJanuary 22, 2018 at 01:07
Noticed that Jimbo had hijacked the ErnieB thread last night, and we’re inclined…”
______________________________________________________________
I wonder if people would be in favour of having a side panel showing an archive of documents that have been published since the RTC days. I keep a number of these in my hard drive or Dropbox folder.
Just taking a look….
My documents go back to around the time of the disciplinary tribunal of 2012, and include CVA Proposal, RIFC Prospectus, etc. I suppose these are formally published and legitimate. Other docs are of uncertain origin, and some “mocked up” – eg the Regan emails. Others of uncertain status eg versions of 5-way agreement.
I’d propose a side panel, Document Archive, with only the formal documents. Any thoughts?
jimboJanuary 22, 2018 at 02:41
‘… It must be wearisome coming on every day to read the issues surrounding your beloved club being discussed in a negative way (from his perspective).’
________
I would say only that I personally would regret it if this blog gave aid and comfort to those whose dearest wish is that we should all ‘move on’ and let them think that all was forgiven and forgotten.
The rot is still at the root of Scottish Football.
For us to accept that the mere passage of time legitimates the baddies in Football governance ,or could ever legitimate either the false honours and titles of RFC(IL) or the false claim that TRFC Ltd is the same club as the liquidated RFC would mean the triumph of deceit over Sporting Integrity, and the ready acceptance on our part that it is ,sucker-like, to throw our money at a sport to the governing body of which gave licence to lie and cheat us at will.
” I understand what you mean by being intimidated by the blog consensus. I honestly don’t know a way round that on the main site.”
“But the main thrust of the site can only ever be about football governance and the media. In a Scotland wide type of way. With in depth analysis. If ever an Ernie B type of thread endangered the respect that the site is held in, I would pull the plug on it.”
(me earlier)
John C, I’m not in favour of watering down the main blog to accommodate all inclusiveness. I’m certainly not ready to ‘move on’ I want to rake over the coals. I said yesterday Truth then Reconciliation.
The creation of a lighter hearted, off topic, forum doesn’t change the main blog. The way it has been set up it can easily be ignored.
Think of the News broadcasts on TV. 25 minutes of the main news of the day. Then a final light hearted article to leave people with a smile on their face. There’s room for the majority serious issues but a bit of whimsy too. You have always struck me as having a good sense of humour so I guess you know that.
Is it just my PC pulling from its cache or has Phil taken down three blogs from recent days?
SCOTTCJANUARY 22, 2018 at 12:08
I noticed that, too. No idea why it might be, but he’s removed two or three blogs posted since 19th January. One was a bit political, so maybe he’s decided to take that one down and the others have been removed as a result of some technical glitch.
On the other hand Jimbo, if we actually qualified for the finals of a tournament such as the World Cup or Euros, we’d be delighted to have the resultant abbreviated summer break for the players.
Similarly, can a club which asked (along with its partner in crime) to be allowed to disrupt the start of each new season’s fixture list just to play a financially lucrative friendly or two really complain about this?
Yes, I know that on the face of it the arrangements are open to all, but the fact of the matter is that this will only ever be utilised by the big two, creating an even bigger financial gulf between those two and the also-rans, who appear not to matter.
Why can’t those lucrative games be played before the season starts, instead of every other club having to suffer disruption at the behest of the chosen two? So much for sporting integrity and all clubs being equal!
Discuss.
scottc + allyjamboJanuary 22
Is it just my PC pulling from its cache or has Phil taken down three blogs from recent days?
………………………………………………………….
Nothing gone since I last looked…. though I don’t recall any since the 19th…
Still there are…
Jan 18, 15, 13, 12, 11, 09,09, 08, 07, 06
Including a ‘political’ one.
I see Michael O’Neill has turned down the Scotland job.
Another abject falure by the SFA, one of many.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42778105
Fishnish, Phil had 3 up (and down!) since you looked.
Highlander, why would anyone who knows anything about Scottish football want to go and work with those hopeless corrupt incompetents. Get them out then someone decent might give it a go.
THere has been talk of guitars over the past few days-
The greatest bass guitar player of all time including that yet to come is Jaco Pastorius no ifs buts or mibbes. HE played what became known as the bass of doom, which looked to be in very used condition. He died young and the bass was thought lost. It turned up and was bought by Robert Trujillo (who plays what I believe is called heavy metal music I might be wrong). He had the bass restored to a pristine condition looking nothing like it did originally and plays it. Does this make him Jaco and has he destroyed what made the bass of doom what it was?
Highlander, You won’t find much of an argument with me on that one. I think it was Ronnie Deila who started to put a lid on our pre season friendlies. Likewise Brendan Rodgers. No friendlies in Dubai. I think I may be right that the lucrative one’s at the start of the season is tied up with our major sponsor. Playing teams who share their sponsorship. But the days of going over to the States for some games are gone now.
I would do away with them all to be honest. We have a hectic enough schedule even without them. The money from European competition dwarfs anything we might accrue from friendlies. So there is no excuse.
One last point. Celtic have a worldwide fan base. I’m not trying to show off, but it’s a fact. I know our club try to reach out to them and it is appreciated by the fans overseas to see their heroes. However I would send the under twenties squad to try to address this. Let them see the stars of the future kind of thing.
But you are correct re-arranging league fixtures to accommodate friendlies should be a no no. In my opinion.
Totally agree about the genius that was Jaco Pastorius. I had the pleasure of seeing him and Weather Report play live in Edinburgh in 1980.
HIGHLANDERJANUARY 22, 2018 at 13:54
Well it will be interesting to see if Chic Young’s theory (and challenge to Broadfoot the other night) is correct. Being that if O’Neill has said no then they must be ready to immediately consider the next on their supposed short list.
I note that a series of friendlies are now on the cards. So having had since Mid-October to think about things, we now have 2 months before our next game v Costa Rica on 23 March to resolve the managerial position.
How about a novel suggestion, like the idea of moving the games around the country, and just let each of the SPFL managers do it on a rotational basis :-).
BFBPUZZLEDJANUARY 22, 2018 at 14:01
The bass was restored during Jaco’s lifetime – shortly before it was stolen. Trujillo didn’t have the work done.
I shouldn’t be surprised at the posts about music in the past week or so. 2 Celtic blogs I read CQN & Etims often have music clips posted. I would guess that for a lot of football fans their next interest would be music related.
BP has started a forum last night.
Click on Forums
Click on Forums < Ernie Bee Chat
click on ‘Music tastes on SFM’
I’m the only one who has posted so far. Hope you might give it a go. Could be fun.
You obviously have stories to tell.
HIGHLANDER
JANUARY 22, 2018 at 13:54
I see Michael O’Neill has turned down the Scotland job.
Another abject falure by the SFA, one of many. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42778105
===================================
Quelle surprise !
Crazy.
What I don’t understand is that the SFA – just like TRFC before them – seemed to have publicly confirmed that there was only one manager of choice.
So they quickly painted themselves into a corner, and the targeted manager knew this – and fair play to O’Neil, as he has appears to have leveraged this to extract a nice pay rise from the Irish FA.
…and the numpties at Hampden are left looking amateurish – and more importantly have left Scottish football looking amateurish – as per…
I see James Forrest also thinks these Scotland Pre season friendlies are faulty.
“And as such, Celtic is well within its rights to refuse to release our players for those nonsensical, un-necessary and potentially damaging games, especially as they involve travelling halfway around the world. One is in Mexico, the other is in Peru for God’s sake.
Celtic should announce, in advance, that none of our players will be available for selection in either of these games. They are nothing but a junket opportunity for SFA blazers whose incompetence played into our failure to qualify for the World Cup.”
Anybody else think that Michael O’Neill was put off by the quality of his potential employers ? They couldn’t run a bath .
Highlander
January 22, 2018 at 14:10
===========================
Did he play Purple Haze on a fretless bass by any chance.
I think the SFA thought O’Neill was the cheap (or cheapest) option.
I also think that O’Neill sussed that quite quickly & was able to play off the SFA & the IFA to his own ends.
Perhaps the first sentence of my post at 1632hrs should read:
‘I think the SFA thought O’Neill was the cheap (or cheapest) acceptable option.’
I’d be a liar if I said I could remember him playing Purple Haze at the concert I was at 37 years ago, but there are clips on Youtube of him playing it at other venues.
Phil’s latest is suggesting that – perhaps tongue in cheek – that a director will step in at the ’11th hour’ to pay January wages at TRFC.
If this happens, then the can will be kicked along the road until at least the summer?
homunculus
He certainly played purple haze (lead and bass simultaneously) in Glasgow a couple of years before that I cannot remember if he also played it in Edinburgh I was mesmerised by Peter Erskine and the other percussionistthen -You are younger than me so might have better recollection.
PlGlen I did not know that.
ps and finally
Nobody get me started on a certain plagiarist blogger claiming to be a John Coltrane devotee- I can bore to a very high level on the only saxophonist who has had a church formed with him as its Saint ( unless there is another similar Church) and had books written not only about the spirituality of his music but also about a single album.
STEVIEBC
”
What I don’t understand is that the SFA – just like TRFC before them –”
now you know why i think they are one and the same
Friendlies against Mexico and Peru, regardless of their timing, the first question has to be ‘why?’
Why arrange friendlies against the kind of opposition (Latin American) we will only face in competition in the unlikely event we qualify for the 2022 World Cup Finals?
Two possible answers come to me, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm, Stuart Reagan and the rest of the suits fancy a trip to South America, travelling Club Class while the players fly Economy, or, the matches were arranged when TRFC had a Mexican manager, a manager his club believed had contacts who could provide finance to the club, or provide it to people within the club who like to use other people’s money.
Of course, I may be totally wrong, and there is a very good footballing reason for flying half-way around the world to play a couple of friendlies, regardless of what problems it might cause the club’s expected to supply the players.
Then there’s the possibility, or should that be probability, that Reagan and co made a mistake and forgot to factor in the European qualifiers the players will mostly be involved in.
I honestly don’t know what the answer is regarding Scotland friendlies. I support Scotland. I know they need time together before major tournaments. But I think it’s strange that Regan has organised this before we even have a manager in place. Surely the priority was appointing a new manager first and foremost. A manager who could have had some input into summer friendlies. A manager with a football brain (Unlike Regan) who might have taken into consideration the impacts on the clubs providing the players.
AJ is correct of course, why do we need to set up against Latin American teams? It’s the Euros we’re heading for. A couple of three day visits, 3 or 4 hours away, would have been much better than travelling thousands of miles with accompanying jet lag problems.
You can’t help feeling it’s self interest from Regan and the suits. Stuff the clubs and the players need for rest.
And especially stuff Celtic who provide half the Scottish first team and Celtics European ambitions. Even although all the other teams in the premiership last year received £350k thanks to their exploits in Europe. But that matters not a jot to the SFA.
ALLYJAMBO
i will not even be sarcastic,they are having a final fling before doing a runner
Now this is extreme and I haven’t thought it through but here goes.
This summer, for Celtic to reach the group stages of the CL, we will need to play 4 qualifiers. That’s eight games! A very big ask.
Down in England the FA cup is nowhere near the big event it used to be. Except when it reaches the Semis, nostalgic interest reappears. Apparently a lot of the big teams put out a second string for many of the games. The main priority nowadays is League positions and qualifying for Europe. That’s where the money and the interest is. I’m sure I read years ago Alex Ferguson said he would rather not take part.
So what about Celtic say to the SFA, from next season we will not be participating in the Scottish Cup. It will help to ease up our jam packed fixture schedule. As far as I know we are not obliged to participate. Add in a bit of ‘and unless you revisit the Rangers cheating years’ and bingo you could have them on the wall.
Not an easy decision to make and we could forget about ‘trebles’. But I’d love to be a fly on the wall to see the reaction of Regan and his bent cronies. Resignations en masse anyone?
It would be worth it for a season to get rid of that lot. Imagine them trying to explain it all to TV companies and sponsors.
Paddy Malarkey. Anybody else think that Michael O’Neill was put off by the quality of his potential employers ? He may have been Paddy, but it could have been when he watched that, ahem, game of football yesterday. Dear me that has to go down as just awful, not one player on the park. Must rank as well as just that, rank. Got an email back from the BBC on a long running complaint i had with them. I will post it tomorrow.
Mibbes the new Scotland manager (whoever he or she may be) will bin the friendlies and embark on their own project .
WATCHERJANUARY 22, 2018 at 18:48
I think there was too much at stake for the managers rather than the players yesterday . Skill sacrificed for effort .
Tom English on BBC Shortbread. How patronising can he get? Tell us all that the default position of Scottish fans is to blame Reagan and the SFA. I wonder why that is? He then goes into full smart ass mode telling Michael Stewart to’do his research’. Comes out with the old ‘ I know for a fact’ hint hint routine about Michael O’Neil knocking back the Scotland job. English should stick to rugby.
JIMBO
JANUARY 22, 2018 at 18:38
So what about Celtic say to the SFA, from next season we will not be participating in the Scottish Cup. It will help to ease up our jam packed fixture schedule. As far as I know we are not obliged to participate.
————————————–
CFC’s fixtures lessen after Christmas & the Scottish Cup (‘sponsored by William Hill’) starts in January.
Now, if you’d suggested the League Cup (mustn’t forget: ‘sponsored by BetFred’), that’s up to four matches before Christmas removed from the schedule.
JC,
there was man, David Murray, who had bought a shop and needed to change the shop board above the window. He employed a signwriter to do the job and told him that he wanted a basic “EBT’s and Stuff” written in bold writing and left him to it. On returning from one of his many visits to the local court he was none too happy and mentioned that although the sign was fine the spacing was all wrong. He explained that the space between EBT’s and and and and and Stuff were not the same. The signwriter duly realised his mistake and rectified it. Do I get a prize ?
I remember another one which I read in one of Brian O’Nolan’s books, I think it was Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn. “The son of Pharoahs daughter is the daughter of Pharoahs son”. He is favourite of mine, don’t know if your aware of his work.
BP, you have a PM.
Paddy, I’m expecting a song of your choice on the forum tonight. I’m going to post one for you. Pity Darkbeforedawn missed my dedication to him at the weekend.
O’Neill turns down Scotland job.
When the No1 choice turns down the job, the next best option is to go for the under 20s coach.
Scot Gemmill please step forward. (Is he still the u20s coach?)(well it’s all the rage these days) the statement will go something like
“It is a genuine privilege for me to be made manager. It’s a huge honour to be asked to do so and I will continue to give everything I have to ensure we have a positive campaign.We cannot let our fans down. They have been incredible. and I would like to thank everyone for their backing.”
CO, Aye and they will get him for about £100k pa, a company car and unlimited world travel.
Jingso.Jimsie, I know. My plan is imperfect. But I really want to get it up the SFA (The guardians of the universe) even more than the SPFL.
@CHRISTYBOYJANUARY 22, 2018 at 19:22
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I knew him better as Flann O’Brien (or Myles na Gopaleen) – the Third Policeman is a favourite book. Another book of his I have – The Best of Myles – is a small selection of his articles from the same Cruiskeen Lawn you mention. Long time since I looked at them, happy to be reminded. I must get hold of some more of his works.
Jimbo et al,
The Central and South American friendlies have probably been requested by Mexico and Peru as part of their 2018 World Cup Final preparations.
The fixtures and dates have definitely been accepted by the SFA because they need any money they can get their corrupt hands on because of Scotland failing to qualify for the last 5 World Cup Finals.
Phil’s latest posts appear to still be there https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/
just seen on twitter,will be worth a listen i think
Harry Brady @HarryBradyCU2h
Finally got someone from @theSNP on the podcast to discuss OBFA. More soon…
jimboJanuary 22, 2018 at 14:08 One last point. Celtic have a worldwide fan base. I’m not trying to show off, but it’s a fact. I know our club try to reach out to them and it is appreciated by the fans overseas to see their heroes. However I would send the under twenties squad to try to address this. Let them see the stars of the future kind of thing.
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I’ve no doubt they have a world wide fan base. So do sevco (ok I’ll let you argue which one is biggest but I’m not really interested). They (and sevco) also have a fan base in every city, town, village and hamlet in Scotland drawing busloads from the local area to see their “favourite” team on a weekly basis. Based largely on what? I’ll let you answer but it might not be fully football related.
COINEANACHANTAIGHEJANUARY 22, 2018 at 20:04
The Third Policeman is my favourite just ahead of The Poor Mouth. What I found hard to get into was At Swim Two Birds. Just a complete head-numbing experience. A genius though, and not read enough.
Just passing the time and came across this.
Remember when Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps, were brought in as joint administrators.But it was later discovered the move was invalid.
March 20, 2012
On the sports pager they were most likely being linked with a player.(will have to look that out)
This is the kind of thing i would like to see in a separate blog. What we now know what was happening on a certain date and what the media was putting out on that same date a kind of time line thing.
Something like we are getting just now.Everything is rosy at ibrox prints the media, but behind the scenes.
Bordersdon, you have asked the question so I will try to answer in a very limited way.
I don’t know the history of Rangers founded in 1872. Bits and pieces. For instance as I understand it there was no bitter hatred between Celtic & Rangers until about the First world war. Then something happened.
The Celtic side I know much of. It’s the story of Irish Immigration to Scotland, fleeing the Great Famine to begin with. Prepared to work for less than the indigenous Protestant population. There was resentment.
The new Catholic population became insular in many aspects of life. The newly emerged Celtic Football club in 1888 became a focus for men beyond the reaches of the east end of Glasgow. It was a club they could identify with. Same happened in Edinburgh with Hibs and in Dundee with Dundee Hibernian (Utd).
It’s no secret that the Irish diaspora and their descendants around the world identify with Celtic.
I cannot answer for the reason why Rangers popularity spread so wide in Scotland. After all as a protestant club in a protestant country there was no need for a focus.
It appears his blog was being migrated to a new server and was suffering some glitches. All sorted now
REDETINJANUARY 22, 2018 at 11:06
An archive of documents would be great – I never seem able to lay my hands on things when I want to check the facts or reference an argument.
CLUSTER ONEJANUARY 22, 2018 at 21:25
I also think a timeline or chronology would be a powerful tool. Imagine something like Wikipedia, where people could edit the timeline and add detail. It would have to be quite a tight group of contributors – some people might try to distort this and others, like myself, wouldn’t have much to contribute in the way of evidence.
BILL1903JANUARY 22, 2018 at 07:34
2 successive away ties despite cash flow shortagesDid someone forget to put the heated ball in the drawbag?
Maybe the safest bet was to have just one heated ball and to wait until a minnow was pulled from the bag first. That way they could be sure of an easy ride to the latter stages.
Or am I just a cynic!
With regards to the friendlies, I understand that most on here are up in arms due to the Celtic Champions League qualifiers, but I would argue it affects a number of the other teams (my own included). Rangers have a bunch of players you would expect to make the squads (Murphy, Cummings etc), Hearts (Naismith), Aberdeen even Hibs all have top Scottish players likely to make the squads. These teams will also likely be attempting to qualify for the Europa league. Furthermore we don’t have the luxury of a squad depth the size of Celtics. I don’t believe this has been done as a way to get at Celtic, just another example of shocking planning by our men in charge who fancy a wee jaunt to Central America! No wonder O’Neill turned the job down when he saw who runs the county.
Why not play European teams? Play some of the eastern block countries we always stumble against in the qualifiers to get an idea where we really are?
Darkbeforedawn,
Speaking for myself I did mention other clubs:
“A manager with a football brain (Unlike Regan) who might have taken into consideration the impacts on the clubs providing the players.”
Besides that, I’m not talking to you. After all I did for you.
Will Darryl Broadfoot be wheeled out by the SFA to defend them on the radio and in print ?
Mibbees he could plagiarise TRFC’s lame excuse for McInnes’ rejection:
“…it would be best for O’Neill to remain in his current post. We endorse that position because moving to a massive national team set-up like Scotland is a big step with concomitant risk. We continue to consider candidates but will only appoint someone in whom we have full confidence and who feels he is ready for the job…”
Dear Mr Regan. I see you have got yourself in a wee hole re appointing a manager for the national team. Never mind. Give me a call and I will ride to the rescue. No problems.
Signed.
Mark Warburton
Carfins finest.
My mother was from Carfin! My granny lived in Newarthill Road 2 minutes from the Grotto. I could tell you a million stories my friend.
“Pity Darkbeforedawn missed my dedication to him at the weekend.”
Haha Jimbo really? I’m usually always on here and I didn’t notice! Was it this thread or the Ernie B one?
I’ve just found it on the Ernie B thread
! Good man! Haha I don’t often venture over there but it seems it has turned into a music sanctuary so I may have to visit more often!
DBD, If you go on to the music forum. I will play it again for you. It’s so appropriate.
Hope the main posters don’t mind if I can introduce some folk to the new forums. Then we’ll eventually disappear with our off topic stuff. Personally hope JC et al set up a grammar class.
Click – Forums
Click Forums < ErnieBeeChat
And choose.
There’s only two at the moment, but you can create your own. Don’t ask me how, ask BP or Tris or the army of Techies.
DARKBEFOREDAWNJANUARY 22, 2018 at 21:49
With regards to the friendlies….
Mexico are ranked 17 in the world and have a world cup 2018 group with germany and sweden.
Peru are ranked 11 in the world and have a world cup 2018 group with france and denmark.
I think in both cases they desire a see-off game against a european opposition in their country to generate a big crowd, also one to give confidence before world cup.
Also Scotland may well have a weakened team, a win would help FIFA ranking points .
The SFA get a cheque and a junket.
Either way the SPFL winners as CL entrant and SPFL 2 & 3 have first round qualifiers on 10/11/12 July.
The Scottish Cup winner has a Europa League qualifier on 26 july.
Thanks to Bert Kassies as ever… https://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/
Buddy
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
One of the most polite, but least spoken posters on here. Not to mention the other girl who appeared for the length of a breath.
Just to let you know that this weeks ‘Friday night is Music Night’ is dedicated to you both on the music forum. Hope you join in and recommend some tunes.
Forums
Forums<erniebeechat
choose Music Tastes on SFM
Rarely login as I don’t have much to add to all the knowledgeable posts from the top guys in here but Jimbo I’ve popped on to the Music forum and left my tuppence worth…. if you are a rocker then you might like the 2 links I’ve left to one of Glasgows finest bands in my humble opinion – Gun – who grew up in the shadows of the Barrowlands where they have recently been inducted into the Hall of Fame.