A Blog by James Forrest for TSFM
I am a socialist, and as a socialist I believe in the fundamental goodness of people. Some people find that hard to believe when they read the stuff I write.
I published my first novel recently, on politics and the corrupting nature of it, and it is a deeply cynical book, a book where no-one has clean hands come the end. What has surprised some of those who’ve read it is that I didn’t focus on the lies and smears of the right, but the hypocrisy and deceit of those who claim to be of the left.
Corruption, you see, doesn’t respect political boundaries or points of view. It’s like rainwater. It finds every crack, and gets in there.
My political beliefs revolve around two apparently paradoxical elements; the belief in the inherent decency of people and the need for a strong, and powerful, state. I believe the second underpins the first, and this brings me into conflict with a lot of people, some on the left and some on the right. Too many people see the state as inherently evil, as something that interferes too much in the lives of ordinary people. As something suffocating.
Yet the state exists to protect us. It exists to provide a safety net. It exists to regulate and to oversee. If the state is made up of bad people, if the gears of society are captured by those with malicious or selfish intent, the results are obvious; war, corruption, chaos.
The vast majority of our problems in the modern age can be neatly summed up in two lines from Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming”, which I used to open my novel. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
We live in a time when those who are protecting their own interests have assumed such power that they’ve cowed the rest of us. They have become a law unto themselves. They have changed the nature of the game, because they have sapped our will to the extent some barely put up a fight anymore. The weak get weaker, and the strong use their strength to crush the rest even more. It is a vicious struggle, a downward spiral.
Society is held together not only by the endeavour and common interests of its citizens but by a collection of laws. We elect the people who make those laws. They do so in our name, and we can remove that right every four years. That is a powerful thing, and we do not appreciate it enough. The present corruption exists because we allow it to exist.
The people around me continue to puzzle over my uncommon interest in the affairs of a football club on the west of Glasgow. My own club plays in the east end. I tell those who ask that my primary interest in the goings-on at the club calling itself Rangers is no longer about football; how could it be, after all? With promotion this year they are still a full two divisions below us, emasculated, skint, weak and unstable. If we were fortunate enough to draw them in cup competition the match would be over, as a tie, by the halfway point … in the first half.
In footballing terms they are an utter irrelevance.
Rangers is more than a football club to me. They are a symbol. Their unfolding calamity is an on-going outrage. What is happening there, what is being allowed to happen, is an offense to decency. It is a stain on the face of our country.
In short, it is a scandal. It is a scandal without parallel in sport.
Yet it’s not just a sports story either. If it was, I might not be so focussed on it. What is happening at Rangers is a colossal failure of governance. It is a damning indictment against the very people who are supposed to oversee our game. It is a disgraceful abrogation of responsibility from those at the top, those who claim to be “running things.”
If this is not a failure of governance it is a result of corruption at the heart of our national sport. It says they are bought and paid for, and I will say no such thing here.
So let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. We’ll say instead that what they are is weak, indecisive, inept and disconnected from reality.
It reminds me of our political class, which has become insular and ignorant about what the public wants, and what it needs. It’s not a wonder parties like UKIP can achieve national vote shares of 25% at local elections. Nigel Farage strikes me as a dog-whistle politician, the kind who knows how to appeal to a select group of voters. He is little different to Charles Green, the man who beguiled Rangers fans into handing over large amounts of money, because he was “standing up for the club.” It is easy to do what he did, easy to do what Farage is doing.
Real leadership requires toughness. Say what you like about the Tories, but they have that in spades. Yeats was right about the worst being full of passionate intensity. Green was. Farage is. Cameron and Osborne personify it in their political outlook.
It is easy to be cowed by blunt force politics, and by “tough talking Yorkshire men” and venomous speeches about “strivers and skivers.” The politics of divide and conquer is the oldest form of politics there is, and it’s no surprise to see it practiced by some of the vested interests in the game here in Scotland. Yet, lest we forget … something significant happened last year. The maligned and the ignored, the weak and the voiceless found something they never realised they had. They discovered that, in a very real sense, the power was in their hands.
Last year, the fans rose up when the governing bodies and the media went all-out to save Rangers from the self-inflicted wounds caused by a decade of cheating, malpractice and ineptitude. I have no problem calling that what it was.
What happened at Rangers seemed incredible, but it was all too predictable, and some of us had been talking about it for years before it hit. The Association seemed caught in the headlights but it would amaze me if they really were as insular and ignorant as they appeared. They must have known how bad the outlook was for Rangers. They just chose to ignore it.
They were aided and abetted by a thoroughly disreputable media, a collection of cowards and compromisers, charlatans and frauds, masquerading as journalists, but who long ago laid aside any claim to be bold investigators and settled for commenting on events as they unfolded. More often than not, with their ill-informed opinions, sometimes due to weaknesses in intellect and others wilfully ignorant, they failed even in that.
Entire newspapers became PR machines for crooks and swindlers. They aided in the scam because they didn’t do their jobs, some because they were lazy, some because they were incompetent and others because they wanted a seat at the table and were willing to sacrifice whatever integrity they once had in exchange for one.
That all of this was embraced by the Rangers fans is amazing to me. They trusted when they should have been asking questions. They closed their eyes, covered their ears and sang their battle tunes at the top of their voices so they wouldn’t have to hear anything they didn’t like. As incredible as I found it then, and still find it now – and now, even more so, when they have already seen the results of it once – I find it pathetic too, and I do feel pity for some of them.
A lot of these people are genuine football fans, and nothing more. They have no interest in the phony narrow nationalism, or the over-blown religion, or the notion of supremacy which manifested itself in a ludicrous statement from McCoist when interviewed recently on Sky.
Some of the Rangers fans look at their team of duds, kids and journeymen, they look at a boardroom of cowards and crooks, they look at a failing manager in his first (and last) job in the game and at a dark future and are not in the least bit impressed by, or interested in, the chest-out arrogance espoused in those ridiculous words “we are the people.” They know full well that their present crisis was made by men like McCoist, and they understand that pretentious posturing is not an act born of strength, but a scrambling around in the gutter, and a symptom of weakness.
They understand their position, and they hate it. And because they care about Rangers, because they value the club, because they cherish those things that made it a great Scottish institution, they want that back. They understand that before the Union Jack waving, Sash singing, poppy wearing, Nazi saluting, Orange element became the public face of their support Rangers meant something else, and that, above all things, is what pains them the most.
People do not hate Rangers. When the country appeared to turn its back last year, they were turning the back on favouritism and the bending of rules. Yet it would be a lie to say that there is not an element of dislike in the gleeful mockery of many rival fans.
But they don’t hate Rangers either. They hate the version of it around which a certain section of the support continues to dance. They hate the version which hates, and so too do many, many, many Rangers supporters, and they definitely deserve better.
David Murray chose not to openly challenge that version. Indeed, he encouraged certain strands of it to flourish and grow, with his “Britishness Days” and his effort to turn the club into the “team that supports the troops.” Other clubs have done as much, if not more, for the British Army than the one that plays out of Ibrox. Other clubs have given more money. Other clubs have lent their support to those on the front lines. They just chose to do it with respect, and with class, and with dignity. They chose to do it in private, understanding that there eventually comes a tipping point between looking after the ends of the soldiers and using them to promote your own.
The army has not battened on to Rangers. Rangers has battened on to them, and although it is unclear when an altruistic motive became darker, what started out as a gesture of solidarity is now used to entrench division and promote a notion of superiority.
Craig Whyte took over from Murray and immediately understood the lure of the “dog whistle.” He knew too that the media would accept whatever he told them, without question, and as he spoke up for “Rangers traditions” he made sure the lunatic fringe was well onside. He met face to face with the hard-core extremists in the support first and made them his praetorian guard. They spoke up for him until the day the club entered administration.
So, whereas Murray pandered to them and Whyte used them to further his own ends, it was only a matter of time before someone suggested to Charles Green that he could use the same tactics to win over the support. He went even further and blatantly promoted and encouraged this mind-set, and stoked the hate and nonsense to frightening new heights. The same people who cheered Whyte to the rafters jumped on board the Big Blue Bus and the results are clear.
Through all of it, the ordinary Rangers fan has seen his club buffered against the rocks, battered, broken, smashed to smithereens and sunk. Now there’s a big hole in the side of the lifeboat, and they are terrified that further tragedies await.
They are right to be concerned. Much of the media is still not telling them what they need to know. The people in charge of their club – the owners who have lied, the former hack who covered up the truth about Whyte and now acts as a mouthpiece for Green, the “club legends” who are content to sup with the devil and take his greasy coin when they should be standing toe-to-toe with the fans – are trying to silence those members of the press who do have facts to present.
How many times now have media outlets been banned from Ibrox for daring to report the truth? The manager who demanded the names of a committee last year defends those inside the walls who are desperate to keep secret the things that are going on. He is either an unprincipled coward, or he is, himself, bought and paid for. The fans suffer for it.
The “inconvenient truth” is still being kept from them, and this denies them any chance to play an active role in their club. Indeed, it is all too possible that they’ve passed a point of no return, and that their club is heading for a new liquidation event and it can no longer be stopped.
In either case, their power has been eroded to the point at which they must feel they have nothing left to do but stand back and watch what happens next.
They are wrong. I am a socialist. I believe in the inherent good of people. I think the ordinary decent Rangers fans are the only people left who can save their club … and the means by which they will do it is as simple as it could be.
They must stand up for “big government.” They must embrace the need for a “strong state.” They must lobby the SFA, and they must trust the SFA and they must get the SFA to follow its own rules and thereby save them from any further harm.
There is a tendency amongst some Celtic fans to see our governing bodies as pro-Rangers. If it is true then those running our game are ruining Scottish football without benefiting the thing they love more. The incalculable harm that has been done to Rangers in the last 20 some months is a direct result of the subservient media and the willingness of the football authorities to be “deaf, dumb and blind.” Those who believe this has actually helped the Ibrox club have not been paying attention in class. It has irrevocably scarred them, and it may yet have played a hand in destroying them once and for all, as a force if not as a club entirely.
For years, the SFA sat and did nothing as a club in their association operated a sectarian signing policy. They did nothing whilst the fans sang sectarian songs. In their failure to act they strengthened those elements of the Rangers support, instead of isolating, alienating and eventually helping to eliminate those who saw that club as a totem pole of division and hate. Their failure over EBT’s, and their lack of scrutiny, led to one of the greatest scandals in the history of sport, and I say that with no equivocation at all. The testimony of their registrations officer in the Lord Nimmo Smith investigation was a disgrace and in years to come it will rank as one of the most disreputable and damaging moments in the association’s history.
The most egregious failures of all were the failures in the so-called “fit and proper person” tests, which allowed first Whyte and then Charles Green to assume controlling positions at Ibrox. They will pass the buck and say the responsibility lies with the club itself, in much the same way as they are content to let the club investigate itself at the present time, but any neutral who looks at this stance knows it is unprincipled and spineless. It’s like letting the defence set the terms at a trial. It is foxes investigating the chicken coop.
It is a blueprint for corruption, and a recipe for disaster.
It is now too late for the SFA to declare Green “unfit”, as it was too late when they finally slapped that title on Craig Whyte. He and his allies own Rangers, and they control its destiny. They can push the club to the wall if they choose, in the final extremity, if that gets them what they want. The time for changing that is past. The damage has already been done. The barbarians are not at the gates. They are inside the walls, and sacking the city.
The SFA will be forced to punish Rangers for the sins of the owners, for the second time in as many years, and whilst it is right that the club face up to that, all the better to send a message to other clubs and other owners, the SFA cannot be allowed to slither off the hook here as though this was none of their doing. Green will skip off into the sunset. Craig Whyte has yet to pay his fine. These people never cared about Scottish football and they don’t care now.
The SFA are supposed to. Our governing body is supposed to govern, for the good of the whole game, and not as a support system for a single club. What they have allowed to happen on their watch is absolutely shameful and if the people responsible were men at all, with any sense of accountability, they would resign en masse.
They can pretend ignorance, but only the truly ignorant would accept that. Craig Whyte was not inside Ibrox a week before RTC and other sites were dismantling his entire business history, with some of the people here doing the work the SFA would not. Whyte himself claims to have made the governing bodies aware of the scale of what was facing the club, and they did nothing at all. Heads should have rolled a year ago.
In October of last year, on this very site, I posted an article in which I wrote:
“Which isn’t to say the due diligence matter isn’t worrying, because, of course, it is. Again, no-one is going to convince me that the SFA has conducted proper due diligence on Charles Green and his backers. No-one will convince me they are satisfied that this club is in safe hands, and that the game in this country will not be rocked by a further implosion at Ibrox. They failed to properly investigate Craig Whyte, because of lax regulations requiring disclosure from the club itself, regulations which are just a joke, but they can be forgiven for that as the press was talking sheer nonsense about him having billions at his disposal, and a lot of people (but not everyone!) were either convinced or wanted to be convinced by him.
To have witnessed what Whyte did, to have witnessed the Duff & Phelps “process” of finding a buyer, and having Green essentially emerge from nowhere, with a hundred unanswered questions as to his background and financing, for the SFA to have given this guy the go ahead, only for it to blow up in their faces later, would annihilate the credibility of the governing body and necessitate resignations at every level. There would be no hiding place.”
There are times when it is fun to be right, but this is not one of them. It is dispiriting and disquieting to have been so on the nose. It scares the Hell out of me, as someone who loves football in this country, to have seen this matter clearly when the people running our game apparently either did not or chose to ignore very real, very obvious, concerns. The Internet Bampots had no special insight or access to information that was denied those at the SFA. We just weren’t prepared to ignore it and pretend that it wasn’t there. There was too much at stake.
I have become convinced that things will never change until the Rangers supporters join us in demanding the full and unabridged truth here. They need to come out from under the bed, and confront their fears. They need to be willing to take the consequences, so that their club can emerge clean from this, and start again, with all this behind them.
And it can all happen with one simple thing. The application of the rules.
The existence of laws comes down to a simple principle; they protect society from those elements within it who are interested only in their own selfish ends. We may cry out at those rules and regulations we see as “restrictive”, but the law was not made to restrict our freedoms but to protect them. Had the SFA years ago acted against Rangers sectarian signing policy, and the songs from the stands, the club would not have mutated to the point where there was no help on hand when they needed it the most. Let’s not kid ourselves about this; Whyte and Green were only able to grab control because the club itself has a dreadful image which put off respectable and responsible buyers. The SFA could have helped change that perception years ago and did nothing.
The SFA could have conducted its own investigation into who Craig Whyte was. They could have asked David Murray for full disclosure when he was running up £80 million of debt, a sum of money that is beyond belief for a single club in a small provincial backwater league. Had they had the guts to do that the club would never have spent itself into oblivion and forced the hand of Lloyds, which led indirectly to their ignominious end.
The SFA could have fully investigated Charles Green and the means by which he took control, instead of rushing through a license. His emergence at the last minute was transparently suspicious and designed to force them into a quick decision, but they did not have to bow to that pressure by making one, without being in possession of the facts, as it is now 100% clear they were not.
Had they asked for every document, had they insisted on legal affidavits and personal securities from investors (and this would have been perfectly legitimate and is common place in other licensing areas) none of this would have come to pass. After Craig Whyte they had a moral responsibility to the rest of the game to get this one right and their failure is without parallel in the history of Scottish football.
As the club hurtles towards a new abyss, names are cropping up which should send a shudder down the spines of every honest, genuine supporter of not only Rangers but every team in the land. The SFA claims that a strong Rangers is essential for the sake of Scottish football, but they have been extraordinarily lax in protecting that club, and therefore the game, from destructive elements. Craig Whyte and Charles Green had dubious personal histories, and the acquisition of the club itself was mired in controversy and scandal. Yet it was allowed.
Neither Green nor Whyte were known to have operated outside the law, yet neither was worthy of trust or stood up to scrutiny. Neither man should ever have been granted the status as fit and proper persons to assume a role in our national sport, and if it is true of them what can we say about the three men who are, presently, being touted as the Great White Hopes for a bright, new Rangers future; Dave King and the Easdale brothers?
King recently cut a deal with the South African government over an on-going dispute over taxes. In other words, he pled guilty and accepted the central plank of their argument; that for years he was engaged in wilfully with-holding vast revenues from their Treasury. The media does not like to put it like that, and the SFA seems willing to ignore it utterly, and this would be scandalous enough. But it does not stop there. HRMC rules – as well as the SFA’s own governance documents – actually bar him from serving on the board of the new club.
Last but not least, aside from being an admitted tax cheat, King is also awaiting trial in South Africa, having been indicted for corruption, forgery and fraud – 300 charges in total. Yet as recently as last week, we were told that the Association was willing to look at him and consider representations from his lawyers. This is almost beyond belief.
If Dave King’s position is untenable, and he is yet to be convicted of a crime, what can we say about the position of the Easdale’s? One of the two brothers, Sandy, has already served jail time. He is a convicted criminal, a fraudster nonetheless, who’s “victim” was the same Treasury who are appealing one case involving the old club and liquidated it entirely over another. This is precisely the kind of “businessman” the fit and proper person test was supposed to weed out, and if the SFA holds its nose here the reek will stink out the halls at Hampden for decades. If King or the Easdale’s are judged fit and proper, then who exactly is the test for? What exactly do you have to do to fail it? How do we explain the existence of laws, when these are not applied?
Pascal says “Law without force is impotent.” The SFA’s weakness has allowed one version of Rangers to destroy itself, and has allowed an existential risk to another. If the next power at Rangers resides in South Africa or Greenock I can say with some certainty that the Association is engaged in an even more dangerous roll of the dice, because the surfacing of fresh scandal will be an ever present risk, and will be of the sort no-one will survive.
The damage to Scottish football will take years to heal. The Scottish game has been through enough trauma. It does not need more. It barely survived the last calamity to hit Rangers. The rest of us should not be forced to pay the price of the next one.
The greater damage will be done to Rangers itself. If the Green crisis ends in another collapse – as it well might; another administration event is a certainty, and another liquidation is a much more likely prospect than it was before 14 February 2012 – the club will once again have to start from the bottom, and this time the reputational damage will be impossible to repair. The club faces internal strife, sporting sanctions, and criminal investigations. The last takeover might be declared a fraud. the Whyte takeover will almost certainly be. The share issue might be invalid, as well as criminal, and the people involved may well end up in jail. Lawsuits could follow from investors, there could be as yet unknown consequences from the Upper Tier Tax Tribunal (thank you Brogan Rogan for pointing out what those might be) and a host of other issues.
Rangers fans must be the loudest voices here. How do you want the world to view your club in years to come? Do you want one to be proud of, or one forever associated with the shame and disgrace of these days gone by? The one which bailed out on its tax obligations. The one with supporters who disgrace your very name. The one which allowed Whyte and Green to take you to the cleaners and send you to the wall. The one which handed over control to one convicted criminal and another awaiting trial. Do you want to be reborn clean, or mired in the muck?
David Murray destroyed your financial stability. He made it so no bank would issue you a line of credit and no investor of note wanted to buy. Craig Whyte liquidated you. Charles Green has cast the future of the Newco into doubt and acted in a manner which has annihilated your credibility with the financial markets for decades to come.
Between these three men, they have taken everything from you, and the press and the people who run the game here, as well as some of your own blindly ignorant fans, have allowed them to do all this and more. Now they conspire to hand the keys to Ibrox to other men of questionable character, who will wreck further havoc on the reputation of the club.
The Scottish Football Association has damaged the game it was supposed to protect, but above all else their greatest failure of governance was a failure to protect one of its biggest clubs from its own excesses and those of its owners.
Rangers fans, the SFA have betrayed your trust, more than the trust of any other club. What you must insist on now is full disclosure and transparency from the powers that be in Hampden. The SFA has to end the charade of allowing your club to handle this in-house. They must hand everything over to an outside agency – whether a legal one, or a footballing body like UEFA – and they must demand co-operation and answers, and threaten to withhold the license if they don’t get them.
You must not be afraid of that. You must embrace it. The men with their hands on the gears at Ibrox are motivated by money, and nothing more. If the license is withdrawn their “investments” are worthless. They cannot risk that.
You must demand that the rules on fit and proper persons are applied, and where necessary even made stronger, to prevent your club falling into unclean hands. You must demand that they protect your reputation from further damage, by getting this all out there and acting accordingly, even if that means your club does not play football for at least a year.
You must be willing to suck it all up, knowing that what will emerge is a Rangers which has been cleansed and moves forward with honour, and dignity, led by custodians who treasure it rather than those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
The Rangers Standard has recently emerged as a genuine voice for those in your support who are sick and tired of what Rangers has become, and want it restored to something that is worthy of the love and respect in which you hold it. On that website, there are discussions about the kind of club you seek to be and about whether the institution of Rangers is about more than just football.
If that’s how you feel about it then you know it is about more than how many titles the club can claim, about more than just results on the park, about more than just the game. Rangers, like Celtic, is an idea. It has to be something you are proud of.
I am a socialist, but one with a fevered imagination and a tendency to write very dark things. This piece won’t have been good reading for some of you (perhaps all of you haha!) but I think there’s more hope in here than in other things I’ve written.
In spite of everything that’s come to pass, I still believe. I believe in Scottish football. I believe in our system of football governance, even if those who are working in it are failing on some level.
In society, as much as we strain against them, laws exist for our protection. To fail to enforce them is to leave us at the mercy of those elements who would do us harm. The rules of football ensure the protection of all clubs, not just a few.
The failure to enforce the rules has never had graver consequences than here in Scotland. The irony is that bending and breaking them has hurt the one club those violations were designed to help. It cannot be allowed to happen again.
The rules must be applied without fear or favour.
The best must find their conviction, and their passionate intensity once more.
James is a co-editor of the On Fields of Green Blog http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/
The draft 5-way agreement is based on sevco scotland ltd being credible so what happens to that agreement – is it reversed?
selfassessor says:
Someone should make sure Private Eye is up to speed with our Charlotte’s postings. I think they would find them very interesting.
___________________________________________________________________________
Done
Sorry ot but big DJ spouting all sorts of tripe on SSB. And I didn’t realise the ‘£22million’ is now £8-10million?????? 🙂 where’s the dough??
Re: SFA inaction.
==============
We all clearly observed last year that the SFA had decided that business trumped sport in the Scottish game – in their view.
A year later we have the Scottish football ‘product’ being further devalued, dragged through the mud, ridiculed etc via all the continued nonsense surrounding TRFC.
What nobody can quantify yet is what lasting, damaging effect TRFC will inflict on all senior, Scottish clubs.
And yet the SFA still doesn’t feel it is necessary to make a statement in defence / support of Scottish football.
So the SFA didn’t support sporting integrity last year and now it doesn’t appear to support business integrity in Scottish football.
So what the hell does the SFA represent?
Regan – and Ogilvie – can take their meaningless, glossy presentations on the future of Scottish football and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
The SFA: a thoroughly discredited, impotent, incompetent etc. organisation.
(Feel better for that wee rant. 🙂 )
enoughx2 says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:29
selfassessor says:
Someone should make sure Private Eye is up to speed with our Charlotte’s postings. I think they would find them very interesting.
___________________________________________________________________________
Done
___________________________________________________________________________
Well done and thanks!
StevieBC says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:49
Feel your pain. It’s comforting to be able to vent at the admittedly easy targets of Messers Doncaster. Ogilvy and Reagan. Comforting but totally pointless. Changing the monkeys will have no effect whatsoever, as long as the same old Organ Grinders are playing the same old tunes.
I’m afraid that fans have to look a bit closer to home, to find the real culprits. It requires the sort of self examination, that we long for in Rangers supporters.
Night Terror says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:03
====================================
Whether she’s Erin Brocavich, Tam O’Shanter’s wife or Lady Macbeth, if she’s got Gym Trainer’s boobs – she’s my type of gal.
briggsbhoy says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 15:39
“What age group shal I place her in and do we go for a pop up picture of her with the words “remember me” ? ”
———————
briggsboy.I’m concerned that some sceptics on here believe that our Charlotte may in fact be a man. An old friend of mine once had a very disconcerting expertience in Bangkok that I would not wish to be subject to. I’ll withold my profile for the time being lest it lead to me confusing my own sexual orientation.
broadswordcallingdannybhoy says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 17:01
Hilarious!!
@Jack Jarvis
The batey imaginings of a bunch of internet frothers when there is much more of interest to occupy oneself with in Charlotte Fakes’s output seemed to sum up a lot of the insight displayed on here recently. From some contributors at least.
It creeps me out.
I’d much rather folk stuck to analysis and evidence or at least informed speculation rather than wish fulfillment fantasies of the footballing or any other nature.
Night Terror says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:03
“The excitement on here at the prospect that “Charlotte Fakeovers” might be a female, and maybe even an attractive one at that, is desperately sad”.
———–
NT we are merely conducting a thorough examination of all the possible scenario’s. If that results in the interjection of libido then I’m afraid it is merely an unfortunate, if ever so titillating, side effect of some very serious study.
patsymcd1888 says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:16
“Agreed NT, get a grip guys, fantasising isn’t getting us anywhere, now stop being naughty and stay focused on the real issues here lol”
————
Sorry Patsy. It was briggsboy that started it anyway. I’m just easily led.
And still the spending goes on.Remember the 22 player rule,
no!
Neither does Ally.
Jim Spence @bbcjimspence 4m
Rangers expect to sign John Daly of Dundee Utd and QOS striker Nicky Clark next week. But Kenny Miller will not be signing for the club.
It really will be fascinating to see how the “independent investigation” reports on the alleged links between Craig Whyte and Charles Green.
It will be just as fascinating to see how the SFA / SFL react to that report.
Is it even remotely possible that they will come back clearing Green, and even if they do is there any way the footballing authorities can take no action.
Bearing in mind the “no sporting advantage” get out has already been used.
Bottom line, as far as I can see. New Rangers are currently being allowed to play football in Scotland based on lies.
I dont believe you guys,if Charlote is a woman you would be comming home in fear each night wondering what she was demanding to know about your day,anyway I think she is Mrs RTC so hands off
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 17:27
Agreed. The foundations on which the new Rangers club were built seems to be of the same material as that of its derivative and as that of the SFA – rotten and crumbling.
enoughx2 says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:29
selfassessor says:
___________________________________________
Good man. That makes at least two contacts made to them.
🙂
The real question could be who was taking the photos of these woman?
mullach says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 17:19
Not Guilty!
Night Terror says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:03
Excited! ah FFS lighten up 🙂
scapaflow14 says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 16:55
“Changing the monkeys will have no effect whatsoever, as long as the same old Organ Grinders are playing the same old tunes”.
—————–
Dead men walking.
So for the commercially and legally challenged like myself the summary is :
SDM wants to dump Rangers debt so employs CW as undertaker.
CW pretends to run club and gains funding (Ticketus) but all along is intending to crash it.
CW’s fit and proper status and Rangers exit from Europe accelerate plans.
CG used to drive ambulance to scene of where CW has crashed Rangers.
Due to hurried nature of arrangements, details become confused.
CG senses opportunity to sell organs of dead body for his own benefit, rather than bringing the body back to CW’s castle.
CW reckons that despite the urgency he has paperwork to prove the corpse belongs to him.
Difficulty for CW is that proof of ownership will reveal his murder.
CG reckons that a contract to commit a murder won’t be legally binding.
Mr. Big takes a front seat in the stalls to watch unfolding pantomime.
All hell breaks loose.
Orchestra breaks into a rendition of the dam busters as chairs slide across the listing deck.
??
Paul McC’s “Random Thoughts” on CharlotteFakes.
mullach says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 18:12
So for the commercially and legally challenged like myself the summary is :
SDM wants to dump Rangers debt
===============================
Excellent summary but did LLoyds actually make the intros provide the ambulance as it were.
Sorry!! Forgot to post the link.
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/charlotte-fakes-red-herrings-for-rangers-or-smoking-guns-for-green-and-whyte/
mullach says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 18:12
.Orchestra breaks into a rendition of the dam busters as chairs slide across the listing deck.
————————-
Excellent. But the awful screechings of Celine Dionne on that awful Titanic seem more ‘fit and proper’
@mullach
That’s a fair summary but thurs details of the nurse who worked in intesive care
One of the latest realeases by Charllote http://www.scribd.com/doc/142204728/Letter-on-Worthington-Claims-Final … basically says nothing that would get any prestigous Law Firm worried. Merchant Legal is based in the same office as Merchant House Group used to occupy. Given the name it would suggest some sort of link between the 2. I’ve looked at their website and it’s so amaturish that it barely passes the sniff test.
If I were proposing going to court over a dispute about assets worth tens of millions of ££££s, I think I would be getting a more respected Law Firm to give an opinion. I think once the Servco board see this they might just dig in their heels.
This document also appears to contradict the information given to the Stock Market by the Worthington Group “The assets of Sevco 5088 Ltd include a claim, which has been independently reviewed by Leading Counsel who is also a Deputy High Court Judge,” now I’ve done some research of all those associated to Merchant Legal and nowhere do I see any high court
joe green @joe_joegreen 5h
@jamdow67 @alextomo more goodies this morning, when are sfa, n msm, going to do something, I accuse them of cowardice.
alex thomson @alextomo 30m
@joe_joegreen then you should learn about the law
————————————————————————————————————————
Clearly Alex still stuck with the legality of his Ch 4 output
If Hearts were to be relegated over the coming days and subsequently failed to come back up in 2013/2014 due to them needing a season to get sorted, what sort of monies would Rangers spend in season 2014/2015 to ensure they get into the SPL when competing with a club who could quite easily throw a spanner in the works?
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 18:45
That letter appears to have been written by a consultant though. Someone called Richard Beresford.
I don’t know if this is the same one.
http://www.legal500.com/firms/51422/offices/9054/lawyers/23584
Richard Beresford
Tel:
+44 20 7632 1600
Email:
rberesford@mcguirewoods.com
Work Department
Corporate.
Position
Richard Beresford is partner in corporate group specialising in mergers and acquisitions (including internationally), corporate finance (particularly AIM) and private equity. Additionally, works with early stage and start-up companies in raising finance and also advises on banking and general corporate matters. Particular areas of expertise include China, Africa and renewable energy/clean technology.
CF´s latest (screengrab of FF)
http://i.imgur.com/dQPzJhT.jpg
The webpages he has open seems to point perhaps to a lawyer or someone interested in the Law and with disposable income.
Thought´s ?
ianagain says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 18:21
“Excellent summary but did LLoyds actually make the intros provide the ambulance as it were”.
———–
You are identifying Lloyds as Mr. Big.
That level of detail could have been dealt with at a lower down I suppose. Not sure this farce bears the hallmark of a Russian submarine commander production. If there was overall orchestration there might have been an element of demarkation so the genesis of the plot wouldn’t be traceable via the murder weapon.
I’m just the scaffolder in this enterprise, the artisans among us will provide the detailing of the edifice.
It may be that a number of the ‘dupers’ may also have simultaneously ‘dupees’. Like a food chain. The scavengers get eaten by the bottom feeders. The bottom feeders get eaten by small predators and so on but somewhere above there’s a real big shark circling and waiting to wolf down the big predator once all the dirty work has been achieved. Its for other using their insight to identify candidates for the particular roles but to me it seems like it might have been compartmentalised to keep all the links in the chain concentrated on their own task of survival.
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 18:45
” now I’ve done some research of all those associated to Merchant Legal and nowhere do I see any high court”.
————–
I’d agree eddie, superficially at least. Companies House has Merchant House with only £10k in the bank but perhaps they don’t declare all their assets for tax reasons. I don’t look at legal companies websites either but some firms make their profiles nice and simple and clean. The guy John Jarvis QC that is mentioned in the document looks like the real deal however. Perhaps Merchant House are almost like an agency that farm out work to specialists.
Those with legal knowledge will be in a better position to comment.
greenockjack says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 19:07
We’ve seen all this stuff before. There will be no gunman. Wee boys with big mouths.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142204728/Letter-on-Worthington-Claims-Final
“Merchant Legal LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales at 8-10 Coombe Road, New Malden, Surrey,KT3 4QE (no. OC322062) Authorised & Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (no. 446346)”
Charlotte,
Interesting to note that Private Eye have an extensive article that explores LLPs in their current issue (No.1340).
Am I barking up the wrong tree here?
Mullach says:
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 23:18
actonsheep says:
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 19:49
“Paul Hassall ran/runs the Wealth Management component of Merchant House Group, which Whyte is very closely linked to”.
———–
Thanks Acton. Ian, cancel that request for insurance advice.
—————————————————————————————————-
Sorry Mullach I can’t give any Insurance advice, now retired and not authorised.
As per last post:-
Even if he acquired a Company which carried out regulated activities he would still require approval from that company’s Compliance Officer (fit and proper test) and you are right he would not be able to take any Controlling Director role.
Ianjs, Ex.compliance (Insurance) retired.
The point is “Controlling Director”
Jim Traynor Rangers director of communications, is a “Director” but not a Controlling Director and not carrying out regulated activities (FSA) now PRA but he is “is very closely linked to” the company which employs? him.
Whyte could be “Director Of Email Dispersion” he is not a Controlling Director and “Director Of Email Dispersion” is not a regulated activity (FSA/PRA) but he will be “very closely linked to”
torrejohnbhoy says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 17:24
And still the spending goes on.Remember the 22 player rule,
no!
Neither does Ally.
Jim Spence @bbcjimspence 4m
Rangers expect to sign John Daly of Dundee Utd and QOS striker Nicky Clark next week. But Kenny Miller will not be signing for the club.
————————————————————————————–
anyone have details of the CURRENT sevco squad and their ages.
Also, the Under 22 rule. What is the cut of date? I thought is was Dec 31st, but i’m not sure if that means the player must be under 22 by that date, but could turn 22 after that but finish the season – i.e. start the season aged 21, turn 22 after dec 31st and you are still ok to play the rest of the season
ta
Everyday Disasters Locksmiths
Coombe Rd, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 4QF
Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 19:50
torrejohnbhoy says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 17:24
And still the spending goes on.Remember the 22 player rule,
no!
Neither does Ally.
Jim Spence @bbcjimspence 4m
Rangers expect to sign John Daly of Dundee Utd and QOS striker Nicky Clark next week. But Kenny Miller will not be signing for the club.
————————————————————————————–
anyone have details of the CURRENT sevco squad and their ages.
Also, the Under 22 rule. What is the cut of date? I thought is was Dec 31st, but i’m not sure if that means the player must be under 22 by that date, but could turn 22 after that but finish the season – i.e. start the season aged 21, turn 22 after dec 31st and you are still ok to play the rest of the season
ta
=========================
I may have it wrong but I think the rule is that SFL clubs are allowed 22 players of 21 years or over on 1st Jan that year,ie.each clubs players for next season would need to be 21 or over from 1st January 2013.
Remember,Goian and Bocanegra may return from loan.
Mullach
Forget the guns, it was the websites that Charlotte had open at the time of the screengrab.
One was for expensive gifts.
Another for personalised …… (again probably expensive)
And the other was a for “pre-action adr” which is interesting given the current state of play with CW and/or the leaks that heavily feature him.
Is Charlotte a lawyer with disposable income ?
Someone with an interest in the Law for reasons to do with CW (eg. letter before claim) ?
Or something else ?
greenockjack 20:02
Normally enjoy your posts but that is pretty dismal. What are we to make of folk who might perchance be in the market to purchase an expensive gift for someone?
bailemeanach
If it were a screengrab made by Charlotte then the websites she has open may help piece together a picture.
The “pre-action adr” being the most relevant site that is open.
This type of service could help put together an LBC letter.
Gets awfy quiet on here when the Eurovision is on……not really sure what that says about the posters!!! LOL
Jack, ok, see your train of thought with that. Don’t get the gift thing though?
@greenockjack – re the screen grab, does anyone have access to Follow Follow to cross reference the time per the iPad (7.37am) and the time of the posts, with what the time of the posts are in GMT to work out which time zone Charlotte is in?
Mullach
Have Just done a little search re below.
From The Herald FRIDAY 19 APRIL 2013
Merchant House Group (MHG), the financial services company connected to former Rangers chairman Craig Whyte, has entered administration.
Mr Whyte’s vehicle Liberty Capital, registered in the British Virgin Islands, owned 10.8% of MHG which was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) until it was forced to exit last November.
Now MHG is in administration after being unable to pay the ongoing custody and administration costs of Merchant Capital, its structured product arm which itself went into administration in January.
Merchant Capital collapsed owing more than £1.5 million to creditors including £325,000 to HM Revenue & Customs Last May MHG’s custodian, Pritchard Stockbrokers, where Mr Whyte had been company secretary, was wound up with a cash shortfall of £2.8m after being ordered by the Financial Services Authority to cease operations. The regulator said the stockbroker had failed to protect client funds. Pritchard clients were covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Merchant Capital collapsed owing more than £1.5 million to creditors including £325,000 to HM Revenue & Customs.
Last May MHG’s custodian, Pritchard Stockbrokers, where Mr Whyte had been company secretary, was wound up with a cash shortfall of £2.8m after being ordered by the Financial Services Authority to cease operations.
The regulator said the stockbroker had failed to protect client funds. Pritchard clients were covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Notice:- “MHG’s custodian, Pritchard Stockbrokers, where Mr Whyte had been company secretary” – this is not a controlling Director function.
Use this link below to access the public register of the FSA/PRA where you can search for all the categories below. It will also provide info on “Bad Boys” and their punishments.
The register is to assist the public to check companies to ensure that they are registered (registration number) and approved to carry out regulated activities.
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/fsaregister
Appointed representatives /
Tied agents
Basic details
Contact
Disciplinary history
Individuals
Names
Passports
Permission
Principals
Regulators
Rule waivers
Search again
Principals for:
220131 – Merchant Capital Limited.
I have not included the info here – too long!
The number above is the FSA/PRA registration number, no number = not approved, but may be an appointed representative for another approved company (under their “umbrella”)
bailemeanach on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 20:35
Maybe alluding to Tropical Paradise 2013?
greenockjack says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 20:02
Sorry Jack, didn’t appreciate what you wre driving at. Still not sure about the context. How did you get this screen grab?
It would certainly be interesting to know who Charlotte is but for me, I’m happy for her to remain anonymous. If She (he) is actually a real whistleblower then the less speculation we have concerning her true identity the better (although briggsboy will be newly intrigued by your suggestion).
The material she is providing is filling in lots of gaps and opening new avenues of exploration. She may just be lapping up the notoriety she is gaining; I would if I were her. Knowing her angle would be a bonus, especially if it is ‘oh look there’s a squirrel’. The quality of information suggests it is much much more than that.
One thing that stills nags me is why did she mention the line in her opening gambit “The Chris Akers and Andrew Ellis show now begins”? Why give this such prominence?
We don’t really care about Chris Akers. He isn’t anything to do with the Rangers saga other than he was involved in a bid to acquire the club in June 2010. Andrew Ellis appears to have been the public face of that bid. If you are trying to lead or mislead why give prominence to information that the majority of TSFM (the really informed ones that is) don’t see any significance in whatsoever. The Pearl & Dean/STV acquisition discussions (Sep 2009) similarly has no relevance to us in the discussions that have taken place up till now. No relevance to Scottish Football. If you were trying to distort our discussions why not just stick to the core target.
Or is it of no relevance. Is there a Mr. Big somewhere puffing on a fat cigar in a leather upholstered swivel chair just waiting for all his plans to fall into place (or not as the case may be).
The unknown unknown was the supporters threat to withold season ticket monies last year. I’m not sure that could have been anticipated. The SFA have lorded it over the serfs for decades. So why suspect they would rise up and revolt at a potentiall critical moment. That may well have been a scenario that was not catered for. Leading to Rangers starting off in SPL3. Plans probably had to be heavily readjusted at that point.
Who do you think Charlotte is Jack and what are her motives?
ianjs says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 20:46
“Have Just done a little search re below”.
————
Sorry Ian, I’ve given you a bad steer with my reference to Merchant House. I should have written ‘Merchant Legal LLP’.
If you have been or wish to take an interest in proceedings the research will do you no harm. The stalwarts (where is everyone, watching Eurovision or reading through the SPA. Left the cabin boy at the helm), have discussed various CW companies in the past; the ‘Merchants’ and the Liberty’s’. The stuff hangs precariously in my memory and sometimes bits fall off onto my keyboard.
There are many and varied ownership structures. They are designed to be deliberately confusing I suspect. Newtz posted me a link (map of known ownership structures) previously that I’ll go back and locate and post for you.
Thanks again for the info. I’ll try and be more careful in future.
For the sexist conspiracy guys out there :
http://www.ba.no/sport/article6026679.ece
Good Evening,
Having been away from the computer for the afternoon, I have had time to reflect and consider– and I have reached a conclusion.
That conclusion is that, regrettably, we have a case of mistaken identity– for Charlotte is not Charlotte the Harlot at all– she is in fact Patricia The Stripper.
Now Patricia’s motives are clear when you think about it— she is stripping away the pretence that Green and had nothing to do with Whyte and the notion that by removing Green you take away the problem that relationship presents. She is teasing and weaving a tale which shows that Stockbridge and possibly others all know the score and are all part of the same team– or wear.
In essence, she is derailing Pinsent Masons as they cannot complete any report without investigating the documents she has produced and looking into the web that she has weaves with her hints and flirts.
If they do not have all the documents– such as the ones she has produced— then they cannot fully report– and they will not fully report in glowing terms while Patricia is still swinging her hips and undoing her clips— their indemnity insurance will just not allow them to wash everything clean and spit it out all neat and nice from the tumble dryer.
No no– Charlotte/Patricia knows what she is about all right.
Dennis is a menace
With his ‘Anyone for tennis?’
And he’d beseech me to come keep the score
And Maude said, “Oh Lord, I’m so terribly bored”
I really can’t stand it anymore
I’m going out to dinner
With a gorgeous singer
To a little place I know
Down by the quay
Her name is Patricia
She calls herself Delicia
And the reason isn’t
Very hard to see
She said, God made her a sinner
Just to keep those fat men thinner
As they tumble down in heaps
Before her feet
They hang around in groups
Like battle weary troops
One can often see the
Queue right down the street
Because Patricia or Delicia
Not only is a singer
She also removes all her clothing
For Patricia
Is the best stripper in town
And with a swing of her hips
She started to strip
To tremendous applause
She took of her drawers
And with a lick of her lips
She undid all her clips
Threw it all in the air
And everyone stared
And as the last piece of clothing
Fell to the floor
The police were banging on the door
On a Saturday night in 1924
Take it away boys
Well, Patricia was arrested
And everyone detested
The terrible manner in which
She was exposed
Later on in court
Where everyone thought
A summer’s run in jail
Would be proposed
But the judge said
“Patricia or may I say Delicia
The facts of this case lie before me
(Knock, knock, knock)
Case dismissed, this girl was in her working clothes
And with a swing of her hips
She started to strip
To tremendous applause
She took off her drawers
And with a lick of her lips
She undid all her clips
Threw it all in the air
And everyone stared
And as the last piece of clothing
Fell to the floor
The police were yelling out for more
(More)
On a Saturday night in 1924
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1a_nXU4jX8
I love reading most of the posts on TSFM, as I did on the RTC blog. Indeed I used to post quiet regulary on RTC for a while, until that is RTC banned me for not towing the party line and questioning some of their claims.
One thing I’ve came to understand about this saga is that we will not see any Police involvement, nor will BDO do anything, nor will the SFA do anything, nor will our politicians do anything. It gives me no pleasure in saying this but I am so confident of this that I will donate £100 to charity if any of the afore mentioned takes any action on those involved in this saga.
Lets take BDO for example, in the Farepak administration many commentators insisted that it was inevitable that some directors would face criminal charges. Well as we now know the directors got off scot free. Bdo were only interested in their fees which in the event turned out to be higher than the sum paid to the creditors.
The Police? In this country, don’t make me laugh, no way will Police in Scotland drag RFC’s good name through the courts, with all it’s dirty laundry on show to the world.
SFA, we all know the answer to that, so I wont bore you all with repitition.
Spivs do deals that suit them behind closed doors, if @CharlotteFakes information is not false then there is a reason the spivs are releasing this info. My guess is that there is some explosive info not yet released and there is a game of dare being played out. Someone will blink and when they do the information from @CharlotteFakes will dry up as the objective will have been achieved.
OK, I’m going to stick my neck out. Neither this place, nor Twitter, is a court of law. So it’s all about altering/confirming perceptions. Nothing we have seen so far is of anything but help to Craig Whyte. There again, if you agree that Charles Green has seen quite enough of the dear green place for one lifetime, it’s helping him too. If you further agree that the endgame is ownership of assets, and their rental to Real Rangers Men, then a lot of it helps in that respect, too.
Why so? The current club (Rangers2) has been rendered (even more) toxic, particularly by the Sevco 5088 ownership/ board composition issues. The authorities will be able to bundle this all up very neatly, flay the corpse with fines etc, and move on. Which is exactly what they did with Rangers1, and not that long ago. We then move onto Rangers3, run by RRM, lessons learnt, no disciplinary issues, and rentals paid monthly to the real winners.
The timing of the majority of the revelations seems to be out of normal UK business hours, and we’ve had a drip feed already this weekend. I’d expect some pretty meaty stuff before the markets open on Monday.
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:24
At last – realpolitik
This could all be true – and yes ground reality
Pretty cool with that – raises useful questions
So
What’s the point of paying Liquidators millions of pounds to produce nothing of value?
What’s the point of paying Police – to not perform their duties?
What’s the point of paying millions in salaries & pensions to the useless & underhand SFA / SPL
Why shell out major cash to PR Media who have made an a**e of this from the very start
Anyone?
Hello Eddie Rice 🙂
Your post mirrors a lot of what I’m feeling about this whole sorry, stinking mess. It reeks and no-one will ever find out the whole truth because even those at the very core have forgotten what is the truth and what is lies!
I hope you and I are both proved to be absolutely wrong on every level but sadly I very much doubt it 🙁
Ally and Wally have been very quiet 🙂 they must be concentrating on spending that £10million war chest wisely to smash the 2nd division ( snigger snigger )
http://www.thefootballlife.co.uk/post/50755340972/extreme-fakeover-glasgow-edition
On Charlotte. Figuratively speaking, of course.
twopanda says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:46
“What’s the point …”
———–
Fees?
mullach says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:00
twopanda says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:46
“What’s the point …”
———–
Fees?
_
Pretty unimaginative there `mulluch` [`divisive distraction` works better but I`m too polite]
Ianjs
Here’s that map of corporate interrelationship for Craig Whyte that newtz posted previously.
http://flic.kr/p/ejBCuF
twopanda says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:04
“Pretty unimaginative there `mulluch` [`divisive distraction` works better but I`m too polite]”
————-
I’m a big boy twopanda. Hit me hard.
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:24
I love reading most of the posts on TSFM, as I did on the RTC blog. Indeed I used to post quiet regulary on RTC for a while, until that is RTC banned me for not towing the party line and questioning some of their claims.
One thing I’ve came to understand about this saga is that we will not see any Police involvement, nor will BDO do anything, nor will the SFA do anything, nor will our politicians do anything. It gives me no pleasure in saying this but I am so confident of this that I will donate £100 to charity if any of the afore mentioned takes any action on those involved in this saga.
Lets take BDO for example, in the Farepak administration many commentators insisted that it was inevitable that some directors would face criminal charges. Well as we now know the directors got off scot free. Bdo were only interested in their fees which in the event turned out to be higher than the sum paid to the creditors.
The Police? In this country, don’t make me laugh, no way will Police in Scotland drag RFC’s good name through the courts, with all it’s dirty laundry on show to the world.
SFA, we all know the answer to that, so I wont bore you all with repitition.
Spivs do deals that suit them behind closed doors, if @CharlotteFakes information is not false then there is a reason the spivs are releasing this info. My guess is that there is some explosive info not yet released and there is a game of dare being played out. Someone will blink and when they do the information from @CharlotteFakes will dry up as the objective will have been achieved.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Eddie, like you I mostly read and have done since early RTC days.
Of late I am more and more convinced that TRFC will be safely in position at the start of the new season, with the wind in their sails and paradoxically, most of their problems beyond that will be sporting ones on the field of play including the types of budgeting issues most other clubs have. Strange how it has turned out – or is it? I wonder at times if the establishment did get the message last summer and have gone about putting things right without the drastic action most called for. I’m more than likely wrong, but at times I can’t really believe that corruption and a lack of effective scrutiny alone among all the accused could have got them this far.
The CF stuff is really interesting to us all, clearly. But I think it’s a squirrel. And I think deep down we all know that. The reaction to each post is almost muted, and while we all read and consider, and the big-guns dissect for us, I detect a bit of a whiff of an Alpha Romeo convention now. Like we are being treated to the nuts and bolts behind something that has been a ‘passion’ for quite a long time – it’s telling that the high powered MSM are staying clear of this, not because they doubt its a good story, but the real task for the establishment here is to marginalise us. So we are being encouraged to dig deep into the nose-bag and whatever we do, don’t look over there! By the time we realise what has actually been going on it’ll be done and dusted.
So, whilst its fun to consider who CF is and whether they should be exposed or not etc, one thing is for sure, they are part of the plan.
mullach says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:10
Ianjs
Here’s that map of corporate interrelationship for Craig Whyte that newtz posted previously.
http://flic.kr/p/ejBCuF
=======================================
like to see a Sat-Nav programme for that.
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:24
I’m sorry, I have to disagree.
What “good name” do RFC have.
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:16
0 0 Rate This
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:24
I’m sorry, I have to disagree.
What “good name” do RFC have.2
==================================
IN LIQUIDATION…….. that’s the good name they have!
Brenda says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:56
Brenda, I fully expect the BDO liquidation process to get to the bottom of what happened. I also expect them to report their findings through the appropriate channels.
However that could literally take years.
HMRC picked who they picked for a reason, and they announced that reason publicly.
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:24
You’re going to upset Night Terror 🙂
mullach says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:12
———————————————————————————————————————————-
Go here :-
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/indivHistory.do?sid=293616
Paul James Hassall
Then click on Merchant Capital Limited
Brenda says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:56
When the dust finally settles on this saga, the MSN in this country will try and make us believe nothing really happened.
The new media, ie the internet, will give us our voice but we need to use it to our advantage. The @CharlotteFakes revelations should be taken with a pinch of salt, as far as I’m concerned, as they are designed to frighten someone into doing a deal that at present they aren’t prepared to do.
We must analise the info as it is released so that we may disrupt their plan, they aren’t after all the smartest guys in the room.
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:28
What you expect and what actually happens is decided by those in control of the information. Powerful men control the information and rarely do they let that information out of their control.
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:39
We must analise the info as it is released so that we may disrupt their plan, they aren’t after all the smartest guys in the room.
==========================
You analise (sic) away mate, that’s not the way I swing.
Not that I’m saying it makes you a bad person, obviously.
Mullach
The screen grab was from a CF tweet.
It surprises me that you missed it !
Knowing who Charlotte is would help us work out what was actually going on.
I find it curious that a “well connected” poster from CQN (OG Rafferty) pointed towards something that nobody here has mentioned or at least that I have seen.
OG seemed to infer that what Charlotte was leaking was in fact what AT/C4 didn´t succeed in getting legalled last week.
He went further, expressing knowledge that more would come out from CF and that the material would get worse for those targeted.
Now where would AT go to with this info to get it broadcast in the next best way, so to speak, always providing whoever gave him the material was agreeable and wanted the info out there regardless.
Surely it would be via the less accountable social media, besides there had been a successful precedent right here in Scotland.
Perhaps similar people would be involved.
A group who he would have already have established relations with when in Glasgow last year.
What helped point me in this direction was Charlotte´s tweet having a dig at the Rangers supporters spokesman and the fact that OG Rafferty seems to have a general idea of what is coming.
Wild suggestion ?
I don´t think it outlandish but there are difficulties with some of the logic.
However there are difficulties with just about any theory mentioned.
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ps. You yalk about Akers/Ellis.
I found the Irvine/CW e-mail the more interesting.
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:16
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eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 21:24
I’m sorry, I have to disagree.
What “good name” do RFC have.
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Haha, while you have that opinion, spivs and charlatans are running amok with our game. If you don’t accept this to be true then you are a part of the problem in this country.
eddie rice says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:53
Really, me not thinking RFC have a good name makes me “… a part of the problem in this country.”
How do you see yourself, part of the solution.
We will just have to disagree on that.
I think the previous and current incarnations of RFC were and are a disgrace. Cheats, liers and thieves. I think that has been demonstrated time after time. To suggest they have a “good name” is ridiculous.
However everyone is entitled to their opinion.
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 22:58
Really, me not thinking RFC have a good name makes me “… a part of the problem in this country.”
How do you see yourself, part of the solution.
We will just have to disagree on that.
I think the previous and current incarnations of RFC were and are a disgrace. Cheats, liers and thieves. I think that has been demonstrated time after time. To suggest they have a “good name” is ridiculous.
However everyone is entitled to their opinion.
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I don’t see many disagreeing with you on what they were/ are. Surely, what is on our plates today though is that a solution to their current problems has been determined ( probably some months ago) and is now being put into place, inexorably. We will find ourselves this time next year tugging at peoples elbows asking them if they remember CG, CW and now CF and they will not be sure if they do or not! Its being ironed out as we speak.
No doubt the CG/CW pantomime is a hitch for the establishment, its the last knockings in a tug of war that they had to allow to happen to get TRFC up and running, ‘debt-free’ as the man said,but, give them a chance, they’ll fix that too. Good old Campbell – he’ll get a gong for his service to ‘sport’ in a few years as payback.
achillesacronym says:
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 23:10
What is it you see being put into place.
A club winning the fourth tier of Scottish football and moving into the third tier. Based on having the second biggest wage bill in Scottish football.
Still with an unsustainable business model, spending the proceeds of an IPO on operating costs.
How is it “the establishment” sorts that for them.