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/
http://i.imgur.com/I3vS2OO.jpg
Is this really the outing of a founder of mediahouse claiming that it’s a GOOD THING that witnesses are dead? Is this not the sort of throwaway comment that gets people sacked? From a PR GUY? Really? I’m finding this tid bit hard to swallow? In fact I’m choking on it.
twopanda says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 22:28
never knew football clubs could be such fun
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Saturday night is sports night 🙂
ecobhoy :-
I listened again and to me it still sounds like “tiffon foundation” – Imran repeats it as “tippon”
What worries me is that the word ‘foundation’ makes it sound like a pension fund (or charity) is being set up to be screwed out of money (or become complicit to a fairly dodgy deal) and Brian Stockbridge doesn’t seem to have any objections to this,
I’m not a city-type person but I assume Imran’s question “Is there any see-through on this?” means “would this get us into legal trouble if it was found out?”
We have been smitted smitten and smat by the `hierarchy`. May pop along to the wonderful world of correctly spelt staccato co-joined expletives [some with gifs] on RM to correct – [no one will spot us 😉 ]
newtz says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 21:55
Latest Charlotte snippet on Jack and Mediahouse regarding Mr. King
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 7m
Then again Jack, you aren’t so private yourself. Bribes and blackmail seem to be a running feature. http://i.imgur.com/I3vS2OO.jpgI
……………………………..
I assume the Chipperton referred to is probably Chris Chipperton
http://www.aegistaxllp.co.uk/ourTeam.aspx?member=CHRIS_CHIPPERTON
Charlotte has always known a lot about PR spin. Now, Newtz, doesn’t that tell you something?
reading the mediahouse stuff, I am aptly reminded of the BBC series Absolute Power starring Stephen Fry and John Bird as London PR Gurus and the lengths they will go to, the control they have of the media via spin, I thought it was just comedy gold. Now I might have to rethink…..
Jack Irvine talking about bribing South African SARS agents to obtain “secret Government files” about Dave King’s tax case.
Quality.
click forward to 10.00 in this episode of absolute power for a synopsis on PR guru’s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcLwramkYY
Listening to those audio clips, Mr Whyte comes across as a nice guy. When all this is over, he’ll be able to make a few quid doing after dinner speaking, if nothing else. I would pay to hear him speak.
Nuclear Sheep says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 23:09
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Listening to those audio clips, Mr Whyte comes across as a nice guy. When all this is over, he’ll be able to make a few quid doing after dinner speaking, if nothing else. I would pay to hear him speak.
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Funny you should say that…cos I wouldn’t be surprised if theres more than a few people down Govan and Hampden end probably wishing somebody would pay to shut him up!
Brian McHugh (@pbmchugh) says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 22:41
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Understand the point you are making about PR spin and the related link ….
And yes, Charlotte is controlling what she is delivering …on her terms …. understand
Not sure though that I get your point
Nuclear Sheep, with comments like that, I’m guessing that if Charlotte isn’t Craigie, then you MUST be!!
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 22:56
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Jack Irvine talking about bribing South African SARS agents to obtain “secret Government files” about Dave King’s tax case.
Quality.
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Obvious Criminality surely? Isn’t Rebekah Brooks currently standing trial for something not remotely dissimilar?
Brian McHugh (@pbmchugh) says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 22:41
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@Brian ….. possibly you are referring to CW spin …. yes that is also possible. Certainly coming out as someone who tried to save Rangers …. in recent audio etc.
But then why turn on your original spin doctors ? #DangerousTactic
so maybes I don’t quite get your point ……. ?
Cheers
He’s a long way from a nice guy. Remember, he is the only one aware that these conversations are being recorded.
But it’s all relative: they are all lying, cheating, duplicitous, iniquitous swine and I long for the day when they are forced to stand up in court and prove it.
sorry, don’t have time to read as im listening to charlottes latest releases but if it has not been mentioned, the six month issue on the recordings is due to anti money laundering (AML) checks required of solicitors & lenders (although I think the solicitors are ultimately responsible) and I assume court appointed administrators (D&P).
Essentially, if you are buying a house, your solicitor must show verifiable proof of deposit. The test seems to be; can we see funds in place for 6 months prior to the transaction. Is this what CW is referring to when he says (paraphrasing) they can do the deal or wait till October for their money?
Is CW suggesting that D&P will sign off on there duties re AML (and by doing so confirm to the sfa/spl that all is well with their consortium) without 6 months verification of funds because he could exert pressure and that they needed the cash and would not wait until October to get it?
I originally fell into the “collusion” camp but listening to the tapes spells out clearly the spiv vs spiv argument and i dont believe anyone supporting blue will be happy with the outcome.
IA seems fixated on the value of the assets vs the money they need to put up to purchase. All well and good, but how do you “monetise” these assets?
The biggest banking group in the country was owed £18m on an OD that they were desperate to be shot of. The MSM fuelled by the usual conspiracy theorists (leggo) were asking why wouldn’t Lloyds accept 5p in the £ like they do for other failing businesses?
Well because they had a security STUPID. What they came to realise is that the security (given by BOS) was worthless. Ibrox is toxic to a mainstream lender. Call in your security and a large section of the population will likely boycott your bank for all other products. Worse still, you are left with an ageing football ground that will have very little interest as a commercial zone. Do asda (and their lovely green colours) want to put their name above the famous brick façade? Of course not. Tesco is very red white & blue but they are not about to alienate the rangers customer base for the opportunity to have a big store in govan.
Ibrox value is in getting people to turn up to watch football. Nothing else. Maybe one of the hedge funds invested (hmm) could argue that selling Murray park was the way forward and I think the supporters would swallow that one. But not ibrox.
The one thing that really infuriates me is that these people are supposed to ne the elite? they are the guys that can do deals and therefore make the sort of money they do, because they are much smarter than us…
I broker some deals (on a much smaller and salaried basis) but after 6 months in the job I realised there is no point in wasting time on hypotheticals. Put it on paper or its worthless. Not my fault, just policy, im sure you understand.
Yet here we have CW ( and whatever you want to say about him, he seems to have been able to use the law of insolvency to make a few quid) at a meeting signing documents without any legal council?
He “wants to make it clear” that the deal involves £1m a year from the company to him to repay Tu but signs without any confirmation? Just seems crazy.
On D&P, in fairness they seem to be telling CW that its not what ‘s in it for him its how deliverable the deal is? I have no issue in D&P having communication with CW, in fact it is a must to deal with the admin. I am a bit concerned that in what should be a closed bid process to ensure that the creditors receive the best deal possible, D&P seem to admit on tape to coaching some bidders on the strategy of another bidder. Some form of the BM plan suddenly seems to be the only way forward. Everything else undeliverable.
On SFA, they cannot (although probably will unless the MSM pick this up) stay silent anymore. Surely they must get out in front of this by asking what might CW have recorded> The two people that had issues with being involved where CW and Razfat. They where told neither where but both seem to be in it 50/50.
IA is actually great in this. Talks a lot, commits to very little. Nothing he says confirms the company will pay tu. Oh, except where he sayst hey were his guys to control on the board!
resin_lab_dog says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 23:26
Obvious Criminality surely? Isn’t Rebekah Brooks currently standing trial for something not remotely dissimilar?
—————————————
OT ….. are not the MSM also holding off reporting …… a certain relationship ……. Oh no …. that’s the Downibg Street Super Injuction ………… Oops …. Sorry @
resin_lab_dog says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 23:26
chipm0nk says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 22:56
—————————————————————————————————————
“One of a handful of identified interviewees, the veteran Jack Irvine (played by Billy Riddoch), is alarmingly unguarded about his time as launch editor of the Scottish Sun. “I had a black book of cash payoffs,” he says, adding that payments were made to ambulance crews, social workers and royal staff. “Is it illegal to pay cops?” he asks, seemingly in all innocence.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/apr/30/enquirer-review-pacific-quay-glasgow
Another news outlet today reported that Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has claimed that Scottish Government phones have been hacked, less than a week after the First Minister told the Leveson inquiry that he believed illegality was rife across many, many newspapers. The evidence in the public domain that attests to the possibility of police corruption is everywhere. According to The Guardian’s review of “Enquirer”, a performance play based on interviews conducted with figures operating in the prevailing media environment, well kent face Jack Irvine is “alarmingly unguarded about his time as launch editor of the Scottish Sun,” and openly boasts of bribing the police.
http://www.firmmagazine.com/features/1143/Editor%27s_blog_-_Article_10,_protection_of_sources.html
@y4rmy
“He’s a long way from a nice guy” —
I think what chills me the most, CW has already admitted on tape that ticketus will pursue him personally for £17-28 million, and he seems to able to laugh it off as a minor problem which he’ll “take care of”
Surely any non-sociopathic person, in CW’s position at the time of the recordings, should be terrified, but he seems to be amused with it all and confident that he’s going to come out of the whole process with a massive amount of cash and his reputation intact
M8Dreamer
Scottish Football is being dragged into the gutter by the Scottish Football Authorities, TRFC and the MSM by continually spreading mistruths, deception and denial of the underhand and illegal practices that have been practised to ensure that the “Establishment” favourite football team remain in the spotlight and control Scottish Football.
Supporters of all other Scottish Clubs must find a way to ensure that every guilty party in this farce
is removed from office at the earliest possible date to ensure that all clubs within Scotland are treated equally.
Where is all these CF releases leading and what is the end result that CF seeks and what would the majority of posters on this site see as the ultimate solution to this whole fiasco. The story with all it’s twists and turns is one I feel getting the timeline of things and a definitive version of the facts will be hard to achieve. If at the end of the day the baw is burst for Rangers what is it that will be the accepted solution. As much as some may want it the reality is there will always be a Rangers playing football somewhere, they will not go the way of third lanark. Can’t see much change in the SMSM as the majority of news corporations need the support of football teams for their advertisisng and sales revenues so they can’t bite to hard on the hand that feeds them. SFA would appear to be toothless and and unsure if their remit is to protect Rangers or work for the good of the game. The fun will start if they do go bust again and if they lose the UTTC. Me what do I want to see happen ?
I have not been able to follow all the CF releases but the one re the email from SFA to Rangers on the UEFA licence of 2011 and Rangers reply does in my opinion look like a point that can be focussed on.
Unless the SFA can prove beyond doubt they followed UEFA rules properly ( and they did not as the Celtic Underground article* demonstrates) there is a prime facie case that Celtic were denied CL money in 2011.The doubt has never been put to rest by the SFA by producing timelines and evidence they had proof of an arrangement between Rangers and HMRC.They were vulnerable on this and CF’s revelation increase that vulnerability in that it shows the SFA were well aware of the problem and Rangers did not want any focus on it.Thus the SFA strategy of obsfuscation and cover up went into action and no hard evidence of procedures being properly followed has ever been produced.
Only that can clear the SFA and what CF is showing is that honesty is going to have to be the best policy because the truth, one way or another is getting out there.There may be other parts of CF’s revelations that can be used to expose past statements or positions taken by the SFA but this one on UEFA licence is a key one given the financial impact of apparent improper activity by the SFA to the enrichment of one club and impoverishment of another.The rules are there. Did the SFA follow them diligently?If not why not?
*
http://www.celticunderground.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=787:did-the-sfa-deny-celtic-a-place-in-the-champions-league&catid=47:season-2011-2012&Itemid=83
M8Dreamer
We are now led to believe that the Scottish Football Association wish to bring in new rules that will
outlaw racism, sectarianism and other unacceptable behaviour at football matches within Scotland.
While any rules that reduce racism, sectarianism and unacceptable behaviour are to be welcomed, will this apply to all football clubs within Scotland, or will the SFA continue to ignore the continued sectarianism carried out by the TRFC supporters on a weekly basis.
Jim Larkin
Allyjambo
On the UEFA licence check my previous post and the original Celtic Underground article at the link particularly the final observations where the SFA failed to apply the process properly It also contains Regans public statement that all was well without proving it.
The CF revelation shows the SFA were aware there was an issue, that Rangers were desperate not to raise the profile of it by saying anything and that the proposed justification by Regan was disengenous in that having discussions with HMRC was not the same was having an agreement witb them, that even had it exised was breached ( Sherrif Officer etc) and the SFA should have informed UEFA.
The latter must have been aware there were questions to answer, they got 2 recorded delivery letters asking them. Which all suggests everyone knew what was going on and why – without that CL money Rangers would have gone under sooner.
It is no wonder no one is saying anything
briggsbhoy says:
Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 16:50
” I do get moaned at and the only occasion I have to explain things is when Match.com comes up, Mullach I believe has a similar issue”.
———–
I am not presently matrimonally encumbered briggsbhoy but if I were and match.com appeared on the sidebar of my Facebook page, I would anticipate having some explaining to do. You are obviously a very persuasive character.
Auldheid says:
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 01:12
1
0
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Which all suggests everyone knew what was going on and why – without that CL money Rangers would have gone under sooner.
______________________________________________
Even allowing such a scenario to be created which might lead others to be able to speculate about such a possibility: i.e. that the SFA may have improperly granted a UEFA licence to one member club at the expense of another member club, in order to stave off the insolvency of the first club … this insolvency which was brought about by its own mismanagement… is gross incompetence, negligence sufficient to justify removal from office of all those implicated, even if the impression created was entirely false and actual dealings were above board.
Then a regulator allowing those who it regulates to sign off on its press releases? Frankly proof of regulatory capture which makes the position of the SFA completely untenable.
Add in the close links with Ogilvie and the EBT tie ups, and the fact that no one has made any statements of rebuttal, or resigned,or seems to appreciate or care about how this could be perceived? The only conclusion that can be reached is that the SFA is in fact so corrupted, rather than merely negligent, that it is not exercised or distressed by the appearance of impropriety because the appearance is born of the reallity.
Bloody Hell!!!!
Welcome to the new site. Apologies for the moderation backlog, but we have been trying to get this over the line. We have tried to make it as close to the experience of the old site. The same theme is employed but it is rather different from the one on the original blog.
You will notice some changes, some subtle and some not so much.
A brief list to get started with is as follows.
• The requirement to register has been removed because everyone would have to re-register – which is a pain. If the naughty folk play up again, we will have another look at the situation, but for now, just your email is required to post.
• We have reluctantly retained the TU/TDs although they act a little differently. I will add some new features as we go along and I will inform you all when they kick in.
• We have cleared out the troll list in the hope that with a new site comes hope for common-sense and the respect which is a feature of what we do here.
• We will add the Share Post and Like features as soon as possible.
• So far we have received over £300 in donations towards our £700 target. This has allowed me to purchase the hosting package for a year and make a start on buying some of the equipment for the Podcasts.
I hope to have blog written by one of our star performers in the next day or so. Meanwhile please continue the discussion here
Good morning
I’ve TUPE’d over!
Good morning johnbhoy and everyone else,even truth seeking bears. johnbhoy was that your post I copied from CQN? I thought that it should be shared by the blog,brilliant.
@CharlotteFakes now going for Media house.
Jack Irvine and his co-workers appear to be putting a hell of a lot of effort in keeping Rangers afloat. I doubt that the services of MH come cheap – question then is who is paying their fees? Or is Jack providing services free because he believes in the Club?
http://t.co/ygG1eNemYv
Bravo TSFM, big job doing this kind of thing.
This was a little worrying:
• We have cleared out the troll list in the hope that with a new site comes hope for common-sense and the respect which is a feature of what we do here.
Was there no way to import the banned IP address list, or something similar? Some of the trolling seen previously was simply a kind of vandalism. Not sure that mindset grasps the concept of common-sense & respect.
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 11h
Let’s start at the beginning (of the RFC episode). Why the need for the press to back off? http://i.imgur.com/oBKl0do.jpg #JobDone
It looks like Media House were engaged to help get the sale of RFC to TGEF through – with no problems. Stage 1 ensure that any leaks/comments from the RFC due diligence of TGEF did not reach the press, and if they did to blacken the names of the accusers.
I wonder, how desperate was the previous owner to secure a sale?
A free press is one of the corner stones of a democratic society? Looking at the latest materials from @CharlotteFakes it appears as if Media House have the capability to silence that not so free press.
Internetbampots – if there was ever a time to dig deep and to get the truth into the public domain it is now, perhaps more so than ever.
This stinks, bad.
Tic 6709 says:
June 9, 2013 at 7:15 am
Good morning johnbhoy and everyone else,even truth seeking bears. johnbhoy was that your post I copied from CQN? I thought that it should be shared by the blog,brilliant.
=============================================
Not me.There are a few “Johnbhoy” sign-on names.My CQN name is totally different.I very rarely post there but try to keep up with the posts.
I have followed this story for a year and a half on multiple sites but this is the first my post I always believed the s.f.a favoured rangers1872 just not this much.The info over the 24hrs has left me so scunnered I felt I had to ask . Is there no one out there that can lead laymen like me and thousands more that want the game back to the times before the money came I love football at all levels but all this corruption is eroding that love please help
so how does one raise the issue of SFA awarding UEFA licence wrongly to the deceased club, to the detriment of other clubs?
Mornin,
I have only listened to one of the tapes so far and they appear wholly genuine, not only does it uphold a close working relationship between Green and Whyte but it also reveals Greens view of Platini as not being in touch and suggests Green can sort an early return of the company to EUFA competition. Where’s the investgative journos when you need them to have the issues put in front of those who cherish good governance ?
N,
TSFM says:
June 9, 2013 at 2:09 am
“Welcome to the new site….”
—Thank you. Glad to be here!!
briggsbhoy says:
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 00:34
5 3 Rate This
Where is all these CF releases leading and what is the end result that CF seeks and what would the majority of posters on this site see as the ultimate solution to this whole fiasco. The story with all it’s twists and turns is one I feel getting the timeline of things and a definitive version of the facts will be hard to achieve. If at the end of the day the baw is burst for Rangers what is it that will be the accepted solution. As much as some may want it the reality is there will always be a Rangers playing football somewhere, they will not go the way of third lanark. Can’t see much change in the SMSM as the majority of news corporations need the support of football teams for their advertisisng and sales revenues so they can’t bite to hard on the hand that feeds them. SFA would appear to be toothless and and unsure if their remit is to protect Rangers or work for the good of the game. The fun will start if they do go bust again and if they lose the UTTC. Me what do I want to see happen ?
————–
Briggs, the current reveations should finally create common ground between what someone called ‘truth-seeking bears’ and the internet bampots. There’s a big chance here for proper football fans who go to Ibrox to engage in the discussion. I suppose it depends on the civil courage of the individual supporter, who would have to ignore the voices of the self-appointed fans’ spokesmen, and a certain peer pressure. Sadly, I reckon Rangers fans are so used to being taunted on sites like P&B that the ‘them and us’ mentality is almost universal by now, leaving a site like this with more or less no contributions from any of the Ibrox faithful. I suppose what we’re seeing is the football equivalent of a political lurch to the right.
Test
Auldheid says:
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 00:40
‘Unless the SFA can prove beyond doubt they followed UEFA rules properly ( and they did not as the Celtic Underground article* demonstrates) there is a prime facie case that Celtic were denied CL money in 2011.’
__________________________________________________________
And so, I would imagine, was the team that finished just below the Euro qualifying spot (don’t know what team that might be). Not only was European competition money lost to both Celtic and one other club, but it was also lost to the Scottish game. As in all areas of life, or business, when bumbling incompetents are in charge, someone will take advantage, and those not involved will ultimately suffer.
Lawwell has to do something about the collusion with SFA to grant RFC-NIL the right to play in UEFA tournament when it was apparent to all and sundry that they were not
As League finished the following happened
Rangers – UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
Celtic – UEFA Europa League Play-off round 1
Hearts – UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Dundee Utd – UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
Kilmarnock – not qualified
What should have happened is
Rangers – not eligible
Celtic – UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
Hearts – UEFA Europa League Play-off round 1
Dundee Utd – UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Kilmarnock – UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
This is because RFC-NIL had already pled guilty to the Wee Tax Case (involving CO as per CF release the other day in Flo’s tax gift) and had already agreed to pay the tax assessed – as a result they were not eligible for European completion as Auldheid rightly points out.
This is where we should be asking Lawwell if its ok for him to accept this – as someone who is supposed to look after the financial interests of the Celtic FC shareholders, this is a lot money we missed out on.
Supporters of Hearts, Dundee Utd and Kilmarnock should also be asking questions as each was affected by this
*
http://www.celticunderground.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=787:did-the-sfa-deny-celtic-a-place-in-the-champions-league&catid=47:season-2011-2012&Itemid=83
In Turkey, fans of Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Trabzonspor, Bursaspor and others have joined forces on the country’s streets and squares in anti-govenment demonstrations.
http://news.sky.com/story/1101182/turkey-football-fans-call-for-pm-to-resign
Meanwhile in Scotland, its football fans continue to allow the country’s football governers to remain in place despite a calamitous regime.
Just to say ‘well done’ to TSFM and all those involved in setting up the new site. Hopefully all posters will find their way here soon and Charlotte lets a tiger out of the bag to celebrate the launch 🙂
Allyjambo says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:34 am
Auldheid says:
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 00:40
‘Unless the SFA can prove beyond doubt they followed UEFA rules properly ( and they did not as the Celtic Underground article* demonstrates) there is a prime facie case that Celtic were denied CL money in 2011.’
__________________________________________________________
And so, I would imagine, was the team that finished just below the Euro qualifying spot (don’t know what team that might be). Not only was European competition money lost to both Celtic and one other club, but it was also lost to the Scottish game. As in all areas of life, or business, when bumbling incompetents are in charge, someone will take advantage, and those not involved will ultimately suffer.
****
Post is in moderation – its Kilmarnock
As League finished the following happened
Rangers – UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
Celtic – UEFA Europa League Play-off round 1
Hearts – UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Dundee Utd – UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
Kilmarnock – not qualified
What should have happened is
Rangers – not eligible
Celtic – UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
Hearts – UEFA Europa League Play-off round 1
Dundee Utd – UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Kilmarnock – UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
Danish Pastry says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:24 am
“Sadly, I reckon Rangers fans are so used to being taunted on sites like P&B that the ‘them and us’ mentality is almost universal by now, leaving a site like this with more or less no contributions from any of the Ibrox faithful. I suppose what we’re seeing is the football equivalent of a political lurch to the right”
_________________
Nail on the head my son…
PS, keep an eye on Charlotte’s twitter page, she has said she will reveal all as to how she obtained her information and why it is legal, I almost wet myself laughing when I heard the story but maybe the legal eagles should swot up on the principle of theft by finding
Just a small point, but I think ‘SFMonitor’ leaves us open to being described as ‘science fiction’ or ‘science fantasy’ rather than ‘science fact’.
Allyjambo says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:34 am
Auldheid says:
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 00:40
‘Unless the SFA can prove beyond doubt they followed UEFA rules properly ( and they did not as the Celtic Underground article* demonstrates) there is a prime facie case that Celtic were denied CL money in 2011.’
__________________________________________________________
And so, I would imagine, was the team that finished just below the Euro qualifying spot (don’t know what team that might be). Not only was European competition money lost to both Celtic and one other club, but it was also lost to the Scottish game. As in all areas of life, or business, when bumbling incompetents are in charge, someone will take advantage, and those not involved will ultimately suffer.
============================================
Does this help?.
From KDS 5 mins ago:
Lawwell has to do something about the collusion with SFA to grant RFC-NIL the right to play in UEFA tournament when it was apparent to all and sundry that they were not
As League finished the following happened
Rangers – UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
Celtic – UEFA Europa League Play-off round 1
Hearts – UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Dundee Utd – UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
Kilmarnock – not qualified
What should have happened is
Rangers – not eligible
Celtic – UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
Hearts – UEFA Europa League Play-off round 1
Dundee Utd – UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
Kilmarnock – UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
This is because RFC-NIL had already pled guilty to the Wee Tax Case (involving CO as per CF release the other day in Flo’s tax gift) and had already agreed to pay the tax assessed – as a result they were not eligible for European completion as Auldheid rightly points out.
This is where we should be asking Lawwell if its ok for him to accept this – as someone who is supposed to look after the financial interests of the Celtic FC shareholders, this is a lot money we missed out on.
Supporters of Hearts, Dundee Utd and Kilmarnock should also be asking questions as each was affected by this
*
http://www.celticunderground.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=787:did-the-sfa-deny-celtic-a-place-in-the-champions-league&catid=47:season-2011-2012&Itemid=83
David Low @Heavidor 6m
Kilmarnock sack controversial manager Kenny Shiels for failing to lift the side out of the bottom three http://bit.ly/11AkVLB
Hi all
Morning all. I would like to officially welcome myself to the new site. I do hope all required rules on licence transfers etc from the old site have been followed to the letter of the law. After all, people in glass houses should never throw stones 🙂
There is only so long you can keep a lid on things before the pressure becomes unbearable.I wonder who will be first to breal cover, my money’s on CO.
Just out of intrest yesterday I made a point of looking at the twitter accounts of our esteemed sports journalists, and what I found remarkable was the lack of tweets it was almost as if they were under orders not to switch on their phones / pc for fear of being goaded into some reaction re the Charlotte info. What a bunch of useless hacks we have in sports jounalism in Scotland
I really don’t care what CFs’ agenda is, personally I only want for Scottish Football to be run with the emphasis on sportsmanship. The best team winning on the day and all that. For me that is the ethos of the game.
If that means the demise of certain clubs then so be it. If these clubs can survive and prosper through probity and integrity then I will also be happy with that.
Clearly ( to me at least) that is not what has been happening within the game for a very long time. Along with everyone else, I am astounded at the level of corruption that is currently being aired
IMO nothing can/will be done until the guilty parties are backed far enough into a corner that they cannot escape. CF is doing her very best and for that I am thankful.
I only hope that there is enough evidence available to out the lot of them, leaving them no room to manoeuvre ; be that the media, the governing bodies entrusted to uphold our game, and a certain outfit down Govan way.
Only listened to one CD tape and raises concerns that should have the best investigative journals raising the issues with a very broad base .
Paul McConville @Paulmcc12 3m
How Did “Private Eye” Get Hold of Papers about Craig Whyte’s Ban? It Went to Court and Asked for Them! http://wp.me/p1Adbc-Zi
Tsfm the old way of sorting a mistaken TD don’t work.
Sorry upthehoops
upthehoops says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:53 am
‘.. I would like to officially welcome myself to the new site..’
——
Already we have that same wonderfully eclectic range of posts -informative, analytical, helpful, humourous, A great start, and, in my view, evidence again that any move to open separate threads would probably not be terribly beneficial.
Pt 12 of tapes (7 mins) Craigy Boy “HMRC said not to raise the CVA before the transfer window closes to let the debt build up” Do HMRC normally give out such sound advice or was someone in there actually controlling events?
Morning all!
The comment about the twitter feeds above – it is like there’s a lockdown. I went to the Record website yesterday for the first time in months. No mention of leaked material, no mention of the Internet in meltdown – it seemed that Mark Hately’s generous obituary on Ally was the only.other articler, apart fromt ehe Croatia game. Incidentally, Hately (or at least, his ghost writer) doesn’t seem to realise that Ally spent a year at Kilmarnock and several years employed by the SFA as Scotland assistant coach – It’s headlined ” 30 years since Ally arrived at Ibrox” but the tone of the article is Ally’s 30 years at Ibrox. Still given what we know now, it’s an easy mistake to make.
Good morning, brave new world.
Should also have said – perhaps the reason that the leaks aren’t even being acknowledged is the lack of a source? It’s handy for journalists to claim that there are legal reasons why they can’t, as with the response to the email that one of our posters sent to Herald a few weeks ago (apologies, I forget who it was). However , could it also be the case that if there’s bo recognised source then there’s no one to discredit? We’ve already seen that MH will play the man instead of the ball….
Test
Free transfer completed, can we get the twitter login back at some point as well?
chancer67 says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:57 am
“What a bunch of useless hacks we have in sports jounalism in Scotland”
——
I can’t quite make out whether CW calls them ‘bas*ards’ or ‘arses’ on tape.
As a poster yesterday remarked, he clearly isn’t always a liar!
Interesting Twitter exchange overnight between Barcabhoy, Tom English and CF last night.
Barcabhoy @Barcabhoy1 11h
@TomEnglishSport, at what point does a story become more important than the way the evidence was obtained. Aren’t we at that point now ?
Tom English @TomEnglishSport 10h
@Barcabhoy1 Some weeks ago I asked if the material had been obtained legally or criminally. Still waiting for an answer @CharlotteFakes
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 6h
@TomEnglishSport @PeterC148 @Barcabhoy1 Head out of your arse time Tom. I don’t blame you or the MSM now. All these leaks – LEGAL btw.
The most important thing is CF posting that the “leaks” are legal.
What will happen next? No doubt TE will ask for proof that they are legal and we will be back to square one..
Charlotte answers Tom English Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 6h
@TomEnglishSport @PeterC148 @Barcabhoy1 Head out of your arse time Tom. I don’t blame you or the MSM now. All these leaks – LEGAL btw.
Is Shiels getting his jotters? We’ll see if his season long audition to be TRFC manager has paid off, then. Suspect McCoist expensive to sack, but TRFC aren’t shy of an employment tribunal, eh?
Areyouaccusingmeofmendacity says:
June 9, 2013 at 9:23 am
5 0 Rate This
Morning all!
The comment about the twitter feeds above – it is like there’s a lockdown …
————-
@TomEnglshSport did engage a little with @Barcabhoy1 yesterday, and our dear Charlotte told Mr English to get his heid oot fae his erse …
Alex Thomson was a little more cryptic about his reasons for non-Charlotting:
Jobby George (!) seemed to ask if he felt CF’s materials were not authentic and that was his reason for so little comment:
@alextomo
@jobbygeorge that’s not the issue
12:51am – 9 Jun 13
So what is the issue Alex?
what happened to sandaza hearing for unfair dissmisal
Lord Wobbly says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:39 am
In Turkey, fans of Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Trabzonspor, Bursaspor and others have joined forces on the country’s streets and squares in anti-govenment demonstrations. Meanwhile in Scotland, its football fans continue to allow the country’s football governers to remain in place despite a calamitous regime.
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To be fair I think the issues involved in Turkey actually involve life and death, a way of life being denied and an attack on the structure of Democracy. I have no wish to divert the blog but what we are fighting here is a tawdry football administration and useless MSM which can’t be compared to what the Turkish people are facing.
As to Rangers it will either get itself sorted out financially or it won’t and suffer a long decline – it won’t disappear and will remain in some form and at some stage the fans might get actual control when spivs and brown brogue egos no longer have any interest. I hope when that happens the fans involved will be interested in history and not baggage but who can tell. We cannot change what Rangers fans want for and from their club – only they can do that.
We must continue our work and not depend on final knock-out victories against the likes of the SFA. I see our job as much more patient and longer-term. We must ‘MONITOR’ the footballing authorities and expose and question their dubious workings which are destroying the game in Scotland. And we must find a way of spreading and disseminating our message to an increasing and wider audience.
If we Monitor and disseminate successfully we will influence the Hampden ‘suits’ and modify their secret ways and make them more accountable. We aren’t IMO here to replace the football government structures as that ultimately lies with the clubs.
Our job is to create transparency in how the game is run with more accountability for fans so that decisions are explained and that we have a real place in the process to actually engage in constructive dialogue. This is where the hard work lies in building these structures and interfaces and ensuring we operate in a democratic, open and balanced fashion.
And – it goes without saying – that a clear-out is required of many at the top levels in our game as they are suspect or have been found wanting either through their actions or silence.
We must be careful IMO not to confuse a forensic examination of Rangers and everything that has happened with a desire to punish the club and its support – rather it is to understand the failings in football governance in terms of structure and personnel. I realise some won’t agree with me and some will think that Rangers hasn’t been punished at all never mind ‘enough’.
I have no wish to indulge in that as I believe it is ultimately sterile because at some stage there can be no moving on without reconciliation of some sort and I haven’t a clue how that will be achieved but I do believe blogs like this have a part to play in that process.
If we all remain in the bunker then we will never move on and there are some people here not just with talent but with good intent and much will need to be carried on their shoulders and those of many others, including new posters, in times to come.
Danish Pastry says:
June 9, 2013 at 9:45 am
DP, scrollup to my entry at 8.43 which was held in moderation, your answer lies there
Danish Pastry says:
June 9, 2013 at 9:45 am
So what is the issue Alex?
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If it was just the scottish MSM I would just think they were bought off / collusion, but with Alex also holding off I’m starting to think that there maybe multiple injunctions in place.
On the CF releases – the MSM silence is becoming a deafening crescendo.
You have to ask yourself why that might be?
Perhaps the unknown source of the material gives concern. OK. But surely there is a story about such a massive dumping of what appears on the face of it to be plausible evidence shedding new light on what many to be the greatest sporting scandal and one of the biggest business scandals to ever hit our great wee country. Silence doesn’t cut it here. Where are the opportunities to let main players state their denials or try to publicly discredit the source? Silence tells you there is something significant going on.
Maybe thy have all been served with some sort of super injunction that effectively silences them? I seem to remember AT tweeting something saying that this was not the case? Of course, if such an injunction exists, then even discussion of its existence is a breach – leading to more silence. Perhaps someone else can give a better reasoned discussion on the likelihood of this scenario, but my perhaps naive thinking is that the universal MSM silence could be a result of some sort of injunction – which would tend to suggest that someone is running very scared of the CF revelations. Not convinced by this scenario, but it remains a possibility I think. (Happy to be educated to the contrary).
The only other scenario I can come up with is that the MSM know the material is genuine and there is some sort of pressure being applied (externally applied or self imposed) to try to minimise the fallout. The nuclear analogy is a bit tired here, but it does seem to me that the corrupt relationships between our national administrators and the club formerly known as Rangers are being exposed to the harsh glare of daylight in a manner that must be deeply troubling for those so exposed. Armageddon anyone?
In this scenario the MSM silence is a desperate attempt to reduce circulation of bad news, particularly to the Ibrox faithful who it is increasingly clear have been led a merry dance to persuade them to empty their wallets for the benefit of spivs who could not care less about their beloved club. Could it be fear of massive public disorder, then, that is fuelling the monastic MSM silence? Could be, but seems a bit far fetched to me.
No, my money is on the silence being what the MSM have done for years. Failing to report on the real issues afflicting Scottish football in the hope that the Establishment club will be protected and nurtured (to the detriment of all others) and that the loyal fans will continue to lap up the nonsense being peddled by the MSM about 30 glorious years of Ally at Ibrox etc.
Silence is golden – it tells us that CF is hitting the mark.
Silence is deadly – it also tells us that the MSM are still failing to operate freely, without fear or favour.
In this pick and mix, I think there is plenty of both.
Zilch2 says:
June 9, 2013 at 9:56 am
There is no conspiracy, it’s a matter of interpretation of Leveson rules. CF’s information is 100% genuine and when she tells you the story, you won’t believe it. Just because he/she came by it lawfully doesn’t mean that it can be disseminated, there may be a legal issue in the concept of theft by finding which makes publication by the MSM difficult. I suspect lawyers are at work seeking a court ruling on this, then all hell will break loose
ecobhoy says:
June 9, 2013 at 9:52 am
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Lord Wobbly says:
June 9, 2013 at 8:39 am
In Turkey, fans of Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray,
Trabzonspor, Bursaspor and others have joined forces on the
country’s streets and squares in anti-govenment
demonstrations. Meanwhile in Scotland, its football fans
continue to allow the country’s football governers to remain in
place despite a calamitous regime.
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To be fair I think the issues involved in Turkey actually involve
life and death, a way of life being denied and an attack on the
structure of Democracy. I have no wish to divert the blog but
what we are fighting here is a tawdry football administration
and useless MSM which can’t be compared to what the Turkish
people are facing.
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Oh I completely agree. I was just trying to point out that if the Turks can take on their Government, shirley we Scots can take on our football governors.