The Immortality Project – or – Death and Denial – Guest Post by Humble Pie
Death has a tendency to put everything else into perspective.
My family recently suffered a bereavement. It wasn’t a sudden death but it was still far too quick and far too soon for any of us to get our heads around. As our loved one’s illness progressed, each of us, in our own way, began to prepare for the inevitable. In the end, whilst it was not unexpected, it was nevertheless very traumatic, for everyone concerned.
Grief is a strange and often debilitating set of emotions. Even now, a few months on, when the intense sadness and tears have given way (mostly) to disbelief, we still find it hard to fully comprehend what has happened. We might never completely ‘come to terms’ with that fact, however, we do accept that it DID happen, much as we all wish that it hadn’t.
Many of you will be familiar with the Kubler-Ross model of the five stages of grief; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Well, I am aware of having experienced each of these stages over the last year, as well as a couple of others which I wasn’t prepared for (a lot of personal reflection, a little guilt and a not insignificant amount of pain).
It seems to me that the Rangers supporters have been purposefully ensnared in an interminable cycle of the first two stages of KR; alternating between the denial of the death of Rangers and anger at what they feel has been done to their beloved club then back again to denial. This, as any first year psychology student will tell you, is a very unhealthy state of mind which, if not addressed, can quickly lead to physiological and behavioural problems.
At its lowest level, for example, people throughout the ages have continued to set places at the dinner table for their long-dead loved ones. They know in their hearts that the person has died but are comforted by the familiarity of doing the same things that they have always done. However, in extreme cases people have even kept and maintained the actual cadavers of the deceased, dressed them, talked to them and watched TV with them, in a state of absolute denial.
In archaeology, accepting and recognising the inevitability of death through conducting ceremonial burial services is considered to be one of the very first signs of a civilised people. You see, grief is a uniquely human and cathartic process i.e. it can produce ‘a feeling of being cleansed emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically as a result of an intense emotional experience’.
In short, grief is ultimately a good thing which leads you through a series of natural psychological steps towards acknowledgement of an unalterable situation, allowing you to take stock, re-evaluate and start to move on with your own life in a positive way.
That is what should have happened with the fans of the old Rangers.
Instead, this ‘never-ending cycle of the undead’ was positively encouraged by those many unscrupulous individuals who saw a way of making a fast buck from maintaining the ‘Then, Now and Forever’ illusion. Worse still, this resurrection fantasy is being facilitated by the very people whom we have entrusted to stop this kind of thing from happening in the first place. If only the SFA or the MSM had told them the truth, they might have had a chance to actually face up to the situation.
Unfortunately, these two bodies were so complicit in Rangers demise, so right up to their necks in the brown smelly stuff, that they were too afraid to face the inevitable anger which would have rightly come their way. So, they made up grim fairy tales to feed to the bereaved souls about non-existent ‘holding companies’, the ethereal ‘club’ which transcends death and by suggesting that it is ‘all a matter of opinion’.
Ernest Becker, in his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning book ‘The Denial of Death’, posits that “human civilization is no more than an elaborate, symbolic defence mechanism against the knowledge of our own mortality”. This fear of death acts as an emotional and intellectual response to our basic survival instincts.
‘By embarking on what Becker refers to as an ‘immortality project’, in which a person creates or becomes part of something which they feel will last forever, the person feels they too have become part of something eternal; something that will never die, compared to their physical body that will die one day’. When this ‘immortality project’ is threatened it leads inevitably to fear, depression, loss of identity and sense of purpose.
In that case, the initial reaction of the fans to the imminent demise of Rangers was entirely predictable and understandable. “No way, this can’t happen to us, we are the people”. However, as soon as the full realisation of their club’s inexorable slide into liquidation began to sink in, came the expected anger. But towards whom should their righteous wrath be directed?
“Who did this to us, who are these people?” they cried. “Not I”, said Sir Murray of the Mint, “for I was duped”, “Nor I”, said President Ogilvie, “for it was never my role”. “Nor I”, said Mr Smith, “for I never knew nothing or nothing”. “Not us”, squealed the media monkeys in unison, “for that’s what we were told”, “Nor us”, said the SPL “it was nothing to do with us”.
“Who then?, we demand to know who these people are”, howled the horrified hordes. “T’was the Whyte knight”, they all concurred, “he alone caused this calamity”. “And the bampots”, sneered the slimy slug. “And the taxman”, puffed the pundits. “And the unseen hand of Mr Lawwell”, whispered the bilious bears from the safety of their den.
There were even those who tried to warn them, not least Hugh Adam, Phil Mac and RTC but they didn’t want to know. Even when their very own Messrs Green and Traynor spelt out, in no uncertain terms, that liquidation meant the death of their club, still they chose wilful ignorance. The MSM, with access to the same information, encouraged them to keep their heads firmly ensconced, ostrich stylee, on the banks of that ironically blue and white river in Egypt. Which just goes to show ‘you can lead a lamb to knowledge but you can’t make it think’
The point though is that the Rangers fans have heard the truth and once you have heard something you cannot unhear it. Even if you reject it, even if you deny it, it gnaws away at the back of your mind, infecting your subconscious.
Almost a year ago, I posted the following on TSFM. http://theinternetbampot.wordpress.com/2012/09/ in which I postulated that the SFA were too frightened to say anything which might imply that The Rangers were a new club.
Looking back at that post, I am amazed at how little the landscape has changed.
A year on and it has become apparent that the corporate cancer that destroyed Rangers has continued to metastasize in its new host. Charlotte’s revelations may have shown us that the rabbit hole goes much deeper than we first suspected. However, in my humble opinion, the information provided has only succeeded in ‘poisoning the well’ and deflecting attention from the main culprits in this disaster. Layer upon layer of complexity has been added to an already opaque story and the majority of her utterances appear designed to engage the more enquiring minds on this forum and consume their excess mental energy.
I know that some people are bored with this ‘debate’ but, to my mind, the single most important step for the redemption of Scottish football is the fan’s acceptance that The Rangers, who currently ply their trade in the SPFL First Division, are a new club. Once they have accepted that then everything else that they perceive has happened to them will begin to make sense. They will see that rather than everyone having a fly kick at them when they were down, most were actually trying to help them. It will also dawn on them that the very people who have been telling them that there is an anti-Rangers conspiracy against them are actually the same ones who are screwing them over.
Rangers were not relegated to div 3, The Rangers applied as a new club and were granted entry into the bottom tier of Scottish football. They are not banned from European competition, merely ineligible as a new club without the requisite financial ‘history’. Any reference to ‘rulings’ from ECA, ASA, the BBC Trust and any internal or so-called ‘independent’ enquiries are completely irrelevant, as none of these bodies are the final arbiter in this case. Scots Law is clear that there is no distinction between club and company after incorporation, when the company dies the club dies with it. That is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact.
Sooner or later The Rangers fans are going to realise this fact and when they do, there will be hell to pay. Until they do, their new club can never become truly cleansed. Only then can they move on and only then can they join together with fans of other clubs to root out the real cancer at the heart of Scottish football. That’s why the MSM and the SFA are still petrified to say anything. In the meantime the real creators of this disaster are sneakily positioning themselves further and further away from the scene of the crime.
I am sure the majority of us would happily accept a new Rangers, cleansed of its financial, emotional and supremacist baggage. A club that all decent Rangers fans could support without feeling any guilt about Rangers downfall or that they were being taken for mugs. The prospect of a new dawn in Scottish football, where sporting integrity took primacy and clubs lived within their means was very real. However, as usual the SFA couldn’t miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
The truth is that Scottish football is in the state it is in, not because Rangers died but because those with the power and mandate to effect the prognosis sat back and did nothing. I am sure that they believe that ‘time heals all wounds’ and that the longer this injustice is allowed to stand the more likely it will be accepted by the man in the street. No doubt the authorities feel it is in the national interest to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. However I cannot accept this. I believe that it is vital that we are able to face up to reality so we can move on for the benefit of all football supporters.
Scottish football is at a crossroads right now, I think we all feel it. Rampant corruption has become so mainstream that many of our fellow supporters have began to accept this as the norm. However, it just doesn’t sit right with me and I suspect that many regular contributors and readers of this blog feel likewise.
We have quite lost our way and we live in a society which spends vast amounts of money paying people like Jack Irvine to ensure that we stay lost. The mainstream media treat us like little imbeciles and demand that we conform to their assumed ‘professional superiority’. The PR machine plays up to our stereotypes and feeds our fantasies while the poorest people pay to swallow their poisonous propaganda and relentless trivia.
So what can we do ? Clearly, battering out a few blog posts and strongly worded letters to the various authorities involved has been rewarded by the square root of FA.
How can we make this an opportunity for growth rather than contributing to the destruction of Scottish football ? It is not good enough to tear down a system unless we have a better system to replace it. However, I believe that it is not the system itself which is broken. It is that those charged with administering the system are hopelessly corrupted, hugely conflicted and unable to apply their rules without fear or favour.
By their incapacity and inaction (wilful or otherwise) the SFA have facilitated a motley crew of various spivs, chancers and con-artists to glean the last few meagre pickings from the bones of the emaciated loyal supporters of this new club purporting to be the once mighty Rangers. They have permitted these ne’er-do-wells to collectively appropriate many tens of millions of pounds from the Rangers fans, the creditors and the public purse. They have already allowed this corporate malignancy to spread to a new host, ‘The Rangers’, and the absence of ‘moral hazard’ makes it more likely that the disease will continue to spread.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “‘Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Someone else once said, “The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.”
I sense that we are all beginning to get tired of this. It is time to stand together, all football fans, face the facts and direct our anger against the officers of the SFA who have allowed this sham to develop into a catastrophe.
I have no doubt that my humble opinions expressed here will raise the ire of many deluded souls. However, I am comfortable in the knowledge that the only people who get mad at you for speaking the truth are those that are living a lie.
RIP Big Man.
Tif Finn @ 8:31 pm
Couldn’t agree more.
The Rubicon has been crossed but we’re still rather close to the banks.
The, at best, ineffectiveness of the press was one of the main pillars of RTC and the one that probably still irks me the most.
Without someone calling out those who deserve it, they will blithely continue doing just what they want.
Can you imagine where we would be now if we were still dependant on the under-reporting (and in some cases outright mis-reporting) of events by the MSM?
The sooner most of the sports desks in this country fold, the better. Their time has passed. They will not be missed.
borussiabeefburg says:
September 9, 2013 at 8:31 pm
————————————
That would be the same person who said this:
“Without Rangers, there is social unrest and a big problem for Scottish society,”
nowoldandgrumpy says:
September 9, 2013 at 9:00 pm
borussiabeefburg says:
September 9, 2013 at 8:31 pm
————————————
That would be the same person who said this:
“Without Rangers, there is social unrest and a big problem for Scottish society
=================
Tom English?
Courtesy of Cartuja
Very, very good picture:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BTvevxeCUAAddT3.jpg:large
Bangordub says:
September 9, 2013 at 9:04 pm
Definitely one for the scrap book
andygraham.66 says:
September 9, 2013 at 8:26 pm
http://terracepodcast.net/misc/2013/9/9/scottish-football-nicknames-ranking-12-1
OT – but a wee celebration of Scottish team nicknames and their origin (with my lot at #1)
============================================
I recall the late Michael Marra once relating this football chant from ‘The Loons’ :
“We can’t read and we can’t write,
But it doesn’t matter,
For we are Forfar Athletic fans,
And we can drive a tractor…”
Scottish football needs a strong Arbroath.
Kilgore Trout says:
September 9, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Here’s probably the most off topic post ever, even for this place.
I am currently re-reading Kurt Vonnegut books, having read them years ago. I am on Hocus Pocus just now. God bless ebooks.
Apologies and carry on.
Tif Finn says:
September 9, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Kilgore Trout says:
September 9, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Here’s probably the most off topic post ever, even for this place.
I am currently re-reading Kurt Vonnegut books, having read them years ago. I am on Hocus Pocus just now. God bless ebooks.
========================================
I prefer Sylvia but HP is great too….
Scottish football needs to focus…..
Tif Finn @ 9:11 pm
And very briefly back.
It was my intention at the start of the year to reread all the ones I have previously read and to fill in the gaps (including Hocus Pocus) as I went along..
This place has put paid to that!
nawlite says:
September 9, 2013 at 7:20 pm
14 0 Rate This
Shooperb says:
September 9, 2013 at 6:04 pm
“it’s a bit like The Smiths/Morrissey, different but essentially the same thing.”
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(Look at my avatar) Oh boy, opinion as fact! Sorry Shooperb, but while I still love Morrissey, there’s no way he can be considered the same as (equal to) the Smiths. Without Johnny’s melodies and guitar playing, Moz has never been able to match his wonderful past! (OT I know, but if folks can post epistles about Star Trek/Wars then……lol)
=====================
OT
Took the wife to see Johnny Marr at an intimate venue here in May, [I was a fan from his ‘thethe’ days].
Great musician and the wife was suitably impressed even though she had no idea who he was.
Kilgore Trout says:
September 9, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Madbhoy24941 @ 7:43 pm
The only consistency I’ve seen from Mr Spiers and far too many of his fellow journalists (I often feel I should put that word in inverted commas) has been a consistent refusal to put a few simple questions directly to those in positions of authority and to keep doing so until they receive satisfactory answers.
I’ve, clearly rather naively, always thought that that was their job.
===========================================================
I remember Spiers was on a phone-in earlier this year after Charles Green had come away with yet another of his rants. A caller asked Spiers why Green was never challenged by the media on the nonsense he spouted. Spiers got very irate and refused to engage with the caller, choosing instead to demand ‘how the caller knew what they did and did not ask Green’. I still don’t get his point to this day. The callers point on the other hand was obvious.
A fantastic few days of comments and informative facts,for the sevco fans though they are still caught in their own headlights ,I now imaginet what they take as rebuilding [as opposed to a new club building] the team on the park but the realisation is its a house of cards they are building ,keep going guys but your bottom row is the one that is made up of the spivs involved in the takeover ,this will be taken away one day,the question is what day ,it will happen .
Police Scotland to have an internal investigation. Yet another whitewash coming up then.
It’s laughable how so many organisations have had Internal inquiries, commissions, reports or some sort of fake justification for their incompetence, polis, courts, regulators, football bodies even charities have all seemingly made mistakes which just so happen to have benefited the tribute act from Govan.
I sincerely hope someone is near to uncovering the driving force behind such an extraordinary sequence of beneficial events/rulings. Although I think the politics behind it may become apparent soon enough.
Danish Pastry says:
I’ve lost count of the number of on-going investigations. I wonder if @newtz has those catalogued?
Will this one end up in suspended animation like the others? Of course, there’s no suggestion JI or Media House are involved. That would surely be unthinkable because I read the other day that Irvine deplores leaks.
————-
So many threads to follow …. Charlotte has flooded us with info and helped fit a lot of the jigsaw pieces together …… allowing incredible posts by a number of posters …..
Now that C has rested, it gives a chance to digest further and string the different storylines together ….
Still requires a lot of investgation/trawling to get some of the stuff ……
And Jack ………..
Hi-Jack ….. I know you read !
How’s your trip planner these days ….
👿
Newtz,
“allowing incredible posts by a number of posters”
Not least yourself
newtz says:
September 9, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Jack’s tripping? That would explain a lot.
Dinner is served:
http://youtu.be/3K7AHnjgb_c
Well said Davie
Bangordub says:September 9, 2013 at 11:29
Thanks …… And what a belter from Eco …… blew my socks off
Simply incredible stuff from many others on here ….
100BJD posts (including previous) on Novation is super ….. the missing doc … understanding the mechanism is key.
Remember, D&P required a ‘High burden of Proof’ …. they were acting as Officers of the Court
What was that proof ? …… verbal agreement will not cut it ….. !
Should come out in the upcoming Court case !
Galling fiver says:
September 9, 2013 at 11:12 pm
‘..I sincerely hope someone is near to uncovering the driving force behind such an extraordinary sequence of beneficial events/rulings. ‘
—-
In the poet’s words ” I grow old,I grow old I shall wear my trousers rolled..’
Although I doubt if T S Eliot ever handled a chisel in his life.
newtz says:
September 10, 2013 at 12:17 am
‘…D&P required a ‘High burden of Proof’ …. they were acting as Officers of the Court..’
————
And may very well end up in jail for perverting (ha! perhaps an appropriate word) the course of justice.
Lord Hodge may very well not be amused at having been taken for a ride, side-saddle or otherwise, by lying barrow- boy bastards.
No one enjoys being conned, least of all High court judges.
Except perhaps leggolanders who seem to like being shafted fore and aft .
Tif Finn says:
September 9, 2013 at 9:11 pm
‘..Here’s probably the most off topic post ever, even for this place.’
—–
For you, Vonnegut .
For me, Carl Hiaasen.
Read him and enjoy!
john clarke@ 1:37am
For you, Vonnegut .
For me, Carl Hiaasen.
Read him and enjoy!
……………
and for sevconians…..Rod Serling- The Twilight Zone
newtz says:
September 9, 2013 at 11:16 pm
18 0 Rate This
————
It was a rhetorical Q from me newtz. It would take someone with your dedication to detail to map out every one of the ongoing legals (not to mention the charity stuff and the SFA disciplinary cases) 😉
@Bawsman
Davie is an absolute star, it’s clued-up callers like him who have made that show worthwhile listening.
Jim Spence twitter feed last night appeared to show a man in jovial spirits. Twitter feeds can deceive of course, but more than anything else right now BBC Scotland need to come out and state unequivocally that valid opinions are permitted on their programmes, whether or not everyone agrees with them. People from all walks of life, with all sorts of different interests, finance the BBC. Surely the organisation just can’t sit in silence and allow their programme content to be dictated by a bullying football club and its baying mob of supporters.
john clarke @ 1:37 am
Carl Hiaasen. I do and I do.
upthehoops @ 7:20 am
I hope Jim Spence has told the BBC that that is the very least he expects them to do otherwise he walks.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/further-to-requisition-of-general-meeting/201309100700105771N/
Been away for a while and just catching up with events. Seems to me that Jim Spence has offered his opinion on the New Club and has become public enemy number one for doing so. Graham Spiers admits to being of the same opinion but uses ‘fruity language’ to dress his thoughts up and this seems to slip past the TRFC fans unnoticed. Do the bigger words confuse the supporters of TRFC?
The longer the need for the MSM to tred on eggshells when talking about TRFC the deeper the cancer becomes. If we cannot confront what some people see as the re-writing of history without threats and serial complaints then what is the point of democracy? The longer the SFA continues to refuse to make a definitive statement on the status of the team now plying it’s trade from the Ibrox base then the longer the game here will remain in a state of confusion. Strong governance is required now before it is too late. The BBC and ALL journalists have to stand behind Jim Spence whether they agree with him or not. They must observe his basic right to call it as he sees it. This should be the rock that journalism is built on. Somehow in Scottish football this ethos has become completely eroded.
Carfins Finest says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:05 am
0 0 Rate This
http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/further-to-requisition-of-general-meeting/201309100700105771N/
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What are the odds of a further delay being announced on Friday, I wonder. That must be the best part of a month the EGM has now been ‘put off’. At this rate it could happen after the AGM
Carfins Finest says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:05 am
Now there’s a surprise 🙄
Dont know if the EGM is getting closer or further away..
Carfins Finest says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:43 am
3 0 Rate This
Dont know if the EGM is getting closer or further away..
==============================
Maybe it’s tidal 🙂
I have been reading this blog since RTC days; thoroughly enjoy the work that is put in here by the many informed posters. Cannot help however wondering if it is all in vain as far as any punishment of the team from Govan is concerned. It just seems as they can do as they like with impunity!
Alas can but hope that something will give and they will get their comeuppance.
Carfins Finest says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:05 am
So no surprises, yet another delay on this EGM.
The question that has been troubling my grey matter is what is McColl’s overall plan if his group do ever gain control.
Clearly he wants Blin, with his background, to not only look under the bonnet but strip the engine down to see what is really going on.
If the engine is repairable then how is that going to happen?
McColl has said he doesn’t want to get involved but could he get his ‘professionals’ in and sit in the background as a guarantor to future financial deals, be that share issues or loan/credit facilities that would be just enough to steady the ship and get the new club back to the top flight when a steady and increased season ticket income is a possiblity?
We all appreciate that cost cutting is probably still required but while some are predicting financial armageddon sooner than later I have always been a bit more cautious and think it is more a case of walking a fine line on the balance sheet.
Unless of course the spivs have really holed the ship well below the water line!!
Even if the spivs go, if McColl or somone else with cash or back up isn’t going to get involved then what is going to give to allow a sustainable club to survive and how will the fans react to the potential austerity measures that may be required?
Morning folks.
Importantly off topic.
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day.
Make a difference and check this out :
http://www.chooselife.net/Training/asist.aspx
It is constructed like a First Aid course-it really works.
Keep your mate in the game.
Even if the spivs go, if McColl or somone else with cash or back up isn’t going to get involved then what is going to give to allow a sustainable club to survive and how will the fans react to the potential austerity measures that may be required?
>>>>>>this is a major point. Ask any fan of Portsmouth or similar clubs, they first and foremost want a club to support. If that club is languishing in the lower leagues then so be it. In fact some see that as a positive as it is far away from the monster of the overpaid hype of the Premier league.
With the Govan club though its different, the entitlement to success over many years is such that a “living working sustainable club” isn’t enough. We all know that as long as they survive even if a shell of their former existence as Rangers, that they will be in the Top league, but that won’t be enough, they need to finish above Celtic on a regular basis.
The Rangersitisismen will probably know that and those with a bit of savvy will know that if they can’t deliver on that if they did gain back control of the gig, that the fans will turn on them just like the dog in I Am Legend turns on Will Smith, they just can’t help it, it’s in their makeup
More Armageddon!
http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/20130909/club-publishes-financial-statement_2262950_3452889
Paul Buchanan says:
September 10, 2013 at 9:00 am
Galling fiver says:
September 9, 2013 at 11:12 pm
I sincerely hope someone is near to uncovering the driving force behind such an extraordinary sequence of beneficial events/rulings. Although I think the politics behind it may become apparent soon enough.
—————————————————————————————-
Have you never heard of …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Paul
I think that while fraternal links and loyalties are rife among many of the players and certainly add to the confusion it is just that.
A confusion and complication.
To find the “driving force” follow the owners back to SDM.
He had the ego and the power and “built” the flawed dynasty with an inevitable outcome.
Then look at who the truth would now hurt.
I think that will lead you to an unlikely and unholy but informal group that touches finance, business, politics, our judiciary, football governance, our SPL Club Chairmen (well at least the well informed ones) and our mainstream media.
They all just want the bad stuff to go away but it just continually gets worse – for all of them.
And it will continue to get worse too until the truth comes out.
And as it does it will unravel all the way back to SDM and his inner circle.
Having just read the FF thread on the latest statement to AIM if I was a current board member at Sevco I would be bringing in more security for this weekend’s game. Calls for action both inside and outside the ground being demanded. Very few taking the side of the board. Concerns about sale and lease back.
Shirley to God the current board must realise that the end is nigh and that any notion of limping on until December is impossible.
scottc says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:31 am
8 0 Rate This
Carfins Finest says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:05 am
0 0 Rate This
http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/further-to-requisition-of-general-meeting/201309100700105771N/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What are the odds of a further delay being announced on Friday, I wonder. That must be the best part of a month the EGM has now been ‘put off’. At this rate
————
As all chefs know, it takes a long time to cook the books and produce a good ‘Trafiquer les Chiffres’.
Ah’ll get ma toque 😳
Paul Buchanan says:
September 10, 2013 at 9:00 am
32 8 Rate This
Galling fiver says:
September 9, 2013 at 11:12 pm
I sincerely hope someone is near to uncovering the driving force behind such an extraordinary sequence of beneficial events/rulings. Although I think the politics behind it may become apparent soon enough.
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Have you never heard of Freemasonry? _______________________________________
One thing that has always puzzled me is the claim that Freemasons are behind every conspiracy theory with regard to Servco.
It goes without saying that there are, like every other aspect of society, Freemasons involved in every club in Scotland,yes, So, how then could one club only be the beneficiary of freemasonry influence – is it possible the other masons are like the MSM -supine lapdogs!
CarlisleCelt says:
September 10, 2013 at 9:25 am
I have been reading this blog since RTC days; thoroughly enjoy the work that is put in here by the many informed posters. Cannot help however wondering if it is all in vain as far as any punishment of the team from Govan is concerned. It just seems as they can do as they like with impunity!
Alas can but hope that something will give and they will get their comeuppance.
————————-
I like probably thousands out there share your frustrations about the incredulous decisions made by LNS, FTTT, The “Independent enquiry” and even the charity people who more or less said we know you ripped us off for those 2 legend games but a little bit of something is better than nothing. I personally thought that the decision to give them a transfer ban was tailor made for their situation. (new club with no money to buy players anyway)
Regan’s silence and lack of leadership in the whole matter has been nothing short of disgraceful. I would love to think that Regan’s lack of action is down to his insider knowledge that Sevco were going to implode anyway. I would love to think it but I don’t. The man is a fool and is so far out of his depth.
I listened to the Homebhoys podcast on Spreaker last night and what Paul Larkin was saying kind of explains the reasons why the inactions against RFC/Sevco have taken place, http://www.spreaker.com/show/hail_hail_media
Bawsman says:
September 10, 2013 at 12:17 am
Brilliant, borrowed for twitter!
We’re all Jim Spence @p4ulsatim 47s
From TSFM, Davie on Clyde SSB, telling it like it is. Lasts 6 mins and well worth a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K7AHnjgb_c …
Spiers telling people that there is a fascinating range of comments on the piece about BBC apologising about Spence comments
99 comments so far and it shows you the chasm between both sides of the argument. Below though is the highlight section whereby someone tries to use a motorcycle co. liquidation as an argument to the continuation of the name
——–
You are of course wrong. I will give you a few further examples. I am a keen motorcyclist and own a Triumph Tiger. Now Triumph were liquidated in 1983 but now they are going strong and selling many motorcycles – using your logic how can this be? surely they should be called New Triumph Tiger (I bought it second hand).
For a similar story please try Norton and Indian motorcycles. Can you please wriggle out of this one?
3 2 •Reply•Share ›
John McEwan, Paisley Billy Fergus • 20 hours ago −
The reality of course is that you are comparing a brand name with a corporate entity. Rangers FC were founded in 1873 as a private club, like many football clubs they chose to incorporate circa 1899 and became The Rangers Football Club Limited. There was no division of club and company, they sought Limited company status to indemnify the club members from the effects of any possible insolvency, this protection is one of the principle drivers of becoming a Limited company.
Green’s bargain basement purchase of the assets of the insolvent club included the right to use brand names, and no one denies that the new club have the right to adopt the same brand name but the trademark is not a legal entity.
When Triumph Engineering went into receivership in 1983, John Bloor bought the name and manufacturing rights from the Official Receiver. The new company’s manufacturing plant and its designs were not able to compete against the Japanese, so Bloor decided against relaunching Triumph immediately. Initially, production of the old Bonneville was continued under licence by Les Harris of Racing Spares, in Newton Abbot, Devon, to bridge the gap between the end of the old company and the start of the new company. Supposing Green had decided not to relaunch for 5 years would it still have been the same club? Note :the new Triumph company shows its date of founding as 1984.
The inherent danger of revisionism is that the falsehood becomes recognised as the truth, indeed the proponents of the revisionist nonsense actually choose to believe their own bs, it lends conviction. The truth in this case is there is no division between ‘club’ and ‘company’ they are one and the same, the old club-company is in liquidation and the new club-company was founded in 2012.
If a Japanese businessman had bought the trademark and decided to launch it in the J-League would you still be arguing that it was the same club? Celtic could have purchased the tradename and retired it, where would your same club have been then?
There is no wriggling this side of the argument, just the truth, I am not certain that you are wriggling either I just think you basically don’t understand it.
CarlisleCelt says:
September 10, 2013 at 9:25 am
34 0 Rate This
I have been reading this blog since RTC days; thoroughly enjoy the work that is put in here by the many informed posters. Cannot help however wondering if it is all in vain as far as any punishment of the team from Govan is concerned. It just seems as they can do as they like with impunity!
Alas can but hope that something will give and they will get their comeuppance.
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I agree that we could have a long wait for any sort of justice in this saga and it’s a frightening reflection on Scotland that if any of the posters here was to reveal their identity in public their head could quite possibly end up on a spike on Edmiston Drive. Mr Salmond, if your proposed Scottish Constitution is going to enshrine freedom of speech please advise whether or not there’s going to be a specific exemption in relation to stating the truth about The Rangers.
CarlisleCelt says:
September 10, 2013 at 9:25 am
I have been reading this blog since RTC days; thoroughly enjoy the work that is put in here by the many informed posters. Cannot help however wondering if it is all in vain as far as any punishment of the team from Govan is concerned. It just seems as they can do as they like with impunity!
Alas can but hope that something will give and they will get their comeuppance.
============================================================
Sometimes the bad guys do get away with it but most of the time they don’t.
I see the role of this blog to bear witness to the cheating and corruption and to publish it so that the bad guys know we know and so do others. It does have an effect like water dripping on a stone – all it takes in the end is patience and perseverance.
Danish Pastry says:
September 10, 2013 at 10:33 am
scottc says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:31 am
Carfins Finest says:
September 10, 2013 at 8:05 am
http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/further-to-requisition-of-general-meeting/201309100700105771N/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What are the odds of a further delay being announced on Friday, I wonder. That must be the best part of a month the EGM has now been ‘put off’. At this rate
————
As all chefs know, it takes a long time to cook the books and produce a good ‘Trafiquer les Chiffres’.
Ah’ll get ma toque 😳
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Is that Brenda’s Tick-Toque 😀
Seriously the latest AIM notice would read to any investor au fait with the Rangers boardroom ‘politics’ to see it as a throwing in of the towel by the spivs who are now committed to a final battle which they may win or lose. But they don’t like to be in that kind of situation which can’t be controlled.
They have lost a lot of face by stepping back from getting their vote of confidence and I have no doubt that AIM got some stick from various investors over the wording of an earlier Rangers AIM notice on the issue.
It doesn’t look to me that there will be any agreement – it will go to a streaight vote at the general meeting and the BIG difference between the sides is that the McColl camp have nothing to lose personally – the other side do – a helluva lot ❗
ecobhoy says:
September 10, 2013 at 12:30 pm
“Sometimes the bad guys do get away with it but most of the time they don’t”
“all it takes in the end is patience and perseverance.”
Derek William Bentley 45 years
Bloody Sunday 41 Years
Hillsborough 23 years
———————————————
Watergate 2 years
Real journalists were on to this one, and did not let go.
Uk/ Scottish media, take note. :slamb:
ianjs says:
September 10, 2013 at 1:12 pm
ecobhoy says:
September 10, 2013 at 12:30 pm
“Sometimes the bad guys do get away with it but most of the time they don’t”
“all it takes in the end is patience and perseverance.”
Derek William Bentley 45 years
Bloody Sunday 41 Years
Hillsborough 23 years
———————————————
Watergate 2 years
Real journalists were on to this one, and did not let go.
Uk/ Scottish media, take note. :slamb:
==============================================
Once had the great honour of meeting Carl Bernstein.
I asked him if at any time they had been close to giving up bearing in mind all the oppobrium heaped on them by the White House and even other journalists.
A very short answer : “No”.
Sure wish we had that kind of fortitude in dear old Scotland.
Scottish society needs a strong and independent press.
ianjs says:
September 10, 2013 at 1:12 pm
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At one point or other people in power smeared the journalists on those stories as “obsessed”.
Works for me… 😉
Edgar Blamm @EdgarBlamm
Some speculation that they’re heading for an insolvency event before AGM, or a split of the assets, or both. Delays are while they organise.
Who he?
Graham Spiers piece out now on the absurdity of all this dead club / not dead (delete as app) stuff. Would copy/paste here but don’t know if that’s an issue as the Herald is now a three reads and you are out system, unless you stump up cash.
Luckily I’m on read 2
Obsessed – influenced or controlled by a powerful force such as a strong emotion.
Truth – That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.
Works for me too.
Bawsman says:
September 10, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Edgar Blamm @EdgarBlamm
Some speculation that they’re heading for an insolvency event before AGM, or a split of the assets, or both. Delays are while they organise.
Who he?
————————————————————————
An extremely erudite and knowledgeable member of the Twitterati.
andygraham.66 says:
September 10, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Graham Spiers piece out now on the absurdity of all this dead club / not dead (delete as app) stuff.
————
Not a bad piece by Spiers, though he stops short of giving his own opinion on the question.
Elsewhere in The Herald, we have a report on the EGM saga which states:
“The group have also proposed the return of ex-chairman John McClelland to the board.”
How can you return to somewhere you have never been?
Graham Spiers in the Herald:
A section of Rangers supporters feel deeply aggrieved, and much of it is justified. Their club was betrayed and ruined by a rogues’ gallery of dodgy geezers, and terrible damage was done.
The problem is, many of these same supporters originally gave their backing to some of these characters. I was outside Ibrox on May 7 2011 when Craig Whyte rode into town. If some Rangers fans that day had waved palm branches along Edmiston Drive they couldn’t have looked more exuberant in their welcome.
Egged on by the Daily Record, which repeatedly fawned to Whyte and fatuously hailed him “a billionaire”, a seed was being sown which would have catastrophic consequences.
When liquidation finally came to Rangers, an eruption of bitterness and casting around for blame broke out, and it continues to this day. Just ask Jim Spence, a BBC Scotland journalist, who has recently copped much flak.
Spence’s “crime” was an odd one. On Radio Scotland last week he blithely spoke words on air which a wide range of Scottish football observers, businessmen, insolvency people and more would have taken for granted. Spence referred to the liquidated Rangers Football Club plc as “the club that died”.
Amid this furnace of ill-feeling, for many Rangers supporters this is a detested and deeply hurtful phrase. And it fairly roused them to action. Over 400 Rangers fans complained to BBC Scotland, who duly issued an apology for any offence that may have been taken.
Rangers and their director of communication, James Traynor, leapt into action by issuing their own statement, appearing to warn that the club’s lawyers might get involved over a journalist such as Spence daring to use such words as “a dead club”.
Traynor should certainly know all about that. Last year, still working as a Daily Record columnist, this is what he himself wrote: “Rangers as we know them died. Rangers FC are dead.”
If, as Jim and Rangers are threatening, their lawyers go to war over Spence, it would surely count as the most farcical piece of litigation ever seen in Scottish football. For the sake of Rangers’ own head of communication, one must hope the legal pursuit is not retrospective.
The context of Spence and the BBC will have to be worked out separately. In recent months, the BBC Trust set out guidelines for referring to “old” and “new” Rangers, and held that the BBC in Scotland had failed to be precise in this.
But a wider point is more intriguing: are journalists, reporters and commentators really to be hounded for referring to the liquidated Rangers as “the old Rangers”?
There has been something sinister about the way Jim Spence has been treated, given that many would argue he merely stated the bleedin’ obvious.
Perhaps Spence and Traynor, in their separate ways, were trying to be controversial or provocative in their remarks. In which case, controversy can have its place, just as it must also be counter-challenged, such as here.
Where the exegetical fog exists is when, in debating the sins of the old Rangers regime, people seek to distinguish between the club then and now.
It inevitably needs a phrase such as “old” or “oldco” or “original” Rangers or some such delineation. The very language, though, makes some Rangers fans livid.
It is proving a painful subject. Some have argued that it shouldn’t matter; that even for ardent Rangers supporters, the club is here, it plays at Ibrox, it has the same name, the same strip, the same lustre. Why, it has been asked, make such a song and dance?
But I’ve discovered this won’t wash. For some Rangers fans it is an emotional agony to think of their precious club being dissolved last year – the notion is simply not for consideration.
The famed phrase “it was the company, not the club, which went bust” was born roundabout the spring of 2012, when liquidation became a certainty, and has been clung to ever since by fans. And hell mend anyone – and certainly any pesky hack – who dares to differ.
This has been a very painful experience for Rangers. And the venom and anger are showing no signs of abating.
jean7brodie says:
September 10, 2013 at 1:47 pm
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What pray, is Edgar’s specialism please?
Thanks in advance.
re three reads and your out, clear your cookies and there it is ?
Brilliant post by JohnBhoy on Paul Mac’s blog.
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/jim-spence-and-the-bbcs-lack-of-support-for-him/#more-4000
Phil Mac has just Tweeted this.
If it’s true – where do we go from here ?
Utter,utter disgrace
So 400 bears can email the beeb about a throwaway remark, yet nobody in that camp seems the least bit interested in the farce of the EGM/AGM timings and what has happened to circa 30 million GBP?
An aggressive PR policy is a great thing!
what else is being hidden behind this complete nonsense?
@Eeramacaroonbar
It is true, but thanks for thinking that I made it up….
PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
September 10, 2013 at 2:40 pm
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To be fair to the lad Phil, not believing what he reads at face value is probably a healthy trait.
There’s a shed load of folk on t’internet with the above infliction…….me included but that’s straight forward paranoia in my case.
BBC Scotland = gutless, spineless, cowards
Respect to Jim Spence and good wishes for the future 😥
@Bawsman
The story is rock solid.
PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
September 10, 2013 at 2:40 pm
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@Eeramacaroonbar
It is true, but thanks for thinking that I made it up….
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Didn’t mean it to come across like that – I’m sure it is true. What I meant is, that if Spence leaves voluntarily or otherwise it has just got beyond the pale now.
The whole country panders to them it’s beyond embarrassing
Re Jim Spence, An absolute feckin’ disgrace.
Now let’s see what the Rat Pack make of this.
Re Jim Spence
Since accurate reporting must come fairly high in any journalists job description, Jim might be better served suing the bastards for constructive dismissal?
Any thought from the employment law types?
As I said in the piece Spencey is a qualified law lecturer…
@PhilMacGiollaBhain
So Jim Spence is sacrificed for Sevco and the likes of Chick Young continue to receive publc money for on-air, incoherent jibberish.
Jim’s words only reflected alternative views, which is supposed to be what the BBC is about.
Help oor collective boabs.
@Eeramacaroonbar
I understand from sources close to the journalist that he is furious at the lack of public support from the corporation.
Developing story…
Re: Jim Spence, bloody sickening!
It’s gone way beyond football now and what we have is the state broadcaster pandering to the mob. Lessons from the past in other countries should make us all very wary of these latest developments.
Well, I may be mistaken, but can’t BBC Trust decisions can be appealed? Or is the decision written in stone?
————-
Complaints, appeals and other findings
The Trust acts as the final stage of the BBC complaints process, hearing complaints on appeal, should complainants not be satisfied with the responses they have received from the BBC’s Management. The Trust handles appeals via two Committees; the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) and the Complaints and Appeals Board (CAB).
The ESC deals with complaints about editorial content (i.e. complaints about actual programme content) and the CAB deals with all other general complaints, including TV Licensing and Fair Trading complaints.
The Trust publishes details of appeals heard by these two Committees, as well as findings regarding standards issues where there has been no editorial complaint. You can access these using the links below.
Will Scottish journalists stand up for Jim Spence?
I very much doubt it the spineless bunch of muppets that they are 🙁
paulonotini says:
September 8, 2013 at 8:06 pm
I took you advice and posted my complaint and the response is below:
___________________________________________________________________________
Dear Sirs,
With reference to your decision regarding the “Coverage of Rangers Football Club, BBC Online” detailed in the document:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2013/apr_may.pdf
… I feel that I must object to the conclusions reached.
Under Scottish Law, there is no differentiation between a football club and the company formed for the express purpose of managing and administering a football team. It would seem that the complainants views were upheld based upon the Editorial Complaints Unit (ECA) acceptance that there was a clear distinction between the company that ran Rangers Football club and the club itself but this is simply not the case.
In the appeal finding section in the document there are many examples cited of quotes indicating that the club is separate from the company however I should point out that all of these are from individuals and parties who have a vested interest in separating the club from the company for various commercial and financial reasons and appear to be using the BBC to perpetuate this stance. Further it is interesting to note that all of these quotes are from a point in time after Rangers Football Club failed to achieve a CVA and subsequently entered liquidation.
If you look at quotes from these same people/parties prior to the CVA, you will see a different and occasionally opposite point of view:
Charles Green – Ex-Rangers CEO
“all the history and tradition that we’ve been desperately trying to preserve would be just swept down the drain”
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4362942/Im-not-here-to-be-loved-Im-here-to-FIX-Rangers.html
Walter Smith – Ex-Rangers Chairman
“We wish the new Rangers Football Club every good fortune.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18503656
Duff & Phelps – Rangers Administrators
“The current club being liquidated, meaning a new club could be formed to inherit Ranger’s assets”
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/299754-dunfermline-have-problems-with-new-rangers-spl-entry/
James Traynor – Rangers Director of Communications
“No matter how Charles Green attempts to dress it up, a newco equals a new club”
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/james-traynor-spl-will-not-be-able-1129166
While I could cite many more quotes given the time, I believe it is much more appropriate to provide you with the definition of a football club provided by the Scottish Football Association with reference to the UEFA definition:
Part 3 – UEFA Club Licensing
Section 3 – The Club as Licence Applicant and the UEFA Licence
3.1 Definition of Licence Applicant
3.1.1 The Licence Applicant may only be a football club, that is the legal entity fully responsible for the football team participating in national and international competitions and which is the legal entity member of the Scottish Football Association (Full or Associate Member). The licence applicant is responsible for the fulfillment of the club licensing criteria.
This quite clearly states that the club is the legal entity, i.e. the company.
The football club formed in 1872 became a private company in 1899, and public company in 1982. Incorporation means that the club becomes a company. It is no longer, legally, a club, it is now a company. There is no legal distinction between the “company” and the “club.”
I posit that this means that the whole basis upon which the ECA decision was reached is fundamentally flawed. There is a new club and there is an old club and any journalist reporting on any story emanating from Ibrox should have the freedom to use these terms as appropriate where applicable.
I can understand that fans of the current The Rangers Football Club would wish to see their team as a continuation of the old one but there is no basis in law or under the regulations of the numerous footballing authorities within whose jurisdictions they fall that prevent use of these terms.
It must be taken into account that his is a highly emotive issue for many. The old club ran up debts of many millions of pounds and went into liquidation. Existing club creditors including the tax payer will get a pennies in the pound settlement at the end of the liquidation process and debenture holders will see their investment in the club reduced to nought. Where media coverage is given to the new club portraying them as healthy, debt-free and one of Britain’s largest and most successful clubs, then these people will rightfully feel indignation and their feelings should always be borne in mind.
The BBC is and must always remain an impartial organisation who are able to report facts as they appear to all their licence holders and not just one group who apply the most pressure.
Yours faithfully
JLeeHooker (Used my real name)
___________________________________________________________________________
Dear JLeeHooker,
Thank you for your comments on the Editorial Standards Committee’s finding regarding coverage of Rangers Football Club. Trustees understood that the issue is an emotive one and indeed this is explicit in the published decision. Trustees also understood the arguments concerning the status of the club in Scottish law. All of this was taken into account when the Committee came to its finding that, in the examples cited, BBC coverage had breached the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines.
The Committee’s findings on complaints are final; however, I will provide your email to the Committee for its information.
Yours sincerely,
XXXXX XXXX
Editorial Standards Committee Secretary