The Immortality Project

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.

 

3,959 thoughts on “The Immortality Project


  1. Lots of small purchases of RIFC shares. Is every individual purchase a vote at the upcoming Halloween party?


  2. @Zilch
    I initially stepped into the Fitba maelstrom in 2008 apropos a very important issue in the national game (anti-Irish racism).
    Ultimately if you’re going to take on something using journalism then it can’t be behind a pen name.
    I used the by-line “Mick Derrig” for many year in An Phoblacht, but that was a sort of house rule then (pen names) even the editor.
    The klan know who I am and that makes my words and my work more dangerous to them.


  3. Zilch says:
    September 17, 2013 at 4:15 pm
    ‘…..hence the reason we have to blog anonymously …’
    ——-
    And isn’t it unbelievable that we are constrained to do so in respect of a football matter!

    Happily -at the moment, anyway- we can write to the newspapers using our real names etc about any aspect of politics or business, disagreeing profoundly with others, in the certainty that we will not be physically abused or threatened.

    We are not at all sure that if we say a critical word about a dead club ( including, or especially, the fact that it is dead and has been replaced by a fake), we will not get our windaes, or our personal lights kicked in- even in douce Edinburgh.

    Have you seen Peakey Blinders ( and the great performance by Sam Neil)?

    That our Press are complicit in maintaining today the climate in which that kind of thuggery can be lightly dismissed says a lot.


  4. What I still don’t quite understand is this:
    If we fast forward say 3 or 5 years, and TRFC, [or whatever the Govan club is called by then], is about to enter the top league.
    Then, IMO, it will indeed be Armageddon.
    The Govan club will be wanting to settle imaginary ‘old scores’ with the top clubs, and want to display in everyones’ faces that yes, they are indeed The Peepil !

    And God help us at the first meeting with Celtic – never mind Aberdeen etc.
    Is that really what all this rule bending and favouritism for TRFC is aiming for ?

    The Govan club’s behaviour has regressed several years in the last 18 months or so.
    If it gets into the top league, IMO, it will regress many, many more years again.
    Outside of the Govan club – who can be bothered with all that nonsense ?

    The Scottish football administrations have amply displayed that they cannot govern competently in the current climate, so why would anyone have confidence that they would perform any better if / when the situation deteriorates further with the arrival of the Govan club in the top league ?

    The real threat to Scottish football is the appearance of the Govan club at the top league – followed fairly quickly by the potential departure of many sickened fans and their families from the game.
    Hope I am wrong of course.


  5. Angus1983 says:
    September 17, 2013 at 3:44 pm
    ecobhoy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    … is why it was decided by the SPL, SFA and SFL that TRFCL should be secretly granted absolute immunity with regard to its EBT Payments and Arrangements.
    ——
    Shurely with regard to RFC(plc)‘s EBT payments and arrangements?

    Unless, of course, TRFCL own that part of the business and history which includes those payments (but,as we know, they apparently only purchased select parts of the history, business and business history i.e. the good bits.)

    (P.S. Genuinely wondering why the TDs for suggesting Zilch’s post gets sent to the papers’ Letters pages?)
    =====================================================
    The immunity is exclusively to TRFCL and applies to EBTs and Arrangements.

    However “EBT Payments and Arrangements” are defined as:

    payments made by RFC into an employee benefit trustor trusts and/or payments made by RFC into sub trusts of such trust or trusts and/or payments bysuch trusts and/or sub trusts and any and all arrangements, agreements and/or undertakings relatingto or concerning such payments;

    In the document RFC is defined as: THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB PLC (IN ADMINISTRATION) but we know the IA version didn’t make any EBT payments or at least I hope it didn’t. It could merely be sloppy drafting but could also conceal something else that I am as yet unaware of.

    Let’s accept they mean THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB PLC Ebt payments but and I’m losing the plot here is that who actually made the payments? But one thing is clear it doesn’t state that the arrangements were only arrangements of THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB PLC or THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB PLC (IN ADMINISTRATION).

    So it’s a bit of a mess when trying to interpret what is meant 😕

    As to the TDs I tend to ignore them as I seldom understand the logic or lack of it which is employed but then, without knowing the ID of the thumbers, it’s difficult to interpret logic or motive or even identify a slip of the thumb 😆


  6. @StevieBC
    In your dystopian fitba future you should add an entirely cowed press pack who will be too frightened to call The People out about anything.


  7. Danish Pastry says:
    September 17, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    Lots of small purchases of RIFC shares. Is every individual purchase a vote at the upcoming Halloween party?

    =====================

    Each share is worth a vote, not each purchase. So somoene buying 20 shares 5 times has 100 “votes”. Someone buying 100 shares in 1 purchase has the same 100 “votes”.

    Overall it is estimated that the fans have around 11% of the vote, though that assumes they all use that vote at the AGM or give their proxy to someone to use on their behalf.

    A group like the RST may have something like 0.5% of the vote, but if they can convince the fans to give them their proxy that could go up to 11 or 12%.


  8. eddie rice says:
    September 17, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    Ian has embargoed it, (I assume so the legal types can check it), but he hopes it will be up soon.


  9. Zilch says:
    September 17, 2013 at 4:15 pm
    ——
    Fair comment, Zilch.

    Being possibly a bit more removed from the Central Belt, I considered offering my name to your words. But it seems that, all things considered, I lack that final element of bravery too! 🙂

    There are letters printed in the Scotsman with a “Name and Address Withheld” byline. I believe that if one requests anonymity stating the obvious concerns, as long as contact details are supplied, the editor can do this.

    Still, given the over-riding suspicion of the MSM and their allegiances, probably best not even to do that!

    What a poor show, eh?


  10. Tif Finn says:
    September 17, 2013 at 5:05 pm
    3 0 Rate This

    Danish Pastry says:
    September 17, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    Lots of small purchases of RIFC shares. Is every individual purchase a vote at the upcoming Halloween party?

    =====================

    Each share is worth a vote, not each purchase …
    ———-

    Thanks, I have been assured there is no such thing as a stupid question, although I must come close 🙂 I wasn’t sure if each shareholder had a single democratic vote at the AGM. In that case, I suppose the large number of small purchases is of no relevance, other than a gauge, perhaps, of supporter confidence.


  11. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    September 17, 2013 at 5:05 pm

    @StevieBC
    In your dystopian fitba future you should add an entirely cowed press pack who will be too frightened to call The People out about anything.
    ————————————————-
    Dystopian present, it would seem


  12. Dystopian – Sounds like the steam punk game my lad is into just now…


  13. Danish Pastry says:
    September 17, 2013 at 6:21 pm
    Tif Finn says:
    September 17, 2013 at 5:05 pm
    Danish Pastry says:
    September 17, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    Lots of small purchases of RIFC shares. Is every individual purchase a vote at the upcoming Halloween party?
    =====================
    Each share is worth a vote, not each purchase …
    ———-
    Thanks, I have been assured there is no such thing as a stupid question, although I must come close 🙂 I wasn’t sure if each shareholder had a single democratic vote at the AGM. In that case, I suppose the large number of small purchases is of no relevance, other than a gauge, perhaps, of supporter confidence.
    —————————————————–
    Basically it’s Bears who haven’t previously purchased shares buying a small number to get access to the agm although I would have thought there must be a cut-off point timewise. I think they were estimating a 5000 attendance but who knows it could end up anywhere between 50K and 500 million.

    Should be a fun day out 🙄


  14. ecobhoy says:

    September 17, 2013 at 6:35 pm
    ________________________________

    Perhaps Lord Nimmo Smith might be prepared to answer the questions I have posed.

    Eco, does Paul have anyway of pushing it direct, or will LNS become aware of the issue through it being posted on his blog?

    Seems strange that a legal blog meant for those in the legal profession has no problems with Charlotte Fakes and yet the SMSM is still cowering in a cupboard

    So true.


  15. ecobhoy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 6:40 pm
    3 0 Rate This
    ———–

    Sounds like potential pandemonium. Where is it being held? Maybe the 30th of October would be ok for admin.


  16. PhilMacGiollaBhain says:
    September 16, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    36

    5

    Rate This

    @briggsbhoy
    I can’t go with you on that.
    I know of the support that JS has had from the NUJ throughout this.
    Unfair.
    Very unfair.
    =====================================================================
    Hi Phil, can you please give us examples of the support for Jim? Please?


  17. Danish Pastry says:
    September 17, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    I believe the 1st Battalion The Cameronian Rifles will be providing security, with the Guards Armoured Division on call…..


  18. ECO BHOY @ 6.35pm. You beat me to the punch there. I echo your statement about the upstanding Scottish Law Reporter. surely this publication must be noted in both legal and journalistic areas. I’ll await any repercussions with bated breath. Congrats to ECOJON for getting his blog published.


  19. ——
    @DouglasF
    Sandy Easdale buys #Rangers shares worth more than £1m, taking stake to 4.4% of #rfc
    8:10pm – 17 Sep 13
    ——

    Come on you finance experts, why is he doing this?


  20. Gents ,

    No surprises over the last wee while, the SMSM still trying to bolster their falling circulation figures by bigging up Rangers; comedy gold from McCoist and Black ; boardroom hysterics continue; silence is golden from Hampden.

    I expect (as the cash runs down ) that social taxes will be withheld again and that the game of bluff between the Spivs and the Brogues will continue to just after Christmas when the Spivs realise the Brogues have no money and put the ‘Club’ into administration just in time for the transfer window to open up ……. As both sides are majoring on greed and incompetence with a bonkers media trying to back the right horse ….. anything can happen with 2 sets of rogues (with and without brogues) in any future negotiation.

    Odds in favour of the brogues buying the club ( whats left of it) and then having an immediate legal dispute with the spivs on the ground rental ( brogues will not pay one penny rent and no Scottish Court will force them) , if the Spivs foresee this problem then they will maximise their cash prior to any agreement , über mgt charges; player transfers; picture of the Queen in the changing rooms , you name it , it will be sold.

    The AGM will be an exercise in sophistry …. I would say that there is a 20% chance that due to incompetence and a misreading of each others negotiating position that a second liquidation is possible.


  21. nawlite says:
    September 17, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Eco, does Paul have anyway of pushing it direct, or will LNS become aware of the issue through it being posted on his blog?
    ———————————————————————————————————————-
    Paul runs a Blog but from his professional position I would not expect him to become involved in pushing a point of view expressed by one of his posters – that is really up to them or others.

    I have some ideas of how to progress this matter and am working away at that side of things. It was quite funny in that I was asked by a SMSM journo when I would be speaking to LNS and I’m not sure how he took my response which was: ‘Certainly it will be long before any journalist does so’.


  22. scapaflow says:
    September 17, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    Essexbean counter

    Oh my aching sides

    http://www.pirc.co.uk/news/%E2%80%9Cwhat-deemed-be-right%E2%80%9D
    =====================================================================
    I feel another guest post coming on – possibly about the shortcomings of Companies House in ensuring Annual Returns are actually completed in line with statutory requirements.


  23. Danish Pastry says:
    September 17, 2013 at 7:13 pm
    0 0 Rate This

    ——
    @DouglasF
    Sandy Easdale buys #Rangers shares worth more than £1m, taking stake to 4.4% of #rfc
    8:10pm – 17 Sep 13
    ——

    Come on you finance experts, why is he doing this?

    to facilitate money laundering once he owns the club? hahahahaha


  24. EKBhoy at 7:17 pm
    The man I feel sorry for most in that scenario is the Pie-man.
    He wears a double-breasted camel coat and has the quintessential brown brogues.
    Which way will he walk?
    I guess the answer is blowing in the wind…


  25. Willie ‏@emcpostie 1m
    @Pmacgiollabhain @Auldheid @EdgarBlamm @Heavidor @Propa_Gander @TheTributeAct …
    http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11712495

    The Company announces that it was notified today, 17 September 2013, that on 10 September Alexander (Sandy) Easdale, acquired 2,125,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company (“Ordinary Shares”). Following the acquisition, Mr Easdale holds 2,842,957 Ordinary Shares, representing 4.37% of the issued share capital of the Company.


  26. Just as the damn holding back the footballing sewage has now been breached, the damn holding back the much more seriously toxic financial sewage is beginning to crumble. We have miles to go yet, but the wave is coming…..

    I imagine one or two people are already researching the Guiness defence…..


  27. “Easdale, acquired 2,125,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each…”
    I thought the current share price was circa 50 ?
    What’s going on?


  28. On the subject of anonymous/eponymous comment in the media, I have had several negative (to say the least) comments published under my own name, listing village, in the Record. These included pleading for Pretendgers (as I termed them), not to be allowed into the SFL, as apart from anything they hadn’t at that time played any football, and a lot of far from light hearted mickey taking. I’m surrounded by bears at work, in my village, and in my partner’s family. My bones and windows remain unbroken, although one can sense the subject getting changed the odd time – “it’s old Famous, talk horse racing or any damned thing!”


  29. scapaflow says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:01 pm
    0 0 Rate This

    Just as the damn holding back the footballing sewage has now been breached, the damn holding back the much more seriously toxic financial sewage is beginning to crumble. We have miles to go yet, but the wave is coming…..

    I imagine one or two people are already researching the Guiness defence…..

    ———————————

    Or the Chewbacca defence ( sorry just had to ) 😳


  30. EKBhoy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 7:17 pm
    Gents,…?
    Did you mean Ladies and Gents! 😉


  31. Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
    September 17, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    Any laundering is just as likely to be when he buys the shares. As previously stated depending on how and where the payment for them is made. If for example it is from one Carribean Bank account to another who is to say where the money came from originally.

    The upshot being he now has ~5% of Rangers and any money he gets in from that is effectively clean. Which is very ironic.


  32. nowoldandgrumpy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    I suspect that we will eventually see that the goings on at Rangers were actually quite trivial, compared to the rest


  33. sixtaeseven says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    That’s what the shares are called, they could trade for £100 each, they would still be 1p shares.


  34. Sixtaeseven

    McCoist will just sit tight until someone hands him his P45 , I estimate that as 100% probability!


  35. “Easdale, acquired 2,125,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each…”

    Well that is one way to ensure the Halloween Zombie night goes your way….

    Could it be these are the ones left over from IPO and CG says buy mine at 50p each (or something) and I will give you a bunch at 1p…..can he do that? I know not all shares were allocated after IPO – correct? The ones CG said he would take up If no one wanted them – did not realize they may be 1p shares tho.

    Am sure the Bearz who bought at 75p are loving this!


  36. EKBhoy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:10 pm

    An odds on racing certainty? What I believe Mr Black refers to as a “nap”?


  37. ometimes there are feelings and sentiments of annoyance, disappointment and anger when, after a game of football, the referees piss-poor performance is the focus of post-match analysis.

    Similarly, we now have the governing bodies’ performance in the game as the story – and they will be for some time to come. This really is not a Rangers/Celtic thing anymore, but all about the dodgy dealings of those who run our game.

    They can be described as, amongst other things, conflicted, amateurish, dodgy, underhand or simply bent.

    But I think I would add another word.

    Thrall.

    They are in ‘thrall’ to Rangers, and having a Rangers as part of the Scottish Football landscape, regardless of any proper application of their own rules.

    Assuming the recent CF releases are genuine…

    Things look more inconsistent and muddy to me now than they did a few weeks ago.

    … …

    The SPL to Sevco ‘Let Youse Aff’ letter.

    Eco covers some implications of this letter admirably and makes many valuable points, but I note the suggestion that much might arise from asking LNS what he was fully aware of and what he may not have been. I don’t think that approach will lead anywhere much.
    LNS commission is best considered as legal consultancy by a company – the SPL.

    I figure that not only did LNS have sight of the letter that Let Sevco Aff, but also had to construct some principles of the SPLIC around it.

    In the SPLIC ground rules LNS says Sevco cant be held to be responsible by an organisation it was never in, nor thus subject to any rules. This aligns with the SPL to Sevco ‘Let Youse Aff’ letter. But LNS in SPLIC does go on to say that the SPL may (depending at that time on any future decision by the commission) hold a ‘Rangers FC’ responsible, separately from Rangers Football Club Plc.
    This route to potentially landing something at Sevco door works if ‘Rangers FC’ is not a ‘Person’ – and LNS indeed says as much. He has Rangers FC as a club, but only in common speech. Legally, it is not a club.

    Since Sevco may have been deemed by the powers that be to somehow have become the owner operator of what was then recognised to be a Rangers FC (going by the definitions in the 5WA), Sevco may be affected by the SPLIC outcomes.

    I reckon LNS set out the ground rules with the SPL to Sevco ‘Let Youse Aff’ letter in mind, at least in part, and set out that Rangers FC had no legal personality, so that some kind of disciplinary action might be taken whilst avoiding the hurdle of this SPL to Sevco ‘Let Youse Aff’ letter.

    ‘We will not decide anything that directly affects you, but might decide something that indirectly could affect you’.

    As I understand things, the SPL is still the SPL in legal terms, it has simply rebranded itself and included the SFL. The SFL is no more. The SPL is still the same company number, unless things have changed since Paul McConville checked them out a few months ago.

    The SPLIC also decides that it is not legal proceedings or legal process – its more like a commission that provides legal consultancy. If so, I would not expect Eco putting questions to LNS would be in any way productive.

    Hidden from view.

    However, possibly more productive questions might be put:

    I am curious as to whom this ‘Let Youse Aff’ letter is supposed to be hidden from?

    Just the fans?

    What if it was intended to also be hidden from the SFA? It is a letter from one commercial entity (SPL) to another (Sevco). There is no commercial imperative that the SFA need be informed. Might there have been some reason why this should have been hidden from the SFA at the time?

    But a question that now occurs to me, with significant consequence either if true or not: What if it was also hidden from the other SPL chairmen? If it was, is Mr Doncaster’s position now tenable if he acted ‘unilaterally’ as it were?

    In many ways it is more significant for Scottish Football and its integrity if it was not. Where do all the top clubs, including Celtic, now stand if they had full visibility of it and were appraised of what it means?


  38. Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
    September 17, 2013 at 7:47 pm
    3 1 Rate This
    ———-

    I hadn’t seen the discounted price. Jings. I suppose sometimes clubs get the owners and major shareholders they deserve.


  39. http://scottishlaw.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/questions-over-nimmo-smith-inquiry-as.html

    Regarding THE SECRET (5way) AGREEMENT and the part of the SPL

    CAN’T YOU SEE – CELTIC are party to this agreement

    . . . So why are CELTIC / REILLY / LAWWELL, not being taken to task over this by the CELTIC minded?

    We should boycott SPFL games until we get some answers from CELTIC on this !!!!

    (I’m not giving celtic anymore money until there is answers from one or all three)


  40. Exiled Celt says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:10 pm
    1 0 Rate This

    “Easdale, acquired 2,125,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each…”

    +++++++++++++++++++++
    That doesn’t mean that Easdale paid 1p per share. As I understand it, the nominal value of all the RIFC PLC shares is 1p. So all shares are shares “of 1p”. What is paid for them is another matter entirely. Some paid nothing, some paid 1p, the fans paid 70p, some heroes paid over 90p in January. I don’t know what Easdale paid, but if he bought them off Green, then it was a lot more than 1p, I don’t think the company could issue more shares after the IPO without notifying all existing shareholders, since any new shares would dilute the value of existing shareholders holdings.


  41. Carl31 says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:20 pm
    ‘..But a question that now occurs to me, with significant consequence either if true or not: What if it was also hidden from the other SPL chairmen? ‘
    —–
    There was certainly an occasion when the SPL chairs were miffed at some executive action taken by the Board without consulting them.
    Perhaps the CEO took that line further and took independent action secretly without telling the rest of the Board!


  42. Exiled Celt says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:10 pm

    “Could it be these are the ones left over from IPO…”
    ———————–
    That’s what I was thinking Exiled. Tiff Finn posted above that this was a naming convention and I would bow to any greater knowledge but there is something about that statement that makes me think it is the former rather than the latter.


  43. john clarke says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    Given that the assholes would then have gone on to promote the so and so to head up the SPFL, it doesn’t look like much of a defence now does it?


  44. http://www.rangers.co.uk/club/history/crest

    and another thing…why are Sevco still allowed to claim the use of the badge and
    Also have ‘trophies’ won (since the Sevco start up year of 2012)
    Added to ‘trophies’ won by Rangers(1872)

    Yet at the bottom of the website – the company number is only applicable to Sevco (The Rangers)


  45. jimlarkin says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    ….because the secret side letter, was in part at least, in relation to them buying the history, and the authorities indemnifying them in relation to the financially toxic elements in the history?


  46. jimlarkin says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    That’s entirely up to you jim.

    If you don’t like decisions Celtic are making or the actions of the board then you are quite right not giving the club any more of your money.

    To each their own.


  47. ecobhoy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    I have some ideas of how to progress this matter and am working away at that side of things. It was quite funny in that I was asked by a SMSM journo when I would be speaking to LNS and I’m not sure how he took my response which was: ‘Certainly it will be long before any journalist does so’.
    =====================================================
    Eco, I have long since realised you are a man of substance. I have faith in you and look forward to your ideas bearing fruit. I am also intrigued that you seem to know many Journalists well !


  48. scapaflow says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:03 pm
    3 0 Rate This

    john clarke says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    Given that the assholes would then have gone on to promote the so and so to head up the SPFL, it doesn’t look like much of a defence now does it?
    +++++++++++++
    The clubs- and I mean all of them- are in this up to their necks and beyond. Look at the events of the last few months. President of the SFA, Ogilvie, re-elected unopposed by all 42 clubs. Doncaster given a huge pay rise and appointed CEO of the SPFL. Poor old Regan- he only got a huge pay rise for his very convincing invisible man act.

    These people don’t operate in a vacuum, they are employed by, and answer to, the clubs. The message to me is crystal clear- the clubs, all of them, are happy with these people, and what they have done . Otherwise they would be out on the pavement, not richly rewarded for their efforts. The idea that the clubs have somehow been kept in the dark is simply insupportable- in my opinion.


  49. neepheid says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    Very eloquent statement of the unpalatable facts, thank you!


  50. Tif Finn says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:29 pm
    1 2 Rate This

    jimlarkin says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    That’s entirely up to you jim.

    If you don’t like decisions Celtic are making or the actions of the board then you are quite right not giving the club any more of your money.

    To each their own.

    ———————————————

    Thanks TFinn

    CELTIC by their actions are ‘complicit

    And celtic fans, by their actions (doing and saying nothing)

    Are ALSO complicit !!!

    I just can’t understand the ignorance of the importance of this.
    Celtic obviously in on any kind of tribute act playing league football in front of other contenders for admission to the league I.e Spartans and also allowing e.g Spartans to be treated badly in so many ways…like the missing signature from a document – penalty – thrown out of the scottish cup.

    . . .Rangers (1872) – hide side letters for DOS and also EBT’s . . . No annulment of games played in said competitions.

    CELTIC seem to be corrupt or at least in on the corruption of the SPL and SFA.

    I’m not giving anymore money to celtic, sky or any other business involved in football – only my TV licence cash!


  51. jimlarkin says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    No worries, it’s everyone’s own decision.

    If like you I thought Celtic and it’s fans were corrupt I would stop giving them money too.


  52. jimlarkin says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    Aye, it would seem to be so, would that it were otherwise…..


  53. scapaflow says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:01 pm
    Just as the damn holding back the footballing sewage has now been breached, the damn holding back the much more seriously toxic financial sewage is beginning to crumble. We have miles to go yet, but the wave is coming…..
    I imagine one or two people are already researching the Guiness defence….

    I forget what that one was about, remind me please. (Getting old you know)


  54. Project Charlotte (all of them), Gavin Masterton, the fall of HBOS, and a shed load of stuff still to come out


  55. coineanachantaighe says:
    September 17, 2013 at 10:03 pm
    I forget what that one was about, remind me please. (Getting old you know)
    ——————————————————————————————————-

    It’ll come back to you once the coast clears.


  56. jimlarkin says:

    September 17, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    I share your sentiments re Celtic Plc and to some extent it’s fans. I stopped going to Celtic Park the year we bought Willo Flood and not Steven Fletcher. I now go to Junior games and I have to say I’m loving it. Real honest fans, very little bigotry or sectarianism(it does exist even in the Juniors).

    I still support Celtic, always will but I don’t pay for sky etc, illegal streams for me. I even set up alternate proxies on my mates comps and laptops to access blocked sites such as First row sports.

    The biggest smell has always came from the SFA offices at Hampden but lets not kid ourselves the boards of every single club in Scotland are complicite in all this and those that refuse to believe that Lawell, Milne etc didn’t see the side letter or 5 way agreement prior to it’s being signed are simply stupid and need to stop drinking the zombie juice.

    The professional game in this country is a sham, it’s ran primarily for the benefit of 2 clubs, the other clubs go along with it because they have been convinced that to do otherwise will jeopardize THEIR entire existence. If the previous statement isn’t true how do you explain what we have witnessed these last 2 years?


  57. Carl31 says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    I am curious as to whom this ‘Let Youse Aff’ letter is supposed to be hidden from?

    Just the fans?

    What if it was intended to also be hidden from the SFA? It is a letter from one commercial entity (SPL) to another (Sevco). There is no commercial imperative that the SFA need be informed. Might there have been some reason why this should have been hidden from the SFA at the time?

    A similar thought occurred to me too.
    Why was it a separate side letter and not just included in the 5WA itself? It can’t have been simply to keep it hidden from public view, since the 5WA already has a confidentiality clause. Could it be that this commitment from SPL to Sevco was intended to be hidden from the other 5WA signatories (SFA, SFL and RFC(IA))?


  58. There is a simple “corrruption test” for Celtic or any other club in Scotland.

    There are people on here with access to club officials and office bearers, even board members, of a variety of clubs, including Celtic, I don’t doubt.

    I don’t have that access, but to those that do, all they need to do is present the side letter (and the associated analysis summarised from here) to the club officials in whatever format makes it unequivocal that they have witnessed its contents, and simply ask them to comment, preferably in a public manner, as to whether they were party to its contents, and then comment further as to whether they agree with the agreement, and the fact that it was made prior to the LNS enquiry. And in that conversation, make it absolutely clear that no comment or correspondence on the matter will be taken and publicised as tacit agreement with the content and the intent.

    Now, the only other aspect that I would add to this is, that in order to ensure the consequences of the publication of their response or non-response is well understood (such that it DOES elicit a comment from each club concerned), a proper publicity strategy would need to be worked up in advance, and would probably need to be consistent across each correspondence (in order that each club concerned could be sure this was a supporter-wide strategy, not just something the individual had made up and therefore unlikely to be a credible threat).
    Various tactics could be considered to put that kind of startegy together, for example full-page newspaper advertisements in the form of a plea to clubs which had not commented on the issue – which to me seems a nice way of getting the message out without risking liability! Could you imagine what the national press (UK) would make of that rather curious little backwater story?

    Just two other questions on the publicity angle:
    1. This story is has the potential to be about a national sporting body (or individuals representing it) attempting to “use” a judicial peer to give credibility to an already-decided matter. Does anyone think that is something that would interest Mark Daly or a similar investigative journalist with resources like the BBC have to dig deeper? And in which case – how do we get said journalist involved?
    2. Does anyone feel that it is about time that Scottish football fans were pulling together a fighting fund of their own to get a lawyer to take on a move to take the football authorities into court to defend accusations that they have brought the sporting integrity of the game into disrepute – potentially cloaked in a financial recompense claim against authorities who have allowed this cheating (for example, the DOS) to go unpunished in the sporting sense deliberately so they can continue to mis-sell the game as a sport to sponsors and unsuspecting paying customers, as they have done previously? Again, my thoughts here are more around the nationwide publicity that this would generate, rather than as realistic expectation that we would actually see the SFA and SPL representatives in court defending their actions. But what do you think the press at large in the UK (and even outwith) would make of a story of a national set of fans threatening to take their football authorities to court? And what do you think the individuals concerned would make of such bad publicity? With any luck, they would cleanse themselves out of their positions, rather than risk having to defend themselves. So – any reasons why we shouldn’t start thinking of going down such a path?


  59. Some advice for Scottish football’s administrators – read The Telegraph then pick up the phone and call Barry Hearn. Are you listening Campbell?

    The fallout from snooker’s biggest match-fixing scandal saw Ronnie O’Sullivan drawn into an amazing row with Barry Hearn on Tuesday night after the world champion claimed “loads” of players had been corrupted.
    Barry Hearn has urged Ronnie O’Sullivan to speak out about corruption in snooker after his tweets on the subject. O’Sullivan issued a thinly veiled threat to quit the sport less than five months into his comeback after World Snooker chairman Hearn warned he faced punishment over his response to Stephen Lee being found guilty of fixing seven matches.

    Snooker’s biggest star took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to claim the scale of match-fixing in the sport was much bigger than people suspected and accused the authorities of sweeping the problem under the carpet.

    That prompted Hearn to write to O’Sullivan, warning that he was contractually obliged to provide World Snooker with any information he might have about possible corruption and also threatening to sanction him if he had spoken out of turn.


  60. Hmmm, Charlotte 18 eh?

    Was that part of the bankster scam to force decent companies into admin & liquidation before advising close business contacts in the buying of the assets, name and reputation of that business at a knock down price?


  61. Night Terror says:
    September 17, 2013 at 11:10 pm

    That sort of thing may indeed have happened allegedly, funnily enough, and purely coincidentally, an awful lot of these companies ended up with bank employees on the board, with no apparent worries about conflicts of interest.

    A handy precedent for a Great Administrator, wouldn’t you say?


  62. jean7brodie says:
    September 17, 2013 at 8:07 pm
    19 0 Rate This
    EKBhoy says:
    September 17, 2013 at 7:17 pm
    Gents,…?
    Did you mean Ladies and Gents!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I know that you really meant “My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen”
    😉


  63. So finally we see some announcement that Sandy Easdale has a significant number of shares.
    I think I am correct in saying that for the two dates given the shre watching sites did not show any dealings of this magnitude.
    Also I have not seen any announcement of any new shares being issued.
    Therefore the shareholding must be part of Charlies stash but not all being he still has 4,2m or so after Laxeys got close onto 800k?


  64. Any word from mr Mather on the hold up with these audited accounts from the ‘debt free ‘ club 😆


  65. Jim/Eddie

    For what its worth, I wouldn’t include the fans, most of them don’t care about this off park stuff, many others are holding their noses and hoping the board have got it right long term, some are no doubt happy to see their club exploiting the situation, others are as outraged by the whole thing as you are.

    The suits, I would put into three groups

    1. The fully paid up members of the Rangers Protection Society, who did it because they think it was their right. Unfortunately for them, they are too arrogant and stupid to see that their actions have actually caused, and are continuing to cause, immense long term, (possibly fatal), damage to the club they love.

    2. The second much larger group, acted out of fear. They could not foresee what would happen sans “A Strong Rangers” and acted accordingly. When Mr Doncaster spoke of Armageddon, he was voicing, and playing on, their fears. Now, they are simply hanging on to the tiger for fear of what might happen if they get off.

    3. The third group is, sadly, tiny. Its exemplified by people like Turnbull Hutton, who saw what was happening, couldn’t stomach it and said so. Unfortunately, even this group sold out, when it came to re-electing the Great Administrator.


  66. eddie rice says:
    September 17, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    “If the previous statement isn’t true how do you explain what we have witnessed these last 2 years?”

    Two big boys did it, but they wouldnae run away so we gave wan a pay rise and promoted the other.


  67. As youse all know I have a friend who listens to Clyde 1’s SSB. My friend called me tonight to tell me about the utter FARCE that was tonights programme.

    It revolved around Andy Walker farcially stating that there are certain levels of cheating that are acceptable in the professional game (I assume he was talking about his frequent diving in the box when “touched” or was anticipating a “touch” from a defender).

    Gordon “Brains” Smith blithely and farcially stated that ALL forms of cheating in the game were unacceptable and was adamant that there was no cheating in the game when he played (I assume he deliberately restricted his comments to his playing days as we all know what happened next!!). Didn’t he play in the same team as a certain Mr John “Polaris” Macdonald?

    The upshot, my friend says, was that they both accused each other of talking nonesense and a fragile truce broke out but was shattered when a number of SSB’ers called into to berate the farcial Walker.

    I have told my friend to stop listening to this purile rubbish but I can’t help it and neither can he.


  68. DP, tell your ‘friend’ to give himself a slap for listening to that dreadful radio show… 😉

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