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. paulsatim says:
    September 6, 2013 at 10:54 am

    Charlotte Fakeovers ‏@CharlotteFakes 9m
    Rough Figures. Sentanta Sports contract with SPL £140m, Sky/ESPN replacement deal approx £65m, Shortfall to SPL of approx £75m.

    Charlotte Fakeovers ‏@CharlotteFakes 4m
    full loss. SPL claimed £110m from Deloitte, in addition to having secured £65m from BSkyB/ESPN = £175m in value. Is this legal?
    ========================================================
    I don’t understand why CF is going down this route at this time as mayhem rages at Ibrox. However not as a lawyer but what could possibly be illegal in the SPL move?

    The liability owing to the SPL from Setanta is based on the unfulfilled contract that SPL had with Sentanta and the figure is not subject to deduction because the SPL negotiated a fresh contract with someone else. A curious concept.

    CF also makes reference that this move by the SPL deprives other Setanta creditors of a bigger pay-out. However let’s apply the same logic to them as CF applied to the SPL. I would assume that these other Setanta creditors would attempt to replace the income lost from Setanta by seeking to supply goods/services to new companies so should any of that be deducted from their claim against Setanta?

    Of course it shouldn’t and I have no doubt that CF is well aware of that. So what game is this strangely different CF – dating from the time the original material was deleted IMO – playing?


  2. JLeeHooker says:
    September 6, 2013 at 7:48 am
    The fact that the BBC apologised for his statement is, for me, a travesty and a shame
    ====================================================================
    JLee, if I was Mr Offended from G51 I’d say that was weasel words – “I am sorry if you were offended by this.” isn’t a apology from Mr Spence, who knows a bit about the law. I guess he knows that Mr McLelland was chairman of a club now in liquidation. The BBC could have been stronger but why wind things up?

    The small but perfectly formed ginger one is a perfect target for the bigots – he supports Dundee United and attended a faith school, but why are the likes of Chris Graham railing at this non-issue when there are far more important things for Rangers fans to be dealing with? Have they completely lost hope, given up?


  3. I think we all have to use a bit of perspective on the Spence affair and not get infected with the Twitter fever.

    The BBC have stated: ‘The actual words used by Jim Spence were: “John McClelland who was the chairman of the old club, some people will tell you the club, well, the club that died, possibly coming back in terms of the new chairman.” The phrase was used in the context of a live discussion about the proposed additions to the Rangers’ board and about former chairman John McClelland and former director Paul Murray joining the board.

    ‘Jim Spence did not state that the club had died but, in the context of a discussion about former board members joining the club, commented that there are some people who hold this particular view.

    ‘I do agree that the attributed comment could have been better phrased within the live piece and I am sorry if you were offended by this.’
    —————————————————

    After the words were broadcast Twitter went crazy although the ones commenting the most vociferously hadn’t actually heard them.

    That minor detail aside things, as usual, immediately and boringly predictably divided between those who wanted to get Spence sacked and those who rushed to his defence on the basis that he had confirmed their belief that the old club had died which, of course, he actually didn’t say.

    Those wielding the pitchforks will carry one and make complaints to the BBC and its Trust – currently embroiled in problems of its own making – as they attempt to bring Spence and the Beeb down. Personally I have never understood the pandering of the BBC to Bears who, almost to a man, declare they don’t watch/listen to the BBC or pay the licence fee. I trust that any complainer is checked to see whether they actually hold a licence and, if not, IMO they lose the right to complain.

    Turning to the BBC line on Spence which his supporters take issue with I think it should be remembered that conversations will have taken place with him before the statement was issued to establish what he was actually meaning by the words used.

    And we have it clearly stated that he did not state the old club died – let’s please not lose sight of that simple fact even though it means that, in the eyes of some, it knocks Spence off the Pantheon of Righteous Journos. Having said that I have a lot of time for him in general and think he usually does a good job.

    He could have phrased things a bit better but it was a live broadcast and an apology has been issued very quickly which blunts the tsunami of complaints making its way up the Clyde and eventually The Thames.

    This is a storm in a twitter cup and should be left there as the vast majority of those who have tweeted on it are twits 😮


  4. blu says:
    September 6, 2013 at 11:23 am
    ——————————————————————————————————————–

    The answer to your last question is summed up in HP’s excellent original post. Denial of the truth and anger at those who point it out.

    Acceptance is far more difficult than denial.

    It becomes more difficult still when they are still constantly being fed the SMSM / Jack Irvine propaganda.


  5. Not for the first time in the last couple of years I find myself hoping that Off the Ball can use satire to break the obscene circumstances that have engulfed scottish football. It appears stating an opinion, with no little factual evidence to back it up, has lead to the BBC caving in to the bullies of Ibrox…..again. I hope Cosie comes to the aid of Mr Spence and at least gives us a laugh at this continuing and deepening charade……or do we get Silly Billy Dodds (a ticktet holder on the Ibrox gravy train) treating us to his expert analysis ‘John McLelland is a nice man’ and other pearls of erudition.

    Come on Stuart and Tam this should be an open goal!


  6. blu says:
    September 6 2013 at 11:23 am

    why are the likes of Chris Graham railing at this non-issue when there are far more important things for Rangers fans to be dealing with? Have they completely lost hope, given up?
    ====================================================================
    Deflection my dear chap . . . Deflection ❗ To be followed by smoke and mirrors as Ibrox burns in the Paddy Power ad 😉


  7. Jim Spence I applaud your courage (and it took genuine courage to say what you said) for telling it like it is.

    I for one value my life to much to put my head above the parapet and hand out “anti- corruption” flyers at football grounds but have suggested some basic wording as a starting point for anyone that does. Apologies if the correct name of the current “The Rangers” company is incorrectly stated.

    I have also produced a style form of letter for supporters to send to their own clubs.

    In the end all this boils down to getting the message out to a wider audience and even if that is possible, how many people outside of this forum care enough to say “No more” to the authorities and their own clubs. More the fool them if they don’t.

    Leaflets:

    Did you know that the footballing authorities and Scottish based newspapers are taking you for a MUG?!

    Rangers football club were placed in liquidation in 2012 as a result of failure to pay massive debts accrued over a period of many years of dominance in Scottish football.

    You, as a follower of Scottish football, are being asked to believe (by both the media and football authorities) that the outfit currently calling itself “Rangers” (a company formed in 2012 as “Sevco 5088 which subsequently changed its name to “The Rangers football club limited”) is the same club with the same list of trophies as the club that went bust in 2012, leaving behind millions in unpaid debts and taxes. A large number of these trophies were won at the expense of clubs who lived within their means whilst Rangers spent money they couldn’t afford. Check the website of the SPFL 1 and you will see that “Rangers” foundation date is given as 1872, and lists 54 league titles, among various other trophies. In other words the truth has been conveniently overlooked. This is an insult to anyone who pays good money to follow other Scottish clubs, which don’t have a lengthy honours list, but have lived within their means.

    For further information and discussion see the Scottish football monitor at http://www.sfmonitor.org. This is a forum for supporters of all clubs whose motivation is that the Scottish game should be run in a fair, transparent way and that the rules of the game and laws of the land should not be simply ignored for the benefit of one club.”

    Letter to clubs:

    Dear [ ]

    I am a season ticket holder [ regular attendee] at [insert name of club]. I am extremely concerned that the outfit calling itself “Rangers” currently playing in SPFL1 is being portrayed officially by other clubs, the football authorities and the media as the same club with the same history and honours as Rangers football club PLC, a company which was placed in liquidation in 2012 leaving behind millions in unpaid debt and taxes. I will refuse to tacitly accept this lie by paying my hard earned money to attend any game involving this new entity unless and until it is officially acknowledged by the Scottish footballing authorities in all official publications including websites and fixture lists that the current club was formed in 2012, is called “The Rangers” and currently has one third division title to its name. In the absence of this change of approach I will not be buying any season ticket that includes games against “Rangers” and would suggest that a new category of season ticket is made available which doesn’t include games against “Rangers” and has an appropriate price reduction. For the avoidance of doubt the use of the word “The” in the name of this club is essential in order for a distinction to be made between it and the football club called “Rangers” which is listed on the SPFL website has having been was formed in 1872 but which was dissolved in 2012.

    I look forward to hearing from you.”


  8. “I am sorry if you were offended by this.”

    Folks – don’t get up in arms about the BBC issuing an apology. This is not an apology, which would have read “I am sorry.”

    “I am sorry if you were offended by this” is a standard phrase which means “Crikey, you’re a bit of a touchy git, aren’t you?”


  9. Matty Roth says:
    September 5, 2013 at 10:55 pm
    —————————————

    Fair enough. I agree it is not a good subject for the blog but I could not resist responding to what was an incredible and inaccurate assertion. I probably got over zealous with the supporting evidence, I can only say that it was a Pringle Post and difficult to stop once started.

    Spot on about lack of support for Jim Spence by the way. The BBC need a trip to backbones R us.


  10. My friend says we should start a “Defend The Ginger One” campaign.


  11. Sad really that the beeb cannot state the truth or support their employee

    BUT

    I am 100% certain that in the not to distant future there will be no oldco/newco argument

    As there will only be NO-CO ! ! !


  12. I am a bit confused about the bus company brothers. I understood that they were in the CG camp with one brother appointed to the board, photographed with Green etc. But now the other brother appears to be part of the McColl group.
    Any ideas ?


  13. 1. blu says:
    September 6, 2013 at 11:23 am

    Why are the likes of Chris Graham railing at this non-issue when there are far more important things for Rangers fans to be dealing with? Have they completely lost hope, given up?
    —————————

    This is exactly the problem; for them there is nothing else more important to worry about. A lot of them are just ordinary fans holding onto the last piece of floating timber, they watch the team, not the boardroom, they take pride in achievements, and not how the business is run.

    If the new team does go down the pan, it will simply be down to the fact that those fans with influence, drive and a level of education needed to effect change, have once again lost focus, blinded by the heavily tinted Blue specs that should have been providing a protective barrier.


  14. So Jim Spence refers to RFC in liquidation as the ‘old club’ .All hell breaks loose because he made an obvious,unambiguous, objective, dare I say it, truthful comment.
    Jim ,you join the small,but elite band of principled commentators on the Govan implosion.Your name sits comfortably alongside others among the great and good:- 4 stalwarts at the back- Cosgrove, Thomson, Daly, and Gibbons – up front ,a deadly lone striker ,the one and only Turnbull Hutton.

    I should also add the plasterer ,coincidentally called Jim,who today did my hallway ,and said to me,firmly, that as a lifelong Rangers fan and season ticket holder,now in his fifties, he has walked away from both his old and new club,given the corporate meltdown and ,above all, the way in which the creditors were treated.Jim also acknowledged,without hesitation,that his club had died,gone forever.His actions, coupled with his articulate and bold statement gave him immediate entry into the hall of fame.

    We are all Jim Spence and Jim the Plasterer!


  15. If the quote attributed to him as quoted in the BBC’s response is correct, then there is no need to defend JS because he didn’t actually say RFC* is dead.

    I appreciate that ii would be good if he had said RFC* is dead, because legally that is the case (i.e. no ‘Holding company’ nonsense), but he didn’t and trying to make out that he did say that by defending him won’t help. Also, asking him now to confirm that is what he meant won’t help either, as he is unlikely to – sensible man!

    For me, it’s a ‘higher moral ground’ thing – the fact that RFC* fans are so up in arms about someone who DID NOT actually say their club is dead, is simply another sign that they know they are in fact dead but don’t want anyone to say it out loud!

    Me? I know they are dead and don’t feel the need to twist JS’s words so that his more publicly credible opinion mirrors mine (though it goes without saying I wish he – or any other member of the press and/or footballing authorities and/or club reps – WOULD come out and tell the truth. Then I would defend him!).


  16. It’s worth remembering that it’s not just SMSM journos that sup the succulent lamb but bloggers do as well as we have seen from previous CF releases of Media House personnel activities.

    We were promised by Jack Irvine that hell, fire and damnation would rain upon the heads of McColl and his camp and it has begun.

    Most Bears have written off Bill McMurdo as a creature who does the bidding of Jack Irvine and I have to say I was interested in McMurdo’s ‘scoop’ on the Rangers ‘Peace in our Boardroom’ move the other day which smacked of a PR scripted fairytale. I just couldn’t believe it but then AIM ran it. However as we all know it was blasted from the sky by Paul Murray yesterday.

    However it seems that that the young McMurdo is still flying with the craws with a slimy attack launched on McColl on his blog. No guesses are needed to know where these weasel words originate and what their purpose is and they demonstrate just how desperate some are to retain control of Ibrox.

    It was almost inevitable this type of attack would be launched after the bloody nose suffered by Mather and Co trying to extort a vote of confidence from the new kids hammering on the Ibrox doors. This is a deadly serious battle underway and it seems to me it proves that the spivs still have a lot of swag to remove from Ibrox and they need time and no all-seeing eyes in the boardroom.

    Undernoted is the McMurdo piece and the underlying threat against McColl is there for all to see – the PR campaign against him has begun.

    UNDERNOTE

    September 6, 2013
    Sticks And Stones

    I see there are yet more twists and turns in the Rangers boardroom saga as the McColl group throw another spanner in the works over the “vote of no confidence” matter.

    The truce is not quite the truce, it would appear.

    Both sides are clearly feeling the pressure from the ongoing hostilities but it is pressure from another direction which may cause Jim McColl to take a back seat in the whole matter.

    I understand that his own investors are increasingly disgruntled at his involvement with the Rangers boardroom war. Apparently these investors have told McColl to draw his horns in and concentrate on his day job.

    Investec is one investor likely to be very nervous about McColl’s increasing embroilment in the Ibrox Civil War and he was backed by a consortium of banks, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and RBS in his purchase of Textron for £369million. These institutions will be looking for a return and they won’t get it if McColl is up to his neck in other areas.

    It may gall these investors to see McColl fighting a battle in which he has no material investment while they have put a great deal of money into backing him.

    Minding his own business is something McColl may be well-advised to do, Before those who backed him get really brassed off.


  17. jimlarkin says:
    September 6, 2013 at 12:58 pm
    2 0 i
    Rate This

    http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/airline-jets-in-to-offer-celtic-fans-flights-to-barca-match-135486n.22066213?

    …………..

    The “Old Firm” club ?! So it was the Old Firm who beat Shakter. I should really thank Sevco for their help. How rude of me to have neglected this. I’m sure watching the Old Firm in the Champions League will make up for it though, and I’m certain they’ll be cheering the team on when the Old Firm faces Milan, Barca and Ajax in the group stages

    Make way for the lamb! :slamb: :slamb: :slamb: :slamb: :slamb:


  18. andydfc says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    I think it is safe to say the Bus Brothers will get in bed with whoever will help them achieve their ambitions. Once they get Charles Green’s shares they won’t give him another thought.


  19. Looking at Spence-gate and the current boardroom changes at Ibrox and Hampden, It seems to me that the money men have taken complete control of Scottish football.
    Those who would put the needs of their club first, above all other clubs and the integrity of the game (including Sevco) have lost. The boardroom changes at Ibrox have clearly put guys in charge who want to make money and are happy to sell the future of the club in order to do so. They will let McCoist blow the dog whistle if it’s in their interests (sell season tickets, intimidates the blazers, etc), but the people in overall control are making decisions that are neither in the club’s/company’s best interests, nor are they doing the bidding of those who howl when the dog whistle is blown.
    Similarly at Hampden, the appointment of Peter Lawwell will one way or another put an end to the brass necked ignoring of rules. Either Lawwell will prevent it himself, or he will be forced to act by his own support if they see his complicity with any further action to maintain Sevco’s life support in spite of the rules.

    Then in walks Jim Spence and the issue that will define football in Scotland this decade is once again top of the agenda.
    For Sevco, the new club issue is an elaborate tax* dodge. They need to pretend they are the same club in order to sell to Rangers fans. No fans – no money. Yes they could end up owning a stadium, but they will only get administration value for it. The fans are needed to keep the gravy train rumbling along and (this is my opinion of the next big swindle) TRFC will end up paying it’s debts to RIFC by signing over the real estate. Probably just before it goes into administration. Ironically, for this to work, both companies will need books that are audit proof enough that the sale can’t be unwound.
    This is a tax dodge because obviously when HMRC come calling pointing to the phoenixing regulations, or possibly BDO come calling pointing to gratuitous alienation regulations, TRFC will own nothing and owe everything. If neither comes along, eventually RIFC will be owed enough even after the property switch to put TRFC into admin themselves. RIFC will own the land and if (that’s a big if) TRFC can survive administration, they will be homeless and it will be on condition that they agree to rent Ibrox for an extortionate rate.
    The SFA and the SPFL are in the same boat. They want the good old days back when they could sell four games a year and ignore the rest of Scottish football. They have shown that they will break any and all of there own (and UEFA’s) rules to try and get back to that state and are desperate for nobody to make them speak on the same club question. Again, if they do the honourable thing, they will kill the Sevco cash cow and with it the only way their limited collective intelligence can see the game in Scotland developing (or degenerating to be more accurate). If they make a deal with the devil, they will drive even more fans from Scottish football, end up directly contradicting UEFA, FIFA, Scot’s law and all common sense and possibly find themselves complicit in an attempt to circumvent phoenixing laws. Worse still, now Lawwell is in position, they could alienate the other half of the cash cow they covet so much. As a result, it will take something extraordinary to force an opinion on this. It will come. It is impossible for both Sevco and the SFA to insist to the media that it is the same club and to the fiduciary authorities that it is a different club, while pretending that UEFA and FIFA don’t exist when the question is raised.
    The SFA’s determination to keep Sevco alive is already having unforeseen consequences. DUFC’s decision to deny the BBC interviews is the thin end of the wedge. Expect much more of this and expect a crisis when a ban falls foul of the TV deal.
    Having continually turned away when Sevco did this, how can they punish United? Having failed to punish Rangers for failing to register players correctly (beyond fining them a tiny percentage of the money they misappropriated through what was recognised as a premeditated fraud) how can they punish any club that engages in similar behaviour to the point of making it a deterrent? Finally, having allowed Rangers to take footballing authorities to court without reprisal, how can they prevent other clubs from doing so and using the precedents set when soft soaping Rangers to mitigate or overturn any punishments handed out to them?
    The SFA and the SPFL will keep walking this tightrope as long as they can, throwing anything and everything off to the side in an attempt to keep their balance and hoping against hope that the only game in town in Govan will somehow survive and get back to where they once were.


  20. andydfc says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    I am a bit confused about the bus company brothers. I understood that they were in the CG camp with one brother appointed to the board, photographed with Green etc. But now the other brother appears to be part of the McColl group. Any ideas ?
    =======================================
    A device as old as time to ensure that land, property and wealth isn’t lost in any civil war. The youngest son of a family would always fight for the other side. If they won he was given the seized estates and title for his loyalty.

    If he was on the losing side business continued as normal and he was no doubt rewarded for his ‘loyalty’ to the family. It would appear that Rangers the Holding Company has tapped into the system. And as a reader of tea leaves I think the fact that the older brother is in the McColl camp spells doom for the spivs 😆


  21. I haven’t seen any articles that state the elder Easdale is in the McColl camp. I, too, would find that unusual (despite Eco’s historical suggestion above).

    All I have read is that the McColl group wanted Murray and Blin on the board. Later ‘peace agreement’ articles stated only that the proposed board would be extended to Murray, Blin, McLelland and Easdale snr. I didn’t see any comment that these were proposed by the McColl group. I assumed these were proposed appointments by the Mather (read Green) side to keep the balance of power. Have I missed something?


  22. Madbhoy24941 says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:03 pm

    This is exactly the problem; for them there is nothing else more important to worry about. A lot of them are just ordinary fans holding onto the last piece of floating timber, they watch the team, not the boardroom, they take pride in achievements, and not how the business is run.
    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    I used to think that there were a lot of ordinary decent fans out there who supported Rangers, but my eyes were opened and my mind was changed many years ago and nothing I have seen since has made me think I was wrong.
    It was changed by my best friend, he had a collar and tie job(connected to Strathclyde police) well educated, and had never shown any signs of being bigoted.
    We went out for a few beers every week, played golf and football together, his wife and mine worked together, we went on holidays together and although he couldnt be godfather he held my sons head over the font while being baptised, all in all a ”decent ordinary” guy.
    It all changed the day Rangers signed Mo Johnston, we went out that night as usual for a pint and he told me he had torn up his season book and would never renew, I asked why and was told without hesitation that he had stuck by them when they signed a Jew (Avi Cohen) a black man (Mark Walters) but this was taking it too far when they signed a Fenine.
    I said to him that I was a Catholic and that it had never seemed to bothered him, he replied you dont play for Rangers, he spent the next hour or so ”educating” me on what it meant to be a Rangers man and that it was nothing to do with football it was much more important than that!
    That was the end of the friendship but it made me look at other Rangers fans in a different way and over the years most have been of a similar mindset to him with football being almost secondary or a by product of being a Rangers minded person.
    Its time for a new start and I honestly hope that these Spivs and gangsters tear the entire place down about them in their fight of greed and supremacy.
    Maybe then Spartans will get the shout they should have had last year?


  23. @Matty Roth
    ========================
    Thanks for what was a very decent last response to me, and for the record I hadn’t taken anything previous as a personal dig. You spoke a lot of sense and I think we all need to realise every fan could come up with lists of perceived injustices against their club on the field of play. I must admit I am surprised and disappointed at the game Dundee Utd are playing in banning STV and BBC. There are numerous cases involving other clubs where both these organisations have highlighted incidents that end up in front of the video review panel. Where I will agree with Dundee Utd is there is no transparency as to who decides what is investigated, but they are not the only ones to ask that and they are not the only ones to have players punished. I said in the previous blog the SFA would do well to start addressing career threatening lunges that only receive a yellow card rather than daft wee slaps and kicks. We are we where we are though.


  24. nawlite says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:49 pm
    1 0 Rate This
    ———

    Yes, to my untrained eye, that was also what I saw: you get three, we get an extra man – so McColl’s group don’t have a goalie, so to speak.

    @ ecobhoy, how do spivs spell ‘doom’? 🙂


  25. nawlite says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:49 pm
    =====================================
    I think you make a fair point. But I am puzzled at the silence from the McColl camp on the apparent ‘linking’ of Easdale Snr to them in the AIM announcement.

    There might be no actual connection and perhaps the silence is just a diplomatic one by the McColl camp so as not to antagonise the bus lobby.

    However I only have one cup of tea a day so my next ‘reading’ will be tomorrow 😆


  26. Danish Pastry says:
    September 6, 2013 at 2:00 pm
    @ ecobhoy, how do spivs spell ‘doom’? 🙂
    ————————————————————————————-
    I will take a steer from Big Haunds himself and when in deep sh*t resort to French 😉

    perte – loss, waste, wastage, leakage, forfeiture, doom
    destin – destiny, fate, doom, fortune, portion, lot
    ruine – ruin, doom, ruination, wreck, bankruptcy, undoing
    mort – dying, dead man, demise, passing, fate, doom
    jugement – judgment, trial, decision, ruling, opinion, doom


  27. Of course having a foot in both camps will have the benefits of spivdom, taking a share of the RIFC cash pile when it comes but will also earn you the apparently much desired TRFC blazer and tie when the two entities go their separate ways. The point being the Spivs exit stage left under cover leaving Bus Boy 1 at the door holding onto the Ibrox deeds (the real ones) which he ‘rescued’ in the carnage, and bus boy 2 holding a blazer and tie with matching brogues, for two. Whats not to like for Charlie or McColl? Until they (TRFC) realise they need cash, badly……. Now then where was that guy King’s phone number?


  28. spanishcelt says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:58 pm
    ====================================
    I’m sure the experience with your friend was unsavoury and hurtful – discovering that a valued friend is racist and sectarian is obviously difficult to take and I’m sorry that leaves you feeling all Rangers supporters are bigots. But, in my opinion, to condemn 500 million people even on the basis of that betrayal is wrong. The values of this site are very much about dealing with facts and judging the evidence in front of us. Condemning all Rangers fans as bigots gets us nowhere and will ultimately deflect from getting to the root of the ills of Scottish football.


  29. I know the dishes need to be washed, the ironing done and the dinner made but I just can’t tear myself away from this forum and all the erudite contributers. Many thanks to you all and to HP for his fantastic post.


  30. blu says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:06 pm
    1 0 i
    Rate This

    spanishcelt says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:58 pm
    ====================================
    I’m sure the experience with your friend was unsavoury and hurtful – discovering that a valued friend is racist and sectarian is obviously difficult to take and I’m sorry that leaves you feeling all Rangers supporters are bigots. But, in my opinion, to condemn 500 million people even on the basis of that betrayal is wrong. The values of this site are very much about dealing with facts and judging the evidence in front of us. Condemning all Rangers fans as bigots gets us nowhere and will ultimately deflect from getting to the root of the ills of Scottish football.
    /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    I didnt say all 500 million rangers fans were bigots but I did say that in my experience over many years that, for MOST rangers fans I have known, football was/is of secondary importance to being the peeple, football was and is simply a vehicle for a very large number of them.
    And as for the statement ” Condemning all Rangers fans as bigots gets us nowhere and will ultimately deflect from getting to the root of the ills of Scottish football”
    I honestly believe bigotry and the root of the ills of scottish football are very close to being one and the same thing.


  31. The Immortality Project?.
    Not for these folks.They’re dying.

    Douglas Fraser ‏@BBCDouglasF 7m

    Newspaper sales: The Sun one of the big fallers: -12% in a year, -13% in Scotland to 266k. Daily Record +1% in Aug, -9% in a year to 227k


  32. A statement from TRFC:

    Once again Rangers Football Club has been inundated with complaints from supporters angered by a comment made on a BBC Scotland Sportsound programme.

    On Wednesday night (September 4) one of their presenters referred to Rangers as ‘the old club.’ He also said ‘the club that died.’

    The presenter stated this even though the BBC Trust had ruled in June that BBC Scotland had breached its guidelines with the use of the terms ‘new’ and ‘old’ when reporting on Rangers.

    The Trust upheld two complaints that the BBC were wrong to use ‘new’ in relation to our Club but it appears BBC Scotland are determined to continue to ignore a clear ruling of its own Trust.

    The part of the programme in which the presenter made his remarks was edited out of the podcast of Wednesday evening’s programme, presumably because the BBC realised the presenter had gone against the guidelines. However, there has been no attempt to issue an apology and the Club shares our supporters’ view that the remarks were both unacceptable and ill-advised.

    Rangers’ lawyers have been instructed to write to the BBC Trust highlighting this latest breach of BBC guidelines and BBC Radio Scotland’s apparent unwillingness to observe the Trust’s ruling. They will also seek confirmation of what steps will be taken by the BBC, particularly in relation to the BBC Scotland’s journalists, to ensure these breaches stop.


  33. nawlite says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    I haven’t seen any articles that state the elder Easdale is in the McColl camp. I, too, would find that unusual (despite Eco’s historical suggestion above).

    All I have read is that the McColl group wanted Murray and Blin on the board. Later ‘peace agreement’ articles stated only that the proposed board would be extended to Murray, Blin, McLelland and Easdale snr. I didn’t see any comment that these were proposed by the McColl group. I assumed these were proposed appointments by the Mather (read Green) side to keep the balance of power. Have I missed something?
    =============
    My immediate take on the surprise inclusion of the ‘other’ Easdale brother was that it was a conveniently low key route to quietly slip him onto the Board – whilst most folks would be discussing McLelland and Murray’s prior experiences with the old club.
    I thought it was a smart move – from a PR perspective.

    What would the reaction have been if Sandy Easdale had been nominated to the board alone ?
    …and have you noticed that any reference to him in the MSM is no longer prefixed with ‘the convicted VAT fraudster’ ?

    I am guessing of course – but don’t think he has joined McColl’s group, but just joined his brother on the board as was probably their original intention.


  34. torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    heres hoping the BBC finally nail them on this old club/Same club/new club/old co/newco garbage.


  35. A statement from TRFC:

    Once again Rangers Football Club has been inundated with complaints from supporters angered by a comment made on a BBC Scotland Sportsound programme.

    On Wednesday night (September 4) one of their presenters referred to Rangers as ‘the old club.’ He also said ‘the club that died.’

    The presenter stated this even though the BBC Trust had ruled in June that BBC Scotland had breached its guidelines with the use of the terms ‘new’ and ‘old’ when reporting on Rangers.

    The Trust upheld two complaints that the BBC were wrong to use ‘new’ in relation to our Club but it appears BBC Scotland are determined to continue to ignore a clear ruling of its own Trust.

    The part of the programme in which the presenter made his remarks was edited out of the podcast of Wednesday evening’s programme, presumably because the BBC realised the presenter had gone against the guidelines. However, there has been no attempt to issue an apology and the Club shares our supporters’ view that the remarks were both unacceptable and ill-advised.

    Rangers’ lawyers have been instructed to write to the BBC Trust highlighting this latest breach of BBC guidelines and BBC Radio Scotland’s apparent unwillingness to observe the Trust’s ruling. They will also seek confirmation of what steps will be taken by the BBC, particularly in relation to the BBC Scotland’s journalists, to ensure these breaches stop

    ———/—-////—————————————-

    Now we are all Jim Spence, the BBC Trust need to review his an protect its employees.


  36. “My immediate take on the surprise inclusion of the ‘other’ Easdale brother was that it was a conveniently low key route to quietly slip him onto the Board – whilst most folks would be discussing McLelland and Murray’s prior experiences with the old club.
    I thought it was a smart move – from a PR perspective.”
    —————————————————————————————–
    Aah, thanks for explanations. I tend to agree with this one as I can’t see the Spivs allowing them to have a foot in both camps as the positions (appear to) become more entrenched.

    PS. Free the Arab Ginger one


  37. torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:33 pm
    =================================
    I really do think it’s time the new/old club debate was heard in a court. We simply can’t have organisations constantly being threatened like this. It is a fact there was no separate Rangers Company and Club. It is a fact Rangers were liquidated.

    Edit: Whether Rangers fans like it or not, only Scots Law can truly determine their status.


  38. TRFC are spoiling for a fight…again !
    What would be achieved by pursuing the BBC ? A ‘conciliatory’ response was already issued by the BBC.
    Is it just more deflection / distraction from the Govan club ?

    And could the BBC now turn to the SFA – in a very public manner – to request a definitive ruling to clear this up once and for all ?

    [Ogilvie and Regan might be standing by the bunker right now ! 🙄 ]


  39. torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    0 15

    Rate This

    ________________________________________________________________________

    15 TDs, folks, don’t shoot the messenger ❗


  40. StevieBC says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:53 pm
    And could the BBC now turn to the SFA – in a very public manner – to request a definitive ruling to clear this up once and for all ?
    _________________________________________________________________________

    Indeed. perhaps it’s time for this particular boil to be lanced. I would welcome the chance for this to be discussed in open court, one where the SFA/SPFL had no control over the appointed officials or the scope of the discussion.

    Then we could get a true ruling based on the Scots Law involved, and I’m certain a definitive statment that Rangers are dead. Then perhaps some of the other wrongdoing, particularly by the SFA/SPFL can be undone.

    I also think it would be fun if the BBC asked the SFA for a definitive statement. Make them squirm! they have been hiding in the shadows on this one for too long. Sunlight is the best disinfectant so force them into the open.


  41. Aside from the new/old club debate, how can ANY fan supporting whatever club exists at Ibrox seriously take the view of superiority that is clearly held throughout the club and the support? Do they not accept there are any stains on the record at all? It’s baffling, it really is, and in any other country it is doubtful whether they would have a team to watch at all. The Rangers support will contain as big a percentage of perceptive, intelligent people as any other support. Are they scared to speak, or have they too been conned like the pimple brained quarter wits who sit among them?


  42. spanishcelt says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:18 pm
    ======================================
    spanishcelt, thanks for the prompt response. I don’t doubt that your view is honestly held and formed by your experiences in life and my opinion is likewise formed by my experiences. Like many who visit TSFM I have had friends and relatives who support a range of teams. I profoundly disagree with views espoused by some of them on matters football (especially if they try to represent sport as the manifestation their politics or religious beliefs) but I won’t condemn others who support these teams on that basis because, in my experience the vast majority are good people who see football simply for what is, the greatest sport.


  43. blu says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    You certainly have a point about generalisation but at the same time this “don’t tar them with the same brush” statement acts as a deflection shield for the so-called “silent majority” who can dismiss concerns as the work of the “they bad boys over there no us”. I see no evidence of any concerted effort by the “silent majority” to take on this bigoted element, on the contrary, I see many many Rangers fans, decent people who are not religious b1gots indulging in the supremacist WATP patter and revelling in the notion that they are somehow an inherently superior group of society to the rest of us, not least their manager openly chanting this on the pitch! I really find that mindset abhorrent whether it’s consciously expressed or whether someone is just too stupid to have the self awareness to think about what they are actually saying and how they are viewed by others. No-one likes us we don’t care. Well, if you live by the sword… don’t cry about others perceptions of you

    Sorry, but if you swim in a swamp you will get dirty and I would find the “don’t tar them all with the same brush” more convincing if I could see any evidence of a genuine effort to clean up their act. Exponentially more energy is expended in whattaboutery and absurd victim mentality. The fact is, RFC is a brand with a level of toxicity, and for very good reason, whether you as an individual are the most moral upstanding person in society. If you identify yoursef with RFC you are attaching a portion of this reputation to yourself, whether you like it or not, so if you are so concerned how about actually doing something about it instead of trying to deflect by accusing others of making generalisations they didn’t actually make?

    To me it’s as convincing as the “why are we made to suffer?” pleas for their unfortunate demise after they were warned time and spiv again. They did nothing in that case, and I don’t see anything being done here either

    Just as Scottish football can’t move on in a spirit of co-operation with distrust and division, neither can it move on with RFC entrenched in this WATP supremacist mindset. There’s the root of one of the ills right away for you.


  44. MoreCelticParanoia says:
    September 6, 2013 at 12:31 pm

    Fair enough. I agree it is not a good subject for the blog but I could not resist responding to what was an incredible and inaccurate assertion. I probably got over zealous with the supporting evidence, I can only say that it was a Pringle Post and difficult to stop once started.

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

    No problem CP. I cannot fault you for passion and I know exactly what you mean by a “pringle post”, sometimes I do find myself almost bursting with responses. I probably didn’t need to pick you up on it tbh but I think I was just a bit overwhelmed with the volume of evidence provided! (or perhaps just being plain grumpy)

    And btw a very elegant response, thanks.

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

    upthehoops says:
    September 6, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    Thanks for what was a very decent last response to me, and for the record I hadn’t taken anything previous as a personal dig. You spoke a lot of sense and I think we all need to realise every fan could come up with lists of perceived injustices against their club on the field of play. I must admit I am surprised and disappointed at the game Dundee Utd are playing in banning STV and BBC. There are numerous cases involving other clubs where both these organisations have highlighted incidents that end up in front of the video review panel. Where I will agree with Dundee Utd is there is no transparency as to who decides what is investigated, but they are not the only ones to ask that and they are not the only ones to have players punished. I said in the previous blog the SFA would do well to start addressing career threatening lunges that only receive a yellow card rather than daft wee slaps and kicks. We are we where we are though.

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

    Cheers UPTH.

    Completely agree with all of the above. Surprised to see Utd throwing toys out of the pram on this actually, I didn’t really think that was their style.

    I think the SFA have had long enough now to see the new system in action, since Lunny was appointed – must be about time for a sensible review and action to try and resolve some of these issues.

    As you say all sorts of worse crimes are unpunished or met with a simple yellow when relatively little things can be picked up in this new system and relatively heavy punishments dealt out.


  45. Ecobhoy 1.13

    As I try to get behind the personalities to get at the policies at play at RIFC I am reminded of my attempts to do likewise with the parties and policies behind the Spanish Civil War.

    I was wrong footed there by the “rebels” representing the Right and extreme right and the Government representing the Left or extreme left. Once I had the calibration right I could understand better what each side feared enough to want to prevent it happening.

    What I am unclear on at RIFC is what is it in the opposite parties that is feared?

    Does one fear the consequences of no austerity? (Going bust)

    Does the other fear the consequences of too much austerity (an uncompetitive team compared to the past and so a drop off in support)

    Do both these fears, if they are held, reflect the reality of a club with a large cost base and income opportunities limited by geography and rivals with greater all round resources year on year?

    In brief are the short and long term aims from an IPO, whose main intent was enrichment of a few, realistic?

    Surviving and blooming where planted would seem to me to be the order of the day and the basis of any survival policy but I have no idea what policies are being sold to the Ibrox faithful. It all seems to be based on something called Rangersness and the attached emotions and not a lot of introspection and reflection.

    Which links back nicely to HP’s main blog point.

    Grief is the equivalent of a laxative for the soul but no one is offering or taking the medicine.


  46. Charlotte Fakeovers ‏@CharlotteFakes 8m
    Jack unites the fans again, this time deflecting away from himself and towards the BBC. Haven’t we all been here before with that tactic?


  47. I would equally say that CF wants the spotlight firmly focused on Jack


  48. First time post so please be gentle.
    I have a question.The smsm refuse to discuss or even refer to the content of the CF revelations because in this post Levenson era there may be legal ramifications etc.due to the documents possibly being obtained illegally.This appears to be the established line.
    Today`s Guardian and the BBC both run stories based on documents from the Wikileaks web site which were definitely obtained illegally ie NSA and GCHQ shenanigans.
    My question is,what`s the difference?
    I`m genuinely puzzled.


  49. Matty Roth says:
    September 6, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    I think the SFA have had long enough now to see the new system in action, since Lunny was appointed – must be about time for a sensible review and action to try and resolve some of these issues.
    ===============================================================
    I think the matter of how incidents are acted upon is the most important. Lunny in the past has stated it is if an incident is ‘highlighted’ to them and he did not deny that it could come from members of the public. The problem is many members of the public work to warped agendas, and I’m sure some of the media do as well, despite their claims to the contrary. Taking direct complaints from those two groups is in my view a little dangerous. It really does need clarifying.


  50. Quite clearly most rangers fans want to believe they are the same club and I dont suppose anyone is going to change their minds?
    However i would be really interested to know what rangers supporters, who were also shareholders,actually think. (I think there were 26000 of them if memory serves me right.)
    Do they believe they were shareholders in the club or a mysterious holding company?
    What did the original share certificate in rfc say? Does anyone have a copy?
    Did they say “rangers football club” or some ethereal holding company?
    I think this is one of the reasons Spiers says he considers it a new club (in legal terms) as he had a few shares in the original entity.
    Personally if I was a shareholder in the original version I would really struggle to make a claim that TRFC was the same club.
    Just wondered if any ex shareholders or friends of ex shareholders would like to comment and did these shareholders buy shares in the new entity?


  51. Jack irvine? Read from bottom to top.

    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 10m
    @CharlotteFakes data has been kept for 2 years and suddenly is leaked just before action commences. who could benefit from that?
    Expand
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 12m
    @charlottefakes leaked data was collected in order to discredit former directors at the time, none was found at the time.
    Expand
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 13m
    @CharlotteFakes @scottjd77 @paullarkin74 vast majority of information came from a copy of an internal Rangers server from Q3/Q4 2011.
    View conversation
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 19m
    @scotzine @scarletpimp2012 It is because the net is closing in. more details soon.
    View conversation
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 19h
    who would like charlottefakes gmail address?
    Expand
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 19h
    @AngelaHaggerty @CharlotteFakes tweets publicly, but what you don’t see is his blackmail campaign
    View conversation
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 4 Sep
    Might be worth asking @CharlotteFakes if it is appropriate to seek the truth through #blackmail ? @mattleslie74 #WhatIsCFHiding
    View conversation
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 4 Sep
    He forgot to mention about that… #TheresAnotherSideToThis #IllegalDocumentLeak
    Expand
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 4 Sep
    Is it appropriate to “seek the truth” by #blackmail? #WhatHeDidntMention
    Expand
    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 4 Sep
    @CharlotteFakes Is it appropriate to seek the truth by blackmail?


  52. paulsatim says:
    September 6, 2013 at 5:15 pm

    Jack irvine?

    Charlotte Hunter ‏@CharlotteHunted 4 Sep
    @CharlotteFakes Is it appropriate to seek the truth by blackmail?
    ====================================================
    I couldn’t possibly comment on whether it was Jack Irvine at work here… 🙄

    A delicious response from CF could be;
    ‏@CharlotteFakes
    @CharlotteHunted Is it appropriate to suppress the truth by blackmail?

    …allegedly.


  53. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/james-traynor-spl-will-not-be-able-1129166

    Extracts from the above article in the DR by James Traynor 13 Jun 2012

    Should Jim Spence read this, I hope he takes some comfort from it – if he needs any.

    The article was written at a time when we all lived in the light of day, when everyone knew precisely what liquidation meant and when everyone could see the obvious. Including everyone connected to RFC.

    Then shortly afterwards, darkness descended on planet Rangers where it remains to this day.

    ______________________
    Over to you, Jim.

    “Rangers FC as we know them are dead. It’s all over. They are about to shut down for ever . . . .

    . . . They’ll slip into liquidation within the next couple of weeks with a new company emerging but 140 years of history, triumph and tears, will have ended.

    No matter how Charles Green attempts to dress it up, a newco equals a new club.

    When the CVA was thrown out Rangers as we know them died.

    Yet, unbelievably neither the SPL nor the SFA had anything to say as Rangers’ death warrant was signed.

    ____________

    I couldn’t have put it better myself.

    Thanks JT, for making what happened to RFC clear to all ‘Gers fans and all football reporters


  54. Some lessons from down here?

    ——————

    Portsmouth reborn as supporters prepare for a different type of battle
    The Guardian, Friday 6 September 2013

    After four traumatic years blighted by administration, disastrous ownership and plummeting through the divisions, Pompey are now owned by their fans, and ready to rise again.

    Formed in 1898, a date marked proudly all around the ground, Portsmouth have been salvaged from their barely believable series of owners and horrors to be majority-owned mutually and democratically by its supporters’ trust. They must build again from League Two, having taken over a club still burdened with debts left by those buyers.

    Portsmouth have returned after two long periods insolvent in the last three years and bitter crises under seven owners who eyed making money from English football. Pompey, who play at Cheltenham on Saturday, became the only club to collapse into administration while still in the Premier League when, in 2009, the Russian-Israeli owner, Sacha Gaydamak, pulled the funding which had won Harry Redknapp’s star-stocked team the 2008 FA Cup on a wave of borrowed money.

    The second administration last year followed the arrest for alleged bank fraud in Lithuania of a subsequent owner, Vladimir Antonov, who denies wrongdoing but left £35m debts, plus £17m owing to another former owner, the Hong Kong moneylender Balram Chainrai.

    Micah Hall, a fan who tirelessly exposed in detailed blogs who the owners were and what they were doing to the club, has been transformed into the club’s engagement manager, positively ambassadorial in club suit and tie, tasked with “rebuilding bridges” and showing sponsors the club’s name is no longer toxic.

    It is far from easy. Under the second administration, handled by Trevor Birch of BDO, Antonov left £8m owing to football creditors, who according to the Premier and Football Leagues’ much-criticised “football creditors rule” must be paid in full – Portsmouth have committed to do so over four years. Other creditors, owed £24m, accepted the trust bid’s offer of around £1m, although McInnes stressed they are paying small businesses and charities in full.

    Full article:
    http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/06/portsmouth-supporters-trust-ownership


  55. Charlotte Fakeovers ‏@CharlotteFakes 4m
    CharlotteFakes will cease to exist via Twitter and email this weekend therefore no further submissions can be accepted. #WithRegrets


  56. JLeeHooker says:
    September 6, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    Charlotte is banging out the tweets. Will there be a dump of information? I hope she throws plenty of cats amongst the pigeons before she goes.


  57. Charlotte Fakeovers ‏@CharlotteFakes 2m
    However I wouldn’t dare dream of leaving without giving you all an insight into the past 12 months in the most glorious of detail.

    +++++++++++++++++

    YeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!


  58. beatipacificiscotia says:
    September 6, 2013 at 6:21 pm
    ===============================
    Charlotte ready to go, and whatever her motives the media will be delighted to see the back of her, even though they didn’t run with her stories. Now they can get back to being told what to write by Jack without the risk of anyone telling.


  59. 6 months or so ago I posted that until the Goebbels style big lie/ myth surrounding the Rangers collapse and liquidation is exposed in it’s finality..and acknowledged by the bulk of the Rangers support then Scottish football will be riven with a schism so deep..that what is today’s outrageous cyber bullying will lead as sure as day follows night to physical violence…
    For this reason i actually sympathise to a degree and completely understand why the MSM won’t touch this subject with a barge pole
    Also can you actually imagine a Celtic Rangers game now..oh dear..please no !
    SO…The boil has to be lanced as an earlier poster intimated….here is one possible way
    Campbell Ogilvie and Regan need to make a very public announcement aimed at TRFC and their support a follows
    1 The RFC IS a new club and that is the clear and unequivocal position of SFA,UEFA etc
    2 The new club has one title to it ‘s name and cannot/ should not advertise old club nomenclature/ trophies etc
    3 We the SFA admittedly compromised ourselves rightly or wrongly but for what we believed was the genuine good of Scottish football by permitting the new club entry directly into the senior leagues
    4 As far as the historical trophy records are concerned on the old club..This will only be ultimately finalised by SFA/SPFL when we get the definitive position from the UTT…as we believe this is the key and eventual determinant on the severity of the well recorded and recognised misdemeanours of the Old CLUB

    Unless and until this is done or something very similar AND the TRFC board acknowledge this position…then the current cyber and probably physical violence will escalate..and the issue will be taken out of the SFAs hands by the government and police at some point for safety reasons
    SFA absolutely have to act and now to stop this toxic nonsense
    Btw if they do this then they get to keep their jobs…It actually would be worth it
    will they do it ?..NO Way!…and we know why…TRFCRFIC entire revenue model is built on this myth continuing and these guys believe TRFC must be back and fast .
    what a hole the SFA etc have dug themselves into…Time for some big boys to emerge!


  60. Tailothebank says:
    September 6, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    It’s far more likely that they would say it’s the same club, lets all move on for the good of Rangers Football Association!

    Charlottes going, for good or bad and Jim Spence is tweeting about UB40’s.

    I’d say today was a BIG win for dead club.


  61. beatipacificiscotia says:
    September 6, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    YeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

    ————————————————————–
    As in Jessie in Toystory? 😆


  62. spanishcelt says:
    September 6, 2013 at 1:58 pm
    ====================================

    That sounds pretty ridiculous to me. A lot of things people did and said about the Mo Johnstone signing were absolutely horrific, embarrassing and to be blunt just plain wrong.

    I can assure you that I know for a fact that a lot of us are not like that. Obviously I only know a tiny, miniscule proportion of the 500 million bears worldwide but a lot of the ones I know aren’t like that. I do however, in point of fact, sadly know several who are.


  63. upthehoops says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:53 pm
    =================================

    I’d also welcome that. (I’m just catching up reading through today’s posts in case that isn’t obvious!)


  64. blu says:
    September 6, 2013 at 3:06 pm
    ====================================
    I’m sure the experience with your friend was unsavoury and hurtful – discovering that a valued friend is racist and sectarian is obviously difficult to take and I’m sorry that leaves you feeling all Rangers supporters are bigots. But, in my opinion, to condemn 500 million people even on the basis of that betrayal is wrong. The values of this site are very much about dealing with facts and judging the evidence in front of us. Condemning all Rangers fans as bigots gets us nowhere and will ultimately deflect from getting to the root of the ills of Scottish football.
    ——————————————————————————–
    I read your posts and sometimes respond and you are quite correct that not all Rangers supporters are bigots.

    However who are the 500 million people you talk about? If you believe there are 500 million Rangers supporters then I will need to reassess whether I should bother reading your posts as it shows a serious detachment from reality.

    The Rangers support is mainly Glasgow and West of Scotland based with a Northern Ireland contingent. That is it and Rangers accept that is the bulk of the support. I look at the anti-Hector petition started last November to try and get alleged HMRC bias against Ibrox debated in Parliament.

    Obviously a cause close to the heart of Bears but 9 months later they only have just over 40k signatures and that is after widespread cheating through multiple submissions using anonymised email addresses, children, pets, people’s names without their knowledge and so on.

    If there are 500 million Bears out there then they must be hiding in the woods without any wifi access 😆

    If you wish to stick with the ethos of this site being based on facts and evidence could you please identify where these 500 million supporters actually are and explain why with a fanbase possibly bigger than that of Man Utd why Rangers is in dire financial straits.


  65. mirrenman says:
    September 6, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    Read section 8 re: Deed of Novation – the transfer of obligations from Sevco 5088 to the Company:

    “The Company acknowledged this deed could not currently be located and a new draft was tabled at the meeting for approval and ratification”.

    That will take a bit of explaining, and I’d like to hear that explanation.


  66. ecobhoy says:

    September 6, 2013 at 7:40 pm

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

    Eco I can’t speak for Blu but I imagine he used the 500 million term ironically, as I did.

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