Guest Post by James Forrest
Those who like to read the techno-thrillers of Tom Clancy will remember well the scene in The Sum of all Fears, when the nuclear bomb explodes in Denver, outside the stadium where the Super Bowl is being played. Clancy handles the moment in two very distinct chapters. The second is a vivid and frightening examination of the explosion’s terrible effects as they are felt, firstly in Denver and then experienced around the world.
Before that, he devotes an entire chapter to the mechanics of the explosion itself. Chapters like this are either what attract readers to Clancy in the first place or turn them off entirely. It is technical, it is complex, and the layman who reads it and fully understands it is indeed a massive geek. Of all the times he has loaded the reader with technical detail, this is probably when he risked most in terms of keeping you interested in the story. Yet it works. The chapter is not long, but nor is it short. And the events in it span not seconds but fractions of a second
It was in that chapter I first learned the term “shake”, so named for the old aphorism “a shake of a lamb’s tail”. A “shake” is a term used in nuclear physics. It represents ten nanoseconds. To grasp fully the size of that, consider that there are a billion nanoseconds in a second. The chemical process involved in a nuclear detonation involves a number of “shakes”, with a chain reaction usually completed in 50.
Clancy’s decision to devote an entire chapter of the book to a few nanoseconds came back to me over and over again during the weeks and months of the Rangers crisis. It became clear to me that, drawn out though the events following administration were, what we were seeing was not the effect of the explosion but the explosion itself. Those months were our nanoseconds. Every day, every revelation, every moment we thought was a separate event, was merely a peek inside the bomb case, at the chemical process of a chain reaction.
I would say the chain reaction was completed on the day HMRC announced they were refusing the CVA proposal. That was the detonation. It’s only now we’re witnessing the explosion, and its effects, and in my view we are still a long way from the end of that process. We have had the initial double flash thermal pulse and we’ve seen some EMP effects, but the real damage is still to come. The shock wave and the fireball have yet to spread, and their cumulative effects could yet annihilate Ibrox and extend as far as Hampden.
Am I making claims of “financial Armageddon”? No, I’m not. I never believed the collapse of Rangers would devastate Scottish football. I thought then, and now, that it was scaremongering nonsense to even suggest it. It didn’t matter to me whether the authorities were spreading those stories because of a deep-seated love of the Ibrox club, or because they had bonuses at stake, or out of their own internal, personal weaknesses. Those stories were inconsistent, based on worst case scenarios which were never likely to materialise, and insulting. The notion that the game in this country amounts to no more than one or two teams is offensive.
I love football. I always have. I’m a Celtic supporter, but my interests in the game extend far beyond my own club. At its best, football is a tremendous unifier of people, from those wonderful stories about Christmas Day in the trenches of World War I to the matches organised every year between Palestinian and Israeli children. The game has the potential for tremendous good. I am proud that my own club’s supporters have honoured the dead of Hillsborough and Ibrox. I am proud they unfurled a banner to the Benfica player Miklos Feher, and invaded Seville and showed that city how to party. I am proud of every moment when the supporters of a club applauded an injured player, or staged a silence to honour an official or competitor at another team. Although there are some who would use this sport in a divisive way, who would hijack it for their own ends, I believe this game can still be an inspiration, and find the best in all of us.
I think what happened during this summer, as the fans of every club in the land made their voices heard, was one of the greatest moments in Scottish football’s recent history. I believe it will have an impact far beyond one season. I think it was special.
My concern, as I’ve said, is that the appalling effects of the detonation at Ibrox are still to be fully realised. I am worried about the impact they could yet have on all of us.
Let me be quite specific about the two things that worry me most. They are to do with the decision to grant Sevco/Rangers a license to play in the Scottish Football League this year.
First, I believe the license was granted without sufficient guarantees being given by Charles Green and others that they would respect the decisions taken by the independent judiciary panel of the SPL in relation to EBTs, and secondly, I am concerned that not enough is known about Green and his financial backers, or plans for Rangers, for the authorities to be satisfied that the club is in good financial health. I don’t believe for one second anyone can allay my fears in these two areas. It is obvious to all that due diligence has not been done, and the entire situation at Rangers/Sevco is still shrouded in doubt, and that anything may yet happen.
The independent panel investigating dual contracts is going to have to make the most momentous decision in the history of the game in the UK. I do not believe what Rangers are accused of has any precedent. We are talking about a decade or more in which the results of every single match might be in doubt. Every single game. The rules were not written to envision such an appalling breach of faith. It would seem almost inevitable that stripping of titles will be the smallest of Charles Green and Ally McCoist’s concerns if this verdict goes against them.
Frankly, I don’t see an alternative to suspending Rangers membership of football in this country for at least two years, with points deductions and monetary fines to follow when the suspension period is done. This is not harsh; in fact it falls far short of the maximum penalty, which is expulsion from the game altogether, and as it is the authorities are going to have to do a damned good job of setting out the reasons why that ultimate sanction is not applied. It will not be enough to say it would damage the game in Scotland to wipe the club away. To allow a decade of malfeasance to pass without that ultimate sanction would create the perception that Rangers is above the law, and I cannot think of anything that would do the game more harm than for any club to be considered too big, or too important, to be subject to the regulations.
With their money on the table, I don’t see any way Charles Green and his cohorts will accept the judgement of the independent panel if it has an impact on their plans to recoup their investments. With the way he’s rallied the Rangers fans behind him recently, by essentially talking about a conspiracy against them, I don’t see how he convinces them to accept sanctions, even if he personally was inclined to do so. He has painted himself into a corner where now, if he wants his money at all, he has to fight, and keep on fighting. Without the written guarantee that the club would accept whatever the panel decides, without recourse to the law, I will be shocked if this matter doesn’t end up in the courts somewhere down the line, because I don’t think for one second he signed up to that particular demand.
I think the SFA backed down on this, the most fundamental matter of them all.
Which isn’t to say the due diligence matter isn’t worrying, because, of course, it is. Again, no-one is going to convince me that the SFA has conducted proper due diligence on Charles Green and his backers. No-one will convince me they are satisfied that this club is in safe hands, and that the game in this country will not be rocked by a further implosion at Ibrox. They failed to properly investigate Craig Whyte, because of lax regulations requiring disclosure from the club itself, regulations which are just a joke, but they can be forgiven for that as the press was talking sheer nonsense about him having billions at his disposal, and a lot of people (but not everyone!) were either convinced or wanted to be convinced by him.
To have witnessed what Whyte did, to have witnessed the Duff & Phelps “process” of finding a buyer, and having Green essentially emerge from nowhere, with a hundred unanswered questions as to his background and financing, for the SFA to have given this guy the go ahead, only for it to blow up in their faces later, would annihilate the credibility of the governing body and necessitate resignations at every level. There would be no hiding place.
At an early stage in the Rangers crisis, a couple of people told me they thought the club would not play football for at least a year. I told them of all the possible scenarios that was the most unlikely, because I honestly could see no way back for them once they had gone. There is no precedent I am aware of, anywhere, for a football club taking a “year out” only to return. Certainly, in the context of the Scottish game I didn’t see how it could be done without creating one almighty shambles, or by bending the rules until the elastic snapped.
Yet I’ve since become convinced that it was the correct course of action. The club calling itself Rangers FC is still in a state of flux. The issues still surrounding it are enormous and potentially devastating. There are any number of ways in which the entire edifice could utterly collapse. The liquidators and HMRC could yet challenge the takeover, or the coming share issue. Craig Whyte may yet emerge and take a claim to the courts. The share issue itself could be an utter failure, leaving the club unable to meet annual running costs. All of this, even without the vast effects of the EBT case, which has the potential to wash the whole club away.
Had Rangers been out of the game for a year, these issues could have been properly explored, dealt with and put behind them, and the game as whole.
Of course, it’s just possible that the worst is over. It’s possible that this particular nuclear detonation, like the one is The Sum of All Fears, is an enormous “fizzle”, that the appalling destruction unleashed will not be on the thermonuclear level which could obliterate our hopes of a fresh start, of forward motion for the whole game. It might be that everything at Ibrox is hunky-dory, that this, all I’ve written, is the product of a febrile imagination, on the same level as the financial Armageddon nonsense we spent the summer hearing about.
It may well be, but only if the people who’ve been right all along have suddenly gotten it wrong. The evidence all points to something big, and bad, coming this way.
The smart folks will be hunkering down in their shelters for a while yet.
James is a co-editor of the Famous Tartan Army Magazine, latest issue out 17th October (digital, and free), featuring women’s football
RE: Shareholders’ List.
The obfuscation continues.
Do not fall into the trap of believing these are all separate investors.
Gorbon (with Turkish connections) and Norne Anstalt (Liechtenstein) are just names that someone is hiding behind.
But who? And why?
http://en.calameo.com/read/000390171c03d14e18a02
stumbled upon this, sorry if already posted.
previouslyknownassnowdog says:
Monday, October 22, 2012 at 17:27
Bogsdollox at 17.04
Hearts are the only club that has been punished ,anything that another club is going through is the result consequences.
======================================================================
I know that and to be fair to me,I wasn’t being serious.
johnboy5088 says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 00:42
‘…But who? And why?’
——
The ‘why’ is answered easily enough: there’s money to be made out of suckers!
The ‘who’ ( small w, of course) is more of a problem.
Whoever they may be, their intentions are manifestly not at all honourable: they will stiff our( or my) fellow Glaswegians, and scarper once they’ve got the money.
And they will not ( and I refuse to be ‘americanised’) give a shite for those of our friends and family and drinking companions who blindly swallowed the con.
As bangordub asked earlier, where was any kind of genuine leadership of the Rangers fan-base? Where was their Fergus?
There is a Ph D in sociology/business studies in answering that question.
doontheslope says:
Monday, October 22, 2012 at 22:36
Charles Green [on Radio Scotland] No I am not playing to the galleries – a few days later pictured wearing the ‘tangerine’ RFC away top, during his North America fund raising rally.
A few questions – on KDS yesterday afternoon there was some chatter about an announcement re RFC at 16.45 – some linked this to failure to float shares on AIM? Any thoughts?
Have Duff and Duffer (copyright acknowledged) lodged papers with the CoS to formally file for liquidation, or is this more hot air? If the administrators lodged papers for liquidation before Lord Hodge has commented on his concerns over conflict of interest, could that place Duff and Duffer (copyright acknowledged) in contempt of Court?
Charles Green
Clubs were motivated by bogitry – a few hours later – no they weren’t, well not the kind of bogitry I was thinking about.
The judicial panel cannot be fair – a few hours later – yes they can, I wasn’t questioning their integrity.
I got death threats – a few hours later – Rangers fans are the best in the world and I mean that from my heart.
Craig Whyte did not introduce me to Duff and Duffer – a few hours later – Well, in a funny sort of way, he did actually.
I am not playing to the galleries (Radio Scotland) – a few days later – pictured wearing a ‘tangerine’ RFC away top during his North American fund raising rally.
Thanks Long Time Lurker. Keep ’em coming!
Richard Wilson in The Herald.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/a-taxin-question.19222492
More deep investigative journalism by the Sun
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/leaguedivision3/4603750/I-was-non-league-Coisty-but-gave-it-up-to-chase-money.html
PETER LAWWELL couldn’t do it with Neil Lennon.
But fellow Old Firm chief executive Charles Green most certainly can with Ally McCoist.
That is, talk about what it’s like to be a hero footballer.
More specifically, a penalty box predator.
Rangers manager McCoist plundered a magnificent record 355 goals for the club from 581 games to guarantee legend status.
And, while it was only at non-league level, Green was a prolific striker too for a whole host of English clubs — worshipped by each of their band of diehards.
Back in those days the Yorkshireman’s main currency was goals.
But, by the age of 28 and successful in business, he’d become more driven by the idea of net gains than net busters.
Green hung up his boots to commit to a life of financial deals, profit and loss.
He likes to think he’s got a keen sense of value — and sealing a buy-up of crippled Rangers last May, including the UEFA-five star Ibrox Stadium and £14million Murray Park training base, for a knockdown £5.5m sure was a bargain.
For all his business acumen, Green insists he can’t put a price on the memories of his playing career.
He was at Sheffield United as a schoolboy, Doncaster reserves and Barnsley reserves without achieving even one first team appearance.
But Green made up for it by regularly destroying defences in the colours of Alfreton Town, Frickley Athletic, Gainsborough Trinity, Goole Town and Cheltenham Town.
He joked to SunSport that if Rangers continue to struggle on their Division Three travels he might just persuade McCoist to join him in digging out the boots again to form a new double act.
Green, 59, said: “I started playing for the local colliery team in Goldthorpe and I got £1.50 a week for playing football and £1.50 a week for working.
“I gave all of it to my mum because we had no money.
“I wasn’t a good player, but I was fantastically fast. I was the kind of striker that’s known as a sniffer, a poacher.
“At the school I attended I still hold the record for the 100 and 200 metres — and that was wearing Dunlop plimsolls on grass. I was phenomenally fast.
“It was that speed and finishing that later made me feared in non-league football.
“I became one of the most prolific strikers there’s ever been in non-league football.
“My career average was a goal every one and a half games. There are not many people in a lifetime career who achieve that kind of goal-scoring ratio. In my first game for Doncaster Rovers, Lawrie McMenemy was the manager.
“We played Bradford City in the FA Youth Cup and we won 4-3. I scored all four.
“My heroes were two people — Jimmy Greaves, who was a consummate predator and Gerd Muller, the West German striker. I loved watching them. I did enjoy playing, although it was never going to be a career for me.
“I couldn’t make enough money from it. I was playing for Cheltenham when I retired at 28.
“By then I had a business in Manchester, next to Man United’s stadium in Trafford Park Road, and dividing my time was proving too difficult. There was the odd game in the years after, but I was effectively finished as a player. I scored 19 goals in 21 games for Cheltenham, something like 70 in 140 for Goole and 15 from 20 odd games for Frickley. Wherever I played I ALWAYS scored goals.
“In fact, in terms of goals for games I don’t think there’s anyone in non-league football who scored more. But I only did it for money.
“At non-league level I combined my job with football and earned fantastic money.
“It allowed me to buy a home and have no mortgage. It’s also how I bought my first company.” Green might have been his team’s star turn when it came to beating opposition keepers but he confessed he wasn’t exactly the hardest working or the bravest player .
He said: “A lot of the guys I played against or for later made it in the professional game, people like Mick Wadsworth and Steve Thompson.
“I look back and laugh. Thompson was the type of player who would come off with his nose broken, with blood everywhere and mud splattered on him, while my kit would be immaculate. The headlines the day after the game would be ‘Green does it again.’ That would wind up a few of the committed boys!
“The joke would be that my kit would only need washing once a season — because it never got dirty, never got muddy, never got sweaty.
“But I got the bonuses for the team because I’d stick the ball in the net regularly.”
Green, sadly, only realised after his mother’s death how proud she’d been of his playing successes.
He said: “I recall playing for Cheltenham in a pre-season friendly against Aston Villa. It was after they’d won the European Cup and Ron Saunders was manager.
“I never knew this, but my mum, who died when she was 53, had kept a scrapbook of my career. I only discovered it when we were emptying her house.
“It was emotional and it underlined how proud she’d been of me.
“As fate would have it, there was one cutting from the Birmingham newspaper and it featured that game against Villa. Ron Saunders was quoted as saying that he’d had the privilege of watching the best striker he’d ever seen in non-league football — ME.
“We’d lost 3-2 and I’d scored both goals.”
Since taking over at Ibrox, Green has made McCoist aware of his own strike days and he said: “It helped break the ice with Ally early on. We haven’t yet got to reminiscing about our playing careers.
“I reckon we’ll be thinking about getting the boots out again and forming a striking partnership if we have any more performances like that one at Stirling!”
nowoldandgrumpy says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 08:20
He said: “I recall playing for Cheltenham in a pre-season friendly against Aston Villa. It was after they’d won the European Cup and Ron Saunders was manager.
“I never knew this, but my mum, who died when she was 53, had kept a scrapbook of my career. I only discovered it when we were emptying her house.
“It was emotional and it underlined how proud she’d been of me.
“As fate would have it, there was one cutting from the Birmingham newspaper and it featured that game against Villa. Ron Saunders was quoted as saying that he’d had the privilege of watching the best striker he’d ever seen in non-league football — ME.
“We’d lost 3-2 and I’d scored both goals.”
======================
From @celticservant
Charles Green in paper today. Slight problem – Saunders left Villa before they won European Cup!
Alex Tomo – MoJ have informed him that FTTT decision in the public domain early November:
czm@czm3
@alextomo Would the MoJ give you a date for when FTTT will be published in the public domain?
19halex thomson@alextomo
@czm3 no –
czm@czm3
@alextomo decisions made available to public subscribers within 10 days from date parties informed – 28 Oct? http://www.justice.gov.uk/tribunals/tax
alex thomson@alextomo
@czm3 hmm MoJ said y’day “it could be early November
Absolute pathetic PR puff! Not to mention proof positive that the suculent lamb school of Scottish “journalism” is alive and well. Move over Jabba, you have plenty of competition.
Seems to me that the shareholder list, whilst inherently interesting, is of little consequence but has resulted in deflecting bampot attention while they try to identify who’s behind the covering organisations involved.
Along with Mr Charles’ transformation of bad bears into good bears, and Sally’s ongoing tracksuit scandal deflecting bear attention, it sent up an excellent smoke screen to all interested outsiders.
For what, though?
that green article would gie anyone the boak
and the thing in the paper would too…..
bangordub says:
Monday, October 22, 2012 at 22:28
“Following” is the order of the day although leadership is completely absent.
—————————————————————–
Excellent observation, well put
bl00tered says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 08:39
nowoldandgrumpy says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 08:20
He said: “I recall playing for Cheltenham in a pre-season friendly against Aston Villa. It was after they’d won the European Cup and Ron Saunders was manager.
“I never knew this, but my mum, who died when she was 53, had kept a scrapbook of my career. I only discovered it when we were emptying her house.
“It was emotional and it underlined how proud she’d been of me.
“As fate would have it, there was one cutting from the Birmingham newspaper and it featured that game against Villa. Ron Saunders was quoted as saying that he’d had the privilege of watching the best striker he’d ever seen in non-league football — ME.
“We’d lost 3-2 and I’d scored both goals.”
======================
From @celticservant
Charles Green in paper today. Slight problem – Saunders left Villa before they won European Cup!
=================================
According to his date of birth he was 29 when Villa won the European Cup. Maybe he has two birthday’s, just like TGEF 😀
If the SFA need a template as how they will punish Oldco/Newco? they need go no further than observe the Lance Armstrong case and the mushrooming consequences for his doping.
Example: apart from stripping of titles, (Tour De France etc), one sponsor is threatening legal action to recoup millions of sponsorship money. Many individuals are also purported to be considering legal action for misrepresentation of products endorsed by Armstrong.
angus1983 says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 08:54
… Sally’s ongoing tracksuit scandal deflecting bear attention
————————————————–
Maybe there is a simple explanation, and it was just “either we can afford to buy you a new club suit, or we can give you a million shares”?
Charles Green was all over the Press yesterday claiming that his comments about death threats, having to constantly relocate from hotel to hotel for personal security, threats of physical violence in the street, etc.., were really just to show “how far we have come” in the Rangers family.
Impending death, to not going to die after all, is certainly progress in anyone’s book.
But lets all be positive because progress is being made all round, not just in the Rangers family.
From pulling out of the serialisation of a book because of similar threats, The Sun has moved on to publishing sycophantic drivel about Charles Green, the finest goal scorer ever seen. Now that’s progress.
All of this positivity was slightly tinged with negativity in the Daily Record’s piece this morning which admits that the Ibrox attendances up until this weekend were no longer “world records” for a fourth tier team. Boo!
But that’s because…….. Saturday’s attendance was a “NEW WORLD RECORD!!”
Hurray and lashings of ginger beer all round.
Senior says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 09:47
4 0 Rate This
If the SFA need a template as how they will punish Oldco/Newco? they need go no further than observe the Lance Armstrong case and the mushrooming consequences for his doping.
Example: apart from stripping of titles, (Tour De France etc), one sponsor is threatening legal action to recoup millions of sponsorship money. Many individuals are also purported to be considering legal action for misrepresentation of products endorsed by Armstrong.
——————————————————–
radio shortbread this morning were talking about Armstrong
An insurance company sponsor is seeking £5M in sponsorship back
the Tour De France are demanding the prize money for all 7 of his titles back
win/lose/draw – this is gonna cost armstrong a fortune, the legal bills alone will be horrendous
so, what will Scotland do??? Will the Rangers Football CLUB currently holding the RFC SFA membership be asked to repay the monies owed?
Personally, I don’t see Sevco getting any punishment at all from the authorities over this. titles may be stripped, they may even be awarded elsewhere but i doubt the current Currant Buns will not be banned from the SPL, banned from Europe, Suspended, expelled, fined
Is it a world record for “paying customers” though.
According to a Cheltenham Town website, “Charlie” was indeed a nifty striker who scored 21 in 35 games for them but he retired at 28 to go into the hotel business. So he didn’t play against Villa after they’d won the European Cup (Villa’s manager then was Tony Barton).
Perhaps he meant the game came after Villa had won the league (old First Division).
Cheltenham secured Charlie’s services with a colossal £500 transfer fee from mighty Goole Town, where he’d scored 70 goals in 140 games. He also netted 25 for Alfreton Town.
I can’t immediately find out how he got on at the Galacticos of Gainsborough Trinity, Gosport and Frickley Town.
He seems to have been a poor man’s Danny Diver. (;-0)
But good to see that he’s gone from Goole to the Ghouls.
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 10:19
Is it a world record for “paying customers” though.
————————————————————
They have to pay people to watch them? One way of easing the unemployment crisis I suppose.
Agrajag
No, Saturday’s attendance was not a world record for paying customers. That honour will surely go to every single person from the 500 million worldwide fan base who donates £500 to the Charles Green retirement fund, in return for a piece of paper which they can stick on the fridge beside their children’s painted red hand prints.
I am assuming his shares are freebies, promised when McCoist encouraged the ST sales ?
But I am thinking that as an original shareholder, McCoist will be seen as fully aligned to Green and his plans.
So, if the plans go awry, then it might only be McCoist left to face the not so friendly bears.
He might have been better sticking to a cash bonus, which could give him some wriggle room later
———————–
Do you remember the mystery line in the sand (on Edmiston Drive) that Green declared something like if you keep the queue (for STs) beyond that mark you can have your pick of players – yet non-one knew what the mark was.
Maybe the Green’s claim was “if you can seel shares to everyone out that window we’ll both be rich m’boy – well half of us will be anyway but at least you’ll have your history.
Ron Saunders Villa Manager June 74 – Feb 82 – 2 League Cups, I x Div 1 championship
Tony Barton Villa Manager Feb 82 – June 84 – 1 European Cup, 1 x UEFA Super Cup
There, fixed that for the Sun presstitute. Google and Wikipedia is a wonderful thing, a pity that the Scottish journos can’t find it or even bother to check out a simple story. Nuff said really.
I remember the game that Mr Charles is alluding to well. Cheltnham played an attacking 4-4-2 formation that day with Gordon Ramsey partnering Green up front.
Ron Saunders wanted to sign both players for Aston Villa after the game even though he had actually left the club several months before the match was played. They were that good.
Andrew Woods says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11:03
1 0 Rate This
I remember the game that Mr Charles is alluding to well. Cheltnham played an attacking 4-4-2 formation that day with Gordon Ramsey partnering Green up front.
Ron Saunders wanted to sign both players for Aston Villa after the game even though he had actually left the club several months before the match was played. They were that good.
——————————————-
oh yeah, now i remember it. I seem to remember that the half time draw was conducted by Lord Lucan who rode in on Shergar. That opened a few eyes. the MOTM award went to Green, of course, and surprisingly, the MOTM was presented with the Jules Rimes Cup by Pele, who dropped it, only for Pickles the dog to catch it and take it away and bury it – and it hasn’t been seen since.
Rumours are though that it is amongst the “certain assets” purchased by Sevco 5088 and is in a lock up with the St Etienne bike and the Ark of the Covenant from “Raiders”
Will BDO clear this up once and for all for us internet bampots?
Honestly though, i hope that is one “presstitute” picking up his jotters this morning for churning out such utter, meaningless, fawning pap in the midst of the biggest football crisis to hit this country.
have they no feckin shame
doontheslope says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 07:44
Charles Green
Clubs were motivated by bogitry – a few hours later – no they weren’t, well not the kind of bogitry I was thinking about.
The judicial panel cannot be fair – a few hours later – yes they can, I wasn’t questioning their integrity.
I got death threats – a few hours later – Rangers fans are the best in the world and I mean that from my heart.
Craig Whyte did not introduce me to Duff and Duffer – a few hours later – Well, in a funny sort of way, he did actually.
I am not playing to the galleries (Radio Scotland) – a few days later – pictured wearing a ‘tangerine’ RFC away top during his North American fund raising rally.
Thanks Long Time Lurker. Keep ‘em coming!
==========================================================================
How about Charles Green [apologies for paraphrasing] saying, without a CVA Rangers history will die with the Club being liquidated to – I have bought the assets of the Club including their history 🙂
(ah feck, sorry, Shergar didn’t go missing until Feb 1983 so he wouldn’t have been missing when the game was played, however, the fact he was ridden by Lord Lucan would have still opened a few eyes so I’m not retracting the statement above)
Taken from Greens little story in todays paper.
(“I was fantastically fast.
“At the school I attended I still hold the record for the 100 and 200 metres — and that was wearing Dunlop plimsolls on grass. I was phenomenally fast.)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I hope hes still got his plimsolls, coz hes going to need them very soon when this goes tits up.
But seriously, saying nonsense like that to a national paper, they guy is a fruitcake and how any hard working person would be willing to hand over 500 quid of their wages to him is beyond understanding.
Bill McMurdo has popped up on FF to say
I won’t attempt to answer a lot of the claptrap on this thread. The bottom line is we gave Whyte a chance to speak his piece. If you think Craig Whyte said equals Bill McMurdo said then there are plenty of night classes teaching language interpretation.
I will say this, not in defence of Craig Whyte but just as reality every fan must face:
If you like who is running Rangers right now, then you may want to be afraid, be very afraid.
Because Craig Whyte brought them there.
Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 10:15
Personally, I don’t see Sevco getting any punishment at all from the authorities over this. titles may be stripped, they may even be awarded elsewhere but i doubt the current Currant Buns will not be banned from the SPL, banned from Europe, Suspended, expelled, fined
=================================
I agree. I don’t think that the entire Scottish establishment have been straining every muscle for 6 months to ensure the continuation of a “Rangers” playing at Ibrox, just to let it all collapse at the final hurdle.
There are those on here who disagree, and who look forward to the dual contract enquiry expelling TRFC from the SFA. They take that view on the basis that there is no other realistic sanction open to the panel.
My answer to that is to point to the deeply corrupt process by which Sevco gained membership of the SFA. The people who signed up to that scandal are not going to stop now. Every trick in the book will be deployed to ensure that no effective action is taken by the SFA against the interests of TRFC.
Even if TRFC go into administration, another magic switcheroo will be devised, the SFA membership will be transferred again, and a team called Rangers will continue to play at Ibrox in the senior game. You see they know how to do it now, they have a precedent, nothing easier.
If I am wrong, I will happily eat my skip bunnet, without the benefit of salt and pepper.
neepheid says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11:32
============================
I have never doubted that “A Team Called Rangers” would be playing in Scottish Senior Football this season. It shouldn’t have happened, but I always thought it would. In fact if I remember correctly that was even how it was described by Craig Whyte at the time “A Team Called Rangers”. To me an advance warning of what was going to happen.
However, A Team Called Rangers, and the original club (which subsequently became a ltd company and then a PLC) which is just about to be liquidated, are not the same thing.
I have no doubt that whatever happens in the future, whether it be a successful IPO, a successful private share sale, administration or even another liquidation, then there will still be “A Club Called Rangers”. It will not be the original club. It may be forced into SFL 3 yet again, we will have to see.
I do not think the current club should be punished for the sins ofthe previous club. If they (the previous club) are found guilty of fielding ineligible players then the normal rules should be used. The game result should be changed to a 3-0 defeat. If that happens then cups and titles should be re-evaluated and if they did not win, then that should br struck from the records.
That however relates to the previous club, not this one. It is not their history, those are not their titles or cups, it was not their team which won them, or their team which cheated to do it, so why should they be punished.
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11:48
I do not think the current club should be punished for the sins of the previous club. If they (the previous club) are found guilty of fielding ineligible players then the normal rules should be used. The game result should be changed to a 3-0 defeat. If that happens then cups and titles should be re-evaluated and if they did not win, then that should br struck from the records.
That however relates to the previous club, not this one. It is not their history, those are not their titles or cups, it was not their team which won them, or their team which cheated to do it, so why should they be punished.
=======================================================
at some point, after the Nimmo Smith investigation, the SPL, SFA and even SFL are going to have to make a decision on “the History”
in footballing terms, if THE Rangers are claiming the history of Rangers – then, that history will be removed and they WILL be liable for FOOTBALL sanctions
Will Sevco accept those sanctions? They may very well put their hands up and say “Nothing to do with us”
at that point, we can end this “same club” 54 titles, oops, 49 titles, 5 star nonsense
If that decision/announcement is made BEFORE the IPO – then i reckon it will fail and that’ll will be the end of it there and then. The Spivs will sell their assets to tesco/Barrats and move on.
I don’t get this ‘world record’ stuff. Are they just allowed to ignore everywhere else?
Here’s Santa Cruz in Brazil Serie D
1) Santa Cruz 0 – 0 Treze , 59.966, 16/10/2011, Estádio do Arruda.
2) Santa Cruz 0 – 2 Tupi , 54.815, 20/11/2011, Estádio do Arruda.
3) Santa Cruz 4 – 3 Guarany-S , 50.879, 05/09/2010, Estádio do Arruda.
4) Santa Cruz 2 – 2 Central , 45.007, 11/07/2009, Estádio do Arruda.
5) Santa Cruz 1 – 0 Coruripe , 44.642, 25/09/2011, Estádio do Arruda.
Going by the varied dates, these can’t all be ‘play-offs, so they don;t count’, can they?
I don’t get this ‘world record’ stuff. Are they just allowed to ignore everywhere else?
yes.
Andrew Woods says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11:03
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I remember the game that Mr Charles is alluding to well. Cheltnham played an attacking 4-4-2 formation that day with Gordon Ramsey partnering Green up front.
========================================================
BTW – did Gordon Ramsay TUPE over to T’Rangers this summer???
nowoldandgrumpy says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 08:20
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More deep investigative journalism by the Sun
PETER LAWWELL couldn’t do it with Neil Lennon.
But fellow Old Firm chief executive Charles Green most certainly can with Ally McCoist.
That is, talk about what it’s like to be a hero footballer.
…
Green, 59, said: “I started playing for the local colliery team in Goldthorpe and I got £1.50 a week for playing football and £1.50 a week for working.
“I gave all of it to my mum because we had no money.
“I wasn’t a good player, but I was fantastically fast. I was the kind of striker that’s known as a sniffer, a poacher.
“At the school I attended I still hold the record for the 100 and 200 metres — and that was wearing Dunlop plimsolls on grass. I was phenomenally fast.
…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It all put sme in mind of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo
Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 10:15
so, what will Scotland do??? Will the Rangers Football CLUB currently holding the RFC SFA membership be asked to repay the monies owed?
——
LNS, in his Statement of Reasons, made it very clear that, in the eyes of the SPL Rulebook, RFC is the same “Club” as TRFC.
Therefore, assuming that titles and prize money were awarded to RFC (the “Club” including its owners and operators) then I hereby nebulously guess that it follows that TRFC (being the same “Club”) would be liable to pay back any prize money which was not commensurate with their annual league position during a run of 3-0 defeats that lasted for ten years.
That is, unless Mr Charles decides that TRFC are a New Club with absolutely zero to do with RFC (there are more and more reasons to do this), and if the SPL ask for their cash back.
I see the upper tier is now being used for TRFC games – does that means they came to an agreement with the Debenture holders as per D&P statement in Aug? Anyone see that announced?
http://willievass.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/201012-Rangers-v-Queens-Park/G0000HoxDfkRAgGY/I0000uhtgMegZ1kk/C000024pTTysH3T0
Debenture Holders
13.20 Please refer to previous reports for a complete background on the debentures issued by the Company, however, in accordance with clause 2.3.2 of the debentures, the debentures are repayable in full upon the appointment of Administrators of the Company and in consideration for the surrender of the various benefits of holding the debentures (“the Benefits”).
13.21 The Company will move to a CVL process shortly and in this regard, under clause 2.3.1, it is the Joint Administrators understanding that all debenture holders will become unsecured non-preferential creditors in the CVL for the par value of the debenture.
13.22 Based upon current information it is anticipated that there will be sufficient realisations to enable a distribution to the non-preferential unsecured creditors of the Company, however the timing and quantum of any distribution is uncertain, although any distribution will be made in the CVL.
13.23 The Joint Administrators understand that Newco will shortly be issuing a statement to all debenture holders, regarding Newco‟s position on the debenture holder rights for the 2012 / 2013 season.
scottc says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:24
…
Green, 59, said:
“At the school I attended I still hold the record for the 100 and 200 metres — and that was wearing Dunlop plimsolls on grass. I was phenomenally fast.
=========================
Aye, but he fails to mention that the rest of the lads were wearing their dads’ pit boots
Charlie Green is completely off his nut.
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11:48
That however relates to the previous club, not this one. It is not their history, those are not their titles or cups, it was not their team which won them, or their team which cheated to do it, so why should they be punished.
=========================
But surely the price the SFA wanted for the transfer of membership was an agreement from Sevco that they would accept any punishments dished out by the Dual Contracts panel, led by LNS? As I remember it, Green dug his heels in, but got the membership transferred anyway, as he was always going to, of course. But the SPL/SFA reserved the right to apply to Sevco any punishments the panel came up with? Or has my memory failed me?
Another thing about Chuck’s glorious sporting past. Surely when he was at school it would have been the 100 & 220 yards. I’m slightly younger than our hero and I don’t ever remember running at any metric distances. They only changed in the Commonwealth Games in 1970 when Chuck would have “down’t’pit” Can’t imagine any school, especially one in England, changing before that.
But it’s in the newpapers so it must be right 😀
Be interested to know which esteemed Comnmercial Surveyors have recently revalued Property Assets at £80M as Green follows SDM “business tactic” of propping up the Company Balance Sheet with the help of “professional service providers” who would sell their granny for fat fees.
So why the floatation in such a hurry and the ramping up of PR handouts?
Surely any prudent long term owners would go to a reputable UK/Euro Bank and secure £10m-£15M in funding if needed, as they have Assets of £80M plus; and of course a successful lower tier club will have newseason ticket money flowing in next year and for subsequent years.
Of course you do need a credible people and a detailed medium term business plan to borrow money in these “tough times”; an IPO document is often the complete opposite.
This Floatation is a “get rich quick scheme” for some people nothing more and nothing less.
ordinaryfan says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:40
++++++++++++++++++++++
What are you hinting at here, speak your mind.
I can reveal that chuckie does indeed hold the 100 & 200 metre records from some school in the 50’s. However, they were actually won by Albert Tatlock and the bold chuckie bought the titles when Alberts ferret skin flat cap business went into administration.
Incidently, the races were viewed by a record crowd of 500 million and a few wippets.
neepheid on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:41
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Agrajag says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11:48
That however relates to the previous club, not this one. It is not their history, those are not their titles or cups, it was not their team which won them, or their team which cheated to do it, so why should they be punished.
=========================
But surely the price the SFA wanted for the transfer of membership was an agreement from Sevco that they would accept any punishments dished out by the Dual Contracts panel, led by LNS? As I remember it, Green dug his heels in, but got the membership transferred anyway, as he was always going to, of course. But the SPL/SFA reserved the right to apply to Sevco any punishments the panel came up with? Or has my memory failed me?
———————-
That was made perfectly clear by the SFA in their statement at the time that left all of us in no doubt whatsoever. Oh, wait….
As for Chuckie, I reckon he’s now building up to plea of insanity.
neepheid says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:41
===============================
My recollection is the same as yours, I just think that it would be wrong to punish the new Club for the lying, cheating and stealing of the old. Even if the SFA managed to get Green to agree to that I think they would “compromise”. Even if they didn’t I would expect New Rangers to go to the Scottish Courts with regard the matter. There is a history of ignoring the rules they agreed to when they don’t suit.
The events of Yesterday with UCI stripping Lance Armstrong of titles and the consequences of that act are worth examining.
By the Rivers of Babylon and fifty shades of Whyte!
http://wp.me/s1G95H-21
10.15am
‘Personally, I don’t see Sevco getting any punishment at all from the authorities over this. titles may be stripped, they may even be awarded elsewhere but i doubt the current Currant Buns will not be banned from the SPL, banned from Europe, Suspended, expelled, fined’
That’s all very well but the SFA, UEFA, FIFA will, like it or not, establish a precedent. They have to inflict the severest penalty possible otherwise lesser violations and breaking of rules will carry
no deterrent whatsoever, where then for the game of football?.
So this week chuckie makes up a story about a club who had recently won the european cup being impressed by his striking ability, when last week he was moaning that the same club was rubbish.
Statement just released on Ibrox TV by Charles Green.
“Some people may have got the impression from this mornings newspapers that I was the best striker to ever come out of Yorkshire, and that I was the fastest sprinter ever in the world, even faster than Mr H. Bolt (who incidently has asked about buying shares in Rangers. Yes he did.)
This wasnt quite true and I only said it to reassure the Rangers family about how far we have come this last few months, much further than a mere 100 or 200 meters. And I admit that among the Rangers family, there are far better football players than me and absolutely no one who would issue death threats because they are the best supporters in the world as the mayors of Manchester and Barcelona will confirm.
I hope that we will continue to travel around Scotland bringing peace, joy and love to all whom we meet.”
“PS – Ally asked me to remind everyone that Rangers players dont eat pies and go bevvying all the time at Victoria’s night club in Glasgow on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights until three in the morning. And thanks to The Daily Record for pointing that out.”
BTW lets not get to focused or indifferent here, lets wish Glasgow Celtic the best of luck tonight. A tough tough assignment – one good thing though, we can rest assured that both the team and the fans will do Scotland proud whatever the result.
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:58
My recollection is the same as yours, I just think that it would be wrong to punish the new Club for the lying, cheating and stealing of the old. Even if the SFA managed to get Green to agree to that I think they would “compromise”. Even if they didn’t I would expect New Rangers to go to the Scottish Courts with regard the matter. There is a history of ignoring the rules they agreed to when they don’t suit.
==================================
We agree entirely on what actually will happen.
However in my view, the SFA should never, in a million years, have accepted the transfer of membership to Sevco without a cast iron assurance from Sevco that they would accept the judgement of the panel. That wouldn’t be wrong, it would just be the price Sevco would have had to pay for an absolutely unprecedented transfer of SFA membership.
The alternative for Sevco was to join the junior leagues, because they knew they clearly did not meet the criteria for membership of the senior leagues. Yet the SFA caved in, despite Green refusing to accept any punishment dished out by the dual contracts panel. Now, the SFA were sat at the table with four aces, Green was there with 9 high. Can some greater mind on here please explain to me why the SFA backed down?
http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/196020-celtic-shareholders-call-for-end-to-sponsorship-deals-with-rangers/
Charles Green could outrun Shergar over 5 furlongs with Lord Lucan in his pocket
and carrying a sack of coal on his back
Charles Green could work down pit and play on mud patch without single stain on his suit
Charles Green kicked a football so hard its now a planet
Charles Green can be in 2 places at once , both of them behind you
Charles Green once passed an eye examination blindfolded
Charles Green doesnt put his foot in his mouth ,he puts it in yours
Charles Green is so fast he can run in and out of the raindrops without getting wet
Charles Green doesnt flush the toilet ,he scares the cr*p out of it
Charles Green doesnt make left turns cause everything he does is right
Charles Green could buy Rfc* for £2 and sell it for £20m within 6 months
Chuck Norris wishes he was Charles Green
Angus1983 says:
Monday, October 22 2012 at 22:56
“Or, that could be nothing but nebulous guesswork on my part”
———————————————————————————————————————-
The nebulous guesswork jibe really got to you didn’t it?
bawsbustedanatha says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:28
http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/196020-celtic-shareholders-call-for-end-to-sponsorship-deals-with-rangers/
————————————————————————————————
And this is how the Vangaurd bears respond! Dont know where to start!
http://www.vanguardbears.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=297:vb-endorses-celtic-shareholders-opinion
Green, 59, said:
“At the school I attended I still hold the record for the 100 and 200 metres — and that was wearing Dunlop plimsolls on grass.”
=====
On grass? That, I can believe.
Can anyone with conections to Aberdeen explain why they voted along with Celtic to block a change to theSPL’s voting structure. The issue will now be discussed further at the November 19th meeting
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/top-football-stories/spl-move-to-change-voting-structure-delayed-1-2593744
I strongly suspect LNS will give severe and draconian punishments to T’Rangers. He knows the whole “same club” thing is a legal nonsense but as he has decided to take the SPL at face value then he will impose extremely severe penalties on the club – as the continuing footballing entity.. I suspect that he will also denounce in the clearest possible terms the conduct of the footballing authorities and key individuals in allowing the fraud to be perpetrated.
The SFA will then endeavour to deal with Chuckie in-house, in lieu of an appeal to safeguard t’the Rangers – backed by our ever compliant MSM, but by then I feel that the damage done to the reputation of Football by the release of the FTTT and LNS’s report will be so severe that external agancies will have to step in – be they a Scottish Judicial enquiry, a UEFA/FIFA investigation, or a reference to the CAS or Court of Session. There is no way that such fraud will be allowed to hold beyond the realms of Scottish football- much as they have tried to keep it in house and under wraps.
The upshot — who the hell knows – suspending T’Rangers, Suspending or disbanding the SFA, Rangers renouncing their history, law suits against Murray, pursuing ebt recipients for cash, major players going to jail – could be any or none or all of the above. Will be worth the watching though.
Good fun toi be had all around.
The parallels with Armstrong are uncanny – a bullying supremacist team with the authorities in their pocket cheating with impunity only to be finally outed by an external agency. Hopefully the time-frame will be a lot quicker – but the end result for RFC is inevitable. The club’s death will be acknowledged by all and the only Rangers to continue will be a new entity. I very much doubt that beyond this season that entity will have anything to do with SEVCO or Mr. Green.
Latest story from Charlie Boy. His first ever round of golf saw him hit eleven holes in one and he never played again because he had obviously mastered the sport. I doubt the Daily Record would even see fit to question the “Dear Leader”.
Allyjambo: That’s interesting. Celtic only needed to entice one other Club to gain a huge upper hand here. Also Aberdeen may be looking at the demise of RFC as an opportunity, they would be the 1st Club to start showing a bit of ambition. There is a gap that needs filling and Aberdeen may be taking a gamble here. They have proven in the past that when successful they can draw in huge numbers of support. By aligning themselves with Celtic here they look to be staking a claim for the vacancy left by the death of Rangers.
Another great piece BRTH
neepheid says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:21
=================================
I think we are also in agreement on what should have happened.
New club, should have applied for a place in the junior leagues, as and when a place in senior football appeared should have put their name in the proverbial hat for that.
A mixture of corruption and cowardice stopped that happening.
rab says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:09
So this week chuckie makes up a story about a club who had recently won the european cup being impressed by his striking ability, when last week he was moaning that the same club was rubbish.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Good spot rab.
I’ve dusted down my copy of Abnormal Psychology that I have had for more than 25 years and turned to the Freudian section.
Freud was a prolific writer on interpreting the subconscious. It would seem that this idea was first introduced in connection with the phenomenon of repression, to explain what happens to ideas that are repressed; Freud stated explicitly that the concept of the unconscious was based on the theory of repression. He postulated a cycle in which ideas are repressed, but remain in the mind, removed from consciousness yet operative, then reappear in consciousness under certain circumstances (one such circumstance is when yir goin’ aff yir heid). My reading of that is that he’s thinking about sacking Ally and appointing, current Villa manager, Paul Lambert.
chris shields (@chrisshields10) says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:42
Oh dear….
easyJambo says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:46
Can anyone with conections to Aberdeen explain why they voted along with Celtic to block a change to theSPL’s voting structure. The issue will now be discussed further at the November 19th meeting
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
As a Buddie all I might suggest is that perhaps there are clubs that would like to reorganise leagues to allow ICBINR back in to the top table somehow swiftly…?
And that not being one, Aiberdeen, fit-like, are in no rush to make it easier for that to happen?
Of course, the flaw in that suggestion is in assuming that Celtic also don’t want them back too soon…?
And that there are currently 9 who are definitely keen on that idea?
:unsure: smilie wullnae work, but you know what I’m suggesting…?
I’ve also had trouble grasping the Ticketus convolutions… 🙂
Senior says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:20
6 0 i
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BTW lets not get to focused or indifferent here, lets wish Glasgow Celtic the best of luck tonight. A tough tough assignment – one good thing though, we can rest assured that both the team and the fans will do Scotland proud whatever the result.
——————————————————
Should I wish that the best team wins?
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:59
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neepheid says:
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 13:21
=================================
I think we are also in agreement on what should have happened.
New club, should have applied for a place in the junior leagues, as and when a place in senior football appeared should have put their name in the proverbial hat for that.
A mixture of corruption and cowardice stopped that happening.
—————————————————————————-
Being perfectly honest, I would have been happy enough for the SFA/SFL to bend the rules and allow newco admission to SFL3 despite not having accounts.
The league members were asked to vote – the SFL said yes to division 3.
I would have asked Sevco to post a bond that would be held for 3 years in lieu of accounts – to cover the league should Sevco go into admin/liquidation again.
there is no denying that there is little money in the scottish game and that the lower league clubs will benefit from the increased media/tv coverage, not to mention the shared cup game revenue and 2 full house home games a year from RFC (same would be true of Celtic, Hearts, Hibs Or Aberdeen if they went down – remember, these grounds only have small capacities so a full house doesn’t mean 50k supporters, more like 2/3/4/5k.)
It would be foolish to remove such a large number of paying customers from the game.
However, Sevco should have been made to make a very public declaration for the purposes of clarity
1. they are a new club, no history, titles, debts, stars, they will not pay football or any other debts but they will not receive any monies “owed” to RFC plc either.
2. They are the same club, 54 titles et al, they will pay ALL debts, they are entitled to all monies owed and they will abide by any disciplinary hearings/investigations into oldco.
I think that, would have been the most practical solution.
of course, Spartans and Cove might take the huff, but they don’t seem to have made any noises about it all so far. However, the SFA would have had to then announce serious league reform – especially with entry requirements and introduce a pyramid type system
RE Aberdeen, I did have an interesting exchange with some Dons a couple of years ago, to my astonishment they argued that the interests of Aberdeen were in concert with the Old Firm, cos thay are a big club, just like Celtic and Rangers, and consequently they have diverent interests to clubs such as Dundee United! I laughed with them in good humour but did get the impression they were being serious.
I grew up watching football in the 80’s and have always retained a soft spot for the Dons, and Aberdeen generally a gem of a city, but a section of their fans seemed intent on filling the ‘gap’ left by the old Rangers, their conduct a in and around Tannadice last Saturday was somewhat ‘Rangersesque’.
Lifted from the torygraph, but an excellent summary of the filleting given to the hapless BBC head honcho in front of the select committee for culture, media and sport this morning.
———————
Balding, bespectacled, pink and earnestly blinking, George Entwistle doesn’t look like a man who wields tremendous power. If anything, he looks like a postman: a postman who has lost his way, or lost his postbag, or perhaps even lost his van. At any rate, not a man who on first glance you would take to be the director-general of a vast and world-renowned media organisation.
The MPs who questioned him today, about the BBC’s actions over the Jimmy Savile scandal, certainly didn’t treat him with cap-doffing reverence. They were openly scornful, more and more so as it became clear that Mr Entwistle, by his own account, had known very little about the saga of the dropped Newsnight investigation into Savile. It seems he’d also made very little effort to find out more.
He had no recollection of this, no knowledge of that. Indeed he hadn’t wanted to ask too much about the Newsnight investigation because, as a former Newsnight man himself, he was worried that it might look as if he was showing “undue interest”.
“It seems that your determination not to show an ‘undue interest’ applies to everything at the BBC,” snorted Philip Davies (Con). “You need to get a grip of the facts,” snapped Ben Bradshaw (Lab). “An extraordinary lack of curiosity,” said John Whittingdale (Con). “You sound a bit like James Murdoch,” said Damian Collins (Con).
They could write it as an epitaph on his headstone. “He Didn’t Know.”
—————————
Can we no sent our Campbell down to see them?
fishnish says: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 14:04
==========================
The main area of contention with the 11-1 voting structure was the distribution of TV/prize money with its disproportionate rewards to the teams that finish first and second. Indeed the gap in the prize money between second and third is greater than that between third and twelfth.
I can understand Celtic’s self interest in maintaining the status quo, but I don’t buy the idea that Aberdeen are only voting that way to block league reconstruction. Aberdeen (fans) were certainly among the most vocal in their opposition to any accommodation of RFC into the SPL, but I believe that they were equally vocal in their opposition to the 11-1 voting structure.
I also seem to recall that Peter Lawwell was on record as being willing to countenance 9-3 voting in the early summer.