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
AT was/still in a fire fight with some horrible nasty vile TRFC advocates over on twitter a few hours ago
The obnoxious national shame is mounting on the record and albeit slowly is going international
This will be a legacy for the World to judge over time and not to be forgotten by the decent minded
https://twitter.com/alextomo
.
Apart – am looking forward to a decent Sunday scoop now that jabber and jack out in the cold.
briggsbhoy says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 21:05
bobferris70 says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 16:36
I spent the morning watching one son play football and my eldest at 3pm so missed all the score till I got back in the car. I have never put a football coupon for years nd the only time I bet is the Grand national. Well today I put a pound on 12 win results and what was my coupon burster…..the Kilmarnock result against Celtic. First thing I did was phone my mate who’s a big Killie fan to tell him what his team had done for me. I agree with you and I have said consistantly that we need competition in the SPL and this result proves that Celtic need to have the mindset to go out and win every game not just in SPL but the CL. Well done Killie
————————————————————————————————————–
7 out of 8 for me and a fiver into the bookies back pocket.
Its a good job I like the Killie pies 🙂
campsiejoe @ 20:35
I suspect they are being quiet because they know that most people now realise that our game will thrive even more in the absence of Stooges Inc.
angus1983 says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 20:58
‘…Let’s indulge in some light reading and see how this situation is being covered (and how facts ignored although introduced at an early stage) over at RM …’
—-
I’m no expert on mental health,but some of that writing is clearly the work of deranged minds.
I can see Jack Nicholson obsessively typing ” all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” in ‘The Shining’ before he sends bullets through the post-oops, correction-before he goes on the rampage with an axe.
iamacant says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 21:32
I haven’t had a pie for a very long time and that would be the nearest I get to succulent lamb or should that be mutton if I were to have one 🙂
Paul McConville@Paulmcc12
@BartinMain @rangerstaxcase @mdkster On the same basis I won’t post about decision till publication, but pages 246-252 of it are devastating
ordinaryfan says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 21:55
Paul McConville@Paulmcc12
@BartinMain @rangerstaxcase @mdkster On the same basis I won’t post about decision till publication, but pages 246-252 of it are devastating
Link please
ianagain says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 22:00
0 0 Rate This
ordinaryfan says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 21:55
Paul McConville@Paulmcc12
@BartinMain @rangerstaxcase @mdkster On the same basis I won’t post about decision till publication, but pages 246-252 of it are devastating
Link please
—————————————
http://www.twitter.com
🙂
sorry, can’t figure out how to paste the link, but it was certainly there
Sorry guys, I should have said it was taken from KDS.
OK thanks Ill find it sounds like someone at MIH gave up a copy
exiledcelt says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 20:55
-‘..I think this is trivial..’
—-
I agree.And I share your view that it would be better if we could afford to be like Barca and not have shirt sponsorship.
‘..I woudl prefer Celtic made clear what part if any they had with the shenannigans of the summer..’
On this, I disagree.
I would say that Celtic had no more part than any of the other SPL clubs, and indeed would have had no right or title or duty to have had any greater part!
You surely would not expect a ” We had nothing to do with any attempt to save Rangers” kind of statement? Or, alternatively ” We conspired to have Rangers kicked into the bottome tier” or, again, ” We are currently feverishly engaged in working for a reconstruction that lets RFC into the top flight next season”?
Peter Lawwell was today quite matter-of-fact in accepting the fact that the new Rangers will have to work their way ,season by season, back to the SPL, and positive in asserting that there are no ongoing discussions about trying to accelerate that process.( And Richard Gordon did not a bad job of interviewing him.Not quite Paxman, but better than any previous attempt at forensic questioning.
( I quite like RG, because I think he was the first presenter who openly admitted his support for his team; and because he allowed my son to share a very late night taxi in Seville, when demand for taxis was particularly high, for some reason or other.)
As said before, I think the dignified conduct of Celtic is the clearest evidence that they have, throughout the whole affair, acted honestly AND sensibly and show every intention of continuing to do so.
Posted on KDS Generic Sevco Thread at 19:28, sorry not on Twitter. There’s a Link there, unfortunately I’m computer illiterate so can’t post it!
* meaning i’m not on Twitter.
If anyone needs a costume for halloween, contact Craig Whyte.
He bought a cowboy outfit for £1……
Haloween- everyone get along to the Lord Hodge doble header in Edinburgh. Masks a plenty.
https://twitter.com/Paulmcc12/tweets
Paul McConville @Paulmcc12
@BartinMain @rangerstaxcase @mdkster On the same basis I won’t post about decision till publication, but pages 246-252 of it are devastating
obviously populer getting this Danish
Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!
Thanks for noticing—we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon.
Search for a topic, full name, or @username
Any FTT fans betting against Wednesday as the public publication date. Seems the offices fav day so far? Correlates with the interested parties having it.
Please, will a TRFC fan capable of intelligent thought, reflection and objectivity stand up and take over the asylum? We had a couple of decent guys on here. Where are they?
If the ones in possession of a brain cell don’t appear soon and take control, evolutionary regression will continue. When the FTTT shows soon that they really, definitely were a bunch of cheats I fear for the domestic crime rate in Mother Glasgow and around the country, let alone the safety of passers-by.
It seems to me that it’s becoming increasingly clear that this “small minority” is on a suicide mission, in that they will be the ultimate reason that their self-proclaimed national institution will need to be shut down.
Having simmered away in the background for decades, the misguided supremacy, the hatred, the defensive lashing out is coming to the boil – and Dog help those authorities who are supposed to be in control of the situation. Leeway was given, and a rabble-rouser was allowed to take charge. These were not small mistakes. Appeasement was mentioned, either here or on RTC. Guess what, SFA? We telt you it wasn’t going to work.
Everyone except TRFC is seen as corrupt – the BBC, C4, all newspapers, every SPL club. the SFA, the Court system, eminent QCs, prizewinning bloggers and journalists, bookshops, the Law – even those who have bent over backwards to cover for them and talk their side of the story up. It beggars belief.
The bud is about to flower. It needs nipped before it does.
Notably, TRFC themselves are doing absolutely nothing to calm the situation – and I don’t know if they can! They know the demographic of their support damn well. They’re well aware of their potential behaviour patterns. Mr Charles has them eating out of his hand. But even he can do nothing – witness the carry on with the Sun piece last week. Note how quick they are to turn against even Loyal Super Algae when he commits the heinous offence of wearing a tracksuit to a game.
The alternative, of course, is to take the pressure off. To let things go back to the way they’ve been up till now. Not in the headlines or on the evening news, but simmering away in the background of all our lives.
Except now it’ll be worse. Because they’ve been challenged – and if the pressure’s taken off, then in their tiny minds they’ll have “won”. Can you imagine how that’ll amplify their behaviour? Exponentially, I should think. Is that what anyone wants?
How in the name of heaven can this be fixed?
Meanwhile, AT sure is getting a lot of negative incoming over on Twitter – or, at least, a load of inane comments which he summarises nicely in the following exchange … and still they don’t see it.
Calum McLean @Rangersfans01
@alextomo you realise we all just think your a twat… #rangersfamily
alex thomson @alextomo
@Rangersfans01 no. Every single insult merely proves to the wider world how painful the incoming truth is. QED!
TDFB says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 22:52
‘..Paul McConville @Paulmcc12
@BartinMain @rangerstaxcase @mdkster On the same basis I won’t post about decision till publication, but pages 246-252 of it are devastating..’
—–
See this bloody twitter stuff! Does ma heid in.
Has a copy of the FTTT decision come into public hands?
hi all,
am i being really thick or has someone leaked a copy of the FTT decision? If so, where can it be accessed? I tried registering at kds but my yahoo address is blocked for some reason.
Ta
Frankie
Frank
Sounds like it.
legals being legals we will probably need to wait
Looks to me like it has been made available under the counter to select persons who aren’t saying much about it except “yah boo sucks we’ve got it, just so you know”. 🙂
Meantime, I wondered if fan spokesperson and TV personality Chris Graham may have anything sensible to say.
But no – nobody on AT’s C4 report was “credible”.
@leebowers999
Instead of defelecting you would think him being a media darling that he would condemn death threats to journos.
@ChrisGraham76
I certainly would if that happened.
@leebowers999
Easy copout just call everyone a liar eh.
@ChrisGraham76
Nope just need to see some proof from someone credible. Usual stuff.
@leebowers999
Do you think its all a conspiracy then?
@ChrisGraham76
Just Thomson giving airtime to people with no credibility. Call it what you like.
@leebowers999
So lets see who is all in on this conspiracy then. QCs, the NUJ, a book editor and ch4 news.Have I got them all?
The only parties who have it are the named and related parties who registered an interest at the time or were brought into the investigaion as it progressed.
Jeezo how can Chrissy boy argue this. Don’t read the newspapers but was there not a story about Mr Charles being given death threats this week by the RFC mob ?
It sounds like a copy of the FTT has been seen outside of the closed circle but it is not yet in the public domain, but it will appear to all some time next week.
I expect the reaction by the “minority” to a guilty verdict will be far less serious than it would be if they were cleared of any wrongdoing.
One of their main justifications for their ongoing anger is “they havent been found guilty of anything” that may be about to change.
On publication they will know who is to blame
It wont be Peter Lawell,the BBC or Opus Dei it will be Minty and the knights of the square table
If anyone at the SFA is to blame it will be el Presidente Campbell Ogilvie
They will have no one to blame but their own and then they will do what they do best
fight amongst themselves.
Charles Green may even be moved to finally change the name of Murray Park
well I’ve a suggestion for him
ground ze.ro
definition :Noun:
The point on the earth’s surface directly above or below an exploding nuclear bomb.
angus1983 says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 23:43
‘..It seems to me that it’s becoming increasingly clear that this “small minority” is on a suicide mission, in that they will be the ultimate reason that their self-proclaimed national institution will need to be shut down..’
—–
A propos our Roman history observations , is it too fanciful to imagine CG in a kind of Catilina role?
That is, as a real demon- raising baddie who knows that, over the piece, a fair number of powerful folk are secretly with him because he is really ‘one of them’.
Cicero ultimately defeated Catilina by demonstrating to Catilina’s supporters in the Senate that Catilina ( who shared, as old Etonians do today) their social and economic status, was as much a threat to them as to the generality of civic society.
Is it too fanciful to see RTC/TSFM/ other internet- bams as the Cicero of the footballing world, in that, by their genuine democratic insistence on truth and fairness, they will defeat the attempts by any supremacist-minded ,totally arrogant section of our footballing community to subvert the football authorities and bend them to their will?
angus1983 says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 00:10
…
@leebowers999
Do you think its all a conspiracy then?
@ChrisGraham76
Just Thomson giving airtime to people with no credibility. Call it what you like.
@leebowers999
So lets see who is all in on this conspiracy then. QCs, the NUJ, a book editor and ch4 news.Have I got them all?
====================
‘leebowers999’ aka Phil ?
Regardless, well played Mr.Bowers… 😉
Frank Forrest says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 23:58
‘.. I tried registering at kds but my yahoo address is blocked for some reason.’
—-
So is mine! I’ve asked why. Seems to be a bit of a prissy, bossy-boots kind of site- bit like my dear old auntie annie.
Just for fun.
==========
F.A.O. Marty Dauer / UK operations & Rangers soccer club administration.
To investor.relations@duffandphelps.com
From: x y
Sent: Fri 10/26/12 7:15 PM
To: investor.relations@duffandphelps.com
Mr. Dauer,
FYI – attached emails sent to The WSJ & The NYT.
…
It has been noted recently that you have taken a ‘hands-on’ interest with Rangers soccer club.
As expected, there where no analyst queries on the Q3 earnings conference call on Thursday.
There is now an expectation that you will bring clarity – and closure – to the Rangers / D&P debacle.
Good luck
StevieBC says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 20:37
The more I see and hear stuff like that the angrier I get.
How dare McCoist or anyone else act in such a manner.
The fact that it was pre-meditated and scripted, shown on Rangers TV makes it even worse. He deliberately set out to rabble rouse, in order to threaten another human beings welfare and even life, and to upset and threaten the welfare of his family.
How can he have simply gotten away with it, scandalous.
Frank Forrest says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 23:58
john clarke says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 00:56
———————————————–
“If you decide to register, please be aware that we don’t accept email addresses from free web accounts like gmail, Hotmail, live.co.uk etc. Sorry, but almost all of the abuse and spam that we get is from free web accounts. The software on the forum will automatically block any requests using a free email account.”
The generic sevco thread – where all The Rangers related stuff is posted – is on the public area of the site. You don’t need to register.
http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/8731534/649/
It is very well moderated. Prissy it is not. May I suggest the Lalala thread?
http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/topic/8054574/323/
Finally I suggest it’s worth registering to access the search database. KDS was on the Tax case long before many others and has a great body of research on it.
timx2, they’ve already been found guilty of tax avoidance via their ebt scheme and the ftt was their appeal against this decision by hmrc. I fully agree that the news will be bad for oldco. If it were otherwise there would be a deluge large enough to clean out the aforementioned Augean stables and the bears would be singing from the rafters. Nope. Can’t hear a thing.
I will do my utmost not to gloat when the decision is released, I will try to remember that all I have ever looked for or expected through all this is fairness and lawful sanction. RFC have acted for years as though they were above the law and untouchable. For the vast majority of their history they essentially were due to being the club of the establishment, but times change, society changes through time as do beliefs and belief systems. Any organisation or species that cannot adapt to change is doomed to extinction, this is a primary rule that applies through all systems. From an evolutionary standpoint RFC are the equivalent of the dinosaurs in that they may have ruled for millions of years but they were not able to adapt to a changing environment. They have been found wanting in the race that is natural selection. When its your time to go its your time to go and no amount of shouting or threatening journalists will change that. There is no room in a 21st century Scotland for bowler hatted, sash wearing sauropods with a superiority complex.
so long, you will not be missed.
john clarke says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 00:56
2 1 Rate This
Frank Forrest says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 23:58
‘.. I tried registering at kds but my yahoo address is blocked for some reason.’
—-
So is mine! I’ve asked why. Seems to be a bit of a prissy, bossy-boots kind of site- bit like my dear old auntie annie.
======================================================================
its a conspiracy against people with real names!!
StevieBC says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:11
‘Just for fun…’
—–
Nice one.:)
Agrajag says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:17
StevieBC says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 20:37
The more I see and hear stuff like that the angrier I get…
=============================================
‘Absolutely’.
Questions the Scottish MSM will not ask, number 635…
“Ally, how would you react if someone in the media deliberately put yourself – and the members of your family – in danger. Scared in their own family home ? Would you be upset ? Would you ‘demand’ that the police charge the miscreant?”
McCoist is a lowlife sc*mbag.
[Apologies for personalising again TSFM, but in mitigation, cannot be avoided due to the personal content of the Thomson interview. 🙄 ]
TallBoy Poppy (@TallBoyPoppy) says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:18
‘.If you decide to register, please be aware that we don’t accept email addresses from free web accounts like gmail,..’
—-
It is a gmail address that is given by the site as the address to which to make enquiries !
I don’t understand.If the site uses gmail, why can’t other people use it to register?
20.37
The fact that it was pre-meditated and scripted, shown on Rangers TV makes it even worse. He deliberately set out to rabble rouse, in order to threaten another human beings welfare and even life, and to upset and threaten the welfare of his family.
How can he have simply gotten away with it, scandalous.
____________________________________________________________________________
He got away with it because the very people (SFA) who appointed the QC betrayed him and his family – what a shower of scum-bags, and they are still holding out under the stone.
john clarke says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:35
———————————————–
I’ll ask a mod and try to get back to you. It’s late….I might not get any sense out of them.
TallBoy Poppy (@TallBoyPoppy) says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:49
—
No worries, no hurry.I’m off to bed, thankful for the clock change!
Thing is guys, the McCoist thing isn’t about football, or stripping titles, or whether or not Rangers is still the same club, or any of that stuff.
It’s much more serious, it’s about putting people’s safety at risk, and that of their families. It’s about terrorising people and trying to intimidate so that others won’t be willing to take action. It’s disgraceful behaviour in a civilised society.
Surely what he did was tantamount to incitement to commit a crime.
The bottom line is he lied, he knew the names, he knew who was involved and he did what he did knowing how certain people could react. Knowing the potential ramifications of his actions. He didn’t care.
Neither he, nor the club have done anything to remedy the situation. They haven’t even apologised for the damage they did.
ianagain says:
Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 23:01
1 0 Rate This
obviously populer getting this Danish
Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!
Thanks for noticing—we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon.
Search for a topic, full name, or @username
———-
Sorry. Yes, the mistake was linking to the expanded thread (I think) in an attempt to be helpful to the non-twitterers. As you say, it should work by going to http://twitter.com/Paulmcc12 and going down the tweets.
StevieBC says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 00:55
12 0 Rate This
angus1983 says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 00:10
…
@leebowers999
Do you think its all a conspiracy then?
@ChrisGraham76
Just Thomson giving airtime to people with no credibility. Call it what you like.
@leebowers999
So lets see who is all in on this conspiracy then. QCs, the NUJ, a book editor and ch4 news.Have I got them all?
====================
‘leebowers999′ aka Phil ?
Regardless, well played Mr.Bowers…
————
Lee Bowers was a key witness to an infamous crime in Dallas in 1963 😉
Truly lamentable article in the annals of the dreadful MSM
http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/sport/ally-mccoist-not-distracted-by-craig-whyte-words-1-2602805
The disgraced McCoist [two charges of bringing the game into disrepute] given a platform on the hootsman supporting CG [two charges of bringing the game into disrepute] plus other nonsense.
We can take it the Scotsman supports disrepute, nonsense and ignores facts.
The MSM reporting of Hearts ad Rangers share offers couldn’t be more contrasting. In Hearts case they make some perhaps justified and scathing comments of the clubs financial mismanagement and offer up words like emotional blackmail yet for the Ibrox outfit they basically have been cheerleaders for Green’s proposals and made their pages and column inches free advertising space towards a successful IPO.
I love my club and will probably buy some of these shares even though it’s a forlorn exercise and it’s probably money flushed down the toilet however it’s better than doing nothing as i see it but yet again the hypocrisy and double standards of our sports media is a further sickener that slowly but steadily erodes at my love of scottish fitba. The sooner some of these papers fail the better and how sad is that an indictment of our society but these people have outlived their usefulness and no longer deserve our support or pounds spent.
StevieBC @ 01:30
Ditto, he really thinks he is above the law ……… Will we ever find out what he said to Lenny? No big deal but with his recent behaviour and Lenny’s extreme reaction we can guess it was something pretty low! C’mon Clyde do us proud today 😉 let’s see mccoists wee torn face (it makes me smile) I don’t think his players have much respect for him either. Give us a good start to hopefully the week from hell ( for the cheats) where some facts about this corrupt organisation are revealed once and for all 🙂 we have been very, very patient. Enjoy your day 🙂
I see Aunt Sally has the dog whistle out again
Telling our Hero CW that he shouldn’t come back to Ibrokes for “his own safety”
wonder if anyone will ask him exactly what he means? Is ally himself threatening his personal safety or has ally been made aware that someone else will harm him
shouldn’t this be passed onto the police
Brenda says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 08:33
I don’t think his players have much respect for him either.
=========================
I think that McCoist has lost the respect of every decent human being in Scotland. He is a nasty, vindictive, dishonest coward who should have no place in public life anywhere on the planet. The only people who “respect” this vermin are the cohorts of similar vermin on RM, FF who interpret his behaviour as acting with “dignity”, and his apologists in the media, who portray this excuse for a human being as a “cheeky chappie”.
Doesn’t it just speak volumes for the state of Scotland today that this person, rotten to the core as he is, incompetent as he is, not only retains his well-paid job, but is lauded at every turn by that collection of parasites, sycophants and worse know as the Scottish press? Is there any hope for a country like that? It makes me weep.
Brenda @ 08:33
Personally, I don’t mind if I never find out what he said. As you say, it is unlikely to have been pleasant and the character of the man is already clear for all to see,
I quite like the idea of it preying on his mind that one day he may be forced to answer the question.
Actions and consequences and all that.
Jim Traynor on Your Call last night during discussion of EBT used the word technicality a few times when hypothising on the operation of the tax scheme.
I think that we are going to here much of technicalities during the defence of RFC.
McCoist, you may well be right that the only reason the administrators were appointed, was because of the failure of your club to pay its dues to Hector
However, as far as I can remember, it wasn’t Hector who called in the receivers, but your owner, who was attempting to pull a fast one,by announcing administration within 2 weeks
HMRC pulled the rug from under him, by forcing him to act earlier than he wanted too
Now, have you even stopped to consider for one second, the reason PAYE and VAT weren’t paid, because you should
The reason was to continue paying for the overpaid, bloated squad that you and Smith put together, a squad that the club obviously could not afford, but carried on adding to anyway
It may be worth pointing out also, that you were complicit in all of this, and you are on record with your sycophantic support of “Mr Whyte”
Everything was fine as long as he kept paying for your squad of over hyped individuals, and when this could not be sustained, you like the rest of the supporters jumped ship immediately
In my opinion, your behaviour in this whole fiasco, is nothing short of disgusting, and even now you just can’t help yourself
Having ditched one version of a messiah, you are now crawling up the backside of the latest version, whom I have no doubt you will again jettison at the first sign of trouble
You can’t continue to hide behind your public image, and rely on your “friends” in the MSM to protect you from being called to account for your actions
The time is coming when everyone involved with RFC(IA) and Sevco will be called upon to pay their dues, and that includes you
Over on RM just now,it looks like the bears are turning on Terry Butcher and wanting him removed from Oldco’s hall of fame.
why? what has he (Terry Butcher) said?
Re Billy Sloan’s appearance on Off the Ball yesterday.
I always found his music articles more along the lines of “look who I got my picture with today, sure I’m great coz I know all these people” twat.
With regards to his other comments maybe he should be known as The Sloan Ranger 🙂
john clarke says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 00:39
——
We are all Cicero! 🙂
So what has El Tel done to upset the Bears then, have I missed something? Has he woke up to the fact there is life after Rangers or that the Rangers he knew is gone!
Agrajag says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:17
(McCoist) How can he have simply gotten away with it, scandalous.
——
Ah, he didn’t though. He got a three match suspension, suspended for 12 months.
Pretty severe sanction, eh?
Frank Forrest says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 01:21
From an evolutionary standpoint RFC are the equivalent of the dinosaurs in that they may have ruled for millions of years but they were not able to adapt to a changing environment.
——
Indeed, some of them may have been able to, albeit finding themselves in reduced circumstances.
Chickens are arguably a good example of the modern day evolved theropod type.
How unfortunate that something that was once top of the food chain has been reduced to scratching in the dirt for crumbs and getting f*cked by screaming roosters once in a while.
And a shame for the chickens, too.
Briggsbhoy@9.48
All Terry Butcher has done is to say what everyone knows except the bears is that they are now supporting a new club. The truth hurts.
I think the “Rangers” fans are upset with Butcher’s comments about them being “technically a new club”. They can’t handle the truth!!!
Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 08:56
==================================
It has become quite clear that McCoist can say what he wants and he won’t be taken to task over it. In fact the more rubbish he comes away with the better his cheerleaders seem to like it.
It is so blatant it is almost at the stage of being laughable, if it weren’t so serious. The man is putting people’s safety at risk ffs. Doing it to help sell season tickets and shares in a football club.
Charlie Brown says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 08:31
28 0 Rate This
The MSM reporting of Hearts ad Rangers share offers couldn’t be more contrasting …
————
Yes, I picked up some healthy scepticism on Sportsound yesterday regarding the offer of shares and a tax bill. But it was only concerning events in Edinburgh.
Re: El Tel
Thanks for the feedback boys and a tip of the hat to El Tel. If more like him from that era were to come out with similar statements it would be interesting to see how the masses react. The history of Rangers players in the 9 in a row period could be wiped from this Hall of Infammy at Ibrokes.
Why doesn’t some journalist take up on this comment and seek opinions from the likes of Laudrup, De Boer etc and see what they say, we of course know what the Scots who were with Rankers at that time will say.
True Blue
1,444 posts
Gender:Male
Location:Club Deck
Posted Today, 08:24 AM
If there was even the remotest inclination that we had lost it, I am absolutely sure we would have heard about it. ARE THESE PEOPLE FOR REAL TAKEN FROM R.M
It is somewhat ironic, that in modern day Scotland you can be locked up for what some deem to be offensive behaviour close to and inside a football ground, but inciting the mob, and putting them on the streets, brings no action from Strathclyde’s finest, and a tickle on the tummy from the football authorities
It seems that causing fear and alarm by throwing tomato ketchup about, brings an appearance in court, but threatening decent members of society, either by word or action is completely ignored
The concept of justice appears to be somewhat skewed
Butcher’s remarks in the Daily Ranger:
—–
Butcher still struggles to get his head around events engulfing his old club. And the former Ibrox
captain lifted the lid on his hurt and astonishment at Rangers’ fall from grace.
But he admires the way Ally McCoist and his backroom team have dealt with the crisis.
Butch said: “I just can’t believe what has happened. I always looked forward to playing Rangers because of my history with the club and the characters there.
“Ally, Kenny McDowall, Ian Durrant and Jim Stewart are all fantastic people.
“Gers are still a brilliant club for me, although technically they are now a new club.”
—–
Opinion on RM seems to be split betwen folks who saw him play, who are sticking up for him because he was probably misquoted, the journalist made that bit up, or “his wife put him up to it” (!) – and those who have decided he is now a “hater”, should be removed from the Hall of Fame, etc.
Interesting wee read about Butcher and how he was sooked in to the “traditional” side of playing for RFC(IA):
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BY+TERRY+BUTCHER%3A+Graeme+Souness+prayed+I+would+be+the+first+Catholic…-a0135776222
the link doesn’t work for me – can you repost with the www. part and then i can paste it into my own browser.
Sally really is detached from reality:
“I think, at best, it would be ill-advised for Craig Whyte to come back to Ibrox.”
Really! So after the Thommo interview with QC Gary Allan, Sally thinks the next comment he makes should have a threatening undertone? REALLY!?
“I think everyone is taking it with a pinch of salt.”
Wasn’t Sally warned not to trust Whyte long before now? Yet the one time Whyte has PROOF of what he is saying Sally want’s to question the validity of Whyte’s comments? Seriously!?
“Unless I’m mistaken, the only reason we went into administration was non-payment of PAYE and National Insurance — nothing to do with EBTS.”
Yes Sally, you are mistaken, AGAIN. If you read anything but “The Cat Sat On The Mat” and the Daily Record you would have a chance of understanding what is going on in front of your nose.
“From what I’ve been told that was why, no other reason”
Told by who? Why not engage your own brain and make up your own mind, that’s if you have one capable of independent thought.
That could be Mcoists most embarrassing piece yet. The bit about Craig Whyte being “ill advised” to be seen at Ibrox is just startling considering what has been said recently about his dog whistling. Unbelievable.
campsiejoe says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 09:10
—————————————–
Hate to be a wet blanket but it’s a waste of time saying all that. Everyone on here knows it already and the real point is McCoist knows all that very well too. He also knows the guy that he’s giving the interview to knows it very well too but also knows that guy and his newspaper are quite willing to print any misrepresentations/lies/threats he wished to make.
I’d actually recommend a copy/paste into the comments section of the article only I don’t want to encourage giving it any more ‘hits’ than it deserves (which is about zero).
BBC Sportsound @bbcsportsound
Hearts’ financial state ‘serious’: Director Sergejus Fedotovas insists administration is not on Hearts’ agenda b… http://bbc.in/UUteQ6
Ally Mcoist the rabble rousing, hate stirrer down Govan way. This new entity that has risen is the new bastion of religious hate, that the masses will still flock to purge there hate filled agendas. Any hope we had of there being a new club with new found values ready to engage with the 21st century is all but over. They have there new leaders to follow who continue to preach to there flock of meek lambs. Mr Green & Mr Mcoist know exactly what they are upto and Im sure Ally gave Green a crash course in how to excite the Ibrox support. Another 50 years on unabated hate will flow from the terraces we just cant wait can we?
ordinaryfan says:
Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 12:01
“Unless I’m mistaken, the only reason we went into administration was non-payment of PAYE and National Insurance — nothing to do with EBTS.”
==============================
He can’t actually believe that.
That might be the reason it happened at that exact time, but it is not “the only reason” the previous club went into administration. There is the small matter of another £100m or so.You know, the money the administrators mentioned in their report.
Administration and liquidation were a matter of when, not if. In fact the reality is that things had got to the stage it was the only way forward. A new company and a new club. All that was left was what the “excuse” was going to be.
As much as I dislike McCoist (and always have going back to when he was a player) and found his rallying call pathetic, I don’t believe he said anything wrong in the latest piece. He said only what everyone else is thinking, that it would be crazy for Craig White to go back to Ibrox. If someone asked me that question, they would have got the same response.
Obviously the subject matter, individuals and timing were clearly defined and orchestred so I would have had more respect if he had added something like “that advice would be applicable for David Murray, Martin Bain and others associated with the previous board.
From Angus 1983’s link
BY TERRY BUTCHER: Graeme Souness prayed I would be the first Catholic to join Rangers; Day 1 of our exclusive serialisation of an explosive bookerialisation of an explosive book.
Link to this page
Byline: Adapted by Gary Ralston
IT was the great taboo Graeme Souness vowed to smash when he walked into Ibrox. For decades, Rangers had refused to sign high-profile Catholic players, but it was a policy the club knew they could no longer condone Souness joined Rangers as player-boss in April 1986 and immediately spoke of his intention to dismantle a policy that had earned the club widespread criticism from all but their most hard-core support.
He eventually succeeded in July 1989, when Mo Johnston joined the club.
But Terry Butcher has told how Souness wanted his new skipper from Ipswich Town – his first major signing – to be Catholic.
However, the manager was kept in the dark for weeks as Butch refused to reveal his Church of England background.
Tel reveals all in his new book, Butcher: My Autobiography, being serialised in the Record and our sister paper, The SundayMail.
He said: “At the time, it was a very strong principle that Rangers did not sign Catholics, but Graeme Souness was no fool and particularly anxious to break the mould.
“He had played in Italy and Liverpool and knew the only way to be successful was to encompass everyone. His only concern was in signing good footballers, regardless of their chosen God.
“When I’d signed he was desperate for me to be a Catholic, but I wouldn’t tell him what I was. I remember in my first few weeks there were all kinds of rumours going round and I’d be asked by Rangers fans which school I had been to and what my parents’ names were.
“I didn’t say. I simply told them I was an English footballer. It eventually came out in the newspapers. They pointed out my marriage had taken place in St Peter’s, a High Anglican church and therefore similar to Catholicism.
“My son Christopher also attended a nursery called St Mary’s, which increased the rumours, but eventually they became convinced I was Church of England.”
Butcher had little idea of the sectarian divide he was stepping into when he arrived at Gers in the summer of 1986 in a pounds 750,000 deal.
But he had been given an inkling as a young pro when he blessed himself before a match and fell foul of senior team-mate Allan Hunter, a Northern Ireland international Butcher said: “I recall one incident at Ipswich before a reserve game when I crossed myself, something I’d seen Alan Brazil do.
“Big Allan Hunter was sitting in the stand and after the game he grabbed me and asked me if I was a Catholic. I told him I wasn’t. I was an English Protestant. Why, then, he asked, did I cross myself?
“I told him it was for luck but he told me to remember I was a Protestant and warned me never to do it again – if I did, he would really sort me out.
“I quickly forgot about it, but my arrival in Scotland soon reminded me – and then some.”
Butcher admits he relied on a couple of words of advice from Hunter when he attended his first Rangers supporters’ function.
He said: “This thing went far beyond religion. It is more than a passion, it is a way of life and there is nothing like it down south.
“It can be very intoxicating as well as weird, spooky, strange and scary.
“Initially, it was just a case of getting used to it. Rangers and Celtic have hundreds of supporters’ clubs all over Glasgow, Scotland and the world, and they all have award ceremonies for their own player of the year.
“They were such warm, generous people, but you couldn’t just go for an hour.
“There were flute bands too and they would have you up on the stage singing the usual party songs, which I learned quickly.
“The first Rangers supporters’ club I went to was in Larkhall and I was asked to sing a Rangers song. I tried to explain that, as I had only arrived, I hadn’t had time to learn any.
“There was one thing I knew about Glasgow Rangers. Allan Hunter had taught me the phrase ‘No surrender’ and, with those two words, I brought the house down.”
BUTCHER admits he allowed himself to be drawn in by sectarianism and only strong words from wife Rita forced him to confront his misplaced behaviour.
He added: “It was all very wrong but I, like others, was sucked into it. The problem was you wanted to be part of it, to share everything with the fans. We were drawn headlong into it and ended up being stupid about it.
“I’m not the sort to dip a toe in the water and see how it feels. I am the type who dives in head first with anchors around both ankles.
“It took my wife Rita to see it and she told me to have a good look at myself in the mirror because I would have a few beers and would just start singing the songs.
“She pointed out that I was English and hadn’t been born a Rangers fan.
“I had to be shaken to realise I had gone too far. I had to just step back and play for Rangers – play football the way it’s meant to be played.’ Inevitably, Tel became a target for Celtic fans and, even today, is still abused in the street.
He said: “In petrol stations or in the cinema, people would pass sectarian comments – it doesn’t end once you’ve left the club either.
“Recently in Glasgow, while I was going for a meal with Rita, a group of Celtic supporters behind me started chanting, ‘Hun, Hun,Hun!’ If you are a Rangers player, you are a Protestant and a ‘Hun’ and will be forever in their eyes.”
These days, Butcher is a patron of anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth and he wishes, in retrospect, he had the courage to pull on a Celtic shirt while at Ibrox.
He said: “Had I thought about it at the time, I would have changed shirts with Roy Aitken after an Old Firm game because it would have been an unbelievable gesture.
“It would have been greeted by silence, but I think it would have been one of the best things that could have happened He added: “I remember when I moved to Coventry, it was as if a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders.
“I swore I would leave it all behind and not bother with religion in football again. After I left, there was a time when I had an ache and desire to be at Rangers, to work there, a real emotional gut feeling.
“I would have crawled over broken glass for the club. But as time moved on, the club changed, and so did I, to be honest.
“As manager of Motherwell, I want to beat Rangers as much as Celtic and everyone else.
“But back in the late 1980s, I never thought that could happen because Rangers were everything to me at the time.
“Some fans might not understand my change in attitude but to me, winning is everything.
“Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson how much he wanted to beat Rangers, a team he, too, used to play for