Time to Ditch the Geek Show

 

The link at the bottom of this piece points to an excellent blog by James Forrest on the ‘decline’ of the Old Firm, and particularly the viewing figures for the recent matches between Celtic and TRFC.

Whilst James, as you would expect is focusing on the consequences of the OF tag for Celtic, it is worthwhile considering that the decline in viewers is an excellent litmus test of the provenance of TRFC with regard to RFC.

Is it because the ‘you’re not Rangers anymore!’ faction is winning the argument?

Or might it be that viewers, voting with their feet, are simply indicating what many of us have said all along – that a brand name does not amount to serious competition.

There has been a presumption – particularly held in the MSM- that Scottish football badly needed a Rangers to provide a challenge to Celtic dominance. Our counter to that is that TRFC, representing the ‘Rangers’ constituency, are in no position to provide any such challenge.

Common sense dictated this.

Not that common sense came into it for our newsroom chums. At the beginning of last season, a whole troupe of hacks ventured their prediction that TRFC would win at least one trophy in that campaign. Again this season, despite the huge gulf in performance levels between TRFC and the top two, even more hacks are queuing up to offer their optimism on the Ibrox club’s chances of success and glory.

I am bound to say that those same hacks will be quick to point out Gordon Strachan’s shortcomings as Scotland manager whilst ironically demonstrating, through their predictive deficit,  that their football judgement has little if any bearing on L’actualité.

I am however disposed to charity. Perhaps what they meant was that TRFC, given its massive fan base, has the most potential (in time) to challenge Celtic. Then, absurdly, the same MSM choke the life out of that potential by assisting charlatan after charlatan on their way through the self-enriching revolving door at Ibrox.

The TRFC potential, if it exists in the foreseeable future, requires the Ibrox club to be rid of those who still, after decades of disgrace and disaster, sell the same false promises dressed up as moonbeams to the masses.

In actual fact, and as it stands right now, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts have a significantly greater potential to challenge for honours; they are well run clubs who balance the books. Crucially, they have no debt, no directors whose presence on their boards effectively cuts off access to investment – and they put the emphasis on building Teams (capital T) and not collections of individuals with an exotic distant-past, questionable influence, and huge draw on salary resources .

Even more crucially, they have realistic expectations of where they want to be in the short to medium term.

TV audiences, relying on neutral fans hungry for a spectacle will not be – in fact are not –  conned by this OF sophistry. Without doubt in my view, Scottish football is a far more interesting and compelling place now than it was five years ago. The brand has grown in the absence of the Old Firm, and with the right nurture, can grow even stronger.

TRFC can be part of it all, but the expectations have to be commensurate with their circumstances. All the OF has to offer is a 350 year old conflict that few of us understand – or care to understand. The MSM championing of that embarrassment is a major reason why Scottish football cares less about quality and diversity than it should.

The audiences however, will not be fooled.

Celtic, Rangers, the SFA and everybody else in our game need to jettison the OF brand. It is no longer – if it ever was- relevant. Paying customers in the 21st century deserve better than a geek show.

https://thecelticblog.com/2017/10/blogs/falling-tv-viewing-figures-for-old-firm-games-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-big-lie/

Pic from the Film Noire classic, Nightmare Alley

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John Cole

About Big Pink

Big Pink is John Cole; a former schoolteacher based in the West of Scotland, He is also a print and broadcast journalist who is engaged in the running of SFM . Former gigs include Newstalk 106, the Celtic View, and Channel67. A Celtic fan, he is also the voice of our podcast initiative.

611 thoughts on “Time to Ditch the Geek Show


  1. Just a few quick comments on the second semi final yesterday.
    As a ‘well fan I went to Hampden with a quiet confidence. I’ve watched the team develop and bond rapidly under Stephen Robinson, who has unearthed some real nuggets in Kipre and Hartley at the back, brought unthought of performance levels from Bowman & Tait and stuck by the homegrown guys like Campbell & Cadden. Loads to be positive about. The pinnacle performance wise being the 3-0 quarter final win over Aberdeen.
    We’ve played away quietly and notched up a few points and a cup run while remaining unfancied by the majority of particularly broadcast media pundits. Michael Stewart had us relegation favourites towards the end of our first televised cup game vs Queens Park at Hampden (we won 5-1).
    ive watched a few of The Rangers recent televised games. I’ve genuinely thought that they are inferior to us in a footballing sense. Vs partick and St Johnstone I thought they were dreadful and definitely there for the taking in the cup tie.
    Anyway, yesterday while not playing well at all, particularly in the first half we managed to more than match The Rangers at Hampden. All stats I’ve seen have had us shading the game possession wise, shots on / off etc.
    However in very few media outlets has it been acknowledged that Motherwell ‘won’ that game. Rangers apparently lost it. Or The referee ruined the game. Then you’ve had the quite ludicrous succession of players present and past talking about our over physical approach, how it somehow ‘wasn’t football’ etc etc.
    Bullshit.
    I’ve followed my team through thick and thin for 40 odd years and have witnessed no end of dirty tricks from this mob and their previous incarnation. Starting from the shameful Scottish cup semi of 1976 to pitch invasions at fir park the following season when they were 2-0 down. Witnessing an endless line of proud hard men – Greig, Spackman, Hurlock, Brown, Black, Souness, Gough even Joey Garner FFS – the lust goes on, players who could dish out more than the odd tackle or elbow. Listen I could go on for hours listing honest mistakes that turned a game for them.
    We wanted it more yesterday. We matched them all over the park and in Louis Moult we have a player that just wasn’t exotic or Latin enough for them to part with the cash for who showed every single one of their duds how to finish. 
    Very little credit has come our way and I feel for the players because they really should be getting a wee bit of publicity and limelight for their contributions thus far. In Campbell & Cadden we have two young guys that could join McGinn and Tierney in pushing for International honours at some point given the right support and encouragement. 
    Im not daft enough to believe that we’re going to win this cup or have any more than a decent league campaign. However we seriously need to look at how we report the game here. That wasn’t Barcelona being mugged by a bunch of pub team cluggers yesterday – it was a case of the better team (not on top form) winning the game that was presented to them. Simple as that.


  2. WILDWOODOCTOBER 23, 2017 at 22:40
    Very little credit has come our way and I feel for the players because they really should be getting a wee bit of publicity and limelight for their contributions thus far.
    ———–
    There will be a 12 page pull out in the SMSM  papers if they beat celtic19


  3. from sky:
     
     
    Celtic won FIFA’s Best Fans award in London on Monday, less than 24 hours after they were dealt further sanctions by UEFA.
     
     
    The Old Firm supporters won the award of best fans for their tribute to the Lisbon Lions in May – for the 50th anniversary of the club winning the European Cup – after voting from other clubs’ supporters on FIFA’s website.
     
     
    may there pain deepen and widen….they let their club die


  4. WILDWOODOCTOBER 23, 2017 at 22:40 
    ===========================

    I don’t think it’s true that Motherwell have not been recognised as deserving winners. Where the media do seem to have a real problem is jn recognising that Rangers are miles away from being as good as they (the media) think they are. 

    In terms of physicality in the game, if Bowman and Alves do not receive retrospective bans there is a case for every other club refusing to comply with the process. We are told video evidence is all that’s needed, and it’s there in both cases. 

    In terms of the final, I hope it’s possible to mark the decade since the sad passing of Phil O’Donnell. As I recall this has happened in two previous League Cup finals, for Jimmy Johnstone and Davie Cooper. 


  5. https://youtu.be/TwYNYBYIVcE
    ‘upthehoops
    In terms of physicality in the game, if Bowman and Alves do not receive retrospective bans there is a case for every other club refusing to comply with the process. We are told video evidence is all that’s needed, and it’s there in both cases.’ 
    The incident is around 3.35. I’ve watched it several times now and while I do think his arms are flailing a bit I don’t see any intent to hit the player. His eyes are fully on the ball all the time, just the same as the incident with Moult and his injury. No retrospective for me, Alves certainly. My view of it anyway.


  6. “The Scotsman”, as we know, has shared with the rest of the SMSM a stubborn,jaw-clenched,tight-mouthed reluctance to pursue the truth about how the Football Authorities  bent and/or disregarded their own rules ,and abandoned any and all notion of Sporting Integrity, in dealing with the most extensive episode of football cheating that has ever taken place Scottish Football.
    Those authorities, it is believed:
    lied to UEFA to ensure that a substantial sum of UEFA-competition-place prize money was diverted to a club that was in breach of serious rules governing entitlement, causing the shareholders of another club to lose millions,
    rigged the inquiry into the decade-long sports cheating of that club by concealing relevant evidence from that inquiry, and by providing an astonishingly fatuous and never-before-used interpretation of ‘player eligibility’ to ensure that the appropriate penalties applicable to that cheating were not applied,
    created a form of membership of the SFA that had never previously existed in order to accommodate a brand new club that had not yet been accepted into a Scottish Professional Football League, so that a bunch of players whose player registrations belonged to a different club could play in a match that a club that had lost its membership had been scheduled to play,
    allowed the billing of that match to falsely claim that it was between two clubs one of which was Glasgow Rangers ( of 1872 vintage), and, among other things,
    secretly arranged a deal with a new club that would  allow it to claim- both in respect of  football records purposes and in respect of stock market share-launch purposes- the honours and titles of Glasgow Rangers 1872 vintage, thus in effect misleading both the football-supporting public and prospective investors( who might conceivably question the accuracy of the Prospectus of the IPO issued by the new club)
    There is a raft of matters that need investigation: investigation which the Authorities have shrunk from allowing.
    And what do we find in today’s “The Scotsman”?-
    Well, NOT an exploration of the possibility of very deep corruption in our national game, a corruption which some claim was partisanly aimed at defending, protecting, aiding and abetting the cheating of a professional football club, and fostering and promoting a monstrous sporting (and possibly financial) untruth to assist a struggling new club
    No, instead  we have a very,very badly written,half-arsed ‘editorial’  against repealing one of the most ridiculous laws ever passed by any Parliament- ‘The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act 2011’
    What an illustration of the wilful blindness of ‘The Scotsman’ is this prating on about the need to  tackle ‘offensive behaviour’ at football  matches when the very Football Authorities should be being thoroughly investigated for the more insidiously offensive and damaging behaviour of ‘partisan governance’ of the Sport.
    In my opinion.


  7. SCARECROW666OCTOBER 24, 2017 at 10:56

    You can be looking at the ball but still be all ‘Elbows’.
    Some players like Bowman, Stockley and Elbows himself – McCulloch – just develop a habit of going up for headers in an unsafe manner regardless of who is around them.

    Hard to change a style that has been developed over a number of years but they and their managers have to accept there is going to be a booking or sending off from time to time if they continue in that manner. Really depends on the ref on the day.

    At Murrayfield on Saturday Berra showed how to win nearly every ball in the air that came his way (and there was tons of them BTW!!) in a relatively safe manner. However his problem is tending to push off the striker before rising and wrapping his arms around attackers at set pieces and Hearts are going to come a cropper on that one day.


  8. I see it is reported that Heather Rabbatts, ex-FA board member, said on BBC
     “All the profits the FA has will not buy back its loss of reputation.”
    The Fa might at least have got millions as the price of its reputation.
    What hath it profited our  SFA to so shortsightedly have been panicked into abandoning its integrity?
    Not a hellish lot, I venture to suggest, even five or six years on.


  9. wottpi
    Fair enough, but why not bring up his challenge against Moult for retrospective punishment too? Just because he has flailing arm syndrome in his history doesn’t mean one should be overlooked more than another persons challenge. Both were not intentional in my opinion that’s why the ref let it go.(though he was bloody incompetent in not stopping the game for head injury in both incidents!)


  10. A page late buy it’s perhaps worth reminding folk re Charlotte Fakeover”s leaks that they first reached the public eye in summer of 2013 and it was some of the content that led to Res12 being adjourned.
    That content suggested foul play, a suggestion that over the 4 years since has hardened into a fact unless something unknown and not leaked provides an acceptable explanation in which case Res12 can be set aside as unecessary. (Celtic’s formal response to 2013 AGM.)
    If however no acceptable explanation emerges from the Compliance Officer investigation then Celtic will have to decide if the are going to stand by their initial stance or pass the Resolution.
    I digress. It was in 2014 that new material became public and whilst the source was the same, that material was purchased by DK (the Rangers fans favourite, thereby giving CF some respite as well as a few bob for his troubles) but the point is the original leaks in 2013 were freely provided, presumably in the hope that msm would pick up on them and the second set of leaks in 2014 had a different motivator.
    In fact CH4 were all ready to use the first batch in 2013 when their legal advisers took post Levenson cold feet and stopped the material being used.
    As James Doleman says the delay in prosecuting the case against CW kept the lid on the material being used and certainly hindered attempts by Res12ers  to get the matter where it now is after SFA attempts at avoiding any meaningful investigation since 2015, when a solid evidence backed case was put to them by Res12 lawyers that did not rely on CF material.
    The usability of that material that tells the whole story now makes it very difficult for the SFA to demonstrate to Celtic that Res12 is unecessary.
    Then again no one expected the Bryson interpretation…


  11. Stick to facts, leave the pathetic name calling to Phil and there’s a chance you could be successful. Otherwise, continue pandering to the small following you have and begging for donations twice a week.Reply
    sitonfence says: October 24, 2017 at 12:40 pm First of all the prosaic facts. I don’t have a small following. On any given day I can attract 40,000 readers. On one occasion 56,000. I have readers in every country in the world, save six neighbouring Saharan countries. I’m read in the Vatican so I cannot be that offensive.
    Somebody having a go at johnjames and he in return stating his viewing figures, i would estimate if everyone of his 40,000 readers gave him ten pence thats £4000 a day not a bad days work if you can get it.


  12. One of the unintended consequences of my time at SFM is that I don’t know who to support tonight.

    Celtic being the fruit of a Hibs idea historically had me veering toward Leith. Lenny being the Hibs manager has added to the pull from my perspective, but I’ve had so many great experiences with – and made friends of – several Hearts fans on here that I am now having an identity crisis.

    So looking forward to the game tonight though, maybe even more so than at any other time with the “You’ll have had your derby!”

    Maybe end supporting whoever loses the first goal. 


  13. When is a Statement not a Statement?
    I see it is being widely reported that it’s Statement O’Clock but there’s nothing on the official Club site or the official Club Twitter account.
    Sky Sports Scotland’s Twitter account has what is referred to as a “full @RangersFC statement” and the Daily Record is running with the same text. 
    However one of the fan sites, Gersnetonline, has a thread but whatever it is has the preamble
    “A Rangers spokesperson said:”
    When you read the whatever it is once again the fickle crayon of Chris Ze List seems to be involved. It’s not everyday something which is or purports to be or is being promulgated as an official position on something contains the word “handbags”.
    I’m pretty sure Chris Ze List is not a fan of Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde and I’m also pretty sure he hasn’t read The Importance Of Being Earnest.


  14. Can any resident Hearts fans enlighten me.

    Immediately Behind the Wheatfield Stand at Tynecastle there is a walled grass area. Was this a training area in years gone past, and is it still used in any capacity by the club?  It’s a long while since I’ve been in Tynecastle and as a visiting fan it is an area I have never seen.


  15. UPTHEHOOPS
    if you use google  maps you can clearly see training goals


  16. upthehoopsOctober 24, 2017 at 18:47   
    Can any resident Hearts fans enlighten me.Immediately Behind the Wheatfield Stand at Tynecastle there is a walled grass area. Was this a training area in years gone past, and is it still used in any capacity by the club?  It’s a long while since I’ve been in Tynecastle and as a visiting fan it is an area I have never seen.
    __________________

    EJ will be able to give a better explanation than I, I am sure, but basically, Hearts have never had use of the pitch there, it was given to the community (I think) by the distillery after they demolished part of their building. Now, however, Hearts Community projects use it, and, as part of the redevelopment of Tynecastle, temporary dressing-rooms have been built under the Wheatfield stand for use until the facilities are ready under the new stand, and these will be handed over to the community to use in conjunction with the pitch you refer to.


  17. LUGOSI
    OCTOBER 24, 2017 at 18:41 
    When is a Statement not a Statement?…and the Daily Record is running with the same text…
    ===========================================

    Yes, that is indeed a long-winded, rambling, emotional rant that Charles Green or Dave King would be proud to put their name against !

    But it lost any credibility at the outset;

    “…there were many aspects of the match which cause concern, both for player safety and the way in which we want to encourage players to play the game…”

    IMO, TRFC and its previous incarnation lost the moral high ground many years before – and long before the EBT, match-cheating era.


  18. Allyjambo October 24, 2017 at 19:10 
    upthehoopsOctober 24, 2017 at 18:47    Can any resident Hearts fans enlighten me.Immediately Behind the Wheatfield Stand at Tynecastle there is a walled grass area. Was this a training area in years gone past, and is it still used in any capacity by the club?  It’s a long while since I’ve been in Tynecastle and as a visiting fan it is an area I have never seen.
    __________________
    EJ will be able to give a better explanation than I, I am sure, but basically, Hearts have never had use of the pitch there, it was given to the community (I think) by the distillery after they demolished part of their building. Now, however, Hearts Community projects use it, and, as part of the redevelopment of Tynecastle, temporary dressing-rooms have been built under the Wheatfield stand for use until the facilities are ready under the new stand, and these will be handed over to the community to use in conjunction with the pitch you refer to.
    =====================
    I can’t add anything. You have described it as I understand it.


  19.  LUGOSIOctober 24, 2017 at 18:41
    ‘..I see it is being widely reported that it’s Statement O’Clock but there’s nothing on the official Club site or the official Club Twitter account.’
    _____________
    Indeed. I have checked a few minutes ago, and there is still no statement on the official site.

    So, I have sent this:

    To sport@dailyrecord.co.uk
    Please can you provide a link to the statement supposedly, according to your  Mark McDougall,  made by Rangers Football Club  today which suggests that
    “The Ibrox side have released a stinging statement and revealed they will appeal Alves suspension”
     

    I have not found it on the official web-site of the 5-year old club.
    Yours,
    me]


  20. Fairly quiet tonight, so can I say ( a million miles OT)that I was listening to a wee radio programme about the history of pub names.
    Fascinating, with experts telling of pub names in the 13th century and  how many ‘Red Lions and ‘King’s heads’ and such like there were, and the importance of ‘public houses’ in the days before railways, when the fastest travel was by horse, and horses needed to rest and be fed (as did travellers by stage coach) and so on.

    And I was put in mind of what I think must be one of the best jokes , which you will all know, but will still at least smile at!

    Guy in pub. Big black swan comes in and sits beside him at the bar.
    Guy says ” hey, I was in a pub the other day named after you!”
    The swan says ” What?… Eric??”

    I first heard that in the Liberton Inn , Edinburgh (in Sir Walter Scott’s time!),but it still makes me laugh.


  21. And, it seems, the other good joke is that one of our newspapers ( one of the SMSM) carries,as it frequently does in support of TRFC Ltd,  a report that is utterly unsubstantiated.The club has not made any statement, but the DR will!

    What possesses these guys in the Daily Record who go online to say things that are actually not true?

    Is it the very spirit of untruth, known in other contexts as l..d.. number 666?19


  22. The continuing glaring absence of any reference to the Handbagsgate Statement/statement on any official Club site seems to cast doubt on the Club saying anything at all.
    A cynic might say this provides plausible deniability to any pesky charges of bringing the game into disrepute.
    It will be enlightening when/if The Daily Record reply to John Clark.
    I note that one of the cast of thousands of Ibrox Supporters sites, The Rangers Observer, seems particularly proud of Handbagsgate and obviously thinks that its colours they are fine. Their Twitter account is gushing with the full text and in case any reader has a short attention span there are Tweets highlighting the staunchest morsels.
    It’s almost like the bygone days of yore when Chris Ze List did the same on his Twitter account (RIP). 


  23. Might young master Graham be getting hung out perchance?  Releasing statements without board authority, especially a board in alleged dispute with its chairman would pretty much see him ostracised woul it not?


  24. Allyjambo October 24, 2017 at 19:10 upthehoopsOctober 24, 2017 at 18:47    Can any resident Hearts fans enlighten me.Immediately Behind the Wheatfield Stand at Tynecastle there is a walled grass area. Was this a training area in years gone past, and is it still used in any capacity by the club?  It’s a long while since I’ve been in Tynecastle and as a visiting fan it is an area I have never seen.__________________EJ will be able to give a better explanation than I, I am sure, but basically, Hearts have never had use of the pitch there, it was given to the community (I think) by the distillery after they demolished part of their building. Now, however, Hearts Community projects use it, and, as part of the redevelopment of Tynecastle, temporary dressing-rooms have been built under the Wheatfield stand for use until the facilities are ready under the new stand, and these will be handed over to the community to use in conjunction with the pitch you refer to.

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

    Thanks guys.


  25. LUGOSIOCTOBER 25, 2017 at 06:46  
    The continuing glaring absence of any reference to the Handbagsgate Statement/statement on any official Club site seems to cast doubt on the Club saying anything at all.

    ————————————————–

    Whoever made the statement does seem to have grasped something the rest of us have known for a long time, that Rangers ARE assessed under different standards from the rest of Scottish football.  


  26. UPTHEHOOPSOCTOBER 25, 2017 at 07:07

    As Ally says it is used for community football activities including coaching courses run by the clubs community arm.
    One of the main uses on match days is to run a training session with youth football clubs before the game, who are the ‘Half-time’ heroes for the day.

    The package (as below) is normally taken up by younger teams, say 11 and under.
    Obviously an income stream for the club  but the kids really seem to enjoy it and the coaching session is well run.

    12.20pm: Arrive at Tynecastle Stadium
    12.30 – 1:30pm: Training session with Hearts’ community coaches
    2pm – 2:30pm: Lunch
    2:30pm – 2.55pm: Young players watch teams warm up from trackside
    2:55pm: Young players take position on the centre circle as flag bearers while teams run out the tunnel
    3.00pm: Take a seat in the stand and watch the first half.
    3.45pm: Half-time match on Tynecastle and the young players are the Half Time Heroes!
    3.55pm: Photographs taken then run a lap of honour around Tynecastle
    4.00pm – Watch second half


  27. From today’s Scotsman / Craig Forbes;

    Kenny Miller shock favourite to replace Pedro Caixinha as Rangers boss
    Kenny Miller has been installed as the shock favourite to succeed Pedro Caixinha, with the Portuguese boss odds-on to get the boot before the next Old Firm game at the end of December…”
    ================================

    Getting the bears prepared ?
    The cheap / cheapest option ?

    As an Ibrox ‘legned’, Miller would certainly be able to kick the can down the road a little bit further.

    And can’t imagine any SMSM churnalist would unilaterally go off script to print this story either.

    222222


  28. STEVIEBC

    OCTOBER 25, 2017 at 16:16  

    From today’s Scotsman / Craig Forbes;

    “Kenny Miller shock favourite to replace Pedro Caixinha as Rangers boss…
    ——————————————-

    Didn’t you read over the page?  

    There’s an article entitled, ‘Bookmaker parts fools from their money with spurious market…’

    Mischief-making by Paddy Power*, cut’n’pasted by clickbait-hungry media.

    *Of course, with my track-record, Miller could be manager before half-time tonight 010106061111


  29. That’s nothing compared to BBCs effort with Graeme  Souness this afternoon.

    Nice of him to give the Aberdeen and Celtic supporters a laugh on the way to the match tonight.


  30. WOTTPIOCTOBER 25, 2017 at 10:08 

    As Ally says it is used for community football activities including coaching courses run by the clubs community arm.

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

    Cheers. It was interesting to see it is on land donated by the adjacent brewery, and good to see the use it is being put to. I am firmly in favour of clubs remaining within their own community.  I know there can be many reasons why a club would move, but it’s not for me. 


  31. Just an interesting point on Sportsound tonight that cross my mind too when I heard the report from Ibrox.

    Ryan Jack seems to be on the way to accumulated as many red cards in his short time at Ibrox as his seven years at Pittodrie.

    I keep saying it, but no-one believes me, that folks get some kind of mysterious injection in the neck when they reach the top of the marble staircase!!


  32. Congratulations to the new Killie manager Steve Clarke ;

    – for getting an away point in his first game in charge
    &
    – which lifted Killie off the bottom of the league table.  

    Decent start.


  33. The entire right hand half of  page 13 of today’s “The Scotsman” has two advertisements, each taking up one quarter of the page.

    The lower one is an advert for ‘CareSuperstore’, with a picture of a tray with carry handle and non slip mat, and further details, including the information that it’s great value at £17.95, and that there are 1000s of mobility aids at CareSuperstore.com.

    The upper one is a quasi-news item: “Five decades: Souness gives his thoughts on ‘beautiful game’ in his autobiography ” and underneath is a photograph, against a WH Smith backdrop of yer man  holding on display two copies of his book.

    Underneath the picture is ” Former Scotland, Rangers and Liverpool footballer Graeme Sounesss was back in Glasgow yesterday to sign copies of his new book Football:My Life, My Passion”…….( and another sentence that I can’t be arsed copying)

    Now, I suspect that putting what is undoubtedly an advert into a newspaper as a ‘news’ item probably costs the advertiser or his publisher nothing.
    Whereas poor old CareSuperstore  would have paid whatever the going rate is for an advertisement of that size- without getting a favourable review by the newspaper!

    Anybody any idea what  an advert of that size and prominence in even a small circulation ‘national’  newspaper might cost? 

    Perhaps any and every professional sportsperson with an Edinburgh connection who has published a book has had the same kind of advertising puff for free, making it unnecessary to dip into whatever kind of tax avoidance scheme under which he might have been paid a substantial sum from a former employer years after he had left that employment!


  34. Pedro’s agent in talks with ‘ra board’ over exit arrangements.


  35. The latest ‘crisis’ at Ibrox is helping to validate the conclusion of this blog – that The Geek Show is becoming less and less relevant.

    The can close their eyes and repeat “Old Firm, Old Firm” until their lungs collapse, but increasingly, Joe Public is thinking out loud, “Who cares?”

    Whatever the rivalry was, the one that the MSM assured us would resume when Rangers ‘returned’ to the top division, it was based on an approximate equivalence of ability on the part of the two sides.

    It was based on the assumption that Rangers were always the target for Celtic, and vice-versa.

    Tonight it appears that Aberdeen and Motherwell have assumed those roles. 


  36. BIG PINKOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 01:47 

    Whatever the rivalry was, the one that the MSM assured us would resume when Rangers ‘returned’ to the top division, it was based on an approximate equivalence of ability on the part of the two sides.

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

    I think there is also a false assumption the two clubs are equal in a commercial sense. I think it should be clear to anyone by now that is not the case. Without unlimited borrowing from a bank, or by witholding tax from HMRC, it is quite clear Rangers can’t match Celtic financially, even when Celtic don’t have European income. 


  37. Who on earth, at the BBC, deemed it appropriate to commission a full interview with Graeme Souness? 

    His relevance and his personal interest in todays game in Scotland is negligible.

    The only thing Graeme Souness is interested in is Graeme Souness!

    The only pertinent questions that could be asked of him are the circumstances of his EBT, and how David Murray conducted his cheating in Scottish football through the late 80’s and early 90’s (pre EBT’s) but somehow I think these are areas the BBC won’t venture towards!


  38. ROUGVIELOVESTHEJUNGLE
    the sad truth is,he is only up here to sell a book,and the bbc gave him free(taxpayer funded)advertising


  39. rougvielovesthejungleOctober 26, 2017 at 08:35
    ‘.Who on earth, at the BBC, deemed it appropriate to commission a full interview with Graeme Souness? ‘
    _________
    Clearly, the same kind of commissioning editor as the Sportsound editor, who slides BBC emoluments to the bankrupt, inarticulate Barry, to his slightly less inarticulate brother, to a retired  and still incoherent Chick -the same Chick who tried to tell us that King was not a convicted criminal and that Campbell Ogilvie’s ‘good nights out’ cost about 95 grand- and to former  Rangers 1872 players , newspaper columnist supporters,and to former Rangers-players-now-unemployed-managers.
    As said before, the baleful  shade of the appalling Peter Thomson has flitted over to Pacific Quay from Queen Margaret Drive, carrying with it the same rotten attitude.


  40. ROUGVIELOVESTHEJUNGLE

    OCTOBER 26, 2017 at 08:35  

    Who on earth, at the BBC, deemed it appropriate to commission a full interview with Graeme Souness? 
    ——————————

    In the small world of Scottish celebrity, and the even smaller world of Scottish ‘sporting’ celebrity, Souness is still considered an A-lister by those that book ‘talent’ to fill space…

    …plus there’s the bonus that, according to BBC guidelines, he’s cost-neutral as he’s plugging his hagiography.


  41. Reports from the sun and BBC that Ibrox board meeting to discuss Pedro.

    Meanwhile over at the Vanguard Bears the delusional antics continue with the ‘nobody likes us’ and our players are saints argument.
    Can anyone point me to any evidence where the loyalty of fans automatically equates to success on the park?

    Now that the SFA has shown just how corrupt it is, by focusing on Alves while ignoring Bowman and Moult, and allowing assaults on Rangers players, then it is clear that Rangers are playing in the wrong country.
    Rangers are not welcome in Scottish football. Despite having been illegally punished, and having earned the right to play in the top league in this country again: it is clear that the hatred which consumes supporters and officials of some clubs in Scotland, will not see them rest until our club is destroyed.
    It is clear to me that Rangers Football Club is trapped in a country which does not want it. Scottish football needs the money generated by our supporters, but it doesn’t want our club. For that reason; we should be boycotting every away match, while looking for avenues to escape from this country which hates us so much.
    I’m not even bothered where we find a league which would take us, because I’ve been to Annan Athletic, Alloa, and every lower league club in Scotland, and I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with loyal supporters who have seen us start at the bottom and work our way back to the top.
    Regardless of where we would have to start off: we would rise to the top, and we would break more records along the way, because we are the most loyal supporters in the world.
    We are trapped here in Scotland, and we will be held back for as long as it takes us to find a way out.

     


  42. Never fear VB’s.  If you had indeed “earned your way back AGAIN” then in no way is it possible that opposition fans could succeed “until your c(C)lub is destroyed.”

    By the way BP

    It was based on the assumption that Rangers were always the target for Celtic, and vice-versa.  Tonight it appears that Aberdeen and Motherwell have assumed those roles. 

    There is a crucial difference just at the moment however (vividly demonstrated in a drubbing for the reds last night).  Previously the Old Firm model was for one side to be just better than the other leaving the door ajar for each other and occasionally others.  There was no real upper ceiling per se, rather a base level that both sides set out not to fall below that moved according to the success of the other (in one case sustainably, in the other, erm, maybe not so much 07.  That base level is now group stage qualification which in itself is much higher than the best of the rest regardless of colour can match. 

    But to be clear that’s not Celtic’s fault.


  43. Bomber Brown and Billy Davies were at the Aberdeen v Celtic match last night.  According to some reports Davies spent his time scribbling on a note pad.  Why would these two fans have travelled (together) all the way up to Aberdeen yesterday to watch another game while their own team was playing at Ibrox?  Who despatched this budding management duo to the frozen north and who paid for their trip?  Could it be that the decision to ‘mutually consent’ Pedro was taken immediately following the Hampden debacle on Sunday while the South African shareholder was in town?  All that remains is for Senor Caixinha to be informed he has resigned.


  44. justbecauseyoureparanoidOctober 26, 2017 at 10:09
    ‘…oh come on JC, off the fence please!’
    __________
    I smile,jbyp,19

    But in all seriousness, the BBC is funded by all of us.

    And it is very hard to see Radio Scotland as having been anything other than eager to let people such as Messrs Traynor, Young, MacIntyre, Wilson and some others to keep  off the subject of the ‘Cheating’ and away from any serious examination and investigation and questioning of SDM and others involved in the whole sorry saga, and well clear of examining , as opposed to fostering, the Big Lie, which allows TRFC Ltd to masquerade as RFC(IL).

    There is, in my opinion, a pronounced degree of institutional prejudice and bias aimed at protecting ‘Rangers’ at the expense of Truth that runs as counnter to the BBC Charter as (now at least) does sexual harassment or discriminatory practice against the physically challenged or persons of LGBT nature.

    The basic facts are that there was monstrous cheating( in football) by SDM.Investigation into that cheating was, in the opinion of many, deliberately skewed by the very Football Authorities, and the same Authorities so accommodated a brand new club as to abandon all sense of sporting integrity and allow a huge untruth to be created and sedulously fostered and promoted by the SMSM, including the BBC.

    In my opinion, there can be be no sitting on the fence when it comes to the BBC failing in its duty to be objective, impartial and above all truthful in its investigations and reporting, rather than merely serve as a PR channel for two quite different football clubs (which they pretend to be one and the same!)  and for a very questionable football governance body which refuses to let its actions be independently examined and investigated.

    The late Peter Thomson was permitted by the BBC for years to exercise a discriminatory employment policy when he was editor of the Sports department.

    The present BBC administration partisanly refused to dig in to the doings of SDM, and the bizarre conclusions of the LNS enquiry, and offered and continues to offer a partisan support for the Big Lie.

    They are very decidedly and determinedly rooted on one side of the fence.

    And that, I think, is unacceptable.


  45. From DR today
     
    Rangers defender Bruno Alves loses appeal against two-match ban
    Alves will now miss the game against at Hearts at Murrayfield on Saturday and the

    next match Rangers play in the Betfred Cup
     
    Shirley shome  mishtake ?


  46.  woodsteinOctober 26, 2017 at 14:02
    ‘…….Shirley shome mishtake ?’
    _______________
    From the SFA website:
    “Principal Hearing: Thursday, 26 October 2017 Outcome: Compliance Officer reference upheld. Two-match suspension: one match to apply immediately to the player’s Recognised Team’s next match, irrespective of competition, and one match to apply to the next match that the player’s club plays in the Betfred Cup”
    Seems a departure from normal?


  47. No.  This was discussed on Sportsound on Tuesday.  Next immediate match and next match in the same competition.  Interestingly there doesn’t seem to have been any tariff applied for the fact that they rejected the offer (of two matches) begging the question, assuming you valued the player, why would you not appeal?

    Pedro out btw (apparently) 


  48. John Clark
    October 26, 2017 at 15:25
    “Seems a departure from normal?”
     
    Thanks JC but :-
     
    “The SPFL has today announced ticket prices for the final of the 2017 Betfred Cup, which will take place at Hampden Park on Sunday 26 November
     
    Does his suspension then apply to the 2018 Scottish League Cup (or whatever it is called next year)?
     Seems abnormal to me.08


  49. For  Graeme Murty

    Translate English to Portuguese with SDL FreeTranslation.com


  50. John ClarkOctober 26, 2017 at 15:25   
     woodsteinOctober 26, 2017 at 14:02‘…….Shirley shome mishtake ?’_______________From the SFA website:“Principal Hearing: Thursday, 26 October 2017 Outcome: Compliance Officer reference upheld. Two-match suspension: one match to apply immediately to the player’s Recognised Team’s next match, irrespective of competition, and one match to apply to the next match that the player’s club plays in the Betfred Cup”Seems a departure from normal?
    ___________________

    I wonder what the chances are of him ever serving the second match ban! I’d be very surprised if he’s still at Ibrox next season (even before Pedro got his jotters).

    Has anyone else noticed the strange idea that’s being promoted just now, particularly amongst the SMSM twitterati, that because TRFC have spent ‘millions’ on a few dud players, it means TRFC must have money? I mean, it’s not as though there’s a history of an Ibrox club spending money it doesn’t have, for that is a sure road to insolvency, maybe even, whisper it, liquidation!

    I don’t think the SMSM pay much attention to balance sheets, nor wonder how a club could have less than no money at the date of their last balance sheet, then spend more money than they take in, and yet still ‘have money’!


  51. It seems that the BetFred Cup has its own disciplinary rules.

    They’re not (as far as I can see) included in the linked PDF from this page:

    https://spfl.co.uk/spfl/

    https://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__leaguecupregulations201730june_1499765115.pdf

    …which, in turn, refers to:

     https://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthescottishprofessionalfootballleagueasat24july201_1502440056.pdf

    …that doesn’t seem to mention (again, as far as I can see) bookings being wiped clean at semi-final level & split-competition punishments for violent conduct/other sendings-off.

    See transparency; see yon SPFL…


  52. “Os caes latem mas a carvana move-se sobre”, as a couple of philosopher football managers reminded us!


  53. Just watched the STV News and i’m sure the the reporter said Dave king the club chairman.And Dave king will now take a more hands on approach to club matters


  54. Ally Jambo
    John ClarkOctober 26, 2017 at 15:25    woodsteinOctober 26, 2017 at 14:02‘…….Shirley shome mishtake ?’_______________From the SFA website:“Principal Hearing: Thursday, 26 October 2017 Outcome: Compliance Officer reference upheld. Two-match suspension: one match to apply immediately to the player’s Recognised Team’s next match, irrespective of competition, and one match to apply to the next match that the player’s club plays in the Betfred Cup”Seems a departure from normal?___________________
    I wonder what the chances are of him ever serving the second match ban! I’d be very surprised if he’s still at Ibrox next season (even before Pedro got his jotters).
    ___________
    There is a precedent. Danny Wilson left Rangers for Liverpool carrying a one match league cup ban. As England do not have competition specific bans he was deemed to have served this after missing one match. On his return to Scotland Hearts checked this with the SFA before playing him in the League Cup.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/21239532
    I’d assume that if Wilson had gone to Spain, for example, which had competition specific bans he would not have served his suspension.


  55. WOTTPIOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 11:52
    ————
    Now that the SFA has shown just how corrupt it is?
    —–
    Have i missed something?
    ———
    Despite having been illegally punished,
    —-
    I know, i’m still trying to work that one out.
    ———
    will not see them rest until our club is destroyed.
    ———
    someone tell them their club was destroyed from within.
    ————-
    Scottish football needs the money generated by our supporters, but it doesn’t want our club. For that reason; we should be boycotting every away match,
    ————-
    Someone should tell them that scottish football alowed their new club into the league so they invited their club in. It’s the supporters who write such rubbish that scottish football can do without.


  56. Extracted from Sky Sports, re: English FA race abuse claims.
    Does the following sound familiar ?

    The FA has lost the trust of the public, says chairman Greg Clarke
    The Football Association has “lost the trust of the public” and must undergo a “top to bottom” cultural review, chairman Greg Clarke has said.

    Equality and inclusion organisation Kick It Out…Chairman, Lord Herman Ouseley, said:
    “If the [FA] wants to secure the trust of the public, they should be prepared to listen and involve people from different backgrounds across football…
    “It is inconceivable that the people who botched the first investigation are still in their posts.”
    ============================
    09


  57. Did anyone listen to Sportsound tonight? Utterly breathtaking stuff from Richard Wilson. Who needs to pay Level 5 when it comes already funded by the BBC Licence Fee payer!


  58. I should add this classic from Sportsound tonight (paraphrasing a wee bit).

    Richard Wilson  – ‘Rangers Directors including Dave King are funding the club. It’s a matter of public record’

    Tom English – ‘Dave King’s lawyer recently said in court Dave King has no money – he said that in a court Richard’

    Richard Wilson – ‘Well…eh…that was in a court in response to a particular issue’

    Bonkers!


  59. UPTHEHOOPSOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 19:47

    Just finished listening on a catch up.

    That’s the second time I have heard Wilson say without any embarrassment that the T’Rangers directors have cash to spend, everything is fine and dandy and that’s the truth.

    A journalist taking King’s and the club accounts as gospel and broadcasting it to the nation as fact needs to be struck off. Whatever happened to reading between the lines and providing comment on what previous accounts and recent spending may show in relation to the future as opposed to the past.

    At least Tom English brought up the COS issue of DCK’s impecuniosity being pled by his own legal team. Wilson mumbled something about not being able in full control of funds and there not being a bottomless pit and faded off into the distance.

    Why the hell can’t any of them have a grown up discussion about the financial position Sevco find themselves in and how that relates to not being able to do very much on the park other than stand still and potentially go backwards if the wrong appointments of managers and players are made.


  60. WOTTPIOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 20:08 

    Why the hell can’t any of them have a grown up discussion about the financial position Sevco find themselves in and how that relates to not being able to do very much on the park other than stand still and potentially go backwards if the wrong appointments of managers and players are made.

    That is a very good point. 

    Another thing really irking me is the constant mention of Alex McLeish being a candidate for the job. He not only said previously without any shame that Rangers dodged tax to match Celtic, he was also a significant beneficiary of the same scheme. As we all know that scheme has been ruled unlawful by the highest court in the U.K.  So I find it incredible they say Pedro should never have been near Ibrox while at the same time being perfectly prepared to accept a tax cheat back in to the place. 


  61. wottpiOctober 26, 2017 at 20:08
    ‘…At least Tom English brought up the COS issue of DCK’s impecuniosity being pled by his own legal team. Wilson mumbled something about not being able in full control of funds ..’
    ________
    Wilson reminded us all that when King’s QC referred to King being impecunious/penniless, he was referring to King’s  money being all tied up in trusts and to the ‘fact’ that he had no access to it. 

    But Wilson then went on to say, correctly, that both the judge and the opposition QC  remarked that it seemed that whenever King needed money he could get it!

    The last thing King needs at present is for the Court or the Wilsons of the world to keep asserting that he can lay his hands on substantial  sums of money.

    Because, if indeed Lord Bannatyne thinks that to be the case, he will have no choice but to make an order telling King to comply with the TAB’s decision that he should make an offer to buy all the shares that he and his little band of would-be sharp guys don’t already own, or be held in contempt of court.

    If King has no money, then he will not be able to contribute to the running expenses of TRFC Ltd.

    If he does have money now, he’ll have to risk losing millions  by making the offer- or have millions taken from him and/or face a jail sentence.

    Not a happy place to be in.


  62. JOHN CLARKOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 21:15
    ———-
    If King has no money, then he will not be able to contribute to the running expenses of TRFC Ltd.
    If he does have money now, he’ll have to risk losing millions  by making the offer- or have millions taken from him and/or face a jail sentence.
    ——————
    Oh dear,what a dilemma to be in.


  63. Re JC’s Not a happy place to be in.
    The club /company have a choice, go for a manager of quality,but most quality managers are in a job so compensation will have to be paid to get said manager.
    that cost’s money.
    Go down the road again of a not proven manager.But then again do they give him cash to spend in january?
    Go for an ex player? but then if the wheels start to come off and they drop further behind celtic, will the fans be yet again shouting for another new manager come the summer.
    would the fans hang around that long?
    After the last two appointments the ibrox fans may be even more demanding of a big name manager to be appointed.What if it’s not?
    As JC pointed out it may not be a happy place to be the rest of this season


  64. TRFC now find themselves in pretty much the same position, but their road to bridging the current gap is a more difficult one.
    http://www.sfmonitor.org/small-price-to-pay/
    ————–
    An old blog but some of the points still ring true.
    (thanks to @Barcabhoy1 for a reminder of this old blog)


  65. Phil Macgiollabhain claiming Pedro is on gardening leave, and that ‘Sir’ Walter refused an offer to steady the ship.  


  66. I note that PMGB is saying that Cax…Pedro is not being paid off, and is more or less on a Super Ally type gardening leave. He’s also saying this will have to be noted in the year end accounts, so I suspect this new development will cause a delay in their publishing. Unless there is some funding we know nothing about, or there is, indeed, some fact in the Qatari rumour, then this year’s ‘going concern’ clause might be a bit more damning than last year’s. And we still don’t know if a settlement has been reached with the last management team, which, if not, will have to be noted as a contingent liability.

    Imagine accounts that show an ever growing deficit (if they do) having a contingent liability in excess of £1m, and another management team on garden leave to the tune of (what might well be) another £1m! All over and above the regulation requirement for directors’ loans to meet the club’s working capital. If my memory serves me well, I am sure that they had the League Cup final income to gild the lily with the last time14


  67. ALLYJAMBOOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 23:11 0 0  Rate This 
    I note that PMGB is saying that Cax…Pedro is not being paid off, and is more or less on a Super Ally type gardening leave.
    —————-
    https://mobile.twitter.com/5liveSport/status/923669569402736642?p=v
    “If asked, I couldn’t say no” Could we soon be seeing Ally McCoist back in the #RangersFC dugout?bbc.in/2zGVBZc pic.twitter.com/gvkjghxXno
    ————-
    Wonder if Ally has left his overalls and gardening tools for someone else to use.


  68. I’ve been thinking about the first game for the opening of the new main stand at Tynecastle.  Obviously as a Celtic supporter I wish it was us.  A friendly, charity match.  As Scottish Champions it would be deserved.  However I suspect I am on my own on this one.

    So what about a friendly, charity match with Hibs? Under 23s.  I suppose that might get the support of all you Edinbugers.  (Me too if I’m honest!)

    Cant wait, I don’t like all our money going into rugby.  0711


  69. CLUSTER ONEOCTOBER 26, 2017 at 22:24  

    Re JC’s Not a happy place to be in.The club /company have a choice, go for a manager of quality,but most quality managers are in a job so compensation will have to be paid to get said manager.that cost’s money.Go down the road again of a not proven manager.But then again do they give him cash to spend in january?Go for an ex player? but then if the wheels start to come off and they drop further behind celtic, will the fans be yet again shouting for another new manager come the summer.would the fans hang around that long?After the last two appointments the ibrox fans may be even more demanding of a big name manager to be appointed.What if it’s not?As JC pointed out it may not be a happy place to be the rest of this season

    The media seem to be peddling the line they should just ‘take’ Derek McInnes from Aberdeen. Would he want to go given the current set up at Ibrox? How much would the compensation be? (although i have no confidence now that Mr Milne would play hard ball on that one, given his recent capitulation). 

    McLeish is available, and clearly the media are willing to ignore that (a) he believed it was perfectly fine for Rangers to default on tax as long as it meant beating Celtic (b) he defaulted on tax himself as part of the same scam.  He would be treated as a returning hero by the media and some of the support, but in the absence of significant lawful or unlawful financial backing there is nothing to suggest he is the Messiah. 

    There are other good candidates but they would cost money and would want it to spend on the team. They would also want to get rid of the various failures signed by Pedro. It would all cost a fortune.  If the demand is to beat Celtic who have very good people at the top, an excellent Manager, and plenty of lawfully earned money, who would want it in the absence of a huge wage and transfer budget? How do they even ensure they will compete with a very good Aberdeen and an ever improving Motherwell? They will also be run very close by Hearts, Hibs and St Johnstone. 

    Perhaps they should lower the fans expectations, but then their only income stream might drop. 

    Not a happy place at all, even if there was a hundred Richard Wilson’s to peddle myths at the public’s expense. 

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