Why the Beast of Armageddon Failed to Show?

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A Blog for Scottish Football Monitor by Stuart Cosgrove

At the height of summer of discontent I was asked to contribute to a BBC radio show with Jim Traynor and Jim Spence. ‘Armageddon’ had just been pronounced and if the media were to be believed Scotland was about to freeze over in a new ice-age: only a cold darkness lay ahead.

To get the radio-show off to a healthy and pretentious start I began by saying that Scottish football was experiencing an “epistemological break”. It was an in-joke with Jim Spence, who I have known since we were both teenage ‘suedeheads.’ I was a mouthy young St Johnstone fan and Jim was an Arabian sand-dancer. But even in those distant days, we shared a mutual distrust of the ‘old firm’ and in our separate ways wanted a better future for our clubs. We both grew up to become products of the fanzine era, Jim as a writer for Dundee United’s ‘The Final Hurdle’ and me as a staff writer for the NME. Without ever having to say it, we had both engaged in a guerrilla-war against what Aberdeen’s Willie Miller once characterised as “West Coast Bias”.

The term ‘epistemological break’ was shamelessly borrowed from French Marxist philosophy. It means a fundamental change in the way we construct and receive knowledge and although I used it on air as a wind-up to test Spencey’s significantly less-reliable Dundee schooling, deep down I meant it.

Social Media has proved to be one of the greatest disruptions in the history of the football supporter – greater than the brake clubs of the 19th century, the football specials on the 1970s; or the fanzine movement of the post-punk era. The pace of change in the way we send, receive and interrogate information has been so dynamic that it has wrong-footed administrators, asset strippers and sports journalists, alike. No matter who you support we are living through media history.

2012 had just witnessed an unprecedented summer of sport. The Olympics provided a snapshot of how sudden and pervasive the shift to social media has become. Over 40% of UK adults claim to have posted comments on websites, blogs or social networking about the Olympics and in younger age-groups that figure tips conclusively to a majority – 61% of 16-24’s posted Olympic comments. Think about that figure for a moment. Well over half of the young people in the UK are now participants in social media and pass comment on sport. The genie is out of the bottle and it will never be forced back. That is the main reason that Armageddon never happened: we no longer live in an age where the media can guarantee our compliance.

On the first day of the 2012-13-season, Rangers were in the deep throes of administration and facing certain liquidation. With no accounts to meet the criteria for SPL membership, one among a body of rules which the old Rangers had themselves been an architect of, the new Rangers could not be granted entry without a wholesale abandonment of the rules. It was not to be.

St Johnstone launched their new season at Tynecastle so I travelled with misplaced hope. We were soundly beaten 2-0 and both Hearts goals were entirely merited. On the day, I did a quick if unscientific survey of two supporters’ buses – the Barossa Saints Club, a more traditional lads-bus and the ‘208 Ladies’ a predominantly female and family-friendly bus. On both buses, over 75% of fans had mobile phones with 3G internet access and the majority of them posted updates or pictures before, during or after the match. They mostly posted via micro-blogging sites such as Facebook or Twitter, many commenting on the game, their day-out and the surroundings. Most were speaking to friends or rival fans. Some were publishing pictures and updating forums or blogs. And when he second a decisive goal went in some were undoubtedly taking stick from Gort, Webby DFC and DeeForLife, the pseudonyms of prominent Dundee fans, who as the newly promoted ‘Club 12’ were suddenly and very temporarily above St Johnstone in the SPL.

By my rough calculations, well over half the St Johnstone support was web-connected. I have no reason to think the Hearts supporters were any different. This small experiment reflects an unprecedented shift in the balance of communication in Scottish football and in the truest sense it is an ‘epistemological break’ with past forms of spectatorship. Social media has been widely misrepresented by old-style radio ‘phone-ins’ and by journalism’s ancien regime. The presumption is that people who are connected to the web are at home, in dingy rooms where they foam at the mouth frustrated by loneliness and mental illness. The term ‘internet bampots’ (coined by Hugh Keevins) and ‘keyboard warriors’ (Gordon Strachan) speaks to a world that is fearful of the web, irked by alternative opinions, and the threat that the new media poses to the traditional exchange of knowledge.

It further assumes that opinion from social networks is naïve, ill-informed, or unreasonable. Whilst some of this may be true, mostly it is not. No one would dispute that there are small enclaves of truly despicable people using social networks and comment sites, but they are overwhelmingly outnumbered by the multitude of fans who simply want to talk about their team and share their dreams and memories.

Social media is porous. By that I mean it has cracks, lacunae and fissures. This inevitably means that information leaks out. It can be shared, released and in some cases becomes so energetic it becomes a virus. It is no longer possible to ‘keep secrets’, to withhold information and to allow indiscretions to pass unnoticed. Newspapers have been caught in a whirlwind of change where views can be instantly challenged, authority quickly questioned and pronouncements easily disproved. Many papers – almost all in decline – have been forced to close down their comments forums. Undoubtedly some of that is due to breaches of the rules, the cost of moderation, and the rise in awareness of hate crimes. But another significant factor is that ordinary fans were consistently challenging the opinions and ‘facts’ that newspapers published.

Talking down to fans no longer works and we now have evidence – Armageddon did not happen. The beast that was supposed to devour us all was a toothless fantasy. In the more abrasive language of the terraces – Armageddon shat-it and didn’t turn up.

In one respect the myth of Armageddon was an entirely predictable one. Tabloid newspapers make money from scaring people – health scares, prisoners on the run, fear of terrorism, anxiety about young people, and most recently ‘fear’ of Scottish independence is their stock in trade. Almost every major subject is raised as a spectre to be fearful of. Most newspapers were desperate to ‘save Rangers’ since they themselves feared the consequences of losing even more readership. It was easier to argue that a hideous financial catastrophe would befall Scottish football unless Rangers were fast-tracked back into the SPL. Newspapers found common cause with frightened administrators who could not imagine a world without Rangers, either.

So we were invited to endorse one of the greatest circumlocutions of all time – unless you save a club that has crashed leaving millions of pounds of debt, the game is financially doomed. You would struggle to encounter this bizarre logic in any other walk of life. Unless Rick Astley brings out a new album music will die. That is what they once argued and many still do. That is how desperately illogical the leadership in Scottish football had become.

Armageddon was a tissue of inaccuracies from the outset. It tried to script a disaster-movie of chaotic failure and financial disaster and at the very moment when senior administrators should have been fighting for the livelihood of the league, they were briefing against their own business.

Armageddon was a big inarticulate beast but it faced a mightier opponent – facts. One by one the clubs published their annual accounts. Although this was against the backdrop of a double-dip recession and fiercely difficult economic circumstances it was not all doom and gloom. The arrival of Club 12 (Dundee) meant higher crowds and the potential for increased income at Aberdeen, Dundee United and St Johnstone. To this day, this simple fact remains unfathomable to many people in the Glasgow-dominated media. The arrival of Ross County meant an exciting new top-tier local derby for Inverness Caley Thistle and a breath of fresh air for the SPL. St Johnstone insisted on the first ever SPL meeting outside Glasgow to reflect the new northern and eastern geo-politics of the Scottish game.

European football meant new income streams for Motherwell. Of course times were tight, football is never free from the ravages of the economy and some clubs predictably showed trading losses. But the underlying reasons were always idiosyncratic and inconsistent never consistent across the board. Inverness had an unprecedented spate of injuries and over-shot their budgets for healthcare and so published a loss £378,000.

Meanwhile Dundee United published healthy accounts having sold David Goodwillie to Blackburn. Celtic reached the Champion’s League group stages with all the new wealth it will bequeath. St Johnstone – led by the ultra-cautious Brown family – had already cut the cost of their squad, bidding farewell to the most expensive players Francisco Sandaza and Lee Croft. The club also benefited from compensation for their departed manager, Derek McInnes and player-coach, Jody Morris. Paradoxically, Bristol City had proven to be more important to the club’s income than Rangers. Again this was not part of the script and proved unfathomable (or more accurately irrelevant) to most in the Glasgow media.

Hearts failed to pay players on time due to serious restraints on squad costs and internal debt. They were duly punished for their repeated misdemeanours. Motherwell and St Mirren despite the economic challenges were navigating different concepts of fan ownership. By November most clubs – with the exception of Celtic – were showing increased SPL attendance on the previous season. Far from the scorched earth failure that we were told was inevitable what has emerged is a more complex eco-system of financial management, in which local dynamics and a more mature cost-efficient reality was being put in place.

It may well be that Armageddon was the last desperate caricature of a form of media that was already in terminal decline. Flash back to 1967 when Scottish football had a so-called ‘golden age’. There was European success, we tamed England at Wembley and names like Law and Baxter brightened dark nights. Back then access to knowledge was a very narrow funnel. Only a small cadre of privileged journalists had access to the managers and players, and so fans waited dutifully for the Daily Record to arrive at their door to tell them what was happening. That system of ‘elite access to knowledge’ was in its last decadent throes nearly thirty years later, when David Murray would dispense wisdom to his favoured journalists. We now know they drank fine wine and ate succulent lamb in Jersey and the most loyal attended Murray’s 50th birthday party at Gleneagles. One journalist was so proud of his invite he danced round the editorial office mocking those who had not been invited. This was the early height of the Rangers EBT era but it is now clear that difficult questions went unasked by either journalists or by football administrators.

Although it may not suit the narrative of this particular blog my first realisation that David Murray’s empire was living on leveraged debt was from a small cadre of Rangers fans. It was around the early years of the Rangers Supporter’s Trust (RST) and they were determined to shake more democracy from the Ibrox boardroom. Whilst real fans of the club argued from the outside, the press took Murray at his loquacious word. He was in many respects their benefactor, their visionary – their moonbeam.

By the 1990s onwards, football journalism had ritualised and festered around the inner sanctums at Ibrox. This was an era where relevance meant being invited to a ‘presser’ at Murray Park, having Ally’s mobile or playing golf with ‘Juke Box,’ ‘Durranty’ or ‘Smudger’. Many journalists, showing a compliant lack of self-awareness, would use these nicknames as if conveyed closeness, familiarity or friendship. It is desperately sad that careers have been built on such paltry notions of access and such demeaning obsequiousness.

Around this period I had become a freelance radio-presenter and was presenting Off the Ball with my friend Tam Cowan, a Motherwell fan. We both wanted to fashion a show which saw football not trough its familiar narratives, but through the lens of the ‘diddy’ teams, a term so demeaning that we tried to reclaim it. Refusing to peddle the inevitability of ‘old firm’ power we sensed that journalistic compliance at Ibrox was now so ingrained that it was ripe for satirising. This was the main reason that Off the Ball branded itself as ‘petty and ill-informed.’ It was a self-mocking antidote to those journalists that could ‘exclusively reveal’ breaking stories from ‘impeccable sources,’ which usually meant they had heard it on the golf-course, from Walter, a man who needed no surname.

Many fans are astonished when I tell them how the journalism of this era actually functioned. On Champions League nights, journalists from opposing papers gathered together to agree what to write. Circulation was in decline, money was tight, agency copy was on the increase and foreign trips were under-scrutiny. No one dared miss the ‘big story’. So sports journalists who commonly boasted about their toughness and who ‘feared no one’ were often so fearful of returning home having missed an angle, that they agreed by consensus to run with variations of the same story. Celtic fans may wish to recoil at the image – but journalists would go into a ‘huddle’ at the end of a press-conference to agree the favoured line.

So the summer of 2012 witnessed an ‘epistemological break’ in how knowledge and information was exchanged. But let me go further and taunt Jim Spence one more time. It was the summer we also witnessed an ‘amygdala-crisis’ exposing the way the media works in Scotland. Amygdala is the nuclei in the brain that manages our tolerance for risk and is the key that often unlocks creative thinking. Many people in relatively high places in the media – a creative industry – demonstrated that they could not conceive of change, nor could they imagine what football would look like if Rangers were not playing in the SPL. They not only resisted change but lacked the imagination to think beyond it. A common language began to emerge that tried to ward off risk and an almost a childlike fear of the dark. ‘Scottish football needs a strong Rangers,’ ‘But there will no competition’; ‘other clubs will suffer’; ‘Draw a line in the sand’; ‘It was one man – Craig Whyte’, ‘They’ve been punished enough’ and of course, the daddy of them all – ‘Armageddon.’

The biggest single barrier to change was the lingering and outmoded notion that Rangers subsidised Scottish football. As a supporter of a club that had spent seven economically stable years in a league that Rangers have never played in made me deeply suspicious and I was in the words of the we-forums ‘seething’ that St Johnstone were portrayed as somehow ‘dependent’ on a club that was already fatefully insolvent. Because so little is known about the experience of the fans of smaller clubs, they are often misrepresented. For seven years my friends and I, travelled home and away in the First Division, often narrowly missing out on promotion as rival clubs like Gretna, Dundee and Livingston all used money they did not have to ‘buy’ success. It remains an incontrovertible fact that St Johnstone FC has been among the most consistent victims of fiscal misdemeanour in Scottish football. That is the irreducible issue. Several clubs have very real reasons to loathe financial mismanagement, rogue-trading and those that gain unfair advantage on the back of unserviceable debt.

Social media has allowed these smaller incremental versions of history to be told when the established media had no interest in telling them. Blogs can dig deeper than the back pages ever can and fans are now more likely to meet on Facebook than on a supporter’s bus. Many players now bypass the press completely and tweet directly with fans. Rio Ferdinand’s recent attack on racism in English football has been conducted entirely via social media, over the heads of the press. In the Rangers Tax Case context, restricted documents are regularly shared online, where they can be analysed and torn apart. Those with specialist skills such as insolvency, tax expertise or accountancy can lend their skills to a web forum and can therefore dispute official versions of events.

Not all social media is good. Open-access has meant a disproportionate rise in victim culture. The ‘easily-offended’ prowl every corner of the web desperate to find a morsel that will upset them but that is a small price to pay for greater transparency and even the most ardent bore is no excuse for limiting the free exchange of information.

We have witnessed a summer of seismic change. A discredited era that largely relied on ‘elite access to knowledge’ has all but passed away and information, however complex or seemingly unpalatable, can no longer be withheld from fans. The days of being ‘dooped’ are over.

It has been a privilege to participate in the summer of discontent and I yearn for even greater change to come. Bring it on.

Stuart Cosgrove
Stuart Cosgrove is a St Johnstone fan. He was previously Media Editor of the NME and is now Director of Creative Diversity at Channel 4, where he recently managed coverage of the Paralympics, London 2012. At the weekend he presents the BBC Scotland football show ‘Off the Ball’ with Tam Cowan. He writes here in a personal capacity.

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About Trisidium

Trisidium is a Dunblane businessman with a keen interest in Scottish Football. He is a Celtic fan, although the demands of modern-day parenting have seen him less at games and more as a taxi service for his kids.

3,744 thoughts on “Why the Beast of Armageddon Failed to Show?”


  1. Senior says:
    Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 21:03
    309 4 Rate This
    Humble Pie..

    In relation to your comments re. polls and the constituency/demographics involved. I think we should carry out a poll of this particular constituency (TSFM members) This, without anticipating the results, would prove conclusively that these polls only serve the pollsters agenda.

    Thumbs up or thumbs down if you agree/disagree with the following.

    1. That the Old Firm games as we knew them should never darken Scottish Football ever again.

    2 That Servco should never have been allowed to compete in any division without fulfilling the prescribed conditions.

    3. That those charged with the administration of our beloved game should be removed forthwith and replaced with people of the calibre of Turnbull, Men/Women of courage integrity, honesty and a real love of our game, qualities which the present incumbents do not even understand never mind possess.


  2. Not The Huddle Malcontent says:

    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 09:08

    I don’t think it’s cashflow problems, I think it’s just a case of the club (or company) having no intention of refunding cash. It’s only Bears that will have paid in the first pace, and Green will flannel them sufficiently to keep the money for nothing.

    So not cash shortfalls for me; just integrity and decency shorfalls.


  3. Had a wee peep into RM to see if the TE article had made any of them think about the mess their new club is in…………..here’s a wee doozy post no 10

    ‘Anyway, if anyone was in any doubt about buying shares beforehand then this ‘article’ should surely be the catalyst to buy them now’

    These peepil are beyond belief and deserve everything they get.


  4. arabest1 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 11:39
    0 0 Rate This
    Had a wee peep into RM to see if the TE article had made any of them think about the mess their new club is in…………..here’s a wee doozy post no 10

    ‘Anyway, if anyone was in any doubt about buying shares beforehand then this ‘article’ should surely be the catalyst to buy them now’

    These peepil are beyond belief and deserve everything they get.
    ———–

    Has English put a catalyst among the pigeons?

    I’ll get my anorak.


  5. iamacant says:
    Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 21:46
    Reports om RM that Sandy Jardine currently being treated for cancer. Absolutely horrible disease which I wouldnt wish on anyone. I’ve seen it first hand with my father. I’m sure folks on here would like to see Sandy make a full recovery.
    ——————————————————————-
    Hope these (very few) TDs were accidents. Agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly, iamacant – as do as you can see the vast majority of folk here.


  6. I have discovered the real reason behind, the delay in the FTT decision being made public.
    It has nothing to do with giving a chance for the guilty to go to Brazil, nor is it to hinder the dual contracts investigation or to allow the non IPO for Chuckie to never take place.

    No it is much more simple and devious than that.

    It is to delay RTCs book until after Xmas in order that the Sevcovians do not use some of their £500 wonga loan and risk a share failure.


  7. I’m wondering whether reconstruction was part of the notorious but top secret 5-way agreement, because as soon as that was signed, we started getting all this blow from the Sevco players about being back in the top flight in short order. The players are either extremely good guessers, or they were on a promise of some sort.

    I think it’s now time for some of Doncaster and Regan’s dirty little secrets to be dragged into the open for a bit of an airing. Whatever income the clubs, the SFA, the SPL and the SFL receive comes, in the end, from us, the fans. Yet they treat us like morons, too stupid to be told anything, while these powerhouses (in their own little minds) get on with managing the game in whatever way they see fit.

    It is time they were reminded exactly who is paying their inflated wages. No genuine businessman treats his paying customers with such contempt. These people are supposedly servants of the clubs. It’s long past time for a clearout, before any more damage is done. Time now for the clubs to act, and if they won’t, time for the fans to put pressure on the clubs again.


  8. If the SPL or SFL dare to suggest that reconstruction includes a free pass back to the top tier for the Govan new club, then the chairmen and fans of the other clubs should table immediate votes of no confidence in those foolish enough to try this again. In fact these clowns should have been booted out long before now. I think its time the SPL and SFL chairmen had another wee chat with their fans to see how we feel about such an outcome.


  9. neepheid says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 12:07
    0 0 Rate This
    =========

    Not to forget, the players out on loan who were also saying that they would be back at TRFC next season and playing in the top tier again.

    We are being conned, we know we are being conned, however we will never know by how much we have been conned.


  10. neepheid says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 12:07
    2 0 i
    Rate This
    I’m wondering whether reconstruction was part of the notorious but top secret 5-way agreement, because as soon as that was signed, we started getting all this blow from the Sevco players about being back in the top flight in short order. The players are either extremely good guessers, or they were on a promise of some sort
    =======================================================================

    The whole scenario does appear to be beautifully choreographed by the powers that be, and of course Chuckles, who was apparently already aware of the SFL proposal before it was announced by the SFL. It definitely smacks of a back door agreement which the 5 way agreement obviously is.

    If I cast my mind back to last Feb/March and the following farce. The whole scenario of administration, the CVA, the appointment of D&D, along with the choice of preferred bidder was all beautifully choreographed as well. But they didn’t factor in the fans reaction.

    But, here we are again, being presented with a similar situation with them trying to present league structures as a fait au compli and a quick fix for newco. They are obviously daring us to object and push back on this again. Pig ignorance and bloody minded comes to mind with their self interest and covered wagon agendas.


  11. i’m not sure if I can recall a double page featured where the Sunday mail tracked down SDM to his bolt hole and asked for comment, double standards me thinks. What a useless artictle today and did they really waste money sending soemone over for these pictures of Vlad.


  13. cowanpete says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 09:34
    29 0 Rate This
    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/spl-plan-to-ditch-toxic-structure.19448547

    If this is just a quick and dirty way of getting TRFC back into the “SPL” then I am done with Scottish football forever.
    When will they stop treating the fans like morons?

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

    The only thing toxic about the SPL now that Toxic FC have crashed and burned, is the corrupt cowards being paid to run it. Supporters everywhere need to stand firm to save Scottish Football from falling into the tainted, grubby hands of the supremacist criminals again.


  14. Eureka.

    I have it! I have it! ……….The Texas Rangers (copyright claimed)
    Oh, and some credit must go to Tom English.


  15. slimshady61 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 11:03

    4

    0

    Rate This

    Agrajag says:
    Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 22:09
    ————————————————–
    Experience suggests that most liquidators’ appetites are in proportion to the likely amount of asset recovery.

    I don’t know why anyone thinks the liquidation of RFC will be any different. Nothing that has already gone before will be undone and people should not be getting their hopes up on this score.

    The best outcome we can expect is (i) a decent report to the DTI on the directors’ conduct over the three years prior to 14 February 2012 and (ii) the liquidators uncovering enough information in the process to assist the main creditor, HMRC, in levying personal assessments against former directors and players as suggested in the MLM blog on Friday.

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

    In essence, the best outcome we can expect is them doing their job properly.

    Works for me. All I have ever asked for is everyone being treated in the same way. That includes dead Rangers, their directors and their owners.

    Though I’m not sure why you seem to preclude accusations of gratuitous alienation and malfeasance.


  16. cowanpete says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 09:34
    29 0 Rate This
    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/spl-plan-to-ditch-toxic-structure.19448547

    If this is just a quick and dirty way of getting TRFC back into the “SPL” then I am done with Scottish football forever.
    When will they stop treating the fans like morons?

    ——————————-

    Well said, cowanpete

    They won’t stop; it’s in their very nature to talk down to people, to follow their own agenda, even when faced with cold hard facts which show they are just plain wrong.

    This latest piece of “journalism” from Speirs is also a complete distortion of the truth; a selective quotation to suit the line he wants to peddle.

    Here’s his “selective” quotation

    ————————-
    The plan comes a day after Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, spoke of the hardship of maintaining a healthy SPL in the current economic climate.

    On Friday, Lawwell told the club’s AGM that “the landscape of football is changing” and that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Scottish football to remain viable, adding: “We have stability at Celtic, but commercially we are also suffering.”

    Scottish clubs currently receive less than 1% of the value of Barclays Premier League clubs in terms of TV revenues. “We always need to explore new ideas – you can’t stand still,” Lawwell said.
    ————————–

    Does he say anything in here about an SPL re-structure ? – No. Is that what is implied ? Yes.
    The landscape of football changing was in relation the developments across Europe.

    The commercial suffering, if you want to quote in context, was related to the Sevco upheaval, but it was put like this – “Clearly short-term commercial issue. Financially we will suffer, but that was insignificant in doing the right thing”.

    Speirs, have you no shame ? Did you hear that ? “insignificant in doing the right thing”. No, of course you didn’t. Because that wasn’t what you wanted to hear. Sad. Just as well people are checking your “work”.


  17. slimshady61 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 11:03
    Experience suggests that most liquidators’ appetites are in proportion to the likely amount of asset recovery. I don’t know why anyone thinks the liquidation of RFC will be any different. Nothing that has already gone before will be undone and people should not be getting their hopes up on this score. The best outcome we can expect is (i) a decent report to the DTI on the directors’ conduct over the three years prior to 14 February 2012 and (ii) the liquidators uncovering enough information in the process to assist the main creditor, HMRC, in levying personal assessments against former directors and players as suggested in the MLM blog on Friday.
    __________________

    All the business folk I know agree with exactly that. Some have thought it just but only possible there may be some restitutions or compensation due from the `sale` – no more than that – but aren’t holding their breath. They believe that after the creditors meeting on the 4th – The liquidators and /or a committee will take the opportunity to clearly state their remit and intentions probably limiting it to (1) DTI as required, and that confidential and (2) HMRC, just as you say. Limits speculation and may be required to avoid any reputational damage that has affected others in this.

    Got a funny feeling though, when things get going – is it possible the unusual deep complex interwoven threads in this together with the fit and proper spivs on display are going to make it difficult for the liquidator’s to uncover even one stone without finding more little issues? These may need to handled or be required to be handed over to others even if that`s only related to the vaunted up-coming court cases in this bizarre roller coaster. I`ll admit I was completely wrong about administration in February. I originally believed this was to straightforward cut spending to income, properly restructure the company, put it back on its feet as a going concern, and then sell it.

    On form, expect the unexpected 😉


  18. neepheid says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 12:07
    2 0 i
    Rate This
    I’m wondering whether reconstruction was part of the notorious but top secret 5-way agreement, because as soon as that was signed, we started getting all this blow from the Sevco players about being back in the top flight in short order. The players are either extremely good guessers, or they were on a promise of some sort
    =======================================================================

    I remember saying this at the time, who was giving all those players ASSURANCES that they would soon be playing in the SPL? When all these players were coming out of Ibrox stating more league corruption was a certainty, not 1 journalist asked them who had told them or what exactly they were being told?
    Just like Spartans and Cove etc staying quiet whilst RFC Tribute Act were illegitimately handed a share they themselves had coveted for years, what ASSURANCES were they given and by whom?
    There are certainly supposed solid promises on league corruption reconstruction being given. But on who’s authority?
    Maybe the 5 way collusion agreement is not so secret when need be for Tribute Act, maybe they have been showing it to potential signings, non league clubs and others as a bargaining chip?


  19. Maybe it is time we make our own “Agreement”, get someone like Humble Pie or BRTH to write up a “Zero Tolerance of Corruption” agreement, get it signed by supporters and Clubs, it could be the “110,347 way agreement” (or whatever number, which will certainly be more than 5) and all Clubs who refuse to sign up be boycotted.


  20. 1. neepheid says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 12:07
    I’m wondering whether reconstruction was part of the notorious but top secret 5-way agreement, because as soon as that was signed, we started getting all this blow from the Sevco players about being back in the top flight in short order. The players are either extremely good guessers, or they were on a promise of some sort.
    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    Shrewd point neepheid
    Made me wonder.
    If I was a shrewd agent then I would have got my player a get out clause that allowed me to move on if the promised “reconstruction” announcement was not made before the Jan transfer window
    And
    If I was an even more shrewder Sevco CEO
    I would have blackmailed the governing bodies by threatening to disclose that the 5 way agreement contained a promise of a return to the top league within 12 months
    I would also claim that Newco would be in Administration this season and claim the IPO failure was because Investors had no guarantee of SPL football next season


  21. With regard reconstruction and New Rangers being forced into the top tier by the authorities. By that time the clubs will have had a spell without them, as will the fans. There may well be no appetite for having either the team, or it’s followers, forced on the rest of us.

    From an SPL perspective what is important financially is a teams average home attendance. The attendances at Ibrox are irrelevant to other people’s income. If those home attendances are not down, it is a more competitive league, and at least one club will take the second place prize then the other clubs may not want them in the league until they can actually reach it on merit.

    That’s saying nothing about whether people want the support in their stadium or even in their community.

    It’s be no means certain that the SPL clubs will be in much of a hurry to have them forced into the top league. by invitation or otherwise. That’s without mentioning the other teams wanting their own place. If the SPL were to go to 16 teams then I would imagine the top 4 in the SFL1 would be a bit peeved if they were not “invited” and a team from two league lower was.


  22. goosygoosy says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 13:23
    2 0 Rate This

    neepheid says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 12:07
    =============

    What makes this a likely scenario is the fact that “negotiations” were taking place with Sevco to see what they would accept.
    That is the part that to me that reeks of corruption. Sevco had no right to be negotiating on their terms for accepting a membership they were not entitled to receive in the first place.


  23. Just read Speirs article there about the ‘toxic’ SPL, jeez where do you start, is he back on mintys lamb trail? One point that did stand out was if reconstruction of the leagues go ahead then it will start from season 2013-2014, Next season. All the articles I read last week from Longmuir etc stated the following year 20114-2015, what’s changed in 6 days?
    Agrajag
    Quite agree, I think the other SPL teams and fans have now tasted life without T’rangers in the league and have found it a breath of fresh air.


  25. Attention,

    Will all those people who voted on the latest posting of the poll please go back and vote on the original posting (a page back) and cast their vote there. It has been pointed out to me that with the possibility of bloggers voting twice, the findings of the poll could be called into question.

    Thank you.


  26. “…Financially we will suffer, but that was insignificant in doing the right thing”. PL at Celtic AGM.

    I had admiration for GS when he confronted (S)DM on the feasibility of the financial regime that existed at the Govan Club. Ah! says I, someone is after the truth. Good on him.

    Now I ask myself – what was the motivation for his questioning. Was it the search for truth (in itself) or his fear of the demise of the Govan Club.

    Since then his jottings have proved the latter.

    I ask Mr Speirs, when next in prayer mode, to examine his conscience and decide.


  27. Will the fact that you are polling a small sample all with a relatively like minded view not simply tell you what you want to hear?

    Someone want to play devils advocate on this?

    Similarly, if I conducted a poll of the daily retard columnists, it might validate a certain viewpoint.


  28. cosmichaggis says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 10:51

    I have watched Billy Goats head butting gate posts …
    ——
    Didn’t he have one of those EBT things?

    Meanwhile, what a pleasure to read Tom English’s piece today in the paper. Charlie’s latest series of lies torn to pieces. One day, a journalist will compile a lengthy piece containing a bumper collection of the same. 🙂


  29. I posted yesterday that Mark guidi ( now where have I heard that name before 🙂 ) on SSB phone-in said to a caller that it was ok for CG to tell blatant lies because he was trying to promote his share issue ?? As we have said many times before the Scottish MSM are absolutely pathetic and as for ‘sports journalists’ ??? Well we have keevins, dawwell king, Keith Jackson, Jabba, chic young ……….. Need I say more……. Not fit for purpose 😉


  30. ..

    In relation to your comments re. polls and the constituency/demographics involved. I think we should carry out a poll of this particular constituency (TSFM members) This, without anticipating the results, would prove conclusively that these polls only serve the pollsters agenda.
    __________________________
    readcelt

    ‘Will the fact that you are polling a small sample all with a relatively like minded view not simply tell you what you want to hear?’
    _______________________________
    What part of the original comment do you not understand?


  31. Rangers Tax-Case @rangerstaxcase 9m
    Can someone call UEFA and tell them that they must have
    forgotten to update their website?pic.twitter.com/gxvrTwVW


  32. Brenda says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 14:55

    Brenda I had the misfortune to have listened to that yesterday whilst the better half popped into Tesco. I heard him excusing chuckles on his ramblings saying he had a share issue to sell, utterly shocking imo.
    Did you hear ‘Shire’ fan come on and say his team done very well despite being 1 man down and that ‘Kyle’ should have also been sent off. They then asked him did he like the fact that triggers broom are in Div3, and he said no, you could hear a pin drop in the studio. Thought the ‘Shire’ fan done well, quoted facts and figures and the fact his team did not make a great profit from the game despite the hard work the club and a lot of fans put in free of charge.


  33. Palacio67

    I agree wholeheartedly I’m just surprised they let the ‘shire’ fan continue and they didn’t experience ‘technical problems’ and cut him off ? As you say he spoke very well and put them well in their place………. As far as the Kyle incident??? You had to be there!! Cause the plug was pulled and even those who paid didn’t view and no mention of it in today’s ‘press’ …… And apologies if this has already been asked but do ‘shire’ get a share of the tv money? No reason though to doubt the guy’s claims about Kyle 🙂


  34. I had to read this headline twice 🙂

    Ecuadorians Try But Fail To Enter Donkey As Election


  35. briggsbhoy says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:23

    I had to read this headline twice 🙂

    Ecuadorians Try But Fail To Enter Donkey As Election
    ———————————————————————

    Didn’t Caligula have his horse made a senator? (But then it could talk horse sense so more useful than your average politician).


  36. monsieurbunny says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:26
    0 0 Rate This
    briggsbhoy says:
    ==========

    I had to read it twice as well as I thought they were talking about Doncaster.


  37. Senior says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 14:58
    5 2 Rate This
    ..

    In relation to your comments re. polls and the constituency/demographics involved. I think we should carry out a poll of this particular constituency (TSFM members) This, without anticipating the results, would prove conclusively that these polls only serve the pollsters agenda.
    __________________________
    readcelt

    ‘Will the fact that you are polling a small sample all with a relatively like minded view not simply tell you what you want to hear?’
    _______________________________
    What part of the original comment do you not understand?

    ————————————————

    Ah, ok. You were trying to prove what a pointless exercise these kind of polls are by getting people to take part one.

    Should have scrolled up to catch the beginning of the thread.


  38. twopanda says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 13:06
    10 0 Rate This
    slimshady61 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 11:03
    Experience suggests that most liquidators’ appetites are in proportion to the likely amount of asset recovery. I don’t know why anyone thinks the liquidation of RFC will be any different. Nothing that has already gone before will be undone and people should not be getting their hopes up on this score. The best outcome we can expect is (i) a decent report to the DTI on the directors’ conduct over the three years prior to 14 February 2012 and (ii) the liquidators uncovering enough information in the process to assist the main creditor, HMRC, in levying personal assessments against former directors and players as suggested in the MLM blog on Friday.
    __________________

    All the business folk I know agree with exactly that. Some have thought it just but only possible there may be some restitutions or compensation due from the `sale` – no more than that – but aren’t holding their breath. They believe that after the creditors meeting on the 4th – The liquidators and /or a committee will take the opportunity to clearly state their remit and intentions probably limiting it to (1) DTI as required, and that confidential and (2) HMRC, just as you say. Limits speculation and may be required to avoid any reputational damage that has affected others in this.

    Got a funny feeling though, when things get going – is it possible the unusual deep complex interwoven threads in this together with the fit and proper spivs on display are going to make it difficult for the liquidator’s to uncover even one stone without finding more little issues? These may need to handled or be required to be handed over to others even if that`s only related to the vaunted up-coming court cases in this bizarre roller coaster. I`ll admit I was completely wrong about administration in February. I originally believed this was to straightforward cut spending to income, properly restructure the company, put it back on its feet as a going concern, and then sell it.

    On form, expect the unexpected
    __________________

    It is entirely within the liquidators’s remit to investigate the conduct of the administrators. No-one I have spoken to has been convinced that D&P have been fully effective or efficient in their handling of the administration of The Rangers Football Club plc.

    Of course, we do not know the finer details; but, on the face of it, some of their decisions seemed then (and still now) to be totally bizarre and contradictory.

    In hindsight, it is difficult to argue that simply closing down the business in February (selling the heritable assets and intellectual property) would not have achieved a significantly better return for creditors, than the apparently illogical route they chose to take. A question for bdo, is whether or not hindsight is/was actually required.

    Most people I spoke to at the time felt that D&P should never have accepted the administration because of their previous involvement at the club.
    Most people I spoke to at the time felt the prospect of HMRC agreeing to the terms of D&P’s proposed CVA to be “extremely remote” – well beyond the realms of reasonable expectation.
    Most people I spoke to at the time felt that (even if a CVA was remotely possible) that the first priority of the administrators was to balance the club’s income with it’s expenditure. As is standard practice in football administrations, players with little transfer value – along with those they could not afford to keep until the transfer window opened – should have been made redundant in the first few days.
    Most people I spoke to at the time were surprised that season ticket holders were allowed to continue using their season books during the period of administration.
    Most people I know found it difficult to understand how the deal that was done with Sevco could have been in the best interest of the creditors.

    No-one wanted to be seen to be the cause of the old club’s death. It seemed obvious therefore, that an open auction of the assets of The Rangers Football Club plc could not take place until the possibility of a CVA had been completely extinguished. By promoting the likelihood of HMRC’s acceptance, D&P were artificially lowering the likelihood of a sale of assets at best value.

    Agreeing to the sale of assets as a “back-up” to a CVA proposal seems to me – and most people I know – to have been, at best, naive. It does not seem, on the face of it. to have been the most beneficial of the possible outcomes for the creditors.

    If bdo think that D&P have been at fault and ask the new club to justify the sale price, I find it difficult (especially with Mr Green’s latest utterances) to comprehend how the heritable property could be purchased for £1.5m and the intellectual property could be sold as part of “goodwill” for £1.

    If HMRC provide them with sufficient funding, I expect bdo’s work to be wide-ranging and absolutely thorough. It will probably take some time – potentially several years -; but, on the face of it, investors in Sevco’s Rangers may think that they have several reason’s to be concerned about the continuing ownership of the former assets of The Rangers Football Club plc.


  39. Brenda says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 15:27

    Palacio67

    I agree wholeheartedly I’m just surprised they let the ‘shire’ fan continue and they didn’t experience ‘technical problems’ and cut him off ? As you say he spoke very well and put them well in their place………. As far as the Kyle incident??? You had to be there!! Cause the plug was pulled and even those who paid didn’t view and no mention of it in today’s ‘press’ …… And apologies if this has already been asked but do ‘shire’ get a share of the tv money? No reason though to doubt the guy’s claims about Kyle

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Presumably they would make charge to allow the cameras to film at their premises?????


  40. It must be me ,its got to be me,when listening to Clyde on a Saturday or any match day for that matter I seem to hear the pundits talk up the Sevco team and talk down the Celtic team ,classic yesterday was if Aberdeen win it will be good for Scottish football ,I would have thought the opposite ,if Celtic win it will give them a boost going into the champions league game and possibly get the win needed to qualify for the last 16 and keep Scottish football on the map after xmas,as I say it must be me,its got to be me,is it me


  41. iceman63 says:

    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 08:53

    Sadly, I can’t share your optimism. I desperately hope that it does unfold in the manner you describe, but I can’t see it. Given the very, very clear conflict of interest for Campbell Ogilvie, and yet he’s still there – not just clinging on, but in with the bricks – when it comes to the SFA and SPL, dynamite couldn’t shift that lot.


  42. yourhavingalaugh says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:57
    0 0 i
    Rate This
    It must be me ,its got to be me,when listening to Clyde on a Saturday or any match day for that matter I seem to hear the pundits talk up the Sevco team and talk down the Celtic team ,classic yesterday was if Aberdeen win it will be good for Scottish football ,I would have thought the opposite ,if Celtic win it will give them a boost going into the champions league game and possibly get the win needed to qualify for the last 16 and keep Scottish football on the map after xmas,as I say it must be me,its got to be me,is it me
    ========================================================================
    I think it’s you old boy.

    It’s good for Aberdeen and the SPL if Aberdeen won as it would make the league at the top very tight indeed and more exciting.

    Good for Celtic to win to go top of league and give Celtic ONLY a boost, for the Benfica game. Good luck to Celtic for next week.


  43. arabest1 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 11:39

    Had a wee peep into RM …

    ‘Anyway, if anyone was in any doubt about buying shares beforehand then this ‘article’ should surely be the catalyst to buy them now’

    These peepil are beyond belief and deserve everything they get.
    ======

    Perhaps Tom English is one of those rascals who say things that are “far too accurate”? 🙂

    —-

    yourhavingalaugh says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:57

    … classic yesterday was if Aberdeen win it will be good for Scottish football ,I would have thought the opposite …
    ——

    Nope, he was right. Would have kept things closer at the top of the League for a start. And I would have been personally delighted, which is the main thing in my book. 🙂

    I don’t think Aberdeen getting beat off CFC is particularly good for Scottish fitba, even if it put CFC on a high for their Euro campaign. They won anyway, obviously, which was always to be expected as we have a mental block on beating ex-OF sides for some reason. I care not a lot for how CFC do in Europe, though it’s good to see a Scottish team doing better than usual – in a kind of “oh, that’s nice” way. 🙂

    For everyone else, if CFC are pegged back and forced to run with the mob it keeps a bit of interest in proceedings.


  44. yourhavingalaugh says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:57

    I may tune in next week, maybe they will Say “If Elgin win it will be good for Scottish football”?
    No, somehow I don’t think so… 🙂


  45. HirsutePursuit says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:49

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

    To me the pre-sale of assets if (when, because we all knew it) failed was verging on the crooked.

    How could they possibly know that it was in the best interests of the creditors if they didn’t even put the assets up for auction.

    The story about it being the best offer available is patently nonsensical. Offers were being made on the basis of an impossible CVA. Different ones may have been made if the business was being liquidated and the assets sold.

    They did what they did to keep the business (not company) afloat. When the CVA failed that was outwith their remit and to the detriment of the creditors.


  47. Re Aberdeen beating CFC I probably should have explained it was the manner in which the pundit kept going on that intrigued me ,competition is the name of the game ,well fair competition,and I am all for this ,but we all know or most of us when we are listening to someone that is hoping beyond where there is no hope or should I say talking out with what he is actualy thinking,no please listen in and feed back ,like Palicio67 lets hope we here that type of comment week in week out ,aye right,anyway its my birthday and the wifes taking me for dinner and some nice wine ,got some nice whiskies as gifts and will sample later,you all have a nice Sunday evening,I will.
    Cheers


  48. With regard to league re-construction I seem to remember that it was supposed to begin in season 2014-15 as this would allow the teams being promoted into Div 3 the opportunity to overcome ‘licensing’ issues.
    What ‘licensing’ issues could these clubs possibly have considering a club only FIVE weeks old was allowed into Div 3 recently.
    Perhaps the clubs need time to build up over £100M worth of debt and walk away from it with all the ‘dignity’ they can muster.
    This seems to be the only criteria that they do not meet.


  49. It was Gordon Dalziel who made the point yesterday on SSB that for the good of Scottish football he would like to see Aberdeen win 🙂 (he predicted aberdeen would be too strong for celtic!!!) he has quite a good track record for getting the Celtic score wrong 🙂 …….. Although he claims to be a Motherwell fan, says DunfermlinD instead of Dunfermline, bacalona instead of barcalona and talks of the chairmans of clubs….. The man is an idiot like his fellow panel members on SSB 🙂


  51. A wise person (ma granny) told me that one of the most powerful words in the English language is ‘why’.

    SC had to provide reasons why Armageddon failed to materialise.

    All the examples of corruption from those entrusted with the stewardship of our jogo bonito have been listed ad nauseum here and elsewhere, but what is it that motivated their actions?

    If the answer is simply ‘They wanted Rangers in the SPL’

    Why?

    Why were Duff and Felch allowed to make a mockery of the Administration process?
    Why have the MSM continued to turn their blind eyes?

    What’s the common denomination?


  52. No reconstruction which artificially and uniquely promotes T’Rangers could get through the SPL. The clubs know their fans would cry cheat and leave. For what it’s worth I reckon many if not the majority of SPL clubs would be happy with the status quo as it maximises their revenue.This reality may explain Aberdeen’s refusal to back voting reform. Self interest will ensure that no reconstruction can happen.
    I do also believe that just as Donkey promised Chuckie a place in the SPL such a promise on getting Sevco into the top flight was part of the 6


  53. iceman63 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 18:47

    And also, any club wanting to leave the SPL to join another league has to give two full seasons notice if I remember correctly. So the SFL coming up with a re-structuring plan really has to have it agreed with the SFA and SPL to have any chance of succeeding.

    Unless I am reading this wrong the SPL clubs will decide on any re-structuring. Even if the Rangers fans think they hold all the cards.


  54. pesky Samsung Galaxy. Posted my post incomplete
    Reconstruction and promotion in a season was clearly part of the 5 way agreement. But like the previous promises given to Chucky is onecthat cannot be delivered.
    Once reconstruction dies. Expect Chucky to reveal the betrayal of the berzz by the failure of the Spl to deliver on its promises.
    All involved will then find their positions untenable.


  55. Reconstruction can only happen with the consent of the clubs……….the clubs will consult the fans, just like in the summer the fans will not allow anyone to stiff the rule book and waltz back into the top tier debt free. Its the Govan team and the msm who are currently enduring Armageddon, the rest of us are enjoying the best and most competitive SPL in decades with attendances up, exciting young players on the park and the curious absence of sectarian hatred. As has been noted before, not only do we not want them, we don’t need them. 🙂


  56. HirsutePursuit says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:49
    ————————————————–
    Sorry, HP< but HMRC won't provide any funding to BDO for the liquidation; I think they've lost enough money already.

    Check their track record on liquidations – I can't see anyone wanting to go back over the transaction by which Green bought "the club", its assets etc. That is pie in the sky stuff as is Lord Hope's "investigation".

    The bottom line is there was no other buyer, the bears stuck their hands in their pockets and waited for a saviour to help them out.

    No saviour came along so everything went to Green instead. and now he's ready to fleece the bears who need everything served up on a plate for them.

    No question of "bears for change", no car park protests because, like paying taxes it's "not the Rangers way"

    No, the only two possibilities of justice being done is through a DTI enquiry into the former directors' conduct and HMRC taking the nuclear options in terms of collecting tax, i.e. from the former directors and employees.

    But neither of those will affect Green; his game plan has only one more stage to go – the share issue and if that succeeds, he will have won.

    Having said that, I do still harbour serious doubts as to whether there will actually be an IPO offer, this side of Christmas or indeed at anytime.

    First of all it requires reporting accountants and I know of no reputable firm that would put its name to "forecasts" of future financial results; secondly it would require full disclosure of the present structure and how people have invested (i.e. lent) money into Secvo

    Don't hold your breath

    SSS


  57. slimshady61 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:09

    HirsutePursuit says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:49
    ————————————————–
    Sorry, HP< but HMRC won't provide any funding to BDO for the liquidation; I think they've lost enough money already.

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

    In instances where they believe it is appropriate HMRC will fund the liquidators investigation.

    I doubt they went to the bother of choosing a specific person to be the liquidator if they did not intend paying for the process.


  58. monsieurbunny says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:26

    Didn’t Caligula have his horse made a senator?
    ——

    Caligula (“Little Boots”, a nickname given him by the Army after his childhood soldier’s outfit), planned to make his favourite horse Incitatus a Consul. I think the horse only ended up being a priest, though. 🙂

    Chief Judge Caligula out of 200AD, however, made his pet fish Deputy Chief Judge. The latter was assassinated on the orders of Judge Dredd.


  60. Glasgow Rangers are bigger than any Premier League club apart from Manchester United. Arsenal lack their fan base and global stature. Barcelona and Real Madrid, driving forces of a sport destined to be shaped by satellite TV viewers in the developing world, would welcome the Old Firm to La Liga.

    There is a tiresome familiarity about the bombast of the Rangers chief executive, Charles Green, a man with an unimpressive past hawking an uncertain future. At times, his sales pitch for the shadow club’s forthcoming share issue sounded as if it had been conceived during a particularly hectic happy hour on Sauchiehall Street.

    United, with admirable comic timing, immediately rejected his claim that they favoured Rangers’ installation in the Premier League. Other supposed allies – unidentified “big clubs” – spurned invitations to break cover. By contrast, Peter Lawwell, Green’s counterpart at Celtic, appeared a little too desperate to join the debate when he refused to commit his club, long term, to Scottish football. Follow, follow, indeed.

    After being condemned as a “hatchet man” and walking away from the wreckage of Sheffield United, Green’s career was as a journeyman businessman. Suddenly, like many of his species, he claims a football club “is much more than a business opportunity” to him. He will not leave Ibrox until it echoes with the Champions’ League anthem.

    Inevitably, the business plan is dependent upon its delusions of grandeur being funded by fans, who are expected to contribute £21 million to Rangers’ flotation on the AIM market.

    There’s enduring loyalty to the brand even if, officially, it no longer exists. The old Rangers, whose heritage Green is so eager to embrace and exploit, retain an emotional pull, despite leaving an unpaid tax bill of nearly £100m. The return of Walter Smith as a director cannily allows everyone to bask in the reflected glory of his 10 League titles as manager.

    Green, to be frank, comes across as smug, materialistic and covetous. He may very well have found his niche. The Premier League was founded on greed. Its global success is a celebration of avarice. Its spin doctors have been busy briefing chief executive Richard Scudamore’s opposition to the Old Firm’s adoption, but it is wise never to say never.

    Scudamore, whose achievement in pushing TV rights income beyond £5 billion is regarded as stellar, even by his enemies. His legacy is assured. Premier League club owners are as difficult to herd as goldfish, but they have unanimity of purpose when it comes to making money.

    It is telling that the sudden interest in financial fair play has coincided with the realisation that the TV windfall is likely further to enrich players and agents. It is equally revealing that their refusal to reach a consensus is a consequence of individual circumstance. Self-interest is paramount.

    The Old Firm are not big clubs in a competitive sense, but they have significant economic impact. There are two ways they can be accommodated in a reconstituted Premier League.

    The simple solution, co-opting Celtic and Rangers, is inconvenient because the extra fixtures would expose the myth that the PL is committed to the welfare of the England team. The alternative, tossing the Wigans of this world aside in a breakaway, has powerful precedent.

    The PL’s ambition is limitless. Its influence grows by stealth. It has cleverly corporatised community projects, and annexed youth football through the ill-conceived Elite Player Performance Plan. It is only a matter of time before it seizes strategic control of coaching from the FA.

    As bizarre as it seems, Green’s vision is golden.

    Please do not Don martyr’s mantle

    News just in: football, like life, is unfair. It is an imperfect world populated by individuals who lack class, conscience and moral compass. So please, AFC Wimbledon fans, spare us your theatrical martyrdom. Save your overwrought promises you will never darken the demon’s door.

    You have won the moral argument whatever the result of the FA Cup second- round tie at Milton Keynes Dons on 2 December.

    The occasion will be a timely reminder of injustice, an invitation to celebrate a club conceived in the aftermath of deceit and betrayal.

    Pete Winkelman, the man who created the MK Dons franchise, has been stupidly provocative. Yet his club are community-focused. They have attracted new fans, of all ages. They deserve a little respect too.

    AFC’s rise from the Combined Counties League has been inspirational, but money is tight. A good man, founding father Terry Brown, has been sacrificed because of the overriding need to stay in the Football League. Perspective, people.

    The last time I gave the merest hint it was time to move on, the invective lasted for weeks. Feel free, if it makes you feel better.

    Pompey power

    Portsmouth have no manager and a random set of players. Yet their fans continue to justify the old 12th-man cliché. It is in football’s best interests that the Power to the People fundraising campaign to underpin the Supporters Trust’s share issue succeeds.


  61. The Last Word: Rangers court the Premier League as a friend in greed
    When it comes to delusions of grandeur, Charles Green might have found his niche
    MICHAEL CALVIN SUNDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2012

    ======================
    That should have been at the top of the above post. Apologies if already posted.


  62. Agrajag says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:16
    1 0 Rate This
    slimshady61 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:09

    HirsutePursuit says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:49
    ————————————————–
    Sorry, HP< but HMRC won't provide any funding to BDO for the liquidation; I think they've lost enough money already.

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

    In instances where they believe it is appropriate HMRC will fund the liquidators investigation.

    I doubt they went to the bother of choosing a specific person to be the liquidator if they did not intend paying for the process.
    ———————————

    From my knowledge of the workings of HMRC, I'm certain they will be underwriting the costs of BDO.


  63. Readcelt,

    I may be wrong, but given that we now have a couple of articles of that ilk sneaking out into the papers, are we to assume that perhaps the gentlemen of the press have sniffed the prospectus and thought “Oh-oh – this has the makings of another Whyte style farce written all over it, and this time we need to put some distance between ourselves and it if we are to survive…”


  64. Henry Clarson ‏@HenryClarson
    @markdaly2 Congratulations on winning the @BAFTAScotland award for best current affairs prog: ‘Rangers The Men Who Sold The Jerseys’. #HH


  65. HirsutePursuit says: at 16:49
    twopanda says: at 13:06
    slimshady61 says: at 11:03

    Thanks HP. – I`d like to think they`ll have sufficient funding to get to the bottom of all what happened during the administration, the conduct, and to be fair – the `pressures` they were under. – Agree entirely re: appointment, STs the CVA, the `back-up sale`, and the resultant `minor objective` thing rather than a going concern, and of course the valuations that defy our natural reason. We`ve all been together on that for a while now. What’s possibly very different here, and I neglected to mention earlier, is what LH may require from the liquidators. He`s given the admins a chance to submit a CoI report months ago, and given them a further opportunity in Court and yet appears not content by not discharging the admins. He can`t let this hang in the wind for an extended period – can he?. Possibly? he may now see bdo as another investigative resource as he has obviously minded to his bigger picture responsibilities. But that might include the smaller picture too. As I`m not buying any shares or registered an interest – it is not my concern. But I was frankly amazed at the volume, the numbers, that appeared daily in the Court Rolls and their workload in what appears we have a Nation of spiv miscreants. That so many end up – just in the CoS – is an eye opener, certainly to me and that `nowt` to do with TRFC. Maybe LH with BDO will try to reduce the Courts future workloads and probably the Nations Legal Aid costs by quickly clearing up something that should sorted months ago before it gets any worse – possibly requesting messrs bdo to get on with it quickly –which they seem to be doing. – But I do think this all needs to be cleared up sooner rather than later before a lasting legacy is ingrained after several years of a standard liquidation – it’s hardly a national treasure for our children. Pure speculation though on my part HP – I`ll bow to the expert practitioners of course – not my world – and that you and jc and SS get more TUs [and less TDs!] 😉


  66. nowoldandgrumpy says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:46

    Excellent news, and more publicity for the documentary!


  67. Have been out all day – did the Tom English article from today’s SoS receive any discussion on the Off the Ball Sunday Supplement?


  68. Some say the MSM and governing bodies learned nothing from the fans revolt
    But they have learnt.
    In throwaway comments on ESPN yesterday,
    We, the uppity fans were told
    “Clubs didn’t act quickly enough in the summer; fans got involved and look what that lead to” Stephen Craigen MSM
    Immediately followed by
    “Agreed, Clubs must make decisions not fans”…………Shiels Kilmarnock
    ……………….
    So the lesson has been learnt
    “Act when the fans don’t have an ST renewal in their pocket”
    “Ensure you have a proper PR strategy for duping the smaller clubs”
    “Pander to Greens desire to exit Glasgow a Hero but do not agree anything with him in writing”
    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    I reckon this is more or less the plan to dupe the fans
    Starting point
    Green has let it be known that Sevco will only consider joining the SPL next season if the news is released before the share issue and the LNS Tribunal is abandoned
    The SFA plan is to shoehorn Sevco into the SPL while fans are busy with Xmas
    If the SPL can permanently cancel the LNS Tribunal they will but they won`t make a written promise to do so. This is because they expect Green to be out of the picture early in the New Year
    SFL clubs announce a reconstruction proposal. Longmuir has privately told SFL clubs it has a good chance of being accepted. But Longmuir has already had a secret rejection from the SPL.
    The LNS Tribunal gets suspended until after the reconstruction vote. This is agreed verbally with Green. The original plan is to blame the delay on the FTT announcement being held up. However when a key participant gets injured in a car crash the shameless SPL use this unfortunate event as a more plausible explanation.
    The SFL and SPL governing bodies secretly agree a reconstruction deal which gets Sevco into the top flight next season. The support of Celtic is obtained by promising to retain the 11-1 voting system and saying a new date for the LNS Tribunal will be announced during the winter break
    All that remains is to orchestrate a PR plan to foist the deal onto the smaller clubs. It also has to stifle dissent from any uppity fans who think they are an important part of Scottish football. The fait accompli needs to be in place long before next seasons ST books are renewed.
    The PR Plan goes something like this…………
    1 Celtic make a public statement that blatantly ignores the prospect of unexpected UEFA riches and a massive transfer fee for Manyama sometime soon. They make vague references to being commercially wounded without reconstruction. The coded message is that they will not vote against Sevco leapfrogging into the SPL.
    2 The SPL publicly release their version of reconstruction and pretend there is no prior agreement with the SFL. Longmuir pretends opposition to the SPL plan but offers to negotiate.
    3 Ostensibly the nation has two reconstruction proposals to debate.
    The reality is that the status quo has been binned. Sevco are back in the frame for next season. Only the detail needs sorting out.
    The MSM swing into action as the noisy voice of the silent majority.
    In no time the DR, SSB, Your Call etc. are patronising fans on what is best for Scottish football. Copying from a secret SFA hand out, they come up with a hybrid proposal that avoids Armageddon. The real aim of course is to publicise what is best for Sevco. Firmly they smack down any Sevco fans who want to “take their medicine” in the 3rd Div. For “the good of Scottish football” Sevco must come back next year
    i.e.
    What is best for Sevco is best for Scottish Football
    However the MSM soon discover that Sevco resistance is widespread.the Bears have decided that cheap seats to watch rubbish are better than dear seats to watch rubbish
    Even the CEO is hostile to being frogmarched into the SPL
    4. Green declares he cannot cohabit with people he despises. He would rather hand the club over to someone who loves Rangers. This automatically rules out HMRC, the face painter and those who huddle in the CL.
    Hopefully some honest taxpayer will step forward and claim the mantle of Sevco CEO. No names are mentioned. The MSM implore Green to stay as CEO. They are mindful of his business acumen and lengthy experience in multiple companies. They are worried he may be snapped up by Barcelona or Chelsea. That would be a massive loss to the Scottish game.
    However the DR is unable contain itself. A fervent reader presents them with a message washed up in a Buckfast bottle. In broken English it says “Sevco have a secret invitation to join La Liga”.How a bottle can float from Benidorm to Saltcoats is conveniently ignored. A few days of frenzy ensue as Editors all over the world get pestered for flights to Alicante
    5 With the spotlight now firmly where it belongs, the unapproved “Reconstruction Proposals” soon become old news. The emphasis shifts to how Sevco in La Liga is a better solution for Scottish Football.
    And so it goes on
    .. with sanity only visible on TSFM
    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    The reconstruction proposals get approved between Xmas and New Year Only Sevco vote against
    Green announces he is recommending Sevco shareholders reject any invitation to join the SPL. He hints darkly that he may resign. But he remains tight lipped about La Liga and his weekend in Ardrossan.
    The IPO flops. The MSM blames the SFA and SPL. Green reveals the Ticketus deal is still in place. Sevco have a £40m debt.
    Administration is announced. Green exits Glasgow. The Administrator announces that the Ticketus deal will survive liquidation
    The mess continues


  69. goosygoosy says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 20:43

    Goosy, you know I was believing that until about 3/4 down 🙂


  70. midcalderan says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:37
    4 0 Rate This
    Agrajag says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:16
    1 0 Rate This
    slimshady61 says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:09

    HirsutePursuit says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 16:49
    ————————————————–
    Sorry, HP< but HMRC won't provide any funding to BDO for the liquidation; I think they've lost enough money already.

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

    In instances where they believe it is appropriate HMRC will fund the liquidators investigation.

    I doubt they went to the bother of choosing a specific person to be the liquidator if they did not intend paying for the process.
    ———————————

    From my knowledge of the workings of HMRC, I'm certain they will be underwriting the costs of BDO.
    —————————————————–
    Has anyone made a FOI request in respect of HMRC providing indemnities to bdo?

    If such indemnity is in place, HMRC will, most likely, have issued form INS12416.

    Personally, it would seem to me to be a pointless exercise to appoint their own liquidator and then not fund an investigation.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/insmanual/ins12416.htm

    INS12416 – Provision of indemnities
    Indemnity letter
    Dear Sir

    [Insert name of company]

    I hereby confirm that, in respect of your investigations as liquidator into the affairs of the above company, the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will indemnify you for:

    Costs awarded against you in respect of your investigations into the affairs of the company insofar as these relate to steps taken by you to secure the assets of the company; and
    Costs and expenses arising out of, or in connection with, the following specific legal proceedings to be taken in your own name or that of the company:
    Defendant/Respondent: Name of individual/Name of company
    Nature of proceedings: e.g. Proceedings pursuant to any other section of the Insolvency Act 1986 dealing with misfeasance and/or breach of duty and/or misapplication of company funds
    This indemnity shall not cover any of the following:

    your professional fees (being time costs plus VAT) as liquidator or those of your staff;
    the professional fees (being time costs plus VAT) of your solicitors as liquidator;
    costs incurred or awarded against you as a result of a breach or neglect of duty on your part.
    This indemnity will apply for the benefit of you as liquidator, your personal representatives as the liquidator and your successors in office.

    In the event of HMRC making an indemnity payment, HMRC will be entitled to repayment of the indemnity payment in the event that sufficient funds become available in the liquidation of the estate of the Company. Such repayment shall be treated as an expense of the liquidation under rule 4.218(1)(a) of the Insolvency Rules 1986.

    I confirm I am duly authorised to give this indemnity.

    Yours faithfully

    You may also be interested in:
    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/insmanual/ins12503.htm

    INS12503 – Reporting Unsatisfactory Practitioners
    Dealing with unsatisfactory behaviour
    How is an unsatisfactory IP defined?
    How do you identify an unsatisfactory IP?
    How is an unsatisfactory IP defined?
    The Insolvency Service defines an unsatisfactory IP as
    ‘one whose professional and ethical standards and practices fall short of what is expected from members of the insolvency profession’.

    This is an acceptable definition for the purposes of the Department and should be evidenced by specific examples.

    How do you identify an unsatisfactory IP?
    The above definition of unsatisfactory behaviour may be evidenced by the following behavioural examples. The first group of examples constitutes serious misconduct. Any such transgression should be reported to Insolvency Policy immediately it becomes apparent.

    (a) Category 1 – Serious Misconduct

    Examples

    acting whilst unqualified or acting without a bond
    transaction avoidance undervalue (deliberately undervalue assets to reduce amounts available to creditors)
    knowingly making false returns
    undue preference (favouring one creditor, or the debenture holder, over other creditors)
    misfeasance (IP breaches their duties to creditors, for example an IP colludes with directors, IP pays own fees before tax arising during insolvency leaving no funds to pay the tax)
    non submission of a disqualification report when appropriate
    conflict of interest – prior material professional interest
    continuing to trade at a loss thereby depriving creditors
    failure to submit VAT 833 and payment when appropriate
    manipulation of creditors’ meetings (for example an IP disallowing valid votes/proxies for the purpose of securing their own appointment) or
    failure to make a distribution when sufficient funds exist to do so.

    (b) Category 2 – Routine Misconduct
    The second group of examples constitutes more routine instances of unsatisfactory behaviour. The Department would normally require more than one instance of any one of these infringements to be identified so that a case may be built up prior to submission of a report to the IPCU. These examples include

    does not comply with legal requirements, for example failure to render post appointment VAT returns
    persistent failure to respond to correspondence
    non submission of annual accounts to Companies House
    late/non submission of Statements of Affairs
    late/non notification of Section 98 meetings
    non notification of appointment governed by the Insolvency Act 1986 (report to creditors on creditors’ voluntary liquidation within 28 days and notice of appointment to HMRC within 21 days)
    failure to hold AGM in creditors’ voluntary liquidation
    creditors’ meetings held at unreasonable times (normal time 10am – 4pm) and/or unreasonable distance for creditors. Also, timing of meetings (unreasonable duration)
    deliberate notification of meetings to incorrect office
    failure to submit receipts and payments account
    excessive fees – use of judgment necessary (separate guidance available on this)
    allocation of assets between fixed and floating charges
    failure to secure the company’s property (for example, the IP does not take into custody and realise the company’s assets. IP does not secure available books and records of the company)
    refusal to provide an undertaking with reference to payment on distrained assets or
    IP’s own VAT compliance poor.

    HMRC can and do become interested in the conduct of an administration.

    Their choice of liquidators is VERY significant.


  72. areyouaccusingmeofmendacity says:
    Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 19:43
    9 1 Rate This
    Readcelt,

    I may be wrong, but given that we now have a couple of articles of that ilk sneaking out into the papers, are we to assume that perhaps the gentlemen of the press have sniffed the prospectus and thought “Oh-oh – this has the makings of another Whyte style farce written all over it, and this time we need to put some distance between ourselves and it if we are to survive…”

    ————————————————————————

    I doubt it. Old habits die hard. This weekend we have seen 2 articles. One from a Scottish publication, the other from an ‘English’ one.

    Cronyism and the ‘good ole boys’ club will prevent any mass break of ranks. People have too much invested in triggers broom.

    They cant or don’t want to imagine what is to come. Nor do they have the stomach to rattle the cage of those lovely fans.

    Truly we are seeing the emperors new clothes played out before us.

    Unfortunately, the berz are not one’s for listening to someone unwilling to keep up the pretense they base their perceptions around.

    This will not end well. But it has to happen.


  73. Following on from my last post – about the SFA’s inability to be transparent and above board. Surely now the time has come for the many Scotland supporters org’s to voice their contempt at the manner in which our football authorities are behaving.

    I understand why many individual clubs cannot express their fans fellings – Celtic sharing the same city, simply have to maintain their excellent form regarding Sevco – and Lawwell et-al have played a blinder, as has the boards of all the rest in their own ways re the Sevco scam, but the very genuine threat of violence has kept many quiet – and explains exactly Lawwell and CFC’s actions..or lack off..if you get my drift..but the threat of violence certainly is paramount in the authorities treatment of Sevco. Pathetic as that sounds – it’s true nonetheless.

    The scam failed last time around, and the ‘back-up’ scam bombed too – but at least Sevco still ‘attained’ SFL status – but it wasn’t ever going to be good enough – so leave it a year, time enough for us all to mellow a bit to the plight of Charlie and his zombies. Perhaps if the time was spent actually realsing just how fortunate the SFL place was, folk might have lessened their resolve somewhat – but it’s been the polar opposite – lies, vicious lies and even more vicious shit-stirring, road-shows to hardline Loyalist groups in Belfast not to mention a complete disregard for everything and everyone else outwith the Govan cesspit.

    And a complete and utter disregard for the authorities – in fact, Charlie openly accuses them of all manner of things on a frequent basis – it sells papers to clowns and the Daily Record (and others) gleefuly await spiv Charlie’s next bout of verbal diarrhea – unlike the English press who simply call Charlie for exactly what he is – a complete and utter clown.

    Yet the talk is of league reconstruction – all for the benefit of Charlie and Sevco – but as this particular blog itself explains – the Scottish football system does not miss Sevco – so the notion that the top tier urgently req’s Sevco is simply ridiculous. It is Charlie and his Sevco zombies that need the top tier urgently – and we all know it too.

    I keep banging on about this 5-way thing – what is it? Did it even exist?? Apparently so but now it’s confined to the SFA’s version of the official secrey act – really? Is this actually the case??

    How viable is a coming together of various supporters orgs, the tartan army supporters orgs and any other relevant and willing participants – with a view to creating a very loud and powerful supporters voice that can challenge the SFA with regards to transparency? I want to know the deal with the 5-way thing, so does everyone else, I don’t want to read stories of supposed league reconstruction via MSM / Sevco Journals courtesy of Jack Irvine and the Daily Record – If such is actually being considered, then I want to know! We all want to know and we all deserve to know!!

    And we all deserve the right to have a say in the running of our game. We are the ££ paying customer after all – honestly, what kind of joke set-up have we at the top when a lying spiv, a glib liar *(c) Johanesberg Court Judge* can pull the strings of those in charge?? So Dave King is suddenly fit and proper?? Eh?! For heavens sake – just look at the state of these people!

    The SFA are complicit in the scams, past and present – Campbell Ogilvie is there…still…and still pulling strings and Charlie has the lot of them by the balls – because cowards like Regan and others have obviously got too much to hide – the very things they all did to actually help Sevco is now the stick which Charlie beats them with! Fcking idiots. Absolute clowns to a man and they have to go. Now.

    The effort has to be big and include various fans orgs – but the SFA simply has to be taken apart, dismantled, laid bare for us all to see. They have got away with skullduggery for years, now is truly the time it was ended. If they cannot even be transparent, what hope is there?

    Get rid off Regan, Doncaster and Ogilvie for immediate starters. If anyone can suggest ways of collecting support via afore-mentioned supporters orgs then let’s get the ball rolling – the SFA are cowardly lying chancers – let’s rid ourselves of this decrepit institution and it’s ways.


  74. I cannot believe the comments that Shiels and Craigan came out with yesterday. Were they deaf during the summer? I think they don’t understand the phrase ‘Finished with Scottish Football’.

    Had the clubs acted unilaterally, and ran roughshod over the wishes of the fans, the SPL would have finished by now. Unfortunately, playing in front of empty houses tends to do that in a professional football league.

    Also, I’m not quite sure what dreadful situation they are referring to as having been a consequence of the summer? Do they mean Celtic punching above their weight in the Champions League? or the 4 horse race at the top of the SPL? Or the rise in crowds for teams in the SPL? I’m genuinely at a loss with this one.


  75. BAFTA in Scotland @BAFTAScotland 11m
    Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting – Stuart Cosgrove
    #BAFTAScotland

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