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.
Isnt it amazing that the SPL haven`t found any club guillty of sectarian singing this season?
arabest1 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 15:58
Regarding top level distribution of EBT’s, what if a third party paid himself………say £6 million, then slipped brown manilas into the lockers of prominent employees……… who have a dignified public persona to protect……….just sayin!
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Its been done before in much bigger businesses than RFC
paulsatim says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:26
Sevco holding 140 year press conference tommorow
Andrew Dickson@rfc_dickson
Some news, Rangers fans. We’re having a press conference tomorrow to celebrate the club’s 140th anniversary. Unbroken history and all that!
======================================
Thought that was a joke, but checked on Twitter…
So at a press conference questions are asked ?
So what questions could be asked tomorrow ?
Obviously, the usual ‘churnalists’ will be terrified about asking any ‘wrong’ questions about the ‘140 years history’.
Who would be brave enough to ask why The Rangers where required to compete in the earlier rounds of the Scottish Cup ?
We need Thomo in there to noise them up… 😉
StevieBC says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:40
LOL, me too! Checked before I posted it, unreal!
neepheid@19.15 As an opinion instead of an informed poster, I have always assumed it was a public document! I also wonder if UEFA and FIFA have been passed a copy ? And why is it not being made public?
Great article from Stuart Cosgrove.
I had picked up, even before the Rangers crisis, a degree of contempt expressed by many in the MSM towards internet bampots. I used to think it was a combination of reflex condescenscion, arrogance and ignorance of the many intelligent unpaid contributions on the net.
Now I understand it better. It was fear. The Traynors of this world really do appear to be dinosaurs, out of step with the liberating power of the internet in the modern age. They belong in the 1970s, in a scottish media equivalent of the tv series “Life On Mars.”
@bobferris70 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:09
Queen’s Park then Killie I think. Accies formed in 1874.
I thought it went to the highest bidder?.
It was announced tonight at Celtic’s 125th anniversary do that dermot desmond has personally pledged £30k for a Celtic Cross-style memorial stone in the porch at St Mary’s church, Abercromby St, where Brother Walfrid and others finalised plans for a club as a charity to fund penny dinners for the poor.
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 21:18
neepheid says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 21:09
==============================
I think you will find he will take legal advice which will tell him that the course of action you propose is perfectly legal, so long as he does it properly and doesn’t do anything stupid like put any of it on paper. It all needs done on a nod and a wink, with the occasional handshake.
That legal advice will be from a struck off lawyer, working as a pornstar, and in the process of trying to sell the idea to him. Who better to go to for such important advice. So important as to put the entire future of the Country at risk.
I wonder what World Scotland ver2 will get to play in. No that’s stupid, Scotland is too big to fail, World football would collapse without us.
—————————-
Agrajag, I know you’ll know the initial legal advice from a struck off lawyer, working as a pornstar was probably sound – well fairly sound – but we all know RFC ignored it and did a DIY job on the EBTs. Dopes! But DM thought the establishment would support him in anything he did. Unfortunately, at least for DM, he was well and truly nailed by HMRC with the of City of London police and RTC.
Tweet from Santos Laguna to CFC,
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A7CHjzWCQAA6pFu.jpg
Class!!
StevieBC says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:40
Perhaps if there is a donation surplus it could be used to pay NUJ dues for some willing (and incredibly brave) volunteer to pop their head around the door of one of these press conferences and ask a pertinent question or 50?
goosygoosy says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:27
Isnt it amazing that the SPL haven`t found any club guillty of sectarian singing this season?
————————————————————————————————————
Lets have a whip round for batteries to fit Vincent Lunny’s hearing aid then.
http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/2912176
Forfar Sheriff Court found one of their supporters guilty
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Angus/article/25623/rangers-fans-admit-sectarian-abuse-at-newco-s-first-game-in-brechin.html
Same court found these 3 guilty
Not even a cheep from the SFA about it either.
the origin of the 31 dec rumour — methinks the natives are gettin restless …..
https://twitter.com/MOSSIEARFC/status/265888848947585024/photo/1
Sorry to be OT but here in the Lisbon area we are eagerly awaiting the upcoming visit of Celtic. An old guy in my barbers at the weekend had vague memories of a Celtic v Sporting Lisbon tie back in the 60s but could not remember who won. I don’t subscribe to any other blog but could any Celtic barmpot with the expertise look it up? Thanks in advance and donation on its way next pension day!
ordinaryfan says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:43
neepheid@19.15 As an opinion instead of an informed poster, I have always assumed it was a public document! I also wonder if UEFA and FIFA have been passed a copy ? And why is it not being made public?
=====================
Why is the 5-way agreement not public?
Those in power are very aware of the fact that too much complex information can be extremely damaging to the delicate little minds of poor souls like us. So for our own good, and, of course, only for that reason, they keep the gruesome details of stuff like the 5 way agreement entirely to themselves.
We should all feel truly grateful to these mighty men of power and knowledge for saving us lesser mortals from having to concern ourselves about difficult matters that would only stir us up if we knew about them.
FIFA and UEFA? They are simply not interested, to them it’s a minor internal matter, so unless and until another club complains, they couldn’t care less.
The only way that the 5 way agreement could ever enter the public domain is in the course of legal proceedings. Which may mean that Charles Green has Regan, Doncaster and Longmuir over a barrel, since I’m sure they have all ticked the “no publicity” box, and will compromise their respective organisations to any extent required to keep matters away from the courts and the public eye. Sad, but true, I fear.
Why did Green, Chris Graham or anyone else who had the ear of the RFC masses not ask the 500m to chip in 35 pence each (hope my arithmetic is good)? I know it’s too late following the transition to liquidation but this could have resulted in:
• Crown debts settled.
• Football debts settled.
• Trade creditors settled.
• Other creditors settled.
• Working capital in the bank.
• Transfer war chest available for manager.
• Funds available to repair dilapidated stadium.
500m, aye right!
iamacant says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 23:42
Isnt it amazing that the SPL haven`t found any club guillty of sectarian singing this season?
===========================
If you want really amazing neither have the SFL as far as I am aware.
Sorry for splitting an infinitive btw.
RANGERS TO PAY JELAVIC DEBT
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/356576
http://m.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/john-robertson-says-hearts-may-go-bust-if-shares-fail-1-2617943
LordWobbly: Wouldn’t Tribute Act FC probably win that case!? So is Green basically going to end up paying £800,000 to continue to portray the illusion that Sevco are RFC!?
If he hangs around that is.
zoyler says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 23:56
Here is a great info site re CFC, http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Year+By+Year
in 1969, in European Cup, Celtic beat Benfica 3-0 at home and lost 0-3 away, Celtic won the tie on the toss of the coin!
goosygoosy says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 22:27
‘Isnt it amazing that the SPL haven`t found any club guillty of sectarian singing this season?’
—
Does anyone know for sure where the onus actually lies in the matter of dealing with sectarian singing?
Does some ‘footballing person’, ‘independent’ of either club at any given game ( like a Uefa observer, say) , have to formally report it to the SPL ( or SFL) before they can take action and ask Lunny to bring a charge?
If no such ‘footballing person’ makes such a report, even though the world and his wife have heard on radio ,and seen and heard on television, clear evidence of large scale ‘sectarian singing’, is that it? No charge against the club whose fans have been doing the singing can be brought?
Or can the club of a fan,convicted AFTER the match, have ‘footballing’ charges brought against them by said Mr Lunny?
I simply don’t know. Does anybody?
Ordinaryfan says @00.33. If CG had not been so quick to accept Everton’s money, he could have said to Rapid Vienna “Nothing to do with me guv”, Go speak to RFC(IL), It’s their problem. Hell mend him.
Lord Wobbly says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 00:27
‘RANGERS TO PAY JELAVIC DEBT’
—-
In your Lordship’s considered opinion, is this sudden expressed readiness to pay out some dosh prompted more by the need to be seen as being decent and honourable or by the con-man gambit of ‘flashing the cash’ in order to convince potential victims that the money is there, no problem, squire?
My analysis of why CG is paying for Jelavic:
The £800,000 has to be paid in order to follow the plan agreed with the SFA for legitimising the new club as a continuation of the old.
Withholding the cash would suit neither party at this time.
CG could easily tell Rapid the debt has nothing to do with him but that would see FIFA start poking their noses in and asking the SFA if it is indeed a new club.
CG doesn’t want to have to tell Rapid Vienna that Rangers are a new club as that would upset the Bears who then might not invest.
£800,000 seems a reasonable sum to help legitimise the new club’s claim to be a historical continuation of the old club while keeping the fans onside.
Why, after all, would Charles Green pay another club’s transfer fee?
In my opinion, he did so because it helps cement the de facto footballing reality the SFA conjured up along with the new Rangers owner in the summer.
This footballing reality is gleefully reinforced in the cultural arena by the compliant media.
Rangers are still Rangers and that’s why they are paying for Jelavic – simples!.
The SFA want to perpetuate this myth just as much as Charles Green.
They will follow the SFL’s lead by officially acknowledging the historical continuation of Rangers in their own time. They will fudge things until the dust settles but the SFA will work to ensure that Rangers are still Rangers.
Of that I have no doubt.
Jabba 1998
GET OUT NOW FERGUS OR YOU’LL BE HATED FOREVER
FERGUS McCANN has basked long enough in the warmth of his deeds.
Today most of the goodwill once commanded by Celtic’s managing director has been blown away by an ill wind which swirls around Celtic Park.
In fact, Celtic’s irksome managing director has overstayed his welcome. Mr McCann, it is time for you to be somewhere else. Anywhere will do because Celtic’s fans are tired of your posturing and disgusted by your parsimony.
McCann did give Celtic fresh hope but now his grip is choking the life out of the old club.
He should get out and take Jock Brownand Jozef Venglos with him.
As football rushes towards the millennium this trio might just be a little out of their depth. One is committed to maximising profit, apparently at the expense of the team’s ambitions, another keeps returning empty- handed from searches for new talent, and the third is a kindly old uncle figure unable to stand up to the club’s masters.
In the beginning McCann’s methods seemed quaint, and for a while most of us made excuses for his confrontational and abrasive style because he was unaware of the football business’s unwritten rules.
McCann could have adjusted but he hasn’t and comes across as a stubborn little man who will do it his way no matter what. It’s his train set and if he wants to run it right off the rails then so be it.
If McCann really were a supporter, someone out of the same mould as the thousands of foot soldiers who bought into the dream almost five years ago, he would be able to lift his eyes from his ledgers and see the damage his refusal to break his pay structure is causing.
Pretty soon his stock among the rank and file will be so low he may be allocated a place in the club’s hall of infamy alongside those directors who ruled before him. If he is not careful the mere mention of his name in crowded Celtic strongholds, like Bairds Bar in the Gallowgate, might cause a silence to fall over the places.
It would be a great pity if it should come to that but McCann and his disciples within the club have only themselves and their egos to blame.
They behave as though they and only they know better and that is an arrogance which has alienated each one of them and which now prevents the club from making progress.
Celtic, who lost again on Saturday, are a club without trusted leadership on and off the pitch, and it is pointless for McCann to emerge only occasionally either to patronise the fans or to toss verbal hand grenades in the direction of the media, sometimes his own players, and sundry snipers. It seems every time he speaks he makes more enemies, and Celtic don’t need to be isolated.
Apart from last season’s premier-division championship win, Celtic have known only trouble and misery. The last 10 years or so have been fraught with problems, manufactured mostly in-house, and the fans are bewildered and anxious.
They want genuine stability and a reason still to believe, but under McCann, whose allies would have the fans grovelling in appreciation until the end of time because he delivered the new stadium, this club has courted controversy.
How often have we witnessed the managing director rage at the world when he should have been building bridges? These outbursts are not laudable, they are laughable and his stand-alone policy is not bold, it is boring.
Even so, the fans would still be behind him if he had provided a team to take on all-comers.
Yet, Celtic are still waiting for the player who could strike a blow for them and strengthen their hope of retaining their title. That, Mr McCann is what is most important to your customers, yet you and your people have failed miserably to provide.
Celtic are still without a top-quality striker because they will not put themselves into the big-pay league. It is that simple and it is also where McCann lets the fans down.
Listen to this Fergus and try to take it in. You insult your club’s fans when they are told they don’t understand the economics of the business or the workings of the transfer market. And stop telling them players are too greedy and make enormous demands.
These are not newly-uncovered secrets, Fergus. The supporters could have told you how much would have to be spent to keep Celtic on top. The fact is fans don’t give a damn about how much money players want to grab for themselves and unlike McCann they don’t spend too much time fretting about the profit margin.
No one is greatly impressed either that McCann appears to have embarked on some kind of holy crusade to bring football’s expenditure under control, and his season- ticket holders would rather have the title with some debt run up on the transfer market than no title and no borrowings.
These fans are willing to gamble, and remember they, too, are shareholders.
They still find it difficult to believe Celtic didn’t sign reinforcements during the close season and they are appalled that a top-class striker has not yet been secured.
If anything the signing of Lubomir Moravcik at a cut price has merely caused them further embarrassment.
If you analyse Celtic’s behaviour since the title was won, you come to the conclusion this club are guilty of misjudging the mood of the fans and also their needs, but McCann is not the only culprit.
Recently Murdo MacLeod, who was Wim Jansen’s assistant, suggested Brown had come up with a possible signing target, and if the general manager now believes he is qualified to do that then Celtic’s problems are worse than any of us might have suspected.
Brown isn’t remotely qualified for such a specialised task. This man’s function is to close deals and run a smooth operation.
Can we honestly say he has succeeded in his remit?
Enough has been said about the lawyer-turned-television-commentator-turned- whatever- it-is he and McCann see him as now, but what are we to make of the good doctor?
He is a charming and thoroughly decent man, but that isn’t enough. Managing either half of the Old Firm requires steel as well as tactical know-how and I just don’t believe Venglos has enough left in his armoury.
He has been successful in the past but he is older now and I fear he is a gentle man out of his time.
ordinaryfan says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 02:34
Just wow. Thanks for the post OF.
Jelavic
I thought Charles told us all football debts had been paid
Lie number 237
timtim says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 06:58
Ah timtim, that must be where the internal / external debts come in…..
Charles Green = Forked Tongue.
was just thinhing that P67
Jelavic must have been an internal debt
john clarke says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 01:02
6 1 Rate This
Lord Wobbly says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 00:27
‘RANGERS TO PAY JELAVIC DEBT’
—-
In your Lordship’s considered opinion, is this sudden expressed readiness to pay out some dosh prompted more by the need to be seen as being decent and honourable or by the con-man gambit of ‘flashing the cash’ in order to convince potential victims that the money is there, no problem, squire?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my considered opinion, raycharlez covered it at 02:24
ordinaryfan says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 02:34
18 0 Rate This
Jabba 1998
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It would be interesting to know with whom Mr Traynor dined the previous evening
What has happened to FTT Tribunal verdict that was supposed to be announced in October. As taxpayers we deserve to know who these people are who are holding up its publication.
Great article from SC.
When did Stunney stop delivering the papers?
Palacio67 says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 07:02
2 0 Rate This
timtim says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 06:58
Ah timtim, that must be where the internal / external debts come in…..
Charles Green = Forked Tongue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Internal debt = within football?
External debt = without football?
Just a thought
selfassessor says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 07:50
When did Stunney stop delivering the papers?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look, I’ve already told the other occifer. I don’t know where he is. I’ve never seen him. I have neither patio nor basement. I’ve not been anywhere near newly poured cement. I haven’t taken any trips to the woods. I haven’t boarded any boats. I’m sorry if Stunney is missing but it’s nothing to do with me. Can I go now?
Rapid want paying…or UEFA will come looking…PAID!
Hearts want paying…the SFA don’t care…
The SFA are not fit for purpose!
Maybe Hearts should speak to UEFA?
Richard Wilson must be on a commission. First it was the season tickets, now this:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/future-must-be-one-the-ibrox-fans-can-buy-into.19350786
Fans may want to have their Rangers back, but they’ll just have to make do with The Rangers.
timtim says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 07:03
was just thinhing that P67
Jelavic must have been an internal debt
================================
Must have been a typo. He mean international debt 😀
Doh, a post about a typo contains a typo.
Dunces cap for me today 😀
Agrajag says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 00:10
Sorry for splitting an infinitive btw.
——
OT
Split infinitives – a nonsense grammatical rule. A pointless throwback to Latin, where you can’t split the inifinitive anyway. 🙂
Jelavic – various posters
Fact CG doesnt have that money. Ergo it wont get paid. Hes lying.
Or
Its x Quid a week deal for ever and ever. and ever.
Or
Until such times as the proud new shareholders pay it for him.
My moneys on the final option.
Queue another weeks roll up roll up action starting with the press conference
You just know im right.
I muist ask you to not split infinitives and remind you that a preposition is a word that you must never end a sentence with.
ordinaryfan says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 02:34
—
Jabba 1998
“If anything the signing of Lubomir Moravcik at a cut price has merely caused them further embarrassment.”
——
Oh aye, that was a really embarrassing piece of business, that.
Is there no beginning to this man’s talent? ((c) Clive Anderson)
Lord Wobbly says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 08:05
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selfassessor says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 07:50
When did Stunney stop delivering the papers?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look, I’ve already told the other occifer. I don’t know where he is. I’ve never seen him. I have neither patio nor basement. I’ve not been anywhere near newly poured cement. I haven’t taken any trips to the woods. I haven’t boarded any boats. I’m sorry if Stunney is missing but it’s nothing to do with me. Can I go now?
=====================================================================
LW – you’re not a butler by any chance?
thebasharmilesteg says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 08:58
I muist ask you to not split infinitives and remind you that a preposition is a word that you must never end a sentence with.
————————————–
If I can’t end a sentence with with, with what words can I end a sentence with?
As most (possibly all) football clubs print their history inside the matchday program …. Can anyone on here say if the current version of RFC print their program with/without the 140 year history ……. Or is it with their 125 day history ? …. Just a thought and I wonder if our legals on here could state if this were the case would it be termed ‘misrepresentation’ … Ta
I see our Guest Blogger has attracted the attention of Leggo this morning. Look upon it as a badge of honour Stuart.
Morning all,
Is anyone going to Charlies “press conference”.i’d have thought you’d throw a party to celebrate something.
If you are,can you ask him when his Institution Roadshow to publicise his Share Issue is.It’s supposed to be this week in Glasgow but it’s Wednesday already and I haven’t heard anything about it.
TSFM says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 19:00
wottpi says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 14:37(Edit)
sections of the ground.
Therefore the ones provided to Police and media on the day should be pretty similar.
_______________________________________________________________________
Not in my experience. The media get informed – usually just after half time – either by PA announcement or a scribble on a piece of paper torn off the corner of the Sporting Life and passed along the media benches ( © Killie!).
The figure they get is commensurate with the club PR department’s figure and not the actual figure which the police get from the turnstiles. In the case of the bigger stadia the difference can run into several thousands.
Normally there is no harm in that, but the capacity for money laundering is great. For example a quick query of a database will tell you whether or not a season book (or several thousand) is used regularly. That query will also tell you if the owner is local, or lives overseas.
That information would give some scope for potential abuse.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Hear what you say but that doesn’t explain how I have heard detailed figures given for away ends during the match.
As discussed on Radio Scotland the pundits, during one game, were given a crowd total and the breakdown for home and away fans. The sum of the two didn’t mtach the total given so they started questioning the figures. From my memory it looked like some numbers were wrongly transcribed.
I still can’t see why by half time the numbers at the turnstile aren’t collated and passed to the match commander and the media at the same time.
If, as you say and as I suspect, the technology is capable of detailed analysis of who is using what tickets where and when, then churning out an accurate figure of people passing through the turnstiles in real time should be a doddle.
I’m guessing that Tesco will have clocked when you haven’t bought your regular six pack of lager on a Friday night as soon as you have paid at the till.
There is clearly a need for some clubs to explain the large differences in a manner that makes sense.
PS I note that the latest SPL rules from 14 may 2012 includes the following
B16.1 The Home Club shall send to the Board within six days of each League Match a report containing the attendance statistics for the match.
From the Rapid fans forum. Methinks theyve beed duped. whos the mystery online journo?
Why do they believe this ~ish, apart from the “contaminated” bit – thats true.
Toni Huemer05.11.2012
17:39 Jelavic coal moves closer
Toni Huemer
Rapid now negotiating directly with the Rangers.
Rapid can take any positive news as a morsel of bread. Also to distract from the dismal news on the sporting front. The first 45 minutes against storm? Just as dramatically low as the 90 against Austria or Leverkusen. There could be soon a hefty cash injection. Which is related to Nikica Jelavic and his botched transfer to Rangers.
This applies only to botch the bad style, not on the amount that was handsome with 4.9 million. At least on paper. For the time already strapped Scots agreed with Rapid installment payments. Transfer to the last installment, it never came, because the once mighty Glasgow Rangers slid into bankruptcy. Some in the Rapid environment made friends already with the idea that the remaining coal was lost forever. Although there is a successor organization of the same name, but who started this summer in league 4th This raised two questions: Do the Rangers re so much money? The new boss would feel obliged to pay?
Fortunately, the answer is twice Rapid yes. In early October, I attended the Rangers on their five-star training facility Murray Park in the north of Glasgow. An ever online journalist with a strong Scottish accent assured me: “The Rangers play maybe viertklassig, but are still one of the richest clubs, the new boss at Charles Green have with the foundation asked the Rangers practically debt-free and rich sponsorship deals run even further.. ”
In question two had rapid UEFA as the ace up his sleeve. Will the Rangers ever again play in the European Cup, they need some kind of whitewash that all contaminated sites are fulfilled in their name. This includes the transfer of debt for Rapid. A well-informed source slipped me that Rapid had indeed hired a renowned London-based law firm with the negotiations, but were actively Hütteldorfer long ago and took up contact with the new Rangers boss floor. The trend: Both sides are working hard on a solution. The details: About 1.1 million euros are still open. After deducting the share of owner Waregem are rapid to about 800,000 euros. President Edlinger told me: “Rapid will get a large part of the sum.”
Had Charles Green stepped forward openly and honestly to buy Rangers, declared his backers, told the bogits there was no longer a place for them at Ibrox, attempted to pay creditors who have been shafted, apologised for the repugnant behaviour of previous owners, not told off the radar lies, not played the victim, accepted long overdue punishments, – and had he undertaken to build a new Rangers where there would be no place for corruption of any kind, – Richard Wilson’s article would still have been a crock.
In the light of all of the above, his sycophantic praising of Charles Green in this morning’s piece is insulting to the intelligence.
And a crock.
neepheid says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 19:15
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Brenda says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:39
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SSB panel (wishart and walker) the usual wealth of knowledge tonight 5 way agreement tosh getting thrown in ….does anyone actually know what this agreement was?
========
Good question, Brenda, we all forget so quickly! Charles Green produced a draft copy of the agreement at one point, but I think I can safely say that the final agreement has never seen the light of day. I assume that the 5 parties to that agreement (Sevco, Oldco,SFA, SFL, SPL) have seen it, since they signed it
I would very much like to know whether the clubs have seen this mysterious document. Maybe some fans could ask their own clubs what they know about it? How about an email blitz on the chairmen of every club in Scotland. And if the clubs haven’t seen it, why haven’t they seen it?
I don’t think we should let this issue be swept under the carpet, which is clearly what the “authorities” want to happen. The 5-way agreement is an important part of the seedy scam which has allowed TRFC into senior football this year. So we need to know the details.
Anyway the details of the agreement will surely be revealed as part of the LNS enquiry into dual contracts- won’t they? Although I’m not counting on it, personally.
—————————————————————————————————————
maybe shuggie, jabba or one of the other msm numpties will grow some … and ask these kind of questions at the 140 year celebration for a team which is 126 days old !?
Fit’s Leggo saying this morning, then?
Can’t access his site at my work, plus RM (second port of call to read TRFC puff-pieces) seems to be down again.
Wonder if Mr Charles has contacted this guy, who is apparently in search of a plughole down which to dispose of his cash?
http://www.saverangers.com/#tab_2
(if that link doesn’t work properly, it’s the “fans’ pledges” tab you want …)
Lord Wobbly says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 08:05
9 0 Rate This
selfassessor says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 07:50
When did Stunney stop delivering the papers?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look, I’ve already told the other occifer. I don’t know where he is. I’ve never seen him. I have neither patio nor basement. I’ve not been anywhere near newly poured cement. I haven’t taken any trips to the woods. I haven’t boarded any boats. I’m sorry if Stunney is missing but it’s nothing to do with me. Can I go now?
——————————————
” Just one more thing your lordship ” in my best Columbo voice.
Off topic – but for those who have never read it, this is a classic in the genre with regard to those who take their indefinite articles seriously.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/23/mediamonkey
The subs’ reply to Giles Coren is also worth reading.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/29/sundaytimes.pressandpublishing
Was just reminded of it by the posts about split infinitives.
john clarke says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 23:13
It was announced tonight at Celtic’s 125th anniversary do that dermot desmond has personally pledged £30k for a Celtic Cross-style memorial stone in the porch at St Mary’s church, Abercromby St, where Brother Walfrid and others finalised plans for a club as a charity to fund penny dinners for the poor.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Wouldn’t it be better and more appropriate to donate that £30K to charities that work helping the poor? Can always be done in BW’s name.
jimlarkin2012 says: 10:12
neepheid says:Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 19:15
Brenda says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:39
0 0 Rate This
SSB panel (wishart and walker) the usual wealth of knowledge tonight 5 way agreement tosh getting thrown in ….does anyone actually know what this agreement was?
========
Good question, Brenda, we all forget so quickly! Charles Green produced a draft copy of the agreement at one point, but I think I can safely say that the final agreement has never seen the light of day. I assume that the 5 parties to that agreement (Sevco, Oldco,SFA, SFL, SPL) have seen it, since they signed it
_______
Where does it say oldco signed the 5 way agreement – except in the PR fed MSM?
Objectively – why would oldco be part of this agreement? Possibly a new first in insolvency law?
And it doesn`t align to the official statement – naming 4 parties – SFA/SFL/SPL/Sevco statement
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=2986&newsID=10252&newsCategoryID=1
Issued before the Brechin Game
– on this so `called transfer` – as I remember all summer friendlies called off – including a 3 match German tour and the Arsenal tournament – given the admis admit they were very short of cash at that time and had players under contract they would have exploited any opportunity to bring in some cash – aka no current membership or license
Objectively – I`m not ruling out TV/Sponsors as the fifth party – as their money was directly related to three of those parties negotiations – and TV not keen on highlighting their influence.
But I agree with you all entirely – and restate:
“I don’t think we should let this issue be swept under the carpet, which is clearly what the “authorities” want to happen. The 5-way agreement is an important part of the seedy scam which has allowed TRFC into senior football this year. So we need to know the details.”
And now we hear a `debt free club` is paying off Rapid Vienna?
In the real world pragmatic solutions to deep problems are acceptable with justifiable reasons
I just don’t believe this secret deal justified – I hope the thing unwinds – the sooner the better
Agrajag says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 00:10
If you want really amazing neither have the SFL as far as I am aware.
Sorry for splitting an infinitive btw.
————————————————————————————-
No infinitive split there. I read that sentence as “amazing” is being used as a gerund (thus a noun) and amazing is the qualifier of the noun.
If it had read “If you really want amazing ” that would read as “If you really want to be amazed”
However “amazing” as you used it I suggest means “If you want a really amazing [i.e. an amazing thing]
So no split infinitive. Not that split infinitives are always bad, they can be fine in the right context – as all Start Trek fans know.
midcalderan says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 23:28
Sound in principal, if one applied it to senior executives at the club who were aware of how it worked without the need for any sort of paperwork confirming what they would get. However anyone who thought they could use it to pay football players was seriously deluded.
Your remuneration will include payments entirely at our discretion and not based on performance or results. This money will be paid into an off-shore trust. You will then have to apply to someone entirely independent of us for loans, which will be given entirely at the discretion of that third party.
Aye right a footballer and his agent would agree to that.
monsieurbunny says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:18
Are you reading that back and actually thinking the word “D’Oh”
torrejohnbhoy says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 09:49
Morning all,
Is anyone going to Charlies “press conference”.i’d have thought you’d throw a party to celebrate something.
If you are,can you ask him when his Institution Roadshow to publicise his Share Issue is.It’s supposed to be this week in Glasgow but it’s Wednesday already and I haven’t heard anything about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This may come as a surprise a shock even….but if you base your expectations on a man whose close to being the worlds greatest fibber…then you may find there will be another fib released that accounts for the first fib…
You may even find that the volume of fibs are such that keeping track of the fibs becomes almost impossible to a point that the fibs become part of his daily life in every day conversations…
I used to work with a guy who was an only child…you know the type…no siblings to pick on or learn from…a solitary home life where an imaginary friend enters their life…this guy could not hold a conversation without it becoming a bare faced lie or an imaginary friend story..
His list of achievements included…being a qualified pilot…being in the Paras..his aunt was the major shareholder in Sainsbury’s…he had jet skied across the channel…he had built his own yatch…he was a Met Police registered marksman if they ever needed someone…and so it went on…to a point his hole life was run on a fib and he could not stop telling fibs…I am ceratin he could no longer realise he was fibbing…
There is a Charlie Green in every walk of life..some do it get money and some because they are socially inadaquate..
midcalderan says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 23:28
================================
Oh and for clarity, which I miss often apparently, I totally agree.
monsieurbunny says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:18am
Agrajag says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 00:10
If you want really amazing neither have the SFL as far as I am aware.
Sorry for splitting an infinitive btw.
————————————————————————————-
No infinitive split there. I read that sentence as “amazing” is being used as a gerund (thus a noun) and amazing is the qualifier of the noun.
If it had read “If you really want amazing ” that would read as “If you really want to be amazed”
However “amazing” as you used it I suggest means “If you want a really amazing [i.e. an amazing thing]
So no split infinitive. Not that split infinitives are always bad, they can be fine in the right context – as all Start Trek fans know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mmmmmm….anyone else thinking Sheldon…Big Bang Theory? 😀
Agrajag says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:33
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monsieurbunny says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:18
Are you reading that back and actually thinking the word “D’Oh”
———————————————-
I think my point is sound but my expression of it was somewhat fuzzy. Brain not clear this morning.
raycharlez says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 02:24
The SFA want to perpetuate this myth just as much as Charles Green.
———————————————-
Then they should have said they were one of the top 16 clubs in Scotland last year and not made them play in the early stages of their cup. They should also not have said that the registration had to be transferred, if they were the same club why would that be required.
The SFA can say what they want, however actions are more important. They have treated New Rangers as a new club.
monsieurbunny says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:44
You point may well be sound, I was just wondering what a Start Trek fan was.
paulmac2 says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:35.
During the RTC period I said I had more or less immediately recognised Craig Whyte as being “exactly” this type of guy..?
twopanda says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:06
And now we hear a `debt free club` is paying off Rapid Vienna?
——
This bit bears repeating.
I wonder what Mr Charles’ excuse for paying off this non-debt will be (obviously not keeping UEFA/FIFA at arm’s length until the getaway car is warmed up, of course)?
800K is, naturally, small beer to the nouveau-riche TRFC.
Agrajag says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 12:00
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monsieurbunny says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:44
You point may well be sound, I was just wondering what a Start Trek fan was.
—————————————————————————
One of the fans who were in at the start of Star Trek…
Doesn’t really work, does it?. I’ll leave it others to offer proper witty responses for me.
A wee update on the follow follow thread questioning Stuart Cosgrove’s blog. Only because I thought it was ironic genius.
===============================================
“How many of those clubs have given out free child tickets. Nothing like fudging the numbers “
twopanda says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:06
5 0 Rate This
jimlarkin2012 says: 10:12
neepheid says:Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 19:15
Brenda says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:39
0 0 Rate This
SSB panel (wishart and walker) the usual wealth of knowledge tonight 5 way agreement tosh getting thrown in ….does anyone actually know what this agreement was?
========
Good question, Brenda, we all forget so quickly! Charles Green produced a draft copy of the agreement at one point, but I think I can safely say that the final agreement has never seen the light of day. I assume that the 5 parties to that agreement (Sevco, Oldco,SFA, SFL, SPL) have seen it, since they signed it
_______
Where does it say oldco signed the 5 way agreement – except in the PR fed MSM?
Objectively – why would oldco be part of this agreement? Possibly a new first in insolvency law?
===================================
This is an extract from a document on the SPL website, entitled :
“SPL Commission reasons for decision of 12 September 2012”.
I can’t find a link which doesn’t generate an automatic download, so just google it if interested.
“Newco was not admitted to membership of the SPL. Instead it became the operator of Rangers FC within the Third Division of the Scottish Football League (“the SFL”). It also became a member of the Scottish Football Association (“the SFA”), the governing body of the sport in Scotland. These events were reflected in an agreement among the SFA, the SPL, the SFL, Oldco and Newco which was concluded on 27 July 2012 and in this Commission’s proceedings is referred to as “the 5-Way Agreement”.”
I hope this makes things clear. To make it even worse, I believe D&P gave Charles Green the right to negotiate for Oldco! I will try to find a link and post it later. Got some work to do now.
Agrajag says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 11:59
Indeed. I heard some blether at the start of SBB spouting ‘facts’ about the Rangers Fighting Fund and what Charles Green bought.
The facts are
-You can buy all the physical medals, cups and other trophies you like but not the titles.
-Sporting titles are awarded by governing bodies and are their property but can be withdrawn at any time if it is proven rules were broken. (As we have seen in other sports this can be may years after the event).
-You cannot buy history, you can only claim a link to historical events.
-You may wish to claim links to certain parts of history, however you will always be challenged when there is evidence to disprove your claims.
– History will show that a team called Rangers were second in the SPL in season 2011/2012
– The rules of the SFL and SFA clearly state that a team who was secnd in the SPL in a previous year would be entitled to be seeded in the two respective cup competitions in the following season.
-History will show that a team called Rangers were placed in the early rounds of both the cup competitions.
Therefore both footballing authorities have treated T’Rangers as a new club unless there is something hidden away in the unseen 5 Way Agreement that says different.