Why We Need to Change

Over the past couple of years, we have built a healthy, vibrant and influential community which recognises the need to counter the corporate propaganda spouted by the mainstream media on behalf of the football authorities.

The media have, not entirely but in the main, been hostage to the patronage of those in charge of the club/media links, and to the narrow demographic of their readership. Despite a continuing rejection of the media’s position by that readership (in terms of year on year slump in sales) there is an obstinate refusal to see what is by now inevitable – the death of the print media. The lamb metaphor in fact ironically moving to the slaughter.

The football authorities in Scotland, once the country that gave the world the beautiful game, are rigid with fear that their own world will fall apart – because they are wedded to the idea that only one football match actually matters. To that end they will do whatever it takes to ensure that it continues. They have long since dispensed with the notion that football is an interdependent industry, and incredibly, even those who are not participants in that match follow like sheep towards the abattoir.

The argument is no longer that one club cheated and got away with it. The debate that we need to have is one about what is paramount in the eyes of the clubs and the media . Is it the inegrity of sporting endeavour, or box-office?

For out part, independent sites like this have accelerated the print media’s demise, and there have been temporary successes in persuading the clubs to uphold the spirit of sport. However our role has up to now been to cast a spotlight on the inaccuracies, inconsistencies and downright lies that routinely pass for news. News that is imagined up by PR agencies and dutifully copied by the lazy pretend-journalists who betray no thought whatsoever during the process.

Despite our successes, it really is not enough. We have the means at our disposal to do more, but do more we need to change ourselves, because the authorities sure as hell aren’t gonna.

We need to provide meaningful insight into the game that removes the Old Firm prism from the light path. We need to provide news that has covered all of the angles. We need to entertain, inform and energise fans of sport and all clubs.

We need to do that from a wholly independent perspective. None of this refusing to tell the truth about club allegiances. There is no reason why intelligent men and women can’t be objective in spite of their own allegiances (although the corollary absolutely holds true).  Our experience of the MSM in this country is that the lack of arms-length principles in the media has corrupted it to such an extent that they barely recognise truth and objectivity. We need to be firm on those arms-length principles.

In order to do that we have put together a plan (with enough room to manoeuvre if required) as follows;

We will rebrand and re-launch as the Independent Sports Monitor. We have acquired the domains isMonitor.co.uk and IndependentSportsMonitor.co.uk, and those will be the main urls after the re-launch, hopefully later in the summer.

The change in name reflects the reality of our current debate which is not always confined to Scotland or football. It will also give us the option in future of applying the success of our model to other sports and jurisdictions through partner sites and blogs. This should also help in our efforts to raise funds in the future. However any expansion outwith the domain of Scottish football is some time away, and will depend on the success we have with the core model.

Our mission statement will be;

  1. ISM will seek to build a community of sports fans whose overarching aim is the integrity of competition in the sport.
  2. ISM will, without favour, seek to find objective truths on the conduct and administration of sport. We will avoid building relationships with individuals or organisations which would bring us into conflict with that.
  3. ISM will provide a platform for the views of ALL fans, and guarantee that those views will be heard in a mutually respectful environment.
  4. ISM will also endeavour to inform and entertain members on a wide range of topics related to our shared love of sport.
  5. ISM will seek to represent the views of sports fans to sporting authorities and hold the authorities to account.

We have estimated our (modest) costs to expand our role as per recent discussions. The expanded role will take the form of a new Internet Radio Channel where we hope to provide 24/7 content by the end of the year. It will also see a greater news role  where we will engage directly with clubs and authorities to seek answers to our questions directly.  And we will seek to contact the best fan sites across Scotland with a view to showcasing their content.

We have identified individuals who we want to work (initially on a part time basis) towards our objectives, we have identified premises where we want to conduct our business, and we hope to move into those premises during this summer.

To finance these plans there are a couple of stages;

  1. Initially (as soon as possible) we need to pay accommodation and hosting costs for the first year. To do so,  we hope to appeal to the community itself. Our aim is to raise around £5000 by the end of August.
  2. There are salary costs (around £15,000) attached to our first year plan, but these have been underwritten by Big Pink, and equipment costs (est. £3000). These will be reimbursed if the advertising campaign we recently started bears any fruit (we will not know about that for a few months).
  3. It will not be too discouraging if we make losses in the first couple of years, so if necessary we will seek crowd-funding to finance our plans if the resources of the community itself prove inadequate to smooth a path to break-even point.

Our first year may be a perilous hand-to-mouth existence, but I am certain the journey will be an exciting and enjoyable one. We will also need to search our community resources for contacts at clubs; players, officials, ex-players, local journalists etc. Please get in touch if you have any in at your club.

We also hope to tap into the expertise of our community for advice, comment and analysis of developments, and we will be looking for any aspiring presenters, journalists, sound and video editors, graphic designers (and lots of others) to help us find our feet. Any offers of assistance would be gratefully accepted.

We mustn’t lose sight of why we are doing this. It is because we love our sport, because we want to be able to continue to call it that, and because the disconnect we find in Scottish football, that of the conflicting interests of the fans and the money men, will never be addressed as long as the fans are hopelessly split.

The ultimate goal is to allow sport – not our individual clubs – to triumph over the greed and corporate troglodyte-ism of those people who run it. I am confident that we as a community desperately want to be able to make a difference. That is why I am confident we can achieve our aim of becoming a significant player in the game.

 

This entry was posted in General by Trisidium. Bookmark the permalink.
Tom Byrne

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.

3,978 thoughts on “Why We Need to Change


  1. bfbpuzzled says:
    Member: (201 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Hate to be a snob, and I acknowledge the new blogger’s upfront admission to less-than-stellar writing skills, but who gets a London PR gig without knowing the past participle of the verb ‘to go’?


  2. From the blog that has outed us all as the PR marionettes we are:

    Rangers are thankfully now in safe hands and although we have a huge challenge ahead of us, the whole “Dave King is skint” line makes them look a bit daft when he is quietly going about his business bringing in new personnel.

    Yep that’s right, Dave ‘Who is Mark Wotte?’ King is scouring the lower leagues of England for talent from his home on the veldt.
    There’s an almost touching wide-eyed, but ultimately disastrous, naivety here. Despite all the backtracks, inconsistency, vague assertions and general mendacity, he and many others are incapable of even countenancing the thought that Dave King might not be telling the truth.


  3. Esteban says:
    Member: (110 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 5:53 pm
    _________________________________________

    The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I read the “went”. 🙄


  4. Esteban says:
    Member: (110 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    bfbpuzzled says:
    Member: (201 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Hate to be a snob, and I acknowledge the new blogger’s upfront admission to less-than-stellar writing skills, but who gets a London PR gig without knowing the past participle of the verb ‘to go’?

    __________________________________________________

    I would extrapolate that this may be a case of ‘who’ you know not ‘what’ you know.

    Definitely not what you know.


  5. On Merlin’s RSL blog, “John James” has denied being Ramsay Smith. He also implies that Chris Graham is the semi-literate London PR man.

    Over to you now, Phil and TheClumpany.


  6. neepheid says:
    Member: (658 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    On Merlin’s RSL blog, “Jonathan James” has denied being Ramsay Smith. He also implies that Chris Graham is the semi-literate London PR man.

    Over to you now, Phil and TheClumpany.

    _____________________________________________________

    Sorry to pick you up on this neeps but to set the record straight, it is worth pointing out that the – ahem- anonymous – cough- new blogger stated only that he had a ‘background’ in PR, and had ‘connections’ in London, rather than making any claim to be a London based PR man, as you alluded.

    Now anyone who has ever hosted a blog, had a letter to a newspaper printed, or had to aplogise publicly for getting caught out engaging in inappropriate conduct, can claim legitimately to have some ‘background’ in PR. (Expertise, qualifications, capability or talent? Well that’s another matter!)

    And anyone with a suitable travel itinerary can legitimately claim to have ‘connections’ in London.

    As for ‘semi-literate’… well that is a subjective assessment, based on opinion.

    Opinion supported by a certain amount of evidence, it has to be said, in this case, nevertheless. 😈


  7. I’m getting quite nostalgic with developments over the last few days.


  8. Never a regular reader of T’Record but does it look like JT’s prose style ?


  9. Resin, Neepheid et al

    This is an interesting episode, with curious timing. Both Phil McG & Bill McM have stated that the take up of Rangers season tickets is dire, though one has the direness dialled towards Level 3, whilst the other has it nudging Level 5.

    Up pops this new blog, which seems to be aimed at discrediting Bill McM, by associating him with not one, but two Rangers fans’ bogey men, Phill McG & Jack Irvine. (Not sure which of that trio will be most offended by the grouping…) Outsiders may point and and laugh at the absurdity of it all, but we are not the intended target audience. FWIW, I think this episode tells us two things,

    1 Bill McM’s RSL is having an effect, in some peoples minds at least

    2. The season tickets sales probably are dire.

    PS. Having had the misfortune to read one of Bill’s “history” books, I find it very difficult to take him at all seriously. Nevertheless, I have always thought him a fairly good guide to the thinking of the “offshore” interests


  10. Rangers sign academy duo.
    Lang, 18, is a Scotland youth team-mate of Ryan Hardie and joins from Birmingham while 17-year-old striker Gibson is a former Stoke and West Brom trainee.

    Rangers manager Mark Warburton is also reported to be considering deals for 23-year-old former Doncaster right-back Reece Wabara and former Livingston and Middlesbrough winger Andy Halliday.
    —————————
    The European under 21 championship final is on.Why is TRFC manager Mark Warburton not scouting there?


  11. jean7brodie says:
    Member: (322 comments)

    June 30, 2015 at 6:13 pm
    ________
    Made me twitch. I must be a snob too.
    ______________

    Homunculus says:
    Member: (35 comments)

    June 30, 2015 at 7:50 pm
    ________
    That image deserves a permanent place on the blog somewhere.


  12. Without any inside knowledge whatsoever, I have always assumed that ‘John James’ is Jack Irvine. So to me it makes perfect sense that it is instead a very close associate. I have also thought that Phil has been getting at least some of his recent info from Irvine. Perfectly acceptable to use whatever contacts/info that are available, but I’ve thought it nicely ironic that Jack and Phil are now “on the same side” considering all the times Jack and Co were used to try to discredit Phil and his writing.


  13. macfurgly says:
    Member: (46 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 8:42 pm
    _______________________________________

    I don’t know if I’m a snob macfurgly, I hope not but I am interested in and passionate about linguistics.

    Read and heard a good one recently!!!
    Professor of linguistics being interviewed on radio about most versatile word in the English language.
    ” Well of course it is F*ck”
    Example he gave was of the workman on the building site who came down his ladder to find that the cement mixer wasn’t working and exclaimed:
    F*ck!! The f*cking f*cker is f*cking f*cked.

    Exclamation
    Adjective
    Noun
    Adverb
    Verb

    I use them all daily 😉 😉


  14. Homunculus says:
    June 30, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    I’m getting confused with my rodents. I thought you were exposing the ‘rhats’ of a Timmy nature.
    __________________________________________________________

    re: the Ibrox S/T speculation. For what it’s worth, one poster on a Celtic message board writes:

    “As of 11.am this morning it’s 13,288 ST sold,bro in law’s cuz works there,he phoned her today,(there’s only 3 of them working in the place.)”

    Only time will tell.


  15. Don’t know what to make of the season Ticket claims. I’d say Phil’s estimate of 8,000 + 2,500 seems a bit on the low side. If Chris Jack’s estimate is closer to the mark then they’re hitting fairly high figures, that’s 19000 out of 24000 renewed with last season’s boycotters still to come in the general sale. 45000 was never going to happen and in any case I can’t work out how that’d be enough.

    I’m pretty sure the Business plan was to get in the SPL this season, harass Sports Direct into giving a new deal, get some of the higher earners off the wage bill and embarrassing mccost and Mcdowal into dropping their claims. I’d say their Business plan is now shot to pieces and they’re flying by the seat of their pants!

    The laptop loyal have now reached the point of no return, I’m sure even the most ardent Rangers fan can see the spin that’s going on, I’ve never seen anything like it, even during the Murray years! When this goes t*ts up again I think many of them will be finished. I notice how Keith Jackson is distancing himself from the sycophantic copy, not completely but enough claim he was never taken in by it all…….god knows what Chris Jack is going to do for a living at the end of it all!

    Chris Graham, Mark Dingwall and Criag Houston are all in with this one as they say in poker. This has to work and it has to work with a Dave King led board otherwise their status as fan leaders is gone. Some of the stuff Dingwall and Graham are tweeting is embarrassing, even for them!


  16. Just for comparison purposes, these are the figures for turnover for Rangers last year (and the previous period). Period ended June 2014. You will see that they have declared season tickets of 36,000 and income from season tickets as £7.7m

    That gives an average price of £213. Bearing in mind that will include concessions and be net of any tax I think.

    If season ticket sales don’t improve dramatically and the retail deal is not improved just as dramatically it is difficult to see where they can go. Bearing in mind the last two sets of accounts showed significant losses.


  17. as mr warburton ‘ trolls’ not dances in the streets of wigan, doncaster and bradford for ‘ signings’ it occurs that he must have one of those SD ‘ 7 years thingys’ in his contract…. i.e . if he doesnt stay he has to pay back 7 years salary to trfc in compo… no right minded manager would have taken this on if

    1….. he knew these were the calibre of signings budgets permitted

    OR

    2….. he would have resigned already at the the lack of ” north of £20m” appearing …..


  18. Purely for fairness, it would be wrong not to also post the costs figures for the same periods.


  19. For clarity, these are the figures for TRFCL as opposed to RIFC PLC. The group accounts include these figures in them, these are the figures for just the subsidiary.


  20. jean7brodie says:
    Member: (323 comments)

    June 30, 2015 at 9:01 pm
    —————-
    I blame the schools.
    I fear however we may be …


  21. Is it just me (and it probably is 😀 ) but Rangers seem to be getting a hard time on here for what on the surface appear to be financially “prudent” signings.

    Not so long ago they were being lambasted (rightly IMO) for squandering ludicrous sums of money on their playing staff.

    I don’t wish to seem harsh, or deliberately controversial but some posts on here of late appear to have gotten lost on their way to pie and bovril.


  22. parttimearab says:
    Member: (368 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 9:43 pm

    I think people are more laughing at the media spin that’s coming with the signings more than anything + how they turned down Celtic etc.!! My Mate is a Birmingham fan and he says Rob Kiernan is a pretty decent player. I also think that, if fit, Eustace would be a good signing too, same with Wilson. Good prudent signings however the way they’re being played out in the media is something to behold!


  23. parttimearab says:
    Member: (368 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 9:43 pm

    It’s not only you Mr Arab. I personally think they are now doing what they should have done when they first joined the SFL. They are tailoring their spending more in line with their income, and like every other club (including Celtic) should be applauded for doing so.

    However what they shouldn’t be doing is saying things like, we will doing anything it takes to get back to the top, we will “over-invest” if we need to, I will put £30m of my kids’ inheritance in etc.

    The new (football) management team appear to be going about thing the right way. However the hubris of the owners is still there.

    Meet the new boss … etc.

    Oh and the SMSM with their “Dani Alves” stuff … pure genius.


  24. partimearab @ 9:43pm
    ======================

    I think people just want the Rangers signings kept in perspective.


  25. Auldheid says:
    Blog Writer: (466 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 11:03 am
    Bards

    It was a team playing under the ownership of Sevco using an ultra vires membership category which carried the name ‘conditional membership.’

    It was necessary to create such a category because at that time the team did not have any of the then three (now two) membership categories of ‘Registered’ ‘Associate’ or ‘Full’.

    Had they gone the normal route available to a new club which was to have a Registered membership then apply within 14 days for Associate Membership there would have been no need to go ultra vires, but that would have made it impossible to put forward a continuity argument. Sevco simply did not apply for Associate Membership within the 14 day time frame from the time they were granted access to SFL in mid July. Why they did not is one of the 5 way agreement mysteries.

    I’d need to check why it was necessary to go ultra vires. It had something to do with the xfer of SPL Membership from RFC to Dundee which had not happened yet.
    ================================================================================

    Can I respectfully disagree with this Auldheid.

    Sevco was accepted by the SFL on 13th July 2012. This automatically provided SFA registered membership. Rangers, of course, held its SPL share until 3rd August 2012.

    Both clubs held separate SFA memberships over that 3 week period.

    All it required was that Sevco applied for full or conditional membership within 14 days. An application to have Rangers full membership transferred to Sevco would have met that condition.

    To allow Sevco’s game with Brechin to go ahead did not require the completion of the process for full or associate membership – indeed, the “conditional” Full membership status Sevco was afforded, I believe simply a cover to allow it the use of the “Rangers FC” brand.

    SFA rules then (and still now) prevent two clubs in membership of the SFA from using the same or similar names. Since Rangers was still technically in the SPL – and therefore still a member of the SFA – the SFA board had to give Sevco approval to use the old club’s name.

    It should be remembered that Full or Associate membership were the membership levels available at that time. Helpfully, the SFA have since discontinued the Associate membership level. For a football club, it is the acceptance into a league that gives registered membership – and therefore the SFA membership starts there.

    Sevco’s SFA membership was granted via their admittance into the SFL, at a time when RFC plc still held the SPL share.

    Sevco Scotland were merely granted the level of membership previously held by RFC plc. It was a transfer of membership status from one member to another.

    Think of this as me having a silver membership of my golf club and my father having gold membership. I pay less fees but don’t have a dedicated locker and have restricted access to the course.

    My dad has a terminal illness and the committee agree to a transfer of his gold membership to me.

    This doesn’t make me my dad, it doesn’t change the date I was born or the date I first joined the club. All it does it confer a level of membership from one existing member to another.

    I have real issues over the transfer of player registrations between one club and another; but less so with the transfer of membership (level).

    Was there any loan agreements (and paperwork) in place that allowed an entire team of players registered with Rangers to play for Sevco? Or were these players officially transferred prior to the Brechin game or simply signed by Sevco as free agents?


  26. I too agree that TRIFC seem to be making the right level of signings to be very competitive in the Championship and live within their means. They have cut a huge swathe of inflated wages from their outgoings and they have a management who seem progressive and have a good grasp of the fundamentals. They have the potential to be successful once the new leaner, younger squad beds in. Think Hibs last season. However, this is completely at odds with the hyperbole of the new regime and associated media hype. That is an issue for the fans and the Board. The management team have done nothing worthy of criticism yet (IMO).


  27. jean7brodie says:
    Member: (323 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 9:01 pm
    ‘….F*ck!! The f*cking f*cker is f*cking f*cked.’
    _________
    Jean7, I first came across that sentence when, as a wee ,voracious reader of a boy, I got hold of a Korean War novel that my dad was reading. (I must now try to trace it!) The context was a gripe by a motor mechanic who was trying to get a truck started ( having extinguished the fire deliberately set as a matter of routine under the sump to stop the diesel freezing in -20 degrees). As far as I recall, the starting handle he was using sheared, and he let rip.
    In those days, of course, the publisher printed the sentence in the same way as you- didn’t fool me for a second: I knew the asterisks stood for variations of ‘feck’! 😆


  28. HirsutePursuit says:
    Member: (90 comments)

    June 30, 2015 at 10:13 pm

    Auldheid says:
    Blog Writer: (466 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 11:03 am
    Bards
    Was there any loan agreements (and paperwork) in place that allowed an entire team of players registered with Rangers to play for Sevco? Or were these players officially transferred prior to the Brechin game or simply signed by Sevco as free agents?
    ============================================
    I believe D&P acting on behalf of Rangers signed permission documentation allowing Rangers players to turn out for Sevco against Brechin.


  29. Corrupt official says:
    Member: (94 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 10:48 pm
    HirsutePursuit says:
    Member: (90 comments)

    June 30, 2015 at 10:13 pm

    Auldheid says:
    Blog Writer: (466 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 11:03 am
    Bards
    Was there any loan agreements (and paperwork) in place that allowed an entire team of players registered with Rangers to play for Sevco? Or were these players officially transferred prior to the Brechin game or simply signed by Sevco as free agents?
    ============================================
    I believe D&P acting on behalf of Rangers signed permission documentation allowing Rangers players to turn out for Sevco against Brechin.
    ===================================================

    Hadn’t they already TUPEd over the employment contracts but RFC still held the registrations?


  30. Homunculus says:
    Member: (39 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    Oh and the SMSM with their “Dani Alves” stuff … pure genius.
    =========
    That I’ll grant you was a belter (and a millstone around the player’s neck).

    I appreciate that there’s a legitimate point in having a pop at the SMSM hyperbole but by the same token credit where credits due to the new regime, even if they are making a virtue out of a necessity.


  31. parttimearab says:
    Member: (369 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 10:58 pm

    I’m afraid not, when the owners still spout their “we are the people” back where we belong, supremacist nonsense.

    There is little difference between what David Murray said “for every fiver Celtic spend …”. What Craig Whyte said “Ally will get a £25m war chest, front loaded if required …”. What Dave King said “We will over invest if required …” and his talk of investing £30m of his children’s inheritance.

    Do they not think the Rangers’ support can actually handle the truth. The only way forward is to live within our means and to build a club in a realistic and sustainable way.


  32. Re figures for ST sales at Ibrox and Phil’s “low end” figure.

    I note that Phil says that “they only had money in for 8,000 tickets.”

    That doesn’t necessarily equate to sales as (like most clubs) they have a payment plan option (or I should say that I assume so on the basis of past seasons).

    They may well have sold more tickets but will receive payments for them over time.

    http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/ibrox-season-ticket-sales-and-the-emergence-of-a-sevco-samizdat/


  33. There is no doubt that TRFC are now building a side that is closer to what they can presently afford, with a manager that they can presently afford. Not sure what the future holds. The guys they are assembling look reminiscent of an old Aberdeen side, in the bad old days. They might be able to clamber out of the Championship and if Hibernian weren’t there, I would fancy their chances more. Oh wait, St Mirren, Queen of the South. Oh yes, Falkirk. Not going to be easy.


  34. gamesabogey says:
    Member: (28 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 10:14 pm
    ‘……The management team have done nothing worthy of criticism yet (IMO).’
    _______
    Except, of course, to maintain and foster the Big Lie that they are the management team of the now deceased ( except for the legal processes attached to the commercial death of Liquidation) RFC(IL), rather than of a newish club that was extremely lucky to have been allowed to participate in senior professional football.
    All the sophistry in the world, all the Goebbelsian word-trickery that Jack ,or Level5, or all the Keefs/Pateys/Chicks/Grahams/Lindsays/Aidans and the rest of that wearisome collective of disgraces to their profession cannot, could not, and will not alter the fact that TRFC is not RFC.
    And anyone who buys into the Big Lie is fundamentally aiding and abetting the biggest act of cheating that the Scottish game has been damaged by.

    And can expect little sympathy from me on that account.


  35. My post of 11.39 pm refers.
    In para 2, line 3,please insert the words ‘utter or print’ between ‘profession’ and ‘cannot’.
    But I’m sure you knew what I meant.


  36. parttimearab says:
    Member: (370 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 11:27 pm

    “They may well have sold more tickets but will receive payments for them over time.”

    Oh for a peek at the management accounts. There may be a Kingco, but there is only one King at Rangers, (and every other business), HRH Cash Rex.

    Right now, it seems to me, Kingco have no income to pay the day to day expenses, other than season ticket cash. Future season ticket payments, are all well and good, but I suspect they need cash through the door right now.


  37. From Alasdair Fraser, ‘The Scotsman’ online.

    “But it was the arrival of Foster that created the biggest stir, with the Elgin-born 29-year-old vocal in his criticism of South Africa-based King.

    Foster didn’t hide his distaste at his treatment by Rangers, having found out about his release in the media. And he laid into King for publicly passing judgment on players he had never seen play.

    “I haven’t heard a thing from Rangers. There has been nothing,” Foster said. “I just thought there would be a common courtesy to say ‘Thanks for your service and all the best for the future’. But we’ve had nothing from the club. I don’t think any of the players who left got anything. I found out I was going by reading Dave King’s comments on the back of the newspaper.

    “I read him say that none of us were good enough and that we weren’t getting a new contract. I don’t judge him on his business acumen and he’s never really seen me play, so he shouldn’t judge me on my football ability. Or any of us.

    “Effectively, the 11 of us got blamed for the season last year but there were many different factors. If you look at the team from when Stuart McCall came in, the mainstays were the players who were going to be here this season.

    “So to single out the players who left I felt was a bit harsh. He also did it in a way that we couldn’t really respond – except in the press. Did it leave a sour taste in the mouth? Yeah, a little bit. In my personal opinion, that’s not how you should run a business or a football club.

    “If that’s the way he wants to do it, fair play to him. I don’t agree with it and never will. But that’s the way they have gone about it and good luck to him for this season.”

    King the motivator and diplomat, then, eh?

    More immediately, can we take it that the ‘Scotsman’ chappies have free rein to be anti-King?


  38. Since it looks like the blog is back to the OC/NC conundrum, , in my opinion TRFC and RFC(IL) are different clubs . The legislators and private companies who run Scottish football are merely presenting a view that they think would be beneficial to Scottish football The fact that they decline to show the proof that things are as they say ie publish the unabridged 5-way agreement ,indicates that their position would not pass scrutiny .I am honestly surprised that nobody in any authoritative position has taken them to task wrt their “social unrest” statements . The supporters of how many teams were they referring to ? I think the mores of the Northern Ireland statelet are given too much import in a modern Scotland .
    Please edit/delete mods ,as you see fit .


  39. paddy malarkey says:
    Member: (35 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 1:09 am
    ‘.Since it looks like the blog is back to the OC/NC conundrum, ..’
    _____________
    Paddy Malarkey,, there is no conundrum.
    What there was was a concentrated attempt by our Football authorities to persuade us that CG bought RFC, the football club.
    He did not.
    He did not buy RFC as a going concern out of administration.
    He bought the stadium and other assets of a club that had legally and commercially died , in the very definitive state of Liquidation.
    The legal and sporting entity that was registered in eighteen seventy oatcake ceased be.
    As a matter of Law, and as a matter of SFA rules.
    The attempts by deceitful people to make us believe that Charles Green was simply the new owner of an existing club are so far from reality as to be risible.
    CG did not buy RFC. Because it was not there for sale.It had died.
    And it gets soooo tedious to try to explain to the invincibly ignorant!!(Not you, paddy!)


  40. Completely agree with JC above and the tupe incident, along with many others mentioned recently, proves this beyond any doubt. The continuing farce that is the SMSM and their gushing praise of all things blue from Govan, confuses me no end. do trfc fans still buy papers in large numbers? As far as I can tell from their online presence anyway, most of the fans seem to believe that all media is in the haters camp and has never done them a favor in their history?? A little bit petty I suppose, however, I get annoyed when I search for the evening times on google (comedy purposes only) they have Rangers section above the Celtic section?? Petty as I said but indicative of how they view their customer base I suppose!

    On another point raised about DCK not being able to access his cash reserves in SA due to being watched closely, is it possible that a colleague/other director could have a business in SA or even set one up, get payments from DCK (keeping it in SA, for a short period of time) and then bring it all back to top up the warchest??


  41. Johnbud78 says:
    Member: (4 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 6:44 am

    Completely agree with JC above and the tupe incident, along with many others mentioned recently, proves this beyond any doubt. The continuing farce that is the SMSM and their gushing praise of all things blue from Govan, confuses me no end. do trfc fans still buy papers in large numbers?
    ================================

    I have to say some Rangers fans of my acquaintance are far from convinced their club has crossed the Rubicon with the current custodians in charge. The old saying about not fooling all of the people all of the time has never been more apt when set against how the SMSM are generally reporting on Rangers matters. Only two days ago at least two newspapers procured a story from Andrew Dickson, who is a an ex-Rangers employee. Assuming Dickson is freelancing, why on earth would any paper put itself up for ridicule by repeating the incredible nonsense Dickson wrote about a prospective Rangers signing? This is not the fault of the player or the manager, but what good are the media actually doing? Facing up to the truth then moving on has seen many a person or organisation blossoming over the years. On the other hand living in denial generally ends in tears. Looks like round three of the tears is on its way!


  42. Clearly OT but evidence that delusion is not the sole preserve of the Govan area and our beloved MSM :

    “The proposed transfer of ex-Arsenal striker Gervinho from Roma to United Arab Emirates club Al-Jazira has fallen through after the Ivory Coast international’s excessive demands. Requests included a helicopter and a private beach as part of the deal.” (BBC Sports website – Football Gossip 1/7/15)

    Scottish Football needs more beaches…..


  43. Bill1903
    Interesting read but like you say it’s a,(and your point is caller) type piece,it maybe would have deserved some credence if he did not attack Phill’s name ,some people just can’t help themselves.


  44. Bill1903 says:
    Member: (71 comments)

    July 1, 2015 at 7:52 am

    “Most”, did you do some sort of poll. Which demographic did this “most” come from.

    I love that sort of post, no back up, no evidence, no argument a simple ” … most suspected anyway.”

    Can I just say, and speaking only for myself not some imagined group of people, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.


  45. Bill1903 says:
    Member: (71 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 7:52 am
    Ive read this on another forum.

    https://exposingtherhats.wordpress.com/

    A lot of it, if true,is what most suspected anyway
    —————————————————

    I have read on another forum that Chris Graham may have penned the above article. If so this could explain the Phil Mac comments.


  46. Bill1903,

    Keeping the individuals named out of it there is a valid point hidden (well hidden) in that piece.

    There are four types of commentary.

    The first is the well informed, balanced, researched and crucially happy-to-be-corrected info we all value so much on here. I’ll highlight Auldheid and HP’s inputs re the registration last night as perfect examples.

    The second is what I will describe as smug(as) triumphalism. I don’t particularly like it, but when faced with an onslaught of what is essentially the same from the other side (of the argument) especially when it is so easily deconstructed, not to mention the insult implied if I am paying for it via the BBC, I can understand where it comes from. Still doesn’t make it right though. Danny Alves versus ‘LOL at their latest signings’ are good examples here.

    The third type of commentary is still well informed, but with a tendency to cherry pick facts to the exclusion of others to support a specific argument. You all know the frequent poster in the last 48hrs to whom I refer.

    There is a fourth category though, and if the linked piece is indeed referring to this type of input then I am actually in full agreement with them.** That is input that is specifically designed to be ‘influencing in its own right’. It may have its roots in ‘the truth’ but is usually presented in such a way that non-denial somehow makes it fact. In itself that is still valued contribution – and whilst I said I wouldn’t personalise it I will use Phil’s non EGM attendance story as a good example. Had he not reported it this little gem of key info, undoubtedly vital to the ongoing saga would simply not have been reported, period!

    BUT, and there’s always a but, if information of that type is being used to attempt to influence a story, to guide it in a particular way, even to create a story in its own right then there becomes a dangerous element to it. To be absolutely clear I am in no way comparing the two, but an example might be the Millie Dowler answer phone message whereby the reporter, by accessing the messages, actually created an element to the story – that she might be alive because she had accessed her phone – which of course the same reporter then gleefully reported on, giving him cover for another few days. That has no place in any description of journalism that I am aware of.

    I accept its a fine line especially when faced with a barrage of completely unsupportable spin from the other side, but it is still an element of the story that I have a problem with and I suspect the mods think the same.

    **FWIW of course I think the storywriter’s main argument was that positive spin, whether sound or not, and completely regardless to the reality that it may affect another club(s), is good, negative stories are not permitted and the rest of us are merely collateral damage on the glorious journey.


  47. Homunculus says:
    Member: (41 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 9:32 am

    Bill1903 says:
    Member: (71 comments)

    July 1, 2015 at 7:52 am

    “Most”, did you do some sort of poll. Which demographic did this “most” come from.

    I love that sort of post, no back up, no evidence, no argument a simple ” … most suspected anyway.”

    Can I just say, and speaking only for myself not some imagined group of people, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

    Homunculus, it surely has crossed your mind that bloggers sometimes have a direct relationship with media agencies acting on behalf of certain parties? That Bill McMurdo is in Media House’ pocket is a view that has currency on this site and a number of club fan sites. Is it the added dimension that Phil Macghiollabhain is being accused of the same what irks you? The title of the blog that makes the claims is sad and it looks exactly like the work of someone being sponsored by a media company and the timing of it in wake of the RST/Belfast Telegraph story is interesting. I’m sure that Phil Macgiollabhain will defend himself in his normal robust manner, but surely we are all always sceptical of information we see in the blogosphere as well as the mainstream media?


  48. I can’t find it now otherwise I could give credit where due, but while rubbernecking past the Bears Den yesterday I saw that a contributor had described one or other of the factions in the TRFC blogosphere as being like “a lot of Keith Jacksons waiting to happen”.


  49. John Clark says:
    Member: (928 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 1:51 am

    paddy malarkey says:
    Member: (35 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 1:09 am
    ‘.Since it looks like the blog is back to the OC/NC conundrum, ..’
    _____________
    Paddy Malarkey,, there is no conundrum.
    What there was was a concentrated attempt by our Football authorities to persuade us that CG bought RFC, the football club.
    He did not.
    He did not buy RFC as a going concern out of administration.
    He bought the stadium and other assets of a club that had legally and commercially died , in the very definitive state of Liquidation.
    The legal and sporting entity that was registered in eighteen seventy oatcake ceased be.
    As a matter of Law, and as a matter of SFA rules.
    The attempts by deceitful people to make us believe that Charles Green was simply the new owner of an existing club are so far from reality as to be risible.
    CG did not buy RFC. Because it was not there for sale.It had died.
    And it gets soooo tedious to try to explain to the invincibly ignorant!!(Not you, paddy!)

    ________________________________________________________
    Its not complicated:

    RRC(IL) was the club.
    RFC(IL) the club made agreements.
    Every time it signed or sold a player.
    Every contract it entered into.
    Every time it printed a ticket.

    Its inability to honour the contracts entered into led to the debts in excess of £100m.

    In the absence of creditor write off or a CVA, the ONLY way these debts could be written off was for the club which owed them to cease to exist.
    Otherwise those liabilities would persist.

    RFC(IL) traded on its footballing operations.

    If these footballing operations were in fact the purview of a ‘separate’ entity, an entity unburdened by the liabilities created by the contracts entered into by its ‘holding vehicle’ i.e. ‘Rangers the club founded in 1872 ‘, and such entity was capable of independent existence, and if RFC(IL) was merely trading off ‘the club of 1872’ entity’s valuable rights and property, can anyone show me any agreements that enabled it to do so legally?

    Because I strongly suspect that, had I tried to sell a ticket to see ‘the club of 1872’ play football in 2011 without a legal basis to do so, I would – quiet rightly – have been prosecuted for fraud for sodoing. RFC(IL) was not prosecuted for fraud for sodoing.

    And the plaintiff in the case would have been RFC(IL) and not some ethereal entity founded in 1872. And their basis for such action against me would be that I had defrauded them, and not some mystical entity with which they enjoyed a spiritual connection.

    There isn’t an agreement entered into between RFC(IL) and the ‘separate 1872 entity’ in existence.
    Because it could not be entered into.
    Because there was no separate entity in existence which could be empowered to do so.

    The club was RFC(IL). It was RFC(IL) the club that entered into those contracts, defaulted and died.

    In doing so it was freed from the responsibilities that arose from those contracts it entered into, by virtue of ceasing to exist.

    It might alternatively have been freed from its responsibilities by properly discharging tem: by honouring its contracts and paying what it owed. It did not honour its contracts and pay what it owed.

    It might been freed from its responsibilities by consent and forgiveness of its creditors in a CVA. But no consent or forgiveness was forthcoming. No CVA exists which freed it from those responsibities.

    It may have been freed from its responibilities under those contracts by an act of parliament, or upon the order of a judge.

    But no act of parliament of order of judge freed it from those responsibilities.

    Had the entity founded in 1872 survived in any form, its obligations would have followed it, and it would still need to be freed from these.
    The responsibilities of the club survived with the club and died with the club.

    TRFC abrogated itself of the obligations arising from footballing contracts entered into by RFC(IL) solely by virtue of not being the Rangers footballing club founded in 1872.
    TRFC agreed to take on SOME of the financial and contractual liabilities abrogated by RFC(IL) in order to expedite its entry into a footballing league, without which the new club would not have been able to operate and utilise the assets it acquired from the demised club.

    but if TRFC WAS ‘Rangers football club’ founded 1872, it would have responsibility for ALL of the contractual obligations entered into by that club. It does not.

    It is a lookalike and a tribute act.

    Bjorn again.
    MacFloyd
    Rumours of Fleetwood Mac.

    That’s not to say in any way that people shouldn’t support it or enjoy it.

    It really is that simple.


  50. jean7brodie says:
    Member: (323 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 9:01 pm

    I don’t know if I’m a snob….
    ———-

    Jean, I’m just back from 2 weeks in the old country with my two teens. On a day up in Glasgow we discovered Tom the Rickshaw Guy. Great fun it was too. Anyhoo, I was chatting away to him and at one point he got on to using ‘thingmy’. ‘Auch, ye know, thingmy!’ he said. Now there’s another word with universal uses and meanings.

    Been looking in, off and on, but the Footballthingmy guy was thingmying the thingmyjig. Heavy going. Catching up I jumped over a few pages and noticed he’s thingmyed aff. Or is it just early in the day? 🙂

    Looking forward to the upcoming Scottish representation in Europe, even though it’s fleeting these days, still exciting. Bit disappointed no Scandinavian teams were drawn, but maybe in the next rounds 😛

    I suppose if the Newco Rangers begin the season this will mean that the SFA & SPFL will have ok’d a business plan and convinced themselves that Ibrox has funds to see the season out and complete the fixture list?


  51. Has this business in Greece not gone on long enough? It was obviously the last Government that got into debt. Just set up The Greece with new government. Mr Doncaster can sort out the details.


  52. blu says:
    Member: (185 comments)

    July 1, 2015 at 10:06 am

    It doesn’t “irk” me, it simply hadn’t crossed my mind.


  53. alexander276 says:
    Member: (20 comments)

    July 1, 2015 at 11:42 am

    Exactly! Can’t we all just move on? It was the old Greek ‘company’ that did it.


  54. The analogy of the Greek situation and The Rangers is very apt in respect to the blame game (IMO).

    It is very similar in the way that the new management are looking to defect by placing the blame on the doorstep of the following:

    1. The banks (that gave them credit to live the dream)
    2. The old management
    3. The EU (for not giving them more money to continue living the dream)
    4. The Creditors (for demanding their money back on time)
    5. Germany (for having the audacity to fight to keep them in The EU)
    6. The UK (for stating that they should bring themselves in line with the rest of EU)
    7. Jealous… Hating…. etc..

    The new management team came to power on the promise that they would do things differently from the previous lot, they tell the people what they want to hear but are very much the same as the last as they don’t tell the people what they NEED to hear.

    There are better ways to handle austerity, no doubt about that but it does not change the fact that this is exactly what is required in some form. Cut your cloth according to your status.

    There is absolutely no doubt the people are suffering, there is a lot of hardship on the ground but nothing much has changed. There is still widespread corruption, chronic wasting of taxpayer’s money, not enough and sometimes, no tax raised from those who can pay etc…

    In addition, in the final analogy, some countries who are also members of their EU Team and who suffered similar financial problems (Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal) are now coming out at the other side having taken the hit and readjusted their lifestyles to cope with the current climate.

    Greece then, Greece now, Greece forever…


  55. I must confess to enjoying reading the internecine war going on amongst the various TRFC factions…..I couldn’t care what they think,but it is marginally interesting, when one finds oneself sitting on the toilet with the Ipad.

    I’m particularly enjoying them all acknowledging Phil McG’s success level in breaking new stories, while simultaneously calling him a range of unflattering names….that I find is typical of most of those dudes down Edmiston Drive?

    However, no matter how interesting & amusing their creative perambulations are, it doesn’t change the salient points regarding TRFC at present.

    No1: It is & remains a loss making business with no credit line from a bank
    No2: The proposed multi million investment from the current Chairman has not yet materialised
    No3: Looking at expenditure last year & projecting reasonable income going forward, they will clearly run out of money at some point in the season?
    No4: In light of no3,precisely what plans & provisions do the SPFL & the SFA have to deal with this scenario
    No5: AT this precise moment, they have not repaid the 5m loan to Mash/SD & risk an active shareholder taking them to court to enforce payment

    It is these issues and many more that ought to be engaging the fine minds of those fine fellows in the RST/RSL et al, but I fear they’re too busy shooting the messenger than paying attention to the message?

    If it does all go belly up again, one wonders who they will blame this time? That should make for an interesting blog?


  56. alexander276alexander276 says:
    Member: (20 comments)

    Has this business in Greece not gone on long enough?
    It was obviously the last Government that got into debt.
    Just set up The Greece with new government.
    Mr Doncaster can sort out the details.

    …………………………..

    Will the help of Mr Bryson be required?

    “If we consider Greece is not actually in ‘Europe’ and never really accepted that they were in a ‘Union’, and Greece’s citizens never voted in a referendum to ‘join’, then on that basis, Greece cannot be thrown out of the European Union…because (technically) they have never really been in it”
    (I.M.H.O – Mr Bryson, Scotland, UK)


  57. Making an analogous comparison between Greece and The Rangers is valid enough, but not in the last couple of years. The Rangers do indeed want to carry on as before and, just as the economics of “austerity” ( in quotes because it’s only austerity for the less well off) is there to enrich the powerful subsidised by the largesse of the public so is fitba, they attempt to go on and are encouraged, even supported, to do so by the establishment. Greece has also gone bust but the “new management” wants to do something else. They unfortunately do not buy in to the neo liberal trickle down scam and feel vindicated after the “bail outs” they received have gone primarily to interest and debt payments to….yep, the banks. They are seen as a threat to the establishment and they are subsequently at the end on almost universal opposition. Going bust is nae good, but I’d have preferred Greece to try another way rather than continuing the failed economics so loved by IMF, world banks and our single ideology politicians. They at least tried to start anew.


  58. ernie says:
    Member: (89 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 3:13 pm
    ___________________________________

    Yip ernie but I would say they are very wise to reject neo liberalism not unfortunate.


  59. No1: It is & remains a loss making business with no credit line from a bank
    No2: The proposed multi million investment from the current Chairman has not yet materialised
    No3: Looking at expenditure last year & projecting reasonable income going forward, they will clearly run out of money at some point in the season?
    No4: In light of no3,precisely what plans & provisions do the SPFL & the SFA have to deal with this scenario
    No5: AT this precise moment, they have not repaid the 5m loan to Mash/SD & risk an active shareholder taking them to court to enforce payment
    __________________________________________________________________________________

    A very good point. Fairly easy questions for a willing journalist to ask surely?


  60. No2: The proposed multi million investment from the current Chairman has not yet materialised
    ======================================================================

    As i have said previously,we do not know if the investment will not materialize and i think since the SFA et al were stung by CW,i would imagine part of the FPP test involved confirming he has the funds to invest.

    I think there must come a point when Phil must change his mantra,administration is not the only play that makes sense if DK and his cohorts provide the funding via a share issue.

    In my opinion there are a number of factors causing the delay,i think investors would prefer equity shares and i think the problem with MA has to be resolved.

    I think it is far too soon to start guessing the problem is no investment will be forthcoming,as i said why bother with unsecured top up loans if the main investor is unable to fund the club,they are just pouring money down the drain.

    addendum:

    I notice unlike previous doomsday scenarios Phil’s sources do not have any juicy gossip about unpaid vat,wages or sheriff’s officers,so things can’t be that bad.Please note they are restricted in how much SB income they can spend.


  61. James Forrest says:
    Member: (100 comments)
    July 1, 2015 at 12:36 pm
    Thanks to BarcaBhoy for the sterling research he did on the wealth of Dave King. I did some checking on stuff last night and put this together.

    http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/the-wealth-of-kings/
    =============================================================

    Wow Just Wow !
    I didn’t appreciate the tough exchange controls in South Africa.

    That is a hugely significant point you have made, IMO, and if anyone had doubts about King’s ability to fund TRFC – whether he has the money or not – then that specific point you made is the metaphorical kick to the goolies for his supporters.

    ‘Rich King, Poor King ?’ – it doesn’t really matter.
    King is unable to save TRFC. Period.


  62. jean7brodie says:
    Member: (324 comments)
    =================
    Spot on Jean. They will probably not be allowed to see it through though, much against their will. The Rangers on the other hand could, and should IMO, have changed their modus operandi but have chosen not to. No comparison.
    Anyway, enough politics from this curmudgeonly, left wing Ernie!
    Europe needs a strong, non-conformist Greece.


  63. Football Fan says:
    Member: (125 comments)

    July 1, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    No2: The proposed multi million investment from the current Chairman has not yet materialised
    ======================================================================

    ,i would imagine part of the FPP test involved confirming he has the funds to invest.

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

    I’m not really sure where you are coming from with imagining that.

    Are you suggesting that only people capable of investing large sums of money in football clubs are considered fit and proper to run them. Or is it that you imagine they used that specific criterion in relation to Dave King. If so is that not a bit unfair on him, if he is subjected to more rigorous tests than others.

    I almost posted the last bit without laughing.


  64. I am sure DK knows better than anyone about SA exchange controls,and i suspect his fellow investors are also pretty clued up,do you not think they would have questioned him if it was impossible?

    Maybe the family trust is a clue,since the amount he paid for the shares is way above SA exchange controls then we can assume the family trust is exempt,if it is exempt then it could have 30 million in it for all we know.


  65. HirsutePursuit says:
    Member: (90 comments)
    June 30, 2015 at 10:13 pm

    Well that certainly got the auld brain cells working as I retraced why I had come to the conclusion that I did re the Conditional Membership covering a gap from the 27th July to 3rd August until a Full SFA Memberhip was transferred from RFC to Sevco.

    I see where you are coming from in that as long as Sevco held Registered SFA Membership and had applied for Full SFA Membership there was no need to give them the status of Conditional SFA Membership, a status not once mentioned in SFA Articles and one that only emerged in July 2012 and so no gap needed covered.

    I agree this was all done mainly for branding purposes, indeed I think it was a condition Green put to the SFA as a condition for purchasing the assets and business of RFC, however I think the Conditional Membership was also required because Sevco made the choice to seek Full SFA Membership right from the off but could not do so as an SFL club under SFL rules.

    My interpretation was based mainly on two related articles by Paul McConville at

    http://www.scotzine.com/2012/07/the-legal-aspect-of-rangers-and-the-sfa-membership/

    and which he elaborates at length on (as well as covering player eligibility) at

    https://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/the-brechin-ultimatum-did-sfa-botch-rangers-fcs-membership-are-any-rfc-players-registered/

    where he argues the Conditional Membership granted was ultra vires.

    In the latter blog Paul sets out the Rules of the time and for simplicity sake call them Route 6 and Route 14.

    My view is that Sevco eschewed Route 6 because it would have been impossible for them to apply for anything other than an Associate Membership of the SFA by that Route. That is clear from the Articles under Route 6 and of course since an Associate SFA Membership is not a Full SFA Membership, which was only granted after 5 years, it would have been more difficult if not impossible to sell the same club narrative to preserve branding.

    Instead Sevco chose Route 14 and never applied for the appropriate type of SFA Membership (Associate in their case) that was afforded by Route 6, which all new clubs entering the SFL would have to have followed. Accordingly after 14 days the SFA Registered Membership, granted on 13 July on entering the SFL, lapsed under the SFL rules (which I have reproduced at the end.) This being so Sevco had NO SFA membership of any sort after 27th July and this required one to be invented to let them play v Brechin.

    Interestingly Paul says

    “The statement is quite clear. This is not a “temporary transfer” of membership, nor a “conditional transfer” which could, it can be argued, be issued. Instead the clear implication of what the statement says is that (a) RFC PLC still possesses membership of the SFA, as it has not been transferred and (b) Sevco Scotland Ltd has a separate “conditional” membership.”

    I take this to mean that for Sevco to play v Brechin as RFC (or TRFC) then Sevco had to have an SFA Membership of some sort, so the Conditional Membership was created because SEVCO had chosen Route 14 and they did not arrive at their destination of Full SFA Membership by Route 14 under The 5 Way Agreement until after they played Brechin.

    I did not look at the player eligibility argument in Paul’s blog(my brain is nipping) but it looks like Paul shares your view on more jiggery pokery (ultra vires?) to make players eligible.

    SFL CONSTITUTION AND RULES Extract

    (Rule)16. REGISTRATION WITH SFA A CONDITION OF MEMBERSHIP
    A Member or Associate Member who is not already a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association must make application to become a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association (AS THE CASE MAY BE) within fourteen (14) days of being admitted to membership of the League failing which its [REGISTERED} membership of the League will lapse, and in the event that the application is unsuccessful, its membership will lapse upon that decision being intimated to the League.


  66. From The Gambler, aka Ian Black, in the ET;

    …Black admitted “We’d achieved two promotions and we had a bad season last season, but we didn’t even get a thank you…”

    So Black is complaining that he didn’t get a thank you from TRFC for picking up GBP8K a week, [IIRC], for playing against mostly part-timers ?

    What were the odds ? 🙄


  67. I think it is far too soon to start guessing the problem is no investment will be forthcoming,as i said why bother with unsecured top up loans if the main investor is unable to fund the club,they are just pouring money down the drain.

    I dunno, maybe he lied to them.

    Anyway, we don’t know the terms of the emergency loans. All we know is that the first 1.5m loaned is repayable in December. In fact, MA requested that the terms be revealed at the recent GM.

    I still can’t see what is stopping DK paying the 5m loan back and replacing it with a soft unsecured loan from himself. One sometimes overlooked aspect of the loan is that although it has no repayment date, there is a kind of implicit deadline because all shirt sponsorship revenue will go to RRL from the start of the 2017-2018 season (which is presumably when 32Red’s contract runs until).


  68. I am not sure the fairness in ending Rangers history if the cause was the SFA simply botched it up.

    To my layman brain,the SPL voted Rangers dead and the SFA voted they are alive,the question is what will UEFA say in a few years time?


  69. No sooner do we have Jame’s Forrest’s excellent piece re DCK’s finances then up pops FF to tell us he imagines that he does have the funds after all.
    DCK, as part of the SARS settlement had to agree to repatriate all of his overseas assets to RSA where they could be monitored by SARS.
    In effect he is stating that this is all I’ve got and it’s here for you to see in RSA.
    He may well be the said wealthy man compared to the rest of us but he can’t move a Rand out of there without SARS knowing about it.
    So, imagine he ponies up Edmiston Drive on his white charger with saddlebags filled to the brim with dosh.
    First of all, any Bank will want to know its source under moneylaundering legislation plus the SARS Attaché at their London High Commission will be onto it as it will indicate that DCK still has undeclared assets.
    Hence the need to keep his head below the financial parapet.
    Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
    Can’t think of a better place for him to be with the added bonus that he doesn’t need to jet in or out of there either.


  70. there is a kind of implicit deadline because all shirt sponsorship revenue will go to RRL from the start of the 2017-2018 season
    ========================================================================

    Sounds like there is no hurry to pay a man they are trying to renegotiate a better retail deal with.

    I know DK tell lies but i cannot just assume everything he says is a lie,unless he is a pathological liar and lies for no reason then i cannot see the reason for him lying.


  71. y4rmy says:
    Member: (88 comments)

    July 1, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    I can answer that, he can’t or he won’t.

    Neither is particularly encouraging, from a man who promised £30m, front loaded if required.

    Or was that Craig Whyte … no it was £25m he promised if I remember correctly.

    Must be inflation.

Comments are closed.