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;
- ISM will seek to build a community of sports fans whose overarching aim is the integrity of competition in the sport.
- 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.
- ISM will provide a platform for the views of ALL fans, and guarantee that those views will be heard in a mutually respectful environment.
- ISM will also endeavour to inform and entertain members on a wide range of topics related to our shared love of sport.
- 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;
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
Ron.an.Math says:
Member: (56 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 2:56 pm
First post for ages. . Last one ever methinks . .
WHY IS IT SO COMPLICATED NOW ?
INFURIATING ADVERTS THROWING ME ONTO PAGES OF GUFF. .
======================
Hi, lay off the ads! My first one this morning was for a much needed funeral plan, but I only realised just how much needed when I saw my next targeted ad, which was for a load of lovely Russian ladies looking for an older Scottish chap. If the pictures are halfway accurate, taking on one of those ladies would trigger my funeral plan payout pdq.
Raising £20k, having office … big steps from the success of the past of pure bloggers ( RTC, PMC and PMG) and given this site does get attacked even when just a blog site – wont attacks increase and become more legal?
had to look up hubris….
The Cat NR1 says:
Member: (503 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 2:44 pm
No doubt Dave King will be pressed heavily on his and his club’s attitude to such things by Peter Smith of STV at the unveiling of the long awaited WarbyChest, as the SMSM maintains it’s consistant and unbiased approach to its reporting.
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Young Peter has been promoted recently to ITV News. I hope it’s because of his good work at STV & not because McKay/Bhardwaj didn’t approve of his interrogative skills…
Haywire says
13th July 2015 4.02 p.m.
————————
In response to her original tweet, Ms Sharp received complaints from certain of her twitter followers. She then issued a second tweet saying that the Jock she referred to was in fact Jock Wallace. She did not, however, enlighten her audience why she should be making such a comment at this time on a Rangers manager of so long ago – or of its relevance.
The protests appear to have continued. Her next step was to delete the offending message in the hope that the furore would die down. It failed to do so. This morning Ms Sharp issued a statement. A PR outfit had obviously drafted it for her and, as expected, it was suitably vague in what it said. A key sentence which caught my eye was, “I did not fully understand the meaning of what I wrote at the time but accept now what was said was in extremely poor taste.” In other words, she didn’t have a clue about the significance of her tweet.
We are talking here about a lady who regularly supports the Ibrox club and who mixes with members of the RST and other fan groups. The so-called ‘apology’ is an affront to the intelligence of those who thought it distasteful in the first place. She would have been better telling the nation that some nasty bigot had hacked into her twitter account – another lie, but perhaps more acceptable than her plea of innocence.
Billy Boyce says:
Member: (67 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 5:37 pm
________________________________
BB, I certainly wouldn’t describe her as a lady.
Tayred I do not live in that bubble either but have seen that slogan used on TRFC sites many times and went to find out yo what it referred. I sympathise with your view that this is outwith SFM territory but at the same time believe that if that is the kind of material being put out by well known TRFC supporters as an expression of that support then it is representative of the WATP mind set which drags any attempt to bring the TRFC enterprise into sustainable progress back into the mire.
Given what I have seen about the sweaty and other sites I would be very wary of going her any benefit of he doubt.
I would repay that I do not live in the bubble but know many folk who do and I continue to be amazed by it.
I think Graham Spiers is covering his bahookey with his bet on Sevco to win an SPL title within 5 years and currying favour with their followers – he is known to be smart and won’t write the guff Level 5 are issuing so why not imply he believes in the board and splash the price of a season book on a highly speculative punt which he will remind everyone about when it suits him for 5 whole years till the next free ride comes along.
nb. Trisidium – would it be possible to locate the ads at the bottom of the comments as maybe we all just rush to get the juicy bits reach the end and the ads are forgotten?
StevieBC says:
Member: (776 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 4:10 pm
An eye-catching headline from a Graeme McGarry at The Herald;
“Exclusive Interview: Nicky Law says Mark Warburton will get Rangers playing ‘total football’ ”
===========================================================
SBC, I think that the churnalist still had the cotton wool in his ears. What I suspect Law said was that ‘Warbo’ was into fishing and had mentioned this to DK.
DK had then opened the ‘warbochest’ and bought him Total Carp.
I believe that it is a publication to do with angling but I may be confusing it with a magazine for lower league English footballers.
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
Re Mr king’s “Whatever it takes”
Over the last few days things down ibrox way have been somewhat quiet, And speaking to some bear friends they were expecting the papers to be full of back page headlines of star players being linked to Ibrox, with the king statement of “whatever it takes”
I have a picture in my head of TSMSM sitting round a table saying, how can we get some good news story’s to keep the Ibrox club in the spotlight, but there is no warchest or star players on the horizon.
Then one SMSM hack comes out with, print ANYTHING about ANYTHING, do WHATEVER IT TAKES. and get some kind of good news story out,something,anything,just do it.
tayred says:
Member: (142 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Now I understand I don’t live in the bubble that surrounds two certain teams and their supporters, but I have to say I had never heard of this slogan before, doesn’t seem such a leap that she hadn’t either.
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I’d be willing to bet all Rangers fans are aware of this slogan. At one time it was widely adorned on scarves within the ground, and indeed the chant relating to it was sung among a significant section of the crowd. If she was not previously aware of it then it is a truly remarkable co-incidence.
What a great interview by Chris McLaughlin on the BBC of elbows tonight and his signing as player/coach at Killie. Not a single bit on what he will bring to Killie it was all “so elbows what was it like playing for Rangers” gee us a break 🙂
Billy Boyce says:
Member: (67 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 5:37 pm
——————————————–
So Billy, if I’m following this properly, what Lynsey is saying now is… please ignore my earlier tweet that referred to Jock Wallace, that was just a quick lie that I made up. I’m telling the truth now though! Is this for real?
Ok Lynsey, so you are the only Ibrox attendee that doesn’t realise the true significance of the slur? Aye, right!
“Not a single bit on what he will bring to Killie…”
think there’s a reason for that……….
Cluster One says:
Member: (225 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 6:36 pm
I have a picture in my head of TSMSM sitting round a table saying, how can we get some good news story’s to keep the Ibrox club in the spotlight, but there is no warchest or star players on the horizon.
=======================================
To be honest I think the media’s only motive now is to help shift as many season tickets for Rangers as they can. Why else would they attempt to portray such a positive picture when the stark reality is plain to see? Yet I see no similar attempts to assist the season ticket sales for any other club. If all they want is competition for Celtic then why not big up the stronger clubs in the same league as Celtic? On the other hand if all they want is a Rangers at the very top lording it over all others, that maybe explains why their articles attempt to portray a sows ear as a silk purse!
buddy_holly on July 12, 2015 at 8:36 pm
——————
Your post reminded me why my favourite nomenclature for The Rangerd 2012 is Lance Armstrong FC on those ever more rate occasions here in Ireland when I’m asked if I miss them in the top flight.
It seems to cut through the fog of misunderstanding, misinformation, and downright lies about their “misfortune” and being “kicked when down” propogated by the MSM, and it sheds light in an instant in a country that is cycling mad but is hurting from the extent of Armstrong’s perfidy and Irish cycling’s compliance in letting it go on for so long.
We were all transfixed last week by a programme shown on RTË called Stop At Nothing, the story of the lengths Armstrong went to — lies, threats and blackmail — and the blind eyes to it initially turned by officialdom, to stop the truth emerging. The parallels with Sevco and the SFA are striking.
Of course, Armstrong eventually came clean and apologised live on Oprah. I’m sure he would be appalled to be associated with the shameless entity that plays out of Ibrox.
dj7 says:
Member: (3 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm
Raising £20k, having office … big steps from the success of the past of pure bloggers ( RTC, PMC and PMG) and given this site does get attacked even when just a blog site – wont attacks increase and become more legal?
______________________________________________________
Not really following dj. What is it that you think we should be doing? Are you suggesting that we should not move forward because people might attack us? Or are you saying that because other bloggers do what they do that we need to get in line?
As for having an office, I don’t think that is a huge step for an organisation that already uses up in excess of 60 man hours per week. And in terms of fund raising, we have already found over three quarters of the figure you mention, so the rest isn’t such a leap.
It may be that you are correct, and that we will fail to reach our target, but if that happens, it will reflect a lack of confidence that people have in our ability to take the thing forward. It will have nothing to do with a lack of focus on the part of the mods and others who have maintained enough of that quality over the past three years to get us to where we are.
As we seem to be revisiting player intelligibility and points deduction it might be pertinent to revisit the actions of the SPL and SFA regarding Livingston and Hassan Kachloul way back in 2005.
IIRC the SPL ruled that Livingston had wrongly signed the player as an amateur but decided that, as they could have legitimately signed him as a pro, a fine rather than a points deduction was appropriate.
Relegated Dundee appealed to the SFA but the SPL decision was upheld (much to Dundee’s disgust).
Would this decision, effectively saying that cheating is ok as long as no sporting advantage was gained, have had a bearing on Rangers had LNS gone for a points deduction (bearing in mind his acceptance of the FTT verdict and apparent ignorance of the wee tax case)?
As we are having a wee pause and a reflection (LNS OCNC Judicial reviews etc).
Found this segment hanging around yon desktop thingy.
Mind the excruciatingly expensive clean hands exercise?
Bet this has a bearing in a court near you shortly.
Oh and edit. They never did get to interview them. Never mind. Kerchiiiing, that wil be several 100ks anyway thanks.
pau1mart1n says:
July 13, 2015 at 7:24 pm
“Not a single bit on what he will bring to Killie…”
think there’s a reason for that………
……………………………………………
Spot on!
I’m very glad that you said that.
As I mentioned earlier, it was quite remarkable that Sly TV were covering a Killie pre-season friendly.
I know that this is probably a complete waste of time, but can I suggest to all that you do not contribute to the Sly World Domination Exercise. If you have already sold your soul, please consider ditching the Dirty Digger.
Torquemada says:
Member: (58 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 8:58 pm
buddy_holly on July 12, 2015 at 8:36 pm
——————
Your post reminded me why my favourite nomenclature for The Rangerd 2012 is Lance Armstrong FC on those ever more rate occasions here in Ireland when I’m asked if I miss them in the top flight.
It seems to cut through the fog of misunderstanding, misinformation, and downright lies about their “misfortune” and being “kicked when down” propogated by the MSM, and it sheds light in an instant in a country that is cycling mad but is hurting from the extent of Armstrong’s perfidy and Irish cycling’s compliance in letting it go on for so long.
We were all transfixed last week by a programme shown on RTË called Stop At Nothing, the story of the lengths Armstrong went to — lies, threats and blackmail — and the blind eyes to it initially turned by officialdom, to stop the truth emerging. The parallels with Sevco and the SFA are striking.
Of course, Armstrong eventually came clean and apologised live on Oprah. I’m sure he would be appalled to be associated with the shameless entity that plays out of Ibrox.
——————————
Yes, a large step on the road to recovery for scottish football is a truth and reconciliation commission.
I’ll be waiting a long time for that….
Or the various EBT playing recipients, EBT coaching recipients, EBT arrangers, EBT knowledgable agents who are still involved in scottish football to be asked how they feel about knowingly dodging tax!
Scottish football needs lots of things, but i would settle for the truth!
Buddy
Chaps
As we are trying to get the dosh equilibrium up Id just like to say I bought some car mats today via click through here and wonder what paltry amount the resultant revenue was?
What Im really asking is do Amazon id us as “customers” and do you get you fair share, and how do you know you are?
Did I say Car mats ?
Meant to say a centre half a goalie and Scott McDonald
Dearie me. Jim Spence leaving the BBC?
Jings.
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1301 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 11:09 pm
____________________________________
Good luck to Jim Spence wherever he goes. He is a man of integrity and will be sadly missed.
jean7brodiejean7brodie says:
Member: (331 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 11:16 pm
Good luck to Jim Spence wherever he goes. He is a man of integrity and will be sadly missed.
——–
Could be why he’s leaving the BBC. Not sure integrity is their thing. I could see him in politics,
Scottish Football needs a strong truth and reconciliation commission.
jean7brodie says:
Member: (331 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 11:16 pm
Good luck to Jim Spence wherever he goes. He is a man of integrity and will be sadly missed.
====================================
I’ll second that. However, I have no doubt if the BBC replace him it will be with someone who is happy to take the money and toe the ‘same club’ party line, in addition to ‘needing a strong Rangers’.
I wonder why he’s leaving. Perhaps the wounds of how they refused to publicly back him in the face of complaints and intimidation from Rangers fans have never healed.
Edit: Gordon Smith in need of a regular gig. Don’t rule it out.
gerrybhoy67 says:
Member: (24 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 6:09 pm
I think Graham Spiers is covering his bahookey with his bet on Sevco to win an SPL title within 5 years and currying favour with their followers – he is known to be smart and won’t write the guff Level 5 are issuing so why not imply he believes in the board and splash the price of a season book on a highly speculative punt which he will remind everyone about when it suits him for 5 whole years till the next free ride comes along.
===============================
They’ll do well to win an SPL title ever, as the SPL no longer exists following creation of the SPFL.
Clicked on one of the ads and learned about Zakat, and was most impressed – it was stuff I knew nothing about .I don’t bother any Gods but it seems a reasonable way of supporting society . Nothing more 😎
I know I should be used to it but it still sticks in my throat. In the week before an important tie for a Scottish club – Celtic – our ‘home’ print media are still aggressively trying to talk our chances down!
Ciftci ‘A FLOP’, Celtic supporters wont forgive Delia by a large part of the Celtic supporters, if we don’t get to CL group stages (provide stats for those ‘facts’). After Celtic beat an La Liga side.
Versus
e.g.
Rangers are going to play ‘total football’ in the coming season! and other such stuff before a match has been played. Or after they were beat by Spurs ‘development’ squad, which doesn’t count as a pre season friendly because it was behind closed doors and consisted of 3 * 30 min. ‘training sessions. No harm to Rangers here, just pointing out the bias of the media.
Thank goodness for internet bampots. As you might know, I never knowingly click on to The Daily Record, The Evening Times (esp. them), Don’t click on them they get money from it,and other rags, cheap utter garbage newspapers who I hope will be liquidated shortly, along with other great Scottish institutions with similar bias.
On a side matter, is it possible to liquidate a Court of Session Judge?
Danish Pastry on July 13, 2015 at 11:26 pm
‘Could be why he’s leaving the BBC. Not sure integrity is their thing. I could see him in politics”
———————————————————-
Brilliant Danish! Who says satire is dead?!
STICKY APPEAL POST
I have returned from Sun Central to see around £500 added to our appeal – thanks to everyone who donated, especially to two very generous donors.
We were a bit worried about the rate we were raising funds at before the holidays (in terms of our ability to reach the target). Consequently, whilst remaining upbeat, we decided to put the brakes on the signing of a lease for our office/studio, for two reasons;
1. We need to be able to guarantee a rent-free year to have a proper shot at doing this properly, and
2. Many folk have donated money for this precise reason (the rent). We want to be able to offer them a refund of their cash if we fail to meet the target (since in that case we won’t have any rent to pay).
Not all doom and gloom though. Just getting a bit nervous that the appetite for change isn’t as avaricious as we had hoped – and we need to be responsible with OPM 🙂
We will see how things go, but in the meantime we are also appealing for your assistance to push us along the road a wee bit further and a wee bit quicker. Remember, the target figure of £5000 is only a quarter of what we actually need for this year. The rest of the money required comes from guarantees we have had from individuals based on our ability to raise the target.
AyeRightNaw on July 14, 2015 at 2:27 am
Brilliant Danish! Who says satire is dead?!
———
Ha, yes, I see your point :irony: Can’t help thinking there’s a princpled MSP lurking there somewhere, though. But he’d also be the ideal type for any new independent media outlet.
Missed he will be.
jean7brodie says:
Member: (331 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 11:16 pm
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1301 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 11:09 pm
____________________________________
Good luck to Jim Spence wherever he goes. ———————–
SFM Radio 🙂
Cluster One
Best bit of transfer business of the close season,if only.
upthehoops says:
Member: (780 comments)
July 13, 2015 at 11:44 pm
‘… I have no doubt if the BBC replace him it will be with someone who is happy to take the money and toe the ‘same club’ party line, in addition to ‘needing a strong Rangers’’
____________
And I have every expectation that you will be proved right.
BBC Scotland (especially Radio Scotland), moved very quickly in adopting ‘same club’ line, and in shutting down the possibility of any serious discussion of the horrendous ‘Lance Armstrong-style’damage done to Scottish Football integrity by SDM’s cheating, and the even greater damage done by the suited or be-blazered ‘Lance Armstrongs’ in charge of the governance of our sport.
I would charge the BBC with bias, partisanship and selective reporting in their entire coverage of the saga, with absolutely no attempt to nail the liars and cheats for what they are.
I am no supporter of the Tory government, but if the London BBC establishment has, in Cameron’s ,been politically biased, then, on the basis of the ‘saga’ experience in the world of Scottish Football, I can no longer automatically defend the BBC against any such charge.
We do not know, of course, why Jim Spence is leaving.It’s perfectly possible that it has nothing to do with his honest approach to journalism.
But I’m sure he will be glad to get out of that poisonous atmosphere where the whole of Scottish Football is looked at through the prism of ‘Rangersitis’.
I’ve no real problem with the print media.They can , and do, lie to their hearts’ content.( May their circulations dwindle into insignicance, though!)
I do have a severe problem with the broadcaster funded by the tax-payers, of whom I am one!
Sad to see Jim Spence leave BBC Scotland.
A brave man who told it like it is.
He’ll obviously be replaced by some west coast hack as this seems to be the way.
I wonder if Jim would do a SFM blog on his experiences over the last few years?
Raising £20k and having office seems odd way to go – becomes more solid – and thus legal action and attacks can be better focused.
Using same money to just stay a blog site, but with more podcasts, and increase campaigns to keep Scottish football clean and above board seems a safer route that’s all.
Have lurked *reading only for years* but feel this big step change… and need to ask why and where that is heading and what if it fails financially (all to easy)?
Raise money by all means but spend it so there is never a pot to go at…
Exposing hipocracy is clear goal
Would rather see lots of threads on each key issues and comments with sorting by most popular – to read key comments…
danger 40 pages of comments – means you loose threads
Phil gone very quiet, no sign of step 2-3 of his 3 proned attack.
No shareboards to read (delisting stopped that).
Papers just release press releases.
Its all gone so quiet…
Regarding the way forward for the blog.I think we have to trust the people who up until now have borne the brunt of the work. Most of us prefer to watch from the sidelines,or contribute to varying degrees.However,it can be no mean task to moderate and to structure the site going forward.I contribute to the blog on rare occasions and have done so since the days of RTC. I regard my input, sparse as it is,as meaningful as the next person.
Of course some of us may feel a bit nervous about expanding the site,that’s only natural, but I believe we need to move out of the confines of the blog if we are to become a more regarded and respected medium.So,let’s get the funding going and see where it takes us.
Dj7
A man that earned respect by doing his job and is now leaving this position he no doubt enjoyed ,most likely due to the disgusting way his employers let him down, and exposed him to to some of the most shocking treatment from a pack of scavengers that prey on honest people going about an honest life,and you come out with a comment it’s all gone quiet,I think Phil will no doubt come back with comments on Jim Spence on the way he was treated by his employers and others,gone quiet indeed.
I note that Jason Holt (good player IMHO) is now training with Rangers and Levein has raised the issue of a development fee should Warburton decide to sign the lad.
It will be interesting to see how that one goes if Warburton believes the lad “can add value to the club” given T’Rangers attempt to stiff Hearts for the Lee Wallace transfer monies and their insistence of taking the Charlie Telfer/Dundee Utd case to tribunal.
IIRC the tribunal arrived at £170k plus VAT for Telfer with one senior appearance for T’Rangers in the lower leagues.
Holt on the other had has 62 senior appearances (7 goals) for Hearts including 47 (5 goals) while in the Premier along with 20 games (6 goals) on loan with Raith and Sheffield Utd.
Holt also has 17 Scotland caps at U19,20 & 21 (9,1,7) to Telfer’s 12 at U17,19 & 21 (6,5,1).
Looking forward to Brysonesque type ruling!!
jimbo says:
Member: (31 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 2:08 am
Thank goodness for internet bampots. As you might know, I never knowingly click on to The Daily Record, The Evening Times (esp. them), Don’t click on them they get money from it,and other rags, cheap utter garbage newspapers who I hope will be liquidated shortly, along with other great Scottish institutions with similar bias.
On a side matter, is it possible to liquidate a Court of Session Judge?
______________________________________________________
I must be very wicked, and will surely go to the bad fire, but my brain always replaces ‘liquidate’ with ‘liquidise’ for some reason and it gives me great pleasure 👿
I wonder if when Radio Scotland pay tribute to the departing Jim Spence they will find airtime to play the chat he had in March 2012 with Tom English, Tam Cowan and Billy Dodds. This was the chat when, inter alia, Jim directly asked Billy if he knew anything about EBTs and Billy said that he did not. A few short weeks later Billy told Sunday Herald readers a slightly different story.
It would be a pity if this particular piece of audio had gone missing.
Oh, hang on – What’s this?
Scotlawthoughts – Billy Dodds – “Witness for the Prosecution” and a “Smoking Gun”? – Comment by David MacKenzie on May 29, 2012 at 7:58pm? – Soundcloud audio clip?
It surely is.
Thae internet bampots – whit ur they like?
Thank you Mr McConville and thank you Mr Spence.
Jim Spence is a fine man and I have a huge amount of respect for him. The first thing I thought of when hearing he’s leaving the BBC is where will he go? The printed press and STV will not allow anything other than Level5 spin (which I don’t expect him to accept) and his broad Fife brogue will most likely rule out a move south to another part of BBC radio.
I like and admire Jim Spence but so many presumptions about his motivation for leaving the BBC (he’s not a Fifer by the way). Maybe, unlike others, he’s realised your value diminishes on this medium because you’ve got nothing new to say? Or he’s had a significant birthday? Or he’s just fed up of it? All three options listed have as much chance of being right as the many conspiracy speculations of the last two days, if he wants to say, he’ll no doubt tweet. Is it slow news time for TSFM?
I spoke to Jim Spence a few weeks ago, and he provisionally agreed to take part in a broadcast with BP on the subject of gate sharing. I don’t know yet whether it will be part of a wider participation programme (for which a studio is required) or an interview, but we will keep you posted.
Therefore I do hope that we will have news on that front soon.
Kid Gloves says:
Member: (3 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 2:22 pm
Jim Spence is a fine man and I have a huge amount of respect for him. The first thing I thought of when hearing he’s leaving the BBC is where will he go? The printed press and STV will not allow anything other than Level5 spin (which I don’t expect him to accept) and his broad Fife brogue will most likely rule out a move south to another part of BBC radio.
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Fife??
I find his Dundee accent far easier on the ear compared to the nasal Weegie accents of Wilson,Young etc etc
(maybe its because im from Aberdeen though)
@blu. It is indeed a slow news time but many feel that Jim Spence was one of the very few on the BBC who didn’t eat the lamb.
The conduct of the BBC over the whole Rangers saga has been nothing short of a national scandal. Replace Rangers with Man Utd and the reporting of this story would have been totally different.
I remember listening to Off The Ball when Jimmy Calderwood mentioned that he was offered the Dunfermline job by David Murray. I don’t think he realised what he had just said but I nearly fell off my chair (as did Mr Cosgrove).
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Getting Jim Spence on SFM Radio would be a real coup.
Presumably, he will be restricted on what he can say wrt BBC, [?], and if he wants to work in Scotland it would be ‘absolutely’ understandable if he is reluctant to open up about TRFC, for depressingly obvious reasons. 🙁
Maybe he would be more comfortable about giving his views on Scottish football governance, and the SFA in particular ? And how he thinks the SFA could be improved, and how trust can be restored – for the benefit of all Scottish football fans ?
[And has SFM asked the now retired Ogilvie if he’ll come on ?! 🙄 ]
James F. Sent you a mail 🙂
Kid Gloves says:
Member: (4 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 3:32 pm
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Agreed with your first sentence. As I said above, I like him. He’s a well-educated, mature man who’s not thin-skinned, which is a pre-requisite when working in the media. The rest of what you’ve written has nothing to do with Jim’s decision to resign from the BBC and I feel that some are over-doing this lionising him as the bulwark against the media’s Continuity Rangers myth. From my point of view he just did his job as he saw it, in a without fear or favour kind of way – like a journalist. He certainly had run-ins with both of his hometown clubs’ owners and managers, which was brave when that’s where a lot of his work came from. However, I don’t know the reasons why he’s leaving and I suspect that you don’t either and I also don’t think we should be overlaying our own views and rationale to fit. We’ll hear soon enough what his plans are and I’d be happy if he was involved in reporting on matters football.
Agree with Blu.
Having said that, I clearly remember the show (I was building furniture at the time!) where Jim broke the news that the SPL clubs would not/ could not vote RFC back in in whatever form into the SPL because of the season ticket backlash. Cue much tea spluttering from both myself and the usual suspects in the studio.
As Blu said. Wasn’t saying anything as a wind up or just to curry favour or score brownie points, just reporting the facts as they were, kind of how you would wish a publicly funded journalist to do.
Got totally confused when I saw that ‘Hibs’ was playing a CL qualifier tie today.
But on further checking that would be the ‘Hibs’ of Malta !
Learn something every day…
[And the Maltese version did win the FA Cup as recently as 2013. Tin hat on. 😉 ]
http://www.hiberniansfc.org/Honours.aspx
Football agents must have made a fortune in the time of mendacious moonbeams that Scottish football went through in the years leading up to 2012. Much, much more than the MSM, those guys must miss the bad old days.
Do they, though, have the power and the influence to fuel all the lobbying that goes on to make things wrong again?
blu says:
Member: (195 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 4:06 pm
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I think most people probably agree with much of what you say. Jim Spence will be missed because he demonstrated a willingness to speak without fear or favour, but of course that also had to include the Rangers issue, which skewed things among the the hard of thinking. You are right, we don’t know yet his reasons for leaving but neither can we rule out the lack of public support given to him by the BBC some time ago being a festering sore which has led to it. I for one don’t want a BBC full of people who stick to only what what won’t upset the biggest demographic among Scottish football fans. If all their pundits, reporters and analysts had the principles of Jim Spence we would have a BBC to be proud of, where any view could be spoken without fear. Now that Jim Spence has gone, I see things only getting worse. Apart from Willie Miller, I can think of no other person on BBC now who won’t indulge all things Rangers either through natural bias, or a desire for an easy life. In that case, none of them should be anywhere near the BBC in my view.
It’s adopt a donkey now, is it? Kilmarnock must have been on here!
For anyone interested in retaining official records, here is the Rangers Retail Ltd. AR01 which has just been submitted to Companies House. It confirms the A/B Shares arrangement and the current 75% SD shareholding (49% SDI Retail Services Ltd and 26% Sportsdirect.com Retail Ltd).
easyJambo says:
July 14, 2015 at 7:25 pm
ref. Rangers Retail Ltd. ARO1
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Thanks for the link. I see that CJOlsen has no country of domicile listed, and the form isn’t signed. Is that standard?
easyJambo says:
Member: (701 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 7:25 pm
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Thanks for the link. I see they got the name right….Shareholding 3. Name, The Rangers Football Club Limited.
castaway says: July 14, 2015 at 8:22 pm
easyJambo says:
July 14, 2015 at 7:25 pm
ref. Rangers Retail Ltd. ARO1
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Thanks for the link. I see that CJOlsen has no country of domicile listed, and the form isn’t signed. Is that standard?
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It was probably submitted electronically
I hope the BBC dig out that old clip of Jim Spence getting stuck in the toilets at Celtic Park while live on air. It was hilarious.
easyJambo says:
July 14, 2015 at 8:51 pm
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Thanks. Domicile probably isn’t important anyway.
easyJambo says:
Member: (702 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 7:25 pm
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Nice link, eJ.
From which I see that oor Paul Murray seems to be living in a Historic Scotland listed house, with an estimated value between £2.6M and £3 and a bit million.
If he’s renting it, the rental range is said to be £7,522-£9592 pcm.
If those are any way accurate figures, one can see that the shifting of season tickets in some numbers might be thought to be a fairly pressing need.
On an entirely different tack.
PMcG intimated the 3 step process: of which the main plank has been lodged.
Did DCK really plead so convincingly at their meeting that 2 and 3 are now so moot as to not be worth the bother? Also just what eye watering level were the 5 QCs/briefs worth in the judges eyes?
IE is there another huge bill to come?
Sorry to see Jim Spence leaving the BBC. Always an entertaining listen and, at least in covering east-coast football north of the Tay, seemed to be bang on the money with exclusives etc. A national show like Sportsound needs a balance and I wonder where that will come from now.
Can’t deny he was a target for anger from Rangers fans re OCNC issue, but it was unjustified that he was singled out for flak over others. Fact is, before the BBC Trust investigation/inaccuracy findings, the “new Rangers/club” line was widespread across BBC Scotland, indeed the organisation put up a stout defence of that position to the ESC, albeit ultimately unsuccessful.
I don’t think towing the party line following that ruling was Jim’s style. Whether that was one aspect of his decision to move on I trust the TSFM lads interviewing him will get digging! 🙂
Enjoyed the Jim Spence discussions today, he will of course be missed from a balance point of view on BBC, a hard act to replace, should they even aspire to do so.
Wee bit OT but it caused me to revisit the Jum Spence parody Twitter account for the first time in ages. Well worth a look if you need a chuckle, you find yourself doing the accent and its proper laughing out loud stuff
StevieBC says:
Member: (778 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 3:39 pm
‘..Presumably, he Jim Spence]will be restricted on what he can say wrt BBC, [?]..’
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Now there’s a thought: does the BBC impose gagging orders on staff who resign,to prevent them blowing the gaff on any dirty work they saw at the crossroads?
Do BBC staff sign the equivalent of the Official Secrets Act?
If (or even if not,when it comes to the bit) Jim is leaving the BBC in general disgust at the failure of his editors and colleagues to act with journalistic integrity, might he think he may have an interesting book to write, with pithy little anecdotes about some of the pissy ‘colleagues’ and ‘editors’ he worked with?
Would he have to wait till they were a’ deid before he could safely recount the tales?
I can see a fairly substantial market for any ‘insider’s’ expose [sorry, I don’t know how to put the wee acute accent on the final ‘e’] of the editorial or other decisions which kept the story of ‘the BBC’s’ complicity in keeping the ‘saga’ un-investigated (whether as a business story or as a sports story), while allowing at the same time BBC Radio Scotland to act as little more than propagandists for ,first, a dead club, and then as cheerleaders for all kinds of ‘saviours’ of a new club which found itself in desperate financial straits..
I would even buy such an expose.
John Clark says:
Member: (993 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 10:55 pm
“Do BBC staff sign the equivalent of the Official Secrets Act?”
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The BBC Radio 5 way agreement ? 😀
Do we remember the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee’s decision?
We surely do, for it out-Brysoned Bryson in its perverted reasoning. It flew in the face of actual legal facts and ordinary business/commercial reality by trying to equate the sale of the assets of a liquidated club to the sale of a living club to a different owner.
I personally have little doubt that it was deliberately steered in that direction for reasons unconnected with notions of truth and objectivity,just as LNS was, as I opine, manipulated.
woodstein says:
Member: (120 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 11:24 pm
‘The BBC Radio 5 way agreement ? ‘
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Brilliant! that made me laugh out loud, as Mrs C walked in to the kitchen. And she laughed too, (as I slid my wee hauf discreetly to the side). 😀
an old former colleague has asked assistance in settling an ‘ office’ issue down south….
why do trfc have 5 stars on their strips he asks ?
it marks their history and a world record a wise owl replies….. one star for each secret agreement they have with their national football association….. kno what a mean guv………………….
I know I’m bad … but anyone with an ounce of devilment will know what to do 😈 http://www.sonsofstruth.co.uk/sponsorship-of-sos-football-academy.html
John Clark says:
Member: (995 comments)
July 14, 2015 at 11:47 pm
“that made me laugh out loud”
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Nothing better than a Laff and a Hauf before bed. :irony:
I noticed from the link that DCK has an upcoming significant birthday . Mibbes he’ll unveil his present to TRFC fans then ?