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.
ianagain says:
Member: (597 comments)
June 22, 2015 at 10:39 pm
So Celtic Aberdeen Saints and ICT now know there opponents.
What’s the costs here?
…….
Aberdeen – Shkendija. Macedonia – Worse still maybe Thessalonika and a bus. Or give it a miss altogether.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Wizz Air – Luton to Skopje is less than £100, Luton easy enough to get to. Match will probably be played in Skopje as well but if not they are only 45 mins away.
Regarding the ‘Club’ known as “Parma”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33224457
What does this story mean exactly?
Will they be the same Parma ?
Will they be a new Parma?
Is it the ‘company’ which has gone bankrupt ?
Is it the ‘Club’ which has gone bankrupt ?
Cheers in advance
neepheid says:
Member: (639 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 9:37 am
Really, what is going on in this country?
===================================================================
Journalism is dead in Scotland – eliminated by the toxic environment of management and owners’ attitudes to non-positive stories about the establishment – including RFC. It really is that simple.
Journalists who ask awkward questions are not supported by their employers and risk their livelihood and physical violence. Where does that put Scotland in the world league table of mature, free, democratic societies?
Remember we are talking mainly here about asking awkward questions about FOOTBALL – an inconsequential pastime for the masses. How many serious, non-positive stories about the Scottish establishment have not been questioned awkwardly? How many genuine, high quality journalists have evolved to endure the toxic environment, and stand ready to risk all by jumping on stories of dirty deeds by Scotland’s movers and shakers?
That BBC Scotland behaves in much the same way as the gutter press makes this a UK disgrace – not only a Scottish disgrace.
mcfc says:
Member: (1410 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 10:33 am
==================================================
Journalism is dead in Scotland
————————————————————-
I wouldn’t say the quality of journalism down South these days is much to celebrate either….. There are of course some exceptions, but what can pass as journalism these days is truly depressing
mcfc says:
Member: (1410 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 10:33 am
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I agree with you.
Like in football, people in media realised a long time ago that it’s all about money. If you give the people what they want, you will make more money (Murdoch, R.). Frightfully boring subjects such as Greece’s relationship with the rest of the European Union, what is going on in Ukraine, the situation in Syria and its implications for the region and the world, or the reasons why people from Africa are queueing up to give human-traffickers all their worldly goods and more for the privilege of attempting to cross the Mediterranean in an overcrowded unseaworthy ship still receive coverage, but you have to try very hard to get your editor to devote budget and space or airtime to those things, what with Taylor Swift giving Apple a piece of her mind and Jack Grealish drinking some beer and all.
The situation is even worse at local level. Local papers no longer cover local democracy. It’s too boring. Far better to find a budgie that lives in a bus shelter or a man with who grew a courgette that looks like John Lennon. The people who decide to hand the site of a health centre over for Tesco to build its eighty-fourth store in your area? The people who decide they are no longer going to subsidise school buses for children in rural areas? The ones who decide to hand care for people with dementia over to a private company called Dorsal Finn Healthcare Solutions plc? None of us even know their names.
It cannot continue.
jimlarkin says:
Member: (312 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 10:31 am
As far as I’m aware, Italian clubs are run as franchises, so if one goes bust, another franchisee takes it over and it’s business as usual!
Parma have gone bust before and returned with history intact, as did Fiorentina.
The Italian FA’s rules allow this, but unfortunately for any Sevco fans looking in, the SFA’s do not; or at least didn’t at the time the old Rangers went belly up.
tayred says:
Member: (132 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 10:52 am
I wouldn’t say the quality of journalism down South these days is much to celebrate either….. There are of course some exceptions, but what can pass as journalism these days is truly depressing
====================================================================
Is that the “They are just the same” defence?
Journalism elsewhere may not be great – but journalism is Scotland is DEAD – don’t confuse the two things. Not breathing very well and not breathing at all are very different.
Can you seriously imagine any of the top clubs in the EPL going through The Rangers’ panto and getting so little serious investigation?
tayred says:
Member: (131 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 9:27 am
Morning all. Just a few comments on Collins and euro coefficients.
I have some sympathies with both sides of the “what he said argument” I have no doubt for example that he has been to some extent misquoted, or at least the readers are being misdirected by the surrounding discussion as driven by the author. I have no ill feeling towards Collins, not in this respect anyway ?
As a diddy fan of a diddy club however, it does grate when repeatedly the finger of blame is pointed at us diddies for somehow being responsible for this damned coefficient being dragged down. You see I am old enough to recall when Celtic and Rangers (in liquidation) were the weak links. I can remember Aberdeen terrorising teams like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid or when Dundee Utd went to the Neu Camp and royally spanked Barca. Fabulous days mirroring Celtic in Lisbon, young and primarily (completely?) Scottish teams growing in stature and taking on and beating the worlds best.
Then football ate itself. Here in Scotland the game imploded thanks to stupid money being thrown at the game by stupid people. £10 for every £5 etc. Us provincial (whatever the gel that means), who were still a force to be reckoned with up till that point, then had to spend money we simply didn’t have in a vain attempt to keep up. That was doomed to go wrong and it did. But hey, at least our boards recognised the fact and pulled out of the arms race and sensibly resorted back to living within our means.
Bosman – for all it’s rights and wrongs completed the job. No longer could transfer fees work to our advantage either.
Sorry if this upsets the big two and their fans and the press. We ran out of money thanks almost entirely to Murray and the ostrich-like behaviour of the SMSM. We have taken years to recover from that. Meantime European football has moved on. I think progress is being made, but now we are swimming against an almost impossible tide thanks to those big European clubs ensuring the entire system is skewed to secure them as much money as possible and to hell with the rest of us.
European football is stagnant. I don’t tend to watch much of it these days. It’s like the SPFL used to be before the recent revival mixed things up a bit, the same clubs playing the same clubs year after year with very similar results. The “romance” of europe was playing clubs you had barely heard of and the chance to take on one of the big boys. Now you don’t get a chance at the big boys. You have to clear four rounds of diddies and semi-diddies first before you are deemed acceptable to join that club.
Best solution – everyone in a massive hat. Knock-out competition right from the start. NO seeding whatsoever. Money then gets more evenly shared, everyone has a shot at drawing that glamour tie, interest in the game soars thanks to that “romance of the cup” and yet the best team will still win. The big clubs will still make more money than anyone else. But everyone, everyone will get way more enjoyment….
….except the broadcasters who will continue to tell us we want to watch Barca v Real Madrid for the 20th time. I for one don’t, frankly it bores me senseless!
53 0 Rate This
==============================
Excellent post Tayred.
Like you, i long ago lost any interest in the “Champions League”. Its a very boring spectacle as far as I am concerned.
mcfc says:
Member: (1411 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 11:32 am
Is that the “They are just the same” defence?
——————————————————————-
No, or at least it wasn’t intended to be.
I’m not going to defend the SMSM, although I think more than we believe would be capable of producing a more coherent thought process to their storylines but are stymied (sp?) by their editors (and whoever is pulling their strings). That just leads to printing the party line. Printing the party line is also what happens in a lot of the national press. Jesus just look at the coverage in the build up to the election! It was pathetic.
I do believe fear has played a significant part in the silence regards the TRFC story. Those that have raised their heads above the parapets have had to then duck quickly as vitriol and hatred is hurled at them and their families. Shame then that their colleagues would rather hide and avoid rather than stand up alongside and fight back – how can these individuals call themselves journalists while other proper journalists are out in war torn areas of the world risking all sorts.
Journalism in Scotland is not dead, this is a national problem. Your comment:
“Can you seriously imagine any of the top clubs in the EPL going through The Rangers’ panto and getting so little serious investigation?”
Where are the national papers then? They could cover this too you know, but have chosen not to. Why? I’d have thought it would be right up their street – “oh look at those useless Jocks”. But no, there is no coverage at all. Is that a more defensible situation than that of the Scottish press you have declared dead? We have a story of serious fraud, tax evasion, tax payers money being poured down the drain, of a convicted tax fraudster being welcomed into a UK institution etc etc etc. If the nationals are capable of turning their backs on this sorry story, what else have they decided to ignore? I believe a lot more than any of us would care to imagine.
I’m sorry I am just not willing to accept that the quality of journalism in the UK as a whole is anything like as good as you would appear to believe.
mcfc says:
Member: (1411 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 11:32 am
—
Maybe, in a perverse way, that’s better for Scotland. The sooner it dies, the sooner we can construct something more worthwhile. Not to attempt to start up an old debate, but lots of people had high hopes for what a Yes vote might have meant for media in Scotland. Some projects, such as the National and Wings Over Scotland are continuing, and I’m glad, but no one is pretending that these ideas look like being viable in the medium or long term; quite the reverse, alas.
Meanwhile in England, just to look once more at football, the importance of which in the great scheme of things you correctly play down in your earlier comment, consider the nonsense that is the set-piece press conference with managers. It’s only of any interest whatsoever if a Nigel Pearson situation emerges, otherwise it’s just anodyne tosh, a total waste of everyone’s time.
A similar situation to Nigel Pearson’s emerged last season in Spain when Eibar visited Almería in April. At the post-match press conference, Eibar manager, Gaizka Garitano, answered the first question in Basque, the language the journalist used to ask the question. About 30 seconds into his answer, you can hear people raise objections in the room (Basque is very distinctive and, unlike with Catalan or Valencian or Galician if you can only speak Castilian you can’t even guess at what’s going on). Then the Almería press officer is heard saying, very politely, to Gaizka Garitano that the convention at their club is to take questions in Castilian first and then in whatever other language (“even Barcelona do that when they come here”).
You can probably guess what happens next, but if not, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1GuH3KjvhQ
The point is that you would be hard pressed to find another example of a memorable press conference from the entire season as they all meld into video, audio and written nothingness.
The King reminds me of the old reference chestnut ‘ You will be doing well if you can get Mr BFB to work for your company’ – ‘You will be doing well if you can get Mr King investing in your company’. That also fits with the current journalistic hermeneutic on things from Ibrox as opposed to everybody else. It might be called the Moravcic Manouevre. The problem is that the Ibrox praise is a set of eulogies for the terminally unviable,that inconvenient truth is unavoidable.
Who is the most likely to succeed in their public life Donald Trump as President or DCK as TRFC saviour? We will see the first hairball as First Lady before Zadok troubles Govan.
neepheid says:
Member: (639 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 8:47 am
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/launch-of-the-new-companies-house-public-beta-service
Good news from Companies House for those interested in researching the companies involved in this saga-
—————-
That is a very good spot.
Allows me to look up some more info on the company i work for.
Also would allow someone to actually do research on TRFC/RIFC and all the other SPFL football clubs in scotland.
Note that Mr. David Cunningham King is not appointed to either TRFC/RIFC at the moment, but this shows up for rangers retail limited…
4 June….Appointment of Mr David Cunningham King as a director on 4 June 2015
Oh the joys,
buddy
buddy_holly says:
Member: (8 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Note that Mr. David Cunningham King is not appointed to either TRFC/RIFC at the moment, but this shows up for rangers retail limited…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I checked RIFC this morning, and King is shown a director as follows-
KING, David Cunningham
Ibrox Stadium, Edmiston Drive, Glasgow, Scotland, Uk, G51 2XD
Role
Director
Date of birth
3 August 1955
Appointed on
18 May 2015
Occupation
Businessman
Country of residence
South Africa
Nationality
United Kingdom
BigGav says:
Member: (18 comments)
June 20, 2015 at 9:38 am
Methilhill Stroller says:
June 19, 2015 at 11:52 pm
Just been asked by management at home in which year was the East Fife 2-2 Celtic game. Will have to do research but it might be about 35-40 years ago.
Then am asked who is Lawrie and which players missed the pens – no idea about Lawrie but will need to do some serious thinking on the pens. I think Bobby Lennox was one, maybe Harry Hood and and either Kenny Dalglish or George McCluskey but we are going back in time. One pen was saved but the ref ordered a retake because Ernie moved a muscle too early but they still changed the player taking the kick and still didn’t score. Billy McPhee scored a pen for us to show them how it was done but Dixie Deans equalised to share the spoils.
—-
Feb 17th 1973
East Fife 2-2 Celtic (HT 0-1)
Scorers:
McPhee (48 pen), Borthwick (51)
Deans (22, 87)
Penalties missed by Murdoch, Hood and Dalglish.
East Fife went on to finish 9th (in a league of 18).
________________________________________________________________
Celtic and East Fife met 5 teams in season 72/73. Twice in the league, twice in league cup section and once in Scottish Cup.
Celtic won 3 and 2 were drawn.
http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/1973-02-17%3A+East+Fife+2-2+Celtic%2C+League+Division+1+-+Pictures
tayred says:
Member: (133 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 11:54 am
Where are the national papers then? They could cover this too you know, but have chosen not to. Why? I’d have thought it would be right up their street – “oh look at those useless Jocks”. But no, there is no coverage at all. Is that a more defensible situation than that of the Scottish press you have declared dead
========================================================
I must disagree with you. Scottish journalism IS DEAD. When any dog in the street could ask you twenty cutting questions about RIFC finances and sustainability and not one of them is being asked in the media – that is DEAD journalism.
On national coverage, I imagine it is simply that each media conglomerate devolves local coverage to its local people with local sensitivities – and feeds potentially big stories up the structure for wider coverage. It’s not for some London hack to independently spend his time chasing Glasgow stories any more than it is for a Glasgow hack to independently investigate Boris Johnson’s antics. So ZERO meaning ful national coverage of the RIFC saga – move along – nothing to see here. Hence my comment on BBC Scotland which owes its licence payers a much better service than the optional-cost gutter press.
Good Afternoon.
(If I may) here is a very short piece about gloating.
There’s quite a bit of it about. Although I have no idea why…
You may recognise some of the things I describe!
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/the-gloat/
Have a good afternoon
neepheid says:
Member: (640 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:22 pm
buddy_holly says:
Member: (8 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Note that Mr. David Cunningham King is not appointed to either TRFC/RIFC at the moment, but this shows up for rangers retail limited…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I checked RIFC this morning, and King is shown a director as follows-
KING, David Cunningham
Ibrox Stadium, Edmiston Drive, Glasgow, Scotland, Uk, G51 2XD
Role
Director
Date of birth
3 August 1955
Appointed on
18 May 2015
Occupation
Businessman
Country of residence
South Africa
Nationality
United Kingdom
———
Apologies neepheid, you are most correct.
In my dance through the TRFC/RIFC/Rangers Retail and others i missed that crucial detail.
Sorry,
Buddy
“Occupation
Businessman”
mcfc says:
Member: (1412 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:28 pm
I must disagree with you. Scottish journalism IS DEAD. When any dog in the street could ask you twenty cutting questions about RIFC finances and sustainability and not one of them is being asked in the media – that is DEAD journalism.
On national coverage,…….. It’s not for some London hack to independently spend his time chasing Glasgow stories than it is for a Glasgow hack to independently investigate Boris Johnson’s antics. So ZERO meaning ful national coverage of the RIFC saga – move along – nothing to see here.
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Unsurprisingly I disagree with you 🙂 Or almost, I see what you are saying, and have sympathies. But I completely disagree with your idea that it has nothing to do with the National press. Of course it does! If nothing else they could have a wonderful time reporting the poor state of the SMSM. As for your press hound analogy, many “wee brown dugs” fae Glasgow could ask Cameron et al some very probing questions which none of the standard pressers seem willing to ask, or at least ask and attempt to force an answer out of him. Depends who you cosy up to really – does that mean the English press is also dead? No, of course not.
But, this is not just the Scottish tax payer thats being shafted, this is the UK tax payer. This is national news especially given the current austerity drive. If any sporting institution was caught owing the country millions in tax it has to be national news, what difference does it make if its Rangers, Chelsea, Man City or Aberyswyth? Its a national story. If the Scottish press is dead for not reporting it properly, then sorry the National press is also at best on life support.
I’m surprised at your stance on this, as its clear you have become hooked on the story and you provide some wonderful input and insight from an alternative viewpoint. So, why do you think the UK audience would be so uninterested? Do you believe people won’t want to read it? Do you think that this isn’t a sufficiently twisted story to grasp folks imagination outside Scotland?
I think it would if some journalist would just pick up the story and run with it. My own belief is that the National press have just avoided it, the whole Celtic v Rangers thing and its associated shenanigans have been misunderstood and misrepresented by them for years. Too complicated, lets just lay low and hope it goes away would seem to be the only explanation for their non-interest.
tayred says:
Member: (134 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:51 pm
mcfc says:
Member: (1412 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:28 pm
=====================
It seems to me MCFC that you’re in one of your failure to understand Scotland episodes, but it’s moot anyway – look at the circulation figures: printed media isn’t news any more. In recent years the award winning pieces of journalism have depended on information handed on a plate – both The Telegraph and the Guardian were highly lauded for the parliamentary expenses scandal and the wikileaks revelations, neither found the story.
I can tell you why the British press in general would be uninterested – for the same reason that they were completely uninterested in the indy ref until it suddenly looked like ‘Yes’ might actually win: we are, and always have been, a diddy backwater as far as they are concerned.
I live in England. I know how we are viewed down south, and quite honestly, no-one could care less. If anything, they just wish that our noisy politicians would shut up, and can’t believe how ungrateful we are to them for subsidising us with our own oil and whisky revenues.
The idea that a football team owing a few tens of millions of tax would even cause a ripple down here is absurd. All they can see is that Scottish football cut it’s own throat by relegating one of the two big teams that create any actual interest, and no amount of ‘no, they weren’t relegated – they ceased to exist’ will ever change that. They simply don’t care. They’ve got their stereotypes about Scottish football, and they don’t want them to change.
I know it’s not a nice message, but MCFC is simply stating the truth. If it was Chelsea or Man Utd, then it would be a story, because the press know that there would be massive public interest, but a big fish in small pond somewhere over ‘The Wall’ in Winterfell? Not likely.
BTW I do agree with your European comments. I don’t watch Champions League football anymore. I’m bored by it. I might watch if it’s Celtic, and I’d definitely watch the Europa league games involving Scottish clubs (if the BBC could be bothered to show them – they didn’t even do website text commentary on the early matches last season).
The SMSM don’t seem to realise that the European game is a closed shop now. Countries like ours, that only maybe pull in a couple of million viewers, aren’t wanted in the Champions league, and it’s been made as difficult as possible for us to make any progress. Aberdeen beating Gronigen last year should have been celebrated for the great result that it was, but instead, we’re now being subjected to a European re-write, that somehow it’s our own team’s fault for UEFA not inviting them to be part of the in-crowd and easing their path.
tayred says:
Member: (134 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:51 pm
I’m surprised at your stance on this, as its clear you have become hooked on the story and you provide some wonderful input and insight from an alternative viewpoint. So, why do you think the UK audience would be so uninterested? Do you believe people won’t want to read it? Do you think that this isn’t a sufficiently twisted story to grasp folks imagination outside Scotland?
============================
I’m not defending the UK press – there are many weaknesses that we could agree on. With rare exceptions, the finances of the press no longer support genuine investigation and gravitate towards lowest common denominator entertainment. If you want to put the wider media on trial, that is fine by me, but let’s deal with one case at a time and judge it on its merits.
My charge is simple. The Scottish media is entirely broken when it comes to asking the most obvious questions about RFC, TRFC, RIFC, SFA, SPFL, SPL, SFL, Police Scotland. LNS, HMRC, D&P, BDO and numerous individuals.
Every single day for several years Scottish journalists have avoided blindingly obvious questions and spun moonbeams about something else, anything else, to fill headlines and column inches. Even when discussing the topic, instead of stating the incontrovertible facts (eg liquidation) they have tippy toed around the subject with weasel words and obsequiousness off the Jackson scale. This is a total, absolute, undiluted, unmitigated 100% failure of journalism.
Like stepping over a rotting corpse on their own door step each morning to go to work and again returning in the evening – they have suppressed the most basic human instinct to ask who, why, when, how, what and where.
We can speculate and debate the reasons but this journalism is DEAD.
It’s a fair point to ask why the wider UK or worldwide press has not picked up on such a juicy story with obvious national themes eg tax evasion. Personally I’m at a loss to answer that. I remember years ago predicting that once this story leaked out of Scotland the whole country would be wracked by scandal. And I’m still waiting. I suspect the first port of call for journalists worthy of the name from further afield has been their fellow Scottish “journalists” with local knowledge. One can only assume these strangers have been warned off or sold the line that there is no story – just a load of gobby bampots obsessing, some administrative inadequacies, some misunderstanding and cultural misinterpretations. That the strangers left it at that, with a few exceptions, is a valid criticism – but a much lesser one.
AmFearLiathMòr says:
Member: (64 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 1:31 pm
Yip, I agree. I lived down south for 6 years, so I know only to well that that is A reason. What happens in Scotland really doesn’t matter to the national press. That said it is just a scaled up version of the Scottish press – what happens outside Edinburgh and Glasgow doesn’t really matter! 😛
I think I reacted badly to the Scottish Press is dead statement – ironic when the English, sorry national press has been dead up here for years!
Sorry MCFC! I enjoy arguing with MCFC fans, my brother has been a season ticket holder way back to the Maine Road years..
Drrring drrring.
Hello? Is that Mr Ashley? I’m phoning from the Daily Thing, I was just… Hello? Mr Ashley? Oh.
Prrrrrrrrrt.
For Ashley above substitute King, Murray, the other Murray, the other other Murray, the lot of them.
What Scottish football needs – even more than a professionalised TSFM sadly – is a Wikileaks infodump. On Keith Jackson’s fact-resistant head.
blu says:
Member: (183 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 1:12 pm
It seems to me MCFC that you’re in one of your failure to understand Scotland episodes,
===============================================
that’s a cracker 🙂
Re JimLarkin’s earlier post on the BBC’s Parma story, here is a link to the full history of Parma’s second liquidation in ten years. There are many parallels to TRFC and to our governing bodies, especially as regards the Fit and Proper Person test. Or non-test.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/23/parma-the-football-club-milked-for-all-their-worth
futbol says:
Member: (46 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:40 pm
“Occupation
Businessman”
================================================================
Futbol…a veritable smokescreen as to his activities/hobbies.. 😈 …but dare I say no worse than some occupations that I have included in my own company formations.
At least he is not being described as an accountant, chartered or otherwise! 🙂
It would be quite ironic if Murray junior, christened Paul Potless by some wag, (probably Clumps), ends up having more day to day disposable cash than David Cunningham King.
The new boy at Ibrox can certainly regurgitate a Traynor script without baulking at the obvious bollox it contains. He has a big MSM career ahead of him once he’s won 9-in-a-row in the Champions Leugue.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/rangers/13348459.Rob_Kiernan_insists_Rangers_are_bigger_than_many_English_Premier_League_sides/
rabtdog says:
Member: (60 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 1:46 pm
What Scottish football needs – even more than a professionalised TSFM sadly – is a Wikileaks infodump. On Keith Jackson’s fact-resistant head.
===================
Wasn’t the original Charlotte Fakes just that- a data dump for anyone interested? And what was done with all those juicy morsels? Hee haw, that’s a’, as my granny would no doubt have said. I recall endless debate on here as to precisely why the press wouldn’t touch that stuff, but my view was always that any old excuse would do- they really didn’t want to know. Fearless journalists? I don’t really think so.
Matty Roth says:
Member: (187 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 11:45 am
tayred says:
…
Like you, i long ago lost any interest in the “Champions League”. Its a very boring spectacle as far as I am concerned.
==========================================
I must admit that I only really take an interest in the CL knockout rounds now.
The tournament has been devalued, IMO, since the introduction of the league format – for maximising commercial revenue of course. And, IIRC, was it not Rangers, [& Ogilvie in particular], who had been vocal supporters for this format ?!
Anyway, at some point in the future fans might get bored with the same 4/6 teams swapping the CL trophy between themselves, season after season.
And if/when the TV ratings fall, they will have to re-jig the tournament again.
But by then the gulf between the top European clubs and the rest maybe significantly wider than it is currently.
I fully expected Ashley to make a swift legal move following the EGM. Might the delay indicate that he has made, or is considering making some sort of deal with DCK?
As mentioned: if I was King, and some blogger had issued a falsehood that I had tried to offload my shares to the perceived enemy, Ashley in a secret meeting…I would immediately issue a strongly worded statement to the contrary.
I would also state that I was initiating legal proceedings for libel.
But King hasn’t, because he can’t ?
Have we seen the last of King’s ‘jetting-in’ ?
So…who’s next up then as TRFC saviour ? 😯
As discussed here at length, I don’t see any advantage to Ashley of actually making his move. He is secured in any case and he has the luxury that, unlike some, he doesn’t need the first £5m at the moment.
The threat of action was enough to show up King for what he apparently was and still is, a man of insufficient means to finance his mouth.
No. More brownie points to Ashley to just sit back, consider the generous offer of shares (like an SFA ban will stop him), consider the request to provide further loan funding or possibly the most likely option, do nothing, watch the retail revenue drift in, more than likely proportional to season ticket sales and just see what develops, and what funds they use to develop it.
There is no incentive to him to crash the bus unless he has a shadow buyer already lined up of course.
Interestingly having gone on my afternoon tea trawl, I see Phil is agreeing – that Sevco could do a lot worse than invite an actual bona fide billionaire back into the fold and that crashing the bus just wouldn’t seem to be the sensible play (notwithstanding the merest minor insignificant soupcon of fact that from a purely trading perspective that an event tomorrow would probably be in their best interests but there you go!)
Kudos to Phil, I must admit I hadn’t even considered the option that King had actually gone rogue and wasn’t even ‘offering’ on behalf of sevco per se.
And still no denial either!
Jungle Jim @ 3:36pm
Could be that Ashley is waiting for the Season Ticket money to roll (stagger) in.
After all, if you are planning to ring fence the first £5m of it why interrupt them while they are gathering it in for you.
Reference Mr Ashley and Mr King’s meeting (as no formal denial yet), this as Phil states infers that the board are not all together as RRM are supposed to be ( integrity tradition transparency etc…). Now just imagine that Mr Ashley wants King ridiculed and removed (in that order) and Mr Ashley places say Mr Sarver in at Ibrox. This is not outside the realms of impossibility (in fact with this club nothing is outside the realms of impossibility) the problem arises how the smsm can then back the next board and actually discredit Mr King and his past in SA and therefore admit he should never been involved in Ibrox for a second time. How will the fans react, will they just wait for the press to shame Mr King (in saying that there are some rangers fans websites not buying into Mr King) and they will all follow the printed press and agree?. They have Mr Ashley whom they do not want anywhere near their club (a billionaire a real billionaire and they want him away, unbelievable) will they wait for the press to say that Mr Ashley is really ok and then all will be fine again. Who knows how they think. The last thing the Govan fans want is for the club to die again ( imagine having to say die again, but that is where we are with this club) so follow follow whoever the smsm tells them to seems to be par for the course.
The fact is the press and the Govan fans all to a man wanted RRM in charge so if it fails what next, really what next for them. Armageddon does not cover it IMO.
Does anyone remember when the last King quote appeared in the press?
The absence from the EGM is one thing (which I put down to my theory about it being incredibly difficult to be chairman of Rangers whilst domiciled in RSA), but the absence of dialogue between him and the new manager should have alarm bells ringing loudly at Bear Central.
I never countenanced the idea that he has done a runner although I had considered a couple of weeks ago that it might only be a matter of time before the 3Bs cut him loose.
If he has ben given his marching orders (or fled) that might be a blow to Bear morale short-term, but a huge bonus to their medium to long term prospects.
Ashley set a 10-day deadline for payment if Resolution 1 was passed at the GM. From memory, the result was announced last Monday or Tuesday and it wasn’t passed anyway (just). So *if* he takes action I wouldn’t expect anything to happen until the end of this week.
But I agree with the above comments: he doesn’t need to do anything. He can just wait for the call for help and perhaps deliver a new set of terms.
“(a billionaire a real billionaire and they want him away, unbelievable)”
Mr Ashley is very very good at what he does,so are the great pelagic sharks. Neither have the interests of football at heart.
Based on the assumption that King – unlike Warburton – is now toast at TRFC…
I’m coming round to GoosyGoosy’s very early prediction that Sarver could make a reappearance.
It doesn’t seem like Ashley could ever become an ‘acceptable’ TRFC saviour to the bears – even if he wanted to – so another front person would suffice.
If not Sarver then someone else with even the vaguest of ‘blue credentials’.
Why would anyone expect Sarver to come back? Thought he was buying Levante now.
I linked to the site, right at the tail end of the last blog. Some interesting info there
Just on Phil’s stories.
It’s very easy to ask “why does no journalist phone up and check?” but who would you call?
The Ibrox press office?
Level 5?
Sports Direct?
If they all refuse to comment what do you have left, telling your editor you have a story from a blog that no-one will comment on?
Good luck selling that, never mind getting it past the lawyers.
James Doleman.
“..we picked up on recent speculation and approached [insert as appropriate]. They declined to answer our questions.”
usually covers it. After all its been a tried and tested technique to unsettle key opposition players prior to big matches for years.
““..we picked up on recent speculation and approached [insert as appropriate]. They declined to answer our questions.”
This is not “speculation” is a very specific report. I’m sure Phil has excellent sources so can be confident in his story, but without that can’t see anyone else running it.
James Doleman
June 23, 2015 at 7:02 pm
How do you think Phil gets his info?
He does what “real” journalists do.
I’d count myself as a “real journalist too if that’s ok. Just don’t have the contacts in Scotland to confirm or deny Phil’s story.
That’s always assuming that all three of the three bears are still involved …
scottc says:
Member: (179 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 6:53 pm
neepheid says:
Member: (641 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 8:47 am
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/launch-of-the-new-companies-house-public-beta-service
Good news from Companies House for those interested in researching the companies involved in this saga-
I linked to the site, right at the tail end of the last blog. Some interesting info there
===================================
Too much info…. who’d have thought one man could be involved in so many companies…10 pages worth…yes that’s you Mr Ashley.
One stands out and I can’t recall if Rangers Retail Rights Ltd (incorporated Sept 2024, 09210817) has elicited any previous comment on here ❓
The nature of the business is not stated but “will be provided on next annual return (Oct 2015).
It looks like the Belgian courts want to do another “Bosman” on FFP this time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33240826
Financial Fair Play: Court imposes order to block new Uefa rules
A Belgian court has imposed an interim order blocking European football governing body Uefa from activating new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The Court of First Instance referred a case brought by several claimants to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The case challenged plans to cut clubs’ permitted losses from 45m euros (£32m) to 30m euros (£21.32m).
Uefa said it will appeal against the decision and continue implementing the new rules.
The claimants in the case include football agent Daniel Striani and supporters of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain.
City and PSG were both sanctioned by Uefa last year for breaching FFP rules, which state clubs in European competition must only spend what they earn, with some limited flexibility.
Uefa president Michel Platini has already said his organisation is planning to “ease” FFP regulations, changes which could be ratified at a meeting of its executive committee in Prague next week.
Jean-Louis Dupont, the lawyer who is leading the case for the claimants, said: “We believe that this Belgian judgement is the right answer to the FFP issue.”
However, Uefa claimed the Belgian court was “incompetent” and insisted its appeal “automatically suspends the ruling of the lower court”.
“It means that Uefa can proceed with the next phase of implementation of FFP,” it said.
The governing body’s statement added: “Uefa remains fully confident that FFP is entirely in line with EU law, and that the European Court will in due course simply confirm this to be the case.”
The Belgian court is asking the ECJ if Uefa’s ‘break-even rule’, the centrepiece of FFP, violates EU regulations on free competition, free movement of capital, freedom to invest and free movement of works and services.
easyJambo says:
Member: (664 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 7:44 pm
It looks like the Belgian courts want to do another “Bosman” on FFP this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I dare say UEFA could, if they wanted, just add a qualification rule that only ‘solvent’ clubs could enter their competitions.
tayred says:
Member: (136 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:51 pm
mcfc says:
Member: (1412 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 12:28 pm
There has to be some reason for journalists simply refusing to report on the governance issues arising from RFC’s demise and SFA/SPL handling of it although it might not necessarily be the same reason for all media outlets.
Regular readers will remember a TSFM exercise from last year where 13 journalists were sent copies of the documents kept from Harper MacLeod when they were investigating the use of ebts and side letters before setting up the LNS Commission but none went to press and only one or two acknowledged the issue.
Those journalists were all in Scotland and I’m thinking of repeating the exercise but on a much wider geographical basis (anyone in Sweden or will Danish Pastry have to do 🙂 ) based around the same LNS withholding of evidence, but with the addition of what is happening on Res 12 because it seems there is a link in terms of what was not provided to SFA in 2011 and SPL in 2012 along with a persuasive narrative that we could simply ask journalist to refute.
This is by the way of a heads up because it needs to wait for a bit of legal led activity on Res12 (and you know what lawyers that don’t read SFM are like ) plus another effort to engage msm not in Scotland.
Res12 which asked Celtic to request the UEFA CFCB to investigate the process under which the UEFA 2011 licence was granted and then monitored has almost been rendered redundant by an internal RFC document that says what was shown on the RFC submission to UEFA but the questions it raises i.e why did the SFA not question the submission, takes us into what was always the underlying objective of Res12 which was transparency and accountability of the SFA. That fat lady has still to clear her throat.
On the theme of the main blog I fall back on how do you eat an elephant question. A bit at a time being the answer and the Res12/LNS issues are part of that greater elephant that the main blog wishes to address i.e restoring some sense of balance between commercialism in football/sport and sporting integrity.
Current football governance constructs do not provide that balance and until they do there is work to be done to get that message across.
I’ve compared the construct graphically as a Mobius Strip (which Res12 and LNS keep marching around and end back at the beginning). That construct needs ripping up and something with checks and balances put in its place.
That is the idea I think we have to stand for and then sell by all means possible.
Herein lies DCKs recourse. As far as I can see was adopted by the Scottish parliament:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/contents
Similar legislation available in Ireland.
Though it would appear very rarely used.
So if he wants, he has a remedy.
However “the untruth” to be undone in court has one stipulation.
IT NEEDS TO BE UNTRUE.
sixtaeseven says:
How do you think Phil gets his info?
He does what “real” journalists do.
———————–
Not to disparage Phil, but in matters Sevconian information is leaked to him by individuals with an agenda; people who know the SMSM are all singing from the same (Level 5-issued) hymn sheet, and who appreciate that Phil’s work is read by the kind of people they want to reach.
This goes double for the recent revelations about King/Ashley and their EGM coffee-morning. There isn’t a journalist in the world who could make any of the relevant parties disclose that kind of information without confronting them with the kind of evidence that would force their hand. (Acquiring such evidence about Ashley or Sevco would probably require the kind of investigative team that the Sunday Times et al. deployed in decades past.) So when these things enter the public domain you can be virtually certain that they have been placed there by a person or persons directly involved in the action, with a specific purpose in mind. In the case of D. King’s ill-starred imitation of Rudolph Hess, only two people could have leaked the details of the big meeting. Since those details were humiliating–and quite possibly devastating–for King, that narrows down the list of candidates. (Given everything we know about Large Michael and his modus operandi, we can safely assume that no executive-level Sports Direct employee would ever risk getting involved in this kind of high-stakes intrigue.)
At this point it’s inconceivable that any of the consensus-makers within the SMSM are unaware of the Lying King’s extra-curricular hi-jinks. And while King’s fellow Big Hoose custodians don’t have to worry about any stenographer breaking ranks on this thing, imagine how utterly humiliating it must be for them. On a daily basis. Which brings us back round to the fact that by electing to endure their public humiliation with as much dignity (dignity!) as they can muster, they are more or less confirming the veracity of Phil’s story; and confirming its source.
When’s the next episode comin’ on?!
easyJambo says:
Member: (664 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 7:44 pm
Given that much of UEFA FFP depended upon a EU White Paper on Sport
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/sport/l35010_en.htm
which in turn drew upon the work of Ivo Belet a Belgian MP the author of The Future of Professional Football in Europe,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A6-2007-0036+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
I’m not surprised resistance to watering down FFP is coming from Belgium who host the EU Parliament and Commission.
Much of FFP came about under the threat of EU Government intervention (on for example enhancing the tax overdue rules) so UEFA has to be careful, especially with public opinion on FIFA at an all time low, that in insisting on diluting the rules, they do not invite what I feel is necessary for proper governance and that is legislation to enforce it.
“Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.”
Claud Cockburn
parttimearab says:
Member: (363 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 7:42 pm
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/launch-of-the-new-companies-house-public-beta-service
_______________
I went the other way and searched for “Rangers”.
Found Rangers Retail Rights and also one called Rangers First that has a familiar look about it but hasn’t done much. Nice to see Wavetower, “Rangers Group” still going strong with CW as Director and Liberty Capital’s Floating Charge still there.
James Doleman says:
Member: (82 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 9:30 pm
‘….“Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.”
Claud Cockburn’
___________
James Doleman! With that reference to Cockburn, you have sent me on a
very entertaining journey through Wiki entries. Flanders and Swann, Evelyn Waugh, the Spanish Civil war ( must re-read ‘The Siege of the Alcazar’!) …
But, of course, Cockburn would, if he were a practising journalist in Scotland today might possibly not, anymore than the SMSM , be on the side of truth and integrity, but pushing his own ideological view by pushing puff pieces and NOT phoning Ashley/King to look for ‘truth’ by trying to get an officia denial..
Questions in the Twittersphere of late about TRFC’s pre season plans or lack thereof. There do not appear to be any pre-season fixtures in their diary.
People saying they are the only club in this position.
If PMG is correct about DCK doing his end run around the rest of the board and with all the redundancies made by Lambias & Leach prior to their removal is anyone properly in charge of day to day matters and making sure that normal business activities and planning are being undertaken?
Auldheid, maybe Andrew Jennings would take a look. I know he’s, quite rightly, enjoying lots of limelight at the moment for his years of FIFA investigations, but that can’t last for ever.
Imagine if he got his teeth into LNS.
Jennings self-identifies as Scottish.
SMSM you too could have a reputation as towering as this. If only you were a journalist!
Thanks James Doleman (Definitely non MS)
He is too easily forgotten.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/claud-cockburn-my-father-the-mi5-suspect-6145161.html
Esteban says:
Member: (103 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 10:47 pm
Auldheid, maybe Andrew Jennings would take a look. I know he’s, quite rightly, enjoying lots of limelight at the moment for his years of FIFA investigations, but that can’t last for ever.
Imagine if he got his teeth into LNS.
Jennings self-identifies as Scottish.
======================================
Maybe worth a try now I had a exchange with him in RTC days and nothing no positive response. He was busy. Know I understand on what.
ianagain says:
Member: (600 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 11:06 pm
______
Thanks for that link about Cockburn.Great reading.
Update: Total raised so far is £389.
Tomorrow evening’s program with Jim Craig and our own IanAgain will include the opportunity to “phone-in”. BP will publish the number you can phone. Be prepared to put it on speed dial though as we have only two lines available.
This will be an even greater challenge technically – and of curse without professional equipment to remove profanity, we have to trust that callers will use common sense when they do contact the studio.
I also appeal to callers to take the lead from BP if he feels the need to steer anyone away from litigation territory 🙂
This media blackout on the Dave King / Mike Ashley alleged meeting is very strange . I would have thought by now someone from the MSM would be prepared to comment on it . Is it possible that there has been some Government intervention here i.e. a D notice ?
I know it seems far fetched and I can’t see how The Rangers situation can be deemed a matter of National Security but maybe someone at the Home Office has been persuaded by those tales of Civil unrest .
Trisidium says:
Moderator: (220 comments)
June 23, 2015 at 11:50 pm
‘and of curse without professional equipment to remove profanity..’
______
Lovely little deliberate typo there, I hope?
Heaven forfend that any proper SFM poster would so far forget him/her self as to use profanities on air!
I have probably missed a bit somewhere, but who can access SFM Radio? Anyone who clicks on sfm.scot, or just those already known to be signed into the blog?
https://twitter.com/ScotMailSport/status/613481868344860672/photo/1
It would appear that DCK was indeed on ‘club business’ on the day of the Gazebo Gathering.
Oh dear!
hello, just like to say that i wont be expecting people to use such words as sevco/tribute act, etc on the podcast tonight, i expect you to remain professional through out,so instead of the word rangers can you use,The rangers or my favorite, the new club .lets steer away from the mainstream lie thank you. as for king, i think this horse has bolted,though that wont come out until the maximum amount of season tickets have been extracted from the gullible. may justice prevail.
Paradisebhoy says:
Member: (11 comments)
June 24, 2015 at 12:17 am
‘.. can’t see how The Rangers situation can be deemed a matter of National Security but maybe someone at the Home Office has been persuaded by those tales of Civil unrest .’
_______
Especially, perchance, if those tales had been verified by First Minister, in his little billet-doux to HMRC! 😆
First up, congrats on the new venture guys and I’m happy to land a hand to any aspect of it where I might be able to help.
You all know how to get in touch if you need me.
Here are some thoughts on the latest revelations about the meeting between Ashley and King, and Phil’s latest piece.
http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/a-thousand-cuts/
It would appear that I was a bit premature with my D notice suspicions and that the Scottish Daily Mail have finally broken the story . No mention of Dave King offering his shares- Yet ! 😯
Can anyone else hear the theme tune to The Dambusters in the the background ? 🙂
motor red says:
Member: (7 comments)
June 24, 2015 at 1:04 am
‘.. instead of the word rangers can you use,The rangers or my favorite, the new club .lets steer away from the mainstream lie .’
_______
I agree.
The legal records attest to the fact,
and commercial law attests to the fact,
and the feckin 5-Way Agreement attests to the fact,
that the term ‘new club’,variously known as Sevco 5088, Sevco Scotland, Rangers 2012, TRFC/RIFC, is precisely the apt and truthful description of charlatan Green’s creation.
Don’t, any of us, even think of accepting the propaganda.
The Rangers ( of my boyhood!) of George Young and Willie Woodburn and Jim Baxter and Sandy Jardine and John Greig etc etc,is as dead as Third Lanark.
Do not, on air, give any kind of credence to the SMSM/SFA/SPFL view that the new club is the old club.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3136746/Rangers-chairman-Dave-King-holds-secret-talks-bid-ease-Mike-Ashley-s-grip-retail-deal.html
No one thought to point out that an easy way for King to ease up some of the “crippling retail deal” with SD would be to pay the man the £5m he is owed. Could do this from the funds that were earmarked for ‘over-investment’, and then recover them from the share issue that will follow on from the imminent relisting, after the appointment of a suitable NOMAD.
or… you could simply ask him:
“Where is your money Mr King. Who is you’re Nomad?”
I think Mr Llambias’s second question has now been answered beyond any doubt, if not satisfactorily… ( Fr Ted can be seen explaining just that to Fr Dougal here… https://lyrasmith.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/ted-dougal-dreams-reality.jpg )
As to his first question…
I see a pattern emerging! The jury may be out, but they won’t be gone long!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyN97iPrcGk
So now the Scottish Daily Mail breaks the “scoop” published several days ago on Phil’s blog that DK met Mike Ashley on the day of the EGM. This secret meeting is no longer secret. What, if anything, did DK receive from Mike Ashley other than a cold shoulder? Is there enough money for the wage bill next week? What happens when MA goes to court and sequesters the first $5,000,000 of season ticket money to ensure repayment of his loan. What happens when the million plus SD unsold replica tops bill arrives? What happens if they do not have enough money to pay the gardeners or the IRD, or the stadium rental of 278,000 a month. Anyone see any sign of good news.