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.
Not just a nice house but the finest in jo’burg says Jim White by the time he is finished it will be the finest in any hemisphere.
The glibness shines from him and his shamelessness over Gary Player is matched only by his mendacity over the rallying call for the fans to spend more than Celtic’s – hold on for more expensive season tickets should they survive with what I believe he called their experienced management duo, only bother with that is that it is not true less than 2 years between them is it not?
The_Pie_Man says:
Member: (41 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 3:22 pm
Just want to say Good Luck to ICT tomorrow night, hope U win and I hope We win as well but knowing our Luck we will lose Never Been to Inverness, Do i need to pack any Thermal Underwear
______________________________________________________
ICT playing in Romania tomorrow. No thermals required
the Don Dionisio says:
Member: (1 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 12:29 pm
What? No Del Piero, Maldini,Totti, Baggio,Cannavaro,Baresi,Buffon,Riva,Pirlo,Nesta,Mancini,Mazzola,
Gentile, Zola, Inzaghi, etc., etc.,?
Now,why would I have mentioned those players………….?
================================
I had confined myself to players for Scottish teams, but if we widen the field to any player we have ever seen play in Scotland, then I vote for Gianni Rivera, a true football genius. I remember him totally controlling a game for AC Milan at Celtic Park, maybe 1969?
I’ve just seen the first part of JW’s exclusive. I hope Level5 paid Sky’s bill.
Is there a “fawning guff” emoticon? There should be!
Big Pink says:
Moderator: (319 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 12:45 am
…
Note: I also see that several people have only read some words from the original question 🙁
BEST, by definition is just one player. YOUR TEAM, by definition, is … oh forget it 🙂
=========================
Oh, OK then…Evander Sno. 🙄
easyJambo says:
Member: (710 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 2:13 pm
neepheid says: July 22, 2015 at 10:52 am
I note that Scotzine has highlighted Andrew Dickson’s appointment by reminding everyone that he was an EBT recipient as well as being involved in the administration of the EBTs.
=====================================0
Apart from Dickson getting a cosy spot on the inside of the SFA tent, I find it truly astonishing that he has been financial controller or Head of Football Administration at Ibrox through every change of regime since 1998.
Why would you continue to employ someone who was involved in the finance side of the business through Murray’s EBT years and all that unsustainable borrowing and spending? Hardly a great reference, is it?
Why didn’t D&P get rid of him? Why did Whyte and Green keep him on? Why did Wallace, Somers, Llambia and now King all keep him on?
I can only conclude that Dickson has a detailed skeleton inventory for every cupboard in Ibrox. And his solicitor has a copy.
The first two parts of SSN’s DCK interview have been really strange and you have to wonder why Sky bosses felt it worth spending money on a crew going over when there’s really nothing new coming from it. The first part covered only stuff everyone already knew – that TRFC* want to renegotiate the SD contracts as they believe they’re unfair to TRFC* – and other than that only gave DCK the opportunity to state again how the TRFC* fans are the ones who must pay up to make the difference. I don’t get how that helps his cause to convince all those TRFC* fans who are waiting to see the colour of King’s money. He buttered them up a bit first by claiming that for the past century TRFC* fans spent more than CFC fans and that is why TRFC* is the number one club in Scotland (he says!) but then pretty much says that if that’s where they want to be, then the fans have to start putting their hands in their pockets again!
The second wee segment seemed to be just an opportunity for him to state again his ‘Real Rangers man’ credentials by talking up his ‘lost’ £20m prior investment, claiming that because Murray used BoS’ money, he (DCK) had put more money into TRFC* than any other individual.
I really don’t get what Sky get from this.
nawlite says:
Member: (165 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 5:03 pm
…
I really don’t get what Sky get from this.
==========================================
Agreed, it does seem a bit strange.
For the time, effort and cost to Sky, you would think that the only reason they would send a team over to SA, was because King had promised a ‘scoop’ that would make it worthwhile.
Otherwise, you would simply wait for his next UK visit to speak to him, probably when he’s in London.
Has King been economical with the truth to Sky ?
Was it simply useful PR for King to show off his home, to ‘confirm’ to the bears that he had loads of dosh ?
Is King running out of UK visit days to remain out of reach of HMRC ?
I don’t get it either.
Curiouser and curiouser…
If the Rangers support have outspent every other club in Scotland for over a century why did they go into liquidation.
There can only really be one answer Dave, because the board you sat on spent more than was coming in. In spite of the amount coming in being more than anyone you were competing with (according to you).
At least he has made the future clear, the money to move forward will come from the support, not him or the other investors. That seems at odds with his claim to having spoken to his children about their inheritance and promising to put tens of millions of his own money in.
Talk is cheap Dave.
StevieBC, from reading the Bears’ Den, I don’t think it is good PR to show them how the other half lives. A lot of TRFC* fans already believe him to be ‘a rich feck’ who won’t put his own money in. Seeing how he lives, in ‘the most spectacular property in Johannesburg’ (Copyright J White) won’t help them think he is putting TRFC* above everything else in his life the way they would.
Btw, I had to laugh when Jim asked him if there was some mutual respect between DCK and MA as businessmen. King talked about how he respected MA for what he had achieved in retail, but couldn’t bring himself to admit what MA though of him. Jim didn’t follow up on his ‘mutual’ respect point!!
MoreCelticParanoia says:
Member: (95 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 4:33 pm
Sorry I should have made myselelf clearer my mistake 😳 I am a West Ham Fan so I was referring to the expectation of having to visit Inverness in the Next Round, Fingers Crossed
Is there going to be a flood of wean’s shoes hitting ebay tonight. TRFC fans better hope the garden path is not gravel, because they have been lead right up it.
I notice he never offered to crack open a bottle of those showpiece wine bottles. Poor Jim never even got as much as a cup of tea.
His wife’s house is lovely though.
‘most spectacular house in jo’burg’…
does he have ‘en-suites off the radar’?
easyJambo says:
Member: (710 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 2:13 pm
;…..“He was an employee of the club … He was a football player.” He did not regard these as payments to the player. This was on the basis of discussions with Mr McMillan. For this reason he did not understand that the side-letters required to be notified to the football authorities. ‘
_________
Reading those weasel words again, eJ, stirs up such a volume of contempt for Dickson in the very depth of my soul that I cannot give full expression to it.He almost out-Murrays SDM.
That we should have had to put up with such canting nonsense from a fnancial controller…..
Papin (Bayern v Raith Rovers at Easter Rd)
Rooney (Dons v Man U, pre season)
Hazard (Chelsea v Burnley last season)
Zidane (Real v Leverkusen at Hampden)
When King said Rangers fans historically outspent Celtic fans for 100 years, did he mean the first 100….When they had all the jobs. 😈
Pieman.
I to am a happy hammer and hoping for an ICT win so I can go visit an old pal in Inverness.
Born in the East End (East Ham) to boot.
Good luck to the dandy Dons, even though I think they will make it?
Just for some context on what Dave King said in that interview, and comparing it to his previous position.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2588429/Dave-King-commit-30m-ensure-Rangers-return-Scottish-Premiership.html#ixzz3gdvOz8Yo
‘My view of what it will take to make Rangers competitive again is bottom end £30m but probably £50m — over the next four years,’ King told Sportsmail.
‘From the discussions I have to date I think there are other people who would come with me.
‘But I would say I would probably have to put in £30m of the £50m over the period of time. And I could probably get other people to put in £20m.
‘Would I be willing to invest £30m despite what happened previously? Of course. Sure.’
Jim White’s interview was one of two things :
(i) a jaw-droppingly incompetent piece of journalism with zero hard hitting questioning of a convicted criminal (who gloried in showing off his ill-gotten gains) and who has failed to live up to promises made to shareholders and fans
(ii) a pure PR puff piece for a convicted criminal, etc , etc..
Whichever, JW and his Sky editor should be ashamed and embarrassed at this interview. An insult to our intelligence.
Scottish Football needs proper journalism.
So, according to Jim White, Glibby has got the best big hoose in Jo’burg, eh?
All I’m thinking is… How the hell does he know??? Grovelling idiot!
Would anyone care to estimate just how much more the supporters of TRFC would have to spend to overtake Celtic?
Celtic Park has a bigger crowd capacity, so even if Ibrox were filled to capacity Celtic supporters could more than match. which means TRFC fans paying more per ticket to compensate.
Celtic charge around £100 more for an ST as it stands although that might even out over time.
Celtic get a much bigger return on kit sales than TRFC.
Celtic have the potential CL Group money say two out of three seasons for the next three seasons.
Are the pockets o TRFC supporters deep enough?
And I see Doncaster coming out with a lot of cant about ‘open dialogue’ with the new now that Robertson is in post at that new club…
There was not a lot of openness about the dirty secret 5-Way agreement. And it’s odds on that when it comes to the SPFL accommodating Robertson’s new club, there will not be any more openness than there was about the accommodations reached with CG.
Doncaster and the rest are paddling furiously 24 hours a day to try to pretend that Scottish Football is back to normal, that ‘Rangers’ is still with us, that we should all move on and forget the biggest act of cheating and cheating cover up ever perpetrated by a club and by the Football Authorities.
He must not be allowed to utter his canting rubbish unchallenged.
Robertson’s ‘TRFC’ is NOT RFC and are not entitled to claim to be RFC:
And the ‘sporting achievement’ record of RFC must be stripped of a mention of those achievements only achieved by cheating.
And the disgraceful cheats in office in the governance of Scottish Football must be forced out if they do not have the guts to resign.
Then we can all move on.
Reading Doncaster’s and Dickson’s words on the same evening has quite turned my stomach.
neepheid says:
Member: (688 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 4:53 pm
I can only conclude that Dickson has a detailed skeleton inventory for every cupboard in Ibrox. And his solicitor has a copy.
=================
Even inventory holders have skeletons. There are very pointed questions that should be put to him about his specific role with regard to ebts and consequences in 2005, 2011 and 2012.
The Sin of Omission by Margaret Sangster ends:
And it’s not the things you do, dear,
It’s the things you leave undone,
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.
Auldheid says:
Blog Writer: (499 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 7:21 pm
I really would have to see some sort of documentary evidence that Rangers supporters outspent everyone else in Scottish football for a century before I would believe it, given how the source was described in the South African Court.
The fans certainly didn’t outspend the Celtic support in ticket sales, which would be the club’s main source of income (from the support), and I have serious doubts that they outspent the Celtic support in terms of merchandising, particularly on a worldwide basis. They didn’t outspend Celtic supporters in share issues. So where does this claim come from.
In essence I think he just said that, bearing in mind that he recently intimated that he needed to sell 45,000 season tickets and as a guess they have sold something like 70% of that figure. Maybe a wee prod to the people who haven’t have bought one.
As to his other main point, on re-negotiating the Rangers Retail joint venture. How long has he been saying that now. Pretty much from when he took over. What’s new which will convince Mike Ashley to do that, I really can’t think of anything.
Andrew Dickson £33,000
Head of football administration at Rangers since 2003. Previously financial controller at Ibrox club.
From a link i got on here.
yakutsuki says:
Member: (70 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 7:08 pm
So, according to Jim White, Glibby has got the best big hoose in Jo’burg, eh?
All I’m thinking is… How the hell does he know??? Grovelling idiot!
===================================
Did White modify his killer question ;
“Dave, how come your house is so good ?” 😉
Was looking for interview on sky with Mr King but ending up watching through the kehole. Who lives in a house like this? Best ask judges in SA for answer.
Ok just watched the King/White tapes
I have to ask, was that real, or a teaser for Only an Excuse?
Ok, then, I think its clear why King is involved. King really believes that same club meme, he wants his £20 million back along with a sizeable roi. When he says over-invested, he means that he has already invested £20 million.
Mr King wants his money, and if a lot of bears get skinned and mounted in his Jo-berg study, well that just the cost of doing business.
Hunting season is now open in Govan
Homunculus says:
Member: (133 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 7:33 pm
There was a time in the early 60s when the wage bill at RFC was greater than Celtic’s.
In those days gate money was the main source of income and Ranger’s gates exceeded Celtic’s.
That changed with arrival of Fergus McCann who in increasing AND filling the new capacity at CP negated that advantage RFC had held for my formative years.
EBTs imo were SDM’s response. (on top of a friendly bank) so you could say its all Fergus’s fault.
I was basically asking how much would the average TRFC supporter need to spend to close the wage gap between Celtic and them? I don’t think they can unless Celtic piss off their support too much and don’t qualify for the CL Groups.
Just no idea what sky were trying to prove going to Jozi for a non interview. Their first online report was DCK again talking about renegotiating the SD contract. Yeah right – perhaps they did have a few bottles of the wine after all. Suppose a holiday is better than CG in a hospital bed but honestly. Maybe lamb now available in the Sky canteen?
Trying to decide if White and Doncaster trying to compete for comedian of the year. There must be a village somewhere looking for someone to fill a role!
Good win in Iceland and Azerbaijan next. Just hoping ICT can get a result tomorrow and go through with the Dons.
And in the next round of Champions League Qualifiers Glasgow Celtic play the 9th Harry Potter film, “Qarabag of Azerbaijan”.
redlichtie says:
July 22, 2015 at 6:58 pm
Jim White’s interview was one of two things :
(i) a jaw-droppingly incompetent piece of journalism with zero hard hitting questioning of a convicted criminal (who gloried in showing off his ill-gotten gains) and who has failed to live up to promises made to shareholders and fans
(ii) a pure PR puff piece for a convicted criminal, etc , etc..
Whichever, JW and his Sky editor should be ashamed and embarrassed at this interview. An insult to our intelligence.
Scottish Football needs proper journalism.
………………………………………………
So, Redlchtie, why did you watch it? It was entirely predictable as to the outcome. I’m hoping against hope that you do not help to keep the Dirty Digger in the style he has become used to.
Scottish Fitba’ needs a strong anti-Murdoch antipathy!
Methilhill Stroller says:
Member: (89 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 10:35 pm
Just no idea what sky were trying to prove going to Jozi for a non interview. Their first online report was DCK again talking about renegotiating the SD contract. Yeah right – perhaps they did have a few bottles of the wine after all. Suppose a holiday is better than CG in a hospital bed but honestly. Maybe lamb now available in the Sky canteen?
Trying to decide if White and Doncaster trying to compete for comedian of the year. There must be a village somewhere looking for someone to fill a role!
Good win in Iceland and Azerbaijan next. Just hoping ICT can get a result tomorrow and go through with the Dons.
========================
I’m happy with a 6-1 win over two legs. You can only do what’s expected of you. Aberdeen look a shoe-in to go through. ICT just need to believe a 2-1 win is possible!
John Clark says:
July 22, 2015 at 7:23 pm
And I see Doncaster coming out with a lot of cant about ‘open dialogue’ with the new now that Robertson is in post at that new club…
There was not a lot of openness about the dirty secret 5-Way agreement. And it’s odds on that when it comes to the SPFL accommodating Robertson’s new club, there will not be any more openness than there was about the accommodations reached with CG.
Doncaster and the rest are paddling furiously 24 hours a day to try to pretend that Scottish Football is back to normal, that ‘Rangers’ is still with us, that we should all move on and forget the biggest act of cheating and cheating cover up ever perpetrated by a club and by the Football Authorities.
He must not be allowed to utter his canting rubbish unchallenged.
Robertson’s ‘TRFC’ is NOT RFC and are not entitled to claim to be RFC:
And the ‘sporting achievement’ record of RFC must be stripped of a mention of those achievements only achieved by cheating.
And the disgraceful cheats in office in the governance of Scottish Football must be forced out if they do not have the guts to resign.
Then we can all move on.
Reading Doncaster’s and Dickson’s words on the same evening has quite turned my stomach.
……………………………………………………………
Absolutely spot on JC.
By the way, you never said if you got the crack on the ear from Mrs. JC.
UTH
Happy with 6-1 over two legs eh.
Think Motherwell were too not long ago!
Continuing to be in awe of Sevco’s huge big name signings.
If, or is it now when, PSG and Manyoo swap Ibrahimovic for de Maria the cash exchange to balance that deal alone will swamp anything likely to come out of Ibrokes.
DCK yet to show any response to Derek Llambas question as to where the money or NOMAD are. August 12th not far off and DCK probably safer staying with a bottle of grouse in SA that being a target in Scotland.
I am still trying to get my head around the sheer bloody effrontery of the Football ‘Authorities’ in allowing Dickson to be on any kind of ‘regulatory’ group.
Can I ask the SFM , as representing a substantial body of the rank and file of Scottish football club supporters,to consider getting some letters fired off to the Press and to Doncaster and Regan and every SPFL club expressing our concern?
The man was a recipient of an EBT which may indeed have been perfectly legitimate, but he also knew from his function at RFC about the non-disclosure (of how much was being secretly paid to RFC players) to the very SPFL that has now appointed him to a Regulatory Advisory Group!
When senior UK judges have had to stand down from heading up a Government Commissions because of the perception that they were too near, by blood or previous social connection, with persons connected however remotely with the subject of the Commission, it is farcical and an affront to any notion of sensible governance that a person with such a close connection to the matters for which a club was ‘disciplined’ should be on any ‘football advisory’ body.
Perception is all.
Mr Dickson may be as innocent of any football wrongdoing as a babe in arms.
We are not at all sure that others are.
Haywire says:
Member: (54 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 10:53 pm
‘…Absolutely spot on JC.
By the way, you never said if you got the crack on the ear from Mrs. JC.’
_____
Ah, Haywire, ‘What is one among so many?’ as someone once said. 🙁 And if she sees this, there’ll be another yin! 😆
John Clark says:
Member: (1017 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 11:25 pm
Its a bit bloody late, Andrew Dickson has been on various SFA bodies for years, all the way through the whole EBT mess, there he was. The clubs knew, and were perfectly happy with it, just as they were with Ogilvy
Hi Haywire.
I think I watched because I hoped for some revelation or insight.
Why would JW travel all that distance? There had to be a reason. Surely?
Phil has mentioned one issue tonight that might have been raised. But JW failed miserably in his impersonation of an interviewer.
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
scapaflow says:
Member: (1314 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 11:45 pm
‘..Its a bit bloody late, Andrew Dickson has been on various SFA bodies for years, all the way through the whole EBT mess, there he was. The clubs knew, and were perfectly happy with it, just as they were with Ogilvy’
_________
Yes, indeed, ‘there he was’, In with the bricks.
But there was no SFM then.
There was only what we now know to be ( with the occasional exception) a lying, distorting crew of assorted self-styled sports ‘journalists’, sycophantically licking a.se to be sure of a couple of column inches of puff and spin from a knight of the realm who fed them utter mince disguised as succulent lamb.
It’s a changed world today. We have been liberated.
From RTC days to the present, we have learned NOT to trust what our sports press tells us, and we have learned NOT automatically to believe a word of what the SFA/SPFL mouthpieces tell us, and, sadly, we have learned to be highly questioning of what our own clubs tell us.
In other words,we have learned that we are not condemned forever to be mugs, that we can choose how to spend our recreational money, that we can frighten the sh.te out of the men who actually make money out of us.
We do have clout.
We can seriously damage the newspapers. We can seriously damage the fortunes of the SPFL and the SFA , (not that they haven’t done a fair enough amount of damage to themselves, by letting Scottish Football become almost like cycling: expected to be doped up and rigged until the contrary is proved.)
We do not need any longer to acquiesce meekly in the deceit.
It is NOT too late to get at the baddies.
John Clark says:
Member: (1019 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 12:35 am
Complaining is good, just pick the right targets. If you want change at the SFA & SPFL you must first grab the clubs firmly by the balls, their hearts & minds will follow 😉
scapaflow says:
Member: (1315 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 1:05 am
John Clark says:
Member: (1019 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 12:35 am
Complaining is good, just pick the right targets. If you want change at the SFA & SPFL you must first grab the clubs firmly by the balls, their hearts & minds will follow ?
—————–
Maybe the best way to follow your own advice would be to offer suggestions as to how they could improve their game. That is, what needs to be done to improve Scottish football, and how a club delegate, any club delegate, can achieve that.
I don’t believe that slogans help.
redlichtie says:
Member: (265 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 11:57 pm
Hi Haywire.
I think I watched because I hoped for some revelation or insight.
Why would JW travel all that distance? There had to be a reason. Surely?
——————
And why have it on the hight celtic play in europe?There had to be a reason. Surely?
John Clark says:
Member: (1019 comments) July 23, 2015 at 12:35 am
Bloody marvellous !
That Jim White interview in full:
I have just opened this morning’s email from the new look Herald, setting out their Sports headlines for today.
There were 10 items, of which-
2 articles on last night’s game in Iceland
1 article on Hears signing Branco
1 article on Scotland’s chances of Euro qualification
1 article about field hockey- I think
5. yes, that’s right 5- articles about the mighty Gers
Did I get this wrong, or are 2 Scottish teams playing important games in a European competition tonight?
The Herald claims to be a national newspaper, but in sports terms it has become yet another Ibrox fanzine. An absolute disgrace, and a complete insult to two teams representing Scotland on the European stage. Meanwhile a second tier team on financial life support is bigged up at every opportunity, presumably to reassure their fans that they still support the most important club in Scotland.
Is there a match involving TRFC and Hibs at the weekend?
Without going into the quality of the player in question, TRFC have agreed to pay £65,000 to Hearts for an out of contract player who left because he couldn’t get a regular game there. Scott Allan was a shoe-in at Hibs, who just happened to finish second – above TRFC. Now TRFC are offering Hibs £35,000 more for their best player! It’s not even a joke.
To put the offer into context, over on jamboskickback, the general opinion of Allan’s value is £500,000 – and there’s many would have been happy to see Hearts pay that for him.
Not exactly conclusive evidence of his true value, but it does show he is a player that £100,000 could hardly be considered even a ‘starting bid’!
If I was a Hibs supporter, and I saw that report today, I’d be spitting bullets if I didn’t read later on that the Hibs’ board had lambasted TRFC for making such a derisory offer, at any time, but particularly a mere two days before the clubs meet!
Happy as I am to see Hibs insulted from time to time (maybe more than that 😉 ), even I, as a Scottish football supporter, am disgusted by this insult to our game!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33633331
“Scott Allan: Hibernian turn down bid from Rangers
By Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland Hibernian have rejected an offer in the region of £100,000 from Rangers for midfielder Scott Allan.
The 23-year-old former Dundee United and West Brom player has a year of his contract to run at Easter Road.
The Championship rivals will meet in Edinburgh on Saturday in the first round of the Petrofac Training Cup.
“We can’t stop teams from putting bids in, but we are not welcoming them at all,” Hibernian manager Alan Stubbs said last month.
Allan joined Hibs last summer following his release from West Brom and scored twice in 42 appearances.
And his eye-catching midfield displays earned him the SPFA Championship player of the year award.”
I wonder how many of the hacks will include anything about how ridiculous this offer is in their reports? Could you imagine the seethe if it was Celtic making that offer?
How many will report it as evidence of the power of the ‘blue pound’?
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1318 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 8:48 am
That Jim White interview in full:
‘Your Daveness! Whit a Big Hoose! Such wealth. Fine wines. Swoon.
‘Well, your majesty, you’ll be investing, but just how much?
‘Historically, the fans have outspent that mob in the End End. So yes, the fans will be investing. They are a loyal cash machine. Any unexpected short-fall will be met by … have you seen these photos? That’s Gary Player and me.’
‘Hugely reassuring. Now just how many bottles of wine are there in the celler?’
__________________________
Must be hugely reassuring for the bears to know they have a club chairman who’s wine cellar is worth more than the total value of their first team squad! 😀 Maybe if he donated his collection of fine wines to a bring and buy sale at Ibrox…
‘Get your South African Buckie here! Four furra pound…’
Neepheid,
I liken the Scottish football media coverage to an early 18th century map of North America whereby it consisted essentially of only two or three eastern states and the rest was irrelevant. Why? Because the map said so!
The thing that sickens me the most is the complicity of the club representatives who vote the likes of Dickson and Ogilvie into office. The sooner we have some new blood like Ann Budge and Leeann Dempster in place the better. I believe they might relish the challenge of taking on the ‘old boys network’ of the football authorities.
Regards Regan and Doncaster, they can only do what they do, and say what they say with a nod from the said representatives. They are the mouthpieces for a corrupt regime.
One thing I would note from the SKY puff piece is that King does, indeed, have a very nice hoose. I can see why he’s loath to spend much time in Govan.
nawlite says:
Member: (166 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 5:03 pm
The first two parts of SSN’s DCK interview have been really strange and you have to wonder why Sky bosses felt it worth spending money on a crew going over when there’s really nothing new coming from it.
I really don’t get what Sky get from this.
StevieBC say
July 22, 2015 at 5:14 pm
nawlite says:
Member: (165 comments)
July 22, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Otherwise, you would simply wait for his next UK visit to speak to him, probably when he’s in London.
Has King been economical with the truth to Sky ?
Was it simply useful PR for King to show off his home, to ‘confirm’ to the bears that he had loads of dosh ?
Is King running out of UK visit days to remain out of reach of HMRC ?
I don’t get it either.
Curiouser and curiouser…
______________________________________________________
The simple answer is Sky are as every bit in the lamb business as the Daily Record, STV etc. They are only interested in pandering moonbeams to the subscription paying bears.
As for the expense of sending Jim White and a camera crew to SA, DK doesn’t seem to be the most accessible individual when he’s in the UK. He can usually be seen on TV speaking on the move from a black cab or hurrying into a building in the manner of someone trying to avoid a charity rep in the street. Press conferences are choreographed by Level 5 and lack that “exclusive” hype factor that can be sold to the masses, so puff piece as it is, they must see it as an effective use of resource.
We’ve all seen the bears’ allergy to anything approaching objective critical analysis of the management of their holding company and Sky will have seen the treatement dished out to Mark Daly and the BBC. Being even more commercially driven than the Beeb they will not want to alienate their prime market in Scotland, they would rather feed them feelgood fantasies to keep those subscriptions coming in.
castaway says:
Member: (84 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 2:55 am
scapaflow says:
Member: (1315 comments) July 23, 2015 at 1:05 am
John Clark says: Member: (1019 comments) July 23, 2015 at 12:35 am
Complaining is good, just pick the right targets. If you want change at the SFA & SPFL you must first grab the clubs firmly by the balls, their hearts & minds will follow
Maybe the best way to follow your own advice would be to offer suggestions as to how they could improve their game. That is, what needs to be done to improve Scottish football, and how a club delegate, any club delegate, can achieve that.
I don’t believe that slogans help.
………………………………………………………………………………………
Castaway – I think Slogans can indeed help us.
And a discussion on this is not off topic in our campaigning football site and indeed might allow us as a community to bring a greater focus to what we all want to achieve.
We have a message to get across to more than just those who visit this site and the right slogan “can” encapsulate simple and complex concepts powerfully and even take on a life of their own.
I say “can” because most slogans like most communications and most slogan based advertising campaigns etc. fail to hit their targets.
The origin of the word Slogan tells us everything and points the way forward for us.
Slogan a word used all over the world is Scottish in origin and I was originally surprised to find it came straight from our gaelic.
Sluagh-ghairm : A War Cry. (Scottish Gaelic)
Made up of two words sluagh for “people” and gairm for “a call” or “proclamation”.
Slogan – Peoples Proclamation something that sits well with our blog.
These wonderful two gaelic words were adapted by Sir Walter Scott and others initially into Slughorn (a ham fisted translation) to Slogom and finally to Slogan the word and concept we have today.
Slogon the word is understood all over the world and is used by politicians, communities and marketeers to communicate sometimes, complex messages simply.
Apart from Redlichtie’s wonderfully penned and much adapted words we as a community have nothing that tells us let alone the world why we exist and what we want to achieve.
“Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath” eloquently sums up the fact that if the game is strong at the bottom it will also be strong right through.
I loved it the moment I read it and it is a rich vein for all aspects of our community.
To me it sums up what we want.
Some of us have already plagiarised it in postings and I can easily envisage a non-Arbroath variant working like
“Scottish Football needs…” as workable for us.
Opening up things like
Scottish Football needs … an Honest BBC.
Scottish Football needs … an SFA who follows its own rules.
Scottish Football needs … clubs who realise their fans are stakeholders not cash cows to be milked to death!
I’ve been involved with slogans all my working life and to agree partially with Castaway most don’t help.
They are easy to write.
It is also comparatively easy to try to bolt them on to communication projects to see if they do a job.
And easy to hide behind too.
Put simply most slogans don’t work.
The answer why comes in a famous song,
“T’ain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)” written by jazz musicians Melvin “Sy” Oliver and James “Trummy” Young gives us all an insight.
If we want results we have to think and act smarter.
Smarter than we have been in our short existence.
it ain’t what we do but the way that we do it that will make the difference.
I don’t think I am alone in thinking this way.
I’d say the current blog “Why we need to change” is about asking what are we trying to achieve into the future.
About thinking and acting smarter is on the agenda.
While I personally felt its aims were more ambitious and off-topic from where I want it to be I applaud the opportunity to debate where we want to take this communication medium.
The “We need to change” debate is totally understandable.
It not only wrestles with an inherent frustration many of us share that we as a community could and probably should be achieving more.
It allows us to ask just what we might achieve as a community.
A virtual and talented community with more than an obsession with the story of how absolute inherent and societal corruption eventually strangled our establishment and societal club.
To do that we need to identify what we want to do and set about getting it done.
That inevitably means we have to be more inclusive and have lines of communication with people we currently see as les bêtes noirs.
People like Regan, Doncaster, Ogilvy, Chick Young and even David King in his Big Jo’burg Hoose by Skype or FaceTime.
If Jim Spence could speak with these people we should be able to too.
And yes while much of the reason why we have come together and exist for is to right wrongs committed in the past we will increasingly need to look forward more.
Scottish Football needs a strong TSM to look forward.
I’d say the right Battle Cry can help us fight the good fight.
Smugas says:
Member: (879 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 9:42 am
Neepheid,
I liken the Scottish football media coverage to an early 18th century map of North America whereby it consisted essentially of only two or three eastern states and the rest was irrelevant. Why? Because the map said so!
===================================================
Instead of reading “Here Be Monsters” on areas still to be explored/discovered, the Scottish football map would read “Here Be Diddy Teams” 😯 😯 😯
Edit: if DCK has 35,000 bottles of wine to drink (not an investment, of course), it’s no wonder he can’t remember what he said last week…
Finloch, what a well argued and articulate piece. Well done.
I have to admit, Sky sending a crew to SA had me wondering if King was about to announce some genuinely good news to the bears. A deal with Ashley or genuine investment, possibly no more than a date for a share issue, but something positive to up the ST sales.
I did give myself a dose of reality and thought of all such previous PR splashes, where promises were made, ludicrous promises mostly, that never came to fruition in anything other than embarrassing disaster.
But last night was neither. Last night we saw how lots of money can be spent in search of an exclusive – that results in a few minutes of airtime. And that’s it, all we saw and heard, was ‘airtime’, and not even ‘hot air time’. I certainly have the feeling that there was more time spent on ‘setting the scene’ than there was minutes of King’s words, and this a man who’s previous statements have been rather long, though just as empty of substance as last night’s Sky filler.
It did, however, have all the hallmarks of Jim Traynor’s scripting and I suspect Level5 will be paying their office rental this month on the strength of the fee Sky will be paying them for this access to their client.
Slogans might be worthwhile to serve a message and are used copiously by many actors in the scottish football unfortunately some cut both ways. LNS is used both as a sword and as a shield depending on one’s side, holding company similarly. An outstanding example came from the Charles Green bedside supplication when SSB reported that Charles Green did not know if he owned any TRFC shares still this went on until it clicked that what he had said was not I don’t know’ But “I don’t, no’
OT But I remember reading a review of the buddhist TRFC supporter’s book where it was claimed that there was a perfect sentence ‘Och Da’ which it may be. That is what a slogan should be.
Steel magnate with fancy cars and big hooses takes over club and tries to capture CL trophy to match cross town rivals by using other peoples money to chase the dream. Club ends up in financial distress.
Banker from Lithuania, who probably had loads of nice houses, arrives in Scotland and tells club he will sort out its debt and promises CL football. Delivers CL football but very quickly club goes tits up and CL football now a long way off.
MBB, who had a castle, arrives back in Scotland and tells a club he will sort out its debt and rues the day CL football escaped them at the first hurdle. Club goes tits up
Big bluff Yorkshire man arrives in Scotland and tells club he will sort out their finances and will be there to hear Zadok the Priest. To be fair he did raise circa £22m but left with a fair amount of that in his back pocket so he could enjoy his new French Chateau. Club in financial distress and no sign of European football
South African, with a big pad and a lovely wine cellar, jets in promising to sort out clubs finances and talks of CL glory. Back tracks on what was said earlier and without really putting his hand in his own deep pockets and showing the colour of his money tells fans (many who will be hard pushed already) they need to spend more. Club still in financial distress and CL football still a long way off.
Wee bloke from Canada (no idea about his hooses) puts his hand in his pocket has a long term plan and doesn’t really talk about being a power in Europe until the end of his five year rebuilding process. Club financially sound and now has a reasonable record in Europe.
The moral of the story – Never trust any blowhards who ‘jet’ around and flaunt their wealth and flash hooses. 🙂
So many wines in the DK cellar, I wonder which one went best with the lamb course for the special guest? A nice drop of vintage Buckfast does sound about right – nothing too flash in case SARS have a Sky subscription!
Does anyone know if John James has commented on the Dave King ‘interview’?
The post by Sweetheart today at 9.50am certainly seems to show a bit of forensic examination by at least some of the Rangers support.
Oh…the link won’t work…okay, may I refer you, ladies and gentlemen, to the B**rs D*n site > Boardroom & Financial > New Oasis Management > page 5
What I took from the DK puff piece
Was that season ticket sales have slowed down majorly
21.500 sold in the first 3 weeks
Now we need you to rally behind the club and Buy more than that lot in the east end Or they will be a bigger club
A big red flag to the Bears
Celtic a bigger club!!
Aye that’ll be right!!
And of course on the SD deal
We wi sit down with Mr Ashley and work something out
And again
Fans must spend more than Celtic
Again to be bigger
What he’s really saying is
Please buy the merchandise
As we can’t afford to Buy back all the Unsold strips,coffee mugs ,scarfs ,bed speeds etc etc
So all in all
What he’s saying is
I’m not putting any of my money in
But everyone else Must
Dave King
“Myself and my fellow investors have agreed to invest any shortfall the club has while it is re-building itself…And we’ve done that!”
————————————————-
Past tense….. So is that it then?
How about a free bottle of S. African plonk with every ST purchase?
I wonder how Mrs King will feel about a load of cardboard boxes stuffed with unsold jerseys clogging up her lobby. A wee invoice, addressed to “The Inheritance” folded neatly on top.
Finloch says:
Member: (58 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:07 am
_________________________________
Brilliant post.
On a serious note DCK has a point with regard to seeking a bit more from Rangers fans.
All clubs and especially those in Scotland where financial pickings are slim need folks to come through the gates, buying kit etc etc.
All our clubs could do with filling there stadiums week in week out. T’Rangers have more than enough spare capacity within their 51k seater stadium.
While not a season ticket holder and it may bite me in the bum when I can’t get a ticket, I am happy to see that 3/4 of the ground is taken up with season tickets and more of the pay as you go /Away sections of the Roseburn Stand at Tynecastle are being given over to the home support and availability is limited when you look at buying tickets.
And that folks is the difference.
Despite being on the brink, Hearts fans were given it straight. Despite who was in control it was recognized that hard cash was required to keep the thing afloat. Folks knew that buying shares was money down the toilet but people did what they could by buying shares, donating to funds, buying kit, going to games etc.
Since then Ann Budge has put her money where here mouth is. A plan is in place and many fans have bought into it. Season ticket sales up, strips flying out the door etc etc.
DCK on the other hand told T’Rangers fan to boycott their club but now expects them to flood back and part with their cash just because he has a minority shareholding. Meanwhile SoS are continuing with their boycott of SD thus helping remove what little income they get from the current deal.
All he has done is succeed in peeing off those who remained loyal and have pumped their hard earned cash into the club. (Check out the Bears Den Boardroom blog for some decent comments on the Sky interview and a full awareness of the clubs predicament, the realities of merchandising income and the bigger revenue picture) When these guys were supporting the club through thick and thin DCK and others twiddled their thumbs and kept their hands in their pockets.
Those who boycotted may come back but many may have now found other things to do with their weekends.
He and some of the fans now have a toxic relationship with a company and billionaire that could have been a powerful ally had they been dealt with in a different manner.
He can call all he wants for fans to put more money into the club but through his actions and words he has actually driven people away and made folk very wary of parting with their cash.
The only thing DCK can do now to help retrieve the situation is, in the week prior to the first league fixture, stump up the difference between season tickets sold and the aim he had of 45k. Even if he does a 50/50 deal with the three bears that would at least be something.
After that a wee bit honesty (if that is at all possible) with regard to how the club will be taken forward would go along way to rebuilding confidence and a relationship with the fans.
Talk of Celtic and Euro Glory are pipe dreams that need to be put on the back burner while the doctor orders a good spoonful of reality.
Allyjambo says:
July 23, 2015 at 11:28 am
_____________________________________
All Sky care about is will punters tune in and watch?
The answer was a resounding yes for both bears and non-bears. I would be willing to wager that the Sky Sports News channel viewing figures received a significant boost.
Including myself, I could not resist viewing in a watching a car crash kind of way, to see how many self-contradictary statements and u-turns can be made in one interview without any request for clarification in a country with a so-called free media.
Having watched the White King love in it appears that King is going to walk into the meeting with Ashley and beg for better terms and in return King will get the fans spending again.
It was an open letter to Ashley telling him he’s won, and King will appeal to the Gers (in the time honoured tradition) of pitting them against Celtic i.e. “we can’t let them win this spending war”, “we outspent them before we can outspend them again” etc.
That appeared to be the be all and end all of the interview (fawning and Fantasy Homes by the Ghetto stuff aside).
Oh meant to add great post Finloch 11.07
wottpi says:
Member: (674 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 1:16 pm
On a serious note DCK has a point with regard to seeking a bit more from Rangers fans.
_____________________________________________
DCK certainly has a point, and you note the need for honesty going forward (what chance?), but not only was this is the guy who came in promising between 30 and 50 million moonbeams, but the same guy who was publicly critical of a previous board for not having the resources to fund the club to the level it has been accustomed to or some such guff to that effect. Now he has the keys suddenly the buck stops with the fans.
As for spending more than Celtic, why bother about spending more than Celtic when it’s Hibs/St Mirren/Falkirk etc you have to beat? New club same hubristic entitlement tosh
MoreCelticParanoia says:
Member: (98 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 1:40 pm
The object is to get money back, not pour more in
The bears are being asked to fund a lifestyle Mr King would like to return to
scapaflow says:
Member: (1316 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 2:16 pm
MoreCelticParanoia says:
Member: (98 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 1:40 pm
The object is to get money back, not pour more in
The bears are being asked to fund a lifestyle Mr King would like to return to
_________________________________________
Spot on
The irony is he is pretty much right. The core of any club’s funding must be its’ supporters if it is to be sustainable i.e. survive.
The fact that this is only revolutionary talk in respect of The Rangers FHC tells you much about why they are where thay are now.
MoreCelticParanoia 1.40
Fergus McCann changed the balance of fan spending when he rebuilt Celtic Park.
Even then gate money was the core income stream and as soon as CP started filling up to its new capacity Celtic could out wage Rangers.
That’s when SDM indulged in over borrowing and ebts to redress that balance.
How much more will TRFC supporters need to spend to overtake?
Is that amount achievable? Depends how much they hate being second to Celtic and more important how deep are the pockets of those who do.
I doubt it’s honestly possible.
A little more perspective , a little less bragging please ( As Elvis might have said)
Three things came out of Jim Whyte’s most recent PR effort.
Firstly King has a nice home . A report recently showed this was valued at 70 Million Rand. That converts to £3.6 million. Still a lot but hardly rarified territory. There are 85,000 homes in London alone which are valued at that . That doesn’t put King in an exclusive wealth off the radar place. King was also directly quoted a couple of years ago saying that the property was owned by a loan account and had no asset value. Thats Glib speak for saying it has a 100% Mortgage.
Secondly King made a claim that Rangers fans have always outspent the fans of all other clubs in Scotland. That may well have been true when Churchill was PM , however Renton were once world champs and Aberdeen just about the best team in Europe . Doesn’t have any relevance to today’s reality.
The most recent 10 year numbers when Celtic & Rangers both played in the same league shows a totally different picture to the one King portrays
Thirdly.
Sports Direct . I believe there is now a realisation from Kingco , that Ashley is far far too capable for them. Pay Ashley his £5M and retain majority control and as importantly board control of Rangers Retail. Crucially it also returns ownership of badges , logos and trademarks.I am well aware that SD shares count double on financial matters, however that only counts at AGM and EGM’s.
That gives you a stronger negotiating position, than the current one of being a minority shareholder,with minority board representation and no ownership of trademarks. Anyone with £5 M would already have repaid the loan.
Finally look at the composition of the RIFC board and understand what has happened here.
Murray has no money, he cannot participate in serious investment . Gilligan is exactly the same as Murray. Jim Blair is a solicitor in a medium sized Edinburgh practice and John Bennet works for Hendorson Global Investors , where he is not on the Executive Management team. The new MD is apparantly a decent guy , if never likely to be confused with anyone of substantial means.
Murray aside, who’s record of failure should have seen him chased from Ibrox long before now, I am not questioning the individual abilities of the board . Merely their lack of financial wherewithal to fund significant investment.
They are therefore not in a position to question King , who has them all believing he has the funds to game change.
That leaves a very small number who are not on the board who might invest. Some of the ex Blue Knights, although you have to remember they couldn’t raise £7M for 100% control when they had the chance. No wonder Letham and Taylor are being heavily leant on. Park is on the board, however he has previously stated that his investment was dependent on specific criteria. To quote from the Daily Mail article just after the AGM
” Park, Letham and Taylor believe they can help provide a solution and a spokesman for the group said last night: ‘We find it disturbing that Resolution Nine, which would have made it possible to issue shares for cash to new shareholders, failed to gain approval.
‘Everyone knows the company is in dire need of fresh and significant investment and yet shareholders represented on the board decided to vote against investment from new shareholders. Presumably they believed the SFA would clear the way for Mike Ashley to increase his holding but we now know that this was not approved.
‘The SFA would have been aware there is a credible alternative and we would like to make sure the fans are aware of that, too.
‘Our offer was based on Resolution Nine being passed but this was blocked.”
So you can see the challenge. A board made up of individuals who either don’t have the resource to invest heavily, or in the case of Park and Co , won’t without Resolution 9 ( disapplication of pre-emption rights) being passed.
In these circumstances King won’t be challenged by the board , and he knows there are enough friendly faces in the media to work with him as he spins his way out of writing any serious cheques. In the meantime , he has donned his sales hat and demands the fans spend spend spend.
Is anyone surprised ?