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.
Auldheid says:
Blog Writer: (502 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 2:53 pm
‘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.’
_________________
So, the bears are right, it was a ‘Celtic conspiracy’ that caused their downfall 😈
‘
Maybe something for SFA/SPFL and the players union to consider ?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/22/fifpro-tournament-unemployed-footballers-lifeline
castaway says:
Member: (84 comments)
If people want to go on pretending that the clubs are hostages of some vile Hampden conspiracy, fair enough.
For the most part, the people who run Scottish Football, and the professional clubs are products of UK PLC. As such, they have been trained to put a low premium on the sort of moral issues that understandably get us exercised.
If you want to get these guys attention, you have to hit them where they live, the Profit & Loss accounts.
Auldheid et al, took an essentially moral case, and framed it as a profit & loss issue, by demonstrating that
a) they had the facts
b) weren’t going away
c) failing to engage with them meant accepting a high risk of reduced revenues
The moral case, properly framed, can get the fans/customers mobilised as 2012 demonstrated. That mobilistion presented itself in a way the club boards could understand, a direct threat to their profit & loss account, and, they reacted accordingly.
Finally, you are correct in one respect, you need if not a plan, then at least a programme of the sort of changes people would like to see. We are long on, often very good, analysis of what some of the problems are, but, we are woefully short on potential solutions. That “solution deficit” is, I hope, on SFM’s to do list. I don’t have any potential solutions yet, but it doesn’t mean I’m not bloody thinking about it.
I haven’t posted in an age, but I will come out of estivation briefly to consider the following candidates.
I am too young to have seen Alex Edwards, Bertie Paton and Roy Barry in their prime so reluctantly they must be disqualified.
Ken Mackie was an early hero, and Sandy McNaughton was virtually a one man team in those dire days of the early 80s.
Super John Watson was worth his weight in gold (I thought I spotted him at the Civil Service Strollers v Bonnyrigg Rose friendly the other night, but may be mistaken).
For a season or two Ross Jack (a man who had played many minor parts in the history of football before finally getting a starring role) and George O’Boyle (if he had any pace he could have been a contender) were brilliant.
M’lord Hamish French was class, and a gentleman; the first time I saw Stevie Crawford kill a ball, create space and turn in the one movement left me spell-bound.
More recently, Wullie Gibson was a man of mercurial talent, possibly the only player I would have paid to have seen on his own.
However, the best? I know he wasn’t consistent, sometimes he seemed on a different wavelength to his teammates, no-one seemed to know his best position, but at his best, and I’m thinking of THAT hat-trick against St Mirren, Istvan Kozma tops them all.
The TRFC ‘GBP175K bid’ for Hibs’ Scott Allan
=============================================
My immediate, cynical reaction to this story was: this is how far The Rangers has fallen, and how tough times are for the club now !
We’ve seen it plenty of times over the years, typically in a crucial, late stage CL tie when in the days leading up to the game the media reports that one team is interested in buying a player from their opponents: and typically their best/star player. Just mind games to try and unsettle the opposition and its manager, and usually it was between the biggest teams in Europe like Real, ManU, Milan, etc…
But now, 2 days before TRFC meet Hibs in the Petrofac Cup, they have supposedly made a bid for a young Hibs player ?!
Looks like TRFC has already lost the tie – even before its players step foot on the pitch, IMO.
Desperate stuff indeed.
Great post Finloc. Giving the expertise on all things football and football related this forum should be the leading fans forum in Scottish football.
_______________________________
Auldheid
“I doubt it’s honestly possible.”
Touche Auldheid.
Auldheid says:
Blog Writer: (502 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 2:53 pm
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.
______________________________________________
Share issues are a relatively recent phenomenon. However of the two I can recall from memory :
Dec 2004 Despite much hype in the media to the contrary (fancy that!) – bombed completely with MGH underwriting it to the tune of £50.5million of the £52million
Dec 2012 Pretty successful £22-£26million, however a minority percentage of this figure came from fans – institutional investors were the main source of funding
They have no track record of persuading fans to part with cash for shares. So a Fergus style kick-start injection of capital seems unlikely via the share route (which is moot at present anyway as no NOMAD will touch them with DK on the board).
Club kit and other merchandise, I’m sure they did very well over the years. ST sales were healthy enough during the 90s and 2000s although less than Celtic I’d imagine.
The “we deserve better” and “step up and pay” campaigns point to a mentality that looks to someone else to put their hand in their pocket. Not true for all fans of course but there was a collective ethos among Celtic fans that Fergus tapped into which is not present to the same degree at TRFC, and of course we didn’t have the disadvantage of being blinded and distracted by a constant barrage of moonbeams
A question : If the SFA are aware ( and they must be – my next door neighbour’s dog is )of the financial car crash that is awaiting the newest club in Scotland, and if they do not implement the rules that are meant to protect the other clubs involved are they not legally exposed to major financial litigation themselves and consequent liquidation.
StevieBC says:
Member: (789 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 4:00 pm
The TRFC ‘GBP175K bid’ for Hibs’ Scott Allan
=============================================
My immediate, cynical reaction to this story was: this is how far The Rangers has fallen, and how tough times are for the club now !
________________________________________________
I had a glance at a few posts on twitter about this including some images of a wee boy in the 90s 9 in a row Rangers kit so am assuming Scott Allan was a supporter as a boy and probably has an affinity with them now? There is some sort of #handitin campaign among online bears persumably designed to cajole the player into handing in a transfer request. Real desperate begging bowl stuff although they all seem to think it’s a great thing and shows they have a fanbase like no other, presumably on the basis that they can type a word into twitter and press tweet.
Reminds me of June/July 2007 and the long drawn out wrangle over Steven Naismith when Rangers wanted the player but as far back as then clearly could not afford the fee Kilmarnock wanted.
Cue the press wheeling out Naismith’s dad/agent/granny to whine about Kilmarnock’s instransigience and Dickensian mean spirit in denying the poor lad the opportunity of a lifetime to join his boyhood heroes. Banner headlines were printed about Killie’s “DEMANDS” and “holding the boy to ransom” and one could be forgiven for thinking there was a siege hostage situation in progress at Rugby Park. The whole thing dragged on and on for over a month before finally Kilmarnock capitulated or at least reached a deal. Watch out for a similar scenario developing over the next few weeks…..
At the same time Celtic were being castigated for losing the “race” to sign players due to dithering, biscuit tin blah blah before we eventually “hijacked” Scott Brown from Rangers, presumably bundled into the back of a Ford Granada in some sort of Sweeney Todd style kidnap scenario.
This other DK interview highlighted by Clancy06 on Twitter is interesting.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=F4cCQQyTS-A
in terms of an insight into DK’s business thinking.
My brief reply was
Cash is King.
Water will (eventually) provide liquidity.
Growth needs to be balanced by resources.
The last one gives an indication of why he needs to get more from current resources ie TRFC supporters and all in all its an interview I would expect the sitonthefence chap on RSL to comment on.
In slogan terms (enlightening post Finloch)
There’s no free lunch.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. ( maybe change the city 🙂
Get real.
The truth? Can you handle the truth?
“I have been informed by Deloitte, the existing auditor, that they informed the previous Board of their intention to resign following the June 2014 audit. The previous Board chose not to announce this nor did they find a replacement for Deloitte.”
if phils recent auditors resigning ‘ bombshell’ is correct ‘ the hairdresser’ must be spinning in his interim hairdressers chair given his original comments above….
surely ‘ Fawn’ White shood be hotfoot from the big hoose in joburg to the big hoose in the borders to clear this up…..
ICT match on Kodi right now. Reception not super but absolutely watchable.
Kodi
Video addons
Sportsdevil
Live sport
Vipbox.tv
Football
Scroll down until you find Astra v ICT
😎
Chic doing my head in already on BBC.
Kenny
Because St Mirren sold Kenny Mac to Dons Hibs will/should sell Allan to Rangers, fair valuation bla bla.
At least Willie Miller put him straight. Mans a dolt.
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1319 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 7:07 pm
ICT match on Kodi right now. Reception not super but absolutely watchable.
*********************************
Thanks Danish, got it.
Just got one of them Android thingmys, great for the live football. Haven’t had Sky Sports for a couple of years now and am deriving great pleasure from using Sky broadband to access all the Kodi goodies.
On DCK, my Sevco buddies are now at the embarrassment stage which makes Friday nights in the pub a little less fraught due to the lack of moonbeams. Although Warbs is still a genius …… so far!
Re the DK interview with JW.
DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES.
Does JW have a batman style phone?
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1319 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 7:07 pm
There are 4 links, I’m using the second one which is fine.
The Aberdeen game is listed as being on atdhe later, I find they have good streams.
I note BT Sport “live” is showing , right now Stjaernen V Celtic ?
Come on.
Cheers Homu & Cav.
Pretty even match so far. Good build up from ICT, though no real chancs yet. Good old-fashioned stramash might do the trick here 😆
32min 0-0
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer:
July 23, 2015 at 7:07 pm
ICT match on Kodi right now. Reception not super but absolutely watchable.
—————–
I know it goes against the whole ethos of free streaming but an app called sportsmania is fantastic.
HD quality streams for a small fee
Highly recommended.
Good luck to ICT and the Dons tonight
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1320 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 7:37 pm
The atdhe link is from RED TV, so English commentary.
ianagain says:
Member: (619 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 7:34 pm
I note BT Sport “live” is showing , right now Stjaernen V Celtic ?
Come on.
————
I 😉 FANCY CELTIC TO WIN 4-1
StevieBC says:
Member: (789 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 4:00 pm
The TRFC ‘GBP175K bid’ for Hibs’ Scott Allan
=============================================
My immediate, cynical reaction to this story was: this is how far The Rangers has fallen, and how tough times are for the club now !
We’ve seen it plenty of times over the years, typically in a crucial, late stage CL tie when in the days leading up to the game the media reports that one team is interested in buying a player from their opponents: and typically their best/star player. Just mind games to try and unsettle the opposition and its manager, and usually it was between the biggest teams in Europe like Real, ManU, Milan, etc…
But now, 2 days before TRFC meet Hibs in the Petrofac Cup, they have supposedly made a bid for a young Hibs player ?!
Looks like TRFC has already lost the tie – even before its players step foot on the pitch, IMO.
Desperate stuff indeed.
42 3 Rate This
====================
This is a very well worn tactic, particularly heavily used by RFC over the years.
The number of times they were “linked with a move for” Eoin Jess the day before a game with Aberdeen over the number of years was quite astonishing. Almost every time we played them at one point.
So TRFC are simply following in this tradition as far as I am concerned.
HomunculusHomunculus says:
Member: (135 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 7:55 pm
Danish Pastry says:
The atdhe link is from RED TV, so English commentary.
————————–
I’m not sure if the two lads Doric accents can be called English 😆
Allyjambo says:
Member: (1104 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 12:22 pm
Does anyone know if John James has commented on the Dave King ‘interview’?
=====================================================
He most certainly has as have many others on RS and RR.
Methinks DCK is finally “found out”.
No idea how the average fan will react, but plenty intelligent folks calling him out now as a complete liar.
Definitely not going down well as a PR job, quite the opposite it seems.
ICT unfortunate.
But 2 out of 4 through.
Better than last few seasons (I think)
neepheid says:
Member: (689 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 8:54 am
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
———————————————————-
The Huffington Post recently announced that any further coverage of Donald Trump’s Republican nomination campaign would henceforth be carried in the ‘Entertainment’ section rather than in ‘News’.
Perhaps we can make a similar suggestion to the Herald? Or do they have a “Slow Car Crash” section that would be more suitable?
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.© 🙂
Matty Roth says:
Member: (209 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 8:09 pm
This is a very well worn tactic, particularly heavily used by RFC over the years.
The number of times they were “linked with a move for” Eoin Jess the day before a game with Aberdeen over the number of years was quite astonishing. Almost every time we played them at one point.
So TRFC are simply following in this tradition as far as I am concerned.
=======================================
Thought the very same myself Matty.
I’d love it if Hibs now announced a bid for yon Dani Alves guy TRFC have just signed from some club even lower down the pecking order than themselves.
£50 an’ twa jeelie jars should jist aboot dae it.
Scottish Football needs a strong SFM. And Arbroath of course.© 😀
ianagain says:
Member: (621 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 8:58 pm
ICT unfortunate.
But 2 out of 4 through.
Better than last few seasons (I think)
3 0 Rate This
================
Not quite 2 through yet. Rejika more than capable of scoring a hattrick of goals (although they are weak at the back so hopefully the dons can score).
Aberdeen got a bit of a scare there.
However everything should be fine now.
Mon The Dons.
It used to be 2 teams in Europe after Christmas was hoped for now it is 2 left at the start of the Season which tells us something.
Matty Roth says:
Member: (210 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 9:08 pm
ianagain says:
Member: (621 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 8:58 pm
ICT unfortunate.
But 2 out of 4 through.
Better than last few seasons (I think)
3 0 Rate This
================
Not quite 2 through yet. Rejika more than capable of scoring a hattrick of goals (although they are weak at the back so hopefully the dons can score).
============================================
Aye Matty
A bit previous, but sat watching the edit countdown and Dons scored so let it go.
Great result against a fine team.
My musings on the SKY interview (if that is what you call it).
In Scotland we are used to this sycophantic nonsense however a UK audience will have witnessed that yesterday.
Here we have a visibly rich man who is now essentially in charge of a company that owns a football club, flaunting his wealth, yet he is asking the fans to spend more money and essentially threatening them that they will forever be in the shadow of their, perceived, biggest rivals if they don’t.
Even by the journalistic standards already portrayed in this shambles it is utterly pathetic and stands no scrutiny whatsoever. Here is a couple that could have been asked;
Are we having this interview (there’s that word again) in South Africa simply because you can no longer afford another visit to the UK for tax reasons?
If this is the case what message does that send to ‘The Rangers’ fans who you told, prior to gaining control, that you would invest £30M in the club?
Speaking of £30M; where is it?
You mentioned that you will re-negotiate the merchandising contract. Given that Mike Ashley is already owed £5M and he has security over the Training ground, Edmiston House, and Albion Car Park AND that Sports Direct has an exclusive contract to sell your merchandise AND, that if that merchandise is not sold, you have to buy it a market value. Where is the incentive for Mike Ashley to re-negotiate?
Lets talk about your ‘settlement with SARS’. Is it true that you had to relocate all of your assets back to South Africa as part of the ‘settlement’?
As part of your ‘settlement’ did you also have to itemise those assets to the South African tax authorities to enable them to ascertain you exact worth?
If both of the above are true, and given the strict rules in place regarding the removal of cash from South Africa, how are you personally going to fund ‘The Rangers’ regeneration?
Given that last year RIFC had to have a share issue of £3.2M, a £5M pound loan from Sports Direct, and £3M from the three bears leaving a black hole in the finances of £11.2M how is this business covering for those loses in this financial year?
No we get “biggest house in the most expensive area” gibberish from an excited kid just off his first flight!
For me now with that interview, the klaxon has started screaming and the red light flashing. This is clearly a last desperate throw of the dice.
Meanwhile back here you have Doncaster saying he is looking forward to working with ‘the professional people now in charge at Ibrox’.
A paranoid person may think that the ‘interview’ and Doncaster statement were timed to coincide. One to scare and one to assure the fans that this regime is not losing money as quickly as the last two.
Oh and another question for Dave just popped into my head;
What colour is the sky in your world?
BBC on the ball again tonight 🙄
https://twitter.com/harrjam/status/624325881347993604
A 10 match ban? Now that’s how to send a message on bad behaviour! Wonder how long b4 Mr Broadfoot is looking for a new home
scapaflow says:
Member: (1317 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 3:36 pm
In reply to Castaway comment,
“Finally, you are correct in one respect, you need if not a plan, then at least a programme of the sort of changes people would like to see.”
————————–
I thought that was the only point I made.
Agreed then, what’s needed is change in personnel, methods, rules, accountability, and all other aspects of the type of organisation required to run a competitive/cooperative enterprise. The modern term is the awful word “co-opertition”.
I posted on that a while back to a nil response. I must stop being long winded and pedantic.
Like you, I’m scratching the head hoping for inspiration.
Castaway
I sometimes think we should just give in and go for a proper franchise system
Finloch says:
Member: (58 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:07 am
‘….That inevitably means we have to be more inclusive and have lines of communication with people we currently see as les bêtes noirs.’
_____
With the utmost respect,I tend to disagree on that , forgive me, ‘appeasement’ attitude.
The baddies must be made to confess their wrongdoing, and then undo the wrongdoing.
Only then will it be possible for this blog (in my opinion) to be ‘inclusive’.
There can be no ‘moving on’ if it means somehow accepting that a new club is the old club, or that that old club’s cheating is or could ever be acceptable, or that the football authorities should not be damned for their craven 5Way agreement.
The evil perpetrated by the baddies cannot be lightly airbrushed out of existence.
Men with bad motivation did bad things.
They simply must be held to account.
Scapaflow @ 10.41 pm
I think the blog’s gone into that. Can’t see it myself. Not too sure how it’d work.
Folk fessing up to what they did and why I can get behind. You lose me at the undoing part, we are where we are
bfbpuzzled says:
Member: (236 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 9:26 pm
It used to be 2 teams in Europe after Christmas was hoped for now it is 2 left at the start of the Season which tells us something.
==========================================================
It used to be if a Scottish club beat two teams they would be playing the third one late in the year with a chance of playing in Europe after Christmas. Aberdeen have done this in 2015 and still have a difficult tie to negotiate to stay in Europe till the end of summer.
Actually getting Warburton and Weir was mibbees an inspired choice.
Warburton was unemployed, was/is a virtual unknown in Scotland, so Level42/the SMSM could easily build him up as the next great thing since…he promotes ‘total football’, he can get the best out of under-performing/free players etc… Basically create more unreasonable expectations amongst the bears for minimal outlay.
But if Warburton doesn’t deliver, and say things are getting a bit tricky around the Christmas period, with injuries/suspensions and a threadbare squad…
Warburton might not be able to deal with the vitriol coming his way, and prefer to walk away.
And in the absence of any funds to buy any decent signings in January, then TRFC has Weir to step into the breach and pacify the support.
As a true blue, certified Rangers legned, Weir will be afforded time by the frustrated bears.
So that could keep TRFC limping along until next summer, [assuming the club hasn’t gone into administration meantime.]
And by that time, IMO, King will be off the scene and another chancer will be selling moonbeams.
I have to confess that much of my footballing spectatorship has been conducted from the vantage point provided in front of a telly.
As a youngster I was a bit too effete to be an effective football player but the sport was so ubiquitous that I do remember getting a nice pair of boots one Christmas. On another occasion my Maw bought me a strip, though I don’t recall having seriously pestered her on the point.
She wouldn’t buy me a Celtic strip as this would have been too Partisan. She claimed to disown football because of the tribalism that it entrained. However the strip she bought me betrayed her apparent apathy toward the beautiful game. She would have been sat down every Saturday night along with Da and a few kids watching Sportscene. Her indifference was very plausible.
So what strip did she buy me?
Motherwell. Goldy orange with a diagonal maroon band.
Undoubtedly, I recognised, a homage to Willie Pettigrew.
Matty Roth says:
Member: (210 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 8:09 pm
‘…This is a very well worn tactic, particularly heavily used by RFC over the years.
The number of times they were “linked with a move for” Eoin Jess the day before a game with Aberdeen over the number of years was quite astonishing. Almost every time we played them at one point.
So TRFC are simply following in this tradition as far as I am concerned.’
________
And who was doing the ‘linking’? Surprise, surprise,who else but the stalwarts of our SMSM, some of whom didn’t need the succulent lamb blandishments, but wrote from their heart as fans and to hell with objectivity and truth.
They are, of course, entitled to be fans privately, but are not entitled to use their ‘newspaper journalist’ privileged position to distort facts and, basically, to lie to their readership.
Castofthousands says:
Member: (260 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:11 pm
I have to confess that much of my footballing spectatorship has been conducted from the vantage point provided in front of a telly.
As a youngster I was a bit too effete to be an effective football player but the sport was so ubiquitous that I do remember getting a nice pair of boots one Christmas. On another occasion my Maw bought me a strip, though I don’t recall having seriously pestered her on the point.
She wouldn’t buy me a Celtic strip as this would have been too Partisan. She claimed to disown football because of the tribalism that it entrained. However the strip she bought me betrayed her apparent apathy toward the beautiful game. She would have been sat down every Saturday night along with Da and a few kids watching Sportscene. Her indifference was very plausible.
So what strip did she buy me?
Motherwell. Goldy orange with a diagonal maroon band.
Undoubtedly, I recognised, a homage to Willie Pettigrew.
———————————————————-
Decidedly
I see what they did with yon strip.
Pettigrew Bobby Graham Bobby Watson Joe Wark,
And while were at it best player I saw
John Martis
I find it quite uncomfortable that given the purposes of this blog, and the attitudes towards the likes of Amazon advertising due to tax avoidance, that many posters tonight have been advocating the use of illegal streams of live football.
I know why people have aversions to Sky etc. and do not wish to pay such a subscription. I have been in the same position myself. However, whether the objection is due to price, morals or whatever, the simple fact is that if Sky / BT own the rights to broadcast a match and someone chooses to not pay but still watch via illegal means, it is nothing short of stealing. Personally I see the downloading of music / movies or watching licensed sports broadcasts without paying for them as no different to walking into a shop and taking something without paying for it.
scapaflow says:
Member: (1320 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:05 pm
‘..Folk fessing up to what they did and why I can get behind. You lose me at the undoing part, we are where we are’
__________
With respect, where we are is that
we have a new club treated as if it were the same club that was liquidated and has died the death
a new club that against all reason is allowed to claim the battle honours of the dead club
and a new club that is stupid enough to claim the titles an honours which were ‘won’ disgracefully and dishonourably by the cheating dead club that they claim to be.
The undoing of that wrong is quite simple.
TRFC must be declared by the SFA to be the new club that it is, and not ‘continuity RFC’
and the titles, trophies and what not won by the deceased club in their SDM cheating period must be stripped from the record books.
There is no half-way house.
Facts, as oor Rabbie remarked, are chiels that winnae ding.
The monstrous lie foisted on Scottish football by the cheating knight and the gutless and/or complicit SFA board, operating under what some would consider the presidency of a highly complicit figure,simply has to be nailed.
And the thoroughly rotten men involved should be dragged out into the open and exposed as the rotten cheats that they are.
RyanGosling says:
Member: (192 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:41 pm
I find it quite uncomfortable that given the purposes of this blog, and the attitudes towards the likes of Amazon advertising due to tax avoidance, that many posters tonight have been advocating the use of illegal streams of live football.
I know why people have aversions to Sky etc. and do not wish to pay such a subscription. I have been in the same position myself. However, whether the objection is due to price, morals or whatever, the simple fact is that if Sky / BT own the rights to broadcast a match and someone chooses to not pay but still watch via illegal means, it is nothing short of stealing. Personally I see the downloading of music / movies or watching licensed sports broadcasts without paying for them as no different to walking into a shop and taking something without paying for it.
=================================================
Interestingly I downloaded Kobi tonight and had a wee look around viz a viz legality. Could not find any notion that it was not. Could be yet another case of the innovators cruising ahead of the law.
Mind you Bit Torrent was ignored for long enough.
ryan
first off both games being watched through Kodi tonight
were not being televised by Sky or BT and neither bothered to bid for the rights to either game
second and most importantly
Viewing live games movies tv series on the internet is Not illegal
it is however illegal to put copyrighted material on the WWW
but once it is on the WWW it is considered free for anyone to view
you must remember there are different laws on copyright in different countries and policing of the WWW is virtually impossible
John
A well as football I like cricket, (someone has to). If you mention the 1932/33 England tour of Australia, people will immediately say oh yes The Bodyline Tour. Even after 83 years the controversy hasn’t gone away. The English victory is regarded by many as tainted by cheating, but the win is still on the books.
Scottish Football is in a similar place with the EBT years. As much as people might want the titles stripped, that ship has sailed, and as much as Rangers fans might want the rest of the world to shut up about it, that ain’t going to happen either.
The authorities should make their position clear, the nods and winks to both sides is ridiculous. But, in reality it won’t make a blind bit of difference. A team in blue playing out of Ibrox will be Rangers, its just that some of us will stick a “MkN” after it
its far more important to understand why this situation was allowed to come about, and then to ensure that the necessary changes are put in place to make sure it never happens again.
John Clark, I share your rage. Even if this forum were to die tomorrow, which I sincerely hope it won’t, I believe in some sort of Karma, natural justice. These people involved in the running of Scottish football will be exposed at some time in the future. Maybe because someone happened to look back and find your posts on here and wondered, why?
Also, if there is a Heaven ( much further in the future of course) when it all comes out, you and Auldheid can go around all day snubbing Regan, Doncaster, Murray and the rest of them with your noses held high in the air! Not very Christian like I admit but there is something written about separating the goats!.
That’s not to say you should leave it in the hands of the future of course, but it must feel like hitting your head off a door at times. That’s why I want this site to move on upwards and outwards.
John Clark says:
Member: (1022 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 10:59 pm
Finloch says:
Member: (58 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:07 am
‘….That inevitably means we have to be more inclusive and have lines of communication with people we currently see as les bêtes noirs.’
_____
With the utmost respect,I tend to disagree on that , forgive me, ‘appeasement’ attitude.
The baddies must be made to confess their wrongdoing, and then undo the wrongdoing.
Sorry, John , but there should be no compulsion . Anybody who wants to “‘fess up” ,as they said in the olden days, should do it voluntarily. No force, no flatter , as my Mammy says .
RyanGosling says:
Member: (192 comments)
July 23, 2015 at 11:41 pm
Can you point me to where I could have watched the ICT or Aberdeen games tonight.
I am a subscriber to Virgin TV, the XL version and I couldn’t find either game available.
It appears no TV channel in the UK was interested in showing either game.
So that sectarianism is still rife I England afterwe’ve eradicated it .
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/rotherham-defender-kirk-broadfoot-handed-6127136
(Hope this isnae a wind up !).
Paddy Malarkey, He was honking as a footballer!
better late than never, “best player” – given the mighty EFFC too many to choose from 😀 but I have to concur with stroller with Dave Gorman, but have got to add Ernie McGarr two great keepers who shared duties, speaking of keepers – Gordon Marshall, later vintage, but my best player honours is split between Dave Clarke and John Martis (as mentioned by ianagain) both stalwart servants of the club and I firmly believe if clarke had played for a better known team deserved intl recognition at his peak, saw him play against the best in the country and never was out of his depth.
Best non effc player I saw at bayview (not counting scotland intl games) – probably Bobby Charlton, played in martis’s testimonial, well past his best (I think he retired the same year or came out for the game) played one half but still a commanding presence and let rip with a trademark long range bullet a couple of times. honourable mention for Cooper with clydebank.
maybe not the best player I have ever seen, (although still a great) but I remember meeting Tommy Gemmell at a testimonial for a junior team in some forlorn pitch, may have been at Falkland or some other minor fife town, he was at Dundee at the time, but gave his all as if it was wembley or Lisbon, stayed behind after to give autographs and chat, real gentleman and no ego.
Some interesting coverage today on the Scott Allan to Rangers saga. Many years ago this would have had only one conclusion. The media would do all they could to put pressure on Hibs to sell, but the outcome would be Rangers paying a hefty fee from what we now know was the bank’s money. I can still see the media trying to apply pressure, especially STV last night with their ‘we understand Allan wants to go’ comment, but Rangers simply don’t have the money, or access to money to pay enough for it to happen. It can be spun any way they want, but it’s a sign of how things have changed. I know Rod Petrie is not the public face of Hibs any more but he will still have major influence. My impression is he will not allow Allan to go to Rangers for the sums on offer, no matter how many media stories we get of how desperate he is for his ‘dream move’.
I think Scott Allan is a very talented lad, and that was obvious when he broke through at Dundee Utd. If Hibs do well in the Championship and he is at the hub of it, greater rewards than what Rangers can now offer may appear on the horizon.
The bad bit in me wants Celtic to offer Hibs their valuation then loan him back for a season 😀 . Seriously though, it used to anger me greatly when David Murray used the banks money just to annoy Celtic, so it would be petty in the extreme if that were to happen, especially as Celtic use their own money for transfer fees.
addy malarkey says:
Member: (68 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 1:13 am
So that sectarianism is still rife I England afterwe’ve eradicated it .
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/rotherham-defender-kirk-broadfoot-handed-6127136
(Hope this isnae a wind up !).
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jimbo jimbo says:
Member: (38 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 1:20 am
Paddy Malarkey, He was honking as a footballer!
==============================================================
Jimbo, if he is guilty, I would say he is honking as a human too!
upthehoops says:
Member: (798 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 7:14 am
So, where are we? Have Hibs sold Allan to TRFC, or not? (I guess not)
If I’d gone to bed without one last look at t’internet, last night, I’d have thought Hibs had made the biggest boo boo of all time. But then the message seemed to change.
What was it all about? Some sections of the media were pushing the transfer harder than a hard thing, then there seemed to be a general acknowledgement that a deal had been reached. Then the truth emerged, I think. I’d say to Hibs credit, but there was nothing in any report that suggested it was a difficult decision for any board to make, so doesn’t really deserve credit.
TRFC wanted their man on the cheap, and they wanted time to pay for him on some ‘maybe never’ deal! A semi intelligent media would be lambasting TRFC to kingdom come – they would if it had been Celtic…or Hearts…or Aberdeen…
While I don’t give Hibs credit for their part in this fiasco (not doing something incredibly stupid doesn’t deserve credit), they are the only ones (between themselves, TRFC and the media) not to make total asses of themselves throughout this whole piece of Level5 PR nonsense.
Now, I can’t believe what the media tell me, ever, but it seems that at least one ‘bid’ was saying to Hibs, ‘we’ll give you £90,0000 now, then, if we stop you winning the league and getting hundreds of thousands more, we’ll give you a bit more – from the money we get because we stopped you getting it.’
For Hibs to have accepted anything but the most overpriced deal would have to mean they are close to bankruptcy themselves (not suggesting they are), in which case, some money up front now, with MAYBE some money later, would hardly solve their problems, and would more likely make them worse.
When you think about the coverage from the SMSM that was given to the recent transfers between Celtic and Dundee United, and how Celtic were made to look like they were taking advantage of United, while United were made to look like soft touches, and all this while real money was passing between the clubs, not just promises, I think we can safely say that the SMSM is getting worse!
To be honest, if anyone at Ibrox thought they were making a realistic bid for their main rival’s best player, then their stupidity can only lead to one conclusion – conclusion as in ending!
I would love to read Jim Spence’s take on all of it!
Re Scott Allan, didn’t there used to be rules against “tapping up” players who were under contract to another club? That’s certainly the case in England, but of course things work differently in Scottish football.
It seems clear that there is a campaign to unsettle Allen and persuade him that a rosy future at Ibrox beckons. That campaign is being orchestrated, there is no doubt about that.
Can anyone point me to the relevant rules? And has there ever been a “tapping up” case in Scotland where the authorities took action?
Allyjambo says:
Member: (1105 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 8:28 am
================================
An online look at the tiresome Chris Jack in the Herald today has Rangers making a third bid for Scott Allan, with all the usual PR provided soundbites. Adjacent to the Jack article is a very negative article about Celtic’s chances in their next Champions league qualifier, which in tandem bigs up their opponents very much. There is no writers name beside it, but whoever it is has managed to include stuff about Celtic in 1993, including the fabled biscuit tin and the proposed move to Cambuslang by the old board. If whoever it is wants to do that then they could go on to tell us how Fergus McCann paid all the clubs creditors in full, and that the club suffered no insolvency event whatsoever. There is also an article by Graham Spiers talking about Scott Allan and the ‘greater good’ of Rangers.
However, I do not buy the Herald, nor do I subscribe to it online. If this is the road they are going down they must be really desperate for readers. Good luck to them in their apparent new partnership, but forget any principles of honest journalism.
scapaflow says:
Member: (1321 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 12:28 am
========================
The bodyline series is controversial and while some may regard it as cheating it wasn’t. What was employed was a tactic very much within the laws of the game but very much outside the spirit of the game. Even today the spirit of the game of cricket is still important and we saw Josh Buttler “walk” in the recent 2nd test without waiting for the Umpire to give him out. The expression “just not cricket” is used for something that may technically be legal isn’t really moral.
The RFC case is completely different and while some may feel a small portion of it may just about fall into the “just not cricket” category depending on CoS/UTT/FTTT, and maybe even higher,decisions, the point is there were some illegalities (law of the land) and even more irregularities (rules of SFA/SPL) which does put most of it at widescale cheating and way beyond just not being in the spirit of the game/sport.
There is plenty of precedent for honours won by proven cheating being removed with Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson perhaps being the most notorious. I agree with John that RFC should be added to that list. But note I also don’t want the honours awarded to 2nd place.
Re the Broadfoot affair, the latest post frfom ‘The Clumpany’ highlights the difference between the Mirror in England and her sister ‘newspaper’ in Scotland, the Record.
Seems the Record are refusing to use the ‘S’ word and Broadfoot only ‘Verbally abused’ the guy. Desperate days indeed!
Almaty is less than 200 miles from the Sino-Kazakh border. Kairat are currently top of the league; they were third last season. (The league there splits so – effectively – they were third in the top six in 2014, currently top pre-split.) They play summer football in Kazakhstan so are mid-season. Their top player is Bauyrzhan Islamkhan (22) who has played international football at U-19, U-21 and senior level in the last four years. They might not be as glamorous as Real Sociedad who KOd the Dons at this stage a year ago, but McInnes will be taking them seriously; he needs to. Sooo, Dundee Utd sandwiched between two legs of a European tie with a team that’s nearly in western China. Interesting week ahoy.
I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance that Scott Allan will be plying his trade in Govan anytime soon, but I also don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance that he’ll line up against them at Easter Road tomorrow.
Job Done!
The Rangers nil? Who missed the penalty? says:
Member: (62 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 9:17 am
I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance that Scott Allan will be plying his trade in Govan anytime soon, but I also don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance that he’ll line up against them at Easter Road tomorrow.
Job Done!
____________________
I think seekers of justice, everywhere, would just love to see him take TRFC apart and score the winner. But…you may well be right!
‘Rod (as opposed to Vlad) flu’ anyone?
Neepheid
And has there ever been a “tapping up” case in Scotland where the authorities took action?
:::::::::::
Celtic fined £100 000.
Tommy Burns approached whilst still manager at Kilmarnock.
No other instance comes to mind.
What a surprise !
Re Scott Allan.
I’m happy to be corrected on this, but this time last year I seem to recall Scott Allan having the option of both clubs, yet signing for Hibs in preference to TRFC. Any Hibby could no doubt confirm. Maybe he just wanted to see if he could get his game back on track before finally taking the opportunity to sign for his “boyhood heroes”.
On an entirely separate topic, I am very much in the camp with those who feel that when a winning team is discovered to have been cheating, then the next best placed assumes the title. I can find no logical reason why not.
If, additionally, an asterisk is also placed against that year on the record, then it would still have the effect of informing us why the title was removed from the original recipient.
Doing this is well within the gift of the authorities. Recovering prize money and gaining opportunities to compete in European competition for affected clubs in those years are what I would deem to be on the ship which has left the dock.
I spent a fortune to watch a rigged game during those years. It irks me very much that those tainted titles are still recorded as having been won fairly by the old Rangers.
An asterisk alone will not give me closure 🙁
I’ve found the relevant “tapping up” rule from the SFA handbook on their website-
neepheid says:
July 24, 2015 at 11:14 am
The devil is of course in the detail.
T’Rangers are fully entitled to enter into discussions and negotiations with Hibs for Allan’s services. They should not however be making any direct contact with the player or his agent.
The problem is of course that potential transfers can be assisted or hampered by a compliant press seeking to see themselves as Billy Big Baws in terms of having an influence on the game.
Given our collective pedantry I note that public statements from the club seeking to obtain a player are not permitted and T’Rangers appear to have struck to that rule. (Their friends in the press don’t need much help to do all the indirect stuff)
At this time I am guessing there is not rule, however, to stop the club that has a players registration from making public statements about the unwanted interest in one of their players. So well done to Hibs for blowing the gaff on the potless club’s derisory offer and payment conditions.
To think that the financially strapped outfit held out for a tribunal for Charlie Telfer and got awarded £170k plus VAT.
Once again is Scottish Football so unsure of itself that it actually believes it needs a club like this in its ranks.
Compare and contrast with the classier approach shown by Hearts re Jason Holt.
=======================================================
However, Neilson is adamant he had a duty to consider Holt’s future as well as his own club.
He explained: “We offered Jason a new contract and he turned it down. He hadn’t signed for anyone so what do we do? Leave him in limbo? We have a responsibility to let a young player go and play football.
“Yes, we could have said, ‘Let’s go to tribunal’, and the boy could sit there without a club for a year or two years. He is a good kid and worked hard when he was a Hearts player and we needed to be reasonable.
“We definitely have a responsibility. He’s got to play football and we accepted an offer which we believed was fair.”
========================================
Maybe not a huge bag of cash but a win-win for both player and club. Hearts, manager and player discussed situation openly and honestly and if all parties paths ever cross again then no bridges have been burnt.
Re. tapping-up and applying the rules and in the interest of balance.
Is the Rangers/Scott Allan situation any different to the Ronny Deila/Gary MacKay- Steven situation in the January window? That is publicly announcing he wanted the player in January, after GMS had signed a pre-contract agreement to move at the end of the season. I seem to remember that Jackie McNamara wasn’t too happy. He may also have been unhappy to lose two of his best players to the team they were due to play in a cup tie, even if they couldn’t play for their new team.
paddy malarkey says:
Member: (68 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 1:13 am
So that sectarianism is still rife I England afterwe’ve eradicated it .
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/rotherham-defender-kirk-broadfoot-handed-6127136
(Hope this isnae a wind up !).
……………………….
10 match ban for sectarian abuse?
Can`t be any risk of social unrest in Rotherham
paddy malarkey says: 😉
Member: (68 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 1:13 am
So that sectarianism is still rife I England after we’ve EXPORTED it .
Fixed that for you 🙂
tykebhoy says:
Member: (206 comments)
July 24, 2015 at 9:11 am
The bodyline series is controversial and while some may regard it as cheating it wasn’t. What was employed was a tactic very much within the laws of the game but very much outside the spirit of the game. Even today the spirit of the game of cricket is still important and we saw Josh Buttler “walk” in the recent 2nd test without waiting for the Umpire to give him out. The expression “just not cricket” is used for something that may technically be legal isn’t really moral.
The RFC case is completely different and while some may feel a small portion of it may just about fall into the “just not cricket” category depending on CoS/UTT/FTTT, and maybe even higher,decisions, the point is there were some illegalities (law of the land) and even more irregularities (rules of SFA/SPL) which does put most of it at widescale cheating and way beyond just not being in the spirit of the game/sport.
There is plenty of precedent for honours won by proven cheating being removed with Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson perhaps being the most notorious. I agree with John that RFC should be added to that list. But note I also don’t want the honours awarded to 2nd place.
________________________________________________________________________________
You are right, bodyline was not cheating (and strictly speaking it still isn’t) although several rules were changed after that series to nullify the tactic.
In terms of comparisons for RFC cheating I don’t think you need to look at Armstrong and Johnson for stripped titles. How about Juventus, Marseille.
What I find most galling in the whole saga is the pre-Rangers standard for improper registration versus the treatment of Rangers. The standard punishment for improper registration is the result overturned as a 3-0 defeat. UEFA effectively hold the same standard as found out by both Sion and Legia Warsaw in recent years. Regardless of the UTT/FTT decisions it is not even a debate that multiple Rangers players were not correctly registered for nearly a decade prior to their liquidation, yet the SFA’s view appears to be that “it doesn’t really matter” 😯
However, contrast the treatment of Rangers and Spartans. Spartans have been involved in two incidents either side of the Rangers liquidisation.
– 2011 booted out of the Scottish Cup and fined because a signature was missing from one page of a contract. Where was Mr Bryson and his competitive advantage on that one?
– 2015 booted out of the Lowland Cup because they named their goalkeeping coach as a substitute (as a trialist) due to injuries. He didn’t set foot on the pitch yet because trialists were not allowed in this competition they were punished to the fullest extent.
Now in my humble opinion I would expect to give an amateur outfit like Spartans who lean heavily on volunteers a little more leeway than a fully professional outfit that has full-time employees to look after these things. It appears that I am sadly mistaken.
This double standard is not resticted to football and the SFA sadly. Last season my local Rugby club (English regional leagues) was deducted 5 points over a minor admin error and lost the League and sole promotion slot by 2 points. Gloucester, in the premiership, received a minor fine over a bigger error. The pros get a smack on the wrist whilst the amateurs get hammered.
A strong UKIP presence there GoosyGossy.