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.
Different division but could meet in cups obviously.
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1344 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 2:24 pm
John James aka @sitonfrence continuing his stream of stunning tweets:
================
Followed the link and eventually found myself on the RSL blog where I notice he’s suggesting that the money disappearing offshore is “rent” for the use of the stadium.
I recall suggesting something similar a few months back (not through any great thought process but simply on the assumption that if money was haemorrhaging out they had to be be paying for something and not much else fitted the bill price wise).
At the time it seemed to me a good way of tying them in to paying out to the mysterious offshore entities without it showing up too visibly but I can’t recall if anyone commented on the possibility of separating the bricks and mortar from the land.
Thoughts anyone?
neepheid says:
Member: (716 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 8:39 pm
On the Thompson penalty miss, I was astonished to find that he has an outstanding EBT “loan” to the tune of £485k. The figure is astonishing because I never thought he was much use in his prime, but that’s how SDM wanted to chuck away the bank’s money, and Thompson wasn’t the worst example of his utter stupidity.
But isn’t this a virus still infecting our game? How many current players, managers and coaches who are currently employed by other clubs are still in debt to a trust set up by RFC?
===========
As there is no relationship between MGT and Rangers (or, if you prefer, the current incarnation of “Rangers”) there would appear to be no COI.
Did make me think though that that wouldn’t have been the case pre CW,s purchase…..so can anyone think of any occasions where a former player (or manager), in receipt of an EBT, ran into his old employer in the course of a competitive match before the MBB took charge?
neepheid says:
Member: (716 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Bit of a conundrum that. If it’s a loan (the EBT) then it is, at least, morally wrong to play for another club, in the same league, while that loan is outstanding. But then, it’s not the same club, so that’s OK…now.
There again, I’m sure he will have played against Rangers when they were, well Rangers, and so, that wasn’t OK. But nobody, in any position of influence, seems to be questioning that (and all the other players who would have found themselves in that position).
But of course, the players, themselves, won’t be considering themselves as being indebted to RFC, as they received the money as a contracted payment for playing for the club. But HMRC see it differently, or rather, they see it exactly the same way. 😯
Confusing when you look at it from different angles 😕 . It was a loan, it wasn’t; it was contracted payments, but no it wasn’t, it wasn’t in the registered contract, so it was a loan; so tax was due on it, no it wasn’t, the players had side letters…
Then there was those ex-managers… I wonder if they told their new clubs that they had outstanding loans with their old club, but then they didn’t, but then they did!
If only Scottish football had a body charged with ensuring the integrity of our sport, there would never be this kind of mess!
Allyjambo says:
Member: (1149 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 9:26 pm
neepheid says:
Member: (716 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Bit of a conundrum that. If it’s a loan (the EBT) then it is, at least, morally wrong to play for another club, in the same league, while that loan is outstanding. But then, it’s not the same club, so that’s OK…now.
There again, I’m sure he will have played against Rangers when they were, well Rangers, and so, that wasn’t OK. But nobody, in any position of influence, seems to be questioning that (and all the other players who would have found themselves in that position).
====================================
Of course it would only be a problem if the loans were discretionary and controlled by the club…..thank goodness they clearly were nothing of the kind… :irony:
parttimearab says:
Member: (378 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 9:13 pm
‘.so can anyone think of any occasions where a former player (or manager), in receipt of an EBT, ‘
_______
Could it conceivably happen that the manager of one club gets rewarded with an EBT from the club that he formerly managed some years before, for , say, hiking the price that his new club has to pay for a player from the club that he formerly managed?
Would any football club manager be so disounest?
With over 40,000 at ibrox on friday. is there not an onerous contract for a payment to our friend in France?
John Clark says:
Member: (1066 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 9:37 pm
Then, of course, John, there was that director of my club, who not only had an EBT, he also held shares (he’d timeously transferred them into his wife’s name, ha) in RFC too.
Then, while still attached by these cords to RFC, he became president of the body that was meant to…make life easy for a club from Govan!
neepheid says:
Member: (716 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 8:39 pm
‘…But isn’t this a virus still infecting our game? ..’
________
It is indeed, and its at its virulent worst because it has infected the the very fount and source of football regulation in this country.In other jurisdictions, the football authorities would , at least once public attention had been drawn to the existence of an infected club,at least try to deal with the virus with a view to safeguarding the health of the rest of the football body.
Our football authorities, with clear sight, infected themselves with the virus, and have, in effect, spread corruption throughout the football body.
The virus has clearly deranged our club directors as well, else they would be asking the kinds of questions we are asking about the honesty and integrity of possibly conflicted players, as well as possibly conflicted officers of their ‘elected’ boards.
The whole thing is a bloody mess, and no one can now be believed on his word alone.
Any recipient of an undisclosed EBT is, of necessity, caught up in the mess.
John Clark
Would any football club manager be so disounest. Nice one John.
neepheid says:
Member: (716 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Neepheid, I doubt that any of the recipients give much thought to their EBTS, unless they have had a demand from the tax-man.
Whatever the legal fiction about these things being loans, I am sure, that in the recipients minds at least, they were simply a complicated part of the remuneration package, with the side letters designed to ensure that the complications did not come back to bite them!
It remains to be seen, whether the EBT generation will come to regret their choices.
Allyjambo says:
Member: (1150 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 9:26 pm
‘..Bit of a conundrum that. If it’s a loan (the EBT) then it is, at least, morally wrong to play for another club, in the same league, while that loan is outstanding. But then, it’s not the same club, so that’s OK…now. ‘
_________
That would have been a great script for an earnest Mel Smith and Griff Jones discussion!
But of course, the whole saga is kind of Monty Pythonesque in both its own intrinsic absurdity and in the absurdity that our football governance people not only allowed it to happen, but actively facilitated its creation.
The more mugs we!
It will all end in tears, eventually.
If you’re out and about at the Festival tomorrow
https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/493749-stuart-cosgrove/
parttimearab says: August 9, 2015 at 9:04 pm
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1344 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 2:24 pm
John James aka @sitonfrence continuing his stream of stunning tweets:
================
Followed the link and eventually found myself on the RSL blog where I notice he’s suggesting that the money disappearing offshore is “rent” for the use of the stadium.
I recall suggesting something similar a few months back (not through any great thought process but simply on the assumption that if money was haemorrhaging out they had to be be paying for something and not much else fitted the bill price wise).
At the time it seemed to me a good way of tying them in to paying out to the mysterious offshore entities without it showing up too visibly but I can’t recall if anyone commented on the possibility of separating the bricks and mortar from the land.
Thoughts anyone?
============================
I had a look back at the accounts to see if I could make sense of what John James was claiming.
There was no £700K going out of club for leases in the 2014/15 accounts that I can find.
However, there is a reference to Finance Leases of £0.7M in the Financial Highlights. I read that to be the Finance Leases were down to £0.7M outstanding at 31/12/14. I can’t see the club claiming a “highlight” for money mysteriously going out the club.
I then had a look at the last full year’s accounts for 2013/14. The club reported that they had £0.9M outstanding in leases, but for refurbishment of catering outlets, payable over the next few years:
The repayment schedule looked like:
2014/15 £477K
2015/16 £438K
2016/17 or later £38K
That totals £0.953M thus approximates to the claimed £0.9M outstanding in the 2014 accounts. If you assume that half the 2014/15 amount (£238K) was paid during the period of the interim accounts, then the outstanding amount would be £0.715K, thus approximating to the £0.7M outstanding in the interim accounts.
We know that there were other leases for unprofitable retail operations at the Airport and Belfast stores, but it was my understanding that those amounts would be taken from a Retail “dividend” as part of the conditions of the £5M SD loan earlier this year.
From the AIM Loan notice on 27th Jan
“RRL will declare a dividend of a total of GBP 1,610,000 prior to the Transfer. The Club will use the proceeds of its share of this dividend, inter alia, to repay sums owing to SD in respect of the cessation of onerous leases on unprofitable stores entered into by a previous Rangers management team.”
I’ve learned not to take everything that JJ says at face value, particularly if you can check his claims yourself.
John Clark says:
Member: (1068 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 10:12 pm
The idea of Smith and Jones discussing such a confused situation is, in itself, quite funny, but wouldn’t it just bring together how ludicrous it all is/was.
I’m sure there have been many instances of players receiving club loans to repay debts (probably quite often gambling debts) that would almost certainly be transferred to the new club, or repaid from any signing on fee, as part of the transfer agreement. If ever it was kept secret from the new club, what a risk the old club, and player, would be taking!
As we know, none of the players would ever be thinking of it as a loan, especially once they’ve left the club, but to avoid conflict, ‘football’ has to view the EBTs as ‘contracted payments’ (without questioning as it’s swept under the carpet), while RFC had to convince FTT and UTT that they were loans.
Whatever way you look at it, it is one almighty disgrace, on so many levels!
“alex thomson @alextomo 39s39 seconds ago
Further developments tomorrow in the absurd habit of FCs banning reporters and media organisations – the NUJ and SPFL are having words”
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/bans-football-journalists-making-beautiful-game-ugly/9790
Could banning journos be a breach of the SPFL rule book?
“alex thomson @alextomo 42s42 seconds ago
@TheTributeAct in the SpLF rules section I for starters”
easyJambo says:
Member: (720 comments)
I’ve learned not to take everything that JJ says at face value, particularly if you can check his claims yourself.
===========================
Thanks for that EJ.
http://www.footballfancast.com/scottish-premier/celtic/the-treble-celtic-experts-20152016-predictions
I assume that this is another spoof.
Otherwise, we really are treading water waiting for the penny to drop.
scapaflow says:
Member: (1375 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 10:15 pm
‘…If you’re out and about at the Festival tomorrow..’
________
If I perchance meet you at any time, scapa, let me buy you a pint for that post.
I’ve got my tickets, and Mrs C and I will have a rare tear along George St tomorrow morning before we go to see ‘Cosgrove and Speirs’
Of course, I know it’s not likely to be a kind of ‘Off the Ball’ thingy, and being ‘controversial’ will be a no-no, but I’m sure we’ll enjoy it.
I’ll have my notebook and pencil, and if I can, I’ll ‘review’the show.
easyJambo says:
Member: (720 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 10:22 pm
‘I’ve learned not to take everything that JJ says at face value, particularly if you can check his claims yourself.’
______________________________
I tend to agree with you on this, EJ, particularly since he appeared to take something I’d posted here (Clumps referred to it in a tweet and JJ clearly follows Clumps) about Hearts and used it in one of his posts (within a couple of hours). What I’d posted was from memory and not written as anything to be taken as verbatim without checking for oneself. Not only did he clearly not check, he used the word ‘liquidation’ instead of ‘administration’ ramping up the impact factor in his post.
I’m not suggesting his intentions aren’t honourable, or that he’s not a genuine Rangers man trying his best to open the bears’ eyes, just that he appears to take things he’s read elsewhere and writing them as verbatim.
I get the impression he may well have done similar with his ‘lease’ story.
If I was a bear, I’d read his stuff and do my own research, treating him as a wake-up call rather than as a font of wisdom and knowledge.
John Clark says:
Member: (1069 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 10:42 pm
Unfortunately, I can’t sneak away for this, but enjoy. Cosgrove is always good value, and I wouldn’t be too sure about the lack of candour
Cluster One says:
Member: (253 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 9:43 pm
‘..With over 40,000 at ibrox on friday. is there not an onerous contract for a payment to our friend in France?.’
_________
There was, but I can’t get it from such ‘records’ as I have kept.
Somebody will have chapter and verse, I’m sure ( the collective memory of us ‘internet bampots’ is quite prodigious), but I seem to remember that the bold CG was on a significant percentage of the take once the attendance reached a level well below the 40K mark!
The bigger the attendance, the more Charlie boy creams off! Onerous contracts or what?
What a Catch- 22 situation to be in!
The cry is ” Support your club”
So you turn up in numbers. Only to fill the pockets of an Arfur Daly ( and tribute to the recently deceased George Cole )!
And you have a Board/Boards with absolutely no strategy , but each focused only on how he can a) avoid losing money and b) try to make personal profit.
I doubt if there was ever a new football club that had so little concern for its fan base.
And I doubt if there was ever a football club fan base that was so ready to be duped by all kinds of charlatans.
And as for the concern that the dead club may have felt for its supporters? Ha!
SDM, knight of the realm, sold them down the river, for the lousy price of £1.00.
As that wee android chappie on Star trek ( or was it Spock?) used to say ” It does not compute”
Allyjambo says:
Member: (1152 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 9:26 pm
‘..If only Scottish football had a body charged with ensuring the integrity of our sport, there would never be this kind of mess!’
______
i think all of us thought, when we saw the introduction of the concept of the Judicial Protocol , what a sensible idea it was.
Separate the ‘executive’ from the ‘judicial’ functions.
Let the facts of a case be related to the ‘law’, and true justice dispensed.
But if the facts, as presented by the ‘prosecution’ are not wholly disclosed, or ‘massaged’ to suit the desired verdict, what then of ‘judicial process?
We do really owe it to ourselves to insist that hat we be told the truth about why relevant information was not provided to the LNS enquiry.
John Clark says:
Member: (1071 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 12:00 am
Was in not the robot in “Lost in Space” who said it ?
JJ swings and misses a lot.
His comments re the Nominee Company was nonsensical. When somebody is this far off with his analysis on a fundamentally simple topic, it is impossible to take seriously what he says about other more complex matters.
He is correct of course in stating that King is a criminal who should not be believed or trusted without corroborating proof.
However that’s an easy judgement to make
easyJambo says:
Member: (720 comments)
August 9, 2015 at 10:22 pm
‘I’ve learned not to take everything that JJ says at face value, particularly if you can check his claims yourself.’
______________________________
I too enjoy reading JJ’s thoughts on RSL, but on this one, he has it completely wrong.
The December 2014 interim accounts show obligations on finance leases as follows:
31 Dec 2014
Current £ 421,000
Non- Current £ 261,000
Total £ 682,000
This is where JJ is getting his £ 700,000 from. However, this is the liability on the balance sheet, not the amount paid out over the 6 month period, so no £1.4 million per year.
The corresponding figures at the end of June 2014 were:
30 Jun 2014
Current £ 477,000
Non- Current £ 476,000
Total £ 953,000
So over the 6 month period to 31st December 2014, lease obligations decreased by £ 271,000.
Turning to the Statement of Cash flows in the accounts discloses that Repayment of lease finance totalled, not surprisingly, £ 271,000.
So there we have it, no secret sale and lease back of Ibrox, no mystery disappearance of £1.4 million per year and the fine reputation of Deloittes’ auditing skills upheld.
On an unrelated topic, John Clark and others may find the latest addition to the Matilda Bay Brewery of interest!
melbournedee says:
Member: (47 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 1:21 am
‘..On an unrelated topic, John Clark and others may find the latest addition to the Matilda Bay Brewery of interest!
Lazy Yak.’
_____
Oh, man! How I wish I was in Brisbane with the grandweans!
Fat yak, lazy yak. How about a Fat Lazy Yak?
I feel a visit to Portobello coming on! 😀
.
John Clark
On TV streaming.
I compare it and attempts to stop pirating to the prohibition period in the USA.
After some years of battling, the authorities gave up trying to shut down illegal streams of booze and made it legal then put a tax on the price but still kept it low enough for folk to feed their addiction to it.
With streaming whilst I pay my subscription to Celtic TV I have no need to pay to watch clubs I don’t support if I want to.
I think of my OST subscription to CTV as conscience money and my non payment to other outlets as conscientious objector nomoney because they (Sky etc) have been screwing Scottish football for years and it’s nice to get some small revenge.
With regard to the impact of streaming technolgy on Celtic TV in particular I have discussed with a couple of bloggers with an interest and contacts with Celtic and it is a matter Celtic are aware of but I’m hoping to find out more about their policy towards it.
If my prohibition analogy is right I think that in 5 years we will be toasting a brave new streaming world where attendance prices and prices to watch remotely will be about equal and lower but still enough to feed the addiction and remunerate players in a more balanced way.
Maybe 10 years on the players falling in line on second thoughts.
Re. the contention that a specific amount of cash is being paid out regularly by Sevco for unspecified reasons; and that the real reason is some kind of sale/leaseback of Ibrox. This putative scenario has been a prominent feature of Phil McG’s blog for many months. In fact, he has all but told Sevco to “sue me” if they dispute the facts. As far as I am aware no legal action has been taken as a result of these allegations.
Still, I’d be curious to see where in the Sevco accounts Phil sees the controversial figure appearing. (When I get a free minute I’ll try to go back through the relevant archives and see if I can find the answer there!)
Steveplustax on August 10, 2015 at 3:30 am
Re. the contention that a specific amount of cash is being paid out regularly by Sevco for unspecified reasons; and that the real reason is some kind of sale/leaseback of Ibrox. This putative scenario has been a prominent feature of Phil McG’s blog for many months. In fact, he has all but told Sevco to “sue me” if they dispute the facts. As far as I am aware no legal action has been taken as a result of these allegations.
Still, I’d be curious to see where in the Sevco accounts Phil sees the controversial figure appearing…
———-
I suppose there is, in theory, a scenario whereby it never reaches the accounts. The ease of cash, suitcase, cross-border was a little topic mentioned on one of the CF tapes.
PS Interesting thoughts on JJ @sitonfence especially from the more forensically-minded. He appears, on the face of it, to be no friend of the SoS chaps, and their wee spats are quite entertaining. SoS have now allied themselves so completely with DK that if it all unravels they really will look a bit silly.
DP
Like cash sales from turn styles for instance? In fact if cash is presented as being from turnstyle sales with a corresponding ‘tariff’ going off to an unknown destination then it is accounts neutral, but it is also a kick in the rear off, oh what’s the word, you know the steamy shop on the high street between the tanning salon and the tatoo parlour!!!
(((Apologies to Ryan, I am of course being completely facetious suggesting an instant link to criminality which is unfair. As long as the club is being completely transparent that is. And there are obvious answers that we’re all missing to the square and circle questions being posed.)))
Re JJ/SitOnTheFence he posted on the LSE (not official) share chat site while RIFC were still listed. He was very much anti King/Murray/TTB and very much pro the previous board. Level5 aren’t the only Spin Doctors out there!
@ theCatNR1 unfortunately I don’t think its a spoof. However its a very poorly informed blogger/journo or someone hoping to curry favour with Sky. Outwith Celtic and TRFC fans I don’t think any Scottish fans long for matches between the two and probably a majority of Celtic fans, from my experience, don’t either. I suspect that Sky might get a few more English viewers for that Glasgow derby over BT’s audience yesterday for a match they billed as “The Glasgow Derby”. However should TRFC gain promotion does the TV deal get renegotiated and we might see a bidding war between the non terrestial giants?
What I would like to see on Sky though is intrepid globetrotting reporter Jim White doing a little more globbetrotting and visiting one of the many Sky studios an EBT recipient occupies to ask “just why did RFC offer you an EBT several years after the E (employee) became inaccurate?”, at least visibly. :irony:
There is something to hold on to for Rangers supporters. The team looks brighter, although the reality is that Warburton, far from being an innovator , is only doing what McInnes, Stubbs, Neilsen, John Hughes Baraclough and Paul Hartley are doing. Namely playing a pressing game , using width and getting the players fitter and faster.
That of course is a significant improvement over the kick and rush 1970’s style football employed by McCoist. Given Rangers have a bigger budget than most , if not all of the above , you would expect results and performances to improve at least at the same pace as the managers above have improved their own clubs.
The issue though isn’t just on the pitch. The influence of disreputable fan groups off the pitch should be a concern. I refer in particular to the ICF infiltrated Sons of Struth. I think it’s well known the cofounder is the convicted drug dealer Sandy Chugg, who also has a history of extreme violence.
Chugg has recently been arrested for a football related incident, and other ICF members have been prominent in intimidation of those at Ibrox who’s views they do not share. A prominent ICF hooligan Barrie Donnelly was arrested for abusive intimidation of the Easdales outside Ibrox. He is a former business partner of Chugg.
Craig Houston’s invitation for Chris McLaughlin to join him for a chat in his seat at Ibrox may have been flippant, but who would consider meeting these people anywhere given Houston’s cofounders previous. The point here is that by gaining the backing of violent thugs , like Chugg and Donnelly , Dave King has ensured there is unlikely to be large scale protests against any failure of his to deliver on his many promises. He has also ensured that credible Rangers fans with the wealth to replace him as Chairman are likely to look at the potential aggrivation , or worse, and decide it’s not worth it.
The genie is out of the bottle now at Rangers, and the hooligan element will not quietly go back to boardroom irrelevance
We know there are onerous contracts, because Wallace mentioned them, as has King. If there was any illegality involved, such as cash extraction, then the contracts would be worthless and unenforceable in law, and King would not have any problem reneging on them.
“Netting off” in the accounts used to be a fairly common way of hiding stuff legally, but I find that is no longer possible in audited accounts-
http://www.conciseaccountancy.com/basic-accounting-principles.html
That’s as cut and dried as you will ever get in the world of accounts. So whatever is allegedly going on must appear in the accounts, perhaps misdescribed, but there all the same.
My problem with these persistent allegations that large sums are being extracted every month is that I can’t see any accounts entries large enough to conceal the millions per annum that are said to be extracted on a monthly basis.
As for this John James chap, if Ashley is employing him to take the battle to King, then he needs to find someone else who understands finance a bit better. His “Finance Lease” stuff at the weekend is what one of my teachers would have called “a typical schoolboy error”. (That immediate post war generation of teachers certainly knew how to make you feel good about yourself 🙄 🙄 )
Perhaps Rangers Retail is the extraction route? I’ll have a look at the RR accounts later, and report back. If RR is the route, then clearly Ashley is involved in some way, but that would come as no surprise. The only onerous contract we have any real details of so far is the Rangers Retail setup itself.
Things are sometimes forgotten or mislaid. Weren’t there a lot of dual contracts that fell down the side of the sofa? That was unfortunate. And weren’t there a few other companies set up about the same time as the twin Sevcos?
Here’s a belter. No word on who is in charge, though 🙂
Sigh.. John Collins. He seems to have a habit of spouting forth, or have words dragged out of him by a some hitherto unobserved able-minded journalist.
Many people here complain about Doncaster et al doing down the Scottish game with some of their comments. Not sure how these latest comments are in any way different.
As someone commented above, it’s funny given how slow and feeble minded players in the other Scottish teams are, Celtic still purchased three from one fellow SPL team alone in the last year.
Barca, additionally, you need to take into account the effect that such an atmosphere would have on attendances. Whilst it’s a convenient stereotype to paint every fan at Ibrox as some sort of swivel eyed howling loon, I think we all know fans that aren’t like that at all, and merely attend to support their team rather than out of some sense of WATP superiority. Of course, some of these are now erstwhile fans, due to what was allowed to go unchecked during the last few years, and allowing the more base elements of the Rangers support to come to the fore isn’t going to bring them back. In fact, I would venture that it’s more likely to send sections of the support packing. Would you want to share a regular match day with people intent on intimidating you?
It’s not compulsory to attend. People would simply vote with their feet. So whilst King may manage to suppress verbal dissent in this manner, he won’t be able to suppress the physical dissent of not actually turning up.
KJ sounding as though he’s got an inside track on this story. Remains to be seen, but was known long ago that one particular company was annoyed about the price they paid up front compared to the launch price. Didn’t Charles compensate those chaps?
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/keith-jackson-mark-warburton-offers-6225448
Quick query stemming from a perusal of kj’s latest u turn. Was the whistle blowing Miss Cesim Company Secretary? Or merely a secretary for the Company?
“On a human level the treatment she received was utterly repugnant and a damning indictment of the character of those with whom she had only just climbed into bed.”
In the light of a previous rumour, I hope that is not the writer’s idea of being clever.
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
Smugas says: August 10, 2015 at 2:51 pm
Quick query stemming from a perusal of kj’s latest u turn. Was the whistle blowing Miss Cesim Company Secretary? Or merely a secretary for the Company?
==========================
Brian Stockbridge was the “Company Secretary” when Ms Cesim was around the club.
She previously worked with Imran Ahmad at Zeus Capital who helped with the funding of the initial asset purchase.
She certainly sat in on a number of meetings with Green, Ahmad, Stockbridge etc., as recorded in some of the CF docs. Unfortunately I didn’t retain copies of those particular minutes or emails.
Yes, but to be clear she was ‘merely’ a secretary who sat in on important meetings. As my old lecturer used to describe the difference: when something is up within the technical workings of the company the (office) secretary, PA, whatever should still sleep at night. The Company Secretary (for an institution the size of Sevco) should not.
Someone also being clever has pasted what looks like Sevim’s photo on this twitter account. Not sure about the significance of @exposingphil account but judging by the tweets it could well be true that he/she is an MSM type. Btw, a clever typo in the twitter alias reveals the ‘L’ in Charlotte is actually and ‘I’. Devious. An imposter?
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1348 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 3:55 pm
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least, the new media in general is not popular with the old school inky fingered types. We are supposed to shut up and eat our cornflakes
Smugas
Very true, but those with stuff to hide, should be wary of just how much the admin little people end up knowing
Scapa,
Oh absolutely. It doesn’t reduce the veracity of her whistle at all. Quite the opposite in fact and that’s the distinction I was trying to draw. Fundamentally she appears to have been responsible for filling the forms in, but there her responsibility ended, presumably hence her whistleblowing now. I suspect a genuine Company Secretary, responsible for actually filing accurate returns would be slightly less hospitable.
Re the twitter stuff. (Which I make a point of not doing). Sounds like somebody has been caught holding a small boulder in a greenhouse with a very real intent to hurl it. Should have listened to his mother. Exclusively.
I see that in today’s Matthew Lindsay on Monday column in The Herald Sport the most pressing subject, in Mr Lindsay’s view at least, at the moment is, well the headline tells all:
“McCoist doesn’t deserve the verbal brickbats that continue to come his way.”
Interestingly the accompanying photograph appears to show Mr McCoist giving some form of Papal Blessing. Seems unlikely.
Anyway having read the column I have no idea what the point of the article is. Is Mr McCoist now firmly under the Level 5 umbrella?
Of note was “Venture onto the internet..”
So-Hiya Matthew! Hiya Pal!
The column ends with what I can only presume is a bit of lax editing: TOMORROW XXXX
Then again if the kisses are on the bottom maybe it’s an accurate description of how the reporting of all things Edmiston Drive stylee will continue.
LUGOSI says:
Member: (17 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 5:16 pm
When I read the piece this morning, I was strongly tempted to nominate it for an Eddie, (or the Perrier Award as it used to be called). Glasgow has always been jealous of the festival
Still buy the herald for my sins
The Lindsay article is a cracker. Headline rather contradicted by the content of the piece.
Why now though?
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/football-tarnished-damaged-ignoring-free-speech/9806
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/football-tarnished-damaged-ignoring-free-speech/9806
Alex Thompson article on clubs barring journalists. Our good friend Mr Doncaster gets a starring role 🙄 🙄
RIFC have new auditors ….
… Baker Tilly
http://www.bakertilly.co.uk/about/about-us.aspx
dom16 says:
Member: (16 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 5:33 pm
Still buy the herald for my sins
The Lindsay article is a cracker. Headline rather contradicted by the content of the piece.
Why now though?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I half-jokingly suggested the other day that the Sevim Cesim/Ally @ the airport pics might be the start of a ‘re-habilitate McCoist’ movement in the SMSM. Maybe it isn’t a joke. Level 5 at work methinks
neepheid says:
Member: (718 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 10:00 am
Perhaps Rangers Retail is the extraction route? I’ll have a look at the RR accounts later, and report back
=================================================
Might be worth keeping an eye on RANGERS FC YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED(SC004433) in the long run.
Nothing exciting in the last set of accounts but Brian and Imran appear to have had their paws all over it so an onerous contract connected to youth development would not come as a great shock.
Hmm. This is an interesting development.
Baker Tilly are a large American group but their International side appears to be a collection of smaller firms, using the name to trade under. Am I reading it wrongly?
So, being as we are in the UK, it is presumably a Baker Tilly International associate company that RIFC have hired. If it is the Scottish office, that would be Henderson Loggie in Melville Street, Edinburgh
Edit: Okay. BP has added a link, so just ignore me. 🙂
ScottC
Baker Tilly
Breckenridge House
274 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
Scotland
G2 3EH
http://www.bakertilly.co.uk/about/about-us.aspx
BP
Interesting choice Baker Tilly. Not one of the Big 4 but big enough nonetheless so why have they taken on this assignment given that nobody else seemingly wanted to touch it with a bargepole?
I wonder if they have been brought in to both audit the accounts and at the same time do some forensic investigation as well [into onerous contracts and shareholdings perhaps] to find out more information for the Board??
It would not be the first time they have been asked to do a forensic audit. Baker Tilly were contracted by the British Government in circa 2013/4 to do an investigation when the “Cashgate” scandal broke in Malawi and the donors all withheld money until they found out how Government [and probably donor Balance of Payments Support) money was being misappropriated – a whole raft of problems from Government staff being found with excessive amounts of USD cash in their possession, companies set up to pay for work never done and a complete misuse of the Government MIS system all of which were issues reported in the local papers but on which Baker Tilly produced a very much more detailed forensic report for the donors.
Interesting but as always in this saga nothing is ever straight forward or surprising.
Scottish Footballer needs a stronger Arbroath and East Fife after the weekend!
So TRFC have new auditors. I will leave our financial people to dissect the accounts when released, with a particular interest on how much the stadium is valued at.
Surely the advantage of being a ‘Baker Tilly Member company’ is that it will allow a relatively local affair to take on a relatively large and hence challenging/rewarding client without the associated hassle that would otherwise come with the territory?
How wonderfully comforting and reassuring it must be to have such a thoroughly upright and honest Auditor as Baker Tilly. Wonder of wonders their page includes this
” Baker Tilly’s code of business conduct
Zero tolerance approach to bribery ”
I think most of us would say we should bloody well hope that is the case! 😀
Methilhill Stroller says:
Member: (94 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 7:08 pm
As Scottc pointed out. it’ll be the local associate, Henderson Logie who’ll likely do the work. An interesting challenge for them
East Fife showing the Big Boys how to respond to moronic fans
http://eastfifefc.info/latestnews/1621-embarrassment-to-east-fife-fc
Well, the Stuart Cosgrove ‘show’was well worth the money.
It was not at all what I expected,perhaps because I had no idea what to expect.
Basically, it was a kind of autobiographical ‘highlights’ , loosely related to a number of games at different times in his life which had been of great personal emotional significance to him , and professionally important and relevant to his career with the New Musical Express and as an author.
Spiers would refer to one of the games, and Cosgrove would then discuss, in his own inimitable style, his personal back-story as it was at that time.
One of the ‘games’ referred to was a baseball game in Detroit in 1967.Stuart has recently published a book,the title of is “Detroit *67”.
This a serious work of sociology about Motown in meltdown at the period of the rioting ,related to political and inter-racial disputes,in the the year 1967 .
The other games referred to were Scottish football games.
There was a bit of good-humoured banter between Spiers and Cosgrove with the odd wee remark, like the reference to ‘something else’ that had happened in 1967.
But it was not about Scottish Football as such or about sports journalism or SPFL/SFA.
I say, Well done, Stuart.
And Spiers was fine as his interlocutor/feed-man
I enjoyed the whole thing, as did Mrc C and the whole,fairly substantial audience.
Stuart had a book-signing session at the end.
Needless to say, I bought a copy (£15) in which he inscribed, at my request, ‘ To John Clark, SFM’.
I also the pleasure of speaking to very nice chap who introduced himself as a non-posting ‘long-term-lurker’ on this blog, who had travelled through from the West..
Is their any mileage in the humongous fees paid to varied organisation for the IPO being in the 1 for you 7 for me kind of instalment basis? Which carry on to this day?
JC Ally ?
Even possible?
I’m also keen on the Rangers development angle seems one after another the board and hangers on attached themselves to this despite knowing nada about fitba or development.
There were also numerous posts by “George” relating to directors wives companies variously having “development companies” for Edmiston house (apparently a physical basket case) and the security outfit and catering switcheroo.
But as has been said where is it all in the accounts?
Intrigued but baffled.
John Clark says:
Member: (1074 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 7:40 pm
If a UK PLC company bribes a foreign national, the company chairman will likely end up in the House of Lords. If an American company bribes a foreign national, they face the real prospect of jail time. I suspect the Baker Tilly code of conduct reflects that American culture.
The potential for a bit of Duff & Phelps style transatlantic embarrassment is quite real
TRFC may have found a sympathetic friend in Baker Tilly!
This is the view of their tax expert:
http://www.bakertilly.co.uk/publications/Pages/Glasgow-Rangers-2-HMRC-0.aspx
“Glasgow Rangers 2 – HMRC 0 ”
I am SO glad that they have zero tolerance of bribery!
John Clark says:
Member: (1075 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 11:16 pm
I may not like it, but the article seems like a reasonable summary of the current state of play
ianagain says:
Member: (656 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 9:29 pm
“I’m also keen on the Rangers development angle seems one after another the board and hangers on attached themselves to this despite knowing nada about fitba or development.”
—————————–
I think the development players are owned by the development company rather than by the club (TRFCL). There’s been so many Directorial changes over the years that the name of the individual escapes me but there was a directorial responsibility for the player development policy at one point.
I’m not sure how that would facilitate money leaving the company.
The idea of there being a covert sale and lease back of the stadium has been mooted, corroborated by a few documents that in themselves could not be corroborated.
It could simply be a whole raft of over-priced service providers. Whether there is such a hemorrhage of cash will be determined by the review of the impending accounts.
scapaflow says:
Member: (1384 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 11:22 pm
‘.. the article seems like a reasonable summary of the current state of play’
______
Yes, it does, of course. I was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
The tax expert would, of course, simply see a tax ‘case’ from the point of view of someone who makes his living by being up to speed with tax legislation so that he can advise his clients properly.
John Clark says:
Member: (1076 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 11:47 pm
Willie Shakespear may have been a bit off with his “The first thing we do, is kill all the lawyers” (Which was based on the premise that all lawyers do is to shuffle parchments back and forth to the ruination of ordinary people.) Quite the revolutionary was Willie
Castofthousands says:
Member: (280 comments)
August 10, 2015 at 11:27 pm
‘..The idea of there being a covert sale and lease back of the stadium has been mooted, .’
_______
It has, and I’m puzzled as to why no one appears able to find out for sure.
I thought all property transactions had to be recorded in whatever Register:- Land register, Sasines, or whatever, even if the name of the purchaser could be kept secret.
Somebody would surely by now have discovered an entry in the public record showing who now has title to Ibrox IF Sevco Scotland don’t?
Would it have been possible for CG, if he was sole director of Sevco Scotland at any time, to have sold Ibrox to himself personally, or to another company of which he and some associates ( possibly including CW)were the owners? And for such a sale not to have been legally registered?
I somehow doubt it.
But is there no one reading this blog who may be able to tell us how to find out,definitively, openly and honestly and legally, who owns Ibrox, so that we can put that particular matter to bed once and for all??
scapaflow says:
Member: (1385 comments)
August 11, 2015 at 12:08 am
‘..Willie Shakespear may have been a bit off with his “The first thing we do, is kill all the lawyers” ‘
_____
Boy, that takes me back! We ‘did’ Henry VI parts 1 and 2 in 1957/58.
Wullie may have slipped that in as a private indication of his own dislike of legal processes, but he knew well enough where his bread and butter lay
and toed the Tudor line in the wider field of politics.Good Queen Bess was good enough for him!
John Clark says: August 11, 2015 at 12:34 am
But is there no one reading this blog who may be able to tell us how to find out,definitively, openly and honestly and legally, who owns Ibrox, so that we can put that particular matter to bed once and for all??
================================
I have a copy of the Ibrox deeds that was supplied to me in April 2013. I don’t believe that anything has changed since then, i.e. TRFC Ltd own the stadium and there are no charges on the property.
It has been stated repeatedly in the accounts and elsewhere that TRFC Ltd own the stadium and that its ownership is unencumbered. Here is an extract which shows Sevco Scotland as the proprietors:
Been listening to radio Shortbread the last couple of days and also read a bunch of red tops at the barbers this morning.
A typical Scottish MSM firestorm.
If you didn’t know better you’d think John Collins was some kind of James Bond style villain straight from central casting.
I don’t know exactly what he said or to whom or even why but guess it was along the lines of Celtic being under less pressure when they play in the SPL compared to when they play top teams in Europe (because the top teams can afford to play better players with smarter football brains and talents).
And I say that smiling as I remember an oft quoted Eddie Turnbull acerbic put-down to (graduate) Alan Gordon after a mistake at a training session… “The trouble with you son is all yer brains are in your (expletive) head.
So John Collins said Celtic have it easier at in Scotland because Celtic have better/cleverer players.
I don’t think you need a PHD in logic to agree with him.
Or to forecast that Celtic will continue to harvest many “clever” players from the rest of our clubs with impunity – because they can.
They simply have the most resources and you really can’t compare the Celtic playing budget with that of Cup Holders Inverness or last cup holders St Johnstone.
I’d say it is a fact in Scotland that everyone else is really playing for runners-up with every competition being Celtic’s to lose.
That being said stuff happens and I for one think our game is the stronger for not having just seen two Celtic Trebles in the last two years.
The economics of football in Scotland won’t change under the current system and while that may be worth discussing on here one day I have a different focus. today.
It is the media firestorm and what is behind it.
The mischief and sheer frippery of it all and trying to mischief up and build momentum from negative stories about the team from the east end.
And what is worth noting is they are trying to create and leverage pressure from the other SPL members – not the establishment favourite.
A new tactic.
I don’t know if it is opportunistic badness or a move to squeeze a few more season books for the team playing at Govan.
I do know if the MSM had been as enthusiastic in the pursuit of the real stories over the last 20 years, the stuff this site is not afraid to raise and discuss, then our game would be in a better place and one team in particular would not have been ravished in the way it has been.
I’m all for media firestorms – I just wish they were about stuff that matters.
I see that we are back on about deeds and the surprise that auditors have been found etc.
As EasyJmabo says the deeds issues seems to be pretty sound in that the property is registered to TRFCLtd
The reality is that because of the potential numbers that can turn up at Ibrox there will be people willing to take a punt at taking on a business service and the associated fees whether that be a NOMAD, an auditor or face paniter. More fool them you may say but that’s how it is.
Many seem to hold the belief that King’s SA conviction and holding the chairmanship is a definite no-no in relation to securing a NOMAD,however I find it hard to believe in the murky world of business that there not any other organisations where someone dodgy is at the top but have managed to secure all all support services they need.
The issue for T’Rangers is still pure and simple. It is all about cash flow. To reach the heights they feel entitled to they need, as was always in the past, someone somewhere, somehow to pump in £10m and upwards per annum. At present that looks wholly unlikely given the RR deal hamstrung any income from that source and having a £5m loan outstanding. Further to this those in charge appear to be slow in splashing the cash and any cash from Europe is far off in the distance.
Even if such soft loans were obtained to get them into a Euro spot their is still no guarantee of Euro glory/cash given the hurdles than need to be jumped by Scottish clubs including our current champions.
If Celtic manage to get past Malmo then T’Rangers and everyone else will already be £10m or more down. If T’Rangers get promoted then according to Lawwell then Celtic, may be a further £10m up. So there is maybe £20m Celtic have in the bank already. Sell Van Dijk for say £8m, if required, then it can be seen that the sums involved as huge.
Figures like 50,000 through the gates at Ibrox is a tremendous number for the club but nearly all that money goes out the door without touching the sides and it appears that will continue to do so regardless of what team they put on the pitch. The better the team the more extra income they require and there is no sign of where that is to come from.
With some austerity the club will be around for a good while yet but I doubt it will ever reach the dizzy heights unless some huge investment comes in from the Middle East or such as and there is a reconstruction of European football to a franchise system where large crowds are an entry criteria.
The big question is what will run out first, the cash or the disillusioned glory hunting fans?
Wotppi
The answer as always lies in the middle.
Will they run out of money? For sure. They run at a loss and do not have an alternative funding source. But a leaky bucket can always be refilled.
Will the glory hunting fans withdraw. A proportion will once success cannot be bought any further but again they can, to an extent, be replaced. CG has already played the ‘oarenge toap’ card (ok he all but did, as Barca commented yesterday) to replace the purist football fans, but a number of them will return to see better quality football (no disrespect intended to the div 4 diddies) where winning is not the b-all and end-all. You’re not going to see a complete instantaneous meltdown of the fanbase regardless of the results. CG and his little consortium including Ashley have gambled on precisely that fact.
But, as you rightly say, it needs cash, and it needs said cash to be used effectively. Certain aspirations simply have to be tempered.