Scottish football has gone through months of drama and uncertainty to rescue ‘Rangers’. Only weeks ago we were told a CVA was likely. Once this failed the question of today’s SPL vote crystallised.
The SPL met several times to discuss this matter, even doing so before Rangers CVA failed. Sentiment was firmly behind Newco, to the extent that some were worried they would be allowed into the league without any sanction (if one Ayrshire club had their way). All this changed when Charles Green and Duff and Phelps agreed to challenge the SFA at the Court of Session. At the SPL meeting following this decision the mood changed dramatically.
I then had several friends in the media rubbish my suggestion that Newco were far from certain of being voted into the SPL. To be fair to them, my information was not coming from Neil Doncaster, whereas theirs was. If Doncaster was so assured when speaking to the media, day after day, we can only imagine what he was saying to Green. His influence has not been helpful to the cause he championed.
Clubs, who were previously weighing up the argument, suddenly had a convincing point to consider. Rangers going to court was the biggest own goal in their 140 year history. Terry Butcher, eat your heart out.
After this Green was at the mercy of fortune, and the growing influence of the hawk(s) in the SPL who saw no need to create space for Newco. In many respects, John Brown is correct. Having gambled and failed, Green did whatever he could to accommodate but there was no way back. Underestimate John Brown at your peril, he has his club’s interests at heart and has the fortitude to raise a phoenix from the ruins of Ibrox. His unconventional style is easy to mock but it is just what needed (I truly believe this).
Where now for the Newco-Sevco-Rangers? I don’t see a solution. Sooner or later Mr Green will let his friends know they only way forward is for him to acquire an existing Scottish Football League club, rename it to something like Rangers United, and move it to Ibrox.
The toxic history would be set free and it would be game-on. Keep your eye on Cowdenbeath.
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Well, finally caught up with the blog and the podcasts – quite a day!
Jabba on Shortbread couldn’t have been slapped more often in a single session had he paid a dominatrix to do it.
As for bomber – I have this vision of the mad guy in ‘Still Game’ (can’t remember the character’s name) – the one that goes OTT when he drinks the Medouri (sp)……. Hope they give him further phone-in slots on; Real Radio, Shortbread, 5-Live etc – he will lead the anti-Sevco lot over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings!
Priceless – to quote Kojo: ‘Still laughing!’
@Art of War
Probably what I normally do, take it on holiday at some point and give it away.
emusanorphan on 5 July, 2012 at 00:33 said:
I was reading through the blog there, scanned over my post and thought ‘sanctimonious c*&t’ just as i remembered it was me who said it! I blames them kafflik skools I does.
S
canamalar,
good news mucker
praecepta on 5 July, 2012 at 00:36 said:
‘Big Yin’ Innes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY5SXaG1vZs
S
@art of war
wrong year, just checked and its 1995. its the one with celtic running through it.
Neil – i see what you’re sayin’ but Killlie died today as well. (If what i’m hearing is right). However, i will repeat. They do not have any money. Well none in public view.
Awe Naw – Stuart Dougall passed me when i left work last night and he was suited and booted in a wee grey suit (was he at Hampden? it was 5:45pm!) and looking happy with life…………………until I shouted Dougall ya fanny! Made a wee show of bravado and ran for the safety of the green man (ironically)!
TET
Devlin wid go mental here. On a mountainside with very few casas. One of them must be a kennel. Dugs go fkn mental at night for aboot 10 mins non stop. Maybees Devlin wd be leader? Andy liked him best! Ooh Ahh!
!!Bada Bing!! on 5 July, 2012 at 00:01 said:
Hector Avocado-Building up to SSB,listening to Cosgrove and Spence on Shortbread telling Jabba what things are like in the real world
————————————————–
Anyone got a link for that?
Rangers….who were they again? are a no-mark.
they mean absolutely NOTHING to me now!
bring on the Hearts
sportsound link on page 9
Just mind Wee Oscar tho : http://www.justgiving.com/teams/weeoscar
Night night
S
ampersandel on 5 July, 2012 at 00:42 said:
@art of war
——–
The one that went from wee Umbro signs tae Celtic? Aye it was a good call.
I still like ma Peoples one tho!
hector… it decended many times into a mad babble…
jabba tying to talk over cosgrove….
it was great to hear jabba being torn a new one.
What’s with all these calls to strip Murray of all his titles?
That’s a bit rough isn’t it?
I mean, come on, he’s the best tennis player we’ve ever produced.
And at least he has some integrity!
jabba is goosed now…….
sold his soul for succulent lamb and wine…
Celtic have no time for him……
and
Celtic are THE only show in town
DavidmintymuzzpotmurrayCSC
Before I go to my kip – I was in the Vale in the town tonight and a guy asked if the Vale was a Celtic or Rangers pub.
I said it had to be a Celtic pub.
When he asked how I know I said “cos that’s the only club that still exists!”
Weemomentscsc
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on 5 July, 2012 at 00:46 said:
Ta
Apologies ghuys if this has already been stated but……….
Over the past few days have been listening to some of the local and national radio channels and what has really struck home is how they still do not think they have done anything wrong.
Saddens me really (I know I should know better) but, despite my knowledge of the way they think it still astounds me.
We are now hearing that their ex/new fans are all in favour of starting from the beginning again and entering ( if Scottish football allows) into the 3rd division.
But, is this desire to go direct into league 3 an ‘act of contrition’? :)))))
Most decent folks would like to think so. ( and the radio shows appear to support this perception)
No, from what I am hearing it is so they can say GIRUY to the rest of Scottish football, and no one is batting an eyelid.
“let’s see how that shower survives without us” is a summation of their reasoning.
My heart sinks.
Even in their darkest hour they hate!!!
I should know better!
DontletceltsdieCSC
David Murray …..the Nick Leeson of The once establishment Club
Thank you for spending other peoples tenners…….thank you!!!!!
and god bless
PF Ayr 17.18
Sorry for the delay in answering, i’m on Florida time just now.
There would be some locals who would be up in arms ,but the average local in the town of Cowdenbeath will have a strong affinity with The Zoms.
Note: I am starting my own one mhan campaign to stop calling them Huns,and will now refer to them as Zoms,a shortening of Zombies.
A: The Huns no longer exist.
B: They can’t state that calling them Zoms is bigoted.
C: It is a constant reminder to them that the original Rangers is dead.
TT
ToneLoc on 4 July, 2012 at 23:17 said:
that was good. keep it lit
shady on 5 July, 2012 at 00:41 said:
praecepta on 5 July, 2012 at 00:36 said:
‘Big Yin’ Innes
That’s the guy ………………… chaos will ensue. I imagine some of their RFFFF (how many F’s) gatherings will end up much like the pub scene at the end. :-)
gordybhoy64 on 5 July, 2012 at 00:04 said:
Have to confess that i was for boycotting Killie,
but having read plenty posts on here its the chairman and not the fans who are the problem i have changed my mind,so go bhoys and enjoy a Killie pie,before sally gets near them
——
Only if chairman goes before we play them. Their fans have the power to oust him if the do not have trust in their chairman.
TT,
I cant remember who coined it but I’m enjoying the “hundead” at the moment
Before I go PART ii – I can’t help but think of DONCASTER sitting in his boxers on the end of his wee hotel bedroom single bed, wondering where it went wrong.
Problem is, most of us could tell him.
He has never got the bigger picture and he is now a part of a dynasty of despair that engulfs the game.
BYE NEIL!
No not Cowdenbeath. Too far away and its in Fife. Roam enough’s tarts will acquire that hunnery. I suspect somewhere a lot closer to Norn IRN.
YE sons of old Killie, assembled by Willie,
To follow the noble vocation;
Your thrifty old mother has scarce such another
To sit in that honoured station.
I’ve little to say, but only to pray,
As praying’s the ton of your fashion;
A prayer from thee Muse you well may excuse
‘Tis seldom her favourite passion.
according to SFA rules
20.2
in the event of a member club being in an insolvency event, and in liue of 3 years accounts not being available, a club can, if available, present a handsome hunto the board, and all sins will be forgiven
come on.
Big result today,but it is not over yet.
However, Celtic also declared today that they intend to be part of the solution to football’s problems.
Can’t help recalling J.Reid’s words:-
“We will not be treated differently from any other club. Those days have gone”.
Good night, all.
PS.
PFayr,
Take a note of those restaurants in La Caleta, for my future reference.
this is not the beginning
this is the end
haha
goodnight
:)
Art of War on 5 July, 2012 at 01:07 said:
Dont think so. He’ll be indignant and arrogant till the end. It’s the qualities you need to be a Scottish football executive. More commonly referred to as hunnery.
Saint Stivs on 5 July, 2012 at 01:11 said:
“handsome hun”?
By their own rules they are kinda painting themselves into a corner are they not?
This is the End
My ugly friend
This is the End
My ugly butt end..the End
Of your elaborate plans, the End
For which everything you stand, the End
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never see your ugly puss …again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need…of some…stranger’s hand
In a…desperate land
Lost in a Roman Catholic wilderness of pain
And all the billy boys are insane
All the billy boys are insane
Waiting for the summer shame
Yesterday’s momentous decision by the SPL clubs made me wonder about what lies ahead for us and the rest of Scottish football. I am happy at the prospect of 7500 not being able spout their bigoted hatred at our ground over the coming season. I do though worry how the finances of some of the less well supported clubs will cope if we do in fact see a drop in advertising revenue etc.
I have posted before about how over the last 4 yrs I have travelled Scotland visiting every senior club ground. I did this for a variety of reasons, the main one being friendship as my best mate is a Dundee Utd fan and to maintain and strengthen our friendship we undertook this task. We met many fans on our travels and had some great times. Once after visiting Ross County we made a detour to Ullapool for the loopallu music festival where we were put up for free by the owner of the Ceilidh Place Hotel as all the B&B and hotel rooms were fully booked.
I have now started on my way round the junior grounds, I have no idea how long this will take but hey I have time on my side and it’s not a race.
The reason I post today is to say that I rarely go to the grounds of other clubs in the SPL anymore, cost and value for money being my main issue as well as the fact that it annoys me that the clubs increase their prices for the visits of Celtic. Well now I see the other clubs in the SPL in a different light, I see them as equals and in some cases as friends and I have been brought up to help friends if they are in need. So next season I, along with my mate Gerry, will take my grandson along to watch teams such as Motherwell and St Mirren along with one or 2 others, I will go the weeks that Celtic are away so as my cash makes a difference, if I went when Celtic played there I would only be denying another Celtic fan a ticket as we usually sell out our allocation. I look forward to going to Dens Park to watch my first Tayside derby game.
My grandson is 5 and already he has an affinity with the hoops, my daughter has learnt him some of our songs and he loves watching the Green Brigade while at Celtic Park. I will try to explain to him why we are seeing teams other than Celtic and I’m sure it will be a great football educational experience for him. I hope to meet other fans on my journey as the only way we can proper is if we understand that for Celtic to proper we need to have a healthy league. Hopefully with the prospect of extra European places and the possibility of other teams winning cups, as happened this year, then the other clubs will attract the extra fans necessary to combat any downturn in sponsorship etc.
I am really looking forward to the future without those from Govan. A bright new dawn approaches and I personally can’t wait.
Billy’s Bhoy on 4 July, 2012 at 14:38 said:
July 12th = Iain Archer day.. I concur ..lets hope so!
Stewart Regan tonight stands condemned by one of the most appalling press interviews ever given by a senior official in the Scottish game. But before I start talking about what he did say, let’s be very clear on what he didn’t say; he didn’t say that there will be social unrest if Rangers are not in SFL 1. He used the term “social unrest” in the context of there being no Rangers whatsoever … or at least, no NewCo club bearing that name. I will defend him from that charge – which at least one Celtic website has repeated, without getting its facts right – but no other. For this is a man who has run out his rope, and should now be sent on his way.
We are facing a truly astonishing, historic, and potentially devastating moment for Scottish football here. Tonight, we have the head of the Scottish Football Association – a man brought in to revolutionise and modernize the game – threatening the smallest clubs, those who his “duty of care” is greatest to, with penury for daring to put the integrity of the sport first. This is a scandal paralleled only by what is going at Ibrox, and in doing so he has lashed himself to the mast of that sinking ship. His handling of this whole crisis has been a joke, from the way he has defended Campbell Ogilvie through to his statements tonight, which annihilate any credibility he had.
It is untenable for the head of the game’s governing body to threaten member clubs who are putting the well-being and reputation of the sport first. He cannot survive it.
The logic of his position is so twisted contemplating it requires copious amounts of Jack Daniels; he is saying that Rangers must be an SPL club this time next year. Not only is he suggesting that he will refuse to acknowledge the will of the SFL clubs in this matter, but he is actually threatening the very integrity of next year’s First Division title race itself, before a ball is even kicked. This makes this a unique and horrifyingly history maker in world sport – a governing body leader actually blatantly, openly and unequivocally prejudicing the outcome of a sporting event. It is almost unfathomable, a moment that has no parallel or precedent. How UEFA and FIFA can stand back and allow I cannot even begin to comprehend, but if there was ever a time for member clubs to report their national association to the continental body then this is surely it. My sincere hope is that not one club but many clubs will do so, and ask UEFA to act with urgency to resolve it.
But we cannot wait for UEFA. This goes much deeper now than just the future of the club calling itself Rangers. It is an issue so vast it dwarfs even that.
This may have begun with a scandal at Ibrox, but this scandal now goes to the heart of everything about the game here, and the people who run it. They have shown themselves to be craven, self-interested, shameless and incompetent. But more than that, they have proven themselves to be thoroughly and undisputedly corrupt.
Stewart Regan, Neil Doncaster and David Longmuir have shamed and disgraced their offices.
These people first tried to ram Rangers in the SPL down our throats. Rules would be ignored or just rewritten to accommodate it. Doncaster told journalists off and on the record that he wanted the club in the league “no matter what” they had done – thus prejudicing an independent investigation which his own organisation was running, and casting a dark shadow over another investigation being held by the SFA itself. This marked him out early as an enemy of the sporting integrity of the game, and as someone who could not be trusted to do what was right.
As an independent committee of the SFA – one removed from the “old ways” (and we know what that means alright) of doing things- delivered its hammer blow against Rangers by imposing a signing ban, there was talk their decision had shocked Stewart Regan to the core. His behaviour since would indicate that this is the case; he did not do anything to stop Rangers taking the case to the Court of Session, and he has refused to punish them for doing so. The SFA committee which is to impose the new penalty has yet to be reconvened. His comments tonight have prejudiced that future committee as surely as Doncaster’s remarks of earlier have prejudiced the SPL one.
For that alone, both men should be calling taxis. Yet they didn’t stop there.
Did David Longmuir pen the now notorious “consultation document”? Unknown. But he would have seen it, and he would have had to approve it. From a stance where he stated, plainly, football integrity had no price and that NewCo Rangers could not be put in the SFL at any level other than the bottom, where he actually stated that there was “no mechanism” for doing so, he has turned 90 degrees. His position now is that it can be done and furthermore that it should be done, nee must be done, and that sporting integrity comes second to commercial considerations.
He too should be packing his pencils when this thing is resolved.
Doncaster’s fingerprints were all over that “consultation document.” So too were Regan’s. They either authored it or commissioned it, and pushed it on him. But he accepted it without questioning it, and now is willing to subvert the rules of his own organisation because of it despite the fact the numbers in at are impossible to verify, and its key assertions have been openly questioned, with one chairman (Raith Rovers, step forward Turnbull) flatly telling the media that he did not believe them. He is not alone in holding that view, as many other club officials have verified over the last few days. This crisis spread from the SPL to the SFA and now infects the SFL.
In supporting the assertion that the SPL needs Newco there within a year he too is prejudicing the outcome of next season before it even begins, by accepting the caveat that Scottish football needs Rangers to be promoted. If they find themselves in SFL 1 the simple fact is that David Longmuir, Neil Doncaster and Stewart Regan will have accepted a premise whereby the SFL’s flagship competition starts with a pre-determined outcome. There will be a clearly stated “requirement” that Newco move up from his organisation’s own flagship league, before a ball is kicked. He is violating the very ethos of sport itself and if there has been a more flagrant breach of faith with the notion of a “level playing field” I have never heard of it, in anywhere, in any game.
All of this is cause enough to fire these people with immediate effect.
Yet they went further.
Doncaster has lied to clubs at every stage, including, if you believe Charles Green tonight, and there is no reason not to, Newco Rangers itself. With the vote outcome looking tough, he tried to cobble together a package of “acceptable sanctions”, to arrange a hasty pre-vote meeting to sell his wares and then attempted to have the meeting itself postponed – which would have thrown the entire game in this country into unimaginable chaos. He even tried to sell the idea of a secret ballot, all the easier to flog his scandalous plans and afford “deniability” to people who, themselves, would have had to have lied to their own supporters.
It is to the credit of the chairmen that they rejected the suggestion outright.
David Longmuir has now subverted his own organisation to the extent he screwing with the voting system, changing their rules on the hoof and is actually banning one club from having a vote at all. And then there’s tonight, and Regan …
What we might be about to see will make everything that has come before seem legitimate.
The subversion of two independent panels, with the guilt of Rangers already established will be a seismic event which will be felt in the halls at Nyon and Zurich. The punishments in those cases are enough to wipe Newco off the map – the very thing Regan has said would cause “social unrest”. That those committees will be “leaned on” is now without doubt.
Yet something even more staggering may be coming.
If the SFL clubs follow through on their principles, and Rangers Newco is treated like any other club, and thereby must start in SFL 3, these men have suggested they may apply a truly nuclear solution to what they view as “the problem.”
David Longmuir and Neil Doncaster, with the connivance of Stewart Regan, may actually, wilfully, destroy their own organisations and start again. Longmuir may sell out any number of the clubs he has a direct responsibility to support and care for. The guardians of the sport may actually annihilate it instead … deliberately, to get their way.
The fans have said no. The clubs will have said no. There will be a complete unification of will, save for a few hold-outs who will see some advantage for themselves in the chaos. The overwhelming opinion of almost everyone who TRULY matters will have been heard, will have been given, and will have been wilfully rejected as without merit. The views of the clubs will have been ignored. The views of the fans will have been treated with contempt.
Only a small number of chairmen actually WANT this. The fans are almost united in their rejection of it. Incredibly, if you polled the supporters of every club the view would be UNANIMOUS. Even the fans of the club all this is being done for do not WANT it. Their own rejection might be coached in their typical ego, arrogance and even hate … but their view is no less valid because of that, and their opinion no less valuable.
No decision in the history of sport has ever been taken in the face of overwhelming opposition. The views of everyone in it, from chairmen to paying customers, have never been ridden roughshod over to this staggering degree. How can the sport survive if the fans who follow it, the clubs which make it up and the rules which underpin it are ALL systematically destroyed in such a fashion? How can men of supposed intelligence ever believe this would be accepted?
Furthermore, the entire SPL 2 thing is a bluff, as anyone who looks at it must be acutely aware. If Rangers Newco is voted into Division 3 that is where they will be next season and no amount of bluster or fury will change that fact, because a restructuring of the game along SPL 2 lines would take a minimum of one year to implement, and would plunge the entire game into civil war, with no hope of any outcome which did not devastate the sport.
It cannot be done in that timeframe and it will not be done in that timeframe. If it is going to happen at all it would have to be done at the end of the season, and that would assure an entire summer of battling and legal disputes which would make this close-season seem like a warm up fight before a heavyweight title bout.
What would it involve? Well it would involve Newco Rangers not simply starting its existence two leagues above where it belonged but would see a club one year old discarding the whole notion of sporting meritocracy and leaping over two or more entire divisions to take a seat at the top table … putting Scottish football not on a par with professional sports but with Snakes and Ladders. It is hard to imagine the outrage it would cause from the fans of each and every club in the country, not to mention the legal war which would erupt.
We would, in that scenario, be looking at a thermonuclear version of where we were a month or so ago, with NO fans buying season tickets, with boycott threats ten decibels higher and with rage underpinning them which would sweep entire boards of directors away if they dared resist. You want to look at a Year Zero scenario? That would be it. What’s more, knowing that such a thing was coming, the fans response would be planned well in advance and instead of coming from individual supporters of single clubs it would be a co-ordinated effort of mammoth proportions, with deadly consequences underpinning it all the way. It would be multi-club, unifying fans from all across the game, and it would be devastatingly effective. Sky would find itself with less customers, bookmakers with less punters and soft drinks manufacturers finding themselves second, for the first time ever, to the multinationals on their own doorstep.
In other words, Year Zero for more than just football.
How long do you think such a setup could be sustained? How many seasons could it succeed? I would wager that within a year we would be rebooting … again.
But none of that has to happen. There is a way forward which can resolve these issues and make things go a lot more smoothly. There is a way in which fan power can be exercised early, to resolve these matters and bring closure, and clarity, to this situation.
The supporters who have lobbied their clubs thus far, the clubs who feel they have been let down, the people who have acted with courage, all of them can do so one last time. Fans can contact their directors and make one last demand. Directors can convene EGM’s. Those who believe they have been told lies can choose to act. One more time, let the campaign begin.
The three men who have dithered, obfuscated and even lied; the men who would subvert the rules; the men who would prejudice naturally occurring outcomes; the men who prevaricated, stalled and even hidden away when the going got tough can be removed from their posts before they do any further damage. It takes just ONE group of fans to influence ONE club in each section of our game. Those fans would force their board to table motions of No Confidence in the chief executive of their respective part of the structure … and that will trigger the vote.
Does anyone believe for ONE SECOND these men have served their respective bodies well? Does anyone believe any of them could successfully argue for their jobs, in the light of forensic examination of their roles? Doncaster, for one, claims financial cataclysm will be inflicted on the SPL should Rangers not be in it for more than one year; can he survive the scrutiny into who’s fault that is? Can he survive when he negotiated the very contracts which he claims will be nullified in that instance, when he, and everyone in Scotland, knew something like this was, more than likely, on its way? Can Longmuir survive being party to threatening his own members?
Can Stewart Regan survive considering his appalling statements tonight, and the way in which they prejudice so many of the underlying principles of our game?
My money would be laid against it.
Tonight, for the first time I can recall following football, I feel part of a fraternity, that of the Scottish football supporter, for a long time ignored, for a long time disdained, for a long time without a voice or a way to express it. All of that is over. We have the power.
Now we have to use it. Not in the interests of our own clubs, but in the interests of the game itself. We have spoken up for integrity in the SPL and we have won.
Now it is time to speak up for the sport, against those who betrayed it.
Nothing we do as fans will ever be more important. This is not about which clubs we follow, but about the integrity, reputation and future of the game itself here in this country.
Regan – Doncaster – Longmuir. Out. Out. Out.
Larrybhoy on 4 July, 2012 at 23:13 said:
“Todays the day the Teddy Bears had their pitch nicked ”
>>>>>>
Gone down to Wine Alley where they belong !
;-)