My initial reaction, that the outcome from today’s SPL meeting and votes on Financial Fair Play, was on the upside of expectations, appears to be well founded. All matters not relating to a Newco football team were passed. Clubs had the opportunity to vote through a process to allow a Newco access the league but it was apparent that there was clearly insufficient support for this proposal, making subsequent proposals to apply sanctions to a Newco moot.
I understand sentiment towards Rangers reflected the comments from St Mirren chairman, Stewart Gilmour, who said, “What’s a court getting involved in football for? The decision had been made.”
There is no question that fan pressure has been brought to bear on club chairmen.
This interpretation compares starkly with BBC Reporting Scotland tonight who, if I paraphrase, said, ‘If Rangers don’t get a CVA, depending on your point of view, they will either get “back” into the SPL with light or with punitive punishment’. The broadcaster also threw in the suggestion that ‘Rangers’ might get ‘back’ in without punishment.
I’m a huge admirer of Reporting Scotland but this was perhaps the worst 60 seconds in 85 years of BBC reporting. There was a decision made to ignore the real story, that no facility to get a Newco (not Rangers) into the SPL was approved, to ignore the outcome of several months of fan pressure, and to tailor a story that suits a controversial narrative.
Fortunately, it looks like the BBC will be back on form soon, but they really need to look at what happened today.
As for the CVA, it becomes less and less likely by the hour.
UPDATE
Having spoken to BBC Reporting Scotland’s Alastair Lamont it’s clear he has been briefed differently from me, which explains the contrast between our interpretations. This story is becoming a nightmare to report, and probably to read. Fair play to Alastair for being up for the debate. I feel much better about my favourite news programme.
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Celtic_First
You are welcome. I am just glad somebody sees some crumbs of sense in my posts. Much appreciated. I try to read the majority of comments to keep abreast but for most days time limits me to just the odd post and they are often late on.
H H
Lennybhoy, edward followed that tweet up to explain it was a joke – still, the delay is a bit odd – maybe @markdaly2 has gone for a nap!
Lennybhoy…Supporting Neil Lennon and CFC until I die on 31 May, 2012 at 00:49 said:
PoliticalCeltictweet @edwardrice1
injuction granted against BBC at high court. No emails tonight
==========================
He followed that tweet up, saying he made it up!!
HH
hairlikespaghetti on 31 May, 2012 at 01:00:
Cheers mate, definitely away…
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
CelticResearch @CelticResearch
Late night tease while awaiting email. Wouldn’t it be fun if one of the main players in this saga came from a prominent S’Side Ludge family
Late night sandwich news.
On some nice brown bread, a medoly of cheese, chicken, tomatoes, siboes, cucumber, and lettuce.
And gunners of salt and mayonnaise.
Gunners? I would need hunners.
Knackered now, still don’t know what is going on. Wish they would just die!
CelticResearch @CelticResearch
Bit more homework to do on the ludge family but it binds a few of the current cast and some of the previous ensemble.
Big Mike
They have died.
Worst thing that could happen, they are back to their early eighties level.
Best thing…
Well we can dream, but I would love a move to the lower English leagues.
Then just watch us go!
I apologise for rantin’ and ravin’……in mitigation I plead illness (seriously) and a fiery Celtic temperament.
Rather that than cool arrogant Anglo sangfroid.
Anyway,tomorrow’s another day in Glasgow’s answer to 24.
HH!
O.G.Rafferty on 31 May, 2012 at 00:07 said:
jimtim, 23:52
Barcabhoy got cold feet I think, as he has done before, and that’s fair enough. Maybe Thomson can get into it on his return though events are moving so swiftly we may not care
===================
absolute garbage.
if you are going to post referencing me, then at least get your facts correct. i posted the first part of the information, and then followed up with some clarification.
as for having taken cold feet before, then thats more garbage.
do yourself a favour and ask Paul67 , and do me a favor and don’t quote me in future , especially where you are making stuff up
“Now there has to be a solution and a way out that doesn’t cause carnage for the game in Scotland.” Green
There is, you plonker. Shut the operation down and gie us all peace once and for all. Who the hell does he think he is? A complete nobody in Scottish footballing terms insinuating that the SFA are equally to blame for the mess. Yes, their efforts to keep that lot alive have contributed to the ongoing debacle and have dragged our game into the gutter and the joke books but in no way can their actions be equated to the disgraceful behaviour of every single individual or organisation that has as much as fingered that shower. Here is the man from nowhere immediately assuming the mantle of entitlement and others’ need. The whole lot are an abomination!
Now I will equate the other half with a goodnight kiss and rest easily now that I have offloaded my ire for another night. sweet dreams all.
H H
Barcabhoy deliberately outshines Celtic late night sandwich news.
I think you were waiting for my post.
This Green guy is hunbelievable.
He honestly thinks people are going to swallow that diatribe he put out.
He actually believes RFCia have been punished enough!!
So, having a 10point deduction and a few 100 GBPs fine (which you aren’t going to pay anyway) is punishment enough.
That’s like Ronald Biggs getting a fine of 5pence.
Can you show me a single piece of evidence anywhere that RFCia and their supporters have acted for the best interest of Scottish football, at any point in all these dealings?
Was taking the SFA to court, contrary to the rules of the SFA and FIFA (which RFCia have signed up to) acting for the best interest of Scottish football.
The only outcome for the good of the Scottish game here is for RFCia to become RFC gone and forgotten.
To while away the time…Nick(son of Roy)Harper’s “Knuckledraggers.” Apt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWILEjQ03xo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I believe the cool euro type putdown word for Green is ‘arriviste’.
From SaintLubo’s post;
“Was taking the SFA to court, contrary to the rules of the SFA and FIFA (which RFCia have signed up to) acting for the best interest of Scottish football.”
>>>
They believe they’ll be able to stymie UEFA/FIFA on yet another technicality.
Shysters/Fraudsters/Gangsters…welome to Scottish ‘football’.
From today’s Herald.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/rangers-confident-fifa-will-not-come-calling-after-court-overrules-transfer-ban.17737010
OK Mr Green, in the interests of making peace and what is ‘best’ for Scottish football, let’s just do this:
1. RFCia open up their books and let all of Scottish football see the full extent of their cheating.
2. RFCia hand back all trophies, medals (yes, from all the players) and monies (in full) won during the past 20 years.
3. RFCia pay all their tax and NI etc… in full (no CVA debt dumping).
4. RFCia pay all monies due to other clubs throughout the world.
5. RFCia admit to all their crimes and apologise to every other club and organisation in the country.
6. RFCia dismantle all the ‘invisible’ links to the MSM and various authorities so that they are in fact competing on a level par with all the other clubs.
7. RFCia direct all their fans to accept all this as being their own fault and no acts of retribution against any other person or agencies are to be carried out.
8. RFCia are to break all links with anti-Catholic organisations throughout the country.
9. RFCia are to ban all fans & players who partake in anti-Catholic activities, including singing of anti-Catholic songs at their games.
OK, having done all that, perhaps we can now sit down and talk peace.
No? Are these terms not acceptable.
So, what exactly do you mean by making peace then?
Your idea of peace is for everyone else to turn a blind eye and let RFCia continue on with all their cheating and criminal activities unhindered.
Close the door behind you as you leave Mr Green.
I think that Neil Lennon is a better manager than all of them put together.
Lauded he should be…if any football manager on this earth wants to speak about pressure,then they should go and talk to Neil Lennon.
The most frightening thing for our rivals(regardless of whom they shall be),is this – he is only going to get better.
Yous probably won’t like it…but yous better start getting used to it,because that’s just the way it is.
The mulchy fankle Scottish Fitba is currently immersed in reminds me of what the owner of a small mid western bank said during the so called ‘credit crisis’.
‘If these banks are too big to fail… Then they are too big.’
Scotland has a team too big for it’s boots.
SaintLubo,
Tremendous post. Should be sent to Alex Thompson, Marc Daly, the SFA, the SPL, HMRC, MSM and the gang of ten.
SaintLubo on 31 May, 2012 at 02:25 said:
Powerful.
From BBC website.
Duff and Phelps ‘agreed’ to cap Rangers fees at £500,000
By Mark Daly BBC Scotland Investigations Correspondent
Craig Whyte Craig Whyte discussed Rangers pending administration with Duff and Phelps
Rangers administrators Duff and Phelps agreed with owner Craig Whyte to cap their fees at £500,000 two days before they were appointed.
Emails obtained by BBC Scotland reveal the firm also agreed to try to minimise the time spent in administration.
Duff and Phelps’ fees and charges now stand at more than £5.5m.
The firm said that the capped fee was envisaged for an outcome which never materialised and that the BBC has got its figures wrong.
Duff and Phelps were appointed as administrators for Rangers after the club failed to pay tax to HMRC of up to £15m.
They had been involved with Craig Whyte since before his takeover of Rangers in May 2011.
HMRC moved to appoint their own administrators but agreed, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, to the appointment of Mr Whyte’s choice.
In an email dated 11 February 2012, with a subject heading Project William, Mr Whyte tells David Grier, a senior partner from Duff and Phelps, that he wants “all costs pinned down and no unpleasant surprises later on”.
‘Curve balls’
The Rangers owner stresses that administration costs should be capped at “a maximum” of £500,000 and that the process “should be short” and “preferably in hours”.
He acknowledges, however, that “we may be hit with some curve balls”.
Mr Whyte states the capped fee should include all work by Duff and Phelps in meeting requirements by the Scottish Football Association to have accounts for the granting of a Uefa licence by 31 March.
David Grier Mr Grier said a fees cap was possible subject to an extra time cost payment
The Rangers owner also says in the email that the administration could “play out in a couple of different ways”.
One option was a “straightforward” with a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) agreed with HMRC.
The other would involve a “pre-pack” sale of the “business and assets” and a “CVA of Oldco to keep league membership” and satisfy Uefa rules.
In the email, Mr Whyte states: “We will have no choice but to go down this route if HMRC don’t agree a CVA during the moratorium”.
Mr Whyte tells Mr Grier that he would be more comfortable with two rather than three joint administrators and would “like to speak to David (Whitehouse) and Paul (Clark) to make sure that they’re comfortable with the fact that we might end up with HMRC being hostile”.
Mr Grier responded to Mr Whyte in an email dated 12 February 2012.
In his reply, the Duff and Phelps senior partner agreed to try and keep the administration process as short as possible and proposes to cap fees at £500,000 with the caveat that the firm can discuss “an additional payment in respect of our total time costs”.
Mr Grier also agrees with Mr Whyte on the possible different scenarios in administration, the problems which may arise, and the need for the club to retain its licence and satisfy Uefa rules.
‘Muck raking’
He signs off by saying: “We trust that this update and our earlier conversation meets with your approval, and demonstrates our understanding of the sensitive nature of this administration.”
In a statement from Duff and Phelps, joint administrator Paul Clark said: “This is another pathetic muck raking exercise by the BBC which completely misrepresents our position.
“From day one of the administration, it was abundantly clear the club was in a major insolvency situation that was going to last for a significant period of time.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
It is absurd for the BBC to take these emails, written prior to administration and based on a specific possible outcome, as evidence of any wrongdoing on our part”
Paul Clark Joint administrator, Duff and Phelps
“This was evident from our discussions with HMRC that day and we stated at our very first press conference, attended by the BBC, that Craig Whyte’s estimates for a quick resolution were optimistic.”
Mr Clark said that it was “completely misleading and inaccurate” for the BBC “to suggest we gave a guarantee of fee level and guarantee of time the administration would last”.
“The emails in question were preceded by a letter sent on 10 February 2012 which made reference to a £500,000 fee in relation to a specific possible outcome which did not materialise,” he said.
“The BBC has also got its figures wrong when stating our fees are now more than 10 times this amount.
“As stated yesterday, all fees are subject to approval by creditors and are in keeping with the best practice guidelines from insolvency practitioners bodies.”
Mr Clark said he and Mr Whitehouse had “a statutory duty to look after the interests of creditors and keep the business going, which we have managed to do under extremely challenging circumstances”.
He added: “It is absurd for the BBC to take these emails, written prior to administration and based on a specific possible outcome, as evidence of any wrongdoing on our part.”
Secured creditor
On Tuesday, Duff and Phelps issued an offer to creditors for a CVA.
Documents published showed the firm had accrued operating charges and legal fees to date of more than £5.5m.
Duff and Phelps also hold secure creditor status, meaning the firm could, under certain conditions, be the only creditor to be paid.
All other unsecured creditors, including HMRC, Ticketus, football clubs and public bodies, would only be entitled to whatever is left over from a CVA pot or sale of assets in liquidation.
Last week, a BBC Scotland documentary – Rangers: The Men Who Sold the Jerseys – raised questions about a possible conflict of interest for Duff and Phelps as administrators.
Mr Grier had said he was unaware of a deal for £24.4m between Rangers and finance firm Ticketus until August 2011.
The BBC programme showed emails that he knew a deal with Ticketus was under way in April, before Mr Whyte’s takeover.
Insolvency expert Roger Isaacs told the programme that the emails amounted to “one of the starkest conflicts of interest I’ve ever seen”.
Duff & Phelps denied the claims and accused the BBC of distorting the facts.
In a reply for the firm, Mr Clark said: “There is a world of difference between knowing that Ticketus was a potential source of working capital funding for the club… and knowing that funding from ticket sales had been effectively used to purchase the club.”
The email exchange such as it is. Drip drip like a leaky faucet
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18268349
Two wee questions occurred to me reading those initial e-mails.
1- Is there ANYONE with a connection to Rangers over the last 25 years or so who is not going to have their reputation suffer as a result of all the dirt still to be dished?
2-Are there any major players in this saga who are not going to be suing each other’s arse off?
Time will tell,but there’s more mileage in the fallout than there is in the club,I feel……
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 31 May, 2012 at 03:21 said:
I reckon we are still in Act 2 of a 5 part play.
More villians to be exposed.
‘GG 0325
Yes,it looks like it could rag on,and to not only their detriment,but that of others as well.
I can see the fixtures for next season being published,but before the season starts,Dunfermline will be reinstated to take their place,as the previously relegated team.
Same happens in the next two divisions,until in the third,we have a NINE-team league for one year,as no alternative team,i.e. Spartans,Gala,could be properly licenced in time.
It also gives them an undeserved chance to get their house in order,and back in the league a year later-which they wouldn’t have if this had been put to bed earlier as they would have had to wait for another club to go nipples-up!
RAG= DRAG
ChoobCSC
Big Georges Fan Club on 30 May, 2012 at 23:53 said:
I’m from Plains, dad was from Greengairs (big family – he was youngest of 14). Used to go on the Wayside bus with wee Alex Delaney – God rest him – and Big Gus.
A Greengairs man is someone from ‘Gavil or Whiterigg who failed the entry test to move to the Plains.
We have had couple of Plainsmen on here recently. I’m from Livingston Drive. Although I left in 1969 after I got married.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 31 May, 2012 at 03:40 said:
‘GG 0325
Yes,it looks like it could rag on,and to not only their detriment,but that of others as well.
Rag sounds better.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/celtic-s-date-with-real-madrid-in-us-at-risk-1-2328156
Celtic dotting the i….
but not crossing the t …
Perhaps?
Essential…
In such Tempestuous Times…
One would think…
Ragout sounds better,I’m starving!
Off home,early night from work for a change.
Nae ragout but I made a rather nice Szechuan pork and black bean sauce earlier.
My mooth’s watterin’ joost thinkin’ aboot it!
PJBhoynyc on 31 May, 2012 at 03:48 said:
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/celtic-s-date-with-real-madrid-in-us-at-risk-1-2328156
PJ. I was under the impression this was a free international week.
I think they are just shit stirring and trying to find some issue to beat Celtic with.
They are feeling remorse at having to report Rangers’ fall and fall.
Anyways…. Back to the week that was.
I love a little Rag maself…
Especially one that does not stop giving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmruHc4S9Q&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLAA0AD1DD1DADF53A
Just do not forget the potential Sting in the Tail….
G’Night Y’All
“GG
You may be right…
In fact,your perspective would suit The Beat.
Just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s myself.
BTW..
Thanks once again for the emails Sir.
Much appreciated and enjoyed at my work.
I live my life trying not to think or speak about them,but they test me,they try me to the limit.
They are a disgrace,not only to football,and sport in general…but they are a disgrace to themselves.
They are without shame.
They sicken me.
The self-proclaimed “most successful club in the world”.
If you do wrong,then you do wrong,that’s fair enough…none of us are perfect,but at least have the gumption to hold your hands up,and admit that you have done wrong.
Not them though – “if we go down,then we bring everybody else down with us”.No apology,no nothing…that just perfectly sums up their wretched mentality.
And still they spout,”We Are The People!” – Are they Eff!! – What they are,is the most despised club and support on this planet.
“No one likes us,we don’t care!” – That is about the only thing that they were ever right about.
GBTCFC.
Over and out.