I didn’t realise until watching TV last night it was Keith Lasley that Anthony Stokes ‘did’ on Saturday, the player who put Adam Matthews out of the game for a couple of months. It’s a physical game, and I’m not going to concede violent behaviour is acceptable, but it would be super-human to not be affected by earlier violence. We need to rise above this.
On a similar theme…. Another incident I missed at the game was James McFadden wresting Fraser Forster, who was holding the ball, early in the second half. Minutes later Fraser threw himself to deny McFadden what looked like a certain goal.
Players need an edge to be able to summon their very best performances, and a wee nyaff climbing all over you is as likely to give you an edge as anything. McFadden has a few years left in him. He’s at a well-run club who will give him the platform to excel, if he can find the focus to deliver.
I see some re-writing of history today and over the weekend on where responsibility for Newco Rangers acute financial plight lies. Among throwing blame on convenient scapegoats, one-time-hero-though-transparent-chancer Charles Green, and financial director, Brian Stockbridge, few seem prepared to offer up the prized oaf.
They banked £22m from a share issue and cash from circa 30,000 ticket sales, enough to see them through to top flight football, as long as they didn’t blow it on football bling. So who was responsible for doing exactly that (if you can stretch the definition of bling to Jon Daly and even lesser appealing gems)?
Sure, Stockbridge and Mather signed off, and they certainly knew the financial situation the club was in, but we know enough of the story to explain why it happened.
Despite having a budget close to 100 times their opponents Newco suffered considerable humiliation at the hands of fourth-tier clubs last season. Without reinforcements their chances of progress from the third tier was far from guaranteed – if they continued to allow Ally McCoist to run football operations.
McCoist was unsackable. He played the fans perfectly, earning a ridiculous contract and shares a 1p each for his ability to put bums on seats. Mather had to throw enough talent into the squad to ensure promotion with McCoist in charge, then rely on Charles Green to pull together another share issue.
The question you have to ask is, once McCoist had his reinforcements, who torpedoed the Charles Green supply ship?
No one is going to tell you Charles Green is a man you would want associated with your club, but before mob-rule ensured his attempts to raise investment cash were quashed, should someone not have asked the questions, why did the board find it necessary to bring such a pariah back and what happens if we throw him and his investment plans out?
We’re about to find out.
If suggestions that Newco will come close to expiring cash in hand before season ticket income arrives are accurate I expect they will get there, even if players don’t agree to a wage cut. Companies can control when to pay creditors, even HMRC, who despite what is likely to be an acute interest in Newco, would take months to complete a debt recovery action.
Don’t get too drawn in the minutia of this, whether an insolvency event happens or not does not change the fundamentals, which we touched on last week. Newco had a gamblers chance of turning into something resembling Oldco.
Spooking the SPL into giving them a ticket into top flight football would have seen them debt free and competing for last season’s SPL. Three years of paying our bills while losing the league would have been pointless. I genuinely think only one of Glasgow’s big teams was ever going to survive the SPL decision on Newco.
Had they liquidated Oldco, then flooded Newco with talent and won the league, Celtic would not have recovered, a reality that should be remembered when journalists talk about Scottish football harming itself in 2012. It was them or us.
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Hello
I see we’re still interested in Snodgrass, according to some rags. I personnally think he’s very similar to Commons so does this mean Neil thinks Commons is surplus to requiraments?
If I was to choose, I would choose Snodgrass over Commons, I know what commons has brought to the team and love seeing him in the hoops but I personnally think Snodgrass is a better all round footballer
Good afternoon CQN
Pode
Oh yes ya dancer, last post on previous article then first on new, now that is a braw, as one of our esteemed posters would say
Eddie, well done , now away and read the article; -)
Good times to be a Celt
Lovely reverse podium double for EDDIEINKIRKMICHAEL there.
Well done,mate.
Now to read the article,haha!
eddie
Firstly, you use “information” from the correctly named “rags”. You then use that nonsense to second guess our manager (and a very poor second guess). Finally, you offer the opinion that you would be rid of our current best player for someone most of us have never seen.
Have I got that right? Very strange post.
JJ
“Had they liquidated Oldco, then flooded Newco with talent and won the league, Celtic would not have recovered, a reality that should be remembered when journalists talk about Scottish football harming itself in 2012. It was them or us.”
Interesting finale to the article, Paul but….
for the hard of thinking, like myself, could you explain this rationale in a bit more detail.
I am worried that you are arguing that the “preserve their history but relegate them into oblivion leagues for a few years” was a preferable outcome to “losing their history but letting them start as a newco in the top division.”
eddieinkirkmichael
12:28 on 20 January, 2014
Snodgrass is a winger, left footed playing off the right wing. KC is now almost exclusively played through the middle as the second striker. We could easily accommodate both of them in the same team. Add James Forrest on the other wing and we would have an exciting creative three playing behind a main striker, preferably one who scores regularly.
JUNGLE JIM 1227
Oh,there would be no problem with a bit of leniency for good behaviour.
Problem is that there is little chance of good behaviour!
BMCUW
0:-)
eddie
…..and then you post it AGAIN 0:-) !!
Paul67, McFadden is a nyaff:-)
If journo’s were to remember it was them or us, a lot would have wished it was us. What they should have been talking about was the harm Rangers had done to Scottish football.
Or am I just being paranoid.
Paul….It was them or us.
inanutshellCSC.
Paul67
“It was them or us.”
Indeed and they will not forget they lost and who they will blame, self awareness being a concept too far.
All the more reason to sort out their partners at the SFA, wanted for crime against Scottish football.
SFTB, I don’t see how option 2 would have come about. Giving a history-less Newco access to the top flight was never proposed by the SPL and was never asked for by Sevco. No one wanted it and there was no mechanism to make it happen.
‘No to Newco’, don’t change the rules, was the campaign. Not ‘No to Newco unless they agree to the following…’
Auldheid, absolutely.
Spot on Paul…….
I’d still prefer a Latin type striker be we wouldn’t know where to begiune.
Either way, there is a very strong possibility that this time next year the mainstream media will be hyping up the return of the ‘Old Firm’ as being only months away, via media outlets that have already told us(via their front pages) that Rangers FC 1872 had been consigned to history!
HH
Auldheid
12:44 on
20 January, 2014
================================
Are we getting any closer to a result on sorting out the SFA mate?
See another couple of our fans arrested at the motherwell game for singing roll of honour.
Disgraceful the treatment these days.
How was the attemdance this week ?
Glasgow Central station roof has more glass panels than any other building in the world.
bsr Glasgow Central news at 1.00
Hi Paul67,
I can understand your position on the Lasley tackle and I always believe sprting integrity is first and foremost but if Officials aren’t going to protect our players well then…
Stokes waited to the game was won, challenged hard enough to send a message without doing any serious damage ~
He who lives by the sword…
Another we point, you have pointed out a few of the reasons why Charles Green’s set up of Newco was wrong from the start including RST, blue knights and chums “don’t buy the season tickets” call.
But surely the SFA insistance that The Consortium took over Rangers FC’s SFA membership, TV rights, debts and fines etc, meant Charles Green had no chance of making the fresh start with a proper business plan that was necessary for Newco to build from a sound foundation.
The SFA are as culpable as any in this shambles.
More so, when you think they have the roles of Guardians of our National game.
Hail Hail
BMCUW…………….
Will check dates and get back to you soonest. Cheers.
Boarding soon……….
Regards & Hail Hail
TBM
Good crowd on Saturday , just shy of 50k i’d guess plus a really good atmosphere.
The ref being an out and out cheating hun, and the Motherwell hammer throwers getting away with murder is always good for cranking up the noise.
WUT?
eddieinkirkmichael
12:27 on 20 January, 2014
I see we’re still interested in Snodgrass, according to some rags. I personnally think he’s very similar to Commons so does this mean Neil thinks Commons is surplus to requiraments?
If I was to choose, I would choose Snodgrass over Commons, I know what commons has brought to the team and love seeing him in the hoops but I personnally think Snodgrass is a better all round footballer
BSR @ 12:51,
Glasgow Central station roof has more glass panels than any other building in the world. bsr Glasgow Central news at 1.00…
Canon Street Station had a huge glass panelled roof.
To protect it from the WW II Blitz, it was dismantled and stored in a warehouse outside London.
Canon Street wasn’t hit.
But….
The Nazis blow the warehouse up…
Hail Hail
Wee Judith Ralston is to be admired for doing a high pressure job.
chairbhoy
Ha – typical Third Reich.
Paul67
12:45 on
My understanding is that in season 2011/12 the rules of the SPL were that it would be up to the SPL board on which basis the SPL share of a club was transferred. I thought that meant it was well within the rules that the Rangers Charle Green created could be waved straight into the SPL. The decision would have been with the six man board containing Doncaster and Topping – two guaranteed yes votes for Green’s Rangers. Brown of St Johnstone, with Topping also having a vote. Stephen Thompson was also on the board and according to reports he got the process altered so all member clubs would decide. I know this isn’t the accepted veiw on here but actually the rules were changed in a way that prevented a Rangers currently being in the top flight.
The WI FI in the Apple Store Buchanan St is so fast this post reached CQN before I was finished ty
Jungle Jim
12:34 on 20 January, 2014
eddie
Firstly, you use “information” from the correctly named “rags”. You then use that nonsense to second guess our manager (and a very poor second guess). Finally, you offer the opinion that you would be rid of our current best player for someone most of us have never seen.
Have I got that right? Very strange post.
JJ
—————————————————————————————————–
If we didn’t comment on what the rags say we wouldn’t have much to chat about mate, speculating on who’s comming or going is par for the course on a football blog, no?
I seen Snodgrass live on several occasions and he’s always impressed me, especially when he played with Leeds, I was working in West Yorkshire for over 2 yrs and went to a few Leeds games, home and away as the guys I worked with were all Leeds supporters.
I like Commons, good player who shines brightly in a poor league against mediocre opposition, Snodgrass is currently playing at a higher level and as I said he has much more natural ability than Commons, IMO.
My wifi is so slow, in Inverness today, I’ll be home before it gets posted on CQN.
Bawsman
12:54 on 20 January, 2014
“The ref being an out and out cheating hun, and the Motherwell hammer throwers getting away with murder is always good for cranking up the noise.”
Agreed, always helps the atmosphere if the ref has a few howlers, I think we should insist on Madden appearing every week as a sort of replacement for the Green Brigade bhoys. Thus ensuring a good atmosphere. :)
Thought Stokes saw his opportunity to give Lasley a dull one, and was unfortunate to be sent off, booking would have sufficed.
Another belter, Paul. They don’t seem to do self-awareness. And their media mates help them with their re-writing of history.
Until they waken up and get off the message that everything was okay until Craig Whyte took over then it’s not going to get any better for them.
The reality is they were spending WAY beyond their means for at least fifteen years – propped up by bank debt, equity “investments”, dodgy tax schemes and – at the end – Champions League money.
The good old “the debt was coming down” myth peddled by Paul Murray, No Surrender Johnston, Chick Young, Jabba and others. Em, no. The debt did come down – £31m to £18m but only with two years CL money. Assume that to be approx £30m then basic arithmetic suggests an overspend (exc CL money) of around £17m – so £8.5m per year.
They had an opportunity to get things right in the summer of 2010. With direct entry to the CL group stage the following season, but crucially NOT for the 2011-12 season, they could have made an effort to do what other teams do and live within their means.
By selling five or six of their top players, they could have got the debt down to low single figures AND taken around £5m off their wage bill. Still left themselves with a good enough group of players to comfortably finished second. But no – this was to be king Walter’s last season and they had to give him a title to go out with. Instead they spent £4m on Jelavic and £1.5m on Beattie. Utter madness. The great one said it himself – “The financial bit of Rangers Football Club and common sense don’t often go together.”
Simply, Craig Whyte didn’t pay tax because it was the only way he could have funded their massive costs with no CL money that year.
They have spent money way beyond their means since Murray arrived. ALL of their success was based on this. And still we have the MSM saying we need Rangers (sic) back (sic) to challenge Celtic. Maybe they really do have minerals under Ibrox. Maybe money grows on trees at Murray Park. Otherwise they must live within their means and accept they won’t be as successful as the old club was with their financial doping, or the same thing will happen to newclub as happened to oldclub. Can they change their mindset? Not holding my breath on that one……
Doc
13:12 on 20 January, 2014
My wifi is so slow, in Inverness today, I’ll be home before it gets posted on CQN.
________
SNAP.
My wife is so slow that I can normally be home before she even realises that I had sneaked oot.
CHAIRBHOY 1259
They were a bit keen on their Krystallnacht….