Charles Green, owner of “The Rangers Football Club Limited“, formed in May this year, yesterday released a remarkable statement yesterday, ahead of the SPL Commission into How Rangers FC, formed in 1872, registered football players for over a decade.
“In short, what was decided by the SPL membership is that Rangers was finished as a member of the SPL. Despite this, the SPL now see the new owners of the company, and the new company itself, which owns all the assets of Rangers FC – including SPL championship titles – as fair game for punishment for matters that have nothing to do with us at all.”
We dealt with the purchasing of history on here some months ago. Once we realised it was possible, I snapped up ancient Egyptian history, the period from the pharaohs until Mark Antony. I AM responsible for the Pyramids of Giza but any slavery which may or may not have been used in their construction is NOTHING to do with me.
No one complained about the use of slaves at the time and I am sure each pyramid would have been constructed whether slaves were used of not. If slaves were so necessary for the construction I am sure “we” would have built many more.
Mr Green seems keen to protest against the SPL process, however, he, frankly, fails miserably. He doesn’t “question the impartiality of the individual panel members” but assets “whatever decision they reach is a decision of the SPL”.
So that will be independent members reaching a decision for the SPL! I think he doth protest too little.
There is also a threat: “”To make it crystal clear, the new owners purchased all the business and assets of Rangers, including titles and trophies. Any attempt to undermine or diminish the value of those assets will be met with the stiffest resistance, including legal recourse.”
Charles Green took steps to undermine his new company’s claim on Rangers titles in a BBC interview in June when he said that if his CVA proposal was to fail (which it did) and Rangers were to be liquidated (which they are), “the history, the tradition, everything that’s great about this club is swept aside”.
“Legal recourse”, which is prohibited by Fifa and which the SFA accommodated from Duff and Phelps, acting on behalf of Rangers, will provide Scottish football with a further drama. We mentioned at the time that the true cost of the SFA being so accommodating would be a repeat performance.
Mr Green asks why the “football authorities do nothing to address an issue that was public knowledge for at least two years, and was reported in the Club’s accounts for several years”? I think I can help here. Sir David Murray, who owned Rangers during the duration of its Employee Benefit Trust years, categorically denied that the club issued players with second contracts which were not submitted to the authorities. He reiterated this point most recently on a Sky News interview in March.
The football authorities have no issues whatsoever with Employee Benefit Trusts, it’s player contracts they insist are registered. Rangers insisted they had no case to answer until the SPL set a deadline on Duff and Phelps to fully disclose the nature of the alleged second contracts.
Charles claims during those lurid weeks when the SPL and SFA were negotiating with Green, that Neil Doncaster “repeatedly stated he was not interested in stripping titles from Rangers”. If he had evidence of this, ANY evidence, it would be fascinating.
If not, we should dismiss this claim.
A curious barb is made in other directions, “Rangers was not the only Club in Scotland to use EBTs yet nothing was done and little has been heard about it”.
One more time, for Mr Green’s benefit, EBTs are not against football regulations whatsoever. They are entirely legal and permitted by the SFA and SPL. The SPL Commission is not investigating whether Rangers used EBTs or not, it will investigate whether or not all player contracts were registered.
Mr Green goes on to make varied comments against “powerful representatives from Clubs within the SPL…. who appear hell bent on inflicting as much damage on Rangers as possible”, and that some “clubs were placed in an invidious position and we believe their interests were not best served by those in more powerful positions”.
Let’s have some context here. If we were to make a list of those who inflicted most damage on Rangers, representatives from other clubs would scarcely merit a mention. Those who allowed the club to spend more than it earned for so many years, who introduced the perilous tax avoidance system, those who failed to make accommodations for HMRC’s claim when it was first made, and those directors who personally benefited from the EBT scheme all carry primary responsibility.
Then would come the cheerleaders for the disastrous Craig Whyte regime – those who last year campaigned for the takeover, including putting pressure on Lloyds Banking Group to accept the terms.
Rangers opponents were spectators throughout this period. Any suggestion that our club were anything but opponents to Rangers, and alleged victims of trophies won by illegally registered players, when they should have been campaigning on behalf of their rivals, seriously misreads what was an established Glasgow rivalry. Of course it would be the same the other way – and rightly so.
Despite clearly feeling strongly about the Commission, Green didn’t address the key point….
There was no denial of the central charge that for a decade or more Rangers fielded improperly registered football players.
Yesterday some people suggested Green had offered the Lance Armstrong defence but Armstrong denied he was guilty while refusing to participate in the investigation into doping. This is a different matter altogether. Green has offered up something for every conceivable paranoid condition without actually claiming Rangers are wrongly accused.
The headlines today are all about titles being stripped but that is not the main topic in play. More importantly, after titles are stripped, what punishment will the SPL Commission levy on the Rangers membership, granted to Sevco in June?
The sheer scale of the charge makes this question incalculable. The toxicity attached to that membership is untenable and no bogeymen at other clubs, at the SPL or SFA are responsible for that.
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………Jum Jefferies!
Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!
….sorry I misspelt Mr Jefferies first name….
..it is of course, Glum Jefferies……………………….
apologies.
Hail hail the celts are here!!!!!!!
Canny wait to get back to real football.
Well done Andy Murray.
Well done Chuck Green, u are going to consign the manky mob to oblivion, carrying on the good work of Craigy boy.
Oh what a glorious time. Shhhh……. Can u hear the titles being stripped…………..cheating scum
Scotland have had a long list of boring cautious managers who have removed any gallusness from our game.
We need an Ally McLeod character to delude us again :-)
Gutierrez puts Colombia 3-1 up
Jose Pekerman beginning to get it together with an exciting Colombia team
The next Scotland manager will be Billy Davies. He is cheap available and a Hun.
Levein: “I though Gary Caldwell was excellent in a holding role tonight”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19556304
Paul67, This link to Charles Greens latest rantings contains another link to the following –
‘Celtic confirmed that it established one EBT scheme in April 2005, which BBC Scotland understands was for the benefit of the Brazilian midfielder Juninho Paulista. The scheme was worth £765,000 but the club did not declare the trust payment to the Scottish Football Association or the Scottish Premier League.
The payments made to the trust were declared in Celtic’s annual report for 2004/2005, but in 2008 the club became aware of an event giving rise to a potential tax liability which was subsequently paid after agreement with HMRC’
Now, your article discusses the myths and legends that the Rangers are using to shift focus and keep their support on side. However, someone inserted this piece on the BBC Scotland website knowing full well that the content would be misconstrued.
Is this statement true and what were the reasons for non disclosure? Did Celtic not detail the trust payment in their mandatory disclosure to the SFA on the players contract because they believed the payments did not relate to renumeration for playing duties? Or was it because they told the SFA the full amount of what Juninho would be paid and the method of payment was not an obligation in this instance?
In the same theme it should be mentioned that Alastair Johnstone is tonight admitting that Rangers did not disclose the full amount Rangers players would be paid to the SFA.
‘The SFA compliance officers must have known, both from the description and context of the reports, that such expenditures had some connection to player compensation’.
This statement infers that the SFA should have read the Rangers accounts and somehow known that the numbers didn’t add up then tied totals together to contract details they did actually get? How would that be possible? Mind you, if the top man at the SFA has an EBT it is a pretty difficult situation to believe that the SFA did not understand it as Johnstone later supposes in his statement.
Now why would you deliberately avoid telling the SFA that players are getting paid more than you are prepared to disclose? Would the SFA have told the taxman. Would the SFA have a vested interest in turning a blind eye to such activity if certain of their employees had received payments via this method? Does this mean that Walter Smith and Campbell Ogilivie and who knows who else were employed by Rangers and the SFA at the same time?
Will this rotten lot be so vociferous in defence and diversion when their version of EBTs are declared to be illegal tax avoidance schemes?
Johnstones defence is akin to a dead man stating that he was fine till they switched of the life support machine.
Andy Murray a Hibbees and Barca fan should be invited to our match v Barca.
Sure he would get a great welcome.
SKY seem desperate to get rid of Levein…
that little runt Tanner is another hurting hun…
macjay1 for neil lennon……its pretty obvious the common denominator and EBT beneficiary Ogilvie sorted the lads at Ipox out with a nod and a wink and now the back stabbing has started its going to get rather messy…enjoy the show…..
Victor Wanyama @VictorWanyama
I just dont understand Wales were the better side and went on to lose.
hebcelt
22:01 on
11 September, 2012
67Heaven thats being grossly unfair to carthorses!!! HailHail Hebcelt
LOTS OF LLOOLL……!!!!
Tanner manages to get 9 in a row into his commentary.
Wee hurting scumbag.
Did Tanner just say “the rest is 9 in a row history” regarding Goram!!!!
Early night for me after the Andy Murray late shift last night.
No trouble with noise from the Hampden exodus to keep me awake!
SFTBs
I am with you in many senses but the shape of the team war wrong from the fits minute:
Forrest, Maloney and Mackie together?
3 wide players in one team?
Kevin Keegan nonsense in the extreme.
Currently the Scotland team should consist of:
Commons, Adam, Morrisson, Brown and Forrest when fit and 442 when at home or with Fletcher for Brown or Morrison when fit (or if fit).
Scotland currently have a plethora of attacking midfield players but they are mis-used so often it is scary.
Maybe Levein will be sacked in the morning.
Scotland must now win in Wales and get at least a draw in Belgium or it really is game over.
I think its clear that Craig Levein is out of his depth. He is too cautious – he cant help it its his nature and its what the SFA signed up to when they made him manager.
I do however feel sorry for him – the feeding frenzy of negativity is just horrific (and I know its rich coming from me).
Anthony Gerrard @antgerrard86
Very important day tomorrow for the whole of Liverpool, let’s hope the truth will finally be told and we get justice!! #JFT96
blantyretim
22:22 on 11 September, 2012
SKY seem desperate to get rid of Levein…
that little runt Tanner is another hurting hun…
I was wondering why, even BEFORE the first game, people like Jabba, keevins etc were so derogatory about Scotland’s chances…..it could VERY WELL be the bhun factor…..I would not put it past them……both of Scotland’s opponents were very good technically and, as far as I am concerned the meeja were ‘way over the top’, which WILL have affected confidence ….SCOTLAND’s SHAME, indeed ……
neganon2
22:28 on 11 September, 2012
LOL …..you are, however, spot on …..!!
Football greatest on Sky tonight is Kenny Dalglish.
James traynor is actually no bad on the phone ins when Celtic or the club formally known as rangers aren’t involved.
Burghbhoy – I’m finding it hard to be as cheery as you brother.
My hero, the man with the best hair in football is out for nearly 2 months.
Hard to smile about anything!! Chuckle Green is helping mind you.
Does Andy Murray’s achievement in winning an Olympics gold and a tennis Grand Slam surpass Celtic winning the European Cup as Scotland’s greatest ever sporting achievement?
I’d say no, football’s our national sport.
Tanner et al are hoping the SFA will re-appoint the King of EBT’s as Scotland boss
Question is, will the TA accept back a manager who walked out on them in the middle of a EC qualifying campaign?
The answer is probably yes, as the TA couldn’t give a monkey’s about Scottish football in general. As long as they can get blootered in various exotic destinations with the odd fluke victory (France), that will do them nicely
The muppets deserve each other
Snake & Neg Anon
I am closely in agreement with both of you.
The SFA and the Tartan Army knew what kind of manager he was when they appointed him. He delivered the style he was famous for and aimed for fluking a 1:0 victory.
Nonetheless, the press and phone-in coverage meant fans were prepared to boo after the first goal, at half time, and on the hour mark. It is very hard for players to show the right type of steel and mental toughness when one misplaced pass leads to OTT criticism.
The press and fans helped to condition many players to play the safe re-cycled possession than risk a slip pass or, god forbid, a dribble.
googybhoy
Football greatest on Sky tonight is Kenny Dalglish
I wonder if they ask him about the Rafael Scheidt deal?
mullet..,
it doesnt matter if we used an ebt as long as everything paid into it was declared
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but sevcos trumpeting of signing their 17 year old on a 5 year contract is in breach of the rules of both the sfa and sfl. Any player under the age of 18 can sign a professional contract for a maximum of 3 years. Oops
Mr X loves having a “fly kick” 21:58 on
I wonder if Tanner will take the opportunity to ask “Walter” why he allegedly had an EBT as Scotland manager?
Nothing alleged about it it. He had one there and one at Everton as well.
My son recommended this iPad to me ……really fast, but it does some strange things at times if you hit a wrong button…night all…!!!
Buddy Morrisey
I’d say no as well but for almost the opposite reasons.
Andy’s achievement is tremendous because Scotland has no competitive history in tennis. In contrast, we are serial under-achievers for the past 30 years at the one sport we truly care about. Like England, we are close to being a mono-cultural sporting nation.
Other countries in Europe, including many small nations can field competitive national teams in sports that are played worldwide, Basketball, Volleyball, Field Hockey etc; whilst in the UK, we get stuck with the Empire Games of cricket and Rugby with their elitist traditions. Even though cricket is a popular participant sport worldwide, that is largely due to the population input from India & Pakistan rather than the number of countries who take the game seriously.
But, in the end, I would rate the Lions achievement higher than Andy Murray’s because he plays an individual sport and you can develop a one off talent by getting him to play in the more competitive environment of the academies and tour outwith Scotland.
It is harder to develop 6, 7, 11 or 15 players to form a world class team in the team sports games. The Lions featured 4 world class players and a world class manager supplemented by some top quality talent and some determined players. None of our football teams has come close to that level of European and world competitiveness before or since. And we played in an environment where there was a pretty good Rangers team, and Hibs, Dunfermline, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock could also beat the top English, Spanish and Italian oppositions on their day.
We used to be good at football; now we are just obsessed by it.
Buddy Morrisey, 23.33
Is the Mona Lisa better than Liza Minnelli ?
Is a donkey better than a monkey ?
Is singing better than dancing ?
I’m going to have to stop drinking.
THE EXILED TIM
20:12 on
11 September, 2012
Well offside as well, what a shame
————
ScotPatsFan
21:54 on
11 September, 2012
Sixteen roads to Golgotha @2147
‘If it wasn’t for Celtic i wouldn’t even bother watching football anymore .’
I came to the same conclusion a few years ago myself!
SPF
Just in and catching up 2 comments that caught my eye. :))
Chuck Green for new Scotland Manager
Was Chuck steaming in that interview or prosac ?
HH
Wilfrid@22:52….
Yer Doing Jist Fine….
Hiv Anither Yin…Fur The Road..
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/j/Wilfrid%20Brambell.jpg
(ThumbsUp?)
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
22:11 on
11 September, 2012
From the B.B.C.
S.F.A. complicit re. E.B.Ts.?
Johnston said Rangers had acceded to SFA requests for information about the scheme.
“The SFA compliance officers must have known, both from the description and context of the reports, that such expenditures had some connection to player compensation,” he said.
“However, without any further investigation at the time, Rangers FC received its SFA license to compete in the 2011/2012 season.
——–
This is going to get really messy with hun on hun fighting,
as i read recently “when thieves fall out”.
Goodnight all HAIL HAIL