Today the Scottish Premier League will vote on proposals to allow a Newco to parachute straight into the top league in the country if an existing SPL club goes into liquidation. Fans from 11 of the 12 clubs have overwhelmingly opposed the idea. Rangers fans are split, some would prefer a Newco to apply to the Scottish Football League, others think a Newco should be allowed into the SPL without penalty.
Long before this vote was a glint in the eye of the SPL, it was first discussed on Celtic Quick News. Last October we raised the alarm that Rangers were undertaking an enormous charade. They were preparing to liquidate in order to avoid the consequences of failing to pay their taxes for over a decade.
We also predicted they would present the SPL with a fait accompli – vote us ‘back’ or suffer our scorched earth policy, as we take the rest of you down. For what it’s worth, I also predicted the league would capitulate and Celtic would stand alone in opposition.
10 of the 12 SPL clubs bank with Lloyds Banking Group (Celtic and Hearts excluded). For months I have suggested that LBG could threaten to withdraw overdraft facilities if clubs voted against the revenue Rangers bring but this is not the case. Clubs have a free vote, there is no banking overlord conspiring against democratic wishes, LBG, like the SFA Judicial Panel, have played this with a straight bat.
Right now, I have no idea how the vote will go. The proposal to establish procedures to allow a phoenix club straight into the league could be passed or rejected. If they are rejected, it may be because a majority would rather Newco was back without penalties, or it may be because clubs have listened to their fans and taken a stand.
If the vote goes against Rangers I expect we will see a rapid move to liquidate. If it goes in their favour (and by that I mean a parachute, with penalties, is invented for them), liquidation becomes a more attractive prospect, if not, actually, attractive.
They would still have to overcome potential challenges from creditors, security of Craig Whyte over Ibrox, and, of course, the many penalties that Newco would inherit along with the gift of Rangers SPL share. For now, this means last week’s SFA ban on signing players, but the alleged improper registration of players matter is coming over the hill soon, and the penalties for that… wow!
As I said, I have no idea which way the vote will go. Rangers are finished and it would genuinely be best for them if someone put them out of their misery and allowed them to start the recovery process, but in the light of the intimidation of Raith Rovers last week, it remains to be seen if the other SPL clubs are up to the task.
Most of us called last week’s SFA punishment wrong, what do you think will happen today?
Huge day. Huge, huge, day.
327 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- »
Colin Jackson immense in the rangers defence :
Davie Provan
jock steins celtic on 30 April, 2012 at 10:40 said:
‘anyone any idea what time the vote will be announced ?’
Middle to late May.
Bhoys,
Can someone please cut and post RTC’s latest offering, as I can’t access at work?
Thanks in advance.
TBGATB
I see they have made a complaint about racial abuse at 1 of thier players at yesterdays game. Does any1 know anything about it because I think its weird that nothing was mentioned after the game by any1, are they just making this sh&t up???
http://www.rangerstaxcase.com
Rumours
“There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.”
Winston Churchill
Rarely has the rumour mill surrounding our national game been churning at this speed for this long. In the information gap created by a lack of real news about the Big Tax Case and the daily dollops of PR exaggerations about Rangers next saviour being smeared across the print media, something has to feed the insatiable demand for information. Scottish football, especially in its Glaswegian form, has long been a fertile breeding ground for rumours. There has always been a sense that fans were not getting the whole story through the mainstream press and the dramatic events of the last year have done nothing to slow the production of the finely milled football rumour.
A rumour that keeps coming back around on radio call in shows is the one that says HMRC has recently acquired some kind of legal power to apply the unpaid tax bills of liquidated firms to their “phoenix” successor companies. This is just not true. (If the people claiming it to be true could also please stop citing this blog a source I would be eternally grateful! ) What is true is that HMRC now has the ability to demand a deposit from high-risk companies where it is believed that there is a high risk of non-remittance of withheld PAYE and national insurance. That is a wildly different proposition from actually being able to force a new legal entity to pay the tax bills of an old company- and if a newco-Rangers board does not contain Craig Whyte there is no reason to think that a newco-Rangers would be considered high risk.
Another rumour getting a lot of air play yesterday was that Rangers might go into liquidation this week. In the bizarre world of Rangers at the moment it would be a fool who dismisses any rumour out of hand, but I must confess to thinking that this is highly unlikely. (For the avoidance of doubt, I have no behind the scenes information on what is being said in the private conversations of the joint administrators). It would be a major embarrassment for Duff & Phelps if they were unable to keep Rangers FC trading until the end of the season. With all of the legal powers to cut costs available to them, this should, and would, have been priority number one. As pointed out by the excellent @tonymckelvie on Twitter, there is almost £2m available (11% of the total) from the SPL cash pot for the team that finishes 2nd in the league. (Another 4% is given to each team in the league just for participating. I am assuming that this is distributed earlier in the season). Given the size of offers being reported for Rangers, an extra £2m for the creditors is not be discounted lightly. So, I am sceptical. If Rangers were to collapse entirely before the season ended, it would be a disaster on such a scale that it would presumably cause even SPL chief Neil Doncaster to roll up the red carpet that is currently waiting to welcome a newco-Rangers back into the fold without questioning.
Rumours develop where we our demand for the information we want to hear exceeds the supply. Even if I get 20 extra tweets a day asking “when will we know the tax case result?”, I will still not know. It could be today. It will likely be within the next month. However, in theory, we could be waiting for months. Rumours of a 90-day deadline for a First Tier Tribunal (Tax) to publish its findings were simply not true.
Until the crisis affecting Rangers (and the Scottish game more generally) finds some form of resolution and the situation stabilises, we can expect every casual remark and poorly chosen word to spark a frenzy of analysis and fresh innuendo. As tiring as it has been, I see no let up in the drama in the coming weeks. I do hope that I am wrong. One way or another, I just want this story to come to a conclusion.
bournesouprecipe. Thanks for the kind words last night re Thomas (Tucker ) Barbour. He was my uncle who sadly died after a lengthy fight with cancer. He was a great Celtic mhan and would have loved to have seen yesterdays annihilation of the foe malign, and lived a bit longer to see their complete demise.
HH
The wigmaster general is on twitter!
@fenian_wigman
Minty and MSM – succulent?
Link didnae work……back to work!
On this site, we are rightly proud of the good acts that are performed by our supporters e.g. Vanessa, Kano Foundation etc.
In contrast, we have the unfunny, cruel remarks and, arguably, bullying of one of our own because of his appearance.
James79
What after the 90 minute sectarian hate fest from the scum yesterday
They need to even it up.
The only person who misbehaved yesterday was Bartley. Ref done him a favour twice.
HAil Hail
Provan raging at 3-0
Minty & MSM – succulent?
Iki
LOL
Your a funny guy
Hail Hail
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
Totally agree mate
It seems to me that they are intent on making as much trouble as poss before they die.
Also heard they left their section in a mess after they left
Is Martin42 about?
Got a question about butchery.
And it’s nothing to do with Rangers either.
:0)
SwanseaBhoy
James79
Yeah … that we EVEN gifted them tickets for the game yesterday amazed me
When have we ever given so many Celtic fans free tickets for an Old Firm game ?
Hail HAil
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
Would just be nice if that was the last 1 for some time
By STEPHEN HALLIDAY
Published on Monday 30 April 2012 00:00
CELTIC manager Neil Lennon insists his Rangers counterpart, Ally McCoist, is wrong to claim the Old Firm should be treated as special cases by the Scottish football authorities because of their disproportionately large commercial value to the sport in this country.
The Scottish Premier League clubs will meet at Hampden today to vote on proposed new regulations which would be applied to clubs which suffer insolvency events. Rangers, who have been in administration since 14 February and are still under serious threat of liquidation, would be the first to suffer from any new sanctions passed. They include a ten-point deduction and loss of 75 per cent of SPL income for two years for any liquidated club which retains its top flight status as a ‘newco’.
McCoist last week railed against the punishments imposed on Rangers by an SFA Judicial Panel, including a 12-month transfer embargo, and suggested that the Old Firm clubs should receive special dispensation on account of their size and importance to Scottish football’s value for sponsors and broadcasters.
But Lennon, who savoured Celtic’s convincing 3-0 defeat of Rangers at Parkhead yesterday in the final Old Firm fixture of the season, firmly countered McCoist’s argument and made it clear he feels the Ibrox club merit any punishment meted out to them by the SFA and SPL.
“No, I don’t agree with Ally, not if you break the rules, not if you break the law or the laws of football,” said Lennon. “There is an issue of moral sporting integrity as well. I understand Ally’s point to a certain extent, but if you have flouted the laws in the capacity they have, then I would imagine the powers-that-be will punish you accordingly.
“It’s out of my hands. If you break the rules, then you should expect to be punished. I cannot comment on what’s been going on at another club. The powers-that-be will deal with it as they see fit. It’s not my place to talk about the outcome of whatever sanctions they are going to get. I’ll leave it to other people to do that. ”
Lennon admitted he would miss the competitive element provided by the Old Firm rivalry in the event of Rangers’ ultimate demise, if not everything which surrounds the matches against his greatest rivals in his current capacity.
“As a player, you would miss them terribly,” added Lennon. “As a manager, they are horrible. Honestly, even today when there is no real pressure on the game. You are always apprehensive going into it. The build-up is a week in advance and then there’s the fall-out. But I don’t want to see the back of the fixture, because it really ups the ante. I’ve got to say that both sets of supporters today were fantastic. There was a lot of humour going around out there and that’s really what we want to see. We don’t want to see the other side, the nastiness. Both sets of supporters were a credit to their clubs today.”
Lennon was hugely satisfied by the manner of Celtic’s victory yesterday, achieved through three fine goals by Charlie Mulgrew, Kris Commons and Gary Hooper. He believes it was the perfect response to those who have questioned his team’s ability to win their highest profile matches. Lennon also dismissed talk of Celtic’s title win being undermined by Rangers’ financial crisis.
“People have thrown it at us, that we can’t handle the big games,” he said. “Well, that accusation has been diminished today. I’m very proud of the team. I’m proud of the way they played and the way they passed the ball. We scored three great goals and things we have worked on on the training ground have come to fruition.
“We changed our system to maybe suit some of our better players and it was just a really good day for us. We were brilliant from start to finish. Once we found our feet in the game, we were magnificent. We didn’t need this result. We are the champions and have only lost one game in the league since October. You set a really high standard here if you think we are bottle merchants.
“People in the game and other people outside the game are saying the championship is devalued, it’s tainted. The only way it’s tainted is if you’ve won it and you cheated to win it.
We’ve done nothing wrong. We’ve played the best football, scored the most goals, conceded the fewest goals and have the best disciplinary record in the league. So I think we are worthy champions.”
Although the title was already clinched, Lennon admitted that Celtic felt an obligation to win yesterday after losing 3-2 to Rangers at Ibrox at the end of March.
“We have our pride,” he said. “We were disappointed with the way we started at Ibrox last time. We hadn’t started games against Rangers well in the previous three this season. So it was imperative we got a foothold in the game early on today.
“I thought Scott Brown and Joe Ledley were fantastic in midfield. They covered every blade of grass. They got it in to Kris Commons who was exceptional as well. So they did everything I asked of them today.
“At 3-0, I’m thinking ‘I don’t want Rangers to score and get back into the game’. Everyone else is thinking we can get four or five. But I couldn’t ask any more of my team today. They’ve answered all the questions and shown they are worthy champions.”
mighty tim
Tommy Barbour was the personification of a Celtic fan.
HH
Thanks, Awe Naw…
JAmes79
FOREVER
Let them die and rot
They can´t do anything but cheat anyway.
It is a shame for them but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
Killing them would be best for everyone.
Even they agree now they are such a laughing stock
HAil HAil
Paul67
My take on the new proposed rules is that it is basically a cheats charter , ” run up huge debts, go bust, and re-apply to the league”. This will result in anarchy within the Scottish game and rather than have the impact of forcing clubs to be financially prudent will in fact provide encouragement for financial doping.
Celtic will vote against the proposals, and we will need Hibs & Aberdeen to show some moral fibre and do likewise, can’t predict how Hearts will behave.
If , unfortunately the proposals are voted through then I would expect Celtic to challenge these rules as running counter to SFA licensing rules and would open up Scottish football to a UEFA challenge. On these 2 counts , I expect no decision on the proposals today, as they are kicked back up stairs for further review / amendment.
Liquidation day will be Monday 14 May 2012, as this will preserve Dignity’s league position and relegate either Dunfermline or Hibs. However, this slight of hand from the Administrators will be open to legal challenge , as I suspect that the levy for withholding PAYE, NI ought to be more than 10 points, relegation is the only option.
Hibs with one eye on the cup final could finish 12th , which in my view if they did then they would trigger a legal challenge to the SPL.
Still, I believe the SPL inquiry will relegate Dignity (I am in the minority!), the SPL are hoping that they liquidate first …. Hence the delay.
crystalballcfc
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
Too bloody true!!!
Just heard the BK have just submitted a revised final bid.
So is this the final bid after the final deadline for the final, final time?????
What a farce and a joke!
Mothercare don’t sell as many dummies as hoopslegend Kris Commons did in scoring his goal.
A thing of wonder and delight.
LEADER OF SCOTLAND’S CATHOLICS CALLS FOR ‘ROBIN HOOD’ TAX TO HELP POOR
Cardinal Keith O’Brien
Monday April 30,2012
By David Scott
THE leader of Scotland’s Catholics yesterday called on the Prime Minister to introduce a “Robin Hood tax” on the financial sector to raise funds to help the poor. Cardinal Keith O’Brien accused David Cameron of ignoring poverty stricken Scots while protecting his “very rich colleagues” in the City.
He wants Downing Street to consider its opposition to plans from bureaucrats in Brussels to introduce a levy on financial transactions.
The PM fears that agreeing to the EU levy, dubbed the “Robin Hood tax,” would penalise the City of London and lead to 500,000 UK job cuts.
But the Cardinal, leader of Scotland’s 850,000 Catholics, said it was “immoral” the poor had been made to suffer for failings in the financial sector.
He said: “My message to David Cameron is to seriously think again about this. I’m saying to the Prime Minister, ‘Don’t just protect your very rich colleagues, consider the moral obligation to help the poor of our country’
Cardinal Keith O’Brien
“The poor have suffered tremendously from financial disasters of recent years and nothing, really, has been done by very rich people to help them.
“I’m saying to the Prime Minister, ‘Don’t just protect your very rich colleagues, consider the moral obligation to help the poor of our country’.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Government inherited enormous debt but the Prime Minister is determined to help people struggling with the consequences.
“That’s why the last Budget took two million people on the lowest incomes out of tax altogether and from April 2012 pensioners will see the largest ever cash rise in the basic state pension.”
It would be very interesting indeed if eg Hearts voted against this but it went through anyway, and they then tested the waters by stating that they may have to liquidate, given that they also have crippling debts.
Since Hearts are the bigger of the two capital teams right now, you could argue that they’re at least as important to the SPL as Rangers (especially if Hibs were to end up relegated).
God bless her majesty
Very enjoyable day yesterday.
Not sure if this came across on the tele but in the first half a ball was booted out of play and it skimmed past mccoist’s head, as he stood there glum faced with his arms folded he just let it fly a yard over his head instead of catching it. Q howls of laughter from the old stand as some player in the huns dugout was smacked in the head by the baw as he never seen it coming…I stand near the GB so i couldnt make out the player…who got hit???
that sums up mccoist :0)
s, revenue & customs
Weeminger
if Hearts were to vote for it they would be voting to flush 800k prize money that will be diverted to them in two weeks down the drain.
I think Hearts will against it.
Their need is immediate and they stand to gain more custom than any other club once the huns stop breathing.
Hail Hail
Surely Hibs and Dunfermline MUST vote against a newco staying in the league? It would ensure their survival.
BTW did anybody else buy a programme yesterday as a wee keepsake?
Mark Hateley says Sword of Damocles is like a new signing.
Árd Macha
greenjedi
A team will be relegated from the SPL. If rangers were liquidated then second place in the First Division would be promoted also.
AssonofDan
Not if they go into liquidation before the season ends they don’t! And that is a chance they must cling onto!!!
If any1 has a spare programme from yesterday can I buy it from you??? I will, after due dilligence and reading it, make a bid for £1 that I will borrow from some1 else and agree to pay back at somepoint but not entirely sure when!!!!
I promised myself that I wouldn’t spend another night in the cells. But you know how it is, walking along Cumbie Street, shouting at the crows and the checking shadows for imaginary huns wae chibs and evil minds, it just seemed a good idea at the time.
So anyway, just home. Well I think its home because I’m using my computer in a room that looks suspiciously familiar. Of course I may be in a completely different or alternate universe where3 everything is exactly the same apart from one small but crucial aspect. I will now check that out. I can here the sounds of square sliced sausages spitting on the grill.
If I go into the kitchen and there is a buxom woman dressed only in mayonnaise dodging the flying burnie bits of intergalactic ballistic fat, while p[reparing to rub mustard on my tatties scones, then I will be in another dimension, because I don’t put mustard on tattie scones.
The devil is in the detail. Normaility is a lie. And I have to do something important shortly…..breathe in.
Sometimes you just have to think of others. I mean, where will the Sharkey’s next meal come from if me and my pal don’t bump up his overdraft and get there shortly.
Anyway I left my bag and camera there last night and while they said they would give it to someone to bring round I pointed out that unless it successfully passed an iris scan check it wiuld blow up and kill evryone without a Celtic scarf on within a radius of 5 miles.
So I’m off now.
A huge hello to Houl yer wheeshet and the beautiful Barbara I met last in in Sharkeys. I apologise if I said anything stupid. Sometimes the word ‘if’ is completely superfluous. That of course assumes that something could be only partially superfluous. Ho hum …another day of drudgery and drink awaits the unsuspecting flies who flap there tiny wings and by the grace of God end up sitting next to me in Sharkeys today.
I will regale them with tales of derring do (should that be daring do?) and paint pictures of magic, dreams and ambitions beyond the ken of barlow.
Right got to go, surgery awaits and I am in charge of the anaesthetic.
Haul Hail
Estadio
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on 30 April, 2012 at 11:07 said:
That’s my feeling too. That’s why I think it would be interesting if they tested whether the new rules would be applied evenly.