Former chairman of Oldco Rangers, now director of Newco, Alastair Johnston, took aim in the media at Celtic supporters yesterday, saying “I always wondered about the mentality of certain Celtic supporters, not by any means most of them, who basically said our club died in February, 2012.”
Why do they do this to themselves? If it is an attempt to convince people that liquidation did not happen, it will fail. All that will be achieved is the re-telling of the facts. Rangers entered administration on 14 February 2012. It failed to come out of administration and a liquidator was appointed to dispose of the remaining assets.
Secvo Scotland Ltd bought a “bundle of assets”, including the stadium. The administrators, Duff and Phelps, changed Rangers name to RFC 2012 Ltd and gave permission to Sevco Scotland to use the word “Rangers” in their name. Without this permission, Newco would have gone through a similar naming process as Clydebank – Airdrie United – Airdrieonians, who were only permitted to use the word “Airdrieonians” 11 years after the liquidation of oldco Airdrieonians.
If I’m honest, if we were in those circumstances, I would tell myself every day that the Celtic I grew up with was the same as Newco Celtic. I would have no incentive to do otherwise, so Johnston and anyone else who cares, can think what they want about Newco.
He is welcome to his thoughts, if it helps him through the trauma of what he did as chairman of Oldco during the EBT years, and the club’s failure to prepare over many years for HMRC’s legal challenge. Johnston’s board made no provision to retain enough money to trade through HMRC’s challenge, despite that legal challenge being underway years before it got to the crunch.
What he tells himself does not change the facts. Oldco is in liquidation. All player contracts ceased. Assets were sold off, a deal to use the name had to be agreed. Sevco Scotland became an associate member of the SFA while Oldco was still a member. Oldco voted on whether to admit Sevco Scotland to the SPL. Sevco changes its name and were granted entry to the SFL Third Division.
Johnston played a role in the demise of Rangers. He was chairman and had a responsibility to direct the club away from dangers. He failed and now presents an alternative reality, which is easier on the mind.
He also said, “it will be 120 years or so before you can tie with us.” For each of those 120 years, Celtic fans and others will say, “But Rangers died in 2012”. Just as Rangers fans are content to believe their club continues, belligerent denial is not going to change how others regard liquidation. It’s over, Mr Johnston, you let your club die.
There was other guff about “thriving” not “surviving”. They think they are going to win the league and that their circa £11m annual deficit is an indication of thriving. Again, I disagree.
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UNCLEJIMMY @ 7:33
I am not, nor never have been, a board-basher, generally believing that as a well-run successful club we should be thankful to have clever ‘Celtic-minded’ people running our club.
However some questions won’t go away regarding the behaviour of the SFA and Rangers FC (IL), and how we are dealing with the dramatic resurgence of Sevco, now trading as TRIFC.
For the life of me, I cannot understand the deafening and ongoing silence from our people, when so much wrongdoing is apparent. The saying goes “you can fool some of the people….etc”. The board must know that in the fullness of time the truth will come out. Are they really taking this support, the bedrock of Celtic, for mugs? Are they banking on the fact that when the truth is totally revealed that they will be gone and distanced from criticism?
Or, is it the case that with the old Rangers FC still not pronounced officially dead by BDO, hands are tied to some extent?
With regard to our current situation and our inability to land a blow on this new Gerrard outfit. Of course we can’t stop them from improving, of course we can’t stop them spending money they haven’t got. Of course we can’t stop Liverpool FC treating them as their pet project, designed to welcome a triumphant Gerrard home when Klopp departs.
What we can do, should have done, is ensure that we improve commensurately, and maintain the gap.
Surely we are not going to blow it in our first real challenge for eight years?
Apologies
Glen Murray
Celtic are slagged because people know we are not going to sign anyone this window, Celtic are slagged co the rags have us linked to either kids or has beens,
Last window has already been declared a failure on here, Forster, Elyounoussi, Bauer on loan. Elhamed, Taylor,
Frimpong. Julien, Bolingoli plus young prospects like O’Connor. Afolabi & Burt all signed,
OK not all of them resounding successes yet but certainly Forster, Elyounoussi, Elhamed, Frimpong & Julien have already made significant contributions.
All this shite has been fermented by one bad day at the office.
Ryan FFS why didn’t you let Eddie take the penalty you would have spared us hundreds of depressing posts.
It’s only Jan 5th and already I am starting to get agitated with Peter
In the summer Peter did well and I ate Humble Pie for doubting him
But it was all last minute and I fear we are in for the same roller coaster ride again
So my hope is for Peter to get what we need quickly
And yes I will eat Humble Pie again
What we need is a centre Forward, a good one, a proper one, not a project or a has been
I read that Glenn Murray and/or Billy Sharp are linked with us
I assume it’s because whoever we want we can’t get until the summer ??
So we are looking for a short term fix
Both are/were good all round pro’s who made a decent fist of scoring goals
But are they the answer to our only objective – win the league- no IMHO
And this is why Peter is agitating me already
If my assumption is right and we are looking at a short term deal until we get who we want in the summer
Then my view is go and spend a few quid and get him now
I get and support our way of doing business
We buy for the future we develop we sell at a profit
Peter is the King of this strategy – he is a commercial hero
BUT
Just once, for the sake of winning the league, I wish we would take off the corporate commercial hat and just go and get what we need
Yes we may lose a few quid on him we may eventually sell him for less than we bought him for
But winning the league is the only show in town
Just this once I want to see the balance sheet take a back seat
Come on Peter make me smile
67ECW
And all this soul searching on the back of a loss to Rangers , a game which we could easily have drawn , perhaps even won .
Big Jock on the unpredictability of games against the hun :
TV Presenter: “Scott Symon, Rangers manager, what do you think the score will be in the Old F*rm match?”
Symon: “I think 2-0 to Rangers”
TV Presenter: “And you Mr Stein what will the Old F*rm score be?”
Jock: “Only a fool would try to predict the score in an Old F*rm game.”
From The Herald
HeraldScotland4MENU
SPORTFOOTBALL3 hrs ago
SFA remain quiet on Rangers’ UEFA licence charges
By Ewing Grahame
Alastair Johnston (centre) at the Rangers AGM meeting this year
Alastair Johnston (centre) at the Rangers AGM meeting this year
4
Almost 20 months since the SFA’s compliance officer hit Rangers with two charges concerning their application for a licence to play in Europe in 2011/12, the ruling body continues to do nothing to take matters forward.
The last act of Clare Whyte’s predecessor, Tony McGlennan, was – following an eight-month investigation – to issue the charges against Rangers in June 2018 after sworn statements made in court during the trial of former owner Craig Whyte revealed that the board at Ibrox had been made aware in January, 2011, of money owed to HMRC regarding what became known as the Wee Tax Case, when payments were made to several players under the Discounted Option Scheme in an attempt to dodge tax.
UEFA insists that all clubs taking part in their competitions must declare overdue tax payable. However, Rangers claimed in their submission for a licence in 2011 that they had no overdue payables and that they were “in discussions” over a disputed tax bill.
However, Rangers directors testified during the Whyte trial that the club knew the tax bill was overdue in November, 2010. As a result of their application being granted, Rangers were allowed to compete in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League (where they were eliminated by Malmo) and the Europa League (where they lost out to Maribor); had their application been rejected – as it should have been – then Celtic, runners-up in the SPL in 2011, would have taken their place in the Champions League.
That alleged obfuscation formed the basis of the first charge, as was revealed in a letter sent by the SFA to all member clubs in September, 2017, which also explained the second charge by explaining that Rangers did not observe the rules that: “All members shall:- (a) observe the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship in accordance with the rules of fair play; (b) be subject to and comply with the articles and any statutes, regulations, directives, codes, decisions and international match calendar promulgated by the board, the Professional Game Board, the Non-Professional Game Board, the Judicial Panel Protocol, a committee or sub-committee, FIFA, UEFA or the Court of Arbitration for Sport; (f) behave towards the Scottish FA and other members with the utmost good faith.”
Sanctions available for the latter breach range from a £1,000 fine up to “£5,000,000 and/or ejection from the Scottish Cup and/or exclusion from the Scottish Cup and/or any player registration restrictions and/or suspension and/or termination of membership and/or any sanction or disposal not expressly provided above”.
Rangers immediately argued that the SFA, as a result of the secret Five-Way Agreement they and the SPFL signed in 2012 following the descent into liquidation of the old club, had no jurisdiction in this case and that the matter could only be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, an opinion upheld by the SFA’s own judicial panel in June, 2018. Since then, nothing.
When I pressed him on the matter in June of last year, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “I would expect that to come back to the board in the not too distant future.
“It [going to CAS] is still under consideration. We’ll come back on that in due course. I wouldn’t want to put a timescale on it . . . but I don’t think we would let it go for ever.”
We asked the SFA on Tuesday whether a decision had been arrived at concerning the next step in this procedure. They said they would get back to us but there has yet to be a response from them.
Alastair Johnston, a director of Rangers International Football Club, this week gave an interview in which he taunted Celtic supporters who claim that the current Rangers is a separate entity from the club which imploded in 2012.
“You know what?” he asked. “If that was the end of Rangers and Celtic and if that was the end of the big game that started in 1888 [the first Old Firm meeting] all the way to 2012 – we won that game.
“The way you determine it by the number of times (54) we won the top division. We were ahead in February, 2012 and in head-to-head victories, we were ahead of Celtic in 2012.
“So if you wanted to say the old Rangers of 1872 died – we beat you 2-0 and when the game started again in 2012, it will be 120 years or so before you can tie with us.”
Mr Johnston was removed from the board at Ibrox by Whyte in 2011, but not before he declared in the club’s interim accounts that year that the Wee Tax Bill was a “potential” liability rather than an actual, overdue one.
It’s understood that it is his signature which appears on the UEFA application which the SFA now believes was consequently awarded in error. Curiously, though, they seem reluctant to proceed with their charges.
——–
Anybody else think if the huns were linked with Glenn Murray we would be slagging them off ? 35 year old striker , at least he wouldn’t be a project !
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 4th January 2020 9:04 pm
ERNIE LYNCH on 4TH JANUARY 2020 7:53 PM
Straight from the BBC horse`s ‘ former head of programming ‘ mouth.
But what would he know ?
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1223907/bbc-bias-radio-4-today-programme-impartial-complaints-election-bbc-licence-fee
######
What do we know about Sir Robbie Gibb?
From Wikipedia
‘Gibb was a political advisor and Chief of Staff to the then Shadow Chancellor Francis Maude. He played a leading role in Michael Portillo’s unsuccessful campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party.[3][4]
In July 2017, it was announced that Gibb would become Director of Communications at 10 Downing Street following the departure of Katie Perrior.[5][3] Gibb is a long standing supporter of Brexit.[6] In April 2019, he was accused by former Conservative minister Nick Boles of being “a hard Brexiteer who wants to destroy the PM’s new search for a cross party compromise”.[7][8]
‘Gibb is the brother of Conservative MP and Schools Minister Nick Gibb.[4]…..
He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in Theresa May’s resignation honours on 10 September 2019.’
So in other words a right wing fanatic had a senior editorial and managerial role at the BBC.
And you cite this as evidence of left wing bias at the BBC?
Corkcelt…”Ryan FFS why didn’t you let Eddie take the penalty you would have spared us hundreds of depressing posts.”
Aye, but what if Eddie had missed…I’m not sure about Christie and dead ball situations. His corners and free-kicks are so-so. Bring back Naka…
If we had won our last domestic game of 2019 the blog would have been very quiet and we would then be moaning about CQN on its last legs :-)
most football fans love a moan (myself included) it’s what we do best …
67 ECW
This is not a Peter Lawell defence but “everything” in the last window was last minute … selling / loaning club, player & Celtic are all influences in the timing of signings … probably a bit naive to suggest its “Lawells “ fault, even though some would always put the blame at the CEOs door … its their default position …
CORKCELT
Great post!
We are not half as bad as some on this site are suggesting………….but………..we do need a we bit of tweaking!
C’MON THE CELTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good job , Ernie.
Finally some points of relevance.
Not conclusive but of some significance .
Howbout this then ?
You think Huw from the valleys , the face of the BBC election coverage , ” mis tweeted ” ?
The BBC newsreader also recently took to Twitter after he was criticised for “bias” towards the Labour party after he liked a tweet which was urging people to vote for them.
Huw Edwards, 58, defended himself on Twitter for endorsing a pro-Labour video shared by Rob Delaney, a Labour activist, which was originally posted by trade union GMB.
The two minute 18 second clip included the slogan “Vote Labour for the National Health Service” near the end.
Regarding timing of signings in any window I missed the most influential people … the “agents” who most players have a contractual agreement with and I would suggest every agent will leave it to the last minute to “use” any offer from any team as leverage … I read yesterday about Liverpool signing Minamino (?) right at start of the window this was due to release clause being activated so no money to be made for agent or selling club who usually have far more power than any buying club
Yuv goat tae laff…………….
A couple of things. I’m guessin’ the uns will kop for a wee fine with regards to the latest rule breaking.
It’s mainly about the money. A konviction but a wee fine kills two birds with one stone without derailing the Journey-bound huns.
On the recent “Liverpool” thing………………
:))))))))
;)
:)))))))))))))))))))))))
Sorry…
:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Guff.
Ibrahimovic not terribly popular in Malmo…
Oh while your on Macjay, Celtic development player or players will be joining championship side Alloa after the Patrick Thistle game on Celtics request. I know you don’t accept posts which I post (i would only post if i was 100%certain) without evidence so I’m giving you over 2 weeks notice of something that is about to happen and when it happens you’ll either have to accept i can post with assurance or im a fortune teller, either or will do me 😊
Is john greig’s statue bronze? How easy is it to saw through bronze?
Sid 12.32pm
Just listening to some of yesterday’s radio and heard McCall of Patrick talking about the amount of chances they are creating and I was thinking maybe a chance for Alofabi (?) or one of the other kids getting some experience, as for Alloa … there’s only one Peter Grant :-)
If Lawells on £70k a week get Ibra now.
I am sure PL will be ok with that😂 what’s good for the goose in awe that…
D. :)
BANKIEBHOY1
Thanks for your earlier post.
Loved those times and even I at 13 believed they hype that The Rangers, as the then press called them, would prevail. They’re still at it, the press, somethings never change, but then that’s the way its always been, isn’t it? por cierto.
I dread to think of where we could be if we had not splashed the cash on Fraser Forster.
Out of Europe ?
Huns with the League cup.
6 pts behind the Huns in the league ?
He has been an exceptional acquisition for us and some hard thinking will be required.
HH.
GREENPINATA on 5TH JANUARY 2020 12:52 PM
“I dread to think of where we could be if we had not splashed the cash on Fraser Forster.”
Well done Peter Lawwell :)))) por cierto.
GFTB
Much more chance of Alofabi becoming a wasp as i believe one of the players is a striker, don’t want to get stung or fly in with any old information by giving names or numbers yet as nothing is finalised😊
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 5th January 2020 11:42 am
A BBC newsreader (not an editor, not a member of management, not someone working in a journalist capacity, but a reader of an autocue) ‘liked’ on twitter a post in support of the NHS.
And to you that is evidence of an anti Tory bias by the BBC?
Sorry, but you’re an idiot.
Sid 12.55pm
I realised you meant player(s) would be going to Alloa… I would loan the lot if our development team out apart from the few who might be in Neil’s immediate plans … no substitute for actual gave time look at Callum & Ryan, I think the loan system isn’t used enough … keep posting your “info” the majority of us are just guessing anyway :-)
Was just watching some of the clips from the Dubai training camp. Unless my eyes were deceiving me, Jozo Simunovic, Elhamed and Elyounoussi were all involved.
Paddy Roberts plays for Middlesbrough against Spurs today…
So what, I hear you say?
Oi big ears
This time last season Celtic lost to resurgent Sevco under St Brendan, we went straight out and signed Weah, Burke, Bayo and Toljan.
None of these names were ever mentioned by SMSM before they signed, they just signed, nobody in ‘the media’ dreamt of anyone other than Gary Hooper and Adam Matthews, to flame the Celtic supporters dreams,
Deja Vu?
NFL is on record as wanting four players ( same as last year ) a week of bed wetting ,4 days into the transfer window is a long time, only for fans with amnesia and the fixation on an alleged failed signing policy, and unjust bonus schemes for directors.
One meaningful win, by the odd goal in three is hardly a period of dominance, that takes time and real money which Celtic have in spades, not a clueless deeply anti Celtic media pack stuffed with old and new Rainjurz crooks and comtemptibles.
History makes us champions, favourites, and course and distance winners, with the advantage of being the same properly run football club.
HH
new article posted.
Still talking about the zombies game…
Well I say Fuk Nil by Mouth