I see a bit of debate on the blog this morning on Lord Nimmo Smith’s SPL Commission, which has retired to prepare its report. In March last year former Rangers owner, Sir David Murray, insisted no Rangers players had “side contracts”, inferring there was no case to answer. This line has not been peddled since. Instead, various excuses are offered in mitigation.
BBC’s award winning The Men Who Sold the Jerseys documentary established that a large number of players received money in connection with playing football which was not recorded with the SPL and SFA. Even Rangers counsel at the First Tier Tribunal conceded tax should have been paid on five of these players.
The real issue for Nimmo Smith is how to impose an appropriate punishment for illegal registration on this scale, which is consistent with punishments recently handed out to Spartans, Dunfermline and others, all of whom were kicked out of competitions, and fined up to a quarter of their annual income, for offences relating to single games.
For a couple of years now we have discussed the toxicity of matters surrounding the Rangers group of clubs. Actions carried out during the Murray and Whyte eras put Rangers into liquidation with vast governance issues plaguing the game and the new club which inherited their player registrations.
On the assumption the SPL Commission concludes Rangers were guilty of fielding illegally registered players in hundreds of games, what would an appropriate punishment be? Forget about stripping titles, or reclaiming prize money, both of which are merely consequences of the facts being established, not punishments.
I have total confidence Nimmo Smith will submit a report beyond reproach on whether Rangers broke the rules, but would he send for a Black Cap before handing out a sentence? I’m not so sure. Spartans and the rest might feel their 25% annual income fine for a single-match offence might become an embarrassment to some of the game’s administrators.
“Without fear or favour” was what we were promised last year. Let’s see.
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VP
After an afternoon in our fav Celtic watering hole
i’m feeling alot better.
Monteblanco
I heard that clearly.
Now talking about Celtics I.R.A chanting on the grounds that, ” theres an unwritten rule in Scottish Football that you cant mention one without the other”.
I give up. Mr Beans on ITV2. Far more sensible.
Is it just my imagination or did they spend a LOT longer discussing the Celtic fans’ behaviour at Dens Park?
Enough is Enough !!! BOTH SKY N ESPN have been courting the festering entrails of the Deid club for the last 12 months and giving glowing praise to the loyal peepel !!! Contact cancelled with immediate effect !! Disgusting horrible toxic verbals from those pesky 1 game supporters from Berwick and England giving The Ranjurs a bad name ! Shame on you Gordon D L !!!
green lantern (((((0)))))
17:52 on23 February, 2013leftclick. I heard earlier that a Dundee board member with Aye Broke connections has been promoting his case for interim manager.
That will be the same hun who said there was a “riot” on Boxing Day at Dens Park
Anyone know why taxpayers money is being spent on a discussion about Kris Boyd????
Chico was on earlier bumming him up for a return to the Scotland team. Dear oh dear…….
Montblanco – I heard that and I m a fan of G Speirs – now reconsidering – wtf has that evil mob got to do with us – he’s well out of order.
TOFFEE TIM
I cancelled it last week-and quite a cleansing experience it was too!
Got an iphone,£36/month,unlimited calls,text and broadband.
Tethered to the lappy,HDMI cable,as much football,etc,as I want.
£90/month less than I paid before for SKY,broadband and mobile-and I don’t get slagged about my phone anymore. (It sill worked off valves)
Well,apart from the fact that I hivnae figured out yet how it works!
After the ‘Riot’ up in Dundee..did any of the msm bring the hun hordes into the equation?
……………………………………….naw?………………didny think so. fekn orange masonic rats.
GlassTwoThirdsFull @18:28 “Anyone know why taxpayers money is being spent on a discussion about Kris Boyd????”
Perhaps it’s a health warning to the people of Coatbridge.
The cultured message of Der Bomber
http://www.clydefc.co.uk/media/audio/350/
Right I’m off to the Calton to sing some non sectarian songs of resistance, oppression, rebellion and hope.
BMCUW
Howdy!
Away for dinner there – guinea fowl again! That’s twice in one week! …but that’s another story!
Yes the snow was most unexpected today – well not really because it was forecast!
I wasn’t driving – a friend was – and we got stuck halfway up a narrow, winding country road as the snow came belting down. Managed to turn round and made it back – luckily his car was fitted with snow tyres.
Incidentally one of my favourite short story writers is Liam O’Flaherty.
HH!!
BMCUWP
£90 Less a month? hmmm seems to me you could afford a taxi home to ole
Kilwinny.
Britney with his talent and overstated intelligence was always destined to take Jabba´s role within Scottish society.
HH
Well,that’s us a mere 700 posts short of the magical and mythical 1888.
Do you reckon PAUL67 is having a well-earned rest,family time,etc,to allow one lucky CQNer to dine out on this for a bit?
Or has he notified PHILVISRETUNS-who has been notable by his absence-of a new article?
Hamiltontim @18:34 “Right I’m off to the Calton to sing some non sectarian songs of resistance, oppression, rebellion and hope.”
Hamiltontim good to see you’re moving up in the world. Do you do requests?
I used to work in Henry Healy’s in Dundas St on a Saturday and I knew the busker who sang outside.
To annoy the butcher next door, who was not a Celtic fan, my gaffer had me ask said busker if he’d sing a rebel song.
“50p” was the message I conveyed to my boss.
He replied “Ask him if he’ll do it for a roll on corn beef.”
VOGUEPUNTER
That barely covers a taxi home from Troon! I turned left instead of right leaving the pub when I was out wi TALLYBHOY and missed my train……
Next time,I’m just dossing on the pub floor-like that will be a first!
Just tuned onthebtelly and Middlesborough / Millwall game is on …….the Stadium is nearly empty…!!
Monteblanco, me, glasstwothirdsfull…
It seems quite common on here during the phone-ins to comment along the lines of, ” did anyone else hear that?”, or ” is it my imagination or did he just say…”
And its sad but true that we feel we need verification. Our disbelief at the gutter level of these blatantly biased, almost blase utterings from apparent pundits, could be a genuine need for someone to tell us that we misheard.
But that never happens. We’ve always heard correctly, ” and the needle returns to the start of the song and we all go along like before”. Scratching our heads.
BMCUWP pmsl ! Aye those Dorro phones do nothing for yer rep m8 ! Just a bit worried now that Mrs T grabs the savings from the sky bill b4 me and scuppers my chances of that deal you got !
TALLYBHOY
Have to be honest,snow tyres widnae be on my list of essentials if I was in Italy!
Life treating you and the auld yins alright,is it?
Not much chance of guinea fowl over here,but the A420 Swindon-Oxford road is,I reckon.the roadkill capital of Europe,so I expect pheasant to be the standing dish again shortly.
I could have been eating deer tomorrow,but sadly I instinctively braked on the back road to Castle Eaton. Couldnae catch it after that.
Well,you don’t know what you’re getting from the supermarkets these days,do you?
Apologies to all members of PETA for my last post-but to animal lovers,aye I love them too……
I used to respect Spiers. Lost that when he couldn’t deal with thon deid team’s predicament. I reckon he’s been got at too. Too many sports “journalists” in Scotland chasing too few jobs and too many afraid to dare criticise the deid team without putting the boot into us. Pathetic. Lhads and lhassies, stop buying their rags and listening to the phone-ins.
BMCUW
The auld yins are no’ bad thanks.
Hope yours are as well.
HH!!
Meant to say Mullets masterstroke of signing Faddy really paid dividends today, well done mullet we couldnae be up tae ye :))
Parkheadcumsalford 18:58
Spiers was banging on about their improvement in recent years. I thought everyone knew that any improvement only came after UEFA threatened to ban the club from Europe and/or play games behind closed doors. Walter, Ally and co pleaded with the fans to stop singing those songs for the good of the club (rather than because there was anything wrong with the songs).
new article posted.
As long as people like PL and P67 are offended by Irish folk songs at Celtic park, Spiers and his ilk will deliberately confuse offensive and sectarian and get away with it.
The sanitisation of the support is paramount for our new rugby support ambitions.
TALLYBHOY
Mine are over in The Canaries sunning it up-too cold for their place in Spain……
By that judgement,I’ll not be expecting a visit from my Mum anytime soon-it’s effin’ Baltic here.
If it disnae pick up soon,I might have to turn the heating on. Sacrilege in my book.
mihal
Too true. At least the ultimate wind up merchant, Adrian Durham from Talk Sport doesn’t hide the fact he is there to be controversial to generate calls and debate. The Scottish pundits are amateurish, predictable light weights.
Bomber Brown appointed manager.
That’s what happens when you let the fans take over the club.
Utter madness.
TT
I saw G Speirs on the underground one day and I do not like to point out peepls personal afflictions but he is about this size.
O
()
– –
Actual Size
He was sitting down though.
Those Sevconian chaps are not very nice , are they ? Rather narrow minded fellows so they are!