No complaints yet with Uefa over Ashley multi-ownership

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Press stories yesterday that Newcastle United and newco Rangers would not be able to play in Uefa competitions in the same season have caused Mike Ashley considerable angst.  While it would appear few things are untenable for Ashley, having one of his clubs bow out of Europe to allow the other to compete is beyond what even he believes to be acceptable.

Newcastle issued a statement early today challenging the reports, which initially appeared in the Daily Telegraph, a newspaper Newcastle have banned from their premises.  The Telegraph reported that Uefa confirmed newco Rangers and Newcastle would be prevented from competing in Europe in the same season due to Article 3 of their competition regulations, which relate to multi-ownership.

I contacted Uefa this morning, who confirmed that the report in the Telegraph is incorrect; Uefa have made no such ruling.  However, this is because they have received no complaint and no investigation has taken place.  Uefa do not trawl looking for administrative breaches and will not investigate such matters unless asked to do so.  This issue, it appears, has not gone beyond the Uefa Media Office, and will only be passed to Compliance if a complaint is made.

I reckon Ashley will be comfortable dealing with the SFA, who he can delay and confuse until after newco’s next funding round, which will take place before Christmas, but he doesn’t want Uefa, or the FA in England, on his case, as either could jeopardise plans.

It’s incredible that months after Ashley bought into newco no one has complained to the one body who have the power to dissuade him.

The scenes outside Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday were predictable.  Craig Whyte stands accused by the court of public opinion of liquidating Rangers Football Club.  I know some of the bile directed towards him went well beyond what is acceptable, but you can’t liquidate a football club and not expect some push-back at the fringes.

The court of public opinion, isn’t making sense, though.  Rangers fans are angry at Craig Whyte, who, apparently, played hardball with the evil HMRC, then was cheated out of his rightful place in the Premier League by a combination of the SFA, the SPL, Celtic, the BBC and bigotry.

If it wasn’t for these dark forces, Craig would have used the [cough]perfectly legitimate business tactic of liquidation, to carry the same club through the crippling debt Sir David Murray had lumbered it with and back to its rightful place in Scottish football.

So if it’s all someone else’s fault, why are they so angry at Craig?  Genuine question.  He either released the club from Murray’s excesses, and was victimised, or he brazenly killed the club and tried to flog them a newco as though nothing had changed.

The only reason I can think they are angry at Craig is because our old pal Cognitive Dissonance is gnawing away in the background.  Whyte’s plan was to liquidate Rangers, present the SPL and SFA with a fait accompli midseason, and have the newco pick up the vacant league position the following week.

This was a horrible plan.  Rangers fans’ ‘No to liquidation’ campaign was correct.  Everyone else’s opposition to this aberration was also correct.

The fait accompli didn’t work.  The rest of Scottish football chose to step off the cliff into the unknown, although many Rangers fans quickly adopted Whyte’s – liquidation means nothing – logic, however they couldn’t bring themselves to accept the man himself.

The 2015 CQN Annual is churning through the system and will be ready to ship week commencing 8 December.  You can order yours here today.

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1,127 Comments

  1. glendalystonsils on

    Didn’t the Kilmarnock chairman give Sevco his moral support by abstaining from the vote to fire them right back into the top flight?

     

    Little wonder then, tha tKillie produce a less than Stellar performance against them.

     

    Come to think of it Motherwell and St. Johnstone produced performances against them which would see them relegated if they performed like that in the SPL.

     

    I hope we give them a severe reality check when we meet them.

  2. Craig Thomson standard refereeing there. Absolute joke decision, scythed down Aguero was, ref had a clear view, then adds insult to injury by booking the player fouled.

     

     

    Time for video refs if on-field ones can’t get easy decisions like that right.

  3. What’s he point of an assistant referee if he’s not going to assist? He had a clear view of it too. Clowns.

  4. Crowd are refereeing the Southampton game. My God, now the other, er, assistant flags a Southampton player offside, but City break dangerously, and Coco the clown halts play in the worst interpretation of the advantage rule I’ve ever seen. Ruining the game, these idiots.

  5. F.A.B. Virgil 1903 v 1909 and 1888 v 2012 on

    Big Fraser with a natty one two on the line with defender………. turning into a footballer :-)

  6. Nye Bevans’ rebel soldier

     

    13:55 on

     

    30 November, 2014

     

    Big Mick the gorilla says “Up the Ra!

     

     

    Have you ever chatted up Amy?

     

     

    unless she’s grey and hairy? then naw.

     

     

    I’m a Catholic gorilla and don’t believe man evolved from apes

     

     

    am gonnae get it bad when a go back tae the jungle!

     

     

    apeheresyCSC

  7. bournesouprecipe on

    F.A.B. Virgil

     

     

    Cool, Darn the hare, it is then.

     

     

    F.A.B. is short for fabulous, what does Darn the Hare mean?

  8. bournesouprecipe

     

    14:03 on

     

    30 November, 2014

     

    F.A.B. Virgil

     

     

    Cool, Darn the hare, it is then.

     

     

    F.A.B. is short for fabulous, what does Darn the Hare mean?

     

    —————————————————————————————————————-

     

     

    BSR, that’s rabbit talk, it’s darn the hair.

     

     

     

    coybig

  9. Nye Bevans' rebel soldier on

    Big Mick the gorilla says “Up the Ra!

     

     

    She is grey and hairy and a bit free wae her favours,

     

    runs aboot the Congo.

  10. mike in toronto on
  11. blantyretim is praying for the Knox family on

    Nothing yet fra.

     

     

    Talk on twitter of bit on in for mulgrew but probably just usual nonsense

  12. mike in toronto on

    bt @14:12

     

     

    Really hope so.

     

     

    And today’s game isn’t really the best for him to get thrown in (not having played much of late)… because I think it will be 100 mph and kick whatever moves…. but if he can shine in this one today, he can do it anytime.

  13. F.A.B. Virgil 1903 v 1909 and 1888 v 2012 on

    BSR – It’s directly linked to an early brake club

     

     

    taxidermycsc who had a burst mascot……..

     

     

    HH

  14. Celtic Football Club ‏@celticfc 4s5 seconds ago

     

     

    CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Gordon; Matthews, Ambrose, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Forrest, Johansen, Stokes; Guidetti.

  15. CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Gordon; Matthews, Ambrose, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Forrest, Johansen, Stokes; Guidetti.

  16. Celtic Football Club ‏@celticfc 27s27 seconds ago

     

     

    Celtic subs: Zaluska, Commons, Tonev, Griffiths, Kayal, O’Connell, McGregor.

  17. [14:16, 30/11/2014] John: CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Gordon; Matthews, Ambrose, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Forrest, Johansen, Stokes; Guidetti. (MD)

     

    [14:17, 30/11/2014] John: Celtic subs: Zaluska, Commons, Tonev, Griffiths, Kayal, O’Connell, McGregor. #ScottishCup #Celtic #COYBIG (MD)

  18. Gordon; Matthews, Ambrose, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Forrest, Johansen, Stokes; Guidetti.

     

     

    subs: Zaluska, Commons, Tonev, Griffiths, Kayal, O’Connell, McGregor.

  19. Griffiths was one of the better players on Thursday.

     

     

    The reward.

     

     

    A seat on the bench.

  20. Donation made to the bookies again thanks to kilmarnock.. Useless.

     

     

    Good to see biton starting today. Would like to have seen griffiths instead of stokes.