I should have been home yesterday, will be lucky to get home tomorrow. Two cancelled flights and one cancelled train. Been on the road for 12 hours, seen two airports, lots of railway stations and still can’t get to Scotland.
I now have to accept I will not make the Scottish Cup tie tomorrow, but if the roads through Glasgow are as clear as I hear, I never had a thought the game would be cancelled. If stadiums, access areas and trunk roads are clear, football will go ahead at all Scottish Cup games this weekend. No matter how inconvenient it is for me.
Morton chairman Warren Hawke wants the game postponed to protect supporters’ “life and limb”. It is nothing to do with the fact his players have not run the length of themselves all week. Meanwhile Kilmarnock fans will travel to Aberdeen, confident in returning with approximately the same limb count.
You can be 100% sure Brendan Rodgers wants the game to go ahead. He wants Morton now and doesn’t want a second game cancelled before Ibrox. That being the case, it will happen.
This is a tough one to sit out. The Scottish Cup means lots, this season’s more than most, but thems the breaks.
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Brendan Press Conference
Morton chief executive calls for Celtic clash to be postponed BT Sport
Funny that this headline appears on Newsnow just a couplse above this one:
Jim Duffy bemoans lack of preparation before Morton’s cup clash BT Sport
Couple
Early start tomorrow for everyone. Going to be a cold one, but having arranged to be up from Manchester and then having Wednesday game called off, I’m looking forward to it.
Quick out the blocks performance should do the trick, no injuries a clean sheet and a few goals are not too much to ask for, surely?
sannabhoy on 2nd March 2018 5:25 pm
I know the Greenock support have a bit to travel too
HH
ITALIABHOY on 2ND MARCH 2018 5:14 PM
Have old rangers ever had shares in Celtic ?
dena29 on 2nd March 2018 5:42 pm
sannabhoy on 2nd March 2018 5:25 pm
I know the Greenock support have a bit to travel too
Sannabhoy sorry , when I read that post back it sounded like I was cross at you suggesting I should know the Greenock support have far to travel
that was not my intention. you know me if there are two feet to be put somewhere I’ll find it :-)))
HH
safe home paulus von 67
THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 2ND MARCH 2018 5:19 PM
WoW. A non story, really ?
1. You don’t find it odd why Celtic has shares in its biggest rivals in the first place ?
2. I’m starting to think our club isn’t so squeaky clean as it makes out to be.
3. 5WA ? Our club was part of this sham of an agreement & it was agreed that no titles would be removed.
Have a wee read at this below.
The SPL = The Clubs. Yes me & your club we’re part of the SPL.
Rangers given no title-stripping guarantee in secret SPL deal – by ecojon
The darkest dirtiest secret in Scottish Football has now been revealed and it will shake the Beautiful Game to its core as well as the Scottish legal system.
Boiled down and stripped of legalese the shameful guarantee states: ‘The SPL hereby undertakes solely and exclusively to Sevco and to no other Person . . . that the SPL shall not . . . take or commence disciplinary proceedings against Sevco . . . in respect of any EBT Payments and Arrangements’.
What is even more incredible is that this deal was struck and distributed with the 5-Way Agreement before Lord Nimmo Smith began his enquiry and before the FTTT announced its verdict on the Rangers tax allegations.
We need clear unequivocal statements by Lord Nimmo Smith and Neil Doncaster and someone, anyone at the SFA who isn’t ‘conflicted’ to reveal the long hidden truth behind the most serious revelation ever to shine daylight on the many dark secrets held in the Hampden bunker.
Many of us have incessantly debated the controversial findings of Lord Nimmo Smith’s Inquiry into Rangers’ EBTs since its release in February this year. There was widespread disbelief at the conclusions and many believed it was just another example of how the scales were weighted in favour of Rangers.
Anyone who has followed my posts will know that I have always supported the integrity of LNS and his two learned colleagues in the sense that the woeful preparation and presentation of the SPL case gave the Tribunal little or no room for manoeuvre in reaching its conclusions. And of course there was the ludicrous intervention of the SFA’s top man in Player Registration which made the name ‘Bryson’ synonymous with ‘clown’ among Scottish Football fans.
On top of that LNS breathed life into the ‘continuing club’ controversy which has fuelled incessant and often bitter internet debate and indeed sparked the recent vicious attacks on Jim Spence and his family and BBC Scotland – once again – by Rangers fans many of whom openly boast they refuse to buy a TV Licence to support an enemy of Rangers.
For months now we have witnessed an outpouring of information from Charlotte Fakes who has risen above early suspicion that her works were indeed clever fakes to the point that no one disputes their authenticity and, indeed, she has allegedly been reported to the Information Commissioner which is probably the best possible guarantee of the authenticity of the documentation she has provided even though her motives are still unclear.
She recently released what appears to be the final draft of the 5-Way Agreement between Oldco Rangers, Newco Rangers, the SFA, SPL and SFL which had important snippets not present in previous versions including a promise by Rangers and a prominent external newco shareholder not to take legal action the SFA, SPL and SFL and their officers and officials.
This was first alluded to in the Rangers AIM Prospectus in December last year but the reasons for the Rangers undertaking have never been clear although the documentation seemed to suggest that Rangers had been wronged in some way and was holding back on justifiable legal action possibly because it felt blackmailed by the threat of total expulsion from Scottish Football if it didn’t agree to the sanctions of the 5-Way Agreement which had originally mooted title-stripping.
One thing that puzzled me when the 5-Way Agreement was revealed was why there had ever been any need by the Scottish Football Authorities to keep it so tightly under wraps. Everything was basically in the open by then in terms of sanctions although there was the curious matter of the no legal action clause.
But yesterday Charlotte Fakes released a brutal hammer blow which will destroy all remnants of tattered credibility in the Hampden suits and, more importantly, cast serious doubt on the integrity of the Scottish legal system which must be urgently dealt with.
So what has Charlotte gone and done? Only release to the world details of the secret and tawdry side deal proposed by the SPL and agreed to by the SFA and SFL to grant immunity to Rangers newco (TRFCL) from any disciplinary action arising out of the use of Rangers EBTs and the failure to annually register the payments involved with the SFA.
This guarantee was made months before the Lord Nimmo Smith Inquiry sat for the first time and even before its Notice of Commission was prepared and it was given even before the FTTT largely ruled in Rangers’ favour over its use of the EBTs.
At this stage we don’t know if Lord Nimmo Smith and his two colleagues were aware of this incredible secret stitch-up between the signatories of the 5-Way Agreement before they heard any evidence or whether they too were kept in the dark by the Scottish Footballing Authorities who have honed their skills as mushroom farmers for decades by feeding BS to Scottish football fans.
What we not only need but deserve is a clear statement by Lord Nimmo Smith on behalf of his tribunal and its decision as to whether he knew before any evidence was given that a secret guarantee of immunity had been given to The Rangers Football Club Ltd. If he did know can he explain why he was prepared to proceed on that basis and help create some of the aggro which is tearing apart the fabric of Scottish Football and poisoning Society with strange and alien concepts of a never-ending always continuing football club which defies liquidation of its legal operating entity and repeatedly and eternally rises intact from the ashes as a company with a brand new legal entity but which isn’t a Phoenix company.
As to the SFA and SPL/SFL now in the persona of the shiny, brand-new SPFL – unless it too takes no responsibility for the deeds of its deid ancestors – what we need is a straight answer to whether the Charlotte Fakes documentation is bona fide and whether it was signed by Neil Doncaster whose name is on the draft and distributed to the SFA and SFL as stated along with the 5-Way Agreement.
And as for the SMSM isn’t it time you actually grew a pair and dealt with the serious allegations raised by the release of the Charlotte Fakes material. Does the public interest count for nothing in Scotland? If you or your editors are frightened of the ‘dirty little secrets’ an aging and failing PR man in crisis has on you then now is the time to be Spartacus and if you can’t manage that at least do a Jim Spence. You don’t need to use the documents if you are scared – all you need to do is ask the questions.
If you are told ‘No Comment’ then publish and be Spartacus and let the public know the truth and make their own judgement on the way Scotland and Scottish Football is run. If you continue to hide behind weak excuses think about moving to PR as that would seem to be your true home and there will be no crisis of conscience as none exists there as far as representing commercial non-ethical clients.
However be assured that if you cower in a dark corner, close your eyes and dream of being a Twitter Warrior then your readers will continue to judge your inability to tell the truth and turn, in ever increasing numbers, to the internet for their news albeit with many imperfections but at least with lots of people trying to prevent the truth being choked by a surfeit of succulent lamb.
And Lord Nimmo Smith as probably your staunchest supporter since your tribunal decision was issued I think I am entitled to ask another question on behalf of the much-respected poster Auldheid who truly has the wisdom of age – as reflected in his moniker – and the energy and perseverance of a young bull elephant when it came to uncovering and revealing the implications of Rangers DOS and the reluctance of all concerned including SMSM to mention it.
I had always thought that this cloak of secrecy was to hide the implications of the Wee Tax Case which should have prevented European entry for Rangers, without the sleight of hand of the Hampden suits. But now I wonder if there was a much darker motive in play as part of the secret immunity for TRFCL.
Quite simply LNS! Were you ever told or given evidence concerning the details of the Rangers Discounted Options Scheme as distinct from their EBT scheme and were you aware of the un-appealed FTTT Decision in the Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM) case concerning DOS schemes which ruled them as illegal under tax laws?
In your tribunal decision you refer to treating the EBT scheme as a continuation of the DOS scheme – cloaked under a suitably confusing name – but did you know that one very senior witness to your enquiry was well aware of the differences and I would find it incredulous that they were unaware of the implications of the AAM FTTT Decision on the Rangers DOS.
And if you weren’t apprised of the differences then it’s over to Neil Doncaster to explain whether this was another dirty secret and if not how did the SPL fail to discover and present absolutely critical evidence re the Rangers DOS which IMO could well have led Lord Nimmo Smith to stripping titles.
Posted by Ecojon
Maybe others think our club is squeaky clean but I certainly don’t and I will continue to question their actions.
weefra if your lurkin hope your safe and well ….
Anyway I’ll catch up with this later, heading out for Chinese.
Did Catman post earlier, I can’t find it?
From @alexthompson.
You guys think this is normal too ?
Potential conflicts of interest at the heart of Scottish football
It all makes the clearest possible sense. Running one football club whilst having a financial interest in another is about the clearest potential conflict of interest possible in the business of sport.
Yet Channel 4 News can now reveal such possible potential conflicts are a commonplace within the game, involving key individuals, and it is allowed within the rules of the governing bodies as presently written.
Not only that. In one case this perceived conflict involves none other than the current president of the Scottish Football Association, Campbell Ogilvie, already described as “heavily conflicted” by his own chief executive and currently offering to stand aside if his presence in the job is a problem.
Offering – but not doing so.
Channel 4 News has a Companies House list of Rangers shareholders for 2008 and 2010. They prove, for instance, that the current Airdrie chairman and president of the Scottish Football League, James William Ballantyne, had 568 Rangers shares in 2008 when chairman of Airdrie.
Now, nobody is pretending these shares are worth very much money at all in the vast sea of Rangers shares. People will be interested in the principle of all this, though, not the money.
Let us consider some other high-profile figures – like Mr Ogilvie. He remains president of the Scottish FA, despite that “heavily conflicted” comment from his chief exec. In 2008 a Companies House report showed Mr Ogilvie held 3,505 Rangers shares whilst in senior management at Hearts. That year he became chief executive at Hearts and suddenly transferred his 3,505 Rangers shares to his wife Karolina, who already held 400 – thus giving her 3,905 shares.
And so to the one-time sectarian crooner Donald Findlay. Infamous for leading sectarian singing at an Ibrox function in 1999, he may have been forced out of Rangers over that unfortunate musical issue but he has not left Rangers in so many other ways. By 2010 Companies House records will tell you he held 9,900 Rangers shares whilst Chairman of Cowdenbeath FC.
No doubt there are other examples.
And so to the rulebook. Well, the Scottish Football Association rules state that:
“Except with the prior written consent of the Board, no Member, Associate Member or Official, may at one time either directly or indirectly:-
21.1.1 hold or seek to acquire beneficial ownership of or deal in the shares or securities of another club; or
21.1.2 be a member or shareholder of, or lender in any capacity to, more than one club…”
Along the corridor at Hampden Park, the Scottish Football Association handbook says pretty much the same things. And in the rules there is the rider that owning less than a 3 per cent total share value is OK.
We are talking about way less than 1 – let alone 3 – per cent in these cases.
The rules also state that having family members owning shares means they are treated as associates. That is, you’re all one in the eyes of the SFA and the SFL rulebook. Transferring shares from, say, Campbell Ogilvie to his wife would make no difference at all in law. Presumably Mr Ogilvie knew all this – he’s widely seen as an expert in football regulation.
So it’s a curious tale. What binds these people to their shares, since it cannot be the financial value? Emotion? It is far from clear. And what makes them hang on to them year after year, when doing so clearly suggests a potential conflict of interest to many, regardless of whether or not any rules have been broken?
Jim Ballantyne said everything had been declared to the boards, and in any case the share numbers are absolutely miniscule. He said:
“I see no problem here at all” and “I cleared everything with the boards” and “You are talking about the tiny fragment of one percent of ownership and this involves absolutely no influence whatsoever”.
We say that may well be true, but would it not be sensible to divest all shares in any other club when running a different one, let alone the SFL itself, just in order to avoid any perceived conflict of interest?
“No – not at all. It’s never been raised at any board meeting,” said Mr Ballantyne.
“Well, I’m raising it now’ I said.
“Well, you’re not in football,” he replied. I cannot seriously think that the president of the Scottish Football League believes only football directors can take a view on this – not the fans, not the public and not journalists. But that is what he told Channel 4 News.
And so to Donald Findlay. His case is perhaps the most curious of the lot. There is the perceived conflict of interest in running Cowdenbeath whilst owning almost 10,000 Rangers shares.
We asked Mr Findlay about the shares issue. We received the message back that he is not interested in answering, and a Cowdenbeath messenger said Mr Findlay says: “You can do what you want.” So the world must wait to know whether or not Mr Findlay regards his Rangers as a conflict of interest. If he does, he certainly does not want to talk to us about it.
At the end of the day, what you have here is another spotlight into the cosy, cronyish old world of Scottish Football, which has predictably lumbered into the 21st century only to come close to real collapse through lack of proper oversight and governance.
Many would simply say any sport which allows anyone a financial stake at all in one club whilst running another is a sport badly in need of urgent overhaul.
From these men today, no consideration or comment on the fans, the public, how this might look. Just the usual insouciance when faced with the concept that whether rules are actually broken or not, this hardly conveys a healthy impression of Scottish football.
Follow @alextomo on Twitter
Topics , Alex Thomson, football, Rangers Football Club, Scottish Football Association (SFA)
DAVID 17,
Catman did post earlier today. I certainly got the impression that Compper was in the frame for tomorrow.
bognorbhoy on 2nd March 2018 6:16 pm
Me too :-))
HH
David 17.
That is strange.
Catman did post about Compper.
It was before 3.32 as I text my bhoy then telling him what Catman had posted, as you say the post is no longer there.
Hail Hail
HEN1RIK on 2ND MARCH 2018 6:15 PM
THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 2ND MARCH 2018 5:19 PM
WoW. A non story, really ?
1. You don’t find it odd why Celtic has shares in its biggest rivals in the first place ?
It all depends on how many.
2. I’m starting to think our club isn’t so squeaky clean as it makes out to be
It was in 1994, 23 years ago, and different owners. I don’t think even the biggest board basher (maybe with one exception on here) would conflate the sins of the owners back then with impropriety now
dena , no slight intended or perceived .
Probably went over my head.
I’m just pleased we’ve got a game (at the moment).
Paul67 needs to introduce emoticons – would get my intended tone across much easier :)
yer pal
sanna
Strange that all of these individuals with shares in 2 clubs all seem to have one thing in common- shares in a club playing out of Ibrox. It would make you suspicious that there was some connection between these people- a club or group affiliation or a shared support or hatred of something, maybe all of these.
sannabhoy on 2nd March 2018 6:45 pm
great stuff
however I have also been told off (by mini me) for misuse of emoji’s
as I said i’ll always find somewhere to put two feet
HH
hen1rik on 2nd March 2018 6:29 pm
It is saddening to see that any query is dismissed and even a miniscule breach of rules is none the less a breach
saddenedbutnotsurprised csc
HH
Many happy returns to our greatest ever captain and living legend Billy McNeill. Hail Cesar.
Gordon64 on 2nd March 2018 7:04 pm
Many happy returns to our greatest ever captain and living legend Billy McNeill. Hail Cesar.
Hail Hail Cesar xx
almore – you got snow ? did you see the picture in Tallaght of the guy who couldn’t open his door?
HEN1RIK
You’re posting this stuff like it was never posted on here or discussed on here, you appear to be a few years behind the curve, you just get out of lock up:)))
HH
Happy Birthday Mr McNeil..
YNWA
DENA29
Think you will be ok for travelling tomorrow , ferry traffic been coming through here all day and forecast not bad overnight , will give you a wave on your way through Girvan ! Enjoy the game HH !
WITS Horse noted for Gulfstream later cheers
catch you all later bhoys
HH
Ivehadto: Yeah, lots of snow. Cleared the driveway and path around 2pm only for it to snow continuously since then.
Seen lots of pictures of abandoned cars but craziest one was a middle aged woman getting in for a swim in choppy seas at Sandaycove and had to be rescued within minutes. Snow falls still predicted until tomorrow evening.
Park Road 67 on 2nd March 2018 7:30 pm
Just saw your post before I went
Thanks for that its good to know. I’ll look out for you
you couldn’t miss us we’ll be in the biggest brightest YELLOW bus :-))
HH
Morton want the game postponed because they are due a share of the gate which will be considerably diminished by the weather.
Not really very difficult, is it?
Safety of players and fans my hole!
Dena, one of my pals was working in the North of Ireland this week.
He arrived back at Stranraer about half two then drove up to Glasgow without any delays caused by the after effects of the recent bad weather.
Hopefully, you have a trouble and dlay free journey tomorrow.
DAVID 17 it was on last article
Catman on 2nd March 2018 2:40 pm
It looks like Marvin Compper will get his first start for the Champions tomorrow.
Something for all of us who can make it to look forward too.
HH
Starry P
I suspect that the reason our friend, Hen1Rik, keeps asking is because no one, not the SFA, The SPFL Or even our own Board – has seen fit to answer for the last six years
As for a lock up … I think you are on to something there … anyone involved in this sham … I say lock the whole lot of them up and throw away the key
MIKE IN TORONTO, did not realise it was a new post, i posted about an hour ago that my wife sent the photos of frankie and benny,to my email but cant figure out how to get them on here, help maboab.
STARRY PLOUGH on 2ND MARCH 2018 7:25 PM
Lol. Brilliant.
BP … you’ll need to do what I do …. call tech support (or as I call them my nieces and nephews)!
Kids today … can’t do their times tables …. but brilliant on this techy stuff!
:)
jesus almore
hope you got the booze in