This morning’s article in the Daily Record is not a work of fiction. They reported that SFA chief executive Stewart Regan’s “bid to deliver a broad consensus over the way forward also involved discussions over the appellate tribunal’s transfer embargo on Rangers.”
In short, the SFA discussed changing their rules to disband the Independent Appellate Panel process before instructing Lord Carloway to sit in response to the Court of Session’s rejection of his previous judgement.
With two further Independent Judicial Tribunals still to sit in judgement on the actions of Rangers, for the illegal registration of players and non-payment of social taxes during the EBT era, the SFA will also subvert these rules before ‘Rangers’ are expelled from the Association.
After the meeting Regan left for his summer vacation without instructing Lord Carloway to convene the Appellate Panel.
That’s not all.
The scam to establish an SLP 2 in order to allow the SFA and SPL to co-opt ‘Rangers’ into that league is what the governing bodies have planned for your game.
If rules are changed AFTER a club is found guilty and in receipt of a penalty in order to nullify that penalty the game in this country is broke, ethically and financially. Having established independent judicial panels to deal with serious rule breaches the SFA cannot do Rangers bidding without removing all judicial oversight.
We’re back to the days of George Peat walking in and out of hearings for the Celtic manager.
Most disturbingly of all, YOU are the cash cow for this outrageous enterprise. With Rangers gone from the SPL Celtic fans bring all the commercial and television income into the game, and are set to buy more away ground tickets than all other clubs put together.
You are expected to continue to cough up for tickets to Tynecastle, Rugby Park etc, and subscribe to ESPN and Sky Sports – money which will divvied up among SPL 1 and SPL 2 teams, as well as they rest of the Scottish Football League clubs, to compensate for them missing out on a ‘Rangers’ game.
You will also pay more money for those tickets than any other group of fans in the league. Why don’t you just write a cheque to Kilmarnock, Falkirk or Cowdenbeath today?
This nonsense will not bring another £1 into the game, all it will do is redistribute money from your pocket to clubs who care nothing for you. Partick Thistle yesterday released a statement on their site, “We believe Scottish football needs to be restructured, financial distribution needs to be fairer for all clubs”.
“Financial distribution needs to be fairer”! Patrick Thistle get to keep all their ticket sales, commercial and other income. By “fairer” they mean they want some of your money. If you agree with them, write them a cheque, but if you disagree, you better figure out what to do next.
Thoughts that some great victory has been achieved are premature. Prepare for the next instalment.
Our domestic competition is, at best, uninspiring. This disgusting land-grab for your cash will destroy our ability to compete in Europe, and it’s not just the senior team who will suffer. The Celtic youth system costs millions to operate each year, don’t fantasise that it will survive intact.
Celtic currently employ 27 Scotland youth internationals. They are almost single-handedly carrying the future of our national team. This attempt to bleed your club dry will devastate all areas, with subsequent consequences for the Scotland team.
It’s not often I’ve told you the Daily Record have nailed a story but this one is on the money (your money). I’m at a loss as to what to do next.
We cannot accept this.
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Ghuys
A key objective of the McLeish report was a 10 team SPL with the removal of the split.
Now that the SPL has lost a team, perhaps the negotiations are around no promotion from the SFL this year.
Or am I taking things too literally?
Crystalballcfc
mic1888 says no to cheats charter no to zombie r*****s on 24 June, 2012 at 10:07 said:
If the MSM and everyone else are right that we need Celtic and Rangers for the good of Scottish Football it will take only one thing to stop this charade.
A letter of resignation to the SPL from Celtic FC.
From my own point of view if rules are re arranged to suit one skint club then Scottish Football isn’t for me.
Over to you Celtic
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100% agree with that post, Celtic must resign it’s our only hope.
We can’t continue in this corrupt set up, it’s been going on for years and this could be our get out clause.
At first they tried to frighten the other SPL chairmen in to voting newco in to the SPL, they failed due to the sporting integrity and democratic decency inherent in the supporters of the other SPL clubs, who’ve scared their chairmen in to voting no to newco. So Ogilvie, who shouldn’t even be in position, Regan, Doncaster and the hun loving blazers come up with a plan to subvert the vast majority of scottish football supporters wishes. We now don’t just need to get rid of the putrid stench of oldco and newco, we obviously need to be rid of their facillitators too, otherwise it’ll be back to, same as it ever was, which is just not on.
HH
Basically, the dead ducks got themselves into the worst mess imaginable, and the SFA want to retrieve the situation financially, by financially shafting Celtic, the only club that can retrieve the situation ……. Now that’s a first in logic………
gallagher on 24 June, 2012 at 10:19 said:
Spot on and that’s what was always required, RFCIA brought to book and a complete overhaul of the system that facilitated years and years of abuse, no point to remove the abuser if the system of support for further abuse is still in place.
RC Ogilivie is as good a place as any to start and boy he must have a tale to tell!!
Get Up Stand Up, Stand Up For Your Rights
Monaghan
The intentional misrepresenting of the TUPE regs is outrageous
Huns know what the regs say , they cannot have legal advice as they claim …. No lawyer could have given such advice
Also , it would take any interested journo about 5 mins to understand that the Hun position is wrong …why are they not doing it?
Message for Newco
THE POLICE LYRICS
He goes out at night with his big boots on
None of his friends know right from wrong
The kick a boy to death ’cause he don’t belong
You’ve got to humanise yourself
A policeman put on his uniform
He’d like to have a gun just to keep him warm
Because violence here is a social norm
You’ve got to humanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
I work all day at the factory
I’m building a machine that’s not for me
There must be a reason that I can’t see
You’ve got to humanise yourself
Billy’s joined the National Front
He always was (just) a little runt
He’s got his hand in the air with the other cunts
You’ve got to humanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself
I work all day at the factory
I’m building a machine that’s not for me
There must be a reason that I can’t see
You’ve got to humanise yourself
A policeman put on his uniform
He’d like to have a gun just to keep him warm
Because violence here is a social norm
You’ve got to humanise yourself
Rehumanise yourself..
Starry Plough
Re the SFA proposals, i’ve never heard such Tosh in ma puff :)))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuMlHdxiIZ8
HH
Sorry Paul just noticed the sweary word…. oops
gallagher on 24 June, 2012 at 10:19 said:
At first they tried to frighten the other SPL chairmen in to voting newco in to the SPL, they failed due to the sporting integrity and democratic decency inherent in the supporters of the other SPL clubs, who’ve scared their chairmen in to voting no to newco. So Ogilvie, who shouldn’t even be in position, Regan, Doncaster and the hun loving blazers come up with a plan to subvert the vast majority of scottish football supporters wishes. We now don’t just need to get rid of the putrid stench of oldco and newco, we obviously need to be rid of their facillitators too, otherwise it’ll be back to, same as it ever was, which is just not on.
HH
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Correct again, we can’t go through years of this again it must stop.
MIC1888
There’s a few of us been caught like that in our time,haha!
Cue cornflakes getting spat over laptops in the timternet community…..
Its up to Celtic to start flexing their muscules . We surely must have the power to put a halt to any SFA-SPL gerry-mandering.
Was involved in a TUPE transfer myself… You have to consult with employees and explain their options one of which is an option to resign if they do not wish to transfer.
The problem here is that the SFA are willing to risk everything on the basis that all options look bad. Unfortunately, any fan reaction such as boycotts is likely to be after the horse has bolted and is probably factored in as a risk worth taking.
Could I suggest that anyone who has any connections with the Celtic supporter trusts and/or other clubs trusts (or websites) that the best way to register protest is to immediately cancel all SKY football subscriptions. The benefit of this is that it is an immediate action that can be taken individually and puts out an unambiguous message that if the telly deal is the be all and end all – then the fans will take that decision out of everyones hands.
For all you Murdoch addicts out there, you could always re-subscribe if and when the SFA ‘do the right thing’ – but hopefully this is the chance to kill two birds with one stone and leave them in no doubt that any gerrymandering will leave the precious TV deal in tatters.
P.S. Don’t hang around – start cancelling NOW !!!!
Anyway,my bud just made a disparaging comment about Fenian B……ds,fair enough really as we ganged up on him a wee bit.
Unrepentant Fenian B…..ds,I reminded him.
Unrepentant?,he replied. I don’t even know what that means.
Sometimes ye joost canny make this stuff up……..
lucky number 7 on 24 June, 2012 at 09:42 said:
hen1rik at 09:30
I completely agree with you. I watch football as a sport, if they change the rules to suit a particular team then it is no longer a sport on a level playing field and I shall not be watching it. Or contributing in any way.
I just hope it dosent come to that :o(
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I hope it doesn’t come to this either but it will.
I always had a bad feeling about rules being bent to suit them and i was assured by a few bhoys on here there was no way out for them, how wrong were they.
BMCUWP
Tell him to ‘Repent and apply for the 3rd division’
HH
Tim Malone Will Tell on 24 June, 2012 at 10:36 said:
The problem here is that the SFA are willing to risk everything on the basis that all options look bad. Unfortunately, any fan reaction such as boycotts is likely to be after the horse has bolted and is probably factored in as a risk worth taking.
Could I suggest that anyone who has any connections with the Celtic supporter trusts and/or other clubs trusts (or websites) that the best way to register protest is to immediately cancel all SKY football subscriptions. The benefit of this is that it is an immediate action that can be taken individually and puts out an unambiguous message that if the telly deal is the be all and end all – then the fans will take that decision out of everyones hands.
For all you Murdoch addicts out there, you could always re-subscribe if and when the SFA ‘do the right thing’ – but hopefully this is the chance to kill two birds with one stone and leave them in no doubt that any gerrymandering will leave the precious TV deal in tatters.
P.S. Don’t hang around – start cancelling NOW !!!!
share on F’book or Twitter
Your right matey I’m phoning now.
Headline you wont see in the rectum next week –
“Naisy : Want-Away Icon Pleads End My Ibrox Hell”
“Davisy : What Times The Ferry?”
“Lafferty : Brechin Come And Get Me!”
gallagher on 24 June, 2012 at 10:28 said:
Absolutely …… The only way to rush this through is to refuse the SFL teams a vote, and that would be silly after allowing the SPL teams a vote …. Gets funnier every day ……… Luving it….
I actually think the SFA / SPL have been GOT AT …….how else can we account for this incredibly stupid strategy ……. They are dead, let them RIP, FGS ….. why prolong the agony…. To the eternal detriment of Scottish Football
Lads called up virgin and cancelled and gave reason, enough is enough.
Will be nice to see how Duff & Duffer acquit themselves when they appear in “the dock”!
Methinks that they will be followed by a host of others, a lot of “collar” feeling going on right now!
Peepil are going a “whiter – shade – of – pale” , so be patient, all will be revealed,
eventu -ally!
……my sides!
;)
GALLAGHER
I don’t think he knows the meaning of 3rd Dv either!
He will soon,though. I’ll tell him to look it up under “Unattainable Goals”
leftclicktic on 23 June, 2012 at 17:23 said:
leftclicktic on 23 June, 2012 at 17:17 said:
HELP !!!!!!!!!!
Tried to access my email and got this
Your account has been blocked
Why are you seeing this?
Someone may have used your account to send out a lot of junk messages (or something else that violates the Windows Live Terms of Service).
We’re here to help you get your account back.
What do you need to do?
We’ll walk you through a few steps to verify that you own the account, then ask you to change your password in case someone else has been accessing your account. It should only take a few minutes and then you’ll be unblocked and on your way.
We’ve cleaned your account settings
Often customers get here because someone else has access to your account and is using it without your knowledge to send spam. To protect you and your contacts, we’ve removed any Hotmail auto-replies or linked accounts you may have had.
Its telling me to continue and enter a code they have sent to an email that wont be recognised :(((((((((((((
~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Got the same problem,bud.
Followed the instructions and sent them to my e-mail address at work.
So either I’ve infected that as well,or I should be ok when I open them up.
The SPL was a break-away league populated by the ‘bigger’ clubs in Scotland.
Belatedly it became apparent that it was not a league at all, it was just a bank subsidised fund raiser for the hubristic, but ultimately unrealistic, ambitions of Rangers F.C.
With the EBT’s and dual-contracts there is no defence to mitigate their guilt. No defence other than the brotherhood ripping up rule books and laughing at all authority that dares to take them to task.
There was a break-away league before, I wonder if a vote was to be taken how many of Scotland’s clubs would vote to break-away from the hun appreciation society and start a league of equals emancipated from the brotherhood.
The SPL boards found honesty and perspective; consequentially they were going to vote in numbers… ‘NO’ to the newco. The polluted office holders at the SFA/SPL can’t argue against that but they can fix it that the ‘newco’ get a chauffeur driven ride back to the big table in spite of the wishes of the majority of a nation.
SFA, the Sporting Wing of the Scottish KKK.
Whosoever has the story, and proof, of the Rangers F.C. nuclear fraud… now might be a good time to tell the world your tale.
Headlines you are likely to see in next week’s rectum
“Gers Legend JukeBox Dury Sings Praises Of Old Mate Coisty”
“Naisy : No Surrender!”
“Jimmy Nicholl – I’ll Answer The Call”
“Goughie : Blazer Brogues And Tie – Ready!”
“Big Terry : Aye, That’ll Be Right!
“Bombery : This Ones For Walter”
Settingfreethe bears
I think I answered the point about the (absence of) difference between cup-ties and league games. In summary: I win the reciprocity/ lack of reciprocity argument because there is no balance between we keeping our home gate and Inverness or St Johnstone keeping theirs. Our home gate income is – what? 10 times theirs? More? What you have to understand is, I am trying to drag this discussion into the real world. Not trying to score points. There is no future for a league where one club is bigger than all the rest put together.
My point is – in contradiction to all the people who say they go to Celtic Park to watch Celtic – no you don’t. That’s right – you don’t go to watch Celtic, you go to watch a game. Otherwise we could troop along London Road to admire 11 guys selected for their elegance, or piety, or 11 beauty queens in hoops. No need even for a ball, just the Celtic.
No game, no future, no Celtic.
As for the English league. I’d like to see a single piece of evidence that it’s anything other than a fantasy, a castle in the air. I can adduce a mountain of evidence on the side of the argument that it’s a non-starter. Apart from the publicly announced, frequently repeated, rooted opposition of the owners and directors of virtually every professional club in England, there’s the national administrative bodies against it, the international administrative bodies against it, the police force of every city and county in the country dead against it, and, for all those boycotters and sporting integrity militants out there, there’s the fans. That’s right, the fans in England don’t want Celtic in the EPL or given any chance of getting into the EPL.
Do you know how many English clubs have already had at least one season in the EPL? It’s 45, just about half of them. These clubs actually know they can reach the top flight. Then there are the few who haven’t had a go yet but who have every reason to hope that they can make it – clubs like Preston, Gillingham, Plymouth. These clubs and their fans will continue to oppose – ferociously opppose – anything that increases the odds against their reaching or staying in the EPL.
I think it’s a shame that this blog, which has been a haven of common sense and rationality over the past years, has come down on the vulgar, mindless side of this argument. It’s a consequence of the widespread phenomenon of confusing money with merit. In the best days of Celtic the best people associated with the club, the fans, operated a system of healthy scepticism about the board and the business of the club. They knew how much a game was worth, and knew, in their bones, that it was right to give boys a lift over the turnstile, in the same way it was right to fly the tricolour and sing The Soldier’s Song
Remember, this is a sting…………..
The latest running line emerges…… a wee reconstruction just to help……. Scottish Football. As Billy Connolly would say…….. oh you really think so!…………
Is this the sting? Not sure, but it’s been put up and as usual the MSM are doing their best (no laughing at the back) to trail its benefits.
Time for those (the fans of Scottish Football) current sole guardians of integrity and the game to get back on the stage with their very large baseball bat and knock this one into touch too.
Paul67 – you say you’re at a loss to know what to do. The answer is simple for now. The Fans need to show the same contempt for this as they did for the SPL parachute.
Problem may be that the leverage they had (I exclude us from that since, in a wave of righteous self-agrandisement, we forfeited our leverage) may be lost as renewal happens because they thought the fight was one.
We are lacking quality and leadership at the top.
This is how it should have gone:
Dungcaster – Hello Sky, are you signing the extended contract?
Sky – No, can you gerrymander anything so we can pretend we have an ‘old firm’. It sells well.
Dungcaster – Sorry, no. Old firm is dead. It died with RFC 1872. Bye.
Duncaster – Hello, Ian Livingston at BT? Fancy exclusive coverage of the SPL? Can we talk? Thanks.
Duncaster – Hello, ESPN? I know you just lost the EPL deal. Fancy exclusive coverage of the SPL? Can we talk?
Duncaster – Hello Peter? The Sky deal looks like it’s following RFC 1872 down the toilet. The Scottish product now hangs on the attraction of CFC. You’ve had some interesting ideas on selling that product before. Can we talk? Thanks.
Celtic have been right to keep their powder dry in public. That’s still he case.
But………… if you have powder, you need to be ready and prepared to use it at the right time. If the moment passes you by and you fail to use your powder it has been useless.
Remember, CFC still has a huge arsenal of powder sitting right underneath this one. To date very few of us have been prepared to contemplate pressing the nuclear button to kill all this dead.
However, we must remember that any arrangement requiring an ‘old firm’ requires CFC. RFC 1872 or sevco 5088 no longer have a nuclear option button since they are already dead in the water and adrift at the mercy of others.
We are not. We remain with an ultimate nuclear option. There may come a time in the next few weeks when our Board has to best consider how to remind people that we not only have this but have the will to use it (else it has no threat) too.
I hope it doesn’t come to that but I hope more of you realise it might just be necessary.
Here’s another option ‘as we go’.
In response to a corrupt and bent proposal to ‘change the rules’, we invite expressions of interest looking for 11 other clubs to form a new ‘Integrity League’ fronted by Celtic who will take on the ‘difficult task’ of negotiating TV and sponsorship arrangements. That in years 1 – 3 this will be a ‘collective pot’ shared evenly until stabilised. We will seek Uefa recognition direct citing that the SFA is corrupt and unfit for purpose and seeking recognition as the only ‘safe’ body to contract with. We open our own negotiations with TV providers direct.
The SPL, SFL and the SFA can then get on with ‘stabilising Scottish Football’ on the back of sevco 5088 and see how far they get.
Crucially, we don’t actually need to follow through on this completely, we only need to commence proceedings. Crucially we do need to be prepared to go all the way.
Us and 11 integrity teams saving scottish football. What’s not to like?
Think the fans of those clubs would join in?? After all this I’d say……… absolutely.
So Paul 67 – What to do? Do something strong, something radical, something we know we can do. Time to get off the fence and actually do something? Might be closer than you think?
HH
Pesky Tales
Just a collection of rambles and whinges so far.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
One Rule For One?
At six miles long the River Leven isn’t the longest in Scotland, but there was a time when it was the centre of the footballing world.
Anyone who knows a little history of Scottish football will, or should, be aware of the role played by the three teams from the Leven Valley.
Vale of Leven, Dumbarton and Renton were all formed in 1872, the same year as a club from Govan who we’ll talk a bit more of later.
Between them these three clubs won the Scottish Cup six times.
But that pales into insignificance.
If you meet anyone from the Renton they’ll proudly tell you about being the first world champions.
Of course, as football became increasingly popular, as well as professional, it became unsustainable for three teams from such a small area to survive and prosper.
Renton were first to run into trouble, and in the 1897-98 season, unable to meet their financial obligations, they withdrew from the league that they helped set up.
Their last hurrah proved to be a Scottish Cup run in 1906-07 when they defeated St. Bernard’s and Dundee before succumbing to Queens Park in the last sixteen.
They continued to play in minor leagues until 1922 before finally folding.
Vale of Leven dropped out of the professional league after only two seasons. In the second season they didn’t win any of their games and finished last so decided not to apply for re-election.
In 1905 they were allowed into an extended Second Division. Twice, in 1907 and 1909, they finished runners-up, but didn’t get promoted due to not getting enough votes from the other clubs.
They eventually dropped into the junior ranks and have stayed there ever since, winning the Scottish Junior Cup in 1953.
Dumbarton are the only team from the original Leven Valley trio that are still in the professional game.
In fact, it’s fair to say they’ve been doing the local area proud recently.
After a great campaign in the Scottish Second Division they beat Airdrie United in a two leg play-off final and secured promotion to the First Division for the first time in years.
Airdrie United were born after original Airdrie went to the wall through being liquidated. Although they had many financial problems it was the Rangers chairman David Murray who applied for a court order to seize funds from the struggling club. He said at the time, “”I feel very sorry for Airdrie and their supporters but we’re running a business. We have given them repeated warnings and felt they were playing on our good nature.”
Newco Airdrie United applied for membership to the league but the share was given to Gretna instead. Undeterred, they bought another struggling team’s membership (Clydebank), moved them to Airdrie and renamed them Airdrie United. A precedent was set.
Once reborn they started life at the bottom of Scotland’s leagues and continue to honestly try and climb back to the top league.
Dumbarton’s return to the First Division is a great boost for both the young players in the team and the many hundreds who packed their stadium for the first leg of the play-off final.
It was the first time I’d been to a Dumbarton game for many years, having never even set foot inside their Strathclyde Homes Stadium.
My memories of Dumbarton were all at Boghead.
The great Scottish Cup run of 1976 with wins at home against Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock. Finally defeated 3-0 by Hearts in a semi-final replay at Hampden, helped, funnily enough, by Walter Smith scoring with a flying header…into his own net.
In 1984, needing a point to win promotion to the Premier League, they came back from 2-0 down against Clyde to earn the draw. Their second goal that day still lives with me as one of the greatest goals I’ve witnessed.
In a crowded box the ball was passed around several players without touching the ground before being volleyed home.
The locals went wild and fans flooded onto the pitch at the final whistle.
At the recent play-off a crowd of 1746 packed into the Strathclyde Homes Stadium.
The young supporters provided plenty of vocal support, taunting Airdrie United for being Clydebank in disguise, while the older ones sampled the pies and Bovril and reminisced about past glories.
It might not have been like watching Barcelona, but with a packed ground and something to play for it was a great game.
When the fixture list for next season came out I noticed Dumbarton will start the campaign away to Dundee.
Or will they?
Reports in the mainstream media are promoting the prospect of a Newco being parachuted straight into the First Division, which may mean Dundee moving up a league.
So Dumbarton may end up playing this Newco.
There is a certain amount of irony about this. Both teams were formed in 1872 and were pioneers of the game in Scotland.
But is it right that a Newco team should not start at the bottom? Why should this Newco team be treated differently from say Renton, Vale of Leven or Airdrie United?
What is the game in this country, a sport or a business?
When Moses McNeill and his buddies formed the original Rangers Football Club they didn’t even have a ground to play on. They played for the love of the game, not to make a quick buck.
Both world champions Renton and Rangers couldn’t meet their financial obligations.
Both triple Scottish Cup winners Vale of Leven and Rangers didn’t get enough votes to play in the top league.
Newco Airdrie United started at the bottom tier after original Airdrie were liquidated. Originally refused admission into any league they had to buy another club to get back in.
It remains to be seen where Newco Rangers will eventually end up, but as sure as the River Leven flows from Loch Lomond into the River Clyde, they will not be treated the same way as Renton or Vale of Leven.
And if they do get parachuted into Division One I hope Dumbarton give them a lesson in both football and dignity.
Che on 24 June, 2012 at 08:43 said:
So so true Che.
I just hope young Rhys Mc Cabe now realises just what he´s being playing for.
He´ll need to grow a pair of eyes in the back of his head now.
67heaven @ 10.48
The thing is i don’t think they’ve been got at, they’re all part of the problem if not its entirety. They are doing what comes naturally, assisting their fellow brothers who are in distress. I think Ernie Lynch might be right in his suggestion that someone who eats the sun ripened fruit at the top of the trees in our jungle might have suggested to Paul67 to canvass our support for our reaction to this nonsense before heading off to the circus.
It’s ‘Bread and Circuses’ for the hun masses they’re proposing,not sporting integrity, how apt of them. As BRTH said a few weeks ago” there’s no such thing as sporting integrity, only integrity, you either have it or you don’t.”
They. . . . Ogilvie, Regan,Doncaster and their cowboy cohorts have very little left and it’s receding fast.
HH
Sunday Post
Rangers must volunteer to step down from SPL
Former Ibrox Director of Football Gordon Smith calls for relegation.
The Big Interview, Exclusive, By Danny Stewart.
GORDON SMITH has called on Rangers to relegate themselves from the SPL.
The club’s former Director of Football believes by volunteering to play in the First Division, the fallen giant would spare the top flight’s embattled chairmen the need to vote on July 4.
“If I had still been at Ibrox, that is the route I would have been recommending,” says Smith.
“As a Rangers fan, I find it embarrassing the club has put the rest of Scottish football in this position.
“So the honourable thing to do would be to take the matter into their own hands.”
SPL clubs will convene a week on Wednesday to decide on the newco’s controversial application to take up a place in the SPL next season.
Smith’s radical proposal would end the prospect of Rangers being banished to the Third Division, and with it the scenario of a minimum of three years without an Old Firm league fixture.
And, crucially, an unprecedented display of contrition by the Ibrox club would go some way to easing the turmoil which has engulfed the national sport.
“The last few months have been brutal for everyone,” says Smith, who was hired by Craig Whyte but sidelined to the extent where he found himself powerless to prevent the breaches of trust of the past year.
“With all the animosity that has been caused in the game, I would really like to see Rangers make a strong statement by saying: ‘Listen, we will go down and start again’.
“That would be really significant because it would mean there would no longer be any need for the SPL chairmen to have to vote on whether to admit the newco into the top flight.
“These guys have been under intense pressure — and that is not fair on them.
“Fans are telling them to go one way, and their money people are maybe telling them to go the other.
“There is a lot of talk about ‘sporting integrity’. But it is a difficult problem because we are not just talking about businesses, but about businesses that often end up getting run on emotions.
“There is turmoil in the game generally, and there is turmoil within individual clubs.
“I have been in those sort of no-win situations myself, and it is hard on you and it is hard on your family.
“In relegating themselves, Rangers would be taking the moral high ground.
“I believe it would be a great gesture and one with real symbolism.
“Rangers have never played outside Scotland’s top flight, so to voluntarily agree to go down would send out a clear message.
“They would be saying: ‘Yes, we know we have done wrong and we are taking our punishment We are already out of Europe and now we are putting ourselves down.'”
Smith accepts that his proposal will not be enough to satisfy those who want to see the maximum amount of hurt inflicted on the newco Rangers for the sins of the oldco.
He argues, though, that with the game’s future at stake, it is time not for vengeance but vigilance.
“I think we have to try and look for the best solution for Scottish football and, logistically, I don’t think it would be practical for Rangers to go down to the Third Division,” says Smith.
“Although we are talking about a newco, the crowd they would carry would make it very hard to play at that level.
“I also believe that, though it would bring additional revenue for those clubs, it would unbalance the division in football terms.
“With the SPL and SFL looking to merge before the start of the season, it should be a simple enough process to introduce the newco into the First Division.
“You then either just promote Dundee or cancel Dunfermline’s relegation and away you go.
“I genuinely believe that would be an exciting prospect for Rangers fans. Even with the handicaps incurred, I can’t imagine they would not be there pushing to go straight backup.
“It would be a good chance for re-growth. The restrictions on the club make it likely they will have a young team, and I think the decent First Division sides — Falkirk, Morton and what have you — would be a good test.”
And provide a chance for absence to make the heart grow fonder?
“I just think it would take away so much of the negativity surrounding the club,” Smith continues.
“I have played for Rangers and been a part of running the club too, so it is close to my heart. It is hard to see all the anger that is put there just now.
“What has happened has been hard to take. I would never have believed I would see the club defaulting on routine payments to the likes of Dundee United and Dunfermline — their fellow clubs. “A proud reputation that took over a century to build has been destroyed in a short space of time. That is heart-breaking and it needs to be addressed.”
Actions speak louder than words, but the former SFA Chief Executive argues both are required.
“Dave King (the ex-Rangers director) called for a public show of con¬trition and I would echo that mes¬sage,” he says.
“It is true the people who have come in were not responsible for what has gone on in the past.
“Nevertheless, there has been damage done to the Scottish game and there need to be apologies for that.
“There were a lot of achievements under David Murray, but now we have to accept they’ve been devalued.
“While I don’t think the club believed they were doing anything wrong with the EBTs at the time, it is now viewed as the equivalent of financial doping.
“It is sad for Rangers — and sad for Scottish football — it has happened. The fact is it has, and now we have to try and move forward.
“Why not take this is an oppor¬tunity for change? Get the leagues merged, look at the possibility of two SPL divisions, and let’s look at play-offs.
“Let’s try and be positive and let’s try to be pragmatic.”
It is a message 57-year-old Smith would like to see taken on board by those keen to go back and re-write history.
“For me there would be no point going back and taking away the honours that have been won,” he says.
“It would be opening a real can of worms because once you start, where do you stop?
“And how do you do it? Could it really get to the stage where you were looking back at games and saying: “That goal didn’t count because the player was on an EBT’?
“Likewise, if Celtic were retrospectively awarded titles, then how does that work?
“Would their players of the time now be entitled to bonuses and, if so, would you not be penalising the current regime?
“No, I think we have to collectively acknowledge what has happened, show contrition and then move on.”
Big Nan on 24 June, 2012 at 11:10 said:
Ha! For a moment there I thought old Gordon had grown a pair and found some dignity. But no, he’s just offering they request being placed in SFL1 knowing full well that the SPL will not accept them.
Gordon, ask politely for a place in SFL3 and someone, somewhere, might believe you have a scrap of integrity. But don’t think we’re stupid enough to fall for this. Buffoon.
There’s nothing wrong with league reconstruction but do it in 2 or 3 years time when it has been properly debated and a complete and watertight set of rules have been established.
The SFA/SPL/SFL must surely be aware that this ungodly rush to get it in place in 5 weeks time will be seen as nothing but a cynical ploy to ease the path for sevco.
It will be another disaster in the making if they try to rush this in and will leave fans of all but one club totally and completely disillusioned.
Smudger :
Some advice…….
Get some professional help.
Don’t drive or operate heavy machinery.
Stay out of the wind and avoid swimming.
•-:¦:-•** -:¦:- sparkleghirl :¦:-.•**• -:¦:-• on 24 June, 2012 at 11:14 said:
Buffoon is being kind to him!
¿¿⊥Ǝʎ ƃN∩⊥S ןƎƎℲ ∩Oʎ Op ¡ƃNI⊥S ∀ SI SIH⊥ ‘ᖈƎqWƎWƎᖈ – ROW Z on 24 June, 2012 at 11:07 said:
Judging by his public comments, I think Rod Petrie and Hibs would back us for one.