So much happened yesterday, I’ll be as brief as possible:
Newco Rangers sent their counsel to the Court of Session to protest Charles Green’s contract with the club, stating it should pay legal expenses, now crystallising ahead of his forthcoming criminal trial.
In opposing Green, James Wolffe QC raised various objections, but as is often the case when people speak on behalf of Newco, included an arbitrary insistence that Newco operated the same club as the now liquidated Rangers.
Green’s QC, Jonathan Brown, put his pit boots on before stating his client’s case, but tantalisingly, before lunch informed the court that he would return to the same club/new club debate later. And didn’t he. Brown explained that Sevco Scotland purchased the assets of Rangers, not the club itself, with poetic prose adding:
“The team are paid by Sevco, plat at a ground owned by Secvo, are trained by a manager who is employed by Sevco and fans buy tickets from Sevco. That is the business that is being carried on.”
Adding that Rangers were “a collection of assets”, “What if the players were sold to one person and Ibrox to antoher, where is the ‘club’ then?”
I had to look away from court reporter, James Dolman’s Twitter feed at this point. It was like watching an acquaintance being humiliated. Not something you want to see.
Lord Doherty will determine if Newco should pay Green’s costs in due course, but this will be soon, as Jonathan Brown noted, “the rainy day has arrived”.
This next bit is really important:
Soon after court ended, Dave King was out with a rambling statement on the Newco website. If it was designed to play to the galleries, it hit the spot. If it was designed to influence what happens to his club, or how others will regard his input, it was surely an horrendous mistake.
It was a hard day to be chairman of Rangers International FC PLC. The court hearing only happened because the club objected to its contract with Green, so the unedifying episode could easily have been avoided. Despite this, sometimes you have to shut your mouth.
Sure, some Newco fans love a bit of grandstanding, but you know what yesterday’s statement will achieve. If the objective of the statement was to convince other Scottish clubs not to consider disciplinary action against Sir David Murray, or oldco Rangers, for their actions, it was an almighty miscalculation.
Threats seldom work. This one is unlikely to curry favour: “If the history of our Club comes under attack we will deal with it in the strongest manner possible and will hold to account those persons who have acted against their fiduciary responsibilities to their own clubs and to Scottish football.”
In short:
Don’t threaten clubs you are trying to influence.
Don’t grandstand to your own fans if you are trying to influence other clubs.
Keep a poker face. Keep your mouth shut, even if it means taking grief from your fans for the lack of public reaction.
King’s statement also addressed the sporting advantage issue from what we now know was an unlawfully operated tax scheme. While the EBT scheme saved tens of millions of pounds, and King earlier intimated this did provide a sporting advantage, yesterday he insisted the advantage was financial, that the shareholders were “committed to providing funding to the club” and would have done so, if required.
Here’s the thing, in 2012 another King statement revealed, “I have made a claim of £20m on the basis of non-disclosure by the then chairman, David Murray, of Rangers true financial position as far back as 2000.”
That commitment to further shareholder funding seems predicated on some controversial information. According to King, of course. Controversial enough to launch a £20m claim, but not to inhibit investment.
For the war-chest hunters among you, if you read this article covering King’s 2012 statement, you’ll find a strong clue.
One other quick but important point:
Some media are attempting to portray questions of sporting advantage as Rangers being punished for spending money they could afford, a travesty, as so many other clubs have done likewise.
This must surely be a deliberate attempt to misunderstand the issue and manipulate the debate.
No one suggests Rangers should be punished for spending money they could not afford. The questions are straightforward:
Did Rangers break tax law, break SFA rules and break SPL rules, when contracting football players?
Did they disclose matters openly with authorities (in other words, inadvertently make mistakes), or did they conspire to subvert the rules by hiding incriminating information?
Spending like the Borgias? Time to move on. Conspiracy to subvert the rules? We have a problem.
Don’t be distracted by potential ramifications to these questions, they are irrelevant for now. We should consider no more than did they break all of the above rules, should any the rule breaking be interpreted as an oversight, or does evidence of conspiracy to subvert the rules exist?
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BRTH
Good luck to you and all the sleep outdoors folk.
Tell TH he’ll need to wear a tammy or three to compensate for his follicle deficiency.
Proud of you all.
NOWA
http://talkingbaws.com/2015/11/celtic-fly-french-flag-above-celtic-park-after-events-of-last-night/?
Celtic Park flying the other tri-colour…
For the French people.
NOWA
it is cold in our shadow ….
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/ibrox-and-celtic-park-in-world-s-top-100-stadiums-1-3948322?
TBJ
Lol . . What a complete Tosser of a man.
Can you imagine him saying though.
“We do have a cathedral with a stunning alter and stained glass window. And a Statue of St Mirin outside”
Nah, me neither :-)
just puttin up my weekends reading :-) http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/category/lns-inquiry/
Auldheid.excellent blog over at sfm
To me a light should be shone on their non participation in LNS.
They shunned it with the same arrogant flails that are being exhibited now in all facets of the squinted media.
how dare someone question their role in rigging the game?this was their game and no one f…s with their ‘dip’That was the mindset,then as it is now.
This is the arrogance and attitude towards all in scottish football.we cheated so whit yi gonnae dae bout it?
Their sphincter has gone.and it is coming out their every pore,the fantasy,ably assisted by a do as yir telt and nane o that investigatin lark
Dave kings eye now jitters and lies get poured out and cheating is venerated by cheat backed meejah who suggest it was their for all clubs to cheat.no thanks cheats,football is our game and we are going to have it back.
The same cheating media who still do not investigate our game dare to write about Russia
The same cheating media laughingly point out freedom to write is Russia is inhibited.
surely a cheating media are not embarassed they dont report the story.Why?
hail hail Celts,there is no confusion They cheated.
Enjoy your Saturday/Sun
BT alfienoakes/horridhenry/Thompsontwin have goat the word out on ya lol:-)HH
Even a pish-poor journalist like Chico would have spelt altar correctly.
Putting yourself in others shoes …. Your average chairman / director of an SPFL premier club ….. working out budgets to the nearest penny , writing the odd personal cheque to keep the place ticking over , enjoying the occasional success but mostly a grim fight for financial survival …. You switch on the car radio on Friday only to hear that DCK is to summarise ” threatening a sqwerr go” .
I suspect such chairmen / directors if they need to think beyond the obvious lets do the right thing will make a calculation, that King needs to be shown the door , so a collective push on title stripping , and replacing the five stars with asterisks ought to be enough to push him out.
Now that everyone knows that technically & legally their was loads of cheating , with £40M odds worth of EBT , the last time they were up for a trifling £15M ( no paye or VaT) , I seem to remember that was described by at least 2 Scottish lawyers , as the nearest thing to match fixing : multiple by 2. 66 ok round up to 2.67 = 2.67 times closer to match fixing.
The LNS defence that EBTs were open to all is perhaps the poorest strategic advice provide to the aforementioned chairmen / directors ……
Titles and cups will be withheld , all directors sine die , and ordered never to set foot in a Scottish football ground … The sheer joy in the blue hordes squirming is difficult to put into words ….
God Bless all in Paris.
HH
Enjoy your evening Celts:-)
inNootCsc:-)
HH
I blame reformist Apple predictive texts
:-O
BMCUW
Trust you right enough lol . . Apologies
HERBO
No offence intended-useless heapas…e has a very good spellchecker.
BMCUW
Big Fellah . . Yer one of the best on this here thing.
I have no idea what Yer on about however. I chop onions. sometimes Iake justakes
It’s nice to be back with the CQN’rs . I’ll be honest. I’m back in to gauge the opinions for Friday, but I forgot how much of a decent place it is to be
I’m off for a curry and a box of beer. Let’s get tore right into the issues later.
very short notice
Hooops,
dunno what happened there.
But, i know its very short notice, but if anyone from Belfast likes, or knows someone who likes Michael McIntyre (I know, I know) but I have 2 tickets for his show tonight if they want them.
Its print at home ones, so can email them to you.
gimme a shout on davie211967@gmail.com
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Meant to say the tix are for free. just want them used if possible.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Burgas Hoops
Hoping and praying for you mate.
Burgas Hoops
Please please let us know the bastard bookies
bill.
Burgas Hoops
Brilliant!!!! :)
Didnt want to curse you by wishing your horsey all the best!
well done it won at 6/4
Well done burgas parkour wins brilliant
Burgas Hoops
Well done Congratulations, 4th one won like a good un!
Burgas Hoops
Am over the moon for you……
A massive Hail Hail face Coatbrig !
The problem with our media is that they have facilitated cheating for years,the decent rangers fans know it and have walked away from the game,I just hope that media outside Scotland are looking on and asking why fellow journalists are taking a hard line in defending the indefensible when the primary function of the industry is to report objectively,it is an utter scandal and shows Scottish society up very badly.
Burgas,
Congrats mate.Well done.
HH
Lest it get lost in the Move On propaganda war, readers should be clear that in June 2011 RFC lied to retain their licence to play in the CL.
In 2012 they failed to provide the paperwork to SPL lawyers that should also have been given to the SFA in 2011.
In 2011 the SFA were negligent at best, complicit at worst.
But get this. In 2014 SFA were asked if they had had sight of the wee tax case bill in 2011 to which they said there were no papers in SFA files and more than a year later they have
a) stonewalled on confirming the above which is what enquirers were told in 2014 ie no bill submitted, but more seriously have failed as far as is known to raise the issue with Andrew Dickson the RFC/TRFC man who was at RFC in 2011 and sat on 3 out of 4 Liicencing Committee meetings that year and at TRFC in 2012, to find out why the same information kept from SPL lawyers in 2012 was kept from SFA in 2011.
Do the SFA realise that since 2014 they may be covering up a fraud they were part of in 2011 and is that why they continue to stonewall on answering a letter put to them by Celtic shareholders?
Move on? Not until the guilty are named or a valid explanation given for SFA inaction.
Burgas hoops . Congratulations . Terrific results for you .HH
We sort out the Huns and the Blazored Brogues,
……………then we sort the Succulent Bams.
And that my friends is how Auldheid and BRTH made Res 12 such a powerful weapon :)
Most of that knowledge was not known at the concept of Res 12, their dogged digging uncovered the evidence that proves the SFA are compromised.
Guten tag fae Berlin, more trinken !
michael mcintryre tickets for free
i dont think you will get rid of them at that price.
-)
Le tricolor flying over Celtic Park.
Auldheid 5.59pm
Keep at it, you and the others work is much appreciated
Burgas…. Am still buzzing about your win
Hail Hail
Listened to the latest Celtic Underground podcast earlier.
Almost 2 hours long but well worth it,anyone who hasn’t listened to it yet should do so
HH
Chuffed to bits Bhoys -))))
Many thanks for the good wishes !!!!
IbleedGreenAndWhite
Outstanding podcast. Our Jim from Celtic Research is an absolute colossus. An amazing man.
Herbo
The 3 guys including Jim were spot on ,articulate and informative.
Contrast that to BFDJ,King etc,,who are nothing short of an embarrassment with there threats and intimidation tactics.
Rangers are dead,but while they were alive they cheated and the podcast explains expertly how they did it.
Roll on the day when they are stripped of every trophy they stole
HH
Still appealing to, and expecting the Huns, their media, their football governing body for fairness and justice ?
This lot have always did just that, they went to schooli in it. They ain’t going to volunteer to stop making money, opportunity or advancement from it.