All three outfits looking to take control of Rangers want to meet the SPL before formalising their bids. It would be inappropriate for any bidder to discuss the terms under which a new company could enter the SPL with the League’s executive. It is not their place to negotiate with the League, or to establish the terms under which they would be prepared to spend money on Rangers.
Let’s be clear about what cannot be achieved by meeting the League:
The SPL cannot give them any indication as to whether the resolutions will be passed
They cannot give them any indication if other resolutions will be proposed and passed
They cannot give them any indication on the probability of a new company being given access to the SPL
SPL executives have no influence on these matters. From an information discovery position, these meetings are utterly pointless, there is no need for them and no insight can be gained from them.
The SPL executive cannot consider representations from third parties who are hoping to cut a deal on buying a club. If any bidder were to discuss their own bid or the consequences of any sanction the meeting becomes wholly inappropriate.
Any meetings which do take place should be minuted, with minutes distributed to all SPL clubs, and should be open to any other SPL clubs who wish to attend.
No secret deals, no secret attempts to influence.
Pay your bills!
806 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- »
Summa:
I’m not sure. Got our friendly tax man to sort out this month and I’ve been off work crook since before we won the flag. To be honest I don’t have the heart to go home just now but I know I should.
just read tthis on kds,
Sunday 15 April 2012
Expediency trumps justice
Graham Spiers
Imagine if a football club wilfully decided to deduct tax from players’ pay slips, but, instead, of handing the money over to Revenue and Customs, decided to keep it.
You would think that was pretty bad. Imagine also if it transpired that, with regard to three players stretching as far back as 1999, a club used an off-shore Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) to “reward” those players due to a belief that this was a way of avoiding paying tax. Ordinarily, you would think that looked fairly dodgy, too.
Or worse, how about a similar use of EBTs as a means of “rewarding” a whole tranche of players, season after season for nine years? That, we must assume, would be viewed by most people as seriously bad behaviour. It would also amount to a heck of a saving in taxes – tens of millions of pounds – that could be flushed back into the club’s own coffers.
All these and more comprise the toll of allegations currently being made against Rangers. When I say allegations, I’m using the term over-cautiously, because the club has admitted using such policies. Craig Whyte even offered to pay HMRC off in instalments, only to be knocked back.
Campbell Ogilvie, meanwhile, a Rangers director during much of this period, and now president of the SFA, admits to having had an EBT provided by the club. Ogilvie was given loans by Rangers which, to date, have not been repaid. “Perhaps I should have asked more questions [of Sir David Murray] during this time,” he now says lamely, the adverse publicity horse having loudly bolted.
What does not seem in much doubt is that Rangers broke many of the rules, as applied by the SPL and SFA to Scottish football. The more pressing question now is, how severe should their punishment be? Indeed, should Rangers’ reckless disregard for fair play over so many years be sufficient cause to evict them from the SPL, as many want to see?
I find it hard to avoid concluding that there is strong case for Rangers being demoted – or suspended – from the SPL. There are two current spheres of contempt towards the Ibrox club. The first is to do with a flouting of the contractual rules – defined by many as plain cheating – which gave Rangers a significant financial advantage all these years over other SPL clubs. That seems bad enough.
The second is a kind of moral distaste felt by many people. Strictly speaking, the SFA and SPL, both of whom are investigating Rangers’ conduct, cannot embroil themselves in the tax avoidance issue. That area is not the remit of the football authorities. But the rest of us are still free to feel that, on the business of denuding the nation of tens of millions of pounds in unpaid taxes, something devious and pretty squalid has gone on inside Ibrox.
In both football and in moral terms there is a convincing argument for kicking Rangers out of the SPL. The problem is, does the Scottish game possess the guts to do it?
We can be brief here about why chief executive Neil Doncaster and his SPL board, with the host of “newco” rules they are keen to bring in by May 14, want to do everything they can to save Rangers’ SPL skin. Everyone knows why it is politically expedient to contrive to keep the Ibrox club in Scotland’s top division.
Doncaster’s position is thoroughly miserable. If Rangers are evicted, the SPL will be severely damaged. Potentially, Sky television would rip up its recently announced deal to cover Scottish football. A huge slice of SPL gate money would go down the drain with Rangers’ disappearance. Everything – sponsorship, advertising, corporate hospitality – would be hit. Financially and politically, the scenario is enough to keep Doncaster awake at night.
The fate of Juventus in Italy in 2006 has been quoted here as a precedent. When Juve were found guilty of match-fixing, it wasn’t too insipid a pill for Serie A to swallow to strip them retrospectively of their 2005 and 2006 titles and then throw them out of Italy’s top division.
In Juve’s case, the moral argument proved stronger than any political expediency. There was no knee-knocking over it.
Across Scottish football, and not just among Celtic fans, Doncaster and the SPL are being mocked and derided. The imminent rules amendments will certainly punish Rangers if a “newco” is formed at Ibrox but, arguably, not to the degree that is warranted. Indeed, short of bribery or match-fixing, it is hard to see what else Rangers would have to do to get the SPL to kick them out.
Perhaps it is true that the SPL cannot do without Rangers. But, if that is the case, let no-one ever again quote “honesty” or “integrity” in the context of the Scottish game.
.
Kitalba..
Yea I Kind of Know what You Mean..I promised Myself I would go Home every Year to see Mum & Dad.. Dads been getting Lots of Test been a Bit Sick.. But my Wee Ghirl can’t Come this time as she Fell a wee bit Back at School when she came back Last Year..Kinda Torn I would Say..
But to See the Hoops will be Great.. And l can always come Back early..
EnyWhoo will be Great if you Make it..
001Bhoy
DANSO 1888 0332
Looks like one of the MSM has decided he has had enough of defending the indefensible.
To be fair to Spers,he wrote about their financial problems about eight years ago,and was scathing about Murray in particular.
Murray’s response was to tell the hun hordes not to buy The Herald while Spiers was still employed by them.
Vindictive b…..d,trying to ruin a man’s career simply for daring to tell the truth.
Heh heh.
Stupid huns.
That is all.
BMCUWP
Come on. You know better.
ALWAYS question why the hun meeja say what they say.
They don’t do honesty.
FACT :)
FORTUNE’S FAVOUR MIBBES 0416
Ach,yer joost paranoid!
TBH,I can’t see an angle in that article. He could be more forthright,granted,but it all seems fairly black ‘n’ white to me.
He’s saying that the huns must be punished for their actions,and a slap on the wrists won’t do.
BMCUWP
No visible angle makes it all the more suspicious.
They are most definitely up to no good, and Jabba knows exactly what.
Uhuhuhuhuhuh. >:((
Minty knows though :)) Less bidders makes his planned comeback all the more easy.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Who turned on his light?
HMRC etc. etc. A collection
Worth a wee mention again I think. Even the huns institution isn’t worth this much. Minty must be the Master Goat to get away with what he does !
http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/politics/sir-david-murray-set-to-buy-50m-princes-mall-for-only-40p-1-2197787
And this doesn’t include his other “land deals”, which were all equally astonishing in their profit-making value .
Blantyretim 21:29
No idea, obviously a very poor attempt at a joke that even I dont understand now. Apologies.
EN
KITALBA 0530
Thanks for them,buddy-some of them were a delight and others a treasure,haha!
I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a re-written scene from Hitler’s bunker. Some of these are sheer genius…….
perfect day final
.
Scottish Cup: Ian Black insists he has tempered his style ahead of clash with Scott Brown
Published: 15 April 2012
Old pals act: Ian Black has known Celtic captain Scott Brown, below, since they were kids together at Hibs.
THEIR paths first crossed so long ago but, this season, all those roads have led to Hampden. It may have taken Ian Black longer than others but this afternoon he will get his opportunity to shine.
Already this season two of his boyhood peers have tussled on the hallowed turf. In the League Cup final it was his former Blackburn buddy Gary Harkins who enjoyed success, his former Hibs youth team cohort Scott Brown missing out on the chance to lift the trophy.
Today, when Hearts take on Celtic in the weekend’s second Scottish Cup semi-final, Black hopes to subject Brown to a double helping of cup disappointment and take a step closer to emulating Harkins’ Hampden joy. And he believes he is capable of doing that, provided none of his competitors try to cash in on his reputation and con the referee.
“I played with Scott Brown at Hibs when I was younger,” says the Tynecastle midfielder. “He signed a professional contract there while I opted to go down south. He kicked on at Hibs and I left Blackburn to return to Scotland after my spell in England. So I know Scott from those early days and, believe it or not, he wasn’t as he is now. He was much quieter. Really quiet, in fact. But he’s come on leaps and bounds and is now captain of Celtic.
“He’s a good lad, and obviously a very good player. But it will be good to try and turn him over on Sunday. I’ve got a lot of praise for him, he’s done well. He was written off at the start because of his disciplinary record – a bit like me – but he’s proved people wrong with the likes of Neil Lennon sticking by him. He’s got the armband now and is playing every week with a lot of pride and doing well.”
Both players’ potential was spotted at an early age but it’s only now, aged 27, that Black is beginning to command the level of respect that potential promised. The rash tackling can still rear its head and fiery outbursts are occasionally still evident but these days he has harnessed a lot of the hot-headedness which saw him singled out by officials and opposition players and, instead, is doing more damage with his play. More than just a feisty competitor, he has shone as probably Hearts’ most consistently important player this term, taking games by the scruff of the neck and utilising his footballing brain as well as his work-rate and competitive edge.
“[Former manager] Jim Jefferies was a big help in that aspect but there’s been advice from everyone, especially my father who played the game as well. We talk after every game and he’s played a massive part.
“Jim Jefferies, Billy Brown, Gary Locke and the management staff now have spoken to me this year. They keep reminding me because sometimes the red mist comes down and when I hear that shout I know it’s enough to keep the head.
“I’ve worked on that side of my game, just as Scott has, but you can’t take that streak completely out of anyone’s game. You need that bit of aggression in football but I’ve tried to channel it in the right direction and I think I’ve improved a lot. He’s done that as well. I was the noisiest on the park when we were kids, but we’re both quiet now! The first 50-50 between us will still be interesting – he’ll be up for the fight and so will I. May the best man win.”
These days Black knows every challenge must be timed to perfection, the consequences weighed up before the boot goes in. Sometimes it still goes astray but he insists he is trying. “The game has changed. My old man says some of the tackles nowadays people wouldn’t have thought twice about and that’s frustrating. It doesn’t help when you get players rolling around, exaggerating and trying to get you booked rather than getting up and getting on with it. But referees are doing their job and you’ve got to try to be nice about it. A few bookings I’ve had have been harsh but my reputation over the past couple of years doesn’t help, which is why I’ve had to work on it.”
Today’s game will be played on the biggest stage of Black’s life. He says: “I’ve never played at Hampden before so I can’t wait. It will be a bit of a dream come true to step out there.” And he knows he can afford no lapses against the SPL Champions. In the three head to heads this season, Celtic have the upper hand with two wins to Hearts’ one but the fact the capital side have that single win means they are undaunted. They had to absorb news of right-back Jamie Hammill’s season-ending knee injury earlier this week but will be lifted by the return of centre-back Andy Webster, striker Craig Beattie and winger David Templeton.
“I’d say this is more or less the Cup final,” adds Black. “People would maybe say we’d be favourites if we get to the final but it doesn’t matter who the favourites are – it’s about how you do on the day. Right now we’re just looking at Sunday. Celtic have shown they’re the best in Scotland, their consistency has been brilliant, but they are beatable. We know where their weaknesses are and we’ll work on that. It was frustrating watching [the 4-0 defeat to Neil Lennon’s side in February] from the stand. The tables could have turned when we had an early goal disallowed which I think should have stood. But then they went up the park and scored and got some confidence.”
In recent weeks Paulo Sergio’s men have claimed the scalps of Rangers, secured an SPL top-six finish and even pegged back teams above them, leaving them two points below fourth place and seven off third. A turbulent season off the pitch with the club put up for sale and the players regularly paid late, it could still end in smiles. “We’ve had an up-and-down season – not just on the park but off it as well – so to beat Celtic and get to the final would be massive for the team, the club and especially the fans,” acknowledges Black, who is willing to play through the pain barrier in that quest for success. “I’ve got a double hernia but I’m battling on, it’s bearable at the moment so I’ll go on as long as possible and hopefully win on Sunday and carry on until the final.
“I’ve had it for almost two months and it’s getting to be a bit of a fight but I can get through it. When you have the operation, you can be back within two weeks so I wouldn’t miss anything important. I could be back before the end of the season if I had it early.”
That’s when Black hopes that a Scotland call up may materialise but his first priority is reaching the Cup final. “If you’re a player you’d risk anything to play in games like this. I’d play with a broken leg in a game like this because opportunities like this don’t come around so often so you’ve got to grab them and give it everything you’ve got.”
Harkins certainly made the most of the opportunity Hampden afforded him last month. He and Black shared digs when they went down to Blackburn as youngsters and both are now back in Scotland making a living in the SPL. “I was close to Gary,” says Black. “We were in the same house. He’s a great player who is doing really well up here. I watched him win the Cup with Kilmarnock and I was delighted for him. Obviously, Celtic being a big club and Kilmarnock doing the business, it was a big thing. Hopefully, I can follow him, go there and beat Celtic, get to the final and win that.”
After that, who knows. Black’s contract expires in the summer and he is keeping his options open. Hearts are his boyhood club and winning trophies with them is part of the dream but he has even bigger ambitions. He still believes he could do a job for Craig Levein as part of the national squad.
“I’d love to give England another crack. Having been down there and not doing it there and then doing it up here, I’d love the opportunity to give it another shot.”
Jabba and Chick rewrite history
Hugh “Soup Taker” Keevins Gets his dinner – again
KITALBA 052
Another belter.
For anyone who didn’t click on the link,the caption around 4’10 to Thatcher doing the Broonie is simply superb!
no secrecy !
end freemasonry ! end the orange order !
the orange order is a racist organisation NOT open to all and freemasonry involves secrecy and double-dealing and as such is, to quote SSB, is “rrrrrrrrrrruining scottish football”, among other things
openness, transparency, fairness CSC
danso_1888 on 15 April, 2012 at 03:32 said:
thankyou Lord for that article just now by Graham Speirs
superb !
TopCorner
Hope you enjoyed the game…
The referee was obviously an Al Ainyin…
Good to meet you yesterday mate.
EN
re the G Speirs piece above
G was fighting D King the other day on SSB
Darrell said that Juve got done “aye for match-fixing!”, as if to say that match-fixing was a whole different ball game
eh, naw!
dodging tax etc etc, in order to gain a financial advantage is indeed, ultimately….match-fixing !
that may be news to you Darrell but its true
Juve’s cheating = Rangers’ cheating
i.e. it is cheating ! and that is it !
cheating is cheating
same same
none o yer “known knowns and known unknowns here”, mister !
Estadio Nacional
haha
an honour and a privelege to meet your good self
the legend that is Estadio Nacional
hope you enoyed yer Billy McNeill Pie
and thanks for showing me all over Dubai – superb !
had a whale of a time
next time we can go the whole hog and get the jail or whatever haha
yes i enjoyed the Al Wasl v Al Ain match
Maradonna was goin mental at the end of the 2-2 draw
that penaltly for Al Ain by Asamoah Gyan was a sickener for Diego – but maybe a fair result in the end – two reasonable teams and what a fine header by the Wasl guy or the 2nd – Henrikesque
will keep ye posted re any news, developments and thanks again – awesome !
pure sleepin here in the office now, haha
for
.
TopCorner..
Watch that Estadio Nacional will get You into Trouble..;0)
He was Probs watching His Q’s & P’s Yesterday..
Might Join You both around the 24th..
“It will End in Beers..”
Summa
TopCorner 06:49
Haha. The privelege was all mine.
I was surprised at Al Wasl’s performance they have been gash for weeks but raised their game for that one. Im concerned I half support a team who like rangers only raise their game when they play the league leaders….
Good luck with work today, that will be a long shift. Im considering a return to the CSC for the game/more pie….
EN
Murray Park youngsters a Brit too much for Europeans
Published on Sunday 15 April 2012 00:53 Scotsman
Rangers looked on with no little envy as the Celtic under-19s got a European education against their counterparts from Barcelona, Marseille and Manchester City in the inaugural NextGen Series tournament earlier this season.
That feeling of being left out is set only to increase after it emerged Rangers fear their application to join the youth competition themselves next season will be refused because there are already too many British clubs involved.
With former central defender John Kennedy taking charge, Celtic exited after finishing third in their qualifying group with a respectable three wins including defeating Manchester City home and away.
Celtic are one of five British teams already members, with Chelsea now confirmed as a sixth for next season. The competition will expand from 16 clubs to a possible 24, but the likes of PSG and Olympiacos have been approved ahead of Rangers.
Rangers Academy director Jimmy Sinclair, speaking ahead of his club’s under-17 Glasgow Cup final against Celtic tomorrow, admits force of numbers suggests they are unlikely to figure.
“We have applied to join,’ said Sinclair. ‘The issue that the organisers have is that there’s already Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Tottenham and Celtic.
“They maybe feel if they take on too many teams from the British Isles it skews the competition’s European context.
“We’ve certainly been strong in our requests to get involved. Initially the soundings were positive, but the last information was that the geographical spread wasn’t right. I would hope there’s still scope for us, but I don’t know. I want to get into the tournament because it was really successful last year and the word is that UEFA are going to embrace it.”
Sinclair is already under fire from critics who maintain that Murray Park, opened back in 2001, has proved a waste of money for Rangers, an assertion he shoots back as unfair comment.
“We feel like we are batting away these questions all the time,” he added. “We get the odd article that says Murray Park isn’t working and that becomes the perception.
“My own view is that this place was so far ahead of its time, the perception was ‘by God, if you can’t produce kids here then you shouldn’t be in the business’. I think the magnificence of the place is working against us. We’re lumbered with the view it should be a conveyor belt.”
n Rangers U17 v Celtic U17, Ibrox, tomorrow, 7pm.
Summa of Sammi
haha
EN was a fine gentleman yesterday
and we shared a tale or two about our Celtic travels
and of course he did mention that you are heading over this way
– if i get some free time, maybe i will head over
its 200km but as i say, if i can get away, i will be there
otherwise, yooz’ll jist have to have a ball by yersels !
will be awesome, no matter
and have a look at one o those Billy McNeill Pies – wooft – killie pies no got a look-in
haha
I’ve got a feeling…ooooh hooooooops
That today’s gonna be a good day.. Ooooooh hoooooops!
I think the main ‘angle’ in Speirs article is that the SPL needs Rangers. We are starting to make headway in showing that the Huns SHOULD be kicked out the SPL.
Who wants to partake in a ‘competition’ that has no ‘honesty’ or ‘integrity’?
A moot point perhaps, but now the focus should shift to what will actuaally happen financially if the Hun or Hun2 are made to play in SFL3.
The MSM are still saying it would be financially devastating. But we should be pushing forward the alternative view. Attendances at all other clubs would rise as they would have much more chance of gaining European football. They would actually have something to play for for most of the season. Also in the Cups a financially weaker Hun would give all the rest more chance of progressing, making money from attendances and broadcasting.
Personally I think we should support a more equitable distribution of SPL prize monies to make every league position gained more beneficial financially, creating more competition, a better product hopefully, and higher attendances.
It’s impossible to predict accurately what will happen to attendance figures in the SPL without the Hun, but we must make the point that lots of fixtures would be better attended than at present.
There is also the benefit financially of the Hun support attending SFL games, giving every team in the lower leagues a boost.
Lastly, there are many fans of every club saying they will no longer attend SPL matches if the Hun are parachuted back in. I’m a bit unsure how many would carry out such a threat, but undoubtedely attendances in the SPL will fall as supporters don’t see the point of putting there money into a blatantly currupt entertainment. And ‘entertainment’ it will be as it will no longer be ‘sport’.
The MSM are slowly voicing some of the concerns of the punters. They have little choice as the internet bampots are giving them a hammering. Let’s make our voice louder and demonstrate that the financial implications of the Hun in the SFL are not as great as made out. And if we want to watch football as a sport, then any financial loss will be a price worth paying for the whole of Scottish football.
No HunFC or HunFC2 in the SPL!
The Legnedary Billy McNeil Pie
Pie
First time Ive ever felt half cut after a pie.
kitalba
thanks for that article
terrific !
i watched u17s play around 6 weeks ago at Murray Park
Rangers won, i think (i forget), 2-1
Celtic were in the lead and doin quite well but then Rangers “got in about it”, fair n square, and the young Celts struggled to cope ! a real disappointment – one of those where Rangers as a club were in the gutter (at that time, player contracts getting amended etc etc) – it would have been the perfect time to give them a good roastin, 3, 4-0
so…i am not sure how it will go tomorrow night in the final at Ibrox – the young Celts will have to up their game drastically
rfc have good players in Stuart (?) CH, Fraser Aird MF, Darren Ramsay MF, LB Jordan (?) and CF big black guy
(sorry i forget their names)
esp Aird n Ramsay
got to get tore right into them
gonna be tough for the young Celts !
maybe win AET ! i hope
nice pie EN
haha
right
am off
have a great Divine Mercy Sunday everyone
get tore in !
:)
TC
Good Morning all
On another more serous point id like to request a Stewards enquiry into the running of this seasons Nap Comp, clearly I was at a distinct disadvantage as TTTT routinely napped the same horses as I
Given the inability of this individual to tip water out of a weans bath far less a winning horse this was evidently an attempt to ensure that my chances of competing on a level playing field were reduced.
I give notice that I fully intend to seek a robust investigation by those gentlemen of the scottish media.
TTTT youve been rumbled ya big charlatan.
Partisan
Firstly, I am really looking forward to today’s game against the diet Huns. I don’t often do predictions but I think we will win 3 or 4 goals to 1. I love pumping Hearts of MidHUNnery as much as I love pumping their UNCLE BILLY.
Secondly. On the SPL FAN SURVEY I stipulated that I won’t go back to watch an SPL game as it was the closest of the 4 options given that fitted how I feel on the shoe horsing of HUNnery back into the SPL. However, I predicate that opinion with my ultimate sanction on my enjoyment of watching Celtic will be determined by how I view how Celtic PLC act and deal with scenario that is being played out. Their current silence and apparent apathy if it does not falter will see me give up what is a massive part of my life to take up some other hobbir or other until such times as Dermott Desmond and Peter Lawell are not party to guiding Celtic Football Club.
I really do hope that below their blanket of silence there is a master plan and that they will, “eventually”, put their cards on the table and hammer any hope of HUNnery2 back into the SPL. If HUNnery2 do parachute back in I’ll be expecting a lot more from Celtic PLC than messily words.
MWD
Che
i could start tipping yours as well
thereby ensuring you`ll finish second in every race
Morning Celts that’s wee Riley walked, breakfast done, gear looked out, car retrieved, Celtic socks…. Pain killers…. Sweets, drinks…… Missed anything? probably ha!
See ye all at Hampden.
Ps Fae last night… Monty’s in Gorouck… Zat Naw a Hun pub …. MHam :>)
V
Gourock
Question, If the bhoys walk out the stadium in protest at the proposed save the Hun legiation, would you join them?
V