Yesterday evening STV revealed the real outcome of last week’s meeting between Stewart Regan, Neil Doncaster and David Longmuir as a proverbial gun was put to the head of Scottish Football League clubs.
In short, SPL chief executive, Neil Doncaster, no doubt with the support of some clubs but without the prior knowledge or support of Celtic, has threatened to kick 20 SFL clubs out of the senior game unless they acquiesce to his demand to parachute Sevco into the First Division.
The proposal was presented by SFL chief executive, David Longmuir, and appears to carry his endorsement.
Five scenarios are portrayed:
‘Rangers’ remaining in the SPL is dismissed as SPL clubs have confirmed they will vote no.
‘Rangers’ going to the third division is objected to on two grounds, financial (which is laboured a bit) and – wait for it – “The sporting opportunity is quashed for other clubs”.
Ponder that one for a moment, “The sporting opportunity is quashed for other clubs”.
‘Rangers’ to the First Division is presented as being “financially possible to recover from this scenario”.
‘Rangers’ to SPL2 is dismissed as apparently this would create “a bigger divide” than moving ‘Rangers’ to the First Division but not changing the name of the league. It is also noted that a legal challenge could bring paralysis.
Finally, they discuss ‘Rangers’ terminated or suspended, which apparently would lead to “complete financial meltdown”.
Then come the inducements to co-opt ‘Rangers’ into the First Division…. cash, your cash. Lots and lots of your cash, an “immediate cash benefit for all 30 clubs!” The exclamation mark is theirs!!
We could spend all day dissecting this disgraceful document but I’d like to focus on one immediate element:
‘Rangers’ terminated or suspended – complete financial meltdown.
So how do the SFA, SFL and the SPL rogues who participated in this shambles propose to ensure the SFA Independent Judicial Panel does not suspend ‘Rangers’ for subverting our game for over a decade for fielding illegally registered players for that period?
In short, it cannot. The independent judicial process will itself need to be subverted. As I suggested a few days ago, the judges will be told they are no longer wanted, we are back with the hand-selected SFA committee men.
The three most senior executives running our game have told you that one errant club is so powerful it cannot be subject to the rules and must not face the punishments which are due.
I’m not going to dispute the validity of this view (just now), but surely we deserve some honesty? If the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Premier League has accepted the ‘game’ is over, let’s hear from them. Where is the leadership from the SFA president on the collapse of the game under his watch? What are the chief executives saying to their paying customers?
Our sport cannot be subverted below radar.
You have been cheated and the rules will be changed to ensure there are no consequences. This is no longer a sport, it is a financial accommodation where a few executives are threatening to expel 20 clubs, most of whom have over a century history in the senior game, to allow Sevco to start two divisions higher than they otherwise would.
Celtic can have nothing to do with this.
The game here is dead. The leagues are set to collapse, most likely, no matter what happens now.
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For what it’s worth I’d like to give my not very good opinion on all this.
All I am is an ordinary Celtic fan like 99% of you good people on here.
Unlike a few on here I don’t do ‘drama’ unless there actually is a drama to do.
Well right now there isn’t actually a drama to do. The revulsion we all feel towards our games governing body is of course correct. But should we be really surprised to the depths they will sink? No.
All these proposals and scare tactics were always going to happen when
a club as big as them went tits up. Every major event in human history tells us this. Now I stood in the car park with the Celts for Change guys and listened to them say/do their stuff. But one statement always stood out for me among any other.. ‘Make no mistake here, we are on our own, we will get no help from anyone inside Scottish football or from the bank on this, we do it ourselves or we die’.
This is why the vast majority of us are truly angry. Sure, I can’t stand the huns and all that they stood for. Will I miss playing them? Yes,very few better feelings than when we beat them. Will I miss them? Not a chance. And it’s mainly to due to that statement that I mentioned. Because unlike us, they are getting every bit of help going, and that’s where the anger and, if i’m honest, bitterness is coming from.
In our everyday lives if we feel we are wronged when we know we are right, you have this to a lesser extent. Only 10x it now.
But here’s where the ‘it’s not a drama’ comes in. These are proposals, nothing more. Nothing has actually happened yet. My God, look at the state they’re in, look at the state the SFA is in. But we’ve had this for weeks, we KNEW stuff like this was going to happen. If you say you didn’t then you have no idea the power of a ‘handshake’ my friends.
If these things come to pass then we’ll show them drama on a biblical scale.
As for no statement from Celtic, as much as a few on here will never say good things about our board even if we signed Messi, the one thing is that they are not daft. History has taught us that even those closest to us can be behind every bit of underhand scheming without our knowledge.
But again, why get uptight due to them saying nothing? Don’t assume stuff, it only makes our stress levels go to defcon 5 levels. We never thought we’d see events like this, we never thought the ‘Empire’ would be destroyed by the rebels. Let them make all their mental proposals and for the MSM to lap it up, they exist to sell papers, nothing more. Don’t buy them, simples.
But above all, remember that we will always have the biggest hold over them since Giant Haystacks put a wee 12 stone guy in a full nelson.
There is nothing happening that we weren’t told was going to, or that we didn’t expect. We’re too long in the tooth not to have known this. But these are great times friends, don’t let the bastards drag you down. It’s great to watch this all happening to them, it’s great to know you support the Celtic.
Embrace both.
brimmer
I cancelled Sky/ESPN –
Philbhoy
Miki67
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ASonofDan
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Please add your name if you have done so too
“The leagues are set to collapse, most likely, no matter what happens now.”
Paul67, this is where we are heading, and if the SFA do not see it, they are bigger fools than I ever imagined.
I will say it again, I do not expect to see SPL football take place next season if these proposals are either pushed through or voted through. There are already good people working on the consequences of this scenario. That’s all I will say on the matter for now.
RIP and God Bless Olivia Downie.
Poor wee thing.
May God keep her safe.
Thoughts and prayers with her devastated family.
Just tragic.
wonkyradar on 29 June, 2012 at 12:02 said
>>>>
I saw dead people,too!
: > )
Paul – if Celtic were not consulted about this they should be absolutely furious – what are they doing about it?
RIP Olivia may you rest in peace.
Aw,God….have I put my big foot in my big gob?…..again.
I`ve never had Sky or ESPN and I rely on Radio Scotland and the comments on CQN to follow away games.
Can I warn you that Radio Scotland is often slanted against our Bhoys. :-)
There seems to be a lot going on that Celtic FC is not party to.
Why?
The game in this country is at its lowest point, nothing can make it any worse.
In most crisis situations removing the ‘leaders’ at this point would lead to armageddon.
We are lucky as removing the ‘leaders’ here will note make any difference at all.
Scottish football cannot get any lower.
Time for the three stoogies to go and let some real ‘leaders’ take control of our game.
Ogivie, Doncaster and Regan….Go Now.
ABSOLUTE SCANDAL, NOTHING SHORT. This will make Scotland more of a laughing stock if that is at all possible.
It’s probably been said already but just suppose it was us facing what hun is going through. How much help, how many “ludge” meeting would be taking place , how many rules would be changed/ignored to accommodate CELTIC.
Not too many I guess.
Surely Eufa/FiFa can prevent this from taking place, or do they have no control of Scottish affairs. If that’s the case what is the point of EUFA/FIFA in the first place.
I think we should get to hell out of Scotland now. No messing
Hail Hail
KINGLuBO
Brimmer @1301 Well said that man. HH
Do we still get the £4million CL bounty for playing in the qualifying stages or do we need to make the gruop stage?
As yesterdays C- essay disintegrates before our eyes it is becoming clearer for hose who hadnt realised it that messrs Regan Doncaster and Longmuir are not fit for the job they are handsomely paid to do.
As senior officials in respective organisations that are (in theory) custodians of the principle spirit integrity and well being of the game they have failed, they have failed on all counts. the document itself whomever the author was has been proven to be a blatant attempt at bullying, by threatening the very people they purport to serve, whether some like it or not the fact of the matter is rangers FC 1872 are dead, the 3 men above are in danger of taking the rest of scottish football with them, it is now suggested that rules are bent, stretched or just made up because one member club could not act either within the laws of the game or indeed the laws of the land, it is suggested that by applying fairness to the said club the game risks financial meltdown, can i suggest the opposite, in that by not applying fairness and being seen to apply fairness the game as we know it is finished. we either support sporting integrity or we dont, there are no half measures, there is no room for sentiment in all of this, the world of football is watching as our game is dragged into the abyss. if regan doncaster and longmuir are unable to fulfil their intended function as custodians then they must use what little (if any) modicum of decency left and leave their posts, if they cannot or will not and look to retain the current path then member clubs must act, there is a time for unity and strength in scottish football, that time is now.
Philbhoy – It’s just the beginning! on 29 June, 2012 at 13:11 said:
Do we still get the £4million CL bounty for playing in the qualifying stages or do we need to make the gruop stage?
====
sssshhhh, don’t mention that or someone will want 30% of it.
Feckem. I hope the leagues do die and Celtic join the setup down south.
Longmuir- him that was in the Bay City Rollers?
No wonder we’re goin’ to hell in a haycart.
player insurance? i wouldn’t risk exposing the other returnees to the tender mercy of an unfit, gormless nerk like Bawfoot. As for elbows…
how many turned up today? Rumour has it that the polis-escorted delivery from greggs went uneaten, whither the fat boy?
Die Hunnen sind caput! Ja, Ich weiss es!!!
Wonkyradar@12.02pm
I am in Granada,Spain and suffering the severe heat of high 30’s temperatures but enjoying watching and talking about Spanish football.
Thanks to a few posters I tuned in and watched that speech from the dock by Brown and looked closely at the assembled crowd including the wee lads on shoulders- obviously taken there to experience an historical moment.
To me it was like a scene from one of Peter Howson’s “boys ” collection. You know the ones where they mainly wear white baseball caps, look angry and vicious and have come straight from the Walk. I couldn’t get those images out of my head. They have descended ( perhaps ascended ) to a pack of braying incompetents, angry with the world, mystified and looking to stamp on perceived enemies.
Never in a million years will they look inwards and understand how it has come to be. I suspect the quiet middle class fans are slowly detaching themselves from this perceived lumpen proletariat and discovering the joys of rugby, squash or gardening.
Meanwhile Scottish officialdom does what they do best. They run in ever reducing circles trying to accommodate the peepul.
Hell mend them.
Adelante Celtic!!!
If Regan and Doncaster cannot be urged off this suicidal course then Celtic need to find a way to get out of this tin pot footballing set up post haste.
The greatest source of confusion lies in Doncaster’s insistence on supporting The Hun mark2 by threatening to restructure the whole of the game even though there are massive odds against them being able to form a Newco!!! Crazy doesn’t even begin to describe that decision.
There is so much dust I think we need to wait for it to settle…preferably on Doncaster’s heid…before the battle grounds are clearly set: I don’t think Doncaster will survive this.
But then Ogilvies still digging his heels in before the precipice…the tide is turning: THE FANS WILL WIN.
Olivia Downie has unfortunately lost her long battle with cancer
Rest In Peace Sweet Child
after my most recent rant about a game of football, I feel a deep sense of shame,
there are more important things.
Question: Why SHOULD Celtic act to save Scottish football?
We’ve sat and watched while Scottish Football ties itself in knots even Houdini would have trouble with as it attempts to save the Zombies.
Scottish Football is now dividing – the suits at the top played like gormless puppets by the Shameless Hand Of Ogilvie, and the member clubs waking up to the scam and voting with their supporters’ wishes.
Celtic only need act when the dust is juuuuust about settled and the Shameless Hand Of Ogilvie in its descending arc to rubber stamp the filthy fix; THEN is the time to grind our heel on those bottom-feeders.
Personally, I fancy we’ll start with some straightforward court action to prevent a Newco Zombies operating at all, tie them up for a few months, then turn our not inconsiderable venom on the gibbering straw men of the SFA.
Right now the wee dugs are still yap-yapping around the bowl; let them tire.
Sky sports cancelled. Espn cancelled 2 weeks ago
miki67 on 29 June, 2012 at 13:07 said:
You intended no offence there mate, unfortunate timing nothing more.
Don’t beat yourself up about it
When will the Huns talk end and the focus get back on defending our title and hopefully qualifying for Champs league?
Let’s get the chat back to transfer speculation et al. Even if they don’t we have champions to be support. Let them disappear into oblivion or not…whatever. This will rumble on for months/years yet anyway. Let it become the sideshow not the main attraction.
Hail Hail…And heres to 10 in a row (totally untainted).
I cancelled Sky/ESPN –
Philbhoy
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HH
Bishop B
SonsOfErin on 29 June, 2012 at 12:05 said:
ASonofDan @ 11.46 – Just on a point of order, Celtic and rangers objected to the Setanta deal and wished to stay with Sky, who had put a large competitive offer on the table. They were outvoted by the other clubs. Setanta subsequently collapsed and Sky returned with a much reduced offer, as is their natural right. The perceived value of Scottish football has been irrevocably reduced by the Setanta mess.
????????????????????????????????????
I THOUGHT CELTIC AND RANGERS COULDNT BE OUTVOTED?..IST THAT WHAT ALL THE VOTING FUSS ABOUT NEEDING A 11/1 MAJORITY IS ABOUT?
Queuing up at Ibrox for the next protest
http://hisvorpal.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/ku-klux-klan-0608-lg.jpg?w=450
If Doncaster had shown some leadership and integrity this mess in Scottish football could have been sorted. Instead of driving the investigation into dual contracts and the cheating of RFC he spent his time trying to save them. He went so far he has put Scottish football in a perilous state, even now threatening his SPL 2 if SFL clubs do not follow.
Doncaster will discover the small clubs are actually big clubs when it comes to sporting integrity. By the time he realises this he will have driven Scottish football further into the abyss.
There will be no redistribution of Celtics gate income ; Celtic will go the whole legal way and win , bankrupting the Scottish game in the process. SPL 2 does not stand up , there is no Market for it and no funding (from Celtic ) ; other SPL clubs will not fund it either when they are struggling financially in most cases.
This is where Regan is a disappointment; he has to oversee the good of the Scottish game and not pander to one man Doncaster who is only motivated by personal financial gain and the spl brand. He needs to waken up quickly and realise if they do not stop the destructive path they are on Scottish football will become a toxic brand for all sponsors.
Celtic also need to show some leadership. RFC is gone; there will be no Newco in the SPL. They are the big guy and in conflict situations someone must take leadership ( and bring others along). Celtic and the SPl gang of 10 should
– clearly state they will work on a roadmap to address all Scottish football issues
– redistribute tv income more fairly amongst spl clubs
– work on a plan to have the pyramid system
– agree with SFL clubs Sevco reentry division 3
– complete punishment of RFC ESP removing titles, cups ets
The SPL also need to replace Doncaster ; he is not fit for purpose because his gross mismanagement ; he has poured fuel on the fire with his corrupt and endeavours to bring the cheats back into the SPl and Division 1. Doncaster should be sacked with immediate effect and Rod Petrie or Eric Riley should take over on an interim basis.
As Murray and Whyte destroyed RFC , Doncaster is slowly killing our game. Imagine if the SPL had a true leader with integrity in position with credibility amongst the clubs and supporters alike. This would have been resolved by now and we would be looking forward to the new season. Even SKY would rather deal with a proper businessman.
Until Doncaster is out the slow death of Scottish football will continue.
I cancelled Sky/ESPN –
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I keep sayin’ it : I really hope we keep Big Vic W. He has the makings of a legendary Bhoy.
VicWanyamaForTheTreble CSC
I cancelled Sky/ESPN –
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Ooops !!
Paul 67
The amateurish nature of the STV document is embarassing (even a day later it is risible) and says a lot about the calibre of the individuals , Regan , Doncaster & Longmuir, and more importantly the general direction of travel they are envisaging.
If this document came across my desk I would, after a brief scan refuse to read it properly and send a curt email reply asking for a ‘proper’ document and attach an invoice for wasting my time.
Still feels to me, as though someone at Dignity has leaked this via Media House to STV to pressure the SFL teams to bend to Dignity’s will for SFL1 entry.
It will have the opposite affect and Dignity’s application will be rejected.
As for the removal / standing down of the independent judicial panels then that would require a 360′ degree about-turn and therefore require Regan to resign, and at this stage unless I hear a direct quote from Regan on the telly , then I simply do not believe this.
I suspect that we are better off with Regan in situe, however any slack afforded Doncaster previously should be removed and he will be a casualty of this. Longmuir is I believe a ‘blue-nose’ and he will soon find that the rest of the clubs will vote against Dignity and he will be a casualty when the leagues are merged next year.
Still have faith in the right thing happening (despite all the media-hype), we just need to let some of this media induced hype wash over us..
Optimisticcfc
ps SKY binned last year
Tony McKelvie @TonyMcKelvie
Read this: http://wingsland.podgamer.com/the-lead-parachute/