You have been presented with a narrative that we should collapse the Scottish Premier League this summer and have the SFA register a new, two-division, league system to resolve the problems inherent in having too many bodies running our game. This is complete nonsense.
Those pushing for a SPL 2 are, perhaps with good intentions, trying to pull a deal together to reduce the impact of the demise of Rangers FC buy allowing a phoenix the chance to gain entry into the league structure two levels higher than what they now face.
It’s a stupid proposal.
As things stand, there is no chance of a Newco getting access to the SPL next season. Despite Neil Doncaster heavily advocating the notion, the idea is simply undeliverable. Our club has been committed to opposing the proposition from the beginning, while many others now realise they have to observe the strong feelings of their own supporters on the matter.
Doncaster should have realised this was a campaign he could not win before he boxed himself into a corner over it. SPL 2 is an attempt to address the ‘No to Newco’ concerns while bringing the income some in the game hope Newco will deliver.
The unnamed SFA source who briefed the BBC on this topic last week made no reference whatsoever to Newco, their focus was all on the administrative challenges of having multiple bodies in charge of the game, but this was disingenuous. If there was a prospect of Newco getting into the SPL we would not be having this debate.
Tell us the truth, be honest, and these random, ill-considered, notions will perhaps be received in a better light.
The hope is that fans of the former club, Rangers, bring their cash along to watch Newco, which would play SPL 2 football next season and would be subject to whatever penalties the various independent bodies impose for years to come for the illegal actions of Rangers. This would allow Newco to claim the history of Rangers, would perhaps maintain the existing BSkyB TV deal and would meet the ‘No to Newco’ demands.
There are several huge obstacles to overcome. The SFA will soon instruct Lord Carloway’s Appellate Panel to consider a new punishment for ‘Rangers’ for misdeeds during the Craig Whyte era. I expect him to suspend the ‘club’ for 12 months. A new independent judicial panel will consider the case against ‘Rangers’ for subverting our game for over a decade through the illegal registration of players. If/when the First Tier Tribunal finds against Rangers a fresh wave of charges will be brought against any club claiming to hold that identity – as a guide, think of the punishments for the Craig Whyte era multiplied by 12.
These three independent judicial panels will destroy whatever is left of what we used to call ‘Rangers’ and there is nothing the football authorities can do about it.
Sevco, who own Ibrox and have applied for SPL access, already face an enormous challenge to meet trading costs for a year, even in the SPL, never mind a lower league (as Dave King correctly concluded). They are prime candidates for another insolvency event any time soon. Best of all, a Celtic fan has now bid for the assets (more on this later)!
Even if Newco overcame these enormous challenges, the SFA and SPL executives, having realised they cannot convince fans of 11 clubs to hold their noses and put up with a Newco-Rangers, will now try to convince former Rangers fans to cough up cash to support a Newco that will be rendered impotent by the most severe penalties in the history of our game.
I cannot see former Rangers fans accepting their role as cannon fodder for St Mirren, Motherwell and (cough) Kilmarnock in a league where the Mighty Celtic romp home by 30 points.
I don’t have an objection in principle to a two-league SPL but plan it properly, don’t allow knee-jerk reactions to dictate thinking. There’s no point in us getting paranoid about this, it’s not some attempt to help the remnants of ‘Rangers’, it’s just a stupid proposal from people who have yet to see the big picture.
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Say no more!
[Sean Fallon’s love affair with Celtic started when the son of the Celtic legend Jimmy McMenemy saved Fallon’s sister, Lilly, from drowning at Lough Gill. Fallon invited Joe McMenemy back to his house and the Scot returned the compliment by sending Sean presents of a Celtic shirt and Willy Maley’s book “The Story of the Celtic”. He realised his ambition when he made his league debut for Celtic, away to Clyde, in the last game of the 1949-50 season.
Within a year he had helped the team win the Scottish Cup, beating Motherwell, 1-0. Fallon said later: “As I walked off Hampden Park I felt I had got everything out of life I had ever wanted. I had become a member of the famous Celtic Football Club and holder of a Scottish Cup badge all in one year.”
Two years later Sean would also have a cup final goal to celebrate as he scored in the Scottish Cup Final as Celtic went on to defeat Aberdeen
The 1950s were a barren period for Celtic, with two major triumphs providing rare moments of joy for the long-suffering support.
The first was the Double of 1953-54. Fallon suffered a broken collarbone against Hearts in October which kept him out for most of the season. In the days before substitutes were allowed he left the pitch for twenty minutes only to return with his arm in a sling and continued playing. The captaincy of the side, which had passed to him in 1952, was taken over by Jock Stein.
Fallon was back to full fitness for another momentous occasion in Celtic’s history – the League Cup final victory in 1957, when Celtic beat Rangers 7-1 at Hampden Park. The match has since become known as Hampden in the sun.
Sean Fallon’s performances for Celtic earned him the nickname of “The Iron Man”.
Fallon was forced to retire in 1958 through injury but his influence and importance at the club continued. He became assistant to Jock Stein when Stein took up the post of manager in 1965. It was initially proposed by the Celtic chairman Bob Kelly that Fallon should be manager, and Stein his assistant. However Stein vetoed this suggestion and threatened to take an offered job in England, leading to Kelly offering him the full manager’s job.
He was an integral part of Celtic’s success under Jock Stein, when he was the manager’s right-hand man and his powers of persuasion were often called upon to secure the signatures of promising young players who would go on to become Celtic legends – David Hay, Danny McGrain, Kenny Dalglish and Packie Bonner among others. When Jock Stein survived a near-fatal car crash in 1975, Fallon took over as caretaker manager.
He once assessed his own talents as a player by saying – “I was just an ordinary player with a big heart and a fighting spirit to recommend me.”
Fallon is the only living member of both the Lisbon Lions (he was the assistant manager) and the team that beat Rangers 7-1.]
Rara
My point exactly, I believe we will not have to even vote. Game could be over very soon. No football at all Ipox me thinks.
Saltires
LOL
You are of course right. Fergus McCann’s time will come.
HH
SIALF
For any hun lurkers- no one likes you,we don’t care.
Good Morning,
The late Jock Stein was manager of Dunfermiline, Hibernian, Celtic, Leeds United and the Scottish National team. He had many famous sayings but two in particular resonate this morning.
“Without fans who pay at the turnstile, football is nothing. Sometimes we are inclined to forget that. The only chance of bringing them into stadiums is if they are entertained by what happens on the football field.”
and
“We don’t just want to win the European Cup. We want to do it playing good football, to make neutrals glad we won it, pleased to remember how we did it.”
Stein, was a working class football man, a decent man, a man who could see what football was made of, what it needed, what it meant and what it was— namely a game, a pasttime, an entertainment, and an escape from the daily toil, the job, the boss, the employee, the shop stewards and yes in days gone by even the wife!
Today, life in general is more sophisticated and, in certain respects, more complex than it was when Stein was either a player or a manager. Yet it is clear that in certain basic ways, life is actually as simple and as straightforward as it ever was.
The two quotes above show the man, who might just be the ultimate Scottish Football man, refer to the fans who pay at the turnstyle and to the neutral. The fan and the neutral can be one and the same man woman or child– with a passion for the game in general and one team in particular.
Some of the press articles this morning seem to be completely distant from both the wisdom of Stein, and what appears to be the overwhelming voice of the very fans and the neutrals that Stein talked about– in quotes that are often churned out by the same journalists. It is a shame that they recall these quotes so often yet appear to have never– ever— understood them.
Football is not there to be “rigged” by committees who announce in advance that THEY have decided that there can be a reshaping of leagues and organisations so that what once was Rangers FC can be transported into this league or that!
Have the MSM not realised what the club committees have realised that TV contracts and sponsorhips disappear like snow of a dyke if the fans at the turnstiles turn on their heels and never pass through the turnstiles? Do the SFA and SPL not get the fact that TV revenue, TV advertising and its worth are ultimately determined by straight forward market forces made up of those same fans and a good number of neutrals who will tune in at any given time if the game is attractive enough, but who have made it abundantly clear that rigging the rules, shifting the sand beneath the football fan’s feet, and generally departing from the rules of natural justice which everyone signed up to in the first place is sure to guarantee one thing and one thing only– and that is that the football fan and the neutral will walk away and turn off. The TV Company and the advertiser will notice eventually… and then they too will walk away because that in fact is their job. Turning off the football fan is like turning off the life support system. Football people– contrary to what others might say– do walk away when they see something that they are not comfortable with.
If anyone doubts what I say above then let me give you a more than pertinent example.
I know of one Ibrox employee who walked away from the regime at Ibrox many years ago now. The man concerned, like Stein, was and is a good man, a football man. He knew about the EBT scheme at Ibrox– and says that everyone did— with no exceptions. He had a great job at the club, was well paid, enjoyed the football part of the job, and on the face of it he was in the dream job in many respects.
Yet, he quit and walked away from all of that purely because his own personal and moral compass told him that what was happening within the walls and up the marble staircase was wrong. It was, if not absolutely corrupt, sufficiently dodgy for him to be uncomfortable with the whole set up. He didn’t sleep comfortably in his bed and apparently was just not happy within his own skin. He could not control the big picture at Ibrox, or change the fiscal policies at the club as he was only an employee.
What he could control was himself, and so the decision was made to turn on his heel and walk away—- to another job right enough with less money, fewer perks, no EBT’s, no dodgy dealings—- but with better self respect, peace of mind and many a better night’s sleep.
They say that boxing is a noble art, and you often hear retired boxers heap praise on guys that they once battered and/or feared in the ring. There is often a nobility about a retired boxer. Similarly, in many cases footballers turn out to be ordinary blokes who sample the pain of losing, the joy of winning, but ultimately the sheer fantastic experience of just playing at the highest level that they can achieve. They will play in great games and not so great games– all of which provide them with memories, stories, tales jokes and laughs. So it is with the fan who can only dream of being good enough to play in front of the crowd.
And it is in those dreams that the real soul of the football fan lies. All football fans have dreams. The Dunfermiline fan might have a different dream to the Hearts fan or the Celtic fan. The Celtic fan may have a different dream to the Thistle fan or the Barcelona fan, who both in turn have different dreams to the Malaga fan or the Morton fan. However when dreams are removed altogether by committee decision, by blazer posturing, by self interested quango expediency, then the fan ceases to remain a fan, a season ticket holder a customer, a newspaper buyer and a consumer.
This morning it is as clear as day that fans of all hues and with many differing dreams are of the one opinion– we are being mucked about and we don’t like it. They don’t want dictated to by football politicians or men in committee rooms, they want a game, a fair game, with rules that everyone adheres to, plays by, and are imposed where necessary for good or bad. If that is not available, then you don’t have a sport, an entertainment, a pastime and a game to follow.
As Stein says you have– nothing— without the fans. Take his word for it, not mine!
AS for the posturing that is going on at Ibrox and around it, then I have to say that I see virtually no one who is interested in the game or indeed the fans. I don’t mean that they are not interested in what was Rangers FC or the fans of Rangers FC– all the parties mentioned in the press in connection with the club are seemingly interested in the “Rangers fans”. The Truth is that they are actually interested in their money and their won self interests. They are not interested in The Neutrals or the fans who pay at the turnstiles of any other club, whose views are not to be considered or taken on board if it prejudices their interests and their financial ambitions.
Everything about the situation at Ibrox is unclear. There is no clarity and transparency about anything, yet it is seriously suggested and propogated by the press that the whole of Scottish Football will dance and bend and contort to the tune of unknown people, with unclear ambitions, with unseen finances, undisclosed histories and unchecked arrogance. A league of any sort is an association of different parties who come together for a common purpose. It ceases to be a league when one of those parties starts to bully or blackmail or threaten. It ceases to be a league when one member can breach its rules and flaunt its regulations without fear of punishment and the pre agreed consequences.
I do not know if anyone can rescue the club that once was Rangers now. There are many who have walked away during the Murray era and who will never return in all likliehood. I am told that one of the consortium of McColl/Smith and Park have no intention of investing in Rangers in any shape or form long term. They would help with an initial purchase of the assets from Green but beyond that they want their money back and out. I do not see long term investors there. I do not see long term investors anywhere. I do not see what is going to attract the genuine football fan with no alternative agenda and I do not see anything to attract the neutral. I do not see what once was Rangers escaping the transgressions of the past and I can’t see how any football fan ( whether neutral or no ) can expect them to. I see Mess— complete, total and utter bloody mess. And what you do with mess is wipe it up!
Lastly, there has been some chat earlier (on RTC) about John Clark, the Lisbon Lion who played for Celtic and Morton, and who later managed Clyde, Cowdenbeath and Stranraer. I do not know the man well, but have met him on a couple of occasions under different circumstances over a number of years. I will leave it to others to talk about his footballing exploits, and will only say that Mr Clark is just a lovely lovely man. A real nugget of a human being and that football and life in general would be much the richer and a far nicer and fairer place if there were more John Clark’s in this world.
However, there are not. There is but one John Clark and a really nice guy he is too.
Snake Plissken
Beetroot face?
You’ll have to narrow it down for me.
M’well board will be asking fans to decide on the vote. However, they will also be sending letters out to them spelling out the financial implications of no newco in the SPL. Sounds suspiciously like a bit of “yes” vote pressure to me.
The Battered Bunnet
Only if they were advised in writing that they were transferring and that their conditions of employment remained the same.
This has not happened so all employees are free to walk…
Two businessmen have reportedly ended their interest in buying Rangers for £11m.
Allan Stewart and Stephen McKenna had been mulling over an offer to Charles Green but have since stepped back.
The Glasgow property moguls told the Herald that buying Rangers would cost them three times their original offer.
Mr McKenna told the newspaper: “The money is there. We have proof of funds. But there is a bigger hole in the ground than we expected. I don’t see the point if we really only have one-third of the money that we need.”
Mr Stewart added: “Looking at all the facts, even with the money we were going to offer, it wasn’t going to scratch the surface with what was needed to fix the club. We’ve maybe been a bit naive in thinking that we had enough.
“We have been speaking to our legal people and they’re talking about millions and millions more. It would be too stressful to try and turn it around. We had great intentions, but we wish the club the very best.”
He admitted: “Maybe we were just enthusiastic, thinking we could do something good here. It needs a lot better than us to do it.”
Mr McKenna told STV on Thursday that the pair were not launching an “immediate” bid for the club and declined to comment on whether any offer for the assets of the newco was worth £11m. Their firm Aleftav Ltd was to be used by the businessmen in their dealings with Rangers.
It was revealed in a tabloid newspaper that Mr McKenna had once played for Celtic after donating £15,000 in a charity auction in honour of former player Phil O’Donnell in 2008.
Mr Green, former chief executive at Sheffield United, bought the troubled Ibrox side from owner Craig Whyte for £5.5m.
His campaign to have his newco admitted to the Scottish Premier League suffered a double setback on Thursday night.
Heart of Midlothian and Dundee United both confirmed they would vote against allowing the new Rangers to join the league.
starryhope on 22 June, 2012 at 09:59 said:
Agreed – makes perfect sense. There was a bit of speculation in the press to day about bids for RIL players. With the combination of money and stupidity in the EPL I did wonder if some clubs would steal a march to ensure a Davis or Naismith was captured for 1 or 2 m. Unlikely I agree but wondered where the fees would end up.
Thanks
HH
TLK
I most say in my 51years on( Planet fitba) I have never been more proud of football clubs outwith the Hoops (who will speak when the time is right) I can pictre DD & Pl sitting saying HOLD HOLD HOLD.
I honestly never thought I would see the day that Morals Integrity and downright Fair play would win over cheating deadclub fc and its media friendly ilk.
So take a bow all the fans who have stood up and been counted .
We are nearly there Bhoys & Ghirls STRANGE DAYS INDEED.
HAIL HAIL
HH..
Sean Fallon.. Celtic through his veins .. The epitome of all that is good about Celtic, their traditions and values on and off the pitch..
A man who when Jock had his near fatal car crash stepped up to the plate ..
Sean Fallon LEGEND..
Superb recognition..
Optimistic Little Soldier. I totally agree. Celtic making a statement ahead of the vote would sound a bit arrogant and aloof I think. This decision, whether we like it or not, is a very difficult one for Directors of clubs with very little money. It’s why I think the CSA should have kept its powder dry as well.
snigger snigger…..they’re worrying about the Ramsdens Cuo now !
RFC-Callum
Buckie Bear Join Date: 26-04-2008
Posts: 187
Ramsdens Cup
——————————————————————————–
If we go to 3rd div, will we be playing in this cup?
1st game is on 28th July and draw already been made.
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on 22 June, 2012 at 10:20 said:
Another belter
nice shout to John Clark…imagine how much influence he has had on our teams over the years
along with Sean, a genuine legend
HH
M
The Battered Bunnet on 22 June, 2012 at 10:16 said:
Thanks for the clarification.
So RIL would never receive any transfer fees in the unlikely event a bid is made prior to the player becoming a free agent.
The Violence of Silence that continues to permeate this story as regards what is really happening at whichever “Rangers” it is in MSMs interests to protect at the time means confusion reigns. Has the sale been completed? One of the papers this am stated the players had not yet fallen back onto their full paid contracts. Have any players declined to be transferred over? When do they become free agents – at a technical liquidation point or at the point they say No to transferring over. Does oldco pay them in the meantime – I assume yes. How long do they have to make a decision and does oldco have enough money to cover this period?
I don’t expect you to answer all these by the way – I am just indicating that the MSM are once again failing all football fans (even RIL fans, who don’t want to be told the truth) by not investigating this – they expect Fraser Wishart to provide them the answers.
HH
TLK
HH
TLK
I prefer that Celtic keep their dignified silence on this.
If it can save just one Celtic fan from beaten up (or worse), I much prefer the current stance.
Gardez La Foi
If St. Mirren are letting their supporters decide and they abide by that it will be a NO. UNLESS THEY ONLY ASK CHIC YOUNG AND LECCY BILL.
U CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK. (THE NORTHBANK THAT IS)
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire:
Well mate, although you said not to bother going back, I’m sure you knew I would and I am disappointed with myself to tell you that you were right.
I did not credit the author of that article; Remiss of me and I will graciously accept a suspension but believe an expulsion would be a step too far.. The post is here…kitalba on 16 June, 2012 at 16:12 .
It was a copy and paste from here…
U.S.-Cuba Relations
In isolation it does not mean much but should be read in conjunction with the rest of the blog of the day.
ASonOfDan on 22 June, 2012 at 10:07 said:
If Celtic make a statement then all the huns venom will transfer to Celtic
==========
Oh no does that mean they would hate us and we wouldn’t be best friends anymore!
Time for the Celtic Board to make a statement. Supposition regarding their voting intention, ambiguous statements about doing things in the best interests of Celtic, or, in my opnion worse, let every other team take the lead and doing nothing don’t cut it now. Time to unequivocally state that the Celtic board will say No to a Newco.
“Just say no, Just say no, Just say no to a Newco”
It seems we were wrong about the other clubs and they are putting fairness, integrity and the principles of sporting competition above finances. With the parlous state some of the clubs are in we should not underestimate the leap these chairmen are taking.
They are voting for sport and fairness and I for one hope this ushers in a new era within our game. I hope our board sits down with “the gang of 10” and talks through what has made them feel disempowered. I think we should try and bring in a new era where we work together for the betterment of the game. If that means making concessions by increasing TV distribution I would be happy with that. We were found on charity. The TV money is a pittance, and a small percentage of our income. Spreading it more evenly will help strengthen the other teams, giving us greater competition, which can only be a good thing. We are in this together, we need to all sit down and make this clear.
Yesterday was the longest day of the year. A day where the Sun barely sets, however when I went to bed last night I had the distinct feeling that I was basking in the warmth of brand new dawn.
Long may the feeling continue.
@Jagstwit: Here’s a wee analogy for you to digest while you have your morning cuppa and bacon roll: http://t.co/2zjYbaIR via @wearethistle’s forum
ASonOfDan on 22 June, 2012 at 10:07 said:
Im with you on this one.
No matter what Celtic FC say on this it will be twisted out of all context, leave the orcs to die,
CNAT @CelticNewsAtTen
@alextomo Did Green really ask the Rangers Fighting Fund to hand over £600k to pay the players next week? I’ll leave you with that one….
C’mon Chucky, you’re loaded right, you wouldn’t have run your mouth so much if you didn’t have the bucks to back up your rumpus, C’mon Chucky tell us you’ve got the wedge right!! Wrong!!
So whos all the clubs voting no?
A Son of Dan
Sevco has been in dialogue with the players’ Representative for weeks. It is highly likely that sufficient notice was given by Sevco to the players via their Union rep, Mr Wishart.
One assumes Mr Wishart has done his job properly…
Flying visit…
Hearin Fraser close to completing his signing. Probably announced after the holidays
If this, if that, if the next thing.
A sad journo still can’t quite accept the inevitable
Common ground finally on Hampden horizon?
Michael Grant
Chief football writer.
IMAGINE a firing squad where the riflemen are all worried about being hurt by their own rebounding bullets.
There is an element of that about how Scottish football is working out how to deal with Rangers. The Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League have a history of rubbing each other up the wrong way but – with the Scottish Football Association acting as marriage-brokers – they are being coaxed into becoming unlikely bedfellows.
The motivation is obvious: the authorities are trying to find a mechanism for punishing Rangers while limiting the damage suffered by anyone else. No deals have been done and no agreements reached yet, although talks among all three governing bodies and member clubs are occurring daily. From those discussions, a picture is emerging of an outcome which could be acceptable to the greatest number of clubs and, crucially, their supporters. In essence it would mean newco Rangers not being allowed into the SPL when clubs vote on their application on July 4, but the other 11 clubs rejecting them on the understanding that the Scottish League would accept them into the first, rather than the third, division.
By showing that they had voted “no to newco”, clubs could puncture the threat of boycotts from those among their own supporters who are hyper-sensitive about any perceived leniency towards Rangers. A benefit would be the probable retention of the Sky television deal. The broadcaster would tolerate a year without Rangers and Old Firm games but not the three-season absence which would entail from them starting again in the bottom division. Other commercial partners may be inclined to take a similar view. SPL clubs would have only one year without the commercial benefits of Rangers’ travelling support.
Crucially, too, Rangers’ absence would allow the others to remove the requirement for an 11-1 majority on votes on financial matters. Only Celtic would benefit from maintaining the status quo, but without Rangers they would lose the vote. The Scottish League is in a stronger position than at any time since the larger clubs split from it to form the SPL 14 years ago. In return for accepting Rangers into the first division, the Scottish League would seek an immediate return of play-offs to open up a second promotion spot from the first division to the SPL. New agreements would also be sought on distribution of broadcasting income.
The SFL will almost certainly ask for a one-off payment to “compensate” its clubs for accepting Rangers in their top division rather than at the bottom. That money would be distributed among all 30 clubs, including those in the third division who have been contemplating the possible arrival of Rangers and thousands of their fans next season.
David Longmuir, the SFL chief executive, sent a circular to all 30 of his clubs yesterday, effectively asking them to be ready to be called to a meeting at short notice to discuss the Rangers scenario. “We will be doing nothing without their involvement because that comes first,” Longmuir told Herald Sport. “Their involvement could be needed at fairly short notice, but we have it in our rules that we can call a meeting quite quickly. We have to do the right thing for the game here as well as protecting the interests of the SPL. All we’re looking to do is see if there is a solution that the SFL can accommodate. If so it will be done in the best interests of the SFL and the game.”
Rangers being denied entry to the SPL would create a vacancy to be filled next season by either Dunfermline Athletic, newly relegated, or Dundee, who finished runners-up in last season’s first division.
Redrawing Scottish football to allow a newco Rangers into the first rather than third division could be done via a deal between the SPL and SFL but there is a mood to go further and merge those bodies entirely. The SFA have been pushing for unification of the leagues for a couple of years but a merger now – perhaps called the Scottish Professional Football League – is seen as more realistic than at any time since it was proposed in Henry McLeish’s Independent Review of the Scottish game. With compromise and concessions, common ground can be found.
The obstacles are significant, and all underpinned by the self-interest which has undermined the Scottish game for years. What if the SPL believes it is being held to ransom by the SFL and will not cough up the asking price for placing Rangers in the first division? What if the SFL cannot be convinced that if it takes Rangers now the SPL will keep its word and deliver the agreed structural changes six months or a year down the line?
The SFA’s Appellant Tribunal could yet suspend Rangers entirely. But what if the SFA urged the club to accept the 12-month transfer embargo it has already successfully contested at the Court of Session? If that was re-imposed to take effect from September 1, Rangers would be banned from signing anyone for two full transfer windows but, crucially could prepare for that by making additions to its squad this summer.
Rangers may think it unfair that the newco is being punished for the sins of the oldco, and that exclusion from the SPL amounts to a punishment for not disclosing Employee Benefit Trusts payments before the investigation into that has returned a guilty verdict. But Rangers’ are weak and entirely dependent on others to shape their future. They cannot play in the SPL if the clubs aren’t prepared to vote them in and, if they’re going to end up in the Scottish League, they are better off having only one year rather than three in the comparative wilderness.
A year ago it would have been utterly unthinkable that Rangers may be forced out of the SPL and into the lower leagues; now there will be hardliners at other clubs claiming there should be no special treatment and they should be dealt with the same as any other newco, starting again at the very bottom. It will be up to their chairmen to sell the idea to them as a way of hurting Rangers without having to foot the bill for it.
The governing bodies want to redraw Scottish football so that there is a greater good to be salvaged from the club’s implosion: tangible punishment for Rangers, limited financial pain for others while they’re out of the SPL, and structural changes for the good of the game. It is a proposal motivated by neither leniency nor bloodlust towards Rangers, but pragmatism.
Henriks Sombrero – That is funny… Imagine the opportunity they have now to win so many new trophies, if they can raise a team in time…
Thanks for sharing the Sean Fallon & Jimmy McMenemy story, I had forgotten that.
90 years old, amazing, what a life he has had.
Aw Diddums….
stewart mcewan @bearger
See if/when we are voted out the spl I will remember this in 20 years time as to how bitter and twisted Scottish football was in 2012. RTID
Dexter Blackstock – any good? We’re being linked with him.
The Battered Bunnet on 22 June, 2012 at 10:55 said:
A Son of Dan
Sevco has been in dialogue with the players’ Representative for weeks. It is highly likely that sufficient notice was given by Sevco to the players via their Union rep, Mr Wishart.
One assumes Mr Wishart has done his job properly…
…………………..
It would have to be written notification to every individual employee and players are coming out with quotes saying they have had no communications with Green or McCoist whatsoever.
We have nothing to gain by making a statement, it would only be utilised by a complicit media to tarnish us and paint us as narrow minded and short sighted.
Let the others kill them off.
Kayal33:
There is one thing (among many) that Michael Grant seems to have forgotten… there is no more Glasgow Rangers playing in Scotland.
leftclicktic -Im with you mate,shocked and surprised at the strength of feeling from other clubs’fans.
starry plough on 22 June, 2012 at 11:00 said:
And no sense of irony at all. As we’ve come to expect from them.
Good article worth a read.
http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-sport/how-rangers-killed-scottish-football-in-the-80s-and-have-to-be-relegated/