I loved the Newco statement from yesterday evening, it betrayed the reality that they’ve lost their nerve in the face of panic among fans and a complete lack of knowledge of what to do about History overtaking them.
They cited that the SPFL had a conference call on the subject of the Court of Session Oldco EBT ruling, but quickly got onto the subject that “our Club’s (sic.) history, including its many successes, is beyond debate”.
Those of us who supported another team during the EBT decade know well that history is beyond debate. We paid money to see those competitions and there will be no denying what happened.
At a stroke Newco took a debate, which was hitherto the exclusive domain of fan comment and the occasional journalist repeating the words of well-paid Newco and Ladbrokes SPFL PR team, that there was “no appetite” for title stripping, and made it a subject football people could legitimately be drawn on. In short, they made Rangers historical successes THE debate.
I’ve spoken to Celtic on various potential public statement matters over the years. They don’t always get it right, but they know when to shut their mouth and win support for their objectives, at the cost of taking flak for not making grandstanding public comments.
Tommo Blog.
While many paid to inform us were repeating paid PR as news, Channel 4’s Alex Thomson had no qualms calling-out the cheats in his blog yesterday: Rangers cheated at football: the fraudulent silverware must go. And that was just the blog title.
Oh Mr Black! The Rangers v HMRC First Tier Tribunal was held in private, with witness names given anonymity in the written report. Mr Black, the name of a key figure at Rangers, who signed and sold up to 400 footballers, and, I guess, took a senior role from late 1988 until 6 May 2011, provided damning evidence against the former football club at the Tribunal.
Thomson writes:
“Why did this powerful but busy character introduce a scheme of wholesale – and now proven to be unlawful – avoidance of NI and income tax?
Why – so the club could gain advantage on the pitch, of course: sporting advantage. By attracting and keeping players they otherwise could not afford. How do we know?
Because the powerful but talkative “Mr Black” was good enough to spill the beans to the Tax Tribunal: “Mr Black did not consider the Trust as a means of tax avoidance, but rather as a means of retaining and rewarding loyal employees. So far as Rangers was concerned it enabled the Club to attract players who would not otherwise have been obtainable.”
Sporting advantage.”
““Mr Black” didn’t see it as a tax wheeze at all, he said, but a football wheeze. Sadly for him if you’re now found to have been cheating the taxman you’re also cheating football – so now his unfortunate admission is a smoking gun
There is more: “As for Mr Black, he denied that the scheme was for tax avoidance in cross-examination, though he went on to describe the scheme as ‘a method of us acquiring, especially football wise, better players in a more cost effective manner than we would be able to do so’; that the club had been ‘very ambitious at that time’; and ‘it was seen as a correct and proper way for us to proceed’; that Rangers ‘have been very successful, because we’ve been able to attract players of a certain standard that, perhaps, we may not have been able to otherwise’.”
One more time: “especially football wise better players in a more cost effective manner”. Sporting. Advantage.”
“It is time Campbell Ogilvie explained his conduct – the man who played a part in the tax avoidance and personally benefited before going on to be SFA President.
It is time Sir David Murray – the conductor of this disastrous orchestration, by overseeing EBTs at Rangers – is similarly held to account for what he did and now, why Rangers did it for advantage on the field: cheating.
Above all, it is time the SPFL members came out from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and beyond to denounce cheating as cheating and take action as fans from Kelso to Thurso are begging them to do.
All the titles and silverware from all the years Rangers cheated at football, as they cheated at tax, must be null and void and wiped from the record.
Let nobody try and tell me it isn’t the same club – I have always said it is and now Rangers have to take the consequence of that reality right on the chin.
Turnbull Hutton RIP – how your godforsaken Scottish game needs you now.”
‘Mr Black’ really has dropped Sir David Murray in it. I hope he stays away from Charlotte Square. This situation reminds me of that scene from Blazing Saddles, where the sheriff turns his gun on himself. Alerts in advance for the use of racial pejoratives, appropriate for the environment, in this clip:
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Henrik
My taxi driver from the airport on Saturday told me about the big scandal to break was regarding match fixing by referees. It is contained in the EBT list. He said he was a Morton fan fae the Port who knew and worked wi the Easdales. Hope to God be wisnae pulli ma puddin. :)
Bart: I’m rapidly becoming a big underground success in this town.
Jim: See? In another twenty-five years, you’ll be able to shake their hands in broad daylight.
So.
Let`s strip titles from an ex-entity or ,if you prefer,a nonentity?
What a victory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“They used to be the huns ,but they`re all right now.
Sevco Sevco.”
There`s one for the G.B.
TSOAL
Jesus and Mary Chain and The Smiths on a loop midweek for studying.
The Pogues and U2 at the weekend for getting lashed. :)
Macjay Dismay
yes its true! Some Tims are just green huns
DD
Was at the U2 gig on Friday
Brilliant our very own Johan Murdoch sneeked in
Love
Hullboy.
@CelticResearch @CelticChuck67 @MrMacFunn @AupaCeltic @BBCSportsound I wonder whether UEFA know that CL bonuses were paid via EBTs.
Going by what I have read over the last few days I’m pretty impressed with Craig Whyte.
You’ve got to hand it to the consummate spiv this will make a blockbuster film…………….and he bagsied the rights.
Macjay,
I don’t know what the feeling is down under but in the west of Scotland ; yes we want the silverware stripped.
Absolutely no doubt on that. Whether enough of the other teams supporters feel the same remains to be seen.
HH to you.
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on 10th November 2015 10:15 pm
iii) The rules are clear that each match in which such an illegally paid player played should result in a 3:0 defeat being recorded against each Rangers match ( we may have to face up to similar sanctions being applied to matches where Juninho played for us)
*so in the 1-0 win for us on his debut against the zombies it should be 3-3
Big Nan
I don’t buy the argument either but it can’t be proved.
That key evidence was kept from LNS by RFC and CO can.
Sometimes we have to play smart. ;)
NegAnon2 @ 10:56 pm
“SFTB tonight I am not laughing.”
It’s alright! I can understand that.
You would not want to get type cast now, would you? :-)
TSOAL
My wee mate who is a U2 obsessive was there on Friday.
Said Bono was at his best and it was a trippy show.
He had drapped a tab mind! ;)))
Tontine Tim
“*so in the 1-0 win for us on his debut against the zombies it should be 3-3 ”
By my reckoning the score would read Celtic -3 vs Rangers -3, but with away goals doubled their score would go up to -6 and we would still win
Delaneys Dunky
The easdale’s have the contract to operate all the Renfrewshire council taxis that pick up walk-up hires from Glasgow airport so it is very possible that your taxi driver was telling the truth when he said he worked with/ knew the easdales.
Let’s hope there is also truth in what he said about certain referees being EBT beneficiaries and that this comes out soon.
22 in a row!
22 in a row!
Hullo
Hullo
Good to be back!
Greenpinata on 10th November 2015 11:21 pm
I don`t know how my fellow Tims downunder feel,but I I have not seen or heard one word in the local media in relation to this issue.
Nor would I expect to.
O.K. I can understand local bragging rights,but what difference is that going to make in the long run?
An addendum to the “Wee red book”?
The Glorious Balance Sheet.
I’m reading a book about St Pauli the German team from Hamburg.
As a protest their fans left the ground 20 min early and the TV cameras caught the picture of a team playing in front of a half empty stadium. I forget why they protested but the message was powerful.
To have the same power it would have to happen at every ground (bar one possibly) and the reasons made clear to national broadcaster and media.
Possibly easier to get support for than a boycott but it has to be SPFL wide.
So there I was at the u2 gig on Friday -big electronic screen bursts in to life and the guy next to me ( but one ) shouts
” look it’s the buggles!!!”
Soal
Luv :))
ERNIE LYNCH on 10TH NOVEMBER 2015 10:14 PM
stebhoy on 10th November 2015 10:11 pm
‘Alex Thomson is a great ally’
###
He’s adamant that they are the same club.
He’s no ally.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/tommo-fraudulent-silverware-must-go-blazing-saddles-comes-to-scottish-football/comment-page-9/#comment-2716571
Oh yes he is. Trust me
His stance on same club is that is how their fans see them. I can live with that when he is shovelling sand in their faces.
Auldheid
Please do not think in any way I am being flippant but watching some of the highlights of the SPl you would think a boycott was already in place.
I totally understand your sentiments, however, the abundance of empty seats at some games has been a regular theme on here.
HH to you.
DD,
Port taxi drivers drove martin dochertys taxis.
They never knowingly picked up McCann at the airport.
johann murdoch
xxxx
Good Evening Bhoys and Ghirls
They ( the dead team and the establishment) are in panic and self-protection mode. Why react now, let it play out. This was the same when oldco died. The rest of Scottish football needs to unite against the cheats.
The appeal period has got to expire first, then time to take action. That is when Celtic plc have to find their voice.
I would suggest, we are not the only club that will not accept the cheating and tainting of titles.
If not then game is a bogey!
HH
CRC
not only should we get back our trophies from the rangers/sfa ebt cheating years we should also get back our league title from the jim farry cheating year.
after jim farry died a rangers supporter called into sportsound to thank jim farry for helping rangers win 9 in a row. this got a big laugh at the bbc.
the scandal here isn’t that rangers cheated. rangers have always cheated. the scandal is that the sfa have let them cheat.
Auldheid
I think I’ve read that very same book – called Pirates, Punks and Politics by any chance?
While I think walking out at a certain point in the game as you suggest might be a highly visible way of getting a point across, I wonder if the clubs and authorities will do anything without the fans withholding money from them.
I think the prospect of unsold season tickets was what forced the clubs hands re Sevco not being parachuted further up the leagues in 2012.
Mind you this time around fans don’t have so much leverage as season tickets have already been paid for so maybe a boycott of the next round of Scottish cup games could be the way to go save a few token punters turning up to hold aloft banners representing notorious sporting cheats and the punishment they received eg Juventus, Ben Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Anderlecht etc.
I came off the Heathrow flight into Glasgow at 19.05 tonight.
A taxi driver was waiting with the wee sign
A. Handsomehun.
I bet he is still there
The malignant cancer has now congealed outside of the body in an abominable mass but we are still reluctant to whack it off because it may be illegal. :)
Saint Stivs
Sorry pal, I am only 4 miles from you. But that big river keeps us apart.
Huvnae a clue what you are on about? :))
DD.
Port taxis were originally owned by a guy called martin dochertys. Top Tim.
Maybe some of the resident legal eagles could comment on this stuff…just my ramblings as usual.
The Fatally Flawed Lord Nimmo Smith Report is not binding.
Every decision and procedure is subject to judicial review within the framework of Scots Administrative Law.
(Well that’s what it says on Wikipedia)
That review is under the Court of Session in Scotland apparently (now where have we heard of them recently)
Public and Private bodies are liable to this procedure so the SFA are within the scope of this.
On procedural grounds – why was Bryson allowed to present evidence that perversely only seemed to protect his own department?
On procedural grounds – why was Bryson allowed the key opinion that exonerated his department from accusations of mal-administration?
On procedural grounds, the documents requested were not supplied and the commission/SFA was materially misled.
I think that the Wednesbury unreasonableness applies just to English law case but it speaks
On the unreasonablemess of the decision.
Wednesbury definition of an unreasonable decision is where it was..
“So outrageous in its defiance of logic or accepted moral standards that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question to be decided could have arrived at it”
HH
SSN,really getting even more on my wick.Before the weekend Hun game,they had it on every hour.A military parade,and the rest of the guff.and tickets on sale at the game.Free ads.Tonight,the wonder scout,he that discovered Sterling,and Warbs telling us all that if he sees a player over a million pounds,its not outwith their budget,in January.
brand new concept for Scottish football
Saint Stivs
I travelled on the Leith CSC with Martin Docherty and Gerry Doyle both from the Port in 86 and 87 when we all worked in Leith. Great guys who loved to destroy huns and hearts fans. We were all fit boxers 30 years ago. Happy Days. :)
In amongst all of this – what is it like to be told you have ALS?
One man tells us…
A Tony’s Huddle piece.
http://wp.me/p6DYht-oL
No One Walks Alone
TURKEYBHOY on 11TH NOVEMBER 2015 12:08 AM
SSN,really getting even more on my wick.Before the weekend Hun game,they had it on every hour.A military parade,and the rest of the guff.and tickets on sale at the game.Free ads.Tonight,the wonder scout,he that discovered Sterling,and Warbs telling us all that if he sees a player over a million pounds,its not outwith their budget,in January.
———————————–
Trying too hard, ain’t they? Looks to me like they’re trying to convince themselves as much as anyone else that everything is OK…
DD ,
Maybe martin senior was a coal merchant, peer and close confidant of my father.
Your martin, the boxer , was a nephew, I think.
Bottom line,
We are all connected, and real hunskelpers are brilliant.
Saint Stivs
Sorry. It was Brian Docherty. A gentleman who could box like feck. We all used to drink in ex Rangers Jimmy Miller’s pub in Leith. The Rangers legend and gentleman treated us west coast Tims like Royalty. My favourite ex Ger beside my pal Colin McAdam RIP.