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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Been lurking a long time, but some great comments on the whole EBT cheating scandal – makes me want to laugh and cry! The RIFC response is laughable – talk about panic and denial. But I could cry at the years spent wondering why we couldn’t compete, together with flak that various managers and players undoubtedly took for ‘apparently’ falling short. There is no doubt, the players would never have signed for them, had they offered what they could truly afford – this is cheating, financial doping or whatever you want to call it – no mercy! HH
This bloke Johnjames doesn’t stop, he answered a comment on one of his blogs earlier, that he is not a Celtic supporter. Anyways…his latest…
Respond to this post by replying above this line
New post on johnjamessite
The Fatally Flawed LNS Report
by sitonfence
Some, whose opinions I respect, have questioned the wisdom of my position on Lord Nimmo Smith’s report, I believe that it is unsound and not tenable. I am fully aware that it is one of the two fig leafs that we cling to as others attempt to strip us bare. The prospect of a BDO appeal to the Supreme Court is built on sand. Whether we like it or not, three venerable Law Lords have had the final word on the use of Employment Benefit Trusts. Their conclusions are binding.The report produced by the LNS commission was not legally binding.
In many ways the LNS report was a boon to Rangers. A fine, with no points deduction, was an inordinately favorable result. Despite this a succession of Rangers boards have refused to pay the £250,000 fine and costs. The £250,000 fig leaf was too rich for the blood of the underfunded King administration. Should the SPFL decide to engage in a process of further consideration, the tariff of penalties may well be exacerbated by the findings of the distinguished Law Lords
My desire for a new report was to expose King, Murray and the SFA (who approved both) to further scrutiny. The chances of this are slim unless a majority of the SPFL board demand it. Mr Topping and Mr Doncaster will do their utmost to keep a lid on resentment. The view of the fans of Scottish Football will not be solicited. The fans held their respective boards over a barrel to oppose the latest iteration of Rangers being granted an SPL share. The season cards have been paid for. The fans can inveigh to their heart’s content, but they cannot compel action at this point in time.
In another article I outlined a scenario where a new report could be commissioned by the SPFL and subsequently vetoed by the SFA. A report set up to fail. Some on Twitter argued that this was a cynical view. However if you look at the roles of some of the key contributors to the LNS report, you will find a rationale for cynicism.
The underlying premise of the LNS report was that any recommendations would be accepted and applied by the SPL. with a right of appeal to the SFA. The report would be independent of both governing bodies, and that the SPL and SFA would be at ‘arms’ length’ from each other.
Sandy Bryson chose to drive a horse and coaches through these established precepts. Mr Bryson, as the head of registration at the SFA, should not have been presenting any documentary evidence to an SPL commission. Any appeal in regard to registration irregularities would have led directly to his office at the SFA. Mr Bryson chose to be a very ineffective poacher and a redundant gamekeeper. He ensured that there would be no rabbits in Lord Nimmo Smith’s snares.
Prior to proceeding, it would be instructive to look at Mr Bryson’s official SFA remit. As the head of the registrations department he would be the ultimate authority in the review of a club’s annual returns to the SFA, which should contain all contractual details between club and players.
He would have been mindful of the rules and regulations of the SFA, including:
Rule D1.13: A Club must, as a condition of Registration and for a Player to be eligible to Play in Official Matches, deliver the executed originals of all Contracts of Service and amendments and/or extensions to Contracts of Service and all other agreements providing for payment, other than for reimbursement of expenses actually incurred, between that Club and Player, to the Secretary, within fourteen days of such Contract of Service or other agreement being entered into, amended and/or, as the case may be, extended.
I cannot overemphasize the significance of this rule, and that has been proven conclusively in court, Rangers flagrant disregard for this rule. This rule is not optional. It is compulsory. Should any club disregard this rule, the ultimate sanction is having their SFA licence withdrawn.
Mr Bryson was also responsible for the issue of UEFA licences which behoves him to diligently review all contracts and agreements and to conduct an annual audit of the contracts of all players, managers and directors prior to the issue of a licence.
However Mr Bryson was somewhat compromised when former Chief Executive, Martin Bain, sued RFC plc for £900,000 damages in 2011. It was revealed to the court that Mr Bain had ordered the shredding of his own contract and other documents for fear of leaving himself exposed to the rule of law. This would be the same contract that Mr Bryson should have reviewed at the SFA prior to granting a UEFA licence.
Despite all of these inspections and compliance tests, Mr Bryson’s department claimed to be oblivious to the subterfuge at Rangers. Some might suggest that there was a singular lack of governance in Mr Bryson’s department and that he went out of his way to conceal his department’s incompetence apropos to the LNS report. It has also been suggested that the audits and tests were not rigorously applied to Rangers and that corners were cut, and details glossed over, to accommodate the Establishment club.
Lord Nimmo Smith’s report castigated the Rangers board. He concluded that year after year the secretary of the club, Campbell Ogilvie. chose not to disclose the contracts and accompanying documents, which were addenda to the contracts, to the SFA. Heidi Poon was equally scornful of the RFC executives in her withering judgement of some 80 pages in the First Tier Tribunal.
The conclusions of two eminent judges did not preclude the appointment of two individuals who were complicit in the disclosure transgressions. As non-executive directors in RFC plc, Mr King and Mr Murray had a duty to comply with Rule D1.13. The SFA set aside its own rules to pass them both as ‘fit and proper.’
The most surprising omission in the LNS report was that all former directors of the club were not punished for their actions, which were deemed to be tantamount to match-fixing. The SFA threw the book at Craig Whyte. He was an easy target. They obligingly overlooked the involvement of Campbell Ogilvie, Andrew Dickson and David Murray. The SFA did not reproach Martin Bain for shredding his incriminating contract.
Mr Bryson advised LNS that the players in receipt of EBT were ‘registered imperfectly’ but ‘eligible.’ to play. Please revert to rule D1.13. I would contend that Mr Bryson’s interpretation of the rule was a self-serving perversion of said rule. I posit that even if they were imperfectly registered, they were not eligible as key parts of their contract had not been disclosed and the clause clearly states that to be registered and eligible those contracts must be disclosed.
The side letters, which former directors denied all knowledge of, were not disclosed.
There was a a deliberate and sustained breach of the rules which resulted in a £47m pecuniary advantage over a ten year period. Despite this Lord Nimmo Smith arrived at the surprising conclusion that there was no competitive advantage
It would appear that the registration interpretations of Mr Bryson is at odds with the arguments presented by UEFA apropos FC Sion.The SFA unequivocally state that clubs and players will be bound by all rules and regulations of the SFA, UEFA, FIFA and by the findings of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Mr Bryson’s unique interpretation of rule D1.13 is the Achilles heel of the LNS report. The UEFA precedent would suggest that the LNS report is fatally flawed.
In the final analysis, LNS stated that RFC plc executives were able to breach the rules to protect their own tax efficiency interests and that the checks and balances within Scottish Football Governance were ill-equipped to uncover their subterfuge and to stop them. Two separate licensing functions and a supposed compliance audit each and every year were not fit for purpose.
Reassessing fixtures, stripping titles and other considerations are far less significant than ensuring that those who were involved in creating this tax scam and those who were involved in covering it up, bargaining it away, or who simply failed to take the correct action for the sake of expediency, are removed from football for good.
sitonfence | November 10, 2015 at 8:29 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p6L11Q-6b
Comment See all comments
MacJay
I may well be wrong here, but in order to shape the future, you need to cleanse the past imo.
HH
Listening to the smsm in full swing on the question of stripping titles brings to mind the Mark Twain quote:- “a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth even has its shoes on”
Doesn’t matter how many air miles the smsm lies cover, the game is up for Rangers (in liquidation) and their apologists. They lied, cheated and swindled the public purse and everyone knows it. Fail to strip the miscreants of the titles tainted by their cheating and you’d be as well putting WWE impresario Vince McMahon in charge of Scottish football.
One character though seems to be curiously avoiding any flak. None other than professional Alfred Hitchcock stunt double and former Rangers (in liquidation) chairman John McLelland, who I believe is a sometime advisor to the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland on matters relating to vocational education.
I don’t think someone who presided over tax avoidance like McLelland should be drawing a salary or commission from the public sector.
Haven’tread up on anything today – ahhhhh,so looking forward to it.
Sipsini
It’s quite refreshing that there are huns out there who have half a brain, and can see what is and has gone down.
More power to them I say, and sadly it will prob be cos of the likes of him that justice will happen, if it ever does, tho I still won’t be holding my breath on that score.
HH
Talking of Lord Nimmo Smith, have a look at the latest feature on CQN…
The following is my comment on the latest John James blog about the misdirected LNS Commission.
I urge you to read his blog at
https://johnjamessite.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/the-fatally-flawed-lns-report/
and whilst I have a question on Bryson’s licensing role it’s a pretty good report on why LNS Commission must be replaced by a full investigation that also covers the 2011 UEFA licence Res12 aims to have investigated.
Comment
Did Bryson grant the Licence or was that not the Licencing Committee that Andrew Dickson sat on? Three out of four in 2011 when the wee tax bill arrived.
Apart from that this is a pretty good summing up of the setting up and I mean setting up of LNS and Bryson key role that at a stroke removed any deterrent to breaching registration rules.
In time it will be admitted RFC lied to UEFA in their submission under Article 66 about not having an overdue payable to 30 June and failed to report the arrival of the tax demand and accompanying letter of 20 May to SFA.
They in turn neglected to ask any questions using their powers to do so and still, in spite of aknowledging in Aug 2014 they did not get a copy of the tax demand in May 2011, have done nothing to investigate.
That same letter by the way should also have gone to Harper MacLeod in 2012 acting for the SPL. It was a part of the set up for its existence would have made it impossible for LNS to treat all ebts as legal when he did.
It’s high time the truth came out and those responsible are named and if still in office removed.
Mike In Toronto
Your comparison between the board at CP and Herr Schrodinger’s theory earlier today set the ‘ole memory going.
As a young up and coming theoretical scientist studying quantum physics, I was taken back to a time when it was drummed into me that the cat experiment was flawed as the quantities of radioactive hydrocyanic acid had to be multiplied by 9 in order to attain inconclusive proof that the cat would really die.
Ole Schrodinger, although a great physicist, used to sleep during his maths class as a result of partaking in a couple of large glasses of schnapps.
His calculations proved to be the undoing of a very noble and worthwhile experiment.
The cat, who’s name was Paddy, eventually moved to West Lothian, where it saved a village from disaster in 2015.
Schrodingers cat
HH mate….See you up at the club.
Sipsini
Good that saves using the link I provided.
I’m not sure thee guy has all the roles right but he definitely names those who set LNS up. See my previous.
On the media they are irrelevant. The SPFL were set up by CO and SFA and have more than enough too justify a full independent investigation of LNS set up and RFC cheating to keep their UEFA licence.
Anything less kills Celtic.
It’s show time.
The argument by ex died club players about ‘I would have signed anyway’ is confined to Scottish players by the MSM
Billy Dodds didnt matter a f*** to winning games overall
We know that most foreign guys made a difference
Celtic spent mega during MON era and we went into debt
Fair play that we STILL PAID OUR DUES but realistic we couldnt sustain it as it would have …..
So they have got everything they deserve coming to them
There will be minimum sanctions against them for cheating . The game in Scotland is already in the gutter and can’t be taken down any farther . Besides what can the Blazers do without incriminating themselves . Everyone and his granny knows the helping hand , the rule bending , the secret meetings . The blind eye being turned , from within the corridors of power at hampden and all to keep them afloat . Look at all that has gone on over the past 4 years , turkeys don’t vote for Christmas . If Sevco get done , so do many at HQ . Like you all I saw our game being run for one club and one club only , I saw the writing on the wall for the rest , I realised that if they getaway with all that has gone on , then there will be no stopping them . I did mention that since all this has taken place , I have stopped going to see the celts, over 56 years of travelling all over Scotland and Europe finished because we were competing against a stacked hand , we would be allowed to win when they wanted , how can that be , I hear you say . Hark back to the cup semi final for the answer . cheating at its most brazen . I decided that I could not support a sport that was so obviously rigged . That there were tens of thousands of working class fans . Paying heavy for season tickets , adding extra to the cost introducing our young to the sport . To be derided by people who were put in place to enhance the game of football in Scotland . I sit most nights recalling the great times ,the big cup win , down at Leeds educating what we were told were the best team to ever come out of England , although we got beat , I’ll never forget the square in Milan for our second go at being the best in Europe ,the celtic fans were in great voice that day . Or up on the roof of the stand at Motherwell the day we won our first title in many a year . Getting pulled from the crush at tynecastle on a Wednesday night cup replay . I thought nothing would ever see me turn my back on following the greatest club in the world . But I want nothing to do with a game run by rogues for rogues . When they arrive back ,fans of every team they play will feel the same disgust as I have felt especially at worse over the past 4 years .
HH
The truth is already out there for all to see. It’s just that the Scottish football authorities and the SMSM are deliberately ignoring it and hoping it will go away.
The question for me is how to force them to acknowledge what the rest of us know?
Hopefully the GB are working on a display re EBT’s for the next home game a week on Saturday. It would be great to get a banner up and get the whole stadium roaring behind it.
The stripping of titles from the Huns will not benefit Celtics future in anyway whatsoever.However I do imagine that there are already a few chapters been penned in anticipation,of how the authors/authors played their part in it ,and more than a few gullible disciples more than willing to go out and buy the eagerly awaited end product.
Dr Heidi Poon is an anagram of “Deid Nooh RIP”.
I see there are a few Celtic people at the BBC and that they are afraid to rock the boat. Why don’t they alert their southern colleagues to what is happening in this part of the country? My worry is that the whole BBC is compromised on the subject of EBTs as there seem to be plenty of clubs and players in England who might be losing out too. Maybe the whole lot simply want it to go away.
From the John James article:
…In another article I outlined a scenario where a new report could be commissioned by the SPFL and subsequently vetoed by the SFA. A report set up to fail…
I do not that no the report would fail. It is my understanding that it would be the SPL that would make the decision on whether or not to remove titles. Any appeal would be submitted to them not the SFA. However, the SFA would deal with anything to do with the Scottish Cups.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Good Evening my wonderful Celtic Family..
I cant stop feeling this is our Bannockburn, Ghuys.. This is it!
This is where we stand united against everything rotten and corrupt.. face to face, armed to the teeth.. on one side, every dirty lie, crooked official and anti Celtic journalist and media broadcaster there is.. and on the other side, its Us. Armed with fact, evidence and proof, and the moral and ethical argument to support what every honest sporting organisation in the world is fighting to achieve.
Don’t be fooled, this is not gonna be easy, we need the support of every single fair minded sports person we can gather.
Lose this, and its lights out.
KTF my friends, HH.
I don’t buy the argument that LNS was duped by having insufficient info placed before him and having to accept Bryson’s bullshit. Or that HMRC used the wrong arguments though the latter is a possibility if Roddy Dunlop? had an eye on a future career move.
LNS could have wiped the floor with MIM’s SFA & feeble HMRC if he chose to and delivered a just decision which demonstrated cheating and sporting advantage.
He chose not to.
IMHO of course.
Anyone got a link to BRTH’s latest?
jimtim on 10th November 2015 9:24 pm –
Great read, straight from the heart – I tend to agree.
Jimtim
Great post, i remember up on the tin roof at Motherwell and
dancing about like eejits and the plates bending under our
weight, crazy stuff back then.
H.H Mick
THE EXILED TIM on 10TH NOVEMBER 2015 9:08 PM
MacJay
I may well be wrong here, but in order to shape the future, you need to cleanse the past imo.
HH
====================================================
No,mate.You have a valid viewpoint.
My longstanding suspicion of the Scottish media tells me that they are controlling the debate with the intention of favouring Rangers by concentrating on symbolism.
Record books ? I get it.But at the end of the day,the big hoose stays open.
For Bizness.
As it always has.
And maybe always will.
Beggar them ,I say.
ANDYR53 on 10TH NOVEMBER 2015 9:34 PM
Yes.
The support of other clubs and their supporters would be useful.
Perhaps crucial.
The Definition of Irony
Big Nan –
http://www.sfm.scot/whose-assets-are-they-anyway/comment-page-18/#comment-21942
This is how BBC Sportround describes its podcast:
“Strong words from Darren O’Dea on Rangers titles, plus we have Paul Lambert, Stuart McCall and Graham Spiers in the studio with Kenny and Richard Wilson. ”
So, so blatant. Disagree with the Party line and you are uttering ` strong words`.
I said earlier that maybe we should save some energy until the time for any appeal has run out. In the meantime, perhaps those of a like mind should email JPS ( Celtic Supporters Liaison) and ask him to inform Celtic that if this matter is not dealt with fairly, then purchase of a Season ticket is not going to happen. Maybe Celtic do not need any spur but no harm done in letting them know.
JJ
MacJay
Sadly I agree with you, it’s all about the money, the gravy train has been good to the blazers for over 100 years, and the brotherhood ain’t gonna let it go without an almighty fight.
But we would be derelict in our duty to our forefathers if we don’t at least try and bring them down, we have what they never had, we have the proof that they have cheated and corrupted the game.
HH
TTR
Why rely on the Green Brigade? Maybe we should all make our own banners and display them round the whole stadium at the Killie match next Saturday. I have a message in mind for my wee banner.
Let the GB do it
Brilliant
My dear Celtic friends.
And so we come to the true watershed.
The clues of institutional racism surround you. The mental and physical twists our infamous msm put on these lates criminal revelations are Kelley the posturing of a racist country.
Or perhaps a naughty schoolboy who is caught but still clings to creasing lay sill denials of the truth.
But it is a watershed.
Despite the increasingly laughable claims by Paul that Celtic will, ahem, work behind the scenes all evidence and public uttering a from Celtic are to the contrary. They aren’t just saying nothing. They are actively providing cover for the cheating.
This my friends is being done in your name. Whether you like it or not you are party to it. Res 12 should now explode in the faces of th SFA. Why aren’t Celtic now enboldened and on the front foot. All it takes is for Celtic now to act and the house of cards falls.
Silence is really defeating though isn’t it.
And so I predict it will come to pass. Celtic alongside the msm and all other Scottish institutions will bury this deep. They will collectively countenance no dissent or argument.
In doing so Celtic will effectively commit suicide. There is no going back. No normal. No pretence. And so it shall pass that the Huns demise will destroy Celtic. And why? Because those who run Celtic care more about money than morals, that you and I are dispensable in this. That Scottish football and Scottish society will reestablish it’s racisism without question.
Sadly I feel it has all been inevitable from the very start.
As Celtic rush out statements to attack its own support so it remains silent on this corruption.
These are hard truths to bear. They signal the end of a great movement and a great love for all of us. Unless we sieze the day and man the pitchforks (which I have long since accepted won’t happen) then the thing that unites us here, that has caused us much angst and heartache and love and joy and despair dies.
In the mind of racist Scotland d the zombies will live on. But Celtic will now become a pale pale shadow of a once loved dream.
All these years. Now over a decade, I have posted on this site. Isn’t it ironic that what should have been our finest moment is actually our worst.
RIP Celtic. – betrayed and destroyed by corruption and greed.
Watched an interview on CBC (Canadian version of Beeb) last night and the interviewer was tearing a new one in Lord Coe. i.e. “what did you do, well emmm we are investigating it now, no what did you do then in your capacity of as chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, emmm well we are looking at it now”.
FFS he was right intae him knight of the realm and former tory MP or no. Nae effin aboot there.
So how come Lord Oil Drum Lane isnae getting the same treatment in the bestest/bigoted wee country in the world
THE EXILED TIM on 10TH NOVEMBER 2015 9:45 PM
I`ll go along with that.
Will never forget the outrage felt by my old uncle who is in large part responsible for my Celtic addiction ,when he would tell us about the attempts by G.G. (George Graham) to have the Irish flag removed from Celtic Park on pain of expulsion from the league.
I actually had to laugh out loud there. Wow!
There have been some suggestions as to what we can do to let our feelings known. Has anyone considered the idea of dropping stink bombs?
Goodnight all. Don`t burn yourselves out .This fight will go on for some time yet.
JJ
There will be trouble ahead……
Night night & Hail Hail
DD
Was just saying it would be a good idea. I’m not relying on them. Don’t you think it would be a good focal point, something positive for the GB and it would be interesting to see if and how the SMSM report it.
I’ve sent my own email to Celtic and whilst I’m not keen on boycotting if that’s what it takes to expose the cheating and corruption I’ll support the idea.