Urgency behind SFL plan
Dictionaries across the English speaking world will need to be updated for the term ‘loose cannon’, currently- noun, a person whose reckless behaviour endangers the efforts or welfare of others. In future they should be appended, ‘Charles Green’.
For months Charles has been busy telling anyone who would listen to him that his The Rangers club will never appear in the Scottish Premier League. Now, he has told the world the Scottish Football League are set to propose reconstruction which would see the end of the SPL and create one fewer step between his new club and top flight football. He told TalkSport, “I understand that the Football League [presumably he means the SFL]on Wednesday are having a meeting of clubs and it’s the intention of the executive to unveil what they think would be a restructuring plan for Scottish football.”
Green is one of the few from the SFL who have had anything to do with the plan, few were aware of it until his announcement yesterday. I hear the other architects of the plan inside the SFL are chief executive, David Longmuir and Airdrie United director, Jim Ballantye. My source also told me SFA president, Campbell Ogilvie was “in on the ground floor with the SFL plans”. They will all, surely, be frustrated that Green was out there with the news before the league were.
As STV today reported, the SFA have set a deadline of 30 November for the leagues to agree a reconstruction plan, “threatening they would instead push through with their own plans to bring about change by the 2013/14 season if an agreement could not be reached”. That’s next summer!
Timing here is everything, and is urgent.
The SPL Commission will soon convene into Improper Registration of Players at Rangers…
the predecessor club of The Rangers…
whose SFA membership The Rangers benefited from in order to compete in league football with less than three years accounts…
and who consequently are liable for penalties served on Rangers.
If found guilty, and no one is holding to the pretence otherwise anymore, the consequences for The Rangers are enormous. Forget about the inevitable stripping of titles, this is of historical consequence only, prize money [of circa £15m]will also be reclaimed and a punishment levied.
As I have said before, the toxicity of the old club is simply not viable to continue with. Newco Rangers either have to start from scratch, or the structures of Scottish football need to brought down with any penalties due wiped from the slates.
The Rangers share prospectus, now overdue, will have to detail these risks to the company unless an alternative narrative can be agreed and presented.
The chances of the SPL giving this Longmuir, Ballantyne and Ogilvie plan serious consideration are remote. It is a nonsense, will be rejected by the SPL and may even face opposition from those clubs within the Scottish Football League who stand to benefit from the change, but will find the motivations behind it unsupportable.
Scottish football is enjoying a well-earned renewal this season, no thanks to the game’s administrators, but the serious allegation, that many leagues and cups were won for over a decade by a club which was paying players against the tax laws of the country and against SFA, SPL and Fifa regulations, has yet to be resolved.
Until we know the truth, hear the consequences, know that those responsible are no longer in control of the game and have been banned for life from future involvement, there can be no talk of expedient change.
STV’s revelation that the SFA have imposed a 30 November deadline is the greatest illustration yet why “heavily conflicted” Campbell Ogilvie should have been on garden leave months ago. All those who carried out the duties which led to this shambles, and who have legal responsibility for it, should receive the life ban from the game that was promptly applied to Craig Whyte.
A swift rebuttal of this nonsense with a clearing of the decks is required. There can be no discussions on these matters while inquiries are on-going and those responsible for recent events are still running the game.
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