I wonder if we will see two rival Scottish Premier Leagues next season? We could see a SPL consistent with the threats made to SFL clubs last week, let’s call it SPL Loyal, with Hibs, KIlmarnock and a few others. They would sit atop a feeder league containing whoever they could attract from the SFL and Sevco, who due to fan power would be excluded from the top division, no matter how few teams that division had.
Meanwhile a rival SPL could setup, let’s call it SPL Solvent, with Celtic, those from the Gang of 10 who realise they are better-off participating in a league which is likely to survive until next May, along with the teams who last season finished near the top Scottish Football league.
SPL Solvent would make no threats to exclude SFL clubs who were due promotion on merit, and would therefore attract the balance of SFL clubs; which is likely to be the overwhelming majority. This league would contain the only club with the ability to underwrite the commitments needed to bring broadcasters and commercial partners on-board. It would also be free of, moral and ethical questions, where clubs are united with their fans on what it means to organise sporting events.
It’s not the worst idea floated in recent weeks.
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WWC
Noticed your post from earlier re your thesis ….good job
Kant …. Takes me back to studying jurisprudence which I’ve calculated was 24 years ago …it feels like yesterday :-(
When are the MSM going to get it into their impenetrably thick skulls that saying “no” to Sevco (whatever) is not a punishment being applied to RFC (ia) ?
Sevco (whatever) is not simply a new name for RFC (ia), it is an entirely new company.
All that is being stated here is that Sevco (whatever) must be subject to the same rules as any other club when applying for membership of SFA, SPL or SFL.
Those who say “no” are actually saying “yes” to fair play and integrity.
With regards to the punishment being applied to RFC (ia) for their breaking of just about every rule in the book, tax evasion, twin contracts etc…, we would all like to know just when any punishment is going to be applied. So far, they suffered a 10 point automatic deduction for entering Administration – note this is nothing whatsoever to do with all the rule breaking, tax evasion, twin contracts etc….
So MSM, instead of all this misinformation that you keep printing, how about just running one heading:
WHEN ARE RFC (ia) GOING TO RECEIVE ANY PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR ACTIONS?
Morning all.
Bright and dry but cool on the moray firth.
There was talk over the weekend of interesting times for mr Ogilvie and his cabal come Monday was there not?
Just off nightshift and golfing at 3 so time for some shut eye and hopefully something may be revealed by the time I wake up again.
HH
SIALF
The Sun. By JOHN SHIELDS
BORDEAUX chief Jean-Louis Triaud has given Celtic the green light to sign France defender Michael Ciani for a bargain £1million.
Ciani, 28, was linked with a £10m switch to Arsenal just 18 months ago — but Neil Lennon has been told he can land Ciani in a cut-price deal.
French sources insist Ciani — capped once in 2010 — has had talks with the Hoops. Triaud said: “Would Celtic want to sign Ciani? Why not? It’s a big club and he’s a very good player so it’s a good match.
“While we wouldn’t let Ciani go for nothing, we are realistic with what he is worth.
“Football is no longer a world full of rich clubs. The money has gone and all clubs are struggling so we can’t demand what we used to be able to ask for a play of his quality.”
Ciani is similar in style to ex-Rangers ace Jean-Alain Boumsong.
Triaud added: “Michael is made for football in England or Scotland. He is definitely an Anglo-Saxon-style defender.”
Morning,all.
Amazing how inoccuous little e-mails can come back to bite ye on the bahookie.
This one,in an article in The Telegraph,is from an honest trader at Barclays,clearly miffed at being told to illegally manipulate the LIBOR rate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
One trader emailed his boss at the time to say: “Following on from my conversation with you I will reluctantly, gradually and artificially get my Libors in line with the rest of the contributors as requested. I disagree with this approach as you are well aware. I will be contributing rates which are nowhere near the clearing rates for unsecured cash and therefore will not be posting honest prices.”
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Now,I’m no expert,but I think the manager in question should be getting his collar felt.
Full article here….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9369042/Bank-of-England-dragged-into-rate-rigging-row.html
kit,
cheers for the show of defiance
mornin mornin n god bless
hail hail
Good morning friends from a damp and grey East Kilbride.
And from the Sun,things that the Japanese might find strange about Scotland.
Warning-it disnae scratch the surface,IMO!
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Don’t eat the weird sausages
By CLAIRE McKIM
Published: Today at 00:02
JAPANESE visitors to Scotland have been warned not to eat Lorne sausage — because it’s too “weird”.
A new guidebook from the Far East also tells tourists to avoid men wearing Old Firm football tops — and urges them NEVER to call a kilt a “skirt”.
But, despite snubbing our famed square sausage delicacy, the writers sing the praises of Irn-Bru and Mackie’s honeycomb ice cream.
And Japan’s first official guide to Scotland tells thirsty travellers to try a pub crawl and get “merrily drunk” on whisky — with tips supplied on buying rounds in the local boozer.
Advice from Japan … Lorne sausages wrong, Irn-Bru right
Co-author Akiko Elliot said: “I believe more Japanese will find the nature and culture of Scotland interesting and fascinating.
“Until now most visitors from Japan only wanted to see famous historic sites and play golf — but younger people are interested in the country too.”
However, the book slates the service in our shops and restaurants — and warns visitors against visiting council estates or calling any Scot “English”.
The writers are also baffled by why so few Scots carry umbrellas, despite the dreich weather.
Last night VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay, who wrote a foreword to the book, said: “This guide offers another chance for deepening our friendship and helping Japanese people to understand our unique culture.”
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/feeds/smartphone/scotland/4405025/Dont-eat-the-weird-sausages.html#ixzz1zRQBqgNB
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Square sausage weird!
Blinkin’ philistines.
This from the nation which inflicted raw fish and cold rice on the world.
And Godzilla……….
Hamilton
That’s quite a ‘personal post’ to share. It has given me food for thought. A perspective I hadnt really considered previously…but will now.
canamalar
You are just a misunderstood bhoy.
One of my biggest gripes on here is people baiting other poster and when that poster bites back in anger, the victim card gets thrown down with as much drama as the individual concerned is able to muster in an attempt to garner as much sympathy from the collective as is possible. It has been going on for a long time, but I actually believe the blog is beginning to see beyond the amateur theatrics and appreciate who the real agitators are.
Baiting and multi-posting in support of baiting, not very nice; well if they can’t handle the responses without bleeding and flouncing, what can you do. If you ignore them you will be damned.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
And Nakamura.
Morning
From a wet and miserable Auld Reekie.
July starts as June ends.
But I’m still smiling with all the sunshine that comes from being a Celtic supporter.
Hail! Hail!
Pass and move….Give and Go…Tippy, Tapas.
Iniesta, Xavi, Silva, Alba (Surely some Scottish connection there), Pedro, Mata, Cesc…Guid things come in sma buik
KITALBA
I didnae say they were totally useless!
Personally I just get my we book out, right the name down of the person who annoyed/annoys me and angrily put a stroke through their name as if I’m killing them (that was in a film and it was funny as hell but can I remember the film? No. It might have been Joe Pesci)
Like this.
Canamalar
MWD
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
:-)
or like the even
Canamalar
MWD
CanamalarKITALBA
Just a tad peeved that they could diss wur squerr!
As a fellow-exile,I’m confident you’ll agree it is one of the things we miss the most.
kit,
afore I go to bed,
agreed, but I must admit, I do bring a lot of it on myself :o), I dont take prisoners, and I have dished out nasty stuff to people I misunderstood, sometimes I re read and cringe :o), but to be honest not for a while. I think some bide their time :o)
But as mammy says, if I’m going to fly wi the craws I’ll get shot wi the craws, being a growed up aggitator I know the pitfalls and do my best not to greet too much,.
Unless I fall and skin my knee, cause the whole world is coming to an end, when that happens :oD))))
Whats is good is, you and me had a spat no long ago and here we are, thats what I think is good. IMO people who nurse grudges are unhealthy, groups like that are simply poison.
hail hail
bawbaws fo real
MWD
More stuff like that,and we might have to alter your moniker to WMD…..
PFAyr:
Thanks for your kind words.
It was very much off topic and self indulgent of me to mention it but I was feeling a real sense of relief!
The masters is in healthcare law and ethics so we’ve dabbled in the joys of Justice Mumby et al as well…
Looking forward to wasting more of my spsre time on matters Celtic!
CANAMALAR 0726
“IMO people who nurse grudges are unhealthy, groups like that are simply poison”
With you on that one-you should never hold grudges.
Lightly…….
BMC-WP
Reading back on last nights entertainment I at least know now why
Canamalarhas his own sound proof booth installed in the Smiddy. :-))MWD
MWD
Is that the one with the soft surfaces?
From RTC
Never A Penalty!
02/07/2012 26 Comments
i 17 Votes
The Scotsman today is carrying a remarkable interview with former Rangers and Scotland coach Walter Smith. It is worth noting in a couple of respects.
This is the first interview (of which I am aware) that Walter Smith has given since withdrawing his short-lived bid to purchase Rangers. Since that time, Alex Thompson of Channel 4 News has been trying to get Smith to answer a few simple questions:
– Did you receive payment from any of the EBTs Rangers / Murray Group established to make tax-free payments to employees?
– If so, when did you receive these payments?
– If you received such payments, were they significantly after your employment with the club ended?
– If you received payments long after your employment ended, for what purpose were they made?
Of course, I have no way of knowing if the journalist, Alex Gordon, has ever heard of Alex Thompson or follows my twitter feed. Scottish journalist doing research? After recent reports that 83 Rangers employees had received tax-free payments through the EBT, it would be a fairly obvious line of questioning. That another former manager, Graeme Souness, received a series of payments through the EBT scheme ten years after he resigned also raises some awkward questions. If Mr. Smith did not receive any payments, or if such payments are easily explained, I am sure that he would have welcomed the opportunity to clear any misunderstandings. Oh well. back to you Mr. Thompson.
Walter Smith’s interview can be seen as part of the PR deluge of terrifying stories about the great disaster that will befall Scottish football if Sevco 5088 Ltd is not allowed to enter a team in the Scottish Football League system with instant promotion to the first rather than the third division. This past weekend has seen many such articles and we should get used to more shrieking hysterics as we approach some kind of decision point. (Such is the bureaucratic incompetence within the organisations that run Scottish football, no one is exactly sure when a final vote might take place).
Mr. Smith might be a genius at constructing anti-futbol defences (I do admire his pragmatic approach to coaching), but he is either being disingenuous in this article or is struggling to grasp the administrative details. Smith is reported as saying: “Ten years ago Motherwell went in to administration. Four years ago Gretna went defunct. So, surely the SFA should have put sanctions in place then? That’s why I am saying they have been negligent. Now we’ve got a free-for-all around Rangers and everyone is having a kick at them”
This is a great example of the type of factually incorrect statements that the Scottish media is fond of regurgitating. As the old cliche says- an untruth repeated often enough is eventually accepted as fact. So let us refresh Mr. Smith’s memory.
The SPL introduced the 10-point penalty for going into administration during a season, or being in administration at the start of season, for the beginning of the 2004/05 campaign. Motherwell (and Dundee) were already in administration when the new rule came into effect. Both clubs were able to conclude CVAs fast enough to avoid the 10-point penalties and to continue the life of the existing legal entities. The same rules that were introduced then have been applied to Rangers. The SFA are a bumbling shambles, but let us assail them for their actual mistakes. It is not the SFA or SPL’s fault that HMRC want to pursue investigations of what happened at Ibrox in the last 11 years and would not agree to a CVA.
The case of Gretna is actually similar to what happened to Rangers FC. Gretna owed its creditors (including HMRC) more than it could pay and the club went into administration in 2008. Unable to fund a CVA that was acceptable, Gretna FC was liquidated. That was the end of the Gretna story. Supporters formed a new club, Gretna 2008 FC and were admitted to the East of Scotland Football League. (Those of us who would accept a Sevco 5088 Ltd team entering the third division are actually still offering this club a huge advantage over every other newly formed team). If only Gretna had Duff & Phelps on the case to promote fictions such as the one that says that a liquidated company lives on so long as its assets are sold as a job-lot rather than individually.
Mr. Smith appears to be deliberately trying to confuse us and drum up sympathy for the new club. The only punishment that has been administered in the Rangers saga was to the old Rangers FC for experiencing an insolvency event. The rule that applied this penalty has been on the SPL books for eight years! (The SFA does not need to have a separate punishment).
As yet, there have been no penalties applied for the oldco Rangers FC pocketing the millions of pounds that were deducted from players’ wages to be paid in tax while other clubs paid their dues.
As yet, there have been no penalties applied for oldco Rangers paying the majority of their players through a mechanism that is, at best, in violation of SFA and SPL rules. I expect that when the First Tier Tribunal (Tax) returns with its findings in Rangers’ appeal of the Big Tax Case, that use of an illegal tax strategy will be added to the list of offences. If found to be using the EBT scheme illegally, it will prove that Rangers obtained the benefit of paying its players with money it did not have. How can Smith complain about penalties that have not been levied yet?
We all know this stuff already, as I am sure, Mr. Smith does too. There is a studied ignorance that has become fashionable in certain circles of late. They pretend to not understand the facts. In this case, Smith is trying to drum up support for the notion that people have been “kicking Rangers while they are down” and “haven’t we been punished enough”?
Let us be fully aware of the truth: The Rangers Football Club plc has not yet been punished AT ALL for its actions of the last eleven years.
There is a simple way for Sevco 5088 Ltd to avoid all talk of sanctions and punishment. Apply for entry to the Scottish Football League third division without claiming that a transfer of the oldco’s SPL membership has taken place. By not forming any ties to the old club, Sevco 5088 Ltd can avoid any historical liabilities. My guess is that all concerned- the SFA, the SPL, and the clubs would breathe a sigh of relief and would be delighted to draw a line under this disaster. However, time is not on their side. If Sevco 5088 Ltd is to field a team of any description next season, an acceptable solution must be found quickly.
So is today the day when ole Alex Thomson presses the Nuclear button or will it be another ole stick of TNT (interesting but likely to give targets a chance to manoeuvre out the road)
MWD
50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s Celtic Classics
MWD,
make up yer mind ffs :oD))))
oh before I go, one last thing
when I was a wee bhoy and the rag man still had a horse n cart and blew his trumpet we had a silly we song, chirpy chirpy cheep cheep
we sang,
wheres yer rangers gone
wheres yer rangers gone
down the lavy pan
down the lavy pan
far far away
emdae else
sleep now no replies please :o)
MWD
To be honest,I think his spat last night with HAMILTONTIM was mainly down to semantics,and a level of stubbornness,perhaps,on being clear what was meant.
As it was obviously a personal issue with HAMILTONTIM,he was right to disagree with CANAMALAR’s post,but had it NOT been so,I doubt if anyone would have raised an eyebrow.
Still,they have moved on from it,and so will I,as I really don’t want to incur the disfavour of either of them.
IMO,you can disagree,and still be pals…..
Good morning fellow Celts from grey mild North Hampshire
MWD the guy with scoring folks names out was Squire Danahar (sp!) in the Quiet Man
Quiz question? When did Scotland score in a Euro final?
Answer: last nite
HH
Not wishing to comment for or against posters
However the next few weeks will be momentous in Scottish football history, any chance some egos could be parked in deference to commenting on our real enemies in the MSM, SFA and Hunland
Good morning CQNers,
This week I’d like to hear a clear statement from the Celtic board confirming they haven’t been involved in any way with the circumvention of the rules that should have seen Rangers licence for last year’s participation in the SPL rejected by the SFA/SPL.
lionroars67
……now that would be a fine thing.
Good morning from a soaking wet West Lothian.
I am sure the day, as it goes on, will warm up considerably!
The nuclear button today?
Please.
Semi grenade
Some folk take CQN too seriously.
There is a small clique who consider themselves to be be über Celts.
There is quite a bit of intolerance for views that deviate from the clique mainstream.
All irrational when you consider this a blog.. Not parliament- nobody is making laws on here just expressing opinions that they might not even hold in real life.
( I don’t believe a word of the above)
In general though, the site has been more harmonious since the Huns died as accusing posters of being ‘Hun’ now means nothing as they no longer exist.
Also less real Hun interlopers..which is a great thing.
Morning fholks, from a dry, bright but overcast wembley. Contests to motherwell tim, brigbhoy and clan mccann for filling the top 3 in the Kano Foundation euro predictor.prizes winging their way soon.
Interesting news yesterday re failure of sfl to agree on their acceptance criteria. Once they DO decide, how long ti convene amother meeting?
Sanna
Morning all from a dreich North Ayrshire. Summer, summer, wherefor art thou, summer?
Disband the SFA…