Xenophobia trumps racism for Brits at Euros

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All week I’ve been telling myself that it is a healthy thing that discriminatory chanting has come under the spotlight prior to Euro 2012.  The world needs to focus on those who are unable to find an outlet for their testosterone without picking on the vulnerable.

We know all about discriminatory chanting in Scotland, you could say, we’re up to our knees in it, so I’ve been slightly uncomfortable at the tone to some of the reporting about Poland and Ukraine.  It feels a bit like we’ve decided, ‘They have it too, let’s talk about them.  Not us’.  When I say “us”, I don’t mean you, of course.

Fair enough, I thought, let’s bring this issue out, but at the start of the second half between Netherlands and Denmark when BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce reported “We haven’t heard any racist comments here today.  Not when the young, black, Dutch left back got the ball, or at any other time” I figured this is more about xenophobia than racism.  Xenophobia about Eastern Europe.

We’re no wiser about how to deal with our testosterone-fuelled under-achievers with a purpose to find than anyone else.  In fact, we’re worse for allowing our intellectuals to indulge in the last refuge of the scoundrel.

My money is on the Polish and Ukrainian fans emerging from this tournament with a better reputation than some of their Western European counterparts.

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  1. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    I’m only here cos some halfwit in our under-funded meeja relations dept says I should do more to relate to the fenyins.

     

     

    I say why bother. Ye should all feck off back to Ireland and leave Scotland to the Celts. I mean Picts. Whatever. The indigenous races rule.

  2. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Donald,

     

     

    Put oot yer pipe. Thoughts, ya big hun dinosaur of bigoted beauty?

  3. Correct me if I’m wrong, teams in administration are not allowed to sign players. Is it possible that Duff and Phelps were unaware of this condition when they gave a contract to Cousins? If so, surely even the hun would learn by such a mistake; or have the rules been changed to accommodate somebody (Charles Green), who has no right to conduct business on behalf of Rangers, holding talks with a player’s agent (Andrea D’Amico ) with a view to signing his player. (Rino Gattuso).

     

     

    No wonder Green, who does not own Rangers, wants the transfer ban re-instated.

  4. Fortunes Favour Mibbes on 10 June, 2012 at 01:01 said:

     

    Apologies for my tardy response, but Netflix has powerful soporific effects.

     

    3000 words on iPad would be cruel and unusual punishment, so I will quickly state my position on our esteemed former manager.

     

    The songs debate rages around personal opinions and preferences, whereas the debate on Gordon’s considerable achievements as a Celtic manager can be distilled into an analysis of his title wins and CL achievements while we were downsizing and rebuilding.

     

    The record book tells the tale of the tape and silences any opinions that differ from mine.

     

    I hold the man in high esteem and will forever be grateful for the success and pleasure he brought the club and myself.

  5. The Sun By ROBERT THOMSON

     

     

    Ogilvie: I’d quit if I caused SFA grief

     

     

    CAMPBELL OGILVIE last night vowed to quit as SFA president if he became an embarrassment.

     

     

    Ogilvie, who got £95,000 from an Ibrox Employee Benefit Trust, insisted he did not know the extent of the payments and claimed he had no idea the scheme might be illegal.

     

     

    And he said he was confident the SPL probe into Rangers’ use of EBTs would clear his name.

     

     

    Ogilvie, 60, said: “If I’m causing the SFA a problem and the board or clubs felt that, then I’d stand down.

     

     

    “If it was put to me to stand down while this is ongoing and that was the feeling of the board or members then I would do that.

     

     

    “But I have not seen a need to do that.

     

     

    “The clubs and board have been very supportive.

     

     

    “There is an investigation going on at the moment and we will have to wait and see what comes out from that.

     

     

    “When I took on an EBT myself I didn’t have any of my salary paid into it. It was bonuses and part of my settlement which was paid into it.

     

     

    “There is no way I would have taken an EBT on if I knew there was an issue with it.

     

     

    “I can’t say for certain when I found out there could be a problem with them but it was definitely long after I had left the club. I would hope there is not a problem with mine.

     

     

    “At that time there was no question about validity of EBTs and it was taken in good faith.”

     

     

    Ex-Rangers secretary Ogilvie revealed he BANNED himself from having any input into decisions on his former club.

     

     

    He said: “From day one I have said I cannot be part of any discussion on Rangers. “From both my side and from the SFA’s side it’s clear that has to be the case.

     

     

    “I was there, I was Rangers’ secretary for a period and I was a director.”

  6. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Kit,

     

     

    Actually I said a lot of it.

     

     

    Not the point though.

     

     

    CO FC

  7. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Look, none of this has feck all do with me.

     

     

    I am still entitled to my share of government money, you shower of cheeky internet bampots.

     

     

    I is a footballin expert don’t you know.

     

     

    Can you not SEE the value in me…

     

     

    Not even if I use the word FACT????

     

     

    I is special.

     

     

    FACT.

  8. Cambpell:

     

     

    Okay now you’re telling me you lied… now I do believe you. What did you do with the money you got from the EBT? Oh! please no… not more shoes!!

  9. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    I don’t know what an EBT is, unless you specify it’s value.

     

     

    FFS, it’s simple things like that you dumb fenians arenae gettin.

     

     

    It’s not rocket science Timmy. Give us yer taxes, watch me use it to buy Kenny Miller. He might be ugly as sin, but it worked, no?

     

     

    You fenyians are useless. You’ve been lettin us away with this for 140 years of tradition. I laugh at the idea that Peter Lawell is sneaking up behind me with a giant snare, not to punish me….just to get the feck rid of me.

  10. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    That male presenter on BBC1 Breakfast is unusually large.

     

     

    What’s his game??

  11. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    His body mass is 1/366 the mass of the planet earth.

     

     

    What I’m saying is, he’s the size of the moon.

  12. Sir David Murray wasn’t lying when he said he never took a penny out of Rangers, of course he didn’t, he took 6 million pounds and he didn’t need any side letters either cos he also took all the profit from the companies that supported Rangers. Nice work Sir David.

  13. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Kit,

     

     

    Look, I’m not buying this argument that our Grand Wizard defrauded the UK taxaper of £900 Million + .

     

     

    He didn’t. He just borrowed it.

     

     

    When you borrow, repayment terms are not an issue.

     

     

    FFS. See you uppity Tims.

  14. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    GREAT NEWS SCOTS FOOTBALL FANS.

     

     

    RBS have just agreed to accept an application for a multi-billion pound loan to rescue our beloved bers.

     

     

    If the loan application is not processed satisfactorily, Super Swally is goin to take over from me by demandin names.

  15. Only in Scotland…

     

     

     

    SFA president Campbell Ogilvie

     

    answers questions from Andrew Smith

     

    on his time as secretary and director

     

    of Rangers and the Ibrox club’s use of

     

    Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs).

     

    Ogilvie himself received £95,000 from

     

    Rangers through EBTs.

     

    Q: Did you see the BBC documentary

     

    on Rangers, The Men Who Sold The

     

    Jerseys?

     

    A: I was away at the FIFA Congress,

     

    but I did see it when I came back.

     

    Q: A striking issue to come out of that

     

    was an alleged payment to Graeme

     

    Souness. Were you surprised by that?

     

    A: No, I wasn’t aware of that. I wasn’t

     

    aware of who individually was

     

    involved.

     

    Q: Can you see there being an issue

     

    with you being SFA president at a

     

    time when there is an ongoing SPL

     

    investigation into non-disclosure of

     

    payments at Rangers that you are

     

    directly linked to? You were a director

     

    and the secretary who signed off the

     

    accounts in November 2001. At that

     

    time the EBT scheme was in operation

     

    and players were receiving payments

     

    that weren’t in their contracts.

     

    A: I was secretary up until 2002.

     

    That’s correct. I was a director, that’s

     

    correct.

     

    Q: Did you never see there could be a

     

    potential conflict using EBTs to pay

     

    footballers?

     

    A: No, not at that time, not at all. I

     

    didn’t do the contracts. I might have

     

    signed some documents from time to

     

    time. I certainly didn’t do the player

     

    negotiations, I didn’t do the contracts.

     

    Q: But you signed off the accounts…

     

    A: I signed off the accounts in good

     

    faith, quite simply.

     

    Q: Without the knowledge of what

     

    was in these accounts? Was that

     

    remiss of you?

     

    A: The EBTs as a total were in the

     

    accounts. There wasn’t a breakdown

     

    of individual players to the best of my

     

    knowledge.

     

    Q: They were mentioned as a total.

     

    But then nothing is given

     

    individually, with total salary costs

     

    and so on. Wouldn’t there be an

     

    expectation secretaries would

     

    normally involve themselves in

     

    contracts?

     

    A: This is the point I’m making, I

     

    wasn’t involved in the negotiations of

     

    contracts. If I signed off the accounts

     

    it has been in good faith. I was

     

    company secretary by name, no

     

    hiding from that point. We had

     

    accountants and lawyers. I’m not an

     

    accountant, I’m not a lawyer. I’m a

     

    football administrator. At that time I

     

    wasn’t dealing with contracts.

     

    Q: As a director and secretary you had

     

    no knowledge of the way players

     

    were paid?

     

    A: Correct. I knew there were player

     

    contracts, naturally. There were some

     

    EBTs that came in 2001. Now the

     

    depth or the detail of these EBTs, I

     

    don’t know who got the individual

     

    EBTs at that time.

     

    Q: Was there anything you saw in the

     

    [BBC] programme that would change

     

    your mind about how EBTs operated?

     

    A: I did say when we met in March

     

    there were no side contracts. That is

     

    the case to the best of my knowledge.

     

    The question is probably how the

     

    EBTs operated and this is the matter

     

    the SPL are looking at.

     

    Q: As secretary you would have

     

    registered the contracts with the

     

    appropriate football bodies

     

    presumably?

     

    A: No. That’s what I’m saying. I didn’t

     

    deal with player contracts at that

     

    time.

     

    Q: Who was responsible?

     

    A: Whoever was dealing with the

     

    financial side. You’ve got to go back

     

    in time here. Football contracts used

     

    to be a straightforward one sheet of

     

    paper. Over time contracts, like any

     

    sponsorship, contracts became quite

     

    complicated.

     

    Q: At what time did you become

     

    aware EBTs were going to become a

     

    problem?

     

    A: I took one on myself. I didn’t have

     

    any of my salaries paid through

     

    them. It was three bonuses, as I said

     

    back in March, that I got through

     

    EBTs. And when I left the club part of

     

    my settlement agreement was

     

    through EBTs. There is no way I

     

    would have taken an EBT on when I

     

    was leaving the club if I thought

     

    there was an issue with them.

     

    Q: No suggestion of any wrongdoing

     

    on your part, but do you not feel your

     

    stewardship there is embarrassing or

     

    tainted? Do you not look back and

     

    think “I was there through all this”?

     

    A: Listen, I’m going to put my hands

     

    up. I was there. I’m not disputing

     

    that. I was secretary, no matter what

     

    the duties were. For a year of that

     

    period from 2001 to 2002 I was a

     

    director. Probably a lot of you know

     

    the way the club operated. There

     

    wasn’t that frequent board meetings.

     

    You certainly wouldn’t necessarily

     

    know – I’m sure the other directors

     

    didn’t even know – who was

     

    receiving EBTs. That’s just the way

     

    the club was. I’m not going to hide

     

    from anything. I’m just telling you a

     

    fact that I didn’t know individually

     

    who was getting the EBTs.

     

    Q: Do you feel negligence on your

     

    part, there is a perception of

     

    negligence…

     

    A: There’s a difference between

     

    perception and reality. It wasn’t my

     

    duty to carry it out. I don’t feel

     

    negligent, no not at all.

     

    Q: Did you ever think about stepping

     

    down until the investigation is over?

     

    A: If I felt it was causing the

     

    organisation bigger issues and they

     

    felt, the board felt, the members felt –

     

    then sure, if that was the case,

     

    absolutely. If it was put to me to

     

    stand down while this was carried

     

    out, and if that was the feeling of the

     

    board and the members or whoever,

     

    absolutely. I haven’t seen a need to do

     

    that. You keep coming back to a

     

    perception. I’ve heard that I set up

     

    the whole scheme. You’d think with

     

    the amounts mentioned I was there

     

    for the whole time. And that I’ve been

     

    responsible for the whole of that.

     

    There’s a perception out there. You

     

    wouldn’t be questioning me today if

     

    it wasn’t for the role I’ve currently

     

    got, I appreciate that. I would have

     

    disappeared over the sunset probably.

     

    I’ve put everything on the table back

     

    in March – that hasn’t changed.

     

    Q: Has it changed the way you view

     

    your time at Rangers?

     

    A: Hindsight is a great thing, and if I

     

    had known some of the issues that

     

    are coming up I might have done

     

    things differently, I don’t know.

     

    Would I have taken an EBT when I

     

    left the club? Probably not, if I had

     

    known all this but everything was

     

    above board, there was no reason to

     

    question it. Somebody asked me the

     

    question, when did it become

     

    apparent there was a question mark

     

    about the EBTs. You tell me, when

     

    was it [around 2008]. I was away in

     

    2005. I am not hiding from anything

     

    here, I am just stating the fact, but

     

    the last three years my role at Ibrox

     

    had changed quite dramatically. I

     

    moved on to director of football

     

    strategy. I was doing less and less and

     

    I am not hiding from anything, I am

     

    just stating the fact. That is one of the

     

    reasons I left the club – because I was

     

    less and less involved.

     

    Q: How damaged do you feel by your

     

    association with that period at

     

    Rangers?

     

    A: Damaged? I don’t feel damaged as

     

    such. I certainly appreciate I was

     

    there at that time and people will

     

    associate me with some of the issues

     

    at that time. I can’t hide from that – I

     

    was there – and people will have to

     

    draw their own conclusions from the

     

    facts as they come out.

     

    Q: What kind of reaction have you

     

    had from the rank and file of the

     

    clubs?

     

    A: To me, they have been very

     

    supportive and the board have been

     

    very supportive. From day one, I said

     

    I cannot be part of any discussion on

     

    Rangers. I have stood down from any

     

    involvement on the Rangers side of

     

    the debate. That was clear from day

     

    one from my side and from the SFA

     

    side that had to be the case. Now if I

     

    am causing the SFA a problem, and

     

    the board felt that and the clubs felt

     

    that, I would stand down – but there

     

    are all these other issues still have to

     

    be dealt with. If in any way I am

     

    causing them an issue and the SPL

     

    investigation is coming up whenever,

     

    it is started now, we will see the

     

    outcome of that. And if the members

     

    of the SFA or the board want me to

     

    stand down that is the way it will be.

     

    If that is not the case, then we will

     

    discuss it.

     

    Q: If Rangers become a newco, the

     

    decision has to be taken whether they

     

    will be allowed in the SPL or start

     

    again in the SFL. Some Rangers

     

    supporters think they should take

     

    their medicine and start at the Third

     

    Division. Do you think it should be a

     

    footballing decision or financial

     

    decision?

     

    A: I’m sure it’ll be done for football

     

    integrity.

     

    Q: Do you really think that?

     

    A: Yes. It has to be.

  16. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Just got an application from Craig Levein to develop relations with a well known South American football association.

     

     

    Was all set to administer it as usual until I discovered the predominant religion !!!

     

     

    close shave RSC

  17. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    ASonOfDan

     

     

    I have no recollection of saying any of those things.

     

     

    Plausibel deniabilitie RFC.

     

     

    Roon yez ya fenyin bs.

     

     

    Yours in administration exshellensh,

     

     

    CO.

  18. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Right, off to my kip.

     

     

    The goat awaits.

     

     

    Good talking about footballin progress with ye deniars of indigenous roots.

  19. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    actually i’ll just fall asleep here talking to you fenyins.

     

     

    The goat is too demanding.

  20. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Just realised I’ve been spelling ma name wrong.

     

     

    This is no reflection on my administratin prowess.

  21. Cambpell Ogilvie on

    Paul67,

     

     

    Can we do a quick school check on contributors?

     

     

    Ta very much.

     

     

    CO.

  22. ASonOfDan on 10 June, 2012 at 07:42 said:

     

     

    When I started to read it I thought it had been “Awe Nawed”

     

     

    He doesn’t seriously expect people to believe him does he?

     

     

    Does he?

     

     

    Maybe his “other” interviews will be a bit tougher!!

     

     

    A sleepy Hail Hail

     

     

    Mon the Ireland…

  23. Asonofdan

     

     

    Interesting article re RCO

     

     

    Would have been better in the interviewer had insisted that he answered the questions posed as opposed saying whatever he fancied

     

     

    Poor interview , poor poor journalism

  24. Campbell Ogilvie in the Telegraph:

     

     

    “I was aware of the EBT scheme in operation at Rangers during my time at the club and, indeed, was a member. The existence of the scheme was published in Rangers’ annual accounts.

     

     

    “My role at Rangers, until the mid-90s, included finalising the paperwork for player registrations.

  25. Kit

     

    I am sure that part included which school the players attended.. no Questions about that either…

     

    poor interview Andrew…

  26. BT

     

     

    The interview would have been better if the questions were answered , poor as they were

  27. saltires en sevilla on

    Cambpell Ogilvie on 10 June, 2012 at 07:04 said:

     

    His body mass is 1/366 the mass of the planet earth.

     

     

    What I’m saying is, he’s the size of the moon.

     

     

    ——————

     

     

    loving yer work CO

     

     

    Youse saw the crecent

     

     

    We saw the whole of the moon…btw:-)

     

     

    HH

     

     

    M

  28. •-:¦:-•** -:¦:- sparkleghirl :¦:-.•**• -:¦:-• on

    Cambpell Ogilvie on 10 June, 2012 at 07:04 said:

     

     

     

    Nice of you to join us, Mr Ogilvie Sir. I hadn’t noticed you’d mis-spelled your name until you pointed it out, but it started my day with a smile.

  29. PF

     

    that couldn’t have been a face to face interview as there was no supplementary questions asked…

     

     

    more like a multiple choice test..

  30. Grimmond……………

     

     

    Shameful……

     

     

    to paraphrase the song………..

     

     

    “No-one belleives you, and you don’t care…..”

     

     

     

    Fall on yer bent sword.

     

     

    HHH.

  31. saltires en sevilla on

    errrrm spelling is dead hard on Sunday monrings, I can never figure out why that would be the case…

     

     

    crescent it’s a crescent moon ye sawed CO