2-1 FT. 
Next Saturday bhoys.
Next Sunday, Tots.
That was a very defiant and dignified rendition of GSTQ by the hun supporters during injury time. Idiots. This whole administration episode is masking what a shit job McCoist has done as manager, it has to be said.
I make it that we need Motherwell to drop points either today at home to Aberdeen or next Saturday away to Killie to have the prospect of a title victory next Sunday at Ibrox.
I’m getting my dates badly wrong of late, it’s embarrassing. As I thought the game was next Saturday I was under the illusion Motherwell needed to drop points this weekend so now that they have two weekends to drop points, it makes matters better.
I hope Stokes starts next weekend and we pound them.
Another sensational result. Was fairly confident of a victory but when I saw Kane Hemmings coming off the bench I thought the game was up for the Arabs. They must be saving Healy for next week.
:lol:
The title will be wrapped up before TASE leaves.
[quote=“Bandage, post: 36454”]It’s gas. Vast tracts of the Scottish media are still trying to close ranks and protect Rangers when they’re sitting on a massive story. You had Chick Young on BBC Scotland saying Ogilvie had no knowledge of any of this last night and being very definitive about. But the story’s being covered by the likes of Alex Thomson of Channel 4 now and he’s doggedly going after every angle, which is obviously good to see.
[/quote]
Alex Thomson has been tweeting today. Interview with former hun director Hugh Adam on Channel 4 news tonight:
[font=verdana]
#c4news [/font]EXCLUSIVE fmr RFC dir Hugh Adam say extra payments weren’t notified to SFA/SPL
[font=verdana]#c4news [/font]EXCLUSIVE fmr RFC director says RFC directors weren’t interested in directing. SFA/SPL not interested in governing.
[font=verdana]#c4news [/font]So is it cheating? I ask. “It is. It is.” Says fmr RFC director Hugh Adam
STV with another development tonight. I hope this isn’t heading towards amnesty territory.
[b]
Scottish FA asks clubs to declare non-contractual payments[/b]
The governing body has sent a letter to all 93 member clubs asking if they have potentially breached regulations.
20 March 2012 17:53 GMT
The Scottish Football Association has written to all 93 full member clubs urging them to come clean over whether they have made any non-contractual payments to their players.
STV has obtained a copy of the letter, which was sent to clubs 11 days ago. In it, clubs are asked to declare whether they have complied with Article 12 of the governing body’s articles of association over the last ten years.
Dated March 9, the correspondence from chief executive Stewart Regan gives clubs until Friday, April 6 to send “any written agreement(s) falling within the scope of Article 12.3 which has/have not previously been lodged with the Scottish FA in the previous ten years, in respect of any current or former players of your club.”
Clubs are then warned they could be referred to the organisation’s Compliance Officer, potentially leading to disciplinary sanctions, if “it is considered that the club may have breached its obligations under the articles…” They are also warned they could be punished if they do not reply to the letter as requested.
According to the letter, the request has been made because “it has come to the attention of the Scottish FA that there could be a number of examples of non-compliance with the obligations of Article 12.3.”
STV understands the Scottish FA view the action as a simple housekeeping exercise which will give all clubs the opportunity to admit to any rule breach.
Article 12.3 of the Scottish FA’s articles of association says: “…all payments, whether made by the club or otherwise, which are to be made to a player solely relating to his playing activities must be fully recorded within the relevant written agreement with the player prior to submission to the Scottish FA and/or the recognised football body of which his club is in membership.”
It is made clear that the written documentation required is “including but not limited to all playing contracts, agreements, side letters etc. which relate to payments made to players solely relating to their playing activities”.
The Scottish Premier League’s chief executive, Neil Doncaster, and his counterpart at the Scottish Football League, David Longmuir, also received copies of the letter.
The request comes during an SPL investigation into allegations that Rangers paid players outside of their contracts, with their inquiry stretching back to 1998.
The Scottish FA have already stated they have no present plans to conduct an inquiry of their own, as they would be required to act as the appellant body with regards to the SPL’s investigation.
The letter opens: “In light of recent well-publicised events, I would like to take this opportunity to remind clubs of their obligations pursuant to Article 12 of the Scottish FA’s Articles of Association.”
Later in the letter, clubs are asked to send in further information. The first requirement asks for “a declaration signed by the club secretary to the effect that your club has complied, without qualification, with the terms of this article at all times throughout the previous ten years.”
The second request asks clubs to submit any “written agreement(s)” within the last ten years, with regards to Article 12.3, which are not already in the Scottish FA’s possession.
Interesting article in Slugger O’Toole by Phil Mac Giolla Bhain on Ulster/Rangers connection
If the Ulster Scots Agency has any spare money they might think about giving it to Rangers Football club and quickly.
Recently the players took a 75% pay cut till the end of the season. The Administrators said it was that or the lights went out. The future for the club is bleak. Rangers could be liquidated as their debts are massive and unpayable. And the company will not be in a position to trade out of the situation.
The recent “offers” to buy the club are highly conditional and based upon an entire series of obstacles being cleared out of the way by the Adminstrators.
While the flat pack culture for to give the Unionist Tradition an ersatz ethnic garish attracts mockery and derision there is a genuine connection to Scotland in the North that doesn’t attract any grant aid.
That is probably because it is authentic, working class and therefore has to be self-financing. Ibrox is Billy’s Barbican and there is no need for state assistance to convince a kid in Ballymoney to wear a Rangers shirt.
Nor is there any need for a government translation service. The lads on the Shankhill know everything there is to know about the Light Blues because it in genuinely their team. Now Scotland’s establishment club is about to be liquidated. That is the consensus among business analysts who have looked at the state of the finances.
In the interest of full disclosure I will not grieve at Rangers passing and some denizens of Planet Rangers think that I’ve been part of the problem that they now face. As visit to the Rangers supporter’s message boards will quickly establish that I am something of a bête verte for the Ibrox faithful.
Although Rangers was established by four young lads in 1872 the club became the over mighty subject of Scottish football largely because of the influence of the Lagan on the Clyde.
Rangers moved from being the local team for the folk of Govan to Scotland’s establishment club under the patronage of the Ulster Scottish bourgeoisie who made originally made their fortunes in Belfast. These hard faced shipyard owners were the Abramovichs of the Edwardian era for Rangers.
It was during this period immediately before the Great War that Rangers brought in the policy of not signing Catholic players.
This discriminatory policy proved to be a highly successful commercial strategy.
Now a century later Rangers face unpayable bills and the lights are about to go out.
As I write this a judge, Lord William Nimmo Smith, has reported to the SFA that the current owner of Rangers, Craig Whyte is “not a fit and proper person” to have a position in Scottish football.
He is now seen as someone who has used the supporters own money to buy the club, burden it with even more debt and then skip off with millions. The Main stream media in Scotland described Whyte as a “billionaire” with “wealth off the radar”, while the blogosphere remained sceptical and asked for evidence.
Others had their suspicions before the mainstream caught up.
There is now a full scale police investigation into the takeover deal when Mr Whyte bought the club for one pound and paid of the £18 million debt to Lloyds banking group.
However, Mr Whyte paid the bank with money from a deal that mortgaged the season ticket money, a fact he originally lied about.
However, Rangers’ problems are much earlier and have their origins in the business strategy of the previous owner.
Sir David Murray, who owned the club from 1988 until May last year was a creature of the credit boom. His Murray International Holdings company defaulted on loans Lloyds banking group and in a debt for equity swap lost control of his empire.
It is now alleged by a former Rangers director that Murray operated under the counter payments to players by way of second contracts in direct contravention of football rules.
Part of this saga is the disconnect between people taking major decisions and those whose entire lives revolves around the fortunes of a football club.
Craig Whyte stated to a meeting of the Rangers Supporters Assembly earlier this year that if the club established in 1873 were to die it “wouldn’t be the end of the world”, well Mr Whyte it would be the end of THEIR world!
In Britain the public pronouncements from Alex Salmond, David Cameron and various media commentators in Scotland have, in a sense, failed to grasp the emotional impact of the passing of Rangers.
There is a class issue here and the emotional frequencies are not quite in sync. As a Celtic supporter from a working class background I immediately saw what Craig Whyte did not. If Rangers go into liquidation then there will be a break with their history.
The “NewCo” will have no claim to past honours. There is also likely to be a legal wrangle over who owns the asset of Ibrox stadium. There is every likelihood that a RFC New Co may not have Ibrox to play at next season.
When I was discussing this piece with Mick he made the perceptive observation that Scotland carries far greater cultural weight in Northern Ireland than vice versa.
This is evidenced by the fact that there hasn’t been a single reference in the Scottish reportage regarding the impact of the current crisis on Rangers’ Ulster fans.
If the weekly traveling to Ibrox becomes a thing of the past then I believe that their absence from everyday interactions in large numbers could have subtle, yet important, consequences on the country that underpins their sense of Britishness.
I have yet to hear any Scottish commentator ask what the impact will be, as Scotland heads into the massive independence conversation, if there are less authentic voices in Glasgow who love the Union and the connection.
As Ulster people with Scottish heritage are about to lose an important strand in their connection to Britain Scotland is considering breaking the bond.
Judge has just ruled that the huns £24.4m deal with ticketus that they were trying to worm their way out of still stands.
Smashing. Anything else would have been truly bizarre but you just never know.
Channel 4’s Alex Thomson on the huns.
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/succulent-lamb-menu-questions/1010
[font=verdana]
Right – let me make two things absolutely clear at the outset.[/font]
[font=verdana]First, I am writing this imagining that one or two people outside Glasgow use the internet, so I might make some observations familiar to Clydeside surfers.[/font]
[font=verdana]Second, this arises from my continuing investigation into Rangers which is still in early stages. That is to say, I am not investigating Celtic. If I were, rest assured RFC Bears – they’d get just the same treatment.[/font]
[font=verdana]I’d expected the paranoia, insults, spin etc – hey – this is “fitba” after all and I welcome it good, bad and ugly, from fans within and without Glasgow. Indeed I’ve gone out and asked for it.[/font]
[font=verdana]What I didn’t expect were the insults (and in at least one case a direct physical threat) not from fans but from Scottish journalists.[/font]
[font=verdana]Sarajevo, Mogadishu, Kabul, Islamabad, Tripoli, Baghdad…I could bore you with more – in none of these places have I ever got this interesting reaction from local journalists.[/font]
[font=verdana]Only in Glasgow.[/font]
[font=verdana]So something’s up. Something’s different.[/font]
[font=verdana]Something about asking questions about RFC clearly angers some in the Glasgow media in a way I’ve never seen in 25 years of global reporting.[/font]
[font=verdana]Equally, a number of fine Glasgow journalists have been incredibly helpful, encouraging and agree there has been something deeply wrong for far too long in the culture of reporting RFC.[/font]
[font=verdana]They know who they are, male and female, working in papers, radio and broadcasting and every single one has encouraged me to dig around in an area many cannot, will not or are prevented from, exploring.[/font]
[font=verdana]I refer of course to “succulent lamb”. Graham Spiers, seasoned football writer in Glasgow was there the day it happened.[/font]
[font=verdana]He and other reporters dined with Sir David Murray – then RFC owner, in the Channel Islands. Murray – as ever – was talking big on the Rangers dream-theme, laying out plans for the club that seemed to go well beyond the mere limit of the sky.[/font]
[font=verdana]There duly appeared copy praising the “succulent lamb” that was eaten – the “fine red” that was drunk.[/font]
[font=verdana]The food and drink were taken – so was this man’s dream of Rangers – all without much question in some quarters.[/font]
[font=verdana]I make and imply no criticism at all of the reporters present – what intrigues as an outsider is how many people years later around Glasgow happily talk about “succulent lamb” journalism.[/font]
[font=verdana]Let Graham explain – he was actually there, after all: “Succulent lamb journalism means a culture – and I hold my hand up here too – a culture of sycophantic, unquestioning, puff journalism that went on around Rangers generally and Sir David Murray particularly.”[/font]
[font=verdana]Of course you’ll see it to some degree across sport, across football. But it was, many Glasgow journalists say, more damaging here.[/font]
[font=verdana]“Look,” says Graham Spiers, “you are making a pact with the devil if you like. You get thrown the best scraps. You get something for the back page or whatever. But there’s a tacit deal. You don’t dig too deep. You don’t cause any trouble.”[/font]
[font=verdana]So Big Dave’s dream was shouted across Glasgow. Fans loved it. It shifted papers. Everyone (in blue) wanted in, needed to believe. [/font]
[font=verdana]So it went on – year after year. On one side the directors at Scotland’s football “governing” bodies didn’t ask much. On the other, large sections of Glasgow football journalism declined to delve.[/font]
[font=verdana]How else to explain Ibrox’s boom to spectacular bust?[/font]
[font=verdana]How else to deal with the fact that when Craig Whyte took over it was stories of a “billionaire” with “off the scale riches” that were pumped out?[/font]
[font=verdana]Ten minutes on Google or in Companies House could’ve ended that. But no. It was dreamland the fans wanted, dreamland much of the media bought into and a club already financially crippled was about to be further injured.[/font]
[font=verdana]Legions of fans sold out again, as it would turn out.[/font]
[font=verdana]Succulent lamb culture has permeated to a degree that, as one prominent Glasgow tabloid journalist put it: “The press -a really critical check and balance in the normal way of things, had been more or less destroyed in Glasgow.”[/font]
[font=verdana]So are things any better today? Is succulent lamb off the menu – replaced with humble pie?[/font]
[font=verdana]I leave it to others to judge if that succulent lamb cozy Glasgow football culture has really gone away.
[/font]
:lol:
Nuclear from Alex Thomson. :o
Blue Knights have withdrawn their bid for the huns. Strange one.
Alex Thomson was on Radio Clyde earlier:
[quote=“Rocko, post: 36490”]
Blue Knights have withdrawn their bid for the huns. Strange one.[/quote]
They don’t do walking away?!
No mention yet on this thread of the draft SPL proposals announced last week which would allow clubs to go into liquidation and their new incarnation to remain in the top flight.
Quite the joke.
I see the oriental chap has now withdrawn his bid.
The SFA have released the findings of their disciplinary hearing against the huns:
- The huns have been banned from signing players for 12 months.
- Lifetime ban for Craig Whyte.
- The huns have also been fined GBP£160k for breaching 5 other rules.