Regans Aldi Experiment

Scotland’s whimpering exit from the European Chamionships has and will lead to a significant amount of navel gazing and given that we are talking about the SFA its bound to lead to no action.

Let me state this Gordon Strachan, Mark McGee and Stuart McCall should be safe.  Everyone could have picked a different team included other Players and with perfect 20 20 hindsight won games collected points and qualified.  Personally I find it almost inconceivable that more Aberdeen Players were not included in the squad as I do a late inclusion of Ranger’s Lee Wallace.  Form over loyalty every time for me.
Loyalty seems to be the main problem with Scotland for me.  The Players it seems can only trust the Coaching Staff to do whats right by them not the Big Wigs and Blazers sitting up the front of the Plane with extra leg room.  Clubs and Players alike must wonder if indeed the Players have decent Insurance when on Scotland duty given the cost cutting travel arrangements.  How Club Managers must have been concerned and how Clubs must have sought assurances regards the Loan of their Club’s prized assets.  This is what Gordon Strachan had to fight against in addition to Playing against three proficient Nations all of whom threw Money at their National teams Players not like Scotland looked to cut corners.  The Republic Of Ireland especially given that they had still to spend their FIFA hush money  did not scrimp or save they did not even gamble they simple treated their Players in a similar way and to same standards as Manchester United or Chelsea .  Stuart Regan treated the Scotland National Team worse than a Highland League Team on a long distance Cup Tie.  So is it no wonder that the team performed so badly ?  Blame Pitch Invaders, Bad Refereeing or indeed Dodgy Playing Surfaces all you want but if a Skilled Highly Paid pampered Player suddenly realises he is being treated badly then National Pride is not enough to keep you motivated.  The Travelling Army of Fans might bleat about being Scottish, berate Players all you want but if there is a culture of cost cutting and you are the main victim of this then maybe you wont be as determined to spend next summer being hotelled at the whim of Stuart “Ebenezer Scrooge” Regan.

If Money is tight at the SFA then cut the fat in an intelligent way.  I am not for inhumane treatment but how about a Blazer Cull.  Kill off some of the nonsensical committees and Positions.  Regan Must simply go like Sir Stephen House he has been consistently shown to be a failure.  Neil Doncaster must follow this two are not the Morecambe and Wise of Scottish Football more the Barry and Paul Chuckle!  The Tartan Army screams at clubs week in week out “SACK THE BOARD” at their Clubs yet seem to accept “Glorious Failure” at National Level.  Here is a thought Georgia Away and Poland at Home are not Glorious Failures more “indignatious Defeats”   Willie Miller said that following the Six Nil victory against Gibraltar it felt like celebrating failure and that is exactly correct and why I suggest that Willie be approached to take over from the Destroyer of Yorkshire Cricket Regan and as an additional idea why not invite Gordon Smith to replace Doncaster.  Both have Business experience both have opinions that in truth are shared by most Scots and both  would do a better job than the two incumbents.  Also the main Professional Game Board [Chairman: Rod Petrie (Scottish FA)
Members: Alan McRae (Scottish FA), Stewart Regan (Scottish FA), Ralph Topping (SPFL), Peter Lawell (SPFL), Neil Doncaster (SPFL), Duncan Fraser (SPFL), Mike Mulraney (SPFL), Sandy Stables (SHFL) and Andrew Waddell (SLFL)] should be radically changed they sanctioned the cost cutting they approved the stragigy they should be forced out of Position and new more forward thinking Office Bearers should be installed.

As the only Home Nation not to progress a complete clear out of the National Association is the only way forward.  The reasons why I am not demanding Strachan and Co to go is simple Who do you get to replace them there simply is not Prince Of Wales waiting in the Wings.  Greame Souness is probably the only candidate.  Souness has not managed in anger for a number of years and given the Bad Blood between him and the SFA I would doubt he will ever be installed as Head Coach.  If Strachan and Team do not continue then who is there Is Stuart Baxter still doing the rounds?  He was the phantom candidate for every managerial position in the Nineties surely he could return to coach the National team.

It’s a mess on the whole who ever is the Head Coach then given an aging Squad I feel that some players should frame their shirts from Gibraltar because they wont get another one.  Allan Hutton, Scott Brown Shaun Maloney and other over thirties are they really going to be fit to carry the jersey in Russia 2018 let alone to take the Nation to the next Euros in 2020.  With some great Players with Scottish Accents plying their Trade in Scotland (low travel costs) then why has the Scotland Squad been filled by Mockney Cockney Scots from the ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP.  Kenny McLean, Barry McKay, Lee Wallace, Mark Renyolds, Greame Shinnie, James Forrest and James McArthur.  All younger and leaner and not jaded by the Scottish Costcutter Association.

As a flippant note it’s time we ditched the uninspiring unofficial Anthem of “Flower Of Scotland” and returned to the true National Anthem of “Scotland The Brave”.  Fair enough no one knows the words but history shows when we Scots stuck to the Official Anthem of history instead of the cod folk song cobbled together on the back of a beer mat the national team actually qualitfied for World Cups before we all became Mathematic Professors figuring out permuntations on how to qualify not road sweepers two games from the end of the Qualifying Leagues cleaning up the debries of a national shame.

Scotland used to look at Belgium as an example but unlike Netherlands Scotland are down and show no signs of getting up.  Weighed down by Bulky Blazers and self-interest abusing the Tartan Army and hurting the National Pride year in year out.  The Next SFA Chef must look to Asda not Aldi the nation might never be Waitrose or Marks and Spencers but the nation deserves better than the discount bulk buy its being force-fed.

What Does The Fiscal know …

As it stands we all need to be careful.  Screw with “Innocent until Proven Guilty” at your own personal peril.  As it stands four lawyer accountant types are on Bail and a former company Director whereabouts unknown has a arrest warrant out against him.  The Criminal Justice system will deal with these individuals without favour or bias.  Guilt will either be proved beyond a reasonable doubt or the charges will be admolished.  That’s how the Criminal system works, try to prejudge courts or generally interfere with it and YOU end up in the cells.

So it’s with caution I write and would urge you to be careful.  I am not going to argue and say your right or wrong, I am going to say be careful don’t mess with Criminal Legal Processes. 

The Police have investigated conjugated and digested, dug deep into the dealings between Sir David Murray Craig Whyte. They passed information into the Proculator Fiscal who has decided that enough seems wrong to be tested in a court of law. Where beyond a reasonable doubt is the point of guilt.

I wonder if anyone over Hampden way is thinking what did they miss because in open court with the public benches filled with Press the whole sordid affair and timeline will be played out for all to see. The fit and proper person test only has a balance of probabilities proof point. In a way it does not matter what the verdict of Glasgow and Strathkelvin Sheriff Court is, there will be fingers pointing and questions asked of the SFA. Did the SFA/SPL simply trust what they were told by Whyte and Sir David Murray?

SDM facing the deadly duo of both Banks and HMRC chasing him for money. His whole live’s work under threat his company Murray International Holdings. There had to come a point when something had to go and to get Lloyds Banking Group out of your hair on the Vanity Executive Box Folly down the M8 was easy shifted. After years of promising the public he would take care whom he passed Rangers onto well when the heat is wrongly on you it’s easy to see why standards slipped. Sir David may even of been pressured by the bank to take the £1 so they could get their millions. This reduction of his MIH group debt may of been a condition to maintain the rest of his business. Whatever the reason it happened.

The problem for me has always been why the Association who had promised checks and balances of Club ownership after Gretna, failed to be one suspicious. Remember if there is enough for the Proculator Fiscal to press charges then there is surely enough evidence for the balance of probabilities over Hampden way. There has to of been enough free evidence to trigger an investigstion. The claw back of £24 million from comapnies involved in Craig Whyte’s regime begins a careful process of realisation even for the likes of Stewart Regan. At what point did Regan and Doncaster begin to realise that they had been negligent in discharging their stated duty? Surely even today there is enough to revisit as to ensure the security of Scottish Football Clubs.

So whatever and whomever is found Guilty or otherwise in the Palace of Justice that is Glasgow And Strathkelvin Sheriff Court on Clyde Place surely it only increases the pressure on the office bearers within Hampden.

Right now there is half a chance that the whole Rangers affair was a massive con. Proved in an open Scottish Court the whole thing was a fraud. The bare minimum seems to be that the whole transaction was more than dubious. A reasonably solvent business was destroyed by a few (possible con) men and one of the authorities whom had proclaimed it to be their mission to avoid any dubious owners of member clubs, allowed the con to happen.

Entrusting the current Guardians of the game to ensure fair play and ownership of clubs means I expect the Proceeds of Crime Department to be taking ownership of Clubs before anyone over at Hampden digs out the “Fit and Proper Persons Criteria” file. Even with the reduced proof requirement of only balance of probabilities someone looked the other way at worse and was completely incompetent at best.

Even before the Criminal Investigation into the Sale of Rangers to Craig Whyte questions and concerns were being raised regards what exactly constituted “Unfit” in the judgement of SFA/SPL with charges being brought and Criminal proceedings begginging these questions and concerns have blown up in the face of the Association and others.

So the question that should be asked by the Scottish Footballs Powers that be surely is “What does the fiscal know?”

The question asked by the thousands of Rangers fans and to be fair increasingly worried fans of other clubs in Scotland (worried that if a massive aledged con can happen at Rangers then it could happen anywhere) are asking is. What happens now? Already using the SFA SPL own standards the balance of probabilities is that SFA/SPL/SFL compounded and condoned the dodgey dealings of a discredited Director then punished the victim.

Investment Direct?

Mike Ashley buys shares in Rangers and supplies a temporary loan.  He owns less than TEN PERCENT of shares but has control or ownership of certain assets.  Due to his loan he decides to appoint a few key memebers of staff and two board members.  There seems nothing that wild about the Owner of the very Sucessful Sports Direct doing this.  It seems to the casual observer that a Multi Millionaire investing and lending money to a business and ensuring he has representation to protect his shares, investments and loans.

Mike Ashley

Mike Ashley happens to have a rather sucessful resume.  Owner of a very profitable Sports retailer and owner of a English Premiership club.  The man’s money and assets are not on doubt.  Mike is not morgaging his mansions to finiance his interest in Rangers.  His credentials are public and accepted in principal by all.  The real debate is not if Mike Ashley has a million pounds but how many millions he actually does have.

So it’s with interest that the Scottish Football Association are asking for clarification on Mike Ashley’s influence at Ibrox.  It is well within The powers that be at Hampden to ask these questions and they even have a right to waive their rules and not wait until a shareholding exceeds ten percent.  What I find strange is Mike Ashley has an unimpeachable record as a Businessman and Club Owner yet he is subject to demands for clarity.  What exactly are the SFA concerned about? Mike Ashley does not want any public smear on his character or good name. He is at best ensuring his retail business has a series of assets of a big club and access to the hundreds of thousands of fans. His business needs to convert this fan base of a Fottball Club into a Consumer base for his Retail Group. At worse he is investing money into a company that is hemorrhaging money at a very alarming rate.

Craig Whyte

Was not that many years ago that a Conman talked his way into Scottish football and the institution that is Rangers with little more than a forked tongue and a barely hidden morgage of assets.  Yet I do not remember any SFA concern yet alone anything that led to an investigation. How many others slipped in under the guise of saviours allowed to work a “long con” as Regan, Doncaster and pals look the otherway.

From a casual observers point it could be seen as SFA interfering with a Positive investment after allowing a very negative one.

What concerns can they truly have Mike Ashley has clearly invested his money and loaned money to a club.  He has the funds to do so.  Yet SFA and SPFL seek to investigate this investment rather seek a League Title Sponsor to benefit the whole of Scottish football.  Seems Neil Doncaster has put his Crayons down just long enough to look at the prospect of Rangers being well financed and stable with envious green tinted spectacles.

The influence that Mr Ashley can impose at Murray Park and Ibrox is considerably less than he has at Newcastle United but slightly more than he has a numerous clubs and national associations. By the power of his retail empire he can if he choses to play hard ball regards the sale of replica strips and the like. The sheer size of Sports Direct means effectively in the United Kingdom Mike Ashley can hurt sales of every Clubs merchandise. He can also negotiate down the cost of wholesale items. Sports direct and Mike Ashley can effectively control a percentage of every club and nations income stream. So the prospect of the Scottish Football Association finding Mr Ashley as having undue power and influence at Rangers is indeed a moot point.

As for the motivation and reasons for this investigation I know the SFA like to be seen to be doing something at any time. A self justification of their position and salary. It is a two pronged public relations own goal though.

For Rangers Fans there is a case for suggesting why are the SFA concerned about Mike Ashley when they were not concerned about Craig Whyte, a man who took control of Rangers with genuine concerns about his background at the time and now proven almost daily in courts around Scotland. For Rangers fans it has a element of victimisation as the Ibrox club works it’s way back to the top league.

For fans of other clubs and the national team the question has to be. “why? When the game in Scotland is screaming out for investment. Are you so publicly making investing in the Scottish game such a impossibility”. It is little wonder that there is no league title sponsor two years after the Clydesdale Bank sponsorship ended and Irn Bru were dumped via the rushed reconstruction. Eighteen months on the SPFL have achieved nothing but creating a new logo!

Neil Doncaster                                                                    Stewart Regan

The Dynamic Duo of Regan and Doncaster (remember him) seem to of melted into the undergrowth. Maybe they were buried under the Commonwealth Games Running track who knows. What we do know though is that when the silence is only broken by the likes of this investigation then in the unlikely event any blue chip company wishes to invest in the Scottish game they will hold fire until The blockers and mis-management of Doncaster and Regan leave their posts.

Regrets

Peter Lawell has been strangely silent.  Normally the Celtic CEO is at the heart of anything that is everything in Scottish football.  Good for a quote and good for a photo.  I have never doubted that he has Celtic at the heart of every quote his motivation for doing anything has been and will continue to be what he thinks is best for Celtic.  The arguement of Spinnning facts and creating lies will never leave any sucessfull CEO because frankly that is part of their Job.  To defend, manage and  defuse any situation their business finds itself in. To place their company on the best light possible at every opportunity. And if that means extending the truth or spinning a lie then so be it. 

So it is with a great deal of surprise that Peter Lawell has confirmed that Celtic miss Rangers. Well let me quantify that Celtic miss approximately £10 million per season. That is the hidden cost that Mr Lawell possibly under estimated when he sat on comittees and made judgements in the heady summer of 2012.

Maybe Mr Lawell accounted for some loss but assumed that other sources would plug the gap. Fickle fans and lack of genuine investment has put paid to that. Fickle fans is not a insult it’s a fact a fact that has been shared around the grounds. Instead of improving fan interaction the fans are walking. Now in it’s second season since reconstruction the SPFL Leagues STILL has no title sponsor. Scotland’s third cup had no trouble securing Petrofac the league cup has Communities and the Scottish cup has William Hill.

Yet no sponsorship for the Leagues.

So the question is as Rangers raise £3.7 million, Celtic miss £30 million how much have the rest of Scotlands clubs missed because of hasty punishments dished out before correct judgements where made.

In economics if USA sneezes the UK catches a cold. Now that the symbiotic finiancial relationship between the Old Firm has been confirmed by Mr Lawell lets see how much Aberdeen, Dundee United and the rest have suddenly descovered “missing.” Simply put if Celtic have missed money that they have been able to count with their multimillion pound turnover then what has Messers Milne and Thompson found missing. Hearts spent a year trying to get out of administration Hibernian look ponderous in their inability to compete in the Championship. Hibernian are the only club to come to the party that is the Championship with a wet bag of pyrotechnics.

Also I hear a lot of people suggest Mr Lawells remarks are to distract from his team’s comical eviction from the Champions league. Maybe by just maybe it’s a prod at Hampden. With Doncaster and Regan sitting signing blank pieces of paper, writing cheques that suffer from insufficent funds. What does it take to rid these two from Our Game

Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word

Sorry is indeed the hardest word and in this litigeous world sorry seems to be a legal admission of liability.

This simple modern truth could well be the reason for the lack of appologies sent to Rangers Football Club.   The posse that found Rangers Guilty in their Kangaroo Courts in 2012 have been remarkably silent in the weeks since the UTTT found no real wrongdoing in Rangers FC use of Employment Benefit trusts. 

The real reasons for lack of words from Scottish Football are simple.  Rangers 1898 Ltd the former owners of Rangers Football Club are now debt free thanks to Ticketus, the RFFF and the soon to be defrosted accounts.  The money in the currently frozen accounts will pay the PAYE bill left by discredited Craig Whyte.  In fact I was recently told that Rangers 1898 Ltd will be one of the few companies that could emerge from liquidation proceedings and will simply be wound up similar to Celtic oldco (kelly’s and Whytes), Aberdeen oldco ( Donald Family), Dundee United oldco (Jim Mclean), Hibernian oldco (Tom Farmer) and St Mirren Oldco (Paton family).

You see the treatment of Rangers has raised so many questions that it would take a thousand articles to cover.  Saldly what’s done can not be undone but for the shareholders of Rangers 1898 Ltd compensation is surely justified. 

I still expect a raft of court cases.  From fraud to defamation via malicious prosecution. Remember Rabgers 1898 shareholders own no football asset, they sold it to the current owners of Rangers. So without breaking the rules of association this group of victims of fraud and defamation have free reign to sue SFA, SPL(including the ten club members individually), supporters groups (including individual spokespersons), media groups (including individual ‘Journalists’), web sites (including social media) and of course any individual who at anytine has published a lie that has hurt the finiancial wellbeing of the Club (Including Phil Threenames, Angela Haggerty, Greame Speirs). The fact that some of the above names continue to speak in terms of hate and ignorance even AFTER the latest judgements means that by association Rangers Football Club current owners have a real watching brief and can argue that current statements filled with hate and lies directly hurts Rangers International and Rangers Football Club in the here and now. Members of the current Rangers Board have been quick to engage lawyers to seek recompense from fans groups spokesmen, so it would be interesting to see if the same happens to others from outwith the blue umbrella.

Craig Whyte will be chased to the gates of hell by many including Ticketus.  How this shyster was allowed onto the same building as stakeholders of any company is a crime. I have heard many reasons “Rangers were owned by a Crook (Murray) and sold to a Crook (Whyte)” seems to fit the common misguided view. Well that is only half true there is no doubt now that Rangers were sold to a crook. The landscape for this was in no small point due to HMRC demanding monies that now not one but TWO Independant tribunals have thrown out the inflated demands of the HMRC. As a small aside David Cameron and Gideon Osborn have recently forced through a change in the law. Now if HMRC demand money and you think it’s wrong the rules are now Pay up then appeal. How different things could of been had this rule been inforce. How the enforced sale to Mr Whyte occured is another thing.  Sir David Murray received one pound sterling so in spite of everything you could hardly say that the Metal Merchant made a killing.  So who did benefit? The Bank Loydds/TSB/HBOS walked away with £38 million for a loan paid in full via Craig Whyte and his mortgaging of season ticket sales to Ticketus.  So just how much pressure was placed on Sir David Murray by the Bank’s representative on what turned out to be the penultimate Rangers 1898 Ltd board. The same banking group had a reasonable working relationship with the SFA and now defunct SPL, was any pressure placed on these organisations to ignore any concerns regarding Craig Whyte being a fit and proper person to have his hand in the tiller of a Sporting Institution like Rangers Football Club. It seems either this or the SPL SFA failed in their duty of care to protect all of our Scottish Clubs from falling onto the hands of Drug Dealers Fraudsters Con men or general Shysters. So for sure without doubt the SFA SPL FAILED in any test. Do I hear sorry from Regan, Doncaster and co? No!

Lets now look at the “Screaming Masses”

Stephen Thompson, Stewart Milne, Rod Petrie, David Southern, Peter Lawell, Neil Lennon, Stewart Gilmour and other Board memebers of clubs MUST now be revisiting their published comments and hoping that no one reads them out in court.

Sorry is hard to say but lessons learned mean that actions speak louder than words. First chink in the sorry we did that but we learned is the postponment of St Mirren v Aberdeen because Aberdeen have a couple of qualifying rounds in Europa League. How Rangers would of appriciated such common sense in Manchester UEFA Cup FINAL! Not a sorry but the different action means admission of wrong by default.

You see that’s the point we all know we won’t get a Sorry from any of the shouting clans but we all know that they won’t repeat their “hardline” again. That’s as good as a sorry as we will get. What we will get though is enforced comments as Judges order smart mouths to pay up and say sorry.

Neil and Stu – Trotters not so Independent Traders

Followers of my words will know that neither Neil Doncaster or Stewart Regan are on my Christmas Card list.  I am acutely aware that I am not on theirs.  Safe to say I won’t hold my breath for a invite to hampden ivory towers for tea and crumpets.  I try to be fair and chatitable to the leaders of Scottish Football but the latest freshly baked batch of news to emerge from Hampden is beyond reason.

Let’s take all the statements from Neil and Stu.  Turmoil, financial instabilities, needing investment just some of the paraphrased comments.  From member clubs you hear the need of two things

1 financial income/investment

2 support from the associations and league.

So why did Stewart Reagan’s SFA close TWO DAYS before the rest of the world on transfer deadline day. 

This suicidal move to restrict trade has 41 clubs wondering why they didn’t benefit from the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of Pounds swilling around European Football.  The only club to benefit seems to be Hamilton who cashed in on a Scots born Irishman via a sell on clause.  We’ll done them.  The sale that keeps on giving, just male sure Stewart Regan isn’t your bank manager because you wouldn’t get your money till Christmas. 

There is a Christmas theme what the sfa did by closing is the equivalent to marks and spencers closing on the 21st of December!  Why because it’s a working day! 

It’s a reason that does not stack up, not now not then not ever.  Much talk of Pyramid systems well by shutting up shop early the sfa cut the player pyramid off in its prime.  Directly hurting ambitious players, destroying the possibility of clubs making survival til January easier.  I hope a club does not fold potentially because it wasn’t able to sell a player on.

The merrigoround of transfers traditionally spins and drags in some Scottish interest.  Player A goes from Scotland to England, player B goes from lower league to Scottish  Premiership. Players develop clubs survive.  Simple that’s what happens on transfer deadline day. 

Celtic for example fresh from Champions league qualification suffered a potentially long term injury blow with Lustig, even with a early Saturday Kick off Neil Lennon had no time to find a replacement.  This proves that the SFA have no intrwst in supporting or developing clubs and players in Scotland.  Let’s make no bones about this,  Supporting and Developing The Game (clubs & players & officials) is The Foundation of the remit of the Association it is not a opt in.

Peter Lawwell must be realising his position on the sfa board. He must wish that he was appointed earlier. He like every other club in Scotland must look at England with envy.  Then again Greg Dyke etc were not insidiously employed by a Lawyers firm masquerading as a employment/hr firm.  I doubt that even former employee of the month Lawwell will ditch his former employers and his friends though because he is part of the problem even though Celtic have been indoubyably disadvantaged by the SFA.

If Neil and Stu’s motivation to close the case and run off to the three wheeler van was aimed at Rangers then that is not just bad but cause for absolute horror.  If the vendetta against one club Rangers, allows for the REST OF SCOTTISH FOOTBALL to suffer then that my friends is a crime beyond Jim Farry.

Thems The Rules

Oh dear.

You see if you change the rules enforce new rules to the fullness available to you and make your motive for this rather clear. Then you had better make sure you continue to follow to the letter. Because moving the goal posts about is fine and dandy if not clear and stable. It’s also helpful to remember that your barely hidden target is watching taking notes.

It is illegal within the rules of association to take your national association or league body to court. It’s a rule designed to make the authorities final arbiter beyond contempt. Shame Neil Doncaster and Stewart Regan are now in the dock with contempt the least of the charges.

Rangers began in January looking to use a loophole in the rules regards Trialists. Murray Park planned out how to use this loophole to the maximum and things looked reasonable. Cometh the hour cometh the puppets. Enraged that anyone in G51 would spot a loophole yet alone use it. Scottish Footballs own Nookie Bear and Orville the Duck slam shut the loophole and celebrate their pyrich victory. And it is a pariah victory because by showing willingness to make up rules bend rules change the landscape what have Orville and Nookie achieved.

No business is willing to engage them in any form of contract, why?

If you are willing to move the goal posts about with your member clubs then you are likely to do Yeh same with business partners and they can at least sue. Even if they don’t want too.

In addition to the lack of income (begging the question what is paying Orville and Nookie’s wages) the legality of every word of the SFA SPFL is now tagged with “subject to scrutiny”. The obvious confidence of the two puppets to do as they please will only lead to complacency. A dangerous mix with these two.

The real danger is though if as the pattern seems to show the more you move the goal posts and make up rules to suit a agenda you have is that eventually you paint yourself into a corner and then is when the trouble really begins.

Already Rangers have asked for clarity on rules and decisions. This is just the beginning. In time the Muppets will fond themselves in a position that quiet simply brings down the house of cards.

With teams struggling to make ends meet would it not be better if Doncaster and Regan secured new funds rather than try to settle old scores.

Seen To Be Done

Well the first  judgements are in and they show that they are special cases in Scottish football.  The SFA/SPFL formerly SPL has spoken. Same charge same verdict same punishment? Well no.

With the verdicts and punishments dished out to Hearts and Dunfermline juxtaposed beside the punishments Rangers received not 12 months ago one thing had become clear.  Consistency and precedent are not applied in Scottish Football. Once again decisions made in the name of authorities can be brought into question. Certainly from the outside looking in its easy to see what the SFA/SPFA see as who is the favoured Ones and who is the club looked on as the evil ones.

For me a fine and similar punitive signing restrictions was the least Heart’s could have expected and Dunfermline should have received a lesser fine and similar signing restrictions. Now Hearts and Dunfermline look likely to have points deductions in the coming league year but given the favourable treatment both these clubs seem to be receiving any points penalty should be nullified quickly with their new 6 points for a win 3 points for a draw and 1 point for a loss. Put simply looking at the situation it would not surprise you if this was applied.

I will concede that the allegedly independent tribunal may have reached its verdicts without outside interference. The publicity caravan that followed Rangers last year simply didn’t follow Hearts or Dunfermline.  The masses of loud shouting bigots (we can now assume they are bigots due to them only targeting Rangers) never showed up. So it’s entirely possible the latest three-man panel did not get their views coloured by negative press. Certainly there was no in-depth investigation into either Hearts or Dunfermline. No spin on at best flimsy and at worse outright lies was broadcast or awarded a “Sony” media award.  Their was no disbanded “tax case” web site. So the answer to why seems simple. The Panels sat at different times with different media landscapes that applied different pressures on the panels or there is a badly contrived cover up occurring.  It is all too easy to assume some sort of moving of goal posts or worse is happening within Scottish Football.  If Neil Doncaster is wanting Clarity and Stability in order to attract Blue Chip Sponsors then seriously whoever is acting as Puppet master in all this is spectacularly blowing any chance Neil had out the water and beyond Doncaster’s short grasp.

Rangers are right to ask for an explanation. Will they get one? With Regan and Doncaster at the helm answers are not the usual form.  In fact usually you have to make many public statements accuse everyone and their dog of bias and cause a section of the SFA to strike before the SFA move on a subject.

You cannot say Hearts didn’t win anything during Romanov’s debt ride they won Scottish Cups so it’s not as if they didn’t affect the history of the game, so in truth why shouldn’t Hearts be dealing with the same punishments as Rangers. Dunfermline gained Promotion so they had their own success too so a fine and signing bans should continue.  Am I wrong in thinking that some high profile Puppeteers are leaving their finger prints all over the scene. Well I can now publish photos of both panels taken as the emerged from their deliberations.

THE RANGERS PANEL 2012

THE HEARTS DUNFERMLINE PANEL 2013

Justice is strange not only should it be done but it should be seen to be done. Regan and Doncaster sit astride a missile of incompetence. Like Peter Sellars in Doctor Strangelove they must be laughing . There really is no other explanation to the Judgements announced this week

Take your pick but either the paper shredder at Hampden is going to be busy or the files at Hampden contain a time bomb.

Waiting to explode!

Dont Ignore The Warnings

Following up my blog http://wp.me/p2X3r5-7C

The voices of hind sight are always invalid in a sense.  Its easy to say “I told you so.” Harder to predict and even harder to be listened to.

I am reminded of a conversation I had with a old timer well he was in his 60’s or 70’s.  This old guy was in my company with a couple of others.  The broad church of Scottish football was represented.  Around the table was a Rangers Fan, a Celtic fan, a Aberdeen fan and a St Mirren Fan.  Sounds like the beginning of a joke but happily for me it reflects my social life and football discussions.

During the conversation the Celtic Fan said to the group that Rangers Administration was the worse day in the history of the club. A simple statement and to many it may be seen to be true.  The old timer Rangers fan corrected him “listen son” he said with a tinge of anger ” Administration does not even make the top 10 of Rangers darkest days.”

The conversation quickly got round to what was the darkest days at Ibrox.  The old timer answered clearly with sadness “January 2 1971 and the hundreds of days that followed”

He was right the loss of 67 lives that day are without doubt the darkest days.  There was no question death and human tragedy trump all.  Now how does this apply to my blog http://wp.me/p2X3r5-7C simple.  In the aftermath of the Ibrox Disaster Rangers Willie Waddle toured Europe.  Hunting for safe stadia templates to bring back to Ibrox.  Mr Waddle had 67 reasons, 67 families motivating him in his quest to make Ibrox the Safest place to watch football it could be.  In all his words he said that stadia design was out dated and unsafe.  He championed alone the benefits of bringing Stadiums into the 20th century and on into the 21st. No one really listened in UK filled with relics from the 1800s calling them safe and blaming fans when injuries happened.  Only Richard Donald in Aberdeen listened and at lowest cost made his stadium all seated, all be it with areas of concern.  At least The Great Mr Donald listened partially no other club did. For 16 years through Football Violence and fan legislation no one considered the infra structure of where the now heavily policed fans stood.  Rangers insistence on safer stadia never wavered though.  Rangers never forgot sending Players and officials to 67 funerals in early 1971.  The rest of Scotland and the UK did forget though.  It took Hillsbourgh for the UK to listen.  Ninety six deaths, Police cover ups and years of families fighting for justice but sadly the world listened and Willie Waddle’s ignored words came back to haunt football.  It was no accident Lord Justice Taylor toured Ibrox during his quest to produce a blueprint for safer stadia.

Now we get to voices unheard today.  Gretna financial meltdown was a warning, despite promises to tighten the ship this didn’t stop Dundee, Motherwell, Livingstone, Rangers, Dunfermline and Hearts. Last year in scenes of farce and criminal negligence Rangers hit the financial wall.  Rangers fans warned “This is just the beginning.” sometimes not worded as clearly but basically this is the essence of what was said and meant.  Maybe the celebratory often jealous often vindictive voices of the loud others in the SPL drowned out the warnings but they were clearly there to be listened too if you chose.  Like Mr Waddle in the 1970’s though the warnings were ignored.  Now Hearts and Dunfermline are suffering.  The template for what has to happen to Hearts and Dunfermline is set and remembered.

Neil Doncaster has a hell of a job to get money into the game in times of austerity. Good luck I doubt the combined brains of Donald Trump, Dragons Den and Lord Sugar could sell that pup. Certainly not for the income required. Doncaster allied with SFA Regan are the lame ducks paddling like hell under the water trying not to look nervous above it.

Rangers are not immune from only hearing what they want.  Many warnings about Craig Whyte went unheard.  Was he a Fit and Proper person to run a football club?  At the time he must be he had passed the SFA/SPL test.  Whyte had passed the due diligence tests that every business being taken over has to go through.  That should be enough to give confidence.  Well hind sight says no it wasn’t.  Can’t point a finger at the Bank (Lloyds TSB) they got their money and ran for the hills whooping and hollering.  Seems that sometimes you reap what you sow.

So now today we have where any word of warning from Rangers fans is ignored.  The SPL does need the old firm clearly the customer base alone provided just enough money to keep the banks away from the clubs door.  The top division needs the draw of the Derby.  This is to separate the two strands of this.  Rangers required punished for the misdemeanours committed in its name by well known persons.  The punishments dished out will be measured in hind sight.  On the whole no Rangers Fan disputes that punishment was required. There is a concern that the punishment of effective relegation to SFL3 was seen as fair enough.  The accompianing signing bans and loss of votes etc are seen as examples of jealous vengeance.  In truth we all have to wait till a club hits the same wall as Rangers did.

The truth of the matter really is that Rangers fans feel the pain.  Know the situation have seen it, felt it, and bought the t shirt.  Just because you don’t like Rangers does not mean you can ignore the views of the fans.  The Rangers Fan Base still out numbers nearly every other club in Scotland put together.

Rangers fans with experience recognise a scam, a shyster, con men and ineptitude.  They are not so pleased to welcome a number of new members of this select wearing maroon from Edinburgh.  In spite of everything Rangers fans deep down do not wish to join any celebratory club that takes pleasure at watching others suffer.   The overwhelming notion of this group is that Regan and Doncaster are not fit or proper persons to hold office.  Winston Churchill spent most of the 1930’s warning of the dangers of Germany rearming, the appeasers condemned him as a Warmonger and pushed him to the edge of politics.  He was right though. As soon as war broke out in 1939 a fast car and a telegram was  sent to Sir Winston and he was rapidly brought back into the fold. Doncaster and Regan are tuned into listening to David Icke! The madder less realistic the projection as long as it tallys with their barely hidden puppet masters then all is well full steam ahead.

The biggest question on the new boss of the SPFL appointment has to be not really how Doncaster managed to wangle the job.  Not who? why? and what made him the winning candidate.  No the real question is this why was there only two candidates? Was the job advertised? if not why not? If so why did no outside new blood apply?  Is Scottish football that damaged that no one from outside its often twisted system willing to risk their reputation by associating themselves with it.  I think maybe this is the case and if the business administrators of the UK don’t want involved then the companies and Marquee Brands the same people control won’t want involved either.  I can see BDO or Duff and Phelps sponsoring the League but then again why would they they are already on most clubs emergency speed dial.

As long as no one listens and no one learns, and lets face it Regan and Doncaster have a track history of burying their heads in the sand. Then sadly Gretna, Motherwell, Dundee, Rangers, Dunfermline and Hearts fans will not be alone in having to have a whip round to try and keep their Club alive.  Predictions on who will follow Hearts are wide spread,  Dundee United, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen being the favourites to call Brian Jackson maybe its right but the words from today and last year is simpler than that there will be other clubs in trouble and Doncaster/Regan have already shown they are not up for the job.

Light and Shade

It is funny how simply by saying that Neil Doncaster is the wrong man for a job (wrong man for anything other than Car Park Attendant) you can open yourself up to a lot of opposing views.  I welcome debate as long as it is not abusive you will find that I will approve comments and answer them too.  Debate for me is usually always healthy.

To be accused of having a pro club agenda is maybe over exaggerating my view-point.  I am firstly a Proud Scotsman and want nothing more than to be able to be proud of the national sport.  This ideal has been eroded over the years but in my heart I am still hopeful, even if my brain tells me its possibly a lost cause for at least a generation.  The appointment of Neil Doncaster and the continued unopposed tenure of Stewart Regan make me wonder if a generation is a reasonable timescale to get the game of football back to its right place.  To look back at the days of Ernie Walker, David Will and multi layered committees of blazers in smoke-filled rooms is not something I ever thought I would do.  Mr Walker was the Secretary of the SFA between 1974 and 1990.  Or if you like to place that in nicer terms West Germany, Argentina, Spain, Mexico and Italy.  Five consecutive world cup finals.  for sure other countries qualified for these five but in the isles that gave Football to the world only Scotland went to all five world cups.  England sure as hell didn’t.  England lost in the Quarter finals in Brazil 1970 and did not grace a world cup until Spain 1982. They then went on to have a better record than Scotland who to our shame have only managed one visit to the big show since in France 1998.

Lets not be Scottish about this and say we were unlucky or nonsense like that.  We as a nation were not good enough.

Would a debacle like we are witnessing in Scottish Football happen under Mr Walker,  NO WAY!  Sir Alec Ferguson writes in glowing terms about Ernie.   I would take this son of Govan’s judgement of character any day of the week.  Ernie it seems was a charming assassin able to charm people then if that failed shoot them down with a careful quote from the rule book.   Also as hard as Ernie was he explained and justified his decisions in plain English and thus avoided any confusion. Agree or disagree with Mr Walker he left you in no doubt who was boss and if need be he had the intimate knowledge of the rules and politics of the SFA to back him up.  Where you could question Mr Walker is in his leadership of the Business of Scottish football.  Just look at the infrastructure of Scottish football.  In the halcyon days not one penny profit was reinvested into infrastructure or youth development.  Indeed Mr Walker sowed the seeds of the Think tank culture.

Enter James Farry.  Lampooned for only reading three books – The Rule Book, a dictionary and a Thesaurus!  The red top hacks couldn’t understand him and even the High and Mighty SCOTSMAN newspaper had to edit his quotes to make their readership understand the utterances from The Gardener.  He always gave of the image of a petty bitter self justifying man.  Universally hated and mistrusted,  exposed as such by the digging of Celtic Football Club regards delaying player registration.  Booted out of his job and rightly so.

David Taylor replaced Farry.  A trained solicitor for 8 years he done a good enough job.  Managed the politics well and went on to a position with UEFA.  Such was the respect for this man as an administrator that UEFA head hunted him.  Fair enough a couple of European Championships and no world cup qualification but his time passed without any great crisis.  He was instrumental in bringing the Champions League Final Zinedine Zidan and all to Hampden in 2002.

You also always got the feeling from Mr Taylor that he cared more about Football than he did for himself.  I personally never thought he was protecting his own position out of self-interest unlike his predecessor.

If Taylor stabilised the mess and mire left by disgraced Farry when he left for the marble corridors of UEFA his replacement brought petty agendas and conspiracy theorists out the woodwork.  Bring on a ex player, Coach, Business degree holder, Media Pundit and Football Agent.  A mix of everything you would consider for the role.  Did I forget to mention he was Scottish too.  The Scottish bit is important not as important as Gordon Smith’s association with Rangers.  This and a mis-speak or misquote regarding sectarianism.  My view on this is that Smith was concerned that the focus solely  on Rangers was an unhelpful smokescreen.  Depending on your view Rangers at this time did have its fair share of hatful songs and language at this time.  Smith was only saying that to say that this only happened at Rangers games was not helpful in eradicating this from the game in Scotland. He certainly was not defending the Hate speech at Ibrox he was in my opinion attempting to widen the scope from simply concentrating on G51 to the wider concerns of Racism, Sectarianism, Sexist comments prevalent at many other Scottish football Stadia. Making football a family friendly environment was his motive.  Ranger may well have been perceived as the leading offenders in this simply by media and UEFA concerns and the defence by many Rangers Fans of they are doing it too had legs.  Gordon Smith none the less had all the credentials to succeed but could never drop the connotations of being a Rangers man.  Smith’s leadership and the direction he took the SFA was surprisingly successful even though the accusation and conspiracy suspicions never left Smith’s tenure. His vast experience in every area of the game though often got him into the headlines.  His comments on events some would think should fall into specialist committees left some in the game surprised.  I would maintain that as a former player he was well placed to refer “Simulation” to the committee tasked with this.  In fact as a man of experience some could say that Smith was the one man experienced enough to modernise the structures at same time respect the traditions.   He resigned from the post to look after his ill aged parents.   Sadly if you think about it take away perceived connections to one club and I think that Smith certainly had all the right ingredients to drive the SFA into a better place.

Gordon Smith’s petty back stabbers certainly got their wish when the SFA came to replace him.  They went global advertising around the world.  The appointing panel mindful of the pettiness surrounding Smith went for a perfect counter.  Stewart Regan, with the rule book thrown out the window, making rules up as he went along. Never has so many decisions made by the SFA been so challenged.  The only man to allow a Strike by SFA Grade 1 Referees.  I mean to have men who give their time to create a game of football, get abuse by the bucket load week in week out to feel so strongly about an issue that they withdraw their services.  Sorry but failure to support your employees in that manner is bad management.  The SFA were dictated to by a member club was that club sanctioned not nearly enough.  The fact is that mercenary referee’s were flown in from around Europe to cover a match day program.  The SFA invest heavily in its referee training structure but it hung the products of this out to dry. Rightly or wrongly the treatment of Referees at this time was handled badly.  Celtic attacked and succeeded but as an outsider looking in if a club, a manager, a player ever says that they have never made a mistake then I will show you a bare-faced liar.  The events after the referee error by the officials themselves were wrong but the whole incident had no winners, only a collection of losers, everyone involved lost.  Not one shred of credit could be placed on anyone embroiled in drama that became a crisis.  Regan had set the tone for being a dead  in the water. A lame duck Chief Executive.  Then comes Rangers.

An association is in many ways like a trade union membership brings benefits and restrictions.  An Association is by definition the sum of many parts. No part bigger than the other and no part too small to be unsupported.  Not for one second should the SFA bailed out Rangers in any way but unlike many other members going into administration the Rangers situation was more complex than many of us will ever understand.  Unlike Celtic pre McCann this was a club with undetermined debts.  this was a club fighting for the right of many businesses to of employed tax reduction strategies.  Morally reducing your tax liability is wrong to the vast majority of the population who simply don’t get access to such schemes but legally schemes and plans to do so keep the wheels of commerce flowing not just in football but in every aspect of everyday Britain.  Starbucks, Google, News International, Jimmy Carr, Rangers all MORALLY  guilty as charged in reducing their tax liabilities.  Innocent however of any illegal acts certainly most of what they were accused of.  There is a vast difference between Tax Reduction and Tax avoidance.  If you honestly think this is wrong then look at your own world.  Your employer most likely reduces their tax liability substantially.  I would bet they claim back VAT for example.  I would bet also that you have paid a tradesman cash in hand at a reduced price thus avoiding VAT (illegally) the little deals here and there make us all guilty in some way or fashion.  The SFA stood by and said nothing at a time when stands had to be taken.  As I said not bailing out Rangers but at least finding out about the trouble one of its members were in and offering a clarifying statement to benefit the game.  Standing quietly by was not an option but it was the one Regan took.

Regan has stood quiet on many issues strange as it may seem the National teams fall down the world rankings does not seem to bother Mr Regan.   As I said Lame Duck in charge.  This could maybe be reversed if the Chief of the League Body(s) were strong leaders.  Even Regan could ride on the wake of someone like Ernie Walker god knows Jim Farry did. The warnings of impeding financial doom were all there for years. Regan and Cronies failed to protect, serve or inform their Customers, the fans and not for the lack of warnings.