After my attempt at sarcasm the other day I thought I would return to my serious self in an attempt to gauge the strength of feeling towards our brethren across the city.
The time has gone 8 o’clock on Thursday 23 Feb and I’ve just finished listening to SSB and Radio Scotland.Â
The audacity of the people speaking certainly staggers my imagination.
This is like a well planned pincer movement: Rangers must be allowed straight back into the SPL (regardless of what condition they are in) because of the TV deal. Although they feel sorry for everyone they owe money to Scottish football can’t live without them and there’s the TV deal. Apparently in drawing up the SPL rules they never considered Rangers or Celtic going bust so in reality the rule book is worthless………………….. and there’s the TV deal.Â
Speirs says titles should not be removed due to the financial doping (if proven) as it would be a pointless exercise even if players have had two contracts and the national association has been lied to (staggering!).Â
In time Rangers, if they go into liquidation, may even be able to buy back their current history, as Fiorentina have recently done, and add them to the illustrious honours of a newco.Â
In the eyes of the media it is now acceptable to run a tax scam (not yet proven) and from this gain an unfair advantage over every other team in Scotland – remember they met smaller teams in cup competitions so it is not just SPL teams that have been scammed here.
It is acceptable for the national association to have been duped by players having two contracts as opposed to the regulation one (again not yet proven).
It is acceptable for one club to buy players from other clubs and then not pay for them.
It is acceptable for one club to receive tickets for away games, sell them, and not pass on the money to the home club.
It is acceptable for one club to hold a domestic cup tie at their own ground and then refuse to split the gate money with the other team.
It is acceptable for one club not to pay VAT, income tax, and National Insurance contributions.
Not only is it acceptable for one club to cheat every domestic team that they have encountered they have also been allowed to represent this country in UEFA competitions while doing so. That could have far reaching consequences for every team in Scotland including the national team itself.
The media would have us believe that the adequate punishment for this is the 10 points already deducted for entering administration. In a year that they squandered a fifteen point lead in a league that they would have struggled to win anyway.
So essentially we are now being told that the tax man can whistle, current clubs they owe money to can whistle, other creditors they can………………………… well you get the message.Â
The SPL rule book, which is supposed to govern our game, is to be ripped up. Meanwhile Rangers get to play in the SPL, with no loss of honours and no debt, against teams who are up to their eyes in debt themselves and also owed money from the previous incarnation.Â
You really could not make this up.
This media driven nonsense has no justice for any fan who has bought a season ticket for the last ten years. I personally have paid over £4,000 pounds to essentially watch a crooked sport. When was the last time any journalist currently spouting this jibberish paid to go to a game?
I don’t have much time for the administrators of our game as they have wantonly overseen the collapse of our national sport. Not their national sport. As long as you’ve got a blazer and the opportunity to jump to the UEFA gravy train then every club in Scotland can die with the obvious exception of one.
I’ve asked this question before;
If Scottish football can’t survive without Rangers at what point, as the revelations unfold, can Scottish football afford to live with Rangers?
I don’t think it’s sensible to be making such pronouncements of things being deemed acceptable when, as you say, much of it is yet unproven.
If you can point your readers to the rules and regulations that say clubs can have trophies and titles removed I’m sure we’d all be interested to read them.
You heard of sporting integrity? Aye..that. Doesn’t mean that the rules have to state what the punishment should be BUT that the punishment should fit the crime.
See Calciopoli of 2006.
The author does say that a lot of it is unproven but the point is excuses are already being made for the guilty.
Okay Al, credit where credit is due. Good points. However, when the truth all comes out in the wash, if your team are proven to be guilty, what punishment would you suggest? let’s say for example, the part ten years has been a sham with illegal dealings in every sense of the word. What is a fit punishment? While it is as yet, “unproven” the facts aren’t looking good, are they? So we have to prepare today for the possibility of sanctions and punishments, in case, and I repeat, IN CASE they are found to be guilty. We cannot after all be expected to sit back and make a decision on punishment if and when the guilt is proven. Professional outfits prepare for the worst, but then again, the SFA and SPL have shown not to have a whole lot of professional integrity recently.
As for the “rules and regulations that say clubs can have trophies and titles removed, call any Juventus fan for that answer.
Aye, clubs far larger than a fabled ‘instituion’ (Rossoneri and la vecchi signora) have been punished by relegation, points deductions and stripped titles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Serie_A_scandal
IF Rangers players were being issued “side letters” which are basically 2nd contracts, and they have not been declared, or even if they HAVE been declared, and ignored which would lead us to collusion and probably corruption, when registering players with the SFA/SPL, that would void all registrations of these players. Every game they were involved in would be declared a 3-0 win to the opposition. Then they Rangers WILL be stripped of trophies. Sion being an obvious example of ineligible players sanctions.
Al,
Of course nothing has been proven yet however what is clear is that this year at least has certainly not been a level playing field with the unpaid tax and NI, and not paying relatively poorer clubs monies that they are due.
I don’t personally know what the rules say as you cannot cover every possible infraction of them but as the pundits appear to be quite happy to tear up the rule book anyway it is of little consequence.
MSM rely on the demographics of our bigoted country to sell their wares. Regardless if it’s the palatable Spiers or one of the many idiot journalists, all the way down to the gutter with Hately ( well named that he is) THEY need ragers.
You and me both would be bored if I was to recount the injustices and fundamental bias we see day and daily!
But they have a problem. RTC, Phil Mc you,me and others within our community including Celtic FC, Paul McBride and even UEFA are watching.
Ignore the media as you would a daft wean. Weans make more sense and have the innocence of youth as excuse.
Just as Fergus stuck to what he knew was right despite torrents of abuse and ridicule so should we.
Don’t listen to their idiotic phone-ins, if you must pick up the casts where something informative has been said, otherwise leave them to it. Let them blabber amongst themselves
Let’s just ensure the laws of the land and rules of the game are adhered to.
I trust our club to do the right thing and the experts from the RTC and others who will clearly not be outdone by any hunnite chicanery!!
Keep the faith
HH
MSM rely on the demographics of our bigoted country to sell their wares. Regardless if it’s the palatable Spiers or one of the many idiot journalists, all the way down to the gutter with Hately ( well named that he is) THEY need ragers.
You and me both would be bored if I was to recount the injustices and fundamental bias we see day and daily!
But they have a problem. RTC, Phil Mc you,me and others within our community including Celtic FC, Paul McBride and even UEFA are watching.
Ignore the media as you would a daft wean. Weans make more sense and have the innocence of youth as excuse.
Just as Fergus stuck to what he knew was right despite torrents of abuse and ridicule so should we.
Don’t listen to their idiotic phone-ins, if you must pick up the casts where something informative has been said, otherwise leave them to it. Let them blabber amongst themselves
Let’s just ensure the laws of the land and rules of the game are adhered to.
I trust our club to do the right thing and the experts from the RTC and others who will clearly not be outdone by any hvnnite chicanery!!
Keep the faith
HH
I’m going to argue yer Viola claim. ACF Florentia Viola were formed in 2002 after AC Fiorentina formed in 1926 had went bust. The new club started in C2 the fourth tier of the Italian gemme.
They bought back the right to use the name Fiorentina and the shirt design in 2003. The name changed to ACF Fiorentina and are still listed as formed 2002. They didnae buy the history back.
That died with AC Fiorentina.
I’m only going with what I heard on the radio and it is backed up by the UEFA website showing all honours scine 1926:
http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=52817/profile/index.html
I’ll see your EUFA and raise you a Wiki 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorentina
I think I’m happy to call on UEFA being more believable than Wiki. My three kings to your three jacks!
You do know that you are dealing wie someone that has ALL of Channel Fours Italia Fitba’ on VHS? This is geek terrority for me….
don’t forget to enjoy your jelly etc.
call me paranoid but we aint getting the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth from any sfa scottish press spl sir david murray lloyds bank craig whyte or anyone else trust in 10 years they will all have swept this under the carpet and passed in to history we need an independant inquiry