A Celtic blogger calling himself Hostile Monkey obliterated the Sevco Survival Myth over the weekend, with a stunning, forensic dissection of the arguments in its favour, trashing each one with aplomb, in a manner which leaves little doubt about the conclusion.
Rangers are dead. Gone. Buried. No more.
This is known to all of us, of course, but large numbers of their fans continue to persist in the fantasy nonetheless, banging on about the continuation of history as if the concept of a bankrupt company selling that in its liquidation sale was not plainly ridiculous.
Of all the fantasies Sevco fans cling to, the Survival Myth is easily the daftest, but you have to fully explore it and the implications of it to truly see how mad it is.
Taken to its logical conclusion what Sevco fans believe is that the club and company are two separate things and that what happens to one does not affect the other at all.
It is the “club” that carries the history, is what they’d have us believe …. but what about the rest?
Well, the registration is held by the company.
We know that because Sevco had to be granted a “transfer of membership” from the old Rangers.
The player contracts are held by the company.
We know that because otherwise the TUPE regulations would not have allowed the whole of the Rangers first team squad to opt in or out of moving to the newco.
The property and commercial infrastructure is owned by the company.
We know this because this is traded on the stock market (when they are allowed there!) and can be used as collateral for loans and other things.
And, of course, any debts are held by the company.
This is the basis on which this fiction was first being spun.
Everything of consequence – everything that allows a football club to actually do what it’s set up for – is under the aegis of “the company.”
Only that ephemeral concept of history remains the province of the club … this is their argument, boiled down.
Yet as Hostile Monkey points out, the history itself doesn’t even come complete.
Take their first season in existence for example.
If Sevco and Rangers are, in fact, one in the same, if the club itself never went anywhere, why did they have to play qualifying rounds in the Scottish Cup? If the history is intact, they ought to have started in the Third Round, as Scottish Cup seeding is based on the previous year’s league position … when they’d have been second in the SPL.
Everyone involved in this knows, on some level, that this idea is ludicrous. They cling to it for dear life anyway, because not to would hurt too much.
Hostile Monkey takes apart those pretences one at a time, starting with the Lord Nimmo Smith verdict and what it actually says about the Sevco – Rangers link. It goes on to examine the ASA verdict, the BBC Trust decision, the European Club Association statement on the matter and a few other things besides.
Aside from being a total demolition job on the whole idea, what Hostile Monkey has demonstrated, in crystal clear terms, is just how little their club actually means to them except as a vehicle for their supremacist notions.
I have long argued that whether those trophies are represented in the history books as belonging to Rangers or Sevco or indeed both is irrelevant to the vast majority of us.
Days like Black Sunday happened regardless. The club that won those honours might be dead and gone but the fact of them remains, and those supporters who want to maintain the fiction that Sevco carries the flag are perfectly entitled to do so inside their own heads … because the history of a football club is in more than the bricks and mortar of the ground and the record in those books.
It is carried in the hearts and the minds of the fans themselves, and there it really can be passed on from generation to generation.
Take Seville, for example. It will remain part of the Celtic consciousness forever … although we left that magical city with nothing but warm memories. The “history” of it lies in what we tell others about those experiences. It is a collection of feelings, emotions, things of the heart.
To the Sevco fans though, history isn’t like that.
They’ve at once elevated it above what their club actually ought to be – an ideal, something truly immortal – and yet something less than that at the same time.
On the one hand, they have made the history more important than any other aspect of their existence, without which their club is nothing. Yet at the same time, they’ve demeaned that history by making it about nothing more than lines on a page, dry statistics written down somewhere.
They fail to see this, to understand that the history of a football club resides in something above and beyond that.
In making those things into the soul of Sevco they are saying simply that it has has no soul.
They’ve devalued what the history represents, turning it into nothing more than a plaque on the wall, something that can be “purchased” in an asset sale, like a piece of office furniture. That makes it worthless except in terms of what someone is willing to pay for it.
Could our European Cup triumph in 1967 be represented in such a way?
As something that can be bought and sold, and stuck on a shelf?
Why doesn’t the very idea of that sound loathsome to them?
Simple really; without the totem pole of the “history” to dance around, they’ve got nothing else.
With all this in mind, the article by Hostile Monkey is one of the most important to be written and published on this particular subject.
It should be used as a reference point whenever Sevco fans try to maintain the Survival Myth.
Check it out at the link below.
You won’t be disappointed.
To read the article itself, click here.
Why bother to be honest !
The fans of other clubs know the truth only the sevco fans are in denial. There is too much energy by Celtic fans wasted on this and not enough energy put in too supporting Celtic.
Season tickets are on the slide at an alarming rate at Celtic and we need to get back to supporting our club through theese difficult times. So buy a season book if you can afford one and let’s get back to what we do best. Hail Hail
Boring coming onto Celtic sites and reading about another team constantly other than Celtic.I don’t read them very often. I was never a fan of the official site but it at least it gives Celtic news, it gets my clicks.
I agree Jimmy, Focus on our own and support and encourage the next generation of Celts
Hail Hail
ridiculous comment. I support Celtic fully, financially and emotionally but also put endless energy into demanding the truth be spoken. So much lies and cheating is involved in this issue that questions the point of the game. If you are soulless fine, speak for yourself, but don’t decry the Celts fighting for truth and transparency.
I agree with Jimmy bee…we know they’re deid….and my confirmation came from… Donald “the Bigot” Findlay QC…A.R.S.E…F.U.D.
When he said they were deid…I knew then that they were deid.
Time to move on…and support the Bhoys.
Onwards and upwards Celtic.
I agree with most of what jimmy bee says above but are season tickets on the slide?…..I believe we sold around 42k this season….that’s about average for past seasons…..only in the o neill era did we enjoy sell outs every homes game….attendences are down however which reduces match day income.
We need to concentrate on our own club….forget about them…..they are irrelevant… And dead ????
who cares the deadybears are a thing of the past….its sevco now fact…..scum of the earth….
It’s utter drivel that will convince nobody not already convinced. Why bother?
Things are going to get worse for serco as it seems that the big tax case will shortly be raising it`s head once again. This time being conducted from England and without knuckle friends in high places swotting people who are looking for money These boys do not stand on ceremony and will get their money….! It is looking very much like that the “big hoose” could still be the newest bus depot in Glasgow. Roll on that day! and then we shall see where the history is.! Doon the Swanee.!!!H.H.
Get a life
Lots of Celtic supporters have an ‘issue’ with Celtic being involved in thi ‘myth’.
Celtic refused to get involved with their fans questioning why Rangers got the European Licence in 2011 whilst owing the ‘Tax Authorities’ money – as in the ‘Wee Tax Case’.
The fans as. Shareholders had to take up this issue themselves.
Celtic are ‘shareholders’ in the SFA – why do Celtic allow the SFA to stay silent on this issue of ‘Same Club’ ?
Celtic are in on this ‘myth’ and blatant Lie, yet Celtic do nowt about it.
That’s why Celtic fans have given up ‘supporting’ Celtic by way of purchasing !!
It truly amazes me that Celtic fans persist in the hunt and taunt of Sevco fans as you call them .the fact is Celtic and Rangers need each other and the history intertwined back to the very beginning .Scottish football is the only casualties in all of this but if you are happy with the performance then good luck to you the fact is the support dwindles ,Europe is a distant memory and the talent a joke enjoy enjoy bitter bigots.
I think in all honesty im inclined to listen to lord nimmo smith who actually knows legislation and other laws like the back of his hand rather than listen to a random yahoo called cheeky monkey,guess since celtic is out the champions league theres nothing left to discuss than sevco wow lol how sad so let me get this right, some muppet called cheeky monkey is right and lord nimmo smith,one of the most respected judges in the country is wrong,come back to planet earch cheeky monkey you just another uneducated celtic fan
What a load of tosh. Gave me a good laugh though to know yous are fizzing. Tee hee.
WATP.
OBSESSED ????????????????
Yes bhoys get behind your team and enjoy it while it lasts because we all know that the clock is ticking and like it or not if the mark Warburton David weir management duo keep the current Rangers team progressing at the rate of knots it is there should be exciting times ahead at ibrox with an attractive style of football watp
Lol we all enjoy your facination with the most successful club side in the word lol, unfortunately for yous the only ones that matter in the world to say new club or old club all say we are the same. So enjoy yourselfs in. Your wishful thinking that it will be retracted lol. Lol lol lol
It’s amazing what can be achieved by banging hooves on a keyboard. Well played David!
So the late Rangers are more successful than ten time European champions Real Madrid ? Typical of you deluded lot to be live such malarkey
The SFA and SPFL have already confirmed that Rangers are tge same club. The next top-tier title win will go down in the history books as the 55th. How angry will Celtic fans be when that day inevitably comes? What about number 56, 57, 58, etc.
Rangers fans are delighted right now. Full stadiums and a fantastic football team. We’re coming to regain our place as champions. Expect us.
Look at poor David still in denial..David you can’t buy a history..FACT..And I’m sure it’ll all come out in the Washing In the not to distant future..2 Diddy Leagues & Counting..Liquidated chasing The Big Cup Dream..Hail Hail..
Enjoy Triggers Brush fc while it lasts David.
You forgot to say Lol Gerry. Lol
David, are Real Madrid not the most successful club side in the world?
Or should they in fact be humiliated by the fact that whilst they were winning 10 European cups, rangers had relocated their resources to procuring 27 Scottish league cups?
The irony about this is, I support Barcelona… but hairy guy on a bike… where the myth of rangers supposed “success” originates is beyond me…
you haven’t even won the petrofac training cup after 3 attempts.
granted, you probably see that as successful, since Celtic haven’t won it either.
It’s all about the rangers!!!!
Obsession is going to the highest order in this fascination with the blue side. It is quite extraordinary that the green side are focusing all their energies into wether the bears r gone but we know the real reason why, they’re still not content with being the 1st British club yes British to win the big cup they’re wanting to be the most successful club in Scotland too, sorry bhoys you’ve a few trebles and cups to win before that happens!!!! For the name of the game support your club and take them advertising flags down from the top tiers lol……….