Doink Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Not a surprise really, seeing as that was the first item on the agenda. Oh ! didn't know. Just when i heard Steptoe and Son had guest appeared -alarm bells rang 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 BBC reporting that there is no chance of a reprieve for 'Rangers'. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagmaster Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Apologies if already posted! http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/16/rangers-lowest-league-victory-fans 'Rangers' starting in the lowest league is a victory for fans over an inept elite A grassroots network has exposed the connivances at the top of the game. Now's our chance to rebuild Scottish football It's worth getting a few things straight before kick-off. This isn't about "relegating" Rangers. Rangers don't exist any more. This isn't about Craig Whyte. Craig Whyte's not around any more. It's about a culture of failure, a total lack of transparency and connivance from the very top of the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football Association in a rigged cartel that has brought Scottish football to total crisis. The good news is that the inept coterie at the top of the game has been bypassed by ordinary fans and smaller clubs. This is what democracy looks like. Just when you thought the corporate takeover of society was just about complete, an event takes place or a movement pops up to renew your faith and make you realise that big change is not just possible, it's inevitable, because right across society the elite that runs our world is being exposed daily as a corrupt and incompetent failure. Sevco 5088 Ltd being forced to start their existence in Scotland's lowest league is one of these events, and the sweeping grassroots network that made this happen is one of these movements. Only a few months ago this was completely unthinkable, and only a few days ago it seemed like efforts to parachute this new entity into the First Division – the next tier down from the Scottish Premier League – by Neil Doncaster, the now utterly discredited SPL chief executive, would succeed. Sporting integrity, or integrity of any kind, would, it seemed, be crushed under the weight of corporate expectation, a conflation of embedded sports and business journalists and the staggering sense of entitlement of Rangers and their allies in the governing bodies. Instead, incredibly, we've just seen the transformation of Scottish football, realised almost entirely through Twitter and key websites that have proliferated as the story has dominated every media outlet for over a year: the award-winning Rangers Tax Case, fans site Pie and Bovril, rebel journalist Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, Wings Over Scotland, Scotzine and Paul McConville to name a few. These sites give us hope that what may follow is not just a renaissance in Scottish football but in Scottish media. A core part of this saga has been the failure of the sports and business media with allegations of laziness, partiality and just a complete lack of any critical faculties. Whatever you think of the rights and wrongs of Rangers, the fact is that the SPL chairmen would have quite happily connived to drop the newco into the top flight. Without the resistance of a network of ordinary fans unconvinced by the governing bodies' (or the mainstream media's) account of things, the money men's perpetual short-termism would have prevailed. Faced with (unsubstantiated) apocalyptic scenarios, ordinary fans put huge pressure on their own clubs in advance of the vote at Hampden this week, withholding their season tickets. The collapse of Rangers and the shock it's put through the entire Scottish game has wider consequences. The allegations of widespread tax evasion and the brutal gangster behaviour of football executives has exposed an entire class of feral businessmen. But this is about more than exposing bad business. The model of endless growth has been challenged. The consequences of consigning Sevco Scotland to start where any new club would start may well mean drastic cuts in Scottish football. Some clubs may have to close or downsize. This is no bad thing. We know we have too many clubs in this country. Endlessly chasing an utterly unsustainable model is failed economics. This has been a profound failure of governance, not just among the series of dodgy geezers who lined up to fleece Rangers fans for decades, but the entire edifice of Scottish football, especially the leadership of Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster. The reality is that the SPL, founded in 1998, has failed by any metric you can choose: attendances, club success in Europe, entertainment value, national team success. Incredibly, since the SPL began, five of its member clubs have entered administration. The newly leaked email from the SFA's Stewart Regan marks him out as a clueless fixer, who's failed at every effort to collude with Rangers. BBC Scotland reported yesterday that a vote of no confidence in Regan was proposed and seconded at last Friday's Scottish Football League meeting. By having the courage to break from the old failed model, the SFL clubs have done the whole of Scottish football a huge favour. There won't be any "social unrest", there will be renewed enthusiasm. More people in Scotland per head of population watch their domestic top-level league than any other European nation. Let's rebuild, let's transform Scottish football. Let's learn the wider lessons not just about the failed corporate economies but the lively powerful networks that can offer an alternative. Vindication! Quite a few pages ago I stated that the Guardian was probably the best newspaper on the news stands and this article has to go down as one of the best in the printed media so far, not just for the fact p&b got a name check! : Oh, and no apologies from me for re-posting this. Some people don't read every page! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 But this is about more than exposing bad business. The model of endless growth has been challenged. The consequences of consigning Sevco Scotland to start where any new club would start may well mean drastic cuts in Scottish football. Some clubs may have to close or downsize. This is no bad thing. We know we have too many clubs in this country. Endlessly chasing an utterly unsustainable model is failed economics. Not so. We have too many clubs who know there is a level where they can tread water, fulfil fixtures and be in no danger of relegation. The league needs to be opened up, not cut down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Glasgow's entries for Chief Executive Haircut of the Year is unlikely to win over the judging panel. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Vindication! Quite a few pages ago I stated that the Guardian was probably the best newspaper on the news stands and this article has to go down as one of the best in the printed media so far, not just for the fact p&b got a name check! : Oh, and no apologies from me for re-posting this. Some people don't read every page! Who doesn't read every page? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Vindication! Quite a few pages ago I stated that the Guardian was probably the best newspaper on the news stands and this article has to go down as one of the best in the printed media so far, not just for the fact p&b got a name check! : Oh, and no apologies from me for re-posting this. Some people don't read every page! Not just a mention, a nice juicy link as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Look on the bright side, at least the papers haven't got a hold of that email you sent out... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) Looking back on the SFA/SPL masterplan, I couldn't help but notice the similarities with this episode of SOAP. Edited July 16, 2012 by kiddy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyderspaceman Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I think all the clubs received 'assurances' that Rangers would be voted in to division 1 by the SFL, probably from Regan and Doncaster. That would certainly explain the blind panic of Gilmour and Cameron (who then went away, spoke to sponsors/backers and realised they still had their support and swiftly made a u-turn on his statement). You're right though - it is just blatant desparation. There's no realistic way that Rangers will be in the SPL next season, although the season after (with the correct 'reconstruction') is a different matter all together. I get the feeling we could be in for more scraps during this season. We would all like sensible reconstruction. My view is that Sevco will not survive to see it. Unless something really big happens, like an Arab sheik buys them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Koop Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Thanks HJ. "Look, what else do I have to do to prove it to you guys? There is no cover-up! Ask Gordon Smith." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumper Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Not just a mention, a nice juicy link as well. Succulent? It's on commentisfree, though. That's basically just a free blog for any old dafty to contribute to. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Who doesn't read every page? Ken, bloody part-timers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Buddie Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Let me concentrate, Neil. If I can perfom the Vulcan mind-meld telepathically with the SPL chairmen, we can have Rangers back in the SPL. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Let me concentrate, Neil. If I can perfom the Vulcan mind-meld telepathically with the SPL chairmen, we can have Rangers back in the SPL. ND: F*** all logic in that Stewart. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Apologies if already posted! http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/16/rangers-lowest-league-victory-fans ... But this is about more than exposing bad business. The model of endless growth has been challenged. The consequences of consigning Sevco Scotland to start where any new club would start may well mean drastic cuts in Scottish football. Some clubs may have to close or downsize. This is no bad thing. We know we have too many clubs in this country. Endlessly chasing an utterly unsustainable model is failed economics. This bit of the article is utter garbage. We may well have, say, too many full-time clubs. But the idea that we have "too many clubs" is farcical, and only surpassed in farcical-ness by ideas like Fife Utds etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsimButtHitsASix Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Ken, bloody part-timers. What a lazy b*****d this Ken is then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coooombe Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Regan: Shut the f**k up Donny! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulfulsaint Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 It would be nice if Steve Brown could give the Saints supporters a bit more clarity on this issue. He is set to leave the SPL board, deciding not to stand for re-election again, but how this can be interpreted is anyone's guess. Steve indicated he would leave the Board and not seek re-election many weeks ago after he received intimidating email from 'anonymous' at the point of the first vote on SPL membership for the newco. He argued and won the principle that it was a decision that should be taken by all share-holding clubs. He has been fairly disenchanted by the whole SPL affair and the way that smaller clubs have beenpressurised and so delegated Dircetor Stan Harris to vote at the last crucial meeting. SJFC have been consistently a 'no vote' throughout and although communication to fans has not always been perfect,it has been principled. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florentine_Pogen Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 That's an excellent article in the Sun , as good as anything the red tops have produced. I notice it's not even a sport's journalist who came up with it! Shock. It's a rewrite of Alex Thomson's blog from 48 hours ago. The MSM keeping up their usual standards i.e. late and plagiarised. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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