A stitch-up for Frankenstein FC?
The BBC is reporting today that the Scottish football establishment hasn’t yet resigned itself to a reanimated zombie form of Rangers playing in Division 3 of the SFL next season. Despite half-a-dozen SPL clubs having made it clear that they won’t allow Charles Green’s new company directly back into their league, and despite it being the overwhelming wish of almost 100% of the fans of every other team in Scotland – and a large percentage of Rangers fans too, for varying reasons – that any new club start at the bottom, the craven moneymen of the SPL are still trying to find ways to get the Ibrox side back into the top division with the absolute barest minimum of delay.
It’s a mindboggling plan, and one we find it hard to attach much credibility to for a whole raft of reasons. Let’s look at just a few of them.
1. Fans aren’t that stupid.
We know the men in charge of Scottish football have a low opinion of the fans, but if they think the supporters of other SPL clubs – who have forced their chairmen to reject the idea of an immediate re-entry for Sevco 5088 FC in an unprecedented show of consumer power – would fall for a seedy compromise that could have Rangers 2012 back in the SPL a year from now, we’re forced to conclude that their heads button up the back.
Any chairman who votes to accept such a plan will, we’ll hazard a guess, be bombarded with an avalanche of angry letters, emails and abuse in the street that’ll make the last one look like a surprise birthday party in a sweetshop.
2. There might not be a New Rangers at all.
It’s far from clear that Charles Green is going to be able to field a football team in the 2012-13 season whatever happens. The business of setting up the new company is dragging on at a snail’s pace, beset by serious problems on all sides. It’s a matter of very considerable doubt that Green can afford to bankroll the club until August, half of the playing staff has already walked away, and the Rangers support’s opposition to his ownership hardened significantly this week with the bizarre and belligerent intervention of John Brown.
We simply can’t see that Sevco Rangers is currently a viable corporate entity, even if it somehow overcame all the other obstacles that are currently in its way. And furthermore, we’ve never believed Charles Green actually wants to run a football club in Glasgow in the first place.
3. Most of the SFL has little to gain from the plan.
The clubs in Scotland’s lower leagues have been until now the most likely winners from the whole Rangers fiasco, excitedly eyeing hefty financial bonuses from gate receipts and TV money as the Ibrox club makes its way up through the divisions (and in our view, perhaps not quite as quickly as everyone thinks). Now they’re facing the prospect of having that taken away, and being offered not much by way of compensation – indeed, the proposed new pyramid system represents a danger that some of them might fall out of the senior leagues altogether.
It only takes eight of the 30 SFL clubs voting No for any proposal to be thrown out, and there are numerous different reasons for them to object. We can’t see a play-off spot for Division 1 representing much of a carrot to Elgin City or Stranraer or Montrose or Clyde or Peterhead, when set against what they’d get from the presence of Rangers in SFL3 for even a single season.
(It’s been suggested that the SFL could be bypassed by the SPL relegating Rangers, which compels the SFL to accept them into Division 1. But there are all sorts of holes in that plan. For the newco Rangers to be relegated, they’d first have to be accepted into the SPL and acknowledged as a continuation of the old club, before then being immediately punished for the oldco Rangers’ crimes. That would need several of the clubs who’ve already explicitly stated they’ll vote against that to change their minds, incurring very great wrath from their supporters. And that’s not the half of the difficulties such a process would entail.)
So those are just three of the most immediately obvious reasons why the SPL’s latest cunning plan is doomed from the off. The internet is already alive with furious reaction from fans of every club in the land (including Rangers), and we don’t see it dying down any time soon. We’ll go out on a limb and say it, as we’ve done since the saga began and been (so far) right every time – this isn’t going to happen. No form of Rangers will play in either the SPL or SFL1 in the coming season. Everyone calm down.
I believe that the players are expected to turn up for their first day of training today. I think it might be interesting to see who, if anyone, actually turns up.
Some of the STV sports guys have been tweeting from Murray Park. Some have certainly shown up, waiting on a comprehensive list.
Word on the street is that the SFL1 sham was all agreed at a cosy meeting at Stuart Milne’s house between all SPL chairmen, minus P. Lawwell. Appease your fans by saying ‘yes’ to sporting integrity all the while giving newco swift return to SPL via generous SFL1 play-offs. Sweeten the deal for SFL1 clubs by paying £1 million for newco TV rights.
Anyone who thinks such a plan will “appease” the fans of the other SPL clubs is in for a nasty shock the next time they log onto the internet.
Could they not just make up an excuse about other clubs grounds not being up to scratch to get to stay in the SPL ?…..As a Gers fan I can take 3rd division and I think its deserved. Its amnesic Aberdeen fans on high horses that goad me….A team who themselves gerrymandered the SPL on a ground technicality to stay in the league at Falkirk’s loss. Short memories
I wonder is any Falkirk fans have been appeased yet ?
“Its amnesic Aberdeen fans on high horses that goad me….A team who themselves gerrymandered the SPL on a ground technicality to stay in the league at Falkirk’s loss.”
Nobody has amnesia – I’ve said previously that we should have had to play that playoff. But we “gerrymandered” nothing – no rules were changed to let Aberdeen dodge it. The rules were applied as they stood, and by the rules that existed Falkirk were ineligible for admission. And, y’know, either way we were the same club the next season as we were the one before. Rangers FC no longer exists, and Sevco 5088 FC has no divine right to be admitted to the Scottish professional game at a higher level than any other new member would be.
One of the biggest myths in scottish football Kenny – nobody was ever getting relegated directly that season, they would have had a play off with Falkirk
Kenny, what exactly is your point? Aberdeen were not relegated as you rightly said because of an SPL technicality, it wasn’t because they were Aberdeen that they didn’t get relegated it was because the team to be promoted did not meet the requirements that all the teams in the SPL had come up with and agreed to.
Aberdeen did not cheat there way to that and it bears no relevance to the “Rangers” situation because they did not bully or cheat or pay their way to that decision. “Rangers” “fans” seem to think they are special and deserve special rules be made up just for them because they in their own world have been punished enough. Needless to say you are not as special as you think you.And don’t forget all the “you need us” crap that gets spouted all the time, it is you that have short memories of how you want to jump ship and join the English leagues and leave all the team that now you claim so desperately need you..
Aberdeen didn’t avoid relegation – we avoided a play-off. Big difference. Even if Brockville Park HAD met the required standards, we’d probably have beat them AND Dunfermline to stay up. The only club I can think of that has directly avoided relegation is Motherwell, but the fact is everyone knew the rules when the season started. Conversely, if Sevco 5088 DID get voted into the SPL, it would be totally at odds with how previous clubs like Gretna and Livingston have been treated.
Anyway, as to Juan’s point, it’s interesting to note what Wiggy said in his statement on Monday:
“Reorganisation of the game is a priority and is something we have been actively involved in for a long time, but it is not something that should be rushed through just to deal specifically with one club. ”
So Milne gave us a clue what was afoot beforehand, and clearly opposes it. I must admit to being rather shocked by that – perhaps I need to start giving the guy a bit more credit.
I see the old “Aberdeen cheated relegation” rubbish has been mentioned by a fan of a team that used to be called Rangers!!.
Well done Rev Stu (and the others) for putting them straight with actual facts!!
Of course you can prove anything with facts (as Lee and Herring used to say)
As for Sevco 5088 playing anywhere other than SFL3 (and even that option can be argued against) then I can see a massive fan backlash against the clubs. While I feel sorry for the genuine Rangers fans for the way that the owners have messed up their club, the “Weera peepl” idiots are coming through the loudest on this and putting fans of the other clubs backs up.
Am not too bothered about all the football shenanigans. What I want to know, is when the tax bill, going to be paid?
Never. Bad luck, hospitals and schools fans!
@revstu.
Indeed, I can’t stand the man normally but Frankie Boyle had it right the other day.
If you’re rich, don’t look at it as tax avoidance, look at it as a Children’s hospital buying you a pool table.
Nail on the head there, daneel.
I heard Mrs Krankie taking the mick out of Rangers(IA) today at First Ministers questions. With all her colleagues laughing in the background. Something about Rangers(IA) dying after Alex Salmond met David Murray. Even managed to slag off the Dalai Lama as well. Saying it was lucky AS didn’t meet him as well.
She shouldn’t be let out. She’s managed to alienate hundreds of thousands of Rangers(IA) fans and millions of dalai Lama fans.
Ah the lamentable one. The standing joke at F.M.Q.’s that is the “leader” of Labour in Holyrood.
Perhaps she was practicing her lines for a future appearance on “The Comedians” T.V. show. After all she is useless as a political leader she obviously thinks she’d do better as a comedienne!
I can’t imagine how and why they chose her at all. You could throw a rock into any town or city in Scotland and you’d hit someone at least as capable, but most likely better.
Ah, but the problem is Appleby the “normal” Labour member didn’t have a look in when it came to choosing the “new” leader.” At the end of the day it came down to who Ed Millband thought he could best control, and in that department she was head and shoulders above the rest of the “candidates”
Rev Stu.
Sorry to go OT but i think Counclilor Terry Kelly needs more exposure – his most recent outbursts on the Herald politics blog surely need a wider audience?
“The Queen, Sterling, Nuclear Subs, no independence word, Nuclear Nato discovered to be not so bad, the yes or no question now being watered down as well. Really what is the point of their campaign, how much chicanery will the Scottish people put up with before they dump these flag waving idiots. ”
I was right about where this was heading but wrong about how long it would take, I actually thought it would take a bit longer for the separatist/SNP arguments to collapse, but collapse they would.
We are now looking at the question which asks, are the Scottish people as gullible as the SNP clearly think they are?
show more show less This fool pretends he is a socialist and is an elected member of my local council.
Can I get my money back?
OT regards FMQ. I have to say that I am dismayed at the leader of the ‘official’ opposition in Holyrood. This is OUR national Parliament and she treats it like a working man’s club with her snide remarks and pathetic attempts at humour. I can only conclude that the labour numpties who write her script have a total disregard for Holyrood, and are intentionally bringing it down so that anything that Alex Salmond says is tainted by this broad brush of negativity.
Scotland needs and deserves a proper opposition. This will only happen once we are Independent, and the three opposition parties have to re-from with a genuine SCOTTISH dimension. That day can not come soon enough
@aplinal
The Holyrood opposition behave like the moronic, “in-house” trolls in the Scotsman comments i.e. they try to destroy serious and constructive debate by bring it down to their own level.
Unfortunately Alpinal, the “official” opposition have nothing to say full stop. Unfortunately for them they must ask the F.M. four questions each week as part of the protocol that was set up in Holyrood. This leaves us with the ridiculous situation of having to endure the lamentable one squawking away like a demented crow! I sometimes think that F.M.Q.’s could be cut to around 10 minutes each week while the F.M. deals with questions from M.S.P.’s as opposed to having to listen to the absolute drivel that comes from the three Westminster “mouthpieces”!