It appears to be de rigueur for anyone who writes regularly to do either a review of the year just ended, or predictions for the coming 12 months, if not both!
Whilst I might do a review, I thought I would make some predictions first.
I put on my Nostradamus gear to write my predictions
Feel free to add your own suggestions or analyses.
Some of my predictions, or guesses, will lead to later posts explaining my reasoning (if I get round to it) but for now I have tried to keep this short and snappy.
Please feel free, on 1st January 2014, if we are spared till then, to let me know how close to 100% inaccuracy I have managed!
Blogging Predictions
I will keep blogging.
I will continue to annoy supporters of a brand-new football club (Only joking!) playing in Glasgow who will misunderstand what I write.
I will continue to be subject to inaccurate ad hominem comment.
Alex will continue to complain, in his comments which you all see, that he is being censored and that I am against free speech.
Mick will continue to investigate “Pie-gate”.
Ecojon will, hopefully, produce more of his excellent pieces for us all, along with the other contributors we have been fortunate enough to read on here.
Cam will continue to exhibit the quirkiest sense of humour seen since Emo Philips.
Emo Phillips or is it Cam?
“Whataboutery” will remain rife.
People will continue to refer to me as “obsessed” with Rangers, ignoring the fact that the very same people proclaim that “Rangers” is the biggest, or indeed the only, story in town.
Legal Predictions
There will be an increasing number of prosecutions for online comments made on websites and message boards. At least one major football message board will close down as a result. These actions will provoke greater debate on what free speech means in Scotland, and some legitimate comment will be caught in the net designed to catch the illegitimate.
The Scottish Government will continue with its plans for fundamental reform of the Scottish Criminal Justice system, including the abolition of the need for corroboration, despite the opposition of almost the entire legal profession, including almost all of the judiciary.
There will be libel/defamation cases pursued as a result of Twitter comments, and the courts in England will reach different conclusions from those of Scotland. (And I suspect that the English courts will prove to be more liberal).
Sally Bercow and Lord McAlpine – maybe the Twitter Libel test case?
Partly as a consequence of his differences on corroboration with his brother and sister judges, Lord Carloway will leave his post as Lord Justice Clerk to replace Lord Hope as one of the Scottish members of the UK Supreme Court.
The Scottish Government and the Scottish Legal Aid Board will continue to act in ways seen by the legal profession as further damaging the availability of legal aid, and these complaints will be ignored, after due consideration, by the Justice Secretary.
Rangers Related Predictions
Rangers will win SFL3. (I can’t see how I can get that one wrong!)
Rangers will be linked with almost every viable out of contract player, but will only sign pre-contract agreements with five at most, as the SFL limit on registered players over 21 years of age kicks in.
Rangers will enter next season with a team very similar to this season’s and will not have a wholesale clear out on 1st September.
Rangers fans will continue to turn out in their droves for both home and away matches, although numbers will decline from their high peak once the SFL3 title is secured.
Rangers will beat Dundee United in the next round of the Scottish Cup, but lose in the following round.
BDO will commence action in relation to the gratuitous alienation of the assets of Rangers Football Club. This will resolve some time next year with a payment to the creditors’ pot of £10-£15 million.
The HMRC Appeal to the Upper Tribunal will not conclude this year.
Charles Green will still be CEO on 1st January 2014.
Charles Green … or is it the Terminator?
Ally McCoist will still be manager on 1st January 2014.
The best players for Rangers will prove to be the Murray Park graduates.
The naming rights to Ibrox will be sold for the start of next season – Rangers fans will continue to refer to the ground as “Ibrox”.
Rangers International Football Club PLC will not have a new share issue this year.
The RIFC share price will end the year at around 60p.
By the end of the year the percentage of shares held by fans will be significantly increased.
No one will be prosecuted in relation to alleged leaks from HMRC to bloggers.
The Nimmo Smith Inquiry will find that the rules of the SFA/SPL were broken by “Rangers Football Club”. RIFC will challenge this in the courts but fail as a result of them failing to participate in the Inquiry process.
Lord Nimmo Smith
The Nimmo Smith Inquiry will impose a financial penalty on “Rangers Football Club” rather than stripping of titles. This too will be challenged unsuccessfully in the courts. RIFC will refuse to pay, and the football authorities will not have resolved by the end of the year how to deal with that.
Charles Green announces how he will deal with the decision of the Nimmo Smith Commission
Charles Green will be summoned to Hampden twice this year for allegedly breaching the rules on disrepute etc., and will be cleared each time, to the surprise of many, and the delight of some.
Coming next – Part 2!
Other football and sporting Predictions!
Here!
Later!
Posted by Paul “Nostradamus” McConville
Random Thoughts Re Scots Law by Paul McConville 
I predict the Rangers saga will not be as exciting as 2012. Which is a shame as it was the greatest soap opera of all. As we go on, the LNS sanctions, or any further punishments will fall under the ‘ haven’t we had enough’ category and will fall away. It doesn’t make it right, but I think everyone is a bit punch drunk.
Any SPL reorg might be a source of amusement, however until then I’m sure we will have penalty/ penalty spot / brother referees to keep some of us on our keyboards..
Oh and I also predict the further lack of influence of the MSM, one thing I will not grieve over…
“The RIFC share price will end the year at around 60p.” I would put a note of caution against this statement, Paul. 🙂 . Just in case you’re accused or de-ramping.
Say, plus or minus, 30p?
Paul,
Can you confirm that HMRC have been given leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal and if so have they lodged that appeal.
With regard BDO, where do you think the additional c£10m will come from, will it be recovered from the assets of former directors. If that is the case what are the chances of anyone being prosecuted for their part in the business failing / trading insolvent.
Cheers
Some time this year the SFA will announce their new reconstruction leagues? Everyone will see it for what it is. Just another rigged cartel system. The changing of the guard(SFA) will involve an influential women?
Heidi Poon ? What a scoop !
She’d shake the old boys network to the core.
They’d be bending over and begging Matron’s forgiveness like a bunch of Tory MPs (allegedly)
why do you believe LNS will not strip the rangers of titles if their players are proved to have been ineligible for the games they played in..?..
@blackboab
Totally agree – I have little respect for for faith in UEFA and FIFA – but surely they could not stand by and accept a financial wrist-slap for fielding ineligible players on an industrial scale.
at black boab campell ogilvie has stated that there was different procedures in place for the start of the last decade they already have a plan to minimise it all also the ripple affect from it all throw out europe could see scotland banned internationally and and at club level there is a massive handshake cover up going on as you know on the rm they are joking about celtic and spl teams being kicked out of europe how sick is that ,all this same club dramas via the 5way agreement there is a slight chance they might have there licence removed via uefa pressure as they got the licence on the back of they being liabile for football debts of oldco so every team they played and cheated might want to sue them via this also there is the barcabhoy nuclear sinario seemingly not all the bambottery cards are on the table so who knows what were in for what we do know is the msm and sfa will be doing everything in its power to help them its going to be some year no matter what they will never be able to hid from the fans that they were found out to be the most tainted soccer club ever even after liquidation and forming a new club the cheated juniors to get in to div3 so sevco are as tainted as oldco due to no accounts for 3 years prior to entry ,we all know the 3 judges on the ftt found them guilty of wrong doing when it came to registration of players at sfa ,after the bubble burst they are still playing the move along now timmy nothing to see here card there the joke of sport and the whole world is laughing at the and there aggression on the matter sick then sick now sick forever
Only point I disagree with is Rangers best players coming from the Murray Park facility. To date all of the Murray Park kids I have seen are well below standard, even for the 3rd division.
I would like to predict that Mr Whyte will reprise an old Vera Lynn song and turn up like a bad smell to kybosh Charlies plans. Don’t know where, don’t know when but I predict they will meet again, and it won’t be no sunny day for Greenie..
As I understand it, Mr Whyte remains as a secured creditor.
Can I ask what makes you think that.
How much is he owed and what for.
As I understand it, and I’m happy to be corrected here…
In exchange for future STs Mr Whyte got money from Ticketus to pay Lloyds Banking Group £18m. Since this Oldco debt to LBG was a secured debt, he then in effect took that debt on – so he, or more accurately his company, became a creditor with secured creditor status. Whatever happened with Ticketus subsequently (they lost their claim to STs/theyre maybe involved in another way) would not affect Mr Whyte’s secured creditor status owed £18m by the Oldco.
Regardless of whether Whyte is a secured creditor, there is minimal if any money left for the creditors after Duff and Phekps were paid.
That is the current position. However as Paul pointed out there may be substantial sums recovered by BDO, and if there was a secured creditor they would have first claim on that money.
Craig Whyte was insistent that Duff and Phelps were to be the administrators and allowed himself to be pushed into it early in order to get that. HMRC were equally insistent that BDO would liquidate the club.
So what you are saying is basically if old Rangers are found guilty in the LMS case they will not be punished as they will not pay any fines. Probably right too. Meanwhile the rest of Scottish football turn their back on the game leaving the new Rangers and their supporters to get on with it.
I hope you are seriously wrong about Lord Nimmo Smith and the titles. IF they are found guilty of double contracts and consequently of illegally registering players during those trophy winning years, then the stripping of the titles should be a given – any further punishments may be moot, but they cannot be seen as legitimate champions should it be proved that they cheated
Not sure your ‘prediction’ with regards to the title stripping will prove correct. However, a guilty verdict will forever have them tarred as CHEATS – the shame may just be visible under this circumstance. Though I predict they will feel none.
@stmiley they dont do shame there zombiefied thats why they dont under stand the wwf concept of it all
@mick
Like Paul,I don’t think title stripping will happen mick.
It would be enough for me that they are forever branded as
the cheats we know them to be.I would,like you,be raging
that it didn’t happen and would be hopeful that UEFA would
step in if Sevco went to court again.
Who knows mick,the SFA might surprise us and do the right
thing for a change. Ha ha ha ha…..as if….:-)
Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year.Looking forward
to more banter with you this year.
hi maggie happy new year heres to a great year of bampottery online and lets hope we find the right answers to the sfa and how to get rid of them
Lets presume that Rangers are found guilty of paying their players more than they were contracted/registered to pay them.
I am still trying to get my head round why this would constitute cheating.
The rules regarding registering player contracts was brought in to benefit players, to ensure they were not paid less than they were contractually due. If they were paid more, in what way have the club cheated.
The club benefited by attracting players with lucrative tax free 2nd contracts, but you know this.
The FTTT decision indicated that in the vast majority of cases tax was never due on these loand to players.
If these were registered with the SFA/SPL, would tax then be due?
The answer to that is no, as they were descretionary payments.
So if they should be registered and were not, what advantage have Rangers gained when the payments were not subject to tax.
As you also know, no one actually believes these were loans. Merely a legal exploitation of a loophole to allow oldco to offer salaries they otherwise couldn’t afford.
@Grant
“The FTTT decision indicated that IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF CASES tax was never due on these loand to players.” (my caps)
You’re making the same mistake as many others did last year, shooting yourself in the foot – the “vast majority” means of course not all & it was proved at the FTTT that PAYE/NIC was due on at least 5.
It was also admitted by (RFC(IL)’s QC no less) that these were indeed contractual, not discretionary.
Hi Paul, I agree with most of what you write but I bet ya £10 to a suitable charity that Utd put rangers out of the cup? Also i would like to bring up one issue that I think would generate so much money, positiveness and interest that has been dropped off the agenda of late… The larger teams in Scottish football having a secondary team in the lower leagues, if they elected to do so… We have seen the value of rangers in the lower league and I think we would see an upturn in finances if celtic and others had the option to do likewise bearing in mind no reserve league these days… If the only thing stopping this are the objections of those hoping to get into the SPL3 or whatever the lower league is rebranded then I think there is much more benefit in the bigger teams taking up that option, not to say that relegation cannot happen. I think this would add a lot of money to the teams in the lower leagues and hence after a while we would see a better quality of ground and playing staff as these teams have a bit more in the budget….
I cannot see why this option has not been put forward as a bit part of the proposed restructuring. It would be on my wish list , that and summer football 🙂
@jimbhoy well said jim 4 1 to utd we all know the ref will give a penalty
hi every1 great read agian paul
a predict green will liquidate the international as we all know there spivs ticketus will be unravelled via the secret 30% silent shareholders, agent whyte still has the deeds green will drop the bullying of oldco players due to union pressure, the sfa will fail in its bias attempts to bring newco back to the top league due to fan pressure ,LNS and the sfa will view them as same club and uefa will hammer them ,cam will admit his soccer past was similiar to the wwf fights (rigged) proven via the ftt findings all 3 members agreed this no matter what happens the bears will turn on green as hes an outsider and as soon as the ticketus and whyte part hits the headlines it will be honeymoon over, ogilvie will back tbb campign to change the words due to lodge pressure ,the 5 sevco fans that slashed a trian passenger who asked them to stop singing the bile songs they sing will get 3 to 5 year each this being the most shocking event in the season so far .
my jan. prediction ECOJON will be back with big news after a trip to sun his self and we can all wish him a happy new year and thank him for the education he gave us all last year ,paul will announce the long awaited book we and millions others are waiting to get our hands on called (illegal soccer)so we can tap in to the americian market with it ,
What makes you think Tocketus are involved, apart from a hunch?
Surely the 30% silent shareholders are just those who have less than 3% and so do not need to be declared.
Grant
I think mick’s info comes from here.
thedemiseofrangersinpictures.blogspot.com/
So basically because directors of Rangers and investment funds who own shares in Rangers have had previously dealings with Ticketus then Ticketus control 31% of Rangers??
Thats a big leap to make, not saying it can’t be true, but the blogger cant prove it. All he is doing is investigating to the nth degree any possibly connections and making his/her own conclusions.
grant not all the cards are out on the table we will just have to wait and see who plays what next whytes behind green ticketus behind what is sevco a have a thought ticketus might own the pitch via blue holdings its spivs incharge of a big club greens mental and is able to do what he wants was bomber drunk talking sxxt dont think so as the old saying gos theres always a bit of truth in what a drunk says
@bud.well produced but theres articles on here that prove most of what we are saying ecojon at start had them well under the scope none of it has ever been mentioned or put to green thats how you know its true sweeped under the msm carpet the whole business world thinks this is right also the company floated is to be liquidated is aother prediction this will release lots of dosh and will avoid public scrutiny
grant tickets zues octopus offshore caloir imran brian stockbridge whyte greens mate not declearing bluepitch holdings theres millions of angles pointing to it also the sfa fit and proper test on new boards was not done properly as we dont know who the 30 percent is its a con to get ticketus there dosh back in some way or form also the hmrc are putting it all under a scope as we speak there spivs the lot of them ,also the price of the shares have not fell as the are dealling amounsgt there self like spivs do this year will see it all come out
Surely if the SFA do not know who the 30% are owned by then the same applies to all other scottish clubs who have small shareholders or shares that are held by investment funds or by pension funds etc.
I am not discounting this guys theory and there are obviously a lot of links, all I am saying is he has no proof.
Grant,
I agree there is no definite proof. It is however coincidence piled on coincidence. But it could just be that these people/companies all occupy the same financial orbit-only time will tell. As I have stated before, I find it hard to credit ticketus simply walking away from £20 odd million. The boy whyte must have played a blinder to dupe SDM,ticketus and lloyds.
I agree it is hard to understand why Ticketus walked away, however it was decided in court that Duff&Phelps could disregard them as a creditors.
Therefore they have not exactly walked away, but been pushed away.
I cant see how investing in the Rangers share issue is going to make it any more likely that they will get any of their money back.
thats more what about ya grant as a said before all the bampottery cards are not on the table some have been held back time will see these cards played and we can say well there you go told you so its all under lock and key in cyber space its like poker ,also its like phil telling the oldco there about to die and jabba saying hes a bigot ,this is similiar were telling rfc newco green and co are spivs greens saying were bigots theres a pattern to there madness and the msm are not willing to discuss it
“I agree it is hard to understand why Ticketus walked away, however it was decided in court that Duff&Phelps could disregard them as a creditors.”
I don’t know where you got that from, but it is incorrect. Ticketus argued that they were not creditors, and were not owed anything. That their contract survived the administration and liquidation, and that they would still own the season tickets whatever happened. The Court of Session ruled that this was not the case under Scots law and that Duff and Phelps could break the contract, making them creditors.
Sorry if that is not exactly the position legally but it is the basic meaning.
oh a forgot to mention the international company will be liquadated weeks before 1st accounts are due to be released in to the public domain
My first visit to RM in months, yesterday, revealed that they are warning posters about what they write as the authorities are likely to crack down. I wonder of the FF brigade are doing the same?
Strange situation about LNS. If HMRC are refused leave to appeal but LNS decides that they did break the rules then this is likely to start the riots we were promised last year. If the bears think they have been victimised in the past few months the this will make them blow their tops. Nice thought.
Any financial penalties will be the fault of the other lot, the ones who sold off the family silver (and titles) to Newco/Sevco and then evaporated, so no chance of that being paid.
I would also predict that Leggo will, this year, not be going on holiday with Paul, Phil Mac?????, Odious Creep or Alex Thomson, aka friends of the Green Brigade. He will also, on at least 50 occasions, deplore the loss of Jim Traynor from the ranks of the only two impartial journalists left in Scotland, the other one being himself.
Hearts and Dunfermline will go bust and start again in the East of Scotland League as sauce for Gretna and Airdrie is also sauce for the other diddies. Succulent lamb doesn’t go well with vinegar and brown sauce so that’s why it didn’t apply to the other lot.
I’ll be out again tonight to see what other revelations are in the stars.
Bill
I predict a riot.
so laymen timmy civil unrest learn the queens language lol
I would just like to point out that even if the Murray Group / Rangers did win their appeal substantially they did not win it entirely. If I remember correctly then around 5 or 6 players were recognised as having received payments which should have generated tax payments.
If I remember the ruling correctly it also identified that those payments were not notified to the footballing authorities. Hence presumably the identification of a prima facie case.
It seems to me that if this is confirmed by Lord Nimmo Smith and his colleagues then what is left to decide upon is the penalty. In the case of Sion fielding ineligible players that was their scores being changed to 3-0 defeats. Leading to ejection from the Champions League.
This surely must be seen as a precedent.
I guess it would depend on what the payments were made for. If I recall, it was mentioned than many of the payments made by way of loan were for termination of contracts. If this is the case then Rangers have no case to answer as per the precedent set by the Juninho EBT.
I’m not talking about the payments accepted as being loans. I meant the 5 or 6 on which it was agreed that tax was due. I am working on the basis that means they were payments which should have been notified to the footballing authorities. If they were, fine. However if they were not that raises an issue.
It’s really rather irrelevant how many ineligible players were fielded in a game. So long as there was one then the result is in question. So 5 or 6 over a period of several seasons, if they were regular first team players, would have a noticeable effect.
I would bet good money a large percentage of those who received a termination payment via EBT, also received payments throughout their rangers career.
and for signing on to thats why they went not because of anything else other than tax free monies taken or robbed from the uk tax purse also BDO still have a say in this as well as they might want the loans back ??
The loans can only be paid back to the trust, not to the liquidators, rangers or the creditors.
Don’t spoil Micks wee rant………. and stop being a ‘deflector’. The truth is nowhere near as interesting as the mind of conspiracy theorist / fantasist,
Lol.
grant thats what about you we paid the tax on it you have been proven as a deflector stating that
Mick, I am not trying to deflect anything.
It has been claimed that titles should be stripped becuase Rangers cheated by fielding ineligible players.
That has nothing to do with whether tax was paid or not. It is quite possible that a club could pay tax on a secondary payment to a player and still not register it.
The question for me is whether by not registering these EBT payments Rangers gained an advantage.
The question is not whether Rangers gained an advantage from operating an EBT scheme, as per the FTTT tax was not due in most cases and those that were due will be settled.
Grant
It was an ’employee’ benefit scheme! How come Graham Souness got £30k years later?
thats criminal 30k after a deal is criminial hes been the met radar for years him
The answer is I don’t know, but it could be for a number of reasons.
A termination payments that was structured x amount per year for x number of years.
Pension contributions
Payments were not only made from Rangers but from other Murray companies, so could also be related to non rangers activities
grant
Yes it could be for any of the above. which do you think was applicable?
Do you think it was maybe for services rendered? Perhaps ,allegedly, facillitating transfers to the benefit of oldco? Hmmm. EEBT? Ex employee benefit trust. Surely you can see something a little bit dodgy here?
I’d guess that the defence for Rangers could be that, at the time, they simply made payments into a MGH trust.
There’s plenty to contradict that, but I’d guess thats the basis of the defence.
Since Mr Green won’t defend at the SPLIC hearings – its a moo point*.
*A moo point is an opinion which is held by cows, and so doesn’t really mean anything, and doesn’t have any real bearing – similar to a moot point.
Some payments were made with respect to appearances on the park. A clear breach of the rules
As to predictions.
1, Rangers International will lend money to Rangers Ltd. This will come from the £20m it raised. This will be to cover the shortfall in income, and the necessary repairs to the stadium. Possibly for other projects. Rangers Ltd’s only source of borrowing will be Rangers International.
2, Rangers will make repayments with interest, and will be subject to management charges. This will allow Mr Green to control the money in Rangers Ltd and take out as much as he wants.
3, Rangers Ltd will never actually have any money, other than enough to cover ongoing costs as it will all be paid out to Rangers International.
4, Any transfer money, when it comes, will be loans.
All very interesting ..can’t help but think both oldco and newco will squirm off the hook tho by calling in the Lodge. Maybe that in turn will lead to an exposé and finally begin the end of the sectarian corruption which steeps Scottish Authorities.
Agrajag thats right they pleaded to it as well also in the findings the 3 judges stated that 99.9percent of the players under the scoop had mistominerors in the reggies via the sfa its guilty but will the sfa have the guts and engery and integrity to do the right thing we will have to contact the uefa via fans groups and stuff to highlight it all also fans of euro teams that the sevcoians cheated should be made aware of it all so they can pressure there board to take action the sfa are trying to cover it up we all know this but via mass media outlets (thenet)we can scuttle this easy peasy the uk fan base of soccer fans is a broad mix via mordern economics the doctor sits next to the plumber years ago the fans were sterotyped by being uneducated how wrong they are if they think they can pull the wool over our supossedly laymen eyes ,a would say scotlands fans are the most academic on the planet due to needing a degree income to keep up with the cost the high price has also lead to fans upping there iq so they have a massive task in there cover up which is doomed to fail maybe in the 60s or 70s they might have got away with it but not in a modern educated scotland ,also as all the handshake crew got the apprentice jobs all the rest had no option but to educate there self at collage and uni this had lead us to great riches via education as we realised education was the key to avoiding playing a mothers role on the dole as we say and sing am just glad to have watch this evolution take place so at this point in time am confident that scotland will via its iq stand up and academiclly tell the sfa whats to happen when the time comes ,all this civil unrest is fantasy in leggo and mcmurdos head and even if its not lets set the taxpayers army on them were uk subjects as well with more dignity on our big toe than they have in there entire club culture call it what you want
If UEFA are even remotely serious about doing something with regard financial fair play then they will surely be watching what is going in with great interest.
If it is found that a club deliberately and systematically with-held relevant financial information from the national association and league then they will expect that league to impose an appropriate punishment.
UEFA themselves deemed fielding ineligible players as serious enough to merit a reversal of results. Can the SPL (or their independent panel) really go for imposing a financial penalty on a club already being liquidated. That would surely make a nonsense of the whole financial fair play campaign right at it’s outset.
Playing devils advocate – surely it was be based on the reason why the player was deemed to be ineligible.
Would all results be declared as 3-0 if a simple spelling mistake was made on one of the forms declated at the SFA/SPL?
Surely some form of advantage would have to be gained by not declaring payments? What benefit did Rangers gain by not declaring these, baring in mind tax was not due on these payments regardless if they were declared or not.
In the case of Sion, the advantage was that the players were still registered with other clubs.
grant the ebts were not ment to pop out the bag and were not mentioned it lead to off shore payments as a sweetener to join them also it made it unfair as big players signed for less than stated if no ebt was there they would not have been able to get these players on side it was basicly brown envolope stuff
It may be the case that if no EBT, then the player would not have signed.
However, that is not connected to payments not being declared to the SFA/SPL. If they had been declared then tax would still of not been due
grant it was a case of tell them this but dont this tax free you know it makes sence if you think this is not the case then you lack understanding on the subject or have your blinkers on
Spartans were thrown out of the Scottish cup because a piece of paper was dated once rather than twice if I remember correctly. This was on a players contract and it made him an ineligible player.
What advantage did they gain by that minor clerical error. None I would suggest, however at the time it was argued that the rules were the rules and that no matter how unfortunate that was no-one could change them.
It would seem that where fielding ineligible players was concerned there does not need to be an advantage
Bit of a double dunt for Spartans, that a new club was subsequently given a place in SFL3, where they had been trying to get one for quite some time.
Grant,
There’s precedent on fielding ineligible players – this includes application of the rules in such a way that has no regard for advantage gained or otherwise. The player(s) is/are registered properly or they’re not. Administrators don’t look at any potential advantage or what form that may have taken.
That is fair enough, the rules should be applied.
However supporters of other clubs are trying very hard to cloud the situation by saying that Rangers cheated by fielding these players, and therefore title should be stripped.
I am led to believe that there are many sanction available to the SPL, not just title stripping.
No advantage was gained by not registering these payments, therefore IMO it is more likelt if Rangers are found to be in breach, then some other form of punishment will be applied.
Apply the rule that requires a 0-3 scoreline be recorded where an ineligible player plays…
@Grant
Yes there are many sanctions available – title-stripping is the least severe of them, as Paul explained in a previous post.
Grant,
I believe that there are 18 possible sanctions including retrospective points reduction of games where inelligible players were deemed to have participated.Rangers could feasibly, keep the points, hence titles, but be penalised financially. [ all presuming that LNS finds them guilty].
Laying aside, for the moment, who would pay any financial penalties ie newco/oldco,these penalties could be harsh.
I have posted on this previously, but from memory,in the Scottish Cup, St. Mirren v Spartans ,St Mirren were deemed to have fielded an inelligible player and were fined £25K reduced on appeal to £12.5k. I don’t have the dates to hand on this, but at the time £25k was said to be 3 weeks wages for the entire team! Probably exaggerated , but let’s say one weeks wages for the entire team for one inelligible player in one game. Put this into the rangers context and you amass a multi -million fine eg. one weeks wages for the entire rangers team for every inelligible player who participated in any game over 10 years. The mind boggles. Will it happen, well no ,because that rangers no longer exist in financial terms . The only sanction which has any relevance now would seem to be points reduction, which would probably mean loss of titles.Rangers supporters should be saying ‘take your titles we will still have more than celtic’ and we will win more when we get back to the SPL. Blame SDM and move on. He cheated you and everybody else in Scottish football.
Spartans were flung out the Scottish Cup for not dating a form twice. So the answer is yes.
Agrajag the 5 way agreement states that newco are to pay all footballing debts for oldco if uefa issue fines then sevco must pay or risk haveing the 5way ripped up its sfa way of covering there own liabilty in it all sfa are liabile as they turned a blind eye via ogilvie knowing about the ebts we could be thrown out of fifa full stop the whole nation this is it getting down to the bits they are trying to deflect
Do you think Rangers International would loan the money to Rangers Ltd, I don’t imagine anyone else would.
Would other clubs, in particular European ones seek compensation if the SPL found that Rangers (as was) had fielded ineligible players against them and that Rangers (as is) had accepted liability for the old clubs debts.
Someone said that the saga would not be exiting this year. I think with the HMRC potential appeal, the BDO investigation and the SPL enquiry it could be very interesting indeed. Though to be fair the first two might be measured in months and years rather than weeks and months.
The identity of the coin, lighter and mobile phone throwers at Breezeblock Boulevard will remain a mystery one year on.
Its clear, Paul, that Sally Bercow is in there only because her name is comprised of the nickname of a Scottish football manager, the nickname for a fan of the club he manages, and an animal that can be milked! …
… just like fans are being milked for all they are worth by the owner(s) of said club!
sallys not a spiv they will rob him then sack him lol
Interesting predictions Paul, time will, as ever, tell.
Like most people I have many thoughts on the coming year, most are personal and not for posting here. Some things are though.
On politics, the Independence debate will take center stage. The current Scottish government will walk the thin and perilous path between effective management of the country, and the view that effective management is impossible while Scotland is part of the union.
They will astound many by succeeding.
In the interior world of Scottish football, title stripping will be the big story. In terms of sport it should have been the only story. The simple application of player registration rules will be turned into an unseemly and seemingly destructive bun fight. Scottish football and Scottish football fans will face the real test of integrity. Rangers will lose titles. Scottish football will survive.
In Law corroboration will be cast aside in spite of the legal professions protests. Fact is some offences have no witnesses beyond the victim. If the legal profession can’t address this, the politicians have to and will.
http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/index.html
sevco are not in the euro teams so that means uefa are watching them
Mick, u know well that thislist only details the teams in each country’s top division.
lol o thanks for that but would uefa not have noticed this ?? and asked were are rangers ?murray killed them whyte to 10% of blame scotlands soccer for 15 years has been like wwf it unreal and hard to swollow thats why newco were not granted permission to start as a new team in the spl as it all left a bad taste in the whole scotlands mouths so the new club similiar to rangers were made to join at 4 tier level although they had no accounts and did not merit the criteria surrounding this so it was shifting the goal post to help scotlands black sheep agian only saying like incase any1 is not up to speed on it also the msm are lying to sevcoians as they have no history as they are a new club last but not least the sfa turned a blind eye to yous financially doping div3 the 4tier of scottish football by not implementing the embargo stright away this seasons div3 title is as tainted as there last ten
They would also not be in that list if they had finished bottome of th eleague and been relegated. I hardly think Uefa are going to ask why teams are not in the list from one year to the next.
Neither are Elgin – what’s your point?
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/400m-buyout-of-duff-phelps.19825862
A final prediction, these girls will be massive 2013.
One can only hope. 🙂
Spartans fielding an ineligible player
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/15672375
Contract error costs Spartans Scottish Cup place
Spartans have been thrown out of the Scottish Cup for fielding an ineligible player in their 2-0 win over Culter.
Striker Keith McLeod signed a new contract in the summer but it was dated only once and the Scottish Football Association want it to be signed twice.
Spartans chairman Craig Graham said the club were “disappointed” by the ruling, adding: “We wish Culter well against Partick Thistle [in round three].”
Spartans have also received a £4,000 fine suspended for 12 months.
The club had their case heard at Hampden by the judicial panel set by the SFA on Thursday, having been reported by the compliance officer for fielding an ineligible player during the second-round 2-0 win at Culter .
Scottish Cup rules now state that any club that plays a player who is ineligible will be thrown out of the competition.
The rules also state that neither the judicial panel or anyone at the SFA has the authority to change this rule.
“It’s always tricky for a club like ours with volunteers in all the key positions however we have made a number of changes to help ensure a mistake doesn’t occur again in the future,” said Graham.
“I apologise to our players, coaching staff and supporters for what has happened.
“However, I know we will bounce back. We have far too many great things happening at Spartans with fantastic people involved to allow this to be anything more than a minor setback.”
Scottish Division Three side East Stirlingshire were expelled from the competition last season for fielding an ineligible player in their fourth-round win over Buckie Thistle.
Goalkeeper Michael Andrews featured despite the SFA not having received registration documents for the extension of his loan from Falkirk.
————————————–
I thought the Chairman’s reaction showed incredible dignity and humility.
“I apologise to our players, coaching staff and supporters for what has happened”
There are so many hunches being expressed on here, the site is turning into a veritable Notre Dame. In my experience of presenting them annually for many years, forecasts or predictions as they are referred to here are best based on previous years outcomes. On that basis, I would not bet my longevity on any predictable outcomes. Previous years have shown clearly that the only prediction that holds true is that nothing can actually be predicted. I will stick to guessing and my best guess is I should wait till all these predictions you all forecast actually come to pass. I am afraid Santa did not bring me the crystal balls I desperately craved for my old age. I had hoped for better bowel action in 2013 but, alas, it would appear it is not to be. So, on with p*****ng into the wind.
Seriously, the debate and “opinionating” is as entertaining as ever and, thankfully, much less acrimonious than in recent times. I wish I could predict how long that will last. Some of you may have noticed I have avoided the stormy waters of recently as they made me quite seasick. I felt safer and more at ease simply watching the turmoil from the shore though I kept constantly focused on events through my binoculars. With present indications that the seas are calmer in this new year, I will put my life-jacket on once again and take the plunge. Please do not force me to call the lifeguards.
A belated Happy New Year to all.
“waters OF recently”. The boat must be rocking my English or maybe an excessive consumption of the “water of life” in the last week. The “OF” should obviously not be there.
I predict that texting will be permitted in courts?
Be careful if I`m wrong though.
Grant, you seem to be having more trouble than I have understanding this thing. Let me ask you a simple question.
According to D. Murray and all exRFC spokespeople, EBTs were tax compliant. (The tax loophole was closed by HMRC later.)
We know that RFC(IL) was run by very experienced, intelligent businessmen, lawyers and accountants. Football rules, and I believe this to be true worldwide, but certainly in our country, demand that all payments to players be contractual, and registered with the appropriate authority, in this case the SFA..
That being the case, if all is above board and perfectly innocent and legal with the EBT business and explanatory confirmation letters, why would a bunch of professional, intelligent people not simply follow the rules and register these payments?
And all this while they and their henchmen sit in judgment and punish Spartans etc. for a minor error? I do not “hate Rangers” as some would have it. But I’m getting to a strong dislike of what they’re about. Scottish football’s at stake here.
@Willmac.
I said someyime ago that Scottish football would survive without Rangers, and for that matter Celtic. It will survive on perhaps a different level, but better that than being transparently abused by one of it’s members.
You are correct in stating that EBTs were legal and I believe still are but with tighter regulation. The issue is whether the way they were used by MIH was was legal at the time they were used. There is a further appeal stage after the 2-1 FTTT, I look forward to the outcome.
In the spirit of the blog; My prediction is that The dissenting opinion will prevail or MIH will negotiate a settlement.
SFA rules require that all payments to players are recorded, even from third parties. Seems open and shut but who knows what will happen when expensive lawyers get loose on the incompetents at the SFA.
Rangers knew of the EBT payments to the players and in the FTTT the evidence was that there was a deliberate policy of not disclosing them to the SFA. There was no question that senior management didn’t know as they were actively encouraging players to take payments through EBTs. If here was any doubt as to whether the payments should have been declared they could have asked, why didn’t they ?
@Den
“SFA rules require that all payments to players are recorded, even from third parties.”
I could be wrong (it would hardly be the first time!) but is it not the case that payments from third parties are not allowed, full stop?
@rabthecab
Para 12.1 of the SFA Articles refers to “all payments whether made by the club or otherwise which are to be made to the player solely related to his playing activities” suggesting that third parties could pay them if properly recorded.
Of course if the payments are related to their contribution to literature, science and world peace they don’t have to recorded with the governing body.
Two great comments I have to mention;
Martin
“In Law corroboration will be cast aside in spite of the legal professions protests. Fact is some offences have no witnesses beyond the victim. If the legal profession can’t address this, the politicians have to and will”.
In my opinion, too many scumbags, ably assisted by their scumbag lawyers, have walked away from serious crimes due to the fact that the victim has been raped by a legal system that is based entirely on the protection of the presumed innocent where evidence points to another conclusion. Lets let the jury hear both sides and make a decision.
Agrajag
“Spartans have been thrown out of the Scottish Cup for fielding an ineligible player in their 2-0 win over Culter. Striker Keith McLeod signed a new contract in the summer but it was dated only once and the Scottish Football Association want it to be signed twice.
The rules also state that neither the judicial panel or anyone at the SFA has the authority to change this rule”
Unless the eligible registration rules have changed then it is a no brainer for Lord Nimmo Smith.
I could be (am probably) wrong on both points but, in both cases, I am sure common sense will prevail in neither.
Deliberate lack of transparency and deceitful accounting with the use of suppressed data and identity disguise culminates in uncertainty when pursuing tax avoidance or evasion activities. That uncertainty rests on the chance that either they will not be discovered to be tax avoiding or that if they are then the interpretation placed on the law that they seek to exploit is favourable to them. Such was the fine line that Rangers FC (oldco) faced in their 2:1 majority victory over HMRC in the recent tax tribunal case (FTT).
Despite their much trumpeted “victory” in the FTTT: Rangers went to the wall, MIH are in danger of going the same way.
Aggressive tax avoidance is expensive and very risky.
Victory or defeat in the FTTT had absolutely nothing to do with Rangers going to the wall. The actions of Whyte caused it.
I think it was the fear of defeat at the FTTT that created the problem, resulting in Murray’s desperation to offload RFC. A debt to the bank of £18m should not have caused a problem for a club the size of Rangers, and Murray wouldn’t have had a problem selling it if not for the BTC and WTC. But with these potential disaters only a charlatan, or complete eejit, would even contemplate buying the club. Whyte merely turned a disaster into a complete disaster.
Any debt Rangers would’ve incurred via the big tax case lay with M.I.H.
It only became Rangers responsibility when Whyte paid £1 to buy the Club with the proviso he would settle any liability in the event they lost the case.
@WillyWonka
The key contributors to what happened to Rangers were David Murray and the Directors.
While I would never seek to defend Craig Whyte, who deserves all the criticism he gets, the damage was done before he arrived. He was the worst thing that could happen to a distressed company, but it was already distressed company.
There is no doubt that Rangers were in deep trouble by the time that Whyte took over and they got to that stage under Murray. The Big Tax Case hanging over any new owners was a major deterrent.
@ Den – the Rangers debt was at £18 million and being reduced when Whyte took over. Hardly ‘deep trouble’ in my book.
It all depends, a figure of £18 million alone doesn’t indicate deep trouble but then again doesn’t suggest rude health.
£18m being roughly 30 to 40% of Old Rangers annual turnover (it was £27m in the last audited accounts 2011). If your business model means that you spend more than than you take in, then you have problems if no one injects new money or assumes your debt as MIH did for Rangers.
In addition to the Debt the Creditors due within one year was £27.5m and over 1 year was £37.9m. Against this current assets was £6m.
There was a contingent tax liability of anywhere between £20m and £50m depending on whose opinion you read.
£18 million was aheadline figure and was what the bank was owed and from the above was not nearly the whole debt.
The bank was wanting their money back and did not want to re-lend it to Rangers.
@ Den – I’m well aware of what the debts were at the time of sale. The point I’m making is, the debt was on the way down. It had also been recognised that spending could not exceed income and that had been addressed too.
What did Rangers in was the rest of Murrays ’empire’ crumbling around him. I don’t think there’s any doubt that LBG were pulling his strings in the background.
LBG saw the chance to get their money back in one go and also to rid Murray [themselves] of any possible liability arising from the HMRC case.
The ,full circumstances of the sale is the chapter I’m desperately waiting to read.
@willywonka
Although you were aware of what the debts were you only referred to £18m and I felt that the other debt was pertinent to my statement that Rangers were in a deep trouble which you commented on.
It would indeed appear that Bank debt was going down but possibly LBG felt that it was not fast enough. Lloyds were having serious liquidity problems themselves and probably felt that there was a risk that a creditor would petition for administration leaving them with a struggle to get their money. Lloyds would be relieved to get out with their cash.
The ability to keep paying back the loan was dependent on reaching the CL group stages every year: not certain by any means. The realisation may have dawned on some that they had to live within their means they didn’t all seem to have gotten the message and even when they entered Administration the fixed costs were far too high.
Like you I would be interested to know more about the sale, I suspect that it may be a long time before the truth is known, if ever.
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