SFA Confirms Mr Mather Got It Wrong About Rangers and the Administration Penalties

 The SFA has responded to the demands by Mr Mather and Mr McCoist for an explanation of the “anomalies” regarding the penalties for going into administration. The full statement can be read here.

The response seems to be a pro-active reply to the criticism and frankly is a damning critique of what the Rangers CEO and manager had said.

In fact it is so thorough, I could have written it!

The statement is below and I offer a few comments which are in bold.

Craig Mather Shows He Can Talk As Much Rubbish For #Rangers As Messrs Green and Whyte!

The CEO of Rangers, Craig Mather, released the following statement yesterday. I thought it was worthy of some comment which might enlighten him.

It is good to see that the recent history of Rangers CEOs talking complete and utter nonsense in an effort to ingratiate themselves with the fans continues. It provides a continuing source of material for me to write about!

Mr Mather has a hard act to follow in that both Mr Whyte and Mr Green were not averse to bunkum and poppycock, but, perhaps with the help of Communications Director James Traynor, Mr Mather has leapt straight into the stratospheric heights of baloney attained by his predecessors.

Pinsent Masons Deny Whyte Has Stake With Rangers – But Still Questions To Be Answered?

So the verdict has been pronounced…

———————————–

30 May 2013

Rangers International Football Club plc (the “Company”)

Conclusion of Independent Review

On behalf of Rangers International Football Club plc, the non-executive directors of the Company (the “Investigation Committee”) engaged the law firm Pinsent Masons LLP to investigate the connections between Craig Whyte and former and current personnel of the Company and its subsidiaries (the “Investigation”).

The Investigation was overseen by Roy Martin QC.

The Investigation concluded on 17 May 2013 and Pinsent Masons and Roy Martin QC have reported to the Investigation Committee. The Investigation Committee is satisfied that a thorough investigation was conducted despite the inherent limitations of a private inquiry.

Can Rangers Legitimately Register New Players on 1st September? Yes They Can

There was an interesting blog post by Daniel O’Connell brought to my attention at the weekend.

His contention was that Rangers would be breaching the terms of the SFA player registration rules by registering its new signings on 1^st September, which is the day after the “registration embargo” accepted by Sevco Scotland Ltd (as it then was) as a condition of SFA membership. He stated “The intention was that the new club would be unable to register players until January 2014 (albeit after giving them the summer 2012 window to build up their squad for the assault on Division 3).”

He suggests that “The basis for this belief is that clubs can register “free agents” from September 1st, and that as Bell and Daly’s contracts with their previous clubs expire on June 30th, they will be free agents.”

He then refers to the SFA’s registration procedures here and especially Article 1.2 which reads:-

“A professional player who has failed to find employment during a registration period may sign and be registered for a club outwith the registration periods.”

He suggests that the fact that the “free agents” signed by Rangers “have found employment” means they cannot be registered outwith the transfer window, and thus cannot legitimately play for Rangers until January 2014. Is this then another alleged instance of the Scottish football authorities bending over backwards to Rangers, as some accuse them of doing?

THE DEATH OF RANGERS FC – Guest Post by JohnBhoy

There are those who maintain the myth that the Rangers FC formed in 1872 is the same club pre and post liquidation 2012. Here is why Rangers FC no longer exists.

MAIN STREAM MEDIA (MSM)

When it became clear that liquidation was inevitable for Rangers the overwhelming response from the msm was that Rangers, including its history, would cease thereafter. Here is a small selection of quotations, succinctly capturing this widely held view in the media:

– The Herald: “Air of unreality as 140 years of history is formally ended in less than nine minutes” (The Herald, 15 June 2012: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/air-of-unreality-as-140-years-of-history-is-formally-ended-in-less-than-nine-minutes.17876625).

– Roddie Forsyth: “Rangers in crisis: the final whistle sounds on Rangers’ 140 years of history” (The Telegraph, 12 June 2012: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/9327256/Rangers-in-crisis-the-final-whistle-sounds-on-Rangers-140-years-of-history.html).

– Jim Traynor: “Rangers FC as we know them are dead. It’s all over. They are about to shut down for ever…They’ll slip into liquidation within the next couple of weeks with a new company emerging but 140 years of history, triumph and tears, will have ended… No matter how Charles Green attempts to dress it up, a newco equals a new club. When the CVA was thrown out Rangers as we know them died.” (Daily Record, 13 June 2012: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/james-traynor-spl-will-not-be-able-1129166).