So Farewell SPL + SFL! Long Live SPFL! Record-Breaking Amounts of PR Guff Expected!

The Scottish Premier League is no more. Equally the Scottish Football League has gone. Both have been replaced by the super, new, improved Scottish Professional Football League!

Or have they …

(For that, see my next post!)

I feel though that the passing (apparently) of these famous and historic names should be marked, by referring to the following extracts from the SPL website.

It is fair to say that the power of the combined SPFL to create meaningless PR guff and tosh has increased exponentially as a result of the changes!

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An Apology to Mr McCoist – He Must Have Known There Would Be No Player Limit Next Season

One of the running themes here on my blog since the appearance of Rangers in SFL3 was the unfortunate effect on them of the unfair rules (which whilst applicable to all 30 SFL clubs were clearly targeted at Rangers) dealing with player registrations etc. The limit on the number of players aged over 21 registered by an SFL team only seemed to affect Rangers.

As last season ended, and we geared up for the coming season, Rangers were associated with almost every free agent and prospective free agent footballers who had any link with Scotland. Various signings have already been made to ensure that Rangers can make their way through the third tier successfully. After all, Mr McCoist identified that he needed around ten new players to ensure success over the footballing giants of Arbroath, Ayr and Airdrie.

Mr McCoist Talks Of Rangers Signings But Does He Recall SFL Limit on Squad Sizes?

This will be a short post, but it is on an issue which is indicative, I think, of the view Rangers have about their present position, namely that they do not wish to acknowledge that it exists.

Mr McCoist is quoted on the official website today talking about plans for next season.

I recall that at least one player, Mr Bell from Kilmarnock, has been signed on a “pre-contract”.

Scottish Football Reconstruction – Quick Analysis from a Man in the Know

Before anyone thinks I am being presumptuous, I am not referring to myself in the heading.

Instead I had an interesting discussion with a senior official at a Scottish club yesterday.

His thoughts on the present reconstruction proposals?

They were unfair and wrong but financially right.

This was not because of how it would affect Rangers (who were never mentioned) but because of the “moving goalposts” idea.

However, as the plan would make the difference between profit and loss for his team, it was a “no-brainer”.

I am sure I could (and possibly will) devote thousands of words to the issue. But here, in a succinct few, the issue was summed up for those who have to deal with it, rather than wax lyrical about it.

All that remains is for me to thank Mr Lawwell for his hospitality and insight.*

Posted by Paul “Scoop” McConville

*Please note that sentence is written in jest. It was NOT Mr Lawwell …

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It was Mr Green!**

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**No it wasn’t.

Ally McCoist’s Managerial Foibles, the “Hinge Factor” and Rangers’ Downfall

In which I look at how little in the management philosophy of Ally McCoist seems to have changed over the last twelve months, even after all the upheaval there has been.

We travel by way of Napoleon’s soldiers failing to spike Wellington’s guns, Whittaker’s ball throwing and Phil Mac Giolla Bhain’s prescience, from defeat in Malmo in August 2011 to a draw in Berwick in August 2012.

We also consider Mr McCoist’s attempts to build the biggest first team squad in Scottish football, and whether he is still trying to be an SPL manager in the rather different terrain of the SFL3.

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When historians look back at the demise of the Rangers Football Club PLC over recent years, one wonders how much of an eye will be cast upon Ally McCoist’s role?

Now, unlike the owners, he did not engage in financial recklessness, or establish legally debatable tax reduction schemes (we do not know if he benefited from one), or even decide not to pay any tax at all. However, he has had a part to play, where different decisions, even minor ones, might have made a huge difference.