“Rangers Down to Bare Bones” – No, Not In Money But In Players – Yes – That’s What Mr McCoist Said!

Last night marked the first game in the super-duper all-singing and all-dancing SPFL. However it was overshadowed by the continuing efforts of Rangers to ensure that the Ibrox outfit is the only one ever discussed in Scottish football.

In baseball Alex Rodriguez, star third base for the New York Yankees, and already an unpopular figure, lost many of his remaining supporters when his agent announced, in the middle of a game in the 2007 World Series (the Yankees had not reached the World Series) that A-Rod was opting out of his $252 million contract in an effort to get even more money. This smashed through the unwritten MLB rule that teams should keep quiet about player and in-house issues during the World Series so as not to distract attention from the sport’s showcase occasion.

Secret Identity of the SPFL Revealed! It’s the SPL Under a New Name!

I wrote briefly about the blessed union of the SPL and SFL to create the super-duper, all-new, all singing and dancing SPFL.

I looked up Companies House to see if I could locate a company called the “Scottish Professional Football League Ltd” and there it was.

The Scottish Football League was not there but as an association of members it was not listed before.

However, there was no trace amongst active companies of the Scottish Premier League Ltd!

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 Both have been replaced by the super, new, improved Scottish Professional Football League!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!

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.

In the Name of “Sporting Integrity” Should the SPFL Relegate Hearts?

The SPL, earlier this week, issued a statement regarding Hearts.

Following Heart of Midlothian plc lodging a Notice of Intention to Appoint an Administrator with the Court of Session in Edinburgh on 17 June 2013, the SPL confirmed that a number of sporting sanctions have been applied to the club.

An SPL spokesperson said: “As Heart of Midlothian is subject to an Insolvency Event, a 15 point deduction will be applied to its total points in the League Championship for next Season 2013/14.  In addition, Heart of Midlothian is subject to an embargo on Registering Players with the SPL whilst in administration.”

There are a couple of thoughts about this.

First of all, how does the change at some point before next season from the SPL to the SPFL affect this? If the 15 point penalty which is based on 1/3 of the points gained in the preceding season is an SPL rule (as it is) how does this carry across to the SPFL?