When The Bunnets Were Flying

FIFTY years ago today, the Bunnets o' Bonnie Dundee were truly flying, and rightly so. For the 'Dee won the club's first and thus-far only Scottish League title; doing it in style too, by beating and relegating St Johnstone - then, with Dundee United only just emerging into the big time - their deadliest rivals, on their own Muirton Park.

No wonder tonight: Pat Liney, Bobby Seith, Ian Ure, Bobby Wishart, Alan Gilzean and Alan Cousin, the six survivors of that great team, plus fringe players such as a then callow youth named Craig Brown will assemble in the Caird Hall for a night of celebration.

The toast to "Absent Friends" will re-call Alex Hamilton, skipper Bobby Cox, Gordon Smith, Andy Penman and "Louie" Robertson - the five others who, with manager Bob Shankly will be looking down from the great pavilion in the sky. Liney; Hamilton and Cox, Seith, Ure and Wishart; Smith, Penman, Cousin, Gilzean and Robertson - now there was a team.

The following season, Bert Slater displaced Liney in goal and they marched on to reach the European Cup semi-final. Of course - "It will never happen again"; "It couldn't be done today"; "Different times".

Aye right. Times are different, but to say it couldn't be done today and will never happen again is to adapt the Scottish cringe. Aye well, we're Scottish, good things dinnae happen to us.

RUBBISH.

Of that wonderful Dundee XI - rated by many as the best team, in purely footballing terms, in Scotland since WWII , Ure got into the Scotland squad, discovered what other internationalists were earning in the south and wanted his share, Gilzean ditto. Penman went to Rangers, even manager Shankly fell-out with his directors and moved on to what he saw as a better gig elsewhere. Players have always moved for what they see as better deals - Ure and Gilzean didn't need agents to tell them their talents would be better-rewarded in North London, at Arsenal and Tottenham respectively.

Sure, with the Bosman ruling and the presence of agents, it is easier today for a player to cash-in on his abilities; a modern-day Gilzean wouldn't have to, as big Alan did, effectively go on strike to get the move he wanted. But, now as then, money talked and the big clubs will always go after what they perceive to be the best talent they can afford.

The fact that so little of that sought-after talent is Scottish isn't the fault of the players - rather of the clubs, who don't push them to make the best of wha they've got, and of a system which promotes "hammer throwing" above footballing ability.

Dundee can rise again; Kilmarnock can replicate their 1964-65 title win. Hibs and Hearts and Aberdeen have not won their final Scottish title. And, I believe their day is coming, soon.

From the end of World War II until the spring of 1965, when Jock Stein returned to Celtic, the honours in Scottish football were spread around more-fairly than at any time before or since. In those 19 seasons (1946-47 to 1964-65) Rangers won the League in 1947, 49, 50, 53, 56, 57, 59, 61, 63 and 64; to these ten titles, they added eight Scottish Cup wins: in 1948, 49, 50, 53, 60, 62, 63 and 64 and five League Cup wins: in 1947, 49, 61, 62 and 64 - 23 of the available 56 national trophies.

Celtic in the same period lifted the League title just once: in 1953-54; they enjoyed a mere three Scottish Cup victories in that time: in 1951, 54 and Stein's first success with the club in 1965, whilst their League Cup wins in seasons 1956-57and their 7-1 win the following season were their only two successes in that competition in that time - one win less than East Fife achieved in the same period.

Aberdeen won the League in 1955, the Cup in 1947 and the League Cup in 1955-56. Hearts were League Champions in 1958 and again in 1960; they won the Cup in 1956 and the League Cup in 1954-55, 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1962-63; Hibs were League Champions in 1948, 1951 and 1952; Kilmarnock won the League (beating Hearts in a virtual last-day decider) in 1964-65; Clyde won the Cup in 1955 and again in 1958; St Mirren lifted that trophy in 1959, Dunfermline Athletic took it in 1961; Motherwell won it in 1952, having taken the League Cup the previous season, while Dundee, in addition to that 1962 League title, had won the League Cup in 1951-52 and successfully defended it the following season; Falkirk won the Cup in 1957.

So, the trophy split - 29 to the Old Firm, 27 to the Rest in those 19 seasons looks an awfully lot better than the 35 Old Firm wins - 6 to the Rest, which will be the score at the end of the season for the period since the SPL started.

Of course, back then the playing field was a good deal flatter. Celtic were being hobbled by mis-management, the clubs shared their gates - so the massive Old Firm following wasn't the 12th man it now is to the two clubs. For most of that period, most players were actually better-off as part-timers with Kilmarnock, or St Mirren or Motherwell - augmenting their Monday-to-Friday wages with what they earned through appearance money and bonuses on a Saturday than they would have been under the strict £20 maximum wage as full-timers in England. There was virtually no TV money.

But, the Rest could and did compete with the Old Firm.

Even if Rangers can cobble together a CVA and carry-on, they will be severely-handicapped for two or three seasons. But, if the club is liquidated and a Newco has to start outside the SPL - and if I was setting-up a Rangers Newco I would first of all see if I could get onto the English Pyramid, then failing that, start in Division Three of the SFL - then the Rest will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring greater equality to the SPL.

Without Rangers, Celtic are vulnerable to a call for greater fairness, an end to the 11-1 voting regulation whereby, so-long as (and they continually will) the Old Firm vote together on all major matters, they effectively control  the League.

With a fairer share of the money and only one half of the Old Firm to worry about - the Rest can return to the better days of the 1946-1965 period. The question is: have they the cojones to go for it?

  

Better Walter Had Remained Silent

"SIR" Walter Smith emerged from his retirement bolt-hole yesterday to toss his twopenceworth into the Rangers debate. I wish he hadn't bothered.

No single issue I can remember in the past half century or more has caused as much hot air and generated as much debate as the on-going Rangers crisis. I cannot make head nor tail of the whole issue; I have theories on some sides of it, opinions on others, while I could not give a damn about some of the points raised. All I do know is, if we ever get to the bottom of it all, it will be a few years down the line.

One of my opinions is - Walter should keep his own counsel, since he is one of the guys who got Rangers into this mess. Sure, he never meant to; I accept that every action of his was caused by his wish to do the best he could for the club he clearly loves - but, at the end of the day, his mis-management, the mis-management of Graeme Souness, Paul Le Guen, Dick Advocaat and Alex McLeish and the corporate mis-management of Sir David Murray, Martin Bain, Campbell Ogilvie, John Greig, John McClelland, Alastair Johnston, Paul Murray and for all I know Pew, Pew, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb and Uncle Tom Cobley directed the club down the path to administration, probable liquidation and a place alongside Renton, Vale of Leven, St Bernard's, Leith Athletic, King's Park, Third Lanark, Airdrieonians, Clydebank, Gretna and sundry others too insignificant to mention in the roll call of failed Scottish clubs.

But hey, Alexander the Great's empire fell, as did the Roman one, that of Genghis Khan and that of Queen Victoria - life moves on and the Simon Sharman or Tony Robinson of the 23rd or 24th centuries will have a grand tale to tell as he examines the late 20th and early 21st century obsession with football.

Let's be clear here, by the way. Rangers FC have never: as the Celtic Family insists - "cheated". When they set them up, Employee Benefit Trusts were legal; for all I know, they are still legal. The way Rangers administered their EBT's may be contrary to the rules then in place and are certainly contrary to the rules HMRC are now enforcing. Some (the Celtic Family) are insistent this amounts to flagrant rule breaking. Let's give Murray International Holdings employees, who were apparently the guys running the EBTs the benefit of the doubt.

The Rangers Tax Case website, (ok, it's run by one of the wider Celtic Family) has, unlike "Rebel Blogger" Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, not been guilty of rampant schadenfreude. The postings have been level-handed, full of interesting information and informed speculation. RTC reckons the guy who advised Murray, a struck-off lawyer whose name escapes me as I write, gave MIH duff information. Some might say he acted illegallly - that is for others to prove.

Apparently we will be unlikely to ever find out if he acted illegally, only liquidation of the club might open the door for such an investigation. I get the impression HMRC scent blood here; they are, after fish as big, if not bigger than Rangers and are unlikely to settle for however many millions they squeeze out of Ibrox.

So, if we accept that Rangers never set-out to deliberately cheat, how did it all go pear-shaped?

Clearly, the management model of buying their way to success, first mooted by Souness and David Holmes, then taken-up a notch or two by Sir David Murray, was unsustainable. This relied on an annual European run funding the next season and so on - fail once, the club was in trouble, repeated failure doubled and trebled their troubles.

As I have said before, Rangers have always recruited the best Scottish players they could from other clubs. Airdrie gave them Bob McPhail, Tiger Shaw and Ian McMillan, to name but three. Queen's Park was a regular recruiting ground - four of the "Iron Curtain" defence: Bobby Brown, Sammy Cox, Ian McColl and Willie Woodburn all arrived at Ibrox via Hampden - as did Alex Ferguson; the blessed Baxter came from Raith Rovers. But, as many, if not more legends came through the ranks: Allan McGregor, Sandy Jardine, Eric Caldow, John Greig, George Young, Ian Durrant, Willie Henderson, Derek or Barry Ferguson, Derek Johnstone, Ralph Brand, Davie Wilson or Willie Johnston - not a bad Rangers team there, all home-grown and I saw them all play.

You notice, however, only Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor of that lot emerged in the last 25-years or so, since "the Souness Revolution"; and for me, if I had to pick a Ferguson, it would be Derek rather than Barry I would go for. The truth is, once Souness set Rangers down the route of buying rather than breeding, he sowed the seeds of Rangers' downfall.

It may take longer, but it is always better to grow your own rather than continually buy. Walter Smth's reputation as a coach got him the Ibrox gig, sadly, once he ascended to the top job, he stopped coaching.

As I have said before, since the SPL was formed, over 30 Rangers' youngsters have been selected for either the Scottish or Northern Irish Under-21 squads. Precious few - Allan McGregor being the outstanding example, have "trained-on" to become stalwarts of the team. Too-many: Charlie Adam, Chris Bourke, Danny Wilson and so on, have been let go to serve other clubs. Smith as manager, was notoriously reluctant to use his young players, even against the diddiest of SPL opponents. Maybe if he had used his squad better in 2008 for instance, they would not have crumbled under that late season barrage of too-many games in too-few days.

Now, as a result of Rangers' profligacy, they will HAVE to encourage and nurture their young players. They are fortunate here in having, in Kenny McDowall, a terrific coach of young players. In McCoist and Durrant they have real "Rangers Men", who know and can tell the kids what it means to play for the club; who can lay it on the line, what is expected of them. The future is not doom and gloom, in fact, if the three men at the top of the coaching staff work as I believe they can - Rangers future is bright.

However, the go-with-the-kids strategy which the SFA's judicial panel has forced on them needs time and patience, patience in particular from the fans.

Rangers are no longer "Ra Peepel", a wee bit of humility will not go amiss. The kids will need to be forgiven their occasional trespasses on the park. To say, as Walter Smith did this week,  that a Rangers' team, built around callow youth will be relegation contenders, is to insult the quality of kid at the club and the quality of the coaching staff - many of whom he recruited, lest he forget.

Rangers have no divine right to win the trophies they have. You might argue they bought a few, through their ability to recruit good players, but, there was a degree of hard work invovled. Football history is full of cases of clubs which bought big, but bought badly. Buying your way to success is not a given.

Neither is breeding your way to success, however, the really big clubs - Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, the Milan duo, ALWAYS have, in their ranks, several home-grown boys - fans with boots on.

If Rangers do drop out of the SPL and re-group in Division Three of the SFL, only to work their way back by allowing a team to boys to become men, by the time they are back and ready to re-enter the European arena, they will be I am sure stronger and better-equipped to do well than they were when Walter and Co were doing their mindless Viv Nicholson impression.

Mrs Nicholson only managed to work her way through £152,000 before the tears and the eventual early death. By the time all the bills are in, it might be that David Murray, Walter Smith and all the others I named above worked their way through one thousand times that amount and generated one thousand times the tears.

There was no way back for poor Viv, but, there may yet be redemption for Rangers. 

The Glory Is Not In Winning - But In Sorting Out The Mess

MAN - Homo Sapiens - is a competitive animal. Right from the days of the hunter-gatherers, when the ancestors of modern man crossed from what is now Africa into Europe and began to over-take the Neanderthals, man has competed: for territory, for water, then for basic raw materials, for markets for the goods he has produced, for the best women, the best animals, the best houses, for greater financial security, in religion for the greater number of souls even. Often this competition has led to bloodshed, to the great, global wars of the 20th century.

In the 21st century world, sport is now where man competes hardest, at the top level - the Olympic Games, the World Cup and so on, sport is effectively war without bullets. Allegedly the United Kingdom's view of its self-worth will be somewhat lessened if we do not promote a "great" Olympic Games in London and if 'Team GB' does not finish with a load of gold medals and a lofty place in the table of successful nations.

Towards this end, a lot of money has been flung at London 2012; sports such as handball, which are not played widely in this country are suddenly enjoying hitherto undreamt-of resources and backing.

All of these Olympic sports have a common-purpose, they are all in the UK run as far as the Olympic Games are concerned run by single-minded people who want the best for Team GB.

The English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh Hockey Unions compete against each other internationally, but once every four years, they unite behind Team GB, and that is how it should be.

It may be that the hockey squad, or the basketball squad, or the volleyball one or the badminton one is almost-entirely or wholly English. It is certain that the curling squads for the next Winter Olympics two years hence will be 100 per cent Scottish, but, these squads will go into action backed totally by BRITISH bodies. The players will not be representing England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, but Team GB, the team which represents the entire United Kingdom.

Then there are the two football squads for London 2012. They are not seen as representing the whole UK. They will be the answer to that mocking terracing chant: "Are you England in disguise?" For that is what they will be.

Perhaps (unless his agent and current and future clubs can persuade him that to play might jeopardise a life-changing move to Barca or Real Madrid) Gareth Bale of Wales will play; there might be a place for Barry Bannon in the Men's squad and Kim Little and Jenny Beattie in the Women's - but, be in no doubt, the two Team GB football squads will be "England in Disguise". They are being organised by the English, managed by the English and I dare say, somewhere down the line during matches one of the commentators will refer to Team GB as "England" and nobody will bat an eyelid.

That is because, alone of the 30-odd Olympic sports (summer and winter) Football hasn't set-up a UK-wide management body which is acceptable to the English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh FAs and to their fans - that is the glaring weakness in the running of the Team GB squads in this sport.

I wish every Team GB athlete well, I will support them. Should Barry Bannon score the gold medal-winning goal, I will rejoice for him. I cannot join the ranks of those already, even before his selection for the final squad has been announced, rushing to demand that he never again be picked for Scotland. There will be two or three Scots, for instance in the basketball squad - nobody is doubting their patriotism. Is Andy Murray any less Scottish because he will be representing Team GB in tennis? Of course not.

But, I have done before, am about to do so again and surely will again in the future, condemn the SFA for their craven mis-management of the whole London Olympic Games issue.

It is written in black and white - plainly and without ambiguity in the FIFA rule back, that the Team GB football squads are being organised contrary to FIFA rules.

In the FIFA Articles on the governance of the game, Article 8/3 clearly states that if a club or member (in this case the FA) is selecting a "scratch" team, then they cannot select players under the jurisdiction of another member (in this case the FAW, IFA or SFA) without the permission of that body. To do otherwise is a clear breach of that FIFA rule. For the Olympic Games squads are clearly "scrathc" teams. No other competition has the same selection criteria as the Games; and it has been clear fromt he outset this is a one-off case of picking squads for the London games alone.

The FAW, IFA and SFA have all said: "We do not want you to pick our players; we have no objection to 'Team GB' squads composed entirely of English players, but we are against multi-national squads".

The (English) FA accepted this and were prepared to go along with it, until rail-roaded into a multi-national squad by the British Olympic Association, who insisted 'Team GB' had to be selected from all four nations.

This by the way was in direct contradiction of their own selection rules. The BOA selection rules make it clear, each individual body for each individual sport makes-up its own selection policy and if the BOA doesn't like what they suggest - then that sport doesn't compete. But, in this case, London wants football at the Games, so, regardless of the many: "Don't go there" warnings they have had, the BOA has sailed down the illegal route of the FA illegally picking Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh players.

The Northern Irish, we Scots and the Welsh have based out objections to a pan-UK selection policy on the perceived threat to our century and more of international football independence. The three Celtic FAs fear they will be forced into a pan-UK football association, which will doubtless be called, with British arrogance, since we allegedly invented the game, THE FA.

Such a body will be dominated by England, so the three Celtic bodies don't want it, while there is some resistance in England to having the Jocks, the Paddies and the Taffs invade their long-established club.

There are a band of other countries who bitterly resent that there are four separate countries playing international football, whose teams all share a common passport. The mutterings about the UK having four places on FIFA never quite go away, that is fact.

But, I do not see there being an immediate short or medium term threat to the international footballing independence of the four Home Nations, as they are known. UEFA likes the way it has added FAs since the break-up of the USSR and the old Warsaw Pact nations, they will not allow four to become one.

The real target is the four Home Nations' individual places on IFAB - the International Football Association Board - football's supreme law-making body. The four Home Nations were gifted this right when they rejoined and bailed-out the bakrupt FIFA in 1946.

Sixty-six years on, it is maybe time for a bit of British magnanimity. Perhaps they ought to give away two of the four seats, hand one to UEFA, the largest of the various FIFA geographic combinations, the other to FIFA itself. By this simple action they would win badly-needed friends and greater influence.

Of the other two, surely they could agree between themselves to have say the SFA and the Welsh FA hold the places for five years, then the Irish and English for five years and so on.

Doubtless the English will insist since they "invented" football, or more-properly, first codified the laws, they ought to have one of the places permanently, with the other passing between the three Celtic FAs in turn. It would little harm the four bodies.

In return, perhaps the FA would agree to setting-up a proper UKFA purely to run the Olympic Games participation, then more young British footballers could enjoy the Olympic Games experience in the future and London 2012 would not be a one-off.

Then we could all enjoy the Games without rancour, until Wee Eck leads us to the Promised Land of Independence. But, that's another matter.

But, right now, the Olympic Games football issue is a mess, the selection policy is in breach of FIFA rules, it, however remotely, threatens Scotland's international football independence.

WHY hasn't the SFA quoted FIFA rule 8/3 and put a stop to the whole stupid issue? and why will they not tell us why they refuse to act?

Rangers - Nae Mates - Nae Money - Nae Future

BEING a simple wee soul and as a former goalkeeper (allegedly) two sandwiches short of a picnic, the politics of football largely passes me bye. But, of one thing I am certain, it is Rangers' lack of "friends at court" which is costing them dear during their current and on-going problems with the "blazers" on the top floor at Hampden.

I cannot for the life of me think of a big player from Rangers who has held office within either the SFA or the SPL and before that the SFL in the past 50 years. Bill Struth was at one time on the SFA committee, while George Brown - the Rangers and Scotland captain of the 1930s - was Chairman of the SFA's selection committee in the mid-1950s.

Willie Waddell, of course, because of his record as a Scotland player, as a leading journalist and as one of Scotland's foremost managers was an influential figure - when the "Deedle" spoke, Scottish football listened, but I do not recall him being a member of any of the vital SFA or SFL committees. John Greig, another of the few men who have emerged from the Ibrox dressing rooms and climbed the marble staircase to the board-room was kept as largely an ambassadorial figure by the club and while John McClelland held office in the European Clubs Association, I do not recall him having an SFA portfolio.

David Murray had little or no time for the politicking of leagues and associations and, under his fiefdom, Rangers were represented in the corridors of national power by a succession of what were known in Soviet Russia as "Apparatchicks" - men of limited intellect and ambition who could only be guaranteed to toe the party line and not rock the boat.

Rangers apparent contempt for the national associations is now coming back to haunt them with a vengeance. The club, allegedly Scotland's "Establishment" club has not had a president of the SFA since Queen Victoria was on the throne, in fact, since a D MacKenzie had the job in season 1897-88.

Of course, many of you will be asking: "What about Campbell Ogilvie?" Yes, the current SFA president has been around Hampden for a while, but, during his years with Rangers, he was always regarded as something of an administrator rather than an ideas man and I feel he has made greater progress within Hampden's corridors of power since swapping Ibrox for Tynecastle than he ever did as a "Rangers Man". I doubt if, in his Rangers days, Mr Ogilvie shit withou first asking Sir David Murray's permission.

Celtic, the team whose fans claim they are the "Outsiders" have, in fact, produced four SFA presidents since Rangers only such figure, the said Mr MacKenzie in 1898.

So, given they have no friends at court and haven't had for many a long year, is it any wonder that the SFA have this week put the boot in in no uncertain terms? Of course, it should be pointed-out to those Bears who are feeling hard-done-to - the SFa could have been a lot harder on their club and indeed, further sanctions may follow, with an SPL investigation on-going, not to mention any possible fall-out from an adverse outcome to the Big Tax Case.

The Rangers' position of fans and club since administration has been denial, obfuscation, outrage and objection. "We are Rangers; We Are The People; How Dare They - these representatives of the wee diddy teams treat us like this".

It is long past time for such childish foot-stamping. Yes, a big boy did it and ran away - his name was David Murray, it is his reckless mis-management, allied to the equally-appalling non-management of Craig Whyte - the wee boy he left to carry the can, which has brought the club to the brink of liquidation and winding-up.

Paul Murray and his Blue Knights will not help - they were never more than a ready chorus to the songs of triumph. Only the post-liquidation rise of a new Rangers, well-divorced from the shameful mis-management of the past will cleanse the club. That new club should start again in Division Three of the SFL and work through the penalties and sanctions imposed by the SFA as it take its chance from there - nothing else will satisfy.

That said: If I had the estimated £100 million or so it could well take to get Rangers back to the top, I would be doing it through 'Portsmouth Rangers', or 'Port Vale Rangers' or 'Carlisle Rangers' - an existing English club, bought-over and re-housed in Ibrox, but playing in the English League. That way, I might, within five years, expect to start making real money. Putting a great deal of money into a Newco Rangers, continuing to play in Scotland, would be a case of throwing good money after bad.

The other thing about moving any Newco Rangers into England is - the biggest losers would be Celtic. Without Rangers to hate, to compete against, to beat and to have as a target, Celtic will be just another diddy team, playing in a diddy league. Sure, initially they would carry all before them, but, this would become boring, the quality of player would drop, only the fans they don't want - the bigots (they have them too), the glory-hunters (ditto) and the riff-raff would remain.

With Rangers gone and Celtic losing interest, the wee teams would (hopefully) have their time in the sun; however, I'm none-too-sure about that. For too-long the rest have lived off the Old Firm, like those small birds which hang around rhinos in Africa, it would take a major change in attitude for some to have a go, however, if that happens, I vouch it would be a good day for Scottish football and maybe the saving of that tainted tartan brand.

Craig Whyte: "Am I Bovvered"

YOU have to admire Craig Whyte's chutzpa - banned for life from Scottish football by the SFA, fined £200,000 into the bargain, so he sticks-up two metaphorical fingers to the Hampden blazers and wishes them good luck in collecting.

Why should he bother? He still owns Rangers, he is (until HMRC rules on the Big Tax Case) the biggest secured creditor - barring liquidation, he's the only single guy who will make anything out of Duff & Phelps, the single corporate entity who will make anything out of the club being "rescued" as a going concern.

Even if HMRC wins the BTC and liquidation becomes inevitable, I somehow think we will discover that Craig Whyte and not Rangers FC, owns Ibrox Park, those office blocks behind the stands and Murray Park, so he will still have to be dealt with by whoever starts the "newco" to keep some kind of Rangers playing in Scotland.

Should my scenario of the purchaser of what's left after liquidation also buying an in-trouble English club and moving them to Glasgow, come about, CW will still have tobe dealt with I presume - the guy can hardly lose.

The SFA sanctions of a one-year ban on signing players, plus fines, might well sound the death knell on the Blue Knights interest in the club. From the start, Paul Murray & Co have only been interested in carrying-on the old, discredited ways. They are still "Ra Peepl", in mind-set. I don't see them being interested in Rangers becoming just another club, trundling along with a mainly young squad and losing as often as they win.

In many ways, taking the hit, going down to the Third Division of the SFL with a team of boys could be the making of Rangers. Sure, they would lose the glory hunters among their fans; they might even (though I doubt it) lose the Protestant supremacists; but the fourth and fifth generation real Bears would still be there - the guys who live and breath Rangers, and in sufficient numbers to make Rangers' progress through the divisions and back to the SPL a glorious and happy journey for them.

I would like to think that come August 2015, as the First Division Championship flag is unfurled in front of 50,000-plus fans at Ibrox, the Rangers newco had earned the respect of everyone in Scottish football (apart from the Celtic Family) their non-respect is a given. Although, the decent Celtic fans will be pleased to see them back.

Who knows, maybe along the way, the club's sectarian baggage will finally be jettisoned.

But, what kind of SPL will Rangers return to? Well, a fairer one for a start. Shorn of Rangers mutual support, Celtic will have been out-voted 1-11 and there will be a fairer distribution of what little wealth there is. Sure, without four OF games a year, the TV deal will be less-lucrative, but, with a better chance of European participation, we might well have a clutch of good, young, Scottish players spread around the SPL and better-quality football on display.

Ach, I'm just an old dreamer - it will probably still be mince.

RANGERS' on-going travails have brought-about a glorious period of schadenfreude from the Celtic Family and nobody has enjoyed this more than Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, the self-styled "Rebel" blogger.

To be fair to PMGB, he has broken a few good stories and has been way abead of the MSM in Scotland in his coverage of events. Sure, he has over-dosed on schadenfreude and has been a wee-bit over-triumphalist, but, generally he has been good.

Last week, he managed to cut the moral high ground out from under himself with a gratuitously-offensive wee piece about "Professor Struth" and his great plan. He thought it was funny, as did his adoring public. Aye, there were some amusing wee jokes in there, but, you know something - it was nothing like as funny as "The Famine Song" - and that is apparently banned in Scotland.

It wasn't as funny either as my old mate Davie Leggat's out-pourings on his blog: Leggoland 2.

Davie, Davie, you're still in denial - time to move on now.

While I'm name-checking fellow hacks - surely the least-impressive piece of journalism printed in Scotland this week was Andrew Smith's lament in Scotland on Sunday about his not qualifying for and therefore being unlikely to receive a single one of Hibs' allocation of tickets for the Scottish Cup final.

Andrew outlined his many long years of following the Hibbees, but wailed that this counted for nothing: he wasn't a season ticket holder at Easter Road, so he couldn't get a ticket.

There, there, never mind Andrew, I am sure Sports Editor Graham Bean will make certain you are on the match-day coverage team somewhere; just as I expect Hearts fan Beano to put himself down for one of the precious press box briefs on the big day.

I will not be there. Some years ago, the paper for which I then worked won a sponsors' competition - we were judged to have produced the best Scottish Cup coverage of any local paper in Scotland; in spite of the fact "our" team fell at the first hurdle.

This earned us a couple of 24-can cases of the product, plus invitations to the final for myself, the Editor, my sub-editor and the snapper. We enjoyed pre-match drinks and a meal, had seats in the "posh" area of Hampden (padded and comfortable too), half-time pie and Bovril, and drinks, canapes and a wee going-away present after the match.

I resolved there and then, having sampled life among the prawn sandwich brigade in corporate hostility, no way was I EVER going back to front-line operations in the press box for the big games - although it has to be said: conditions there are far above those experienced by the pbi of the Tartan Army.

AND FINALLY - well said big Shuggie MacDonald of the Herald, on Saturday. Shuggie's Saturday musings are always good value, but this week, he hit the nail bang on the head with a well-timed attack on the modern fans' habit of clapping whenever a five-yard square pass in an SPL match reaches the intended recipient. It's about time somebody had a go at this, for too-long we have rewarded and revered mediocrity in Scottish football. We're shite and its long past time we admitted it.

Go Forth Sinner - And Sin Ye No More

WELL, at least he didn't get off Scot-free, but like many people I feel Mr Lennon got off lightly from his appearance at Hampden yesterday. It's not as if his appearance before the SFA's judicial panel was his first for bad-mouthing referees, so a sentence somewhat longer than a two-game ban might have been expected.

Several commentators of a bluish tint, who are suspected of membership of that semi-secret organisation "The Lap-Top Loyal" are suggesting that within Hampden in AD 2012, Celtic are calling the shots. Of course, by saying this, they are over-looking received wisdom over much of the 20th century, which was that Rangers called the shots. Neither position has been, is, or could be acceptable - but, that's Scottish football.

We have to accept that all clubs are equal, but two clubs are more-equal than all the others. We then either change this, or carry-on as we have. Carrying-on hasn't got us too-far, so that tells you where my sympathies lie.

To a man, all of my friends within the Celtic Family are ashamed of Lennon's continued boorish behaviour; pandering to their lunatic fringe, as the Celtic management appears to be by its continued support for and refusal to censure Lennon, will do the club no good whatsoever.

That said, I don't suppose, whatever he does, Lenny will be an acceptable figure to lots of people in Scotland, but, I just hope somebody within Celtic Park can get him onto a sort of defensive driving course in handling the media, along with anger management counselling. Otherwise, I worry for his future.

NOT half as much as I worry about the future of the game in Scotland. I see the SFA is considering stepping-in and forcing a new league set-up on the SPL and SFL. What took you so long gentlemen? Three separate bodies running senior football in Scotland has long been a joke. But, it meant jobs for the boys so that was OK. Now we can no longer fund these jobs, finally, common sense appears to be breaking-out.

I still warrant, however, it will take a few years and a lot of screaming before (if ever) this single league body arrives.

And when it does, I hope we have some sort of workable pyramid in place. When you see what Inverness Caledonian Thistle and now Ross County have managed in just 18 years - is there any case for the perennial bottom feeders such as East Stirlingshire, Albion Rovers and the like to be preserved in aspic as "senior" clubs?

WE ARE now within the final 100-days countdown to the London Olympics. Stuart "Three Jobs" Pearce has announced his "long list" of potential squad members, with several Scots still in-line for a place on 'Team GB' at the football tournament.

Back in February, I wrote to Stewart Regan and to his opposite humbers at the English, Irish and Welsh FAs, and at the BOA, pointing-out that, under FIFA rules, the (English) FA, who are running the football squads for the BOA, cannot select Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh players, without the express permission of the FAW, IFA and SFA - and that permission has not, as far as the general public is concerned, been given (I suspect a wee private deal has been struck, however).

I still have not received a response to my letters. This thing stinks and, while I admit the chances of it happening are slim, there remains a chance that coming together for the London Olympics will threaten the independence of the four FAs and that's a chance the Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh FAs cannot take. Once a UKFA is forced upon us, we become, even more than now, a part of "Greater England". This cannot be allowed to happen.

A UKFA, however, remains the Old Firm's best chance on getting into the English Premiership, so, don't bet against it.



Blue Knight - Barren (of ideas) Knights More Like

I HAVE been saying for weeks, the best option for anyone with real financial clout who is looking at purchasing Rangers would be to await liquidation, buy the rump of what's left, then buy a struggling English club, re-locate that club to Ibrox and start afresh in the Football League, with the intention of getting into the English Premiership as quickly as possible.

Actually, that's the second-best option; the best option would be - go for counselling, at the end of which you walk away with your fortune intact. Because, as we all know, the quickest way to make a small fortune out of modern-day football is to start with a large one.

I always had my doubts about the Blue Knights. I will admit, I wrongly deduced they could get their hands on the requisite funds - their failure to find £500,000 when required by Duff and Phelps showed their plans lacked the real financial backing it will take to sort out the mess at Ibrox. My doubts/objections to the Blue Knights were based on two issues - I always felt their management style would be the same-old same-old; they would follow the discredited "spend,spend, spend" style of Sir David Murray. That's what got Rangers into bother in the first place, it was never going to get them out of the shit.

Then, there was their insistence on Rangers remaining in Scottish football - that busted flush which is going backwards whilst the rest of the (football) world moves forward. To spend £100 million putting Rangers right, and then be left with a busiess worth, at best £40 million, playing in Scotland, makes no sense at all.

Liquidate, then, if you're not going to go down my suggested route of moving into England, start in Division Three of the Scottish Football League, with the best of the Murray Park kids forming the basis of the squad, perhaps reinforced by one or two of the true Rangers' fans in the current first team squad.

Such a squad will not be playing in Europe for three seasons any way, so, spend those three seasons winning SFL Divisions Three, Two and One and arrive in the SPL with a squad ready to compete.

Three seasons without Rangers will allow the other ten clubs to force Celtic to accept a fairer distribution of the cash - eight-four or nine-three voting would be in place. The SPL would be a fairer league, sure, it would be a poorer league without Rangers, but, it would force the other clubs to cut their cloth accordingly and concentrate on nourishing Scottish players.

Three years without Rangers would be good for the other ten, although it might be bad for Celtic.

Also, a three year stretch in purgatory might just get rid of the WATP attitude of yer average Rangers fan - win, win all round perhaps.

I Very Firmly Feel.....Lenny's Not an Asset To the Celtic

THE first all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final since Victoria was an Empress, Britannia ruled the waves, Dundreeries were all the rage and Gilbert and Sullivan were top of the pops - that ought to have been the main headlines on the back pages today, but, what was it instead - the perennial Ginger Whinger having another strop.

Don't worry though, Celtic fans; the SFA will do a wee fudge and Lenny will get a string of touchline bans and maybe a fine - but the bans will be served concurrently and he will soon be back, snarling away at everyone like a good un.

When I moved into my current home in a small former mining village in Ayrshire, some 30-odd years ago now, I bought it from a retired teacher at the village school. Locals tell me old Dickie had this endearing habit, at the start of the first lesson of each academic year, he gave every boy in every class six of the tawse - because they needed it and to get their attention. Maybe the SFA should try this with Lenny prior to the kick-off in the first match of the season.

He is certainly developing into a serial screamer: "Infamy,infamy - they all had it in for me", Kenneth Williams' great line from "Carry on Cleo" has now become wee Lenny's theme song.

OK, I've seen play waved on for handball incidents such as that which allowed Craig Beattie to put Hearts into the cup final, but, this wasn't the first iffy/doubtful/controversial handball penalty I've seen given, and it won't be the last. I don't know if Lenny did much Kipling at school back in Lurgan (I doubt it somehow), but really, he has extreme difficulty in facing those twin imposters, triumph and disaster and treating them both the same. And until he learns to do this, he will devalue his personal standing as a manager.

Last season, Lenny presided over the (on paper) strongest squad in Scotland - they won just one trophy. This season Celtic's paper strength advantage over the other clubs was even-greater; they have won the SPL at a canter, obviously aided by Rangers ten-point deduction, but, again they have won just one trophy from the three available to them. Add another flat season in Europe, even after being re-instated in the committee room, following elimination on the field and you feel, somewhere in the upper environs of Celtic Park, just maybe, somebody is thinking: "Is Lenny the man to take us where we want to go?"

As I have said, I have had virtually no contact with Lenny, but friends whose judgement I trust and who know him both in a football context and in a social one tell be, away from the game, he is lovely guy. He has, as a manager, proved himself a winner - but, again the question has to be asked, given the had he was dealt these past two seasons, has he under-performed.

Then there is the public's perception of him. Of course, to a certain section of the Celtic Family, creating a siege mentality, forging the Us against Them attitude plays well, but, might it be self-defeating in the long run?

Sure, there will always be Celtic-minded people who will put money into the club, regardless of how the manager is perceived in the wider world, but, in the real world of big business, with big promotional budgets, the market Celtic has to deal in to finance the club's aspirations, a manager who is seen as a wee, snivelling, snarling yobo is not the ideal partner in a promotional venture.

I accept that Lenny is perhaps more sinned against than sinning. He has had to face threats of real harm coming to him; he has been assaulted in public; his family has to live with daily close security and cannot have a "normal" life (whatever normal is) - I would not blame Lenny if he was to decide: "I've had enough of life in the Glasgow goldfish bowl".

But, that said, perhaps, if he cannot find a modicum of self-control when decisions go against his club; if he is unwilling to accept that, even if that decision is a wrong one, the referee's decision is final, and no amount of spitting the dummy afterwards will get it changed - somebody upstairs at Celtic Park will say: "Enough is enough, Lenny, it's time for you to go".

Perhaps he needs anger-management therapy, counselling of some sort, or, as a worst-case scenario, to get out of Glasgow, but, if he is not helped or guided better, then I will not be the only one feeling that Lenny's not an asset to the Celtic.

Once We Were Titans

THE High Heid Yins in Hampden's coridors of power may well have designated Flower of Scotland as Scotland's national anthem - the only one in the world by the way which has become a race to finish first between the band and the fans, who usually win - but, the Tartan Army's true anthem these recent years has become: "We're Shite And We Know We Are.

But once, once we ruled global football. You simply have to take my word for this, there is nobody alive today who watched Scotland back in the late-Victorian years when we truly were The Greatest.

If the 21st century is a time of famine, the 20th was a case of one long roller-coaster ride, with Scotland usually reaching the top of the ride at the wrong time. For instance we were immense in 1967, a year late, and again in 1977, sorry, we came too soon then.

Fifty years ago today was one of these rare days when we got it right. On 14 April, 1962, the bi-annual Hampden clash between Scotland and England finished 2-0 to Scotland. Two-nil, take it from me, one of the 132,441 who was at the game: it was 2-0 going on 5-0, we moidered da bums and even if the margin of victory was by four goals fewer than England had achieved at Wembley 12 months previously - they won 9-3, lest we forget - we were even more convincing winners than the men in white had been then.

The victory sparked-off our only series of three straight wins over the Auld Enemy in the 20th century and our first such sequence since 1882-3-4. Had we been a well-run football country, we would have trained-on to greater things, World Cup victory in 1966 for instance, instead, it was the out-played and demoralised English who grabbed that minor trophy.

I can still rattle-off the Scotland team which so-thrilled Hampden, they had to come back out and do a lap of honour, an accolade never previously accorded a Scotland team, it was (in the old-fashioned 2-3-5 formation): Brown; Hamilton and Caldow; Crerand, McNeill and Baxter; Scott, White, St John, Law and Wilson. Four Rangers players (they never got injured when Scotland called back then), two from Celtic (they had Scots in their first team back then), two from Tottenham, one from Dundee, one from Liverpool and in Law, a God who was visiting from his then base in Turin.

Davie Wilson got the opener in 13 minutes, but it took until the closing couple of minutes for us to make the game safe, and only after England had had a great call for a Johnny Haynes goal refused by Dutch referee Leo Horn on the hour mark, before skipper Eric Caldow slammed home the match-clinching penalty - but hey, that's Scotland for you, we don't do easy wins.

In truth, had England 'keeper Ron Springett not had the game of his life, it might indeed have finished five or six-nil to us. England were never at the races, apart from in a five-minute spell during which Haynes had that "goal" not given.

Scotland won the game in midfield. The (John) White "Ghost" might have been a bit under the weather, but he, Crerand and Man of the Match Baxter totally dominated proceedings, while up front, St John and Law ran the English ragged, while Scott and Wilson on the wings were also in full flight.

Our back three of Hamilton, McNeill and Caldow were never in trouble, with Hamilton in particular putting Bobby Charlton on starvation rations. This team ought to have been the basis of a dominant Scottish team for the next decade, but, it never happened. That XI was never selected en bloc again. OK, we had options - the McNeill or Ian Ure debate for centre half would go on for a season or two; Dave Mackay was temporarily out of favour; Alan Gilzean was still emerging to replace St John, likewise, WIllie Henderson would soon replace Alex Scott for club and country, and whilst not even he would admit to being the Aberdonian's equal, if Law was unavailable, Ralph Brand was a more than capable replacement.

Only Brown, Caldow, Baxter and Law were automatic choices back then, unlike today when players unfit to lace Slim Jim's drinks are shoo-ins for the national team.

Fifty years ago today, the Sixties started to swing for Scottish football. The trouble is, we all finished up dizzy and disorientated and we've got worse over the years. But once, half a century ago, we were Titans.

The song hadn't yet been written, but: we sent them homeward tae think again that day.

Celtic Socialism - The Way Ahead

BEFORE we go any further - the word Celtic in the title of this blog has a hard C: Keltic, as in ethnic origin rather than Celtic as in the football club.

'Celtic Socialism' is an expression coined this last week by my old mate Kevin Ferry of the Herald, to describe the way professional rugby is organised in Ireland, Scotland and Wales - where, to a greater or lesser degree the IRU, SRU or WRU run the fully-professional sides in their countries, whereas in England, the RFU is seemingly permanently in dispute or at war with the clubs, who are all in thrall to Middle England's belief in capitalism and market forces.

This got me thinking, maybe 'Celtic Socialism' is the answer to the problems of Scottish football.

It seems clear to me, whichever of the bidders for Rangers receives 'preferred bidder' status from administrators Duff & Phelps, their modus operandi will be the same old, same old - they will, like David Murray over-spend on over-rated, over-priced mainly foreign players, hoping to do well-enough in Europe to balance the books. As has been shown, this is not the most-sustainable of business plans, but hey, what do I know. I was covering top-flight football when Murray was still watching basketball and I'm still in there when he's lang syne gone.

Anyone wishing to make money out of Rangers will wait for liquidation, buy the club name, Ibrox and Murray Park, along with a struggling English club, which they then re-locate to Glasgow and get into the English Premiership in the shortest-possible time-scale. That's the only plan which makes sense.

Otherwise, we go down the route of 'Celtic Socialism' - we have a top-flight of a limited number of full-time clubs (perhaps 16 at most), under-pinned by community clubs so that the available talent is developed locally.

Our better players have an element of centralised contracts - similar to that operating in English cricket - which ensures they are not over-played and are generally fit and available for the national side when required and we concentrate on producing Scottish players, playing a Scottish style of football.

I realise the Clan mentality in Scotland might cause problems; there will always be the ocassional loss of players to the greater riches in the south and abroad, but, if we get it right, Scotland, the nation which is most-socialist in these islands, just might emerge stronger on the international front.

We would have to have proper feeder systems, whereby say a future Billy Dodds, growing up in New Cumnock, would know somewhere along his potential path to the top, he would be going through Rugby Park, while a future Kevin Kyle say, down in Stranraer would know he would be going to the top via Stair Park and perhaps Palmerston.

While we were at it, we could abolish the internal transfer market, players would move up or down the club ladder via swap deals. We would end-up with fewer full-time players, but, those who were good enough could still make it to the greater riches of England, while, if we cut our cloth more economically than of late, the players would soon realise they had to practice more, guard their talent better and be a bit more professional.

A fairer domestic system and breeding talent, rather than buying from outwith our borders has to be the way forward. Football is, by the way it is played: the team being greater and more important than the individual, a socialist sport. Let's try Celtic Socialism.

Et Tu Brute

I HAVE felt for years that yer average Rangers fan - Billy King from Larkhall as we refer to him - has a long history of being shafted by those in a position of power. Back in the aftermath of World War I, with serious unrest in Ulster threatening to spread to Scotland and an "Orange" Church of Scotland management seriously concerned about growing powers for Catholics in Scotland, Rangers management thought it might be a good idea to become ultra-protestant.

Not that had a great history of signing them, but, suddenly Rangers decided "Nae Papes", thereby throwing petrol on the already smouldering sectarianism in West-Central Scotland - the fall-out we all know about.

It took some 70-years before the club knowingly signed a Catholic; they might have made a lot of other mistakes, and been the instigators of the living-beyond-our-means state of the SPL, but, at least, in signing Mo-Jo, Messrs Murray and Souness got something right. Not that the body of the Ibrox Kirk ever praised their move, forgave them or allowed the fact that Rangers now signed Catholics to get in the way of their in-bred sectarianism.

Billy King's grand-father and father - also probably called Billy King - supported the so-called "Orange" Scottish Unionist Party, which was absorbed into the mainly-English Conservative Party in the early 1960s; and, as we all know, within the London political bubble, Scotland is a small, far-away country of which they know nothing and about which they care even less.

BK and his mates loved Murray and Souness, they put Rangers back on top after a fallow period, they out-spent all the other clubs, they reinforced the We Are The People perception and won nine-in-a-row.

But, the years of over-spending and financial mis-management caught-up with the club and suddenly, with Souness long gone, the now Sir David Murray was found to have feet of clay. This led to the current malaise affecting Rangers.

But still BK and his mates cling to the old WATP beliefs, confident in the knowledge that Rangers will rise again.

I am not so sure. So big is the mess, such is the tangled state of the finances, the breadth and depth of the tax issues, I can see liquidation as the only solution to the Rangers mess. No sane business-man would touch the crippled club with a barge pole - there is no sense in buying the club in administration - purchasing the rump after liquidation is the only sound plan.

I think the SFA and SPL are coming round to that conclusion, which to my mind explains the announcement of new financial fair play rules, to be discussed by the SPL at the end of this month.

Basically - they have decided Rangers cannot be saved by a Creditors Voluntary Agreement, liquidation is the only answer - BUT - Rangers are too-big, too-important to the financial well-being of Scottish football that they must rise, phoenix-like from the ashes of liquidation with a new corporate identity: 'Rangers 2012', 'Glasgow Rangers', Govan Rangers' whatever they are called, and be allowed to carry-on playing in the SPL.

This might be good news for those amongst the 11 other clubs who cannot bear to wean themselves away from the milch cow of three or four Old Firm home gates per season, but, in my view, it is not in the best interests of Scottish Football.

We all know, the SPL voting structure calls for an 11-1 majority for the really big issues, mainly financial ones. We also all know, when  push comes to shove over money, the Old Firm will vote together, giving them an effective veto over how the cash is shared-out and allowing them to dictate to the other ten clubs.

Without Rangers' support, Celtic are vulnerable, and vice versa - so, when, following the inevitable liquidation, the "new" Rangers apply to join and are accepted into the SPL, I would bet the farm on Celtic proposing their admission.

This would then cause them massive problems back at Kerrydale Street. Ever since Rangers' problems first came into the public domain, on Celtic websites and across the 'Celtic Family' the schadenfreude has been fantastic. Sean South from Croy (Billy King's mirror image) and his mates have been salivating furiously at the thought of Rangers no more.

How will it play with them, when they realise those who are running the show at Celtic Park are in the vanguard of those battling to ensure "new" Rangers are inside the SPL tent, helping them piss on the other ten - rather than where the vast majority of the Celtic Family want them - dead buried and with the CF dancing on their grave?

Sean South and Co, like Billy King and Co, will realise, they are being royally shafted by the men running their club. Because, money talks.

Another Domino Falls

I HAVE written before on these pages - a car crash is never caused by one single thing, rather, a series of small, sometimes seemingly unconnected events come together and - bang - cue pain, grief and disaster.

I reckon the same scenario is currently unfolding in Scottish football; I don't know where it will end,but, things are not looking good for our national game. Leaving aside if we can for a moment the continuing unfolding drama down Edmiston Drive, let's look at another facet of the game, our referees.

The men in black have never been the most-popular guys in the game, but, even if you think of them as "a necessary evil", the inconvenient truth is - we cannot have football without them. Even in the very early Victorian days, when "soccer" was played by middle-class gentlemen, reared from childhood in the public ethos of: "play up and play the game", umpires were deemed necessary, given the failure of the respective team captains to agree on what was or was not unfair play. Somebody has to stand in judgement of competing sides - no referees, no game, it is that obvious.

Received wisdom in Scotland may hold that our referees have long been, to a man, members of the Brotherhood of Freemasons and that a certain Glasgow side, wearing blue strips, have for over a century been receiving favoured treatment at the hands of the math officials - but few outwith the "Celtic Family" now subscribe to that theory. To those of us whose allegiance is to one of the non-Old Firm clubs, there have always been two clubs who get all the breaks from the men in the middle.

Received wisdom in Scotland also holds that our referees are crap. Again, this is nonsense. In my six decades of covering sport I have seen some quite brilliant refereeing decisions, some good ones and a few which have been so-bad as to make me cringe for the poor guy who made them. But, I can safely say, whether I have been watching football, rugby, hockey, ice hockey, basketball, volleyball or any of the other team games I have covered in my lengthy career, Scottish referees are not the worst.

Indeed, when I used to cover top-flight British League basketball, I always felt those few Scottish officials good enough to officiate at that level were generally better than their English counter-parts. Right now, there are no Scottish rugby referees operating at the absolute top level - covering the Six Nations or operating at the Rugby World Cup - but, while I have seen some howlers this season in Scottish club games, the guys in the middle up here are every bit as good as the so-called top men doing the really big, televised games.

But, one of the reasons for the lack of Scots officials at the very top is a lack of political clout. In refereeing, as in most areas of life, it's as much a case of who you know as what you know when it comes to the big jobs.

Apparently this is one of the unspoken, under-lying reasons for Charlie Richmond's decision this week to walk away from refereeing. Charlie, in his valedictory statement spoke of his favouritism and his refusal to sook-up to the men making the appointments.

To some, Charlie was seen as one of Hugh Dallas's boys - his career flourished under the now sacked Dallas, who, for all he was driven out of Hampden by a combination of his own goal via his e-mails and what most of us see as a vindictive campaign by the "Celtic Family", remains one of the most-influential members of the world-wide refereeing community and a member of UEFA's elite refereeing committee.

Celtic and their apologists may not like Dallas, but he is still seen as one of the top men by UEFA and FIFA.

I know Charlie Richmond quite well. He is as honest as the day is long and, as an Auchinleck man, he has a mind of his own, he fears nobody, cow-tows to nobody and calls it as he sees it.

Of course, being brought-up under "Auchnleck rules" - basically: "If there's nae bluid and his leg wisnae broken, it wisnae a foul", his interpretation of what was or wasn't a foul was always going to bring him into conflict with those within the game's corridors of power who seemingly want to make football a non-contact sport.

But, for all that, Charlie was one of the good guys and his decision to walk away is yet another small victory for those who want the game run their way and who brook no deviation from what they see as the true path.

I happen to think Charlie has a point. Dark forces are at work in our game and Charlie Richmond walking away is yet another domino falling in a pattern which could yet see Scottish football in extremely deep doo-dah, very soon.

Be afraid.

Craig Whyte Is Still The Only Guy Who Can Win From Rangers' Continuing Financial Problems

AS the long, slow death of Rangers FC goes on, we are witnessing a lot of sound and vision on both the Mainstream Media and in the blogsphere. I am loath to add my twopence worth to all the theories, comments and scenarios which are out there. This thing has gone on far too long, and for the sake of the poor benighted Scandinavian forests which are being clear-felled to feed the voracious needs of everyone who wants some steer as to what is going on at Ibrox.

But, in the very near future, we will discover which of the interested parties is the preferred bidder for what, if anything, is left of Rangers. One thing is certain, the only guy who will make anything from it (probably) will be Craig Whyte. He might be "irrelevant", be might be not a suitable person to run a football club in Scotland - but - he still owns Rangers and, if the preferred option of a CVA and Rangers FC continuing to operate comes to pass - somewhere along the line, the potential new owner(s) will have to do a deal with Mr Whyte for the club name, Ibrox, Murray Park etc. Any offer greater than £1 and wee Craig has made a profit.

I was speaking to a good friend of my son-in-law this week. This guy works in high finance and knows his subject well. His take is, Whyte probably acted immorally, recklessly and badly, but, as yet, as far as we know, he has done nothing illegal - so, when the dust settles, he will have to be dealt with and, since he holds the titles, he will have to be bought-out.

If this preferred option comes to pass - and everyone involved is keen to not mention that 10,000 lb gorilla which is still sitting there in the corner (the "BIG" tax case) - this single issue could still de-rail things. Being a natural pessimist, I still see liquidation as the most-likely outcome. Ta Ta Rangers, hello some new club.

As I have said before, putting Rangers right will cost more than the club will be worth in the real world, so nobody with the brains to equal their wealth will touch the club via the preferred scenario of CVA and carry-on, this doesn't make economic sense. Also, the preferred option calls for a continuation of the management style which got Rangers into trouble in the first place - buy, buy, buy.

For me, the best option for making real money out of buying Rangers would be, wait until liquidation, or buy then liquidate - then buy a struggling English club cheap: Portsmouth or Port Vale are the current favourites - re-locate them to Ibrox and play in the English League.

This would be a cross-border version of what Jim Ballantyne and the guys who bought the Airdrie name did after that club went bust. They had to buy Clydebank to get back into football. Whoever buys Rangers from the liquidator would be better off buying an English club. If they bought Rangers and Port Vale, the new club could be in the English Premiership in four seasons; if they bought Portsmouth they could be there in three. The new club, or the "rescued" club post-CVA will be out of Europe for three years in any case, plenty of time to bring some young home-grown players up to speed and avoid buying foreign mercenaries.

Such a scenario would also be good for Scottish football. If Rangers are "rescued" through the CVA plan, then the current situation whereby Rangers and Celtic, by the simple device of putting forward a united front can dominate the SPL will continue. They will ALWAYS vote together, thereby nullifying the need for an 11-1 majority to effect change in the SPL. BUT, if Rangers are liquidated and therefore flung out of the SPL, as they would be, then the other ten clubs could out-vote Celtic when it comes to which club replaces them.

Sure, the likes of the St Johnstone chairman feels, if Rangers go under, others will follow - that's his opinion, methinks he's being over-pessimistic. If Rangers are liquidated, there will be no relegation at the end of the season and Ross County will replace them. In theory this produces a voting scenario of Celtic being the odd team out in an 11-1 vote and the necessary levelling of the financial playing field could be achieved.

Will the other clubs have the cojones to face-down Celtic? Or will they cave-in, relegate Dunfermline or one of the other strugglers, let Ross County be promoted then vote to allow the Rangers newco straight back in?

It's not just Duff and Phelps which has big decisions to make in the coming weeks.