TAKE it from me, it is very difficult to blog on a single subject, at a time when very little is happening on that subject, in the public domain. I have no doubt that, as the fall-out from Rangers' administration and forthcoming liquidation continues to rain down on us, meetings, some totally-secret, others not so, are on-going on a daily basis within and without Hampden.
But, in the public domain - what we are left to chew upon are internet forums and chat rooms, often over-flowing with the views of trolls and myopic attention seekers. One thing we are not getting is open, enlightened, informed discussion on relevant matters.
This blog has consistently held that in the longer-term interests of Scottish football, it would be for the best, were there to be no "Rangers" in any of the senior leagues in season 2012-13. As I have maintained all along, there are too-many unanswered questions and unresolved issues and too-little time in which to answer these questions and resolve these issues, for "Rangers" to play football in the new season.
I do not profess to know what will happen, but I can make educated guesses. On the one hand, it may be discovered that Duff & Phelps were indeed models of probity and good sense in the way they handled the administration; that the supposed £5.5 million which they obtained from Charles Green's Sevco was the best deal they could have got for the sale of Rangers and that the deal should stand.
On the other hand, there are all sorts of dubious points in that administration process:
Were Duff & Phelps involved in a conflict of interest, in that one of their main men knew of the Ticketus deal which apparently financed Craig Whyte's purchase of Rangers?
Did they deal properly with the unsuccessful bids, from the so-called "Blue Knights", Brian Kennedy or Bill Miller?
Did they, as has been suggested, turn-down superior offers for the club before selling it to Sevco?
Was the Sevco deal the best they could have got?
Does the reported £5.5 million deal truly reflect the value of Ibrox and Murray Parks, plus the Albion Car Park?
Why was Craig Whyte so-anxious to get Duff & Phelps in as administrators?
Even further back - did David Murray know that Whyte intended using Ticketus money to buy the club?
Was the Whyte/Ticketus arrangement legal?
Was Murray "duped" or might he indeed have been "conned" out of the club by Whyte?
Then there are the allegations of double-dealing by certain Lloyds Bank Group officials, who have, apparently, a connection - however tenuous - with Celtic.
Looking at Sevco:
Do Mr Green and his associates pass football's "fit and proper persons" test?
Is Sevco adequately-financed for the purposes of running a major football club?
Then there is the uncertainty if a football club, which is not in membership of any league or in possession of an SFA licence, can have the players registered to that club, whom Sevco claim?
Will Sevco pass the SFA tests for admission to even associate membership?
How can a company without three-years' accounts be considered for membership of the SFA without first going through the lengthy associate membership status?
Of course the answer to a lot of these questions is - because Sevco is "Rangers" and we want the Rangers "brand" to continue in Scottish football.
A lot of the supporters of other clubs have enjoyed in recent months, giving Rangers, whether the in administration or Sevco versions of that "brand" a good kicking. Supporters are customers, perhaps more-loyal customers than that of a pub which changes hands, and half the clientele immediately decamp to the rival down the road; or a brand of bread which is suddenly re-named and re-wrapped, losing consumers in the process. They (the supporters) have the economic power, but it is the club directors who have the difficult task of keeping their brand profitable and attractive. Some of these directors, much as they loathed the old Rangers and want to see the new Sevco Rangers suffer, want, even more, to see the followers of the Rangers "brand" coming through their turnstyles - and they are shitting themselves at the thought of losing-out on their share of the Rangers brand booty.
I think Ally McCoist, at least, has cottoned onto that fact; which is why he is suddenly so-keen on a fresh start in SFL Division Three. He knows the squad he is likely to be left with, if he has to put a team on the field in the new season, would struggle in SFL Division One, but, should at least make the promotion and relegation Division Two-Division Three play-offs: if it doesn't win Division Three outright. He knows too, after the first couple of games - at which Ra Peepul will turn-out in droves to show: "We're Still Standing", attendances will fall away, but will still be far-higher than elsewhere in the bottom tier. So, IF Rangers cut their cloth accordingly, theyt will be good for that division and will be on the road back.
He also, I suspect, has worked-out that taking three seasons to get back to the SPL, season during which, because of the loss of the income from the Rangers brand, some of the other SPL teams will be sorely-weakened, with his young players three years older and tempered by the struggle, back in the top-flight, Rangers will be more than competitive.
He also knows that three years without Rangers will hurt Celtic more than it will hurt any of the other SPL teams.
These are some of the reasons why rules are being bent and broken to try to keep Rangers at worst, one level below the SPL. This is a crass, petty, short-sighted move, which, I suspect, if it goes through, will weaken Scottish football even more. Since this whole business started, the most-glaringly-obvious missing ingredient in the whole mess has been LEADERSHIP from within Ibrox and Hampden - the latest attempted fudge from the blazers demonstrates: they still haven't got the need for this.
I said months ago, if I was buying Rangers, I wouldn't consider Scottish football, I would also be buying an in-trouble English club, amalgamating them with Rangers as a cross-border Airdrie United and playing, out of Ibrox in English football.
Clearly Charles Green doesn't read this blog - or, if he does, he lacked the wherewithall and balls to make this happen. So, since, once his associate memebrship of the SFA comes through, he is committed to Scotland - he will have to wait a while before he gets a return on his investment.
Actually, the man in the strongest position today, is, I feel McCoist. I am sure, somewhere out there there is a well-heeled "Rangers Man" or two, who could fund McCoist-fronted, management-led buy-out of the club from Sevco. Were McCoist to lead such a conglomerate and immediately on purchase, seek to put the club in the hands of a supporters trust - forget McNeill, Struth, Morton, Symon, Waddell, Baxter, Souness, Murray and everyone else - even John Greig: Alastair McCoist would become The Greatest Ever Ranger.
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