RANGERSGATE shows no sign of closing soon - there continues to be claim and counter-claim, opinion and differing opinion, with both sides (pro and anti-Rangers) digging-in, Western Front style, for a lengthy campaign.
One had hoped for a bit of clarity from yesterday's SPL board meeting at Hampden, but, what clarity did emerge seems to have become fuzzy in the haze of conjecture.
I thought the SPL board did at least indicate the nub of the problem facing them, through their point about the status of "Rangers". This is something of the moot point in all this - is The Rangers FC, as overseen by CEO Charles Green: the "successor" club to Rangers FC 1872 (in liquidation), or is it a brand-new club?
Until this issue is resolved, the SPL cannot move forward, once the SPL decides Rangers' status we cannot know if "Rangers" or some other club takes-on the fixtures delegated to "Club 12" in the season 2012-2013 SPL fixture list.
I wrote yesterday, that it might be no bad thing if Green's Rangers were admitted into membership of Scottish football, but had playing membership suspended pending the clearing-up of all the relevant issues. I stand by that, but, after 24 hours trawling through the various blogs dedicated to this matter, feel even this might not be the best solution.
For a start, there is this status issue. Peter McConville, who writes the 'Random Thoughts on Scottish Legal Matters' blog, posted yesterday to the effect that Green's group might indeed be able to claim they (The Rangers FC) was indeed Rangers 1872-continuing; another legal blog held the view they were an entirely new entity. However, argument is the fuel of any legal system, after all, did not Lords Carlaway and Glennie, two of Scotland's most-senior judges, not disagree on another matter concerning Rangers just last month.
The Scottish football public - at least those members of that constituency prepared to contribute to on-line discussion threads - seem to be (if not Rangers' fans) of the opinion that some sort of punishment has to be handed down to that club. They cannot, however, decide if the Green team should carry that punishment.
As I have said before: if The Rangers FC is indeed the successor/continuing football club, then they have every right to be admitted to the SPL, but MUST carry the can for the PROVEN football misdeeds of Rangers 1872 (in liquidation). They should be forced to pay-back the football debts to Hearts and Rapid Vienna, they should pay any penalties for the non-compliance with the accounts timeline and if - or as now seems likely when - it is proved that Rangers 1872 (in liquidation) was using double contracts which were not divulged to the SFA, then the penalties for this rule breach should fall on The Rangers FC. This is only fair and transparent.
However, the misdeeds of Rangers 1872 (IL) have opened a far-bigger can of worms. There is the increasingly untenable position of SFA president Campbell Ogilvie for a start. Merely suspending The Rangers FC from membership and perhaps placing Mr Ogilvie on gardening leave might not suffice.
I have come round to the conclusion that what is needed now is an independent review of Scottish football, almost, if you like and you forgive my melodrama here, a sort of truth and reconciliation tribunal similar to that set-up at the end of apartheid in South Africa.
The trouble with this is - who in the Rangers family is going to play FW de Klerk, and who from elsewhere is going to play Nelson Mandela? For it is generally accepted that football, whether in Scotland, the British Isles as a whole, UEFA or FIFA, is somewhat short of untainted officials.
GIVEN the above, the SFA and SPL's clear intent not to give the Green team a clear assisted ride into the SPL, if I was Mr Green, I would be looking at a Plan B.
He has a team with a good stadium and nobody to play against - look for a club with a not-so-good stadium, no money, but a guaranteed league place and take them over.
If I was Mr Green, I would be speaking with 1), the administrators of Portsmouth FC and 2), that body which Phil Mac Giolla Bhain so-brilliantly named the MCC (the Walter Smith-led Magic Cardigan Consortium). They have, at least, £6 million to spare. Put that £6 million together with the Green Group's £5.5 million, buy Portsmouth, transfer them to Glasgow to play in the English League as 'Portsmouth Rangers', eh voila - they have a "Rangers" team playing in England. Those players seeking to get out of their existing contracts would surely be happy to play in England, with a view to the shortest possible trip into the English Premiership, so the squad would be competitive; the Rangers fans would be delighted - most are still in denial and would relish showing two fingers to the rest of Scottish football; Mr Green would see - potentially - a speedier return on his investment and the MCC, being "True Rangers Men" would be able to get behind a successful winning team again. Scottish football would, on the other hand, be rid of a big bully who has beaten them up for years.
I call that a win-win situation. Of course, the down-side is, and there has to be a down-side: who would the remaining Scottish sides hate? After all, the wicked witch might be gone, but they need a replacement. And, the in-fighting between the Green team and the MCC would be wonderful to behold.
And, finally, how would the Celtic Family cope with being "The Establishment Club"?
Scottish football, don't you just love it.
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