Let's Hear It For The Girls

AS A sports writer, rather than a football one, I am not obsessed by "the national game", but am proud of the fact, I can and have filed shite on over 50 different sports. It never does to take oneself too-seriously when you earn the daily crust tapping wee plastic keys to produce content for the "comic" pages of those bastions of truth and great literature, shortly to become chip wrappings - the daily and Sunday newspapers.

So, I love the Olympics in all its absurdities - I can even get what it is that takes British exponents of that most continental Europe of sports: handball, out of their off-shore comfort zone and off to Scandinavia to immerse themselves in the handball culture, for what may well be a one-off appearance in the Olympic arena.

Not least because of sharing my home with a horse-mad daughter and grand-daughter, I spent yesterday glued to the coverage of the climax of the Three-Day Eventing, a sport which will never transfer to the Raploch with the ease with which orchestral playing has for instance.

The fluctuations in the show jumping yesterday were engrossing. And at the end, how did the mainstream media cover it - with some gushing, sycophantic pish wrapped around the presence in Team GB of the Head of State's grand-daughter and the fact whe received her well-deserved team silver medal from her mother.

They barely mentioned some terrific other strands in a great story of triumph over adversity and a close-run thing, which is what the Olympics are all about.

Then, in the evening, we had that unexpected win over Brazil by the Team GB women's football team, which included oor ain wee Kim Little.

I must admit, having read in the build-up how Hope Powell, the Team GB women's coach, whose stock is rising by the day, was going to set-up her team to frustrate the supposedly more-talented Brazilians, I was concerned.

I had visions of Kim Little being asked to do the same sort of "marking" job on Marta, the iconic Brazilian number ten as I remember watching wee Billy Bremner do on another iconic Brazilian ten - Pele - back in 1966 at Hampden.

But no, Powell didn't sacrifice her Scottish midfield anchor, Team GB got their early goal, maybe rode their luck a wee bit, but finished good and worthy winners.

I have never seen the girls as potential gold medal winners; they are now in the last eight - which is the least I expected of them, and are capable of reaching the semi-finals and maybe even winning a medal. Now this is somewhere no senior Scottish team has ever been in tournament play and is ancient history to England's senior men's team, who haven't seriously interested the historians since Italy in 1990.

Why have the girls managed this? Well I put it down to a lack of history. Women's football in this country has always been a side show. I bet if you go into any board room in any Scottish ground this season and mention women's football, some neanderthal will say: "Ach son, lassies shouldnae be playin fitba"; that's an attitude which is hard-wired into the game up here.

It is also a wrong attitude. Scotland's and England's women's teams are rising internationally, simply because they don't have the 150-years of baggage which holds back their sinking male counterparts.

The Scottish and English women's team members, even the big-name players such as our Kim Little, Julie Fleeting and Co and those English girls currently lighting-up our TV screens all mix their football with proper day jobs.

They are not cosseted and indulged, not for them a couple of hours of training four days per week plus a game at weekends. Fleeting, whose family ties caused her to opt-out of the Olympics (although the daughter of an SFA executive ignoring Dad's employer's "Nae Olympics" stance to play would, I suggest, have been a great deal less hypocritical than the SFA saying "no" on behalf of the players, but "yes please" on behalf of the accountants) is a full-time wife and mother, full-time teacher, but part-time international footballer whose strike rate makes Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law, Ally McCoist, even Hughie Gallacher, look poor.

The girls in Team GB do get paid - a pittance - by their clubs, but, in reality these girls are amateurs in the best sense - playing for love.

When football was amateur, from 1872, when the first Scotland team played, until the mid-1890s, when professionalism was legalised, Scotland ruled the world.

Maybe, having seen what Kim Little and the dreadfully-unfortunate Ifeoma Dieke have done at the Olympics, the SFA should revert to amateurism and oversee a re-birth of Scottish football greatness.

After all, one of my own personal heroes, Robert Gardner - the very first Scottish international footballer - managed to organise the Scottish end of that first international, on St Andrew's Day, 1872, in his capacity as Queen's Park secretary; he also played in goals in the actual game, captained the side and kept a clean sheet - all the while also doing his day job.

Could Kenny Miller do likewise? And that is not an implied criticism of KM.

The Men's game in these islands is currently at its lowest ebb in terms of its reputation, it is over-hyped, over-rated and the alleged top players are over-paid in addition. Meanwhile, on the back of their superb Olympics, the women's game is flourishing.

Gentlemen, be afraid, be very afraid.

And my message to Kim Little is a simple one: Gaun yersel Hen!! 

Getting Off At Paisley

LAST night I logged-on to the Rangers Tax Case blog, to learn the anonymous blogger has decided to pull the plug; he feels his 17-month mission is over. I believe, sterling though his or her efforts have been,  he or she has called the whole thing off too-soon, in West of Scotland patios - he or she has "Goat aff at Paisley". Not all the shit has hit the fan, far less fallen to earth; this car crash hasn't run out of momentum just yet.

But, before he or she comes back for his or her encore, I am on my feet applauding a job well done. RTC shed light into areas which we in the Scottish football media had preferred to keep under wraps, for which he/she deserves all the kudos and awards which have accrued.

That said, the job is far from done. Rangers may well be in Division Three of the SFL, but, the Rangers "brand" is still a huge money-maker for the rest of Scottish football. Anyone who doubts this must have noticed, that while the SPL were falling over themselves to kick Rangers into the long grass, they were equally-determined to make sure that the TV and media money which that brand, toxic though it remains, can still generate.

I have no remit to speak for Rangers, but, surely anyone with a modicum of decency can see the hypocrisy of a body (SPL) throwing-out a founder member, then falling over themselves to profit from the fact that the entity they have discarded is more-capable of bringing money into the game than any of them can.

I am no fan of Charles Green. I don't think he had a clue what he was getting into when he formed Sevco. I think he is struggling to gain acceptance from Ra Peepul; he is being badly-advised when it comes to dealing with these peepul; certainly the "decent Bears" still have not bought into his vision. I am still unconvinced of his separation from Craig Whyte's interests.

That said, the opprobrium which has come his way since his Brechin bigotry blast has been worrying. Let's be honest, bigotry has never been the exclusive property of Rangers and Rangers fans. Let's be equally honest, some of the relish with which fans and (in horse racing terms) the connections of some of the other clubs have sought to put the boot into Rangers has been disgusting.

Green has been, for whatever motives, we don't know why he got involved, is still the only show in town as regards Rangers. The way the deal was struck may be questionable, but, he saw it through when others pulled-out. He has every right to be puzzled by how things have unfolded, by the stick he has taken, even from among the "Rangers Family". I feel, there will be nights when, as he prepares to switch-off the bed light, he asks himself: "Why did I get into this?"

He has a right to free speech, to express his disquiet and wonderment at the ways of these wild Scotsmen.

But, such is the over-heated climate surrounding this entire issue - he is roundly criticised on all sides. The ranks of the unco-guid have closed against him, Vincent Lunny is being briefed.

It is all quite sickening.

I have said before and will no doubt say so again. We need a Truth and Reconciliation Tribunal to sort-out the whole business. The trouble is, I don't know where we could find a sufficient number of independent persons able to sit in resolution, in Scotland.

We've been awash with hatred in Scotland since the Reformation - that hatred will not end soon. Particularly where Football is concerned.

Enjoy the party Rangers fans - it may not be a long one.

IN THE course of my 40-years wandering in the wilderness which is sport in Scotland, I spent some years covering ice hockey. This period convinced me that here was THE definite Scottish sport.

Not many people know this, but, some Canadian students of the game are convinced the first ice hockey match was played on the frozen St Lawrence River by some of the Highland troops who had helped General Wolfe sin the Battle of Quebec. It wasn't ice hockey as we know it today, simply an impromptu game of shinty, with a severed Frenchman's head as the ball.

Anyone who ever witnessed a Fife Flyers v Paisley Pirates match will need no reminding that ice hockey has always paid due tribute to those kilted pioneers of the 18th century. But, ice hockey is a winter sport, played indoors, which involves lots of gratuitous violence and crowd interaction and where fighting is encouraged - yer perfect Scottish sport in other words.

One of my sadder moments covering ice hockey was to record the quick death of the Scottish Eagles, a club which went, in very short orders from the best in Britain to a former club, simply because they moved from the Centrum in Ayr, because it was "too wee", to Braehead Arena, and didn't have the cash to sustain the move.

I honestly fear the same outcome for the football club we must now refer to as 'The Rangers FC'. Yes, they managed to complete their Ramsdens Cup win over Brechin City on Sunday (and can I say here, this blog did warn it would not be the cake-walk some Rangers fans forecast). But, I honestly do not think that Charles Green and the Sevco investors have the cash it will take to make the new Rangers work.

The figures do not add up; there are still too-many unresovled issues regarding the administration and imminent liquidation of the old Rangers. Mr Green and his men seem wedded to the same unsustainable management methods which got David Murray into trouble, and, even if he had been capable of running an honest ship, would surely have done for Craig Whyte as totally as his illegal scams have done.

I can see The Rangers FC failing to complete this season. I hope I am wrong, Scottish football needs a strong Rangers, and while the new embodiment is not the Rangers of old, for as long as Rangers puts out a team, wearing light blue shirts, at Ibrox - then they will be seen as Rangers, regardless of corporate wrapped, history or a lack thereof.

BDO might pull the whole edifice down. The findings on the Big Tax Case, if they are ever published, could be a nuclear option. The ongoing Strathclyde Police investigation is another ticking time bomb, while at least one Court of Session judge, Lord Hodge, is still in play.

But, even if The Rangers FC does survive and does prosper to the extent that Charles Green and his fellow investors manage to get out with a profit, the whole episode has clearly shown that the SFA, the SPL and although they escape with more credit than the other two bodies, the SFL, are singly and collectively unfit for purpose.

Any good which does come from Rangersgate will come when Scottish football is properly re-organised; when young Scottish players are given a proper chance and when they have the necessary skills and dedication to take full advantage of that re-organisation.

But, to date all that has been shown is that this poor, wee, backward, insular and in-fighting country has a national sport which is ailing and which is in the hands of witch doctors and snake oil salesmen.

The future does not look either good, bright or promising.

In fact, to quote that great Scottish soldier, Private Fraser: "We're awe doomed, doomed ah tell ye!"



Have a Breather and Enjoy the Fitba - There's a Lot of Smelly Stuff Still to Hit the Fan

WHEN it comes to sports-writing, I am decidedly old school. I might write this blog, but, I don't do twitter and whilst TV and radio is, in my view, ok for instant coverage, I prefer to have my views enhanced by reading the views of an educated and informed writer, in newspapers and magazines, rather than by the sleverings of a broadcasting "talking head@, even one as erudite as Alan Hansen.

An aside here: is it perhaps because games such as Rugby Union and cricket draw their top-flight players mainly from men who have completed their education at 18 rather than 16, then gone-on to Higher Education to emerge as lawyers or accountants who also play sport, rather than as, in football, apprentices who become tradesmen, that we get a better class of punditry from the likes of  Richie Benaud and Brian Moore than we do from Mark Lawrenson, Ian Wright & Co?

Sadly, during the seemingly endless Rangers saga, we have been denied much in the way of sensible comment from the mainstream media in Scotland. It may be because Scottish football is a small village, in which, rather as we Ayrshiremen say of Cumnock: "Everyone takes his turn to be Village Idiot", our "star" writers have taken turns to spout pish, at length.

The dust has, for the moment, settled over Rangersgate; this afternoon 'The Rangers FC' will begin life in the basement of Scottish League football, at Brechin and, for all the continuing presence in the ranks of a clutch of Scottish internationalists such as Neil Alexander, Kirk Broadfoot, Lee Wallace and Lee McCulloch, plus who knows how many internationalists from other nations - Andrew Little certainly, otherwise, wait and see - the expected Rangers walk-over is not guaranteed.

The Rangers XI will be somewhat under-cooked; regardless of how many "closed doors" "bounce" games they have played so far, they are going into opening night without a full dress rehearsal, far less a pre-opening run. Jim Weir and Kevin McGowne are no mugs, while the Glebe Park management team have shown a knack of getting big results ou of their squad of part-tmers. There should still be enough quality in the Rangers' ranks to win the game, but, it will not surprise me if Brechin pull off a "shock" win.

This, of course, should it happen, will divert attention from the main point about the entire Rangersgate fiasco - throughout the entire squalid affair, from David Murray first putting a then seemingly-stable and profitable pillar of the football establishment up for sale, via the machinations of the Lloyds Bank hold on the purse strings, via the questionable circumstances of the sale to Craig Whyte and his subsequent misconduct and mis-management, through the equally puzzling administration period under Duff & Phelps, via the laughable bidding process for the carcass of a once-great club, to the puzzling circumstances of Sevco's "purchase" of the old club and onto Charles Green's stewardship, one thing has been constant.

That is the lack of  vision and of help, guidance and common charity towards Rangers which has come from the SFA, and the SPL.

There has been no LEADERSHIP. Hardly surprising really: SFA president Campbell Ogilvie has been deeply-embroiled in the whole saga, through his former post as Rangers' Company Secretary - he should, at the very least, have been put on "gardening leave" months ago.

Whatever the politics surrounding Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and as one who worked in Yorkshire some years back - I can tell you these are Byzzantian   in extremis - they were but a warm-up for Hampden's corridors of power for Stewart Regan. As for Neil Doncaster, I bet he regrets swapping Delia Smith's lunchtime menu at Carrow Road for pie and Bovril at Hampden.

Rangersgate isn't over, not by a long chalk. Skeletons have still to emerge from closets, heads will roll, a whole cart load of the smelly stuff has still to hit the fan, but, today at least - can we sit back and enjoy the football - please?

It's a F***ing Fudge, But The After Effects Will Be Interesting

AND lo, it came to pass that the Wise Men emerged from the stable and sayeth unto the multitude waiting there: "We hath a peace deal, The Rangers FC hath been entered into the outer temple of Division Three, and peace will again prevaileth about the land".

And the followers of TRFC did rejoice mightily and did saith: "Blessed be the Lord Ally, for we are still Ra Peepul and ye, in years to come, we shall again rise up and smite the iniquitous who hath so reviled and chastised us. We shall away to Brechin, from whence we shall begin our long march back unto the Promised Land, from which we hath been banished by the forces of the Great Unwashed.

We doeth not walking away, but ye, we shall march, re-invigorated and refreshed, back to the summits, we shalt never surrender.

And the High Priests did cower in their Hampden bunker and did saith: "Oh shit, we hivnae kilt them aff efter awe - but, we'll barely see them fur three seasons and we've tied them intae the TV deal, so they'll still be keeping us in style".



JUST as I feared they would, between them the SFA/SPL and SFL on one side and Charles Green's Sevco on the other have cobbled together a deal which keeps the Rangers "brand" alive in Scottish football.

The tawdry nature of the deal - after all, the SPL didn't want Rangers in their ranks, but sure as hell wanted continued access to the TV and media riches which accrue from the Rangers brand; while on the other hand, Sevco, the beneficiaries of another tawdry back-doors deal between themselves, Duff & Phelps, Craig Whyte and for all we know, probably David Murray, have got what they wanted - the opportunity to continue to milk the deluded ranks of Ra Peepul, whilst doing little or nothing for Scottish football.

We can only hope now that when BDO take over as official liquidators, they put a stop to the whole fiasco and are able to shed light into Stygian darkness.

This whole business stinks - it has stunk since David Murray first, all these years ago, put Rangers on the market - to yawns of disinterest from anyone with any shred of decency or love of the club.

Rangers has been toxic for years - the best answer to the whole thing would be for BDO to shut the entire operation down, before approaching that great army of decent Bears, who love the club and football, but who despair of the knuckle-dragging, swaggering, domineering Protestants who have become the public face of the club for so long.

A consortium of decent Rangers Men (there are many out there), operating within a Caledonian version of Green Bay Packers, could in short order restore a really new Rangers to the old club's former glory - they could do this without the historic baggage of "our traditions", so beloved of Ra Peepul. It would take time, but, Rangers could and would rise again.

They have to, because, if the recent squalid round of negotiations and talking has proved one thing - it is that Scottish football desperately NEEDS Rangers, and the more-successful Rangers are, the more Scottish football needs them.

And nobody needs Rangers more than Celtic.

Those members of the Celtic Family, currently revelling in their oldest rivals' discomfort; logging onto the on-line forums to scream: "Youse is deid" at their fellow cyber fans of the opposing persuasion must scream louder; they HAVE to believe Rangers are dead.

That will not make it so, because, Rangers are on the way back and, just as Celtic recovered from the mis-management of the Bob Kelly/Jimmy McGrory years, to bounce back to enjoy their greatest days under Jock Stein, then it is entirely possible that Rangers will bounce back from their current disgrace, bigger, stronger and more-determined.

The next few years will, indeed be, to quote from that ancient Chinese curse - Interesting Times.

Sing-up Chaps - These Fuzzy-Wuzzies Don't Like Having God Save The Queen Roared At them - That Means You Too Giggs.

EDITOR'S NOTE:- This blog will be making no further comment on the on-going case of I can't Believe It's Not Rangers, until such times as there is a new development worth commenting upon. Thank you.

TO other matters - the Olympic football tournament and last night's Team GB v Senegal match.

I saw the Senegal equaliser coming long before it did, for the simple fact that this whole Team GB football effort has been a nonsense since it was first mooted. The great Doug Gillon, British journalism's go-to man when it comes to the Olympics - no he didn't get the first post-race comment from yon Greek shepherd after he won the 1896 marathon, but he's seen more Olympics than most - told Colin, now Lord Moynihan back when London won the games, putting-up a football squad was a case of "don't go there".

Between the fact it was an FA/LOCOG decision to go for it; the BOA's stupid intervention to force through pan-UK squads, even after the four Home Nations FAs had decided to make the squads England-only, has been an avoidable own-goal and the fact the all-powerful FA Premiership doesn't want Premiership players involved and in any case feels their competition is bigger than the Olympics, since to them, football is the only game in town - it was all always going to end in tears.

I have pointed out before, when a Team GB football squad last played in the Olympics, in the 1972 qualifiers, back in the good old, amateur days, they had ten warm-up games and still managed to lose 1-5 to Bulgaria, the lack of preparation this time round was always going to be a huge problem.

The FA, the BOA and indeed, the other three FAs have had seven years to get ready for this. In that time, LOCOG has managed to build the splendid Olympic Park and get the infrastructure ready. For most of that time the athletes in the other disciplines, from archery to yachting have learned the dates on which they would be competing and been able to prepare properly, whilst football, the richest sport in the UK, has stumbled towards the start line.

It ought to have been decided within the first two years - how the football squads would be organised, a proper series of warm-up games could have been sorted out - why, for instance, wasn't an England Under-23 squad, in effect the shadow Olympic Games squad, taking part in those faux Home Internationals the season before last? And why wasn't there another such competition last season, if only to continue the warm-ups?

The team against Senegal looked like what it was, a scratch team, hurriedly thrown together. At least, because Hope Powell has taken the sensible decision to strengthen an already strong England Women's team by fitting-in two great Scots in Kim Little and Ifeoma Dieke into the squad, the Women do have a chance of medaling. The men, because of all the meddling, will win nothing.

But, what have been the big discussion points around the squads - well we had the hectares of Scandinavian forests chopped down to feed the media lust after Stuart Pearce had the gall to omit the Blessed David Beckham: how could he?

Now, the BIG issue amongst my erstwhile colleagues in the mainstreat media is the fact that some of the "foreigners" with the Team GB football squads, have failed to sing the National Anthem during the pre-match ceremonials.

The Daily Mail is, of course, livid, in which case - well done Messrs Bellamy and Giggs and Mesdames Dieke and Little. I am all in favour of anything or anyone who gets the Mail's corporate knickers in a twist.

The mainstream media has missed the big story of the Team GB football fiasco - the fact that by selecting the teams as they have, the FA has clearly breached FIFA rules and got away with it (so far). They have missed the slightly smaller story of the amateurish and inept preparations; but hey, no worries - they got the really huge stories - Beckham wasn't picked and some of the non-English players chose not to sing an anthem which everyone knows really belongs to the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but has, over many years, been hijacked as "England's Anthem".

Finally, is anyone surprised about the Hampden fiascos - ok, the Korean flags mix-up was London's fault rather than Glasgow's, but the delays at the turnstyles and in the food areas at Hampden yesterday, well that simply confirmed what the whole Rangers fiasco has proven these past six months or so - the SFA couldn't run a piss-up in a brewery.

Wake-up To Reality - It's A Whole New Ball Game

I WONDER when the rest of Scottish football will wake up to the reality of their current situation. The long, slow, tragic death of Rangers goes on - the club has been on life-support for 24 weeks now, since it was placed in administration. Rangers are like some rich old uncle, on his deathbed, with all the members of his extended family anxiously awaiting his ultimate demise, so they can get their hands on the family silver.

But, stubbornly, he refuses to die; there are periodic signs of a recovery, then a relapse - and still, with time marching on and the clock still ticking, they await the final act. As I have been saying on here for months, this show has a long time still to run and when it does end, the aftermath will be messy, very messy, with nothing assured but some nice little earners for m'learned friends, who will set-out to sort-out the mess.

However, life goes on and the real start to the new 2012-13 season is but 48 or so hours away as I write. I know, if you're a fan of one of our big SPL clubs, the outcome of the Ramsden's Cup ties will barely register in a normal season. But, this is no normal season and, even if only as an antidote to wall-to-wall Olympics - even Beach Volleyball pales after a while, honestly - the Ramsden's will do nicely.

Of course, with Rangers out of the equation, what happens in the SPL this season will be very interesting. Being somewhat keen on statistics, I have been trying to work out what might happen. For instance, the average gap between whichever of the Old Firm finished second and the best of the Rest, in third place, since the SPL went to the 38-game, top-six/bottom-six split in 2000 has been 23 points.

Leaving aside season 2005-06, when Hearts actually finished second, above Rangers, the closest any of the other sides has come to whichever Old Firm team finished second that season was in 2006-07, when third-placed Aberdeen came in a mere seven points behind second-placed Rangers, with Champions Celtic 12 points clear at the top. The biggest gap between the Old Firm and the Rest was in season 2004-05, when Rangers took the title by a single point from Celtic, with Hibs, 31 points adrift, in third place.

The best points tally achieved by any of the Rest (forgetting that Hearts second place) was the 68 points which Hearts accrued in finishing third in 2003-04, while the lowest third-placed points tally over the same period was the 58 points which Livingston accumulated in finishing third in 2002. Over the 12 seasons of 38-games, the average third-placed points tally is 62 points.

Therefore, with Rangers out of the equation, we can speculate that 62 points or thereabouts will be sufficient to set-up perhaps Champions League qualification round participation in 2013-14, if not, certainly Europe League status.

Over the past five seasons the average third-placed finish tally has been 63 points, so that ought to be enough. 62 or 63 points from the 114 available over the entire season surely isn't that big an ask. Matches against Celtic account for a mere 12 of that total, so, surely the game plan for the season for any of the truly ambitious "Rest" ought to be - to forget all about Celtic and concentrate on beating the other ten clubs.

Anything they get against Celtic is a bonus - but, the real effort in this season has to come against the other ten clubs. For far-too-long the measure of the other clubs has been how they got on against the Old Firm. the Old Firm is (albeit perhaps temporarily) no more.

There has long been a belief in Scottish football that some players among the Rest only really burst a gut against the Old Firm. They might well be fans of their club on the park, who genuinely despise the two big beasts; they might be the fan of the other half of the Old Firm, determined to do their best to hammer the enemy; they might be fans of the half of the Old Firm they are facing on the given day - determined to prove they are good enough to wear the jersey and certainly better than those currently doing so. So, they try harder.

The trick might be for a manager or managers to persuade their players, the Celtic games don't matter in the grand scheme of things - far better to make sure they win the rest, and merely look to pick up bonus points against the Hoops.

Who knows, if some gaffer can successfully sell this ploy to his men - we could see a genuine challenge to Celtic coming from his club and the SPL campaign being far more competitive and nothing like the Celtic cake-walk we are all anticipating.

And that's without going into the belief, which I have seen put forward by some fans of other clubs that, against sides they view as "beneath them", some Celtic players play with a little less conviction and belief.

Scottish football, at its top flight, was never more-competitive than in the two decades following the end of World War II up to Jock Stein's return to Celtic Park as manager in 1965.

During that period, with only Rangers being consistently good and winning regularly, we saw Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian, Dundee and Kilmarnock winning league championships and Aberdeen, Motherwell, Clyde, Heart of Midlothian, Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline Athletic winning the Scottish Cup. The League Cup was, during this period, won by East Fife, Motherwell, Dundee, Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen, with some of these clubs named as winners of a domestic title, winning more than one.

That was far-healthier than the Old Firm near-monopoly of recent years and it is to be hoped that a handful of SPL clubs will rise to the challenge and have a real go at Celtic.

Sadly, the omens are not good, with the Chairmen, those fine, upstanding men who were prepared to duck, dive and fudge to keep Rangers alive, until faced by the reality of outright fans fury, finally found their backbones and punished the Ibrox club for their proven wrong-doing - the as yet unproved allegations have still to be substantiated.

If these callow men can somehow find the positivity to allow their managers and players to shoot for the moon - we could have a really good season ahead of us.

There has been enough doom and gloom - let's accentuate the positive and go for glory in the new season.



End This Rangers Madness

YOU go away for a few days of much-needed R&R and what happens? As far as the on-going Rangers saga is concerned - not a lot. I can only concur with my fellow blogger 'Rangers Tax Case', who dubbed the whole sheebang "An Unholy Mess", aye, and it is one shich is getting messier by the day.

I persist in believing that there is no way "Rangers" be it Newco, Oldco, Sevco, tesco or Coco the Clown should be playing in Scottish football this season. Having said that, I feat some sort of shabby compromise will be thrashed out which will satisfy nobody and leave Scottish football looking even shabbier and disreputable than it currently is.

The lack of leadership from within Hampden has been nothing short of disgraceful, we're awe doomed, doomed ah tell ye.

I shall say no more about "Rangers" until some sort of order and sanity reigns - if ever.

SO, what is going to happen this season? I honestly don't have a clue. We may well have the melt-down of the SPL which some are forecasting, in which case, old Private Fraser, to whom I nodded in section one of this blog, may well, finally, have been proved correct in his pronouncement of impending Armageddon.

I prefer to think, we will muddle through, some how.

But, for Scottish football to prosper from the whole Rangers mess, it will take a whole new mind set from within the various board rooms. For seasons 2012-13 certainly, 2013-14 probably and maybe even 2014-15, instead of being all about the other ten SPL clubs keeping their feet under the table from which the Old Firm dispense their largesse of big gates, of finishing third or fourth and getting into the Europa League, it is now about finishing second and maybe getting a shot at the greater riches of the Champions League.

I still see the rest as being short-sighted in how they approach this challenge. The directors will allow the managers to recruit third and fourth-rate players being punted to them by agents, while young Scots talent is overlooked.

Until our directors tell our managers: "Enough shoddy imports - do your job and properly COACH young Scots talent, encourage and nurture this, WORK on the training pitch" - we will continue to go nowhere in Europe.

I don't think the current Celtic squad is all that good. Instead of going straight to the default position of trying not to lose too-heavily to Celtic; perhaps, if the rest had a go, they would do better and we would have a truly-competitive SPL.

FINALLY today: the whole episode has been mis-handled right from the start; warnings about potential disaster have been ignored; it could all come back to bite our bums in the future - but - we have to now get right behind Team GB's two Olympic football squads.

I have long been protesting about the disgraceful mis-management of the FA, and of the craven duplicity of the SFA, but, there is no point in portesting now - the calls for common sense have been ignored and the tournament is about to start.

The Team GB men, I do not see getting past the quarter-finals, England's usual limit; but, the girls, with the tartan tinge from Ifeamu Dieke and Kim Little - they have a real chance of a medal. The gold is probably beyond them, I expect Germany to win that one, but, if they gel, with home advantage, a silver or bronze is a possibility, which would be great.

And, who amongst us will begrudge Ryan Giggs his cameo on the major stage of international tournament play? Certainly not me.

Coming Soon - 21st Century Clan Wars

IN yesterday's blog, I made a plea for a return to interest in football, rather than football finance and politics, matters which have dominated the debate since Rangers went into administration. Clearly, the time is not yet ripe for a return to football over financial folly.

I have never deviated from expressing doubts about the ability of Sevco, or as I call them: I Can't Believe It's Not Rangers (ICBINR), to function properly in the new season. These doubts remain. However, we have at this juncture to look at the reality of the situation.

The whole affair - from the moment David Murray pocketed Craig Whyte's £1 coin (I hope he kept it safe, by the way - that small coin could be one of the truly great treasures of the National Museum of Scotland in 100 years' time - the coin which brought-down Scottish football), the whole affair has been a farrago of lies, deceit, mininformation and poor decision-making - and the fat lady still hasn't picked-out her dress, far less began her vocal warm-up.

We have seen the true spirit of Scotland at work - the nasty, small-minded leaders of a nasty, small-minded game, being nasty and small-minded. I am a Scottish nationalist; I intend voting for Independence, in the 2014 Referendum - assuming Westminster doesn't find a way to scupper it; but, I fear Scotland being run by we Scots. We could all be back to the 21st century equivalent of Clan Wars, within a generation.

I hear strident calls for the heads of Stewart Regan, Neil Doncaster and Campbell Ogilvie. Davbid Longwell seems to have dodged the tumbail thanks to his performance on Friday. To those calling for the afore-mentioned heads, I caution, Ogilvie's position has been untenable since the moment his EBT was revealed, if not before; the SFA President should lang syne have been, at the very least, on "gardening leave" -  my personal choice is, he ought to have resigned.

But Messrs Regan and Doncaster are functionaries - they run the SFA and SPL secretariats. They may have been negligent in the advice they gave to the club representatives, they may have been too-negative; the Alex Tomson leaded e-mail certainly looks bad for Regan, but, it is the club representatives who actually run the game. Regan and Doncaster might have single votes through their positions on the SFA and SPL boards, but, they have to look at the bigger picture, the club representatives act through self-interest alone.

And clearly, all their self-interest said was: "Let's kick Rangers, hard".

Now that Rangers have been kicked into the long grass, the club reps are suddenly wakening-up to the fact - they have for so long lived off the crumbs from the Rangers table, they still don't know how to function on their own.

The fans are just being fans. They know nothing other than that their clubs would win more trophies, were it not for those cheats at Ibrox. When it comes to unthinking sheep, the qaverage Scottish football supporter makes the people of North Korea look like the ultimate bunch of free-thinkers.

The one correct thing which has come of this whole Rangers mess is - we are at the start of a whole new ball game in Scotland.

ICBINR will, if it is to survive, have to shake-off the old habits, quickly. I actually believe, whilst still harbouring my doubts as to whether or not Mr Green's backers will hang around for the longer haul, before they can take their profits, and as to whether or not they actually have the seed money it will take to pull "the Rangers brand" back to profitability and honour.

However, IF Green can get the hard message across to Ally McCoist and his management team: "You have to piss with the pricks you've got - it has to be Broadfoot, McCulloch and the Apprentice Boys - you must work harder on the training park and make-do with the players you have": then, ICBINR can and will shoot rapidly back to the SPL.

For the rest, a period of swift retrenchment and better house-keeping is called for. I see problems for Celtic and their fans in adjusting to being the new "Establishment" club. That club will, after all, take the biggest "hit" from the demise of Rangers. The others, IF they believe, can shock them and we may yet have the flatter playing field we crave.

But, everyone outwith the Ibrox hordes HAS to realise - much as you hate them, "Rangers" has not been killed-off. The toxic management - Messrs Murray and Whyte - might have gone, but the "Rangers brand" survives and goes on.

I remember reading, some 50 years ago, an article in the old Beaverbrook-owned, broadsheet, Sunday Express, about how to make money on the Stock Exchange. In those simpler times we were told to invest in the "Four Rs" - Rangers, Rolls-Royce, Rover and Rowntree - and we wouldn't go far wrong. We might not make spectacular amounts of money; but, back then the Stock Exchange wasn't the casino it is today; but, we would get a fair return on our investment.

Not one of those "Four Rs" is under the same management today as back then, indeed, all four entities have gone through various ownerships, but, three of them have been through fire and come out stronger, the fourth, Rangers, is now starting that process.

Much as the Celtic Cyber Crew might wish to see Rangers dead, frequently though they may tell us: "Rangers are dead", they should be aware - Rangers are alive, badly-wounded but alive; and as we all know, a wounded big beast is a dangerous big beast.

It isn't over yet.

Now - Can We Please Get Back to Football

FEW of have yet noticed, but, pre-season matches, the lead-up to the big kick-off of season 2012-13 have started. I must admit, I am not very keen on pre-season matches, from a professional point of view - too-much work, for too-little reward.

The Sports Desk of your paper will allocate a game to you, depending on the date, they might only have room for a couple of hundred words, plus teams; now that is the killer. We all know these are warm-up games, dress rehearsals, so the managers will take every opportunity to muck about with their line-ups.

The game may kick-off with what you and tha managers presume will be the line-up for the first real game, all good and well; but, depending on how things go in the first half, they will, from half-time on, start tinkering. This may take the form of (my favourite) fielding a totally-different line-up in the second half, or it could be a case of a couple of rafts of changes, which, so-long as the second one isn't done during the final ten minutes, isn't too-bad.

There is nothing worse than having your report of, perhaps an insipid, boring non-event 0-0 draw written, ready to press the "send" button on your lap top right on the final whistle  - when the manager suddenly, in the 81st minute, decides to blood three of his apprentices, at least two of whom are wearing jerseys handed over by previously replaced players.

This means a rush along the press box to the local fanatic, usually the guy who writes the club's website, and who hasn't missed a game for 15 years. This font of all knowledge is supposed to be able to identify every player. And, if he cannot, you're in trouble - particularly if the one youngster you haven't been able to aidentify, should score a 9snd minute match winner.

Worse is if the opposition is a lower league English team. You may be able to identify their thirtysomething token Scot, who won one international cap, as a substitute, in the Berti Vogts era, but, him apart, you haven't a clue who they are, and, to make it worse, the English team's local paper hasn't sent North a reporter who could help you out. Panic stations every one.

Then, there is the presence of some new signing, from Eastern Europe or sub-Saharan Africa, whose name is worth 250 points at Scrabble and the spelling of whose name cannot be guaranteed.

I always liked the way Archie McPherson, if he wasn't sure how to pronounce a foreign name, could get away with: "the big goalkeeper", or "the tall midfielder" - trouble is, you cannot do this in a report for a newspaper, you need a name.

Mind you, I remember once, whilst covering a Kilmarnock v Hearts game at Rugby Park, receiving a telephone call from my London sports desk; the sub-editor on the other end of the line wanted to know the correct spelling of Alexei Mikhailitchenko, and the advice from further down the desk was: "Telephone old Socrates - he'll know". You should have seen the looks I got from the rest of the press pack.

Mind you, that was nothing to the day, while covering an Ayr United cup tie at Somerset Park, I also had to do a "runner" for one of the old Saturday night "pink 'uns" on the game up the road at Rugby Park. The guy who was supposed to be covering it had had a crash on the way there and I was asked, at extremely short notice, to help out.

This was in the days before lap tops - when reports had to be dictated down the telephone line to a copy taker. Two of my daughters had been trained to help me out by dictating the reports, allowing me to concentrate on writing them - so I sent one of them to Rugby Park, took the other one to Somerset Park and when anything happened at Kilmarnock, that daughter called me and told me something like: "Goal to Kilmarnock in 15 minutes - so-and-so, header from a corner by such-and-such".

With some judicious padding, we got away with it, but the looks I was getting from some of the Ayr fans, who over-heard me describing a Kilmarnock goal, were of the: "What bloody game is he at?" variety.

So you see, covering football matches isn't that straight-forward. Mind you, it's a lot easier than trying to make sense of the politics and machinations within the corridors of power which have so-enthralled us this close-season.

But, ICBINR are now in SFL3, Dundee are in the SPL and until: the Crown Office, the Procurator Fiscal's Department, Strathclyde Police, the Judiciary Tribunals Service, BDO either together, or individually, give us something else to worry about - we can now complete our pre-season training and be ready to go.

Competitive football kicks off in less than two weeks - these will pass very quickly. Let's hope, after this close season, we get a real season to enjoy.

Bonfire of the Blazers

I WONDER what the Hampden "blazers" are up to this week-end. The SPL clubs meet on Monday and perhaps cold reality will have struck by then - they will realise that they have indeed, temporarily, got rid of one head from that two-headed beast "The Old Firm", which has terrorised them for years.

However, the head they have removed has only crossed the corridor, and will be back, having taken with it the major share of the money which the OF used to dispense to the lesser lights, as a condition of allowing them to thump them regularly.

That money kept the diddy teams going, without it, they're in trouble and unless they can cobble together a deal to get that cas back soon, they are in even bigger trouble.

This whole charade proved one thing - maybe "Rangers" weren't "too big to fail", but letting them fail was still the wrong thing to do. The SPL and SFA had a duty of care to a club in trouble and didn't exercise that duty - now they must pay the price.

That said, a lot of "Rangers Men", who had their doubts about the path David Murray had taken and who knew immediately that Craig Whyte was a wrong 'un, but who said and did nothing, have to look at themselves this morning and ask: "Why didn't we do more before and what more can we do now".

The reality is, Charles Green saw a money-making opportunity, which relied on a quick in and out. He will clearly not get the £50 million which he believes "Rangers" are worth on a bad day any day soon.

He has a life-line though: if he can use his supposed get-out clause of the deal not being concluded to his satisfaction by 31 July (here I paraphrase) then he could we understand still walk away. This would be drastic and would throw Scottish football into even more confusion than it currently is in. Or he can dig-in for the long haul. Which way will he jump?

There is still the nuclear option, of BDO walking through the front door of Ibrox and immediately saying: "This whole thing stinks, it stops now", while Strathclyde's finest will surely be knocking on a few doors in the weeks and months ahead.

The "blazers" need a quick fire-fighting course this weekend. I don't see them putting out this particular bonfire of the vanities.

BUT, suppose it all calms down and I Can't Believe It's Not Rangers has, indeed, to battle back from SFL3.

This is a wonderful opportunity for Ally McCoist to become an even bigger Rangers Legend, if he can indeed get the best out of the "Apprentice Boys" who will now form the back bone of his squad. Legend status also calls for Lee McCulloch, Lee Wallace and Kirk Broadfoot, the three experienced men who will be tha backbone of the new squad.

I firmly believe that these three, plus the likes of Ross Perry, the lad Cole and the other fringe players who will now be exected to be first team regulars are more than capable of winning SFL3. They will also produce good cup runs and enough of the Bears will still Follow-Follow.

I also suspect that, since the SFL doesn't have a TV deal for the Third Division and since, in reality the only SFL3 games likely to attract TV attention will be those involving ICBINR, Mr Green could possibly arrange a nice wee individual TV deal for his club.

This is a win-win time for ICBINR, while the SPL clubs, having for so-long got their figures wrong, safe in the knowledge the crumbs from the Old Firm's table would bail them out, will be facing a new reality, with much tighter belts.

These are indeed interesting times.

FOR ALASTAIR McCOIST - OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

WELL - now we know, SFL Division 3 it should be for new "Rangers" in the new season. I still hae ma doots though; on the face of it, this is the best and most-obvious outcome to a difficult case, which has been made even more difficult by the lack of leadership and clear thought by the Hampden "blazers".

But, as I have repeatedly pointed out, there are so-many unanswered questions to be answered; undecided decisions to be made and unfinished business to be tidied-up - and not a lot of time in which to complete this tidy-up.

The new club which I and others have come to refer to as I Can't Believe It's Not Rangers now knows where it should be playing in the new season - if it comes to pass that they do indeed play. Today's decision has also opened the doors to potential further upheaval. The SFA and SPL have tried everything in their power to bully the SFL clubs into admitting ICBINR directly into SFL1; the 30 clubs have, to their credit, stood-up to the strong-arm tactics. What will the SPL/SFA response be?

The ten SFL1 clubs have made it clear, they do not want Rangers in their league - how will the 11 SPL clubs react to that? Some have suggested they might do a total volte face and admit ICBINR to their league as "Team 12", having only last month flung-out Rangers. The chances of this happening are very long, but, as this whole case has shown - you can never say never.

Or might the SPL response be (assuming they do not go all the way and invite ICBINR in) - to not admit either Dundee or Dunfermline Athletic to fill the Rangers vacancy, but go with 11 clubs in season 2012-13?

This would leave the SFL to somehow fit 31 clubs into a 30-club, three ten-club divisions, league. The SPL will meet on Monday, their meeting ought to be very interesting.

But, suppose we do indeed see ICBINR playing in SFL Division 3 next month? Given the manner in which most of the big-name Rangers players have shot the craw and had nothing to do with ICBINR, Division 3 is probably the best place from which the rump of has-beens, never-weres and might-never-bes whom manager Ally McCoist has to somehow meld into something approaching a "Rangers" team can be pulled together.

IF the young "Apprentice Boys" are as good as the Rangers propoganda machine wants us to believe - they ought to shoot through Division 3 in a single season, before doing likewise in Division 2 in season 2013-2014. The real Rangers fans will back them to the hilt and it should make for an exciting and interesting time.

However, this assumes that Charles Green's Sevco, the "corporate wrapper" for ICBINR can find the necessary finance for the new season; and, if not more-importantly, that the somewhat dubious manner in which Mr Green acquired Ibrox, Murray Park, the Albion Car Park, the remaining players and the Rangers "intellectual rights" is not over-turned by the HMRC-appointed liquidators BDO, or by one of the other legal issues arising. There have, after all, been suggestions that, faced with climbing out of Division 3 and all the way to the SPL - Mr Green might pull-out. What then?

I can still see rich pickings for m'learned friends in the years ahead. However, if we take matters at face value, starting-off in Division 3 could be the making of a new and successful period ahead for "Rangers". Ally McCoist has been handed a great chance to build his managerial legend.

Taxi For Regan and Doncaster

AM I the only person in Scotland who has, chipping away at the back of his mind, the thought that this terrible summer of rain and more rain is maybe God'sway of punishing us for the sins of the SFA.

That's just a thought, one I suggest which has as much worth and as little sense as most of what has been written or said about Rangersgate.

Ah! Rangersgate. How much longer must we suffer the death throes and agony of the fall of the House of Orange? Will nobody come along to sort it out? Has anyone in Hamlin kept the 'phone number of that Pied Piper chap? If so, can we get it, get him to Hampden - but this time - pay him for sorting-out our 21st century rodent problem?

Today's newspaper stories about Morton chairman's Douglas Rae's letter to the other 29 SFL club chairmen is a shockeroonie. We now know, from Mr Rae and his Clyde counterpart, that Regan is a bare-faced liar who is using threats and intimidation to get his way.

We also have the situation whereby Neil Doncaster is being heavily implicated in unauthorised moves, contrary to rules and regulations, to try to parachute that entity I and others have dubbed I Can't Believe It's Not Rangers - the Charles Green-led successors to Craig Whyte's Rangers (CWR) into SFL 1.

Add the failure of the governing body to at the very least put President Campbell Ogilvie on "gardening leave" due to his having the benefit of an Employee Benefit Trust from David Murray's version of Rangers and it is clear: the positions of the three principal "blazers" within Hampden are severely compromised - they must be taken out of the front-line pending a full enquiry into on-going events.

The time is now upon us when the Scottish Government, UEFA and FIFA MUST step in and sort out this whole mess, otherwise Scottish football's governance has been fatally wounded.

I can see no means whereby ICBINR can be allowed to operate as a football club in the new season. There are already too-many outstanding issues:

 The EBTs

The dual-contracts

• The terms of the Murray to Whyte sale
• The Ticketus issue
• The "conflict of interest" involving Duff & Phelps
• The whole Duff & Phelps administration period
• The sale to Sevco  - was it legal?
• The status of Sevco as regards succession
• The outstanding football debts
• The players' contracts and their freedom of movement
• Who gets any compensation for players moving?
• The international clearance issue
• What is Whyte's position - floating charges anyone?
• Who takes Rangers' place in the SPL?
• Sevco/ICBINR's status with the SFA?
• What league will ICBINR play in if they get in?
• Can ICBINR be allowed to play given current SFA/SFL rules?
• What is the situation with the SPL's TV deal without "Rangers"?
• What is the position as regards the SFA punishments of CWR?
• Can these punishments be applied to ICBINR?
• The position of the SPL inquiry into dual-contracts etc, given these took place under David Murray's Rangers. Since DMR became CWR which is now ICBINR - what is the relevance of this inquiry?

Can all these issues be settled between now and the start of the season? I think not. The 41 senior clubs in membership of the SFA and either the SPL or SFL can be ready to start on time, if a prompt decision is made as to whether Dundee or Denfermline Athletic replaces Rangers in the SPL and the due teams - Airdrie United and Stranraer are promoted to fill the vacancies in SFL1 and SFL2. It might not be ideal, but, SFL3 could run with only 11 clubs for the new season, we would have football.

A dispensation could be allowed, whereby ICBINR plays the idle SFL3 club each week, pending resolution of the outstanding issues; however, decisions have to be made soon and I do not believe these can be made without some outside input - too-many Hampden honchoes are implicated in sharp practice.

We are in a hole - it is past time we stopped digging and shouted for help.



Another Day Older and No Further Forward

SEVERAL million internet posts ago, a good two-hundred-thousand rumours back, right about the time Duff & Phelps were taking charge of Rangers to start this long and convoluted administration process, which should end shortly with the liquidation of Rangers 1873, there was a letter in the (Glasgow) Herald.

This was from one of that dedicated band of Scots, attempting to bring enlighment and learning to that distressed portion of the United Kingdom we know as the Sudetenland, or South East England. This gentleman was based in Brighton and he wrote that, since, even discounting the potential effects of the Big Tax Case, it would take, at a conservative estimate £100 million to put Rangers back on the straight and narrow - and that, if and when this major task was complete, using Celtic as a template, the new Rangers would be worth, at best £40 million - why would anyone in their right mind bother?

This week's news that Charles Green reckons Rangers are worth £50 million "on a good day" tends to confirm the Brighton Scot's estimate was not that far out. I am assuming Mr Green is "talking-up" the club he intends selling-on ASAP, so he is inflating his price as a bargaining point.

So, £50 million on a good day; which beggars the follow-up question: "OK Mr Green, what is 'Rangers' worth today?" Because it is certainly not worth anything like that. Indeed, given the way the top players from last season's Rangers are bailing-out, the fact the club does not at present have membership of either the SFA, SFL or SPL, that outstanding fines are due to the SFA, that only 250 of last season's 40,000 season ticket holders have renewed for the new season, that sponsors are queuing-=up to jump ship and that that 10,000 lb BTC gorilla still hasn't stirred, the question has to be: "Is "Rangers" worth even the £5.5 million you are purported to have paid for it Mr Green?

The excellent Rangers Tax Case blog's latest post, when it went up a week ago, was headed: "An Unholy Mess", one week and 4500 comments posted later, it is still an unholy mess, only, thanks to the failings of the men at the top in Scottish football, it is almost certainly a bigger mess.

The lack of vision, of leadership, of forward thinking in Hampden is truly amazing. We are going nowhere, except down the tubes, fast and with each day of inactiving, of trying to cobble together some sleqzy back-room deal, the already tarnished image of Scottish football becomes even grubbier.

Is there nobody who can sort this whole thing out?

And finally, on Rangers, for now - £50 million Mr Green - ye'r avin a larff.

 

For Alastair McCoist - Opportunity Knocks

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.