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Sunday 28 April 2013

MEN OF THE YEAR

I wonder if anyone else can cast their mind back to 1997. Rangers won their 9 in a row and the papers were full of what a genius Walter Smith was and how they were going to dominate Scottish football for many years to come. Success in Europe had so far eluded them but it was only a matter of time. After all, Rangers had a team of world-beaters and nothing was going to stand in their way! Murray was king and the press was in the business of spreading his message to the plebs.

Among all the triumphalism and sycophancy a spanner was thrown into the works by the Scottish PFA; Paolo Di Cannio was voted Player of The Year. Understandably, this caused a furore. How dare they choose a player from the second-placed team! Rangers had just won their ninth title in a row; surely the players deserved credit? The general consensus among Rangers fans was, 'It shooda been Bry-in Low-drup!'

There were dark hints in the papers that maybe all was not right with the vote. After all, what had Di Cannio achieved? Justice was done when the Football Writers Association chose Laudrup as their Player of The Year. 

Fast-forward to the season 2010-2011. This was the year in which Neil Lennon and his family had to be put under police protection due to the serious threats against his life. Such pressure was bound to take its toll on the man and no doubt spilled over into the team. That Celtic were pipped at the post for the SPL championship showed remarkable tenacity and even courage. Given everything that Neil Lennon had been through he was surely Scottish manager of the year for coming so close to winning the SPL? Perversely, John McGlynn, manager of Raith Rovers was chosen instead.

Of course, nobody in the press raised any voice in protest at this turn of events, unlike in 1997! If anything there was a feeling, tacitly expressed, that it should have been Walter Smith, although none of them were bold enough to say this explicitly. The Football Writers Association then inexplicably chose Mixu Paateleinen!

All of which puts Neil Lennon's current complaints in a new light. When Rangers players are snubbed then it's a major injustice, if not a downright conspiracy, whereas it's only right when Celtic players are snubbed! Rangers bloggers point out that Celtic easily won the SPL due to the expensive players they have in their squad; no plaudits, therefore, are deserved. Tam Cowan makes the same point in his Saturday column in the Daily Record. By that token, then, I take it they'll be recommending that nobody chooses David Templeton or Lee Wallace as SFL Player of the Year!

It is interesting to contrast the way in which Neil Lennon and Charles Green have been treated by the press. Lennon questions why none of his players have been nominated and is vilified for overreacting and being paranoid. Despite Loony Leggat, Bill McMurdo and even the official 'Rangers' website maintaining that Green has been the victim of a concerted press campaign, nothing could be further from the truth. No matter what insane ramblings he has come out with he is praised for 'fighting his corner' against his imagined enemies. 'Love him or loathe him,' every sports writer begins, before applauding his outspokenness and readiness to take on everybody. It's hardly their fault that he has chosen to make a complete arse of himself!

With the double standards evident in our press I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Football Writers Association chooses Sooperally as Manager of The Year for winning Division Three 'despite all he's been through'!

Meanwhile the civil war at Trigger's Brush FC continues unabated. Green's 'little friend' has been shown the door over allegations about posting pro-Green propaganda on a website using a pseudonym. No doubt he and Green will be plotting their next move, while Green faces the scrutiny of the Serious Fraud Office. Will there still be a Trigger's Brush FC this time next year? 

And, lastly, perhaps somebody could help me by answering a question. Where, in Scotland, is Tenman? I ask this because all the teams in Division Three seem to come from there. Every time this season that I have read about a Trigger's Brush FC victory they have been playing against Tenman Albion, Tenman Queens, Tenman Athletic or Tenman City. Where is this place Tenman? Is it a town, a district or a region? I don't seem to be able to locate it on any map!



Charles Green introduces his new 'Little Friend.'

Friday 26 April 2013

LEGGAT LOSES IT


Things are getting even more confusing down Govan way. The papers were all claiming earlier this week that Sevco 5088 was a subsidiary of The Rangers International Sooper-Dooper Global Brand Holding Company Ltd. Trigger's Brush FC lost no time in issuing a statement to the Diddy Stock Exchange. In the statement they claimed that Sevco 5088 was not a subsidiary and, further, was not involved in the purchase of the assets of Oldco Rangers. Strangely this is contrary to what Green has been saying. So what is the truth? Your guess is as good as mine. You pays your money and you takes your choice!

More interesting, as far as I'm concerned, is that the statement confirms what everybody with any sense has been saying for ages, everybody outside the deranged support of Trigger's Brush FC that is: the club now at Ibrox is a new club. The statement says that Sevco 5088 was not involved in the purchase of 'the club's assets.' That's pretty definitive. Green did not buy the club from a 'holding company,' he bought 'the club's assets' and started afresh. It's good to see that they finally admit it!

Now Green has been reported to the Serious Fraud Squad while selling his shares to a convicted fraudster. The 'independent inquiry' is being carried out by a company being investigated by the FBI and another allegedly involved in money laundering. And Whyte is still lurking about somewhere in the shadows. You would call it a pantomime but there are too many villains!

All of this seems to have finally sent Loony Leggat over the edge. He is convinced that if Whyte is convicted then his purchase of Rangers is null and void. Like Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower, everything would go back to where it was before Whyte came along. As usual he's living in a wee world all of his own. He thinks that it will mean no liquidation and Trigger's Brush FC as Oldco Rangers back in the SPL, with the £2million prize money handed over. Further, he sees it as meaning no administration and no ten-point deduction, which he opines was the only reason Celtic won the league last year!

Does this clown honestly believe the stuff he comes out with? No Whyte means no Green, means no Rangers International Sooper-Dooper Global Brand Holding Company Ltd share issue, which means £20million of worthless shares. Would everything revert back to Murray? And what about Lloyd's TSB? What about the original shareholders? In fact, there are so many questions it would make your head spin! As usual, however, Leggat sees the whole thing as being the fault of Peter Lawwell. He is still banging on about a Lawwell-led cabal running the SPL and the SFA with the sole purpose of destroying Rangers/Trigger's Brush FC. In his fevered mind financial considerations don't come into it; if Whyte is convicted then everything is back as it was this time two years ago! Who does he think he is; Doctor Who?

Returning to the Diddy Stock Exchange statement there is a bit of comedy in an attachment that explains who 'Rangers' are. Phrases like 'World-class stadium' vie with 'Global fan base' in a competition for the funniest line. The best bit comes, however, with the contact details. It explains that any media enquiries should be addressed to Jim Traynor! Classic!








Wednesday 24 April 2013

THE FUNKY GIBBON

It was extremely remiss of me in my post on Sunday not to extend birthday felicitations. As I'm sure you are aware it is an important date and an extremely important birthday. No, I'm not talking about her; I'm talking about Rome. Tradition has it that Romulus founded his city on 21st April 753 BC. So, a belated happy birthday, Rome! I share my birthday with Rome so I should have remembered. The fact, however, that I'm getting nearly as old as the Eternal City provides me with an excuse for my forgetfulness!

Speaking of Rome, one of the most famous historians to write of the Eternal City is Edward Gibbons. His 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' still sets a standard to which historians, and other writers, aspire. His voluminous work, however, did not, and does not, go down well with everyone. One of the main reasons he sees for the Roman Empire's decline was the introduction of Christianity as the state religion. The old Roman religion was pretty adaptable; new gods were welcomed into the pantheon, while it was easy for folk living in the far-flung corners of the empire to associate their own gods with those of Rome. The arrival of Christianity, however, meant a religious intolerance that had never before existed in the Roman Empire.

Which leads me nicely onto a similar argument that I've encountered on some Trigger's Brush FC blogs. The contention of some posters on these blogs is that all Oldco Rangers' problems can be traced to Graeme Souness. So what, exactly, was Souness's crime? He signed Catholics! According to these heid-the-baws all the ills of Rangers are down to the abandonment of the principle that Rangers was, first and foremost, a Protestant club! Like Gibbon, they ignore all the economic realities to maintain this ridiculous argument. Rangers was apparently 'diluted' by allowing 'theym' into its hallowed environs. 'This is not bigotry, but tradition,' says one of these deranged creatures. The scary thing is that there are probably many Trigger's Brush FC supporters that agree wholeheartedly with this opinion.

Anyway, the latest revelations from down Govan way are hardly going to fill their hearts with joy. The Sun tells the tale of Trigger's Brush FC having to tell the wee, diddy Stock Exchange that they lied in their prospectus. They had said that Green was not a director of Sevco 5088 when, in fact, he was. They have also revealed that Sevco 5088 was a subsidiary of 'Rangers.' Now is that the original, Oldco Rangers, or the new The Rangers International Sooper-Dooper Global Brand Holding Company Ltd? Either scenario presents its own problems.

If Sevco 5088 was a subsidiary of Oldco then that means that the phoenix company was directly associated with the old company. Under Company Law a phoenix company is not allowed to use the name of the old company if owners or officials of the old company are involved in the new one. Effectively this means that calling the team 'Rangers' or even 'The Rangers' is totally illegal. It also means that the whole thing was a sham to avoid paying creditors; again, this is totally illegal under company law.

If, on the other hand, Sevco 5088 was a subsidiary of The Rangers International Super-Dooper Global Brand Holding Company Ltd then there is serious fraud to be investigated. The Rangers International...etc...etc is the name adopted by Sevco Scotland. Now, Green said that he transferred the assets from Sevco 5088 to Sevco Scotland, now known as The Rangers International...etc...etc, which was supposed to be a different company. Now, however, it emerges that Sevco 5088 was, in fact, a subsidiary of Sevco Scotland. Still with me? This means that, no matter how anyone spins it, Craig Whyte was still involved as a director of Sevco 5088. So the Newco got a licence to play in Scotland under false pretences. It also throws up a problem in determining who actually owns the assets. BDO could still arrive and sever the whole Gordian Knot by taking back the assets and doing what should have been done in the first place: selling the assets to the highest bidders to pay off the creditors. I wouldn't hold my breath, though!

All of those currently huddled within Ibrox must have known about all these shenanigans, despite their protestations to the contrary. No wonder Traynor has kept his mouth shut recently! And I certainly don't expect the SFA to take action any time soon. The folk at Hampden are far too busy listening to Celtic matches to find out if Neil Lennon is using any bad words to even think about looking into the tangled business going on at Ibrox. As usual they will just look the other way and whistle nonchalantly and await the outcome of the 'independent inquiry.'

The 'independent inquiry' has been handed over to Pinsent Masons, an international group of legal experts. Unfortunately Pinsent Masons have their own problems at present, being under investigation by the FBI for possibly being involved in a multi-million pounds fraud. The company Deloitte is also involved in the 'independent inquiry.' This company too has its difficulties, being involved in investigations over money laundering among other scandals. I suppose this sums up how Trigger's Brush FC goes about its business!

Meanwhile Donald Finlay must have heard somebody mention his name as a possible new CEO of Trigger's Brush FC. The lawyer of choice for the discerning bigot employs an impressive verbosity while saying practically nothing. Despite his legal training he probably has as much understanding of what's going on at Ibrox as the rest of us! He does make one throwaway comment that is obviously intended to endear himself to the 'Loyal' :

'But to see them (Rangers) reduced to playing in the Third Division was heart-breaking, wrong and unnecessary.'

In other words, 'It's all everybody else's fault!' I wonder if that's him throwing his hat into the ring! Either that or he's getting excited that July is only three months away. Yes, that's right, the time is nearly upon us when the rickets sufferers of Scotland and Northern Ireland subject us all to their unique style of marching. Will they have their usual swagger this year? Or will they follow Jabba's example and hide, knowing that the whole of decent society is laughing at them?





Sunday 21 April 2013

SPRING CLEANING

Sooperally is quoted in the papers today saying that Trigger's Brush FC needs cleaning out from top to bottom. You've got to feel a bit sorry for old Sooper; he's not the brightest light on the Christmas tree! At the start of last year he was telling us how he spoke to Craig Whyte daily; it then transpired that he hadn't clapped eyes on him for months! He's now in the same situation with Flash Harry. He might have had a brief falling-out with Flash over the 'worst team ever' business but, in the main, he went along with everything that Flash Harry had to say. I suppose when you're as seriously lacking in the braincell department, like Ally, you just blindly follow anyone that knows bigger words than you do! I'm afraid when they were handing out 'gorm' poor Ally was last in the queue. 'Caecus caecum,' as it says in the Vulgate of St Jerome.

He says that he wants to talk about results instead of all the off-the-pitch business. Er...are you sure about that, Ally? All this jiggery-pokery has actually detracted from the fact that he has been absolutely hopeless at the job he is paid to do. A drug-addled orang-utan could have led that overpaid team to the Third Division championship, and probably would have lost less games in the process! Yes, the players did what they were supposed to do but the fact that they lost so many times against teachers and plumbers shows that they are a gang of underachievers. And I'm afraid Ally's laying the blame on the transfer embargo won't wash; the embargo didn't kick in until September so he had exactly the same time as every other manager in the country to assemble a decent team. If he had been able to trade in the January Window I doubt he would have had much luck. SFL rules specify that you are only allowed a certain number of over-21s, which means he would have had to offload some of the bunch he already has. Would anyone have been willing to take any of these chancers, even on loan?

Anyway, back to the big clean-up. It'll take a lot more than Kim and Aggie to put a shine on Trigger's Brush FC. Even Hercules would baulk at tackling those particular Augean Stables! Bigotry, hatred, paranoia and a distinct inability to face up to reality are the hallmarks of Trigger's Brush FC. Never mind a new board; it's a team of psychiatric specialists they need at Ibrox!

The 'Loyal' are torn about what they want done. Many of them want a new CEO from outside football, although no suggestions have been forthcoming. I suppose when the main criterion is not success in business but attending the right kind of school, i.e. one with no 'Saint' in the title, then practically anyone will do. The favourite to take over is Craig Mather but not everyone likes him as he is seen as Green's man, both by supporters and by the board. Some supporters are demanding that a 'Rangers Man' is given the post; Martin Bain and Alastair 'Noddy' Johnston are two names that have been mentioned. One or two on the even-more-lunatic fringe have suggested Donald Finlay! Now that is an appointment I'd like to see. Can you imagine the comedy gold if he was constantly being interviewed on the TV and in the papers! Please, God, let it happen!

Of course, as I predicted, many of the 'Loyal' are blaming the 'biased' Scottish media for forcing Green out. How dare they report anything, no matter how true, about the office bearers at Trigger's Brush FC! This is why they are calling for a strong leadership; someone to stand up to, as they call it, the 'cabal.' Basically what they want is a power-crazed, despotic and quixotic character that will fight the good fight against all their imaginary enemies. I believe Berlusconi' is available, although his schooling might be a bit suspect. Kim Jong-Un is a bit busy at the moment, as is Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately the ideal candidate for the post of CEO at Trigger's FC was buried last week at the taxpayers' expense! 

Whoever gets the job will have one major task to perform, even more pressing than getting rid of Ally. Big Jabba is going to have to go. I don't know how much he gets paid but it's definitely too much. He has hardly done anything since he arrived; one pathetic diatribe, full of empty threats, against the Scottish media. That was many moons ago and he hasn't been heard of since.The last thing the obviously cash-strapped Trigger's Brush FC needs is some fat git enjoying a sinecure!

Perhaps the clean-up needed at Ibrox goes much deeper than a mere change of personnel. Cosmetic changes like this still leaves the dark soul at the very core of this institution. An organisation founded and bolstered by sheer hatred has something seriously lacking in it. Maybe it needs a spiritual clean-up! Some kind of blessing is in order. Might I suggest Extreme Unction?



The search for Green's replacement begins.







Saturday 20 April 2013

HABEMUS PUPAM
(SED SINE PUPAE ARTIFICE)

Well, that's it. Green has resigned before he was pushed out. No doubt there are a lot more revelations to come and he thought he'd better get out of the way quick. And no doubt the Trigger's Brush FC blogs will blame the 'mhedia' for picking on him and forcing him into this situation. Their blogs were pretty slow to pick up on the news yesterday, no doubt all the 'Loyal' were too busy scouring the internet trying to find out if Rolf Harris is a Catholic! (And what about that, by the way; what's next? Will we discover that Dr Who enticed kids into his police box with his bag of jelly babies? Did Bagpuss fiddle about with the mice on the Mouse Organ? My whole childhood is being picked apart!)

So what's going to happen now to The Big Plan, you know, the concerted effort to undermine Scottish Football? Loony Leggat tells us that Roy MacGregor and Stewart Gilmour are 'two fine, brave and upstanding citizens.' That's good enough for me. They're obviously puppets! Gilmour was quoted in the press as saying that Neil Doncaster had no power and should resign. Strangely Mark Hateley was in the Daily Record yesterday saying exactly the same thing! Now Sooperally is in The Sun spouting Green's old line about 'asking the fans' and telling us that Green's idea of 14-14-14 is the way forward. There's no coincidence involved here. All these clowns are out to subvert Scottish football for the good of Trigger's Brush FC, while the appropriate blogs keep trying to push the line that Peter Lawwell is running the whole of Scottish football at present.

What happens now that the puppet master has gone? Well, it looks now as if Green was the monkey and not the organ-grinder so it will probably be business as usual. Just like Jabba, whoever is actually running Trigger's Brush FC, whether it is Whyte or somebody else, likes to hide in the shadows. Unlike Jabba, however, this shady individual is actually doing something. Leggat and Bill McMurdo would have us believe that everything, including the media, is under Lawwell's control. A quick look at the various sports pages, however, shows that the opposite is the case. The Big Lie has been accepted by one and all, editorials have been vociferous in their condemnation of league reconstruction plans and Green and McCoist have continually been provided with a sympathetic ear. It's not the papers' fault that Green decided to use this platform to make an arse of himself! And the latest 'punishment' meted out to Neil Lennon by the SFA shows that the spirit of Jim Farry still haunts the corridors at Hampden.

And it's not just Mark Hateley that's telling us that Trigger's Brush FC should be fast-tracked into the top tier; ex-players of both Celtic and Rangers have been trotted out in the press almost every day to brainwash us into believing that this is the panacea to all of Scottish football's ills. The only dissenter seems to be Andy Goram, who hasn't had much good to say about Green. This is probably due to the fact that he rushed to Ibrox last summer when he heard that Green was handing out free drinks. Imagine his disgust when he turned up to find Charlie handing out cups of tea! 

Will all this propaganda keep coming out now that Charlie's sneaked off? And what about the 'Independent Inquiry'? Will they even bother with that now? There's certainly more to come but do they really want to provide us with any more comedy? Have a read at Keith Jackson's piece in today's Daily Record. I was only half-way through when my heard started to hurt with trying to keep up with who is connected to whom. It's going to take BDO forever to unravel this tangled web of lies and deceit!

So MacGregor and Gilmour have had their strings cut, the share price will drop, Trigger's Brush FC is tainted yet again, Sooperally will probably never see that £10m and the investors, whoever they are, will be unsettled to say the least! And that's even before Whyte and his cronies start in! Apart from all that things are looking great down Govan way. 'Onwards and upwards,' the 'Loyal' are fond of saying. Pie in the sky, more like!




 Green's investors from the Far East prepare for the 
'Independent Inquiry.'
 



Thursday 18 April 2013

STEWART GILMOUR IN SUPERMARIONATION
&
GIVE LEGGAT A LEGGUP!

The truth is going to come out in dribs and drabs but we will find out eventually what Stewart Gilmour's game is. He claims to be acting independently, for the good of his club, but can't seem to offer any reasons as to exactly how league reconstruction would be detrimental to St Mirren. It is highly suspicious that he suddenly decided to scupper the plans after a wee visit from Flash Harry Green. The excuses he made at the Hampden meeting do not stand up to scrutiny; the other clubs conceded his point and agreed to change the voting structure, but he still went ahead and voted against the changes. So what 'reasons' is he putting forward now?

He is now arguing that he has had no details of any TV deal and doubts whether any such deal has been agreed upon. Does that sound familiar? Anyone that has taken the trouble to read Loony Leggat's blog, or, in fact any blog or website dedicated to Trigger's Brush FC, would recognise this argument at once. Leggat, and others, have been questioning this TV deal continually and it is strange that Gilmour would come out with such a statement at this point. It seems logical to assume that Flash Harry has had a wee word in his ear!

Further evidence for the case that Gilmour is acting on behalf of Flash Harry appears in today's Sun. He has 'advised' Neil Doncaster to resign! This 'advice' is due to the 'fact' that, according to Gilmour, Doncaster has no power whatsoever. What power is he supposed to have? The CEO of any company or organisation is really there to reflect the opinions of the shareholders, board or members. Is Gilmour suggesting that Doncaster is not doing this? Again, there are traces of Trigger's Brush FC's influence. Loony Leggat, and many others are constantly telling us how Doncaster is merely a mouthpiece for Peter Lawwell. It looks as if Gilmour is now agreeing with them.

Bizarrely if you put forward the idea that Gilmour is in bed with Flash Harry on a newspaper site or Trigger's Brush FC blog you are berated and told that you are being ridiculous. And yet the same people expect us all to believe that Doncaster, Regan and other club chairmen are all in cahoots with Lawwell for one purpose only: to destroy Trigger's Brush FC! They have got paranoia down to a fine art and talk as if they're guarding Derry's Walls all over again!

Flash Harry has appeared increasingly unstable in media interviews, which hardly helps the Trigger's Brush FC agenda. A new mouthpiece was needed and it looks as if one has been found in the shape of Stewart Gilmour!

Meanwhile Jabba is still in hiding and has nothing to say about anything. To be honest, I think they appointed the wrong man. Surely the time has come for a new Director of Communications and I can think of only one suitable candidate: Loony Leggat! His qualifications are impeccable:

1) HE IS NO LONGER A MEMBER OF THE NUJ. This is a plus as far as Trigger's Brush FC is concerned as the perception is that all journalists are under the control of Peter Lawwell. Leggat, therefore, could be counted upon to always tell the 'truth.'

2) HE IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Leggat is as mad as a sackful of badgers on LSD, which is exactly what is needed at Ibrox. How else could anyone accept all the contrary beliefs that exist there? It is a new club, but the same club; it has never played in the SPL but is somehow due money for coming second in it; it went into liquidation but was somehow 'saved from the brink.' The cheesy old notice that you used to get in offices, 'You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps,' is actually true at Trigger's Brush FC!

3) HE IS PARANOID. Leggat could give any 1950s McCarthyite a serious run for their money in the paranoia stakes. He can never accept that he has done anything wrong and sees being censured by the NUJ as part of a great conspiracy against him, conducted by Irish Republican-supporting journalists and, his bête noir, Graham Spiers. This would fit in perfectly with the current zeitgeist at Ibrox, where the whole world is to blame for all their woes.

4) HE HAD A PRESBYTERIAN GRANNY.


The campaign starts here. Get Loony Leggat installed as Director of Communications. After all, he might talk utter gibberish but he has one great advantage over Jabba: he actually communicates!


Leggat gives directions to Ibrox.





Roy MacGregor and Stewart Gilmour arrive at Hampden





Tuesday 16 April 2013

VERT VA EN VACANCES

So what was that all about? Ross County and St Mirren decided to vote against league reconstruction with no reasons given. If there were any major reasons for their stance then surely they would have told us; after all, football bosses are hardly shrinking violets! What do they possibly have to gain from such a stance? 

I don't know about Ross County but it is highly suspicious that Charles Green was a guest at St Mirren Park last week! What went on? Maybe Green made Gilmour an offer he couldn't refuse. Money? It doesn't look as if Green has got any to spare. Threats? How could Green or Trigger's Brush FC possibly threaten St Mirren? Maybe Gilmour was given shares in Sevco Scotland/Sevco 5088/Fireball XL5 or whatever else the holding company is being called.

A more sinister possibility is revealed when one remembers the furore early last year when somebody connected with Whyte's Rangers made overtures to buy into St Mirren. Remember that? The more fanciful speculations included that Whyte was looking to take over St Mirren's licence prior to liquidation. Maybe some sort of deal is back on the table. Many are predicting the end of Trigger's Brush FC so perhaps Green is resurrecting Whyte's alleged plan as a way out of the mess. Obviously any such deal would depend on Gilmour voting against league reconstruction. Gilmore was dead against anyone from Rangers sniffing around last year but he might well have changed his attitude in the intervening period. 

Quite why Green is intent on disrupting any league reconstruction is indeterminable. It would make no difference whatsoever to how long it could take his club to get up to the top tier. Green's proposal of 14-14-14 would not help Trigger's Brush FC either, unless Green's demands to be put into the middle tier were acceded to. Mind you, the sense of grievance and victimhood that Green has managed to build up, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, almost compels him to oppose everything! 

Such a sense of victimhood, infused with the usual mix of hatred and bigotry, informs one Trigger's Brush FC supporter's solution to the problems facing Scottish football: 

"Send those fenian runts; d.utd, celtic and hibernian back to oirlund along with their supporters, each with a pig under his arm, a free caravan and a poster of benny hill (when he wiz 11) – and let Scottish people and Scottish clubs vote for the progress of Scottish football."

No comment is necessary as this outburst pretty much speaks for itself!

Anyway, back to Green, and, apparently, he has run off to France. I suppose the idea of being gagged was too much for him and he has decided to lie low. He was seen to pop into his local shop, where the shopkeeper refused to serve him because he was a racist. After spending half an hour explaining that he was not, in fact, a racist Charlie asked for a box of tea bags. 'Tha can't get a decent coopa tea in Froggyland, tha knows!' he explained.

It is hard to believe that Charlie will be hiding out in one of the colder areas of France; he's probably nipped down to the Côte d'Azur for a bit of sun. Such speculation was practically confirmed when he was seen at Glasgow Airport carrying a bottle of sun-tan lotion and a small pile of Maeve Binchy's. The advantage of going to the French Riviera is also that he will only be a hop, skip and a jump away from a certain, small principality. No doubt the dictaphone will be busy over the next few days! Seemingly Whyte has a studio in Monaco, where he puts a backing beat on all his recordings. Richard Branson has been inundated with these recordings, with Whyte swearing blind that one of them is going to be the next Tubular Bells.

I wonder whose idea it was for Green to run off to France like...er...well, Bonnie Prince Charlie! Has Traynor finally decided to do something useful and offer some advice? I suppose it is the only way to keep Green quiet. Once the 'independent inquiry' has cleared him...I mean, reached its conclusions, he'll get the signal to come back, ready to spread his own, special brand of merriment throughout the land. Maybe he'll have learned the French word for 'Paki' by then!



                    Charlie gets the signal that it's safe to come back.

Sunday 14 April 2013

INFAMY! INFAMY!

Many years ago I worked at a museum in Edinburgh, which was run by a charity. Two individuals managed to rip off the charity for many thousands. One of these characters was once a lawyer for Strathclyde Regional Council and did time in prison for embezzlement. After the museum went bellly-up I didn't think I'd hear of these two con men ever again. A few years later, however, they were in the paper for having defrauded another charity of about a hundred grand. Why did folk keep employing these two chancers? The only reason I could see was that they were both well-spoken and had attended fee-paying schools, so-called 'Top Schools.' A flash of the old school tie is enough to persuade any snobbish idiot that the wearer is a person to be trusted.

The same situation seems to exist at Trigger's Brush FC. As long as you favour your right foot, have one trouser leg shorter than the other and know which knuckle to squeeze then nobody is going to investigate your character or your past too closely. You are one of 'them' and that's all that matters. 

How else to explain the ease with which spivs and con men gain access to the purse strings at Trigger's Brush FC? Whyte went through the place like a dose of salts, flogging everything except the bike, before anyone thought to question what he was up to! According to the Trigger's Brush FC supporters, though, it's the fault of everybody else. The SFA should have investigated Whyte; somebody should have warned them! They seem to forget that anyone that did try to warn them was branded a 'Rangers Hater' and there was even a demonstration held at BBC Scotland to protest at them daring to question Whyte's integrity!

And now we've got the exact same situation. Whyte has resurfaced with the bombshell that he was involved in Green's 'takeover.' Green has admitted this and takes every opportunity to make an arse of himself in public. Our media, understandably, sees this as a major story. Sooperally has a dig at Green, Mr Dignity threatens to walk and now Alastair Johnston, old 'Noddy' himself, has come out of the woodwork to say that he suspected Green all along.

And what is the TBFC support's response to all of this? It's a conspiracy! Our media is in the pay of Peter Lawwell and is desperately trying to undermine Green and Trigger's Brush FC. Isn't this the same reaction they had during Whyte's tenure? Look what happened then! Some folk never learn, do they?

So it has been announced from the Sanctus Sanctorum of Ibrox that there is to be an 'independent inquiry.' I wonder who is going to conduct this whitewash, er...I mean inquiry? The main point is that Green is now 'gagged.' Talk about closing stable doors after all the horses have buggered off! Should somebody not have told him to keep his big yap shut long before now? As Tam Cowan says, "...maybe the club should consider hiring some sort of media expert to dampen down the lurid headlines?" 

My favourite bit of the whole statement was said without a trace of irony. "The Board wishes to re-iterate Rangers is a Club which is opposed to all forms of prejudice" Is that the 'Club' or the 'Holding Company'? And it seems that they don't understand the meaning of 'prejudice'!

I expect a lot more revelations to come and think BDO are certainly going to have their work cut out trying to sort out what went on and what's going on!


     The man from BDO tries to sort out the mess!



Friday 12 April 2013

ROMANS IN THE GLOAMIN'

When I was small and living in Castlemilk in the 1960s the verandahs on all the council flats were painted a vile, bottle-green colour. The council, or corporation as it was then, decided to brighten the place up a bit by painting them a nice-looking sky blue. Everyone was happy about this except one individual, who took umbrage at his verandah railings being painted the colour blue. He took time off his work and chained himself to the railings to stop the workmen doing their job. The council eventually relented, as long as he painted the railings himself, at his own expense. The man, of course, painted his railings bright green and his verandah stood out among all the others as testament to his idiotic bloody-mindedness.

I remember coming out of mass on a Sunday and everyone would look at his verandah and laugh and shake their heads. Everybody found it hard to believe that someone could be so petty. They joked that maybe he wanted the sky to be painted green!

Can you imagine if this had happened the other way round? If the verandahs had been blue and the council were going to paint them green, do you think folk would have been laughing about it? Going with what I've read on Rangers blogs, many would have seen it as a plot by an RC-led council! 

Loony Leggat can perhaps be excused his paranoia as the man lives in his own, wee world. Many others, however, seem to go along with the idea that there is a great conspiracy afoot in Scotland to wipe out Rangers. Apparently Peter Lawwell now runs the SPL and SFA and all of the media in Scotland. They're all out to get Rangers and the current in-fighting at Ibrox is being stirred up by the 'Roman' media, or mhedia, as they call it. Even HMRC was involved, picking on poor Rangers and leaking stories to the Rangers Tax Case blogger!

They can't seem to understand that all the problems are self-inflicted. Murray was the one that instituted the EBTs, nobody bothered to check Whyte's credentials, potential buyers were seemingly frightened off by Duff and Phelps and Green bought the assets in some under-the-table deal. Nobody forced Whyte to come crawling out of the woodwork, nobody forced Green to call his team the worst ever, nobody forced Sooperally or Auld Dignity to start voicing ultimatums in the papers and nobody forced Green to start mouthing off about 'Pakis' etc. 

Apparently, though, the 'mhedia' are desperate to report on anything negative about Rangers, while ignoring Celtic. On their blogs, however, they're all laughing at the story about Neil Lennon and the guy Wotte. So this isn't negative? Equally, they accuse the SFA of the same bias. They point to the speed with which Green has been pulled up for his racist comments. They seem to have forgotten Lunny jumping in to make sure Lennon was up before the beaks again for saying bad words. They have also forgotten how Lunny never seems to hear the massed choir belting out 'The Billy Boys!'

Recently Rangers blogs were full of condemnation for the child-selling scandal that happened in Spain under Franco. Under the guise of caring for children they lambasted Catholics everywhere, conveniently ignoring the involvement of Protestant churches in exactly the same scandal in Canada, the USA and Australia. The excuse given for dwelling on this scandal was that it was in the news. So it's okay for our media to report on anything that suits these Rangers supporters' anti-Catholic agenda but as soon as they say anything about Rangers it's a conspiracy!

Surely the fact that our media has gone along with The Big Lie should prove to these people that they are deluded! A prime example is the story in the Sun today, where Imran Ahmad tries to convince us all that Green is not a racist. One part of the interview stuck out for me. Ahmad says about Green:

“From the brink of oblivion and liquidation he has almost single-handedly returned the club to a point where financially it is in as strong a position as it’s ever been."

The fact that statements like this are never challenged but, actually, are accepted as fact shows that our media's bias lies where it has always lain: on the side of Rangers. Green did not save Rangers from 'the brink'; the club actually went into liquidation and Green bought the ASSETS! Why would all our media go along with this fallacy if they were determined to undermine and destroy Rangers?

Meanwhile Loony Leggat unveiled his exclusive, insider story of what is really happening at Ibrox. Apparently Mr Dignity is not happy with Green, others on the board are not happy about Green's involvement with Whyte and Ally is just plain unhappy. My God! Somebody call out the troops! The 'Romans' have taken over Leggat's blog!





Thursday 11 April 2013

RETURNING THE SPOILS

I remember, about twenty years ago, working in a primary school in Glasgow where my P6 class were doing Cycling Proficiency Training. It was a bit of a skive for me as some folk from the police did everything, while I was left to look after the half-dozen or so that weren't doing it. The lessons took up a whole afternoon once a week and the first lesson involved using a special pen, which showed up under ultra-violet light, to mark their bicycles with their post codes. While showing the pupils how it worked it was discovered that one wee girl was in possession of a stolen bike! I didn't find out until school was over and I still remember the girl, tears and snotters streaming down her face, holding the offending bike, flanked by two big, burly, embarrassed-looking policemen. The girl's dad had bought the bike in good faith from an advert in the paper. (This was in the pre-Gumtree days!) Of course, the bike was returned to its rightful owner. Whether the thief was ever caught I don't know; I do know, however, that the girl's dad had lost his money!

Do the same principles apply in the world of finance, I wonder. Now that Craig Whyte has lost his case against Ticketus it begs the question of whether or not Ticketus are entitled to claim back the money they were swindled out of. It seems more than likely that Whyte won't be able to cough up the cash, so is Ticketus entitled to get it back from Lloyds-TSB? It seems quite reasonable to me that they are; so where would that leave Lloyds? Would they just end up another one of the many creditors shafted by Green's 'takeover'? I wonder if the bank would be prepared to just let it go at that!

With all the revelations coming out at the moment it looks as if I may have been right all along about the conduct of Duff and Phelps. There were apparently consortiums (consortia?) lining up to get their hands on Rangers and any one of them could have done the same as Green did: buy the assets, start again and then claim to be the same club. I wondered at the time, and I still wonder, why the assets were not sold to the highest bidder. Why were they just handed over to Green at a knock-down price? There are definitely more revelations to come and if Lloyds are going to lose out they will be insisting that BDO investigate Green's 'takeover' fully.

Meanwhile, Mr Dignity has joined everyone else at Rangers by airing his dirty linen in public. He wants to speak to Green about his relationship with Whyte. He's got a bit of a cheek. No doubt he had his snout in the EBT trough along with quite a few others. If they'd paid back these 'loans' then there would never have been any need for Murray to sell to Whyte! Auld Dignity also voices his shock at the recent, racist language used by Green. He says that this is not what they are used to at Rangers. I suppose the word 'Fenian' doesn't count, then, eh, Mr Smith?

Other folk are calling for a united front behind Green, no matter what. This is necessary, they say, because of the 'Rangers-haters' in the Scottish press. Apparently anyone that publishes bad news about Rangers is a Rangers-hating, Republican, Fenian b-. I take it they'd rather go back to the old days of the Succulent Lamb Brigade, telling them not to worry and that everything's fine? That was how Whyte managed to get his foot in the door: the agnivores, like Traynor, questioned nothing until it was far too late. Like Murray, they all claim to have been 'dooped' while bloggers were able to find out all about Whyte by simply searching on the internet!

With nobody at Ibrox apparently speaking to each other and fighting each other in the papers, Rangers supporters are looking for somebody, anybody to fight their corner. Traynor has proven that he is patently not up to the job, whatever his job is supposed to be! So, cometh the hour, cometh the man: step forward one Chris Graham! Unfortunately, this character has his head screwed on about as loosely as Loony Leggat! I can't be the only one to remember his blog, 'Enemies of Rangers.' This blog mysteriously vanished, and no wonder! One of his 'enemies' was a Glasgow pub. What was the crime of said pub? They advertised showing a Celtic match and said they would be serving jelly and ice-cream if Celtic won! This is what Rangers is reduced to!

And speaking of Loony Leggat, his blog today is taken up, again, with his one-man crusade against Graham Spiers. I don't know why there is bad blood between these two but Leggat must surely deserve some kind of award for sheer, bloody-minded bitchiness! At any rate, he promises us some revelations about the true situation at Ibrox tomorrow. Stand by for a whitewash job!

A new argument has been thrown into the football mix: should there be a minute's silence for Thatcher? By God, I'd like to see them try it in Liverpool! With Green's popularity dwindling by the day he might think that this would be a good way to sook in with the supporters. If he were to go down such a road then he would be in for an almighty shock! The hatred for Thatcher in Scotland transcends any sectarian antipathies. I can't see folk from Motherwell, Bilston and many other places going to Ibrox and standing silent for a minute to commemorate the woman that destroyed their communities!



Tuesday 9 April 2013

COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!

There's trouble at t'mill and Jabba is nowhere to be seen. He is meant to be Director of Communications at Rangers but he doesn't seem to be doing much in the way of communicating. And who, or what, is he directing, other than his own huge carcase in the direction of the bank? He wound up his days at the Daily Record with a scatter-gun dig at everybody and then started at Rangers by threatening all and sundry; so what happened? His supposed expertise is needed now more than ever; and yet he's conspicuous by his complete absence!

Green is getting more and more outrageous and somebody needs to stop him. Certainly it provides great amusement for the rest of us but, as far as I know, that's not supposed to be his job! His latest pronouncements have had everyone cringing with embarrassment. 'Ee, when I were a lad there were none' o this PC nonsense an' I still use the same terms nowadays.' What the likes of Green calls 'PC' the rest of us call good manners and decency. He might hanker for the days of The Black and White Minstrel Show and racist jokes on The Comedians but the rest of us have moved on a lot since those days! He obviously loves living in the past; no wonder he went down so well in Belfast!

Quite apart from his cringeworthy racism there is also the matter of Green's 'Ratner' moment. Of course, he is entitled to his opinion of the current Rangers team but it is not the best idea in the world to let everybody know what that opinion is! He is right, of course, but he is also wrong - this is the best team his New Rangers have had since it's the only team they've had! 

Then there's his revelations about his dealings with Craig Whyte. He would have been better to keep his mouth shut and let everyone laugh at Whyte. Nobody believes anything that Whyte says, no matter what 'evidence' he claims to have. Why did Green feel the need, therefore, to more or less confirm what Whyte was saying? His boasts about swindling Whyte are crass and stupid and have served no purpose other than to put himself in a negative spotlight.

I honestly can't see Whyte getting anywhere with his threats but others might be interested in these recent revelations. I have said repeatedly that there was something dodgy about the way Duff and Phelps disposed of Rangers' assets and it looks as if I was right. Whyte's claims, and Green's admissions, will leave the liquidators, BDO, no choice but to look into the matter. Nobody else got a chance to put in a bid for the assets, which is totally against Company rules and Duff and Phelps's remit to act on behalf of the creditors. Green might find the assets taken from him and then properly put on the market. Since BDO have to act in the interest of the creditors this might mean that other, non-football-related companies could be in with a shout. Govan could get a new Asda with a fancy facade and it will be all the fault of Green and his big mouth!

And Green's not the only one mouthing off. Sooperally has dragged the Ibrox in-fighting into the press. He is making threats as well, saying that he'll walk if he doesn't get enough money to buy players and if there is any interference in his role of identifying and buying new players. I've seen a few misquotes in the papers but, in essence, Sooperally is not a happy bunny! He is also publicly disagreeing with Green over the 'worst Rangers team ever' business, as well as claiming that the Third Division championship is title number 55, which Green categorically says it is not. The whole house of cards seems ready to come tumbling down!

Which again begs the question of what Traynor is doing. Surely, as Director of Communications, he should be keeping a rein on what is coming out of Ibrox? Or is his position just a sinecure with no responsibility whatsoever? If it is a bona fide job then why is he doing nothing? The answer is obvious: he doesn't know what to do in these circumstances! Traynor has always been full of piss and vinegar, ready to lash out at anybody that doesn't agree with his mindset. Celtic had no right to ask for help in their UEFA Cup campaign, Fergus McCann had no right to take Farry to court and, of course, the Blessed David Murray was an innocent dupe in the Craig Whyte business. In fact, can anyone remember Traynor having a decent word to say about anyone, apart from Murray? He was expecting the Nimmo-Smith enquiry to remove titles from Oldco Rangers and had his poison pen poised to start spewing bile at everyone. The fact that the title stripping didn't happen pulled the rug out from under him. He has no idea what to do now! All the man is good at is hatred and he has nobody at the moment against whom he can direct it!

The useless Jabba will probably be in Green's firing line and won't be in a job by the end of this year. He has burnt his bridges as far as working for another newspaper is concerned so what will he do? His only recourse will be to start writing a bitter blog, like his friend Loony Leggat. He will see out his twilight years writing bile about Green, as well as all those he sees as 'Rangers haters!'

On a different matter, spare a thought for Satan. How bad must it be to have Thatcher suddenly foisted upon you? Even Lucifer doesn't deserve to have to put up with that evil woman!

P.S. Loony Leggat has decided to put a different slant on the Green/Whyte business: it's all the fault of the Daily Record! He then comes out with the funniest line ever, even though he does not mean it to be. Talking about Di Stefano and Whyte, he says they are: 

'...deluded fantasists, who seem to live their lives in their own wee, bitter, twisted and warped minds.'

Talk about pots and kettles! Oh, and I've taken the liberty of correcting Leggat's dreadful spelling and punctuation!


Saturday 6 April 2013

NAME GAMES, BLAME GAMES AND SHAME GAMES

Does anybody else remember the old Cooper's supermarkets? They were bigger than the stores run by Galbraith's, Cochrane's and the Co-op and were the biggest grocery shops around before the arrival of Asda, Tesco etc. Some time in the 1970s the name was changed to 'Cooper's Fine Fare.' A minor change of name but the stores were exactly the same. The new name was eventually shortened to 'Fine Fare' but, again, the stores were exactly the same ones as they had been under the old names. Minor changes in name is something a lot of businesses do, either for convenience or to change their image. A case in point is Standard Oil, an American company that was involved in many scandals and had to be re-branded to deflect from its poor image. The company used the initials of its name to call itself 'Esso.' It was a new name but exactly the same company.

On the other hand, when a business goes into liquidation the assets are sold off to raise money for the creditors. Our local Woolworth store is now a B & M but it is entirely feasible that somebody could have bought the store, or the lease, with all the fixtures and fittings and merchandise intact. If that somebody just left the Woolworth sign up when they re-opened the store, could they then claim that they are the same business, with an unbroken history of trading as Woolworth on that site? 

The latter scenario is exactly what Charles Green has done. Rangers fans try to say that Celtic is a different club due to a minor name change in the 1990s. As I have shown in the above examples, this is a load of garbage! Amazingly, however, our media and footballing authorities have gone along with the myth that Green has built up. They still peddle the story that Green 'bought Rangers.'

Which leads me nicely to the latest big story: the reappearance of the Great Whyte Shark. With absolutely breathtaking gall, which you cannot help but admire, Craig Whyte has claimed that he still owns Rangers and that he is taking Green to court to get it back!

Now, I've said on quite a few occasions that I felt that the quick, under-the-counter sale of the assets to Green by Duff and Phelps was quite probably illegal under Companies Law. This new development convinces me even more that something underhand was going on.

The Daily Record has finally picked up on the story and, although terms like 'the Sevco takeover of Rangers' and 'relegated to the Third Division' show that our Fourth Estate is still toeing Green's party line, there are a few interesting nuggets of information in the article.

Whyte claims to have proof that he was behind Sevco 5088, which bought the assets. As it says in the DR, 'Whyte claims he was the man behind another newco company, Sevco 5088 Limited, who originally bought and held the assets of the club before they were switched by Green to Sevco Scotland.' Note, Sevco 5088 bought the ASSETS of the club NOT THE CLUB ITSELF! If Whyte is correct in his claims, then it puts a whole new slant on the sale of the assets.

Much has been made of the close links between Duff and Phelps and Craig Whyte and I would suggest that this explains the quick sale of the assets to Sevco 5088. Duff and Phelps should have been selling the assets to the highest bidder, since they should have been acting for the creditors. It looks to me as if liquidation was the plan all along, with Whyte picking up the assets for a song and either setting up the club again or selling them on for a massive profit. So the whole sorry deal has been a scam for Whyte to get his hands on Ibrox and Murray Park while not having to pay any of the creditors. Green, however, was working a double con and swindled Whyte out of his prize! 

The fact that Green has always been reluctant to disclose his backers lends some credence to Whyte's tale of woe but who was behind Sevco Scotland? Green has always been a front man for others and it looks as if he still is in this case. So who are his backers? He has made noises about 'Far-Eastern' investors. Maybe there's a missile silo underneath the Ibrox turf and North Korea isn't bluffing after all!

So what does that great font of knowledge, Loony Leggat, have to say about all these shenanigans? Nothing. All he's concerned about is that Neil Lennon gets absolutely hammered for saying a naughty word. It's good to see that he has got his priorities right!










Thursday 4 April 2013

FRAUDITORS

So nobody fell for my 1st April tall tale! Maybe I over-egged it a bit. I noticed that Loony Leggat did not post anything on the 1st; I wonder why. Still, with the maniacal rubbish that he posts 'every day's like the First of April', to paraphrase a song popular with those that believe him!

Meanwhile big things happening at the Stadium of Shight. Sandaza has been sacked, ostensibly because he revealed details of his contract to a prank caller. Of course, if you believe that you'll believe that Traynor was always a bona fide journalist! Green seems to be taking a broom to the place; the physio and the scout have already been shown the door. He's obviously looking to save a bit of cash and looking for any excuse to get rid of people; Sooperally's sphincter must be working overtime!

And then there's the £500,000 demand from the SPL for the Nimmo-Smith fiasco. His Lordship took the coward's way out, producing a verdict that read as if it came straight from the mouth of Kenny Dalglish: Mibbies Aye, Mibbies Naw. It means that Rangers think they won, while the SPL think the opposite. The loser usually picks up the tab, but it's hard to know who the loser is! Even if you take the view that the SPL won, does that mean that Green's new club is liable to pay the costs? A tricky one. The noble lord is apparently going to be sorting this one out too, so stand by for another verdict that could mean anything!

This monetary demand is all grist to the mill of Loony Leggat and his merry band of followers. He is still banging on about Peter Lawwell running the SPL, the SFA, the Daily Record, the U.N, the Galactic Federation and practically anything else you care to name. Even God apparently has to defer to him. Today's insane ramblings are all about league reconstruction, which, of course, Leggat insists is purely the work of Peter Lawwell. He also casts doubt on the current Sky deal, again blaming Lawwell for everything. He pours scorn on the idea of the SFA acting as independent brokers and suggests that SFL clubs get due diligence carried out by 'world-wide' auditors Grant Thornton.

Ever heard of Grant Thornton? No, neither had I, but a quick search on the internet threw up some interesting facts. A few years back an Italian-based, multi-national company called Parmalat went bust owing millions upon millions. It was discovered that the chief executives at Parmalat were guilty of many types of fraud, including disguising losses in their accounts. The company's auditor was Grant Thornton. Grant Thornton was investigated for covering up, and even being a part of, the frauds perpetrated at Parmalat. Grant Thornton officials were arrested and, as far as I can discern, the investigations are ongoing.

In the USA there was a similar scandal over the commodities' and futures' broker Refco. Again, there was wide-reaching fraud and the hiding of major losses in the accounts. The auditor for this company was, you guessed it, Grant Thornton! As in Italy, suspicion fell on the auditors for covering up, or participating in, the fraud. Again, as far as I can discover, the investigations are ongoing.

All this financial chicanery sounds depressingly familiar, doesn't it? It reminds one of a certain Scottish football club. 

Would it surprise you to discover that Grant Thornton were the auditors for Oldco Rangers FC?






Monday 1 April 2013

LEAGUE 'REFORMATION'

Normally I just offer an opinion about things that I have read in the papers or on blogs but today is different. Last night I was contacted by someone that works in the SFA offices at Hampden. Why he chose to contact me I don't know. I am not a journalist and have never claimed to be, even though I could hardly do a worse job than the agnivores employed by our Scottish media! The person contacted me by e-mail. He gave me his name so that I could verify that he does, indeed, work for the SFA, but asked that I keep his name secret. Obviously, given the explosive nature of what he told me, I am not going to disclose his name. Suffice it to say that, although he is not one of the top officials, he is privy to all the important decisions that are made at Hampden.

The papers have been full lately of observers commenting on the mess that the SPL has made of reorganisation. Gordon Waddell, in the Daily Record, even calls for the SFA to step in. Either Waddell is extremely prescient or he has a source at the SFA, as I now have. This is exactly what is going to happen soon, among other major developments.

Tomorrow Stewart Regan will announce his resignation and his job will be taken over by Campbell Ogilvie, that paragon of virtue and impartiality. That is not all. Like me, you may have noticed that Big Jabba has been extremely quiet of late. Contrary to what I thought, however, he is not too embarrassed to stick his head above the parapet; he was waiting for this coup at the SFA to happen. He, within the next week, will be installed as the SFA's head of media relations!

While we're still digesting these revolting developments there is more to come over the summer. Rangers are to be handed full membership of the SFA, giving them voting rights in any reorganisation talks! And this is going to make a huge difference, as work has been going on behind the scenes, involving Ogilvie, Green and others, to build up a bloc of votes to support a new plan for league reconstruction.

When the leagues have stopped for the summer break and after the Scottish Cup final, the SFA, under Ogilvie, is going to step in to 'arbitrate' in the league reconstruction argument. Rangers' 'bloc' is going to vote through Ogilvie's idea. Essentially there is going to be one authority, which doesn't have a name as yet but which is going to be under the leadership of Campbell Ogilvie! There will still be four divisions, as at present, but the top two tiers will be called, 'The Scottish Premiership' and 'The Scottish Championship' while the other two will be called Divisions 1 and 2. 

The most shocking development, however, is that Rangers are going to be parachuted straight into the Premiership! Opposition to this is expected but, apparently, all manners of deals have been going on behind the scenes and it will be voted straight through!

Unfortunately, my source was unable to tell me who is involved in the Rangers' bloc, as he hasn't been party to these behind-the-scenes deals. It is therefore going to be difficult for fans to put pressure on their clubs as they cannot be sure which way they are going to vote until it happens. Seemingly there are large amounts of cash involved (no doubt involving EBTs!) which might even swing supporters round to the idea, since it would help to save their ailing clubs!

These developments must be fought tooth and nail! Today will go down as one of those 'Kennedy Assassination' moments. Remember you read it here first and remember today's date - it will go down in infamy!