The Scottish Football thread

[DavidMarrio]

I thought they were only gonna get one champions league spot next season anyway?

[Matt]

To be honest, I have no idea, I was just disparaging Scottish football. ^_^

[Kaney]

Fuck you Matt.

[Dingle]

Yawn Scottish Football >_>.

[9 to 5]

I sense many bannings coming.

[Lineker]

Christ, Rangers have to cut £4m by the end of the season..

A million quid a month.

[Crybaby Bunting]

But how can they do that? Every major transfer window has shut and surely paying off a contract in a lump sum is going to cost them more in the short term.

They'll be sacking a £40,000 per week player and spending £2m doing so. The ONLY people who Rangers could possibly save money on is those whose contracts are expiring this Summer, but they'll want to be holding on to their contracts for dear life if they're a reject at Rangers of all places.

[Cadj]

First win at Ibrox in 8 years

[METALMAN]

Really? I thought Hearts would have done better than that! We win at Ibrox all the time!

Turns out Dunfermline couldn't pay their players on time because Rangers aren't giving over the money they owe them. Another reason to have no sympathy.

[Kaney]

They owe Dundee United and I think Hearts as well which they aren't handing over, yet they're crying like babies about Celtic not paying them in advance for the Old Firm game tickets. I know they have a gentlemens agreement but it's ridiculous that the huns are whinging about Celtic when they can't even pay the other teams they already owe.

[Lineker]

Off the back of the news that Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik have left Rangers after their offers for voluntary redundancy with no pay-off were accepted, it remains to be seen whether agreement over reduced wages can be struck in order to avoid further departures from the first-team squad. However...

Rangers director Dave King fears the club will not exit administration and that liquidation is "inevitable".

In a statement, King said the club's owner Craig Whyte has "abused the loyalty of fans" by mortgaging future sales of tickets to Ticketus.

King also claims that Sir David Murray had no knowledge that proof of funds supplied by Whyte to purchase the club was secured by season ticket sales.

The South Africa-based businessman said the club's plight "grieved him".

King, who remains a non-executive director of the troubled Scottish Premier League club, met administrators Duff and Phelps two weeks ago to discuss the current financial situation.

He was previously involved in takeover talks with the club, who were forced into administration following action from HMRC over a £9m tax bill.

Along with fellow-director Paul Murray, King also made a late bid for the club to prevent the eventual successful takeover by Whyte.

King invested £20m in the club in 2000 and is the second-largest shareholder, but has been hit with a £250m bill after losing a 10-year battle with the taxman in South Africa.

In his statement, King said that he intended to remain involved with the Glasgow club and had approached the Scottish Football Association to approve him as a "fit and proper person" in control at Ibrox.

"I intend to remain involved with the club, at least on my present basis, post-reconstruction if that is at all possible under the new ownership structure," said King.

"I am however alert to the raw sentiment around the need for Rangers to have 'fit and proper' persons at its helm.

"In view of my own well-publicised and acrimonious legal disputes with the authorities in South Africa I have taken it upon myself to approach the SFA in that regard in advance of considering an increased role in the club going forward. I will be guided by the SFA's response in that regard."

:/

[Crybaby Bunting]

So Rangers players are expected to take a 75% pay cut in order to keep the club afloat?

That's just flat out disgusting! The club waits until the end of the transfer window to go into administration and then pressures the players into terminating their own contracts to save the livelihoods of other players. Now if a player refuses a pay cut they'll be seen as forcing the club into liquidation, when in reality they could have been shifted on in the January transfer window earning a little less (but more than what a 75% cut would see them living on)

[Crybaby Bunting]

Surprise, surprise. The players have collectively failed to agree to wage cuts.

They forget that many players aren't products of the Rangers academy, in fact many of them left their boyhood clubs to get a better wage. If you remove the better wage then players will simply refuse to want to play for the club anymore.

So if a guy was on £5k per week at Kilmarnock and went to Rangers and tripled his wages, he'd now be on £3750 per week. It doesn't make sense at all for Rangers to hang onto players instead of selling them in January >_<

[METALMAN]

lol Kilmarnock paying someone £5k a week. Maybe in 1999.

[Lineker]

SFA: no shit, Sherlocks:

Rangers' Craig Whyte has been deemed "not a fit and proper person" to own a football club following an independent inquiry by Lord William Nimmo Smith.

The club is also facing a charge of bringing the game into disrepute, Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan announced.

Rangers also face disciplinary action unless they pay money due to Dundee United for a Scottish Cup tie.

The club's administrators say they look forward to putting forward their case.

Regan heard the findings at a special board meeting at Hampden on Thursday.

A statement by Regan said: "Principally, it is the belief of the board, taking into account the prima facie evidence presented today, that Mr Craig Whyte is not considered to be a fit and proper person to hold a position within Association Football.

"We will be writing to Mr Whyte in relation to those findings and shall seek a response within seven days.

"The report submitted by Lord Nimmo Smith, having been considered fully by the board, highlights a number of other potential rule breaches by the club and its owner.

"The report will now be used as evidence and forwarded to a judicial panel for consideration and determination as per the protocol."

Within minutes of the SFA announcement, Paul Clark, joint administrator, said: "We note the findings and announcement by the Scottish Football Association.

"We look forward to stating the club's case to the judicial panel.

"In broad terms, we believe there are mitigating factors and we hope to demonstrate the distinction between the club and the actions of any individuals."

Whyte's takeover of Rangers in May is the subject of a Strathclyde Police investigation.

The Scottish businessman put Rangers into administration at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on 14 February, under pressure from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs for non-payment of PAYE and VAT.

At the time, the figure owed to HMRC was thought to be £9m but BBC Scotland has since learned that £15m is a more accurate assessment of the debt.

The plunge into administration attracted a 10-point penalty by the Scottish Premier League.

Whyte's preference for administrator Duff & Phelps was accepted by the court and since mid-February they have been auditing the Ibrox club's books.

On Wednesday, after protracted talks with players collapsed about tiered wage cuts to save £1m in monthly costs, the administrators said they were now rushing to push through the sale of the club.

Having earlier intimated 16 March as their cut-off point, they set Friday as the date for interested parties to show their hand and for their cost-cutting plans to be accepted by the players.

Administrator David Whitehouse warned that without an injection of cash or an agreement over cuts, the firm would begin to make severe cuts to the playing squad, a scenario it is keen to avoid because it would damage the value of the asset - the club - that it is trying to sell.

[Adam]

Yeah I thought that was a bit of a late call by them to be honest.

Motherwell are going to qualify for the Champions League

[METALMAN]

I met Lord Nimmo Smith at a lecture once! He's a gent.

[The Lusophone]

Metalman has the best stories.

[Adam]

You didn't stab Lord Nimmo Smith did you?

[Matt]

SFA: no shit, Sherlocks:

I'm surprised actually, clearly the SFA's test is more rigorous than ours, I'm pretty sure this is our test:

Name: __________

Question 1: Is this cute?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

End of questions.