The Scottish Football thread

[Crybaby Bunting]

Hearts have fans?

[METALMAN]

[Guest HFCLAD1]

Anybody here going to the final? Couldn't bare to see Hibs lose to Hearts.

Edited May 6, 2012 by HFCLAD1

[Adam]

Hibernian 3-0 up within 15 minutes against Dunfermline, so I guess that's that then. Though the stats at the break are pretty even which is surprising considering the score!

[Adam]

Just seen the goals on SSN and whilst it likely wouldn't have mattered anyway, I can't believe Hibs got awarded the fourth goal when it hit the bar then bounced down a full yard in front of the line. That is the worst goal line decision I think I've ever seen, bar perhaps Roy Carroll's 'save' from Mendes a few years ago. Horrendous.

The penalty for the third is quite a poor decison as well. Feel for the Dunfermline fans tonight.

[Lineker]

An SPL footballer has been arrested over an alleged disturbance at a nightclub in Edinburgh.

St Johnstone forward Derek Riordan was detained at the HMV Picture House venue in the city's Lothian Road in the early hours of Monday morning.

Lothian and Borders Police said a 29-year-old man had been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged assault and breaches of the peace.

Riordan is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

He signed for St Johnstone on a short-term contract in March this year after leaving Chinese Super League club Shaanxi Chan-Ba.

Riordan has been capped three times by the Scotland national football team and also played for Hibernian and Celtic.

[METALMAN]

lolol

Riordan's already banned from all the clubs in Glasgow. Maybe he can make it a set with Edinburgh as well! Then he'll have to go out in Dundee. :/

[brenchill]

Bill Miller has pulled out of buying Rangers.

[Lineker]

Bye Rangers.

[METALMAN]

[Matt]

Are they actually fucked then?

[Lineker]

Pretty much. Unless Kennedy comes back in?

[Lineker]

I'm told Miller has smoked out THREE new "ready-to-go" bids for #RFC, admins say they can pick one this week & proceed quickly....

BBC's Matt Slater

[Matt]

[Kaney]

Proceed quickely? They've been setting deadlines for getting it sorted for months.

[Colly]

Millers out, partly due to hostile e-mails and banners from fans. Don't they realise to asset strip you actually need to have assets?

[Lineker]

A UK consortium bidding to take control of Rangers has indicated to the club's administrator that it wants Graeme Souness to be part of its plans.

The former Ibrox player and manager has not been involved in football since he left Newcastle United in 2006.

Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy remains involved in the bidding process - along with two new groups with connections to the Glasgow club.

The overseas bid is led by Singapore businessman Bill Ng.

Administrator David Whitehouse revealed on Wednesday that three bids - two of them new - were in discussions after American Bill Miller's withdrawal.

"They are known names in both football and also within the Scottish community," Whitehouse told newspapers.

"Brian Kennedy is what I would describe as the fourth bid."

Having had his own bid rejected early in the process, Kennedy aligned himself with the Blue Knights consortium led by former Rangers director Paul Murray.

Kennedy then urged support for Miller's offer once the trucking tycoon was named preferred bidder but appeared to leave his options open to become involved again by having discussions with Craig Whyte about the transfer of the owner's shares.

The two fresh bidders, according to the administrator, now have an agreement in place with Whyte, who bought the club for £1 from Sir David Murray a year ago.

"To our knowledge, there are written agreements in place with two of the bidders to transfer his shares," said Whitehouse.

"People say he is selling his shares, but he is doing that for a nominal consideration of a pound.

"Craig Whyte is not going to benefit from this process."

Speculation has also linked former Rangers manager Walter Smith with being part of interested consortia, but Whitehouse insisted the bidders wished to remain anonymous for now.

"We've had some quite detailed discussions with three of the four bidders," said the joint administrator.

"They are very real bidders and, although two of them are very late to the table, they are actually very advanced in their thought process, well-engaged with advisors and well-funded.

"They would be - I believe - popular with fans. Both bids.

"There is certainly a more natural empathy with the club than Bill Miller had.

"There is a Rangers connection there. They want anonymity, but that will break in the next 24 to 48 hours.

"These bidders are in a position where they are well known and, if they put their heads above the parapet, there will be a crescendo of interest and support and they don't want that yet.

"They will only do so if they are in a position of likely success."

Meanwhile, Ng has been quoted in The Straits Times confirming he was asked to return to the bidding process after Miller decided to withdraw.

[METALMAN]

[Colly]

My favourite thing about Bill Ng is that no bugger has a clue how to pronounce his surname.

[Lineker]

Brian Kennedy insists the Blue Knights' bid for Rangers stands and he has been informed he will hear by Friday morning whether it can proceed.

Kennedy says his lawyer held a meeting with administrator Duff & Phelps and was told it would "revert to us with an answer one way or the other" by Friday.

The offer is the same as the one beaten to preferred bidder status by Bill Miller last week.

"To clarify, we were asked to get to a quantum, which we did," said Kennedy.

"And, having been told it was acceptable, we made a written offer."

Joint administrator David Whitehouse on Wednesday claimed the Blue Knights' bid fell far short of the one withdrawn this week by American trucking tycoon Miller.

Whitehouse rejected former Rangers director Paul Murray's assertion that the consortium had been told their offer met the demands of the bidding process.

"For David Whitehouse to say otherwise is a slur on the character of Paul Murray," Sale Sharks owner Kennedy told BBC Scotland. "Paul doesn't tell lies.

"If someone else makes a bigger offer, that's fine. But it's about deliverability, not just quantum.

"The administrators chose the wrong horse when they went with Bill Miller.

"I wouldn't like to see them make the same mistake again."

On the subject of deliverability, Duff & Phelps has stated that a Company Voluntary Arrangement - the Blue Knights' preferred option of exiting administration - will be difficult to achieve in a short timeframe.

A number of financial analysts have also cast doubt as to whether a CVA, rather than creating a new company, is realistic at all.

However, Kennedy stressed: "Financially, a newco doesn't work unless you can write a cheque for £35m to compensate for the absence of European football.

"We would only contemplate a CVA."

Kennedy said it was his understanding that a CVA did not incur a similar three-year ban from European football as a newco.

He has been in discussions with Rangers owner Craig Whyte regarding the transfer of his shares.

Asked about the state of those negotiations, however, Kennedy would only say: "I won't comment on Craig Whyte's shares.

"I have a confidentiality agreement with Craig and I intend to respect that."