Rangers still facing an uncertain future
Posted on July 3, 2012 7:59 pm
It is not news to hear that Glasgow Rangers have been in financial crisis for a while now. Due to the mismanagement, to the extent where police are investigating former Rangers owner Craig Whyte’s takeover to see whether or not it transgressed any laws, of their previous owners, Rangers have huge debts that they cannot pay, and were forced into administration last season, with real fears that they may not have been able to complete the season.
Rangers have since been taken over by Charles Green. Green came to the decision that Rangers’ debts were so insurmountable that, after a failed attempt to come to an arrangement with the club’s creditors, he had no choice but to liquidate Rangers, and then form a new company (at the time of writing it’s not been determined whether they’ll have to change the name of the club, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll call them Rangers in this piece), referred to as a newco. As a result of this, Rangers are not automatically entitled to a place in the upcoming season’s SPL anymore. This meant that the ‘new’ Rangers could only participate in next seasons SPL at the discretion of the other SPL clubs, who are due to vote on the matter tomorrow. Rangers will need at least 8 of the 12 clubs to vote in their favour in order to be allowed to play in the SPL.
However, that looks unlikely as St Mirren have now joined St Johnstone, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibernian and Dundee United in publicly stating that they will be voting against Rangers admittance to the SPL.
The usual route for any new club, and that’s essentially what Rangers now are, to join the Scottish League’s is to start in the bottom division, Division Three. This is what happened the last time a new club joined the SFL, which was Annan Athletic in 2008.
However, it was revealed last week that the plan devised by the Scottish football authorities is that should Rangers not be allowed into the SPL, as looks likely, then Dundee, who finished second in last season’s Scottish Division One, would be invited to take the place of what has been called ‘club 12’ in the SPL fixture lists. This would not be without its own problems however, as Dunfermline Athletic, who were relegated from last season’s SPL, would be able to make a case that they should be reinstated rather than Dundee.
As Rangers, should they not be accepted into the SPL, would be replaced by a team from Scottish Division One, the idea of Rangers joining the SFL (Scottish Football League) in Division One was floated. It’s believed SFL clubs have been offered a £1m sweetener from the Sky TV deal with the SPL, to cover Rangers’ First Division matches. It is believed that the SFL has been offered other inducements to accept Rangers into Div. One, such as playoffs to the SPL, and a pyramid system allow teams to be promoted to, and relegated from the SFL.
However, many of those First Division clubs don’t want Rangers in their division for a few different reasons. Some of those reasons are based on football; even if Rangers lose the majority of their squad, as seems likely should they not be admitted to the SPL, they still have far greater resources at their disposal than other Div. One clubs and would probably still dominate the division. As it seems almost certain that without Rangers, Celtic will walk the SPL this season; Scottish football faces the prospect of its top two divisions being uncompetitive.
There are clubs who are objecting on principle. The rules state that a new club has to start at the bottom, so there is resentment that just because they have money, Rangers may be treated differently to everyone else and be allowed to circumvent these rules. These clubs believe that Rangers should be treated no differently to any other new member of the SFL.
The SFL met today, and the Rangers issue was discussed, but as the SPL vote on Rangers’ future hasn’t been taken yet, the decision on what to do with Rangers won’t be properly discussed until July 12.
There is also an equally pressing issue about the contracts of the Rangers players. The players signed a contract with a company that no longer exists. Under UK employment laws, those contracts can only be transferred to the newco with the permission of the player. Should a player not give his permission, they are effectively out of contract and can sign for whoever they choose.
Several of Rangers’ first-team squad have announced they won’t sign any contract with the newco, and have left the club, Steven Whittaker has signed for Norwich, Jamie Ness has joined Stoke and Steven Naismith is expected to join Everton any day now. These players have been joined in exiting Rangers by Allen McGregor, Kyle Lafferty, Sone Aluko, John Fleck and Juan Manuel Ortiz. Some of the other players, including Carlos Bocanegra, are waiting to see what happens before making a decision. If Rangers aren’t admitted to the SPL, expect several more to leave.
This hasn’t gone down well with Charles Green, who is threatening to sue any player who leaves for breach of contract. Green is also refusing to release those players’ registrations, which would prevent them from playing for any other club, despite the SFA’s urging for him to do so, as the newco has technically never owned those players’ registrations, so has no right to have them at all, never mind withhold them.
It is looking increasingly likely that Rangers will have to start again in Division Three. This will be a huge culture shock as the bottom two divisions of Scottish football are mostly filled with semi-pro sides. Rangers’ presence in Div Three would also mean that some of these part-time players would have the surreal experience of playing at two of Scotland’s best grounds (Div Three side Queen’s Park play at Hampden Park, which is the home of the Scottish national team).
Rangers’ income would be much lower than the current income, but their finances would still be sufficient to get players in who would allow Rangers to win the division at a canter. This would be reminiscent of when, a few seasons ago, Gretna, a club from a tiny town just across the border from England, made their way up the Scottish leagues thanks to being bankrolled by millionaire Brooks Mileson. Gretna were able to get a really high standard of player even when they were in Division Three, as they were able to pay higher wages than many SPL clubs, and as a result they dominated the Scottish Leagues, getting three consecutive promotions (a good account of Gretna’s rise is given in the book Pointless by Jeff Connor). It all ended badly for Gretna, as Mileson withdrew his money after contracting a serious illness (sadly Mileson died later that year) and Gretna were unable to exist without his money and were forced to fold.
I can understand the stance taken by the clubs. If it was any other club in any other league I’d agree that this stance is the right one to take. However, I think that in this case, the sides are being short-sighted and their stance smacks of cutting your nose off to spite your face.
I’m sure that many of the Scottish clubs are enjoying some kind of schadenfreude at Rangers’ expense, and like the idea of being able to knock Rangers down a peg or two, and split up the Old Firm’s stranglehold on Scottish football, but I think they are forgetting just how much Scottish football needs Rangers.
Scottish football as a whole is dependent on the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers. Many Scottish clubs owe their continuing existence to the fact that they play Celtic and Rangers at least four times each a season. Attendances, which are generally low, soar when one of the Old Firm comes to town. Usually Celtic and Rangers games are televised, so clubs get an additional payout from TV companies, and that is what keeps most clubs afloat. Lower league clubs dream of getting one of Celtic or Rangers in a cup. If a lower league club gets an Old Firm club in one of the cups, the TV money can often secure the financial future of that club for years to come.
A great example of the dependence of the other SPL clubs on the Old Firm happened last season when Rangers’ fall into administration meant that Dunfermline did not receive ticket money they were owed by Rangers, a sum of about £63,000. The loss of this ticket money had the knock-on effect that Dunfermline were unable to pay their players and staff on time.
Many SPL clubs lead a hand-to-mouth existence and depend on player sales to raise funds. Usually, that means selling their best players to Rangers or Celtic. If you take Rangers out of the equation as a possible buyer for those players, a lot of those clubs could suffer financially.
Scottish football isn’t that attractive to the casual fan on either side of the border, especially as the English Premier League games are easily available to watch on TV in Scotland. The TV deal currently in place for the SPL is miniscule compared to the one enjoyed by EPL clubs. The fact that even that much is paid is largely due to the Old Firm derbies, which is the biggest game in British football, and probably the only one attractive to viewers south of the border in England. Take Rangers out of the equation and that interest withers to virtually nothing. If Rangers aren’t in the SPL, it is unlikely that the current TV deal would remain in place, and would have to be renegotiated at a much lower price.
The general standard of Scottish football is pretty low. Scotland’s UEFA coefficient, a ranking for each country’s league, which is what determines how many European places clubs get, and what stage those clubs enter the competitions, has plummeted recently, and is only being propped up by Rangers’ run to the UEFA cup final in 2008. This season, all of the Scottish clubs were eliminated at the first qualifying round they faced, although Celtic were given a reprieve after Swiss team Sion were thrown out of the Europa League. It is estimated by some that in two seasons, Scotland’s UEFA coefficient will be so low that it will be out of the top 25 in Europe, which would mean that fewer Scottish clubs would be entitled to play in Europe and they would have to qualify at the first stage.
Despite all of their protests to the contrary, Celtic will also be deeply affected if Rangers go out of existence. Celtic and Rangers share a mutual enmity, and I’m sure there are plenty of Celtic fans who would love to see Rangers brought low, but only the most short-sighted fan would fail to recognise that Rangers and Celtic have a symbiotic relationship. Simply, they need each other, and each team is better for the competition that the other provides.
Without Rangers, Celtic will walk the SPL. But to me it would be a bit of a hollow victory. Is that really the way Celtic want to win? If there’s no real competition, does winning it still bring the same satisfaction as a hard-fought campaign? I don’t think so.
There are also more long-reaching effects for Celtic. If Rangers aren’t there to push Celtic, this will inevitably affect them so that when they are in a position where they need to up their game, in European games for example, they won’t be able to, as they won’t have had to push themselves for a long time.
Nice update!
Frankly, Ranger should start from the bottom. They used the financial rules to save their arse financially, now its time to face the music from a sporting perspective. Start over, earn your way up and this time, keep better books.
If “Rangers” are a new company, then how could Green sue players for breach of contract. Their contract was with a company that no longer exists.
It is, unfortunately, the rules that are stupid. Green and the players (and fans and even league for that matter) who have done nothing wrong are being punished. Wyhte and maybe Murray should go to jail, but starting a team that has 50k fans regularly show up at the stadium in the 3rd division is just stupid. The SPL, SFA and other clubs are cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Difficult to pinpoint exactly where I stand as I’m a purist and modernist rolled into one. That means I’m likely to side with the financial solutions before preserving traditions, but let that not suggest I have any disdain for the latter.
Okay, they’ve made the move to become newco and it would be insane to attempt any reversal. Some players have walked and despite the registration issue the club will either have a sulking employee or a former employee depending on any resolution with that issue.
On the other hand, the historic rivalry between Celtic and Rangers would be interrupted for some time and cause some traditionalists to bemoan such a change. Then having a premiership “name” suddenly shifted to 3rd Division competition would make for a financial imbalance so to say.
History has shown that storied rivalries can come and go. Have the Giants and Dodgers enjoyed the same level of rivalry with the Yankees since 1957? Perhaps, but I see it dwindling away as those whom were around back then gradually pass on one-by-one. That is to say rivalrys are an organic element of sports and as nature abhors a vacuum, another rivalry would develop over time until Rangers ascent to the premier circuit and resume theirs with Celtic.
Businessmen (despite their closed-door policies) very often like regulations in place to even the playing field. Certainly the sudden presence of a money-printing entity as strong as the Ranger name would make any 3rd Division owner feel squirrely, but resources or not – the winning/losing that counts in the tables happens to be determined on the pitch.
If I’m a fan of Rangers (and I’m not) I’d be extremely upset at the outcome thus far. Aside from a rags-to-riches ascendancy to their former position of premiership prominence, there’s really no way around the fact that it would take a very long time to get there. But is there any other option for a fan but to continue to support their favorite club?
Nature is also defined as survival of the fittest and if what the author says about the quality of Scottish football is true, then perhaps the fate of Rangers will be good for the overall quality of the sport. Nothing divine about it, if a team performs badly on the pitch or in the front office, then outcomes like that of Rangers is apt.
I wish it were otherwise. I’m not one of those fans who hate other squads. As a matter of fact I have a begrudging respect for rivals and would hate to see the Celtic/Rangers contests become no more. Yet I can’t help but notice that this is yet another example of corrupt football executives hurting the very source of their fortune – the fans.
Football on the whole needs a good cleaning up, but with Seppy running things I’d have a better chance of expecting Monica Bellucci at my door asking me for a bit of fun.
I wish I would proofread my submissions before posting them.
4th paragraph SHOULD read in part: That is to say [rivalries] are an organic element of sports and as nature abhors a vacuum, another rivalry would develop over time until Rangers [ascend] to the premier circuit and resume theirs with Celtic.
The issue, however, is technical, not moral, in my eyes, as the bad actors are not being punished by putting Gers in the 3rd div. Rangers tried to do a CVA which would have kept them as Rangers. That was not accepted by creditors. That is not Green, nor the fans fault. This Newco was not done to “get over” on anyone – it was to save Rangers. It’s just too bad that Gers fans, the players and the new owners are getting slammed when they did not create the shady dealings.
The players and new owners may not have created the shady dealings, but the rules state that any new club must apply to enter either the SPL if a place is available or the SFL if a place is available. If the SPL doesn’t want them, it’s up to the clubs of the SFL if they indeed want a New Rangers in their midst.
So to play by the rules as the rules have been written, like the Darlingtons and Rushdens and Bostons of the world in the English lower leagues, Rangers should be admitted to the third division if the SFL vote succeeds and the SPL vote fails. Otherwise, technically, you’re bending the rules.
Agreed. In fact, I’d say the rules would have been steamrollered had Rangers been allowed to continue in the SPL.
And the argument that Rangers are “too big” to play in the third division is a crock. It’s not as though they haven’t played such teams before in cup competition. The away games will all be all ticket with a limited number of tickets for Rangers fans. If their excluded fans want to cause trouble outside stadia, then the police should deal with that firmly.
I’m not quite sure why, when the rules allow a club to apply to the SPL the rules would have been steamrolled had the SPL clubs voted to allow it entry, especially since it is a club that has, for all intents and purposes, been in the SPL for over 100 years. That makes no sense.
Again, the SPL chiefs have every right not to admit Gers, I just think they will regret it by the end of the season. Their desire to make life easier for their own teams by getting rid of quality competition does nothing for the Scottish game in general.
You do not improve yourself by lowering the level of competition.
This is a simplistic view of the situation. Everyone involved in club management knew their options with regard to handling this situation. Rangers had more than enough money coming in that they could have tightened their belt and paid down their debt. But instead they used the incoming cash to finance more debts…so it seems. They also had suitors to help save the club but the fans did not want certain people. Sure the folks who caused this situation need to be held accountable and yes, the new management may not have been part of,the original problem, BUT rules are rules.
How would Rangers fans like it if an rich American or Russian bought a team, filled them with high priced players and tried to get them in the SPL without starting at the bottom? I am sure the clamor would be deafening. If this happened to Celtic I bet Rangers would careless they had to start again in the 3rd division.
Fact is Rangers fans should have seen this coming and been less pissy about financial saviours that tried to help. My own club faced financial ruin (again) but had to settle for a foreign investor. We did not want an investor but ha to swallow our pride and accept it or face relegation to amateur football. Rangers COULD have been saved. They made their choice and now is time to live with it.
The thing is that right now it’s very difficult to identify what constitutes ‘Rangers’. Large-scale mismanagement by Mister David Murray eventually led to the liquidation of the company behind the football club
I would worry less about a two-or-three year gap in Rangers-Celtic games than about whether Rangers will be able to complete on a level basis with Celtic once they get back to the top.
The point is, as there was only Rangers who could compete with Celtic, there now is nobody, and as such, the SPL is even less competitive than it ever was.
Whether or not it was the right thing to do, and it was if you follow the letter of the rules, the decision today to exclude Rangers from the SPL has meant that an already weak league has been further weakened, perhaps permanently.
What a horrible statement that is. Seriously, the Scottish league might as well completely shut down if everyone outside of Rangers and Celtic has 0% chance of winning, it’s an incredibly pointless league if it can’t provide something as simple as competition.
It’s sad but true. The Old Firm have dominated Scottish football for years. The last time a non-Old Firm side were Scottish champions was in 1984/85 when Aberdeen, managed by a certain Alex Ferguson, won the title.
Here’s an example of the Old Firm’s dominance. When Rangers went into administration in February, they were given a ten-point penalty. Even after being docked 10 points they were still nine points ahead of third-placed Motherwell.
Rangers had a white knight all lined up in the person of an American named Bill Miller.
But he withdrew after taking miles of crap from Rangers fans about how they didn’t want an American owning their team.
So fine. Hope you’re happy, guys.
I only know what was reported: Miller claims Dunn and Phelps were “overly optimistic” in how the situation was presented. Upon completion of due diligence Miller withdrew. He also mentioned supporter issues but Green is not Scottish either and is handling the supporter kick-back. As evidenced by the rejection of Green’s SVA the finances were worse than first reported. I think that had a lot to do with Miller walking away, more than some loud Bears tweeting their drunken displeasure.
I’ve been reading up on this on pieandbovril.com over the past few months (a Scottish football site), Duff and Phelps through the entire thing have seemed to have been in the pocket for someone. You contrast the administration of Rangers to Portsmouth and it’s night and day. Portsmouth they made quick decisions on pay cuts and redundancies. Rangers they meandered on for weeks without doing anything.
I understand the bit on Rangers being economically important to Scottish football but the fact remains that the Old Firm have pretty much destroyed Scottish football, and that’s in part why none of this teams get much in the way of support.
dunn and phelps was Whyte’s lawyer or something like that. They were a bit of a controversial choice.
As far as saying “this is the rules” – absolutely, but just because it’s the rule doesn’t mean it’s a good rule. It punishes folks who haven’t done anything (or at least little more than being ambitious and perhaps jerks, but not criminal – ie. fans and players) and also will hurt the SPL and SFA in general. Are Dundee U or Motherwell going to bring in the Jelavics or Cuellars or keep the Davis and Wyldes and Flecks in Scotland? Will Aberdeen even attract a Boca or Edu – not to mention perhaps getting back to the point they can even bid for bigger “small stars” like they did 10 years ago.
It’s not the end of the world – SPL will lumber on, but I don’t really know who this system helps. But the new Gers are not trying to job the system, they aren’t some mercenary rich owner doing a Grenta – they are trying to save the club – a club that is an asset to Scottish soccer, even if you think Gers is an obnoxious club.
Is there even an investigation into what happened? Do you think anyone goes to jail?
Whyte is under what seems to be a serious police investigation and a tax authority investigation.
Murray is under investigation (court case, actually) for a tax avoidance/evasion scheme. It has not been decided.
They are also under investigation for keeping/using two sets of contracts – among other things -
Here’s an article on the Whyte of it all -
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2012/06/25/rangers-in-crisis-fraud-squad-launch-probe-into-craig-whyte-s-ticketus-deal-during-takeover-86908-23900909/
I hope they catch whomever did this to Rangers . It surprises me there is less publicity about criminal investigations.
Whyte “did this” to rangers, if you mean forced them into liquidation – although the use of double contracts and sketchy financing goes back much further. The iffy tax scheme that Murray used is possibly not illegal, although it was certainly ‘aggressive’ I would say.
If you mean who “did this” as far as forcing the Gers into the D3, that would be the rest of the SPL – and actually Scottish soccer fans in general since they pressured their teams to vote against Gers staying in the SPL.
So you saying the Scottish FA does not compel teams to get their license each year by proving they are on solid financial ground? If not they should.
Let’s not pretend here, the blame lies with Rangers FO, the FA, their creditos and the Rangers fans. All were blind and knew the club was spending WAY more than they were taking in. This did not sneek up on anyone. And there WERE other options, but the fans didn’t want them. Drowning men cannot push away life rings and still survive. Let’s not blame this situation on the rest of the SPL teams. Rangers did this to themselves. Man-up and take it.
The fans didn’t want Green – a lot of them. They backed another group completely.
Of course “New Gers” not playing in the SPL is blamed on the other SPL teams. They held a voted. They voted “no.”
Gers financial issues were completely caused by overly agressive/optimistic/hubristic men on one side (Murray and crew) and what looks to be a straight up punk con-man in Whyte. Many people saw it coming. Many were ignored. Gers admins, board members etc. have plenty of guilt in the financial meltdown, no doubt. And the players sucking in Europa this year did not help.
But the SPL teams could easily have voted Gers back into the SPL. They did not. Now we’ll see how it plays out.
But the vote is not the fault of those teams. They were enforcing rules in place. Wasn’t Rangers asking for an exception to the rules? This cannot be put back on those teams.
No, they weren’t asking for an “exception” – they are permitted to apply to whatever league they wish. It is up to the league to accept them – SFL has stated that starting in D3 is just “tradition” – which is why they (SFL) is trying to force (via a 2mill threat) the D1 clubs to accept Rangers. There is no requirement for the SPL teams to accept Gers, obviously, but it was well within the system.
Agreed. So I don’t really see an issue of contention here. The rules are set up to preclude some Russian billionaire from buying a team and moving them straight into the SPL. Rangers were part — a big part — of putting such rules in place…mostly to continue their strangle hold on the SPL only to be shortly curtailed by Celtic every off year. So now the rules go against them and all those clubs want to hold Rangers to the very same rules to which they benefitted all these years. It is ironice, indeed, but blaming the other clubs for enforcing it seems misplaced. Thankfully, many of the Rangers fans interviewed on BBC so far seem to support going down. Nice to see there is some sanity out of this insanity.
It is not a matter of “blaming” the other clubs for enforcing it, it is a matter of whether it was smart to do. I say it was not. Others disagree. The rules allow a team to apply for admission into the SPL. Rangers were willing to accept sanctions that would have allowed other teams to grab the Europa slot, keep Gers from winning etc.
They would have been able to keep many, if not all, of their better players etc.
Instead, Scotland will lose an entire 1st team worth of decent players – they aren’t going to Hearts or Aberdeen, they are going to Norwich and Liverpool and Bolton and Sion. They will have the farce of Gers youngsters and a few vets playing in a pub league – (won’t that make for good footie) meaning all those D3 semi-pro players who hoped to make it up to D2 can kiss a season of that hope goodbye. Then D2 will suffer the same fate next season. etc.
The SFA/SPL/SFL are already looking at “2 tiered” SPL/SFA combos and other “jobbed” responses to this. It would have been much cleaner and smarter to put Gers back in the SPL – sanction them enough to really level the playing field for a while (they would have lost some, but perhaps not as many) players and not lose one of the few big draws for Scottish football.
But again, what’s done is done. The Scottish equivalent of the Yankees or Red Sox will be playing Class A next year. It will be interesting.
When a tree dies in the forest another one grows. I think the “void” Rangers leaves will be filled. The loss of TV revenue from them going down remains to be seen. Yes you may lose those households that used to watch Rangers, but then again they may hunger for better football and still watch. Besides, aren’t TV contracts negotiated a few years in advance? So isn’t the pot of money to be split by team pretty fixed until it comes up for renegotiation?
I just can’t see that happening. The gap between the other 11 SPL clubs and Celtic is a yawning chasm. The other teams have a fraction of the support and resources Celtic, and Rangers, enjoy, and just cannot compete with them over the course of a season.
As for the TV deal, it is negotiated in advance (the last one was negotiated last November), but there’s not much a league can do if the broadcaster decides to pull out. That TV deal will have been signed on the premise of being able to broadcast Rangers and Celtic games, as they are by far the best supported clubs, not just in Glasgow, but all over Scotland. In fact, I’m sure part of the TV deal included a guarentee of four Old Firm derbies a season, so that part will have to be changed. Very few people will be interested in watching Rangers in the Third Division beating small teams like Elgin City by a margin in the double figures on a regular basis, so I’d be amazed if it wasn’t renegotiated.
The deal has been confirmed for 12-13 but it has, I believe, an OF “out” clause.
Anyway, if you think SPL is better without Gers, then ok. But I don’t see how it helps Scottish football aside from allowing Motherwell or Dundee to get a few Europa games in the next few years. Scotland’s coefficient has been hurt by the last poor showing. Where do you think it will be in 3 years?
this article has one side of the story, for all those “purists” out there.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2168980/Rangers-crisis-Charles-Greens-air-resignation.html
Thank you for explaining this convoluted story. But why not be optimistic? No press is bad press. Maybe this’ll shake things up in the SPL and the other clubs will start to get more attention as fans have the real hope now that their team will place in the top 2.
Small point. Gretna is in Scotland. They were a Scottish team playing in the English non-leagues before they were admitted to the Scottish league.
this is a Ranger’s centric, but fairly good editorial on the “sporting integrity” of Scottish football. It will enter the top 10 oxymorons of all time. And he doesn’t spend enough time on the mechanations of the SFL/SPL trying to force Gers in to D1 – even to the point of threatening an SPL2 that would have Gers in it if the clubs don’t vote them into D1
http://www.rangersmedia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=818%3Athe-idiocracy-and-sporting-integrity&catid=110%3Aother&Itemid=618
Fiorentina got relegated to Serie C2 in 2001, reformed as a new club and clawed their way back to Serie A. It can be done.
Sure it can be done, the question is at what cost. The funny thing is now the SFA/SFL is going around all chicken little warning of the financial consequences if “The Rangers” is put in the D3 as opposed to the D1. And the sporting integrity there is?
Obviously the Scottish clubs can do what they want under the rules, but I think the SPL clubs will wake up next year and wonder why they didn’t act more like businessmen with a big picture of the sport and less like English School boys playing Lord of the Flies.
Look at this guy advocating for the cheats because Scottish football would die, as if Scottish football wasn’t already dead. Yes, let everyone roll over and take it for Rangers, is essentially what you’re arguing for, any other club in the same position would be told to kindly piss off, but nope. If Scottish football is so miserable to need a bunch of cheating scum to keep on cheating then it’s better of dead, let Celtic try to join the EPL and let it be the end of it.
Have whatever opinion you want, but the “sporting integrity” and “cheats” is so much hypocrisy.
But fear not, the SPL’s “sporting integrity” has been retained. Wait, tho. If “The Rangers” are different from “Rangers” how can the Scottish FA block 5 transfers from guys that have no club? How is that “sporting integrity?” And if the Rangers situation is about “cheating” how is it that the SFA is going to force the clubs in D1 to take them or create an SP2 so Gers can get back up quickly. How is that not “cheating.”
Again, Whyte and Murray caused the financial problems. They are under investigation. If you want to “punish” Rangers, bar them Europe for 2 or 3 or 5 or 10 years, but to pretend like this is about “sporting integrity” is laughable. It is internecine tribal bloodletting. Which is fine, but while it’s off with nose, still gotta live with the face.
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