*I am by no means claiming these to be true nor do I claim to be their author. These are largely crazy but could be the source of some "spirited" debate. If you have any of your own theories I'd love to hear them. 1. NO VOTE - Six clubs (Aberdeen, Dundee, Hearts, Hibs, Inverness, and St Johnstone) have pledged to vote no to allowing newco Rangers into the SPL for this season. This will be a closed vote so why declare your intentions ahead of time? To appease your angry fanbase of course. They want blood and the owners want to appease their hunger. So they all say they'll vote no, but come July 4th they are free to listen to their accountants and vote yes. Then they can all blame it was someone else who caved while they stood on their principles. Unless of course everyone voted yes and blew their cover. 2. SOUTHERN COMFORT - Charles Green says he wants to make Rangers a financially profitable organization. The best way to do this? Play in England. Recent rumors about trying to buy Bury to gain entrance into the English system have been denied by both sides but is there something there? Perhaps Green's intentions have always been to move to the EPL. He has continued to attempt to regain entry into the SPL all along knowing it would fail only so he could claim he has acted in good faith. And what of Green's unnamed investors? Could one of these already hold a controlling interest in an English club? So what do you think? Any crazy ideas of your own?
Rangers fall back on this kind of rhetorics all the time in order to make it sound they are treated unjustly by an unreasonable angry mob. You are not though. The fans of the other teams just don't want the ridiculous preferential treatment of a transfer straight into the SPL of what legally is a new entity. If it was any other club but you or Celtic the idea of a vote would not even occur. My crazy conspiracy theory is that you engage in this kind of rhetorics in order to make yourself believe that it is unreasonable to not get access straight into the SPL. Just accept your club ********ed up and now has to face the consequences of its own mistakes. There's no one else to blame.
I fully accept that former owners of our club royaly screwed up and in at least one case should be help criminaly responsible for it. I would not say we're being treated unjustly, but rather unreasonably. Fans are willing to cut off their nose to spite their face. This is true of Rangers fans just as it is of other fans. Many would be wiling hurt our own team out of spite towards our "enemies". This seems to be reflected by the views of many opposition supporters who would be willing to see their clubs lose over a million pounds in order to make sure Rangers are "taught a lesson". But perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that this was part of a CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORY! It was intended to fill in the nonsensical logic behind a crazy theory .
The other option is to grant one team preferential treatment because of their following and thereby officially acknowledge that the SPL is not in existence to facilitate a sporting competition (like a sporting league should do) but to look after the interests of these two teams. It is bad that the SPL teams lose money, but that is Rangers' fault who cheated despite already having a huge financial advantage over almost the whole of the league. If Rangers were aware of their financial importance to the league (which they were for sure), they consciously have put the whole of the league in danger by cheating and thereby risking liquidation. With great (financial) power comes great responsibility. To me it is ridiculous that it is even considered to let Newco back in right away. I fiercely oppose a Newco in the SPL, not because I want Rangers to be taught a lesson (I'd feel the same if it were any other team), but because I believe that in the long run Scottish football would be damaged even more if the bias towards just 2 of the 12 teams is perpetuated by making sure that liquidation for Rangers is not the same as liquidation for Gretna. If the rules of a league do not apply equally to all teams, the philosophy behind the league is not one of parity where in theory every contender is considered equal. Of course in practice Scottish football is far from an equal playing field, yet if even the principle behind the league set-up is sacrificed for the benefit of the Old Firm there's definitely no hope left for the Scottish game. That is more important than preventing the SPL clubs to lose money because of Rangers' demise. If the Old Firm eventually leave for England the SPL clubs have to make cuts anyway.
I don't think you understand other teams fans views on this at all. Yes, it's funny to see such a horrible and arrogant club fall flat on it's arse and everyone's having a great time kicking them when they're down but it goes beyond that. The SPL has become an absolute joke, in terms of competition. Two teams tossing a coin each year to see who wins the league and 10 just milling around below them. Who wants that? Letting Rangers break the rules and come back in Scot-free would be ludicrous. It can't be allowed to happen. And if clubs lose some money from it, so be it. They'll just have to spend less. Not difficult to get your head around. I'd take a top league with less money that's more competitive. For that, the OF have to be gone, dead or severely damaged. One down, one to go.
One horse race, two horse race, who cares. It couldn't actually get any less boring than it has been for the past few years. Non-OF fans don't tend to differentiate a great deal between Rangers and Celtic, one winning the league is the same as the other winning it.
You claim that I don't get what fans want but then say everything I said. But I completely agree that the SPL needs to be more competitive. But the answer is not the destruction of the OF but rather instituting rules across the league to ensure more competitive play.
No, I'm not. You're saying fans of other clubs would be willing to "cut of their noses to spite their face" just to 'get at' Rangers. I think fans of most clubs don't see how Rangers disappearing constitutes cutting off anyone's nose apart from Rangers. They might lose out on some cash but so what? You pay less for/to players and you get over it. Getting Rangers (and/or Celtic) out the league would bring far more benefits to the average non-OF fan than disadvantages. That's what you don't get. Non-OF fans aren't sitting here thinking "Oh, I'd rather Rangers were in the league but I'd like to see them squirm." Most non-OF fans would love to see the OF disappear off the face of the Earth, without a trace. And their fans massively inflated sense of their clubs worth is one of the reasons why that's the case. Make no mistake, if the decision was made by the fans, Rangers would be getting punted to the juniors, never to return.
This is EXACTLY what I'm saying. You don't care the financial repercussions you just want to see Rangers (and Celtic) dead. You'll let your team and the league suffer because of your hatred of the OF. And you should make no mistake, the SPL would fall to the level of the Swedes of Czechs without the OF. Say goodbye to the TV money, say goodbye to sponsorship deals, say goodbye to away supporters filling your stands. If you're ok with that then fine, but know the price you would pay for killing the OF.
Don't you think the Swedish and Czech league are already on top of the SPL? Personally I don't want Celtic and Rangers to be lost for Scottish football but I would deem it a good development if they both would shrink in size a bit. Not that it is very realistic, but Scotland probably has the most uneven spread of fans over the national club teams of all European countries. In every single city Celtic and Rangers are the most popular football teams. These two huge institutions seem to parasite on the hinterlands of the other Scottish clubs. Therefore you shouldn't consider it very strange that they are not exactly liked by fans of other clubs.
Christ, it's like banging your head off a brick wall. I don't support an SPL team, I support East Fife. The point I'm making is that I don't think Scottish football will suffer by one or both of the OF going to the wall, I think it will be much better, even if TV money does drop. Do you know what you're talking about? The Swedish league is one of the most competitive leagues in Europe. On that level, it kills the SPL. On financial terms, it's almost certainly worse off but money should be a means to an end, not the end. And Rangers were beaten by Malmo were they not so I don't see how you can argue that the Swedish league is much behind in terms of quality. Their national team doesn't suffer by having a lower ranked national league. So tell me why the SPL becoming more like the Swedish or Czech league is a bad thing?
Aside from the OF yes I'd agree they're on equal terms at best. Even as a Rangers supporter I ABSOLUTELY agree with you. I get that other fans dislike the OF clubs. I don't get wanting to utterly destroy the OF teams. Even the clubs I hate the most I don't want to cease to exist, I'd rather my team just get better.
Ok, who you support is completely irrelevant as you said: So you're not a SPL fan, fine but my point that non-OF fans (no matter what league) are as you yourself put it: High school girls leagues can beat the SPL on levels of competitiveness, tell me something that matters. And if there is not enough money you won't reach that end. And Crystal Palace beat Manchester United. Good teams have bad games, bad teams have good games anyone could win or lose on any given day. One defeat does not a point make.
That's just a stupid point. The Swedish league is not miles behind the SPL in terms of quality, if at all. But is much, much more competitive. To me, that makes it a better league. Doesn't that completely depend on what the 'end' is? I don't care about UEFA coefficients for the SPL. Whilst it is nice to see Scottish teams doing well in Europe, I don't care so much about that either. The things I care about are seeing a decent top league in this country after two decades of boring shit and seeing Scotland produce better football players. Neither of these things are helped by the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen receiving a couple of hundred thousand extra a year and spending it all trying to compete with clubs in a different financial stratosphere. OK, that doesn't mean much in itself but the OF but been ********1ng rank in Europe for the past few seasons and the idea that they're still somehow much better than the best Swedish or Czech teams is laughable to everyone who isn't an OF fan.
bollix.. if you are to go by social media those respective teams along with there chairmen know what a yes vote would mean it would translate to their stadiums being filled with Govan United/Sevco City fans twice a season and alienating their season ticket holders...its not blood its what's is fair...Rangers don't hold the cards the SPL clubs do...Sky is in (throw that card out)...other clubs need the money Aberdeen, Motherwell, ICT ,Hibs Hearts Kille told ya to GTF( throw that card out) not an ounce of contriteness from anyone associated Rangers the narrative from the fans.." there kickin us win were dooon"..." Celtic did it too"...." the wee clubs need us"..."we are the Peepil". Ya want respect?... give your ball back put your bottom lip back in , put your hand up and say' hay we cheated for a decade and a half" ...go to Div 3( you may have even lost that goodwill .remember 1964) drop the stupid rhetoric ...the embarrassing marches... the vial treats. ask the semi-retarded ex-players to shut it..and show some of that dignity you hear Rangers fans talking about.
I wonder where we could have gotten that idea..... While I certainly don't agree with everything being said by Rangers supporters, and I think I've said that pretty clearly, we're not the only ones guilty of stupid rhetoric.... I actually don't totally disagree with you on this one.
Meanwhile, this represents the elements of European soccer I hate: http://leggoland2.blogspot.co.uk/ "Unless you sell the club for the price we want to the man we like, we'll burn your house down."
If Sevco is to be admitted to the professional game in Scotland then it must first apply to join the Scottish FA to become a member. It must then apply to enter the third division, the bottom tier of Scottish Football. I don't know the validity of this, but I've read several places that it is in fact the other way around. Before being admitted to the SFA they must first be accepted into a league, hence why they have not yet applied with the SFA. Don't know if those facts are right or not but I've seen several papers report it that way.
I agree, I can't stand that kind of BS either. While Green has certainly done nothing to earn my trust, he has not done anything to earn my violent hatred either. But then again I count myself a rational fan who would rather not be grouped with the lunatics who wear the same colors as I. I would imagine this is a sentiment we would all share.