Jim McLean's Ghost

I don't agree. We are all in limbo right now, those in power must take decisive action. If this is what they have come up with then they should push it forward, if it fails they should all walk away. If Petrie, Doncaster and Longmuir can't get their plan through they don't deserve to be leaders.

I really don't think it would have. There would be no incentive to it, with Rangers out the game staying in the top division would be crucial to maintain dropping finances for clubs servicing debts. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. The SFL aren't sure about a pyramid, this is the SFA agenda as I'm sure the SPL don't really think about division 3. Expansion is tricky 14 needs a worse split than 12, 16 is too few games without a split. No one has put forward a credible plan that solves all the issues. With a single governing body do you think expansion is more or less likely. I personally think it is unlikely in either scenario but more likely with one body. The deal on the table might not cure all of the games woes but you can at least acknowledge it is a step in the right direction.

Yes they can but they won't. Things like a pyramid and trying to organise below SFL3 have been talked about for years with little movement, 1 league body is popular in many quarters but the SPL wold never agree to that without these circumstances. If clubs weren't looking out for themselves a second relegation spot would have been brought in with the expansion to 12 teams. There are a lot of entrenched position that would remain that way. You can look at this either as the leaders as a "parcel of rogues" selling out and undermining the people or you can see it as the "New Deal" where Scottish football has been in a great depression and drastic reforms need to be made to the way the governing bodies interact to make it healthier.

Assuming the BBC report is true... They are going to change the rules with the agreement of the SFL. The SFL get their playoff plus £1m for the trouble and teams in the first get to play Rangers next season which should attract more punters, more hospitality and more commercial revenue. To me it seems a small price to pay to get a forward thinking agenda into Scottish football, even if I don't agree with all the points. Credit to Petrie and Longmuir for getting a good deal for the SFA and the SFL. Once the merger rolls around we should start to see big changes in the game. Too many people have been too focused on the killing Rangers over and over, it will never last. They can get more than 40,000 people to turn up to watch Rangers and if you tell them their new team isn't Rangers most of them won't believe you or won't care. (see Clydebank/Airdrie). If you kick them to division 3 Scottish football gains nothing, if you kick them out completely you still gain nothing apart from some club will be taken over and rebadged. This way things actually happen instead of Scottish football suddenly becoming a lot poorer. Rangers get relegated which is fair. Dundee/Dunfermline situation is unsatisfactory but nothing's perfect and the SPL can still deal with revenue sharing, votes, friendly exceptions and anything else where the OF have been running roughshod over the diddies.

And did he tell them that St Mirren was for sale and he is still accepting offers?

Get your PAC code and fill out a form on the website Three Ofcom and carriers have done a great job in making things simple, the only difficult thing is taking out a new contract on the same network compared to upgrades but I think you can get around that by getting a PAYG sim and doing two transfers.

The French. They have got a word for everything except weekend... and entrepreneur.

The thing between Rawls and McNulty is that McNulty didn't just cross him, he made his life harder. Major Rawls deals with 300 murders a year, he needs clearances, he doesn't need some bullshit investigation. He is as high as he can go in the chain of command and it is made very clear in the first few episodes that up and coming black officers are being promoted up the ladder and if Rawls fucks up he could be on his way out. He is ably assisted by Landsman who finds himself in a similar situation. Omar is good early on but becomes a caricature (moreso than he already is) in later seasons What were you looking for a whole bunch of new cops? McNulty doesn't have a major impact on season 2, in fact he has the worst arc but sets up bunk and Lester for some good scenes. Expanding into the docks and continuing with Avon and Stringer has meant less time for cops to establish as characters, pretty much all the featured cops end up working out of the off site.

because he is on a wage that he won't get close to elsewhere. If they get bumped to the 3rd it might get expensive for Rangers to get rid of players on big contracts. They will all be looking for equivalent money to leave and if they can't get it then rangers pick up the tab. How much do you think Lee Wallace makes at Rangers compared to when he was at Hearts and how much could he get on the open market. It could be a substantial difference. Mediocre players don't do walking away from guaranteed money.

That is fine (if optimistic for match day income) the bigger kick in the balls is when the SPL doesn't generate as much in sponsorship, advertising, tv rights etc. then you can add a couple of 100ks to that and suddenly you have a £0.5m hole in the accounts which is huge for clubs with turnovers around £4m and are already running at new bare bones.

If the disc has any blemishes at all it won't work. Oh and you don't want to install it, you want to Try It without making changes to the computer.

Fair point. If sky need Rangers to make a large long term investment in the SPL is would make sense to find the blood money to pay off the SFL. The Playoff also has commercial advantages for the whole SFL. A share in the TV money generated and a better chance of a big team going down to the first. A more marketable first division too. I don't know how you make it up to specific clubs but I'm sure there are many SFL1 chairmen thinking along the lines of Partick.

I would assume that anything like this would need to be negotiated prior to chucking Rangers out, so July 4 might not be The Day. A quick point is that if the SFL don't let Rangers in won't that lead to a Clydebank/Airdrie scenario?

What if they can get a playoff? The SFL have been screwed over quite a lot by the SPL. They now have a negotiating position. Bumping Rangers into the 3rd might be the just thing to do but longer term benefits might be available. Larger annual settlement being one of those things. The SFL may never have a more powerful position to negotiate from. Remember last season there was a proposal for the SPL to basically take over the SFL. This could be a massive opportunity to change the relationship between the leagues.

I would urge just a little caution. We have heard definitive action from 3 clubs. Motherwell are letting the society vote and two chairmen have officially announced their intentions. Although these two chairmen can be regarded as the mavericks of the SPL. Vlad isn't an insider, he issues crazy statements, briefs against other clubs, his former players and delves into conspiracy. Stephen Thompson while not the only chairman against the 10 team SPL proposal was by far the most vocal which might mean his voice isn't listened to by the other chairmen and I don't think they were too pleased with his constant bleating to the press on the issue. We know there have been meetings of the non OF clubs about the situation. Maybe Vlad and Thompson felt they werent being listened to so have went public. If there was a general concerns on this more official statements should be out shortly. If there is still a wall of silence from many clubs I would start to get anxious about a No vote coming through.

The SFL as a whole get a vote on new entrants I believe.

I didn't realise Motherwell's financial situations were detailed.

I would hope all Motherwell fans keep an open mind until they have read the material the board provides. Fan ownership means a lot more responsibility. We need to put the long term stability of our club first. This along with Hearts announcement and Hibs posturing means we will see other clubs get in line to say No to Newco. The floodgates have been opened.

So you aren't buying a season ticket because Used Car Salesman Thompson might rip you off? Our club delivered what we wanted because the fans have a strong voice, not some silly season ticket boycott. Your undercover nonsense is exactly what you get on OF boards when someone dares to have an opinion. Not the kind of attitude I have encountered until recently on P&B.

Well done to the board. This is what co-operation between the fans and custodians of the club looks like. Probably going to vote No to Newco although I will have a good read through the material provided by the board before coming to a definite conclusion.

I don't think United fans are being cowards. I think they are being irrational. If they all seem content to walk away and happy to martyr their club or at least risk it's future prosperity then fair enough. I wouldn't want to put Motherwell at more risk because of the sins of Rangers. It also lacks a bit of decency. This argument has been framed by those who want Rangers out as having nothing to with money " you can't put a price on Sporting Integrity" so why is withholding money now suddenly relevant? I believe some United fans won't go back but I believe others are holding out to try and strong arm their board. I think the fans arguments would hold more weight and be more convincing if they showed a strong backing for the club. Someone else posted that since season ticket sales are up clubs will find it easier to boot out Rangers. I think that argument has a certain amount of truth. If finances are going to get bad clubs need to know they have a strong core support who will stand by the club through thick and thin. If anything united fans are pushing them towards the money men at Sky/ESPN.

The reason has more twists and turns than the Rangers saga. I'm not sure I would want to share it on here.

Ok. When everyone else votes yes and united go bust what kind of wreath do you want me to lay as I pass Tannadice on my way to Dens.

So we have some knowledge of how season ticket sales are going Celtic -don't know Rangers -don't exist Motherwell -UP Dundee utd -Down Hearts - level St Johnstone -down Killie - up ICT - don't know Aberdeen -level St Mirren -up Hibs - up Ross County -up It would seem this Rangers situation isn't effecting season tickets sales too much. In fact the majority of clubs who have given an answer are up. Has anyone gotten comment from ICT and Celtic?