Red Ken

Just a random thought struck me. More great media managment by Mr Green today - I truly take my hat off to him. Instead of the HMRC appeal getting the majority of the headlines, with the speculation and uncertainty that it brings - all of which can have an impact on his imminent share issue - supporting the boycott (or potentially not, he's manage to release a statement that links, but doesn't call for it).. The result - deflection away, and mass debate on any sort of boycott - and more limited speculation on the HMRC appeal, grounds, timescale, consequences etc. It's got plenty people screaming that he's saying dumb things, but is it smarter than the average bear, or just a boo boo?

has anyone asked Ally if he was paid by EBT yet? Or are we still on don't ask don't tell?

BTW, Shurely this year's Darwin Award is a shoe in?

What are the chances that Regan tells Clyde he sent all the extensive info on Sevco through today, only it must have got caught in the O2 thing. But just trust him, they'll be fine.

So we can expect the SFL to introduce this one too -although it's unlikely that there will be 12:45 live matches from Elgin. But if I was in Div three I'd demand it - they can all stay at the Marr Hall Hotel and TRFC can be spread amongst Peterheid's finest B&Bs...

So who's going to stay and who's going to go? Stay - McCulloch Broadfoot (who else would take him?) - Healey, Neil Alexander (both paid plenty for doing hee haw), Aluko (on to a good thing, saw last summer, there wasn't exactly a queue of clubs waiting for him) Go - Naismith, McGregor, Davis, Edu (all looking to improve their careers), Ortiz, likely Goian (why should they stay, unless their contracts are huge), Whittaker could get a L1/lower Ch gig Questions -Papac, Bocanegra (all getting on a bit, but could get a more reliable paycheck elsewhere), - much will depend on what Green tells his players about whether they'll be forced to renegotiate their contracts if they TUPE it. I have a feeling that he's keeping this one in the bag though.

But this also links back to the wider carry-over debate. Are fines for managers paid by them and reimbursed by the club, or simply paid for by the club. But as Rangers can't pay the fine, does this just get written off as another outsanding debt? Could it follow him across to newco? Or would he actually have to pay it from his own pocket?

Honestly, I think that they'll bring enough of an away crowd to sell out nearly all the Div 3 stadiums - where 4-6) would do it. Playing at Peterhead etc may see less of the Govan loyal bother, but it's likely to see their 'local' fanbase turn out more (although it would still be better if folk just supported their local clubs now wouldn't it). Despite all the guff about the SPL being unable to survive (of course it will), sending Rangers to Div three both shows sporting integrity and would actually be a benefit for most of the other teams for a few seasons. but wages will have to come down dramatically - at no point have Green (or even Saint Wattie of EBT*) proven that they'll invest on the scale required to continue to pay these wages. In fact there's a question - have any of the accountants there done the sums on the basis of last year's wages and commitments - but this time including tax - against Home Gates and season ticket sales? How much of a TV deal do Rangers need to maintain anything near their current contractual commitments. Green and co have paid their £5.5m loan, so there will be interest against that and repayments - what level of attendance is needed for them to break even in a best case scenario, and how many of the top players will need to leave just to break even - regardless of the division they play in. I'd guess Rangers need the tv money as much - if not more - than anyone else. How long would it be before Green has to ask those players who do choose to transfer across to take a pay cut, especially if in division three- and probably another reason for the Daily Record and all to press their apolcalyptic agenda. Any number crunchers out there looking at the maths? * allegedly

Which comes back to the role and knowledge Mr Smith had about the club's use of EBTs - particularly in relation to the dual contracts/financial doping side. "I'm just a football man" doesn't wash here. And why the allegation that Smith received payment by EBT when he was not employed by Rangers is even more interesting. Bring back the lost RTC blog...

Would Walter pass the fit and proper test? The recent rule change made it the sole responsibility of the clubs to ensure that any prospective owners pass the fit and proper test. So would dear old uncle Walter, 'the one man you can trust' actually pass this? Did he receive payment by EBT? (when? Just during his tenure at the club?) Did he sign players and offer them EBTs? We need to get the final ruling as to whether EBTs were illegal sooner rather than later. If the law decides they are officially illegal, and therefore cheating, the answers to the above questions (and others) must surely have a significant impact on the fit and proper test. All of which, makes the SPL's decision to postpone their investigation even more surprising. If Walter Smith was an integral part of the culture of EBTs and cheating at Rangers throughout his time, he himself is a cheat - and lacking the basest particles of sporting integrity. How could such a person be 'fit and proper'? I would like the SFA/SPL to clarify this too.

With all this crap about how the rest of the SPL needs the cash from games against Rangers to survive, why don't we get our teams to organise a pre-season tournament? Something to give each team a minimum of one home game each - we could call it the Integrity cup or (or the cockwomble trophy). It would get a good enough attendence to make up for the 'loss' from having to play say Dundee instead of Rangers over the season (one decent sized additional game really). That way, the impact would be minimal and we could have a quick tournament - played over the course of a week or something pre-season that shows both the fans commitment to upholding values of integrity and put chic and all his doom mongering mates down. say 16 teams enter for a home and away game, and at the end, the four teams with the highest goals scored go through for semis and a final - or anything else - frankly the format doesn't matter, but if we all committed to attend an extra pres-season game or two it would surely give some element of resolve to the wavering chairmen and accountants out there?