Only A Game !

DONCASTER: Hi Charlie, err we've got another wee problem GREEN: oh what now Neil. DONCASTER: It looks like a couple of clubs have understood the document GREEN: How is that possible,Burley said they were muppets ? DONCASTER: Well we tried to hide it as best we could but they have sussed there is NO Div3 option. GREEN : so where does that leave us ? DONCASTER : well you're fucked basically because they don't much fancy having you in Div1 GREEN : so give them the option. It's what our fans want and to be quite honest, it's more than we deserve. DONCASTER : but Charlie, the Armageddon story, the Sky tv story, the settlement story ! , GREEN : sorry but who is this. how did you get this number

Is it just me being daft or does that make it 15-3 and job done if it remains that way ?

You have to distinguish between 'boycotts' and simply walking away because youve had enough. A boycott is a protest from people who still care. Walking away is what people who no longer care do. I dont think there will be any concerted boycott by significant numbers of fans of one club, against another club, apart from possibly a section of the Celtic support against Kilmarnock. If Rangers, after all they have been exposed as doing in the last 15 years, get a lifeline because of who they are, a lifeline that no other club has ever had, then lots of fans of clubs across the country will simply walk away. Thats not a boycott, thats a loss of interest and a loss of customer base which, in all likely-hood, would take a generation to recover from, if ever. What the SFL clubs have to consider his week is the same as the the SPL clubs had to consider two weeks ago and its two simple questions. 1. What do we really believe ALL the consequences, benefits and drawbacks are to our club of admitting Newco to the 1st Division. 2. What do we really believe ALL the consequences, benefits and drawbacks are to our club of NOT admitting Newco to the 1st Division. If a club with its own interests at heart believes they can survive without Newco in the 1st Division, they should vote NO if a club with its own interests at heart believes they will go under without Newco in the 1st Division they should vote YES If a club in the SFL seriously thinks they should cast a vote, contrary to their own interests AND contrary to their fans wishes but for the greater good of Scottish football in the eyes of that club, then they have to be prepared and willing to accept whatever backlash comes from their own fans.

Hearts are in no way more vulnerable because of the absence of Rangers. All Hearts debt is to the parent company and as there is no insolvency process that relieves that debt we are not vulnerable to going under. If anything, assuming the SPL settle the Wallace transfer fee direct to us from OLdco's prize money, which the rules state they must, then Hearts could actually emerge from this financially stronger in time. Romanov's raison d'être is to make the club attractive to a buyer in the mid term so he can get it off his hands. If voting against Newco impacted on that in any way he would not have done it IMO.

It will be like the SPL vote. The outcome will be known before they step into that room on Friday and it will be a resounding NO. In fact I am leaning towards Newco specifically asking to go into Div 3 before the vote. Doncaster,Regan and longmuir have cut themselves adrift here. Even Newco are embarrassed by it and that takes some doing. Don't worry, justice and common sense and integrity will prevail.

They, ( Scottish football's administrators) have called it wrong at almost every twist and turn in this process. They underestimated the depth of feeling and the passion. And what's more they have done it yet again. THERE IS NO WAY ON GODS GOOD EARTH THAT THE SFL CLUBS WILL VOTE NEWCO INTO THE FIRST DIVISION. Take that to the bank.

A question for your Mr Petrie perhaps ? The only SPL club who has commented officially on the SFL document was Motherwell and they were quite clear that they hadn't seen it and didn't contribute to it

If the SPL clubs, or some of them, have been covertly complicit with Doncaster in this latest attempt to save the cheats, then Doncaster IMO is absolutely safe. The SPL clubs who supported this latest farce, and I think there must be a significant group who secretly undermined the whole process here, will be to blame for this clown keeping his job because they can't sack him and he is too brass necked to walk. Should go but will survive IMO. Longmuir has about turned on a clear statement he made on or about 28th June.(see my sig) He is now bullying his own members on behalf of Newco and the SPL. If he loses that vote, I'd be astonished if he remained in post. Regan. Played a blinder right up until Rangers went the court of session. I'd be very interested to know how he was turned from throwing the book at them to burying the whole disciplinary process and supporting them for DIV 1. He's been got at IMO and either way he has presided over the farce this has become and not only that, has made it ten times worse. Position untenable no matter what happens on Friday.

Didnt HMRC say that the side benefit of them voting against the CVA was that the Newco can start afresh, free from the liabilities and debt of the OldCo. Unless that view has changed or was misinterpreted or BDO have a cunning plan to pull the rug from under Newco's feet and effectively blow them out of he water by tearing up the transfer of assets, then it would appear that it isnt relevant. Funnily enough its dropped right off the radar of the SPL and the SFA as well, as has dual contracts, non payment of PAYE etc etc.

Its not so much their specific nationality, its the fact that almost everyone from anywhere outwith these borders has an inbuilt pre-conception that Scottish Football is the OF with a load of other dross who's only purpose is to be served as lambs to the slaughter Harlem Globetrotters style. I doubt if Regan or Doncaster had even seen a Scottish Football match before their appointments and I would be astonished if they did see one that it involved two non OF clubs. When you come into a job with that mindset, and lets not forget its been perpetuated and kept intact for years by the OF themselves (and why wouldnt they) you cant possibly benefit the game and get to the core of the job you were employed for. I think theres an opportunity here to get rid of that mindset to a certain extent, and even if we dont, I think the days where the OF clubs dominate the administration of Scottish football to their own ends is on the verge of being beaten. Stopping them dominate on the park of course is a job thats only half done and might take a bit longer but at least there looks like there is about to be a little levelling of the playing field. They are also shite at their jobs but there is more to it than that.

In addition to that, Doncaster surely didnt expect that Scottish Football, and by that I mean the club chairman AND the fans, would stand up to them. I am very confident that the fan pressure which led to Newco's rejection from the SPL ( and I agree that there would have been a majority vote in favour had there been an absence of fan pressure) will be replicated by the fans of the SFL clubs, even though it seems that a substantial proportion of the SFL chairman are already on board with rejection of the SFL1 proposal. Unless HMRC find a route to resurrect it, the EBT scam is dead and buried IMO and it seems quite clear that they are going after Whyte and Murray rather than the entity which is and was RFC. The worst/best that is going to happen there is that Newco RFC will have 20 years of titles and trophies scrubbed from the record books as part of a token 'cleansing' process. Its quite refreshing that Scottish football culture has moved so quickly to a state where turning a blind eye isnt an option anymore. Doncaster, Regan and, to a lesser extent, Longmuir, arent quite up to speed on that yet, but I'd imagine they will be after next Friday.