Leggat - SFA Rangers' Probe Mans' Celtic Connections

[ian1964 10,875]

STEWART REGANâ??S Scottish Football Associationâ??s so-called Independent Panel to look into the Craig Whyte-Rangers fiasco has links to Celtic.

 

 

In fact one member of the Regan appointed SFA Panel has a link right to the very heart of the Parkhead boardroom.

 

 

Bob Downes is the man with the Celtic connection!

 

 

Downes is described by the SFA as being a former director of BT Scotland who is now chairman of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.

 

 

But I can reveal that when Downes was director of BT Scotland he shared the boardroom with Ian Livingstonâ?¦.

 

 

And that this is the same 47-year-old Kelvinside Academy educated Livingston who declares his main passion is Celtic and whoâ?¦

 

 

â?¦IS A CELTIC plc DIRECTOR.

 

 

Itâ??s another astonishing blunder by SFA chief executive, Regan, who of course sits on the SFA professional board with fellow SFA director Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, who also sits on the Celtic plc board alongside Downesâ?? former fellow BT Scotland director, Livingston.

 

 

Which raises the question as to just who it was inside the SFA who recommended Bob Downes to Regan?

 

 

Regan has only been at the SFA for 18 months and still spends much of his time in his north of England family home, as his Twitter account clearly shows.

 

 

So, just how has he managed to become acquainted with all the movers and shakers of Scottish business life in such a short time?

 

 

My view is that it is impossible for him to know all the highways and byways. Regan must therefore be leaning heavily on advice from those who are at the heart of the Scottish business community and who have his ear.

 

 

There are a number of people who fall into this category, but few are as close to Regan as Celtic chief executive, Lawwell, who shares the SFA boardroom with Regan and the Celtic boardroom with Livingston, who in turn sat around the same BT Scotland boardroom table as Bob Downes, appointed by Regan to sit on the Independent Panel which is probing Rangers.

 

 

Let me make this clear. There is no suggestion of any impropriety on Regan's part. Like his other pal, Henry McLeish, Regan is involved in a muddle, not a fiddle.

 

 

But for the benefit of all concerned, particularly Regan, but not forgetting Mâ??Lord Nimmo Smith who could see his position compromised, Bob Downes should stand downâ?¦..

 

 

NOW!

 

 

.........AND

 

 

STRUGGLING Scottish Premier League clubs could have their Sky Television millions slashed if Rangers are still in administration NEXT season.

 

 

Thatâ??s the bombshell news for hard up outfits such as Rod Petrieâ??s Hibernian, Steven Thomsonâ??s Dundee United and Stewart Milneâ??s Aberdeen where managing director, Duncan Fraser is the hands-on day-to-day man who runs the Dons.

 

 

Sky signed a new deal with the SPL last autumn which is worth £80M over five seasons. That is £16M a season, a £3M a season increase on the old deal.

 

 

But the contract is detailed and involved and there are plenty of clauses, sub-clauses and paragraphs of fine print to safeguard the Sky involvement and interests.

 

 

And SPL bosses may well find that the devil is in the detail.

 

 

For my information from London is that Sky have a team of lawyers going through each of those clauses, sub clauses and paragraphs to find just where they will stand if next seasonâ??s SPL title race is OVER before it even BEGINS.

 

 

Conman Craig Whyte continues to insist he will not walk away from Rangers without a massive pay-off, effectively holding Rangers to ransom and increasing the fear that Rangers will NOT be able to escape from administration before the start of next season, meaning there would be another SPL TEN point PENALTY heading for Ibrox.

 

 

That is what I have been told has set off alarm bells inside Sky. However, I have also been told, there is no chance of Sky pulling the plug completely on SPL coverage.

 

 

But the headline figure of £16M a season in the new contract between Sky and the SPL, which is divided between the 12 SPL teams, could be reduced by anything up to HALF!

 

 

That would see strugglers such as Kilmarnock, Hearts and St Mirren put under severe pressure.

 

 

Celtic would be hit too, but their bigger budget would not feel the same strain as those other clubs. It is believed Celtic have been trying to form an anti Rangers cabal, thought to include, Hibs, Dundee United and Aberdeen.

 

 

The so called Celtic cabalâ??s strategy is believed to be to try and bulldoze the rest of the SPL clubs into forcing a long term punishment plan on the Ibrox club, to ensure Rangers are hit with MORE than the statuary ten point penalty they have incurred this season.

 

 

But with Skyâ??s lawyers at work and the threat of a huge cut to the clubsâ?? lifeline television cash, Hibs, Dundee United and Aberdeen may pause for thought, while other clubs, such as Kilmarnock, Hearts and Kilmarnock, will want the SPL to provide a united front in helping Rangers to escape their problems.

 

 

Money talks! And this time it may be telling Peter Lawwell to back off, or it is Celtic who could end up isolated and reviled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

��.

PLUS��

 

 

 

THE Scottish press pack were amazed yesterday morning when nobody from the once mighty Herald checked in to board Scotlandâ??s flight to Solvenia.

 

 

Just as the Scottish Football Association were bewildered when no booking was made by the ailing Herald Group. At first they thought it was an oversight and contacted the sports desk, only to be toldâ?¦.

 

 

WEâ??RE SKINT!

 

 

But not so skint as not to be able to afford to cough up £500 to pay Odious Creep for his pisspoor column in last Sundayâ??s Sunday Heraldâ?¦circulation 29,000 andâ?¦.

 

 

FALLING!

 

 

Co-incidentally £500 was the cost of the Press package to send a reporter with Scotland for this vital Word Cup Finals qualifying campaign warm up match.

So just whose decision inside the Herald Group was it to employ Odious Creep? I have my suspicions, questions are being asked and I can promise him thisâ?¦

 

 

You WILL be named.

 

 

HERE!

 

 

The Herald and Sunday Herald share a budget, along with the third member of the group, the Evening Times and it isnâ??t all that long ago that the readers of any or all of those titles could read exclusive stories in each title, as a reporter from each title travelled with Scotland.

 

 

Now the Herald, which regards itself as a NATIONAL newspaper , cannot afford to send even one hack to report on the fortunes of the NATIONAL team.

 

 

But one barmy boss â?? maybe a pal and colleague of Creepâ??s - can still find £500 to lavish on Odious Creep, a man whose presence in the Herald up to 2006, caused untold damage to the paperâ??s reputation, advertising revenue and ability to even invite advertisers to enjoy corporate hospitality as the paperâ??s guests at Ibrox.

 

 

Plus, of course, the desperate damage Odious Creep caused to the Heraldâ??s circulation.

 

 

Now the same is about to happen to the Sunday Herald, whose pages self confessed paedophile sympathiser, Odious Creep now pollutes.

 

 

If that happens , pretty soon the Herald Group wonâ??t even be able to afford to send anyone to cover a Scotland match at Hampden.

[Zappa 0]

I think David Leggat is stretching his imagination a bit too far again here. So Bob Downes served on the board at BT and there was a guy with strong Celtic links on the BT board too? And?

 

I agree with Leggat that Regan is probably being advised by certain people who we'd rather he wasn't listening too, but this Bob Downes thing isn't really much of a story unless it can be proven that he has leanings towards Celtic because obviously there should be nobody on the panel with Celtic leanings or direct connections.

[GovanAllan 0]

I think David Leggat is stretching his imagination a bit too far again here. So Bob Downes served on the board at BT and there was a guy with strong Celtic links on the BT board too? And?

 

I agree with Leggat that Regan is probably being advised by certain people who we'd rather he wasn't listening too, but this Bob Downes thing isn't really much of a story unless it can be proven that he has leanings towards Celtic because obviously there should be nobody on the panel with Celtic leanings or direct connections.

 

Agree Zappa why not just go straight for the jugular and tell it like it is Liewell runs the SFA with Riley, Regan is just his puppet.

[Guest Dutchy]

I think he's a journo, and like all journos, they go OTT.

 

For instance, Hibs are not in dire straits, they're just not playing well. They're not playeing well because they've sold all thier best players over the years, a lot of that money coming from Ibrox, and have a brand new shiny stadium and training complex, with manageable debt.

 

Oh yeah, and no Craig Whyte asset stripper in place.