Wipe â??em out

[ian1964 10,454]

FURIOUS SPL chairmen want to strip Rangers of SEVEN league titles â?? if the crisis-hit club are found guilty of making dodgy payments to players.

A number of bosses also want to take back any cup silverware from the Light Blues if their controversial use of Employee Benefit Trusts is judged to be illegal.

 

The Ibrox outfit â?? now in liquidation â?? is accused of abusing the scheme to avoid £47million in tax between 2001 and 2010.

 

And in a highly-charged five-hour meeting club bigwigs from Scotlandâ??s top flight met at Hampden yesterday to hammer out a list of sanctions, with the possible removal of silverware top of the list.

 

It was also revealed a decision on whether a newco Rangers will be allowed to re-enter the SPL will now be taken on July 4.

 

And IF they are allowed to enter the top division an independent commission will decide if itâ??s the old club or the new club that has a case to answer over EBTs.

 

A league insider said: â??There was plenty on the agenda regarding Rangers at the meeting.

 

â??The EBTs were high up, as was the prospect of letting a newco back in the league.

 

â??Itâ??s not the view of everyone, but one punishment that was definitely talked about was stripping Rangers of their titles.

 

â??To be honest, Iâ??m not sure what good it would do going forward.

 

â??But there is definitely a mood to see the old Rangers have some of their titles taken off them.â?

 

Last night Rangers Supporters Association General Secretary John MacMillan warned fans would be enraged if any of their trophies were taken back.

 

He said: â??It appears the SPL have evidence Rangers have been caught doing the wrong things â?? thatâ??s what it suggests.

 

â??Weâ??ll have to wait and see what that evidence is of course. It looks a very serious situation â??I think the fans would be angry if any trophies were taken away.

 

â??If itâ??s true it would appear to have been done willingly and the previous regime need to hold their hands up to that.

 

â??Should it not be Sir David Murray they are pulling up? If anything happened it was in his time.â?

 

Andy Kerr, of the Rangers Supportersâ?? Assembly added: â??I would be disappointed if this led to the loss of titles.

 

â??We declared these payments in the annual accounts every year.

 

â??That would not just be turning the clock back it would be turning the screw as well.

 

â??If it is established that there were two contracts then obviously there is an issue there. I would hope that everyone would be put under the same spotlight.â?

 

The move comes after SPL chiefs hired top law firm Harper McLeod to carry out a probe into Rangers' financial affairs when bosses from HM Revenue and Customs took them to court.

 

Last night they said Rangers had a â??prima facieâ?? case to answer over the EBTs paid to top stars.

 

A spokeswoman said: â??The SPL board heard a report from its solicitors following the investigation into payments to, or for the benefit of, players allegedly made by Rangers FC outside of contract.

 

â??The delay in concluding the investigation was caused by an initial lack of co-operation from Rangers FC.

 

â??The investigation has now been completed and, in the view of the SPL, there is a prima facie case to answer in respect of its rules.

 

â??Disciplinary charges will be brought when the future status of Rangers FC is clarified and prior to the start of season 2012/13.â?

 

Under strict rules clubs must tell the SPL of every payment made to players.

 

The highest cash payment was £6.3million to ex-owner Sir David Murray, while 63 players and 24 staff are said to have had payouts.

 

Acccording to figures obtained by BBC Scotland Barry Ferguson got £2.49million, while former boss Alex McLeish got £1.7million and goalkeeper Stefan Klos £2million. Spanish striker Nacho Novo and Dutch ace Ronald De Boer also netted £1.2million each.

 

Ex-boss Graeme Souness received £30,000 from the trust in 2001 â?? 10 years after leaving the club.

 

Lawyers Harper Macleod looked into dealings dating back to the leagueâ??s formation in 1998. Rangers have won seven titles since then.

 

Last night SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster revealed there is NO limit to the sanctions which could be handed out if the EBTs are found to be illegal.

 

But he admitted the league still didnâ??t know who would be punished â?? the old club or new club. He said: â??Itâ??s only charges at this point, nothingâ??s been proven yet.

 

â??The board will have to make a decision on who to prosecute. There are two companies at the moment. The board has already said the proceedings will be taken by an independent commission.

 

â??That will take place when the future status of Rangers has been determined. The sanctions are unlimited. Itâ??s whatever is deemed appropriate if guilt is established.â?

 

Rangers newco club will find out on July 4 if it will be admitted to the Scottish Premier League.

 

All 12 clubs must vote â?? including Rangers â?? with new owner Charles Green needing the backing of eight.

 

If five or more say no, a First Division side would replace Rangers, whoâ??d likely apply for the vacancy created in Division Three after other clubs have moved up a division.

 

Meanwhile next seasonâ??s fixtures were released yesterday with Rangers replaced with â??Club 12â??.

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scot...#ixzz1yCLRJUIa

[North Rd 0]

How could Murray be soooo bloody stupid??

[the gunslinger 3,366]

we did not avoid 47 million in tax.

 

more like 20 million.

[biggordy 0]

Pathetic!

At the end of the day it was only 11 vs 11 and the diddies weren't good enough.

[Juancornetto 1]

I've noticed that only certain outlets have altered how they address Rangers now...BBC are firmly behind the "New Rangers" or "Newco Rangers" and The Sun are now favouring "Rangers Newco Club". They couldn't wait to start muddying the waters of how we should be referred to...it's almost as if they've been reading Celtic Minded or Kerrydale Street.....

 

To say "Rangers Newco Club" is as big an oxymoron as you'll see...a "Newco" is short for New Company not for New Club. How desperate are these muppets? It's pathetic.

[der Berliner 3,288]

If EBTs were by default illegal or essentially a double contract, or the selling of image rights, or that movie business quite a few of the Scum players and their manager utilize, why is it that we are the only club facing sporting punishments? Even IF they all paid their taxes and whatnot, the fact remains that they may have had a double contract for playing football. Much the same goes for the EPL teams, btw. Will this be another Lafferty's Law? Hit us and forget the rest?

 

We need a good QC and we need a decent PR chap to go after false accusations and sue wrong press folk. Oh, and as I sadi before, we should mark the reporters of such articles and never let them into Ibrox without pay.

[26th of foot 5,859]

Any story penned by former Sellik 'zine Editor, Robert McAuley is an exercise in spitting venom. This last decade, since achieving an HND in journalism from Coatbridge College; Rancid Rob has specialised in a constant stream of Rangers in a bad light stories. Paul Hughes is no different.

 

There should be a special award for the journo that hates Rangers the most, it would be some competition.

[simplythebest 0]

I wish all kinds of pain and suffering on David Murray.

[der Berliner 3,288]

David Edgar (the one of the RST) just posted a decent article about Sporting Integrity over on FF

 

Sporting Integrity?

 

This was a phrase first trotted out a few years ago by Peter Lawell when it was suggested the League campaign might be extended a week to help Rangers in their quest to win the UEFA Cup. Lawell suggested that the integrity of the competition would be damaged by any changes to the League structure taking place during the season. What he meant was that it damaged Celtic’s chances of winning the title. And you know what? I’d have had no problem if he’d just actually said that. He’s Celtic’s Chief exec, it’s his job to look out for their best interests.

 

What pissed on his point, somewhat, was that he claimed Celtic had already agreed to a tour of Japan immediately after the season ended. If he’d been so insistent about ‘integrity’, then surely he wouldn’t have needed another excuse to avoid an extension? ‘But David’, you are no doubt thinking, ‘he couldn’t help that they had a tour booked then.’ Possibly not. But at the time of writing, four years later, they haven’t actually gone on this tour. I admit that I am suspicious about that. I can’t prove it, but I strongly suspect that just maybe he was at it.

 

This season, it has become the buzz phrase for SPL Chairman and fans, short hand for them to demand stringent punishment for Rangers. Like Lawell’s use of the word, it is complete bollocks and, ironically, intensely hypocritical.

 

Integrity, you see, can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy. As a value, it regards internal consistency as a virtue. So how does that apply to Rangers? If we have broken rules, we should be punished. I believe that, as we currently sit, the following measures have been handed down to us:

 

10 point deduction

£160,000 fine

Ban on signing new players for a year

Denied entry to European Competition for at least 3 years

 

 

So why are we talking about the need for further punishment? ‘Sporting integrity’. The phrase is thrown out to ward off any questions. Youse were bad. Youse need punished. But, of course, we have been already.

 

What they mean by ‘sporting integrity’ is a tad more unwieldy. What they actually mean is ‘look, we hate you. We really hate you and we have a chance to get right in about you that we might never have again. This isn’t about punishment, it’s about decades of impotence, of wee-man-syndrome rage, boiling over. It’s our chance to pretend that we are important, that we somehow matter. That’s what this is.’

 

If they believe in ‘sporting integrity’, then their choice is clear; Rangers must be made to play in the third division. If they don’t want to do that because they are worried about money, then don’t try to dress that up by saying it’s due to ‘integrity’. There’s no integrity there when all you care about is your own bank balance. That, my friends, is the opposite of integrity. That’s blatant hypocrisy.

 

If you can’t live with us, throw us out. If you can’t live without us, don’t. But there is no third way. There is no ‘keep their cash while still getting right in about them’ option available here. The clubs must stop using weasel words – which anyone with an IQ bigger than a sandwich or a Billy (Turncoat Rat) Dodds can see through anyway – to hide their own grasping, craven behaviour. If your fans want us punished at all costs, then punish us AT ALL COSTS. Meaning you lose £1.5m a year. Them’s the breaks. We haven’t much enjoyed the fall-out from this either.

 

As Paul Weller once said, you made your bed, you better lie in it.

 

No matter what happens, let’s just hear people refer to the spade by its name. No more piss and bluster. Because we know what you are up to.

[andy steel 0]

Dude be right.