Traynor - Will They Destroy Scottish Football?

[chilledbear 16]

THE shape of things to come will be decided by close of play Wednesday. We should know by then if Scottish football has been big enough to edge back from the brink.

 

For months now there has been a savagery. The game has been ripping itself apart all in the name of fair play. Or was it sporting integrity?

 

Forgive me, the reasons for the crisis that threatens to destroy Scottish football have been lost somewhere in the lust to tear and shred one club. It's as though a century of hatred and probably jealousy have erupted.

 

And the handful of reasoned souls left in the game are fighting a losing battle to cap the flow.

 

The trouble is too many men with influence have been working not for the good of the game but to selfish agendas. They've done bad things in the name of morality.

 

They've abused their privileged positions and if there was any decency left in the sleazy, tacky football world they inhabit they would not be allowed inside Hampden this or any other week.

 

The dishonourable posing as protectors of the game's integrity by making up laws and punishments as they go along.

 

By arguing and pressing for more severe punishments and demanding that Rangers newco be stripped of titles and trophies won in the EBT years by another business entirely, they are inflaming and prolonging an agonisingly painful and damaging period. Anyone who believes that stripping the old Rangers of baubles will help solve this meltdown should be ignored, pushed aside because we are way beyond bragging rights.

 

We, Scottish football, are on the brink of total collapse.

 

Those who are consumed by petty matters and the settling of old, ancient scores have made it harder to find the solution, the compromise agreement that's badly needed.

 

One day the truth about the subterfuge, deception, and downright spitefulness used to prolong this saga might be told but right now those who are trying to save what is left of the game need to be given space.

 

And hopefully the right and sensible decisions will be made when the SFL and SPL meet tomorrow and Wednesday respectively. Everything, the game's fate and Rangers' chances of survival never mind revival, depends on these leagues of gentlemen, if of course they do meet tomorrow.

 

The situation is critical yet it seems we have two clubs threatening to block tomorrow's meeting. Stenhousemuir and Alloa have an objection. God help us.

 

Hopefully the meetings will go ahead and if honesty and common sense prevail we might just begin to emerge from the darkness and see clearly who is working for the game and who is working for themselves.

 

We might also notice that in our rabid rush to condemn and stone Rangers we have stumbled to the very precipice of catastrophe.

 

Another misguided step or irrational utterance and Scottish football will be in total free fall so tomorrow the SFL must do one of two things.

 

Either they decide to let Rangers newco - who already know they don't have the support of enough SPL clubs to get the share that would let them begin again at the top - kick off in the First Division or the way is cleared for them to start in the bottom tier.

 

But research has shown the game will lose £16million if Rangers are dumped in the Third Division and frankly that would be too great a loss to an already impoverished business.

 

Supporters, of course, are entitled to be heard but the question is this: Are fans - forget the ones who can't see beyond their own hatred - willing to see what they believe to be justice done no matter the cost or consequences?

 

What if their justice means Scottish football would be reduced to a truly moribund state that would make recovery impossible?

 

What if their idea of fair play meant our game would be forever locked out of the big boys' playground?

 

Morals and integrity are fine but we must all be sure we can cope with the fall out, which would be considerable.

 

Clubs will cut right back on numbers as we're already seeing with Hibernian who have just paid off Pat Fenlon's deputy Billy Brown.

 

Players and wages will be next, although the first real casualty is more likely to be youth development.

 

Mark my words, clubs are already being squeezed by their banks who have seen Lloyds get out with all of their money back from Rangers. The other lenders also want shot of their football clients and they'll be imposing tougher repayment plans on clubs, who will use these demands as excuses to make swingeing cuts on their budgets.

 

If they are asked to reduce spending by £300,000 a year they'll make it £600,000 and blame it all on Rangers.

 

But even by making savage cuts, a number of clubs will still go bust. This will be the true price of sporting integrity.

 

And when the doors are being padlocked let's have no wailing or tears because too many clubs saw Rangers' insolvency as an opportunity to promote their own agendas.

 

Yet what good has that done any of them, apart from allowing them to invade the moral high ground for a short while. Now, though, as they hobble down having broken their toes through kicking Rangers they are suddenly confronted with reality.

 

They have the power to deny this new club any chance of life but they'll be condemning themselves to a miserable, empty future. Without the millions a healthy Rangers and their fans help generate, Scottish football will decline rapidly. All credibility at home and abroad will be lost.

 

If this is what we wish then fine, deny Rangers an SPL share on Wednesday and SFA membership when the Appellate Tribunal sits again to decide a punishment acceptable in the eyes of the real law. If this is what upholding fair play means then let's go for it.

 

Let's take decisions tomorrow and the next day that will chime with whatever our notions of integrity are and kill the game.

 

After all, we can't put a price on justice, especially in football where justice is something to be kicked around without finesse or direction.

 

Of course justice should be about fairness and handing down punishments that reflect the nature of crimes committed. It should always be about observing the law according to the rules and principles written down. But that's the problem with applying justice in a morally bankrupt game.

 

Nothing seems to be written down. If it is there in black and white no one can understand it.

 

The SFL have called in lawyers to make sense of their own articles ahead of tomorrow's meetings and, of course, the SFA spent a couple of years revamping their own codes, leaning heavily on the finest legal minds. Yet, when a transfer ban on Rangers was imposed it was kicked out in Edinburgh's Court of Session.

 

It's a grotesque farce and one club chairman had to remove himself from the entire business yesterday. He had to plod along a west-coast beach in the wind and rain to try and clear his head.

 

The game is pulling itself apart because some want to settle old scores with Rangers while others strive only to make the most of the problems and strengthen their own positions.

 

Okay, but what's the point in being powerful within a game that will soon have no real significance beyond its own boundaries?

 

But here are a few questions those 'just' men should ask themselves as they file into their meeting rooms on Hampden's sixth floor over the next couple of days:

 

Is losing all credibility, standing in the game, SFA licence, SPL share and being treated with the utmost contempt not punishment enough?

 

No?

 

Then ask yourselves this:

 

Is going out of business, struggling to emerge as a newco without fan support and being banned from playing in Europe for three years and being branded pariahs not punishment enough?

 

If the answer is still no then there is no justice.

 

And there is no hope. The game, and not just Rangers, will be doomed.

[foggy dewhurst 0]

a good article and if you turn the page thers another interesting one from hugh keevins

[pete 2,499]

a good article and if you turn the page thers another interesting one from hugh keevins

 

I can't turn the page. Copy and paste please!

[EDGE 0]

Scottish football is fucked, whatever way you look at it.

 

Ever since the SPL ditched Sky to go with the BBC, the quality of the game up here has gotten worse year on year.

 

The reason for this is that our top clubs can't compete with 2nd/3rd or 4th tier clubs in England, where once we used to wonder why a player would choose Cardiff over an Aberdeen, now Aberdeen can't compete with Darlington and Rangers can't compete with Crystal Palace! Now with the demise of the company behind Rangers, the subsequent punishments dished out and then the migration out of Scotland by many of our top players, further diluting the quality of player that play here, meaning we'll all be poorer for it.

 

And if the Timothy thinks that his top stars will want to play in the most 1 sided league in Europe with no glamour of a Glasgow derby to look forward to, and regular ghapings in the Thursday Jug, then they're even more deluded than initially thought.

 

No, the game's up for Scotland, the whole set-up needs liquidated and we all need to start again.

 

It's broke and needs fixed. How? Fknose

[GovanAllan 0]

SFA should shut the doors and go cap in hand to Englan & UEFA to start a British FA.

[Guest Dutchy]

Another insightful classic from Traynor.

 

It's definately true that we're now in a period of vengenge withinn Scottish football. Some based on religious bigotry, some on simple jealously, but whatever the cause/reason for the hatred, the game will suffer badly, possibly never to recover.

 

I say this while knowingly holding the position that we should just go to the 3rd and start from scratch, just to ensure that some of them go out of business and we can then point the finger ans say, don't mess with the Rangers, or it's support.

 

But in thses times of uncertainty and fighting, it's the opinions amongst the Rangers fans themselves that disappoints me so much. We seem to be arguing so much between ourselves that it makes any attempt at ration debate a near impossibility and in fact, not worth a candle.

 

There is actually more important things in life to talk about in this lying, shitty little corrupt country.

[biggordy 0]

At last some mainstream journo has dared to speak the truth which we already know.

Timmy and the rest already know it too, hence their pathetic turnout at Hampden over the weekend.

 

Traynor nailed it spectacularly imo and I dare anyone to argue with it.

 

It is time for the SFA to take control.

The trouble is they can't, they're simply incapable of applying their own rules.

They've let the SPL Clubs in particular run off at the mouth when they should all have been charged with "disrepute".

For all those Clubs who have "listened to their supporters", what were the numbers?

How many actually contacted their Club to tell (blackmail) them of their disdain (hatred) for Rangers?

 

The SFA have let mob rule take control. Our present SFA has failed in everything it touches.

Vigilante law has stepped in because Regan and his pathetic organisation are way too incompetent.

Regan has been like Midas in reverse, everything he's involved in has turned to shite. How long do we have to put up with him?...At the moment it looks like until Scottish Football withers and dies.

What would happen if there were no police to enforce the laws of the land?

Anarchy!!

And that is what we have now, unless.

 

There is 48 hours to save Scottish football.

All Club chairmen have to get Regan out NOW on a "No Confidence" vote, and then start afresh with someone who knows what they're talking about.

[foggy dewhurst 0]

I can't turn the page. Copy and paste please!

 

sorry old chap not very good with the computer

[Blue Moon 1,121]

We could have been doing with articles like this for the last few months, not at the last minute, although I am grateful for it nonetheless. The treatment of Rangers and their fans by the press and the footballing authorities has been nothing short of a disgrace. The media have been the mouthpiece for the very people he condemns.

 

"One day the truth about the subterfuge, deception, and downright spitefulness used to prolong this saga might

be told but right now those who are trying to save what is left of the game need to be given space."

 

I hope he means what he says that once this is over the truth will come out. I can't wait and I hope there is a lot going on behind the scenes to make sure the truth is told. Heads will roll over this.

 

We must also learn from this that dignified silence does not work in the internet age. We have put up no meaningful defence of ourselves. If James traynor can say it, why has no-one from the club, past or present, been saying these things? We have been badly caught out. Traynor hasn't said anything that hasn't been said daily on this site.

[Guest Dutchy]

Here's the Jugh Keevins article pete.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2012/07/02/rangers-in-crisis-sfl-insider-reveals-20-clubs-could-go-the-wall-if-they-don-t-accept-newco-into-their-ranks-86908-23903342/