Dumping Gers in Div 3 was foolsâ?? goal! - DAVIE PROVAN

[ian1964 10,502]

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scot...ools-goal.html

 

SCOTTISH football history is littered with idiotic decisions but the men who voted Rangers into the Third Division have just won the gold medal for stupidity.

In their stampede for the moral high ground theyâ??ve bankrupted top-flight football in this country. Take a bow gentlemen.

 

Are we to believe a sport that sees players routinely dive, cheat and con referees has discovered integrity? Have the internet revolutionaries become the moral guardians of the game? God help us.

 

Itâ??s difficult to know who to blame most. The cowardly owners of the SPL or that sanctimonious collection of SFL chairmen who sealed Rangersâ?? fate.

 

What is certain is that the clubâ??s demotion will cripple our biggest teams for years.

 

One lower-league chairman wanted the resignations of Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster for attempting to parachute Gers into the First Division.

 

That pair were guilty all right. Guilty of having the brains to recognise the financial carnage weâ??re about to witness.

 

Their plan to put Rangers in Division One might have preserved broadcasting contracts, kept sponsors onside and slaked the thirst of those demanding blood from Ibrox.

 

Instead, weâ??ll have a one-horse title race for at least three years, crowds will plummet and sponsors will run for cover.

 

In a year, the Clydesdale Bankâ??s £10million sponsorship of the SPL expires. How is Doncaster expected to find another backer? Will the chocolate gladiators of cyberspace have a whip round?

 

In case you hadnâ??t noticed, top-flight football in Scotland is hurting. Most SPL clubs have the bank on their case. How will they manage when Gersâ?? demotion is predicted to suck an annual £20m from the game? They wonâ??t.

 

St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour reckons half-a-dozen top-flight outfits could go bust.

 

Our full-time clubs have already shaved squad numbers, slashed wages, cut jobs and still struggle to meet interest payments.

 

Rangersâ?? punishment will be the tipping point. Administration and part-time football is inevitable for some. Youth development will be the first casualty throughout the game, so excuse me if I donâ??t raise a glass to sporting integrity.

 

Hibsâ?? Rod Petrie was first on that moral bandwagon, telling us sporting integrity is beyond purchase.

 

Rich coming from the man who hosted a rebel squad meeting behind boss John Collinsâ?? back?

 

With internet Bolsheviks threatening boycotts, Petrie was soon joined by Stephen Thompson, Stewart Milne and Vladimir Romanov. Only Kilmarnockâ??s Michael Johnston could find the balls to stand his ground.

 

Instead of keeping Rangers in the top flight with appropriate penalties, SPL chairmen caved in to the mob. When they should have been strong enough to take the heat they passed the buck to the SFL for a decision.

 

The lunatics were now taking tea in the asylum boardroom.

 

Many lower-league clubs are senior in name only. They have no support, no money, no ambition and no hope. Their idea of a crisis is when the bingo caller is AWOL. Yet, due to SPL leadersâ?? cowardice they inherited a decision that will affect full-time clubs for years.

 

Spare me the notion that East Stirling are as important as Aberdeen, that Montrose are as vital as Motherwell. Theyâ??re not.

 

The health of Scottish football and the national team is dependent on our full-time clubs. Without their investment in scouting, youth development and facilities our game will stagnate.

 

Did SPL chairmen really think the minnows would stick Gers in the First Division?

 

Putting Ally McCoistâ??s side in the basement was a stick-on. This way they all get a slice of Rangers while they make their way through the leagues.

 

In the meantime the engraver can safely carve Celticâ??s name on the SPL trophy until 2015 but at what cost to the champions?

 

Celticâ??s title win earned them just short of £3m last season. Next year that figure will shrink to £300,000 in Rangersâ?? absence. Unless Neil Lennon can crack the Champions League group stages the Hoops will suffer most.

 

Despite the rallying cries of Peter Lawwell what kind of home crowd will Celtic pull on a wet January day when theyâ??re 20 points clear at the top?

 

How does Lennon sell the SPL to potential signings without four Old Firm games? Why would Lawwell push the boat out for players when his reserves are good enough to win the title?

 

While Celtic will always survive, some of their counterparts are in big bother now. Last season Hibs got £900,000 for finishing second bottom of the SPL. Next year 11th place gets just £80,000. How will the cyberspace mob take it when their club goes part-time? When their best player is flogged and replaced by a dud?

 

Theyâ??ll howl at the moon in protest. But they have made their bed. Letâ??s see if they can lie in it.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

think he's wrong about the sFL but all in its a good article.

[bluebear54 0]

That's a fairly good piece.

Stable door journalism mind you. Journos should have been writing this kind of stuff months ago.

[Guest Dutchy]

Yeah, it's all a bit late in the day to become an expert on Scottish football Davie Provo.

[andy steel 0]

'internet bolsheveiks'? 'revolutionaries'?

 

I never knew Davie Provan read Gersnet articles.

[gisabeer 409]

Im sitting reading this article in disbelief. you can look through this site and find that we have all been saying this from the moment the vote to put us into the third decision took place. The horse has bolted Mr Provan and here you are closing the stable door.

 

what i want is for someone in the media to question the hypocrisy and the actions of those who have sat in judgement of our club and the manner in which they tried to bring our institution down.

 

but i wont be holding my breath.

[der Berliner 3,356]

Read the first paragraph and was thinking: Why do people write this AFTEr everything is done and dusted? I'd be interested in previous articles by Provan on this topic.

 

Is he looking for a press accreditation for Ibrox, i.e. singing sweet for the Bears now?

[aweebluesoandso 290]

It was an ambush against Rangers, set up and and orchestrated by the Septic minded at the SPL and SFA. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on what league you represent, the SFL saw the trap being laid and neatly sidestepped it. Now to call the SFL chairmen "sanctimonious" for avoiding the SPL's dirty work is the mother of all hypocrisy.

 

The best laid schemes o' rhats an' men Gang aft agley,

[nokiss 0]

Mostly a decent article.

 

Is Davie Provos dismay at the situation down his fear for the national game or the fact that his beloved hooped horrors might suffer the most?

[Doc 280]

Mostly a decent article.

 

Is Davie Provos dismay at the situation down his fear for the national game or the fact that his beloved hooped horrors might suffer the most?

 

I suspect the latter. If Davie P felt this strongly where was his voice when it really mattered and might have changed something with the lynch mob who sent us down? Now that he's worked out how much it might cost Septic he's up in arms. This is a joke!