The Away End - first for Rangers exclusives

First with the News – As Always

 

‘The secret deal includes … at least one Old Firm match for Sky courtesy of a revamped Glasgow Cup.’ – Daily Record front-page ‘exclusive’, 21 June.

‘If the unthinkable happened and Rangers 2012 had to start back in the third division of the SFL, this would mean no Old Firm league games on the telly.  Do you think Sky would suddenly start covering the Glasgow Cup?’ – The Away End, 15 March.

‘Green’s plot to buy Bury’ – Sun ‘exclusive’ headline, 21 June.

‘Is Charles Green planning to move Rangers from Glasgow?’- The Away End headline, 14 June.

 

 

James Traynor has been leading the campaign to say that Rangers have been punished enough, and that AFC Govan should be allowed into the SPL without any sanctions.  He says that in the real world a newco would start with a clean sheet, and that only in the parallel universe that is Scottish football would it be penalised for the oldco’s wrongdoings.

Sorry, Jimbo, but if you spent more time in the real world instead of hanging out with Chick Young, you’d realise that that’s not the case.

Let’s imagine a company in the real world goes bust owing suppliers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds.  A newco’s formed, and goes to those self-same suppliers to buy more goods.  Now, legally the newco’s not liable for the oldco’s debts, but equally the suppliers aren’t obliged to deal with the newco if they don’t want to.  That equates to the SPL refusing AFC Govan’s application out of hand.

If the suppliers are minded to deal with the newco, would you blame them for asking for payment up front, and/or bumping up their prices until they’ve recouped what they lost the first time round?  No, you wouldn’t, and that’s the same as the SPL imposing sanctions or conditions on AFC Govan before admitting them to the league.

Welcome to the real world, James.  You’ll like it once you get used to it.

 

The papers really went into overdrive the other day about Jean-Alain Boumsong’s big-hearted offer to return to Ibrox for half wages (large headlines), plus shares in AFC Govan (small print).  Really, given that the Frenchman’s on the lookout for a new club, the articles in question should have come under the banner ‘Advertising Feature’.  Even Jim White must have cringed at the over the top gushing and fawning.

The former Rangers defender is quoted as saying that although he only spent six months at Ibrox, he feels a bond with the club the likes of which he has never experienced before or after.  Pass me the sick bag, Alice.  The Frenchman then goes on to say he could have gone to other clubs for more money, but that he joined Rangers because they wanted to build a team with him as a big part of it.  Must have been a helluva quick building job – he only played eighteen games for the Gers before he shot off down to Newcastle.

However, in sooking up to the big man, the papers chose to ignore what was the real story.  Namely, that Boumsong admitted that being paid through an EBT was contractually part and parcel of him signing up at Ibrox, thus contradicting Sir David’s claims that all the EBT payments were discretionary and thus non-contractual.  Double contracts?  Double standards?

 

I hear that Stuart Baxter has expressed interest in managing Club 12.  And that Derek Riordan denies he’s already been banned from it.

 

Charlie Adam’s wedding reception at the weekend was at Cameron House, where the Scotland team infamously stayed after losing to Holland in 2009.  I take it he didn’t invite Barry Ferguson or Allan McGregor along.

 

 

Clarence Seedorf is looking for a new club, and I can exclusively reveal that the Dutchman, the first player to win the Champions League four times and with three different teams, will be turning out for the Bully Wee when the new season kicks off.

Well, his middle name’s Clyde, and he won all his medals while playing for Ajax, Real Madrid, and AC Milan, all of whom play in various combinations of red, white, or black.

You think that’s far-fetched, do you?  Chick Young’s built a whole career on flimsier ‘scoops’ than that.