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How Old Media killed Rangers FC…and how New Media danced on its grave – PART II

PART II – How New Media danced on Rangers’ grave

By Mr Custard

Where was I? Oh that’s right, Old Media killed Rangers…

I was brought up with a newspaper coming through the letterbox every day in our house. We had a big family and it got passed about. We knew it was biased in places but we were intelligent enough to read between the lines and find the truth. I was a paper delivery boy for years too, I did the same round Joe Jordan did. I remember getting a bollocking for delivering the Evening Times Saturday night copy late because I had been at Pittodrie that day. When the internet came along it opened people’s eyes. It became quite clear the newspapers were feeding us lie after lie. Unsurprisingly, circulation numbers began to dwindle. Now I don’t miss them. On my commute to work I can pick up fresh news, with interactive moments from various sources. Right now I would never dream of picking up a ‘red top’. Why would I pay to read the jaundiced words of Traynor, Keevins and Hateley? Before this era they were the only show in town, empowered by their own ego and their words were given credence. Now? In this internet age (which they seemingly can’t understand) they have been shown up as dinosaurs, and their meal ticket has run oot.

Not only did the Old Media kill Rangers; they killed themselves.

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Take the floor shiny New Media. New Media is people led, fan led. It sets the agenda and it runs with it. In this current ‘internet age’ someone can have a good idea and it can gather pace and spread like wildfire. If it strikes the right chord, it’ll run and run instantly. The best example of this is the well known Twitter account, “Rangers Tax Case”. It came into being due to Old Media not only ignoring the biggest sporting swindle to ever hit these islands, it denied, obfuscated, and deflected too. Ordinary people had concerns, a blog aired these concerns and very quickly, a light was sparked and everyone did some digging, shared information and made informed decisions.

For months and months the mainstream media ignored these new findings. Things that had been dug up about Craig Whyte not having ten bob and a packet of fags, the Ticketus scam, the crumbling steel empire of Murray, the proof of dual contracts. The mainstream media denied it all, paving the way for the illuminating light of New Media. This name in itself is misleading in the context of the old. New media is everyone connecting, sharing views and opinions and quickly realising that contributors were far more resourceful and intelligent than their antiquated predecessors. Obviously Celtic fans had the most reason to investigate but they were joined by fans of other teams and fans of fairness and justice who were similarly fed up by the open corruption and bored with the SPL cabal that hadn’t seen the league trophy leave Glasgow in over a quarter of a century.

Instead of buying a newspaper that was already redundant by the time it hit the newsstands, purveyors of New Media could read these articles immediately online, and within minutes form and dissipate this opinion to others, often hilariously. By use of Twitter articles can be easily aired, derided and parodied by fans of all teams. Rangers Tax Case led to Celtic tax case, Aberdeen tax case and St Mirren tax case… all with their own humorous contributions.

After year upon year of comedy reporting that had now been shown up for the joke that it was, the New Media fearlessly put the boot in, and what a wealth of material to choose from. Craig Whyte was openly lampooned which was like shooting fish in a barrel. The ‘Mr Custard’ debacle where Rangers Fighting Fund proceeds were transferred via Paypal to a clown was like something off Chucklevision. I’m purposely not naming names as would lead to cracking contributors being left out but in the midst of Old Media being dire, Joe Public was left to fill the void…and some humorous, well informed minds carried out this task. Each mention of “warchests” was derided. The comedy administrators Duff & Duffer equally got it for their shambolic dealings, as well had their long time conflicted interest in the case. Some clever peeps with too much time and too much Photoshop knowledge were given instant audience and infamy. Comedy “in denial” utterances from the “flat earth society” were also instantly shared with great glee. But amidst all the fun and joviality there was a serious and important message being shared.

From the old MSM claims of “nothing to see here” about the tax case (which bizarrely enough are now officially named as “the big tax case” and “the wee tax case” by all after being christened so on rangers tax case.) to “Craig Whyte is minted”…..we had Rangers in administration on Valentine’s Day, lying talk about being back out of admin for euro qualification, we had lying talk in the press about a CVA being do-able it quickly became clear that the only way to get near to the truth was New Media blogs, and twitter feeds from the footballing family.

Even now we are still being fed lies. Apparently Rangers didn’t get liquidated and are still in existence? Apparently the whole of Scottish football is going to hell in a handcart because “the peepul” aren’t there to scrape their knuckles across the landscape. So all SPL teams aren’t reporting record season ticket sales due to this cancer being cut out of the game?

I genuinely think this is a watershed moment for Scottish football. The schoolyard bully has been given a severe doing, the prefects who looked on have been similarly given a bloody nose. Scottish football has been given a shot in the arm due to new enthusiasm, lower league teams will see their exposure and coffers swell, SPL teams will have a better chance of silverware and there also seems to be a new found sense of “chumminess” between clubs over denying the passengers who wanted to keep the status quo and who served notice on their clubs guardians.

So here we are, Armageddon didn’t happen. Sky is still paying as it was, ticket sales are up and we’re all friends…the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades!

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How old media killed Rangers FC….and how new media danced on its grave.

PART 1 – How old media killed Rangers FC

by Mr Custard – a Hitthebyline contributor

A grand title with lofty claims. How can this debutant guest writer live up to such outlandish claims and roll with it? No bother at all. The truth is out there. The internet bampots have had their whiff of power and they like it. The new media do it for the love, do it because it feels right, do it for the banter and incessantly because they want to. The old, tired media have been caught with their pants down. They have had their day in the sun. Technology has caught up. Move over Grandaddy. The people are the new media; more power to them.

David Murray in his pomp had the Scottish media in his back pocket, and in many respects this was to be expected. A brief rattle through the history of time here:

The Murray/Souness era began in 1986, and after 9 barren years, they won the Scottish title at first ask. This was helped in no small part to the free spending of Murray, backed by the riches of his then thriving steel empire and the accidental advantage of being able to offer top English internationalists European football during the post Heysel English ban. It was a mighty roll call and it brought in the honours and fans, leaving in the dust the like of Celtic, Aberdeen and Dundee united who had dominated the last decade of the Scottish game with the latter two successful in Europe also: Butcher, Woods, Steven, Stevens, Francis, Wilkins, Roberts……they crushed everything before them. All bow to David Murray, the chequebook ruled supreme, he had invigorated the Scottish game? Hail to him! Without going over old ground, we have heard all the quotes ad nauseam lately… “deep pockets”, “succulent lamb”, “for every fiver…..”, “there is a massive moonbeam of success waiting for us” etc etc. Rangers and Murray could do no wrong as a sycophantic and compliant media knelt on their very knees to grace the new messiah.

On the other side of the city an old, tired, going nowhere family dynasty was being ousted by fan power, who were sick of being second best to their loud next door neighbours and demanded change. Rallies and organised boycotts appeared within a siege mentality to counter the newspapers who week after week, season after season, put the boot in, mocking the hoops, their biscuit tin mentality, “celts in crisis” endlessly bannering each sports page, staging a hearse photoshoot outside Celtic Park. There was an uprising, people putting their money where their mouths were to force change. With the club finally on the up, Wim Jansen’s Celtic stopped 10 in a row. A sleeping giant had finally woken up, and now had a shiny new stadium boasting the highest capacity football ground in the land.

The height of Rangers big spending was during the Dick Advocaat ‘Oranje boom’. With a bruised ego due to failure to reach ten in a row Murray dealt with the defeat in the only way he knew – by spend, spend, spending. Circa £60m in funding obtained from ENIC and Joe Lewis helped this. 5 out of 6 domestic trophies were won in Dick’s first two seasons and still the big signings kept coming. Nothing could go wrong, or could it?

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Murray the ‘money man’ enjoys a good laugh – and with good reason.

Indeed, what could go wrong? Just sit back and watch the carnage unfold. After the hit and miss of Jo Venglos’s tenure and the flop of the Dalglish/Barnes partnership Celtic finally struck gold with Martin O’Neill winning the treble in his first season and overturning the points deficit in his first season by 35 points. O’Neill’s first signing was Chris Sutton, a snip at £6m from Chelsea. The team was further galvanised by the signings of Valgaeren, Thompson, Agathe, Douglas and teacher’s pet, Lennon, who joined the existing players of calibre of Lambert, Boyd, Petta, Moravcik, Petrov and Larrson. The first derby meet in August ended 6-2 to the new pretenders with Chris Sutton scoring in almost the first minute. So how did David Murray react to this? True to his word he literally spent a tenner for Celtic’s fiver. He outdid Celtic doubly by paying Chelsea £12m for Tore Andre Flo. A symbol of a last throw of the dice gamble to try and stop the switch of power across the city. An epic fail. In total Advocaat spent over £80m on transfers, meaning an unsustainable £50m net spend. Ouch. And also a debt of £50m too.

So what happened next? With Celtic in rude health and able to meet and exceed Rangers spending power something had to be done. Over the next few seasons Rangers began to try and gain back their spending advantage by playing fast and loose with an EBT scheme, the brainchild of flamboyant pornographer Paul Baxendale-Walker to bypass the traditional PAYE and NI route that football clubs traditionally took, necessitating the use of dual contracts that weren’t lodged with the SFA. So that was a saving made. What about a share issue? Well that didn’t work. How about selling the jerseys and closing the Rangers shops and doing a deal with JJB to gain £18m short term? Who cares about the long term? Murray being such a good salesman would have offloaded the club by then wouldn’t have he? How about selling Barry Ferguson and Jean Alain Boumsong for a tidy total of £15.5m to Blackburn and Newcastle United? Who just happened to be managed by Graeme Souness who for some reason was himself a beneficiary of the EBT scheme a decade after he left the club. Things that make you go hmmm indeed!

And so it carried on, still no alarm bells ringing anywhere. No press questions, even in 2007 when there were simultaneous City of London police dawn raids at Portsmouth, Newcastle United and Rangers FC no press questions were asked. It seems the Boumsong transfer the catalyst for the HMRC investigations. The normal check and tests were not conducted. The media stood idly by. No wait, they did more than that. The media were rampant cheerleaders. Year after year after year of published yearly losses did not result in any probing questions. Hugh Adam’s prophetic words were put down to being the mad ramblings of a disgruntled ex-employee. David Murray had the cheers ringing in his ears and in this vacuum, with no-one there to reign in these stupendous shows of grandeur more liberties were taken and like the boozed up betting addict in the bookies chasing his Friday pay poke doon the swannee the further into trouble he fell, the more dangerous and desperate he got. Criminal are we about to find out?

In 2008 amidst all this debt the redtops circulated stories of £700m super stadiums with floating pitches and Chelsea like villages and super-casinos. Sheer unadulterated propaganda. Anyone with common sense knew this to be a nonsense. People were now awakening to the internet and were reading the source stories on Newsnow and fans forums a full day before the mainstream media put their spin on it. People were now making their own mind up.

So there we are, the “for sale” sign outside Ibrox for year follow year. When the “big tax case” story broke in 2010 we were told there was nothing to worry about. It was being appealed so wasn’t a real bill, and anyway even if it was a bill it would be picked up by MIH. Simples! Murray insisted he would only sell to those who would have the money to progress Rangers forward and along comes Craigy Boy Whyte. The press told us he was a success story, a” billionaire” no less…no scrap that…”off the radar wealth”. So Rangers FC were bought for the princely price of £1 with her Majesty’s head on the back of it. Given that David Murray had priced Rangers FC at anywhere between £150-£200m to the normal guy in the street this seemed a bit strange and still the old media asked no questions. In any vacuum of space something usually comes along to fill this. Rangers Tax Case appeared in this vacuum number 2. Someone had taken to t’internet to raise his concerns on these seeming irregularities. Very quickly there was a groundswell of research and digging which found out by fans of all clubs in Scottish football who knew something was a amiss. With just a few google searches it was quickly apparent that the bold Craigy boy was indeed a shyster. Far from being a success story the t’internet bampots could ascertain he had fled the country leaving a trail of destruction behind of failed companies involving cleaning companies run from portacabins in Bellshill and was heavily involved in Tinkerbell baby clothing shop in Motherwell. Still the media sat on their hands, denied any knowledge of the information now shared in the public domain. They instead printed bogus stories about warchests and the like. The Rangers fans were being openly deceived by the media, if the truth had come out there might be a Rangers still here today, there is not. Rangers FC as we know it were liquidated. A company called Sevco have bought the assets which may yet be reversed by the liquidators and still haven’t secured a place in Scotland’s fourth tier.

The printed lies are being bought less and less, the comedy phone-ins are dropping like flies too. The old media killed Rangers. Goodbye Rangers, goodbye old media. Dressed to kill, and guess who’s dying?

This was the story of how old media killed rangers. Keep your eyes on Hitthebyline.com this week for part two: “How the New Media danced on Rangers’ grave”.

Why not subscribe via email on the homepage, or follow @hitthebyline to ensure you don’t miss out?

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Heroes and Villains: Why our beloved game’s media men should be next under the microscope

By TuttiFruttiBusDriver

The decision to offer Dundee FC a place in the SPL appears to offer a welcome release from the maelstrom of committees, board meetings and legal chicanery that has consumed the thoughts of many during this dreich Scottish Summer of sport. It offers an opportunity for fans of all teams to focus on summer transfer windows, pre-season friendlies, and, perhaps, foster a wee bit of cautious optimism about what the season ahead may bring. Maybe the dust will settle a little and we can concentrate on the football.

However, while it is undoubtedly healthier to look forward with positivity to the new season, it is necessary to get several things in order if this is not to become yet another missed opportunity to address the parlous state of the game. There are many issues that need looked at from a change point of view, none more so than the role of BBC Scotland’s sport department going forward.

The now notorious inability of a vast rump of the Scottish football media to ask questions of David Murray for fear of being banished from the vineyards, private jets and oak-paneled offices is an embarrassment that will haunt many hacks for as long as they continue to eke out an existence in the media. Many key players at the BBC were not immune from this. Similarly when Craig Whyte emerged from the shadows (with a questionable CV to boot) the prevailing practice of parceling up PR-swill while avoiding asking difficult questions continued. On the evidence so far, and with a few notable exceptions as detailed below, Charles Green hasn’t exactly getting the roughest ride either.

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Chick Young and Jim Traynor – Purveyors of questionable coverage?

It is arguable that the senior management at BBC Scotland’s Sportsound conducts a fundamental and radical review of the makeup of their broadcasting team for the forthcoming season. While some have enhanced their reputations with an honest and even-handed approach to the protracted saga (Jim Spence and Richard Gordon spring to mind) others, such as the laughably lightweight Chick Young and the deliberate mendacious Jim Traynor are surely redundant. Young’s grasp of the story is weak and ineffectual. Traynor, meanwhile, has brought nothing to BBC Scotland’s sports output bar a hectoring, bullying, sneering, doom-mongering style that has many listeners reaching for the off-switch.

Traynor can write what he likes in his newspaper (which given the latest circulation figures appears to be living on borrowed time ) but I am sure many license-fee payers resent his views being rammed down their throats in the sake of ‘parity’ or ‘balance’. A slavish desire to see the status quo remain purely out of self-interest has been has main contribution to the debate. Surely this propagandist has no place in a key forum for debate on the issues going forward?

Jim Spence and Richard Gordon, conversely, are notable for the way that they have made room for nuanced arguments. They have focused on complex issues, have tried to make sense of wildly conflicting information and synthesize it into something meaningful for the listening audience. They’ve asked the difficult questions, engaged widely with fans on social media and largely understood that fans are now better informed, more connected, and, with worthwhile opinions (compare that to the loathing of ‘internet bampots’ that you get from Traynor).

It is vital that all those with an interest in the future of Scottish football ensure that the mainstream media charged with holding authorities to account ask the questions that we want asked and provide informed analysis/opinions. Where the pundits are not fulfilling that role then others must be offered the opportunity. Punditry should not be a job for life, it should be determined by an ability to ask the right questions, no matter how uncomfortable those may be, and, a demonstration of sound interpretation of events. The days of the two-dimensional Traynor autocrat or the sycophancy of Young are gone. While social media has radically altered the media landscape by increasing connections, relationships, and, the democratisation of information, it is important that those in charge of the BBC Scotland Sports department fulfill their commitment to serve in the public interest. Weak scrutiny has failed us in the past; it should not be allowed to happen again.

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Division 3 for Rangers; but it’s business as usual for Scottish Football

by Johnny Connelly

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Charles Green reacts to the news the his Rangers Newco will be playing in the 4th tier of Scottish football

So the Rangers Newco’s first experience of domestic football in Scotland will be in Division 3. The final nail is in the coffin, the four horsemen of the apocalypse have been summoned, the 10 terrible plagues of Egypt will reign upon our game, and the universe will implode around teatime. Well, that’s pretty much what we’re being led to believe by shameless ‘red-top’ tabloid journos.

Give me a break. The seemingly eternal and bureaucratically orchestrated demise of Rangers FC as we knew it has come to an end. Surely this is something to rejoice over? We can actually start thinking about playing football again!

One could be forgiven for thinking that the Scottish media’s handling of the Rangers situation in recent weeks has been one last hurrah for lazy journalists who’ve been spoon fed their copy since the day the HMRC story broke. This “£16m cost” figure is as fictional and unfounded as Craig Whyte’s friendship with Prince Albert of Monaco.

Yes, the absence of Rangers in Scotland’s elite footballing division will have monetary ramifications, but to report only this aspect of the drastic change is an insult to football fans across Scotland.

To illustrate the point, I’ve picked up on two stories reported in the media today on the matter. The first, an understandably stunted and sensationalist piece in the Sunday Mail; while the second is an altogether more surprising angle, from the usually enlightening pen of Graham Spiers.

The Sunday Mail today claimed that 5 current SPL teams will go bust within a month as a result of the Rangers debacle. Sorry, but that’s just factually incorrect to the point that I feel embarrassed for Gordon Parks, who penned the piece. The suggestion was that St Mirren, along with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell, Dundee United and Kilmarnock will no longer be able to function. This constant scaremongering about such things does nothing for the game in this country. The game is constantly in motion, and will always face new difficulties. Yes, the current Sky & ESPN deals could be subject to a negative change, but doesn’t that ‘crisis’ sound a little familiar?

I seem to remember a similar media frenzy when the proverbial arse fell out of Setanta. Also, on a smaller scale, silly behavior ensued when the Scottish Cup was struggling to find a sponsor. Even in the untouchable land of English football, OnDigital’s meteoric rise, and cataclysmic fall had little or no impact on the day-to-day running of the game. Time has proved that the game always survives, and another option always presents itself.

The SPL clubs will survive too. The Scottish game isn’t exactly wealthy, and never has been. For this reason, the clubs in question have become accustomed to live within their means. A restricted income will simply result in restricted outgoings. It really is that simple.

In the second case I stumbled across today, the aforementioned Mr Spiers put across his usual erudite, punchy and enjoyable opinions on how things have transpired in the last few days. But I took umbrage, not to what he said, but to what he omitted.

A clear focus in his piece was that Peter Lawell, Neil Lennon, and Celtic as a whole will miss Rangers more than they’ve ever missed any aspect of professional football. Perhaps true in some respects. The Old Firm derby is amongst the most prestigious and exciting football encounters on the face of the Earth. Of course the thought of it not being a regular fixture for at least the next three years is somewhat harrowing for football fans, that’s a given, but Spiers failed to highlight the fact that Rangers are where they are by virtue of their own financial mis-management.

Rangers have suffered a fate no different from any other team in Scotland who ever have or ever will go through the liquidation process. There’s no conspiracy, and conversely, no exceptions to be made. Rules and regulations were broken by Rangers. They’ve been punished to the point where their club as they know it, no longer exists. The Rangers Newco begin life in the Irn-Bru Scottish 3rd Division, where they’ll have to claw their way up and rebuild their illustrious 140 history. The world loses one of it’s greatest football derbies, not as a result of an unjust punishment, but as a result of procedures being followed correctly in a structured national football league system.

What everyone seems to be missing is the huge, gaping avenue of opportunity that’s been thrust into focus as a result of the seismic shift in power within Scottish football. Our game has been on it’s knees for many years, this is no secret, nor is it a revelation. Poor crowds, with even poorer revenue streams have been the symptoms of this, but until now these have been portrayed as the illness.

There are so many unexplored options to boost the wavering stature of Scottish Football, and now is the time to throw our collective weight behind them and turn the game around. Expanding to a 14 or 16 team league, summer football, a foreign player quota, wage caps, Friday night football, reintroducing the Glasgow Cup, and TV finance restructuring are all options that instantly spring to mind, so why aren’t we exploring them?!

Let us also not forget the positive consequences of Rangers holding a place in Scotland’s lower leagues. As the Newco inevitably work their way up the divisions over the coming years, the clubs who are really in the financial doldrums can expect a monetary shot in the arm like they’ve never seen before. Each club in the 3rd division this season can guarantee 2 full houses against Ally McCoist’s men, with the added bonus of two trips to Ibrox too. The money this brings in, and the spectacle for the league itself is something that would be beyond the wildest dreams of clubs like Annan, East Stirling, Clyde, and Stranraer (to name but a few).

This redistribution of wealth, and media attention on our lower leagues can only bring good things. Prior to this odd turn of events, when would any of you have considered going to a Scottish third division game?

The ubiquitous notion that Scottish football is, ‘on its knees’ is being reported as though the troubles have come in the form of a bullet in the head; when it’s really more like a slow debilitating illness.

Now is the time to make football an enjoyable commodity once more. A brief and inadvertent break from the drudgery of the ‘Gers in Crisis’ news stories, and renewed passion behind restructuring Scottish football from top to bottom gives me hope for this season, and seasons beyond. The ultimate goal is to develop a football industry in Scotland where all aspects of society can support their team of choice at a reasonable cost, viewing a decent standard of play, with levels of hospitality and consumer amenities that are on a par with the elite divisions across Europe.

That’s the dream, and there’s no reason why it can’t become a reality.

Yes Rangers are down, but they will return. Cleansed, well structured, and most welcome in Scotland’s top division.

Next season will be a bizarre one. Perhaps the most bizarre yet, but the game goes on.

It always has, and it always will.

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We are all Neil Lennon?! We most certainly are not…

Hitthebyline reviews the spontaneous combustion of Neil Lennon

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Pushing the self-destruct button – Lennon at the centre of controversy

Congratulations to Neil Lennon for guiding his young Celtic side to the SPL title. What a fantastic achievement, and on the face of it, everything is rosy at Celtic. An average squad age of just 23, operating in a financially prudent manner, and looking forward to launching an attack on the Champions League next season. However, the headlines this season (aside from the financial crisis at Rangers) have been dominated by Lennon’s ill-tempered approaches to officials, when they could so easily have been about the positive aspects of the Glasgow club’s season.

This petulant and puzzling behaviour again reared it’s ugly head when Celtic suffered a 2-1 defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final. Of course Celtic and Lennon have the right to feel aggrieved at that penalty decision that was at best, ill-judged and at worst, downright ludicrous, but what the Hoops boss did next was quite unprecedented. In a national semi-final, with 50,000 eyes on him in the stadium, and several million more watching at home, Lennon took it upon himself to dash on to the pitch and confront the referee in an aggressive manner.

Treating this case in isolation, perhaps you could almost put it down to a freak loss of temper, but this is now the third incident in a matter of weeks, and it’s getting to the stage now where the Celtic support are having to watch the name of their great club being besmirched by the manager’s thuggish actions.

18th March, Celtic are denied a debatable penalty in the League Cup final. Lennon doesn’t like it. Lennon criticises the referee’s decision. Lennon is warned about his conduct. Celtic lose the match (and the Cup).

25th March, Celtic suffer two red cards in an Old Firm match. Lennon doesn’t like it. Lennon foolishly approaches the referee at half-time. Lennon is reprimanded. Celtic lose the match.

15th April, Celtic concede a dubious penalty in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Lennon doesn’t like it. Lennon gives the ref a mouthful. Lennon will be punished. Celtic lose the match.

See a pattern forming here?

Let’s say for the sake of argument that Celtic have fallen victim to poor officiating in the above matches. Let’s also again take each game on it’s own merit.

First up, the League Cup final. If Celtic require an injury time penalty at Hampden to draw level with a distinctly average Kilmanock side, then the manager has failed to motivate and organise his team to do a job.

Next up, two red cards in an Old Firm match. Lennon decides to drop Kelvin Wilson for this match after a poor performance in the cup final, only to bring in one of the biggest bombscares I’ve ever known in Cha Du Ri. Cha’s sending off was by far the more suspect looking of the two but you’ve got to ask yourself some key questions. Why would this below-par player even be on the field? And why did he allow himself to be caught so far up the park, when Celtic had fielded a 5-man midfield? As much as the decision was a joke, I’m firmly of the opinion that Cha shouldn’t have been anywhere near the team, and even if he was, then he should have the savvy as a professional football player to be able to conservatively hold the right-back position as part of the 4-5-1 tactic deployed. Wanyama’s red card is unquestionably deserved. Two-footed tackle off the ground is a straight red any day of the week. Yet still, Lennon makes a fool of himself by challenging the referee in the tunnel at half-time (something we all know isn’t allowed).

Finally, and most recently, another Hampden park non-event for Celtic. It took Lennon’s Celtic over 35 minutes to register a single shot on target, despite admittedly dominating the game. The longer the match went on, and with Ki hitting the post from close range twice, the match was always going to swing in the Gorgie club’s favour. As previously discussed, perhaps Celtic shouldn’t have had a penalty given against, then, but the fact is that Celtic should have done more to win the match. Many of Celtic’s top players didn’t turn up. Of course Ian Black should have been sent off for that horror tackle on Joe Ledley, and the officiating standard was poor, but at which point was Lennon going to mention the fact that Hooper’s equaliser could have been given as offside?

As if the aggressive confrontation to the officials wasn’t embarrassing enough, the Celtic manager then took to Twitter. Why Celtic’s manager engages actively in social media at all is beyond me. I’ve long cringed at his interaction with what are clearly adolescent teens and ill-informed, angst ridden punters who’re partial to making a call to football phone-ins. His comments via this medium have often been knee-jerk, but Sunday night’s tirade of nonsense was a new low.

For those of you who may have missed it, the Celtic boss indicated that he felt his side had received a disproportionate number of ‘dodgy’ decisions in big games, and these latest ones were “personal”. What a myopic and ill-thought out reaction. There are so many statistics and incidents to counter his argument that I don’t know where to start, but a good place could possibly be the last time Lennon’s men met their Scottish Cup opponents at Tynecastle earlier in the season. Hearts, as we all remember, were denied a clear goal against Celtic early in the match on this occasion, before Celtic went on to score at the other end, and ultimately hammer the Jam Tarts 4-0. Was this officiating blunder “personal” too?

To avoid the inevitable accusations that I’ll be faced with for being selective in my use of facts, let’s look at the penalty awards in the SPL, for this season and last.

2010/2011 season – Which team do you think were awarded the most penalty kicks? Yes, you’ve guessed it. Celtic, with 13 penalties. That same season, Celtic also conceded the fewest penalty kicks. This season, although obviously not finished yet, the Bhoys have again conceded the fewest penalty kicks.

So where’s the conspiracy? Where’s the clandestine collusion? Or is it all just hokum from a paranoid manager with a persecution complex?

Lennon has faced things off the park that no professional, and no human should have to endure. For this reason I retain a modicum of respect for Lennon, solely because he stood up to the bigots and didn’t allow his dreams to be taken from him, but his increasingly bizarre behaviour indicates to me that this job in the goldfish bowl that is Scottish football is an unsuitable one for a clearly unstable individual.

Always a fiery individual during his playing days, but I’m struggling to see why he can’t recapture the discipline that saw him play at the highest level. Lennon’s actions have repercussions not only for himself, but for the club’s reputation, and the next generation of Celtic fans. It seems like a lifetime ago when Lennon was an integral part of the team that made it all the way to Seville, playing “the Celtic way” and winning thousands of plaudits from all over Europe. Celtic were the likeable sleeping giant of European football, with a fanbase that were clean-cut and fun-loving, so much so that they received the FIFA Fair Play award that year. What must those one-time appreciators from all over the continent thing when they see the manager of the famous Glasgow Celtic behaving like a common thug? The fan-base too are in danger of being reeled in by this persecution complex. The “them and us” tribal mentality from bygone years looks as though it could be returning in the minds of many of the more impressionable Celtic fans.

I’d sincerely hope that this doesn’t continue to creep into the Celtic support. Sunday also showed that poor officiating isn’t just a Scottish problem. South of the border a match was decided by a horrendous mistake from the guys calling the shots. Spurs could potentially have lost out on silverware too as a result of Juan Mata’s goal that never was for Chelsea. After the match, did ‘Arry Redknapp (not that he’s fit enough to) dash across the park in pursuit of the referee to vent his anger? No. He also didn’t bring the game into disrepute by insinuating that a conspiracy was behind his side’s failure to capture points from the match. Instead he spoke calmly to the media, and backed the inevitable introduction of goal-line technology. Altogether, a more classy approach to an officiating failure where more was at stake for his men.

There’s so much going for Celtic at the moment, so why do the support and the likes of Lawell tolerate idiotic behaviour from the manager. The fans wouldn’t tolerate this nonsense from Martin O’Neill, Wim Jansen, Gordon Strachan, or anyone for that matter, so why does Lennon get away with it.

It’s time for Neil to hold his hands up when he loses in big matches. It takes a big man to say, “I got it wrong on the day” or “the best team won.” Lennon needs to focus on being the manager of Celtic football club, before his actions make his position at the club untenable. Time to shape up or ship out.

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The Only Way is Ayrshire

By Hitthebyline’s Rangers Opinion Columnist, Ewan McQueen

Seeing is believing - Killie overcame the odds

Scottish football fans have long endured Glasgow and Edinburgh as the purveyors of footballing product for many years, but this season, perhaps another region in our ‘wee nation’ merits a note.

Despite my love for Rangers, I can’t help but feel a little proud this season to hail from Ayrshire.

Ayrshire’s two ‘big clubs’, Kilmarnock and 1st division outfit Ayr United have had seasons that I’d describe as nothing short of remarkable. Despite their bitter rivalry, it’s fair comment to praise the progress that both clubs have made this season.

The pair of course met in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals this season. Kilmarnock may have went on to win the game 1-0 to reach the final (more on that later), but for both teams to get this far was a magnificent achievement in itself. Kenny Shiels’ Kilmarnock hadn’t reached this stage since they made the 2007 final, while Brian Reid’s Ayr United hadn’t reached the last four since they made it through to the final in 2002.

Ayr fans may have been gutted coming back down the road to Ayrshire, but the game showed off the passion amongst Ayrshire football supporters. 25,000 of them made the trip to Hampden and the atmosphere was electric throughout with both sets of supporters getting right behind their teams.

In the build-up to the game, my Facebook ‘newsfeed’ was filled for weeks with comments about the match, which showed how great the rivalry and indeed the spectacle was.

I’m not suggesting that the rivalry is up there with the derby matches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but there can be no doubting friendships go out the window on a day of a Kilmarnock V Ayr game.

Kilmarnock did have a fairly comfortable route through to facing Ayr, beating lower league teams Queen of the South and East Fife. But you can only beat what is put in front of you and Kenny Shiels made sure that his team didn’t suffer any shocks.

However, that paled in comparison with Ayr’s run in order to face their Ayrshire rivals. Brian Reid’s men are a part-time side but completed three superb victories over top division sides Inverness, Hearts and St Mirren.

Their football may have not been the prettiest, but it was certainly effective. And although they were criticised by Shiels for their performance in the semi-final, it almost worked a treat. To hold an SPL team with far greater resources for 109 minutes of a Hampden semi-final was something to admire.

And something else to admire was Kilmarnock reaching the final. It was the first time they had done it in five years and only the fourth time they had reached a domestic cup final in the last 15 years.

Not many football fans including, let alone Kilmarnock fans, gave Killie much hope of winning the League Cup Final against Celtic. Neil Lennon’s men had been on a great run of form domestically having not lost since 2nd October.

Kilmarnock on the other hand had been inconsistent all season and sat in the bottom half of the SPL before the game. They were also without their inspirational captain Manuel Pascali who had broken his leg, days after the victory over Ayr.

But less than two weeks ago, Kilmarnock won the League Cup for the first time in their history, thanks to a solitary goal by Belgian striker Dieter Van Tornhout. Goalkeeper Cammy Bell also produced a world-class performance to deny Celtic on many occasions.

The aftermath was tinged with sadness following the death of Kilmarnock midfielder Liam Kelly’s father but the town still came out to celebrate the glorious achievement afterwards. It was Kilmarnock’s first trophy in 15 years and their brand of passing football had been richly rewarded.

Their brand of passing football has also seen them achieve many memorable SPL results this season, most notably two victories over Rangers. Back in November they became the first SPL team to beat Ally McCoist’s men thanks to a late goal from Manuel Pascali and then in February they stunned the sell-out Ibrox crowd by beating them by the same scoreline again.

Kilmarnock may currently be 7th in the table with only a remote chance of reaching the top 6, but that does deserve to be praised. Many pundits tipped them to go down at the start of the season but there has never been any danger of that. Players such as Dean Shiels, Cammy Bell and Pascali have been very consistent all season. Kenny Shiels hasn’t spent long in the Scottish game, but this hasn’t stopped him winning many plaudits, and standing an outside chance of winning manager of the year.

Ayr United have toiled as the season has gone on, despite their bravery, willingness to attack, great record against SPL clubs, and overall lack of resource. They currently sit 8th in the table, and look likely to hold on to 1st division status this year. Remaining financially prudent generally, despite being a part-time club is a formidable feat.

Killie, with Shiels at the helm have been galvanised and continue to punch above their weight, proving to be a tough customer for the very top clubs in Scotland. If Ayr are to fulfil the potential they’ve shown, they must continue to take a leaf out of the book of their rivals. They are capable, and there’s no doubting that the SPL has been a stronger and more attractive league with Kilmarnock playing the way they are.

As a local, I always like to see both Ayrshire teams do well. It is good for the local economy, the people of the towns, and has created a buzz for football again in this area. It just goes to show that Scottish football doesn’t need a complicated masterplan to get back to it’s best, just the right people in the right places, some attacking football, and a bit of belief.

Let’s hope they finish the season in style and give some of the nation’s other struggling football areas some food for thought next season.

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EXCLUSIVE : Scottish multimillionaire mulling over Rangers takeover

On a day that will go down as one of the darkest in Rangers’ history to date, Hitthebyline can reveal what could prove to be a shining light at the end of a tunnel of turmoil for the club.

A Hitthebyline insider has had advanced discussions with Jim McColl OBE, who has expressed a desire to end the disastrous reign of Craig Whyte.

Jim McColl - Scottish Multimillionaire
Jim McColl - The saviour of Rangers?

Last month, McColl was mentioned by former Rangers director Paul Murray as being a key figure in a potential consortium to mount a takeover bid. However, it would seem since then that McColl has had a change of heart, and would now like to champion the takeover on his own, (as our insider learned at the weekend while speaking to him at a local golf outing).

McColl is understood to be watching intently and mulling over his options as he looks to become the successor to Craig Whyte, and ultimately end the suffering of the Ibrox faithful.

The Carmunnock born businessman has a reported fortune of over £800m, with a far more transparent and upstanding reputation than the clandestine Mr Whyte. The Daily Record reported in November of 2008 that McColl had overtaken Tom Hunter as Scotland’s richest man, and with recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honors list of 2001, Rangers would be inclined to put to put their faith in the seemingly upstanding businessman, should any takeover bid emerge.

As a lifelong Rangers fan, McColl has long been rumoured to enter into financial involvement with his boyhood heroes. In 2010, the Sunday Herald also reported that he was to be the bankroller of a Rangers Supporters Trust takeover bid, which was to make the club wholly owned by the supporters (in a similar setup to how Barcelona currently operate). This has since proved to be not entirely true, but the multimillionaire conceded to the fact he was providing financial advice to the supporters trust.

In this age of uncertainty for the Glasgow giants, it remains to be seen whether the successful entrepreneur will firm up his interest in the club. With his interest in the club now declared, all eyes will now be on him to see when and if he takes the next step.

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Hitthebyline’s response to Mark Hateley

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In his prime – Mark Hateley celebrates better times for Rangers

Isn’t it amazing how broad the spectrum of ex-Old Firm professionals is in the Scottish media nowadays? Some, level headed and enlightening on the modern-game; while others, as Mark Hateley proved on Friday in his weekly column, are bereft of a brain and retain a bitter and twisted attitude towards the other half of Glasgow’s great divide.

It’s no secret that Hateley is as much of a stranger to biased reporting as Michelle McManus is to a Greggs steak-bake; but Friday’s moronic anti-Celtic rant showed that pretty much anything is fair game for Hateley’s type.

Last week Hateley’s piece sent twitter into overdrive, getting the backs of Celtic fans up, while also causing many Rangers supporters to feel embarrassed at the unfounded balderdash that their one-time hero was spouting. Out of curiosity, I found it necessary to read it for myself. How I wish I hadn’t.

Along with many others, I took umbrage to the Englishman’s article. In order to fully dispel and lambast his comments to a suitable degree, I’ve decided to analyse the ‘highlights’ sequentially.

Where better to begin than the opening line?

“CONGRATULATIONS, Celtic. This year’s title is yours and even though I believe it’s tainted that’s none of your concern.”

There is a whole host of things wrong with this, but I’ll stick to the blatantly obvious one. Celtic are in no way responsible for the financial implosion of their arch rivals, and Neil Lennon has transformed his wavering Celtic side, into a gutsy, resolute group of players who’ve steamrollered their way to no less than 17 consecutive SPL wins. This streak has included a win over Rangers, a 4-0 demolition of Hearts at Tynecastle, and a 5-0 mauling of Hibs at Easter Road to name but a few.

I assume the ‘tainted’ aspect Hateley refers to is the 10-point deduction induced by his former club going in to administration. Supposing Celtic had a lead of less than the 10-point enforced deduction, I could see where he is coming from. But this isn’t the case, is it? Neil Lennon’s men have come from 15 points behind, to amass a colossal lead of 20 points. (FYI Mark, 20 is a bigger number than 10).

Hateley continues: “I find the tone that has been set by the men at the top at Celtic Park in recent days and weeks has been ill-judged at best and, at worst, deliberately inflammatory.”

“Let’s be honest here, Rangers are lying in the gutter, bleeding badly. There is no need for the likes of Lennon and Peter Lawwell to continue to sink the boot in when our wounds
have been self-inflicted.”

Deary me. For someone who’s featured in many Old Firm Derbies, he really doesn’t get it.Such is the history of the two clubs, that petty rivalry and mockery of the other’s situation is almost mandatory for an active Old Firm fan. The situation at Rangers is not a tragic one; it’s come about by virtue of around 20 years of unsustainable spending. Of course I feel sympathy for the Rangers support as their pride and joy continues to be diluted into a shadow of its former self, but if you fly with the crows, you’re shot with the crows. The bubble was always going to burst. The Rangers fans filled their boots and enjoyed 9-in-a-row amongst other successes, while paying astronomical wages for Laudrup, De Boer, Gascoigne, Numan, Klos, Butcher, and yes, ironically, Hateley too. This list of players doesn’t even begin to quantify the money Rangers were recklessly spending to maintain a debatably unfair advantage over the rest of Scottish football. The club made their bed under Sir David Murray, now they must lie in it. The Rangers fans and low-level employees at Ibrox will tragically endure the repercussions, but why begrudge the Parkhead faithful a little pleasure after having to endure a lengthy era of being downtrodden, and up against the now infamous, “for every fiver Celtic put down, we’ll put down a tenner,” mentality?

Where was Hateley’s moral compass when Rangers were romping their way to league titles, and winning domestic cups at a canter? How very big of him now to speak up for the ‘little guy’, after picking up a hefty weekly wage for years at Ibrox, and playing alongside players that any other Scottish club simply couldn’t afford in their wildest dreams.

Hateley referred to “venom” at Celtic Park during this time of turmoil for Rangers. Have I missed something? The only thing I’ve seen is a playful mockery, not dissimilar to the “you’ll be watching The Bill, when we’re in Seville” chanting, which was predictably and understandably mocked by the Rangers support when the shoe was on the other foot. It’s all swings and roundabouts with the Old Firm, and it always will be. The club enjoying the lion’s share of success will poke fun at the other. It’s the way it’s always been; it’s the way it’s always going to be.

Regarding his besmirching of Neil Lennon and Peter Lawell, I can put that to bed quite simply. Lennon has done fantastically well this season, yet has to put up with all this talk of a potential title win being ‘tainted’. The Celtic boss simply pointed out that if that’s the line of thought, then surely many of Rangers’ title wins in recent times too are ‘tainted’ by virtue of living beyond their means – a fair point surely? Lawell’s comments about Celtic being able to survive without Rangers too are completely understandable. Lawell is a businessman, Celtic are his product that he has to market. During his tenure, he’ll paint the most positive picture to outwardly market the club, whether he personally agrees with it or not. What part of this is “sinking the boot in” Mr Hateley?

Perhaps unavoidably, Hateley did pass comment on the sectarian singing that reared its ugly head again last week.

He said: “It saddens me that these extreme times seem to bring out the worst in supporters on both sides of Glasgow. Include Rangers supporters in that because last week, when they were all hurting so badly, some of them chose to bring further shame on Ibrox by singing the kind of songs that have been making us cringe for so long. Thanks for that lads. Just what the club needed in a time of crisis.”

Fair play for casting it up Mark, but do songs of religious hatred really make you ‘cringe’? David Brent in The Office makes you cringe sir; the bile that was on show at Ibrox last week is unmistakably and utterly despicable. Not to absolve the Celtic support from blame, as they too have a small contingent that need to buck up their ideas if their club is to flourish in the 21st century. It’s well beyond time for both clubs to leave behind the socially backward mentality that’s held them back in recent history.

But just as the ex-pro began to regain a modicum of credibility, out he came with a final parting bitter, scathing attack on Celtic.

He concluded: “So let Celtic get on with celebrating their title – a title they somehow failed to win throughout the last three years of financial troubles – and let Rangers get on with the painful process of putting their club back together.”

Yes, a supposedly well respected ex-pro, who should be 100% focussed on what positive steps can be taken to thrust Rangers into stability, closes his piece with a petty poke at Celtic for failing to win the league in the three previous seasons. How obtuse of him. Yes Mark, Celtic have steadied their ship this season, after what’s undoubtedly been, a bad spell both on and off the park. But what does this have to do with the rest of your article? And indeed the major issue at hand, the impending and perpetual struggle that his former club faces. In recent weeks I’ve listened to many ex-Rangers players throwing in their two cents about the situation. In particular for me, Neil McCann and Richard Gough have spoken more sense than others, and exponentially more sense than Hateley. McCann and Gough held their hands up and acknowledged that the club was poorly run, in a financially imprudent manner. They however, accept the situation and try and draw on the positives, looking to the youth system for the future, and taking special time out to sympathise with the honest and hard-working staff and fans at Ibrox.

Perhaps the likes of Gough and McCann could do another honourable deed and give Hateley a call, solely to suggest he keeps his bitter, negative drivel to himself. Those who really care about Rangers would be entirely concerned about the situation at hand, instead of trying to score points with cheap slanderous comments against the other half of the Old Firm.

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Kenny Shiels: A shot in the arm for the SPL

By Ewan McQueen

Hitthebyline’s Ewan McQueen reveals why he thinks Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels has impacted positively in more ways than one on the Scottish game.

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The man in question – Killie boss, Kenny Shiels

Since filling the void left by the inimitable Mixu Paatelainen at Killie, an unlikely cult hero in Kenny Shiels has emerged, and has scarcely been away from the headlines.

Things didn’t look good at the start for Shiels, as the Northern Irishman failed to win any of his 8 games as caretaker manager of the Ayrshire club. Many doubted whether he even had it in him to carry on the Finn’s good work.

However, this season he has dragged his team by the scruff of the neck up to 6th position in the table, and has made many shrewd signings including his own son Dean, whilst at the same time retaining the easy-on-the-eye style of play introduced by his predecessor.

To put the icing on the cake for the Rugby Park faithful, he has also led Kilmarnock to their first cup final in five years, as his men now prepare to lock horns with the might of Neil Lennon’s Celtic on March 18th.

But there’s much more to Shiels than just his success on the pitch. As a wavering SPL continues to face the ever-present danger of becoming stagnant, Shiels has introduced a colourful personality to the league at just the right time, and his comments that have landed him in hot water are undoubtedly a breath of fresh air, regardless of whether you agree with him or not. I feel the strong criticism he’s had is completely wrong. Infact, his honesty is a quality that should be admired.

Until recently the Northern Irishman hadn’t really got involved in any spats with fellow managers.

Instead, he went about re-building the Kilmarnock team who had lost some real quality in terms of Conor Sammon, Craig Bryson and Alexi Eremenko in the previous two transfer windows.

But in the past few weeks Shiels has been involved in many disagreements that have threatened to overshadow the football on the pitch. The first of these came to light in the aftermath of Kilmarnock’s 1-0 win over their rivals Ayr United in the League Cup Semi Final.

Despite requiring extra-time to beat the first division side, Shiels’s side were utterly dominate throughout, having an incredible 31 shots on goal and also enjoying 69% of the possession.

Afterwards, many criticised the Kilmarnock manager for showing a lack of disrespect towards Brian Reid’s men by saying only one side had tried to win the game and said it would have been a travesty if his side hadn’t won the game.

But in my eyes, Shiels was well within his rights to say what he liked about the Ayr side. Despite being a part-time club, Ayr had already beaten Inverness, Hearts and St Mirren on their way to Hampden.

This was a game in which Ayr played for penalties, which when it was a derby game and a chance to return to Hampden was nothing short of disgraceful in my eyes.

All Shiels did was being honest about the standard of his opponents in the game. More managers should be like this rather than trying to be nice to all.

Shiels had just seen his side rack up 31 shots and enjoy 69% of the possession. In my eyes, Shiels was entirely justified to say only one side tried to win the game.

The following week Shiels and Kilmarnock found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat to Hibs. Afterwards, Shiels had a pop at Hibs goalkeeper Graham Stack who he said had held onto the ball for long periods of the game.

Some said he was having a moan for the sake of having a moan. But he had every right to be aggrieved. Stack had clearly timewasted during the game, and this is something that should be clamped down on by referees.

Instead of being lambasted, Shiels should have been praised for his honesty.

And now on to his biggest spat (so far). His argument with Hearts boss Paulo Sergio last week threatened to spill over into something akin to World War 3. And it certainly seems it won’t be ending anytime soon.

Once again, I really enjoyed Shiels’s honesty. He merely put himself in Sergio’s shoes and said he would stand up to Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov over his handling of the team.

For Sergio to label the Northern Irishman a “clown” was absolutely laughable.

The Portuguese man was the manager who was the clown when he refused to shake Shiels’s hand not once but twice when they played at Rugby Park last weekend. And then Sergio had an altercation with Dean Shiels at the final whistle, which again showed his immaturity.

So let’s hear it for Kenny Shiels; a man whose positivity and honesty has been a breath of fresh air for Scottish football.

Let’s hope it continues for a long time yet.

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A World Without Rangers?

Hitthebyline proudly presents our latest contributor, Edward Champagne. In “A World Without Rangers?”, Edward explores the potential pro’s and con’s of Rangers’ hypothetical expulsion from the SPL, given the problems that could ensue as the HMRC tax case draws to a conclusion.

By Edward Champagne

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As Rangers continue to wallow in the perpetual mire thrust upon them by the HMRC tax case and financial misery, one could be excused for beginning to ponder exactly how Scottish Football would be affected by the loss of one of its most successful and well supported teams.

In recent times Scottish football has been dominated by both Celtic and Rangers, with every SPL title since the league’s inception in 1998 having been won by one of the two Glasgow giants. This, however, hasn’t always been the case. In the 80’s both Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen and Jim McLean’s Dundee United won the league title. Who could also forget the memorable 1985 season? – When Alex McDonald’s Hearts side were pipped to the post by Davie Hay’s Celtic
Alex McDonald’s Hearts came so close in 1985 only to be pipped on the line by Davie Hay’s Celtic with the assistance of Dundee’s Albert Kidd.

The question on many fans’ lips in recent weeks is how would Scottish football fair if a Rangers “phoenix” club were not allowed to pick up the SPL licence from the club in administration and to continue to play in the Scottish top flight. Many argue that the loss of TV revenue provided by the Sky TV contract, and the reduced gate receipts would force SPL chairman to accept the new phoenix club back into the SPL, with at worst, a points deduction as punishment.

So for that reason it’s worth looking at the revenue available to SPL clubs. All revenues generated by the SPL in respect of TV, Radio and sponsorship are effectively put into one big pot. A support payment to the SFL and parachute payments to assist relegated clubs are then deducted from that pot.

The money left in the pot is then split to provide each club with 4% of the total revenue based on league participation and with the rest subsequently awarded to the club depending on their league position. The bonus system is heavily weighted towards the teams finishing as SPL winners and the team in the runners up position, with 32% of the overall budget going to these clubs.. Only once in the SPL existence have these slots failed to be filled by Celtic and Rangers when Hearts managed to knock Rangers into third position in season 2005/2006.  In season 2007/2008 which was ironically the last season were a SPL member club in Gretna went out of business, the SPL had £18m to distribute amongst its member clubs. It was split in the following manner:

Club SPL Revenue
Celtic £3.06m
Rangers £2.70m
Motherwell £1.71m
Aberdeen £1.53m
Dundee Utd £1.44m
Hibs £1.35m
Falkirk £1.26m
Hearts £1.17m
Inverness £1.08m
St Mirren £0.99m
Kilmarnock £0.90m
Gretna £0.81m

The table shows that although Celtic and Rangers shared 32% of the budget, the SPL commercial revenue split doesn’t explain the financial gulf between the big two and the rest of Scottish football.  This is more explained by the average attendances and commercial power that the Glasgow clubs have over their rivals and the fact that they are the only ones to ever receive the UEFA Champions League bounty. In season 2010/11 both Celtic and Rangers had 3 times more paying fans on average than nearest rivals Hearts.

Club

 Average Attendance in 2010/11

Celtic

48968

Rangers

45305

Hearts

14185

Hibernian

11756

Aberdeen

9129

Dundee Utd

7389

Kilmarnock

6427

Motherwell

5255

Inverness CT

4526

St Mirren

4450

St Johnstone

3841

Hamilton

2898

The SPL board made up of Ralph Topping (SPL Chairman), Neil Doncaster (SPL Chief Executive), Eric Riley (Celtic FC), Stephen Thompson (Dundee United FC), Derek Weir (Motherwell FC) and Steven Brown (St Johnstone FC) have to decide what punishment the Rangers phoenix club should endure although the first penalty would be taken out of their hands by parent association UEFA.

UEFA rules do not allow a club who has faced financial administration to participate in any of their European competitions for a period of 3 years. This UEFA financial Fair Play ruling was the reason that Harry Rednapp’s Portsmouth were not allowed to participate as an English representative in the UEFA Cup following their FA Cup win in 2008. This would mean that an extra SPL club would have the chance to gain a European place and the associated revenue which they maybe would have seen as beyond their reach

So the SPL Board have to decide if they want to punish Rangers with or without  a points deduction and grant the transfer of the league licence to play in the SPL or make the phoenix club start again at the bottom of SFL Division 3.

In the scenario that Rangers are demoted to Division 3, it would seem given Celtic’s financial advantage and recent points finishes in comparison to other SPL clubs I think it’s fair to say that they would start as overwhelming favourites to win the SPL but how could other clubs try to bridge the gap whilst Rangers worked their way back up the leagues? Increased attendances? Higher league finishing positions bonus?

When you take into account the limited SPL commercial revenues listed above it would seem that they couldn’t be used to bridge the massive revenue gap especially with a reduced TV contract caused by the lack of the 4 Old Firm TV games so attendances would need to drive the revenue increase.  A look at recent attendances in the SPL show little fluctuation amongst top six clubs e.g. Hearts figures show that regardless of league position they finish somewhere between 14 to 16 thousand and its unlikely they would increase beyond 20 thousand even with the potential of 2nd place.

If we look back to when the Old Firm didn’t dominate Scottish football in season 1983/84, the crowds were not dissimilar to the ones that some clubs are achieving now. This was despite the fact the Aberdeen were holders of the European Cup Winners Cup and their fans had recently seen them defeat the European giants of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  Scottish football fans of a certain vintage will also remember the excellent Dundee Utd team of the time who were the league champions and had exciting times in Europe beating Barcelona in the Nou Camp and reaching the Uefa Cup final against Gothenburg.

It would seem that for the other teams in Scottish football success would bring increased supporters no doubt but their average attendance would always have a ceiling due to their demographic. When you take into consideration the difference in football now and the absence of live TV the average attendances at the time are quite surprising

Average attendances 1983/84:

Rangers – 21,996
Celtic – 18,390
Aberdeen – 17,138
Hearts – 11,914
Dundee Utd – 10,894
Hibernian – 8,334
Dundee – 7,442
Motherwell – 5,566
St. Mirren – 4,900
St. Johnstone – 4,859

I think everyone in Scottish football would love to see the return of a competitive SPL and have teams from all parts of the country challenging for honours but this looks, given the evidence, to be wishful thinking. Football has changed dramatically since Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hearts were able to challenge the Old Firm and the financial gap is surely too large to bridge given the SPL winner each year would only move further away with the potential of Champions League money.

In summary, a large proportion of SPL fans will agree with the feelings of many Celtic fans that during the well documented period of Rangers’ financial mismanagement, the Ibrox club had an unfair spending advantage, and as such should be punished by the football authorities. The question is however, would that punishment be best served by demoting Rangers into Division 3?

There is no doubt that the dominance of the Old Firm in Scottish Football has caused the competition to become stale and I for one think the other teams would quite enjoy a shot at 2nd or 3rd place if only for 3 seasons. The new Rangers 2012 club clear of debt and with the sizeable support would inevitably return up to the SPL and return it back to a sense of normality in three seasons. One negative facing the SPL chairman would be the loss of 2 potential visits by Rangers to their ground for 3 seasons. However, this would only effect top six finishing clubs and in recent years only Hearts have enjoyed anything close to a full house with a game against Rangers so there is the potential to plug this gap with increased crowds due to their own team performance

The punishment to place Rangers in Division 3 will not change Scottish football dramatically and return it to past glories but it will give the other clubs a chance to compete for the reward of top places finishes, the chance to compete in Europe , give Scottish football a time to cool down with the absence of 4 Old Firm games a season and most importantly maintain sporting integrity