Interesting post, I've highlighted the bits some Rangers fans have found difficulty coming to terms with but it's a very balanced article - probably too balanced for here though http://www.theawayend.net/articles/opinion/1178-will-rangers-take-scottish-football-down-with-them Even in a summer full of extraordinary days for the football club formerly known as Rangers, Tuesday was a particularly dark one. It began with Jamie Ness deciding he wanted to take no part in the NewCo, no matter what league they happen to be performing in next season. By the afternoon that had been overtaken by the news that Raith Rovers, along with Falkirk and Livingston would definitely be voting no in allowing the new club to start off their SFL life in the First Division. By the evening however these events were placed into the shadows by the news Allan McGregor and club captain Steven Davis would also be leaving the club. The drip feed of each new crisis since the scandal began has been replaced with daily crises. Like a clowns car being driven into a circus big top, the club now seems to be constantly just minutes away from a fresh problem. In this circumstance however, unlike the car, this shambles cant be so easily reassembled. Since the story broke about financial mismanagement at Ibrox, the severity of the rule breaking and the distance that Rangers would fall because of it has grown and grown. What began as a ten point deduction has snowballed into the liquidation of the club and the hitherto unimaginable scenario where any new team which may take their place don't know which league they'll be in next season, if indeed they play in one at all. With each new dilemma some Rangers fans have reacted with incredulity at the perceived injustices that has been placed on the club. The points deduction, the transfer embargo, fines, SPL expulsion, and now clubs arguing that they shouldn't be allowed to leapfrog the bottom two leagues, just doesn't seem right to some Rangers supporters who see it less a punishment and more a witch hunt. They have a point to a degree. Many fans of the other 41 clubs are less concerned with sporting integrity and more interested in seeing a club that they dislike, or in some cases hate, humiliated. On the opposite side of the fence the scare mongering from Ibrox that Scottish football would die without them is also a story dreamt up out of desperation for self-preservation. Indeed back in October 2009 Walter Smith suggested that Scottish football would actually be in a better state if the Old Firm left altogether to join a European league. It seems a strange u-turn to now suggest that the game in Scotland would wither away in their absence. What shouldn't be forgotten amongst this sorry tale is that while Rangers elimination from the SPL may hit already cash strapped clubs in the pocket, Rangers duplicitous means of operation has actually helped to contribute to that situation. By avoiding tax and assembling a squad that no-one in Scotland could match, they hoarded trophies and success, success that otherwise would have been spread more evenly amongst other clubs. When it comes to Scottish football, any of the smaller clubs taking on one half of the old firm has always been a case of David versus Goliath. For the small guy to emerge victorious it needs luck, skill and hard work. It also requires Goliath to play by the rules and for years it appears that Rangers haven't been doing that. How many goals, saves and tackles have been made over the last 15 seasons by footballers who, under normal circumstances wouldn't have been playing in the blue of Rangers? Would they have won titles and cups without the aid of EBT'S? Of course they would, but certainly not as many. Not only have the fans of Celtic been denied even more titles, but the supporters of other clubs have been prevented from days in the sun that come around all too infrequently in the Scottish game. Clubs in this country have all been denied shots at glory and the possibility of seeing their team lift silverware due to the owner of a Glasgow giant deciding that using the cash of around 50,000 season ticket holders just wasn't enough of an advantage. Players too, in a career that is all too short, have been given less chance of collecting winners medals or experiencing the thrill of a cup final. While its hard not to have some sympathy for Rangers and their fans, the selfishness that the owners have shown towards the rest of Scottish football has made it difficult for the majority of other supporters to offer even the smallest olive branch of support. It's a damning indictment of the situation that the club finds itself in at the moment that no-one is entirely sure what Rangers are even called anymore. NewCo, SevCo, Club 12, The Rangers or whatever it may be known as next week has arrived at this destination not because of the SPL or the SFA. Any punishment they received had no bearing on their liquidation, indeed fans of Dundee, Livingston or even Hamilton, a club once deducted 15 points for failing to fulfil a fixture, could all argue that Rangers got off lightly given the circumstances. Rangers demise has instead stemmed from greed, mismanagement, egotism and financial chicanery. As the 3 man independent panel that initially ruled on the case explained, the rule breaking was so severe that only match fixing could have been deemed worse. As for where the new club plays next season, again, playing in Division Three isn't a punishment. Rangers are gone, they no longer exist. So as with Annan, Elgin, Inverness and Ross County, any new club coming into the SFL starts at the bottom, that's simply the rules. If only Rangers had adhered to the rules previously then they, and Scottish football at large, wouldn't be in the mire it currently finds itself in. Will the game die without Rangers in the top league? Of course not, but it will change and it'll involve into something slightly different. It wont necessarily be better, it wont definitely be worse, but its death is greatly exaggerated.
It should be a more competitive league. Plus, the air will be cleaner without those hun **** pollutants.
If Rangers had been a horse your cheating would have been stopped 20 years ago , the authorities wouldn't have a turned a blind eye to it , like the sfa have .
TRUE but if im backing the one horse then im happier at the one horse race no? (alhtough the odds are ****e )
Harry, I cannot understand why T brings horses into it. If a horse attempted to do what Rangers did it would have been shot down years ago. Who is T wanting to be shot? An injured horse is killed to be put out of its misery. Who is T expecting to be put out of their misery ?
Well Mr T, it seems that super has thrown in a very valid question for you and possibly stopped you dead in your tracks. have you the intellectual capacity to go head to head with him?
Renewed confidence that they can come in second? For a season or two there will be one more Euro place up for grabs. This will disappear as the teams get pumped out in the first tie every year.
I may have the mental edge but it's likely to be my will and stamina that give out first. Anyway here goes: superhops why do you always try and twist anything is ay int o to suit your agenda?>? I gave an anal ogy of life in the SPL with the mighty rangers and# you seem to thunk i want some **** shot. At the momenet I would shoot your da in punshment for not spunking on yer ma's tits.
Yes and currently how many do Scotland have? Given that previously two of these spots were going to Rangers and Celtic, with Rangers demise there is only one more spot available to the rest of the league. That extra spot that they are now able to compete for will disappear pretty quickly after the repeated humiliation that Hibs, Hearts, Dundee Utd etc all seem to suffer. The coefficient then gets ****ed with only Celtic able to maybe get a few results. The place is then lost and the 'increased competition' in the league without Rangers is nullified as there will be less reward for finishing higher up the table. Hope I'm wrong.
Did you actually pay attention to the league/cup runs last season? Also, clubs other than Celtic having a shot at Europe is a huge incentive for the likes of Motherwell/Hibs/Hearts/Aberdeen(lolz) to raise their game and hopefully their boards to invest more in their teams. rangers dying will be the making of the SPL for ALL clubs concerned. Even Club 12, whoever they may be.
Negative, negative, negative ****e. Why don't you **** off and support your NewCo with your 13 players in whatever ****ing league they fix it for you to play in. If anybody has ****ed Scottish football up it's you ****s with your corrupt tax avoidance, double contracts etc. You've got some brass neck coming on here moralising to the rest of us. Follow Follow is that way ----> Oh aye, I'm beelin' you hysterical huns
But there will only be one additional place with Rangers gone and one home game in Europe (huge chance they will get papped out by a Faeroese/Welsh/Irish team) is not worth heavy investment for clubs that are by and large going through extremely difficult times. The benefit of that one extra place available to them will be short lived once the coefficient gets ****ed up. The SPL clubs cannot afford to have ambition while they struggle to survive.
I don't suppose you've the Euromillions numbers for the weekend, do ye? Cloth will be cut accordingly, but to think everyone is going to suffer because of the self inflicted demise of your team is just wishful thinking. And say they do suffer, it's rangers' fault. They brought on the changes. Every rangers fan should be begging for forgiveness for supporting such a vile cheating **** of an institution. Nae offence.
The next season will see a drop in the co-efficient because Motherwell will get pumped, probably at the first hurdle (although i hope I'm wrong) and even if Celtic do qualify for the group stages of the CL we won't get much further. The next two (maybe three) seasons will also likely see a drop in the co-efficient because the team that replaces Rangers is inelligible to compete in European competitions (even if they are somehow involved in the top flight). Celtic will be the only ones capable of putting up a half decent fight in European competitions during this period. Even then we'll probably have to down size, at least in the short term, which will hurt our prospects. Unless an existing team emerges to challenge us domestically and spare our Country's blushes in Europe we have to wait on the Rangers replacement team rebuilding and able to mount a respectable campaign. That won't happen overnight. Celtic will be big losers financially if (when) this happens and other teams may go to the wall. We should see a restructuring, though, that could create a more level playing field (pardon the pun) for all the diddy teams in the longer term. If done correctly it could also be a platform for the development of young Scotish talent. Of course that will require the head honchos at the SFA, SPL and SFL to act in the best interests of developing youth football and that is by no means certain. Regardless of what happens next, there lies a tough few years ahead for all of us. Not just for whatever company tries to dress itself up as the new Rangers.
