Tam Cowan By Tam Cowan Tam Cowan: I know one title that should be lost over Rangers saga.. why should Sir David Murray get off scot free? 2 Mar 2013 00:01 AS a Motherwell fan I couldn’t care less about title stripping and, quite frankly, I was utterly bored by this entire debate - but I still think Sir David Murray should pay-up. David Murray David Murray Is it any wonder Lord Nimmo Smith has been getting it in the neck? A £250,000 fine for the oldco Rangers? What’s the point? However, I’d like to say a kind word for the big man. After that 1-1 draw with Stirling Albion on Tuesday night, perhaps the compassionate soul simply felt the Rangers fans had already suffered enough. (Memo to all bluenoses calling for Neil Doncaster’s resignation after accusations of ineptitude: I trust you also want the entire Rangers team to resign after that farce at Forthbank?) No title stripping means big celebrations for Rangers’ fans. I hear the punters who travelled to Berwick last week have already organised a sing-song ... and goodness only knows how John Brown will be able to concentrate on tomorrow’s cup clash at Dens Park. As a Motherwell fan I couldn’t care less about title stripping and, quite frankly, I was utterly bored by this entire debate. As I mentioned in a previous column we’d only have been affected if Rangers risked losing the 2003 League Cup Final in which they gubbed Motherwell 5-1. Sorry, but if we’d suddenly been awarded that particular trophy – on the back of such a pummelling – I don’t think we’d organise a conga line down Airbles Road before urging the club to release an official souvenir DVD. Anyway, let’s get real. How could £47m of secret payments to players possibly have given Rangers an advantage over a club paying guys £500 a week? That’s just bonkers, eh ...? The Celtic fans should give it a break as well. Listen, Bhoys, forget about how much dosh was being trousered via side letters ... do you really want to keep drawing attention to the fact Celtic were denied titles by diddies such as Flo, Bonnissel, Capucho, Muscat, Vignal and Ostenstad? If anything, it sounds as if Rangers’ EBT scheme should have given Celtic a clear advantage! In saying that I’d still like to ask some pertinent questions. Why did Rangers need an EBT scheme if there was supposedly no benefit or advantage from it? And would the top players (not the aforementioned duds) even have thought about a move to Ibrox if payments hadn’t been topped up with a tasty EBT? As Jim Royle would say, no advantage my arse. Still, I’m genuinely glad for the diehard Rangers supporters. As I’ve stated since day one of this sorry saga you can’t blame the fans for the club’s collapse. These punters who’d pumped millions into Rangers were innocent bystanders, the victims of gross mismanagement at boardroom level. I think they should now invite Sir David Murray to pay the £250,000 fine – personally – and then we should all move on. Considering we hadn’t heard a cheep from Murray for ages – The Silence of the Succulent Lambs – I can’t believe he’s now bleating about a “witch-hunt” against Rangers. Gie’s peace, chief. “Efforts to bayonet the wounded are unjustified,” says the man whose winding-up order effectively closed Airdrieonians. Lord Nimmo Smith certainly didn’t miss Murray. “David Murray and his directors must bear a heavy responsibility for deliberate, serious and long-term rule-breaking over Rangers’ use of EBTs.” Ouch! I thought Sir Dave had promised (on camera) that all dual contracts were above board and fully disclosed to the SFA? Mind you, after claiming – preposterously – that he was “duped” by Craig Whyte I wouldn’t believe Murray if he chapped my door and told me Daniel O’Donnell was a crap singer. Murray’s the man who put the oldco into a financial mess before bailing out for the princely sum of £1. But there will be no punishment for the main culprit, the guy now directly responsible for Rangers playing Third Division football. In fact, you could argue Lord Nimmo Smith gave him an easier ride than some of his old pals in the Scottish media (I still can’t believe three or four lackeys in the press weren’t on that EBT list). Looking at the legacy of Murray, hands up all the Rangers fans who can think of one title that should be stripped? PS. Did you see the pics of Lord Nimmo Smith in yesterday’s papers? Might be wrong – and it’s got nothing to do with the case – but I think that’s a wig.
There are a few finding by LNS, which due to the overall ruling are being given far less attention than IMO they are due. 1. Rfc directors deliberately with held the EBT payments so that they were not transparent to the tax man. He said that the directors were complicit in this and culpable. 2. Due to the FTT ruling LNS. Has to treat the EBT payments as legal. 3. The UTT HMRC is pending. He cover this in the last pages. I believe this latter point is the focus of his ruling and combined with point 1 above may yet bring about barcabhoys ( KDS ) prediction of a nuclear event. Is LNS finding on point 1 above just the beginning? If, HMRC win the UTT or the Supreme Court ruling on the EBTs and consequently they are deemed Tax Evasion and so ILLEGAL PAYMENTS then point 1 above becomes crucial. The widespread assumption has been that the criminal investigation surrounded CW, who has remained very very calm about it all. However, he may have reason. Point 1 above by LNS. Implicates the directors of the former club. One of those directors is currently President of the SFA. Have we just witnessed step 1 in the nuclear event? BDO have remained surprisingly mute. Are they awaiting the outcome of the BTC? If it turns out that the payments were in fact tax evasion and so illegal, would UEFA and FIFA become concerned and involved? Title stripping may not be completely off the table. UEFA would surely have to eject the perpetrator club from football, but they are liquidated, so they would have to declare SEVCO as a new club. A lot hinges on the BTC outcome either as UTT. Or SC. Barclays Bank closed down their division which dealt with EBTs and have advised clients to negotiate a settlement with HMRC.
**** sake, how many abbreviations can you fit into one post, that will take some beating. FTP GSTQ WATP YER MAW
I see you're still showing your ignorance. "Rangers" are not a 3rd division team- they don't exist any more. And resorting to name-calling - my my, you really are in a strop. Didn't realise you were so sensitive. Face it Pud, you didn't know what you were talking about in your original post, as by your own admission, you hadn't given it much thought which was obvious by its content.
Wrong Gambol - thought you had more sense! We in the Celtic family are capable and tolerant of independent thought and are also perfectly capable of having a reasonable discussion even if we disagree - unlike many of your fellow Sevco fans who seem only to have the mental capacity for one-liner gibes and insults. Edit: Apologies, in appreciation of the sense of disorientation and confusion felt by fans of your 3rd division club, for 'Sevco' please read 'Existential Rangers' - the new name, kindly and very thoughtfully, provided by Reb and RL.
Eh...where in my post in response to you did I resort to name calling ?? Making stuff up... a common theme on here by 1 or the 2.
