Is Scottish Football heading For Oblivion

[Tom0411 1,226]

Take tickets for away games but nothing else, no pies, Bovrils or Cokes etc..And if possible don't eat or drink in the local hostelries let the whole towns feel the pain.

 

[rbt1548 1,839]

It is a well thought out article, luckily, I don't go on facebook, twitter etc., nor do I check the various forums and petitions that are set up for the sole purpose of trying to wipe Rangers from the face of the earth. I feel, if I did, it would only serve to drive me mad at the obsessed, sometimes incoherent,  ramblings of the self educated,(?), tax and cheating experts that seem to congregate with their fellow experts on these sites.

They wrote to, and I am sure they are still writing to, their club's chairmen in droves demanding this sanction and that sanction be imposed on Rangers and if the chairman doesn't do as requested the threat of not buying season tickets is waived in front of them, well the chairmen all got together and gave Rangers a severe 'slapping', punishments that were way over the top in comparison to other clubs who had been in a similar debt position, this was even before the result of the tax case, 'innocent until proven guilty????', not in Scottish football it's not. We all know what they wanted to do and we, or should I say the club, should have fought it. I accept the points deduction for the debt, that is a standard ruling, but it was the rest of the punishment the board should have fought, punishments dished out before a guilty verdict, if we were to be punished it should have been after a guilty verdict. In Dude's article he is correct Scottish football is hating itself to death, after all their furore of threatening to do this and that, what has happened?, sell out Saturday????, that wasn't a great success, in fact it was laughable, I don't think all the premier games together that week  added up to the attendance at Ibrox for our home game, the lower league clubs prospered while the so called bigger league foundered and to this day clubs are still suffering and will continue to do so for a few years yet. The haters are that intent on doing damage to Rangers are oblivious to the damage they are doing to their own clubs, as been stated many times before, they hate Rangers more than they love their own clubs, and I don't just mean Celtic supporters, it's the lot of them!

Without going back into the debate about boycotting away games, it goes without saying that we, as a support, could inflict massive financial damage to a lot of these clubs in a short period of time by not taking our allocation. At present, I wouldn't like to see a boycott, I go to the majority of away games myself and enjoy the day out going to see The Rangers and a couple of beers. Something has to be done though to put these people,( whose sole reason for living it seems is hating Rangers and anything or anyone connected to the club), in their place, but it needs to come from the board, they need to grow a set, there's no use putting out strongly worded statements and then just sitting back, continue the fight, take the fight to them!, do what you think is needed and do it now!, if we don't they will keep on gnawing away at us like a cancer.

I, for one, would love to get us out of this cesspit of hate that is Scottish football, but that seems very, very unlikely unless there is a major shake up in European football demanded by the TV companies. I'm no expert on employment law but if there is free movement throughout Europe, ( pre Brexit), enabling workers to work where they want, why not the same for businesses or sporting institutions? Fanciful, I know, but one can hope.

We are, at present, indeed stuck here, and while we are here, the haters will continue to hate through some self-righteous belief that they are the moral guardians of Scottish football, when in reality, as the Dude states, they are, through their actions contributing to putting  " Scottish Football on the brink of oblivion due to hate".

It's up to them, continue if they will?, but we as a club and support will be here long after they have gone.

[Rosebery1872 78]

2 hours ago, WATP-FOREVER said:

Should be that Scotland is heading for oblivion - and the only way to stop it is to get rid of those inherent timmigrant fuckers anyone with an inclination to fly a tricolour, support hibs or the other fenian oirish club must be extradited to the land they sing of.

or have their throat s(l)ash-ed happy either way

[Ozblue 4,331]

58 minutes ago, Siam69 said:

The only vague explanation that I can come up with is that the most vocal have spent so much time and money being peddled nonsense by various Celtic bloggers that they simply NEED whatever fairy tale they've been spun to be true. Whether it's a 'Club Stand' season ticket holder; an Irish resident 'tarred with a sickening sectarian brush' or any of the others who've made more than a few quid off people's gullibility, many have spent five or six years making 'donations' and won't accept they've had the wool pulled over their eyes. Even now their preferred bloggers will be cooking up their latest fantasy to grab as they ask for their readers' hard money. Some of them are so entrenched in their positions that they'll argue that tax expert QC is wrong on the legality of EBTs and they, from their learned position as a part-time delivery driver for the local Chinese, are in fact correct. At one one point they even took out an advert in a Swiss newspaper bearing the tagline 'Persistence Beats Resistance' however, in reality, you can persist in telling the world that the sky is red and you'll always be wrong.

Nail on the head, the thick as fuck cunts.

What a way to lead your life, in some fantasy world, where you allegedly support Celtic, but eat, breath and sleep Rangers, first thing in the morning, last thing at night.

Mental, and I do mean mental.

Funny as fuck as well, great value, can't wait for the meltdown later, glorious 

Here's yer Man

 

[Moody Blue 9,356]

Opposing fans obsession with all things Rangers vastly outweigh support for their own club. They can deny it all the want but it's true. When they got what they wanted in 2012 and we were demoted, it was that nugget 'sporting integrity' for Scottish Football that was banded about and all other clubs would be better for it-well they're not. Then sell-out Saturday was promoted; a weekend where the rest of attendances put together was less than the one at Ibrox for a 3rd division game.

They also believed there would be a greater spread of wealth and other clubs becoming stronger to challenge 'them' while we were out of the league, again wrong.  They contributed to 'them' sailing over the horizon and the season they had last year, which again serves nothing for the long term good of Scottish football. That to me confirms there is no thought process of what is for the benefit of the game here but all out concern for Rangers and how we can be ended.

Well, despite their threats, efforts and ongoing attacks, we are still here, standing and yes still recovering from our wounds. However, like any wounded animal, back them in to a corner and you better be prepared for the inevitable attack back and they simply aren't. At some point we will get stronger, get our house in order and retake what is ours. The only team that will take the championship from them is us and everyone knows it, it is only a matter of time as these things do go in cycles. Problem is, longer it's left the more money plays a part in the game as we have all seen this summer. Luckily, they can get transfer fees and champ league money all they want, they cannot max out of in Scottish football because of everyone else's obsession with us dragging the game though the gutter so it has no huge income on its own. We need to find significant investment or income streams or unearth a gem that brings us a good selling on fee. When we do challenge, and go on to win, watch this whole country go in to meltdown. 

Its highly likely that Scottish football would be in an enhanced position if they showed the same passion for their own clubs that they do for stripping titles, Ebt's and generally all things Rangers. Sadly they don't or won't. 

Sorry for long rant. 

[loyalfollower 1,543]

It could certainly end that way. The sheep and Dundee Utd etc can't even sell their home allocations against us or them so what happens if even less fans turn up?  

Whilst id love every other supporter of other clubs in Scotland's top division to feel the the pain we had to endure-common sense tells me otherwise.  These threats of boycotts would almost certainly lead to a serious lack of competition and that is what it's all about.

you can dislike your fellow employees but still work together to get better results.

i for one still can't believe the emphasis on title stripping compared to allegations of child abuse across football. Now that is sad

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

Scottish Football is slowly dying and the hatred is just helping it along. 

As for The Dude writing for the Rhebel good on him, you can't claim it's a taig infested comic then have a pop at a Bear when he gets his chance to right the balance a bit. Also when the Rhebel knocks his blogs back he tells us and puts it out anyway making them look even more like the bigoted twats we know they are. 

[thebooler 4,509]

Surely he's a bit late with that prediction?

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

4 hours ago, Ozblue said:

I have just read an article written by 'The Dude' entitled "Is Scottish Football on the brink of hating itself into oblivion". I know the Dude got a lot of criticism on here because he was writing a blog for a publication that are totally 100% anti-Rangers and the feeling was that he would be under pressure to write from a Rangers perspective which would be totally opposed by the head Rangers hating bigots of said publication.

Now I don't know if this article will be allowed to be printed by TDR, but if not, then I applaud the Dude for writing such a piece, which I totally agree on and could end Scottish Football as we know it.

I've C&P the article here.

Do you agree with the Dude? or do you think he's talking shite?

 

 

For as long as anyone can remember there have always been certain areas of Scottish football which, to most right-minded people, is utterly ridiculous, however, the last few weeks have taken a very sinister twist and it’s getting to the point where it’s causing damage to the game that just might be irreparable. Now, anyone that has read blogs I've written in the past, heard me on podcasts or even seen my stuff on social media will find it hard to disagree that I am genuinely passionate about Scottish football.I started my 'career' covering youth games across the Central Belt for nothing more than the occasional free pie and a Bovril. As garbage as the 'product' on the pitch can be, I love it. There's, unquestionably, better football available all around the planet but, at the end of the day, Scottish football is what I watch most of and what I enjoy most but the sheer hatred aimed towards Rangers over the last few weeks is reaching a point where it can't be ignored any longer.

Over the best part of the last decade, one of the main topics of discussion has been the issues over the use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) and the long-term dispute over whether they were loans or taxable as part of the players' contracted financial package; the details of what has gone on are easy to find so I'll not go over them again but since the Supreme Court's decision that EBT's were contractual and therefore taxable, Scottish football has been on the brink of ripping itself apart. Supporters groups have released statements demanding investigations and stripping of titles, Celtic have demanded an independent review of an independent review they spearheaded in 2013 and fans of clubs across the SPFL Premiership have threatened boycotts of their respective clubs and sponsors. There's also a slew of petitions online (one of which, comically, has more people signed up than 8 of the 12 Premiership clubs get through the turnstiles on a typical match day).

Later today, the SPFL is expected to release a statement confirming that there will be no new investigation or new sanctions in light of the Supreme Court's decision and I half expect some fans, and I don't mean Rangers fans, will go supernova when their worst fear is confirmed and it's announced that the findings of the 2013 Lord Nimmo Smith commission that they rushed to convene is binding and there is no change in the SPFL's position. I don't even mind the nonsense about Rangers apparently 'cheating' and somehow having an unfair advantage over other clubs; it's an easily dismissed point and just makes its proponents look ridiculous as they argue a company's tax efficiency is related to sporting performance; Arsenal also used EBTs at a similar time to Rangers and I've yet to hear the argument they had some sort of advantage by doing so.

The problem is the almost life-or-death aura that's surrounded it all in recent days and weeks. Over the last 48 hours or so I've seen it compared as a 'cover-up' in the same manner that the Hillsborough disaster was proven to be. Aye, that's right. Someone put the deaths of 96 people at a football match on the same level as NOT PAYING THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TAX! Honestly, this isn't something any rational person should even think privately never mind publicly state on Twitter. I'm by no means a 'high-profile' member of the online Scottish football 'community' but I attract a fair number of utterly bonkers Celtic fans but, by and large, they are all harmless enough and probably feel a wee bit empowered by some of the anonymity provided by websites like Twitter, Facebook and various forums but there is an ever-growing number who seem to struggle to remember the relative seriousness of the 'offence' they spend so much of their time and money on in the name of 'justice'. The only vague explanation that I can come up with is that the most vocal have spent so much time and money being peddled nonsense by various Celtic bloggers that they simply NEED whatever fairy tale they've been spun to be true. Whether it's a 'Club Stand' season ticket holder; an Irish resident 'tarred with a sickening sectarian brush' or any of the others who've made more than a few quid off people's gullibility, many have spent five or six years making 'donations' and won't accept they've had the wool pulled over their eyes. Even now their preferred bloggers will be cooking up their latest fantasy to grab as they ask for their readers' hard money. Some of them are so entrenched in their positions that they'll argue that tax expert QC is wrong on the legality of EBTs and they, from their learned position as a part-time delivery driver for the local Chinese, are in fact correct. At one one point they even took out an advert in a Swiss newspaper bearing the tagline 'Persistence Beats Resistance' however, in reality, you can persist in telling the world that the sky is red and you'll always be wrong.

When the SPFL's statement is released later today it won't change a thing. With a section of fans proposing crowd funding a judicial review of the Lord Nimmo Smith decision, which the then-SPL members insisted upon a full four years before the outcome of Rangers' tax case, it's not going to get better any time soon either. What comes out of Celtic tomorrow once will also make for an interesting reading. I'm not convinced that Peter Lawwell stepped away from the SPFL board for any other reason than he can dispute it as Celtic Chief Executive despite having been a participant in every meeting involving the SPFL board to come to their stance. Celtic have as much an obligation as anyone to move on, realise they tried to get their pound of flesh in 2013 and accept that Rangers have already been punished.

If Celtic and the fans of other clubs don't, and they continue to push what should be a non-existent issue, they might just end up with victims of their own hatred.

 

 

 

 

 

@The Dude well written article - much better than some of the claptrap other bloggers and sites have done and yet doesn't muss any targets. 

[Dazzler 2,428]

2 hours ago, rbt1548 said:

It is a well thought out article, luckily, I don't go on facebook, twitter etc., nor do I check the various forums and petitions that are set up for the sole purpose of trying to wipe Rangers from the face of the earth. I feel, if I did, it would only serve to drive me mad at the obsessed, sometimes incoherent,  ramblings of the self educated,(?), tax and cheating experts that seem to congregate with their fellow experts on these sites.

They wrote to, and I am sure they are still writing to, their club's chairmen in droves demanding this sanction and that sanction be imposed on Rangers and if the chairman doesn't do as requested the threat of not buying season tickets is waived in front of them, well the chairmen all got together and gave Rangers a severe 'slapping', punishments that were way over the top in comparison to other clubs who had been in a similar debt position, this was even before the result of the tax case, 'innocent until proven guilty????', not in Scottish football it's not. We all know what they wanted to do and we, or should I say the club, should have fought it. I accept the points deduction for the debt, that is a standard ruling, but it was the rest of the punishment the board should have fought, punishments dished out before a guilty verdict, if we were to be punished it should have been after a guilty verdict. In Dude's article he is correct Scottish football is hating itself to death, after all their furore of threatening to do this and that, what has happened?, sell out Saturday????, that wasn't a great success, in fact it was laughable, I don't think all the premier games together that week  added up to the attendance at Ibrox for our home game, the lower league clubs prospered while the so called bigger league foundered and to this day clubs are still suffering and will continue to do so for a few years yet. The haters are that intent on doing damage to Rangers are oblivious to the damage they are doing to their own clubs, as been stated many times before, they hate Rangers more than they love their own clubs, and I don't just mean Celtic supporters, it's the lot of them!

Without going back into the debate about boycotting away games, it goes without saying that we, as a support, could inflict massive financial damage to a lot of these clubs in a short period of time by not taking our allocation. At present, I wouldn't like to see a boycott, I go to the majority of away games myself and enjoy the day out going to see The Rangers and a couple of beers. Something has to be done though to put these people,( whose sole reason for living it seems is hating Rangers and anything or anyone connected to the club), in their place, but it needs to come from the board, they need to grow a set, there's no use putting out strongly worded statements and then just sitting back, continue the fight, take the fight to them!, do what you think is needed and do it now!, if we don't they will keep on gnawing away at us like a cancer.

I, for one, would love to get us out of this cesspit of hate that is Scottish football, but that seems very, very unlikely unless there is a major shake up in European football demanded by the TV companies. I'm no expert on employment law but if there is free movement throughout Europe, ( pre Brexit), enabling workers to work where they want, why not the same for businesses or sporting institutions? Fanciful, I know, but one can hope.

We are, at present, indeed stuck here, and while we are here, the haters will continue to hate through some self-righteous belief that they are the moral guardians of Scottish football, when in reality, as the Dude states, they are, through their actions contributing to putting  " Scottish Football on the brink of oblivion due to hate".

It's up to them, continue if they will?, but we as a club and support will be here long after they have gone.

Please don't ever get into an online argument with @Reformation Bear the forum would implode with the length of the posts!

[cushynumber 25,178]

NOT ANYMORE ITS NOT HAHAHAHAHAHHA

[The Dude 20,026]

1 hour ago, Courtyard Bear said:

Scottish Football is slowly dying and the hatred is just helping it along. 

As for The Dude writing for the Rhebel good on him, you can't claim it's a taig infested comic then have a pop at a Bear when he gets his chance to right the balance a bit. Also when the Rhebel knocks his blogs back he tells us and puts it out anyway making them look even more like the bigoted twats we know they are. 

As I've said from the beginning, judge it on what I put out and not where it's published. There's only so much you can write on Rangers sites and blogs that gets an audience outwith our own and, imo at least, that's what we should be aiming for.

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

Just now, The Dude said:

As I've said from the beginning, judge it on what I put out and not where it's published. There's only so much you can write on Rangers sites and blogs that gets an audience outwith our own and, imo at least, that's what we should be aiming for.

I agree, we won't change the flow of the media but screaming on the internet. 

[cushynumber 25,178]

Just now, The Dude said:

As I've said from the beginning, judge it on what I put out and not where it's published. There's only so much you can write on Rangers sites and blogs that gets an audience outwith our own and, imo at least, that's what we should be aiming for.

aye, you have won me round in that respect.

[The Dude 20,026]

3 minutes ago, cushynumber said:

aye, you have won me round in that respect.

The best example of it I can give is the huge difference between GTBFO & the Record's reach. If I get a single article on GTBFO over 5 figures in page views then it's a success relative to the other stuff we do. I'll hit those numbers within an hour or two with the Record.

[Blueshoff 11,814]

??why can't we all just love each other ?⚘

[Reformation Bear 6,453]

5 hours ago, K.A.I said:

It's already in oblivion 

Yes.   It's just that the practical end state of football oblivion is not yet recognised or accepted by many.    

[dougie76 15,359]

Thing's are looking better today

[KeyserSoze 14,545]

2 hours ago, Dazzler said:

Please don't ever get into an online argument with @Reformation Bear the forum would implode with the length of the posts!

It's a  shame but I'm afraid I tend to skip them now tbh. They are just well too long for me, but probs good for others to be fair to him.

[Brian Fantana 28,894]

so the dudes just catching up to what we all knew for years? Wow, he really is fitting in well at the daily retard.

[The Dude 20,026]

8 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

so the dudes just catching up to what we all knew for years? Wow, he really is fitting in well at the daily retard.

Not particularly catching up but seeing it becoming far more than the usual twitter fuckwits shouting Sevco. They can shout cheats as long as they want but making comparisons with stuff like Hillsborough is a decidedly more sinister tone than has existed previously.

[AlCapone 7,678]

2 hours ago, The Dude said:

As I've said from the beginning, judge it on what I put out and not where it's published. There's only so much you can write on Rangers sites and blogs that gets an audience outwith our own and, imo at least, that's what we should be aiming for.

correct, box clever and win the PR war

[Brian Fantana 28,894]

4 minutes ago, The Dude said:

Not particularly catching up but seeing it becoming far more than the usual twitter fuckwits shouting Sevco. They can shout cheats as long as they want but making comparisons with stuff like Hillsborough is a decidedly more sinister tone than has existed previously.

there's peaks and troughs for this talk from all the others in the league but it's been there since our demotion. This will blow over again in a few months but in terms of the actual outcome being oblivion - we are a baw hair away because as soon as UEFA decide that Scottish football is non competitive and ultimately shite and therefore remove our access to the CL, we will become even more of a back water than we currently are and clubs will fold or they become glorified amateurs.

[The Dude 20,026]

1 minute ago, Brian Fantana said:

there's peaks and troughs for this talk from all the others in the league but it's been there since our demotion. This will blow over again in a few months but in terms of the actual outcome being oblivion - we are a baw hair away because as soon as UEFA decide that Scottish football is non competitive and ultimately shite and therefore remove our access to the CL, we will become even more of a back water than we currently are and clubs will fold or they become glorified amateurs.

Every UEFA member (bar one) has CL access and it's not likely to be removed anytime soon otherwise UEFA will see most of their member nations withdraw completely.

[thebooler 4,509]

4 hours ago, Blueshoff said:

??why can't we all just love each other ?⚘

Cos half of yeez are ugly. ?