bluechip

IS the treatment of Hearts fair? Absolutely not. Must it continue unabated and without mercy? Sadly, there can be no other way. What we are currently witnessing at Tynecastle is unedifying, bordering on inhumane. Gary Locke has been forced into a position where he has no choice but to flog the life out of his youngsters who are now dropping to their knees in the utter exhaustion of fighting what has been, from the outset, an impossible task. They are only half way through but Hearts are goners already. And the more squeamish may very well feel like looking the other way for the second half of this season as they stagger and stumble towards their own demise. This is heartbreaking cruelty in every conceivable way. But Scottish football must not be allowed to avert its gaze. Not for one single second. Rather, it should be strapped into a seat and forced to sit through every gory moment of this collapse. Scottish football has done this to Hearts and now it must watch every last consequence of its actions, no matter how harrowing it may become. Promising young players may be left broken in spirit and body. They may be cast aside and unable ever to fully recover from the traumas of this campaign. So be it. Locke too may never be the same again given what he has had to endure in this, his first ever managerial post. Already his credentials for the job are being debated and dissected. In some cases, he has been dismissed as some wet behind the ears, lame duck of a boss who has neither the know-how nor the work ethic to save Hearts from their fate. This picking on Locke is savage and unnecessary and almost wholly unfounded. After all, how can any reasonable assessment be made on Locke?s qualities or otherwise as a manager when he has been placed in a position which leaves him almost entirely unable to manage? Unlike his peers, he can neither buy new players nor even loan them, which means he must make do with what little he has on the books. Hearts' players are suffering And yet, so sparse is his squad that Locke is not afforded even the most basic managerial prerogative of choosing a starting XI. He has no choice but to count heads and send them out. No matter if these players are suffering from loss of form or even fitness. Locke?s only option is to run these youngsters into the ground until the time comes when either Hearts are unable to fulfill their fixtures or, in order to keep up the pretence that they are still a functioning football club, filling up maroon shirts with school children and sending them out to be humiliated by grown-up professionals. All in the name of sporting integrity. Under these circumstances it is simply not possible to judge Locke?s managerial merits one way or the other. He is not managing Hearts. He is merely enabling them to keep up this pretence until the club has taken its last breath in the top flight. Anyone who cannot acknowledge that their fate was predetermined before he had given them his first team talk must be a fool. Yes, Locke is learning on the job and will have made mistakes along the way. Of course he will. But by depriving him of so many of the fundamentals of football management, we make his human error almost redundant. The truth is, there was never any hope for Hearts. That was part of the deal. When this club limped over the line last season to stay in the top division at the expense of Dundee, they knew administration was on its way. We all did. It?s all been a charade ever since. The new rules which were drawn up to deal with insolvency events were designed not just to punish offenders but to throttle them. It had to be this way because of the appalling blood lust with which Rangers had been treated the previous year. Had level heads been applied to the financial meltdown at Ibrox then Rangers would have been helped back up from the gutter in which Craig Whyte left them. Instead, they were trampled down and kicked to the kerb. The urge to maximise the damage Whyte had done quickly became overwhelming and, in many cases, it was led by downright malevolence. Neil Doncaster, the chief executive of the then SPL, wished to apply some logic and reason to the debate for no other reason than it made business sense to protect Rangers. Perish the thought, maybe even to help them in their darkest hour. But he was shouted down by the baying crowd that had gathered around him. And now, as a result of this mob mentality, Hearts are paying the heaviest of prices for the roguish actions of their own former owner. There would be uproar among Rangers supporters in particular if it were any other way. Craig Whyte's actions at Ibrox made Rangers an easy target This residual need for revenge is understandable. They believe their club was wronged and so they will demand parity across the board. Even if it reduces Scottish football to a bloodbath. In fact, so bitter have some of them become that they would wish it to be so. They make no attempt to hide their delight at the suffering of others and nor should they be expected to as Rangers is their only concern. But if Scottish football is to correct itself then it must transcend this kind of small-minded tribalism. For the greater good, it must also be prepared to accept that mistakes have been made and that, now they are being repeated, the youngsters of Hearts are being brutalised. With more than half a season gone, they have still not unshackled themselves fully from the 15-point penalty with which they set out. Twenty-two games into this mission impossible, with just 16 more to go, Hearts are marooned on minus two. Locke is unable to call for reinforcements. It?s about to become unwatchable. But watch on we must. And maybe when it is over ? when Hearts have been crushed, lying there, limp and lifeless on the floor ? then Scottish football will have cause to reflect and to confront itself. To ask itself how it got into such a dark and mean state of mind. To look inside itself in search of empathy and common sense. And then to find a better way for the future before more vulnerable clubs and more innocent young players are forced to suffer as Hearts have this season. Yes, there must still be stiff deterrents in order to keep the game safe from the next Whyte or the next Romanov. But there must also be a realisation that the current penalties are draconian and hurting all the wrong people. While Whyte and Romanov escape unscathed, the players and supporters they left behind continue to pay for all of their sins. Finally seeing sense. Still won't forget the crap he wrote about the Rangers last year although not the worst. And while so many old scores are being settled, Scottish football continues to hate itself to death.

Less tickets for them = less money spent on disinfectant.

Agree with that Dutchy. The biased press and media in this dump are beyond redemption. Miss out the middle men and go direct to the investigative bodies.

Is that where Rod Wallace went to?

Tin hat on here, but I think John McMillan the retired secretary of the RSA, who I know personally, would not have said something like that, IMHO. I know he wasn't everybody's cup of tea but there is no doubt his heart lies with The Rangers FC. Too many ego trips from some of these supporters reps.

Happy New Year Jo'burg Loyal.

4 - 0

God speed Mrs.Bowman.

Thanks to CambridgeBlue on FF. Everybody should know bout this. Is the tide turning? http://www.citywire.co.uk/new-model-...l_NMA_Daily_PM A film scheme backed by former England and Manchester United football managers Sven-Goran Eriksson and Alex Ferguson has been defeated in the Upper Tax Tribunal. Eclipse 35 was a limited liability partnership promoted by Future Capital Partners which claimed to enable its partners to obtain tax relief on their general income. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had won a case against the scheme in the First Tier Tribunal, claiming the tax reliefs did not work. The scheme appealed that decision, but has now been handed a further defeat in the Upper Tribunal. A number of celebrities invested in the scheme alongside Ferguson and Eriksson. HMRC said 31 related partnerships would be affected by the judgment, representing around 600 million in tax. Exchequer secretary David Gauke said: 'The government wants to support and encourage genuine business investment through the tax system, which is why we have tax reliefs. 'However, we will not stand for abuse of those reliefs and HMRC will come down hard on anyone who tries. In this case, anyone who used the scheme to try to avoid tax will have to pay tax on the income from the scheme, meaning they are worse off than if they'd never used it. The message is clear - if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.' Of course some other football types have "invested" in similar schemes... http://williampoole.blogspot.co.uk/2...12-celtic.html

Gourock bus run's from Cleats Bar and The Victoria Bar. Sorry don't know times, it's a while since I travelled on the Gourock buses. Try Kenny McKenzie on Faceook. p.s. For those not in the know, it's The Loyal, Royal, Burgh of Gourock. p.p.s. Enough said.

Stopped reading this gobsh*tes article after two paragraphs. Agenda driven knob.

Saw him live backing The Who in the early seventies, brilliant showman. Unfortunately the concert was at the Big Jock Knewcamp.

We still need to back our club. We may have to play the long game and hope some Rangers men with big money invest in the club eventually. Maybe there will be compromise on Thursday with some of the requisitioners getting a seat on the board? One day Rangers will be back at the top table in Europe, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Nice post. I still get butterflies when the grand red building comes in to view on matchdays.

Very eloquent. I thought you might have been a Rangers fan who cared what happened to the club, but your just a foul mouthed INTERNET SHOW OFF AND A MORON.

Fair play to the big man. He tried his hardest when he was on the park, so thanks for that. Unlike half the team that lost a 16 point lead in TLB's second season.

Agreed, has class.

Stevenson's a rocket.

Think he should be one of the things on the new boards to do list. Banned and sent a lawyers letter. Brilliant article.

Deffo a Shettleston with an agenda.

D'Art I don't want us to abstain from our Loyalist repertoire, nothing could be further from the truth. I love a good Sash Bash myself. No way should we forget our beginings, I just thought if we sang the songs we are allowed and without add ons, just for a couple of games, while the heats on the mhanky mob, then they could dig themselves a hole they might struggle to get out of. The corrupt media and press are having to talk about them only because UEFA got involved. I would never ask a bluenose to forget his or her heritage. p.s. Nice to have a reasoned debate with a fellow fan, as you can see I am taking pelters from some guys just because I love my club.

Shows how much you know. I've supported the Rangers most of my life. I was a member of my local Rangers supporters club in the 1980's, a hard time to be a Rangers supporter, unfortunately don't get to the games much now. The only time I was near Kerrydale Street was when Rangers played ra Sellic, when we were given the whole of the Rangers end at the piggery, which handilly enough was really close to their jungle (aptly named). Getting back to the supporters buses at that time was quite hairy. Also when the supporters buses parked at Cathkin Park when we played them at Hampden could be quite eventful. So don't come on here and accuse me of being one of the great unwashed. It will be interesting to see if you can reply to ths post without cursing. For me I'll presume you're a Rangers fan although sometimes misguided. I won't judge you on your opinions with vocal bile.I won't be replying to your reply, so feel free to badmouth me. I don't really give a f**k what you think.

You seem to have missed the point again ya bigger arse.

Flares thrown on to a plastic pitch. That's all BBC Rhadio Scotland and Rhadio Clyde are talking about, wanting the authorities to take action. See what I ,mean.

Oh Well, carry on,it's a free country at the moment.However I think you'll find the Rangers haters will listen to what's happening at Falkirk with great interest. I almost forgot, I will not f**k off for you or anybody else.