robg58

Tom English: ‘We need to know what happened, when and how it happened and whether it Tom English: ‘We need to know what happened, when and how it happened and whether it was dodgy’ Banner headlines? The SFA and SPL with their attempts to bypass justice have made it easy for Rangers and their fans to feel victimised By TOM ENGLISH Published on Monday 24 September 2012 07:47 WHEN Lord Nimmo Smith and the panel of distinguished legal minds who are adjudicating on Rangers and the endless saga of EBTs and double contracts deliver their findings, you would hope that a section of their report would deal with not just what happened (or didn’t happen) at Ibrox but also what appears to have happened at the SFA and the SPL these past few months. As surely as possible rule-breaking payments need to be investigated so, too, does the accusation that the authorities in Scotland attempted to broker some kind of deal to get Rangers back into the First Division instead of the Third. The details that have emerged are grubby and demand exploring. Among a list of “Agreements and Undertakings” that the SFA and SPL were dangling under Rangers’ nose were: “(i) accept and agree to be bound by each and all of the EBT Sanctions; (ii) the SFA and the SPL agree that no further sanctions will be imposed with respect to or concerning the EBT Payments and Arrangements; and (iii) RFC and ***** shall not directly or indirectly make any claim and/or representation to have won any of the Championships and/or Cups which are the subject of any and all of the EBT Sanctions”. The SFA and the SPL – both lamentable in this entire affair – looked to have sidled up to Rangers and whispered in their ear: “Hey listen chaps, why don’t you admit guilt on the whole EBT front, give up a heap of titles to appease the masses and we’ll slip you back into the First Division with no more questions asked. How about it? Give us your trophies and we can all move on. Nirvana awaits. Just sign here.” If this is what was proposed – and it certainly looks that way – then it is an affront to justice. Rangers may or may not be guilty but, whatever your stance, they have an inalienable right to be deemed innocent unless Lord Nimmo Smith finds otherwise. Were the SFA and the SPL trying to circumvent this process? Were they looking for a confession before hearing the evidence? “Admit everything and we’ll make your life easier.” What about fairness? What about integrity? Such a devalued word in this farrago. The bottom line in the EBT case is that we need a conclusion, not the kind of half-arsed solution that the SFA and SPL were shovelling at Rangers. As a nation, we need to know what happened, when it happened, how it happened and whether it was dodgy or not. We need to know if there is substance to the world of rumour. We need to know precisely how Rangers applied their EBTs and precisely what they did or didn’t do with the double contracts. If the SFA and SPL had their way then Rangers would have accepted punishment and we would never truly know what exactly happened here. We’d be condemned to a lifetime of EBT debate, one side saying there was nothing wrong, the other side saying Rangers were at it, when all we need is the truth as established by some of the finest legal minds in the country. A kangaroo court, this is not. Yes, the commission was set up by the football authorities but it is not in thrall to them. Lord Nimmo Smith, below, and Co. don’t give a toss what Stewart Regan or Neil Doncaster think. If anybody thinks they would put their professional reputations – and careers – on the line by being dictated to it the SFA and the SPL then they really need to think again. Their verdict, one way or another, will be respected by all bar those whose opinions are so entrenched as to be unreachable by logic. Only when the commission has examined every scrap of information can innocence or guilt be established. Only then can possible punishment be discussed and meted out. Not before. Charles Green has thrown the toys out of the pram so often now that it’s easy to dismiss pretty much everything he says given how infantile some of his comments have been but, amid the wall of noise and the pathetic attempt to paint Lord Nimmo Smith’s commission as a collection of patsies for Regan and Doncaster, there is some truth and the truth is that the SFA and the SPL were spectacularly out of line when attempting to cut a deal. It’s not dissimilar to a High Court judge opening court proceedings by telling the accused: “Right son, you say you’re innocent of this crime and blah-de-blah but, before we hear the evidence I’m going to propose a solution. I’ll tuck you up in the shovel for a three-year stretch and we can all get out of here pronto. How about it?” The SFA and the SPL have made it easy for Green to walk away from the commission, to throw his hands up in the air and cry foul. In attempting to force through a lousy compromise that would have done an enormous disservice to the game, the authorities came across as a hanging party busily constructing the gallows before a word had been heard from the defence. Green’s interpretation is nonsense, of course. The commission is beyond reproach, but the behaviour of the SFA and the SPL gave Green an easy way out. “They’ve already found us guilty. They want our trophies. What chance have we got? We’re walking away.” Nobody should be walking away. If Rangers truly believe that they have done nothing wrong then they should have nothing to fear from this commission, respected by all except by these who see conspiracy around every corner. If the verdict comes in and they are deemed innocent, then nobody can ever throw this mud at them again. Surely that is in their interest. If the verdict goes the other way then a scandal will have been exposed and the game will be better for it. The rush to judgment does nobody any favours, though. Let justice be done – in the business of the EBTs and in the behaviour of the SFA and the SPL. Rangers is not the only institution that has questions to answer. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...odgy-1-2542656

Big fingers

Septik are facing a disciplinary charge which relates to an alleged offensive banner displayed by the rhabid horde at a pre season friendly against Norwich in July. The SFA last night issued a notice of complaint alleging 4 breaches of the rules. Failing to to prevent fans from bringing a banner into the ground and displaying it. Also charged with failing to deal effectively with an instance of unacceptable behaviour by allowing them to retain the banner after it had initially been displayed which allowed them to display the banner a second time. The banners were the ones of a gunman shooting a zombie figure next to a gravestone that depicted Rangers. They have been given till next Thursday to respond to the charges with a full hearing on the 11th of October.

Are the SFA and SPL classed as public bodies under the Freedom Of Information act (Scotland)?

Posted on Thursday, 20th September 2012 by Cyberted Just weeks after selling David Templeton to Rangers, Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) manager John McGlynn has announced that five senior members of the squad may not be paid this month. The reason for this apparently is that Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) are waiting for money owed to them from the Scottish Premier League. The Scottish Cup holders claim that they are owed £300,000 from the SPL. It would be interesting to see Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) credit rating this week as yet again they appear to be ready to default on paying their players wages. Once again the only thing keeping Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) alive is their owner Vladimir Romanov, who has sucked up the debt the club, owes. Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) debt is currently sitting at £24 million, which is more than Rangers carried when the Ibrox club went into administration. It seems that while beating Rangers to a pulp the SPL have taken their eye off the ball and let other clubs slide into the same financial mismanagement Rangers suffered. As Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) and the SPL play financial Russian roulette, all 12 top-flight clubs have still to receive about £300,000 each from the SPL. It will be interesting to see how the SPL deal with any delay in players receiving their wages. The league-governing body last season charged Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) “with failing to behave with the utmost good faith to the SPL” after they were late in paying their players. Will there be any punishment for the SPL for defaulting on their contractual agreement? Once again we witness the mismanagement of Scottish Football on a horrific scale. The SPL in its present form resembles the last days of the old Rangers business. Rumours over money, financial mismanagement and deny and deflect tactics. By not meeting their financial obligations on time, are the people at the helm of the SPL any straighter than Craig Whyte? And through all this once again all we hear is the Silence of the Damned. Fans of these 12 clubs were quick to tell Rangers to pay their debts. The chorus of condemnation for Rangers shouted down all reason. So we are left wondering why the silence on this occasion? What ever happened to Sporting Integrity? Surely these fans, whose passion for integrity and fairness in sport is legendary, feel they should have a say in what is happening with their league? Yet what do we get; silence. Oh the hypocrisy. The SPL is looking more and more like it is in financial meltdown and we can only wonder how long they can keep the bailiffs from the door. But don’t expect to hear any debate in the Scottish media or amongst those who were most vocal when Rangers hit financial turmoil. No one is asking questions as to how things got so bad – if you listen closely all you can hear is the Silence of the Damned. Read more at http://thisisfutbol.com/2012/09/blogs/is-the-spl-any-straighter-than-craig-whyte#lAbTJbEFQwtpwrHV.99

Nobody mentioned fish. Due to the demise of the fishing industry there are no fish in Anstruther except at the chippie.

Originally from St Andrews but now stay in Cellardyke, whereabouts are you.

Naw another fifer though.

A not so funny one from last night . Rangers may be reinstated in the Ramsden cup as it has been found that several of the Queen of the South players had dual contracts .....one was a brickie another a joiner etc

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/peter-lawwell-catches-whiff-of-paranoia-as-he-rejects-rangers-ebt-complaints-1-2534512 Peter Lawwell catches ‘whiff of paranoia’ as he rejects Rangers EBT complaints By STEPHEN HALLIDAY Published on Wednesday 19 September 2012 00:00 CELTIC chief executive Peter Lawwell has dismissed complaints from Rangers of uneven treatment from the Scottish Premier League over the use of Employee Benefit Trust schemes. On the day Celtic announced a pre-tax loss of more than £7 million for the last financial year, Lawwell also scoffed at suggestions he now enjoys an improper degree of power in Scottish football. Rangers chief executive Charles Green last week claimed “powerful representatives” from SPL clubs were “hell bent on inflicting as much damage as possible” on the Ibrox club in the wake of their descent into liquidation and Third Division football. As an SPL independent commission prepares to consider the case of alleged illegal registration of players by Rangers as part of an EBT scheme from 2001 to 2010, with stripping of SPL titles one of the potential sanctions if found guilty, manager Ally McCoist also hit out at the SPL’s decision to clear Celtic’s use of an EBT to pay Brazilian midfielder Juninho in 2004. But in a wide-ranging media briefing, Lawwell – who also admitted Celtic had effectively gambled on making their £7m loss to regain the SPL title – robustly defended both Celtic’s position and his own role in the administration of the game, which sees him sit on the SFA’s Professional Game Board. “It’s absolutely straightforward,” said Lawwell. “We know we operated one single EBT. HMRC know how we operated that EBT. The football authorities know how we operated that. We’ve no case to answer. I don’t know how Rangers operated their EBT. HMRC know. The football authorities know and there appears to be a tribunal and a commission set up. So it’s straightforward. In some quarters, people have tried to drag us into the debate. But it’s nothing to do with us. It’s a red herring. It’s my understanding that it’s not about EBTs, it’s about dual contracts but, again, I don’t know how they [Rangers] operated it and I can’t comment. But I know how we operated it and so do the football authorities, so I think it’s quite straightforward and there should be no muddying of the waters. “There is a whiff of paranoia around somewhere. I don’t have an undue or inappropriate influence on Scottish football. There is nothing covert in terms of what is happening. “It’s been extraordinary what has happened to Scottish football and what has happened to one of its biggest clubs. So that leads to a number of dynamics and a number of accusations or people looking to blame others. My job is to do the best for Celtic and maximise the potential of Celtic. That’s my sole concern. Well, not my sole concern, perhaps, because I would love the game here to develop and, as part of the PGB at the SFA, I have a responsibility for the rest of the game. That sort of input, hopefully, will help.” Reaching the Champions League for the first time in four seasons, with their opening Group G fixture against Benfica taking place at Parkhead tonight, has allowed Celtic to ride the financial storm created by Rangers’ crisis and the subsequent fall in domestic TV and sponsorship revenues. Lawwell is satisfied with Celtic’s current position and believes the state of their relationship with the Ibrox club is now of lesser significance. “We said months ago that we had our own plans, our own strategy for particular outcomes,” added Lawwell. “We are keeping to that. We are coping well. Our supporters have re-engaged with the club. Our season ticket sales have been fantastic, taking account of the economic conditions. The three home Champions League games are sold out. “So we are doing okay and I’d rather just concentrate on us. In terms of Rangers at the moment, we would be saying that we would give them the same amount of respect we would any other club in Scottish football. “We would give them that respect and not interfere with their affairs or business. We would expect that same respect back. We are just getting on with it. I think there‘s less relevance now. When Celtic and Rangers were in the SPL, I said before that for two clubs who were so highly competitive that the relationship was good. “The relevance of that now, with Rangers in the third division and Celtic in the SPL, is probably less so but we would give them at this particular time as much respect as we give any other club and we would like to see that reciprocated.” While the annual accounts released by Celtic yesterday show a debt of £2.77 million, an increase on the £530,000 figure 12 months earlier, the recent sale of South Korean midfielder Ki Sung Yueng to Swansea City for £5.5 million and Champions League qualification effectively means the club are now well in credit at the bank. “It is difficult to forecast and there are stock market rules,” said Lawwell. “But I think you can safefly assume, by doing the numbers, we would be in funds at the moment. The prospect of remaining that way is there. We have a duty to re-invest that at the right time going forward. “Five or six years ago, we were maybe ahead of the curve. We saw that we could no longer compete with the big markets in Europe in terms of transfer fees and wage inflation. So we set about this new strategy. “We could have eliminated the loss we have just posted by selling players in January. We had interest in one or two and we could have reduced our wage bill. However, we decided not to do that to go on and win the league and we were able to make that decision because of the financial strength we’ve built up over the years. Our debt level is really manageable. “It’s about the importance of the Champions League and also player trading - finding good, undervalued talent and developing your own and giving them a stage. If they want to stay - fantastic - but if they want to move on to England or elsewhere, the path is there. That model has been built over the last five or six years and we’re beginning to see the green shoots of that policy. We have a good foundation today. There are huge challenges ahead for Scottish football, but we’re in good shape to face them.” Lawwell, meanwhile, also cast doubt on any imminent prospect of league reconstruction in Scottish football, despite the ongoing efforts of SFA chief executive Stewart Regan to implement a new set-up. “There’s nothing on the table at the moment,” said Lawwell. “I guess there is a body, or a group within the game who would like to see that, but there’s nothing on the table for anybody to consider at the moment. “If anybody can show what is the benefit of any kind of league reconstruction then, clearly, we will sit down and listen to them. At the moment we would be saying that, if there is a will for a pyramid structure or a new distribution model, in principle we would support that because others would like it. “But will it change the game or get more Scottish clubs into Europe? No. Is it going to grow the GDP or benefit the national team? No. So, in principle, fine. But is it going to make any difference? “Not really, I don’t see it. But if somebody can come up with something, then fine. But it has to be more radical than the sort of discussions happening now. I think there has maybe been a lot of attention given to that and energy given to that which might have been better focused somewhere else.

Performance related pay is the way to go , so we owe them fuck all till about december.

We should give performance related pay , you get full wages if you play well and win ,less and less as the play becomes worse.No money +desire returns pretty sharpish.

RANGERS Chief Executive Charles Green said: “We made very clear in the statement that we made that we have never questioned the integrity of the panel. That is beyond reproach. “What I do have an issue with is the fact that the SPL has relentlessly been pursuing a fixed and predetermined agenda on EBTs from the moment they realised that they would not be able to get Rangers back into the SPL without a fan revolt. "Until that moment the SPL were looking to trade SPL status for an admission of guilt on EBTs and a sanction of stripped titles. We couldn’t and didn’t give them that. "You need look no further than the initial draft of the five-way agreement. "There is reference in that to EBTs and the outcome was stripping titles but if I make a statement that the SPL is pursuing a predetermined outcome then I’m bringing the game into disrepute. "From the moment that SPL status for Rangers was off the agenda we‘ve been heading for stripped titles. “What I’m doing is using free speech to tell the fans exactly what has happened and I am now on disrepute charges for matters of fact. "The words that seem to have upset the SFA so much are that “the SPL appoint the jury, set the outcome and set the punishment before the trial” - those things are true and I stand by them. “Whether or not the Commission works to that agenda remains to be seen but let’s be clear there was a predetermined outcome. "If their Chief Executive and lawyers were drafting agreements that contained definitions of titles that would be stripped in late June/early July long before a Commission was even thought about, how can anyone say they are not pursuing an agenda and a predetermined outcome? “I would ask the SFA and the SPL to release the first draft of the five-way agreement put together by their lawyers to reveal all of the sanctions. Stripping of titles was definitely within that document. “In terms of this commission, if the SPL agenda prevails then Rangers will be found guilty and being found guilty we will lose five titles. “If I’m wrong then it will be a different outcome. “What I said before is that this commission is not independent because the SPL have set it up. Saying that they are not independent is not saying that they are not impartial. “That’s what I have an issue with and I will make these points when I go to see the SFA – not unless I’m in jail before then because there will no doubt be 50 odd charges by then. “We want to focus on what’s happening at the club in terms of filling the stadium, going to Annan and filling the town – they are the good things. “But all people want to do is keep chasing Rangers and to chase us to the grave – and we are not going there.”

If you go down to the Woods today........ September 18, 2012 · by billmcmurdo · in Uncategorized For a number of years my folks owned a house in Colorado, at the foot of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, in probably one of the most beautiful locations on the planet. Being a “mountain man” I loved going there, just as I enjoy going up the Trossachs here in Scotland. Of course, the Trossachs cannot compare in terms of scale to the Rocky Mountains which run for many hundreds of miles as the spine of America. Another big difference between the Trossachs and the Rockies is that the Trossachs don’t have wild bears roaming around! When you live in bear country, you have to be very careful what you get up to. People who live in such an environment live by one overarching rule: You don’t mess with an angry bear. And you NEVER do anything to make a bear angry. If you have seen a bear on the rampage you will know what I mean. An angry bear has no thought for convention, no recognition of boundaries and no sense of mercy. People in bear country stay well clear of bears on the rampage. Those people here in Scotland who have had a fine old time lately putting the boot into Rangers should take a lesson from those who share their environment with wild bears. For their consistent abuse of Rangers Football Club and its fans has finally woken the angry Bear of the collective Rangers support and the Bear is on the rampage. Rangers fans have had enough of being vilified and abused by the bottom-feeders of Scottish football and they are hitting back, only not in the mindless rage of real wild bears, but in a carefully co-ordinated campaign of defiance with a calculated effect. Angry Rangers fans will not trash your property like real wild bears because they will not be at your property. You see, Rangers fans don’t need to throw their weight about, they only need to do the most effective thing they can do… Keep their wallets in their pockets. Scottish football runs on the Rangers pound. THAT is the rule for living with bears here in Scotland i.e. the bears who support Rangers. If you want the Rangers pound coming into your coffers, don’t get the bears angry. Rangers supporters are waking up to the fact that the world of Scottish football spins on the economic power of Rangers FC and its legions of fans. Of course, Scottish football could survive without Rangers. But there’s surviving and there’s living… Just ask the member clubs of the SPL. Or some SPL players who are wondering when they will see their wages. People are beginning to fear that they could be boycotted by Rangers fans who refuse to patronise their club. Speaking of the Trossachs and Stirlingshire, I see that the secretary of Stirling Albion, the aptly-named Dick King, has referred to Rangers fans as “H***” and smeared their reputation by inferring that Central Police are “manned up” for their coming visit. He may not have to worry. But his club’s treasurer might, if Rangers fans decide that Mr King’s remarks warrant a boycott of Stirling Albion’s ground. I guess the rule is a pretty universal one, regardless of where you live. You don’t mess with an angry bear. And you NEVER do anything to make the Bear angry. Bear-baiters, take heed…

I'm not too bad with photoshop, so for the photos I send them back with her in a Rangers top.

Unfortunately this has happened to me ,both my sons are Rangers supporters, my daughter was too until she went off to Glasgow to go to college when she was sixteen. She stayed at the Glascow nautical college , which was a bit too near the east end for my liking, fast forward a few years and the last 3 boyfriends she has had were all tims and the dumpling she ended up marrying is a bloody idiot tim too who keeps sending me photos of my poor wee grand-daughter dressed in horrible stripy shirts.Me and the boys try to redress the balance when we have her for the weekend and holidays. Her idiot father like many tims will insist on wearing the rags as a piece of clothing , I had to tell him that if he wore the bloody thing again I was going to throttle him as he was an embarrassment when going out anywhere, the only person on the beaches with a bloody football(term used loosely) top on. arse.

Ex-Rangers owner Craig Whyte faces court date with Ticketus over £27m deal By Mike Farrell 17 September 2012 15:47 BST Craig Whyte: Businessman bought 85% stake in Rangers for £1.SNS Group Ticketus is expected to begin court proceedings in the coming weeks against former Rangers owner Craig Whyte over a £26.7m deal he used to fund his takeover. The ticketing firm is pursuing Mr Whyte after he used future season ticket sales to wipe out the Ibrox club’s £18m debt to Lloyds Banking Group last May. Ticketus, which is a subsidiary of Octopus Investments, is taking legal action against Mr Whyte after administrators Duff and Phelps failed to agree a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors in June. It is unclear whether Ticketus will launch the action in Scottish or English courts, while most of Mr Whyte’s business interests are linked to the British Virgin Islands-registered firm, Liberty Capital Ltd, including Rangers FC Group, the company he used to buy Sir David Murray’s 85% stake for £1. The civil action raised by the investment company is not likely to be heard until next year. A spokesman for the firm said on Monday: "Ticketus is continuing to pursue, through the courts, the terms of the corporate and personal guarantees agreed with Craig Whyte at the time of the original contract between Ticketus and Rangers FC in May 2011." After being appointed in February, Duff and Phelps sought guidance from the Court of Session over the contract Mr Whyte had agreed with Ticketus to effectively fund his takeover of the Ibrox club. Lord Hodge found that Ticketus did not, under Scots law, own future season ticket sales at Rangers as it had claimed. He established that the company owned "personal contractual rights" to around 100,000 season ticket sales in a deal that could be breached by administrators if it was deemed to be in the interests of the creditors overall. In May, Duff and Phelps gave Ticketus formal notification that the deal was being terminated, which was not opposed by the London firm. As a result, the company was listed as a creditor worth £26.7m in the failed CVA, which consigned the 'oldco' Rangers to liquidation under the control of neutral insolvency firm BDO. Following the failure to strike a deal with creditors, the administrators sold the Charles Green-led Sevco consortium the club's assets in a £5.5m deal that saw them transferred to a newco. On Monday BDO — which will be put in place on the insistence of Rangers’ largest creditor, HM Revenue and Customs — said it did not have a date for its appointment confirmed yet. In May, Ticketus announced that it had made demands for repayment from Mr Whyte and also from his wholly-owned company Liberty Capital. Rangers were plunged into administration in February owing up to £134m, including £18.3m in unpaid VAT and PAYE during Mr Whyte's nine-month reign at the club. Previously, Mr Whyte said: "The only person at risk from the deal is me personally because I gave Ticketus personal and corporate guarantees underwriting their investment; the club and the fans are fully protected. In terms of exposure, I am personally on the line for £27.5m in guarantees and cash." Related articles

Or they might sponsor something for them like bus tickets home.

But if all the cabals fold who will enforce the ban

In today's Sunday post it was saying that Hearts (SFL3 feeder club) players wages were overdue yet again , surely a case for bringing charges for bringing the game into disrepute.

I thought it was the rest of the world against us or at least it has seemed that way lately.

Interesting Conflicts – SPL EBT Hypocrisy Article By Chris Graham The news that Celtic have been cleared of any culpability for the EBT they used for Juninho in the 2004/2005 season comes as no surprise to those of us who have followed this case and the people prosecuting it. However, I do feel it is worth highlighting as it is yet another example of the hypocrisy and corruption at the SPL. It is worth noting some things regarding the operation of EBT schemes. The issue of whether tax was paid on the EBTs has nothing to do with the SPL investigation into Rangers. The issue is purely whether the loans from the EBT scheme for players were declared to the SPL and SFA and whether they required to be declared. It is clear that Rangers did not specifically declare them because they do not consider them to be payments. The whole point of the scheme is that they are loans. That leaves us only with the question of whether they required to be declared i.e were they payments. Now, those who demand Rangers be punished like to muddy the waters by talking about HMRC, unpaid tax, sporting advantage and higher moral considerations. The only consideration for the SPL, however, is were they payments and were they declared. The SPL have decided that Rangers have a case to answer. Today they have decided that Celtic do not. This is curious in relation to the above since, on the 23rd May, the BBC claim to have written to all SPL clubs asking about use of EBTs. The following is exactly what they were told. “BBC Scotland Investigates wrote to all of the Scottish Premier League’s member clubs and asked whether they had ever operated an EBT scheme. Celtic confirmed that it established one EBT scheme in April 2005, which BBC Scotland understands was for the benefit of the Brazilian midfielder Juninho Paulista. The scheme was worth £765,000 but the club did not declare the trust payment to the Scottish Football Association or the Scottish Premier League. The payments made to the trust were declared in Celtic’s annual report for 2004/2005, but in 2008 the club became aware of an event giving rise to a potential tax liability which was subsequently paid after agreement with HMRC. The remaining 10 SPL clubs replied and confirmed they had never set up an EBT scheme for any of their employees.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-west-18169502 Now it is quite clear from this that Celtic did operate an EBT and they did not declare it to the SPL or SFA as part of Juninho’s registration. This makes the case absolutely identical to the Rangers case. So why is there no case to answer? That is a difficult question. Celtic like to claim it is because they paid the tax that HMRC felt was due for the use of the EBT. This appears to be true but does not in any way impact on the registration issue. Either the EBT was declared on the registration or it was not. The issue of tax paid is one for HMRC. When considering this, we need to know who actually investigated on behalf of the SPL. At the moment we don’t. It is well documented that Rod McKenzie of Harper MacLeod has conducted the investigation into Rangers. Harper Macleod are the SPL lawyers on this matter so it seems likely to be the case that they would have examined the Celtic case too. They can’t have though, because that would be as clear a case of conflict of interest as you could ever get. Harper Macleod are also Celtic lawyers and it would be unethical and utterly absurd for them to have been involved here. So who at the SPL decided there was no case to answer? Was another law firm employed to investigate Celtic? If so, then why was this firm not also used to investigate Rangers given the issues with Rod McKenzie and Celtic’s lawyers doing so? If the BBC information is correct then how did these nameless investigators come to the conclusion that the evidence did not need to be examined by an ‘independent’ tribunal? It is clearly an identical situation. Let me be absolutely clear. I think the SPL made the correct decision regarding Celtic. The idea that a sporting advantage was gained from EBTs is absurd. EBTs could never have been declared to the SPL because doing so would have rendered the whole point of them, a tax benefit, unavailable. In a competition where there is no salary cap on players, the rules on registration exist purely to protect players and ensure that in areas of dispute the players can show exactly what they are contractually due. To my knowledge, no Rangers or Celtic players are complaining that they did not receive payments they were due. The SPL investigation is a sham. It is an excuse to further attack Rangers. There is no sporting advantage, no ‘financial doping’, no match fixing. The fact that a player is being paid is important because that is why registration is needed – how much they are being paid is totally irrelevant. These claims are absurd and have been made specifically to inflame public opinion ahead of a pre-determined verdict. If the SPL got it absolutely correct on Celtic then the question should be why are they pursuing Rangers? The answer to that lies with the people conducting the witch hunt and it is about time the media in this country started doing their job and asked the required questions. http://chrisgraham76.wordpress.com/2...ebt-hypocrisy/