The paedophile apologist Graham Spiers speaks...

[Virtuoso 27,180]

Quote

 I want to see SFA reopen the case on what took place at Rangers

What are the Scottish Football Association to do about Rangers? Where can the leading governing body of Scottish football now hide when there is such a widespread public outcry to right a wrong? The past week has not just been shameful for Rangers FC, it is now sorely testing the mettle of those who are trusted with ensuring fairness, truth and integrity prevail in our game.

Last Wednesday morning Rangers finally lost their long-running dispute with HMRC over their years of tax avoidance. The legal dispute was complex but, in a nutshell, the claim of HMRC remained quite simple: it believed that in the years between 2001 and 2010 Rangers owed it tens of millions in unpaid taxes. With five Supreme Court judges unanimously backing the previous judgment of three law lords in the Court of Session, we now appear to have an emphatic view that the pre-2012 Rangers FC's use of employee benefit trusts (EBTs) was quite the tax dodge.

Some call it 'aggressive tax avoidance'. Others call it 'a tax wheeze'. Others have called it 'blatant evasion'. HMRC, who have made a point from the start of not asserting any of these pursuits as criminal cases, have nonetheless proved that millions of pounds should have been paid by Rangers, but were not. We do have tax laws in this country, and they are there to be enforced, which is HMRC's primary aim.

It won't do here to rake back over all the trophies '" 14 in total '" that Rangers won during the EBT years. But it must have given the Ibrox club a considerable advantage to have all this extra money to spend, and invest in playing assets, when in fact the cash should have been the keep of Her Majesty's collectors.

With the Rangers versus HMRC now concluded, it all looks grossly unfair on every other club that Rangers faced during those years. Add to this the guilty verdict handed down to Ibrox by the Lord Nimmo Smith inquiry in 2012 into undeclared side-letters involving Rangers and the SFA, and it is little wonder that the emotive word 'cheating' is being used of Rangers during this time. Such conduct going on at Ibrox had dodginess and tawdriness and a lack of honesty written all over it.

Last Thursday, with the white heat of the Rangers case fanning out all across Scottish football, the SFA was forced to stick its head out of its bunker. The ruling body issued a stony-faced response to the Supreme Court ruling, which basically said that its own legal advice was such that the Rangers case was closed for them. There was nothing more, the SFA averred, to say or do on the matter.

This was a wrong response but it was no great surprise. This vexed Rangers case has been the scourge of the SFA, to the point of terrifying it. From the very top, where once Campbell Ogilvie was an SFA president, having also been a Rangers FC board member and an EBT recipient, the saga has proved excruciating for the governing body. And now it doesn't have the stomach for the legal fight, as it would surely become, if any title-stripping of Rangers relating to those years was pursued.

Yet doing nothing does not seem to be an option for the SFA. There is a visceral anger towards Rangers across the Scottish game which, as things stand, is not going to be quenched. Saying 'we intend to do nowt' only aggravates that sense of injustice. Until this week, it was perfectly feasible for the SFA and the SPFL to stall and obfuscate, because the EBTs saga had not been concluded. But it has now '" and emphatically '" and Scottish football fans are angry.

It could be that there is not a case, as deplorably as Rangers FC behaved, for title-stripping. I'm not fully convinced of the arguments for it myself. But the SFA should, at the very minimum, reopen the case and explore fresh legal advice. A review will cost money but, for the sake of justice and integrity, that money needs to be spent.

It cannot be beyond the wherewithal of the SFA to appoint a number of legal minds and substantial football figures to reconsider all the facts. And, that done, if there is deemed no need for title-stripping, then let that be the association's final say on the matter.

Sir David Murray, a wounded man this week, has stated that using EBTs allowed Rangers to have players the club might otherwise not have been able to afford. Alex McLeish, the former Rangers manager, said something very similar when interviewed. Dave King, the current Rangers chairman, in a spurt of graciousness, even appeared to apologise for the EBTs racket going on at Ibrox.

Rangers themselves obviously have regret, bordering on remorse, for what went on. It was deeply wrong and gave Rangers an advantage.

The SFA needs to look again at the matter. It is no good saying 'the case is closed'. Adopting such a stance makes the governing body look timid and weak and lacking in credibility.

 

[ZZed 4,510]

He is a rancid little tim

[Theulstervolunteer 1,859]

Didn't bother reading it tbh the cunts a typical rabid fenian bastard and I personally hope the cunt chokes on his communion wafer the twisted faced taigy fuckwit...

[With Heart and Hand 8,949]

He's  nothing but a bitter hateful knuckle dragger

[there'sonlyoneamoruso 1,724]

Started to read that then I got bored with the obvious agenda.

[TMB 14,167]

Does Graham also feel the English FA should strip Arsenal of their league title won during 2003/04 as they used an EBT scheme?  Does he feel Portsmouth should be stripped of its FA cup?  Should Barcelona be stripped of all its recent titles and Champions League wins due to its tax dealings?  Or, does he just want Rangers to be investigated in isolation?

It's also worth pointing out that many employees of Celtic have/are using tax avoidance and evasion.  Lennon (a former manager), Sutton, and Hartson, were all part of the same failed tax avoidance scheme.  Dermot (their biggest shareholder) is balls deep in tax avoidance over in Panama and possibly even evasion of tax.  Dermot claimed that he himself funded the 'saving of Celtic' in 1994 and the signing of players such as Robbie Keane years later.  Could Celtic have afforded these advantages if not for the tax dodging of Mr.Desmond?  Peter Lawell aslo uses tax avoidance schemes as was revealed in a newspaper story just a few months ago.  How sure can we be, that without the use of tax avoidance, Peter wouldn't take up a role at another club who can pay him more?

[Moobs 9,162]

Dirty cancerous cunt. Hope he dies

[Drunk and disorderly. 14,418]

Guy is a pompas prick. Even the SFA know that and they will ignore his ramblings.

[sassaaaa 11,406]

Get this dirty papish bastard the fuck out of here , we dont need to read any of his shite in here.

[will2203 821]

20 minutes ago, ZZed said:

He is a rancid little tim

Naw, worse he is of good stock but has significantly lost his way and become a mouthpiece for sf/Ira/cellic!

 

cunt of the worst kind!

[gsa 3,906]

He's a deeply strange little man. He showed his true colours when he had a go at the Glasgow University Chaplain,  who is by all accounts a thoroughly decent guy. 

He's biased, he has an agenda and he's dishonest. 

[KingKirk 25,632]

imagine doing a article about the sfa when they have made there position clear. Could he not of wrote that on twitter over several tweets? Suppose he's as well getting paid to talk pish

[40delboy40 248]

Does this cunt pursue the filth in the same  manner as us . NO, I thought so. He is a parasite of the highest order.

[The Tavernator 279]

Why waste time reading what imbeciles say? Don't inflict that shit on us please.

[cr3_bear 14,830]

Spiers is an irrelevant prick with clear daddy issues . Fuck him 

[The Tavernator 279]

32 minutes ago, Virtuoso said:

 

As Dave King said, boycot these companies. Best way to force scum like Spiers out.

[BLUEDIGNITY 33,647]

Bit of a hate speech this from the corduroy cowboy is it not, all this "visceral anger towards Rangers that won't be quenched" ? Surely he's not trying to incite violence here is he ? One for the Club and fans group to get on to asap, the man's a poisonous crackpot !

[KingKirk 25,632]

who calls tax avoidance "blatant tax evasion" Name names fuck sake they need to learn the law.

[Virtuoso 27,180]

4 minutes ago, cr3_bear said:

Spiers is an irrelevant prick with clear daddy issues . Fuck him 

Would that be both of them cheating on their 'significant others*' ...like father, like son 

*allegedly 

[TMB 14,167]

12 minutes ago, 40delboy40 said:

Does this cunt pursue the filth in the same  manner as us . NO, I thought so. He is a parasite of the highest order.

About 10 years ago Spiers wrote a piece that said both Old Firm clubs had problems with sectarianism, but that Rangers were far worse.  Later on that evening they had him on SuperScoreBoard and the Celtic fans were calling in to say it was just 'on or two idiots among their support' whereas Rangers were steeped in bigotry.  This was the narrative being pushed at that time.  Fast forward to today and it was only last season Celtic fans were hanging the effigies of protestants from the rafters of Celtic park.  They've actually had players attending IRA fundraisers and put it down to the naivety of youth which was also the reason given to excuse Griffiths of racism twice.

I would also point out that Speirs is a complete hypocrite.  He claimed Rangers were a different club and maintains that position to this day.  However, when we signed Jon Daly he wrote a piece about a Rangers having 'a history of sectarian signing policy'.  About two years ago, after the Scottish cup game with McDowall in charge, he wrote a piece about the Billy Boys having poisoned Rangers fans for decades.  So we're a different club, and the same club, depending on what agenda he's pushing at any given time.

[pcbear 10,913]

One thing about Speirs is that he is 100% predictable, 5 years to think about it and that's the pile of shite he comes out with.

[Escobar 13,676]

32 minutes ago, Theulstervolunteer said:

Didn't bother reading it tbh the cunts a typical rabid fenian bastard and I personally hope the cunt chokes on his communion wafer the twisted faced taigy fuckwit...

Don't get the point in reading it either. Is anyone really surprised he's coming away with this?

Rancid tarrier poofy mess.

[ritchieshearercaldow 22,137]

He's on the radio just now, I'd love to jump through the airways and give him a good slap, he's a slimy cretin of a man.

[EatDolphins 5,355]

Just trying to make himself relevant.

[steven33jackie 1,920]

What a scatter gun approach to journalism written like a man ranting at a world that won't listen.

Look at the comments; a reference to Rangers terrifying the SFA and Campbell Ogilvie being a past president, what is he trying to say.

His reference to Lord Nimmo Smith he found fined Rangers £250000 after his enquiry yes he did. But he also said no sporting advantage was gained but lets not mention that. The whole reason for the enquiry was because there was the equivalent of a rabid mob baying for the then SPL to take action the problem is that they don't like the result.

Rangers lost their appeal to HMRC, no they didn't, I think you will find that BDO sought permission to appeal, but lets not mention that.

Rangers must of had extra money as a result of EBTs this for me is the whole crux of the argument would we of signed these players had it not been for EBTs. I cant recall one player signed during that time saying at the press conference it was the EBT that convinced me to sign.