Talk O' The Toun wrote:The old firm moving into the English set up is nothing more than a pipe dream imo. England certainly doesn't need the old firm to enhance their league and I not sure they would want to be associated with the baggage that comes with both clubs. However if some sort of move for the old firm did come about would the same be offered to other clubs in Scotland?
On the issue of Rangers I have no doubt at all if a new Rangers were founded as a result of going defunct that the SFA and SPL would do their upmost in order to make sure their darlings were still in the top flight through any means possible i.e. changing of rules.
I'm not so sure, after all it's all about money
Both Celtic and Rangers have huge supports not just in Scotland but around the world
Having them in the Championship could easily
1) Increase gates - both have huge travelling support
2) Increase TV money - put a few million extra viewers on the ratings
Given the financial problems of Football Clubs in general, it's not completely out of the question
They've got to get to the championship first though.
Talk O' The Toun wrote:The old firm moving into the English set up is nothing more than a pipe dream imo. England certainly doesn't need the old firm to enhance their league and I not sure they would want to be associated with the baggage that comes with both clubs. However if some sort of move for the old firm did come about would the same be offered to other clubs in Scotland?
On the issue of Rangers I have no doubt at all if a new Rangers were founded as a result of going defunct that the SFA and SPL would do their upmost in order to make sure their darlings were still in the top flight through any means possible i.e. changing of rules.
I'm not so sure, after all it's all about money
Both Celtic and Rangers have huge supports not just in Scotland but around the world
Having them in the Championship could easily
1) Increase gates - both have huge travelling support
2) Increase TV money - put a few million extra viewers on the ratings
Given the financial problems of Football Clubs in general, it's not completely out of the question
sensationalist journalism, you could work for the advertiser
I think it's safe to say that going by the story "the assault happened in the south stand, the away end, of the ground at the half-time interval it would suggest it was a celtic fan who carried out the attack.
It seems to be confirmed by people that were at game.
Horrible act anyway no matter what the club and hopefully an isolated incident.
Last edited by Talk O' The Toun on Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Talk O' The Toun wrote:The old firm moving into the English set up is nothing more than a pipe dream imo. England certainly doesn't need the old firm to enhance their league and I not sure they would want to be associated with the baggage that comes with both clubs. However if some sort of move for the old firm did come about would the same be offered to other clubs in Scotland?
On the issue of Rangers I have no doubt at all if a new Rangers were founded as a result of going defunct that the SFA and SPL would do their upmost in order to make sure their darlings were still in the top flight through any means possible i.e. changing of rules.
I'm not so sure, after all it's all about money
Both Celtic and Rangers have huge supports not just in Scotland but around the world
Having them in the Championship could easily
1) Increase gates - both have huge travelling support
2) Increase TV money - put a few million extra viewers on the ratings
Given the financial problems of Football Clubs in general, it's not completely out of the question
Good valid points that I would imagine are the points both old firm clubs will be using to try and persuade the English FA and their clubs into a move. I still can't see it happening though just too many stumbling blocks but I suppose time will tell. However I hope the decision is one that is not left open i.e. not at this present time etc. but one that finally puts the issue to bed either way.
Talk O' The Toun wrote:I think it's safe to say that going by the story "the assault happened in the south stand, the away end, of the ground at the half-time interval it would suggest it was a celtic fan who carried out the attack.
It seems to be confirmed by people that were at game.
Horrible act anyway no matter what the club and hopefully an isolated incident.
just typical head in the sand attitude from the seltic mob.
Knight15 wrote:If West Ham were in the same situation you'd be pissing your pants
yes, but if west ham went under it wouldn't cause Millwall and the whole league to follow. Also, west ham wouldn't be allowed straight back into the same division next season as if nothing had happened.
rangers go bust and come back next year debt free, you should be hoping they don't go under.
Knight15 wrote:If West Ham were in the same situation you'd be pissing your pants
yes, but if west ham went under it wouldn't cause Millwall and the whole league to follow. Also, west ham wouldn't be allowed straight back into the same division next season as if nothing had happened.
rangers go bust and come back next year debt free, you should be hoping they don't go under.
The following, is a superb post lifted from Rangers Tax-case blog about the myth that Scottish football needs a "strong" Rangers. Take it away: Henry Clarson...
Henry Clarson says:
10/02/2012 at 6:21 pm
I’m still playing catch-up on the posts so pardon me please if this has been nailed already but there’s a recurring myth which I want to address, viz, the myth that Scottish football needs a “strong” Rangers.
Let us see first of all how this “strong” Rangers has worked in practice.
For the best part of the last quarter of a century, Rangers’“strength” and apparent success lay in their ability and determination to outspend every other team in Scotland.
They fully played their part in contributing to the collapse of the Bank of Scotland in order to finance transfers and wages for players which no other Scottish team could even countenance.
Using tens of millions of pounds from a bank which would ultimately collapse and pass on its debts to every man, woman and child in the nation, “Strong” Rangers signed prominent internationalists from England, Denmark, France, Scotland and elsewhere to fill every place in their starting eleven.
After SDM took control of the club, Strong Rangers went on to win 16 titles. Five of these went to the last game of the season – strongly, I’m sure – even though Rangers, uniquely, were allowed to use fortunes of the doomed bank’s zombie assets to boost their “strength”.
And despite the media propaganda that tells us otherwise, Strong Rangers’recent title successes were still claimed by the most expensively assembled squad in the country, underwritten by tax-payers who have been saddled with the tab for the reckless practices of the failed banks.
Question One: How many titles might Strong Aberdeen, Strong Dundee United, Strong Hibs or even Strong Partick Thistle win if a tax-payer owned bank now decided to give one of those clubs a credit line that would allow them to outspend their nearest challengers by a ration of “ten pounds for every fiver”?
Strong Rangers, not content with having used everyone else’s money to buy their nine-in-a-row (which was obviously a Good Thing for Scottish football) then apparently decided that having to waste money paying the income tax of their expensively assembled international mercenaries was too much of a handicap to their future ambitions. So they strongly rejected this practice and availed themselves of more tens of millions of pounds which the rest of their competitors were too honest (“weak”) to steal from the nation.
Question Two: How many titles might Strong Aberdeen, Strong Dundee United, Strong Hibs or even Strong Partick Thistle win if any one of them was allowed to compete for the signings of top players without the inconvenience of having to give millions of pounds to the taxman each time they offered a contract to their potential employees?
If Scottish football needs this kind of “Strong” club, let’s be absolutely honest about it in unequivocal terms.
Let the government propose the formation of a new club for the good of Scottish football.
Its name doesn’t matter much but let’s not actually call it Strong State Supported Football Club For The Good Of Scottish Football.
Let it simply be called Babylon Establishment FC.
For the good of Scottish football, Babylon Establishment FC must have a line of credit with the nationalised bank of its choice.
The credit limit must be raised if Babylon Establishment FC struggle to dominate the Scottish league.
For the good of Scottish football, Babylon FC will not have to pay taxes on the wages which it offers to its players. Otherwise those players might choose to sign for another club.
For the good of Scottish football, there must also be some kind of constitutional arrangement in place which guarantees that Babylon FC will always play in the top division of the Scottish league, even if other clubs have to go to the wall as a consequence.
And for the good of Scottish football, the press must clear all of their copy about Babylon FC with the government before it is published.
The alternative is unthinkable; it might herald a return to the dark days when Weak Rangers languished in mid-table while Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Hearts and Celtic were competing for the championship title. Clearly, that was a Bad Thing for Scottish football.
Who would want a return to the misery of watching Scottish clubs horsing Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Sporting Lisbon and others out of European tournaments, year after year. That was self-evidently a Bad Thing for Scottish football.
And heaven forbid that Scottish international teams might ever again go head to head with the likes of Brazil, Germany and Holland in the World Cup Finals or the Euro championships.
So let’s not accept the false paradigm of the need for a Strong Rangers. If there is to be a debate on the principle, let’s be clear and honest about the terms and parameters which pertain.
Let there simply be a Babylon Establishment FC which is exactly what it says it is on the tin instead of straining to maintain the pretence that Strong Rangers was anything other than Babylon FC by another name.
