Darthter

The SPL's investigation is about side letters/contract being issued & not disclosed to the relevant bodies. The outcome of the BTC has no connection. However, it will cast a fair amount of doubt over the SPL's claims. If Rangers were guilt of mishandling the EBTs, logic would dictated that they could have handled the extra payment disclosures wrongly as well. However, the tribunal appears to confirm that the EBT were handled correctly, so logic could dictate that we handled everything else correctly....

If fans are not happy with what their seeing on the pitch, a good number will stop going to the games - is that not one of the main problems in Scottish football just now!!! If you don't like the latest strip...you don't buy it. Basically, if your not entirely satisfied with the goods on offer, you think twice before spending your hard earned cash on them. If that happens, profits go down. The bottom line is that Rangers are a business, and needs to be run according to sound business principles. If it is not.....well we know where that leads. The business is offering a product - Football. If the product is poor, the business suffers. If the product is good, the business prospers, and hopefully the product is improved. If the club wants to attract investment, they need to offer something in return - dividends. If the reward is attractive enough, the investors will hopefully put in more cash. Relying on "Rangers Men" with loads of cash who are happy to give away £5m (for example), with no possibility of return, ain't gonna work long term. I posed the question earlier in the thread about Dave King. In return for some future investment, he would want a place on the Board - that is his return. Seeing as how he was on the Board previously, and didn't appear to do a helluva lot to stop the financial meltdown.....would folk be happy to see him back there??? That is Kings return for his investment. What if others demand the same return - where would that leave the club???

If there's no profit....how do you re-invest in the team?? If the club/business is profitable, money is being invested sensibly in the team and the Ground etc, and there is some profit left over I have absolutely no problem with dividend being offered. I'm sure Sainsbury's could make more profit by only selling their value range of goods.....but they would lose a lot of customers who want better quality and therefore reduce that profit. Its about finding a balance that works.

I get the impression that anything that happens will simply paper over the cracks.... The SFA need to tackle the root causes of the demise of Scottish Football. Simply changing how many teams are in the various leagues won't make a bit of difference (IMHO). Fans are the life-blood of the game....the SFA need to fully understand why a lot of fans are not going to matches, and what needs to be done to encourage them to go. I would even go as far as consulting with the folk @ Sky - find out what would get them to invest more cash!!! IMHO....It should be led by an independent SFA committee. They are the governing body in this country. If it is left to the SPL, they will only look after themselves, not the Scottish game. The SFL will also do this to a certain extent, but given that they include the majority of Scottish clubs, their influence is further reaching.

A simple comment, that speaks volumes.....

yet under the SPL plans for the 2 leagues of 12, which split to 3 of 8 there will be even more meaningless games. Once the leagues split, only the 2nd league will be competitive. In the 1st league of 8, it will be Rangers and Ceptic challenging for the title, the other 6 in the league are guaranteed top division status for the following season, so what do they play for. Similar for the 3rd league....other than the bottom 1 or 2 who will be relegated, there's nothing for the other 6 or 7 to play for. The middle league is playing for either promotion or demotion, which could be quite exciting - but are Sky gonna pay vast sums of cash to watch the bottom of the top league playing the top of the bottom league??? The SFA need to take charge....find out what the fans want, and what would make the return to games ie. bring in the cash. Then balance that off with a financial package suitable for ALL clubs in the league structure. If the clubs are getting a stead income of decent cash, they can then focus on whats happening on the pitch, so hopefully the end product improves.

The results and the performances are certainly improving (IMHO..) I think the 4-4-2 (4-4-1-1) type formations that have been played recently have suited the players better - they appear more comfortable. The team also appears to be controlling matches more so than @ the start of the league. Hopefully this progression will continue (slowly, but surely) as the season progresses. The end result being a well oiled and confident team, ready to progress to DIV 2.

With regard King on the board.....remember he was already on the board for a good few years. I have no idea if he took any remuneration for the post, but his influence appeared negligible. He may be looking for something similar, but does the club REALLY need that??? I feel that they need folk on the board who have something to offer the club, other than a hard cash input. If an independent investor comes in, with the promise of some financial return if the "business" is doing well, that will then encourage the board to do things right - or they have investors/shareholders on their backs. Everyone wants CG to be clear about where he's taking the club...the same should be asked of King!!!

Here's a question..... Some folk are up in arms about investors getting paid a dividend for their investment.....Dave King has said he'd want a seat on the board. What would be the preferred choice for folk on here??? Give me a return on my money....or a say in how the club is run???

but they are common place with EVERY other investment scenario....that's why folk invest money in companies that they have no interest in.

I think the Chuckle brothers wouldn't look out of place in the current Barca team....to me, to you, to me, to you....

Firstly, he has to rely on the media to tell him that clubs are in trouble??? Secondly, a "desire and willingness to try to get change" - clearly evident when he goes on to say that a similar proposal to the current SFL one was on the table 2 years ago - that's some desire!!! Obviously sticking RFC in the bottom division falls in the "Bring in additional funding" pot??? The mans a comedian!!! He can't seriously believe that is what is happening... So basically, the SFA don't want to actually do anything...just leave it up to the clubs to sort out themselves.

Ultimately, the SFA are the body in charge of Scottish football.....they are the one who should have the power to push through any change. If the SP don't like it...the SFA could simply refuse to acknowledge their existence - that would then rule them out of UEFA/FIFA competition.

Reconstruction will be dictated by SKY & the SPL. The SFL will fight tooth & nail to ensure common sense etc, but ultimately it will be the other 2. Any reconstruction will be done purely with the SPL teams in mind - they will be the one who will benefit the most, yet its the smaller teams who need the most help. I believe if the finances are distributed more evenly, with a better league setup you will see the smaller teams flourish. They will hopefully then start to provide a sensible route for young talent to get into the game & promote more home grown players.

So, your suggestion is go mad with the wages, and get in a load of top notch international players??? Why don't we just throw in a couple of tax avoidance schemes as well - that should increase the calibre of player we can get. The future's looking brighter already. Oh Oh...stop the bus.....we've already tried that. Trophy count = Good.....massive debt & liquidation = bad.

I have no idea what the Ceptic wage bill is like....however, when you look at a good number of their squad, they arrived in Glasgow as complete unknowns, therefore I would imagine on relatively low wages. Take Wanyama for example, by the time he's thinking about demanding high wages, he'll be sold for a hefty profit and off the wage bill anyway!!! I have no problem with a basic wage cap, possibly topped up with performance related bonuses if needs be. There is a trade off though. The wage cap needs to be at a sufficient level in order to allow the club to be competitive/successful at the top of the Scottish game. If the club is successful, it can be profitable. If we spend too much on expensive Prima-donnas, the finances will suffer (as they have in the past).

My 1st impression is that its aim more at Business investors rather than the punters. Your average punter really doesn't care about growth potential etc - they just want a piece of their club. However, a Business investor will be looking at possible, planned growth as they will be wanting a return (at some point) on their investment - the more the company grows, the higher their return.

If the deferment is voluntary, I doubt there would be any recourse from the SFA...

Knowing how much I pay to Hacking & Patterson each year....I'm not surprised.!!!

Was he not mentioned as one of CG's original investors, which was then denied by Mr Hart??? I seem to remember reading that he has previously been a big supporter of the youth setup in the past.

Obviously Cowan see's the Hearts situation differently, however below is a quote from Sergejus Fedotovas (from todays DR) I may be reading this wrong, but it implies that they knew there were costs of £8m, yet still budgeted for £6m - who's fault is that?? He goes on: Sounds like its a case of "it ain't our fault guv!!!"

Comes across as the views of a rather bitter man IMHO.....

That's part of the whole idea....give other clubs a wee bite of the cherry & some financial reward. In order to make Scottish football strong again, I think the powers at be need to focus on the overall picture, not just the OF.

I would tend to disagree with the youth development - you just need to look at how well the youths are doing for us just now!!!! Compare that with the number of home-grown youths regularly in the Ceptic side over the past few years. Tony Watt is starting to get into the 1st team, but ain't a regular yet. Ceptic have been far superior on the scouting front. They have managed to identify several good quality players, get them at good prices then sell them on for massive profits - that is where we need to improve.

If the sponsorship & TV revenue is distributed evenly, I think you would see some of the smaller clubs increasing in stature. The SPL teams are on a different scale, mainly due to the difference in firstly team revenue & a massive difference in TV/Sponsorship monies. Some of the smaller teams have already shown this season that at times they can compete with the bigger boys.