ian1964

Rangers 4 nil win. Morelos FGS

THE two administrators of Rangers FC who were the victims of malicious prosecution by the Crown have been paid more than £20m, according to an insider. David Whitehouse and Paul Clark won an admission in court by the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, that they had been maliciously prosecuted over their involvement in the administration of the then incarnation of Rangers which was eventually liquidated. They had previously been awarded interim payments and had settled out of court with Police Scotland for six figure sums. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is thought to have accepted the two men’s evidence as to the damage done to their reputation and standing. The National can reveal that the Lord Advocate is to address the Scottish Parliament on the matter, and there is concern in Scottish Government circles as to where the money will be found to pay the compensation which sources close to Whitehouse and Clark say was £21m in total, plus a further £3m in legal expenses. “The money is in their bank accounts,” said the insider. “All they want now is a proper public apology.” Further admitted cases of malicious prosecution are still to be resolved with Charles Green, former chief executive of Rangers, and former commercial director Imran Ahmad both set to receive compensation likely to run into eight figures in total. Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill last year called last year for an inquiry into the malicious prosecutions “scandal”. Told by The National of the figures already paid he asked where the money would come from “in these times of crisis”. MacAskill stated: “This has caused consternation, and even anger, both within the service and in the police where rumour has it that it’s a position strongly disagreed with. “The cost to the public purse will be massive but the reputational damage to the Crown Office is incalculable.” Asked to confirm the payments, COPFS said: “The cases are still before the court and in order to respect the processes underway we will not comment at this time. The Lord Advocate has made clear that he will support appropriate public accountability and intends to make a statement to the Scottish Parliament in due course.” A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Ministers to comment.” https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/19017078.ex-rangers-bosses-paid-21m/

He will be away hiding in the cupboard under the stairs with his fingers in his ears ?

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FT: Separate Entity FC 0 Livi 0 ?

HALF-TIME: Separate Entity FC 0 Livingstone 0 Hibs 0 Kilmarnock 0 Ross County 2 Aberdeen 1 Hamilton 0 Dundee United 0 St Johnstone 0 St Mirren 0

APOLOGY FOR AN APOLOGY Celtic chief Peter Lawwell has lost the plot but NO ONE is brave enough to tell him, writes Kris Boyd COMMENT Kris Boyd 15 Jan 2021, 20:31 Updated: 15 Jan 2021, 20:31 I CAN just picture Gerry McCulloch and everyone else in the Celtic media department now. “That was great, Peter. You’ve got that spot-on.” “You think so, Gerry?” says the club’s chief executive as he stands up from his chair and takes off his microphone, “Do you think that comes across OK?” “Oh yes, Peter. You nailed it. Perfect.” And there you have Celtic’s problem in a nutshell. A chief executive who is making so many mistakes right now. And no one around him who is prepared to stand up and say so. Because who in their right mind thought that “apology” was a good idea? My Sky Sports colleague, Andy Walker, got it spot-on when he said the first 40 seconds of the interview were decent. For a brief moment, Lawwell sounded like he was willing to hold his hands up and accept complete responsibility for the monumental error of judgment which led to Celtic’s trip to Dubai. But he couldn’t help himself, could he? No sooner had he said he was sorry than he started to play the victim card. And suddenly he was spouting nonsense about how the Covid pandemic had affected them more than any other club in Scotland. It’s such a staggering statement to make that it’s almost unbelievable. I mean, wasn’t he paying attention when Hearts were kicked out of the Premiership last season? Or when Partick Thistle were relegated to League One? Hasn’t he noticed how those clubs have been teetering on the brink of extinction on the back of that decision? The Jags had a game in hand in the Championship when they were booted down a division. They’ve fought tooth and nail to remain full-time and avoid redundancies. But since then they’ve seen other clubs given £500,000 in funding to keep their heads above water while they depend on handouts from their fans and much smaller cheques. If anyone has any right to feel hard-done-to in the last 12 months, it’s Jacqui Low at Firhill. There is a long list of clubs who could claim to be the worst-affected in the country but they don’t see it as some sort of competition. Celtic do. And clearly Lawwell does. The fact he was even thinking like that as he was supposed to be issuing an apology to supporters sums up how out of touch the club is. Sure, Celtic have lost a lot of money this season. Going by the fact they have the biggest stadium in Scotland, maybe that’s how Lawwell quantifies it. But the “poor old Celtic” act is pathetic. They actually benefitted from the season ending prematurely last year because they were given the title. They would probably have won it, to be honest, but they were still named champions when the season wasn’t actually completed. I just cannot understand why no one at Celtic listened to that interview before it went out and said, ‘Guys, this sounds awful’. Celtic supporters must have been watching it through the cracks between their fingers. It was the worst sit-down since Jim White went to meet Charles Green in his hospital bed. Celtic have just lost all grip of reality. They thought it was a good idea to spend huge sums on five days in Dubai — and then a week later are furloughing their Under-18s to save cash. Surely it must have crossed someone’s mind that people might start to ask questions about that. Look, Lawwell had to come out and say something. When Christopher Jullien tested positive, meaning Neil Lennon, John Kennedy and 13 players couldn’t be involved for the Hibs game, it was time for some crisis management that he simply couldn’t avoid. But if you’ve got no grasp on the mood out in the real world, and if no one is prepared to tell you, then you’re asking for trouble. And all it does is back up everything people think. Celtic supporters have been accusing the club’s board of being short-sighted and blinkered for a long time. They weren’t happy with the appointment of Lennon after Brendan Rodgers waved cheerio. And since then they’ve seen things go from bad to worse with appalling recruitment. They’ve been digging a hole for themselves for so long that it’s hard to see how they recover. The league is over, Rangers are champions in all but name, and things are so brutal at Celtic they don’t even know how to say sorry. https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/6540697/celtic-lawwell-apology-boyd/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1610751631

Blatantly obvious and just more bias cheating from the guardians of Separate Entity FC that is the SFA/SPFL Now ready yourself for the league being null & void!

CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE Unfortunately this update is with regards to a new shutdown for our football club As most will be aware, all football below the Scottish Championship level has been suspended by the Scottish FA Joint Response Group (JRG). This includes the Stenhousemuir men’s first team and all other teams within the structures that flow underneath. The younger age groups in our community programme are still able to train, and the club will remain in contact with parents to make them aware of any changing arrangements. News of the suspension is disappointing. There is no evidence to suggest that football clubs are responsible for spreading the virus between clubs or into other communities. The positive test rate amongst players has been no greater than the rest of society. If there was evidence to suggest that football clubs were a source of wider virus spread then of course action would need to be taken, but there isn’t. Whilst this decision is disappointing, we will do all we can to keep the players ready for a resumption of football when we are allowed to do so once again. The suspension places further strain on our club, will limit the ability of our staff to carry out their duties, and it has significant potential to interrupt our ability to do business in the transfer window. As many people will have heard, we found out about the suspension from the Scottish FA/SPFL when we were sent a copy of a press release addressed to the media. There had been no consultation with clubs, no warning and no support offered. We find this deeply disappointing. As has also now been widely reported, there was a scheduled SPFL General Meeting of Members held on Wednesday 13th January where clubs expected to be able to discuss this critical development. To clarify the timeline, this meeting was just 48 hours after the decision to suspend clubs was announced in the media. I am bitterly disappointed to confirm the reports in the press that the SPFL refused to allow any discussion between clubs on this topic, and any other issues in that meeting. Club representatives had their microphones muted and the only communication accepted was where clubs could email questions to the secretary, who would in turn email them to the Chairman and he would read them out. At no point were clubs allowed to speak. I made a number of requests to speak, and they were all refused. So faced with the news of this imposed suspension of football, our own league body refused clubs the opportunity to discuss this at our own Members General Meeting. For the record, we have been represented at every league meeting held, and this censured format has never been used before. I very much doubt that I need to say much more on this as many football club supporters will be outraged at hearing this, but sadly not surprised. Fans own our game, they are the biggest stakeholders in our clubs. Silencing the club voices who are in place to represent fans, in arguably the worst crisis Scottish football has faced, is an affront to supporters everywhere. We will continue to raise concerns on this matter, just as we will do everything in our control to work towards getting our game back. Football fans deserve better than this from our league bodies – change is needed, reform must be put on the agenda at some point soon. We will campaign for change and we hope that other clubs and supporter groups will too. https://www.stenhousemuirfc.com/2021/01/15/chairmans-update-12/

Preview from @Govan Rear Bear Preview: Motherwell v Rangers Sunday, 12:00 Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports Football. With Rangers going into this weekend’s game against Motherwell 21 points clear of Celtic, unbeaten in the league to date and on a superb winning run, you’d be excused for thinking that Sunday’s game against Motherwell was a mere formality. It is fair to say that Motherwell have not had their troubles to seek in what has been a bleak season so far. The Steelmen are currently without in a win eleven games and sit tenth in the table, one point off bottom placed Ross County, albeit having played two games less than the Highland club. Celtic’s draw with Hibs on Monday night in their rearranged fixture has given Steven Gerrard and his players the benefit of a 21 point lead, although that would be reduced if Celtic secure victory over Livingston on Saturday. The lead is a substantial one, even if Celtic do claw back full points in their games-in-hand. However you sense that Steven Gerrard is very uncomfortable at any talk of this league being over, and is wary of the challenge that a potentially rejuvenated Motherwell may provide at Fir Park. Speaking at his press conference on Friday he said: “We expect a tough challenge, we will certainly respect a new manager going in and things will be slightly different. “We have to be ready to adapt to whatever is thrown at us but our focus and the majority of our preparation has been on us, where we are at and what we have to do to try and get the three points. “A manager always goes in and tries to put his own stamp on things. Normally you get a bit of a bounce and a boost and you are galvanised. “I am sure they will be trying to do all they can to derail us and try and be the first team to beat us from a league point of view this season.” Celtic’s challenge is not yet over, but there is a feeling with every passing game that there is a real lack of belief in Neil Lennon’s squad that they have what it takes to claw themselves back into contention. The recent Dubai debacle provided further evidence suggesting that Celtic are off the pace in more ways than one in this campaign. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic now at a worse level than it was in March and April, there has been renewed talk of “null and void”. Wednesday’s meeting between member clubs and the SPFL Board provided more questions than answers, and resulted in series of statements from the likes of Falkirk, Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir seriously questioning the governance of the game in Scotland. Add to that the sudden turnaround by the SPFL on the punishments dished out to St Mirren and Kilmarnock for breaching Covid protocols, and you suspect that Rangers will need to be more than better than Celtic on the park in the coming weeks and months if they are to secure their first title in nine years. As far as the Rangers manager is concerned, however, there is no debate on this issue. “My opinion on this is exactly the same as it was in March and April”, he said. "For football's sake and the sake of competition I think everything has to try to be finished in the right way. "I am not just saying that now because we are sitting where we are in the competition this year. Because my opinion was exactly the same in March and April. "My opinion will never change as long as I am involved in the game.” Gerrard provided some positive updates with regards to the current injury situation, confirming that Ryan Jack returned to full-training on Thursday and that Kemar Roofe should do the same at some point next week. Scott Arfield, who sustained ankle ligament damage against Dundee Utd in December, is still some way off returning but stepped up his rehab this week. Given that injury situation, it is hard to see Gerrard deviating much from the starting eleven which deservedly secured three points at Pittodrie last week, which will mean a 300th appearance in a Rangers jersey for Steven Davis. The Irishman has been a splendid servant for Rangers, and he has yet again shown a tremendous level of consistency in his performance levels this season. It would be a fitting reward for his efforts to secure his fourth league medal with the club. Rangers had moments last week against Aberdeen where they started to look like they were starting to fire on all cylinders again – perhaps a result of no midweek fixture for the first time this season. None looked more rejuvenated than Alfredo Morelos, who scored a double and put in a performance level rarely seen from the Columbian this season. If he is coming back into to a rich vein of form, then it has come at the perfect time. As for Motherwell, it is hard to see a repeat of the 5-5-0 formation which they adopted at Ibrox recently under Stephen Robinson. Robinson’s teams had a reputation for being overly physical. It will be interesting to see where new boss Graham Alexander takes them in terms of playing style. Alexander went with a 4-4-3 against St Mirren in his first game in charge last week, with a front three of Jake Hastie, Tony Watt and Devante Cole. Hastie is ineligible to play against his parent club, which makes you wonder is Alexander will opt for a 4-4-2 on Sunday. But the former Scotland international has already said that he will use a system that suits the players at his disposal, rather than enforcing his own style on a group of players which are not currently his. It is not the first head-to-head with Steven Gerrard for Alexander, and his previous experiences have not been good ones. "I’d rather forget those couple of occasions, to be fair” the Motherwell gaffer joked. “When I was in the Premier League with Burnley we played Liverpool at Anfield and Turf Moor against him and I think he scored a couple of goals and sent us down, actually, so I’ll want to thank him for that on Sunday”. Steven Gerrard will be hoping he extends his winning run against Motherwell and Alexander.