ian1964 10,625 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 WHAT a bunch of deceitful dunces they are at the Scottish Premier League. There may even be some people who are beginning to suspect them of being outright liars too. Those people may well believe that, though I could not possibly comment, other than to point out there apprears to be some circumstantial evidence which may give rise to such an allegation. For instance, a week ago the Daily Recordâ??s Tony Haggerty produced a cracking exclusive which revealed that Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell had gatecrashed the SPL television talks with Sky and spent two days in London with his opposite number at the SPL, Neil Doncaster. The reaction from Celtic and from the SPL? Deafening silence! Until the same pair, Peter Lawwell and Neil Doncaster, were caught having a cuppa together in the Sky lounge at Glasgow airport, prior to boarding a flight for the Capital again. By the time they touched down, STV had been tipped off and the red faced pair were caught by a camera crew as they made their way towards the airport exit. The telephone air waves had obviously been busy, because by the time the STV News aired at 6.pm, the SPL had claimed the reason why Peter Lawwell had gate crashed the telly talks was that he had been appointed to a Steering Committee, charged with television negotiations. Really? It is certainly suspicious it should take a week for this to be announced, despite the fact that is the length of time the fact of Peter Lawwellâ??s hitherto unexplained involvement in the SPL TV talks had been in the public domain. Strange, that! Isnâ??t it? But we should have perhaps detected the Peter Lawwell hand at work when the SPL started bullying and blackmailing the honourable members of the Scottish Football League with the threat those clubs would not get their £2M-a year annual Settlement Payment if Sky didnâ??t pay up their last £13M of their current contract and agree to sign up for £80M for the following five seasons. Despite the fact the Sky deal was and is based on Rangers being in the SPL. It was the very worst sort of bullying, the very worst sort of blackmail and the very worst sort of base deceit. For the Scottish Premier League has survived for half of its existence without the major money which Sky pays and still been able to pay the legally binding Settlement Agreement money to the Scottish Football League clubs. Does Peter Lawwell not know his history? Lest he has forgotten, then I am pleased to remind him. Sky signed a four year deal when the SPL was first formed in 1998. When it ran out in 2002, Skyâ??s £45M offer for another deal was snubbed by the SPL, an astonishing decision which saw Sky walk away, leaving the SPL to have to cobble together a two year deal with BBC Scotland which, comparatively , was worth buttons. Yet the SPL was still able to pay what it was legally bound to, to the SFL clubs. Do you remember now, Peter? A further complication and hit to the finances of SPL clubs at the time came because, as all the live matches were shown on â??Cooncil Tellyâ? everyone had access to them, therefore paying customers stayed away and gates fell. Despite all of these problems there was no wild talk about clubs being unable to make their legally due contribution to the SPL Settlement Agreement to the Scottish Football League clubs. Sky were also missing for the following five years â?? 2004 until 2009 â?? when the now defunct Setanta showed live football , but again at greatly reduced rates, as the SPL continued to pay the price for their ridiculous refusal of Skyâ??s £45M in 2002. It was only when Setanta went up in smoke that Sky stepped in again to start televising SPL matches at the start of season 2009-2010. Therefore Sky have been IN for seven years and OUT for seven years. And during the time Sky have been out, the SFL clubs always got their Settlement Agreement payments â?? to which they are legally entitled â?? from the SPL. But now all that has changed. Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has been parachuted into what the SPL call a Steering Committee, just in time for that legally binding Settlement Agreement to be steered towards the rocks, in what looks like an act of deceitful piracy, laced with bullying and blackmail. Though why SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster believes he needs another Celtic director to help him is anybodyâ??s guess. After all, Celtic are already represented at the SPLâ??s top table, where Peter Lawwellâ??s lackey, Celticâ??s £250,000-a-year finance director Eric Riley sits beside Neil Doncaster on the SPL Board. Clearly, however, Neil Doncaster does not believe one man from Celtic sitting around the SPL top table and wielding power is sufficient. And now he has two. One for each ear. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Amokachi 0 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Must all the rubbish Leggat types be copied onto every Rangers forum daily? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthter 542 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Better from Mr Leggat....no name calling, no mud slinging, just commenting on issues based on fact!!! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,625 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Must all the rubbish Leggat types be copied onto every Rangers forum daily? Aye,just the same as we have to read your rubbish. It's clear in the title thread that it's Leggat,DON'T READ IT 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMazza 0 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Must all the rubbish Leggat types be copied onto every Rangers forum daily? Think I'd rather read what he has to say than your 'enlightened' opinions. Agree with Darthter. Plus less CAPITAL emphasis. Hmm, maybe he is listening to us lol 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CumbernauldGers 0 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Aye,just the same as we have to read your rubbish. It's clear in the title thread that it's Leggat,DON'T READ IT Poor responce mate, the guy was only pointing out that Leggos stuff is not worth reading. Also you tell the guy not to read it as it clearly states what it is in the title, but how can he make his point if he cant comment on it? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Surely the correct response would be along the lines of 'I disagree with this/him, he's talking rubbish' rather than criticising the guy who posted it who clearly didn't write it? Leggat polarises, like most regular commentators on Rangers related stuff sometimes I disagree with him. On this occasion he is making a valid point though. The influence Celtic have over the SPL is clear to everyone, what could Lawwell be promising that Doncaster or an ICT or St Mirren director couldn't? The SPL has been shown to be corrupt and driven by avarice and self-interest, pointing out who is clearly pulling the strings isn't a bad thing. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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