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I find it absolutely incredulous that, whilst the arse is falling out of the Scottish game, the SPL Board seem intent on chasing ghosts and pandering to the media frenzy. All this talk of stripping titles from Rangers FC....who cares. What the SPL Board should be doing is sending a very clear statement that Rangers FC no longer exist and they have effectively been stripped of all titles and that came about by their own hand. The sooner their fans (and the rest of us if we're honest) realise and accept that the better. It serves no useful purpose for anyone to be referencing Rangers as some kind of ongoing concern. Ok, so the history books will read as they have always done, but they will also record that the club went into liquidation in 2012 and ceased to be. Leave the HMRC and authorities to deal with the charges placed upon those responsible for the EBT's and more recent non payment of taxes etc. There's nothing for the SPL Board to gain from flogging a corpse....forget about it, move on and use your time (our time) more constructively. Aside from all that, it is wasted effort to be spending time and resources on that, when what they need to be doing is speaking to TV and Sponsors about the future of the game and how we all work together (with or without the bastard son of Rangers FC) to deliver a better league and better product. That is how we should be selling ourselves to corporate backers right now....as an organisation that can flourish from all this mess, but only if they are willing to work with us. Let's face it, TV/Media are only in it for the money and sponsors are primarily after the exposure so they have a vested interest in a better, more popular league that has greater reach and greater appeal. It makes no sense for them to strangle the life from Scottish Football, but Scottish Football needs to demonstrate to them that we can turn things around and that means EVERYONE pulling together from the very top of the tree, all the way to the bottom and on every branch in between. Let us show people that we can, and will, learn from our mistakes, not languish in them and allow them to drag us even further into the mire.

The article posted by Gabby takes some reading but is worth the effort if my understanding is correct. My reading is that by having the meeting on 4th July the SPL is taking a position that oldco and newco are one and the same but just with different ownership to transfer the SPL share to. If it is the same club then they can also take sanctions against them. But oldco and newco are not the same club, they are different legal entities and therefore a meeting on a differernt basis should be taking place which would require a vote of 10 clubs rather than 8 to approve the newco SPL entry. Either way it strikes me as irrelevant. If they were one and the same then appropriate sanctions for the financial history would mean the club should be thrown out of the SPL whilst if it is a newco they do not have the playing history to justify admission. Either way, there is simply no justification for allowing Rangers in. The meeting of 4th July should not be to decide whether Rangers newco get the share, it should be about which other club gets it instead. What is disappointing here is the silence of other SPL clubs including our own. They should be taking a collective stand and say emphatically that they are all voting "no". That might allow everyone to know where they stand and we can move forward. This just gets messier and messier. It would not surprise me if Green applies for an injunction to delay the start of the SPL season if the vote goes against him. Were that to happen, would the SFL play its fixtures to include the team which would be in the SPL if it were going ahead? The possible scenarios don't bear thinking about. It is time for a united and decisive stand from the so called leaders of the Scottish game. Kick Rangers oldco into the history books and Rangers new co into division 3 - and do it soon.

A rose by any other name smells the same. Rangers Newco, or whatever other name one twists and turns to call it , it is still Rangers F C in another guise. A wolf in sheep's clothing, no less because the ramifications of allowing this club back into the SPL will be far-reaching and this act will remain in the memory for a long time. It will be nothing less than a completely cynical, self-serving betrayal of all that's good in scottish football. End of story.

Who or what is an abstainer? If due punishments are meted out then I will be happy enough to purchase two season tickets for next season. My views are nothing to do with whether ICT vote yes or not. My view is that if this cheating club is not punished to a level suitable to the crime then I want nothing whatsoever to do with Scottish football. Football, for me, is a hobby that I can ill afford as it is without having to spend my hard earned to finance such blatant disrespect for the law. My view is that if any club votes in favour of Rangers then they are doing no more than aiding and abetting law breakers. Everyone who has an honest conscience should be standing up for what is right and decent and not what'll make a few bucks.

Dear Mr Cameron, My wife and I started watching Caledonian Thistle (remember there was no Inverness back in those days) in 1995, during the club's second season in the league. Since then, our family (ourseleves and our three boys) have supported the team the length and breadth of Scotland, enjoying (and sometimes enduring) the highs and lows of life on the road as a football supporter. Memories such as being one of the 'Stranraer 2' the night Jim Farry made Inverness return south, just 48 hours after a frozen pitch saw off our cup tie; being one of the 'Berwick 17' the night we got dumped out of the league cup; the 5-1 humping we took at Cappielow on a Friday night before Scotland hosted England the next day in the Euro playoffs; Feb 8th 2000; Caledonian Stadium when (a) we got promotion to the SPL the first time (b) we got relegated; the 7-0 game Somerset Park; the 4-3 game at Livingston... the list just goes on and on... these are the memories that define the very soul of a football supporter. It's not just about the result, it's about how you got there: it's about the journey. I believe that whatever you achieve in life, you must earn it; indeed the satisfaction to be gained by doing things the hard way, the proper way, far outweigh anything that you can get on the cheap. Ask any Caley Thistle Highland Marcher how it feels when you get to that ground at the other end of the walk... And so to 'The Rangers Football Club'... this football club has no history for it is a new club. It may have a ground and wonderful training facilities, but it (currently) has no players, and hence no team. I have spent 17 years on the road with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and here we are, about to welcome our neighbours from over the bridge into the same promised land that we have been part of for so long. Seventeen long years that Highland football has taken to sit at the top table... But now, because it suits the commercial interests of not only the Central Belt majority but the mainstream Scottish media, whose very existence has for so long depended on what was once The Old Firm, we are being force fed the notion that Scottish football needs The Rangers in the SPL. It does not. The Rangers have not earned their right; indeed they have not yet earned their right to any place in the Scottish league. The likes of Spartans and Gala Fairydean have, in my opinion, every bit as much of a right to a place in the league. So in summary, I would say this: if there is one part of Scotland that should understand how it feels to earn the right to play in the SPL, that place is in the Highlands. There is absolutely NO WAY that The Rangers FC should be granted a place in the SPL without first having earned the right by promotion through the league structure, and in the event that it should happen, then my family will never again return to the Scottish game.

If he was staying with us then I think he would have said so by now .... personally I think Rangers (newco) would be a good destination as both sagas have trundled on for so long that I have lost the will to read much more about either topic !

I spotted him checking out a property in Lodge ave.....

Sevco 5088 certainly does not sound like a Scottish Premier League Club - see latest fact about their re-birth. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18509619 I must admit I question why the BBC still have the now almost dead Rangers FC showing on their website. They do generally take a while to change things. Their coverage of late has been first class and in terms of fairness, they have updated their site to show Ross County as an SPL team. So hopefully within a day or two they will drop the numbers to 11 obliterating the disgraced entity.

I heard he found new love whilst on holiday and is packing up football to move in with a Thai Ladyboy....honest!!!

Not if Ross Jack and Barry Wilson have their way!

Which takes us right back to my opening post.....the SPL should be acting to separate the two issues, not pedalling news and stories which add to the confusion. The only way to do that is to stop talking about OldCo as anything other than a stain on Scottish Footballs History until everything else is sorted out. If "Rangers" fans want to buy into Greens stories, then let them....it makes no difference to anyone else what they believe or don't believe. With regards the article...aside from giving me a wee chuckle (private reasons)...it only serves to highlight my concerns that the SPL Board (not Clubs) are playing a dangerous game of trying to treat OldCo and NewCo as a one in order to leverage them into the SPL.

Hope he has had the decency to tell Terry Butcher where his future lies to his face. Twitter is not the place to announce to your employers whether you have accepted a contract offer or not IMO

That's not what I am saying at all. Rangers FC (in liquidation) are not whatever the NewCo is now calling themselves, they are separate legal entities and there's nothing that can be done to punish them for the crimes of the OldCo. If titles are to be stripped, they will be stripped from the OldCo, not the NewCo....the NewCo have no titles to take. Let's stop fecking around looking at ways to punish a company/club that has nothing to do with the future of the SPL and/or Scottish Football. Whether or not any NewCo should be allowed into the SPL is an entirely separate argument, IMO. It is not about denying them in order to punish Rangers or any other such thing....it is about denying them because they have done nothing to justify and/or qualify for a position in the countries top league. It is only when you muddy the waters with talk that OldCo and NewCo are one in the same that you end up chasing your tail and getting caught up in issues and arguments which should not exist and are prevent us from moving forward. If we really want to punish the OldCo, then that can be done after all the other mess is sorted out.....after all, it's not like they are going anywhere!!!

Dear Mr Cameron, I am writing to urge the representatives of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club to vote against any proposal to allow a Rangers newco entry into the SPL on July 4th. I am sure the club is well aware of the views of fans and the wide range of valid arguments being aired on CaleyThistleOnline and therefore I will restrict myself to a few points which I feel are particularly pertinent. The wrong doing of Rangers is without precedent. The scale of the financial irregularity and debt is on a scale unseen before in Scottish football and must be punished severely. Of course, I understand the argument that any application is about the newco and not the old regime and therefore legally the newco is not responsible for its wrong doings. But equally, the newco must not be allowed to benefit from the status in the league which the old club had – a status which was achieved by financial practices which have left a tax debt of millions and dozens of creditors penniless. It might be interesting to consider just where Rangers might be if they had acted responsibly in clearing their debts. If, instead of buying players they could not afford and paying them inflated wages, they put income towards paying their taxes and companies who had provided services to them, then their playing staff would have been much less competitive. Who is to say they would have survived in the SPL in that situation? So why should the club (yes, I know technically it is a new club but we all know it is still Rangers) be rewarded with a place in the SPL because of its appalling behaviour when it might be playing at a lower level had it acted responsibly? A Rangers club has no right to be in the SPL. A place needs to be earned just as this club has earned its place and our local Highland neighbours have earned theirs. Other clubs also work hard and honestly to reach this level and it would be offensive in the extreme to see a newco Rangers with no history gifted a place on the back of the old Rangers former position in the league. Entry to the SPL should be on merit and as Rangers newco has no record of winning a single game of football, then any application should not even be considered for a vote. It should simply be thrown out as being frivolous. To my mind these arguments are strong, but we keep hearing arguments that other clubs will not survive without Rangers. This is scare****ering nonsense on several levels. There will be some loss of revenue but there will be more interest in a league without Rangers and that in turn will bring in additional revenue. In addition, if Rangers are admitted to the league many fans will simply lose their faith in the game and the club and will stop going or will attend fewer games. I for one will certainly not attend matches involving a Rangers newco if they are admitted. It is difficult to be sure what the financial consequences will be but clubs survive fine in the SFL without Rangers and Celtic and it is for clubs to manage their affairs appropriately and in line with the income stream they get. If the Board cannot manage that, they should make way for a Board that can. But this is not a financial issue. It is an issue about the principles which are important in sport. It is an ethical issue. Whichever club is elected to the SPL they must be elected on merit. That cannot be a Rangers newco and if the club votes for them then it will be, by far, the most shameful day in our club’s history. Please, Mr Cameron, vote “no”.

The new fixtures and games are no different than they have been in the past. There will still be at least ten teams who've played each other a few times last season plus one new club and someone else. As for your other question could you please put it to one of the threads already in place for such discussion. xxx

Nothing to do with jumping ship. If you read all the posts of those with the same opinion as myself you'll see that, if sporting integrity is not upheld and the newco forced to apply the the SFL, then we are turning our back on football. As I've said on a few post I cannot bring myself to support a sport that allows lawbreaking and tax dodging to go unpunished. If I dont pay my taxes I'll be severely punished. The same must apply to any business. I don't think I would go as far as Alex but I have some sympathy with the point of view. For me loyalty needs to be earned and I will not blindly support the club regardless of how it behaves. If the club votes for Rangers newco to be admitted to the SPL then as far as I am concerned they will have lost any right to expect me to support the club through thick and thin. To be honest, I don't really know what I will do but I guess I will stop being a fan and become someone who watches games of football from time to time for purely selfish reasons. What I do know is that if the club does vote to admit Rangers newco to the SPL it will be the darkest day in the history of the club and I will be disgusted with them.

Rumour has it we are going to play at Nairn ....on the beach.

Brilliant surname. That is all.

I agree with RiG as well, especially as I know his reasoning behind not renewing his season ticket. For what it's worth, I renewed my season ticket 3 weeks ago. That doesn't make me a superfan - in fact, if we bow down and let Rangers in, it makes me a bit of a spanner.

What a load of nonsense some posters againput on this forum. Pre season friendlies are to get up to speed fitness wise first and foremost, then to get the playing system in place. It doesn't matter who we play or what results we get in these as long as we start the season positively.If anyone thinks that a friendly against a "bigger" team/teams will really benefit us in the season ahead, they are sadly deluding themselves. Bigger teams would presumably also want cash guarantees for playing which is money we can ill afford.

Latest update for the Caley Thistle fans involved. We are going to submit an application to join the SPL as a space is now available. Bring on the fecking local derbies!

I think there's a bit of an elephant in the room here that everyone is missing. In my mind, the dropping of attendances has little to do with the world's financial problems, ICT's lack of U19s, ICT slashed budget or any other reason. The reason is what the fans are seeing on the pitch. If the club continually goes down the path (and have a manager who seems desperate to do so) of signing players with no connection or interest in the club or the area, sign players that play for themselves and not the club and have a manager who seems quite content on taking a "don't get beat " attitude, even at home while playing a kick and rush style of football, with any direction that is in it, directed towards a man of 5"7. These tactics are an insult to Billy McKay and even more so, to the supporters. You paint up all the reasons you want to try and cover-up the issue, but none as far as I can see, are the whole reasons why. I believe, and always have believed, that if you put a product on the park that entertains and excites the fans, play players who the fans feel connected to and play players that give their all for the club and play for the shirt - the fans won't turn away.

Oh My! So glad I cam e on here the nicht!