DoofersDad

I don't think there is any dispute about the legality of EBT loans per se. As I understand it the loans can be made to provide additional money to employees but must not be payment for work. The question here is whether Rangers can reasonably claim that the loans were not payment for work. If they were not payments then presumably the players were paid separately and the level of payment will have been at a level that players of their calibre could reasonably expect to be paid. If Rangers cannot demonstrate that those who received loans were also paid wages at the going rate then you cannot but conclude that the "loans" were, in fact, payment for work. I'm sure that others have read around the detail of this far more than I have but I have certainly never seen any suggestion that the players were separately paid the kind of salaries one might expect. I would certainly expect HMRC to appeal this and to win the appeal.

I have deleted a flippant comment I put on here earlier. I saw Gringo Jnr's post without having seen the OP and as a result thought this was a flyer for a commerial event and was not aware that this event is, in fact, being organised by hard working volunteers in order to raise the profile of the Supporters Society and for the good of ICT. I do appreciate the commitment and hard work that volunteers put into such events and therefore apologise unreservedly for any offence my comment might have caused. I'm not a boxing fan myself but please accept my best wishes and hopes for a very successful event.

Interesting, I would say. These proposals have a lot of merit but the down side is that it maintains the illogical split of separate ruling bodies. The SPL and SFL need to merge. The basic concept extended to include the lower regions of the structure and with a pyramid structure below that to bring new blood into the league would be the way forward. How about 4 leagues of 12 (Divs 1 - 4. I can't stand this premier league nonsense) In all leagues the teams play each other home and away and then the leagues split. Top 8 in Div 1 play each other home and away for title and European places. Bottom 4 in Div 1 and top 4 in Div 2 play each other home and away. Top 4 play in Div 1 next year and bottom 4 play in Div 2 Bottom 8 in Div 2 play each other home and away with the bottom 4 being relegated Top 8 in Div 3 play each other home and away with top 4 being promoted to Div 2 Bottom 4 in Div 3 and top 4 in Div 4 play each other home and away. Top 4 play in Div 3 next year and bottom 4 play in Div 4 Bottom 8 in Div 4 play each other home and away. Bottom 4 get relegated to regional leagues to be replaced by champions of 4 regional leagues This would mean that just about every game was competetive and there would real opportunity to progress through the league structure. It would offer a lot more variety.

The problem is not how the clubs are administering the allocation of seats, it's the fact that there's seats at all. When oh when will they do away with this all seater nonsense and let us stand where we want and enjoy the match day experience?

Some interesting thoughts here but whilst one or two have obviously got a handle on why we have a low fan base, I don't think anyone has explained why crowds appear to worse than last year when we are generally playing some pretty good stuff. On the face of we should have had a really good crowd against Motherwell given our league position, the quality of football we've played, the number of goals we've scored and the fact that it was a nice day. Instead we got our lowest home SPL crowd ever at TCS. Was this simply the fact that the game was on TV and folk simply saved their pennies by not going? After all, it's not as though the atmosphere at TCS makes it more attractive to actually be there. That may explain Sunday's crowd but the concern is the general poor level of support. There is simply no tradition of supporting the club in the City. The population is also very mobile with many youngsters having moved away whilst the City is full of incomes who have alleigences to other clubs and may just go to the odd match if they've nothing else to do. The core support is very low and it is going to have to be nurtured every inch of the way. If the club moans about the fans all that will do is to allienate the few who go. What is needed is a concerted long term effort of working in the community, improving the match day experience, continuing to play atractive football, making the most of the big occasions, maximising the non football side of the business. To be fair, the club has been doing a lot of this over the years but it needs to keep soldiering on. Over a period of many years the club may slowly but surely win increasing numbers of followers if the profile is maintained, but on the other hand, there may be a further drop. What is certain is that without trying to maintain a high profile in all these ways attendances will fall further and that will impact on the players we can bring in. Without wishing to go over old ground (too much ) the main reason we cannot sustain crowds is that there is no atmosphere and the main reason there is no atmosphere is the design of the stadium. I know we have what we have and there is absolutely no chance of financial planning to improve things at the moment, but IMHO we do need to keep this on the back burner. If some benefactor ever comes in with serious money we absolutely would not want to burn it buying short term success, what is needed is to get rid of our apology of a ground and build a nice compact stadium that enclosed the pitch and contained the sound. But I doubt it will ever happen in my lifetime. Meanwhile I'll continue to support my team and shout "great ball" to the dolphins.

That means the psycholgist should be paying the club a sum which should make up for the reduced gate receipts.

All those international call ups taking their toll. Terry should just tell them to say they're injured.

Top scorers in the SPL, 1 defeat in 11 and 3rd in the recent form league. It's not all doom and gloom.

In my experience, any Sunday spent at the office is a very bad day.

I said after the Hearts game that we really missed Draper. I know that a number of folk have been saying for a couple of years that Morrison is someone who deserves a run in the side and many felt he should have started against Hearts. Well, he started today and we lost 5 -1. I've heard people speak highly of him but I haven't seen a lot of him myself. Several times he has come on as a late sub and has seemed tidy enough in what he did but I've never really seen signs that he could impose himself on a game the way that Draper seems able to do. I'd therefore be interested to hear from those who were able to watch the game about how he did today. He was subbed after 68 minutes so it doesn't sound as though Terry was overly impressed. And what of OTJ? It seems to me that he is a lot less effective without Draper beside him.

This result, just like Dundee's win against Hibs yesterday, is probably also a reflection of the sheer unpredictability of the league this year. It seems that everyonne is capable of beating everyone else on their day and no team has any real consistency. We are getting unexpected results each week and we may well continue to see that happening. We shouldn't read too much into individual results but should take the defeats on the chin whilst enjoying the wins. If proof were needed as to just how unpredictable this season has been so far, you need need look no further than the SPL Prediction League on this site where you will see that Doofer's Mum is the clear leader. I rest my case.

I was unable to go today for personal reasons but where were the other 1000 stay away fans? We've been playing good football, were on a 10 game unbeaten run and it was a lovely day for football. We should have had 4000 at the game getting behind the team. It must have been pretty deflating to the team to see such a pathetic turnout. I guess we got the performance the support deserved

Let's hope they feel a lot sicker heading down the A9 than they will on the way up.

The Good Friday agreement states; "it is the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly [the two governments] confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland." So if someone from Northern Ireland wishes to call themselves Irish, they are Irish. If they want to call themselves British, they are British. That description refers to their citizenship. But just the same as someone who is from Orkney is Orcadian regardless of whether they refer to them self as Scottish or British in terms of citizenship, someone who comes from Northern Ireland is also Irish in the sense that the term "Irish" describes the geographical circumstance of his birth. An Ulsterman can call himself British if he wants but it doesn't change the fact that he is also Irish.

I would love to think it was owned by someone called Ross Courtney - but I fear not.

But the match against Motherwell is not a training session. Many players don't translate what they do in training into a match day situation. Others are the opposite and respond to the atmosphere and the sense of occasion. Roberts has had a good run in the side and whilst he's shown promise he does not appear to have lived up to his potential. If Draper is out I don't know that I would drop him for the Motherwell game but based on what those who have seen Brislen-Hall play, I would like to see him come on and get some decent game time in the first team from the bench to see how he copes with that. Roberts needs to impress more in the next couple of games or else a lengthy spell on the bench would be appropriate.

Saw C1ACH heading north up the A9 this morning. Frequently see RO55 CTY but I've not managed to hit it yet.

Just leave a couple of Daniel O'Donnel CDs on the passenger seat. They'll think the car belongs to one of their own and that there'll be nothing worth stealing in any case.

How pathetic is that? (Not Scotty's response - I mean the Hibee's sacking of their DJ!) What is wrong with a bit of gentle tongue in cheek humour? The thing is, you could interpret all sorts of songs in a way which could be construed as having some completely unintended meaning. For instance, I have just been listening to U2 "with or without you". Folk get sacked for having a sense of humour and yet the authorities continue to tolerate the sectarian bile that still comes from some SPL terraces. What is this world coming to?

We made better chances than Hearts but they did most of the attacking in the second half. A draw was probably a fair result. Raul, what are people in Spain saying about Celtic beating Barcelona?

I know it's just a proposal. But it's still outrageous.

Frankly I think the proposal is completely outrageous. Giving a competetive platform only for OF 2nd teams in the SFL would give them a huge advantage both in terms of competetive games for their 2nd string and in terms of additional income. If reserve teams are to play in a competetive environment (and I think they should), we either have a reserve league or other leagues should be open to reserve teams from the national league structure so that there is an opportunity for all should they wish to avail themselves of it. This just shows that despite Rangers having disgraced Scottish football, their influence within the ruling elite of Scottish football remains as insiduous as ever.

Interesting to see the County highlights. Without Fraser the score could have been a lot more. The defending was absolutely woeful. Quite the worst I've seen in the SPL all season.

Confirmation here http://www.bbc.co.uk...otland/20292831

We have had a significant number of call ups in the last few years. It may well be the case that players are more likely to get a call by coming and staying here than going elsewhere. Rooney would surely have been in the thoughts of the Republic of Ireland had he stayed here but he certainly won't be if he can't get a start at Swindon.