DoofersDad

Other players past and present have parents as well. IHE could get a job at the Sun putting 2 and 2 together like that and getting anything but 4

I wonder if Rangers have shot themselves in the foot here. The SFA were saying that the seriousness of the offence warranted more than a fine but they were loathe to take action which would stop Rangers playing. If the imposition of a transfer embargo is now deemed to be illegal then the SFA may now revisit this and impose a suspension. This, or even expulsion is surely now more likely with the added pressure from FIFA. I always thought that the transfer ban was a blessing in disguise for Rangers. They have a number of talented youngsters in the side and whilst they would be unlikely to challenge at the top this would be a real opportunity to bring the youngsters into first team action and bring them on. This would be an investment for the future and the source of potential transfer income in the coming years. Whatever happens now there will be less to keep the youngsters at Ibrox. When the book of all this gets written it's going to be longer than War and Peace. More like the Bible I guess. An old testament and a new testament, most of it unbelievable but with revalations at the end.

The Sun! Where's the 'spit' smiley gone ! Aye fair do's, I had a nagging unease that if I posted that, somebody would respond as you did. You'd think with 30+ years in the classroom I would know better! All the same if you hear the same pattern of anecdote from different parents you do start to wonder.... Put it this way, I don't think our Tel subscribes to the 'democratic' school of management..... Not a criticism, just an observation. I think you may well be right. I've heard similar from another parent. What you were told may well be just as it is but it's not the sort of evidence that will hold up in a court of law.

One thing about supporting a wee club like ICT is, if you go to enough games, you end up having a pint or two with people like the parents of the players..... And since when have offspring always been completely honest with their parents when things are not going so well at work? And since when have parents not defended their offspring against any criticism and then painted a far rosier picture of the reality of the situation. Hearing something from the mouths of parents is similar in reliability to reading it in the Sun in my book.

Took the words right out of Terry's mouth. Good luck to all. Sounds like a great idea for a good cause.

Speaking as an Englishman, I think CC sums it up well. I like the Olympics but I don't like the same things CC doesn't like. I do think some people underestimate the value of hosting the olympics. I am sure it will increase the interest of a lot of youngsters in a variety of sports and there will be a significant boost to the tourist industry and a legacy of facilities. Having said that, I think it really is impossible to judge the financial impact it will have. In England at least there will be a general feelgood factor about hosting the games and this may have a positive impact on health although absenteism will rise as folk take time off work to watch Tom Daley make a much bigger splash than he intends. But the costs really are huge. I am all for the olympics but do they really have to be so expensive? The taxpayer really can't afford this. Mind you, had Rangers paid their tax bill things might be a little different.

I was in Rome a couple of weeks back and checked out this guy. His name is Joseph Ratzinger but he's known as Ben. Apparently he's a Michael Jackson fan and the nickname is a play on his last name and a reference to Jackson's song about a Rat called Ben. Whilst he's playing in Rome at the moment he is originally from Germany and represented his country's youth league as talented right winger. He still plays in that role and could be a useful replacement for Jonny Hayes if he departs. Ratzinger is getting on a bit and would bring some experience to the team. He's maybe past his prime but by all accounts he can really pull the crowds in and never tires of delivering crosses. Celtic were interested in him a couple of years back and there was media interest when he went to Celtic Park for a trial. Celtic were keen to sign him but the deal fell through on personal terms because he was reluctant to play on a Sunday because of other committments. However, we have fewer Sunday games than Celtic and that should not be a problem. Other personal terms shouldn't be a problem. He is single so there is no family to consider and he is not bothered about how much he earns. I went to his house to see him and boy, is he loaded! He is also knowledgable about ICT. He struggles with the English language but the picture above shows his response when I asked him whether he knew where ICT finished in the league this year.

That works for me So Rangers finish on 0 points ahead of County? How does that work? Would County not have at least 9 points? Rangers win all their games and end on 0 points. County lose all theirs and also end on 0 points but with a very much worse goal difference. How can they both lose against each other? In this scenario they don't. The concept is that Rangers start the season with a deduction of 3 points per match. If they were to win all their games they would therefore win 3 points per match and would end up with 0 points. For them to avoid relegation another team would have to lose all their games and also end up with 0 points. Rangers would obviously have a much better goal difference and would avoid the drop. Just a bit of end of season nonsense and an opportunity to have a go at both Rangers and County at the same time.

Wow! What a gorgeous day it's been today. Not a cloud in the sky and temperature in the mid 20s. It's been just great getting out early, doing a bit of morning shopping, out for lunch and then doing some much needed odd jobs in the garden before enyoing a drink or two on the patio and having my tea outside listening to the sounds of the birds. Thank God we don't have summer football. I have been spared the choice between enjoying myself and parting with my hard earned cash to watch 22 footballers play even worse than usual because it's too hot for football.

With all the injuries we had it should have been easier to play the likes of Sutherland and Ross in their favoured positions - but he didn't - and they struggled as a result.

Don't quite understand this. Care to explain what you mean? Don't ask. We won't understand the explanation either.

I'm sorry to see him go. People may argue about Butcher's attitude towards Tokely but there is surely no doubt that he wanted Tansey to stay. He brought him to the club and the lad was beginning to show some real promise at the end of the season. The fact that he has gone to a League 1 club is a probably a reflection that the club simply cannot offer competetive wages and perhaps supports the view that there is no conspiracy regarding the Tokely situation but simply a lack of money. I understand Luke's point about not offering longer term contracts because we don't know where we will be in 3 or 4 years time but that should not mean we can't offer contracts which promise more or less depending on where we end up in the league. For instance, a contract could be offered for an agreed sum in the first season which would be increased the season after if we finished top six but significantly reduced if we got relegated. It gives the players both security and an incentive to play for the shirt. In addition, it gives the player the assurance of the managers belief in them. It also provides the opportunity of income from transfers should a player really blossom and attract the attention of clubs with more cash to spend.

Sepp Blatter would have been saying penalties were wonderful had Bayern won. Things only need changing in his view when an English Team does well with the rules as they stand. Rather than getting rid of penalties, we need to replace Sepp Blatter.

It's not a cut and dried issue to me. He was very foolish but I am sure he did not set out to harm anyone and therefore he probably agonises about what happened every day of his life. We should not brand him as a murderer as the OP does but rather we should reflect on our own driving behaviour. I am sure that probably all on this forum who drive have driven over the speed limit at some time and many will have driven whilst over the limit. Nearly all will have done so without incident. But if you were unlucky and someone ran out in front of the car or you hit some black ice or someone else did something foolish and you crashed and killed someone as a result, would that make you a bad person? No it would not. I know nothing about Luke McCormick other than what has been said on here but I'll bet that there are many worse people than him playing professional football and that having served the penalty that the legal system imposes, he should be given the opportunity to get his life back on the rails and make a useful contribution to society. However, I think Caley D has it spot on in post 18 when he says that if his career is such that his name features in the media from time to time, that will only add to the hurt the grieving parents feel. If he has got any sense, he will try and pursue a career which will not put him in the public eye. If I was a manager I would not sign him but I think you do have to accept that there will be players who have some kind of record and I don't think there can be any hard and fast rule here. Each case needs to be judged on its merits and in general what matters is how players behave when they are contracted to the club and not what they did before.

You may be right and they may be right in that they may not have known they were breaking the tax laws. But surely the point is that they should have known they were breaking the tax laws. The actions they took were specifically designed to avoid paying tax and therefore they should have received confirmation from the appropriate authorities that the actions they were taklng would not incur tax. They did not do that. Not knowing is therefore a reflection either of their own incompetence or their own deviousness. Neither is an acceptable defence.

Having just had his contract terminated by the Villa, Alex McLeish should be comfortably able to pay back his £1.7m "loan".

Alex, I think the reason you have not got many votes to your poll is that the option a majority might choose is not an option you have given. I would continue to attend games but not as I do now. I would not go and watch a Rangers Newco.

I can confirm Terry gave me a ring this evening and I'm dusting off my boots.

That works for me So Rangers finish on 0 points ahead of County? How does that work? Would County not have at least 9 points? Rangers win all their games and end on 0 points. County lose all theirs and also end on 0 points but with a very much worse goal difference.

It's the 3rd tier of the South Australia set up. There are only 10 teams in the Australia A league and then 10 teams in the divsions at SA state level. His team are top of the division so you could say they are ranked 22nd in South Australia. It is therefore not as bad as it first appears. We may be talking Highland League level perhaps but the lad has scored 6 goals in 4 appearances so clearly has some potential. It will be worth keeping tabs on what he achieves.

Getting back to the OP's question, I would still support my team but I would not put a penny of my money into Ranger's coffers if I could help it. Of course, not going to Doncaster Ranger's matches could potentially hurt ICT through lost revenue but that is easily remedied for those of us who are not season ticket holders simply by going to another match I otherwise might not have attended. If my club voted to keep Rangers in the league I would be unhappy with that and would probably write to the club to express my anger at their decision - but I would not stop supporting the club. The club is a lot more than the Board.

Scotty, there are 2 huge differences here. Firstly, none of the clubs you mention who went into administration whilst in the SPL were reformed as a Newco. The only way a club should get into the SPL is by winning the SFL. If an existing club goes out of business and a vacancy arises it should be filled either by the team which finished 2nd in the SFL or by reinstating the team which was relegated. There is no reason why a Newco should be admitted - after all, had the failed club been responsible in managing it's affairs, paid it's debts and taxes and signed playing staff appropriate to the resource legitimately available, there is no guarantee that they would not have been relegated in any case. Why should they receive preferential treatment for acting irresponsibly rather than responsibly? The second point is that even if some unpleasant wheeling and dealing goes on which leaves creditors millions of pounds out of pocket but allows the original club to come out of administration, there is no meaningful comparisson with other clubs who have been in administration. We should not be saying that clubs all receive a standard 10 point deduction for going into administration. It is like saying that a wee child who pockets a pack of sweeties from Tesco should be punished the same as the great train robbers - "well, theft is theft so treat them all the same". The scale of Rangers mismanagement is of a different order of magnitude and the punishment should therefore also be of a different order of magnitude. Throwing them out of the SPL would be perfectly reasonable because it would be giving a message that this level of financial mismanagement is not acceptable. Remember, paying for players they could not afford cheated the legitimate hopes and honest endeavours of other clubs to succeed and the SPL should see Rangers actions as hostile to fellow members and expel them. It would then be up to the SFL (or the English leagues) to consider whether or not they wished to allow them into their system. If the SPL does not have the moral guts to expel Rangers then at least the points penalty needs to be in proportion to the level of "crime". 3 points a game might be reasonable so that they started on minus 114. At least that would give them a fighting chance and they could still pip County on goal difference on the last day of the season.

I think some folk need to be a bit more realistic about who the club can afford. There are some fanciful suggestions on here. By the way, I hear Drogba is out of contract and is leaving Chelsea.

It's all well and good saying there is no money for a trip away to England or abroad but the point is that the pre-season games have got to prepare us for tough SPL games right at the start of the season. A good start is important to get points on the board because failure to get those early points might be the difference between relegation and survival, or top six or not. Matches against Wick and Huntly will prove very little, We need to assess how new members of the squad can perform against quality opposition so that the correct line up, properly prepared is in place for the first game of the season. Shelling out to pit ourselves against some quality English opposition might prove to be a very sound investment.

The latest from the SPL's disgrace of a Chief Executive is in a BBC report here http://www.bbc.co.uk...otball/18148989. The story suggests Rangers could start next season as a new company in the Scottish Premier League without incurring any sanctions - such as a points deduction or fine. It goes on to say that fans of other clubs have been demanding tough sanctions but that SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: "Newcos have been allowed within UK football for many years." The man is a complete discgrace. After the way Rangers have cheated their way to success in recent years the man seems perfectly happy for there to be a newco admitted straight back into the SPL, without any sanctions, to start raking in the profit whilst all the creditors (including the taxpayer) who have been cheated out of millions get nothing. This simply rewards immoral financial practices which if they are not actually illegal, certainly should be. Doncaster shames Scottish football and should resign with immediate effect. The article refers to the meeting next week when a vote will take place to decide what should happen to clubs who come out of administration in this way as "a new company". I trust that those voting on behalf of our club are clear about how the fans - the lifeblood of this club expect them to vote.