Gabby

He scored some cracking goals for Wellingon this seasn

Sky/ESPN will reduce the amount they are prepared to pay for a Rangerless SPL. Significantly, I believe. Rightly or wrongly, having both of the OF clearly means an awful lot to them. That's why the expiring contracts had a clause specifying 4 OF derbies a season. That's why they haven't signed any TV deal for the new season, and won't sign anything until they know whether Rangers will be in it at all, and whether they will be in a position to compete. You are right that the SPL is a small part of Sky's operation, and your average English punter doesn't give two hoots about the SPL (but probably watches the odd OF derby). However, there must be tens of thousands (at least) of Rangers minded people throughout the UK who subscribe first and foremost in order to watch their own team, perhaps paying around £300 a year to do so. Even if only a proportion cancel, that's still £millions a year lost to the TV companies, which then reduces the amount they are willing to pay the SPL. Lower viewing figures also have a direct impact on Sky/ESPN's advertising revenues. None of us know the value of a TV deal without Rangers, but I suspect the club chairmen have an inkling and are very concerned about the consequences. Sky/ESPN will have a very good idea what a TV deal without Rangers is worth and as a result they will drop a lot of zeros of the end of the original number.

They are appealing on the grounds that they didn't expect to be caught.

The appeal is on the basis of diminished responsibility....i.e. Rangers defence is one of "we didn't know we were breaking the tax laws". The job of the tribunal is to ascertain whether or not (on the balance of probability) that is true. HMRC do not have to prove that it was deliberate in every case, they just require enough to show that Rangers knowingly and purposefully broke the tax laws as part of the scheme. In other words, do the claims of ignorance hold water. It comes down to whether or not the payments were discretionary or non-discretionary (was it part of a salary package or not). If the existence of side letters can be proven (and the BBC claims would suggest it can) then it's case closed as that would be as damming as it gets. On top of that it throws open the player registration breaches with the SPL/SFA...and I have to say that I believe the SPL & SFA have been negligent in their handling of that to date. For a start, the SPL didn't begin looking in to it until March when they should have been investigating it in parallel with the Tax Tribunal. We then learn this week (although we kinds knew before) that Rangers have not released the required information to them...why have they waited this long before setting a deadline? Furthermore, as it involves player registrations then why have the SFA not been investigating? UEFA have to be looking at all this and wondering if these associations are fit for purpose, if they're not then it's more than just Scottish Football that's screwed up. No it's not. They are appealing the amount of the penalty and interest. Regardless of the result on the FTT, the original tax owed from the EBT's will stand. This seems to be a fairly common error amongst the scottish media.

I see that Kenny Cameron has made a statement: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4337032/We-must-act-now-on-Gers-crisis.html

Let's be clear. Rangers have been found guilty of the Big Tax Case and they have admitted guilt. The appeal is against the size of the peanlties and interest on top of the outstanding tax. The result should be that all games where a player was illegally registered result in backdated 3-0 losses, which would result in handing back titles. This is cheating of the highest order and the SFA should expell them

I know it will happen, but I am having trouble working out how they will bypass the SFA club rules. They still need three years of audited accounts (this is not just a requirement for UEFA). the only way they can really do this is by doing an Airdrie and buying a club like clydebank ansd relocating it. So let's say that newco doesn't happen, the SFA are quickly running out of time to advertise, receive, assess and promote a new club to Div 3 to replace Rangers. I'm not sure how they will do it but Govan Rangers are a dead set, 24 carat certainty for the SPL next year - and it stinks.

Here comes Summer Football. Newco won't be ready for next season so what's the bet the season is delayed to accommodate Summer Football and Govan Rangers?

All Hail Gringo

Not by a long long way!............be patient comeuppance is still on the cards! If they get this CVA, then they will get away with it. End of the day, HMRC will have to accept CVA because they risk not getting a penny if the Old Co is liquidated. HMRC do not have to accept the offer, and I am willing to bet they won't accept it.

You made me bleed my own blood! (with apologies to Zoolander) Edit: Actually I think it was Dodgeball not Zoolander

Fair point. I stand correct. Cheers

I'd forgotton about County Air. Best post ever!

That prudent fiscal action was to transfer the debt and stadium to a "newco". My argument is that the actual mechanism is the same. yes, we did not owe people all over the country, it wasn't a debacle, it wasn't done at the very last minute to save the club - all I am saying is that the mechanism that Rangers are suggesting is basically the same as we used to remove the stadium debt from our books.

HT: 0:0 FT: 1:0 1st scorer us: Tade 1st scorer them: Griffiths Crowd: 3172

Hang on. ICT do not own the stadium, the trust does. Therefore the debt and asset were transferred to the Trust. So ICT aren't paying rent to reduce their debt. They are paying rent to a third party so they can manage their debt. This has nothing to do with administration - Rangers are in administration because they failed to recognise/manage their debt. Sutherland recongnised that the situation needed to be dealt with and as a result transferred the asset and debt to a "newco" - the Trust. I seem to remember a lot a noise around that time asking where the debt went and that he could allegedly use the land for other purposes. While the amounts of money are vastly different, the situation is similar.

Before we all get too high and mighty on sporting integrity. Let's at least acknowlege that ICT has also previously benefited from "newco" scenario. Remember the 2 million pound (I think that was the amount) of stadium debt that "just disappeared" as the asset transferred to a Trust. I think we have to be a little careful - pot, kettle, black

The Rebel 10 seem to have given up on that. They should have made better progress on voting rights and income splitting by now. But then again, they have had 2 meetings of over 5 hours to deal with Financial Fair Play rules and decided to postpone both times. I suspect that they are hoping that Rangers run out of money and time for the Miller takeover so they don't have to make a decision. What a way to run a league!

I'm not sure how realistic that is. We only get about 3 -4 TV games per season, so our fans are hardly not attending because the game is on TV. As a result I would have thought it would be very optimistic to attract an extra 2000 thousand fans per home match. I don't think any team in the SPL is capable of increasing attendance by that figure in the short term. Discounting ticket prices wouldn't necessarily work. Discounting would actually increase the attendance required making it even harder to achieve. A tipping point has to be calculated so the number of additional fans surpasses the income shortfall of the discounted tickets.

This is no surprise . They want the appearance of doing something to show the fans they are serious, but they are not prepared to risk the cash. Money wins over ethics everytime and twice on Sundays.

It is clear they are saying this because they are confident newco will be in the SPL, if this doesn't occur - expect some olympic class back peddling.

HT: 0:0 FT: 0:1 1st scorer us: Tade 1st scorer them: Thompson Crowd: 3372

I ‘ve had a bit of a poke around that this Miller bloke. It seems he was CEO of an organisation called Team Sports Entertainment. Their subsidiary was called Team Racing Auto Circuit and they tried to establish a NASCAR type racing series – unsuccessfully. Another company he is associated with – HelathSports Inc has filed for bankruptcy in the bankruptcy friendly state of Delaware. Will newco be registered in Delaware?

The TV contract specifies at least 3 old firm games. there is no contract without these games. TV companies haven't said anything yet because they are waiting for the dust to clear. My understanding is the current TV deal expires this season and the new contract has not been signed. By stipulating the minimum amount of old firm games they are indicating that the significant value of the contract is in old firm games. it is a no-brainer for TV - no old firm games, no contract.

Best of luck to all marchers