An open letter to St Johnstone Chairman Steve Brown

[soulfulsaint]

I remain confident that SJFC do not endorse this document but have nothing to base that on than faith, which I intend to keep.

Edited June 30, 2012 by soulfulsaint

[soulfulsaint]

Today's Scotland on Sunday is interesting:

<i> The “lucrative” package of reconstruction proposals – with a new Rangers thrown in – was cooked up by SFA chief executive Stewart Regan, vice-president Rod Petrie, SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster and SFL chief executive David Longmuir.

The latest turn of events is particularly embarrassing for Hibernian chairman Petrie. It has been reported he met new Rangers owner Charles Green to discuss plans to ease Rangers back into the First Division, despite his claim that “sporting integrity was beyond purchase”. </i>

Rod Petrie met with Charles Green in Edinburgh to discuss these matters but there is no record of their conversations.

Whilst this does not absolve SJFC or any other SPL club of reponsibility it does chime with a version of events I'd heard from a friend. The Board were away in Switzerland at the Euro draw and returned to be "surprised as much as the fans were" - and are as I understand it, sceptical about the documents.

My instincts tell me that these documents were prepared by the above named parties, with Rod Petrie as a delegated 'sub-committee' of the Board. It had no Board approval since the Board had not met and was not endorsed by SJFC who were out of the country and had not seen the completed documents, and in any case had no voting powers since it was an SFL decision to agree to or not.

I'd be happier if we were in Aberdeen's 'for the avoidance of doubt' camp but this makes more uncomfortable reading for Hibs fans than it does for us.

-John you may have a view - you have been more consitently right than me

http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/sport/football/rangers-newco-after-spl-fans-forced-rejection-sfl-hears-same-mesage-1-2386605

[The Neutral]

Ironically Doncaster is merely carrying out the role of chief exec & trying to generate as much income as possible for the organisation, despite how unpalatable it seems to the rest of us.

Chief Execs are generally given huge latitude without having to get permission from the board & he possibly would be praised in any other business BUT this is not any other business it's football & he should have known by now the reaction this would create given all that has happened.

People are calling for his head but I would guess his contract contains a rather large severence fee.

Christ even newco appear to have the sense to keep their heads below the parapet on this one...which is a miniscule step in the right direction given their rhetoric of late.

[mainstand]

Given the number of CLubs that are saying no in the SFL then the proposed reconstruction as it stands at present is a NO NO!! It will be interesting what the leagues then do.

1. Do they go ahead with the restructuring without the clause demanding Newco goes into the first Division?

2. Scrap the reconstruction plans and go for a SPL2?

I canot see how the SFA could back the second option and believe that the SFL will reject the plan as it is. If the plan is for the GOOD of Scottish football and the SFA honestly believe this then they have to bash ahead with it without the Newco being parachuted into the first div.

[soulfulsaint]

.....

I canot see how the SFA could back the second option and believe that the SFL will reject the plan as it is. If the plan is for the GOOD of Scottish football and the SFA honestly believe this then they have to bash ahead with it without the Newco being parachuted into the first div.

Agree with this Mainstand. If they do not pursue it without the parachute element then history which show it as grubby and undemocractic compromise.

[john1962]

Today's Scotland on Sunday is interesting:

<i> The “lucrative” package of reconstruction proposals – with a new Rangers thrown in – was cooked up by SFA chief executive Stewart Regan, vice-president Rod Petrie, SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster and SFL chief executive David Longmuir.

The latest turn of events is particularly embarrassing for Hibernian chairman Petrie. It has been reported he met new Rangers owner Charles Green to discuss plans to ease Rangers back into the First Division, despite his claim that “sporting integrity was beyond purchase”. </i>

Rod Petrie met with Charles Green in Edinburgh to discuss these matters but there is no record of their conversations.

Whilst this does not absolve SJFC or any other SPL club of reponsibility it does chime with a version of events I'd heard from a friend. The Board were away in Switzerland at the Euro draw and returned to be "surprised as much as the fans were" - and are as I understand it, sceptical about the documents.

My instincts tell me that these documents were prepared by the above named parties, with Rod Petrie as a delegated 'sub-committee' of the Board. It had no Board approval since the Board had not met and was not endorsed by SJFC who were out of the country and had not seen the completed documents, and in any case had no voting powers since it was an SFL decision to agree to or not.

I'd be happier if we were in Aberdeen's 'for the avoidance of doubt' camp but this makes more uncomfortable reading for Hibs fans than it does for us.

-John you may have a view - you have been more consitently right than me

http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/sport/football/rangers-newco-after-spl-fans-forced-rejection-sfl-hears-same-mesage-1-2386605

My background means I have a built in cynicism chip. I have to say that I am not surprised by this although Petrie's involvement does seem astounding. I can only think that he was employing some sort of reverse psychology, I was the first to object so they won't blame me sort of thing. I wod have expected Longmuir to have a better grasp of his member's views. Would expect no less from the other two arrogant clowns.

Like you Soulful I wish we had distanced ourselves but at this stage I am happy that there is sufficient evidence to suggest Saints weren't actively involved.

[john1962]

Given the number of CLubs that are saying no in the SFL then the proposed reconstruction as it stands at present is a NO NO!! It will be interesting what the leagues then do.

1. Do they go ahead with the restructuring without the clause demanding Newco goes into the first Division?

2. Scrap the reconstruction plans and go for a SPL2?

I canot see how the SFA could back the second option and believe that the SFL will reject the plan as it is. If the plan is for the GOOD of Scottish football and the SFA honestly believe this then they have to bash ahead with it without the Newco being parachuted into the first div.

Hopefully they will have picked up enough to see that the majority would like reconstruct as soon as possible but without the newco on SFL 1

[Calypso Kid]

Craig Burley column: Sending newco Ranger to Division Three will KILL Scottish game

Jul 1 2012 By Craig Burley

I CAN understand why most chairmen will vote against a Rangers newco in the SPL next season. That doesn’t mean to say I agree with their decision.

It will give the First Division clubs a chance to have the Ibrox club in with them – and they must not turn down that opportunity.

Morton, Raith, Falkirk and Dunfermline have said they do not want Rangers. I find that staggering. What on earth are they thinking about?

This is an unexpected opportunity and one they should be kicking down doors to have. Think about it.

The First Division clubs will receive extra revenue in a number of ways. Television will buy into the league with Rangers in it. Sponsorship, advertising and corporate sales will go up.

Players will get a chance to play four times against Rangers, experiencing the atmosphere of Ibrox. And there are the benefits of that. For example, if a player from Partick Thistle or Cowdenbeath excels against a Lee Wallace or a Lee McCulloch, it will attract publicity and scouts from other clubs.

If the lad can go on to show a level of consistency then he could become a £100,000 player to that club.

Remember when Falkirk beat Rangers last season in the League Cup. Farid El Alagui scored and was the name on everyone’s lips for a few weeks.

It’s up to the chairmen to put a detailed business plan to their fans and highlight the positives of having Rangers in that league. But maybe one or two of them don’t have the intelligence to do so.

As soon as one says “no” to Rangers, then they all seem to jump on the bandwagon. Will someone please have the balls to stand up and say “yes”. I’m pretty sure some want to but are fearful of repercussions from their own fans.

Football fans around the country must be very careful what they wish for because if newco Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray has to take his team into the Third Division, then Scottish football would be as well locking the gates and throwing away the key.

Rangers in the bottom tier is the last thing the game in this country needs. Trust me on that one. At the moment the game in Scotland is an embarrassment because it’s lacking leadership, answers and guidance.

But there will be worse to come if the chairman of the SFL clubs vote for the wrong thing in the coming weeks.

Regardless of the vote, Rangers will be nowhere near the team they were last season. They have lost too many of their quality players and will not have the funds to replace them with a similar standard.

I happen to think Steve Davis, Allan McGregor, Steven Naismith and the rest are correct to go. It’s about the coin and the league you are playing in. No amount of badge-kissing will ever win over that.

Steven Whittaker has signed for Norwich and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the Premiership week-in, week-out. Is he a proper full-back who can defend against the best or nothing more than a player with a good engine?

Good luck to him at Carrow Road but I think he might be playing in the Championship with them the season after next.

Kyle Lafferty has signed for FC Sion in Switzerland. That is a good league and there’s every chance he will get found out there as the only thing you are guaranteed from him is inconsistency.

At the end of the day there’s far too much bull**** from players and the muppets must stop believing them.

However, there will be a chance for some people to restore my faith in Scottish football and that is to make sure Rangers’ punishment is a sensible one, one that also benefits the long-term well-being of the game.

It must not be about satisfying the wishes of too many fans who are here today and gone tomorrow. Sadly, though, I do think the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

This engrained lack of understanding is what we're up against. This guff will go out and the Sevco fans will lap it up. Burley has failed to grasp, and has probably lost sight of, the big picture.

[john1962]

You have to remember Burley was a supporter of Rangers when they existed. He is Billy Dodds cousin and of about the same single figure IQ. New Cumnock's finest.

[blueheaven]

Nothing from the club or any of the governing bodies over the provenance of this ransom letter.

Draw your own conclusions.

The thing is though, it's hard to know whether the silence is representative of something sinister that we can draw conclusions from, or if it's just Saints being their usual selves and being absolutely pathetic at communicating with fans. If they can't even use their website to cover the launch of the UEFA draw or launch the new strip properly, can we really expect them to make statements about this sort of thing? Saints are not looking at all good here, but it's partly due to their long-standing inability to promote themselves and tell their supporters what is going on.

As for the suggestion that they might not know what's going on as they were at the European draw. I'm sorry, but for me that's just not good enough. Just how far out of the loop are our club that this could happen without their knowledge? Steve Brown should have sent a delegate to the draw, and stayed behind to deal with this. He's a member of the SPL board. This issue needs to be a priority right now, for all clubs. We're looking for people like Brown to show some leadership and drag our game out of this mess, and it's just not happening.

Worst of all here, though, are the SFA. While Rangers' mess is Rangers' fault, it's the SFA's fault that this is now impacting on every club at this stage of the year and now placing the start of next season in danger. They are ultimately in charge, and they should have put their foot down and dealt with this ages ago. It's fine talking about the financial and commercial impact of Rangers' death, but what will be the impact of not getting a proper league season together in time? The SFA are guilty of gross negligence and I have absolutely no faith in them to put things right. I now feel we should be bombarding UEFA and FIFA with emails and letters to tell them what is happening, so that they step in, dish out the punishments necessary and bring an end to this mess.

As for Sevco - if they start the season in anything other than the bottom division, it'll be the ultimate betrayal and we cannot let our clubs or authorities get away with doing that.

Edited July 1, 2012 by blueheaven

[Jamie_Beatson]

That Burley article is stupid as it failed to recognise the fact that those first division clubs would get said same opportunity two years down the line when zombie rangers inevitably win Div 3 and Div 2 back to back. Meanwhile those clubs in those leagues have experienced the same financial boost.

Burley is an idiot and should be ignored.

What really concerns me is that we're now a month from the start of the season. Surely a decision must be taken now?

[rammsteinally]

i was listening to radio scotland yesterday whoever was on thought newco rangers wouldn't play at all but this would give them the time to reconstruct the leagues so they could join at SPL2 level.

[O'Rourke]

This mess is all down to a lack of leadership and direction by Doncaster and Regan.

Rangers should have been suspended from membership immediately their situation became clearly untenable. They should play no part in the forthcoming season and take the time afforded to them to try and sort themselves out to apply (as a Newco) for election to Division 3 in competition with any other club who may wish to enter the league.

Knowing perhaps a little more than some on here what Steve Brown has had to put up with during this period I can assure anyone who is interested that he is beyond reproach in this sordid mess.

This is a time to support our Chairman and ensure we are 100% behind him.

[ex-montrosesaintee]

If Rangers were suspended for a season, what would happen to the fixtures? Would the SFL not be a team short, and would leaving a space for next season not be unfair on clubs like Cove and Spartans, who should have every right to apply?

[O'Rourke]

If Rangers were suspended for a season, what would happen to the fixtures? Would the SFL not be a team short, and would leaving a space for next season not be unfair on clubs like Cove and Spartans, who should have every right to apply?

Basically it is wrong to expect any club to step up into a higher league or indeed into the SFL at this late stage. This is an absolute shambles borne out of a lack of management at the highest level in the corridors of power.

In any other situation a business would not be able to carry on in this way.

Football with no balls just doesn't work.

Jim Farry will be turning in his grave.

[ex-montrosesaintee]

I agree, but are club12 just removed and we play 4 less games? Does that constitute enough games to complete a season and meet FIFA/UEFA's requirements.

Would we also not be faced with appeals to the CAS from Dunfermline, Dundee, Arbroath, SEVCO5088 etc, delaying the season anyway.

It's a farce. I just want to look forward to Saints v Eses and Saints v Hearts with an exciting squad of old and new players.

[George Grieve]

I've said this often now......I'm not going back unless Newco(everyone in the press needs to stop talking about Rangers....they're dead) are in Div 3.....

[O'Rourke]

I've said this often now......I'm not going back unless Newco(everyone in the press needs to stop talking about Rangers....they're dead) are in Div 3.....

Logically, it has to happen. Practically, they should be suspended (Rangers have not yet been liquidated).

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

You have to remember Burley was a supporter of Rangers when they existed. He is Billy Dodds cousin and of about the same single figure IQ. New Cumnock's finest.

And you missed out the fact that he's a phucking tool John. And absolute complete and utter phucking tool.

[blueheaven]

Basically it is wrong to expect any club to step up into a higher league or indeed into the SFL at this late stage.

I agree, but it's unavoidable now. Whatever happens now there are going to be a number of clubs asked to step up through the divisions without time to prepare - it could just be Dundee or Dunfermline, or it could be a club from each division down to the Third.

You can't have a Third Division that is a team short: that would mean every club having fewer fixtures and therefore a drop in revenue. There's no reason why the Third Division clubs should have to take that financial strain, and no reason why they should be expected to wait around for a year, one team short, so that everyone else can benefit. Therefore, if Sevco aren't ready to take the empty slot (which I suspect is going to be the case), then the slot has to go to another applicant.

Ideally, what could then happen would be the SFL, SPL and SFA using the year that follows to sort out a proper merger of authorities and league reconstruction (including the introduction of a pyramid system). That reconstruction could involve a couple of extra places in Season 1, one of which would go to Sevco. As for what would happen to Sevco in the meantime... perhaps they could play in one of the reserve leagues. Frankly, I don't care how they spend that time.

[Percy Johnston]

This mess is all down to a lack of leadership and direction by Doncaster and Regan.

Agreed (though the Boards of SPL and SFL are also to blame for hiding their heads under the covers for months, hoping this mess would just all go away).

Rangers should have been suspended from membership immediately their situation became clearly untenable. They should play no part in the forthcoming season and take the time afforded to them to try and sort themselves out to apply (as a Newco) for election to Division 3 in competition with any other club who may wish to enter the league.

Agreed. Exactly what I said in post #1513.

Knowing perhaps a little more than some on here what Steve Brown has had to put up with during this period I can assure anyone who is interested that he is beyond reproach in this sordid mess. This is a time to support our Chairman and ensure we are 100% behind him.

I really, really want to agree - but to remove all doubt, Mr Brown should make a public statement on the matter, displaying that he is in the clear.

Soulful Saint, in his extract (above) from today's Scotland on Sunday article, edited out the following: "Gone is any pretence that the SPL clubs’ “no to newco” was a principled stand, borne out of (SPL Chairmen) listening to their supporters. The fact is the First Division proposal for the new Rangers was sold as a cert to them weeks ago."

If that last sentence is factually incorrect, then PLEASE tell us so, Mr Brown!

[john1962]

And you missed out the fact that he's a phucking tool John. And absolute complete and utter phucking tool.

I didnt think that needed said

[The ghost of Jim Morton]

I didnt think that needed said

When I say it , it always leaves me with a warm feeling:wink:

[Wish i was Joe McGurn]

Basically it is wrong to expect any club to step up into a higher league or indeed into the SFL at this late stage. This is an absolute shambles borne out of a lack of management at the highest level in the corridors of power.

In any other situation a business would not be able to carry on in this way.

Football with no balls just doesn't work.

Jim Farry will be turning in his grave.

As would Ernie Walker

[Wish i was Joe McGurn]

I agree, but are club12 just removed and we play 4 less games? Does that constitute enough games to complete a season and meet FIFA/UEFA's requirements.

Would we also not be faced with appeals to the CAS from Dunfermline, Dundee, Arbroath, SEVCO5088 etc, delaying the season anyway.

It's a farce. I just want to look forward to Saints v Eses and Saints v Hearts with an exciting squad of old and new players.

Arbroath wouldn't be involved. The losers of the play offs would be promoted. Sheerin tweeted it a couple of weeks ago.