Bill Bones

Apologies if been posted before but this statement from Clyde is tremendous: Official statement from Clyde, up The Bully Wee. Club Statement: Reconstruction Proposal Sat, 30th Jun 2012 12:48pm The Club has received a set of papers in advance of the SFL meeting on Tuesday. The essential intent behind those papers is to induce the SFL clubs to agree a proposal to allow a Newco to enter the SFL in the 1st Division in exchange for a range of structural changes to the current set up and some small financial inducements. Some of the proposed changes have merit in principle. The Board believe that any proposals for change should not be rushed, as these have been. They also have to be done by consensus and not through threat or inducement, again, as these have been. The papers include a proposal to allow a Newco to enter the 1st Division. This is contrary to the rules of the SFL and nothing within the papers justifies this proposal. As a club owned by its supporters and recovering from having been on the brink of extinction, the Board of Clyde Football Club recognise the damage done to the credibility of Rangers Football Club by its successive owners, and the subsequent impact on staff and supporters. These proposals do nothing to restore that credibility. It is not for us to become involved in punishment, that is a matter for the SPL and SFA. The SFL clubs are being asked to change their rules so that the SPL and SFA can apply sanctions that fit short term financial interests. It is not for us to tell any club what they should want for themselves, but to enter anywhere other than the 3rd Division risks Rangers Football Club being burdened with the legacy of commencing its rebuilding in a manner that they later look back on with regret. Rangers Football Club does not need to be handed a competitive advantage, they are more than capable of returning to the SPL via the 3rd Division on their own merit. Rebuilding from the bottom can restore the dignity stripped from the club by its former owners. The papers use emotive language to threaten a future of financial meltdown and they carry the implication of the destruction of the game should a Newco not be entered in the 1st Division. If things are as bad as indicated then Scottish Football is in a far worse state than is being acknowledged. In which case it is time to accept the bankrupt model needs fixed and not supported and perpetuated on the back of this proposal. The fact that other clubs might face similar financial distress because Rangers Football Club enter the 3rd Division is hardly a reason to compromise the integrity of the SFL and further compromise Rangers Football Club. Rather than attempting to prepare a soft landing before delivering sanctions, it would be better to contemplate more radical change that might actually underpin financial stability in the long term for clubs that balance their books. Perhaps an amnesty from sanctions for clubs that are forced to face insolvency procedures in the next 2 years as a result of the current turmoil, and an automatic entry to the 3rd Division for any club liquidated and reformed in similar circumstances. This would allow 2 years to properly restructure the Scottish Game for the benefit of all and undo the damage that has been created by the current structure which encourages club directors to trade integrity for cash, and then spend beyond their means, willingly risking the very existence of football clubs. If we could believe that the game could be less self interested long enough to resolve this, then this, and other far better ideas, might be worth contemplating. SPL clubs that have openly stated their opposition to a Newco being given immediate access to the SPL have taken the position based on their, and at times, their supporters' view of what is the right thing to do, however, the vote has still to be taken and proposals such as these are premature. If the SPL clubs vote as indicated on the basis of the increasingly discredited notion of sporting integrity, it would be questionable if the SFL clubs did otherwise. The reality is that we are faced with unique circumstances and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise, that probably means that compromise for some is inevitable, and perhaps even worthwhile for everyone in the long term. The solution however is not this hastily cobbled together proposal. The Board of this club sees no merit whatsoever in adopting this proposal.

Yeah, great work by Boyle, he's not daft. Cardiff'll no doubt pay up, hopefully soon as they're heading for a 10 point deduction and administration big style. Handy for a host of overpaid players that the rules in England are a wee bitty stricter; it'll just be local businesses,St. John's Ambulance etc that are out of pocket.

Well, they were hardly in much of a position to secure a better deal, were they?. I doubt gladly's the adverb they'd use to be honest. Whatever way you look at it, Boyle made a massive arse of things, ripped some folk off then carried on as chairman of the club, albeit one who's been looking to sell. He took a hefty hit, my point is he should have taken a bigger one instead of resorting to legal shenagians to avoid "his" debt Nobody, least of all me, is saying Cardiff are anything but a disgrace. But so were we, really. And yes, what Boyle did was legal but it wasn't a pretty picture.

I think he should have honoured the contracts. He's no doubt still an incerdibly rich man. He certainly managed to take a hit to the tune of £8m. Of course, it's very easy for me to say he should have wrote off another couple of million to ensure Ready,Forrest et al weren't screwed over(which the were,Boyle and his employees gave them contracts,hardly their fault they were pish) but there you go. The situation was a bit like one of those "pre-packaged" administration deals,renege on a whole host of contracts and keep the good,profitable parts of the business of going. It might well be legal but it's not particularly edifying.

Me too. None I expect. But that's not really the issue. Is it OK for Cardiff to dodge their obligations to ourselves, by going into administration say? All perfectly legal.We'd be an unsecured creditor(not an English/Welsh club,so bizarrely not a football debt) and likely to get buttons .If we didn't directly go out of business as a result does that make Cardiff's behaviour any less reprehensible?

Well yes, but surely you must see where guys like Forrest are coming from. He sees Boyle fuming on TV, using phrases like "shameful" and "moral weight" and thinks about what happened to him. Now, I get that his ranting performance may be necessary to get "our" cash but Boyle wrote off £8 million odd of his own cash, screwed over(all perfectly legal, of course) a whole host of individuals and local businesses and kept all the valuable assets(ground,players who had ability etc) for another day. If Boyle had any business ethics(surely a contradiction,much like that fairtrade carry-on) he'd have took an £11m hit instead of a mere £8m. It was a disgrace, frankly.

I'd be interested to see what any fans Odense made of it. I expected more from them to be perfectly honest but at the same time they weren't unduly troubled by our attack. It was another match where we had some good passages of play but didn't test the opposition goalkeeper much, if at all. I'd be seriously considering playing a full reserve/under-19 team on Sunday. Our squad is threadbare,even 1 injury would be a disaster and hamper our chances quite considerably.

I've been half-watching the Sporting game;it came on after our game on that Danish station. I've a mate who's a TEFL teacher in Lisbon and he'd told me Sporting were a shambles but Christ, they've been bad. No Veloso or Moutinho this season, they'll struggle to qualify for Europe this season. It's a fir point but I'm not sure those type of comparisons show much tbh, Maritimo finished close to Sporting last year and they've been pumped by BATE. Just read that post, and really, who gives a fuck anyway?

Hahaha. That's a belter from Lobey Dosser upthread. Let's get behind the team next week, it CAN make a massive difference. No fuckin' moaning if it's 0-0 with 70 mins gone, please. We can win this. If we do, well I don't know but it'd good

Go crazy, folks.

Seen them given but hardly a stonewaller. Tricky one as Sutton(?) headed it back across when falling over and the defender was a yard away, if that.

Exactly. That's been the only difference between the sides. OB's cutbacks and crosses have been dangerous, ours have been fairly terrible. Not too convinced a 1-0 defeat is a good result; it'd only set up an ineveitable disappointment at Fir Park, probably on away goals. Odense are several levels below what I'd expected. We won't get many better chances to make real progress in Europe than this.

What a shit goal to lose.

There's a goal in this for us tonight. A bit too open for my liking mind.

Cardiff sign Lee Naylor.

Aye,but that's to do with braodcasting slots. The money is pooled and distrubuted centrally by UEFA;that was the big change when the competition was re-branded as the Europa League. The TV cash and prize money is handed out in the same way as the CL money now,just smaller amounts. I can't really see Brown dropping Sutton. He's shown himself to be a very useful "fake" left winger/midfielder. It also gives us the option of him and Murphy switching positions during the game. His height might be useful at set-pieces,both defending and attacking. Radio coverage doesn't look great. No mention of it on the BBC team news,just updates. Sportsound's page talks of Europa League coverage,shows starts at 6 so who knows. Hopefully a stream works well somewhere.

As for the game, I can't see Brown picking anything other than the team that started against Hibs. Hateley to rightback may be a shout and play Fitzpatrick in a very defensive minded midfield but not so sure about this really. This is assuming we stick with the 4-2-3-1 which again I can't see us tampering with. We've not got many other options(Forbes,Blackman-who looked to have something about him in his cameo on Sunday). Can't say I'm confident of much. Heart says we'll score but the head says a 2-0 defeat awaits.

Sounds about right there Ladywell. The TV money is definitely pooled and then distrubuted according to the club's national association, and also league placing the season before. If we can make it through and Celtic and Dundee Utd both lose then I think the TV money alone could be as high as £1.5 to £2million,; this would be alongside the £800,000 just for turning up and any prize money for wins and draws. It doesn't matter if we play Stuttgart or Qarabag;it's much more beneficial to be the only team from your country to make it through. Not really bothered about Dundee Utd and actively want Celtic to lose.

For reaching the group stage you get €1,000,000 , which is about £820,000. Any win in the group stage is worth €100,000(£110,000 ot thereabouts). Half that for a draw. Any club also gets a share from the the national TV "market pool" so if we sneaked through and Celtic/Dundee Utd got pumped then I reckon that's another hefty wedge. I can't find figures for this that relate to last year's Europa League-except that it was €60m to be divided between the teams. We'd still have to pay our own flights mind but with that sort of dosh it wouldn't be a problem. Add in the gate money from 3 ties and we'd be laughing. Just need to win this tie.

Interesting and quite well-informed post from a "neutral" standpoint here. I'm not as confident we'll get the cash as I was last night. Clears up the legal issues re jurisdiction for anybody caring about that.

Yeah, fair enough. He did look like a bit of a tit though-"we'll send the bailiffs down". Shame you have to sledgehammer folk these days to get noticed but then that's pretty much the whole point of SSN.

The rules regarding transfer embargoes are as pointless as the fit and proper test and those new squad rules recently introduced. Completely toothless. It only applies to transfers within England and presumably Wales. So that's why they won't/can't/don't need to pay us as a matter of urgency-not much is going to happen to them, really. Bear in mind that they've not actually bought anyone either-it's all loans and free transfers. Of course, loans are are total nonsense anyway, especially with 31 year old internationals like Bellamy. Man City should be getting some stick as well. I mean, I'm sure there's loads of clubs in Division Two in England that'll gladly pay the odiuos wee shite 10/20k a week for the privilege of a year in the top-flight and 4 years of parachute payments. This, as the kids probably don't say anymore.

Ah right, makes sense but then I doubt Cardiff are arguing about the contract, they just haven't stumped upthe cash. Shouldn't /Couldn't we have appointed English solicitors and raise it there? Not that it'll be a problem really, I fully expect the money to be stumped up, probably at the last minute right enough.

He'll be back in training in 3 weeks time.

Which is probably why it was best our chairman didn't go on Sky Sports News and shout and preach to all and sundry about the injustice of it all. He came across as a bit of an arse;the strongly worded statement on the official site was enough in my view-it still would have been reported and not opened us up to claims of hyprocrisy from the tabs. As you say we'll mo doubt be haering from Ready and c o. in the next few days. Athough why M'well fans still bother with the fuds at the Daily Record etc. is beyond me. What about the petition raised at Hamilton SC? Cardiff are obviously in a different jurisdiction so can we authorise sheriff officers to storm the gates and nick Cardiff's gate-money? Not that it'll come to that, no doubt it'll all be sorted out at the last minute in a similar fashion to all those HMRC winding-up orders so beloved of English league sides.