RECONSTRUCTION OR GERRYMANDERING?  

Daily Record 26th September 2012

He's at it again, pop pickers! In an article about league reconstruction he still manages to peddle the now tiresome myth that Rangers were hard-done-by.

He starts off with probably the worst mixed metaphor I've ever seen. 'Use every brick in the book.' I don't know what the schools are like in Airdrie but when I was at school in Glasgow I'd have got a right rollicking for coming out with a howler like that!

'Instead of giving lawyers, QCs and Law Lords small fortunes it would make much more sense to pay for independent advice on how to restructure the game properly and fairly,' he bleats. Gets the digs in right away does our Jabba! Any attempt by the SFA/SPL to adjudicate themselves on the Rangers/Sevco affair would have agnivores like himself howling and slavering about unfairness and partiality; so what else are they to do?

'...it was the SFL who solved the SPL and SFA problem of what to do with Rangers. That ought to be recognised and appreciated.' So the fact that a return to league football was manufactured for Sevco is to be applauded? Remember, the SPL tried to bribe and cajole the SFL into placing Sevco straight into Division 1, but they would have none of it. Is this what is to be recognised and appreciated? And there should have been no problem about what to do with Sevco; a new club should start from the bottom - that means no league membership until it has three years' audited accounts. Is this what is to be recognised and appreciated: colluding in cheating?

I always remember that Traynor dismissed our lower-league teams as irrelevant. He shed no tears for his own beloved club (ha!), Airdrie, when it went out of business. Football clubs had to face stark economic realities. Now he's changed the record. His new tack is that the SFL are going to be the saviours of Scottish football. They have the establishment team in their midst now so they will stand up for the 'greater good!'

We all know why Traynor is now the cheerleader for the SFL and why he is so desperate for league reconstruction. He tries to couch it in 'for the good of the game' terms but his wee snide digs and constant mentions of Sevco show exactly what kind of reconstruction he is looking for. It's not for the good of the game but for the good of one team!

TOGETHER WE ARE THE UNDEAD

Yet again the Jabba-led DR sports section has been caught out lying. They ran a story yesterday telling how Celtic are in trouble with the SFA for allowing this banner to be displayed at Parkhead in July:

I hadn't seen this clever and hilarious banner before and thank the DR for letting me see it. There is nothing remotely offensive about the banner so the DR needs to make something up to get the Sevcos frothing at the mouth. According to the report, the banner 'featured a silhouetted gunman emblazoned with a green shamrock taking aim at a zombie-like figure in front of the tombstone.' Now take a close look at the picture above. Even better, click on it and it will take you to the full-sized original picture. Get the magnifying glass out or hold your specs out in front of your face. See any shamrocks anywhere on the gunman?

So why is the DR saying that there is one? Easy. The Sevcos can then claim that the guy with the gun is an IRA terrorist! This pandering to the basest elements of the Sevco support is absolutely disgusting. And it is not the first time the DR has done this either!

Meanwhile, why is it the DR has never shown us the banner below? I take it that's just 'banter!' Or are they going to claim that the word, 'PEADO', refers to something else?

BIG ON BIGOTRY

Jabba and his cronies at the DR have shown their hypocrisy on many occasions, but surely even they can see the double-standards involved in the demonising of Dick King, the erstwhile secretary of Stirling Albion. This man has been hounded from his post, after the wailing and gnashing of teeth over his caling Rangers/Sevco 'The Huns.' He has been branded a bigot over this.

So is the use of the word 'Huns' sectarian? It is difficult to see how. Is a congregation coming out from a Church of Scotland service ever called 'Huns'? In fact, has anyone ever heard this word being used in relation to people that belong to a Protestant church? No? Neither have I. It has always been used to describe Rangers and the supporters of said team. It has nothing whatsoever to do with religion, as evidenced by the fact that football supporters, of whatever faith, have always used this word when talking about Rangers. If anyone was to mention 'The Huns' everyone knew they were talking about Rangers and nothing else.

Not so one of the favourite words of the Blue Hordes, Fenian. I, personally, have heard Catholics coming out of mass being called 'Fenians,' and when Mo Johnstone signed for Rangers many were upset at a 'Fenian' joining their club.

So what has this to do with the DR? Well, once Rangers went into administration the whole world was able to hear thousands defiantly singing 'The Billy Boys.' To those unfamiliar with this ditty it contains the line, 'We're up to our knees in Fenian blood...' The DR never reported this. Any outpourings of hatred for Catholics and the Irish at Ibrox or away matches are totally ignored and treated as if they never happened. 

But old Dick King is a bigot, apparently, for using the word 'Huns.' Considering the behaviour of Rangers fans the last time they visited Stirling, calling them 'Huns' could possibly be considered mild. The Daily Record, however, see this as a major crime.

So, to Jabba and his cohorts one man calling Rangers fans 'Huns' is a despicable act of sectarianism that deserves to be punished, but thousands singing about murdering Catholics is not worth a mention!

As to the supporters themselves, they were up in arms recently because the Falkirk PA called them 'Sevco Franchise.' Considering that the word 'Huns' applies to Rangers, surely they should be thanking Dick King for recognising their assertion that they are still the same club?

A LOAD OF CRAIG WHYTE

Further to Jim Traynor's efforts yesterday to once again put the blame for Rangers' demise squarely at the door of Craig Whyte, it's worth having a look at what he said about Whyte previously:

This is what he had to say in The Daily Record on November 18th 2010

"Walter Smith will be handed a massive January cheque book if Scots billionaire Craig Whyte succeeds in his £30million bid to buy Rangers.

The lifelong Light Blues fan is heading up a consortium that includes Andrew Ellis and emerged last night as the man who could restore the Ibrox club's fortunes on and off the pitch.

Talks are at an advanced stage and if a deal is closed cash-strapped Smith will be able to strengthen the threadbare squad in his bid to capture three titles in a row."

Yep, exciting times ahead for Rangers, according to Jabba.


Here is what he said in The Daily Record on 7th June last year:


"Record Sport understands Whyte remains prepared to cover the cost of new manager Ally McCoist's rebuilding programme.

It is believed the £5million the new chairman said he would invest in the team in his first season is in the bank but there will be more if McCoist wants it.

The first £5million of additional working capital is also ringfenced.

And a further £1.7million has been earmarked to begin upgrading some of the stadium's facilities, including the public address system, which have been neglected over the last five years.

But it has also been made clear these figures are a minimum and that more will be spent if required."


All very positive. I don't know if that was the first use of the word 'ringfenced' but it certainly wasn't the last!

Meanwhile, the 'cyber domains of the deranged' were telling a different story: one where Craig Whyte had been banned from being a director, where he had run off before leaving trails of debt behind him and where his 'off-the-radar' wealth could not be seen on the radar because it didn't exist!

Fast forward to the BBC's documentary and Traynor and Jackson's 'exclusive' about the Ticketus money. After that, the whole house of cards came tumbling down. Traynor likes to give himself a pat on the back for this 'exclusive' but, more than likely, the 'cyber domains of the deranged' had the story before he did. 

So then we have all the programmes on TV doing a post-mortem on the corpse of Rangers: how did it happen? One of these programmes provided me with one of the best laughs ever. Traynor came on to say how untrustworthy Craig Whyte had been etc etc and then produced his punchline: 'I've been saying this all along...!' Yes, that's right Jim, we remember it well.

So his story now is that the whole sorry saga is the fault of Craig Whyte and the only thing that Murray did wrong was to 'sell' the club to Whyte. Apparently the debt had been reduced by this time. Really? So how come no legitimate buyer came forward? Given the running costs of the club it is difficult to see how this reduction in debt could have been achieved. The words smoke and mirrors spring to mind.

It also seems that nothing was 'ringfenced' at Rangers, including the one ring that needed a fence - Murray's, to keep Jabba's tongue out!

 JABBA JABS OUT

Jabba hit a new low today with his column in the Daily Record. In his desperate attempts to keep David Murray up on the mint-sauce-stained pedestal he has had him on for years, he starts lashing out at all and sundry. Celtic had an EBT; why didn't the SPL investigate Rangers in 2010; why is everyone out to get Rangers? To read it you would imagine you were on a partial website for Rangers supporters, rather than a column by the sports editor of a national newspaper.

He then goes on to harangue what he calls the 'cyber domains of the deranged.' I wonder if these are the 'cyber domains' that questioned Craig Whyte's credentials, brought us the true extent of the tax case and the EBTs while Traynor et al covered everything up. According to the Daily Record, Whyte had 'wealth off the radar' and Traynor himself wrote about all the money that Whyte was giving McCoist to buy players. These 'deranged' bloggers were doing the job that Traynor is supposed to do.

Then it's onto his old tack: blame Whyte for everything. He says Whyte 'got a winning club when the debt had been reduced to £18m.' No mention of the running costs that Duff and Phelps pointed out when they took over, which was the reason Whyte had to swindle the tax. And if the club was in such rude financial health then why could Murray not find a buyer?

Then comes the most ridiculous claim yet: it's all the fault of HMRC! If HMRC had pursued Whyte earlier then liquidation would never have happened! So if the bailiffs had turned up at Ibrox in April to demand the Queen's cash then everything would be okay!

So, again, Traynor just plays up to the Paranoid Peeppul. The only word that Traynor avoided using was 'conspiracy.' And yet, according to him, the majority of football teams in Scotland, the SPL, the SFA, internet bloggers, HMRC and, possibly, Craig Whyte are all responsible for the demise of Rangers FC. I think it's time he wrote a wee letter to Just Joan, who might recommend some specialist for him to speak to!