Rangers Crisis.

I’m surprised how many clubs are voting no. Only Rangers and Celtic take any fans away from home in the SPL. Most other games are played infront of crowds smaller than league 2.

Hearts, Dundee Utd and possibly Motherwell I can understand as they’ll have an extra CL place to fight for, but why the likes of Inverness, St Mirren, St Johnstone and Ross County would vote no is baffling.

The SPL is pointless if they kick Rangers out. Give Celtic the trophy on the opening day and play for 2nd place. Celtic could travel the World playing in friendlies like the Harlem Globe Trotters.

It’s a case of SPL and League 1 clubs cutting their blue nose off to spite their face. (it was a pun that was too good to waste)

Without Rangers the SPL is a non-contest and nobody outside Scotland will want to watch it, invest in it, or even play in it.

The best players produced in Scotland have always had one eye on a move to England and one eye on a move to the Old Firm. Now, they will have their sights set firmly on a move down south or overseas.

So, not only will the league be unable to attract good overseas players, the best domestic players will also be heading over the boarder as quick as their pale legs can carry them.

Hail, Hail indeed edinburghlatic, but as the supporters of other clubs are laughing at the demise of The Hun, it could very easily be the start of a monetary and talent drain from the Scottish domestic leagues, and at the risk of going all Stuart Hall, that laughter could soon be drowned out by the death knell of the SPL.

On the lighter side of things, now the closing down sale at Rangers has started, I wouldn’t mind seeing Stevie Naismith, Steven Whittaker and John Fleck at Wigan. I don’t think Lafferty or Davis would be better than anything we already have. McGregor will also be a good acquisition to someone in need of a decent goalkeeper, but other than that, I don’t think there’s much of interest in the current Rangers squad.

Super Super Lee Super Super Lee Super Super Lee SUPER LEE MCCULLOCH!!!

It’s not hard to imagine just such a scenario (though maybe more so when NewsCorp were wanting to buy an interest in Man United. After all, the FA allowed them not to enter the FA Cup because they were already participating in the World Club Challenge, a clear precedent of a money/TV-led decision devaluing an established competition.

Rangers have cheated,gone into administration and eventually liquidation so on which planet should they keep their place in the SPL? The L standing for LEAGUE.How would you feel if say Chelsea or another of the big clubs did it in our league? Rangers arrogantly thought they were bigger than the SPL and broke many rules so are you saying that they should be let off Egg? The other clubs are voting no because it is the right way to punish Rangers for what they have done.If Sky pull out because of it then it shows how much the sport has prostituted itself to TV for the big bucks.Football has been around much longer than Tele and any decisions should be taken for football reasons and the good of the sport not because Sky throw a wobbly.It would be like Man Utd having a terrible season and getting relegated only for Sky to then say well if they go down we will pull the plug if you dont let them stay up.It is wrong what Rangers have done and for the good of the game the rules must be adhered to.You cannot make exeptions for any club however big they are.[/quote]

Our league is totally different though because there are a large number of clubs with big fan bases that would fill away ends across the Country. If Chelsea were kicked out then the promotion of someone like Leeds or Notts Forest wouldn’t kill a team financially as chances are those two would fill their away allocation. None of the teams in the SPL do except for Rangers and Celtic. Most clubs have less fans than us FFS. From a business POV it doesn’t make sense (unless of course there are things behind the scenes that we don’t know)

To be honest Edinburgh, I don’t expect clubs to vote Rangers in – as they have broken the rules and should be punished. The bit I can’t understand is the revelling in their demise from rival fans and clubs which, in whichever way you look at it, will negatively affect the whole of the SPL financially and in terms of the quality of player in the league.

It will eventually even the league up, but that won’t necessarily mean higher attendances as the quality will be much lower, and it’s not as if ticket prices will drop accordingly as clubs will need as much revenue from turnstiles etc. as the sponsorship money will be vastly reduced.

I can see a time when nearly every English club, yet again, has a Scot in their squad, while north of the border Aberdeen will be hosted by Inverness Caley Thistle in front of a bumper crowd of five thousand for a Europa place winner takes all game.

For me, it’s the start of a bleak period in Scotland.[/quote]

I think the point is for the other SPL clubs over the last 10 years is that Rangers have pretty much made a mockery of the competition, when Rangers have used dodgy financial dealings and built on excessive debt to pick the best players from their competitors and push them into administration. I remember Aberdeen selling a toaster at one point as their finances were so bad. So why would they choose to vote this club in. When in fact, by playing on a fair field players would have stayed where they were, competition would have been better and success shared, which ultimately would have made for a better league.

If SKY have the guts to pull the plug on the deal they should beware on a longer term backlash.

A few things Tyldesley:

I didn’t mention club owners. It’s primarily the fans – via Facebook and on forums’ although employees at some of these clubs have also done a bit of fun poking.

I wouldn’t exactly go that far. In 121 year of football in Scotland, between them, the Old Firm teams have won it 97 times – that’s 80% of seasons since the Scottish Football League was established.

Aberdeen won it in 1980, 1984 and 1985, and Dundee won it in 1983. Other than that, the last non-Old Firm team to be crowned champions were Kilmarnock in 1965.

I totally disagree with you. If they are hardcore fans, they will be attending the games anyway. When the Old Firm come to town, not only does the away end get filled, there is also an increase on the home section. With at least one less Old Firm visit per year, attendances are bound to suffer.

As for an even league, what success are these fans hoping the achieve? Second place rather than third? Celtic finished 31 points ahead of Motherwell in third place last season. The league was always a two horse race, but it has now become a one horse race – with that horse being a sleek thoroughbred running in a field made up of pit-ponies.

It is lose/lose, and as I said in an earlier post, Rangers should be punished. My point is, rather than revelling and laughing at the demise of Rangers, the fans of other Scottish clubs should sit back and think – because it really isn’t that funny; rather than two clubs taking all the best players, it will now be one club (plus an anticipated exodus down south), leaving them with a diluted league where they may as well crown Celtic prior to start of the season, and where they best they can hope for is tight battle for second place rather than third.

On the upside, at least they’ll save a fortune in fuel and chartering costs for Helicopter Sunday.