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May 20 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
At his stage in the Sevco sitcom if you think you know what is going on then you must be either: (1) Not paying enough attention (2) Paul McConnville The labyrinthine nature of this corporate omnishambles is quite quite vast and more and ...
Continue reading 'Pay attention you lot!'
May 16 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
It isn't overstating the case to say that there is now an existential threat to Heart of Midlothian Football Club. It must seem an age since the faithful at Tynecastle considered a Russian hat as de rigueur. The appearance of the ushanka as a welcomin...
Continue reading 'UBIG to fail?'
May 5 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Why would a football club contemplate a board meeting on a bank holiday Monday? Some might bluster that it was just an oversight and it has now been rescheduled for later in the week, others of a more cynical disposition might say it is the ideal day to d...
Continue reading 'Could the Monday Blues lead to Traumatic Tuesday?'
May 1 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin. The first time I sat down on a proper seat at a football match was in January 1969 at Celtic Park against Partick Thistle. Celtic won 8-1. We had a flask of soup with us and my well-organised aunt even h...
Continue reading 'Fans Against Criminal Damage'
Apr 25 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
This Ibrox omnishambles is becoming increasingly difficult to write about. Just as I am getting my head around the last chapter then the Sevco farce appears to get another infusion of steroids. My background is in political journalism in Ireland not in Br...
Continue reading 'The Sevco sitcom'
Apr 22 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
As 2012 began I was very clear that it would be last year that Rangers would ever see. The day after they entered Administration I knew that there was no way out. I stated that Rangers were doomed and so it came to pass. The mainstream media did finally c...
Continue reading 'Only a matter of time'
Apr 15 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
101 years ago today the Titanic went to a watery grave. The ship, shoddily put together in a workplace poisoned by discrimination and hate , sank 375 miles from Newfoundland in the North Atlantic Ocean. There were 1,502 victims. May they rest in peace. Un...
Continue reading 'A matter of timing'
Apr 12 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
It is almost as if the last year had not happened. Twelve months ago the dark clouds were parked over Ibrox like some malevolent mother ship. Only two weeks ago the valued customers of the Sevco franchise could have been forgiven for thinking that the wor...
Continue reading 'The tribulations of a tribute act'
Apr 9 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Is Gladys Green a racist? I don't know, but as Graham Spiers says Green may not be, but he does sound like one. Charlie has conceded in an interview that there are effectively two standards for the language that is permitted at his club, one for him and ...
Continue reading 'Showing racism the yellow card'
Apr 4 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
This time last year the people who run the national game in Scotland were in a bit of a fankle about troubling financial news coming out of Edmiston Drive. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose… It became apparent that the plan was for New Rangers ...
Continue reading 'The Save Sevco campaign'
Mar 31 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
As we look back now with almost a hundred years past the event we can see clearer than perhaps those who experienced those times. It was actually the beginning of the end for the world's first truly global empire. Ireland was a colony that showed by examp...
Continue reading 'Éirí Amach na Cásca 1916'
Mar 26 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
This statement has been sent to me by the club in reply to the questions submitted on Sunday. Following requests from the Celtic Trust and other individuals in relation to the provision of information, Celtic Football Club is pleased to outline the foll...
Continue reading 'Statement from Celtic Football Club'
Mar 26 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
There are rules in this trade and they can be irksome.However, they are there for a reason. Off The Record, like the protection of sources, is non-negotiable. If I cannot abide by these rules then the output of this site on the Rangers story over the last...
Continue reading 'Reasonable questions remain unanswered'
Mar 20 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Ten years ago bombs exploded in Baghdad and killed the innocent. “Coalition of the willing”, as they wanted to be known, broke international law and invaded Iraq. They justified their crimes with lies about the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction...
Continue reading 'A shameful anniversary'
Mar 17 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Across the world today Ireland and Irishness is celebrated. The centre point of that celebration is usually the parade. Of course it is easy to deconstruct a lot of Paddy's day as misremembered kitsch. However many cultural festivals can be so dismembered...
Continue reading 'Lá Fhéile Pádraig shona daoibh!'
Mar 15 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Today I received good news from my union. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) formally communicated to me that a complaint that I had made about another NUJ member, a Mr David Leggat, had been upheld. I have been in trade unions since I had my first j...
Continue reading 'David Leggat'
Mar 15 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Trust is broken on planet fitba. The governed do not trust those appointed to govern. All of the people who were in positions of power in Scottish football during the omnishambles last summer are still in post. I suppose that is the starting point. The pe...
Continue reading 'A question of trust'
Mar 9 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
Everyone knows that Rangers went out of business owing millions in unpaid VAT and PAYE payments. HMRC are still pursuing the dead club over a tax bill of circa £75m which is still to be adjudicated on by an Upper Tier Tax Tribunal. The club called that...
Continue reading 'Charlie and the dear green place'
Mar 8 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
There is a basic wisdom in the belief that once lawyers are involved in something it usually gets worse. However that is not always the case. A leading international football lawyer contacted me after the Nimmo Smith judgment to offer some observations on...
Continue reading 'Could someone take out a side contract on Sevco?'
Mar 5 on Phil Mac Giolla Bhain
When Gladys Green was trying to connect with supporters of Rangers (1872-2012) at the start of this season he used a magic word. The word was “bigotry” and it worked. He reached out to the Klan and felt their Herrenvolk outrage. The people who chan...
Continue reading 'Charlie and the klan'