Scottish Premier League News July 2012: Rangers Await Their Fate
Rangers | Celtic | Kilmarnock
Lisa Dillon
Celtic
Neil Lennon has revealed that Celtic may have to cash in on a star player to balance the books following Rangers' demise.
Speaking for the first time since the Ibrox club were liquidated, the Celtic manager admitted the absence of his club's greatest rivals from the top flight for the first time ever could have wide-ranging implications for the future of Scottish football.
Although broadcasting companies Sky and ESPN will honour the remaining two years on their contracts, the prospect of Rangers having to begin again in the Third Division will have long-term ramifications for all of Scotland’s 42 senior clubs.
And with future income streams in doubt, Lennon admits he might have to cash in on one of his big names to keep his club on an even keel financially.
"It’s the same remit for me - to try to balance the books with players going out, paying the wages and trying to bring players in," Lennon said.
"It may mean that we have to sell a player in terms of the commercial loss that comes with losing four Old Firm games this year. Aiden McGeady was a fantastic player for us a few years back, but we got a really good offer for him and it was good business from our point of view.
"Every other player is in the same boat, whether it’s Ki, Adam Matthews, Gary Hooper or Anthony Stokes."
Celtic's board responded to the overwhelming wishes of its fan base by voting no to newco Rangers being parachuted into the SPL - resulting in a decisive 10-1 hand-count going against Charles Green’s Rangers newco and plunging the Scottish game into all out chaos.
Having seen the fans’ wishes granted, Lennon issued a rallying cry to the rank and file who vehemently opposed newco to now put actions into words by backing his side.
"We need the supporters now, more than ever," he added. "We have a good, healthy, vibrant young team that we want to take further and, without the backing of the supporters, we might not be able to do that.
"Everyone’s talking as though this is a dead duck. It might not be, but we have to make sure that the people in the game put on a product that brings the punters back in."
And the Celtic manager also took a swipe at Stewart Regan after the SFA chief executive suggested Scottish football faced a 'slow death' if the newco was not voted straight into the First Division by SFL clubs next Friday.
Asked if Regan's comments made it more difficult to attract players, Lennon responded: "It certainly doesn’t help. We’ve not had a problem with that so far. I think our reputation is good. We’re a big club. We can offer Champions League football and that’s a huge attraction.
"Obviously, the fact that there’s no Rangers takes the shine off but, in the main, people come here to play for the club and not just in four games a season.
"I think the whole thing could have been handled a lot better and quicker.
"It seems to have dragged its feet for a long, long time and it’s still doing that."
Lennon added there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the game. "Clubs are trying to prepare for the season and they can’t because they don’t know what division they’re going to be in."
Celtic have consistently insisted they do not need Rangers to flourish but Lennon expects some sort of impact.
"Financially and commercially it will bite us a bit but the club has its own financial structure and strategy in place and we'll move ahead regardless," Lennon said.
"We always try and maintain a level ground on the spending going out and the money that we bring in.
"That hasn't changed and that was the plan going into the season anyway."
Lennon, though, has admitted that he will miss the Old Firm derbies and the challenge throughout the season.
"There's that competitiveness, that rivalry, you are obviously going to miss the games,' said Lennon.
"It's a great selling point for Scottish football but they are not here and there's nothing I can do about that."
Rangers
Rangers defender Carlos Bocanegra has blasted the SPL for booting out the Ibrox newco application out.
The American international has yet to return to Glasgow for pre-season training, but he has made his views clear on the league's decision to exclude newco Rangers from Scotland's top flight.
"Celtic are going to win the league in December. It's frustrating," said the 33-year-old. "Sometimes, I don't understand. The people in the league, they want to punish [Rangers] for wrongdoing, but then they are just hurting themselves
"Hopefully, they don’t put them down there [to the Third Division] because I think that is going to set Scottish football back so far.
"Rangers is such a big institution, such a big club. I love going to work there every day. It is seriously the coolest club that I have ever been a part of."
Bocanegra's own future remains uncertain, but he is free to leave Ibrox under the terms of the wage-out agreement that was signed by the club when they entered administration in February.
A number of players have opted to leave the club, with the likes of Steven Davis, Steven Naismith, Jamie Ness and Steven Whittaker all finding new clubs across the border.
"A lot of the fans are now starting to turn on the players because that is all they have left to get angry at. It is just a very tough and unfortunate situation," Bocanegra said.
"Anybody who is leaving Rangers or staying there, it's just a personal decision for those guys. You can't blame anybody."
Nevertheless, Bocanegra is keeping his options open and has even considered a return to his homeland.
He added: "I have got to explore my options. I need to speak with the manager, as well. We kept missing each other. It wouldn't be fair to speak out of turn if I haven’t spoken to him yet.
"I would never rule out this (MLS). I like the league. I started there. I think that it is a good league with stadiums like the one here (New England Revolution) and in Kansas City and New York.
"It's awesome how much the league has grown. It's certainly not a second-tier league."
Meanwhile, manager Ally McCoist declared that the "sporting integrity" argument that saw 10 Scottish Premier League clubs reject their top-flight application means Rangers cannot then be relaunched in the First Division.
The Ibrox manager says he needs to sign about a dozen new players and claimed he would have a better chance of rebuilding the club from the bottom as he called for an end to the "punishment".
McCoist followed chief executive Charles Green's lead in saying the club would accept whatever fate the Scottish Football League deal them - but he added his weight to calls from the majority of fans that they should start in the Third.
"Like everyone else involved at our club extremely disappointed is putting it mildly," he said after news of the vote became public. "We are now in the hands of David Longmuir at the SFL who is certainly a man that Charles and I trust implicitly.
"He is a good honest man that I firmly believe has the best interests of Scottish football at heart, of that there is no doubt.
"Out of all the characters involved in this situation I think David and his member clubs have been very unfortunate to have been put in a position where they have to make a decision.
"Whatever decision they reach we will accept. Having said that from my meetings with our supporters, and the vast majority of SPL chairmen have been listening to their supporters, which is great, I'm all for it.
"We had a meeting with our supporters last night and the vast majority of them - in the region of 75-80% - have said enough is enough, let's go to SFL 3.
"Our good friends at Celtic across the city issued a statement that stated that integrity was of paramount importance to Scottish football and we totally agree with that, and I would imagine the vast majority of all SPL chairmen agree with that statement."
SFL clubs will decide mid-July on the proposal to put the Ibrox club in the First Division but SFA chief executive Stewart Regan has insisted he cannot let the new Rangers kick off in the Third or the game will face a "slow, lingering death".
McCoist responded: "Is the financial situation more important than the massive integrity and honesty of the Scottish game?
"Stewart is entitled to his opinion. Short term we don't want to be in SFL3 but we will accept the punishment."
Green's Sevco consortium bought Rangers' assets in June after the club was consigned to liquidation with debts that could reach £135million, mostly to the taxpayer.
The new start means they have to apply for SFA membership and league status and McCoist is anxious that the relaunched Rangers are allowed to develop without sanctions relating to the old company's misdemeanours.
McCoist, who has 13 players on his books, said: "I have had something in the region of six players turn up for pre-season training. Two of them would be considered regulars last year.
"We have to rebuild, so SFL3 would give us a better chance to rebuild.
"They might want to put us into SFL1 with more sanctions. I don't know if that's the case but we've got a transfer embargo hanging over us.
"It's impossible. How can I have a transfer embargo with six players? That is just absolute madness.
"All I would ask for is to be treated the same as everyone else."
He added: "We have been deducted 10 points, we were fined £160,000, we had our Champions League place taken away from us, we are out of Europe for another three years. That's quite a lot at the moment.
"I think now is perhaps the time to say 'okay, we have been punished'. We have all suffered enough. Everyone in Scottish football has suffered. I said at the SPL meeting, believe me, no one is more angry, disappointed, embarrassed, apologetic, than me.
"This should not have happened to our football club. Our fans more than anyone deserve an apology. They have been kept in the dark. Since January we have lost in the region of 21 players. We have to start rebuilding and indeed replacing."
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston claims his abstention from the Rangers newco vote reflected the opinion of the club's fans and shareholders.
Johnston was the only one of the 11 Clydesdale Bank Premier League club representatives who did not vote against Sevco's bid to assume Rangers' SPL share on Wednesday. The Killie Trust criticised Johnston and said an open meeting in conjunction with the supporters' association resulted in a unanimous decision to oppose the application.
Johnston said in a statement: "The result of the consultation process (36% of all shareholders and all season ticket holders aged 18 or over in favour of 'no' to newco) was far removed from the mood of the supporters' meeting but of course involved almost 2,500 shareholders and adult season ticket holders, as opposed to the 150 or thereby at the meeting."
He added: "I elected to abstain in order to reflect the result of the consultation process and in recognition of a number of other factors, not least of which was section 172 of the Companies Act concerning my fiduciary duty as a director to act in the long-term interests of Kilmarnock Football Club Limited and to ensure its success as a business.
"I also believe that the plan to parachute Rangers 'Newco' into SFL1 is highly controversial and wished to register my concern about the timing of the SPL vote and the resultant pressure now placed on the SFL clubs to accommodate 'Newco' in SFL1 when they vote on the issue on July 13.
"If the SPL can't function in its present form without four Old Firm derbies, then the SPL should have come up with a solution rather than passing the buck to the SFL."
Johnston urged fans to put the debate behind them but the Killie Trust said Johnston had risked the long-term interests of the club amid fears that fans from other clubs may boycott Rugby Park.
A statement read: "It was important that we, as a club, were seen to be taking a moral stance as opposed to acting in self interest, and it is felt that we have been misrepresented by our majority shareholder and sole board member in this case.
"His refusal to vote was clearly not in the best long-term interests of the club as it cast a shadow of doubt over our own integrity in this sorry affair."
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