Richard Gough has pleaded with the SFL to give Sevco a place in the Third Division.
Fifteen years ago Walter Smith’s summer spending spree to bring the European Cup to Ibrox saw Jonas Thern, Marco Negri, Lorenzo Amoruso, Sergio Porrini and Rino Gattuso recruited to while Brian Laudrup was talked in to staying on for another try at the big prize.
Gough was brought back to Ibrox in order to steady the ship heading for ten-in-a-row but will spend an anxious morning wondering in Annan Athletic, Peterhead, Elgin City and others will throw his old mate Ally McCoist a Sevco lifeline.
“PUT Rangers in the Third Division,” is the message from Gough in The Sun this morning, not realising that Rangers are being liquidated and that it’s Charlie Green’s Sevco that are pleading for mercy today. “Ally McCoist wants it. The vast majority of the Rangers fans want it.
“I never thought it would come to this, but I want it too. That’s my message to the SFL as they prepare to meet today.
“Send Rangers down. Go ahead. Forget this First Division nonsense. That plan is only designed to make sure Rangers are back in the SPL in 12 months — but we can all see right through it.
“The top-flight clubs voted Rangers out of the SPL so there should be no debate over where they play.
“If Scottish football really wants to punish Rangers do it right- don’t be sneaky about it.
“As far as I can see, SPL clubs want Rangers damaged but don’t want their own clubs damaged. They want to dish out punishment, but they don’t want the financial consequences.
“You can’t have it both ways. It should be either the full punishment or nothing.
“Rangers will take their medicine, go to the Third and start again. The club will survive and come back stronger.”
How Gough or anyone can anticipate Sevco living within their means and able to plunder Serie A for players is hard to justify.
Once Gough left Rangers for a second time he was replaced by Colin Hendry as the dressing room took on a Dutch flavour with Artur Numan, Giovanni van Bronchkurst, Fernando Rickson, Bert Konterman and the de Boer brothers swelling the wage bill alongside other expensive stars such as Tore Andre Flo, Mikel Arteta and Michael Ball before the final spending spree that brought Pedro Mendes, Maurice Edu, Kenny Miller, Kyle Lafferty and Nikica Jelavic to Ibrox.
Not since the early eighties when John Greig’s side included players such as Cammy Fraser, Colin McAdam, John McDonald, Bobby Russell and Derek Johnstone have Rangers been living within their means when the highly successful Rangers Pools operation rebuilt the stadium.
Like most of his generation however Gough anticipates that Scottish football will pay a terrible price if a degree of justice is meted out to his former club.
“The SPL clubs have made it clear that they don’t need Rangers,” the former Ibrox skipper added. “If that’s the case, put them in the Third and let’s see what happens to the clubs left behind.
“I’m told around half will face the threat of administration without Rangers and the TV money. Whatever happens, it’s been typical Scottish football farce.
“The vote is being held today but by the looks of it we already know what the result will be.
“Clubs have been making statements left, right and centre. People all over the country are having a say. But do they really have the good of the game at heart? Or are they all about self-protection?
“The authorities the blazer brigade have been a disgrace. Rules for liquidated clubs should have been put in place years ago. Did the SFA and SPL not learn anything from Gretna’s collapse?
The rules are in place and when a club is liquidated they disappear from senior football.
Months after finishing their SPL campaign Gretna were liquidated with Gretna 2008 joining the East of Scotland league playing their ‘home’ matches at Annan.
Whatever happens at Hampden today the scars will effect Scottish football for years to come with the departures of Neil Doncaster and Stewart Regan essential beore the game can start to pick itself up and rebuild some credibility.
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Yes! Goughy want div 3, the pie man want div 3, the Newco fans want div 3, but not because they think they deserve it.
Quite simply,they want to see Scottish football suffer and fall to its knees and then they will say we can’t do without them
I hope they go to div 3 and never get out!
Listening to the radio phone-ins tonight people , including football pundits ,kept saying newco have been punished by being thrown out of the spl.They have NOT been thrown out of the spl .They are a newco and have applied to join the sfl which was accepted.So , instead of moaning they should thank everyone for being accepted into the sfl at first time of asking.
Full punishment it should be, so a 12 month ban it is then possibly entrance to Division 3.
Who is this “Rangers” that Gough talks of, surely he doesn’t want a non-existant former football club with no players, no ground, no season ticket holders put into the Professional ranks 3 weeks before the start of the season 🙂
SS FC can re-apply like any brand new club, although they will still fail to provide 3 years worth of accounts. It might at least enable Mr. Green to reveal his list of investors – in the highly unlikely event that he will still be there (I expect him to walk away before Xmas).
Calling Donald Findlay…do you have a club that you can sell to Sevco by any chance ???
Mr Gough you were around to see RFC at their peek defrauding the game and cheating ts way to many titles and earning CL places.
I think that for even for there to be a debate about where they play in scottish football is an absolute joke the debate should be wether or not they should be allowed to play in Scottish Fotball at all…..
HAIL HAIL
Another “expert” who hasn’t got a clue what he’s talking about. Scotland seems to have a lot of them.
I agree with Gough (although Rangers don’t exist!) Put sevco into the 3rd division & let them earn their place in each tier until they get back 2 the spl & any club that does fold as a consequence well tough! I’m a Celtic fan & I don’t have any worries about our survival & I don’t think things will get as bad as the big wigs are predicting 4 the rest of Scottish football also!!
Scumco scotland ltd and whats left of there delusioned fans are not interested in being punished fairly. Like you already know they are under the illusion that everyone else will die without them so want to teach the rest of us a lesson, they really are the lowest form of human life in existence, and im not really interested in any thing a (suspected) sex offender has to say on the subject
The Syrian government are killing innocent civilians by the thousands yet Rangers fans are the lowest form of human life in existence. You truly are a sad individual if you really believe that. Take off your green tinted specs for just a second will you!
Yes I am a Rangers fan, I have 3 very close friends who are Celtic fans and we have spoke about in great length about this very situation. It’s time to move on, the SPL is no longer our concern and anything that happens in it for at least the next 3 years.
Good luck in the CL qualifiers, god knows Scotland really need the coefficiency points now more than ever.
“the spl clubs put rangers* down” what a load of nonsense! Minty, watty, wee dick, the mbb etc all put them down….deep pockets! For every fiver! If you read this Richard (and msm journilist talking guys)Rangers are just about gone, they are not going anywhere….sevco might or might not be going…somewhere!
Emotional/financial blackmail From Mr Gough & his fellowship. Bye Bye. Because oldco destroyed your crediabilty over the last 20 years. Hail Hail.
im lost, who is Rangers? Does not compute… I think ill ask jeeves!
I think Mr Gough should be very pleased now he has his wish. Have to say they were lucky a new club without the necessary criteria and gained entry. One caveat they have to ensure they disassociate themselves with the former club called Rangers, if they do not then they are liable for their debts, punishemens etc. Interesting times still to come.
Martin Keanna is spot on, they haven’t been thrown out nor have they been punished. They are a new company .
Rangers are in the process of being liquidated.
Even allowing them into the third division has circumvented the rules ,of the SFA.
As a new club applying to join the should have to supply a years audited accounts to first of all obtain a license (which they don’t have) then they can apply to join as an associate member,then if accepted they can apply for full membership after three years !
If they want to keep calling themselves Rangers which I believe contradicts the Insolvency Act ,then they just might be punished by that act for using liquidation to avoid their debts.
And then trying to carry on as ostensibly. The same company.
They really need to choose their language very carefully,and make up their mind ,are they a new company or Rangers?.