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What a mucking fuddle this has all become.

They were saying last night that the other club fans were holding back thier season ticket purchase until they find out if thier boards will vote in THE Rangers to the SPL. If they do they will not purchase seasons due to the poor judgement of thier chairmen.

Old Rangers will even have a vote...how crazy is that.

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:If that helps you sleep at night mate hang on to it for all you can.

Granted they will still play at Castle Greyskull and they will still be called Rangers but there is a break in the history when the club was liquidated.

The company was liquidated killing the club. Then Green created a new company and bought the assets for a measly £5.5m and created a new club regardless of the colour of strips they wear or where they play or what their fans sing they will always be the new Rangers.

|If they weren't a new club they wouldn't have to reapply to get into the SPL.

Bang on

Its a disgrace that they get a vote but it just shows how badly the SPL is run. This has shined a light on how Scottish football is run and as we all knew it has not shown the powers that be in a good light.

The clubs have a big decision to make. If they don't vote in Rangers they could lose Sky but ESPN might be more keen on investing in the SPL now they have lost EPL games to BT.

If they vote Rangers in a lot of clubs face a fan revolt apparently Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts fans aren't buying season tickets until they know what's going on. They don't want Rangers voted back in and if they get back in they will vote with their feet.

Celtic have sold more season tickets than they had at this time last year but the fans have left Peter Lawwell in no doubt how he should be voting. The last thing he wants is a revolt from the fans we got rid of one board and it can happen again.

I was always of the mindset that we needed Rangers in the SPL but after the BBC documentary last month showing just how severe the cheating was and the reaction of the fans of other clubs they need to be refused entry.

11 clubs are more important than 1. What use is it letting in Rangers when fans of the other 11 clubs refuse to invest money into their own club. Division 3 it has to be imo. I have a feeling that it might be division 1 though.

If they get back in the SPL it should be with a 30 point deduction each season for the next 11 seasons because that's how many seasons they cheated.

The Old Rangers because this is a new club with no history should be stripped of any honours they won during the EBT period. Scottish football will never be rich so we could at least be fair or what's the point?

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:

Scottish football will never be rich so we could at least be fair or what's the point?

Exactly. Said this from the start.

RDuncan8 wrote:

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:

Scottish football will never be rich so we could at least be fair or what's the point?

Exactly. Said this from the start.

Stupidly on my part I never seen this reaction from the fans of other clubs coming. It has changed my outlook on it all. Instead of focusing on this we should be focusing on restructuring Scottish football. From the set up of the leagues, to the three organisations that run the game. Promotion and relegation out of the football leagues should be looked. The same club can finish bottom of division 3 every year for 5 years and they don't get relegated. The junior clubs need to have a chance to come into the top leagues. Play-offs like they have down south need to be brought in as well we need to get people into the grounds. If you improve the product from the bottom time will improve the game overall and TV will come back running waving cash.

My idea is 2 top leagues. An 18 team top flight where at the end of the season the clubs would play a double header home and away against the team directly below them. So 1 would play 2, 3 would play 4 etc. Imagine double headers for European spots or to stay in the league it would bring the fans into the grounds. 3 Teams would be relegated. Yes their would be meaningless games in the middle of the league but we have that anyway every league does.

The other league would be a 22 team league with 2 automatic promotion places and places 3-6 going into the play-offs. 2 Clubs would be relegated from the and 2 clubs brought up from the juniors. A fairer distribution of cash and very strict financial fair play rules would also brought in. If you make a loss over the season then you will be docked points and it would automatically make you ineligible for European football.

Scottish football needs to be played in summer also. It's impossible to get any skill in the game when played in the conditions we have in the winter.
There are also far too many pointless teams. Cut the leagues by a third.

Pointless in what sense? You can't class any club as pointless. (except Rangers, who don't exist )

Pointless for them to be in a professional league I mean. East Stirling etc. Why are they in a league when they finish dead last every year. Also how many people go to watch these teams. I bet there are more players and officials than spectators, leagues like that shouldn't be part of a national framework.

Also most towns are not big enough to support two teams, Dundee and Edinburgh would be much stronger as one team cities. Bit of a hurdle to get over, but get past the history and bigotry and at least we'd have better competition.

super_realist wrote:Scottish football needs to be played in summer also. It's impossible to get any skill in the game when played in the conditions we have in the winter.
There are also far too many pointless teams. Cut the leagues by a third.

Spot on the state of some of the pitches because we play through the winter are disgraceful. Artificial pitches should be embraced as well they aren't any worse than a lot of the natural surfaces our game is played on and they are cheaper to maintain. Some clubs could make a few quid out of them as well. Celtic have a fantastic artificial surface at their training ground. I live in Kirkintillioch 10 minutes form the training ground and my boys school uses it and its great.

Agreed Sugar, there is no need for Scottish clubs to play in winter. I imagine the argument is partly because it puts clubs out of kilter for European/International competition, but seeing as no Scottish clubs are ever likely to qualify again for the proper rounds again, why persist in play in winter? Surely better for spectators too. Pittodrie on a wet december tuesday? No wonder the league is so bad.

Summer football would benefit them in the early stages of Europe our season would be in full swing instead of qualifiers before you've played a league tie.

Ground sharing should be looked at more. The situation with the 2 Dundee clubs for ewxample is ridiculous given both are absolutely skint.

I think part of the problem is that Scottish football still sees itself as being a force and important. Truth is it's more like a Slovakian/Hungarian/Finnish league, and it's about time it started behaving like one.

Its not about knowing our place its about doing things for the benefit of the game and not just 12 clubs. Regardless of the size of the country it should have a good set-up from top to bottom and we don't. Until we do we will just keep going backwards.

We have 3 boards running the game up here who are a serious financial drain on the game. 1 would do the SFL and SPL are pointless. The SFA would need to be reconstructed but it could be done.

I live in Dundee but before I start I'll say I have no particular sway towards either club. I'd love to see them both back in the SPL.

I agree that both clubs should share a ground (think of it like the Milan clubs sharing a ground even though they are deadly rivals). However, I absolutely draw the line at merging the clubs. That will NEVER work. Same can be said of merging the Edinburgh clubs, that's just silly.

Dundee FC survives without getting anything from Rangers, they have a shoestring budget through their own fault of careless club ownership but they survive on it. Dundee United are on a tight, tight budget too but they have a small luxury (and I use that term very loosely) as a lot of their youth players will be sold eventually once they are proven decent players (think Goodwillie).

As for this whole Rangers scenario, it's a simple case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". If they aren't voted into the SPL, Sky walks away (and good riddance to them if they do so). If they are voted into the SPL, fans walk away but the only club they hurt is their own.

My view, get rid of Rangers. They've been wanting to leave for years and now that they have left, they want back. Why don't they go crying to the English leagues? Because they wouldn't take them. I honestly think the SPL won't go the same way as the Irish and Welsh Leagues. Have these clubs ever won UEFA Cups and European Cups? Or toppled the mighty Barcelona both home and away TWICE? No. I'd rather see the SPL fold with their integrity reasonably intact rather than keep Rangers and lose all respect because I will not be taking an interest in the SPL anymore if they are allowed back.


(Agree about merging all 3 boards into 1 board and a restructuring of non league leagues but, for example, Fort William don't have the money to travel down to Berwick).

Just because the Scottish clubs have at times produced decent results, doesn't mean the league won't deteriorate to the Wales/Ireland level (you could argue the Ireland league was better as their clubs get further in Europe). Hungary and Belgium used to have great teams, now their leagues are a joke.

Root and branch change needed, regionalised leagues at lower level and summer football would be a good start.

I would never want to see these clubs merged they have a history and can make a contribution to the future of Scottish football.

Play-offs have regional non leagues with the winners playing each other at then end of the season with 2 going into the pro leagues.

Scottish football has 2 big clubs whose fans put a lot of money into the sport and it has been relied on for to long. Now we are in a position where 1 has cheated and if they are allowed back in the fans of the other will not put money into the sport. It's simple really Celtic or Rangers and the cheats must go.

TSC wrote: ... As for this whole Rangers scenario, it's a simple case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". If they aren't voted into the SPL, Sky walks away (and good riddance to them if they do so). If they are voted into the SPL, fans walk away but the only club they hurt is their own. ...

If they don't go with the fans then they might as well relocate to another town, city, country.

Money vs sporting integrity.

I would like to think in my country sporting integrity would come first.
If not, that will be me finished with Scottish football.

its not as easy as that doon the water, of course the rangers should be pumped to div 3 an they probs will. but the rangers really are a special case. without them you could lose the sky deal, the away support the rangers bring and your also handing the league to celtic till the rangers come back up and then a few years more.

If you keep them you lose the away support from Celtic which is just as important and a lot of other clubs lose ticket money from their own fans which is even more important. No fans = no club mate.

Hearing rumours that Sky won't back out of deal whether there is newco or no newco. Seems like someone has got confirmation.

If true, chairman have only one option. The right one.

If Sky walk away I think ESPN will come in they have lost their rights to the EPL. They need something to put on TV.

It's on Twitter that Sky are not going to withdraw their deal. Obviously it's not the most reliable source.

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:If you keep them you lose the away support from Celtic which is just as important and a lot of other clubs lose ticket money from their own fans which is even more important. No fans = no club mate.

Your never going to lose the support of Celtic or the rangers. That's why there special cases.

I'm not argueing, I think they should go down. I can just see why they should stay in spl.

If there's no europe for at least 3 years and the players exodus next month then I think division 3 is not really that bad except some dented pride. Replace whover leaves with good youngsters

Galveston, you must be suffering but I admire your thinking.
They say that many Rangers fans would prefer that option and I think that the club would come back stronger.

They were beginning to lose a lot of thier support, season tickets down due to overpricing and lots of spaces on the terracing [a little like the EPL nowadays]

I have no doubt that the fans would relish a 3 year campaign in the lower leagues. If they get thier pricing right at Ibrox [say £10 a game] they will attract a younger less entranched support.
Could be best all round.

Ayrshirebhoy wrote:

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:If you keep them you lose the away support from Celtic which is just as important and a lot of other clubs lose ticket money from their own fans which is even more important. No fans = no club mate.

Your never going to lose the support of Celtic or the rangers. That's why there special cases.

I'm not argueing, I think they should go down. I can just see why they should stay in spl.

If Rangers get back in the SPL the Celtic fans will go on strike. Guys like Matt McGlone who is still very respected amongst the Celtic fans for his work in the mid 90's are rallying the troops so to speak. Social media is a very strong tool now. McGlone is saying that if the New Rangers get back in then boycott away grounds and if Celtic don't vote no to the new-co don't buy season tickets or merchandise. McGlone still has connections with the board so Lawell and Desmond will be fully aware of the situation not that they needed told what the Celtic fans expect from them.

Like I said McGlone is very well thought of amongst Celtic fans and his thoughts aren't being ignored.

Is the sky deal that important? Clubs make an absolute pittance from it and surely it must be crazy to rely on such a source to float your business these days.

If the money from sky goes, so what. Does anyone watch it anyway?

It's time to accept the league is not a valuable and attractive product similar in stature to Ireland and Denmark but I don't see sky with a tv deal there. Why do people think the spl deserves a tv deal.

Take the sky money away, switch to summer football, reorganise the leagues, focus on youth development and becoming selling clubs rather than holding onto unambitious players who want an easy ride and try to get fans back through the turnstiles to watch talented players play the game properly, not the boorish lumping of the ball that goes on at present.

£20-30 is far too much money to watch that crap. You should not have to pay anymore than 15 for a game in Scotland.
It costs more to watch Aberdeen v Dunfermline than it does to watch Bayern Munich v Dortmund. How can that be right?

Nowadays money dictates success sadly. Celtic and Rangers were once big clubs in the days before money became neccessity but in pratice they are no longer big clubs anymore. The standard in Scottish Football is very poor because the money is not there.

What surprises me is why ans of Rangers would want to continue supporting the club? They have had a very questionable history in which sectarianism was almost synonomous with the club. Now they have been exposed as cheats on top.

Im more of a rugby fan and having studied in Scotland for a period it saddens me that Scotland has this obsession with two football clubs with such sectarian and biggoted links while Scottish Rugby has gradually began to die in the proffessional era. I can understand that football was big many decades ago but the reality is Celtic and Rangers are hopeless sides now and will never again taste success in Europe due to the way money runs things. I feel that Scotland would be better off without them and wish that more people up there had a concern with reviving Scottish rugby.

Very true Gordy.

Another thing that annoys me is that they have often said they want to leave the spl for England, but now they might get chucked out they are desperate to stay.

They should take their medicine, go down and do something admirably and honestly for a change, then that way they might gain a bit if respect instead of being one of the most hated clubs in Britain.

Looks like the SFA are trying to impose a one league structure before the start of the season.
That would be a good start and I hope it includes an entry system into the lowest league.

Scottish Premier League chairmen face a meeting they will no doubt have dreaded.
Following the news that Rangers will be liquidated they will decide on whether to accept a 'newco' Rangers into the league.
The vote is expected to take place 14 days after the receipt of an application for a 'newco'.
While SPL chairmen are keeping counsel on their voting intentions, perhaps some idea of their thinking can be taken from their recent comments on the Rangers crisis.

Aberdeen: Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne has not commented publically on the vote, but chief executive Duncan Fraser released a statement saying they would act in the interest of the club. Many Aberdeen supporters have called on the club to vote against admitting Rangers.
""Yesterday's announcement that Rangers FC will reform as a New Co brings a degree of clarity to the situation. However there are a number of other investigations ongoing.
Like everyone we wish to see them resolved as soon as possible.
"A large numbers of our supporters have made their views and feelings very clear and as a Club I can assure everyone that these are being taken into account. The integrity of sport in general and football in particular must be central to any decision.
"This issue has our full attention and we will communicate any decisions we take in relation to this situation with our supporters in a transparent way at an appropriate time."

Celtic: Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell issued a statement that: "Our guiding principle is that we will do what is in the best interests of Celtic Football Club and our supporters, consistent with upholding the interests and reputation of Scottish football.
"We are fully aware of our supporters' concerns regarding the current situation across Scottish football."
Many Celtic fans have also been vocal in calling for Celtic to vote against admitting a 'newco' Rangers.

Dundee Utd: Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson has described the SPL vote on Rangers as a "a major crossroads for Scottish football."
In a statement read out personally to journalists, Thompson said: "While we now have greater clarity on the current situation at Rangers, we are at a major crossroads for Scottish football and, significantly, the future of many clubs.
"It is important that SPL shareholders and individual boards are allowed time to reflect privately and discuss this matter in the best interests of Scottish football and each SPL member club.
"Before making any decisions Dundee Utd will continue our dialogue with our supporters' representative groups and listen to our customers' views.
Thompson had previously said that the vote was a 'lose-lose' situation for SPL chairmen.

Hearts: Director Sergejus Fedotovas has gone on the record to say he believes that learning lessons from the Rangers crisis is more important than punishing the club.
"Justice is very important, but lessons learned are more valuable," he said.
"The situation has highlighted issues that are much wider and Scottish football should not put all focus on the punishment, but address the roots of the problem."

Hibernian: Rod Petrie is the SPL chairman who has made the strongest comments against a 'newco' Rangers being granted admission, saying: "Integrity is beyond purchase. It's not a question of any sum of money in return for that integrity.
"It's important to us that the integrity of the competition that we take part is maintained to the highest standards."
"It's important that all clubs can have a place within football provided they have have earned it in a sporting sense and have abided by the rules," added Petrie.

Inverness CT: Chairman Kenny Cameron has said that he will not make a 'snap decision' on how to vote, and that the Highland club will consult with fans before making a decision.
"In the first instance we will sit down as a board and consider what the various potential outcomes are and how the different scenarios may play out," he said.
"Following that we will be consulting with our fans through our supporters trust, as we have done previously on many occasions."

Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston wants no more punishment for Rangers
Kilmarnock: Michael Johnston has insisted that the SPL should not punish Rangers any more than the 10-point penalty and fine already applied to the club .
"You have got to be very careful not to come in too heavily with penalties and points deductions or financial penalties going forward which actually put people off investing in that club and trying to make it healthy," he said.
"After all, it's not the new owners who have done the damage, it is the previous owners.
However, Johnston also predicted that the SPL's television deals with Sky television, ESPN and the BBC would continue no matter what happened to Rangers.

Motherwell: Motherwell, who would be represented in the vote by Derek Weir, have only said that they are undecided on how they would vote, but that they would discuss with fans before any vote took place.
"In the event that a 'newco' proposal is presented to us, we intend to fully discuss with representatives of our supporters groups, prior to making any decision," said a club statement.
"The club continues to actively participate in the discussions being held at the SPL in relation to the current issues at Rangers Football Club.
"We do not believe we can separate the sporting integrity of our league from the sustainable future of our club; the two go hand in hand."

Rangers: One of the more surprising facts to emerge from Rangers' liquidation is that the SPL have revealed to BBC Scotland that the club will be able to participate in the vote on whether to allow themselves a place in the SPL.
Rangers' vote will be exercised by 'oldco' administrators Duff & Phelps.
Prospective owner Charles Green expects to have a 'newco' in place in the next few days.
It's highly unlikely they will vote against admission.

Ross County: The SPL newcomers, promoted from the First Division in May, have not spoken publically on the subject. Some newspapers have speculated that chairman Roy McGregor could vote for Rangers to be admitted.
However, in the absence of any official statement from the Dingwall club, it's impossible to predict which way they could vote.

St Johnstone: Saints chairman Steve Brown has said that he would like to see a 'newco' Rangers punished.
However, the son of former chairman Geoff Brown, who took over the reins of the Perth club in 2011, stopped short of saying he would vote against admission.

St Mirren: Chairman Stewart Gilmour has told BBC Scotland he has not decided which way he will vote, but describes the situation as 'difficult'.
''It's very early days, there are still a lot of balls to land, once they land we'll start to make a decision," he said.
''It will be a very difficult decision. We, as a board, will sit down when all the details come to light, and we'll look after the interest of our own football club.''
Gilmour is currently engaged in trying to sell the club and director Kenny McGeoch was voted off the board in May following revelations he had a meeting in the St Mirren boardroom with lawyer Gary Withey, then of London-based firm Collyer Bristow and also Rangers' company secretary, over his plans for a takeover deal.

looking at that i believe rangers can get the 4 votes they need to stay in spl and if it goes to secret ballot its a defo!

Gordy wrote:Nowadays money dictates success sadly. Celtic and Rangers were once big clubs in the days before money became neccessity but in pratice they are no longer big clubs anymore. The standard in Scottish Football is very poor because the money is not there.

What surprises me is why ans of Rangers would want to continue supporting the club? They have had a very questionable history in which sectarianism was almost synonomous with the club. Now they have been exposed as cheats on top.

Im more of a rugby fan and having studied in Scotland for a period it saddens me that Scotland has this obsession with two football clubs with such sectarian and biggoted links while Scottish Rugby has gradually began to die in the proffessional era. I can understand that football was big many decades ago but the reality is Celtic and Rangers are hopeless sides now and will never again taste success in Europe due to the way money runs things. I feel that Scotland would be better off without them and wish that more people up there had a concern with reviving Scottish rugby.

So Celtic and Rangers are the only ones with a problem with sectarianism? Your as bad as Alex Salmond!

Hearts and Hibs have a big problem with sectarianism and the Aberdeen fans on the odd occasion they come out to support there team are hardly a good example of how to behave at a game of football. Celtic and Rangers have at least tried to tackle the problem the other clubs get away with it because no one cares. When was the last time a manager was attacked at Celtic park or Ibrox?

As for rugby you can't force people to care about a sport they have no interest in. We may not be a big country but we have an incredible passion for the sport the problem is the way it has been run. That isn't just down to the Old Firm a lot of other clubs have behaved in a very selfish manner and held back progress. Celtic and Rangers have always been open to league reconstruction and play-offs the other clubs blocked it. But why let the truth get in the way of a good story? You should see if Rupert Murdoch has any jobs going!

But I suppose its easy to blame the big 2 or is it only 1 now?

Shame we don't have a jelly and ice cream smiley!

We'll have jelly and ice cream when the SPL is disbanded and Sky stops covering it.

Sky aren't pulling out. This attitude of TV kills football is nonsense. TV is good for football. they give the clubs money it isn't Skys fault that clubs decided to go with Setanta and dig a hole for themselves.

It also isn't Skys fault that the majority of people running clubs in Scotland are totally inept and have ran up major debt. Sky didn't demand that clubs spend cash they don't have the chairmen made they decisions on their own.

So the SPL and SFA are merged that's not going to change much. The SFA are just as bad. They need to be looking at themselves. They are a board of old dinosaurs. We will still have the same problems the SFA can't sort out the problems in their own building so they have no chance in sorting out the problems facing Scottish football.

For the record as much as people like you would like to paint Sky as the bad guys they actually saved a couple of clubs from going under when they stepped in when Setanta went bust. A Setanta deal that the big bad 2 told all the other clubs was a bad idea.

Sky's coverage of the SPL has to be a loss leader. I can't imagine more than a few thousand watch the matches.
I don't think it would do the clubs any harm for there to be no deal. It's a dying product, if they aren't already they should be looking at serious ways of operating on a shoe string budget and much reduced debt.

It wouldn't do the clubs any harm if there was no deal?

Old Firm matches pull in very good ratings and Celtic and Rangers matches against the other clubs get decent ratings. Do a bit of homework and stop guessing.

What bit of when Setanta went bust Sky saved a few clubs from going under don't you understand? The Kilmarnock and Dundee Utd chairman have came out and said without Sky stepping in they were finished and I doubt they were the only ones.

These clubs aren't in any better a financial position now so how would Sky walking away be a good thing?

TV never battered Scottish football the chairmen who ran up all the debts at these clubs did along with Rangers and their cheating.

super_realist wrote:Sky's coverage of the SPL has to be a loss leader. I can't imagine more than a few thousand watch the matches.

More people watch watch SPL games than La Liga games (ex El Clasico). Sky have also been telling numerous customer that their official statement is that they are not dropping the SPL newco or no newco.

Ayrshirebhoy wrote:looking at that i believe rangers can get the 4 votes they need to stay in spl and if it goes to secret ballot its a defo!

They need 8 votes (including Rangers = who?) to stay in the SPL.

RDuncan8 wrote:

Ayrshirebhoy wrote:looking at that i believe rangers can get the 4 votes they need to stay in spl and if it goes to secret ballot its a defo!

They need 8 votes (including Rangers = who?) to stay in the SPL.

Your right, got mixed up lol. Thought it was other way about. I think hearts, Kilmarnock and Ross county will vote for rangers with maybe a couple more. Not enough to win vote thou.

Ayrshirebhoy wrote:

RDuncan8 wrote:

Ayrshirebhoy wrote:looking at that i believe rangers can get the 4 votes they need to stay in spl and if it goes to secret ballot its a defo!

They need 8 votes (including Rangers = who?) to stay in the SPL.

Your right, got mixed up lol. Thought it was other way about. I think hearts, Kilmarnock and Ross county will vote for rangers with maybe a couple more. Not enough to win vote thou.

Hearts won't. Romanov hates the old firm and their fans groups have made it clear to the board they expect them to vote no.

Here's what I think:

YES to NewCo:

Rangers (who?)
Kilmarnock
Inverness
Ross County
Motherwell
Celtic
Hearts

NO to NewCo:

Hibs
Dundee Utd
Aberdeen
St Mirren
St Johnstone

I've listed the teams in order of how I think how certain they are to vote each way. Really don't know about St J and Hearts could go either way.

I'm not sure if we will ever get to know which each team wants. Reckon they will have their meeting, find out where each chairman is voting and they will all prob vote in the majority. No point in voting yes to a newco if they have no chance of getting in. Lose your Rangers money and your own fans.

Sod this secret ballot pish too.

Secret ballot is a joke. I don't think Celtic will vote yes Peter Lawell knows the fans feelings he would be mental to go against them.

super_realist wrote:Sky's coverage of the SPL has to be a loss leader. I can't imagine more than a few thousand watch the matches.
I don't think it would do the clubs any harm for there to be no deal. It's a dying product, if they aren't already they should be looking at serious ways of operating on a shoe string budget and much reduced debt.

You are correct. With Rangers gone the interest in the league will dry up. It will be a one horse race, and a poor quality one at that. The Celtic/Rangers rivalry, and the fans of Rangers were key to the league. Without that Sky will not want to continue supporting the league.

The fact that many other clubs are even considering allowing a new club attempting to rebrand itself as Rangers into the league after what they have done tells it own story I think.

If it's a secret ballot then I think "new Rangers" will gain the necessary support to get back into the SPL. The reason being is that the chairmen are businessmen foremost and allowing new Rangers into the SPL makes business sense. The fact that "new Rangers" might be under strength in terms of players also means that teams might have a greater chance of beating them in the next few seasons.

If Dundee are promoted the gates at Aberdeen and United and St Johnstone will go up, probably Hearts and Hibs as well.
Very few Old Rangers fans travelled to those fixtures.

This big travelling support is a myth.
Even 'home' team grounds like Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Mirren were half empty when Old Rangers visited.

Scottish sport is in crisis I believe. Not just football, but rugby also. Quality is poor and games are badly attended. Having spent time in Scotland, I blamed Celtic and Rangers for this to a large extent. They have dominated Scottish sport to the detriment of everything else. Meanwhile both internationally and domestically Scottish sides have deteriorated on the football and rugby fields. I hope the death of Rangers can breath new life into other area of Scottish sports and the Celtic/Rangers stranglehold on Scottish sport will be broken.

You can't force people to care that a sport is struggling that they have no interest in.

It's not the old firms fault that most of the country couldn't care less about the egg chasers.

There isn't enough good, young talent and there isn't money to attract good foreign players.