Exposing The EBT Effect

After coming a poor second to a newly resurgent Celtic side the season before, Rangers entered the following season (2001-2002) determined to make up the lost ground by fair means or foul.  They illegally used EBTs to pay the wages of players whom they could not otherwise have afforded.  The spent lavishly to acquire the services of players such as Shota Arveladze, Christian Nelinger, Claudio Cannigia and Michael Ball.  I know.  Stop tittering there at the back, please.
Neil Doncaster continues to pretend that this is not a matter of the greatest importance as he delays the release of the findings of the SPL investigation into the use of improperly registered players by Rangers.  Here is a glimpse of what he is hiding.

The Rangers team which took part in the 2001-2002 season fielded ineligible players in all competitions.  By the rules of the game, each of the results involving these players should be amended to a 0-3 Rangers defeat.

Yet Rangers official results in domestic competitions still stand in contravention of the rules of the game.
In the SPL, the other teams recorded these results in their games against Rangers.
Rangers’ score is given second in each case.
For comparison, results in parentheses have been adjusted to take integrity into account.

Aberdeen took zero points from 12 with a goal difference of  -8:
0-3    (3-0)
0-2    (3-0)
0-1    (3-0)
0-2    (3-0)
GD . . . -8  (+12)  Turnaround in the real world = 20 goals.
Pts . . . 0  (12)    AFC should have had 12 more points according to the rules.

Celtic took 8/12:
2-0    (3-0)
2-1    (3-0)
1-1    (3-0)
1-1    (3-0)
GD . . . +3  (+12)  Turnaround = 9 goals.
Pts . . . 8  (12)    Should have had 4 more points.

Dunfermline:
1-4    (3-0)
0-4    (3-0)
2-4    (3-0)
1-1    (3-0)
GD . . . -9  (+12)  Turnaround = 21 goals.
Pts . . .  1  (12)    Should have had 11 more points.

Hearts:
2-2    (3-0)
1-3    (3-0)
0-2    (3-0)
0-2    (3-0)
GD . . . -6  (+12)  Turnaround = 18 goals.
Pts . . .  1  (12)    Should have had 11 more points.

Livingston:
0-0    (3-0)
0-2    (3-0)
0-3    (3-0)
2-1    (3-0)
GD . . . -4  (+12)  Turnaround = 16 goals.
Pts . . .  4  (12)    Should have had 8 more points.

Kilmarnock:
1-3    (3-0)
2-2    (3-0)
0-5    (3-0)
GD . . . -7  (+9)  Turnaround = 16 goals.
Pts . . .  1  (9)    Should have had 8 more points.

Kilmarnock would have made the top six if Rangers’ improper registrations had come to light before the split.
Oh.  And if any of the SPL office bearers had had the balls to apply the rules.

Dundee United:
1-6    (3-0)
2-3    (3-0)
0-1    (3-0)
GD . . . -7  (+9)  Turnaround = 16 goals.
Pts . . .  0  (9)    Should have had 9 more points.

Dundee:
0-2    (3-0)
0-0    (3-0)
1-2    (3-0)
GD . . . -3  (+9)  Turnaround = 12 goals.
Pts . . .  1  (9)    Should have had 8 more points.

Hibernian:
2-2    (3-0)
1-1    (3-0)
0-3    (3-0)
GD . . . -3  (+9)  Turnaround = 12 goals.
Pts . . .  2  (9)    Should have had 7 more points.

Motherwell:
0-3    (3-0)
2-2    (3-0)
0-3    (3-0)
GD . . . -6  (+9)  Turnaround = 15 goals.
Pts . . .  1  (9)    Should have had 8 more points.

St. Johnstone:
0-2    (3-0)
0-1    (3-0)
0-2    (3-0)
GD . . . -5  (+9)  Turnaround = 14 goals.
Pts . . .  0  (9)    Should have had 9 more points.

The final league table, adjusted for integrity, sees Rangers finishing in the relegation spot on zero points with a goal difference of -114.
Aberdeen would finish second instead of fourth. Every other club finishes one place higher except Livingstone who remain third.  St. Johnstone would survive in the top flight for at least another season.  Kilmarnock, as previously mentioned, would finish in the top half of the table.

Neil Doncaster ignores all of this and still peddles the preposterous notion that there is a place in the SPL for these cheats.

Let’s look at the cups.  Rangers, through the efforts of their otherwise unaffordable players (who were not properly registered and therefore not eligible to play), ‘won’ both the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.  Because of their rules breaches, they should have been disqualified after their first tie in each competition with their opponents being awarded a 3-0 win.  So that’s a 3-0 win for Berwick Rangers in the Scottish Cup and 3-0 for the late Airdrieonians in the League Cup.  As well as being eliminated from the cup competitions, Rangers would have missed out on their half of the gate receipts from the subsequent illegitimate ties.  That’s just short of 100,000 paying customers for the League Cup and more than 130,000 for the Scottish Cup.   Those tickets were sold on a fraudulent basis.

Rangers interest in the Champions League should have ended at the beginning of August with Maribor progressing at their expense.  Chalk off one 50,000 home gate for Rangers bore draw a week later against Fenerbahce.
Another 144,000 people would not have been pouring money into David Murray’s crooked club if Rangers had been correctly disqualified from the UEFA Cup after fielding ineligible players against Anzhi Makhachkala in the first round.  Nor would there have been any income from television coverage of matches which would not and should not have taken place.

Neil Doncaster is aware of all of this information but continues to be the poltroon for the cheats who put him in place to try to shield themselves from the consequences of their massive con trick.