Here it is........
Originally Posted by Daily Record, 31st March 2017This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
TV anchorman Richard Keys remembers when the order came through to “shut down Scottish football - it no longer exists," after the dispute between satellite giants Sky TV and Roger Mitchell.
Richard Keys had a seat inside Sky TV’s high command when the order came through from above: “Shut down Scottish football. It no longer exists.”
That was 15 years ago. But Keys believes the game in this country is still paying the price.
And yesterday, when the TV anchorman read Record Sport’s expose on the paltry broadcast deal that is keeping our game locked in Europe’s poor house, his mind immediately raced back to that mean-spirited dispute between the satellite giants and Roger Mitchell – a row he blames for our game’s financial plight.
Yesterday, we mapped out the paucity of the SPFL’s TV deals with Sky and BT Sport by comparing them with mega-money contracts being handed out in countries across the Continent.
While Scotland’s clubs scrape by on a share of £18.75million for the rights to 60 live games per season, 17 other leagues are raking in relative fortunes.
From £1.71billion per season in England to £46m a year in Denmark and £50m in Greece, our game has been frozen out of football’s broadcast fortunes. Keys caught up with our figures as he boarded a flight from Heathrow to Doha, where he hosts live football every weekend for big-spending Qataris beIN SPORTS.
And he said: “I wasn’t surprised by them, I was astounded by them. The sums are frightening.
“It’s a crying shame the way Scottish football is being treated. In fact it’s beyond a crying shame – it’s a disgrace.”
And Keys knows what he’s talking about. He had a ringside seat when former SPL chief executive Mitchell picked a fight with the heavyweight executive at the top of Sky’s empire, Vic Wakeling. And got knocked out cold.
Even now when Keys shuts his eyes he can still hear Scottish football’s bones being crushed. He said: “You can trace it all back to 2002 and the deal Vic Wakeling didn’t do with Roger Mitchell who was in charge of the SPL – but who wasn’t very good at it.
“Vic put something like £60m on the table and the response was, ‘Come back to me when you’re serious’. Vic withdrew the offer and overnight he made it clear we were to stop talking about Scottish football on Sky Sports News which was a disgrace in itself.
“The instruction was, ‘Scottish football doesn’t exist. Shut it down. We don’t talk about it, we’re not interested in it until they come back to the table on our terms’.
“It really was a disgrace and in my view Scottish football has never recovered. Scottish football has made some extraordinary decisions domestically which I didn’t understand but which have had a very detrimental effect on the game. And you know what I’m referring to.
“All these years on still no one can tell me what Rangers were guilty of when they were sent down to the bottom tier.
“The expectation was they would be found guilty but my understanding is they were never convicted of any wrong- doing. But I guess that’s another matter entirely.”
Keys stayed at Sky for nine more years before leaving under a cloud of controversy in 2011.
But in his next job, with TalkSPORT, he was quick to reconnect with the Scottish game – and to understand its value.
He said: “When we went to Talksport I was very much aware that the station was broadcast nationally. But that we only ever talked about English football. I said when I went there I wanted our show to have an audience of over one million. I was told we would never do it.
“So after a week or so I told them I wanted a full set of newspapers delivered every morning, including in particular the Daily Record because I wanted to know what was happening in Scotland.
“The only reason I knew what was happening at Rangers in 2011 was because I started reading the Daily Record. And that’s when we started covering it properly.
“Effectively we broke the story in England because no one else down here had been paying attention to what the Record had been writing.
“A club the size of Rangers going bust? This was a huge story – it was cataclysmic – but no one in England cared about or even knew about it until TalkSPORT picked it up.
“When we left that station our audience was 1.25m and a large part of that was the decision to show a genuine, grown-up interest in Scottish football. I’m not sure any of the major British broadcasters have done so since. Too many people who live and work in London and who broadcast from London believe the UK ends at Berwick.”
Keys was the frontman for the big TV relaunch of England’s top flight in 1992. And that experience has convinced him Scottish football can also be completely over-hauled if the big broadcasters are prepared to pay it the going rate.
He said: “I don’t buy into the theory they won’t pay proper money for it because it’s not a very good product because when we set up the Premier League in England it wasn’t a very good product either.
“It only is what it is today because of the amount of TV money that’s been poured into it. Unless you commit to it in that way you can’t expect it to be better.
“What you certainly can’t do is expect the product to get better by completely ignoring it the way Sky is just now.
“The problem is they got stung massively in the last round of negotiations for the rights to the Premier League. As a result Sky are now paying £11m a game.
“On any given weekend they’re paying £55m to put five games on and that’s just for the rights, never mind all the staff and technology involved in such big live broadcasts.
“So something had to give. They lost things like speedway and all the other stuff around the periphery. The attitude was, ‘If we can nick Scottish football then let’s do that’. It’s time football people in Scotland demanded a far better deal.”
Results 91 to 116 of 116
Thread: Liam Boyce signs for Burton
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21-06-2017 11:07 AM #91
Here it is........
Originally Posted by Daily Record, 31st March 2017This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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21-06-2017 11:13 AM #92
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21-06-2017 11:18 AM #93
To be honest I think Boyce is tailor made for English football as his game will suit their style of play. In this era teams like Hibs must cut their cloth accordingly. Transfers at this time of the year are always a bit of a stitch up.
Sorry. Think I've lost the thread a bit.
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22-06-2017 12:52 PM #94
http://m.burtonmail.co.uk/northern-i...ail/story.html
So according to Michael O'Neill Aberdeen (which is understandable considering the sale of Hayes) and Hearts had both agreed fees for Boyce. How the **** can Hearts afford to chuck approx 500k on a transfer fee?
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22-06-2017 01:00 PM #95This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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22-06-2017 01:05 PM #96
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Burton Albion, the ground The Perilli stadium. Capcity 7k of which 2k are seated. Boyce went for money, they will be the Rotherham of this season championship. I just wish players would be honest, there is no shame in maximising your income but stop trying to dressit up as something its not.
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22-06-2017 01:07 PM #97This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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22-06-2017 01:08 PM #98
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22-06-2017 01:14 PM #99This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
We got to where we were because of under investment in the team
We are now sensibly investing in the team and reaping the rewards
£500k pa on 8000 season tickets is a lot of cash £500k on 13000 much less so
Each to their own but we enjoyed spending our time and money on the kids as they grew up.
Its far easier paying off the mortgage now they are grown up and I wouldn't swap the things we did them and the memories we have of those times for a kings ransom.
We are and were very well insured so there was never any risk.Last edited by BSEJVT; 22-06-2017 at 01:23 PM.
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22-06-2017 04:13 PM #100This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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22-06-2017 08:39 PM #101
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22-06-2017 08:47 PM #102This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
What figure did they pay then Andy, and how do you know its accurate?
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22-06-2017 08:54 PM #103
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22-06-2017 09:04 PM #104This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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22-06-2017 09:17 PM #105
Burton broke their transfer record to sign him (previously 350k) and it was reported by a couple that the deal was for 500k. Either way it looks like Hearts were prepared to pay very good cash for him.
Last edited by Heisenberg; 22-06-2017 at 09:36 PM.
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22-06-2017 09:24 PM #106
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22-06-2017 09:32 PM #107
So if it was reported that we had a bid accepted would it make us all warm and fuzzy and think that our club was all big and huge and massive and enormous? I believe that is what is being done with hearts. Look at the hard evidence rather than bull**** rumours. Scott Allan wanted by hearts, joins Dundee. Stefan Scougall wanted by hearts, joins St Johnstone. Liam Boyce 500k bid accepted plus the wages that goes along with that? Aye right then. But but but we are the big club we can offer 500k for a player!!! Bull, don't believe a word of it
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22-06-2017 10:35 PM #108
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23-06-2017 11:54 PM #109This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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24-06-2017 07:14 AM #110This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteNo Eternal Reward Shall Forgive Us Now For Wasting The Dawn
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24-06-2017 07:28 AM #111This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
I know, that tickled me when Collins wanted to bring in Naysmith, we were all looking forward to watching Naysmith being our record signing and couldnt wait to see us pay him £18-20k a week?
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24-06-2017 09:14 AM #112This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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24-06-2017 09:19 AM #113This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
We were never in the hunt on wages alone, nevermind who he wanted to sign for.
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24-06-2017 11:21 AM #114This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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24-06-2017 11:28 AM #115This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
And surely those in charge petrie would know just what wages a player costing that kind of money would want, and i cant believe we'd be anywhere near a serious offer with a bid of that amount and wages combined.
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24-06-2017 01:07 PM #116This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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