Not only are Rangers being given an advantage from offers to free up their schedule, but every other team is being forced to move their games to fit in with Rangers' new schedule. The Rangers' spin team are now out in force, pointing out that their UEFA Cup opponents will have a break before the final, ignoring the fact that they are at the beginning of their season and not at the very end, which will probably end up causing them problems as they try to catch up.  Also being ignored is the fact this favour being afforded by the Russian football authorities is the very same favour Rangers have already been given by the SPL earlier this season.  A final point being ignored is that back when Rangers were having their break to prepare for Lyon, did the French League extend the same cortesy to Lyon? The answer, if you want to know, is no.  Another myth that they have rolled out is that during Celtic's run to the UEFA Cup final in 2003, the SPL changed games to help them prepare. The SPL did no such thing, but another team agreed to move a game forward a few days. There was no extension, no other teams were forced to change anything, no one else was effected.  Is there any reason Rangers can't move their game forward instead of back? But then that would only help them in the UEFA cup and not in the League, which is what they really want.

 In fact, during that 2003 season, Celtic themselves did protest that the timing of a Celtic-Rangers game, arranged just two days after Celtic returned from an away UEFA Cup semifinal match, was unfair. That game did go ahead as planned, and Rangers manager and players told Celtic that they should be “thankful” they were in the position that they were in, and that they were “moaners”. How things have changed now it is they who are in this position.  SFA president George Peat even claimed yesterday, in regards to offering even more help, that: ”It would be exactly the same if it were Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibs, Motherwell, Dundee United, any of the others.”  Well George, it was Celtic in 2003, and no extension was offered to help them, it was Aberdeen earlier in the year, and you didn't help them either.  Trying to get any fair and unbiased response to this from Rangers is proving difficult, as the BBC found out when they asked the club for a simple statement to the initial refusal of the SPL to postpone the match against Dundee United.  The BBC were told Rangers had “refused to comment, stating that a Scottish national newspaper has exclusive rights to their reaction”.

Have they sold these rights to make money, or given them away for certain generous publicity from said newspaper? Who knows.  Anyone reading this who is not familiar with Scottish Football need only ask themselves this: Would the league in your country extended to help one team at the expense of others? I think the answer would be a resounding 'No'. It seems to me that Rangers will try by hook or crook to make sure this year's league trophy ends up at Ibrox. Their current problems are of their own making, but they want help from others. This second extension they have called for was completely unworkable, with Rangers requesting to move theleague even later, despite the fact that players have to be released for international duty. Celtics' Georgios Samaras has already had to pull out of a Greece friendly because of the first extension, which could ultimately cost cost him his place at EURO 2008. It has for now been turned down (Rangers are unbelievably crying foul), but the first one has already compromised the Scottish League.

Every team in this year's Scottish Premier League has been competing on equal terms Except for one.. UNIONDALE, N.Y., April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.(NYSE: ABR), a real estate investment trust focused on the business ofinvesting in real estate related bridge and mezzanine loans, preferred anddirect equity investments, mortgage-related securities and other real estaterelated assets, today announced that the Company is scheduled to releasefinancial results for the three months ended March 31, 2009, before marketopen on Friday, May 8, 2009. The Company will host a conference call to reviewthe results at 10:00 am ET.A live webcast of the conference call will be available online at http:// in the investor relations area of the Website. Web participants are encouraged to go to the Web site at least 15minutes prior to the start of the call to register, download, and install anynecessary audio software.