A Guest blog by redlichtie for TSFM
From what I can see Mike Ashley is likely to be the only game in town for RIFC/TRFC fans unless they want to see another of their clubs go through administration/liquidation.
That particular scenario potentially allows for a phoenix to arise from the ashes but on past evidence it is probably going to be an underfunded operation with overly grandiose pretensions taking them right back into the vicious circle they seem condemned to repeat ad nauseam.
Ashley has the muscle to strongarm the various spivs to give up or greatly dilute their onerous contracts and I suspect that is what has been happening behind the scenes.
From Ashley’s point of view I believe that what is being sought is a stable, self-financing operation that he can then sell on whilst retaining income streams of importance to SD.
I also suspect that he will come to some arrangement with the SFA to dispose of his interest once he has stabilised the club.
The problem for RIFC/TRFC fans is that Ashley is not going to fund some mythical “return to where they belong”, though that is beginning to appear to be the second division of the SPFL where they are heading to have a regular gig.
Like at Newcastle, Ashley will cut their coat according to their cloth. This will mean, again like at Newcastle, a mid-table team with good runs every so often. If the finances can be fixed then they will have an advantage over most other Scottish clubs but in the main we will be back to actual footballing skills and good management being what is important (pace “honest mistakes”).
With recent results and footballing style clearly those are issues that will require attention and McCoist seems likely to present RIFC/TRFC with an early opportunity to address at least one aspect of that if he continues with his current “I’m a good guy” press campaign. It may take just one unguarded comment or action and he will be out.
But will the Bears go for Ashley’s plan? So far they seem antagonistic and still cling to their belief that the world owes them a top football club regardless of cost.
If the fans don’t get behind the current entity I can see Ashley deciding the game’s not worth it and cashing in his chips. Some ‘Rangers Men’ will probably turn up and create a new entity for The People to believe in and Ashley will continue to draw in income from shirt sales and, most likely, charging fans at the world famous Albion car park which he will then own.
The upcoming AGM is crucial and from what we have seen of Ashley so far he gets what he wants.
The crushing reality about to descend on The People is that there really is no Santa Claus. A Sanity Clause, perhaps but no Santa Claus.
tifflersmom says:
January 10, 2015 at 7:26 pm
All this gushing over Richard Wilson. Have yous no shame? Get a grip lads (and girls). We’re actually paying this guy to spout all that gash. He’s had years to redeem himself and his profession.
He’s fell way short in my book.
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I see that you are still as hostile to him as last week. You’re obviously entitled to your opinion although I did ask you for evidence to illustrate your thinking.
You kindly provided a link from June 2012 where I could see nothing wrong with Wilson’s comments made while he was employed at the Glasgow Herald. I look back to that time and look at some of my posts and I got some things absolutely wrong.
But the posts I wrote based on the info I had were my honest opinion and not made to further an agenda other than to try and get at the truth.
I doubt that many posters on here are harder on the SMAM tham myself and have a go at them when I think it’s justified.
However a couple of things I keep at the forefront of my mind is that I am not dependent on an employer to maintain my standard of living and therefore can do and say anything I want within the constraints of the blog’s modding policy.
But the other point – and the most important is – I have anonymity which the journos don’t have and we have seen only too clearly what can happen to journos who have the courage to be identified.
I have always regarded Wilson’s articles in terms of style and content as being a cut-above the bulk of the SMSM sports journos. He also often comes up with different angles on stories rather than the interminable cut & paste of his colleague and it’s obvious he has a bit of brain power and seems to actually have some grasp of the complexities wrt the Rangers story.
Of course I could be totally wrong about all of that.
Perhaps if you could advise me say of 3 sports reporters in Scotland that you think are markedly better than Wilson you could post their names as that might assist my understanding of your seeming angst with Wilson.
I don’t say he’s perfect and he makes mistakes but all that proves to me is he’s human. I have yet to be presented with a scrap of evidence that he is operating to a hidden agenda to return Rangers to their ‘Rightful Place’.
I’ve just reviewed Mick/Piegate as recommended by Ecobhoy and opened this file http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/a-story-about-craig-whyte-rangers-charlotte-and-the-last-2-years-guest-post-by-goldstein/#more-4186 – very appropriate to where we are now and for the life of me i can’t get my head around why these very savvy businessmen are willing to part with cash for what’s in the poke.
ecobhoy says:
January 10, 2015 at 7:42 pm
I find myself agreeing with that, though, I would add that there is a hard core cadre of young people, in both sets of fans, who continue to be indoctrinated by older fans who really ought to know better.
Based on anecdotal evidence, these cadres do seem to be decreasing in size as the years pass, but, we could all do more to eradicate the problem once and for all.
People are really saying Richard Wilson is a non agenda spouting top journalist?? 😳
I don’t believe it!!
scapaflow says:
January 10, 2015 at 8:13 pm
ecobhoy says:
January 10, 2015 at 7:42 pm
I find myself agreeing with that, though, I would add that there is a hard core cadre of young people, in both sets of fans, who continue to be indoctrinated by older fans who really ought to know better.
Based on anecdotal evidence, these cadres do seem to be decreasing in size as the years pass, but, we could all do more to eradicate the problem once and for all
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I couldn’t agree more about the use of football as a fertile recruiting ground where the older hard-line politicos from both sides look-out for likely lads and lasses and groom them. They do know better but have an agenda other than football to march to IMO.
Football is not immune from politics and political issues and sometimes these have to be addressed by clubs. But in the main the vast majority of fans go to Parkhead to watch and support Celtic and to try and enjoy the football.
Many Celtic supporters are like myself with a long and committed background in politics and trade unionism but use their energies and abilities in wider arenas probably more generally than simply on specific football club issues.
To be fair most youngsters do grow into balanced adults and if they didn’t have a bit of fire in their belly when younger and concern for those less fortunate then what horrible uncaring people they would turn into later in life 😆
@ModgePKR says:
January 10, 2015 at 7:16 pm
The key difference to the Ticketus deal here though is obviously that there’s no insolvency yet, so RIFC has to pay otherwise it’s Third Rangers time.
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Ah I think we are at cross purposes.
The Ticketus reference was to jurisdiction as they believed that English Law applied to the contract with Whyte but Lord Hodge ruled that it was Scottish Insolvency Law that applied which was less beneficial to the Ticketus legal claim.
I was just mentioning jurisdiction as posibly affecting the time to pay period in different jurisdictions. And when I checked it would appear at a basic level under Scots Law you have 5 years to make a claim and under English Law it is either 6 or 12 years depending on the type of contract.
Bill1903 says:
January 10, 2015 at 8:25 pm
‘…People are really saying Richard Wilson is a non agenda spouting top journalist?? :oops:’
——
I don’t think I personally have gone farther than to say that I think that in just the last couple of days I think Wilon’s angle of approach has changed.There could be many reasons for that ( including perhaps such a feeling of relief that so many people appear to be ready to chuck small fortunes in to save TRFC that he can afford to risk the odd factual statement or criticism )
We’ll watch whether he progresses or regresses over the next few days.
He seems now to want to position himself where he and the rest ought always to have been-in the middle, looking critically and with proper journalistic cynicism at anything coming from either the Football Authorities or from RIFC plc or any bidders.
If that is true, well and good.
John Clark says:
January 10, 2015 at 8:58 pm
________________________________________________
ie jobsworth.
gerrybhoy67 says:
January 10, 2015 at 8:11 pm
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/a-story-about-craig-whyte-rangers-charlotte-and-the-last-2-years-guest-post-by-goldstein/#more-4186
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An interesting article.
Attempting to tie this historical speculation with current events, has the Sarver bid triggered some kind of sell on clause?
If Whyte is still present via one of the offshore shareholding entities, could he have engineered a situation whereby a future offer for the whole business entitled those that had structured the initial asset purchase to a premium over and above the value of the shares they hold?
Which then begs the question, would such a premium be designed to enrich the designers of the deal structure or does it exist to scupper a future sell on? It has been hypothesised that Sarver might be acting in concert with Ashley. It has further been established in a newspaper article dating back to 2011 concerning a fracar following a Cash For Kids dinner in Glasgow that Ashley and Whyte have historical ties.
If the poison pill speculation has basis then is Mr. Sarver’s intervention designed to highlight this impediment to any outside organisation attempting to take control of the business? During its short history, TRFCL has shown astonishing loss making capability and has managed to incur multiple onerous contracts. It might be thought that such a business would be an unattractive proposition and thus would keep any outside interest at bay. Perhaps, just to be sure, further booby traps were set to ensure that no outside pesky investors would show up and derail the historic debt shedding process. Perhaps Mr. Sarvers bid merely acts to highlight the fundamental unviability of this business model to anyone existing outwith the cabal.
However this suggests a serious amount of forethought and pre-planning which though not entirely incredulous, could only be accomplished if a master plan had been put in place at an early stage.
All very entertaining.
Could the upcoming court case ever have been envisaged as a possible symptom of this process?
ecobhoy says:
January 10, 2015 at 8:33 pm
I wasn’t really thinking about “normal” politics, though I take your point. Kids aren’t born hating each other, its learned behaviour.
A universal bright spot from the indyref campaign, was the way young people engaged, and often behaved much better than their elders. The future is bright for the most part, there are some dark places, that could do with a bit more light, is all 🙂
Re:Only an excuse.
I think it cannot function effectively in our post Rangers footballing world. Its primary ethos is one of affectionate lampooning, whereas Scottish Football actually requires cutting satire.
It suffers from the same cultural inadequacy as the sports writers of the SMSM. Their culture is one of supporters with laptops ( though mostly of Rangers rather than the wider game, sadly) who cannot operate in the public interest when genuine investigative and critical journalism is required.
Iceman, how could you possibly satirise what’s been happening down Edmiston Drive?
(or what gets printed in the sports pages for that matter.)
Fan-ownership group Rangers First has increased its Ibrox stake after snapping up another 60,000 shares.Rangers First now controls 664,792 shares – or around 0.8 per cent of the club.
Rangers First director Ricki Neill says “With our membership growing on a daily basis, I really think that there is now a belief within the Rangers fans that we can now achieve fan ownership.
Just how much would it cost for fan ownership and just how much has it cost them for 664,792 shares.
Do they need a lottery win
Ecobhoy
If you look at his headline stats from pre sevco days, sevco days and right up until he joined the Beeb, you’ll see that they were by far his pet project;
http://journalisted.com/richard-wilson-1?allarticles=yes
He has to appreciate that they’re not the only show in town. There are bigger, better and more deserved Scottish teams, much higher up the food chain, that he could be promoting in his column inches.
Also, if I could give you 3 names I would, but then I’ve stopped reading most MSM stuff and resort mainly to this blog for valued opinion. Yours included.
@ModgePKR says:
January 10, 2015 at 7:03 pm
easyJambo says:
January 10, 2015 at 7:23 pm
I believe they mean that the Board take out a new loan from K and T3B and pay back Ashley. Rather than being secured on the properties, these new loans would convert to equity if they can’t be repaid.
It may be a method of getting round the disapplication problem in that shareholders would be faced with a stark choice: allow the new issue or go bust.
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It would still require a special resolution at an EGM to approve the allotment of new shares if there was an insufficient number of shares available to K+T3B from those approved at the December AGM (must be made available existing shareholder in proportion to their current holdings)
I’ve just checked the Aberdeen proposed DFE swap by Stewart Milne and a Special Resolution (75% threshold) was required.
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IIRC MIH ‘owned’ the Albion Car Park in the mid-1990s and DM offered it to Rangers for £1 although there was a complex tie with the Las Vegas Super Casino so that when that was built there was additional money to be paid for the World Famous Albion Car Park.
However now Ashley relinquishes security over a couple of beat-up properties (The big Haunted Hoose and the Car Park) to get his £3 million loan repaid. And the 3Bears and King get share certificates to the value of £3 million for their £3million.
Ashley apparently keeps his nice little earners and presumably his current shareholding. All of the other shareholders – including the anonymous offshore investors – keep their shares and onerous contracts where applicable.
But Ashley and all existing shareholders are entitled to shares from the new issue agreed at the Ibrox agm so it doesn’t look as though there will be enough new shares to satisfy all parties which means an egm is required.
And on top of that we think that millions are required asap to clear a previously unknown liability. I puzzle about that because if Crighton knew about it why didn’t anyone else and why was it not in the Wallace 120 day report (I have still to check Crighton’s period of office as a director).
There’s going to have to be an egm anyway and it looks to me as though the 3Bears and King will end-up with the Hoose and Car Park which are probably worth £200k max.
I still don’t get it. They need to have preferably Ibrox as security or a poor second of Murray Park to have any hope of covering their millions. And where do they get the money to get the club to the end of the season? Let’s not even consider next year as my brain circuits couldn’t handle it.
All they’re doing is feeding the tape worms. Until the tape worms are excised, there is no future, only perpetual crisis.
There is a viable business, but until RIFC, or whoever, gets control of the revenue steams, there is no possibility of progress. Even austerity at this point is more of a palliative measure than a cure.
I think only an excuse like programs before have gone on well past its sell by date. The comedy ended years ago. like all these programs, if they want to remain, bring in young blood every 5 years. Satire does not require a poor impressionist.
With regard to Richard Wilson I’ve met him a few times at various running events. He is a good guy, decent, intelligent & communicative. Yes he is a Rangers man, but he’s not a patsy, no matter at times how it looks.
MaBaw says:
January 10, 2015 at 9:50 pm
3 0 Rate This
I think only an excuse like programs before have gone on well past its sell by date. The comedy ended years ago. like all these programs, if they want to remain, bring in young blood every 5 years. Satire does not require a poor impressionist.
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Speaking of impressionists, Lewis Macleod was on Off the Ball today. Great fun he was annaw. Among others, he did a very good impression of someone tending his garden 🙂
Castofthousands says:
January 10, 2015 at 9:08 pm
It has further been established in a newspaper article dating back to 2011 concerning a fracar following a Cash For Kids dinner in Glasgow that Ashley and Whyte have historical ties.
=====================================================
I know of the article of which you speak but won’t go into the detail.
However IIRC all the article did was state that Whyte and Ashley were present at a Glasgow charity event where a ‘domestic’ incident arose.
I remember nothing from the article that establishes any tie or link between the two men other than that they attended the same event which had a number of other football personalities present.
They too could have been thrown into the mix with Ashley and Whyte but yet again that would prove nothing other than they were at the same event. I don’t even think the article suggests any link between the men.
I could guess that possibly Rangers had a table and Ashley might have been a guest sitting at it possibly because he was discussing a merchandise deal with Whyte.
That might be true but it also might be pure fantasy.
stifflersmom says:
January 10, 2015 at 9:25 pm
——————————————–
Unfortunately my reply to you appears to have disappeared but I didn’t want you to think I had ignored your response.
I think you might have found my post quite informative but c’est la vie 😥
Hmm, riots at a darts event and Barry Hearn lectured the SPFL on match day experience and booze at games. Watching the darts recently it was obviously a ticking time bomb. Groups of men, lots of booze and opposing supporters.
Cygnus X-1 says:
January 10, 2015 at 10:04 pm
‘With regard to Richard Wilson I’ve met him a few times at various running events. He is a good guy, decent, intelligent & communicative…’
———
You should hear what he says about you,Cygnus X-1! ( Only kidding, of course 🙂 )
No problem with him being a Rangers man- all of us have an affiliation/affection/connection with a football club.I suppose we wouldn’t be on this blog if that wasn’t the case.
But those who, as Press, have privileged access to the movers and shakers in football AND to widespread propagation of their reports/views/opinions MUST be seen to be reporting and commenting objectively.
It does seem to be the case that a great many of us believe that the majority of football hacks have NOT appeared to be willing to discharge their duties with the impartiality and desire to establish the truth that true journalists actually die for.
I think it is beyond doubt that from at least the inception of SDM’s megalomaniac, recklessly spendthrift reign ( benign, if they said the right things, malevolent if they crossed him) our SMSM hacks , some more so than others, were no more than putty in his hands.
SDM is no longer there, of course,( at least, not openly, whatever presence he may still have in the background), but the link with the hordes who supported him and the club that he killed, are still strong in Press and Broadcasting and business and legal circles.
“How it looks” is, in fact, very often ‘how it is’.
I would say the onus is on the guys and gals of the SMSM ( print and broadcasting) to prove that they are capable of objectivity, and not afraid to be objective and critical and sceptical in relation to the saga as much as they are in relation to any other football phenomenon.
As I’ve said, Wilson has shown some subtle change. Many others have not- yet.
Ecobhoy
Perhaps it’s fell off the radar.
(Ouch)
ThomTheThim says:
January 10, 2015 at 4:42 pm
My major, current disappointment in this area is Hugh Mc.Illvaney in the Sunday Times.
He writes with authority on all sports, but has never dipped his pen into the scandal of Scottish football.
I would imagine that, by now, he has the established credibility and reputation to deliver the coup de grace to the SMSM, with the definitive exposé of their deceit.
Why hasn’t he?
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TTT…I deliberately left McIlvanney out…largely because he is actually my “hero” amongst sports writers and as Ecobhoy has hinted above, he probably does not wish to get “involved”…though I would dearly love to read just one piece from him…I would even by Murdoch’s rag, sorry, flagship to do so!
Ecobhoy
I find myself obsessing now.
A quick headline count from January 14 to March 14 (I’m assuming this is when RW took up his post at the Beeb) shows 46 of 71 articles dedicated to a 2nd division side. Bearing in mind they only became a championship team in August 14.
Seems he was obsessing too…..
http://journalisted.com/richard-wilson-1?allarticles=yes
Funnily enough I paid particular attention to RW today on sportsound given the discussion on his coverage here previously.
IMHO he does attempt to mask what is a very obvious ‘interest’ with facts, I’ll grant you that. But I worked out the bit he simply can’t bring himself to admit and if anyone wants to listen to the podcasty tape mecodiaphone thingy you’ll notice it too.
He obviously wants a return to the RRM in control. That much was obvious from the automatic link that RRM men being involved equals “moving forewards” (pause for supportive harrumphs from Chick). What he conspicuously avoids saying is that the RFC model DOESNT WORK. Yes he harks back to helicopters Sunday past and yes, encouragingly as others have stated he was quick to state the 6.5m is the start, the (insert figure here for shares) is only the middle bit but it then still needs loads of cash apparently. Why? Investment. It’s always bloody investment. Well here’s the truth Richard it’s not. The club, your club, is losing money hand over fist. If you don’t change anything, and again there was precisely zero viewpoint that they should, it will continue to need cash. That is not investment. That is, well what, you tell me? Charity? Cross subsidy? Extortive blackmail (and that’s just there own fans!)
Yes Richard tries to be fair, and in the facts he’s willing to concede he is. Doesn’t stop him having a blind spot though.
Rant over.
Cygnus X-1 says:10:04
If he’s not running he’s dribbling!
stifflersmom says:
January 10, 2015 at 11:41 pm
‘I find myself obsessing now.
A quick headline count from January 14 to March 14 (I’m assuming this is when RW took up his post at the Beeb) shows 46 of 71 articles dedicated to a 2nd division side. Bearing in mind they only became a championship team in August 14.
Seems he was obsessing too…..’
——-
There’s nothing to beat an ‘obsession’ when it is driven by a simple desire to find the ‘truth’.
The trouble is that ‘media’ truth is a function of audience/readership numbers.Which is far removed from considerations of Moral Truth.
You and I want real truth. The newspapermen and broadcasters want stories that bring in the shekels.
And that in itself is fair enough: newsworthy = money. And the saga is newsworthy from any kind of perspective.
And I would be inclined to allow a degree of latitude to the papers and BBC Radio Sportsound in the matter of trying to retain their readership/audiences numbers.
So, the number of times a print journalist writes about RIFC plc/TRFC, or Radio or TV reports on their games, is less significant than WHAT they write or report.
My point being that it is not so much a question of how OFTEN Wilson has written about the saga, as how far have his writings been propaganda rather than truth.
Wilson might have begun to see some journalistic sense, painful as it may be to do so.
Smugas says:
January 11, 2015 at 12:00 am
‘…He obviously wants a return to the RRM in control.’
———
And that is the killer, or should be, as far as BBC reporters are concerned.If it becomes ‘obvious’ from a BBC reporter’s report that the reporter has taken one side in the matter that he is reporting on, then his reports are tainted and have to be discounted.
I think I have mentioned before that the ‘small fry’ in BBC Radio Scotland are not the real problem: it’s the top of the tree and his attitudes.as in any bureaucratic organisation that the tax payer pays for!
I stand with those on this blog who find Richard Wilson’s journalism just this side of execrable.
He may not have coined the expression — I have no means of knowing — but no one has more assiduously or more often propogated the “liquidation of the company which owned the club” lie.
In the old days of television variety shows, you would occasionally see a contortionist squeezing himself into an impossibly thin tube. I’m always reminded of this act on reading Wilson on Sevco. Not so much his linguistic contortions — no, just the tube.
Popped into my local and was half-watching the NFL play-off whilst chatting to a friend – a 25+ years U.S. journalist now with an online international news site.
We were talking about sport, and eventually I mentioned the SMSM and its attitude to reporting the TRFC saga, [I don’t mention it over here normally, and only bore the wife with the updates.]
Anyhoos, this experienced journo just didn’t understand, and as I think he may have thought I was talking mince, I quickly changed the subject.
But it was a useful and clear indication of how weird the whole SMSM set up is in Scotland wrt the club/company from Govan…and how weird it is to try and explain it to outsiders…
:slamb: :slamb: :slamb:
Torquemada says:
January 11, 2015 at 1:33 am
‘.. but no one has more assiduously or more often propogated the “liquidation of the company which owned the club” lie.’
——
That was him trying to be the university educated, non-plebeian, intellectual, financially cultured West-end, Ashton Lane ponce that we all love so dearly.He’s got an image to preserve, like the general run of mindless numpties on Radio Scotand.
But having said that, I still think, or hope,that he may have begun to realise that being considered to be a compromiser with truth is not the way ahead for any serious journalist.
jean7brodie says:
January 10, 2015 at 10:55 am
oops peter just read your later post.
Can’t seem to get a link at all!! Strange???
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Friday night SSB is now posted on the Clyde 1 Listen Again page – there are two links listed under the date January 10 – The top one seems to the podcast from Friday night
http://www.clyde1.com/superscoreboard/features/listen-again/
Is it possible that a journalist’s professional radar might pick up that the entity that has been main topic of his writings, and hence livelihood, may actually be in serious danger of long term decline, and so decides to hedge his bets by broadening his world view?
Wilson, like Spiers, has the wherewithal and talent to write incisively and intelligently about. Scottish football. Both, as individuals, however, require to make a living in Scotland by writing about it. There is no newspaper nor TV station , nor any outlet that pays journalists, which would employ them on a consistent basis were they to write consistently and honestly about the game.
You either need the courage, and genuine self respect of a Phil Mac to comment from outside the bubble with its attendant risks, or you earn a living in Sports journalism in Scotland by becoming a lesser quality writer with fewer principles than you would wish.
As individuals, I have a degree of sympathy with Wilson, Spiers and English, but as journalists I believe all three lack the courage of their convictions or a willingness to put their necks on the line, and thus fall woefully short of what is required.
Given this week’s events in Paris, and the deliberate targeting of journalists in many parts of the world, even here in Scotland, perhaps we should all acknowledge the constraints in which journalists operate.
Re Richard Wilson,in my opinion he and others journalists are being more frank because the Bears realize the situation and its safe for them to do so :slamb:
But like others on here I agree he fell way short when this soap opera began to unfolded.
Has it not been the case that Wilson,being one of the more astute,have been playing to their own gallery,he would understand his own peeple that they would never accept to understand the truth no matter that it was the truth from day one,no the species that makes up the majority of the tribe of Sevco followers had to be treated in a way only other members of their species understood,now years later,years to late, the Bears are wakening from their self induced hibernation of hiding from the truth it can now be spoon fed to them ,an alien form of education but then again.
THE Rangers faithful might have rare off-field good news to celebrate in the coming days after it emerged there could be some form of detente that would allow the consortium of Donald Park, George Letham and George Taylor a foothold on the Ibrox board.
The so-called Three Bears group, who own around a 20 per cent shareholding in the club, are believed to be looked upon as people the Mike Ashley/Easdale brothers axis can do business with – which is altogether at odds with how they view Dave King, now the largest single shareholder with a 15 per cent stake, after his attempts to “starve out” the current regime with his season ticket boycott calls last summer.
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Rangers desperately need a short-term financial sticking plaster, as well as long-term investment.
Ashley, who provided £3 million in loans towards the end of 2014, is believed to be ready to step back from being the bank of last resort for the club following the Scottish Football Association blocking his bid to increase his 8.92 per cent shareholding to 29 per cent.
This has created the conditions whereby the Three Bears consortium could be offered boardroom representation in return for providing the latest tranche of loans – ahead of a share issue in which they could gain a dominant influence.
It could be that chairman David Somers is offered up as a sacrificial lamb from the current regime, almost as a goodwill gesture to the incoming investors. That would play well with a support who might be suspicious even at a temporary solution that leaves James and Sandy Easdale with representation.
Any tactical withdrawal from Ashley would be on the proviso that his commercial contracts, which have been shown to be advantageous to his Sports Direct empire and do little for the Ibrox club’s coffers, would remain in place.
As these contracts seem watertight and above any legal challenge, the Three Bears may be governed by pragmatism in initially seeking a degree of control for now, as opposed to the all-or-nothing approach that characterised the takeover efforts of King and, more recently, American Robert Sarver in the last week.
Sarver, the millionaire who owns the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball franchise, increased his offer for control of Rangers to £20m on Thursday but needs 75 per cent shareholder approval.
Meanwhile, the fan-ownership group Rangers First has increased its Ibrox stake after snapping up another 60,000 shares.
The Ibrox faithful could yet have a vital part to play and around 10 per cent of Rangers’ shares are owned by fans and small shareholders.
Rangers First has followed the lead of the Rangers Supporters Trust – which has a one per cent stake after snapping up 100,000 shares last week – by purchasing a sizeable tranche. Rangers First, which has set up a scheme similar to the one which rescued Hearts from administration, now controls 664,792 shares – or around 0.8 per cent of the club.
sickofitall says:
January 11, 2015 at 8:25 am
I note that a new word has entered the SMSM lexicon wrt matters ‘Rangers’ 😆
When shares are purchased they aren’t bought but ‘snapped-up’ 🙄
Let’s hope the fans don’t end-up with a pig in the poke as they have previously. I’m all for fan-ownership moves but in the Rangers situation timing is everything and byzantine manoeuvres are underway over who controls the club and whether it survives,
Personally I would be keeping my powder dry by banking my money until the best option is clearer and that might be a new start.
theredpill says:
January 11, 2015 at 7:53 am
Re Richard Wilson,in my opinion he and others journalists are being more frank because the Bears realize the situation and its safe for them to do so :slamb:
But like others on here I agree he fell way short when this soap opera began to unfolded.
————————————————————
It’s not an excuse but he was most definitely not alone. And a major problem was that sports journos were tasked by their editors to uncover a horrendously complex business and financial story using a skillset suited mainly to covering football matches and cutting and pasting managerial and football agent guff.
Perhaps why I made Wilson a must-read was because he obviously had a better grasp of the technical details of the story compared to his fellow footie hacks and he came up with more than his fair share of exclusives.
And he was the first MSM journo that revealed the existance of Rizvi back in May/June 2012 IIRC.
I don’t think Wilson is a brilliant investigative journo but IMHO he is better than average and I have yet to see any credible explanation for the ire that seems to be coming his way recently.
He ran the story in the Glasgow Herald which stated a well-known Rangers supporting businessman who was thinking of investing in Charlie’s consortium had headed for the hills after stumbling across Rizvi.
I don’t know whether it was Wilson’s story or the businessman contacting the SFA direct that led to the SFA’s inept and failed attempt to unmask the actual mystery offshore shareholders rather than their proxy veils.
ecobhoy says:
January 11, 2015 at 8:41 am
5 1 Rate This
I note that a new word has entered the SMSM lexicon wrt matters ‘Rangers’ 😆
When shares are purchased they aren’t bought but ‘snapped-up’ 🙄
===================================
It’s similar to the fact people like Dave King and Alastair Johnston can’t simply fly into Scotland, instead they ‘jet in’. Likewise Rangers can’t have a transfer budget, they have a ‘warchest’. They can’t have rebel shareholders, instead they have ‘requisitioners’. Also, when people show an interest in the club they are given an affectionate pet name such as the ‘Blue Knights’, and the rather pathetic ‘Three Bears’. Let’s not forget also the various ‘Tycoons’ and we even now have a ‘Soccer Dad’. We have yet to be told whether any of them own a Private Jet. Perhaps they can just hire one when they need it and the media will then say for decades that they actually own it. After all, it worked for David Murray.
All of the above means of course that when someone eventually does have some kind of financial package accepted, that we will endure weeks of nonsense about how the club is about to ‘disappear over the horizon’. There will of course be the usual jibes about Celtic being ‘parsimonious’ and the rest of the clubs will be dismissed out of hand.
They are all forgetting though that Ibrox is a huge black hole capable of sucking in millions of pounds never to be seen again. It would really help if the majority of the media actually spoke and wrote about that rather than the pathetic rubbish we see and hear so often. Don’t forget only a couple of months ago the media were slavering over big Mike throwing £30-40M at the Champions League dream.
It’s a truly embarrassing way for professional journalists to act in my view. At times it is as detached from reality as the excited thoughts of a group of ten year olds talking about Rangers in the school playground.
John Clark mentioned it yesterday and for me too it’s all about gravitas when it comes to the likes of Richard Wilson.
He must be absolutely loathed to describe, in his mind what are three respected Rangers minded businessmen, as the Three Bears. Hence he chooses to give them the respect and ‘dignity’ he thinks they deserve by naming them individually on the BBC.
I personally prefer the more widely used pantomime reference when it comes to identifying them, but obviously I’m not Rangers minded.
Rangers First has followed the lead of the Rangers Supporters Trust – which has a one per cent stake after snapping up 100,000 shares last week – by purchasing a sizeable tranche. Rangers First, which has set up a scheme similar to the one which rescued Hearts from administration, now controls 664,792 shares – or around 0.8 per cent of the club.
…………
THE CLUB ???
REALLY ???
stifflersmom says:
January 10, 2015 at 11:41 pm
Ecobhoy
I find myself obsessing now.
A quick headline count from January 14 to March 14 (I’m assuming this is when RW took up his post at the Beeb) shows 46 of 71 articles dedicated to a 2nd division side. Bearing in mind they only became a championship team in August 14.
Seems he was obsessing too…..
http://journalisted.com/richard-wilson-1?allarticles=yes
———————————————————-
I would guess that Wilson got his Beeb job because of his perceived success at the Glasgow Herald with the Rangers story. I would think most younger journos with ability at The Herald would be looking to bail-out anyway.
However it therefore is no surprise that the BBC would use his Rangers’ expertise to cover stories involving Rangers. The number of Rangers’ stories that Wilson’s bosses at the BBC and The Herald before that wanted him to cover comes down to one of two things.
Either there’s a massive conspiracy at the highest levels of BBC Scotland – way above Wilson btw – to return Rangers to its Rightful Place or the BBC News Bosses have concluded that stories about Rangers drives up their viewing and listening figures.
These figures are as important to senior BBC management as circulation figures used to be to newspaper editors.
It’s up to people whether they want to believe in the conspiracy theory or the business one. That’s up to them but I know which one I accept.
ecobhoy says:
January 11, 2015 at 9:43 am
It’s up to people whether they want to believe in the conspiracy theory or the business one. That’s up to them but I know which one I accept.
===========================
The rational theory is of course the business one. That does not remove the fact that several publications have very detailed stories of BBC Scotland Rangers bias in decades past. That in no way means I’m suggesting that is the case now, but I do find at times some of their pundits could do with being reigned in.
What I found refreshing about Richard Wilson yesterday was that a clearly intelligent journalist, also known to be a Rangers fan, was willing to issue what can only be described as a stark warning to those who think a new Rangers investor means a quick return to the hubris of the David Murray era. I also welcomed his clear embarrassment at the term ‘Three Bears’. What I also find with Wilson is that he does not look for the quick get out of criticising Celtic so favoured by other pundits. Celtic are of course not beyond criticism but in my view much of it is simply to keep them in the loop while Rangers are such an abject shambles.
rougvielovesthejungle says:
January 11, 2015 at 9:35 am
John Clark mentioned it yesterday and for me too it’s all about gravitas when it comes to the likes of Richard Wilson.
He must be absolutely loathed to describe, in his mind what are three respected Rangers minded businessmen, as the Three Bears. Hence he chooses to give them the respect and ‘dignity’ he thinks they deserve by naming them individually on the BBC.
I personally prefer the more widely used pantomime reference when it comes to identifying them, but obviously I’m not Rangers minded.
=================================================================
[]
I would expect the tabloid press to use terminology such as ‘Bears’. I don’t expect that from the National Broadcaster or any of its paid full-time employees which I believe Wilson is.
Why shouldn’t three Scottish businessmen be referred to by name and not a term which is often used to denote derision.
Personally I don’t think it’s a question of respect and dignity but simple good manner and BBC etiquette which tends to be quite structured.
It has come to a sorry pass IMO when we pass judgement on a National Broadcaster’s professionalism and impartiality by whether he addresses people by their name or uses a term often viewed as perjorative. If he didn’t use their names he would quite rightly IMO be due a kick up the ass from his bosses.
I listened in to an ongoing fitba chat on Radio Scotland a few weeks ago and was, I admit, laughing at the usual mince from the “Rangers” spokesman they had in the studio. As the names started to attach to the voices it turned out to be RW. That’s all I know about him.
Article by Martin Williams in the Herald today gives 3rd February as the date for a procedural hearing in the latest instalment of the HMRC appeal.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/taxman-will-not-reveal-cost-of-rangers-case.26228807
Well
Either the Ashley(Sarver)pretend bid will move on to the next stage with the news that Sarver(Ashley) has bought Ashleys shares and the Ashley (Sarver) nonsense continues right up to liquidation
Or
Ashley makes another pre liquidation loan and the Ashley(Sarver) pretend bid melts away forcing them to write off a maximum of £100 for all the emails, phone calls and press releases to date
upthehoops says:
January 11, 2015 at 9:58 am
I have personal knowledge of religious bias in the media which mainly favoured the Blue Side. However I do believe things have improved over the decades not least because the hot-spots for discrimination are moving to new issues.
There is never room for complacency when it comes to discrimination and the current Rangers situation could lead to a short-term resurgence in sectarianism but also possibly to a welcome longer-term weakening grip on Scottish Society.
As to some of the pundits used by the BBC they need to be consigned to the garbage bin of history because they have no place in a modern society such is the bias they show even in match reporting.
It is a disgrace that is allowed to continue and if it is a device to increase aggro and comment then that’s a dangerous path to follow especially when we have one Celtic/Rangers game in sight and possibly both being in the Premiership next year.
From Twitter this morning re St Mirren-
Re Ecoboy at 10.00am
Sorry Eco, I lost all faith in our ‘National Broadcasters professionalism and integrity’ a long time ago. There are a few notable exceptions but as a rule of thumb they are generally at the standard of the tabloid press nowadays.
Clearly you are impressed with Richard for not addressing them as the Three Bears, meanwhile everyone else on the station does so. You’re hearing something completely different to me if you think RW’s a broadcaster of impartiality and integrity :slamb:
easyJambo says:
January 11, 2015 at 10:13 am
Article by Martin Williams in the Herald today gives 3rd February as the date for a procedural hearing in the latest instalment of the HMRC appeal.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/taxman-will-not-reveal-cost-of-rangers-case.26228807
Being an optimist I think it’s an encouraging sign that the Bears seem to believe that public money shouldn’t be wasted.
But then the cynic in me, as always, takes over. Wasn’t it just a few days ago that their club failed to pay Hector what he was due. How much money was spent on the ludicrous State Aid allegations and which now continue with Audit Scotland as the target.
These clowns are actually IMO going to see a clamp-down on FOI requests brouight about because of the vexatious way they are abusing a tool which is useful for the public to keep a watchful eye on Big Brother.
However it’s nice to think that supporters of the continuing club might soon clear the millions of tax, NI and VAT owed by their tax-dodging club. If they pay the debt owed and also all the other debts owed to creditors then I will be happy to agree their club continues.
I won’t hold my breath because I know I’ll never need to keep that pledge. As always when it comes to the Rangers hard-core support nothing else matters but Rangers.
Debts to society and paying for the protection of our Armed Forces and keeping the NHS in funds and all the other essentials of a caring society simply doesn’t matter to them.
neepheid says:
January 11, 2015 at 10:21 am
From Twitter this morning re St Mirren-
Black & White Army @bawarmy 45m45 minutes ago
Hearing that the deal to sell the club has been completed. St.Mirren will have new owners this week, and they are South American.
………………………………………..
Aye. It seems to be so…
I fear this seems to be the first genuine, palpable news wrt to Saints being sold.
Buddies have been on the Helter Skelter for so long… And falling. How can that fall be arrested by utter outsiders?
Why would South Americans invest in Scotland? Do they not have their own hover-pitches?
rougvielovesthejungle says:
January 11, 2015 at 10:34 am
Re Ecoboy at 10.00am
Sorry Eco, I lost all faith in our ‘National Broadcasters professionalism and integrity’ a long time ago. There are a few notable exceptions but as a rule of thumb they are generally at the standard of the tabloid press nowadays.
Clearly you are impressed with Richard for not addressing them as the Three Bears, meanwhile everyone else on the station does so. You’re hearing something completely different to me if you think RW’s a broadcaster of impartiality and integrity.
========================================================
I think you have to distinguishe between part-time pundits hired to intentionally inflame the audience and spark a reaction from them and those who are actually full-time employees who have a strict ethical code to observe.
I simply don’t listen to any of the programmes you refer to as they are rubbish and I know the audience share cynicism that drives them. Well I will never feature as part of their ‘audience’ as I have better things to do.
Their whole rationale is to annoy and enrage people and to generate a reaction by phoning-in sending emails or commenting on the website.
Objective and rational debate just doesn’t cut it – they need the rage and the fury. Perhaps it says more about the listeners than the broadcasters?
fishnish says:
January 11, 2015 at 11:02 am
neepheid says:
January 11, 2015 at 10:21 am
From Twitter this morning re St Mirren-
Black & White Army @bawarmy 45m45 minutes ago
Hearing that the deal to sell the club has been completed. St.Mirren will have new owners this week, and they are South American.
………………………………………..
Aye. It seems to be so…
I fear this seems to be the first genuine, palpable news wrt to Saints being sold.
Buddies have been on the Helter Skelter for so long… And falling. How can that fall be arrested by utter outsiders?
Why would South Americans invest in Scotland? Do they not have their own hover-pitches?
————————————————–
Good question and we also have the Sarver move as well. Is the word out that Scotland is a cheap place to buy football clubs and by following a Green Model a helluva big return can be had on any investment.
Coupled with a useless toothless SFA then it might well be the place to pitch your tent for a while.
StevieBC says:
January 11, 2015 at 1:47 am
it was a useful and clear indication of how weird the whole SMSM set up is in Scotland wrt the club/company from Govan…and how weird it is to try and explain it to outsiders…
========================================================
Not half as weird as trying to explain it to the insiders – Ra Berrs 😆
Spiers, Wilson and English ( Sorry Mr Jackson I do not include the beano in this) all 3 I would imagine are more than capable of portraying Rangers story in a more factual way. I have no experience in journalism but can read and so I chose to read this blog. The reason for this is simple I belief what is written on here has no agenda apart from seeking the truth to aid our game. Articles from this blog often appear in the SMSM papers which tells us this blog is also read by the press. So basically they could choose to dig deeper but they do not. They could easy access more pertinent info concerning the Rangers story (which they may have and hold but never print ) but not to rock the boat or just to keep their job who knows. I have absolute no faith in any of them. The day they tell me something that I have not already read or are aware of from this blog is maybe the day I will take notice but until that day I will stay an internet bampot. Well that is not really true as I will always be an internet bampot thanks to the BBC on a whole.
ecobhoy says:
January 11, 2015 at 8:41 am
Personally I would be keeping my powder dry by banking my money until the best option is clearer and that might be a new start.
………………………………………………………………………………………
Couldn’t agree more.
It was and is madness for the fans to throw away their money right now on anything that feeds the spiv economy especially Rangers International shares in the full knowledge that there is still a spiv agenda and majority and the fans money is what has kept them milking away.
All their cash and I include the 3 bears and the man who would be King’s recent expenditures too would have been worth so much more when kept unspent.
Unspent but in the full public view for “The Future”.
A bit like Anne Budge’s committment.
That didn’t and won’t happen and now the spivs need the fans because they need them to keep spending to meet the revenues they need.
The fans don’t need the spivs and don’t seem to to realise that all along they have had the power to stop this whole charade.
Yes it will be painful but that is their only real chance.
A coordinated cessation of the blue pounds because of a vision they all sign up to.
Not the rabble of misguided share purchases in someone else’s holding company.
But that would take vision, integrity, leadership and unity.
It might even lead to a walk away because without that threat the spivs will keep on doing what they’ve been doing –
Confusing
Dividing
and Conquering.
Ecobhoy
Wilson’s perceived success at the Herald? Perceived by whom? We demand to know!
My recollection of his Herald stint was a dependency and regurgitation of Mark Daly’s reports and thereafter a ‘posh slant’ on the guff we were reading in the red tops.
The Herald was never the source of exclusive journalistic copy.
Can we agree to differ?
I see someone referring to the media most likely reading this blog. In my opinion when you see certain posts with many thumbs up and 2 or 3 thumbs down, the thumbs down have the media stamp all over them.
Prepare for a barrage of thumbs down!
I once got the dreaded please explain the West of Scotland football culture from a Greek orthodox mathewite bishop I could only answer no.
Mc tears auctions in Glasgow are selling a very rare biscuit tin this week estimated £2-3000 how could it be possible to explain to a Greek theologian that this is a devotional object for one half of the divide and perhaps would be useful for the other side as it tries to move forward?
The Govan stadium might be getting close to being a liability rather than an asset. Not only that but the site might be incapable of development – I would not like to drive the wrecking ball or to sell what is put in the site there may be ‘protests’
I don’t understand this rather gushing praise of Richard Wilson either. He’s obviously far from the worst, but equally he wouldn’t make my top ten of what is undeniably a truly awful bunch. He is anything but some sort of exception.
Hugh McIlvanney’s name has been mentioned a couple of times. I was enough of a fan to buy his book containing a collection of his columns, and continue to read his Sunday Times articles. Sadly I think he has not maintained the quality of his earlier work. He also has an annoying tendency to indulge in hugely complex sentence structure with the result that one of his sentences is about the equivalent length of a dozen of Phil’s paragraphs!
Glen Gibbons is very sadly missed in my opinion.
Chris Graham and other Rangers and Sevco fans complaining about the cost to the tax payer of ‘The Big Tax Case’ enquiry clearly have absolutely no concept of irony.
Morning all.
Here’s a wee tweet from a few minutes ago.Maybe just conjecture but it adds to the debate.
@Sgt_trousers: That £6.5m debt explained back in Celtic Quick News in 2012. If you don’t sell Murray Park you owe us…
http://t.co/nSWnW6VASL
easyJambo says:
January 11, 2015 at 10:13 am
‘..Article by Martin Williams in the Herald today gives 3rd February as the date for a procedural hearing in the latest instalment of the HMRC appeal.’
——-
I’ll need to write in and tell them that my diary commitments rule out a date earlier than end April for the Hearing proper. 🙁
I’d be disappointed to miss any part of it, as looks likely.
Torquemada says:
January 11, 2015 at 1:33 am
You don’t say what timescale you refer to and whether it’s just his BBC career you are referring to.
However – and this would apply to the Glasgow Herald as well – the BBC has very strict guidelines in how its reporters actually report some subjects. This is distinct from the ‘fair comment’ that is allowed in punditry so it’s important not to confuse the two.
However whether at the Herald or the BBC – Wilson as an employee is bound to observe the editorial guidelines and a breach of them could lead to disciplinary action.
As to the ‘liquidation of the company which owned the club’ comment which you state is a ‘lie’ and state Wilson has assiduously propogated that’s an interesting point.
There is no doubt that the issue has created prolonged debate within Scotland with at it simplest two separate camps holding diametrically opposed and entrenched positions. Even here on TSFM the debate rages in many forms.
Everyone is entitled to hold their own opinion on the issue including journalists. However those that work for the BBC have to follow that organisation’s editorial instructions on reporting the issue.
You may remember that 2 Rangers fans actually brought a complaint against BBC Scotland as to their reporting on the issue which was partially upheld by the BBC Trust who recommended some alterations to BBC Scotland to ensure clarity in their reporting of the issue.
I won’t deal with the decision at length here but for those interested it can be found at Pages 7, 25-35: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2013/apr_may.pdf
The bottom line is that when Wilson works as a reporter for the BBC then he has to follow the guidelines – he doesn’t have any choice if he wants to keep his job. He is not alone as every other BBC Scotland employee who reports on the issue has to observe the same guidelines.
Anyone who believes Wilson is breaching BBC reporting guidelines can do what the 2 Rangers fans did and take a complaint all the way. However if all that Wilson is doing is following BBC Rules then a personal complaint against him will fail although it’s possible that the rules or guidleines could be altered.
I’m not sure what the details of your complaint actually are so I have no idea whether a complaint from yourself to BBC Scotland would succeed or fail.
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
January 11, 2015 at 12:20 pm
Morning all.
Here’s a wee tweet from a few minutes ago.Maybe just conjecture but it adds to the debate.
@Sgt_trousers: That £6.5m debt explained back in Celtic Quick News in 2012. If you don’t sell Murray Park you owe us…
http://t.co/nSWnW6VASL
—————————————————-
I remember that – wasn’t there an actual unsigned document kicking about as well?
It didn’t seem to gain a lot of traction back then but perhaps its time has come.
If it has the game truly is a bogey but it would explain so many of the mysteries and complete the jigsaw 😆
Regarding the cost of “The Big Tax Case”, there was, in the past, a oft used phrase. It was “What price Justice”.
I haven’t trusted the BBC since I found them to be lying during the miner’s strike.
Whether it’s sport or politics I always assume I’m being fed the British establishment line.
http://wingsoverscotland.com/when-history-didnt-happen/
Bryce Curdy says:
January 11, 2015 at 12:15 pm
5 0 Rate This
I don’t understand this rather gushing praise of Richard Wilson either. He’s obviously far from the worst, but equally he wouldn’t make my top ten of what is undeniably a truly awful bunch. He is anything but some sort of exception.
Hugh McIlvanney’s name has been mentioned a couple of times. I was enough of a fan to buy his book containing a collection of his columns, and continue to read his Sunday Times articles. Sadly I think he has not maintained the quality of his earlier work. He also has an annoying tendency to indulge in hugely complex sentence structure with the result that one of his sentences is about the equivalent length of a dozen of Phil’s paragraphs!
Glen Gibbons is very sadly missed in my opinion.
*********
How true.
I have been a Mc.Illvanney fan for over 50 years, hence my disappointment at his avoidance of the biggest ever story in Scottish football.
Surely, in journalism, if a story is big enough, it should have no borders?
If Glenn Gibbons could have his columns printed, e.g., the Hugh Adam articles, why can’t Hugh even touch the story.
A few years ago, I tried to engage Observer Sports, with the purpose of them covering the unfolding scandal.
I had communication with David Hills.
He told me that he had raised the topic at editorial meetings and was told that they would do something.
Eventually, Kevin Mc.Kenna and a colleague had a story re the “OF”.
This comprised of one of them talking to a patron of Baird’s Bar, the other, at the Louden.
The conclusion the journalists came to was that it was ” poverty” which was at the root of the ” problem”.
When I expressed my disappointment to Hills, he replied that it was basically down do cost, there they took most of their stories nowadays off the “wires”; I.e. Media House, etc.
*there = where.
Bryce Curdy says:
January 11, 2015 at 12:15 pm
I don’t understand this rather gushing praise of Richard Wilson either. He’s obviously far from the worst, but equally he wouldn’t make my top ten of what is undeniably a truly awful bunch. He is anything but some sort of exception.
=========================================================
I can’t think of any poster who has actually had gushing praise for Richard Wilson. The phrase though does seem to be used a lot by those who detract on his professionalism rather than on his jounalistic skills as far as I can see.
I have rated Wilson as a bit above the average Scottish sports journo which actually puts him near the top of the dung heap such is the poor general standard.
He isn’t an investigative reporter but then I’m not sure whether any are still employed by the SMSM. However he does display a certain ability to deal with the financial and legal comnplexities of the Rangers story which sets him apart from his colleagues.
And he does seem to pick-up exclusives and also not slavishly follow the cut & paste hack pack.
I am intrigued as to what your top 10 of Scottish sports journos is 🙄
Perhaps OT, but has anyone written to their club or their club’s NOMAD asking questions around the stealh implementation of a franchise system in Scottish football?
If so, has anyone heard back?