The outbreak of internecine warfare at RIFC is being acted out through a real pea-soup fog right now. The war is being fought on so many fronts that it is difficult to see just exactly how many armies are involved, and how the alliances are shaping up.
Craig Mather would appear to be in the Charles Green camp, but it is difficult to imagine that he would be happy to hear old blunderbuss-mouth peppering Ally McCoist with shot. McCoist’s in-character but inelegant riposte, whilst a valiant attempt at deflection and self-preservation, put his mentor and chairman, Walter Smith in a rather awkward position. It gives Mather a double headache as he tries to head off Clyde Blowers boss Jim McColl – and his blowhard ally Paul Murray – at the EGM-pass.
If Mather stands by Green, and Smith does the same for McCoist, then the two main officers of the company will be in opposite, and hostile, camps.
As I say, making sense of it is difficult, but one thing is as clear as an empty window frame: the acrimony, which has been in existence for months, is only now being aired in public because the season ticket drive is over. The one policy that the warring factions have been in agreement with is “Not in Front of the Children”.
Now that the fans have been compelled to buy season tickets in substantial numbers through a mixture of fear, loyalty and a never-ending stream of press spin telling them that “Rangers are on the cusp of greatness if only the supporters cough up”, it seems acceptable that the real war can begin – but what is the prize?
There can be little doubt that all of the factions are aware that a conservative business model is necessary if Rangers are to establish themselves in Scottish football – certainly a more conservative one than that followed by RFC (IL). I infer therefore that the war is not over a Murray vs McCann approach. My best guess is that the war is one of ideals – between one faction which aims to make as much money in the short term as possible, and another which, whilst not averse to a bit of nest-feathering, sees the health of the club and the notion of a continuity Rangers as paramount.
The trouble for Rangers fans is that it is the former faction which holds all the cards – all the shares in fact. I think that all fans of the game of football would hope that people with football at heart would win out here, irrespective of what their partisan loyalties dictate on a day to day basis.
The problem for either warring faction is that the loyalty of the Rangers fans is finite. The “long road (back)” to the top is one which might engage them for while. It is a great journey which is not without its rewards and adventure, but expectations will be massive if and when they get to the top league. When the acceleration of progress meets the buffers of premier championship aspiration, gate money will be in the front passenger seat. Managing unrealistic expectations is extremely difficult, and evidenced by the use of McCoist’s recruitment sledgehammer to crack the nut of the bottom two divisions.
But here are some questions to which I honestly do not know the answer;
- How does the Rangersness faction wrest control away from these spivs?
- How will the spivs attempt to ensure that the Rangersness faction fails in their objective?
- Can the people in the Rangersness camp REALLY be trusted to act in the best interests of the club even if it is at odds with their own? This, given the close association with the terminal decline of the club they all profess to love.
- Is there any realistic scenario which allows this club to prosper and challenge for honours within a ten to fifteen year period?
My belief is that the key to the new club being able to establish itself is managing the expectations of the fans. Despite the MSM willingness to cut and paste RFC and RIFC press releases unadulterated, the ability of that same MSM to impress a message of realism into Rangers fans is zero. Not in front of the children in fact.
Is it really a sociological bridge too far to expect Rangers fans to turn down the expectation-ometer? I don’t believe it is. In the eighties, if I recall correctly, a seriously underachieving Rangers team were not met with demands for big spending. There was pressure on them to get better managers who could pick better players, but no demands for Fort Knox to be breached. If Rangers fans really want a club called Rangers playing in blue at Ibrox, and competing fully in the game, they need to find leaders who can sell the long-termism of such an aspiration. Many will hope, including the spivs and the MSM, that no such leader emerges.
” The fact is Green, and now Mather, know that you have to keep playing to the traditions to have any hope of getting money into the club. ”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
” Rangers chairman Sir David Murray has called on supporters to help rid the club of a minority of fans who persist in spouting sectarian bile…Oct 2008 “.
” Green said: “Sectarian singing, or any form of race or religious discrimination, is not acceptable. I know Rangers have made great strides, but my position is very clear — anybody who is identified will be banned for life. There will be no appeals…..March 2013 “
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 2:05 pm
0 2 Rate This
In my humble opinion, WATP is no more a genuine claim to
superiority than ” Glasgow is green and white “, fan
expectation is identical and both clubs have an unacceptable
minority of souls lost in history. Both clubs colluded in any
vote that was against their interests and the Scottish media
was biased toward both OF giants for pure commercial
reasons. There seems to be a minority of estranged people
who not only wish to rewrite the past, but wallow in it, I
suggest they live in the spirit of our times and embrace the
moral zeitgeist of the vast majority.
Hopefully both sets of fans will have worn themselves out
venting their grievances before Rangers return, one can only
hope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glossing over the impossible “return”, and to continue my analogy from earlier, if a Froome/Wiggins-type Club arrives in the top division, I, for one, will have no grievance. But if it’s a Lance Armstrong-type trying to kid on that nothing is amiss, then the grievance will continue. I’d even accept an apologetic and humble Lance Armstrong provided there is transparency in every area, including the shadow(y)ing support team.
Oldfirmfacts
@Oldfirmfacts1
The Charity Shield is now called “The Community Shield” so Rangers don’t attempt to steal it.
02:49 PM – 11 Aug 13
Lord Wobbly says:
August 11, 2013 at 2:30 pm
If Lance Armstrong Jnr became a professional cyclist and accepted he was new to the sport and wasn’t claiming to be the most successful cyclist in the World ever I think he would have every right to be treated as a new cyclist with no baggage.
I would expect Lance Jnr’s fans to take a similar view obviously. Even if they had followed his disgraced father.
Tif Finn
That’s exactly the point, Steerpike is trying to put the defunct OF in the same bracket, its this nonsense that fools the peepil but not the people
On the 18 October 2000 when King enquired from the officials of Bermuda Trust if Caledonian trust was ‘dead’ he was told that it was ‘dead’.
Bermuda Trust on about 6 November 2000 informed King that they are prepared and willing to comply with his request to transfer the assets of Ben Nevis into another entity
He further wanted to know exactly what each entity held as the South African tax man was looking into his holdings in Ben Nevis.
Money Laundering through the Football Sector
In the past two decades, football has changed from a popular pastime into a global industry. With the growing economic importance of football along with other sports, the investment of money into the sector has increased exponentially, and some of this has criminal connections.
The FATF has just completed a study to determine what makes the football sector attractive to criminals. Why look at football? It is by far the largest sport in the world – more than 250 million people play – and the FIFA World Cup final in 2006, for example, attracted over 1 billion viewers. Despite the rapid growth and high visibility of the football sector, however, football’s regulatory structure has not yet caught up with some of the risks that come with these changes.
The FATF report examines the sector in economic and social terms and provides case examples identifying areas that could be exploited by those who want to invest illegal money into football. In preparing this analysis, the authors engaged with some of the major sports organisations, such as FIFA, UEFA and the International Olympic Committee, in addition to relevant experts from FATF and non-FATF member countries.
The goal of this FATF report is to draw attention to some of the risks facing the football sector in particular – and the sports industry in general – to misuse by criminals so that government policy makers, law enforcement, the financial sector and sports regulatory authorities can better understand and begin dealing with this problem.
For more information about this report, please contact the FATF Secretariat at Contact@fatf-gafi.org.
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/topics/methodsandtrends/documents/moneylaunderingthroughthefootballsector.html
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 2:20 pm
Fair point, but like Green’s previous utterances to the press has he kept that promise and has anyone been banned for life.
If I recall there was plenty evidence around of singing etc last season.
I am hoping the club has banned all those named in the papers for offenses dealt with by the courts this year, both this year and previously (the train trip to Dundee from a few years back comes to mind).
A club fit for the 21st century would have been boasting about banning people but I can’t recall seeing any press releases to that effect.
You will also note that Green is no longer the fans favourite and SDM is way over the hill so I doubt these threats hold much water these day.
If the club follows through with its actions then fine, however I believe that is the last thing on their mind at present as they need everyone, even the troublesome minority, to be firing money into the coffers – no questions asked.
Will be delighted if you can post details of the numbers banned for life under the current regime and see how that compares with the overall view of fans from all clubs as to how namy fans are seen singing party songs on youtube, ESPN etc
@wotpi
Hopefully both clubs and our government will continue to deter fans who wish to live in the past, there really is no place for these people in a modern Scotland, does Catholic/Protestant bigotry even exist outwith football in Scotland?
Until it is gone for good then both clubs have not done enough.
SHAKHTAIL PROPAGANDY @Propa_Gander 4h
When the press warned that 5 “clubs” could go into Admin, I didn’t know they meant Rangers, The Rangers, Sevco, RIFC &. … :^]
#armageddon
Much debate in the media today re-Sevco finances and why they felt the need to spend at the level they did given the league they are in. McCoist swats it all away claiming no-one told him his budget was excessive.
————————————————–
McCoist’s barely credible ignorance that his salary and budget might be a tad excessive and could be one of the things dragging the new club into the abyss puts me in mind of another man of fairly low intelligence, namely George Costanza in Seinfeld. Caught having sex with the cleaning woman on his office desk, George was summoned to see his boss. Asked to explain himself, George said “Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I gotta plead ignorance on this, if anybody had said to me when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon…”
bobferris says:
August 11, 2013 at 4:26 pm
4 0 Rate This
Much debate in the media today re-Sevco finances and why they felt the need to spend at the level they did given the league they are in. McCoist swats it all away claiming no-one told him his budget was excessive.
————————————————–
McCoist’s barely credible ignorance that his salary and budget might be a tad excessive and could be one of the things dragging the new club into the abyss puts me in mind of another man of fairly low intelligence, namely George Costanza in Seinfeld. Caught having sex with the cleaning woman on his office desk, George was summoned to see his boss. Asked to explain himself, George said “Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I gotta plead ignorance on this, if anybody had said to me when I first started here that that sort of thing was frowned upon…”
___________________
Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 3:38 pm
does Catholic/Protestant bigotry even exist outwith football in Scotland?
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
😯 , nothing to do with TSFM, this is about scottish football and the grubby, greedy little people who are controlling it
Another attempt at deflection
Guys! Stop feeding…please. It’s getting ridiculous now.
Steerpike
Interesting posts in relation to OF brand , I guess you are trying to keep that alive to protect your club from the ravages of the next financial implosion.
Keep up the good work , not much u can cling to now I suppose.
The fan is closer to the brown stuff than we all think , given the public airing of the financial twits running your club.
Tic 6709 on August 11, 2013 at 2:08 pm
27 0 Rate This
Hugh Keevins: Rangers pre-season training shows they have more money than they’re letting on .
==================================
Any tips for the Grand National Hughie boy.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Hughie is indeed becoming a bit of a joke with his predictions. I listened to the SSB podcast from Friday. Whilst discussing Sandy Jardines recovery back to health and unfurling of the Div 3 champions flag the Shugster seemed it a good time to have a dig at the Internet bloggers. He says if everybody on the Internet realised how dignified things are behind the scenes then they would refrain from posting terrible things about individuals. Yes Hughie your banning from parkhead was very dignified indeed.
Whilst not everyone agrees with Sandy Jardines actions over the last wee while I think we all wish him a speedy recovery back to full health. This site is certainly not the place to post malicious views or for them to be tolerated. If only the Shugster was Internet savvy he may lose some of his ignorance about what really goes on in the world of the bampots.
I was thinking of words connected to Sevco that the SMSM associate with them. I think everyone working at the club are all related and are part of one family and their surname is Dignified.
Ally Dignified cheeky chappy is thinking of taking a wage cut, sheer dignified. I was thinking your club is dead and it died without dignity. Maybe just maybe the next time it dies it will show a bit of dignity.
fara1968 @5:07
Keevins,Traynor and the like are way past their sell by date.Social media is an alien concept to them.They have had a career where they could say what they like with no comeback.It’s easier for them to tag Internet bloggers as ‘bampots’.That way they don’t have to explain themselves.They are running scared nowadays though,because the ‘bampots can see through them and they don’t like it.In other words,they’ve been ‘fun oot’.
HMRC – most wanted for Tax Evasion
http://news.stv.tv/west-central/235454-michael-voudouri-of-stirling-on-most-wanted-list-over-vat-fraud/
i wonder how many of them will be doing what any sensible person would do
change their name by deed poll, & nobody would bother them, in fact, the politicians would support their
cause and say they shouldn’t be punished, they’ve been punished enough !!!???
names could maybe be something like…
the rangers football [sometimes] club
rangers galactic football [sometimes] club
rangers fae glasgow football [sometimes] club
it wisnae rangers, a big boy done it and ran away football [sometimes] club
anymore suggestions…
valentinesclown @5:46pm
I’ve always thought ‘paucity’ was a good word.The dictionary defines it as ‘insufficient,smallness of quality’.
I think it could be applied to sevco in what they are, and in what they do.
There were many things that amazed me about the tenure of CW, but above all else the actions of HMRC stand out, I find it incredible that CW can default on an agreed payment of 2.8 million and then trade for 9 months without paying a ” thin dime ” toward the PAYE.
I am trying to imagine how CW could continue to lead HMRC compliance on such a long merry dance, what could he possibly say to keep them at bay for such an extended period, I have never heard of lenience on this scale, and it still baffles me today.
Also I fail to see the point of any governance monitoring by the SFA/SPL if a club can basically trade for 9 months with a madman at the controls.
This post in no way is trying to deflect any blame from Rangers, the club must carry the can for the actions of its executive.
EKBhoy says:
August 11, 2013 at 4:59 pm
Steerpike
Interesting posts in relation to OF brand , I guess you are trying to keep that alive to protect your club from the ravages of the next financial implosion.
===============================================
The media continue to do their bit by attempting to bring Rangers into everything that Celtic do. Remember Neil Lennon had to say last season he would answer no more questions about Rangers. Unfortunately new foreign signings do get caught out from time to time. On a wider note who at the SPFL thought it a good idea to invite Graham Souness to the official launch. All it did was create a two day Rangers-fest in the media and the whole point of a new 42 team league being launched was lost.
As a Celtic fan I realise it will be unavoidable to meet the club from Ibrox at some point, but hazarding a guess at how the media will behave in the build up I hope it’s not anytime soon.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 7:26 pm
===================================
I too am concerned at how long HMRC allowed non payment of tax to take place without enforcement action. For me it points to the cultural power Rangers hold in Scotland and no-one wanting to be the bad guy that pulls the plug. Either that or the First Minister managed to delay action while he negotiated on Rangers behalf. It is public knowledge the First Minister was speaking to HMRC over the issue which brings me back to the point of Rangers cultural power. In my honest opinion the Scottish Government would not have intervened for any other club, including Celtic. Had it been Celtic I suspect the reaction from politicians would have been one of utter outrage amid demands for the severest of action to be taken.
Upthehoops
The next administrator may sicken the Rangers support by ripping up season tickets and enforcing paying at the gate.
Busted flush , FUBAR is the technical term.
” The media continue to do their bit by attempting to bring Rangers into everything that Celtic do. ”
——————————————————————————————————————————————
The media must report the facts, the plain fact is no Rangers or Celtic on a permanent basis would drastically reduce TV , sponsorship and advertizing revenue to the detriment of the other. The Sky contracts are aimed at two large fan bases, remove one and you half the revenue, I think it is safe to assume the SPL would not get 16 million for a league with either no Rangers or no Celtic on a permanent basis.
re – EKBHOY 7.28 , do you think the Duffers will get another bite at that particular cherry ? 😛
upthehoops says:
August 11, 2013 at 7:54 pm
…………………………………………….
I agree with what you’re saying regarding our team but as this will get us nowhere I can’t see the point of ifs & buts.
We’re all treading water again until the inevitable happens & we all hope that this time things are dealt with correctly. 🙄
Let’s focus on the sfa & the msm,they are the ones that need changed, rifc are on a one way track & like their previous incarnation it’s the sfa/msm who will try to create the fantasy that they’re still ragers…….Lets stay focused
” It is public knowledge the First Minister was speaking to HMRC over the issue which brings me back to the point of Rangers cultural power.”
—————————————————————————————————————————————–
“The First Minister has had one discussion with HMRC on the issue – a phone call on 11 January. As the First Minister has already made clear in an interview broadcast two weeks ago, the discussion centred on securing a settlement to enable Rangers to meet their obligations to the taxpayer and continue in business.”
One phone call in January does not explain why HMRC were so lenient in allowing Rangers to trade for 9 months, there is no denying the cultural power of both Celtic and Rangers, but no evidence to support this as being the reason.
EKBhoy says:
August 11, 2013 at 7:58 pm
The next administrator may sicken the Rangers support by ripping up season tickets and enforcing paying at the gate.
Busted flush , FUBAR is the technical term.
————————
The corresponding administrative organisation is surely the SNAFU
Scottish National Association Football Union anyone?
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 8:04 pm
1 7 Rate This
” The media continue to do their bit by attempting to bring
Rangers into everything that Celtic do. ”
————————————————————————————
The media must report the facts, the plain fact is no Rangers or
Celtic on a permanent basis would drastically reduce TV ,
sponsorship and advertizing revenue to the detriment of the
other. The Sky contracts are aimed at two large fan bases,
remove one and you half the revenue, I think it is safe to
assume the SPL would not get 16 million for a league with
either no Rangers or no Celtic on a permanent basis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m not sure what point it is that you are trying to make. I don’t think anyone seriously expects there to never be a team playing out of Ibrox in the top division at some point in the future.
But if you are suggesting some sort of fast tracking of the half-baked new club currently utilising Ibrox you can forget it. No-one wants that.
On the broader topic of monitoring football:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/agents-reveal-culture-of-backhanders-to-middle-men-thats-now-commonplace-in-british-football-29489617.html
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 8:20 pm
2 1 Rate This
” It is public knowledge the First Minister was speaking to HMRC over the issue which brings me back to the point of Rangers cultural power.”
—————————————————————————————————————————————–
“The First Minister has had one discussion with HMRC on the issue – a phone call on 11 January. As the First Minister has already made clear in an interview broadcast two weeks ago, the discussion centred on securing a settlement to enable Rangers to meet their obligations to the taxpayer and continue in business.”
One phone call in January does not explain why HMRC were so lenient in allowing Rangers to trade for 9 months, there is no denying the cultural power of both Celtic and Rangers, but no evidence to support this as being the reason.
================================================
Celtic, In Scotland, do not hold anything like the cultural power Rangers hold. They have been shabbily treated by the SFA on several occasions, as recently as 2011. The SFA on the other hand wanted to throw every rule out the window and advance the Rangers newco directly into a higher league.
As for the First Minister, the Scottish Government are not willing to publicly release the full extent of his communications with HMRC over Rangers, and I have witnessed a FOI response stating this point. The reason given was that to release the information may damage relations with the UK Government. Make of that what you will.
@ Steerpike
The reality of club finances in Scotland is that there has been such a culture of “beggar my neighbour” in the negotiations of deals that the vast majority of any moneys had gone to Rangers and Celtic in any case, thus the financial reality of losing Rangers amounted to what could be recouped by increasing average attendances by a few hundred individuals ( we went through all of this last year on the site – the figures ranged from 385 to about 850 individuals per game) Thus a significant but certainly not catastrophic loss. The theory that other Scottish clubs “need” The Old Firm (sic) financially to survive is genuinely a myth.
The only club that could suffer financially is Celtic, but without Rangers then they have a far greater chance of achieving greater riches by accessing CL money and can, in any case operate a significantly smaller and less expensive squad if required. This, Celtic are doing – much to the chagrin of many of its own fans who fear a return to the biscuit tin and want all moneys earned in transfers and in CL spent on players. The Celtic strategy I believe (and I am aware that have changed my mind on this – following discussions with well informed individuals – I had assumed that Celtic’s inaction was down to a desire to have A Rangers “return” – but I now suspect it is indeed the Napoleonic doctrine of not engaging your enemy whilst he is destroying himself – a shift from Neepheidism to Auldheidism if you will. It is in fact a strategy that I still disagree with – I believe they should have been much more proactive – but no longer condemn as indicative of duplicitous conduct) is to run the club as though no form of Rangers were ever to reach the top division of Scottish – whilst still assuring a competitive advantage should some form of Rangers ever eventually reach the division.
In short Rangers are dead. The new club called Rangers is dying and Scottish football can and will survive without them.
How that survival materialises is hypothetical.
Your Armageddon of an Irish league future seems unlikely, as does a new resurgence of a 1980’s level of competition between a Celtic brought closer to their rivals who prosper with the increased opportunities for silverware an absence of Rangers offers and we see a return to the days of the early 1980’s before the juggernaut of Financial doping from Ibrox killed the competition entirely.
The likeliest scenario is of most clubs managing roughly as they are with more likelihood of Hampden appearances and a greater enthusiasm when clubs are challenging for second in the league, whilst Celtic continue their domination of the game by use of a more expensive but affordable squad of young marketable players.
Neither Armageddon nor Utopia but a fresh competition with the cheat removed.
Stolen from CM,,,,, http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd479/ezpcman/CHIUCKLLESSSSLTGR_zps8fa44d33.jpg
😆 😆
I used to think there was a lot of intelligent posters on this site but now I wonder why they feel the need to feed a PR troll. Ignore him/her and look at what is actually happening rather than a PR blue perspective on how rosy things are at Ibrox or will be in the future. Oh Yea ❓
Tif Finn says:
August 11, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Tif Finn, my post must have ben removed as I don’t see it, God knows why. To answer your question I don’t disagree that there should be a process and it should be followed should a new team seek entry to the new set up. Does a new team with an exceptionally large support deserve to be treated as a special case ? I only pose the question. Why would you put any money into The Rangers at the moment unless you had it to burn you would be better waiting for it to die, if dying twice is possible. If you were waiting in the wings for its death I suggested that if you were clever about it you would have conversations with the league on the QT to see where the land lay in such a situation. I’m not saying what the outcome of that conversation would be or should be I’m just giving a scenario, it may be fan power that determines that outcome.
Test??
I do not believe I have painted a rosy picture of Rangers past, present or future, I simply do not share your perspective or your sentiments, doesn’t make me a serial killer.
I would have accepted a club to fill the void left by the death of Ragers 1872 playing out of Ibrokes in blue as I suspect most Scottish football fans would knowing that was always going to be the case .
What I do not accept is the type of club that has reared it’s ugly head in Sevco ,one that has ditched the
Debts
Creditors
Tax dues
sold of revenue streams… but has retained and even ingrained it’s
sense of entitlement
hubris
sense of superiority
intimidation
threats
bile
victim culture
and fiscal prudence that led to the demise of the club who’s void they filled
They have never once accepted the true facts of the Murray years ,in fact they still laud the titles and trophies won in his time ,hell they still revere them as the good old days and demand they are returned .
No sorry, Sevco are not for me and I believe they are not fit to be installed into Scottish football .
Our game is trying to sort it’s problems out and the last thing it needs is the reincarnation of the type of club that had so little respect for the rules of our game and fair play that to them they were obstacles rather than templates to good sportsmanship.
As for the so called governence of our game then the less I say the better as I would only fall foul of the mods on the site and I believe they could not be held in any less distain on this site by my words
Had Rangers kept its HMRC accounts up to date, it would have simply run out of cash in Autumn 2011. It had been absolutely essential that European income would be forthcoming that season and the early exit put the club in an impossible financial situation.
If it had been unable to pay its players (who would have become free agents) the club would almost certainly have ceased trading by Christmas. Going out of business mid-season would have automatically meant the club losing its SPL share and SFA membership.
When Craig Whyte handed a £1 coin to (Sir) David Murray it appeared to the outside world that his company Wavetower had bought over the old club’s BoS debt to the tune of least £18m. It also appeared that the former BoS debt was secured via a floating charge that would have ranked ahead of any claim by HMRC.
It would have appeared then, had Rangers been forced into liquidation in late 2011, the club’s assets would have passed to Wavetower and HMRC had no chance of receiving any return whatsoever. However, giving the club the opportunity to continue trading up to the winter transfer window would, in theory, have allowed Rangers to sell the majority of its players and make some inroad into its running costs and the accumulated debt.
In the event, of course, the transfer came & went without significant movement and no payment was made to HMRC.
Those Rangers supporters who deride Craig Whyte for not paying HMRC should remember that had he done so, their former club would not have seen out the season. Given the present circumstances with Sevco’s Rangers, the consequences of a mid-season liquidation are almost certain to become painfully clear – substantially worse than those manufactured by Mr Whyte and his friends at Duff & Phelps.
Guess which stadium Paddy Power used in their “Ball of Shame” advert???
http://t.co/m7Bcf3GIKq
briggsbhoy
And therein lies Sevco’s dilemma they have seemingly convinced the majority of the old Ragers support that liquidation cannot happen to a FOOTBALL CLUB but only to the company .
Throw a blue jersey over any teams head and add Ragers in the clubs name and bobs your uncle ,this works on two levels for CG and the spivs at Ibrokes
1.The fans will financially back that club
2.The peepil who own the deeds to Ibrokes know that anyone wishing to keep the pretence up need to play out of Ibrokes and pay what they ask to be able to do it ,so who do we think holds the deeds to the big house .
The club is losing money hand over fist but have the real Ragers men got the guts to call the spivs bluff and starve them out ,start a new ragers 3 and play out of Broadwood or Murrayfield .
I do not think so and neither do the spivs
Just a thought 😕 is sevco paying tax etc? Surely it’s being carefully monitored now 😉
OT guys but I have to share this with you. On Friday night I was asked by my nephew if I and one other body were available to play 5’s on the Saturday in Edinburgh between 12 and 4 pm in a competition with his girlfriends father whom I had never met. My nephew couldn’t play but I thought why not and when my 18 yr old said he would come along, that was it. Met my new team mates in Edinburgh, we had 3 guys in their 50’s including me (one a COS Minister) my boy and one of the other fellas sons and his pal and a chap in his early sixties. Winning a game I thought at first would be as difficult as making your way through a Sports Direct Store. Played 6 games including the final which we won against some recognised football teams and guys in the main half my age. Went to penalties in the semis and we won the final 2-0. Had my medal presented by Gary MacKay and he told my boy he’d be quite a player if he got his fitness up, which pleased me. As for me today! well today I’ve been walking about like Douglas Bader ( the younger amongst us may need to google his name) but reflecting on the fact that the last time I played in a fives competition was almost 20 years ago in Crawley and I was in the winning team back then. 😀
fergusslayedtheblues says:
August 11, 2013 at 9:40 pm
I to would have accepted a new team first time round but without the baggage and the falsehoods.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at
I do not believe I have painted a rosy picture of Rangers past, present or future, I simply do not share your perspective or your sentiments, doesn’t make me a serial killer.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Indeed, but I do have worries over your business and accountancy skills 🙂
Please stick with us Troll or no Troll.
Trolls usually give up at some point but the site needs to be kept on its toes.
I for one welcome a different perspective. It does us not harm and we should be polite and argue our corner with, shall we say, dignity!
If we are not challenged or asked to look at ourselves then we could all go down the line of believing every taxi driver and bar room bore in the hope that Ibrox will fall down before our very eyes.
PS hear what you say with regard to ‘both clubs’ playing their part in moving into the 21st Century. Could say more but as far as I can see one is way ahead of the other because its board, especially recently, has seen and taken an opportunity to sell the nipping in the bud of a potential problem to the majority of their supporters in a way their historical rivals can only dream of at present.
HP
You are of course correct and yet the MSM were falling over each other in the rush to blame CW for the demise of their favoured team and it looks like most of the bears fell for it .
IMO the only man to blame for the death of that club has been unscathed by the whole charade and probably paid MH handsomely to be so .
What I am unsure about is whether this whole charade is his last ditch attempt to redeem his legacy or just the inevitable fall out from the toxic mess he left behind
I deride any businessman who buys a company for a £1, pays off its overdraft using future sales, does not put a penny of his own cash in and then proceeds to run it into the ground in such a manner that renders a CVA impossible and ensures liquidation.
In business terms this is called an incompetent cretin.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 10:09 pm
I deride any businessman who buys a company for a £1, pays off its overdraft using future sales, does not put a penny of his own cash in and then proceeds to run it into the ground in such a manner that renders a CVA impossible and ensures liquidation.
In business terms this is called an incompetent cretin.
==================================================================
Steerpike, who was the first/last chairman of RFC to unconditionally give even one penny of his own money to the company/club?
briggsbhoy says:
August 11, 2013 at 9:58 pm
Well done and I feel your pain.
Did something similar a few years back by playing in a 5’s competition a number of years after my last outing. Used to switch around at 5’s but for the competition offered to play in my hayday position of goalie. We won the competition and everything went well on the day. However next day the constant squatting position employed to defend the wee goals had me bent double. Took about a month to regain full height.
That being said went back for more punishment the next year!!
wottpi says:
August 11, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Know exactly what your talking about 🙂
Make the assumption that Craig Whyte was chosen to take Rangers through its insolvency event and everything else makes sense. If he was there simply to manage a CVA or asset transfer, he would have to be a cretin to have thrown any of his own money away.
Sir David must have known that his club’s demise was assured from around 2007/08 when HMRC became aware of the operational details of the EBT scheme. Not everything went according to plan; but – on a number of levels – Craig Whyte played his part very well.
Getting to the end of season 2011/12 was all that mattered. Objective achieved. 😉
Hi Guy’s,
Apologies to you all for last night’s ramblings. Just got caught up in some old Love St memories.
I agree with an earlier poster (sorry, can’t remember who) that any world wide profile Scottish Football can have against a high level opposition is good publicity, the way our game is at the moment !
Sorry again 😳
” Steerpike, who was the first/last chairman of RFC to unconditionally give even one penny of his own money to the company/club? ”
SDM unconditionally paid £6 million for Rangers in 1988.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 7:26 pm
——————————————
[TSFM – Sorry Slim. You should be above rising to the troll. And you are better than repeating unsubstantiated gossip. If you can corroborate then I will of course apologise]
As for incompetent cretins in the affairs of RFC, most observers with even half a brain recognise that CW was not the principal; that honour falls to the guy who embarked on a decade-long tax avoidance scheme, encouraged his staff not to comply with officers of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs’ reasonable requests and was the man with whom the buck stopped when documents which were already the subject of a statutory demand from HMRC were shredded/destroyed.
Had he withheld the £29M that Walter’s Myth spent on acquiring mainly dud players in 2007/08 and instead applied it towards the RFC tax bill, there would have been no Craig Whyte, no Ticketus, no administration, no Lord Hodge, no Duff & Phelps, no Bill Ng, no Blue Knights, no Charles Green, no Sevco Scotland, no 5-way agreement, no loss of European football and ultimately no death of RFC.
But he didn’t and as a direct result of David Murray’s actions, Rangers died.
And with the death of Rangers came the death of the so-called “Old Firm”.
Neither of these entities will ever come back, slowly but surely more people in Scottish football are coming to realise that and the world turns, the sun rises and sets, and life for those who comply with the normal rules and regulations for co-existence goes on.
SDM borrowed £6m to buy his RFC 1872 shares, no record of him paying it back, he just kept topping up his loans, come the credit crunch, his friends in the banking world had allowed SDM to owe the banks almost a BILLION pounds
£1,000,000,000
HirsutePursuit says:
August 11, 2013 at 10:28 pm
_______________________________________________________________________
I wonder if we have failed to properly nail this myth of Craig Whyte running the club into the ground.
Assuming no BTC liability, and given the quantum 😛 of the debt that the old club held at the time of the failed CVA, would Oldco have survived? If so, why did DM sell so cheaply?
Is it not fair to say that had the old board believed their own rhetoric about the BTC and their prospects of winning that they would have been able to make arrangements to trade out of that debt?
So what, if any, material difference did Whyte make to the already beak outlook for RFC?
If he had trousered the £15m in tax and NI that he failed to pay, you could understand it, but he only did what the old board had done, allowing the club to live disastrously beyond its means.
Of course CW is a charlatan, a spiv and a million cultural parsecs away from a love of football or Rangers. However the notion that he is even marginally responsible for the demise of the club is laughable. As HP said earlier, if it were not for CW, the idea of a continuity rangers would not have existed, as they would have dies mid-season. His actions actually armed them with the flimsy fantasy they now cling to that they are the same club.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 10:32 pm (Edit)
SDM unconditionally paid £6 million for Rangers in 1988.
_______________________________________________________________
There you go again SP. Too much Keith Jackson I fear :slamb: 🙂
No he didn’t!
Steerpike, who was the first/last chairman of RFC to unconditionally give even one penny of his own money to the company/club?
certainly not a certain Sir David anyway
” Make the assumption that Craig Whyte was chosen to take Rangers through its insolvency event and everything else makes sense. If he was there simply to manage a CVA or asset transfer, he would have to be a cretin to have thrown any of his own money away.”
I considered the possibility of collusion and an orchestrated insolvency event, however the evidence did not support it, if CW had paid the overdraft with a personal loan, secured it against the assets, called the receiver in October and bought Rangers through a CVA, then I would consider a conspiracy, he would have picked up a debt free Rangers for 4 or 5 million, total spend 23 million.
Instead he mismanaged the floating charge and the company, he lost 18 million and the company was liquidated, CW may be an idiot but SDM is not, if he was involved it would have gone as I speculated.
Slimshady
If what you say is true ,a wee story to put that disgusting action into perspective .
My wives aunt who is 68 this week received a sheriff’s officers letter for an unpaid council tax bill from 1999 of £167 and she is having to go to John St in Glasgow tomorrow to explain to them that not only did she not know about the arrears she did not even receive a letter to inform her of the debt before it got to the sheriff’s officers .
Steerpike can be a bit pie in the sky about finances, but the point he’s making about finances is valid. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that some people see the need for an OF competition to make the top division in Scotland attractive to TV.
It’s tempting to point the finger at the guys who put Rangers (and now it’s offspring) above all else – and there are clearly a lot of people in power who do that – but if everyone with a blazer saw the need for Rangers to be at the top of the game as their overriding priority, then Celtic would probably have ceased to exist a long time ago.
My opinion – for all it’s worth is that there are three types of people running the game in Scotland.
The Rangers men. These are a particularly insidious type of administrator. They will bend and then break rules for Rangers benefit and hell mend the consequences. Many will have been parachuted in to their position with the help of previous men. CO is particularly nasty example of the damage they can do. Their influence is widespread because they can feather the power freaks’ nests and they can justify their actions to the money men as being lucrative to the game.
The Money men – these guys are the bonus hunters. They want a job after working in Scottish football so they see it as critical that there is more money in the game when they leave than there was when they joined. As a result they can’t fix the long term problems in Scottish football, they just kick the can down the road, rather than try to grow a sustainable competitive league with more than two teams. These guys came into the Scottish game with the cash and they’re responsible for eroding a bit of the stranglehold Rangers thinking men had on Hampden.
The Status Men – who mostly favor Rangers-ness, but are more concerned with feathering their own nests and holding on to power. Basically the same kind of “whats in it for me” attitude as the guys who run FIFA. These guys would probably have been Rangers men before the TV money changed the game. Now will go out on a limb to make sure that the “Rangers” franchise is preserved, but only if they know the branch wont break under them. Their choice of which faction to support in the Ibrox civil war will be based on how they personally will come out if it. At some point they may have to choose between Rangers and their own gravy train and Rangers will be abandoned.
Steerpike’s argument seems to me to be that there are motivations at play in Hampden other than just making sure Rangers are always successful. Acknowledging that doesn’t make Celtic complicit in the failed attempt to parachute Rangers into the SPL. I don’t know if they were or not. The lack of hard facts around how the TV deal will be affected by Rangers death and Sevco’s potential falling off the ladder to the top division that the authorities have tried so hard to boost them up makes any speculation flimsy at best. It certainly valid that Celtic might see skeleton team at Ibrox starting as far down as possible as a basis for domestic domination and CL entry for many years as good for them, but it is just as valid to see that a one horse race makes for bad TV and poor European preparation, so maybe better the devil you know makes more financial sense.
One thing I will say is that however the Celtic board see it, they have conducted themselves with professionally and with a good degree of class throughout. More so than my team, I’m ashamed to say.
stterpike
What company was that ,that was liquidated ?
Also do you believe that the EBT scheme was a legitimate loan scheme or a means of avoiding tax on players wages
EBTs are a deplorable way of avoiding tax and I condemn all who use them, legal or not, in pure sporting terms it is seeking a dishonest advantage. I will never defend their use nor those who use them.
Any idea where to get an advanced look at tomorrows back pages?
It’s fun watching journalists and papers tie themselves in knots trying to work out which faction in Ibrox to back and which to criticise.
From RM
Well there you have it folks – it’s all Charlie Green’s fault!
Sack him, flog him through the streets of Glasgow, flay him alive, boil him in oil and hang him from the nearest gibbet. We must have Green’s head on a spike above the famous Ibrox portico on Edmiston Drive. Well, apparently that was the general consensus at last Thursday’s meeting between invited supporters and club officials.
Following the ‘horrifying’ comments made by Charles Green the week before, it’s likely that he’ll be stripped of his consultancy role and banished to the Yorkshire Gulag for his “morally and ethically reprehensible” comments, his ‘scurrilous’ remarks on TV and his failure to seek permission from the club for his media interviews.
Apparently James Traynor was so ‘irked’ by Green’s recent media interviews that he strongly urged the Rangers board to speak to Green to ensure that in future he does things the “right way”. Rich hypocrisy coming James Traynor, don’t you think? Isn’t this the man who has singularly failed to deliver the communications strategy he promised; who, until last Thursday, had utterly failed to communicate with the fans, unless through his chosen toadies; the man who, only a few short months ago was telling us that our club was dead?
However, it appears that Traynor’s Damascene-like conversion to the Rangers cause has miraculously transformed him into a cuddly teddy bear. During the past seven months of ‘dignified silence’, and relative inaction on the public relations front, we are suddenly told by those ‘in the know’ that he has been heroically fighting the forces of evil due to the need for ‘crisis PR,’ – even though he insists that his job isn’t just about public relations.
I suppose it’s understandable that most of us ‘ordinary’ Rangers fans were blissfully unaware of Traynor’s heroic deeds because we didn’t see a shred of evidence of it in the highly speculative and often hysterical reporting of our boardroom squabbles by the local media over the past few months. But, no matter, because James Traynor is now the fans champion. All he wants now is for us Rangers fans to get our collective act together, unite, organise, and exercise our ‘immense power’ to make our voice heard in the Rangers boardroom – oh and, help him to do the ‘right thing’ and oust the man who appointed him, Charles Green. What a truly wonderful man, and how supportive of the fans! And all that for a job that only pays “the same as my previous two jobs. No more, no less”.
The ‘right way’ says James Traynor. But what, exactly, does that means at Ibrox these days? Is it the James Traynor way or is it the Rangers boardroom way? Either way, it seems to involve leaking video’s to the press, clandestine meetings with journalists in seedy coffee shops, secretive meetings with local anti-Rangers journalists; off the record briefings by club ‘spokesmen’; anonymous posts on Rangers fans forums, surreptitious phone calls to the banned BBC, or simply talking to Keith Jackson of the Daily Record when you wish to push the anti- Green agenda.
Certainly Chris Graham (FURY), of the Rangers Standard (or should that be the Double Standard), seems to think the “right way” is to talk to the Daily Record, despite its blatantly anti-Rangers agenda, because immediately after last Thursday’s meeting he was talking to Keith Jackson, telling him that,
“The overwhelming thing for me from the meeting was the amount of anger among the fans over Green coming back. There is clearly a great deal of anger over his reappointment and the board came under a lot of pressure to explain why it came about. I have to say, we were given no real answers. No one seemed to want to accept responsibility for voting for his return as a consultant.”
Yes, this is the same Chris Graham that lambasted Keith Jackson for suggesting ‘financial impropriety’ at Rangers, and accused him of writing an article about Rangers replete with ‘innuendo’ and ‘with the express intention of causing as much of a headache for the club as possible.’ The same Chris Graham that disparagingly labelled Keith Jackson, ‘Boutros Boutros-Jackson’ and insinuated that the Daily Record was seeking ‘to harm the club’. The same Chris Graham who has wholeheartedly jumped on Traynor’s ‘Get Charles Green’ bandwagon and, apparently, has no difficulty dealing with the anti-Rangers Daily Record to further that end.
Clearly the ‘right way’ is any way that allows the anti-Green cabal to pursue its vendetta against him, and the wrong way is for Charles Green to utilise the same media outlets, no matter how mild his criticism of our manager, the current Rangers board or the new McColl/Murray axis may be.
Green’s behaviour is described as “morally and ethically reprehensible”, yet it seems that others are equally capable of acting in the same ‘morally and ethically reprehensible’ manner. Jim McColl, Paul Murray and the various members of our board have no qualms about using the local media – and the local anti-Rangers media at that – to get their message across. No, the criticism is only ‘morally and ethically reprehensible’ when it’s Charles Green making the running in the newspapers or on TV.
Clearly, our board members engage in secretive, off the record briefings – and, on occasions, resort to dirty tricks when it is considered opportune – without attracting the same censure or sanction that Charles Green does. When Green opens his mouth its ‘open season’ and he’s got to be brought to heel. But it was this board that brought Green back as a paid consultant at a grand a month. It is this board that made the decision to rehabilitate and reinstate the abrasive Green and bring him back to Ibrox? But now it’s all hands on deck to convene an urgent board meeting to get him out again! How much more hypocritical can they get I wonder?
What does that say about the calibre, the judgement and the decision making of this Rangers board? Maybe that’s why we need Paul Murray so badly. You know – the Grand Old Duke of York who marched us all up to the top of the hill, just to march us all straight down again! Just the sort of incisive thinker, decision-maker strategic planner, and financial genius that we need right now don’t you think?
Now, there is little doubt that Charles Green is his own worst enemy. He often opens his mouth before his brain clicks into gear. He has a big mouth and a proclivity to put his foot right in it. He is brash, abrasive, blunt and his comments are invariably embarrassing and unhelpful. When he resigned last April I was sorry to see him go because he had effectively saved our club at a time when no one else was prepared to ‘step up to the plate’; but his departure was inevitable after the wholly inappropriate remarks he made. He had simply made one ‘gaff’ too many, and his usefulness to Rangers was at an end. Once gone, he should not have returned, and the fact that he agreed to do so speaks volumes for his lack of judgement. He should now resign of his own volition rather than subject us all too yet another crisis board meeting, and another round of ‘tit for tat’ squabbling.
But if Charles Green has demonstrated a distinct lack of judgement, then it is matched in full measure by the current Rangers board. It was their collective lack of judgement that brought Green back. Let’s not forget that Charles Green didn’t force his return – he was invited back – and, invited back by the board that now seeks to oust him for a second time. The board that last Thursday declined to accept responsibility for inviting Green to return, and simply can’t wait to convene an urgent board meeting to rectify the problem they so injudiciously created themselves.
So when they meet to discuss the ‘Green crisis’, perhaps they should add another item to their agenda. May I suggest that they add the following;
Item: The removal of Craig Mather, Brian Stockbridge, Ian Hart, Bryan Smart and James Easdale from the board of Rangers Football Club.
After all, isn’t it only fair that those who accuse Green of “morally and ethically reprehensible” behaviour accept the same sanction that they intend to impose on him, when they too have so enthusiastically engaged in the same behaviour? If Green is guilty of improper behaviour then so are Mather, Stockbridge, Hart, Smart and Easdale. Some of them are as guilty as Green for pocketing huge salaries and bonuses at a time when our club can ill-afford it. Some are as guilty as Green for bleeding the club dry in circumstances where every penny counts. Some, if not all, are as guilty as Green for engaging in this internecine war that has so characterised relationships in the Rangers boardroom and so damaged our great club of late. Each and every one of them has shown a disastrous lack of judgement, and is guilty of losing sight of the ultimate goal – the survival and regeneration of Rangers Football Club.
I have listened to the self-righteous indignation expressed by every one of them during this latest public ‘spat’, and witnessed the crocodile tears that inevitably accompany their expressions of sympathy for the long-suffering Rangers fans as they continue to line their pockets with our season ticket money and their insupportable salaries and bonuses. Some may wish to see a ‘presidential style’ debate offering these culprits the opportunity to ‘beat their breasts’ still further; as for me I don’t wish to offer them any platform on which to score their ‘Brownie points’ and play out the, “I’m a better Rangers man than you” competition. Just give me the FACTS and i’ll make up my own mind. I’m fed up with their pseudo -sympathy, and I find it facile, insincere and insulting, particularly in circumstances where the fans continue to put their money where their mouth is and demonstrate their unwavering commitment to their club over and over again.
I was one of the many thousands of fans who paid £500 for 714 shares during the IPO, and probably one of those who could ill-afford to do so at the time. £500 for me was over a third of my monthly occupational pension. For many others it was the much needed new furniture, the family holiday or a loan to be paid off in monthly instalments.
So when Charles Green, Imran Ahmad, Jim McColl, Dave King, Paul Murray, Craig Mather, Brian Stockbridge, Ian Hart, Bryan Smart, James Easdale, and all the other ‘suits’ are squaring up to decide who’s the best ‘Rangers man’, squabbling about their investments, their shares, their inflated salaries and unreasonable bonuses, perhaps they should reflect on the fact that our investment will always be a much bigger one than theirs will ever be.
Our investment isn’t just a financial one it is an emotional one, often paid in tears and always from the heart. The only dividend that we, the fans, want is a strong and vibrant Rangers. Don’t ever forget that chaps.
briggsbhoy says:
August 11, 2013 at 9:25 pm
” If you were waiting in the wings for its death I suggested that if you were clever about it you would have conversations with the league on the QT to see where the land lay in such a situation.”
————————-
SFA and Rangers(IL) have previous on this. One particular piece of evidence is a letter concerning Regan that contains this interesting excerpt:
“2. That is despite the fact that following the BBC’s transmission of a television programme,that we understand prompted your investigation, you and Mr Campbell Ogilvie attendeda private dinner with our client and Ali Russell during which matters relating to RangersFC were discussed including the financial difficulties being experienced by the Club. Weare instructed that during the dinner you told Mr Whyte he had been open with the SFAand you expressed your appreciation of that openness telling our client that the SFAwas there to help. In respect of Mr Whyte’s director disqualification, you indicated to Mr Whyte that the issue would not prevent our client from remaining involved with RangersFC. Our client specifically recalls that you indicated to him that he should not worryabout his previous disqualification as a director.”
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142823209/Regan-Letter
Supposedly tomorrow’s Sun,
stockbridge admits the gers £22m is gone, he insists they wont go bust
Scratch @FaustGarbanzo67 55s
Sevconian alphabet-ABCDEFGHJKLMNQRSTUVWXYZ…they’ve made the IPO disappear
fergussingstheblues says:
August 11, 2013 at 10:31 pm
“Apologies to you all for last night’s ramblings. Just got caught up in some old Love St memories.”
———————-
Right and wrong only emerges from the consideration of a diverse range of opinions. You have as much right to express yours as anyone else.
Steerpike says:
August 11, 2013 at 10:48 pm
==================
Eh?
❓
Craig Whyte lost nothing on Rangers Football Club plc – because he invested nothing. His only “Rangers” investment, if I recall correctly, was £37,500 to set up Sevco 5088.
Also, I’m not sure that he did mismanage the floating charge.
If he had brought in a receiver in October the club would have been liquidated soon after. The assets may have passed to Wavetower; but the club would still have ceased trading mid-season. Never,ever, part of the plan.
Bringing in the administrators allowed the club to limp along to season’s end with the pretence of attempting to achieve the 1st statutory purpose of administration. Getting to the season’s end was always the number one priority.
If Mr Whyte genuinely thought that he had (or still has) control of the purchasing company Sevco 5088, then foregoing a potentially challengeable claim to the floating charge on the assets of Ranger FC plc made perfect sense.
Incidentally, how does spending £23m mean that he would have got a debt free Rangers for £4m or £5m?
Castofthousands says:
August 11, 2013 at 11:38 pm
Indeed, was this not one of Charlotte early revelations ?
Social login is playing up folks. Trying to fix, but registering meantime is a workaround.
Charlie Greencraig @BartinMain 7s
BOOM “@_Critical_Eye_: @HenrikVegetable @BartinMain @JohnMcLean_HS67
http://t.co/6JWT3R0gGV
paulsatim says:
August 11, 2013 at 11:23 pm
“Well there you have it folks – it’s all Charlie Green’s fault!”
————————-
I couldn’t read it all but only enough to get the gist.
My pet subject at the moment is astrophysics and I’ve been devouring youtube video on the black holes. That’s where a giant star collapses inward on itself producing a huge gravitational force that increases uncontrollably until it forms a ‘singularity’. There is a zone around the singularity which defines a point of no return; where the gravitational pull is at the margin where it will drag anything in its vicinity inward to annihilation. Its analogous to a canoeist getting too close to the top of a waterfall; no matter how hard he paddles the current of the falling water is too great to be opposed.
This zone of no return is termed ‘the event horizon’.
I think we might be witnessing the human equivalent of the event horizon. The unified support that held up the Rangers star is fracturing and collapsing in on itself as its energy is sucked up in civil war.
The stage immediately preceding a black hole formation is signified by a supernova. A huge explosion that blows the star apart before the collapse ensues. An awesome cosmic phenomenon.
It is only to be hoped that in any ensuing catastrophe no other clubs are dragged into the gravitational vortex.