Imagine you are one of those people who have a nice big mahogany desk, with a gloss finish set in a big corner suite office which comes complete with a picture window, a break out area, a couch to lie down on in moments of stress, a quietly playing stereo sound system, fridge, plush carpet and loads of wee executive toy like things of your choosing.
Imagine, just for a moment, that outside your office you have the executive German car that is almost compulsory when you work in such an office. Added to that, you also have the benefit of a large six figure salary, a pension scheme, substantial holidays, a bonus scheme which nicely enhances your already excellent salary, fantastic perks and trips abroad as part of your job, and that you fill a position which leads to invitations to the most fantastic events, do’s, and sporting occasions imaginable.
Imagine the respect you must command from your peers, your family and friends.
Imagine the awe that you must be held in at dinner parties and social events when you are introduced to strangers for the first time– strangers who will have heard your name, and know of your position in society.
Imagine the personal and professional respect you must command from others in your field — or any other field for that matter — when you go to conferences and meetings in foreign cities and with foreign counterparts.
Imagine the envy that many others sometimes feel for someone who has succeeded in business and society to this extent.
Then imagine that the big office described above is at Hampden?
What a bummer!!
Now, I mention all of this because if you were one of the big cheeses at at Hampden, I wonder just what you do with yourself when the large rosewood door of your office closes behind you when you get in there each morning?
Maybe you make a coffee? Read the papers? Check the mail? Go to a meeting about the latest in 3G or is it 4G pitches being installed in a ground or two in the Shetlands?
However, no matter what you do and who you speak to THAT file is always there— always at the corner of your desk, neatly up there at the top left hand corner just beyond the desk top golf set and above the Newton’s cradle with the balls that spell your name or whatever.
That file– the one that relates to the finances, compliance, directors details and ownership of Rangers Football Club.
At least that is what the top of the file says. Though to be fair it is a continuation file… continuing from the one that was opened two months ago and is fit to burst already with reports, memo’s and letters- which in turn was a continuation of the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and on and on.
Maybe that is not the correct name for the club?
Maybe that is something that can be clarified at the next meeting with the Directors and CEO of the club— whoever they might be at that time?
No matter where you go in the room, you can see that file from every position. There is just no getting away from it.
Who owns The Rangers?
There are all sorts of reports, share prospectuses, memos, deeds, documents, contracts, letters, e-mails all asking the same thing. And there you are— none the wiser.
Please clarify this, please clarify that, are there any signed but unrecorded documents, or contracts?
Are the Companies House records accurate? is the Land register accurate?
At the end of the day you just lie on the couch, place a cold cloth over your head and hope it will all go away.
Then the accounts come out. Oh the figures are shocking and they confirm that most of the people you negotiated with to get their team playing football somewhere after the collapse and liquidation of RFC PLC have exited stage left with huge severance cheques.
They now live in France, or Singapore or the Cayman Islands and you can bet they will never darken a door in Mount Florida on a wet February morning ever again.
But that is not the worst of it — the bleeding internet is full of leaks— documents, letters, e-mails, contracts, company forms and all sorts.
You wouldn’t mind if the documents leaked were ones that you had seen before, but in the main they are things that you have never seen and never had disclosed.Every day someone calls and asks ” Have you seen the latest?” and of course you haven’t so you stand there feeling like a complete chookie!!!
Every day you call the compliance and monitoring guys:
” Eh have you seen this? Have you been notified that he is a director?”
” No boss – never seen that? Never knew it existed?”
” So who owns the company if that is correct?”
” Eh Dunno boss — not sure of anything over there any more!”
“Ok have you checked the titles with the lawyers?”
” yes but the title as registered looks ok, but there is no guarantee that it hasn’t been sold to someone else and they have not registered their title for the moment!”
” Have you spoken to the lawyers? Have you asked for clarification?”
” yes Boss — the Lawyers don’t really answer our questions– well at least not fully!”
” What about these accounts – there are 57 pages there – what do they tell us?”
” Well they tell us that the figures are not good, boss, but not immediately critical.”
” Are they paying their taxes?”
” Appear to be boss– but we can’t be sure.can we? We were told they were paying their taxes before and … well you know the rest.”
” Ok, but Pinsent masons rule out the Whyte guy being involved?”
” Ah well not really – they don’t go into the company he says he owns – they sort of ignore that part!”
” But they carried out an independent investigation, surely?”
” True boss, but the independent investigation was only into what the non independent guys wanted investigating Boss, and they appear to have finished their report without speaking to all the witnesses.”
” Ok but the accounts – what do the accounts say about Whyte being the real owner — I mean they are from Deloittes for God sake – they must make the position clear?”
” Well we have had a look at them boss and in that regard the accounts are King Kenny!”
” King Kenny?”
” Aye King Kenny Boss – with regard to Whyte’s claim they say ” maybes aye– maybes naw” and they leave it at that”
” Jesus, well have you written to the Directors?”
” Aye – half the letters have come back marked “Gone away”.Boss”
” Do you know who the shareholders are?”
” Naw Boss”
“Do they have a bank account and a bank reference ?”
” Naw Boss”
” Who’s coming to the next meeting from their side?”
” Dunno Boss”
” Is there anything you can tell me that lets me close this file and get it off my desk for good?”
” Naw boss”
” Well who did we grant membership to last year?”
” The first time or the second time Boss?”
” What do you mean – first time or second time?”
” We started out granting membership to one company and then changed it to another”
” Two companies – owned by the same people?”
” Dunno Boss– but they sounded the same.”
” And which one got a licence?”
” Dunno boss”
” What?”
“Was the licence not granted by Mr Longmuir boss? And then ratified by us as a formality?”
” Why are you asking me, you are the compliance guys?”
” Aye but we were told it would all be ok by … well by someone ….. and by Mr Longmuir”
” When did he tell you that?”
” Told us one day at Ibrox Boss – I think it was at half time?”
” Half Time?”
” Aye – though it might have been full time boss ….. free bevvy and sandwiches so can’t quite remember”.
” Well who has the paperwork?”
” Lost boss”
” Lost?”
” Yes Boss – it was meant to come up from the SFL but never appeared. Turns out that the SFL was run as an unincorporated body and none of its records etc, are intact or have ever been audited …… Boss. Mr Ballantyne might have them in his garage Boss! ……… Boss? ….. are you still there? Boss?”
The man in the corner suite leaves the phone dangling, goes to his fridge for a cold drink and switches on the executive plasma hanging on the wall by way of the remote control on his desk.
The screen beams into life and an advert for the brand of soft drink that he is holding fills the wall. The very same brand of soft drink that has just been announced as the official soft drink to partner Scottish Football.
The executive, looks at his drinks can, looks at the file on the corner of the desk, looks at the abandoned phone and finally looks at the screen just as the speakers spell out clearly ………….. the benefits of coming from a long line of Fannies.
This is Scottish Football Administration in the 21st Century.
At last – a smile on my face. Thanks BRTH 🙂
Superb, as ever, BRTH!! ❗
Absolutely Brilliant 😆 : you’re making insomnia much easier tonight thank you 😉
Excellent BRTH, very good read which speaks volumes !
Situation summed up with one word…..Chookie. PMSL
Thanks BRTH, excellent blog as always.
My only worry is that your little allegory could give the impression that CO was somehow ‘duped’ by the big bad corporate beasties residing at Edmiston Drive and that he did/does not have access to ‘inside’ knowledge about WTF is going on over at Ibrox.
Personally, I don’t buy that, however, as we all know, this ‘poor’ guy has always had it within his powers to put an immediate stop to his ongoing personal nightmare by simply applying the agreed rules ‘without fear or favour’.
Without even having to use the powers invested in him, he could simply brandish them like a sword of truth to cut through the Gordian knot of Sevco/The Rangers ownership. That he failed and continues to fail to do so, even to the detriment of his own authority and the game in this country as a whole, smacks of either fear or complicity (or perhaps even both).
This guy isn’t just your run-of-the-mill chairman or CEO content to turn a blind eye to the dodgy dealing of his minions in the pursuit of personal profit (a la Nick Leeson’s line manager). This man has the honour of being elevated to a place where he represents our entire nation in a huge part of our Scottish culture.
If he can’t stand up he should stand down.
Why doesn’t the ‘boss’, who to my mind is only a Page call his fresh-breathed boss for clarification?!
(Yup, I know I said I was out! But my ‘point of contention’ has been picked up by the meeja (reluctantly!) and so I’ve picked up my rattle, stuck the dummy back in and come crawling back – this place is just like a beacon of light to a freakin’ moth!)
Sportsound presenter Spence cleared over Rangers row
Friday 4 October 2013
BBC Scotland presenter Jim Spence has been provisionally cleared of breaching accuracy guidelines after being accused of referring to Rangers as “the old club that died”.
From the Harold. . .
Thanks BRTH. I am always in high spirits on a Friday morning, and you have lifted them further. What an excellent read before I head to my office which is not like the one you described at all 😀
Nice one. I was reading it as modelled on SR, it could be CO too, I suppose.
Btw, don’t know what it is with women and football at the moment, but they are making a lot sense and cheering us all up. Nice wee article in The Herald:
The New Weegie: on becoming a Partick Thistle fan
http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/bloggers/the-new-weegie-on-becoming-a-partick-thistle-fan.1380704042
Humble Pie says:
October 4, 2013 at 2:09 am
26 1 Rate This
Thanks BRTH, excellent blog as always.
My only worry is that your little allegory could give the impression that CO was somehow ‘duped’ by the big bad corporate beasties residing at Edmiston Drive and that he did/does not have access to ‘inside’ knowledge about WTF is going on over at Ibrox.
++++++++++++++++
By the reference to a 6 figure salary, etc, I think the character in the piece is Regan, rather than Ogilvie.
Ogilvie’s role over the last 2 years has been to steer the naive young Regan, a novice in the ways of Scottish football, in the “right direction”. And look how well that has worked out. Until this snake is disposed of, Scottish football will never be cleansed. But he’s the man the clubs want as president. Make of that what you will.
RIFC statement re AGM Petition http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/notice-under-section-338-of-the-companies-act-2006/201310040700067140P/ …
I just knew you weren’t goldstein 😆
Nicely written and you know sometimes humour can be the best weapon.
Yea the dossier on Rangers is looking dodgier by the day than Blair’s Iraq fantasia ❗
Carfins Finest says:
October 4, 2013 at 7:36 am
RIFC statement re AGM Petition http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/notice-under-section-338-of-the-companies-act-2006/201310040700067140P/ …
So Malcolm Murray wants the AGM postponed so that he can get back on to the Board. I think that the spivs have maybe underestimated this guy. I’m sure they thought they had seen the back of him for good a few months ago. Maybe trying to use him as a scapegoat for the Ibrox salary binge wasn’t a great idea after all. This will get very messy, but I think we can delete that October AGM entry from our diaries.
Carfins Finest says:
October 4, 2013 at 7:36 am
2 0 Rate This
RIFC statement re AGM Petition http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/notice-under-section-338-of-the-companies-act-2006/201310040700067140P/ …
————
Did I read that correct, RIFC insisting on verifying shareholders? Well, not all of them obviously. A manufactured delay, or is the board really scared of losing power?
“That File”
“That Bloody File” – Is Ogilvie’s and Regan’s and Doncaster’s modern day take on Lady Macbeth’s “Damned Spot”.
I can imagine them in nightmarish sleepwalks trying to destroy the evidence and wishing they had never succumbed to the dark side.
“That File” will destroy them and how history sees them.
We just need to find a new king to do the needful and clean up this unholy mess.
jimlarkin
Looks like JS has finally had some backing ,although (provisionally) still leaves his gutless employers wriggle room to appease the peepil .
I suppose we should be thankful they found someone in their organization with a semblance of a spine .
Funny it comes on a day BRTH writes his piece ,as I remember a certain SR being asked on TV if sevco and Ragers were the same club .He prattled on with it’s down to the fans to decide ,IMO this has led to incidents like the JS threats and intimidation .You see Mr Regan ,that’s what happens when you leave it to their fans to decide .
The SFA have made disgraceful and disgusting decisions in this saga which cannot be changed now ,I look forward to these decisions being shown up for what they were in the fullness of time and I hope all the peepil who made these decisions are held accountable for their actions ,as they sure as hell won’t be anytime soon .
neepheid says:
October 4, 2013 at 7:53 am
Carfins Finest says:
October 4, 2013 at 7:36 am
RIFC statement re AGM Petition http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/notice-under-section-338-of-the-companies-act-2006/201310040700067140P/ …
So Malcolm Murray wants the AGM postponed so that he can get back on to the Board. I think that the spivs have maybe underestimated this guy. I’m sure they thought they had seen the back of him for good a few months ago. Maybe trying to use him as a scapegoat for the Ibrox salary binge wasn’t a great idea after all. This will get very messy, but I think we can delete that October AGM entry from our diaries.
==========================
The Darkside were claiming last night the 4 Requisitioners – wonder when their latest Itune is coming out – will be at Court of Session this morning. But perhaps they are just getting confused with this AIM notice.
BRTH
In the vernacular of a place we all fondly remember
Chapeau
DP
My thoughts also .
Oh the irony , the Sevco board saying THEY are unable to verify shareholders . 😯 🙄
SR is just away to lie down in a darkened room and hung a do not disturb sign on the door 😯
fergusslayedtheblues says:
October 4, 2013 at 8:02 am
jimlarkin
Looks like JS has finally had some backing ,although (provisionally) still leaves his gutless employers wriggle room to appease the peepil .
===============================================================
The absolute beauty of the provisional BBC decision is that is based on the original BBC Trust ruling which was so lauded by the Bears as the only decent bit of the BBC,
It can be quite baffling times for a Bear these days 😕
This had me spluttering away to myself on the train this morning, Brogan.
Brilliant.
ecobhoy says:
October 4, 2013 at 8:02 am
The Darkside were claiming last night the 4 Requisitioners – wonder when their latest Itune is coming out – will be at Court of Session this morning. But perhaps they are just getting confused with this AIM notice.
+++++++++++
The petition has been filed, and will need to be heard by a judge urgently, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a hearing this morning.
CF certainly blew the lid off Rangers dodgy dirty-war press release attacking Malcolm Murray yesterday.
In a series of emails she has totally blown the press release statement into orbit and largely vindicated Murray’s position. Of course the emails could be faked but to me they ring true and as believeable as anything she or a predecessor has ever posted.
When reading them I just couldn’t make my mind up as to whether those within the Ibrox bunker were consciously fabricating a scenario to suit their own ends or whether their brains had seized with the brightness of the car headlights heading for them at full speed.
Naw, on second thoughts, the latest emails show that the SMSM were taken for a ride yesterday by the Ibrox PR spinners. Now the evidence is clearly in the public domain to bring something much closer to the truth to the reading public.
So will they print what’s in the emails – of course they won’t ❗
fergusslayedtheblues says:
October 4, 2013 at 8:08 am
2 0 Rate This
————-
@fergus
I like the way @BBCDouglasF has just put it on twitter:
Sounds as though they know a thing or two about shareholding claims that are not valid.
Well done, BRTH, and thank you – I’m still smiling and I am sure 000’s more will be smiling today after they read your post.
Having opted to laugh rather than cry however, can anyone on here honestly say
that they can see a change coming in the SFA in the forseeable future ?
I can’t.
Tho’ I am still hoping.
BRTH
Loved the way you worked in that final punchline, genius 🙂 the whole piece painted a picture for me, I was in that office, could see the desk and the large file sat upon it
Oh aye Bartin ! you surely weren’t doing some back slapping there
ecobhoy says:
October 4, 2013 at 7:48 am
Good Morning all.
Ecobhoy — let me make a confession re Goldstein.
Due to the fact that I had broken my arm at the elbow, was feeling crapola and generally Donald F Ducked, I had not checked into this site for the better part of a fortnight and so had little or no idea what was going on— or perhaps more importantly– who was going on!
Then I noticed in my e-mail that I had received a private message which in part posed a simple question:
Are you Goldstein?
At that juncture, I had never heard of Goldstein or who or what they were or did.
Frankenstein, Jock Stein, Colin Stein, Rick Stein, Gertrude Stein, and most importantly a beer stein— yes I know all of them but Goldstein is a new one on me and quite why anyone thought I was he or she is beyond me to be honest.
Humble Pie
You make a good point— does my little story imply that there were those at Hampden who were duped?
All I would say it is a wee story — nothing more.
Then again…. I would refer you to King Kenny!!!
:-0)
Carfins Finest says:
October 4, 2013 at 7:36 am
RIFC statement re AGM Petition http://www.investegate.co.uk/rangers-int-f-c–plc–rfc-/rns/notice-under-section-338-of-the-companies-act-2006/201310040700067140P/ …
—————————–
Say what you like about the current Rangers board, it would seem on the basis of this that they are real sticklers for the letter of Companies House rules. I have no doubt that they will bring the same level of detailed attention to their own Companies House documentation, and presumably what has been holding up their lodging of accurate and comprehensive documents is the time needed to make sure that all the relevant parties’ names have been spelt correctly, that every i is dotted and every t crossed. Otherwise their criticism of the ‘rebel’ group would just make them look like blustering hypocrites who pick and choose which parts of company law they want to comply with. And that can’t be right.
broganrogantrevinoandhogan says:
October 4, 2013 at 8:33 am (Edit)
Frankenstein, Jock Stein, Colin Stein, Rick Stein, Gertrude Stein, and most importantly a beer stein— yes I know all of them but Goldstein is a new one on me and quite why anyone thought I was he or she is beyond me to be honest.
__________________________________________________________
What about the famous biblical football manager, that Fella Stein?
That’s great stuff, BRTH, and turning the focus again on those who should be the targets, the Scottish football authorities. How to get to them, there’s the rub.
Although finding the examination of Ibrox finances mildly interesting, I imagine even most of the main players and investors involved there don’t have a truly accurate picture of the wealth or lack of it down in Govan. Maybe a couple know how they’d like it to pan out, but the true picture may never be revealed to us.
Nonetheless, Campbell Ogilvie and his fellow football bureaucrats should be very much in the public eye and it is their behaviour and (deficiency of) decision making which should be focuses of our attentions, of course this in my opinion.
BRTH brings us back to concentrate on these administrators, certainly in a humorous manner. While recognising the fun, it’s doubtful Ogilvie ever bothers to ask many questions about his pet team’s situation regarding SFA membership, title and taxes, investigations, company ownership, anything really, apart from how the team from Ibrox can be safely negotiated back to the ‘top’ without too many difficult scenarios being reported. And he seems to have that tied up for the present.
Very funny BRTH.Pure theatre and no doubt not far removed from reality.The Rangers and The SFA have one thing in common apart from the ‘the’.
Both involve the suspension of disbelief.!
He’s now ‘The Shameless Yorkshireman’. Even more old news, about old news.
http://twitpic.com/dfxp56/full
I thought I would have a look at the latest CF emails vis a vis the offishal Ibrox position.
Ibrox: Mr Murray proposed Craig Mather to the board
CF: http://i.imgur.com/NAYyzQp.jpg
This shows an email apparently sent from Green to Stockbridge on 21 April 2013 and copied to: Cartmell, Hart, Murray, Smart, Smith and a Stephen Keys. The email was headed: ‘Re: Charles Green Resignation’
Green is shown as stating: ‘There is absolutely no basis not to immediately appoint Craig as interim CEO and adds ‘this has to be resolved today’ and calls on the chairman to conduct a yes or no email vote,.
Then came the threat: ‘If the chairman refuses to do this I propose a vote of no confidence in the chairman we cannot allow this indecision to continue. There is no requirement for a unanimous vote . . . ‘.
We all know that Malcolm Murray was in a weak position and couldn’t outvote the Green Camp and indeed was unable to prevent himself being voted out as chairman. But his greatest weakness was that he loved his club and apparently still does and that could always be used as a weapon by those whose motive was driven by money.
Added to the email was a noter apparently circulated by Stockbridge the day before on 20 April in anticipation of the Board call.
Stockbridge is stated as saying: ‘Whilst Craig was not known to me, Charles or Imran before he invested . . . ‘.
That is a very curious statement because on 18 July 2012 when Mather’s investment in Rangers was publicly announced he stated: ”I met Charles Green a while ago and we have a few common contacts. He put the idea to me, and I’ve always been a lover of football. That was how it started. I had various meetings with Charles and the team and had a look at the facilities at Murray Park – and it went from there.”
Something just doesn’t add-up – perhaps Stockbridge wasn’t on the ‘team’ in July 2012 although he was at the heart of the Green consortium but Mather said he had met Green ‘a while ago’ and had a series of meetings with him and his team and visited Murray Park BEFORE he invested. I am assuming that Ahmad was on Green’s ‘team’ and therefore was also aware of Mather pre-investment.
Of course there is the possibility that the emails are fake, have been doctored, or only show a snapshot in time. But they raise absolutely fundamental issues as to governance. And the question I keep asking is why, when Green was voluntarily exiting the club at warp speed and breaking all his school sprint records, did he give a fig about his successor and why had there to be no break in what looks suspicially like achieving a line of succession?
BRTH, as ever, searingly good.
I have no doubt your work will turn up on many, many computer screens in the near future, hopefully (hope, it would appear, is all we punters have) your words will tweak a few of the major players in our game/media to have a look in the mirror and to ask themselves if they are comfortable being rcognised as complicit in this, the greatest story never told.
You maintain the spotlight precisely where it should be. What is happening at Ibrox is the symptom, we should never allow ourselves to waver from focusing on the cause……….The SFA needs a clear out and a public inquiry no less into the governance of our game since Murray and Masterton came on the scene.
From a blog called back page football, a post by a fan of the Govan club. Quite opened mouth at this statement
With the Rangers board now declaring war on the hand that feeds it, and the investors already lining up replacements for the incumbent board members, one would imagine the removal of this disasterous regime come the AGM on the 24th October will be a formality
http://backpagefootball.com/sack-the-board-changes-needed-at-rangers/64040/
Sack the board – changes needed at Rangers « Back Football
So the rebels are going to Court! An excellent new blog today by Paul McConville
2) CF emails vis-a-vis Ibrox Offishal Position
Ibrox: Mr Murray proposed Craig Mather to the board (Continuation)
CF: http://i.imgur.com/9OFduFz.jpg
This email which purports to have been sent by Stockbridge on 21 April 2013 was headed: ‘Re: Charles Green Resignation’ and was sent to Smart and copied to Green, Cartmell, Hart, Murray, Stephen Keys, Smith, Traynor, Christine Phillips.
The email apparently states: ‘In the light of the fact that four directors are asking for the appointment of Craig Mather as interim CEO without delay (Charles, Ian, Bryan and myself), as company secretary and the only acting Executive I will prepare a board resolution appointing Craig as director and acting CEO’.
Well I have looked at this email in every possible sense and cannot see that Malcolm Murray could possibly have proposed Mather. Ah but let’s think of the technicalities of how languager can be used especially in the formalities of chairing a public company Board.
The Ibrox ‘Position’ could be explained by the fact that as Board Chairman Malcolm Murray had to techically propose the Board Resolution prepared by Stockbridge knowing that it was a done deal anyway as he would be outvoted. For the Ibroc ‘Offishal’ line to imply he was in favour of it is a joke especiaslly as he was being threatened with a vote of NO CONFIDENCE by Green over the issue.
If the Bears actually blindly swallow the Ibrox ‘Offishal’ line on this they could all be signed-up as Scottish journalists tomorrow and with the state of the media industry I don’t think there’s much chance of that 🙂
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 5m
Should RIFC seek full recovery of past fees and damages for recent paralysis from Cenkos?
http://i.imgur.com/KZuPO9E.jpg
#OneForFFW
SFM says:
October 4, 2013 at 8:39 am
5 0 Rate This
broganrogantrevinoandhogan says:
October 4, 2013 at 8:33 am (Edit)
Frankenstein, Jock Stein, Colin Stein, Rick Stein, Gertrude Stein, and most importantly a beer stein— yes I know all of them but Goldstein is a new one on me and quite why anyone thought I was he or she is beyond me to be honest.
__________________________________________________________
What about the famous biblical football manager, that Fella Stein?
======================
Phil O’Stein surely 😀
BRTH Brilliantly entertaining as always. A wee note from fellow poster John Clarke though – could have done with a bit more detail on the imaginary secretary! (Or is it a case of us filling in the blanks?)
Re CO. You (BRTH) state CO had the option of applying rules, fear or favour etc etc. Yes, but he had another easier option. Pick up the golf clubs and walk. I am told and believe he is a decent man. I am told, but do not believe, he is an honest man. What he clearly is is completely delusional if he thought he could ever emerge from this, in fact no, remain within this disgrace with any respect whatsoever, apart from, of course, the blue corner and their respect tends to be a bit fleeting and of a temporary nature (unless your name is Walter of course).
Re the CF emails on the Murray coup de farce. She missed the reply-to-all from Murray asking “I don’t see how this benefits the club” and all the subsequent replies, ranging from “?”, “WTF” to “Bwa ha ha.” To be fair there was also a “I agree” from Walter’s secretary as he was having a lie down on his couch.
3) CF emails vis-a-vis Ibrox Offishal Position
Ibrox: Mr Murray negotiated Mr Green’s compromise agreement and signed it off
CF: http://i.imgur.com/XsNUnHC.jpg
This is an email dated 20 April 2013 purportedly written by Ian Hart sent to Murray, Smith, Smart, Cartmell.
In it Hart states: ‘In my discussions with both Charles and Imran I suggested a settlement of £600,000 and £500,000 respectively and I understood this was acceptable to the Board.
‘Whilst Imran though accepting it initially had a change of mind afterwards. I still believe he may come back and accept the offer’.
I have to say that I find it difficult to read that as anything other than that the man negotiating the settlements was Ian Hart and not Malcolm Murray. It could be argued that he was doing so on the authority of the Rangers Board but even that seems to be thrown into doubt by the hesitancy that he only appears to have ‘understood’ the figures were acceptable to the Board.
I could be reading too much into his language but it opens the possibiity that at least some members of the Board were unhappy with the figures.
Just a we thought.
Tomorrow is the two month anniversary of Sir Cardy stepping down.
Did I miss it or is the company/club still without a Chairman and it doesn;t look like there has been any mention of anyone stepping up to the plate on the AGM documentation.
Another excellent and enjoyable piece, BRTH, full of humour and, I wish, an insight into just how Regan and Ogilvie feel each day. Sadly, I suspect that neither of them are all that bothered (Doncaster will be the same), perhaps through sheer ignorance of the reality, perhaps because it’s all part of the establishment – and can’t go wrong, perhaps because they are geniuses and know they wouldn’t make mistakes (which is their biggest mistake), but most probably because they have a massive, totally unfounded, self-belief. They are of the same ilk as the men who ran/still run the banks and other financial institutions, and the government for that matter, and are happy to believe everything the ‘experts’ tell them, so have ready excuses to hand – nonsensical excuses, but in their minds that doesn’t matter, because we, the supporters (and public), are ignorant of everything other than how to kick a ball.
BRTH, they could read your excellent piece, and not recognise themselves, they are so far up their own, and each other’s, backsides.
Re the CF emails on the Murray coup de farce. She missed the reply-to-all from Murray asking “I don’t see how this benefits the club” and all the subsequent replies, ranging from “?”, “WTF” to “Bwa ha ha.” To be fair there was also a “I agree” from Walter’s secretary as he was having a lie down on his couch.
ecobhoy says:
October 4, 2013 at 9:54 am
1 0 Rate This
… I have to say that I find it difficult to read that as anything other than that the man negotiating the settlements was Ian Hart and not Malcolm Murray. It could be argued that he was doing so on the authority of the Rangers Board but even that seems to be thrown into doubt by the hesitancy that he only appears to have ‘understood’ the figures were acceptable to the Board.”
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@eco
That was also why I was a bit underwhelmed by those five emails last night, initially at least. Problem for Malcom is that he got into bed with this lot and is easily tainted by association and their semantic gymnastics. He said ‘misleading and vexatious’, but not out-and-out lies. Mr Irvine is earning his keep, although it’s difficult not to be believe MM after reading the intent and tone of the emails.
PS There’s a coffee morning at 10.30, Bartin’s bring the suger 🙂
Looks like Goldstein was wrong about Charlotte then.
This blog by BRTH is an excellent example of how Goldstein got it/us so wrong. We are here to discuss a lot more than just Charlotte, or TRFC etc. We are watching the layers of corruption throughout Scottish football, perhaps even society, being gradually exposed. If we can, in any small way, influence events by preventing facts being buried, or allowing those in power to ‘move along’, then our mistakes or misunderstanding of the true motivation of Charlotte and others will be of little consequence. The fact that so many of the main players, and SMSM, don’t like us, proves we are doing something right 🙂
4) CF emails vis-a-vis Ibrox Offishal Position
Ibrox: Mr Murray negotiated Mr Green’s compromise agreement and signed it off
CF: http://i.imgur.com/tZBZVnE.jpg
There are 2 emails here and the second is purported to have been sent by Bryan Smart on 21 April 2013 to ‘All’ which I assume to be fellow Rangers Board members.
He notes the total Green settlement as £600k and crucially apparently states: ‘as negotiated by Ian’ which I take to be Ian Hart.
He then apparently goes on to say something which I believe will send a chill running down the spine of any shareholders reading it. Smart appears to state: ‘We agreed to this compromise in order to keep things uncontested as recommended by Cenkos, in the full knowledge that if we really pressed, Charles would be vulnerable to a gross misconduct charge and his payoff much lower, if anything at all’.
Firstly, let me be clear that I have no evidence of any misconduct of Charles Green and in any case he must remain innocent of any such charge without being given the opportunity to fully defend himself which was my position on Sandaza as well btw.
But here we have a cash-strapped Rangers which appears to have had grounds to beieve that it could have saved £600k and decided not to do so.
Why did this affair have to remain uncontested? What was Cenkos and the Rangers Board apparently terrified of that they were happy to throw away £600k? I can only surmise that whatever it was and whoever had their finger on the nuclear button it was judged, rightly or wrongly, to have been capable of costing a helluva lot more than £600k and possibly even terminal damage to the club.
The second email dated 22 April 2013 purports to have been sent by Stockbridge to Smart and reinforces my opinion that Smart was the man doing the Green compromise agreement negotiations.
However I don’t see the hand of Murray in the negotiations and yes he may have signed it off which is what every chairman has to do with Board decisions. Again spin on word usage and the position of a chairman appear to be getting used as part of the Ibrox PR smoke and mirrors deflection stratagem.
However the smoke has been blown away and the mirrors seriously cracked by these emails released by CF. We don’t know if they are genuine but if they aren’t then Rangers must ‘offishally’ state they are fakes as they are all over the internet and even being widely discussed on Bear sites.
The craven SMSM still sits with its collective head buried in the flare sand bucket and the Hampden dossier has grown to such an extent it now has a desk of its own behind a locked reinforced steel door. Groans can be heard from the room where no one but the top man can enter.
But it’s not known whether the groaning is human or from the weight of the Rangers dossier bearing down on the desk and being transmitted to the very foundations of the SFA HQ. Some have reported that shrieks are also now being heard but it’s unclear whether this is from a stressed mind or from steel and concrete approaching breaking point ❗
Great post as usual.
I don’t post much now but do read everything.
I think that those in the SFA will brass it out hoping that battle fatigue will wear us all out and all will be fine in the land of Sevconia.
Personally I think the worst is to come. All those investors investing in a company which thinks it has assets which were obtained on the back of a fraud. When the fraud is exposed the assets go back to the rightful owner and the investors have bought a pig in a poke, whic seems to be par for the course with Green’s ventures.
Even if that does not prove to be fact, the “club” playing football owes the spivconians circa 14 Million and they don’t do walking away, certainly not with empty pockets.
Keep up the good work everyone there is a lot of mileage left in this yet.
Neepheid
On your point of who the clubs want as President:
At the first mention of the file on the top man’s desk by BRTH I thought that it was not going to be a file on wrongdoing at The Rangers but a file about wrongdoing at other clubs.
The kind of file J Edgar Hoover had on US policians about their little peccadillos.
Very unlikely I know but when you look at the situation overall and have excluded likely reasons for CO staying in place, then you start to think of the unlikely.
Eco,
Small point, I take it that should read Ian Hart. I’m struggling to keep up!
The Scotsman : Rangers Boardroom Battle headed for the Courts
http://t.co/dBiFCv57HX
John Clarke. Nice wee day out for you ?
methinks could be a rather busy day ahead.
😀
The next time a Dinosaur pontificates about Bampottery, refer them to this article. Keevins, Young and their like could’t have written BRTH’s article.
They couldn’t have written it for 2 reasons. Lack of ability and lack of a willing platform. There are good writers in the media, some very good writers. The problem is a willing platform. Just imagine what kind of outcome there would have been to Rangers scandalous behaviour without , the internet, blogs, and twitter.
Imagine if all the publicly available information was provided by the Scottish Press. Those who suspected foul play, would have been largely isolated. No platform to share and expose.
As BRTH brilliantly points out. That world is the one the SFA inhabits. Through choice.
Why ? Because they don’t want scrutiny, they don’t want exposure and transparancy. They want the old order of secrecy, closed door rulings and no accountability. In failing to deal honestly and openly they act in a manner that damages the very role they are charged with. They are little or no better than the current Rangers board.
One small example.
Darryl Broadfoot. Head of communications. An individual who refuses to communicate or engage. What exactly is his purpose. Tough questions get completely ignored, even when they are asked in polite and measured terms. This guy has a job that is as relevant to modern day business as a Telex machine operator.
The gutless cowardly manipulations of the SFA have been a huge contributory factor in alienating many supporters……….of all clubs. BRTH has used wit and humour to point out their complete inadequacy. I hope , but have no expectation, that they are thoroughly ashamed of themselves
There could have been no finer way to wake up to the day than reading BRTH’s post. A clever piece of work even if it had been about a fictional situation, or a mythical club!
But it is , as we know. rooted in grim fact: the negligence over many years of a Football governing body that was so in bed with one club that it had allowed that club to kill itself in its attempts to reign supreme by cheatery, and , in fear of the ravaging hordes, permitted by breaking its own rules a bastard new club to pretend to be the old club.
Aided and abetted by the equally fearful and/or complicit MSM, including BBC radio Scotland.
Our interest in the ridiculous farce at Ibrox is in seeing the whole charade brought to an end, and when that happens, a clear out by the tainted people in Football governance.
Indeed.
In the email, Stockbridge also (allegedly) says that he has been “unable to reach Malcolm” so clearly Murray was completely ‘out of the loop’ at that point.
Just a note on the court proceedings then have to go to work for the day Booooooooo
If you’re going down greenie, please, please, please take as many of them with you as you go.
Can anyone throw any light on Ahmad’s severance payment? He is shown in the accounts to have received nothing, (note 28) yet it says in the CF documents that he was offered £500k, initially accepted, but then changed his mind and turned it down. Now I can’t believe anyone walks away with nothing from a situation where £500k is on the table- it’s settle or sue, surely? And I can’t see any mention of a contingent liability in the accounts either, so I assume he hasn’t sued. Any ideas?
So a current Rangers director emailed the rest of the board in July 2013 , stating significant further investment was vital, and Deloittes sign off on a going concern without qualification ? That might come back to haunt Deloitte’s
Another fine piece by BRTH, but, one which, unusually for BRTH, misses the target. I have no doubt that Mr Ogilvy has done, and will continue, to do everything he can to help Rangers. I am also quite sure, that whatever private misgivings Mr Regan may have, he will continue to go along, he is in too deep now to do anything else.
However, these two gentlemen would not not be able to do anything, without the active support, indeed permission, of those who have sat and continue to sit in the boardrooms at Hampden. This is the dirty, and not so secret fact at the heart of this scandal.
This dirty secret is also why we will never see Hampden willingly reveal anything like the truth. The people in the boardrooms know, that if the real story emerges it will not be just whatever remains of the reputations of Messers Ogilvy and Regan that will be trashed, but, that a number of lucrative, (knocking on for seven figures lucrative in some cases), careers in Scottish Football will come, to a sudden, abrupt and permanent halt.
Unfortunately for them, they are no longer in control of the situation, if they ever were. The truth is out there, and it is coming to football fans across Scotland soon. The suits know that when it does, the ordinary fans will rise in fury in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee, in clubs the length and breadth of Scotland, and, by an order of magnitude greater in, Glasgow.
When that day comes, it will not be the spirit of 1690 that rules, but that of 1789. The suits won’t have to send for whom the tumbrils roll, they will be rolling for them. Events over the last year, have transformed me from a loyal supporter and a happy customer, into a Jacobin, convinced that a Robespierre is required to lead the Revolution that we desperately need to sweep away this despicable Ancien Regime that is sucking the life out of Scottish Football..
neepheid says:
October 4, 2013 at 10:42 am
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My understanding is that he is having his day in court.
The latest leaked email from Charlotte reveals that it was the respected financial firm Cenkos, who were then Nominated Advisers to RIFC, who kicked off the moves to have the current board removed and new directors voted on.
An extremely unusual step for a Nomad to take.
You would have to wonder what could have prompted them to conclude that it would be in the best interests of the company as a whole for these directors to be removed. As quickly as possible.
Especially as another Nomad, Strand Hanson, has subsequently moved on as well, leaving RIFC on to its third Nomad in less than a year (a highly unusual and integrity-damagaging turn of events), in this case the “Third Division” outfit (appropriately!) of Daniel Stewart.
If these developments do not make Rangers fans fear for the proper corporate governance of the Parent Company of the Holding Company that was assigned the SFA membership of the now-dead club then they surely deserve everything that is coming their way in the form of spiv-induced financial calamity.
last 2 tweets from Charlotte
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 31m
One from the past. Did Willie Young have a conflict of interest, and if so, what were the reasons given?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/173297653/Determination
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 2m
All but 1 of the current directors want to settle with Imran. I still advise £0 on basis of leaking Group/SFA info to CW. #Disrepute #Bodies
Smugas says:
October 4, 2013 at 10:29 am
Eco,
Small point, I take it that should read Ian Hart. I’m struggling to keep up!
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Quite correct Smugas – well spotted. I have corrected it.
I think we’re all struggling and none more so than those in the Ibrox Bunker where the PR spinning machine must be red hot.
is the tweets narrowing down the identity of charlotte? feels like there is going to be a big reveal not to far away 😛
Check the date on this one.
======================
vCharlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 1h
Gobsmacked.
http://i.imgur.com/VAFqXjI.jpg
Tic 6709 says:
October 4, 2013 at 11:31 am
The use of ‘urgency’ and ‘cruicial’ in relation to finances at the end of July. Clearly Mr Hart wasn’t aware then of of the splendid set of accounts that were presented the other day. 🙂
Perhaps a stupid question, but why is Ian Hart the one who’s doing all the spadework here. Is he not an Non-Exec Director?
v
tomtom says:
October 4, 2013 at 11:54 am
Perhaps a stupid question, but why is Ian Hart the one who’s doing all the spadework here. Is he not an Non-Exec Director?
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Exactly the right question.
Going by the list of directors those emails were sent to, would it be naughty to suggest that Charlotte is in fact Walter Smith? 😉
Tic 6709 says:
October 4, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Indeed , it is further evidence, if such was required, of just how dysfunctional the board is. It also demonstrates, that Mr Green or no Mr Green, the only use the Corporate Governance Code is put to at Ibrox, is as paper in the Executive toilet!
Sure you mean “Walter” (the man with no surname) – and I’d infer that he’d be unlikely to give an alter ego a surname too 😀
The cardigan crossed my mind earlier too nick.
Say for instance the requisitioners successfully argued in court this morning that the current board illegally blocked the appointment of new directors at the upcoming AGM, where would that leave matters? I can’t imagine suggestions of at this stage alleged criminality would go down to well with the shareholders.
Alternatively, where would it leave matters if they failed in such an argument?
I guess we may find out later today!