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.
DP
you would have thought so ,
That reminds me ,I have to nip over to B&Q for some whitewash .
========================================================
Tiff Finn
I knew the Ticketus deal was not a loan but I still cannot understand the deal overall .
Why were Ticketus willing to purchase 4 years advance seat sales in a Scottish football club with a possible £60m tax debt over it’s head and a well known troubled financial history (Murray had been trying to sell it for years ) .
Previous Ticketus arrangements were short term end of season deals ,why change that routine and why with Ragers in the state they were in .
Also as you say ,seemingly without checking out Scottish law .
No matter the structure of the deal ,why did Ticketus hand CW 18m up front (funnily enough the same amount Ragers owed the bank) when CW was taking Ragers off Minty’s hands for a mere £1 .
Sorry but IMO it did not add up then and it does not add up now
Exiled Celt says: (723)
October 17, 2013 at 5:11 pm
And as for roll on independence – Salmond has called them the fabric of Scottish society and has put this one side Offensive Behaviour act in – not sure he is going to win a lot of Yes votes this way
—————————————————————————————————————-
FFS. Only in Scotland. Roll on independence (tongue in cheek) Salmond nailed his colours to the mast concerning this constitutional club and IMO has put a nail in the coffin of an Independent Scotland.
There is more to football than football.
How many ‘Chris Morgan’s’ are there in this can of worms?
Earlier today Charlotte V3 posted an email dated 06.04.2013 from Chris Morgan to Malcolm Murray urging Malcolm to call a board meeting to suspend Green, Amhed and Stockbridge while the independent investigation was taking place. Chris described this as ‘our view’. He says ‘I suggest that their will be evidence available to substantiate the position of Whyte’. He goes on ‘from my own investigations separately I am confident that there will be a lot of evidence submitted to substantiate such a claim’
The name ‘Chris Morgan’ rang a bell and sure enough back in June 2012 a Chris Morgan @manageing risc.com was part of an email chain which included Imran, Aiden Earley and our old friend Craig Whyte. The email was discussing the setting up of SPV’s as part of the initial funding to buy the corpse.
Manageingrisc appears to provide an unusual range of services which include:
Corporate Investigation and Litigation Support
Business Intelligence
Security Risk Management
Cyber Risk Analysis, Computer Forensics & Protection
Intellectual Property Protection
Anti Money Laundering, Asset Tracing & Recovery
Corporate Due Diligence
Personal Due Diligence
Reputational Issues
Employee Fraud Investigations
Physical Security Protection
and
Surveillance & Counter Surveillance
Electronic Counter Measures
Criminal Mission Analysis
Test Purchasing
Kidnap Ransom Assessments
Close Protection
Personal Protection
Marine Security
A couple of questions: Where did Chris acquire his ‘evidence’? And who paid and is still paying his fees?
ecobhoy says: (2016)
October 17, 2013 at 8:06 pm
17 0 Rate This
Press stories today claim Mather has walked away with £300K.
But the document released tonight which is allegedly Mather’s contract shows quite clearly that if he is sacked by the company then he gets a 12 months pay-off.
But if he decides to walk then he only gets 3 months viz £75k.
So what did he get and if it was £300K what were the grounds for sacking him?
_________________________________________
I would assume he was given a £300k pay off because he was given reassurances by whoever is pulling the strings over there these days that if he resigned he’d receive a full years salary.
It clearly shows it wasn’t his choice to resign or he’d have only received £75k. He’s been told to resign.
Lord Wobbly @ 8.59pm
Ooh I’m jealous
that’s the first I’ve listened all week (been on holiday) but to be honest I used to get really wound up but now it’s very entertaining and as I’ve said before makes doing the ironing a little more pleasant 😆 especially a big holiday one 😆
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it til I’m blue (sorry, make that maroon) in the face..it’s vital to question, investigate, and highlight the lies and corruption, but when it comes to the actual football the only option is to let them operate in their own microcosmic bubble (where they can sing about their values and prejudices to themselves as much as they like – after all the authorities are quite happy to endorse this it seems)..but no-one in their right mind who is actually interested in Scottish football, or has any self respect, should attend any games involving them, or watch any coverage of them on tv. To do so is to give them an audience and an outlet , which is what they crave.
fergusslayedtheblues says: (148)
October 17, 2013 at 9:35 pm
—————————–
This has held my interest from the off, and I posted a very similar post to your own or RTC.
To recap briefly: Ticketus deals in EIS’s, tax avoidance schemes up to a limit of £2M per individual. They do not invest their own money. So who were the unlucky 13 and why did they invest, or why was their clients money invested in a basket case? Their previous largest deal, from memory, was with Man. Utd. for £6M.
They made a mistake with Scottish law and were stiffed? Someone on their staff was an insider?
Either way, they have not gone away. Stockbridge’s CV includes Allenby Capital and Zeus and he is the last man standing,having been in from the beginning with Ahmed at least.
It is possible that innocent investors were involved through established institutional investors being “duped”, or even that the original money came from people involved in the masterplan. (Excuse my CFC paranoia), but what is going on at present , it seems to me, is the repayment of the original investors.
For brevity, I will skip too much speculation, but the plan has always been to pay off the intermediary owners, in cluding Ticketus’ clients and sell on, probably to DK. Some of the largest shareholders of RIFC wre recruited by the same people that hired Ticketus i. e. CW, CG and so on.
Fair dooz oldshed, but if what is chanted is against the law then the authorities must take action and press charges. Soldiers, of course, are exempt.
For those that haven’t read this yet.Was posted on twitter this morning by @CharlotteFakes3 but now removed from Imgur.
Not sure of it’s authenticity though.
From: Chris Morgan
Date: 6 April 2013 11:00.00
To: Malcom Murray
Subject: Rangers
Dear Malcom,
Further to our numerous discussions recently in terms of the information which has been circulated in the media regarding the apparent relationship with Whyte and Green, Ahmed and Stockbridge. I suggest there will be evidence available to substantiate to follow and from my own investigations separately I am confident that there will be a lot of evidence submitted to substantiate such a claim.
As discussed and given all the circumstances, I suggest that a BoD meeting (minus Green) is called as a matter of urgency and a resolution is tabled to suspend Green, Ahmed and Stockbridge until an independent investigation has been conducted into the allegations, the conclusions of which will be the deciding factor in the fate of these three individuals. This needs to occur, in our view, as a matter of urgency and they should not be allowed to enter the offices as, if they are allowed, they may be able to frustrate any investigation by way of disposing of documentation and information pertinent to the investigation.
The BoD needs to address this urgently and release a Press release once such a resolution is passed demonstrating that the Board know nothing about these allegations until they broke yesterday, that the suspects have been suspended pending a full independent enquiry/investigation which will be undertaken by INDEPENDENT accountants/lawyers etc. If this is not done, I expect the BoD members will be tainted by the same brush as Green etc. by the media and third parties PLUS, one should also consider that if this is true (And I refer you to our previous conversations) this will be absolutely toxic for the club and ergo the shareholders/share price and without a robust action now, the whole thing will implode.
As outlined to you previously, I will make myself available to assist you and the club in any way I can going forward.
Best Wishes
Chris Morgan
Ibrox Stadium
Ratings: 0|Views: 17,261|Likes: 0
Published by Andrew Wilson
the great stadium robbery
IBROX STADIUM:
THE GREAT STADIUM ROBBERY
THIS DOCUMENT IS A TRUE RECOLLECTION OF EVENTS AT IBROX STADIUM;Please note the names and characters have
NOT
been changed to hide their identities;These events have been on-going for 7 months and with the FULL knowledge of Brian StockbridgeCraig Mather the internal HR department and George Angus (consultant).We will cover each individual shortly and there background. Firstly let me tell you a story!Once upon a time rangers had a facilities manager his name was Ross and to be fair to him he did adecent job, then one day in February he was removed from his duties and in effect paid off. He is not allowed to discuss any issues he had at rangers because of a confidentiality clause. What thenhappened was rather disturbing! Stockbridge brought in a consultancy company called ACTIVE
CORPORATE and then allowed a complete stranger to take over a serving member of staff’s office
and duties while he (Ross)was still employed as a manager.Rangers HR department where fully complicit in this whole sorry sage taking place and did not takean independent view of what was going on under the strict instructions of stockbridge and Mather.This consultancy company ACTIVE CORPORATE run by a man named as IAIN MORGAN or IAIN ARTHUR MORGAN has been supplying his services since at least February and to this day he is still
supplying services (which brings us to one of the points about “the great stadium robbery” this
guy has been drawing money from the rangers well at an alarming rate and he even got one of hisemployees MR GEORGE ANGUS to head the facilities department as an EXPERT! This is another guy who has taken vast sums from rangers in the last seven months.Meanwhile Stockbridge keeps supplying services to rangers using MORGAN and ANGUS to cover histracks. What the real fans want to know is how much has ACTIVE CORPORATE taken from rangerssince February? The first thing Mather and Stockbridge did once they had decided that the £22M IPO cash was theirswas to actively recruit w
ithin the current staff at rangers and get their “insider traders “to allow
complete control over the budgets and spending issues. They then got Jim Traynor to cover the mediaside of things and head off any awkward questions.The staff members that were recruited under promises of promotion or other devious reasons are:Irene Munro (head of marketing/hospitality) reward for turning directorship!
Cont.Gordon McAllister (project coordinator) reward for being a dirty rotten scoundrel and personally being involved in getting three colleagues made redundant assistant facilities manager?? This guy is a joke and has absolutely no backbone I know for a fact he was promised the position of facilities manager but due to his complete incompetence stockbridge had to rethink his plan and put GEORGE ANGUS in to the facilities department as an EXPERT, with the full backing of Mather and theclubs HR department (we will come to them shortly)Ken overmans (accounts controller) this guy is the very worst kind and actually thinks he is doing agreat job! I will mention one name CRAIG WHYTE! He helped Whyte single headedly remove over £9M in unpaid taxes and kept it secret in case HE lost his job! He is now doing it again withStockbridge and Mather. When will the fans demand people like him should not be anywhere near the club god knows how much has went missing into different accounts and sub contract companies
with Stockbridge’s full knowledge.
Finally the HR department: this department has blood on its hands; my understanding of a HRdepartment is it is supposed to be fair, impartial and unbiased. They are supposed to assist theemployer and employee? Not the rangers HR department led by Claire rinkes and supported by theworst staff member of the year Yvonne whitelock, these two staff members have been heavily involved with the outrageous redundancy process that is taking place and had been on-going since June 2013 they have threatened and bullied and harassed affected staff all under the DIRECT knowledge of stockbridge and Mather. Jim Traynor should hang his head in shame he has bullied and harassed staff since the beginning of May 2013 and was personally involved in getting Lindsay Herron made redundant a shameful act!
Now you know some of the CAST in “the great stadium robbery” please feel free to check them out!
The scams that HAVE taken place since at least December/January is to use several “investors” and
then sub contract any/all work to them or their preferred supplier, the scam them involves the said sub-contractors and consultants to overcharge the club and I MEAN overcharge by many thousandsand in some instances tens/hundreds of thousands of pounds. This has been allowed to happen by
mainly Stockbridge but Mather is well aware of what has been happening using “the insider traders”
to cover their tracks within the stadium.
There are a couple of other companies complicit in this “robbery” namely APM contracts ltd another of MORGAN and STOCKBRIDGE’S friends this is the guy who was
given the work to upgrade the shopsin Belfast and Glasgow airport! He was also slung the job for EDMINSTON house but was not equipped to deal with this rather large contract. This is mainly due to the building being covered in
ASBESTOS! He didn’t know how to d
eal with it so another easy way to drain more cash from the club!Mather has almost admitted that part as he now says the building may be demolished, I wonder whowill get that job? There has been NO public tendering for any work at the stadium and Murray Park since January WHY because this allows Stockbridge and Mather to SELECT their companies and friends to fulfil any work
required at ranger at VAST EXPENSE this has been happening since January and is still happeningtoday every day.Stockbridge was already a wealthy man before he arrived at rangers but when you work out how much has went missing and how many companies he and Chico have tied up then you begin torealise it is nothing more than PURE GREED this guy could not even spell rangers, he is not in theslightest bit interested in the club he is only interested in how much MORE cash he can take out!Mather is slightly different (only in one respect) in that he invested £1M into the club on the promiseof running the whole youth setup? Unfortunate
ly he couldn’t hack it and wormed his way into the
chief operating officer position (this job was NEVER advertised) and it was put his way by Chico so he
had his “insider trader” but now Mather has been exposed for what he really is another money
grabber w
ho isn’t in the slightest bit interested in rangers, it’s all smoke and mirrors with him trying
to win favour with whoever is in a position of power THIS GUY CAN NOT BE TRUSTED he is greensman!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/164681674/Ibrox-Stadium
Some rumours going around about Longmuir being next new face in the Sevco boardroom. I Know, I know its getting late.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Nytol.
Palacio67 says: (218)
October 17, 2013 at 11:21 pm
That would be the guy who did such a great job with the SFL, that he lost out to Mr Donacaster, of all people, for the new top job? That Mr Longmuir?
Sounds like the perfect chap for the job, actually they deserve each other.
ratethisthenyabampots says: (65)
October 17, 2013 at 10:41 pm
7 0 i Rate This
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Fair dooz oldshed, but if what is chanted is against the law then the authorities must take action and press charges. Soldiers, of course, are exempt.
still awaiting the outcome of the spl enquiry to the first post admin killie game at sevco……………………..
The funds of The Rangers have been taken by the spivs. They are almost bankrupt and the season still has 7 months to go. They cannot finish the season. They cannot legally trade whilst insolvent. Watch out for the switcherroo Mark II . Administration, liquidation and hey presto another “Rangers” with unbroken history emerges and shoehorned into football at some level by the SFA ahead of all other aspiring clubs. problem is that you cannot TUPE the players and thus a mass exodus of playing staff. If the Rangers fans thought 2012 was bad then 2014 will be horrendous.
Fisiani. Never mind 2014 for goodness sake. Let’s wait and see what 2013 has left in it. I can’t see them managing 2 years of unbroken history. The brown stuff is nearing something that oscillates at an alarming rate IMO.
The latest revelations from the latest “Charlotte” are so explosive that I can understand the reluctance of people to immediately assume they are genuine. But the rapidity with which they have been removed suggests to me that they are at least as authentic as previous info which was initially looked upon with scepticism.
The Sevco project has fallen apart and, while it’s the very last thing they want to do, the SFA are going to have to clothespeg their nostrils, take buckets and shovels in hand, and clean out the latrine. This stink is infecting not only Scottish football but, from my detached view, Scottish society. The remarks of the MoD spokeswoman in relation to future armed forces days at Ibrox are all but stupefying in their insensitivity. Truly, this issue seems to be driving some people over the edge.
It’s none of my business but I wonder just what impact this disgraceful episode is having on independence referendum voting intentions — either way?
The DK Fit & Proper litmus with the SFA. Perhaps the Easdale experience and precedent may be an indication of how the land lies.
James Easdale is a member of both the RIFC and TRFC boards. Alexander is a member of only the TRFC board.
One might infer that the nomad has put a roadblock on the fitness of Sandy because of his criminal conviction, but the SFA appear to set the bar considerably lower. One might also argue in the SFA’s defence, that Sandy’s legal difficulties are over a decade ago, and his subsequent unblemished record would see him as acceptable to the SFA as a member of the football board, even if unacceptable to the markets.
I had a long chat today with a gentleman who has worked in Scottish football in one capacity or another for over twenty years. He has experience of football finance and has worked closely with, and sometimes against, all of the major players in the game in the UK throughout that time.
He believes that the events at Ibrox over the past year and a half have been a study in greed, avarice and asset stripping, and one of utterly mind-blowing incompetence and buffoonery – and that this view is shared by most people in Scottish football.
His view is that King will certainly be unable to join the RIFC board as it is inconceivable that he would be deemed proper by the market authorities. Since his 41 criminal convictions are not a year old, he assumes that the SFA would also consider him unsuitable.
He told me that most of the top clubs also see it as inconceivable that King could be deemed fit and proper by the SFA, and that if the SFA board were to deem him fit and proper then that might be a bridge too far for many of those clubs. It may in effect put a stop to their hitherto readiness to assist the quick “return” to the top for TRFC.
I won’t hold my breath since my own view is that the clubs will do nothing to prevent a hastening of TRFC’s progress up the leagues.
One of the difficulties here is establishing facts. Last night on Sportsound Chick was stunned when Spence put it to him that the SFA had called the show and said that no conversations had taken place with King. His immediate response, taken off guard, was, “Name your source”. Spence avoided a direct answer as to who had felt they had the authority and the need to phone the programme live on air,but Chick’s inference was clear: He thought his source was untouchable and he could not imagine who would contradict it. So who made the call?. We will see, but it has to be either Regan or someone acting on his instruction, and the message to CO is , “Enough is enough, we can’t swallow that”
So the King would be dead. This is a problem as he would be the only obvious candidate able to sell a sale and leaseback to the masses as well as a cull of players in January. He has also, most likely, been the chosen recipient of the chalice all along and may even have buried enough old notes to wash them down and invest them.
So the smsm today have responded with Purslow. Pig excrement descending at 10m/s.
It’s hard to see liquidation 2 being part of the plan, and in the end it’s all down to price, but time is running out to find a new King.
Last night may have been a big moment in this.
From the nightshift…………….
Craig Whyte @CW71 1h
Who would create a blatantly fake account then transfer ownership to me?
Not anyone inside Ibrox for starters.
#TerminatingAccount #Trap
Then he was gone………………………………….
Charlotte Fakes III @CharlotteFakes3 56m
How about a Q&A, same time tomorrow evening?
You ask the question but publish the answer on your own timelines.
Would that work?
DR reporting on front page that Stockbridge gets a chateau, too 🙂
http://twitpic.com/dhr2qk/full
mcfurgly 10:40pm
We are on the same page re Ticketus and the green dream redeeming the losses .
Interesting point regarding the 13 investors IMO you brought back the focus to a critical point .
Why have these investors still not been revealed ,surely that is not beyond BDO’s remit ,in fact I would say it’s critical and the key to the saga .
Would Ticketus just sit down with CW (who it seems they have never had dealings with) and enter a deal for £18m up front ,or was there 3 peepil at that meeting ?
Also ,if Ticketus were in a deal with CW for the first time ,would alarm bells not ring off the wall when he could not repay the first instalment on the £18m .This point to me is also critical ,as they seemingly decided to then hand over another £5m for another years seats ,is this normal business practice ?.
What would CW have said to get Ticketus to hand over even more money at this point ?
Why did Ticketus seemingly just hand it over ,would THEN not have been a good time to check Scottish law and ensure the deal was watertight .
IMO the Other person-CW-Ticketus triangle is where BDO,s focus should be ,sort out what went on here and a lot more of the saga may make sense
Going back to Chick Young, Sportsound and the SFA. Given that last night another Journalist, Mark Guidi, stated much the same as Chick did the night before, does Dave King now have PR people actively briefing on his behalf? Having said that I do not trust the SFA at all, but would someone of seniority be tipping of hacks at this stage of the game while the organisation felt the need to contact Sportsound the the other night and deny talks have taken place about King? It is all so murky, and neither Young or Sportsound (Jim Spence as I recall) are willing to name their sources.
Perhaps we should all beware of the SFA on this one though. In 2012 they made a decision that Scottish Football would not survive without a Rangers in the SPL. When that failed they went for a Rangers in the 1st Division, and that failed too. However, Scottish Football HAS survived. Are they now taking the view that someone with money getting involved with Rangers is the best thing for Scottish Football, when of course it is only the best thing for Rangers. Perhaps the stage has now been reached where they don’t care where that money comes from, as long as it’s there. I’m sure they thought ‘clean’ money would have arrived by this time, and it speaks volumes that it hasn’t. Of course, I am no position to state any money Dave King invests in Rangers is not clean, but I am in a position to state it is an undeniable fact he is a convicted tax evader. If they force Dave King upon our game, where to next?
Upthehoops
The SFA flushed any semblance of credibility our game had down the toilet long ago ,IMO we are now at a stage in this debacle where anything goes regarding the SFA .
If Sevco want DK the SFA will escort him up the marble staircase and make him a cup of tea .
IMO after S Bryson’s disgraceful performance in the LNS case the whole organisation is not fit for purpose .
Now I’m beginning to understand the attraction of French chateaux to those that think tax is for others…
“Foreigners are looking at France anew because they’ve realized that, at the end of the day, the tax hell is for us, not for them.”
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-14/paris-luxury-property-lures-overseas-rich-as-french-flee-taxes.html
meanwhile…
http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/footballers-in-france-ready-to-strike-1-3148071
PS Does Paul Baxendale-Walker have a French office?
RANGERS director Brian Stockbridge has bought a £755,000 mansion after presiding over a shocking £14million loss at the club.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rangers-director-brian-stockbridge-splashed-2464822
The house is yards from the home of twice-bankrupt businessman Jim Park, a close pal of former Rangers owner Craig Whyte and a former adviser at Ibrox.
Police are investigating comments on the Follow Follow fan site which appeared to incite criminal damage to Stockbridge’s home and car.
yakutsuki says: (104)
October 18, 2013 at 7:11 am
5 0 Rate This
———-
Can’t you use the edit post function?
[SFM – Sorted!]
This is what I don’t get.
The only revenue stream for TRFC is from the fans: Season Tickets, pay-at-the-gate, TRFC apparel, pies & bovril at the game. There is next to nothing from sponsors and from TV.
At the same time the fans cannot be blind to all the stories about the spivs escaping with fortunes, SuperAlly on ca 800k a year, etc. etc.
Why are they NOT up in arms about this? Can’t they see that it’s THEIR money that is funding all this spiv feeding at the trough? Sure it went on in the RFC days with players they couldn’t afford, but at least back then it wasn’t just their money that was funding those excesses. (There was TV money and money from sponsors etc.) NOTE – I am not condoning this by the way.
To me this is the greatest puzzle: What is so different with the Gerz psyche that they cannot organise?
Are they just so used to years and decades of entitlement that their DNA just assumes it will continue for ever?
Or do they just not see – unlike most of us on this forum – where it is bound to end. We don’t know the when but we do know the what.
I wonder if I could get a job at Ibrox? I could do with a castle.
The successful large-scale manipulation of the blind “loyalty” of bears is utterly baffling. Their inability to accept the blatantly obvious, enormous draining of their club really does beggar belief.
Amazing.
v
Angus1983 says: (1172)
October 18, 2013 at 8:57 am
I wonder if I could get a job at Ibrox? I could do with a castle.
The successful large-scale manipulation of the blind “loyalty” of bears is utterly baffling. Their inability to accept the blatantly obvious, enormous draining of their club really does beggar belief.
Amazing.
===============================
To paraphrase a well known pie eater,
” It’s got nothing to do with me, but I can’t say I’m not enjoying it.”
“But on Thursday I pick up my Daily Record and discover that, in actual fact, the guy walked out the door with a £300,000 pay-off in his pocket. That’s not bad, eh?”
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/barry-ferguson-rangers-fans-loyalty-2464497
“Barry Ferguson – Former youth player who became Rangers captain. Played at Ibrox from 1996-2003 and 2005-2009. £2.5 million in EBT” – THAT’S NOT BAD BARRY, EH?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18148818
Angus1983 says: (1172)
October 18, 2013 at 8:57 am
3 0 Rate This
I wonder if I could get a job at Ibrox? I could do with a castle.
The successful large-scale manipulation of the blind “loyalty” of bears is utterly baffling. Their inability to accept the blatantly obvious, enormous draining of their club really does beggar belief.
Amazing.
==========================================================================
errrrmmm
it’s exactly the same with the patrons of Celtic Park !
handing over cash – blindly !
Celtic are complicit in the Sevco cherade – for money reasons.
The Celtic board know that 1000’s of muppets will still hand over cash without asking any questions,
so the Celtic board have nothing to worry about, as long as they don;t rock the boat regarding Sevco and the switcheroo.
for example
why have Celtic NEVER challenged any part of the “secret” 5 way agreement ?
jimlarkin says: (553)
October 18, 2013 at 9:17 am
————————————————-
Jim, as much as some of the points you continue to make are valid and I’m sure, felt by many other Celtic fans including myself, the negative nature of your posts and continued reference to the fans being muppets means I can no longer read anything that you write. I like debate but I find your attitute no better than some of the extreme fan sites so would prefer to avoid this, not having that sort of bitterness (or at least not much of it) is the main reason I come on here.
You would be better served writing a post about how football fans in general are being fleeced rather than taking a swipe at Celtic every time, especially when you do that under the guise of having a go at Rangers, that to me is either false or whataboutery.
jimlarkin says: (553)
October 18, 2013 at 9:17 am
————————————————————-
This Celtic “muppet” bought an extra season book because Rangers were liquidated and allowed to reform as a new club in the bottom league.
I personally don’t think a new club should have been allowed in but am not naive enough to understand the politics.
If they had shown a modicum of guilt re their shafting of creditors, a generation of financial doping plus their miriad of obnoxious behaviours I’d say, fair enough, but no, they revert to disgusting type +…….I hope 2nd Rangers also get liquidated.
This Celtic “muppet” also gave his shares to Canalamar and Auldheid to put the question to the CFCB about the SFA’s behaviour.
In the words of JFK I ask YOU what YOU have done for your country before you castigate me (and my fellow Celtic fans) as “muppets”?
JimLarkin @ 9:17
The TU/TD count on your post, both in net quantity and division of votes points to the actions or inactions of the Celtic board being an issue of substance, aswell as being emotive. One on which I haven’t until now commented upon.
All I’ll say is that a PLC has a duty to it’s shareholders, this includes safeguarding the enviroment they operate within both at financial and governance levels. This is perhaps why there is a keen debate with a division of opinion.
Does the financial trump the governance ?
Looking towards the medium to long term, I think the Celtic board would or have compromised to a degree on the governance in an attempt to look after the financial.
thanks greenock jack
i catch your drift, but
even now, as the celtic supporters trust [shareholders who feel celtic have been financially disadvantaged by the SFA/Rangers shinanigans] want celtic to approach uefa about an investigation
… what is the Celtic board’s stance?
they want it booterd out !!!
as i say, the Celtic board are in on the switcheroo and also have their noses in the smaller trough.
the celtic fans are being fleeced and are themselves complicit, by handing over their cash.
well this one aint giving another penny to celtic, celtic pools, celtic merchandise, sky tv, bt sport, ladbrokes, billy hill etc etc
it is beyond doubt – one big con
Another day. another 38,000 pounds gone. income nil. Chance of Liquidation 100%
Fisiani, surely?
Another day. another 338,000 pounds gone. income nil. Chance of Liquidation 100%
Mr Mather walked off with £300k in his hip pocket yesterday.
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ecobhoy says: (2016)
October 17, 2013 at 8:06 pm
17 0 Rate This
Press stories today claim Mather has walked away with £300K.
But the document released tonight which is allegedly Mather’s contract shows quite clearly that if he is sacked by the company then he gets a 12 months pay-off.
But if he decides to walk then he only gets 3 months viz £75k.
So what did he get and if it was £300K what were the grounds for sacking him?
_________________________________________
I would assume he was given a £300k pay off because he was given reassurances by whoever is pulling the strings over there these days that if he resigned he’d receive a full years salary.
It clearly shows it wasn’t his choice to resign or he’d have only received £75k. He’s been told to resign.
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Who can tell Mather to resign..there is no formal mechanism left to sack him (without process) or settle with him. These actions in an AIM listed company fall to appropriate committees which are made up of non executive director. At the last count there was only one non exec so any decisions have yet again been made outside the AIM rules.
I made a point last night about Charlottes recent tweets regarding authenticity although the actual story told by the documents could have come straight off the pages of TSFM. Ecobhoy and myself and a few others are very much in the Sevco 5088/Sevco Scotland switcheroo camp so it would prove our point completely, although I think Charlotte appears to be teasing her intended targets Green, Ahmad etc for a settlement……….even alluding to a lawyer in the twitter feed. Why would you ask for confirmation of a lawyers email address on twitter unless you were making some sort of point. Equally do we know twitter is pulling Charlotte or is she doing it herself in order to demonstrate what she COULD do. Kind of paints a picture for me that CW is wanting his cut or else he may resort to actually producing the “smoking gun” which is definitely out there!
Just like to comment about the irresponsible journalism in The Record today. In one sentence they say that Stockbridge’s home and car have been threatened online and they then post a big picture of the guys house, just in case anyone was in any doubt as to what his house looked like and wanted to attack it. Im no fan of Rangers but you would think from the article that the Record are further inciting people to attack the guys house. The guy has a family and his kids i’m sure did not ask their Dad to invest in Rangers and rip them off. Very poor show but really should we be surprised by the Record, gutter press at best.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/video-keith-jackson-rounds-up-2463681
KEITH JACKSON joins Gregor Kyle for the latest Record Sport Back Page video,
examining this week’s events at Ibrox
and the resignation of chief executive, Craig Mather.
In this video chat, Keith Jackson is being interviewd by Gregor Kyle,
in which Jackson plays the part of the blind man
as he makes a case for TRFC as victims of the Spiv Heist
and the need for openness, transparency, the truth,
and a root and branch clearout etc..
He can’t see what went on in the Murray years,
and then with Whyte,
when the creditors were the victims
and when RFC were lying, cheating and defrauding everyone in sight,
not least the taxpayer and other clubs.
Where was KJ then with his demands for transparency and a clearout?
KJ is just a younger version of Jim Traynor
except that Traynor was better than Jackson and by a long way.
Jackson and Chic Young are on a par.
Two flagship Scottish media reporters.
Just perfect for the current generation of gullible, brain dead, Ibrox mugs,
as they cough up the cash so that their masters can live in castles.
Makes me smile.
The most intriguing aspect of the Ticketus deal is the timing. CW bought the club for £1 and, at the same time acquired the club’s debt from Lloyd’s by paying them £18m. The source of this money was identified as Ticketus money.
CW must have reached agreement on the sale of the STs before giving SDM his shiny pound coin.
If I approach a bank for a loan of £500+, The bank will automatically run a credit check on me. You would expect a company that was fronting £23m would be most assiduous in it’s verification of not only your personal creditwortiness, but also the soundness of the business which appears to be your main income source.
Did SDM secure the Ticketus deal as part of his agreement to transfer ownership to CW? Did Lloyd’s bank provide anyone involved with a reference?
It’s too incredible that Ticketus fronted investor’s money to a business without being aware of the following:
A debt which had been masked by a vast over valuation of Ibrox/Murray Park
A bill for £2.8m due to HMRC for the DOS
SDM’s unsuccessful attempts to shift the business since 2005
CW’s lack of experience in running a football club.
The same information with respect to CW’s reputation that AJ found so bowel-loosening that he begged SDM not to take the £1.
The only way Ticketus could claim they acted in their investor’s best interests is that they based their faith in SDM &Cw’s bussiness acumen was that they relied on the information available via the Scottish Press.
On the utter hand, an utter cynic might speculate on the possibility that the Ticketus investors were somehow pleased to be able to write off sizeable chunks of cash, in fact it would appear that even when CW’s business model appeared to be flakier than The Singing Detective, they appeared happy to pump a further £6m into the hole. Still, as I understand it, the investors did get some of their money back, something like 30p/£1. Better than nothing! 😀
be a fraud, be very a fraud.
davythelotion says
=====================
If I remember correctly the particular smoke and mirrors re Whyte / Ticketus /Murray/Lloyds was achieved using a Collyer Bristow escrow acount.
Roughly
Ticktus lodge the funds in the account, only to be released when Whyte gets Rangers.
Whyte uses documentation from CB to provide proof of funds to Murray and Lloyds
Murray sells shares to Whyte for £1
Funds are released from CB escrow to Lloyds.
Debt and floating charge are transferred to Whyte.
Whyte now has Rangers, an £18m debt from Rangers to himself (two hats), a floating charge over Rangers assets. He has spent £1 of his own money plus any expenses he has incurred (though whether he paid those is another story.
Tif Finn
Can we discount the floating charge as having any relevance to the present day ?
100BJD says: (81)
October 18, 2013 at 10:24 am
…….Kind of paints a picture for me that CW is wanting his cut or else he may resort to actually producing the “smoking gun” which is definitely out there!
============================================
But what is this ‘smoking gun’?
The latest from Charlotte indicates a possibility that “Mr Green provided Mr Whyte with a signed blank stock transfer form and a letter resigning as a director of 5088, but it is unclear if he did provide these documents, and, if he did, whether that was before or after the Asset Purchase Agreement was signed.”
Is CW in possession of such documents? Was it before the Asset Purchase Agreement was signed?
Was it before any purported novation between Sevco 5088 and Sevco Scotland?
These are huge questions with a potentially cataclysmic effect on TRFC/RIFC, especially as RIFC stated to the LSE on 24 April 2013 that Sevco 5088 was :
“…not an active subsidiary of the Rangers International Football Club plc. It is and has been a defunct non trading company over which termination proceedings began last year and which would have been struck off by the Registrar of Companies had false claims of directorships not been filed recently at Companies House. Sevco 5088 was listed in the company’s announcement dated 22 April 2013 to comply with the AIM Rules for Companies requiring disclosure of directorships held by the directors of the company both currently and during the preceding 5 years. Sevco 5088 was not the acquisition vehicle which purchased the assets of Rangers Football Club.”
So who actually owns Sevco 5088 and who authorised any novation of rights over the purchase of Rangers assets to Sevco Scotland?
Why is Sevco 5088 not shown as a (dormant) subsidiary in the latest RIFC accounts? Having been important enough to merit a stock exchange regulatory announcement back in April stating that there had been “false claims of directorships” why this omission? According to Companies House just this week Sevco 5088 still exists with Green, Whyte and Earley as directors.
Were Deloittes unaware of this situation? What were they told that justified making no mention of ownership of Sevco 5088 in the Annual Report on Page 38 Section 13 Investments where they make mention of much lower profile “Rangers Media Limited, which is a dormant company” and Garrion Security and Rangers Retail?
And from elsewhere in the Annual Report : “On 14 June 2012, Sevco 5088 Limited entered into agreements for no consideration to legally reassign its beneficial interest in funding placing letters held and to novate the trade and assets purchase agreement with RFC 2012 plc (in administration), to Sevco Scotland Limited (now The Rangers Football Club Ltd).”
Having as I understand it paid £200,000 to acquire the rights to purchase the assets of Rangers why would Sevco 5088 pass such rights to Sevco Scotland for ‘no consideration’?
Again if ownership of Sevco 5088 is/was held by RIFC how has the closure/financial performance of Sevco 5088 been treated?
One must assume that there has been a considerable loss at Sevco 5088 due to the transaction undertaken. How is this viewed by the tax authorities? Disposal of an asset for no consideration to a related company after expending a considerable amount of money to acquire it sounds dodgy…. (I appreciate that in the world of TRFC/RIFC this is not earth shaking news!).
Do any of the authorities ever do anything about this kind of thing? Are Deloittes comfortable with all of this? Did the NOMAD have sight of the Deloittes/Pinsent Masons reports? At what point does even a tame NOMAD have to ask AIM to suspend the shares?
Scottish Football needs very strong Arbroath.
So the Daily Record tell us today that Stockbridge has bought a new house (after it becoming public knowledge two days ago on KDS that he was selling his current home in Bearsden). He actually bought it in July 2012 and purchased another part of it in June this year. In other words – “HE’S NOT JUMPING SHIP BAMPOTS”
I smell squirrel.
MoreCelticParanoia says: (32)
October 17, 2013 at 3:13 pm
Torquemada says: (26)
October 17, 2013 at 12:05 pm
I’ve just finished listening to Chick’s hysterical ravings on BBC podcast.
___________________________________________________________
Prompted by your post I’ve also just had a listen.
Remarkable.
The BBC and some others have at last caught up with a three year old story.
My favourite bit was Chic Young’s assertion that it was ‘Walter’ Smith who first hinted that Rangers may have some financial problems.
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Sorry Chick, according to Hugh Keevins it was the Daily Record that broke the story.
This from Keevins a year or more after his protests that the RTC blog was lies and written by internet bampots who didn’t know what they were talking about.
The following was the bold Hugh’s response to a caller on Radio Clyde many moons ago, who asked some awkward questions…
“I’m a sports reporter, not a financial journalist, so I’m not qualified to answer such questions”.
His ignorance though, doesn’t seem to have stopped him from voicing opinions on the matter when he feels like it.
jimlarkin says: (554)
October 18, 2013 at 9:17 am
I guess the Celtic Board of Directors and paying supporters will just have to carry on regardless , despite your protestations.
I’m sure that if the Celtic Board were guilty of anything (dropping litter, drinking too much champagne) then the SMSM will be straight on to it on a flash and the entire nation would belatedly be able to share in the knowledge you have obtained from your crystal ball.
I suspect that the Celtic Board of Directors have been too busy quaffing champagne at the demise of their biggest rivals for 125 years , and from recent events they would be advised to increase their order!
Greenock Jack says
======================
I do, but that is just my opinion.
I don’t see how Sevco Scotland (as was) would have bought the assets with a floating charge held over them remaining.
I also don’t see what debt Wavetower (or whoever was last left holding the charge) would still be owed post liquidation of the business whose assets the floating charge was over.
I am not a bean counter as I have said before, but purely as a layman I believe the floating charge which Craig Whyte held (through whatever vehicle) is now an irrelevance.
EKBhoy says: (122)
October 18, 2013 at 11:26 am
jimlarkin says: (554)
October 18, 2013 at 9:17 am
I guess the Celtic Board of Directors and paying supporters will just have to carry on regardless , despite your protestations.
I’m sure that if the Celtic Board were guilty of anything (dropping litter, drinking too much champagne) then the SMSM will be straight on to it on a flash and the entire nation would belatedly be able to share in the knowledge you have obtained from your crystal ball.
I suspect that the Celtic Board of Directors have been too busy quaffing champagne at the demise of their biggest rivals for 125 years , and from recent events they would be advised to increase their order!
_____________________________________________
What you said!
I believe we’re now at the true end game. There is a simple measure. If TRFC is sold on cheap WITH Ibrox then the switcheroo predicted by many is complete. CG et al have divvied up the fans £5m between them and the institutions have been repaid, by a mechanism I still can’t work out. The club will march on and it’ll be up to the loyal to fund it and/ or accept cost cutting mediocrity.
Spivs have no need to sell Ibrox given the 16m loan in place. If they do they have either accepted a payment possibly pre-arranged, or they have been ‘warned off’. As ever nothing is simple and I can’t work out the Easdales role in this. Can’t forget whytie and the ticketus personal guarantee either. A continuation of the anonymity surrounding investors still suggests to me that the deeds are up for grabs, as is normal in a mortgage situation.
Interesting times.
Tiff/ GJ
We can speculate on the floating charge till the cows return. More importantly a check on the deeds would give a definitive answer on its existence or otherwise. I see more mileage in completing the triangle ticketus’ hold on Craig whyte by virtue of a personal guarantee or similar. If there wasn’t one then a/ ticketus will not be fund managers for long or b/ the deal was already set up, perhaps by someone with credit history with Ticketus. Somebody with squillions to burn? Knight of the realm perhaps?
Debt dumping, like CEOs, is not just for Christmas!
redlichtie says: (258)
October 18, 2013 at 11:10 am
100BJD says: (81)
October 18, 2013 at 10:24 am
…….Kind of paints a picture for me that CW is wanting his cut or else he may resort to actually producing the “smoking gun” which is definitely out there!
============================================
But what is this ‘smoking gun’?
The latest from Charlotte indicates a possibility that “Mr Green provided Mr Whyte with a signed blank stock transfer form and a letter resigning as a director of 5088, but it is unclear if he did provide these documents, and, if he did, whether that was before or after the Asset Purchase Agreement was signed.”
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Redlichtie,
You have stated very well your points. I completely believe that Whyte was shafted in this deal. I have given my rationale for this view in some detail previously so I will not bore the blog again. However, just like the predated Companies House directors forms, accepted by Companies House, to appoint Earley and Whyte as Sevco 5088 directors there wiil also be side letters confirming their deal. The side letter scenario prior to formally creating Companies House documentation, is pretty standard and perfectly ok unless you try to change the original agreement….which is what I think happened. The ex Rangers chairman Alistair Johnston is still concerned that Whyte is still involved and he is probably correct.
Smugas says: (445)
October 18, 2013 at 11:42 am
‘Can’t forget whytie and the ticketus personal guarantee either. A continuation of the anonymity surrounding investors still suggests to me that the deeds are up for grabs, as is normal in a mortgage situation.’
——
I can’t for the life of me shake off the feeling that SDM is the arch-villain.
I feel he must be in behind the Ticketus investors, devising the plan to use Wyte to use them, with Whyte calling in Green to ( the plan was) get RFC into and out of Admin, and all relying on CO and Co to keep them in the SPL (and Bryson to keep them from harm from LNS).
Somehow, Green stiffed both Whyte and the puppet master, and CO failed to deliver.
But SDM is fighting a very strong rearguard counter-offensive with some of his other creatures.He wants Ibrox back.
He is like a f.ckin Octopus, with tentacles running all through the fabric of society and shooting out black ink from every orifice.
Or, perhaps, he IS just a broken ,old has-been of a busted businessman a good few moral degrees baser than some others of Interpol wanted- list rank.
When I contemplate the sheer bloody effrontery of the man in attempting to con the lot of us (including her what knighted him-ironic, or what?) I am rendered almost ( Mrs Clarke says, aye, that’ll be the day!) speechless.
And the possibility that he might still be in there spinning a web disturbs me.
john clarke says:
=================
If the plan was for Whyte to get them in and out of admin then they wouldn’t have any bother staying in the SPL, it would be the same club, still in the same league but debt free.
I have absolutely no problem believing that was the plan
However if it was then someone forgot to tell Craig Whyte not to steal £14m from HMRC in the way he did, because they were never going to agree a CVA after that.
I also have no problem with believing that the next plan was to keep the new club in the SPL, again debt free. However the fans made sure that did not happen and SFL3 was the best the corrupt authorities could manage. Though to be entirely fair the SFL clubs did vote on that and a majority wanted them in. So much as we might not like it that was democracy at play.
I think people sometimes forget that last bit, when they are having a go at the SPL clubs. They voted against Rangers being forced into their league. It was the SFL clubs who voted them into Scottish senior football. It is because of them that Ranger will almost certainly be in the top league within the next coule of seasons. I they had voted differently then Rangers would be at most a junior club right now.
john clarke says: (1253)
October 18, 2013 at 12:25 pm
I suspect that there will be no resurrection for SDM , busted flush yesterday’s man, glad to be out of it. The SMSM will be adopting the ‘just in case’ position and /or if they put the boot into Murray, he will have enough dirt on them to respond.
SDM = Liquidation = He is History
Tif Finn says: (554)
October 18, 2013 at 12:45 pm
“I think people sometimes forget that last bit, when they are having a go at the SPL clubs. They voted against Rangers being forced into their league. It was the SFL clubs who voted them into Scottish senior football. It is because of them that Ranger will almost certainly be in the top league within the next coule of seasons. I they had voted differently then Rangers would be at most a junior club right now.”
Ok, I suppose, if you like your democracy with enough arm twisting to make Robert Mugabe blush….
EKBhoy says: (122)
October 18, 2013 at 11:26 am
I suspect that the Celtic Board of Directors have been too busy quaffing champagne at the demise of their biggest rivals for 125 years , and from recent events they would be advised to increase their order!
_________________________________________________________________________________
Whilst I am saddened by Jim Larkin’s unfair and unkind categorisation of Celtic fans who continue to buy tickets, and the attendant name-calling, my information is that in a corporate sense (although not perhaps on a personal level) there is no bubby-quaffing going at all.
As Greenock Jack rightly infers, the financial aspects trump sporting integrity in the Celtic (as well as other top clubs) boardroom, and the bubby will be on ice until TRFC are in the top league.
Unlike Jim Larkin, I do not immediately jump to the conclusion that only dishonourable people run football clubs – and certainly not the consequent leap that only bad people follow them!
I made a comment recently about Fergus McCann not tolerating the shenanigans of last summer, and yet I have since been advised that the Bunnet’s attitude would have been pragmatic rather than idealistic, and that he would have called the fans’ bluff and voted Sevco into the SPL.
Given that understanding, I can only say that this argument basically boils down to this; either this a sport regulated only by rules and performance, or it is a heavily self-regulated industry where not all performance is rewarded and not all failure is subject to disincentive.
The clubs, have consistently invited the inference that the latter is the case, and indeed there is a great deal of derision involved for those who believe in the former. Since I am an idealist (as a Celtic fan I claim a genetic predisposition to that state), my choice is that football is no longer for me, because it is not the entity I had imagined it was and hoped it would always be.
I fear that the battle for the soul of the game will be lost. There are many of us on here who are engaged with the arguments, and I think it is fair to say that we are less inclined to accept the corporate message than most. Outside of our internet bubble, there are tens of thousands of people who are not so engaged and who care less about the morality, and more about seeing their team do well. It’s not for me to say that they, or those on here who are of a similar mind-set, that they are wrong – only that to continue to support a game I consider to be corrupted in the sense of its sporting identity would be wrong for me.
In my view, Rangers MKII will not suffer any insolvency event. There will be a sale before that happens. A McColl, Murray, Murray or similar (all of whom share the same WATP mind-set and are invested in the Old Rangers culture) will buy it on the cheap, and make the necessary financial adjustments, however disappointing that may be to the fans, to ensure the club’s existence. They will be assisted by the authorities in their masquerade as the continuity club with all titles intact and the meter running at 54 and counting, because that will be the price of retaining the 40-odd thousand customers of the old club.
They won’t rule Scottish football – perhaps never will again, but they may be left with the consolation that they did in fact destroy it for all of us – or at least for some of us.
john clarke says: (1253) October 18, 2013 at 12:25 pm
I can’t for the life of me shake off the feeling that SDM is the arch-villain.
…………………………………………………….
I agree.
He bankrupted the club trying to go one further than his green and white neighbours in pursuit of European glory.
But then his wee phoenix rescue plan using Craigie as a stool pigeon nearly worked but hit a triple whammy.
First unexpected Ally Euro ineptitude, then fan created turbulence at season book time and finally some real spiv rogue behaviour and a feeding frenzy that probably shocked even him.
But SDM is still here and he still cares.
I’d say his ego will demand a result and that is a thriving blue club legacy with SDM in the Ibrox Hall of Fame alongside Struth et others.
After the spivs have cleaned up and gone which is soon.
With SDM’s meticulously cultivated and compiled “Rangers – friendly” network still in place at the SFA, the MSM, the establishment and also at Holyrood there will be always be a blue team whether it is second or third rangers.
Sh1t happens to knights of the realm the same as it does to ordinary folks.
The post spiv solution is that the fans will bail it out again to back the blue knights by giving the working capital and probably also buying back the assets in a new trust.
Maybe it will be what King brings to the Party.
The man who saved Ibrox?
And one day SDM will be back in a titular role.
And as an afterthought – I don’t pretend to have inside knowledge like Chic but I don’t think that the Whyte and Green fall out was or is ever anything other than theatre.
The lack of a fans campaign is something that a lot of us on here just don’t understand. You only have to look at Dunfermline and Hearts – when the chips were down, the fans rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in. They organised themselves, and what happened a couple of days ago for the Pars is just reward for all their efforts. Previously, they were even gracious enough to acknowledge that, whilst things were going well in terms of saving the club, a lot of creditors had lost out and that they were truely sorry about that. (Have we heard even a mention of the losses faced by creditors at Ibrox way, nevermind any sort of contrition about it?)
Whilst Hearts are obviously some way from safety, the fans are still providing backing in their hour(s) of need. However, like Dunfermline, there were rival bids for the club, but the fans have decided that after being burnt by chancers, they’d rather do it their way, and if that means living within their means, then so be it.
Meanwhile, over at Ibrox………. fans groups just seem to be there to identify the ‘enemies of Rangers’, the fans continue to get fleeced within an inch of their lives, various shady businessmen exit and leave with suitcases stuffed full of cash, and the wait continues for a billionaire (a proper one, mind, not a pretend one) to take over the club to keep them in the style that they’re used to, nay, entitled to.
The bit that jars most with me is that the assets of the club were available for the same amount of money that the fans put up for shares in the company that owns the company that owns the club. Had they been properly organised, they could have had a football club themselves, funded by their season ticket money (for the most part), and run within it's means. They still could. All they would have to do would be to cancel their ST DD's, and boycott games. Chancers and spivs are only interested in the carcass because of the money that the fans blindly put up. If it was made clear that unless the assets were sold to the fans group, no more fans would be attending, then no one else would want to buy them.
They have so much power, and yet so little motivation to use it – far easier to sit back and wait for one of the 'too many people with too much money' to ride in on a white horse.
Greenock Jack says: (64)
October 18, 2013 at 10:06 am
Does the financial trump the governance ?
Looking towards the medium to long term, I think the Celtic board would or have compromised to a degree on the governance in an attempt to look after the financial.
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Not just Celtic Jack, it is a fact of life for all clubs.
In today’s Barry Ferguson’s article in the DR , which is a sign of the growing awakening by the supporters of his old club he refers to broken trust over past 3 years and none at all now.
The breaking of trust did not begin 3 years ago or in the last year. It began as soon as the men running Rangers decided to keep side letters hidden from the SFA. (1999/2000)
You see the system in governance in place over the last decade or more has been basically been one of trust.
The SFA ask certain questions, certain boxes get ticked in relation to the answer given because the answer is believed. No real digging, and why should there be? It was just a sport after all and sport depends totally on trust.
It would be madness to break it surely?
Not when the potential rewards for doing so seem to exceed the costs of being caught. Not when the commercial aspect totally overwhelms sporting integrity.
So the question is have the game’s governors realised yet that answers by clubs cannot be taken at face value? Are the processes in place really robust and resilient enough to deal with the commercial world in which the game now operates?
The stance of the SFA and UEFA in response to the 2011 UEFA licence issue (which is only one of many that have surfaced since Rangers entered liquidation) seems to be that they are so, but yet rules designed to protect the taxpayer clearly failed in intent as they were applied. Otherwise there would be no questions to answer, no resolutions seeking answers.
No the men running Rangers back then did far more than break trust with their support, they broke trust in the game and it would be more than comforting to hear those in charge of governing are going to look at where their processes failed and what they are doing to fix those processes so that there is no repeat, not tell us all is/ was well when it manifestly is not.
We are all by and large reasonable people who will respond to reasons, those in charge need to start taking that into account and start being honest with us..
scapaflow says:
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I disagree.
In my opinion (a majority of) the SFL clubs decided that they wanted the income from home matches against Rangers including a, league match b, possible Ramsden’s match c, Rangers entering the main cup competitions earlier and therefore a chance to meet them. Even better if it’s at Ibrox in a cup and you get a split of the gate.
That wasn’t arm twisting it was simple economics on their part. The money they would receive outweighed any sense of “doing the right thing” they may have had. I’m not blaming them for that, just saying that it was the SFL clubs which allowed Rangers to play in Scottish senior football. Not the SPL ones who are generally held to be the cause of it.
Big Pink says: (108)
October 18, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Your pal is being a bit unfair to Fergus. the bottom line was always important to him, but he also, in my view at least, had a clear view that the rules had to be followed. I’m not sure he would have approved, or been party to, the stuff that went on last year.
In any event, the clubs, being company will always act in their selfish commercial interest. fan power can change their perception of what that selfish commercial interest is.
The so and so’s on the SFA board, were not there as representatives of their clubs, they were, and, are, there to act as regulators, and make sure the rules are followed. Not to rubber stamp exercises in sophistry to get around their own rules.
[Edited for taste and accuracy, backsides perform a useful function]
Tif Finn says: (554)
October 18, 2013 at 12:45 pm
“I think people sometimes forget that last bit, when they are having a go at the SPL clubs. They voted against Rangers being forced into their league. It was the SFL clubs who voted them into Scottish senior football.
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Are you forgetting the blatant bribery, bullying and arm twisting that went on last summer, when the SPL clubs tried to force the SFL clubs to accept Sevco straight into SFL1? To me, that was a defining point in this whole debacle. Please don’t try to push responsibility on to the wee clubs. They are NOT the prime suspects here. In fact the vast majority of them acted in an honourable fashion (until the coronation of Ogilvie, of course- then all are equally to blame, small and large alike)
A total scandal and outrage, and although I don’t go along with jmlarkin’s blanket condemnation of those fans who stick with the game, I personally can’t stomach stuff like that.
Smugas,
I believe in a few months, you will see pictures of the Easdales in the MSM stating “We were duped!”
They will have been sold the story that they will be the Kings of Ibrox, swoop up the shares , you can own all of this, the men to lead Rangers back to glory, the pinnacle of Scottish football (or should that be the top of the bottom half of Scottish football).
They are a human shield for the Spivs.
Once the plug is pulled and the company placed into Administration in time for the January Transfer window , I suspect the original spivs will still hold the majority of shares, simply on the basis that they do this sort of thing for a living and why let go a money spinner.
Original investors (with their great big pile of shares) then threaten to liquidate and up pops the ground sale and leaseback as the only option for salvation, with the Easdales’ being used as the public face to state it is the only way and we will lead you to the promised land ………
The whole sorry episode reflects badly on what appears to be a shambles in the policing of company law, which I suspect is predicated on everyone being honest and doing the right thing , very similar to the current bowling club methods applied to Scottish football regulation.
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Can’t see it myself. You’re forgetting one thing – SDM didnt use his own money to fund Rangers, he used the Bank Of Scotlands. Thanks to Lloyds, that’s no longer an option – he would have to use, horror of horrors, his own money!
If he did come back, it would be more likely that he’d be a figurehead of some group, much like Jim McColl. Although your point about his little support network is probably a valid one. It might be worth getting him onboard from a PR point of view, even if he wasn’t contributing financially. (not that he was in the first place, but you know what I mean……)
(BTW, apologies for editing your post when I quoted it, but it would have been bigger than my opinion by a mile!)
EKBhoy says: (124)
October 18, 2013 at 1:13 pm
EkBhoy you may be correct, but, I’m afraid the Easdales are people I cannot find any sympathy for…
neepheid says:
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I’m not trying to “push the blame” anywhere, the fact of the matter is they voted the way they did in order to earn income from Rangers being in the SFL3.
The bit about bullying them into putting Rangers into the SFL1 doesn’t really work, does it. It didn’t happen so they couldn’t really be seen as victims in that. If it was bullying it wasn’t very good bullying as it didn’t work.
The fact of the matter is that Rangers are in Scottish senior football because the clubs in the SFL voted for it. If you feel that is the vast majority of them acting in an honourable fashion fine. I make no comment either way, I simply recognise that they did it because they knew that it could secure their future, in some cases for years to come.
If there is a new Rangers do you think they will do it again.
Big Pink says: (108)
October 18, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Well said, just about sums it all up, ( but I’m not going down without a fight 🙂 )
Auldheid says: (971)
October 18, 2013 at 1:26 pm
More power to your elbow auld yin!
scapaflow says: (1024)
October 18, 2013 at 1:11 pm
Big Pink says: (108)
October 18, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Your pal is being a bit unfair to Fergus. the bottom line was always important to him, but he also, in my view at least, had a clear view that the rules had to be followed. I’m not sure he would have approved, or been party to, the stuff that went on last year.
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Never said it was a pal 🙂
There was no intention on anyone’s part, least of all mine, to be unfair to Fergus. It was pointed out to me that my inference was wholly and factually incorrect is all. He may not have approved of what was going on, but for practical and pragmatic reasons, he would have approved it.
Excellent post over on KDS
The Outlaw Raparee on KDS gives The Sons of Struth, The Truth – http://kerrydalestreet.co.uk/single/?p=12540475&t=8837773 …
EKBhoy says: (124)
October 18, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Smugas,
I believe in a few months, you will see pictures of the Easdales in the MSM stating “We were duped!”
They will have been sold the story that they will be the Kings of Ibrox, swoop up the shares , you can own all of this, the men to lead Rangers back to glory, the pinnacle of Scottish football (or should that be the top of the bottom half of Scottish football). They are a human shield for the Spivs.
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Have you guys seen the film “The Long Good Friday”? Who is the Bob Hoskins character in this saga?
Scottish football needs a good scriptwriter.
redlichtie says
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More importantly, who is the Pierce Brosnan character.
Auldheid says: (971)
October 18, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Big Pink says: (108)
October 18, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Well said, just about sums it all up, ( but I’m not going down without a fight 🙂 )
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Pardon my pessimism Auldheid, but the Fergus thing has knocked me off my stride a bit 🙂