I think there has been an appreciable shift of opinion amongst fans of TRFC recently.
Unlike the ‘invest: speculate to accumulate’ rhetoric featured in the press and by ex-players, the ordinary fans are coming to the realisation that there is no quick fix. There are even murmurings that there may never be a fix which involves their club becoming a competitive force.
Poor management of fan expectations has long been an accusation levelled at the TRFC board by SFM. It is possible though that many fans are beginning to manage their own expectations rather better. There are certainly justifiable criticisms of the manager, Mark Warburton, but alongside that is a realism about the limitations and constraints that he is working under.
There is a rather misguided, and possibly not accurate assumption that another liquidation for a team out of Ibrox would result in having to start ‘yet again’ in the bottom division; but in fact there is a growing acceptance that consolidation in the top league is a much better solution than gambling on huge borrowing simply to stop Celtic adding more notches to the goalpost.
Could it be that the fans are about to do the job that the board haven’t had the balls to do –accept the gap between themselves and (at least) Celtic, and settle for mediocrity on the field as a short term price to pay for continuity?
During the 1990s, in the middle of the Murray/BoS fuelled spending spree, and with Celtic in the doldrums, it seemed to many Celtic fans that their club would never be able to bridge that gap. Of course they did, but at the emotional cost of losing the exclusive 9IAR record.
TRFC now find themselves in pretty much the same position, but their road to bridging the current gap is a more difficult one.
There are similarities of course. Like the Celtic of the 90s, Rangers have major infrastructure challenges to meet. Celtic had a stadium to build, Rangers have Ibrox (and Auchenhowie) to fix and improve. Both required massive investment to improve the team, although I would argue that Rangers have a steeper hill to climb in that area.
Unlike RFC of the 90s, Celtic’s accrued wealth has nothing to do with an intravenous hook-up between their bank account and the chairman’s pals at the bank. Their baseline advantage over the current Rangers predicament is a combination of a stadium which holds 10,000 more fans than Ibrox, no debt, a burgeoning cash balance and the current inflow of European cash.
The Euro cash and the cash balance could be depleted, but the 10,000 extra seats won’t.
It also seems difficult to imagine how TRFC can obtain seed capital – even if they were inclined to gamble – given the combination of barriers to achieving that;
- They have a PLC with no stock market listing
- They have NO executive directors on the PLC board
- The current chairman is a convicted criminal, convicted of offences involving money
- The current chairman and vice-chairman are both directors of a previously liquidated club, and therefore associated with the financial mismanagement which brought that about.
- In that climate, sponsorship deals are hard to come by. Major sponsors want to be associated with stability, success and integrity. TRFC don’t tick many boxes in that regard.
- Banks do not lend to football clubs. Pre Murray/Masterton, football clubs were cash businesses with modest overdraft facilities to cover modest cash-flow peaks and troughs. The banks have returned to that model. 1987-2007 was the exception, not the norm.
- They are at war with a powerful and substantial shareholder in Mike Ashley.
- There is still litigation pending on more than one front which could even call into question the ownership of the club’s assets.
- They are in debt already (estimated at around £15m).
- The current onfield situation may require yet another write-off in terms of contracts.
Any one of those bullet points could be enough to derail any plan to get to the top. In combination, there may even be an existential question to answer.
That is why the fans are starting to look a lot smarter than the board, and ultimately the good sense of the fans may well help the board to find a way out of their current dilemma.
But even with realistic expectations from the supporters, is it possible that they can find a way? Is there for instance someone with a magic wand or bag of cash who could come in and turn it around? Perhaps, but who would risk money on a precarious venture like a football club when one of the most powerful businessmen in the country is in dispute with you?
In order for serious inward investment to happen;
- Ashley has to be reconciled with the board (needs King and Murray to go).
- The debt has to be written off .
- The new investor(s) has to be given control of the club (and this would perhaps require another 75% special resolution where current shareholders would be asked to vote to dilute their own influence).
- If they achieved that (and it is a pretty big if) the new investor cash would go into the club’s bank account – not used to pay off the debt – and they would be free to pursue new and better sponsorship deals, improve the merchandising contract with an onside Ashley, and add new revenue streams.
Even then, any new board would need to see the infrastructure challenges as paramount. Having one eye squinting in the direction of Parkhead will blur the bigger picture.
Their priority should be to reduce the losses (whilst increasing wages for better players), fix the stadium and the training ground (both in need of repair and improvement), build a scouting and youth infrastructure, and free up a (relatively modest) wad of cash to improve the playing squad.
In defence of the current board, the challenges facing them are almost vertical in incline. No matter how skilful they are, nothing other than someone with a barrowload of cash and a very long term outlook can put any kind of fix in place.
£50m might buy the debt and equity, and repair the stadium, but progress requires on-field improvement. It also needs stability, and therefore Ashley’s cooperation. The price of that is the head of Dave King.
Rangers will bring in more at the gate than Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs, but they have a considerably higher cost base than those clubs. With better players, recurring costs will be even higher – much higher.
To square this circle, however unpalatable it appears to be, peace has to be made with Ashley. That is the key to being able to embark upon a journey that has any chance of success. Otherwise, the clocks will have to be reset to 2022, and the end of the SD contract, before progress can be made.
However there is no chance it can go on that long. Rangers fans may be increasingly less demanding in what they expect, but they will need to see some signs – and not just words – that a plan is in place.
The board are getting ready to throw Mark Warburton to the hounds (the MSM lapdogs have already been armed with poison pens to effect that). This will buy them some time, but not enough.
We’ve said it before, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll say it again;
For Rangers to have a fighting chance of competing at the top of football, King needs to be gone. If he does go, half of the barriers preventing the club raising cash are dismantled.
So is King’s departure a price worth paying? If he really had Rangers in his heart, he would say ‘Yes’.
I think that this latest move by HMRC through BDO is more serious than some are giving credit for.
HMRC are no fools and they realise they will not receive very much from oldco, but they sure as hell will go after all they can get from newco. If BDO win this court case Could they auction off Ibrox, Murry park et al to get back as much as they can? Gratuitious Alienation could be a game changer, it will be very interesting to see what Mr Ashley does now. I wonder if even he saw this coming?
Or am i reading this all wrong?
People should not think of the actions of bdo as having some financial consequence for Sevco. It does not.
Bdo may well be able to show that D&P’s did not achieve the best result for creditors. They may not, I do not know.
But even if they can show that the assets were sold for less than their true value, the remedy bdo seek is financial recompense from the administrators – who, as officers of the court, hold an unlimited liability (I believe) if the courts find in bdo’s favour.
The one thing this action does, is remove any possible action (that I can think of) by bdo to recover assets as a result of gratuitous alienation.
My best guess is the case will revolve around the question of the value of player registrations – transfer fees.
Steviebc
Re Kenny Miller
That would be 2 of his previous clubs.
John Clark
February 10, 2017 at 14:38
Seriously, has there been an explanation of why the assets were sold to Sevcoscotland rather than to Sevco5088 that I may have (must have?) missed?
———————————-
A bit of a shafting.
——-
CHARLES Green last night sensationally admitted shafting Craig Whyte to buy Rangers.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/644588/green-i-shafted-whyte-to-get-gers/
to late to edit..
Green, 59, revealed he lied to former owner Whyte so he could buy the club —but insisted it was only to save Gers from the man who plunged them into administration.
————-
from the man who was in charge when they went into Liquidation
Phil’s latest mentioning a potential, new ‘dream team’, and deliberately avoiding discussing ‘bonus’.
Warbs is alleged to be [over] due his bonus for gaining promotion to the SPL.
If true: IIRC when Owen Coyle was being linked to CFC several years ago, one issue was his promotion bonus due from Burnley [?] for managing his club into the lucrative EPL.
His bonus wasn’t payable until after the following season had started, IIRC, and I suppose it was insurance for the club against the risk that he might leave immediately to a bigger club after gaining promotion ?
Of course, don’t know what Warbs’ contract states, but would a basic requirement be that he is still employed as manager when the promotion bonus is paid ? [& being a late payment aside?]
i.e. would that be a possible reason for Warbs to not even consider walking away: it could threaten payout of his promotion bonus ?
Warburton’s man-managment has been tested this week following last saturday’s ugly flashpoint within the ibrox main stand – revealed by sunsport- when defender Rob Kiernan, left out of the squad for the Ross county game. Was singled out for brutal verbal abuse by a number of fans. Kiernan has done plenty of soul searching over the last few day’s about his rangers future, having also endured previous stick when away from the club.Warbs added “we have to get players to come here who can deal with the pressure.”
—————–
Is Mr Warburton suggesting that players who come here have to deal with the pressure.And that pressure is “brutal verbal abuse you will get if you don’t play well at ibrox, or even if you are not playing that day.
brutal verbal abuse is not pressure.It’s brutal verbal abuse.No one should have to put up with it
Anyone remember Mr Warburtons take on the waghorn schoolboy confrontation?
Cluster OneFebruary 10, 2017 at 20:06Is Mr Warburton suggesting that players who come here have to deal with the pressure.And that pressure is “brutal verbal abuse you will get if you don’t play well at ibrox, or even if you are not playing that day.brutal verbal abuse is not pressure.It’s brutal verbal abuse.No one should have to put up with it Anyone remember Mr Warburtons take on the waghorn schoolboy confrontation?
Interesting that Joey Barton who called out Halliday for suggesting they had beat Celtic without him and was man enough to call Warburton a useless cnut was potrayed as a villian, talk about pressure and not been able to handle a schoolyard brawl.
There is a mentality over by that if they want you out they will set the dogs loose.
Anyone who thinks club 1872 is a fan base decent attempt to fight for the club is in dreamland, this is the equivalent of the billy boys with small b’s. They attend court cases in packs and do not have the brain cells to enter and listen to proceedings and try figure, they toe an outdated mentality and a backwards way of thinking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myhnAZFR1po
oops
https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/club-statement-74/
Is it not ‘Wee Stevie in IT’s turn for a shot in the hot seat at Ibrox ?
Heard he’s also a whizz on ‘FIFA 17’… 😉
Chris McLaughlin@BBCchrismclaugMark Warburton says he’s unaware of #Rangers statement regarding his resignation. Says he hasn’t resigned. Bizarre.
So the Club have generously waived any right to compensation. What a great and honourable institution.
Alternatively, the Club can no longer afford to pay the coaching team, who have generously agreed to waive the remainder of their contractual rights and given the club a sporting chance to limp on financially for another month.
https://stv.tv/sport/football/1380447-mark-warburton-quits-position-as-manager-of-rangers/
Did Warbs get his promotion bonus then ?
I think we should be told !
The Rangers website seem a bit busy, but here’s what the statement says:
RANGERS has accepted the resignations of manager Mark Warburton, assistant manager David Weir and the Club’s head of recruitment Frank McParland.
At a meeting with the management team’s representative earlier this week the Club were advised that Mr Warburton, Mr Weir and Mr McParland wished to resign their positions and leave the Club on condition that Rangers agreed to waive its rights to substantial compensation. Rangers’ agreement to waive compensation would assist the management team to join another club. This compensation amount was agreed when Rangers significantly improved Mr Warburton and Mr Weir’s financial arrangements before the start of this season.
The Board urgently convened to consider the offer made on behalf of the management team and its ramifications and agreed to accept it and release the trio from the burden of compensation, despite the potential financial cost to the Club. It is important that Rangers has a football management team that wants to be at the Club and that the Board believes can take the Club forward to meet our stated ambition to return to being the number one Club in Scotland. We are clearly short of where we expected to be at this time.
The representative acting for the management team subsequently attempted to alter the terms of what had been agreed in favour of the management team. A further Board meeting was held this afternoon to discuss this and it was decided not to agree to this additional request but to hold with the original agreement.
Mr Warburton, Mr Weir, and Mr McParland have therefore been notified in writing that their notices of termination have been accepted.
The Board is very appreciative of the good work previously done by the management team but believes it had no alternative. Our Club must come first and absolute commitment is essential.
On Sunday Under-20s coach Graeme Murty will take interim charge of the team. We know our support will give him and our team their full backing. We thank our support for their loyalty and desire to be the best.
I think there’s a story in this.
TONY
FEBRUARY 10, 2017 at 21:27
Chris McLaughlin@BBCchrismclaug
Mark Warburton says he’s unaware of #Rangers statement regarding his resignation. Says he hasn’t resigned. Bizarre.
============================
Max Zorin @MaxZ0r1n 6m6 minutes ago
@theclumpany @bbcchrismclaug
Maybe he has just resigned from the Company? Might still be at the club.
============================
We have a winner !
And apparently said statement has now been removed from the website. Perhaps wee Stevie in IT has jumped the gun
Ooh, its back. Maybe not enough investment into their bandwidth provision. All these journos and supporters desperately trying to read the statement that Mr Warburton doesn’t know about.
Just refreshed my page. Its desperately slow. Just got a connection timeout error. The little raspberry pi in IT must be in meltdown.
THEOLDCOURSE
FEBRUARY 10, 2017 at 21:45
And apparently said statement has now been removed from the website. Perhaps wee Stevie in IT has jumped the gun
=============================
What a shambles !
If RIFC/TRFC has cocked up, then Warbs ‘just might’ have a strong case for constructive dismissal…?!
Warbs on SSN saying “Nobody told me I resigned” I haven’t.
Confused? Watch the next episode of Soap-co
Great preparation for the very significant cup game against Morton.
And if we’re confused, what will the TRFC players be thinking ?
Corrupt officialFebruary 10, 2017 at 21:58
Warbs on SSN saying “Nobody told me I resigned” I haven’t. Confused? Watch the next episode of Soap-co
—————————————————
Going for 55, no wait he is now going for the P45, no hold that the 55 looks as if it’s still on, no wait, maybe he has just resigned from the holding company and not the club, it’s all very random at Ibrox as usual,
“Kenny MacintyreVerified account@bbckennymac
Let’s just say @RangersFC fans will be shocked as the details behind this story start to drip out.”
======================================
DR reports they offered their resignation earlier, the Club (yup, capital C) accepted and generously waived the Clubs right to compensation (insert Hoorah) but then the nasty trios representative ( Boooooo) tried to change THEIR compensation package but the Club (Hoooray) stood firm and held them to their old deal and publicised their lack of commitment (read belief in the myth).
Im guessing the trio haven’t accepted them stonewalling the ‘amendment’ hence them denying resigning.
[A thread header from Bears Den / posted 5 minutes ago / ?]
“Friend of a friend etc
Anyway mate who knows a guy who’s dad works for the club in the youth setup says his dad has mentioned administration.
Happy to pm mods with a name and I’m not one to make up sh*te unless in the ot.
Hope it’s sh*te obviously”
Another version on twitter is that the 3 amigos tendered their resignations on Monday, but these were refused by the Board. Today, the Board changed their minds, but failed to inform the three of this change of mind . before issuing tonight’s disastrous statement. Sounds like a lawyer’s dream scenario to me. This could prove costly.
It seems to me to be a bit strange to tender your registration, if you have not concluded your registration package discussions, is it possible that the club has jumped the gun before the management teams representative had tendered the resignations on behalf of the management, what happens if the rep was only asking what would happen if the trio were to walk away at some undetermined time in the future.
This could prove costly.
not another court case
Cluster OneFebruary 10, 2017 at 22:31 Rate This
This could prove costly. not another court case
++++++++++
Or three.
looks like Mr warburton should have checked his e-mails
Does anyone else get the feeling that TRFC is like that shapeless woolly jumper yer maw knitted for you and youve picked away at one of the many dropped stitches (sorry, meant to say, this is for the retired SFMers
the younger folks won’t know what I’m talking about), and now it’s all starting to unravel!
I hope Doncaster and Regan sleep well tonight, they may have a worrisome day tomorrow! I hope…
I know the Hearts fans were singing “You’ve been f**ked by a laptop” last week. Looks like the club has just repeated it.
“F**k me once, shame on you, f**k me twice, shame on me (club/company*)” * – delete as appropriate
From the Record-
From the BBC report online:
‘…But Warburton, who took charge at Ibrox in 2015, told BBC Scotland he was unaware of the statement.
And the 54-year-old Englishman is consulting his legal team.
He had taken Rangers’ training on Friday as normal ahead of Sunday’s fifth-round tie.
Warburton had earlier in the morning defended McParland’s record of signings after media criticism of the Glasgow club’s recruitment…’
Seems more than just a rumour from a reliable source, and claiming it’s straight from Warburton’s own mouth, though no quotes.
I wonder if it will count as one more court case, or three! Must be a world record by now.
Warburton told SunSport:
“What’s going on? This is scandalous, I’ve no idea what they’re talking about.
“I haven’t resigned. I’ve never resigned — I’ve no idea what they’re talking about.
“I was advised by an email to read an urgent letter. But, I tell you, I haven’t resigned.”
Club statement
“Mr Warburton, Mr Weir, and Mr McParland have therefore been notified in writing that their notices of termination have been accepted.
“The board is very appreciative of the good work previously done by the management team but believes it had no alternative.”
I should think that Warburton would know if he had signed a notice of termination,
Do any of the parties involved have a history of not telling the truth?
Shamelessly stolen from elsewhere..
So Rangers want them out, thought they had them out but have been hit by a technicality. That’s not like Davie Weir, coming in with a rediculously late challenge which we’re all supposed to pretend didn’t just happen…
Valentine’s day, anyone? Can lightening strike the same stadium twice, on the same date, five years apart?
5 managers in 5 years
I wonder who at Ibrox instructed the release of that statement, has there been any mention? Is it possible that someone, or two, of the board are acting without the knowledge of the more reasonable members, such as the three bears, the ones who have been putting up the cash?
It does seem inconcievable to me that any proper businessmen would allow such a statement to be released if they weren’t 100% certain that it was correct, and that there was no way, in the short, medium or long term that it could come back and bite them! Regardless of the eventual outcome, it has just bitten them, hard, in the bahooky!
CLUSTER ONEFEBRUARY 10, 2017 at 23:9
5 managers in 5 years
________
Was that what they meant by going for 55? It wasn’t fifty five, it was five, five!
It’s almost like they’re trying to provoke yet more potential creditors into doing something about it…
Two football news stories caught my attention today.
Having been rumoured all day, Raith Rovers formally announced John “Yogi” Hughes will take over as manager until the end of the season. This followed the termination of the contracts of the previous management duo immediately following Tuesday nights defeat at home to Morton. The conduct of the BoD at Starks Park has been professional this week with regard to the managers position at the club.
Compare and contrast this with the omnishambles on the southside of Glasgow where we have a BoD issuing club statements saying their management team have resigned and we then have said manager saying, no he hasn’t. All of this just a mere 48 hours before a game which could define their season.
Just read elsewhere that the TRFC statement has been taken down! Can’t confirm it, myself.
ALLYJAMBO
it’s back up but looks like a toddler wrote it,shambles
Cheers, Tony. Seems to be an ever changing shambles. BBC now, apparently, saying they’ve had word that Warbo had a word with Notts Forrest, so maybe TRFC presumed he was off, after preliminary discussions over a resignation, and jumped the gun a bit. Warbo didn’t get the job, hadn’t actually handed in a written resignation, and isn’t budging. Whatever, this is hardly going to create a rush to buy tickets for the cup tie! Lose/lose situation, hope Morton don’t lose sight of their game with all this distraction. They could tip the bears over the edge on Sunday.
In the end, Warbo and co might end up with a good case for constructive dismissal.
ALLYJAMBO
MW-hello i’m interested in the job
FOREST-ok speak tomorrow
MW then hands in resignation
TRFC accept resignation
FOREST then sign someone else
MW then tries to take back resignation
TRFC say too late
that’s my take on it,but then again i’m not an award winning journalist
TONYFEBRUARY 10, 2017 at 23:48
ALLYJAMBOMW-hello i’m interested in the jobFOREST-ok speak tomorrowMW then hands in resignation TRFC accept resignationFOREST then sign someone else MW then tries to take back resignation TRFC say too latethat’s my take on it,but then again i’m not an award winning journalist
__________
Seems plausible, but not if you add in that Warburton is claiming he didn’t resign and is talking to his legal people. It’ll all be clear tomorrow when the club put up his resignation letter online, I’m sure. It doesn’t seem likely that he’ll ever be in the Ibrox dugout again, though!
ALLYJAMBO
under 20’s guy murty to take team on sunday,and sure enough someone dug out a paper interview from 2013 when he says his dad is a big celtic man
http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/murtys-delight-at-bhoys-clash-4249205
ALLYJAMBO
FEBRUARY 10, 2017 at 22:45
From the BBC report online:
‘…But Warburton, who took charge at Ibrox in 2015, told BBC Scotland he was unaware of the statement.And the 54-year-old Englishman is consulting his legal team…”
==========================
Well, I hope for Warbs’ sake that his legal team is better than his footy team!
Ah’ll get ma briefs… 😉
I wouldn’t normally give credit to the Daily Mail but the Mail On-line twitter account has the following in quotation marks:
“I haven’t resigned but this is embarrassing. If that’s what Rangers want then I will happily leave this joke club.” – Mark Warburton
“Rangers are a joke of a football club, I wanted to hold my tongue but I can’t anymore. The whole regime is a farce.” – Mark Warburton
Wondering if, in this latest fiasco, there may be some kind of legal move for ringfencing or a winding up order etc down Ibrox way
After all it is Valentine’s Day on Tuesday and they do love their traditions.
TINCKS
parody account
Oh well
Allyjambo February 10, 2017 at 23:10
I wonder who at Ibrox instructed the release of that statement, has there been any mention? Is it possible that someone, or two, of the board are acting without the knowledge of the more reasonable members, such as the three bears, the ones who have been putting up the cash?It does seem inconcievable to me that any proper businessmen would allow such a statement to be released if they weren’t 100% certain that it was correct, and that there was no way, in the short, medium or long term that it could come back and bite them! Regardless of the eventual outcome, it has just bitten them, hard, in the bahooky!
—————————————————————————————————————————————–
AJ,
I think you may be thinking along the right lines here. The statement is a mess and doesn’t seem to have the polish that one would expect from a professional PR person.
It is quite possible that some discussions/negotiations have been held by the management team’s representatives as to what would constitute an amicable parting of the ways. But you would expect one of the key requirements of TRFC would be a confidentiality clause.
If person’s on the board who might not be as clever as they think they are have jumped the gun then not only will TRFC get taken to the cleaners for constructive dismissal but MW and his team will be free to tell all.
WOTTPI
hard to ringfence a future loan since i don’t think there is enough in bank
tony February 11, 2017 at 00:10
TINCKS
parody account
——————————————————————–
Yep. How much of a twit do I feel?
BP/Tris – please feel free to delete mine of 00.04
TINCKS
happens to us all mate
john james take on it
https://johnjamessite.com/2017/02/11/taking-candy-from-a-baby/
tonyFebruary 10, 2017 at 23:48 ALLYJAMBOMW-hello i’m interested in the jobFOREST-ok speak tomorrowMW then hands in resignation TRFC accept resignationFOREST then sign someone else MW then tries to take back resignation TRFC say too latethat’s my take on it,but then again i’m not an award winning journalist
************************************
My take on it,
Warburton had the back ripped out of him after Hearts thrashed them, this added to the abuse after the Scottish cup final loss was to Warburtons mind the beginning of the end,
He believes right or wrong that Notts forest are interested, his agent is instructed to ask if the club would drop any compensation claim if he pursued a new job, the club look ahead to the weekend’s game knowing that if Morton managed to win then the fans would be demanding the head of Warburton, the club would be looking at a seven-figure payoff if they sacked the management team, Warburton is then told that he is not getting the Notts Forest job,Warburtons agent informs the club that they don’t have to start a search for a replacement as the management team are staying , this then causes someone at the club to panic and use the ” no compensation ” discussions as an excuse to get rid of the three of them without paying any compensation for terminating their employment claiming that they had resigned.
Half truths and lies on both sidesIi think.
COATBRIDGELOYALTYCAD
there will be a court date to settle this unless one or the other is caught telling porkies,i would bet on DK being the porkie teller
TONYFEBRUARY 10, 2017 at 23:48
ALLYJAMBOMW-hello i’m interested in the jobFOREST-ok speak tomorrowMW then hands in resignation TRFC accept resignationFOREST then sign someone else MW then tries to take back resignation TRFC say too latethat’s my take on it,but then again i’m not an award winning journalist
—————————————————————————————————————
Equally plausible Tony
MW- I’m in the frame for the Forest job, but they are not interested if they need to cough compo.
TRFC. We can do that, speak to them and keep us posted
MW….I never got the job.
TRFC..Tough…We have accepted your resignation
“Wrbs forced out of Ibrox”…DR tweet about front page as it was expected to be this morning
“Gers call Warb’s bluff”….. DR tweet about back page as it was expected to be this morning ( as I write here in Birkdale, it is already 4.00 pm on saturday)
What can one say, except that:
Warburton was a fool and an idiot to have accepted a job at a very new football club that even a superficial reading of the ‘saga’ would show had been spawned in lies and deception and which falsely claimed to be what it manifestly was not, and is not,
a club that has been run by successive parcels of self-seeking chancers with not a hope in the world of gaining any credibility in the football or finance worlds, with the present parcel brazen enough to promise millions while attempting to further their own ends by looking for disapplication of exemption rights at the AGM in order to gain more control.
But, of course, over and above being a fool to take the job, Warbs ( perhaps learning from his masters) appears to have tried to pull a flanker on them, showing that at heart he resembles his masters in some of their worst characteristics.
I conclude that Warbs and TRFC each deserve the trouble they are now in -Warbs jobless, and personally discredited, and TRFC made to look absolutely incapable of getting anything right( what another pig’s ear of a statement for any responsible ‘business’ to release),while being landed with (is it the 5th ?) ‘manager’ in as many years at a critical time for an already hopelessly endangered football club.
(Notts Forest don’t seem to have come out it terribly well, either)
Common sense would lend itself to JJ’s explanation. Would Warbs waive 1.2m severance (plus an alleged 500k 2016 win bonus) without a concrete job offer? At the very least there’s the grounds for a tribunal which is the last thing they need. Plus the Janet and john play statements effort immediately suggested to me that the writer didn’t understand how the whole severance thing worked, concentrating solely on the severance to the club.
And I see BBC continue to ignore the club in their stand-off….not. Good on Chris M for breaking the “have I” story last night.
I think it will all depend on whether or not TRFC/RIFC hold three letters of resignation! They might argue that they were given verbal resignations, but it’s not even clear that they actually spoke to the men involved or just their agent/agents, and whether or not an agent has the authority to ‘resign’ on his client’s behalf.
Thing is, even if Warburton has resigned, he must surely have a reasonable shout at a constructive dismissal claim after all the pressure piled on him by the Level5 spoon fed media. And I’d be surprised if Warburton doesn’t have enough knowledge of that TRFC/SMSM/Level5 partnership to build a case!
I’ve never believed that Warburton was the super-brained City Trader he was painted, but I am sure he was/is smarter than the average football manager when it comes to the business end of his career, so it seems incredible to me that he would hand in his notice, from a million plus contract, before he had received an irrevocable offer of employment from Notts Forrest (or any other employer).
TRFC may be entitled to feel a manager who would want to speak to another club about joining them wouldn’t have the dedication to the job they seek, but in that situation it is surely up to them to open discussions on a severance package, not to decide he has tacitly offered his resignation by seeking employment elsewhere (unless he has tendered a resignation letter). I am sure this sort of scenario has come up many times before, but unlike at Ibrox, not carried out as a PR exercise.
TONY
FEBRUARY 11, 2017 at 00:39
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In which he exclusively reveals that he’s making it up.
“A cynic might posit …”
If by some chance he is right, he claims to have broken a story, if not then it was only conjecture.
It’s good to see that Gary Ralston is still doing a sterling job of releasing Rangers propaganda pieces through the Daily Record.
http://www.sfmonitor.org/small-price-to-pay/comment-page-3/#comment-154346
In case it has been missed Forest tweeted this last night.
#NFFC can confirm that we have no contact with @RangersFC manager Mark Warburton and played no part in his resignation- Statement to follow
Will be interesting to see if they do release anything further.
Cut to the chase.
Rangers wanted rid of their management team, but couldn’t afford what it would cost, say £2,000,000 for all of them.
So they have concocted a story to make it look like the latest messianic figure, a Rangers “legend”, and the World’s greatest football talent spotter decided to walk away from that money. With no alternative employment to go to.
We are taking your agent talking to us about a potential move elsewhere as formal notice of resignation seems to be the basis for this.
Seems a bit … desperate.
My reading of this, as a novice, is that it could escalate rather quickly.
If Warbs and Co. start legal proceedings for unfair dismissal, surely they could move to have the potential compensation ring fenced? Would that set the dominos tumbling in terms of those queueing up for a bite of the ever diminishing pie.
They’ve already agreed it’s 25 points for an insolvency event haven’t they?
In this succulent piece from Roddy Forsyth in the Telegraph, he tells us the Telegraph Sports is ‘understands’ that £500,000 remains outstanding to Warburton, presumably last season’s bonus. I’d imagine that a demand will follow from Warbs almost immediately, regardless of the truth of the matter, and ahead of any tribunal proceedings. It would make sense for him to immediately try to have the money ring-fenced, even if there’s an agreement in place to defer payment, especially as the club, through the press, continue to blacken his name, and revenge can be so sweet!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/02/10/mark-warburton-resigns-asrangers-manager/
As with everything at Ibrox the issue is wholly clouded.
That being said many of the Bears yet again side with the club, call Warburton and his gang snakes but forget thhhe type of man they have as chairman of the Plc.
Like McCoist and Barton – contracts are contracts.
Threatening to resign or having discussions ‘re resigning is not actually resigning.
The new club has a history of getting these simple legal principles wrong.
IMHO The statement does not appear to be something an experienced football CEO would issue.
Still can’t believe that with folks like Robertson and the Parks on board this rubbish is allowed to happen.
Maybe they are not as clever as I give them credit for.
Regardless, the manner in which the club handles itself in public and in tje press comes across as being a budonesd run by the arrogant and the ignorant.
WOTTPI
Can’t see anything on Nottingham Forest official Twitter account regarding this. Maybe a parody account out there?
BP
Yes, was just going to apologise In a post.
Noticed the twitter account only has a ‘handful of followers.
A good fake though!!