Good Afternoon.
Announcing outstanding financial successes for Rangers PLC the then Chairman of the club opened his Chairman’s report in the annual financial statements with the following words:
“Last summer I explained that the Club, after many years of significant investment in our playing squad
and more recently in our state of the art facility at Murray Park, had embarked on a three year business
plan to stabilise and improve the Club’s finances. The plan also recognised the need to react to the
challenging economic conditions facing football clubs around the world.
Following a trend over a number of years of increasing year on year losses, I am pleased to report that
in the first year of this plan we have made important progress by reversing this trend. Our trading loss
for last year of £11.2m reflects a £7.9m improvement versus the £19.1m loss for the previous year and
although it will take more time to completely reach our goals, this is a key milestone. We also intend to
make significant further progress by the end of the current financial year. This improvement is the
consequence of having a solid strategy and the commitment and energy to implement the changes it requires”
Later on in the same statement the chairman would add:
“Another key part of our plan is associated with the Rangers brand and our Retail Division goes from strength to strength. Our financial results this year have been significantly enhanced by an outstanding performance in merchandising Rangers products, in particular replica kit, which makes our Retail Division one of the most successful in Europe.”
In the same set of financial reports, the CEO would report:
“To further strengthen Rangers hospitality portfolio, a new dedicated sponsor’s lounge was unveiled this season. The Carling Lounge is a first for the Club and was developed in conjunction with our new sponsor, Carling. ”
and
“Our innovative events programme continues to grow and this year saw a record number of official events including the highly successful annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony, Player of the Year and 50 Championships Gala Dinner, all of which catered for up to 1000 guests.
At Rangers, we continually develop our portfolio of products and as a key area of income for the Club, we evaluate the market for new revenue opportunities on an ongoing basis in order to exceed our existing and potential customer expectations and needs.
Demand for season tickets reached an all time high last season with a record 42,508 season ticket holders in comparison with the previous season`s figure of 40,320. Over 36,000 of these season ticket holders renewed for this season – a record number.
For the new season, we are delighted to welcome brewing giant, Carling on board as our Official Club sponsor. Carling is one of the UK’s leading consumer brands with a proven track record in football sponsorship.
The Club also continues to work with a number of multinational blue chip brands such as National Car Rental, Sony Playstation 2, Bank of Scotland and Coca-Cola. This year, we will also experience the evolution of the Honda deal via Hyndland Honda and welcome the mobile communications giant T-Mobile to our ranks.”.
The year was 2003 and in the previous 24 months Rangers Football Club, owned and operated as a private fiefdom by Sir David Murray, had made operational losses of some £30 million.
Yes – 30 MILLION POUNDS.
Of course the chairman’s report for 2003 was written by John F Mclelland CBE and the CEO was one Martin Bain Esq.
As Mr Mclelland clearly stated, by 2003 the club already had a trend of increasing year on year losses covering a number of years and was losing annual sums which stretched into millions, if not tens of millions, of pounds.
However, the acquisition of Rangers Football Club was absolutely vital to David Murray’s personal business growth, and his complete control of the club as his own private business key was more important than any other business decision he had made before buying Rangers or since.
When he persuaded Gavin Masterton to finance 100% of the purchase price of the club, Murray had his finest business moment.
By getting control of Rangers, Murray was able to offer entertainment, hospitality, seeming privilege and bestow favour on others in a way that was hitherto undreamed of, and he bestowed that largesse on any number of “existing and potential clients” and contacts – be they the clients and contacts related to Rangers Football Club or the existing and potential clients of David Murray, his businesses, his banks, or anyone in any field that he chose to court for the purposes of potential business.
His business.
It wasn’t only journalists who benefited from the succulent lamb treatment.
Accountants,lawyers, surveyors, broadcasters, football officials, people in industry and construction, utilities, financiers and other areas of business were all invited inside the sacred House of Murray and given access to the great man of business “and owner of Rangers” while attending the “record number of official (hospitality) events”.
Twelve months on from when John McLelland made those statements in the 2003 accounts, David Murray was back in the chair at Ibrox and he presented the 2004 financials.
In the intervening 12 months Rangers had gained an additional £10 million from Champions League income and had received £8.6 million in transfer fees from the sale of Messrs Ferguson, Amoruso and McCann. Not only that, the Rangers board had managed to reduce the club’s wage bill by £5 million. Taking all three figures together comes to some £23.6 million in extra income or savings.
Yet, the accounts for 2004 showed that the club made an operational loss of almost £6 million and overall debt had risen by an additional £7 million to £97.4 million.
However, the 2004 accounts were also interesting for another reason.
Rangers PLC had introduced payments “to employees trusts” into their accounts for the first time in 2001 and in that year they had paid £1million into those trusts. Just three years later, the trust payments recorded in the accounts had risen to £7.3 million per annum — or to put it another way to 25% of the annual wage bill though no one in Scottish Football asked any questions about that!
By the following year, the chairman announced that the 2004 operational loss had in fact been £10.4million but that the good news was that the 2005 operational loss was only £7.8 million. However Rangers were able to post a profit before taxation if they included the money obtained from transfers (£8.4 million) and the inclusion of an extraordinary profit of £14,999,999 made on buying back the shares of a subsidiary company for £1 which they had previously sold for £15 million.
All of which added up to a whopping great profit of ……… £12.4 million!
I will leave you to do the maths on 2005.
Oh and of course these accounts included the detail that 3000 Rangers fans had joined David Murray in participating in the November ’94 share issue where the club managed to raise £51,430,995 in fresh capital most of which was provided by Mr Murray… sorry I mean MIH ….. sorry that should read Bank of Scotland …… or their shareholders……. or should that be the public purse?
The notable items in the 2006 accounts included the announcement of a ten year deal with JJB Sports to take over the merchandising operation of the club and increased revenue from an extended run in the Champion’s League. However, the profit before tax was declared at only£0.1 million in comparison to the £12.4 million of the year before but then again that £12.4 million had included player sales of £8.4 million and the £15 million sweety bonus from the repurchase of ones own former subsidiary shares for £1.
Jumping to 2008 Rangers saw a record year in terms of turnover which had risen to £64.5 million which enabled the company to record a profit on ordinary activities before taxation of £6.57 million although it should be pointed out that wages and bonuses were up at 77% of turnover and that a big factor in the Rangers income stream was corporate hospitality and the top line of income was shown as “gate receipts and hospitality”.
However, 2009 saw a calamitous set of figures. Whilst Alastair Johnston tried to put a brave chairman’s face on it, the year saw an operating loss of £17.325 million which was softened only by player disposals leading to a loss before taxation of a mere £14.085 million.
Fortunately Sir David did not have to report these figures as he chose to stand down as chairman in August and so Johnston stepped in and announced that he was deeply honoured to do so.
In 2010, the income stream jumped from £39.7 million to over £56 million with the result that the club showed a profit before taxation of £4.209 million.
However, by that time the corporate hospitality ticket that was Rangers Football Club was done for as a result of matters that had nothing to do with events on the football field in the main.
First, the emergence of the Fergus McCann run Celtic had brought a real business and sporting challenge. This was something that Murray had not previously faced in the football business.
Second,the Bank of Scotland had gone bust and Lloyds could not and would not allow Murray to continually borrow vast sums of money on the basis of revalued assets and outrageous hospitality.
Third, the UEFA fair play rules came into being and demanded that clubs at least act on a semblance of proper corporate governance and fiscal propriety.
Lastly,Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tightened up the law on the use of EBT’s which meant that Rangers could no longer afford to buy in the players that brought almost guaranteed success against domestic opposition.
On average, since 2002 Rangers PLC had lost between £7 million – £8 million per year – or roughly £650,000 per month if you like – yet for the better part of a decade David Murray had been able to persuade the Bank of Scotland that this was a business that was worthy of ever greater financial support or that he himself and his MIH business was of such value that the Banks should support him in supporting the Ibrox club whilst operating in this fashion.
Of course, had Murray’s Rangers paid tax on all player remunerations then the losses would have been far larger.
Meanwhile, all the other clubs in Scottish football who banked with the Bank of Scotland faced funding cuts and demands for repayment with the bank publicly proclaiming that it was overexposed to the football market in Scotland.
But no one asked any questions about why the bank should act one way with Murray’s club but another way with all others. No one in football, no one in the media and no one from the world of business.
Looking back,it is hard to imagine a business which has been run on such a consistent loss making basis being allowed to continue by either its owners or by its bankers. However, a successful and funded Rangers was so important to the Murray group that David Murray was clearly willing to lose millions year after year to keep the Gala dinners and corporate hospitality going.
Rangers were Murray’s big PR vehicle and the club was essentially used by him to open the doors which would allow him to make more money elsewhere on a personal basis and if it meant Rangers cutting every corner and accumulating massive losses, unsustainable losses, then so be it.
Today, the new regime at Ibrox run the current business in a way which clocks up the same colossal annual losses whilst the club competes outwith Scotland’s top division. Each day we hear that the wage bill is unsustainable, that the playing staff are overpaid, that the stadium needs massive investment and that the fans are opposed to the stadium itself being mortgaged and the club being in hawk to lenders.
Yet, in the Murray era the Stadium was revalued time and time again and its revaluation was used as the justification for ever greater borrowing on the Rangers accounts. The playing staff were massively overpaid and financially assisted by the EBT’s and most years the Chairman’s annual statement announced huge losses despite regular claims of record season ticket sales, record hospitality income, European income, shirt sponsorship and the outsourcing of all merchandising to JJB sports instead of Sports Direct.
The comparison between the old business and the current one is clear for all to see.
It should be noted, that since the days of Murray, no major banking institution has agreed to provide the Ibrox business with any banking facilities. Not under Whyte, not under Green, not under anyone.
Yet few ask why that should be.
The destruction of the old Rangers business led those in charge of Scottish football to announce that Armageddon was on the horizon if it had not actually arrived, yet today virtually all Scottish clubs are in a better financial and business state than back in the bad old days of the Bank of Scotland financed SPL. Some have succumbed to insolvency, and others have simply cut their cloth, changed their structure, sought, and in some cases attracted, new owners and moved on in terms of business.
In general, Scottish Football has cleaned house at club level.
Now, David Murray has “cleaned house” in that MIH has bitten the dust and walked down insolvency road.
What is interesting is that the Murray brand still has that capacity to get out a good PR message when it needs to. Despite the MIH pension fund being short of money for some inexplicable reason, last week it was announced that the family controlled Murray Estates had approached those in charge of MIH and had agreed to buy some key MIH assets for something in the region of £13.9 million.
The assets concerned are land banks which at some point will be zoned for planning and which will undoubtedly bring the Murray family considerable profit in the future, with some of those assets already looking as if they will produce a return sooner rather than later.
However, what is not commented upon in the mainstream press is the fact that Murray Estates had the ability to pay £13.9 Million for anything at all and that having that amount of money to spend the Murray camp has chosen not to buy any football club down Govan way.
Perhaps, it has been realised that a football club which loses millions of pounds each year is not such a shrewd investment and that the Murray family money would be better spent elsewhere?
Perhaps, it has been realised that the culture of wining, dining, partying and entertaining to the most lavish and extravagant extent will not result in the banks opening their vaults any more?
Perhaps, it has been realised that the Rangers brand has been so badly damaged over the years that it is no longer the key to the golden door in terms of business, finance and banking and that running a football club in 2015 involves a discipline and a set of skills that David Murray and his team do not have experience of?
What is clear, is that the Murray years at Ibrox were not good for the average Rangers fan in the long term and that when you have a football club – any football club – being run for the private benefit of one rich individual, or group of individuals, then the feelings and passions of the ordinary fan will as often as not be forgotten when that individual or his group choose to move on once they have decided that they no longer wish to play with their toy football club.
David Murray did not make money directly out of Rangers Football Club. He used it as a key to open other doors for him and to get him a seat at other tables and into a different type of “club” altogether. He did not run the club in a day to day fashion that was designed to bring stability and prolonged financial, or playing, success to the club. its investors and its fans. He did not preside over Ibrox during a period of sustained financial gain.
Mike Ashley will not subsidise 2015 version of Rangers to anything like the same extent that the Bank of Scotland did in the 90’s and naughties.
However, Ashley, like Murray, will use his control of the Rangers brand to open doors for him elsewhere in the sports retail market, and he will use the Rangers contract with Sports Direct to make a handsome profit. He will also control all the advertising revenue just as he does at Newcastle. In short, Mr Ashley is only interested in The Rangers with a view to using it as a stepping stone to achieve other things elsewhere.
However, don’t take my word for any of this, take the opinion of someone who knows.
Mr Dave King is quoted today as saying the following about the current board of Directors who are in charge of the current Ibrox holding company.
“History will judge this board as one of the worst the club has ever had. There is not one individual who puts the club above personal interest.”
That is an interesting observation from a man who became a non executive director of the old Rangers holding company in 2000 and who had a front row pew for every set of accounts and all the financial statements referred to above.
Whether or not Mr King is a glib and shameless liar is a matter of South African judicial opinion. Whether or not he can spot someone who puts their own self interest ahead of the interests of Rangers Football Club and the supporters of the club is a matter that should be discussed over some fine wine, some succulent lamb and whatever postprandial entertainment you care to imagine.
I wonder if he has ever read the accounts of Rangers PLC and compared them to the corresponding accounts of MIH for the same period?
McCaig`s Tower says:
January 28, 2015 at 2:41 pm
MoreCelticParanoia says:
January 28, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Why would Mike Ashley lend TRFC money to pay himself back? Effectively he is writing off debt.
If you owe me £3 and I lend you a fiver to “pay me back”, the net result is I have given you £8 but you only owe me £5 ergo I have written off £3.
————————————————————–
I don’t think this is the way it works. I have lent you £3 from my left pocket. Now I lend you £5 from my right pocket (which you use to pay me back the £3).
So I get my original £3 back (into my left pocket) and you now owe me £5. In effect I have lent you an extra £2.
However I can spin this as I have lent you £5 (and that is £8 in total). I haven’t written off any debt. And every time I lend you money, I extract an extra pound of flesh.
___________________________________________________
I follow what you’re saying. From your example if you had 5 pound coins in your right pocket you could just transfer 3 of them into your left pocket – saving the trouble of handing it over and taking it back – lend the other £2 and be owed £5.
Thought experiments are tough
Another Spot the Difference
Noting that the SFA appeared to be able to ‘fast track’ their work where Livingston FC was concerned, this in comparison to the sluggishness with which they’re dealing with MA and TRFC, I have wondered, yet never seen queried at all here or in the papers, why East Fife FC has been seen as blameless by the football authorities.
All four breaches of the disciplinary rules which Livingston were punished for mention Neil Rankine ‘holds interests’ in East Fife while being a shareholder of Livingston FC’s parent company.
Therefore, why has no disciplinary tribunal been held pertaining to the Methil club?
So Ibrox isnt on Ashley’s list due to a court order.
http://news.stv.tv/west-central/308252-rangers-blocked-court-order-from-giving-ashley-security-over-ibrox/
in other news, a twitter update to highlight the SF sponsor namechecks Rangers first and an irish based Celtic supporters website instead of the official account names
@jeffholmes24
head of team @officialQTS boss with SemiFinal managers @spfl @AberdeenFC @RangersFirst @dundeeunitedfc @CelticGossip pic.twitter.com/x1mYWsSmmh
bfbpuzzled @ 2.07 pm
Yes, but then the deeds would show on the ladlords balance sheet, not the tenants.
Finloch @ 2.43
Tell your pal that the next time an IPO offers investment opportunities to fund “working capital,” particularly in a historically loss making business, to either be very very clear what the forecast cash outgoings are, or to run a mile.
He will find the second option less sweaty and not so painful.
MCFC your 4.5 million is to keep the Ibrox show on the road. That is not a player budget. I am sure their costs will be a lot higher than the other top 4 or 5 clubs ( not inc Celtic ). Yes they may be able to afford a couple of quality players but will that be enough to challenge for a title or even get second place every season ?
Also, there is cash to be paid back.
MaBaw,
What is this strange “paid back” of which you speak?
Is it the same thing that, irony of ironies, the RFB amongst others are claiming that’s no fair about Ashleys enhanced retail revenue deal, as it hinders their capacity to make these repayments? Because its been right there in the top priority drawer for the last 20 years or so, obviously!
Coming next, RFB proclaims its no fair that they have better players than we have.
And next week, why its no fair they have the wrong kind of billionaire backing them. One that’s street wise, astute, non Rangers minded and has basic arithmetic skills. I mean what kind of cv is that!
Does this explain how Ashley’s latest loan works?
abbott and costello two tens for a five
So it isnt a court order or an interim interdict at all but just an undertaking from the boards lawyers not to use ibrox as security until 17 th Feb which i think is the date the earlier notice of intention to do so runs out….after that?
andygraham.66 says:
January 28, 2015 at 3:12 pm
I’ve read the article a number of times and cannot understand what its actually trying to say.
Is there a more learned member of TSFM who can explain how a petition works in this way? Is it because the petitioner is a shareholder?
The article makes no mention of that and without that, it suggest that anyone can submit a petition about anything simply on a whim. I mean I know there’s a sense of self-importance that comes with being part of the establishment but surely there has to be some sort of relevance?
If it is due to shareholding, a cynic might say that the article has been deliberately written to support the belief that perceived injustice can result in the issuing of court orders …
4424me says:
January 28, 2015 at 3:53 pm
….after that?
==============================================================
SD due diligence needed for February payroll says the 2nd tranche needs to be £7m instead of £5m. Pass me the keys to Ibrox, thank you very much
GoosyGoosy says:
January 28, 2015 at 11:43 am
MaBaw says:
January 28, 2015 at 11:10 am
…
,,,,,,,,,,,,
At the very best
The SFA strategy may be to withdraw the license after TRFC have played their last game of the season
=======================
Yes, the delay looks, on the face of it, like an opportunity to push any decision / appeal to the end of the season – when the SFA may believe it has more leverage wrt a license withdrawal ‘threat’.
But don’t think Ashley’s guys would be worried about the SFA suddenly getting tough -why would they ?
Looks like a PR opportunity: either Ashley plays hardball and makes the SFA look even more inept, if that was possible, but makes enemies – or if he thinks he has now secured all that he wants from Ibrox he could play ball with the SFA to keep them sweet ? Maybe accept a little slap on the wrist, with the SFA keeping a ‘watching brief’ on Ibrox, or some such tosh… 🙄
futbol says:
January 28, 2015 at 4:18 pm
andygraham.66 says:
January 28, 2015 at 3:12 pm
So Ibrox isnt on Ashley’s list due to a court order.
http://news.stv.tv/west-central/308252-rangers-blocked-court-order-from-giving-ashley-security-over-ibrox/
I’ve read the article a number of times and cannot understand what its actually trying to say.
Is there a more learned member of TSFM who can explain how a petition works in this way? Is it because the petitioner is a shareholder?
The article makes no mention of that and without that, it suggest that anyone can submit a petition about anything simply on a whim. I mean I know there’s a sense of self-importance that comes with being part of the establishment but surely there has to be some sort of relevance?
If it is due to shareholding, a cynic might say that the article has been deliberately written to support the belief that perceived injustice can result in the issuing of court orders …
_______________________________________
Or perhaps the STV story is a load of… how you say… bollox? 😈
It’s not like there is no precedent when it comes to all incarnations of TRFC
Simulation
When I’m playing Monopoly with the family, if I get into the kind of accelerating downward spiral TRFC/RIFC find themselves in, I usually simulate cramp and knock the board over before the inevitable humiliation – to salvage some dignity.
Just My Imagination – Once Again – Running Away With Me !
From my £4.5mil SPL budget for TRFC it seems that other clubs run well under this. On the “pros” side, TRFC may still have a draw for younger players who will play for less as a shop window for their talents. On the “cons” side TRFC have unrealistic overheads on MP and Ibrox (incl. refurbishment).
It seems to me that there is a business model here that can be made to work, at a macro level. The fragile stage will be a young, inexperienced squad next year assuming no warchest (you’ll win nothing with kids) and the fine balance of reduced running costs versus increasing onerous contracts. A nearly balanced budget will avoid daily financial crisis stories and a decent manager can no doubt revolutionize the product on the park – that will feel like heaven to many bears after the last three years. But however that balance falls, there will be no cash available for hubris, supremacy, hangers-on etc. Then give it a couple of years and the cry will go out for an IPO to push to the next level – where we belong etc.
Meanwhile, frequent strip changes keep MA’s till ringing – maybe they could add come more stars to represent all the different leagues they’ve won.
The only fly in the ointment is that when MA’s men leave – RRM take over – and they still haven’t learned how to balance a budget – so the whole cycle begins again.
wottpi says:
January 28, 2015 at 4:18 pm
3
0
Rate This
4424me says:
January 28, 2015 at 3:53 pm
….after that?
==============================================================
SD due diligence needed for February payroll says the 2nd tranche needs to be £7m instead of £5m. Pass me the keys to Ibrox, thank you very much
……………………………………………………….
And the other 25% of the RR business!
The SFA will continue to kick the Ashley “2-club” issue can down the road until they can quantify the likely points deduction they can get away with while still allowing the new club their pathway to where they belong.
Mac 4.35
My wee sister used to do something like that. It was magnetic football where you moved players around the plastic surface using a magnet on a stick to move the player who had a magnet on his base.
She broke the pitch as I recall when my team went a few goals up and subsequent games had to have a lost ball or even player rule introduced.
Auldheid says:
January 28, 2015 at 4:59 pm
I “inherited” the magnetic football from big brother, it was great fun, though quite difficult to play. As I recall, we had 6 teams for it, generic, blue, green, red etc.
Not sure if this is true but – in the great scheme of things down Ibrox way – it beggars belief if it is…
==========================================================
“Rangers stars in ticket wrangle with Llambias
Rangers stars have been told they will not be getting their usual quota of complimentary matchday tickets by chief executive Derek Llambias – sparking fears among the squad that the briefs are being set aside for directors instead.
Players have now been told they can buy up to ten tickets, having protested at the initial offer of being able to buy just two tickets – but they don’t know for which parts of the stadium the tickets will be. (Scottish Sun)”
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/rumour-mill-rangers-novo-s-ibrox-ban-celtic-1-3671660
Auldheid says:
January 28, 2015 at 2:44 pm
Ecobhoy 8.56
I had actually forgotten about that little twist.
Joethebookie says: January 27, 2015 at 11:20 pm
easyJambo says:
January 27, 2015 at 7:56 pm
53 0 Rate This
EJ, do you know all five of the ‘guilt admitted’?
========================
Apologies for the delay in responding. I’ve been out (and offline) all day.
The extract from the FTTT report reads as follows:
Based on other information Inverness was easily identifiable as Novo. Overseas player, joined in 2004. His agent was referred to as Mr Silver (Jorge Lera) – a Spanish football agent who acted for several Rangers players (including Novo). Lera also gave evidence to the FTTT.
The rest aren’t as clear. Mr Selby’s EBT was funded by £460,000 per annum, while also taking a “net” wage of £300,000 per annum through the payroll, so must have been one of the bigger names. Mr Barrow was only described as “foreign”. Mr Furness was still at the club in March 2006. There is nothing to identify Mr Doncaster (no, not that one).
Re the rookie police having to become familiar with the bad song’s would it not be easier to draft in the police that have had the fortune to listen to th first hand at away grounds I am sure there will be a fair few over the past three seasons that will have picked up on them.
Chris Graham RST “Its farcical that the board are trying to pretend this is a good deal..It is saddling the club with massive debts while at the same time making it difficult for the club to pay back”
Sharp as a tack this fella eh ?
If only guys like that had been around when david murray was doing the same . . . Oh . . Hold on . . . 😆
Of course if he was REALLY sharp he would realise its not the clubs debt is it ? No no silly billy its the company . . the club doesnt get involved in any of that financial stuff . . too much resposibility down that road . . . winding up orders admin liquidation . . its a minefield out there in the REAL world ! !
Bearspeak :
Loan from Ashley = debt
Loan from 3Bs = investment
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
IMO Mike Ashley has just driven the final stake into the heart of the beast that was consuming Scottish Football. Let me try to get this straight…
Sports Direct have, effectively, assumed the responsibility (and the security and other side deals) for the £3m MASH loan, and have generously forwarded a further £2m net new cash to be consumed by the new club – presumably already spent on the January wages… Then there is the mirage of a “reversible” offer to forward another £5m, if and when they feel like it… or not! All of this has been successfully spun to the media as a new £10m loan! As commission on this special offer, Sports Direct effectively assume full control of Rangers Retail, and can thus rewrite the Rangers merchandising contracts to be even more onerous than they already are… Also, inter alia in the their goodie bag, they get security against everything of value that remains in Sevco (Ibrox being irrelevant as it is clearly more of a liability than an asset now, what with escalating repair bills, onerous contracts, fan boycotts, and so on)…
IMO this beats Abbot and Costello’s “two tens for a five” hands down. I’ll give you 2 and you give me… all your remaining hope for the future…
Sports Direct have just delivered the final blow to a Sevco and RIFC already thoroughly looted by a seemingly endless conveyer belt of spivs. The new club (or is that clubs? TRFC and RIFC…) are now mired in a complex web of debts and mysterious long term onerous obligations, and anyone with a heart would already be calling in the liquidators to put them out of their misery…
When the dust settles, what will be there for a Third Rangers? A crumbling Ibrox with multiple onerous contracts intact, and repair bills that themselves will cost more than a new stadium (suitably downsized for the drastically diminished support)? A “club” whose image rights and very identity will have to be licensed (on suitably onerous terms) from Sports Direct? A rapidly-dwindling fan-base who are getting right royally sick of it all, and understandably, after being consistently duped by an SMSM who have become nothing more than a propaganda outlet for the spivs that have been ripping off these same fans repeatedly, and aim to continue doing so.
All of this being “overseen” by utterly craven and corrupt football “authorities”, who are now so compromised that it seems clear that whoever is in charge of “Rangers” can write their own script…
Not to mention the growing web of litigation both civil and criminal, that will surely drag on for years if not decades yet…
What a mess. I don’t see any future for Rangers that will be in any way acceptable to most of their fans. The utter lack of integrity displayed by the SFA and SPFL over many years has already ensured the demise of the real Rangers, and their Frankensteinian replacement is now ready to follow suit… and any further versions are now seriously crippled before they even start, thanks to the business acumen of Mike Ashley, and the supporting cast of assorted spivs.
The corruption of the “authorities” centres on Rangers. When the beast that Rangers has become is slain, then surely the downfall of these “authorities” cannot be far behind? They have sold out the very constituency that they were attempting to save. Possibly Mike Ashley will wish to toy with them for a little while first, just for his own amusement…
The media likewise has sold out the very constituency that they are in fear of offending.
The SMSM are already in decline and are being replaced by social media and the internet bampots, so no problem there. But if we want a worthwhile future for Scottish football as a whole, then we must ensure that the SFA and SPFL are liberated from the shameless crooks and incompetents that are currently in charge. They are now (or will be imminently) on their knees and vulnerable. IMO only fan power, mobilised via the internet, can right this wrong.
howiemac says:
January 28, 2015 at 6:35 pm
______________________________________
Excellent.
To say the same thing but different Howiemac, I think it is genuinely only now dawning on the authorities and media that those that they have cravenly assisted into position may not actually have rangers best interests at heart. Of course they’re not stupid, surely a winning rangers is worth bag loads more to the spivs ergo they assist rangers to the top and everyone’s a winner (apart from the other competitors, obviously).
Well actually no Campbell. Mike is currently teaching you that he doesn’t give a flying flight of fancy whether they’re successful or not, he gets his wedge either way, ergo ergo, why the hell would he bankroll them to success?
Just heard Ronny D. reminding everyone in his press conference that ‘Rangers’ have the second biggest budget in Scottish football. Bravo, say I. That’s a pretty important point to keep in the public eye, especially since the club/company is skint and is borrowing its way to oblivion.
StevieBC says:
January 28, 2015 at 5:35 pm
9
0
Rate This
Not sure if this is true but – in the great scheme of things down Ibrox way – it beggars belief if it is…
==========================================================
“Rangers stars in ticket wrangle with Llambias
Rangers stars have been told they will not be getting their usual quota of complimentary matchday tickets by chief executive Derek Llambias – sparking fears among the squad that the briefs are being set aside for directors instead.
Players have now been told they can buy up to ten tickets, having protested at the initial offer of being able to buy just two tickets – but they don’t know for which parts of the stadium the tickets will be. (Scottish Sun)”
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/rumour-mill-rangers-novo-s-ibrox-ban-celtic-1-3671660
____________________________________________________
“they don’t know for which parts of the stadium the tickets will be…”
The away end going by recent developments 😆
but seriously…. A sensible move to try and recoup some of the inflated salaries.
I would make the starting eleven buy their own jerseys if it was up to me!
easyJambo says:
January 28, 2015 at 6:04 pm
5 0 Rate This
========================
Apologies for the delay in responding. I’ve been out (and offline) all day.
The extract from the FTTT report reads as follows:
210. Finally, Mr Thornhill noted five cases where peculiarly trust payments were made in respect of guaranteed bonuses. These relate to Messrs Selby, Inverness, Doncaster, Barrow, and Furness, as confirmed by his instructing solicitor’s letter of 29 September 2011. The Appellants concede that in these cases there is a sufficient nexus with a contractual right to create a tax liability (paras 19 and 20 of Supplementary Skeletal Argument of 4 November 2011).
Based on other information Inverness was easily identifiable as Novo. Overseas player, joined in 2004. His agent was referred to as Mr Silver (Jorge Lera) – a Spanish football agent who acted for several Rangers players (including Novo). Lera also gave evidence to the FTTT.
The rest aren’t as clear. Mr Selby’s EBT was funded by £460,000 per annum, while also taking a “net” wage of £300,000 per annum through the payroll, so must have been one of the bigger names. Mr Barrow was only described as “foreign”. Mr Furness was still at the club in March 2006. There is nothing to identify Mr Doncaster (no, not that one).
=============================================
eJ,
You supplied a list on Feb 28 2014, which you thought came from KDS, indicating that Mr. Doncaster was Julian Rodriguez or Olivier Bernard. Mr. Selby was Dado Prso.
Post is fifth comment on this page:
http://www.tsfm.scot/scottish-football-an-honest-game-honestly-governed/comment-page-2/
No Barrow or Furness on the list though…
Jingso.Jimsie says: January 28, 2015 at 7:25 pm
———————-
Thanks for that. I’ve updated my list.
Nacho No-no.
Smugas says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:15 pm
—
I was thinking about this too and would go even further.
If even if Ashley didn’t care, he might sell more season books or merchandise if he pretended he did. If he wanted to be cynical about it, he could deliver the odd Greenesque ‘everyone’s against us’ speech and watch the effect on the cash registers. The fact that he doesn’t bother must be even more of a worry.
ThomTheThim says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:14 pm
I don’t think your post was moderated at all. I linked to the Abbott and Costello sketch on January 27, 2015 at 12:09 pm (on Page 12) without any problems, and I’m a silver surfer. I did find it odd, though, that there was no hyperlink in your original post – only “Abbot and Costello – two tens for a five”
Pressfit, Paul Shackleton, WH Ireland, Daniel Stewart, and AIM casino scandal
https://soundcloud.com/shareprophets/bearcast-17-january-pressfit-paul-shackleton-wh-ireland-daniel-stewart-and-aim-casino-scandal
Even a mention of Rangers – I suppose it’s the company they keep.
The Rangers nil? Who missed the penalty? says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:55 pm
1 0 Rate This
ThomTheThim says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:14 pm
I don’t think your post was moderated at all. I linked to the Abbott and Costello sketch on January 27, 2015 at 12:09 pm (on Page 12)without any problems. I thought it was a perfect fit, too.
******
I posted a reference to it around 4.37, but the link didn’t show.
I posted a couple of minutes later, with the working link and it is that one that is missing.
The sketch is just so cleverly funny, even without the Mike reference, I think.
jean7brodie says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:11 pm
—
thanks Jean 🙂
Smugas says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:15 pm
Yes – far too late to save their situation IMO. It seems to me that, in effect, the authorities and media have both been working against the interests of ALL fans of Scottish football, including Rangers fans. Whether they have been acting out of fear, bias, ignorance, greed, self-interest or whatever, I feel sure that both the authorities and media will reap the rewards of their misjudgement in due course, as those that they have been duping finally waken up.
StevieBC says:
January 28, 2015 at 4:22 pm
12 0 Rate This
GoosyGoosy says:
January 28, 2015 at 11:43 am
MaBaw says:
January 28, 2015 at 11:10 am
…
,,,,,,,,,,,,
At the very best
The SFA strategy may be to withdraw the license after TRFC have played their last game of the season
=======================
Yes, the delay looks, on the face of it, like an opportunity to push any decision / appeal to the end of the season – when the SFA may believe it has more leverage wrt a license withdrawal ‘threat’.
But don’t think Ashley’s guys would be worried about the SFA suddenly getting tough -why would they ?
Looks like a PR opportunity: either Ashley plays hardball and makes the SFA look even more inept, if that was possible, but makes enemies – or if he thinks he has now secured all that he wants from Ibrox he could play ball with the SFA to keep them sweet ? Maybe accept a little slap on the wrist, with the SFA keeping a ‘watching brief’ on Ibrox, or some such tosh… 🙄
…………………..
Or
Sports Direct could end up sponsoring one of the SFA run events
A most interesting contribution made by a Bampot here a day or two ago, [by mcfc ?], mentioned that Rafa Benitez had allegedly been approached about the NUFC job.
On being told his remit was to avoid relegation, and ‘to keep away’ from the top of the table, Rafa allegedly walked away.
Presumably, if true, this could be translated as Rafa wanting X millions to build a top team/squad, but Ashley would not provide the budget.
[Can’t find any link on the interweb about this.]
But, if that is indeed Ashley’s mindset, then TRFC will be losing fans in the long run if there is a distinct lack of trophies – and even European adventures.
But every cloud has a silver lining !
This could be good news for Celtic – and for the other SPL teams who would also continue to have a realistic chance of winning silverware, as per recent seasons.
Ashley’s influence could ironically produce an outcome that is ‘good for Scottish football’…but not for the bears. 😉
Esteban says:
January 28, 2015 at 7:55 pm
One almost gets the impression that Mr Ashley doesn’t give two hoots for the Ibrox faithful… Rather, as someone posted here earlier, it is as if he has a grudge that he is venting – like he wants to humiliate them at every opportunity (the AGM being a classic example).
I asked the question last night after the Novo comments .
From the subsequent posts. ( thank you! ) it would appear that at least some of the 5 conceded guilty EBT men were substantial players during the noughties including the bold Nacho …and whom either individually or together from first glance ( and I may be wrong) pretty well participated in the bulk of trophies won .
If the law of the land was broken….how does that not constitute a sporting advantage over all the other teams who clearly were not allowed to break the law
I am obviously missing something simple given the top QC in the country addressed this subject in detail for months and found nothing wrong ?
And all this on top of the DOS debacle!
The Rangers nil? Who missed the penalty? says:
January 27, 2015 at 12:09 pm
55 0 Rate This
Mike Ashley negotiates RIFC/TRFC’s next loan:
*******
Sorry for reposting your post.
I knew I had seen it somewhere, but thought it was from CQN, next door, where I have been known to loiter!
Re:Nachogate and the supposed ban.
I am inclined to believe the Club/board/entity or whatever this monstrosity now is rather than the Novomeister.
His past utterances have lacked any connection with truth for many years now. He is, was, always has been and always will be an expert excrement agitator, whether on a field of play or off it.
If anyone would like an English take on the last few years Radio 5 live, in their build up to sunday, have a programme tomorrow night in which they will be discussing “what happened to rangers” (not my words).
My guess is they will have a well known scottish steno on the show spouting the same shite that we have been subjected to.
But you never know…..
Now they have begun to tell lies.
This won’t end well. Mark my words!
Now that Luis Figo has also thrown his hat into the ring for FIFA President, it would appear that there is a real possibility that Blatter could – finally – be on his way out.
In due course, the serious contenders will be canvassing for support and explaining how they will clean up FIFA. Logically, they should also have a plan to clean up any and all corrupt national Football Associations.
Maybe this could be an opportunity to complain about the corrupt SFA directly to the contenders ?
There ‘should’ at least be responses forthcoming, even if they are non-specific about the SFA – but it would at least embarrass the Hampden blazers and it might make them take notice that a new FIFA regime might take a closer look at their behaviour ?
A long shot perhaps, but worth a punt ?
Crawford @ 9:09pm
Take your pick from Mr Wilson, Mr English, or Mr Spiers. Either way no-one down south will be any the wiser.
crawford says:
January 28, 2015 at 9:09 pm
18 0 Rate This
If anyone would like an English take on the last few years Radio 5 live, in their build up to sunday, have a programme tomorrow night in which they will be discussing “what happened to rangers” (not my words).
My guess is they will have a well known scottish steno on the show spouting the same shite that we have been subjected to.
—————————————–
It’s normally former debenture holder Roddy Forsyth 5live turn to when having a brief look at Scottish fitba.
Little chance of him going against the party line but you never know.
StevieBC says:
January 28, 2015 at 9:51 pm
______________________________________
Like contact Luis Figo via Twitter?
Mr novo would be the ebt recipient that scored the winning penalty in the eufa cup semi final against fiorentina . Did rangers as were, admit he was incorrectly registered and had a contract side letter ?
jean7brodie says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:11 pm
0 0 Rate This
StevieBC says:
January 28, 2015 at 9:51 pm
______________________________________
Like contact Luis Figo via Twitter?
============================================
Jean, my expectation is that each contender will have a decent ‘campaign website’ where you will be able to submit queries etc.
Currently there is one for David Ginola, [I know, don’t think he will be a serious contender], but his seems to be focussed on raising cash at the moment.
http://www.teamginola.com/
Having been in touch with many of my Rangers supporting mates over the last few days, there is one consensus among us.
Selling off virtually all income streams to get a £10m loan is suicide. How can you pay back what you owe if you can’t earn anything?
Old club new club aside, Rangers are now dead. Walking for the time being perhaps, but dead.
Mr Ashley could have sorted this all out. But there’s that whole 10% rule. Ashley totally in charge , running the club well= good. Ashley pissed off and just taking the money instead = bad.
Mr Ashley was allowed a 10% stake, with no more control. He clearly now has more control. This is a breach of SFA rules. Therefore, SFA, revoke our license. Those are the rules. Do it. The collapse of Rangers will have many interesting factors, but the SFA will have a lot of the blame in my view. We can’t meet our bills, and a man who is not allowed any influence is running the entire show. Revoke our license, we have breached your rules.
Or are you completely useless?
ecobhoy says:
January 28, 2015 at 8:02 pm
12 0 Rate This
Pressfit, Paul Shackleton, WH Ireland, Daniel Stewart, and AIM casino scandal
https://soundcloud.com/shareprophets/bearcast-17-january-pressfit-paul-shackleton-wh-ireland-daniel-stewart-and-aim-casino-scandal
Even a mention of Rangers – I suppose it’s the company they keep.
———-
Absolutely addictive stuff. Lots of provocative Bearcasts on Daniel Stewart. I’m on the DS Christmas Party one! Jings.
@Ryan. Common sense says sell up — fans & RRM & 3 Bears. Start a proper newco. Would eventually overtake TRFC. Ibrox is probably a millstone around the club’s neck anyway. Hampden is empty most of the time …
iceman63 says:
January 28, 2015 at 8:47 pm
Re:Nacho and the supposed ban.
I am inclined to believe the Club/board/entity or whatever this monstrosity now is rather than Novo.
—————————————————
Didn’t you hear the McDowell interview where he confirmed passing on the instruction to tell Nacho he was no longer welcome.
So Either Nacho and Kenny are lying or someone from the Board or club’s senior management is.
I personally have no problem in deciding who’s more likely to be frightened of Ashley’s wrath over a horrendous PR blunder and I don’t think it’s Kenny or Nacho.
Danish pastry,
The death knell may well have been sounded for rangers. Three years of causing fights amongst the fans groups means that there may not be a way of creating a fan supported new club. New club. I use my words deliberately here. I am not alone in thinking that rangers have been destroyed now, and not by liquidation. By complete destruction of everything we were proud of.
I am devastated. But looking forward to the end. This is intolerable.
RyanGosling says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:18 pm
I agree with you.
I won’t insult you by saying I am crying into my beer about what’s happening to Rangers, cos I am not.
However, there is a bigger picture.
Ashley is struggling to get a manager for NUFC, because he wants to keep them mid-table, to avoid spending money on European football. He has done the cost/benefit analysis, and the status quo suits him fine.
The Ashley experiment, has to be stopped, before it escapes from the laboratory.
This about the future of football, Rangers are an irrelevance.
Scapaflow, I thumbs up’d you as soon as I got to the part where you said you were not crying into your beer about rangers. I wouldn’t expect you to, and I appreciate your honesty. Although you are now my eternal enemy!
scapaflow says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:31 pm
Grrr
RyanGosling says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:30 pm
1 0 Rate This
Danish pastry,
The death knell may well have been sounded for rangers. Three years of causing fights amongst the fans groups means that there may not be a way of creating a fan supported new club. New club. I use my words deliberately here. I am not alone in thinking that rangers have been destroyed now, and not by liquidation. By complete destruction of everything we were proud of.
I am devastated. But looking forward to the end. This is intolerable.
——
I hear you. It died for many others three years ago. But it may have had to come to this for a proper newco to start. It’ll never get every fan, too many splinter groups with non-football stuff motivating them. But there is a possibility, yet.
Danish pastry,
Thing is, I have never argued on the old club new clubs thing. I always thought it was the same club, based on the emotional points. Legal, no. All intents and purposes, yes. But I think they’ve killed that now. People here have always talked about the “toxic” brand, but it’s killing a bunch of me and my mates being lumped in with that. Imagine this happening to your club,
IMO, we are already past the point of no return with Ashley.
He will leave TRFC/Scottish only if/when it suits him.
If the SFA ever threatened to revoke the football licence, he has the deep pockets to have the SFA tied up in court for years. We all know how vague and flexible the SFA rule book is, and there must be plenty of scope for clever/expensive lawyers to exploit.
And Ashley has the deepest pockets of course.
And as for setting up a rival, new club ?
Ashley would protect his investment, so no new club would be allowed to have any connection whatsoever to Ibrox/Govan/Rangers/red white and blue colours/etc, or risk ending up in court for impinging on his business interests.
Looks like he has won.
Hi All
Ryan, I feel for you, but I think now that ashley has all the assets, the game is up. First tranche of the “facility” will be gone within a week, 2nd tranche drawn down by the end of feb, more cash required before the end of the season, and no way of paying it back, game, set & match to ashley.
I think the only option for king,3b, fans etc is to walk away and start a new club. It’s the only way this will have a happy ending for you, a club controlled and owned by fans, run the way they want it too.
There will be several books that come out in the years to come about this whole saga, some will be used as text books in business schools, lessons on corporate governance, marketing, takeover strategy and how to completely control a business without owning more than 9% of it.
Ryan, re your comments about the sfa, no chance, they will do nothing about ashley as they do not have the balls, they have already blinked once and ashley knows it.
kenny was told to tell Novo and he was told to tell durie, and Durrant their new positions.
looks like km is the new message boy
RyanGosling says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Welcome back. I truly am beginning to wonder what Ashley’s all about. He actually seems to be well on the way to uniting most of the Rangers support and that certainly takes a special touch.
As to the SFA – I simply don’t believe they’ve got the bottle to deal with Ashley. But we’ll see. He clearly has trampled them underfoot on the ownership issue but no doubt will win legally if it ends-up in court.
I don’t think I have ever been less clear as to what kind of future lies ahead for Rangers. I do know that if the support were prepared to abandon Ibrox as their stadium then a new club with a large element of fan ownership is possible and IMO could succeed.
But I’m not sure that Bears are prepared to take that hugely emotional step. Their mind might tell them that financially it’s the right thing and the way to clear the moneylenders out of the temple.
But as we all know football fans are led by their hearts rather than cold logic.
I fear Ryan, that the charade will be prolonged to the detriment of all. The humour is of the graveyard variety; to me the game itself died when SEVCO played Brechin and the essence of the game was gone.
It’s not just The Rangers that is undead. The SFA and SPFL were once a governing body and a commercial body incorporating our leading clubs. Today the wind is howling through the remnants of the rule book and Ashley has basically used the deadness of the entire game to his own advantage. The SFA cannot grow a pair, they are, to all intents and purposes dead as a governing body. The SPFL is so full of contempt for its own product that it cannot sell it.
RyanGosling says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:18 pm
30 1 Rate This
Ryan, I’m presuming your final question is rhetorical?
RyanGosling says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Ryan. I know that you and your team have taken a fair amount of flak on here at times but I really do believe that there would be a considereable amount of good will to a proper new Rangers.
The footballing authorities, that should have had the best ineterests of the game at large along with the intererests of and you and your fellow supporters as their lodestar failed dismally in their duty. They helped facilitate the plans of Charles Green. Once he got the keys to Ibrox you were done for.
With the latent support that exists for Rangers a new team could rapidly rise to the uppper levels of the game and compete for trophy’s.
If the SFA had the courage to pull the plug on the current shambles the space necessary for reproachment could be created.
I’m open that there are two sides to the OC/NC debate. Legally I think that TRFC is a new club but I recognise that the spirit of a club resides in the heart of its supporters. No one take away a lifetime of last minute winners or chances missed.
AFC Wimbledon are a new club. But all down here recognise them as the rightfull heirs to the crazy gang that lifted the FA Cup.
It would be great to think that in the near future there could be a team you can call yours and be proud of.
RyanGosling says:
January 28, 2015 at 10:41 pm
2 0 Rate This
Danish pastry,
Thing is, I have never argued on the old club new clubs thing. I always thought it was the same club, based on the emotional points. Legal, no. All intents and purposes, yes. But I think they’ve killed that now. People here have always talked about the “toxic” brand, but it’s killing a bunch of me and my mates being lumped in with that. Imagine this happening to your club,
——–
Not many on here don’t accept the emotional link/same club thing. But the point I was clumsily trying to make was opportunity knocks. Might as well kiss Ibrox goodbye, should have been sold off to satisfy oldco creditors anyway, imo. Of course, who wants to follow the likes of Chris Graham, Dingwall, et al into their kind of newco. Btw, chap on SSB tonight said dropped Ibrox years ago and is now engaged in St Mirren. Nice guy who just wanted to take his kids to a normal football club that was part of the community. Expect quite a few are now engaging locally with their ‘other’ teams. Not a bad option at all.
A lot of the time I think it’s funny, when I’m not being moribund.
The best thing for Rangers is what everyone here, myself included, has said for a long time; group together, start a new team, leave behind the trials of the past.
It won’t happen. We are witnessing the long slow death of rangers. And no, not as many have said, the death of scottish football.
But the death of an era of Scottish football. Rangers fans made up about 40% of Scottish football fans, they won’t pick a local team, they will leave. Scottish football will of course survive. But it will have a smaller market, a less relevant fan base, and talents players more easily picked off for reserve team stalwarts than before. This is not the nature of Scottish sport, but the nature of the world we live in. There is no joy in this for me.
Just trying to think through the practicalities Ryan, on what basis would you revoke the licence?
Oh, and on a personal basis, if you and and your mates wouldn’t mind demanding CO’s head on a plate that would help your cause no end!
I feel for you re your what if it was your club comment. I’m afraid the hardliner in me immediately asks you to put yourselves in our shoes from 2000-2015. It hasn’t been pretty viewing and sympathy isn’t even in the top 5 emotions that come most readily to hand.
Chance after chance for some degree of mediation cast aside on a storm of groundless hubris, questionable (at best) media coverage and downright corruption. For what?
Revoke the license- the SFA said 10%, no further influence. I could wax lyrical now, but we all know he has further influence, breach of rules, lose license. Not difficult.
Message for Mr Ashley, that you will understand: kill my club and you WILL kill my income stream.
RyanGosling:
I feel the need to say this mate, but you absolutely positively cannot give up here. You and those guys like you, you are correct and you represent the best hope – perhaps the only hope – that some version of Rangers will survive this calamitous series of events.
If you’ve read my blogs over the last couple of years, you’ll know (or should know) that I do not hate Rangers. I hate a version of Rangers that was promoted and pushed for a long, long time … it is not the version you and other good people support, but it was the version successive boards allowed to become “established” as the public face.
What you are talking about has merit, both in terms of football reasons and in social consequences. Weeks like this, where the papers are filled with warnings and police statemens and predictions of doom … they simply wouldn’t have to exist.
There isn’t – and there never was – a reason why our clubs couldn’t simply be local rivals, and still have the world’s best derby fixture without the promotion (largely through a skull-fecked media which is disgraceful beyond compare) of the whole thing as some kind of medieval religious standoff … it’s been bollocks for years now, if was ever real in the beginning.
This isn’t a dig. Everyone knows your own club had a certain signing policy, but I would stipulate that the number of fans who actually saw it as an article of faith was small … as was eventually proved.
The poison that’s seeped into this fixture is new, and it’s a creation of a media which does not recognise any social responsibility.
For those reasons alone, a brand new Rangers would be like a breath of fresh air and a benefit to the whole of Scotland, because it would eradicate this Old Firm nonsense at a stroke.
It would also shatter the SFA and the media’s “Scottish football is about 2 clubs” myth once and for all … and maybe things would change.
But more than that, for guys like yourselves, it would give you back your football team, because what’s happened, for guys like yourselves, has been a real tragedy, to have seen this from the sidelines whilst the cast of The Muppets “spoke up for the fans” and made matters worse … I can’t even imagine how bad it would have been.
Guys like you NEED to dig in and fight your corner. You can’t be disheartened. There’s an opportunity here, for you and for the game, and I for one, and I’m sure I’m not alone, wish you well in it.
You are your club’s last chance. I really hope you can build some momentum and at least spark the debate. That could change everything.
What will it take for ‘ra peepul’ of whatever persuasion to finally understand that corporate football is no different from any other branch of corporate finance? It’s a merciless fish tank which you enter at your peril, prepared to lose all. The only small fish which survive stay close to the big predators and clean their a**e … or develop their own happy communities in the shallows.
In a business sense, emotional commitment of fans is simply another lever to persuade folk to part with their hard-earned pennies. If it helps to keep your club in the big time fine – but know what you are paying for.
You have a right to spend your money as you wish – absolutely – but…. ‘caveat emptor’.
Who was it said there is no sentiment in business?
The word ‘Rangers’ is fast losing any last vestige of credibility (financial and/or moral). Its toxic nature may yet draw oxygen from smsm and a single 90-minute event over the next few days but it may be that the ever-tightening grip of mash in whatever form will simply squeeze a final gasp of bile from the corpse.
Therafter? Perhaps an honestly managed (and admitted) phoenix?
Firstly the SFA said 10% and I’m not convinced as to the level of consultation they went to to authorise that. Good old board discretion again. Hard to backtrack on.
They needed money this week for wages. It is unclear if any other lender could have achieved that. Again points in Ashley’s favour.
Ashley’s loan terms appear commercial. No problems there.
Retail deal hamstrings repayments? If you can prove that MA and SD are one and the same thing you are trying to say that someone is deliberately setting out to stop someone repaying their own loan? The lawyers are going to love you! Again, I’m seeing lots of comparisons to wonga type agreements. This is different. The loan terms are commercial. Where your arguement will fall down, and it will, and make no mistake mike knows this, is that you are saying that RFC (whether old or new) would be profitable we’re it not for that pesky retail contract. Really? Show us the evidence? Crying wolf springs to mind on that one, and it would appear mikes lawyers are up for precisely that fight.
Finally, I assume you meant “your”. Income stream. I also assume you meant from RFC sources and not SD turnover in general.
Ryan,
I said at New Year that with the shares acquisition of King and the three bears that there was hope.
Hope is what drives fans of any club; hope that they can have a good youth structure, hope that they can have a strong squad, hope that they can enjoy their team play, hope that they can have a good coach, hope that their clubs board can steer a financial steady ship in a desperate time, hope that their club can unearth a star and sell for a large profit.
I do not list the above to have a dig at you or your fellow supporters however the current club has none of the above and that is a truly frightening thing.
However there is still hope regardless of how slim that hope is but time is now I fear running desperately short.
The only thing I can possibly see saving the current club is for King and the three bears pulling their resources together to get rid of Ashley but that is going to take at least £7M-£7.5M just to get to the EGM and even then they are not guaranteed success.
The lack of long term funding is what has allowed Ashley in through the door and he has ruthlessly worked that angle. The only way to rid yourselves of him is to pay off his current loans, take back what is yours, and fund the losses until the summer. That is going to take north of £10M but if the above alliance are willing to do that then there is still hope. Remember it is only two months ago that King said he had £16M waiting to be ploughed into the club.
As I said above however the window of opportunity is rapidly closing and, if the second tranche of funding is made, I really do think it is game over.
The really sad thing is that the alliance above could have got the lot three years ago for £6M-£7M but they dithered and allowed Charles Green in the door.
As a fellow fan I regret any other fan losing their club.
Our individual clubs are something we mostly gain as a child and perhaps that is why we cherish it so dearly and guard it because, as we are made to mature in later years, we can still remain child like in one thing.
It gives us hope.
An irrational hope sometimes but hope is still hope.
Good luck and good night.
I’m assuming the comments in the link below are actually from Stewart Regan and not from a fake account. If genuine this would seem incredible. SR appears to have been on twitter discussing CO’s EBT.
I think Auldheid might be all over this.
https://twitter.com/FrPaulStone/status/560571647724630016/photo/1