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?
scapaflow says:
February 4, 2015 at 5:05 pm
‘As a result of this repayment, all rights of MASH to nominate two persons for potential appointment to the board of directors of the Company and RFC have now lapsed. SD has the right to nominate two persons for potential appointment to the board of directors of the Company, but has not currently exercised this right.
Further to the Company’s announcement on 27 October 2014, the Company would like to clarify the position in relation to any rights of MASH to appoint directors of RFC as referred to in that announcement. The correct position is that MASH never had the right to directly appoint directors of RFC.’
I may be misreading this statement, but doesn’t the second paragraph contradict the first, and vice versa? If, as the second paragraph states, no right to appoint directors existed, how could it have lapsed according to the first?
Allyjambo says:
February 4, 2015 at 5:20 pm
They are claiming Lambias was not an Ashley appointing, I think
The SFA’s Favourite Club
The SFA may see no problem exercising its discretion to judge Dave King “fit and proper” as a director of their favourite club, but is it good for YOUR club?
Which respectable brand will want to sponsor any league or cup connected with such an obvious shower of conflicted chancers?
How much will that cost YOUR club?
How many fans will just walk away forever in disgust and spend their money on an entertaining, properly regulated, level-playing field sport?
How much will that cost YOUR club?
How much will TV companies pay to screen matches from a league with such odious ethical issues?
How much will that cost YOUR club?
Of course any cost to YOUR club will be a cost to YOU personally, because you are their only alternative source of revenue.
Isn’t it time that YOU explained to YOUR club that you will not be dipping into your disposable income to finance the SFA’s “fit and proper” discretion to help out their favourite club?
Isn’t it time that YOU demanded that YOUR club selected an ethical and competent SFA board?
scapaflow says:
February 4, 2015 at 5:27 pm
On re-reading I think it’s just another squirrel. They are just saying the right to appoint to ‘RFC’ never existed. Whether that’s a deliberate effort to mislead and make it look like no right to appoint ever existed to the COMPANY, I don’t know, but, in effect, they are not saying no right existed within the group.
Just badly worded, or a deliberate attempt to mislead? I don’t know, but it certainly doesn’t change the ‘influence’ element.
When does “nominate” mean “appoint” ?
The MASH £2mil Credit Facility, 27 Oct 2014, http://rangers.g3dhosting.com/regulatory_news_article/407
“the Company has invited MASH to put forward the names of 2 nominees of its choice for appointment to the Board, such appointments being subject to all necessary regulatory approvals being successfully completed for such persons nominated by MASH.”
The SD £10mil Credit Facility, 27 Jan 2015, http://rangers.g3dhosting.com/regulatory_news_article/453
“SD will also have the right to nominate two directors to the board of Rangers for the duration of the Facility, any such nomination will be subject to regulatory consent pursuant to the AIM Rules and other regulatory bodies”
The new credit facility seems to have much more beneficial “rights” to “nominate” directors “for the duration”, which in the context seems to mean “appoint and keep in position” until the second £5mil tranche is repaid in full – which is not a fixed period – and which of course will never happen – unless it is replaced by something equally or more beneficial to Ashley.
It’s unwise to discount anything relating to Ashley and co as sloppy or mistaken.
If the 3 bears did take over the board, i assume they would have to pay Ashley his £10 million. I assume Ashley would take his players back.
these 3 bears will need huge pockets just to keep this saga bumping along.
Obviously they will only have influence if Ashley wants them to and his contracts are safe.
MaBaw says:
February 4, 2015 at 6:08 pm
these 3 bears will need huge pockets just to keep this saga bumping along.
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Absolutely, Ashley is making things as expensive and as complicated for them as he possibly can. He’s already manoeuvred them into blowing a big chunk of their war chest on shares with the Sarver scam. He can make their shares worthless overnight – any night – by calling in his friendly administrators.
Come and have a go if you think you’re rich enough!
Come and have a go if you think you’re smart enough!
MaBaw says:
February 4, 2015 at 6:08 pm
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If the 3 bears did take over the board, i assume they would have to pay Ashley his £10 million. I assume Ashley would take his players back.
these 3 bears will need huge pockets just to keep this saga bumping along.
Obviously they will only have influence if Ashley wants them to and his contracts are safe.
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Why would he take his players back? HE’D have to pay their wages if he did that.
The 3 bears would need to find a way to pay them from money other than more ashley loans, however, if they got their way at the EGM.
What asset will Mash secure the cost of the EGM against?
And was it just me that detected conciliatory noises from the 3B consortium towards Mash today?
Amazing how polite they can be, when grasped firmly by the plums!
Rich enough smart enough and might I say devious enough
Surprise, Surprise
Would anyone laugh if Sarver announced tomorrow that he’d bought some shares from shareholders, large and small, that King has counted on his side for the EGM – assuming it ever happens.
Does anyone really expect Ashley to walk into an EGM fight without a cue ball in a sock?
I agree with Allyjambo`s comments regarding the statement today from TRFC.
On the one hand the statement refers to a credit facility from SD, and repayment of £3m to MASH. In a
subsequent paragraph it refers to RFCL taking a £2m loan from MASH ,not SD.
Edmiston House and Albion car park still held as security, no mention of Murray Park or the 35 day notice.
Is it just me ?
Anyone having issues logging on.
… and might I say devious enough
At various times we’ve speculated who would possibly continue to extend credit to a basket case like TRFC/RIFC whose “financial condition has been perilous for a number of months exacerbated by lower than expected match attendances.” Surely such credit would be carelessness guaranteed to infuriate Lady Augusta Bracknell. I’d always considered the creditors most likely to be dyed in the wool bears – either managing their own companies or mismanaging public funds. But what if it suited those creditors to remain unpaid? What if those creditors had mates, who had mates who are underwriting those debts in a nod and a wink sort of way? What if any one of those creditors could be requested by a mate of a mate to issue a winding up order on any given day so that the biggest mate of all could get what he wants without having any influence whatsoever in the MSM’s account of any insolvency event?
Sons of Struth seem to have followed up on Phil’s claims about money going out the club.
Here is an extract from their Facebook page
My recollection was that Phil did not tie in the “rental” payment as being attached to Ibrox, just that the money was exiting the club on a monthly basis. It could be that Somers simply answering the question asked (the wrong question), rather than answer the point that Phil’s blog alluded to.
Perhaps Phil can comment further.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/opinion/spiers-on-sport-dave-king-poised-for-power-with-an-sfa-wink.1423064995
Spiers’ latest in which tbf, he does have a bit of a go at DK’s suitability re ‘Fit and proper’ but suggests the SFA will turn a blind eye.
But we shouldn’t worry, according to Graham, because we’re not ‘Rangers’ fans. His last line says “Rangers fans believe they have the man to do it in Dave King. Any moral disquiet among the rest of us, frankly, is an utter irrelevance.”
So that’s it then – he doesn’t like it, but it’s nothing to do with him!!
Somers, “Rangers owns Ibrox”
So Mr Somers is that “Rangers” to which you refer TRFC Ltd, or RIFC plc or the prion-like “club” entity or maybe Rangers Retail.
As Elvis might have said; “A little less obvious evasion, and a little more action please”
SSB absolutely appalling …… Jim Delahunt your silence is speaking volumes!!!! 😉
Jungle Jim says:
February 4, 2015 at 3:40 pm
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This has probably been asked before and if so I apologise.
Should the SFA not be making it clear right now that Dave King is not ‘fit and proper’. Is it not incumbent upon them to do so prior to any EGM? How can they sit back and allow shareholders to vote on a resolution that, if passed, cannot be applied. What sort of mess would that situation create?
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I think that fit and proper tests are somewhat problematic running up against the law of the land where football rules may run up against being tested in court.
The difficulties currently being experienced by the EFL wrt Massimo Cellino are a good case in point….link to details of the latest shenanigans below…
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/04/massimo-cellino-keep-leeds-united-shares-trust
mcfc
Come and have a go if you think you’re rich enough!
Come and have a go if you think you’re smart enough!
__________________________________________________________
surely an apt ending would be, “We welcome the CHASE”?
Brenda says:
February 4, 2015 at 7:53 pm
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SSB absolutely appalling …… Jim Delahunt your silence is speaking volumes!!!! 😉
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Gordon Dalziel is top class comedy, Brenda. An absolute gem if you’re in need of a good laugh. Who was the ‘journo’? Very Sevco-centric stuff. Not one of them see the problem of a skint club getting more players in that they cannot afford to pay, on top of the players they already have, that they cannot afford to pay. And one of them even stated that fair competition is the essence of sport 🙂 (‘That’s why we need Rangers back in the top league.’). So what do Hibs, Hearts, Falkirk, QotS and any other of those with eye on the play-offs think of all this? Will any chairmen/women dare speak out?
Allyjambo says:
February 4, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Thanks to you and to oddjob for letting me know there was a ‘Rangers end’ at Parkhead. Just adds to the close connection between the two clubs and the disdain they both held for all the other clubs. I have to admit, though, that I had never heard or read it called that unless both were playing in opposition.
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AJ
In 1999, when the East Stand at Celtic Park was completed, people were already calling it the Rangers end. Myself and two friends who were involved in a fanzine at the time, and being highly irritated that something so fine and beautiful was to named for the former Govan club 🙂 , successfully lobbied Celtic to name the stand after the Lions (because the preferred option to name it after Billy McNeill was rejected by Big Billy himself).
The whole story would only be of interest to Celtic fans of course, but I still have the letter from Celtic agrreeing to act on our suggestion. The point for this blog though, is that it most definitely was being called the “Rangers End” at the outset.
I’ve never given a thought to the naming of Hampden ends. It was just what we grew up with, but I can see Tayred’s point that it appears arrogant, and yet another unselfconscious manifestation of the “only two teams matter” syndrome.
In mitigation, the fact that Hampden is in Glasgow, and the casual adversarial posture of the former OF may also have contributed to the culture.
When Llambias got the CEO job, didn’t Somers claim that he had had headhunters provide him with a list of ten excellent candidates, but it just happened that Llambias was the best?
So Llambias isn’t actually one of Mike’s nominees, it’s just a big coincidence that the new CEO has previous with Mike- big business is a small world, don’t you agree? Nothing more to it than that, Campbell.
Godilocks and the three bears clearly isn’t the only fairy tale currently being performed at the Ibrox Comedy Theatre.
Now there wouldn’t be any onerous contracts that would have a claim on some of the semi-final payments,surely not!!!
Did anyone else who listened to Sportsound tonight wonder why Dave King employs a PR company when he has Richard Wilson willing to do it for him with the bill being met from the public purse? The only challenge to King in the whole show was when Tom English stuck to his previously expressed view that King should not be allowed to hold a directorship under the current eligibility criteria. However, I see Tom’s friend Graham Spiers has already stated only Rangers fans views matter, with the rest of us written off as an irrelevance.
I suspect the SFA has given King the nod unofficially and some of the media have been tipped off. It just remains to be seen whether Ashley will humiliate King once again. Does Ashley get to keep King the next time?
Liverpool showing that you can spend 10 million on a fiat punto but its still a fiat punto. The EPL is one big waste of money.
Just noticed SFA charged Gary Teale but no mention of Black or McCulloch, or the repertoire of songs.
Do they only go for easy targets?
An absolute disgrace.
Where is the application of rules for all?
Compliance department a joke.
If these are the decisions of a lawyer he has brought his profession into disrepute in my opinion.
neepheid says:
February 4, 2015 at 8:20 pm
That’s my recollection as well, though, its a bit like getting an opinion from a QC, which miraculously backs whatever position you asked their advice on
I expect that if Ashley thinks he will be out-manoeuvred by King he wouldn’t have entered into the latest agreements with cash and players.
He may potentially be outvoted at the EGM, but firstly, the EGM might never take place, and even if it does, he will most definitely attend unarmed to WMD proportions.
The King/John Gilligan connection is very puzzling to me. Gilligan’s dad was a businessman who had business ties with Kai Johansen. He is also the brother-in-law of the late Alec Willoughby, so his Rangers credentials are intact. In terms of influence, his brewery connections are valuable, and his family connections (his dad became the Club Master at St. Andrews after bankruptcy in the 70s)are also extensive.
However he is very much a pre-Murray Rangers man, and he is a bit higher up the Rangers totem than King ever could be.
I didn’t have him down as a massive intellect, and he is most definitely not a great communicator (although very friendly and personable), so he seems to me like the bit of the jigsaw that got chucked into the box last Christmas. I honestly don’t know what he brings to the party.
Big Pink says:
February 4, 2015 at 8:14 pm
Thanks for the info, BP. I bet you were all glad to that it wasn’t officially named after anything not to do with Celtic, let alone a bitter rival. As you can imagine, one of my greatest moments in football was in your stadium in 1998, still under construction, and the stand I was in was so high it was like watching a game of Subuteo 😆
Big Pink says:
February 4, 2015 at 8:51 pm
1 0 Rate This
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Thanks for the Ibrox names etymology. Some chap on twitter had it as another Gilligan, of Dublin gangsterland infamy. Not quite, but I had a fascinating trawl through the Irish Mirror. Entirely OT, but seems the man who’s been connected to the murder of a very brave journalist is now hunted himself.
Anyway, talk about crossd wires on twitter.
Danish,
I know the family. They are from Bishopbriggs. They would consider any claim of Dublin connections to be actionable 🙂
MaBaw says:
February 4, 2015 at 8:33 pm
My little fiat punto has a 13th birthday soon, still going strong.
With the tender love and care I lavish I’m certain it will see 13, 14, 15…
Unless you know someone with a spare £10M 😆
I praised GS two weeks ago for having come back from the dead ….if he is quoted properly he has disgracefully reverted to type again .
If King isn’t a FPP person it doesn’t matter so long As the RFC fans are happy ..for heavens sake ..he shouldn’t be anywhere near Scottish football with the money he deprived social services in South Africa of…disgusting !
By his BRYSONIAN or SPIERS logic
EBTs and undisclosed payments are fine so long as RFC fans are happy
Dual ownership is fine so long as RFC fans are happy
Sectarian chanting is fine so long as RFC fans are happy
LNS being duped by the SFA is fine so long as the RFC fans are happy
..need I go on?
Shameful Graham..you can’t pick and choose your crimes to condone !
after Sunday’s reality check The MSM are clearly in total overdrive to do everything in their power to help RFC
As an aside but related point Morton can’t get to play young Tidser for a minor minor rule issue .(covered on SSB yesterday by Jim Duffy)..very painful while watching a battalion arrive at IBROX but We Don’t want to break the rule ..where would that leave Stranraer,Forfar dunfermline .. Etc ..?it wouldn’t be fair to them…that is what Scottish football is about
Not about what is good for RFC fans Graham !!
what happened to the £250,000 fine ? which rangers has to pay it and when ?
Jackie McNamara (Snr) has his say on rangers loan signings;
That Rangers were in dire need of an injection of new talent is as undeniable as the fact they could not afford it, which has led former Hibernian captain and assistant manager Jackie McNamara snr to call for the SFA to cancel the registration of the loan signings.
“What it comes down to is the concept of sporting integrity,” he said. “Rangers have been forced to borrow money from Ashley just to keep the lights on.
“If it hadn’t been for those loans they wouldn’t have been able to pay the players who were already on the wage bill.
“Now they’re bringing in five more from a Premier League club in England. Normally, in these situations, Rangers would need to pay a percentage of their salaries.
“These players will all be on Premier League money so how are Rangers going to fund that when they can’t afford to put their undersoil heating on for a game that’s live on TV?
“It still won’t help them win the title because they’re too far behind Hearts for that. But the likes of Hibs, Queen of the South and Falkirk are also fighting to go up through the play-offs.
“What do the fans of those clubs think about this? Or the supporters of St Mirren, Ross County or Motherwell, who might also have to face them in a play-off final?”
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/loan-signings-were-not-forced-to-go-to-rangers-1-3679195
Graham Spiers, not for the first time of course in his long journey of labours towards the myth of everyman-dom, is talking abject nonsense.
The FPP guidelines are not in place to test how fit and proper a person is for Rangers. They are there to test the fitness of an individual to be part of the Scottish game.
It is weak, insipid, bland nonsense to say otherwise or to suggest that only Rangers fans have the right to be offended. By Spiers’s logic, does that then mean that Rangers fans should be the moral barometer of the FPP test, and, since they don’t like Mike Ashley, that he should consequently be binned forthwith?
I have heard some utter guff from that quarter before, but I think Graham has extended himself in his quest to say something extremely stupid before a thought has been processed.
Graham, Twitter is not your friend. Think before you type.
what happened to the £250,000 fine ? which rangers has to pay it and when ?
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It is the cost of an EGM.
The meeting will cost around £250,000 to stage but club NOMAD Paul Shackleton has already attempted to broker a peace deal which will save the club the expense
King has obviously given the Bears new heart. The Sons of Strewth(!) are planning a front door protest before Sunday’s game. Craig says, “Enough is enough”.
Re the Scotsman article ,surely a typo calling the team from Govan “New Rangers”
I’m all for King winning the day because being a true Rangers man he has no idea about how to run a sustainable club fit for the 21st century. Bring him on and watch the company that owns the football club go down the Swany with his kids inheritance money.
I see no indication that he and Paul Murray believe there is any other model than to provide soft loans and the rest to create a team that may be capable of being one of two big fish in a small pond but wholly fail to set Europe alight.
wottpi
King will win the day if, and only if, Mike Ashley decides it’s in the best interests of Mike Ashley that King should win the day.
MaBaw says:
February 4, 2015 at 9:41 pm
what happened to the £250,000 fine ? which rangers has to pay it and when ?
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I seem to recall they were going to withhold it from monies due (league cup semi cash ❓ ) ❓
sickofitall says:
February 4, 2015 at 9:44 pm
Jackie McNamara for president of the SFA!
A voice in the wilderness of sycophants and someone connected to the game not afraid to say it like it is. His face wouldn’t fit, of course, which would make him ideal, too many fitting faces at Hampden already.
so Livingston can decide to ignore the £10,000 fine and it can be taken from monies due ?
parttimearab says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:20 pm
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MaBaw says:
February 4, 2015 at 9:41 pm
what happened to the £250,000 fine ? which rangers has to pay it and when ?
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I seem to recall they were going to withhold it from monies due (league cup semi cash ❓ ) ❓
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Hope it’s not a performance related payment or they’ll still be owing £249,498.50.
£16m for control is one thing, but has King outlined any plans for future funding? Did he have a plan which mentioned stadium improvements/repairs, or the building of a scouting infrastructure, or the merchandising operation, or the inevitable war-chest?
The trouble for Rangers MkII is this. Ashley gets it, he knows the operation has to be run sustainably to survive, but he doesn’t really care for anyhting else beyond that. King & Co do care, but they still don’t get it.
In order to bring the club to a position of competitiveness they have to deal with the massive infrastructure overheads their delusional behavior imposes on them, never mind the onerous contracts.
Someone needs to raise around £60m (in addition to the still available £16m) through an IPO or a sugar-daddy bonfire, or combination of those. If not, the repairs, the onerous contracts, and the management/coaching infrastructure rebuilding will be the opportunity cost of the warchest, and yet you can’t have the warchest without the others. It’s not a question of spinning plates – there are no sticks to spin them on.
As Redlichtie said, Ashley is still the only game in town if RMKII is to survive.
In three years time, they will either be saying, “thank God we didn’t get rid of him”, or “I wish to God we hadn’t got rid of him”.
Which will it be?
It’s moonbeam time again….different Murray though…. 🙄
“But former Deutsche Bank executive Murray insists the Glasgow giants must also look to reclaim their position in the corridors of power on the continent.
He said: “In amongst the chaos, Rangers has lost its role not just in Scottish football but in European football.
“At one point, Rangers was a key player in terms of developing and enhancing football at a more strategic level.”
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/rangers-rebuild-could-take-5-years-paul-murray-1-3680286
Barcabhoy @Barcabhoy1 30s30 seconds ago
Forecast (speculative)
The RIFC board will reject AGM call on basis King & Murray not eligible. King has then to go to court to overturn
Speculation, but it would be an interesting tactic, forces King & Murray to spend time and money, while things proceed apace down Edmiston Drive.
scapaflow says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:40 pm
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Maybe speculative, but I’d bet the farm on it. Time is one of Ashley’s ace cards here (assuming he doesn’t have the votes). King’s hubris may also be his downfall. Or I suppose the motions for the EGM could almost have been written to ensure that there would be NO EGM.
Why not move to remove the directors and put in iron clad placemen before installing himself and Murray later? It is one thing walking all over the MSM and the SFA. I guess Ashley won’t lie down quite so easily.
MaBaw says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:23 pm
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so Livingston can decide to ignore the £10,000 fine and it can be taken from monies due ?
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Presumably though two different bodies (SPFL and SFA) in each case….would be more interesting if Livi decided to go to court…I really have doubts as to how well the SFA dual ownership rules would fare in the COS..
scapaflow says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:40 pm
If the EGM does go ahead, it will be because it falls in line with Ashley’s plan. The unsuitability of King and Murray to sit on the board give the board a viable excuse to refuse the EGM request. As Barca says, it would leave King and all his men wasting time and money pursuing it through the courts, with no certainty of winning, and who knows, perhaps opening a certain debate they definitely don’t want aired in any court!
mcfc says:
February 4, 2015 at 6:41 pm
Surprise, Surprise
Would anyone laugh if Sarver announced tomorrow that he’d bought some shares from shareholders, large and small, that King has counted on his side for the EGM – assuming it ever happens.
,,,,,,,
IMO
When Ashley puts in his prepack Liquidator and the SFA make clear that they will not give him back the license for a Newco he will sell the assets to himself using Sarver as a proxy
TRFC will be left with an overseas “owner” whose sole aim is to milk the onerous contracts on behalf of ashley and funnel the proceeds back to Ashley via a myriad of Ashley and Sarver Cos
Big Pink says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:52 pm
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scapaflow says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:40 pm
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Maybe speculative, but I’d bet the farm on it.
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Hope you weren’t too attached to your farm…Roddy certain EGM won’t be blocked and going ahead on 6th March…
“The Rangers plc directors must respond to King’s requisition of an EGM by close of business on Friday, but it is understood that they will not attempt to block the meeting.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11391493/Rangers-Dave-King-Sandy-Easdale-played-me-but-I-will-succeed.html
Roddy Forsyth reporting EGM will be set for March 6th. No conformation, on that , as yet
Some interesting snippets from the RF/DK interview above…..particularly this one….
“DK – …..I’m not sure how much exactly. I’m concerned about the dilapidation of the stadium, for example. In November I was talking about an initial injection of £16 million but that was in football terms and I wasn’t aware that the stadium might need millions of pounds spent on basic repairs. As with all these situations it’s likely to be more, rather than less.”
parttimearab says:
February 4, 2015 at 11:14 pm
Big Pink says:
Maybe speculative, but I’d bet the farm on it.
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Hope you weren’t too attached to your farm…Roddy certain EGM won’t be blocked and going ahead on 6th March…
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I’m a city boy anyway 🙂
Although Roddie wouldn’t make me change my bet. Lambias is known to be admamant that King certainly can’t qualify to be on the board.
Is there any way that King & Co could be ambushed at the AGM?
If the AGM goes ahead, it’s because Ashley is ready for it. Not very often I see a battle and hope both sides lose, but in this case ….
Big Pink says:
February 4, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Is there any way that King & Co could be ambushed at the AGM?
_________
They could be allowed to win?
The five loanees.
Do we have a diffitive answer yet as to who is paying their wages – TRFC, NUFC or a split?
Surely the fearless bloodhounds of the MSM will have sniffed this out!
Genuinely, have I missed something or are we still in the dark?
Big Pink says:
February 4, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Speculation
Nobody knows for sure who King et al would nominate, we can all guess, but we don’t know,and the RIFC can claim to be in a similar position.
The vote goes ahead, King et al win
If at that point they put forward King & Murray, the board could then refuse to accept these nominees, based on insolvency law, forcing Murray & King to go to court. I am guessing that the status quo ante would hold, until such as times a court ruled.
The legals would have a better view.
Tincks says:
February 5, 2015 at 12:01 am
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The five loanees.
Do we have a diffitive answer yet as to who is paying their wages – TRFC, NUFC or a split?
Surely the fearless bloodhounds of the MSM will have sniffed this out!
Genuinely, have I missed something or are we still in the dark?
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Join the dots.
The continuing uncertainty tells you that is hasn’t been decided but is a negotiating chip.
The mutton munchers haven’t asked because they aren’t journalists. :slamb:
They can prostitute themselves to whoever stumps up the most succulent lamb and the best access to conveniently pre written exclusives in exchange for toeing a line.
Detractors can be ignored by being denied the oxygen of publicity by the fanned flames of faux outrage that can be stirred up at will by thos who control the narrative being fed to to fat lazy journalists who sit on their derriers and recycle press releases, manufacturing whatever consensus the highest bidder deems he is able to wink past the Judas goats in the captured and compliant regulatory authorities.
Baaaaaaa….. Baaaaaaa!
WWF is far more honest than this farce of a sport. Because only stupid people and complicit denialists believe that isn’t staged and rigged.
Shame for all those ‘also rans’ with integrity and honest endeavour.
Exit stage left guys…. the circus is back in town!
Seriously though?
Dave King as a FPP?
If you tolerate this, then your children will be next.
Any club that plays TRFC with him at the helm isn’t worth watching.
End of the line.
Games a bogey.
Bookiespaying out out TRFC 2017 as we speak?
Well… I will make my club fall on a grenade before I am party to this.
Scottish sporting integrity elevated into the official lexicon of oxymorons, along side Rangers loving cup.
Pass me my blue pill now, mr rabbit!
I’ve seen enough! …. Nurse !
NURSE!!! ….. NURSE!!!
I put my ‘sport’ down here not 5 minutes ago, while I was checking the spelling on its paperwork and checking its regulatory system for unforseen blockages, and some thieving toe rags ran in from out of nowhere, just picked the whole thing up and waltzed off with it in broad daylight, without so much as a by your leave!
Help! Police!
parttimearab says:
February 4, 2015 at 10:31 pm
It’s moonbeam time again….different Murray though…. 🙄
“But former Deutsche Bank executive Murray insists the Glasgow giants must also look to reclaim their position in the corridors of power on the continent.
He said: “In amongst the chaos, Rangers has lost its role not just in Scottish football but in European football.
“At one point, Rangers was a key player in terms of developing and enhancing football at a more strategic level.”
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The Rangers guys need to try to get one of their ex board people into something like UEFA’s corridors of power, to be able to whisper in the right ears when the opportunity / occasion arises. Of course, that would have to be a long term aim, it could take as much as several weeks to come to pass.
I stopped following Graham Spiers on Twitter a while back. Following his tweets was like being Father Dougal when Father Ted switched on the flashing Christmas tree lights – ‘you’ve got it now!’…’no, wait’…’ah brilliant, that’s it now’…’oh, no, it’s not working’…
King’s presser summary from yesterday in 5 easy lines.
1. Rangers should be allowed to win trophies 55% of the time
2. We don’t mind (at the moment) if Celtic win the other 45%
3. Sorry…there are 39 other clubs? Honestly?
4. Ashley will only do what we tell or allow him to do
5. This is the Rangers we’re talking about here
I’m sure Ashley will be really scared now that King has addressed his minions and sent them scurrying away to spread the great news.
What I don’t get is the inability of those running our clubs to grasp what history shows and that is TRFC have the same mindset as RFC and that mindset simply cannot be trusted.
It indulged in deception on ebts and the fact that the all have ( mistakenly) not been deemed irregular does not alter the fact they did not follow the rules.
That is bad enough but when the nature of that deception is minimised and then concealed from an enquiry into its seriousness, then how can anyone believe that the rules will be applied fairly if the commercial cost is seen as too great?
As a Celtic supporter I watched with mounting incredulity the decisions on and off the park that went Rangers way in 2010 the season of Honest Mistakes ( a phrase coined by Saturday’s referee who made a few on Saturday) We now know that without CL money RFC were finished.
We have Dave King wanting to go back to that busted flush model but worryingly it looks like those in charge want it too.
Well one good thing about their absence is the corresponding absence of that feeling of frustration/anger when Celtic played them or were in a tight points critical game against other clubs.
It is an experience that you need to have to know the feelings it generates.
If TRFC do reach a play off place which the 5 new guys might make more likely then whoever plays them will know that feeling in those matches.
It’s not nice especially when you know that the wider commercial considerations will be a factor influencing the referee and the result will not be purely on sporting merit.
We have a complete lack of governence at the heart of our game. We have 3 guys who make policy on the hoof, who create a rule book that allows them to bend and twist any rule. They spend their time bunker-ed down, hiding from the fans. Our clubs are no better, they also are afraid to rock the boat.
They run our game down, tell us about Armageddon, don’t bother getting a sponsor until their rightful club returns.
On a positive note, MA has managed to shift 5 more RFC strips.
😉 TD up early this morning :irony:
Auldheid says:
February 5, 2015 at 8:04 am
I sympathise totally with what you say here, but disagree that the clubs pushing for promotion will find out how you feel when they play a heavily advantaged TRFC.
All these clubs, particularly Hearts (the loan arrangement affects them too, to their detriment) and Hibs by virtue of both having spent so much time in the top division, have suffered while the two horse race was carried out in their games against the OF, along with every other top division club. It becomes even more galling when the ‘mistakes’ are acknowledged by the MSM but the effect on your ‘diddy’ club and supporters is completely ignored with the focus being solely on the ‘Big Two’ and ‘their’ title race. Believe you me, I, and I’m sure every supporter of every other club in Scotland, would gladly swop places with Celtic and watch RFC/TRFC get dodgy decisions against everyone else, while we battle it out with the Govan club for the title.
In fact, from what I’ve read, there’s an almost complacent attitude towards the stitch up with the TRFC/NUFC loan arrangement amongst the supporters of these other clubs on the fans’ websites (though not on here obviously) suggesting to me that they are all so used to putting up with it, it’s just business as usual!
@parttimearab
Bold stuff from the swift migratory bird that swept in from South Africa (‘Swallow, Swallow’?).
Genuinely surprised by this bit:
So, if he wasn’t clued-up on the state if the stadium (which seems pretty basic info you’d want) then what else doesn’t he know? Still not convinced his participation doesn’t come with a bail-out option and parachute.
On the funny side, you’d think there had been some big lodge party, and, in a state of alcoholic euphoria, promises were made and vows vowed. Now everyone has to keep their promises. Maybe some of these RRM are quietly thinklng, ‘If only I hadn’t had that last bottle of Mrs Miggins Shredded Sporran Whisky.’ As ma auld maw used tae say, ‘That’s the drink talking.’
The prospect of seeing your life savings disappear doon the Black Hole of Govan must be dreadful.
Big Pink says:
February 4, 2015 at 9:47 pm
Graham Spiers, not for the first time of course in his long journey of labours towards the myth of everyman-dom, is talking abject nonsense.
The FPP guidelines are not in place to test how fit and proper a person is for Rangers. They are there to test the fitness of an individual to be part of the Scottish game.
________________________________________
Also a bit rich considering the aqcuisition of both old and new incarnations by, shall we say “questionable” “business people” and all the subsequent turmoil (which was actually caused by the previous owner) was subsequently blamed by Rangers fans on the SFA and everyone else for not saving the spoiled child from its own narcissistic delusion like any responsible parent would. Of course Spiers was among the many :slamb: consumers who abjectly failed in this duty also
easyJambo says:
February 4, 2015 at 7:19 pm
Sons of Struth seem to have followed up on Phil’s claims about money going out the club.
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Don’t think I’ve ever seen the word rambling used so much in one piece before.
If Phil Mac’s site is full of such unsubstantiated “ramblings” then why did Craig Houston feel the need to email the TRFC chairman for clarification?
Just read this, elsewhere… On Twitter…
“Gordon Duncan@gordonduncan715 mins15 minutes ago
Kenny McDowall’s revealed he’s been told by Derek Llambias and Sandy Easdale he MUST play the 5 loan players EVERY week.”
Are all the cupboards in the Big Hoose empty? Are there absolutely no players to be found up there?
………………………………..
Also.
Just tried to donate. It seems I must sign into PayPal to do so. However, I don’t want to be with PayPal in ANY way.
Ally Jambo
It might sound better than the perception held by other clubs but when you are on the receiving end it is even more painful knowing titles are at stake.
On it being accepted it’s almost as if the whole 2 club set up has become so institutionalised folk cannot see another way to operate.
The smell of slow roasting lamb seems to be creating euphoria amongst the stenographers. After a diet of silence and disdain from Ashley their hope for a ewe turn in the Blue Room is profoundly Pavlovian. I do hope their salivating is not premature.
Personally, I’d love to see King in charge – it would be a laugh a minute – but I’d bet my sheep farm that the English child of Thatcherism is thinking “ewe turn if you want to, but this billionaire is not for turning over”
jambocol1874 says:
February 5, 2015 at 9:59 am
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http://m.stv.tv/sport/football/clubs/rangers/309203-rangers-boss-told-all-five-newcastle-players-must-start-every-game/
No influence indeed.
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Well done Kenny McDowall. Straight talking, no spin, no macho bs just saying exactly how it is.
I fear that one so honest has little future in our game. Good luck to him.