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?
bobferris says:
February 13, 2015 at 4:20 pm
I have cause to rue Celtic’s ticket policy. I’m a Hamilton fan and I decided after our stunning 4-0 win at Fir Park that I would go the following Sunday to Celtic Park if my circumstances permitted it. But then I found out you had to buy them in advance from Accies. That was no good to me as I would only know on the day of the game, and maybe just an hour or so before kick off, if I could make it and that was too late, no tickets on sale on the day of the game! WTF!!!
Of course the afternoon arrived and it turned out I could have gone to the game. So I had to sit at home and follow it on twitter and of course we only went and won there for the first time in living memory. Thanks Celtic for making it so difficult to attend a game.
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I don’t think it’s Celtic Policy but a joint policy between clubs.
If you check the Accies site you’ll see for the upcoming game:
I think that’s standard and can’t believe it would have been any different back in October. I was at the game but I can’t honestly say if Accies had a sell-out of its allocation so you might not have got a seat anyway.
I just remember the score 🙁
I have been in a similar position to you and just buy the ticket anyway and if I can’t go I give it to the local bus and they pass it on to someone a bit tight for cash who couldn’t afford to go to the game. That way everybody wins.
For your Friday night enjoyment, rips the right pish out of him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYOQgx6U0j4
StevieBC says:
February 13, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Anyways, quite a few of our friends liked ALJ too, and one day it simply disappeared off the cable TV schedule. No warning. When I complained, the answer given was ‘low viewing figures’ which was hard to believe – especially when there are literally hundreds of channels nobody watches anyway.
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We lived there before ALJ but I still visit on business. The big three seem to have a “no real news” agreement to please the big advertisers. We used to be able to get BBC World News for half an hour a day – but it kept moving around the schedule/channels – we’d huddle round to listen like it was Churchill on the wireless during the blitz.
It was notable that just about every American we met who had any kind of informed view of world events and/or had travelled much outside the US was a BBC fan – often weaned on PBS – a kind of free-thinking sub culture.
Anyone who wants to destroy the BBC because they’ve fallen for the Murdoch/Fox/Tory propaganda should be forced to watch nothing else for a month. I don’t know why they bothered with water boarding in Guantanamo; Fox News would be more effective on me.
Anyway – this soap box is free if anyone wants it.
Big Pink says:
February 13, 2015 at 5:10pm
http://www.cartoonists.co.uk/beaupeep/pages/abdultradingpost.html
I had to laugh at the for every £10 gag at the bottom.
http://www.thefootballlife.co.uk/post/110845474811/a-square-deal-or-a-square-go-the-future-of
On Sky and the future
The reason I don’t trust the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-27893072
BBCSportsound reporter stated Rangers are a global brand. Board on the brink. Change of board inevitable for team to move forward. Ffs.
I see that Grant Russell has produced an updated shareholder list on the STV website.
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/305651-who-owns-rangers-our-detailed-breakdown-of-the-shareholders-at-ibrox/
The list includes a number of new names (mainly nominee companies) with small holdings that I haven’t come across before.
I picked one at random (Fitel Nominees Limited) which holds 0.72% just to see what it threw up. I found that one of the directors was Richard William Killingbeck, who just happens to be the CEO of the Nomad, WH Ireland, and a former director of Close Investments and Close Asset Management, and perhaps ironically, a company called the “Masonic Samaritan Fund”
I don’t know if any of the other nominee companies are similarly connected, but it’s a small world in the Spiv finance business.
Lots of glowing praise for the BBC on here today. Well, sorry folks, but I totally disagree. The BBC is nothing but the propaganda arm of the British state, so I’m simply not interested in their heavily spun “news”. I spend about half my time abroad, but unlike earlier posters, I never, ever seek out the BBC for news. The bias is beyond parody. I can get more more objective reporting from France24, Al Jazeera, or even Russia Today, for goodness sake. Somebody said that the BBC still makes great programmes? Well I do watch BBC programmes, but the ones I watch were all made about 30 years ago. The current stuff is dire. I just had a look at tonight’s BBC1 schedule. Eastenders? Really? Is that still on? The One Show with Chris Evans? I thought he’d been sacked years ago. A Question of Sport? My Eastender comment applies. But at least Ally isn’t back on it- yet.I could go on and on and on but I won’t.
On the Scottish football front, I am led to believe that the coruscating Chick Young is still drawing a wage, along with a host of others of similar calibre. Fantastic. What great value.
I would have thought that the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand fiasco a few years ago might have opened most people’s eyes to the quality of the organisation that they are paying for. And please don’t get me started on the entrenched culture of nepotism epitomised by this organisation.
No, I’m not a BBC fan, in fact I think it’s utter crap. Just my view, of course, with which many will disagree.
king wins-no nomad-aim suspension is from the EGM announcement
as one who has had offspring to the USA to study I feel the pain of anyone else in that position it ain’t cheap!
easyJambo says:
February 13, 2015 at 6:48 pm
I see that Grant Russell has produced an updated shareholder list on the STV website.
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/305651-who-owns-rangers-our-detailed-breakdown-of-the-shareholders-at-ibrox/
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That’s an amazing change in shareholders since the last list I looked at. Wonder what that’s all about?
Might be one way to fill the egm by giving a ticket to each shareholder above a certain percentage which could be very low. Still I suppose it would be interesting to see who has disappeared or reduced shareholdings.
However I’m babysitting tonight and will just sit and watch the game. But defo worth looking at all the new names. Or is just a device to obscure from the other side how the voting balance is going?
Rangers are over 2/1 to win at home against a team lower than them in the league.
That says everything about the perception of the team on the park
I know there’s still a few minutes to KO but there must be more Hibs fans at the game than Bears. I have never seen Ibrox so empty.
ecobhoy says:
February 13, 2015 at 7:30 pm
I know there’s still a few minutes to KO but there must be more Hibs fans at the game than Bears. I have never seen Ibrox so empty
======================
Think there’s as many OUTSIDE as IN.
It’s certainly filled up a bit with some of the demonstrators coming in.
I see the Board have called off their boycott and turned up 🙄
bfbpuzzled says:
February 13, 2015 at 7:13 pm
king wins-no nomad-aim suspension is from the EGM announcement
================================================
Good grief.
My memory really is deteriorating with the advancing years.
I posted earlier that it seemed credible when I first read it, but I couldn’t remember where. Shirley shome mishtake.
Apologies all round. 😳 😳 😳
Got to say this a real improvement from the Ibrox side. Tis has the makings of a game. Hibs just went 1 up.
Hibs just went one up?! Damn, I saw the odds earlier that Hibs were 2/1 and thought what an easy way it was to double my money and forgot to put a bet on!!!
Why do they jam the away support in the corner right adjacent the home fans?
Seems most clubs do this.
Recipe for trouble.
neepheid says:
February 13, 2015 at 7:09 pm
Lots of glowing praise for the BBC on here today. Well, sorry folks, but I totally disagree. The BBC is nothing but the propaganda arm of the British state, so I’m simply not interested in their heavily spun “news”. I spend about half my time abroad, but unlike earlier posters, I never, ever seek out the BBC for news. The bias is beyond parody. I can get more more objective reporting from France24, Al Jazeera, or even Russia Today, for goodness sake. Somebody said that the BBC still makes great programmes? Well I do watch BBC programmes, but the ones I watch were all made about 30 years ago. The current stuff is dire. I just had a look at tonight’s BBC1 schedule. Eastenders? Really? Is that still on? The One Show with Chris Evans? I thought he’d been sacked years ago. A Question of Sport? My Eastender comment applies. But at least Ally isn’t back on it- yet.I could go on and on and on but I won’t.
On the Scottish football front, I am led to believe that the coruscating Chick Young is still drawing a wage, along with a host of others of similar calibre. Fantastic. What great value.
I would have thought that the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand fiasco a few years ago might have opened most people’s eyes to the quality of the organisation that they are paying for. And please don’t get me started on the entrenched culture of nepotism epitomised by this organisation.
No, I’m not a BBC fan, in fact I think it’s utter crap. Just my view, of course, with which many will disagree.
================================================
My view of the BBC news department was coloured by the reporting during the Thatcher years, particularly of the miners’ strike. One of my courses at uni involved a lengthy and detailed dissection of the reporting of labour market disputes and the BBC provided many of the case studies of misreporting. Since then, I’ve attempted to cross reference any news item that may be of interest, which is what brought me to RTC initially and then onwards to TSFM. My faux pas with the RIFC PLC nomad post earlier is a salutary reminder to stick to that policy. Bernard Ingham’s legacy is such that nothing in the world of politics that appears in the press can be taken at face value. The same applies to the reporting of Scottish football.
Might another humbling result at Ibrox tonight further deflate the illusory imperiousness down Govan way ?
Pride comes before a fall, as the saying goes ?
Such pride.
Such a fall.
neutralaxis says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:37 pm
Might another humbling result at Ibrox tonight further deflate the illusory imperiousness down Govan way ?
Pride comes before a fall, as the saying goes ?
Such pride.
Such a fall.
===========================
No fan but they wont get stuffed tonight.
Look so much better than last week.
Losing Kenny Millar (groin) might be the thing though. Was lively.
valentinesclown says:
February 13, 2015 at 6:41 pm
BBCSportsound reporter stated Rangers are a global brand. Board on the brink. Change of board inevitable for team to move forward. Ffs.
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Getting rid of Harry Rednapp was a move in the right direction and the chief executive has resigned today, although I’m still not sure that QPR are global, despite the EPL status. Or do they mean a different Rangers? :slamb: :irony:
i have watched more of trfc in the last 2 weeks than I have over the last 3 years and it’s ‘taxing’ you could say!
Noticed the ad on billboards The World Famous Rangers Team Bus is available for hire!! Any suggestions for a mischievous kitty up and a day out for all TSFM volunteers?
RyanGosling says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Hibs just went one up?! Damn, I saw the odds earlier that Hibs were 2/1 and thought what an easy way it was to double my money and forgot to put a bet on!!!
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I’m no mathematician Ryan but a bet at 2/1 means you treble your money 😉 . It’s an easy dig but such deficiencies in basic numeracy are why you are where you are 🙄
Lovely pass and strike game over 2-0 Hibs Gers fans offski 29,700ish.
Rangers better in the second half, but they are a dreadful team, with a less skillful lafferty in Vuckic. they will never come up this season and possibly ever.
Highlander says:
February 13, 2015 at 4:36 pm
The Cat NR1 says:
February 13, 2015 at 1:40 pm
“…..given that RIFC have had more Nomads than the Sahara Desert….”
Quite apart from the educational value, this little gem is an example of what makes reading every word of TSFM utterly compelling.
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Thanks.
I was quite pleased with that one. (insert smug smile emoticon)
Bit of a stat first time since 2013 they never scored at home.
@iangain and also the first time ever they have lost three in a row 😉 though BT were insistent in reporting it another way. If Hibs retain 2nd to the end of the season then TRFC will need to beat them in the play-offs (not looking good after 3 failed attempts 😈 )
bfbpuzzled says:
February 13, 2015 at 7:13 pm
king wins-no nomad-aim suspension is from the EGM announcement
as one who has had offspring to the USA to study I feel the pain of anyone else in that position it ain’t cheap!
4 0 Rate This
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Tell me about it 😥
For TV fans Virgin Media claiming the latest deal I’ll edit “fix” to result of an unfair monopoly. Which it is; Also I’ll change “Proposing “investigation to been under investigation since last September.
VM make the point that you; yes you will pay for this. Not BT not SKY not the EPL inevitably, whether you pay for sports or not, your overall cost will increase as BT SKY will load the costs down the way to the broadcasters/and customers.
Hats off to Hibs for coming away with that result.
Two shots on target and two goals.
A classic smash and grab that gave the Gerdies a taste of the Wattenacio, viewed on a muted laptop stream that showed a vastly improved performance from the boys in blue from the two abject cup losses, although Oxley was rarely troubled despite the 20+ shots on goal. In the end, I couldn’t resist backing Blackie’s Banker, and the £30 profit will top up the weekend beer fund. 😛
Another satisfying result for Hibs but by no means near their best. Having said that, this is a team drawn from a pool of players that was somewhere in the low teens at the beginning of the season?
In my opinion, not the most informed I have to add, TRangers made more of a game of it that some would have expected. They had a lot of possession and posed a considerable threat to goal but with the loss of Miller and dependence on the spent force of Boyd they never, in my biased opinion, really threatened a Hibs team that showed increased determinatinon and grit. True Grit, in my humblest and most grovelling opinion! The goals were good but personally I thought the second, Stevenson’s, was a cracker! Hibs have lost games this season where they have dominated more impressively but they are getting there under Stubbs. They are very much a work and progress. Now where did she put that bottle?
gerrybhoy67 says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:49 pm
i have watched more of trfc in the last 2 weeks than I have over the last 3 years and it’s ‘taxing’ you could say!
Noticed the ad on billboards The World Famous Rangers Team Bus is available for hire!! Any suggestions for a mischievous kitty up and a day out for all TSFM volunteers?
===============================================
You and I are to be “taxed” some more.
Their on again next Friday v RR.
So, probably a loss making night for TRFC last night. No more home matches for a month, as far as I can see. Wages to be paid later this month.
Will they make it to the EGM?
Cygnus X2 says:
February 14, 2015 at 12:39 am
So, probably a loss making night for TRFC last night. No more home matches for a month, as far as I can see. Wages to be paid later this month.
Will they make it to the EGM?
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If you adhere to the Phil maxim that any less than 34k (from memory) That the revenue flowed in the direction of Normandy then yes.
Don’t know if that’s been revised.
rougvielovesthejungle says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:52 pm
February 13, 2015 at 8:52 pm
RyanGosling says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Hibs just went one up?! Damn, I saw the odds earlier that Hibs were 2/1 and thought what an easy way it was to double my money and forgot to put a bet on!!!
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I’m no mathematician Ryan but a bet at 2/1 means you treble your money 😉 . It’s an easy dig but such deficiencies in basic numeracy are why you are where you are 🙄
_____________________________________________
ooooh…. some studs showing there rougvie! 👿
That said, you did at least get the ball first! 😈
Play on. Advantage Ryan.
Any hoo
Anyone who is tenuously linked to the notion of fitba in Scotland at the top as in the the most northerly bit, will be hinging on to see how the “new” ‘Well get on and how Ross County counter it.
Its naw on telly its naw on radio. Thanks SPFL
As it says at the top
he Cat NR1 says:
February 13, 2015 at 10:11 pm
Hats off to Hibs for coming away with that result.
Two shots on target and two goals.
A classic smash and grab that gave the Gerdies a taste of the Wattenacio, viewed on a muted laptop stream that showed a vastly improved performance from the boys in blue from the two abject cup losses, although Oxley was rarely troubled despite the 20+ shots on goal. In the end, I couldn’t resist backing Blackie’s Banker, and the £30 profit will top up the weekend beer fund. 😛
_________________________________________
A fair summary.
Some of the ‘stiffs’ with something to prove given an airing tonight.
I should leave Black & McCulloch & Daly where they are on current showing.
Because the team they fielded tonoght wasn’t a disgrace. Some of them earned their money.
I wouldn’t have watched normally, but was intrigued to see what the reaction would be after the Raith game.
Not quite a team, but at least a bunch of individuals that looked like they actually gave a toss.
I think KM did the right thing with ‘resting’ some of the prima donnas.
Good for him.
If you can treble your money on odds of 2/1 then why aren’t bookies dressed like ragged trousered philanthropists.
I don’t bet however I would have thought doubling your money and getting your original stake back was how it would work ?
Perhaps its a bit late to comment on Gym Trainer’s post at the top of the page, but it reminded me that it was yet another massive SFA fail when they did not demand the list of the TRFC players, and I think others, which the TRFC manager had claimed had been regularly breaking SFA rules.
Did it not warrant any investigation at all?
What was the excuse? They are just daft boys who don’t know or understand the rules? Nobody ever told them? Its just wee rules that shouldn’t be taken seriously / apply to my boys?
Just got angry again.
Drat, and the weekend had started so well….
Barcabhoy says:
February 14, 2015 at 1:50 am
If you can treble your money on odds of 2/1 then why aren’t bookies dressed like ragged trousered philanthropists.
I don’t bet however I would have thought doubling your money and getting your original stake back was how it would work ?
==========================================
2/1 traditional odds is 3.0 in modern decimal odds.
If for example “Blackie” backs Hibs at Simmo’s Bookies at 3.0(2/1), he would put a tenner on and get back £30 if the bet won, i.e. 3 x £10.
Even money (2.0 decimal) would double the stake. The 2 in 2/1 represents Simmo’s stake and the 1 represents Blackie’s, with the winner taking the combined 3.
Hibs were about 2.75 this afternoon, which is 7/4 and were backed down to about 2.50 or 6/4 by KO, as punters piled in after work. I’m not sure if in-play got as high as 2s, as the first goal came fairly early so odds hadn’t drifted too much. Strangely, the in-play Hibs win odds stayed around the 5/8 (8/5on or 1.625) to 4/6 (6/4on or 1.667) marks from when Hibs scored nearly through to the second goal, which reflected the improved TRFC performance and territorial advantage.
Don’t even ask about American odds!
bad capt madman says:
February 14, 2015 at 2:18 am
Perhaps its a bit late to comment on Gym Trainer’s post at the top of the page, but it reminded me that it was yet another massive SFA fail when they did not demand the list of the TRFC players, and I think others, which the TRFC manager had claimed had been regularly breaking SFA rules.
Did it not warrant any investigation at all?
What was the excuse? They are just daft boys who don’t know or understand the rules? Nobody ever told them? Its just wee rules that shouldn’t be taken seriously / apply to my boys?
Just got angry again.
Drat, and the weekend had started so well….
===================================
Ally’s list warranted a disrepute charge. Full stop.
Potential whataboutery alert.
If Lennon (either Neil or Danny) or Kenny Shiels for example, or any other of of Ally’s managerial contemporaries, had done the same, they wouldn’t have had time to turn the lights out after the presser before the SFA posse had ridden into town.
I saw a good blog earlier about the Simonsen timeline, that suggests a certain amount of economy with the actualité http://etims.net/?p=6596
There are some good analogies included in there too.
Of the five loanees, only one played tonight, and he managed 77 minutes in a game played at a higher tempo than last Sunday.
How much did that 77 minutes from five new players cost TRFC?
Whatever the answer to that question, is that an appropriate use of scarce resources for a company in such a parlous financial state?
If the answer to that one is no, then are the SFA/SPFL keeping a close eye on the situation to safeguard the interests of the other 41 senior clubs, and to maintain some semblance of integrity within the league structure?
Resin_lab_dog says:
February 14, 2015 at 1:29 am
Hats off to Hibs for coming away with that result.
Two shots on target and two goals.
====================================================
I was in the pub and the parts of the game I watched Rangers seemed to be doing most of the pressing, but as we all know that counts for nothing. There were some desperate appeals for penalties but thankfully the Ref was not swayed. The chances of Rangers losing a play off and playing another season in the Championship look far greater than they did a few months ago.
Never mind, if Dave King wins the EGM (where is it being held BTW?) natural order will be restored, and very quickly. The Daily Record are already in practice mode for how they will report when the great man rides into Glasgow in his Chariot to sweep Celtic aside. I mean that as no slight to the gallant efforts of Aberdeen, Dundee Utd and Inverness CT to name but three, but sadly that is life in the world of the Daily Record. The reality may be somewhat different without a bank leaving its safe unlocked as before, and sensible people know when reality bites it can really hurt.
Good game last night, lacking some quality but a good example of why football is never cut and dried and why goals are everything.
Credit to Rangers for playing with more energy and passion than previous games, if they continue to play like that then they will go up, I am sure of that. Hibs are looking tight at the back and more organised that they have been for a long time, they didn’t have many opportunities but took them as they came.
Credit also to the Rangers fans for demonstrating in large numbers with no signs of violence, done with a bit of humour with the 2 rats at the front door.
And my last credit goes to John Brown, often ridiculed but I see someone there who unlike Smith and McCoist (who IMO have really let the fans Down), had the integrity to call out these Guys right from the start and left before being pushed. Along with John Greig, he is one of the few real Rangers men who should sleep well at night.
Oh before I forget, the DR article this morning boasting that one of the sports team managed to get into Ibrox on a ‘purchased’ ticket……Oh dear, a new low I think. And this was the leading story, I am laughing but it is not funny!
Barcabhoy says:
February 14, 2015 at 1:50 am
If you can treble your money on odds of 2/1 then why aren’t bookies dressed like ragged trousered philanthropists.
I don’t bet however I would have thought doubling your money and getting your original stake back was how it would work ?
===============
As a general rule of thumb Barca, anyone making a bet can consider themselves a bit of a philanthropist (towards bookies), if you follow the ‘bookies never lose’ mantra.
However, on the rare occasions I’ve won I would always calculate my winnings based on a multiple of my original stake ( don’t know about anyone else but as soon as I hand over the cash at the counter, I consider it gone and anything that comes back is a bonus!)
It’s nice to see the bookies realising that the team currently playing at Ibrox are no longer invincible and that is reflected in their prices. Hopefully plenty punters trebled their money last night though 😆
upthehoops says:
February 14, 2015 at 8:00 am
Sensible people know when reality bites it can really hurt.
———————————————-
The problem is that different people have different views on what ‘reality’ for them is or wish it to be. This is heightened in Ranger’s case IMO by the deep and often bitter divisons between different fan groupings.
However I am certain that reality won’t even strart to kick-in until after the egm. If DK wins I can’t see any institutional backing for a new share issue.
That means he will need to use his own money – I know I know but he has done it before – or gets enough from a clutch of wealthy Bears.
Ordinary Bears might manage £3-5 million but many are tied into share subscription schemes so there’s a limit to what they can raise. Tbh I think the current fervour for fans to buy control of the club is absolutely insane.
They should be saving their money for what comes next although finding agreement on that may well be nigh impossible.
If Ashley wins then it’s likely we’ll see Rangers modelled on Newcastle – I doubt many Bears will be happy with that when they realise it isn’t a short, sharp austerity jolt but a life sentence on a bread and water diet of football.
Of course we are talking about business here bottom line and there may well be moves afoot to form allegiances which currently seen unlikely but may well become reality.
Meanwhile the clock is ticking away and many deadlines are looming just beyond the horizon. We should see and hear the maroons before too long although given it’s Rangers perhaps the marines are the only ones capable of saving it 😉
Eco,
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear an announcement that the 3Bs have thrown their weight behind Ashley.
Calls then to DK to withdraw the EGM request on cost grounds.
Deal could be an Ashley supported pre-pack administration or, more likely, a debt-free spin-off of TRFC to the 3Bs and fans for £1.00. Rent honeymoon for a year on Ibrokes which goes to TRFC on a 99 year FRI lease.
MA owns everything else including most of the revenue streams.
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
Barcabhoy says:
February 14, 2015 at 1:50 am
If you can treble your money on odds of 2/1 then why aren’t bookies dressed like ragged trousered philanthropists.
I don’t bet however I would have thought doubling your money and getting your original stake back was how it would work ?
———————————————————-
My dad was a gambler who died penniless. I have never gambled in my life but one thing I learnt about gamblers was you only hear what they win and never what they lose.
And yea my dad and his betting shop cronies would also claim their original stake as part of their winnings and when I tried to explain the madness of their position in the pub – between races – they would just dismiss me with: ‘But you don’t have a punt. You don’t know.’
I knew enough to know what a mug’s game gambling on horses and dogs was and that there were many more exciting ways to throw my money away 😆
redlichtie says:
February 14, 2015 at 9:18 am
Eco,
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear an announcement that the 3Bs have thrown their weight behind Ashley.
————————————————-
Anything’s possible that’s for sure. I also think the Easdale position is extremely dodgy as they seem to fit the perfect fall-guy image and it will appease a lot of Bears.
The crux of the issue however IMO is still the intentions of the mystery overseas shareholders and who would wield their proxy vote if the Easdales were ousted.
And the key IMO lies with what knowledge all the original participants in Sevco 5088 hold on each other and the deals that were done with CG.
Madbhoy24941 says:
February 14, 2015 at 8:50 am
Oh before I forget, the DR article this morning boasting that one of the sports team managed to get into Ibrox on a ‘purchased’ ticket……Oh dear, a new low I think. And this was the leading story, I am laughing but it is not funny!
_________________________________
Isn’t that the most pathetic piece of ‘journalism’ you’ve ever read! Reads like a piece by some spotty student wag in the uni mag who’s sneaked into the lecturers’ study disguised as a hat-stand. Except the student would have had to show a bit more professional cunning to get in rather than just be handed a ticket as this plonker Ralston was. Looks like the Record didn’t even have the dubious distinction of thinking the wheeze up for themselves. Instead they were ‘invited’ by some fans.
The match-report itself shows just why they are so upset at being banned from their favourite’s home, as it makes it clear to all that they don’t have the ability to report without the help from the club’s PR post-match outpourings.
Oh, and Gary, you got in because nobody recognised you as a journalist! Next time, wear a trilby with a ‘press’ sticker on it, might make it a bit more difficult 🙄
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/daily-records-gary-ralston-beats-5160989
A wee note re moderation.
Firstly, the mods are not always right. They do make errors from time to time which they will try to fix if possible. However they do moderate in good faith. We rely on the trust of everyone, however frustrated you become, to accept that good faith.
Secondly, we don’t usually have time to explain why posts are removed. if the mods are doing their jobs correctly though, it should be pretty apparent why the vast majority of posts are removed. Certainly, there is no time to enter into a separate debate over each removal. Therefore the comment moderation thread is a good place to air grievances or disputes.
It is not an ideal situation. After all we do rail at the lack of “public facing” (© D. Broadfoot) activity on the part of the authorities and MSM, so it would be good if we could better practice what we preach. Unfortunately we just do not have the resources to always deal with people on a one-to-one basis (although we do try to).
How will the SMSM report TRFC now in third position in the championship.
1. Demoted.
2.Relegated.
3.Reformed in third place.
4.Reamerged.
5.Re-grouped.
6.Beginning in third place.
The Gary Ralston piece in the record is quite appalling. Not in itself of course. If it was from a fanzine, it would be appropriate and probably justified. As an article in the biggest print-media publication in Scotland though, it is quite disgraceful, contains not even a nod in the direction of even-handedness, and in itself explains why the Rangers board are justified in pulling their creds.
It appears that the DR have set themselves up as the judges in the SFA’s Franchise Awarding operation, making the decision on who they deem fit and proper.
That kind of uber-partizanship is just one reason why social media is so important to this debate. The DR is engaged in a battle for it’s own survival, placing all their eggs in the DK basket.
Those Rangers fans who are conned by that really need to pay attention, and ask themselves which newspaper was the biggest champion of David Murray, Craig (or David as KJ refers to him) Whyte, and Charles Green; and will also be the biggest apologist for MA if he wins the EGM.
The Record is after market share, not the survival of Rangers II. They continue to exploit the aspirations of the Rangers fans for their own enrichment. Fans of many clubs have long since thought of the Record as the PR outlet of Rangers. Even the Daily Record must themselves see that their entry into factionalism has narrowed that remit quite considerably.
Good piece by Jonathan Freedland –
“The sale of broadcast rights reflects a wider shift: from property to finance, the UK has become the turf on which others play”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/13/football-is-no-longer-englands-its-just-a-backdrop
Nice wee piece from Phil McG (no link, if you want to read you know where it is) where he manages to state the bleeding’ obvious about a certain license fee funded stenographer by not saying it! Good stuff and good news, only if the King wins of course, vis a vis our money supporting his mince.
Tripleing your money on 2/1 odds? Smells like sevco-nomics.
Ecobhoy,
I’ve had the conversation with several Rangers fans putting forth the argument you did – that buying into the club now, while admirable (in my view) is not worthwhile, and we should be pooling our money for what comes next. The issue is the “history”. A very good discussion I had with a very intelligent man resulted in him explaining that starting again was not an option in his view, as we would lose all the history so we had to fight for it.
The fans will never unite behind any new start club because the majority of them believe it is the same club it always was, not in any “spirit of the club” type of idea but the exact same legal entity. I am saddened by this, but also at the point where if I did genuinely believe it was exactly the same entity it always was, even then it would still be time for some new gallant pioneers to create something to be proud of.
Also I’ve been following all the comments on the gambling – I’ve never placed a bookie bet in my life so clearly don’t understand how it works, I thought the two at the front meant you got back twice what you put in! Still don’t really get it tbh but as I don’t plan on opening an account any time soon I don’t think it’ll do me much harm. Whoever it was that explained it in decimal terms at least made it a bit clearer.
Resin_lab_dog says:
February 14, 2015 at 1:29 am
Never mind, if Dave King wins the EGM (where is it being held BTW?)
===================================
At this rate it will be like a rave back in the 80s, with convoys of McGills and Parks coaches circling the M25 waiting for the call to come through about where to head. 😛
In the meantime, the DJs will be setting up the sound system in an abandoned Sports Direct warehouse.
So, a bit like the AGM but with much less notice of location. :irony:
jw hardin says:
February 14, 2015 at 11:06 am
Good article that makes good points and it brings me to something I’ve been pondering for a while. Something to hit back with when my mates here in England deride Scottish football.
English football. Is it?
The EPL, it officially stands for the English Premier League. But is it?
Just how ‘English’ is it? There can be no doubt it’s played out in England, so I will concede that in that respect it is ‘English’. But, in my mind, that is where it ends.
From the top:
How many EPL clubs are ‘owned’ by Englishmen? Now I don’t know the answer to that one, and am not inclined to do the research 🙄 but none of the successful clubs are. I know that the top five are all owned by overseas investors and even Spurs, in sixth place, are owned by ENIC, based in the Bahamas.
It’s the same with the managers. You have to go to 8th place in the EPL to find an English one, West Ham with Sam Allardyce, though Liverpool at least have an Irishman.
There’s no point in discussing the players as the first team squads are basically a league of nations of their own, with almost all the best players non-English. You could probably build two squads of overseas players from the EPL that would gub the England team more often than not.
The fans who attend the matches, are, undoubtedly, English, and the bulk are all supporting their home town team. It would probably be different, though, if non-attending ‘fans’ were taken into account, especially with the usual suspects, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea etc, with the majority, in some cases vast majority, residing on the other side of the world with no connection to England whatsoever!
I doubt I’ll live long enough to see it, but there will come a time when English football is so non-English that their League matches will be played abroad. One or two games to begin with, then full league programmes, either in a nomadic format or actually based in foreign cities. That’s what happens when a club becomes a brand, becomes a global brand, becomes no more than a commodity to be bought and sold to people who only love money and power, and owning a club is a way of displaying that money and power.
Maybe then, though, football in Britain will return to the days of football, for the people, by the people!
That would be correct. £10 at 2/1, pays out £20 plus your £10 stake, so £30. Money tripled
the comments on the gambling
—————
If you borrow £10. put it on at 2/1 you win £30. Give the £10 back you borrowed then you are £20 up unless the one you borrowed from charged you interest 😕
A small tip on how to work out your winnings if you place a bet say £10 at 7/4.
1. Add 7 and 4 = 11
2. Multiply your stake£10 x11 =£110
3.Divide by the lowest number in your odds, so it will be 4 this time.£110 divided by 4 =£27.50 will be your return.
£10 at 7/2.7+2=9
£10 x9= £90. divided by 2 = £45 return
Remember to always gamble sensibly
Cluster one
Should that not be
Remember NEVER Gamble
redlichtie says:
February 14, 2015 at 9:18 am
Deal could be an Ashley supported pre-pack administration
==========================================================
I notice that Paul Murray was in one of the papers today rubbishing the likelihood of admin due to the existence of an alternative funding offer.
Regardless of that I think MA would be unlikely to be keen on admin – as a secured creditor he’d need to take a back seat in any admin.
Also, as far as we know they’re debt free (other than the MA loan) so the creditors controlling the admin would presumably be a mixed bunch of relatively recent unpaid creditors (with the players taking up a big chunk of the unsecured debt ❓ ).
Would any admin become too messy (assuming the above) and how would they fund it ❓
tcup 2012 says:
February 14, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Cluster one
Should that not be
Remember NEVER Gamble
======================================
Did someone not once say “I’ll gamble £10 for every £5 you gamble..”?
How did that turn out?
Scottish Football does not need a strong relationship with gambling and gambling organisations.
Apologies for being completely off-topic (and I know it’s not the first time this has happened), but the following extract amused me…
The following may be of interest to those living in England or who support English teams: http://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/24
The campaign acknowledges the recent TV windfall and asks why the clubs are unable or unwilling to pay the living wage.
I don’t follow foreign football and rant at length about the various factors that have been delivered through our printed media and television screens that have traditionally placed the Scottish football results and “perception” of the leagues after those of the English leagues.
I have a very vivid memory of my dad’s tirades at the GM Vauxhall Conference results being read out on BBC as they bore no relevance to his pools coupon!
In any case, the campaign linked above states that Chelsea FC agreed to pay a basic rate and it may be something supporters of the clubs listed may wish to contribute their signatures to.
jambocol1874 says:
February 14, 2015 at 12:45 pm
===================================
As a Celtic fan I remember when my club flirted with insolvency in 1994. We’ll never know whether the BOS really would have pulled the plug if the deadline for an immediate £1M followed by another £5m within days wasn’t met. However, at face value that was the threat. The anger I have from that time is two fold. Firstly the selfishness of the previous Celtic owners, and secondly why the bank went after Celtic while lavishing tens of millions on Rangers.
As an aside, it’s good to see a club like Hearts now being run so well following their financial difficulties. It’s like bust to boom in 18 months!
Are they at it again?
http://t.co/rbOAtI2PRx
TSFM says:
February 14, 2015 at 10:19 am
A wee note re moderation.
Firstly, the mods are not always right.
Yes I remember having to get my jaw off the floor when alljambo was banned,temporarily thank goodness,glad the Mods seen the light : D
upthehoops says:
February 14, 2015 at 1:50 pm
jambocol1874 says:
February 14, 2015 at 12:45 pm
===================================
As a Celtic fan I remember when my club flirted with insolvency in 1994. We’ll never know whether the BOS really would have pulled the plug if the deadline for an immediate £1M followed by another £5m within days wasn’t met. However, at face value that was the threat. The anger I have from that time is two fold. Firstly the selfishness of the previous Celtic owners, and secondly why the bank went after Celtic while lavishing tens of millions on Rangers.
———————————————
I never had and still don’t have the slightest doubt that BoS wouldn’t have hesistated for a second to consign Celtic to the financial scrapheap.
And I think that it was hundreds of millions – not simply tens of missions – that the tax payer has had to pick-up in BoS debt wrt to Murray’s warped and failed business empire built on other people’s money.
And how do we judge how much handing back the assets to the Murray family has cost to the national purse. It simply stinks and we need a Public Enquiry into the whole affair but, for whatever reason, the Scottish Government has no intention of doing so.
It’s easy to decry a lack of Free Speech in China but to tackle it in Scotland is another matter. We are met with total silence from the Scottish Government.
I have long argued that until Scottish Politicians – of all parties – grasp the nettle on the unspoken problem then it will remain Scotland’s shame.
Nicking a few fans for singing songs is merely window-dressing that the politicians and Scottish Government hide behind IMO.