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?
84% LL and L out
85% DK PM JG in
ecobhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 1:13 pm
highfibre says:
March 6, 2015 at 12:14 pm
There are are no prohibitions on the directors being involved in phoenix companies
———————————————————
However do you believe RIFC Plc to be a ‘Phoenix Company’? I had never thought that it was or had previously been regarded as such.
– – – – – – – – – – – –
It that term “phoenix company” still in use. I think HMRC calls them successor companies. Let me check.
The totals work out as King and co. getting around 57% of the total number of shares in issue voting for them.
Shareholders holding one third of the shares didn’t vote.
SUCCESSOR COMPANY
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/insmanual/ins45005.htm
•Are the directors the same or is there evidence that the directors of the previous company are connected with those of the successor company, or involved in its management? SEEMS LIKELY NOW
•Is the successor company carrying on the same trade as the previous company? YES
•Are the employees the same? SOME ARE
•Is the trading or company name the same or similar? VERY SIMILAR
•Are the trading premises the same? YES, IBROX
•Did the successor company acquire assets from the previous company? YES
mcfc says:
March 6, 2015 at 1:20 pm
Speaking after the meeting, one fan said: “There’s no chance of this club going down the hill now. We’re in good hands now… this is a great day for us”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31763542
Lost for words !
————————————————–
But it’s their choice and tbh if I was one of them I might go for the last Glorious Defeat with every hand turned against me – in my fevered imagination fed by the SMSM of course – than live on a diet of thin and unappetising gruel fed by Ashley. Oliver Twist in the Ibrox poorse hoose readily springs to mind 🙄
They simply think King is a better bet than Ashley and they certainly have had quite a bit of experience in recent years in observing how various owners and operators have fleeced the club.
I view it as all part of a learning process that Bears will have to go through. I don’t think King is the answer although he may be part of the answer.
I simply don’t know if he will be because it depends on how much he has learnt from past experiences and how much people with money are prepared to back and trust him. Essentially I speak of wealthy Rangers Supporters as I really can’t see money being invested by anyone else whether by share purchase or soft loans.
I do feel that most Celtic supporters – and this might apply to other top flight Scottish clubs – would probably prefer Ashley to King.
And that’s on the basis that Ashley would keep Rangers on a bare maintenance diet just like NUFC. King is much more dangerous because he is a RRM and wants his club to win, especially against Celtic.
That drives a lot of the negativity IMO against DK and he’s made it easy to fuel because of his deplorable record especially wrt SARS and his previous service as a Rangers director.
However this doesn’t mean a thing to the vast bulk of Rangers supporters and if actually steadies the club and brings even a little success then I have no doubt he will end-up being backed by every single supporter.
A bit like Wee Fergus – hard to find a Celtic Supporter these days who ever opposed Ra Bunnet. It’s amazing how history and facts can change over time 😆
We could all write a part of Kings speech for this afternoon,Rangers fans ,we need your money ,lots of your money,and don’t ask any questions,well not difficult ones.
Hope Paul Murray is fronting the conference my wife says it is a wig I am not sure so need to see it in HD.
No doubt we will get the usual sound bites plans in place to take club forward …hard work starts now…
My thoughts are straying to Mike Ashley and what his view on all this. One view of course is that he has been outflanked and for all his wealth he has been out smarted and the ‘good guys’ have won. What can or will he do next?
Does he pack his bags and leave town with the parting shot of calling in his loans. Or does he just sit tight because has much really changed for him providing the retail contracts he has in place are watertight.
At present the stadium is empty people are not buying merchandise which reduces the capacity of the club to meet his contracts. What is the outcome of the regime change? if its fuller stadium more merchandising in the short-term does that not leave him in better position. Unless King et all can secure finance they cannot pay off his loans but as they interest free anyway they are of no real income value to him. Once the SFA blocked any further share purchases he was never going to get full control if that was ever his intention was this move not always his only way out.
At one point he was looking for an accommodation with King as I am sure he would have been quite happy to give King the problem of dealing with the insolvent footballing side and troublesome fans as long as his retail side was secured. The ‘landslide’ victory implies he and his allies either knew the game was up or were prepared to allow King the toxic portion knowing that the retail side was secure.
Perhaps Mike is cool with what has happened. King was merely a stalking horse and the ‘fight’ for control something to appease the masses while in real terms nothing much has changed?
Let the rejoicing begin! A convicted criminal now holds the keys to the Big Hoose! What can possibly go wrong?
Just as an afterthought, can I ask, as a very naive person, why Ashley is so hated by the bears? He kept the lights on and paid the wages when nobody else would. Shouldn’t they be grateful for that? He wanted security for the loans that kept this shambles afloat. Is that not just normal commercial practice? What was he supposed to do to keep the bears onside? Just give his money away? (I know the answer to that one, by the way, it’s yes)
If I was Ashley, I would pull the plug just to show these pathetic chumps who exactly has been paying their bills for the last 6 months. “Rangers” and their support are just small change to him (and that goes for the whole of Scotland, by the way). It would also be instructive to NUFC fans not to try messing with him, and he has a lot more at stake there. But then, I’m not Ashley, so I guess he’ll just let King be seen to humiliate him- or maybe not.
redetin says:
March 6, 2015 at 2:15 pm
But what is the ‘Successor Company’? It surely can’t be RIFC Plc IMO. That is the company DK wants to be a director of btw.
Rather it is Sevco Scotland which purchased the business and assets of oldco from D&P which became TRFCL and which still exists as a legal entity to this day and which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIFC Plc.
Thats why I have great difficulty in seeing any serious obstacle wrt DK taking a directorship in RIFC Plc.
King has just met the fans outside the dilapidated stadium (his words)
redetin says:
March 6, 2015 at 2:09 pm
It that term “phoenix company” still in use. I think HMRC calls them successor companies. Let me check.
——————————————————
It wasn’t me who used the term but highfibre says: March 6, 2015 at 12:14 pm.
I believe he was referring to the South African Companies Act and not the UK one but if you need clarification he’s your man and I have already bowed to his more up-to-date knowledge when it comes to SA company governance.
You also appear to have overlooked my response to highfibre which stated: ‘However do you believe RIFC Plc to be a ‘Phoenix Company’? I had never thought that it was or had previously been regarded as such.’
ecobhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 2:27 pm
Thats why I have great difficulty in seeing any serious obstacle wrt DK taking a directorship in RIFC Plc.
==================
The obvious obstacle is the full, unabbreviated name of RIFC PLC, and its inclusion of the word “Rangers”. Hirsute Pursuit has commented extensively on this issue, as has Campbellsmoney. You should address specifically the points they make- in my opinion. Here is last night’s post from Campbellsmoney- maybe you missed it. I can’t disagree with any of it. Can you? And in what respect?
ecobhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Eco poses the question “who would Celtic fans prefer Ashley or King?”
Well I’m a Celtic fan and I couldn’t care less and that’s simply because the world has moved on, as has football, and there is no money in Scottish football, no matter who’s in charge at Ibrox?
There is no big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, that would necessitate someone spending millions of pounds on a “speculate to accumulate” strategy that was once the prevail of those in charge of Rangers.
Celtic’s business model will not alter one iota. It will still be the moneyball approach with investment in younger players, to provide significant return and budgeting only for Europa Lge and selling a big player every year to balance the books.
I don’t like this, but I agree with it,because it doesn’t jeopardise the longevity of the club. If King adopts the same strategy as previously, then we all know where they’re heading.
41 out of 42 clubs in Scotland have a sober, pragmatic businesslike approach to the current challenges facing them in Scottish football. Live within their means and the new Rangers can join them.
Can I say however,I have my doubts about them, because they appear wedded to moonbeams and warchests.Watch this space to find out??
neepheid says:
March 6, 2015 at 2:25 pm
Let the rejoicing begin! A convicted criminal now holds the keys to the Big Hoose! What can possibly go wrong?
====================================================================
If King is finacially successful – Ashley rakes in cash for zero work
If King burns all his cash to keep his dream alive – see above
If King persuades RRM to burn all their cash to keep his dream alive – see above
If King fails – Ashley can force Admin at his conveninece and buy the body parts for buttons to make a new FrankenRangers.
If King gets too aggressive – see above
So, remind me, who won today’s EGM ?
Douglas Park now appointed director.
Concert party? What concert party?
mcfc says:
March 6, 2015 at 2:52 pm
…lest we forget! Spot On!
Not a one of us, humble and pedestrian and fundamentally decent folk as we are, likes to be humiliated.
We don’t even like being beaten in a fair fight!
Now, if people like you and me can feel the need to avoid being bested by a rival of our own sort of social,economic,educational and ‘class’ status, how much more must a megabucks guy like Ashley be unwilling to have the kind of business world he inhabits laugh at him being ‘ out-manoeuvred” by someone like King?
The great image of Robert de Niro as Capone doing his ” I want him (Eliot Ness) dead! I want his wife and family dead!” has sprung unbidden to my mind.
Ashley as psychopath Capone? Not at all.
Ashley as a man with the means and the balls and the motive to win out against the likes of King in a perfectly legal but deadly way?
Turning of the other cheek is what Ashley does not do.
“My thoughts are straying to Mike Ashley and what his view on all this. One view of course is that he has been outflanked and for all his wealth he has been out smarted and the ‘good guys’ have won. What can or will he do next?”
——————————
re. above, I’m sure most on here has seen the Attenborough series Planet Earth. Do you remember the little wasp in the desert that attacked the host to lay its egg inside the unfortunate animal/insect. The wasp, job done, just sat back and let the host be consumed from the inside out – now, why does that scene remind me of Ashley and Newco.
John Clark says:
March 6, 2015 at 3:01 pm
================================================
I imagine it’s easier than you think to take the reputational hit with magnanimity when your opponent is filling your billionaire-sized garage with new supercars each year.
@Propa_Gander · 2m 2 minutes ago
Tell me, how can Paul Murray satisfy 10.2 (f) of the @ScottishFA AoA official return ?
“10.2 The Official Return shall include details of all officials, office-bearers, secretary, directors or members of the board of management or committee of such member, Team Staff, with their full designation, profession, business or occupation and full service address, and also, subject to the provisions of Article 13, full details of the interest of such member or any official, office-bearer, secretary, director or member of the board of management or committee of such member and of its or his associates as defined in Article 13.5 in any other member. The Board must be satisfied that any such person is fit and proper to hold such position within Association Football. The Board hereby reserves its discretion as to whether or not such a person is fit and proper, as aforesaid, after due consideration of all relevant facts which the Board has in its possession and knowledge, including the undernoted list which is acknowledged to be illustrative and not exhaustive:-
(a) he is bankrupt or has made any arrangement or composition with his creditors generally;
(b) he is, by reason of his mental health, the subject of a court order which wholly or partly prevents him from personally exercising any powers or rights which he would otherwise have;
(c) he is under or is pending suspension imposed or confirmed by the Scottish FA;
(d) he is listed in the Official Return of another club in full membership or associate membership;
(e) he is currently participating as a player of another member club or referee in Association Football;
(f) he is the subject of an endorsed Disclosure from Disclosure Scotland;
(g) he has been disqualified as a director pursuant to a disqualification order granted under the Company Directors’ Disqualification Act 1986 within the previous five years or was serving a disqualification as a director pursuant to such Act at any time within the previous five years;
(h) he has been convicted within the last 10 years of (i) an offence liable to imprisonment of two years or over, (ii) corruption or (iii) fraud;
(i) he has been suspended or expelled by a National Association from involvement in the administration of a club;
(j) he has been a director of a club in membership of any National Association within the 5-year period preceding such club having undergone an insolvency event;”
Of course this doesn’t apply if its not the same club…… :irony:
mcfc@3.07pm..
…….
True enough, but you would (or at least I would) still want everybody to know that I had won!
The Press Conference on Sky.
Transparency now oozing out,confidence solid for the future,The King has announced they won’t be using other people’s money but their own,1 to 2 years to get back up,oh wait a minute,it’s now a long road ahead,not a manager but a coach that’s required,will be developing youth,scouting system required to be put in place,money requires to be spent on stadium,out of possible 20m cash injection 50% will go to a war chest for players,well off to Murray Park now to meet the staff.
This Mike Ashley defeat. So he’s leaving is he? That will be with the 10-15 million in his back pocket which is the repaid loan amount. And the messiah says it’ll take 20 million to rebuild the club. That’s 5 million to rebuild and 15 million to repay loans.
Ashley will be waking up tomorrow to a view that looks uncannily similar to today’s. He also has, if I’ve understood the loan terms correctly, the right to appoint 2 directors, a right he never exercised. Maybe the revolving door will be welcoming back some well known faces.
Still, apparently they’re saved !
Fit and Proper is Nothing
Let’s not think of 41 convictions, a £44mil “fine” and thirteen wasted years as proof of Unfit and Improper.
Let’s think of them as extremely bad business judgement, a complete lack of creative thinking, a profound inability to seek / take expert advice, a deeply flawed grip on reality and stubbornness / arrogance off the Richter scale.
Unless Mr King has changed these traits by means of a personality transplant – the future will look very much like the past.
btw that £44mil “fine” is probably nothing compared to the opportunity cost – that is – what he could have earned if he had not been spending so much time on legal issues and doing business with frozen assets and a damaged reputation.
“…DAVE KING took the steps of Ibrox and delivered his victory speech after sweeping to a stunning win at the Rangers egm today…”
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/triumphant-dave-king-takes-steps-5285769
=================================================================
OK, so King has indeed won the latest battle at TRFC. Fair play.
I could only skim read the sycophantic article above, but what jumped out consistently from King’s quotes was: “…fans…fans…fans…fans…fans…etc”
Now if I was a jubilant TRFC fan – or even a proper journalist – my next logical question to Mr.King and his cohorts would be;
“Now show us the money ?”
Good luck Mr.King. 😉
Delisting?
BBC reporting King would rather a delisting. Does he really mean that those pesky nomads probably won’t cooperate?
I suspect that Murray’s defence would be that he left the Board of Rfc 2012 P.L.C. more than a year (May 2011) before it was put into liquidation (June 2012). Section 206 of the Insolvency Act refers.
“King says it may be favourable in the long-run to delist from the stock exchange as such a move comes with less costs and would effectively allow them to have more freedom.”
Hmmm no need to report accounts, no need to explain funding, no need to explain songbook…. pray tell Mr King, how did being a private compsany work out for the OldCo?
highfibre says:
March 6, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Lawyer hat on…
Rule 10.2 only gives examples of facts which may be relevant to a discretionary decision. At no point does it state that these are facts which might weigh on one side of the argument or the other. To assume that these are facts which would count against a person being judged as fit and proper is to make an inference entirely unjustified by the text of the rule.
Perhaps that is a list of what would be desirable in a football club director as far as the SFA are concerned.
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You are Sandy Bryson and I claim my £5 😛
Danish Pastry says:
March 6, 2015 at 3:47 pm
Delisting?
BBC reporting King would rather a delisting. Does he really mean that those pesky nomads probably won’t cooperate?
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The last thing our game needs is a totally unregulated TRFC. No Aim to report to, no FFP to constrain.
If the other clubs allow that to happen the turkeys will have voted, by abstaining, for Xmas.
jockybhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 3:55 pm
Hmmm no need to report accounts, no need to explain funding, no need to explain songbook….
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No institutional investors (as if), no public share issue – how will he milk the fans – debenture seats – double ST prices – no point selling shirts and tat.
L & L history ?
Well not according to wee Stevie in IT:
http://www.rangersinternationalfootballclub.com/board-management/board-of-directors
Good to see Mr James Traynor is striving for accuracy from the start 🙂
jockybhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 3:55 pm
“King says it may be favourable in the long-run to delist from the stock exchange as such a move comes with less costs and would effectively allow them to have more freedom.”
Hmmm no need to report accounts, no need to explain funding, no need to explain songbook…. pray tell Mr King, how did being a private compsany work out for the OldCo?
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King- delisting “would effectively allow them to have more freedom.” Now I wonder who he means by “them”.
For someone who is not, and cannot, at least for the time being, be a director (and that includes being a shadow director) of RIFC, Mr King has an awful lot to say on the governance of RIFC.
Anyway, all King has to do to achieve his delisting dream is absolutely nothing. Then after 30 days, it’s mission accomplished. At which point all shareholders are effectively locked in, unless the fan bodies are still willing to buy privately. All future “investment” will have to come from King, other RRM, or the fans. This will get very messy very quickly, in my view. A lot of money is needed very quickly. King still hasn’t explained clearly where it’s coming from. Over to you, Dave?
jockybhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 3:55 pm
“King says it may be favourable in the long-run to delist from the stock exchange as such a move comes with less costs and would effectively allow them to have more freedom.”
Hmmm no need to report accounts, no need to explain funding, no need to explain songbook…. pray tell Mr King, how did being a private compsany work out for the OldCo?
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Of course, someone with any integrity whatsoever might have spelled out to shareholders that their holdings would become virtually untradeable and almost valueless BEFORE they had elected him to their board.
So could this be a new record for the time taken for someone to ascend the marble staircase before shafting Ibrox fan/shareholders?
CG had the tricky business of Bomber et al. to negotiate (obv. SFA were never an obstacle) , which he did by means of bribing the legendary McCoist with 1000000 1p shares, and even Craig Whyte actually got himslef sat down behind his desk (which King seems yet to do!!) before ripping them all off?
Where’s that popcorn got to?
The mood of all TRFC fans I imagine is relieved and delighted – as displayed by those in camera today around Ibrox.
And yet. There is no real money available for proper investment, no sign of a business plan that makes real sense, a playing side that belong at best in tier 2, no manager, onerous contracts and loans and lost revenue streams and numerous other obstacles to building a business. I’m beginning to believe that there is no way back.
At Celtic’s moment of crisis there was so much more going for the club at the time and their saviour proposed an investment plan involving spending his own money.
I really think that this incarnation is finished. What makes me wrong to think so? If you’re interested in polling the site view; TU if I’m right, TD if I’m wrong.
Will Bomber now get to see the deeds ?
I’m eager to find out if anyone has been under the bonnet yet. Lots of blue smoke visible today with continued revving of the engine.
Of course no ulterior motive here by Davidson.
http://gu.com/p/46d23/stw
And I thought Gilligan might be the sensible one:
“Everything is about growth for us now”
“Dave and Paul are the accountants”
“and now here we are, this club is safe.”
Is he related to the Gilligan who wrote Breaking Bad ?
They’re not cooking the blue stuff in the basement of the Ibrox laundry are they – and smoking most of it themselves ?
You know that would explain a lot.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/gilligan-rangers-are-back-on-track-after-egm-triumph-199474n.120108349
Such Quality and Dignity
Andrew Dickson @mrandrewdickson · 1 hr 1 hour ago
I’ve been slightly amused by the pain rolling off every tweet I’ve received from Celtic fans in response to what has happened at RFC today.
Some lucky nightspot is going to be £95,000 richer tonight if Campbell Ogilvie is in the mood to celebrate the new Ibrox regime!
Mibbees McCoist might be brought back into Ibrox in some sort of ‘advisory’ capacity for the remainder of his contract ?
Won’t cost anything extra and should generate some positive PR for the bears.
But King can’t be hands on at TRFC, as he can’t overstay his welcome in the UK due to those pesky tax rules about residency !
So, would he have to appoint a capable, experienced – and expensive – CEO to do his bidding for him ? IMO, that should be the first ‘signing’.
mcfc says:
March 6, 2015 at 5:35 pm
Such Quality and Dignity
Andrew Dickson @mrandrewdickson · 1 hr 1 hour ago
I’ve been slightly amused by the pain rolling off every tweet I’ve received from Celtic fans in response to what has happened at RFC today.
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This Celtic fan has OD’d on jelly and ice cream at DK getting the gig. Think i’ll wear my extra large incontinence pants if MA exercises his right to put L&L back on the board.
Danish Pastry says:
March 6, 2015 at 4:42 pm
I’m eager to find out if anyone has been under the bonnet yet. Lots of blue smoke visible today with continued revving of the engine.
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Er… Blue smoke is for burning oil shurely?
Now I’m not precisely sure what colour smoke you get from burning through piles of cash at a frantic and alarming rate, but I suspect its the thick, white choking variety!
(Do not inhale)
What fools these mortals be.
The Rangers hordes have just cheered to the echo the death of their last hope of escaping another death. Their shares are now non tradeable, their hopes of sustainability evaporated. Moonbeams to oblivion from a man who at present cannot legally have any directorial role. No money, no share value, bills aplenty, the whole shebang at the mercy of a man whom they have vilified and humiliated and who hates losing.
Loving it, the hubris, the delirium, the pant wetting brainlessness from the SMSM and the sheer lack of any awareness of what’s coming next.
The bears really are very very very stupid, they have seen this movie and how it ends before, and still they can’t figure it out.
With Park appointed will that step up the Takeover Panel’s interest in whether there was a concert party. It would make the de-listing academic if the hostile bidders are required to offer everyone 35p per share
I have 40 companies in South Africa which I don’t sit on the board and control
Thus says the King of the cargo cult as we are the people is heard loud and clear
egregious hubris this is not going to end well from the TRFC perspective…the soap opera continues someone it’s about to wake up in the shower
Folks, I think we are falling for a very big squirrel here. The morality of King’s ascension (assuming he is given leave by the court) is perhaps questionable, but it is not providing an unfair advantage for TRFC. It doesn’t compare with hidden contracts and EBTs.
King should not be set up here as yet another target to poke fun at. He may or he may not be, at last, the guy who helps TRFC on a path to competitiveness, but he shouldn’t be a figure of fun. Whatever any of us say about him, who would have thought that Mike Ashley would be humiliated by him in the way he has? Of course Ashley still has considerable financial interest in TRFC, but what happened today as his lieutenants watched, amounts to a public caning of the Newcastle owner. No figure of fun dishes out six of the best to Big Mike.
If the reported statement by King, that he would use his own money (he certainly can’t use Murray’s or Gilligan’s – because they have none) proves true, then he may yet prove to be the saviour.
To us at TSFM, that is neither here nor there. Our focus should be on the governance of Scottish football, its continued failure to provide an ethical or moral compass, and it’s inability to apply its own rules.
How King interacts with or affects Rangers is their problem. How Rangers are allowed to adversely affect the rest of Scottish Football is ours.
We should also remember that throughout this whole saga – even still – TRFC have been powerless to influence the SFA or SPFL for their own advantage. That power has been in the hands of every other football club in Scotland – and they have used it quite brazenly in pursuit of the Blue pound.
King is clearly a flawed character, certainly not the stuff of dinner party invitations, but he, and David Murray, and Charles Green before him have been enabled by those who have the power to strike a blow for the sporting integrity of our game – and they steadfastly refuse to do so.
Whatever King is guilty of, he can’t be blamed for that.
I wonder now that King et al have won the EGM how long the Loan Players from Newcastle will remain at Ibrox
The_Pie_Man says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:42 pm
I wonder now that King et al have won the EGM how long the Loan Players from Newcastle will remain at Ibrox.
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I think that is an interesting question. I remember an old boss telling me that to be successful in negotiations, you had to check your testosterone in at the meeting room door. Given that Ashley has been spectacularly successful in business, my guess is that he will display no petulance, and that the loanees will remain.
But that’s just my guess. How MA reacts on that kind of trivial level will be very interesting.
The_Pie_Man says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:42 pm
I wonder now that King et al have won the EGM how long the Loan Players from Newcastle will remain at Ibrox
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I think Ashley is a big picture, long term kinda guy. We’ve seen some pretty immature, snidey stuff from the King camp recently and Ashley has never risen to them – even reacted to them. My guess is he’ll not like this set back at all, but will take it on the chin and won’t give anyone the satisfaction of a reaction. It may just make him more determined to get what he wants. But by my reackoning he’s got most of it already – revenue streams pumped full by emotional RRM who think they’ve won. Kerching.
The_Pie_Man says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:42 pm
I wonder now that King et al have won the EGM how long the Loan Players from Newcastle will remain at Ibrox
2 0 Rate This
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I would say till th end of th season
Why should NUFC pay their wages
Th question should be
How long will they spend on th injury list
Answer
Till th end of th season 🙂
Just heard on the news tonight from DK stating this new board are likely not to draw down the next £5 million loan from MA.
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:39 pm
Of course Ashley still has considerable financial interest in TRFC, but what happened today as his lieutenants watched, amounts to a public caning of the Newcastle owner. No figure of fun dishes out six of the best to Big Mike.
,,,,,,,,,,
Agreed
When you have mega zillions there is more satisfaction in growing your ego
IMO
Todays voting suggests Ashley controls all the onerous contracts
Otherwise LL&L would have put the business into Admin/Liquidation before handing over the reins.Instead he has put King in the position of either accepting the onerous contracts permanently and paying off any that are overdue or going for a quick liquidation to “clean out the stable”.If he refuses to pay he will get a winding up order
Next week should be interesting
…or, what if King and Ashley/Llambias arrange to ‘kiss and make up’ for good PR ?
Ashley now has a useful person to focus on trying to produce a successful team, and who becomes a useful buffer between any disgruntled fans and Ashley and SD.
It’s in both Ashley’s and King’s interest to get the fans back to Ibrox and buying merchandise, pie & bovril etc.
Maybe even Ashley will literally buy some goodwill from the TRFC fans with some generous gesture ?
Ashley’s quids in whatever happens.
He could just let King get on with running the club – and to take the hassle from fans with unrealistic expectations.
IMO one of the biggest sickening aspects of this Govan club scenario is the actual SMSM stating as a matter of fact that the term Rangers is exactly the same as the Glasgow Rangers. All we here from every outlay of the media, SFA, SPFL and the present and past boards is for the benefit of Scottish football we need to get rangers back to where they belong as in winning leagues etc… This is accepted as a matter of fact, which is a disgrace to all of us and to all creditors.
To add salt to the wound we have dejavu with DK promising £10 million warchest, ffs does not cover it.
Any word on who Mr Ashley’s 2 ‘men’ will be on the board? Mr L & Mr L ? 😉
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:50 pm
The_Pie_Man says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:42 pm
I wonder now that King et al have won the EGM how long the Loan Players from Newcastle will remain at Ibrox.
__________________________________________________________________________
I think that is an interesting question. I remember an old boss telling me that to be successful in negotiations, you had to check your testosterone in at the meeting room door. Given that Ashley has been spectacularly successful in business, my guess is that he will display no petulance, and that the loanees will remain.
But that’s just my guess. How MA reacts on that kind of trivial level will be very interesting.
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Considering they are costing sevco 200K pcm I would be surprised if they are not already on the magicbus to the toon
TSFM
Indeed let’s put the focus back on those in charge in 2011 and 2012 who remain there and might still influence the answer to the FPP question.
On that issue I heard Ol Keevins on SSB tonight try to set the terms of reference for the SFA decision on DK’S FPP around the decision in 2011 to sell RFC to CW.
The poor judgement shown there cannot be dismissed from the decision process but DK was a Director all during SDM’S reign including 2008 when a punt was taken on Rangers future
It’s documented at http://www.cqnmagazine.com/no-sporting-advantage-my-arse/ . What assurances have we DK is willing to live on a sustainable basis? What mechanisms exist to make sure that he does? He seems unfazed by not being regulated by AIM. What part did the SFA play from 2000 especially from 2010 as rumours of trouble became fact?
Are we just to pretend it never happened and carry on as if it did not? Only a cover up of the narrative revealed by Charlotte Fakeovers revealed keeps Regan and Ogilvie in post. Time to really shake that tree.
The decision on DK is to be made in April let’s make sure it is one honestly taken by honest men.
I could live with that whatever it is.
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:50 pm
The_Pie_Man says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:42 pm
I wonder now that King et al have won the EGM how long the Loan Players from Newcastle will remain at Ibrox.
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I think that is an interesting question.
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I may be wrong (and it wouldn’t be the first time 😛 ) but loan deals are normally set out in advance..12 month…6 month with an option to extend…and I can’t think of many examples of loans ending (other than the odd short term/one month loan) outwith the transfer window…so I suspect that DK is stuck with them…at the very least a think it will be at least three months before the injured/in recovery ones will be having pint in the Bigg Market 😈
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:39 pm
King should not be set up here as yet another target to poke fun at. He may or he may not be, at last, the guy who helps TRFC on a path to competitiveness, but he shouldn’t be a figure of fun.
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He is, however, a crook. A convicted fraudster by any accepted dictionary definition.
I can say this without any fear of libel, because I can cite the defence of justification and fair comment, and call upon the utterances of a South African judge to back up such assertions.
I would not want him anywhere near my club.
And I think his involvement can be nothing but detrimental to the good of the sport.
I don’t think everyone involved in sport needs to be a choirboy, but there are – or their should be – limits.
And Dave King is so far the wrong side of the line of acceptability, that it is sad reflection on the mess our sport has descended into that his continued involvement in it is even countenanced.
This is my honestly held opinion and in expressing it I am poking fun at no one.
It is genuinely a shame that fans of the Ibrox club can’t do better, and I see no reason for them to celebrate.
Dave King has been talking about rebuilding relationships with other Scottish clubs. He then says in his Q&A session in the DR, with quite breathtaking arrogance,
“We can’t be scrapping for third and fourth with Aberdeen and Dundee United.”
So, no intention there of sustainable rebuilding or attempting to make their way back to the top fairly and with some humility. No no, competing with the diddy clubs is beneath them, and a speedy return to the 2 club duopoly which, in my opinion, was killing Scottish football, is the only aim.
Considering their past and current difficulties, this supremacist mindset is quite unbelievable and shockingly disrespectful to the other clubs.
How long before they are overspending again in pursuit of their “rightful place”?
Resin_lab_dog says:
March 6, 2015 at 8:21 pm
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Very well said RLD.
Resin_lab_dog says:
March 6, 2015 at 8:21 pm
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:39 pm
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And there is another element to this which needs to be gone into far more depth than is easily accomplished given the amount of shredding that took place 3 years ago last month.
The existence of ‘Project Charlotte’ has been alluded to by documents that were leaked to the internet, which appear to show what might be construed as a plan involving oldco Rangers under SDM and Merchant Capital Recovery to shed debt through an insolvency event while preserving the playing arm of the business in tact.
Since DK was a director of that business at that point of time, there exists the possibility that he knew about this. But he is in a position to deny all knowledge. However, as a director with fiduciary duties, the burden of proof rests with him on this matter: It should be for him to prove ignorance and absence of wrongdoing, not for others to prove knowledge or involvement. Because if he actually was unaware of such matters – well ho shouldn’t have been.
There is even the possibility that the ultimate plan all along was to emerge with DK at the head of a ‘Rangers’ footballing entity, with creditors (including all of us taxpayers) being left short. Today could be seen as the realisation of that plan, in some respects, albeit by a more tortuous and troublesome route than those who created it envisaged.
However, the mere plausible existance of this heinous possibility is sufficient grounds to deny DK any further involvement in Scottish sport – irrespective of any other convictions he has been found guilty of and sentenced for.
To do otherwise automatically brings the sport into disrepute.
Stan Collymore just put up a tweet re a wiki page on Scottish attendance records.
Very interesting that only 4 clubs feature in the defunct clubs, and Airdrieonians appear in the current and defunct clubs list. 😯 🙄
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_football_attendance_records
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:39 pm
King should not be set up here as yet another target to poke fun at. He may or he may not be, at last, the guy who helps TRFC on a path to competitiveness, but he shouldn’t be a figure of fun.
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King should not be allowed near ANY Scottish football club, in my opinion. He would certainly not be allowed near any English club- see Leeds and Cellino, for example.
The relevant rules are crystal clear, but as always with rule books in Scottish football, the authorities are granted absolute discretion. That discretion in itself is a scandal. The fact (so my infallible crystal ball tells me) that the SFA/SPFL will exercise their discretion in favour of a recently convicted criminal is an even bigger scandal. If a precedent is set in the case of King (and it will be) then who could be kept out of Scottish football? In reality, no one.
I agree, we shouldn’t “make fun” of King. We should, though, call out the corrupt and complicit authorities who are about to give him a free pass into Scottish football. And as I never tire of reminding everyone, (although I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing it) behind the authorities stand the clubs.
What we are seeing now is the logical sequel to the 5 way agreement. The rules were bent beyond breaking point then. Integrity was thrown out the window then. The same people can never get it back. They started a dance with the devil, and now they just have to keep on dancing.
Every honest club in Scotland (if there are any such) should break away from this heap of corruption, and set up an honest Scottish league, making a clear statement as to exactly why they are doing so. That is the only way that this midden will ever be cleaned up. In my opinion. I know it will never happen, by the way, but it should.
andygraham.66 says:
March 6, 2015 at 8:57 pm
Stan Collymore just put up a tweet re a wiki page on Scottish attendance records.
Very interesting that only 4 clubs feature in the defunct clubs, and Airdrieonians appear in the current and defunct clubs list. 😯 🙄
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sc
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Not the only error.
The ICT record attendance is wrong as well.
The record was actually set at Pittodrie against Aberdeen in the SPL (who were playing there as the away team) when ICT were groundsharing immediately after promotion during building works to bring the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium up to SPL required standards. About 11,000 attended I think, (more than the ~7700 capacity of the TCS anyway). and away fans (Aberdeen) outnumbered the Home fans (ICT) . To be fair, the home fans had further to travel and the A96 is not the best road.
It was a Home tie for ICT however, and their largest home crowd ever.
Re King/Ashley…I’ve been pondering this and am beginning to think that MA was blindsided by DK’s (and T3B) share purchase.
MA was in at an early stage and who had his ear at the time…
❓
Doubtless he was informed that DK was all mouth (maybe MA lurked on here and noticed the constant references to DK being a serial tyre kicker 🙂 )
Did MA just assume that there were no Bears prepared to put money in (or at least not at “market value”)…did he think that with no competition he could extract maximum value from the brand and that the fans would have no choice but to come round ❓
Was this based on his experience with NUFC fans who, with some exceptions, have simply accepted Ashley’s control, unhappy but seemingly unwilling to take him on ❓
Ashley won’t loose out financially but some dented pride may be in the offing.
Speculation, but it may be that Make Ashley’s Hubris has met its Nemesis in Dave King….anyone expecting the Sports Direct supremo to have some aces up his sleeve may be sadly disappointed.
TSFM says:
March 6, 2015 at 6:39 pm
King should not be set up here as yet another target to poke fun at. He may or he may not be, at last, the guy who helps TRFC on a path to competitiveness, but he shouldn’t be a figure of fun.
————————————————————-
In recent weeks I haven’t seen posters on here treat DK as a figure of fun but more as a target of hatred under many guises.
Personally I don’t think he is the answer for Rangers but neither do I think that Ashley is either.
But as a Celtic reporter I don’t actually care that much as it’s up to Bears to decide what road they want to go down. Back in the day many opposed Fergus and it wasn’t because he saved my club but because of his hard-line stance against sectarianism within Celtic’s supported which I supported then and still do.
Sadly the bigots were able to voice their hatred at away games and the home clubs accommodated them for the money earned. There are few with a clean-sheet and it appears there are still those who want to pursue the old hatered.
Oh many have become much more sophisticated in their methods of attack and arguments used. But IMO they are no different from the old bigots on either side.
We have to find a way to move on and it isn’t easy. And I know that until ordinary sensible Bears come to this site and can openly debate and discuss then this site is going nowhere.
Some may think that is some kind of victory. Personally I think it signals an absolute failure to move forward. I truly wonder where the bias that I observe on this site comes from as I see absolutely no sign of it amongst the people who sit around me at Parkhead.
They are interested in football and aren’t trapped in the past but more interested in the next game. I truly wonder how many of the especially vitriolic posters on here actually attend football matches.
@Resin, haha, if it’s thick, white smoke then no point in looking under the bonnet — new engine required 🙂
Leaving The Sevco Saga for minute, this little thing about money from charity matches rang a few bells:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/football-star-lionel-messi-and-his-troubles-with-tax-authorities-a-1021979.html
PS Falkirk fans celebrating after a big cup win over QotS. Nice with those two as the Friday match.
So the turkeys have actually gone and done it and voted for Christmas.
They’re totally stuffed, yet they are decorating the tree and putting up the bunting. 🙄
Clucking unbelievable.
neepheid says:
March 6, 2015 at 8:58 pm
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King should not be allowed near ANY Scottish football
club, in my opinion. He would certainly not be allowed near any English club- see Leeds and Cellino, for example.
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The EFL and Cellino are not a good example as Cellino still effectively controls Leeds through a (ahem) blind trust
Link below worth reading and no movement since I think
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/20/massimo-cellino-leeds-united-exposes-frailty-fit-proper-owner-test
Also, for those still hoping for an SFA disqualification on FPP grounds…
“Following a recent change to the Rehabilitation of Offenders’ Act Cellino’s conviction for tax evasion regarding the Nelie becomes spent in the British legal system on 28 March 2015, 12 months after the original ruling in Italy.”
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/01/massimo-cellino-leeds-football-league-disqualified
ecobhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 9:31 pm
I truly wonder how many of the especially vitriolic posters on here actually attend football matches.
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I don’t know whether I qualify as an “especially vitriolic poster”, but I certainly no longer attend football matches, as I have made clear here many times. I paid a lot of money to watch a rigged league over many years, and those who are charged with ensuring the integrity of the game, and the “heid bummers” of the club I supported for so long, are perfectly OK with that.
Well strangely enough, I’m not OK with that. I’ll be back once the midden is cleared out, Dave King and all. Fat chance of me living that long, though.
ecobhoy says:
March 6, 2015 at 9:31 pm
In recent weeks I haven’t seen posters on here treat DK as a figure of fun but more as a target of hatred under many guises.
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When all that RTC reported was going on, David Cunningham King was close enough to the action under both SDM and CW that if he didn’t know exactly what they were up to, he should have.
Some fans of Ibrox behaved badly, and all of them were treated badly.
There is no getting away from the fact that alot of this happened on his watch.
Add in his other convictions, and I am forced to conclude that he does not deserve the benefit of any doubt.
As to my interest (as an ICT fan), let me answer that with a couple of rhetorical questions:
Was SDM bad for:
(a) the Ibrox club?
(b) the whole of Scottish football?
Was Charles Green bad for:
(a) The Ibrox club
(b the whole of Scottish football
Was Ann Budge good for:
(a) HMFC
(b) The whole of Scottish football.
Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls!
parttimearab says:
March 6, 2015 at 9:40 pm
Latest on Leeds/Cellino
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31752891