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?
andy says:
January 26, 2015 at 10:22 am
ecobhoy says:
January 26, 2015 at 9:57 am
Worth remembering that Sevco 5088 didn’t simply ‘get’ exclusivity rights from D&P. They had to pay £200k for the rights.
_______________
would that be the 200k that whyte paid via imrans maw
————————————–
Indeed it was 😆 And in spite of it the learned Pinsent & Masons’ report could find no connection between CW and rangers. Well that’s what we are told because the report like so much else remains a secret locked in a deep dark vault.
Obviously one bit of the pic n mix history that Charlie didn’t buy 🙄
Morning all.
From the Drum.
Herald & Times group has defended publication of an advert in the Sunday Herald from a group calling themselves ‘Celtic Supporters’, which claimed footballing rivals Rangers were now a new entity after being placed into liquidation in 2012.
The controversial ad is estimated to have cost around £1,600 to take out and was only accepted after the publisher received the all clear from both Police Scotland and the Advertising Standards Authority.
“As with all commercial customer advertising, Herald & Times group adhere to all legal requirements and guidelines with regard to the suitability & accuracy of the actual adverts we carry in our titles. With regard to the advert placed by a group representing themselves as ‘Celtic Supporters’, we reviewed the initial copy supplied and passed this to the Advertising Standards Authority and our own group lawyers and, as a result rejected the supplied copy on various legal grounds and requested substantial changes and substantive evidence before we would consider for approval for publication.
“On completion of this process, we then submitted final provided artwork and accompanying evidence and received clearance from the Advertising Standards Authority and our own group legal team to ensure compliance on all legal grounds. We then supplied this same copy and took advice from Police Scotland who confirmed they had no concerns as to its publication.’’
The stunt comes just one week before the two sides face-off against each other at hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final.
——-
I’m assuming The Drum have added the last sentence.
Not sure why the Advertising Standards Authority have to be consulted on something which manifestly isn’t an advert?
Anyway, I was expecting an AIM announcement this morning detailing a new loan arrangement secured on MP. Also, isn’t Ashley up in front of the SFA inquisition tomorrow?
In the DR article today ‘former rangers’ ( I take it the writer means oldco) heroes laugh off Celtic fans’ advert ……. And so on I notice the four players named were all EBT’rs 😉 the truth hurts
Allyjambo says:
January 26, 2015 at 11:09 am
6 1 Rate This
Matty Roth says:
January 26, 2015 at 10:38 am
I think he may well have paid the SFA/SPL for the history when he signed the 5 way agreement, by agreeing to pay the outstanding football debts.
=======================
Yes but what exactly was it they gave him that would be described as “the history” ?
For example was it an agreement to add the history of Rangers to relevant online records for the new member club “The Rangers”.
Afternoon folks,
Are there any indications that the CQN advert has made any impact down south? I haven’t seen any coverage beyond the SMSM.
Lets not kid ourselves, if there is trouble on Saturday, it will all be Auldheid & Cos fault, or at least that’s what some in the media will say.
Be ready
Looking at the DR poll made me curious, apart from purchases, what about newspaper readership? (online) found this:-
http://www.themediabriefing.com/article/newspaper-publishers-nrs-abc-circulation-readership-digital-june-2014
How do they measure this?
http://www.nrs.co.uk/measuring-readership-5-key-principles/
Can see the day when my great grandkids may ask “What’s a newspaper” 🙄
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
January 26, 2015 at 11:49 am
I’m assuming The Drum have added the last sentence.
“The stunt comes just one week before the two sides face-off against each other at hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final.”
—————————————————————
Well if it did, they have changed it now, to
“The ad comes just one week before the two sides face-off against each other at hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final.” 🙄
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/01/26/herald-times-group-defend-celtic-supporters-ad-and-reveal-police-scotland-asa
y4rmy says:
January 26, 2015 at 12:00 pm
10 0 Rate This
Not sure why the Advertising Standards Authority have to be consulted on something which manifestly isn’t an advert?
Anyway, I was expecting an AIM announcement this morning detailing a new loan arrangement secured on MP. Also, isn’t Ashley up in front of the SFA inquisition tomorrow?
———–
Kicked down the road,it seems.
@mrewanmurray: Preliminary discussion only tomorrow between lawyers in Ashley/Rangers/SFA case. Full hearing/evidence date(s) will be further down line.
Allyjambo says:
January 26, 2015 at 9:17 am
“Everything that has happened, and there’s precious little, to back his words, has happened AFTER he pronounced his club was the same as the old one.”
————————————-
I’ve never been that hung up about the OCNC debate but have read with interest how many have disentangled the debate and observed the paradoxes created by the continuity ethos.
Boiling OCNC down to legal definition did seem a wee bit harsh on the feelings of Rangers supporters but the natural feeling of humanity in such a situation has been overtaken by indignation over the way the debate has been hijacked. The continuity myth has been fastened upon particularly by those who do not have the wider sporting interests at heart.
So whilst I have greatest sympathy with Rangers fans wishing to ally themselves with their emotional heritage, it is clear that their feelings have been pawned by those who have a primary attachment only to their own self interest.
In retrospect the analysis of OCNC was probably a very important exercise since from its findings comes many pointers to where things went awry and what could have been done and what still could be done to fix them.
For me, the most significant aspect of the OCNC issue is not so much what the truth of the matter is but rather the absolute determination of the MSM and football authorities to prevent debate on the matter.
Where there are conflicting opinions, an honourable media outlet would allow each side to offer its view and encourage frank debate. The principle scandal is the MSM’s relentless suppression of the view expressed in the Herald advert.
neepheid says:
January 26, 2015 at 9:50 am
“Our esteemed press corps, having poured a few gallons of petrol on the bonfire, now find it to be uncomfortably hot.”
————————————
Despite its overt jingoism (did I do something there?), there does seem to be a wee whiff of the here and now about Mr. Jackson’s remarks rather than the usual glorying in the past. Admittedly he does extensively glory in the past as well but there is something in his script that suggests to me that a little light bulb has illuminated within his cranium. If the CQN advert has had any hand in this enlightenment then it may be that history will view its perceived ‘hatred’ as being provocative in a very necessary fashion.
I may be seeking to see good in all things but perhaps Mr. Jackson’s brief sojourn in the present (so brief that perhaps I am one of the very few that feel it has occurred), will encourage him to visit more often and in time come to see it as a natural way of being. Hopelessly naive I know but I’d rather live in hope than die in fear.
Perhaps it was his reference to some internet bampots (online commentators) being ‘fiendishly clever’ that invokes my positivity. Despite the obviously sinister slant that this phrase contains it does seem to be an admission that a world exists outwith his own intellectual perceptions.
bfbpuzzled says:
January 26, 2015 at 9:58 am
“If I were an end of times type as is popular among televangelists I would have to say that
has all the hallmarks of the antichrist.”
————————————————
He’s not the Anti-Christ, he’s just a very cheeky boy.
He does seem to be the only pantomime character to have achieved his own personal TSFM emoticon which does place him in an exalted position indeed.
Thought the Celtic fan’s statement was pretty good – the only thing I would have added (assuming that the ASA or Police Scotland didn’t make them take it out, but then, why would they?) was to mention the incorporation of Rangers FC and ‘the company’ in 1899, making them one and the same thing, and therefore it’s Rangers FC currently coming to the end of the liquidation process in the courts. I think that would clear up the legal position that the MSM seem to be so desperate to point towards with LNS, wilfully ignoring that LNS was asked to sit in judgement in a sporting context over what had transpired, not to apply the law of Scotland.
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future (Niels Bohr)
It’s fascinating that Celtic fans have had to pay post tax money to have their opinion heard and discussed in the media. That the MSM chose to belittle and demean that opinion to suit their own agenda cannot be a real surprise to anyone. Annoying and frustrating perhaps, but not surprising. But that issue makes me think how each of the many parties thought this whole saga would play out.
Did the bears really think that Charles Green would re-establish The Rangers out of administration as a Champions League club in a few short years? His resources were meagre, his experience limited, his motivation dubious and his problems legion.
Did the MSM really believe they could guide the story rather than just report it? After all, other than misleading the willingly misled, what impact have they had on the actions of the movers and shakers? None! Instead they themselves have been willingly misled and humiliated in the process of channelling ephemeral guff from saviours to supplicants.
Did the SFA/SPFL/SFL really expect a club that had mismanaged itself into oblivious to get it right a second time. Did they expect the followers to eschew establishment arm twisting and mob mentality to abide by the letter of poorly drafted football rules?
And what about ourselves? Did we really expect the establishment and its club to hold up their hands, apologize, pay the face-painter and promise to play nicely in future. Did we expect the compliant rule makes to make a stand on our behalf, or the blue blooded media to develop a sense of perspective in the interests of the game as a whole.
The thing is, when we wish for things off the radar, they often don’t work out quite how we expect, hope or imagine. As we all know as individuals there will always be, the ex-partner who will never acknowledge their cruelty, that boss who will never admit their unfairness and that former friend who will never understand that no offence was meant. But if we require all these loose ends to be tied before allowing ourselves to pursue future happiness, then we have chosen our own destiny.
The Sevco Saga has a life of its own, beyond the control of its many colourful players. It will be what it will be, with many different loose ends for many different people. But the one thing is for sure, the pieces will never fit together again to create the old order of things. And in my opinion, that is at least the first step to a more modern, liberal society. The Sunday match will come to be seen as the first Old Firm match of a new era, a stake in the ground, a point of no return.. After just three years, one referendum and a lapse in conditioning to tribal brutality, many of the aspects of the game that so many look forward to will be anachronistic and unwelcome to a changed national psyche. Happiness is acheivable, but maybe not as we anticipated it, and always with a few loose ends.
Scapaflow 12.17 pm
At least that means its not all Neil Lennons fault for a change . . . 😆
I had cause this morning, while discussing the topics of media manipulation & brainwashing with my students,to show them a scene from the movie The Matrix, where the character of Neo is given the choice of a red or blue pill.
The blue pill is offered as a way of remaining asleep,remaining hypnotised to the truth of the world he inhabits, the red pill is offered as way of waking up,of seeing the lies all around him.
As a metaphor, this scene works beautifully, particularly in a learning situation to allow students to contextualise this idea.
In the same way, we all knew instinctively that the Hillsborough Disaster was not caused by Liverpool fans rioting & fighting, as was the case presented at the time with seemingly overwhelming evidence from the Police, Ambulance Service & eyewitnesses.
We also knew that the 6 people arrested for blowing up a bomb in Birmingham,despite overwhelming evidence presented at the time, weren’t actually responsible.
Additionally, we all suspected & knew that Jimmy Saville wasn’t a kindly, eccentric figure despite the overwhelming evidence presented to us at the time, by any number of important & celebrated figures.
And of course, we don’t have to take the blue pill to know that a lie is going on right in front of our noses, since the day Rangers Football Club went into administration, because we all know the truth,thanks initially to RTC & places like this.
Now, it is no surprise whatsoever that the very people who have sought to deny the truth, whose modus operandi is to cover up the facts, should now be denying the legitimacy of the advert placed in the Herald.
It is the exact same tactics used in the examples that I mentioned above. This deceit goes on in plain sight, right in front of our noses, perpetuated by people & organisations who believe that we’re all stupid & can be brainwashed & manipulated easily.
However, as history shows us, once the truth is out, it can never be put back by the deniers. The advert is an important first step in Scottish football fans fighting back against this corruption. Let’s make sure it’s not the only step.
Matty Roth says:
January 26, 2015 at 12:04 pm
Wasn’t suggesting Green actually bought the history, or even made a deal that he could claim it, just that once the 5 way agreement was in place it kind of made it difficult, if not impossible, for the other signatories to deny his claims. They possibly did no more than give him carte blanche to say whatever he liked, and they wouldn’t contradict him.
Perhaps there was even a request made by Green for the matter to be mentioned by LNS, with what was included being as far as his Lordship was prepared to go.
All speculation and posted a little tongue in cheek, with a smattering of sarcasm 😈 aimed at those who would enter into secret deals.
Far be it from me to promote a conspiracy theory 😈 but do the Drum know something about the Scottish Cup semi final draw that I don’t? Apparently the Scottish League Cup semi this weekend is to qualify for it or something?
Anyway, back to the dialogue about media accuracy 😆
Bawsman says:
January 26, 2015 at 11:27 am
Lest we forget, the guys who bled Rangers to death:
———————-
Not sure I agree with that, the players did nothing wrong (morals and greed aside) in that respect. They were offered a contract on terms that were suitable to them and it is/was not upto them to worry about the management of the Club.
The CEO, Administrator, Head of Finance and others involved in running the Club are 100% responsible for bleeding the Club dry.
Matty Roth says:
January 26, 2015 at 10:38 am
“I have often wondered what Green actually meant when he claimed to have “bought the history”.!”
——————————
This blog article by Paul McConville provides the list of assets and purchase price of each in a table at the top of the piece. There was a piece of reportage that described Mr Green as having purchased ‘certain assets’ which might infer that he personally did not gain ownership of all of these items.
The ‘history’ would appear to refer to the goodwill which this blog has educated me to understand is the reputation of the previous business and the brand that its previous customer base would trust and continue to show affiliation with. I’m not sure if the trade marks would be included in goodwill.
https://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/charles-green-the-value-of-the-assets-of-rangers-fc-pennies-or-millions-of-pounds/
Not for the first time I remind myself of one of RTC’s ‘classics’ that I read on one of my first visits to his/her site.
“There are a number of reporting inaccuracies of this story, but surprisingly they all seem to lean in the one direction. “
Henry Clarson says:
January 26, 2015 at 1:00 pm
For me, the most significant aspect of the OCNC issue is not so much what the truth of the matter is but rather the absolute determination of the MSM and football authorities to prevent debate on the matter.
Where there are conflicting opinions, an honourable media outlet would allow each side to offer its view and encourage frank debate. The principle scandal is the MSM’s relentless suppression of the view expressed in the Herald advert.
____________________________
Which, no doubt, is what has led this group of Celtic supporters to feel the need to pay to have their point of view aired in the MSM. Regardless of the truth, which is always the most important thing for newspapers to print, that one side of any argument should have to pay to be allowed to express their views is… am I going too far to suggest it is Goebbelesque to suppress a point of view not shared by those responsible for keeping us all informed?
y4rmy says:
January 26, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Not sure why the Advertising Standards Authority have to be consulted on something which manifestly isn’t an advert?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I think the word ADVERTISEMENT which appears above the statement, makes it very clear what it is.
If not, then immediately below the statement you’ll see the words “This advertisement was placed by and paid for by Celtic supporters using crowd funding”
The Celtic Advert
I wish I was a real journalist – cos if I was I’d be able to phone up Ibrox and each director and ask for a comment and when they all put the phone down or gave a feeble “no comment at this time” I’d be able to write in good conscience “No one at The Rangers wished to criticise or disagree with the advertisement. So we must assume for now that they are in full agreement with the spirit and letter of each and every statement and assertion. We have no reason to believe that The Rangers are seeking legal advice on the advertisement.”.
Now wouldn’t that be a great story – for real a journalist?
Allyjambo says:
January 26, 2015 at 9:17 am
78 1 Rate This
******
Ally, I hope you don’t mind, but I reposted the excellent post of yours from the above time, over to CQN.
Castofthousands says:
January 26, 2015 at 1:35 pm
Matty Roth says:
January 26, 2015 at 10:38 am
“I have often wondered what Green actually meant when he claimed to have “bought the history”.!”
——————————
This blog article by Paul McConville provides the list of assets and purchase price of each in a table at the top of the piece. There was a piece of reportage that described Mr Green as having purchased ‘certain assets’ which might infer that he personally did not gain ownership of all of these items.
The ‘history’ would appear to refer to the goodwill which this blog has educated me to understand is the reputation of the previous business and the brand that its previous customer base would trust and continue to show affiliation with. I’m not sure if the trade marks would be included in goodwill.
https://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/charles-green-the-value-of-the-assets-of-rangers-fc-pennies-or-millions-of-pounds/
——————————————————————-
One man’s history could well be another’s Ibrox.
I would normally accept that a brand image could form part of the goodwill in accounting terms. That then raises the question of how history interlinks with the brand and/or goodwill.
I believe the ‘history’ of a football club must include titles and trophies won as well as memorable matches, players, goals and defeats.
We know that titles and trophies aren’t owned by the club but awarded by footballing bodies – usually for a year – who usually have the ability to strip them for rule breaches and when a club is liquidated or at least that used to be my understanding 😆
That leaves all the other bits I mentioned as being in the fan memory forming an enduring part of the history as long as the club has fans. It’s monetary value might be its contribution to the brand image but how can a price be placed on it as it’s owned personally and collectively by the club.
The above is just some thoughts – not cast in stone – which don’t exclusively apply to Rangers btw and I would be happy to see what others think.
CygnusX-1
Matrix -green pill-remain asleep to what’s going on around you
Blue pill – wake up to what’s going on around you
MSM – Whyte pill- Remain asleep to what’s going on around you
Green pill – Go into deeper sleep to what’s going on around you
ThomTheThim says:
January 26, 2015 at 1:58 pm
It’s a pleasure to think that you find something I have written worth posting on CQN, where, I believe, the famous advert was born 🙂
The SMSM may well have their reasons to supress the message, but they can’t stop it spreading by word of internet 😉
Anyone know why SonsofStruth can post sensitive information yet when Charlotte posted material the account was suspended & the dregs of society roasted RTC for doing the same ?
TSFM says:
January 25, 2015 at 10:14 pm
——————————–
Well hell mend them if they don’t get their bills paid! 😛
hen1rik says:
January 26, 2015 at 2:14 pm
I guess you won’t want to post this sensitive information, but… is it good or bad news?
If it’s bad news for TRFC, they might very well get away with it because TRFC don’t want to alienate their fan-base any further. The same goes for good news, I suppose.
If it’s about any other club, or individuals, they just might not get away with it – in the fullness of time.
The Sevco fans logic.
RTC posts sensitive info = petition to HMRC to get this stopped = RAT
SonsofStruth posts sensitive info = Hero = keep up the good work.
Would it be too cynical to say that the “no loan against Ibrox” squirrel attributed to someone “down south” served it’s purpose in calming the masses so they did not embarrass themselves and the whole country at the Ricksen match.
Well this someone down south can tell you that things are rarely that simple in the world of Mike. So if you don’t want to give a pound of flesh from nearest your heart, I’ll accept a pound from each cheek as a down paymment.
Looks like KJ was right, Ashley hearing replaced by a conference call
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/307961-mike-ashley-and-rangers-dual-interest-hearing-postponed-by-scottish-fa/
Allyjambo says:
From SOS
The Keith Bishop/Llambias connection again and the mystery invoices.
Picture 1 shows an invoice from Keith… http://t.co/iLwq8OaoAJ
Today’s Scotsman:
Bert Konterman said: “I have seen the same in Holland at PEC Zwolle, the team I joined as a young lad. When I came in, it was PEC Zwolle, it was FC Zwolle when I played there and the name went back to PEC. The shirt changed a little bit as well, but, overall, it is the same club. It is the same stadium, it is the same history.”
Spot the difference right enough. From http://www.football-oranje.com/the-rise-of-pec-zwolle-from-liquidation-to-europe-in-25-years/
“In July 1990, shortly after the terminal bankruptcy, a new club was formed; a club which had no ties to the financial ruin of yore, and which represented a fresh start. The transformation came with a new name, FC Zwolle, and it’s organisational structure underwent a swift metamorphosis. Similarly, the club designed a new crest, adopted blue-and-white home shirts instead of green, and attracted all-important support from local spheres of commerce.”
The shirt changed ‘a little bit’…………. from green and white to blue and white. Just a little bit then.
The present renamed PEC Zwolle doesn’t actually, as Bert informs us, play in the ‘same stadium’ either.
From Netherlands connections, though fans of other clubs are relatively happy to allow Zwolle supporters to claim they retain ‘history’ of their liquidated club. However, fans of the Blauwvingers tend not to be so consumed by a collective sense of entitlement.
I apologise if this is old ground that you guys/gals have already “done to death” but I was looking at the IPO document on Paul McConville’s (RIP) site when I noticed that in the section from DM Hall on property valuations was the following :-
Is it normal that a company such as DM Hall would not have sight of the Title Deeds? It strikes me as unusual.
A Reminder From a Real Journalist to the MSM
I keep six honest serving-men
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends’em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
The Elephant’s Child, Rudyard Kipling
Mike Ashley saving some cash and giving current NUFC caretaker the job til the end of the season.
Can anyone enlighten me on the charges MA and club are facing tomorrow.
valentinesclown says:
January 26, 2015 at 2:50 pm
They are not facing any charages tomorrow, the hearing has been cancelled and replaced by a conference call. Stitch Up Klaxxon
If the STV report is correct surely someone from the SMSM will ask the SFA WHY tomorrow’s hearing is being postponed at the last minute? Also the SFA are reported to be optimistic Ashley will actually listen to their concerns on a telephone…..
Mind you, the media have been saying for weeks he’d not turn up so not exactly a shock other than there’s not a contempt charge being added in.
Seriously, are there any governance rules that apply to Rangers in whatever form you prefer to see them? From where I sit it seems they can behave with complete impunity and this is to the SFA and SPFL’s shame.
Fit for purpose? Would not trust the people on Hampden’s 6th floor with the kids’ pocket money.
hen1rik says:
January 26, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Some of the same people just seem to keep cropping up at different times in the whole saga, and from, apparently, different directions, playing different parts. Many of them seem to be making money from it, though.
The SFA undue influence, selective hearing:
“I did not have ‘undue influence’ with that club, The Rangers”, Mike Ashley.
“That’s what he said, I think, the connection was breaking up a bit, Anyway nothing of concern here, let’s move along to the next agenda item.”, Stewart Regan
Allyjambo says:
January 26, 2015 at 2:54 pm
This soap opera does seem to have a fairly small cast, makes you wonder if there isn’t a casting director, somewhere, making the calls,
“Right, Derek, need you for a walk on part next week, then we’re back to Charlie”
scapaflow says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:01 pm
================================================================
I hope there’s no casting couch involved. Even Charlie Hebdo wouldn’t publish those images.
mcfc says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:10 pm
The boards of the SFA & SPFL, can always be relied upon to offer “extras” to Rangers
BBC ‘journalist’ Tom English doesn’t care about truth, facts or fair play in sport, apparently:
The best reply was the following
@forevery5pound
@TomEnglishSport As a journalist it’s your job to unearth the truth & to challenge PR statements etc? It’s a sad day when we do it for you
Hopefully Mike Ashley will show the SFA the respect they deserve, by not turning up for the conference call….
Danish Pastry says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:17 pm
BBC ‘journalist’ Tom English doesn’t care about truth, facts or fair play in sport, apparently:
@TomEnglishSport: Don’t know who’s more laughable – the folk who dreamed up that Rangers ad or the folk who are upset by it. Keep calm and carry on
@TomEnglishSport: As a follow-up, I wonder how many fans from the wider Celtic support, in the world outside Twitter, give a toss about this new club stuff.
………………………………………….
Ask Tom English this “sport” question
In 2012 – Rangers finished 2nd in SPL a.
Why did Rangers not compete in any Uefa competition the season after?
@TomEnglishSport: As a follow-up, I wonder how many fans from the wider Celtic support, in the world outside Twitter, give a toss about this new club stuff.
Tom, what proportion of the populus do you think believes the “same club” buffoonery?
Of those, how many believe the same club should pay the same club’s debts?
Of those, how many can explain why the same club is two parties to the Five Way Agreement?
Of those, how many can explain why a club needs to apply to have its membership transfered to itself?
Of those, how many can explain the TUPE walk away of key employeees?
Tom, just cut up your card and send it back to the NUJ, you are NOT a journalist.
The DM Hall disclaimer is standard practice. However the existence of a lease for example might change the value and that should have been disclosed. Also their instructions may very well have been to value on the basis of there being vacant possession. Ther might also be a disclaimer on asbestos etc …
howiemac says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:22 pm
The big guy is more likely to try to call but to reverse the charges.
TomE,
I wonder if you asked the wider RFC community (whether on tweetybook or not) to describe the rise of Hearts in the early noughties culminating in their splitting of the Old firm in whatever year it was, how many of them could do it without some kind of subtle inference towards the apparently defamatory, never to be used, linguistically gymnasticated around term, “cheating.”
Just wondering.
The TE ‘I find this all very laughable’ reeks of zero civil courage and zero journalistic integrity. I used to think he was a fence-sitting journalist because he wasn’t one of the natives, so to speak. But mocking those whom he disrespects instead challenging them intellectually is becoming a trademark of his.
PA reporting that the SRU is ready to welcome football at Murrayfield, if SFA quit Hampden
Tom English’s position clearly is that if you care about something as “laughable” as this, you are not worthy of being taken seriously.
I’m sure it’s been pointed out to him before, but the reason why it’s all worth caring about is that Scottish football came very close in 2012 to turning into a complete shambles and is still not safe.
Remove or ignore the bampots and all you will have left is people who are continuing to be duped and fleeced, no matter which team they support or supported. Because unless you are prepared to try to point out to people that it’s a charade (liquidated but not finished, demoted not shoe-horned in, incorrectly registered but eligible, bang to rights but not guilty … aye, right you are ), that the emperor has no clothes, you are going along with it.
If the bampots give up and join the honest, questioning, clear-sighted, genuine lovers of the game who walked away in 2012, there will be no one else left.
Sfa….your case is being heard on the 27th mr ashley
Mr ashley….is it aye ill no be there
Sfa…..eh…eh…. Conference call do then?
What is happening here,
No show…heard in absence or licence to play withdrawn until you show up….grow a set sfa
woodstein says:
January 26, 2015 at 12:28 pm
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
January 26, 2015 at 11:49 am
I’m assuming The Drum have added the last sentence.
“The stunt comes just one week before the two sides face-off against each other at hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final.”
—————————————————————
Well if it did, they have changed it now, to
“The ad comes just one week before the two sides face-off against each other at hampden for the Scottish Cup semi-final.” 🙄
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/01/26/herald-times-group-defend-celtic-supporters-ad-and-reveal-police-scotland-asa
————————————————————
Well they’ve changed it again and managed to identify the match correctly this time as a Scottish League Cup semi-final.
Indeed even using the term face-off makes me wonder whether the journo is an ice hockey fan or wanted to inject a hint of physical confrontation between the sides. It’s a pretty inappropriate term IMO in any case and I can’t see what’s wrong with kick-off.
However I’m surprised that The Drum – as a trade mag – hasn’t actually contrasted the ASA ruling on the Rangers Ad campaign and the CQN ad in the Sunday Herald. Especially as The Herald Group got clearance from the ASA before running the CQN ad.
I would have thought that would have been meat and drink to their readership.
Has no one told TE that Mike doesn’t need lap dog “journalists” and does not feed anyone succulent lamb. Time to find a real job Tom. Maybe a job in PR where you are paid handsomely to spout nonsense that no-one believes because it is arrantly discreditied, self serving garbage. The tobacco industry would seem to be a good fit for your skill set – and morals.
Esteban says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:31 pm
😆
bfbpuzzled says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:29 pm
Thanks for that. A standard disclaimer however doesn’t seem adequate. With respect to asbestos contamination their report goes on:
That’s two important documents they’ve not had sight of. I wonder why not.
They don’t seem to have done very much to earn their fee, imho.
Esteban says:
January 26, 2015 at 3:47 pm
Tom English’s position clearly is that if you care about something as “laughable” as this, you are not worthy of being taken seriously.
——————————————————————–
English didn’t have the guts to show journalistic integrity when it mattered and I have never taken him seriously since.
He has tried to be a Johnnie cum lately but is kidding nobody but himself.
What’s really hurting him and his craven colleagues is that they didn’t ask the questions and they have been shown-up big style by a collection of bampots – what a terrible blow to individual and collective egoes 😆
Why doesn’t he actually tackle the advert’s arguments and show where it got it wrong. No he know’s they got it right and his only defence is to mock. If that’s the only moth-eaten fig leaf he’s got then it’s time he joined the naturists and bared all 😎
Tom English has no excuse for being such an offensive buffoon!
He knows that every word in the advert is true; indeed he does not even try to contradict it. He knows that the entire “profession” of journalists has chosen to eschew truth to save their own sorry skins. He is sitting in a protected position at the BBC – a public sector broadcaster.
He is a miserable failure as a journalist, but he is not alone. Indeed, bar the late Glenn Gibbons, they have all failed in their duty.They have all engaged in a professional suicide pact – and they have all been that stupid that they thought it a pact of mutual survival
No-one can believe a word written on Scottish football, by any journalist in Scotland ever again. They have replaced journalistic debate with sneers, journalistic argument with insult, and a journalistic inquisitiveness with an arrogant, condescending idleness of thought.
They have no purpose left.
If the entire SMSM were to disappear tomorrow, we would not be one jot less informed about Scottish football now, and into the future, than if they all continued as now. They cannot inform; they cannot debate; they cannot discuss; they cannot perform any function of journalism, whatsoever.
If ever a profession utterly destroyed itself by its sheer venality, irrelevance, selfishness, vanity and lies it is surely Scottish journalism.
Tom english and his ilk always remind me of this classic line from the dick van dyke film
http://movie-sounds.org/old-movie-samples/sound-clips-from-chitty-chitty-bang-bang-1968/too-late-had-your-chance-muffed-it-good-morning
His comments this afternoon show why I consider Tom English to be among the worst of the current breed of Scottish Sports ‘journalists’.
There are some who, in my opinion, simply lack enough intelligence to understand what is going on and report it correctly.
They are tiresome but at least they have an excuse.
Tom English, however, is not an unintelligent man and can, when the mood takes him, make a coherent case for whatever cause he is espousing.
This can only mean that he is being deliberately ignorant of a subject that, for whatever reason, he does not want to pursue.
I don’t think it is too strong to describe this as cowardice.
And the fact that it is publicly sponsored cowardice just makes it worse.
Iceman63
Ouch. True, but ouch nonetheless.
I wonder if any of them lie in bed thinking if only a Watergate would walk into my office, something I could really get my teeth into, something I’ve got a general grounding, in fact an actual interest in. Some topic where my general gut feeling is if it swims like a duck…
Anyway, enough fantasy, time to get up I’ve got an Ibrox presser at 10 and then I do believe Walter’s booked us a tee time. He’s a good sort old Walter, never lets us put our hands in our pockets. Mind you, he doesn’t seem to either, right enough.
Did Ashley & SFA have a dual interest in postponing their meeting on … er …dual interest? Match made in heaven.
Three bears heading back to the woods? Kick Ashley into touch until end of the season, then see how it pans out? He can emerge as The Mike Ashley. Always handy with two entities when there’s a conflict of interest. The new template for Scottish fitba governance!
TSFM says:
I notice there has been some talk of having a TSFM ad campaign in the style of the CQN initiative. Whilst I am attracted to the idea, the sums being talked about are way out of TSFM’s league, either in terms of reserves or ability to raise funds.
In order to be able to carry out that kind of thing, we would really need a site sponsor who bought into and believed in the TSFM ethos. Since most potential sponsors in this part of the world are usually looking to sell goods or services to Rangers fans, I fear the silence of the cash registers is a sure way to suspend that belief. Trust me, we have tried
—————————————————————-Seriously though, a one-off approach to this problem is swimming against a very strong rip-tide. A proper fight back in the mainstream media would need to be periodical. From that point of view it would be better to try to grow our online readership.
The publicity generated by the reaction to the CQN ad was not only publicity for the people who placed the ad – it helped to perpetuate the myth that the mainstream media is vitally important in getting a message across.
Even if that statement were true, each day in the online age makes it less so.
—————————————————————-Lots of interesting ideas being floated and I’m not sure that I agree with all of the above response.
I don’t think it is a myth that the mainstream media is still vitally important to get the message across. If it was a myth it wouldn’t still be called “the mainstream media”.
One of the potential downsides of the digital age is that everyone just retreats into communities that reinforce existing views, agreeing with themselves about how blinkered/awful are those who they disagree but don’t engage with.
We are in a transition period between the old and new media. The launch today of Common Space and previously Bella Caledonia are both worthy attempts to address the failings of the MSM. But how many minds are they going to change? What they can do very well is provide the raw information and intellectual framework that allows people to argue their case in the wider world.
It is human nature that people are awakened to ideas and change their minds in the pub, cafe, workplace and around the dinner table. In the public realm is where change occurs.
Because of this I am firmly of the belief that the action of Auldheid and his Celtic friends and colleagues is entirely correct and appropriate. The arguments must be taken out into the wider world. The advert certainly hasn’t been ignored. In fact there has been more of a stir than I thought would be the case.
Just about any fair minded person who has taken the time to read RTC or TSFM has known for several years now that Scottish Football governance is not fit for purpose. I would say bordering on the outright dishonest from some of what I have read on here.
But the MSM is totally disinterested and what have we seen? Pay rises all around, unopposed re-elections and the Clubs, who employ these people after all, seemingly content with the status quo.
Sorry if this is a bit confrontational but, what is the purpose of TSFM? Is it to be a meeting place for like minded people to agree how awful Doncaster et al are? Or is it to seek to influence and see effected the necessary change?
There is an establishment that needs to be challenged. The fourth estate, whose job that should be is simply not interested. In fact all the evidence suggests that they are now part of that establishment and have been for years.
One of the great things about TSFM is the openness of the debate that takes place. Differing opinions are tolerated so long as they are expressed in a polite and civil manner.
Is it time for, or would it be right for TSFM to take an editorial line, to draw together the threads of the discussions and knowledge on here and to take the arguments out into the wider world? Could an editorial committee be formed? There are many contributors on here that I for one would trust.
We know how inherently lazy many of the MSM journalists are. If TSFM were to write to the SFA and clubs asking the questions we all want answering then there can be accompanying press releases.
I am keenly aware of the dangers of an editorial line. That it might alienate those who disagree what is said. Auldheid has alluded to how difficult it was to agree the wording of the advert between Celtic supporters.
Perhaps, “editorial line” is a poor phrase. I am talking about asking questions of the authorities and using the MSM to get those questions and the demand for answers to a wider audience.
Maybe I’m talking nonsense, (lengthy nonsense as well, sorry), and I’m aware that all of the above might ruffle some feathers. Happy to be told the error of my ways.
Tincks says:
January 26, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Good to see the two wee lassies who stood up to the thugs, will not be prosecuted
Sorry if this was mentioned earlier I heard the proceeds from yesterdays testimonial will be split 4 ways – Fernando Ricksen and his daughter 2 x shares,MND Scotland 1 x share and other share passed to rangers charity foundation — does anyone know if this is correct? I didn’t see this snippet in the build up and I can’t see why they would receive this – is it for arranging the whole shebang?
When is a story not a story?
When its made up
Like
STV Headline
Guidetti benched for Rangers game
Story
One player who could miss out is John Guidetti, who may be dropped for Celtic’s first game against Rangers in two and a half seasons.