A Guest Blog for TSFM by beatipacificiscotia
As a child I read a poem by John Godfrey Saxe, “The Blind Men and the Elephant”, and stumbled upon it again recently. It is a simple tale of how six blind men encounter an Elephant and attempt to describe the animal:
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!”
You get the idea. The other blind men did little better. The second grabbed the tusk and thought the elephant like a spear. Others thought the elephant like a snake (the trunk), a tree (the leg), a fan (the ear), and finally a rope (the tail). What does this have to do with this blog? Let me explain.
There is a danger of all of us, whether consciously or unconsciously, making the same mistake as these blind gentleman. It is too easy to use the parts of the argument that fit our values and belief system, at the expense of the whole truth. The 13th century Jaina scholar, Mallisena, described a much earlier version of the same tale as a parable to argue that people deny various aspects of truth; deluded by the aspects they do understand, they deny the aspects they don’t understand. He said:
“Due to extreme delusion produced on account of a partial viewpoint, the immature deny one aspect and try to establish another. This is the maxim of the blind (men) and the elephant.”
I am incapable of putting it any better than that, though I would go further. I argue that people are deluded by the aspects that they choose to understand, and deny the aspects that they refuse to understand. Which leads me to my tale …..
I have recently read a news report about a decision taken by the Advertising Standards Authority on advertising activities of The Rangers Football Club Ltd and their claims to history and honours. It includes the following quote referring to advice from the SFA:
“We also consulted with the SFA, which confirmed that its definition of a football ‘club’ varied depending on context, and could sometimes refer to an entity separate from the club’s corporate owner.”
I was most unhappy to read this part of the statement. I am yet to see the definition or statement of when you could “sometimes refer to an entity separate from the club’s corporate owner”. This is a contradiction to the definition of a football club given by FIFA; a definition which is handed down to the Confederations, and from Confederations to Associations.
You may or may not be aware, the application of good governance in football is administered through club licensing. This annual process ensures that minimum standards are maintained, to promote growth and development, and ultimately protects all of football – every club, every player and staff member, the integrity of every competition, suppliers of goods and services, the reputation of sponsors, and most of all the fans. FIFA Club Licensing Regulations state that a license applicant must be a football club, defined as:
“Legal entity fully and solely responsible for the football team participating in national and international club competitions that applies for a licence.”
This is a clear and unambiguous definition, which is being ignored by the SFA. Why is this issue so important? Simply, a football club must be held responsible for its commercial activities. For example, an over-ambitious and over-spending Rangers changed the Scottish football landscape forever. Other clubs tried to compete in an unsustainable “Cold War”-like football arms race. I believe Scottish football was damaged. Many clubs have been taken to the brink of death. This could happen in any country, in any league, anywhere in the world. For that reason, a football club and its corporate body must be one and the same, living or dying, inseparably intertwined. The separation of club and company is a myth, a myth dangerous to good governance. Rangers (1872-2012) should be a cautionary tale told to every club owner.
There are many benefits to club licensing. These including minimum standards for stadia and infrastructure, youth development programs, and much more. I would heartily recommend that you read the FIFA document if you have the time. It gave birth to the word and spirit of Financial Fair Play. Look at some of the financial benefits detailed:
10.3 Benefits
Implementation of the financial criteria will help deliver both short and long-term improvements for clubs, the licensors and the football family in general. For the football family in general, the financial criteria should help to:
• safeguard the continuity and integrity of competitions;
• increase the transparency and credibility of clubs’ financial operations;
• improve confidence in the probity of the football industry;
• create a more attractive market for the game’s commercial partners and investors; and
• provide the basis for fair competition, because competition is not just about the teams on the pitch.
For the licensors, the financial criteria should help to:
• improve their understanding of the financial position and prospects of their member clubs;
• encourage clubs to settle liabilities to creditors on a timely basis;
• enhance transparency in the money flow of clubs;
• enhance their ability to be proactive in assisting clubs with financial issues; and
• provide a starting point for club benchmarking at a national level for those licensors and clubs who want to develop this aspect.
For the clubs, the financial criteria should help to:
• improve the standards and quality of financial management and planning activities;
• enable better management decision-making;
• enhance clubs’ financial and business credibility with stakeholders;
• improve financial stability; and
• enhance revenue-generating ability and cost management.
Important words, and I trust the value and opportunity these regulations offer are now clear. Note bullet points 3 and 4, and that our top league currently does not have a sponsor. The SFA must ensure the integrity of competitions, discourage financial recklessness, and protect football for everyone. This is only possible with a clear, unambiguous statement that confirms club / company are one and the same thing.
To suggest a football club can in some way survive liquidation is to undermine the definition of what is a football club, one of the cornerstones of FIFA Club Licensing Regulations. For the SFA to suggest a football club can in some way survive liquidation, or allow this belief to go unchallenged, is a shameful dereliction of duty. It puts all of football in danger. We cannot allow this. There is too much at stake.
The poem ends thus:
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
The blind men were each partially right, though in their vanity / stubbornness / ignorance they failed to find the truth. There is a lesson for us all in this story. This may appear to be an attempt to renew the old club / new club debate. It is not. To see this as an opportunity to score points against Rangers fans is to completely miss the point – you have failed to find the truth.
This is global issue affecting one of the fundamentals of good governance. Good governance must be the beating heart of our game – ensuring good health and long life. I am looking at the here and now, and ahead into the future.
We must protect and promote ALL of the FIFA Club Licensing Regulations. To deny any part is to refuse to see the whole elephant, like the foolish blind men.
Carntyne says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:33 pm
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I don’t know DeNiall but by God, expatbhoy needs urgent help.
Angus1983 says:
January 31, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Can anyone advise why Celtic needed to buy Leigh Griffiths? I’m not getting it.
It’s not as if they’ve been short of goals recently, and I also shouldn’t think he’s the guy to set Europe alight next year (quite apart from being a proper wee toerag who will probably embarass the club at some stage) …
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It doesn’t matter that Lee will embarass the club. That bit is enevitable. He will bring goals to the Scottish game and could soon play for Scotland by being in Scotland. Celtic will survive this.
I thought trolling was your world and you need to be chaperoned when visiting your other world
“So let me be specific. Sandy Easdale’s remarks were not any kind of neddish threat to inflict violence on Craig Whyte. They were said to emphasise Easdale’s determination to protect the club from people like Craig Whyte who are looking to harm it.”
“It was definitely said tongue-in-cheek i.e. in a conversation where Sandy Easdale reiterated that Craig Whyte would not be welcome at Ibrox and would be escorted off the premises, even, as Sandy said, if he had to throw him down the marble staircase himself.”
“It wasn’t a sinister threat and any attempt to convey it as such is mischief-making of the lowest degree.”
Chill out Bill. Remind me,who started this conversation?
expatbhoy says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Shooberb,
To suggest more fans are going to games because of some moral sense of justice or indignation is not easy for me to digest, and negotiating a TV market without half of the audience is hardly holding aces.
============================================================
Why not go for a MacDonalds instead, if that’s easier to digest!
As Ian St John used to say, “You kill me, expatbhoy”
Now listen and digest, expatbhoy .
1. More fans ARE going to games BECAUSE of some moral sense of justice or indignation. It’s not been a bad league this year, despite one team running away with it. There are some other good battles going on to keep most non-supporting Sevco fans interested!
2. Half the TV market has disappeared? Who cares! All I know is that Top League Scottish Football (top 2 divisions) has been an absolute breath of fresh air these last few years without the odious poison which eminates out of Ibrox.
3. Have we missed rangers over the last few years? Naw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Will we miss rangers if they do self-destruct? Naw!!!!!!!!!!!
5. Scottish football is on the up, and if the SFA can just grasp the sentiments of the majority, they will finally wake up from their slumber and steer the good ship SFA towards fairness and integrity.
p.s
expatbhoy, “TV market without half of the audience “?
You sure about that? Any stats to back that up? Only saying, as it appears that half of the normal Ibrox audience of a few years ago seem to have disappeared as well. Maybe they’re the one’s boosting the TV Market now?
Down the pub watching the Sky news on all the last minute signings. I’m wondering will The Rangers get another highly paid consultant in before midnight 🙂
Galling fiver says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:24 pm
“And what’s CG’s wee @@@@ friend taking them to court for now or is it still the same case?”
—————————-
Was he not racially abused by a Director of his previous employer. That could be a nice little earner.
Genuinely surprised that nobody’s heading oot the Ibrox door. I wasn’t expecting mass movement, but expected a lightening of the financial load on the club as part of a fat-trimming exercise.
I can only imagine the players current wages have priced them out of a move, one way or another
Castofthousands says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:24 pm
GeronimosCadillac says:
January 31, 2014 at 9:52 pm
” Why did D&P get the gig and not HMRC?”
—————————
My recollection was that CW pushed for D&P (for reasons that have become clearer over time) and that HMRC accepted this. Neepheid has made his disgruntlement at Lord Hodge’s handling of the administration recently and he may recall if LH was in court on this particular occasion.
Speculation had been that this was a tactic by HMRC, possibly having some inside track of a potentially wayward administration. I think there was some surprise that HMRC didn’t push for their own administrators but such machinations are beyond my ken. If HMRC were playing it canny and wanted to catch all the culprits with their hands in the till then giving CW/D&P enough rope might transpire to have been a clever ploy.
Neepheid’s judicial scepticism has become infectious however and at every turn when it was anticipated that justice would be seen to be done, we have been sorely disappointed.
. This action, even if it proves to be deleterious at some point in the future (and I don’t think it will), was the only time when ordinary football supporters had their say. This was not an orchestrated campaign as far as I can see but a gut human reaction to events.
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Yep. It took the Celts & Diddys a long time to realise they have been cheated for at least 30 years.
Players have the power, I don’t think anyone else is going to pay the mental wages that Rangers are paying their players, or at least the very few who might actually be attractive to other clubs.
And also, how many clubs outside of Scotland have much interest in the Scottish game and in particular the lower leagues.
Lee Wallace’s performance against Arbroath is not going to make anyone willing to pay him £350,000 a year or more. Not when he was performing against part time players who hold down full time jobs and train a couple of nights a week.
Angus1983 says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:48 pm
0 0 Rate This
Genuinely surprised that nobody’s heading oot the Ibrox door. I wasn’t expecting mass movement, but expected a lightening of the financial load on the club as part of a fat-trimming exercise.
I can only imagine the players current wages have priced them out of a move, one way or another
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You’re assuming that the financial stability of the club was at the top of the agenda. Can anyone (I’m even including Chris Graham here) argue, hand on heart, that there has even been the slightest evidence (as opposed to mere soundbites) that that is the case?
55 players and counting
55 minutes and counting
Really looking forward to 2 semi finals this weekend.
Armaggedon really.?
Never mind financial stability, I haven’t seen anything to suggest they are even trying to stop running at a deficit of c£1m a month.
Tif Finn says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:58 pm
Players have the power, I don’t think anyone else is going to pay the mental wages that Rangers are paying their players, or at least the very few who might actually be attractive to other clubs.
And also, how many clubs outside of Scotland have much interest in the Scottish game and in particular the lower leagues.
Lee Wallace’s performance against Arbroath is not going to make anyone willing to pay him £350,000 a year or more. Not when he was performing against part time players who hold down full time jobs and train a couple of nights a week.
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The window has closed. We now don’t need to have 14 hours a week on SSB and The Daily Ranger/Celtic or the Rangers Supporting last remaining “journalists” at the Herald and Hootsman speculating about his market value.
So, an anti-climatic transfer window all round.
And with TRFC playing at home to Brechin tomorrow, I am guessing that the MSM will be given some uplifting, distracting nonsense to copy/paste – to cheer up the bears before the game…
Wonder what it will be…do your best Jack and give us a good laugh… 🙄
StevieBC says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:23 pm
Oh come on Stevie, we all know it’s going to be:
‘Wallace – it was never going to happen’
and in slightly smaller writing underneath:
‘Gers Ace Was Never Tempted by Forrest Bid’
Although, a nostalgic variant on this might be:
‘Keeping Wallace Is Just Like A New Signing Says Ally’
expatbhoy says:
January 31, 2014 at 7:10 pm
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” Think back to CF tapes.”
I listened to a tape involving CW and D&P, CW thought a fast track CVA was no problem within a month and he quoted 500k, I believe the response was something like ” we will do the best we can “.
Hardly a carve up conspiracy.
_______________________________________________
“We will do the best we can!”
translation : ‘fat chance!’
But the whole discussion there needs to be seen in the context of the ‘project charlotte’ documents as a whole, which reeks of a conspiracy to ditch the debt and stiff the creditors using compliant administrators. It almost worked!
Resin_lab_dog says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:39 pm
expatbhoy says:
January 31, 2014 at 7:10 pm
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” Think back to CF tapes.”
I listened to a tape involving CW and D&P, CW thought a fast track CVA was no problem within a month and he quoted 500k, I believe the response was something like ” we will do the best we can “.
Hardly a carve up conspiracy.
_______________________________________________
“We will do the best we can!”
translation : ‘fat chance!’
But the whole discussion there needs to be seen in the context of the ‘project charlotte’ documents as a whole, which reeks of a conspiracy to ditch the debt and stiff the creditors using compliant administrators. It almost worked!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The very name “Project Charlotte” was a Murray International Holdings “driven” name said Gary Withey in an email. Withey and his firm were way above Whytes pay grade and credibility. MIH started the debt planning dump and they then picked a man who had expertise in deception.
What happened next is a mess with the fans paying for “business mens” mistakes.
Interesting amalgam of bad D&P – lost creditors persona tonight/today Jack. where’s that emanate from?
What’s up.
Is bad Craigie coming back with his c90s or god forbid a c360?
You never know do you.
Always another twist in the tail.
StevieBC says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:23 pm
So, an anti-climatic transfer window all round.
And with TRFC playing at home to Brechin tomorrow, I am guessing that the MSM will be given some uplifting, distracting nonsense to copy/paste – to cheer up the bears before the game…
Wonder what it will be…do your best Jack and give us a good laugh…
========================================================
I guess it means the same wage bill until June then? Nobody out, nobody in. How much of the famous 120 days is left? Squeaky Bum time for Messr’s CEO Wallace and Manager McCoist I think!
It will be an interesting few months ahead!
Angus1983 says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:48 pm
Genuinely surprised that nobody’s heading oot the Ibrox door
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I`m not a bit surprised
We have a Spiv CEO working to a Spiv Co agenda
Almost certainly his remit is to put TRFC into Admin and initiate the end game
That means engineering a situation where the blame for running out of cash can be put elsewhere
Step 1
Invite the squad to “consider” the concept of a 15% pay cut without actually demanding it
Step 2
Hawk the squad around England in the transfer window with nonsense prices on their head
Step 3
Carefully crafted scoop to a tame SMSM rag warning the Bears that Admin is looming if they dont pony up next years ST cash two months early
Step 4
Wail out loud that not enough fans have ponied up with the ST money forcing TRFC to go into Admin
Step5
Pocket the ST Cash and the assets and put TRFC into Admin
Step6 ?
Probably
Mass resignations from RIFC Board having first transferrred cash and assets to an offshore co
Leaving the mess to be sorted out by True Blues and their friends at Hampden
.
SOS. Mayday. Help.
Can anyone explain to this simple soul what just happened, or more precisely didn’t happen, in the transfer window just gone?
If my understanding is correct we have a Club/Company (Clumpany) losing roughly a million quid pcm whose CEO openly acknowledges the whole they are in. A CEO who, sort of suggested, that the playing squad might like to take a 15% pay cut.
But this same Clumpany shifts no players out the door in the transfer window.
The football world is ruthless and cut-throat and TRFC’s troubles are well known. I find it incredible that not one of well over a 100 clubs, north and south of the border didn’t try to strip a bit of cut priced flesh from the carcass. There seems only a limited range of possible reasons for this:
1. Every, and I mean every member of the 56 man squad is on wages completely out of kilter with both their abilities and what the market will pay for such players
2. Every club in the land is so sickened by the saga of TRFC, the spivs, their superiority attitude and the bending of the rules that took place, that, no matter what pickings might be on offer, nobody wants to help TRFC in any way whatsoever.
No 2 would be astonishing in a business as amoral as football manages to be most of the time. But, seemingly the only bid for any player came from Notts Forrest who currently have a Rangers connection. What does this say?
I am at a total loss to explain the lack of cost cutting in a business where the CEO openly acknowledges big savings need to be made. Is it cock-up or conspiracy?
Tincks says:
February 1, 2014 at 12:15 am
No 2 would be astonishing in a business as amoral as football manages to be most of the time. But, seemingly the only bid for any player came from Notts Forrest who currently have a Rangers connection. What does this say?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lucky the Rangers connection was with Forest (you will enrage County fans if you call them Notts Forest BTW) in the old days if it was with Newcastle/Blackburn (or anywhere Graeme was the manager) we should have expected a £9m plus bid !!
GoosyGoosy says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:58 pm
—————————————-
Angus1983 says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:48 pm
Genuinely surprised that nobody’s heading oot the Ibrox door
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I`m not a bit surprised
We have a Spiv CEO working to a Spiv Co agenda
Almost certainly his remit is to put TRFC into Admin and initiate the end game
That means engineering a situation where the blame for running out of cash can be put elsewhere
Step 1
Invite the squad to “consider” the concept of a 15% pay cut without actually demanding it
Step 2
Hawk the squad around England in the transfer window with nonsense prices on their head
Step 3
Carefully crafted scoop to a tame SMSM rag warning the Bears that Admin is looming if they dont pony up next years ST cash two months early
Step 4
Wail out loud that not enough fans have ponied up with the ST money forcing TRFC to go into Admin
Step5
Pocket the ST Cash and the assets and put TRFC into Admin
Step6 ?
Probably
Mass resignations from RIFC Board having first transferrred cash and assets to an offshore co
Leaving the mess to be sorted out by True Blues and their friends at Hampden
==============================================
GoosyGoosy,
That’s perfect.
Exactly what I was trying to say earlier, i.e.
“I guess it means the same wage bill until June then? Nobody out, nobody in. How much of the famous 120 days is left? Squeaky Bum time for Messr’s CEO Wallace and Manager McCoist I think!
It will be an interesting few months ahead!”
Why 120 days? Surely the writing is on the wall now, unless the 120 days gives enough time for the “Plan” to come to its final preferred ending?
Surely rangers supporters cannot be duped one more time after what they have sufferred over the last 2 years?
Can they?
Not even a new Director or Spiv, things must be bad
Tincks says:
February 1, 2014 at 12:15 am
.
No 2 would be astonishing in a business as amoral as football manages to be most of the time. But, seemingly the only bid for any player came from Notts Forrest who currently have a Rangers connection. What does this say?
I am at a total loss to explain the lack of cost cutting in a business where the CEO openly acknowledges big savings need to be made. Is it cock-up or conspiracy?
===========================================================
No my friend.
Its the Rangers way
They neither do accountancy despite having many.
Nor normality.
It will be all right.
It is them. You know the peepul.
Logic does not apply.
Anyway
The Daily Record STV Herald etc will re assure you.
Are you that worried?
I’m not.
:slamb:
It certainly is a puzzle…a company who recruits a number of accountants which I assume where brought in to establish the fiscal situation that everyone accepts is running at around a 1 million pound loss per month…now call me cynical…but it don’t require basic accountancy qualifications to understand and determine that cuts need to be made if there is a genuine desire to prevent the obvious…insolvency…
So what does that tell us? The accountants are not there to cut costs…either quickly or to any serious way to meet the 1 million per month target..
When the following is taking place
A lengthy period where the CEO has already declared cuts are required!
A transfer window where no players are released in any serious manner?
No immediate or planned action to reduce costs!
A manager who has continued to be paid at levels that are not only ludicrous but unsustainable in relation to the level the club compete and the revenues generated.
Where an FD is released requiring his future salary to be paid immediatly?
How anyone in the SFA or the wider Scottish game can look at this shambolic situation and do nothing but sit back and watch is a dereliction of their duty and responsability to Scottish football..
I would suggest that with the above…the SPFL should be concerned and must consider the following as a responsible approach;
Inspection of Financial Records
E30
Every Club shall keep detailed financial records and the Company shall be entitled
to inspect such records and to require Clubs to provide copies of any financial or
other records which the Company may reasonably require in order to enable the
Company to investigate whether the Club has complied and is complying with these
Rules, the Articles, the Scottish FA Articles, the UEFA Statutes and the FIFA Statutes
and to ensure compliance by the Club with the same.
Tincks says:
February 1, 2014 at 12:15 am
Can anyone explain to this simple soul what just happened, or more precisely didn’t happen, in the transfer window just gone?
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Quite simple;
they couldn’t raise a large enough amount in a transfer window (that favours the purchaser) to justify a sale.
they have enough money to get through to the season ticket income.
parttimearab says:
February 1, 2014 at 1:41 am
0 0 Rate This
Tincks says:
February 1, 2014 at 12:15 am
Can anyone explain to this simple soul what just happened, or more precisely didn’t happen, in the transfer window just gone?
————————————————————————————————————
Quite simple;
they couldn’t raise a large enough amount in a transfer window (that favours the purchaser) to justify a sale.
they have enough money to get through to the season ticket income.
………………………………………………………
You maybe correct…that they do have enough to see them through…but then will they sell enough ST’s to continue much after that? what is the current run rate per month?
expatbhoy says:
January 31, 2014 at 9:28 pm
1 51 Rate This
” Who loses exactly? ”
——————————
Thank you for asking.
Starting in order of priority:
The creditors lost at least 6 million, remember the poor creditors?
Scottish football lost valuable TV and sponsors money.
Rangers lost 20 million.
Celtic lost 2 million.
Now the rest of Scottish football may have had some marginal improvement but can we argue this improvement would not have happened anyway?
………………………………..
You’re at it!
Paulmac2 says:
February 1, 2014 at 1:50 am
You maybe correct…that they do have enough to see them through…but then will they sell enough ST’s to continue much after that? what is the current run rate per month?
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A wild guess – assuming the 120 day review is all about their long term viability.
They need external funding (share issue/loan whatever).
The STs will keep them going in the medium term – Wallace is there to determine if borrowings will be low enough to make flipping the company potentially profitable once back in the top flight.
If not the plug gets pulled and its liquidation again (or for the first time if you prefer 😛 )
Let’s be honest – rumours of their demise have been greatly exaggerated – how many on here thought the IPO would work?
Smugas says:
January 31, 2014 at 10:31 pm
‘… a photographic bear, pesky fans a-yawning and a chasm in a troll tree…’
———–
and therefore,perhaps, ‘no sugar-daddy fountain..’ ( Burl Ives could maybe put a wee tune to that). Or have I had a small refreshment?
Evening folks, just reading back, must say I sussed yer man out after about 3 posts. Why oh why do you converse? Best to leave alone, you really are a wicked lot 😆
Anyway had a wee chuckle today, found myself in the BHS in Glasgow this morning having breakfast as my LR was having some graphics and tinting applied reading the ‘free’ Daily Mail . Charlie Nicholasgave us his valuation of Lee Wallace, the current bid was far too low and The Rangers should be looking for over 2 Million for the proven Scottish Internationalist. 😯
GeronimosCadillac says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:48 pm
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Resin_lab_dog says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:39 pm
expatbhoy says:
January 31, 2014 at 7:10 pm
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” Think back to CF tapes.”
I listened to a tape involving CW and D&P, CW thought a fast track CVA was no problem within a month and he quoted 500k, I believe the response was something like ” we will do the best we can “.
Hardly a carve up conspiracy.
_______________________________________________
“We will do the best we can!”
translation : ‘fat chance!’
But the whole discussion there needs to be seen in the context of the ‘project charlotte’ documents as a whole, which reeks of a conspiracy to ditch the debt and stiff the creditors using compliant administrators. It almost worked!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The very name “Project Charlotte” was a Murray International Holdings “driven” name said Gary Withey in an email. Withey and his firm were way above Whytes pay grade and credibility. MIH started the debt planning dump and they then picked a man who had expertise in deception.
What happened next is a mess with the fans paying for “business mens” mistakes.
______________________________________________
Gary Withey and MIH were above Craigy’s pay grade and credibility. But they reckoned without his low cunning. Reckon they had him brought in to do the dirty work and had him pinned as a bin man to take away the stinky mess, a bag man to rehabilitate the value if it all worked out, and a patsy to take the rap and rancour if it all fell over.
But Craigy was used to grubbing in the muck and had other ideas, making sure that he had enough info on where the bodies were buried to make life uncomfortable for those who crossed him. The whole thing has now degenerated into something out of a Tom Sharpe novel. All of the protagonists have screwed each other over and been screwed over to a greater or lessor extent. They are all off piste without a map now.
expatbhoy
The reason the CVA was always going to be rejected was because of the EBTs.
I well remember the, rather pretty, female insolvency expert on Newsnight Scotland in April 2012 who produced an HMRC policy document and read out a Revenue’s statement that said: “HMRC view EBTs as tax evasion not tax avoidance.”
The policy statement then made it clear that under no circumstances would HMRC consider agreeing to a CVA where tax evasion is involved.
I don’t have details of the policy statement she produced but I’m sure she didn’t make it up off the cuff.
The CVA was never going to be agreed to. The internet bampots knew it back then and Duff and Phelps knew it.
As you say, HMRC don’t comment on specific cases and all that did was allow people like Neil Patey to talk a lot of guff about how a CVA was still a possibility.
I’m sure if HMRC had been allowed to comment they would have advised people to refer to their policy statements if they wished to garner an inkling as to how the Revenue deal with such matters.
RayCharlez says:
February 1, 2014 at 4:15 am
The reason the CVA was always going to be rejected was because of the EBTs.
I well remember the, rather pretty, female insolvency expert on Newsnight Scotland in April 2012 who produced an HMRC policy document and read out a Revenue’s statement that said: “HMRC view EBTs as tax evasion not tax avoidance.”
The policy statement then made it clear that under no circumstances would HMRC consider agreeing to a CVA where tax evasion is involved.
I don’t have details of the policy statement she produced but I’m sure she didn’t make it up off the cuff.
———————————————
The “rather pretty, female insolvency expert” is Maureen Leslie of MLM Solutions who appeared on BBC2 Newsnight on the 19th March 2012. The document she quoted from is the standard HMRC help sheet for Insolvency practitioners which I’m certain D&P must have been familiar with.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/vas-factsheet.pdf
20 Days until HMRC v (The former) Rangers Football Club Ltd commences.
Do the spivs need an administration event before the conclusion of the UTTT?
A Scottish club is losing 38,000 pounds a day or 20 pounds every 15 seconds of the working day. They have the second highest paid and largest squad in Scotland and they sold NO players and can receive no transfer fees till August and no season ticket money till July. Tick tock. Another Valentines Day massacre.
You cannot just “shift footballers out the door”.
They have a contract of employment and if they stick to their side then they are entitled to be paid.
If you are paying a player say £350,000 a year (c£7k / week) what possible incentive woud he have to move to a club offering say £250,000 a year (c£5k / week).
Why would someone take a £100,000 a year pay cut.
If I remember correctly the average salary in the English Championship is around the £5k / week mark. How many of the Rangers current squad would be considered better than average English Championship players, and more importantly have proven it over the last two seasons whilst being watched by other clubs.
Wallace was the only possibility, and that would have been on a free, and from what I hear he is very much a home bird. He also must know that he is well overpaid, how much would he have been on at Hearts.
Giovanni @6:36
“Rather pretty,female insolvency expert”!!.I’d get my tin hat on if I were you because you might be getting a bit of a bashing from our esteemed female posters.
“The reason the CVA was always going to be rejected was because of the EBTs.”
No it wasn’t.
1, Rangers reneged on a deal where they agreed to pay around £3m in tax they accepted was due. That agreement was made about a year before they even went into administration. HMRC even went to Court to get an arrestment and have Sheriff’s Officers go to Ibrox.
2, Rangers also stole Income Tax, NIC and VAT of around £10m which they had collected and simply did not pay to HMRC. That again is an absolute. They even admitted that they had to spend it or simply close the business down, there was no other money.
The CVA would have been rejected whether or not the EBTs existed. Rangers stole millions of pounds rather than handing it over. HMRC will never agree a CVA in those circumstances, they can’t afford to or people would simply stop handing over the tax they collect from their staff and customers.
Another perspective.
http://m.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/glenn-gibbons-lee-mcculloch-fooling-nobody-1-3289832#comments
It is clearly possible to be too stupid to do irony.
===========================================
Easdale claims he has never met or had dealings with Whyte and that if Whyte turned up he would personally escort him off the premises.
“ I have never met or spoke to the man but I personally would throw him down the marble stair case if he ever turned up at Ibrox.”
Rangers fans will certainly be cheering this last statement.
…
What is encouraging is that the club is showing that it is no longer in dignified silence mode when it comes to accusations and attacks.
…
Sandy Easdale has captured the mood of the fans by taking this no-nonsense approach to the troublemakers and agitators who are doing what they can to undermine progress at Ibrox. Like many fans I would love to see Craig Whyte being lobbed out onto Edmiston Drive by Sandy.
My only words of advice would be: Film it and sell the DVD.
What a money-spinner that would be!!
========================================
Dignified indeed.
The UTT findings will actually be very interesting from the perspective of the new club and how they try to spin it.
If the UTT find for the appellant (HMRC) then how do the new club play it.
1, It is nothing to do with us, an entirely separate entity.
2, Yes, we are still the same club, part of our history is that we cheated others for many years and stole from the taxpayer.
Or do they stick with the “holding company” myth. We are the same club, it’s just the old company who were cheats, liars and thieves. The fact that they owned, operated and controlled Rangers is really irrelevant.
Some seem to be surprised that ‘The Rangers’ haven’t sold any players given their financial situation, but I think that’s less to do with their reluctance to sell, in fact they were desperate to sell, and more to do with the fact no one is interested in what they have to sell.
I’m sure a responsible Finance Director would feel the same. An expensive new signing.
helpmaboab says:
February 1, 2014 at 7:42 am
Giovanni @6:36
“Rather pretty,female insolvency expert”!!.I’d get my tin hat on if I were you because you might be getting a bit of a bashing from our esteemed female posters.
———————————————————————————–
You’re damned right hmb. You guys never refer to Patey as that ” very lean and handsome hunk of an expert”!!! 😉
jean7brodie says:
February 1, 2014 at 9:32 am
helpmaboab says:
February 1, 2014 at 7:42 am
Not guilty M’Lud. Please note the quotation marks! I was quoting from and trying to assist the previous poster RayCharlez.
Giovanni says:
February 1, 2014 at 9:34 am
You were exempt from my observations Giovanni 😀
Palacio67 says:
February 1, 2014 at 2:39 am
Evening folks, just reading back, must say I sussed yer man out after about 3 posts. Why oh why do you converse? Best to leave alone, you really are a wicked lot
Anyway had a wee chuckle today, found myself in the BHS in Glasgow this morning having breakfast as my LR was having some graphics and tinting applied reading the ‘free’ Daily Mail . Charlie Nicholasgave us his valuation of Lee Wallace, the current bid was far too low and The Rangers should be looking for over 2 Million for the proven Scottish Internationalist.
………………………………………………….
I sometimes wonder if the word …’clown’…was created for such people as Mr. Nicholas.
If the only bid for any TRFC player was, as reported, £900,000, does that value the whole squad at that figure? If things were as dire as the CEO painted at the AGM, and to the media since, then every player must have been available for sale. I wonder what that does to the assets column of their Balance Sheet! What’s more, would the announcement at the AGM, and continued, apparent, efforts to reduce the pay-load, not have had a predictable detrimental effect on the share price? With the only departure being Stockbridge, with his next year’s salary, there’s been no savings announced effective in the current year and, in fact, with the introduction of Nash, there’s been an increase in outgoings instead. It will be interesting to see how the financial situation is now portrayed; will we now hear spin that all is well, with a resultant improvement in the share price?
Dire consequences predicted at AGM if savings not made – share price goes down – secretive shareholders increase their shareholding. All possibly followed by improved financial position announcements over the next few weeks perhaps… On the downside, of course, is that the paucity of player value in their highly paid squad has been well and truly displayed.
There is always the possibility, I’m afraid, that the much predicted Armageddon down Ibrox way is the true reality!
I believe that Forest offered a million for Wallace. £500K now, and another £500K when certain conditions were met.
So half now, and half if you are still in business at a later date, or to the creditors pot and lucky New owners.
They said No!
It may have been a true offer, It may be a wee Jack Anory.
Regarding the slow pages (which is still an intermittent and unexplained problem), some people have contacted me with respect to their Malwarebytes (an excellent anti Malware prog) reporting malware on the site. They have understandably tied the slow page situation with that.
We have investigated this and found the “malware” is in fact the third-party (totally harmless) stats package we use which is merely recording each visit on another site and is being misreported by Malwarebytes.
The main problem with the slowness is the “time to first byte” time. If anyone can suggest a solution we would be grateful. Currently WordPress appear as clueless as we are 😕
parttimearab says:
February 1, 2014 at 2:09 am
14 1 Rate This
Paulmac2 says:
February 1, 2014 at 1:50 am
You maybe correct…that they do have enough to see them through…but then will they sell enough ST’s to continue much after that? what is the current run rate per month?
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A wild guess – assuming the 120 day review is all about their long term viability.
They need external funding (share issue/loan whatever).
The STs will keep them going in the medium term – Wallace is there to determine if borrowings will be low enough to make flipping the company potentially profitable once back in the top flight.
If not the plug gets pulled and its liquidation again (or for the first time if you prefer )
Let’s be honest – rumours of their demise have been greatly exaggerated – how many on here thought the IPO would work?
……………………………………………..
To be fair the IPO was never intended to work as a genuine mechanism to raise investment…but instead for personal gain…a chateau anyone
Borrowings…from who? and at what return?…they will keep this cash cow running for as long as the fans keep handing over their hard earned cash it is that simple…and when the income fails to support the outgoings the spiveroonies will shut the suitcase..fold the pasting table…and run.
If they need to get a personal loan from an individual at a high return…then that is what they will do in order to get to 30,000 ST’s at say 400 pounds each 12 million…however the gamble then is…how much to borrow and will enough ST’s be sold to cover it?
Oh and those stadium repairs still need doing!
Rangers manager Ally McCoist has praised Lee Wallace’s loyalty after the defender stayed on at Ibrox following January transfer interest from Nottingham Forest.
Full story: Daily Record
What unashamed spin. Seem to recall the tribute act did not obtain a serious enough bid!
Looks like the last three weeks of ‘Rangers must sell’ stories were advance propaganda.
This week it will be ‘We didn’t need to sell, everything is fine. Now about next year’s season ticket.’
On the balance sheet / player values.
This is from the Rangers’ accounts 2013, note 12
(2) Intangible assets
The player registration intangible asset was valued using a market approach valuation methodology. This involved an assessment of the fair market value of each player and consideration was given to historical transfer fees for the players, recent transfer fees for similar players and offers received for players from other clubs.
In addition the brand of Rangers Football Club was valued using an estimate of future cash inflows, using the Royalty relief method. This asset is considered by the Directors to have an indefinite useful life.
The valuations were performed by Jeffreys Henry LLP, independent valuer, not connected with the Group, as at 14 June 2012
============================
I assume that other clubs will take the same or a similar method.
Basically, it’s made up. A player is worth what someone is willing to pay, provided the club buying the registration is also willing to meet the player’s personal terms.
selfassessor says:
February 1, 2014 at 10:03 am
Rangers manager Ally McCoist has praised Lee Wallace’s loyalty after the defender stayed on at Ibrox following January transfer interest from Nottingham Forest.
Full story: Daily Record
——————
LOL! 🙂
Loyalty to his vastly inflated salary, methinks.
Hi All
Maybe the reason no one put in a bid for Lee Wallace is his salary, I seem to remember it was quoted as approx 17k per week when he TUPED over and didn’t do walking away. Can’t see any other club matching that.
A wee bit OT here, but re the comments about the Scotsman, i’ve been a reader for over 25 years(god i’m old) and the quality and quantity of articles has been dropping like a stone for the last couple of years. Lots of errors creeping in and the price keeps going up, now £1.20 on weekdays. I’ve always liked the footy coverage as it wasn’t glasgow centric(l’m a jambo) but the end may well be nigh for it. Sad.
Slightly off topic I am not sure if “hits” on the site is an accurate way of measuring readership. I usually view it twice a day meaning somewhere in the region of 700 times a year. if that pattern was repeated in a roughly similar way by others it would only take 1500 or so followers to produce 1,000,000 views a year.
I’ve noticed that the most anyone gets in terms of thumbs up these days is about 300 maximum for the most popular comment. Some have suggested the site gets 10,000 regular readers,but it would surprise me if there were 10,000 regular readers and only 3% or so used the TU/TD facility. I think a way must be found of reaching out to a wider audience. How about a free booklet of all the main blog posts in a shiny cover with the TSFM badge on it, and a message at the front explaining what the blog is all about, emphasising of course that it represents the followers of all Scottish clubs. A copy could be sent to supporters clubs, distributed in selected pubs near stadia on match days (careful thought needed here to avoid the distributor ending up being metaphorically “thrown down a marble staircase”), and sent to distributors of fanzines. I think that might result in quite a few more regular readers, and we could then have a “tipping point” (as economists would call it) when the blog went mainstream. It would surely be worth a try.
I’m not sure what the cost of such a booklet might be, or what the number of copies in the first run would need to be in order to give it a chance of success, but I would be willing to contribute towards production costs of such a booklet.
GoosyGoosy says:
January 31, 2014 at 11:58 pm
We have a Spiv CEO working to a Spiv Co agenda. Almost certainly his remit is to put TRFC into Admin and initiate the end game. That means engineering a situation where the blame for running out of cash can be put elsewhere
Step 1 Invite the squad to “consider” the concept of a 15% pay cut without actually demanding it
Step 2 Hawk the squad around England in the transfer window with nonsense prices on their head
Step 3 Carefully crafted scoop to a tame SMSM rag warning the Bears that Admin is looming if they dont pony up next years ST cash two months early
Step 4 Wail out loud that not enough fans have ponied up with the ST money forcing TRFC to go into Admin
Step5 Pocket the ST Cash and the assets and put TRFC into Admin
Step6 ? Probably mass resignations from RIFC Board having first transferrred cash and assets to an offshore co leaving the mess to be sorted out by True Blues and their friends at Hampden
====================================================
I can see all that happening – but when do the actual core of Spiv investors unload their shares? And do they look for patsies to buy them in private deals?
I’ve noticed Easdale seems to extend his rangeritis back to the good old DM days. If that’s the case why didn’t he buy shares when the club really needed them for the original dosh to pay D&P when Green was scrabbling for cash to actually seal the deal or at the IPO.
Or did the Easdale Camp actually buy under another name which, to date, remains a mystery? Although surely they would have reached a % that needed to be notified under AIM or separately in terms of director holdings.
When do they buy Green’s remaining shares? I can’t remember although April is floating about my noddle.
On a slightly tangential note, I watched Sky Sports News coverage of the transfer window with my usual sense of cognitive dissonance. Hating every second of it, as EPL clubs splashed vast sums of money just to remain in the “greatest league in the world”, while secretly wishing my own club Celtic could do the same.
And the thought struck me, seeing Fulham buying Mitroglou for £12.5m, a player that Celtic went for last year at £4m that the entire European game is totally buggered( a technical term), where small teams like Fulham can buy a player from a club like Olympiacos, a club with a far bigger support, history, reputation & far greater chance of Champions League participation……..a bit like Celtic in fact.
I mean no disrespect to clubs like Fulham or Crystal Palace etc, but, as we all know the TV money genie is out of the bottle and can never be put back in again, unless the vast overspending of clubs causes the system to crash.Financial Fair Play has to work to give leagues like the SPFL, Eredivise, Greek Super League & Portugal’s Premeira Liga the opportunity to be more than simply feeder leagues for the vast behemoth of the EPL.
Now there is many angles to this. The vast overspending of EPL clubs on foreign players is doing nothing to help the English national team, as young English players are pushed aside. It has caused inflation to drive down to the Championship, where ludicrous sums are spent on players, who have done nothing in the game. Even the top EPL clubs are hundreds of millions in debt and owe their current existent to Russian Oligarch’s & Abu Dhabi Investment Groups.
In the face of this, I continue to applaud Celtic’s Moneyball strategy ,not only because it works, but it is the only strategy available to them without bankrupting the club, given the above set of circumstances. Big teams in small leagues are completely screwed (another technical term) at present and unless there is a complete restructuring of the CL & Europa League, the reality is I’m going to be watching quite a few more transfer window programmes in utter frustration, as the same big teams get richer & richer and the gap gets wider and wider.
Still, I welcome Leigh Griffiths. Hope he scores lots of goals for Celtic & the national team
I note from a post above that our Imran’s got some business in the Court of session on 6th February.
A chap called Paul Murray( with some others) also has( separate) business there on that day.
Can this be the Paul Murray, ‘requisitioner’?
And if so, what would his business be?
“” LORD KINCLAVEN – R Martin, Clerk
Thursday 6th February
Starred Motion
At 9.30am
P996/13 Pet: Paul Murray &c for orders under COS Act 1988
Maclay Murray & Spens LLP DWF Biggart Baillie
http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rolls/supreme/lists/r140130_105.htm
What Wallace said about the January window, in December.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/wallace-not-pointing-finger-over-rangers-wage-bill-1-3242287
“Whether we get to the point [in January] where we agree that there are a number of players we would be open to either letting go on loan or take offers for is, obviously, dependent on there being a market for them and clubs being interested,”
Fulham are another example of a club which became “debt free” because it’s owner swapped his loans to them for equity. Not the same scale as Chelsea or Man City, a mere £187m in this instance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2270295/Fulham-debt-free-Mohamed-Al-Fayed-turns-187m-loan-equity.html
Fulham’s millionaire owner Mohamed Al Fayed has converted his £187million worth of loans to his club into equity. It means the club are essentially debt free and will not be caught out by UEFA’s new financial fair play rules.
————————————————-
These FFP rules have fairly shaken things up a wee bit, well for some clubs.
Quiet Saturday morning. Here’s an exchange of emails between me and the Financial control Authority:
Date Sent: 23/01/2014 10:00:53
To: Consumer.Queries@fca.org.uk
Subject: RE: Rangers International Football Club; IPO prospectus,
2012.
Please may I ask why Rangers International Football Club were permitted to exclude the rate of remuneration of one of its most highly paid employee’s (the team manager) from the details provided in the prospectus issued for their IPO last year?
Can you refer me to the relevant provisions of any Rules or regulations that empower such an exemption and on what grounds?
Would any and all companies intending to seek AIM listing be favoured with such exemption?
Thank you.
John Clarke
———————————–
Reply from FCA
“Dear Mr Clarke
Thank you for your email asking what rules allow Rangers International Football Club to exclude the rate of remuneration of an employee’s details in the prospectus issued for their IPO.
In response, I am sorry to inform you that it is not clear what sort of firm this is and in what circumstances they are regulated. I have searched the relevant Registers and cannot find a firm with the above name listed, so cannot provide any information at this time. I would therefore ask that you provide more information about your query and more details about the firm so that I can locate them on the relevant Register.
For further clarification about our role, the FCA regulates most financial services and firms to ensure that markets and financial systems remain sound, stable and resilient and to ensure consumer protection. Should you wish to find out more about how we do this, please click on the following link:
http://www.fca.org.uk/about
While I recognise that this is not the answer that you were hoping to receive, I do hope that the information I have provided explains the reason for this and you are aware of your next steps.
Yours sincerely
————-
My reply to that:
“Thank you very much for your reply.
Rangers International Football club, Companies House number SC437060, is regulated by the Alternative Investment Market, to which it was admitted at the tail end of 2012.
It appears that, at the request of the manager of that football club- who was afraid that if his huge salary was made known to the public, he would become a pariah- the Board made representations seeking permission not to include details of that salary in the Prospectus prepared for their application to be admitted to AIM.
( The background, for your interest, is as follows: a football club known as Rangers Football Club Ltd went into administration. It lost its membership of the Scottish Premier league, and of the Scottish Football Association.
The assets were bought by a consortium which set up a new club ( Sevco Scotland) which then changed its name to The Rangers Football Club, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rangers International Football Club plc.
Unfortunately for the new club, it was not admitted into the Scottish premier league. Instead, it was granted membership of the lowest division in the Scottish Football league.
The manager of the new club, playing in the bottom-tier league, where many teams are composed of part-time players and have attendances of only some few hundreds, was nevertheless on a salary of c. £800,000 p.a.
It appears that he felt that he would have been mightily embarrassed if the fans of the club realised that he was being paid such a ridiculously high salary , which was vastly in excess of the combined salaries of the managers of the other teams against which his team competes.
Especially when his own players were being asked to take a cut in their salaries to ease the financial pressure on the financially very badly and chaotically run club).
I had thought that the Prospectus for an IPO had to be kind of upfront about the running costs, directors’ and staff salaries and such like, and not try to pull the wool over the eyes of potential investors.
I was therefore astonished to read that AIM (or whoever) had agreed that the Board of RIFC could keep schtum about the hugely disproportionate cost of their manager.
Yours sincerely,
John Clarke
——
Got to get the truth out there!
Giovanni says:
February 1, 2014 at 6:36 am
The “rather pretty, female insolvency expert” is Maureen Leslie of MLM Solutions who appeared on BBC2 Newsnight on the 19th March 2012. The document she quoted from is the standard HMRC help sheet for Insolvency practitioners which I’m certain D&P must have been familiar with.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/vas-factsheet.pdf
=========================
Am I right in assuming that the undernoted para from the fact sheet as a reason for rejecting the proposal would actually apply to ‘footballing debts at least wrt any SFA member creditor?
“In response, I am sorry to inform you that it is not clear what sort of firm this is and in what circumstances they are regulated.”
this guys summed it up quite well there.
Do not adjust your Rangers TVs. Things are on the up. There is unanimity a 5 year plan is required to rein those pesky EastEnders, while a palpable sigh of relief that the transfer window is now shut and none of their ‘stars’ have been stolen. Panto villain Stockbridge has exited to great joy and exultation. Even the apparent marginal difference between the top and third tiers plays to Ibrox masses assuaging their concerns over lack of quality and ability to compete with the teams they should be ‘rightfully’ competing with in a year and a half.
All of this is akin to fiddling while Rome burns. The five years assessment does a couple of things – it is possibly a genuine appraisal by Wallace and the assembly of CA’s that time and a lot more besides is required to put the Rangers ‘back’ where they are so badly needed and ‘deserve’ to be. It also is a clear message to the Rangers fans, ‘this is not going to be easy, so please go easy on me – I’m trying to clear up numerous others’ mess.’ What it also does us ignore the immediate issue of cash burn that causes alarm/laughter to anyone with a faint grasp of arithmetic. The failure of any players to be sold is breathtaking yet is seen as a positive. There really doesn’t seem to be a realisation of the need to cut costs. Even the despised Stockbridge painted it in words easy for the hardest of understanding to grasp that the club will be down to its last million by April, which now seems emphatically optimistic. ‘Keep spending, we need to compete with Them’ says the Lying King, Why not ? – it’s the Rangers way. Doesn’t matter if there isn’t the money…spend your way out of trouble all the way to the Champions League’s money and music.
Well, I say ‘on yersels – knock yersels out, you seem pretty determined to go the way of the original act. For that is all they themselves turned out to be in the end – an act. Imposters. When everyone else thought, wrongly it turned out, it was a level playing field it was anything but. A steeper slope than Easter Road could provide. Yet for all the machinations behind the scenes they couldn’t be saved. Well, those 120 days are slipping by and steps to save the new patient are looking rather forlorn.
Who would credit it, I was right all along, things are looking up !
John
The FCA are an organisation covered by Freedom of Information Requests if you want to go down that route.
http://www.fca.org.uk/information.
You should be able to re-word your original query to include any correspondence with AIM and / or Rangers International Footbal Club PLC concerning the PLC’s IPO including the Prospectus released in relation to that IPO. Including any discussions with regard to withholding details of salaries etc.
readcelt says:
January 31, 2014 at 6:23 am
14 0 Rate This
Is it just me or have the number of rangers puff pieces fallen away dramatically in the last few days from the Herald and Scotsman?
££££££
Jack has now turned the circus into easdale threatening to throw CW down the marble staircase and Ally commending Lee Wallace for ‘honouring his contract’ I.e. not being sold to bail the bilge for another month!
Incidentally, easdale’s comments have been met with, apart from the rare voice of sanity, universal acclamation on RM.
why has jack decided that playing to the gallery is so important? STs anyone?
Eco
That particular extract is aimed squarely at things like the “football creditors rule” and bastardisations of it.
They really don’t like it at all, especially since they dropped their preferred status. These things effectively create a false preference and place certain creditors ahead of others where they have no right to be.
John,
Bravo for trying to get some hard info but I don’t think the FCA has anythng to do with RIFC, which would be why they claim to have no record. They deal with the Financial Services industry.
http://www.fca.org.uk/about/why-we-do-it/our-remit
toby says:
February 1, 2014 at 11:44 am
============================
On the assumption Wallace is serious about a five year plan, is it a ‘fight’ he can win? Will he need to find a way to get rid of the agitator in chief that has the compliant ear of so many journalists. The bottom line is his team manager is clearly not of the view that the club should ever have to live within its means. He can’t tell anyone where the money should come from but he just believes it should be there. Short of state aid, which seems to be a rather pathetic hobby horse of theirs at the moment, where is the money going to come from, and why does no journalist have the spine to challenge him on that?