A Blog by James Forrest for TSFM
I am a socialist, and as a socialist I believe in the fundamental goodness of people. Some people find that hard to believe when they read the stuff I write.
I published my first novel recently, on politics and the corrupting nature of it, and it is a deeply cynical book, a book where no-one has clean hands come the end. What has surprised some of those who’ve read it is that I didn’t focus on the lies and smears of the right, but the hypocrisy and deceit of those who claim to be of the left.
Corruption, you see, doesn’t respect political boundaries or points of view. It’s like rainwater. It finds every crack, and gets in there.
My political beliefs revolve around two apparently paradoxical elements; the belief in the inherent decency of people and the need for a strong, and powerful, state. I believe the second underpins the first, and this brings me into conflict with a lot of people, some on the left and some on the right. Too many people see the state as inherently evil, as something that interferes too much in the lives of ordinary people. As something suffocating.
Yet the state exists to protect us. It exists to provide a safety net. It exists to regulate and to oversee. If the state is made up of bad people, if the gears of society are captured by those with malicious or selfish intent, the results are obvious; war, corruption, chaos.
The vast majority of our problems in the modern age can be neatly summed up in two lines from Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming”, which I used to open my novel. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
We live in a time when those who are protecting their own interests have assumed such power that they’ve cowed the rest of us. They have become a law unto themselves. They have changed the nature of the game, because they have sapped our will to the extent some barely put up a fight anymore. The weak get weaker, and the strong use their strength to crush the rest even more. It is a vicious struggle, a downward spiral.
Society is held together not only by the endeavour and common interests of its citizens but by a collection of laws. We elect the people who make those laws. They do so in our name, and we can remove that right every four years. That is a powerful thing, and we do not appreciate it enough. The present corruption exists because we allow it to exist.
The people around me continue to puzzle over my uncommon interest in the affairs of a football club on the west of Glasgow. My own club plays in the east end. I tell those who ask that my primary interest in the goings-on at the club calling itself Rangers is no longer about football; how could it be, after all? With promotion this year they are still a full two divisions below us, emasculated, skint, weak and unstable. If we were fortunate enough to draw them in cup competition the match would be over, as a tie, by the halfway point … in the first half.
In footballing terms they are an utter irrelevance.
Rangers is more than a football club to me. They are a symbol. Their unfolding calamity is an on-going outrage. What is happening there, what is being allowed to happen, is an offense to decency. It is a stain on the face of our country.
In short, it is a scandal. It is a scandal without parallel in sport.
Yet it’s not just a sports story either. If it was, I might not be so focussed on it. What is happening at Rangers is a colossal failure of governance. It is a damning indictment against the very people who are supposed to oversee our game. It is a disgraceful abrogation of responsibility from those at the top, those who claim to be “running things.”
If this is not a failure of governance it is a result of corruption at the heart of our national sport. It says they are bought and paid for, and I will say no such thing here.
So let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. We’ll say instead that what they are is weak, indecisive, inept and disconnected from reality.
It reminds me of our political class, which has become insular and ignorant about what the public wants, and what it needs. It’s not a wonder parties like UKIP can achieve national vote shares of 25% at local elections. Nigel Farage strikes me as a dog-whistle politician, the kind who knows how to appeal to a select group of voters. He is little different to Charles Green, the man who beguiled Rangers fans into handing over large amounts of money, because he was “standing up for the club.” It is easy to do what he did, easy to do what Farage is doing.
Real leadership requires toughness. Say what you like about the Tories, but they have that in spades. Yeats was right about the worst being full of passionate intensity. Green was. Farage is. Cameron and Osborne personify it in their political outlook.
It is easy to be cowed by blunt force politics, and by “tough talking Yorkshire men” and venomous speeches about “strivers and skivers.” The politics of divide and conquer is the oldest form of politics there is, and it’s no surprise to see it practiced by some of the vested interests in the game here in Scotland. Yet, lest we forget … something significant happened last year. The maligned and the ignored, the weak and the voiceless found something they never realised they had. They discovered that, in a very real sense, the power was in their hands.
Last year, the fans rose up when the governing bodies and the media went all-out to save Rangers from the self-inflicted wounds caused by a decade of cheating, malpractice and ineptitude. I have no problem calling that what it was.
What happened at Rangers seemed incredible, but it was all too predictable, and some of us had been talking about it for years before it hit. The Association seemed caught in the headlights but it would amaze me if they really were as insular and ignorant as they appeared. They must have known how bad the outlook was for Rangers. They just chose to ignore it.
They were aided and abetted by a thoroughly disreputable media, a collection of cowards and compromisers, charlatans and frauds, masquerading as journalists, but who long ago laid aside any claim to be bold investigators and settled for commenting on events as they unfolded. More often than not, with their ill-informed opinions, sometimes due to weaknesses in intellect and others wilfully ignorant, they failed even in that.
Entire newspapers became PR machines for crooks and swindlers. They aided in the scam because they didn’t do their jobs, some because they were lazy, some because they were incompetent and others because they wanted a seat at the table and were willing to sacrifice whatever integrity they once had in exchange for one.
That all of this was embraced by the Rangers fans is amazing to me. They trusted when they should have been asking questions. They closed their eyes, covered their ears and sang their battle tunes at the top of their voices so they wouldn’t have to hear anything they didn’t like. As incredible as I found it then, and still find it now – and now, even more so, when they have already seen the results of it once – I find it pathetic too, and I do feel pity for some of them.
A lot of these people are genuine football fans, and nothing more. They have no interest in the phony narrow nationalism, or the over-blown religion, or the notion of supremacy which manifested itself in a ludicrous statement from McCoist when interviewed recently on Sky.
Some of the Rangers fans look at their team of duds, kids and journeymen, they look at a boardroom of cowards and crooks, they look at a failing manager in his first (and last) job in the game and at a dark future and are not in the least bit impressed by, or interested in, the chest-out arrogance espoused in those ridiculous words “we are the people.” They know full well that their present crisis was made by men like McCoist, and they understand that pretentious posturing is not an act born of strength, but a scrambling around in the gutter, and a symptom of weakness.
They understand their position, and they hate it. And because they care about Rangers, because they value the club, because they cherish those things that made it a great Scottish institution, they want that back. They understand that before the Union Jack waving, Sash singing, poppy wearing, Nazi saluting, Orange element became the public face of their support Rangers meant something else, and that, above all things, is what pains them the most.
People do not hate Rangers. When the country appeared to turn its back last year, they were turning the back on favouritism and the bending of rules. Yet it would be a lie to say that there is not an element of dislike in the gleeful mockery of many rival fans.
But they don’t hate Rangers either. They hate the version of it around which a certain section of the support continues to dance. They hate the version which hates, and so too do many, many, many Rangers supporters, and they definitely deserve better.
David Murray chose not to openly challenge that version. Indeed, he encouraged certain strands of it to flourish and grow, with his “Britishness Days” and his effort to turn the club into the “team that supports the troops.” Other clubs have done as much, if not more, for the British Army than the one that plays out of Ibrox. Other clubs have given more money. Other clubs have lent their support to those on the front lines. They just chose to do it with respect, and with class, and with dignity. They chose to do it in private, understanding that there eventually comes a tipping point between looking after the ends of the soldiers and using them to promote your own.
The army has not battened on to Rangers. Rangers has battened on to them, and although it is unclear when an altruistic motive became darker, what started out as a gesture of solidarity is now used to entrench division and promote a notion of superiority.
Craig Whyte took over from Murray and immediately understood the lure of the “dog whistle.” He knew too that the media would accept whatever he told them, without question, and as he spoke up for “Rangers traditions” he made sure the lunatic fringe was well onside. He met face to face with the hard-core extremists in the support first and made them his praetorian guard. They spoke up for him until the day the club entered administration.
So, whereas Murray pandered to them and Whyte used them to further his own ends, it was only a matter of time before someone suggested to Charles Green that he could use the same tactics to win over the support. He went even further and blatantly promoted and encouraged this mind-set, and stoked the hate and nonsense to frightening new heights. The same people who cheered Whyte to the rafters jumped on board the Big Blue Bus and the results are clear.
Through all of it, the ordinary Rangers fan has seen his club buffered against the rocks, battered, broken, smashed to smithereens and sunk. Now there’s a big hole in the side of the lifeboat, and they are terrified that further tragedies await.
They are right to be concerned. Much of the media is still not telling them what they need to know. The people in charge of their club – the owners who have lied, the former hack who covered up the truth about Whyte and now acts as a mouthpiece for Green, the “club legends” who are content to sup with the devil and take his greasy coin when they should be standing toe-to-toe with the fans – are trying to silence those members of the press who do have facts to present.
How many times now have media outlets been banned from Ibrox for daring to report the truth? The manager who demanded the names of a committee last year defends those inside the walls who are desperate to keep secret the things that are going on. He is either an unprincipled coward, or he is, himself, bought and paid for. The fans suffer for it.
The “inconvenient truth” is still being kept from them, and this denies them any chance to play an active role in their club. Indeed, it is all too possible that they’ve passed a point of no return, and that their club is heading for a new liquidation event and it can no longer be stopped.
In either case, their power has been eroded to the point at which they must feel they have nothing left to do but stand back and watch what happens next.
They are wrong. I am a socialist. I believe in the inherent good of people. I think the ordinary decent Rangers fans are the only people left who can save their club … and the means by which they will do it is as simple as it could be.
They must stand up for “big government.” They must embrace the need for a “strong state.” They must lobby the SFA, and they must trust the SFA and they must get the SFA to follow its own rules and thereby save them from any further harm.
There is a tendency amongst some Celtic fans to see our governing bodies as pro-Rangers. If it is true then those running our game are ruining Scottish football without benefiting the thing they love more. The incalculable harm that has been done to Rangers in the last 20 some months is a direct result of the subservient media and the willingness of the football authorities to be “deaf, dumb and blind.” Those who believe this has actually helped the Ibrox club have not been paying attention in class. It has irrevocably scarred them, and it may yet have played a hand in destroying them once and for all, as a force if not as a club entirely.
For years, the SFA sat and did nothing as a club in their association operated a sectarian signing policy. They did nothing whilst the fans sang sectarian songs. In their failure to act they strengthened those elements of the Rangers support, instead of isolating, alienating and eventually helping to eliminate those who saw that club as a totem pole of division and hate. Their failure over EBT’s, and their lack of scrutiny, led to one of the greatest scandals in the history of sport, and I say that with no equivocation at all. The testimony of their registrations officer in the Lord Nimmo Smith investigation was a disgrace and in years to come it will rank as one of the most disreputable and damaging moments in the association’s history.
The most egregious failures of all were the failures in the so-called “fit and proper person” tests, which allowed first Whyte and then Charles Green to assume controlling positions at Ibrox. They will pass the buck and say the responsibility lies with the club itself, in much the same way as they are content to let the club investigate itself at the present time, but any neutral who looks at this stance knows it is unprincipled and spineless. It’s like letting the defence set the terms at a trial. It is foxes investigating the chicken coop.
It is a blueprint for corruption, and a recipe for disaster.
It is now too late for the SFA to declare Green “unfit”, as it was too late when they finally slapped that title on Craig Whyte. He and his allies own Rangers, and they control its destiny. They can push the club to the wall if they choose, in the final extremity, if that gets them what they want. The time for changing that is past. The damage has already been done. The barbarians are not at the gates. They are inside the walls, and sacking the city.
The SFA will be forced to punish Rangers for the sins of the owners, for the second time in as many years, and whilst it is right that the club face up to that, all the better to send a message to other clubs and other owners, the SFA cannot be allowed to slither off the hook here as though this was none of their doing. Green will skip off into the sunset. Craig Whyte has yet to pay his fine. These people never cared about Scottish football and they don’t care now.
The SFA are supposed to. Our governing body is supposed to govern, for the good of the whole game, and not as a support system for a single club. What they have allowed to happen on their watch is absolutely shameful and if the people responsible were men at all, with any sense of accountability, they would resign en masse.
They can pretend ignorance, but only the truly ignorant would accept that. Craig Whyte was not inside Ibrox a week before RTC and other sites were dismantling his entire business history, with some of the people here doing the work the SFA would not. Whyte himself claims to have made the governing bodies aware of the scale of what was facing the club, and they did nothing at all. Heads should have rolled a year ago.
In October of last year, on this very site, I posted an article in which I wrote:
“Which isn’t to say the due diligence matter isn’t worrying, because, of course, it is. Again, no-one is going to convince me that the SFA has conducted proper due diligence on Charles Green and his backers. No-one will convince me they are satisfied that this club is in safe hands, and that the game in this country will not be rocked by a further implosion at Ibrox. They failed to properly investigate Craig Whyte, because of lax regulations requiring disclosure from the club itself, regulations which are just a joke, but they can be forgiven for that as the press was talking sheer nonsense about him having billions at his disposal, and a lot of people (but not everyone!) were either convinced or wanted to be convinced by him.
To have witnessed what Whyte did, to have witnessed the Duff & Phelps “process” of finding a buyer, and having Green essentially emerge from nowhere, with a hundred unanswered questions as to his background and financing, for the SFA to have given this guy the go ahead, only for it to blow up in their faces later, would annihilate the credibility of the governing body and necessitate resignations at every level. There would be no hiding place.”
There are times when it is fun to be right, but this is not one of them. It is dispiriting and disquieting to have been so on the nose. It scares the Hell out of me, as someone who loves football in this country, to have seen this matter clearly when the people running our game apparently either did not or chose to ignore very real, very obvious, concerns. The Internet Bampots had no special insight or access to information that was denied those at the SFA. We just weren’t prepared to ignore it and pretend that it wasn’t there. There was too much at stake.
I have become convinced that things will never change until the Rangers supporters join us in demanding the full and unabridged truth here. They need to come out from under the bed, and confront their fears. They need to be willing to take the consequences, so that their club can emerge clean from this, and start again, with all this behind them.
And it can all happen with one simple thing. The application of the rules.
The existence of laws comes down to a simple principle; they protect society from those elements within it who are interested only in their own selfish ends. We may cry out at those rules and regulations we see as “restrictive”, but the law was not made to restrict our freedoms but to protect them. Had the SFA years ago acted against Rangers sectarian signing policy, and the songs from the stands, the club would not have mutated to the point where there was no help on hand when they needed it the most. Let’s not kid ourselves about this; Whyte and Green were only able to grab control because the club itself has a dreadful image which put off respectable and responsible buyers. The SFA could have helped change that perception years ago and did nothing.
The SFA could have conducted its own investigation into who Craig Whyte was. They could have asked David Murray for full disclosure when he was running up £80 million of debt, a sum of money that is beyond belief for a single club in a small provincial backwater league. Had they had the guts to do that the club would never have spent itself into oblivion and forced the hand of Lloyds, which led indirectly to their ignominious end.
The SFA could have fully investigated Charles Green and the means by which he took control, instead of rushing through a license. His emergence at the last minute was transparently suspicious and designed to force them into a quick decision, but they did not have to bow to that pressure by making one, without being in possession of the facts, as it is now 100% clear they were not.
Had they asked for every document, had they insisted on legal affidavits and personal securities from investors (and this would have been perfectly legitimate and is common place in other licensing areas) none of this would have come to pass. After Craig Whyte they had a moral responsibility to the rest of the game to get this one right and their failure is without parallel in the history of Scottish football.
As the club hurtles towards a new abyss, names are cropping up which should send a shudder down the spines of every honest, genuine supporter of not only Rangers but every team in the land. The SFA claims that a strong Rangers is essential for the sake of Scottish football, but they have been extraordinarily lax in protecting that club, and therefore the game, from destructive elements. Craig Whyte and Charles Green had dubious personal histories, and the acquisition of the club itself was mired in controversy and scandal. Yet it was allowed.
Neither Green nor Whyte were known to have operated outside the law, yet neither was worthy of trust or stood up to scrutiny. Neither man should ever have been granted the status as fit and proper persons to assume a role in our national sport, and if it is true of them what can we say about the three men who are, presently, being touted as the Great White Hopes for a bright, new Rangers future; Dave King and the Easdale brothers?
King recently cut a deal with the South African government over an on-going dispute over taxes. In other words, he pled guilty and accepted the central plank of their argument; that for years he was engaged in wilfully with-holding vast revenues from their Treasury. The media does not like to put it like that, and the SFA seems willing to ignore it utterly, and this would be scandalous enough. But it does not stop there. HRMC rules – as well as the SFA’s own governance documents – actually bar him from serving on the board of the new club.
Last but not least, aside from being an admitted tax cheat, King is also awaiting trial in South Africa, having been indicted for corruption, forgery and fraud – 300 charges in total. Yet as recently as last week, we were told that the Association was willing to look at him and consider representations from his lawyers. This is almost beyond belief.
If Dave King’s position is untenable, and he is yet to be convicted of a crime, what can we say about the position of the Easdale’s? One of the two brothers, Sandy, has already served jail time. He is a convicted criminal, a fraudster nonetheless, who’s “victim” was the same Treasury who are appealing one case involving the old club and liquidated it entirely over another. This is precisely the kind of “businessman” the fit and proper person test was supposed to weed out, and if the SFA holds its nose here the reek will stink out the halls at Hampden for decades. If King or the Easdale’s are judged fit and proper, then who exactly is the test for? What exactly do you have to do to fail it? How do we explain the existence of laws, when these are not applied?
Pascal says “Law without force is impotent.” The SFA’s weakness has allowed one version of Rangers to destroy itself, and has allowed an existential risk to another. If the next power at Rangers resides in South Africa or Greenock I can say with some certainty that the Association is engaged in an even more dangerous roll of the dice, because the surfacing of fresh scandal will be an ever present risk, and will be of the sort no-one will survive.
The damage to Scottish football will take years to heal. The Scottish game has been through enough trauma. It does not need more. It barely survived the last calamity to hit Rangers. The rest of us should not be forced to pay the price of the next one.
The greater damage will be done to Rangers itself. If the Green crisis ends in another collapse – as it well might; another administration event is a certainty, and another liquidation is a much more likely prospect than it was before 14 February 2012 – the club will once again have to start from the bottom, and this time the reputational damage will be impossible to repair. The club faces internal strife, sporting sanctions, and criminal investigations. The last takeover might be declared a fraud. the Whyte takeover will almost certainly be. The share issue might be invalid, as well as criminal, and the people involved may well end up in jail. Lawsuits could follow from investors, there could be as yet unknown consequences from the Upper Tier Tax Tribunal (thank you Brogan Rogan for pointing out what those might be) and a host of other issues.
Rangers fans must be the loudest voices here. How do you want the world to view your club in years to come? Do you want one to be proud of, or one forever associated with the shame and disgrace of these days gone by? The one which bailed out on its tax obligations. The one with supporters who disgrace your very name. The one which allowed Whyte and Green to take you to the cleaners and send you to the wall. The one which handed over control to one convicted criminal and another awaiting trial. Do you want to be reborn clean, or mired in the muck?
David Murray destroyed your financial stability. He made it so no bank would issue you a line of credit and no investor of note wanted to buy. Craig Whyte liquidated you. Charles Green has cast the future of the Newco into doubt and acted in a manner which has annihilated your credibility with the financial markets for decades to come.
Between these three men, they have taken everything from you, and the press and the people who run the game here, as well as some of your own blindly ignorant fans, have allowed them to do all this and more. Now they conspire to hand the keys to Ibrox to other men of questionable character, who will wreck further havoc on the reputation of the club.
The Scottish Football Association has damaged the game it was supposed to protect, but above all else their greatest failure of governance was a failure to protect one of its biggest clubs from its own excesses and those of its owners.
Rangers fans, the SFA have betrayed your trust, more than the trust of any other club. What you must insist on now is full disclosure and transparency from the powers that be in Hampden. The SFA has to end the charade of allowing your club to handle this in-house. They must hand everything over to an outside agency – whether a legal one, or a footballing body like UEFA – and they must demand co-operation and answers, and threaten to withhold the license if they don’t get them.
You must not be afraid of that. You must embrace it. The men with their hands on the gears at Ibrox are motivated by money, and nothing more. If the license is withdrawn their “investments” are worthless. They cannot risk that.
You must demand that the rules on fit and proper persons are applied, and where necessary even made stronger, to prevent your club falling into unclean hands. You must demand that they protect your reputation from further damage, by getting this all out there and acting accordingly, even if that means your club does not play football for at least a year.
You must be willing to suck it all up, knowing that what will emerge is a Rangers which has been cleansed and moves forward with honour, and dignity, led by custodians who treasure it rather than those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
The Rangers Standard has recently emerged as a genuine voice for those in your support who are sick and tired of what Rangers has become, and want it restored to something that is worthy of the love and respect in which you hold it. On that website, there are discussions about the kind of club you seek to be and about whether the institution of Rangers is about more than just football.
If that’s how you feel about it then you know it is about more than how many titles the club can claim, about more than just results on the park, about more than just the game. Rangers, like Celtic, is an idea. It has to be something you are proud of.
I am a socialist, but one with a fevered imagination and a tendency to write very dark things. This piece won’t have been good reading for some of you (perhaps all of you haha!) but I think there’s more hope in here than in other things I’ve written.
In spite of everything that’s come to pass, I still believe. I believe in Scottish football. I believe in our system of football governance, even if those who are working in it are failing on some level.
In society, as much as we strain against them, laws exist for our protection. To fail to enforce them is to leave us at the mercy of those elements who would do us harm. The rules of football ensure the protection of all clubs, not just a few.
The failure to enforce the rules has never had graver consequences than here in Scotland. The irony is that bending and breaking them has hurt the one club those violations were designed to help. It cannot be allowed to happen again.
The rules must be applied without fear or favour.
The best must find their conviction, and their passionate intensity once more.
James is a co-editor of the On Fields of Green Blog http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/
Sam says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 12:22
http://www.thelawyer.com/collyer-bristow-defiant-in-face-off-with-rangers-administrators/1012373.article
————-
Hello Sam. Might you be the Sam Chadderton that authored this article?
Sounds like a game of musical chairs. When the music stops someone will be left without a seat and there is a desperate jockeying for position as a result.
Hope you stick around for a while Sam. Its not possible for everyone to recall everything but this element is certainly ‘interesting’ and might poke its nose above the waterline at any time to threaten further ruptures.
It may not be possible but can this information be summarised (suitable for dummies like myself) so that any pertinence to current shenanigans can be highlighted?
zerotolerance1903 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 12:43
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From the BDO report I am troubled by several references to trade debtors of the Oldco that were sold to Newco. It’s not enough that the assets themselves were sold at a massive discount but that debts that were collectable (for the benefit of creditors) were sold as well e.g.
SPL Prize Money 2011/12 Season: We can advise that the right to this prize money was sold to Newco …….
Similarly Jelavic transfer monies.
Outrageous.
Sam says:
All BDO are is a few jumped up IP [Insolvency Practitioners], not Solicitors, not Lawyers, not Investigators.
They are total smoke n mirrors.
The only thing assured is they will take every last penny out of this.
Can anyone can provide confirmation BDO has ever provided compensation on any case?
thebasharmilesteg says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:03
Separate companies, Sevco 5088 was in the process of being closed out, but the process was put on hold in January IIRC.
The promotion of Incitatus, if it comes to pass, reminds me of the old joke about being shunted off to the House of Lords – Approbation, Elevation, Castration, though in this case I fear it will be followed by Humiliation
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:02
“How Headines Can Misrepresent A Story…Posted by Paul McConville”
————–
The new reality is that the press are about as independent as the Pinsent-Mason enquiry. They would ridicule pro-Soviet publications back in the day but we can all see that the level of propaganda being regurgitated by them currently is astonishing. The BIG story is that MSM are bought and paid for.
Judas Iscariot got 30 pieces of silver which he purportedly threw away when he realised the perversity of his actions. Do not expect such remorse in the case of the MSM. This is more than just succulent lamb. There are no depths which may remain unplumbed.
Sam says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:09
Farepak
From the Scotsman.
‘The Rangers statement to the London Stock Exchange today read: “Based on the assessment of the available evidence, the Company considers that the Investigation found no evidence that Craig Whyte had any involvement with Sevco Scotland Limited’
‘Based on the assessment of the available evidence’
How we have come to be all too familiar with that all too telling phrase.
Anonymity.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the pro’s and cons of the anonymity provided for by the internet fora as a vehicle for debates.
I greatly admire all the faces in this debate that are willing to put their face and name beside their statements in various fora. And this applies to both sides of the debate. On one side we have to name but a few, James Forrest, Paul McConville, Henry Clarson, Paul Brennan, Phil MacGhiolla Bhain, and so on, and on the other David Leggat, Chris Graham, Bill Mcmurdo, Mark Dingwall etc. I may not agree with everything said everywhere but at least these people are putting their names to their opinions. And I admire them for that.
In a perfect world we would all be having this conversation out in the open in a convivial atmosphere. I think in any other sport it would be possible, but for some reason not in soccer (I’m mainly a rugby fan, so it’s soccer for me).
However I was reminded once again last night and today that to be publicly involved in this debate, one runs the gauntlet of running afoul of a psychotic minority of extremist football fans who are willing to threaten extreme violence, and to actually commit acts of terrorism (read letter bombs) in furtherance of their goals.
Gary Withey claims to have had to hide after receiving threats to his family. Charles Green was hiding out in multiple hotels around the time of the takeover for fear of unruly fans. Numerous other actors in the sorry saga receiving unwanted advice from police regarding threats to their person or family.
And here we have the rub. Corsica1968 was called out on twitter yesterday for hiding behind a pseudonym. He gave an adequate response that as he was whistleblowing on the charity issue, that it would be inappropriate for him to come out behind his statements publicly, I’m guessing for fear that if he is indeed a well known person in charity circles, he could be seen to be circumventing an ongoing OSCR investigation. And that’s fair enough. I’m guessing also that particularly as he’s involved in charity in glasgow, where he would be involved potentially in charitable people from both sides of the debate, that for him to come out publicly behind his words would jeopardise the nature of the work he does.
And then there’s maybe the fear of the actual supporters themselves.
However, that allows and enables the similarly pseudonymed twitterati to call him all and sundry. I was quite surprised yesterday when Chris graham came straight out and called him a B**t*rd. I felt this was a particularly extreme line for Chris graham to take considering he is trying to be a reasonable voice in the debate. If I was any broadcaster considering Chris graham as a panelist in the future, I would be thinking long and hard about that statement as a serious reason to strike him off their lists. That sort of public behaviour is intolerable. That one statement has sunk him immeasurably in my eyes.
So anyway. I’m happy with my anonymity but am realistic about the limitations that that anonymity places on any contribution I have to make to this great debate.
And I will haul up my pint glass to the people who Put their names on the line in this debate.
Here’s to tinternet bampot clatterers.
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RFC 2012 PLC (formerly The Rangers Football Club PLC) – In liquidation
Reports to Creditors
RFC 2012 PLC (formerly The Rangers Football Club PLC) was placed into Liquidation on 31 October 2012. Malcolm Cohen and James Stephen of BDO LLP were appointed Joint Liquidators.
The Joint Liquidators’ statutory reports to all known creditors will be published on this site within six weeks of each six-month anniversary of the date of Liquidation.
The documents are to be used for information purposes only. They must not be reproduced, quoted or distributed without the prior permission of the Joint Liquidators.
http://www.oscr.org.uk/news-and-events/latest-events-(1)/meet-the-charity-regulator/meet-the-charity-regulator-%E2%80%93-glasgow/
in case anybody from the msm want to go along and ask why it has taken more than 18months and counting…to investigate the RCF for the charity match -v- ac milan and then -v-man utd !!!
john clarke says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 12:01
That would certainly appear to be the plan, and why HMRC put them in place.
Summing up the PM Report nicely:
http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/?p=12966
“Let me run through that list of companies which Mr Whyte was not involved with again:
Sevco Scotland Ltd: check
AKA The Rangers Football Club Ltd: check
Rangers International Football Club PLC: check
Sevco 5088 Ltd: wait a minute, they missed out Sevco 5088 Ltd!!”
Sam says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:09
All BDO are is a few jumped up IP [Insolvency Practitioners], not Solicitors, not Lawyers, not Investigators.
They are total smoke n mirrors.
=======================
I’m afraid that’s simply not true, they don’t need to be Solicitors or Lawyers and they are not jumped up anything. They are specialists dealing in this field and in particular contentious insolvencies. They will use lawyers as required, however their main job just now is the forensic analysis of the business records, and establishing what happened and who caused it to happen.
People may want them to fit your description, it’s not true.
Regarding Rangers and their charitable leanings, remember this from Green concerning his side’s Scottish Cup tie at Tannadice:
“It has been decided by the board that any proceeds from gate receipts due to the club will be donated to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice Brick by Brick Appeal and Erskine charities via the Rangers Charity Foundation.”
I wonder if the proper amount of cash reached these two causes…….
scapaflow14 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:24
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Sam says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:09
Farepak
Sam says:
FRC argues against striking out Farepak charges
01 February 2013 Comments (0)
The disqualification case against the EHR and Farepak directors failed because it was badly prepared, the FRC alleges
It is one of the reasons why the regulator is determined to pursue its complaints against ICAEW member William Rollason, who was chief executive of EHR and a director of its subsidiary Farepak, the Christmas hamper savings company. The group collapsed just before Christmas 2006 owing some £37m to around 120,000 low-income customers.
The case, brought by the secretary of state against seven EHR and Farepak directors including Rollason, fell apart in June last year and was discontinued. All were exonerated.
The judge, Peter Smith, took the unusual step of issuing a statement the next day, expressing his belief that the directors had done everything they possibly could to save the group. He added that HBOS, the group’s bankers, had to take a large portion of the blame for the group’s collapse.
Counsel for the FRC Patrick Lawrence QC told the tribunal considering an application by Rollason to have the FRC’s charges struck out: “There are certain aspects of the way the disqualification proceedings were formulated, presented and prosecuted which we would regard as unsatisfactory.” Those defects, he added, led to the eventual collapse of the case. As a result, there was no finding of fact involving the allegations that the FRC has levelled against Rollason, nor was he called to the witness box to give evidence and be cross-examined about them.
He also argued that the FRC’s case was very different from the disqualification proceedings and would be looking at the evidence from a different focus. For instance, the suggestion of dishonesty did not arise in the disqualification proceedings but lies at the heart of the FRC’s case. “The allegations are squarely based on a lack of integrity,” he said and he pointed to the charges that Rollason had deliberately misled the board and the auditors to cover up the state of the group’s finances.
The disqualification proceedings covered a different period of time in the life of the group to when the events occurred that the FRC was concerned with.
He said that anyone would sympathise with Rollason after the stress and strain of the disqualification proceedings but sympathy was not enough to justify striking out the charges. If that were to happen, it would effectively stop the regulator from discharging its responsibilities.
In response, Rollason’s counsel Michael Green said that the judge in the disqualification proceedings may not have listened to evidence from Rollason but he had certainly read all the affidavits, interview transcripts (including from the AADB – the FRC’s former disciplinary arm) and other relevant legal documents, and he had still made it clear that Rollason was exonerated along with the other directors.
“One does wonder where this is all going?” Green said. “The FRC seems to be wanting to pursue the allegations because it recognises that the secretary of state made such a hash of the disqualification proceedings, and it wants to have another go. It wants to put Mr Rollason in the witness box… But Mr Rollason was cleared of any wrong-doing by the judge.”
It is a question of what is fair and what is right, he continued. If the secretary of state and the judge concluded there was no wrong-doing and couldn’t justify putting Rollason in the witness box, and no new evidence had emerged, how could it be right for the FRC in the face of those decisions to try to put him through it all again. “That is no way a responsible regulator should behave.”
The tribunal – David Blunt QC (chair), George Bardwell (lay member) and Christopher Whittington (ICAEW member) – will deliver their decision shortly.
Queen of the South will pursue Rangers for £25,000 in compensation
for the Ibrox club’s signing of 21-year-old striker Nicky Clark.
Full story: The Sun
———————–
oh dear, the sun will be on the blacklist now
chipm0nk says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:50
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Sam says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:09
All BDO are is a few jumped up IP [Insolvency Practitioners], not Solicitors, not Lawyers, not Investigators.
They are total smoke n mirrors.
=======================
I’m afraid that’s simply not true, they don’t need to be Solicitors or Lawyers and they are not jumped up anything. They are specialists dealing in this field and in particular contentious insolvencies. They will use lawyers as required, however their main job just now is the forensic analysis of the business records, and establishing what happened and who caused it to happen.
People may want them to fit your description, it’s not true.
Sam says:
Ok sunshine. All the best in Kansas……….
Any news about last nights SFL2/3 clubs meeting to discuss reconstruction?
I see SPL clubs have voted 12-0 in favour of the new reconstruction proposal
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/227363-no-links-between-craig-whyte-and-rangers-newco-claims-investigation/
sorry if posted before. i know paul mcC referred to this in his article and CQN mentioned it as well.
anybody seen campbell ???
borussiabeefburg says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:54
To be fair to Charles, yes, the Dundee Utd cup money was reported as going to the two charities mentioned.
Could Green pull this off?
This story is long and complicated, please indulge me, every so often I need to take stock and try to keep up…..is this wildly off beam, or is this the current scenario?
Last spring Whyte puts Green (via Sevco 5088) in to reclaim the carcass of RFC at knock down prices from his mates at D &P, then he plans to sell it on again and give Green a cut.
Green is a step ahead, and transfers the assets over to Sevco Scotland when no-one is looking.
Then sits down with Regan and the other 3 (?) for the so called 5 way agreement.
Now at this point he can ‘honestly’ say Whyte has no connection to Sevco Scotland, cos he was a bad man and caused all this trouble, so we sawed him off! (the investigation ‘proves’ this!)
Green gets a license for the carcass.
Green will now listen to offers for the carcass, and Walter D’ebt (off the radar dignity) is trying to get King and any other ‘proper Gers’ to beat the Glue Sniffers of Greenock to the kill.
Whyte is calling Green on the sleight of hand, but who will listen? Who cares? he’s been out spived….
Therefore Green could squeeze the last drops out of the Bears and a healthy nest egg for the carcass…leaving the assets in the hands of either the Glues sniffers or Blue Knights depending who has the spondulicks?
Is that where we are at?
Someone, somewhere – In Newcastle.
Seems fitting;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9U0PTFEcik
thebasharmilesteg says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:03
It seems a pretty simple matter to establish whether Sevco 5088 Ltd and Sevco Scotland Limited co-existed at the same time as separate companies, or one morphed into the other by changing its name and registering in Scotland as we were led to believe at the time. Can those who have had a look at the Companies House records confirm which it is?
=======================================================================
It is a simple matter and there has never been any confusion over it. Sevco 5088 Ltd was Incorporated in Cardiff, if my memory serves me correctly, but is regarded as an English company. Sevco Scotland Ltd came later and was registered in Scotland. Both companies still legally exist as separate entities.
The Rangers view of Sevco 5088 is explained at: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11560222
A contra view, mainly voiced by Whyte but also by many others, centers around the ‘switcheroo’ allegation that the original purchasing vehicle for the Rangers assets from D&P was Sevco 5088 and that this was later changed to Sevco Scotland. The mechanism of how this was done isn’t clear although serious allegations surround the process. It would appear that P&M have chosen to ignore this issue as far as today’s AIM notice regarding Rangers.
However this issue will form a major part of legal proceedings if the Worthington case proceeds and could lead to a lot of egg on face for P&M further down the line.
The Rangers AIM Flotation document did not list details of Charles Green’s directorship of Sevco 5088 Ltd in the appropriate section but this error was eventually corrected last month by an AIM Notice as the publicity surrounding the apparently interconnected but contradictory roles of the two Sevco companies heightened.
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:03
Phil MacGiollaBhain @Pmacgiollabhain 1m
Hmm Merchant Legal also want “Copies of Zeus Engagement letter(s) signed by Sevco 5088 and Sevco Scotland Limited.
===============================================================
Are Merchant Legal entitled to request a copy of the P&M report for their court proceedings – I know the answer is probably not but it’s a thought.
Phil MacGiollaBhain @Pmacgiollabhain 1m
Hmm Merchant Legal also want “Copies of Zeus Engagement letter(s) signed by Sevco 5088 and Sevco Scotland Limited. Green has stated publicly he was involved from February 2012 by Ahmad representing Zeus. He has also said that he was contacted the day after rangers admin in February 2012 by a Singaporean family of investors. Neither, of course, need be as contradictory as they appear.
However it becomes vital to know the date when the Zeus engagement letter was signed especially if Sevco 5088 and Sevco Scotland are signatories and of course the identity or identities of whoever signed on behalf of behalf of these companies is very important.
I also wonder if I am right in thinking this Zeus engagement letter formed part of the evidence supplied to P&M? And, if not, why not?
arabest1 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 14:52
I think that sums it up perfectly.
It really all revolves around whether or not the Switcheroo and the sale of asetts by D&P to Sevco Scotland were above board.
We all know that someone somewhere was being duped by one or more parties but at the end of the day it will either be settled quietly out of court or be sorted one way or another by some complicated legal decision that we will probably be left scatching our heads once again.
“30 May 2013
Rangers International Football Club plc
(“Rangers”, the “Company” or “Club”)
Board Change
The Rangers International Football Club plc today announced that Walter Smith has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. Walter Smith is widely acknowledged as the Club’s most successful manager. Under his leadership, the Club enjoyed two immensely productive spells and he is one of the most highly regarded figures in British football.
He succeeds Malcolm Murray, who agreed to step down as chairman, and Walter Smith’s appointment was a unanimous decision of the Board.
The Board believes that the new chairman will bring stability, experience and a wealth of knowledge to the Club.
For further information please contact:
“
if nothing else, the sub-editor at The Lawyer needs a kick up the bum for those awful crossheads
According to STV Mr Murray is to remain on the board as a non-exec director. If true, it would be a sensible move, giving Incitatus an experienced shoulder to cry on. However, it won’t do much to bring the in fighting to a halt
The MSM are simple trying to claw back the hoards of tribute fans that they lost during the big tax case, adminisitration and liquidation phases with these current set of headlines.
They are simply concerned about readership numbers and no more.
In this day and age the average football fan can choose from multiple media outlets (free or paid), everyone reading this site knows this. The sheer emotive nature of a particular headline has made all of us in the past buy a particular newspaper. The MSM know this and are desperate to take advantage of a situation to get the hoards buying again.
It wont be long before the pictures painted are that the garden is rosy again and the storm clouds are long past, positives, positives, positives will be the big headlines with the negatives given less than a few column inches. They are pandering to the masses and only idiots would fail to notice this.
Cast your minds back and the about turn took place last summer, in the space of less than a month, the newclub angle was dropped and newco angle was spun. This was a case of damage limitation as they had already bitten the hand that feeds. The Glasgow based media operation bearing the brunt of the tributes fans wrath.
Now is the time to place positive spin on any potential banana skin or event.
The fact that uncle Walter is being peddled out as the new Rangers (NON EXECUTIVE) chairman and its plastered all over the media outlets, reads to anyone who reads this website as this is a season ticket money ploy and nothing more.
Walter knows that this act or tribute can’t last past summer without the season ticket cash to supplement not only running costs but to fund lawyers who may also be taking a considerable fee to defend any actions against the business practices of the tribute since it was born as whichever Sevco last summer.
I would love to ask Walter himself why he is taking such a role without knowing the first thing about being a non exec chairman. He can chair their agm’s be the mouthpiece for the fans but does he have the power to invoke change?
Absoulutely NIL. He is nutured and is out of the loop.
SPIVS 1. BEARS 0
mullach says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:24
Judas Iscariot got 30 pieces of silver which he purportedly threw away when he realised the perversity of his actions.
——
Apparently, he handed the cash back to the Temple authorities then killed himself. They bought a field with it (Matthew). Alternatively, Judas bought the field himself before falling over and bursting open (Acts).
Both New Testament stories are, of course, entirely true.
Sam says:
Sam says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:09
All BDO are is a few jumped up IP [Insolvency Practitioners], not Solicitors, not Lawyers, not Investigators.
They are total smoke n mirrors.
=======================
I’m afraid that’s simply not true, they don’t need to be Solicitors or Lawyers and they are not jumped up anything. They are specialists dealing in this field and in particular contentious insolvencies. They will use lawyers as required, however their main job just now is the forensic analysis of the business records, and establishing what happened and who caused it to happen.
People may want them to fit your description, it’s not true.
Sam says:
Ok sunshine. All the best in Kansas……….
It amuses me, but actually more depresses me, that people seem to think that just because BDO are a big name that it somehow confers some sort of aura of magical ethical practice on them……
I can only speak from personal experience from some years back….
My personal experience of BDO was that they were a bunch of unethical thieves……yes thieves, as in stealing money that did not belong to them and with no account whatsoever…
…oh…and how dare you challenge them with such trivial matters as accounts and records….they may try and dress it up in accounting niceties…but when pushed enough they just play the bully…
…and how dare you question their claims on other people’s money…..I found them to be nothing more than a bunch of self-enriching spivs……
Ok, only my personal experience but I found t to be unashamed thievery none the less….
Therefore I personally have no faith that BDO will do anything more than enrich themselves from the whole shambles…
Cynical…damn right I am cynical…..
STV reporting Murray will remain on board as a non exec!
btw, it’s not that unusual in the UK for the Chair to be a NED.
I agree it’s not unusual to have a NED in the Chair but it would be normal for them to have at least a modicum of business experience!
No doubt a big one up for the spivs.
Does a Chairman have additional duties or responsibilities other than deciding in which order board members gets to speak?
Does Walter get salary enhancement?
I wonder if there is an invisible line in the Season Ticket queue.
Edgar Blamm @EdgarBlamm
Bear: “Ah’m no’ buying a f***in’ season ticket fae you spivs!”
Spivs: “Here’s an old man in a cardigan.”
Bear: “I’ll take twelve, thanks.”
🙂
Am I being thick here? The allegations against Collier Bristow are founded on the actions of Withey and Whyte and those actions being detrimental to RFCIL.
Have we not already established though that Whyte was the club to all intents and purposes (This was back in the old days before people had to pretend RFC didn’t die)?
Therefore RFC would be complicit in acting against itself. Which makes no sense.
I know lawyers will argue north is south if you pay them to do it, but surely any finding which separates the two would set an astonishing precedent. Any company could go after old owners or executives to recoup any demonstrable losses where it could be proven a differing decision would have been better for the company.
…….Post sporadic text disorder
Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 16:16
btw, it’s not that unusual in the UK for the Chair to be a NED.
_________________________________________________________________
Should have gone for Barry Ferguson then 😉
jimlarkin says: Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 14:09
Queen of the South will pursue Rangers for £25,000 in compensation for the Ibrox club’s signing of 21-year-old striker Nicky Clark.
Full story: The Sun – oh dear, the sun will be on the blacklist now
___________________
Jim,
Queen of the South are perfectly entitled to make such a claim under SFL Rule 133 which also details dispute resolution procedures should the clubs not be able to agree the amount of any compensation.
http://web.archive.org/web/20121101153141/http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/docs/009__034__constitution__rules__SFL_Constitution__Rules__1346425915.pdf
sanoffymessssoitizzhizzemdyfonedrapolis says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 16:57
Rangers have a history (I know) of not paying compensation for developed players.
Khizanishvili, a prime example, I hope QoS have dotted all the “i”s and crossed all the “t”s.
peterjung1 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 16:02
It amuses me, but actually more depresses me, that people seem to think that just because BDO are a big name that it somehow confers some sort of aura of magical ethical practice on them……
=======================
Who exactly seems to think that.
Forres Dee (@ForresDee) says: Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 17:05
Rangers have a history (I know) of not paying compensation for developed players.
Khizanishvili, a prime example, I hope QoS have dotted all the “i”s and crossed all the “t”s.
_________________________________________________________________________
FD
As a new club we must give Spivco FC the benefit of the doubt and lend our support to QoS if they need it. 😉
It amuses me when Sevco 2012 and rules are used in the same sentence
jonnyod says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 17:42
What if the words “… are repeatedly allowed to break the …” are found in the same sentence.
So wattie and MM have swapped jobs ,how does that solve the so called unrest .
It looks to me as if the peepil at the top have explained to wattie that without him the STs will melt away as Sally just ain’t cutting it with the bears .
Would the Non Exec role excuse Wattie of some blame if the plug was pulled after the loyal bears have parted with their cash .
I reckon one more batch of ST money would be enough to see off a few of the faces from last year and that would just leave the rental on the assets to hand over to other creditors from the old days .
All the wee creditors plus Hector will just have to put it down to experience of course but the peepil with their finger in the old ragers pie don’t do walking away .So IMO far from being debt free and flush the new club sevco fans will be settling some past debts before they can even contemplate making any profits of their own .
The only ones that were ever going to fund the tribute act was the fans but it would seem that rather than tell the fans this they have went down the old , We are the Peepil route .
chipmunk
Now your getting it .
A lot of decisions that come from the SFA/SFL seem utterly bizarre until you apply the Sevco 2012 formula to the equation and then they all make perfect sense
Closing scenes approaching. Prediction of next moves:
CW files suit. RIFC settles out of court for undisclosed amount with gagging clause ‘ to avoid expensive and damaging litigation that would damage the interests of the club and its fans, but with no admission of liability’.
MSM swallow the lamb and agree CW is panto villain, cardigan is shining knight, and push on like it never happened. CW gets a payoff. Green gets a pay off. Taxpayers shafted. Moo-bears get milked even dafter. Cambell Ogilvie is made a Knight of the realm. Easdales launder millions through Ibrox.
Nope
The real news story this week was that the PN “investigation” was a farce dressed up to be something else. The Spivs know the PR initiative now lies with Whyte He will have anticipated the gist of the Statement released by RIFC. Against this background the appointment of Cardigan as Chairman has to be seen as a short term fix for the duration of the ST campaign
The aim is to fill the coffers with gold and liquidate RIFC before they have to spend it on TRFC
I wouldn’t be surprised if the next move is a “clear the air” meeting between Smith and Green following the PN report. The real purpose being to exploit Greens popularity with the lunatic fringe to sell STs
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Smith has been badly advised
He should have resigned and went to the fans with the truth. He should have told them what`s really going on behind the scenes. He is now doomed to go down with RIFC . If he thinks for one minute that the Spivs will cooperate with any of his demands simply because he is Chairman he is a fool.
They need him for the ST sales period and will only keep him sweet while the money rolls in.
Thereafter he will be suckered like the rest of the Bears
And he will deserve it
He has been warned often enough on TSFM
ptd1978 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 16:36
Am I being thick here? The allegations against Collier Bristow are founded on the actions of Withey and Whyte and those actions being detrimental to RFCIL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I recall, the argument against Collyer Bristow is that between Withey and Whyte (before Whyte WAS Rangers) they contrived to show that they had £27m cash ready for investment etc etc. This was, however a lie and by lying in this way, they deprived RFC (IL) of a £25m share issue via Paul Murray. That is the £25m D&P sued for.
Of course, the fact that less than 12 months after the lawsuit, an ACTUAL share issue failed to achieve that figure is neither here nor there.
thebasharmilesteg says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 13:06
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
================================
They are professionals … just not professional journalists
Re the Lawyer extract, do remember that originally the QC below was let loose by the Duffers and BDO are the ones following through.
Question: are BDO hoping to recover the money for the creditors or again are we seeing an alleged “top firm” rooting for the defaulters Pretendygers?
Who’s desperate and running out of money? “the clubs struggling to stay afloat”. Sorry tough. Was this 25 mil pay day all part of the business plan. I think that’s what Craigies side are alluding to.
The creditors money was lost long ago.
==========================================================================
Edited Quote”
At today’s case management hearing, Phillips was trying to persuade Arnold J to agree to an expedited hearing as soon as July because the club is struggling to stay afloat. “Money is tight, time is short,” he argued. The hearing had already been put back so that today’s claims could be lodged with the High Court (17 April 2012).
The full hearing has been set for October this year.
==========================================================================
And October it stays. Will they last till then ? That’s the question.
BTW
The very very latest “plan” amongst various Ibrokes fans groups is to NOT buy season books but spend the money on shares.
Seriously.
That will work.
They’ll own a defunct entity. But it will be all theirs.
And ******* and the rest will pocket 55p for every 1p invested.
ianagain says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:50
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That money will go to OldCo creditors if they recover any of it, Ian
resin_lab_dog says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:31
Closing scenes approaching. Prediction of next moves:
=========================
Mr King was due to make an appearance fairly soon I would have thought. Everything else seems to have been put in place.
Unless of course things have become so fecked up that he can’t be brought back. If the plan has gone so far astray because HMRC didn’t play ball, Green shafted Whyte, and the Scottish football fans wouldn’t allow the disgraceful plan to actually go ahead.
Whyte liquidated the business, he had no option with the CVA failure, the plan was only for him to put it into administration. Clear the debt and bog off. Green was buying the business (using loans) and carrying on.
Green created the new Rangers. Again no option after the CVA failure. He then shafted Whyte, they may be regretting that now. That’s kind of biting them on the arris.
The SFA got that new club into Scottish football. The plan was the SPL but that was rejected in spite of the threats and bullying. The CVA would have made none of that necessary, the original would have survived.
The share issue has theoretically made the new club debt free, but that money is getting burned up. The income simply isn’t there. That was never the plan but they have no option.
Season tickets need to be sold, to get the money coming back in again. So Walter takes over as Chairman, how can real Rangers fans not buy them now.
Oh and the propaganda war, that’s usually a good laugh. Wonder who will turn up here.
The Battered Bunnet
18:07 on 30 May, 2013
C_F
There are umpteen different strands to the sorry, shabby mess. What do you mean by ‘justice’?
Their financial shennanigans killed them. Is that not just?
There is nothing left but a registration at Companies House, an outstanding tax appeal, and a Liquidation process.
In due course, there will be an outcome to the appeal, a completion of the liquidation, and a dissolution notice at Companies House.
If HMRC’s argument prevails at appeal, then the basis upon which Nimmo Smith concluded that no sporting advantage had been gained will have been undermined – that basis being that since the scheme was considered to be lawful by the FTT, all other clubs could have legitimately used the same scheme, but elected not to.
Nimmo Smith however declined to consider the 5 cases where the scheme was ruled to have been applied unlawfully. Neither did he consider the Discount Options Scheme that paid Flo and de Boer millions each via a wholly unlawful scam.
There will be no further action taken on this matter by SFA irrespective of the appeal outcome. That is where the majority of the problems lie. Rangers chose to break the law and the football rule book. The SFA elected to turn the blind eye. It will not change anytime soon. The SFA has consistently declined to uphold its purposes when matters turn to their enfant terrible. From licensing to player registration, they will not apply the rule book to their favoured sons. It’s a scandal. It will remain scandalous.
As for new issues, clearly there are emerging doubts on the ownership of the assets sold by D&P. There is a 50% chance – a lawyer’s chance – that the company titling itself ‘Rangers’ is in fact… a bunch of folk in blue strips pretending to be ‘Rangers’ while ‘Rangers’ itself – the intellectual properties – sit idling on a shelf beside the Sevco 5088 certificate of incorporation.
Equally, there is the same chance that they are in fact what they claim to be – which is a new company entitled to call itself after the old company that is being liquidated. If the courts eventually decide, then there will be justice, whatever its face.
It would be an injustice in some respects if RIFC settled the current claim, as this would indicate, but not prove, that RIFC was not entitled to call itself ‘Rangers’. A rum do.
If the courts establish that Green pulled a switcheroo on Whyte’s crew, there will be all manner of sequalae, from stock market investigations to fraud procedings. Last season’s ‘Rangers’ fixtures didn’t actually occur. That’ll give Campbell a bit of a head scratcher…
If. The consequences are so severe on so many people that an accomodation will be found.
In summary:
Rangers were wiped out by their disingenuousness.
Whyte has subsequently been wiped out by being stupid enough to personally guarantee the money used to settle Rangers’ bank debt.
Green and his cronies are desperately trying to hang onto the money they think they can get away with before their schemes are wiped out.
In the midst of this, they have put forward Walter Smith as Head of Corporate Governance and Guardian of the Shareholders. He’s so utterly unqualified that it’s quite the perfect ruse actually. The guy they’ve put up is publicly untouchable, knows all the SFA puppet strings to pull, and hasn’t a scooby doo what Green and the rest of them are doing right under his touchingly blue nose. He’s almost a Trojan Horse, only perhaps even more legnedary.
Justice? We live in an era where justice is often reduced to an accomodation, not a value. Ask Nimmo Smith. He ought to know after 50 years in the justice game.
In its place we have common or garden comeuppance. Fancy some of that instead
Pheww, that’s a relief ! Was getting worried there that new club Gers wouldn’t get themselves sorted out. Great news ! Everything is hunky dorey in the parallel universe that is Ibrox.
Nothing to see here, but smiles, happy faces, unified board and sold season books, brilliant !
goosygoosy says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:47
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Smith has been badly advised…
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‘Absolutely’. 🙂
He has taken bad advice, and perhaps his own judgement was affected by a juicy financial inducement to step into the breach – if only on a short-term basis ?
Never got the impression that Lord Wattie of Brogues is the type of person who would ever undersell himself.
scottc says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:57
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ianagain says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:50
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That money will go to OldCo creditors if they recover any of it, Ian
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Would hope so. I also think those “debts” could be transferred at a discount.
While I know it makes a difference to T’Rangers fans in terms of PR and the symbolism I don’t really see what the difference it makes if Walter is saying “buy your tickets, trust me I’m still on the board” or “buy your tickets, trust me I’m the chairman”.
We have seen the CEO and commercial director booted out, the previous Chairman demoted and high profile players sacked..
Down Govan way sitting in the big chair does not come with any guarentees by the looks of it.
As a football manager Sir Walter of Cardigan should know that if the results are poor its the man in the hot seat who is one of the first to go.
He was never that great when the money was tight. Lets see how long he lasts.
ianagain says:
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Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:56
BTW
The very very latest “plan” amongst various
==============================Why?
I seem to recall Mr King on the steps with a face like a well scalped backside screaming that a knight had pashed his 20m investment against a wall and he was not happy .
So I assumed he wanted his investment back somehow . So how would Mr King returning be a good thing for TRFC .
Just asking like
Oh and I just had another thought.
I think Mr King actually invested his 20m in Murray Enterprises rather than ragers .
I think he put the 20m into ME on the Friday and the Mint then loaned ragers over 30m on the strength of DKs investment in ME .So it seemed DKs investment was swallowed up overnight by ragers ,or that’s the way I seem to remember it .
Seemed strange to me but maybe SARS method in the madness
OT but some comments from Sheffield Wednesday forum about friendly on July 24′
“No. It’s a friendly against a third division Scottish club or whatever league they’re in.
A game against a bottom end conference side would test us better”
“Why the fvck would we want to play a fvcking pub side in a friendly”
“30k rangers fans coming to sheffield, think I might go robbing in Glasgow that night”
“OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! This game will descend into complete chaos, the Rangers fans are barbaric animals. I imagine there will be full scale violence with women and children being mauled in the streets. Anyone who lives in Sheffield, I’d get out of the city on the day of the game, better to be safe than sorry. Keep safe guys.”
“I am in Spain that week, so should be safe. BUT, that means my house, in S6, will be unprotected against the rampaging heathens. I fully expect to return to find nothing but smoking ruins where I used to call home”
“FAO Rangers fans: They sell Buckfast in the Bargain Booze on Middlewood Road”
http://www.owlstalk.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic/196007-rangers-in-july/page-2
I do hope Cardigan does not indulge in the raging behaviour he did last year where he was spotted by RTC screaming into his phone outside a no doubt teetotal hostelry to Chico Young when the Mark daly prog broke.
Severely shurely not.
Mans too dignified.
wottpi says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 19:37
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It doesn’t make any real difference, in fact for a PLC it’s a pretty ludicrous choice for a chairman.
However it really and truly is all about PR and selling those tickets. It is about nothing else, nothing to do with business acumen, corporate governance, building a sustainable business model.
Thing is, they will buy it. Literally and figuratively.
McCoist coming out last year and telling them to buy tickets worked. They were failing badly before that.
Smith taking that job this year will do the same. They will see it as the ultimate “Rangers man” taking charge and looking after their interests. It is what they want, someone to look after them. Selective blindness will take care of any other issues they have.
Can someone copy over Charlotte Fakes latest Tweet at 7.56. Its lifting the SFAs skirt.
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 13m
Were the SFA in on the old Sevco Switheroo? Craig might want to issue another LBA. http://www.scribd.com/doc/144718597/Rangers-SFA-1 … #5WayAgreementComingSoon #WhoElse
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5 way Inbound!!!
I don’t really know how to do this stuff, bute here’s a try
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 14m
Were the SFA in on the old Sevco Switheroo? Craig might want to issue another LBA. http://www.scribd.com/doc/144718597/Rangers-SFA-1 … #5WayAgreementComingSoon #WhoElse
scottc says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 18:49
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ptd1978 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 16:36
Am I being thick here? The allegations against Collier Bristow are founded on the actions of Withey and Whyte and those actions being detrimental to RFCIL.
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As I recall, the argument against Collyer Bristow is that between Withey and Whyte (before Whyte WAS Rangers) they contrived to show that they had £27m cash ready for investment etc etc. This was, however a lie and by lying in this way, they deprived RFC (IL) of a £25m share issue via Paul Murray. That is the £25m D&P sued for.
Of course, the fact that less than 12 months after the lawsuit, an ACTUAL share issue failed to achieve that figure is neither here nor there.
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Still a spurious argument. They did have £25m ready for investment. How they got it may have been unethical, but there’s a big difference between not liking how W&W got the money and proving it was a swindle.
Add to that the possibility that SDM knew all about the plan. A man who didn’t trust easily suddenly getting “dooped” (his pronunciation). If he did, CW will have made sure he had a tape of it.
Then finally there is the complete lack of reality in the claim. Not only the idea that raising £25m is palpably absurd, but that they would need to demonstrate that the notional injection would have saved the company/club everything else being equal. After decades of draining cash. I can’t see how that can be done.
There is then further absurdity of the claim. CW already owes Ticketus £27m (ish) the cash. He doesn’t have the cash, he blew it on RFC. So CW hasn’t actually stolen any money, but could owe over £50 to both parties in a £25m deal that went sour. I have little sympathy for the man, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for him to take on even more of the responsibility for RFC’s death.
Tic 6709 says:
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 19:02
Nimmo Smith however declined to consider the 5 cases where the scheme was ruled to have been applied unlawfully. Neither did he consider the Discount Options Scheme that paid Flo and de Boer millions each via a wholly unlawful scam.
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I haven’t checked the LNS Decision recently but I am interested in the comments above regarding the 5 cases and also the Flo and de Boer ones.
Could you advise where in the LNS Decision these 7 cases are dealt with so I can have a look at how his decisions came about.
Lots of new faces lots of new opinions lots of TDs for perfectly reasoned arguments. Hacked yup.
Cmon Charlotte.
Smith’s appointment is yet another attempt at maintaining the illusion that nothing has changed.
It is extreme short termism to delay or avoid another insolvency event.
The SFA should be demanding to see the Rangers books for themselves not taking reports and be making their own minds up about what needs to be done before giving permission to pay
The onus for assuring The Rangers supporters that their SB money is safe should not lie with Walter Smith or any member of a Board that no one including Rangers supporters trust.
So CF intends to keep the pressure on – hasn’t she read the P&M report 🙂
So the SFA were paranoid that Whyte was a hidden shareholder in the purchase of Rangers – It may well be that they had good reason to be. The SFA seem to think that CW was doing a ‘Tootsie’ or perhaps even a Charlotte – what a tale it just keeps getting deeper and more murky.
And even as late as the end of June 2012 there was worry at the SFA about the confusion over the relationship of the two Sevco companies and possibly other Sevco companies. And the SFA wants a list of all Sevco directors and their responsibilities. Just as well P&M cleared all that up today then 🙂
And the 5-Way Agreement is coming – I just hope it isn’t a draft.
Auldheid
I am with you regards Wattie .
IMO wattie has been left in no doubt that if he walks away and the STs do not get bought the tribute is heading straight down to Davy Jones’ locker ,so he is left with no option except dupe the hordes into paying the spivs off and work as hard as possible with the peepil behind the scenes to cobble some readies together for the battle to get sevco 2 off the ground whilst sevco 1 earns the liquidators some more easy money
All these tribute acts give me a great idea for a TV show
5* STARS IN YOUR EYES .
Tonight Wattie I’m going to be SEVCO 2