The Immortality Project – or – Death and Denial – Guest Post by Humble Pie
Death has a tendency to put everything else into perspective.
My family recently suffered a bereavement. It wasn’t a sudden death but it was still far too quick and far too soon for any of us to get our heads around. As our loved one’s illness progressed, each of us, in our own way, began to prepare for the inevitable. In the end, whilst it was not unexpected, it was nevertheless very traumatic, for everyone concerned.
Grief is a strange and often debilitating set of emotions. Even now, a few months on, when the intense sadness and tears have given way (mostly) to disbelief, we still find it hard to fully comprehend what has happened. We might never completely ‘come to terms’ with that fact, however, we do accept that it DID happen, much as we all wish that it hadn’t.
Many of you will be familiar with the Kubler-Ross model of the five stages of grief; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Well, I am aware of having experienced each of these stages over the last year, as well as a couple of others which I wasn’t prepared for (a lot of personal reflection, a little guilt and a not insignificant amount of pain).
It seems to me that the Rangers supporters have been purposefully ensnared in an interminable cycle of the first two stages of KR; alternating between the denial of the death of Rangers and anger at what they feel has been done to their beloved club then back again to denial. This, as any first year psychology student will tell you, is a very unhealthy state of mind which, if not addressed, can quickly lead to physiological and behavioural problems.
At its lowest level, for example, people throughout the ages have continued to set places at the dinner table for their long-dead loved ones. They know in their hearts that the person has died but are comforted by the familiarity of doing the same things that they have always done. However, in extreme cases people have even kept and maintained the actual cadavers of the deceased, dressed them, talked to them and watched TV with them, in a state of absolute denial.
In archaeology, accepting and recognising the inevitability of death through conducting ceremonial burial services is considered to be one of the very first signs of a civilised people. You see, grief is a uniquely human and cathartic process i.e. it can produce ‘a feeling of being cleansed emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically as a result of an intense emotional experience’.
In short, grief is ultimately a good thing which leads you through a series of natural psychological steps towards acknowledgement of an unalterable situation, allowing you to take stock, re-evaluate and start to move on with your own life in a positive way.
That is what should have happened with the fans of the old Rangers.
Instead, this ‘never-ending cycle of the undead’ was positively encouraged by those many unscrupulous individuals who saw a way of making a fast buck from maintaining the ‘Then, Now and Forever’ illusion. Worse still, this resurrection fantasy is being facilitated by the very people whom we have entrusted to stop this kind of thing from happening in the first place. If only the SFA or the MSM had told them the truth, they might have had a chance to actually face up to the situation.
Unfortunately, these two bodies were so complicit in Rangers demise, so right up to their necks in the brown smelly stuff, that they were too afraid to face the inevitable anger which would have rightly come their way. So, they made up grim fairy tales to feed to the bereaved souls about non-existent ‘holding companies’, the ethereal ‘club’ which transcends death and by suggesting that it is ‘all a matter of opinion’.
Ernest Becker, in his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning book ‘The Denial of Death’, posits that “human civilization is no more than an elaborate, symbolic defence mechanism against the knowledge of our own mortality”. This fear of death acts as an emotional and intellectual response to our basic survival instincts.
‘By embarking on what Becker refers to as an ‘immortality project’, in which a person creates or becomes part of something which they feel will last forever, the person feels they too have become part of something eternal; something that will never die, compared to their physical body that will die one day’. When this ‘immortality project’ is threatened it leads inevitably to fear, depression, loss of identity and sense of purpose.
In that case, the initial reaction of the fans to the imminent demise of Rangers was entirely predictable and understandable. “No way, this can’t happen to us, we are the people”. However, as soon as the full realisation of their club’s inexorable slide into liquidation began to sink in, came the expected anger. But towards whom should their righteous wrath be directed?
“Who did this to us, who are these people?” they cried. “Not I”, said Sir Murray of the Mint, “for I was duped”, “Nor I”, said President Ogilvie, “for it was never my role”. “Nor I”, said Mr Smith, “for I never knew nothing or nothing”. “Not us”, squealed the media monkeys in unison, “for that’s what we were told”, “Nor us”, said the SPL “it was nothing to do with us”.
“Who then?, we demand to know who these people are”, howled the horrified hordes. “T’was the Whyte knight”, they all concurred, “he alone caused this calamity”. “And the bampots”, sneered the slimy slug. “And the taxman”, puffed the pundits. “And the unseen hand of Mr Lawwell”, whispered the bilious bears from the safety of their den.
There were even those who tried to warn them, not least Hugh Adam, Phil Mac and RTC but they didn’t want to know. Even when their very own Messrs Green and Traynor spelt out, in no uncertain terms, that liquidation meant the death of their club, still they chose wilful ignorance. The MSM, with access to the same information, encouraged them to keep their heads firmly ensconced, ostrich stylee, on the banks of that ironically blue and white river in Egypt. Which just goes to show ‘you can lead a lamb to knowledge but you can’t make it think’
The point though is that the Rangers fans have heard the truth and once you have heard something you cannot unhear it. Even if you reject it, even if you deny it, it gnaws away at the back of your mind, infecting your subconscious.
Almost a year ago, I posted the following on TSFM. http://theinternetbampot.wordpress.com/2012/09/ in which I postulated that the SFA were too frightened to say anything which might imply that The Rangers were a new club.
Looking back at that post, I am amazed at how little the landscape has changed.
A year on and it has become apparent that the corporate cancer that destroyed Rangers has continued to metastasize in its new host. Charlotte’s revelations may have shown us that the rabbit hole goes much deeper than we first suspected. However, in my humble opinion, the information provided has only succeeded in ‘poisoning the well’ and deflecting attention from the main culprits in this disaster. Layer upon layer of complexity has been added to an already opaque story and the majority of her utterances appear designed to engage the more enquiring minds on this forum and consume their excess mental energy.
I know that some people are bored with this ‘debate’ but, to my mind, the single most important step for the redemption of Scottish football is the fan’s acceptance that The Rangers, who currently ply their trade in the SPFL First Division, are a new club. Once they have accepted that then everything else that they perceive has happened to them will begin to make sense. They will see that rather than everyone having a fly kick at them when they were down, most were actually trying to help them. It will also dawn on them that the very people who have been telling them that there is an anti-Rangers conspiracy against them are actually the same ones who are screwing them over.
Rangers were not relegated to div 3, The Rangers applied as a new club and were granted entry into the bottom tier of Scottish football. They are not banned from European competition, merely ineligible as a new club without the requisite financial ‘history’. Any reference to ‘rulings’ from ECA, ASA, the BBC Trust and any internal or so-called ‘independent’ enquiries are completely irrelevant, as none of these bodies are the final arbiter in this case. Scots Law is clear that there is no distinction between club and company after incorporation, when the company dies the club dies with it. That is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact.
Sooner or later The Rangers fans are going to realise this fact and when they do, there will be hell to pay. Until they do, their new club can never become truly cleansed. Only then can they move on and only then can they join together with fans of other clubs to root out the real cancer at the heart of Scottish football. That’s why the MSM and the SFA are still petrified to say anything. In the meantime the real creators of this disaster are sneakily positioning themselves further and further away from the scene of the crime.
I am sure the majority of us would happily accept a new Rangers, cleansed of its financial, emotional and supremacist baggage. A club that all decent Rangers fans could support without feeling any guilt about Rangers downfall or that they were being taken for mugs. The prospect of a new dawn in Scottish football, where sporting integrity took primacy and clubs lived within their means was very real. However, as usual the SFA couldn’t miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
The truth is that Scottish football is in the state it is in, not because Rangers died but because those with the power and mandate to effect the prognosis sat back and did nothing. I am sure that they believe that ‘time heals all wounds’ and that the longer this injustice is allowed to stand the more likely it will be accepted by the man in the street. No doubt the authorities feel it is in the national interest to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. However I cannot accept this. I believe that it is vital that we are able to face up to reality so we can move on for the benefit of all football supporters.
Scottish football is at a crossroads right now, I think we all feel it. Rampant corruption has become so mainstream that many of our fellow supporters have began to accept this as the norm. However, it just doesn’t sit right with me and I suspect that many regular contributors and readers of this blog feel likewise.
We have quite lost our way and we live in a society which spends vast amounts of money paying people like Jack Irvine to ensure that we stay lost. The mainstream media treat us like little imbeciles and demand that we conform to their assumed ‘professional superiority’. The PR machine plays up to our stereotypes and feeds our fantasies while the poorest people pay to swallow their poisonous propaganda and relentless trivia.
So what can we do ? Clearly, battering out a few blog posts and strongly worded letters to the various authorities involved has been rewarded by the square root of FA.
How can we make this an opportunity for growth rather than contributing to the destruction of Scottish football ? It is not good enough to tear down a system unless we have a better system to replace it. However, I believe that it is not the system itself which is broken. It is that those charged with administering the system are hopelessly corrupted, hugely conflicted and unable to apply their rules without fear or favour.
By their incapacity and inaction (wilful or otherwise) the SFA have facilitated a motley crew of various spivs, chancers and con-artists to glean the last few meagre pickings from the bones of the emaciated loyal supporters of this new club purporting to be the once mighty Rangers. They have permitted these ne’er-do-wells to collectively appropriate many tens of millions of pounds from the Rangers fans, the creditors and the public purse. They have already allowed this corporate malignancy to spread to a new host, ‘The Rangers’, and the absence of ‘moral hazard’ makes it more likely that the disease will continue to spread.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “‘Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Someone else once said, “The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.”
I sense that we are all beginning to get tired of this. It is time to stand together, all football fans, face the facts and direct our anger against the officers of the SFA who have allowed this sham to develop into a catastrophe.
I have no doubt that my humble opinions expressed here will raise the ire of many deluded souls. However, I am comfortable in the knowledge that the only people who get mad at you for speaking the truth are those that are living a lie.
RIP Big Man.
.
Goldstein says:
October 1, 2013 at 6:25 pm
This is PR at its best. You have a company that cost 5.5 million …
==============================
A lot of people think that the £5.5m was actually loans to keep the business running at the time, and that according to these accounts those loans have now been paid back with interest (they were to be paid back by 2020).
In effect they have used the IPO money to repay the loans they provided in the first place.
Nice to hear a financial correspondent on Sportscene. Think it was Douglas Fraser. Finally, asking people who know something about the subject.
Danish Pastry says:
October 1, 2013 at 7:01 pm
‘.Nice to hear a financial correspondent on Sportscene. Think it was Douglas Fraser. ‘
——
I heard him ,too.
And actually, I think he wasn’t half as questioningly forensic as he ought to have been.
But then, the story goes that he was warned off very early in the saga by his editor that this was a ‘sports’ story. Which, being interpreted, possibly meant ‘don’t go digging up any dirt’.
I saw him at the Ticketus hearings. Don’t think he wrote too much about that.
Goldstein – agree about the PR piece – that was what I was meaning – there have been many different styles, sources and agendas – all different – for example, the tapes release of the adultery conversation was also very different to the others and very personally destructive to D&P folks – although hard to feel sympathy for them being so stupid – but their families, absolutely.
And who would have thought that the figures would have been released on the very day Barca were in town – what a surprise. Pity there are not Olympic ceremonies every week, TRFC would be sailing through these stormy waters with not a hiccup or review by the MSM – sorry I forgot – they don’t do investigative journalism – just churnalism!
Still waiting on the first court case to come out off all these threats – as slimshady would say, 54 threats to sue, 0 actually followed through!
Ah well – now its Barca time!
Given that CF Twitter Account here is the last 2 weeks
Tweets
1. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes1m
What the accounts don’t tell you #1 Subscriber receiving refund of £0.30 per share. £300k in total. http://www.scribd.com/doc/172464409/Refunds …
2. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes1h
Broken promises and a threat of winding up. First sighting of additional Pinsent Investigation into payments. http://www.scribd.com/doc/172434771/Broken-Promises …
3. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes5h
Sneaking though a change of nomad after Strand jumps ship. Here’s some earlier thoughts. http://www.scribd.com/doc/172380378/Nomads-1 … http://www.scribd.com/doc/172380995/Nomads-2 …
4. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes19h
I thought the name sounded familiar. http://i.imgur.com/iXFQNeW.jpg
5. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes27 Sep
@PJBHoops Walter was stitched up by Stockbridge and Traynor. He only ever agreed to be interim chairman. Investors and supporters misled.
6. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes27 Sep
Did Charles ever really leave? 1. http://i.imgur.com/yE4mAC6.jpg 2. http://i.imgur.com/G4oyzRf.jpg 3. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/4678-craig-mather-statement … 4. http://i.imgur.com/4xmozuu.jpg
7. Tweet withheld26 Sep
This Tweet from @CharlotteFakes has been withheld in response to a report from the copyright holder.
8. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes23 Sep
@GersnetOnline Ask FFW why RIFC refused to hand over the Pinsent and Deloitte reports to the SFO despite a request to do so. #CoverUp
9. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes21 Sep
“I have evidence of serious financial irregularity” – not my words, but that of a high ranking official inside RIFC several months ago.
10. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes20 Sep
FFW-Hope they provided that invoice Ken was looking for. What sort of FD authorises 240k payment without an invoice? http://i.imgur.com/iwGdZDi.jpg
11. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes20 Sep
Rangers lawyers spring into action this evening and successfully remove docs from Scribd. http://i.imgur.com/E0nOqaP.jpg #RevengeForReportToAIM
12. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes20 Sep
Unauthorised return of share capital and other shenanigans inside RIFC. The cover up has gone on long enough. The Murrays are fully aware.
13. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes15 Sep
The SPL side letter to Sevco as part of the 5 way agreement. Why so secretive and is there any significance? http://www.scribd.com/doc/168302228/SPL-Undertaking-Letter …
14. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
@cartujakds @AngelaHaggerty I report what I see. Cenkos and the Requisitioners made a terrible move and with underhand tactics.
View conversation
15. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
Minutes of Rangers plc board meeting 29/05/2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/168037134/Minutes-of-Rangers-plc-board-meeting-29-05-2013 …
16. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
Minutes of Rangers plc board meeting 6/5/2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/168037125/Minutes-of-Rangers-plc-board-meeting-6-5-2013 …
Expand
17. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
Minutes of Rangers plc board meeting 23/04/2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/168037036/Minutes-of-Rangers-plc-board-meeting-23-04-2013 …
Expand
18. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
Minutes of Rangers Plc Board Meeting 13/04/2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/168036900/Minutes-of-Rangers-Plc-Board-Meeting-13-04-2013 …
19. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
Minutes of Rangers Plc Board Meeting 13/02/2013 (prev released) http://www.scribd.com/doc/168037579/Minutes-of-Rangers-Plc-Board-Meeting-13-02-2013 …
20. Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes13 Sep
RFCL Board Minutes 31/10/2012 (prev released) http://www.scribd.com/doc/168036820/RFCL-Board-Minutes-31-10-2012 …
http://www.business7.co.uk/business-news/scottish-business-news/2013/10/01/charles-green-paid-933-000-106408-24012498/
So the auditor was paid 6% of total turnover for ‘other work’.
…
…pass the dictionary a mo:
…
INDEPENDENT: Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent.
…
… Right then… … nonchalant whistle
🙄
Fine performance by Celtic tonight. Brown is an idiot. He owes the team, management and fans an apology for his actions.
billyj1 says:
October 1, 2013 at 9:40 pm
8 3 Rate This
Fine performance by Celtic tonight. Brown is an idiot. He owes the team, management and fans an apology for his actions.
===================================================
It was a good team performance.
While I agree Brown let down his teammates, manager and fans, I do think its about time we got real and stopped excusing players play acting or feigning injury or hurt to force referees into these sort of decisions.
If a player acts in such a way with the express purpose of influencing the referee isn’t this essentially cheating?
Personally I’m getting a bit bored of the modern mantra that suggests its ok to pretend to be fouled or hurt if someone makes contact with you.
So, back to business 😉
What’s your opinion on Rangers financial situation? Where to now for the club? #scotland tonight STV at 10.30
So Charlotte puts up an email from Malcolm Murray mentioning Rafat Ali Rizvi and the account is suspended. Coincidence?
Lord Wobbly says:
October 1, 2013 at 10:02 pm
“..What’s your opinion on Rangers financial situation? Where to now for the club? #scotland tonight STV at 10.30..”
——-
My Lord, if your Lordship would rather forgo the tedium of watching a downmarket TV prog, I have here a script of how the prog will go.
It will purport to ask anodyne questions, like an anxious child. And like an anxious child, will tell itself not to worry, everything’s fine, daddy’s here, and all is well! Daddy doesn’t dissimulate, prevaricate, or lie.
The accounts have been prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis, with great expectations- of hoodwinking the suckers one more time.Going forward, we will go forward as a new club should, secure in the support of our friends in the press.
If your lordship will forgive a lapse into the language of the peasant playground, see if I’m right!
The share price of TRIFC held steady today at 49p.
Given that the accounts show that the football entity is on very shaky ground, I thought that there would be a drop in the share price.
Would anyone care to comment on the impact (if any) on the share price that the accounts may have?
So. Looking at the headline numbers. 19m revenue/33m operating costs/11m left at years end.
Lets say half the season book revenue was in by June 30th. Season books come to 8m give or take. That brings last years revenue down ti 15m give or take. Lets say they manage ti chop 6m off the costs taking into account one offs and any potential additional savings. So this years operating costs of 27m
So with 11m in the bank plus an additional 4m from season tickets and lets say an additional 7m generated through on the day sales and sponsorships for the year that gives total cash for the year at 22m on 27m costs. So running out of cash by March or so. Add in the 2.5m overcast they mention in they’re accounts plus early sales of next years season books…. They might just squeak out this year…. But they’ll start next season with 4m in cash after season books come in and overcast repaid looking at another year of 10+m losses….
These are very crude far jacket numbers…. I reckon they might just squeak out the season…. If they manage to both increase revenue by 1m and find 1m in savings from somewhere….
Happy Chappies on STV 😀
Don’t you just hate spell checker sometimes. The joys of using a mobile phone… Where it says far jacket i obviously meant fag packet… Overcast was supposed to be overdraft .
Exiled Celt says:
October 1, 2013 at 5:47 pm
‘…I was one of her big fans initially – but there is something not quite right with her recent postings.
Something stinks….or is it just me 🙂
———
The only real doubt I personally had about Charlotte in the early days was on the question of whether the leaks were leaks of genuine documents and tapes.
I’ve concluded -from the closing down and deletion (without any actual denials of their authenticity) -that they are authentic and not forgeries.
Given that there is a general rat-pack, it matters not one whit to me whether Charlotte is one of them ( if that should prove to be the case).
For whatever reasons- whether pro bono publico or through seeking personal advantage in board-room factional battles, Charlotte has given us an unpleasant insight into what kind of people these are, and of how easily lying and dissimulation and crooked thinking comes to them.
Who cares which of the baddies is a badder baddy, or which is orchestrating the pantomime?
We know through Charlotte who the baddies are that WE( as opposed to ripped- off fans of the new club) should be concerned about .
Our focus should be on nailing them and lancing the boil of mis-governance of our Sport.
No?
See when they all keep talking about ‘getting back to the top/premiership’ does that equate to ‘phoenix’?
wottpi says:
October 1, 2013 at 4:28 pm
18 0 Rate This
… Meanwhile Charles is sitting in the sun with a chilled Chardonnay thinking ‘How easy was that?’
————-
Aye, where there’s muck, there’s brass 🙂
Charles would fit right in on the Python Yorkshiremen sketch.
WeeBully says:
October 1, 2013 at 10:20 pm
7 0 Rate This
So Charlotte puts up an email from Malcolm Murray mentioning Rafat Ali Rizvi and the account is suspended. Coincidence?
———
Wow! Gone.
PS Jings
I see STV have a new fan representative, who to be fair came across better than his predecessors, why is Neil Patey still giving his ‘expert’ opinion when the figures just don’t add up. He must be on the payroll of TRFC or RIFC!
Patey doesn’t think there will be another administration event, how can there be, RIFC is a new company! With the infighting board, the institutional investors are surely unlikely to invest, a further share issue is not going to get the same level of response from the fans either. Next years season book sale will be interesting if the current board remain in place after the AGM. Bet Paul Murray and the requisitioners are fuming at the stock exchange announcement denying the motion to replace the directors.
I’ve not caught the “breaking bad” bug yet, this is my breaking bad saga!
Danish Pastry says:
October 1, 2013 at 10:50 pm
‘…Wow! Gone.
PS Jings’
———
Not to say Crivvens and michty me!
As if there are not many screengrabs or other copies on tap at the flick of a switch or press of a key! 🙂
But what it must be to have a name that has such an electrifying effect on PR people whose clients might have a connection with same!
Clients, perhaps, who might fear the knock on the door .
Of course, if the SFA / Sevco folks continue to shout out that it’s the same club etc etc etc…. then if it does go into a 2nd admin shouldn’t that be a 25 point deduction as what happened to Dundee ?
p.s. long time lurker / reader but thought it about time I contributed, if only slightly.
jerfeelgood says:
October 1, 2013 at 10:39 pm
‘… Where it says far jacket i obviously meant fag packet… Overcast was supposed to be overdraft .’
——
It just shows that context is all! I did not notice! I read ‘fag packet’ and ‘overdraft’ because that is what I expected do seed!
Goldstein says:
October 1, 2013 at 6:25 pm
It may well be that you are a PR project Goldstein – how is one to know ❓
john clarke says:
October 1, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Re: Charlotte
I am with you on CF – she has an agenda – it has changed recently in tone and she/he may be more than one person. So what?
We have to judge her on what she brings to the table – check it against other things we know and so far I haven’t seen anything that she has posted that I believe is false – quite the contrary.
But I retain the scepticism I have always had but even more so for a poster who afaik has recently appeared on the scene like a bright shooting star with no previous ‘history’ that I am aware of. Obviously this does not refer to you @ john clarke.
But over a long period of time watching a poster at work and how they handle things that come up then, even with all my reservations, I will accept CF before that new bright shining star who I suspect will flicker briefly and disappear without actually bringing anything to the table 😉
Clearly STV don’t think that Neil Patey consistently being wrong about this issue precludes him from continuing to be their “expert”. One assumes that a history of talking rubbish is not a factor they consider prior to making the bookings.
He really does deserve his place alongside the likes of Mark (Grandmaster Suck) Dingwall, Chris (Fury) Graham, Keith Jackson et al as someone who has helped a succession of rogues and charlatans make money from the gullible Rangers support. None of you do them any favours.
As to Richard Wilson on STV tonight, is that really your genuine understanding of the situation. Even with the audited accounts now released. Seriously!
The only reason I don’t specifically name you in the above list is that you looked like a frightened wean and kept looking to others for approval. I therefore assume you don’t have the courage to tell the truth.
The audited accounts were the best picture Rangers could possibly paint, and they were shocking. Do none of you actually have the gumption to tell the Rangers support this. Or is writing nonsense in papers, and appearing on TV mean more to you than the truth.
That’s rhetorical btw, we all know the answer.
Matty Roth says:
October 1, 2013 at 9:54 pm
billyj1 says:
October 1, 2013 at 9:40 pm
Fine performance by Celtic tonight. Brown is an idiot. He owes the team, management and fans an apology for his actions.
===================================================
It was a good team performance.
While I agree Brown let down his teammates, manager and fans, I do think its about time we got real and stopped excusing players play acting or feigning injury or hurt to force referees into these sort of decisions.
If a player acts in such a way with the express purpose of influencing the referee isn’t this essentially cheating?
Personally I’m getting a bit bored of the modern mantra that suggests its ok to pretend to be fouled or hurt if someone makes contact with you.
==========================================
I normally keep my Celtic football talkl for another forum But ………………..
What happened tonight had nothing to do with a player feigning injury – it was down to Brown’s petulance by kicking an opponent on the deck 2/3 strides after he went down following the initial contact. Whether that deserved a yellow is debatable but when he saw red and kicked his arm away then he most certainly deserved red.
He let himself down as a player which might not be that important in the grand scheme of things. More importantly he let his team-mates, his club and its supporters down and more so because he is the team captain.
He deserved to be sent off for his stupidity and tbh Lennon has to consider whether he should remain as captain. If any Celtic supporter can’t understand why – then might I suggest a visit to Specsavers is urgently required 💡
On the issue of the CF Account being suspended.
Then all I have to say is that, to me, it reinforces everything that ahe has actually put on-line 😈
Well said ecobhoy
ecobhoy says:
October 1, 2013 at 11:27 pm
‘…But over a long period of time watching a poster at work and how they handle things that come up ..’
——-
There’s possibly a Ph.D thesis in this.Must ask Cosgrove, some time!
I’ve certainly noticed how quickly people can spot when the ostensible reason for a post is not the genuine reason,and how quickly the ‘plant’ is sussed.
Just as body language can be a give-away, so can the language and mode of written work betray a mind at odds with the content of what is written.
Ph D thesis? That’s it done! 🙂
weescotsman says:
October 1, 2013 at 11:06 pm
“…p.s. long time lurker / reader but thought it about time I contributed, if only slightly’
—-
And bang on the button, too.
You may be sure that the SFA will strain every sinew to make sure that the new club does not cause them that problem!
ecobhoy says:
October 1, 2013 at 11:52 pm
On the issue of the CF Account being suspended.
Then all I have to say is that, to me, it reinforces everything that ahe has actually put on-line 😈
—————————————————————————————————————————————
I completely agree with EB’s comment here but I have questions so I will just ask away.
Some of CF’s contributions appear in the public domain and last only a matter of hours.
Is this “someone” monitoring his/her/their activity then running to court?
If so, is it likely that there is a friendly, “helpful” judge/sheriff waiting to assist? It seems to happen so quickly.
Is it CF’s wish to remain incognito that results in the apparent lack of any challenge to the removal of the expose’s?
As EB alludes to. IF “someone” takes the time and spends the funds on legals to have this stuff removed, it must be hurtful to that “someone.”
Lastly. Could that “someone” be identified from court records? Even if it is a legal firm, ties could possibly be established. I, for one, would be interested to know who is “running to the teacher” here.
I do hope my naivete’ doesn’t show too much. 😳
It’s not an awakening, it was just easier to sleep when they were squandering our money, and bears like a good kip or they get awe uppity.
Note to board for AGM, justify everything by giving WATP response some laldie, works a treat when you get caught shitey. And fix that line in the accounts where you point out you’re only a year old, that’s our job.
.
While it looks like there are other Rangers fans out there wondering how the accounts are anything other than bad news, it is still a worry that many online fans are still of the opinion that proven business men like McColl (while not the mythical “billionaire”) not offering CG’s successors over the odds for their shares is somehow an excuse for telling them just to GTF.
It’s genuinely bewildering.
Ecobhoy/JC and others – was not doubting the veracity or accuracy of the stuff she has posted – only that there seems multiple factions with multiple agendas – who knows – the taking down of the items may all be from same team who knows.
However in conclusion as you both said, it has been the non denial of the folks in charge of the Save our Sevco to contents posted that shows these committee members in smoke free rooms to be the gravest danger to us – each year the establishment manages to surprise me in cover ups.
From imprisoning innocent people and unable to admit they had it wrong, to terracing disasters where the blame needed to be pointed away from them, the establishment is indeed rotten to the core. I used to be proud to be British and would talk with foreigners on my travels about corruption and propaganda in their land as being something that could never happen in British society and held the BBC up to be the conveyor of truth for the world etc.
Boy was I ever wrong!
Goldstein says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:32 am
“If anyone finds this sort of analysis interesting I can go on to explain what I think is going on with Charlotte right now and how she has performed as a PR conduit over the last few months.”
————————-
Having read most of Charlotte’s output and listened to the audio my impression was that CG was/is employed by CW. There was a necessity to separate the two to satisfy the SFA (since CW is not fit and proper) but the Charlotte materials do not magnify this breech in any way. Quite the reverse.
I’m curious how you read the Charlotte material as an attempt to put distance between CW and CG when from my perspective it has the reverse effect.
I’m also curious how you can show such confidence in your own ability to identify Charlotte’s motives. In any good PR campaign such motives would only become clear after the fact. The implication is that you are party to ‘privileged’ information.
Perhaps you would like to share the source of such confidence?
First, a small(ish) caveat. The cash figures are given as of 30th June 2013. The number of season tickets sold for season 2013/14 (page 5) is likely to be as at 28th September 2012.
Monthly expenditure.
Likely to be higher during the season than during the summer; but for simplicity lets just divide the £31.2m of recurring costs by 12.5 since the accounting period was just over 1 year,
This gives us monthly costs of £2.5m
Cash at hand as at 30th June
As the Finance Director told us, £4.5m of the £11.2m in the bank was directly from the sale of season tickets. We can add £2.4m from the ST sales “in the pipeline” from supporters using a deferred payment plan. If we are generous and assume that the new club reach the same level of sales as last year, we can add another £1.1m for those that had still to renew at 30th June.
Taking all this together, we get to £14.7m – which includes ALL season ticket cash for season 2013/14.
From the £14.7m we have to subtract 3 months of costs (£7.5m) – which leaves us with a net total of £7.2m at the end of September. Add another £200k or so for match day sales and we are around the £7.5m mark. However, £946k is tied up with Rangers Retail, so the effective cash at hand is somewhere around £6.6m.
Unless I have made a glaring mistake (which is entirely possible!), it gives the new club less than 3 months to get a fresh injection of capital before it simply runs out of cash.
Goldstein says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:32 am
‘..The truth shall set you free…”
———–
It will indeed.
We will find out, sooner or later, why it was that
the rules of the SFA were not applied to a particular club,
why the malpractices of that particular club were in effect sanctioned by the SFA,
and why the knowledge that that was the case was not broadcast by the MSM.
and why the Armed Forces and the MSM and ( let’s face it, wee Eck) continue in their refusal to accept that there is any kind of problem.
You are damned right.
The truth will set us free and allow us to begin to have some respect for our institutions.
I repeat OUR institutions.
Re: accounts, after a better look this morning.
Firstly, still not convinced that the turnover doesn’t include some 2013/14 season ticket money, but for the purposes of this I’ll say it doesn’t.
I’m also going to ignore the profit and loss side of the accounts, as they are made kinda meaningless by things like ‘negative goodwill’.
Figures which are useful though:
Costs – 33m over 13 months. Add to this another 4m of non recuring costs such as IPO/player transfer fees etc.
Revenue – 8m season tickets, but 13.2m gate receipts. That means 5.2m over 18 games on walk in’s/hospitality, or 288k a game. (too high in my opinion)
Remember these numbers, we’ll come back to them.
Now we’ll move onto the balance sheet. First thing to do is ignore the fixed assets as they are meaningless figures plucked from thin air. Look instead at current assets and liabilities:
Assets:
Trade and other receivables 5,231k
Cash and bank balances 11,198k
Total 16,514k
Liabilities:
Trade and other payables 6,273k
Obligations under finance leases 694k
Deferred income 8,156k
Firstly, 11.2m in the bank on 1st of July.
Included within cash and bank balances is £946,000 relating to Rangers Retail Limited, which is not immediately available as working capital to the Group as a whole…
So really only 10.2m available to the club.
Now, trades. 5.2m is owed to RIFC by other companies. 2.4m of this is season tickets bought on installments, so there is cash to come in which takes the cash available to 15.3m.
Now, liabilities.
Trade is 6.2m. That means they owe 6.2m to other business… more than they are owed.
defered income, explained in note 19 as season ticket money. This is normal for a football club. We can argue all day long about whether this is included in the profit or loss account, but it is clear as day that it is included on the balance sheet. It is a liability as they have already sold these. As seen in the assets, they are still owed 2.4m from this 8m. Therefore, there is 5.6m outstanding – the only place in my opinion for this to be accounted for is in the cash balance.
So, 15.3m – 6.2m – 5.6m = 3.5m.
So, as of June 30 Rangers had only 3.5m to cover any losses for the season ahead. Seeing as they lost 14m (18m once you include the non recuring expenses) this means major cut backs.
Now, what revenue is coming in? Lets go back to the beginning – 5.2m over 18 games, or 288k a game. So maybe another 5-6m over the course of the season. More sponsorship? Doubt it, as it looks like its already included.
Then lets look at the 33m expenses, or 2.5m a month.
At 1st July they had 10.2m in cash. They owe 1m more in liabilities to trade then they will get, so net balance is really 9.2m.
They are spending 2.5m. Each month they receive 550k of match day income (based on 2 home games), so a net loss of 2m. 9.2/2 gives 4 1/2 months, or middle of November. Other income – maybe – lets be kind and give them 5m over 13 months like they claim, or another 380k/month, reducing net loss to 1.6m/month. 9.2/1.6 gives 5.75 months, or, end of December.
I don’t see any other way, and these accounts prove it. In early 2014 Rangers need a fresh injection of capital, or they have to take 1.5m off their monthly costs. Meanwhile, TRFC is 16.1 m in debt to the parent company RIFC and growing at probably 1.6m a month, so around 21m as of today.
RIFC will not go bust, but TRFC will either need to have a share issue, a billionaire benefactor, or cut costs to prevent admin.
stevensanph says: October 2, 2013 at 1:35 am
============
Thanks for that stevensanph – a useful summary pulling out the salient points for us lazy b*ggers.
Your analysis also indicates the end of the year as being a critical decision point re: cashflow for TRFC – or lack of cash to be specific.
Being pessimistic / optimistic TRFC might reach that point sooner if there is an accelerated ‘cash outflow’ post end of June.
And how will the MSM cover the story this time?
Last year the MSM was busy looking the other way – until a week or two before admin, IIRC.
For the current version of the Govan club they can’t do that: even the issued financials are that bad.
One more thing to add, if admin does happen for TRFC, then the group (RIFC) will be the majority creditor in the administration. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if they were the ONLY creditor.
I did see some posters on RM a week or so back highlight that for October they only have 1 home match the whole month and are upset that they won’t have many “free” games for their ST’s before Xmas – looking at the fixtures, I can see their concern – but my concern if I were them would be from a money making perspective. They have 1 home fixture in Oct, 2 in Nov and 2 in Dec – there is not a lot of revenue going to be coming in – with the away fixtures and hotels/bus/food and beverages to be paid for, there is a lot more going to be outgoing than coming in….we should factor that in to the money drain as well
Unless there is a charity match coming up of course!
October 2013
Scottish League One Ayr V Rangers Sun 6 Oct 12:45
Scottish League One Rangers V Dunfermline Sat 12 Oct 17:30
Scottish League One Brechin V Rangers Sat 19 Oct 15:00
Scottish League One East Fife V Rangers Sat 26 Oct 15:00
Scottish Challenge Cup – Second Round Stenhousemuir V Rangers Tue 29 Oct 19:35
November 2013
Scottish League One Rangers V Airdrieonians Sat 9 Nov 15:00
Scottish League One Rangers V Forfar Sat 16 Nov 15:00
Scottish League One Arbroath V Rangers Mon 25 Nov 19:45
December 2013
Scottish League One Rangers V Ayr Sat 7 Dec 15:00
Scottish League One Stenhousemuir V Rangers Sat 14 Dec 15:00
Scottish League One Rangers V Stranraer Thu 26 Dec 15:00
Scottish League One Dunfermline V Rangers Sat 28 Dec 15:00
A big what if…
Sevco sell and lease back Ibrox and Murray Park and raise £30 – £50 Million.
The UTTT find that use of EBT scheme by RFC was illegal.
Sevco / TRIFC et al are found to be a series of phoenix companies related to RFC(IA).
Would HMRC make any attempt to reclaim monies owed?
It may now be impossible for BDO to reverse the asset sale. However, it could be easier to make a move for cash in the bank.
Perhaps sale and lease back introduces a set of unintended consequences – beyond the obvious difficulties in paying back the lease and putting a competitive team on the park.
Deloitte raises concerns over Whyte’s battle with Rangers .
============================
They think it’s all over !! Seems they are still a wee bit worried about the MBB.
The perfect time to re-enter the fray.
(headline from the herald)
On Neil Patey?? Maybe I heard wrong but re discussion at 10.30 pm last night did he not refer to ‘us’ a few times when talking about sevco ‘getting back up’ the leagues, is he their financial consultant? ….. It would make sense 😀
Goldstein says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:32 am
8 4 Rate This
————
Not sure I agree with your opinion. Having read and listened to almost every release, I feel there’s another dynamic at work.
Btw, your alias and your post got me thinking of ‘Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width’. Sewing the energy company analogy into an unconvincing argument almost works, but not for me. A little less flannel Mr Goldstein 🙂
Noticed some positive threads on RM about stadium naming, ‘..it’ll always be Ibrox to me..’ Probably out there by ProxyJack. The sale & leaseback is another matter. Even the dimmest bear knows that this would be the final nail in the coffin for sevco.
The accounts, released the afternoon of Celtic v Barca and reported on by M S M the day after contain nothing new, burning cash at an unsustainable rate whilst lining the goons up for a cash call.
As a financial naif would I be right in assuming that the money (raised by Green) which paid for the scrap asset was refunded to Green from the IPO cash raised from supporters?
Apart from running up invoices, does anyone know what BDO are doing?
Re charlotte and the speed of removal of docs – could charlotte be working with the lawyers etc and it does not really go to court. Reasons for this view, why spend cash so often, give impression the charlotte is “independent” of cw. There must be a court trail of all these cases – who can find them?
Goldstein says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:32 am
I enjoyed reading that, a very good insight into the world of PR, which leads me to wonder; are you in PR?. Your insight into Charlotte’s world leads me to ask; are you Charlotte?
Hi guys, newbie on here but followed the blog etc with interest. One thing re sevco’s finances, do the costs include the pay offs for Bocangera and Goian, if not then thats another £1m ish gone
Exiled Celt says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:38 am
From imprisoning innocent people and unable to admit they had it wrong, to terracing disasters where the blame needed to be pointed away from them, the establishment is indeed rotten to the core. I used to be proud to be British and would talk with foreigners on my travels about corruption and propaganda in their land as being something that could never happen in British society and held the BBC up to be the conveyor of truth for the world etc.
Boy was I ever wrong!
______________________________________________
That last paragraph sums up just how I feel.
I used to believe we lived in a country (Scotland and UK) that had higher standards than most, with corruption something that was, in the main, an anathema at all levels in society – except the ‘criminal’ classes and more obvious spiv businesses. I had already begun to realise that this wasn’t the case but the Rangers saga has opened my eyes to just how deep, and how high (in society), genuine corruption exists and is accepted. It is so deeply ingrained within the establishment that none of them even get embarrassed by it!
Goldstein says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:32 am
Green a front man representing Whyte’s interests…
…the solution: convince people that he isn’t Whyte’s front man to convince people that Green and Whyte are enemies….
…friends in the media, a little cash to spend, and access to all the information you could possibly need?…
…fight and they throw mud with a mud throwing machine called Charlotte….
…The good but complicated reasons for using Charlotte fakes to sling mud being anonymity and the impossibility of validating the material released…
…. if I feel inclined I will run through them some time.…
…Charlotte has been a very effective buffer, medium, and mud-slinger….
….People have hinted here and elsewhere that Charlotte seems to have changed tact over the last few months…
….that the goals set for Charlotte were adapted – having probably quite quickly succeeded with the initial goal — to convince us that Green and Whyte were enemies…
….and then thought “we might as well use this resource (Charlotte) to help with other PR goals”….
….So far so simple….
…If anyone finds this sort of analysis interesting …
….I can go on to explain what I think is going on with Charlotte right now and how she has performed as a PR conduit over the last few months.…
…I feel I have detected a few patterns with Charlotte that reflect a new more mixed agenda in play….
….Patterns are obviously useful because they allow you to make predictions. For the record, I’m predicting Charlotte will disappear in the very near future……………..
The truth shall set you free…
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Goldstein
I found your piece interesting.
I don’t know you – or any other poster on this site as it happens – and I think you may well be one of the professionals paid to intervene and influence this site on behalf of persons unknown. ( I hope you get overtime for working at half past midnight by the way)
And there have been a few “PR roosters” and club plants trying to influence and corral us – some easier to identify than others but that doesn’t matter because we can make our own minds up.
So I’d ask you to be inclined as you offer, and indeed as you also offer to go on and explain some more and share your insights with the readers here.
In a world where in a short space of time Charlotte has gone from a person allegedly leaking stuff they maybe found on a computer to a PR project who knows where you will take us.
ecobhoy says:
October 1, 2013 at 11:45 pm
53 8 Rate This
Matty Roth says:
October 1, 2013 at 9:54 pm
billyj1 says:
October 1, 2013 at 9:40 pm
Fine performance by Celtic tonight. Brown is an idiot. He owes the team, management and fans an apology for his actions.
===================================================
It was a good team performance.
While I agree Brown let down his teammates, manager and fans, I do think its about time we got real and stopped excusing players play acting or feigning injury or hurt to force referees into these sort of decisions.
If a player acts in such a way with the express purpose of influencing the referee isn’t this essentially cheating?
Personally I’m getting a bit bored of the modern mantra that suggests its ok to pretend to be fouled or hurt if someone makes contact with you.
==========================================
I normally keep my Celtic football talkl for another forum But ………………..
What happened tonight had nothing to do with a player feigning injury – it was down to Brown’s petulance by kicking an opponent on the deck 2/3 strides after he went down following the initial contact. Whether that deserved a yellow is debatable but when he saw red and kicked his arm away then he most certainly deserved red.
He let himself down as a player which might not be that important in the grand scheme of things. More importantly he let his team-mates, his club and its supporters down and more so because he is the team captain.
He deserved to be sent off for his stupidity and tbh Lennon has to consider whether he should remain as captain. If any Celtic supporter can’t understand why – then might I suggest a visit to Specsavers is urgently required 💡
=========================================================
Yes EB totally agree that what happened was Browns fault and he has to take the blame. Tbh I don’t think its even worth debating that point. It was both a foul and then a petulant kick at the player – it happens all the time and when refs see it they rightly punish the offending player.
I agree with everything you said with one exception –
“What happened tonight had nothing to do with a player feigning injury”
I’d disagree with that because in my eyes the player made an attempt to exaggerate the incident with his play acting.
I’m not suggesting this lets Brown off the hook in any way but my point is I’m bored sick of watching players do the sort of thing Neymar did without any comment from the football experts or any action from the authorities.
For me it is a form of cheating just the same as kicking out at a player is a form of cheating. It is very sad that this is now accepted throughout the game as the norm.
And this is the point I thought worth raising exactly because these things are not being dealt with by referees – in fact they are simply ignored.
A fair result might have been to Red card Brown and book Neymar for his attempt to “emphasise” the incident to the ref which he should not be encouraged to do.
Either way its not worthy of much debate so I’ll leave it at that (happy to read what Traynor would describe as a “robust” response if you decide it worth a minute or two)
PS – before I am accused of needing to take off the green tinted glasses, I’m not a Celtic fan and watched the game very much as a neutral.
Then there’s the pay for all those now signed up fully registered ‘trialists’ 😆
General footballing point but related to the Scott Brown incident
If you know opponents are up to no good just ensure you give them nothing to go on.
Concerntrate (with your god given brain) on doing the right thing and play with the ethos that the manager and club instills in you and hopefully what are your own values.
If the manager and club condones stupid behaviour then each team will, at some point, get there comeuppence.
Neymar is an diving and acting fool and got away with it last night. Brown, who didn’t get away with a cowardly fly kick at a grounded opponent, needs to grow up, drop the chips on both his shoulders and concentrate on being the finished and consistent quality player he should be by this stage in his career.
stevensanph says:
October 2, 2013 at 1:35 am
———————————————————————–
WRT your matchday income figures,I agree this looks very high.
Last season an average ticket was around £12,£2 of this being VAT.
At an income of £288k per game,that would equate to sales of 24,000 tickets.(around £864k vat over the season not available to club).
Now I’m no mathematician but even I know that you can’t get 38k ST holders and 24k walk-up fans into a 50k capacity stadium.
Now if we accept a figure of 37k ST holders and an average attendance of 45k,then 8k pay on the day.That gives a matchday income of circa £100k,not including catering etc.(£80k after VAT).
TRFC have only 5 home games before the turn of the year,A total income of £400k net.
How would this figure affect your calculations?.
@Matty Roth
“For me it is a form of cheating just the same as kicking out at a player is a form of cheating. It is very sad that this is now accepted throughout the game as the norm.”
Agree with you Matty. It’s seen as almost heroic in some cultures to help your team by getting an opponent sent off. You can see the way Neymar was congratulated as he came off. He is just the latest, and one of the youngest, of the new breed — and he’s right at home in the Spanish league. Mind you, it happens more and more in northern Europe. If there’s one thing that puts people off football it’s the play-acting, which is basically cheating, as you say. Yesterday you could have broken a Barca leg with a wet teabag. But there is justice in sport too, as we saw in both CL semis last year.
But my basic problem with Spanish football is with the unresolved doping cases not to mention the shameless financial doping I’ve read about.
afc_1974 says:
October 2, 2013 at 8:57 am
3 0 Rate This
Hi guys, newbie on here but followed the blog etc with interest. One thing re sevco’s finances, do the costs include the pay offs for Bocangera and Goian, if not then thats another £1m ish gone
+++++++
It’s hard to say, since the accounts are to 30/6/2013, and the players were released around 28/6/2013. However I would guess that terms were agreed before they gave up their contracts, in which case the cost will be included in the accounts. However it is likely that the money would actually have been paid after 30 June, so in cash terms you are correct, that amount will have to come out of the cash shown as in the bank at 30 June.
Whullie says:
October 2, 2013 at 12:23 am
ecobhoy says:
October 1, 2013 at 11:52 pm
I completely agree with EB’s comment here but I have questions so I will just ask away. Some of CF’s contributions appear in the public domain and last only a matter of hours. Is this “someone” monitoring his/her/their activity then running to court?
If so, is it likely that there is a friendly, “helpful” judge/sheriff waiting to assist? It seems to happen so quickly.
Is it CF’s wish to remain incognito that results in the apparent lack of any challenge to the removal of the expose’s? As EB alludes to. IF “someone” takes the time and spends the funds on legals to have this stuff removed, it must be hurtful to that “someone.” Lastly. Could that “someone” be identified from court records? Even if it is a legal firm, ties could possibly be established. I, for one, would be interested to know who is “running to the teacher” here.
==================================================================
It’s obviously simple to monitor a twitter account and if you email twitter with a lawyer’s letterhead complaining about content and threatening action against them for carrying the material – whether that threat is ‘real’ or not – they will take the line of least resistance and pull the post and even the account.
Twitter are in the business of making money and not fighting on behalf of the ‘public interest’ and obviously CF has plenty of previous. So it makes financial sense to chop her account as she causes hiccups in the running of the organisation. Twitter want zillions of fluffy inane messages passing through with the minimum hassle from external authorities.
I doubt if a court has ever been involved with this and usually when a post is taken down it names the solicitor who has requested it and from memory these have been solicitors who have business connections with Rangers but not necessarily acting for them in these specific cases.
However I am quite clear in my own mind who is instructing the solicitors just by looking at the speed of removal of seriously damaging posts and asking myself who was being damaged by them. A simple way of judging perhaps but sometimes more accurate than being led into the mysteries of who CF is and who she works for and why certain info is released and not other bits of the puzzle.
All very interesting on a quiet day to ponder but at the moment I will pass on Goldstein’s offer to pick over the CF entrails mixed with tealeaves in a bid to solve the mysteries of the Universe.
The only person who can actually provide the answers is whoever is directing CF as she might not know herself what the game is all about. And sometimes the simple answer is the right one and often overlooked.
Personally I have often had a whiff of female scorned about CF and if I was interested I might look back and see whether anyone involved in this story had ditched a wife, girlfriend or mistress. That could well be the starting point – just straight revenge. Obviously that raises the question of access to the initial info but there are certain scenarious where I can see how that came about.
I won’t go too far down that road lest I inadvertantly point fingers at anyone who may well be innocent of any impropriety. But once CF was up and rolling then others would see her usefulness as a conduit and feed her material and there have been more than enough warring factions at Ibrox to keep her very busy 😆
Of course it could all be a devious and deep PR plot – we may never know. However in the interim I will continue to look at the info provided – not necessarily for the purpose intended by the anonymous CF or her shadowy Boss – but to see if it can assist me make sense of various moves and ploys.
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
———————————————————————–
WRT your matchday income figures,I agree this looks very high.
Last season an average ticket was around £12,£2 of this being VAT.
At an income of £288k per game,that would equate to sales of 24,000 tickets.(around £864k vat over the season not available to club).
Now I’m no mathematician but even I know that you can’t get 38k ST holders and 24k walk-up fans into a 50k capacity stadium.
+++++++++++++++++++
And that’s why I think 13/14 season ticket money may partially be included in turnover. I can’t see where they get 5.2m from. its too high for hospitality sales and ticket money. Av. attendance is stated as 39k and 38k were season ticket holders. They state its from season ticket sales, but don’t actually say which season – they avoid the point.
I kind of ignored it as its a moot point anyway. The fact is there is 10m cash left, 1m owed in liabilties and just about no income coming in to cover the 2.5m monthly expenses from now on.
I’m trying to to see past the accounts issue to likely future events. Well done to those who have ploughed through the figures and summarised them for us.
TRFC are spilling cash left right and centre. They have only maintained their ‘life’ by borrowing handsomely from RIFC on business plan akin to the Captain of the Titanic ordering more speed. At present RIFC are essentially the only creditor apart from Close brother who basically have an HP charge on the pie ovens! As someone said RIFC (whoever the new CG is, I’ve totally lost track) could put the ‘the club’ in admin tomorrow if they so wished. All projections appear to show that even if they don’t put them in admin then they (RIFC) run out of cash by next May and possibly sooner.
From a footballing point of view one can only assume that they are aiming for a 26 point surplus by this time. Step forward CO with a 25 point deduction and they’re back where they belong, nearly, give or take a division! Then, drammatic cost cutting presumably under a blue knight buy out. What the bearz could do with at that point would be some sort of scenario whereby a top 4 in the 1st div, where remember bigger and better boys play (and that’s no disrespect to the stenny’s etc) earned them some sort of step up. If only a restructure like that had been mooted eh!
From a business’ point of view where do RIFC go from here? Someone mooted 40-50m for Ibrox and MP. Why? TRFC will face a simple choice. Sign the sale and leaseback deal thus writing off the 16m debt or, alternatively, don’t and face the consequences. Why would RIFC pay more? because Delloittes say its worth 40? Please! Yesterday proved, or at least out figures to the fact that RIFC hold all the aces, and all the face cards too! More than ever the bearz really, really need to know who RIFC are and what their intentions are.
Oh, and just on the footballing discussion. Players like Naymar react the way they do because to not react is to allow players like Brown to continue to do the things they do unchecked. In Scotland we have chosen not to go down that route (get up ya big f*nny etc etc). How well is that working out for us?
When itnowoldandgrumpy says:
October 2, 2013 at 8:17 am
Apart from running up invoices, does anyone know what BDO are doing?
==============================================================
I would hope the deep silence means they are doing something which could end-up with serious consequences for a number of individuals who have been involved in ‘The Great Game’.
stevensanph says:
October 2, 2013 at 10:14 am
torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
———————————————————————–
WRT your matchday income figures,I agree this looks very high.
Last season an average ticket was around £12,£2 of this being VAT.
At an income of £288k per game,that would equate to sales of 24,000 tickets.(around £864k vat over the season not available to club).
Now I’m no mathematician but even I know that you can’t get 38k ST holders and 24k walk-up fans into a 50k capacity stadium.
+++++++++++++++++++
And that’s why I think 13/14 season ticket money may partially be included in turnover. I can’t see where they get 5.2m from. its too high for hospitality sales and ticket money. Av. attendance is stated as 39k and 38k were season ticket holders. They state its from season ticket sales, but don’t actually say which season – they avoid the point.
I kind of ignored it as its a moot point anyway. The fact is there is 10m cash left, 1m owed in liabilties and just about no income coming in to cover the 2.5m monthly expenses from now on.
=======================================
Last season,IIRC, we were bombarded with claims of “Wurrild Reckird” attendances,biggest derbies etc.Now we’re told the average was 39k.Obviously someone at ibrox is not very good with figures.
If these official figures are replicated between now and new year than matchday ticket sales would be in the region of £10k per game!Not enough to pay Ally never mind anything else.
Opinion seems to be that insolvency would occur around January but if these figs were right(and we don’t know) then they could bust anytime.
ecobhoy says:
October 2, 2013 at 10:13 am
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“… once CF was up and rolling then others would see her usefulness as a conduit and feed her material and there have been more than enough warring factions at Ibrox to keep her very busy .”
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Bravo eco, plenty of width and very little flannel 🙂
The point above could well explain a few things. A find Goldstein’s dismissal of Charlotte Fakes as an irrelevant PR stunt, not credible.
A sly kick when he’s down?
Never mind, Mr Neymar. i’m sure you’ll soon return to your rightful place at the top of Scottish football … no … wait a minute …
Danish Pastry says:
October 2, 2013 at 10:04 am
But my basic problem with Spanish football is with the unresolved doping cases not to mention the shameless financial doping I’ve read about.
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Financial doping, eh? Rings a few bells here in bonny Scotland.
Tragically, and thanks to the SFA for this, we Scots are in no position to lecture any other country on corruption in their game. Those tasked with protecting the integrity of our game see sporting integrity as an inconvenient obstacle to their money-making schemes (which, by the way, they are grossly incompetent at). These proven failures have allowed the integrity of our national game to be dragged down to below the level of your average tin-pot banana republic.
A team pays its players huge sums without declaring them to the SFA. A mere technicality, here’s a fine that will never be paid. All results involving those players stand. A player is caught systematically betting on the results of games he plays in- the response? Naughty boy, see you don’t get caught again. The president of the SFA is in receipt of a substantial “loan”, courtesy of a member club. The corruption is breathtaking, but is there a problem? Apparently not.
And the collective response of our clubs? Another 2 years in post for the esteemed Ogilvie, plus huge pay rises to Regan and Doncaster for “a job well done”. Can there be a more corrupt football set-up anywhere in the world? I truly feel that all the money that I have pumped into Scottish football over a lifetime was obtained from me by deception and under a false prospectus. In my simplicity I thought I was watching a clean sport. I wasn’t.
Would posters mind taking their post-match analysis elsewhere?
Some good work by posters re the future burn rate at Ibrox.
What I am not clear on is if the calcs include the Puma and Blackthorn sponsorship money and the potential income from the sales of the new strips which only went on sale at the end of June. That may buy them a bit more time until the cash runs out.
There is also the possibility of selling instead of buying at the January transfer window.
Not sure who be worth much other than Lee Wallace. I’d expect to see him move on to an English club to help with the cash flow.
It is clear that some input of cash will be required at some point. However as discussed the other day with the right people in charge I reckon there will be enough Rangers men out there willing to put in a few million that would be required to get them to the end of the season.
Also expect a big hike in next years season tickets if they are still on the go..
Re the sending off last night.
It is sheer stupidity in that kind of arena, against a top class European side to give the ref any reason to send you off.
There were some tasty tackles flying about later on and I think Celtic were lucky not to have potentially lost Ambrose, Izaguirre or both.
While play acting cannot be condoned, neither can petulance or reckless play.
As a spectacle, the game was awful until Celtic made their second half changes.
Celtic playing 6 defenders, two in midfield, was more a circumstantial necessity than a tactical epiphany.
For all Celtics imported potential, its disappointing that our home grown players still value macho posturing above skill and hard work.
Smugas says:
October 2, 2013 at 10:17 am
At present RIFC are essentially the only creditor apart from Close brother who basically have an HP charge on the pie ovens!
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Don’t forget the £1.5 million owed to SportsDirect through the Rangers Retail Ltd draw-down facility. Of course that’s in-house in a way. But that draw-down facility debt is secured on property owned/leased by TRFCL according to the joint agreement between Rangers and TRFCL.
So if the draw-down facility has been used there should be a charge appearing on TRFCL owned/leased property one would have thought.
I wonder if the Albion and Edmiston House purchases are still under the TRFCL banner or whether they are in another subsidiary. The Albion is obviously a cash-cow on match days for readies from car parking. So I would see that as a prime candidate for hiving-off.
As to Edmiston House it would be cheaper to demolish and rebuild IMO than try to convert and refurbish but either way where is the money going to come from to do it?
And then there is the curious Pinsent List investigation which appears to be pre-IPO investors/shareholders who have become antsy because they paid above the 70p share flotation price. We already know that Alan Mackenzie from Oz looks to have taken a £300K bath and we know there are others so how much are they claiming for?
And I don’t remember seeing that specifically mentioned in the accounts signed by a unknown hand – perhaps what says it all about this club is that the accounts have to be signed anonymously.
Of course we know that Laxeys were in the same boat but unlike Alan Mackenzie who is only a life-long Bear who made good and seems to have been ignored trying to claw-back his £300k all Laxeys did was get Green to agree to transfer some of his shares to them – without anyone including AIM knowing about it until much later – to make-up the loss they had suffered between the £1 a share they paid and ther 70p flotation price. I could never understand why Laxeys were ‘paid’ from Green’s shares – why didn’t these shares come from the company.
But who was the ‘company’ at the time and who were the shareholders? We still don’t know because a complete Annual Return has yet to be filed for TRFCL and nothing has been filed for Sevco 5088 Ltd.
Stevensanph
Torrejohnbhoy.
Thanks for doing the donkey work and stripping out the chaff.
I will have to revisit the business case to make adjustments and the analysis sure helps.
Like you both I raised an eyebrow at match day income. I do not have the file before me but I do know I restricted the total attendees to the average attendances over a season but there may be ups and downs elsewhere.
However I am getting the impression that the end result after changes will still be the same. A club with huge overheads, some fixed that cannot be reduced and others that can be but might in turn reduce income even further.
Rock and a hard place.
Brenda says:
October 2, 2013 at 9:38 am
Then there’s the pay for all those now signed up fully registered ‘trialists’
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there is no such thing as a ”free” player and as all these trialists were registered after the date of the accounts then any costs involved would still to be come off money in the bank?
I think they brought in 12 players, I would assume as they were all freedom of contract then their agents would have negotiated at least a high enough signing on fee to cover costs/fees involved selling/buying a new house, relocation costs and a bit in pocket.
Most of these guys were not earning big money before so I would think it certain that part of their deal was a decent signing on fee ( that they would have got from any club they signed for)
On top of that NO agent works for free, and all of these 12 players agents would all have demanded a their agents fees, legal costs for getting their players the biggest contracts of their careers.
Someone would have had to pay the agents fees and players costs and that would have been Rangers and for 12 players you must be looking at a combined cost of circa 1million? imo