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.
http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/5213-board-statement
Well the gloves are well and truly off with this attack on Malcolm Murray and his dismissal of Mather’s comments about him over wages.
They are really tearing themselves apart and I keep wondering why. Why would Craig Mather walk away from what appeared to be a successful business empire to join Rangers on a paltry salary – in Rangers terms – and put-up with all the crap.
What is keeping him at Ibrox? And I just don’t buy the love of the club line if that’s what it is although I do get a bit worried about someone who appears to have spent a lot of his life in England and America, if I remember correctly, parachuting into Scotland and start gibbering about Rangers ‘Taking its Rightful Place’.
I was born here and have lived a good portion of my life here and I have never ever figured out what that phrase actually means ❗
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Allyjambo says:
October 3, 2013 at 5:21 pm
4 0 Rate This
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Haud oan Ally, there’s a big Goldstein revelation coming up tomorrow. I, for one, can’t wait.
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Well I hope he doesn’t bliddy well delete it five minutes after posting it. I’m afraid I blinked and missed all of today’s wisdom 🙂
It appears the Rangers board are not impressed with Malcolm Murray’s latest
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THE Board of Rangers Football Club takes serious issue with grossly misleading statements made to certain Scottish newspapers by the club’s former chairman Mr Malcolm Murray.
Mr Murray claimed in an interview that Ibrox Chief Executive Craig Mather’s assertion that he (Murray) decided the controversial levels of executive salaries at the club was “misleading and vexatious.”
Mr Murray also claimed he “joined the Board on the recommendation of the institutions to instil a high level of corporate governance at Rangers.”
These are the facts:
Mr Murray was appointed by Charles Green on June 14 2012 to Sevco Scotland (now Rangers Football Club Ltd). There were no institutions in the Club then. The Club IPO was on December 19 2012 so it is grossly inaccurate to say Mr Murray was put there by said institutions to oversee corporate governance.
Mr Murray proposed Craig Mather to the board.
Mr Murray agreed Brian Stockbridge’s salary and bonus.
Mr Murray agreed Mr Green’s salary and bonus.
Mr Murray negotiated Mr Green’s compromise agreement and signed it off.
Mr Murray was removed from the Pinsent Masons investigation by the board after leaking information to a third party.
The Board of Rangers Football Club are appalled and saddened at the current demeanour of Mr Malcolm Murray and the damage that he is causing to the Club and regard his behaviour as totally unbefitting a once respected practitioner in the City of London’s financial community.
dedeideoprofundis says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:05 pm
So with squirrels exit stage left, what’s the next act in the saga?
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SOS – Sons of Squirrel 👿
TSFM says:
October 3, 2013 at 5:48 pm
5 1 Rate This
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You’ve done him a favour. He’s very busy, doesn’t like football, and gives the impression he thinks we’re all as thick as pig s***. I reckon it’s a burden lifted from his shoulders. Perhaps he’ll start a twitter account. ‘Goldstein Fakes’ has a certain ring about it, although Goldsteinballs might be better.
TSFM says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:12 pm
I paraphrase, but in essence.
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There was a new law thing brought in, it was about 2003 and it changed the rules.
Craig Whyte could have done stuff based on that new law.
I really don’t know why people are ignoring this. It’s really obvious.
I’ll write words of wisdom, and get them posted by next Friday … if I feel like it at the time.
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It’s a shame you missed it. You could have learned a lot.
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:16 pm
TSFM says:
October 3, 2013 at 5:48 pm
5 1 Rate This
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You’ve done him a favour. He’s very busy, doesn’t like football, and gives the impression he thinks we’re all as thick as pig s***. I reckon it’s a burden lifted from his shoulders. Perhaps he’ll start a twitter account.
‘Goldstein Fakes’ has a certain ring about it, although Goldsteinballs might be better.
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In my opinion, you are right on the money – if you are saying what I think you are saying 🙂
The emergence of Goldstein – and certain other posters – suggests déjà vu all over again. 😕
Tif Finn says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:18 pm
TSFM says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:12 pm
I paraphrase, but in essence.
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Your paraphrasing has adequately filled me in. Thanks!
Perhaps Goldstein isn’t CtH ……… No strike that 🙂
Is Goldstein not away to undertake a maintenance contract somewhere in an accountants office, whilst doing this important work I’m pretty sure he/she will get an 💡 or a sneak peek at important documents lying about or overhear highly sensitive conversations through an ajar door. Does that sound about right?
Someone on Sportsound just said that the Ranger accounts included one off payments for “coming out of liquidation”.
Anyone know who said it? I missed the beginning of the show so don’t even know who is on tonight.
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Charles Green and his associates
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 3:56 pm
9 1 Rate This
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Goldstein says:
October 3, 2013 at 3:29 pm.
Proof of this, real hard evidence, really exists in time and space. I had hoped to present it hear in the next 9 days but that will not be necessary.
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What about the stuff you are going to reveal tomorrow? Is that still in the pipeline? Yours in bluster
Patisserie Danoise
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Hear Hear or is that Here Here Oh well there’s a surprise. However one thing that Ibrox has in common with ‘ time and space’ is that both have ever expanding Black Holes
Just as well the Boss Moderator on RM has solved the riddle of the missing £5.7 million Black Hole in Rangers’ Accounts. Turns out it’s all down to Charlie but don’t panic because it’s only a paper transaction and the money isn’t actually not there – it’s still there. Somewhere in Ibrox there lurks a stuffed warchest apparently. Probably stuffed with deads squirrels right enough.
I usually refrain from posting an RM link but this one is worth a read – I promise you it’s much more hilarious than goldstein.
http://forum.rangersmedia.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=259564
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nearly spat ma tea oot when I read this bit
. . .it is to do with TAX. . .not ‘our’ problem !!!
TSFM says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:22 pm
2 1 Rate This
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I’m just trying to see the funny side of it, but I can see what you mean squire, nudge, nudge, say no more.
Tif Finn says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:14 pm
It appears the Rangers board are not impressed with Malcolm Murray’s latest
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From what Murray stated earlier today he wasn’t chair of the RIFC Plc Remuneration Committee but Cartmell was and he apparently couldn’t get a meeting of it called despite efforts to do so according to Murray.
It might have been more instructive if Rangers could confirm if any director voted against the wages and I have serious doubts if any of them did,
It also pre-supposes that readers of the statement have no grasp of the reality of what happens on any company board. A chair is as capable of counting a handful of heads as any other director. I doubt if Murray was ever in a position to outvote the Green faction on the Board or the popular front which followed.
He couldn’t even win the vote to save himself. But he did love his club I believe and as chairman of a Plc that means you allow unanimous votes to be arrived at to prevent needless damage to the share price with signs of Board splits.
As to speaking to a third party – could that have been the Nomad and stockbroker Cenkos. If that is the case then does that mean the chairman of an AIM company who might have concerns shouldn’t discuss them with the Nomad?
So Rangers FC are appalled and saddened at the current demeanour of Mr Malcolm Murray – I would add that I was not only appalled and saddened but sickened at the behaviour of his then fellow director Brian Stockbridge and his video nasty which surfaced publicly.
I object to being labelled as a squirrel!
Fair enough some say that a lot of what has been discussed is ‘historical’, but don’t forget we have two very important cases coming up which just may lay quite a lot bare.
Firstly, there is the Collyer case, and secondly, Whyte’s appeal v Ticketus.
I like putting two and two together. More often than not, I end up with something quite different from four, but the recent movement on the supposedly irrelevant Rangers FC Group and Liberty Corporate, combined with the emergence of Goldstein’s theory, got the old ticker a bit heated. I thought to myself, is Mr Whyte pottering about in the background filing his forms, awaiting these cases to be heard?
I am sorry if I wasted your time for now, although I’m certain we’ll be discussing it again in the not too distant future.
Bartin
rantinrobin says:
I miss the straightalking,honest brokerage of RangersTax Case.
RTC ,if you are out there,I am sure I speak for all on TSFM,any contributions would be gratefully accepted.You are sorely missed.
My thumb is up for your return
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I’m sure RTC is on here under another name (not me obviously) 😆
From CQN. . .
Sep Blatter hoped that Fifa would today ratify moving the 2022 World Cup, which will take place in Qatar, to the (i.e. Europe’s) winter months, however, that looks unlikely to happen. Fifa are split on the matter while Uefa president, Michel Platini, is keener to focus today’s meeting on the working conditions of migrant workers based in Qatar.
Right now Fifa have no grounds to withdraw the award of the World Cup hosting rights from Qatar, the award was made in full knowledge of the country’s climate. The treatment of migrant workers could change this. Fifa can insist that World Cup preparations do not expose workers to undue risk or inappropriate conditions. If Qatar cannot deliver within acceptable working practices the basis for legal grounds to withdraw the award has been established.
I wouldn’t book tickets for Qatar just yet.
[]
I’m curious as to who gave the £2.5m personal guarantee to lend Rangers International money, noted in their accounts this week. This is as big a financial commitment anyone has made to the Newco in some time.
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I dunno Goldstein was uber clever sounding. He really minded me of Jim Traynor (remember him)
Goldstein . … Who ? Why ? Where from ?
Here’s the answer
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Goldstein
Let’s talk accounts, then, and forget all that other rubbish that doesn’t matter.
Might Scott Murdoch be facilitating the £2.5m loan ‘facility’?
Just heard on SSB and BBCSportsound that the home game for Sevco V Dunfermline was postponed due to Sevco having Lee Wallace in the Scotland squad and a couple of under 21’s involved in Scotland set up..
Both stations joked and laughed at the farcical nature of this game being called off. The 2 stations agreed to a man it was very convenient to be called off as this was the last home game before AGM and a huge protest against the board was a certainty to take place.
Surely sevco fans can also acknowledge this and see what the board are up to, will they now organize a protest of their own outside Ibrox?
No point asking the thoughts of the SFA on this matter.
Be as well asking Campbell Ogilvie how many wild squirrels roam the streets of Govan and the streets of Mount Florida?
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:45 pm
Firstly, there is the Collyer case, and secondly, Whyte’s appeal v Ticketus.
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If I remember correctly Ticketus successfully sued Whyte because he lied on the forms when he made the arrangement with them.
Specifically the bit about being a disqualified director. They successfully argued that they would never have done the deal had he told the truth, which seems likely. He is appealing that decision, I have no idea what his grounds are.
I don’t see how that is relevant to anything else which is going on. He simply lied on a form and got money on the strength of that lie. I believe, but stand to be corrected, that this is a personal matter between Whyte and Ticketus.
Which “Collyer case” are you talking about.
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Let’s talk accounts, then, and forget all that other rubbish that doesn’t matter.
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That’s just being silly, no-one said anything even remotely like that.
Bartin Main
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Scott Murdoch is against the current board . Why would he dig them out of a hole. Plus , He’s not a particularly wealthy man. Paul Murray level . No crime in that , but he was a blue knight and we know their pockets weren’t deep
Which Collyer case?
It’s BDO’s case v Collyer due to be heard before the end of the year. This one
http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/market-analysis/practice-areas/litigation-analysis/cohen-and-stephen-liquidators-of-rangers-fc-and-ors-v-collyer-bristow/1016288.article
As for Whyte v Ticketus, his proposed appeal was allowed to proceed, permission was granted on 15 Sep to do so
Do you guys seriously think Charlotte Fakes had nothing to do with Whyte manoeuvring, specifically his appeal v Ticketus?
RFC’s* new PR approach….
“Aye, ye did!”
“Naw, ah didnae!”
http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/289-terminological-inexactitude
I have read the above article and am fascinated by the change in tone from Chris Graham – he actually sounds sensible so I’ll assume someone else wrote it for him. Whoever did has really ticked the boxes in terms of the financial black hole that Rangers is staring into.
And they appear to have well-rumbled Mather and Stockbridge.
Anyone with a log in to FF will be able to see the thread here http://forum.followfollow.com/showthread.php?p=20422978 that talks about Whyte being allowed to appeal the Ticketus judgement.
But it’s historical, it doesn’t matter. And neither seemingly does the Collyer case which is regarded as one of the top twenty cases of the year http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/market-analysis/practice-areas/litigation-analysis/the-top-20-cases-2013/1016041.article
There’s the ball.
The massive wage bill for non playing staff is clearly funding the huge team that TRFC employ to issue daily ‘statements’.
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:05 pm
I have read the above article and am fascinated by the change in tone from Chris Graham – he actually sounds sensible so I’ll assume someone else wrote it for him. Whoever did has really ticked the boxes in terms of the financial black hole that Rangers is staring into.
And they appear to have well-rumbled Mather and Stockbridge.
********
Combined with Leggat’s recent improvement style (and less references to his granny), maybe there has been a press course recently for all involved parties – or all the various PR companies are finally earning their vast fees.
Barcabhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Goldstein . … Who ? Why ? Where from ?
Here’s the answer http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Goldstein
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I thought he was steerpike from scotslawthoughts or imran ahmad although they aren’t mutually exclusive and neither, of course, is Emmanuel 😆
Now I know Ecobhoy is well aware of the relevance of the Collyer case especially, seeing as he mentioned it in a recent blog he did for Paul.
But there’s probably nothing in it as to why Ellis was terminated as a director from the irrelevant Rangers FC Group- I’m just an idiot squirrel who’s only been posting about Rangers and Sevco for three years.
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:45 pm
0 2 Rate This
I object to being labelled as a squirrel!
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Well, look at it this way, it’s better than ‘cock rubbers’. Really SirMartin. If you call us at TSFM cock rubbers on twitter again people might refer to you as Fartin Pain 😆
Sep Blatter hoped that Fifa would today ratify moving the 2022 World Cup
but did he ask ally??
With Sevco releasing their accounts and showing that all in garden is not Rose I pondered who currently is offering Sevco a credit line ?
If I was currently supplying anything to Ibrox I would seriously be concerned. Surely those who were previously stung are not back in there. There will of course be the police, the council etc but I’m thinking more on those who sevco regularly purchase goods and services on tick
That was maybe a bit harsh but I speak from the heart. Any opinion on here that does not fit gets ridiculed. No one has given me an explanation yet as to why there has been recent movement on Rangers FC Group and Liberty Corporate, and you are all clearly too busy patting each other on the backs to realise the significance of these two massive cases looming, and their potential relevance to Charlotte Fakes.
No doubt a banning order will be in place next from the Gestapo but more foll you all. You’re looking at the wrong squirrel.
Araminta Moonbeam QC says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:08 pm
The massive wage bill for non playing staff is clearly funding the huge team that TRFC employ to issue daily ‘statements’.
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And don’t forget those apparently toiling in boiler-room style operations on mainly Rangers fan sites and especially on RM where they are desperately trying to retain a bridgehead against marauders from FF and elsewhere.
But such are the vagaries of a civil war that even the RM Brigade have no truck with McMurdo whose swallowing of the succulent lamb has reached epic proportiosn or should that be portions. The shambles reminds me of a strange story R D Laing recounted after an anatomy dissection class lost the plot and started pelting each other with bits of their assigned bodies.
In the middle of the chaos the Anatomy Professor walked in and roared at them: ‘How the Hell are this lot going to get themselves sorted out for the Great Day of Judgement’.
I fear there are definite parallels with the current Rangers scenario except the Day of Judgement is more imminent.
Can I just say that I am really offended at the Fartin Pain moniker. A real low blow. I hope you are proud of yourself, Mr Pastry.
But I might use it.
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Let’s talk accounts, then, and forget all that other rubbish that doesn’t matter.
Might Scott Murdoch be facilitating the £2.5m loan ‘facility’?
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I would say D King, I was told many months ago by a season ticket holder that the last man standing would be King.
He’s been very quiet lately.
Bartin,I check out your twitter page when I can find you,you have more aliases than George Smiley.
Love it. keep it up.
has anyone read this nonsense ? lies lies and more lies 😥
http://www.rangersinternationalfootballclub.com/shareholder-centre/business-overview
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:17 pm
That was maybe a bit harsh but I speak from the heart. Any opinion on here that does not fit gets ridiculed. No one has given me an explanation yet as to why there has been recent movement on Rangers FC Group and Liberty Corporate, and you are all clearly too busy patting each other on the backs to realise the significance of these two massive cases looming, and their potential relevance to Charlotte Fakes.
No doubt a banning order will be in place next from the Gestapo but more foll you all. You’re looking at the wrong squirrel.
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Bartin, it seems what’s good for the goose etc doesn’t work with you. Your sudden registration on the site and re-appearance right after that of Goldstein will lead many of us to believe (rightly or wrongly) that you as enthusiastic about Goldstein as you were about CtH when she first appeared.
Your categorised this blog’s general scepticism in the face of CtH as some kind of treasonous act.
Today it appears you’ve been championing the Goldstein cause (and Charlotte bashing as vociferously as you advocated her way back then when you excluded yourself).
We are happy to see anyone come on here and post their views, but if there were no scrutiny of those views, I guess you would be (correctly) contemptuous of that.
As long as everyone is respectful, the “Gestapo” won’t be crashing your pad at 4.00am. You are very welcome here, but you surely must understand that folk are asking, “why now – after your terminal disposition of the blog’s credentials”?
Cock Robin (sp)
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:17 pm
That was maybe a bit harsh but I speak from the heart. Any opinion on here that does not fit gets ridiculed. No one has given me an explanation yet as to why there has been recent movement on Rangers FC Group and Liberty Corporate, and you are all clearly too busy patting each other on the backs to realise the significance of these two massive cases looming, and their potential relevance to Charlotte Fakes.
No doubt a banning order will be in place next from the Gestapo but more foll you all. You’re looking at the wrong squirrel.
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Tbh I would suggest that if you believe this site is run by Gestapo then you should seriously consider your own position by posting on it.
But you are becoming a little precious so let me explain something to you. If you think you have come under fierce attack then might I suggest that you go back and see the angst I have generated on here on several issues but probably most vociferously on the ‘continuing club’ debate.
You appear to want to direct the debate here – well that won’t happen. If you have an interest in the two subjects you have mentioned then do a bit of work and do a couple of separate posts outlining your thoughts and theories.
Then if people are interested they will respond. But many issues have been done to death here so unless you present a fresh way of looking at them or new information then you might not get much of a response. That’s just the way this Board works and so do most others I post or have posted on.
On a more personal note while I post on a site I refrain from publicly attacking Moderation decisions and if I believe they are wrong – whether affecting myself or others – I quit the site and go elsewhere. And I do that without any public comment and I only return if I think things have changed although that seldom happens.
I’m not suggesting you follow my example but I’m trying to get across to you that there are many different posters on here and many of us find that by working together rather than continually creating waves we can complement each other’s strengths and as a whole achieve more than individually.
Of course strong-minded posters can always blow fuses or get bees in their bonnet but sometimes even out of that we get to learn more or derive new perspectives.
Tic 6709
I heard from a very good source- a journalist at a daily Scottish tabloid- that King has no intention of’ ‘investing’. What he wants to do, if he can, is pick up the assets at a song.
He’ll not be buying shares- he’s a vulture, hoping for some easy pickings. In that sense, he might be the last man standing- but only if there’s another insolvency event first.
Like everyone else, he is positioning himself and his comments about administration by Christmas should not go unheeded, especially when you consider his track record for predicting insolvency events.
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:17 pm
0 0 Rate This
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From one cock rubber to another, I don’t think you are right about people being ridiculed for alternative views. Goldstein’s posts were expertly written to say nothing, while at the same time lampooning (ridiculing, if you will) TSFM and particularly ecobhoy. I could refer you back but he’s deleted a few . It takes quite a bit of effort to say nothing while asserting that you’re giving expert commentary. I’m afraid he invited the reaction he got. Almost as if he wanted to get that reaction, certainly distracted discussion from everything else. I’m amazed that you found his posts so enlightening.
And why talk about banning orders? Perhaps you want to be banned? It would certainly back up that Gestapo jibe. Why not just contribute without trying to provoke?
Just caught up,I have been reading Bartin Main’s stuff for a long time on twitter,and the last thing I would call him is a squirrel (in the context of this blog).
We should not be getting too personal with the comments to people who are adding to the information highway.
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:11 pm
If you call us at TSFM cock rubbers on twitter again people might refer to you as Fartin Pain 😆
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Surely that is a contradiction in terms 👿
BartinMain says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:08 pm
There’s the ball.
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Well play it ❗
You ain’t team captain so you can’t direct what the masses on here are going to do in fact even the team captain isn’t daft enough to try that 😆
Bartin ,Would a small investment of £2.5mill. to tide the clumpany over not earn you some brownie points when,if as you say,he’s waiting to pick the clumpany for as little as possible.
He could be looked at as the man who kept the roof on when everybody else is stripping the wallpaper.
I like squirrel’s, but I wonder if this new resident squirrel is alluding to Whyte’s game of cups with the floating charge.
It goes back to the decidedly dodgy Merchant House Group, another unfortunate finance firm with aspects regulated by the City which appears to have fallen on hard times.
Its subsidiary, Merchant Corporate Recovery, has called in the liquidators. But there appears to be a rather odd statement in the last laughable Merchant House Group accounts from the auditor outlining an adverse opinion relating to Merchant Corporate Recovery arising from a disagreement about the accounting treatment of a non-consolidated investment.
Adverse opinions are rare, but not so much for firms who accept Craig Whyte’s shillings. Also a bit odd the auditors managed to file accounts for Merchant House Group without the annual results from Merchant Corporate Recovery Plc, which had also failed to file an annual return (overdue as of 27 Feb 2013) and accounts were overdue as of 15 March 2013.
Liberty Capital, called Clarity Callback when Merchant Corporate Recovery was first set up in 2006, owned the share capital in Merchant Corporate Recovery along with group. Its first transaction was Countryliner Group, which Whyte and Phil Betts were directors in.
Another company which went through Merchant Corporate Recovey was LM Logistics, again with Whyte and Betts in driving seat positions.
Not sure the creditors in either were entirely happy with the outcome of their involvement.
Betts was also involved in Merchant Turnaround, which has a £1m claim outstanding for money it says its owed by oldco Rangers.
Another intriguing part of the Merchant House Group involvement is the infamous introduction facilitated by Betts between Whyte and Sir David Murray in which one of the Cadbury heirs was reported to have vouched for Whyte. That would be George Cadbury, director of asset management of Merchant Capital Ltd.
Hugh Fleming, who set up Whyte’s company Cairnwell Investments, listed by Pritchard Stockbrokers as a connected company, was company secretary of Merchant Capital Ltd.
Cairnwell Investments company secretary was Liberty Corporate, and Cairnwell owned a 37% stake in Merchant Corporate Recovery.
Fleming has held directorships in 33 dissolved companies. He was also company secretary to Merchant House Group.
Liberty Corporate was also company secretary to Tixway UK, which featured in Mazars special administrators report as having provided guarantees of £846,000 to Pritchard Stockbrokers.
Another interesting figure in the Mazars report is an undated £250,000 guarantee provided to Pritchard Stockbrokers by Tixway, which was for ‘other sundry debts’.
Aiden Early also features in the Mazars report, who owed Pritchard £14,900 personally and his company, C4E Group owed Pritchard nearly £220,000.
The Mazars report states Pritchard never called in the guarantees from Tixway, despite some of its debtors being either insolvent or dissolved.
The dissolved company referred to was Merchant Corporate Ltd, which was dissolved in 2009 for, surprise surprise, failing to file accounts. It owed Pritchard more than £600,000.
Perhaps Liberty Corporate, given the attention it was drawing, is the wrong cup after all.
Barcabhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Goldstein . … Who ? Why ? Where from ?
Here’s the answer http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Goldstein
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Indeed. 😕
When I read a lot of the posts here, I often have to re-read them, just to get a good grasp of their meaning. This is helped by replies and comments to said posts by other contributors, where the subject then becomes clearer and I get a better understanding.
That doesn’t happen with Goldstien’s posts. It feels like his posts are intended to cause confusion not clarification, which inevitably leads me to one conclusion. If I’m right, then it maybe due to what is afoot in spiv world and it might be a good idea to keep the people on here distracted.
Thanks Barca. Shields Up!
TSFM says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:38 pm
2 2 Rate This
Surely that is a contradiction in terms
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‘Fartin’ pain’ could be diagnosed as a pain in the arse, but that bit of humour was possibly too cryptic. Oops.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/rangers-charles-green-buys-castle-in-normandy-1-3124568
Keep repeating it often enough 🙁
Tic 6709 says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:47 pm
1 0 Rate This
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Maybe Mr Green still has his ‘mugs-with-money’ radar switched on. Didn’t he recently mention how he had a lot of time for King because all he got for his investment was the blazer and tie. Perhaps DK has unfinished business right enough, and CG wants to ‘help’ him?
The Board of Rangers Football Club are appalled and saddened at the current demeanour of Mr Malcolm Murray and the damage that he is causing to the Club and regard his behaviour as totally unbefitting a once respected practitioner in the City of London’s financial community.
Good grief. Are they really paying someone to produce drivel like that?
Wouldn’t surprise me if the culprit is actually quite pleased with it.
Laughable.
Don’t think this has been posted earlier
3 October 2013
Rangers International Football Club plc
Change of Rule 26 Website
The Company announces that information disclosed by the Company pursuant to AIM Rule 26 is now available from the website http://www.rangersinternationalfootballclub.com.
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:59 pm
He had links with Craig Whyte, of that there is no doubt.
If they are suggesting that an internal “investigation” has disproven said links then they are sadly mistaken.
AGM PDF
http://www.rangers.co.uk/images/staticcontent/documents/AGMNoticeLetter2013.pdf
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:12 pm
Personally I don’t think Dave King is anywhere near the (financial) force he used to be.
No cryptic hints or anything, I just believe his settlement with SARS must be costing an awful lot of money.
I know he is the new messianic figure for a lot of the Rangers’ support, that might not be as easy for him as some think.
Lack of action over the armed forces’ behaviour at Ibrox last week again highlights the flaws in legislation to tackle sectarianism, writes Michael Kelly
A really excellent article with lots of food for thought.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/michael-kelly-cry-foul-over-sectarianism-law-1-3122614
Q for the numerate: where does Neil Patey get the ‘burn rate’ figure of £600k per month? On £19m income and £34m costs? Please explain for the hard of understanding….
http://www.rangersinternationalfootballclub.com/
Rangers International Football Club PLC
This is the website for Rangers International Football Club plc, the holding company of The Rangers Football Club. The Official website for The Rangers Football Club can be accessed at http://www.rangers.co.uk
The following information set out below is being disclosed for the purposes of Rule 26 of the AIM Rules for Companies:
Rangers International Football Club plc is a football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. Further information on the Company’s operations are detailed under Business Overview.
Brief biographies for the Directors of the Company and details of the Directors’ responsibilities and committees of the Board are detailed under Board & Management.
The Company is incorporated in Scotland with registration number SC 437060 and its main country of operation is Scotland.
The Company’s ordinary shares of 1 pence each are admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange plc (“AIM”), and are freely transferable. Details of the number of shares in issue, major shareholders and the percentage of shares that are not held in public hands are detailed under Share Information.
The Company’s Annual Report and Accounts and Interim Accounts are available at Reports & Accounts.
The Company’s press releases are detailed under Regulatory Announcements.
A directory of the Company’s key advisers, including the nominated adviser, is detailed under Advisers.
The Company’s prospectus and articles of association are available to be downloaded from Circulars & Admission Document.
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“Rangers International Football Club plc is a football club based in Glasgow, Scotland.”
Is it really, it must be a fairly new one then. Neither it or the Ltd Co it was formed from has been about very long.
There was me thinking it was a holding company which owned a new football club. Turns out it actually is the new football club.
Shirley not? 1872 (1899?) there must haver been a few before now…
“I have pleasure in sending you notice convening the first Annual General Meeting of the Company (“AGM”). ”
🙂
Tif Finn says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:20 pm
He had links with Craig Whyte, of that there is no doubt.
If they are suggesting that an internal “investigation” has disproven said links then they are sadly mistaken.
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The internal investigation “proved” absolutely nothing. What is said by RIFC is that it “found no evidence” of a link, or some such wording. That is hardly surprising, since I seem to recall (and correct me if I’m wrong) that Green, Ahmed and Whyte all refused to be interviewed or give evidence to the investigation. Heh Ho, another £600k of the IPO cash down the pan. Easy come, easy go. 🙄
Exiled Celt says:
October 3, 2013 at 7:09 pm
…
Combined with Leggat’s recent improvement style (and less references to his granny), maybe there has been a press course recently for all involved parties – or all the various PR companies are finally earning their vast fees.
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Well since you mentioned the man with the wee white bricks…
We have speculated that someone else has been ‘ghosting’ the Leggo blogs recently.
It’s now coherent, non-repetitive, and as you say – lacking in Granny references.
The dreadful RIFC accounts where accessible on Tuesday: possibly the biggest story regarding the Govan club for many months.
…but Leggo’s last blog post was on Tuesday morning – and no update as at above time.
So, is the person who usually writes the blog otherwise busy / preoccupied just now ?
‘The fans have a right to know his name’…etc
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:27 pm
AGM PDF
http://www.rangers.co.uk/images/staticcontent/documents/AGMNoticeLetter2013.pdf
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Looks as though more shares for sale – I wonder how many will go and how much will be raised and what dilution will take place? Perhaps tomorrow’s story 🙄
StevieBC says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:37 pm
Leggo only does his Blog posts on a Tuesday and Friday these days. I think his book writing is taking up most of his time.
Tif Finn says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:28 pm
1 0 Rate This
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No, can’t really see it either, seems like just too much trouble even if he did have a few extra bob, but it was Green’s mention of him that got me wondering. A stake in RIFC might be no too bad if RIFC gets the properties and just acts as landlord.
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:38 pm
1 0 Rate This
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:27 pm
AGM PDF
http://www.rangers.co.uk/images/staticcontent/documents/AGMNoticeLetter2013.pdf
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Looks as though more shares for sale – I wonder how many will go and how much will be raised and what dilution will take place? Perhaps tomorrow’s story
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I take it that was resolution 10? What was special resolution 9 about? Are both 9 & 10 technical talk for the same thing?
Danish Pastry says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:44 pm
To be worthwhile the landlord would have to have a long term tenant in mind. One which was a viable business which could afford to pay a decent rent.
I am told, vociferously and often, that Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park have very limited use which cannot be changed, so it really needs to be some sort of sporting club based in Glasgow as your tenant.
It’s a limited market you have there.
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:38 pm
Forgive my ignorance, will they definitely be ordinary shares.
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:38 pm
Why are they using the Logo of another company on their stationery ?
ecobhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 8:50 am
“The TRFCL minute continually refers to ‘directors’ of Sevco 5088 in the plural which sits uneasily with the claims that Green was the only director”
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A wee bit convoluted but full of good stuff and painting an increasingly recognisable picture of our current understanding of Sevco 5088/Scotland.
The piece doesn’t deserve my pedantry but the line above may not be as critical as you suspect. Might ‘Directors’ plural be a general use to recognise that the number of directors may fluctuate over time so employing the plural ‘Directors’ is a sensible default.
I became quite lost quite some time ago with regards all the financial goings on down Govan way. I presume that that was the intention. I am very impressed by those who appear to know what is really happening. Not so impressed by those who don’t know that they don’t what it’s all about. To make matters worse, I was away from the blog when someone who may or may not be called Charlotte appeared on the scene.
Perhaps someone can enlighten me – I am aware of what has happened in Coventry, they have to play their matches in Northampton (see this weeks Private Eye for a summary). Is the situation down Govan way similar to what happened in Coventry or is it totally different kettle of smelly fish? And is finding a new place to play on the cards for The Boys in Blue? Shouldn’t they be very worried and aware of the fate of the Coventry team and how it happened, how it relates to their present situation?
The £10m paid out other than football player salaries surely needs to be broken down especially as the board members were “only” paid £1.6m of this. I wonder if there are quite a few big hitters (ringers) who have come and gone in the 13 months. A quick calculation. If TRFC employ an average 150 non playing staff then it would mean that the average staff member is being paid £56k a year.