Over the past couple of years, we have built a healthy, vibrant and influential community which recognises the need to counter the corporate propaganda spouted by the mainstream media on behalf of the football authorities.
The media have, not entirely but in the main, been hostage to the patronage of those in charge of the club/media links, and to the narrow demographic of their readership. Despite a continuing rejection of the media’s position by that readership (in terms of year on year slump in sales) there is an obstinate refusal to see what is by now inevitable – the death of the print media. The lamb metaphor in fact ironically moving to the slaughter.
The football authorities in Scotland, once the country that gave the world the beautiful game, are rigid with fear that their own world will fall apart – because they are wedded to the idea that only one football match actually matters. To that end they will do whatever it takes to ensure that it continues. They have long since dispensed with the notion that football is an interdependent industry, and incredibly, even those who are not participants in that match follow like sheep towards the abattoir.
The argument is no longer that one club cheated and got away with it. The debate that we need to have is one about what is paramount in the eyes of the clubs and the media . Is it the inegrity of sporting endeavour, or box-office?
For out part, independent sites like this have accelerated the print media’s demise, and there have been temporary successes in persuading the clubs to uphold the spirit of sport. However our role has up to now been to cast a spotlight on the inaccuracies, inconsistencies and downright lies that routinely pass for news. News that is imagined up by PR agencies and dutifully copied by the lazy pretend-journalists who betray no thought whatsoever during the process.
Despite our successes, it really is not enough. We have the means at our disposal to do more, but do more we need to change ourselves, because the authorities sure as hell aren’t gonna.
We need to provide meaningful insight into the game that removes the Old Firm prism from the light path. We need to provide news that has covered all of the angles. We need to entertain, inform and energise fans of sport and all clubs.
We need to do that from a wholly independent perspective. None of this refusing to tell the truth about club allegiances. There is no reason why intelligent men and women can’t be objective in spite of their own allegiances (although the corollary absolutely holds true). Our experience of the MSM in this country is that the lack of arms-length principles in the media has corrupted it to such an extent that they barely recognise truth and objectivity. We need to be firm on those arms-length principles.
In order to do that we have put together a plan (with enough room to manoeuvre if required) as follows;
We will rebrand and re-launch as the Independent Sports Monitor. We have acquired the domains isMonitor.co.uk and IndependentSportsMonitor.co.uk, and those will be the main urls after the re-launch, hopefully later in the summer.
The change in name reflects the reality of our current debate which is not always confined to Scotland or football. It will also give us the option in future of applying the success of our model to other sports and jurisdictions through partner sites and blogs. This should also help in our efforts to raise funds in the future. However any expansion outwith the domain of Scottish football is some time away, and will depend on the success we have with the core model.
Our mission statement will be;
- ISM will seek to build a community of sports fans whose overarching aim is the integrity of competition in the sport.
- ISM will, without favour, seek to find objective truths on the conduct and administration of sport. We will avoid building relationships with individuals or organisations which would bring us into conflict with that.
- ISM will provide a platform for the views of ALL fans, and guarantee that those views will be heard in a mutually respectful environment.
- ISM will also endeavour to inform and entertain members on a wide range of topics related to our shared love of sport.
- ISM will seek to represent the views of sports fans to sporting authorities and hold the authorities to account.
We have estimated our (modest) costs to expand our role as per recent discussions. The expanded role will take the form of a new Internet Radio Channel where we hope to provide 24/7 content by the end of the year. It will also see a greater news role where we will engage directly with clubs and authorities to seek answers to our questions directly. And we will seek to contact the best fan sites across Scotland with a view to showcasing their content.
We have identified individuals who we want to work (initially on a part time basis) towards our objectives, we have identified premises where we want to conduct our business, and we hope to move into those premises during this summer.
To finance these plans there are a couple of stages;
- Initially (as soon as possible) we need to pay accommodation and hosting costs for the first year. To do so, we hope to appeal to the community itself. Our aim is to raise around £5000 by the end of August.
- There are salary costs (around £15,000) attached to our first year plan, but these have been underwritten by Big Pink, and equipment costs (est. £3000). These will be reimbursed if the advertising campaign we recently started bears any fruit (we will not know about that for a few months).
- It will not be too discouraging if we make losses in the first couple of years, so if necessary we will seek crowd-funding to finance our plans if the resources of the community itself prove inadequate to smooth a path to break-even point.
Our first year may be a perilous hand-to-mouth existence, but I am certain the journey will be an exciting and enjoyable one. We will also need to search our community resources for contacts at clubs; players, officials, ex-players, local journalists etc. Please get in touch if you have any in at your club.
We also hope to tap into the expertise of our community for advice, comment and analysis of developments, and we will be looking for any aspiring presenters, journalists, sound and video editors, graphic designers (and lots of others) to help us find our feet. Any offers of assistance would be gratefully accepted.
We mustn’t lose sight of why we are doing this. It is because we love our sport, because we want to be able to continue to call it that, and because the disconnect we find in Scottish football, that of the conflicting interests of the fans and the money men, will never be addressed as long as the fans are hopelessly split.
The ultimate goal is to allow sport – not our individual clubs – to triumph over the greed and corporate troglodyte-ism of those people who run it. I am confident that we as a community desperately want to be able to make a difference. That is why I am confident we can achieve our aim of becoming a significant player in the game.
mcfc says:
Member: (1447 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 11:05 pm
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Thanks for the explanation MCFC.
I can understand completely why the loaner would prefer cash rather than assets – I just wondered it Ryan’s suggestion that having security over assets might make taking legal action to secure the cash difficult or impossible.
But from what you have said having security over assets doesn’t preclude taking legal action to secure the cash (instead of the assets).
I will keep this in mind next time I’m seeking repayment of £x million
Football Fan says:
Member: (14 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 10:45 pm
How am I treating PMG as “an exception to this rule.”
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Because you have a closed mind to one journalist and this is called ” the special pleading defense” which is a logical fallacy.
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Explain please – you’re not making your case clearly. What is “this rule” and how am I making an exception in the case of PMG ?
Matty Roth says:
Member: (193 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 11:13 pm
Thanks for the explanation MCFC.
============================================================
It’s all about what you sign up for in a contract. The headline, public stuff in the retail agreement is diabolical – taking organs from a baby – so god only knows what is in the small print. Assume the worst you can possibly imagine and you might not be shocked. It’s a classic case of the man with money and no experience doing business with the man with experience and no money – there is an exchange of both. One gets the money – one gets the experience. But we’ve all done it when there is an imbalance of power – have you ever read the terms of a car hire contract or an airline ticket – but we agree to them blithely in the expectation that nothing bad will happen, so what’s the harm? But company directors are expected to be a bit more savvy in the interests of their shareholder. But remember some of there contracts were signed when the only shareholders were spivs – before the IPO.
Explain please – you’re not making your case clearly. What is “this rule” and how am I making an exception in the case of PMG ?
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It is called ” universality “,all journalists should be tested the same,but you exempt Phil on purely subjective grounds which is what universality is supposed to prevent.
RyanGosling says: June 25, 2015 at 9:57 pm
Until the rebranding, the tag line of this site is “The Scottish Football Monitor: Asking the questions the media won’t ask”
With regard to the above, I’d like to ask a couple of questions, one leading on to the next.
1) Do Rangers have retail contracts which benefit parties other than Rangers?
2) Do said contracts have a (frankly ridiculous) seven year notice period?
3) the question above all questions, which informs us all as to whether Rangers are in fact being run in any way, whether well or badly; given that said retail contracts, using information in the public domain, are demonstrably beneficial to parties other than Rangers and are subject to a seven year notice period for cancellation, has notice been given?
I repeat, has notice been given?
The parties in charge of Rangers now have been there for a period of months. If the contract is so bad, notice must have been given immediately. If it wasn’t, what is written into the contract that is so bad that notice can’t be given?
==================================
You can repeat that argument for what happened nine years ago with the JJB deal.
1) Another party (JJB) was benefiting from Rangers retail operations
2) The contract length was ten years and not seven
3) The contract was viewed at the time as being a short term judicious action because it helped reduce a pressing debt situation, but in actuality was not in Rangers medium to long term interests.
The 2005, 2006 and 2007 accounts for RFC demonstrate this.
In 2005 Rangers reported Retail income as £20.7M with no information on costs.
In 2006 Rangers retail income was £17.9M,again with no indication of costs, although these were revealed in the following year’s accounts as discontinued operational costs of £12.4M, which left the club with a net profit of £5.5M for 2006.
The up front payment of £18M was used to reduce the debt.
The 2007 accounts show Retail income as £4.5M. This was made up of the £3M guarantee from JJB plus £1.5M amortised from the initial £18M.
So, despite an overall reduction in Retail income and little scope to increase revenue, SDM (and Dave King who was on the Board at the time) entered into a long term retail agreement that they believed to be expedient at the time due to short term financial pressures.
I think we can reasonably assume that the current financial situation is equally pressing, and that the Retail deal with SD, while not particularly favourable to Rangers, is far from their biggest problem.
To me the Retail deal is a convenient target for the current board to draw attention away from more pressing matters, like balancing the books.
Football Fan says:
Member: (16 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 11:32 pm
Explain please – you’re not making your case clearly. What is “this rule” and how am I making an exception in the case of PMG ?
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It is called ” universality “,all journalists should be tested the same,but you exempt Phil on purely subjective grounds which is what universality is supposed to prevent.
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How have I “exempted” PMG in the context of the NUJ Code of Conduct – which is where your comment arose. You’re big on evidence, so lay out your evidence.
Football Fan. I just googled “universality”, Its all very good and well to clog up this site with SIX posts in 60minutes on the subject, I bow to your superior intellect and grant you the right to express your opinion, but it looks to me that this is a pointless argument and all we can do is agree to disagree. Anything else comes perilously close to trolling. (in my opinion) EDIT, Please remove and ignore the word “grant” as it is not my meaning.
ekt1m says:
Member: (61 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 11:52 pm
Football Fan. I just googled “universality”, Its all very good and well to clog up this site with SIX posts in 60minutes on the subject, I bow to your superior intellect and grant you the right to express your opinion, but it looks to me that this is a pointless argument and all we can do is agree to disagree. Anything else comes perilously close to trolling. (in my opinion)
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ekt1m,
I know what you mean, but I have to disagree. I found it very interesting to watch how somebody arguing for whatever motives can be encouraged into disappearing up his own jumper.
FF already used your “agree to disagree” exit. Reminds me of my father, God rest him, when he was losing an argument would always do walking away with , “Ach away an’ bile yer heid”.
Agree to disagree is the “educated man’s” equivalent, in my opinion.
castaway says:
Member: (70 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 12:18 am
ekt1m says:
Member: (61 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 11:52 pm
Football Fan. I just googled “universality”, Its all very good and well to clog up this site with SIX posts in 60minutes on the subject, I bow to your superior intellect and grant you the right to express your opinion, but it looks to me that this is a pointless argument and all we can do is agree to disagree. Anything else comes perilously close to trolling. (in my opinion)
_____________________________________________________
Don’t think its trolling by any means.
However… I do think that intent comes in to play and we can all make up our own minds.
PMG is both subjective and balanced. I am sure he will respect my right to disagree with his viewpoint on anything – for example – the scottish independence debate.
His views on this for example are not hidden and we can view his output in the context of this lens.
Phil strives for objectivity in the same way as I – as a scientist- strive for objectivity.
And we both fail because our brains our wired to trick us. (see the books of Richard Wiseman for elaboration). This does not abrogate either of us from the responsibility to try.
But Phil makes an honest effort to be held to account and so does not disguise his partiality. He allows us to make up our own minds and furnishes us with all of the pertinent information that enables us to do so.
Imo he ferrets for facts and uncovers some real gems, that benefit all fans of football: TRFC included.
These gems can at times tend to push the debate in one direction rather than another, sometimes.
But to some extent this is because Phil chooses to dig where others do not go.
His reason to dig there may be motivated by partiality. But his treatment of what he discovers there is, imo, professional and honest.
He unquestionably qualifies as a ‘proper’ journalist, and his output is definitely journalism of a high standard.
He does not and never has dealt in lies to my knowledge. Never knowingly from what I see. And he goes to great lengths to avoid doing so unconsciously if I am any judge.
He has integrity. That’s not the same as being free from bias.
And I disagree with him on alot of things.
But I would not fault him as a journalist.
To cite a similar situation:
Everyone knows that Jeremy Paxman is a Tory.
That didn’t stop him savaging Michael Howard.
Because Paxman is a journalist first and a Tory second.
I am not a Tory. But I respect Paxman as a journalist.
Similarly I think PMG is a journalist first, and an ideologue (definitely not a Tory) second.
Whereas most of the MSM are stenographers for PR agencies. Churnalists (of fed copy) is my preferred term
That is my opinion.
But I promise to respect yours too… (even though it may be wrong :irony: )
Folks, please don’t feed. The argument is a pointless and unwinnable one. I think Ryan has provided more food for thought as opposed to a bone to chew on.
We’ve been through this time and time again. I know you’re all having fun 😈 , but leave the guy alone 🙂
For me from a viewpoint of 12,000 miles Scottish football is not healthy. Celtic, the best team could qualify for the Group stages of the CL or the Europa League. With a miniscule budget and in Pot 4 it is improbable but of course not impossible that they could finish their group in the top two. Aberdeen, St Johnstone and ICT might get through to the next round of the Europa League but would you bet on all 3 doing so? More than 50% of Evening Times football stories are about the 15th best team. Strange.
The National team could make an appearance at a Finals but does anyone expect them to progress? Will Scotland qualify for a World Cup?
TV revenues are pitiful.
Safe standing still not allowed.
Alcohol not available to adults.
The playoffs were exciting.
If Cardiff and Swansea can play in the EPL why not Glasgow? I live in Wellington which plays in the Australian league.
Imagine Scottish football with Celtic playing in England. Who would win the League and the Cups?
For the good of Scottish football it has to be.
I expect to be heavily thumb downed by those who cannot stand a negative opinion and naively assume that the current product is of the highest quality when manifestly it is not and has not been so since the 1960’s.
I have only registered today after logging on to this site for as long as it has existed and I just want to say, first of all, a big thank you to all the contributors as the insight and knowledge shared here is unsurpassed anywhere regards the ongoing drivel in the Scottish press and the omnishambles that is trfc.
I am sure I am not alone in scratching my head at why there is an enormous amount of gushing praise for all things DK and MW in the press, as well as what DK’s end game is. I would have thought a little more scrutiny would be given to any new boards, directors or managers after the last 3/4 years but obviously I was wrong.
Not going to go overboard in my first post but looking forward to reading more from you all 😛
Fisiani says:
Member: (37 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 2:26 am
More than 50% of Evening Times football stories are about the 15th best team. Strange.
===================================
Clearly the media are either biased, or simply believe Rangers have the largest demographic in Scotland and are acting on a commercial basis. Personally I think it is a mixture of the two, with one particular writer for the Evening Times so biased he is an affront to his profession.
neepheid 9:12 pm
I respectfully disagree on two points.
Firstly my understanding has always been that a good journalist never relies on only one source for a story and will corroborate any claims made from at least one other source. Perhaps Phil has done this.
More importantly I agree with Football Fan that many posters on SFM accept Phil’s claims as gospel when his record is patchy and do not subject him to the same level of scrutiny (and ridicule) as the SMSM. I can only speculate this is because they believe what they want to believe and Phil ticks that box. A lot of double standards in my opinion. He is also attention seeking to an almost pathological degree, more so than Jackson and any ot the other so called stenographers.
Patchy! Really ? WOW !
I tend to see the The Rangers story as one big melting pot where journos forgot they were…well …journos and woudn’t even consider getting their fingers burnt. I don’t think this is the only subject that PMcG spends time on and that all his subjects would gain equal and professional endeavour. We can’t be right all the time, but the day I saw the Sheriff officer’s outside Ibrox, I knew there was definately something in this.
If Phil is patchy, where does that put the rest?
Bryce Curdy says:
Member: (112 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 8:27 am
I respectfully disagree on two points.
Firstly my understanding has always been that a good journalist never relies on only one source for a story and will corroborate any claims made from at least one other source. Perhaps Phil has done this
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I disagree with your views on Phil but it’s a free society and we are both entitled to think the way we do.
My main thrust is towards what you say makes a good journalist. I would certainly agree with you on that. It seems clear to me that the only source for many is a PR release coming down the wires. How much they attempt to corroborate that is anyone’s guess. Mine is it depends on which club is involved. I was once able to discuss such matters with someone who is regarded as one of the more respected Scottish journalists. His challenge to me was did I think Celtic and other clubs don’t try and influence media opinion. My answer was of course I didn’t think that, but given how Celtic and other clubs are reported at times, the media seem more willing to challenge the official club line in those cases. On the other hand some newspapers could save themselves a lot of money by simply having an Office Junior copy and paste official Rangers press releases such is the lack of challenge to them.
Will Ashley sack himself following meeting with King?
A wee pattern of events nicely laid out by a poster D’Artagnan over on the Bears Den started off by earlier posts re Craig Mather’s tenure as CEO at Ibrox.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What appears to have been lost in time and which is perhaps, even more revealing, is that not 2 months after making that statement and having sold his house in England, his wife having given up her highly paid job in England – Mather after all his statements of intent about being here for the long term, along with his personal investment in the club, was suddenly out.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/ibrox-chief-craig-mather-walks-2461157
If you like you can call it purely co-incidental that his departure from Rangers appeared accelerated due to this meeting only days earlier.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24434323
Furthermore his replacement Graham Wallace, along with Philp Nash suffered the same fate, due to meeting with those who were associates of King. As you can see such co-incidences appear to be becoming more and more frequent.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2784724/Mike-Ashley-launches-bid-Graham-Wallace-Philip-Nash-removed-Rangers-board.html
In fact there is a fairly distinctive pattern emerging when you add the name of Norman Crighton into the mix.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2902782/Rangers-regime-scored-huge-goal-axing-dissenter-Norman-Crighton-conference-call.html
If this series of events and departures didn’t get alarm bells ringing then this statement, and its associated selling of shares, from Colin Kingsnorth obo Laxey, most certainly should have.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11788/9626770/scottish-championship-laxey-partners-sell-rangers-shares
If we haven’t heard the alarm bells by now – then we deserve to be described as deaf.
Christyboy 9:10 am
For the avoidance of any doubt, I am in no way, shape or form defending the SMSM. They are a permanent embarrassment and a permanent disgrace.
But Phil’s record is patchy. How long ago was the Sheriff Officer? The £238k that allegedly leaves Ibrox every month is just another example of a claim accepted as fact by those wishing it to be true. The dynamite in the recent claims was not that the Sevco chairman had a meeting with a significant shareholder but rather the uncorroborated claims apropos the nature of their discussion.
Ultimately Phil’s relatively modest profile in relation to the Rangers/Sevco story is largely down to the abject failings of the SMSM. He clearly has a reasonably good source(s) but one with his own agenda. I may be wrong, but I think that’s pretty much where it begins and ends. I simply don’t buy the notion of some sort of groundbreaking investigative journalist.
Bryce,
Firstly I love what you did with the Ian Archer quote re the MSM. Very Apt.
I hear what you’re saying and share some of the same concerns. As regards the two examples you choose however; firstly regarding the 238k monthly payment, no that to my knowledge has never been verified. (In fact specifically regarding this payment it was Phil himself who first described it as a “***rent type***” payment which as you said then grew its own arms and legs thereafter). But if you take a step back and say, no, Phil’s talking P!sh and that payment isn’t made then surely you question instead, so why haven’t we/they got any money? Phil is maybe, willfully if you like, putting a square peg to a round hole. The collective MSM (disgrace as you say) refuse to acknowledge that a hole exists at all and therein lies the biggest problem of all.
As regards your second example, re the meeting, then I will give him the benefit of the doubt that this was a highly relevant titbit to throw in not least given the EGM timing. I have voiced before that I was surprised at his stance since the level of detail seemed to attach him firmly to the Ashley camp which the groundbreaking investigative journalist wouldn’t ordinarily do for a host of reasons – exposing his source and a dangerous trip on the precipice of reporting a story and starting to ‘creatively manipulate’ it being just two.
Take his comments with a pinch of salt if you will but ignore them at your peril is my own view and why I avidly await his updates.
***In case the man himself is looking in I apologise profusely for not being able to quickly find your exact quote re the alleged monthly payment. I’m sure it was “rent type” that you used (which then opened up the ownership debate which I believe you kept out of) but will be happy to be corrected.
upthehoops says:
Member: (754 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 9:12 am
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Everyone now makes the excuse of having lots more stories to file much faster with fewer resources (time, people and money). This is unquestionably true.
Standard practice these days is that if you can fill your quota of five (say) news stories a day from the 200 press releases that might hit your inbox every 24 hours, you will take them because it’s easier and quicker than going to a press conference (usually frightfully dull affairs) or spending hours on the phone to secure a 50-word quote that adds nothing worthwhile. Most newspapers at least still take the trouble to tone down the self-aggrandisement that marketing people seem to insist on employing in their press releases. They must know journalists will take that garbage out, yet they insist on putting it in.
If independent media only regurgitate the nice things companies say about themselves, they lose their raison d’être. If they are to continue to exist, they have to offer readers, viewers and listeners content that those consumers will not find elsewhere. You only get that by taking time, thinking deeply and working hard. This is the work all the journalists want to do. Anyone who doesn’t isn’t a journalist and must have other reasons for putting up with the comparatively poor pay.
The thrill (small or big) is still putting onto a page or into an audio or video report a story that nobody else has and that has never been told before. Society doesn’t need armies of people to do this, but it does need some, otherwise the greedy, the powerful, the manipulative, the downright nasty and the mendacious stand a far greater chance of escaping being held to account. This applies to football the same as it applies to politics or business.
Maybe we have too many journalists. Media who have followed the Murdoch model of 45 years ago need to change desperately. There is no point in offering titillation; people look elsewhere for that now. It’s time to be more serious.
It takes great skill to put a complicated story across in a clear way. You have to understand it very well, asking lots of questions and questioning lots of answers. Then you have to use your ability to transfer your understanding of what’s going on from your own mind to your reader’s, listener’s or viewer’s mind in a very limited number of words. It’s hard. If you haven’t heard him before, listen out for Hugh Sykes on BBC Radio 4, an absolute master of the craft. There are others.
The best a lot of journalists can hope for, perhaps, is to fill the quota quickly and still have some time and energy to chase a ‘proper’ story in a ‘proper’ way. I have a lot of sympathy for many of them, but not for those ‘journalists’ who knowingly and willingly indulge in garbage regurgitation. They can go and chase themselves and give us all peace. They are parasites.
Bryce
” He is also attention seeking to an almost pathological degree, more so than Jackson and any ot the other so called stenographers.”
That is a dreadful statement to make and really doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, if you ask me Phil started out writing in a more measured tone but as time has gone on and more and more people ignore the writing on the wall he has become totally exasperated with what has happened and by the looks of things is about to happen again. It is to his credit that in the face of the apalling journalism of the MSM he actually continues to try and pull the wool from the eyes of the willfully blind.
By the way Football Fan can say what he/she likes it’s a free country however why they would completely ignore the track record of the person they are trying to defend (DK) is beyond me. At the end of the day he has been on two Rangers boards which have destroyed the club SDM’s and Craig Whytes those are facts, he’s now in place to destroy Rangers mark 2 and ramping up the cost base whist having no clue who is going to pay the bills seems like a good way to achieve that aim.
RyanGosling says:
Member: (169 comments)
June 25, 2015 at 11:02 pm
I think the posters on this issue are mistaken. If Mr Ashley could ring fence funds to repay his loan, what would be the point in securing the loans? If the loan is in default, he can call in the security. He has no further recourse. And there is no indication the loan is in default.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree. If the loan is not in default, then no judge would issue a ring-fencing order. If the loan is in default, then Ashley can use his floating charge to call in a receiver, who would then control all the assets, excluding Ibrox, but including everything else, cash included.
If Ashley really wants his money back, and there has been a default, then surely his best bet is to wait until there is over £5m in the bank from ST receipts, put in his receiver, and just take his £5m out of the bank, and walk away. That saves a load of hassle trying to sell property. Maybe that’s what he’s planning, but I really doubt that he wants the £5m back at this stage. The current situation is entirely to his advantage, since he gets the extra retail income, plus all the fun of holding a loaded gun to King’s head.
What makes no sense to me is that the Board haven’t already repaid Ashley his £5m, That can surely only mean that they don’t have £5m to spare. Can they really have taken over this basket case without any real money to put things right? And if so, why would they?
Smugas,
I pretty much agree with all of that, with the exception of the quantity of salt required merely being a pinch. I read his blog too, not avidly and with mixed motives however. In my opinion far too few recognise that the content should come with a very large health warning.
cavansam,
You’re actually proving my point. Had I accused Jackson of being pathologically attention seeking I doubt you would have regarded my claim as ‘a dreadful statement’. I can only assume the different reaction is explained by Phil’s claims being some form of a wet dream to many.
I follow Phil and many of the SMSM ‘journalists’ on Twitter, as well as numerous other people. There is only one who feels the need to give his followers a weekly update apropos his number of retweets, favourites, new followers etc.
A few points/comments
Other than a very ambiguous statement from one of the 3 Bears, or it was possibly Gilligan, there is no evidence DCK or his family trust(s) have invested in RIFC/TRFC. The money from the share purchase went to the third parties who owned the shares
All the DCK actions mentioned by FF were before the Motherwell defeats.
I think it was BFBPuzzled who mentioned DCK has “gone cold” since said defeats but couldn’t work out why. My suspicion is that although the concert party knew it was a precarious position looking under the hood has shown it to be even more precarious. The concert party had a limited amount of liquid assets to invest and combined with the possibility of Europe money 18 months away and OPM they thought they might just make it. The lack of promotion means Europe money can now only be achieved next season (16/17) by winning the 15/16 cup or losing the final to the 15/16 Premiership Champions. Its also cut the likelihood of OPM being enough. Without wishing to open FF’s debate again PMGB suggests Park has bailed and it looks like DCK may have tried to. Will Letham and Taylor try “walking away” too?
Is it possible that if Mike Ashley persuaded a judge he didn’t want to go as far as sparking an insolvency event that a judge may just agree to ring-fencing £5m? Although I think he may also have to prove to a judge that such an action wouldn’t force an insolvency event anyway so the point is probably moot.
Phil has a tendency to wind up the Rangers fans, given the abuse he gets, its hardly surprising. In many ways he is not a “pure” journalist. He does “break” new stories, but, he also editorialises, a commentator rather than old fashioned inky fingered journo.
As I’ve said before, criticism of King gets abuse, because the vocal Rangers fans picked him, if he’s a wrong ‘un, the only people to blame, are the people.
It really good to see people sticking up for the criminal classes, the Howard Reform League could probably point you at cases more deserving of your time and sympathy
http://www.howardleague.org/
I believe the varying differences of opinion simply highlight why we must apply a universal standard in examining journalistic content. It should not be a subjective method based on who we think is trustworthy or likeable but on an objective method based on scepticism and burden of proof.
Anyone who suggests any journalist cannot get it wrong is obviously not thinking objectively.
What makes no sense to me is that the Board haven’t already repaid Ashley his £5m, That can surely only mean that they don’t have £5m to spare.
=============================================================
I can think of a few other reasons that make sense;
They are holding onto his loan as leverage to renegotiate the retail contract.
They are using the loan to tide them over until a share issue.
Not saying any of this is true but there are alternatives to just being skint.
A couple of weeks ago I asked when the MSM would blink and ask “show me the money”. This week we’ve had the gushing hyperbole about Warbs, Kiernan, Wilson and Eustace. Although Eustace seems to have found reverse gear.
At the end of the week surely even Chris Jack must be thinking, “is that it”?
Talking of people not hanging around Ibrox……
The King is in exile and is very, very silent. If PMG is correct about DCK’s end run and the split board then things could fall apart rapidly.
How are the season books going? If it was well then I am certain figures would have been leaked to one or more of the usual MSM suspects by now and they will know that also.
Big Mike seems to be the only hope for TRFC getting to the end of the season. Given the way the first EGM played out and the vilification of MA and his lieutenants I am sure his price will be very simple – DCK, the SFA and the 3B’s to prostrate themselves publically for his mercy.
Whilst two of those parties have no reputation to lose it would be very painful for the other.
Which brings us to where are the MSM and the SFA/SPFL? In the words of a Scottish footballing great it must be squeaky bum time over at Hampden and the Evening Times.
Football Fan
“They are holding onto his loan as leverage to renegotiate the retail contract”
Not much leverage when you’re dealing with a Billionaire.
“They are using the loan to tide them over until a share issue.”
The loan is all spent by now, so unless they are going to issue shares very soon that doesn’t sound true either.
The kudos King would get from paying back the 5 million and getting back control of the secured assets might just get him the 45,000 season ticket holders he craves, plus it would shut up the doubters. The good would outweigh the bad in my mind. Of couse if you don’t have the money it’s a moot point.
By the way Football Fan can say what he/she likes it’s a free country however why they would completely ignore the track record of the person they are trying to defend (DK) is beyond me.
================================================================
I am not defending DK nor attacking Phil, and both have imperfect track records, this is why I prefer to stick to objective methods in determining what is more probable.
If Rangers were on the verge of financial collapse and DK was not going to put money in then I think we would have heard something from his duped fellow directors.
Hiring players, a management team and an MD doesn’t seem to indicate an imminent implosion to my mind, it is not as if anyone involved didn’t know the size of the task rebuilding Rangers.
Football Fan says:
Member: (18 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 12:04 pm
============
Naw, They are skint. The personal loans they have received to keep the lights on SINCE receiving the £5 million from Ashley proves this IMHO.
Southstand, I think that all of your questions can be answered in one single word: “sociopath.” I’m not been at all g-lib here. The man is a textbook case; in fact if this was a movie, one would be saying, “They’re laying it on a bit thick here… We got it in the second scene!”
That big bright light that’s growing in front of you is not the end of the tunnel, its just another on coming train
Not much leverage when you’re dealing with a Billionaire.
========================================================
His wealth is irrelevant, if Rangers intend to sue SD over an onerous contract then keeping his money is a standard tactic until the dispute is resolved.
The loan is all spent by now, so unless they are going to issue shares very soon that doesn’t sound true either.
===============================================================
Since it is spent it would have to be replaced immediately if the loan was returned, the Board would prefer to raise money on their terms and not to suit MA.
Repaying his loan is not going to please the fans if the SD contract is unresolved.
Football Fan
“If Rangers were on the verge of financial collapse and DK was not going to put money in then I think we would have heard something from his duped fellow directors.
Hiring players, a management team and an MD doesn’t seem to indicate an imminent implosion to my mind, it is not as if anyone involved didn’t know the size of the task rebuilding Rangers.”
Rangers under Craig Whyte had a net spend of just over 2.3 million in the summer transfer window of 2011, the fact that you can spend money doesn’t prove that you have any money, that season they had expectations of qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League which would have helped pay off the debts. Similarly King has expectations of 45,000 people buying season tickets to pay his debts, let’s wait and see.
cavansam says:
Member: (33 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 12:40 pm
Superb point
Deary me, the idiocy has been breaking Level 5 on the Traynor scale this morning. The ensuing hilarity is just what the doc ordered on a Friday that feels more like Autumn, than High Summer.
I do think that to some extent that journalists get critiqued on here apropos their message. However I also think that Football Fan overstates the case, perhaps because his perspective is different from the majority.
I don’t think that journalists should be held to the kind of standards that are being suggested either. For our part, whenever anyone tells the blog of anything, we do try to corroborate. Much of the time that is simply impossible, and at that point, there is no harm in flying a kite or two with the appropriate caveat, in an effort to draw a response. That is a perfectly legitimate way to conduct oneself journalistically.
Editorialising is another story, but the initial criticism that Phil should have had corroborative evidence to back up his story doesn’t hold. In fact from his point of view, a kite like that is easily deprived of sufficient height with a simple denial. I think the recent “Land Grab” charges against Celtic, founded or not, were legitimate questions to ask (the MSM stuff not the rabid blog stuff) and it was dealt with appropriately and without too much fuss. I don’t think that story would have failed the FF “extraordinary” test either, but it was story based on the fact of the transaction taking place. Phil’s claim is based on the fact that the meeting took place. So what is the problem?
I think many football fans think a journalist cultural background (dis)qualifies him to comment on a particular topic. That is something that we may or may not factor in when we assess the reporting, but on balance, and despite the fact that I always look at Phil’s output with some scepticism, on the whole he is a more trustworthy and reliable purveyor of facts than those he characterises as stenographers.
FF is correct though that sometimes not enough scepticism is applied across the board on this issue.
Repaying his loan is not going to please the fans if the SD contract is unresolved
——————————
Day 10.since the EGM
How are the renegotiations of the retail deal coming along?
Despite all of the stuff surrounding journalistic preferences, my very strong opinion is this;
Rangers Mk II are royally fecked unless peace is made with Ashley on Ashley’s terms. There is no alternative.
Conclusion? Peace WILL be made with Ashley. Perhaps it will be spun with a Cameronian “look what I negotiated” spin attached, but an accord will be reached.
One possible explanation for DCK and T3B’s to jump in without the money needed to continue could be that they did have investors or a flip situation lined up. They may only have been interested in a Premier team investment or flip though, which DCK and T3B’s gambled on and lost.
If that is a valid scenario, then I imagine the race is on to find “interim” investors to try again this coming season. However this would be a much higher risk situation for any interim investors, requiring suitable rewards for said risk.
Looking at the level of signings made to date on top of the playing squad cull, could be an indicator of how many interim investors that are actually interested.(not many)
All hypothetical, but a sizable league gap come Christmas may encourage some to take a keep the lights on a little longer punt.
Getting to Christmas in itself may be a gamble, but getting there with a sizable league gap? Hmmmm !
They are skint. The personal loans they have received to keep the lights on SINCE receiving the £5 million from Ashley proves this IMHO.
============================================================
Directors tend to avoid giving unsecured loans to insolvent companies, some would see the loans as a sign of confidence in DK.
He attempted to “buy” Grant Holt in Jan 2012 a couple of weeks before going into administration, and we all recall the Daniel Cousin farce.
As has been stated before, there is absolutely no reason why King couldn’t replace Ashley’s 5m loan with an unsecured soft loan of his own. That would return all the IP rights from SD, release the various securities and floating charge, and get 26% of the holding back in Rangers Retail. This would have the dual effect of loosening Ashley’s grip and sending the fans a clear sign that he means business during the ST renewal period. He hasn’t done that because…
BTW, what has happened to John Whosthis, the man with the Wheat Crunchie knees? He was all over the press (I’d warrant it’s the first time he’s ever been filmed arriving at an airport) a few days ago.
Football Fan says:
Member: (20 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 12:24 pm
June 26, 2015 at 12:24 pm
By the way Football Fan can say what he/she likes it’s a free country however why they would completely ignore the track record of the person they are trying to defend (DK) is beyond me.
================================================================
I am not defending DK nor attacking Phil, and both have imperfect track records, this is why I prefer to stick to objective methods in determining what is more probable.
If Rangers were on the verge of financial collapse and DK was not going to put money in then I think we would have heard something from his duped fellow directors.
Hiring players, a management team and an MD doesn’t seem to indicate an imminent implosion to my mind, it is not as if anyone involved didn’t know the size of the task rebuilding Rangers.
=======================================================
FF, I found myself agreeing with you there. You were doing well until that last sentence.
I’m sorry, but Rangers* cannot be “Rebuilt.” I know what happened to
them.
No amount of gerrymandering, airbrushing or insidious brainwashing by the SMSM will make me forget the events that happened at Ibrox.
‘Lest we forget?’
PS, I must get my avatar sorted out. It needs centered. If anyone can help, please let me know. Thanks.
Football Fan says:
Member: (21 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 1:07 pm
The more cynical among us, see it simply as another example of the way that 1:1 scale Subbuteo sets make even business people act with their er, hearts, not their heads.
[Hint
Cynic is a term of abuse used by optimists to describe realists.]
Any other high profile Scottish company that had a convicted criminal on the board, let alone as chairman, would have the press going ballistic. Sadly, its almost become a New Rangers tradition.
Rangers Mk II are royally fecked unless peace is made with Ashley on Ashley’s terms. There is no alternative.
=====================================================
Based on the interims Rangers with the current SD contract may have lost 7 million last year, and a loss of 5 million is probably on the cards this year. Retail is a big item but it is not enough to bring Rangers down, I would expect Rangers to break even in the top tier even with the existing SD contract ut it is a big problem they must solve eventually.
Conclusion? Peace WILL be made with Ashley. Perhaps it will be spun with a Cameronian “look what I negotiated” spin attached, but an accord will be reached
================================================================
As I said SD are losing just as much as Rangers in potential profits and I agree there will be some deal done.
Or some would see it as a sign that the loanees (and directors, lest we forget) are desperately trying to avoid personal liabilities if the club/company/whatever-they-are go bust?
On PMG, I enjoy reading his stuff, but I do get the impression that he gets one detail, and then takes a punt at filling in the gaps. The one that stuck in my mind was claiming that the city guy in his ‘closet of experts’ managed to misplace a decimal point somewhere along the way when he claimed there were 28 million pounds worth (I think, it was a large figure, whatever it was) of shares sold, and it turned out to be 28,000 or something. Were there even 28 million Rangers shares in existence?
You can usually tell when he thinks he’s made a gaff as well, because he’ll be all over the comments of the blog, replying to many of them personally.
Like I said, I enjoy reading it, to be fair he has managed to get more right than wrong, and he’s got a pretty good turn of phrase, but I do remain a little cautious about investing too much in it.
Football Fan
Lets face it you and everyone else knows Ashley holds all the aces.
He really is toying with T’Rangers for his amusement.
He doesn’t need the £5m repayed.
He probably doesn’t need the shirt and sponsorship deals either.
Nor does he really want to get saddled with the assets.
However for a very small punt he has got himself a good deal and at worst he has stopped his competitors from cashing in on the reputed 500m worldwide shirt sales 🙂
If things did work out and others are daft enough to stump up the required millions for a decent squad then he is quids in if success on the park comes knocking.
The thing now is all about reputation and showing who has the biggest baws. His 5-1 lawyer count at the injunction hearing the oher week shows he means business and will cripple King et al with legal costs alone should they get jiggy with it in the courts.
As pointed out in a post that appears to be stuck in moderation even some Bears have noted that Mather, Wallace & Nash then Laxey’s man Crighton have all been moved on in very short order after daring to meet with the King camp or go up against Ashley. Laxey knew they were on a hiding so sold up to the RRM in the hope they may have been able disrupt Ashley’s control.
He still holds the reigns of power and the RRM look as though they don’t have a clue about how to sort than one out.
Oh and can I also say again that while Craig Whyte was spending the money he didn’t have he was sitting in a boardroom with Dave King. Yes that Dave King.
What’s the definition of insanity again
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Yep that’s it.
Corrupt Official,
I think along similar lines to yourself in so far as FF’s rebuilding job now is to do with the imminent reality (and the crux of our supposition seems to be that RFC* reality would appear to need £xm just to survive whereas FF gives us no clues as to how he feels this gap should be bridged) whereas the investment opportunity that would no doubt have been offered with promotion was still very much in the land of the myth.
If Scottish football needs anything it is to face up to the reality of where we are, not where some would like us to be, ideal world or not. And before anyone suggests it, no that doesn’t imply a need to throw the rule and integrity book out of the window, far from it. Accept where we are and deal with it!
wottpi says:
Member: (661 comments)
Spot on, it should also be remembered that Rangers effectively indemnify SD from any losses, by virtue (sic) of the requirement for Rangers to buy any unsold stock at a rate favourable to SD.
There will be a deal, but it will involve white flags, and, quite probably the enforced jetting off of he who likes to jet in.
The sad thing about it all is, that for the ordinary Rangers fans who just want to watch their team play football, and progress out of the Championship, its a lose/lose proposition.
Rangers need a large share issue of around 15 million, if it does not happen they will go bust, directors would not have risked their personal money to prop up Rangers unless they were convinced DK would underwrite the issue.
I am afraid all the evidence points to a share issue and DK is not CW, comparisons are worthless.
Football Fan
Sorry but at the moment the comparisons are scarily similar, right down to the gushing breathless MSM praise.
Football Fan says:
Member: (23 comments)
Who, prey, is going to shell out the £15million? How will the shares be placed? On what sort of prospectus could any offer be reasonably based?
The only unencumbered, (so far) income stream appears to be the season ticket money. I wish you the very best of luck, but, the prognosis looks terminal, faith healing isn’t the answer.
I was trying to think of a context that makes sense of DK offering his shares to MA, and I came up with this piece of pure guesswork.
DK wants the SD contract changed, MA refuses to change if DK is involved( for obvious historical reasons), DK then sarcastically offers MA the opportunity to get rid of him by buying his shares.
I do get the impression MA doesn’t like DK or his tactics, he has done everything in his power to keep him out going back to the appointment of GW.
DK is not CW, comparisons are worthless.
DK jets in CW gets the train…sorry just had to say that before my point.
The Rob Kieran £220,000 “SWITCH to TRFC.
Has this fee been paid? Or will it be paid at a later date? Or is it to be paid in installments?
Just a question i would like to ask if anyone knows
If DK does not finance the bulk of the share issue then the comparisons to CW will be legitimate, time will tell.
Just some thoughts about the SMSM. :slamb:
I got into the habit of going online in the days of RTC & Paul McConville. After about 4 years and gradually building up about 8 web blogs/ forums in my ‘favourites’ I no longer buy hard copies of newspapers – as have many others. However I still linked through to most news articles of interest via NewsNow, but after reading CQNs post about ‘bait & click’ (nothing wrong with that per se) and the money these same newspapers get in relation to the number of ‘hits’ they get, I will be doing that a lot less. For some time I have barred myself from linking to any E. Times & DR stuff, they are beyond the pale. The jury for me is still out on the broadsheets.
I suppose we need some bloggers and posters to look at them to see what they are up to and rip them apart on places like here. But I hope eventually more folk will do as I do and dry up their revenue streams from online hits.
Some blogs for me are dual purpose like ‘The Clumpany’ I look forward to it everyday for laugh out loud articles but which also carry good reporting of football shenanigans too. But one thing I must say is, posters on here are so much better informed than in other forums & comments sections very rarely do you get the level of understanding in their posts, full of errors and very little depth of knowledge, mostly a mish mash of what they have read in SMSM.
Keep up the good work folk – sites like this are the future!
Football Fan says:
Member: (23 comments)
June 26, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Rangers need a large share issue of around 15 million, if it does not happen they will go bust, directors would not have risked their personal money to prop up Rangers unless they were convinced DK would underwrite the issue.
============
If a £15m share issue is essential to the company’s future (and I agree that is the case), then letting the company lose its listing was just a trifle careless, wouldn’t you agree?
Where is this £15m going to come from, as things stand? Maybe King will underwrite it, maybe he won’t. But whoever underwrites it had better be prepared to pick up the tab, on past performance. Even Charles Green couldn’t get much more than £5m from the fans, and I can’t see that figure being greatly exceeded.
Ashley will no doubt block any attempt to allow shares to be sold to anyone not a current shareholder, and the City boys generally can’t invest in an unlisted company anyway, so where will the money come from?
Unless both the listing issue and the onerous contracts issue are resolved quickly to the company’s advantage, only a fool would invest much of his own money in this venture. But that’s only my opinion, anyone who sees a fast buck here, please feel free to invest. Personally I think that all the meat has already been eaten, there’s just the bare carcass left now.
Was Cellik not signed to much hilarity and hubris just before the admin button was pressed?
Regarding the acceptance of what journalists say many of us have the benefit of the West of Scotland ‘aye right’ response.
What PMG says may be right or may be wrong on each point of a story it is hard to gauge given that a lot of what he writes about is to do with things which are done confidentially and relies on unattributable sources. All that can be used to verify what he says is future events. Sometimes these prove him right other times they do not or indeed prove him wrong. However it is good to have someone on the opposite side to those in thrall to the TRFC project looking for truth beyond the spin.
I admit that I find some of the comments on his pieces cringeworthy and if he had any tendency to narcissism those comments might feed it.
FF is having some fun but it is relying on no more than the flimsiest of assertions to sustain his positions. Perhaps he likes the situation here where he meets unfailing civility even though his position I like that of the proverbial boiled frog.
Ps it was with relish that I explained to a non local what ‘ofgtf’ meant in a dedication to one of Mr Brookmyre’s novels. It might even have been Boiling a Frog. It is good that they have on the basis that the partnership has been killed.
Football Fan …….. An old adage springs to mind ……… “God loves a trier !”
Football Fan says:
Member: (25 comments)
The only viable option that I can see is to switch off the life support and start again.
On the bright side,I am quite certain that “Glasgow Rangers” or whatever, would be able to rely on the “discretion” of the entire SFA Professional Game Board, and the SPFL Board when it comes to:
Approving any licence transfer
Waiving any irksome regs that may require a waiting period
Approving any ground share deals for Hampden
etc etc
“With a bit of help from my friends” the new “Glasgow Rangers” could be ready to play next season, all for the good of Scottish Football of course. 😉
Moreover, judging by the result of Resolution 2 in the recent GM there is not the shareholder support to achieve the 75% required for a share issue open to new investors. So any take-up for an offer would have to come from the current shareholders: is there an appetite for that?
Big Pink 12:52
A few points:
Far more important than the actual height of the journalistic standards is the consistency with which they are applied. They should not conveniently vary according to whether the messenger is onside or not.
I would agree that occasional kite flying with clear caveats is perfectly acceptable and occasionally helpful; continuous kite flying with no caveats whatsoever is not. I am not sure whether The Rumour Mill on Etims still exists. A few things it claimed turned out to be correct, many did not, and the majority were never proven one way or another. It sounds quite familiar until you recognise the crucial distinction was that they bent over backwards to make clear that some of their content would with hindsight be recognised as ‘utter p1sh’ (their words if I recall correctly).
And finally, to be fair to Sevco, why should they feel the need to deny every claim about them made by a little known blogger? I applaud my club (Celtic) for refusing to routinely comment on signing target speculation. What is the difference?
I’d like to go on record as being a fan of Phil’s.
I look forward to his blogs and they have been a constant source of information insight and humour.
And embarrassing to some too.
Many of us can analyse and see through stuff that PR’s try to feed us but Phil has been a major source of new material – something most of us don’t get access to.
And his hit rate is off the radar compared to the MSM stenographers he constantly vilifies.
Keep digging, blogging and posting Phil.
Scottish Football needs more bloggers like Phil.
“God loves a trier !”
===================
In the interests of fairness i will try and help Phil out with his unrecorded monthly exodus of 280k or so.
Rangers accounts are fairly simple and there is really only one area where this kind of money could be involved and it is in retail.
It would be itemized in the RR accounts but not in the TRFC or RIFC accounts,therefore it is quite possible this amount of money was being paid to an oversees creditor linked to SD as part of the contractual agreement based on sales.
Either that or it is simply a mistake.
With regards what is likely to be a rights issue, that was agreed at the last AGM. However the resolution to remove existing shareholders pre-emption rights failed. So as a starting point 40m shares can be offered to the existing shareholders. If the board wanted to sell more one assumes they would have added it as a resolution to the EGM they were being forced to have anyway.
If the requirement is to raise £15m then that would mean around 37.5p per share. That’s a bit higher than the last time they were traded. It seems unlikely to me that all existing shareholders will take up what is offered to them, so presumably someone will have to under-write the share issue.
That person or group would be risking having to buy millions of pounds worth of shares. For example if Ashley and the Easdale block decide not to take theirs up that would be roughly 35% of the shares, equating to about 5.25m. So if Dave King took up his own rights, plus had to buy those, he would be putting in about £7.5m.
He could also be in a position to have to offer to buy out anyone who wanted to sell, at that price, if the underwriting took him over that threshold. It is possible that people would then take the opportunity to dump their existing shareholding, at that price. That could end up costing him even more money.
Under writing a share issue just now could be a very costly affair.
And finally, to be fair to Sevco, why should they feel the need to deny every claim about them made by a little known blogger?
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I agree plus we must be careful that Phil himself is not being used as a pawn in a propaganda war,in hindsight it is blindingly obvious MA has been pulling the strings since July 2013(or before) and yet none of Phil’s sources leaked any info about MA’s role until MA popped his head above the parapets in Aug/Sept last year.
All the boogy man talk surrounded GW,Laxeys and the secret shareholders when in fact it was MA withdrawing the facility and refusing early dividends to cause mischief,i find this a little odd.
Sportscotland will get Murray Park sale cash before Mike Ashley.
Sportscotland have moved to ensure they will be repaid in full first if Rangers’ Murray Park training ground is ever sold off by Mike Ashley.
http://news.stv.tv/west-central/1323549-sportscotland-will-get-murray-park-sale-cash-before-mike-ashley/
Documents seen by STV detail that, should the Glasgow club ever default on the terms of its £5m loan to the businessman, both parties would have the right to recoup their money through the sale of the property.
Just how much would you get in a sale of murray park just now as CG got the lot for £5.5 mill and it has not had a lick of paint in some time.
Just a question i would like to ask if anyone knows.
Ps. back to lurking as i have asked enough questions
Football Fan
So you’re implying the monthly payment is the shirt buy-back? Or another extraneous payment on top?
My view is that because of the statements and actions of King, the ONLY way that the other 3B directors could avoid such scrutiny impacting on their reputations and therefore their ability to operate their other businesses was to avoid an insolvency event at RIFC. And the only way they could do this was the insertion of personal cash on an unsecured basis.
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Since we do know that 3 million will not prevent insolvency or any liability for any phantom insolvent trading charge, i fail to see the logic in your proposal
If DK had reneged on his promises the 3b’s would have just picked up the phone to a receiver,throwing their paltry sum into a black hole is not going to save their bacon.
Proving insolvent trading is not easy by the way.
John James on the Rangers blog suggesting a current figure of 12k seasons shifted
So you’re implying the monthly payment is the shirt buy-back?
==================================================================
Could be or just paying creditors,i noticed RR were hardly awash with cash in the bank.
@ Cluster One I’m sure MP would probably fetch the £650k to satisfy the SportScotland charge. I doubt if in addition it would make the £5m+ to settle the SD direct but then SD have other properties/items they can sell including a car park required for Ibrox to ever be filled to capacity again, Edmiston house and the entire IP.