der Berliner

As in, there is still reason to maintain second place in the league. Not that first place is out of reach so far.

Some of my questions would be: - what did happen to the Motherwell squad(s) when they entered administration not that long ago? - who is considered to be on a deal worth cutting? And does the administrator will be looking for squad cuts in the know that a vastly reduced team will reduce gate receipts et al? We're not speaking about the 8k that may regularly visit Fir Park, but the difference between 50k and 35 k a game.

Nope. The stats currently have the champions and the second placed team in qualifiers.

... and as far as I am aware, Portsmouth was not allowed to sell. We may offer a few players a release from contract, thus saving weekly wages, but honestly, the cost cutting till the end of the season here would still be rather minimal.

@ Bluedell ... wrote a longer reply, but it wasn't posted because of some some disconnection to the web. Hence a short answer now. Accounts? HMRC case delay. Where the money went? 3.5m running costs with no floating bank etc. facility to deal with it (reason: HMRC). Ignoring facts? Surely not. Ignoring hysteria and speculation in most of the news (and especially the sports pages)? 100% Pro-Whyte argument? Sorry but no sorry. The main problem is that there is a strong tendency to dismiss anything Whyte and look at him from all negative angles possible. That I object and take the liberty to comment on. We all saw this comming, the way ahead is structured and the doom mongering stemmed. Then again, people will go on and on an on and tell us there won't be any Rangers tomorrow and what horrific consequences it may have. And by the day after tomorrow, this "may" has become "fact" for many.

Exactly what I am thinking, Juancornetto. I'm not overly enthusiastic about this, but cautiously optimistic that we can come through this relatively intact.

Your "problem", sir, is that your pessimism is so deep now, that every optimism shed by someone on the board appears twice as grand from your position. No matter how small the optimism actually is. And, for the record, I'm not that optimistical either, just try to stay away from the media-instigated hysteria, take every word that comes out of the club with a pinch of salt and stay calm. We can hardly do a thing about these events, so "head-in-sand" or "all-will-be-fine" or "we-are-doomed" statements are equally unnecessary. Hence I stay away from those.

... wouldn't it be some kind of grand gesture if we had players who decide to play "for free for the time being" to save the club as such. (Possibly with some silent agreement to get bonuses after administration by someone from outside the club?) While it sounds strange, the relevant people would probably lose less than 100k per head till the summer, but will that make a difference on their bank accounts? Only problem might be the Players Union et al wanting insurances et al paid by the club ...

Just out of interest, MIH was 700m in the reds after the credit crunch. How is it doing now, how is he doing now?

If too many would believe yours, many would already have jumped of the next best cliff. And, BTW, there's not just black and white here. People should carefully read between the lines of all news - and preferrably not those on the sports pages, as you wouldn't trust a sport reporter with finance matters, would you? The club's and Whyte's statement on the current cases make it plainly clear what has happened and why he filed the papers. And while people can throw every malicious suspicions they have at Whyte, they should then come up and tell us where the club would have been had we not taken over by him. For the taxman would have come after us nonetheless ... On a sidenote, as I posted earlier above, a FFer suggested that having the Ticketus deal being signed with one of his companies rather than Rangers, he increased Rangers "debt" to him by said amount (nearer to 20m, BTW, not that the press wants to listen) and thus enhanced his position as first creditor. That is the one who pulls the punches should admin happen by, unless I am mistaken. Unless I am mistaken again, HMRC will not become first creditor no matter what, but unsecured creditors.

Somewhere between the sensationalist and the hysterical. More to come I'm sure, most questions asked have been long since answered, but press people don't want another story, they don't want to listen. Best be avoided for the next few days. Most is speculation at best.

One day, an Orca might happen by an snap your fishing rod ...

I think liquidation is no longer a possibility, is it? ->

What will mean admin to us then? Losing 10 points and probably a title (though that remains to be seen). And some dignity too, perhaps? At least for a few weeks, month or the like. Sure the Hooped Horrors will have their laughs, yet, as the saying goes: haughtiness preceeds the fall. It is them running up debts right now with hardly any success to show for it. (And how will we laugh when they succumb in next season's CL qualifiers, which they will.) Does anyone really remember that Motherwell was in admin too? Administration will be a sad episode indeed, but only an episode in our long history. We saw it all coming, we got a good amount of joy and success from the days that made today happen, so we have to face the music and dance. This is all history now and in months to come, the events of today and this next fortnight will be history too. Now we have to show the dignity that befits our club, at least to the outside world. NB: And we will see in days to come how HMRC will run amok with other clubs over the use of EBTs and whatnot, won't we? (I have a strange feeling we won't and by then, questions should be asked.)

Unless I am mistaken, the right to play European football is earned by May 2012, when the league has finished. After that the clubs can check whether they receive a license from UEFA for it. What we have to do is make sure the accounts will be signed sealed and delivered by March 31st to the SFA, so that we fulfill all their obligations. Once the HMRC case is being done or the administration process is going on, you would assume that all facts and figures will be relayed to the relevant places anyway. If we are still in administration by the time the teams apply for a European license, we will have a problem - unless there is some backdoor to this. So the sooner it all gets sorted the better.

That is the point ... club membership schemes mean that slowly but steadily the club's ownership will shift into the hands of its members. They decide on the board et al. The problem with the British clubs is that many are being run by owners who invest most of the cash and thus want most of the say ... and fair enough. What needs to be done here is that the members both gets something for their membership fee as well as being certain that the money they invest is used wisely. Thus, you would not invest in anything chairman (be that Whyte or whomever), but Rangers FC.

On a sidenote, creating a model of club membership like it is being done in Germany or Spain would help to secure the club a certain nearly fixed amount of annual income that can used to rebuilt. It works on various levels over here, be that football, ice hockey or basketball. Pending on the annual membership fee (say 100 pounds) and the initial stuff related to it (discounts on products, tickets, et al; first pick for special tickets not included in season tickets, brick at Ibrox, you name it; shares), it might raise quite some money. If ever there was a chance to start it, it would be now. But that needs to be done by a institution the fans adore, maybe headed/fronted by people like Laudrup, Albertz, Novo and Co.. Will we get 40k people? Maybe not. But perhaps a few who are willing to buy more than one membership and thus getting access to more share or the like?

My opinion of blog Traynor's article? Utter dross.

A Q &A for the case of administration has been made available on the homepage. Maybe I'm the wrong person to disuss it, but these lines look to be the important ones.

Snatched from FF

... but Vodafone could? Other companies could? Because their lobby is bigger than ours? I see your point Bluedell, but the way HMRC decided that hardline approach right when it was the worst for us is ... well ... Zappa No-one wants to bank or deal with us as it stands now and no-one on here thinks that one man will dig even deeper in his pocket to finance the club for much longer. Running costs are at 3.5m a month ... and Whyte is no sheikh.

This ... ... is what I expected to read after the initial meltdown. As nothing else can be done today or for the time being, I think I quit the debate for now.

We have the Club's statement now and should relax somewhat ... What is the key issue seems to be the tone of the HMRC people who will proceed with their claim "no matter what" and thus essentially keep the club from operating. IMHO, this borders to extortion and coercion, no matter whether they have the right to do this or not.

Obviously, I assume that the result of the tax case will be known soon. We can all think of the worst case scenario, but e.g. if the bill is in the region of 20m, it would not mean "instant death" or something. If it is a technicality that has to be done, for the time being it is the best thing to wait and see.

This, btw, might be the time the Rangers support finally joins up and get their act together.