der Berliner

In this week of drama, i.e. real drama for Rangers FC, was there any need to heat up the debate and give the media more ammunition? What a silly stunt by the man harrassed for what, a dozen years by RSA's taxmen? Here's a quick glance at what this single line just caused ... Liquidation looms for Scottish giants IOL 14:06 Dave King fears liquidation for Rangers FC Business 14:06 Rangers liquidation 'inevitable' - director SuperSport 14:03 Gers can be saved - Murray TEAMtalk 13:59 Rangers crisis: Live updates as administrators and players reconvene for wage talks The Scotsman 13:52 Rangers director Dave King: Liquidation is inevitable Metro.co.uk 13:51 An insight into the disturbing anti-Rangers Witch-hunt. FollowFollow.com 13:45 Rangers liquidation 'inevitable', says director Emirates 24/7 13:43 Murray targets Rangers takeover BBC 13:39 Liquidations looms for Scottish giants IOL 13:39 Rangers liquidation 'inevitable': director Bangkok Post 13:34 Exclusive - Murray rubbishes claims that liquidation is inevitable for Rangers talkSPORT 13:31 Former Rangers director 'will make takeover bid for club' STV 13:31 Liquidation 'inevitable' says Rangers director Evening Echo 13:30 Rangers can't be saved, according to club director JOE.ie 13:22 Liquidation 'inevitable' for Rangers - King ESPN.co.uk 13:18 King: Rangers liquidation is inevitable Metro.co.uk 13:10 Rangers 'close to liquidation' Daily Star 13:03 Gers liquidation 'inevitable' ESPN Soccernet 12:49 Rangers quintet agree to leave club - repo… ESPN Soccernet 12:49 Dave King says liquidation of Rangers now “inevitable” The Scotsman 12:47 King: Rangers liquidation 'inevitable' Telegraph.co.uk 12:39 Stalled: Senior rebels give thumbs down to Ibrox deal as Wylde sacrifices career to aid... Creditman 12:37 Scottish News: Rangers liquidation 'inevitable' The Rutherglen Reformer, Scotland 12:36 Dave King King fears liquidation for Rangers FC Business 12:35 Gregg Wylde tells of relief at Rangers exit The Scotsman 12:35 Rangers liquidation 'inevitable' Wishaw Press, Scotland 12:27 Rangers director fears liquidation is 'inevitable' The Independent 12:25 ‘Inevitable’ that Glasgow Rangers will go into liquidation,’ says club director The Irish Independent 12:23 King fears liquidation for Gers TEAMtalk 12:17 King expects Rangers liquidation Radio 1 12:16 Rangers: King expects Rangers liquidation Footymad 12:15 Rangers' Slide Into Liquidation 'Inevitable', Says Club Director The Huffington Post 12:15 Dave King statement: Read the full 1,500 words on Rangers Daily Mail 12:14 King fears liquidation for Gers Football 365 12:12 In full: Dave King statement on Rangers FC The Scotsman 12:10 Gregg Wylde relieved to leave Rangers Daily Mail 12:10 Liquidation 'inevitable' for Rangers Belfast Telegraph 12:08 Dave King says liquidation of Rangers now “invevitable” The Scotsman 12:06 Rangers latest Live Latest developments at Ibrox as administrators hold talks with... BBC Sport 12:04 Rangers director Dave King believes 'liquidation is inevitable' STV 12:03 Partick Thistle unsure on future of Rangers loanees Darren Cole & Kal... The Glaswegian 12:00 Rangers director fears the end Sky Sports 11:57 Rangers director fears liquidation of club Evening Echo 11:50 Rangers chief says club will go bust Daily Mail 11:43 Rangers Liquidation 'INEVITABLE'? Sporting Life 11:39 King expects Rangers liquidation BBC Sport 11:26 ... well, well.

Yep. But the only words you can take "for granted" from the other side are direct quotes. So far, the press delivers spicy reports peppered with the odd quote here and there, but none which are actually "spicy". As I said, they have us go bananas on the basis of "our sources close to players", "claims by" and somesuch. When you look at what is actually quoted, the story is sure not as dramatic as painted. (Which is not saying that it isn't. But I for one do not jump to conclusions from press talk alone.)

The point is: this is what we are told by the press. Do we know whether the admins have talked to the staff at all and in any detail? I would imagine that the redundancies in that area are occuring too, but to which extent is another matter. Compared to what the players earn, the amount of money saved by making other staff redundant is probably very (as in VERY) minimal. Just MHO, of course.

To get you off the doom-and-gloom for a few moments, I again plundered FF for this story: On This Day (March 7th) 1885 - Ayr 2 Rangers 3 (Somerville 2, untraced) - Friendly This match was played for the Ayr Charity Cup and duly won by Rangers. 1891 - Third Lanark 0 Rangers 4 (J.McPherson, untraced 3) - Scottish League 1903 - Stenhousemuir 1 Rangers 4 (J.Robertson 2, R.C.Hamilton 2) - Scottish Cup Semi-FinalR 1908 - Kilmarnock 0 Rangers 2 (Livingstone, Smith) - Scottish First Division 1914 - Rangers 2 (Paterson, Stewart) Clyde 1 - Scottish First Division 1925 - Kilmarnock 1 Rangers 2 (Henderson, Cunningham) - Scottish Cup Quarter-Final 1928 - Hearts 0 Rangers 0 - Scottish First Division 1931 - Aberdeen 1 Rangers 3 (Smith, Archibald, Marshall) - Scottish First Division 1936 - Aberdeen 0 Rangers 1 (Turnbull) - Scottish Cup Quarter-Final 1953 - Rangers 1 (Young pen) Clyde 2 -Scottish First Division 1956 - Rangers 8 (Kichenbrand 5, Simpson 2, Scott) Queen of the South 0 - Scottish First Division The visit of Queen of the South to Ibrox was the first time floodlights were used in a Scottish League match, and Rangers' South African centre-forward Don Kichenbrand chose the occasion to notch five of Rangers' goals. Nicknamed 'the Rhino', Kichenbrand was to finish the season Rangers' top League goalscorer with 24 to his name. The other two goals in this demolition of Queen of the South were scored by Billy Simpson (two) and Alex Scott. 1959 - Rangers 3 (I. McMillan, Scott, Murray) Clyde 1 - Scottish First Division 1964 - Rangers 2 (Forrest, Henderson) Celtic 0 - Scottish Cup Quarter-Final 1967 - Airdrie 0 Rangers 1 (D. Smith pen) - Scottish First Division 1970 - Rangers 2 (Stein 2) Motherwell 1 - Scottish First Division 1981 - Rangers 3 (Russell, McAdam, J.McDonald) Hibernian 1 - Scottish Cup Quarter-Final 1987 - Falkirk 1 Rangers 2 (McCoist 2) - Scottish Premier Division 1999 - Rangers 2 (McCann,Amoruso) Falkirk 1 - Scottish Cup Quarter-Final 2004 - Celtic 1 Rangers 0 - Scottish Cup Quarter-Final 2006 - Villarreal 1 Rangers 1 (Lovenkrands) - European Champions' League last 16

In the redundancies thread, Zappa posted a number of highly volatile Record stories from the "other side". As opposed to the administrators, the press can show some leniency with regard to the truth and with claims.

That would be the best option, but the way it will unfold is that the best deal will be scrutinized by the administrators and they say Yes! or No!. At this moment and time, we need to get out of this mess first and foremost. If it is a consortium or a lone chairman, we can always try and do the membership scheme and/or share issue stuff afterwards too.

I think we have to be VERY wary with these news reports. "understands", "claims", and "sources close" mean essentially nothing, while the rest of it is buffed with volatile wording. Edge of the seats and squeaky bums stuff for the Rangers legions ... is the cry of the media here. While I can see the point in trying to ease the monetary pressure here, if we have real interest in the club by various people deadlined for next week, is there really a need to swing the axe here and make the work of those taking over doubly-difficult?

Well, there are a number of issues here and people have obviously various opinions about players seeking and getting a release. Being pragmatic here, Celik took the opportunity (according to his advisor) and did not accept a 75% pay cut of his 7.5k a week (for probably a months or two?) and became a free agent again. Saves us money and gives him the chance to sign for anyone he likes and who pays him. Strikes you as the typical mercenary approach and his posturing always kept me a bit wary of him. (Have we paid GAIS anything for him thus far?) In the end tough, we did not pay him according to his contract and he's every right to go. Ally wanted to keep him, but he (and his agent) decided against it. Good luck! (On a sidenote, anyone expects a rumour from the Hooped Horrors that he was punted because of his name?) Wylde said that he was living under so much stress that he could not bear it any longer. He in turn does not strike me as someone looking for the next best deal and I would be surprised if he signs up for anyone else in the near future. After all, we could be out of admin pretty soon again (or not, but just in case) and he would still be a freebie able to be signed up immediately. That said, we now can play Aluko and Kerkar and even Wallace on that wing and all add a very different dimension to the side than the rather straight approach Wylde offered thus far. But here, much like with the stress I mentioned above, people have to consider his age. He's not exactly a full grown adult (are footballers ever?) just yet and a combination of the above might have led him to this decision.

So essentially the agents making a mess of it ... since they are not "Rangers at heart" as some of their clients, but businessmen. Hm.

... to give you sweet(er) dreams: Initially from FF ... and something in that very same thread: plus .

Maybe I should have posted the "rumour" itself, so it is more clear: Maybe I was using the CVA stuff too freely, so I beg your pardon for that.

We've may have won the big case, but we still owe HMRC 9m (or whatever is true) in VAT and all since Whyte took over. As far as I am aware, we have not paid them that so far. I still suspect that Whyte used this to get us into administration once the "big case" was about to be decided, so he would be one the save side from various directions. Whatever will happen, I also have a lingering feeling that he was used as a tool by someone/-many else to get the Lloyds and the HMRC stuff off our backs.

Nope. Davis is one of our most sellable assets, along with the others named. If anything, they will try to get a pay-cut deal with him and the rest ... though McGregor and McCulloch are said (!) to have offered playing for free anyways. The high-earners listed above are those considered the most safe according to some on FF, since they are not only the backbone of the team, but also, as I said above, those who could command a decent transfer fee.

As posted in another thread, one rumour now goes that we actually won the big case, but HMRC is only willing to do a CVA with us when we pay up all the VAT et al stuff accumulated over the Whyte period in full. (And yes, I'm bulletproof!)

From one of the moderators at FF (and that does not make him an reliable source)

A couple of updates .. snatched from FF Sherbrook Loyal (Moderator)

That's the spirit!

Halo - REACH does the trick to, or do some real work. Whatever happen will happen, whether we watch it or not. I'd rather despair at the end of the day, not with every single player leaving or supposedly leaving.

Anything official bar Wylde then?

Well, I always watch on in admiration when Ally shakes the hand of the opponent's players once they leave the field. Never ever saw that happening anywhere else* and it shows the respect that he has for the professionals on the field. We did not exactly cover ourselves in glory at times, but that does not validate the open hatred and animosity shown towards us from all strata of Scottish football. What beggars belief is the fact that by openly antagonizing us to the limit, they dig their own graves. But the hatred of Rangers is apparently more important to them and theirs than their own survival. *BTW, I noted the same gesture in the movie A Shot at Glory, featuring a certain Ally McCoist.

Of course, the question remains about what exactly is being discussed here. While the FFer intimates that this might concern the "big case" (when do we finally get an answer for that, BTW?), it could also refer to the 9 to 15m we apparently own HMRC from the Whyte era. As of Whyte, it might be that the admins are now confident that his status as creditor might be neglectable? (Not that I have a clue!)

That happens when football people think they have suddenly developed a knack for business stuff and hare after a rumour from you-know-who ... maybe?

An article to be linked later on today, typed by a fellow poster on FF: Essentially it looks that EBTs do not count as part of contracts and if the latter had been registered with the SFA, they can do nothing about the EBTs, who were discretionary stuff between the player and the club, perhaps linked to winning the title, reaching the CL and whatnot. You'd hope that if the government adviser in such things says this, the SFA / SPL has no room to target us about it ... even in this day and age. Another poster of some standing over there reports that the admins and HMRC are discussing (!) a CVA as we write.

I share your sentiments entirely and it hurts to see "my" club in this scenario.

Many people have asked how to instantly help the club with money. While the various schemes and ideas have been floating about, the administrators said that the revenue they can use instantly is indeed ticket sales, buying items from the club shops, using hospitality and the like. I got into contact with David Melvin of the Rangers media team and asked him whether subscriptions to the RangerTV services would help too and his reply was: So if people like to invest some money - starting at a moderate 3.99 a month - here's another chance. Of course, listening to Tom Miller & Co. on Rangers Radio and/or watching the games live is a jump in quality to what you are offered somewhere else. Rangers TV / radio