ian1964

Rangers FC Official‏@RFC_Official CG: "There are 20 individuals and families who have pledged support. Each have placed money in a bank account that D&P have had sight of."

CG: "We have worked in private and my name is the first to come out. We haven't done our business in public." 54s Rangers FC Official Rangers FC Official ‏ @RFC_Official CG: "We have always wanted a CVA in order to preserve that history." 1m Rangers FC Official Rangers FC Official ‏ @RFC_Official Charles Green: "I'm delighted that the administrators have accepted our offer. #RFC has a great history and we want to preserve that"

SSN say they will be covering this soon?

Funny,I was just thinking that!,will him and TBKs' back him?

Me no like the sound of that!................

Earlier on today RangersMedia’s sources revealed that the Charles Green lead consortium is set to be named preferred bidder. So who are [insert name of Green’s consortium… the Green Knights doesn’t sound quite right]? I’ll have a quick look at some of those that are believed to be involved. The front man, Charles Green, held the Chief Executive role at Sheffield United in 1997. During his time at Bramall Lane, Green was unpopular with fans; the fans held him responsible for the sale of several key players. During Green’s short stint at the Blades there were short comings of success both on and off the park. Following his spell with Sheffield United, Green moved into football agency with firm Proactive Sports. Proactive Sports have represented players such as Andy Cole and Wayne Rooney. He remained chairman with Proactive Sports until 2003. Since then, Green has had directorial involvement in several medical science firms. Green currently holds a non-executive chairman role with Singaporean based company Nova Resources Ltd. It is unknown whether there are any links to Bill Ng, who was previously unsuccessful with his bid for the Ibrox club. Former Newcastle United owner, Freddie Shepherd, is believed to be another cog in the engine room of a new consortium. The Geordie made his money in the scrap metal trade. His estimated worth is approximately £60 million. It is a similar story with Shepherd in regard to fan popularity. Many Newcastle United fans hold Shepherd responsible for the crippling debts and overly expensive running costs that Newcastle had before Mike Ashley’s 2007 takeover. However, whilst holding an executive role on the Newcastle United board, Shepherd saw the arrival of then world-record signing Alan Shearer. Shepherd was also instrumental when the St James’ club captured the signature of Michael Owen. Joe Lewis is Britain’s seventh wealthiest man with an estimated wealth of £3.8 billion. Lewis currently has a stake in Tottenham Hotspur, but has previously had a stake in the Ibrox club. Lewis has an impressive business portfolio; he is the main investor in the Tavistock Group, which owns more than 200 companies in 15 countries.

Where can we watch this online?

Lifted from FF: Not For Turning (@WillhelmA) 13/05/2012 09:24 Ever wondered who was behind the Rangers Tax case blog? You will find out soon enough Bears.

RAGING David Murray last night tore into the SFA over their blistering report that laid bare his apparent mismanagement of Rangers. The dossier accused the former Ibrox owner of selling the club to Craig Whyte despite being aware of his dodgy business career. The 100-page report from the associationâ??s judicial panel revealed Murray sold the club under pressure from his bankers at Lloyds TSB. It claimed he ignored other directorsâ?? warnings about Whyte. But Murray is seething that nobody from the SFA spoke to him before the reportâ??s publication. The 60-year-old says he would have been willing to meet panel members Gary Allan, QC, Eric Drysdale and Alastair Murning to answer their questions â?? but no one got in touch. And he claimed that the findings on the bank and Whyte were wrong. The report contradicts Murrayâ??s earlier claims that he was duped by Whyte and was unaware of his chequered business history. He claimed to have Googled Whyte and found nothing to alarm him before going ahead with the sale. Murray said: â??The SFA committee have decided to print a document as factual without even giving me the courtesy of responding. â??Surely for the benefit of doubt, at least a meeting should have taken place or an invitation to speak, which they never gave me. I find it incredible that as someone who was owner of Rangers for 23 years that I was not asked my opinion. â??The report is not 100 per cent accurate. â??They have also not taken in account public statements I have made about my role in this. I donâ??t agree with their interpretation. â??Surely having been involved in Rangers longer than anybody, I should have been able to give my side of the story before being criticised in the document. â??The statements that were made about the banking relationship are wrong. â??It wasnâ??t the case that Lloyds wanted out of Rangers especially. They did not want to be in the football industry.â? He added: â??In terms of legal action, I will consider my options.â? Murray has come in for increased criticism from some Rangers fans over his role in the debacle that has seen the club placed in administration and facing liquidation. Yesterday, Gers boss Ally McCoist waded in, saying of the sale to Whyte: â??It certainly looks the wrong decision.â? The three-man SFA panel branded the behaviour of Rangers almost as serious as match fixing. They considered terminating their membership of the association because of Whyteâ??s conduct. But some of the most astonishing findings relate to the period in which Murray offloaded the club. Ibrox officials hired private detectives to investigate Whyte and the probe found serious trails of debt and unpaid taxes. The report claimed chief operating officer Martin Bain warned Murray about this before the sale â?? which wiped £18million off Murray International Holdings Ltdâ??s debt to Lloyds â?? went through. Rangers will have their appeal against sanctions imposed by the SFA, including a one-year transfer ban and a £160,000 fine, heard this week. Last night, an SFA spokesman said of Murrayâ??s claims: â??The panel was only able to consider the evidence put before them.â? http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/05/13/rangers-in-crisis-david-murray-blasts-sfa-after-they-condemn-sale-of-club-to-craig-whyte-86908-23857659/

Will this be shown live anywhere?,links?

I'm not having a go mate,just can't be arsed with personal attacks,even if I do agree TBK fucked about too long.Let's just get on with the business of rebuilding the Rangers

Strange,we should all be feeling a bit better that someone has come in and looks like he will be taking over the Rangers,but after what we have been through I'm sitting here very apprehensive,I suppose it's only right to be that way.I think we all just want this scenario to be finished so we can start moving forward and coming on here talking about football.Fingers crossed,there is still a long road ahead,but we can only hope this is the start of rebuilding the Rangers.

It makes me uncomfortable when I hear personal slagging of other bidders,especially so early

Chris McLaughlin ‏ @BBCchrismclaug #Rangers announce 10am media conference at Murray Park. Charles Green to be confirmed as man who has agreed to buy the club.

Chris McLaughlin ‏ @BBCchrismclaug #Rangers announce 10am media conference at Murray Park. Charles Green to be confirmed as man who has agreed to buy the club.

Charles Green vows he's not another Craig Whyte as he's set to be named preferred bidder Charles Green has hit out at Brian Kennedy over his efforts to take control of Rangers with Blue Knights CHARLES GREEN last night promised Rangers fans he wasn’t another Craig Whyte after revealing he has been named the club’s preferred bidder. And the Englishman stuck the boot into the Blue Knights as he accused Brian Kennedy of being a wannabe film star who was only out for personal glory. The Ibrox administrators are also far from impressed by Kennedy and yesterday insisted the £11m bid he talked up was actually worth just £2m to creditors. But Duff and Phelps have greater faith in the £8.5m offer from Green’s consortium and will today announce them as preferred bidders for the troubled club. There are concerns about Green’s intentions for the Ibrox outfit after his controversial spell as Sheffield United’s chief executive. And he once had business dealings with a finance firm connected with Whyte. But while the Yorkshireman admitted he was no saint, he also claimed there was nothing sinister about his bid. And Green told fans they wouldn’t be taken for another ride. He said: “I understand the frustration of the fans. They are apprehensive about anybody taking charge of the club after what Craig Whyte did. “I don’t want anybody to say I am purer than the driven snow because I am not – but I don’t want people to write lies about me. “I can assure you there is nothing sinister about my motives. The administrators are going to introduce me as the preferred bidder and we’ll do a joint press conference when things will become clearer.” Green drove to Glasgow yesterday for talks with Gers boss Ally McCoist and mapped out his plan to drag the club from the depths of despair. Now he can’t wait to get cracking with the salvage operation after winning the race to be named as preferred bidder. Rival Kennedy had promised fans a dream team of McCoist, Walter Smith and Graeme Souness as part of the Blue Knights takeover. And he claimed administrators Duff and Phelps would have “blood on their hands” unless they came up with a cunning masterplan to save the club. But Green blasted back last night and insisted Kennedy was all talk and no action. He said: “For the last three months I have been working on a deal to save this great club. I have seen what has happened and it has been horrendous. “But unlike everybody else who is doing it for their own personal glorification, like Brian Kennedy, we just want to save the club. “Kennedy wants to be a movie star and doesn’t want to be a chairman of the club. He thinks he’s Mel Gibson.” Green’s reign as Sheffield United’s chief executive was stormy and former Rangers star Nigel Spackman resigned as manager in 1998 after becoming fed up with the way he was running the club. Fans were also furious when Green sold some of their top players but the Englishman insists he’s a man who can be trusted. And he pointed to his record at Proactive Sports – where he managed to save the agency millions – as proof that he can turn financial matters around at Ibrox. Green said: “Proactive wanted me back because things were not looking so good. “They owed people like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Thomas Sorensen something like £40m. They were going to lose the lot but in February I got every penny back for them with interest. I then resigned so you cannot say there is anything untrustworthy about me or they wouldn’t have wanted me back.” Green now wants to help Gers bounce back from the brink after holding talks with McCoist. The 59-year-old added: “I met with Ally and we went through the players, the plans and the strategy to take this club on. “There is a lot of work to do but I am not work-shy or here to take the mickey. I have turned around companies before and I will do it again. “I spent nearly two hours with Ally and we are here to keep this club afloat.” McCoist admitted he spoke to former team-mate Spackman after hearing Green was interested in Gers. But he has an open mind about the man about to call the shots at Ibrox. The Rangers gaffer said: “I did speak to Nigel but to be fair I spoke to a few people about the potential purchaser. “It is evident the consortium are well ahead in their planning of the purchase. “Strange as it may seem, I don’t know if they are going to do due diligence or if they are just going to buy the club. “We want things to move as quickly as possible because the money is running out.” However, McCoist admitted Green’s links to shamed owner Whyte were a worry. He said: “That would obviously be a concern to any supporter but it is not for me to say because I don’t know these guys. “I can understand that fans might have concerns as they are still really hurting about the way the club has been run, certainly over the last period. “They just want an outcome as soon as possible – you can feel the tension and patience is wearing thin. All I would ask the fans again is just to try to hang on.” McCoist also defended Paul Clark and David Whitehouse after the administrators came under fire from Kennedy. He said: “I speak to both of them and they do keep you up to speed. They are taking a kicking but are only trying to do their job. “I am not an administrator and know nothing about it other than what I have learned but what I would say is that they have been really fair and transparent with me.” On Green’s proposed takeover, Whitehouse confirmed: “It’s at a very advanced stage. He’s backed by a venture capital fund. There are some relatively high-profile football people in his bid team. We would not want to breach confidentiality on that.” Whitehouse also hit back at the Blue Knights and claimed their £11m bid was actually worth just £2m to creditors. He said: “When we started the bidding process we created a document which was a template to submit bids and we specifically asked them to exclude certain assets. “The principle thing was the football debtors – monies owed from other clubs to Rangers, predominantly the Nikica Jelavic money from his move to Everton. That was made clear from the start and everybody took it on board except Brian Kennedy. “The Blue Knights, before Kennedy got involved, were treating the football debtors as excluded assets but that was when their bid was led by Ticketus. “So the Blue Knights bid is as follows: £5.5m on day one, but they have included the football debtors. They have valued the football debtors at £3.5m – the actual number is £3.8m but let’s go with their £3.5m. So in terms of value to creditors the value of that is £2m. “In addition to that they are saying they are going to pay Scottish clubs up to £1m but at the end of every season the SPL deduct payments due to other clubs from your prize money. So those clubs will get paid no matter what. “They are then saying they will pay another £2m in relation to European football. “It’s made up as follows: £500,000 for each year from 2012-13 and 2013-2014 and the other £1m could come if in one of those years we reach the last eight of the Champions League, which is optimistic. “So in aggregate they say that gets them to £8.5m. They have also said in a subsequent email that they might consider paying European football creditors, the likes of Rapid Vienna’s £2.7m. So that’s how the Blue Knights get to £11m. “In our view it’s £2m and might be £2.5m if we get Europe. That’s the value to creditors. The Blue Knights have been told time and time again that the bid is too low. “They have adopted a strategy to try to bulldoze the process and railroad us through to submission. Even if they were able to railroad us, which they won’t, I don’t believe their offer is one the creditors will accept. And we speak to HMRC on a daily basis. “HMRC have made it clear they don’t believe in the football creditor rule so it would be contrary to stated policy to accept what the Blue Knights are proposing. “To come out and say you’ve offered £11m is disingenuous to the fans.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/05/13/rangers-in-crisis-charles-green-promises-fans-he-s-not-another-craig-whyte-as-he-s-set-to-be-named-preferred-bidder-86908-23857513/

Takeover deal for Rangers agreed Former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green has agreed a deal to buy Scottish Premier League side Rangers. The deal will be announced at the club's training base Murray Park on Sunday when the 59-year-old is due to outline his plans. It is understood Green wants to form a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and he is backed with finance from Singapore businessmen. He plans to watch Sunday's final SPL match of the season at St Johnstone. More to follow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18049325

Takeover deal for Rangers agreed Former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green has agreed a deal to buy Scottish Premier League side Rangers. The deal will be announced at the club's training base Murray Park on Sunday when the 59-year-old is due to outline his plans. It is understood Green wants to form a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and he is backed with finance from Singapore businessmen. He plans to watch Sunday's final SPL match of the season at St Johnstone. More to follow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18049325

Aye,yer probably right,just the fact that they said it,obviously just trying to force D&P hand?.

Hmmm!,I'm not sure,BK & PM said that their lawyers had to be in Ibrox for 09:00 this morning to start working on the CVA!,another bluff?.

Leggat - DAVID MURRAY REVEALED AS A DUPLICITOUS LIAR SO now we know. David Murray was not Doyle Lonnegan after all. Not the bumbling buffoon of a simpleton he told us he was. Not the Scottish version of the boorish Irish gangster of a ‘mark,’ played by Robert Shaw in the Sting. No, David Murray was more like a character in a James Bond movie. But not the one played by his pal, Sean Connery. Not 007. The character I have in mind is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the arch villain. Not just the bad guy, the evil bad guy. That is exactly what the Scottish Football Association Judicial panel has revealed David Murray to be. David Murray was not duped. David Murray was duplicitous. Duplicitous in the sale of Rangers to Craig Whyte, the cheating lying conman and crook who brought Rangers to this low. That Craig Whyte. In cahoots with that David Murray. Far from David Murray having had the wool pulled over his eyes by a cunning con perpetrated by Craig Whyte, David plunged straight in, eyes wide open. But only after admitting that he had to sell Rangers because he was so deeply in debt to Lloyds Bank. That is, David Murray’s other companies were so deeply in hock to Lloyds that he had to do just exactly what they told him to do. And Lloyds Bank told him to sell Rangers to Craig Whyte. Lloyds Bank insisted that David Murray sold Rangers to Craig Whyte. Lloyds Bank ORDERED David Murray to sell Rangers to Craig Whyte. And David Murray did just exactly what he was told and sold out Rangers to Craig Whyte in a damning act of cowardice and utter and shameful betrayal. And then David Murray lied and lied and lied. He was even willing to be held up as a laughing stock by saying Whyte had duped him. David Murray was even willing to be compared to Doyle Lonnegan. All to avoid admitting what he had really done to Rangers. All to avoid telling the truth. But the truth will out. ALWAYS! No matter who it concerns. Charles Green and the shadowy men he is involved with should remember that. As should Duff and Phelps in general and David Whitehouse in particular. For the moment though the spotlight shines on David Murray and there will be no place for him to go to escape from it. Not his estate in Perthshire. Not his French vineyards. Not his Edinburgh home. Not his office in Charlotte Square. The truth is like that. It follows you about, popping out to confront you with a grin every time you think you’ve ducked it. Or that people have forgotten it. And the truth is that the Rangers Independent Board, formed to probe Craig Whyte, hired a private investigator to delve into Whyte and presented his report to David Murray. That was in March last year, two months before David sold out Rangers to Craig Whyte. But David Murray simply ignored all of the warnings about Craig Whyte. It was Martin Bain who delivered the black spot to David Murray. And it was Martin Bain who, giving evidence to the SFA’s Judicial Panel - evidence which they believed - revealed what David Murray told him. A revelation which will damn David Murray for all time. What David Murray said was that he was under pressure from Lloyds Bank to sell Rangers and that he had no option, other than to sell Rangers to Craig Whyte. But David Murray went further. David Murray showed just how desperate he was. For he begged Bain to urge the specially formed Ibrox Independent Board to approve his sale of Rangers to Craig Whyte. He begged Bain to get men of honour such as Paul Murray and Alistair Johnston to lie on his behalf. But Bain, David Murray’s loyal ally and lieutentant for more than a decade, finally snapped. He saw his old boss stripped of all the veneer of power, laid bare as a man willing to go to any lengths to please his Lloyds Bank masters, no matter what dreadful damage his actions inflicted on Rangers. He saw David Murray for what he really was. And Martin Bain told David Murray to get stuffed. Bain told him that he would not urge the other members of the Independent Board, Alastair Johnston, John McClelland and John Greig, to approve David Murray selling Rangers down the river to Craig Whyte. It’s all there in the 27,000 word Scottish Football Association explanation. All the questions about the way David Murray behaved during the sale of his 85.3per cent shareholding in Rangers to Craig Whyte, are answered. All the credible evidence which was believed, is there in detail. And it all reveals the lies David Murray has been hiding behind for the last year as he watched the consequences of ignoring all the warnings about Whyte, just so he could do his master's bidding. His master was and remains, Lloyds Bank. David Murray, in effect, acted as their agent in sending Rangers plunging to where they are now. There’s more. And other aspects from the SFA Judicial Panel. And I will be examining some of them, attempting to interpret some and commenting on others. For the moment it is best to start at the beginning and the beginning of this whole sorry saga was when Craig Whyte appeared on the scene and David Murray sold out Rangers to him, despite evidence which warned him not to. Despite the report of a private investigator and advice from cool heads. Despite advice from true blue Rangers men such as Alastair Johnston. David Murray ignored it all. The only voice he listened to was that of the man from Lloyds Bank who was screaming the bank’s order in David Murray’s ear…. SELL! SELL! SELL! David Murray was no Doyle Lonnegan. He was and remains, Ernst Stravro Blofeld. David Murray was no dupe. David Murray was duplicitous. http://leggoland2.blogspot.co.uk/

DAVID Murray sacrificed Rangers to save his business empire after bankers held a £700million gun to his head, it was revealed yesterday. An SFA panelâ??s damning report also lays bare how close Rangers came to being kicked out of the association because of Craig Whyteâ??s disastrous stewardship of the club. And despite Murrayâ??s later claims of being duped by Whyte, the panel concluded he was well aware of the shady businessmanâ??s failings. The former Ibrox chief sold the club to Whyte knowing he was involved with a string of insolvent companies and there was no evidence of him having the means to run the club. The appalling management of Rangers is exposed in the SFAâ??s Judicial Panel Disciplinary report, released yesterday. It reveals how worried directors tried to put the brakes on the sale by having Whyteâ??s shady dealings examined by a private eye â?? but Murray remained resolute and eventually won the day. The sale of Rangers to Whyte wiped £18million off Murray International Holdings Ltdâ??s debt to Lloyds â?? only around 2.5 per cent of their total £700million debt mountain. But Murray was clear of the club, and its forthcoming financial and footballing armageddon. The report details the reasons behind the severe punishments imposed on Rangers by the SFA last month. And it reveals the panel considered terminating Rangersâ?? membership of the SFA because of Whyteâ??s conduct. At the time when Whyte was lining up his bid 14 months ago, Murray was desperate to bale out. Murray International Holdings Ltd were under â??serious pressureâ? from their bankers â?? HBoS, later Lloyds â?? to reduce their debt levels, the panel report says. And when chief operating officer Martin Bain showed Murray a detectiveâ??s worrying report on Whyte, the Rangers owner said he had little option but to sell â?? and urged Bain to convince the board to BACK the sale. The private investigators hired by the Rangersâ?? Independent Board Committee found Whyte was involved with numerous companies which were soon wound up owing thousands of pounds in unpaid taxes. And they could find no evidence of Whyteâ??s supposed personal wealth. When Bain, a member of the IBC, received the â??substantial and detailedâ? report on Whyte, it left him â??very concernedâ?. The panel conclude that, out of the IBC members, â??at leastâ? chairman Alastair Johnson was also shown the dossier by Bain before he presented it to Murray. The report showed most of Whyteâ??s companies left a trail of debt, including unpaid taxes running to six-figure sums. Whyte had promised the then Rangers board he could settle the potentially ruinous â??big tax caseâ? using £15million of his own personal wealth. But he provided the board with no information about his companies or proof of funding. When the Rangers board asked the Murray Group if Whyte had provided proof of funds, they were told he had â?? but the board never saw the proof. And any concerns were raised to no avail, as the bankers held the whip hand all along. Lloyds had placed Donald Muir on the Rangers board to represent their interests. Through Muir, the panel report states, the board became aware that Lloyds were â??extremely enthusiasticâ? about the sale to Whyte for the nominal fee of £1 in cash and clearance of the clubâ??s debt. The SFA report says Bain was initially apprehensive about raising his concerns with Murray because he was worried about possible repercussions. The findings say: â??He took the view that once he had â??crossed the lineâ?? there would be no way back.â? Bain met Murray in March last year and aired his concerns that the Murray Group and Murray himself had â??lacked due diligenceâ? in probing Whyte. But Murray said pressure from the bank to sell to Whyte left him â??almost no optionâ? and asked Bain to get the approval of the IBC and the full board. Bain refused to do so, the report said. And his broaching of the subject led to his once-close relationship with Murray being â??damagedâ?. The findings say that as well as the IBC and the board being leaned on to sell by Murray, Johnston was being pressured by Lloyds. When Johnston and the board asked Whyte where he would find cash to repair parts of Ibrox and provide working capital, Whyte said cash had been lodged with his London solicitors Collyer Bristow and that proof of this had been shown to the Murray Group. When the board sought confirmation from the Murray Group, they were told Collyer Bristow had provided proof of funds. The revelations call into question Murrayâ??s claims that he was â??dupedâ? by Craig Whyte. He made the claim when the club entered administration, saying: â??I was duped. My advisers were duped, the bank was duped, the shareholders were duped. Weâ??ve all been duped. Is duped the right word? Duped is the right word. â??I deeply, deeply regret selling the club to Craig Whyte. If the information had been available to me at the time, I wouldnâ??t have done it.â? The SFA findings provide evidence that Murray was fully aware of Whyteâ??s past and lack of proof of funds. The findings also state that prior to Whyteâ??s takeover, Rangers had been under â??financial stressâ? and had owed â??well in excess of £30millionâ?, though that had been â??substantially reducedâ?. The Murray Group were in debt to Lloyds â??in the order of £700millionâ?. The report adds: â??The Murray Group was under substantial pressure from Lloyds to reduce its overall indebtedness. â??The asset holdings of the Murray Group were in iron and steel, and in heritable property, and market conditions were unfavourable to profitable realisation of assets or the generation of funds from these sectors.â? The report also details how the board was split over the sale. It says: â??The directors were provided with no details or evidence of any financial matters or proof of funding or assets relating to Whyte or his companies. A number of directors became extremely concerned and sceptical about his good faith, status and standing. â??They remained very concerned about the absence of any form of verification as to his financial or business standing. Other directors took a less critical view.â? The panel report concludes that from May 6, 2001, until February 14, 2012, Craig Whyte was the â??directing mind and willâ? of Rangers. He deliberately failed to pay tax and information and accounts were withheld from the board. The report says club legend John Greig and former chairman John McClelland resigned because they knew information was being withheld by Whyte. Other board members, the panel report states, â??could have made public the activities of Craig Whyte, of which they were aware or ought to have been awareâ?. These concerns, the panel said, could have gone to the PLUS Stock Exchange and the lack of an AGM at Rangers should also have sounded alarms. Their report concludes there was a â??complete breakdown of corporate governance of Rangers FCâ?. These failings constituted â??as serious offences against the ordinary standards of corporate governance as one could imagineâ?. The panel, who accuse Whyte of planning not to pay tax from the outset, say only match-fixing could have been a more serious breach than the way in which Rangers was run under him. They said: â??The massive extent of the failure and the intentional and calculated manner in which it was carried out aggravated the breach even further.â? The report also reveals: â??The tribunal considered whether it should terminate Rangers FC membership of the Scottish FA and concluded that punishment was too severe. â??It considered whether suspension of membership was a less serious but appropriately severe punishment, but concluded that too was too severe.â? A Lloyds Banking Group spokesman said last night: â??The deal to purchase the majority shareholding of Rangers FC was a matter between Craig Whyte and Sir David Murray. â??The bankâ??s involvement was in relation to the debt owed by Rangers FC, which was repaid in full in accordance with all required regulatory checks.â? http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/05/12/rangers-in-crisis-sfa-dossier-reveals-how-david-murray-was-aware-of-craig-whyte-s-record-86908-23856470/

It's been clear from the beginning of this shite that is the case Zappa,witch hunt it is

I'm playing catch up,but have the RFFF not appointed a QC to look into all this?

May 12 2012 by Colin Duncan and Gary Ralston THE SFA last night revealed they considered throwing Rangers out of Scottish football after finding them guilty of bringing the game into disrepute. A Hampden judicial panel hit the stricken Glasgow giants with a 12-month transfer embargo, ordered them to pay a £160,000 fine and banned disgraced owner Craig Whyte, left, for life. But the SFA claim the punishment could have been much worse, insisting Rangersâ?? crimes were second only to match fixing. martin bain craig whyte Image 1 The Ibrox club are contesting the sentence and their appeal will be heard on Wednesday. A three-man tribunal comprising the Rt Hon Lord Carloway, Spartans chairman Craig Graham and former Partick Thistle chief Allan Cowan will listen to the club plead their case. Rangers are hoping for a reduced sentence but Record Sport understands the panel have the power to increase the severity of their punishment. The SFA yesterday came out fighting ahead of the appeal when they opted to publish their reasons for finding Rangers guilty of financial irregularities. The judicial panelâ??s report stated: â??The Tribunal attempted in its exercise of fixing these matters on the scale of offences to identify a more serious offence than those on the complaints, and concluded that only matchfixing in its various forms might be a more serious breach. â??Having regard to its view on the undoubted gravity of the breaches, the Tribunal considered whether it should terminate Rangers FCâ??s membership of the Scottish FA and concluded that punishment was too severe. â??It considered if suspension of membership was a less serious but an appropriately severe punishment â?? but concluded that was also too severe. â??The Tribunal was dealing with a club at the top of Scottish football who had a history of signing top players, who, logic demanded, commanded commensurate wages. â??It appeared that in a case such as this the punishment should relate in some meaningful way to the unpaid taxes arising from high wages and salaries. â??It appeared that a temporary prohibition on registering any new players during a period of 12 months was a suitable, relevant and proportionate sanction. â??The Tribunal recognised that it would place pressures on Rangers and accordingly limited the period and specifically excluded from the prohibition the registration of persons under 18.â? But raging former Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston laid into the SFA last night and accused them of dealing in â??bull****â?. Johnston is incandescent after the explosive SFA report criticised him and fellow board members for not passing on their concerns about Whyte to the football authorities. He claims Rangers are the biggest victims of Whyteâ??s reign and again fingered Sir David Murray for selling to the dodgy dealer. The SFA report claims they may have been able to block the takeover of Whyte, or at least stall the process, had they been told of a private investigatorâ??s dossier that exposed the prospective ownerâ??s ropey business background. The report was commissioned by a third party in March 2010 and former chief executive Martin Bain discussed its contents with Johnston â?? but they didnâ??t contact the SFA with their fears. Johnston said: â??All information we received independently was passed on to David Murray as the seller of the shares. All our concerns were expressed to the Murray Group and the one person who could actually act on them. â??Iâ??d throw it back to the SFA. At no point did we receive a call asking for any information about Whyte. They did not reach out. If they had we would have been happy to share what we knew. â??The SFA sat back so far they might as well have not existed. Why didnâ??t the SFA ask why board members were sacked or felt forced to resign? We spoke publicly and loudly about our concerns. â??Do the SFA not read papers or watch television? Thatâ??s bull****. â??If they wanted to pick up the phone we would have been happy to talk but they showed no interest whatsoever.â? In addition to banning Whyte for life, the SFA hit him with a £200,000 fine which he says he has no intention of paying. And Johnston said: â??The SFA punished Whyte and acknowledged he was responsible for approving payment of every bill from Dundee Unitedâ??s ticket money to the local newsagent. â??How can they turn around and also find Rangers guilty? Rangers were, are and always will be the victims in all of this. â??The SFAâ??s actions against the club are akin to someone being murdered and their family being told it was all their fault. â??I feel sorry for Dundee United and Hearts â?? and everyone else who wasnâ??t paid â?? but the biggest victims of Whyteâ??s malfeasance were Rangers themselves. â??For the SFA to then find Rangers guilty is diabolically incongruous. Itâ??s just not logical.â? Other directors at the time, including Martin Bain, John Greig and John McClelland, were last night unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, the SFA took the unusual step of naming those who would sit on the tribunal on Wednesday but after the three members of the original panel received security advice from police they have warned against intimidation. An SFA spokesman said: â??In light of the subsequent leaking of the identities of members from the original tribunal, and given the exceptional circumstances of the appeal, it has been agreed we will identify the members of the appellate tribunal. â??This decision has been taken with the approval of the individuals involved and after consultation with the police authorities. â??It is essential these members are allowed to conduct the appeal without fear of intimidation and we respectfully ask all involved in the process to do their utmost to observe our wishes and the wishes of the panel members.â? Rangers manager Ally McCoist has welcomed the decision to make the names public knowledge. He said: â??We want transparency and clarity and Iâ??m delighted the panel has been named. The three gentlemen have a decision to make and we hope itâ??s a good one for us. â??The worst scenario is that the embargo stays and we are not allowed to sign players for a year. Half our squad could then go in the summer and we are left with a pretty depressing situation.â? However, Celtic boss Neil Lennon believes it is grossly unfair the SFA have named the panel. Lennon said: â??These people do this voluntarily, they do it because they love the game and for the right reasons. â??This puts extra pressure on these people and they are under enough pressure as it is.â? http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2012/05/12/rangers-in-crisis-sfa-considered-kicking-ibrox-club-out-for-offences-almost-as-bad-as-match-fixing-86908-23856330/