ian1964

Who is to represent Rangers then?.

All these people who want to see Rangers harmed as much as possible,even though it seriously harms their own clubs,should be ashamed and if what they want to happen to Rangers does then they will happily sit back and watch the death of their own clubs content that Rangers are punished severely,pathetic really.

A warm to welcome all the newbies to gersnet

Leggat: BILL MILLER AND FORMER CELTIC MAN HALPIN - Exclusive BILL MILLER is lining up a former Celtic top gun as one of his first appointments if he wins control of Rangers. He is troubleshooter and self confessed TROUBLEMAKER, Stephen Francis Halpin. Halpin worked for Celtic for two years in the early 1990s. That is around the time when current Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell had his first stint working at Parkhead. Though it is not yet clear if Stephen Francis Haplin and Lawwell were together inside Parkhead on the Celtic payroll at exactly the same time. I can now reveal that Halpin’s firm, Merchant Soul, which also specializes in the back arts of spin doctoring, have been working in shadows on behalf of administrators, Duff and Phelps. And they are now also believed to be practicing the same spinning in the shadows on behalf of Bill Miller, who is closely linked with Sport 9 Club, aka, the Chicago Mob, whose controversial chief, Jon Pritchett, is working with Bill Miller. The Chicago Mob are also linked with Andrew Ellis, who was appointed to the Rangers board by Craig Whyte after turning up in the Ibrox directors’ box with the notorious Celtic supporting, Barry Hughes in tow. Now the Merchant Soul firm, founded by Stephen Francis Halpin and of which he is managing director, can be revealed to be playing its part in the agenda setting leaks and unattributed quotes which many believe set some people against Paul Murray and the True Blue Knights. It is now looking likely that Merchant Soul and Stephen Francis Halpin’s reward will be a lucrative contract as Rangers OFFICIAL Press, Public Relations and Marketing advisors and consultants if Bill Miller wins his bid to get his hands on the keys to the Ibrox board room, the Blue Rooom and Trophy Room. What is not clear is just who is footing the bill for all the work Stephen Francis Halpin has already been doing on behalf of Duff and Phelps and the Duff and Phelps Two, Paul Clark and David Whitehouse. For during this period of administration, for LEGAL purposes, Duff and Phelps ARE Rangers. Will Rangers be paying Stephen Francis Halpin? Is Stephen Francis Halpin already coining in the cash from Rangers? Rangers already have a contract with spin doctors Media House, whose boss, former Sun editor, Jack Irvine, is a Bluenose and their name has continued to appear on official Rangers press releases, along with the in-house Rangers press officers. The Stephen Francis Halpin man from Soul Merchant who has been working closely with Paul Clark and David Whitehouse is Scott Steedman, who once operated on behalf of the Scottish Premier League. Stephen Francis Halpin, given his Celtic connections, has kept his head down and stayed lurking in the shadows. UNTIL NOW! So, just who is Stephen Francis Halpin, who now stands to cash in to the tune of anything up to A MILLION POUNDS if Bill Miller takes control of Rangers and hands Halpin’s company a big fat juicy contract to work for Rangers? Stephen Francis Halpin is vague about his schooling, saying only that he was educated at St Andrew’s between 1981 and 1987. There is a St Andrew’s RC Secondary School in Carnytyne, but there was also another with the same name in Whitecrook, Clydebank. It closed in 2009 and merged with another to form the new school, St Peter The Apostle, just off Great Western Rd. He then took a five year course at the University of Paisley where he graduated with a BA(Hons) in Business Economics and Marketing. The years he lists are between 1987 and 1992. Which clashes with the 1991, 1992 years when he listed his employment as being Celtic’s Retail Development Officer, claiming to have been responsible for the marketing operation in the club’s shops. He is also listed as having been a directior of FIVE companies, all of which are now dissolved. They are… AURORA SCOTT MEIKLE LTD. SCOTT MEIKLE MARKETING LTD. YUM UK LTD. COIL DESIGN LTD CURIOUS ORANJ LTD. They were based at a range of addresses from Canniesburn Drive, The Stables, Carlton Court, Ballantine House, West George Street and Michaelson Square in Livingston. His latest company, Merchant Soul, is listed as having its office in McPherson Street, Glasgow, G1, in the city’s trendy and up market Merchant City. He is listed as being a director of Merchant Soul Holdings Ltd, Merchant Soul Sponsors Ltd and XVK Company Ltd. His Merchant Soul company was established in January 2009 with Stephen Francis Halpin listed as its managing director. Former Celtic employee Stephen Francis Halpin describes himself as a…. TROUBLESHOOTER AND TROUBLEMAKER! It is not known if Stephen Francis Halpin, as well as having worked for Celtic, is a Celtic supporter, or whether he is a regular at Parkhead. However, if Bill Miller gets his hands on Rangers, Stephen Francis Halpin looks set to become a regular fixture in the Ibrox Blue Room and in the Rangers directors’ box. And to be handsomely paid for being there too.

According to the SPL sources, it is the SPL's intention to offer Miller and Rangers continued SPL status if Miller promises to pay off all outstanding Scottish football debts, and if he also agrees to accept whatever punishment an SPL investigation into Rangers' so-called "double-contracts" might produce. The Sunday Herald understands there would be no further sanctions on the newco Rangers. SPL lawyers are currently investigating the club's use of Employment Benefit Trusts (EBTs). If their findings go against Rangers, the SPL will have to consider swingeing punishments for years of unlawful player contracts. Miller, who has vowed to plough an initial £11.2 million into Rangers, will almost certainly create a newco and thus face the hurdle, under current SPL rules, of asking the governing body's six-man board to approve a share transfer from the soon-to-be-liquidated Rangers. (There are also suggestions that some of the board's members will push for that decision to be made by the 11 other SPL member clubs.) Without the transfer, the new Rangers would be unable to play in the SPL next season. The club currently owes money to Dundee United and the Scottish Football Association, with a further payment due to Hearts in July – among other football debts – and the source said the SPL plans to grant Miller the share transfer if he guarantees the clearing of these debts. On the issue of the EBTs, the punishment for a guilty verdict is potentially harmful for Rangers, but the SPL will also insist that Miller, in return for his new share, should accept the outcome. The SPL clubs are due to vote tomorrow on two proposed rule-changes for a newco: one referring to points deductions, plus a second new rule which will recommend financial sanctions. If the rules are passed, they would not take effect until after the end of the current season, which means Miller and Rangers will almost certainly be applying for a newco SPL share under the current code. That is, they will ask the SPL to approve the application. The plan to accommodate Miller will trigger fierce objections across the Scottish game, and Neil Doncaster, the SPL's chief executive, yesterday distanced himself from the alleged strategy when contacted by the Sunday Herald. He said: "All I can tell you is that the Rangers situation is highly complicated and sensitive. "People always want to see things in black and white when, in fact, this situation is much more about shades of grey. There are some difficult and technical concepts in this whole scenario. "Bill Miller is now the preferred bidder at Rangers. The process now is that we will have discussions with Bill and his team. And those discussions may result – may result – in Bill Miller applying for a transfer of the existing Rangers SPL share to a 'newco'. "If that happens then the SPL board, under our existing rules, will have the job of sitting down and deciding whether to say yes or no to that application." Asked if he and the SPL board were pre-ordained to save Rangers' SPL skin, Doncaster denied the suggestion. "No, we are not," he replied. "Our job is much wider than that. It is to protect the interests of all 12 member clubs, as well as keep an eye on the best long-term interests of Scottish football. It is impossible to pre-judge the Bill Miller situation at Rangers, but what I've outlined to you is my long-term job. "So far the SPL has only had very preliminary discussions with Bill Miller and his team. But I think more detailed discussions will take place over the coming weeks." Doncaster claimed not to know what the outcome of tomorrow's votes would be on the proposed rule-changes. Under the new rules, a newco club would remain in the SPL but face severe points-related and financial sanctions. "Some people have viewed these new proposals as somehow being Rangers-friendly," he said. "The reality is, first, these rules would apply to all 12 clubs if they were passed; and second, they would make for a much harder line than is the current SPL position. "But whether these new rules are passed on Monday remains to be seen." Doncaster also briefly touched on the SPL investigation into Rangers. "We are in the middle of some detailed investigations about player payments allegedly made out-of-contract at Rangers and that investigation will continue," he said. "There will either be a prima facie case here against Rangers and it will be a disciplinary procedure, or there will be no prima facie case. I just don't know. The investigation is ongoing." Meanwhile, it emerged last night that, whether Miller secures a Company Voluntary Agreement with Rangers or not in the coming weeks, the club will almost certainly be barred from European football for three years due to "structural changes" under Uefa guidelines, starting from next season.

JOHN Yorkston, the Dunfermline Athletic chairman, will urge his Scottish Premier League counterparts to stand by the principles of sporting integrity when they are asked to decide on the future of Rangers this week. At Hampden tomorrow, a general meeting of the SPL will reconvene to consider a series of financial fair play proposals, including sanctions for liquidated member clubs that reform as a new company. Under the proposals, clubs such as Rangers, who will become a newco as part of the takeover planned by Bill Miller, will be deducted ten points for two consecutive seasons, and have their SPL payments reduced by 75 per cent for three successive campaigns. Yorkston does not believe that an SPL share should be transferred to a newco in the first place. He insists that, despite the economic consequences for the game in this country, Rangers should be relegated to the Scottish Football League. â??Thatâ??s what I will be arguing for, but I do understand that others will look at the financial side, and that will have more sway than sporting integrity,â? he said. â??I would guess Iâ??ll be almost a lone voice, but it doesnâ??t stop me from having my say. â??Everyone agrees that there should be severe punishment, but there are a number of chairmen who will look at the financial thing and say, â??do we want an SPL without Rangers?â?? It will be a question of sporting integrity against financial necessity. That is the choice facing chairmen.â? If eight of the clubs represented vote in favour of the points penalty, it will come into effect on 14 May. Only five votes are needed to introduce the financial penalties. The decision does not need to be ratified by the SPL board, which recommended the proposals. Under Article 11 of the SPLâ??s articles of association, a club requires the consent of the SPL board for a share transfer to be registered. If Rangers were to be granted this before next Monday, they would not be subject to the new sanctions. Yorkston is concerned about the credibility of a league in which it is possible to wipe out debts through liquidation and start again. He says that a points penalty would not be a sufficient deterrent to others. â??If ten or 15 points is the penalty, then other clubs are going to have a look at that in future. Maybe not right away, but if you have a bad run, somebody else comes in, and maybe these people are not prepared to finance the losses, then you might see it happening http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...gers-1-2278177

By TOM ENGLISH Published on Sunday 6 May 2012 00:07 THERE is no telling how many questions Ally McCoist has fielded since the Rangers story started to erupt, but it must be hundreds across dozens of days. Thatâ??s a lot of talking, a lot of answers that began â??I wish I knewâ?¦â? and â??Your guess is as good as mineâ?¦â? and â??Weâ??re all in the dark hereâ?¦â? On Friday, he limited the chat at last. We expected McCoist to walk through the door but instead it was Kenny McDowall, his assistant and soul-brother in this on-going circus. McDowall has been in the background all this time, quietly seething and bemoaning what has become of his club. Friday was his first opportunity to speak his mind and he did so with passion. â??I donâ??t know if itâ??s anger so much,â? he said. â??The frustration was incredible at the start when we heard what happened [the club going into administration]. We knew [the job] was going to be difficult because Walter [smith] is not here and youâ??re trying to fill his shoes, which is hard enough. For us to do well we needed certain things to happen, certain people to help us who are in Monaco with a glass of champagne and a lobsterâ??s tail sticking out of his mouth. What can we say? You just couldnâ??t make up whatâ??s happened.â? McCoist has always met questions about Craig Whyte, right, with a straight bat, which made McDowallâ??s response the most blunt on-the-record criticism of the clubâ??s owner to have come out of the club to date. Nobody with a fair mind could blame him. He sat there on Friday and spoke about the world of chaos he is living in right now, a place where no plans for next season can be made because of all the unknowns. Thereâ??s a giant question mark hanging over the place and itâ??s only getting bigger by the day. â??We canâ??t plan anything,â? he said. Does he know if clubs are sniffing around his players on the QT? â??Yes, in England, obviously. We know how it works. Thatâ??s what happens. Weâ??ve got to hope they [the players] want to be here and weâ??ll try everything to keep them here. But sometimes itâ??s taken away from you, itâ??s taken out of your hands and you need to get on with it. â??You could be looking at a youth team, basically, if youâ??ve a transfer embargo still in place. I hate to think like that because itâ??s unfair on the kids for one thing, expecting them to compete at that level. It makes a mockery of the league. People think weâ??ve been selfish looking at it from our own point of view but itâ??s for the game here as well. Theyâ??re killing themselves if that happens. Weâ??re talking to Peter Houston the other night after the game and he reckons Dundee United would lose £600,000 if we werenâ??t in the league. So how do they budget for losing that? Where do they get that from if theyâ??re not getting it from us taking support to their place? â??Weâ??ve been downsizing here for a number of years. Thereâ??s no reserve team. What weâ??ve got in [the first team squad] just now is whatâ??s ready to come in. The rest are miles away. Itâ??s unfair and itâ??s the last thing we need, going through a season with young kids. You could finish them. I donâ??t know how many of our experienced players weâ??d lose but youâ??ve got to say itâ??s a possibility [losing them all]. Weâ??re hoping not but itâ??d be foolish of me to sit here and think theyâ??ll all say they love us, they think weâ??re great and theyâ??re not going to move. But you know yourself, itâ??s business.â? Over the past few years, he thought at times that financial restraints at Ibrox couldnâ??t get any tighter, thought at times there was bound to be somebody who would come in and release the kind of money to grow the squad. Whyte, all champagne and lobster, hasnâ??t done it. Bill Miller, who is already preaching austerity, isnâ??t likely to do it either. There is a new reality at Rangers and if they have any sense then itâ??s here to stay. Of course, thatâ??s only going to make life harder for McCoist and McDowall as they try and rebuild after what will surely be an exodus from the dressing room in the summer. â??Weâ??ve done well, but the fact that we won three-in-a-row and won cups disguised the fact we were needing to invest. Weâ??ve sort of done ourselves in by being successful. Weâ??d never change the success but weâ??ve needed investment for a long time and itâ??s not really happened. I donâ??t know anything about the players and their contracts but weâ??re keen to sort out the situation. We need someone in to try and take it forward. Weâ??ve normally got pre-season sorted but weâ??ve not managed that yet. Player-wise weâ??d have targets but we donâ??t know who weâ??re going to have here. We donâ??t know if weâ??ll be allowed to sign any players. A lot of balls are up in the air and we canâ??t do our jobs properly.â? The English clubs doing the sniffing include West Brom, who will soon be losing their manager to England. Even if Roy Hodgsonâ??s replacement changes the clubâ??s transfer targets, it will be hardly end the interest in England in the likes of Steven Naismith, Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker and Steven Davis, the four most marketable assets at the club, players who may be allowed to leave for nothing or next to nothing, though that is disputed by the administrators. â??Itâ??s a disaster, it shouldnâ??t happen,â? said McDowall when asked what it would be like to see a valuable player like Naismith depart for free. â??English teams must know the Old Firm players inside-out. If they donâ??t know the players can do well theyâ??re kidding themselves on because most of them are international players. Scotland is a tough place to play in and there are good players up here. Englandâ??s a tough league as well. They laugh at us, but itâ??s not that bad a league. Down the road they think weâ??re a laughing stock until some of their players come up and canâ??t handle it.â? There were words of praise for the manager, a tribute to a guy who has had to carry a heavy burden these past months in his new role as part-manager, part-psychologist, part-ambassador, part-spokesman. McCoist has had to wear a lot of different hats â??Allyâ??s probably had to deal with a lot of things that heâ??s not wanted to tell us about,â? said McDowall. â??Now, he tells me pretty much everything thatâ??s going on, but Iâ??m sure there will be things heâ??ll be carrying himself and that must be hard to do. Heâ??s taken a lot on himself and thatâ??s not been easy. In a normal situation there would have been people above him and they would have dealt with things, but he lost all of that early. A lot of people in those roles have left the place. So heâ??s had to take on a number of jobs. Heâ??s coped tremendously well.â? McDowall said the whole scene is weird. So much activity and yet so few answers. He has never spoken to Miller and knows nothing about him and yet the American holds the future of the club in his hands. â??Weâ??ve got to give him a chance. Heâ??s going to be our boss, so I think heâ??s a great guy!â? Heâ??s clinging to that hope like a drowning man would a life raft.

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IF ..... he pulls out the deal 10 days from now, there are no bidders left as no time for a CVA which, unless you want to spend £35m plus, is the only way Rangers can survive financially. So in the interests of the club, Bill needs to be encouraged to complete the deal. D and P did not go with us for the single reason that they could not have certainty they could deliver Mr Whytes shares, which are needed for a CVA, but not for a newco. Mr Clarke confirmed the headline quantum was sufficient, but could not guarantee CVA. My final comments on this matter, unless Mr Miller withdraws. BK

HIS hair is thinner and greyer, his eyes sunken and heavy. Rangers gaffer McCoist has looked like he’s been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders for the last three months. A true figurehead for fans and a tower of strength for his players, McCoist has been in the eye of the administration storm. On Thursday night, after tow-truck tycoon Bill Miller was finally given the go-ahead to end the painful process and snap up Gers, Coisty slept soundly for the first time since February 14. Yet he knows his Ibrox nightmare is FAR from over yet. McCoist, desperate to give the beleagured Gers fans a last home win of the season against Motherwell today, said: “I did sleep a little easier on Thursday night. “I don’t think we can get carried away, but no one can argue it’s a huge step for Rangers. “It is only one step though and we still have a good few to go. “But what has happened in the last 24 hours must be regarded as positive by everybody. “It is a step in the right direction. “We have all been waiting on a preferred bidder status being given to someone and the administrators believe Bill Miller has ticked the boxes. “We have to respect that, it’s a positive step in the right direction but there is still a bit to go, obviously.” McCoist’s debut season in the managerial dug out is one he’s unlikely to forget. Football has taken a back seat with the Ibrox goalscoring legend embarking on a crash course in crisis management. It has taken its toll with McCoist last night admitting: “I just want to be a football manager again. We can’t wait for that day. “I’m looking forward to the day when I’m getting asked about a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 or why I’m not playing this player or why I dropped that player. “That’s the questions I enjoy answering.” Miller insisted this week he’s not another Craig Whyte as he unveiled his Gers’ rescue plan. Vowing to protect 140 years of history and tradition Miller also promised to avoid the doomsday scenario of liquidation. McCoist added: “Everybody has to be optimistic and positive. “But at the same time we do realise there is work to be done. “There is a lot of water to go under the bridge before we can say we are out of it, make no mistake. But it’s a really positive step and one that has needed to be taken. “We are all very aware the administrators were anxious to name a preferred bidder. They have now done that, so we remain positive.” Some fans, perhaps even the majority, will take much more convincing. After the lies and deceit of the catastrophic Whyte era, McCoist understands why scepticism surrounds 65-year-old Miller. He stressed: “All I would say as the manager is we all just want what’s best for Rangers. “Would protests have helped us at our game against Dundee United on Wednesday night? Probably not. “Sandy Jardine led a fantastic protest last weekend. “It was well organised, well run and I thought it got the point across really well through 9,000 supporters. “That’s the way to protest — an organised, legal protest is absolutely spot on. “There were no silly antics. Everybody has the right to protest. “Bill Miller appreciates that too, after everything that has happened to Rangers. “He knows there will be a high level of due diligence from the support because of the year Rangers and our fans have gone through. “It is to be expected that everybody is little bit wary and not getting the ra-ra skirts out straight away. “Bill has got people looking at it and people are working behind the scenes. “He knows what’s going on, he knows the feeling of the support. “It’s not as if Bill is going into this completely in the dark. Far from it.” Miller has certainly talked the talk after his £11.2million offer for Gers won him preferred bidder status. The American could secure ownership of stricken Gers before the end of the season. And McCoist — who has held a series of talks with his new boss — revealed: “He’s very straight talking, he is probably exactly what you would think he would be. “He is very forthright, I don’t think he would be scared to upset people. “But at the same time I think he is aware of the delicacies of the situation and the support. “He is a successful businessman with a proven track record. “I spoke to him after the United game in midweek. I then spoke to him again on Thursday night and will speak to him again today. “You can only take people at face value — and the irony is not lost, because I haven’t seen him yet. “But Bill Miller sounds absolutely spot on and I personally will be happier when I see the look in his eyes. “And I would imagine he would be exactly the same about me. “He has been very forthright in his views and demands of what he wants from me, in terms of opinions and so on. “So I would be hopeful I will still be the Rangers manager under Bill.” Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4298794/But-Allys-sleeping-easier-now-Bill-has-rescued-Gers.html#ixzz1txI4U26q

BRIAN KENNEDY has backed rival bidder Bill Miller to restore Rangers to their former glory. The Sale Sharks owner joined forces with Paul Murray’s Blue Knights. But they lost out to the American tycoon’s £11.2million offer. Murray admitted he was surprised and disappointed to be KO’d by administrators Duff & Phelps. But Kennedy last night told SunSport: “There’s no sour grapes on my part, none at all. “My mission and aim was only to ensure that Rangers were rescued and spared from going into liquidation. That the club’s history and tradition remained intact. “From that point of view, it’s very much mission accomplished. “Mr Miller is a very credible businessman and he’s ticked all the boxes from an administrators point of view. “He has already invested an awful lot of his time, money and effort into his bid for the football club. “Yes, he has endured some very difficult times, but in my experience, the hard times only make you stronger. “Rangers are now in good hands and ready to move forward. “I believe Mr Miller to be a very good man. “I would like to wish him, the team and the club every success for the future.” Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4298846/Brian-Kennedy-Hes-best-man-for-job.html#ixzz1txGwvUOW

AMERICAN VOWS HE WILL NOT LET RANGERS DOWN Bill Miller last night promised there will be no repeat of the Craig Whyte “travesty” Friday May 4,2012 By Iain Macfarlane BILL MILLER last night promised there will be no repeat of the Craig Whyte “travesty”. And the American – named preferred bidder for Rangers yesterday – has vowed to maintain the traditions of the club, and avoid liquidation. Miller, above, said: “What Rangers – which includes supporters, players, staff and anyone with the club at heart – have been put through, particularly in recent months, is a travesty and from what I can see they have been badly let down by a number of individuals. “This will not happen on my watch should I become the custodian of this great club.” Miller’s plan to transfer the assets – players, Ibrox and Murray Park – into a newco and at the same time try and reach a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors owed cash won favour with administrators Duff and Phelps, who believe a deal will be closed by May 11. Duff and Phelps are of the opinion that disgraced Whyte will not receive a penny and that HMRC will endorse the plan. We believe that our bid was, and remains, the best bid for Rangers and its supporters Although there is no exclusivity deal it’s unlikely Miller’s bid will be gazumped at the 11th hour. Tennessee-based Miller said: “It is a great honour and privilege to have the opportunity to buy Rangers FC. “I respect the club as one of the world’s great sporting institutions and one of the UK’s most venerable football clubs. “Under my stewardship, Rangers will be managed with fiscal discipline such that the club not only conforms to UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations but also that Rangers will never have to suffer this kind of anguish again. “From now on, Rangers will live within its means – no excuses. “I have fought hard to try and offer Rangers a fresh start and I hope all Rangers fans will continue to rally round the club as we endeavour to leave behind this distressing chapter in the club’s history. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we have worked hard to ensure that there is no loss of history, no loss of tradition and no liquidation of Rangers Football Club. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” After the shambles of the Whyte takeover, the SFA are on guard to prevent another charlatan getting a foothold in Scottish football. An SFA statement read: “It is our intention to enter into detailed discussions with Mr Miller to clarify his position and to establish his strategy to ensure a sustainable future for the club.” The SPL have already held talks with the Miller camp and a league spokesman said they would continue discussions with him. Miller beat off the Blue Knights to win preferred bidder status, but last night they hit back at the decision. Former Ibrox director Paul Murray, who had spearheaded their bid with Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy, warned of the financial consequences of Miller’s proposal. Murray said: “We believe that our bid was, and remains, the best bid for Rangers and its supporters. “We were therefore surprised and disappointed to be informed that a preferred, non-exclusive bidder has been appointed which appears to entail the transfer of the assets and Rangers’ business into a newco structure. “Whilst we acknowledge that the acceptance of a newco structure would be easier for Duff and Phelps to execute, we were not prepared to follow that course of action. “We believe that the complexities of a newco process should not be underestimated and the likely loss of European football for a minimum period of three years may carry longer term financial consequences to Rangers. “Under our CVA-proposed transaction, these issues could have been addressed more easily. “Whilst we also acknowledge that the delivery of Craig Whyte’s shares created a degree of uncertainty, our frustration lies in the fact that it is only in recent days that this issue been seen as an impediment in enabling us to make an unconditional CVA offer. “With the end of the season now close, the uncertainty and delay has to be resolved as there are many key decisions to be made to ensure the club can plan properly for next season and beyond.”

Challenges at the Century's End In August 1997, Forbes once again praised Miller's recent accomplishments, but added a cautionary footnote, stating: "No question that Miller has been a hot growth company. But the picture's changing." By purchasing distributors, Miller had begun competing with the companies which purchased its equipment. This meant, in effect, that it was competing with its own success. Furthermore, Forbes noted that by embarking "on a consolidation binge in towing services," it was again competing with its customers. Finally, a number of motor clubs--which were typically a large source of towing-service income--were "wary" of Miller Industries. Two months later, in October 1997, the news was even worse. A group of stockholders brought a class action suit against the company, charging that Miller himself, along with several of his officers, had "disseminated false financial statements" about the company's growth in order to sell stock. While Miller Industries was still in the throes of this legal challenge, it received word in January 1998 that it faced an even more formidable adversary: the U.S. Department of Justice, which had initiated an antitrust investigation. At the crux of the government's probe was a charge which turned Miller's strategy of diversification into a liability. Apparently, by purchasing so many companies in various segments of the tow truck industry, the Justice Department held that Miller was in danger of creating a monopoly. Miller Industries responded to the legal challenges, as well as to concerns about its stock, with a forthright public relations campaign. In a press release, for instance, it noted that its earnings in the third quarter of 1997 were lower than expected. It also issued communiqués reporting the progress of the Justice Department investigation. President and CEO Jeffrey I. Badgley said, "We believe that this industry is highly competitive, and are prepared to support our belief. We will cooperate fully with any investigation if asked to do so. In the meantime, we intend to continue to focus on operating our business for the benefit of our customers and shareholders." In taking a positive approach to a negative situation, Miller Industries was--perhaps without recognizing the fact--borrowing a page from Georgia's own Ivy Ledbetter Lee (1877-1934), often referred to as the "Father of Public Relations." While he was working as a public relations consultant for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1906, a train owned by the company had an accident. The railroad followed standard procedure, which was to pretend that nothing had happened; Lee, however, went against tradition by inviting reporters to visit the scene of the accident--at the railroad's expense, no less--and promised to provide them with all the information they needed. Soon the newspapers were printing positive stories about the company, and the railroad executives realized the wisdom of Lee's innovative approach. In mid-1998, it remained to be seen whether Miller's forthright strategy would yield similar results. Certainly there had not been a spate of negative news stories in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution or elsewhere, and though the antitrust investigation continued, the company had good news to report on another front. According to a May 20, 1998, press release, a Tennessee judge had granted Miller Industries' motion to dismiss the class action suit. Half the legal battle was over, and Miller would continue its public relations campaign and carry on business as usual until the results of the antitrust case--and the company's future--were decided. Principal Subsidiaries: Century Holdings, Inc.; Champion Carrier Corporation; Miller Industries International, Inc.; Boniface Engineering Limited (U.K.); Jige International (France); Miller Financial Services Group, Inc.; Vulcan International, Inc.

Miller Industries is the world's largest integrated provider of vehicle towing and recovery equipment, systems and services with executive offices in Atlanta, Georgia and manufacturing operations in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, France and England. Miller Industries markets its towing and recovery equipment under the well-recognized Century, Challenger, Holmes, Champion, Eagle, Vulcan, Jige, and Boniface brand names and markets its towing services under the national brand name RoadOne. Company History: Miller Industries, Inc. is the world's leading integrated provider of towing equipment and services. The company manufactures bodies for tow truck and car carriers; operates a towing service called RoadOne; acts as a distributor of towing equipment; and offers financial services to customers, as well as to other towing and distribution companies. Formed by William Miller in the early 1990s, Miller Industries rapidly gained a 40 percent share of what had been a fragmented industry. Despite a strong showing in the mid-1990s, in 1997 it faced a series of challenges that included a class-action lawsuit (later dismissed) and a Justice Department antitrust investigation. Nonetheless, the company persevered, and made a forthright public relations response to the situation, issuing press releases regarding both legal challenges. The Early Years: Resurrecting Dead Giants Miller Industries Chairman William Miller--called "Bill" by clients and associates--grew up in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1950s and 1960s. Because his father, like many others in Detroit, worked at an auto-manufacturing plant, Miller planned to become a line supervisor for Ford Motor Company. His high school guidance counselor, however, saw further potential in him, and suggested that he obtain a college education. Yet it was Miller's father who indirectly cemented his decision to go to college, when he made the comment: "At my plant, the guys with college degrees walk around all day doing nothing and making lots of money." Miller enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he earned a degree in engineering, and later an M.B.A. After college, Miller went to work for a variety of large companies, including Bendix Corporation, Neptune International, Wheelabrator-Frye, and Allied Signal--then called Signal Companies, Inc. In each case, he found work fixing troubled units for the companies, and in the course of this experience caught the entrepreneurial bug himself. Miller later told Forbes, in November 1996: "The big companies weren't geared toward the shareholders. They were geared toward a bureaucracy." His first position at the helm of a company came in February 1987, when he assumed the presidency of Flow Measurement, a maker of industrial flow meters. Miller assumed that role until April 1994, when he stepped down to focus his energies solely on Miller Industries, which he had been forming for a few years prior. Upon leaving Flow Measurement, however, Miller maintained ownership of 80 percent of the capital stock of the company. The creation of Miller Industries came as the result of careful and thoughtful planning. After considering many different options, Miller decided that the best business strategy would be to find a once-great brand name in a fragmented industry, resurrect the brand name, and grow market share by consolidating smaller companies. Soon he hit upon the answer: tow trucks. In the manufacturing segment of that industry, there were three big names--Century, Challenger, and Holmes International--but each had seen better days. Suffering from debt incurred by leveraged buyouts, the three giants were dying, and around them had sprung up numerous smaller competitors. Surveying the situation, Miller decided that he would resurrect the three giants and once again gain control of the market. Thus, in 1990 Miller began bringing these mordant giants back to life. First he bought Holmes, a bankrupt company that had once held a 75 percent share of the tow-truck industry in the United States. Soon thereafter he purchased Challenger and Century. Together the three became part of the newly formed Miller Group--for a total price of $25 million, of which Miller borrowed $20 million. He soon set about consolidating his acquisitions, shutting down three of the five existing production factories and getting rid of some 300 distributors. He also rationalized the production process so that in many cases the same part would fit in any Miller vehicle. In 1991, the Miller Group lost $4.7 million, but this was perhaps to be expected, considering its several large acquisitions and the fact that the enterprise was just being launched. Just three years later, however, in the fiscal year that ended in April 1994, Miller showed a profit of $4.3 million. At that time, Miller Industries was formed using the foundation that the Miller Group had created. In August 1994, Miller took his company public, with an initial offering of some 10.7 million shares--40 percent of the company--which yielded $30 million before fees. Five million dollars of this went to repay Miller's personal investment in 1990; $16.5 million paid off debt incurred in the purchases of Holmes, Challenger, and Century; and the remainder went back into the business. According to a November 1996 Forbes article, "In just four years he had increased the market value of the company close to threefold." To encourage stock purchases, Miller had given each Miller employee a single share of the company at the time of the IPO. One employee who had received stock options from Miller told Forbes that his options--which at the time of the article in November 1996 were worth $11,500--would pay the college tuition of his son, who was then only six years old. Moving Forward in the Mid-1990s Given the scope of Miller's achievements, it was perhaps no wonder that he and his company were accorded almost reverential status within the industry. In November 1996, a North Carolina tow truck distributor told Forbes that Miller "came along, and he healed the sick." Miller himself, however, approached his success with humility: responding to reports that his company would show a profit of $13.5 million on sales of $225 million in the fiscal year that ended April 30, 1997, he told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, "You can't look backwards; you have to constantly look forward." In the mid-1990s, Miller Industries grew dramatically through a series of acquisitions that gave it an increasingly large share of the towing industry. In 1996, it acquired two European subsidiaries, tow truck makers Jige in France and Boniface Engineering in the United Kingdom. Also acquired was Vulcan International, Inc., a leading U.S. manufacturer of towing equipment. In the period between July 1996 and July 1997, Miller acquired ten towing equipment distributors. The company announced its intent to use the new distributors in concert with its existing distributors to form a North American network for towing and recovery equipment, specialty truck equipment, and related components. Miller Industries created RoadOne, a towing service company, in February 1997, and in less than six months it had acquired 34 towing service companies with combined historic revenues of $80 million annually. RoadOne was, from the beginning, the largest towing company in the United States, with service in 15 states. According to the company's annual report that year, Miller planned to establish a national towing service network. In 1997, the company also set up its Financial Services Group, which offered equipment financing and other financial services to Miller Industries distributors and their customers. The company planned to continue its expansion into these realms of business in the following year. On November 10, 1997, Miller announced the acquisition of its 50th towing service company under the RoadOne name. "In just eight months," Bill Miller stated in a press release, "we have reached an important milestone in our RoadOne strategy. Acquiring our 50th towing service company in this short period of time is a tribute to the team of people that has come together to execute the strategy." By virtually any measure, it was impressive growth, and Wall Street responded. For some companies, a big step such as the introduction of a new product or service line might have caused at least a momentary drop in stock value, but on the day Miller Industries announced the establishment of RoadOne, its stock rose , to 20. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported in February 1997 that Miller had been the biggest gainer among Georgia public companies in 1996. In May 1997, Robert Luke of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution wrote that "Wall Street thinks Miller can maintain the momentum, much like Bill Gates has at software giant Microsoft." Whereas Microsoft's shares were trading at 45 times estimated 1997 profits, Miller Industries's stock was trading as high as 65 times earnings. Miller told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution that he thought the company would top out at 70 percent market share. Diversification would be a key: "The company needs to be able to go in more than one direction in order to become a $1 billion company," according to Miller. He also stated that he hoped to be able to show $100 million in profit by the end of the century. Miller Industries estimated that consumers were spending $2 billion annually on towing services, while businesses were spending an estimated $7 billion annually. With regard to RoadOne, Miller said, "We could see 10,000 affiliates." Although the diversification strategy was necessary if the company wanted to increase the value of its stock, the broad reach of Miller Industries' services would soon expose the company to legal liabilities. As it turned out, Luke's favorable comparison to Microsoft--which itself underwent a widely publicized antitrust investigation in the late 1990s--would prove to be ironic.

RANGERS legend Sandy Jardine has encouraged all fans to get behind Bill Miller's bid to take over Rangers. Jardinie spoke a length with the highly successful American businessman today and was impressed with what he had to say. Administrators Duff and Phelps confirmed Mr Miller as preferred bidder this morning and Club Ambassador Jardine - who also plays a key role in the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund - is keen to reassure supporters. Sandy commented: "I spoke to Bill at length this afternoon and took great comfort from what he had to say. "I told him our supporters want honesty and transparency and I was impressed with what I was told. "He wants to get Rangers Football Club back to good health and is eager for fans to have fun and enjoy their football. "I know he is working extremely hard behind the scenes to conclude a deal as he wants to make the Club work. "Our supporters don't know a lot about him but I was delighted with what he told me and he is clearly determined to get the Club back on track. "Bill has also spoken to Ally McCoist today and outlined his plans to fix Rangers. I would encourage all supporters to get behind him and unite as he is stepping up and doing all he can to save our club and preserve its history. "His plan does not involve liquidation, there is no doubt about that and I have to say I was left feeling very positive after our conversation."

Sandy Jardine pleads with SFA not to cripple Rangers Sandy Jardine has pleaded with football authorities not to cripple Rangers, saying they were a club that paid their bills prior to Craig Whyte's arrival. The Fans Fighting Fund figurehead was speaking the day before an appeal is expected to be lodged against Scottish FA sanctions. A fine and year-long signing ban were imposed for misdemenours following Whyte's takeover of the Ibrox club. "We know we've done wrong, but it has to be measured," said Jardine. "We've been decapitated. When Craig Whyte came in, basically all the senior directors were dismissed and Craig Whyte has vanished, along with his people. â??If we're non-competititve in the SPL, there is a feeling now that we'll take our punishment, we'll go to the Third Divisionâ? Sandy Jardine Rangers FFF "Craig Whyte decimated Rangers but also had a big impact on Scottish football. His actions have impacted hugely on Rangers but also on Scottish football. "I realise that the players did nothing wrong, the supporters did nothing wrong, the staff did nothing wrong. "But we have to have some sort of punishment because it has to be a deterrent." Former Rangers defender Jardine on Saturday led a match of thousands of fans to the SFA offices at Hampden to protest at the severity of the punishment after being charged with bringing the game into disrepute. "When Rangers fans get riled, they're a big beast and I've never known the anger from the supporters in all my time at the club, and I'm talking nearly 50 years, at what they term unjust sanctions laid down to us," he told BBC Scotland. "The Fighting Fund will fund a QC to represent the club and, once we hear the actual list of sanctions and how they arrived at that decision and when the appeal date is, then the Fighting Fund will announce the QC who we'll appoint to represent the club." Jardine reiterated the line that Whyte was a rogue element who distorted Rangers' good record of paying their debts to other clubs and eventually landed the club in administration. "We always paid our bills," he said. "We were appalled that we found out that all these bills hadn't been paid. "If everybody says we've never said sorry, I'll say sorry, but the person that should be saying sorry is Craig Whyte. "We're sorry that we took Craig Whyte on for what he did to everybody. "The club had a problem and, to be honest, we were trading out of our problem, but Craig Whyte came in. "He used the supporters money to buy the club, he used the staff's money to fund the club and didn't pay a bill. "It's been so embarrassing and humiliating for a football club that always prided itself in doing the right thing, always paid its bills." Jardine warned that Rangers might prefer to play in Division Three than in the Scottish Premier League should the penalties for doing so be too great. "If they mean that we can't sign any players, they don't understand that our players could leave," he said. "So what they're saying is that they make us non-competitive. "Well, if we're non-competititve in the SPL, there is a feeling now that we'll take our punishment, we'll go to the Third Division. "It'll buy us time to maybe re-group, start to try and re-invest in players and work our way up."

Ally McCoist appealed to Rangers supporters to give prospective owner Bill Miller a chance â?? as the American prepares to become preferred bidder on Thursday. An announcement was delayed on Wednesday following an internet campaign by supporters to halt his bid in its tracks, while his apparently vanquished Blue Knights rivals Paul Murray and Brian Kennedy took their place in the stand for Wednesday nightâ??s 5-0 victory over Dundee United at Ibrox. Upfront over his plans to forge ahead with a hybrid incubator company, incorporating a newco model, the 62-year-oldâ??s company Facebook page has received messages urging him to scrap his bid. Before last nightâ??s game, Rangers legend Sandy Jardine appealed to fans not to disrupt a takeover of the stricken club. And, after proclaiming himself â??thrilledâ?? with a win over United which secured second place and a vital financial boost, boss McCoist echoed those views when he said: â??All we would ask for is whoever gets preferredbidder status to be given a chance. â??Everyone has got to be given a chance, whether it is Bill Miller or whoever it may be. It would be wrong to be judge and jury on someone before something can happen. â??We all have to be supportive of someone who may be in a position to take the club forward.â?? Asked if there had been any indication of face-to-face talks with the American, McCoist added: â??I know Bill would rather be sitting across the table so I could have a conversation with him and so would I. â??But I have met his representatives and had conference calls that he has been in on. â??They have all been absolutely positive â?? he has asked the right questions.â?? Two goals from Sone Aluko and strikes from Steven Whittaker, Jamie Ness and substitute Alejandro Bedoya secured a comfortable win for the Ibrox side and ensured them second place in the SPL. â??The difference it makes financially is enormous,â?? said McCoist. â??Thatâ??s the position the club finds itself in.â?? Wednesday nightâ??s developments were a devastating blow to the Blue Knights. Their latest bid â?? worth £5million up front and £5m later â?? had hit trouble after administrators Duff & Phelps said they could not deliver Craig Whyteâ??s shares hand in hand with a Company Voluntary Arrangement. Rangers, meanwhile, are poised to appeal the SFAâ??s imposition of a 12-month transfer embargo and a £160,000 fine for bringing the game into disrepute. The Ibrox club finally received a 27,000-word document detailing the written reasons from an independent judicial panel for the punishment last night. And the findings, described as â??highly damning of Craig Whyteâ??, could be published publicly today or tomorrow as the SFA seek to explain their position. Another independent appeal hearing, chaired by a law lord, is expected to sit as early as next week. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2138694/Ally-McCoist-calls-Rangers-fans-support-Bill-Miller.html#ixzz1tlScokfG

Leggat: CELTIC are lining up another secret power grab at the very top of the Scottish Football Association. And if the Parkhead powerbrokers pull off their behind closed doors wheeling and dealing it will mean a promotion to a seat on the all powerful elite SFA MAIN BOARD for Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell.. With Lawwell’s place on the Scottish Football Association’s Professional Game Board being filled by Celtic’s £250,000-a-year financial director, Eric Riley, who is already a powerful man, sitting, as he does, on the Scottish Premier League Board. The latest murky manoeuvres have been sparked by the resignation of the Scottish Premier League’s highly paid executive chairman, Ralph Topping, from both the Pro Game and Main Board, of the Scottish Football Association. The controversial Topping claims he is stepping aside because of work commitments. But by stepping down, SPL executive chairman Topping keeps his big salary from the SPL and also opens the way for Celtic to grab and even tighter iron grip of power at the pinnacle of the game’s governing body, with Lawwell set to be invited into the inner sanctum. It has always been usual for any club director who is an SFA member to work his way through the system, learning the ropes, before starting off on a slow steady climb to the upper echelons of power within the Scottish Football Association. These rules do NOT apply to Lawwell For since Peter Lawwell’s pal, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan, bulldozed his reforms through, things have changed. And the big beneficiary of Regan’s revolution has been Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell. Just twelve MONTHS ago, Lawwell was not even a member of the Scottish Football Association. Now he is on the brink of moving onto the SEVEN man elite Main Board. And that means he is closing in on the top job. For even though Alan McCrae is the vice president and should succeed to the presidency, I believe that things might change again. I believe there may be another rules switch to benefit Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell and his bid for control of football in Scotland. Alongside his good old pal, Stewart Regan. If Lawwell is promoted to the all powerful elite Main Board after less than a year on the highly influential Professional Game Board, he will surely be on the fast track to short circuit the system again. PETER LAWWELL WILL BE PRESIDENT OF THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION WITHIN TWO YEARS! That is my confident prediction. And my warning to the present president, the gentlemanly Campbell Ogilvie and his vice president McCrae, is simply this…. WATCH YOUR BACKS! Lawwell gate crashed the Hampden boardroom less than a year ago. It was, claimed his best buddy in football, Regan had nothing to do with that meteoric rise. Lawwell, according to the Parkhead supremo’s comrade-in-arms,Stewart Regan, had been sent to the SFA Professional Game Board by the Scottish Premier League as their representative. The questions which have never answered with clarity is, why did the SPL chose Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell to represent them in the Hampden boardroom? And why was Celtic financial director, Eric Riley ,then parachuted into the Scottish Premier League board of directors? With Celtic director, Riley now set to keep that powerful post on the SPL, as well as stepping up to fill the seat on the SFA’s influential Pro Game Board, vacated by Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell if he moves up to extend Celtic’s grip on decision making to the all powerful elite Main Board of the SFA. It seems that every other word used when describing the positions of power and the men who hold them within the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Premier League is …. CELTIC! And the one thing football fans CANNOT expect to be told is what is going on behind the closed doors of the SPL and the SFA. WHY? Because so many newspapers – the Daily Mail, the Sunday Mail, the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday in particular – are the new guardians of SECRECY, the new CENSORS! They do not believe football supporters – their readers – have the right to know how decisions made behind closed doors are reached. They do not believe football supporters – their readers – have the right to know who makes these decisions. At least the Scotsman carried the news about Topping standing down. Though I suspect the Scotsman Publications Pair, Glenn Gibbons and Tom English, would have preferred to have kept it under wraps. At least until Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell was safely seated next to his pal, Stewart Regan the next time the Scottish Football Association’s all powerful elite Main Board meets. And until Celtic director, Eric Riley can cosy up to Regan in the Hampden boardroom the next time the influential SFA Pro Game Board meets. No doubt, Riley having come hot foot from wielding power as Celtic’s man on the SPL at one of their board meetings.

The Blue Knights are in danger of being edged out the power struggle by US-based Miller as boss Ally McCoist admits he is fed up with the Ibrox saga. Sources told SunSport NO decision had yet been made by under-pressure administrators Duff & Phelps. But an outcome is expected today, with trucking tycoon Miller’s £11million bid believed to be out in front. McCoist says the whole thing has now become a CIRCUS and he desperately wants it to end. Yesterday was exactly four years on from the day Gers beat Fiorentina on penalties to reach the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. And McCoist said: “The first three years after that were all right. It’s just this year that’s been a shambles, to be honest. “I’m talking about the situation at our club and the whole CIRCUS that’s been surrounding the club. “Everybody just wants a resolution. We all do. “It’s a shame, a real shame for everybody. Hopefully things will happen soon, but even naming a preferred bidder is only a step in the right direction. “It’s by no means the end result we’re all looking for. There is still a lot of work to be done. “Although a preferred bidder will be appointed, I’d imagine the potential new owner might only be able to tell me what I might be able to do as manager. I’ll still need to wait on decisions which will tell me if I can actually do it.” McCoist has held talks with both Miller and the Blue Knights and added: “I’m appealed-out and deadlined-out, to be honest with you. But we can’t give up hope. You’ve got to keep believing and have hope and faith that something is going to happen. “Time is just not an ally. It’s ticking and ticking and getting to the stage where there won’t be any time left at all. “But, having spoken to the administrators and two of the potential purchasers, I’m hopeful agreement can be reached. “I spoke to Bill Miller on Friday. I had a conference call with him for an hour and a half. “I spoke with Brian Kennedy on Friday as well. “I’m remaining upbeat and they’re both seriously interested.” Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scot...#ixzz1tf5kUahA

Maybe a bit melodramatic but could this be Liewells way of attempting to move to the EPL?,destroy Scottish football and be left with fuck all to compete with!.

I think TBKs' have fucked about too much,as have the admin,but if they are serious why piddle about with paltry bids at this stage of the game?,I mean they could and most probably would raise a lot of cash through share issues so why not just lump in with a higher cash offer?,or am I being way too simplistic?.

The Herald guy Morgan says on Twitter: "False alarm, folks. Not imminent. It is coming but it won't be until morning".

Manager Alistair McCoist has asked us to help set out a full stadium card display on Saturday and I will be looking for volunteers on Thursday morning and night and again on Friday and Friday night if required. The cards although part of the display, will have a heartfelt thank you letter from the Manager to the fans, for the fantastic lengths they have gone through this seaso...n to support the team and the Club during these terrible times. The letter will also have the full squad signatures beneath the Managers letter. If you can manage to make it along I would ask you to report to the Argyle House Reception at 11am and ask for Jim Hannah Thank you all in advance regards Jim Hannah Taken from rsa page on facebook On the Thursday they will be there until about half 8 and then back again on the Friday (if needed) from 10 until it's finished basically!

He's telling the truth though,the refs allow them to get away with ahell of a lot before contemplating a free kick or booking