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Thisis lifted from FF thread on a DR story running today re Paul Murray and the AGM, from someone who has read that story, emboldment mine: ============== "Christian Purslow still lined up to be new chief executive. New financial director is in place but no names are revealed. Murray stating he has a team ready to go to work. Murray and Mccoll's legal team have also secured the identities of the figures behind Blue pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings, they will be revealed by tomorrow. ===============

Did I hear this correctly today? If so, could Rhegan tell us what the SFA did to prevent Craig Whyte getting ownership of Rangers two and a half years ago? Despite warnings about Whyte's background from the likes of AJ and Jeff Randall the SFA sat back and allowed Whyte to get his hands on Rangers and we all know how that ended up. Did Whyte make any such prior application to the SFA ? If so can we see it? Or did Liewell & his PGB call the shots & allow Whyte ownership knowing what was likely to happen as that would benefit Liewell's club ? So what's changed regards Dave King ? is it because his arrival at Rangers & subsequent investment might be of considerable benefit to Rangers that an 'application' now has to be made ? Do some people at the SFA not like the thought of Rangers returning to the top of Scottish football? Also has the fat,sweaty, bespectacled lawyer been working behind the scenes to change the rules? King's arrival yesterday certainly seemed to concern the usual suspects in the mhedia. English for one.

Article submitted by Scorchio: Blue Pitch Holdings and the Easdales Quite just who the legal beneficiary or beneficiaries plural of the much discussed Blue Pitch Holdings actually is or are is one of the hottest burning questions of the last 16 months since Charles Green, his associates & their financial backers successfully achieved a failed CVA and completed their so-called 'binding agreement' to buy the Club from the clutches of administrators Duff & Phelps. There's been more questions on the minds of Rangers fans since back then in our Club's darkest days than most people care to remember (including ourselves, the fans), but this particular question has been asked so many times that it's absolutely staggering we're still having to ask it. "Who are Blue Pitch Holdings?" has been asked by fans, fan reps, fan groups, influential fans, ex-directors and investors alike, but still there's been no definitive answer.... from anyone. When the question is asked I've regularly seen and heard it met with agreement from fans who would like to know the answer themselves and in many cases feel they have the right to know the answer to who is behind this faceless investor in our Club. Given the fact that Blue Pitch were one of the few initial investors and essentially a key player in the takeover, it's quite hard to argue against the idea that their identity should be revealed. After all, the fans are bigger investors in the Club than any other. As can be expected though, others say that shareholders and investors are completely, rightfully entitled to anonymity and confidentiality because company and market regulations and laws say so. Now, while this is technically correct, it could easily be suggested that if a shareholder wishes to remain anonymous, then perhaps they should remain in the shadows lurking behind their own curtains rather than the curtains in the Rangers boardroom. Perhaps a shareholder, investor, group (or family?) who wants to take such a back seat that they can't even be seen or heard shouldn't lodge a formal EGM Requisition calling for the removal of two board members including the Chairman whilst proposing motions for the appointment of their own men. That's what Blue Pitch Holdings did back in May when they formally staged a boardroom coup to oust Malcolm Murray and Phil Cartmell from Ibrox and replace them with Chris Morgan and James Easdale. Inevitably, it was a coup which was met with resistance and almost a further two months passed by before that particular resistance became futile and the Club finally announced on 9 July 2013 that Malcolm Murray and Phil Cartmell had left the board. Crucially though, there had been a compromise and the director departures ran parallel to Chris Morgan stepping away while only James Easdale was appointed as a non-executive director of the company. It's difficult to say whether or not Blue Pitch were happy with this compromise, but they certainly agreed to it and got James Easdale into the boardroom in place of not one, but two directors they wanted removed. Let's leave the question of why they wanted Murray & Cartmell removed for others to ask and just say that the coup was certainly (and at the very least), a partial success. Since the name Blue Pitch Holdings was first mentioned, one of the interesting facts is that right from the the word go Charles Green started mentioning names in connection with BPH and in doing so he instantly gave off the impression that he wasn't trying to hide anything about this particular investor. If we go back to 14 June 2012 immediately following the CVA failure, Green dropped the name Alessandro Celano when he said the following in an official statement: "In terms of investors in the company, to date our investors include Chris Morgan, a UK-based businessman representing family trusts; Glenmuir, the renowned Scottish clothing company; Ian Hart a Glasgow-based businessman; Alessandro Celano of Blue Pitch Holdings and Zeus Capital" http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/1316-charles-green-statement Following that Green had a lot on his plate with the SFA, SPL, doing interviews, meeting supporters groups and clubs all while ultimately building towards the IPO. Over roughly a 4 month period it would appear as though he wasn't able to keep his story straight about Blue Pitch Holdings which eventually culminated in him releasing another 'Charles Green Statement' on the Rangers website on 20 October 2012 which went as follows: "There has been renewed speculation and media comment recently regarding the current shareholders in The Rangers Football Club. A full list of current shareholders will be published in the share prospectus which will be issued within the next few weeks. A lot of attention has focused on investment funds which have taken a shareholding in the Club to date. For example, I would like to clarify that in the case of Blue Pitch Holdings, the legal beneficiary is Mazen Houssami and not Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Capital. Mr Naqvi is a personal friend of mine and I approached him early on in the process about a shareholding but he has not proceeded on the basis that the investment fell outside the core geography he invests in." http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/2451-charles-green-statement A crucial point to make here is that when it comes to the subject of Blue Pitch Holdings, people's interest in Green consistently (and inconsistently) dropping names like Celano, Naqvi, Houssami or anyone else who isn't actually the legal beneficiary of Blue Pitch Holdings is very limited because all of these names most likely need to be filed under 'Charles Green's version of the truth'. In other words, probably nonsense which resulted from the opening of a mouth and the rumbling of a belly. Rafat Rizvi is another name that's been mentioned and pondered quite frequently in connection with Blue Pitch due to leaked recordings now in the public domain of a meeting between Brian Stockbridge, Imran Ahmad and Craig Whyte. It was a meeting which took place before the failed CVA and and subsequent newco takeover which appears to suggest that a large sum of cash (circa £5m) from Rizvi and some of his friends was going to be used to help finance Green and co’s takeover. It's entirely possible that Rizvi and his associates were indeed initially the legal beneficiaries of Blue Pitch Holdings and amongst the original takeover backers/investors. Rizvi's reputation and interpol problems would certainly have provided Green with a cracking excuse to tell numerous porkies about who was behind this mysterious investor. It's not as if Green ever needed an excuse to be economical with the truth right enough. Rolling forward to the present time, the facts at our disposal regarding BPH don't point to Rizvi and friends hiding from interpol in London or Singapore, they point in other far more obvious directions closer to home because key events have taken place and certain things have been said which just don't make any sense unless you cast aside those previous names and start joining some of the dots we actually have sight of in the form of facts on the timeline. On 23 April BBC Scotland told us that Charles Green had agreed to sell his shares in the Club to the Easdales and that they already had a 6% shareholding at that point. We were told that they wanted a place on the board and that they might look to take overall control of the club. A little over two weeks later on the 9th May James and Sandy Easdale did an interview in a McGill’s bus where it was reiterated that they already held approximately 6% of the shares in Rangers and that they wished to be involved at board level. The obvious issue (and one which has previously been covered by other commentators) with those public claims via BBC Scotland back in late April and early May that the Easdales already owned approx 6% of Rangers, was that they weren't listed amongst the shareholders with a notifiable interest of 3% or more. Indeed, a leaked email dated 24 May from Stephen Keys of Cenkos Securities which he sent to all of the Rangers Directors lists the Easdales as having 1.1%, not 6% (or even around/about 6%). The same Cenkos email did however list Blue Pitch as having 6.14%. Of course it was no secret that Blue Pitch held 6.14% since it was a notifiable interest and Blue Pitch Holdings was already listed amongst the major shareholders as it had been all along. Incredibly, just 7 days after the Easdales' 9 May McGill’s bus interview it was announced on 16 May that a group of shareholders had sent the Club a requisition for an EGM. As I mentioned earlier in the article, these shareholders were formally staging a boardroom coup to oust Malcolm Murray and Phil Cartmell from Ibrox and replace them with Chris Morgan and perhaps more importantly, James Easdale who was later appointed to the board of directors. The shareholders staging the coup were of course none other than Blue Pitch Holdings. A lot of fans back then (myself included) were astonished by the news and completely bewildered as to why James Easdale was being proposed as a director because there were questions regarding his suitability and how appropriate such an appointment would be, especially given that there was no apparent evidence of the Easdales actually having this large stake in the club which was being claimed. The conclusion which I think most of us came to at the time was that one of the Easdale brothers was getting put forward for a seat on the board as part of the agreement to eventually buy Green's shares. It seemed a fairly logical conclusion to draw at the time, but what if we were wrong? What if the Easdale family were actually at that point the legal beneficiaries of the Blue Pitch shareholding or say around 5% of it taking into account that they already had 1.1% according to the leaked Cenkos email? Would that explain why we had been getting told for several weeks that the Easdale family already owned around 6%? It's a concept which is far from being out of the question or impossible, but there are other possibilities. Chris Morgan, who Blue Pitch proposed as a director alongside James Easdale was originally described by Green as a "UK-based businessman representing family trusts" and while I wouldn't suggest taking Green's words with anything other than a pinch of salt, it must be said that not everything which left his mouth was actually a lie. The leaked Stephen Keys (Cenkos) email actually clarifies which trusts/funds Chris Morgan was representing back in May when it lists Margarita Funds [4%], Norne Anstalt [1.84%] and Putney Holdings [0.7%] as being Morgan's "investor group". We're not exactly clarifying the mud here, but let's just say that it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Chris Morgan was actually representing an Easdale family trust as part of his investor group. It's certainly another possibility worth throwing up if we're working on the basis that the claims of the Easdales already having around 6% back in April/May were true. Looking at it all from a current perspective, if we take into account that James Easdale's brother Sandy has since been appointed to the Club board of directors (as opposed to the PLC board) and that Sandy has supposedly been given the proxy votes of Blue Pitch, Margarita and other shareholders to take him to approx 24% voting rights, it must be said that the Easdale family certainly appear to sit in a position of quite significant strength. Since we were told as far back as late April that the Easdales intended to get themselves into a controlling position, then it shouldn't really come as a surprise and neither should it come as a surprise if it's ever revealed that the Easdales own a larger percentage of our Club, than what's technically listed next to their actual names on the shareholder list.

BOARD OF RANGERS FC 1 #SACKTHEBOARD# 0 For those of us in the neutral enclosure, sitting atop a fence rather than allying with any particular faction, the weekend scoreline came as something of a shock result. A very much under strength Rangers Board managed to pull off a shock victory against their bitter rivals - #sacktheboard# The result was made all the more remarkable considering the Rangers board have “Toxic Jack” in the squad, a man whose propensity this season to cite Paul McConville and Andy Muirhead to support his arguments make him firm favourite for the “Own Goal Of The Season” award. But in what to date, has been a very ugly and bruising contest, the Rangers Board emerged as Saturdays victors with lone striker Sandy Easdale netting the winner with the following display of intricate mouthwork : “I have no desire to criticise any individual or group and believe the constant tit for tat that we have seen recently is damaging the club” Hallelujah !!! To borrow a well known beer commercial’s slogan.....”If only all statements were made this way” Many of us in the undecided camp are growing weary of the predictable tactics which make the long ball up the middle look like an intricate maze of passes taken from the drawing board. Unsubstantiated allegations based on little more than rumour and scaremongering – if you have evidence or the truth is it really too much to ask you share it with the rest of the Rangers support so that we can make informed choices ? The citing of bloggers who yesterday you ridiculed as having a lack of credibility but today you are championing because their argument suits yours – only demeans your own credibility The citing of well known anti-Rangers contributors to support your particular argument – need I say more ? Careful where you sow those magical beans Jack. The new forum user whose entire posting history is to provide links to journalists who support his/her argument. But perhaps worst of all is the level of personal vitriol being exchanged between Bears as freely as Barcelona exchange passes. As if it’s not bad enough one bloggers wife being brought into the fray, some even felt the Daily Record publishing a photo of our director’s house was justified. Furthermore it’s difficult to afford people victim status when they themselves are engaging in the type of conduct they are complaining about – in this regard the word “hypocritical” jumps out at me way before “snake oiled salesman” or “Thief”. But seeing as Tom English enlightened us all at the weekend with some parody perhaps it’s fitting we end on that note. Speaking to Easdale post match it was clear he had a point to prove. “I was delighted to get that winner. All week Chuck [Charles Green] has been winding me up, waving his honorary RST membership in front of me and declaring..." “Hey Sandy lad, have you got one of these babies yet?”

Statement on behalf of the Rangers Supporters Association, Rangers Supporters Assembly and the Rangers Supporters Trust. The events of the past week have caused further anxiety among Rangers fans and we now call upon the club and their advisers, Daniel Stewart, to clarify a few matters as quickly as possible. The next few weeks are a critical period for us all and, after what we've been through, we need some measure of reassurance that there will be stability soon. Firstly, when will the club AGM be held? The delay resulting from the Court of Session ruling last Monday followed by the resignations of Craig Mather and Brian Smart leaves the current Board of Directors extremely vulnerable. Whilst we welcome the words of reassurance from Brian Stockbridge that the club's finances are stable and operations will continue as normal, we feel it is imperative that the AGM is convened as a matter of urgency. Secondly, given the level of concern among fans regarding the ownership and finances of the club over the recent past, and the various investigations that have been undertaken, we feel it is vitally important that the individuals that are behind both Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings are made known to remove any doubt that there are connections to either Craig Whyte, Imran Ahmed or Charles Green. Both Walter Smith and Ally McCoist have spoken of the need to "cleanse" the club of all the rumour, speculation and innuendo. The identity of the individuals behind these two shareholder groups is a significant part of that "cleansing" process. Thirdly, we call upon the Easdale brothers to clarify their position going forward. They are now in a prominent position both in terms of their shareholding and influence on the Board and it is important that fans understand their view of the future structure of the Board and the running of the club. The club has adopted a very defensive position recently in efforts to rebuff allegations and clarify misinformation. Now is the time to take a positive stance and provide the fans with the clarity and factual information we request and to take the lead in shaping the way forward.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-rangers-chairman-alastair-johnston-2461159

ON the advice of police, Brian Stockbridge, the Rangers finance director, has had to improve the security system at his family home following a photograph of the property being published on the front page of a newspaper on Friday. Police went to his home and installed “what can be legitimately called a panic button” according to a person familiar with the story. Stockbridge has come in for heavy criticism over the way he has managed Rangers’ finances and incurred the wrath of the fans when videoing Malcolm Murray when the former chairman was under the influence of alcohol. Much of the flak has been par for the course for an executive in his position, but lately there has been a number of more objectionable threats made online and the publication of a picture of his distinctive home alerted the police to a possible risk to his safety and the safety of his family. On various supporters’ websites there was anger over Stockbridge purchasing the house with the help of a £200,000 bonus awarded to him when Rangers won the Third Division title. The house was purchased a year before, however. Stockbridge has resisted calls to resign, but protests are ongoing. Stockbridge and James Easdale are the only remaining directors on the plc board following the recent departures of Ian Hart, Bryan Smart and Craig Mather. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-brian-stockbridge-improves-home-security-1-3148990

RANGERS fans supremo Mark Dingwall insisted Craig Mather had no option but to resign following his court embarrassment on Monday. Chris Jack Group Sports Writer Thursday 17/10/2013 Mark Dingwall reckons Craig Mather had no option but to quit after Paul Murray Court of Session verdictThe Ibrox chief executive stood down from his position yesterday morning just days after a group of shareholders, headed by Blue Knights leader Paul Murray, were successful in their action at the Court of Session in forcing the club to postpone their AGM this month. Bryan Smart also stood down from his seat at the Ibrox top table., leaving finance director Brian Stockbridge and Greenock businessman James Easdale as the only two directors on the board following the resignation of Ian Hart last week. Dingwall told SportTimes: "I wasn't surprised Craig left. As chief executive, he was being paid a lot of money and losing the court case on Monday was disastrous for him. "The call for the AGM was illegal and should never have been issued. As chief executive, Craig had to resign. "But fans are more concerned about the club than individual personalities. They want stability at the club rather than who gets the chop next. "The quickest way to do that is to proceed to a properly constituted AGM where whoever wants to stand can have their track records judged by shareholders. "It is necessary that, following the debacle in court, there is clear direction in the run-up to the AGM. It is imperative that we have stability." The departure of Mather could pave the way for Murray, former chairman Malcolm Murray, Scott Murdoch and Alex Wilson to join the Gers board, with South African-based businessman Dave King also in the frame to return to the club. And Rangers Supporters Trust chief Dingwall insists fans deserve answers from all parties as the boardroom battle intensifies. He said: "With the financial situation of the club being such that there will supposedly only be £1m left in the bank next April, all directors and people seeking to get on the board will be asked what their plans are and the solution to this. "Mr Easdale and Mr Stockbridge, being the incumbents, should have that information to be able to justify their past actions and their future actions. "It is vital that the new board of directors takes the fans with them. The only safe place for Rangers is to be wholly owned by Rangers fans. "Paul Murray has always stated that he is willing to put himself up at the AGM and be judged on his conduct. "He has taken on the bank, Duff and Phelps, Craig Whyte and Green. His record is there to be examined. It is now down to the fans to have a think about what they want for the club and to vote for the directors that they want."

Former Rangers commercial director’s £500,000 claim against the club is based on a letter written by ex-chief Charles Green, a court has heard. Imran Ahmad is pursuing The Rangers Football Club Limited for the sum after his appointment with Rangers was terminated in April this year. He originally claimed he was due £3.4m as part of a 5% bonus he had negotiated on £67m worth of commercial contracts he had overseen. On Wednesday, the Court of Session heard that Mr Ahmad claims Mr Green guaranteed him the bonus in a letter written to him. Mr Ahmad alleges that the letter created an obligation to make the payment, although the Ibrox club are contesting the claim. During a preliminary hearing in the case Mr Ahmad's counsel, Ewan Campbell, argued that it would be possible to take a decision on whether Mr Green had "implied authority" as chief executive officer at the time in light of the company's articles of association or under the terms of a contract clause. He told Lord Woolman: "These are matters which the pursuer submits can be dealt with without the hearing of evidence and can be determinative of the matter." Alan Summers QC, for Rangers, said as he understood the case it involved an argument that is "breathtaking in its audacity". He said the primary position for Mr Ahmad seemed not to rely on a contract clause over bonus provision to the former commercial director, but that this was "an independent, unilateral exercise of power by a CEO" to give away £500,000. The lawyer added both Rangers and the court needed to know where the authority to do this came from. Lord Woolman said the court would require to decide whether the letter constituted a promise and if it did not whether it was written in terms of the bonus clause provisions. The judge said a procedural hearing in the action would be held in December. Mr Ahmad left after revelations about the dealings he and Mr Green had with Rangers oldco owner Craig Whyte around last summer when their consortium acquired the Ibrox club’s assets in a £5.5m deal. The broker, who previously founded the London firm Allenby Capital Limited and worked for Zeus Capital, was also accused of anonymously posting sensitive company information relating to Rangers on a fans’ website. http://news.stv.tv/west-central/244013-ex-rangers-director-imran-ahmads-bonus-claim-based-on-green-letter/

I believe we have been royally shafted again. Mather walking off with a pay off for resigning? Are you fucking kidding me? He's done the off so why are we paying him for it! If he does this and gets paid handsomely for it then will it be the same for the Easdales, Stockbridge and smart? Can we assume that Rangers have been used for the last couple of years to be nothing other than absolutely raped? Ahmad has pumped us, green has, Fuck the only one who hasn't seems to be Malcolm Murray (or did he recieve a payment) Rangers football club has been savaged for 2 years. Is whyte even away? Are ticketus still in about it? Mind ticketus have links to whyte. I said on rangers chat earlier, I don't think anyone of these manky robbing bastards will be near the AGM and these actions just prove that to me. Get these bastards hunted bears (btw Stockbridge that's not a threat ya shitebag) but it may be best you lot don't attend games from now on as I don't think you will be Rangers fans favourites. Give us our club back. I'm fucking raging tbh

Our happy go-lucky, main site correspondent Andy Steel asks if Rangers starting afresh was ever a realistic possibility: http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/177-myths-of-rangers

DAVE KING made the following statement tonight: "I confirm that I held talks with Rangers Chief Executive Craig Mather and Finance Director Brian Stockbridge in South Africa. I wished the discussions to remain confidential until something definite was agreed- one way or another. I have maintained that confidentiality. However, given my awareness of incorrect inferences being drawn in the media I would like to make a limited statement at this time. "The discussions were, to my mind, very positive and it was agreed that subject to the normal regulatory approval I would put my name forward to join the Board and to serve as Chairman. "Such an appointment is of course subject to the approval of the existing Board members and ultimately the shareholders of the company. There are also mandatory regulatory requirements that must be complied with and take time. I have already submitted all the necessary documentation. "News of the meeting has found its way into the public domain and this has unsurprisingly resulted in speculation as to the nature and the outcome of the meeting. In reaction to this speculation and to give some clarity to the club's fans I would like to address a couple of points at this time. "First, my willingness to become part of the future of the football club is based simply on my love for the club and my desire to support the club with a combination of my business expertise and my willingness to make a further investment. "In particular I see a present need to utilise the time we have over the next few seasons to be prepared, both financially and on the pitch, to compete with our Glasgow neighbours when we get back to the top League. "My involvement is not linked in any way to any other individual, albeit I have my private thoughts as to certain individuals that might add value to the club going forward. Ultimately it is for the shareholders to make such decisions. The recent settlement of my litigation in South Africa removes any impediment to my appointment to the board. "I want to make it clear that I agreed to join the Board only after intensive and detailed discussions with the existing executives and because I believe I can help them by playing a significant role in driving Rangers forward and finally putting the past behind us. "It is sad that every month of the continued disunity between the fans and other stakeholders is eroding our ability to be ready for the step up to the premier league. We do not have time to waste. "It was also made clear by Mr Mather and Mr Stockbridge that Rangers are not in need of an immediate financial injection but we agreed that now is the time to commence a new round of funding to ensure that it is available in an orderly and cost effective manner when required. I wish to lead that fund raising exercise and being on the Board will greatly assist me in that regard. "I believe that the timing is right for me to take this step and I look forward to the opportunity to work with the current directors albeit I would have preferred to have my appointment confirmed prior to communicating my further thoughts. Unfortunately the rumour mill necessitated this short statement. If matters proceed as I hope over the next few days then I will be present at the AGM." http://t.co/LgzX419pNl

The RST are pleased to confirm that club CEO Craig Mather has responded to our latest request, and has agreed to a meeting with us, and our sister organisations, the Rangers Supporters Assembly and Rangers supporters Association. The meeting will take place this Thursday (10th October), and will also be attended by Brian Stockbridge and Jim Traynor. If you have anything you would like us to raise at the meeting complete the form below. http://www.therst.co.uk/meeting-with-ceo-craig-mather/

​​Tycoon Dave King set to return to Rangers as chairman and is expected to plough cash into the Ibrox coffers straight away 10 Oct 2013 07:12CHIEF executive Craig Mather flew to Johannesburg at the weekend for talks aimed at bringing millionaire King, 58, back on board. King could be back in charge before the club’s AGM on October 24. ALLY McCOIST last night welcomed the move to bring exiled millionaire Dave King back to Ibrox as chairman. And the Rangers boss hailed King’s return as a masterstroke that can help steer the club back to the top. McCoist knows South Africa-based King well from his previous stint as a director of the club under Sir David Murray and he accepts the 58-year-old will do his all to bring back the glory days. Record Sport understands King is ready to complete a sensational comeback as chairman before the annual general meeting on October 24. He has been locked in talks with chief executive Craig Mather, who flew to Johannesburg for a face-to-face meeting at the weekend in a bid to bring the businessman on board. Those discussions appear to have borne fruit, with an announcement expected soon that King – who poured £20m into the club during the Murray era and lost it when the club went into administration – will invest significant sums of money which will effectively see him take the reins at Ibrox. McCoist believes that having a “Rangers man” in a position of power can only be good for the club and praised the board, which has been under fire from fans, for making the move. He said: “Dave has already invested vast sums of his own money into Rangers and that tells me he’s the kind of investor we need at this club again. “The recent accounts have been well documented and the fact is we will need reinvestment at some stage in the future. If we are going to get reinvestment it would be good to get it from someone who has the best interests of the club at heart. “Dave has and clearly the board also believe that to be the case. “The fact a member of the board has flown to South Africa for talks would indicate they feel it would be hugely beneficial to have Dave back on board. It can only be a good thing for Rangers. “I believe the board deserve credit for making such an effort to attract someone like Dave back to the club. “This is a message that they are trying to do their best for Rangers. “They have a difficult and important job to do and it is encouraging to think we are talking to someone who could help move the club forward. It would be a great thing for us all.” Despite losing a fortune in the club previously, Castlemilk-born businessman King has never hidden his determination to return when a long-running tax dispute with the South African government was resolved. That issue came to an end last year and King is now free to become a director. Record Sport understands King has decided that the time is right, although a number of conditions have still to be met. But last night it was looking increasingly likely King was on his way back and with a shareholding and influence that would dilute the power of the directors, who have been under fire for the manner in which the club has been run since Charles Green arrived in May 2012. The Ibrox support has been protesting fiercely against the current board and stepped up their campaign following the publication of accounts last week which showed Rangers had lost £14m over the past 13 months. That is the period in which Green, who has now left the club, and finance director Brian Stockbridge took massive executive salaries and pocketed huge bonuses for winning the Third Division. Fans want the removal of the current board and shareholders are expected to call for dismissals at the agm. But if as expected King joins as chairman, many of their fears may be allayed. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/tycoon-dave-king-set-return-2356060

Lifted from FF: ''Thats two younger lads now both under 19 had police come to their doors early morning to arrest them for singing said song. I was also told by a polis up in Ayr that FoCUS are watching out for people singing this now due to the YCV reference''. Just a heads up.

Alasdair Lamont @BBCAlLamont Craig Mather and Brian Stockbridge have been meeting Dave King in South Africa re future of Rangers. More to come soon. Well now... What can this mean?

KEITH JACKSON follows the money trail at Rangers which reveals the staggering sums of cash that have changed hands at the Gers. OK, so you’re just back in from the paper shop. First off, congratulations on your purchase, needless to say you’ve made an excellent choice. Now, turn out your pockets and sift through the shrapnel. Is there a single shiny pound coin in the change? If so, what do you have planned for it? How far can you make it stretch? To help out, here’s some research on what you’ll get for your money. Homer Simpson novelty socks, a pack of chewing gum, a McChicken Sandwich, a three-minute hair colour revitaliser or de-frizz treatment, two second-class stamps, a track from iTunes, a pack of hair-clips, half a dozen morning rolls, two pints of milk or a kilo of sawdust. Alternatively, you could take it for a punt. Turn it into millions for the price of a pair of Primark knickers. Or, if you don’t fancy the odds of 125,000,000/1 here’s an even better idea. Buy Rangers Football Club. There is, of course, an old adage that you don’t make money from investing in football but this ongoing omnishambles at Ibrox bucks that trend quite spectacularly. Just lately, Rangers have been a sure thing. When Craig Whyte handed over his £1 coin to Sir David Murray on May 6, 2011, (he did hand it over didn’t he?) he was in fact, unlocking a jackpot. He was also opening up a financial scandal. Ever since, the level of sheer greed around this bloated cash cow of a club has been truly shameful and staggering. Also, it appears to be unrelenting. Just last week the club announced annual losses in excess of £14m. This was eye-watering stuff which might just have shaken a massive rump of the Ibrox support to its core. Yesterday’s protests against the board at Somerset Park suggest many of these fans have now woken up to the fact their club is being milked once again for all of its worth. So let us strip this story back to its starting point and examine the enormous sums that have come and gone between then and now. All for the price of Whyte’s pound. There is no precise way of knowing how much Donald Muir, the financial fixer who plucked Whyte from obscurity and delivered him on to Rangers’ doorstep, profited from his seminal role in this debacle. But given his paymasters at Lloyds wiped out an £18m debt overnight and also freed itself from the spectre of a £50m tax bill, it seems safe to assume Muir’s reward would have been suitably juicy. It was certainly an extraordinary piece of business. A great deal for Murray and Lloyds, a bargain for Whyte, almost certainly a lucrative pay day for Muir. But the onset of an unimaginable and unmitigated disaster for Rangers. And this was only just beginning. One of Whyte’s closest allies during his takeover was David Grier of Merchant Corporate Recovery. In 2011, shortly after Whyte was in place, MCR was bought over by Duff and Phelps. Again, it is safe to assume Grier was no worse off as a result of this buy-out. He was also given a leading executive role with Duff and Phelps. And Grier, having already been paid by Rangers to give Whyte financial advice, was now also about to cash in on the club’s administration. On February 14, 2012, Whyte succeeded in having Duff and Phelps appointed as administrators. The final bill for their services came to more than £5.5m. This, of course, was after Whyte had raised £27m from a season ticket deal with Ticketus. In his nine months as chairman he also stuffed the taxman for around £15m in unpaid PAYE. And the £18m of debt that he bought from Lloyds for a pound? That disappeared too in June 2012 when Charles Green, the man hand picked from nowhere by Duff and Phelps as the club’s saviour, failed to agree a CVA and liquidated the old company. Green then picked up Ibrox and Murray Park for a £5.5m snip, which was another astonishing deal given that it was conducted in a closed shop without other offers being invited by the administrators. OK, so how far has Whyte’s pound stretched by this stage? Conservatively – and even without that phantom £50m EBT bill – over £70m worth of solid trading has now been accounted for on the back of his initial transaction. And Green’s big hands haven’t even started rubbing yet. We know the rest inside out. Two lumps of season ticket cash, fetching a combined total of around £16m. An initial cash injection into the Newco of £12m. In December 2012, an IPO worth a further £22m. Now admittedly, this is back of a fag packet accounting but even so these figures add up to £50m. And yet last week the club’s financial director Brian Stockbridge signed off on a set of results and admitted almost all of it had vanished. In fact, a mind-blowing total of around £6m of the IPO cash was emptied out the back-door on ‘fees’ almost as soon as it had come in through the front. By June of this year, according to Stockbridge, £11m was all that was left in the Rangers’ account. Green, meanwhile, was buying himself a retirement castle in France (What is it with Rangers? How come everyone ends up in a castle in the end?) after trousering more than £1m in wages, bonuses and pay-offs in less than a year. In fact, he was sent on his way with a £600,000 goodbye when he should have been sacked for gross misconduct and told to leave the premises with nothing. Well, nothing more than his £3m worth of shares. The ever-generous Stockbridge signed off on that one too, having just awarded himself £200,000 for watching Ally McCoist win the Third Division title. The Rangers manager, of course, was also handsomely rewarded, with wages of £825,000 for winning the one title this club never previously had ambitions to win. And yet McCoist came cheap at half the price. Were it not for his public validation of Green then a wary Rangers support would not have rushed to stump up for 38,000 season tickets. And without this phenomenal level of backing, Green’s plans to make a killing on a hurried share issue would also have been up in smoke. So what is the Ibrox totaliser standing at now? £125m? Maybe a good deal more? All divvied up on the back of a one pound deal. Yes, this Rangers story is a disgusting tale of sickening greed, dragged out over a sustained two-and-a-half year period of obscene scavenging. All the while the club itself continues to drift towards the rocks for a second time with those at the helm seemingly too busy barricading themselves in to notice the imminent danger. And, really, who could blame them? In this shameless orgy they’ve enjoyed quite a bang for their buck and groped a great deal of flesh for a pound.

......claims £1m Ibrox investor Kieran Prior RANGERS investor Kieran Prior has studied the club’s accounts and reckons one of the richest men in the world would struggle to turn a profit at Ibrox. However, Prior has stunned even himself by admitting the figures posted by the club to June 30 are “not that bad”. He knows his views will be unpopular with fans but insists chief executive Craig Mather must be given time to take the club back into profitability as it rebuilds from financial rubble. Former Goldman Sachs trader Prior has been an outspoken critic of the gravy train culture that has been prevalent at Ibrox in the past 18 months. Prior has invested more than £1million to buy a stake of around 2.5 per cent in the club in the last six months and is in the market for more. He is glad to see salary levels being brought under control after boss Ally McCoist agreed to a substantial wage cut and finance director Brian Stockbridge waived his right to bonuses. Rangers posted a staggering loss of £14m for the 13 months to the end of June after running up costs of £33.7m against revenues of only £19m. Prior said: “I have been one of the loudest critics of those currently running the club but they can’t be blamed for all of this and, to my mind, the accounts just filed are not that bad. “It is a different view from one I expected to hold and I know the majority of fans will not be happy with it. “But we could have had Bill Gates running Rangers over the last year and some major costs could not have been avoided. “One-off debts such as certain legal fees, oldco football debts, acquisition and IPO costs and pay-offs to individuals such as Charles Green amount to several million and won’t be recurring. “There are costs in the annual report that I, as a shareholder, will be encouraging the board to work to reduce in the current financial year. “There are also costs relating to the IPO and the acquisition of assets that have raised eyebrows, but agreements had to be made in terms of raising finance to get the club off the floor. “I’m trying to be a fan but not a fanatic about the whole thing. I like the fact we won 8-0 at the weekend, even if critics will say it’s only League One. We have to process through these leagues and earn the right to play Real Madrid again.” Gers fans are up in arms and have been calling for the board to be sacked amid concerns they are taking the club for all they can get. Prior has welcomed the move to reduce executive levels of pay but scoffs at suggestions current investors, including CEO Mather, are only in it to plunder the club of its reserves before an inevitable second administration. He added: “There is no danger, in my opinion as a professional investor, of Rangers going under. “I know people want to be overly critical of those currently running the club, perhaps because they are being encouraged by requisitioners and others. Some of the requisitioners can be held equally responsible for the club’s financial position as they let it to get to the position where it was sold to Craig Whyte. “I’m not saying the fan voice doesn’t matter because it does but under the plc model you generally don’t get a say unless you put your money where your mouth is and that was always my criticism of the Jim McColl consortium. “Jim has more money than any Rangers fans I know and yet has not come to the table. “I have seen a set of accounts, audited by Deloitte, a top five accountancy firm. I’m happy with how things are going fiscally. “It’s important we try to get things settled down off the park. If we’re still struggling financially next year, then we can act. “But I do believe our financial position will be dramatically improved by then. I’m not sure if we will have returned to profit but a lot of the costs incurred in the last 12 months have taken us to the position we can get to the SPFL Premiership without major changes to staff. “Mather has done a good job to move the club to a more stable place and to think he and other board members are only interested in raiding the club is naive. Why do that now when the club is in League One? “This club is naturally six or seven times bigger than it is right now. It doesn’t make sense to raid the coffers when it is being looked at by an auditor at the end of the year. “I’m also pleased key individuals such as Stockbridge and McCoist have agreed to pay cuts and for bonuses to be waived. They must be applauded for reacting to the fans’ will. It was the right thing.” Prior admits he is still concerned to see the spectre of Whyte hanging over the club as he continues his battle to prove he was part of the group that bought over the oldco’s assets from administrators Duff and Phelps. He added: “Individuals such as Whyte and Green are no longer directly involved, although I notice legal arguments between Whyte and the club continue. “Whether or not Whyte has a case is for lawyers and judges to decide. I have nothing but disdain for him because he was taking the **** out of Rangers.” Prior also knows the club won’t reach its financial potential until it returns to the top flight and season-ticket sales, broadcast returns, hospitality spend and European revenues reach previous levels. He added: “These are all factors to be considered. Rangers cannot tap into these revenues until the club is back in the top league. “Ally looks to have his team playing the way he wants. “We are where we are now but need a period of calm so we can build to where we want to be.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bill-gates-could-running-rangers-2333671

Suspension lifted. Let's get to the bottom of who has most to hide. No punches pulled. Despite Charles having ownership of over 5 million shares at 1p each, not 1 had been paid for until a forced deduction from final salary. Why did the board sanction a £600k pay off and not go down the misconduct route despite privately sharing so many reasons to do so? At the Pinsent Masons meeting on 29 April 2013, directors wanted to follow the money regarding the purchase of Green's property in France. Tom Stocker advised that this was not part of the investigation and that they should stick to matters relating to Craig Whyte. On that very same date Pinsent Masons stated that they would be unlikely to give a clean bill of health to Green/Ahmad as regards dealings which they/5088 may have had with Craig Whyte. 17/5/2013 Messrs Green, Ahmad Whyte, Earley and others were invited to provide information to the Investigation but have not yet done so. PM were instructed to conclude the report despite the lack of co-operation by all the main players. How can the accounts give comfort? Despite a request by the SFO to review the report, this was denied on the basis of legal privilege. RIFC do not consider that there are any events which should be reported to the SFO. This was despite the fact that Pinsent Masons were now about to move on to stage 2. AIM and the SFA also asked to see the report. On the 31 May it was made clear that the current RIFC boards way of thinking was to deny giving the SFA a copy of the report in any format. Indeed the main cause of concern between lawyers was the difficulties it may cause if AIM are permitted to view but the SFA are still denied. Legal Privilege was used as the excuse. Well worth checking up if the SFA ever received a hard copy. It is plainly clear that as at the end of May 2013, the SFA were to be denied access by the board. So the primary basis of all comfort from the fact that CW had no rights to the assets appears to have been delivered by FFW. Despite being the company lawyer, several of the board wanted to report Christine/FFW so that the companies activities could be investigated I shall come back to some of the other payments under investigation later. The existing board cannot be permitted to continue the cover up. A nomad should act with the utmost of integrity. However the most recent of requisitions was engineered by Cenkos on their day of departure. Rather than facilitate a smooth handover, Cenkos took the lead role in the recently aborted coup which has crippled the board. A signal was given to them by another director to engage 15 others inc McColl, King, Artemis, Hargreave Hale and Miton, to name but a few. Cenkos turned against their very own client and were given the blessing to proceed if they could gather the support. Very cloak and dagger. During one of the numerous AIM investigations into RIFC, Cenkos were able to confirm that as a result of terminations, leaks should cease. Also it was stated to the regulators that the email server, hosted by a third party, had been breached. *This is news to me. Had such an intrusion taken place, I would have heard about it. I would therefore urge all to ask RIFC for further clarification and implications.

(I posted this thread on RM. I would like to have spent more time on this post but work commitments don't permit. I hope this can be the basis for further investigation, particularly amongst the accountants and solicitors on the forum, on a matter that does appear to have been missed by everyone from McMurdo to McCollco and everyone in between. Feel free to correct the post as necessary given my lack of time to follow through some points, but I believe it is basically correct and explains several unresolved issues from the Accounts. For the avoidance of doubt, no illegality is implied.) The Mystery of the £5.7m Share Issue Costs It was Charlie wot done it. One of the main issues raised from the Accounts was that £5.7m of costs were charged against the IPO proceeds. But we were told the IPO costs would be about £2.5m. So why the difference and who got the other £3.2m? I believe the answer is that there wasn’t actually £3.2m more physically paid out because it was simply a paper transaction. And it relates to the 5m shares issued to Charles Green basically for free. As we know, Green was due a percentage of the shares (complicated but basically more than 10% of the company post IPO) for doing the initial deal to buy the club and for getting the initial investors (pre-IPO) to buy £7.7m of shares. There is reference in the prospectus to both an employment contract and an option for Green to buy shares at 1p. The option was eventually satisfied by the issue of 5m shares to Green on 31 October 2012 as part of his agreement for the IPO to go ahead. Green ended up with under 8% of the company - less than originally agreed. This did not cost the company any money – it merely diluted the shareholdings of the initial pre-IPO investors. It is an important technical point that this issue of shares was heavily dependent on a successful IPO. When shares are issued, the value of those shares (as opposed to the issue price) needs to be reflected in the share capital and share premium accounts. We don’t have the information to know exactly what value was put on these shares because nor do we know exactly how much the IPO costs were, but I would suggest 50p-70p is likely (£2.5m-£3.5m) given the IPO price and the information previously leaked about the pre-IPO share issues. So far as the company was concerned, the premium element of this deemed value of shares was to be charged against the share premium account as part of the cost of doing the IPO, so it had no net effect on the cash raised. Read Accounts note 23 and think of it like this: 10-6=4. If you add 2 onto both numbers you get 12-8=4. You still end up with the same number. It is accountants playing with bits of paper. Why was this done? One consequence is that the (say) £3m doesn’t then get charged to the profit and loss account, which would have worsened our loss. But I don’t think that’s the real reason. It was to shift what may be an income tax matter (up to 45%) for Green, to be a capital gains tax matter (up to 28%). HMRC may want to look further at this structure but Green has indemnified the company against any tax that arises, which again points to this being the reason, so it’s not really our problem. For this structure to work, the share premium had to be charged on paper against the IPO money. That’s why it looks like the IPO cost so much and why the issue to Green was specifically dependent upon a successful IPO. But in layman's terms, it didn’t really cost £5.7m in money paid out – the (say) £3m was really Green’s cut for the initial work. That was of course before we knew what league we would be playing in, hence Mather’s comments today are not incorrect. A further point worth noting is that the £7.7m initial fund raising exercise is what effectively paid for the purchase of the Club, not the IPO money. It was the initial (pre-IPO) shareholders who gave Green a free ride, not the IPO proceeds. The purchase of the Club appears in the Cashflow Statement as a result of merger (as opposed to acquisition) accounting - an unusual one even for accountants. So Green walked away with not just £933,376 salary but also 5m shares worth about £2.5m by today’s prices. Nice work if you can get it. The costs of £5.7m charged to the IPO share proceeds are therefore technically correct but the real pound note cost to us was closer to the original estimate of £2.5m The rest was bits of paper that did not affect the cash from the IPO or the shareholders who invested in the IPO.

By Ian Fraser http://www.business7.co.uk/business-news/scottish-business-news/2013/10/01/charles-green-paid-933-000-106408-24012498/

From BBC Chris McLaughlan #Rangers contact police over what they term 'offensive and threatening comments' made about a director on a fans website. BBC get the news first as usual.

Lifted from FF: I have been hearing from various sources that we as a group are being met with mixed reviews from forums etc so decided to come on and let everyone know a bit about us and our aims to allow each to make their own mind up We have been accused of being many people from tims to M Dingwall to D Leggat and even malcolm murray. We are none of these we are only normal concerned fans and if you read attachment below it will give you a better idea of who we are and how we came about. We only have 3 aims and I would question any fan who didnt want these things from their club regardless of who they are and which team they follow 1) Keep the stadium in clubs name to avoid Coventry situation 2) clear accounts which prove proper running of the club 3) a board that keep the club off the front pages and are above reproach We do not have any aims that can divide a support and only actually which to unite fans from all groups against a clear and present danger The following is a post from our facebook page that was first posted 2 weeks ago when we first started. Please take the few minutes to read and DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE surrounding The Sons of Struth https://www.facebook.com/SonsOfStruth Here we go I will try and explain in as short a post a possible who is involved to date with the Sons of Struth and how this page came about. One of our main points of agenda and a main Struthism is openness. Some of you may be aware of the Rangers Rumours website and a regular poster named George or George protester number 1. I picked up on his postings only 1 week ago and was intrigued to know what his feelings and understanding of our clubs current plight was. George arranged to travel from London on Friday and meet anyone interested in what he had to say at Ibrox. Due to my own worries about our club I felt I had nothing to lose other than 10 minutes of my time and a whole lot to gain if he had any information that could fill my appetite to fully understand the situation at our club. The fact that only 10 people turned up confirmed my general feeling that our fans are very apathetic towards the current situation and George was very disappointed also. He did, as many have since held against him, arrive minus the promised leaflets and did introduce himself as a representative of George. Both these points seem to have angered some but I understand why he done both when as he could have possibly been faced with a far greater number of fans who he didn’t know who they where and he was let down by a local printer which was a point later proven to me. To the 10 who were at the first meeting and others who visit the Rangers Rumours site, I was the guy with the red jacket who some believed was Georges minder and I post on the site as Craig protester number 2 BFH. To set the record straight I had never met George before Friday and purely turned up as a disgruntled fan searching for some knowledge. I appeared to pick up on what George was saying very quickly but so did others around me, however George seemed to like the questions I asked him and what I had to say so he asked me after the meeting if I would like to talk further on a one to one basis. This “private” meeting consisted more of us talking like true fans and swapping stories of our favourite experiences following our club than it did about revelations which weren’t disclosed at the full meeting. We did prove our love for our club and our concerns for the future just as many discussions would go between Rangers fans all over the world when two strangers meet and they find they both support Rangers. We decided we would talk again during his stay in Glasgow and exchanged numbers. During the course of last weekend we talked several times over the telephone and agreed to meet on Monday and I would introduce him to my friend Sandy who was also interested to hear what George had to say. During the course of the weekend George had put his leaflet online as he promised. George, Sandy and I met on Monday and again the discussion was no different to hundreds of chats between Rangers fans many times over. We discussed our favourite games, best goals,most manic away trips and the like but most importantly we shared a huge concern over the current state of our dearly held club and a desire to do something about. We all agreed that doing something and failing was more acceptable than doing nothing but with the hope we could make a difference even if it was just to give the proper fans some information that may put some fire in the belly and arouse some passion from within the fan base. We then involved the man power from a well known body of fans, who if they wish to disclose their important and welcome involvement is matter for them, who helped along with hastily recruited normal fans like Paisley Gary to help with the distribution of Georges leaflets prior to Tuesdays game. The leaflets went out and received a mixture of reactions. On Tuesday not long before I left for the game I started the Sons of Struth facebook page. The reasons for this is to give the normal fan who wants our club to return to a stewardship of which we would expect from Rangers. You pick up a paper on Monday going to work and you are faced with another scandal about our club. You discuss it and try to make sense of it but before you have a chance to get your head round it a few days later you’re faced with another earth shaking scandal. This is not what we expect from the custodians of our club. The mere inclusion of the Struth name in the page harks back to an era when our custodians conducted themselves with dignity, honesty and respect. We must install this again from our boardroom. Who am I? I am a nobody. Not attached to any fan group or organisation. I am you. A fan and season ticket holder since the age of 8 years old. What do I want? I want to talk about my favourite memories of Rangers and idols and goals again, not have to discuss and deal with on a daily basis another boardroom scandal and just get back to the football. I want a board that won’t embarrass me and treat me like a fan without hiding facts from me. I want to be assured that the stadium where I have had many happy memories will be in the ownership of my club and not sold off and rented back to us by some spiv. The stadium holds the spirit of not one but three disasters and has to remain ours to honour those who did not return. It has to remain for the thousands who have the names of lost loved ones chiselled on the very bricks in their memory. It is not the crown jewels it is far more important to the very soul of every fan who has ever walked through the turnstiles. Who are the Sons of Struth? We all are and can be ordinary fans or members from any other fan body. If you are a Union Bear or a Supporters Trust member, as long as your principles and desires are the same as ours then we welcome your input and support. We are not affiliated to any other fan body but welcome their involvement and discuss common aims. Our biggest and most immediate threat is the possible sale of our stadium and let me explain why. The ground swell of opinion is the current board may not have 51% of the shareholder support in the near future and as such leaves them in a position of one last heist. Let me explain in simple terms and use your house as an example. You require cash due to your ailing financial position and own a home with a market value of £200k. I agree to give you £100k cash today to solve your short term financial problems and I will rent you the house back for £2k per month. I will also agree to allow you to buy it back anytime in the next 10 years for £300k. I cant lose. I either 1) have you in the home and draw £24k a year of you in rental 2) Get £2k a month off you until your able to give me £300k to get it back 3) You leave the house and I have a building costing me half market value. Now turn this story to Ibrox and what a spiv could do. Sell the stadium to a carefully selected company that a trusted friend owns and the spiv has a vested interest in and do it soon before he loses the majority of shareholders. Couldnt happen? Think of the Monday morning paper stories we have all had to deal with in the last couple of years. SONS OF STRUTH DEMAND THE TRUTH SHOW YOU CARE AND SHARE WITH A BEAR Craig