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Mark Daly (Panorama reporter) has confirmed to me that a BBC documentary about RFC/Craig Whyte is due to be screened next Thursday, 20th October. This should be fascinating - not sure if this will be Panaroma or simply a stand-alone investigative piece from this guy.

RANGERS' new lawyers could end up £50MILLION out of pocket in a legal fight with their insurance broker. Collyer Bristow â?? hired by Gers owner Craig Whyte to help him take over the club â?? face financial meltdown if courts rule against them in the dispute with Lockton Companies International. The move comes as the club face their own cash nightmare over a separate £49million battle with the taxman over payments and loans made to players. Rangers have admitted if they lose the case it could force them into administration â?? one step from going bust. The Old Firm giants took on Collyer Bristow after Whyte heaped praise on their work when he bought the club from Sir David Murray. And he named the firm's partner Gary Withey the club's company secretary after the deal in May. Last night a Collyer Bristow spokesman said: "We believe the chances of 'collapse' are extremely remote." Rangers officials declined to comment on the case. Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3855273/Rangers-lawyers-in-50m-legal-row.html#ixzz1a2wP1uEy

Courts have decided Sky breach EU rules on football deals. Share price drops 4 points. And the house comes tumbling down.

I've already been in two pubs that have this facility. What with fibre optics and most homes having a computer, fans could watch their team in every away game, because the price of travel will get more expensive in the future, and hopefully, it can be provided at a better price than present. I don't see the reason for ending the domestic leagues, but it's a good opportunity to cut the number of times we play teams in the Scottish league. 4 times a season is just too much, especially teams that come to Ibrox and park the bus. Could the SPL become a saleable product over European countries? I really hope so.

Rangers, under threat of administration because of a £50 million claim from the taxman, will renew their ambition to gain entry to the Premier League as well as reconsidering proposals for an â??Atlantic Leagueâ??, according to new owner and chairman Craig Whyte. Her Majestyâ??s Revenue and Customs is seeking £49 million in back-taxes, interest and penalties from Rangers, a claim that could see one of the great institutions of British and European football become the gameâ??s highest profile financial failure. In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport, Whyte said he would actively seek to leave the SPL to secure Rangersâ?? financial future, and suggested the club could even consider running two teams, one each side of the border, once the case and its implications have been dealt with. Whyte also confirmed that while he believes Rangers will win the case, administration is the likeliest outcome if the tax tribunal, scheduled for November, goes against them. Asked if administration would follow, Whyte said: â??It is one of the possibilities we have looked at, yes. The choice, in terms of an adverse finding, is pretty obvious really.â? Administration would bring an immediate 10-point penalty and the possibility of more sanctions, depending on the clubâ??s exit strategy. But Whyte is adamant that there is no threat to Rangersâ?? long-term future. â??Whatever happens Rangers will be moving forward. I will not allow the club to go bust. I can control the debt process absolutely, and whatever happens Rangers is going to be there playing in the SPL at Ibrox.â? Whyte would like them to play further south as well, describing Rangers as â??a Premier League club with the revenue of a Scottish clubâ?. He has committed to finding £5 million of working capital and £5 million a season for transfers, and may bring in third-party investment to help him do so. But he sees Rangersâ?? future in a move away from the Scottish game. â??I think I can turn this around and sort out the problem. I have put money in and Iâ??m prepared to put money in but I have said it is not a bottomless pit,â? he said. â??We are in Scottish football so it is not a viable proposition to go put £100 million into the team. If we went forward into another league set-up, say the English Premier League, then it is very viable to put £100 million more in. We are not there at the moment, but we would like to be. â??[Joining the Premier League] is clearly something that we would like to see examined, it is something we are working on behind the scenes. But there are other potential ideas in terms of European leagues, joining some of the Nordic countries, the Netherlands to create a league.â? Whyte bought a controlling stake from former chairman Sir David Murray last May for £1, assuming responsibility for £18 million of bank debt and the tax liabilities in the process. Since then early exits from the Champions League, the Europa League and most recently the League Cup have compounded the financial issues, and questions about Whyteâ??s background have intensified. The first Old Firm game of the season 10 days ago brought welcome relief with a 4-2 win over Celtic, and in the febrile atmosphere of Glasgow football that may be all that really matters to supporters. The financial issues may not be resolved away so easily. The threat to Rangers stems from a claim for £35 million in back-tax and interest and £14 million in fines relating to the Murray regimeâ??s use of a tax-avoidance device called Employee Benefit Trusts. HMRC claims Rangers wrongly used EBTs for a decade, effectively to reclassify regular salaries as loans that avoided income tax and National Insurance. Rangersâ?? own advice when the schemes were established was that they were legal, and HMRC made no complaint until last year, when it changed its guidance on EBTs. It has now targeted Rangers among 5,000 companies it believes misused EBTs. Whyte believes the club have been singled out as a test case and accuses HMRC of leaking information. Interest intensified earlier this month when High Court judge Lord Hodge, hearing former chief executive Martin Bainâ??s claim for wrongful dismissal, ruled that the club faces a â??real and substantial risk of insolvencyâ?. Whyte acknowledges the risk, but insists the clubâ??s long-term future is secure. He has repaid the £18 million to Lloyds, a fact confirmed by the bank, and transferred the debt to Rangersâ?? holding company, which is ultimately owned by his Liberty Capital Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Whyte has committed to writing off the debt if the club avoids administration. This structure means Whyte is the largest secured creditor and has control of any administration. â??Nothing is out of my hands because I control the club, I am the only secured creditor, or rather Rangers FC Group is. So on any decision, while HMRC might push, the group company controls the debt.â? This may be tested in administration. SPL rules require clubs to exit administration with the agreement of all creditors â?? a Creditors Voluntary Agreement â?? but HMRC is unlikely to agree. The SPL has complete discretion over what penalties to apply if a CVA is not agreed, but Whyte is certain they will not face penalties that could end in relegation. â??You might say that is a theoretical possibility but that is not going to happen.â? Whyte defends his business record which, by his own admission, is mixed. He says he specialises in turning round companies in trouble, and as such Rangers was a marriage of personal and professional interest. He is listed as a current or former director of 11 UK-based companies, some of which have failed. â??I get involved in businesses that are struggling and that means you sometimes get involved in the messy side of things. But overall I have had more successes than failures,â? he said. Whyte, who has homes in the Scottish Highlands, Londonâ??s Belgravia and Monaco, will not be drawn on his personal wealth â?? â??It would make my life a lot easier if I did but, frankly, Iâ??m not going to have journalists going into every aspect of my private lifeâ? â?? but says he has genuine business credentials. â??I have got four offices in the City, I have venture capital funds, I have asset management companies, I have stock-broking businesses, I have businesses in France, in Holland, I have got thousands of employees, but I donâ??t see why I should make every aspect of that public. â??Iâ??ve got everything from financial services to ticketing to cinema services, asset management, construction, I have got investments in all these sectors. I operate like a venture capital partnership so at any one time thereâ??s 20-25 companies in the portfolio. "I operate a family company in the city too that manages the family investments. We do all sorts of deals, public to private, commodity trading, Forex, a wide variety, but we try and keep it low key. â??Sometimes we might own them for two years, sometimes for five. But with Rangers we want to create a long-term sustainable business, which we will. But it's going to be a rocky road.â? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/8792112/Craig-Whyte-actively-seeking-to-leave-the-SPL-to-secure-Rangers-financial-future.html

I guess we all knew, but reading this brings a tear to the eye. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15041278 A judge who froze £480,000 of Rangers assets has said the club's new owner recognises it could go under if it loses a disputed £49m tax claim. The detail emerged in a published opinion from judge Lord Hodge, who is hearing former chief executive Martin Bain's case for unfair dismissal. The judge said the takeover deal for Rangers had been structured to protect the new owner if the tax case was lost. He said this was "an appreciation...of a risk of insolvency". Mr Bain is pursuing a £1.3m damages claim against Rangers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He raised the claim alleging breach of contract following the takeover at Rangers FC by venture capitalist Craig Whyte from former owner Sir David Murray. 'Not persuaded' On 13 September, Lord Hodge granted a warrant to ring-fence £480,000 of the Ibrox club's assets, pending the outcome of Mr Bain's case, after deciding there was "real and substantial risk of insolvency". Martin Bain is suing Rangers for unfair dismissal This centred on the, as yet undecided, outcome of a disputed tax claim from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which totals £49m in tax and penalties. In his written opinion, Lord Hodge stated: "I am not persuaded on the material placed before me that Rangers is presently insolvent on either of the tests of practical insolvency or absolute insolvency." The judge, however, said he did believe there was a genuine threat to the club from the tax case and believed the new owner fully recognised this threat. Lord Hodge referred to a circular sent to shareholders of Rangers on 3 June 2011. He stated that this document "disclosed that The Rangers FC Group Limited (formerly Wavetower Limited) had purchased 85.3% of the shares of Rangers for the cash sum of £1 and had given certain undertakings". Continue reading the main story â?? Start Quote I would have expected the chief executive of a public company to be aware whether or not his employment contract had the needed shareholder approvalâ? End Quote Lord Hodge Judge Lord Hodge said The Rangers FC Group Limited had taken over Rangers' £18m indebtedness to the Lloyds Banking Group, "and obtained an assignation of the bank's securities over Rangers' assets". According to the circular, this debt would be waived if Rangers had "not suffered an insolvency event within 90 days of the club's appeal in relation to the tax claim". The judge noted that until the case was settled, and the debt was waived, all investment in Rangers by The Rangers FC Group Limited would be treated as increasing the club's debt to it. Lord Hodge concluded that "this carefully structured deal" through which The Rangers FC Group Limited has secured a charge over Rangers assets and made the waiving of the club's debt conditional on a positive outcome to the tax case, "shows an appreciation by The Rangers FC Group of a risk of insolvency resulting from that claim". The judge added: "When I asked Mr Napier (Rangers QC) if he could clarify Rangers' position in relation to the HMRC claim for £49m...he was not able to assist as he had no instructions in relation to that matter. "I must therefore treat Mr Bain's assertions as to the extent of HMRC's claim as uncontradicted, although I acknowledge that the claim itself is the subject of an appeal by Rangers." Elsewhere in the opinion, Lord Hodge noted that Rangers pointed out that Mr Bain had a 39-month contract agreed with the club in September 2009. The club's QC said that a long-term service contract of this length was prohibited under the Companies Act 2006 unless it had been approved by a resolution of the members of the company. Mr Bain's QC said his client did not know whether the members of Rangers had approved the contract. Lord Hodge added: "I found that surprising as I would have expected the chief executive of a public company to be aware whether or not his employment contract had the needed shareholder approval."

Bosses at Rangers face further financial turmoil after it emerged one of Scotlandââ?¬â?¢s top law firms is suing the football club over unpaid legal bills. Initial court proceedings have already taken place between the Ibrox club and Glasgow-based Levy & McRae over a bill understood to be around Ã?£35,000 and dating from earlier this year. The bill was for advice given to Rangers on how to handle the Uefa investigation into sectarian singing at Europa Cup games against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. Rangers were fined Ã?£35,652 by Uefa in March and its fans banned from the next away European game over sectarian singing in the match in Holland with PSV. The club also received a suspended ban on its fans for a second away game, for a probationary period of three years. The latest financial woes to hit the Scottish champions emerged as former owner Sir David Murray made clear that Craig Whyte, the businessman to whom he sold Rangers, was ââ?¬Å?fully awareââ?¬Â of an outstanding tax liability of Ã?£2.8million before buying the club. Last Friday, on the same day a preliminary hearing in the Levy and McRae case was heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Rangers had Ã?£2.8m seized after an arrest order was issued to the clubââ?¬â?¢s bank over an unpaid tax bill. The order was delivered on Thursday following an application by Her Majestyââ?¬â?¢s Revenue and Customs. The clubââ?¬â?¢s bank then acted by putting the money into a holding account Levy & McRae also represents ex-Rangers chief executive Martin Bain in his breach of contract case against the club. Sources close to both parties have claimed the legal action is a clear indication that relations between the club and its previous lawyers had broken down irrevocably, with one claiming: ââ?¬Å?Rangers were furious when Levy & McRae took on Martinââ?¬â?¢s case.ââ?¬Â Although the bill dates from the Murray era, Rangers under Mr Whyte, who bought the club for a nominal Ã?£1 in May, are still liable for the money, the law firm has claimed. Peter Watson, of Levy & McRae, said: ââ?¬Å?We donââ?¬â?¢t wish to comment while the case is progressing through the courts.ââ?¬Â A spokesman for Rangers also refused to comment. Meanwhile, Sir David has insisted that the new owners knew of the outstanding tax bill before Mayââ?¬â?¢s takeover. A spokesman for the Murray Group said: ââ?¬Å?Craig Whyte and his advisers were fully aware of the Ã?£2.8m tax liability before buying the club. The liability was included in our accounts for the six months ending on December 31, 2010. ââ?¬Å?Assurances were given by Mr Whyte that funds were in place to enable him to pay that.ââ?¬Â http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/rangers-sued-by-law-firm-over-unpaid-bill-1.1122032

CRAIG WHYTE insists he HAS spent big this summer â�� despite NO box office arrivals. The Rangers owner was last night forced to defend his signing policy in the face of mounting criticism from supporters. Whyte pledged to spend �£25million on new players over the next five years. He later upped that and claimed �£15m would be ploughed in this summer. But SunSport's damning figures show Gers' net spend at the close of the August transfer window was just �£500,000. But Whyte said: "Ally's signed seven new players and re-signed seven more this summer, which has been a significant investment in the squad. "While all Rangers fans want to see as many star signings as possible there has to be realism as well. "Unfortunately. we've not qualified for the Champions League or Europa League group stages and the club has to be run in the correct manner. "Ally and I discuss these matters constantly and he has told me he is happy with the squad he has at his disposal. "We look forward to the rest of the campaign and doing all we can to continue our success." Rangers rejected a �£6.5m bid from Leicester City for striker Nikica Jelavic on Tuesday. Aston Villa also enquired about Steven Davis with Whyte delighted both players are still at Ibrox. He revealed: "We had a serious offer for Nikica, but it fell well short of the player's true valuation. "Ally McCoist is building a good squad capable of competing for the domestic treble and Jelavic and Davis are key players." Meanwhile, McCoist insists Gers' decision to spurn interest in Jelavic and Davis is a big signal. The Gers gaffer said: "I am delighted Nikica and Steven are staying. "There was no pressure to sell either, but the club received a serious offer for Nikica from Leicester. "I have no doubt the players we have here are more than capable of defending the title." Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3789942/Craig-I-am-not-Scrooge.html#ixzz1WkMXOHHX

With tonight's closure of the transfer window now looming closer by the second it's becoming crystal clear that staying in Europe or more specifically, the Champions League this season was paramount to the ability of the new manager to start building a new, deeper and higher quality squad. That may well seem like stating the obvious, but I think we should ask ourselves if Ally was really afforded the opportunity to strengthen for our European campaign given that the club were very public about supposedly bidding for and trying to bring in the players who might have helped keep us in Europe, but either failed or backed off on the deals. Obviously it's all history now, but I wonder what players like Roland JuhÃ?¡sz, Wesley Verhoek and David Goodwillie might have offered the manager in terms of team selection options in our Champions League and Europa League games had we signed them up and registered them instead of messing about with low bids and flimsy attempts to acquire their services. Despite it being too late to help us in Europe, we finally brought in Alejandro Bedoya after a lengthy period of the club saying 'we want him NOW', but if we're to believe media reports, we supposedly went back to Ã?â??rebro with a lower offer than we had previously made just a couple of weeks earlier. No matter what anyone says about the player having been on the last X amount of games of his contract, if it's true that we did that, then it highlights one aspect of our new and somewhat bizarre concept of transfer market dealings. Is it a concept which involves telling the fans, the media and other clubs that there's money there for these new players the club are bidding for, then that money just seeming to disappear into thin air when the bids all fail? Imagine an episode of South Park where illusionist Paul Daniels is running a football club and dabbling in the transfer market with a top hat, a dove and a pile of magic money. No you see it, now you don't. It's Magic! Another strange series of events was the attempt to sign Carlos Cuellar from Aston Villa, now managed by former Gers manager Alex McLeish. In this case, the Scottish press reported that Villa had accepted a Ã?£2m bid from Rangers for the player. Fans were literally ecstatic about it because Cuellar aka 'King Carlos' was a cracking, no nonsense defender who was absolutely brilliant in our run to the UEFA Cup Final, a run which ended in his sale to Villa for almost eight million pounds. Good business to get him back for Ã?£2m then, but what happened to the deal? We had the bid accepted and it was supposedly still on the table until we went out of the Champions League. Then, all of a sudden the deal was off because he was still injured when in actual fact the club knew that he was injured all along. Am I missing something here? Did the guy's return from injury being slightly delayed put us off buying him back for nearly Ã?£6m less than we sold him for? You have to wonder.... Roland JuhÃ?¡sz? Were we really ever intending to buy this guy? After a drawn-out saga of us being told the club were making bids and having them rejected, we were reported to have made a final Ã?£3.5m bid for the player. In actual fact we must have bid significantly less than that for the deal to just fall apart because both JuhÃ?¡sz and his agent were keen for the deal to come to Ibrox to happen and Ã?£3.5m is what Anderlecht were reportedly seeking for the player. I'm intrigued as to what really happened to that deal, but if I was taking a guess it would be something along the lines of going out of the Champions League meant that there was no way the club could afford to spend Ã?£3.5m on a defender no matter how good he is. I think we'll skip all the details of the Goodwillie saga here because it was another drawn-out affair and in this case there were extremely unusual circumstances involved regarding his personal life, but it's worth noting that yet again we failed to sign a supposed top target. I can't help thinking that if we were ever serious bidders and the club really wanted to sign him, then David Goodwillie would be a Rangers player. We certainly need another striker because Kane Hemmings was going to be one of our back-up strikers in the squad this season and now he's out till Christmas or beyond due to an injury requiring surgery. Ally actually said he wanted another striker before Kane got injured, so maybe we need to bring in two strikers now? One thing is clear in my mind and that is that we haven't actually replaced Kris Boyd or Kenny Miller with another deadly goal-scorer. Nikica Jelavic is a fantastic player, but we need another 25 goal a season striker to partner him and fill the glaringly obvious void left in our attacking arsenal since the Boyd and Miller partnership moved on. It's time for our new owner to put the top-hat, dove and magic money back in the box of tricks and get his really money out because this isn't a scathingly satirical magic show on an episode of South Park; this is Rangers Football Club and it's real life. The transfer window closes in a few hours time and we need another striker Mr. Whyte.

Ok, first off, I am absolutely not blaming Ortiz for our dismal European displays, but for me he's been a symptom of our failings. Quite simply we've been atrocious in the transfer market for a long time now. In order to fix this ailing squad we needed Craig Whyte to put his money where his mouth was, and cough up �£15M for a serious squad injection. A couple of �£3M players, 3 �£2M players, and a few squad players - and if we were lucky, another top quality �£4M player like Jelavic. This squad needed more Davises, Naismiths and McGregors. Not more Edus, McCullochs and Broadfoots. I will admit Wallace seems like a decent signing, but that he's our marquee signing (unless you count Bartley) of the summer shows how little cash we have actually spent (plus we've received �£1.7M for Bougherra). If you spend half millions all the time, that's the quality of player you'll get. A Sasa Papac. An honest enough player but your team will struggle at higher levels with 5 or more of them in it. The reason Rangers are struggling in Europe is because our squad is utterly shite at that level - it's decent enough for the SPL where teams outside the OF cannot afford much more than about �£100k on a single player. But try it against a similar level team from another nation and we look like what we are. We have 4 top players (Davis, Jelavic etc), a few decent-good players (Lafferty, Wallace, maybe Goian), and the rest are average. Add to that a rookie management team and an owner who doesn't seem to be spending the money we were promised and it's easy to see why, outwith of the backwater piss league that is the SPL, we'll struggle. I saw Ally has said he cannot see a Scottish side making the CL group stage for some time. Sadly, that looks to be true.

The title might lead you to thinking that you're about to read something satirical, but I can assure you that you aren't. With just over a week of the summer transfer window remaining, some Rangers fans are rightly beginning to wonder whether Ally McCoist still has the transfer kitty which our new owner Craig Whyte promised a few months ago. It's actually been quite an interesting summer for us in the transfer market and not too many fans will be saying they're seriously underwhelmed by the business the club have done so far, but there's one thing that people are all too aware of and that's that the club haven't actually spent very much money. Some people are saying that it's prudent in the current financial climate for the club to be thrifty and not to spend much money, especially if it's money that the club doesn't actually have or in other words, borrowed. Others though, are brushing off their calculators and adding up what the club has actually spent in comparison to what it's received or due to receive. Without going into specific details and listing all of the transfer fees, it would appear that so far the club has only spent approximately �£1.5 million of the promised �£5 million transfer fund when you take the incoming money from the sales of Madjid Bougherra and Charlie Adam into account. Craig Whyte also said that more than �£5 million could be made available to the manager if necessary, but lets just concentrate on the basic five big ones. So..... the big question is: Does Ally McCoist still have �£3.5 million to spend before the end of this transfer window? I'm not trying to give anyone a dose of the runs here. It's a serious question and one which I'm sure a lot of people are keen to hear an answer to. Over to you Mr. Whyte... It was only a few weeks ago that we were in a situation where the club had a �£2 million accepted bid for Carlos Cuellar on the table and were also simultaneously bidding over �£5 million combined for David Goodwillie and Roland Juh�¡sz. That's over �£7 million that we were led to believe was being made available. After our chaotic Champions League exit at the hands of Swedish club Malm�¶ FF, I'm sure nobody in their right mind thinks Ally McCoist might still have anywhere near �£7 million at his disposal, but where's the remaining �£3.5 million of the promised budget? Did someone leave it in Malmo?

As the incessant rain and rioting continue to ruin the summer for most British people, Rangers supporters have more dark clouds on the horizon with the news that HMRC (in conjunction with Sheriff Officers) appear extremely eager to ensure payment for an outstanding Ã?£2.8million (plus penalties) tax liability. With a previous ââ?¬Ë?queryââ?¬â?¢ regarding player EBT payments under the previous owner Sir David Murrayââ?¬â?¢s custodianship, and a distinct inability to push through essential new signings, the Rangers support are rightly concerned about the fiscal situation at their club. Now, clearly both of these tax issues have arisen from deficiencies well before Craig Whyte bought the club just over three months ago. As such, to blame him for challenging the content of the two separate HMRC cases would be rather churlish. Moreover, it seems obvious that the Rangers chairman (along with tax expert Andrew Thornhill QC who is representing the club) is more than confident that both cases can be solved to the satisfaction of our support. In saying that, given sums of up to Ã?£50million have been speculated in the media as possible fees if these cases go against us, we may need more than bullish optimism as these queries play out in the courts. Indeed, if one juxtaposes the tax problems with our difficulties in the transfer market then thatââ?¬â?¢s where many Rangers fans will start to sweat. Obviously, our support have requested prudence in the face of dangerous over-spending in the early part of this millennium but there is a fine line between conservative cash outlay and endangering our chances of success this season (and beyond). This subtle difference was illustrated perfectly as we were knocked out the Champions League well before the group stage due, in part at least, to a distinct lack of depth in our squad. Of course, the club administration will point to the re-signing of key players and the capture of a few new faces as evidence that the days of alleged bank interference are gone. Wallace, Goian and Ortiz may not be the big-name players our fans crave but they will bring freshness and renewed ambition to a squad that has already proven it can compete domestically at least. Unfortunately, the sale of Madjid Bougherra along with high profile failures to capture our primary transfer targets means that once again the Rangers squad is a fragile one as the SPL really starts to get going. An apparent knee problem and MRI scan for Nikica Jelavic along with ill-health for Sasa Papac merely emphasises the lack of options for new manager Ally McCoist. With one negative story after another seemingly encapsulating the club in the kind of gloom that can derail championship bids, perhaps this will be the perfect time for the new owner to prove his intentions are honourable? From now until the end of August is a time where the transfer market finally becomes more focussed ââ?¬â?? none more so than in the EPL where the club 25 man squads will be drawn up by the Manciniââ?¬â?¢s, Dalglishââ?¬â?¢s and Fergusonââ?¬â?¢s of this world. Last season Rangers had some joy from this market but even they may not be able to wait until the cast-offs of our richer peers are available. After all, can we really afford to drop more early points after a poor home draw against Hearts as we unfurled the SPL flag last month? Even from just a few games this season, it is clear that Rangers are short both in central defence and in a creative sense. The loss of Bougherra and injuries to other defenders means strong interest in Carlos Cuellar and Roland JuhÃ?¡sz has to be converted into actual signings. Meanwhile, further forward in the team, Steven Davis canââ?¬â?¢t be expected to carry the creative burden on his own so a wide outlet with pace and the ability to score goals would be most welcome. Anything less than two further new signings and Rangers will really struggle to compete throughout another demanding season at home and abroad. While it is easy to be critical and perhaps over-analyse the very early stages of the Whyte era at Rangers, football fans are generally not the most patient (or indeed logical) of people. Our support needs and demands success at every turn and even though Rangers fans may have to learn to be more understanding of a changing economic climate in Scottish football; the welcome carpet for their new owner has already been rolled away. Exciting sound-bites now have to be turned into tangible progress. To that end, Craig Whyte may not be able to stop the looting in England but the Rangers support will expect him to chase the rain-clouds away from our club and provide the bright future he promised in May.

The charge, which was only identified in the later stages of the process which led to the takeover of Rangers by Craig Whyte in May, was originally declared to be non-negotiable. Alastair Johnston, who was chairman at Ibrox at the time, said when the charge was discovered in the accounts: ââ?¬Å?It is a cash flow issue someone has to pay for and we donââ?¬â?¢t have it in our budget. ââ?¬Å?That will have to be worked out but I donââ?¬â?¢t think itââ?¬â?¢s a deal-breaker.ââ?¬Â In the event, Whyteââ?¬â?¢s takeover went through but, whoever assumed responsibility for the liability, the matter has resurfaced, along with speculation that HMRC was set to enforce its claim. Last night a Rangers source said: ââ?¬Å?We have been in discussions with HMRC about the liability inherited from the old regime. ââ?¬Å?We are planning to appeal and have been assured by HMRC that these negotiations will take their course. However, we are dismayed that there are people at HMRC discussing the clubââ?¬â?¢s business with the media. ââ?¬Å?We find that conduct astounding while discussions are ongoing with the intention of reaching a settlement.ââ?¬Â Telegraph Sport understands that negotiations between the club and tax authorities will take place this week. Should HMRC rescind its charge, Rangers will have gone some way towards easing the financial cost of the failure to reach the group stage of the Champions League, ensured by their defeat by Malmo last week. However, since the matter relates to a penalty that has been imposed already, the chances are that the bill will have to be paid, in large part, if not in full. On the field of play, it appears that Steven Whittaker ââ?¬â?? who withdrew from the Scotland squad to face Denmark at Hampden tonight because of a broken toe, sustained in Malmo ââ?¬â?? will be fit to face Inverness Caley Thistle in Saturdayââ?¬â?¢s televised lunchtime fixture from the SPL in the Highlands. ââ?¬Å?We donââ?¬â?¢t think it is anything too major and we would hope he would be fit for Saturdayââ?¬â?¢s game at Inverness,ââ?¬Â said Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager. Maurice Edu and Nikica Jelavic withdrew from the US and Croatia squads respectively after sustaining injuries in the weekend friendly against Chelsea but have not been ruled out of the trip to Inverness. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/8691510/Rangers-in-discussions-with-HMRC-over-appealing-2.8-tax-liability.html

FORMER Rangers chief executive Martin Bain is being sued by the Ibrox club over claims he drew an "excessive" amount if cash from them. Bain is taking the SPL giant to court over his departure following venture capitalist Craig Whyte's takeover. But during a preliminary hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh yesterday Rangers' lawyer Gavin MacColl said the club wanted to lodge a counterclaim. Mr MacColl said the club felt Mr Bain "breached" the terms of his duties and that "manifested itself in Mr Bain drawing excessive monies from the company". He added: "The counterclaim will be to seek recovery of these excessive monies." Mr Bain's counsel Charles Cowie said his client was "very keen" to make progress in the action. Lord Menzies allowed the counterclaim from Rangers. The case is not expected to return to court until October. Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3746128/Martin-Bain-faces-court-bid-over-cash-grab-claim.html#ixzz1UgYRImMw

By Tom English YOU don't have to be in Ally McCoist's company for very long to understand what his favourite word might be. When he gets earnest, which is pretty much most of the time in these early and troubled days of his reign, he has a way of speaking, a McCoistian sincerity, that is hard to miss. "To be honest with you..." "To be perfectly honest..." "I'm going to be honest here..." "The honest truth is..." Such a lot of honesty, so let's continue the theme. Rangers had every right to hope for the best in Malmo last Wednesday evening, but the sensible ones among their support, the ones, if you like, who knew their history, would have been totally prepared for the worst. In the analysis of their demise in Sweden there has been talk of McCoist's inexperience as a manager and, of course, the frenzied knee-jerk that paints the job as just being too big for him. There is a time to make that assessment but it sure as hell isn't after four games. In any event, what happened to Rangers on Wednesday has been the kind of thing that has been happening for some years now. Even the old maestro, Walter Smith, suffered the same fate repeatedly in recent times. Before Sweden, Rangers had won just one of their previous 20 games in European competition. The last time they secured the kind of away result that would have been deemed good enough in Sweden - a victory - was over three years ago. To illustrate how long ago it was, Christian Dailly played in the match, a 2-0 victory at Sporting Lisbon. So did Carlos Cuellar. And Jean-Claude Darcheville. There is a strange dynamic that takes hold in Scottish football sometimes. We decry the quality of the product here and bemoan the falling standards of the elite teams at the top. And yet a form of arrogance - in the media and among the support - takes hold at times when they enter Europe, an assumption that bad and all as the Scottish teams are, they're surely not that bad that they can't beat an "average lot" like Malmo, or "pub teams" like Kaunas and Artmedia Bratislava. McCoist wasn't the only one who fell at such hurdles. Far, far more experienced managers - Smith and Gordon Strachan - have been undone before him. Malmo was a missed opportunity, though. Rangers actually played reasonably well, better than they have done away from home in Europe for a little while. They lost because of indiscipline, not because they were outplayed or outclassed. They looked comfortable. There is a modicum of consolation in that for McCoist. Something to hold on to as he watched the Champions League millions floating away on the breeze. They were hampered, too, by a terrible false economy at work in the Rangers transfer strategy. Craig Whyte has money to spend, and he will spend it. Wesley Verhoek, the Den Haag winger, and Roland Juhasz , the Anderlecht defender, have been the subject of bids and may soon join Rangers. But Whyte should have had more players in the door by now, should have had more new talent in the starting line-up already. It's a failure of philosophy and this cringe-making 'low-bidding' process that they have been engaged in. Low-bidding has cost them dear. "I wouldn't say deep frustration," said McCoist when asked about the transfer strategy. "The problem with transfers is that in an ideal world you go in and get the job done and get out and everybody's happy. In the current climate that's very seldom the case. What's been a little unfortunate for us is that every deal has been scrutinised to the maximum. "I can understand totally the frustration and some of the criticism that's coming our way because players are not coming in as quickly as we all hope. You want to get the deal done and get out. It's the job of you guys (reporters] to find out (what's happening] and the next minute it's leaked and when it's leaked, prices go up, values go up, wages go up. I'm not complaining about it, but that's the way it is. If you're asking me if I'd rather go in, grab somebody, sit them down and say, 'Right let's do it right now, get the papers signed' then yeah, great." So why doesn't he? Who's been talking to these players? Whyte? Ali Russell? Gordon Smith? "I've been in constant dialogue with Kyle Bartley, for example," said McCoist. "Constant dialogue with Lee Wallace's agent. Maybe I need to use my phone more. Believe me if I get an opportunity to speak to any player I speak to them and that's the case." Is there a coded message in there? McCoist is a deal-closer whereas some of the others at the club are not? On Verhoek and Juhasz he comes across as a man who is expecting them to walk through the door at any minute. "The bids went in on Wednesday. I just want them done. We are very, very hopeful." If nothing else, the Malmo game offered up a test of McCoist's attitude when dealing with players who had clearly let him down. Namely, Steven Whittaker and Madjid Bougherra. The Algerian doesn't matter so much now that he has left the club, but Whittaker remains and he has had a rough week. Did McCoist give him a verbal blast or was his treatment more subtle? What exactly is the McCoist way of doing things in these situations? "I'll be really honest with you, I haven't spoken to them. A couple of reasons and the most important reason is, well, they know. They know. I'd be really disappointed if Steven did that again. Really disappointed, because he's an intelligent boy and looking at Steven at the end of the game I don't think I needed to say anything to him. Sometimes you judge a situation and the decision is made for you. "You know, the indiscipline has definitely cost us but the indiscipline, dare I say it, was more stupidity than malicious. It doesn't help because we're out of the tournament, but sometimes you can forgive a little stupidity as long as you don't make the same mistake twice. Everybody makes a mistake but the crime is making the same mistake twice. Steven is the only one who can help himself. Effectively, there's nothing that anybody can say or do. I'm disappointed. I don't want to sound flippant here but I'm not overly worried." Keeping your head when others are looking for it is a big part of managing the Old Firm. Keeping your head and freshening your team. He can do the first part. The second he would want to get on with pretty damn quickly. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport/Tom-English-The-woes-of.6814359.jp

IN APPORTIONING blame for Rangers' damaging exit from the Champions League, it is perhaps too easy to adopt a scattergun approach. From the pitch, to the technical area and all the way up to the directors' box, there would have been no shortage of targets for the ire of Rangers fans had they been at the Swedbank Stadium on Wednesday night. Uefa's one-match ban on their travelling support meant Rangers were spared an initial close-quarters inquisition for their implosive performance in drawing 1-1 against Malmo and slumping out of the elite club tournament 2-1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round. The debate will rage on as to whether Rangers would have avoided such a costly fate had new owner Craig Whyte achieved greater success in the transfer market or whether new manager Ally McCoist could have prepared his team more effectively for the tie against the unseeded and unremarkable Swedish title holders. But while Whyte and McCoist unquestionably still have it all to prove in their fledgling roles, it is harsh in the extreme to hold them accountable for the folly perpetrated by two others on Wednesday. No-one could begin to legislate for the inane actions of Steven Whittaker and Madjid Bougherra in getting themselves sent off and leaving their team-mates with just too much to do to turn the tie around. Irrespective of how many new players the Whyte regime has so far managed to recruit, it is clear that the existing group available to McCoist should have been more than capable of comfortably defeating Malmo. It was equally apparent on Wednesday that the damage done in the 1-0 first leg defeat at Ibrox was far from irreparable, leaving the ludicrous indiscipline of Whittaker and Bougherra all the more galling for McCoist. Remarkably, Bougherra left the stadium protesting his innocence, despite a forearm smash on Malmo substitute Dardan Rexhepi which saw the home player carried off on a stretcher and left Rangers reduced to nine men for the final 24 minutes. While Bougherra was in denial, however, Whittaker at least earned some credit yesterday by accepting responsibility for his petulant show of dissent in the 18th minute when he threw the ball at Malmo winger Jimmy Durmaz. "I'm gutted with what happened," said Whittaker. "I don't usually react to things like that, but for some reason I did this time. I just got caught up in the game, caught up in the moment. "We were all determined to get the right result. But I let everyone down. Their guy kicked me off the ball and I threw it at him, which I shouldn't have done. The referee obviously saw what happened and took the decision to send me off which was disappointing. "I felt he could have booked me and got on with it, but he clearly saw it differently and thought I deserved to go. To be fair, straight after I'd done it I knew I shouldn't have done it. "Right from that exact moment I was filled with regret, wishing I could turn the clock back ten seconds. But you can't do that, can you, so I just had to deal with it. The guy played it inside and went to challenge for the ball. When the boy came close to me I managed to brush him aside and we ended up in the ground. "As he fell, he kicked out at me, but I reacted in the wrong way - that's the bottom line. As I walked off I was pretty devastated and gutted for the boys. I was leaving them on the pitch with so much to do. "They did brilliantly to get the lead with ten men after that and I thought for a while they were going to win it. I watched the rest of the first half from the dressing room, got myself changed and saw the second half from the stand. But it just wasn't to be. It wasn't nice sitting there. "The other boys just told me to keep my head up after the game. There are plenty of other games this season and we'll try to put things right. "I'll bounce back from this, we all will, even though going out of the Champions League is far from ideal. We responded and won the league after we went out to Kaunas three years ago so hopefully we can do the same again." Rangers will pay a heavy price for the red mist which engulfed them on Wednesday. Whittaker and Bougherra incur automatic one-match suspensions and possibly further bans if Uefa deem their offences as serious misconduct. In Bougherra's case, that may prove irrelevant if he completes his proposed �£1.7?million transfer to Qatari side Lekhwiya. Sasa Papac will also miss the first leg of Rangers' Europa League play-off tie later this month as a result of being booked in both legs against Malmo. With captain David Weir and recent signing Dorin Goian both recovering from hamstring injuries, it leaves McCoist with major defensive problems for the tie. The Uefa signing deadline for the play-off tie is next Monday, although clubs can again add one 'wild card' by 11pm on the eve of the first leg which is scheduled for 18 August. Rangers could also be in line for a fine from Uefa for having more than five players booked in one match. They incurred six yellow cards from Russian referee Vladislav Bezborodov on Wednesday, in addition to the straight reds shown to Whittaker and Bougherra. For the moment, those two players are the men who must carry the can for the calamity visited upon Rangers in Malmo. But if the club's fortunes in the transfer market and on the pitch do not show a rapid upturn, then there will be scant mitigation available for Whyte and McCoist. http://sport.scotsman.com/theoldfirm/Steven-Whittaker-39filled-with-regret39.6813227.jp?articlepage=1

RANGERS chairman Craig Whyte has defended his transfer market dealings since taking charge of the club, insisting the criticism levelled at him in the wake of their Champions League elimination is "completely unjustified". Whyte has come under fire for the failure to sign more players ahead of the third qualifying round tie against unseeded Swedish side Malmo which Rangers lost 2-1 on aggregate to drop into the Europa League play-offs. Since buying Rangers three months ago, Whyte has overseen the recruitment of just three new players with Juan Manuel Ortiz, Lee Wallace and Dorin Goian arriving at Ibrox for a combined outlay of around �£2.5 million. With Madjid Bougherra poised to make a �£1.7 million move to Qatari champions Lekhiwaya and Rangers in line to receive an �£850,000 sell-on windfall from Charlie Adam's �£8.5 million move from Blackpool to Liverpool, Rangers will effectively recoup what they have spent on transfers so far. Rangers have failed with bids for a series of other players, most notably David Goodwillie who completed his �£2.8 million move from Dundee United to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday. Whyte says Rangers offered more up front for the Scotland striker but claims United simply did not want to sell him to another Scottish club. The Rangers owner has promised to add more players to manager Ally McCoist's squad before the transfer window closes on 31 August and believes his dealings compare favourably with those at the club during the same period last year. "Look, we are speaking here on 4 August," said Whyte. "What had Rangers signed this time last season? Nothing. They signed James Beattie on something like 13 August and they signed Nikica Jelavic on around 20 August. We've had an earlier start to the season this year, but Rangers have done much, much more this time than in any season before. So I think the criticism is completely unjustified. "We are all working really hard to make this work. That is the bottom line. "We've got offers in for players. Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't. With David Goodwillie, for example, we offered more than Blackburn offered, but Dundee United didn't want to sell to us. That is their prerogative. "I think the Dundee United people will tell you the same thing, that we offered more up front money than Blackburn. They said they might get more in extras from Blackburn, but basically, Dundee United didn't want to sell to another Scottish club. That is the bottom line. There is nothing sinister in it. I don't know why people make a thing out of it. There is nothing sinister in it at all. "We've got offers in for quite a few players at the moment. We have also still got the spine of the side that won the championship last season. I've done what I said I would do. I've extended players' contracts. We have so far signed three new players. We have got five or six other players who we have re-signed, which is just as important. I've delivered everything that I said I would deliver. That is the message I want to get across, and I will continue to do that. We will absolutely have a strong squad in place by the end of August, of course we will. "Ally and I sat together on the plane home and had a positive discussion about our signing plans. I fully understand the fans' frustration at the transfer speculation we have seen in recent weeks but the reason we lost in the Champions League is not due to a lack of signings. Ally himself has said publicly that we are a good side that only recently won the league championship." Rangers now miss out on income of around �£15 million which participation in the group stage of the Champions League would have delivered. Whyte, speaking on the team's return from Malmo where they finished with nine men on the pitch following the dismissals of Steven Whittaker and Bougherra in the 1-1 second leg draw, appeared determined to remain upbeat. "It was unfortunate but we are looking forward," he added. "Of course it is frustrating to go out of the Champions League. It's frustrating for all Rangers fans. I'm a Rangers fan myself and I know how it feels. "I thought the team played well in Malmo, I thought they played their guts out. There were a couple of unfortunate decisions, and it was unfortunate that we got a couple of players sent off, but we played well. "I think Rangers were the better team, I think everyone saw that." http://sport.scotsman.com/football/Craig-Whyte-comes-out-fighting.6813237.jp?articlepage=1

MADJID BOUGHERRA will be sold as soon as Rangers secure a replacement after the Algerian rejected a renewed offer to become one of the clubââ?¬â?¢s highest earners by signing a lucrative contract extension. It was hoped the defenderââ?¬â?¢s exit from Ibrox, most probably to Qatari champions Lekhwiya who are offering him a Ã?£30,000-a-week tax-free, could be expedited if Anderlecht accepted a Ã?£2.5m offer for Hungarian internationalist Roland Juhasz and personal terms were agreed with the 28-year-old. However, that bid was firmly rejected by the Belgian club last night, a spokesperson describing the offer as ââ?¬Å?way belowââ?¬Â their valuation of Juhasz. ââ?¬Å?It is not enough for an experienced player like Roland. Rangers know our valuation for the player and they havenââ?¬â?¢t met it. ââ?¬Å?We are not actively looking to sell Roland. Last season we extended his contract. He is one of our leaders and most experienced players. Itââ?¬â?¢s a token of respect for the player and the club for him to attract offers from other clubs. We are the biggest club in Belgium and we are not surprised other clubs are looking at him.ââ?¬Â Herman Van Holsbeek, Anderlechtââ?¬â?¢s director of football, has stated he believes the player is worth closer to Ã?£4m.Kyle Bartley, on another loan from Arsenal, and former Ibrox centre-back Carlos Cuellar, meanwhile, remain options. At the same time, a Ã?£1.5m offer for Wesley Verhoek, the winger who has attracted attention after excellent displays for Dutch club Ado Den Haag, was also submitted and Rangers were last night awaiting responses. Rangers have also confirmed that they have taken David Odonkor, the former German international winger, on trial. The 27-year-old is a free agent after leaving Real Betis, who he joined in 2006. Odonkor flew into Glasgow on Wednesday night and will spend ââ?¬Å?the next few daysââ?¬Â training at Murray Park, the club announced on their official website. Meanwhile, Herald Sport understands that Bougherra met chairman Craig Whyte and McCoist after last Saturdayââ?¬â?¢s 1-1 draw against Hearts at Ibrox. Whyte made it clear that he would sanction an improved contract in the same bracket agreed recently with Allan McGregor and Steven Davis, but the 28-year-old intimated a desire to leave. This will happen when Rangers sign another centre-back and when an offer in excess of the Ã?£2m already bid is received, most likely after next Wednesdayââ?¬â?¢s Champions League qualification match against Malmo in Sweden. Central defence is causing McCoist concern ahead of that tie. Captain David Weir is likely to miss out with a hamstring strain; Bougherraââ?¬â?¢s state of mind could prove an issue; and new signing Dorin Goian, the Romanian signed on Monday from Palermo for around Ã?£750,000, is ineligible. It had been hoped that Uefa would clear him after receiving the necessary paperwork before the 11pm signing deadline on Monday. But a spokesman in Nyon confirmed yesterday he would not be able to play as the accession card needed by Romanians to work in the UK was not included with the submitted documents. The card should come through in time for Goian to make his debut against St Johnstone in the league tomorrow. McCoist, therefore, will likely have to field Bougherra, and either Sasa Papac, Lee Wallace or Kirk Broadfoot as his central defensive partner in Sweden. A Ã?£400,000 offer to Orebro to release Alejandro Bedoya before the end of August is still on the table. Rangers have already signed the winger on a pre-contract, but will not raise that sum. There remains a belief within Ibrox that they will take the money rather than pay the player for the next four months when he has committed to go elsewhere. Rangersââ?¬â?¢ pursuit of David Goodwillie moved no further forward yesterday. The Herald

There is a moment with Geoff Brown where it seems pertinent to ask whether he is looking forward to meeting Craig Whyte. St Johnstoneââ?¬â?¢s owner has yet to do so, having had two decades playful sparring with the previous Rangers chairman, Sir David Murray. That pair are cut from the same cloth: direct, uncompromising and hard. Two deal makers able to dominate a club. So, before his St Johnstone host Rangers at lunchtime today would Mr Brown look forward to meeting Mr Whyte? A mischievous grin. ââ?¬Å?I look forward to meeting anyone whoââ?¬â?¢s prepared to offer me some money.ââ?¬Â Thatââ?¬â?¢ll be the Murray Davidson issue straight on to the agenda, then. Rangers have offered peanuts for a 23-year-old whoââ?¬â?¢s been in a couple of recent Scotland squads and Brown hasnââ?¬â?¢t been shy about saying so. He was also a bit miffed that the offer came by email from someone on the Rangers staff. Thatââ?¬â?¢s never been his way of doing a deal. Brown is the grandee of Scottish Premier League boardrooms. In September, he will reach the 25th anniversary of the day he took over at St Johnstone and that makes him the longest-serving chairman in Scottish and ââ?¬â?? as far as he knows ââ?¬â?? British football. If few have served as much time, even fewer have been as single-minded and forthright. He saw off prostate cancer in 2001 and has had no problems since an operation a decade ago. Today he looks in fine fettle. Although he trots out a familiar line about being willing to pass the club on, donââ?¬â?¢t hold your breath. Rangers are always favourites to beat St Johnstone, but early last year they came to McDiarmid Park and were spanked 4-1. Brown chuckles at the memory. Itââ?¬â?¢s always tickled him when one of the Old Firm get a bloody nose because the odds are stacked against his wee club ever being able to deliver one. Some might think Whyte foolish for pumping his money into Rangers, with their high running costs and relentlessly demanding fanbase, but not Brown. ââ?¬Å?I donââ?¬â?¢t know enough about Craig Whyte so I donââ?¬â?¢t know if heââ?¬â?¢s this, that or the next thing. But owning Rangers is the easiest job in the world. If I couldnââ?¬â?¢t make it at Rangers Iââ?¬â?¢d say I wasnââ?¬â?¢t a businessman. F****** hell you have 50,000 people there. 50,000! Itââ?¬â?¢s an institution. If you canââ?¬â?¢t make that work . . . ââ?¬Å?Mind you, I do think itââ?¬â?¢s ridiculous that the fans should be squealing like hell about him dipping into his pocket and putting more money in or whatever. Itââ?¬â?¢s a square business and he has to work it from there.ââ?¬Â Whyte would doubtless argue that a bid thought to be worth Ã?£150,000 rising to Ã?£250,000 for Davidson was his idea of good business from Rangersââ?¬â?¢ perspective, but Brown wonââ?¬â?¢t put up with that even though he has never had a problem accepting that St Johnstoneââ?¬â?¢s best players will always be cherrypicked. ââ?¬Å?In this particular case I was annoyed. Someone should have contacted me. If I was buying a player from a club it would be me phoning them to see if a deal could be done. That, for me, is business. Thatââ?¬â?¢s what business is about.ââ?¬Â Years ago he bought Gary Bollan from Rangers after three days of telephone negotiations with Murray. ââ?¬Å?David wasnââ?¬â?¢t shy about swearing at anyone, but we eventually got a deal,ââ?¬Â said Brown. Murray also wanted to flog him Tom Cowan for Ã?£200,000. Brown said no chance, prompting Murray to offer a bet that heââ?¬â?¢d get that much for him from another club. ââ?¬Å?I said he was on but Iââ?¬â?¢d need proof because I didnââ?¬â?¢t believe half of what David put out to the press. He sold Cowan to Sheffield United and when I asked ââ?¬Ë?how much did you get for himââ?¬â?¢ he said Ã?£200k. When I asked for evidence there was just a big smile . . . ââ?¬Å?That was good craic though. I took great delight in winding David Murray up because David Murray is a wind-up merchant himself. That was one thing he quite enjoyed, someone giving it back.ââ?¬Â Brownââ?¬â?¢s known them all. He took over St Johnstone even before Murray arrived at Rangers. Sir Alex Ferguson was still at Aberdeen and Scotland had just been at the 1986 World Cup. ââ?¬Å?Iââ?¬â?¢ve enjoyed taking on other chairmen and clubs if necessary. Fighting our corner. You have your trials and tribulations. John Boyle will tell you that when he came into Motherwell I took him aside and gave him a bit of a lecture. I had a good relationship with Fergus McCann. When we were at a meeting Fergus would always come and sit beside me. There have been plenty of characters.ââ?¬Â Had there been anyone he couldnââ?¬â?¢t hit it off with? ââ?¬Å?Your man at Gretna [the late Brooks Mileson]. Heââ?¬â?¢d turn up here with 30 cronies and sit and eat pies. He wouldnââ?¬â?¢t pass the time of day with you. ââ?¬Å?Generally you go to most clubs and you get a good welcome, although I would say that if thereââ?¬â?¢s an area of football that has deteriorated over my years, itââ?¬â?¢s the boardroom. Theyââ?¬â?¢re not the private areas they used to be. There are too many hangers-on, sponsors or whatever. I used to think you could pick each otherââ?¬â?¢s brains and find out what was on the go about players or managers or whatever. I think thatââ?¬â?¢s been lost.ââ?¬Â Brownââ?¬â?¢s been both a rock and a source of exasperation for St Johnstone fans over the years. He took them from muddy old Muirton Park to trim McDiarmid and lifted them into the top flight and the Uefa Cup. They finished third in the first season of the Premier League. Any exasperation stems from his unbending insistence that the club lives within its means, which has inevitably cost them when it comes to holding on to players or signing others. Brownââ?¬â?¢s retort is simple: St Johnstone will never be in financial trouble under his watch. Actually, when reminded that they were on their knees when he took over, he put it like this: ââ?¬Å?Theyââ?¬â?¢re f****** on their knees again with losses striding up and a manager signing too many players!ââ?¬Â But seriously? ââ?¬Å?For a club with the fanbase we have, it has to be said weââ?¬â?¢ve done okay.ââ?¬Â Thereââ?¬â?¢s plenty of energy in him. While sitting in the main stand, he ribs a couple of visiting policemen for charging the club a fortune for nothing, and tells someone else that thereââ?¬â?¢s a cleaning job to be done: heââ?¬â?¢s spotted pigeon droppings all over the place. Heââ?¬â?¢s not on the Scottish Football Associationââ?¬â?¢s new professional game board but heââ?¬â?¢s still an interesting thinker on the game. Dealing with climate change and preventing female supporters from drifting away are issues on his mind. There is also a serious health issue worrying him, although thankfully not his own. ââ?¬Å?I was operated on in 2001 for prostate cancer and I have to say I see things in a much different light than before that.ââ?¬Â He gets enormous satisfaction from owning racehorses but two of his stable have died in the past 14 months from grass sickness, a little-known but usually fatal equine illness. He wants to raise money for research into the condition. At the Grand National in April he was part of an event watched by a worldwide television audience of 600m and bristled that he had to pay Ã?£2800 so his horse, Silver By Nature, could run in it. ââ?¬Å?And as an owner you get absolutely nothing. Crazy.ââ?¬Â He owns thoroughbreds but gives a dismissive snort at the idea of ever putting a bet on. No chance: too many jumps, too many other horses in the field. ââ?¬Å?Betting on a horse is like being the owner of a football club. Absolutely crazy.ââ?¬Â http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/st-johnstone/owning-rangers-is-the-easiest-job-in-the-world-st-johnstone-chairman-geoff-brown-1.1114822

RANGERS plan to rent out Ibrox to rock bands, businesses and car park operators in a bid to generate much-needed cash. New chief operating officer Ali Russell revealed yesterday he is determined to maximise revenue from stadium facilities when no matches take place there. He said: "We've got to be more effective on how we utilise this asset for the benefit of the club. "Football is Rangers' priority but we can supplement that by using Ibrox for concerts, conferences, business offices - or even car parking." US rockers Bon Jovi were the last big name to play at Ibrox when they performed for 50,000 fans in 2003. Russell, 39 - appointed by new owner Craig Whyte last month - also said the club is exploring the possibility of reviving a project to redevelop land around Ibrox. The G51 Project was shelved in 2007 when the club lost out on a licence for a super casino. Russell added: "We've had a good look at what we can do with the areas surrounding the stadium and there seem to be some opportunities." Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3691939/Gers-gig-plans-for-Ib-rocks.html#ixzz1RxSrvP9J

ALLAN McGREGOR has reached an agreement in principle to sign a new contract with Rangers. The Scotland goalkeeper still has two years of his deal left but Rangers are determined to secure him on a contract that will increase his wages and tie him to Ibrox until 2016. Herald Sport understands that McGregor has now reached a verbal agreement with Craig Whyte, the club�s owner, on a deal which will make him one of the highest-paid players at the club. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/rangers-in-verbal-deal-with-their-no-1-1.1108408?68802

I hope it is agreed at the weekend and he signs on Monday.

There can be no doubt that the Rangers fans have been greatly affected by the government severe austerity measures. To their credit,in spite of hardship, the fans have shown fantastic support to the club and team during the season just gone and ticket sales are up on last year in anticipation of the new management regime / team restructure. What a pity two individuals, motivated by utter greed have thrown our loyalty back in our faces. Martin Bain is currently on suspension partly due to awarding himself a pay rise of 35% or well in excess of Ã?£130k. This is a disgusting scenario, particularly in view of the past restraints on player spending. We hoped for better times under Craig Whyte and he has made a fantastic contract offer to Whitty. The idiot turns the club down. This was bad enough but then he and his agent start to criticise Rangers for not recognising his true worth. IMO we are better off without people like this. NO BRAIN - NO DECENCY ââ?¬â?? NO LOYALTY ââ?¬â?? NO GREAT LOSS.

ALI RUSSELL took the fast track to success under F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone at QPR. Now Russell wants to put the REAL Rangers in pole position for global expansion. New Gers owner Craig Whyte has made the ex-Hearts whizzkid his Chief Operating Officer at Ibrox. He'll chase off-field success while Ally McCoist goes for glory on the park. Russell, 39, says the lessons learned under billionaire Bernie will be crucial in moving the SPL champions into top gear. The man who will replace outgoing chief executive Martin Bain said: "I very much learned the Formula 1 model on football, working with people like Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and the Mittals. "That's been very useful for me to see a parallel commercial environment being used in football and I think they had a huge amount of success in those sort of areas. "I've had a fair degree of involvement with football. "I've been part of two new management teams that have come into football and been very, very successful. "This is a fantastic club and it has got a fantastic fan base. "What we want to do is to take this club forward and today is the start of that. I'm looking forward to helping develop the brand of this club, not just in Scotland but internationally. "I think we've got some huge opportunities. "The club has been under some challenging financial circumstances over the last couple of years. I think, moving forward, we've got to challenge ourselves. "How do we generate more interest in Scottish football? "How do we become central to that? "It's very early days but we're looking at how we move Rangers forward considerably and I'm thrilled to be part of this new management team." Russell has a wide-ranging remit in the new regime. He plans to take Gers to every corner of the globe on a massive marketing drive. Celtic have already targeted the Asian and American markets and Russell sees no reason why Gers can't do the same. For too long, he argues, Rangers have been a selling club. Now he hopes to sell Rangers to the world. Russell stressed: "It's about looking at all avenues. "It's about looking at the real estate here. "How do we maximise that? Is it just a football ground used for football or does it have more uses? "Obviously, football is the core focus, but can we use the rooms on non-match days more effectively? "What do we do to grow the brand, where do we play as a football team? "How do we integrate international players so that we're building the brand? "Where do we go with our own broadcast rights? "There are numerous areas we are looking to investigate. "What are the core markets that we're going to be focusing on - and really focus and be strategic about that, so that we reinforce it every time we do a tour? "So we don't just go where the biggest cheque is - we look at growing a fan base in different areas of the world which strategically fit back very well into the club itself." Russell knows Rangers and Scottish football must rebuild its image after the shame of last season. He said: "There's a sense that Scottish football's reputation bottomed out last season. "I think if you look at the Championship, that hit rock bottom some time ago. "I think the league reconstruction that they had there had a lot of innovation at the time. "There's a huge amount of interest in that play-off game at the end of the season. "We've met with Neil Doncaster and I think the SPL are looking at a lot of innovative aspects to move Scottish football forward and we want to be part of that." Russell will now look to maximise income at every opportunity. He's determined to prove the Champions League gravy train is not the only one Rangers can hop aboard and he's hinted at a cross-border cup competition which Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are thought to be keen on. Russell revealed: "There's been a lot of talk about cross-border cup competitions. "Also the Old Firm game is a fantastic game. It's about making it the biggest rivalry in world football. "How do we ensure that without some of the negativity that maybe came to the surface last season? "Looking at a cross-border cup I think the League Cup over the last couple of years is one that's had some issues in terms of teams like Arsenal and Manchester United playing their first teams in the early stages of that competition. "A cross-border aspect to that tournament would most certainly generate a lot more interest. "It's not something that's necessarily been discussed at this point in time but should we be involved in those sort of discussions? Absolutely." Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/3653319/The-Ali-shuffle.html#ixzz1Q40HqBds

Did anyone see it? Basically he was asked about our transfer targets, stadium and the upcoming case with HMRC. He said that "there's a deal to be done" regarding Cuellar. Re Goodwillie: under negotiation. Re Wallace: an offer was made and it was rejected. Clubs some way apart in their valuation of the player. Re Ibrox: it's currently being upgraded. Re the old board members: I was willing to work with them but they weren't willing to work with me. Re HMRC: We'll win the case. In a nutshell really.