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Lifted from FF: By Grandmaster Suck Updated Friday, 7th March 2014 Official documents reveal Easdale and Laxey have joint security over both the Edmiston House and Albion car par properties. They will be paid back in the first instance from money generated by season ticket sales. The season tickets are effectively mortgaged to the debt. Laxey are charging a higher interest rate than Ticketus did. The details from the Registers of Scotland (land registry) - Security over Edmiston House granted to Sandy Easdale http://freepdfhosting.com/3474a90828.pdf Security over the Albion car park granted to Laxey Partners http://freepdfhosting.com/cef985a572.pdf Ranking agreement between Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners http://freepdfhosting.com/1bfcbe0abb.pdf The Ranking Agreement basically establishes that both have claims over both the car park and Edmiston House. Have a look at the page hand-numbered 19 (its 3 pages down) in the Ranking Agreement - this mentions that the money to Sandy Easdale and Laxey will be repaid in the first instance from season ticket money. Peculiarly, the announcement to the Stock Exchange said the loan would be repaid by 1st September 2014 - http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11872699 - but the Ranking Agreement says 1st September 2015. http://www.followfollow.com/news/tmnw/season_ticket_sales_will_pay_for_easdale_and_laxey_loans_826877/index.shtml
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http://m.stv.tv/sport/football/clubs/rangers/266490-rangers-shareholder-loan-deal-to-be-repaid-using-season-ticket-money/ A controversial loan taken out by Rangers from two of its shareholders could be paid back using season ticket money, according to an agreement seen by STV. The agreement appears to show that both facilities shall be repaid either from "the sale of season ticket monies for the 2014/15 season" or "a placing or rights issue or other form of debt or equity fundraising of the company or any member of the Rangers Group, whichever is first to occur." Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners are listed as the lenders, with Rangers International Football Club plc as the borrower and The Rangers Football Club Limited the chargor. After being contacted by STV, Rangers appeared to contradict the document. A spokesman said: "The loans, if drawn, will be repaid from the operating cash flow of the business at the relevant time. Operating cash flow comprises many sources including commercial partnership income, retail dividends and match ticket income." The Laxey loan is for £1m and is repayable with an interest payment of £150,000. The loan from Mr Easdale is for £500,000. Both are secured against club properties Edmiston House and the Albion Car Park, with both lenders security being on an equal footing. STV understands the joint loan facility has not yet been drawn upon by the club. If used, the amounts borrowed must be repaid by September 1, 2015, according to the document. The Laxey loan has attracted controversy due to its interest rate. Another shareholder, George Letham, has offered the same amount with a repayment of £75,000, which he insists he would reinvest in the club. A collective group of Rangers supporters' organisations, the Union of Fans, have also called upon their fellow fans not to pay their season ticket money for the 2014/15 season directly to the club. Instead the group, together with former director Dave King, want monies to be paid into a trust and only given to the club if assurances are given over finances. The Rangers oldco previously took out loans against season ticket money. Ticketus bought the rights to around 100,000 Ibrox season tickets until 2015 when Craig Whyte was in charge at Ibrox.
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alex thomson @alextomo 28m Rangers to go into Administration on Wednesday? At least one senior Glasgow accountant is saying so tonight. https://twitter.com/alextomo -
Five people have been arrested in connection with crowd trouble at the Motherwell v Celtic game last week A reported £10,000 of damage was caused to seats in a section housing Celtic fans, a flare was let off in the same area before the game and two green smoke bombs were thrown on to the pitch during the match at Fir Park stadium on Friday. Celtic said they were ''appalled'' by the actions and issued precautionary suspensions to 128 supporters preventing them from attending home and away matches, while 250 season-ticket holders seated in the Green Brigade's corner of Celtic Park are to be moved to other parts of the ground. Police said 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks and one flare were set off. There were also disturbances and vandalism in Motherwell both before and after the game. Officers said five people were arrested in connection with the disorder on Monday and inquiries are continuing. The incident was the latest in a spate of trouble at Scottish football matches. A teenage girl was arrested after a flare was thrown from the Rangers support after their win at Falkirk on November 30, damaging the pitch, and a smoke bomb was thrown from the Motherwell support during their defeat by Albion Rovers on the same day. Last Saturday, 10 people were arrested in connection with football-related disorder before the Falkirk v Raith Rovers match. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/five-arrested-after-celtic-fan-trouble-at-motherwell-match.1386845170
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Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 31s #Rangers Dave King "Message to fans is..if we don't hold board to account then we will have a couple of unnecessarily difficult years ahead" Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 1m Dave King "I am absolutely confident that Craig Whyte won't have a future at #Rangers going forward" Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 1m Dave King "There are powers behind the throne at #Rangers not represented on board" would prefer him an other likeminded people involved Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 2m Dave King believes there is a "guiding hand behind" #Rangers that is not currently sitting on the board. But doesn't name names. Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 3m Dave King says "what is very important" is transparency must come first, before any future investment. Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 4m Dave King says trying to avert "another financial crisis" at #Rangers & that board is relying on fans' "fierce loyalty" to come up with cash Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 5m DaveKing says "it is obvious" #Rangers is "running out of money" & was happy go be a significant investor but board has since "done nothing" Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 9m Dave King says real aim to get "proper transparency from #Rangers & would like not to have to set up fund for season tickets. Martin Williams @Martin1Williams 11m Dave King says will meet the #Rangers board and insists his statements about "financial crisis" of club was "nothing controversial"
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Ibrox investor Kieran Prior has thrown his weight behind Dave King's Rangers revolution THE former Goldman Sachs trader will meet the South African tycoon in London next week to discuss his plans to shake-up the boardroom at the beleaguered club. IBROX investor Kieran Prior has thrown his weight behind Dave King’s Rangers revolution. Prior will meet the South African tycoon in London next week – and reckons other major shareholders are ready to back his agenda for change. The former Goldman Sachs trader’s support of King comes as the ex-pat prepares to fly to the UK, vowing he will not leave until he comes up with a “definite game plan” for the future of the Ibrox club. Prior said: “Dave and I have spoken and I want to support his objectives for the club. He has asked to meet me in London next week for further talks to find the best way forward for Rangers. “I’ve talked with investors who hold significant stakes in the club and it’s my belief they are ready to back Dave’s vision for the future. “The board do not have the business acumen of Dave, nor his philanthropic approach to helping the club return to the top.” Prior, a childhood Rangers fan, owns around 2.5 per cent of the club and has invested £1million in the last 12 months. He is keen to invest more and is willing to take a financial hit on his existing shareholding if it helps the club back on its feet. He added: “In order for us to have a club at all we need a stable board and management structure and an ongoing supply of capital. “If that means a new rights issue then it means a new rights issue. If I have to dilute my shareholding for the good of the club then it’s no big deal. We may not need a shares issue but I’d rather have one if it safeguards the club.” Former director King, 58, urged fans last week to withhold season-ticket cash and hand it over to the club on a game-by-game basis. King, who lost £20m under Sir David Murray, decided he could no longer watch from the sidelines and claimed the current board, led by chairman David Somers, were burying their heads in the sand. He said: “I know they are running out of money, hence my approach to them late last year. “I said then, ‘It’s now early enough to anticipate you will not make the end of the year on your current cash balances so let’s try to go about a new fundraising exercise’. “I was happy to be a significant investor, in fact a leader of a consortium putting new funds into the club with the only condition they went into the club. I wasn’t interested in taking on existing shareholders and buying their shares. “I was looking for a new share issue and for those funds to go into the club but they have adopted a ‘Nero fiddling while Rome burns’ approach. “The board has done nothing, has not been transparent with the finance and we now know they have run out of funds and are trying to shuffle on hoping the fans will again rescue them. “They are looking for money for season tickets so they can continue for another couple of months before another financial crisis. That is what I am trying to avert. “The board has said my intentions are damaging but the opposite is true. The board should go to the fans and say, ‘This is the true state of the position at the club’. “I will meet the board. I will visit the institutions in London next week and put a schedule together with some of the existing shareholders to find out where they are and how they feel about a rights issue. “I will stay in Scotland for as long as it takes until we have a definite game plan.” Meanwhile, King has rejected claims from Sandy Easdale he never held talks with the transport boss about putting new funds into the club. King said: “I subsequently spoke with Sandy and he has confirmed he intended his comment to be construed as meaning I had never offered loan finance to the club. “He is correct. I have only offered equity finance. I do not believe the club can afford debt at this time. “I accept his statement was a misunderstanding and he was not intending to impugn my integrity.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ibrox-investor-kieran-prior-thrown-3212193
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More from my good self on TRS today: http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/316-making-your-mind-up
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https://twitter.com/TheSundayLife/status/439897127913656321/photo/1
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Keith Jackson: Time has come for Dave King to prove his worth
ian1964 posted a topic in Rangers Chat
KEITH says it's time for Dave King to prove he can see a plan through to the end and says his actions from here on in will determine his legacy at Ibrox. DON’T know what the equivalent is in South Africa but in Castlemilk, where a young Dave King grew up, the vernacular goes something like: It’s time to p*** or get off the potty. Today, of course, King is a million miles removed from the hard-knock streets of the Glasgow housing scheme he once called home. But those who have stayed closest to him over almost 40 years of sun-kissed exile – and you can count them on the fingers of one hand by the way – insist he has never lost touch with his roots. King, they say to a man, remains steeped in his past. Fiercely proud of his working-class upbringing and crucially, at least where this week’s events are concerned, every bit as passionate about the football club he left behind. He remains, to use another home-grown term, the embodiment of a “Rangers man”. It is this one basic credential above all others that separates King from the succession of fly by nights, chancers and opportunists who have at one stage or another taken on lead roles in this seemingly endless Ibrox narrative. If these supporters cannot place their hopes and trust in one of their own, then all trust and all hope might perish for good. Throughout the past three years of turmoil and the relentless chaos unleashed upon them by the Whtyes, Greens, Ahmads and Stockbridges, King has been viewed by the boots on the ground consistently as the man most likely to save them from their plight. Unlike all the characters above and even former chairman Sir David Murray, who played his part in lumbering them with this list of charlatans in the first place, King shares a lifelong emotional attachment to the cause. In their eyes, the only difference between them are the millions King has stuffed in his bank account. If these people won the lottery tomorrow they’d have Rangers saved by Saturday. So it stands to reason King will one day feel a sense of duty to do the same. Does it not? It may be more pertinent to ask why has it taken him so long to take a stand? Or indeed to question if finally, this time, he intends to see it through to the end? Only King has the answers. What the rest of us do know, however, is his actions from here on in will determine his legacy. He’ll either go down in history as one of the all-time giants of the Rangers story. Or he will fail in his objective and risk being dismissed as a footnote. Either way the real Dave King biography is about to be written. Certainly his sudden re-emergence on to centre stage in the past few days appears to suggest his time is now. By pointing his big guns at the top of the marble staircase and taking on the current regime King has sent out a rallying cry to these supporters. They answered with one voice yesterday. They are with him all the way. This is as clear a case of “them v us” as Fergus McCann quite brilliantly utilised 20 years ago when he harnessed the power of the people to bludgeon down the big doors at Celtic Park. But McCann did more than simply talk a good game. When push came to shove the little man with the big bunnet also proved to have deep pockets and a willingness to empty them for Celtic’s benefit, as well as his own. King can quite legitimately point to the £20millon he previously pumped into Rangers as hard evidence of the colour of his own money. There has been a whispering campaign about this in recent weeks with shadowy suggestions that King quietly recouped around £18m worth of that investment. For the record this has been denied to me not just by King himself but also by Sir David Murray. The two men, incidentally, are no longer on speaking terms and have not been for a considerable time. Apparently, for 20 million different reasons. But even though King has had his fingers badly burned in the past it does seem reasonable to ask why he has remained on the outside looking in on this omnishambles for so long. Occasionally, he has dipped a toe in the water before scamper-ing back up the beach. Late last year for example he even arrived in Britain amid a great flurry of excitement, fluttered a few eye-lashes, held a few conversations and then retreated back to the solitude of his own world without nailing down a deal. King’s doubters, of which there are many, insist he has had ample opportunity to wade into this debacle and to buy his way into a position of power. In other words, to do a Fergus. It is worth remembering here, however, that King’s long-running tax issues first had to be resolved. With that in mind, he has only really become a viable player in this game in the last six months when he settled his affairs by agreeing to write a cheque for an eye-watering £44m. This is in itself creates another couple of issues. Not only does it pose an obvious question as to how much money he has left in the pot but also, King’s critics raise serious morality issues about the prospect of Rangers being saved by a man who was described as a “glib and shameless liar” by a South African judge and who faced a total of 322 criminal charges. Again, they have a point. Had, for example, Whyte appeared on the steps of the front door carrying baggage like this he would have been chased all the way down the length of Edmiston Drive and Rangers might have been spared from all this ignominy and suffering. But this is where King’s standing and status with the supporters kicks in. This, in fact, is what makes him an entirely unique case. King’s supporters remain convinced by his intentions to do only what is right for his football club. And that would be something of a first where this Rangers saga is concerned. They argue, quite correctly too, that there’s hardly a successful businessman to be found anywhere in the commercial world who has not attempted to run rings around the tax man. It is what these people do in order to maximise their profits. King is certainly no different in that regard. But what makes him stand out from the rest is his “Made In Castlemilk” credentials and the inbuilt sense of belonging which still brings his mum and sister to Ibrox every other week. There have been other wealthy good Samaritans along the way, such as Brian Kennedy and Jim McColl – men who clearly meant well but who ultimately just didn’t care quite enough to make the kind of sacrifices which will now be expected of King. This time the strong signals from South Africa really do indicate he is ready and willing to bear this almighty load, that he has now engaged fully into the fight for his club and he will not retreat until the war is won. With King now organising his travel plans and expected to pitch up in Glasgow some time soon the next few days and weeks will determine his fate and that of his football club. The King will either claim his rightful throne. Or abdicate the potty once and for all. -
taken from FF King offered interest free loan but was snubbed By ANDY DEVLIN Published: 34 minutes ago DAVE KING offered Rangers an interest-free loan and was SNUBBED. The South African-based tycoon was bewildered when Ibrox chief executive Graham Wallace assured supporters there had been board contact with him and he would only invest in Gers if there was a new share issue. King said: “I can’t believe Mr Wallace would have said that. “Mr Wallace has never spoken to me or even attempted to communicate with me in any form whatsoever.” SunSport can reveal King is ready to blow the lid off his dealings with the under-fire Ibrox hierarchy. A planned statement will include the revelation he offered the crisis-hit club a loan of around £1million WITHOUT looking for the £150,000 interest that hedge fund firm Laxey Partners will pocket. The only person King has spoken to is Sandy Easdale and he is NOT a member of the board. The refusal to take King’s interest-free loan will trouble Gers fans. Fans’ favourite King approached Easdale last month and set a deadline of February 7. But he has never heard back from anyone at Ibrox. The suggestion he was in talks over a return was made by Wallace on Monday in a series of interviews designed to allay supporters’ fears over the recent £1.5m short-term loan. Chief executive Wallace claimed the board had been in contact with would-be investor King in recent weeks. Wallace is adamant he can win the trust of the Gers fans. But with continued chaos and confusion behind the scenes, he’s facing an uphill struggle. And the news King’s cash has been snubbed will send shockwaves through the Ibrox support. A joint statement from fans this week condemned the terms of the deals with investors Easdale and Laxey Partners. Easdale has handed over £500,000 in the form of an interest-free loan, whiles Laxey are believed to be demanding 15 per cent APR. Both loans are also secured against Edmiston House and Albion car park facilities adjacent to Ibrox. The cash is repayable by September 1, but Laxey can opt to take repayment in the form of fresh shares at a knockdown price, as long as the club receives the approval of the shareholders. However Castlemilk-born King’s loan would have been interest free and would not have been secured against any of the club’s properties.
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Dave King’s latest intervention in Rangers’ affairs is as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit. His call for fans to boycott the club in terms of buying season tickets – and his ridiculous idea to drip-feed monies to the club – is a blatant attempt to destabilise Rangers. King’s statement is a smoke and mirrors job for me and the club has had to shoot down in flames a newspaper’s assertion that the South African-based businessman had offered a £1 million loan interest free to Rangers. It could be reasonably argued that if Dave King does intend to invest in Rangers, his latest pronouncements have a good chance of driving the share price down. A cynical ploy it could be argued. I noticed that King mentioned he had lost £20 million at Ibrox previously. As I recently blogged, there is some dispute about this. However, if it is true it is a pretty self-damning example for King to use, given that he was a director in that previous regime which ended in the sale of the club for a shiny pound to a certain Craig Whyte. Hardly the best track record for success – “I lost £20 million of my own dough so let me have another go!” I have nothing personally against Dave King. I previously blogged of his potential to be a unifying figure at Ibrox. Sadly, he has become a divisive figure and is feeding Rangers-haters with every doom and gloom pronouncement he makes. Yes, there is a need for a short-term injection to help the club through a potential shortfall in income. In response up stepped Sandy Easdale with an interest-free loan while non-shareholder King is dreaming up schemes to hold the club to ransom and strangle cash flow. No doubt King’s comments will be met with glee by the fifth column in the Rangers support. I don’t propose – unlike some – to speak for other fans but I find his ideas to be nothing less than a crude concept of extortion which would hold the club in thrall to the whim of fans. In short, yet another attempt at fan power – otherwise known as mob rule. I have no doubt some fellow fans will share my repulsion at this power grab by a man who talks big but doesn’t get put his wallet where his mouth is. As far as I am concerned, King is nothing but a tyre kicker and we will never see the colour of his money. My message to Dave King is simple: Butt out or match Sandy Easdale pound for pound and give Rangers an interest-free loan. http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/blog-2/
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I watched a wonderful short film this week, on the effect the reintroduction of wolves has had on Yellowstone National Park in America. Wolves were wiped out in the area 70 years ago but several packs were brought back twenty years ago in the hope they would breed and reestablish them. A highly controversial move, the wolves were closely monitored and the effect they had on Yellowstone was studied during this period. As a large carnivore there was much apprehension about the wolves; would they decimate other species, clear large parts of the park of other mammals, indeed would they endanger man? The actual findings were mind blowing. The wolves mainly hunt deer and prior to the wolves return the deer had enjoyed decades with no natural predator except man. As such, they grazed where they wanted for as long as they wanted, they moved slowly through the landscape and their numbers grew and grew. The reemergence of the wolves changed this. The change wasn’t that large numbers of deer were killed (there aren’t that many wolves and there are tens of thousands of deer) it was that the return of the deer’s natural hunter led to a dramatic change in deer behaviour. Previously the deer grazed where they liked but now they were much more cautious and this was particularly noticeable near rivers. The grazing is good there, but it is open, and the deer were easily hunted. As the deer modified their behaviour and avoided grazing on the lower ground the vegetation changed, grass grew longer, bushes and trees reached maturity instead of being stripped back by hungry deer when small. This led to insects returning which in turn brought birds. The longer grass brought rabbits and the eagles who hunt them. Bears returned to eat the berries that now ripened on the bushes, beavers returned and used the mature trees to make dams. Most astonishingly of all the course of the river changed. Previously it meandered, it flooded regularly and the rain ran off the surrounding land quickly eroding the area. Now the increased vegetation soaked up much of the rainfall and its roots held the soil together. So the river ran deeper and faster, it no longer meanders it flows true. The wolves had indirectly been responsible for changing the course and flow of a river. What must be remembered is that wolves weren’t artificially introduced to the area; rather their absence in the first place was artificial. The ecology of Yellowstone evolved over thousands of years and at the top of the food chain was wolves. This large carnivore was meant to be there, nature had decided that a long time ago, the rest of the park actually depended on it. Its removal caused the damage, not its reintroduction. Every aspect of the park relied on the wolf directly or indirectly. Rangers play Stenhousemuir for the fourth time this season on Saturday. We’ve won our two previous league meetings and our meeting in the cup. Our last match at Ibrox saw us triumph by eight goals, our subsequent meetings have been much closer affairs. This match is being played against the backdrop of continued problems in Scottish football. The removal of Rangers from the top flight has upset the trophic cascade, the natural order of things evolved over more than 100 years is seriously out of kilter. Celtic have no serious rival as such and they are now meandering, their club is selling its best players, their manager speaks openly about being unsettled and their support, as well as showing apathy towards attending matches now fill their time by promoting songs about Irish murder gangs, making ill-thought-out political statements or indulging in good old fashioned hooliganism. The game’s governing bodies now no longer even hold the pretence of parity. They award cup finals and semi finals to grounds months in advance rather than wait to see who’ll contest them. Their decisions regarding cup matches and Inverness have bordered on the corrupt, the ticket allocation for the League Cup final being only the latest example. The side who finished second in the country last season, Motherwell, still managed to make a loss of nearly £200,000. The prize money they should have received was drastically cut half way through the season you see, no surprise there. This happened despite them cutting their player budget the previous close season. Still the league has no sponsor, in the top flight the champions and the side relegated was decided before a ball was kicked and the standard of play and player continues to drop. Without its largest animal the competition is reduced, the drive is lost and the revenue that follows it dries up. All of these things are interconnected, remove something from the natural order of things and it takes a long time to recover, if it ever does. Stenhousemuir go into this match with a new manager, former Scottish international and feted wunderkind Scott Booth. Although the current Scotland under 17 coach doesn’t take up his post for a few more weeks we can expect his new players to be eager to prove their worth to him. So motivation shouldn’t be an issue for stand-in coach Brown Ferguson’s side. Stenhousemuir are in a bad run of form with no victories this year, only their early season good results afford them the relative safety of sixth place. Rangers go into the match without Moshni who remains suspended. Cribari did well against Ayr and should retain his place although I expect McCulloch to return to the defence and Foster to drop out. Beyond that the side should pick itself, MacLeod should come into contention if fit again but I expect Bell, Law, Wallace, Black, Daly, Faure, Templeton and Aird to start. I don’t expect a repeat of the early season 8-0 but half that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow particularly if we score early. Stenhousemuir have both suffered and benefited from being in the same league as Rangers. Having the largest carnivore in the country close by drastically reduces the likelihood of promotion for every other club in our division, but it does offer them other tangible benefits. Our presence is artificial though, man made and it is upsetting the natural order of things. The trophic cascade refers to interconnectivity, how removing something from the top of the food chain has consequences all the way down that chain, how these changes can’t all be foreseen or managed and it is vital that chain isn’t allowed to be tampered with artificially. Recent meetings aimed at securing a voice for Rangers supporters in our boardroom should be welcomed, not only by all Rangers fans but also by all football fans. Whatever your feelings towards our club, we are all connected and interdependent, it’s in everyone’s interests that we’re back where we belong believe it or not. The only thing that should prevent that happening is our side not being good enough. Financial stability and accountability are vital, not just for our sake but for every club in the country. Nobody should fear the return of the wolf, its return should be welcomed by all.
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the investigatoin into hmrc???? not heard much in the last year or so.
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GORDON backs Hearts' incoming chairwoman to revive the club while lamenting the damage done by the would-be saviours at Ibrox. THE definition of altruism: When the answer to the question “What’s in it for you?” is “Nothing”. That’s Ann Budge for you. Sixty-five years old, self-made multi-millionaire, family woman, treasures her privacy and relative anonymity, sees her Saturday afternoons as sacred time with her daughter and grand-daughter in Section D of the Wheatfield. What could possibly be in it for her to commit herself to four or five years inside the washing machine of Scottish football? Nothing. Not a single thing. Which is why Hearts fans should be eternally grateful that she has. And, as I wrote back in September, Rangers fans should be peering east, mournfully lamenting what they could have had. The deal to take Hearts out of administration and forward is the result of months of good leadership, good governance, good PR, good organisation and, most of all, good intentions. And what they’ve emerged with is the perfect template for the handover from tyranny to the terraces. Make no mistake, Budge’s role will not be passive. She’s no figurehead. She’s real. Incongruously, for fan ownership to succeed in the long run, they’re going to need her to be a strong individual, making hard-headed decisions that would be impossible to arrive at if the club were being run by committee. Her job is to hand Hearts over in the best financial health she can create in as short a time as possible. And the only way that won’t happen is if Jambos fail to live up to their end of the bargain. That’s why they’re lucky to have her. She’s the anti-Craig Whyte, the anti-Charles Green. As executive chair, she’ll be working five days a week pro bono. She’ll be arriving at conclusions plenty may disagree with but the one thing no one can dispute is that she’s doing it for anyone’s benefit other than Hearts. There’s a legal agreement that she has to hand the club over to the Foundation as and when they hit their pre-agreed targets. She can’t change her mind, can’t flog them to a predator who fancies the place for himself when they’re back on an even keel. What that means is the fans have to create the bank of last resort for the club with their membership scheme, the financial cushion for the months where there’s a shortfall, where the season ticket money has run dry and the commercial income is a struggle. All they have to be able to do is prove that in the absence of support from an actual bank, they will never get back to the day when the wages won’t be in the bank. And there’s no reason they can’t. At the moment the Foundation of Hearts bring in £130,000 a month in direct debits. That’s £1.5million a year as your slush fund. The season tickets, corporate and commercial income, sponsorship, catering and anything else they can raise funds from provides their working capital. If they do all that? If they create a model that washes its face? There’s no reason why a club of their stature, with their support, can’t be golden in four years’ time. And in the meantime? What a Championship it’s going to be next year. A tale of two clubs from two cities whose stories over the past two years may as well have come from two different planets. The team who’ve done everything right to get out of administration against the team who’ve had every wrong imaginable done to them. Rangers will be looking at Hearts and thinking, “If only...” To be fair, their Supporters’ Trust still have faith they can make it happen. But when they needed the kind of altruism Budge offered Hearts, they got shafted. Twice. When they needed a Jim McColl, he ran shy. And when they needed unity of purpose, they fragmented. Even now, their intentions may be there. But neither the Easdales nor Dave King as a potential investor seems prepared to engage in the idea that the club need a move towards fan membership and ownership for the long-term good. They’re still saddled by the “What’s in it for me?” brigade and as long as the answer is “plenty”, they’re fighting a losing battle. But you know what? Despite the fact that Hearts’ total budget next year will probably be around the £1million mark, less than 20 per cent of Rangers’, if it’s spent well, they could challenge the assumption the Ibrox club will stroll through that league the way they’ve strolled through the last two. If they can get 16,000 inside Tynecastle every week, create a cause the way Hibs did when they went down in 1998, the way Rangers’ fans did when they went into the bottom tier? Keep the best of their kids, get a few course and distance guys in to help them when the embargo goes? Get a little momentum going? It’s going to be a hell of a race. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-waddell-altruistic-ann-budge-3151057
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Being reported that Laxey have bailed us out in the short term. Wonder what the interest rates are?
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Don't have much to go on, but apparently King is predicting our financial meltdown again in another Keith Jackson article....
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https://twitter.com/TheLoudenTavern
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http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/ma...016288.article Cohen & Stephen (The Liquidators of Rangers FC) & Ors v Collyer Bristow Late 2013, 5-10 days, Chancery Division For the claimant Cohen & Stephen (The Liquidators of Rangers FC): South Square?s Mark Philips QC leading South Square?s Stephen Robins previously instructed by Taylor Wessing partner Nick Moser, taken forward by Stephenson Harwood partner Stuart Frith For claimants the Trustees of the Jerome Group plc Pension Fund: Outer Temple Chambers? David E Grant, instructed by trustees David Simpson, who is also a qualified barrister For the claimants HMRC: South Square?s Lucy Frazer For the claimants Merchant Turnaround: Maitland Chambers? James Clifford and Matthew Smith of the same set, instructed by Macrae & Co?s Julian Turnbull For the respondent Collyer Bristow: 3 Verulam Buildings? Cyril Kinsky QC leading Matthew Hardwick of the same set, instructed by Clyde & Co partner Richard Harrison . The financial collapse of Rangers FC put in the public eye the club?s relationship with its professional advisers, including Collyer Bristow and former partner Gary Withey. Withey quit the firm in March after he became embroiled in the Glasgow club?s administration because he had advised businessman Craig Whyte on his takeover of the club in 2011. Duff & Phelps were appointed as the original administrators of the club and, in March last year, announced it would take action against the firm. When liquidators Cohen & Stephen took over the wind-down of the club it pledged to carry on the case. The firm has lodged a Part 20 claim against private equity firm Merchant Turnaround. Collyer Bristow stands accused of ?deliberate deception? over Whyte?s doomed bid for the club. The court heard at a pre-trial hearing in April that Collyer Bristow is alleged to have been involved in conspiracy, breach of undertaking, negligence and breach of trust, with Withey - who acted as the club?s company secretary - complicit in the allegations. It was revealed that when Whyte agreed a majority stake takeover offer in May 2011 he also pledged to pay off the club?s £18m debt to Lloyds Banking Group and invest £9.5m of ?new money? in the club. This included £5m for players, £2.8m to HMRC and £1.7m for capital expenditure. That offer persuaded then director Paul Murray and the board not to launch an alternative £25m share issue to generate the money needed to stabilise the club. Instead, the court was told, they agreed to Whyte?s takeover, with Collyer Bristow acting for Whyte. Administrators were called in February 2012 and various parties - including HMRC, private equity firm Merchant Turnaround and Jerome Pension Fund trustees - lobbied to reclaim their stakes in Rangers. The firm says it will vigorously defend the claims. Withey had originally applied to intervene in the case, but has now withdrawn his application. This battle will be closely followed by firms and fans alike as it promises to lay bare the firm?s relationship with Whyte and the club.
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...........by bigging up small achievements HUGH believes under-achievement is being covered up at Parkhead while talk of Trebles involving the Ramsdens Cup embarrasses Ibrox club. WHEN Albion Rovers go further than Celtic in the Scottish Cup it’s time to hold your hands up and come clean. And when you’re photographed holding an advertising board aimed at selling tickets for Rangers’ ‘title run-in’ when your team is 23 points in front with 13 games left to play you might at least have the decency to look embarrassed. But part of the deal now with Scottish football is you agree to have your intelligence insulted at regular intervals without ever complaining about it – or even admitting that it’s happened. A properly-developed grown-up, however, should reserve the right to examine the nonsense they’re being fed and give the now traditional answer in return – are you having a laugh? Neil Lennon tells everybody Celtic have had a “brilliant” season. But how can a brilliant season possibly contain an extra-time defeat at home to a lowly championship side in the League Cup, and without managing to score a goal in two hours of play against Morton? How can a brilliant season include a Champions League group stage in which, for the first time, Celtic looked as if they were out of their depth? Finishing bottom of the group while taking a six-goal beating in Barcelona, and failing to make the consolation prize of the Europa League, is what it is. A worrying glimpse of a difficult future at that level for Celtic while their squad is voluntarily diminished in quality season after season. Also, how can another season without a Treble being won during Rangers’ time in the lower orders be excused on the basis that only Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill have managed that distinction throughout Celtic’s history? If those two men could manage it when Rangers were battling them for everything then they should be left out of the argument. The question is why can’t a Treble be won by Celtic when the championship is a given at the start of every season for the current team? And on the subject of perspective, Rangers fans are now supposed to swallow industrial quantities of guff about their team’s current standing. I’ve no doubt Lee McCulloch was only delivering the party line when he was used as the frontman to sell tickets for the remainder of this season. But he can’t possibly believe in his heart of hearts that reaching the Scottish Cup Final in May would be the equivalent of the run that took Walter Smith’s side to Manchester for the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St Petersburg. Lee was part of that run and must know the difference between beating Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina and getting past Airdrie, Falkirk, Dunfermline and Albion Rovers. It’s an insult to the memory of those involved in Europe to compare their efforts to a romp through the lower leagues. Whatever Rangers have done in the Scottish Cup this season is no more, or less, than they should have done under the circumstances. And spare me this ongoing fantasy about the Ramsdens Cup forming part of a hoped-for “Treble”. That word is being used by those who clearly don’t mind having their intelligence insulted. The truth is Celtic and Rangers are not what they once were and have chosen to live in a world of their own invention for the time being. Lennon asks if it’s realistic to expect Aberdeen to challenge Celtic for the title next season when there’s an obvious gulf in points between them at present. “Have you looked at the league table?” he asked during his press conference at Lennoxtown on Thursday. So the manager uses realism when it suits him, and questions reality when there’s an inconvenient argument to be made for saying Celtic’s season has been inadequate. He should have a look about him this afternoon when Celtic get a skeletal crowd for the visit of St Johnstone and take a reality check. Celtic fans are disgusted by under-achievement and if Rangers are cavorting around Celtic Park with the Scottish Cup after the final is staged there then their disenchantment will rise to a new level. Two clubs are trying to take two lots of fans for mugs, and only the gullible are falling for it. The rest have used the evidence of their own eyes, exercised adult judgment and decided to stay away until these two clubs are more recognisable. That’s why season tickets are still on sale in February. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-celtic-rangers-conning-3150978
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FORMER Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot has revealed that Allan McGregor led players in verbally attacking Craig Whyte after he put the club into administration. Broadfoot told The Sun: “We were all told the players needed to take a pay cut or people would start losing their jobs. That started an argument. But, honestly, Allan McGregor was brilliant. “He got stuck right into Whyte and the administrators and spoke on behalf of everyone else in the team. It was a brave thing to do… but he grabbed the bull by the horns.” (Sun) http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/rumour-mill-allan-mcgregor-hearts-celtic-1-3306107
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Derek Johnstone: SO much has happened on and off the park since Rangers were put into administration by their former owner Craig Whyte two years ago this week. The Ibrox club have gone through three different chairmen and three different chief executives. A great deal of money has been brought into the club. Unfortunately, a great deal of money has gone out of it as well. Never mind the £22million or so that was raised in the IPO back at the end of 2012. There have been two tranches of season ticket money taken in that I believe were worth in the region of £18m. With all of the other revenue, from sponsorship deals and other commerical intitiatives, it is scandalous that the club is now running out of money. A lot of people have walked away with many times what they invested bulging out of their back pockets. They have plundered the club. I feel sorry for the latest chief executive, Graham Wallace. He is the man charged with sorting out the mess his predecessors made. But I am and always have been a glass half-full kind of person. And I do think Rangers have, at long last, got the right person in place to sort out the situation. For the first time in a long time I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Graham is a football man. He has experience of working at a major club, Manchester City, in the past. It is the first time in many years that somebody like that has been in a position of authority at Ibrox. Graham has done and said all the right things since being appointed back in November. He has asked for 120 days to identify and then address the issues affecting the club. He is currently working 24/7 to do that. If anybody can turn things around he can. The most important factor throughout what has, without doubt, been the most difficult two years in the history of the club has been the backing of the supporters. It is so vital that they remain firmly behind the club now and continue to buy season tickets in numbers and purchase club merchandise. I would hope the fans can see that in Graham Wallace they have the right man to take the club forward. He is speaking to a broad cross-section of the support and keeping them informed of what is happening at the club. In the past, they were kept at a distance and that was wrong. The paying customers can be certain their hard-earned will not - as has, alas, been the case in the past - go right out of the window with Graham at the helm. He knows what the club can and cannot afford to spend. He knows that there are going to have to be changes. And he will, in time, make them. I also think that Rangers needs fresh investment. From Glasgow, from London, from the Middle East, from wherever. But I am sure club officials are looking at that. I would certainly believe what he tells us and not others who delight in trying to run the club down. Despite the difficulties Rangers is facing, it is still a massive club, with a huge fan base, great facilities and enormous potential. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/derek-johnstone-golden-graham-is-the-man-to-unearth-silver-and-bank-152040n.23426812
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Negatives To Positives (Andrew Dickson writes about Super Ally)
Zappa posted a topic in Rangers Chat
Friday, 14 February 2014 12:15 Negatives To Positives Written by Andrew Dickson ALLY McCOIST could never have predicted the last two years going the way they have for Rangers and is hopeful positives will now start outweighing negatives at the club. The manager learned the afternoon before Valentine’s Day in 2012 that then owner Craig Whyte had filed to take the club’s holding company into administration. It wasn’t long before that became public knowledge and within 24 hours that process had been completed due to the club’s financial problems at that stage. What has followed since has been difficult for the Light Blues and its loyal support at times but the feeling is Gers are making progress again. Chief executive Graham Wallace is currently conducting a 120-day review of the whole business as he tries to shape a solid, structured plan for the future. That’s a work in progress, as is the evolution of McCoist’s team which, as it stands today, is going for a unique treble of trophies in the final weeks of the season. The Ibrox boss was in reflective mood this morning as he looked back at the club’s recovery since that dark day two Februarys ago. Amidst all the low points, there are more highs emerging as time goes on and that gives McCoist hope. He said: “It has been two years nobody would ever have predicted for the football club. They’ve been two really dark, bleak years. “There have obviously been positives but it goes without saying the negatives far outweigh the positives. “We had administration and liquidation but there are definitely positives for everybody at the club and the fans to look forward to now. “After winning the title by a great number of points last year, we’re in a fantastic position to do that again this year. “We’ve a Ramsdens Cup final and a home quarter-final in the Scottish Cup as well so there are positives to come out of a bleak two years. “You’re scared to look too far ahead other than a few days and towards the next couple of games and the like. “But I’ve always followed the philosophy that what will be will be. We will always attempt to do our best and hopefully that will be good enough to get us back to where we want to be. “Like the rest of the staff, we’ve got jobs to do and we’re very, very determined to do it. If we all work together, we’ll have a far better chance of getting us back to the top flight.” Despite staunch denials a second administration could be on the cards, some ill-informed sources from outwith the club wrongly persist with claiming that’s the case. Such suggestions bemuse McCoist, who is certain no such path will be taken. He added: “I speak to Graham on a regular basis and I’m meeting him again this afternoon. “I think he’d say to me if the money was going to run out but I’ve had no indication of that from him. “I’m aware of the financial difficulties and the position we are in at the moment but I’ve not been told anything like that.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6321-negatives-to-positives -
For anyone wanting anymore info on this scheme , the registration details are here , from the tweets that were coming out it sounds very promising http://scottishfans.org/rangers/
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........Ex-striker & coach lift lid on Craig Whyte disaster which still haunts Ibrox club 13 Feb 2014 07:20 IT'S the story that rocked Scottish football to the core and is still affecting those who endured it. Two years on from officially sinking into the financial abyss Record Sport has lifted the lid on the turmoil of Rangers entering administration. DAVID HEALY knows there were Rangers players who used the club’s slip into administration to strengthen their own position. However, the Ulsterman failed to get the one thing he wanted more than anything else – an extra year at the club he loves. Of all the demands from the Ibrox stars and their agents during negotiations to pull the club back from the brink Healy’s request was the most sympathetic. Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of the day Rangers plunged into administration under disgraced former owner Craig Whyte and sent shockwaves through Scottish football. Healy had been through it all before with Leeds United but had the luxury of a safety net in England – which doesn’t exist north of the border – where the PFA step in to pay any wages. The Northern Irishman revealed that in the numerous team meetings in the days following administration the one thing the players wanted more than anything else was to see the club and its staff saved. That is why they agreed to a pay cut. Then came the individual negotiations between players and Duff & Phelps and it was then that Healy – now retired after a spell at Bury – realised his short stint at his boyhood heroes was going to end. The 34-year-old said: “The administration, as terrible as it was for everyone, doesn’t take anything away from the experience of playing for Rangers. People might ask questions as to why I left but the truth is I wasn’t actually offered a contract. “We were asked if we’d take a pay cut to keep the club afloat and at the time I’d have played for free so that wasn’t a problem. It was just disappointing because we took the wage cut and I knew people were asking for transfers or clauses in their contract maybe to benefit them. “Listen, that’s fair enough, that’s modern day football. But for someone like myself, I think the administrators probably thought I was mad because I just wanted another year. My deal was up in the summer and I spoke to the administrator myself because I didn’t need an agent and the only thing I said was ‘give me an extra 12 months’. “I think the administrator spat out his tea because others had been looking to get away and asking for clauses and all I’d have liked was another year. “It didn’t happen, Rangers were financially unstable and I understood the situation and I ultimately left and joined Bury. Nobody knew who was under threat.. we heard our cars were being towed, says former coach “I’ve read people saying if Rangers had gone to the Third Division I wouldn’t have wanted to stay but I’d have played on the astroturf opposite Ibrox Stadium to pull on that jersey. “We knew at the time Rangers were going to be penalised, there was talk of the First or Second Division, but it wouldn’t have mattered to me. “I would have stayed and happily played the extra year as Neil Alexander did and the current captain Lee McCulloch, who has a long history of being a fan himself. “You can see in his performances that Lee loves the club, not only when I was there but more recently. I still watch Rangers and my dad still goes to watch them – Stranraer is the local game this season with it being a couple of hours on the boat from Belfast. “I was coming to the wrong end of my career but other lads felt it was an opportunity to go and futher themselves in the Premier League or abroad but for me I wouldn’t have hesitated to play in the Third Division. “But the administrators told me they were in no position to offer me a deal because of the strain on the club and they didn’t know who was going or staying or who would be sold in the summer. “I think he was just taken aback because so many different clauses had been requested. My only clause was that I would love to have stayed. We didn’t even talk figures or anything, I just said I wanted to stay. It never went any further. “I understood the situation and coming to the end of the season I didn’t really play for whatever reason but thankfully I did get a chance post-administration with eight or nine games and I scored a few goals. “It was just disappointing that I knew my future was going to lie elsewhere and it dawns on you that you’ll be leaving such a great club. I was just thankful to have had the opportunity.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-two-years-financial-collapse-3140239
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I don't have the article but suspect you can get all the info you need from this page shown on facebook:
