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Firstly allow me to clarify something – the content of this blog and the information shared is done so with the express permission of the Union of Fans – following a full and frank discussion between myself and Chris Graham. Those who are interested in the finer details and legal aspects of the Season Ticket Trust are probably going to be disappointed; any queries you have will have to wait until the ST Trust website is up and operational. What I did ask however was this: If the board acquiesce to UOF demands who will then hold first charge/security on the stadium rights to our club ? The answer, as many undoubtedly suspected, is Dave King and Richard Gough, under the auspice of Dave King’s new company, Ibrox 1972 Ltd. Quite simply as far as The UOF are concerned it all boils down to a question of trust, and they trust King more, far more, than they do the current board. It is all hypothetical of course, dependent on their scheme being successful, the Rangers board acquiescing to their demands and relinquishing the security for both stadium and Auchenhowie. Many will have realised by now this would mean handing over the security of our club’s 2 biggest assets to 2 men who currently are not even shareholders in our club. They will not be accountable to the board or to shareholders, which at least in theory, is the current status quo. I hope for the sake of our club, should this scenario ever come to fruition, that the UOF have exercised sound judgement in their assessment of Dave King, otherwise it will qualify as a blunder on a scale of magnitude with the ill-fated Men of Troy. As the current board and King, with their respective aide-de-camps, battle vigorously for not only our hearts and minds, but also our season ticket monies, the whole debate has become extremely polarised, the language and tone war like, with little opportunity for either constructive or conciliatory dialogue. The problem is however that the dominant voices in the debate do not necessarily reflect the feelings of our support. Keith Jackson touched on this last week in an article when he referred to the silent majority of the Rangers support – the ones who have no interest in off-field politics and whose sole interest is turning up each week to see the Rangers. Furthermore the polarisation of the situation and debate fails to take cognisance of fans who have no confidence in the current board but who are equally unenamoured by Dave King. Rather than choose between the two best prospective candidates it is more akin to choosing the lesser of 2 evils. A particularly sad indictment of where we currently are as a club. To date, the considerable failings of governance by our current board which I highlighted in a previous blog, remain unresolved. In particular the veracity of the 120 day review remains under question as a consequence of claims by the Daily Record regarding the withdrawal of credit and debit card provision. Before we file these claims as the ranting of a “Rangers hating rhag” perhaps we should check the filing cabinet – look under “BBC & Craig Whyte”. I can only re-iterate the warning of a previous blog – we cannot afford to make the same mistakes of the past. A few have commented on the madness of the situation facing us as a support. With trepidation, and a tinge of embarrassment, I quote from Dan Brown’s book Inferno, “Madness breeds madness” The Rangers support should bookmark this moment in time, with its paucity of choice, for a future date, when next we sit down with any conviction to consider the merits of fan ownership.
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By TheLawMan on RM
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If the board acquiesce to UOF demands who will then hold first charge/security on the stadium rights to our club ?
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DAVE KING has savaged Rangers’ 120-day review and branded it good news for CELTIC fans. The former Ibrox director dismissed chief executive Graham Wallace’s findings — claiming an office junior could have produced the same in a day.
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"The Union of Fans is absolutely appalled by Graham Wallace’s business review and revelations over the weekend regarding Mr Wallace’s alleged behaviour and that of this board. Given the serious nature of the allegations, we expect David Somers, in his role as chairman, to suspend Mr Wallace until these investigations are complete. It is our firm belief that shareholders have been misled. First of all we would like to address the London Stock Exchange statement, and Mr Wallace’s subsequent comments in his press conference, which attempted to lay the blame for the withdrawal of credit and debit card facilities at the door of UoF and Dave King. We are aware that FirstData, the payment processing company, first alerted Mr Wallace to the need for security for these facilities on 23rd January of this year, a full month before Dave King and the Union of Fans spoke about the idea of a season ticket trust. FirstData clearly communicated that this was due to the shocking financial results released in December and Mr Wallace’s attempt on the 16th January, just four working days before FirstData raised the issue, to get the players to take a wage cut. FirstData did not at that time raise any issues with a possible decline in season ticket sales as being a reason for the need for security. Once again we have seen a Rangers board attempt to deflect the blame for their own incompetence onto fans who only want the best for the club. Even more seriously, this is a blatant attempt to mislead shareholders as to the underlying reasons for the club’s inability to provide these facilities. As if this was not bad enough, we now find out that Mr Wallace has been reported to police over his comments at the AGM about the club’s financial position. We have consistently stated that his AGM undertaking that the club had sufficient funds was false and nothing that has happened since has shaken us from that belief. We are not surprised that his consistent refusal to address this issue has led to angry shareholders taking this action and we hope there will be a full and thorough investigation. Mr Wallace’s ‘120 day’ review could have been written by any Rangers fan before Mr Wallace even took up his position. It is full of vague promises for the future which read like a wish list from a fans forum. Whilst much of the content in terms of football progress is certainly desirable, there is a complete lack of any detail as to how this board can achieve it. They have provided no evidence that they can raise the necessary funds to take the club forward and we have no confidence in them to do so. We note Mr Wallace’s criticism of previous boards. James Easdale sat on the previous board from July of last year. Is he now going to be removed for his part in this financial mismanagement? Sandy Easdale became a de facto member of the previous board in September last year and has clearly had unprecedented and unjustifiable access to the PLC’s financial details since. His public statements just prior to the review showed that he has access to information he should not, were share price sensitive and showed the utter lack of corporate governance being enforced by Mr Somers in his role as chairman. It is time for Mr Somers, our absent chairman, to step forward and clear up this mess. He must explain why his CEO, Mr Wallace, misled shareholders. He must suspend Mr Wallace pending the conclusion of police investigations. He must deal with the serious questions over Sandy Easdale’s role and why he is being treated like a privileged PLC board member when he is simply a minority shareholder with undue influence. He should also inform shareholders and fans whether the board as a whole was aware that the reason given to the London Stock Exchange for the need for security to obtain credit and debit card facilities was misleading. He is responsible for the total lack of corporate governance on this board and must act now or his own reputation with be irrevocably damaged. This board is a disgrace to Rangers Football Club and the current members of it are running our club into the ground whilst simultaneously making a mockery of the positions they are privileged to hold." http://www.unionoffans.org/statements/2014/4/27/uof-statement-270414
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Another day, another story in the anti-Rangers media designed to damage the club. And yet another collaboration between the Union of Fantasists and a notoriously Rangers-hating outlet. It is obvious that the rebel faction in the Ibrox support is prepared to fight as dirty as it gets after a so-called Rangers fan reported Graham Wallace for statements made at the AGM last December. It is clear that this is just mischief-making and a sordid attempt to tarnish Mr Wallace’s reputation and the board in general. I genuinely think that some of these people will not stop till they have destroyed The Rangers, so all-consuming is their hatred. It has been an open secret for a while that Graham Wallace was their next target. To be fair, I think Wallace himself has been naive about the extent to which the rebels will go. He is certainly under no illusions now. There are many fans who feel this has gone beyond whether or not you are pro or anti the board. The issue now is one of survival. The brutal reality is that Dave King and his supporters are playing a game of brinkmanship, hoping that the pressure of mob rule will force the board to hand over control of the club to them. But Dave King is more aware than anybody that the board have no power to do that. Any suggestion they would take that course of action would trigger the shareholders to junk the board and appoint a new one. In short, King knows he can only win if he is prepared to go all the way and force a second administration, from which the club may not recover. That would be a Pyrrhic victory. In other words, nobody would win except those who hate Rangers so much that they would be prepared to destroy the club. Many fans are anxious that there are those in the King camp prepared to do just that. For me, it’s always been as simple as this – seeing the lengths these people are prepared to go, I oppose them on principle. The board Rangers presently has was appointed by the democratic votes of shareholders. That is the normal and lawful way things are done in this country. To use mob rule to usurp power is indefensible and doomed to failure. The question is not can the rebels win? It is can the club survive their constant attempts to undermine progress? It is not about whether people support the board or not anymore. It is about the survival of Rangers Football Club. This attempt to grab control of Rangers by Bolshevist tactics has split families, destroyed friendships, turned bear upon bear and cheered the enemies of Rangers no end. Rangers fans are being threatened at games and people are being sickened to the point of threatening to stop going to watch the team. Anything this divisive and destructive cannot be a good thing. Behind it all are tycoons who won’t buy shares and blazer chasers who fawn upon them. Rangers fans need to unite and show support, not to the men who sit in the Directors Box or those who want to – but to the club itself. Propagandists have tried to tell us there is a difference between the tean amd the regime. But Rangers supporters need to look beyond that superficial division and understand that supporting The Rangers means you support Rangers Football CLUB. We have learned that the company running Rangers is not the club itself. Therefore, do not let anyone con you into thinking that supporting RFC is backing the board. It’s not the board that need the support, it is Rangers Football Club. If opposing the board results in destroying the club, how does that help anybody except those who hate Rangers? Rangers Football Club was formed in 1872/3. That is the club I support. Noit Dave King and the Union of Fantasists formed a few months ago.
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IN THE standard media take on Rangers’ affairs, Graham Wallace is the big, bad bouncer barring entry to the club to Dave King, a man whose deep pockets would ensure everything went with a swing for those inside. Yet, Ibrox chief executive Wallace has tried to create the impression that King will be welcome to join the party. Just not take it over. “We have quantified a range [of investment, the figure being £30 million] where we think the club needs to be looking at in order to be competitive,” said Wallace, as the club published a damning 120-day business review which showed £70m had been haemorrhaged over 18 months. “Right now we don’t have the authority to issue a fresh batch of shares and say to Dave King ‘Here you are… £20m? In you come...’ “What we’ve said is we will go to the shareholders for authority in the autumn and the timing of that is important because it gives us time to demonstrate stability in how we’re running the business from an investor’s perspective. When we do that, the equity offering will be open to existing shareholders, it should probably also be open to fresh investors, including Dave King, and potentially others. There’s no one stopping Dave King or anyone else putting money into the club today other than the regulatory authority the board needs to have. “Dave has said before, there may be 15 per cent of the existing shareholders who may not want to participate further, in which case there’s a significant block of stock that would be available.” Wallace denies the current directors fear their power being diluted by King’s involvement. “When we met with him, when you look at his ambitions and his vision for what he would like the club to be, they’re not dissimilar to what we’re trying to do,” insisted the chief executive. “We want to be competitive, we want to be punching at the top of the Premiership and in order to do that we know the club needs investment.” Rangers supporters find themselves in an horribly invidious position. They are understandably contemptuous of the current board for the cash burn and calamitous contracts that Wallace excoriated in his review. However, through a gushing press for King, the only alternative being presented is a man who mismanaged his own financial affairs so profoundly he had to repay more than £40m to the South African tax authorities and lodge certain payments to prevent his convictions landing him in prison. “A wide cross-section of the fan base is looking for some form of guidance, some form of reassurance as to how their club has been run,” Wallace said. “I hope as they look at this review that they get a sense of where it’s been, where it is now, and more importantly where it can go. “People are worried about putting their money into the club and three months later it not to be there and they’ve lost their £400. I completely understand that, and I’ve been repeatedly asked if the club is under threat of another administration and I’ve said the same thing every time – no, it’s not. “The point about the fans is, yes, there’s a desire on behalf of a segment of the fanbase to support someone like Dave King, who’s offering up – on paper, at least – a potentially significant amount of money to invest in the club. I understand that. “We’re giving the assurance that if the fans continue to back the club in the way they have, then there is no threat to the financial stability of this business. That’s the single most important thing. If fans are really concerned about the financial health of their club, if they give us the support by behaving as they have done and renewing their [season] tickets, then we’re in a very very strong position.” That is tantamount to the emotional blackmail the supporters’ coalition the Union of Fans has railed against. Wallace might not be so tainted in the eyes of the wider support, and might have been perceived more as a figure to trust by them, were it not for the £1.5m loan at exorbitant rates the club required only months after he stated such an injection would not be needed to keep the club afloat. The chief executive now accepts his credibility was damaged. “It was an issue, yes. I responded to a question at the AGM about [whether there] ‘is sufficient cash to continue to trade in the near term’ and I said there was. That was an honest answer made on the assessment of what was available at the time. As we’ve gone through the review, there were certain assumptions made in the business plan which, when we went to push the button on them, we found they didn’t exist. So yes, we got to a position where we had to look at an alternative strategy for a very short, defined period of time. So yes, our credibility was questioned. “Subsequent to putting the deal in place there were offers of similar amounts at vastly reduced monies. I think we’re in a better place now.” A huge measure of sensible husbandry is required at Rangers, but with Wallace stating manager Ally McCoist’s playing budget for the Championship will be “comparable” to the indefensible £6m with which the club have bulldozed their way through two part-time lower divisions, questions can be asked about lessons learned. Perhaps in one sense they have been. Rangers announced in their review that they will appoint a chief football operations officer, essentially a director of football, who will “concentrate initially on developing player talent identification, scouting and recruitment capability”. In the past two years, Rangers have certainly been guilty of having a flawed recruitment strategy that has been the largest consistent drain on their revenue and resources. “In terms of building this club to be competitive back at the top level, the level of infrastructure is not there,” said Wallace. “So scouting, recruitment, talent identification, managing and driving value from sourcing players [needs to be addressed]. Bringing players in here, if they’re good enough to play for us great but if they’re not then they might do a season and move along and get some value. “We’ve no one looking at that. That’s what I see this particular role focusing on. It’s very much a support role for me, for the manager, at an overall level. The hunt for this person begins now and it’s about getting the right person, with the right skill set and the right experience. I’d hope over the course of the coming months to have someone.” Wallace maintains this new appointment did not reflect on McCoist’s job security. “I have never even had a thought about the manager’s future. We speak every day and meet two or three times a week. “He’s obviously interested in the financial budget. We’ve talked about it. He knows we’re going to make funds available for the summer. He doesn’t know the magnitude, the number. We will sit down and agree that.” http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-open-the-door-to-dave-king-1-3390262
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I’m going to start this blog with a warning – We must ensure, for the future of our club, that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. I say that because it is important we focus on the facts and not the personalities involved. There is a considerable amount of information circulating at the moment and it’s vital we scrutinise it in a totally objective manner. Not only because it is the right thing to do – but because the future of our club may depend on our ability to sort the wheat from the chaff. The Union of Fans only have themselves to blame to an extent, that their anti-board message has not been widely accepted by all. Their insistence on being so deliberately confrontational with our current board, as well as their sometimes puerile rhetoric, may go down well with those already in their camp but it doesn’t necessarily resonate with all the support. As I’ve written previously, when the man you are openly supporting suggests some are “looking for a fight” it’s surely worthy of re-assessing how you are coming across to people. It’s a real pity the debate has become so polarised. There is almost a sense that you are either pro or anti-board. I’m aware of a supporter yesterday who was threatened for refusing to chant “sack the board”. – a sad indication of the state of play. The reality of course is that for every pro or anti board supporter there are probably many more of us who are utterly confused, worried and trying to get to grips with facts amongst a deluge of propaganda. It’s important that those in our support who are against Dave King, for whatever reason, still realise they have a responsibility in holding the current board to account, and reticence of the possible alternative does not mean we ignore unacceptable standards from those currently in power. And just why should our current board be viewed with suspicion and be subject to challenge ? Well for starters we have employed a new PR Guru. Such an appointment baffled many within our support, particularly with the crying need for a chief scout. One is left to ponder what our board’s priorities are for our club. We have a non-executive director, Sandy Easdale giving interviews to the BBC where he suggests intimate knowledge of financial matters pertaining to the club. This should raise serious questions about the level of governance at boardroom level. From the CEO’s review we have learned that contracts were signed off by the previous board without any legal representation on behalf of the club. Quite simply that is nothing short of scandalous. Do the current board intend to investigate these matters and retrospectively pursue those responsible ? As many us are learning to our angst, the ability to renew season tickets by Credit or Debit Card is no longer available due to the merchant, 1st Data, requiring what is viewed as an unreasonable level of security for such a privilege. The CEO’s review states : “The Board believes that one of the major factors influencing the merchant acquirer to change its terms was the extensive negative coverage of calls in some quarters for supporters to refrain or delay purchasing season tickets. “ The Union of Fans have denied this and their denials have been supported by a National newspaper which claims it has viewed correspondence which suggests this is not the reason for the increased levels of guarantee. The ball is now in the board’s court. The integrity and veracity of both the board and the review has been challenged by a national newspaper – it is up to the board to instruct 1st Data to clarify the reasons behind the additional security requests. Quite simply if the board fail to take action over such a critical point then they have failed both themselves and the Rangers supporters who were patient enough to wait for the 120 day review. We must not let personal feelings or personal dislikes affect our ability to exercise vigilance or judgement. It’s a luxury not only we cannot afford, but more importantly, our club cannot afford.
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... from Ibrox Noise. I know quite a few will jump in here and there, but maybe it would do good to read the article twice before go haring after specific things. Posted by Ibrox Noise at 10:26 It will come of no surprise that I agree with a lot IN has to say, including that I don't view the current status quo as ideal.
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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/police-probe-launched-after-rangers-3464370 Forgive me, but I think things have just taken a particularly unedifying turn for the worse.
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In response to a number of threads which kinda veer into polarised positions, I'd like to set out why I think the running of our club is in the wrong hands at present. I avoid calling them 'the board' because it's hard to remember who is actually on which board at the moment, who is responsible for what and who gets to lock the safe, so to speak. That in itself is a criticism of those at the top & I haven't even started! The two people who are most often seen & heard as our main people are Sandy Easdale & Graham Wallace. To begin with Mr Easdale: he's had a struggle to be accepted, since he came with baggage. I would be the last person to insist that to be a Rangers fan or official you need to sign up to the whole manifesto of beliefs. But when it comes to blazers, I do feel that 'not having been to jail to VAT fraud' is a broadly non-controversial opening qualification. This raises the philosophical debate about whether jail is for punishment or rehabilitation: as a lapsed socialist I see it more as the first than the second, since those who are there tend to have harmed society and, bluntly, society deserves to get a kick back. Even, however, if you lean toward rehabilitation, does Mr Easdale strike you as rehabilitated? The world of West Scotland's bus garages may not sound like the sort of place to find Sonny Corleone tied to a chair, but neither is it a clear, visible symbol of someone having learnt a hard lesson and overtly trying to do better. You could liken it to a pimp who is jailed, does his time and buys a strip club; not criminal, but not much use in persuading folk you are a reformed character. All this is speculation and could - who knows? - be most unfair on Mr Easdale. Nevertheless image counts and his image, which is now tied to our club, is not a good one. Coming with such baggage, he would have had a hard fight to get some fans, maybe puritan ones, onside in any event, but he has decided that steady, unobtrusive work with tangible results is not the way to go and plumped for issuing legal threats to fans, questioning the loyalty of fans, and blaming fans for the club's problems. Whether you agree with the man that he was being impugned unfairly, threatening Rangers fans while ignoring the libelous attacks of fans' of every other team in Scotland is, bluntly, an insane policy if the aim is to promote yourself as a trustworthy figure. The lack of the ability to think a situation through and deal with it is dismaying; when the UoF or Sos were at Murray Park last week for a photo-opportunity it showed how anyone with any sense ought to have dealt with it. His remarkable access to ST sales figures and the financial status of a plc of which he is not a board member could, you might argue, point to a searingly sharp analytical business mind. Graham Wallace certainly made it clear that Mr Easdale was speaking in a personal capacity as shareholder last Thursday; I wonder if every shareholder, should they chap Mr Wallace's door, would receive such detailed information as Mr Easdale apparently gets? Mr Wallace, Mr Wallace. His deflection of Mr Easdale's blatant presence as eminence grise didn't do much for his credibility either, which was a shame because he at least of all the players who have high-kicked their way across our stage in the last two seasons seemed to come without baggage and with, it seemed, the tools to get the job done. He didn't have to lay out his credentials, they were there to see. However, trying to sell the most obvious of nutmegs over Mr Easdale's position did not leave him looking very sharp and counts against him. If it has been disappointing to see him bullshit us over Mr Easdale's interview. It has been doubly disappointing to find out, a day after the event, that far from Rangers credit facility being withdrawn due to the actions of fans or agitators, it was withdrawn because credit companies see us as a bad risk. I'd urge you to consider for a moment that credit firms - the leeches, the parasites, who cause so much suffering by lobbing bales of cash at people in no state to repay them - even these people don't want to touch us. This is not, in my book, an achievement which goes down in Mr Wallace's 'debit' account and, although it cannot be exclusively laid at his door as 'his fault', his dealing with it has been pitiful and serves only to erode both trust and credibility. His legal case seems a little vindictive; frankly there are deals and tranches of missing money more deserving of investigation. I think Mr Wallace dealt well with the media following the 139 Day Fantasy press conference last Friday, and in an ideal world he could probably do the decent job we all hoped he would. But you have to assume he sanctioned or was at least asked about hiring Paul Tyrell a day before he announced job losses; on the one hand we know we have to cut costs, on the other cutting them to pay someone to defend he and the rest of The Keystone Kops seems grotesque. You have to assume he is going to take a bonus unless more pressure is brought to bear, since he declined to answer questions on the subject and that seems grotesque; you have to assume he was aware that it was not fan issues which led to the credit situation described above but decided to blame them anyway. That's a lot of assuming, but since Mr Wallace won't answer the questions what else can I do but assume? So my view of the 'current lot' is one person with a dreadful reputation and image who constantly engages in battle with the people he then asks for money and trust from; and another person who is either massively out of his depth or finds clarity and transparence subtle concepts to be moulded as needed. Neither inspire any confidence in me, not because I desire Dave King and his millions to bail us out, nor because I have a reflex condition which means anyone in office is immediately a crook. There's no doubt we're heading for complete division as a fan base between those who back the board (beyond belief in my view but it's a free country) and those who perceive that the malaise lies at the boardroom door(s) and until they are cleaned out we're going nowhere. As a lonely handwringer these many years I am not especially freaked about splits in the support: but it's going to be sad to see nonetheless. Anyhoo, that's how things look from here.
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According to STV the review will be published to LSE today as planned. Please ensure all discussion takes place in this thread where appropriate. Full review for download here: http://t.co/HNRfyvKDAe -
Rangers manager Ally McCoist has admitted major shareholder Sandy Easdale’s description of the Ibrox club’s finances as “fragile” is a significant concern ahead of today’s publication of a 120-day business review. Rangers manager Ally McCoist has admitted major shareholder Sandy Easdale’s description of the Ibrox club’s finances as “fragile” is a significant concern ahead of today’s publication of a 120-day business review. McCoist was visibly taken aback when he heard Easdale had already given an interview to BBC Scotland yesterday, ahead of the manager’s own press commitments before tomorrow’s final home league of the season against Stranraer. Although Rangers will be presented with the League 1 championship trophy after the game, it is today’s long-awaited business review, prepared by chief executive Graham Wallace, that dominates the agenda at Ibrox. Staff at the club are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the review and whether it will impact on their jobs amid fears of further cost-cutting. McCoist said that the welfare of employees was of paramount concern. “Nothing’s changed in my opinion with regards the livelihoods of the staff,” he said. “That’s arguably the most important thing. Obviously the future and health of the club is of vital importance, but without doubt the people within the football club and their livelihoods are extremely important.” Easdale, who is also chairman of the club’s football board, yesterday admitted Rangers were “at a crossroads”. The businessman urged supporters to keep buying season tickets. The most recent set of interim accounts published by the Ibrox club saw accountants Deloitte note that “the company has made key assumptions in relation to the timing of season ticket monies”, adding that uncertainty over the receipt of season ticket income indicated “the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. Compromising the club’s plans is a strategy of some fans, backed by former Ibrox director and potential investor Dave King, to withhold season ticket money in a fund. The sum will only be released when certain conditions are met by the board. Season-ticket sales to date were described as “slow” by Easdale. Also concerning for McCoist was the major shareholder’s sopinion Rangers could not survive another administration. “In 140 years, the club’s gone into administration once,” said Easdale. “I don’t think it would survive a second one. So I would ask every loyal Rangers fan – and I pick my words correctly in saying ‘loyal Rangers fan’ – supports the club at this time and gives it a chance.” It was this kind of rhetoric McCoist admitted was troubling, although he had not yet been fully briefed on Easdale’s comments. “He told the BBC that?” asked McCoist. “That’s news to me. I wouldn’t react to it until I had time to digest it to be honest. But if that’s what he’s said then that would be a little bit concerning.” The manager, who had a series of meetings yesterday with club hierarchy, was cautious when asked to comment on what he expected would be the contents of the review. “I would be hopeful of non-negative news,” he said. “We will react accordingly to the news we get. I don’t want to pre-empt this. There is no point in guessing what might or might not happen.” Earlier in the day Easdale had admitted he was uncertain what the future held for Rangers. “At the end of the day, the club is at a crossroads at the moment and a fragile position,” he said. “It can either go forward with a strategic view, with a long-term view, steady as she goes, or be pulled apart in other directions.” The bus tycoon also outlined his concern over season ticket renewals. He said: “I don’t actually know the figures but I think there are a couple of situations there; we’re a couple of weeks early. People are waiting for a report. At this moment in time, ticket sales are slow.” McCoist, meanwhile, is braced for being told there are limited funds with which to strengthen his current squad, who have gone through the current league season unbeaten. He said that being challenged to win the Championship title next season with an equal or even lesser budget would “go with the territory” of being Rangers manager in the current times. “It’s not a concern because I accept it,” he shrugged. “Whether I like it or think it’s right or wrong is immaterial – I accept it. It goes with the territory and I’ll have to handle that. “The budget has dropped in the region of 70 per cent of two or three years ago and it’s dropped again this year from last year. But what everyone needs to realise is that I don’t set the budget. I didn’t give the new players their wages, I had nothing to do with that, that was the previous regime, so you’d have to ask any questions relating to that to them. I was only working within the parameters that were given to me. I wasn’t the one who offered them x amount of thousand pounds a week. That wasn’t my gig. I just wanted to play them and thankfully I got the players.” McCoist is relieved that at least his options, if he has any, will become clearer by the end of today when it comes to the matter of signing players. The club have been linked with moves for Motherwell defender Shaun Hutchinson and St Mirren midfielder Kenny McLean, as well as Gavin Gunning and Kris Boyd, of Dundee United and Kilmarnock respectively. More crucial, McCoist pointed out, is the need to sort out the futures of players nearing the end of their contracts. “I’ve still only spoken to two players but in the crazy situation we are in, I haven’t been able to offer them anything,” he revealed. “If I get the go-ahead we would be interested in talking to them. “That’s all I can say to them,” he added. “It’s anything but ideal. My priority is to speak to the guys here at the club first. That’s the very least they deserve.” The Union of Fans, a coalition of Rangers supporters, issued a statement last night hitting back at Easdale’s comments. It said: “The financial position of the club is not down to lack of support or loyalty from any of our fans, it is down to two years of mismanagement and the squandering of huge sums of money. “We would like to know why Mr Easdale is being pushed out to speak on behalf of a PLC board he is not part of. Mr *Easdale’s comments about the financial position of the club are share-price sensitive, as are his comments about possible *administration. “These comments directly contradict those of the CEO, Graham Wallace, who is on record as saying that a second administration is not a possibility. “Once again huge question marks are raised over corporate governance at Rangers by Mr Easdale’s role at the club, which has never been clarified.” http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/mccoist-frets-over-fragile-rangers-1-3388199
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Help required tonight. Meet at Ibrox underground at 6.45pm.
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APRIL 23, 2014 UNION OF FANS STATEMENT: 23/04/14 by Union of Fans in Statements Ahead of Graham Wallace’s long awaited, and much anticipated, review we felt it would be helpful to reiterate what we are expecting to see from the CEO. It has now been over four months since Mr Wallace’s AGM pledge and we do expect, given the length of time it has taken, that this business review will give a full and comprehensive picture of the way forward for the club. We expect to see a full breakdown of the how the club arrived at the point where it required to borrow funds simply to complete the current season. This should include a full breakdown of where the IPO money went. In particular, detail of the sky high placement costs, related fees and who those fees were paid to and why. We expect to see full detail of who will be providing the £30-£50M required to take Rangers back to the level we should be operating at, in the absence of this board accepting the offer of investment from Dave King. We also expect to be told exactly when this will be provided, on what terms and a clear plan of how it will be used to rebuild the club both on and off the park. We hope that this review will not simply be more, vague, corporate speak from Mr Wallace. We want to see tangible, measurable progress and firm commitments on the huge investment required. Anything less will be a damp squib, especially since we have already seen that we cannot even rely on public, binding statements from this board. For our own part, the UoF have been making steady progress on the setup required for the season ticket fund. We understand the frustration of fans who wish to contribute to this but we would ask them to understand that we must ensure it is setup properly, legally and with total transparency. We thank them for their patience and can assure them that an alternative to placing blind faith in this board will be in place shortly. A company is now in place with Dave King as a director and Richard Gough and others to follow shortly. This will be the vehicle to hold the security should the board see fit to grant it. We will have a website in place within the next 10 days, ahead of the May 6th deadline, where fans can register their details and securely place their season ticket money. This money will only be passed to the club in return for season tickets if security is granted over Ibrox and Auchenhowie. Those are our only conditions. If that security is not granted then fans will retain their money and can decide themselves how to proceed at the start of the new season. The payment mechanism we are using means that although fans enter into a binding commitment to have their season ticket money debited in the event of security being granted, no money will be removed from their account until that security is granted. We will provide full detail of this on the website when it launches. In the meantime, we would ask fans who are considering using their season ticket money to try to secure our vital club assets to hold off renewing. We understand the pressures being applied both emotionally and otherwise, in terms of payment mechanisms, but it is time for us to take a stand against two years of corporate pillaging of our club. We can secure our club’s home against a backdrop of further financial uncertainty, but only with the help of the supporters. We would like to make those on auto renewal, who paid over four months last year, aware that they have to cancel in writing to the ticket office prior to 28th April. The email address to do so is webmail@rangers.co.uk. Season ticket money is the main power the fans have and we would ask them to use it for positive change.
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Lifted from 200% (via newsnow)...
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http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/239-renewals-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place The last few years have been hugely difficult for Rangers fans. Administration, dysfunctional directors and confused coups from ‘Rangers men’ who believe they would be better placed to run the club; all this contributes to an ongoing period of uncertainty and frustration for many bears. Time is a great healer they say but, in actual fact, we appear no closer to finding genuine stability for Rangers football club in the short term – indeed the decision-making for the average fan is now even more of a challenge than before. Why? Well, the deadline for renewing season tickets is fast approaching. While some fans still have around two weeks to make up their mind, those who pay in instalments only have until next Monday to confirm their payment plan. Thus, with the club waiting until this Friday to finally publish their 120-day Review (no-one knows if this will be an update or a detailed report), fans have next to no time to decide whether or not the current board can be entrusted with millions more season ticket cash for 2014/15. Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Dave King and the Union of Fans have similarly failed to outline why their Trust fund is a better option or, indeed, how this would even work. To say fans are stuck between a rock and a hard place is an understatement. In an ideal world we’d all renew regardless. Despite the under-performance and inconsistency of the team on the park, next season is sure to be an exciting one and it’s safe to say will present much more of a challenge than the first two stages of the ‘journey’ back to the SPFL Premiership. Not only will Hearts be as eager as us to return to the top league at the first time of asking, there’s a good chance another Premiership team could be joining us both. In addition, as the existing Championship table shows, there will be at least two more teams more than capable of forming a title/promotion challenge for next season. Add in the recent defeats we’ve suffered from teams like Raith Rovers and Queen of the South, it’s safe to say next year will be far from a walkover for Rangers. The fact is for 2014/15 the SPFL Championship will be the most exciting competition in Scotland so I can’t be the only bear looking forward to the challenge. Renewal of our season ticket should be automatic. Yet it isn’t. Not only are thousands of fans unable to trust the board of directors with their money, for those uninterested in the often tedious boardroom politics the match-day experience is also average at best. Sure, it may appear somewhat bizarre to complain about a team (and manager) who look likely to deliver an unbeaten league campaign while scoring over 100 goals but aside from a few sporadic early season performances we’ve really struggled to achieve genuine quality home or away on a consistent basis. This is perhaps summed up by the difficulty in picking a Player of the Year for 2013/14. Yes, a few lads have done well in patches but I don’t think any player (and I include Lee Wallace in that) can really say they’ve been a stand-out all season. I don’t want to be hyper-critical but there really isn’t a lot to be positive about ahead of a new campaign. In that sense, I’m eager to hear from the manager in how he intends to address this ahead of renewals. So far, like many others who form part of the Rangers saga, he hasn’t. Of course, that’s possibly an unfair expectation when McCoist, like the rest of us, is supposedly unaware of his budget for next season. For example, we’re told Graham Wallace wanted squad wage cuts (to the manager’s credit, he seems to be the only one who has accepted a decrease) while recent loans show the club apparently doesn’t have the finance to complete a season of football – this only one year after raising £22million via an initial share offer, not to mention two tranches of match-day ticket income (in itself around the same figure) since 2012. Clearly, season ticket money (possibly around £12million for the coming year) defines the club’s operations going forward. Yet, many fans are being asked to renew without knowing exactly how competitive the club is going to be. With that in mind the content of the 120-day Review is now overdue and vital to the future of the club. I won’t bore the reader of this article with the plethora of questions about the review but the detail simply has to reveal the club’s direction for next season and beyond. While every single Rangers fan wants our club to be of a right-size for future demands, it’s also clear it needs to be re-capitalised for the challenges ahead. However I’d also suggest no fan wants money to be wasted on short-term player signings but instead (as what should have happened in 2012) the club stream-lined and positioned to be self-sustainable for the long term. This means investment in youth, scouting and the stadium to bring success for many more years to come. Yes, this isn’t easy to achieve (ask Sir David Murray) but we’re told Graham Wallace is of the highest calibre (and he’s apparently very well paid) to clearly explain how this is possible in his review. I’d certainly say four months is ample time to provide a report which offers the kind of detail and evidence based submissions to excite every Rangers fan about our future. In short, Wallace must make his plan one we can all buy into one way or the other for many years ahead. No bland generalisations, no business-speak and, well, no excuses. In saying that, what is the alternative for Rangers fans? Well, Dave King and the Union of Fans appear equally less than convincing so far. Statement after statement from King implores us not to renew our season tickets while the Union of Fans promise us some sort of Trust fund to release our money on a match-per-match basis to the club. Yet, a few months down the line, they’re also no closer to revealing their plans in that regard. Can fans retain their preferred seat? Who or what is entrusted with the property securities they’ve requested? What happens if the club enters further financial difficulty in the interim? So far, we’ve seen no answer to any of these questions. Similarly, Dave King’s actions have been less than consistent as well. Just how keen is he to invest in the club and what affect will his own past business dealings have on his and Rangers’ reputation? No-one can deny King’s previous impressive financial commitment but that cannot make him immune from the same questions we have of the incumbents. The lack of clarity in that regard remains a huge disappointment. To conclude then, despite months of uncertainty and superficial debate, Rangers fans remain no closer to a solution for their renewal conundrum. I don’t doubt the vast majority of last season’s 36,000 season ticket holders want to sign up for what will be a more exciting challenge next term but I also believe our incredible passion has been taken advantage of all too often in recent years for fans to hand over their hard-earned no questions asked. There’s absolutely no shame or disloyalty in wanting more for our money. Taking that into account, I’m disappointed in the club’s disregard for open fan consultation vis-à-vis the review. However, I feel equally let down by Dave King in his inability to turn words into demonstrable action by means of a viable alternative to the status quo. In light of all the above, I can’t be the only fan who feels they’re in an impossible position ahead of the forthcoming deadlines. This may well change today, tomorrow, or later in the week but it seems our annual investment will continue to be the pawn of others for the foreseeable future. Rather than stand by and let ourselves be used in such a manner, I’d hope fans would now begin to realise our power when it comes to Rangers and actually become a player ourselves instead of being played. Only then can we really have a proper say in the future. Anything else will just see that rock become a harder and harder place….
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RANGERS are behaving as though their 120-day business review will have to be crowbarred out of their directors' hands. The more cynical of this club's supporters would not be surprised if the update was delivered in encrypted text this Friday, such has been the apparent reluctance to let the findings out into the public domain. Friday will be day 128, incidentally, and all that has been promised is "update" rather than any extensive illumination of the Ibrox strategy. This is what football has come to: thousands of fans desperately waiting for breaking news on what they would once have dismissed as bone-dry financial strategies. Maybe Graham Wallace, the chief executive, didn't realise he was creating such a hostage to fortune when he announced this business review at the annual general meeting in December, but its significance has mushroomed Directors and fans are in a Mexican stand-off over season tickets. If Wallace placates the masses, damage will be done to the Union of Fans/Dave King attempt to persuade thousands to break the traditional supply chain and instead put their money into a trust fund. But on all available evidence so far it's hard to see what Wallace can deliver which will remotely placate them. Wallace is probably shrewd enough to know what's coming his way when the information is released. In the four months since he bought himself time by announcing this review, Rangers have divested themselves of two figures most of the support considered to be toxic: finance director Brian Stockbridge and public relations adviser Jack Irvine. The club also secured a shirt sponsorship deal with 32Red. Hip, hip hurrays all round? Well, yes, for a moment. Each of those moves was significant, yet they have had no lasting effect on the swirl of negativity around Rangers or the hostility and suspicion shown towards the board. Wallace's own popularity and standing has steadily eroded. At the time of the annual meeting supporters were able to distinguish between him and the rest of the unpopular board. Now, much less so. What can he say in this review that will make the critics pause and say, "actually, yeah, that's not bad, this could win us round"? Three days ago it became personal towards Wallace when his salary and bonus was openly questioned by supporters group The Union of Fans. Maybe £315,000-per-annum really is the going rate for high end football club chief executives these days, although Rangers continue to seem like pushovers when it comes to doing deals with just about anyone. But if Wallace is on another of those 100% Ibrox bonus deals, as his critics clearly believe, fans will see him as being a continuation of the chain of ****s and opportunists when they had hoped he would come in and cleanse the club of them all. What seems likely now is that Wallace's update will exasperate and irritate those fans further, hardening their opposition to the board and deepening their resolve to starve out the incumbent regime by withholding season ticket money. The collapse of King's cordial working relationship with the directors is significant, given that he surely had some sort of insight into Wallace's intended strategy. Positions are entrenched. No fair-minded supporter will reject Wallace's findings on a stubborn point-of-principle. Perhaps he will surprise them and come up with a plan which seems imaginative, ambitious and realistic. But it's only two months since this Rangers board had to go cap in hand for £1.5m in emergency loans just to see the club over the line until the next season-ticket money. At the end of last year the board suggested the players take a 15% wage cut: that was rejected and, since then, nothing more has been heard of it and no other cuts have been publicly proposed. Wallace is on record as saying costs are too high. Money continues to haemorrhage from Rangers. If Wallace's update acknowledges that the club needs either severe cuts or substantial external investment then the latter will be embraced by those who champion King and find it unfathomable, and deeply suspicious, that his apparent willingness to invest has not been encouraged by the Rangers board. What freedom does Wallace have here? This review has been sanctioned by Sandy and James Easdale and the rest of the Rangers board. Would it ever see the light of day if it delivered findings they didn't like? When Rangers said the update would be announced on Friday April 25 (which will be day 127, incidentally), fans immediately clocked that they would have only the weekend to consider it before deciding whether or not to cancel the auto-renewal of their season-tickets (which may not be enough time if it that has to be done in writing). That was either a calculating move by the club or an unthinking one, but either way it looked sleekit and did nothing to build bridges with the support. Wallace and chairman David Somers have both spoken of the need to be more open and transparent with )supporters but done next to nothing to back it up. Wallace will be heard before the week is out, though. His job may pay well, but it's an unenviable one: this week he must calm and win over supporters implacably opposed to the regime he represents. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/opinion/wallaces-strategy-update-may-be-too-late-to-win-over-rangers-fans.24005492?utm_source=headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email%2Balert -
Thought I would put some more into what I have posted, I have nothing to gain or lose I suppose by posting on this board and dont want to hassle people, if the admin of the forum would like me to stop posting then they can private mail me and let me know. What I am saying is that I know 100% Dave will make a move in the next 7 days which will be to try and seize control of the club, you as fans will ultimately vote with your feet so to speak but Dave had to and has given this current regime all the time and met all their request made to him and to us as fans. I know this because I know this, you can believe this or you can ignore this, either way, I thought it would do no harm by posting the fact that Dave will be making substantial moves next week in order to be in a place to be the new majority owner come the summer. No ego, no nothing. its all about Rangers and where we should be, either follow or dont.
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Chaps, I'm not looking to troll or create tension here, but for the life of me I can't work out why any bear can trust or support the current board. I've seen nothing from the board that can help balance up my own feelings and each passing week sees more shit rolled at supporters. So, in the spirit of good debate, what are the good points of the board which gets them support, albeit a small minority, but support all the same from fellow Bears. What are the positives from board.
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IN ROBERT Bolt’s play and film, A Man For All Seasons, Sir Thomas More assembles his numerous domestic staff to break the bad news that he has fallen on irredeemably hard times. “I am no longer a great man,” he begins. “And since I am no more a great man, I no longer need a great household. Nor can I afford one. You will have to go.” Here was a practical demonstration of the kind of acute insight and quick wits that gave rise to the former Lord Chancellor’s reputation as one of 16th-century England’s most formidable intellects. Of course, More would also have been quick to acknowledge that even the humblest peasant farmer, faced with financial catastrophe – a failed crop, say – would have been similarly aware instantly of the necessity of a protracted period of austerity, or even abandonment of his smallholding and relocation as an employee on a steady, if modest, income. It is a grasp of elementary economics that seems somehow to have eluded anyone charged with executive duties at Rangers throughout the years since the instigator of the old club’s decline, David Murray, began the large-scale, reckless extravagance that led to calamity. Since then, despite the onset of administration and liquidation and passing through the hands of a succession of regimes to the present board of directors, the Glasgow institution has existed in a constant state of financial vulnerability, with no-one among the numerous sets of “saviours” apparently willing to identify certain damaging truths and take appropriate remedial action. This speaks of a culture problem at Ibrox, one that became entrenched during the 140 years that preceded liquidation in 2012 and has generally not even been acknowledged, far less addressed, despite the overwhelming evidence of the need to abandon principles that have been rendered wasteful by monetary imperatives. Chief among these actions is to emulate Thomas More and concede that Rangers are no longer a great club. That is, “great” in the sense of magnitude, as opposed to their historic high achievement and the resultant command of the affections and allegiances of many thousands of followers. An organisation whose annual turnover once was close to £60 million has now, according to the latest returns, shrunk to £19m – and even that amount is likely to be reduced again at the end of the current financial year. Yet, in the wake of liquidation of the old club and the birth of the new, the directors saw fit to sanction a yearly wage bill of around £7m for players charged with winning the fourth- and third-division championships. Salaries of non-playing personnel make the total around £9m, while the general costs of running the operation drain the kitty of £1.4m per month. These ludicrously high outgoings having to be met entirely from the club’s working capital, since their history of leaving behind creditors owed millions when entering administration means they no longer have access to credit lines at the banks. Despite the obviously perilous condition of their finances (a recent emergency loan of £1.5m from private individuals required simply to remain solvent until the end of the season), numerous supporters are immovable in their conviction that Rangers remain a “massive” club whose rightful place is at the head of Scottish football’s Premiership and competing creditably in the Champions League. There is, of course, nothing intrinsically flawed about aiming for the stars, but the problem with too many Rangers followers is that they want it to happen yesterday. Their ideal is the instant cure of a wealthy benefactor taking control and providing an unconditional minimum £50m of funding with which the team could be transformed from lower-league capabilities to national champions in the blink of an eye. And yet, curiously, there appears to be a substantial number of fans willing to rally to the banner of Dave King, the South Africa-based entrepreneur who, astonishingly, has publicly declared his unwillingness to invest in the club. So far, he has offered only words, primarily to blacken the names of the current directors. King has also shown himself to be as inconsistent as many who have become involved in the propaganda war at Ibrox, at first encouraging supporters not to renew their season tickets, then changing tack by saying that the chief executive, Graham Wallace, should be allowed to complete his 120-day review of the business, before returning this week with another fusillade in the direction of the board. King, convicted on more than 40 counts of tax evasion in South Africa, accused the opposition of a lack of integrity and honesty. But, among the array of head-turning schemes associated with disenchanted fans and the directors, the most preposterous is surely the demand by the former to be handed security over Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park as part of their renewing season tickets. This is like insisting that M&S give customers security over their flagship Oxford Street store in exchange for a pledge to buy more merchandise. The entire season-ticket phenomenon, in fact, has been warped into a grotesque caricature of its traditional place in the game and led to the utterly meaningless and misleading question: “What happened to the fans’ money?” This clearly ignores the fact that, when a ticket is bought, the money becomes the seller’s while the buyer gets the ticket. It’s not complicated. At the core of the Ibrox morass, however, there ought to be a warning that the fans should be careful what they wish for. Institutional investors collectively make up a large majority of shareholders, but each has actually spent a comparatively tiny amount on acquiring their equity. If they continue to be harassed, they could consider the venture not to be worth the bother, sell off the assets and close down the business. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/glenn-gibbons-rangers-fans-playing-dangerous-game-1-3381635
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This is taken from FF posted by Kaiserbear53 Expect a response from Mr King in the next few days but it won't be until after the Game on Saturday as Mr King does want not to take the focus off the team and be blamed for protests and the anger that will come. As expected and as has already been stated, the current board have spat in the face of Dave and this attempt to under mine the restructuring and sort our club out once and for all will soon come to a resolution. The board will try and palm you off with a membership scheme which some may buy into but bide your time bears and bearets, listen to what Mr King has to say about the shiftiness off this move and make your own minds up. Kaiser _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Its what will happen, The information will be released through the press association as he is still in South Africa. Next week the battle begins. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Without breaching trust here to much? King was not satisfied, he was patronized and was fobbed off therefore played the board at their own game, he know's they are unprofessional and not capable of running the club short - mid or long term, what King done was simply give the board and CEO enough rope. They made public assurances which have been breached, do you honestly think a man who has spoken to his children and told them, this will be your inheritance, this is what I am doing, is going to let the current mob who couldnt organize a prayer in a mosque away with it? Have faith. I have no idea how true or who the poster is.
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Graham Wallace will be finding little time for respite. A draft version of his 120-day business review is thought to be ready for senior figures within Ibrox, the rate of season ticket renewal uptake will be evident to the ticket office staff and supporters have raised questions about executive bonuses. He understood that he would not face conventional challenges when he took on the chief executive role at Rangers in November, but he will never have felt under greater scrutiny than now. Wallace brought with him an impressive CV and a strong reputation. Within English football circles, particularly at the highest level, Wallace remains an admired figure. Former colleagues at Manchester City, where he was chief finance officer then chief operating officer, still talk enthusiastically about his personal and professional qualities. Often, staff in other departments would turn to Wallace for advice on how to deal with difficult situations, even though they were not specifically his remit. Those qualities, and the experience gained during three years at IMG and five at MTV Networks, do not suddenly dissipate. Wallace understood the situation he was walking into when he accepted the job offer and believed that he could - as an independent figure - find a solution to the state of conflict around the club. The result of December's annual meeting of Rangers International Football Club shareholders was an endorsement of his credentials and he might not have anticipated such a protracted state of upheaval. Rangers fans have made vocal and visual protests about the way the club has been run It is questions that he has been assailed with. Former director Dave King, pointedly, asked if the board was seeking financing last December while Wallace was publicly declaring that there was enough cash to sustain the business to April. The Union of Fans asked about his bonus arrangements and specifically if he is entitled to 100% of his salary, the same contractual arrangement as one of his predecessors, Charles Green, and the former finance director, Brian Stockbridge. It was Wallace who removed Stockbridge from his post in January before bringing in the former Liverpool financial director Philip Nash in an advisory role. Both men have solid reputations, but neither is likely to have encountered such a difficult situation as the business of rebuilding Rangers. Wallace inherited a mess, with the money raised by the launch of RIFC on the alternative investment market having been spent and the revenue being smaller than the club's outgoings. Rangers were also tied into most of the commercial contracts agreed by Green, although Wallace has struck a sponsorship deal with the online casino, 32Red, which is for three years. There is, though, a fundamental challenge. Rangers need recapitalisation - something Wallace has always acknowledged - as well as the rebalancing of costs that the chief executive has been pursuing. At the AGM, he announced a 120-day review of every aspect of the business. This was a required initiative - the interim results to 31 December 2013 showed a £3.5m loss - but the timescale was ill-judged. Football clubs are simple businesses, with mostly fixed costs and income, but very difficult to run because of the impact of sporting performance on the finances. It seemed to supporters as though Wallace was buying time. There was also a credibility issue when it was announced in February that £1.5m was being borrowed from two shareholders, Sandy Easdale and George Letham, with the money secured against Edmiston House and the Albion Car Park, given Wallace's previous assertion about the cash in the bank. The 120-day deadline passed on Thursday 17 April and an update on the review will be released on Friday 25 April. It will need to declare how Rangers will raise the funds to match the investment requirements. Manager Ally McCoist's football department needs an overhaul The football department needs an overhaul, with a scouting network required, but also more strategic decision-making when it comes to the first-team budget. Costs are imbalanced and manager Ally McCoist agreed to accept a pay cut, but a long-term, sustainable approach needs to be implemented to return Rangers to the top flight in a competitive state. Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park also need maintenance work, but bringing the business back to an even keel by cutting costs and increasing revenue streams will not provide the level of additional funding that Rangers need in the short to medium-term. With the board having ruled out borrowing against their major property assets, the options are limited. A fresh share issue, which King is keen to underwrite, would dilute the holdings of any current shareholders who do not reinvest. This would alter the shareholder dynamic and the power base that supported the current directors at the AGM. It is this problem that Wallace has to solve. If he presents a review to the board that steers the business towards recapitalisation, will all of the directors agree? There is also the more pressing issue of season ticket sales. The renewal process is underway and the deadline is the week following the business review update. Many supporters have grown weary and cynical of the machinations, on all sides, of the saga. Yet renewals are critical, since the interim accounts published in March revealed that going-concern status for the next 12 months was only granted on the basis of an increase in season ticket prices and sales. If the renewal numbers are in decline, there is a legitimate question about how Rangers will be funded until the end of next season. Wallace is experienced and capable but also at the mercy of the situation he took on - although earning the trust of the entire Rangers fan base was always unlikely given the tensions that exist between different groups. There are some decisions he might, on reflection, have made differently, but it is the ones he makes now that will be critical, to his future and the club's. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/scotland/27081026?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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.......if Ibrox chief Graham Wallace is in line for a whopping £300,000 bonus. UNION of Fans believe directors at their cash-strapped club are still entitled to 100 per cent top ups to their salary similar to the windfall received by Charles Green. RANGERS fans have demanded to know if the club’s chief executive Graham Wallace is in line for a whopping £300,000 bonus. The move was launched by the supporters’ coalition group, the Union of Fans. They issued a statement late last night expressing “shareholder concern” about the culture of huge cash rewards in the boardroom which saw shamed duo Charles Green and Brian Stockbridge double their annual salaries during their time at the club. Now they want to know if Wallace has negotiated a similar package – a deal they say could take his yearly earnings to in excess of £600,000. The statement said: “We would therefore urge Graham Wallace to disclose publicly whether or not he has ended the bonus culture within the club or whether it has continued with new appointments. “We do not feel that, under circumstances in which the club is losing large amounts of money on a monthly basis, shareholders should have to wait until the audited accounts are published to find this out. "These accounts will not be available until near the end of the year. “Can Mr Wallace, for instance, earn an annual 100 per cent bonus on his salary, which it has been said is in excess of £300,000 a year? “In the past we have seen Charles Green double his salary with a 100 per cent bonus, while ex-financial director Brian Stockbridge was also awarded a £200,000 bonus to double his salary. “Will Graham Wallace also be able to double his salary to more than £600,000 a year or has he ended that type of bonus culture within the Ibrox boardroom? “If he wants to build trust then he should be happy to rule out that this type of culture is still ongoing.” The Union of Fans also expressed dismay that the current regime has not answered questions raised last week by Dave King. He asked, among other things, if Wallace knew the club was about to run out of cash when he addressed shareholders and fans at the agm in December. The statement added: “We also still await answers to the questions posed by Dave King and in particular the question regarding Mr Wallace’s agm pronouncements about the cash position of the club, which we do not believe to have been true. “Mr Wallace cannot continue to ignore these extremely serious questions if he expects to build any sort of trust with the fans and shareholders.” Rangers last night refused to disclose Wallace’s salary details. A spokesman said: “Rangers Football Club does not comment on the details of any employee’s compensation. “Mr Wallace, as a director of Rangers plc, will have his remuneration fully disclosed in the annual accounts in the normal manner. “The club will update fans and shareholders on its business review next Friday as previously announced.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-fans-demand-know-ibrox-3426039
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More or less just an excercise and food for thought: Rangers Top Signing Targets for the Championship Written by - Jonny McFarlane After the disappointment of defeat in the Scottish Cup semi-final, it’s inevitable that with little left to play for on the pitch the focus of the fans and the media will return to Rangers corporate governance. That will be covered in great detail elsewhere, but with the football department having been arguably as poorly run as the business it’s also important to reflect on where the playing squad currently stands and whether it is strong enough to win the Championship. After a sober assessment of the team, most will feel that with a rejuvenated Hearts, signings will have to be made to guarantee safe passage into the Premiership. Assuming that Rangers will be operating on a smaller budget next year and working with what’s made available by the departure of the likes of Andy Little, Kyle Hutton and Emilson Cribari when their contracts expire, I have limited my suggestions to players currently based in the SPL and out of contract. I don’t think it is realistic to expect Rangers in their current predicament to pay any kind of transfer fee and free agents from the English game are also likely to be financially untenable given their high wages. I have identified three areas of improvement in Rangers current squad: 1. Goal scoring threat 2. Strengthening the Centre of Defence/defensive midfield 3. Creation of Chances Goal scoring threat Kris Boyd (30, Kilmarnock) Surely, Rangers number one target. A club legend and a goal machine. It’s so easy and obvious it feels daft to argue for it. I wasn’t Boyd’s biggest fan in his previous stint but this is a very different time and place. His talents are ideally suited to the current predicament and his very presence will be a big boost to the beleaguered support. His game has improved in his nomadic years abroad. Still as predatory as ever, he is better in the air and in his link up play outside the box. It seems like the penny has finally dropped that to be a great striker you have to do some hard work as well as bang in the goals. Boyd be as good as a guarantee of 25 goals in the championship. Strengthening the Centre of Defence/defensive midfield Jim Goodwin (32, St. Mirren) A natural leader on the pitch Goodwin is the St. Mirren captain. A tough tackler that opposition fans love to hate, he is equally adept in central defence or midfield. At 32 he’s no spring chicken but would add a bit of steel to Rangers weak central defensive area where Ian Black has underperformed. Gary Miller (26, St. Johnstone) Versatile and extremely pacey, St. Johnstone’s Miller knows the Championship well from his time at Ross County. A Rangers fan, the 26 year old could offer significant options having played at right back, central defence and midfield in his career. A steady-Eddie who gives consistently solid performances, Miller would provide squad depth across a few positions and would add that rare commodity, serious pace at the back. Kevin Thomson (29, Hibs) Leaving Rangers in 2010 after a successful spell in the engine room, Thomson’s career has dramatically stalled. Three years of injury and poor form have curtailed the development of a player that five or six years ago many predicted to be better than his good friend Scott Brown. Unwanted by Terry Butcher due to his introduction of a more direct style, Thomson would be a superb addition to the Gers midfield especially if he could be secured on a pay if you play deal to cushion the burden from injury problems. Jamie Hamill (27, Hearts) Hearts best player this season and their midfield general, Hamill has shown a rare combination of steel and ability. A deadball expert that guarantees goals from free kicks and penalties Hamill works his backside off from the first whistle to the last. Taking on the responsibility of being the most senior player in the Tyncastle dressing room, anyone watching Hearts can see that it is Hamill, not captain Danny Wilson that bosses his team. Gavin Gunning (23, Dundee United) One of the Premiership’s best central defenders, Gunning has been a lynchpin for Dundee United’s successful season. Still young at 23, he has plenty of room for further improvement and could be a real asset for Rangers in the years to come. Physical and good in the air, he is also a threat in the opponents box and can chip in with the odd goal. His organisational abilities have helped bring out the best in his 17-year-old defensive partner John Souter and has shown maturity beyond his years at the heart of an inexperienced but exciting team. Creation of Chances Alexei Eremenko (31, Kilmarnock) A player of immense talent, Emerenko lit up the SPL in his first spell and was nominated for Player of the year. Quick feet and an even quicker brain he is a terrific passer who can thread the ball through tight defences. Another whose career has stalled, Emerenko would represent a gamble, and Rangers would have to play around his inability to defend but he would add a potent attacking weapon to the teams armoury. A fit, mentally attuned Emerenko has the talent to be playing in a major European league, at only 31 surely the challenge to get him back there wouldn’t be beyond Rangers coaching team. James McFadden (31, Motherwell) A player who has seen his career fail to take flight in recent years, McFadden’s return to Scottish Football has been a disappointment with only fleeting glimpses of his old self. A maverick in the Ted McMinn mould, a move to a massive club like Rangers could just be what the doctor ordered for this big game performer. Able to play on the left or through the middle McFadden gives attacking options to any manager that coaches him. A player sure to excite the fans with his wonderful natural ability, McFadden would be a big gamble but one that could pay off as a creator and scorer of goals. Paul McGowan (26, St Mirren) With the tumult of a recent court case behind him, McGowan can now concentrate on the footballing career that has seen him hailed as one of the most naturally gifted attacking midfielders Scotland has produced in recent years. Comfortable in central or attacking midfield, McGowan is an accomplished chance creator with an eye for goal and a blistering shot. Rangers Report
