Search the Community

IAN DURRANT claims Walter Smith stands on the brink of pulling off his greatest achievement with Rangers. The Ibrox coach has given a rare insight into his gaffer's defiant state of mind as he tackles the club's crippling financial crisis. He predicts history will one day portray Smith as the saviour of Rangers - in the same way Fergus McCann was credited with hauling Celtic back from the verge of ruin in the summer of 1994. Durrant's position as Smith's sidekick in the stand has given him a unique insight into what makes the nine-in-a-row boss tick. He describes the 61-year-old as a man on a mission, hellbent on steering the debt-ridden club through the rockiest times in its 135-year history. Durrant said: "Fifteen years ago, Fergus McCann and all the Celtic boys rallied round and saved their club. Walter's on a mission to save Rangers. And if he's at the helm, Rangers will succeed, it's as simple as that. "In a perfect world I think he could have stepped aside two seasons ago after reaching the UEFA Cup Final. Or even last season, when he won the double, if things had gone to plan afterwards. "I thought at the end of last season, after winning the double and getting the league back - which was the most important thing - that would have been the time to bow out. "But he said to us he had unfinished business and now everyone knows what that was. The club's financial situation has given him that spark again. He's got a motivation now to prove we can get through this. "I look at his desire and the fact is, he doesn't need this. He chose to come back when we weren't as strong financially as we had been, so he had to juggle things about. "He brought in Davie Weir, who has been unbelievable, then Ugo Ehiogu and they steadied the ship. It's been a constant battle ever since, though Walter's never complained. "He will hand the club over - whether it's to Coisty, Kenny McDowall and myself or someone else - and it will still be in place. "Getting us through the next six months will be his greatest achievement. And he will do it, because his desire to succeed will take him there. He's a Rangers fan and it's his club." Smith's contract expires in January, along with that of his No2 Ally McCoist, and there have been suggestions that pressure from the bankers could mean the pair are not offered a new deal or will be asked to take a pay cut. Durrant believes that would be a bigger own goal and costlier blunder than anything seen during the global banking crisis. He said: "If anyone tried to move Walter out, they'd be making a big mistake. "I'm not saying no one else could do it, but it's an unsteady ship and slowly but surely the weight on us has been lifted in the past two weeks. You can see a difference in the whole club. "The one thing about the gaffer is he gets the right reaction from players." As Rangers' money problems piled up, Donald Muir from Lloyds Banking Group was crowbarred on to the Rangers board. It was the first visible sign drastic changes were going on behind the scenes and rumours and counter-rumours began to fly around the Ibrox club. To make matters worse, results started to suffer, culminating in back-to-back 4-1 home thrashings in the Champions League by Spanish cracks Sevilla and Romanian minnows Unirea Urziceni. Smith had seen enough and called a crisis council with his trusted coaching staff then his players. Then he went public with a bombshell statement after a league match with Hibs to say the bankers were running Rangers - and all hell broke loose! Lloyds, then Rangers, issued statements saying Smith had got it completely wrong and the club was still in charge of its affairs. But Durrant believes, as far as what was happening on the pitch was concerned, no one can dispute that Smith got it totally right. He said: "The gaffer had to ask the players for one final push and the boys took a lot of belief from him. It's not a nice position when there's talk of redundancies. It leaves a stale feeling. "You know there are other people at the club who rely on you. People who have been working here for a long time could lose their jobs. "Football isn't their job but they are affected by what happens on the park. We know there's a recession on but we have to get on with it. It's the same with the gaffer. "Obviously, he's the manager of Rangers but he's also a supporter and he was hurting. There were times when he was low - we've all been low. "You want to get on with your job and play the game, but everything that was happening with the club was making the front page of the papers rather than the back. That got to him a bit. "You can hear the tone of his voice change and you know he's hurting. But he sees Coisty, myself and Kenny as a younger group and he sees us being bubbly round about him and he gets a lift from it. He's surrounded himself by good indians. "He'd never come in and let you see him at rock bottom though, he's too proud a man to do that. But since he said his thing about the bank, and it's come out in the open, there's been a freshness about the place. "For two or three weeks the staff were tip-toeing on egg shells and we didn't know what was happening. We were all hearing the banks were going to pull the plug and it creates a bit of uncertainty. "I'm not making excuses for the Sevilla or Unirea games, but there was uncertainty which may have affected the players. "I hope it didn't because that's what we're here to deal with, so we sat down and talked about it. "We weren't playing well and yet we knew we had a good group of players - guys who had bent over backwards for us the previous season by winning a double. "Walter just wondered aloud if that uncertainty was causing problems and since then I think we've played our best stuff of the season against Hibs, Dundee United and Unirea. They were great open games." Durrant has seen the pressure mount on the other side of Glasgow too as Tony Mowbray has come under the microscope in his new job at Celtic. At times, Mowbray has questioned the quality of his players and given them an ultimatum to shape up or ship out. That's an approach Durrant never expects to see from Smith. He added: "It's the hardest job in the world. I've known Celtic boys from years ago and we all know it's the same pressure as being at Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. "You have to win every game. Every minute now, you're being scrutinised. Walter never criticises the players publicly. He takes the responsibility, he's old school that way. In football, you always say 'get the dressing room on your side' and he has that. "He has one last piece of unfinished business and I'll be damned if he doesn't do it." http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_sport/587228/Legend-reveals-how-Ibrox-boss-is-suffering-through-clubs-crisis.html

RANGERS chairman Alastair Johnston has confirmed what SportTimes told our readers nearly a fortnight ago - Lloyds Banking Group will take drastic action at the end of the season if no buyer can be found for the Ibrox club. New Gers supremo Johnston flew from his base in the USA to Glasgow this week before heading out to Romania for the club's Champions League showdown with Unirea Urziceni in Bucharest. Hours before that game he outlined the worst-case-scenario the Scottish champions face to a group of corporate fans who were attending the game. Speaking at the team hotel before kick-off in Steaua's stadium, the IMG vice-chairman told the wealthy supporters that Lloyds will implement savage cuts and dramatically scale down the ambition of the club if no buyer comes forward by next May. advertisement The club, who are now being run by the bank's man Donald Muir, are also likely to off-load star names in January should decent money be tabled. The only way to avert this eventuality, which will include most of the first-team squad being sold off to reduce substantial debts believed to total around �£30 million, is for Sir David Murray's 90 per cent stake to be snapped up. Johnston personally appealed to the business-men in Bucharest to make themselves known to the club's hierarchy if they had any intention of investing. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2534239.0.ibrox_leader_spells_it_out.php

The MIH accounts have been delayed until towards the middle of next year, so I thought I would take a quick look at a couple of major problems that they may be having, based on the last set of accounts that they issued as at January 2008. Property values/net assets Net assets (total assets less total liabilities) in the accounts were shown as �£157m. Included in this is property of �£545m. Commercial property values have fallen 30% since the start of 2008, which would equate to �£163m. If this new valuation was applied to the 2008 accounts then the Murray group would have net liabilities and would be technically insolvent. It is perfectly possible to be technically insolvent, while still being able to repay debt. This is the next area to be looked at. Repayment of debt The accounts show that MIH had �£4m of cash, but had loans of �£26m to repay in the year to 31 January 2009. Perhaps not the biggest problem in the world. However in the current year, MIH had a whacking �£406m of loans to repay, with no apparent way of doing so. Given the current banking crisis, it is not thought that MIH would have been able to renegotiate the payment terms of these loans, and must have resulted in MIH defaulting on some of its repayments and perhaps some related banking covenants. This would be what has allowed the bank to insist on the appointment of Donald Muir to the board of both Rangers and the Premier Property Group, and is apparantly giving him the power to over-rule the other Rangers board members. Lloyds obviously want to recoup as much of this cash as quickly as possible, and has them forcing changes on Rangers who had a managable financial situation, at least in the short term of the next 12-18 months. When people buy a house it is viewed a long term asset and they pay for it with a long term mortgage. Why MIH decided to finance the purchase of commercial property with short term loans is unexplainable and is possibly the biggest mistake David Murray has made in his career, and could ultimately result in MIH being wiped out. It has certainly put Rangers under threat but it must be hoped that Rangers emerge unscathed and looking forward to a bright future if a new owner can be found. Caveat - This is a very simplistic view and there are a number of assumptions made. I have not gone into technical details to make it easier for the reader to understand. Property values are said to have fallen 22.5% during 2008 and have fallen a further 7.5% in the 9 months to Sept 2010 (source IPD UK balanced Monthly Funds). However a well-respected fund manager told me that it was nearer 43%. MIH's property may be of a higher quality and may not have fallen by as much, but Ibrox is overvalued and as such I don't think 30% is unreasonable, although I am no expert on commercial property.

After all, you would think, following the most turbulent week experienced at Ibrox since Mo Johnston turned up in a blue jersey 20 years ago, that the club was on its uppers and the bailiffs at the door. In fact Rangers' debt ââ?¬â?? even allowing for the absence of current trading figures ââ?¬â?? is only a fraction of their turnover. A large fraction, to be sure ââ?¬â?? somewhere between a third to a half of annual revenue ââ?¬â?? but where does that put the club? The answer is, on the one hand, well behind Celtic, whose near-elimination of the need for an overdraft suddenly looks a lot less like penny pinching and much more like prudent fiscal stewardship, as I am sure nobody will make a point of saying at the Parkhead annual general meeting today. Celtic might be a little more sombre about this season's home record, which was dented yet again on Wednesday, this time by Hearts. That would be Hearts who, like Kilmarnock ââ?¬â?? just to pluck another example from the SPL ââ?¬â?? are in hock to the tune of multiples of their turnover, something like three or four times what they can earn in a year. In fact, the last figures available for Hearts show that the Tynecastle club was Ã?£30.47 million in debt ââ?¬â?? and that was after a debt-for-equity transfer agreement with its parent company, UBIG, worth Ã?£22 million. Mind you, Vladimir Romanov was basically rearranging the piles of money he owed to himself, as Sir David Murray used to do at Ibrox when Rangers were much, much deeper in the red than they are now. Which brings us back to the basic question ââ?¬â?? why have Lloyds waded into a situation which invites exactly the sort of adverse publicity ââ?¬â?? reaction from angry supporters ââ?¬â?? that sober-sided financial institutions traditionally shun? Well, you and I are partly responsible, assuming that we are both UK taxpayers. We own 43 per cent of the bank, which has cost us a tidy Ã?£17 billion. Lloyds has actually repaid Ã?£3 billion, but may need another Ã?£25 billion, which would involve a rights issue ââ?¬â?? the same wheeze Murray used to reduce Rangers' debt when it went stratospheric a few years ago. Why does Lloyds need more money? To keep it out of the government's toxic debt insurance scheme. Wot's dat, you ask. It's a plan to make the biggest banks identify their stinky loans, so that a safety net can be set up in case all the bad debt falls due at once, causing another economic crisis, exactly like the one we just had. And why does Lloyds not want to be insured against its rubbish debts? At this stage, I must turn the issue over to our esteemed colleagues on the business pages ââ?¬â?? or Bremner, Bird & Fortune. But the upshot is that Lloyds' banking hit-teams have been crawling over the accounts of everybody who owes them a rusty penny. Rangers, as I say, are not particularly culpable in this respect, but nor are the very many businesses who have been shell-shocked by the bank's urgency to claw back whatever cash in hand might be available and hawk off anything else that might raise a quid or two. One Scottish newspaper this week asked if Rangers have breached the terms of the club's banking covenants. A leading Scottish entrepreneur provided this column with the answer when he said: "The bank has come into hundreds ââ?¬â?? maybe thousands ââ?¬â?? of boardrooms, looked at the books, ripped up the existing covenants and slapped down new pieces of paper with very tough demands on them. It's not just Rangers." No, it's not. Murray's stake in Rangers is operated through Murray International Holdings. Four years ago, MIH funded its biggest ever period of growth with bank loans of over Ã?£500 million ââ?¬â?? but, hey, turnover was Ã?£600 million and the good times were rolling. At the last publicly available count, MIH owed Ã?£751 million, ââ?¬â?? some observers believe the next figures will be even higher ââ?¬â?? but the turnover was down and the profit negligible. So what are the options for Rangers now? A prospective owner (or owners) could buy Murray out and service the debt ââ?¬â?? or even increase it, as the Glazers have done at Manchester United. Or the new owner could acquire Murray's stock and pay off the overdraft. There are other options, too, but whatever happens, there is a complex web of relationships to unravel ââ?¬â?? Lloyds own a stake in MIH, for example. As for who runs the club, the bank is, of course, correct to say that it is not in the business of conducting the day-to-day affairs of the business it funds. But hard-nosed interrogations about business plans, turnover and cash flow have become routine in boardrooms, as have heated exchanges with the bank's representatives about how companies are supposed to conduct their business under such pressure. Rangers have not been an exception. If you doubt that, consider the utterances of another bloke called Johnston who arrived at Ibrox with a fanfare last month. Alastair Johnston, the new chairman, said: "I want to give the current management team new contracts. That is not reliant on outside finance." Then he added: "We are not run and operated by the bank but we do rely on the bank for finance. If Rangers were run by the bank, I would not be here." Uh, OK. Which leaves us with one other keynote statement from the incoming chairman, one in which he set out how the club would identify a suitable buyer. I leave you to judge it for yourself. "Rangers are going to do this in the manner you would expect of ââ?¬â?? Rangers; subtly and with class and without putting ourselves up for sale. I'm not interested in bottom feeders." How Smith managed the news One reads that Walter Smith has been, according to your pundit of choice, ââ?¬Å?embarrassedââ?¬â?¢Ã¢â?¬â?¢, ââ?¬Å?incensedââ?¬â?¢Ã¢â?¬â?¢ or ââ?¬Å?humiliatedââ?¬â?¢Ã¢â?¬â?¢ by Lloyds Bank issuing a statement to say that they do not run Rangers, after the Ibrox manager declared on Saturday that they did. Well, Walter might have been all of those things, but surely that was last week, when Unirea thumped Rangers 4-1 in what, by common consent, was the worst European result in the clubââ?¬â?¢s history. You remember ââ?¬â?? the Champions League game after which the incandescent punters roaming the streets outside the stadium jostled to deliver their verdicts to the TV news cameras. Much of the footage, being couched in terms of extreme profanity, could not be used. However, the gist of what was salvageable was clear enough ââ?¬â?? ââ?¬Å?Smith must go! Now!ââ?¬Â Four days later the manager issued his state of the nation address about the plight of the club, taking care to issue separate briefings to Sunday newspapers, the dailies and the broadcast media. At once the phone-ins and online chat rooms were deluged with messages of support from Rangers fans standing four-square with the gaffer. I do not know whether this qualifies him for the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, but for services to the entertainment industry one might suggest another accolade. Arise, Sir Walter! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/scottishpremier/rangers/6463025/Rangers-debt-is-only-a-fraction-of-their-turnover-so-why-is-there-all-this-fuss.html

Taken from FF Hello everyone, As you know, I donââ?¬â?¢t normally do such things, but given the circumstances, we feel itââ?¬â?¢s important and fair that the support should know this. Obviously I wonââ?¬â?¢t name sources, but let me assure you, I wouldnââ?¬â?¢t be posting this if a) I didnââ?¬â?¢t trust the source implicitly b) they didnââ?¬â?¢t have a 100% track record c) they werenââ?¬â?¢t as close to the situation or d) it didnââ?¬â?¢t check out when we investigated it. Allegedly; ââ?¬Â¢ The bank are panicking ââ?¬Â¢ Senior management are calling it ââ?¬Ë?a PR disasterââ?¬â?¢ ââ?¬Â¢ They want out soonest ââ?¬Â¢ Bain is not involved in the day-to-day running of the club ââ?¬Â¢ Muir is effectively running the club ââ?¬Â¢ Muir is hawking players to clubs ââ?¬Â¢ If the club is not sold at least three first team players will be sold in January in an attempt to raise Ã?£10m. This will allow the bank to drop the price for the club to Ã?£20m. They believe this might encourage further investors. The pressure that is being brought to bear on Lloyds IS having an effect. Keep up the good work Bears. Dangerous times, but potential sunshine ahead.

Published on 1 Nov 2009 Talks have been held about inviting thousands of Rangers supporters to help fund a rescue package for the financially-stricken club. South Africa-based millionaire Dave King remains the leading contender to buy out current owner Sir David Murray, with his intentions expected to be revealed this month. Scotland-based businessmen Douglas Park and Paul Murray have also been linked to a joint bid with Mr King to rescue Rangers, who are Ã?£30million in debt, but no moves have yet been made. But the Sunday Herald can reveal that tentative talks have taken place involving parties interested in taking over Rangers about creating a revolutionised club answerable to "members", who would pay an annual fee on top of their season ticket costs. This is the successful and popular model of "social ownership" found at leading clubs such as Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain. Essentially, this could be ââ?¬Ë?Plan Bââ?¬â?¢ if Mr King, or others, donââ?¬â?¢t emerge and firm up their interest in the club. The proposal would mean thousands of rank-and-file Rangers fans investing to lend financial muscle to some of the parties interested in taking Turn to page 2 Rangers out of the grip of Lloyds Banking Group, which has stepped in after the club fell into heavy debt under Sir David Murray. In return, the fans could have perhaps 33% or more of the shareholding as well as a couple of representatives on an entirely new board of directors. With money being poured in by thousands of fans, as per the Barcelona model, Rangers could become the first major members-owned club in British football, albeit that a handful of significant investors would have large individual stakes and would occupy some of the office-bearing positions. The extent of Rangersââ?¬â?¢ financial crisis was revealed last weekend when manager Walter Smith claimed the bank was running the club. Lloyds subsequently denied that but the bankââ?¬â?¢s interests are now represented on the board by new director Donald Muir. Rangers will not sign any new players in the January transfer window and may have to sell a senior one such as Steven Davis if Lloyds is determined to claw back Ã?£3m of the Ã?£30m owed to it. Sir David still owns 92% of the shareholding, but essentially Lloyds is dictating the terms of any eventual takeover. Mr King is uncomfortable about the current asking price and is now involved in a game of poker with the bank, which is believed to have been left reeling by the reaction from the Rangers support at large after our sister paper, The Herald, revealed the extent of their influence, the threat of administration and plans for swingeing cuts. Mr King is worth up to Ã?£300m but he is reluctant to meet the asking price of Ã?£1 for every Ã?£1 of debt ââ?¬â?? Lloyds is holding out for Ã?£30m ââ?¬â?? in the hope that it will eventually drop. Nothing will happen until Lloyds or Mr King change their stance. But if Mr King eventually walks away from a potential deal, others could step in and then ask fans to become fee-paying "members" in order to build a serious reserve of cash. The success of the venture would rely on the businessmen demonstrating that they were answerable to the fans who pay to become members. Fans spokesman David Edgar last night told the Sunday Herald that opening the club to ownership by members was an exciting, innovative idea. He claimed supporters would answer the call. "We have been exploring various avenues towards this with some of the potential investors," said Mr Edgar, of the Rangers Supporters Trust. "I think there is an interest and a desire in a sort of joint initiative, where you would have a major shareholder and also the fans playing a significant role in the club. I know this is something people are investigating. "Any new regime coming in has to understand that the fans do want to work with them. "But I would say that from the people we have been speaking to there are positive noises about that. "They understand that having the fans onside ââ?¬â?? via a membership scheme where people can invest and contribute to the football club, and have a say in the football club ââ?¬â?? works well abroad." Rangers fans could, for example, be asked to pay Ã?£1,000 each to become members, with payments spread over five years. At that level 30,000 fans buying membership would raise Ã?£30m. Sir David tried a share flotation in 2004, when Rangersââ?¬â?¢ debt soared to almost Ã?£74m, but it was snubbed by supporters. Of the Ã?£51m raised at the time, Sir David himself contributed Ã?£50m. "That was effectively a referendum on David Murrayââ?¬â?¢s performance," said Mr Edgar. "That was the fans saying ââ?¬Ë?you got us into this, you have to do something about itââ?¬â?¢. "If there was a new, dynamic, go-ahead regime coming into Rangers the fans would want to get involved and theyââ?¬â?¢d want to back it." Meanwhile, supporters upset by how Lloyds has introduced an unforgiving budgetary plan at Ibrox will protest with banners during todayââ?¬â?¢s SPL match against Dundee United at Tannadice. The banners will refer to new director Donald Muir as "the enemy within". http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/rangers-rescue-plan-b-ask-fans-to-help-buy-the-club-1.929642

Please sign and fire a warning shot across their bows - see if they like it up them. http://www.petitiononline.com/gers52/petition.html Please copy this across to all other forums and forward the link to every bluenose in your addressbook. Wording of the petition: We, loyal supporters of The Rangers Football Club, express our dismay at the apparent lack of support given by the Lloyds Banking Group to our Club. We appeal to your commercial good sense (to the extent that such still exists within your discredited, 43% state-owned company) to continue to provide Rangers with the necessary facilities to ensure our success. We will have no hesitation in calling for a nationwide boycott of all your brands should such support be withdrawn: Lloyds TSB, Bank of Scotland, Halifax, C&G, Black Horse, Intelligent Finance, Scottish Widows, Clerical Medical, Birmingham Midshires, Lex, St James's Place Bank, Insight Investment.

I don't know if this has been posted before but it answers a lot of questions i had about why Rangers were so important to Lloyds.

Here we go again!!! by Matthew Lindsay FORMER Rangers boss Alex McLeish is lining up a �£3million bid to lure Ibrox midfielder Steven Davis to Birmingham City in the January transfer window. And if no new buyer is found for the crisis-hit Gers soon then McLeish, who has also been linked with moves for Celtic duo Scott Brown and Aiden McGeady, will definitely get his man. McLeish has been handed a bumper �£40m war chest by new Birmingham owner Carson Yeung in order to safeguard the St Andrews club's place in the lucrative Barclays Premier League. And Big Eck has identified Northern Ireland captain Davis as the perfect man to help boost his promoted team's bid for top-flight survival down in England. advertisement The Scot would like to reunite Davis with Barry Ferguson - the pair teamed up last season as Rangers landed the Scottish title - in the Birmingham boiler room. He would like them to replace his ageing duo Lee Bowyer and Lee Carsley. Despite claims that Lloyds Bank is not, as manager Walter Smith has suggested, running Rangers, no denial has been made of reports the entire first-team squad at Ibrox will be put up for sale if no new owner is found. And unless South Africa-based Scottish multi-millionaire Dave King, or another interested party, can seize control then Davis will go as part of a bid to drive down debts that are estimated at �£30 million. Former Aston Villa man Davis signed for Rangers from Fulham for �£3m at the start of last season after a successful loan spell in Glasgow. But Rangers could be forced to sell one of their prized assets to make a payment on their crippling debt unless a new investor rides to their rescue. Despite a spate of injuries at the moment, Gers manager Smith is well covered in Davis's position with Maurice Edu, Pedro Mendes and Kevin Thomson all at his disposal. McLeish is also reported to be eyeing a double raid on Celtic for Scotland central midfielder Brown and Republic of Ireland winger Aiden McGeady in the January transfer window for a joint fee of around �£12 million. Elsewhere, Smith has had his spirits lifted as he prepares for a difficult away game at Dundee United on Sunday with the return of Kirk Broadfoot to first-team training at Murray Park. The full-back cum centre-half has been sidelined with a foot injury since the League Cup Final against Celtic last March. His fellow long-term-crock Edu is set to join him in training next week. Rangers Player of the Year Madjid Bougherra will not be involved on Sunday, but could come back in the Champions League rematch with Unirea Urziceni in Romania on Wednesday. Lee McCulloch, who sustained a thigh injury in the 1-1 draw against Hibs last Saturday, is also making good progress. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2533621.0.0.php

I know what the collective opinion is amongst our fans as regards the various sports writers up here, but over the last week, nearly all of the well known ones have come out and said that they seriously doubt whether Walter will stick around long enough to see the club under new ownership. Walter's clearly not stupid and his remark about Lloyds running the show was obviously intended to provoke the reaction that it has. So are these journos all just jumping on the bandwagon, taking 2+2 (his comments along with the hard time he had at Everton during cost-cutting) to make 5, or are they basing their stories on info received indirectly from Walter? We all know that the Scottish football community is pretty small and there's no way to keep a story underwraps for too long before it leaks out. On the one hand Walter clearly loves the club, hence why there has been mention that he'd continue to work without a contract. On the other, is his resignation maybe just his next planned step to force some sort of end-game from Lloyds, MIH and a prospective new owner?

The Rangers Supporters Assembly, Rangers Worldwide Alliance, Rangers Supporters' Trust and Rangers Supporters Association united today to urge the Lloyds Banking Group and the Murray Group to facilitate the sale of Rangers FC. Rangers fans have endured unnecessary and damaging uncertainty over the future of the Club and it is now time for this to be resolved. The current situation cannot continue ââ?¬â?? it is imperative that a change in ownership is completed now. We welcome recent statements from Lloyds that they are not running the Club and are providing support in difficult times. However, the only meaningful way they can do that in the best interests of Rangers FC and their fans is to help a takeover be completed quickly. Rangers FC are Scotland's champions, a worldwide brand with fans in all corners of the globe. Many fans are personal and business customers of the Lloyds Banking Group (which now includes Halifax Bank of Scotland). Lloyds must understand that Rangers fans will quickly withdraw business if there is any risk whatsoever of the Club's current situation being worsened by their actions. On behalf of all Rangers supporters we urge those involved to facilitate a takeover deal quickly, end damaging speculation and engage the wider support in taking Scotland's leading football club forward. http://www.thebluenose.co.uk/

An article by Contacts on RM, which hopefully he doesn't mind me reproducing. ================== If anyone ever doubted how much a Rangers man Walter Smith is then Saturday and the last couple of days again proved beyond doubt his love for the club. For 9 days now our club has been torn to shreds by Donald Muir and Lloyds yet Walter has put the club before himself and brought the subject out in the open when everyone else has been denying it. I have it on very good authority that our club has had a torrid time of since Mr Muir joined the club as director and hatchet man for the bank. His sole remit is to get as much of the bank�s money back as possible. There is a business plan to get the money back but no plan for the short, medium or long term future of the club. Donald Muir�s business plan has shocked everyone connected with the club and although those within have tried to reject his plan he is having none of it. His plan consists of selling at least 5 players in the January transfer window with no replacements other than the young reserve players. He is not offering the management team a new contract and expects them to work on a monthly deal. He is making decisions daily that result in the bank getting as much money out of Rangers Football Club with no care of any knock on effect. He will, of course, tell anyone that listens to him that he is only doing his job but none of that matters to any of us bears. The story in the Herald and the Evening Times are 100% accurate! Please do not doubt what has been written! Please do not doubt that our club was within days of administration! Please do not doubt Lloyds Group do not give a damn about Rangers Football Club! We all have to ask ourselves why Walter would want to make statements on the crisis at our club if he was not deeply concerned. Walter could sit back (like some of the players appear to be doing) and take the money but he is not and his love of the club has got him out fighting. Some may not want to believe this but Martin Bain has been constantly fighting the bank on every decision and defending the club to the hilt but these guys are ruthless. The bank has every intention of getting every penny they can from Rangers and they are happy for Rangers to be operated like a small scale SPL club with no ambition or desire. As well as selling players they want to increase ticket prices and implement huge cost cutting measures across every department. After reading this you would have thought they would happily sell the club at a reduced asking price as they have done with thousands of other businesses during the credit crunch but word has it that they are proving hard to deal with the people who want to invest in the club - or could there be preferred bidders? Now as fans what do we do? Obviously at first hand our options are limited but say we could get enough fans together who bank with the Lloyds Banking Group and start closing our personal / business accounts and move them elsewhere then surely they would have to sit up and take note that our fans are not going to sit back and let our club be asset stripped. Now I am not yet starting an appeal but I want all Rangers fans who hold an account with the Lloyds group to start looking around to see what other banks are offering. Make the phone call or look online at how easy it is to move banks and change your accounts over. Let�s take it a stage further and suggest that we start to boycott media organisations that take money from the Lloyds group and let us see how they feel when other people get too involved. Let us see the reaction from their top brass when their pathetic bullying of our club backfires on them. Walter has put the club before any personal gain and now it is time for the fans to take stock of the last few days and decide how we as a body of hundreds of thousands decide how we should take this matter further.

From the BBC website.

Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston will jet into Glasgow early next month for summit talks with Ibrox fans. The financially-troubled SPL champs have pencilled in a meeting with the influential Rangers Supporters Assembly on December 9. Johnston has failed to engage with the Light Blues legions since Walter Smith admitted at the weekend the Lloyds Banking Group are effectively running the club. However, the sports management boss, who is based in the USA, will address their fears as Assembly president Andy Kerr admitted the situation at the club has never been more critical. Kerr said: "The chairman had agreed to meet with us before the announcement at the weekend. We're keen to establish a relationship, even more so in light of the issues that have arisen and which are causing anxiety to all fans. "This needs to get sorted as soon as possible and supporters are keen to play an active role in helping to turn around the club at this pivotal point. "In line with most Rangers fans, I was stunned whenWalter made his announcement about the influence of the bank but we're glad he brought the issue to the table. "It's incumbent on all parties involved in any takeover talks to strike a deal, even if there must be compromise and ground conceded to get it done. "We're not finger pointing, but the ownership of the club must change. The Murray Group can no longer take us anywhere but down. If there's a genuine bid on the table we hope a deal can be done to the benefit of the club http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2009/10/29/new-rangers-chief-alastair-johnston-to-hold-fans-summit-over-crisis-club-s-future-86908-21781507/

Getting rid of Branches in Scotland. ''Lloyds is set to be told to sell hundreds of branches along with their customers. Lloyds, which bought rival HBOS last year, has the largest branch network in the UK, with 3,000 outlets, and almost 30 per cent of the current account market. The Commission warned Lloyds it may be forced to divest its flagship Halifax brand, but the bank is thought to have negotiated a less drastic penalty. Among the assets it is expected to sell is its Lloyds TSB franchise in Scotland, which has 200 branches'' http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6893554.ece

Scottish secretary Jim Murphy held talks with Rangers' bankers Lloyds on Monday as the financial giant insisted they were not running the club. Murphy stepped in following reports the banking group, 43 per cent of which owned by the taxpayer, had threatened the club with administration over its debts. Ranger boss Walter Smith claimed on Saturday the bank was now effectively overseeing the club's spending and that all the players had been up for sale since January. Current majority shareholder Sir David Murray has declared his intention to sell his interest in the Light Blues, who are carrying debts of about �£30million. A Scotland Office spokesman confirmed that Murphy today spoke to Lloyds. He said: "The Secretary of State for Scotland spoke to Lloyds Bank today about the importance of the bank's support for Rangers Football Club. "There are clearly financial difficulties facing Scottish football clubs - both large and small. Our national game is important to Scotland and will come through this recession and the wider pressures in football." In a statement on Monday, the bank said: "We do not run or manage the companies that we bank - that is, quite properly, the responsibility of the management. "Given the recent press coverage, we would therefore like to be clear that Rangers FC is neither operated or run by Lloyds Banking Group. "We would also like to be clear that Sir David Murray's decision to step down as chairman was a personal decision and not at the behest of Lloyds Banking Group." It is understood the bank has not raised the prospect of Rangers being placed in administration if club bosses failed to introduce a series of cost-cutting measures at Ibrox. The statement added: "The board of Rangers FC is developing and implementing a sustainable business plan and we have agreed to support this plan. "The group is aware of the unique position that football occupies across many Scottish communities and has been working with Scottish football clubs, including Rangers." Lloyds is 43.5 per cent owned by taxpayers after the government bailed it out to the tune of billions of pounds at the height of the credit crunch. Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott said earlier on Monday: "Football fans, even those on the other side of the Old Firm, won't understand why taxpayers' money that's keeping this bank afloat could now be used to push Rangers into receivership. "If the Lloyds group can take down Rangers, there won't be many professional clubs left in Scotland." Smith's contract and that of assistant boss Ally McCoist expires in January. But Rangers chief executive Martin Bain has insisted the club will not be forced to sell players in the January transfer window. Echoing the club's statement from yesterday, he said: "The club can confirm that while there have been tentative enquiries regarding the sale of the club, there are none that have realised an offer. "As stated by Sir David Murray, it is not necessarily about price, but the new owner having the capability to take the club forward that remains essential." Bain said Lloyds is "supportive" of the club during a period of "difficult economic conditions." Smith has refused to answer questions about the club's claim that no players need to be sold in January. After Saturday's 1-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League draw with Hibernian at Ibrox, Smith claimed "the players at the club have been up for sale since January". At today's press conference ahead of Tuesday night's Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final at Dundee, Smith replied to the first question about the topic by saying: "They (the club) issued a statement and that's it." The next enquiry was met by a similar response, Smith saying: "I said the club issued a statement last night and that's it as far as I'm concerned, that's it finished with." Quizzed again, the Rangers boss repeated broadly the same answer. Smith, who later threatened to walk out if the subject was broached one more, did admit the current negativity around the club is having an impact. He said: "If there is a level of negativity around the place, it affects everyone, not just the players. "The thing that we have to concentrate on is the results of the games. "We had an extremely poor result in the Champions League last week and we had a decent game with Hibs, and both teams deserve a bit of credit for the way they played. "Now we have a difficult cup tie coming up and, while there may be levels of negativity around the place, we don't and can't allow it to affect us. "You've got to overcome that aspect of it."

DAVID Murray jnr last night insisted his father's company are still in charge of operations at Rangers and claimed "frustration" prompted Walter Smith's observation that Lloyds Banking Group are now running the financially-troubled Ibrox club. Smith yesterday refused to elaborate on his weekend comments, the manager even threatening to walk out of his broadcast media conference at Murray Park unless questions were restricted to tonight's Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final against Dundee at Dens Park. Lloyds later issued a statement denying they are in control of Rangers, who are currently �£30 million in debt, and firmly refuting one newspaper report which stated they had forced Sir David Murray's decision to step down as chairman of the club in August this year. Murray's son, managing director of the Murray Capital investment arm of Murray International Holdings who own almost 90 per cent of Rangers, told The Scotsman the club and Lloyds Banking Group are united in their search for a new owner. "The bank are going to continue to support the club until such time as we find somebody to buy the club," said Murray. "That is what we are trying to do. What they are trying to get towards is a sustainable business plan and so are we, if we can find someone who wants to buy the club. We have said that for a long time. Walter's comment came from a little bit of frustration. "My father doesn't have anything to add to what has been said. As we stand, there are no firm offers for the club. It is business as normal." In their most recent accounts, Murray International had a net debt of �£760 million, of which �£704 million was from bank loans, with �£432 million payable within one to two years. Lloyds now own an 11.4 per cent stake in Murray International, but Murray jnr says that has no bearing on the situation at Rangers. "They are separate issues," he added. "This is a separate matter to do with Rangers, there is nothing to say at this stage about Murray International. There is no direct correlation." Speculation surrounding the level of influence of Lloyds Banking Group at the club has been intense since the appointment of Donald Muir, a 50-year-old "business transformation specialist", as their representative on the Ibrox board of directors. Among Muir's assignments during the current recession was the rescue of the Northern Rock building society. But a Lloyds spokesman again insisted yesterday that they are working in tandem with the existing Rangers management team, rather than directing operations. "Lloyds Banking Group is a bank which provides finance to many companies and households across the country," said the spokesman. "Our interest is in helping those customers grow and prosper. We do not run or manage the companies that we bank. That is, quite properly, the responsibility of the management. "Given the recent press coverage, we would therefore like to be clear that Rangers FC is neither operated or run by Lloyds Banking Group. We would also like to be clear that Sir David Murray's decision to step down as Chairman was a personal decision and not at the behest of Lloyds Banking Group. "The Board of Rangers FC is developing and implementing a sustainable business plan and we have agreed to support this plan. The Group is aware of the unique position that football occupies across many Scottish communities and has been working with Scottish football clubs, including Rangers, for many years." But Smith's appreciation of the circumstances he is working under at Rangers, where he has been unable to buy a player since August 2008 and forced to radically cut the size of his squad, make it plain his concerns are valid. Clearly mindful of the reaction provoked by his weekend comments, Smith was unwilling to engage in further discussion on the issue with the media yesterday. "They (the club] issued a statement and that's it," was his response to the opening question on the financial position. The next enquiry received a similar answer, Smith saying: "I said the club issued a statement last night and that's it as far as I'm concerned, that is it finished with." He did, however, stress again that the speculation surrounding the club and the future of both its management and playing staff, is having an impact. "If there is a level of negativity around the place, it affects everyone, not just the players," he said. "The thing that we have to concentrate on is the results of the games. "We had an extremely poor result in the Champions League last week and we had a decent game with Hibs, and both teams deserve a bit of credit for the way they played. "Now we have a difficult cup tie coming up and, while there may be levels of negativity around the place, we don't and can't allow it to affect us. You've got to overcome that aspect of it." http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/Rangers-still-being-run-by.5767861.jp

Exclusive By Darryl Broadfoot WALTER SMITH has reacted furiously to the Lloyds Banking Group statement released yesterday that implies the Rangers' manager lied about the bank's control of the club. The Evening Times understands Smith was apoplectic at the wording of the bank's response to our exclusive revelations yesterday. They outlined the critical condition of the club, the growing influence of the bank in its affairs and the split that has emerged within the boardroom. advertisement Smith feels he has now been left in an impossible position and conveyed his deep unhappiness to the hierarchy. Indeed, he is now so fed-up with the internal politics and deception at play he could leave as soon as a new owner is found, even if it means leaving before the end of the season or before his contract ends in January. He has also received the unanimous support of the fans after Lloyds statement elicited an angry response across fans' websites and phone-ins. The statement, released last night, included the incendiary phrase: "Given the recent press coverage, we would therefore like to be clear Rangers FC is neither operated nor run by Lloyds Banking Group." Smith, 61, is so disenchanted with life at Ibrox he felt compelled to speak out publicly after the 1-1 draw against Hibernian on Saturday. In a further twist, the Evening Times understands chief executive Martin Bain will not walk away from the club despite growing speculation the bank is keen to remove the man who has steadfastly refused to agree with the swingeing programme of cuts mooted at the last board meeting. Gordon McKie, the chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union, has been linked as a possible replacement but if Bain is sacked, he will be followed out the door by Smith and Alastair Johnston, the chairman, in protest at the bank's decision. This would effectively leave Donald Muir, the Lloyds-employed turnaround specialist appointed to the board, as the man effectively in charge of the club, which is around �£30m in debt. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2533280.0.0.php

Martin Bain will today be replaced as CEO of Rangers by Scottish Rugby Union chief Gordon McKie. It appears that the Lloyds Banking Group, who are looking to make further savings across the business, have realised that Bain's exorbitant �£650,000 annual salary is not good value for money, something many supporters have thought for a long time. It appears Walter Smith's quotes about the bank running the club was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the upcoming changes at the club. As we reported earlier, several reliable sources seem certain that current shareholder Dave King will launch a take-over bid as early as this week, with rumours of a meeting between the club and an interested party holding talks on Tuesday doing the rounds. Keep it on Vital Rangers and the Vital Rangers forums for all the latest information. http://www.rangers.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=516474

HE is the prophet who was depicted as a pariah. Yesterday, as the extent of Rangersââ?¬â?¢ financial frailties and boardroom politics were graphically exposed in these pages, the warnings of Hugh Adam, the former chairman and managing director of Rangers Development, were re-released for public consumption. The man who brought Ã?£18m of new investment to the club through the Rangers Pools since 1971 ââ?¬â?? that equates to around Ã?£70m in todayââ?¬â?¢s money ââ?¬â?? has been a consistent, if reluctant, critic of Sir David Murrayââ?¬â?¢s bold business strategy. Seven years ago, Adam sounded a dire warning that raised questions over the very existence of one of Scottish footballââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬â?? and Scottish societyââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬â?? apparently indestructible institutions. He did so while unloading 
his 59,000 shares in the club, on 
the basis that, under Murrayââ?¬â?¢s methods, they were heading towards worthlessness. As Rangersââ?¬â?¢ debts mounted at the height of the excess of the Dick Advocaat era, Adam described bankruptcy as ââ?¬Å?the logical conclusionââ?¬Â for a team in financial free-fall. ââ?¬Å?The banks are well-known for being a bit more tolerant of companies whose core business is a popular pursuit like football but there is a limit to how far backwards they can bend to accommodate you,ââ?¬Â he said back then, not quite to universal approval. His stance was ridiculed by some within Ibrox as the haverings of a bitter and doddery former director, while his decision to sell his shares and spill the beans in public was regarded as treasonable among Murrayââ?¬â?¢s most fervent supporters. Seven years on, and in spite of Murray dipping in to his funds to take a massive bite out of the clubââ?¬â?¢s debts a few years ago, Adamââ?¬â?¢s predictions have gained a new-found credibility since Lloyds Banking Group began to exert significantly greater pressure on the club to recoup the current Ã?£30m overdraft. Yesterday, from his home in Burnbank, Lanarkshire, the 
84-year-old stressed that he derived no satisfaction from this belated vindication and instead spoke with sadness at Rangersââ?¬â?¢, and Murrayââ?¬â?¢s, plight. He remained adamant, though, that Rangersââ?¬â?¢ perilous position is not simply as a consequence of the depressed football climate. ââ?¬Å?When I made those comments seven years ago I was ridiculed by some,ââ?¬Â said Adam. ââ?¬Å?We [David Murray and he] got on fine in the beginning, but, with David, it gets to the stage that if you do not agree with him he casts you aside. ââ?¬Å?I did not agree with the way 
he operated and I told him that. 
It doesnââ?¬â?¢t give me any satisfaction to see the situation as it is but I did raise concerns at the time and was ridiculed for raising them.ââ?¬Â Yesterday, the Lloyds Banking Group released a statement stressing they were not in control of the club, despite Walter Smith, the increasingly exasperated manager, stating categorically that they were. Adam believes the entrepreneurial instincts that served Murray well, both in the salad days of his steel empire and as the driving force of the Rangers revolution, ultimately became his undoing. ââ?¬Å?David was a salesman, a super-salesman. I have enormous respect for him for the adversity he overcame but when I would express my concerns to him ââ?¬â?? as I did various times ââ?¬â?? he would nod, but I knew he wasnââ?¬â?¢t listening to me. He was entitled to ignore me but I wasnââ?¬â?¢t for sitting about like a dummy.ââ?¬Â Adam is keen to ensure that his updated remarks are not viewed as
a gleeful ââ?¬Ë?I told you soââ?¬â?¢ at a vulnerable former chairman. If anything, he believes that Murray deserves to leave with a fanfare and not a whimper after 20 years in control and having financed the nine in a row era and a bold ââ?¬â?? if, in retrospect, ill-advised ââ?¬â?? assault on sustained Champions League credibility. Rangersââ?¬â?¢ new challenge ââ?¬â?? along with the bank ââ?¬â?? is to attract a new buyer. Adam is not convinced that Dave King, the South Africa-based businessmen, is a certainty to throw his undisclosed wealth down Scottish footballââ?¬â?¢s black hole. ââ?¬Å?Even if I had the money I wouldnââ?¬â?¢t buy Rangers just now. Would you?ââ?¬Â he asks. ââ?¬Å?If anything, I would rather buy Celtic now because they are run more prudently by good, strong people. Television revenue is not going to increase, fans are not buying into it any more and there is no prospect of England on the horizon. For guys like Abramovich at Chelsea, the television money is there, while his own commitment is relatively loose change.ââ?¬Â ââ?¬Å?I am 84, so it is a bit late in the day for me to come up with a business plan but what I would do is lobby the Dutch, Portuguese and Scandinavians regularly to champion the cause for an Atlantic League.ââ?¬Â Adamââ?¬â?¢s warnings from seven years ago now command greater credibility than that fabled competition. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/interview-hugh-adam-seven-years-after-sounding-a-dire-warning-over-rangers-future-1.928796

From the Herald today. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/exclusive-the-board-v-the-bank-rangers-entire-first-team-squad-face-being-sold-to-the-highest-bidder-1.928477 ''Rangers� entire first-team squad will be systematically sold and replaced internally from next season, with the consequent dismantling of the coaching staff, if the club�s senior management do not emerge victorious from a cataclysmic behind-the-scenes struggle with Lloyds Banking Group''.

RANGERS manager Walter Smith last night admitted bankers are now running the club as the full extent of its financial predicament began to career into view. Donald Muir's appointment to the club's board as a non-executive director at the behest of HBOS, now owned by Lloyds Banking Group, nine days ago appears to have been the point when control of Rangers' affairs was removed from the club's hands. Muir is a specialist in assisting ailing companies and officially joined the Rangers board to help them in their "strategic business interests". Both chairman Alastair Johnston and chief executive Martin Bain had previously denied the banks were closing in since owner David Murray stepped down as chairman on 26 August, but Smith spoke freely last night of the new reality he described as "obvious to everyone". It comes at the end of a week in which Murray's company, Murray International Holdings, announced it would be delaying publishing of its accounts for six months. This has been interpreted by some in the business community as a step taken to prevent scrutiny of just how incapable it is of propping up Rangers with the club's debts rising above the Ã?£30 million mark. And it comes at the end of a week in which Rangers suffered their most humiliating defeat in 53 years competing in Europe with their 4-1 thumping by Romanians Unirea Urziceni in the Champions League "As far as I am aware that is the situation," said Smith when asked about reports the bank was in control of the club at his post-match conference following his side's 1-1 draw with Hibernian. "David Murray stepped down and they've placed a representative of the bank on the board. "It is obviously not a good situation. It is not a situation anybody wants the club to be in. It's been up for sale for a while. It's not the bank's fault. If the bank had to take over in the circumstances they have, they are not going to invest in a football club. I think Rangers have been fairly honest about their situation. The players at the club have been on sale since January. We haven't bought a player for... in this transfer window, that will be 18 months. I'm very surprised anyone can't work out the situation. These circumstances have been here for quite a while now. And, despite some headlines, I've never complained about it and I'm not complaining about it now. I'm just saying it is a fact, and a fact of life that a lot of companies throughout the world are having a struggle at the present minute. When David Murray stepped away from the club I felt that was a bad thing for Rangers in the sense that he's tried as hard as he could over 20 years to invest in the club. Now we don't have that situation. So the quicker that gets cleared up, the better it will be." It is Murray who is responsible for running up liabilities he patently now cannot meet ââ?¬â?? a fact some have blamed on the economic downturn. Yet there were plenty of alarm bells when he allowed Smith to become the country's biggest spending manager on his return in 2007, before reacting to the 2008 Champions League qualifying exit by sanctioning an Ã?£8m spend on players that produced a Ã?£3m "hole" in the club's budget that effectively led to the entire squad being put up for sale only six months later. The club has, in effect, been for sale for four years but despite a number of reports of potential buyers, none has been found. Yesterday there were suggestions that board member Dave King, who invested Ã?£25m in the club in 2000, and another unnamed group were considering lodging an offer within the week but these were dismissed by sources at the club. Smith said he was unaware of any possible sale. "I'm not involved in that aspect, you'd need to ask others if there was anything like that," he said. The implications for Smith's bid to retain the title will only emerge over time, but the fact the bankers have decided to exert control can only increase the likelihood there will be a demand for Rangers to cash in on Madjid Bougherra, their most valuable playing asset, in January. Already, with injuries to the Algerian and to Pedro Mendes, Kevin Thomson and Lee McCulloch, who came off yesterday, Rangers are running low on senior players. Smith conceded this was a process that was likely to accelerate and could only be offset by promoting from within. "It is maybe not the proper time to be blooding these boys (such as Andrew Little and Danny Wilson] but I don't think we are going to have much option shortly," said Smith. Rangers' financial meltdown must also place question marks against Smith's own future. His present contract expires in only eight weeks, as does that of assistant Ally McCoist and first-team coach Kenny McDowall. As yet the three have not been offered extensions. However, it is believed that if a new buyer was found that wanted to retain his services he would be keen on staying. Failure to see eye-to-eye with new regime has Smith talking himself towards exit door LONG-suffering Rangers fans are seeing their beloved club up for sale and seemingly rudderless, with Sir David Murray gone from the scene and a chairman who resides in the USA. Now they may be about to lose their talismanic manager. Walter Smith may even be gone in the next week or two, after his comments last night which confirmed that he has no money to spend and no control over the purse strings at Ibrox. Instead, the bankers have taken over. In the world of football finance, banks do not expose themselves to customer dissatisfaction by placing directors on a board ââ?¬â?? new director Donald Muir has no formal links to Lloyds Banking Group, for instance. They do not need to do that. Lloyds ââ?¬â?? a group which has no great track record in football sponsorship ââ?¬â?? simply dictates how Rangers spend the bank's money. Or in this case, not spend it. And it is Lloyds' money that Rangers spend. When it took over the crippled HBOS, it inherited Rangers' debts, probably north of Ã?£30 million, and any potential buyer will be saddled with that debt right away. With the benefit of hindsight, everyone who thought the Murray era would end sweetly and that there would be a swift transfer to a rich new owner was looking at the situation through rose-tinted glasses. When a businessman as powerful as Murray moves out of any company, the reverberations are long and loud and highly transformational. Lots of players have gone as a side-effect of Murray's withdrawal. Now it may be Smith's turn. There is more than one coat on a shoogly nail at Ibrox. Persistent rumours have surrounded chief executive Martin Bain, with Gordon McKie, chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union, touted as a possible replacement should Bain, too, decide that the end of the Murray era is time to pursue new opportunities. But Smith's departure would be colossal for the club. Alex McLeish admitted he left Ibrox in 2006 because Sir David Murray would not fund new signings. So could Smith do a McLeish? The trouble for Smith is that he eats, breathes and sleeps Rangers. Cut him and he would bleed royal blue. But how long can he go on in the humiliating position for a Rangers manager of not being able to decide who he can buy and sell? How long will a proud man take being told what to do by a bank manager? Smith may even now be planning his exit strategy ââ?¬â?? a term financiers understand ââ?¬â?? and indeed, it may even be under way. Or else why speak out as he did last night? The fans, who are always kept in the dark, may like to ask other questions. Exactly who is in the frame to buy Rangers? If there are no buyers, what happens next? What support will Lloyds continue to give? Will there be money to buy the new players the club desperately needs? It should make for an interesting AGM, and this time no one can call for Murray to go, because he already has. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport/Uncertainty-grips-Ibrox.5764251.jp

Smith offered a new three-year contract? Ever decreasing circles: Radical change of philosophy required at Ibrox Darryl Broadfoot Published on 30 Sep 2009 Rangers find themselves in a cycle of helplessness similar to that which has rendered Gordon Brown a phantom figurehead of a soon-to-be shadow government. After the Prime Minister failed to rally a fractious Labour Party at their annual conference in Brighton, the Scottish champions hardly delivered a confidence motion before their new leader, Alastair Johnston. It was not defeat to Sevilla but the manner in which it was inflicted that has highlighted Rangers’ inadequacies at Champions League level and, frankly, exposed the collective tedium that now threatens their more modest domestic ambitions. Rangers performed prettily but without any hint of penetration until Sevilla began perforating Allan McGregor’s resistance. In the clamour to accuse the novice Swedish referee, Jonas Eriksson, of costing Rangers a penalty and a chance of victory, the most pertinent observation was glossed over. Walter Smith, a manager in the midst of a battle of wills between the board and the bank, could not have been more damning on the limitations of his team. “Once we have to open up and play, that becomes a problem for us,” he said. It was a comment that provoked nary a splutter amid the debris of a 4-1 lashing but, in the final analysis, such brutal honesty has been lacking from the hierarchy throughout this period of financial and qualitative downsizing. Rangers, and Celtic for that matter, are now so far removed from Europe’s elite they might as well take their curious little rivalry to Kazakhstan. During Johnston’s inaugural speech, he spoke optimistically on the challenge of removing the club’s dependency on external financing – ie the overdraft facility agreed with HBOS/Lloyds – while ensuring the club’s readiness for football’s next big revolution. Such talk is wildly presumptuous for a team who have won just two of their last 17 European ties inside 90 minutes, against Werder Bremen and Sporting Lisbon. It is a record of achievement that, superficially at any rate, is akin to cannon fodder, yet this sequence somehow took Rangers to a UEFA Cup final. There remains a strong whiff of denial regarding Rangers’ health, both in finance and on the football field. Smith, for one, has had enough of the propaganda. It is understood that he has been offered a three-year extension that would keep him at Ibrox until retirement age by the board members who wish to be part of a new order at Ibrox. At the same time, the bank have steadfastly refused to entertain the idea of any significant contracts being awarded to strengthen the team. It is this anomaly that leaves Smith less than enthusiastic at the prospect of staying on long term. The 61-year-old had not intended hanging around this long but the misery of last season’s exit to FBK Kaunas and a sense of duty towards his assistants prompted him to stay for another season. Had Rangers not been in such a brittle state, he would have left having restored the championship to Ibrox. In good conscience, he refused to let Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall to take the strain of losing 11 players in the summer while being thrust in the middle of a political struggle between the board and the banks. It is, though, unwise to assume that Smith will accept a gentleman’s agreement to stay beyond January. He may be a man of honour and integrity, but he does not button up the back. On Tuesday night, Smith stopped just short of saying his team no longer have the capability to compete, in the purest sense, with any opposition at Champions League level, never mind the established heavyweights. It is a watershed moment for a club whose best hope of finding a buyer rests with Dave King sorting out his tax issues with the South African authorities. Rangers’ squad has stagnated through lack of competition. The malaise was apparent even before kick-off against Sevilla. While the Spaniards snapped the ball around purposely during a rigorous, high-intensity warm-up, Rangers players converged around a temporary goal to take shots at the goalkeepers. It was the closest they got to scoring. Unless a new buyer can be found within a year, the club must give serious consideration to a radical change of philosophy. Smith will not continue to work in ever-decreasing circles but that is precisely what will happen if the club cannot retain their title and return to the Champions League. The sale of Madjid Bougherra, who now stands head and shoulders above anyone else in the squad, seems inevitable next summer. There are familiar groans about Smith’s lack of faith in youth, not least for playing a full-strength team against Queen of the South, yet he has historically railed against such populist action, not least with Barry Ferguson and, at Everton, Wayne Rooney. If Rangers do not place a heavier emphasis on youth development, though, there will come a time when the viability of Murray Park must be seriously questioned. If the board cannot sanction investment for the manager, then they will need to look elsewhere for a manager who is prepared to promote youth at the expense of instant success. That in turn will require a lowering of expectation from the support and a dilution of Rangers’ kudos. The air of resentment around Ibrox at the mixed signals from their club is now conducive to such sobering reality. There is a feeling within Ibrox that winning the league was the worst thing to happen, since many of the problems off the field have simply been patched-up. The outcome of Sunday’s Old Firm derby will either remove some of the gloom in the short term or compound it if the club slip seven points behind their rivals less than two months into the season. Johnston’s flying visit having passed without a victory being achieved, it will be left to Martin Bain to deal with the day-to-day running of the club. The chief executive deserves his opportunity to emerge from the shadow of Sir David Murray. He knows he must act decisively and clinically to address Rangers’ deep-rooted problems or suffer the same fate as the puppet prime minister whose strings are about to be cut. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/ever-decreasing-circles-radical-change-of-philosophy-required-at-ibrox-1.923211

By Lorna Smith and Mark Howarth, 14/03/2009 A CRACK team of debt-busting bankers has been put together to claw back millions from crisis club Rangers. The Ibrox giantââ?¬â?¢s finances have suffered like all businesses in the credit crunch ââ?¬â? causing some of the loans bolstering the club to be put under the microscope. Now cash-strapped Bank of Scotland bosses have hand-picked a posse of ââ?¬Ë?asset houndsââ?¬â?¢ to examine how the club can pay back much of its debt. Experts believe the bank could demand repayments of Ã?£20MILLION over the next few years ââ?¬â? taking the Rangers debt down to around Ã?£5million. Light Blues chairman Sir David Murray has already slashed 12 stadium jobs and ordered manager Walter Smith to axe eight stars in the summer. But last night there were warnings that more cuts could see Rangers facing a DECADE living in Celticââ?¬â?¢s shadow. A Bank of Scotland insider revealed: ââ?¬Å?The debt has been deemed too big and it was felt the time had come to start clawing back some of the cash. ââ?¬Å?The credit crunch means thereââ?¬â?¢s no such thing as easy money any more ââ?¬â? we cannot keep loaning companies big money against assets that leave us exposed. ââ?¬Å?We donââ?¬â?¢t want Rangers to suffer on or off the pitch so weââ?¬â?¢ve pulled together some of our best brains to make sure that the club comes down as gently as possible. ââ?¬Å?But the current situation cannot possibly continue. Ultimately, this is big business and, Iââ?¬â?¢m afraid, sometimes it hurts.ââ?¬Â As Rangers face Celtic at Hampden today in the Co-operative Insurance Cup Final, Stephen Morrow, Professor of Sports Studies at Stirling University, warned fans that the bankââ?¬â?¢s crackdown could see their club ââ?¬Å?in the wildernessââ?¬Â for the next ten years. He said: ââ?¬Å?This will make it even more challenging for a club like Rangers to compete. In some ways, Celticââ?¬â?¢s financial basis is different ââ?¬â? theyââ?¬â?¢ve been run in a different way which has left them less exposed. ââ?¬Å?If Rangers have to pay back, say, Ã?£15-Ã?£20million over the next few years, thereââ?¬â?¢s a risk of a big gap opening up between them and Celtic.ââ?¬Â It is believed the specialist lending team of bankers will study the clubââ?¬â?¢s estimated Ã?£25million debt before making a string of recommendations to claw back some of the clubââ?¬â?¢s loans. The options would include selling off assets ââ?¬â? such as players ââ?¬â? trimming overheads, selling other assets or attracting more investment. Professor Morrow added: ââ?¬Å?What youââ?¬â?¢ve got with a mature business like Rangers is that the business has developed ââ?¬â? thereââ?¬â?¢s only a fixed number of games they can play, theyââ?¬â?¢re playing those games to capacity crowds and thereââ?¬â?¢s a TV deal which is not going to get any better. ââ?¬Å?Once youââ?¬â?¢ve brought playersââ?¬â?¢ wages under control then thatââ?¬â?¢s it, there arenââ?¬â?¢t many more ways to lever huge sums of money into the club. ââ?¬Å?Unless someone comes along and gives you the cash, the only other way is to sell some of your assets and that means players.ââ?¬Â Rangersââ?¬â?¢ finances are tied into chairman Sir David Murrayââ?¬â?¢s complex web of companies, Murray International Holdings ââ?¬â? of which the bank owns around 10 per cent. UNDER THREAT: Kris Boyd Sir David gained control of the Ibrox club in 1988 after buying the majority of its shares for Ã?£6million. As chairman, the businessman ploughed cash into the club, building a third tier on the main stand and raising the groundââ?¬â?¢s capacity by 7,300. Murrayââ?¬â?¢s costly European ambitions for the side, under Dick Advocaatââ?¬â?¢s management, saw them spend millions. But the clubââ?¬â?¢s debts spiralled as TV revenues failed to make a dent on mammoth transfer fees and playersââ?¬â?¢ salaries. By 2001, mounting debts threatened the clubââ?¬â?¢s future and Murray admitted mistakes were made. He said at the time: ââ?¬Å?We got it wrong. We obviously spent far too much money. We canââ?¬â?¢t let it happen again because that would be total mismanagement.ââ?¬Â In July 2002, Murray stood down as chairman but returned two years later in a bid to reduce the Rangers debt mountain. He organised the sale of a new batch of shares which raised Ã?£50million to start paying off the bank and, by 2006, the total owed had dropped from nearly Ã?£74million to only Ã?£5.8million. Since then, the debt has started to rise again at an alarming rate ââ?¬â? despite Rangersââ?¬â?¢ run to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. Last year it stood at Ã?£21.6million but is believed to have reached around Ã?£30million before the bank stepped in. Half-yearly figures released in January show the clubââ?¬â?¢s turnover is 50 per cent lower than 2006. And they are facing a 71 per cent jump in interest payments to nearly Ã?£8,000 a DAY. The credit crunch has hit the club hard as Murray International Holdingsââ?¬â?¢ huge commercial property assets have plummeted in value. Last night insolvency expert John Shields said: ââ?¬Å?Murray International Holdings is built on steel, property and football. ââ?¬Å?The bottom has fallen out of the market for steel and property, so the football cannot carry on being a loss-making luxury. The Bank of Scotland has specialist lending teams whose job it is to protect the bankââ?¬â?¢s money. Those men in grey suits will be looking very closely at the Rangers balance sheet and may suggest pruning the Ibrox staff. UNDER THREAT: Barry Ferguson ââ?¬Å?The team will probably be three-strong and theyââ?¬â?¢ll spend up to six months poring over Rangersââ?¬â?¢ accounts and working with the club to identify where the savings are. ââ?¬Å?They should have a strategy in place for when the transfer window opens at the end of the season and then guide the club through until it closes at the end of August. ââ?¬Å?Weââ?¬â?¢re in a recession so season ticket revenue could fall, corporate hospitality has been cut, the Murray Park Academy hasnââ?¬â?¢t delivered enough young players. The only way to raise revenue short-term is to sell players. ââ?¬Å?Usually, the fact that the club has a wealthy parent company would be enough to satisfy the banks. ââ?¬Å?But Murray International Holdings has taken a hit as well so Rangers is more exposed than it would normally be. ââ?¬Å?David Murray is a realist ââ?¬â? he is trying to bring a sound business structure to the club which is essential for it to survive but if the bank is now restructuring the debt then there may be even deeper cuts on the way. ââ?¬Å?I think the fans need to rally round the chairman at this time, not barrack him for putting his neck on the line.ââ?¬Â Sir David recently admitted Rangers had lurched deeper into the red, losing nearly Ã?£4million between June and December 2008, with Ã?£1.4million paying off interest alone. An early exit from European football at the hands of Lithuanian minnows Kaunas in the second qualifying stage of the Champions League this season cost the club around Ã?£13million in potential revenue. During Januaryââ?¬â?¢s transfer window, Murray sanctioned the sale of star striker Kris Boyd for Ã?£3.8million in a bid to rake in cash. UNDER THREAT: Allan McGregor Boyd, 25, was on the verge of a move to Birmingham City but a row over his Ã?£20,000- a-week wages saw the deal fall through. Goalie Allan McGregor and captain Barry Ferguson, on salaries of Ã?£25,000 and Ã?£30,000 a week, were linked to a lucrative Newcastle United move which also fell through. Walter Smithââ?¬â?¢s squad is to be trimmed to only 20 in the summer after failing to offload Boyd in January. But Murray has insisted that long-term loans were keeping the club stable, saying: ââ?¬Å?What Iââ?¬â?¢m doing is not panicking. We have a financial facility with the bank and we must work within that framework.ââ?¬Â Now that strategy has been thrown into uncertainty and earlier this month, Rangers admitted a dozen backroom staff would lose their jobs. John Macmillan, general secretary of the Rangers Supportersââ?¬â?¢ Association said: ââ?¬Å?Itââ?¬â?¢s a pretty bleak picture ââ?¬â? the fans wonââ?¬â?¢t take kindly to this. ââ?¬Å?Most really donââ?¬â?¢t care about who owes what to whom, so we may see a split between the club and the fans over the next few years. ââ?¬Å?But the club must recognise that itââ?¬â?¢s not the fansââ?¬â?¢ fault that Rangers are in such a mess ââ?¬â? thereââ?¬â?¢s been mismanagement and unwise signing policies which continue to this day. ââ?¬Å?The way through this crisis is to put bums on seats, not to penalise the fans. The club should look at lowering prices and even letting in kids for free.ââ?¬Â Bank of Scotland has recently been bought out by Lloyds Banking Group after racking up losses of Ã?£10.8billion as part of HBOS. Both the bank and the club refused to comment. http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_news/218758/Rangers-pound20m-debt-squeeze-David-Murray.html

This from Roddy Forsyth (I know, I know) in The Daily Telegraph - the heat is being turned up on Murray and his bullshit. David Murray is supervising a careful retreat over Rangers' ambitions. Rangers are still on course for a clean sweep of the domestic honours and have it in their own hands to overhaul Celtic for the Scottish Premier League title and an automatic and lucrative berth in the group stage of next season's Champions League. So why are so many Ibrox supporters so vocally fearful? The answer, quite simply, is the confusing mixture of actions and statements from the club chairman, Sir David Murray, over the course of a bleak month. Murray was in the headlines again this week, having provided his house journal, Rangers News, with a lengthy statement highlighting the virtues of prudent housekeeping, reduction of costs and the nurturing of new players. Since this was a rehash of his declarations at the start of the month in defence of Rangers' abortive attempt to sell top scorer, Kris Boyd, for a measly net gain of around Ã?£2.5 million, what was the point? In this case, look at the timing, not the substance. The transfer scene has been moribund since New Year, but it is a buyers' market and those with money to spend will drive hard bargains as Monday's deadline looms. Rangers have players who are surplus to requirements but, like Woolworth's stock in the latter days of that institution, what is on offer has been gathering dust for months. On the other hand, if Allan McGregor, Barry Ferguson and Boyd attract bids totalling Ã?£10-Ã?£11m this weekend, they will be off, no questions asked. Hence Murray's reiteration of his newfound commitment to an austerity regime in which – dread phrase – "youth is the future". Murray sarcastically observed: "I find it amazing that football scribes question my financial management." Well, a cat may look at a king and it requires no mastery of economics to see the contradictions in the Rangers' chairman's claim that defeat by Kaunas in the Champions League qualifiers had been "a disaster". When Murray plans Rangers' budget each year, he makes a prudent assumption of no European revenue beyond that of the first round of the Uefa Cup. So the difference between projected European income and this season's reality adds up to only two home games. Moreover, Kaunas knocked Rangers out of the Champions League qualifiers on Aug 5 – but after that Murray sanctioned the spending of Ã?£8.6m on Pedro Mendes, Steven Davis and Maurice Edu, in the full knowledge that there would be no further European income. The earlier summer acquisitions of Andrius Velicka, Kyle Lafferty, Kenny Miller and Madjid Bougherra cost Ã?£9.8m. Meanwhile, between January and September Rangers sold Alan Hutton (Ã?£9m), Carlos Cuellar (Ã?£7.8m) and Daniel Cousin (Ã?£1.5m). In total, then, expenditure in 2008 was Ã?£18.4m and income Ã?£18.3m – nothing there to petrify Mr Micawber. Plus the fact, the most recent accounts (to June 30, 2008) reported record turnover of Ã?£64.5m and a pre-tax profit of Ã?£8.3m. True, the overdraft was up to Ã?£21m and is now evidently around Ã?£25m – but debt never frightened Murray, except when he realised that he had allowed Dick Advocaat to become the Scottish football equivalent of Fred the Shred (and to much the same end). However, what does concern him is the health and morale of the other companies in the Murray Group. Murray's executives are famously discreet, but there have been mutinous mutterings about Rangers' place in the chairman's affections. Put simply, their feeling is that when he is asking them to sweat the companies for optimum revenue and profit in torrid trading conditions, the time and energy spent by Murray on Rangers is not only disproportionate, but unseemly. The attempt to get shot of Boyd may have shocked Rangers fans, but it had exactly the opposite effect within the Murray Group. And this is more than gesture politics. When Murray's father went bankrupt while he was in his teens, the future tycoon began his business career selling shirts to schoolmates. In that respect, he had a soul mate in Peter Cummings, who started in the Bank of Scotland at 17 by sweeping the floors and went on to be head of corporate banking at HBOS. But Cummings, a Glaswegian with a native sympathy for football, is one of the scapegoats for the HBOS debacle and lost his position in this month's takeover by Lloyds TSB. Under the new banking regime, there is no question of the benevolent attitude that allowed Murray to remedy Advocaat's excesses by buying up his own rights issue from other resources, as he did for Ã?£50m from Murray MHL Limited in 2004. All of which is a far cry from the bombast Murray once uttered about spending Ã?£2 for every Ã?£1 laid out by Celtic. Napoleon observed that an orderly withdrawal was worth a victory. Murray is supervising a careful retreat with the sensible aim of preserving his empire. Rangers fans, though, are not accustomed to occupying an outlying province. Nor, having been promised cakes and ale, do they have an appetite for powdered egg and Spam – and certainly not if Celtic should uncork the bubbly yet again this season.