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Scotland squad for the friendly with Poland Goalkeepers Matt Gilks, David Marshall, Allan McGregor Defenders Phil Bardsley, Christophe Berra, Gordon Greer, Grant Hanley, Alan Hutton, Russell Martin, Andrew Robertson, Steven Whittaker Midfielders Charlie Adam, Ikechi Anya, Barry Bannan, Scott Brown, Chris Burke, Darren Fletcher, James Forrest, James Morrison, Charlie Mulgrew, Robert Snodgrass Forwards Steven Fletcher, Ross McCormack, Steven Naismith
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http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/ma...016288.article Cohen & Stephen (The Liquidators of Rangers FC) & Ors v Collyer Bristow Late 2013, 5-10 days, Chancery Division For the claimant Cohen & Stephen (The Liquidators of Rangers FC): South Square?s Mark Philips QC leading South Square?s Stephen Robins previously instructed by Taylor Wessing partner Nick Moser, taken forward by Stephenson Harwood partner Stuart Frith For claimants the Trustees of the Jerome Group plc Pension Fund: Outer Temple Chambers? David E Grant, instructed by trustees David Simpson, who is also a qualified barrister For the claimants HMRC: South Square?s Lucy Frazer For the claimants Merchant Turnaround: Maitland Chambers? James Clifford and Matthew Smith of the same set, instructed by Macrae & Co?s Julian Turnbull For the respondent Collyer Bristow: 3 Verulam Buildings? Cyril Kinsky QC leading Matthew Hardwick of the same set, instructed by Clyde & Co partner Richard Harrison . The financial collapse of Rangers FC put in the public eye the club?s relationship with its professional advisers, including Collyer Bristow and former partner Gary Withey. Withey quit the firm in March after he became embroiled in the Glasgow club?s administration because he had advised businessman Craig Whyte on his takeover of the club in 2011. Duff & Phelps were appointed as the original administrators of the club and, in March last year, announced it would take action against the firm. When liquidators Cohen & Stephen took over the wind-down of the club it pledged to carry on the case. The firm has lodged a Part 20 claim against private equity firm Merchant Turnaround. Collyer Bristow stands accused of ?deliberate deception? over Whyte?s doomed bid for the club. The court heard at a pre-trial hearing in April that Collyer Bristow is alleged to have been involved in conspiracy, breach of undertaking, negligence and breach of trust, with Withey - who acted as the club?s company secretary - complicit in the allegations. It was revealed that when Whyte agreed a majority stake takeover offer in May 2011 he also pledged to pay off the club?s £18m debt to Lloyds Banking Group and invest £9.5m of ?new money? in the club. This included £5m for players, £2.8m to HMRC and £1.7m for capital expenditure. That offer persuaded then director Paul Murray and the board not to launch an alternative £25m share issue to generate the money needed to stabilise the club. Instead, the court was told, they agreed to Whyte?s takeover, with Collyer Bristow acting for Whyte. Administrators were called in February 2012 and various parties - including HMRC, private equity firm Merchant Turnaround and Jerome Pension Fund trustees - lobbied to reclaim their stakes in Rangers. The firm says it will vigorously defend the claims. Withey had originally applied to intervene in the case, but has now withdrawn his application. This battle will be closely followed by firms and fans alike as it promises to lay bare the firm?s relationship with Whyte and the club.
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.....about Neil Lennon on way to match at Fir Park 16 Feb 2014 07:56 JAMES BEATTIE, 29, claimed he shouted the comments after he was taunted by Celtic fans as he walked towards Fir Park last August. AN Aberdeen fan who shouted sectarian abuse about Celtic manager Neil *Lennon has been jailed for 10 months. James Beattie, 29, was on his way to watch the Dons play Motherwell at Fir Park when he launched the tirade in the street. He claimed he made the comments after he was taunted by Celtic fans as he walked towards the Lanarkshire ground. He hit back by branding Lennon a “f***** b******, which was overheard by police. Beattie, from Markinch, Fife, admitted shouting abusive, sectarian and threatening remarks last August. He also admitted threatening behaviour at Motherwell police station. At Hamilton Sheriff Court last week, *Sheriff Vincent Smith handed Beattie a three-year football banning order in addition to the jail term. This month, Lennon was attacked by Aberdeen fans at Tynecastle in Edinburgh while watching the Dons’ League Cup tie against St Johnstone. He was spat on and coins and a bottle thrown at him. Beattie is the seventh opposition fan to be sent to prison in recent years for abusing Lennon. Hearts supporter John Wilson, 26, was cleared of a pitchside assault on Lennon during a game between Hearts and Celtic in May 2011. But at Edinburgh Sheriff Court later that year, he was jailed for eight months for a breach of the peace at the same match and handed a five-year football *banning order. In 2012, two men were jailed after parcels were posted to Lennon and two other high-profile Celtic fans the previous year after a confrontation between the Celtic manager and Rangers boss Ally McCoist during a bad-tempered Old Firm game. Trevor Muirhead, 44, and Neil McKenzie, 43, were found guilty of conspiracy to assault Lennon, former MSP Trish Godman and the late lawyer Paul McBride QC. *Muirhead and McKenzie were each jailed for five years. After the incident at *Tynecastle this month, Lennon angrily *dismissed claims he brings abuse on *himself. He said: “I am no more confrontational than any other manager in the SPFL. “However, when it’s an issue regarding me, it seems to be imbalanced. “I can handle myself but I’m not a street fighter. I live my life as quietly as I can away from football but I’m in the public eye. “It’s hard to undo that but I’ve been staying away from flashpoints and controversy.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/aberdeen-fan-jailed-10-months-3150717 -
IAN Black has vowed to earn a new deal with Rangers - and help the Ibrox club complete every stage of 'The Journey'. The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hearts man is out of contract at the end of next season. But he is keen to pledge his future to Rangers so he can help them compete against their Old Firm rivals. Black said: "I have been consistent this season and the manager has been happy enough to play me every week. I have been doing something right. "I just need to work hard, keep my head down and try to earn myself a new contract. "I have got this year and next season just now. When you have got a year-and-a-half left then you obviously look to get a new deal and a bit of security for my career and for my family as well. "I just want to work hard and hopefully things behind the scenes can work out for me." He added: "My aim is to play in the top flight. Coming here when we were at the bottom my aim was to help the club get back up. "Hopefully I can be rewarded with getting a deal to play in the Premiership with a club this size. It is up to me to keep playing well and trying to get one." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/black-aim-is-a-ticket-to-ride-on-journey-152249n.23438571
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https://twitter.com/TheLoudenTavern
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Thursday, 13 February 2014 15:45 Defensive Options For Boss Written by Andrew Dickson ALLY McCOIST has hinted he’s likely to go for experience over youth at the back when Rangers travel to Ayr in League One this weekend. The manager has admitted teenage defenders Luca Gasparotto and Craig Halkett are in his thoughts after a series of good displays for the under-20s in recent weeks. Playing under Gordon Durie, they’ve helped the team to nine wins in a row and have only just seen a run of 703 minutes without conceding from open play come to an end. McCoist will be without his captain Lee McCulloch and French Tunisian Bilel Mohsni for the trip to Somerset Park as the pair serve suspensions. That leaves gaps to be filled in his rearguard and plenty of supporters would love to see the youngsters given an opportunity. But whoever plays will come up against the most experienced opposition forward in the league, ex-Gers and former English Premiership player Kevin Kyle. McCoist is wary of the 10-time Scotland international who, while in the latter part of his career, is still capable of making an impact. Despite struggling with injuries during his time at Ibrox, Kyle has overcome them to play for the Honest Men 20 times this season and score four goals as a foil for Michael Moffat. Although he has still to finalise his plans for the game, it appears McCoist will opt for a pairing of Sebastien Faure and Emilson Cribari to deal with Kyle on the west coast. Faure has made 22 starts for Gers this season and although Cribari has just three to his name, he was a regular last term as he made the first XI on 33 occasions. McCoist said: “We’ve got some good fixtures in the coming weeks and we’d be very hopeful we can win the league then have a chance to look at one or two boys. “Nothing would give us more pleasure than giving some of the lads an opportunity in the first team. “The boys are doing well very but it’s a different game on Saturday. It’s not an under-20 game and it’s against one of the most experienced strikers in the league. “Kevin, I would suggest, has been over the course and distance and he knows his way about the football park. “The best way I can put it is by saying Gasparotto and Halkett are acquitting themselves very well. “They’re certainly in our thoughts and it’s a compliment to the young lads that we’re thinking about them but we’ve other options too. “Sebastien has been playing at right-back and Emilson has been on the bench as well so that’s something we could think about as Richard Foster could come in at right-back. “A decision has not been made yet but Kenny (McDowall), Ian (Durrant), Jim (Stewart) and myself will sit down and have a talk about it.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6314-defensive-options-for-boss
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DAVID Robertson witnessed Ally McCoist overcome adversity on more than one occasion in his playing days to become a Rangers legend. And he has backed his old team-mate to tough out the trials and tribulations of being manager at the Ibrox club and make a success of the latest chapter of his career. Robertson, who is now a coach at USL Pro League club Phoenix in the United States, still takes a keen interest in the fortunes of the Glasgow giants. The former left-back has been impressed with how McCoist has fared since succeeding Walter Smith as boss nearly three years ago. And the 45-year-old believes he has the mental strength needed to withstand the intense scrutiny and lead Rangers back to the forefront of the Scottish game. He said: "I still follow how Rangers are doing back home pretty closely online over here and it amazes me when I see the criticism Ally gets sometimes. "His team is unbeaten in the league this season and is still involved in two cup competitions. "It would be a tremendous feat for Rangers to reach the Scottish Cup final this season. It would be a huge achievement for the club. But Ally still gets criticised for performances and results! I don't know what more he can do. "Everybody expects them to win League One this season. I am sure the same will be true next season when they go up to the Championship. "So when they do these things Ally doesn't get any praise because it is simply what is expected of them. But it has always been that way. "When I was at Rangers if we won a league and cup double it was considered a disaster. Even if you won a treble people said: 'Well, you should be doing it anyway!' "Yes, Ally has a full-time squad in what is largely a part-time league and a large wage bill, but I still think that he has a tough job. "The club is still getting 40,000 to 50,000 people coming to their games every week. There is a lot of pressure on him for the team to perform. "I have managed at lower league clubs, at Elgin City and Montrose, without that number of fans and you still feel the pressure." Robertson added: "If you are second at Rangers it is not good enough. At some big clubs you might get away with third or fourth. Not at Rangers though. "I don't think there is any club out there where the pressure is so intense. But Ally has dealt with that pressure for all of his life. "When Graeme Souness was in charge at Rangers he tried to force him out. But Ally loved the club so much he stayed where he was and fought his way back in. "Then Ally broke his leg and everybody said he was finished. But he came back from that as well and was as good as he ever was. "It says a lot about his character that he can remain so upbeat with everything he has to deal with. "There is nobody I would rather have in charge of Rangers at the moment." Scotland international Robertson won six Scottish titles, three League Cups and three Scottish Cups in the seven years that he spent as a player at Rangers. During that time, the cultured defender also played alongside Light Blue legend Ian Durrant. And he reckons there is no better man to help McCoist get Rangers back to the top flight than the former midfielder. Robertson said: "Ian is a real character and real Rangers man as well. "I am sure it will hurt him to see the club in the situation they are currently in and he will be keen to get them out of it along with Ally. "Ally and Ian will be doing everything they can to take Rangers back to the Premiership. "Ally was full of records as a player. So who knows? Maybe he will be a record breaker as manager as well. "Maybe he will be the first Rangers manager to win every league in Scotland." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/robertson-ally-has-been-tried-and-tested-151917n.23419367
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Monday, 10 February 2014 12:45 Durie Seeks Another Positive Written by Andrew Dickson GORDON DURIE hopes Rangers’ improved form at under-20 level can lead to a better result against Aberdeen tomorrow than his team got when the sides last met. The Light Blues were beaten 2-0 when they played the Pittodrie outfit in the SPFL Under-20 League back in September. But that outcome came at a point when the side was struggling for form and it has picked up a lot since then, winning its last eight games in a row. Durie’s youngsters have also gone 13 games unbeaten in all competitions and that sequence has helped take them back to their early-campaign position at the top of the table. Gers travel to Peterhead’s Balmoor Stadium for a rematch with the Dons tomorrow afternoon in the title race, with kick-off at 2pm. Ahead of the long trip north, Durie is looking for better morale and a more consistent return from his men to bring the group a crucial away win. He said: “We’ll obviously be looking to keep our good run going but it’ll be a tough game because they beat us the last time we met. “We were disappointed about that so this is a match in which we’re looking to get a much better result. “Back then, we were having a bit of a dip but we’ve improved since then so hopefully we can keep our standards up. “Winning breeds confidence and that’s what’s happening with us just now. The boys are looking forward to every game at the moment. “They are pushing themselves a lot and the fact they lost to Aberdeen earlier in the year should be enough to motivate them.” Durie’s squad has shown itself to be extremely driven in recent weeks as a number of players have stepped up and made notable contributions. In that sense, he’s not having to do much to push them himself and is happy they’re taking care of that without needing extra encouragement. As much as anything, the coach believes the chance to get games for the first team is inspiring the group and he thinks a good number of his players merit a chance at that level. Durie added: “The gaffer has said that hopefully if the league’s won quickly, the young boys will get their opportunity and I’m hoping that happens for a few of them. “With the way they’ve been going in the last few months and especially recently, they deserve that.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/item/6292-durie-seeks-another-positive
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I don't have the article but suspect you can get all the info you need from this page shown on facebook:
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That our squad of players are capable of playing short passing, possession based football with creativity in the final third. Against the second best team in our division. Over to you Ally.
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http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/263136-ally-mccoist-id-have-bet-on-ibrox-not-being-picked-for-league-cup-final/ -
As with last game (that put us top of the league ) the game today has been switched to Murray park. It was to be at St Mirren with a 7pm kick off, but now - "Dear all, Please see updated details ahead of this evening’s fixture between Rangers and St. Mirren: SPFL U20 League Rangers v St. Mirren Murray Park, 6pm "
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Neil Lennon was spat at, had coins thrown at him and was the subject of verbal abuse at Tynecastle, according to the Celtic manager's agent. Lennon was watching Aberdeen's League Cup semi-final victory over St Johnstone and had to leave the game early, Martin Reilly told BBC Scotland. He said: "I'm absolutely raging about the treatment of Neil, about the stewarding and the fans' behaviour. "It's scandalous that Neil is treated like this." Reilly said that Lennon and Celtic coach Gary Parker had to leave their seats in the main stand after 70 minutes of the game. During the match, which Aberdeen won 4-0, play was held up briefly as two young supporters ran on to the park and got to the technical area, where Lennon was infamously attacked by a Hearts fan in 2011, before being apprehended by police and stewards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26002727
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.........and steer club into fan control 1 Feb 2014 07:56 PAUL GOODWIN believes the Light Blues legions could own the Ibrox club within 18 months following successful attempts by Hearts and Motherwell. SUPPORTERS DIRECT chief Paul Goodwin believes Rangers fans can assume control of their troubled club within 18 months. Goodwin, the head of SD in Scotland, has long championed the importance of community ownership within our national game. And he is convinced the Ibrox faithful can overthrow the current regime – providing they mobilise themselves into one powerful movement and start pulling in the same direction. At the moment there are four main fan organisations – The Rangers Supporters Trust, The Rangers Assembly, The Rangers Supporters Association and the Sons of Struth – with all groups battling for supremacy. But Goodwin, who helped oversee fan buy-outs at Stirling Albion, Clyde, Dunfermline and East Stirling has called for them to unite as one. Indeed, given the lack of trust in the current board, the lack of transparency, the current climate of financial uncertainty along Edmiston Drive and the plunging share price, he reckons this is an ideal opportunity to get the bandwagon rolling. Goodwin said: “I believe if the Rangers fans united, and that is the key, into one cohesive unit there is no reason why they can’t own the club within 18 months. “At the moment we have 8000 Hearts supporters paying £20 a month as they move towards fan ownership and if you have 20,000 Rangers fans doing the same you can go out and buy shares because it is a liquid market. “The simple maths say 20,000 fans paying £20 a month would give you £4.8million in a year. “It just needs the right type of people to pull that together and that is the hard part for Rangers. “I don’t have any doubt it can be done. SD have been working in conjunction with clubs right across Europe. “In Greece you have Olympiakos and Panathinaikos and there are plenty of clubs in Spain, Poland and France who are also going down this route. “Hearts are the biggest we know of in this country going down the route of fan ownership at the moment.” The Rangers share price has plummeted in recent months, from 70p to just 26p and for just over £4m, fans would be able to command a 25 per cent stake in the club. And Goodwin insists the Ibrox outfit’s supporters have nothing to lose pursuing the community ownership route having given their backing to the Craig Whyte and Charles Green regimes with catastrophic consequences. He said: “I believed that Rangers being placed into administration represented a significant window of opportunity to buy the club. “Of course, as we know, this didn’t happen for a variety of reasons; mostly because for many years the fans had been divided and ruled by previous owners of the club and had been left without a united voice, forced to pick sides in amongst political infighting. “Time has moved on and Rangers have unfortunately continued to be dogged by further challenges at the back end of the administration process. “It could have been so different if a credible fans’ bid had been used to galvanise the Ibrox faithful as we have seen at Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Portsmouth down in England and of course at Hearts. “Rangers supporters in the past have been used to following leaders whether it be Paul Murray, Craig Whyte or somebody else. “This is breaking the mould and now they don’t have to follow anybody. “What can the objection be? “It can give the fans the empowerment to pick exactly who they want to represent them. “We have four clubs in Scotland that are currently fan owned and we have another four waiting in the wings – Annan, Ayr, Motherwell and Hearts. It is the way forward because there is no other route.” Goodwin confirmed he has already spoken with supporters’ representatives from Rangers. He said: “I have been talking with them over the past 10 days and I will continue that dialogue to see whether there is something we can do. “There is a real opportunity here and I don’t think there is anything to lose. “We can advise and consult but it is ultimately up to them. “Some people have to emerge from the shadows and then we can give them all the support possible.” Goodwin was speaking at the launch of ‘The Colour of our Scarves’ initiative which has been organised by Supporters Direct to help highlight the issue of sectarianism. World renowned photographer Stuart Roy Clarke has been commissioned to produce a series of images captured at every senior ground in Scotland. The project has been funded by the Scottish government and Goodwin is hoping the sectarianism problem can be tackled through imagery rather than words. He said: “We wanted to try to demonstrate through Stuart’s amazing pictures that all fans are the same, apart from the scarves around their necks. “It is the same emotions that bind us all together and that was the reasons behind the project. “We are going round every single ground and also doing loads of workshops in schools and colleges. “It is becoming less of an issue but you need to keep working at it.” Clarke, who singled out Aberdeen as his favourite fans to photograph, has been amazed by the reaction to his pictures which will be on show at a touring exhibition around the country over the next 18 months. He said: “The response has been overwhelming. “While I like banter and edginess I don’t like hatred so hopefully this project can make a small difference to a big problem.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/supporters-direct-chief-calls-rangers-3100404
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Goalkeepers Mark Hurst (St Johnstone) Liam Kelly (Rangers) Ross Stewart (Motherwell) Defenders Cameron Burgess (Fulham) Coll Donaldson (Queen’s Park Rangers) Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton Academical) Lewis Martin (Dunfermline Athletic) Scott McKenna (Aberdeen) Mark O’Hara (Kilmarnock) Ryan Sinnamon (Rangers) Ryan Williamson (Dunfermline Athletic) Midfielders Liam Henderson (Celtic) James Jones (Crewe Alexandra) Adam King (Swansea) Jamie Lindsay (Celtic) Malcolm Melvin (Notts County) Andrew Murdoch (Rangers) Darren Petrie (Dundee United) Charlie Telfer (Rangers) Forwards Fraser Aird (Rangers) Sam Gallagher (Southampton) Oliver McBurnie (Bradford City) Fraser Murdoch (Crewe Alexandra) Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian) Gary Oliver (Heart of Midlothian) Jordan Preston (Blackburn Rovers) Cameron Smith (Aberdeen) http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_fa_news.cfm?page=2986&newsID=13035&newsCategoryID=1
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OK guys, while I don't expect much movement in or out at the Gers today, what's yer thoughts on who could/should come and go... I'm hopeful we'll retain Lee Wallace but think we should be looking to move on fringe players as well as ensuring game-time for any younger lads to aid with development. IN: Erm, none. OUT: Shiels (loan) Crawford (loan) Gasparotto (loan) Simonsen (released)
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Interested in views from fellow Bears about fan ownership at Rangers. I'm seeing a lot more chatter on the subject (especially on Twitter), but RST (the only vehicle at the moment) seem even quieter than normal. I've seem some good articles here: http://t.co/YEgcWYEeFe All the while Rangers market value sits at around £16-17 million. The opportunity to buy a decent collective stake in our club has never been bigger, but views seem divided. Why? Faceless investors sitting in London & elsewhere are buying into our club (at current prices I can see why), why aren't we? As I say interested to know views. I for one am puzzled.
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It seems like the succulent lamb has moved fields. I doubt there would be many Rangers supporters who, after what has transpired over the last three years, who would suggest some of the articles written about our club were merely “puff journalism”. Of course they didn’t have to dig too deep – after all the Rangers Tax Case Blog and BBC Scotland’s “The Men who Sold the Jerseys” had done all the work for them - all our media had to do was apply their own opinions to the information which was readily available – despite the questionable source and interpretation of that information. And apply their opinion they did, as we all know. Time and time again. They drooled, they dribbled, they salivated over questionable events surrounding our club. But what they didn’t do was dig. No small wonder then that Thomson is also on record as saying : And you know what ? He is right. It finally dawned on me when Lord Nimmo Smith’s SPL Commission report contained the startling revelation that the material used by BBC Scotland in the aforementioned documentary was actually evidence which had been stolen from the Rangers Tax Case. And the response from our media ? Not even a murmur. The fact that the evidence in a case they had milked, salivated, opinionated, discussed in such minute detail had been stolen, appears not to even have raised an eyebrow of curiosity. Imagine for a moment the OJ Simpson trial – and it was discovered the infamous glove had been stolen from the evidence cabinet and the media hadn’t raised a murmur ? Nope – I can’t imagine it either.. But of course this is Scotland land of lazy, sycophantic and incapable of asking awkward questions journalism. Perhaps no-one in the Scottish media wants to ask questions of their own – the journalists at BBC Scotland who received and retained the stolen evidence – a kind of “closing ranks” if you like. Or could it be that for a Scottish Print media in dire trouble, evidenced by the recent voluntary redundancies at The Scotsman, the occasional appearance on BBC Sportsound is a nice little earner in uncertain times ? When the Rangers Tax Case received the Orwellian Award it was hailed as :- It seems history may be on the verge of repeating itself. As the blogger behind Football Tax Havens, ably assisted by the tenacious PZJ, asks searching questions of land deals between Glasgow City Council and Celtic FC, one could be forgiven for thinking that this topic appears to be “off limits” for the Scottish media. Perhaps in the near future another blogger will win an award hailed as ““Displaying focused contempt for those who evade difficult truths, and beating almost every Scottish football journalist to the real story” And if he does – you can bet your bottom dollar there will be even more voluntary redundancies within the Scottish Print media.
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RANGERS are reportedly keen to make a move for Romanian international defender Gabriel Tamas in time for next season. The Doncaster centre-half, who has played for clubs in Spain, Russia and England, has allegedly held talks over a summer move to Ibrox. Tamas has been capped 63 times by Romania, although he was briefly banned from international duty after he and former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu were caught drinking in the lead-up to a game. (Herald)
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There is seldom an isolated event at Rangers. Brian Stockbridge's departure as finance director is being interpreted as the first example of Graham Wallace, the chief executive, asserting his authority. Yet it also changes the dynamic in the boardroom, reducing the club to four directors and potentially altering how certain decisions are made in the coming months. There is, still, a sense of uncertainty about what the future holds for the club. Rangers' route back to the top flight is still being determined. Essentially, the club either cut back their spending in line with revenue from season ticket sales and, while in the lower leagues, limited commercial revenue. Alternatively, some investment in the coming 18 months would allow the team to be strong enough to compete on its return to the top division, and so quicken the recovery of Rangers' old status. An element of restructuring is required in either case, which is why Wallace has embarked on a root and branch review of the club's business. Philip Nash, the former Arsenal and Liverpool finance director who was recently brought in as a consultant, is expected to take the finance director role in the short-term. How it impacts on the boardroom will also be interesting, though. Dave King wants to lead the fundraising in a fresh share issue. His vision is to generate money from himself and other high net-worth Rangers fans that can be used to strengthen the squad and the football resources so that the team are immediately competitive, in return for influence on how the club is run. The alternative is a longer period spent trying to regain ground. There are complications, though, since a new share issue requires existing shareholders to reinvest to maintain the size of their stake, at a time when the vast majority of them have suffered considerable losses. The shares were launched in December 2012 at 70p, but closed last Friday with a value of 27.25p. This is the ideological struggle at the club, and the decision on the way forward lies with the Rangers International Football Club plc board members - Wallace, Norman Crighton, James Easdale and the chairman, David Somers - and the shareholders. Before either short-term funding, to tide over until season ticket sales kick in, or fresh funding is sought, though, Wallace has to restore the business to an even keel. It is thought to be losing between £500,000 and £1m a month, and costs will need to be cut. The first-team wages are around 30% of turnover, but with one week of the transfer window remaining, Rangers may yet find themselves having to react to offers for some of their players, or seek to incentivise some to leave, although payments would further reduce the cash flow. This is at a time when the team have lost only once in 22 league games. Some fans grumble at occasionally muted performances, but Ally McCoist deserves credit for managing through a series of crises, and for maintaining the standards the club was built on. "There have been times when I've said, 'What am I doing here?'," McCoist said. "But how could you regret becoming the manager of Rangers? I've got my dream job. It's not the dream situation [but] as long as I can look myself in the mirror, I'll be happy. I've made mistakes and I'll make more mistakes. As long as they're done in an attempt to do the right thing then I can live with that." A recent lunch with Graeme Souness and Walter Smith, his friends and former Rangers managers, will have brought plenty of reminders of different, more accommodating times. McCoist is resilient, though. While the club's future direction is being debated, his assessment is that his team needs reinforcements if it is to eventually challenge Celtic again. "If we're talking about winning the top league then we're miles away," he said. "I would hate that to be taken as a criticism of the team because it's not. But it would be very unfair for people to expect these free transfers who have come together to win [the] top flight. Some, if we got help with players coming in, could probably do it. But we would need investment." Herald
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by EWING GRAHAME Rangers would be deducted 25 points should they be forced into administration this season – even though Hearts were given just a 15-point penalty last year. Under new rules introduced last summer when the SPL took over the Scottish Football League to form the SPFL, clubs which suffer more than one insolvency event in the space of five years will be hit with a 25-point penalty. The SPFL board believes that, since Lord Nimmo Smith ruled, at a hearing last February, that the current club was a continuation of the same entity which went into liquidation in October 2012 when finding them guilty of not disclosing payments to their players, Rangers should face the heavier sanction. Rangers are currently 23 points clear of second-placed Dunfermline at the top of League One. The Ibrox club first entered administration in February 2012 and former director Dave King has warned that it could happen again. SPFL sources also confirmed that Hearts will start 2014-15 on minus 15 points if they have not emerged from administration before the beginning of the season. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-administration-25-point-penalty-threat-1-3281694
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Like a lion-tamer jabbing a chair at the gates of Ibrox Dave King shows no sign of leaving a riled Rangers board in peace. The former director says a second Ibrox share issue is now ‘100 per cent inevitable’ and he expects to be involved. The response from an increasingly exasperated Rangers support – no doubt the directors as well - was a roar of frustration. Put up or shut up was the cry. Show us your money. When it comes to spending other people’s money, of course, football supporters are the wizards of Wall Street. Yet the truth is this. Many show a remarkable inability to either listen to or absorb the line King has consistently adopted on this. He says he has the means to buy Rangers. Shelling out £43.7million to the South African authorities last year in full and final settlement of one of the lengthiest tax disputes the country had ever known, King described it as a ‘favourable’ result. Money: Were King to buy up all 60 million of the shares in circulation at that price he could, in theory, take control of Rangers for £16.2m There are people out there worrying where their next meal might come from. Dave King isn’t one of them. His personal wealth is known only to him. How he acquired it is also a question the SFA could be forced to ask one day. But in the aftermath of the settlement with the South African Revenue Service shares in Micromega, his South African firm, soared. On paper, at least, he appears to be a hugely wealthy man. All of which adds to the bewilderment of Rangers supporters that he won’t simply step in and end their misery by paying the opportunist investors currently running the club to go away. Since last year’s IPO the Rangers International share price has dropped from 70p to a mere 27.25p on Friday morning. Were King to buy up all 60 million of the shares in circulation at that price he could, in theory, take control of Rangers for £16.2m. That’s a sum comfortably within his budget. It’s feasible he could pay twice that price and still have change left over. But that doesn’t mean he will. Or that the people currently running the show will stand back and let him. Supporters speak as if all King has to do is transfer a few million quid to an Escrow account and pick up the keys to Ibrox. It’s not that simple. He could certainly make an offer for existing shares but he has said from the start he won’t put money into the pockets of wide boys. In June 2012 King met Charles Green at Ibrox and quickly established that the Yorkshireman and his faceless backers saw Rangers as the vehicle for making a fast buck. By the time he left Green took close to £1m out of the club. In contrast King is the proverbial ‘Rangers man’. A rarity willing to put millions into buying players for his boyhood idols in the full knowledge he will lose every penny. He put £20m of his own cash into the David Murray regime and lost it all. To hand yet more cash over to the corporate sharks who have landed Rangers in a hell of a mess through their avarice and opportunism, then, would stick in the throat. Neither is there any guarantee Sandy and James Easdale – the public faces on the throne – would sell. Meeting Sandy Easdale at his bus depot in November, King struck up a cordial relationship with the Greenock tycoon. But right now the Easdales show no inclination to hand the reins over to anyone. Their problem, however, is this. Rangers are running out of money. They could sell Lee Wallace, they could cut back the playing squad and they could trim costs across the board. But King articulated a common view among supporters this week. Becoming a team of also rans is simply unthinkable to Rangers. Almost as unpalatable as Celtic reaching ten-in-a-row. Yet unless the Easdales find a way to raise cash quickly it could easily happen. King’s solution is to underwrite a fresh issue of shares and return to the boardroom. For existing investors that’s a last resort option. They would have to dig deep once more or see their power base eroded. They don’t fancy that one bit. But if the alternative is another insolvency event then they may have little choice. Another Ibrox sugar daddy won’t appeal to everyone. The common sense solution would be for Rangers to spend what they earn. To stop throwing good money after bad and live within their means. But, as Walter Smith observed recently, common sense and Rangers finances rarely go hand in hand. Dave King remains hellbent on proving it. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2545705/Stephen-McGowan-Dave-King-showing-no-signs-leaving-riled-Rangers-board-peace.html#ixzz2rP65E6Ui Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook -
Rangers manager Ally McCoist believes the long-term future of the club is secure, despite uncertainty over the financial situation at Ibrox. The Scottish League One side have reported running costs of up to £1m a month and last December chief executive Graham Wallace warned the money 'could run out by April'. Last week Wallace asked Rangers players to take a 15 per cent wage cut and has since sought other avenues of cost-cutting after the request was rejected out of hand. But McCoist, who met with Wallace on Thursday, said: "I think Graham has obviously gone on record as saying the problems that we seem to have, the problems that we are facing, are short-term. "Graham's went public and has told meetings that I've had that the mid to long-term future of the club he is very, very confident and fairly happy with. "So I think the financial problems we face would certainly seem to be more short term than anything. What they are and how we handle them is certainly I don't think for me to say. I think that is for other people to say." Former oldco director Dave King, who is reportedly keen to invest in the Ramsden Cup finalists, has claimed the club needs to bolster the squad at the moment rather than think about trimming numbers. But McCoist refused to be drawn on the South Africa-based businessman's remarks, claiming: "I have to be 100 per cent honest and say I haven't read Dave's article' "People who have been involved in the past obviously still care about the club, People like Dave, Paul Murray and Sir David Murray, and I am quite happy they still want to comment on the club. "They are well entitled to have their views but I can't comment on them. The chief executive is the man I am supporting at the current time, I think I have to do that. He has asked for 120 days and we have to get behind him." http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...medium=twitter ---- I could have done without bloody SDM being mentioned in that light, but thought I should share.... Not sure what to make of it to be honest
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http://www.scribd.com/doc/201292857/One-year-ago Published by RangersTransparency One year ago Mr McCoist had the chance to lead by example. Subject: Ally Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2012 23:52:06 +0000 From: Brian Stockbridge To: Ian Hart, Walter Smith, Malcolm Murray, Phil Cartmell, Bryan Smart CC: Charles A Green, Imran Ahmad Gentlemen The Board is being asked by Ally and his agent to approve an increase in his salary to the original level of £750k per annum. Whilst some of you may be aware of the background discussions that have taken place with Ally over his remuneration, some of you may not be so I set out the detail below: Originally Ally had an employment contract paying £750k per annum. In consideration for working with the Club during the difficult early stages and as a condition of supporting Charles, it was necessary for Charles to agree with Ally that Ally would have the same option package as Charles Charles, after discussion with Malcolm, agreed to reduce his own salary by half to £360k per annum. Ally agreed to reduce his salary from £750k to £600k per annum. At the time of the IPO, it became apparent that public disclosure of Ally's salary may be necessary in the Prospectus. Ally was concerned at how the fans would react to his salary level and I understand that he wanted to reduce it further to around £200k but with some sort of guaranteed bonus to make it back up. The Executive did not accept this as it was considered misleading and the disclosure made in the prospectus was for the actual amounts paid to Ally from June to August. The Executive agreed to explore every avenue to avoid having to disclose Ally's current contract and, after lengthy discussion with the Executive and its advisers, the UKLA accepted that no disclosure needed to be made about the level of Ally's ongoing salary. The Executive has recently been contacted by Ally's agent requesting an increase in Ally's salary from £600k back to the original £750k from now but with arrears of £62.5k to be paid in the January payroll (this represents the 5 months backdated pay). The Board is asked to consider and, if appropriate, approve the reinstatement of Ally's salary at £750k per annum and the payment of £62.5k of arrears. If this is approved then Ally's original contract will become in force. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. If this is real then I can see Ally quitting or being sacked.
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http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6049-playing-crucial-for-kyle KYLE McAUSLAND doesn’t know where he’ll spend the rest of the season yet but admits he needs to be playing games regularly wherever it is. The 21-year-old had a Rangers shirt back on yesterday as he turned out for Gordon Durie’s under-20 side in its 1-0 league win over Ross County at Dumbarton. It was McAusland’s first game for the club since his loan spell at League One rivals Ayr United came to an end at the weekend. There is a possibility the defender could go back out on loan but if he was to do that he’d have to return to Somerset Park for what would be his third time there. FIFA rules dictate a player isn’t allowed to play competitively for any more than two clubs in the one campaign. And because McAusland has turned out for Gers as well as the Honest Men, his only other option is to remain at Ibrox and fight for a place in Ally McCoist’s squad. With Richard Foster and Sebastien Faure both ahead of him in the pecking order for the right-back slot, he knows his chances there might be limited. McAusland is eager to keep playing though and wants to at least become a regular in Durie’s side if he stays with the Light Blues. He said: “It’s my first week back at Rangers this week so I asked to play in the under-20 game to get myself back into the swing of things. “To be honest, I’ve not spoken to the manager here or the manager at Ayr yet about where things sit. “I’ll just keep training and hopefully I’ll speak to everyone either this week or next and we’ll see what happens from there. “If I do end up going back out on loan, it’ll be good to go back to Ayr because they’re doing well and they’re in a play-off place at the moment. “There’s competition for places at Rangers and you’re going to get that at any club, especially here. “It’s going to be hard for me to push the other boys out of the way because they have done well since they came in. “Whatever happens, it’s about getting more experience for me. I need to play games wherever I am, preferably first-team ones. I’m at that age where that’s really important.” Once again demonstrating the utter folly of sending a player out on a half season loan because when he comes back both he and the Club are snookered; as with Gallagher and Mitchell.
