Guest Northampton_loyalist Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 CLUB OWNERSHIP Andrew Ellis has held talks with Donald Muir (the enemy within) (the enemy within) and with Sir David Murray and has provided proof of funds. However, the Chairman indicated that the Board has, as yet, received no firm details of the Ellis proposals or indeed had any discussion with him. Any proposed buyer has to negotiate a purchase price with the seller and, if a bid is made, it will be reviewed by the Independent Panel (made up of five of the current Directors) who will assess the bid against a set of parameters and criteria then make a recommendation to shareholders. The panel cannot block a bid as such and with Sir David Murray being the majority shareholder, he effectively holds the call on any bid. Whilst there has been speculation about other interested parties, there has been no formal approaches other than Andrew Ellis. CURRENT FINANCES A meeting was held today (Monday) with the Bank to agree the budget parameters for next season. Donald Muir (the enemy within) (the enemy within) feels the Club are going into that meeting in a better position than last year and he is optimistic that the outcome will enable the Club to be able to strengthen the playing squad albeit not significantly. There is no money specifically ring-fenced by the Bank to help clear debt - there is a credit facility the Club cannot exceed and there are plans being presented to the Bank that will enable the Club to operate within that limit. There is no requirement to sell players for financial reasons. A key enabler for the business plan is season ticket income and it is vitally important that continues. We pressed strongly for the Champions League income to be assigned Walter Smith as a reward for his record of achievement. The baseline financial plan assumes Europa League participation so there will be additional unplanned income and we said we hoped that could be used to strengthen the squad. MANAGEMENT AND PLAYER CONTRACTS Walter Smith is in a similar position to the fans. He requires clarity and information to help decide his future. Hopefully, following the outcome of the meeting with the Bank today, he will be able to decide his future - we stressed our desire for him to stay, his leadership role at this difficult time and the positive impact of him deciding to stay on and being able to strengthen the squad. Some of the out of contract players have been made offers that equal or better their current deals. As yet, none have decided to accept a new contract. Martin Bain said they are all playing their cards close to their chests. He did say that any money there is to spend has to be balanced between freshening up the squad and/or improving the current contracts. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE We stressed that the admission package for the home matches must be realistic and fair and we must learn from last season. Martin Bain agreed and indicated that the current budgeted prices will be less than last season. We questioned whether that was irrespective of the draw and he stated that he hoped that it would be as fans had dug deep and they had to be fair in the current economic climate. PRE-SEASON It is likely that there will be a pre-season visit to Australia comprising of three matches in Sydney and there is planning underway for home (Newcastle Utd) and away (Stoke City) friendlies - they are not confirmed as yet but hopefully details will be available soon. MEDIA Following the meeting, I was interviewed by Sky Sports News, Radio Scotland and Radio Clyde. I gave a factual account of the discussions and stressed the message that fans should buy season tickets and ensure that we maintain our support. I said we were all desperate for Walter to stay and that he would have some funds to strengthen the playing squad. I reiterated that the ongoing uncertainty was a big worry for fans and, the longer that continued, the more restless fans would become. ANDY KERR Interesting reading. I guess it all boils down to whether you think Murray/Muir is telling the truth or not. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabashcannonball 0 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 I take it Kerr and his cohorts will be taking Jordan to task for blatant misrepresentation, unless of course AJ and Bain are so far out of the loop they do not know what is going on, Jordans article is the direct opposite of what kerr claims, so which one is pulling our chain..... "On the matter of the Andrew Ellis takeover, the fans’ delegation were told that proof of funding had still to be shown, and left the meeting with the impression that deal was going nowhere fast". 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boss 0 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 the fans� delegation were told that proof of funding had still to be shown, and left the meeting with the impression that deal was going nowhere fast". It depends on which member of the delegation feeds stories to Thomas Jhordan. I think we should be told. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabashcannonball 0 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 It depends on which member of the delegation feeds stories to Thomas Jhordan. I think we should be told. My thoughts exactly. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy steel 0 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 You have to wonder at the club sometimes. Why are they trying to set up another friendly in England, which will only lead to the usual headlines and bad publicity when the media machine kicks in? Let's just go to Germany as per. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Northampton_loyalist Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 You have to wonder at the club sometimes. Why are they trying to set up another friendly in England, which will only lead to the usual headlines and bad publicity when the media machine kicks in? Let's just go to Germany as per. We have had far more successful trips to England for friendlies than we have had riots. Fulham, Derby, Newcastle, the emerates cup etc etc etc. There is a huge following south of the border and having been at every one of the above games I can say I saw nothing but a great time had by all, home fans and away. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
metlika 0 Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 I would say Newcastle fans aren't particularly fond of us. Apparently some of our fans burnt down a Millies Cookie stand when we last in Newcastle or so I'm told... Scottish Media are negative about us all the time so it wouldn't much different if the English were either. However I don't get why we are problems, just bring Manchester into and thats it no chance, one off match, everyone wants to be there. We would hardly have an invasion again playing in a few fecking friendlies in England. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,114 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 We were in Newcastle 5 years ago and had a great time - even if Bobby Robson didn't like our songs about Shearer... They're coming up here this time and I certainly don't expect any bother in Stoke. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,114 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 More importantly, as always, the minutes of the meeting above are interesting - if hardly ground-breaking stuff. We'll just have to see how accurate the budget projections are. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabashcannonball 0 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 (edited) CLUB OWNERSHIP "Andrew Ellis has held talks with Donald Muir and with Sir David Murray and has provided proof of funds. However, the Chairman indicated that the Board has, as yet, received no firm details of the Ellis proposals or indeed had any discussion with him. Any proposed buyer has to negotiate a purchase price with the seller and, if a bid is made, it will be reviewed by the Independent Panel (made up of five of the current Directors) who will assess the bid against a set of parameters and criteria then make a recommendation to shareholders. The panel cannot block a bid as such and with Sir David Murray being the majority shareholder, he effectively holds the call on any bid. Whilst there has been speculation about other interested parties, there has been no formal approaches other than Andrew Ellis." Donald Muir is a member of the Rangers board, why would he be withholding details of any negotiations from his fellow board members, he is specifically barred from the steering committee that would recommend or reject any offer, nothing more nothing less. At the very least withholding relevant information, if at all true, is being less than open, or open to other interpretation, or as I suspect the "committee" is in Murray's eyes a necessary irrelevance. The Independent Directors exclude Mike McGill and Donald Muir who are connected to MIH, and so have a potential conflict of interest, and Dave King and Paul Murray about whose intentions there has been past speculation that could lead to a perception of a possible conflict of interest. Edited May 12, 2010 by wabashcannonball 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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