Ellis, put up or shut up ââ?¬â?? We deserve better (DTB article)

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Found this Do The Bouncy article and thought it might be worth posting for those that don't go on Newsnow.

 

Ellis, put up or shut up ââ?¬â?? We deserve better

May 20, 2010 by Danny

 

I wrote on these very pages not so long ago regarding Andrew Ellis� intention to buy Rangers, the last time being of course when he publicly announced his plan to begin formal proceedings to purchase David Murray�s majority share, keep manager Walter Smith at the helm and give the former owner an honorary lifetime place as club president.

 

The news broke not from tabloid rumour, but from the man himself, and raise a few eyebrows he did. For the last two weeks however, we have heard nothing but rumblings of discontent from the manager Walter Smith, unhappy at Ellis discussing his future when no contact has been made and more recently, chairman Alastair Johnston expressing his view that the discussions over the deal are far from begun never mind completed.

 

Due diligence is always a period of uncertainty, when a prospective buyer looks at the business and makes a decision on whether to make a bid. But almost three months since his announcement to The City, and still we seem to be at the same place as then.

 

Back when Ellis had designs on taking control of his fatherââ?¬â?¢s old club and the club he supported as a boy, Ellis was quickly unpopular with the fans. A proposal to move the club away from Loftus Road to a new stadium and use the land for property development was met with protest and after time, Ellis pulled out of the deal and moved onto Northampton. In a previous report, I suggested that Ellis had his eyes on Ibrox for Hinshelwood ââ?¬â?? the area immediately in front of the stadium earmarked for development by the club before. Within two days, the tabloids had picked up on the same thing and Glasgow City Council had commented that discussions with the club had taken place.

 

Most fans didn�t seem too worried that the club was being looked at for this reason. The stadium would remain, the local area would be redeveloped and the club would benefit financially. Ellis is a property developer after all, and had he not bought Rangers for that reason, perhaps the only attractive thing for any shrewd business person would buy an SPL club for these days, someone else surely would have got in there first.

 

Since then though the same pattern that emerged with QPR is reoccurring. Ellis is making plenty of noise, talking the talk, but simply not walking the walk. He has been quoted that he is in discussion with Rangers about a takeover, yet the chairman during his brief visit to the U.K. has not heard from the man.

 

The chairman�s annoyance is being echoed by the fans in pubs and clubs up and down the country, on blogs and forums and everywhere else. A number of prolific players are at the end of their contracts and Rangers look set to lose them unless the future of the club is secured sooner rather than later. Even manager Walter Smith has raised concerns about the potential new owner:

 

ââ?¬Å?Iââ?¬â?¢m happy to confirm Iââ?¬â?¢ve still to hear anything from Mr Ellis. It would be nice if he spoke to me personally but maybe Iââ?¬â?¢ll find out later on what he has in mind.ââ?¬Â

 

Smith�s future is a big concern for the players too, many of whom have announced they would stay at Ibrox should he remain manager. If Smith doesn�t pen a new deal, will McCoist take over or will he leave with him? Kenny McDowall is tipped as hot favourite to succeed Gus McPherson at St Mirren and could walk to Paisley with the Buddies secure in the knowledge they can hire a manager with no fee to pay out, given the fact the management team have been working without a contract at Rangers since January.

 

Also recently the talk in a certain red top rag last week suggested Rangersââ?¬â?¢ tax issue could leave the club in Ã?£80m debt ââ?¬â?? laughable given that sum was rubbished by financial experts in virtually every newspaper the following day, but kept going by Kerrydale Streetââ?¬â?¢s amateur accountants keen to deflect any banter from their shockingly bad season back at Rangers fans who have just celebrated two trophy wins. The threat is still there however, and though this may be a concern to any prospective owner, David Murrayââ?¬â?¢s MIH group would need to offer security to any new owner should any backdated tax be paid.

 

The fact remains, this is the end of the line, unless the club is sold this summer then the financial constraints Walter or his successor finds themselves burdened with next season could mean a bleak year ahead. Already our top striker has been offered lucrative deals to move south or abroad at the end of his deal this summer. A move away may have been rejected by Boyd when the last solid offer was put forward but with clubs ready to give him a bumper pay day, there is little hope, except Walter staying and the club under new ownership, of keeping him here any longer.

 

Rangers may be on target to fulfil Lloydâ��s need to reduce the clubâ��s overdraft facility annually, the club may have reported a half year profit of �£13m only last month but the fact remains that no-one at Ibrox knows whether they will have a job tomorrow, next week or next month. The fans and players should be basking in the glory of a second successive SPL title, enjoying a long summer of World Cup football and Commonwealth games sports and enjoying every minute of the summer break.

 

That is not the case though. Tabloids are spouting lies, rumours and controversy daily about the club ââ?¬â?? nothing unusual in Scotland, but bizarre given the clubââ?¬â?¢s recent success. The prospective buyer and the chairmanââ?¬â?¢s only form of communication these days seems to be through media outlets and the players who have an uncertain future are getting more and more tempted to pick up a pen and sign a dotted line to take them to a club where they are guaranteed football and job security.

 

However the saga continues, and Ellis once again was in the newspapers, playing verbal ping-pong with the chairman about his intentions to buy the club. This is not good enough ââ?¬â?? the future of Rangers does not only affect the players and the staff at Ibrox and Auchenhowie. It affects millions of fans across the globe, it affects the residents of the local area who are living next to wasteland which could be used for better purposes and it affects the whole of Scottish football.

 

The effects of Rangers being used as a pawn in a larger game of Ellisââ?¬â?¢ could have far reaching effects on the game in Scotland. We are not to be used in tit-for-tat argument over ownership. We are not just a club to be used to gain cheap land. We are not, with no disrespect to Northampton, some lower league club needing financial bailout and we certainly donââ?¬â?¢t deserve to suffer another summer of uncertainty. We are SPL champions, we have a back-to-back double winning squad, the best management team money can buy in Scotland and should have no reason to be sitting dreading the next rumour in the newspaper or Ellisââ?¬â?¢ latest ââ?¬Ë?assurancesââ?¬â?¢.

 

Unless Ellis can place a bid on the table, put his money where his mouth is and offer to buy our club, then he should walk away now. Three months is a long time in business, and an even longer time in football. Either lay your cards on the table Ellis, or walk away now. Smith is getting annoyed, Johnston is clearly impatient, the players have itchy feet and the fans have had enough. We deserve better than this, and we deserve it now.