Darrell King On Whyte

[chilledbear 16]

ITâ??S time for Rangers fans to play the numbers game â?¦ and they must look beyond the most obvious statistic they awoke to today: That two out of this seasonâ??s three domestic trophies are gone after their meek Scottish Cup capitulation at home to Dundee United.

 

Look beyond, too, the fact that they have won just one of seven cup ties this term when European action is considered; that they have blown a one-time 15-point lead in the SPL over Celtic, who must now be short odds to romp to a Treble.

 

Those are the numbers attached to the football fall-out. However, as the embattled manager, Ally McCoist, said before the United humbling which was, significantly, watched by fewer than 18,000 supporters: Does whatâ??s happening on the pitch really matter any more?

 

Given the way just about every one of those in blue hid yesterday, itâ??s not inconceivable that is the feeling in the Rangers dressing room. This looked like a bunch of players who had seen one headline too many, and chucked it.

 

It also looked like a group who, if truth be told, are bereft of real quality as a result of asset-stripping without adequate replacements. And those who do have anything about them, have lost it. But, again, thatâ??s not where the Rangers supporters should be training their sights.

 

Itâ??s hard not to feel sympathy for a support who are in a fog of financial confusion, attempting to find some kind of clarity as to exactly how desperate and dangerous these times are for a club now into its 140th year of existence.

 

And, make no mistake, these are the most perilous times Rangers have ever had to face. But it is absolutely imperative that each and every one of them stops, digests what they are being told, and asks the burning questions of the man who purchased the club last May, Craig Whyte.

 

Letâ??s track it back to then, the time of the takeover. Whyte proclaimed that Rangers were â??debt freeâ?? when he finally sealed a deal to replace Sir David Murray as the majority shareholder.

 

But, inside nine months, if we are doing the sums based on what is being put out there by the owner and chairman, they are now a minimum of £42m in the red â?? £18m to his company, who apparently paid Lloyds for the bank debt, and £24m to Ticketus, after the income expected from 100,000 future season ticket sales was borrowed against.

 

And that is before the potential HMRC liability, which could be as high as £49m if they are found guilty of mis-using the Employment Benefit Trusts, with a tribunal set to announce its ruling on that lengthy investigation some time next month.

 

Whyte was asked yesterday if he feared a season ticket boycott, something which would, of course, put enormous strain on the Ticketus arrangement, as it is after all based on season ticket sales.

 

Well, yesterday his support voted with their feet. What happens if they decide en masse not to renew their season tickets? With the product Rangers have on the park right now, who would shell out up front to fund that?

 

This is a dangerous strategy being deployed by Whyte, and a warning came yesterday when the attendance flashed up â?? but itâ??s too late to back-track with Ticketus.

 

He talks of a £10m gap in funding. Was that not evident when due diligence was done? Would it not have been easier to sell Nikica Jelavic last August when more money was on the table than enter into this Ticketus arrangement, or work at getting that figure down over the year?

 

And exactly why is there a funding gap of that size. Rangersâ?? unaudited accounts to year-end June 30, 2011, showed £9m cash in the bank. Where is the Ticketus money? Are we to assume it will be in the audited accounts that must appear before March 31 in order for Rangers to be given a licence to play in Europe next season?

 

But, and this is based on Whyteâ??s figures, if £33m was set aside from his own wealth for this deal, as he claims, if the £24m from Ticketus went into Rangersâ?? bank, add in the £9m that was lying there from season ticket cash already banked, throw in Madjid Bougherraâ??s £1.8m and Charlie Adamâ??s sell-on clause of £900,000, then thatâ??s over £68m in terms of incomings.

 

Even running at a loss of £800,000 a month, as he claims the figure is, just how can Rangers have no money and have to sell Jelavic on the cheap in what appears to be a bid to get cash in the door just to keep them going?

 

Whyte can, of course, clear all of this up. Produce accounts. Have an AGM. Explain why the Ticketus deal was not in the shareholdersâ?? circular sent out detailing the financial detail of what his takeover entailed.

 

Rangers fans must do the sums â?¦ they must demand answers.

 

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/...ums-1.1146703?

[der Berliner 3,287]

IMHO, Whyte has said what has to be said about the issue. If King or Traynor doesn't like it, so be it. Neither these two or, matter of fact, the supporters have any more "right" to know more than what Whyte has done. Guiding Rangers FC and their finances has never been done with the consent of the press or the support, nor their full and detailed knwoledge. King and Traynor just mobilizing the disgruntled masses and knock their press freedom about ... in the search of another story. THAT should be clear here.

[gisabeer 409]

assumming mr kings figures are right, ill take a guess and say that cw is saving up for the tax hit!

[Bluedell 5,356]

IMHO, Whyte has said what has to be said about the issue. If King or Traynor doesn't like it, so be it. Neither these two or, matter of fact, the supporters have any more "right" to know more than what Whyte has done.

 

And Whyte doesn't have the right to have supporters renew their season tickets but a bit more clarity in respect of the funding would help them to do so.

[Guest Dutchy]

I read the words asset stripping and a shudder went through me. As I read on I was thinking what a state football is in, our club in particular.

 

All these businessmen coming into football, and never making any money, apparently fills me with trepidation and the fact that der Berliner suggests that CW doesn't have to say anything to the fans makes me ready for a funeral fo epic proportions.

[Ergatrude 0]

the fact that der Berliner suggests that CW doesn't have to say anything to the fans makes me ready for a funeral fo epic proportions.

 

I can't agree here Dutchy.

 

I don't see why Craig Whyte should be any different from any other football club owner. Never mind the fact that we are deep in financial dogshit, but you don't see the chairmen of Celtic, St. Mirren, Manchester United or Doncaster Rovers discussing in-depth financial details of their clubs.

 

I don't remember anyone calling for all these intimate details when SDM was in charge and it was him afterall who made the mess.

 

If the chairmen of football clubs were to discuss these details in public then I'm sure it would be more than just Rangers fans who would be pissed off. I'm pretty sure that most clubs use financial tactics that, if published in a tabloid, would send their fans into panic.

For instance, Celtic remortgaging their Lennoxtown training camp. Big deal? No, but if their finances are so rosy then why would they have to? Would it be a big deal if Rangers mortgaged Murray Park and it was published in a tabloid? Who knows? But I can rest assured that if that situation arose then every single fucking newspaper in Scotland would cover the story, not only that but they would paint it all doom & gloom "THE END IS NIGH!" I hear you cry.

 

Realistically, our club is in the middle of the most fucked up financial mess football has seen without administration. Was it CW's fault? No. Did he know this when he bought the club? Yes. Does that mean he has a plan? I certainly HOPE so. Does that mean he should reveal his plan? Fuck no. When your cards are down in poker you don't tell everyone the cards you have, unless you're a fantastic liar or a complete fucking spastic. You bide your time, wait your turn & play your hand. I know we aren't talking about poker here, but I'm pretty sure this is the tactic CW is employing.

 

All we can do is HOPE that he has a plan, like he says he does. TRUST that he is a Rangers fan & wants what is best for the club, like he says he does.

 

Oh aye & stop reading bullshit stories in the tabloids that every single one of us have torn to shreds for bullshitting over the past year at least. You can't call them liars one minute & then hail them as the people who reveal the truth the next.

 

At the end of the day, they don't know the figures behind our club, no-one does. But they do know the figures behind the amount of newspapers they sell which, I'll bet, is far scarier for their livelihood than that of Rangers future.

[Ergatrude 0]

And Whyte doesn't have the right to have supporters renew their season tickets but a bit more clarity in respect of the funding would help them to do so.

 

I agree Bluedell, sadly funding is always going to be an issue until we are hit with our fine, or aren't.

[Guest Dutchy]

he doesn't need to go into detail Ergatrude, but he could at least tell us something. Then again, everything he's said so far has not proved to be incorrect, to say the least.

 

If you're happy with a man that claims to have bundles of cash to fund the running of our team, then morages off every stream of income we appear to have, then I applaude your loyalty, but not your curiosity.

 

This lack of information, or indeed, inaccurate information just seems to allow the media to have a field day and they're not the slightest bit worried about the standard threat of legal action, so I doubt the negativity will stop, which is bad for the public image of our team.

 

But everyone's entitled to their opinion, mine is I doubt CW is the man for the job. It's all very well to blame the last regime, but it's not the last board I'm talking about, it's the present mob.

[Juancornetto 1]

Think about this : Craig Whyte doesn't take over the club and instead Paul Murray and Alistair Johnstone take over by default. The £18m debt remains in the club AND the new owners finance working capital from Ticketus for this season possibly giving McCoist some money to spend in January and keeping Jelavic?? Fleck, Ortiz, etc) on the books.

 

The wage bill goes up, the debt gathers interest and Lloyds remain holding the purse strings indefinitely. HMRC case plods along in the back ground but now instead of being technically debt free we are in £23m + of debt and growing heading towards an HMRC judgement with an expensive squad and paying huge wages to PM, AJ, and possibly Bain.

 

I fail to see how that scenario is better than the one we are in now.

[Bluedell 5,356]

I fail to see how that scenario is better than the one we are in now.

 

Yeah, PM has spectacularly failed at explaining why his vision is a good one. If he had done that at the time then some of the support may have backed him but it did (and still does) seem unappealing.