CRO - Football vs Finance: Striking a Balance

[ian1964 10,429]

by Andy McKellar | Deputy Editor

 

The destructive and disastrous tenures of David Murray and Craig Whyte propelled financial discussion to the forefront of sporting debate in Scotland as our proud institution was brought to its knees and subsequently banished to the Third Division. A new but largely undesirable emphasis was placed on balance sheets and boardrooms, replacing the natural focus with events on the football pitch, and the appreciation for financial prudence at Rangers has probably never been more intense.

 

http://www.thecoplandroad.org/2013/07/football-vs-finance-striking-balance.html

[calscot 0]

Surely £3m in one off expenses will likely be amortised over several years?

 

Do Rangers fans really want to do a Queen of the South multiplied by say 3 or 4? Buy a squad of unknown 1st division players with a 1M-1.4M wage bill?

 

Not withstanding the lower likelihood of winning the league and type of football the players would be capable of playing, it's just not good box office sense.

 

For me, I think we need to look at our turnover and expenses and budget accordingly. 33% of turnover seems low enough for me as long as it's not causing us great losses. If it is, then it would seem to me the problem lies not with the player budget, but the running costs that come to over 67% of income.

 

It's funny that up to a couple of years ago I was arguing with people who were annoyed we didn't sign such and such a player because we didn't offer enough cash, with comments such as "just pay up, this is embarrassing" etc. I was pointing out that we have to watch the budget and just can't give in to players crazy demands. Now we seem to have bounced to the other extreme where the complaint is we're paying too much (at much reduced wages) - although it's easier to complain given the comfort of the signings we've made rather than have an effect and really have to put up with a lower quality of squad.

 

Why can't we find some middle ground where everyone can stop jumping up and down in anger? For a start, let's see the audited accounts before jumping the gun. It's all very well saying, "be vigilant" but there seems to be a lot of time and energy invested in worrying about stuff that may not even be a real concern and nothing can be done about it in any case.

 

Not spending all your time worrying about everything, is not the same as burying your head in the sand.

[Zappa 0]

That's a good article from Andy and I think in as balanced a way as possible, it raises some concerns that are bothering a growing number of fans.

[ranger_syntax 3,781]

That was an interesting read. I'm not so sure about the idea of holding on to IPO cash for too long though. Shouldn't it be invested quickly?

[RANGERRAB 3,273]

This article merely highlights the problems Rangers will face remaining in Scottish football.The fact is we need to get out of Scottish football altogether. WS warned everyone when he left a couple of years ago that there is no money in Scottish football. Things are bad & likely to get worse especially if Doncaster has signed a SKY TV deal on paltry terms over nine years or something which will not generate much needed bigger revenues.

I'm one of those who believe CG left because he saw no long term prospects for Rangers whilst we remained in Scotland. Hence his attempts to move to England which weren't feasible but what about a Northern European league comprising of teams from Scandanavia, Holland, Belgium etc ? I believe we should endeavour to be part of such a setup. It would make good commercial sense and would allow the club to grow to its full potential which it won't do stuck in Scotland

Edited July 16, 2013 by RANGERRAB

[ranger_syntax 3,781]

This article merely highlights the problems Rangers will face remaining in Scottish football.The fact is we need to get out of Scottish football altogether. WS warned everyone when he left a couple of years ago that there is no money in Scottish football. Things are bad & likely to get worse especially if Doncaster has signed a SKY TV deal on paltry terms over nine years or something which will not generate much needed bigger revenues.

I'm one of those who believe CG left because he saw no long term prospects for Rangers whilst we remained in Scotland. Hence his attempts to move to England which weren't feasible but what about a Northern European league comprising of teams from Scandanavia, Holland, Belgium etc ? I believe we should endeavour to be part of such a setup. It would make good commercial sense and would allow the club to grow to its full potential which it won't do stuck in Scotland

 

It seems to me that the club would still need to 'strike a balance' wherever it played.

[Super Cooper 0]

I disagree with anyone who thinks we need to get out of Scotland.

[RANGERRAB 3,273]

I disagree with anyone who thinks we need to get out of Scotland.

 

As WS said there's no money in Scottish football. It's commercial madness for Rangers to be there where we're subsidising teams many of whom should be in semi-professional or amateur leagues. The OP highlights the issues we'll continue to come up against. An escape route to a stronger, better financed league would solve a lot of those issues.

[Super Cooper 0]

As WS said there's no money in Scottish football. It's commercial madness for Rangers to be there where we're subsidising teams many of whom should be in semi-professional or amateur leagues. The OP highlights the issues we'll continue to come up against. An escape route to a stronger, better financed league would solve a lot of those issues.

 

Celtic have proved there is plenty money if you do your job right. That is what we have not done. We went on a run to the Uefa Cup final and posted our highest ever turnover yet the debt we were carrying increased at the same time. Our business model has been pathetic for so many years our fans have been brainwashed into thinking the only way to fix it is to leave the country. Scotland is not our problem, we are our problem. We have to show that we can look after ourselves before we should even think about moving elsewhere and right now we are miles off that. The best way to solve the obvious issues of being located in the Scottish game is to box clever, do better and work harder. We have had it far too easy for far too long.

[RANGERRAB 3,273]

Celtic have proved there is plenty money if you do your job right. That is what we have not done. We went on a run to the Uefa Cup final and posted our highest ever turnover yet the debt we were carrying increased at the same time. Our business model has been pathetic for so many years our fans have been brainwashed into thinking the only way to fix it is to leave the country. Scotland is not our problem, we are our problem. We have to show that we can look after ourselves before we should even think about moving elsewhere and right now we are miles off that. The best way to solve the obvious issues of being located in the Scottish game is to box clever, do better and work harder. We have had it far too easy for far too long.

 

Celtic ? you've obviously not read PZ & J's financial analysis of Celtic in Bill McMurdo's blog. A very interesting read. Looks like they called us financial cheats to divert the spotlight away from themselves.