Ibrox at war! Peace is shattered in a new battle for control of Rangers

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The ongoing Rangers power struggle took a dramatic new on Friday following a demand for an extraordinary general meeting that could result in three directors being kicked off the board.

 

On the day controversial former chief executive Charles Green returned to Ibrox as a consultant, the club were served with documents relating to chief executive Craig Mather, finance director Brian Stockbridge and non-executive director Bryan Smart.

 

That move was made by former chairman Malcolm Murray, Paul Murray â??the man who led the Blue Knights consortium â?? and fellow shareholder Frank Blin.

 

More significant, however, is the fact that the move has the backing of Jim McColl, the millionaire entrepreneur who teamed up with former manager and current chairman Walter Smith last year in a failed bid to take over the Ibrox club.

 

An egm could take up to six weeks to convene and, although the current board are obliged to set the wheels in motion, it will only happen if the instigators can drum up enough shareholder support for their motions to be carried.

 

Whatever the final outcome, it is clear that, following the weeks of relative calm after Malcolm Murrayâ??s departure â?? Smith succeeded him as chairman and James Easdale came on to the board â?? a bitter new battle for control of the club is now back on.

 

Last year, Paul Murrayâ??s Blue Knights consortium, with Edinburgh-born businessman Brian Kennedy on board, looked favourites to take over the stricken club â?? until administrators Duff & Phelps awarded preferred-bidder status to Green and his backers. And, despite Green failing to get a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) passed, he was in position to then buy the liquidated clubâ??s assets for £5.5million.

 

Since then, Paul Murray has kept a relatively low profile, but Fridayâ??s bolt from the blue confirms he is again attempting to manoeuvre himself into a position of power in the club, along with former PriceWaterhouseCoopers Scotland executive chairman Blin.

 

One-time Green ally Malcolm Murray, who finally agreed to leave the board in July after an unremarkable chairmanship, is not looking to return â?? but is clearly intent on making life difficult for those who effectively ousted him.

 

The involvement of minor shareholder, Clyde Blowers chief McColl, however, lends added weight to the bid, even though the entrepreneur has no immediate plans to take a seat on the board.

 

The development also places Smith in an awkward position, in that he and McColl attempted to take control of the club last year.

 

Last night, a club statement read: â??The board of Rangers confirms that, on 1 August 2013, it received a notice requisitioning a general meeting of shareholders.

 

â??The requisition puts forward resolutions for the removal of Craig Mather, Brian Stockbridge and Bryan Smart as directors of the company and the appointment of Paul Murray and Frank Blin as directors of the company.

 

â??The board is verifying whether the requisition is properly constituted and further announcements will be made as appropriate.â??

 

Itâ??s not the first move for an egm the club has faced in recent times. One, believed to have come from Greenâ??s camp, called for the removal of Murray as chairman earlier this year, but that fell when the latter left the club of his own volition.

 

Now, if the fresh proposal is passed, the only remaining board members would be chairman Smith, non-executive director Ian Hart and Inverclyde-based businessman Easdale, whose appointment last month appeared to bring an end to the boardroom infighting â?? until yesterdayâ??s developments.

 

Earlier, a day of high drama kicked off with Green returning to the club â?? just four months after quitting his chief executiveâ??s post under a cloud.

 

The 60-year-old Yorkshireman has been appointed as a consultant, with the remit of promoting Rangersâ?? interests and assisting with shareholder relations as he attempts to bring fresh institutional and private investment to the table.

Smiles: Ally McCoist is in good spirits during training

 

Smiles: Ally McCoist is in good spirits during training

 

Although his appointment, believed to involve a nominal salary, is unconnected to the moves of Paul Murray and Co, his return to a structured role is likely to strengthen the resolve of the existing directors under threat.

 

Nothing had been heard from the former Sheffield United supremo since he stepped down as Rangers chief executive in April and from the board in June. His re-emergence yesterday came as a total surprise.

 

Green was an outspoken figure after his consortium acquired the clubâ??s assets in June 2012 following liquidation.

 

His blunt, colourful language appealed to the fan-base as the club attempted to regroup in the bottom tier of Scottish football and 35,000 season tickets were sold. He also drove a share flotation last year that saw £22.5m raised.

 

However, manager Ally McCoist was less than fulsome in his backing of Green and made no bones about his disappointment in not landing the number of transfer targets he desired 12 months ago, the pair being at loggerheads when Green described last seasonâ??s side as the â??worst in the clubâ??s historyâ?? â?? a remark McCoist greatly resented.

 

The Englishmanâ??s exit from the club was finally sealed when racist remarks attributed to him appeared in a national newspaper.

 

He was already under fire after reports had surfaced claiming that he had struck a clandestine deal with vilified former owner Craig Whyte to purchase the assets.

 

Green claimed he had only done what was necessary to get the shareholding out of Whyteâ??s hands â?? a version of events hotly disputed by the Motherwell-born businessman.

 

An independent investigation commissioned by the Rangers board subsequently found no evidence that Whyte had invested in the current Ibrox set-up but, by that stage, Green had stepped aside.

 

He still owns a 7.7 per cent stake in the company, which he will only be able to sell off this December.

 

He has already agreed to sell 714,285 of his 5,071,629 shares (around 14 per cent) to Isle of Man-based Hedge Fund Laxey Partner and it remains to be seen where â?? or if â?? he will dispose of the remainder.

 

Insiders at Rangers insist Green, who will not immediately return to the board, is determined to help finish the job he started â?? namely returning the club to the top flight of Scottish football.

 

It is also claimed that he regrets much of what he said publicly during his time at Ibrox.

 

Although he is no longer a director, the powerful voting power and financial clout of his original backers is thought to be a prime driver behind yesterdayâ??s shock developments.

 

An earlier club statement yesterday read: â??The board of Rangers is pleased to announce that it has today appointed Charles Green as a consultant to the company.

 

â??Mr Greenâ??s role will be to promote the interests of Rangers Football Club, specifically assisting with shareholder relations and advising the company on its capital structure.â??

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2383849/Rangers-war-battle-control.html#ixzz2ar0nIaTn

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