chilledbear 16 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 RANGERS directors were locked in showdown talks in London yesterday as they attempt to stave off more financial chaos. Record Sport can reveal brothers Sandy and James Easdale travelled to meet with representatives of shareholders groups Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings before staging further discussions with the rest of the Ibrox regime yesterday afternoon. Talks will continue at 10.30am today at an official board meeting to be held in the offices of the club’s financial advisers, Daniel Stewart. The Easdales flew out of Glasgow yesterday on a morning flight to the docklands’ City Airport. Coincidentally on the same flight were the club’s shamed former finance director Brian Stockbridge and axed PR guru Jack Irvine. Rangers sources insisted last night that Stockbridge’s presence was ‘purely coincidental’ although all four were spotted chatting together in the departure lounge before boarding. On arrival in London, Stockbridge was seen heading for a train while the Easdales left in a taxi cab. But it’s understood the brothers were then involved in talks with the same mysterious investors who helped fund the £5.5million takeover which saw Charles Green, Stockbridge and Imran Ahmad seize control of the club’s assets two years ago. Blue Pitch and Margarita are now supporting the Easdales and sources claimed last night they will be willing to plough more money into a fresh share issue if, as widely expected, the club requires an urgent injection of cash after a dramatic slump in season-ticket sales. It’s understood chief executive Graham Wallace later met with the Easdales after flying back to Britain from a supporters convention in Canada. Wallace declined to answer fans’ questions when asked how many season tickets have been sold. Sources close to the board insisted last month 20,000 fans had renewed. Meanwhile, generous fan George Letham, who stumped up £1m in emergency cash to keep the club out of trouble in February, has still not had his loan repaid. Under the terms of his loan the money was supposed to be returned as soon as sufficient funds had dropped into the club’s account from season-ticket sales. And with June’s wage bill still to be covered at the end of this month, the regime’s need to secure fresh funds seems increasingly urgent. But before jetting back across the Atlantic for yesterday’s London talks, Wallace insisted on the club’s website that Rangers finances are not a cause for alarm. And he insisted fans can expect to see more new signings soon. Meanwhile, it has been revealed accountants and lawyers have raked in a staggering £2m in 12 months as the bill for winding up oldco Rangers continues to soar. The figures have been detailed in the latest six-month report from insolvency experts BDO who were appointed liquidators of the Rangers Football Club PLC after it failed to emerge from administration following Craig Whyte’s ruinous 10-month reign. And the unfathomable strategy adopted by Whyte is further highlighted by the fact almost half of this latest bill has been covered by the final instalment of the £4.5m deal which saw Nikica Jelavic sold off to Everton just two weeks before the club was plunged into financial chaos in February 2012. The BDO report, which was completed at the end of last month, reveals a cheque for £975k is expected to arrive from the Goodison Park club ‘shortly after 31 May 2014’. But that won’t come close to covering the spiralling costs – as BDO gear up for a potential multi-million pound courtroom battle with Collyer Bristow, the law firm who advised Whyte during his takeover in 2011. In total, more than £1m has been spent on legal fees and outlays with more than £650k of it going to solicitors Stephenson Harwood, who are preparing the case against Collyer Bristow. The report says a trial date is ‘currently set for the beginning of 2015’ but it is anticipated a deal could be negotiated and an out of court settlement agreed. BDO are also carrying out a probe into the conduct of administrators Duff and Phelps, who sold the club’s assets to Green for a knockdown £5.5m. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-directors-hold-showdown-talks-3668192 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,146 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Ah, BPH's £50m on its way at last...? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Doesn't seem to exactly match the words of Wallace at Narsa, does it? Don't tell me he was lying yet again. Is it a compulsion, one wonders? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,146 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Doesn't seem to exactly match the words of Wallace at Narsa, does it? Don't tell me he was lying yet again. Is it a compulsion, one wonders? I can't see how Wallace can square a great position with the Letham loan being unpaid and season tickets numbers so low. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Irvine must be more than just a [ex?] PR Consultant. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,146 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I wonder if this company is involved in the next share issue: http://internationalfsa.com/ Make a commitment, then honour it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,146 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Irvine must be more than just a [ex?] PR Consultant. Well, he's still the Easdale family spokesman so there's no doubt his commitments will overlap. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 4,808 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I can't see how Wallace can square a great position with the Letham loan being unpaid and season tickets numbers so low. Wallace rolls out mostly empty corporatespeak that from day one has often been misleading and had scant relation to our actual situation. He is the semi-public voice that seeks to keep the heat off the board and buy time. "Semi" because he doesn't often do direct questioning and prefers to hide behind controllable press articles, twitter O&G's and the 'Paxmanlike' Rangers TV ! The other day he was talking about Ally and him planning, building and blending the squad with an eye towards the top tier. He didn't mention the 'Chief of Football Operations' (DoF) of the business review who perhaps will be appointed once the planning, scouting, building and blending is done. At the same time he talked of bringing in players which means spending money. So if there is money why not start with the scouting, DoF ? And if there is money why has George Letham not been paid ? Not forgetting this other line from the business review.......... "The Club acquired a number of players in Summer 2013 that, based on financial forecasts, it should have known that it could not afford" http://www.rangers.co.uk/images/staticcontent/documents/RangersBusinessReview.pdf I wonder what the current financial forecasts look like ? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I wonder if this company is involved in the next share issue: http://internationalfsa.com/ Make a commitment, then honour it. We don't have our troubles to seek either from the FSA nor the SFA! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,234 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 At the end of the day, only the next few weeks or months will tell us how "serious" any cash issues are. What we have is speculation on speculative figures and assumption based on that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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