ian1964 10,409 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 THE IMPORTANCE OF SAFEGUARDING IBROX 23rd July 2014 Some have asked why we have such a desire to safeguard Ibrox and claim it's ok for a club to borrow money against it's stadium and to be fair in normal operating conditions this may be the case. Unfortunately our club does not operate within normal operating conditions. To understand the full importance of our position it is important to be aware of the full financial position our club currently operates. Our club does not have enough cash flow to see out the full season that is soon to start. Some predict a shortfall of circa £8m just to allow the club to stay afloat. Due to many issues, last years season ticket holders numbered approx 34,000 and by the end of the renewal date only 50% of these had renewed their seats. It is fair to assume that some new ST will be sold to new ST holders and some old ones may still renew but regardless, the season ticket sales will be significantly lower than last year and after a promotion, one would have expected to see a rise in sales. The much touted share issue that the board would have us believe would be fully supported by institutional investors simply will not be as successful as they publicly admit and sources close to us claim that even the board now feel the money raised will be much lower than they first presumed. The reason for this is simple, they are asking investors to invest more money but this money will not be used to make the club better and worth more it will simply be used to shore up shortfalls in cash flow (remember we were advised by Mr Wallace at the AGM that we had no short to medium term cash shortfalls) If this share issue was to raise funds for assets or player purchases etc then there is a good case for investors to invest more as the business would normally rise in value and they would see an increase in their investment. Our directors expect to go cap in hand and ask investors to give them more money just to stay afloat and this is only 7 months after telling these very same investors that we had no short to medium term cash worries. Would you give it if you had no emotional attachment to the club? I didn't think so. ST sales are well below target and the promised windfall from a share issue looks like just a pipe dream so where does that leave us as a club? Simple, fresh investment is required and is available and not only from Dave King. So why won't the board accept outside investment? I believe this is the reason or at least one of the reasons that our board room is starting to split. Anyone willing to invest at the levels required would rightly ask for a say in the boardroom and here lies the problem. Our faceless investors and hedge fund simply don't want this and although between them they own less then a third of the business, they want to control the full boardroom and don't want to dilute their power. The faceless and the hedge fund are therefore starving our club. We find ourselves a club in a catch 22. We need cash but those willing to give it won't be allowed as the faceless and hedge fund won't agree to them. That takes us back to the main point, Ibrox. If the club were to use Ibrox to raise money then two options are available 1) Sell stadium then lease back or 2) use Ibrox as security in a loan. If we do a sale and lease back agreement then our club will be paying out money over a long period of time just because this current board are way out on their own cash assessments and if we borrow against Ibrox and our club was to once again lurch in to admin then we would lose our stadium to the lender. Neither is acceptable to me as a fan. So what's the alternatives? 1) Mr Easdale can magic the investment he promised on national TV prior to the AGM (has there ever been a public excuse of what happened to this promised investment?) 2) Mr Wallace can find the £5m he told the UoF at a meeting six weeks ago was available "at the click of a button" 3) Mr Crighton can do something he's been paid to do since pre AGM and that is attract investment as when he was introduced to us he was to chair an investment committee with that very aim (what investment have we attracted since he came?) 4) Talk to those willing to invest in the club and compromise with them. It's not a bad word. 5) Stop mucking about with the fans and show a bit of humility. Tell the fans you are listening to them, tell the fans their actions have been noted and tell them you WILL NOT sell or borrow against our stadium instead of hiding behind cute statements with obtuse phrases. But for the sake of the future of our club DO SOMETHING. If you are incapable of finding an alternative then move aside and let others on board that aren't selected by the 30% of investors who are holding our club back or welcome some on board who can bring the faith of the fans and investment with them. Why are Blue pitch, Margareta and Laxey so against others being represented on our board? This will be discussed in the near future Why does this statement not ask about Auchenhowie? Simple, there's no point in asking for something you can't get and our belief for sometime has been that our training ground will go soon as negotiations have been ongoing for some time. It's time for change, either change how our board conduct themselves or change who selects and drives our board members. The alternative isn't worth considering. http://www.sonsofstruth.co.uk/blog.html 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stimpy 0 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Why does this statement not ask about Auchenhowie? Simple, there's no point in asking for something you can't get and our belief for sometime has been that our training ground will go soon as negotiations have been ongoing for some time. It's time for change, either change how our board conduct themselves or change who selects and drives our board members. Worrying. In fact, most of what's said is worrying. We're so far off being the top club we once were whilst the BPH, Margarita and the current board hang around. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 there will be nothing left of our club when greenco are finished with it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 It could be dangerous to urge Wallace and the board to find the £5m they told fans was available "at the click of a button" because that could easily be related to a deal for Murray Park. Whether it's related to Murray Park or not though, it might be more prudent to know where the £5m would be coming from before urging Wallace and his employers to press that particular mystery button. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmu 0 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Catch 22 indeed. You encourage fans to withhold cash then castigate board for having a shortfall. Further castigation on their methods of err making up the missing funding because of the fans withholding. Do the sos ever wonder if they played right into the hands of the board? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,254 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 If 'faceless investors and hedge fund' own less than a third how do they control the boardroom? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,829 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 7 posts and he's not on here criticising the SOS. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hildy 0 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 What is going on here? This reads like Murray Park has already been conceded. "Why does this statement not ask about Auchenhowie? Simple, there's no point in asking for something you can't get and our belief for sometime has been that our training ground will go soon as negotiations have been ongoing for some time." Have they been sitting on important information relating to Murray Park and keeping it quiet? If negotiations have been going on for some time, why not say so before now? If they believe it, shouldn't they have made it as clear as they could as early as they could? It is being implied that it is too late to change anything re Murray Park, and yet they have known for 'some time' that it was being negotiated away. Their belief is based on a statement that 'negotiations have been ongoing for some time'. This belief then seems to be based on knowledge. Someone needs to ask Rangers - quite bluntly - if there is any truth in the rumour that it is preparing to unload Murray Park. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cooper 0 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Nothing better happen to our training ground. To me that is every bit as important as our stadium and history. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmu 0 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 What is going on here? This reads like Murray Park has already been conceded. "Why does this statement not ask about Auchenhowie? Simple, there's no point in asking for something you can't get and our belief for sometime has been that our training ground will go soon as negotiations have been ongoing for some time." Have they been sitting on important information relating to Murray Park and keeping it quiet? If negotiations have been going on for some time, why not say so before now? If they believe it, shouldn't they have made it as clear as they could as early as they could? It is being implied that it is too late to change anything re Murray Park, and yet they have known for 'some time' that it was being negotiated away. Their belief is based on a statement that 'negotiations have been ongoing for some time'. This belief then seems to be based on knowledge. Someone needs to ask Rangers - quite bluntly - if there is any truth in the rumour that it is preparing to unload Murray Park. They may well have new knowledge. As likely they have made an assumption based on their meeting a couple of months back when they were told a deal would be done for safeguarding ibrox but murray park seemed to be off the agenda.. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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