Ashley tables funding offer to Rangers board

[Chibmark 15]

Sad times and amazing how far we have fallen.

 

The blame for all this angst can be laid squarely at the door of Sir D Murray who,surprise surprise, started by buying our club with our money/borrowed funds.

 

I'm not too sure how this Ashley thing will play out but I can only hope for the best whilst fearing the worst.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

I actually think in a footballing sense - we will be strong under Ashley as he will want to get us in the CL so he can rename Ibrox and advertise SD.

 

My worry is what he would do the club in the background. He would most likely carve everything up like David Murray did.

 

I would rather King as Ashley is an arrogant arse however I don't think we will go under again with Ashley at the helm.

[ian1964 10,419]

Rangers power battle: Mike Ashley could take full control of Ibrox club after board accept £2m bailout.

 

RANGERS accepted Mike Ashley's £2million bailout yesterday and there are now no rules to stop the Newcastle United owner seizing total control of the club.

 

MIKE ASHLEY could make a bid for full control of Rangers and there’s nothing the authorities can do to stop him.

 

The crisis-hit club yesterday accepted a £2million emergency loan from Ashley in return for at least two seats on the board. His shareholding remains at 8.3 per cent but MailSport understands he may now fight for majority ownership.

 

The general perception is that Newcastle owner Ashley would be prohibited from controlling two UK clubs at the same time.

 

However, if he decides to increase his stake then the SFA and UEFA would be relatively powerless to stop him.

 

Ashley’s loan was approved by directors ahead of a rival £3m offer from Brian Kennedy.

 

The Sports Direct tycoon’s bid was given major support by chairman David Somers and board members James Easdale and Norman Crighton.

 

But the future of Ibrox CEO Graham Wallace, who voted against Ashley’s bid, is now in serious doubt with Ashley keen for him to follow fellow director Philip Nash out the door.

 

Ashley agreed to an undertaking, involving the club and the SFA, almost three years ago to own no more than 10 per cent of Rangers.

 

The agreement was put in place to try to protect Rangers and avoid a repeat of Craig Whyte’s disastrous acquisition of the club.

 

But with Ashley’s cash boost potentially being in the best interests of the club, he is able to move for more shares.

 

In September, Rangers asked the SFA if Ashley could take control of 26.6 per cent of the club’s equity but demanded a 48-hour response.

 

The Hampden hierarchy instead requested that a full business case was put forward and are still waiting on a reply.

 

MailSport also understands Premier League rules in England would not prevent Ashley from purchasing a larger chunk of Rangers.

 

His only stumbling block would be if Newcastle were relegated, as the Football League have more stringent rules on dual ownership.

 

UEFA would only get involved if either club was involved in the same European competition which is unlikely at this stage.

 

A new-look Rangers board, which could have Ashley’s close associate Derek Llambias on it, may face opposition from shareholders to Ashley increasing his stake.

 

But MailSport understands that legally there is nothing to stop him pulling off a sensational takeover.

 

It was reported that Rangers were just 48 hours away from going into administration when they agreed to take Ashley’s loan. But the club rubbished those claims when contacted by MailSport last night.

 

Ashley's mucker Stephen Mucklow set to be on board

 

Stephen Mucklow is the man Mike Ashley wants to join Derek Llambias on a new-look Rangers board.

 

The Essex-based businessman is a long-time associate and friend of the Newcastle United owner.

 

Ashley, whose £2million emergency loan offer has been accepted by Rangers, is keen for Mucklow to join ex-Magpies chief Llambias on the Ibrox board.

 

Finance director Philip Nash resigned on Friday – and Ashley also wants current chief executive

Graham Wallace out the door.

 

Wallace, who is on a Greek holiday, is expected to leave Ibrox this week to free up a place for Mucklow.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-power-battle-mike-ashley-4509635?

[SteveC 150]

I actually think in a footballing sense - we will be strong under Ashley as he will want to get us in the CL so he can rename Ibrox and advertise SD.

 

My worry is what he would do the club in the background. He would most likely carve everything up like David Murray did.

 

I would rather King as Ashley is an arrogant arse however I don't think we will go under again with Ashley at the helm.

 

Getting into the CL stages is not something a Scottish club can be counted on to do often. You have to win the leaguse and get through qualification ties which are more and more occupied by teams from far better leagues than the SPFL. In addition the qualification route could well become even longer and more dangerous in the future. On average per decade, a Rangers with millions being spent on players could expect two or three group stages - complete with resounding defeats - every decade. That would be if someone was prepared to spend megabucks by Scottish standards to get us that far.

[Stimpy 0]

How much squad investment (and management team) is required for us to challenge the jungle jims and subsequently compete in Europe at Europa level?

[der Berliner 3,252]

How much squad investment (and management team) is required for us to challenge the jungle jims and subsequently compete in Europe at Europa level?

 

People will have very specific, educated, and emotional opinions on that. Who can say how the Yahoos will look like next season or the year after? Right now they have an at best fluctuating form, both in Scotland and abroad.

 

As for us, you can get quite a number of good players for free these days, whether they can be enticed to come to Scotland with the wages we will be able to pay remains to be seen. We are obviously just one of a few hundred teams looking for these kind of people. Do I want to start talking about our management right now? Nope, I think I'll skip that for today ...

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Let's hope Mutt and Jeff follow Nash and Wallace out the door.

[ian1964 10,419]

Gordon Waddell: Rangers fans might be wary of Mike Ashley's intentions but would he really be so bad?.

 

FROM the outside looking in, Ashley took Newcastle - a dysfunctional club - and turned them into a decent team who break even most years. He can do the same at Rangers, believes GORDON.

 

HOW much is marble worth these days, anyway? What price for a decent-sized used staircase?

 

Surely that’s the only indignity left for Rangers to suffer.

 

Let’s face it, in this sordid race for 
the scraps of a once-proud club, they may as well just put what’s left of the place on Gumtree.

 

You have to laugh at anyone using the word “custodians” to describe those who have been in charge.

 

They couldn’t protect a daughter’s honour, far less the institution they were supposed to be running.

 

Yesterday’s news that the board had accepted more “emergency” funding from Mike Ashley ahead of any offer from Brian Kennedy or Dave King should come as a surprise to no-one.

 

In a world where self-preservation is king with a small k, the Easdales and institutional investors know which side their bread is buttered.

 

But since complete control of the club for Ashley appears to be looming ever closer, why don’t we indulge in wee bit of devil's advocation here – would 
he be SO bad for Rangers?

 

Sure, he’s taken his pound of flesh from them already along with every other opportunist who has walked through the door in the post-liquidation feeding frenzy.

 

The retail rights, the naming rights to the stadium for a quid. Good 
business for him – abysmal business for the club.

 

That’s why he’s a billionaire and Gers are gasping the little that’s left of their oxygen supply through a straw. Again.

 

But if he’s stepping in for more, if he genuinely wants control, then he must see a way to make a future profit.

 

Otherwise why bother? He’s certainly no altruist or philanthropist.

 

The punters supposedly detest him at Newcastle because of his faux why-aye schtick and for selling their best players when their values hit a peak.

 

If that’s the case, why is the stadium still full to the gunnels every week? Why does Newcastle toon centah still resemble a zebra convention on a daily basis?

 

Okay, a hardcore boycott, but the news for them is someone else is sitting in their seat. They had 52,000 against Leicester last week, 49,000 fans against Hull and Crystal Palace. Hardly a crisis.

 

And the danger for the more militant Rangers fans’ groups is that’ll be them.

 

One clarion call from Ashley about his plans to rebuild the club and the silent majority will shrug, put their trust in the guy with the £4billion net worth, buy 
season tickets, their kids’ jerseys for Christmas from his shop –and be grateful they still have a club to support.

 

From the outside looking in at Newcastle he took a dysfunctional debt-ridden club, cleared what they owed and they now break even or turn a small profit most years.

 

That’s without any external commercial revenue from the stadium that is nothing more than a colosseum-sized advert for Sports Direct and its affiliates.

 

The fact he’s made £28m in three years from flogging Debuchy, Cabaye and 
Demba Ba alone tells more than one story as well. Yes, he’s profiteering, but someone 
somewhere is finding these players for him in the first place. When was the last time Rangers scouted a player, played him and sold him for a profit?

 

Nikica Jelavic maybe, who turned a small £1.5m hike. Before him Carlos 
Cuellar made them £5m. Five years ago.

 

Rangers SHOULD be doing exactly that. Surely the one thing they need is someone to run the place as a sustainable business while keeping a handle on costs?

 

Not the past incumbents who chucked away the thick end of £70m in 18 months.

 

Listen, I understand why Rangers fans don’t want the man there. They already feel violated by him – and that should be reason enough.

 

Throw in the fact that if he’s there, so too are the some of the hedge funds and anonymous profiteers who’ve taken them to this point in the first place – the Easdales, Blue Pitch, 
Margarita, Laxey, and the reputed dark hidden hand of Charles Green – and you’d feel the need for a shower every time you left the ground.

 

Also, maybe it’s just me, but you 
still get the feeling that by eschewing Dave King’s advances, there’s 
something they don’t want any 
interloper to the boardroom to see.

 

Either way, the one thing Rangers need is someone with pragmatism at their core to fix a badly broken institution. It’s clear the current incumbents have failed.

 

If Ashley does provide any or all of the short-term loans, place men on the board and make a long-term commitment, he’s exposing 
himself to open warfare with a tranche of the Rangers support who won’t go away.

 

I’m led to believe they already have a blueprint to undermine his efforts on both a football and corporate level.

 

I’ve often spoken about their potential for sustainable fan ownership if only they could do a Hearts and have everyone 
pulling in the same direction. That hope seems to be further away by the day.

 

So unless the one man they want – who seemed bizarrely detached from the dark reality of their situation on Friday – still has a masterplan, they’d better get used to the Sports Direct Arena.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-waddell-rangers-fans-might-4509981

[Rangersitis 0]

One clarion call from Ashley about his plans to rebuild the club and the silent majority will shrug, put their trust in the guy with the £4billion net worth, buy season tickets, their kids’ jerseys for Christmas from his shop –and be grateful they still have a club to support.

 

That nails it.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

I actually think in a footballing sense - we will be strong under Ashley as he will want to get us in the CL so he can rename Ibrox and advertise SD.

 

My worry is what he would do the club in the background. He would most likely carve everything up like David Murray did.

 

I would rather King as Ashley is an arrogant arse however I don't think we will go under again with Ashley at the helm.

I have seen absolutely nothing from Ashley to suggest he will have any positive intentions.

 

His current club got relegated under him and are on course for another this season too. They were in the premiership for 16 years until he came along.