ian1964 10,372 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Thursday, 04 February 2016, 14:00 by Rangers Football Club NOW that the January transfer window has closed and being mindful of the current Board’s promise of transparency I would like to give supporters an update as we move into the latter third of our Championship campaign. The Club invested substantially pre-season in new player and management contracts. This was necessary to provide a team that could play attractive football while competing in the Championship with the aim of securing promotion to the Premiership next season. The players and management will continue to pursue these objectives for the balance of the season. The Board also promised the manager he would have access to funds in the January transfer window if he felt players were available to bring in early and improve the overall squad in advance of next season. The manager has taken advantage of this opportunity and will also now commence the identification of players to further improve the squad during the close season. Additionally, there has been substantial investment in Auchenhowie. This has resulted in the broken operation that we inherited last year now being fully-functional again. This entailed a complete revamp of the personnel, technology and infrastructure and further investment is planned. There has also been necessary investment into the infrastructure and facilities at Ibrox. The stadium and its surrounds were severely neglected by prior Boards that were intent on massive cost-cutting measures. Further significant investment is required at Ibrox and the board is presently considering a programme of work to ensure that it is returned to its status as one of the best and most iconic stadiums in Britain. Given the scale of what is required this will take some time to complete. A further unanticipated investment was made to pay off the Sports Direct loan and to recover all security held by Sports Direct. That has now been completed and the Club has formally given notice to end the relationship with Sports Direct while still reserving our right to proceed with challenges to the existing suite of contracts and side agreements in a court of law. For the first time a Board of this Club has stood up to the threats of Sports Direct and has achieved resounding success in court proceedings including the substantial recovery of legal costs. Sports Direct’s motives were severely exposed when a High Court judge ruled that Sports Direct abused court processes in its attempt to bully the Club and me. We will continue to put Rangers first and ensure that we get redress and compensation for the poor commercial and business practices that the Club has been forced to endure. Work is also ongoing to merge the existing supporters groups. The new organisation that emerges will provide Rangers fans with a way to get even closer to the Club and to increase the supporter shareholding position. Overall, the Club is in a substantially better position – on and off the pitch – than it has been for some time. The Board continues to ensure that the Club is run within the balance required to secure success on the pitch while simultaneously funding the cash shortfall that is required until we have a sustainable business model. The Club has not secured fair value for much of its expenditure over the last few years. Under the present Board that is no longer the case. http://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/chairmans-update-supporters/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davie P 4 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 and the Club has formally given notice to end the relationship with Sports Direct Assume that means that we will have to wait for a further seven years before getting control over the Rangers merchandise? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 and the Club has formally given notice to end the relationship with Sports Direct Assume that means that we will have to wait for a further seven years before getting control over the Rangers merchandise? Yes, but the board also say they will contest these contracts in court. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
onevision 1,439 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 and the Club has formally given notice to end the relationship with Sports Direct Assume that means that we will have to wait for a further seven years before getting control over the Rangers merchandise? Davie, the full sentence reads....the Club has formally given notice to end the relationship with Sports Direct while still reserving our right to proceed with challenges to the existing suite of contracts and side agreements in a court of law. So we can expect these onerous contract WILL BE challenged and i would hope, no, expect them to be severed long before that by either the fat man himself or the courts.... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno55 0 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Is this the first season ever we've been deprived of buying our rangers top?... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,829 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Why is this statement being made by the chairman of the club? The fans groups should be completely independent of the club, the last thing we need is another company union type organisation. "Work is also ongoing to merge the existing supporters groups. The new organisation that emerges will provide Rangers fans with a way to get even closer to the Club and to increase the supporter shareholding position." 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 (edited) Something interesting I read in the Mail, that I haven't read elsewhere: Sports Direct were ordered to pay legal costs estimated at £400,000 following its failed action at the High Court in London. Edited February 4, 2016 by calscot 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,195 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Something interesting I read in the Mail, that I haven't read elsewhere: I thought it was fairly widely known how much the costs would be - and we already knew the judge had awarded us costs. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 5,107 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 He can afford it, of course, but he will have had his own costs to pay which will be the same again plus. Possibly £500,000 to £600,000 maybe more. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Moon 1,105 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 It is good to get an update from the club, even if we knew most of it already. I hope this becomes a regular feature. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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