Tuesday’s Telegraph suggested Mike Ashley is about to increase his shareholding in newco to 29.9% via a share issue, in contravention of his agreement with the SFA on multiple ownership. This morning the club informed the stock market the Ashely’s appointee, Derek Llambias, is now chief executive.
The key passage in the Telegraph article is:
“There is no certainty of anything like unanimous approval, but many in the higher reaches of the Scottish game acknowledge that a revived Rangers, capable of resuming the Old Firm rivalry and renewing the club’s presence in Europe would make Scotland more attractive to broadcasters and league sponsors, with general benefits.”
This has almost certainly come from the same kind of club source which in another lifetime were assuring journalists that HMRC would agree to a CVA; I know for sure the SFA are far from ready to rubber-stamp an Ashley land grab.
There are a few points which, despite blanket coverage of this issue, are not getting a proper hearing:
At current trading levels, Ashley is earning around £4m p.a. from newco as their retail ‘partner’. He is also their exclusive wholesaler, so the club is worth even more to him, let’s say £5m p.a. in total.
Anyone who tells you his financial pay-off is through having newco wear his branding on a European stage is either wholly compliant in an attempt to mislead newco fans, or is simply regurgitating information handed to them by PR agents, without the wherewithal to digest the information correctly.
He’s making £5m per year and he therefore has an interest in ensuring the club continues in its current condition.
The second issue is around the legality of multiple-ownership. It is not against Uefa rules (you can simply comply by one club not competing) but does breach rules in Scotland and England. I recommend not getting too hung-up on this point. In the event he was asked to disinvest from one of his clubs, Ashley could with pull a Blue Pitch Holdings/Margarita stroke.
For all you know about those two newco investors, I could own them. It’s a paper exercise for Ashley to move his ownership beyond the reaches of oversight, and there is nothing in the rules to prevent this.
The question for the SFA, and eventually the FA, is what level of Ashley’s influence, not ownership, they are comfortable with. There are no guidelines on this point.
A further consideration is that whoever briefed the Telegraph at the start of the week is likely to have painted a scenario that without Ashley’s next bung, newco is likely to go the way of oldco. This is far from certain.
If all newco need to survive another season is circa £8m it’s not a figure beyond the realms of possibility for some of the blowhards who have been trying to disrupt Ashley’s strategy in recent months.
My hunch is that the SFA and newco’s fans will be presented with a fait accomply – it’s Ashley or bust. What is certain is that the club will be vastly more inhibited by Ashley milking it dry than with a unifying figure. He has the makings of a memorable Ibrox owner, a true heir to Sir David Murray.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our Magners ticket competition yesterday – and who donated to Mary’s Meals. The answer to the question, who do we play on 27 December, is Ross County, which proved to be trickier than I thought. Draw will be made this afternoon and winner informed thereafter.
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Vojvodina
HH
JamesGang, come Feruary we have another opportunity to do exactly the same thing.
Welcome the first ever meeting, they won’t and that pains me. But it won’t stop me being a Celtic supporter.
Have a good day Bhoys…
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Even Lizzie’s caught the bug
Hail Hail
Flip pin’ February of course.
kitalba
12:55 on 20 December, 2014
BIG-CUP-WINNERS:
I do think we are seeing a power struggle between the SFA and SPFL now.
I want to see the SFA gone, not fit for purpose, probably never have been.
Doc
If you believe nothing else I ever say, believe this and nothing less…
Everything you wish for you family, I wish for mine too,
Everything you wish for Celtic if I can’t equal it I’ll better it, but I never will because your dreams tandem mine, and I
Doc
As so often I agree with you 100%.
You’re such a wise Mhan.
What you see in that cowiebhoy as a mhate I’ll never fathom!!!
HH jamesgang
ernie lynch @ 12 46.
“And after all , there is no conclusive proof that the agreement exists ” .
Indeed ———-LNS made reference to it but that doesnt prove it exists . It is highly possible he was simply told about it or was given sight of those parts they wanted him to see..
The exact nature of the agreement might come to light if / when one of the parties decides to take action against one or more of the other parties.
Doc
If you believe nothing else I ever say, believe this and nothing less…
Everything you wish for you family, I wish for mine too,
Everything you wish for Celtic if I can’t equal it I’ll better it, but I never will because your dreams tandem mine, and I think always will, into the grave and up to our heaven.
And I’m not scared, I’m not a coward, but I’m hurting.
I can see our club being ripped apart.
I’m not a retarded seal.
ht,
I’m confused by the reply from your MSP, why is he referring to racism and sectarianism in relation to the OB law, thats a separate law, anyone convicted under racism or sectarianism should immediately be removed from the OB stats, violent conduct and other offences covered by other laws. What were the stats for arrests with other laws again ? 83% & 97% for respective years, so that leaves 17% & 3% was the actual arrest rate under the OB laws for the years studied, no ?
Bournes (and anybody else…) West bar in the ole Templeton’s carpet factory, kind of at the side of Glasgow Green :)
Kitalba, I know.
Hamiltontim 1252-
It`ll be interesting to see what reply you get in your follow-up letter. I can`t see how they can defend the charge of pre-judging the outcome of the review given their public comments on the OBAF.
Is there any national umbrella group of fans who represent fans of all clubs who campaign against the Act? If so I wonder if there`s any way they could get data on the numbers of regular football match attenders/ season ticket holders in each Parliamentary constituency which could be used for campaigning purposes ahead of the 2015 General Election which will happen before this so-called “independent and comprehensive review” is due to take place.
For instance, imagine a situation in a constituency like Motherwell and Wishaw, normally solid Labour, but where the SNP think they now have a chance and will be going hammer and tongs trying to win it. If there was data that showed for instance that 10% of people in that constituency were regular football match attenders, and were being potentially criminalised by the Act on the say-so of individual police officers, that could be used to bring pressure on the SNP candidate to feed back to his party and the SG that this OBAF Act is a real vote-loser and has to go.
Maybe now that Salmond and McAskill have gone such a message might get acted on, especially if they think its going to cost them votes.
I wonder as well if more could be done to get the clubs on board, for instance if the likes of the Celtic Trust and similar organisations at other clubs could survey fans to find out how much the OBAF Act is likely to deter them from going to football games now and in the future. If evidence indicated this Act was affecting attendances I`m sure clubs would take a more robust line on it.
Its not nice seeing young people lifted at games and taken through the court system in contentious circumstances especially when the Orange Order has carte blanche to march through the streets whipping up sectarian hatred.
And I wish I could reassure you you are wrong, that we aren’t being torn apart.
I do think there is transition, and change is painful.
It is causing division, mostly because those running our a Club haven’t taken control of events, they should have, because if you aren’t in control of events you are controlled by them, or worse, by a competitor.
But we will come through that period, hopefully without the SFA, or in another associated and league structure. I believe we will.
Wishful thinking, probably.
Doc @ 13:13
I’d like to agree, but don’t.
Every single piece of evidence supports the return of the Old Firm, is what is on the agenda.
It’s what the support want. Now Kit has indicated he knows guys who are scunnered. So do I, you will too. But next season Celtic park will be full to brimming.
I’ve been taken aback several times recently by how out of cinq my views are with other Tims at work, relatives etc.
Doc:
Don’t think about it, please just answer yes or no, and no agenda on my part other than I want to rationalise why I’m ripping myself apart… and with me it goes way beyond eleven players on a football field….
Do you think Scottish football is corrupt and do you think Celtic PLC are corrupted too?
Kitalba, SFA corrupt, yes.
Celtic, No, but corrupted.
It is disappointing that people keep making snobbish comments about grammar. We should encourage new posters to join the blog and to give alternative views to the CQN hierarchy.
Five days before Christmas and the blog descends into pet-lipped, self-indulgent, melodrama.
I guess Santa was too good to some on here when they were weans. Now unsated wish-fulfilment means greetin-faced posts bemoaning everything Celtic ever didn’t do to tick every little personal whim.
Maybe we should all sit down with a big glass of Woe Is Me I Blame Celtic and watch It’s a Wonderful Life? Give one another reassuring hugs, gather round, maybe buld a campfire, sing some songs… They mostly come at night. Mostly….
Captain Beefheart
It is disappointing that people keep making snobbish comments about grammar. We should encourage new posters to join the blog and to give alternative views to the CQN hierarchy.
===============================
How long did you pore over that before pressing “post” ?
Big Cup Winners,
A large proportion of our support are OF fans. Quite why the board are blamed for this, I do not know. We have a CQN Loyal who watch every Rangers game. Again, is that our board’s fault?
BCW’s, if we are awaiting the return of the OF, our leaders really are naive and out of their depth and should be considering their positions.
The OF is dead, and I don’t just mean because they died.
I further mean because their current form is doomed to either death or a life in the lower half of the SPFL, a diddy club if you will. They can’t afford Ibrox, they can’t afford to compete with us. So struggle on at Inrox as a rump of what they believe themselves to be, or move and loose many many follow followers.
Canamalar
Yep that sounds about right and the same figures I came to.
I’ve pointed out in my reply that the inclusion of racist and sectarian arrests and convictions are irrelevant, or certainly they should be.
Ghents I have to go, kids need entertaining, Annie at the cinema.
Kitalba, Keep the Faith.
BCW’s, good point, but I don’t think those running the club are so myopic.
Big Cup Winners/CRC
Don’t know if u saw my post last night mourning the loss of the Friday night quiz?
How about either of you chaps blowing the dust of the old Playing for Celtic books and having a festive extravaganza ?
HH
Doc makes a good point about not being in control of events.
I think part of the frustration that people like me have with things is that Scottish football is unable to deal with cheats and transgressors in the appropriate manner at the appropriate time. There is a tendency among the suits to try to do an Al Capone, do nothing about the murdering and racketeering, but bide your time and do the mob for tax evasion.
Look at Hugh Dallas. Compromised himself by lying about the Steven Craven incident. But was he punished at the right time for these lies. No instead, somebody somewhere realised he was a problem, but bided their time and then released the Pope emails that they knew would get him sacked. But why wasn`t he sacked for lying instead?
Then there`s that pair of Sevco friendly plonkers Jim Ballantyne and David Longmuir of the SFL. Ballantyne turned up at the 2012 Sevco-Linfield Sash Bash wearing a “Rangers Fighting Fund” badge. At this time he and Longmuir were trying to parachute Sevco into SFL Division 1 and Turnbull Hutton had to face them down. Thereafter, Ballnatyne awarded Longmuir an illegal inflated bonus.
But this pair of charlatans weren`t punished for their actions at the time. Instead they were sidelined a year later when the SPFL was established.
The thing is justice has to be done and has to be seen to be done. That doesn`t happen in Scottish football and it seems that things are sorted out at a snail`s pace and normally only when coincidental factors allow for it. The very slow progress of Resolution 12 is another example of this.
ht,
Keep up the good fight.
Hail Hail
Captain Beefheart 1329-
I stand guilty as charged on that one. I retaliated to Tony Donnelly67 attacking me for a reasonable post that I made with his usual insults and so I gave him some of his own medicine back. Not necessarily my finest moment.
Apologies if it offended you.
Doc/BCW,
Are we agreed our domestic game is corrupted?
If we are, what future for our club, remembering if you do share my view that the support is the extent of the club, is the future of our club and our children will take each and every one of our places as we go to meet our maker.
Do you agree that it is right to pass onto those who come behind us a corruption as an almost level playing field, almost fit for those of a Celtic Persuasion to take to, as a worthy benchmark to their worth?
Burghbhoy
It was my intention to do the quiz on a weekly basis, I enjoyed it and was a laugh too.
Sometimes there was only 1 or 2 wanting to participate……..
BCW
Maybe a one off festive fiesta ?
I see Man City are struggling with no fit stokers. Do they have a recall clause in John Guidetti’s loan deal?
GBS,
You make some excellent points in your posts. it didn’t offend me in any way, it was just an observation.
Wats with Joe Ledleys beard ? Rasputin like
Right things to do,I’m offski.
Lurking HUNS,and constant board haters GIRFUYs
Captain Beefheart :
I don’t know if you’ve ever had the (dis)pleasure of meeting and spending some time with the Ol’tim. When that man writes I get a headache ‘cos he won’t use a comma. But what he says, lack of commas aside, it’s from the heart and worth the reading.
I agree with you, nobody needs a doctorate in English to give an opinion on Celtic.
(but mate, a word to the wise, if you ever go to an away game with Ol’tim… FFS don’t sleep in the same room as him)
Bottom line mate
So Many Mouths – So Many Opinions – So Much Discord – go to the people for the answer.
Burghbhoy
I have one or two on file will…………need to look at the context of the questions.
Will post something later.
tgbs,
Getting professionals involved will slow down progress when it comes to legalese and interpretation.
But getting the job done properly is more important than the pace.