Banks and bums

796

I hear there are rumours in the old media today that David Longmuir prepared a plan with Charles Green and Peter Lawwell before briefing Scottish Football League clubs this week.  I suppose the rumours are half right.  No one from Celtic was involved in this nonsense.

Special mention to Gavin Masterton, owner of 94% of Dunfermline shares, who last month told the BBC “The football club is debt-free. There is no bank debt. The debt is to myself and the other directors.”

This new kind of “debt-free”, talked about by Dunfermline and one other lower league club is more dangerous than it seems as just three weeks later Dunfermline admit they expect HMRC to apply for a winding up order.

Fans have raised around £250k, enough to pay HMRC in full, but they are asking Masterton to value his shares at a level they would reach if an administrator was appointed, which will happen if the fans don’t pay.  Masterton’s recovery plan was to issue £500k of shares for around 25% of the club.  Nice, for him.

Nine years ago Masterton and Dunfermline director John Yorkston were embroiled in the financial calamity which afflicted Livingston.  This tale of woe is worth reading, as is the story about the downfall of Bank of Scotland by Iain Fraser, who writes, “The rot set at Bank of Scotland in when the likes of Gavin Masterton and Peter Cummings started handing millions of pounds to their pals, without doing much in the way of due diligence.

Fraser also speculates “Foolishly, Cummings and his predecessor Gavin Masterton handed [Sir David] Murray a total of £760m on a “no questions asked, handshake only” basis and, in the current environment … realised he hasn’t much chance of paying this back”, in an interesting article on the Bank and the liquidated football club.

Mr Masterton is clearly the only qualified candidate as the next president of the Scottish Football Association.  After Mr Peat (former director of liquidated club Airdrieoneans) and incumbent Mr Ogilvie (former director of liquidated club Rangers) the bar has been set at an astonishing level.

“Utterly astonishing”, as our old friend used to say.

Be wary of people to say they are debt free when what they mean is they have no bank debt. Be very wary of bums who try to convince you that them being denied bank lending is a good thing.

If company credit rating equals zero, credibility rating equals (I’m away to find out if a whole number is required here).

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796 Comments

  1. KevJungle – “…the game is over – the seats are awe empty!”…

     

     

    Suggest players we can bring in, suggest a model that you didn’t get free with the DRn that can work for our club in these times otherwise stoap yer greetin? and get aff yer knees…

     

     

    Go on name one player…

  2. they dont fix these draws , really they dont ,it wouldn’t cross their minds to get the richest teams into the final

  3. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    PF AYR

     

     

    I backed the first winner at the meeting-got it at 11s. It was my nap of the meeting,and all I had in my locker!

     

     

    So actually still ahead of the ledger,somehow.

     

     

    I’ll e-mail you in a few minutes-if you have time to talk,phone me!

     

     

    And get the Rosary Beads out,for both of us….

  4. ernie lynch,

     

     

    I might well be wrong but I thought Brown admitted to singing “the Billy Boys”, on the phone to a girlfriend. Mind you, I don’t think he is the worst by any means. That, of course, says a lot about Scotland and especially about those involved in the football part of it.

  5. RIP mr Kane

     

    you were a true gent

     

    my thoughts are truly with the kane family today

     

    me and martin are right now saluting you with some vodka

     

    thanks for letting me be part of your wonderful family

     

    hail hail

     

    ramie

  6. Starry plough

     

    Owen Coyle for manager, Johnny Russell and Macay Steven and you would have to sell your granny for a season ticket…. Fact ( please note the word fact is purely decorative)

  7. Philbhoy - It's just the beginning! on

    Broonie is another hun fud whose made loads of money out of the Scottish game for achieving approximately eff all.

     

     

    And the game is full of his likes.

     

     

    I’ve got family in Aberdeen who will be going back to Pittodrie when he leaves.

  8. Kevj you are doing what you do best and that’s getting discussion going. By the way my seat will be full with my fat a… On Saturday and I am taking my son in law to fill your empty seat. HH

  9. If we sell Oweb Coyle’s granny we’ll never get a heads up on what’s happening in the boredroom.

  10. Kev Jungle,

     

     

    So you would replaced players who have won the SPL and advanced to the last 16 of the CL with a group of players who have never won nothing, never done nothing but hey they’re all fit your fantasy of have an all British Celtic team, aye get Owen Coyle as well, over rated well funded English football manager as well…

     

     

    Take your bait, ye couldney get it oan the hook…

  11. Kevj

     

     

    From your Sportscene and Match of the Day list of players, what players from our recognised starting 11 would you leave out to accomodate?

  12. Gretnabhoy

     

     

    11:57 on 15 March, 2013

     

     

    Kevin. Now you mention it ….

     

     

    No. Am a main stand kind of man

     

    ___________________________

     

    I had my SB for the Main Stand during the Wim year.

     

    My seat was in the last row – next to the away fans

     

    11 rows up from the front – canny remember the number

     

    I’ve kept all my old SB’s in a metal tin up in the loft.

     

    That particular season was a joy to behold.

     

    I’ll never forget the Liverpool fans at our UEFA Cup game.

     

    The L/pool fans were superb. May God Bless the ALL.

     

    HH

  13. Wee Craigie used that tried and tested defence in such matters: I was only kidding, and : some of my best friends are Fenians ….er Catholics!

  14. Kevj…

     

     

    “off the tope of my head”…

     

     

    Kind of says it all.

     

     

    I will leave player recruitment to the people who have managed to win two domestic championships and a scottish cup (possibly two) in three seasons, plus progressing in the UCL, generating record revenues and generating a substantial (soon to be substantially increased) profit in the transfer market at the same time.

     

     

    Who is Shaun Dillon?

  15. Since taking over Lenny has had much success from players scouted in leagues where the so called ‘big league clubs’ don’t normally buy. However the league where he has had most success is the Championship down south. Wilson, Ledley & Matthews, combined transfer fees of £0, plus Gary Hooper at around £2m.

     

    Looking at possible Bosmans available this summer from that league and their could be a couple more worth taking a punt on.

     

     

    Matt Philips (Blackpool) – winger, an alternative to the injury prone Forrest

     

    Marcos Alonso (Bolton) – left back, competition for Izzy

     

    Liam Bridcutt (Brighton) – defensive midfielder

     

    Lewis McGugan (Forest) – creative attacking midfielder

     

     

     

    http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/spieler/vertragsende/basics_GB2_2013.html

  16. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    Personally,I think Kev sucks the happiness outa the blog.

     

     

    He’s like a dementor in Harry Potter,swooping when least expected,and just about as welcome.

     

     

    And defo just as demented……..

  17. greenjedi

     

    11:15 on

     

    15 March, 2013

     

    I’ve just had a thought!

     

     

    Is Kev aka Gerry McSherry?

     

    ________________________________________________________________________

     

     

    Gerry McSherry, now there’s a name that sends a shiver down the spine. If I remember, correctly, there were 2 Gerry McSherry’s, the normal one and the one you refer to GJ.

     

    Takes me back to the days of the Bhoyzone which was hosted by John Cole, John was to the late 90’s what Paul 67 is to the present day. I used to be an avid poster on the Bhoyzone and was disappointed when John Cole folded it.

     

    I know John went to work for Celtic, for a while, does anybody know what happened to him?

  18. Why don’t we sell all of our best players and pick up a few cheap SPL targets instead? Then we would have a more competitive league and we could all save money because there would be few European tickets to buy.

     

     

    Or we could bring in talented young players we have never heard of and watch them mature. I don’t remember too many of our Championship Manager scouts telling us to buy Victor Wanyama last year. And there were a fair few who decried cheap Bosmans like Joe Ledley and Adam Matthews.

  19. kevjungle – “…the game is over – the seats are awe empty!”…

     

     

    12:03 on 15 March, 2013

     

     

    I sat in that area once, the ticket office messed up and gave me a comp for the said area.

     

    We were playing the huns the game hately returned.

     

    I spent most of the game avoiding coins being launched from the scum…

     

    Never again.