D&P finger in the dyke set to slip on Sunday as club disintegrates

465

In three months Duff and Phelps have not made an inch of progress on the key issue, the Only Show in Town, Craig Whyte, who has security over the stadium and Murray Park is extremely likely to inhibit any attempt to dispose of these assets against his will.

Without a stadium the SFA and SPL cannot licence and admit a football club.  While Duff and Phelps may have preferred the SPL to negotiate directly with the owner of Newco (once he was appointed), they were not in a position to ask the SPL for admittance yesterday without a stadium – perhaps a more practical explanation as to why they didn’t attend yesterday’s meeting.

Now that a CVA has finally been acknowledged as undeliverable, players will leave Rangers after Sunday’s visit to St Johnstone as free agents.  There will be no Newco on hand to offer them a new deal.  Those who can, will find employment elsewhere.  This will be more than just the headline players, I know youth players at all levels have been scouted by clubs across Scotland and England.  The chance to scoop up another club’s prime youth talent for free will not be passed up.

Getting a deal done this week with the SPL, the SFA, Bill Miller and the players would have allowed Duff and Phelps to maintain continuity, with Newco taking over for Sunday’s game.  This will not now happen.  The finger Duff and Phelps placed in the dyke back in February is set to slip.

Staff who cannot find employment elsewhere will remain at Rangers until 31 May.  If Duff and Phelps sell ‘the club’ before that date, players who want to transfer to Newco can do so under TUPE regulations, which maintains their pay and conditions, however, they will be unable to transfer their player registrations until Newco is a licenced football club (which is dependent on SFA approval, which in turn will indirectly be dependent on Craig Whyte disposing of the stadium).

Duff and Phelps have no money to fund Rangers FC after 31 May, so must sell all assets before that date or the padlocks will go onto Ibrox and Murray Park.  Yesterday was their last best chance to pull a deliverable deal together.

The fact Duff and Phelps didn’t even turn up to the meeting, and yesterday evening Neil Doncaster told Radio Scotland they didn’t return his calls when he phoned to ask why, indicates how on-target plans are.

Incredibly, I read one newspaper today suggested ‘Rangers [were]to benefit from SPL delay’. Where there’s life, there’s hope, I suppose. Somehow I cannot see Duff and Phelps’ Clark and Whitehouse high-fiving at the prospect of withdrawing from yesterday’s meeting. It is more likely that an undignified disintegration of a football club is set to take place in the weeks to come.

On a separate note: Just when Duff and Phelps would have presented Craig Whyte with a take-it-or-leave-it offer for all his assets, Brian Kennedy nips in as a second potential bidder for the stadium. Unless Kennedy is putting more skin on the table than Bill Miller all he is doing is fortifying Whyte’s negotiating position.

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465 Comments

  1. What is this Kennedy bloke up to now?

     

     

    Originally he made a bid although he said he didn’t want to win. Then he bid again and was rejected. He joined up with the Blue Knights and they were rejected. Now he wants to help out Bill Miller and is also reported as trying to buy Craig Whyte’s shares off him. (Can he even do that – I thought their shares were suspended?)

     

     

    For a Hibs supporting, rugby man he seems desperate to stay involved somehow.

  2. Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon on 8 May, 2012 at 14:45 said:

     

     

    Got a large EGO, want to feed it and get your name in the Paper then The Govan Dodgers is the place for you, a no risk high profile piece of fluff that will delight your wife and dug!!

  3. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on

    Livibhoy @14:10

     

     

    That is a good post and you are correct to reflect on what once were our own shortcomings.

     

     

    However, behind all of that, I see the corporate Murray Hand and flim flam.

     

     

    To persuade the boy to sign Rangers clearly spent money which in reality they didn’t have. Any young boy’s head is going to be turned by collecting him in a Limo with the club’s recognised greatest ever player and another former player doing the fetching and carrying. That would certainly make a young lad feel wanted.. and I recognise the good job that was done by Rangers in that regard.

     

     

    But at what cost? Was the boy treated properly? Was he allowed to go as far in Scottish Football as he might have in terms of his personal development, or did he eventually feel that he had to move elsewhere to get game time and so on?

     

     

    Celtic should certainly have done more and been more personal and professional about it but remember– “for every Fiver Celtic spend, we will spend a tenner” did not just relate to the signing of the big names. Rangers spent their always” borrowed and never repaid money” behind the scenes as well.

  4. South Of Tunis on

    starry plough @ 14 44 .

     

     

    Winter’s Bone .

     

     

    An excellent movie .!

  5. LiviBhoy

     

     

    How did they pay for the new boots and the limo?

     

     

    The better deal being two contracts I take it?

     

     

    The reason why they are gubbed now…

  6. Starry Plough:

     

     

    Really good film. A tad depressing, but then Reality often is. Prefer that to watching some Hollywood pap wae a fairytale storyline.

  7. wonkyradar on 8 May, 2012 at 14:55 said:

     

     

    Bit like a visit to Airdrie, you alwas know you’re in trouble when the gals are harder than the guys..

  8. jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/ on

    Livibhoy

     

     

    Years ago a pal of mine picked a hun fare in Airdrie who wanted to go to the walk in Armadale. Fare was a fiver hun gave him a tenner bless him. Mate looked down and ther was a £20 note on the floor. He did shout to tell him but the flutes and drums drowned him out!! <0))))))

  9. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000

     

     

    Totally agree. They had the money to throw it everyone. Remember the private jet days?

     

    It was the wrong way to approach things and they are paying for it now.

     

    The boy did what he felt was right at the time. We have all been asked the question at one time or another.

     

    Could you have ever played for them?

     

    When McCann was at Hearts it was clear that Hearts wanted to cash in and he was asked where he wanted to go. He said there was only two clubs he would leave Hearts for. One was Liverpool the other was Celtic. Liverpool weren’t interested and when Venglos was approached he said he was happy with O’Donnell on the left of midfield and didn’t ant to spend the cash on Neil McCann.

     

    McCann was then asked if he would go to Rangers as they had matched Hearts valuation. he spoke to them and they offered him something like £2m for 4 years in wages plus signing on fee.

     

    I spoke to him in a Livi nightclub and he said it was impossible to knock back. Quite a nice guy McCann. Was a regular at mass in Livingston with his kids. The kids had Hearts lunchboxes and kits and attended a RC primary school. I did hear from a mate that after he signed for them his kids were put up against a fence and got mud thrown at them. No Rangers lunch boxes at school after that.

     

     

    LB

  10. South Of Tunis on 8 May, 2012 at 14:50 said:

     

     

    I like these kinda gritty American movies, North Country was great too and Silkwood one of my faves!!

  11. ernie lynch on

    starry plough on 8 May, 2012 at 14:47 said:

     

    Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon on 8 May, 2012 at 14:45 said:

     

     

    ”Got a large EGO, want to feed it and get your name in the Paper then The Govan Dodgers is the place for you, a no risk high profile piece of fluff that will delight your wife and dug!!”

     

     

     

    The technical term is narcissistic personality disorder.

  12. lennon's passion on

    GiggsyBhoy on 8 May, 2012 at 14:30 said:

     

    what’s the problem with Santa ponsa.

  13. South Of Tunis on

    Can’t let mention of Winter’s Bone pass without mentioning the high quality of the soundtrack , scored by Dickon Hinchliffe , founding member of the excellent Tindersticks .

     

     

    Same guy also did the score for the excellent —– Forty Shades of Blue.

  14. Awe Nae & LiviBhoy,

     

     

    I had a few beers in the Clachan last weekend after the Derby match.

     

     

    My mate comes through to Carfin from Whitburn for the games and last week after a few drinks he decided we should go to his pub, The Clachan.

     

     

    A taxi to Whitburn, a few more pints and his wife drove me home drunk!! Good day all round!!

  15. ernie lynch on 8 May, 2012 at 15:04 said:

     

    starry plough on 8 May, 2012 at 14:47 said:

     

    Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon on 8 May, 2012 at 14:45 said:

     

     

    ”Got a large EGO, want to feed it and get your name in the Paper then The Govan Dodgers is the place for you, a no risk high profile piece of fluff that will delight your wife and dug!!”

     

     

    The technical term is narcissistic personality disorder.

     

     

    ———————————————————————————————

     

     

    Or the non technically term a pr***.

  16. jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/

     

     

    What shame for the lad. Where did he get a £20 note anyway?

     

    Certain towns in West Lothian have walks in the summer for their gala day.

     

    I was in a bar in Mid Calder one day. Not one of my usual haunts but it was a nice day and took a walk down with a mate and we stopped for a pint at the Tap Shop. Well known Rangers boozer but does a decent pint. Guy was selling raffle tickets for the gala day and the prize was a large teddy. I asked him what it was for and he said for the kids. No worries there’s a few quid. I then enquired if it was for a bouncy castle or something. Bloke said ‘Naw, we had 3 bands last year and hope to add another this year’ I said ‘Pipe bands?’ Bloke said ‘Naw, flute bands.

     

    Gies my cash back. He then went round the boozer and told everyone else. Only one guy spoke to us after that and he was a Tim. Ha-ha. The faces were a picture.

     

    When Mike Galloway was at Celtic he lived in Mid Calder and got a kick in quite a few times at that boozer. He still went back for pints there. Nickname Mad Mick comes from his time in Mid Calder. A good guy was Mike Galloway and didn’t give in to the Huns and their ways. Crazy going in that boozer as a Celtic player though in those days they used to have flute bands in on match days. All changed in the late 90’s but Mid Calder doesn’t have many Tims.

     

     

    LB

  17. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Imatim

     

     

    That´s why it would be insane to stoop to their level by getting involved in this tax dodge legislation-Regulations. Why undo all that wonderful work by the unseen Fenian hand ?

     

     

    Paul67 wrote on Friday

     

     

    They will start a new club, it will either be back in the SPL unhindered in 2015 (or 16) or will be in the SPL next season, heavily burdened for many years to come.My prediction is for the latter.

     

     

    With a new TV deal coming up . Shirt sponsorship. The SFA modernisation process etc ? I understand that they will come back in some shape or form but they should not be given one iota of help. If we truly want to clean the game up in Scotland then they need completely removed from the scene otherwise the work of the unseen Fenian hand will have been an utter waste of time and OUR MONEY therefore I understand some punters holding back.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  18. Starry Plough:

     

     

    Airdrie has clearly by-passed the impending natural-disaster of rising Estrogen in the water/eco-systems…if anything it is bucking the trend…girls with hairy backs…women on building sites wolf-whistling at men.

  19. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    jimbob71

     

     

    Do you know if it is still owned by Steven Carr ?

     

     

    Hail Hail

  20. Rip Torn? Sounds like a bad groin injury…did Paul McStay not get one of them in the early 90s…when he started wearing the bicycle pants under the shorts?

  21. jimbob71

     

     

    Clachan is a decent boozer. Not sure any of the others would be welcoming right enough. Croftmalloch used to be pretty decent and a nice bar to drink in but not sure if the Huns have taken it over. Whitburn is not a place I would drink in unless I was with someone from Whitburn to be honest.

     

     

    LB

  22. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    jimbob71

     

     

    As a boy I used to go to Carfin for the weekend about once a month visiting relatives.

     

     

    27 Eastern Scottish Bus to Motherwell cross (the Green bus) then a Hutchy Bus (they still on the go ?) to the Vaults.

     

     

    Sometimes I´d take the 19 Bus through to Salsburgh and then a Hutchy bus via Newarthill.

     

     

    I thought I was a world traveller back then :-)

     

     

    Hail Hail

  23. pedrocaravanachio67 on

    Ceaser67 on 8 May, 2012 at 15:08 said:

     

    I winched a burd fae Airdrie called F*nny Aitken.

     

     

    Are you sure that wasn’t a complaint she had, rather than her name :-)

  24. All this talk of the Unseen Fenian Hand will be exciting the most diseased Paranoid areas in the Hun Brain…Its all a Global Papal Conspiracy for Roman Catholic Worldwide domination!

  25. South Of Tunis on

    starry plough .

     

     

    Rip Torn —–

     

     

    I think his finest performance was in Payday, where he played a country and western singer .

     

     

    A truly excellent movie .

  26. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    wonkyradar

     

     

    Come gather ’round people

     

    Wherever you roam

     

    And admit that the waters

     

    Around you have grown

     

    And accept it that soon

     

    You’ll be drenched to the bone.

     

    If your time to you

     

    Is worth savin’

     

    Then you better start swimmin’

     

    Or you’ll sink like a stone

     

    For the times they are a-changin’.

     

     

    Come writers and critics

     

    Who prophesize with your pen

     

    And keep your eyes wide

     

    The chance won’t come again

     

    And don’t speak too soon

     

    For the wheel’s still in spin

     

    And there’s no tellin’ who

     

    That it’s namin’.

     

    For the loser now

     

    Will be later to win

     

    For the times they are a-changin’.

     

     

    Come senators, congressmen

     

    Please heed the call

     

    Don’t stand in the doorway

     

    Don’t block up the hall

     

    For he that gets hurt

     

    Will be he who has stalled

     

    There’s a battle outside ragin’.

     

    It’ll soon shake your windows

     

    And rattle your walls

     

    For the times they are a-changin’.

     

     

    Come mothers and fathers

     

    Throughout the land

     

    And don’t criticize

     

    What you can’t understand

     

    Your sons and your daughters

     

    Are beyond your command

     

    Your old road is

     

    Rapidly agin’.

     

    Please get out of the new one

     

    If you can’t lend your hand

     

    For the times they are a-changin’.

     

     

    The line it is drawn

     

    The curse it is cast

     

    The slow one now

     

    Will later be fast

     

    As the present now

     

    Will later be past

     

    The order is

     

    Rapidly fadin’.

     

    And the first one now

     

    Will later be last

     

    For the times they are a-changin’.

     

     

    Bobcsc

  27. LiviBhoy on 8 May, 2012 at 15:15 said:

     

     

    – Still spelling whitburn with a ‘W’ i see? Always thought it should be an ‘S’.

     

     

    Place is a sectarian rat hole – a blight on Scotland’s landscape.

  28. Saint Stivs on

    don cambello on 8 May, 2012 at 14:22 said:

     

    a wee bit of fun from the east note the fererence to tax

     

     

     

    absolute crap attempt at a funny video.

     

    pure rubbish so it wis.

     

     

    surely its go west anyways.

     

     

    ;-)

  29. wonkyradar on 8 May, 2012 at 15:18 said:

     

     

    meanwhile we non Catholic Fenians slip under their radar

     

     

    its a cunning ploy ah tell ye

  30. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    GORDON J 1445

     

     

    There is a large rugby following in Glasgow,but not a stadium big enough to support and finance a decent team.

     

     

    His plan may be to buy the stadium for a rugby team,and have Rangers2015 pay rental on it too.

  31. LuxCelt

     

     

    I am a Livi Bhoy but I know a fair few Tims from Whitburn. Harthill is much worse. Armadale is just as bad although there is a Catholic club. Blackridge is almost exclusively Rangers fans. West Lothian does have it’s fair share of Tims though.

     

     

    LB

  32. BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 8 May, 2012 at 15:22 said:

     

    Cant be,

     

    Whytey has promised it to GAA

  33. South Of Tunis on 8 May, 2012 at 15:19 said:

     

     

    Haven’t seen that must see if I can track it down..

     

     

    By the way I just did a wee Soul mix on my user name Music section, only ladies!!

  34. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on

    Livibhoy

     

     

    I am trying to phrase this in the most careful of terms…….

     

     

    I don’t think Rangers came anywhere near Hearts Valuation for McCann. What they did was, they somehow managed to hit the magic number that triggered certain matters between Hearts and the Bank of Scotland allegedly.

     

     

    They offered a sum for McCann which meant that Hearts had to tell the bank that an offer was on the table… and the bank made the decision.

     

     

    !998-99 was a dreadful year for Hearts. They had a team that had won the cup and had pushed Celtic all the way in the league. Rangers had won… nothing.

     

     

    Advocaat had just spent £5m on a left winger– Kanchelskis from Everton– so was not really in the market for another one.

     

     

    At the start of the season Rangers came to Tycastle and their big spending team got turned over 2-1. Hearts looked to be on their way again under greeting Jim.

     

     

    Suddenly, the whole first team were sold to…… guess who?

     

     

    McCann— Rangers

     

    Alan Johnstone— Rangers

     

    David Weir– Everton ( manager Walter )

     

    Gary Naismith– Everton ( Manager Walter )

     

     

    and then there was Paul Ritchie.

     

     

    A full international, Cup final winning goal scorer.

     

     

    The Media linked him with a huge move to Rangers with the kind of money that you could not refuse– just like Neil McCann said. So he refused to sign a new contract and Hearts refused to sell at a cut price fee.

     

     

    He went down south on loan and appeared at Wembley twice. At the end of the contract, he was expected to stay in England but…… he signed for Rangers presumably with a big signing on fee and the mental money as per McCann.

     

     

    Advocaat kept him for precisely ten weeks! Ten weeks in which he never played a game nor pulled in a Rangers shirt other than in training. After which he was sold to Southampton for £500,000.

     

     

    Rangers “bought” the Backbone of the Hearts team– effectively eliminated potential opposition— and it was HBOS who called the shots.

     

     

    That will be the same HBOS who piled money into Rangers and who maybe didn’t fancy seeing them get horsed by the Jambos.

     

     

    Later Hbos would help Hearts sell their ground to Cala Homes– who were funded and eventually owned wholly by HBOS.

     

     

    Now, did you read on here that somehow or other David Murray suddenly atrated buying up property around Tyncastle along with Wallace Mercer’s son?

     

     

    I wonder how many players who will feature in the EBT business only made a handful of appearances for Rangers?

     

     

    Why did Theo Snelders go there after a great period with Aberdeen and feature only 8 times in 3 years.

     

     

    Why did wee Nacho turn down a higher offer (on paper) from Celtic which would have got a higher fee for Dundee?

     

     

    Once the Big tax Case comes out, we might all start to ask questions re Rangers transfer policies over the years and how exactly they came about.