Paul Simon wrote about ‘a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires’ but if you want to raise money to rescue a company you need more than a loose affiliation. ‘The rebels’ at Celtic managed this in 1994 (somehow), but Paul Murray’s Blue Knights affiliation unravelled over a few days.
While Duff and Phelps were casting aspersions on the SPL for spiking their plans to announce a preferred bidder last week, the Blue Knights were already struggling to pull £0.5m together as a covenant to secure a period of exclusive rights to buy the club.
18 years ago a Celtic supporter walked into a branch of Bank of Scotland and paid £1m into Celtic’s bank account to bring it back under agreed limits and prevent the club going into administration – without any security or negotiating rights. A discrete but hugely important act by a man still on our board. No one from the Rangers consortium was prepared to gamble half as much last week, they even asked Ticketus, finance provider for Craig Whyte’s doomed venture, to stump up the non-refundable cash! The ticket agency declined.
The Celtic consortium soon fell apart with a modest degree of acrimony but personal issues were put to the side until the job of securing the club was complete. Paul Murray’s group was less fortunate. As a chartered accountant Murray would have been fully aware of the Employee Benefit Trusts which brought the club to its knees. What he knew and whether he benefited are likely to be some of the questions other consortium members were asking. He was not best placed to lead the recovery.
Murray also tried to keep a broad church together, from wealthy but detached Rangers fans to various elements of the support. This sounded ambitious from the off.
The most important comment from the Blue Knights yesterday was “The consortium believes that the whole deal process has become incredibly complex and it is critical that a preferred bidder is appointed this week.”
If it’s possible for the words “incredibly complex” and “critical” to be an understatement this is the occasion. The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League announce their fixtures in the middle of June. If Rangers are to phoenix before then they better hurry up and die. The liquidation process will take weeks (if it goes smoothly) and can be open to legal challenge. Stadium ownership has also to be secured and the claims of Ticketus and Andrew Ellis have to be satisfied.
Add to the mix creditors, the big tax case, punishments from the SFA for their on-going inquiry into the last takeover, potential punishments from the SPL inquiry into improperly registered players, increasingly widespread opposition from within the SPL and the rest of Scottish football to a place being created for a phoenix and you get the picture.
The last few years reads like a lesson in how to destroy a huge football club. Chances of SPL football at Ibrox next season? No more than 50%.
Bids for the original canvass painting of Neil Lennon by US based artist, Joseph Gormley, have hit an incredible £500. Keep an eye on the auction, which ends on Thursday, here.
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Did I miss anythiNg?
Not waviNg, but drowniNg
DBBIA/Stevie Smith CSC
Surely the Blue Knights haven’t walked away. I thought that lot did not do walking away. I wonder when NG will walk?
Si NG NG i’m no a billy i’m a tim
Si NG NG i’m no a billy i’m a tim
Si NG NG i’m no a billy i’m no so @@@@ NG silly
Si NG NG i’m no a billy (NG ) i’m a tim
picinisco
nobody is getting their money back or an apology
Hail Hail
Is Bill related to Landry Nguemo?
what is the date of the Scottish Cup Final ?
Dick Byrne – Euan Norris will think they look like brothers
When Billy Ng gets his hands on rangers…
We will all be grinnNg, dancNg and most definately laughNg.
The bares will be snarlNg, most will be cryNg then they will be beggNg as the rangers end up dyNg.
PF AYR
Who cares?
If Craig Burley and Mark Hateley both think this seasons SPL league title is tainted, probably they are some sort of expert in the matter, but perhaps someone should ask them both:
a) If this seasons title is tainted, which club was responsible for tainting the title this season?
b) Will next seasons SPL title be tainted if newco are not participating in the SPL at all?
c) Will next seasons SPL title be tainted if newco are not participating but Celtic don’t win the title?
d) Will next seasons SPL title still be tainted if a 10 points handicapped newco don’t win it.
e) Are there any circumstances where next seasons SPL title will not be tainted, apart from newco winning it?
f) If newco won next seasons SPL after dumping 150 million quid of debt, would the title be tainted
g) If RFC1872 / newco have tainted or are likely to taint so many SPL titles for years to come, is there a point to them being a part of the SPL?
h) If a team repeatedly taints the title should they be allowed to participate in said contest?
” WalkiNG after midnight ,
Asset stripping the Blues.”
Patsy Cling CSC
Where is Hoopslegend Landry N’guemo?
PF AYR
I think it’s 12th May,the English final is on the 5th
Paul 67
”A discrete but hugely important act by a man still on our board.”
Discrete or discreet? Or both?
”As a chartered accountant Murray would have been fully aware of the Employee Benefit Trusts which brought the club to its knees.”
As a Chartered Accountant he presumably should also have been aware of the difference between discretionary and contractual payments and the professional consequences of attempting to mislead the revenue as to which category payments belonged.
Rangers best (and only) chance of playing in the SPL next season is to muddle on in administration until then. As Craig Whyte said, administration is the best thing for Rangers. It means they are protected from court action and don’t need to pay any bills.
Mmmmm, protected from court action and don’t need to pay any bills – the hun Nirvana.
Maaaaann of means,
By no means…
Ng of the road!
wonkyradar – It’s surreal, isn’t it?
Who needs drugs when we have Rangers? (thumbsup)
Gordon_J – “Putting the SNP in charge of councils is like getting Rangers owner Craig Whyte to do your tax return, Scottish Labour leader Johan Lamont has said.” (BBC)
The pot is calling the kettle Whyte.
Can’t they both lose? (thumbsup)
PF AYR
Definitely 19 May,had to google it!
The Hun Nirvana- smell tests like TeeNg! spirit.
ZheNg Zhi
Oh no, not him again!
or the MaNg! who sold the World
“If it’s possible for the words “incredibly complex” and “critical” to be an understatement this is the occasion. The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League announce their fixtures in the middle of June.”
——————————————————————
in 8 weeks time…..
DBBIA
Haha,nice one.
The Man Who Sold The World was,of course,one of only three decent David Bowie songs-Sorrow disnae count-and even at that,Lulu did a better version.
Off to prepare for nightshift………
LightbluetouchpaperandrunawayCSC
Bill Ng don’t be a hero.
Who’s with me in making a bid for the huns?
I promise to pay back every creditor in full £ for £. It will take at least 10 years to pay the debt off at around £20M per year but I’ll give security over Ibrox to any bank willing to lend me say £150M and as a gesture of goodwill I’ll sell Murray Park immediately and deposit all the cash with the bank in a (non-employee benefit) trust account. Operational expenses will be restricted to £20M or lower dependent on earning a minimum £40M per annum income. There will be no player purchases for 10 years unless available on a free transfer or internally developed at our non-existent training facilities. Now all I need is a bank to lend the £150M…has anyone got Peter Cumming or Gavin Masterton’s contact details?….
Here’s to 10 in a row.
HH
Oh-Oh Broxi Bears days are numbered! Notice how much the ‘Millionaire’ managed to put into the club…
Football: Goodbye Sengkang, hello Hougang United
By Shamir Osman, TODAY | Posted: 14 December 2010
SINGAPORE: In 2006, two former S-League clubs based at the Hougang Stadium, Paya Lebar Punggol and Sengkang Marine, merged to form Sengkang Punggol.
The new club never finished better than the last two spots in the S-League but Bill Ng, who took over the club’s chairmanship last year, has promised that things will be different next year and has asked for six months before making any judgment on the club’s progress.
One change they have already decided on is the name of the club.
From next season they will be known as Hougang United, to identify with the community around their base of operations. They have also swopped the Dolphin mascot for the Cheetah.
Ng confirmed the club’s name change and new mascot, saying that a key factor for the decision was to connect better with residents around the club’s 2,500-capacity stadium at Hougang Avenue 2.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has approved the change. MediaCorp understands the changes will be registered before the start of the 2011 season in February.
When financier Ng took over the club, their debts stood at $1.3 million, but he has since paid off about $455,000. And Ng insists there’s only one way for the club to go – up the S-League table.
“The club have been improving gradually since 2008 and we have scored more points year-on-year. There has been improvement and next year we will commit more funds to football development … Sengkang will be different, starting with the changes to our name and mascot.”
and from the Blue SoNg!book-
God save our gracious Ng!
Just a personal opinion but I don’t understand Celtic fans who get upset at the MSM for burying bad news stories with regards the currants. This is one of the reasons they’re in the position they’re in. Long may it continue. I don’t particularly mind what they say about Lenny as we can (I do) ignore them. Lenny’s and therefore our fight ,is with the footballing authorities, the ones with power.
ASonOfDan on 17 April, 2012 at 15:21 said:
Change Broxi Bear to a cheater – will fit in well at Ipox
I think that Craig Whyte is in cahoots with both Ng and Murray … whomever is going to give him the most money will be given the keys to Ibrox on the proviso that they recognise the Ticketus contract
Hail Hail
Ah, that 1972 European Cup Winners Cup Final again ……
Who exactly did they beat in the previous season’s Scottish Cup Final to enter the competition in the first place……
Bill Ng has already set aside an amount for the creditors but can’t wait to get on and discuss transfers with Super Ally? So, stitching up creditors with a small % deal and then magically summoning up some previously non-existent funds to go out and play fantasy football in Europe’s transfer markets.
Sounds like a Rangers owner to me.
The Broxi Bear costume will be in the Liquidators catalogue that has already been created.
We could chip in and buy it then get Hoopy to put the head on a spike in the centre circle at the first game of the season….
Parkheadcumsalford, I’m reluctant to stick my neck out on such a huge question (as I did in 2008 when I first predicted it) but the forces against them are considerable. This is not a healthy football club.
Burnley78, that’s an article for another day.
Battered Bunnet, yes, I hear you. More tomorrow.
ulysses mcghee, no. Duped was not the right word, not at all!
Kojo, instead of a wee fella with an impenetrable gaze, they have a guy with an Elvis quiff.
Paul Murray has left the building.
ASonOfDan, indeed.
Other comment deleted, language.
ernie lynch, I am a spelling nightmare today. Take your pick.
Yes, on your second point.
Excuse me for sounding like a dingbat, but who is the current member of our board who put the mill in the account?
haha Serge im moving over to Canada and im in the process of working(ahem) from home and sticking 30 odd vidoes from the 90’s onto the PC before i leave…hopefully get some onto youtube once i’m settled.
where does Whyte feature as a secured creditor in all this preferred bidder nonsense
or are we just pretending he doesn`t have such position