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Great Football Swindle reaches court

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

So the day has come. Several of the alleged conspirators in the Great Football Swindle have arrived at the High Court in Edinburgh to face their charges.

It will be four years next week since I first asserted that Rangers would be liquidated, with all of the consequences that would entail. For the last two years I’ve tried to stay away from the subject and to concentrate on the matters which brought us together in the first place, but this issue deserves coverage.

In 2012 the illegal Discounted Options Scheme and Employee Benefit Trusts (only some of which are still subject to appeal) put HMRC in a position to demand payment, and subsequently reject administrators’ attempts to agree a CVA.  Thank you, Sir David.

Charles Green must be a great poker player. He raised enough seed capital to buy the rights to pay £5.5 for Rangers assets in liquidation. From that moment, we thought one of two things would happen:

Green would pull Newco together and within a few years things would look like the old days.

Or, Green would be undermined by those he out-manoeuvred, leading to a likely insolvency for Newco.

There were suggestions early on that Green and Whyte were acting in concert, but, as someone with more experience than I have on matters like this pointed out to me, to be convicted for this type of crime you need to take a billboard advert out explaining your misdemeanours, it’s so difficult to prosecute. Or you need to be very stupid and fall out with your co-conspirators.

Stupidity is alive and well.

Green’s claim for legal fees against RIFC will have a profound impact on the club’s finances within weeks, but the bigger issue at hand is what happens at the outcome of the various criminal charges relating to the disposal and acquisition of the assets of Rangers Football Club, now in liquidation.

If it is proven that the assets were acquired criminally, the transaction is likely to be struck down, meaning the club currently trading as Rangers would lose ownership of whatever assets they have, including stadium and the name “Rangers”, irrespective of who actually controls those assets.

I’ve discussed this matter with many well-informed people and no one actually knows how it will play out, or what the consequences of guilty verdicts would be. The only thing that is known for sure is that outcomes are currently indeterminate, cannot be planned for, and contingencies cannot be made.

The club itself has to get on with business as best it can until whatever happens, happens, but no one should believe that a Duff and Phelps-type liquidation-bounce is normal, or remotely possible again. Assets could be hamstrung for years and left derelict.

Back in 2012 I said the only way forward with any certainty is to start with a clean sheet. Find a tiny club on the brink (there are enough of them), change their name, give them blue shirts, ask St Mirren or Partick Thistle to ground-share, and build your way up the leagues. Let the courts take their course and bid for the assets you want when the dust settles.

But that’s not going to happen. It would require more strategic thinking than is possible right now.  My guess is they’re finished.  Finished.

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  1. setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on

    Awe Naw

     

     

    “Dermot Desmonds vision of Rangers or Paul67’s ? ”

     

     

    I don’t understand the question. Have you and Mags not always said that Paul67 was just a puppet spouting whatever PL or DD told him to?

     

     

    How on earth did they ever manage to come up with two different visions, then? :-)

  9. leftclicktic on

    Gooooooodnight all

     

     

    mam sitting tomorrow so need to be on my best behavior,

     

     

    Celtic just win tomorrow

     

     

    sleep well all

     

    to all lurk ers please get posting you are needed here

  10. Gerryfaethebrig on

    Gordon64 10.20pm

     

     

    Trust me we know who owns the deeds, if he didn’t, our intrepid reporters would be all over it like a rash, I am still waiting on any journo saying Craigy Bhoy doesn’t own the deeds, why don’t they ask Bomber he knew years ago, sit back and enjoy…..also sit back and enjoy our Ronny’s team this season, remember we have a date in Basle !

  11. Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on

    Quonno, I’m still surprised Neil hasn’t went public with what Sally said to him.

     

     

    Sally knew what he was doing that night. Look at the smirk on his horrible coupon when Neil reacted. Sally just stood back and knew Neil woud cop the flak.

     

     

    Maybe Neil wants to move on and is scunnered with all the grief he and his family have had and may not want it to start again.

     

     

    Hopefully, one day we will find out.

  16. quonno on

    SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 16TH OCTOBER 2015 10:32 PM

     

    Qunno

     

     

     

     

     

     

    “Can there have been a swindle before a verdict is reached?”

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Unless the verdict is perverse or unjust, there would have to have been one, otherwise why is there a trial?

     

     

    Because the prosecution service considers that it has a case to pursue.

     

    This in itself is meaningless unless a guilty verdict is reached.

     

    Leaving aside what I consider to be his r=erroneous conclusion I feel that |Paul is treading on thin ice with his heading.

     

     

    – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/great-football-swindle-reaches-court/comment-page-9/#comment-2697570

  19. butsybhoy on

    Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on 16th October 2015 10:25 pm –

     

     

    Was speaking to one of the former Dundee Utd staff the deal they were on was 15% of all transfer fees ,it was the chairman who leaked this to the press so that the fans would turn on Jackie and his backroom staff.

     

     

    HH

  22. Gordon64 on

    The dandy Dons lose again. Me thinks thats the last manager of the month award Deek is going to win a long time.

  24. Almore on

    GFTB: They were difficult times alright. One of my heroes said “let our revenge be the laughter of our children”. (He wasn’t talking about R@ng€rs, btw, but he might as well have been). Years later when the Green Brigade banner declared “your grandchildren will be Celtic supporters” it reminded me of that prediction.

     

     

    COYBIG

  25. BGX on

    Dallas Dallas…

     

     

    Your Waiting on Lennon, Im Still Waiting on mcneil complaining about be played outa position for Scotland..My Advice..

     

    .

     

    Dont Hold your Breath.

  30. BGX on

    Butsybhoy all mcnamara had to do to get the fans to not turn on him was to put a Winning team on the park, simples, He couldnt do it.

     

    .Therefore p45 for mcnamarra.

     

     

     

    Full Stop..

  33. Dallas Dallas where the heck is Dallas on

    Butsybhoy, no wonder Stephen Thompson let that out of the bag.

     

     

    Jackie and some of his backroom team had a nice little earner there.

  34. setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on

    Our biggest problem in team selection tomorrow, especially if Scott Brown is missing, is choosing the 2 in our 4:2:3:1 selection.

     

     

    Neither Bitton or Brown are true defensive midfielders and with Charlie missing we lack another CB who can play there. I know some have touted Efe but the main characteristic of a defensive midfielder is that they prioritize ball winning and retention; Efe can do the former but not the latter. Johansen has played there but, he won his POTY award on the strength of robbing players in the final third and contributing assists and goals, he did not stand out as a defensive mid for either Celtic or Norway.

     

     

    All other centre mids (Rogic, Allan, Commons) are creative ball players, slip passers and dribblers, there is not a Lambert or Lennon among them, far less a Wanyama. With an inexperienced back 4, the two that play in front Bitton and AN other (probably Johansen or Rogic) will not offer much protection to Boyata and Ambrose, though Stuart Armstrong might be a better experiment as he is a cleaner tackler and safer passer than Johansen.

     

     

    We may have no alternative but to just go for it and try to outscore them tomorrow.

     

     

    I expect to see

     

     

    Gordon

     

     

    Lustig (or Janko)

     

    Boyata

     

    Ambrose

     

    Izzaguire

     

     

    Bitton

     

    Johansen (or Rogic)

     

     

    GMS (or Armstrong)

     

    Commons

     

    Forrest

     

     

    Griff

  35. Summa of Sammi.... on

    .

     

     

    Roy Croppie..

     

     

    My Apologies for Not making Myself know..last Saturday..

     

     

    I was in a Bit of a Rush.. And OldTim was counting every Mouthful I drank..Ha

     

     

    I only found out You were there the Next Day..

     

     

    I’ll be in LymmBhoys bad books..

     

     

    KTF

     

     

    Apologies again..

     

     

    001

  38. thetimreaper on

    If they have to pay Green’s legal fees which looks likely, will that also apply to potential appeals assuming any guilty verdicts on any of the eight charges? If so dragging it through various courts could result £ millions of legal fees. And how would years of appeals and the uncertainty that brings affect any functioning business should it still be in operation. They could actually be finished for real.

  41. Gerryfaethebrig on

    Almore

     

     

    The words of your hero were inspirational to me as a daft teenager in the early 80s, on a football park they were hard times but I honestly think that’s what makes most Celtic fans, I hopefully never get too down about a stupid defeat, disappointed yes, but for me it means a whole lot more but then a whole lot less when other things come into it, being a Celtic fan, wouldn’t change it for the world, well maybe one thing my father being here to witness our joy at the “entitled mob” I actually love the fact that on radio and newspapers over here they think they are watching “total footbal” I actually take great pleasure in their lower league wins and the old team I never wanted to win anything, even the toss, but I quite fancy them winning the Petroftractor cup…..would be funny to see the celebrations

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