This evening’s statement from Gordon Smith, effectively claiming he was not in control of “recruitment, scouting [and]transfer negotiations” at Rangers confirms many rumours of power-struggles between him and manager, Ally McCoist, who, apparently, didn’t allow the director of football his way on recruitment matters.
Rangers made it known that wages for February were paid today and that Smith and, also now redundant, Ali Russell, will both continue to work until the end of the month. This begs the question, who else will go before the end of the month?
The first responsibility of an administrator is to try to keep the company trading. Duff and Phelps have been trying to do this. While it was a surprise (to me) to see Rangers director, Dave King, at Ibrox meeting the administrators with McCoist yesterday, King, along with other directors, wealthy fans and perhaps even the former owner, will all have been asked if they would be prepared to put money into the club to keep it ticking over until the end of the season. My information is that no one has put as much as the £1 Craig Whyte put on the table to buy the club last year.
I could break off here and tell you about the man that walked into a Bank of Scotland in 1994 and paid a huge sum of money into Celtic’s account to prevent the club going into administration. He had no guarantees from the old board, who still owned the club, and future managing director Fergus McCann was in no position to guarantee anything either, but that’s a story for another day, I’ll wouldn’t bring his name into this sorry tale. Suffice to say, in our hour of need, someone stepped forward.
It’s now a matter of cash. With wages paid until the middle of next week there is no immediate danger, but the administrators will need a pretty good reason to believe they have wages for March before they retain staff until Thursday next week.
The loss of Russell and the general state of chaos that having to work with various government agencies, including police investigators, will make the business of running a football club technically difficult. They have already missed an important action, but it’s not my job to point this out to them. Until it’s too late.
The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd
I think when you have been asked the same question about six times in a few days it’s worth explaining the issue here. If a football club is liquidated it’s finished. Continuity with its history and records ends. This is not the same as a football company changing its name.
Celtic was established as a sporting club at a meeting in a church hall in November 1887, in many ways, no different than a million other football, karate and badminton clubs. It subsequently registered with the SFA in 1888. In April 1897 it incorporated as a private limited company, registering as The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd at Companies House. It was the 3487th company to register in Scotland and was given the incorporation number SC003487.
In 1994 the company became a public limited company and changed its name to Celtic PLC but, of course, remained the same company, with the same incorporation number and retained the same registration with the SFA. You can check our corporate history, from incorporation in 1897, to name change in 1994 to our most recent annual return, dated 31 December 2011, at Companies House here.
On the same day Celtic changed its name to Celtic PLC, Fergus McCann changed the name of an off the shelf company, securing the old trading name ‘The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd’, which is fully owned by Celtic PLC, but is not registered as a football club. I assume this was to secure our old name for the club and to protect it from potential abuse.
Don’t let anyone tell you our history ‘started in 1994’. We are very much the club of Maley, Quinn, Thomson, McGrory, Stein, Johnstone and Dalglish.
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monaghan1900 0900
You mean they’ve given up for Lent!
That’ll go down really well when they find out….
And I thought Lent was only six weeks!
Regarding the unpaid 17-20 k police costs for the Kilmarnock game at ibrokes ,
Anyone know the typical police costs for a Kilmarnock game at Celtic Park , then we can see if the tax evaders are getting special rates.
I am finding all these names for donors becoming rather too convoluted and contrived.
Juan Thindime CSC
cavansam \o/ says:
24 February, 2012 at 09:26
The other good song from that film may apply to Our Hero or FPLG:
“Am I a man or am I a muppet,
If I’m a man, I’m a muppet of a man”
Mr Walter Smith has just donated one pair of used brown brogues to the save the tax didgers campaign.
Mr C Whyte has asked for his pound back.
Ten Men Won The League says:
24 February, 2012 at 09:22
I thought it had already been awe nawed!!!
Stunningly laughable article.
Mac
Is it true that Rangers have given up for Lent?
I have so for pledged for:
N.A. Van-nilla
V.N. Etta
Jock Eiss
I.C. Cohen
The aforementioned article…..
Celtic are wrong to dance on Rangers’ grave
By Mark Hateley on Feb 24, 12 08:29 AM in rangers
CONGRATULATIONS, Celtic. This year’s title is yours and even though I believe it’s tainted that’s none of your concern.
It’s not Celtic’s fault Rangers have ended up in a mess of their own making.
So Neil Lennon and his players have every right to milk the moment from here on in until the medals are passed around in May.
The club’s supporters are also entitled to enjoy the rest of the cakewalk.
I’d prefer just to leave them to it. Congratulate them and move on. I just wish they had the good grace to do likewise as my club attempts to battle for its very existence and good people are worried sick about their jobs.
I find the tone that has been set by the men at the top at Celtic Park in recent days and weeks has been ill-judged at best and, at worst, deliberately inflammatory.
Let’s be honest here, Rangers are lying in the gutter, bleeding badly. There is no need for the likes of Lennon and Peter Lawwell to continue to sink the boot in when our wounds
have been self-inflicted.
I would hope Rangers, as a football club, would conduct themselves with a bit more class if the shoe was on the other foot. In fact, I’m sure they would.
Calling for Rangers to be stripped of titles? Political manipulating and manoeuvring in order to make sure no mercy is shown should their rivals get back on their feet?
All this crass stuff about celebrating the death of Rangers with bowls of jelly and ice cream? Is that really necessary? It smacks of the behaviour of people who hate Rangers more than they love their own club. It reflects very badly on them all.
No one expects Celtic to shed a tear over the state Rangers have got themselves into.
But, even so, there is a venom about their recent reaction which has shocked me and should embarrass the more level-headed, decent people at Parkhead. I hope it does at any rate.
It saddens me that these extreme times seem to bring out the worst in supporters on both sides of Glasgow.
I include Rangers supporters in that because last week, when they were all hurting so badly, some of them chose to bring further shame on Ibrox by singing the kind of songs that have been making us cringe for so long. Thanks for that lads. Just what the club needed in a time of crisis.
As much as I would prefer for Celtic to concentrate on enjoying their success, I would also hope Rangers and their fans can act with dignity and decorum as they fight to get through this, one of the most horrible periods in the club’s 140-year history.
These are the qualities the club was built on and these same qualities have never been more important than they are right now.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say how the Rangers support acts at this crucial juncture may decide the very fate of their club.
It’s time for them to think smart. Singing stupid songs of defiance is hardly what’s needed now. They have to take a step back from all that nonsense and attempt to get a clear view of the bigger picture.
It’s not about mindless bravado, it’s about making the right choices and ensuring the club they love is around another 140 years from now.
There is no shame in being duped. Let’s be honest, it happens to us all.
But what’s the old saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
They should have those words engraved on the front doors of Ibrox as a permanent reminder and a warning to the next man who gets his hands on the keys.
Yes, the Rangers support is just about to realise how powerful it really is now it is galvanised again and pulling in the same direction.
These fans are about to become the king makers and that’s why they should behave in a manner befitting the club they represent.
The next man who steps up to the plate will expect them to scrutinise his every move like never before. The fans will demand that, from now on, the people at the top are open and transparent. They deserve nothing less.
What the future holds is still unclear. In the short term, we can only hope the administrators find what they are looking for to keep the business going and then had it over to a safe pair of hands.
Hopefully the time will come soon when the fans are being asked to throw their united support behind a new regime.
In an ideal world a group of well meaning, wealthy and reputable Rangers supporters will step forward to claim control as a consortium to make sure that, never again, the club is left in the hands of just one man.
If all these interested parties can find a way to club together for the greater good and drag Rangers away from the brink I’m positive the rank and file won’t be slow in identifying them as the men who saved them from their darkest hour.
It’s time for Rangers men to stand up and be counted. It’s time for the club to rid itself of all the old unwanted baggage so that Rangers can be proud of itself again for the fantastic football club it always has been.
So let Celtic get on with celebrating their title – a title they somehow failed to win throughout the last three years of financial troubles – and let Rangers get on with the painful process of putting their club back together.
If everyone at Rangers would only stop turning on each other and stabbing each other in the front, we will pledge a few thousand.
Dee Vide
Ann Conquer
Policeing payments of ranglers home games . New mini scandal to put into the mix.
Another day another donation, Mrs Sadie Woodsavus pledges a 1k
Just seen the Rogue interview on BBC from yesterday. Glad Celtic are looking to extend his contract. He has really impressed me lately. He is still only 21 years old and if he stays injury free I think he has a bright future ahead of him.
What also impressed me was the way he did not take the bait from the reporters interviewing him. They were willing him to say something controversial. “I know you guys want me to say the league is over but it’s not. We’re looking to the next game and that’s our focus.”
I think Neil and his players have also seem to getting more media savvy. Neil especially had been great, his responses are honest, intelligent, witty and thoughtful. I loved his response to questions about whether the title achievement is overshadowed by what has been happening over at Ibroke, “If we do win it and people want to throw that at me, I will have plenty to say about devalued titles over the years”.
After reading that greeting fest from Hateley I have 2 words for him
Roon Ye
That is all
End of ranglers = the end of Hately ……..hopefully.
Liam Malone Willye just donated a monkey to save Rangers.
hoodwinked@hunmail.com
Leave him (Craig Whyte) alone,will ye!
:)
Mark Hateley is doing his best to help us squeeze the maximum amount of enjoyment out of these wonderful days.
Seriously though I think I’ve pulled a muscle now from all the laughing.
That article just tipped me over the edge.
Was HATEley breathalysed before getting someone to write that article for him.
A very Christian gesture from Pope Benedict XVI (bigman@vatican.com), weighing in with £5000 for the cause.
Great article from Hateley – a galloping guffaw every three words.
He is sure that Rangers would conduct themselves with more class. He seems to feel the jelly and ice cream thing is the stuff of hatred. Back lads, they are using jelly!
Comedic joy.
He claims that the sectarian songs of hate of his lot are “defiant”, but jelly is “hatred”.
You couldn’t make it up, only he just did.
Hail hail!
Mark Hately = Lord Haw Haw
Touched by Mark Hateley’s appeal for Celtic fans to stop rejoicing in Rangers’ demise, Hal E Luya has just thrown a few quid in the scavengers fund.
“There is no need for the likes of Lennon and Peter Lawwell to continue to sink the boot in when our wounds have been self-inflicted.”
erm, isnt that exactly why we’re fully justified in doing it? if they had been the victim of some awful accident or injustice then fait enough pointing and laughing might be a bit distasteful. but as its all 100% of their own doing fill yer boots lenny.
Poor Mr Hateley. He sounds as if he’s hurting badly.
He still fails to “get it” though.
The power of secondary sourcing – the nuggets that lie within.
STV story about Close Brothers and the kitchen equipment.
Run of the mill stuff, it has been out on the inter web for months.
However …
Pure gold, well for me anyway.
Azure get a 9 year contract involving the TFOD catering and now it includes the cleaning duties at Ibrox and presumably MP.
The figure quoted was £35mill over 4 years
Not sure if that is –
1) Azure to the TFOD or
2) TFOD to Azure?
I thought that Azure paid a fee to the TFOD for the franchise to offer food at Ibrox.
Azure pay a fee but keep the money that goes through the till.
It was this fee that CW was using to finance the £1.75mill spend on cookers and big screens. However not now so sure.
Consequently anyone got info on this?
Finally Azure – the DM success story in the go go world of contract catering.
Well maybe not – he sold 51% of the business to a French mob in 2004.
Not sure if he has sold the rest in the intervening 8 years.
However it is all now run from Paris.
Azure at Ibrox?
DM doing a bit of pump and dump?
Azure friendly contract at Ibrox pre 2004.
Inflates the Azure profit margin.
Then he clogs it to the Frogs for a tidy sum?
Just a thought.
When the dust settlesi think that we will learn 2 things
DM – professional.
CW – amateur.
They both did the same things but only one will take the flack.
Get used to it Hateley…FUD
mind you my donation total has now hit the one hundred thousand pound mark so i’m not entirely without sympathy
Hartsons Comb says:
24 February, 2012 at 08:49
Brilliant!!!
How about a wee game of name the sports hack?
effect on your normal life
How is our current situation effecting your life. I ain’t be able to sleep well for days now, Constantly think about our club and what’s gonna happen next. I can’t imagine what its like for the employees. This sure is a long dark tunnel, With no end in sight.
—-
I was off my food for a few days, but that was the initial shock.
Depending on your own individual persona, and the amount of emotional investment you have, everyone will react in their own way. People will be on the verge of violence, teetering on the brink of drink/drug abuse, being less than patient with your spouses and kids.
Make no mistake, this is the sort of s— that can give some people serious emotional problems and nervous breakdowns (and worse).
Jabba
—-
Anger and Despair.I am Fuming.
Rodgering Hansha
—-
iam as worried as everyone else, then i think to myself, can The Rangers ever be truely killed?
Chico
—-
was fighting after the boozer on sat nite due to all the anger ive tried to keep in.
he was a big c— anaw, im probs lucky the bouncers stopped it after wee traded a few hooks.
no more booze for me till its sorted one way or another.
Dawil Kingbilly
—-
I’ve gone through periods of wanting to know everything that is happening to wanting to know nothing. Feeling of total helplessness to a point.
Graham Spweeers
—-
Ive reached the stage where I think its a lost cause I cant be a—d with the club any longer but thats just the way I feel
Not a good bear ehhhh
??? – Must be a Tim Hack
—-
My missus now has a coupon like one of those pandas that Edinburgh Zoo got
Silly Speckie
—-
A have been coming in from work and just going to bed a can’t watch the news or read a paper.
Gordon Dizzle
—-
I’ve lost all contact with t–gs.
All of the above
—-
At the last count I have stopped talking to 17 of that lot, so at least some good came out of administration.
Keef Jackhun
—-
Massive effect i’d say.
I’ve went from watching the game at the weekend and having the odd look on a few sites to see the latest news to spending insane amounts of time on said sites to check on the latest news.
I’ve been the same with not sleepin as the OP and was blaming it on frivolous personal problems but who knows, this whole situation might be a factor in it. Still don’t think i’ve fully got my head around it all yet.
Spew Peevans
—-
I’ve hardly slept and at my age I should probably know better but the Rangers have been in my blood all my life. I just can’t bear to think of a worst case scenario. I’ve been e-mailing, texting, writing, phoning and hardly been off the web. Felt so bad last week that I went for a check-up at the docs. Got the OK but my stomach is churning all the time. Media are having a ball at our expense though which really annoys me.
Gordhun Smuff
How is this Tile tainted Mark?! If they finish the season Rangers will finish third or fourth!
More to the point, there is no wa ou know the meaning of the word “decorum”.
i did have to go back and double check that wasnt one of tin soldier from kerrydalestreets fine pieces of work
Just pledged £500. It seems they’re now asking you now to send the link to non-rangers fans. Can’t think why they would’nt want help…lol
Mark Hately caused me to become a Kenwood Fan and I thank him for it.
Big Charlie!!
Have it!!
Where is this hateley laugh fest?
HH
Dearie me big hateley is hurting,
would it be such a better place if everyone acted in the same dignified manner as err “his” club?
im sure that given he is so concerned about the plight of err “his” club he will not only personally donate a few quid from his personal wealth to the save a bigoted institution website he will also look at any personal gains he may have made as part of the EBTs and return them to the coffers.
TTTT.
you have mail.
The thing about Hateley’s newspaper columns that intrigue’s
me,someone is helping him compose this and it’s still a load
of convoluted crap.That’s before Awe Naw has even been near it.
voguepunter
I thought it had been Awe naw’d
voguepunter says:
24 February, 2012 at 09:54
maybe it was Awe Naw……