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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tomtheleedstim 11.05
MUD
tomtheleedstim says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:05
Mud sang Tiger Feet…horrible memories of a 70’s childhood…
tomtheleedstim says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:05
Anyone settle an argument? Who sang “Tiger Feet”?
—-
MUD
Tomtheleedstim,
Tiger Feet was by Mud – 1974 or 75 from memory
starry plough says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:07
tomtheleedstim says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:05
Mud sang Tiger Feet…
That’s right, that’s right, that’s right, that’s right………………………………
Paul67 et al
Some good news for Portsmouth at last, victory for Karen Murphy in the High Court!
Tiger Feet by Mud is quality man.
I’ll get my coat.
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon
Biggest selling single of 1974 in fact.
That is a sad statistic.
The Dog Barks – I went on-line last week to have a look at buying one of the prints in the Superstore of Joe celebrating after his h*nskelping act. No sign of it. Collectors Items sold out I reckon! :-)
Please refrain from mocking Mr Hatley, it is a sin to mock the afflicted, and during lent you cruel people. Have you no shame.
I think everybody should give a generous round of applause to the people of craggy island
father Ted , Dougal , Mrs Doyle, and father Jack have just donated £2000, to save ra gers
all the money came from father teds account, he said that the money was just resting there doing nothing
starry plough says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:07
Starry,horrible memories of a 70’s childhood?
1,70’S were magic
2,no way you were a child in the 70s ,ya ole grump.
Not one new article today!!! Is something afoot! I am suffering withdrawal symptoms and concerned I may have to resort to working.
If you thought Hately’s article was hysterical, wait till you read this one below from Dark Mingwall on FF
What an absolute muppet this guy is. Imo he should be taking plenty of flak himself for allowing things to happen on his own doorstep
Enjoy
He was the dominant figure at Ibrox for 20 years, and now his silence speaks louder than his words.
Reading today’s excellent Leggoland blog – http://www.davidleggat.com – I was struck by the thought that we now have so many pieces of evidence of wrongdoing during the Craig Whyte regime that it’s difficult to step back and look at how he got in control of the club in the first place.
Everyone can make mistakes but it does seem to me that the number of mistakes piled on top of one another would make a man less charitable of his fellow man’s faults to begin to wonder.
Let’s start with Sir David – at one time Scotland’s richest self-made man – the hero of an epic story of success and physical courage and our long-time Custodian, long-serving and most successful Chairman in the history of the club. Sir David told us time and again he wanted to build a family dynasty, then the story changed and he would only hand on the club to a safe pair of hands. How could this captain of industry deliver us into the hands of someone who appears to rival the Yorkshire Ripper in the safety stakes?
This wee website researched Craig Whyte as far as our resources would allow – his directorships were relatively small in number (certainly compared with the 138-odd Sir David has) and what we found was one or two were held in medium-sized businesses and the rest in small or dormant ones. It is of course possible that he amassed tens or millions of pounds in trading during his years in exile in Monaco but being a monolingualist and the UK being the 4th largest economy in the world one would expect a rather more substantial paper-trail in the land of his birth.
It i possible too that he did accumulate wealth and chose for perfectly sensible reasons to store it in the British Virgin Islands where his Liberty Capital company is headquartered. Yet even the dimmest of us know the BVI is chosen as a financial bolt holt for it’s tight secrecy laws as much as it’s low-tax environment.
The very obvious question then follows – if publicly available records show no sign whatsoever that Craig Whyte had the wherewithal to fund Rangers in the manner to which we have become accustomed over the last 20 years – a roughly £5million subsidy from Murray, Dave King, Joe Lewis et al – what proof of funds id SIr David and his advisors see to convince them WHyte has a safe pair of hands?
And further – did the bank conduct due diligence themselves or just take it on the nod from Murray International’s lawyers that Whyte had passed the test?
The bank themselves will have to answer a seperate set of questions regarding their behaviour – what will the correspondence between the bank and 9 Charlotte Square reveal a to the question of Sir David jumping to sell Rangers to Whyte or whether he was pushed by a bank desperate to get a measly £18million of manageable overdraft off their books and hang the consequences for one of Scotland’s great institutions?
Donald Muir – corporate recover specialist or messenger boy? Ah, Donald, where are you now? Could you, dear reader, keep up with whether he was a Murray International man, or the bank’s man or foisted on MIH by the bank to direct MIH by remote control? Were the Gruesome Twosome of Ellis and Whyte really the only two candidates to own the club the bank and MIH could find after supposedly appointing two merchant banks to scour the globe for a new owner for the club?
Yet, now we are supposed to take credibly the idea that this triumpherate of MIH, bank and Muir properly sought out and found the source of Craig WHyte’s wealth and the income streams that would sustain the club only to find 9 months later that the cupboard was bare?
SIr David’s own corporate house gives us an idea of how things should have been with Craig WHyte and the standard of records one would expect to have seen presented – 9 Charlotte Square is the HQ for over 100 companies in the Murray empire and all, whatever Sir David’s other faults, have annual accounts produced by reputable accountancy firms stretching back up to 40 years. You can follow SDM’s business career through the public records. Why would he or the bank expect any less a standard from Craig Whyte?
The first task for the administrators, police and the regulatory authorities I would suggest is to examine the due diligence process and whether or not it was credible. And if blind eyes appear to have been turned then I expect jail for the lot of them as co-conspirators.
“With wages paid until the middle of next week there is no immediate danger” – Superb.
As a longterm lurker, and I must say I have found the past 10 days on here hilarious.
What makes it even funnier is the fact that Sky Sports News was reporting last night that rangers fans had pledged to raise £5.8m – Based on the saverangers.com website…What a farce.
I dont get up to many games,but I am looking for a ticket for the League Cup final is anyone can help.Im up in Edinburgh for St Patricks day and ideally will get the train through from there. Can anyone offer any tips/ticket offers? Im not sure what the demand currently is for them – Any advice welcomed.
Worst case scenario, I will make my way to the International bar…Is that still the best place in Edinburgh to watch the Celtic games? the last time I was there was to see Naka’s Freekick win us the league in injury time just as a couple of startled Japanese tourists were walking passed – They were quickly dragged into the pub and were the biggest celebrities in town for one afternoon only!!!so good memories of the place .
I can confirm that the esteemed starry IS a child of the 70’s and he was and always shall be the grumpiest of grumps ever witnessed by mankind!
cavansam,
I’ll take your word for it!
Nice try Suck, why not tell them what you really know fattie?
Or would that be too “hush-hush”?
Hmm?
voguepunter says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:12
Agreed the 70’s were magic, Free, David Bowie, T-Rex, Roxy Music, interspersed though with some truly terrible records bought by my sisters, David Cassidy, Mud…etc..
I am grumpy and sick the day admittedly…
SP
Mark Hateley = Declan ???
Hmmmmmmmmmmm
How can you be sure that Cassidy wasn’t groovy?
Mamma Rees McCoist says please give generously otherwise they’re bust.
Ooh Er Missus. Titter ye NOT!
starry plough says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:19
Starry, my son bought my wife tickets for David Cassidy ,
last time he was playing in Glasgow.
Guess who had to go with her?I would rather have went
to the local orange halls and listen to the bon :O(
What’s the 70s?
YoungdudesCSC
hamiltontim says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:26
Any mair cheek ,an you’ll no make them.
So let me get this right and apologies for being slow off teh mark but I am suffering with a belter of a cold..Awe….
Murray phones up his Ticketus mates and tells them he´s sending a wild bug eyed Billy Liar type from Motherwell who will pretend to be a billionaire. He tells them that he doesn´t have two halfpennies to rub together but they need to believe his story to make the plan work. The plan being saving Ibrox Murray Park and the players from the taxman. It is in both of their interests so Tickets sits up and listens. Whyte gives personal guarantees which mean nothing but does mean that in the event of them going into adminstration Ticketus will become the main creditor not dodgy Craig Whyte. Murray assures Ticketus that The SFA have been primed as have the media outlets mainly The Daily Record and BBC Scotland. Ticketus have nothing to lose if it comes off and are stuffed with promises of future cash in the regeneration of Rangers FC 2012 … possibly even being a main player. The only fly in the ointment was that Whyte never stuck to the plan ?
Is this what Rob Shorthouses lot are now investigating (i.e a plan to defraud the taxman involving Murray, Ticketus, Alistair Johnstone, The SFA, The Daily Record and BBC Scotland …. yes the fight between Chic and Jabba at that juncture was cause Chic was not up to speed ?)
HAil Hail
VP
I thought you were only in your 60s annaw my friend.
Peter Pan right enough :-)
@ awe naw – close, but you are missing one name
voguepunter says:
24 February, 2012 at 11:26
VP great is the man who can stand such suffering for his family, that man is called Hero…
You have my deepest sympathies..
Half an hour on CQN and my grumpiness is fading…
Oh Oh Oh it’s magic you know…
Amadeus
Campbell ?
HAil Hail
Awe_Naw
I would imagine you wouldn’t be too far off the mark with that mi amigo.
How much does saverangers need to raise to make a bid for the club a serious possibility.
Apparently close to £6m has been pledged. How much genuine and how much from timposters?
To put this into context. In 2004, Rangers launched a share issue aiming to raise £57m to help pay back debts and to put the club back on the right way to financial prudence.
The Rangers fans rallied round this cause and £51m was raised (total breakdown below). Not quite what was expected but pretty good going and if a similar amount can be raised this time around, Rangers might succeed.
Breakdown of £51m raised from share option
David Murray/Murray International Holdings – £50,275,000
New investors (1,263 new shareholders) – £307,530
Existing shareholders (3,237 existing) – £848,365
Total – £51,430,995
So, without David Murray’s contribution, Rangers fans (yes, those who are now being asked to save the club) invested a total of £1,155,895 in Rangers in 2004. That works out at a hefty £257 per person.
Mort
There has to be at least one player with a second name for a first name in this game…
Breaking news on the BBC
A pub landlady has won her latest court fight with the English Premier League over using a Greek TV decoder to screen games.
Karen Murphy has paid nearly £8,000 in fines and costs for using the cheaper decoder in her Portsmouth pub to bypass controls over match screening.
But she took her case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
It found partly in her favour, and now the High Court in London has also found in her favour.
The case has been closely watched as it could trigger a major shake-up in the way football TV rights are sold, and potentially pave the way to cheaper viewing of foreign broadcasts for fans of top-flight English games.
Ms Murphy has spent six years fighting a prosecution for showing live football at the Red White and Blue pub without a Sky subscription.
Instead of using Sky, on which it costs £700 a month to see Premier League matches, she used the Greek TV station Nova, which has the rights to screen the games in Greece, and which cost her £800 a year.
She took her fight for the right to use the cheaper provider to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which ruled in October 2011 that having an exclusive system was “contrary to EU law”.
The High Court in London on Friday ruled that Karen Murphy’s appeal over using the decoder to bypass controls over match screening must be allowed.
But a judge made clear that the other complex issues regarding the wider legality of screening matches would have to be decided “at a later date”.
Freedom
The High Court had originally sent the case to the European courts for advice on numerous points of law.
The ECJ said last autumn that national laws that prohibit the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards were contrary to the freedom to provide services.
The European judges also said the Premier League could not claim copyright over Premier League matches as they could not be considered to be an author’s own “intellectual creation” and, therefore, to be “works” for the purposes of EU copyright law.
But it did offer some comfort for the Premier League, which receives vast sums through its exclusive broadcasting deals with Sky and ESPN.
The European court said that while live matches were not protected by copyright, any surrounding media, such as any opening video sequence, the Premier League anthem, pre-recorded films showing highlights of recent Premier League matches and various graphics, were “works” protected by copyright.
To use any of these extra parts associated for a broadcast, a pub would need the permission of the Premier League.
Looks like Cousin is offski with £50k in his back pocket for eff all
Wasn’t at training today and the Huns have until 1700 today to appeal his registration
Amadeus – does the missing name sport knitwear which buttons up the front whilst his followers all appear to button up the back?
Amadeus
oh and Craig Whyte
Quite clear now why Ellis backed away
Hail Hail
Can anyone log onto hotmail ?
Hail Hail