Former Rangers chairman, Alastair Johnston, made it clear on BBC Radio Scotland last night that putting the company into administration was never Sir David Murray’s plan. There was, he said, an understanding that should the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) decide against Rangers, the new liability would be absorbed into the Murray International Holdings (MIH) group of companies, just as MIH absorbed £50m of Rangers debt in 2004.
Johnston explained that the potential Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) tax liability was only 3% of MIH bank debt and that the group, which owned the overwhelming majority of Rangers anyway, would not find its position materially changed by absorbing the debt directly.
MIH would continue to manage its portfolio of investments back to rude health and neither it, nor its bankers, would have blood on their hands for putting Rangers down.
All this changed when Our Hero arrived on the scene with his £1. Johnston explained, as he had done in explicit detail before, that Lloyds Banking Group gave MIH and the independent board of directors at Rangers no choice but to accept the offer from Mr Whyte.
When the offer arrived last year Lloyds were already reaping a whirlwind of negative sentiment from being Rangers bankers and would view any exit from the situation as desirable. The bank itself, now significantly owned by the taxpayer after a government bailout, was also under immense financial pressure with a fiduciary responsibility to reduce their exposure to bad debt. They were hardly in a position to refuse £18m to clear existing debt with the removal of a potential £50m liability.
Once the offer materialised it was inevitably accepted. The old board’s plan to successfully steer the club through the potential loss of the FTT intact was usurped.
Neither MIH, the independent board nor, it could be argued, Lloyds, had any choice. Although while Mr Johnston insisted his hands were tied, he failed to see the bank’s decision makers were also between a rock and a hard place.
One final push (this week) for the Vanessa Riddle Appeal. We have a Celtic top signed by the first team squad available to auction on eBay. You can bid on the auction and help send Vanessa for the treatment she needs by clicking here. Thanks to Penfold for the donation and to Taggsybhoy for organising (yet again).
We don’t need no stinkin’ Rangers.
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Today could turn out to be a bad day for HMRC.
Their ill-considered action of seeking to put Raaaangers into Admin could backfire dramatically.
Possibly, as I type, the followers of Them will be making plans to boycott the Revenue.
No more PAYE returns. No more VAT returns. No more Self Assessments submitted.
Yes, today could be the beginning of the end of that great institution, HMRC.
The Huns are revolting..more than usual, that is.
Things are moving rapidly.
Of course the Huns needn’t worry – It was just last week their favourite unemployed journalist said: “Craig Whyte is serious poker player who plays his cards close to his chest.”
Another winning exclusive from Davie Leggat…
It will be a 10 point penalty. Further penalties if they are still in admin next season. And of course they have to get out by March 31 otherwise not even the SFA would give them European license
@carasulieman will be tweeting live from Rangers hearing
Where can we get some ‘Hector supports the CQN shirts?’
Partizan: 14 February, 2012 at 11:54
“Funniest thing so far on Rm
“I’ll bet Whyte’s arse has just collapsed!”
Judging by Whyte’s facial expression that happened some time ago…
BRTH has just posted a really good piece over at RTC which perfectly captures the bottom line here.
UK Tax issue. All the moaning from various Scottish institutions (Media, Parliament etc) won’t matter a jot
Major political issue. Country skint, big companies (especially the “loyal” ones) MUST pay their taxes. Salmond may be a gambler and shrewd operator but it would be a huge political gamble to side with Fourth Lanark who have always played the “quintessentially British” card.
SFA/SPL. The UK sporting community, FIFA & UEFA will be watching. If the SFA/SPL give any hint that they are simply a protection racket operating out in the sticks, the credibility of Scottish Football as an independent entity within UK football is severely diminished.
If they are not careful there will be a single F.A. and a UK Football team which is what much of European football governance wants.
One man is steering the sinking ship that is Rangers Football club,One man has had a plan since he took over from Murray, One man is likely to benefit from the demise of the club and that man is Craig Whyte.He has shared his plan and his vision with very few people and that is because Rangers are not his prime interest walking away with assets worth millions would appear to be how he sees it.If you want a rough idea of a persons future have a good look at there past history Craig Whyte has been involved with many companies but most of them have gone to the wall the man is an asset stripper thatshow he makes his money Murray must have realised this when he sold the rotten mob for a pound.There is much more to unfold in this story Whyte in order to buy time will expose more of Murray and the old boards mis-management and Murray may well have to go public to defend his now very tarnished reputation.Craig Whyte wants to strike a deal with the revenue and that happens all the time the revenue will do a deal if they think it is in the best interest of the taxpayers I for one think there is little chance of the rotten mob surviving the best the orcs can hope for is a newco Rangers but they have much pain to endure before that can happen.H.H.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:55
You’re a spoil sport, but i suppose the beginning of the end sounds better.
will all this affect their giros?
Sky will have the Paxmanesque David Spanner “grilling ” Minty.Spanner will be studying the list of questions Mintys PR guys have supplied.
Thanks Paul
Forgot to say congrats for the ongoing success of the site…..not days and weeks ahead of the old media but years!
Generation of domination looks like it may be beginning although Im not sure you can dominate something that doesn’t exist…
Your 20 million potential spend prediction may have to wait a few years though ;-)
Bhoys I’m 100% on this. 10 point penalty for admin, whoever puts them there. Dundee were hit by 25 for going in twice. Further deduction if they are still in it next season.
Strange Valentines day right enough,
Cash for gold doing a roaring trade in Govan.
I see The Sun has downgraded Craig Whyte from Motherwell Born Billionnaire to Motherwell Born Businessman.
If HMRC get their way he’ll be down graded to ‘Motherwell Born’…
Paul67
This blog and the community behind it are , like our club ,the very antithesis of the attitudes that have brought Rangers to their knees. For me , its an integral part of my Celtic “experience”.
Your willingness to publish accurate assessments should and would shame highly paid professional journalists if there necks werent made of brass.
So I trust you’ll take this in the spirit in which its intended.
Much as I’m laughing like all of us and agree with the underlying sentiment I think your tagline of “We dont need…” has run its course and needs dropped.
IMHO it weakens the overall tone and content of your stuff and smacks a little of the hubris we condemn others for.
Not having a go and its your ba’ – its just that as the penny drops elsewhere that the mainstream press have allowed themselves to be seduced and that sites like these are where the true reporting lies visitors here – from other teams who might be persuaded to share the same philosophy as us- might get the wrong impression.
HH
TLWIO
Dontbrattbakkinanger says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:25
Bellahouston Park, 7pm Friday- ‘TedsAid’
-’Save our Bears’.
A galaxy of loyal fans from the loyal fan galaxy hit the stage to raise funds for their beleaguered club
Starring Wet Wet Wet!
And…
Wet Wet Wet
And…
========
I SURE HOPE IT DOESN’T RAIN
MWD
Is it true that if Rangers are in administration on March 31st, U.E.F.A. will not give them a licence?
Lets look at the case For Rangers being allowed straight back into the SPL and see if it bears scruitiny:
1. Sky will at best renegotiate the TV deal and no one will watch a league minus Rangers
Sky currently have said nothing about it and so all of this is pure supposition on the part of Rangers apologists. Sky show Blue Square Premier league and how many people watch that? There is a market for it so someone must and it would be the same with Scottish football. Celtic are still a big draw and our fellow fans will still have their subscriptions to SKY so it would be morally incomprehensible as well as bad business sense for SKY to pull the plug completely – they’d lose a fair few subscribers as a result of cutting Scottish fans off altogether. They have 4 sports channels, they probably won’t cut the SPL completely.
If they renegotiate a deal which is a pittance compared to what Wigan get so be it. Make the deal spread throughout the league and this will help the other teams recover any losses, in fact it might even be more helpful than giving a lion’s share to 2 teams.
Sky will have to renegotiate the deal if Rangers go bust regardless so this argument doesn’t hold water.
A further question should be asked – what if Rangers are liquidated BEFORE the end of this season? Do Sky get their money back from Rangers? ANd Is the current contract then void?
These questions are as pertinent as the main excuse put forward.
2. No one wants to see a 1 horse race
See Rangers in the 1990’s for details – it didn’t stop people then or SKY TV from covering Scottish football
3. Celtic would win the league every year.
Not necessarily but in the short term yes they would. Rangers would come back in some form eventually and the other teams would be more competitive by the time they did making a more exciting league.
4. Celtic won’t get into the Champions league
Completely unknown. Celtic may have to play more qualifiers but they will be against other countries champions and Celtic will be seeded higher than the champs of Lithuania etc. They won’t have to play Arsenal again to qualify. They would also have the Europa fall back
5. Celtic wouldn’t be able to attract big stars to the SPL
The last big stars Celtic got the SPL are from a decade ago with two loan exceptions – Bellamy and Robbie Keane.
Celtic do not sign Stars, we make stars and sell them on just as the Dutch clubs now have to do.
6. Celtic fans would hand back their season tickets or stop buying them
Again this is an unknown argument and certainly not one which unqualified people like Hugh Keevins should be allowed to thrust on us without challenge. Some people may not renew but many will especially if there is European football thrown in (qualifiers) and promotional deals for the CL.
First dibs at any cup matches etc
If the prices were lowered for a reasonable number of years and marketing was done saying they’ll be coming back soon and we want to have a march stolen on them by the time they do. People will buy into that.
Ex-Pat fans will still buy Celtic TV
7. Celtic need Rangers
No we don’t. Ask Peter Lawwell and Neil Lennon for starters.
8. The other clubs will go to the wall
This is possible but not all of them – Hearts through their own bad practices will bring that on themselves but other clubs run properly don’t fit that theory – see Hibs and St Mirren for details
9. Scotland’s standing in Europe will go down
It’s really high under the current system. More poverty means rearing your own players and selling them on. Young Scottish talent develops, the national team gets better. A good thing.
10. Celtic will have to downsize.
What else is new? If we downsize the other sides will get closer, more competition, a better product on the park and something that brings out fans: competition and a reason to watch the game – see the 1980’s for more details.
I cannot see any reason for a Newco getting a free pass based on their main arguments. They are lies designed to protect their jobs – media jobs to build them up and slag us off.
Vet Vet Vet?
Never catch on..
Thanks for all the bars Bhoys!
Enjoy the game and the news!
playfusbal4dguilders says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:54
Paul67
I’ll need to get a Jeroboam.
_____________________________
Jeroboam? Is that an operation to get the smile off your face?
pedrocaravanachio67 says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:59
not complaining about your impeccable taste in music bud
The “theme tune” to Apocalypse now does seem apt … Ok I will relent :-))))
Hail Hail
Happy St HMRC day to all CQNers.
Whyte’s Vital Holdings scam saw HMRC lose money. [ ” look at all this money we are owed “] Creditors lost money -those creditors included HMRC
The HMRC are very unlikely to allow him to again steal creditors ‘ money during an Administration process.[ It is one of the things he does ] They will want an Administrator on whom they can rely———-
Forced Administration is worth a lot more than 10 points.
No to Newco !]
I’m loving this.
I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I was reading this morning like “willing to come to an agreement that is suitable to both parties”. What utter arrogance. This is the tax man ffs.
Looks like the we are the peepul mentality has finally been their downfall.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:36
Excellent,good to get away from the propaganda of Scottish press for a while.
FDJ ‘If the club are not in Europe, how are they going to make their money’?
Whit ffs???
Shieldmuir Celtic says:
14 February, 2012 at 12:02
Is it true that if Rangers are in administration on March 31st, U.E.F.A. will not give them a licence?
share
====
Yes. They shouldn’t have had one this year but we can, and I trust the board will, take that up with the SFA in due time. This time the SFA will have no choice.
truth4767…
I can quite understand the gloating, it is football after all. But the hate factor is hard to take, especially for the reasonable fan on both sides of the divide.
I don’t think there is hate directed specifically at you, but to utter a mea culpa for the fans/club who constructed the sign directing us back to the ferry at Stranraer? The same club who’s supporters trust defended fans singing “up to our knees in fenian blood”? Does it really surprise you that Rangers would be the subject of much ire from Celtic fans?
The knock on effects for Scottish Football will be severe, and it will reach Parkhead.
Which is of no relevance. Rangers should be subject to the same rules, benefits AND punishments as all other clubs. Or are you suggesting that Rangers should simply be let off? HMRC should forgive the debt, the SPL/SFA should turn a blind eye and we should turn the SPL into scripted entertainment? In effect, every club in the SPL should be put at a disadvantage to avoid being at a disadvantage? I’ve tried explaining this before to you, but clearly my command of the language is lacking, so I’ll try again.
Fundamentally, is the SPL a sporting competition or a financial vehicle? IF it’s a sporting competition then Rangers, along with all the other teams have to del with the consequences of every other teams performance. That happens every year. For example, Celtic have to cope with the consequences of Rangers coming first, second or sixth in the league. It would be perverse to suggest that if Rangers were to come 6th we should ignore that result and promote them to 2nd (or as you would prefer 1st) so as to ensure optimal fiscal return for clubs. If Rangers finish 6th, Celtic have to deal with that and move on. That’s sport. That’s how it works. If the SPL is simply a financial investment/return vehicle (and it’s a very poor one!), then your point may have some merit – however, if that’s the case then lets be honest about it and announce the league winners for the next 10 years. Or should we make the winners the team that produces the best financial return for the other member teams? It’s preposterous!.
As I said before, the fundamental differentiator is this – Entertaining sport, or sports entertainment. You are either subject to fortune and endeavor or you are not.
Hearts will get a pittance now in settlement for Wallace, they could go on Thursday. Dundee Utd , another club, with severe problems will not get their cup money. The SPL is a house of cards ready to collapse.
If you are so concerned about clubs getting what they are due, then you should be calling for Rangers to be punished to ensure that this situation will never happen again! Maybe I’m hard of understanding, but what is your point here? That we should be disappointed that Rangers are in administration? That because Rangers have pushed the ENTIRE SPL to the brink of collapse we should be less unhappy with them? Or in fact sympathetic to them for conning the rest of the league? That’s a fair stretch of logic. And a very, very illogical position.
Football needs rivalry and competition, you will tire of jelly and ice cream quickly.
That’s correct. What doesn’t doesn’t need (although it desperately wants it) is Sky TV cash and massive investor returns. Nor does it need cheats. Cheats that spend other club’s money, our tax and NI contributions and then call administration.
Mark my words.
Consider them marked – under confused and inconsistent.
/p
BREAKING NEWS
The ff website has been changed to wwwff ( who will we….. )
PC67
From Mike Small in the Guardian…..
absolutely brilliant article……..
Rangers are a quintessentially British institution. This is the Queen’s XI. Their fans sing Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen – but they are in deep trouble, and may well fold completely before it’s time to launch the Jubilee barge. Football writer and Rangers fan Graham Spiers has called this the club’s “bitter harvest”, and railed against the club’s inability to cope with its own sectarian songsheet, which has been the source of grief and resentment for years.
But this is a story about financial stupidity more than cultural insolvency. The emerging collapse of Rangers football club is an allegory for a different game that’s not so beautiful anymore, where we can’t run failed institutions just because it’s what we’ve always done. Rangers may go bust owing the tax man almost £50m.
How did this happen? After the loyalty she has been shown over the years, how can Her Majesty allow her Revenue & Customs to behave in this manner? The reality dawning on the Scottish sports press and supporters of Rangers FC (two groups that are not always entirely distinct) is that the Scottish champions are perilously close to administration and, potentially, liquidation.
Rangers chairman Craig Whyte (himself currently under investigation by the government’s intelligence and enforcement directorate for his acquisition of the Ibrox club) said there is no “realistic or practical” alternative to getting ready for administration. The problem relates to a claim by HMRC for unpaid taxes over a period of several years dating back to 2001, which could result in massive liabilities.
The collapse of such a footballing giant after decades of mismanagement tells us a story not just about football as a bloated dysfunctional cultural spectacle, but of feral businessmen, media collusion, and a society witnessing key institutions collapse and teeter while desperately denying that such a thing is happening.
As bitter reality dawns, other certain truths are clung to amid the wreckage. Two of these stand out. One is that Craig Whyte is a shrewd guardian with a secret plan. Rumours swirl that Graeme Souness waits in the wings like a moustachioed Sauron. A Blue Knight to replace Craig Whyte. The second is that Rangers will emerge from the ordeal stronger, and, er, leaner.
Establishment voices mutter confidently of the club’s fanbase and that the “”club will never die”. Such macho posturing is a default setting from the club’s supporters (who numbered 17,822 at the recent home defeat to Dundee United), but the full extent of the club’s debts are unknown. Closely tied to this belief that RFC will re-emerge is the notion (repeated like a mantra on all broadcast frequencies) that “the Scottish Premiere League without Rangers is unthinkable”, and “Scottish football couldn’t survive without the Old Firm”. But this idea was quashed by Celtic’s chief executive Peter Lawwell only this week, when he stated plainly that his club “don’t need Rangers” to flourish financially. Lawwell said the eventuality of their Old Firm rivals going bust “would have no material effect on Celtic”.
The idea that the two clubs are mutually dependent persists only because the idea of Rangers and Celtic is so deeply embedded not just in Scottish culture, but also in Scottish press circulation. The Old Firm flog papers. But, in reality, the idea that splitting the Old Firm would be a travesty for Scottish football is upheld only by people who have vested interests in our (already) hopelessly failing game. Scotland’s Sky TV deal is already pitiful, and BBC Scotland’s coverage is reduced to a poorly produced highlights package.
Michael Grant of the Herald wrote: “Celtic and Scottish football could live without Rangers but, boy, it would be as dull as dishwater.” For the absent-minded and unobservant, Scottish football has been in dire terminal decline for some time now. The idea that it would be worse in a league that would immediately present more opportunities for success is patently absurd. It’s the sort of logic that could only be expressed by members of a closed group.
Life After Rangers Football (Larf) would mean for every other club a chance that the thousands who migrate towards Ibrox from towns across Scotland every other Saturday might show an interest in their local team. They would have realistic hope of winning trophies. But the positive reality of a Scottish game without Rangers is not primarily about a sport rid of a substantial element of ritualised bigotry and sustained intergenerational hatred, but the prospect of top-quality football being played by young Scotsmen in an atmosphere of optimism. That’s something worth aspiring to.
The mainstream press have been fatally blindsided on the impending crisis at Ibrox despite excellent blog coverage. But let’s not blame the clubbable journos. The real culprits are the management and board of the club who piled profligacy upon spending spree, from Dick Advocaat’s dubious £12m Tore Andre Flo to David Murray’s gigantic vanity project. But who’d blame them? Our culture lauds these dodgy geezers. Murray, the club’s previous owner, was quoted as saying: “For every £5 Celtic spends I’ll spend £10.” That doesn’t seem so clever now.
You are the administrator. You cannot legally continue to run up debt. Is liquidation a very easy quick decision?
My guess is that Joe Ledley scored the last ever goal in the historic fixture.
Ladies and Gentleman, they just have had enough.
Voguepunter
Would need one of these two, to get the smile of ma face.
26.66 bottles Solomon Biblical, King of Israel, Son of David
33.3 bottlesSovereign Yes
Play:-)
The Long Wait Is Over
The reason it is so important to stress that we, and Scottish football do not need them is to counter the lies of the media who will/are try to ensure a place in the SPL for a future ‘new rangers’. Scottish football will lose all credibility if it accepts that it cant function without Celtic and a Hun X1.
The fact that HMRC have gone to the courts to force Rangers into administration proves that both sides of the Tax Case are at war, which is bad news indeed for Rangers, because it means the taxman will show no mercy and would not be interested in any sort of a deal. Whyte has gambled and looks like losing.
I honestly cannot see anything less than liquidation for the club now. It really is that bad.
HMRC are playing hard-ball and the Rangers are finished.
playfusbal4dguilders, don’t know what that is but I’ll agree.
GivehimthemoneyPeterCSC, ha! Thanks.
the long wait is over, I will take your comments in the spirit intended. A little hubris? A ton of hubris, surely.
Shieldmuir Celtic, yes.
optimistic little soldier says:
14 February, 2012 at 12:00
I see The Sun has downgraded Craig Whyte from Motherwell Born Billionnaire to Motherwell Born Businessman.
If HMRC get their way he’ll be down graded to ‘Motherwell Born’…
..Guest of Her Majesty’
Just finished that off for you.
HH
TLK