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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SSN guy says “HMRC BELIEVE RANGERS ARE TRADING WHILE INSOLVENT”.
Oooooooooooooft
SwanseaBhoy
AHM GONNAE BURST
SOT
The SFA never thought that they just did what Sir David Murray told them to do .. this is what is going to come out in the wash.
HAil HAil
‘Rangers Whatever’ I like it!!
Former Rangers manager Graeme Souness fears the club will cease to exist in their current form as they prepare to pay the price for “chasing the dream”.
Rangers owner Craig Whyte admitted on Monday they faced
potential £75million tax bill, which they could not pay, following a tribunal into payments made to employee benefit trusts over the first decade of this century.
The process of administration now looks inevitable with little likelihood of a deal being struck with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
Souness told talkSPORT: “I think they will go into administration and reappear as Rangers 2012 or something, sadly.
“It is just a tragedy that has happened to them.
“I think they will come out of it. I think there will be an addition to the name, Rangers whatever.
“They will come out without their debt and start again.”
Just recovering from a massive bevvy yesterday which included a conga around the bar.
“Wains called Hector when Rangers die”
Breaking – Rangers have signed Daniel Cousin till the end of the season, or what Celtic fans commonly refer to as Tuesday…
from twitter…
HECTOR – Moonbeams WD. Kano 1000 \o/ Supporting Neil Lennon 100%. says:
14 February, 2012 at 09:21
Worthy of repost buddy:
Shattered
http://img827.imageshack.us/i/imagepfx.jpg/
MWD
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
If HMRC believe that TFOD are trading while insolvent, Craig Whyte can expect Her Majesty’s Constabulary to visit him soon
Interesting.
The heid honcho of Rangers -supporting MPs is the improbably named Brian Donohoe in North Ayrshire.
He has frequently relied on my Dad-lifelong Celt,longtime ST holder,founder member of the Garryowen-to rally the troops to avoid deselection.
My Dad is not a man to bear a grudge.
But it has been known……
South of Tunis. Cold, minus 6, with some sparse snow lying from last week. My father-in-law, south of Milan, had minus 13 last night. Hope Sicilia is kinder, roll on springtime!
Above in response to
SwanseaBhoy loves wee Craigy Whyte and Rangers going into Administration. says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:22
:0)
Pffffffffft.
From Follow Follow:
“E Petition to downing street?
Would this be an idea to put pressure on the goverment to influence HMRC. If we get more than 100,000 signatures it must be debated in house of commons.
We can make one here http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/
Could someone please put up a proposal of one I could create or do one themselves. We need to stand together now and fight , fight , fight.
These have worked in the past for gurkas ”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Get signing Hoops. That would have me glued to the BBC Parliament channel.
:0)
SwanseaBhoy
A break for 10 mins whilst huns QC receives instructions.
Right now, right bloody now, Whyte is being asked what he wants to do. Is it time to cut and run and leave them to die?
Lennon n Mc….Mjallby
The league cup used to start as sections of 3 or 4 teams and the group winners went on to knock out phases.
this system would get you two games between Celtic and Rangers 2012.
angie is having a party – suggest you contact Madrid Emerald CSC – they were brilliant with me, my brother and a friend when we went there for the Atletico game. They’re at http://www.madridceltic.com or @MadridCeltic on twitter. Enjoy! Hail! Hail!
Some craic on over at Folly Folly. They’re on about buying an English club and starting off again in England!! Nearly fell off the chair when someone retorted ‘We can’t even run the one we have , let alone buy another club!!’
Today is a good day. Pain in my side laughing!
Had a wee look in rangersmedia and a guy calling himself Derek Johnstone posted this,
Marlborough Family Member to retake control of Rangers FC
One of the Marlborough family in Nevada will be having talks with former chairman David Murray and Craig Whyte with a view to taking short term control of Rangers and steady the ship,to put an end to the drama’s that has unfolded. The family is thought to be embarrassed that a Club they once owned could be dragged through the gutter in the way it has.I thought this would be the best place to put this information out there as the fans are the true blood of the club.
0
Got to be a wind up from one of our own.
Awe Naw ——–
Yes ———-
The threads that supported and kissed the ass of The Hun Hegemony are going to be publicly unravelled——-
Merchant Bankers , politicians, journos , Shortbread etc etc —-
Roll up -Roll up —— Confederacy of Dunces.
Vile people !
Hey Jude was always my favourite Beatles track now its (you got it)Taxman
Fritz A. Taxcase @fritzagrandold Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Rangers QC says Rangers will go into admin today regardless of result of petitiom. Rangers to go into admin today.
from twitter,
they think it’s all over, it is now..
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have played a blinder on this one.
It makes me proud to be British.
Special thanks must also go to:
* Sir David Murray, for his irrepressible fabulism and unsurpassed egoism
* Lloyds TSB, for finally cleaning up Bank of Scotland’s Augean stables
* The man with the £1, Craig Whyte, who is turning out to be Kelvinside Academy’s best old boy ever. (thumbsup)
It’s “stinkin”…I was there.
Fill yer boots.
Fritz A. Taxcase @fritzagrandold Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Rangers QC says Rangers will go into admin today regardless of result of petitiom. Rangers to go into admin today.
Fritz A. Taxcase @fritzagrandold Close
Repeat, Rangers to go into admin shortly. Now toss up between whose man it is.
crack open the bottles
dontpatmadug 12.44 frank kerr was married to john lawrence’s daughter.he told me last year MALBOROUGH went to AMERICA and did the lot in property deal.does not have a pot to p//s in.mare bluff.ps anybody got MARK DUNGHILL’S diet sheet.
SDM is scheduled to make a statement today. I wonder if it will be along these lines;
“• Murray’s Blueprint
The Herald, March 2000
KEN GALLACHER
“Just as promised, Rangers are moving on to another level from the rest of Scottish football, as chairman David Murray announced a new investment of £53m for the Ibrox club, with a further massive cash boost soon to follow.
The eventual cash injection could soar as high as £80m as Murray guides the club into what he believes will be a new, golden era for the Scottish champions. The money involved, the biggest financial boost for any Scottish football club, will enable them to move into Europe’s elite over the next few years. Yesterday, however, Murray maintained, as always, that he will not turn his back on Scottish football to play in any other league, and that while he remains in charge of the club, he will retain a responsibility to the domestic game.”
It is clear from this latest move, however, that the Glasgow giants are setting an agenda that no other Scottish club can match – and that appears to include their Old Firm rivals, Celtic, who are trailing by 15 points in the Premier League championship and are now looking at a financial gap which the Parkhead club might not be able to bridge. There have been hints around Glasgow that Celtic could be ready to attempt a share flotation of their own, but it would seem unlikely they would be able to match the financial clout that Murray has put together. The Ibrox chairman promised his shareholders good news and a more prudent financial strategy at the last annual meeting of the club. He has now delivered this by taking on board several very heavy financial hitters, South African-based David King is worth around £300m – £20m of which he is investing in the club he followed as a young man in Glasgow.”
The Ibrox chairman has spent several months and many sleepless nights piecing together the plans which will eliminate Rangers’ debt, currently sitting at around £40m, provide finance for the new training centre and the soccer academy which will be housed there, and still allow cash to invest in new players. He said: ‘I want to make it clear from the outset that while our small shareholders, our supporters who have an interest in the club, will have the opportunity to invest again if they want, there is no pressure on them to do so. The bulk of the rights issue is being taken up by myself and David King and some other smaller investors, including Alastair Johnston, who is a long-time Rangers’ supporter.’
‘We also have Trevor Hemmings coming in as an investor and Tom H***** will join us some time in the future. Essentially, the investment we require is in place and we also have a major media deal in the pipeline which is very exciting and will bring in further serious investment to the club. I told you earlier this week that I had run the club up to now on a high-risk strategy which has involved carrying large debt. These days are over. The whole method of running the club is going to change, because we are in a situation right now where we do not need to take the risks we have had to take in the past. We don’t have to spend the same money on players, for example, as we have had to do over the past two years when we were restructuring the team after the arrival of Dick Advocaat. At the moment, we have two new players set for next season, Allan Johnston and Fernando Ricksen and Dick is looking for another quality striker. He is working hard on that right now.’ ‘Dick and myself know what we are aiming for.
We want to be in the Champions League every season. This is what we want for the club and this is what we have been working towards. However, we shall not be going on any wild spending sprees in the transfer market.’ ‘We have a player or two to add to the squad – a top-class international front player, as I said, but we don’t need to buy Numan, van Bronckhorst, Mols, Reyna, or McCann – because we have these lads in place already. Believe me when I tell you that we are going for it this time – we want to be successful in Europe, and the money we are raising now will take us there.’
‘This is the last part of the jigsaw for me, but we shall always be a part of Scottish football and we will take our domestic responsibilities seriously. We respect the other teams in the Premier League and we know this news will make them try even harder against us. But, so be it. ‘Barcelona don’t win every week. Bayern Munich don’t win every week. Manchester United don’t win every week. Yet, our supporters expect us to do so and we shall always try to do that. What we do know is that to be in the Champions League, we have to win the Scottish title, and that is our aim every season. We shall always be here with our roots.’
However, the mega-deals Murray has been working on are sure to carry Rangers out of the reach of their rivals here at home and unless Celtic can somehow find the means to strengthen their own financial standing even the age-old rivalry between the Glasgow giants will be threatened as the Ibrox men grow ever stronger.”
The esteemed Starry is correct, HMRC due in Court of Session this very afternoon.
You can run Huns, but there’s no escape.
“HM Revenue and Customs has lodged an application to put Rangers into administration.
On Tuesday HMRC lodged the order with the Court of Session in Edinburgh calling for the court to appoint an administrator.
Heard that one way for rankers to get out of it’s liabilities is to do a deal with HMCR,who would rename ibrox.
The new name of the stadium would be Inland Revenue Arena
;-@
Things are crackin’ on, the ole wheels are fallin’ off and the handbrake has just come away in Whyte’s tremblin’ paw.
Apricale ——
Sicilia has been much kinder -but —
it was snowing this morning [@ 5 minutes] – it didn’t stay on the ground .
Second time in 11 years for me
Etna is being rather lively.
Ah -Primavera !
amadeus says:
14 February, 2012 at 12:49
It’s already over, huns into admin today..
Rangers players have been in touch with their union to seek advice following the club’s move towards administration.
Ibrox owner Craig Whyte turned up at training on Tuesday morning to address players and coaching staff.
And PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart told BBC Scotland: “Players are uncertain. I’ve spoken to a number of them already and they are concerned.
“Suddenly, contracts are perhaps not worth the paper they’re written on if administration comes.”
How much will wee Sone lose? :)
‘Just as promised, Rangers are moving on to another level from the rest of Scottish football’
– well, he was right about that!
Fav Unc,
Thought it was a tim at the wind up and from what you say I was right.
Phil your need to be a bit more subtle when posting of FF
_________________
Why were Mac Giollah Bhain and the Rangers Tax Case blog so well informed?
Who alerted a photographer to the fact sheriffs officers were due at Ibrox thus ensuring pics made the press?
SDM was wrong to misuse EBTs but someone at HMRC has acted in an improper manner.
There are those in Scotland and elsewhere whose hatred of of Rangers is their reason for living including, but not limited to, Brennan, McConville, McMenemy and Mac Giollah Bhain.
It is clear anti-Rangers factions at HMRC have ensured Celtic Minded factions have been briefed about the tax case.
From Twitter:
Reporter on BBC News 24: “It appears that Craig Whyte has forced HMRC’s hand – but not in the way he was hoping”
HoopedDreams,
As I said, far from ignoring events at Ibrokes he will no doubt be fairly well aware of what is happening, but as he lives and works in London and his role for his employers is chelski correspondant, for the London-based English edition of the S*n, thats why you wont have heard him shouting it from the rooftops.
Trust me he will be enjoying this as much as we are.
Also i think what you may have heard was him trying to explain to the english listeners (and pundits) just how massive this actually is.
Do you not agree that this situation with the huns IS way bigger than Leeds?
I certainly do.
The English always have a very patronising at best, contemptuous at worst attitude to Scottish football so Ian would probably be ramping it up for their benefit……not to sound sympathetic to the huns.
However I must admit that I haven’t listened to the show so cant comment from a point of “strength” but, as I told you, Ian is a Celtic supporter. I know him and his family – lived and grew-up just round the corner from them and went to the games for several seasons with them, Ian included.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Death and taxes.
Their arrogance in thinking they could avoid taxes has caused their death. Brilliant.
Without wanting to get too far ahead, might this be the pin that pops the EPL bubble? We know Arsenal were at it as well. Could there be others? Will the successful prosecution of the stickies set a legal precedent for HMRC to pursue others? What would happen to the structure of the EPL if a host of mid-table EPL clubs were found to have been at it and are hit with huge bills they couldn’t afford to pay? League reconstruction? Celtic invited to join a new league?
I’m clearly getting a bit giddy in all this excitement.
What price are Celtic shares trading at these days??
While delighting in the hun’s demise and trying (not very hard) not to gloat is it possible there are criminal aspects to this situation? If so what next?