Newco chairman, Dave King, this evening issued a remarkable statement. Not for the first time he referenced Celtic, but on this occasion, he became the first person inside the game to put the Stripping of Titles Rangers won during their EBT and DOS years on the table.
His statement also blankly contradicted an earlier statement he made, when he asserted, “I follow the logic of the argument that if we lose the tax case then we probably gained some competitive advantage.”
With the tax case lost, and many fair-minded agreeing with his earlier sentiment and calling for titles to be stripped, however, today King said:
“Whether the scheme was in place or not, or whether it survived tax scrutiny or not, made no difference whatsoever to the playing squad of the Club during that period and hence had no impact on the performance on the pitch.”
That’s:
“If we lose the tax case then we probably gained some competitive advantage.”
Followed by:
“Had no impact on the performance on the pitch.”
“Competitive advantage.”
“No impact on the performance.”
In 2012 he even issued an apology and suggested “commercial reparation to the other clubs” was in order.
“Reparation” because “if we lose the tax case” we “gained some competitive advantage”.
In five years he moved from saying Rangers gained a competitive advantage because of the illegal EBT use, and commercial reparations to other clubs was due, to denying any wrongdoing whatsoever.
He should also have read the Celtic statement more carefully. King today said Celtic, “have attempted to influence the footballing authorities to alter its historic football honours”.
Celtic’s statement called merely for a review, “We are sure now that the footballing authorities in Scotland will wish to review this matter. Celtic awaits the outcome of their review.”
The altering of football honours issue was not put on the table by our club – you can thank Dave King for that thought provoking notion.
1,124 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- ...
- 30
- »
Turkeybhoy
Who do you think will be leaving then, Armstrong, Bitton?
HH
THEBHOYFROMUNCLE
Whoa,there’s a whole new can of worms. And with insurance claims to back it up,too.
As always,one wee lie begets a legion of them,and every attempted cover-up a legion more. Car crash time…
Whatever the SPFL and the SFA[eventually] arrive at as punishment for the tax evading years, you can be sure that if this is arrived at without a full independent inquiry with nothing off limits, then it will be only the tip of the iceberg of what has taken place.
BMCW
Tip of the iceberg……..
Getting train from albuferia to Lisbon on Tuesday anyone got info on best Lisbon station to get off at
Cheers HH
Been out of the loop for the last couple of days, and it’s probably been mentioned, but our game on Friday against Linfield is on Premier Sports.
Why ?
Watching the match yesterday, was reminded of the importance of Armstrong. If he goes we will survive as we have over the years, no player is bigger than the team. However i would be absolutely thrilled it he signs on again. I can only imagine Brendan is doing everything to make it happen. His goals are invaluable but his overall game, running power and willingness to get in behind and stretch teams really is top drawer. And of course he is a Scottish lad too and potentially a future captain. Come on Celtic get this done, it makes sense for Stuart to stay here anyway as he can and will get better.
The Tim Reaper
I hope SA stays, he would be dynamite with this new kid if he signs.
To me it looks like Henderson and Bitton might struggle now.
HH
Toor a loo- Thinking about doing same trip in September, how long is train journey, how much a return ticket? HH
BB – in the qualifiers the home team can sell the game to whatever TV company they want.
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD on 9TH JULY 2017 11:56 AM
Turkeybhoy
Who do you think will be leaving then, Armstrong, Bitton?
Who knows,but I really think BR sees Armstrong as a part of the midfield he wants.As TIMREAPER says,he can really be invaluable when on form.Biton,Henderson.I cant see a place in the 1st team for either.
Its all up to Armstrong.does he want to stay?.I hope he does.We also have Eboue,who BR was talking up the other day.The midfield,which wins the battles,has never looked stronger.
I really have high hopes.
Very impressed with the running power of Johnny Hayes yesterday.I like him on the right side.Defenders,hate people running at them with the ball,makes them commit,as opposed to the ,run so far,stop,and pass the ball back.Sinky looking much sharper in the 2nd half yesterday.Getting into his groove in perfect time.
I have a feeling,Linfield will be mauled on Friday.
Turkeybhoy
This French kid looks strong and has talent, slightly different style to SA, but they could be dynamite together.
Like you say, i think Henderson and Bitton will struggle, GMS as well, too lightweight i think.
I hope we get the French kid signed, he has loads of potential, Brendan will improve him.
HH
Just picked up marshal uniform for Scottish Open Surprise….. BLUE
I’m hoping our midfield will be made up of 6 players, Brown, McGregor, Ntcham, Armstrong, Rogic and Kouassi. I think Henderson will go and Bitton probably after the qualifiers, he is the kind of player who can come on and take the sting out of a game so worthwhile keeping him just now. If we qualify and he plays the odd part here and there we could get £4/5m for him. BR says Benyu is a project. If he was wanted by EPL teams as is alleged then i don’t see him playing reserve football, he may go out on loan or he may surprise us.
Toor aloo, Bada Bing.
Journey takes 3 hours, arrives in Lisbon Oriente. Opposite side of city from Estadio Nacional.
Don’t buy ticket from an agency, much cheaper at the train station. Can’t remember the cost but relatively inexpensive.
Trains all fitted with power sockets and wifi and allocated seating.
EC67
Cosy Corner Bhoy
Prior to getting injured in Mid June I played Dundonald earlier in the year, I consider myself quite fit and have never struggled to walk a course, that course is an absolute monster with a lot of walking between tees, did not help that the tees we played off were well back due to preparations for the Scottish. It will be a bomber that wins no doubt about it.
Bada Bing,
Thanks, I Know that. Just a bit pissed off that neither Sky, nor BT, of the ‘sports channels’ consider it a big enough attraction to pay to show the game, especially since our fans are not being sold any tickets for this game. ( insert winking ‘aye, I know’ smiley thing here ). It means that anyone wanting to watch will have to pay £10 for a months subscription……the upside is that they’ll probably have our away game in the next round too, providing we get through :-)
Can’t make up my mind whether to pay it, or just to rely on finding an illegal stream. To be fair to Premier Sports, they do seem to pick up quite a few of our ‘one-off games like this, so they obviously appreciate the value in it..
The less said about terrestrial channels the better. Still having difficulty understanding why the BBC think it’s okay to spend my licence fee on broadcasting any footage of the bigoted, sectarian, anti-catholic fancy dress parades taking place this week.
Newco should simply be expelled from the SPFL for cheating on an industrial scale sine die.
Big Raki On The Beach concert going on here at the moment,not the real name,but it should be.Not far up from me,but the beach is closed off,so cant get really near.Last day,so the biggest bands coming on.Wee mate had a brainwave.We are stocking up the boat with food and bevvy,and sailing round,to sit just offshore and watch.Best seat in the house.How did I not think of that 3 days ago?.DOH !!!!!.
Hard to think of a better day and night this summer.
THETIMREAPER on 9TH JULY 2017 12:53 PM,
Yep,my thinking as well.I think BR likes the calming effect Biton can bring.Adam Virgo waxing lyrical bout wee Benjy.Reckons he could be very similar to Naka in the future.High praise.If it all works out,this could be a fantastic window for us.
Aff oot noo.
From 200%
The Rangers Tax Case: Then, Now & Forever
by Mark | Jul 8, 2017
Between 2001 and 2010, Rangers FC participated in an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) scheme, the “Murray Group Management Remuneration Trust (MGMRT). “So far as Rangers were concerned,” this scheme “enabled the Club to attract players who would not otherwise have been obtainable,” the “Murray” of the Murray Group, Rangers ex-chairman David, admitted to a “First-Tier Tax Tribunal” (FTT). On Wednesday, the Supreme Court declared that scheme unlawful.
In February 2013, Lord William Nimmo-Smith reported on his Scottish Premier League (SPL)-commissioned investigation into Rangers’ alleged breaching of league rules in the operation of the now-unlawful scheme. The good Lord noted that it was not a breach of Scottish club football rules “for a club to arrange its affairs, within the law, so as to minimise its tax liabilities.” The FTT had “held (subject to appeal)” that Rangers acted “within the law in setting up and operating the EBT scheme. Accordingly, we proceed on the basis that the EBT arrangements were lawful.” On Wednesday, the Supreme Court declared those arrangements unlawful.
Rangers were not acting within the law. Rangers cheated. For years.
Even the Supreme Court’s legalese, and that of the Inner House of Scotland’s Court of Session, upon whose 4th November 2015 ruling the Supreme Court ruled this week, could not mask Rangers’ cheating. They cheated with the specific intention of gaining an unfair sporting advantage. Just as cyclist Lance Armstrong…who had titles stripped as a result.
Over the next few days, I can say with some certainty because it has started already, a number of narratives will be thrust into the public domain, with the specific intention of leaving Rangers unpunished for a decade of cheating.
Some Rangers supporters will claim that it wasn’t cheating at all, they just paid the wrong amount of tax. To the tune of £24m over a decade. But, hey, we all make mistakes. Some hands will get sore from clutching at straws, such as those complaining about an STV website headline claiming Celtic were “calling for a review” of decisions connected to Rangers’ cheating to win titles. They were right. But only because Celtic were more than “calling” for a review. “Sure” that “the footballing authorities will wish to review this matter,” they said they are awaiting its “outcome.”
Other Rangers supporters will claim they have suffered and been punished enough and that any desire for further punishment is born of hatred and anti-Rangers bigotry, which I can say with some certainty because it has started already.
Others still will consult their list of “whatabouteries,” and select “what about that Celtic Tax Case?” (link to my article) and various forms of “what about Celtic’s child abuse?” Which I can say with some certainty because, yes, even that shit has started already.
Scotland’s football authorities will claim there is no mechanism and no appetite for stripping Rangers of the titles they won while cheating. I can say that with some certainty because it has started already.
And it isn’t because there IS no mechanism. There was in 2012 when they offered a grubby title-stripping deal to grubby new Rangers owner Charles Green, so that must be in a cupboard somewhere…unless they gave it to a jumble sale. And title-stripping was one of the 19 sanctions available to the LNS commission. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Nor because there is no appetite. It is too early to judge, although the fan activism of “No to NewCo,” which fought successfully against the new Rangers’ insertion into the SPL in 2012, has clicked into gear again. A “Strip the Titles” movement is beginning to burgeon as I type.
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) “will take time to examine the judgment in detail and consider any implications for the SPFL.” I can say with some certainty because it has started already. And it won’t be because they WANT time to examine the ruling and consider any implications. There are none, the league titles Rangers cheated to win predate the organisation. But because they don’t want to respond.
And Scotland’s mainstream football media. Well, they will cherry-pick from all of the above, plus whatever line Rangers’ PR department are pushing, because original thought and proper investigation appear to be as beyond their pay grade as they have been claiming it has been throughout the seven years of the “Rangers Tax Case.”
I can say that with some certainty, not only because that has started already (the BBC’s Chris McLaughlin the early pace-setter, despite the problematic relationship between club and broadcaster) but also because it hasn’t ever stopped throughout the seven years of the “Rangers Tax Case.” To them, I shall return. And you ALL know I can say THAT with some certainty.
And all of them…the excuse-making fans, the dishonest, clueless authorities and the spineless, clueless mainstream football media…they can all stick their spineless, dishonest, clueless excuses up the River Clyde and **** OFF while they’re doing it. Rangers cheated pure and simple.
The Rangers scheme upon which the Supreme Court ruled this week, the MGMRT, was the second tax avoidance scheme used by the club this century. The first scheme, the validity of which was never in legitimate formal dispute, has its own on-going narrative, concerning the award to Rangers of a licence to play in European competition during the 2011/2012 season. Regular readers may recall one or two words of my own on the subject. Resolution 12 and all that.
This licence award was seen by the football authorities as vital to the club’s financial well-being, as demonstrated by Rangers’ subsequent earliest possible exits from the Champions and Europa Leagues and descent into administration on 2012’s St Valentine’s Day and liquidation exactly four months later.
(There are echoes of 2011/12 in 2017/18, given the new Rangers’ declared reliance on loans to fund their close-season transfer splurge, despite the recent influx of season-ticket millions. But would I stoop so low as to shoehorn this comparison into this article solely to facilitate reference to Rangers’ humiliating Europa League defeat to Luxembourg’s fourth-best team, Progres Niederkorn, this week? Damn right, I would).
The validity of the MGMRT, and Rangers’ active, decade-long participation in it, has never NOT been in legitimate formal dispute. Scotland’s national mainstream media (MSM) picked up on the case on 27th April 2010. The Herald newspaper’s Darrell King offered via headline to reveal the “tax claim that could cripple the club,” as part of the wider contemporary story of Rangers’ £30m debts and struggles to find a buyer.
The following day’s Herald went large on the tax case. King was away focusing on potential Rangers buyers, including namesake Dave (South African-based chap, talks sh*te to the press a lot…oh, YOU know him). So, Chris Watt, not primarily a sports journalist, penned a piece headlined “Rangers face £24m tax bill for offshore payments to players” and an analysis entitled “Tax move may come back to hit Rangers where it hurts.”
Answering the question “What exactly have Rangers done?” Watt wrote: “The club have been paying some players in part through an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT). Instead of incurring hefty income tax and national insurance bills, Rangers have paid the money into an offshore account. This is then ‘loaned’ to players at a low interest rate, currently 4.5%, with no expectation of players repaying it.” (4.5% as “a low interest rate.” Different days).
The question “Is this legal?” was as vexed then as the MSM continue to try to make it to this day. Watt answered, confusingly: “Yes, although it is a matter of opinion,” adding that HMRC had “pursued cases against firms that do it, claiming they are breaking the law.” The money involved at Rangers was “about £46m, according to figures obtained by the Herald” (conceivably from Rangers’ published accounts, which included annual overall contributions, thus allowing defenders of the scheme to this day to claim that “they were in the accounts”).
And “assuming that all players were on the top rate of tax” (a fair assumption given Murray’s famous 1998 declaration that “for every £5 Celtic spend, we will spend ten”), Watt suggested that Rangers owed “roughly £24.3m” in “PAYE and National Insurance Contributions,” an estimate which has stood the test of time.
The big miss from Watt’s otherwise impressive analysis was the fact that certain players received “side-letters” confirming what was to be paid into the trusts. At face value, this strongly suggested that the funds in the trust were entitlements, rather than the “discretionary” and “bonus” payments Murray would later excuse them as. And players’ agents appeared to be driving the demand for these so-called “second contracts, perhaps anxious to maintain the value of their proverbial “ten percent.”
Rangers responded at the time by acknowledging the “on-going query raised by HMRC, which is part of a pending court case,” adding that “on the basis of expert tax advice provided to Rangers, the club is robustly defending the matters raised.” Standard stuff, and bog-standard accuracy, the “court case” being the Tax Tribunal.
On the subject of bogs, Rangers then-chairman Alistair Johnson said “This is not a new problem. It has been there for a long time,” which was truer than Rangers had been pretending to the outside world. Indeed, the world of offshore trusts and side-letters was exposed largely by accident, during investigations into other murky football dealings.
All went quiet in the mainstream, although Rangers’ general finances were still under scrutiny as Motherwell-born businessman Craig Whyte’s bid to buy the club snaked towards conclusion in May 2011. And a smaller, seemingly undisputed £2.8m tax liability which emerged on April Fools’ Day 2011 briefly appeared to be the major threat to Rangers’ financial future.
However, on 28th March, the “Rangers Tax Case” blog started filling in the gaps in the story left by the MSM, i.e. pretty much all of it. The blog’s home page reprinted with undisguised pride, Whyte’s view that “what they are saying is 99% crap.” Whyte was, we now know, 99% out.
The case loomed large as Whyte’s Rangers regime struggled appallingly to pay bills after Rangers’ European dual-exits, giving up on the tax bill entirely. However, Rangers entered administration AND liquidation while the (three-person) FTT mulled at unforeseen length over the minutiae of tax law as it applied to Rangers’ scheme.
The corpse was ponging a bit by the time the FTT upheld Rangers’ appeal against Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC’s) claim for £24m in unpaid tax, plus at least half as much again in interest and penalties for late payment. The decision was announced on DAY November 2012. Rangers’ actual tax liability for improper operation of part of the scheme was, in the words of the judgment, “substantially reduced.” To what, we still don’t know.
The FTT ruled by a majority verdict of two-to-one. The scheme was ruled lawful for a number of reasons. Surprisingly to many observers, HMRC had not argued that the trusts were a sham. And the FTT ruled that the payments into the trusts were loans, not entitlements, which were not “unreservedly at the disposal of” the EBT holder because the scheme did not include any obligation to make loans to trust holders when they requested them.
Having been “told” by all and sundry that their overall liability might have been anything up to £75m had liquidation not intervened, the new Rangers claimed victory and vindication on behalf of the old Rangers and called for widespread apologies and retribution. The fact that HMRC sought and obtained leave to appeal the decision was reported perfunctorily, when it was reported at all, with HMRC’s prospects of success dismissed. Indeed, HMRC lost an appeal to an Upper Tribunal in July 2014, although some parts of the case were referred back to the FTT stage.
But truth changed last November when the Inner House of Scotland’s Court of Session ruled, and I’m paraphrasing here, that “Of course the trust’s funds were entitled earnings for playing football, what else could they be? Of course they are taxable.” The fact that BDO, the accountancy and business advisory firm appointed as the old Rangers’ liquidators in 2012, sought and obtained leave to appeal co-headlined the story this time. Calls for apologies and retributions were slapped down with references to the Supreme Court
There is SOOOO much to write about the RTC denouement. However, like the SPFL, I “will take time to examine the judgment in detail, consider any implications for” my next rant article (on a few days’ holibobs by the time you read this). And I will comment further upon how this whole sordid affair has exposed two major fault lines connected to Scottish club football.
They are the usual/same old ones, don’t get your hopes up. The fundamental weaknesses in the governance of Scotland’s club game and the two men with most responsibility for that governance and those weaknesses, SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and Scottish FA counterpart Stewart Regan. And the appalling coverage of the affair, on about every conceivable level, by mainstream Scottish football journalists and analysts.
For now, though, it is only fair to acknowledge and thank those few who were “right all along” about the “Rangers Tax Case.” The RTC blog for a start, which won the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2012, having exposed and explained the true story of Rangers’ EBT use, a story which Scotland’s mainstream media – football, financial and general – would not expose and would, or could, not explain.
The late Paul McConville’s “Random Thoughts on Scottish Law” often randomly turned to the RTC, allowing him to write, at his trademark terrifying length (and sometimes more) and with his trademark easy wit, on the case’s legal complexities and ramifications. His conclusions and opinions did not always match expectations. But they were expertly-informed, methodically thought-through and constructively thought-provoking.
And, much to the chagrin of the more, ahem, ‘committed’ elements of Rangers’ fanbase, Irish-based journalist Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, who broke the story seven long years ago and kept with it when mainstream journalists who had written about it thought it best, for whatever reasons, not to write about it anymore. Mac Giolla Bhain has the right, and will not be shy to take up that right, to say “I told you so” about the RTC. Because, well, he did. And he will also reference “herrenvolk hubris” at some stage. In fact, I can say that with some certainty because he has referenced it already.
These are not the only few who were “right all along.” And it is surely significant that it took a “mainstream” journalist based outside Glasgow, Alex Thomson of Channel 4 News, to call things as they are. Thomson’s incredulity on Radio Clyde on 16th April 2012, when faced with Glasgow journalists’ excuses for “missing” swathes of the Rangers story, remains the stuff of legend.
All three, however, were treated with particular disdain by Rangers “people” (as in “We are the People,” the supremacist-sounding Rangers slogan which continues to mean two-tenths of five-eighths of **** all).
The “Rangers Tax Case” blogger had to keep their identity under complete wraps for genuine fear of reprisals (just think about that for a second) from those who didn’t like the blog’s fact-based criticism of Rangers’ tax conduct. Rangers fans sought to discredit McConville and Mac Giolla Bhain as people, rather than discredit their arguments through, you know, argument. “Playing the man, not the ball,” as Mac Giolla Bhain often described it.
As a result, although they were told, they wouldn’t listen. More fool them, now. Because Rangers cheated. For years. The Supreme Court confirmed that this week. And because the club went bust even though they cheated, they will be listed as cheats forever more. So, while the Rangers Tax Case may be over, for as long as Rangers keep the benefits of that cheating, the story is not.
BABASONICOS71 1312
Ouch,didnae miss and hit the wall with that!
BOBBY…
Aye,enjoyed reading it,was like being transported to a world where the press tell it like it is.Then I remembered it wasn’t in the SMSM but from one of those uppity bampots.
Thank Buddha for the bampots.
Bada and Toor
I did the trip from the Algarve to Lisbon at Easter this year
First class ticket bought on line was 25€ -train company has on line booking system from which you can print ticket off at home
Apologies can’t access train website but it’s national train line -very easy and you reserve your seats too
Taxi into centre of Lisbon from Oriente around 11€
Hh fabulous city -going again later this year
Looking at Armstrong’s body language,I think he is for the,no great big miss
BABASONICOS
Brilliant read !
Babas, thanks for that post, a terrific read.
All that was missing was my favourite phrase currently, improper registration of players .
I may be wrong but I believe this is what the SFA have the power to deal with despite all their no action can be taken nonsense .
Bobby, Celtic underground have another unsung hero article up.
Its about Stevie Murray , a very good midfielde for us between 1973 and 1975.
A toe injury brought his football career to a premature end.
Olivier Ntcham – yes please.
Ntcham’s most obvious traits stand out immediately. He is tall and strapping, with his neck overtaken by muscle. A physically mature force, he is potentially perfect for the Premier League’s tempo, but to describe him purely as an athlete would be reductive.
While powerful, Ntcham also possesses useful technical qualities. He has showcased a sound range of passing, astute decision making and an ability to retain possession by keeping things simple. The Frenchman has done this while performing in numerous different roles within Gasperini’s 3-4-3 system, demonstrating good versatility at a young age.
He’s been predominantly used in a rough false nine role within Genoa’s three-man forward line, though occasionally used to good effect on the left wing. At home to Milan on Sunday, meanwhile, he came off the bench to occupy a central midfield berth. Ntcham seems to enjoy the creative licence of a more offensive role but, when tasked with a deeper one, shows the requisite restraint.
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/olivier-ntcham-man-citys-long-term-answer-toure-whos-thriving-serie
EC67- thanks for your kind reply mate
JM- thanks, hope you are well sir HH
I need some help from the techies here.
After watching a stream of our Dublin friendly yesterday- there have been 2 side effects on my Mac:-
1) I usually use Firefox and Google but now I have been placed on Safe Finder (with a yahoo logo bizarrely) and I cannot get off this.
2) MacKeeper have suddenly been communicating with me. I had a License with them on my old machine as a Security tool but I was unable to transfer it to the new Mac as they have stopped supporting MacKeepr v.2 that I had.
It looks suspiciously to me that I have been hi-jacked and MacKeeper are offering to clear it up- How did they know that I needed cleaning up?
I tried, yesterday to download the AVG free software and run a scan and follow their advice but it has not solved this problem. Whenever I click for a New Window- it goes into Safe Finder mode )though it ahs lost the yahoo logo) and MacKeeper keeps popping up randomly offering to fix files, even though I have never downloaded MacKeeper to this computer.
Any advice on how to proceed?
Babasonicos
Wonderful
Was rtc the author of that?
Excuse my thickness
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX
Sounds like adware, check this guy out for getting it off, hope this helps..
I have Avast and it seems to field most stuff of this genre..
http://www.thesafemac.com/arg/
MILD MANNERED…
It’s from a blog called 200%,says it’s a website “about the politics, culture, financials and history of football.”
The article was tweeted by Clumpany so I only c&p’d from him.Not read any of their other stuff but that was a good introduction.
HH
Babasonicos
What a tremendous read:))
The guy deserve a medal for his persistence and intelligent dissection of the facts around the RTC…
Starry Plough
Thanks
It suggests I will have to perform a back up before I attempt removal so I better crack on with that later.
STARRY…
I was sceptical,still am,about the chances of the hun getting what’s due for their jiggery pokery but the more stuff keeps popping up on social media the more my hope grows and scepticism lessens.That article was one of the best i’ve come across.Hopefully it inspires even more of the same.
HH