Rangers and Newco both look marooned without clarification

So what do we know?

Need for clarification

Rangers’ potential new owner has asked for clarification on what he is buying, a franchise with a place in the SPL or the middle of a doughnut, with the ability to apply for membership to the Scottish Football League.

That clarification has not been delivered, which must undermine Rangers sale.

Rangers want an extension

Despite needing clarification, Rangers administrators, Duff and Phelps, failed to attend the meeting and asked for a further extension (it’s like the 2007-08 league season all over again).  Curious, to say the least. Clearly they were not in a position to offer the SPL information that would assist their case.

To be revealed before 30 May

The next meeting is on 30 May, by then the First Tier Tribunal on Rangers Employee Benefit Trust will have reported.  There will also be a considerable amount of information in the public domain on how Rangers operated under Sir David Murray.  With all this information available, it will be impossible for the SPL to further delay publishing the findings of their inquiry into Improper Registration of Players by Rangers.  In disciplinary terms, this is the big one.

What about Craig Whyte?

Bill Miller was appointed preferred bidder on Thursday but, as floating charge holder, Craig Whyte can ask the court to block stop Duff and Phelps disposing of Ibrox.  We don’t know Craig Whyte’s mind, or if he has a deal with Miller, but if they are not working in partnership, you can expect a late and effective legal block put in place to stop the disposal of Ibrox.

So what does it mean?

The chance of a Newco being in place, in the SPL or SFL, for the start of next season has never been more remote.  On 7 May they don’t have a buyer, after 10 weeks they don’t have the stadium and the moral outrage over what looked likely to be voted through today is beginning to gain traction.

Today was the best chance Rangers had to cut a quick deal with the SPL.  Further delay only means more time for the other clubs to work on contingency plans and to be lobbied by their own supporters.

We are six days away from the end of the season and Duff and Phelps have to put enough of a confirmed deal in place to convince someone to part with £11.2m.  They don’t have passage into the league and they don’t have a stadium to sell.

If Bill Miller stays in the game until the end of the week and submits a formal offer for the stadium and other assets, we can expect Craig Whyte to go to court to halt the process.  I cannot see how or why Miller, who doesn’t even have a passport and has made no moved to come over and negotiate in person, would put £11.2m on the table when he doesn’t know what he is buying, or what sporting and financial penalties are coming his way.

Rangers will have to overcome all these obstacles long before 30 May if they are to stay in the game long enough for Newco to inherit their place in the SPL but their chances of surviving that long is dependent on a positive outcome from the meeting that has now been postponed.

They look marooned; I don’t think they are going to make it.

You can buy a hard copy of the new issue of CQN Magazine via Magcloud here.

The graphic below is just for a flick through, to read the magazine go here to it’s dedicated site.