So much happened yesterday, I’ll be as brief as possible:
Newco Rangers sent their counsel to the Court of Session to protest Charles Green’s contract with the club, stating it should pay legal expenses, now crystallising ahead of his forthcoming criminal trial.
In opposing Green, James Wolffe QC raised various objections, but as is often the case when people speak on behalf of Newco, included an arbitrary insistence that Newco operated the same club as the now liquidated Rangers.
Green’s QC, Jonathan Brown, put his pit boots on before stating his client’s case, but tantalisingly, before lunch informed the court that he would return to the same club/new club debate later. And didn’t he. Brown explained that Sevco Scotland purchased the assets of Rangers, not the club itself, with poetic prose adding:
“The team are paid by Sevco, plat at a ground owned by Secvo, are trained by a manager who is employed by Sevco and fans buy tickets from Sevco. That is the business that is being carried on.”
Adding that Rangers were “a collection of assets”, “What if the players were sold to one person and Ibrox to antoher, where is the ‘club’ then?”
I had to look away from court reporter, James Dolman’s Twitter feed at this point. It was like watching an acquaintance being humiliated. Not something you want to see.
Lord Doherty will determine if Newco should pay Green’s costs in due course, but this will be soon, as Jonathan Brown noted, “the rainy day has arrived”.
This next bit is really important:
Soon after court ended, Dave King was out with a rambling statement on the Newco website. If it was designed to play to the galleries, it hit the spot. If it was designed to influence what happens to his club, or how others will regard his input, it was surely an horrendous mistake.
It was a hard day to be chairman of Rangers International FC PLC. The court hearing only happened because the club objected to its contract with Green, so the unedifying episode could easily have been avoided. Despite this, sometimes you have to shut your mouth.
Sure, some Newco fans love a bit of grandstanding, but you know what yesterday’s statement will achieve. If the objective of the statement was to convince other Scottish clubs not to consider disciplinary action against Sir David Murray, or oldco Rangers, for their actions, it was an almighty miscalculation.
Threats seldom work. This one is unlikely to curry favour: “If the history of our Club comes under attack we will deal with it in the strongest manner possible and will hold to account those persons who have acted against their fiduciary responsibilities to their own clubs and to Scottish football.”
In short:
Don’t threaten clubs you are trying to influence.
Don’t grandstand to your own fans if you are trying to influence other clubs.
Keep a poker face. Keep your mouth shut, even if it means taking grief from your fans for the lack of public reaction.
King’s statement also addressed the sporting advantage issue from what we now know was an unlawfully operated tax scheme. While the EBT scheme saved tens of millions of pounds, and King earlier intimated this did provide a sporting advantage, yesterday he insisted the advantage was financial, that the shareholders were “committed to providing funding to the club” and would have done so, if required.
Here’s the thing, in 2012 another King statement revealed, “I have made a claim of £20m on the basis of non-disclosure by the then chairman, David Murray, of Rangers true financial position as far back as 2000.”
That commitment to further shareholder funding seems predicated on some controversial information. According to King, of course. Controversial enough to launch a £20m claim, but not to inhibit investment.
For the war-chest hunters among you, if you read this article covering King’s 2012 statement, you’ll find a strong clue.
One other quick but important point:
Some media are attempting to portray questions of sporting advantage as Rangers being punished for spending money they could afford, a travesty, as so many other clubs have done likewise.
This must surely be a deliberate attempt to misunderstand the issue and manipulate the debate.
No one suggests Rangers should be punished for spending money they could not afford. The questions are straightforward:
Did Rangers break tax law, break SFA rules and break SPL rules, when contracting football players?
Did they disclose matters openly with authorities (in other words, inadvertently make mistakes), or did they conspire to subvert the rules by hiding incriminating information?
Spending like the Borgias? Time to move on. Conspiracy to subvert the rules? We have a problem.
Don’t be distracted by potential ramifications to these questions, they are irrelevant for now. We should consider no more than did they break all of the above rules, should any the rule breaking be interpreted as an oversight, or does evidence of conspiracy to subvert the rules exist?
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Berrz have been taking a pasting on the scotsman forums past couple of days. Rerr fun.
Gooooooooooooood evening all
happy with clubs statement ,
= haw yòooooooooooooooooou,were watching you.
67HEAVEN .. CHALLENGING THE LIE ..I AM WEE OSCAR…… IPOX BELONGS TO THE CREDITORS on 13TH NOVEMBER 2015 6:46 PM
If oldco didn’t adopt EBTs to gain a sporting advantage, why did they adopt them ….. ?
__________________
Spot on ya olde fox. HH
Quonno
A certain Mr Black told the ftt tribunal that the EBT was not tax evasion it was set up to allow the club to be able to sign players that it would otherwise not be able to obtain .
The SFA SPL SMSM all know this but choose to ignore it .
Why ?
answers on a postcard to
coveringourownerse.com
Beautifully crafted under statement from the club today. Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey.
KEEP THE FAITH
67Heaven
“If oldco didn’tadoptEBTs to gain sporting advantage, why did they adopt them ……?”
As to the point and precise as a direct hit of a swift boot to the dangly bits :))))))))))
I thought Celtic might wait until AGM but that statement will do nicely for now.
Quonno / Andrew Keron’s Green And White Army…
The whole thing is an absolute total joke, but what it has done is exposed knuckle dragginghun for what they are….
Phil
Been under the weather but I’ve spoke to him most days this week
Happy birthday Richie
Sure the zombies will be encouraging gasl to offer pistol Pete a square go
Mibbees in the centre circle at the asbestos dome with all gate money going to pay Charlies court fees
I genuinely feel we may finally get justice despite all their efforts,
more cracks in the dam than before, but as they say we’ll see
BT
Thanks!
Please tell him I was asking after him.
Have a good weekend!
Paul,
I always thought that the Borgias’ expertise lay in poisoning.
Then again, THEY are pretty poisonous .
Happy birthday Richie!
Am no guessin’ your age!
67HEAVEN .. CHALLENGING THE LIE ..I AM WEE OSCAR…… IPOX BELONGS TO THE CREDITORS on 13TH NOVEMBER 2015 7:29 PM
Quonno / Andrew Keron’s Green And White Army…
The whole thing is an absolute total joke, but what it has done is exposed knuckle dragginghun for what they are….
Knuckle crunching more like it.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/spending-like-the-borgias-time-to-move-on-conspiracy-to-subvert-the-rules-we-have-a-problem/comment-page-8/#comment-2718240
We need other clubs to make similar statements for the intention of solidarity
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPY Birthday Ritchie.
LEFTCLICKTIC on 13TH NOVEMBER 2015 7:31 PM
I genuinely feel we may finally get justice despite all their efforts,
Hope you are not suspended by the tender parts while waiting for real justice.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/spending-like-the-borgias-time-to-move-on-conspiracy-to-subvert-the-rules-we-have-a-problem/comment-page-8/#comment-2718242
What a ridiculous decision by the ref in the under 21 match
As for the GASL rant
issued to deflect from the man who set up sevco’s lawyer telling the purveyors of the BIG LIE they were duped
and a tried and tested ploy to get the hordes to follow follow blindly to the clubs agenda .
other than the online blogs it seems to have been a resounding success
HH
Fholks: I’ll be over next Saturday with some of the Association of Irish CSC’s official calendar. They are £7 each and are a nice wee stocking filler at Christmas. Anyone interested in one email me at
dublin2016@mail.com
And I will arrange to meet you before the match next Saturday.
Here’s a preview:
http://www.aicsc.com/aicsc-2016-calendar/
COYBIG
LEFTCLICKTIC on 13TH NOVEMBER 2015 7:31 PM
I genuinely feel we may finally get justice despite all their efforts,
more cracks in the dam than before, but as they say we’ll see
After the hilarity of the last four years, justice if it comes will simply be a bit of back money.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/spending-like-the-borgias-time-to-move-on-conspiracy-to-subvert-the-rules-we-have-a-problem/comment-page-8/#comments
Hail glorious Lord and his portal Francis, may he open his hands to speak righteous love in honour of all our brother Walfird
oops
Hooooopy Birthday Richie.
Quonno
I have lived with and suffered at the hands of some of their establishment cohorts,for my comments and the wearing of the Green,
but i genuinely feel last weeks decision was a game changer, and one thing about that shower is look after thyself when faced with overwhelming public opinion,
They will throw their own under a bus to protect their own interests.
have a great night quonno and may only good things come your way.
Had a hun in the work come up to me today, not one that I really speak to.
I’ve got one question for you he says…I expect a one word answer, none of your bullshit!
Do you think we should be stripped of titles we won fair and square on the park?
Yes said I.
Fucken bigot was his retort.
Oh well, seems like their beginning to smell the coffee :)
Ps… Happy birthday Ritchie, c’mon Ireland, let the Hun suffering continue.
Sipsini
I’m beginning to think they are beyond stupid and can’t figure out what the problem is with the assertion “won fair and square on the park”.
Right enough, maybe the inclusion of the word “square” is telling ?
Ps
will i be shocked if we dont get justice- NOT ONE JOT
its how they operate, but i feel now with the HMRC decision,that maybe just maybe someone hire up the food chain ie politically might just say enough is enough cut them loose and protect our own bahooky,
with operation hornet and many other cans of worms this is bigger than a deid fitba club.
till later all
Evening Timland from a cool hun free mountain valley.
The statement from the club is straight to the point.
Thot Praecepta’s analogy was spot on.
What?
No….
sitonfence says:
November 13, 2015 at 7:27 pm
Where I’m going Jim is Campbell Ogilvie and Sandy Bryson allegedly conspiring to cover up their exposure and withholding documents to agents acting for the commission
Hire = higher,
deary deary me :))))))))))
Does he away goal rule come into
play in the Euro qualifiers?
They cheated. They know they cheated. Many of them cannot believe they do not win the league every year; they loved the loaded game as it fed their supremacy.
They still turn out in their thousands when the Mighty Alloa arrive in town but shy away when ST jOHNSTONE trundle into Govan.
SupremacistlosersCSC
he = the
15 minutes gone in Bosnia. No score. So far so good.