On Saturday my mind wandered, as it does, to the demise of Gretna in 2008. The village team were bankrolled through the Scottish league system until promotion to the SPL in 2007 but then the cash ran out. The club went into liquidation a few weeks from the end of the season but while most of the first team squad were made redundant, a few remained on a week-to-week basis to see out the remaining league programme, assisted considerably by the SPL and Livingston FC, who made their ground available.
Should Rangers fail around the same time, I thought, how apt it would be for us to meet them in the Scottish Cup final. We would be there at the end to wave goodbye to a unique institution. Witnesses to the final whistle on a club with an enormously controversial history.
Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed by Dundee United at Ibrox yesterday, who Flushed Away the opposition and won their first game against an SPL team in 2012. We will have to scramble for tickets for the prospective event at another venue.
United seem set to try their hardest to spoil my enjoyment of the Cup. Our quarter final draw against them next month will be one of the toughest games of the season.
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Bada Bing great minds etc. Hail Hail Hebcelt
I’m all partied oot, the ice cream industry is in meltdown! :-(
Sharesin jelly and ice cream companies set to go through the roof!!! Hail Hail Hebcelt
Buy 1 get 1 free,or BOGOF asthey say :}
Below is an account of Murrays first serious meeting with Ellis soon after he realised that HMRC were on his tail that they had insurmountable debts and that the hun hordes had paid 300K into a projected 50m share issue leaving him to invest (ahem) 50 million quid
At that point in time for whatever speculative reason he chose not to sell.
———————————————————————————————-
Murray was hours from sale of Rangers
Published on Saturday 16 August 2008 22:52
RANGERS chairman Sir David Murray has revealed that he came within hours of selling the club, but pulled out of the deal at the last minute because he doubted the buyers’ long-term ambitions.
The Ayrshire entrepreneur has told Scotland on Sunday that details of the deal had been finalised after two months of secret negotiations, but says he changed his mind just two hours before signing the final documents last year after the would-be owners outlined plans to downsize.
Murray said: “We were all ready to go. Donald (Wilson, Murray International Holdings’ chief executive] had negotiated it for months with complete confidentiality.
“Everything was pretty much agreed and then I said: ‘Look gentlemen, before we do this, can you tell me how you’re going to run this club?’
“I’m sitting there with all the legal documents in front of me and they outline their plans. ‘We’ll carve this up, we’ll sell that off’, and after a while I said ‘Enough, we’re not doing the deal.’ We got up and walked out. We took our papers and went out of the door. It wasn’t for Rangers. In my opinion they did not want to take the club forward in a football way.”
He added: “That’s the closest I’ve come to selling; a few hours last year in a nice London hotel.”
Murray has been under fire in recent weeks from large sections of the Rangers support after an early Uefa Cup exit at the hands of Lithuanian minnows FBK Kaunas was followed by the sale of SPL Player of the Year and Ibrox favourite Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa for almost 7.8m.
The purchase of Pedro Mendes from Portsmouth for 3m and a bid for US star Maurice Edu has failed to quieten the discontent, with David Edgar of the Rangers Supporters’ Trust referring to the club as a “rudderless ship”.
However, Murray defended his group’s record of investment in the club, and said: “They must look at the financial underpinning the Murray group has done at Rangers. Let’s be under no illusions: it’s cost us 100m. I’ll tell you this, unless you’re backed by proper cash this club will have to downsize. There is an economic crisis out there.”
———————————————————————————————————
Saturday interview: Sir David Murray
Published on Saturday 16 August 2008 22:43
SO THERE they were, a year ago in a London hotel, Sir David Murray, his right-hand man Donald Wilson and his football man Martin Bain on one side of the table and the new buyers of Rangers Football Club on the other. Not a lot to be said now. Not a lot of money talk, not a lot of legals. Two months in the making, the transfer of ownership of one of the great institutions of the British game was close to completion. “It’s true, we came within a few hours of selling the club,” said Murray
“We were all ready to go. Donald had negotiated it for months with complete confidentiality. Everything was pretty much agreed and then I said, ‘Look, gentleman, before we do this, can you tell me how you’re going to run this club?’. I’m sitting there with all the legal documents in front of me and they outline their plans, ‘We’ll carve this up and we’ll sell that off’ and after a while I said ‘Enough, we’re not doing the deal’. We got up and walked out. We took our papers and went out the door. It wasn’t for Rangers. In my opinion they did not want to take the club forward in a football way. They saw property angles. That’s the closest I’ve come to selling; a few hours last year in a nice London hotel.”
It’s an interesting story. And a story with a message behind it. Murray’s note to the disaffected at Rangers, the ones who called for his head in the wake of the Kaunas defeat and the defection of Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa could be interpreted as ‘be careful what you wish for’.
How many of the Rangers support are truly against him? Hard to say but he knows what they’re like. He mentions the Rangers Supporters’ Trust. Not much trust there anymore, alas. “The boy David Edgar (its spokesman) has made it very, very personal. Six weeks ago he sat in front of me and said it wasn’t personal, we’re totally supportive of the club, we want to work with you and then he went and did this. It’s an ego trip. The Liberal Democrats don’t get as much publicity as David Edgar!”
Edgar is an excitable chap, no question. He accused Murray of asset-stripping the club last week, said it was a rudderless ship, said a lot of things. Said Murray wasn’t the man to steer it any longer. Even by the standards of football’s most idiotic knee-jerks the pleas for Murray to vacate Ibrox are monumentally thick, the logic of people with bubbles for brains and all the big picture view of Mr Magoo.
Walter Smith has been given in the region of 25m to spend on players and signing-on fees. He’s brought in almost 25 players, either as full signings or on loan deals. He has a vast squad, including 10 strikers, and massive support. Shouldn’t the manager have enough artillery to overcome a team like Kaunas? So, Mr Edgar, how come you reserve your flak for Murray and not Smith?
The chairmen doesn’t need support – he’s got a neck plenty hard enough to cope with the stick – but there’s been a demented element among the criticism and a hysteria on the rumour mill that has had Murray seething one minute and almost laughing at the lies and the lunacy of it the next.
“Four days on the trot we had four different rumours and the tabloids are so gullible and so busy trying to cut each other’s throats they put it in the paper. Ally McCoist having a fight on the floor of the dressing room with Martin Bain. Resigned and walked out the door. You know what I mean? Shaun Maloney at Murray Park. James McFadden doing a medical. People are posting these things on websites and then people are writing about them the next day. No foundation to them whatsoever. James McFadden? 32 grand and six million. Sorry, we don’t do 32 grand a week and six million. Total rubbish.”
The Cuellar situation is fascinating, too. Another stick to beat the boss with. “Where it was very difficult last week, we sat down with the supporters’ assembly and they asked me had we had an offer for Cuellar and I said no but if we do get an offer we’ll spend the money on new players. On the Friday night Carlos went to a supporters’ do and told them he loved being at the club and the next day we get a phone call saying his agent is coming to Glasgow and wants to see us to talk about Carlos’s sale. On the Monday Carlos tells Martin (Bain] he wants to go and play in the Premiership.
“I think Aston Villa were made aware of him wanting to go. From our point of view there was no sign of it coming. I saw him (a few days before]. ‘Hiya Carlos’. ‘Everything all right, chairman?’ He walks along the corridor. Not a word more. What can I do about that? Here’s his contract, look. We had to release him if a bid of ?10m came in. And here’s the offer from Aston Villa; ?5m on registration, ?5m in 12 months. I didn’t want to sell him. I had to sell him. No criticism of Aston Villa, it’s football. I don’t suppose Portsmouth are all that happy that all of a sudden we’ve decided to jump on Pedro Mendes the day before the Premiership starts.”
Mendes is what Murray calls a real man. When Barry Ferguson returns from injury he says he’s got “men in the midfield”. Without saying it, there’s no question that Rangers lack hardened pros with big hearts. The Paul Hartleys, the Barry Robsons, the Scott Browns are in short supply in the Ibrox midfield. Mark Bresciano, the Palermo midfielder, would appear to come into that category, too, but despite bidding 4m for the Italian it looks like he’s staying put. Maurice Edu is a man, too, it seems. Though only 22 and with only six caps for USA and less than 40 games for Toronto FC to his credit, Murray likes the defensive midfielder. “He’s been at the Olympics. This boy’s a player. We’re in negotiations at 2.5m. He’s 6ft tall and a wee bit special. So we’re not sitting on our backsides.”
But let’s say the band of critics get their way and Murray departs. Who’ll come in exactly? Plan B, anybody? You noisy minority calling for change, you get Murray out the door. And… ? Who’ll pay the bills? Who’ll take your bile? Who’ll soak up the scrutiny and the nonsense and drive on? You think they’re queuing up to invest? You think they grow on trees, these chairmen prepared to put 20 years and 100m into your club? This newspaper has given Murray a few kickings in its time but anybody who wants rid of him at Rangers is either delusional or a Celtic fan. They’d love to see Murray depart and then observe the chaos from afar.
And here’s the funny thing. The Murray Must Go! lobby? The Murray family are right there with you. They’d shout and roar just as loud and carry the placards just as high if they could. “These fans are right. Murray’s happy to go. My family say it to me every week. Walter Smith doesn’t know why I do it. He says ‘What are you putting up with this for?’. Oh, in the beginning it was ego maybe, a chance to stick out my chest, but I feel huge responsibility to the club. I could just say ‘f*** it’ and go. I’ve plenty of things to do. But I won’t do that. I’ll do my best until somebody comes up with the answers. It’s all very well saying do this and do that but there’s not been a bad hand on the tiller the last 20 years. If somebody steps forward with a reasonable offer, I’ll go, I’m happy to go, I don’t need this in my life. But if the supporters want me to go – which I don’t think a lot of them do – fine. But they’re not making it easy for somebody else to come in.”
Important point, this. Listen up Rangers Supporters Trust and all your indignant comrades. You might learn something. “There are some things that could put off a new owner coming to the club. There’s no doubt we have a small element whose behaviour in Manchester was unacceptable. There was unacceptable behaviour on both sides with some of the police as well but that’s for another day. Somebody (a prospective buyer] must look at that and go ‘oh’.
“They must see the public scrutiny that everybody comes under at such a big institution and must look at the financial underpinning that the Murray Group has done at Rangers. Let’s be under no illusions, it’s cost us 100m. I’ll tell you this, unless you’re backed by proper cash this club will have to downsize. There is an economic crisis out there. People should just sit down and take a minute to reflect. When we were running it in the past, probably slightly recklessly in a financial sense, I was criticised for not running it more soberly; I’m now trying to balance the books and I’m criticised again. Other than me going on the park and scoring goals, which I’m incapable of doing, I don’t actually know what else I can do.”
Some people won’t listen. Those who believe that Murray is an asset-stripper, that he is in charge of a rudderless ship, that the series of blows that have hit Ibrox these past weeks are all his fault will not change their minds. So be it. “We’ll all survive. You get the feeling, though, that some of these detractors would like to see us lose because they think some white knight is going to come over the hill with a sword.”
In fairness, it would be a useful weapon to cut through all the garbage that comes with the job.
————————————————————————————–
Now obviously with HMRC breathing down his neck. Footballing disaster on the pitch financially i.e Kaunus , a clear indication that the hun hordes were not interested in investing only rioting. Murray decided to call Ellis back to see if he could resurrect the “failed” deal in the “very nice” London hotel. Ellis couldn´t front it for PR reasons and therefore an appropriate patsy was sought for and groomed for this very role….. and Craig Whyte and many others have been groomed for this role since … what date are these articles above ?
Hail Hail
Ladies and Gentlemen …. Craig Whyte …. soon to be Knight of the realm.
Flats flats glorious flats.
For health reasons you can only eat so much jelly and ice cream, but, rankers and the mini buns? I better get to makro and buy in bulk!
Mornin’ all.
A glorious day in ole D and G.
What further calamity will today bring, to the No Pope Paupers?
What we need to do is keep the pressure on, on the pitch. Look to open up a decent lead, put clear green water between us and the impoverished horribles.
Fix the XI, and make sure it stays fixed.
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo says:
7 February, 2012 at 10:09
Aw naw, What really pi**es me off is we are often told SDM underwrote the share issue to the tune of M£50.
The reality is he didn’t; we, the taxpayer did, as Murray again engaged in another piece of smoke and mirrors shenanigans.
Now that really sticks in my craw.
Anyway to hell with them all. The world will be a finer place when the expire.
I got 50-1 a few months back on the Jam Tarts finishing bottom of the league. Stuck a tenner on it.
Mon the Hector!
Celtic 2/1 minus a goal.
Good to see that the mainstream media are now catching up with what has been on many good websites for a long time. Wonder why they didn’t investigate Craig Whyte when he was first mooted as the saviour?
Anyway, roll on administration!
And on the 200th birthday of ole Charles Dickens, a piece of timely advice from Mr Wilkins Micawber-
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
Awe_Naw,
Given that Murray was happy for Whyte to take over, you have to wonder exactly what it would have taken for him to reject a previous offer!
And from a Tale of Two Cities [or a Tale of Two Teams in one City]-
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…
RogueLeader: 7 February, 2012 at 09:55
The levels of denial are so extreme that I actually expect some of these people will have heart-attacks when the glorious day comes – not a joke by the way.
April at the very latest.
Some very concerning news regarding White/Whtye’s missing millions.
He has apparently invested it all in Chivers and Ben and Jerry’s.
!!Bada Bing!! Kano 1000 says:
7 February, 2012 at 09:53
Bhoy 67-Is that the word?HH.
I am told meeting is still going on
HH
Mike
On the Dickens theme. What about Mr Bumble…
“The law sir is a ass!”
Just looked at Rangers Official website ( sorry , but this is so funny)
BE PART OF HISTORY
huns are celebrating 140 years of history this year , events planned ( you bet there is )
If you have something that merits inclusion then get in touch
Simply email editor@rangers.co.uk if you want anything included
……
Dear Editor , Please find enclosed an unpaid tax bill for £49million pounds which should merit inclusion as part of your celebrations
Your HMRC
n.b happy to donate some jelly and ice cream for the party
Bhoy67 says:
7 February, 2012 at 10:23
!!Bada Bing!! Kano 1000 says:
7 February, 2012 at 09:53
Bhoy 67-Is that the word?HH.
I am told meeting is still going on
HH
Mike
………………………….
what meeting
The more I watch this farce unfold the more I am reminded of the scene in Braveheart, the one where Robert the Bruce confronts his father in the tower. The father advises to have half his men and influence support the English and the other half to support William Wallace and the Scots’.
Travel back to the present day and who is the ‘leper’ in the tower and what is his end game?
I don’t know the answer but this is getting better than the movie.
Now I’m reminded of the scene where the wee Irish guy, who has God on speed dial, advise his boss whom he has just saved that the Lord tells him “he’ll be okay but the rest of you… well you’re all….”
Putting a team out to beat the Jambos should be all that concerns us at present, then we can turn our attention to ICT at the weekend.
I think the most impressive aspect of Saturday’s performance was finding the balance in midfield: Ledley, Wanyama and Brown worked very well and that’s the way forward for away games in particular.
For tomorrow night only one change with Forrest for Commons. All going well on Saturday we bring in Izzy for Wilson and Stokes for Sammi.
Just keep winning whilst the Rangers die
Gordon_J
their only ever has been one offer. The original from Ellis in August 2008
After the failed share issue .. where he diluted the value of MIH by 50m (sure the bank was pleased)
When Murray realised the state of Hun FC 3 years after (Thank you WGS) and that the tax man was on his back he did what Murray always does … Hugh Adam told us all about it …. bombast and ego … never mind the credit crunch
If the huns were going to die then he would have them going out with a bang. Hence the Kaunus splurge
At that point the “special” relationship with the bank was in tatters due to his mis management and the credit crunch affect on his banking facilities. This is when they sat up and took notice. This is when LBG parachuted its two men into the boardroom.
Meanwhile in the background the Craig Whyte escape plan was being hatched
It was in Murrays, His old Board and the banks best interest. SFA was given quarterly updates but told to keep the pockling up.
That these so called respectable people and organisations can behave in this manner (i.e accept Craig Whyte as a fit and proper person) are the REAL CRIMINALS HERE. Craig Whyte is a just a tadpole in the ocean of hun corruption
Hail Hail
MWD
The wig is Gordon Smith late of the SFA and now a silent director with Rangers F.C.
there even
tomtheleedstim says: 7 February, 2012 at 07:23
Whyte has definitely got billions. Apparently he will soon be looking at making a move for Bail.
If he has billions he’s better of making a move to Bali, the Buns are toasted…
Kit
Been thinking about the Irish guy in Braveheart comparison myself where they are fighting in the woods ‘………..but your fecked’.
….Hold!……..Hold……..
jocky bhoy
Bali or Bail ?
Hail Hail
I see Leon Best injured and out for 6 weeks.
Nice to see he’s doing well after rejecting us, no way hes getting near that Newcastle team now with Cisse and Ba fit.
Read a comment earlier about Kayal saying he will be back for the run in,is it true?
Any team news for tomorrow.
One or two of our Bhoys were clogged on Saturday.
Is everyone fit?
Wow! £240,000 for 45mins, thats >£5000 per min. Mervan Cellik most expensive player EVER!
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/rangers/2012/02/06/rangers-threatened-with-fifa-action-over-mervan-celik-transfer-fee-86908-23738070/
Talk about clutching at straws. As long as the Russian transfer window remains open, the meeja will continue to unsettle our top players.
Your wasting your time.
thismancraig says:
7 February, 2012 at 10:29
Putting a team out to beat the Jambos should be all that concerns us at present, then we can turn our attention to ICT at the weekend.
I think the most impressive aspect of Saturday’s performance was finding the balance in midfield: Ledley, Wanyama and Brown worked very well and that’s the way forward for away games in particular.
For tomorrow night only one change with Forrest for Commons. All going well on Saturday we bring in Izzy for Wilson and Stokes for Sammi.
———————-
I’d be inclined to keep JF on the bench and play Sammi wide in place of Commons. Stokes and Hoops a must to start up front, i’d risk playing Izzy and move Joe L into a midfield role. Defence – Matthews, Chas Mul, Rogne, Izzy. Strong midfiled to batter the diets – Broonie, Big Vic, Big Joe and Sammi. Hoops and Anto Stokes upfront to terrorise the diet defence. JF on the bench so we can bring him on when the diets are tiring.
@North.Northwest
Thats a really shabby thing to say about Leon Best.
Bhoy 67-Sounds interesting,keep us posted mate.HH.