There’s your dinner! Newco are rubbish and plan to downsize

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Prior to this morning’s AGM, which got underway a few minutes ago, Rangers International chairman David Somers issued a statement to the stock market, which he intended to reading at the meeting.  It contains powerful insight into reality at the club:

“Graham Wallace (former chief exec) wrote a review [in which]he indicated a desire to spend £20-30 millions in reaching the top levels of Scottish and European football. After visits to various City institutions the Board believed that such a level of expenditure would be supported by the City institutions, and the then monthly rate of loss, would also be supported by the shareholders.  In the event, this was discovered not to be the case, because when we came to raise funds through a share issue, we soon found that there was a lack of appetite from shareholders to invest significant extra funds just to pay wages and utility bills.”

No.  Kiddiin’.  Sherlock.

That £20-30m estimate was conservative, more would actually be needed.  The funding requirement remains but it has grown as a result of newly-established commercial deals the club accepted to agree short-term funding in recent months.  Charles Green found fools in the City but that ship has sailed, it is staggering that the board believed going back to the same well would have been effective.

The penny has dropped, the most important aspect of Somers’ statement is:

“Accordingly, we have moved to cut costs significantly. Like any household, Rangers can ultimately only spend what it earns and, as has been reported in the media, we have moved quickly to bring our costs down and much more in line with our income.  Rangers Football Club has been living beyond its means for many years and much of the cost cutting and efficiency improvements should have been addressed years ago by previous boards when we were in the lower divisions.  But they weren’t, so we are doing it.  A material part of our costs relate to player costs, however, and these can only be addressed over a long period of time because of the length of the contracts. These contracts are often measured in years, not months.”

Bang, there’s your dinner!  Newco are rubbish and they plan to downsize.

They can’t do much about property, security or business services costs, as Somers said, the “material part of costs… relate to player costs”, and with a player budget heading closer to Alloa Athletic than Athletic Bilbao, income potential will nosedive.

Fixed costs to operate a football club, which occasionally hosts 50,000 spectators at Ibrox, run to around £17m p.a.  Then they have to employ players, coaches and other football staff.

As I’ve been saying for years now, football at Ibrox is not economically viable.  They can survive as long as there are assets to sell-off, but the sharks will soon finish off the carcase. More power to Mike Ashley’s elbow.

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954 Comments

  1. I think Ally got the chinesse whisper that all onerous contracts would either be dumped or renegotiated, and he was not up for that exit stage left, as he knew he was getting the Tin tac anyway.

  2. Elbhoy

     

     

    That particular ‘story’ was in the despicable msm rag the sun. Let’s not forget our mission statement here when it comes to pish from the laptop loyal.

     

     

    Izzy needs competition at left back as does any player with a view to an alternative breathing down his neck. His game would improve immensely.

     

     

    I’d hope a left back was part of the shopping list for January as well as a wanyama clone and a baby eating commanding centre half. Oh and a playmaker in the Lubo or Naka mould would be lovely too.

  3. I don’t believe for a second RD is considering punting Izzy. Paper talk, similar to the half dozen players we’ve been linked with over the last few days.

     

    I think he will be looking for another left back for competition/cover, and rightly so.

     

    Izzy is poor defensively, its his wing that the opposition target when attacking because they know he wanders and gets caught up the field. I suppose its what the manager wants from his full backs, a left sided (fit) Lustig would be ideal.

  4. Good morning all.

     

     

    BMCUW

     

     

    Wtf is it wi these mobys, even ma text isnae sending to you. Later buddy. :-))

     

     

    Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.

  5. ExSlaemuirBhoy –

     

     

    I do not doubt for a second that you did read that.

     

     

    Lliambas is in the process of cutting costs. He told the AGM he will continue to cut costs and that it “should have been done years ago”.

     

     

    He will punt the top earning players in January. There will be no players bought. They will use the younger players more and more.

     

     

    If they do manage to get promotion, and that is a big if, they will really struggle and could be fighting a relegation battle, or at best, struggling for a top-6 spot at the split.

     

     

    No. Rangers won’t die, but for the foreseeable future, they will be a run-of-the-mill team. Let’s look forward to that.

  6. John Brown, for me, totally sums them up.

     

    He goes to the AGM using somebody’s proxy shares.

     

    The poor wee soul was refused entry to the Ibrox directors box on Saturday.

     

     

    You know what, buying your own shares means you don’t need to rely on a proxy and paying your own dosh at the gate gets you entry but for the Huns ’twas ever thus….somebody else’s money.

     

     

    I also think this was all stage managed. The directors box rejection offers another snub to Swally and, knowing Brown’s type and previous, if I were chairing a meeting with 1500 angry attendees I’d make sure he didn’t get near a mike unless I wanted him to say what he did.

  7. Tom McLaughlin

     

    11:05 on

     

    23 December, 2014

     

     

    If you were awarding contracts to your mates, you might indeed have them set up in such a way that while the company remains in business that the contract remains unchanged. This is the allegation made regarding the contracts set up by CG.

     

     

    We’re not talking about player contracts.

  8. Tom,

     

     

    I agree. And if they had done that a couple of years ago I don’t think we’d all be laughing at them quite so much.

     

     

    But they didn’t so chuckle away lads :))

  9. Incidentally the izzy story of cours may be expectation management in that for the January window,Peter uses the media to paint a black picture and we all feel happy he didn’t sell anyone.

     

     

    After all he uses the media to distort the picture just like the Hun.

  10. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    WEEFRATHETIM

     

     

    Might be an idea to take your battery out and try again.

     

     

    If you have a nice wee user-friendly Nokia,or similar.

     

     

    Not so easy wi these superduper smart phones.

     

     

    Nae bother either way,enjoyed the chat-and the info about freewheeling in lorries wi a limiter!

     

     

    Have a smashing Christmas,bud. Usual felicitations.

  11. neganon2

     

     

    11:23 on 23 December, 2014

     

    And Tony yesterday I asked in what capacity you had met PLS (4times)?

     

    __________________________________

     

    Listen it’s getting a little laborious with your silly wee games I’ve had enough of you and your likes, so I’m saying this as nice as I can, there have been some seriously sad things went on in this city the last 48 hrs. So pull your neck in and relax, I’m done with you from now on you want to hitch on my posts fine but please don’t expect a reply, I’m done with you and your silly games OK?

  12. ellboy – i am neil lennon, ynwa.

     

     

    11:04 on 23 December, 2014

     

    What’s this I’m hearing about Izzy possibly getting the boot, surely it’s nonsense?

     

     

    If RD punts him in January then that’s the last straw for me. Yes Izzy can be caught out defensively but in this current set up most of our attacking threat comes from our left side. Maybe move him forward to play as a conventional winger but it’s not the player who’s at fault here. What he’s being asked to do within an over exposed system, both attack wise and in defence is near on impossible.

     

     

    I can think of many more in front of Izzy who should be getting the Axe but if this is true, then for me top of that list should be the manager.

     

     

    HH!

     

     

    ——-

     

     

    Mhate

     

     

    It’s on a site called hitc on newsnow. Quoting the Sun.

     

     

    In terms of reliability of sources. A combo of Chinese whispers and shoite!

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  13. Tony it’s pretty sad that you try and equate a simple answer to a simple question with yesterday’s horrific events.

     

     

    But hey that’s the world you live in…….

  14. GlassTwoThirdsFull on

    DeniaBhoy 08:17

     

     

    Durrant demoted to U20s and Durie promoted. That should help team spirit

     

    ————

     

    Thought wee Stevie might have got a look in somewhere…..

  15. weeminger –

     

     

    I doubt if “while the company remains in business” covers an insolvency event.

     

     

    You cannot setup contracts for any employee, whether player or director or tea lady, with clauses that supersede the law. Saying a contract cannot be rescinded in the event of Administration is akin to putting a clause in that says the employee does not have to pay income tax. It can’t be done.

     

     

    The onerous contracts are worthless at the point of Administration if the Administrator wants to cancel them.

  16. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    Off to my cot,nasty shift starting all too soon.

     

     

    Do me one wee small favour,fellas.

     

     

    Don’t bait,don’t bite. Not the time just now.

     

     

    (I don’t want to appear sanctimonious,but give it a rest for a bit,please)

  17. Tony D

     

     

    I take it you will have known well the Bhoy killed in Glasgow yesterday, former president of the Bramalea club

     

     

    Heart felt sympathies to all involved, and to the Bramalea team – I will call my family in Canada later, they are members

     

     

    Hail Hail

  18. GlassTwoThirdsFull

     

     

    They are trying to follow the Hearts model. It’s embarrassing to be honest. I would imagine they will appoint a DOF. They will want Myth but my money is on Hately and probably promote Durie to gaffer.

     

     

    LB

  19. now that the most boring of all trolls on this blog has arrived its time to go and get on with some work

     

    ignore and he’ll go away, its the attention he craves

  20. if we had to pay £500k to rent that dump all those years ago, taking inflation into account how much will Sevco be paying shortly ? A need a new calculator it keeps coming up with the same answer.. £0

  21. Tom McLaughlin

     

    11:36 on

     

    23 December, 2014

     

     

    The company remains in business during admin. We’re talking about commercial contracts here, not employee ones (player or otherwise).

     

     

    Given that Llambias has hinted that some contracts have already been stopped albeit with a ‘see you in court’ message attached, it would suggest that there is at least some truth in the unbreakable contract rumours. Liquidation might be the only way to get totally clear of them.

  22. I believe the onerous contracts at Mordor refer to corporate agreements for marketing/retail/catering/trademarks etc.

     

     

    I’ve no idea how to go about such a thing but it has been reported the spivs have managed to carve up the income streams in such a way to make them secure even in Administration.

     

     

    These are the contracts the Directors are now taking about reneging on and seeing how they stand up in court.

  23. bournesouprecipe on

    Most of the MSM news didn’t mention that a vote for a new Sevco share issue had failed.

     

     

    Only the most significant part of their hilarious AGM.