I hear legendary Sevconian statement issuer, Jim “Rangers are dead” Traynor, is now firmly established in the Dave King camp. You may have found recent statements familiar, including last night’s, which focusses more on interrupting Celtic’s period of domination than building a well-run and sustainable football club.
Or it could be that Dave King is in Traynor’s camp, it’s hard to tell who is the monkey and who is the organ grinder when it comes to that lot and their long and dysfunctional relationships with PR masters.
My suspicions were raised when the Sunday Mail ran a complete non-story on their front page. Someone submitted a frivolous complaint to police – this is your news, Scotland. This was the kind of article which would be found in the same publication when Fergus McCann was in charge at Celtic; an unadulterated attack on the club. Now poor (not actually poor) Graham Wallace has to deal with them.
What price ‘loyalty’ after Traynor had his snout in the trough to a spectacular level too. We actually have a recipient of some of that enormous over-spend criticising the enormous over-spend. After his money was banked, of course. For the life of me I can never understand why the other lot put up with these types.
King’s eight point statement was an absolute hoot and completely inspired by Celtic’s position. There seems to be a pattern here: do wrong, then criticise others for doing as you did.
Point One:
King first addressed the liability for blame, and possible criminal investigations, which he believed should be heading towards the Rangers International board in the wake of comments made by chief executive, Graham Waddell, five months ago. He wrote:
….“It is beyond doubt that the CEO (and other board members) was aware last December that there was insufficient cash to last until the end of the season and the board failed to respond to my previous question in that regard. The CEO is now subject to a criminal complaint on this very issue but I believe that his comments were made with the full knowledge of the board. Certainly no one came out to contradict him. We should therefore expect any criminal investigation to extend to other board members.”
Dave King was a director of now-liquidated Rangers throughout the entire Craig Whyte era, when the club borrowed money from Ticketus to fund the payment of Lloyds debt, failed to pay social taxes and came crashing down. Whyte lied about the Ticketus deal but his non-execs kept their eyes, ears and mouths shut.
King was also a director of Rangers for over a decade, including the period of the David Murray-Campbell Ogilvie EBT shambles, which was proven to be illegal on five counts, the other counts are currently subject to an Upper Tier Tribunal.
Point 2:
“If cash was wasted as a result of mismanagement (presumably Charles Green etc.) then what steps are being taken to hold management accountable for this?”
As a non-executive director of failed Rangers FC PLC King was employed to ensure interests of stakeholders were being looked after. He failed singularly in this regard and has yet to be held to account.
Point Three:
“The board has conceded that it does not plan to effectively compete with Celtic in our first season back in the Premier League.”
This is sanity, not vanity. To suggest Newco throw so much money at the team that the instantly become competitive to Celtic is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing yet another insolvency event. These. People. Never. Learn.
Point Four:
“This is a great review for Celtic fans. It is stated that the board might only raise 20 million over the next 3 years. This paltry amount will guarantee that Celtic will be in a league of its own for the next few years- and possibly permanently thereafter. Celtic will continue to enjoy exclusive access to the Champions League windfalls and will go from financial strength to strength. The gap could become financially irreversible.”
Agree that Celtic will go from strength to strength and be remain a league of their own. Disagree that the review was great for Celtic fans. The review is little more than a laugh for Celtic fans, it changes nothing for us. I like the “permanently thereafter” line, though. It carries a bit more weight than “Generation of Domination”, which sounded ridiculous to some 9 years ago when it was first mooted but now sounds a tad understated.
Point Five:
“The board still does not have a clear plan for raising capital despite knowing for some months that a financial crisis was looming.”
Correct. On a related matter, Mr King has offered unspecified notions that he would encourage other people to buy tens of millions of pounds of shares, no clear plan has been identified, exactly what he accused Newco’s board of.
Point Six:
“It is interesting that the credit card companies agree with me that the season tickets should not be released to the club. However, it is genuinely shocking that this board has, for several months, withheld the knowledge that fans would not have access to credit card facilities when renewing season ticket purchases. The board preferred to blame “external parties” in an attempt to hide this serious non-disclosure. How can this board ask fans to ever trust them again?”
I think Mr King may have composed this comment ‘after a long lunch’. Credit card companies have not suggested season tickets should not be released to (sic.) the club, they simply don’t want anything to do with these transactions.
It is not shocking at all that the decision by credit card companies was not shared by fans for a number of months. Wallace would have spent much of this time looking for an alternative. It would have been inappropriate for a PLC to disclose sensitive financial negotiations to the general public months before that information becomes relevant.
Point Seven:
“The board continues the blame game and takes no responsibility for the current debacle. In truth, it is this board’s stubborn refusal to secure fresh equity that is the cause of the present fragile state of the club’s finances. The board clearly hoped to muddle along by using the season ticket advances from fans. This review should reinforce to fans that this board cannot serve as an appropriate custodian for their season ticket money.”
If fans want to know who to blame for the death of Rangers and the undignified mess Newco are in, they need look no further than the boards headed by Sir David Murray and Craig Whyte, both of which Dave King served on. Blaming Wallace instead is nonsense.
Point Eight:
“The board has admitted that Rangers is not presently a “going concern” and yet offers no plan on how this will be dealt with in the short term. Fans could once again lose their season ticket advances if given to the club at this time. It is unconscionable that this board has done nothing to bolster the finances since the last AGM.”
Fans of Oldco or Newco have never lost their season ticket advances. What is he thinking of? Does he know what club he’s talking about?
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TOSB
That one might be a bit expensive!
Toooooo many letters.
Wind Turbine
From TSFM
“What will it take for our football authorities to lay charges against the Govan club for bringing the game into disrepute?We’ve had tax men,sheriffs officers,and now Police Scotland investigations and yet,still silence from Blazerville.An absolute scandal”.
Bumping on from BRTH on previous thread, but first from Ewing Grahame..the drivel
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/10794515/Rangers-facing-25-point-deduction.html
and now the more accurate stuff…
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma
12:01 on
29 April, 2014
By the way the article in this mornings Daily Telegraph sports a quote from a Hampden source which states that the SFA cannot refuse The Rangers a licence to play next year because they have no bank debt.
I have written elsewhere that this is complete and utter nonsense as the licensing rules make it quite plain what should be considered, must be considered and what may be considered when granting any club a licence whether Gold, Silver or Bronze.
The absence of bank debt is not a criteria which automatically gets anyone a licence in any category– never has been– and so the source is talking complete and utter bollox.
The licensing criteria sets out things very clearly in many respects and qualified accounts, accounts which cast doubts about being a going concern, dubiety about fulfilling all of the obligations and fixtures for the coming season and so on are all grounds for refusal of a licence whether the club has bank debt or not.
……………
So in fluent Orwellian, the SFA via Grahame tell us that they can issue a licence to a club if that club is such a high credit risk that no bank will lend them any money, well because that club obviously has no bank debt.
On that logical basis, no club with bank debt should be getting a licence.
I don’t know who’s worse the unnamed (surprise) spokesman or Grahame for printing it.
These people are paid money too.
leftclicktic……
None of that happened!!
What are you talking about man!
I demand to know your name and address!
Excellent article once again, Paul. I expect to see a similar dismantling of King’s statement from Wilson on the BBC website any time now :-)
Ernie
re. ‘The Euromillions Bun’
“Ah’m no’ the brightest tool in the boax but that’s the only wie ah see oot eh this mess”.
Stoater!
Thanks Gordon J but I think the part about play-offs may be the SPFL/SFA’s window of corruption, much like Moonbeam’s answer.
Proudbhoy
Re. ‘Celtic v deadco’ 80s onwards
There’s a cracking wee thing aw the youngsters are into these days called Youtube. Here’s a stormer to start you off with… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlJSIV3b_A
Summa of Sammi:
I’m not intelligent, the people who wrote the books that I read – they’re intelligent. If I was intelligent then those authors would be reading my books.
I’m not negative mate, if you only knew, I’m not negative, but neither am I stupid, or blind, or greedy, or without compassion.
I’m not sure if I’ve missed something or if you’ve missed something but let me state this one last time for the record…
I don’t care what the Rangers have done, I care about the authorities that allowed them to do it.
The Rangers will take care of themselves and the authorities will bend over backwards to facilitate that, if they are allowed to.
From day one I’ve always advocated a level playing field for all, within the rules, and in the tiny minority that I am in, I do include Rangers in that too.
Once they serve an appropriate sentence.
THREE Celtic fans have been arrested as trouble broke out at a youth cup final between rivals Celtic and Rangers for the second year in a row.
Last night’s Glasgow Cup under-17s fixture at Celtic Park was attended by a crowd of about 8,000 and with the senior teams playing in different leagues, it was the highest-profile meeting between the Old Firm this year.
Groups of Rangers fans had to be escorted to the Celtic stadium in the east end of Glasgow by police and the match, which Celtic won 1-0, was disrupted by flares and smoke bombs emanating mainly from the Celtic enclosure.
Arrests were made by officers for possession of a Rosary beads, which is not permitted inside stadiums as they can be used for stangulation, a fireworks offence and an alleged breach of the peace.
A police spokeswoman said: “There were three arrests in total, one within the ground for possession of prohibited item, one before the game for contravention of the Fireworks Act and one after the game for an alleged breach of the peace.
“Several pyrotechnics were let off during the game causing a dense green smoke and our inquiries with Celtic are continuing to trace those responsible.”
It follows similar scenes at the same match last April when the under-17s sides played at Firhill, the home of Partick Thistle which Celtic won also.
At that game, the kick-off was delayed as supporters set off green flares and smoke bombs, and damaged seats in the stands.
Two fans were arrested for invading the pitch and further arrests were made in the weeks after the match over the trouble.
leftclicktic
I agree about Salary McMoist.
He is a large shareholder, I mean a shareholder with quite a few shares…
So he is an important asset for Kingo, and since Greggsy hasn’t endorsed anyone in the farrago, he is clearly positioning himself for the post nuclear situation.
He will be their manager in their next incarnation …so happy days.
HH
Awe_Nawed
Aw naw,
I’m writing to my msp!!!
Dontbrattbackinanger. Sorry I can’t attend the north east swallython tomorrow night! Tried for 4 hours last night trying to get B&B, guest house or hotel room for one night in about Aberdeen! Only available were the big bucks hotels..example Hilton £190 pn. Even out of town, premier inn Bucksburn £90,scandalous prices. Budget digs fully booked midweek!
Ended up back in Peterhead £50 pn double ensuite. Bus to Union sq takes 1h 15m, last bus from a/deen midnight, which means well past my bed time (early drive in the morn). So once again apologies to all your N/E buddies.
DBBIA and BSR
Funny stuff on the last thread about Mr & Mrs Simon’s domestic issues.
The Sound of Violence
Like a Bridge over Troubled Waters – I will lay you out
Hello Darkside my old friend
Don’t drink when you’re angry CSC
Slip siding away ….
HH
Justafan
If you are around…
Thanks for your kind words about Tony and his site.
HH
Thats a remix from the original sliding away ;-)
HH
Philbhoy
:)))))
Till later all
RWE
Sevco Pyro in Paradise
I read this the other day…
Is this why the SPFL would also like the clubs, and not the SFA, to have the veto on whether or not a club should have full SFA membership? i.e. clubs will veto another Sevco?
Summa of Sammi:
I just read your post again, and I’m still not sure what you were saying but have I got this right, do you think I should spend my money to support a corrupt game?
Is that what you were saying?
Let me give you a trivial perspective…
Leigh Griffiths might have sung a song, might not have…. police, national witch-hunt, maybe another national summit.
Ian Black bets against his own team… go to the naughty chair and stay there for ten minutes, you naughty boy.
Handsome and Sparkling performance.
.
Kit..
You stated You won’t pay another Cent to Celtic FC till Circa Rangers were brought to Justice..
The Rangers have Won..
This Morning another Poster l respect GG said He Wanted Rangers Fans (British Subjects) brought to Justice for singing God Save the Queen..
I repeat..
Rangers have Won..
..
What would Jock do..?
Summa
Frantic07- No worries, the ole granite city is pretty expensive these days.
Luckily I still can pay with my credit/debit card for any food/drink/accommodation/sheep botherin’ the evenin’ may throw up.
DBBIA
Sheep bothering!
Brilliant!
What do you call a field full of sheep in eberdeen?
A leisure centre.
Dontbrattbackinanger. How lucky for you to be a Tim and be able to use a credit/debit card. Ah know some people who can’t get a season ticket with one!
007:
Maybe I have lost the plot,
You stated You won’t pay another Cent to Celtic FC till Circa Rangers were brought to Justice..
Can you please show me where I said anything of the sort.
Sevco fans confusion over whether to back the board or King, the board or King, the…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bF8NB5369c
No warning: clean, family fun
.
Kit..
This Morning l Posted a Vague conversation That Jock and His Dad..’Might’ have Had..
Then stating My Love for Celtic FC is Unconditional..
What if Jock had Chucked it in 1966 because a Corrupt ref gave Rangers a 50/50 Penalty..or if a Celticc FC ceo were Not doing there Job as You wished..
Sliding Doors..,
Summa
bournesouprecipe
14:16 on 29 April, 2014
Wind Turbine
—————————–
This wasn’t really the heavy breasted individual I was referring to!!!
Big Jock would pack it in for Leeds.
Union Berlin looking for a new coach
HH
Kitalba
Thanks for posting the Conlon family vindication.
HH
007:
Where did I say that Rangers and their punishment had any bearing on what I put into Celtic?
RWE:
It shamed the British establishment to its very core.
007:
Are you really advocating that regardless of how bent the game is we should spend our hard earned, after tax, money on supporting it?
Is that what you are saying because I’m confused.
.
Kit..
I’m just me mate, just one person, but after almost fifteen years of having a season ticket, every single one of which I have not lived in Scotland, and I think I’ve sat in my own seat twice in all that time, this year I did not renew, and I cancelled my subscription to Celtic TV too. I’m not paying CELTIC to ignore the corruption a single day longer, why should I. It’s meant to be sport, sport is meant to be sporting, but Scottish football is anything but and until Celtic – the Biggest Club in Scotland – start behaving with integrity on behalf of Celtic in general and Scottish football in particular, then I will not be putting a single penny their way soon.
Maybe it was Lost in Translation..But Verbatim is Not the Same ..
As l Have Said Rangers have Won..
More than we ever could have thought..
We have Many of the Worst trait a Man could have in Our Ranks..a ‘Deserter’..
Summa
HT
Special Hot Day Treat
HaveYouDoneTheLawnYet CSC
007:
So you were reading things into my post that are not there?
There were more reasons than just that for me to reach the decision I did but mate no disrespect to you, I just can’t be bothered with the hassle if I was to list them all. And besides Celtic will get by just fine without my coin.
And you call me a deserter. So be it.