The recent trial of Mr Craig Whyte further underlined how Rangers (1872-2012) was a high-wire act in the final years before liquidation.
Once Malmo and Maribor had put an end to their European ambitions for season 2011-2012, then the numbers simply didn’t add up.
The sight of the Ibrox club being out of Europe so early was a great shock to the football world given the brilliant young coach in charge of Rangers at that time.
However, the financial realities were undeniable.
I reported in the autumn and winter of 2011 that Rangers were in deep trouble.
Quite simply, they were running out of cash.
Of course, with Pavlovian predictability, The People sneered and smeared.
Mr Whyte was a billionaire, and all was well they screamed.
I reported the situation at Rangers faithfully at the time, and that can be seen by looking at the blog archive or in the pages of ‘Downfall’.
This high-risk strategy at Rangers wasn’t entirely new.
Under David Murray, the European gamble had become a major part of the plan at Ibrox.
With a failure to achieve Ten In A Row all that was left was a shot at the Big Cup.
The city rivals could always boast of what their club had done in 1967.
David Murray, with the bravado of a riverboat gambler, bets the farm on success in the Champions League.
The Dutchman got whatever he wanted, including a state of the art training facility.
He was also allowed to spend lavishly on players.
In doing so, David Murray allowed Dick Advocaat to, in effect, bankrupt Rangers in the period 1998-2001.
Even so, European success eluded the Ibrox club and they never fully emerged from the debt spiral.
By 2009 the bank was calling the shots.
It must have seemed such a godsend when an award-winning chap told The People that their club were about to be bought by a billionaire!
When the bank did walking away in May 2011, the only thing keeping Rangers afloat was European revenue.
Now Sevco seems to be going the same way.
Given the vagaries of a bouncing ball then the Engine Room Subsidiary could have a highly successful Europa League campaign.
However, crashing out early could make things interesting for the Holding Company vehicle.
That is especially true if they fail to move enough players from the current wage bill.
The “undisclosed fee” for Joe Garner tells a tale in itself.
Now Pedro seems to be working on a football budget that seems predicated on European success.
As with old Rangers, The People are being soothed by an award winning chap that all is rosy in the financial garden.
Dear reader, we’ve been here before.
We’ve been here before…
We have indeed been here before.
It’s incredible that the same old “business plan” which worked so well in the past is being pursued again!
What was it Einstein said again was the definition of insanity?
The more things change down Edmiston Drive, the more they stay the same.
Any time scale on SDI v King/Murray?
Ditto King and his Court Of Session appearance re the Takeover Board ruling?
Ditto the WiFi guys. There was talk of a counter claim being raised by the club/company/thingy which I don’t think ever got off the ground?
On the 31 January 2012 Nikica Jelavic was sold to Everton for £5m.
RFC fans got very shirty.
To survive, RFC should have sold three or four players during that last window. Several million more would have paid the wee tax case and got them to the summer.
They were out of the Champions League And Europa.
Surely cash flow forecasts told them to sell more guy’s, lowering the payroll and bringing in millions?
Were management scared of fans reactions? Would hapless Alastair have rebelled?
Ally’s puerile mentality and ego, his crap record in Europe destroying income and Whyte not being a billionaire but not selling players for fear of fans finally ended them.
But sdm and his noddy donkey Board drove them there and Jabba told the Gullible that Whyte was a billionaire.
It’s happening again but they don’t have £30m of players to sell this time.
Whyte deserves £18m for his five years of hell. And he was innocent.
Laddies and mental gents!
I am privy to new information coming from somewhere else hitherto privy only to the Ayebrokes- Eye-Blokes denizens!
The ‘King’ that is Dave will step down in light of the FUK Tribunal Appeal Board stripping, only to be gladly replaced by anyone answering to the names of either ‘William’, ‘King’ or, preferably, ‘William King’, henceforth and forthwith to be named the, er, ‘New King Of All Eye-Eye-Brokes And Her Minions!’
And, although this man’s whereabouts are yet to be known, not unlike her current ‘leader’, we shall all now bow before him in knightly worshipful sanctity, and ambiguity, dignity and, er, grace, as it were …
‘All Hail William King!
And wherever he may come from!
May he lead us from this eternal Tim-mocking darkness unto yon eternal dimmish light!’
Hail him! Hail him, You ungrateful mangy scurvy dogs!
For he be your Saviour, wheresoever, and whomsoever, he may be!’
Etcetera etcetera, Ad infinitum.
What happened to this cold shoulder effect ,where is all the money coming from i dont hear anything about soft loans anymore so whats going on, how can they bring all these players, and how did they manage to get into Europe, its all doing my head in
I think remember the sfa stated that they would keep an eye on teams finances to insure what happened to the oldco could not happen again….but sevco are spending money they don’t have again….. phil has uncovered it all and the sfa just turn a blind eye….embrassing really….much like the journalists in scotland….comedy gold for Celtic fans everyday of the week
Whilst it is always nice to have a laugh at the boys in blue my anger is still directed at the SFA. It is not just the Ranjurs issue it is the governance of Scottish football that has become a laughing stock. No action by the SFA on the financial mess at Ibrox and the fitness of Directors there. No action on the assault on Scott Brown. No action on the racism against Scott Sinclair. No action on the battery thrown at Celtic players. It is an absolute disgrace. In any other footballing country the sanctions for those offenses would be have been severe – and rightly so. How much longer will the SPL clubs stay silent? Staying schtum is not an option!
I dunno, staying schtum seems to be working fine for them.
An excellent precis Phil. While those of us with a more “rounded” education can follow your blogs and understand what you are saying, our deluded and gullible opponents on the other side of the city are asking, “Whits aw this history shite?”,as they sit with their seventeen fingers playing the Billy Boys on two string banjo
To improve their understanding Phil, may I respectfully suggest that you also publish your blogs in the “Janet and John ” format.
Just trying to do my bit for ……kind
After the magic hat we now have the magic sombrero
Phil as you seem to be more wrong on the current situation you seem to talk more and more about being right on the situation back in 2011 to 2012. If the rumours are correct that general ashley has come to a piece with secco and they get their retail revenues back – what are you going to do with your blog? Just turn it into a sectarian site for people to belittle secco and it’s supporters? What happened to tick tock? Suspect it won’t be long until secco announce they have a credit line! Are the boardmembers still ripping themselves apart over disagreements or actually quite happily signing the next cheque! Admit it man – you’ve got the last few years grossly wrong!!
“…general ashley has come to a piece with secco…”
Can I have that in English, please?
Phil could you tell all of us what you think CW’s options might be after being found not guilty are?
Déjà poo…
That feeling you get when you’re seeing the same shit all over again.
However, Iwould love to see UEFA ban them on the Financial Fair Play ruling.
Not that the UEFA cup is a great money spinner in the first place..
It disnae really matter whether its worth two bob or Black Bob…they shouldna’e be allowed to compete.
They are in breach of the financial regs…end of.
Why this is being allowed to continue is beyond me.
Oh..Ah’ve just been reminded…
Its Scotland.
How any football supporters can continue to trust these financial Charlatans is beyond me. Having followed the court case closely, the most striking fact for me was the jiggery pokery various witness’s were involved in, for their own gain.All those financial twats with varying descriptions trusted with other peoples money and merely abusing it at every turn. Hiding behind their shirts and ties, conning and stealing like some sort of degenerate financial sociopaths. The whole court case was a distressing metaphor for the sad world we live in today.
Greedy Greedy men. Hell mend them all. Nothing more than common thieves, and daytime robbers.
I hear what you are saying Phil but I have a certain sympathy for David Murray and every other owner who thinks he only has to invest a few million more the get the European rewards,- I once gambled everything including an inheritance on the Euromillions lottery, my thinking was that if I bought enough tickets I was bound to win, and as it happened I did win but I see now that that was a very risky strategy, but when you are desperate you do desperate things.
Sympathy for David Murray. You having a laugh FFS. He should be investigated by the Football governing bodies and the Police. Plenty more material for Phil to write about. Web of deceit and lies aplenty.
How much did you win, and how much did you spend, Lex?
I could do with a Lotto win myself right about now, and I’ve heard of this strategy working before, in fact, believe this or not, my mate won the thing TWICE, one month after another, as he’d become hooked after his first win, and kept buying the tickets.
Thing is, I never got to ask him about his arithmetic or how he had worked it, as he died suddenly a few months later, and we’re all still trying to work out what kind of karma he had going on for all that to happen in that brief 6 month period.
Will Craig Whyte now be able to press ahead with his previous claim of £18M from the new club, considering he was recently found NOT GUILTY of of any Fraudulent activity during his takeover over the previous club’s assets?
There’s none so blind as those who will not see. As for the award winning plagiarizing, peddler of lies, he’s quite entertaining in an absurd way. A paid fantasist with a brass neck, preaching to a declining sub-human culture. The Govanite gobshite culture are in their death throes, doomed fish thrashing about on the deck of reality.
Scottish football will not shed a tear if this club follow follows its predecessor ….
The fans of football will not shed a tear if The Entity goes under like it’s predecessor, is more like it. Scottish Football needs it to survive to make them more money and to keep the myth alive. Next season will be telling as it goes on tour as they have pawned the family silver and bought a new group of superstars.
I beg to differ: Tears of joy and/or laughter. ?