Will Alastair James Johnston become the new chairman of Rangers International Football Club?
I think that is a reasonable question to pose given the events today at the Court of Session.
There is no doubt that Mr Johnston the ticks all the boxes box of “Real Rangers man”.
I was interested to learn today that his cash injection was sent straight to the bank and not via the Holding Company Vehicle.
That almost sounds as if the clock was ticking towards insolvency before he acted.
Almost…
In recent days I’m told that the Sevco High Command has reached out to the Admirable Warburton.
I’m told that they want the ex-City trader to be understanding about his severance claim.
Their reasoning to the manager of Nottingham Forrest is that the circumstances around his “resignation” were down to Dave King.
When I heard that I am more and more convinced that the Sevco High Command is moving to a post-King situation.
Of course, you are unlikely to read such an analysis in the Radar press.
I think the legal wrangling with the Take Over Panel was really the beginning of the end for him with other members of the Sevco High Command.
Indeed, my information is that Mr King floated a rather jaw-dropping idea via his place men in the Blue Room.
His cunning plan was for Sevco to borrow the money required to satisfy the Take Over Panel.
Moreover, this was to be secured against the stadium and the training ground.
Suffice to say it was quickly shot down by the other brethren in the Blue Room.
Pressure is also being put on the Sevco High Command to come to some agreement with Senhor Pedro Miguel Faria Caixinha.
Not all of his sacked backroom staff joined him at Cruz Azul so they will really need some compensation.
In short, it is coming at them from all angles at Chaos FC.
Let’s just say it is a highly adrenalized situation in Ibrox at the moment.
I hope this communiqué finds you and yours well at this time of year.
Season’s greetin and a hoopy New Year to all at Ibrox.
Some great discussion points as always Phil. Your egg chasing pal’s comments were a real insight into the main issues DK will face regards disclosure. It will be interesting to see Glibby’s strategy here, I would suggest he will put things back and push the envelope as much he can.
Regards Murty’s news at statement o’clock, if they lose as I expect them to do today (7/2 Killie) it will be interesting to see how he copes with the inevitable violent criticism. Motherwell, Celtic, Aberdeen and away to Ross co will make or break the young manager. The board have used their last turn of the cards here. Even they could not go thru another manager replacement exercise, Surely.!!
Took advantage of 7/2 odds on the Killie today, what’s more interesting to note is that “Rangers “ were 150/1 earlier today to finish in bottom 6 with Skybet(sponsors don’t forget) .
They are no longer accepting bets at all on this outcome.
Do they know something?
Hail,hail and a merry Xmas to you and yours.
That might have just been a temporary suspension on match day.
150/1 was still available as of this morning.
Merry Christmas to all the readers here, I doubt we will ever have a better Christmas present than that delivered yesterday by the Court of Session…. Hilarious! A special Christmas message to the deluded Mr Raeburn, looks like he needs some seasonal cheer more than anyone on this site!
Oh well as the hour is late… Lights Out!
Astounding comments by TRFC Ltd, Managing Director, Stewart Robertson – see Mail Online. Here are just two gems from the pice – take a screenshot:
“It [Lord B’s judgement] doesn’t have any impact on us at all”
Will King be true to promises: “One Hundred per cent, Absolutely”
I must now disagree with your long-standing assessment of SR as the “serious professional” at Ibrox – he has either gone 110% native or these are the words of Jabba and SR is tied to a chair in an empty wine cellar somewhere near Jo’burg.
Can I put a scenario to you Phil? (or anybody else who knows the answer)
Lets say DCK makes the 11M offer (no laughing at the back please) and it gets rejected by shareholders.
What would happen then?
You rather miss the point.
Mr King will have to come up with £11m and put it in an escrow account before he makes the share offer.
Will it not also cost King circa £1m to issue a “prospectus”?
Rugger Guy has already covered this in previous posts.
OK.
What if he does not do this, what then?
I have been advised that the SFA have called an emergency EGM to discuss the crisis at Ibrox.
Its on the 30th February 2018.
BBC Scotland are planning to screen it live.
And adapt the Gregorian calendar (30th Feb?)to accommodate ?
Merry Christmas to you and your family Phil….. and all the guys and gals who post on here.
Hail hail.
I think that would be clear on the true share price at present. Under recent transactions on the J P Jenkins site the price paid has been 27.5p but these were small transactions. There has though been a recent transaction for 50,000 shares where the price was 25p. So it seems someone, perhaps Club##, is prepared to pay the full price but does not have the where withall to by large numbers.
So it seems that the small share holder may be prepared to hold out and not take the 20p offer but the for those with large blocks, like Easdale for instance, 20p may be as good as it gets. Especially if the prospectus is comprised of bad news about the true state of affairs at Ibrox.
Rumour on the streets of Govan is that Dave , the saviour and in whom they all trust, has upped sticks south of the Limpopo, and disappeared into the almost impenetrable jungle just behind his back fence.
He was last heard muttering something about Solomon’s mines.
I sense Stanley moment in 10 possibly 20 years. “Dave King I presume? I’ve got a letter for you . It’s a warrant for you arrest for contempt of court.”
If only.
Best wishes.
I was in a bar yesterday when the six o’clock news came on several Sevco fans who were present had not heard of the Takeover Panel had no idea what it was about and claimed King was a billionaire who was just toying with the financial authorities,anyway I bought them a beer with the money I won on Murts being named as their manager cheers Phil
So, one lawyer in a courtroom says King’s penniless and a judge rules he’s not. Isn’t there a punishment for lying in court?
Yeah, it’s called Perjury and if you or I tried it we’d be locked up instantly.
But not Glibby, never Glibby, he slips & slides through courtrooms like a viper on speedy acid.
I think it’s something to do with his Freemasonic status of, er, ‘Grand Wizard’ (see ‘Arch Criminal’) where even the ‘brotherly facing’ judges can’t actually punish him personally for any of the scams he’s running.
And although it initially appears to be mere speculation, there must be something to it, as I’ve never seen anyone breeze past the judges in quite the way that man does.
Even Lord Bannatyne called him the almost complimentary ‘sophisticated player’ rather than ‘An outright lying chancer who I want to see before me next week for his nonsense’.
With the Concert Party takeover now judged to be unlawful it throws open the doors to private litigation by all those who incurred losses.
Mike Ashley, Easdales and Somers, Llambias and Leach lost their jobs. All those financial losses, loss of reputation, loss of income, share price drop on losing NOMAD and exchange listing. This Board caused all that and their takeover was unlawful.
They supported a boycott to bring the club down. Some say they were behind the boycott and orchestrated it.
No. The concert party is not illegal or unlawful. What is not permitted is to act in concert and then not provide an offer for ALL the shares once you go past 30%. Don’t make up things.
Proving the board caused all those things is not easy and no one has sued anyone despite MAs big pockets.
I don’t believe that AJ is about to take over and I also don’t believe he put any money in, not the amount assumed anyway. Why would he? He isn’t thick.
Phil hinted at a much more likely scenario whereby the club or company effectively pay any bills that arise from this.
If King acted as part of a consortium and that consortium now runs the company, then it logically follows that the consortium and the company should bear some responsibility for paying up here. My guess is they will.
Any attempt to force King’s hand here could lead to real trouble. Easier to stagger on from one crisis to the next than jump into an abyss.
King is f@@ked whatever he does – it’s only a matter of how much damage he’s prepared to do as he leaves. He could easily crash the whole charade tomorrow – so I’d expect him to threaten his fellow conspiritors to cough up or he’ll f@@k them up too – just becase he can. We are about to see the exact temperature of King’s passion for the club his dad wouldn’t let him watch. Let’s start the Dutch auction at minus 273 degrees Celsius (absolute zero).
Ghott’s voor Domme!
What a brilliant idea, zero for zeroes!
King is caught by his lies in a catch 22 position.
If he does not comply with the Court judgement he could be jailed.
If he does instruct NOAL to offer £11m for shares at 20p then he is clearly wealthy not penniless and indeed does control NOAL. He is therefore a Perjurer.
The business is trading whilst insolvent and perennially requires cash injections to survive. The shares are worthless. 20p is a great offer.
A public statement is required to update the Accounts statements if King is not contributing but a newcomer is. Otherwise the Accountants are misleading shareholders.
The news on Murty is a surrender on taking on Aberdeen for second slot this season. Murty in Europa League qualifiers is ridiculous also. The under 20 youth coach running the show is lack of ambition by the club/Board. It’s incompetent.
How can Murty be ready for the job but Seasoned manager McInnes not be ready? Yet they went for him. Lol. Sevco tripping over their own lies.
Clearly McInnes made the correct decision. Are fans actually waking up to the week by week survival situation here?
It isn’t a catch 22 if there’s a third option, and there is. He can raise funds in order to satisfy the court judgement. Doing so wouldn’t leave him in contempt.
Anyone who thinks that King is about to walk away here has not been paying attention. And this is where it gets interesting.
King will destroy them rather than lose his grip. The prevailing question is “what would happen in regards to the Friday ruling if Rangers pressed the pre-packed administration button?”
I genuinely don’t know the answer to that or where this is going but I know this; King will ruthlessly pursue any course of action that protects interests he has deemed worth protecting. He knows business law inside out too.
It looks like they will sell everything and everyone they can to keep the lights on for a few more weeks.
OK, here’s my Mystic Meg prediction: Mr David Cunningham King will make no offer for the remaining 70% of the share capital. He will release a Statement emphasising his profound respect for the court’s decision, but restating the position he established in court in October, that he doesn’t have a pot to liquidate in. Thus, reluctantly, he finds himself unable to comply with the court’s directive.
Which may be rather fortunate for certain members of the Scottish Mainstream Media, judging by some of today’s coverage. After all, if they were found to have been complicit in a campaign to discourage shareholders from availing themselves of the legal protection being afforded them by Lord Bannatyne – for example by attempting to persuade them that their shares were worth more than the offer price – then those journalists and their outlets could find themselves in rather hot water.
Naturally, you wouldn’t expect this to dawn on your average bonehead sports hack. But I’m genuinely surprised their lawyers aren’t all over it, it is a serious issue…
Rugger man’s comments on the degree of disclosure required by law in King’s offer prospectus are crucial here. Even if King has the money and wants to spend the money, can he handle putting the truth on paper under threat of fraud charges – not to mention the wrath of the more volatile followers.
Just one more reason why I think King will simply make himself bloody scarce in SA and hope it all blows over – well it worked with SARS – didn’t it?
He told an untruth in the Chairman’s statement in the last Accounts.
Guy cannot help himself. Does it all the time.
Even Bannatyne called him a sophisticated player….. mendacious ?
There’s no need to assume King’s offer would be incriminating for him though.
King delisted from AIM and didn’t find a Nomad so he didn’t have to meet AIM’s disclosure requirements – he saw how that worked for the Ashley loans deal and wasn’t going to go there – the £3mil pay-off to Ashley to tear-up the merchandising deal is a fine xample of the kind of material fact that would need to be in the offer prospectus – and King chose not to share that with the paying plebs until he had no choice.
If you think King delisted from AIM and went ex-Nomad so he could do everything above board and kosher then I have a bridge in London you may be interesting in purchasing for cash.
SFA to shock everyone with a fit and proper stayement that helps Sevco jettison King without disclosure. Nothing to see here, let’s all just move on.
NOLLAIG SHONA Phil , excellent articles, let’s hope this mob go down very,very quickly ma sides are crackin’ wae this comedy gold.
Have a Merry Crimbo Phil. Cheers for the news.
Will they jump or will they be pushed.
Oh please sumday push em.
An interesting thought occurred to me re all the litigation. As king was pleading poverty was sevco footing the bill for the QCs,lawyers and counsel or was king funding it himself As he probably knew he wasn’t going to win and Lord Glen Cova declaring king was “penniless” it wouldn’t be beyond him to get sevco to foot the bill.
Your thoughts on this would be helpful
That very thought had crossed my mind.
The ignorance of the ordinary Newco fan is astonishing.
With the BBC and the usual suspects pushing the line that no one will sell their shares at 20p when they are worth much more they are in for a shock.
Apart from the fan investors and Club 1872, the institunional investors plus those who have been disenfranchised will be tripping over themselves for a quick exit.
Lets not forget the dilution of the share value as a result of the AGM resolution being passed and who knows how many new shares are out there.
In a months time 20p will look very generous.
I see BBC Scotland sport this morning led with the story that the Dons can cut Celtic’s lead to two points instead of highlighting the 8 points gap that will open up if Celtic prevail.
Not a biggee? It is when they constantly attempt to accentuate any negatives around Celtic but dare not report on the chaos ensuing at Ibrox and the perilous state of their finances.
Best of luck to Murty today, he will need it. Anything less than 3 points at Killie and his tenure as interim permanent manager will come to a speedy end.
Hope he has a solid contract encompassing a salary reflecting his new status.
Also good news for anyone involved in mentoring the latest manager with the prospect of picking up a few bob along the way.
I checked the BBC on my phone today for an update on the Celtic game only to discover that there’s a link to Welsh Football on the Mainpage, with NO direct link to the Scottish League at all, I had to a manual Search for it.
These bastards have been doing our game down for years but now they’ve finally shown how little they think of Scottish football fans with this final insult, ‘not only lower than the Championship, but lower than the WELSH!’
(No personal offence meant, Taff, you know I love you guys)
I haven’t trusted the BBC for decades, grew up well aware of their anti-Scottish, and particularly their anti-Celtic, bias, hut I’ll never return to them for news on anything from now on, not even one football result, no clicks for those pricks, no cash for their Sevvy-loving snash.
And yon TheGuardian mob are just as bad, blatant unequivocal bias against Celtic &. Scotland, though the shameful actions of our national football association members warrant imprisonment rather than mere press mockery & denigration.
They have had it in for the Scottish game for a long time and now, with Celtic’s total ascendence, they finally have an excuse to bump us under the Welsh League in order of ‘importance’ and I think it’s bloody Disgraceful.
Yours,
P.R. Petual-Moaner,
33 Imperial High St,
Swindleton,
Poole in Dorset
Talking to people (peepel and just people) around the bars and shops etc there is a general lack of ignorance on situations Sevco. I’d split into thirds.
1/3 have a rough idea like say, I would. Can sense all isn’t well, they either shrug and don’t care like most or they either hope it will get better or like me they delight in it.
1/3 have some idea that all isn’t well from obvious stuff like today. But think it’s all fine and will be alright on the Night….again some shrug some don’t care and some like me delight.
Finally 1/3 are living on hope, pure hope that this will all get better and the gers will be back. They are the ultimate pawns in the clusterfuck. They go to the games they back the team that they think is rangers.
I pity them, really I do.
GIRFUY.
HH
There is a general ignorance. Not lack of it.
Yes, definitely no lack of ignorance. Or ostrich-like head-in-the-sand denial.
Still, all this talk of NOAL and King reminds me it’s almost christmas, generally not my favourite time of year however this feels like a much better one.
And the award for professional asset stropper of the decade goes to . . .
Charles Green . . .
for turning a cut-price basket assets into a global institution and money tree with 54 titles, before slipping skilfully from the memory of the murderous masses as a person of interest. Bravo!
My tweet from earlier today
“The media spin will be “shareholders being advised not to accept 20p offer per share as it is not in their best interest to do so as they are worth more”.
I think there will be a silent stampede by the more enlightened to dump those shares and get out of Dodge.”
These shares are also about to be diluted to further diminish their worth.
The BBC, and others, are already spinning the line about the higher share value. It is an absolute disgrace that these twisted fools are paid for by public license fee. They should be dissecting this and warning those who are most vulnerable, the supporters, that they are being taken for a ride. They know full well the implications and the truth yet they publicly lie and tub thump for a criminal, a convicted criminal. They do this because their bias simply cannot allow them to contemplate a football set up without a team from Ibrox playing in it. They’ve also been fully appraised of their own personal safety and risk of retribution by those very same supporters who simply do not want to hear said truth.
That said, it does not abdicate these reporters of their responsibilities to these supporters. If they had told them the truth from the start they might have a new stable club built for the long term, but alas they wanted it now, they wanted to feed their superiority complex.
Shame on them.
In a months time 20p will be a price they could only dream of.
Saturday morning and no statement attributable to King yet to surface in response to m’luds judgement.
Level 5 having a sleep in?
Merry Christmas to you and your family Phil!!! Thanks for all you provide us throughout the year.
Hahahaha different day same old sevco. Laugh a minute.
Life is grand isn’t it Phil! Best wishes to you and yours.
Btw, I don’t believe he can legally use the newco to make the share offer. He could ask them to trust him and borrow the money, then loan it to him to then buy back the shares. He would then overinvest later…(bwahahaha).
But on a serious note, King could call in his +£5M loan he has on books. But that would be scorched earth policy. Truly a developing story here…
Hi Phil another insightful piece.
Nollag shona to you and your family
Might be about Teach Phaidi oig over the new year if you fancy a pint of porter lol
All the best
pre Christmas slowdown on the sale of brown brogues over govan way.mad rush for brown trousers though.
Phil, All the best to you and yours for Christmas and the New Year.
I see a busy and prosperous year ahead for you. Will it be “Downfall II”, “Downfall Again”, “Double Downfall”, “FFS, not Downfall again?”, “Final Destination, Downfall”, “Lie, Cheat, Downfall, Repeat”, “Falling Down” [a truly grim movie]
One thing is for certain, 2018 will not be dull.
“Lie, Cheat, Downfall, Repeat.” does have a lovely ring to it 🙂
What about “The Downfall”, “The The Downfall” then “The The The Downfall”? 🙂
you forgot The International Downfall, lol.
All a great read Phil but the lights (unfortunately) are still on in the biggotdome
Dear reader I can exclusively reveal that the lights will remain “on” at Ibrox, more of the same tired tall tales from twisted mind of Phillip Joseph Gerard MacGobshite, anything to get a donation from gullible tims and keep his tawdry site alive for another week.
Perhaps if you concentrated on your “own team” then people would stop laughing and calling you an obsessed cretin although I doubt you could even find Breezeblock Boulevard Parkhead without the aid of Sat-Nav.
WATP.
I think you might be angry about something.
Has someone you care about given you the cold shoulder lately?
WATP
We
Avoid
Tax
Payments
As you can exclusively reveal the lights will remain on, oh wise one, can you state for how long?
I’m guessing, until the guy from the leccy company comes round to read the meter, and finds a big magnet stuck to the side of it.
Your club is deid, mate.
Joyeaux Noel.
Aye, the future’s so bright you gotta wear shades, eh, Rayban?
Did you hear this news doon the Ludge during the week?
Some bad news for ye, pal:
They’re lying to you all, and about everything at that.
You probably still believe you’re watching ‘Rangers’, eh ..?
Fantastic as always Phil… thanks for the insights and analysis throughout the year
Hope you & your ‘clann’ have a great festive season ?
.Beannachtai na Nollag
MOVIE SPECIALS FOR CHRISTMAS
The Lying King
And from the makers of LIQUIDATION comes……
Phil. King only has to OFFER to buy shares from the non-Concert Party shareholders at the price at takeover date. That price is less than the current share price. Therefore should the non-Concert Party shareholders wish to sell their shares they would realise more for them in the market than they would from King. This is therefore all a damp squib, albeit embarassing for King.
Pep
You’re very wrong.
What market? JP Jenkins? Not a chance. The shares are effectively worthless.
Unfortunately wrong Mr Hendry. The price of a prospectus alone is approximately £2.5 m plus around £11m in an escrow account to cover all eventualities. Even if technically King could reclaim £11m of this money back he is still in deficit of at least £2.5m plus lost interest etc.
While it is unlikely that £11m will be required to buy every gullibilly share, King is still legally bound to pony up a minimum of £13.5 m .
As for the nonsense espoused by King’s counsel that the Ibrox shares are currently valued at 27p as opposed to the 20p advised, that is just embarrassing.
Lack of transparency at every level at sevco ensures that nobody knows the true share price.
The problem with that is that institutional investors know that the offering is the best price they’re likely to get, ever. Also the approved share offering will dilute share values, providing another impetus to sell. King has dug his own grave.
Of course, most and certainly those with penny shares will jump at a 20p offer. In for a penny…
Hey Pep –
Might I interest you in some shares in my company, Gobbi Beggars Ltd?
I’m willing to offer them to you at a bargain price of 20p each – and they’re actually worth 27p.
What’s that – how do you know they’re worth 27p? Because I just sold one to my granny for 27p. So that’s the current share price.
See how easy it is to make up a share value, when the shares in question are not actually traded on a proper market?
Pep you couldn’t be more wrong. The “price” being bandied about by the SMSM is the one paid by Club1872 when purchasing Mike Ashley’s holdings at above market rate as King need to do a deal with him to stave off court action.
King stiffed Club1872 to save himself. That’s where the 27p has come from. It’s artificial.
To compound matters what little value those shares actual hold whether it’s 18p 10p etc … will drop further once King’s plan to convert the loans takes place. Their value will be diluted further.
Then you have to factor in that the company is distressed and most likely insolvent so they are unlikely to see any return whatsoever.
Therefore 20p gtd will be a very attractive price to a lot of investors wishing to cut their losses.
Sevco are truly fecked … Merry Xmas .. and a ho ho ho ..
In a months time 20p per share will look like a fortune if King ignores the COS judgement.
If King is worth £300-£400m, and no one will sell at 20p, why does King not just comply with the order instead of running up tens of thousands in legal costs which could double if the TOP is awarded the costs?
Thankfully for the club this will have absolutely no impact on them, business as usual, according to Stewart Robertson and Richard Wilson……really?
So this will have no impact on NOAL ‘s commitment to fund the cash shortfalls?
I’m sure the audit partner at Dallas Campbell would have been on the blower to Robertson the minute the judgement came through seeking assurances as its only a few weeks since he signed off on the accounts reliant on information and promises from the Directors.
Club 1872 left an offer on the books of JP Jenkins of 27p for any small shareholders who wanted to sell up. Quite why they chose this figure is something you’ll have to ask their board. Given that around the same time board member James Blair was representing Dave King in front of TAB, you would hope he wouldn’t put himself in a situation where his interests were conflicted. But their funds are limited, they don’t have the money to buy out the big boys, and if their 10% stake together with the 15% Dave King owns were to reach 30% then TAB might want to start another concert party investigation, given the common presence of Mr Blair. And if Club 1872 don’t have directors’ liability insurance in place then they might find it worthwhile getting lawyered up a bit. Ditto for the individual board members.
The noose grows ever tighter.
I know it’s a typo but ‘coming at them from all angels’ is perfectly apposite. The Dark Side and vanquished spirings to mind…
Where would we be without Freud?
Forever Jung …
Just got it….clever.
Merry Christmas to you too Phil 🙂