It should come as no surprise that the recent claims by Stewart Robertson that Sevco is “close” to financial sustainability were accepted at face value by the media.
I caught up with a well-placed Ibrox source today who painted a somewhat different picture.
Firstly he said that Mr Robertson was put out there to push the message of “nothing to see here move along”.
My guy said that the objective was twofold.
Firstly it was aimed at the footballing bodies (UEFA and the SFA) that the Ibrox club wasn’t a financial basket case running on donations.
Secondly, the “we don’t have to sell players in January” narrative was designed to prevent any tempting lowball offers from clubs who can read a set of accounts.
Indeed, my guy said that such a scenario had been discussed at the Sevco High Command conclave the week before the AGM.
I asked about the share issue that is the featured image.
He told me that was to make payroll.
Then I asked him about this one, and he said it was to pay a bill.
Therefore, I’m satisfied that David Low’s take on this was, pun intended, on the money.
For the avoidance of doubt, my guy is in a position to know this information.
He also told me that the Sevco High Command were rather irked recently at their ex-Chairman.
That’s because he had directly contradicted their stated timescale apropos the repayment of his loan.
There ARE real stories to be unearthed at Ibrox around funding and finance.
However, the Fitba Fourth Estate would need to go after them.
Unfortunately, they abide by the succulent rules.
It is worth recalling, dear reader, that they are still the same folks who gushed about this chap being a billionaire.
You know how that movie ended…
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Phil…I just watched Mr. Robertson’s reply to an AGM question about the financial situation at Sevco…
His words, quite frankly , astonished me.
A) The £7.5 million “shortfall” accounts warning has not only been met…its been exceeded
B) They envisage being in profit very soon.
C) They don’t need to sell players.
It was said with confidence and apparent conviction…but is it true ?
If…and I repeat …if he is telling the truth….How the hell did that happen ?
But if he is being economical with the truth…what the hell happens next ?
Can he really brazenly lie about these matters…and get away with it ?
Something stinks about this whole set up.
I will wait and watch with interest…again !!
Mark B,could you please desist from hanging out your rangers colours to the mast,the sycophancy is there for all to see
This is clearly the Ibrox Board once again funding the club. Their backing is astonishing. It’s legal, it’s within FFP so far and they show no signs of stopping. You have to admire their boldness. Gambling again … they won to stop ten And it seems to me they have a fair chance of winning 30m on this gamble this season. It’s not cheating its amazing commitment by the Board. The suggestion made by a commenter that is cheating or not the Board is failing to understand the sheer boldness of these moves. Finally, The idea that foreign refs are cheating in some grand conspiracy as suggested above is utter delusion.
Wasn’t there talk of £10m being owed to HMRC? Has this figure changed? Are they paying NI and VAT monies on time and in full?
In this season of goodwill, if one so desired then they could head to the rangers website, where they could ‘shop the Rangers FC guift (sic) guide’
Would anyone know if ‘guift’ is an Ulster Scatch word, by any chance ?
Perhaps the F is meant to be L.
Then again guilt isn’t something they’re familiar with.
I think we have been “DUPed” into thinking that it is the directors who are picking up the slack in Sevco’s finances.
As an aside.
Are the Celtic board and those of the other clubs willing to step back and allow Sevco to pick up £30 million in European competition money, through out and out cheating with the support of an unholy trinity of officials (Home and abroad), ex- Rangers/Sevco players in opposition and the media who do a wonderful job of obfuscation?
Is this who we are as a country?
I wondered about being ” DUPed ” as well….
Would you know Phil if this has any credence…or is that not possible ??
God help the first Director that says fck this enough is enough..be vilified and abused..
Well their Ex- Manager managed to do it for that very reason….and yes…he was vilified and abused.
Who’s buying the freshly printed shares? Why?
It can’t be Sevco’s directors. They won’t be converting their loans into equity in an attempt to keep within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. Or are they?
Interesting.
If correct – that a share issue was simply to cover payroll – then this ‘could’ be a significant development.
Typically in a failing business, the failure to pay staff in full is the very last resort – and an indicator of an imminent Administration event.
And of course, prior to failing to pay staff in full, a company will ‘probably’ already have decided – unilaterally – to delay any outstanding payments to HMRC.
But as long as RIFC can continue to find buyers for their worthless Share Issues – indefinitely – then there might not be a problem…?
Hi Phil,
I haven’t seen much coverage Re the ScotGov loan repayment, I was under the impression that if they repaid any loans then the Gov got their money back straight away? What’s the craic with that?
I see that Kris Boyd is getting himself in a tizz about Kyogo’s goal last night.
No doubt it was tight but perhaps the focus should be on the overall performance of Madden who on a dozen plus occasions managed to make the wrong call.
Funnily none of them advantaged Celtic, ‘quelle surprise’.
I think that supposed caveat to the deal was a myth from day one. I do wonder about the chasing of the Holy Grail of CL cash. The £7.5m figure required to keep the lights on will be, as has always been the case in the past, another myth. The true figure will be at least twice that. Are the directors intent on splashing a further £15+m to recoup £30m?
Perhaps they have in mind a share buy-back. To recoup some of the TENS of MILLIONS they’ve ploughed in the last six or so years.
None of THAT money incidentally will show in this season’s accounts. The probability therefore is they are looking at another £15-20m loss.
When, IF, the CL money does come in, in the second half of NEXT season, it’s unlikely to do much more than repay SOME soft loans and reduce the losses.