Member Info for Wottpi

Stu - That is fine perfectly understood. It is going to cost money time and resources to get rid of Ashley and the onerous contracts and your view is that there is a good chance the club will be in the Championship 2015-2016. With your plan for admin that means a further chance of a stint in the championship in 2016-2017. So we are looking at 2017/2018 for the club being in a position to attract half decent players to a first season back in the Premiership and presumably be trying to tempt back the 20k that will have lost interest in 5 seasons of lower league football. However revenues will be down and the cost of running Ibrox and Murray Park will still be around the £13m per annum. Is this closest to the Paul Murray Plan, the Dave King Plan or the Douglas Park Plan?

Stu - by 'complicated' do you mean as in a 25 point penalty being applied for a second insolvency event within five years, thus making euro glory and the associated cash a distant dream?

I think we are getting mixed up here. The CoS has indicated King can sit on the board as they believe he cannot be excluded on the terms of the Insolvency Act. That does not make him 'Fit and Proper' in the eyes of the footballing authorities. While I have no doubt they will bend over and say thank you Mr King, the fact remains the earlier SFA ruling painted him in a very poor light with regard to his inaction on blowing the whistle on Craig Whyte (who brought the game into disrepute by not paying social taxes) and of course we all know he himself is a convicted tax dodger. It is those two issues that should see him booted into touch but I have no doubt that will not happen because simply he is a RRM.

Thought we would have been closed down by now. Any idea where best to find news of King's potential £1.5m 'matched investment' that will probably be required in a couple of weeks time?

Stu - Big Mike did release money but took it straight back. "RRL will declare a dividend of a total of GBP 1,610,000 prior to the Transfer. The Club will use the proceeds of its share of this dividend, inter alia, to repay sums owing to SD in respect of the cessation of onerous leases on unprofitable stores entered into by a previous Rangers management team." That leaves £1.6m in the RRL account. Had Mike handed that over then all that would have happened is that the money would have been burned and the 3 Bears would be stumping up £1.5m now as opposed to a few weeks back. The sums are simple. The company stills spends more than it brings in. The oldco did the same and the newco are following suit. To achieve premiership glory and regular euro football tens of millions will be required year on year and as yet there is no indication that anyone is willing to put up that level of cash to make it happen.

5 March 2015 - Dave King “All I have done is, in advance of the change of board, ensured there is another Nomad willing to come in. The club has to appoint them so that process can only happen after the general meeting. “I’ve got one [lined up] who has done due diligence on the individuals but the key component for any Nomad is the club itself. “Nomads are concerned about the financial affairs of the club. It’s the one area where I’ve been able to give no more input than what I’ve read in the newspapers. “If we succeed tomorrow, and I think we will, then we will get it immediately. It’s a process that would be done in a day or so.”

PMcG has posted a response from Deloitte to questions regarding their 'resignation'. Apparently they confirmed to the board in November they would not be seeking to be the groups Auditors for year end 30th June 2015. Audits of all the group's companies were completed in January 2015 and Deloitte understand the board are seeking new auditors and are happy to assist with a smooth transition. Far more open and transparent than the PR puff piece provided by Interim Chairman Murray. Still slightly naughty having Deloitte named in resolution 6 at AGM but surely a mere technicality being they were and are still the existing auditor the company needs to remain in compliance with the Companies Act 2006.

If, as Dave King said, it is the company that needs a Nomad and that the Nomad needs to do diligence on the company's financials, what would a prospective Nomad make of interim accounts not being fully audited with a respected company like Deloitte apparently wielding a very long barge pole? What does that do to the chances of a Nomad coming on board before automatic de-listing?

I wouldn't be worrying now about why and when the last Nomad left. The question today should be why did Deloittes, who Interim Chairman Murray referred to as the 'existing auditors', not willing to sign of on the interim accounts. ( It wouldn't happen to be because, both previously and now, they see no-one on the horizon with deep enough pockets to allow them to say this venture a going concern) Regardless whether or not the old board or the new board are to blame everything points towards a very bumpy road ahead.

Stu - I have never seen such a childish transition of power in a UK corporate entity in all my life. I have. Whyte came in promising to clear debts and invest cash, became all secretive, got rid of members of the old board and executive who looked like being trouble, promised cash never ever came to fruition as plan was really all about the club to be funded by the fans. Finally company/club got into trouble through lack of cashflow, trading in shares was suspended and then came admin followed by liquidation. Still think things will stay afloat for a while yet but looks like a lot of history repeating itself.

Huh Really - Exactly, if a July 2014 resignation then L & L were not on the board so can easily say they were in the process of sorting out new auditors but got distracted by the the EGM talk and low and behold they didn't manage to get one in place or even inform the incoming board of the companies position before they were told to pack their bags as opposed to assisting with an orderly transition. Cambridge - No if Deloittes ran a mile in June it was because they knew regardless of who was in charge the company/club is a basket case. Like others they took their pound of flesh but knew when to exit stage left. However if they resigned more recently then King may well have been a factor. Who would you side with? The tax dodger or the Billionaire Sports magnate and his mates who have plenty of business to put your way.

Edgie - I am suggesting the new board are some distance away from the openness and transparency that was much heralded when the EGM was won. If there is one thing this company/club needs its a big dose of hard truth and straight talking.

Cambridge. If it was unambiguous and open and transparent the statement would have told everyone exactly when Deloittes resigned. Presumably there must be a resignation letter somewhere? There is no information to say that they did resign before the AGM only that there was an intention. The new board are doing themselves no favours by indulging in such sophistry. Just tell folks how it is and everyone will be happy. A bit like suggesting McDowall done the decent thing only to find the offical line is he (and McCoist) will still continue to be paid during their notice period. Cambridgeblue 19 Mar So far no clarity - unlike KMcD who came to a timely agreement - well played him. You'd think McTurdo would have picked up on this snippet given there was a formal announcement on the club site but well perhaps this isn't his year for a Pulitzer.

In addition to the AGM resolution Murray refers to Deliotte's as the 'existing auditor' but at the same time implies they resigned (albeit they only informed the old board of an intention to resign). As usual something smells a bit fishy one way or the other.

There seems to be some confusion here with regard to what not taking the second tranche means by way of the conditions. My reading is that regardless of whether its one tranche of £5m, or two, all the conditions still apply until the monies owed are paid off. Therefore the assets are still being used as security, SD have the right to request board positions and from the 2017/8 season, for the duration of the Facility, any future shirt sponsorship proceeds will be for the benefit of RRL. As one would expect from an operator like Ashley its all in his favour. I have your assets so watch out, if I see you make a muck up of things I'll put men on the board - watch out. If you are daft enough to still owe me in a few years time I'll take yet another income stream from you or put my name on your shirts for free. The only positive thing I can see is that if Ashley thinks he can get the shirt sponsorship issue sewn up for 2017/2018 that may be when he expects the club to be back in Europe.

Stu - "Even the banks can’t match TPL". Eh- that will be because the banks like a bit of security and of course Big Mike has that all wrapped up and the RRM have painted themselves into a corner saying the stadium is untouchable. So its unsecured emotional soft loans or put the club in more hoc to Ashley. No-one else outwith Ashley, the 3 Bears and possibly King :-) is going to give this company money. As it stands the LtdCo is still £15m in debt to the parent PlcCo, losses running at around £8m per annum, debt to shareholders £6.5m. A good chance another £1m or more will be required next month. Still a long way to get out of the woods but every journey starts with a single step.

The provision of a loan by the 3 Bears must be welcomed by those seeking to remove the Ashley yoke in that at least the second tranche hasn't been initiated. The questions are now 1) Was it just a necessity to meet payroll or is there indeed a plan 2) When will King put his hands in his pockets to meet his promises of at least going 50/50 on the soft loans. I would have thought from a PR point of view King should have been the first to cough up given all the talk in the press before the EGM. IMO the plan will be to try and get to point where some of next seasons ticket money is coming in to add to any necessary loans to meet payroll and runb of the mill costs for this season while trying to take stock of the way forward. Still a bit hand to mouth but all doable if a sensible and sustainable approach taken. However Ashley's first £5m and all that security is still going to be a burden for a while yet.

Can a drop in the crowd of around 6k be regarded as significant? Better hope plenty of half or quarter season tickets were bought the other week because with only four home games to go I can't see much appetite for 'pay as you goers' helping fill the coffers.

King stated his first few action points on gaining control were going to be 1) Hold a board meeting 2) Expect WH Ireland's resignation by the end of play on the Friday of the EGM 3) Start a review of the finances. If getting rid of the NOMAD was number 2 on his list, where was announcing/organising a new NOMAD on his to do list given the four week period to automatic delisting. Either he has someone lined up. He is in talks with a potential NOMAD, he is having trouble getting one, he will delist. One thing is for sure and that is the clock is ticking.

As discussed the other day large crowds are a benefit and also a burden given the size of the Rangers operation. 40k plus crowds should give Rangers the money to be a reasonably competitive club. However as you point out the past model took all that money and more and undertook a course of unsustainable largesse in the attempt to buy success at the highest level. Witness the money paid out to some players and the likes of McCoist and his ridiculous salary. Even having ploughed money into Murray Park they failed to use it in an appropriate manner where they could have developed their own talent. Once (and if) the financial mess is sorted out then, if the fans are still up for it, enough income should be generated by ticket money to make a decent fist of it and by that I mean a few lean years in terms of regaining decent league positions and probably getting knocked out in the qualifying rounds of the Europa Cup. It has to be remembered that outwith Celtic, Scottish Teams haven't had a decent run in Europe for some time now. Even looking at Celtic they, (with a £30m wage bill and a team with Euro experience) only got through to the CL playoff round by default and then scrapped their way out of the Europa league group stages. The issue is will a steady rebuild be enough for Rangers Fans given all the talk of European glory and the 'riches' that go with that. They need to listen to the measured tones of Paul Murray and Douglas Park as opposed to King's bluster.