ascender

The more I read, the more I think he is the patsy/fall guy for this whole thing and that he's been paid or will be, to take the heat which sees the club coming out the other end as an attractive purchase for some. It might not be the right way to do things, but all signs are pointing to this as being the most likely story now tbh.

What's interesting is the rumours of people being interested in buying/investing in the club which perhaps lends credence to the rumours that whatever happens over the next few weeks, we will emerge either debt free or with a more than sustainable CVA in place. You can see why a club like ours in that position could be a much more attractive proposition.

'Tis the fashionable thing to suggest in light of what happened with Goodwin but I think its a load of tosh really. SDM is guilty of gross-mismanagement of our club and the buck stops with him up to a point, but there's been an awful lot more people than him involved in decision making over the last 5-6 years who could have and should have done more to arrest our slide in financial terms. And obviously we still don't know what Craig Whyte has done here although I'm sure that will come out over the next few weeks. What is bizarre though is the amount of time the deal took to complete. SDM said he'd only sell to someone who had the best intentions of the club at heart and could prove they had the funds to invest. In fact there was even a team from the club setup to carry out this task for him. So why when the deal was being concluded were some of that team warning against Whyte? The whole thing stinks, but there was so much information and disinformation (not to mention political games) being played out via the media that I don't think anyone knew the full story of what was going on.

Thanks for the updates Mazza, much appreciated!

Somewhere in the middle as a patsy which if true will still leave him as a hero to some and a con man to others.

Whyte obviously went in to this well aware of the situation and as others have said, this could all be going according to plan. A plan which he couldn't possibly have made public for numerous reasons. As for the accounts, I noticed today that a few reports said a club "may" be banned from Europe for not producing them which is different from some of the other reporting going on. As with everything over the last few years there's a few similar posts on different forums giving very different opinions on what this all means, ie good or fatal basically so we just need to wait and see. The nagging doubt I have about Whyte taking us all for a ride is that he is a Bear, has family in Scotland and some of the "mistakes" he's made when it comes to monies withheld to hmrc are such basic ones that it makes me think this is all part of his grand plan to deliver a fresh start for the club.

Until there's clarity around the big tax case, I don't think anything's really changed since Whyte took over in the eyes of potential investors. There's no doubt a debt free and successful Rangers could be run by living within its means, but who in their right mind would put millions In which could be lost overnight. Could the administration thing force the hand of the tax tribunal to release its verdict? If we go in to liquidation then I thought it doesn't matter when they come knocking because it's a brand new company who aren't liable for the bill, but posters elsewhere are suggesting otherwise. But if we come out of administration with a package to pay this year's tax, we could then have to go in to admin again if the tribunal or subsequent appeals go against us? Whichever way I look at it, it's still the elephant in the room.

We could still "win" the tax case but hmrc would appeal if that happened which in turn just extends the period of uncertainty. The problem is that it's a test case for hmrc which they are determined to win as it would pave the way for similar claims against more football clubs. But Whyte knew this when he took over and after 6 months of due diligence it's incredible to hear him saying that the business has been a loss making one for months while under his stewardship.

9 million figure has now been confirmed by Duff & Phelps.

So it isn't the EBT thing that's forced us in to admin, its our current financial situation since Whyte took over?

If HMRC can do the above, then surely the whole administration thing is pointless. I'm assuming they've either issued their bill & decision or its been confirmed that they can't pursue us post-admin.

Was about to ask the same thing....

Does it really matter who the administrator is?

Pretty sure you can apply for permission to sell players outside the transfer window for financial reasons. COuld be wrong but I'm sure Portsmouth went down this road a couple of years back when they went in to administration.

So is the inference that Whyte has been restructuring the finances of the club to either line his own pockets and/or keep money away from HMRC which could then be used to fund the "start-up" of a post-admin Rangers?

It does look like this was Whyte's plan all along and looking at the potential tax case figures, what's Alistair Johnston's main concern here, that Whyte might make some money out of the deal for himself after steering us through admin and out the other side? Its crazy to see fans on other forums looking for someone to come along and rescue us by putting money in. That ship has sailed a long time ago. Even if HMRC settled for £25M (which there's no chance of), who in their right mind would come up with that kind of money to just piss away for no return? There's loads of other questions being raised by all of this. One of the interesting ones for me is that a lot of the doom-mongers who I was very skeptical of, have been saying for months and months that the tax bill could be 50M and upwards. Did they just get lucky or were they right all along? And if so, who was feeing them that information? SDM and his cronies. Are they sitting in the wings ready to pick up a debt-free Rangers from Whyte post-administration?

So the statement makes it clear that the amount of financial penalty being discussed as a result of tax case(s) could exceed 51m?!?! And if the tribunal rules in favour of us, HMRC will "appeal, appeal & appeal again".

Whyte has always been quick to respond so we should see a statement soon. Where has the money gone though???

Even if the decision in the big tax case goes for us, hmrc would immediately appeal which could take how long to resolve? Is it possible he's trying to force their hand when it comes to a settlement and minimise damage by writing off this season rather than finishing second this time and starting next on -10 points? How much were we in the black when Advocaat came in? 20m or so wasn't it?

A club in admin can't sign any players but we're not in admin yet....

Whyte or no Whyte I think this has been on the cards for a while now and we've only been kidding ourselves to think otherwise. When he said there's still a 10 million shortfall in our running costs compared with income, after all the years of down-sizing, that was it for me. Thank you very much Sir David Murray and all those who presided over the mess which has brought our club to its knees.

Just noticed the same on their trail for 10pm news, Craig Whyte first, then the siege story. Mental.

Surely this is all coming to a head and can't go on for much longer with all the parties now wading in?

The comment about Easyjet not flying to Gabon made me chuckle. If only we had a private jet. Come back David, all is forgiven! Just bring some of those moonbeams too and it'll be just like the good old days.

He's confirmed there that win or lose the tax case, that decision will inevitably lead to appeals which means there's no quick resolution in sight. So does that mean he might be looking to force the issue by going in to administration before that even happens? He's obviously planned for all eventualities from the start and gone in to this with his eyes open, so I'm guessing this would be one option he'd have considered?