Shane

Or the two Spanish giants with a bigger credit facility than most small nations.

Whoa, now, Frankie. Shane runs an unofficial RSC, in so much as we could never settle on a pub because I couldn't get the same two people out every week. I'll give you the books on what we did through RforR if you wish, plus the two (yes, two) shirts that we've sold the entire time since I started the new website. I'm disappointed that part of my project didn't take off for the sake of the groups we were working with, but at least we were able to raise some money for some good charities, and for the RFFF. I'm a graphic designer and print broker by trade, so I tried to apply that to raising same funds. Both my former company, and its new incarnation give a pretty decent chunk of all their proceeds to charities and scholarship funds. And in any case now I'm glad I can move on with the CR.org project to bring Bears together for their good causes near and far. That webstore was a time sucker in my world. Beyond that, I'm a Rangers supporter, have been since I could walk.

Suddenly quiet enough to have some time to sit and think for a bit... Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust Contrition is virtue... olive branch offered. I'm off the bandwagon from this moment. Let's get our club sorted. I've laid out what I know, all I can do now and any bickering does no good. Will make a concerted effort to not partake in the mucking. If the damage is done, so be it. But I'm well enough above the shoulders to know when I've gone too far.

I've never walked into a shop looking for the strip of a plc. Rangers til the day I'm no longer kicking myself.

What were the odds of us falling afoul of the UEFA fair play laws anyway, regardless of the winning bid? Anyone have some input on this? I've gotten a no comment on UEFA so far.

He outflanked the Murray/Ticketus joint bid and cornered the SPL. Spin may convince fans, but not administrators.

At this point, Frankie, I'd venture a guess that they can't.

Out running errands since the match so wanted to wait until I was off the mobile to reply, plus not make a hurried response that could just inflame this more. First off, Re: off color Dingwall pot shot, my sincere apologies for that one. I'd probably be better off without a drink or two in me sometimes but it happens as Zappa can attest. And I fully agree that people shouldn't hop on the train blindly. I will seek out Mark and apologize for this if he'll have it. Re: t-shirts, I kicked out all funds to my RSC on any of the dregs besides the one with our logo on it and told RST so at the time. You passed and good on you, seems R&B have worked wonders. Shirts never did as much as I wanted and my project is moving forward to what was my original goal in the first place, which is a community for Bears to doing outreach to share and collaborate on their projects. But I believe that info's already been passed along by a member. In all honesty, the groups that helped (ie Timbers Army and a couple local charities) made more of an impact than Gers fans. Not trying to make a point out of that, just speaking to the facts. Perhaps you were right all along. If anybody would like something from what's left in stock I'll be happy to send you one for the simple cost of post. We're doing an event with the local blues society here on Wednesday coming and plan on selling what's left that night and moving on. I bear no grudge over RST's choice to pass on it. As to the rest, we traded jibes re: Xmas dinner and that was fair enough and good for a laugh. When I asked if RST still hadn't reached MI that was when it went nuclear. It's not the first time the people manning the RST twitter have had a go at people, and you've got 12k followers who see that instantly. Thankfully it was what, four in the AM over there? And why would anyone castigated like that ever volunteer info? Mental. Every word from every part of an organization like yours should be spoken as if it came straight from a board meeting. You can't control what's said to the RST, but you certainly can control the reponse. The outward behavior of persons representing your interests is shocking at times. I'm one guy with a piddly RSC that will likely cease to be in a few weeks after we finish our move back home. If people want to take everything I say seriously that's probably their mistake. You should read some of my old political ramblings sometime, nutty stuff. And yeah, a lot of the bull shitting on RM is just that, but a lot of what's said has a strong air of truth about it, and instead of answering these questions with a strong unified statement, it's broken into tiny little pieces and just as many small battles. People egg you on and at various times the response comes in just about the worst form possible. RST represents thousands of people supposedly, and occasions itself to stand in place for thousands more who would have nothing to do with them. I'm saddened that you were in a position to finally make a substantial difference for the better of the support, and instead chose to hitch on to one bid as soon as the gates were opened, then persist in acting like any bidder could garner your endorsement, while at the same time carrying out hatchet jobs against them in lieu of sponsoring informed debate. Your analysis last night was a joke, and the fact that it's been defended robustly in various circles is only doing more harm to your cause. Apparently the info I have is only going to confirm what others believe is the case, so you've clearly chosen to run nothing but a smear campaign against bidders you perceive as working against your interests, whatever those may be. When a thousand people or more are telling you you're steering into the wall eventually you take notice, no? You and your associates pick fights across the web with groups who want nothing more than you supposedly do, the best for our club. Instead of taking heed of people's concerns you've pushed back more than ever. And as for manning up, I'm one of the people in this community who doesn't go under an assumed identity anywhere. You can find me in plenty of places and press me on issues any time you want.

If they spent half their time and efforts on fact gathering as they did on these ventures it would be of great service to them, their members, and the greater support. Spent 25 minutes attacking a single supporter whose ability to influence was dismissed outright less than eight weeks ago for being too far from Ibrox. It took me less time than that to build a two page list of contacts and info at Miller's company without even reaching out to anyone. Granted I knew where to start, but maybe another five minutes on google could've gotten someone to that position.

You or him ripping the piss out of me without cause last night, mate?

Pulled back on that, mate. I was pretty well fucking raging at the time. No offence meant, you're mostly top-cookie on my list. I've made my rebuttals, done mudslinging with a group like that. They have their agenda, I just want the best bidder in the driver's seat: TBK, BK, BM, fucking Oprah Winfrey could come and sink some of her $$$$ into RFC. CVA or Newco, whatever. I hope for my liver's sake that TBK has this sorted today like so many of their foot soldiers are claiming, but I'm not going to worry if it falls to Miller on Monday.

I appreciate that there are RST members on here. Their organization turned my willingness to share information into a hatchet job on me without any prior effort to reach out. Strange, since they don't mind having members come round and see what else I'm up to these days. As for the twitter bit, what I posted was our exact dialogue. Anyone who wants can check my timeline for confirmation. And I may have overreacted toward this forum. Some of you over here are top drawer, no intent to insinuate otherwise. Anyway, my analysis of their steaming load: Points A 1-5: Recite quotes; offer opinion with no citation or info to back up any of it; insinuate lack of business knowledge or support structure in place from a man they just pointed out is the chairman of a very successful and stable multinational company. B1: Insulting conjecture (IC). Chairman of a multinational that did $403m in sales last year. Quickly forgotten again. B2: IC + unfounded speculation. Apparently assuming Miller drew up his entire bid on a bar napkin without counsel. B3: Wikipedia School of Finance (WSoF) B4: WSoF + IC. Man's made plenty of money, understands how it works. B5: Blatant 180 of Conjecture. He says x; implies he actually said y. For people so lacking in trust of the admins they seem to want them involved in the CVA. "No extra cost" is relative to the bidder's plans, as are terms of CVA. B6: Possibly most insulting and condescending part of the whole thing. Couldn't even be bothered to check Wikipedia for info on this. B7: IC. "Derisory" bid of £11.2m. Were any other lesser offers termed this way by RST? B8: Throwaway point. If you want to know go ask. B9: To borrow, RST "may not even understand what a CVA is". B10: See last two comments. C 1-3: RST only able/willing to see Ticketus as a partner in a winning bid. Wearing blinders. D 1-4: Speculation and unanswered questions. An "analysis" usually analyzes information, not simply restates it in the form of a question. Summary section: Complete and utter speculation and fear-mongering.

I'm also disgusted that by passing along what info I felt comfortable with, specifically the split-CO plan, in a very Bear-friendly area is used as a means to attack a fellow supporter. Nothing I said didn't check out, yet they're happy enough to intentionally confuse and mislead people and take me to task for not compiling a dossier for them.

Appears to me the RST "analysis" consisted of little more than conjecture and fear-mongering than any real analysis, and they expect someone who out legged them to the line to hand over info given to them in confidence by berating them in a public forum. Surely they treated Frankie the same when he was filtering info for Ng's bid. I think you were warning me about passing along anything to journo's with the wrong intentions last night; what are the RST's intentions now?

Think it's pretty clear my ideas are only welcome over on RM. Sorry I couldn't do more for over here, Frankie. Leave you with this little taste of how the Trust treats supporters who don't toe the line: Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust An analysis of the Bill MIller bid for RFChttp://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/rstsite/latest-rst-news/450-an-analysis- of-the-bill-miller-bid-for-RFC via @rangersfctrust Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust Wow... just wow. Must feel pretty good about Mini getting the Xmas goose, eh? Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust @ShaneANicholson I always have roast for Christmas, Shane. Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust I'm a ham man, myself. @rangersfctrust Lot of assumptions in there. Guessing you still haven't gotten to Miller..? Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust @ShaneANicholson On @GersNetOnline you said you have been in touch. Pass it on and prove us wrong. Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust @GersNetOnline You read my same info that proved true this morning. Your analysis reeks of rhetoric and speculation Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust @GersNetOnline And when all the other people involved want to start sharing their sources, I'll pass mine right along. Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust @GersNetOnline Couldn't even be bothered to pull financials on Miller Ind's until today, I'd reckon. Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust @ShaneANicholson @GersNetOnline So you won't pass it on to be proved otherwise? Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust @GersNetOnline Use the info in front of you first to come up with something slightly less biased and we'll have a chat @rangersfctrust At least @GersNetOnline has the decency to not plaster broad assertions under their homepage banner @rangersfctrust How many people do you have tracking down info? One guy with a laptop in TN, "too far from Ibrox" just a couple months ago Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust @ShaneANicholson @GersNetOnline Prove us otherwise right now. Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust @GersNetOnline Love the ultimatum. Your duplicity speaks volumes. "Heart of the club" indeed... Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust @ShaneANicholson Would you prefer this:http://www.twitlonger.com/index.php/main_new Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust And condescending to boot! Do you alwys ask othrs to do leg work for you, or just have no sense of professional integrity? Rangers Supporters ‏ @rangersfctrust @ShaneANicholson The 'others' are members who are entitled to express, help or advise. Bed time for me. All the best! Shane Nicholson ‏ @ShaneANicholson @rangersfctrust Then maybe they should've started with a simple google search. Southern hospitality goes a long way in these parts.

Cheers, Frankie. Good roundup you got there. Don't think we can answer that about any bid just yet, but I was left with a very positive impression following my convo's. Interested in where the asset stripping theory is coming from. I got no mention of it, albeit from a biased source. Just not sure what the long term benefit of it would be, unless everyone is working under the assumption that Miller's in for a (relatively) quick flip job.

The whole VIN number switcheroo is pretty standard practice in junkyards, certainly a big part of how they make their money from salvageable pieces.

His house is still referred to as "The Garbage Man's House" by the locals... Right down the road from a good friend of mine's, been past it hundreds of times since I've lived here. When I lived downtown Knoxville it was on the way to the marina we frequented. Odds are me and Mr Miller have crossed paths at some point; I would've paid more attention had I know this is where our paths would cross next.

Just as an aside, Miller Towing is a fairly well respected company in the area. Yep, they're very much part of the shady underworld of American tow companies, but the stuff they do with private entities like Cedar Bluff Towing (who have hitched my car three times alone, and my old company stopped trading with because they were towing our customers' cars in the middle of the business day) pales in comparison to the pennies-on-the-dollar contracts with municipal governments which are effectively a largely unregulated tax.

re: Craig, I was talking about info beside what's in the public domain Beyond that, the approach to Ticketus and Whyte seems even more aggressive than what we've counted on and, as was just posted, is being reported. As I said on RM, indications are he's going to ring off our assets, tell Ticketus to take a hike, and take Whyte court himself to pursue moneys missing from the club, and leaving Whyte to deal with the Ticketus mess himself. Opinion is Ticketus is only a problem if the bidders let it be a problem, and based off the numbers as me and craig are looking at them, between Miller and MI there's cash or credit facilities readily available. Of course beyond that, and this was my take on the unconditional bid hang up, is his willingness to liquidate down the road if snafus pop up in his CVA & joint court proceedings. Definitely not his preferred option, and given his views on Whyte and Ticketus, plus the fact he appears by all measure to have his own funding in hand, I'm surprised at the continued push back. As for the towing cases in TN, he's hardly the only one dealing with those problems. Don't think I could count on both hands the number of times I've been wrongfully towed in this state, and unless you're interested in securing a lawyer and dealing with all that nonsense you just pay it and get on your way I realize this may not be news in the sense that this is what most people following Miller expected, just is what it is. The conversations I had with my person today were rather reassuring, and I'll leave it there.

This is a closed forum, yes? Only ask because I have a bit more I wouldn't mind to distribute behind blue window blinds.

That may be, but they were only provided the basics, and even then only the very very few who went about it in a polite manner. You'd think they'd ring someone up in their finance department and get them to track this down.

I've been trying to avoid saying "zero" because I do show some numbers on that, but yeah, when you're talking about a debt level three places to the right of the decimal on a corporate balance sheet. I've got the details on the capital surplus but not yet willing to pass them along. Don't want to compromise my source on this stuff.

Just thought I could offer a little clarity over here, even though RM's an open board and obviously anyone can get to my twitter: Insider trading at Miller Ind's jumped markedly in the past five/six weeks, led by (Big) Miller and Miller II. Big Miller's holding is under 5%, but down to recent movements. Miller II's numbers spiked to a level he's never gotten close to during his time at MI, peaking around 800% above his previous high in a single sale. Company has approximately $50m in liquid assets and has MINIMAL long-term debt obligations. Gross-profit margins around 15% and stable. Assets vs. liabilities is a very healthy number. Numbers and other info confirmed by my source with MI. Summary of all relevant info was passed along to journalists who approached me in a very civil manner. Should expect more analysis of the raw numbers from them starting tomorrow morning.

Would've gotten to the meet and greet sooner but I had to get through a twitter flame with the RST... Might know me from RM. Gave up on FF years ago. Run the Greater Smoky Mountain RSC and CoplandRoad.org ... (not trying to plug, just stating the facts! ) And since the Q&A's about to start I'll leave the mic.