ian1964

Who has all the answers?, SDM. Where is all the money we have earned going?,SDM. It is time for SDM to come out from whatever stone he is hiding under and give us Rangers fans some answers, I won't be holding my breath.

I think this young lad deserves a thread of his own. Without being too OTT, I really think this guy has a tremendous future ahead of him. Without wanting to put the lad under pressure I do think he has already shown what an excellent talent he is,for such a young guy coming into the first team and playing the way he has proves he is destined for the top,old head on young shoulders springs to mind,he again displayed his undoubted talent tonight and was possibly MOTM for the second time running. This guy is the real deal and can only get better,the future is bright.

I would have liked to see Commons sign as I think he might improve our team,however I don't think not signing him means we will not win the league

I think it is obvious that you don't like/rate McCulloch and that is fair,but I do think he gets a bit too much of a hard time,he does a job for the team and does it well IMO,keeps it simple and will have a dig when it's required,a good pro and a good servant to Rangers.

You need to change the name to '' The Hollow Man ''

Jelavic to score first and Rangers win 3-0 is 25/1 Jelavic hatrick is 16/1 Hertz are 5/1 & 11/4 the draw Ladbrokes Should've added a straight 3-0 win for us is 8/1

I'd definately keep him for another season, as long as we can afford him

Where I was going with that Frankie is he worth keeping,financially??

Out of interest what wages is he on with us??,not read the article

While it's frustrating for all us bears to see the BHEASTS continually signing players when we can't it can't be forgotten that while they keep spending and winning feck all and we keep winning everything and spending feck all:D:rfc::spl:

Or at Ibrox!!!!!!!

I was comparing strikers though. Naismith could partner Jelavic and I'd take Naismith before Hooper

Just in case you missed it:) Papac for me and Jelavic for me

I wouldn't

There is still not one of their players I would want/take,as far as the first choice team we have the better team as the last two seasons have shown and hopefully this season. We are short on numbers compared to the BHEASTS but our young players have shown they can cope with playing first team football so although we have missed out on Commons we have young Wylde who may get more game time and could do as good a job as Commons. I would like to see a defender or two come in, if we are to get any players in, as I'm confident we have enough midfielders and attackers to cope with the second half of the season.

http://leggoland2.blogspot.com/2011/01/andy-gray-and-sky-sacking.html

Just thinking here,WS is saying he is looking to sign Commons as a left sided player,why have we not seen his other new signing for left side of midfield Kerkar???

I think I'll pop down to the bookies to see what price 0-6 for the Rangers is:smile:

Where's the prematch write up?. Anyway,I'll go for an easy win tonight for the champions. HIVS 0 The Champions 3 Jelavic,Naismith,Weiss :spl:

They need to plat a lot better than they did against us to get anything tonight,mind you beating us might give them a lift going into this game,hopefully

CELTIC were last night poised to nick Derby winger Kris Commons from under the noses of title rivals Rangers. The Ibrox club were priced out of a move for the Scotland ace and their withdrawal left the Hoops in the driving seat to snap him up this summer. Record Sport can reveal that Rangers chief executive Martin Bain was forced to pull out of the signing talks late yesterday afternoon after it became clear the 27-year-old was looking for a two-and-a-half-year deal on �£20,000 a week. That was �£5000 a week more than Bain could afford - and Commons now looks set to pocket the full amount in a summer move to Parkhead. We exclusively revealed last month Celtic were keeping tabs on the player, who last night was close to agreeing the terms of a pre-contract with the Hoops. And if the deal is signed Neil Lennon may even slap in a cut-price offer to allow the transfer to go through immediately. The dramatic twist is another hammer blow to Ibrox boss Walter Smith who had hoped to use the money freed up by the sale of top scorer Kenny Miller to land the Scotland international from Pride Park. He even hinted yesterday that Commons might be signed in time for the player to make a debut in tonight's SPL clash with Hibs at Easter Road. Smith said: "He is someone we would be interested in. We are in talks with Derby to see what the situation is. "He is in exactly the same position as Kenny Miller was in last week, where his contract expires at the end of the season. "We've got the money from selling Kenny. "I don't do the deals, Martin carries out that job, but he was talking to them this morning. "Kris can play a number of positions and we've such a small squad that when we get a player in we look for them to do that." But the cash-strapped SPL champions could not stretch their paltry finances far enough to match the demands of a player who is currently taking home less than �£10,000 a week. The Ibrox club's bankers, Lloyds, have already made it clear the current wage bill of around �£16million will have to be reduced by at least �£1m before the start of next season. And that means their days of offering contracts worth �£20,000 a week or more are over. In contrast, Celtic have found the cash to strike a deal with Commons, who scored his first goal for Scotland in November's 3-0 win over the Faroes. Smith will now have to source other, less costly targets. While Nacho Novo remains on the radar as a fall-back option, Smith admitted another former striker, Kris Boyd, would also be outwith Rangers' financial reach. Smith said: "It's fairly simple. We couldn't afford to pay the money Middlesbrough were paying last season. "We're still in the position where we can't afford to pay it now. "Kris left us for a club that could pay him more money. "Whatever we're going to do in the transfer market, we'll do it whenever it's actually possible." http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/2011/01/26/celtic-move-in-for-derby-scotland-star-kris-commons-as-rangers-are-priced-out-of-deal-86908-22876527/

Borrowed from another forum Exclusive June 7th 2010. A few weeks ago I spoke with Rangers chief executive Martin Bain. He kindly took my call on a Saturday morning just after his ladââ?¬â?¢s football match. I told him that I was a freelance journalist commissioned to do a story for the News of the World. After exchanging some jokes about the perils of being, as I termed it, ââ?¬Å?a maddie at your boyââ?¬â?¢s fitba matchââ?¬Â I had to tell Martin Bain some bad news. I informed him that this journalist already knew that Rangers had received a bill from the taxman for Ã?£24 million and that interest of Ã?£12million had been nailed onto that amount. Over the previous two weeks the News of the World had firstly broken the story that all SPL clubs were being investigated by Her Majestyââ?¬â?¢s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as part of an ongoing tax probe. The real story, however, was revealed the following Sunday in that the old firm, conjoined twins in so many areas, had very different tax policies. For the last decade, Rangers had been making a systematic use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs). Celtic looked at this method of being ââ?¬Å?tax efficientââ?¬Â in 2006, but Celtic Chairman, ex of the Bank of England, Brian Quinn thought better of it. Initially Martin Bain said to me that, effectively, the tax issue belonged to the parent company of Rangers; Murray International Holdings (MIH). He told me that there was no tax bill at Rangers. After going round the houses with Martin Bain on the phone we nailed down that there had been ââ?¬Å?an assessmentââ?¬Â delivered by HMRC to Rangers FC. Most people would call that a bill. The ââ?¬Å?assessmentââ?¬Â formally becomes a bill when the tribunal system is exhausted, the amount on the ââ?¬Å?assessmentââ?¬Â then ââ?¬Å?crystallisesââ?¬Â. That is when the money is due to be paid. The tax authorities have sent a bit of paper to Rangers and that piece of paper has a number on it. That amount is Ã?£24 million + Ã?£12million interest. That Ã?£36 million is greater than the clubââ?¬â?¢s well publicised bank debt. After my interview with Bain the story was out there and perhaps because of this the club Chairman Alistair Johnston went public and clarified the position on the tax probe. The Ohio based businessman confirmed that the assessment from HMRC was indeed ââ?¬Å? a Rangers issue, but it is being masterminded by the Murray Groupââ?¬â?¢s financial and legal advisors,ââ?¬Â said Johnston. The only question to be answered was what tax penalty would be imposed on Rangers by HMRC should they lose the case? What has not been previously revealed is that Rangers football club have already been served with a tax penalty of Ã?£15 million by HMRC for their sustained use of ââ?¬Å?Employee Benefit Trustsââ?¬Â (EBT) to players and other senior employees. This brings the total confirmed amount that HMRC are seeking from Rangers to Ã?£51 million. This Ã?£51 million bill has yet to ââ?¬Å?crystalliseââ?¬Â, i.e the tax tribunal due process has yet to reach its conclusion. Rangers can drag out this process by using all the appeals available to them. However this will incur huge legal bills should they decide to do this. The figure of Ã?£15 million for the penalty is an indication of the seriousness with which HMRC view this case and their determination to see it through to a successful conclusion. The recent press interest investigation has clearly rattled the Scottish Premier League champions with the clubââ?¬â?¢s chief executive refusing to answer whether or not Rangers had ignored expert tax advice to abandon their tax strategy? I also put the following question to Martin Bain: - ââ?¬Å?Did Sir David Murray or other Rangers executives benefit from this scheme?ââ?¬Â Bain confirmed that ââ?¬Å?employees of the trustââ?¬Â were paid through the EBT. I asked him if that included people at the club other than players. He confirmed that it was not just players. I then asked him if he had been paid through the EBT. ââ?¬Å?Thatââ?¬â?¢s a matter for the tax office and my own personal contract so Iââ?¬â?¢d rather not go into that.ââ?¬Â Of course a simple denial would have killed that particular part of the story. When I put it to Bain that his answer was in fact a ââ?¬Å?no commentââ?¬Â he didnââ?¬â?¢t disagree with my characterisation of his answer. Here is what has been confirmed at this time: - Rangers have confirmed that there is a tax probe - Rangers have used EBTs. This will have helped millionaire players pay lower tax rates than most Rangersââ?¬â?¢ fans. - Chief Executive ââ?¬Ë?Martin Bain has confirmed to this journalist that the bill for core amount has been received. Initially Bain told this journalist that the EBT was a matter for parent company Murray International Holdings (MIH). However, after the article was published chairman Alistair Johnston confirmed that the HMRC issue was, indeed, a matter for Rangers. ââ?¬Å?It is a Rangers issue, but it is being masterminded by the Murray Groupââ?¬â?¢s financial and legal advisors,ââ?¬Â revealed Johnston. When I interviewed Martin Bain he suggested that I speak to MIH financial director Mike McGill. I called McGill on the Monday after I had spoken to Bain. I spoke briefly with McGill. He told me that he had read the NOTW story and, subsequently, refused to speak to me. The day after I spoke to the MIH financial director I received further news that shocked me. What moves this story on is the following information. I did not know at the time of my interview with Martin Bain that Rangers had already been served with the tax penalty. The amount of that penalty is Ã?£15 million. Therefore the full amount that Rangers will be due, should they lose this case against HMRC, will be Ã?£51 million. It is clear that those in charge of Rangers did not wish this story to break. Since I started writing on Rangers taxing problems the clubââ?¬â?¢s public comments have confirmed my journalism to be accurate. The initial stories were met with disbelief from both sides in Glasgowââ?¬â?¢s football feud thinking that this news was either too awful or too wonderful to be true. It is true and it will not go away. The Scottish championââ?¬â?¢s problems with HMRC will be the dominant story out of Ibrox in the next 12 months. The clubââ?¬â?¢s bank debt is serviceable. The tax bill is not. Itââ?¬â?¢s a game changer. Martin Bain, as much as one can ascertain over a 15 minutes phone call on a Saturday morning, came across as a really really decent bloke in a difficult position. Iââ?¬â?¢m sure he cringed when he heard the ââ?¬Å?Famine songââ?¬Â or saw Manchester policemen kicked to the ground by feral louts in Rangers shirts. The Rangerââ?¬â?¢s Chief Executive told me that wee Bainââ?¬â?¢s team had lost 4-1. I told Martin to tell his lad to keep his chin up, because you usually find out more about yourself when you lose than when you win. His dad agreed with me.. Watch this space.

What a joke,never worth a sacking,apology & warning would have been suffice,rediculous decision.

25 Jan 2011 Rangers have taken highly-rated Swedish keeper Filip Nilsson on trial. The 17-year-old, who plays for Trelleborg, was over at Liverpool last season. Nilsson said: “I want to show Rangers what I can do.” Trelleborg director Lasse Larsson said: “Rangers’ interest is serious. “It’s great for the boy and he will gain experience. But we don’t want to build him up too much.”