Leggat - Drysdale Cover-up Exposed

[ian1964 10,626]

I couldnâ??t quite make out the identity of one clown in the broadcasting press conference Alastair McCoist held yesterday.

 

 

But using his pathetic and persistent question to the Rangers manager as a yardstick, I suspect it was the man from BBC Scotland.

 

 

Whoever it was, asked, time and time again, why people had to know the identities of the SFA appointed so called independent Judicial Panel which hammered Rangers?

 

 

Does the wee laddieâ??s mammy knows he out?

 

 

Or has the National Union of Journalists suddenly been transformed into the Media Masons? With the Daily Mail Two, John Greechan and Stephen McGowan, as Grand Masters?

 

 

WHEESTâ?¦â?¦itâ??s a secret.

 

 

Well, let me tell all the reporters who think TRUTH and OPENESS are bad words, while CENSORSHIP and SECRECY is what they believe in, just WHY it is important to know the names of the Judicial Panel which hammered Rangers.

 

 

It is important to know their names in order that we make an assessment of what manner of men they are. It is important to know who they are so we may ask a few questions about them. Beginning with NEIL DRYSDALE of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who has been a Raith Rovers director for more than a decade.

 

 

He signed the most recent accounts to 30 June 2011. Here are some extracts:

 

- loss for the year £162,000 (2010: loss £73,000)

- balance sheet insolvent to the tune of £1.4m

- this excludes £201,000 of unpaid rent that the landlords have waived for the moment but retain the right to claim later

- net current liabilities £310,000 - payroll taxes and VAT outstanding of £78,000 (2010: £118,000)

- was only able to pay some of its bills because other directors paid in £52,000

 

 

- going concern emphasis of matter by the auditors which cast "significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern".

- disclosure that "the company does not have formal funding facilities in place that allow it to meet its liabilities as they fall due".

- disclosure that a group restructuring took place in 2005, the terms of which were "incorrectly documented" and an "assumed waiver of the loan ... has not in fact been made".

 

Drysdale owned 0.0003% of the 327,400 ordinary shares and 0.5% of the 10,000 preference shares. If he has made any money in banking, it doesn't appear that he has invested it in football.

 

Although there were payroll taxes and VAT due at the year end, these weren't necessarily overdue at that time. How £78,000 was paid in full the following month when there was only £27,000 in the bank at 30 June would be a legitimate question to ask. Likewise the year before, £118,000 taxes due but £44,000 in the bank.

 

 

In the interests of transparency, perhaps Drysdale would like to make a statement confirming that, during his directorship, Raith Rovers have never been late with any tax payments. If he is sitting in judgement of Rangers on these matters, surely that's the least we can expect?

 

 

B&B Limited

 

Drysdale was a director of B&B Limited when it was dissolved at the instance of the Registrar of Companies on 23 June 2009.

 

- the accounts which he signed in August 2008 state that he had been a director since at least 1 December 2006, but his appointment form states that he was appointed in 2008

- loss for the year of £7,000

- balance sheet insolvent to the tune of £15,000 but no disclosures regarding going concern or ability to continue trading (and indeed it was dissolved less than 12 months later)

- it should have submitted its annual return in December 2008, but didn't

- this is a breach of the Companies Act for which the current maximum fine is £5,000

- Drysdale also signed the accountant's report. What? Since when was he an accountant? What qualifications or experience does he have to sign that? Especially when the accounts appear to contain a number of non compliance matters and omissions.

 

A director who is not an accountant signing the accountant's report is almost unheard of.

 

Airdrie

 

Airdrie supporters remember Drysdale kindly. When the old Airdrie died, and newco Airdrie applied for SFL membership, Drysdale was particularly sympathetic to their cause, believing that Airdrie fans had suffered enough. Raith Rovers voted for newco Airdrie, although Gretna won the overall vote. Sympathetic to Airdrie following liquidation, but extremely harsh penalty for Rangers

 

Independence

 

On the Raith Rovers website http://www.raithrovers.net/directors Drysdale's "primary responsibilities are the management of cashflow, corporate governance and representation of the club at SFL and SFA meetings".

 

How many meetings with the SFA has he had? Who has he met with? Has anything ever been discussed at any of those meetings which is relevant, directly or indirectly, to the affairs of Rangers?

 

Given the supposed independence of the Judicial Panel, will minutes of those meetings be published?

 

 

Banker

 

According to Drysdale's publicly available LinkedIn account, as a Sector Credit Policy Manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland he has responsibility for setting lending policy for certain key industries including professional football.

 

 

Having all but bankrupted the country with their policies, despite any other perceived failings, it is hard to blame Drysdale for the catastrophic failures at the RBS.

 

 

Where does this leave Stewart Regan?

 

Appointments to the Judicial Panel are made by the Board of the SFA with reference to the Judicial Panel Terms of Reference. I have not been able to find this document on the SFA website.

 

 

Perhaps in the interests of transparency, Regan should make it publicly available so that we can judge what procedures, including fit and proper tests, are carried out before appointing Panel Members.

 

 

Did Regan did carry out a fit and proper test before Drysdale's appointment?

 

It was reported that Drysdale was "hand-picked for the tribunal" which is in accordance with clause 7.2.1 of the Judicial Panel Protocol, where each individual Tribunal is appointed by the Secretary.

 

 

Who is that? It's Regan of course!

 

 

So Regan, who sits in the Hampden boardroom with his Parkhead pal and fellow SFA director, Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell, decides exactly who sits in judgement on Rangers.

 

 

Regan makes the appointments to each tribunal with reference to the Protocol for Tribunal Appointments. Once again I haven't seen this document and wonder whether Regan, in the interests of transparency, can direct me to its public availability.

 

AND THEREâ??S MORE.

 

 

From The Herald eleven years agoâ?¦.

"Raith Rovers have paid £ 2000 to the SFA to avoid being kicked out of the Scottish Cup, but they have also written to SFA chief executive David Taylor to ask why the story of their potential barring from the competition was leaked. Rovers were given a deadline of yesterday to stump up the unpaid cash for poor discipline from season 1999/2000. Officials at the club have confirmed the fees were paid on Friday but they are still concerned that the story was made public. Raith company director Eric Drysdale said: ''I have clarified with the SFA that the fine was received. I have also sent them a letter asking why sensitive information was made available to the media.''

 

 

Therefore, in answer to the clown of a broadcaster's oft repeated question to Alastair McCoist as to why it was important to know the identity of the Judicial Panel, the answer isâ?¦.ALL of the above.

 

 

For all of the above is only brief history of Raith Rovers and the Royal Bank of Scotland's Eric Drysdale's business history. There may be other episodes which happened during a previous regime at the club.

 

 

No doubt further investigations will reveal if there is anything else.

 

 

But only because we now know the indentity of the three members of Stewart Regan's handpicked and clearly not-so-INDEPENDENT Judicial Panel.

 

 

Having read all of the above and digested it, some may believe the Royal Bank of Scotland's Eric Drysdale is not a fit and proper person to undertake the task he was handpicked by Stewart Regan for.

 

 

OTHERS MAY DISAGREE!

 

 

But now we know and, thanks to some fine reporting by the Daily Record and the Daily Telegraph, we are able to reach a view.

 

 

It's called a a free and open society. It is called democracy.

 

 

No doubt that is a novel idea for the broadcasting clown - the man from BBC Scotland? - to get his head around.

 

 

Not to mention a concept - along with that of a free and open press - those masters of Media Masonic secrecy, the Daily Mail Two, John Greechan and Stephen McGowan, will struggle to get to grips with.

[forlanssister 3,092]

Hope he's giving boss royalties for that c&p job...

[ian1964 10,626]

Hope he's giving boss royalties for that c&p job...

 

Has it already been posted on here?

[Zappa 0]

Hope he's giving boss royalties for that c&p job...

 

Boss said this about it on RM:

 

I'm obviously* not Leggat but he is more than welcome to use my article in the way that he has. The wider circulation the better - it's what it was written for.

 

*He calls him 'Neil' Drysdale at one point, not a mistake I'd have made!

*He omitted the 'Lawwell orifice' line, I'd have left it in.

 

[Zappa 0]

Has it already been posted on here?

 

Well, sort of.... Leggo has used the Drysdale article Boss wrote for RM (which I C&P'd here as a thread) as the core content of one his own blog articles....

[ian1964 10,626]

I;m in a time warp!!.

Sorry I didn't see it,I don't use RM......................................................

[Zappa 0]

I;m in a time warp!!.

Sorry I didn't see it,I don't use RM......................................................

 

Glad you posted it because it's pretty funny!

[26th of foot 6,001]

The original article by Boss is exceptional, it exposes Drysdale and the SFA.

 

Leggat's exposure of the press conference is interesting, highlighting an agenda driven BBC Scotland. It was Alastair Lamont who repeatedly attempted to bait McCoist. Clearly, his News Editor, Dairmid O'Hara instructed him to illicit a particular response. Ally's refusal to take the bait shows a mature awareness, I suspect BBC Scotland are realising the law of diminishing returns.

[Zappa 0]

The original article by Boss is exceptional, it exposes Drysdale and the SFA.

 

Leggat's exposure of the press conference is interesting, highlighting an agenda driven BBC Scotland. It was Alastair Lamont who repeatedly attempted to bait McCoist. Clearly, his News Editor, Dairmid O'Hara instructed him to illicit a particular response. Ally's refusal to take the bait shows a mature awareness, I suspect BBC Scotland are realising the law of diminishing returns.

 

Interesting that he chose not to name who it was questioning Ally, when he himself and everyone else knew it was Al Lamont and DL isn't usually shy about naming people on the blog!