Rangers chairman must stand up in club civil war between Ally McCoist Charles Green

[ian1964 10,625]

Keith Jackson

 

Rangers chairman must stand up in club civil war between Ally McCoist and Charles Green

8 Apr 2013 08:25

 

WHAT exactly is Ibrox chairman Neil Murray doing as the club's most high profile characters fight it out in public?

 

 

 

SUSPENDED pending an internal investigation. Itâ??s becoming the Charles Green way.

 

First Fran Sandaza, then Neil Murray.

 

One sacked for gross stupidity, the other paid off and silenced by a gagging order.

 

That was just about the best result possible for chief scout Murray but donâ??t expect to hear from him because he is now prohibited from speaking about his ordeal in public.

 

Which just might be the worst possible result for Rangers.

 

Had Murray been free to speak out he might have been able to enlighten a support becoming confused to the point of panic stricken by a series of scandals that are unfolding at an unrelenting pace.

 

The fans are suffering most right now. After all they have gone through in recent times they deserve to be treated with respect and with complete honesty. They need to be given the whole truth but they continue to get by on rations and snippets and left to guess about what is really going behind the iron gates of Murray Park.

 

All of which brings us back to Green who now seems to be revelling in his own lie telling as if shafting and swindling is a badge of honour.

 

It could be argued the chief executive is fortunate not to be on the receiving of similarly ruthless disciplinary action, along with Sevco cohorts Imran Ahmad and Brian Stockbridge.

 

He could be stuck at home this morning doing the garden with his big Yorkshire hands rather than walking back into Ibrox where a civil war is now under way.

 

Without wishing to sound too dramatic, this is a battle for the very soul of Rangers.

 

The question is this: Is there anyone left inside the big house with the courage or the clout to stand up to this latest gang of intruders? Anyone at all who is prepared to protect Rangers and stop the club being disfigured beyond all recognition?

 

Because so far â?? more than four days since serial liar Craig Whyte resurfaced with a fresh raft of allegations â?? the silence from the boardroom has been deafening.

 

Which begs the question: Where is chairman Malcolm Murray and what exactly is he â?? and the four non-executive directors â?? doing?

 

Itâ??s a puzzle because Murray is proud of his staunch, Rangers- supporting background and his firm belief in immaculate corporate governance. For these reasons he should be striding forward into the vacuum created by this latest scandal and taking control of the situation before it becomes unrecoverable.

 

At the very least Murray should tell the stock market his board understands the explosive nature of Whyteâ??s claims and that they are on top of their duties.

 

He should order his own investigation, hire independent accountants and lawyers to examine all evidence, while co-operating

in full with the police and with liquidators BDO â?? both of whom will have been intrigued by this latest bizarre twist.

 

Thatâ??s the kind of decisive action Murray should be taking this morning and I suspect itâ??s precisely what he wants to do.

 

But if he does not emerge at some point today or tomorrow then it means he is being undermined by his fellow directors who have baulked when implored by him to do the right thing.

 

If so Murray has no option but to resign because he will have become a lame duck.

 

His allies â?? if any â?? should go with him because if they share his concerns but fail to act upon them they too risk massive reputational damage.

 

Maybe even worse than that if the police become involved. Thatâ??s how serious the situation has become and Green, Ahmad and Stockbridge will no doubt relish the chance to have their names cleared by any internal investigation because right now they are up to their eyeballs, googly or otherwise, in Whyteâ??s latest drama. If they have done nothing wrong they have nothing at all to fear.

 

However, their position is already a tricky one given the way Green chose to react to Whyteâ??s attempt at industrial sabotage which, of course, was planted in the pages of his pet paper, the doting Scottish Sun.

 

Whyte and the Sun have previous. Theirs is a long-term syndicate dating back to the days when Whyte denied he had sold off season tickets for £27million to fund his original takeover. It was the Daily Record who hunted Whyte down and the Sun who offered him refuge. In fact, that paper appears to be a sanctuary for scoundrels so perhaps it is no surprise Green now also sees it as his publication of choice.

 

Itâ??s the place to go to pedal propaganda unchallenged. Even, apparently, if itâ??s done in the style of Alf Garnett.

 

For some reason, Green and his regime are not so fond of the Daily Record. They accused us of acting in a â??maliciousâ? manner when we broke news of Neil Murrayâ??s suspension. How utterly absurd. Is it now â??maliciousâ? to uncover the truth and keep the clubâ??s supporters informed of such important matters?

 

In the same statement they insisted Murrayâ??s departure was certainly not a â??scandalâ? and perhaps they were right about that. Of course it wasnâ??t.

 

Suspending, axeing and gagging the managerâ??s only scout is pretty small beer compared with the revelations from Whyte a few days later.

 

Now that was scandalous but the real key component to the tawdry public spat between Whyte and Green is not what this pair disagree on but, rather, what they both confirm to be matters of fact.

 

Who lied to whom and about what is irrelevant. But Greenâ??s admission he was dealing with Whyte and his acceptance the man who wrecked the club was actually behind Sevcoâ??s attempted takeover?

 

That really is extraordinary stuff and worthy of immediate internal action.

 

It may well have been noted both by the police and BDOâ??s investigation team who have been alarmed by some erratic decisions of administrators Duff and Phelps throughout last yearâ??s insolvency.

 

In fact, Whyteâ??s initial move to appoint Duff and Phelps remains a cause for concern.

 

Not least because of his previous cosy relationship with David Grier who was part of the initial takeover team but whose firm then trousered about £5m in administration fees.

 

Also, there is a need to get to the bottom of how Green was eventually allowed to pick up the clubâ??s assets for the paltry figure of £5.5m. A deal agreed with Duff and Phelps which excluded rival bids from any other party.

 

This was as unfathomable agreement that may have cost creditors millions â?? and which was triggered the second Greenâ??s group stumped up enough money to secure preferred bidder status.

 

Now it has been further claimed that in order to help scramble that deposit together, Whyte dumped £137,500 into an account belonging to Ahmadâ??s mother. Again, this will be of great interest to the authorities because, essentially, this was the very moment Green and his backers were given a clean run at picking up a £50m business for a pittance.

 

It smelled bad enough at the time but itâ??s putrid now.

 

Which is why Rangers fans must hope there is someone at their club prepared to roll up the sleeves this morning and begin cleaning up the mess.

 

Over to you, Mr Chairman.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-rangers-chairman-must-1817726

[simplythebest 0]

Keith Jackson in shit stirring shocker.

[Frankie 8,371]

To be fair he makes some reasonable points.

 

However, you would hope that when the club makes a statement on their website it comes from the chairman as much as any other director.

[UCF2008 0]

WHAT exactly is Ibrox chairman Neil Murray doing as the club's most high profile characters fight it out in public?

 

...Over to you, Mr Chairman.

 

What've you got to say for yourself then Neil?

[simplythebest 0]

To be fair he makes some reasonable points.

 

However, you would hope that when the club makes a statement on their website it comes from the chairman as much as any other director.

 

If Malcolm Murray is as insignificant as Jackson is making out then why would he still be there?

[the gunslinger 3,366]

yeah blame jackson not green that will be health for us going forward. what happened the last time we did that oh yeah liquidation.

[simplythebest 0]

yeah blame jackson not green that will be health for us going forward. what happened the last time we did that oh yeah liquidation.

 

This is nothing more than an opinion piece and i'm entitled to call it out.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

I was always under the impression Keith Jackson was a Rangers friendly journalist which is why I find his continued negative journalism slightly concerning.

[Frankie 8,371]

I was always under the impression Keith Jackson was a Rangers friendly journalist which is why I find his continued negative journalism slightly concerning.

 

First and foremost, journalists have a career to think about. Jackson or others may well have Rangers leanings but their mortgage will come before any small support of the club they may or may not have.

[simplythebest 0]

And stuff like this sells newspapers.