Money, money, money - it's not funny

[Frankie 8,684]

http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/136-money-money-money-it-s-not-funny

 

It's not often I paraphrase Abba when writing about Rangers but the 1976 hit from the Swedish super-group certainly applies in part to what's happening at our club. After all today's Scottish Sun article about leaks may, at first glance, highlight warring board factions but it's all about money and such stories are definitely not funny given the rocky reputation of the club is reduced even further.

 

What are these leaks to the media about then? Quite simply - as I've written several times lately - it's all to do the potential sale of the club and how the board is positioned in that respect. In layman's terms one camp is hoping to cling to power (or rather keep the share price high to make money in a sale). Meanwhile, the opposing camp is hoping to seize power (or rather force the share price down to make the cost of buying the club more affordable).

 

On one side of the boardroom table are those investors aligned with Zeus Capital and facing them are the old guard – blue knights if you like – who would like to see the club returned to ‘Rangers men’. Speculation is rife about who is on what side of the table but that may not be as clear as you’d think from the battle lines drawn above. For example, is Brian Stockbridge a key part of Zeus or would he prefer to hold onto his job at Ibrox under a new owner? Is Malcolm Murray (a recognised Rangers fan) doing the bidding of former directors or just annoying everyone? I won’t even begin to try and unravel the media spin about this.

 

What is clear though is that the club and fans are suffering as a result of the daily rumours. Season ticket renewals may be delayed because of continuing league reconstruction uncertainty but every day these are not submitted is another day the club struggles for working capital. That means turning to the £20million raised in last year’s IPO. And, if we do that, every pound spent on the day-to-day bills is a pound removed from the Edmiston House or stadium refurbishment. To that end, just how healthy is the club’s bank balance?

 

With that unanswered question in mind, the share price drops further and those who want to buy the club start to sweat a little less. Meanwhile, those institutional investors who do fancy cutting their losses get closer to the sell button. In that regard, the Easdale brothers may apparently have first option on Charles Green’s holding but just how genuine is their interest and who else can they persuade to sell? Rangers fans they may well be but their fellow supporters don’t have a lot of faith in their business reputation.

 

That leaves us with others supposedly involved in securing a majority shareholding (or at least a controlling interest). As I wrote last month, in addition to the Easdales we have at least two other names in the mix. Dave King and Jim McColl are the highest profile of all supposed bidders but I’m told up to six people have registered their details with the SFA with regard to their Fit and Proper tests. It should be noted though that this may not necessarily mean they want to buy per se but perhaps just be part of any new board. For example, Dave King, Paul Murray and Martin Bain would all have to submit because they were previous directors. Again, I won’t try and sort out who is working with whom here.

 

And in fact, it doesn’t really matter as without a clear signal from any of these people we’re none the wiser about their interest. This means their apparent media spin is worthless to us insofar that while the uncertainty may reduce the share price, it increases the pressure on the club and frustrates the fans even further – even widening existing divisions. A King or McColl would most likely be welcomed by all as a new ‘owner’ of Rangers but just much would their reputation and associated fan confidence in them be affected by their use of the black arts regularly recognised in the media? At what point do they forego the nonsense and clearly show us why they’re a better option?

 

All in all, the fans are effectively powerless to affect any of the above but surely many more will start to appreciate just how important of our summer renewal cash is. Individually our £300-500 may not amount to much but collectively the support needs to exert their influence more effectively going forward. If not, the basket-case which is Rangers football club won’t be improving any time soon – no matter the owner.

[stewarty 2,063]

I suspect things will fast forward once the investigation reveals its findings. As frustrating as it is, this is all just jockeying for position.

If I get time I'll do a post on it, but Rangers need a good internal audit function. I will do it for much cheapness!

[the gunslinger 3,366]

chri graham insists the whole board want malcolm murray to go.

 

perhaps the reasons just vary.

[simplythebest 0]

chri graham insists the whole board want malcolm murray to go.

 

perhaps the reasons just vary.

 

Maybe he's not that good at the job.

[Cotter 0]

A sensible summation of current events, thank you Frankie, I always appreciate these kind of posts.

 

Regarding your closing paragraph about fan influence going forward, what do you think we should do? I'm asking seriously because I don't know. What I do know is that we have a fan base willing to mobilize, we simply need direction.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Maybe he's not that good at the job.

 

good enought to get rid of green and ahmed. personally i would build a statue of him. you could do it life size hes tiny.

[simplythebest 0]

good enought to get rid of green and ahmed. personally i would build a statue of him. you could do it life size hes tiny.

 

I'll likely not forgive him for pushing Green out unless further wrong doing info comes to light.

[craig 5,199]

I'll likely not forgive him for pushing Green out unless further wrong doing info comes to light.

 

So an acceptance that there WAS wrong doing by Green ? That in itself should be enough for him to be removed.....

[Frankie 8,684]

A sensible summation of current events, thank you Frankie, I always appreciate these kind of posts.

 

Regarding your closing paragraph about fan influence going forward, what do you think we should do? I'm asking seriously because I don't know. What I do know is that we have a fan base willing to mobilize, we simply need direction.

 

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that mate.

 

All due respect to them, none of the existing fan groups command the belief of the support at large and none have really stepped forward to lead us over the last two years (even if we ignore the fine BuyRangers work by the Trust).

 

That means we have to look elsewhere - possibly from the club, and that's unlikely given the current climate.

[simplythebest 0]

So an acceptance that there WAS wrong doing by Green ? That in itself should be enough for him to be removed.....

 

Personally I don't really think there was any wrong doing and if there was it was necessary. I was just speaking in context.