ian1964 10,579 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 ........Ex-striker & coach lift lid on Craig Whyte disaster which still haunts Ibrox club 13 Feb 2014 07:20 IT'S the story that rocked Scottish football to the core and is still affecting those who endured it. Two years on from officially sinking into the financial abyss Record Sport has lifted the lid on the turmoil of Rangers entering administration. DAVID HEALY knows there were Rangers players who used the club’s slip into administration to strengthen their own position. However, the Ulsterman failed to get the one thing he wanted more than anything else – an extra year at the club he loves. Of all the demands from the Ibrox stars and their agents during negotiations to pull the club back from the brink Healy’s request was the most sympathetic. Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of the day Rangers plunged into administration under disgraced former owner Craig Whyte and sent shockwaves through Scottish football. Healy had been through it all before with Leeds United but had the luxury of a safety net in England – which doesn’t exist north of the border – where the PFA step in to pay any wages. The Northern Irishman revealed that in the numerous team meetings in the days following administration the one thing the players wanted more than anything else was to see the club and its staff saved. That is why they agreed to a pay cut. Then came the individual negotiations between players and Duff & Phelps and it was then that Healy – now retired after a spell at Bury – realised his short stint at his boyhood heroes was going to end. The 34-year-old said: “The administration, as terrible as it was for everyone, doesn’t take anything away from the experience of playing for Rangers. People might ask questions as to why I left but the truth is I wasn’t actually offered a contract. “We were asked if we’d take a pay cut to keep the club afloat and at the time I’d have played for free so that wasn’t a problem. It was just disappointing because we took the wage cut and I knew people were asking for transfers or clauses in their contract maybe to benefit them. “Listen, that’s fair enough, that’s modern day football. But for someone like myself, I think the administrators probably thought I was mad because I just wanted another year. My deal was up in the summer and I spoke to the administrator myself because I didn’t need an agent and the only thing I said was ‘give me an extra 12 months’. “I think the administrator spat out his tea because others had been looking to get away and asking for clauses and all I’d have liked was another year. “It didn’t happen, Rangers were financially unstable and I understood the situation and I ultimately left and joined Bury. Nobody knew who was under threat.. we heard our cars were being towed, says former coach “I’ve read people saying if Rangers had gone to the Third Division I wouldn’t have wanted to stay but I’d have played on the astroturf opposite Ibrox Stadium to pull on that jersey. “We knew at the time Rangers were going to be penalised, there was talk of the First or Second Division, but it wouldn’t have mattered to me. “I would have stayed and happily played the extra year as Neil Alexander did and the current captain Lee McCulloch, who has a long history of being a fan himself. “You can see in his performances that Lee loves the club, not only when I was there but more recently. I still watch Rangers and my dad still goes to watch them – Stranraer is the local game this season with it being a couple of hours on the boat from Belfast. “I was coming to the wrong end of my career but other lads felt it was an opportunity to go and futher themselves in the Premier League or abroad but for me I wouldn’t have hesitated to play in the Third Division. “But the administrators told me they were in no position to offer me a deal because of the strain on the club and they didn’t know who was going or staying or who would be sold in the summer. “I think he was just taken aback because so many different clauses had been requested. My only clause was that I would love to have stayed. We didn’t even talk figures or anything, I just said I wanted to stay. It never went any further. “I understood the situation and coming to the end of the season I didn’t really play for whatever reason but thankfully I did get a chance post-administration with eight or nine games and I scored a few goals. “It was just disappointing that I knew my future was going to lie elsewhere and it dawns on you that you’ll be leaving such a great club. I was just thankful to have had the opportunity.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-two-years-financial-collapse-3140239 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cooper 0 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 The mhedia can ram their anniversaries. We need no reminding! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 The mhedia can ram their anniversaries. We need no reminding! it would be dangerous for us to forget what went on. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,435 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Good words from a fan who lived his and our dream. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,387 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 All I want to know is how Whyte got Rangers in the first place. I just don't buy the story that he 'duped' Ticketus into giving him 20 odd million and he then 'duped' SDM into selling him his shares for a quid provided he cleared the overdraft at Fullerton & Kane's bank with the money Ticketus gave him. Unfortunately in this country we don't have investigative journalists who are prepared to investigate the real story here which is whether SDM was blackmailed into selling to Whyte 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cooper 0 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Was under the impression LBG forced Murray to sell. ? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,387 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Was under the impression LBG forced Murray to sell. ? Exactly and why? MIH had at that time bank borrowings of 700million and Rangers were around just 18m of that so why were the bank so focused on Rangers whose bank overdraft was being reduced year on year ? Manus Joseph Fullerton & Archibald Gerard Kane were in charge of LBG's Scottish business division at that time as I understand. Guess which team they support? And of course not forgetting Fullerton's connections with the Shellik Trust and the fact after he left LBG he went on to find employment with Harper McLeod who just happened to be the SPL's legal chums who were investigating whether or not the EBT's were illegal payments and we should have had titles stripped. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stimpy 0 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Healy's old man is a true gent. Regular on the boat and and worked hard with all the RTID NI lads during admin. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 All I want to know is how Whyte got Rangers in the first place.I just don't buy the story that he 'duped' Ticketus into giving him 20 odd million and he then 'duped' SDM into selling him his shares for a quid provided he cleared the overdraft at Fullerton & Kane's bank with the money Ticketus gave him. Unfortunately in this country we don't have investigative journalists who are prepared to investigate the real story here which is whether SDM was blackmailed into selling to Whyte the guy at ticketus was collecting about a million commission everytime whyte borrowed 8. think that explains why he was signing cheques. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,387 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 the guy at ticketus was collecting about a million commission everytime whyte borrowed 8. think that explains why he was signing cheques. And he didn't seem to know that under Scots law they had no claim to the ST's Whyte allegedly told them they had.Astonishing. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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