Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Let's be honest for a change bh you like llambias because he hates the same people you do. There's no damage he could do to rangers you wouldn't ignore. Nail on head. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy steel 0 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) No doubt I've posted this before, but it has been that way for a long time as this verse from Woody Guthrie's 1939 outlaw ballad, The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd clearly shows. Yes, as through this world I've wandered I've seen lots of funny men Some will rob you with a six-gun And some with a fountain pen Longer than that, even. Shakespeare, 'Henry VI'. Dick the Butcher: The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers. Jack Cade: Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled o'er, should undo a man? Some say the bee stings: but I say, 'tis the bee's wax; for I did but seal once to a thing, and I was never mine own man since. Edited February 25, 2015 by andy steel 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 it's been happening since ancient greece 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real PapaBear 0 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 it's been happening since ancient greece longer than that even - it's been happening since before Hibs last won the Scottish Cup 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1872 4 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 keith jackson @tedermeatballs 13m13 minutes ago Why Sandy Easdale's best worst case scenario is to proxy his egm votes to the Rangers fans... http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-james-easdale-hits-5231382 … 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,761 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Keith Jackson: As James Easdale hits the road brother Sandy's only way out is to hand his shares to the Rangers fans. IT'S Three Bears..1 Two Buses..0 as Rangers EGM looms ever nearer and battle for the boardroom starts to take shape. THE bus brothers are fast approaching the end of the road. Yesterday, shortly after 7am James Easdale announced his resignation from the Rangers board and this parting of the ways appears to indicate an acceptance that the game is finally up. A week tomorrow the younger Easdale sibling faced being unceremoniously oxtered off the premises by shareholders at an egm and bulleted from the most dysfunctional boardroom in British football. Clearly, this was one humiliation too many for a man who has been searching for a way out of this odditorium for quite some time. The question now is, how long will it take before big brother Sandy also attempts to make a dignified exit from this unrelenting farce? Together, over a period of almost three years, the pair of them have helped to create this monstrosity of a mess from the inside. They've been omnipresent ever since they were first ushered into the posh seats by a pair of gigantic Yorkshire hands back in 2012. Make no mistake, they are as tainted by this debacle as any of the long list of incompetents who have helped to run Rangers into the ground throughout this period of chaotic self harming. But, even so, there is a chance now at the eleventh hour for them to repair at least some of the damage which has been to their own reputations. When assessing the options open to Sandy Easdale it quickly becomes apparent that they are, in fact, few and far between. Having previously welcomed Newcastle owner Mike Ashley into this circus like some sort of long lost friend - perhaps even a kindred spirit - Easdale Snr now finds himself hopelessly exposed and without any genuine allies. If the brothers had been sitting tight and hoping for Ashley to ride to their rescue with some game changing plan ahead of next Friday’s EGM then it appears - now that James has finally stepped away - that they have been badly let down. In fact, it is starting to look very much as if all of Ashley’s moves have already been made. Over the last few weeks and months he has tightened his grip on the club’s retail wing with one hand, while scooping up almost all its assets with the other in the form of securities over a bunch of crisis loans. In other words, Ashley - the ultimate poker player - is already sitting at the post EGM negotiating table, peering up from behind a massive pile of chips. If Dave King’s new board wishes to get on about its business then first they’ll have to cut a deal with him. And given the strength of his starting position, they’ll have to do so largely on his terms. Either way, Ashley now has little need for Easdale or even his long standing right hand men, Derek Llambias and Barry Leach, who remain locked into this car-crash alongside chairman David Somers, who even they regard as something of a corporate oaf. They've done their sums and are well aware that, barring some last minute wiggery-pokery on a grand scale or an Ashley inspired intervention, all of them are about to be wiped out. But Ashley appears to be uninterested in their plight to such an extent that one of the Easdale’s has already opted out rather than cling on in there, in the hope of a sudden late plot twist. So, again, what next then for the other brother? Where else can he find protection from the imminent blast? Well, he could reach out to King’s camp and offer to vote with them - using his own 6 per cent shareholding to endorse the new men and remove any last remaining doubt over the outcome of the vote. In return, he could ask for a presence on the board. And, given his own problems with passing a fit and proper person test (there’s a lot of it going about) that presence would almost certainly have been a seat for James. But given yesterday’s resignation that option no longer exists. The reality is, it never really did anywhere else than in Sandy Easdale’s own mind. Quite simply, there was no reason for King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan to make such a concession as they appear to be utterly convinced that there is no chance whatsoever of them failing to garner enough shareholder support. King said it himself in his recent pop up press conference in a Glasgow office block when he declared without hesitation that, ‘We've won it already’. And given the extent of the corporate vandalism which has gone on behind the scenes at Ibrox - all overseen by the Easdales and a host of variously cobbled together boards - what credibility would King’s group have if such a compromise agreement was entered into in order to drive them over the line? Much like Ashley, King too has played his hand. He believes the game is over and is preparing himself now for this showdown with the Sports Direct tycoon - a head-to-head which will determine just how difficult and how costly King’s big rebuild is likely to be. To him, these Easdale boys are nothing more than an irrelevance and that will also have been prickling away at their own sense of pride. They have been left to stare defeat and maybe even humiliation in the face. It is only a matter now of assessing the least worst case scenario. Rangers Supporters Trust: We've won a battle but we've yet to win the war For James, that was resignation. For Sandy, there could yet be another way. A far more elegant solution. He could make himself a major player in all of this again, emerging right at the critical moment, as the King maker in the whole process. And to do that, all that would be required of him would be a signature on a proxy form. With a flick of the pen he could sign his shares over the Rangers fans and wash his hands of the whole business. Now that his wee brother’s name is no longer on the EGM hit-list, Easdale could chose to hand over his votes to either Rangers First or the Rangers Supporters Trust without feeling as if he had betrayed his own flesh and blood. Such a crowd pleaser of a move would go a long way to repairing at least some the reputational damage which, if not addressed, is likely to hang over this family and its businesses for years and years to come. The Easdales could even claim to have been ultimately responsible for delivering the club into the hands of the fans and placing the key to the front door in King’s palm. This way Easdale will not only be calling King’s bluff but also sticking two fingers up at Ashley, albeit in a very subtle way. There are very few businessmen who would be bold enough to pick a fight with Ashley in public but by giving his votes over to the supporters, Easdale would also be removing himself from that potentially awkward spot. It wouldn't be regarded as a win for the Easdales. The truth of the matter is they will have been routed and vanquished. But as defeats go, this one might be easier for them to get over. They know they’re reaching the end of the road, it’s now only a question of how they choose to get there. This route seems a lot less arduous than any of the alternatives. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-james-easdale-hits-5231382 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1872 4 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Chris Graham @ChrisGraham76 27m27 minutes ago RST reaction to Easdale leaving and EGM countdown http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9732116/easdale-quits-rangers … 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudbertz 0 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Good interview, strong words but well spoken. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,813 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 On a sidenote, while Easdale has resigned as a director, I take it that he remains a shareholder of the club/company? Might be interesting to see which way his vote goes, should he keep his shareholding. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I don't think there's much between us on this. You need to be a tough cookie to implement the cuts required and it's an oftentimes thankless task. I'm not "fawning over" him but he has made some progress and if he goes (which is by no means certain) someone equally tough will need to be brought in to continue the task in hand. Since he's on a modest £150k, what fraction did you have in mind and have you factored in the weather? Is his "modest 150k" inclusive of benefits, bonuses, housing allowances and all other perks ? If so I would be astounded. If that is his basic salary I would still probably do it for 50% of that. I'm not greedy. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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