Blog - Time to get rid of the Last Rat

[chilledbear 16]

This is worth a read.

 

https://exposingtherhats.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/time-to-get-rid-of-the-last-rat/

 

Less than 11 months ago I suffered through the bleakest AGM in our club’s history with a gang of morons and chancers impersonating a board sitting in a tent throwing insults at our club’s fans and shareholders. The embarrassment of insolvency in 2012 should have been rock bottom for our club. David Somers and James Easdale, two men who would struggle to manage a colouring in book never mind a football club ensured there were new lows to reach.

 

I had almost given up hope on that day, given the board’s win at the previous EGM it seemed they had this stitched up. Thankfully in the same way as Mike Ashley and his placemen I underestimated the resolve and savvy of Messrs King, Letham, Park and Taylor. Working independently of each other they managed to outsmart Sports Direct a company who we’re repeatedly told never lose. Make no mistake, they did not want to lose control of Rangers and allow honest eyes to look over the deals they had made with a group of men who are currently facing fraud and conspiracy charges.

 

What a difference in our club since that day. We now have a management team and players we can be proud of, key backroom positions which had been neglected for years are now filled with talent and Ibrox Stadium is already seeing the benefits of some long overdue maintenance work.

 

More importantly than all this we are now financially secure, the board laid out medium term funding plans on Friday night which blew Philco’s weekly admin 2 rumours out the window and no doubt triggered a spate of Paypal refund requests for undelivered insolvency events.

 

For the first time in several years we aren’t leading a hand to mouth existence, plans are in place for 2 players to come in at Christmas and another 4 or 5 in the summer. Being a Rangers fan is finally fun again.

 

There is one rather rotund dark cloud on the horizon in the form of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct, unhappy at having been outsmarted by our board and under pressure from the ongoing investigations into alleged fraudulent activity at Rangers he is currently having a childish huff which happens to be backed by a very expensive legal team.

 

Many have misunderstood the current conflict and believe it’s all to do with a £5 million loan, it isn’t. Sports Direct have benefited from and hope to eventually pocket an 8 figure sum from favourable contracts agreed with people who are now standing trial for fraud. Later contracts were agreed when it was clear they were losing control of the club which may well be in breach of Section 41 of the Companies Act. Our board intend to ensure that Sports Direct are held to account legally and financially for these failings, Sports Direct want us to leave this well alone and are using the vast resources at their disposal to try and intimidate us into dropping the issue.

 

As the Daily Record article shows today our board need to tread very carefully due to the court imposed gagging order which Sports Direct are currently trying to have made permanent. This is where we as fans need to step up and have the savvy to read between the lines. Our club’s accounts are due out imminently, if you still harbour the idea that Sports Direct are good for our club please read them carefully and you will learn the truth.

 

Many are asking what can we do to help, here are a few simple steps below:

 

Don’t buy from Sports Direct. Hit these people in the pocket, it may not guarantee they change their course but that aside why would anyone want to fund a billionaire who would spend 1000’s of pounds in legal fees to try and take a few hundred quid from The Rangers Benevolent Fund?

Write to your MP. There are wide ranging issues around Sports Direct’s corporate governance just now and political pressure played a huge part in the recent charges brought against their CEO over the USC scam.

Get off your arse and get involved. We are fortunate to have people like Craig Houston who despite threats and personal abuse give up their free time to fight for our club, I’m certain Sons of Struth will be co-ordinating various events over the coming weeks. Back them, they know what’s going on and they will always fight for our club.

Come up with your own ideas as to how to create negative PR, financial loss or shareholder unrest at Sports Direct. I and others will publicise any legal and sensible ideas to do this to as wide an audience as possible.

Buy Lionbrand, get better quality, keep the kids happy and have your money go to the club. http://www.thelionbrand.co.uk/

We should also be wary of spin coming from Philco et al trying to undermine our efforts, given their dreams of admin 2 are fast fading the Sports Direct issue will no doubt become their next “Donate-bait”.

 

You will hear lines like “Ashley gets just as much money if you buy merchandise or not”, this is untrue and I know it to be untrue not because our Directors breached the confidentiality agreement in the contract but because Derek Llambias did at a Fans Board Meeting before he was deposed. The club have reduced the amount of stock ordered significantly ensuring any such payment would be negligible.

 

You will also hear them say Sports Direct’s contracts are legal and enforceable despite never having seen them as such a big company could never get something like this wrong. Don’t buy it, this is a company with a culture where corporate governance is seen as a nuisance as is highlighted by the fact they went 18 months without an FD and their CEO is currently facing criminal charges.

 

Why anyone regardless of who they support would back Sports Direct a company who impose “Victorian working practices” on their staff, who exploit people with zero hour contracts, who used corporate chicanery to cheat USC workers out of money owed could cheer on their harassment of a scottish football club is beyond me. It’s equally bizarre that many of those doing so claim to believe in social justice, rail against austerity and Tory cuts on their social media accounts yet these lofty morals go out the window if there is a chance to “get one over” on Rangers. If this describes you then you should be ashamed.

 

Our board undoubtedly morally and legally are right to stand up to Sports Direct, I for one will not leave them to fight this on their own. To those who say Sports Direct are too big and we should roll over and accept their mistreatment of our club I point you to the words of the great Bill Struth.

 

“I am never happier than when the outside world has us beaten before a ball is kicked – for then I know the true greatness of our club will be revealed.”