Rangers News

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Updates on Rangers Transfer news.

So what's the current situation like? David Currie doesn't speak much sense on Reporting Scotland.

RDuncan8 wrote:

JAS wrote:First read at this thread for a wee while...first of all well done Hero for trying to keep posters on track.

No matter how you look at this now there is a huge question mark hanging over the Scottish game. If Rangers don't get pushed down to Div 3 there will be a loss of credibility in some peoples eyes, if they do the repercussions could be the final nail in the coffin for the Scottish game ....why?
1) Does anyone seriously think Sky would want to pay anything to screen games from a 1 team league
2) The other 10 "wee teams" in the SPL would not only have to cope with less TV money but they would also have 3-4 less windfall games a year.
3) Crowds in general would drop off as the league would already be decided by the end of September.
4) Apart from anything else there would be logistical difficulties fortnightly for the authorities trying to handle Rangers away games in stadia equipped for a few hundred people.

A few people would find it amusing and sneer and snigger and feel holier than thou and smug for a few months but after that....what? Progress for the Scottish game? I don't think so.

The whole shambles has dragged out too long and I'm not talking about since Feb 14th....HMRC should NEVER have allowed the EBT issue to fester if they thought something was amiss...quite frankly they should either drop the case or explain why it took them 10 years to decide that what Rangers had been doing was inappropriate or wrong. The SFA/SPL have now come to the conclusion that Craig Whyte was unfit to hold a position within Scottish football. Fine but it would be useful if they explained what if any due diligence they did before the deal went through.

How can anyone be expected to conclude a deal to buy a business under those circumstances. Why has there been such a delay in the tribunal for the big tax question (the EBT one), if HMRC are so confident they will win it why don't they expedite it? With regard to the "wee" tax bill...simply address the demand to Mr C Whyte. Job done, new owners come in and know where they stand and can start rebuilding. Anything more than that smacks of Celtic colluding with the wee teams to engineer holding Rangers down while they make a good 3-4 season start on 10 in a row.

To answer your points..

1) I believe if Rangers are gone/div 3 the league will become more competitive. Celtic may dominate for a couple seasons but they will get worse and the other teams better. There are practically no 1 team leagues. Last time that Rangers were rubbish, Celtic didnt win everything. The tv deal only benefits the Old Firm.

2) Using Aberdeen as an example, when the OF are in town we normally get 17k going up to 18-19k if we're playing decent.
Normally we get about 9k going up to 11-12k if we're playing decent. Now given that if they vanished we'd still be playing someone instead of rangers, we can assume that we would get our average crowd. So right now with their two 'visits' a year, their existence seems to provide us with around 16,000 paying customers per season.
That's less that 1000 punters for each home game of the year, or one decent European night, or our share of a cup semi final. without their cheating, bigoted presence, the league would only get more competitive, there would be more cup finals and european places up for grabs, and therefore more european nights in following seasons.
Every team in the league would improve their numbers, and to suggest Aberdeen couldn't make up 16k over a season is ridiculous.

3) Like I said before, I think the league will become more competitive especially with a Champions League spot up for grabs. Celtic may walk it the first few seasons but the rest of the clubs will continue to fight for the rest. Right now, for the rest of the clubs, the league is already decided at the start of the season (1 of the OF) yet people still turn up. Only lack of fans will be Rangers ones.

4) Don't see the problem here. You have 200 away tickets = 200 away fans, nothing else you can do. Price them at £100 each maybe???

The only people who will feel smug etc about it will be Celtic fans. The rest of the teams fans will feel one step closer to a fairer league with the voting system (11-1) will actually be practical and changes can actually be made to benefit all teams.

I don't know a great deal about the tax case so comment on your point there. With the regards to the SFA allowing Craig Whyte to buy Rangers, they were very wrong. The only point in their favour was that Rangers fans were ecstatic about him and his promises. Can you imagine the uproar from them if the SFA blocked him? Still not a excuse, they didnt do their job properly.

The only people to blame are the Rangers owners, former owners, directors etc. Why should the taxman be helping them out? They have dodged taxes for years, winning countless unfair trophies.

The TV deal doesn't only benefit the Old Firm it is pennies to Celtic and Rangers. When the Setanta deal collapsed a deal that Celtic and Rangers were against but the brains at the Mickey mouse clubs thought was a good idea a few of them almost went bust. So Rangers going to dvi3 isn't an option or the aforementioned Mickey Mouse clubs go bust.

It's not just the £16k that comes form 2 away games it's the fact our TV deal is reliant on the Old Firm. Face it no one cares about the small clubs except from the small band of fans they have. The Old Firm have carried the league and funded you lot for years.

As for the 11-1 voting system being fairer it will only ever be truly fair if the Old Firm get a vote and no one else does. It's our league all the sponsorship and TV revenue comes because of us the rest deserve no say in the matter. They had their chance with Setanta and proved they aren't capable of running the SPL. Looking at the state these clubs are in with debt it's fair to say the guys in charge of them have done a pretty poor job running them. Giving these men a say in any matters important to Scottish football is madness.

I think you just summed up why everyone thinks the SPL is corrupt. It can't be a football league if it isnt fair. The whole integrity of the league is in question if we carry on especially in the way you want.

I'd rather be in a more competitive but lower standard league with no tv deal. The days of going far in champions league, Europa league are long gone. Maybe you don't think that (for Celtic). No matter how insignificant you think the "small clubs" are you need us more than we need you. We would maybe be in a lower level league but Celtic would have nowhere to go. England won't take you and a European Super League aint gonna happen.
Celtic and Rangers have made it clear that they don't care for Scottish football. The whole "Scottish football needs us" is a farce.

I honestly believe that Scottish football would be better without the OF.
I also do not think that I am alone in my thinking.

Sugar Ray, I think you will have to get used to Rangers being a 'Diddy' team for the best part of 5 years [if you are lucky]
Your sponsors will vanish, hopefully your Luddite bigoted supporters will vanish and your season ticket and gate income will definately vanish.

Then watch the rest of Scottish football go with us. So they would be better off without us? IF we had of left for England 10 years ago the SPL would be of no higher standard than the Junior leagues in this country and no club would have seen 5,000+ fans through there gate in years.

Keep up the deluded way of thinking. We are not all bigots. I'm certainly not I just think the Mickey Mouse teams need to remember they do nothing more than make up the numbers when it comes to sponsorship and TV money. They are an irrelevance only the big 2 matter and that's a fact.

Doon the Water wrote:I honestly believe that Scottish football would be better without the OF.
I also do not think that I am alone in my thinking.

Sugar Ray, I think you will have to get used to Rangers being a 'Diddy' team for the best part of 5 years [if you are lucky]
Your sponsors will vanish, hopefully your Luddite bigoted supporters will vanish and your season ticket and gate income will definately vanish.

Your definitely not alone. Not sure if you were aware of the fans survey that went round. 16500 fans took part. Results speak for themselves:
96% think a liquidated newco Rangers shouldnt be allowed back into SPL straight away.
52% would walk away from SPL fixtures if Rangers were allowed back in.

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:Then watch the rest of Scottish football go with us. So they would be better off without us? IF we had of left for England 10 years ago the SPL would be of no higher standard than the Junior leagues in this country and no club would have seen 5,000+ fans through there gate in years.

Keep up the deluded way of thinking. We are not all bigots. I'm certainly not I just think the Mickey Mouse teams need to remember they do nothing more than make up the numbers when it comes to sponsorship and TV money. They are an irrelevance only the big 2 matter and that's a fact.

You'll never get in the English league. Junior leagues is a bit far. A competitive league would bring back fans. Something to play for, we would have to drop a hell of a lot to see our european places vanish. European games, home and abroad, attracts fans no matter what standard the football is.
We can live without sponsorship and tv money. You can't live without a league.

Make a new league of just Rangers and Celtic then if we don't matter?

RDuncan8 wrote:

Doon the Water wrote:I honestly believe that Scottish football would be better without the OF.
I also do not think that I am alone in my thinking.

Sugar Ray, I think you will have to get used to Rangers being a 'Diddy' team for the best part of 5 years [if you are lucky]
Your sponsors will vanish, hopefully your Luddite bigoted supporters will vanish and your season ticket and gate income will definately vanish.

Your definitely not alone. Not sure if you were aware of the fans survey that went round. 16500 fans took part. Results speak for themselves:
96% think a liquidated newco Rangers shouldnt be allowed back into SPL straight away.
52% would walk away from SPL fixtures if Rangers were allowed back in.

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:Then watch the rest of Scottish football go with us. So they would be better off without us? IF we had of left for England 10 years ago the SPL would be of no higher standard than the Junior leagues in this country and no club would have seen 5,000+ fans through there gate in years.

Keep up the deluded way of thinking. We are not all bigots. I'm certainly not I just think the Mickey Mouse teams need to remember they do nothing more than make up the numbers when it comes to sponsorship and TV money. They are an irrelevance only the big 2 matter and that's a fact.

You'll never get in the English league. Junior leagues is a bit far. A competitive league would bring back fans. Something to play for, we would have to drop a hell of a lot to see our european places vanish. European games, home and abroad, attracts fans no matter what standard the football is.
We can live without sponsorship and tv money. You can't live without a league.

Make a new league of just Rangers and Celtic then if we don't matter?

The other 10 clubs in SPL don't matter. It could be Pollok Juniors in the SPL and it wouldn't matter as long as it has the Old Firm.

You can't live without TV. When the Mickey Mouse crew were allowed to do a TV deal themselves they went for Setanta and almost went bust. This was a deal Celtic and Rangers were against. This left Martin Bain and Peter Lawwell having to do a deal with Sky and ESPN for less than they originally offered which kept at least 4 SPL clubs from going under. That's a fact.

Most other clubs in Scotland especially the SPL ones are hamstrung by debt so all these clubs you are talking about that don't need the Old Firm, TV or sponsorship. You are claiming they don't need the things that are actually keeping most of them from going under.

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:

The other 10 clubs in SPL don't matter. It could be Pollok Juniors in the SPL and it wouldn't matter as long as it has the Old Firm.

You can't live without TV. When the Mickey Mouse crew were allowed to do a TV deal themselves they went for Setanta and almost went bust. This was a deal Celtic and Rangers were against. This left Martin Bain and Peter Lawwell having to do a deal with Sky and ESPN for less than they originally offered which kept at least 4 SPL clubs from going under. That's a fact.

Most other clubs in Scotland especially the SPL ones are hamstrung by debt so all these clubs you are talking about that don't need the Old Firm, TV or sponsorship. You are claiming they don't need the things that are actually keeping most of them from going under.

And now the other clubs are held to ransom by the "big two". We won't need them if the standard drops which it will. More fans will come back to a competitive league though. The league will find a standard that teams can cope and it will grow from there. It's been all downhill for ages, might aswell take the jump and start again. We have to drop to the same level as the Faroe Islands for our european places to drop if that's an issue.

BTW, Aberdeen were also against the Setanta deal

RDuncan8 wrote:

SugarRayRussell (PBK) wrote:

The other 10 clubs in SPL don't matter. It could be Pollok Juniors in the SPL and it wouldn't matter as long as it has the Old Firm.

You can't live without TV. When the Mickey Mouse crew were allowed to do a TV deal themselves they went for Setanta and almost went bust. This was a deal Celtic and Rangers were against. This left Martin Bain and Peter Lawwell having to do a deal with Sky and ESPN for less than they originally offered which kept at least 4 SPL clubs from going under. That's a fact.

Most other clubs in Scotland especially the SPL ones are hamstrung by debt so all these clubs you are talking about that don't need the Old Firm, TV or sponsorship. You are claiming they don't need the things that are actually keeping most of them from going under.

And now the other clubs are held to ransom by the "big two". We won't need them if the standard drops which it will. More fans will come back to a competitive league though. The league will find a standard that teams can cope and it will grow from there. It's been all downhill for ages, might aswell take the jump and start again. We have to drop to the same level as the Faroe Islands for our european places to drop if that's an issue.

BTW, Aberdeen were also against the Setanta deal

I get without us the league would be more competitive but it would be of a much lesser standard than it is now. The immediate loss of cash from TV and sponsorship deals would put a lot of clubs including the larger and more established of the smaller clubs like Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee United, Motherwell and Kilmarnock in real danger of going out of business. The loss of Sponsorship revenue to the SPL would put at least of half of there clubs in real danger of going out of business.

How do you all get on better without us? Most of the clubs won't be around to see it.

Fair play have a pop at Rangers they have put us all in a situation we would rather not be in but Celtic never did this. We were against Setanta and we have always been a well run club. Especially since the Bunnet got his hands on the club in the mid 90's Dermott spent a bit more but Fergus did have a stadium to build.

If you kill Rangers like it or not you kill Scottish football. You can't send them to the third division it kills other clubs and unfortunately in some cases we need them. We all need each other and as much as there is a bit of me inside who would like to see real justice and see them go under it benefits no one.

Some of these clubs almost did when Setanta went under. If Scotland is to ever grow as a footballing nation we are all sort of stuck with each other. Scottish football is financially dependant on the Old Firm.

As for the bigots Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen have lovely well behaved fans. When was the last time an away manager was attacked at Celtic Park or Ibrox?

As an Aberdeen man you must surely get some joy out of them coming back as a new-co? 140 years of bigoted and tax dodging history down the drain sounds quite good to me.

Doon the Water wrote:I honestly believe that Scottish football would be better without the OF.
I also do not think that I am alone in my thinking.

Sugar Ray, I think you will have to get used to Rangers being a 'Diddy' team for the best part of 5 years [if you are lucky]
Your sponsors will vanish, hopefully your Luddite bigoted supporters will vanish and your season ticket and gate income will definately vanish.

Looking at it as a whole I just just don't see how it would be better off Doon. Sponsors would vanish, TV (which has been in one way or another instrumental in causing this crisis) would also show a clean pair of heels...or drastically drop their current peanuts deals to peanut crumbs deals).

More competitive? well perhaps at a lower level. Celtic's ability to compete on the European stage would gradually erode. Some people are quick to snipe that the Old firm cant compete in Europe anyway (despite both of them contesting a European final in the past decade). Ironically it was the "Poundland" Rangers of the late noughties rather than the "Harrods" incarnation of the early noughties that made it. Without Rangers and eventually Celtic winning enough co-efficient points season after season the 2nd placed team would have as much chance of European Football as Atletico Kebab. Not to mention it would also erode the national team's standing...we could be looking forward to world cup draws safe in the knowledge that we'll avoid the Faroes....BECAUSE WE WOULD BE IN THE SAME POT AS THEM!!! That to be honest is the Christmas that the wee team turkeys are gonna end up voting for....It's time they all woke up.

With regard to comments elsewhere about crowds flocking to watch a more evenly contested competitive league...what's the average 1st & 2nd Div gates for the past couple of seasons then?

With only 4 rather than 8 "big" games to look forward to and gear up for each season...teams like Hearts could end up playing Cup games and struggling to beat the likes of Auchinleck Talbot....No wait...we're past that point in the senior game's decline already. That's said tongue in cheek but in reality I know there are hundreds that if the O/F ceased they would go watch the likes of Cumnock, Auchinleck & Glenafton rather than another senior team and that's only in central Ayrshire, that pattern would be repeated in many other areas. So in that respect yeah the junior teams would be better off and the gap between the seniors and juniors would close further. The important point would be though that overall the senior game would become less financially viable and less able to compete on any European stage

Doon the Water wrote:Rangers Debts £140,000,000
Rangers fine by the SFA £160,000.
I think that is 0.01.5%

Do you really think that is unfair.

Not unfair but not factually correct either...unless.....

1. The results of the big Tax tribunal has been decided and no-one has mentioned it
2. In passing the result HMRC were given carte blanche to raise even more ludicrous penalties on top of those they are already trying it on with
3. The new owners have been approved and taken ownership
4. The new owners have decided not to inject any capital
5. RFC 1899 ltd has come out of administration without any CVA

We can all of course speculate but in the absence of truth in any of the above points £140,000,000 is pure mischievous conjecture

Picture a SPL without the OF.

Dundee United. Aberden, Hearts and Motherwell are contesting the league with only 6 points between the four teams.

Their grounds would be packed and there would be a real buzz about the league.

Remember 59,000 fans watched Hearts play Barcelona at Murrayfield a few years ago, I don't think 30,000 were Barca fans.

Jaz, how are you doing?
Yes that figure should have been £114m!

Doon, as of 2013/14 even the winner of the spl has to pre qualify for the Champions League given how lowly the league is rated, therefore its safe to assume that no spl team will ever qualify again for the proper section of the competition, so it doesn't really matter if rangers and Celtic were to disappear, the league couldn't get much worse than it already is.

Rangers administrators name Bill Miller as preferred bidder for club

• Bid likely to receive lukewarm reception from Rangers support
• Offer does not require immediate transfer of Whyte's 85%

The American businessman Bill Miller has been named by Rangers' administrators as the preferred bidder for the club.

Miller has already gone public with his controversial £11.2m plan under which Rangers would have to seek dispensation to continue in the Scottish Premier League. Miller stated last month that he would seek written guarantees from Scotland's football authorities of no further on-field punishments for Rangers before proceeding with his deal.

Miller wants to form a new company to run Rangers while the old business goes through what he regards as the lengthy process of exiting administration. He would then merge the businesses at a later date.

Crucially, the offer does not require the immediate transfer of Craig Whyte's 85% shareholding in Rangers. Despite earlier and hopeful assertions by the administrators, Duff & Phelps, to the contrary, Whyte has displayed no willingness to readily part with that stake, a matter that swung things in Miller's favour.

Yet the American's bid is likely to receive a lukewarm reception from the Rangers support – who had backed the Blue Knights consortium – and cause political ructions within the SPL. The Blue Knights, working in conjunction with the Sale Sharks owner, Brian Kennedy, were urged by administrators at the weekend to up their cash offer for Rangers in order that creditors could be satisfied sufficiently to accept a company voluntary arrangement. Unlike Miller, the Blue Knights sought Whyte's shareholding.

SPL clubs are due to meet on Monday to decide whether or not to accept penalties suggested for clubs looking to remain in the league as a "newco". The suggested sanctions are of a 10-point deduction for two seasons and the removal of 75% of commercial revenue for three.

Clubs must, however, decide whether the commercial value of Rangers to the league would override damage done to the competition's reputation and integrity if a newco was permitted to form a part of it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/03/rangers-bill-miller-preferred-bidder

Bill Miller nears takeover at Rangers
Rangers' administrators have granted Bill Miller preferred bidder status and hope the club will be in his hands later this month.

"Mr Miller now proposes to complete his transaction by the end of the season," read a statement from Duff & Phelps.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17921616

I would have thought the main concern is that Rangers survive in one form or another. They will eventually find their way back to the top again - they are still second in the league despite the points deduction and uncertainty - so are still currently at/near the top.

I would like to know whether Rangers were unusual in their financial arrangements of their players (paying less tax), or whether the system used is common to other clubs, including those south of the border. I would have liked to have seen more discussion in the press on this matter - how clubs generally finance themselves and the tricks they use to avoid the taxman.

Without resorting to cut and paste what does this actually mean for Rangers given that miller was hoping for the transfer embargo and ten point deduction to be lifted.

Nore Staat wrote:Bill Miller nears takeover at Rangers
Rangers' administrators have granted Bill Miller preferred bidder status and hope the club will be in his hands later this month.

"Mr Miller now proposes to complete his transaction by the end of the season," read a statement from Duff & Phelps.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17921616

I would have thought the main concern is that Rangers survive in one form or another. They will eventually find their way back to the top again - they are still second in the league despite the points deduction and uncertainty - so are still currently at/near the top.

I would like to know whether Rangers were unusual in their financial arrangements of their players (paying less tax), or whether the system used is common to other clubs, including those south of the border. I would have liked to have seen more discussion in the press on this matter - how clubs generally finance themselves and the tricks they use to avoid the taxman.

The whole tax thing is down to EBT's I think. They are legal if used correctly which Rangers didn't do. Don't really know much about the whole tax thing just that the taxman is adamant they are right and want all the money...no deals. Cant be arsed with trying to understand EBT's or tax rules tbh. Just have to believe HMRC to be right. They should know their stuff???

They are still second in the league this season but Miller's plan is to sell off the players, stadium, training ground etc. Those highly paid players (McGregor, Naismith, Davis etc) are not going to be around next season if they are only getting 25% of their normal wage. Think they will be in a relegation fight next season if they are still here.

This Bill Miller character just seems like a chancer, Craig Whyte MkII.

The whole thing stinks of corruption. Maybe next season all the smaller clubs should go spend £20mil each on new players. Newco next season and don't pay the bills while keeping our history etc. That ain't right...

super_realist wrote:Without resorting to cut and paste what does this actually mean for Rangers given that miller was hoping for the transfer embargo and ten point deduction to be lifted.

No idea really. Miller's offer before was supposedly a very complicated bid with lots of stipulations. Now miraculously it's an unconditional offer. Something not right there. Either he has backed down completely or the SPL, SFA etc have given him assurances that the sanctions will be lifted behind everyone elses back.

Smells a bit wiffy to me.

I note Miller made his money in shopping malls.

I'm really suprised he got it, not read good things about him, really thought it was going to be the Blue Knights.

Rangers are retiring the number 12 jersey as a thank you to the fans for there support over the last few months. That's a nice gesture regardless of how poorly the club has been run and who is guilty of what the fans have done nothing wrong.

Yes....I think the fans and surprisingly McCoist have shown a lot of dignity.
The march to Hampden went off without one arrest, I for one was very surprised to see that.

I hope it works out for them and perhaps the fans may now be a bit more understanding towards the smaller clubs in Scotland

Have the gave up on the idea of marching at the cup final? That would be poor if they did that.

South of the border they have sold off clubs to chicken farmers in Asia, and oil and gas barrons around the globe (thugs and monarchy thugs). "Business" and various forms of financial institutions are taking control. So Miller and Whyte are no surprise it is just now a question of regulation and monitoring. Not sure where that leaves the individual football supporter.

Bill Miller's Plans:

"He aims to form an "incubator" concern that would see the assets of Rangers transferred to a new company. ... [This] would leave an "old company" saddled with the club's debts and aiming to deal with its creditors via a Company Voluntary Arrangement [CVA]. ... "

Is this how simple Big Business is: Transfer a company's assets over to a new company and leave behind the debts and liabilities onto the old company which gets liquidated.

If so maybe I too should start up my own companies.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17921616

Dear creditors.

Today I am setting up "newRDuncan8" which will hold all my assets.

Please direct your claims to "oldRDuncan8" which has sweet F all!

Surely can't happen. I might aswell go buy Messi for Stirling Albion then "newco" the next season.

If the old Rangers stay in any form then they have to face sanctions (from SFA, SPL, UEFA, taxman etc.

If they liquidate, then new name, est 2012, start from div3. On paper the new Rangers won't have a history but it will still be there. The fans of all teams won't just forget about it, same with the media.

If this newco works out how they want surely a good bunch of the SPL clubs should do the same...fresh start, no debt, no sanctions, same club.

Good video of Channel 4 correspondent grilling one of the admins:


[url=http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAEabvr4~,Wtd2HT-p_Vh4qBcIZDrvZlvNCU8nxccG&bctid=1619712572001 ]http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAEabvr4~,Wtd2HT-p_Vh4qBcIZDrvZlvNCU8nxccG&bctid=1619712572001 [/url]

Admin saying that the SPL have given Miller assurances. SPL denying this.

Admin saying that HMRC have given agreement to the Miller bid. HMRC deny this.

What a corrupt mess.

I'm pretty much speechless after watching that.

We have a unconditional offer that has conditions based on conversations that the other parties say never happened.

It's almost like they seem sure HMRC will have to back down and accept a CVA as they will have shipped all the assets out the back door in the middle of the night. A case of either take what's offered or nothing as there's nothing else to take.

Bizarre.

I have never been convinced that Duff and Phelps actually knew what they were doing and have seen nothing lately to suggest otherwise.

How this is legal is beyond me. This is like me taking out a large loan against my assets then signing all my assets over to my Mum and defaulting on the loan. Leaving no assets and whoever gave me the loan well out of pocket.

There is a lot of talk on twitter that the chairman of the SPL clubs aren't happy about this. I can't say I blame them.

I like to see a reporter getting stuck into someone doesn't happen enough, going to be interesting to hear whats been agreed with Mr Miller, really suprised it's went down this route, when Kennedy joined the Blue Knights it looked a certain.

Galveston, I'm genuinely interested by this question.

Given that all Rangers players can walk out Scot free, what sort of team are they going to have next year, especially with a transfer embargo?
Surely it would be career and financial suicide for the better players like Davis, Naismith and McGregor to stay, wouldn't it?

McGergor is coming to Celtic!

Seems to me like the blazers in the Scottish Football Association have hardly taken any steps to punish Rangers whatsoever for their financial irregularities.

Such is the Scottish League that docking them a handful of points still sees them finish second at a canter and banning them from signing any players is unlikely to have any effect either other than to hand Celtic an advantage. The Rangers youth team would prbably finish second in the league.

They should have been held accountable in the full, stripped of any silverware won in the offending period and made to start over again in Division 3. Not simply just punished for appearances sake. But I suppose in that case they might aswell have just awarded Celtic the league for the forseeable future.

I honestly can't see some of them sticking around, i wouldn't, think the majority of the big players signed a contact allowing them to leave, with the transfer embargo it could be really grim. I never understood why the likes of Jordan McMillian etc was sold, could be needing him next year.

Putting them in Division 3 harms to many clubs. It could kill quite a lot not just in the SPL. I agree with stripping them of trophies and the transfer embargo. Scottiah football isn't in a position to punish one of the big 2 so severely.

Unfortunately we are in too poor a position to be fair.

Just out of interest what is the timeframe the EBts were in use.

Apparently between 1998-2010. This could be up to 7 league titles 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011. 6 Scottish cups 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009 and 6 league cups 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2011.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/sport/football/ogilvie-admits-to-ebt-membership-but-denies-any-administration-involvement.17028613?_=775bc5c30e27f0e562115d136e7f7edbd3cead89

"An employee benefit trust is a trust set up by a company to provide benefits for some or all of its employees. The company will pay money into the trust and the trustees will pay it out later to the employees. In the meantime they will invest it (often in shares of the company).

Employee benefit trusts are often used as part of employee share schemes or to pay deferred bonuses to high earning employees.

They have also been used in other ways designed to avoid or defer income tax or national insurance."

If it was true that they used them between that period they twice got automatic qualification to the Champions league screwing Celtic out of somewhere in the region of £20m.

I like your new badge Kev

There's still a lot of dirt to come out in the wash, it's not looking good.

Just think mate this started out for transfer news!

I know mate, not got a clue where it will end. Not looking good.

Another thing that I am not sure has been picked up on the thread that I heard on the radio this morning is that should Miller put rangers into a newco situation, the players have to sign new contracts.

In other words, they could be free to leave without a transfer fee should they not sign a new contract to the new company.

Administrators are telling the players that if the SPL/SFL agree, their contracts will transfer to the newco along with the assets.

Don't really know what to believe but think the admins are making a right mess of it. Supposedly there will be a fan display at Rangers this weekend that the admins have said the club will pay for. Would be raging about this if I was a creditor...

Isn't one of the main points of administration to look after the creditors and not on a unnecessary display???

The players have no contracts with the newco levaing them as free agents. They don't get any compensation or get the money back they waived for the last 3 months.

That is a shameful way to treat guys like McGregor. Celtic will look after him mind you. We'll give him a nice big signing on fee and a nice wage rise!

The players

Rangers players may leave without Bill Miller's newco club receiving a penny, according to the footballers' union.

From June 1, the Ibrox stars who cut their wages, in some cases by as much as 75%, after the club's administration will revert to their original deals.

Scotland goalkeeper Allan McGregor and striker Steven Naismith, left, are already being eyed by West Brom.

Fraser Wishart, chief executive of PFA Scotland, has said they and other assets would not be obliged to move to the new company, meaning they could leave without a new Rangers receiving any compensation.

Contracts fall under Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment (Tupe) legislation.

Mr Wishart, right said: "Our guys are not individuals – they are assets and have a figure on their head. Under Tupe regulations, they are protected by the law. If a new company takes over the employees of a previous company, then our members are protected. A newco can't come in and change the terms of employment.

"Secondly, they don't have to go. They are free agents. Points one and two of the regulation protects rights – ie no change to conditions of employment.

"Point seven then says that the players do not have to go. The players are employed by Rangers FC.

"They might just stay and take what it brings."

Last month, Mr Wishart said PFA Scotland was taking legal advice on whether player registrations are held by the current Rangers company.

Rangers players may leave without Bill Miller's newco club receiving a penny, according to the footballers' union.

From June 1, the Ibrox stars who cut their wages, in some cases by as much as 75%, after the club's administration will revert to their original deals.

Scotland goalkeeper Allan McGregor and striker Steven Naismith, are already being eyed by West Brom.

Fraser Wishart, chief executive of PFA Scotland, has said they and other assets would not be obliged to move to the new company, meaning they could leave without a new Rangers receiving any compensation.

Contracts fall under Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment (Tupe) legislation.

Mr Wishart said: "Our guys are not individuals – they are assets and have a figure on their head. Under Tupe regulations, they are protected by the law. If a new company takes over the employees of a previous company, then our members are protected. A newco can't come in and change the terms of employment.

"Secondly, they don't have to go. They are free agents. Points one and two of the regulation protects rights – ie no change to conditions of employment.

"Point seven then says that the players do not have to go. The players are employed by Rangers FC.

"They might just stay and take what it brings."

Last month, Mr Wishart said PFA Scotland was taking legal advice on whether player registrations are held by the current Rangers company.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/the-players.17490575

You'd have to be braindead or a Rangers die-hard to stay

Papac is on his way.

http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/football-news/article/2759697

Shame i've always rated Papac, think he's a good solid player. Let's hope Wallace doesn't leave also, we've not even paid for him yet.

To people saying the SPL would be fine without Rangers or Celtic, it would be dead within a season.

https://2img.net/h/oi46.tinypic.com/f224no.jpg

A picture of away fans from 150 miles away at an end of season, nothing to play for game. Good example there.
If clubs go to the wall because Rangers do, then so be it. Would rather be in a league without cheats. Clubs have been relegated from the SPL and so have no Rangers income and are still here. If the chairmans of the other clubs let them walk back in they can expect to lose most of their own fans. If that's what they want to do, then Flip them.

Depends what you mean by "dead". The standard will lower but it will be a fair league. That out weighs any commercial reason.

What happens if next season, Rangers newco youths finish bottom? Will they get relegated?

Also, Kilmarnock can expect this in the future if their chairman decides to back this newco Rangers. Booed by his own fans yesterday when asking them to renew their season tickets now.