Edmiston Drive 3,846 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Good article with interesting points e.g. Bidding £1m for a player not knowing that they had knocked back highlights our nievity in the transfer market. He is quite right about living within our means, hopefully the support will realise this too ... soon !!That has to be Smtihs fault. Purely and simply down to him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLawMan 6,240 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Casey, TWM and the other few will be along to shoot it down soon Firstly, well done Tom English for asking some searching questions, its only taken someone 9 months to do so Secondly, well done Craig Whyte for taking and answering, in the main, the questions. More of this please Lastly, and here is the but, he is still dodging the £20-£24m question. The Jelavic and Beattie monies were paid in Aug/Sept, long after our Accounting year end and whilst in the main it will satisfy most supporters, he has still not explained why we only had £8.9m in our bank account on the 30th June 2011. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbear 10,924 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Tom English should try and get an equally frank q&a with Murray, plenty unanswered questions there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBlue 136 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Maybe this has been mentioned somewhere, but the thing that I don't understand regarding the whole ticketus money is how are we going to generate money over the next couple of seasons, when we have already apparently spent a large part of our income?Can anyone explain this to me?I think that with the tax case hanging over us the club doesn't have the usual lines of credit available and most businesses would struggle with cash flow in that situation. Ticketus was maybe the only way to keep us afloat. If we win the tax case we should be able to restructure that debt into longer term loans and the moves Whyte has made to reduce our costs and increase commercial revenue will hopefully start to close the gap in our finances. If we lose, does it really matter?Good interview, I like Tom English - always comes across as not having an agenda and makes Traynor sound a bit thick by comparison when he's on Your Call Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmalade1872 40 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 not convinced about this living whithin our means if you dont invest(in good players and put a winning team on the park)we will just stand still then go backwords.he comes accross like a gambler it looks like a lot depends on getting in to the champions league so in the short term it would have been better to invest decent money in better players to get us thereand he has a plan for any eventuality good lets hear it mr whyte. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLawMan 6,240 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 If a player leaves without asking he is entitled to get his wages due for the rest of his contract. normally doesn`t happen and they get a payoff. If a player asks to leave he gets nothing.Despite what he said, Jelavic wanted to go to the Prem. Payoffs are when there are disputes, i dont think Jela would have been difficult to deal with and in all likelyhood would have got ZERO. As for agents fees, who defines if its the buying or selling club that pays them ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmiston Drive 3,846 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 He always comes over very well although so did Murray and we know what happened there so I will reserve my judgement on him. I can believe that little bills keep dropping out of thin air though .Interesting he hasn't discussed the future of the company with Ally ... does this mean he doesn'r completely trust him?Why should he discuss the future of the club with Ally. Ally is am employee of the club charged with running the playing side and has more than enough on his plate doing that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmiston Drive 3,846 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 He always comes over very well although so did Murray and we know what happened there so I will reserve my judgement on him. I can believe that little bills keep dropping out of thin air though .Interesting he hasn't discussed the future of the company with Ally ... does this mean he doesn'r completely trust him?Why should he discuss the future of the club with Ally. Ally is am employee of the club charged with running the playing side and has more than enough on his plate doing that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLawMan 6,240 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 What figures do you want me to knock off the transfers? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLawMan 6,240 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 well considering that this season we have had to pay 7mill to ticketus, 1mill for jelavic transfer (AJ claimed all transfers were fully paid as well, another lie by the old regime) and 1mill to pay off James beattie, there's 9million quid you wont see us spending every seasonsay we pay back ticketus 5mill a year, cutting our running costs and even the europa league participation means we have that coveredremember that it was only maybe 10-15k season tickets sold up front per season to ticketus, not our full 35-40kCraig Whyte by non denial admitted we only managed to pay £3m to ticketus though the instalment due was £9m With £26m still to pay to them over what will be 3 years now, the bill to them will be £9m per year, which is by your own calculations, £4m MORE than this year even when we set aside the Beattie and Jelavic money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLawMan 6,240 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Upgrading the stadium including the screens?Should be money in and out for this as he promised to pay £1.7m or thereabouts for the improvements. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek1872 548 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Q: OK, let’s kick-off with one of the questions of the week. It’s been revealed that you raised £24.4 million in much-needed funds by pre-selling tranches of Rangers season tickets for the next four seasons...A: It was closer to £20m, but carry on.Q: Right, £20m then. What have you done with the money? Where is it?A: We’ve got running costs somewhere in the region of £3.5m a month. That’s what it costs to keep the lights on. People don’t understand the business side of football. They’re all very quick to go and criticise but nobody else was prepared to step up to the plate and I guess if you look over the last week you can understand why.Q: People want to know where the ticket money has gone...A: Well, OK, I won’t do it line by line but I’ll give you some examples. There’s a £10m funding hole that needs to be filled. I’ve said that before. I have nothing to apologise for. This is the reality of the club. There was several million that had to be repaid from an old ticket arrangement from the previous board. There were things like transfer payments. We still owed £1m to Rapid Vienna from when we bought Nikica Jelavic. We owed £1m on the James Beattie signing. Believe me, every single penny of the Ticketus money has stayed in the club. What I want to get across is that the fans’ money is safe, it’s underwritten by one of my companies and everything I do is in the best long-term interests of the club.If this explains where the money has gone then its an even bigger worry than not knowing. This means £20 mil has been swallowed up on running costs. What do we do then over the upcoming seasons without this money?Q: You say you lodged £28m in a bank account as proof of funds during the negotiating process?A: I think it was closer to £33m actually.Q: Your own money from your own personal wealth?A: Yes, that was done as far back as November 2010.Q: Can you prove it?A: I can, yes.Q: Can you e-mail me the documents and kill some conspiracies?A: I see what you’re getting at and there might be some benefit in doing that. Let me think about it. I’ll give it some consideration.Why wont he just prove this once and for all? It puts all our minds at ease. Not just fans but creditors too. This can only be good for him and the club.Q: Ally has said that he doesn’t know what your battle plan is in the event of the HMRC verdict going against the club. Why not tell him?A: Well, you know I play my cards close to my chest. Ally and I work closely together and if that situation arises he’ll be the first to know about it. We’re talking about hypotheticals here.The trusts the guy to run his club but wont let him know what the future holds. Surely this is a clear indication he doesnt really trust Ally. Cant be a good relationship between them. No wonder Ally looked pissed off.Q: But Norwich had already turned down over £2m for him...A: I didn’t know that. What I do know was that the player was keen to come but Norwich didn’t want to lose him. That’s fair enough. Look, in years gone by you could have taken a punt in January and said ‘Right I’m going to spend £10m, we’re going to win the league and all that Champions League money will be ours’. But life is not like that anymore. We have to go through two qualifying rounds these days. You could spend £10m and not make it through to the Champions League and that would be painful. As custodian of the club I have to ask if that’s a risk worth taking and I have to say that it’s not. Look at what we did in the past. We spent huge money on duff players. My main ambition here is to get my sleeves rolled up and get on with the turnaround and make it a self-sustaining club.Q: But if you’re not spending money on players how do you expect to give yourselves a chance of winning the SPL and qualifying for the Champions League, where all the big cash is?A: The game has changed. The players we bring in should, mostly, be young guys that we can improve and maybe sell on for profit. Like I say, self-sustaining. That’s the way football clubs have to be. We can’t go on with a £10m deficit every season. Somebody had to call a halt to the way things were being done previously.Everything he says here is great. This is the stuff I want to hear. This is what I have said all along. Get rid of the big earners. Forget winning the league for a few seasons. Bring in a load of good young talent. The money we will save on wages can only help. If we manage to uncover a few young gems it may be a lot better than gambling on half decent foriegn players.He conducted himself well. I still dont trust him 100% but he at least seems to have a bit of a plan. The one thing he says that is key here. He wishes he had been mor forth coming earlier. He couldnt be more right. He has brought a lot of these problems on himself and still continues to do so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenose48 953 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 A good interview by CW Tom English asked a lot of questions that we fans have been asking. He got some very good answers.As others have said Whyte may not be squeaky clean but he seems to have plans for every contingency. Which gives me confidence for the future of RFC.It may take us a few years to come out the other side of this mess created by the previous board. If we do as Whyte seems to be confident that we will, we will be in a much stronger position financially than we have for years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluereason 13 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Q: But if you’re not spending money on players how do you expect to give yourselves a chance of winning the SPL and qualifying for the Champions League, where all the big cash is?I love this question.....when I read it I just smiled and said this is definitely a question I would have asked.....it feels like we have no ambition to win this league but in fairness it was quite a good answer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseyjones 3,009 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Upgrading the stadium including the screens?That money came from RFCG. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek1872 548 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Q: But if you’re not spending money on players how do you expect to give yourselves a chance of winning the SPL and qualifying for the Champions League, where all the big cash is?I love this question.....when I read it I just smiled and said this is definitely a question I would have asked.....it feels like we have no ambition to win this league but in fairness it was quite a good answer.The ambition to stay alive as a club should be a higher priority than winning the league. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 That money came from RFCG.Is there any other transactions from them should be included in your figures then? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseyjones 3,009 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Still showing around £20m unaccounted for. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carsons Dog 9,878 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Still showing around £20m unaccounted for.HMRC war chest? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseyjones 3,009 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Is there any other transactions from them should be included in your figures then?Not that I'm aware of, hence my request for people to give their input. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseyjones 3,009 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 HMRC war chest?Maybe, but considering this q&a was set-up to explain the whereabouts of this money, it's still a mystery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzalivesforever 2,001 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Very open and honest interview. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav3ric 13 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 He never knew Norwich had knocked back 2m for Holt. Can somebody tell me who does the homework for our alleged bids. What does Gordon Smith do for his wages.That sentence stinks of amateurism at best. Find the Sandaza story hard to beieve. We were screaming out for a striker. I think Ally might have a different version of that one.Ally is already quoted as saying he was only interested in bringing in players who would improve the squad, ie starting 11. He only seen Sandaza as a squad player and therefore he made the decision to pass it up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmiston Drive 3,846 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Maybe, but considering this q&a was set-up to explain the whereabouts of this money, it's still a mystery.Now you know his main strength. Was summed up brilliantly on the Only an Excuse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPE-OxBcrsUBefore anyone starts getting agitated by this post was meant as a humorous look at Craig Whyte..................yet apt Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav3ric 13 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Q: I’ll try again. What’s the plan?A: I couldn’t go into it. If I publicised it then it would potentially jeopardise what we’re working on. But, remember, I bought the club with this thing hanging over it. I’ve been thinking about it since day one. The long-term interests of the club is what I think about every day.Interesting. This interview pleases me.This is an interesting line for me, very thought provoking as to what he is alluding to here...A big money investment/consortium of fans?Finance deals on the back burner for after the result of the case?Maybe just ways of restructuring?Who knows, but it was an interesting line for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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