A tactical genius, or a lunatic behind the wheel

[thebooler 4,509]

Nope i am not talking about Ally, im talking about Craig Whyte, and before anyone moans this isnt a defending Whyte thread, this is how the situation can be viewed from both sides.

To form the basis of this thread we have to back about 18 months. Rangers were on the way to reporting further debt cuts, to an extent that we only owed Lloyds the big loan, and while things looked rosy at that moment a dark cloud was on the horizon in regards to the big tax case.

The chairman at the time was tasked with finding new investment or a new owner, and nothing was forthcoming, then came November

Craig Whyte expresses his interest in buying Rangers, and after months of negotiations and book checking and god knows what else Craig Whyte buys the club. Even after a last ditch attempt by the then board member Paul Murray to get a bid together in time Whyte bid, which was to clear Lloyds debt and take on the big tax case was the only one that would be entertained by Lloyds and Sir David Murray

The date, 6th of May 2011, a full 9 days before we would win our 54th title, a time where the full focus was required to win every single game as one slip up meant that Celtic would likely win the league.

Whyte promised a lot, he said he would fund squad improvements, stadium upgrades, take on the big tax case and deal with the small tax case, and at first it seemed like he was holding to those promises, new screens, new food outlets, new players, new and vastly improved contracts for McGregor, Davis and Whittaker

What then followed was what seemed and what some will still say was 9 months of hell, persistent rumours of financial meltdown were seemingly true as Rangers went into administration in early february with an unpaid tax bill totalling 15mill including the wee tax case that Whyte claimed was going to be dealt with.

So what happened, did Whyte take us to the cleaners, or did he put in motion a chain of events that he was sought out for, perhaps even told to do in an event to finally fix the problems that Rangers had been struggling to for the best part of a decade

Think about it, SDM want to sell the club, has been for the 3 years after Manchester, and not a single sausage came forward, Ellis apparently did but Murray binned him for not having the financial clout, the same financial clout that Craig Whyte apparently had, or perhaps Ellis simply didnt want to do the dirty work required.

Craig Whyte takes over the club at the end ofa tough and highly important season, he knoes whats at stake and knows that what he, and possibly other people, have in store, and he knows that he cannot divulge the thought of administration and cost cutting measures required as it will depress the fans and the players, possibly costing us the league and a shot at the champions league

Whyte knows that HMRC are the ONLY thing that could stop Rangers getting stable financially, so he uses our monthly PAYE and VAT to instead improve contracts for players, improve the stadium, and basically not pay HMRC knowing full well that he had administration in mind from the word go

Now here is the big point, Rangers enter administration, and apart from owing a couple of hundred grand to a few scottish teams our only creditor chasing us for money seems to be,

Now most administrations require a lot of redundancies, massive cost cutting measures, yet here we are with only 2 walk away players (who i'll get to in a minute) and a wage cut by what can be described as the high rollers of the squad

Did Whyte purposely increase all they wages, perhaps even the bonus structure at the club so that it would quicken our administration requirement, and also big enough so that the cuts when required would be enough to save the club, most players while taking this cut will still have earned a lot this season, infact even with the cuts there is a thought that Whittaker, Davis and McGregor could still be earning more by the end of the season than they would have under their old deals if the club didnt go into administration

Then we have the 2 supposed casualties of administration, Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik, cast your mind back to when Wylde signed his new deal last year, his agent at the time was whoring him around england, bolton even had a bid knocked back, and it looked like Wylde did actually want to go, then bang a new and massively improved deal is in place and Wylde signs a new deal, was that a ploy to again to ensure the cuts would be minimal, rumours are that Wylde has a new club lined up already

Celik also, the amount of trialists Rangers had in January was unreal, player after player came and only Celik came, players like Jagger and that polish numpty the tims signed all didnt appear, why not? we had the eages it seemed at the time, was it because Celik was happy to accept the "situation" while others that were sounded out maybe didnt like the idea

With regards to redundancies, Whyte employed his choice of administrators, that again may well have been a piece of the puzzle, any other administrators may well have came in and slashed everything right away, why did these guys wait when that could very well have damaged the club beyond repair

If todays paper reports are to be believed then HMRC are ready to deal, even if the 10p in the pound deal is just a rumour any sort of deal that results in a 50% reduction, maybe more is a win situation for the club, especially coupled with the TICKETUS deal apparently being null and void, a deal that Whyte set up remember.

Yes we wont get euro football next season, a small price to pay if the club comes out of this with no tax case hanging over them, a modest CVA that is to be paid back over a number of months, maybe years lol

Now we have apparently 7 serious bids, when 18months ago no one wanted near the club.

It can be said that everything, and i mean EVERYTHING has been put in place by Whyte, the only thing is, did he do it on purpose or is he a fucking stark raving lunatic

No one will likely know as his job is done here, but by fuck it could make a cracking film

Fuck reading aw that.

[DavieCoopersLeftFoot 56]

Good read and an interesting way of looking at it!

However he still lied to us all countless amount of times and took us all for fools regarding the ticketus deal and how he funded the club.

Aye I'm sure he's sat right now thinking...'you know what, I totally regret not telling everyone every little detail of my plan ahead of time'. Get a grip man!

[gunslinger 270]

just a cunt.

[jimgers 565]

Whyte was sent in to do a job on our debt and HMRC, job done. But the silly c@nt nearly burnt the house down and ruined peoples lives, if i ever meet him i'm gonna toe his erse.

[Jimfanciesthedude 25,617]

It was a nice read. And I can see where you are coming from with it, but

But why did he go to all that trouble?

When he purchased the club (with the fans money) and paid of Lloyd's. We were supposedly debt free.

He could have used the remaining money to settle the wee tax bill and get HMRC on his side.

We had 14 Million pounds of Season Ticket Money - which he could have used to buy some players to help us in the Europe - we bought no one.

Yes the big tax bill was always going to be a concern - but apart from the taig reporters, who actually said HMRC wanted the whole lot paid in full if we lost? I'll tell you - NO CUNT.

For me, it's not a lunatic at the wheel, more of a complete bastard who couldn't run a fucking menage trying to take over one of the biggest football clubs in the world.

HMRC wouldnt have gotten on our side if we paid the small bill, as for the season ticket money, we needed that to pay the running costs of the team, remember that whyte took over a club running at a loss and with no overdraft to fall back on

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

Why is it crap? Explain to me, don't just dismiss it.

Whyte lied.

Whyte put no money in.

Whyte destroyed our credibility.

Whyte did not pay tax we collected.

SDM is in no way exonerated here but whyte is a liar and a crook - you might not care about how our club is perceived, what our integrity is like our how we got here. We are dumping debt (thatswhat a Cva is) we will find it harder to do deals, harder to build trust. Our integrity may mean fk all to you but to me I care about how we are perceived and how we go fotward!

[WVB 2,560]

We're fighting for our lives and had to fight dirty. So be it.

Survival, by whatever means are necessary.

[Edmiston Drive 3,846]

Nope i am not talking about Ally, im talking about Craig Whyte, and before anyone moans this isnt a defending Whyte thread, this is how the situation can be viewed from both sides.

To form the basis of this thread we have to back about 18 months. Rangers were on the way to reporting further debt cuts, to an extent that we only owed Lloyds the big loan, and while things looked rosy at that moment a dark cloud was on the horizon in regards to the big tax case.

The chairman at the time was tasked with finding new investment or a new owner, and nothing was forthcoming, then came November

Craig Whyte expresses his interest in buying Rangers, and after months of negotiations and book checking and god knows what else Craig Whyte buys the club. Even after a last ditch attempt by the then board member Paul Murray to get a bid together in time Whyte bid, which was to clear Lloyds debt and take on the big tax case was the only one that would be entertained by Lloyds and Sir David Murray

The date, 6th of May 2011, a full 9 days before we would win our 54th title, a time where the full focus was required to win every single game as one slip up meant that Celtic would likely win the league.

Whyte promised a lot, he said he would fund squad improvements, stadium upgrades, take on the big tax case and deal with the small tax case, and at first it seemed like he was holding to those promises, new screens, new food outlets, new players, new and vastly improved contracts for McGregor, Davis and Whittaker

What then followed was what seemed and what some will still say was 9 months of hell, persistent rumours of financial meltdown were seemingly true as Rangers went into administration in early february with an unpaid tax bill totalling 15mill including the wee tax case that Whyte claimed was going to be dealt with.

So what happened, did Whyte take us to the cleaners, or did he put in motion a chain of events that he was sought out for, perhaps even told to do in an event to finally fix the problems that Rangers had been struggling to for the best part of a decade

Think about it, SDM want to sell the club, has been for the 3 years after Manchester, and not a single sausage came forward, Ellis apparently did but Murray binned him for not having the financial clout, the same financial clout that Craig Whyte apparently had, or perhaps Ellis simply didnt want to do the dirty work required.

Craig Whyte takes over the club at the end ofa tough and highly important season, he knoes whats at stake and knows that what he, and possibly other people, have in store, and he knows that he cannot divulge the thought of administration and cost cutting measures required as it will depress the fans and the players, possibly costing us the league and a shot at the champions league

Whyte knows that HMRC are the ONLY thing that could stop Rangers getting stable financially, so he uses our monthly PAYE and VAT to instead improve contracts for players, improve the stadium, and basically not pay HMRC knowing full well that he had administration in mind from the word go

Now here is the big point, Rangers enter administration, and apart from owing a couple of hundred grand to a few scottish teams our only creditor chasing us for money seems to be,

Now most administrations require a lot of redundancies, massive cost cutting measures, yet here we are with only 2 walk away players (who i'll get to in a minute) and a wage cut by what can be described as the high rollers of the squad

Did Whyte purposely increase all they wages, perhaps even the bonus structure at the club so that it would quicken our administration requirement, and also big enough so that the cuts when required would be enough to save the club, most players while taking this cut will still have earned a lot this season, infact even with the cuts there is a thought that Whittaker, Davis and McGregor could still be earning more by the end of the season than they would have under their old deals if the club didnt go into administration

Then we have the 2 supposed casualties of administration, Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik, cast your mind back to when Wylde signed his new deal last year, his agent at the time was whoring him around england, bolton even had a bid knocked back, and it looked like Wylde did actually want to go, then bang a new and massively improved deal is in place and Wylde signs a new deal, was that a ploy to again to ensure the cuts would be minimal, rumours are that Wylde has a new club lined up already

Celik also, the amount of trialists Rangers had in January was unreal, player after player came and only Celik came, players like Jagger and that polish numpty the tims signed all didnt appear, why not? we had the eages it seemed at the time, was it because Celik was happy to accept the "situation" while others that were sounded out maybe didnt like the idea

With regards to redundancies, Whyte employed his choice of administrators, that again may well have been a piece of the puzzle, any other administrators may well have came in and slashed everything right away, why did these guys wait when that could very well have damaged the club beyond repair

If todays paper reports are to be believed then HMRC are ready to deal, even if the 10p in the pound deal is just a rumour any sort of deal that results in a 50% reduction, maybe more is a win situation for the club, especially coupled with the TICKETUS deal apparently being null and void, a deal that Whyte set up remember.

Yes we wont get euro football next season, a small price to pay if the club comes out of this with no tax case hanging over them, a modest CVA that is to be paid back over a number of months, maybe years lol

Now we have apparently 7 serious bids, when 18months ago no one wanted near the club.

It can be said that everything, and i mean EVERYTHING has been put in place by Whyte, the only thing is, did he do it on purpose or is he a fucking stark raving lunatic

No one will likely know as his job is done here, but by fuck it could make a cracking film

Can just see it now whyte walks away , and slowy pulls of the wig, the face mask and suddenly starts walking with sticks................fuck it's david murray he was craig whyte.

[caseyjones 3,009]

and how long did we sit not paying the wee tax bill mate

and if the big fuck off case goes against us, can that be classed as not paying bills

The fact is that administration may well have been the only way to get rid of HMRC altogether

The wee tax bill came in shortly before the takeover due to a case elsewhere.

The EBT case hasn't been lost, and if it's won, will you be acclaiming Murray as a genius who saved us millions?

Administration may have been the only way to get rid of HMRC, but not until we owed them more than 2.8 million fucking quid.

[WVB 2,560]

He has completely embarrassed us, selling off our history was the final straw for me. Fuck him.

Completely embarrasses us? Bit of an overstatement, but if the Arsenal shares mean more to you than anything else, I apologise.

History cannot be sold, but he might just have helped (wittingly or otherwise, but his business history would suggest he knew what he was doing) ensure the club has a future.

Final straw? You clearly haven't taken your own life!

Fuck him? No danger, he's an ugly cunt.

Imagine selling our great club for one pound............now THAT is the act of a lunatic.

[WVB 2,560]

I do not believe the end justifies the means!

Who you going to support next season then?

[Back2BackChampions 31]

maybe not, maybe their bonuses were improved or perhaps whyte simply thought "LLoyds would likely have binned them last summer"

for all we know the kerkars and littles dont have wage cuts because their wages are so low

if this was the plan, not just by whyte, but by SDM, and others, then they had to lie

Imagine if whyte took over and he immediately said "sorry lads but administration is the outcome here, also im going to try and shaft HMRC altogether but keep it shtum" there would have been anarchy

It wasn't just from the get go he lied about ticketus, it was repeatedly, after the rhecord ran with the story he backtracked and admitted he did use it to pay off lloyds.

Either way it appears that the club couldnt be sustained at current running costs and that it was inevitable, I just wish it was more dignified, our club and it's fans deserve that at least

[bear down under 28]

I think it was all planed from the start and Whyte is someones puppet. Could be wrong tho? but i think this is all a plan and its going to plan. Making a unsellable club into a sellable club. Im optimistic that we will come out of this alot better and stronger.

Its looking like this was the only way out! Administration has happened and we will come out of it and move on and forget about it as we take our place at the top of the lg and continue to be Scotlands No1 club.

said this from the start,yhis is all part of sdm plan and whyte is a puppet,whyte doesnt have the money to run us,or ever had it,look even now ticket mob are part of the deal.this will master plan when rest of puzzle fits.watch this space

[the goal machine 7,992]

Completely embarrasses us? Bit of an overstatement, but if the Arsenal shares mean more to you than anything else, I apologise.

History cannot be sold, but he might just have helped (wittingly or otherwise, but his business history would suggest he knew what he was doing) ensure the club has a future.

Final straw? You clearly haven't taken your own life!

Fuck him? No danger, he's an ugly cunt.

Imagine selling our great club for one pound............now THAT is the act of a lunatic.

I don't think it is an overstatement. He is seen by all as a crook and we're associated with him. Murray also embarrassed us with the EBT's but being against him doesn't mean Whyte should be supported.

I don't believe that. We have bigger assets than shares in Arsenal that could be sold to ensure we survived. I'm not sure why he did it and I don't believe he has been asked in the media but for a "Rangers fan" to do that is unfathomable.

This isn't a thread about Murray and we all know your feelings about him. I just don't see the positives from lying to the fans, lying about funding the club from his companies, lying about using Ticketus, not paying PAYE, saying administration was a last resort after the tax case was decided etc.

[Davy 68]

SDM is in no way exonerated here but whyte is a liar and a crook - you might not care about how our club is perceived, what our integrity is like our how we got here. We are dumping debt (thatswhat a Cva is) we will find it harder to do deals, harder to build trust. Our integrity may mean fk all to you but to me I care about how we are perceived and how we go fotward!

Well you can sit there wishing we approached this in a more noble fashion while our club goes down the tubes due to maintaining our integrity. Me, I'll be at Ibrox next season, that's all I care about.

I too want our club to uphold it's dignity and honestly the way it always has. But it still astonishes me how this is more important to some people than survival.

I don't give two fucks how we're perceived - no one likes us, we don't care.

[the goal machine 7,992]

Well you can sit there wishing we approached this in a more noble fashion while our club goes down the tubes due to maintaining our integrity. Me, I'll be at Ibrox next season, that's all I care about.

I too want our club to uphold it's dignity and honestly the way it always has. But it still astonishes me how this is more important to some people than survival.

I don't give two fucks how we're perceived - no one likes us, we don't care.

We were reducing our debt when Whyte took over and we went into administration because of Whyte not paying PAYE and VAT.

Let's not romanticise this by claiming that Whyte saved us. It's not a straight choice between dignity and survival.

[WVB 2,560]

I don't think it is an overstatement. He is seen by all as a crook and we're associated with him. Murray also embarrassed us with the EBT's but being against him doesn't mean Whyte should be supported.

I don't believe that. We have bigger assets than shares in Arsenal that could be sold to ensure we survived. I'm not sure why he did it and I don't believe he has been asked in the media but for a "Rangers fan" to do that is unfathomable.

This isn't a thread about Murray and we all know your feelings about him. I just don't see the positives from lying to the fans, lying about funding the club from his companies, lying about using Ticketus, not paying PAYE, saying administration was a last resort after the tax case was decided etc.

We'll have a club next season, quite possibly free of debt. I think thats very much a positive.

I think I've said before, I don't care if Whyte gets jailed or wins the Euromillions. He also will not be the first person to have lied to the fans. The man is becoming more of an irrelevance every day. A convenient stooge for the wine lover.

[WVB 2,560]

It's not a straight choice between dignity and survival.

Yes it is, and many people recognised that a while ago. Some of them, the minute Whyte took control, others later on.

[Davy 68]

It's not a straight choice between dignity and survival.

That's where our opinions differ mate.

[ogbg 20]

We'll have a club next season, quite possibly free of debt. I think thats very much a positive.

I think I've said before, I don't care if Whyte gets jailed or wins the Euromillions. He also will not be the first person to have lied to the fans. The man is becoming more of an irrelevance every day. A convenient stooge for the wine lover.

He actions won't be irrelevant if we end up being part owned by Ticketus

[the goal machine 7,992]

We'll have a club next season, quite possibly free of debt. I think thats very much a positive.

I think I've said before, I don't care if Whyte gets jailed or wins the Euromillions. He also will not be the first person to have lied to the fans. The man is becoming more of an irrelevance every day. A convenient stooge for the wine lover.

We could have a debt free club if we had kept reducing our debt annually with Lloyds.

[the goal machine 7,992]

That's where our opinions differ mate.

Of course I would be in favour of surviving by any means but I don't think it had to be done this way. Each to their own though.

[orange&blue92 1,284]

I dont know what to think about whyte , i never doubted him until admin, but mabey he planned this all along.

He cant get all the money he had/has without being shrude and having a brain.

But as people sau he might have got lucky.

I dont think anyone will really kmow of thia was the 'plan' or not.

Now i hope someone can buy us and we f*ck the come ibrox!

NO SURRENDER!

[Back2BackChampions 31]

Aye I'm sure he's sat right now thinking...'you know what, I totally regret not telling everyone every little detail of my plan ahead of time'. Get a grip man!

He didnt need to tell any details at all, certainly not feeding bullshit lines that he would later need to admit were true.

I hope his plan you refer to comes good however

[BroomloanBear 63]

Colin McRae behind a chopper more like??