Rangers: For Sale (Again)!

[will_1974 204]

I don't know if PM is involved and I just used the new TBK because I didn't want to type McColl etc again...

They have been dubbed, wait for it.... The Late Knights

[Cadman 342]

With Charles Green finally completing the purchase of the club yesterday for around £5.5million, our fans would be forgiven for thinking the ownership issue was over. Yes, the oldco has been liquidated but surely we could not finally move on under the (very slightly different) newco name?

Not so! At the 11th hour, a new bid appeared from familiar names such as Jim McColl and Douglas Park, headed by the ultimate club figurehead of Walter Smith. They intended to takeover the newco deal at the last possible minute but, as it turned out, were too late?

Again, not so! Essentially, what we now have is an auction for the club. Although, they won’t be held to ransom, the McColl group will now look to buy the newco (and its assets) from Charles Green and his investors. Moreover, parties previously involved in the biding process – including the Asian-Pacific consortium headed by Bill Ng – will (and have) renewed their interested. We now have a bidding war and money talks!

Of course this will suit Charles Green. Throughout his ownership bid, he has struggled for funding. He approached a variety of people including Douglas Park and Jim McColl but failed to convince anyone substantial to get involved. Indeed, it was this lack of funding power and an often less than convincing approach to detail which has meant the fans, though fatigued by this saga, were never fully welcoming of him.

In that respect, Green perhaps deserves some sympathy. Despite the negative press and the crossed arm body language from our fans, he persevered and he did buy the club – albeit via the less attractive newco route. For that, many fans are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and these same supporters won’t be enthused by the belated actions of the McColl bidders. Why leave it so late?

However, despite fulfilling his promises, Green still doesn’t convince. In his opening statement as CEO yesterday, he mentioned Ian Hart as being one of his backers. Not true, says Hart. That’s a huge worry if Green can’t even rely on people he thinks are backing him. Meanwhile, the other names in his list are relative unknowns which, after the nonsense of the Whyte ‘era’, our fans may struggle to buy into.

To that end, large sections of the support are already (and understandably) gravitating to the McColl bid. The familiarity discussed earlier means fans are more comfortable with names they recognise and business backgrounds more easily scrutinised. This overwhelming goodwill means this new bid will be backed by many and the supporter groups are already speaking of season ticket boycotts to pressure Green into ‘stepping aside’.

However, this shouldn’t automatically mean McColl et al are not subject to the same questions and constructive criticism other parties have had. Rightly, fans have had concerns over a variety of people involved in this process and this new ‘fan favourite’ bid should receive the same close attention despite, and indeed, perhaps because of the names that will be associated.

For example, HMRC via BDO are about to begin an investigation into the previous directors of the oldco. People like Paul Murray, Alistair Johnston and Martin Bain may not have anything to hide but they are tainted with the failure of the old company. In addition, outstanding inquiries into tax avoidance schemes and alleged dual contracts, means we can ill afford the newco’s reputation, time and money to be faulted down the line. Thus, I think it’s fair to ask Jim McColl and Dougie Park just who is involved in their group, what their plans are for the club and how they intending funding it? Provide that and they’re arguably home and dry. Do not and other bidders will fancy their chances while Green will be less easy to deal with.

Generally speaking, I think most fans’ default position will be to support the ‘new’ Blue Knights. At a push, despite being neutral throughout this whole farce, I’d have to agree with that. Nevertheless, as the bidding war starts for the club, I also think our support would be well advised to keep their eyes open and approach all bids with caution.

Remember, we are about to spend around £15million on season tickets and will be asked to contribute to a share issue under both Green and McColl. That means we hold immense power and we need to start using it more productively than we have been. Our annual ticket investment funds the club – we deserve a say in where this money goes and how it is used.

Finally, the club has now effectively been sold twice over the last year. It’s about to be sold for a third time – possibly as quickly as next week but certainly before the start of the new season in August. Let’s ensure it’s sold to the right people this time!

IF the SWS/McColl/Park consortium want the club then they will have to be wary of Bill Ng possibly making a bid at his initial amount (i believe he had £12 million - £14 million on the table did he not) and that was for a debt ridden club. The prospect of getting a debt free club for the same amount will be very appealing to him and his consortium.

[Non_Sucumbi 876]

Good read Frankie, agree with pretty much all of it. I don't think you should saddle McColl, Park and Walter with the 'new Blue Knights' tag though, that is going to be a bone of contention with a lot of people...

Is there any word of involvement from Paul Murray? I've not heard any, curious to hear if you have. If no PM, I don't think the Blue Knights tag should be transferred (newco Blue Knights? ).

Park was one of the Blue Knights involved in the new bid.

[sprotson11 147]

IF the SWS/McColl/Park consortium want the club then they will have to be wary of Bill Ng possibly making a bid at his initial amount (i believe he had £12 million - £14 million on the table did he not) and that was for a debt ridden club. The prospect of getting a debt free club for the same amount will be very appealing to him and his consortium.

I don't agree that the club is more attractive to buy now.

If a CVA had been agreed, Rangers would of been debt free anyway.

yes, it is more attractive to buy now than it was when Whyte bought us.

[CanadianBacon 2,088]

The people who have held off longer than Walter smith and Jim Mccoll ...who you have been ranting at all morning for ...eh....holding off....

I don't dislike Walter Smith (the Rangers fan) or Jim McColl (the non-Rangers fan) - I'm just pissed off that they chose not to surface until all the dirty work was done by Green and that the club was beyond saving.

Had Smith & Co appeared two weeks ago, long before the creditors meeting, the tax man (and others) might have had the opportunity to do something about it....a higher bid on the table, etc....but they didn't.

For that I hold them in contempt.

[Guardian 4,281]

Reading this place , walter is a liar, mcoll isn't putting in any money and they aren't real rangers men anyway as they didn't propose a CVA...so sadly the 3rd sale deosn't sound like it is going to the right people either....

Not sure who the crackpots want.....

Are you saying people shouldn't ask questions of a prospective owner ?

You've changed your tune.

[sassaaaa 11,406]

I don't dislike Walter Smith (the Rangers fan) or Jim McColl (the non-Rangers fan) - I'm just pissed off that they chose not to surface until all the dirty work was done by Green and that the club was beyond saving.

Had Smith & Co appeared two weeks ago, long before the creditors meeting, the tax man (and others) might have had the opportunity to do something about it....a higher bid on the table, etc....but they didn't.

For that I hold them in contempt.

I am convinced that Smith , McColl and anyone else who's been watching from the sidelines were waiting for liquidation , but Green got in there first .

I also would not be surprised that Whyte is not behind Green as he gave his shares to him without as much as a groan .........

[Blue Forever 179]

Are you saying people shouldn't ask questions of a prospective owner ?

You've changed your tune.

I think what he's trying to say is that perhaps some people could show a greater degree of faith in Walter Smith's ability to act in the best interests of Rangers Football Club. Questions must be asked, you are correct, however, I think it would be wrong to treat Green's and Walter's bid as the same. Green was an unknown quantity, Walter is a man who we know has the best interests of Rangers at heart. That alone should buy him a degree of trust from the support, in my opinion.

[Superabby 8]

Green seems to be getting a fair amount of praise and that's fair enough I still struggle to understand all that goes on, but simply put

Did green offer 8.5m for the cva and that got knocked back. So he gets the whole of the assets (ibrox Murray park Albion car park) for 5.5m. But the 5.5 was pretty much d&p bill. Therefor the cva offered 3m to creditors to pay off 55m debt?

[gogzy 31,195]

Green seems to be getting a fair amount of praise and that's fair enough I still struggle to understand all that goes on, but simply put

Did green offer 8.5m for the cva and that got knocked back. So he gets the whole of the assets (ibrox Murray park Albion car park) for 5.5m. But the 5.5 was pretty much d&p bill. Therefor the cva offered 3m to creditors to pay off 55m debt?

that 3m number would have been added too if the lawsuit against colier bristow went our way, and im pretty sure there was some other addon in there too (think i read that it could have ended up being about 25m in the CVA pot if everything went our way).

but apart from that you are correct.

[HHB 63]

What pisses me off is that our club has now become the football in a game between various groups of money men and I'm not sure that any of them (with maybe the exception of WS) care too much about it.

Rather than supporting this bidder or that bidder, I think its time for the supporters groups to get together and call a halt to the nonsense. The support actually have the power to derail any of the bidders by exercising our power to withhold our money. Time for the supporters groups to formulate a clear platform of what we want independent of the bidders and the steps we would expect from a bidder to win our support.

[Superabby 8]

<br />that  3m number would have been added too if the lawsuit against colier bristow went our way, and im pretty  sure there was some other addon in there too (think i read that it could have ended up being about 25m in the CVA pot if everything went our way).<br /><br />but apart from that you are correct.<br />

<br /><br /><br /

Hindsights a wonderful thing, but if we're told at the beginning of all this if we liquidate the club the fans can buy it for 5m I think we would probably went for that. The assists must be worth over 100m.

[elephants stoned 2,994]

I don't dislike Walter Smith (the Rangers fan) or Jim McColl (the non-Rangers fan) - I'm just pissed off that they chose not to surface until all the dirty work was done by Green and that the club was beyond saving.

Had Smith & Co appeared two weeks ago, long before the creditors meeting, the tax man (and others) might have had the opportunity to do something about it....a higher bid on the table, etc....but they didn't.

For that I hold them in contempt.

I understand your point, if Walter didnt want to be associated with liquidation i can get that, but he should of known the fans understand the mess Murray and Whyte left the club in and that we would never hold it against Walter or anybody else who tryed an failed to get CVA.

[MosesMcNeil 1,664]

Green can't win anything other now than a tasty payday for his consortium - exactly what he has openly declared to be in this for.

And they'll only make that more difficult for their group by spouting the ill-considered nonsense attributed to Ahmad today, who's saying: "If Walter Smith really cares about this club..."

Inviting The Rangers support to question the credibility of Smith's wishes for The Rangers is stupid to the point of crass belligerence.

[elephants stoned 2,994]

Green can't win anything other now than a tasty payday for his consortium - exactly what he has openly declared to be in this for.

And they'll only make that more difficult for their group by spouting the ill-considered nonsense attributed to Ahmad today, who's saying: "If Walter Smith really cares about this club..."

Inviting The Rangers support to question the credibility of Smith's wishes for The Rangers is stupid to the point of crass belligerence.

I did wince when i read that quote. Greens PR isnt up to much, but he doesnt seem like the kind of man who cares about PR or upsetting a few people