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Graham Wallace - New Q&A


WadeWilson

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As the thread title says, transcript of a Q&A session hot of the press this morning. Mr. Wallace answers questions regarding the loan, Dave King, the transfer budget and more:

"IN an exclusive Q&A session with the Ibrox chief executive, Record Sport’s chief sports writer Keith Jackson asks Wallace to explain what is really going on.

RANGERS chief Graham Wallace was back in the firing line yesterday after confirming he has agreed £1.5million of loans to keep the club out of short-term financial distress.

Fans reacted angrily as details emerged – with hedge fund outfit Laxey Partners set to rake in £150k for lending just £1m for less than six months.

Here Record Sport’s chief sports writer Keith Jackson asks the Ibrox CEO to explain what is really going on.

KJ: You do appreciate the fans will be hugely concerned you need to raise this £1.5million in the first place? They are repeatedly told there is no need for alarm but you must see why they would be so jittery. The need for this new money – just a year after raising £22m in IPO cash – doesn’t suggest the healthiest of financial positions, does it?

GW: The money raised through the IPO has been spent in a variety of ways. But that’s in the past. I can’t respond in detail as to how those monies were used. What I can do is look at the

business as we see it now and how we are going to move it forward. The need for a financial facility is no different for Rangers than for any normal business.

We need time for people to see how the business is being

operated and for people’s trust in Rangers as an organisation and trust in the credibility of those who are running it.

KJ: But you are getting a hard time about this loan from elements of your own support. Many of them ask why Laxey and why the Easdales? Why were other shareholders not invited to loan the club their money?

GW: The board looked at a long list of alternative sources of short-term funding. The club, through its adviser, thought this opportunity made the most sense. A third of the money is coming totally interest free. No costs, no interest and no cost to the club to service the facility. That’s the cheapest money you will ever get and if there is a long list of people wishing to support the club to that level then I’d like to talk to them.

KJ: Haven’t you created a potential problem with other shareholders or would-be

investors who might ask why they weren’t invited to make a similar loan? And I’m talking here specifically about Dave King.

GW: The board has had a dialogue in recent weeks with Dave King. He has not been rebuffed by the board. He is not currently a shareholder. He has indicated he’d be an interested participant in a future equity raising at the appropriate point in time. Our shareholder base has also expressed willingness to invest in fresh equity.

Dave King has not come to the club with an offer, other than an interest in participating in a future equity.

KJ: Just to be clear, are you saying Dave King has not offered the club short-term funding?

GW: He has not done that, no. Dave is not a shareholder and he has not made the club any offer of financial assistance. That’s not a criticism of Dave King. I have not met him but as a board we have had some dialogue to try to understand his intentions because there has been a lot of talk about his interest in investing. There has been no other proposal made by him at all.

KJ: At the time of the agm, the board said there were a bunch of investors lining up to plough money into the club. So were they there at all if ultimately this money has had to come from the Easdales and Laxey?

GW: The board did consider a range of alternatives from a mix of shareholders and other sources. It was an extensive process and the facility received the support and sign-off of the company’s NOMAD as an appropriate facility and one which was arrived at in the right way.

KJ: How difficult would the financial situation have become without this investment?

GW: Football is a very cyclical business, with big incomes generated early in the summer which progressively run down. So this is not a crisis move. It’s not a last-gasp policy.

We have some fairly significant income streams that will arise in the summer. So this is just a short-term facility. We have no bank debt, no overdraft and a balance sheet which is probably the envy of a lot of football clubs but yet consistently everybody talks about us being in a crisis.

KJ: If there’s no crisis then the financial situation will not impact on Ally McCoist’s budget then?

GW: People laugh when we talk about putting in place a medium-term strategy but when you are signing a player on a long-term contract it’s a significant financial obligation. So we need a clear idea of what the financial outlook looks like.

We are looking at this summer’s window and beyond, over the next 24 months. But it’s too premature to say right now what the outcome of that will be.

KJ: Will his budget have to come down this summer or not?

GW: Player costs are not surprisingly the biggest aspect of the business. We’ll look at what we need on the football side and what ongoing costs are. We’ll do it in a very considered way. There will be no knee-jerk reactions. Fans will expect us to take a medium to long-term view.

KJ: The trust of these supporters is crucial to the club’s financial position. Do they trust you?

GW: I have said the club needs to engage to a greater extent with the supporters and I mean it.

But people require a period of time to form a view on what is being done. I don’t expect them to instantly accept what we say. All I ask is for a reasonable period of time to get the business refocused and to demonstrate that we are listening to them. We have to show that we are doing things for the right reasons – for the greater good of this club.

KJ: You’re bang on there, given the behaviour of some individuals around this club in the last few years. You have to be seen to be acting in Rangers’ best interests.

GW: That’s right and I can say from the time I have been here people are 100 per cent focused on doing the right thing for Rangers. It does take time to demonstrate that. We’ll be judged on our success and on our ability to do things in the right way.

When you hear external comment about the club teetering on the verge of administration or whatever, some of it is quite irresponsible. There is no way this business was ever going to go into administration again because the fundamentals are too strong. Some of these stories will quite naturally have alarmed supporters given what they have come through. But hopefully, in time, the supporters will recognise that the board and myself are doing the right things for their club.

KJ: But then they see Laxey picking up £150k for giving you a secured loan, doesn’t that smack of the previous regime and people with their noses in the trough?

GW: I can understand why people might look at it this way. The other way to look at it is it’s no different from any other commercial organisation which would make loan capital available to a business. There is a level of return that they would expect for their money.

The cost we’ve agreed with Laxey is deemed appropriate in the market. I don’t think there should be any concerns about the level of commerciality on that."

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"A third of the money is coming totally interest free. No costs, no interest and no cost to the club to service the facility. That’s the cheapest money you will ever get and if there is a long list of people wishing to support the club to that level then I’d like to talk to them."

He only needs to pick up the phone to the Sons of Strewth

:D

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"A third of the money is coming totally interest free. No costs, no interest and no cost to the club to service the facility. That's the cheapest money you will ever get and if there is a long list of people wishing to support the club to that level then I'd like to talk to them."

He only needs to pick up the phone to the Sons of Strewth

:D

Fast reader!

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As much as I hate Keith Jackson, hopefully that interview will go some way to allaying the fears some fans have. I think it is time for the angry mob to down pitchforks.

Aye that'll placate the rebels --- wonder why MColl or Mini or TBK and not extending interest free credit facilities to the club??

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GW: The money raised through the IPO has been spent in a variety of ways. But that’s in the past. I can’t respond in detail as to how those monies were used. What I can do is look at the business as we see it now and how we are going to move it forward. The need for a financial facility is no different for Rangers than for any normal business.

GW: The board has had a dialogue in recent weeks with Dave King. He has not been rebuffed by the board. He is not currently a shareholder. He has indicated he’d be an interested participant in a future equity raising at the appropriate point in time. Our shareholder base has also expressed willingness to invest in fresh equity.

Not being funny, but the above is exactly what ive been saying for days and weeks on here.

Its time to look forward. We cant do anything about how the IPO money was spent so dont waste energy on it. And when a new share issue arises, the existing shareholders should and will get first shout before Dave the sound-bite King.

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As much as I hate Keith Jackson, hopefully that interview will go some way to allaying the fears some fans have. I think it is time for the angry mob to down pitchforks.

As much as I agree with you mate, I'm afraid that will never happen. A Rangers support united could do amazing things, but it saddens me to think it will never happen.

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if you cant listen when we say stop giving the Daily Record exclusives you aint going to listen to fuck all else.

lets make this clear...

STOP USING THE DAILY RECORD TO COMMUNICATE WITH RANGERS FANS.WE REFUSE TO READ THAT BIGOTED SHIT.

:lol: right who had 'attack Wallace for the source' in the drama queen sweepstakes?

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Well done AE for putting up the cash fee free.

It doesn't answer if we used our previous credit facility or not which is still an answer I think we should know.

He said we don't have an overdraft, this is what he said. We have no bank debt, no overdraft and a balance sheet which is probably the envy of a lot of football clubs but yet consistently everybody talks about us being in a crisis.
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No he was not, he arrived just a few week before the AGM.

Thought that. Also in regards to people slating where he has went to do his Q&A, what choice did he really have? Do it via the official website/Rangers TV and it would have been "staged" and is there actually any media outlet who has not had a go at us when we were down? Needs to get the answers out there so I don't care how he does it. He's eased any fears I had anyway.

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