David Murray Rumour...

[blue belle 1]

Whoever dreamt up the rumour that MIH are in good shape? They're a fraction of the business they used to be, albeit in better shape than a few years ago. Because of this alone I don't believe Murray will ever be back. Once bitten etc

[brazz1972 397]

David Murray at the time was chasing the dream that we all had as well. It was obviously mismanagement but at the time every single one of us on here we're loving it.

He's now seen as the bad guy but at that time we didn't give a shit about finances or boardroom stuff. We jus wanted the rangers to win every game they took part in.

The bubble obviously burst. He bailed n he's a wanker but none of us were against it at the time.

[Wilbert 416]

Pretty hard for him to 'step in'

[Ozblue 4,331]

Of course he was not duped!

Anyone including posters on here could quickly find out about Whyte and his history of asset stripping,running up debts before dissolving companies,not paying tax by just searching google archive news and sites like company credit check.

Any business man in Scotland would have known about him in more detail especially any businessman who spent time in the south of France.

You're spot on there,doc Now I live on the other side of the world and I'm no fucking Sherlock Holmes when it came to Craig Whyte, but I knew enough about his business acquaintances such as Andrew Ellis, to be able to suss out this takeover from David Murray was not going to end well.

In fact, if I go back to October 23 - 2011 which was only 5 months after Whyte "bought" the club from Murray, we had just gubbed Hearts at Tynecastle and I was walking back to Haymarket with casey jones and his mate Andy when casey asked me what I thought of Craig Whyte?

I replied that it was a fucking potential disaster for us because if Murray and his legal team had even remotely researched Whyte's alleged "backers" then they would have found a nest of Vipers.

I agree with you...Duped my fucking Aunty Fanny.

[bettertogether 381]

I would take him back just for his " if they spend a fiver we will spend a tenner" line

[johanhentze 14,154]

Gonna get pelters for this, but i would have him back in a second.

Hopefully he puts a few more quid in, and gets the likes of Dave King on board to put another few quid in.

I'm not a big Dave King fan, but even a blind man can see we need investment in all areas of the club.

Would happily take anyone who is willing to provide the resources that we need.

Put that rod away.

This is the cunt that sold us down the river.. "duped" my arse!

What the fuck is wrong with our support???

[simplythebest 11,453]

Put that rod away.

This is the cunt that sold us down the river.. "duped" my arse!

What the fuck is wrong with our support???

Certainly some short memories mate. Where we are today all goes back to him.

[MisterC 12,288]

Put that rod away.

This is the cunt that sold us down the river.. "duped" my arse!

What the fuck is wrong with our support???

If it wasn't for Murray we wouldn't not have got Sounds

[possobear 8]

He is DEAD to me.

[johanhentze 14,154]

If it wasn't for Murray we wouldn't not have got Sounds

[johanhentze 14,154]

Certainly some short memories mate. Where we are today all goes back to him.

Certainly some short memories mate. Where we are today all goes back to him.

As soon as people see someone with a bit of cash, they stop thinking!

[1st_Jan_1994 4,868]

No idea where I stand on this

On one hand he's got money and experience and might want to correct some errors

On the other hand he's a nae legs bastard

[graeme_4 34,623]

I'd take him back over the current board.

[Thewhitesettler 2,711]

I'm a bit uncertain about SDM, I hate him for selling to Whyte, which I believe was the start of all our problems, I don't want Martin Bain anywhere near Ibrox again, never did in the first place. However, he did bring us Laudrup, Gascoigne, Nine In A Row, Manchester 2008, so I don't know whether to love him or loathe him?

What we really need to think about here is, what is best for Rangers? SDM may well be past his 'sell by date' and has nothing new to offer. If only all those, so called, Rangers Men, with money to spend, would spend it on doing the right thing for Rangers, then we'd all be happy bunnies, wouldn't we??

[North Rd 2,860]

The very slow slaying of Sir David's Goliath

Murray rose to prominence through his time at the helm of Rangers

It was Rangers that brought Sir David Murray fame. His fortune had more to do with metal and property.

The connection with the Ibrox club probably brings more notoriety than fame these days, given the way in which he sold it on, disastrously, to Craig Whyte.

And much as he said in last year's accounts from his holding company, Murray International Holdings (MIH), Sir David profoundly regrets having done that, remaining "staggered" at the revelations that followed, bitterly disappointed at the outcome and saddened at ongoing uncertainty.

There's a lot else in these accounts that are staggering for the scale of the losses elsewhere. And yet there's oddly little sign of any disappointment that the Murray business empire has been almost entirely dismantled.

Hitting the recession, many other companies - and particularly those exposed to property losses - had the plug pulled by their bank. The process can be rapid and brutal.

But Lloyds Banking Group - inheriting the splurged loan book of Halifax Bank of Scotland - has allowed Sir David the chance to sell off his assets piece by piece. It didn't appear to leave him much choice. But it's taken five years so far, and it's still been rather brutal.

Harsh measures

First was Rangers, famously handed over for one pound. The cost of the legal fight with HM Revenue and Customs over its tax affairs has since cost his company £2.5m, and it's not over yet.

The following year, ending June 2012, saw much of the steel business go. There followed a management buy-out of Premier Hytemp, supplying the oil and gas industry, which remained a lot healthier, but still resulted in a £10m loss to MIH on its sale.

More recent times, including the period since the end of these 2012-13 accounts, have seen some harsh measures being applied to the property portfolio.

Three shopping centres have been sold, for less than half of what they cost. And without them, Murray International Holdings is admitting that it can't meet its pension obligations. It's still trying to negotiate lower benefits than beneficiaries had been promised.

Likewise, it's still trying to find a buyer for Response, the contact centre business. It lost a big Sky contract, but has since won another one for Scottish Power, claiming the energy utilities' woes offer a rich opportunity for contact centre expansion.

However, I'm told (from sources outside MIH) that rival companies offered a chance to buy have not been attracted by the state of the business.

As a result of this offloading, group turnover in the year to last June was down to £85m from £351m. The operating loss on ordinary activities, before exceptional items, has fallen too, from £13m to £7.6m.

Debts and impairments

But on exceptional items - and MIH has just posted an exceptional set of accounts - the loss is breathtaking.

With £95m impairment losses on development property and land, the pre-tax loss for 2012-13 came to £142m.

And if you're wondering why Lloyds Banking Group is indulging this slow-motion corporate train wreck, it's at least partially explained by net liabilities last June of £225m, compared with £80m the previous year.

Amounts owed to creditors last June within one year: £151m. Falling due after more than one year: £225m.

You won't be surprised to know that Sir David is rather grateful to Lloyds Banking Group, as both lender and shareholder. "The partnership approach is genuinely appreciated by the group and the directors," he writes.

That said, one of the three directors quit last year. Sir Angus Grossart, the long-time chief dealmaker of Edinburgh finance, left the MIH board in July.

In precisely the same words recently used of Rangers International Football Club, the holding company at Ibrox, the MIH auditors say there is "existence of a material uncertainty which casts significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern".

And with hard times biting, the highest-paid director - let's assume that's Sir David Murray - earned £391,000 for the accounting year, down from £813,000.

'Significant achievement'

At least as interesting is who's buying these assets. Step forward... the Murray family. It has a 70% stake in MIH, but it also owns other vehicles for buying fire-sale assets.

For the majority of assets in the the Murray Estates property portfolio, MIH received what's called "an unsolicited approach from the Murray family".

We're told the discussions between the new family firm and the firm controlled by the family were protracted.

At the end of this tale of woe, perhaps the strangest bit is that Sir David Murray presents it as a sort of triumph: "In the prevailing economic conditions since 2009, the delivery of the numerous asset disposals and debt reduction programme represents a significant achievement and a very credible performance."

Article written by Douglas Fraser Douglas FraserBusiness and economy editor, Scotland

[siddiqi_drinker 14,635]

Newspapers must be having a slow day.

[bill moles 0]

Doing well ??? -the bank are running his business are they not.

[nachothelegend 1,932]

Pretty amazed about the amount of folk who would have him back.

ffs will we just lift our skirts to any total cunt as long as he's got cash?

It's Fucking frightening some people would even consider taking this Reprebate back.

Fucking Criminal.

[Guardian 4,281]

It depends how you look at it.

He is doing well if you consider his debt laden empire is being cherry picked by his family. The good bits go to a new Murray group company for buttons leaving a debt ridden shell which can then be flogged off or liquidated.

Debts gone and still has his empire.

No flies on him.

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

I think we were all duped by White to be fair.

However, none of us had several face to face meetings with him over the course of several months.

Also, in fairness to Paul Murray, he and the rest of the remnants of the last board under SDM publicly warned him not to sell to the shyster.

Your post strikes me as incredibly naive.

[TAFKA 545]

David Murray at the time was chasing the dream that we all had as well. It was obviously mismanagement but at the time every single one of us on here we're loving it.

He's now seen as the bad guy but at that time we didn't give a shit about finances or boardroom stuff. We jus wanted the rangers to win every game they took part in.

The bubble obviously burst. He bailed n he's a wanker but none of us were against it at the time.

Too fucking right.

Sick of all these "Murray is a bastard" types.

Guys like me wanted nine-in-a-row so much it hurt, especially after years of dominance by Celtic.

Murray delivered and that can never be taken away, regardless how things ended.

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

Too fucking right.

Sick of all these "Murray is a bastard" types.

Guys like me wanted nine-in-a-row so much it hurt, especially after years of dominance by Celtic.

Murray delivered and that can never be taken away, regardless how things ended.

You need to be more balanced and can't just dismiss the bad as "regardless of..."

I wouldn't want him running the Club and the ensuing controversies that would entail.

However, on reflection, if he wants to sooth his conscience by making an apology by means of a £20m investment, then I'd possibly be open to that. There would be some justice to him helping us out in that regard.

[simplythebest 11,453]

Too fucking right.

Sick of all these "Murray is a bastard" types.

Guys like me wanted nine-in-a-row so much it hurt, especially after years of dominance by Celtic.

Murray delivered and that can never be taken away, regardless how things ended.

He sold to Whyte, you can't expect that to be ignored

[Dietspam 733]

He sold to Whyte, you can't expect that to be ignored

Do you think he knew Whyte was going to purposefully destroy the club? We were all demanding he sold to Whyte and fully backed him.

[simplythebest 11,453]

Do you think he knew Whyte was going to purposefully destroy the club? We were all demanding he sold to Whyte and fully backed him.

None of us had the direct access to what Whyte was like unlike him, he just didn't care. You aren't seriously giving the 'duped' stuff credibility are you?