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Press coverage; Selected articles
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Topic Started: Mar 5 2012, 08:07 AM (6,218 Views)
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 5 2012, 08:07 AM
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"Adam shakes Ibrox pillars with warning of bankruptcy", Unattributed, Scotsman, 2 Feb 2002
"Revealed: How new Rangers bosses aim to turn club into global, cash-generating machine", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 23 Jun 2011Spoiler: click to toggle Revealed: How new Rangers bosses aim to turn club into global, cash-generating machine
Jun 23 2011 By Keith Jackson
THEY could flog the rights to Ibrox and make a quick killing just as Arsenal did when Highbury morphed into the Emirates.
They could push for an all-new league cup competition which would see Rangers and Celtic go head to head with Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United.
They could even take the Old Firm derby halfway across the world to stage it in the United States or in Australia.
This is the future under Craig Whyte and his newly-assembled executive team at Ibrox.
Right now, as far as Ali Russell is concerned, Rangers could do just about anything as they set about their quest to turn a debt-ridden Scottish institution into a global money-making machine.
No idea to bring home the big bucks will be dismissed. No potential little earner ignored until each of its avenues has been completely explored and exhausted.
These people did not take over this club for the hell of it. Now that they've stormed through the front doors of Ibrox they have no intention of making a loss out of the old place.
And after Whyte's radical restructuring of the boardroom, the burden will fall chiefly on operations executive Russell to show them the money.
His credentials are impressive enough, having held down - and been headhunted from - top marketing and commercial posts at the Scottish Rugby Union and Hearts before being appointed as deputy MD by the mega-rich owners of Queens Park Rangers.
He's young - having yet to turn 40 - he's slick and he has all the jargon off pat too. Russell talks about "core markets" and "brand development" much more comfortably than he does about 4-5-1s or 4-4-2s.
But that's what Gordon Smith is for, isn't it? Russell's job is to concentrate on an altogether different set of numbers. And to inflate them from every conceivable angle.
"It's about looking at all avenues," Russell says, after being asked how on earth he plans to turn a financially stricken club into some kind of golden goose laying eggs on a global scale.
"It's about looking at the real estate here. How do we maximise that? Is it just a ground for football or does it have more uses?
"Can we use rooms on non-match days more effectively? What do we do to grow the brand, where do we play as a team? How do we integrate international players so that we're building the brand in different markets? Where do we go with our own broadcast rights? There are numerous areas we are looking to investigate."
And Russell will be charged of the task of probing each and every one. Even those ideas which to many Rangers fans may seem strictly off limits, like the possible rebranding of Ibrox.
Now that really would test the levels of goodwill which have been soaring sky high for these people ever since Whyte and his group manoeuvred Sir David Murray out of power for the price of just a single pound.
In fact, the club could stand to rake in many millions of pounds just by agreeing to sell a name. Russell doesn't completely rule such a scenario out. If truth be told the businessman inside him must be bursting to strike a deal which would see Rangers gain so much from giving away so little.
But, with so much emotional investment to protect, neither is he in a rush to rule it in.
Instead he chooses his words with great care as he says: "At this stage of the new era we consider everything but it's not something we'd go out and look at.
"Ibrox is synonymous with Rangers so I don't think it's something we would consider at this stage. We are very protective of our intellectual property."
Clearly, the sanctioning of such a break with tradition would have to be treated with great caution. But Russell belongs to a modern world of bold thinkers.
And there are plenty more ideas where that one came from.
Challenge He adds: "I'm looking forward to helping develop the brand of this club, not just in Scotland but internationally.
"I think we have some huge opportunities. The club has been under some challenging financial circumstances. Moving forward, we have to challenge ourselves.
"How do we generate more interest in Scottish football?
"How do we become central to that and move it forward? In terms of pre-season, we went to Australia last year - do we now go to the US or Japan?
"What are the core markets we are going to be focusing on so that we reinforce it every time we do a tour. So we don't just go where the biggest cheque is - we look at growing a fan base in different areas of the world which strategically fit back well into the club itself."
Russell and Whyte also plan to quickly develop the land around Ibrox or whatever else it's called somewhere down the line.
Hotels, retail outlets and new residential developments are on the cards and Russell is already in talks with Glasgow council chiefs about how best to fund this work.
He has also opened discussions with SPL chief Neil Doncaster on how best to maximise the Scottish game's earning potential. And that may well include the breaking down of many borders.
Russell says: "There has been a lot of talk about cross-border cup competitions.
"Arsenal and Manchester United have not been playing their best teams in the early stages of the League Cup.
"A cross-border aspect would generate a lot more interest. Should we be involved in those sort of discussions? Absolutely. If we feel there's an appetite from the fans I see no reason why we wouldn't look at it."
The prospect of picking up the Glasgow derby and dropping it somewhere on the other side of the planet, in the form of a pre-season friendly, has also been mooted in recent years.
Russell's Spidey senses are tingling. "It's about making it the biggest rivalry in world football," he says.
"How do we ensure that without the negativity that maybe came to the surface last term?
"Could we take it to the States or abroad? Again, we would look at things. However, it would have to be right for the fans.
"They come first in terms of moving forward. There's a lot of history here. The brand can't be tarnished. We can't move too far too quickly but we have to be open-minded."
"SPL's £80m TV boost: Chief Neil Doncaster admits top tier can't expand beyond 14 teams now" Gordon Parks , Daily Record, Nov 22 2011 In which Doncaster states the TV contract requires 4 Old Firm gamesSpoiler: click to toggle Doncaster also admitted the Old Firm's inclusion in the 60-game package needed to be a locked-in guarantee.
He said: "Yes, that's been the case for a number of years. It's the case with all the major sponsorships we enter into.
"One of the conditions is Celtic and Rangers remain part of the league. It is also a condition they play each other four times a season. That's been with us for the entirety of the deal with Sky and before that with Setanta." "Interview: Craig Whyte, owner of Rangers, who has come out fighting against TV allegations", Tom English, Scotsman, 22 Oct 2012 including the immortal "you would be within your rights to tell me to f*** off"Spoiler: click to toggle Tom English talks to Craig Whyte about that BBC documentary, the ongoing tax case at Ibrox and the departure of Rangers legend John Greig
Q. So you watched the BBC documentary on Thursday evening?
A. No, I haven’t actually seen it. I was with my kids so I didn’t particularly want to watch it with them. I’ll get around to it.
You haven’t watched it? So how can you threaten to sue the BBC on the back of it?
Oh, don’t worry, I know what was in it. I know all about the allegations they’re making.
And you think it was a stitch-up job?
It’s outrageous. I actually can’t believe that they went with the allegations they went with. We told them. We sent lawyers letters all week, warning them that these things aren’t true and warning them what would happen if they ran with these allegations. They’ve run with things that are totally, completely and utterly untrue. It just proves the case that they are a biased organisation, biased against Rangers. They’ve done it several times this season. They’re completely biased. They did it to Ally McCoist. Every time they show something on sectarianism it’s Rangers fans. One has to wonder if there’s institutionalised bias in there. It’s outrageous what they’ve done. Absolutely outrageous. To accuse me on national TV of criminality is an outrage. I’m suing and maybe the BBC are going to be paying the (HMRC) tax bill.
Okay, this is raw stuff at the moment. But these things are always sorted out. You threaten to sue, there’s a rapprochement and everything gets resolved. Why is this one any different?
I don’t see any way back for the BBC. No. They’re not going to apologise. As long as I’m here there will be no co-operation between Rangers and the BBC. They won’t get any interviews with players or management. As far as I’m concerned, even if somebody speaks to them off the record they’ll never work for Rangers again.
How on earth can you enforce that?
The BBC are completely, totally and utterly out. They’re not going to get away with it what they did. They’ll suffer the consequences.
Let’s look at this closely. They said you were disqualified as a company director. Is that true?
I’m not comfortable getting into the specific allegations.
They had a government official – Robert Burns, head of investigations at the Insolvency Service – saying that you could, potentially, have faced a two-year jail sentence for your involvement in a company, Re-tex Plastic Technology while disqualified. Is that true?
I’m not going to comment on specific allegations other than to say on the basis of what I’ve heard the Insolvency Service said last night, I’m looking into the possibility of suing them personally.
Another law-suit?
For what he [Burns] said, he deserves to be sued personally. Because it’s a lie. If he said what I’ve been told he said, it’s a lie. The question to be asked here is if I’m being accused of something then why didn’t they pursue it, why didn’t they do something about it? The reason is because it’s not true.
They then tried to link you with a convicted fraudster, Kevin Sykes. What was your involvement with Sykes?
I’m sure that most people in their past has met somebody – 12 years ago, 15 years ago – and then you move on and you forget about them. To bring it up now, to associate him with me is an outrage. I haven’t seen the guy in 12-13 years. What’s the relevance of that?
This is a respected investigative journalist, though. Mark Daly is a good journalist. Why would he have it in for you? Why would the BBC have it in for you?
There’s no question but that this was a hatchet job. Look at the contributors. Alastair Johnston and Paul Murray, who are no friends of mine. Other guys on companies I invested in who wanted more money and I wouldn’t give it to them. It’s not impartial. It was biased from the start. Typical BBC attitude. They’re arrogant.
Did you hear that your old mate, Johnston, cried no surrender!
Yeah, I heard that. Alastair thinks he’s the fans’ hero. The funny thing is that he tells everybody that he’s never taken a penny out of Rangers, that he’s never wanted anything from the club, that he was put here for the good of the club and that he’s the biggest Rangers supporter and all sorts of shit. I haven’t heard from him since the takeover. But about a week or ten days ago he starts emailing me and says he’s owed 30 grand.
For what?
They were really nice emails to begin with. He was talking about his expenses and his flights to the States and Japan on Rangers business, first class tickets and all the rest of it, and reckoned he was due 30 grand in expenses. There was this series of emails and I was really surprised. So then he puts a deadline of last Friday on it and said if I didn’t pay it he was going to sue. There was an overhanging threat of a law suit if I didn’t pay him.
Another law-suit? How many are we up to now?
I’ve stopped counting. I said I’d look at the detail and get back to him, but I haven’t responded to his last email, which was Wednesday I think. He’s not due the money. These are guys who have never put anything into Rangers and have taken a lot out, even during the depths of the financial crisis at the club. They could have said we’ve done quite nicely out of this, we’ll walk away and wish the club well. People like [Donald] McIntyre outside the court the other day saying he wants the best for Rangers, meanwhile he’s putting a £300,000 arrestment on Rangers and taking us to court, even though he was there throughout all the financial problems. When Rangers made the Uefa Cup final [Martin Bain] got the same bonus as the players, £45,000 a man. Why would the chief executive be on the same bonus as the players? Anybody who wants money from Rangers I’m going to scrutinise it. Every detail, whether it’s deserved or not. If it’s deserved, we’ll settle and if it’s not we’ll fight it to the death.
There is an air of mystery about you, though. Nobody really knows much about you – where you got your money from and how much you have.
Good.
So where did you make your money and how much do you have?
If I asked you how much money you have, you would be within your rights to tell me to f*** off, it’s none of my business. All that matters is that I’m delivering on what I said I would deliver on. Rangers are in a better place now than they have been in the last three or four years. That’s what’s important. As long as I deliver on what I said I would deliver on what difference does it make?
What other businesses do you have, we know nothing of this?
I’ve got more than 20 other businesses in the UK and across various parts of Europe and I’m involved in all sorts of things. I’m a prolific deal-maker, but the only one you get to hear about is Rangers. I’m doing deals constantly. This morning I’m working on a decent size deal with a fairly well-known business but it will never get any attention.
Why not?
Because I don’t want it to.
Again, why not?
Why should I? I’m stubborn.
Give us the names of a few of your companies that you’re really proud of?
No. Good effort but I’m not going to name the companies because that’ll create a level of scrutiny for them and I don’t want to have that. I just want them to get on with business. Look, I can’t complain about it because I put myself in the position. David Murray told me what it would be like. I’m fortunate to be in the position I’m in. You know my thoughts, I’m not a publicity hungry type of guy. This stuff doesn’t sit naturally with me. I’m only doing this now because of that BBC thing.
Okay, let’s talk about the tax bill. You said not that long ago that you we were going to fight it if the outcome went against you, but you said the other night you might not. What are you thinking?
I’m not going to box myself into a corner on this one. What I said to STV was that there has to be some finality sooner rather than later. I don’t see how we can live like this as a business with this thing hanging over us for another year or two years, it’s impossible. If we’re trying to sign long-term deals with sponsors or corporates it makes life more difficult.
Fine. So talk us through what you will do in the worst case scenario. Rangers are hit with a massive debt bill. What happens next?
There’s a solution to it either way. Either we win the case or we don’t win the case and if we don’t win the case I’ll still control the club and so the club will be there forever.
But what happens if the bill is £49m?
Clearly, an insolvency would mean the business would have to go through a formal restructuring.
Insolvency? Restructuring?
It’s hard to say at the moment because there are different ways to restructure a business. People talk about administration as one option and that might well be one of them.
Putting the club into administration is an option?
For sure.
What would that entail? Are we talking here about the club re-forming as New Rangers FC and the tax bill is eliminated. It’s not that simple, right?
It’s not as simple as that but that is one potential outcome. It’s not desirable, not something we want to do and I’m doing everything I can to avoid it.
You wouldn’t think that the club going into administration would be a blight on its proud history?
You can’t erase the club’s history. That stays.
But it would be mortifying?
Other than a regrettable event in our history I don’t think it would be as bad people think it might be. But that’s not what I want. It’s something I’d rather avoid, if at all possible.
Have you regrets about the way you’ve handled the tax case, the secrecy surrounding it that has given way to endless speculation?
Yeah, with hindsight I should have probably said more about this when I first came in but on the other hand we were battling to win the league at the time and I didn’t want to put negative issues out there. As soon as the league was over, I should have come out and said ‘Look, there’s a big job to be done here’. I should have got my message out a bit sooner.
If you were a betting man, where would your money rest? Victory for Rangers or victory for HMRC?
I’m not a tax expert so it’s a difficult one. Our legal advisers say we’re going to win but HMRC’s advisers say they’re going to win. I wouldn’t like to bet on it either way, to be honest.
You seem to be constantly fighting people. The tax man, Bain, McIntyre, the BBC, various solicitors firms, all sorts of people. Levy & McRae took action over an unpaid bill of £35,000. Why is there so much hassle?
Levy & McRae acted for Rangers previously and under Law Society rules they shouldn’t be acting against their client so when they represented Bain we complained about them to the Law Society and to be fair we were a bit bloody-minded when we said we weren’t going to pay them because they started acting for Bain against us. That was the reason we didn’t pay them. They took us to court and with hindsight it would have been easier just to pay them.
I think people use the profile of Rangers to try and take us to court and think we’ll settle because we don’t want the bad publicity. For me, I’m bloody-minded. Why should I fall for that one? I’m getting more and more thick-skinned by the day.
Is this the most hassle you’ve had in business?
For sure. But this is what I signed up to. Nothing on this scale has happened to me before and nothing on this scale will happen to me again. Even if you owned one of the clubs in London I don’t think you’d get this level of intensity in the national press. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. No football club owner in Scotland has had the hassle that I’ve had.
Like you say, you buy Rangers and you accept the obsession that comes with it, right?
Right.
So what about all your cash flow, then?
The arrestments by Bain and McIntyre don’t help, but we’re fine.
No issues about paying your bills?
No.
What about your transfer dealings? Lots of players signed but not a high net spend, not the £5m you said it would be?
It’s a lot higher than people think. Our net spend is about £5.7m or thereabouts. That includes things that people forget about like agents fees and so on.
You said you’d invest £5m a season for five seasons, roughly. That £5m was including agents fees and other costs?
If you’re going to sign players then you have to include the cost associated with it, legal costs, agents costs, all sorts of costs. Of course you have to include the costs.
People will always ask how could you think this is a sound venture?
You can have a proper business model in football but it’s not easy, I’ll give you that. But I also think that Rangers are a huge club with a huge support base worldwide and with tremendous commercial potential that is untapped. Our costs are too high and will have to be reduced. Long-term, we can make this a successful business.
The tax case could be Armageddon, though?
I don’t think it’s Armageddon. Everybody knows that, in reality, Rangers are always going to be around. You might get idiots on bulletin boards saying that Rangers are going to disappear but that’s not going to happen.
Finally, John Greig walked away during the week. He was a player you admired greatly. An icon. Was his departure a reflection on the way you run the club?
It was unfortunate. John could have stepped down a different way. We could have shaken hands and wished him all the best, which I still want to do. Unfortunately, I heard it from a newspaper rather than from John. I thought we always got on well. He’s a legend and will always be welcome.
"Interview: Craig Whyte, chairman of Rangers FC", Tom English, Scotland On Sunday, 5 Feb 2012Spoiler: click to toggle Craig Whyte ends a difficult week with a candid discussion with Tom English, on where the season ticket money has gone, the Jelavic deal and the future of Rangers
Q: It’s been a bruising week for you. Tickets and tax and rumours and innuendo. Your manager was on the verge of walking out. Or maybe not...
A: Yeah, you hear all these stories that he’s ready to pack it in and it’s total crap. These rumours got so strong during the week that even my sister called me and said she’d heard that Ally had resigned. I told her it was rubbish. Ally and I talk regularly and he’s very, very determined and very, very focused. I don’t know why people don’t want to believe that.
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.
Q: Mortgaging season tickets is a high-risk strategy, though. Clubs do it, but on this scale? What if season tickets sales plummet? Do you fear a season ticket boycott?
A: No, why would there be?
Q: It would be understandable if Rangers fans were spooked. This is the allegation, that you used the Ticketus money to fund your takeover of the club...
A: No, from the messages I’ve had I don’t think people believe that. The occasional person, maybe. I know Ally said on Friday that this is the time to rally round the club. This is going to be a tough few weeks and we need everybody with us and on the whole that’s what people are doing. The allegation is wrong. Anybody with half a brain would figure that one out. The sale of the club went through prior to the arrangement for the tickets. It’s absurd. Do you think Lloyds and Sir David Murray would have given me the time of day if I hadn’t proved I had the 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.
Q: I’ve asked you before about your personal wealth and you told me to get lost. Fair enough. But can you blame people for being suspicious when they see you selling off chunks of season tickets just to keep the club going? You’ve been described – hysterically – as a billionaire with wealth off the radar. Why are you selling your chief goal-scorer?
A: The billionaire thing has caused me no end of problems in all sorts of areas. It didn’t come from me. I can promise you that. It was reported last week that my PR people once tried to tell newspapers that I’m a billionaire but I just don’t believe that. I don’t talk about my personal wealth to anybody and so I didn’t tell a PR company to go and say that. It’s been used against me now. It’s making me look silly. People assume that I said it and I didn’t say it. I would never say it. I never claimed to be any such thing, but even if I was I wouldn’t necessarily handle the situation any differently. Rangers needs to be a long-term sustainable business and that’s the bottom line. The club needs to change.
Q: Do you rue the day you darkened Sir David Murray’s door?
A: There are days where you say “Why did I bother!” On the whole, though, I think it’s going to be tremendously satisfying to pull this through and achieve what I set out to do. I’ve made mistakes. We all do. When I look at it with hindsight there are things I would do differently. I should have spoken about the magnitude of the problem earlier, but on the other hand we were challenging to win the title and I didn’t want to be Mr Negative.
Q: The magnitude of the problem. Ally spoke on Friday about the club’s “serious, serious predicament” with HMRC and about how “the welfare of the club is the most important thing – greater than getting results”. That’s a fairly profound statement...
A: Yeah, I agree with him. This has the potential to be the toughest few weeks in the club’s history.
Q: You’re expecting a verdict from HMRC in the next few weeks?
A: Possibly.
Q: So you’re in full-on crisis mode?
A: I wouldn’t say crisis is the right word. Not at the moment. But we’re certainly in the toughest time in the club’s history. The next few weeks. I’d definitely say that much.
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.
Q: Are you nervous about it?
A: Not nervous at all. There’s a plan in place for any eventuality.
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.
Q: There is also talk, on top of everything else, of £5m owed in VAT. Are you sitting on a Mount Everest of debt?
A: There’s a lot of media hostility towards myself and Rangers. It irks me sometimes. The VAT thing is rubbish. I have regular dialogue with HMRC about a number of issues, in particular the Employment Benefit Trust case. All sorts of things. I talk to them often, I know exactly what they’re doing and what they’re thinking and there’s no issue on that front.
Q: Right, can we clear up some transfer window stuff?
A: Fire away.
Q: Jelavic has gone for £5.5m. Are Rapid Vienna entitled to a slice of that action?
A: No.
Q: I think £5.5m is a lousy deal for Rangers. He’s really undervalued at that price. Fulham paid between £10m and £12m for Bryan Ruiz last summer and nobody is going to convince me that Ruiz is a better player than Jelavic. What actual bids did you get for him?
A: Two, one from Everton and the other from West Ham. The Everton bid was the best one for the club.
Q: But West Ham bid £7m...
A: Did they?
Q: Didn’t they?
A: Of course it wasn’t £7m. Look, the desire was to get a lot more money for the player but he’s only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for him on a given day. The West Ham bid was a complicated offer with all sorts of strings attached. There were certain things contingent on them getting promoted and we might have had to take one of their players and he was on a high salary. Believe me, I accepted the best bid. He wanted to leave and we needed the money, simple as that. I’ve spoken about the gap in our finances already this week. It’s £10m.
Q: We’ll get back to that, but more transfer stuff. Fran Sandaza, the St Johnstone player, claims that somebody from Rangers contacted him on Tuesday to say you might make another move for him...
A: I don’t know what happened there. If Ally wanted to sign Sandaza on the last day of the transfer window I’d have been happy to sanction that deal. For sure.
Q: You made a move for Gary Holt of Norwich instead. How much did you bid for him?
A: How much do you think?
Q: I heard three figures, £500,000, £600,000 and £1m. I’d go with £600,000.
A: No, it was £1m.
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.
Q: Missing out on Europe was a shattering blow, right? Did you budget for Champions League money?
A: No, we budgeted for Europa League money which, based on the evidence going back many years, was a perfectly reasonable thing to budget for. That would have got us £5m, maybe a bit less. It never happened. The Champions League might get you £20m, but it goes back to the risk again. Is it worth it?
Q: So missing out on European football was the start of the cash-flow crisis. Is that fair?
A: Not absolutely fair. I think there are issues around that. I think because of all the negative coverage in the media and the tax case hanging over us, business partners who might have paid a year in advance before are now paying month to month and you have creditors who want to be paid quicker. The negativity is having repercussions.
Q: Neil Lennon said on Friday that the chickens are coming home to roost for Rangers now. Years of financial mismanagement have finally caught up on the club. Fair comment?
A: Somebody mentioned that to me. I’m not going to comment on what he said. I don’t think he should... No, you almost lured me into something there. I need to remind myself to be on my guard.
"Tom English: Sorry Whyte wash that is full of contradictions", Tom English, Scotsman, 22 Feb 2012
"Tom English: ‘Craig Whyte is delusional to think he can ever return to Ibrox, let alone run what goes on there’", Tom English, Scotland On Sunday, 26 Feb 2012
"Rangers' plight offers chance for non-Old Firm clubs". Jim Spence, BBC, 27 Feb 2012
"A new twist in Rangers controversy: Club accused of misleading SFA on secret deals", John McGarry, Daily Mail, 2 Mar 2012
"Rangers investigated by SFA over payment claims from Adam", Stephen McGowan, Daily Mail, 3 Mar 2012
"SPL rivals want to see Rangers heavily punished if club is liquidated and reformed under new name", Mark Guidi, Mar 4 2012
"Rangers administration: ‘I was there with the De Boers, Amoruso, Ferguson, Arteta, Averladze, Mols, Caniggia – a team full of superstars. Rangers were paying astronomical wages’ ", Moira Gordon, Scotland On Sunday 4 Mar 2012
"Gary Withey 'key to all sorts of deals and guarantees' under Craig Whyte" - Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 4th March 2012
"Rangers administration: ogilvie out of ibrox probe", Tom English, Scotland On Sunday, 4 Mar 2012
"20 Questions on Rangers' 21st Day in Administration", Michael Grant, Herald, 5th March 2012
"John Yorkson has a problem letting Newco Rangers straight into the SPL", STV, 5th March 2012
"SPL to investigate Rangers player payments", Unattributed, Telegraph, 5 Mar 2012
"Integrity Is Name Of Our Game", James Traynor, Daily Record, 5th March 2012[/i]Spoiler: click to toggle Integrity is name of our game By jim Traynor on Mar 5, 12 07:30 AM in
The main currency, in fact the only currency any of us in the newspaper game should have in our moral banks must be integrity.
Without it we, as journalists, are of no use to anyone. We have no value. None at all.
Without integrity we fail our readers, our papers and our employers. But just as importantly we fail ourselves.
Integrity, honesty and the desire to call it out no matter the consequences is what defines us. Thankfully it's also what sets us apart, especially from all those 'brave' keyboard thumpers out there in the world of social networking sites and football forums.
They aren't governed by the laws which must be observed by newspapers like this one and are allowed to bash out the most insane, insulting, illogical and confused messages.
I shouldn't complain, though, because it all demonstrates their lack of intellect and common decency.
Which might explain why they prefer to hide behind anonymity or childish pseudonyms.
But sadly there are some high-profile football people using this gift as conduits for their own propaganda and if you've looked at some of these sites you'll know just how easy it is to influence and stir unrest.
There is certainly a lack of integrity in cyberspace but it's honesty that persuades the editors at the Daily Record and Sunday Mail to employ their journalists in the first place. It's why they trust us to make best use of the platforms given to us.
And it's because of that integrity we stand by our story which revealed Celtic did not fulfil a ticket agreement with Rangers.
Last week (Tuesday, February 28) while working on Rangers' financial meltdown, information was received that Celtic had decided not to pay in advance for their ticket allocation for the Old Firm match at Ibrox on March 25. Rangers believed there was a verbal agreement in place for Celtic to do so.
I along with Keith Jackson ran the story on our back page and that morning Celtic reacted strongly, insisting no such assurance had been given.
Then they said there was an agreement but later added it was dependent on Rangers not being in administration. Which, of course, they are today.
But at no time in my conversation with Celtic on the day the story appeared was it stated the agreement was dependent on Rangers' remaining solvent. That caveat was never mentioned.
However, it was admitted there was some agreement and that confirmed what was written in our paper. Not that we required further proof.
The agreement which Rangers insist was in place and which Celtic continue to protest didn't exist was the result of the Parkhead club demanding payment up front from Rangers for their allocation of tickets for the Old Firm game at Celtic Park on December 28.
It should be stressed most of us agreed that it was wise for Celtic to have asked to see the money first because of the fragile state of Rangers' finances.
But our information says that both clubs agreed Celtic would also pay in advance for this month's match.
Indeed, on January 21 Rangers requested payment ahead of the tickets being issued in a message which stated it had been agreed. About 50 minutes later Celtic responded by thanking Rangers for their invoice and added it would be passed on to finance for payment to be made as soon as.
Perhaps it would also help jog memories if it is pointed out that five days earlier Ali Russell, who was Rangers' chief operations manager at the time, told his ticket office staff that Celtic had agreed they would pay in advance.
Celtic didn't pay and no matter how much they jump up and down in protest that is the way it is. Rangers paid up front, Celtic didn't.
Incidentally, it's easy to understand why Celtic would have been reluctant to pay in advance. Any business would be extremely worried about handing over money to Rangers at this time but the Ibrox club have no doubt they had a deal.
So, too, do Rangers' administrators Duff and Phelps who said through a spokesman: 'It is regrettable that an apparent initial agreement was unfulfilled.' Celtic might have been concerned also that they were being blamed for costing jobs at Ibrox and Murray Park but no one here suggested that. Let's be absolutely clear on this, Rangers and Rangers alone are to blame for their decline into administration and any job losses.
None of this is the fault of Celtic or anyone at that club.
But our evidence and the content of conversations with Rangers and Celtic made it clear an agreement was in place.
Celtic, though, want to underline that if it hadn't been made obvious the agreement was dependent on Rangers avoiding administration then it should have been.
Rangers say they are unaware of any condition attached to the arrangement but it changes nothing.
Let's just say, for the sake of argument you understand, that the deal was conditional on Rangers remaining out of the administrators' hands. Even if it was, the agreement must still have been broken because Rangers were not in administration when Celtic were asked to pay up.
The request for the cash was made 24 days before Rangers were tipped over. Of course we'd all been expecting Rangers to go under but the fact is they were still running under their own steam when they asked for the ticket money in advance.
Therefore, even allowing for the caveat that Celtic insist would have been part of the deal, they chose not to proceed with the arrangement.
That is all we ever said. And that is the truth of the matter.
"No SFL Investigation Into Rangers' "hidden payments" allegations", Grant Russell, STV, 6 Mar 2012
"Quick redundancies are brutal but also fairer", Richard Wilson, Herald, 6 Mar 2012
"Rangers face being stripped of honours as SPL investigates player payments", Ewing Grahame, Telegraph, 6 Mar 2012 in which, apparently, "Doncaster also claimed yesterday that the extension of the SPL’s TV deal with Sky and ESPN was not dependent on being able to deliver four Old Firm games per season."
"Grey area which has become a lot darker . . . When is a written agreement not a contract?", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 6 Mar 2012
"SPL chief Neil Doncaster insists Rangers won't receive any special treatment in probe into Ibrox crisis", Hugh Keevins, Daily Record, Mar 6 2012 Spoiler: click to toggle Choice quote from Keevins "But two clubs are more equal than others and the TV contract stipulates there must be four Old Firm games per season.
That agreement expires in the summer and is replaced by four-year deal worth £80million but it would be inconceivable to think it didn’t also demand four Glasgow derbies." "Rod Petrie accuses Rangers of ‘damaging SPL integrity’", Andrew Smith, The Scotsman, 7 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 7 2012, 10:23 AM
Post #2
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"Interview: Murray in bid to gag the bigots", Unattributed, Scotsman, 29 April 2001 "Dire straits as Rangers rue decadent days of paying money for nothing", Rob Robertson, Herald, 5 Sep 2003 "Profile: Sir David Murray - A hard act to follow follow", Scotsman, 22 Nov 2008 "David Murray is supervising a careful retreat over Rangers' ambitions", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 30 Jan 2009 "Why tax case casts long shadow over Rangers and beyond", Andrew Smith, Scotsman, 12 Feb 2012 "The end is nigh: Insolvency expert sees no outcome at Ibrox but liquidation", Brian Marjoribanks, Daily Mail, 15 Feb 2012 "Funny business of a football club", Alf Young, Scotsman, 18 Feb 2012 "Craig Whyte profile: The Scots billionaire on the brink of taking over the club he loves ", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, Nov 18 2010Spoiler: click to toggle Craig Whyte profile: The Scots billionaire on the brink of taking over the club he loves
Nov 18 2010 Keith Jackson
Craig Whyte started playing the stock market at the age of 15. By the time he left school he had more than £20,000 in his bank account.
Today, aged just 39, this financial whizzkid from Motherwell stands on the brink of pulling off the biggest deal of his life - and finally bringing the curtain down on one of the longest-running sagas in Scottish football.
Record Sport understands self-made billionaire Whyte has entered into the final stages of negotiations to buy control of the club he loves from Sir David Murray.
And he's still one year younger than captain Davie Weir.
A deal worth around £30million is now believed to have reached such an advanced stage that sources say Whyte, a high-roller who splits his time between a home in London and the idyllic Castle Grant in Grantown-on-Spey, could even have the keys to Ibrox in time to fund a major refurbishment of Walter Smith's top-team squad in January.
The news will delight Rangers supporters who have been fretting over the future of their club ever since Murray first slapped a For Sale sign on the front door of Edmiston Drive around three years ago.
As the club's financial health deteriorated to such an extent the banks moved in to control the purse strings, a series of false dawns came and went.
First, a consortium headed up by South African-based tycoon Dave King came to the fore only to fail to meet Murray's asking price.
Then, in March this year, Londonbased property developer Andrew Ellis emerged as the frontrunner and was granted a period of exclusivity in order to get the deal done.
But Ellis, now part of the consortium, did not have the financial clout to back up his bold promises and his bid collapsed, leaving Rangers firmly in the grip of the Lloyds Group.
Exiled Glaswegian King was then talked up once more as the possible saviour but he was also engaged in a long-running battle with the tax man and while those issues remained unresolved, he too looked l ike an increasingly unlikely white knight for a club now engulfed by crisis.
But yesterday, quite out of the blue, Record Sport learned a new man is at the table and that a deal to end Murray's 22-year reign is ready to be completed.
And that man is a relative boy.
By the age of 26, Whyte was already Scot land's youngest self-made millionaire. Now, 13 years on, and in charge of a vast business empire, his wealth is off the radar.
Whyte is a venture capitalist who has made his millions from playing the markets - a skill he secret ly began honing in his third year at Glasgow's Kelvinside Academy. In one of his few interviews he revealed how he immediately regretted going to the private school - because he despised playing rugby.
He said: "I hated the discipline of it. It was a rugby-only school, which I didn't play as I was interested in football.'' Whyte worked weekends for his dad's plant hire firm. And he saved up his wages to fund his habit of gambling on Stock Exchange.
It is said that, by the time he left school, he had more cash in his bank than many of his teachers.
At 19, he was in charge of his own hire plant.
Now he owns his own castle - one of the most historic buildings in Scotland. And very soon he could be adding Rangers to his portfolio. It remains to be seen if Whyte's move to capture the club will f lush any other parties out of the woodwork because - despite their failure to strike a deal with Murray - King and his consortium have yet to throw in the towel on their own ambitions.
They had put together a package worth around £18m but this was flatly rejected and Ellis drove the price up when he agreed to pay Murray more than £30m.
The club's debt has been reduced by around £10m since then but the selling price remains the same.
Now, quite clearly, Whyte believes he will be able to close the deal and the young gun must have said enough to impress Murray, who has stated all along that he will only sell the club to the right people - men with enough money to take the club forward.
Who knows? Murray may even regard Whyte as something of a kindred spirit.
After all, Murray was himself aged just 37 back in 1988 when he launched a takeover of the Ibrox club.
It was the beginning of one of the most successful periods in Rangers' history but Murray's aggressive pursuit of European glory eventually saw him writing the kind of cheques that his club could simply not afford.
Now Whyte is bringing his money to the table but it remains to be seen if he will adopt the same scatter-cash approach as the man who has owned the club for the past two decades.
But if he brings in even half of the number of trophies Murray delivered then the fans are unlikely to be complaining.
"£2.8m hitch could delay Whyte deal for Rangers", Unattributed, Scotsman, 3 April 2011 "Rangers in crisis: Our man Keith Jackson tells how he uncovered the truth about Craig Whyte", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 22 Feb 2012Spoiler: click to toggle Rangers in crisis: Our man Keith Jackson tells how he uncovered the truth about Craig Whyte
Feb 22 2012 By Keith Jackson
TUESDAY June 14, 2011 – the day I knew the man in charge of Rangers was lying through his teeth and covering up a secret plan to put a 140-year-old institution at risk of ruin.
That was the day the Record reported for the first time that Whyte had made his big move to sell off four years’ worth of season ticket sales.
The response from this odd little man was instant and emphatic. I was banned from Ibrox forthwith, my story dismissed as a pack of lies.
During a heated telephone conversation with Whyte the following day, he even told me my story – which was based upon a document he’d registered at Companies House – was littered with inaccuracies.
In fact, he said, what he had done by submitting that paperwork was protecting those tickets, not mortgaging them off. How very silly of me.
Our story had stated: “Record Sport has been alerted to a Companies House document in the names of Whyte and his newly appointed right-hand man in the boardroom, Phil Betts. This has raised concerns among prominent supporters at Ibrox.
“Analysts say the document could signal Whyte’s intent to mortgage off the next four years’ worth of season ticket money as a security against some form of loan.”
We added: “Rangers season-ticket holders will want to know where their hard-earned cash is going and if Whyte plans to use it to finance his initial takeover, which saw him agree to wipe out an £18million debt with Lloyds Bank.”
After my ban, Whyte went further. He invited his pet paper The Scottish Sun and The Herald along for interviews.
In the Herald, he said: “Contrary to a report elsewhere this week, no form has been signed that would allow season-ticket money to be used as a guarantee against any future loans.”
Also handed a sit-down was Tom English from Scotland on Sunday, who said Whyte was “incensed” with the Record.
It added: “After a bout of apoplexy, he got to thinking where this story might have come from. ‘I don’t know, but I hear that some of the previous directors are still sniping away in the background, still trying to cause trouble where they can. I think it’s a pity that some of these guys didn’t go gracefully instead of going disgracefully.’”
This morning, Whyte may be wise to consider taking his own advice. But he won’t. The breakdown in his relationship with the truth has gone too far.
Fast forward eight months or so, James Traynor and I are finally given the go-ahead by the Record legal experts to print the same story all over again after learning that HMRC had launched a full scale probe into £5million in missing VAT money from the season ticket deal.
You know, that one that Whyte didn’t do.
This time, we have all the figures and dates. We even know that the £24.4million was handed over to his lawyers, Collyer Bristow, before the takeover had been completed. In other words, he’d sold season tickets which weren’t even his to sell.
Whyte is finally forced to tell the truth... well, almost. This time he admits tranches of tickets were sold off, while strenuously denying that he used any of the proceeds to pay off the club’s £18million debt to Lloyds Bank.
On the club’s website on January 31, he lied: “In the most lurid terms, the Record accuses the club’s management, and specifically me, of using supporters’ money to help fund the buyout of Rangers. Not true.
“The Daily Record’s approach to this story sought to distort and dramatise the matter. I for one will not be reading or buying the Daily Record again and I’m sure many other Rangers fans will share my disgust at yet another smear on this club.”
Rangers fans might have been a little more disgusted two weeks later when Whyte finally plunged their club into the carnage of administration.
Yesterday, however, Whyte was left with no more room to manoeuvre and no more lies to tell. He had been rumbled.
But let’s hope, at least, he sticks to his promise never to buy a Daily Record again.
Mr Whyte, your sort are simply not welcome. In fact, let’s just say you can officially consider yourself BANNED.
"Rangers in crisis: How Ibrox supremo Craig Whyte has lied & lied & lied", David Taylor, Daily Record, Feb 23 2012Spoiler: click to toggle WHYTE is apparently not a big fan of Sir Walter Scott, who wrote: “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!”
6/5/11: Whyte announces he has bought Rangers for £1 from Sir David Murray’s company after the Takeover Panel ratify the deal.
THE PR SPIN: In his first interview, he said: “As a Rangers supporter, I now look forward to helping the club secure its future as a leading force in Scottish and European football.”
THE TRUTH: Whyte didn’t pay PAYE or VAT, which caused the club to be put into administration, leading directly to a 10-point SPL deduction which effectively gave the title to Celtic.
10/5/11: THE PROMISE TO SPEND: “I have said we will spend £25million over five years on the squad and I need to speak with Ally to see if that needs to be front-ended. So maybe we can spend a little bit more for next season if that is necessary.”
THE TRUTH: Whyte was never in a position to make such promises. He needed a loan from Ticketus to buy the club in the first place.
15/6/11: Record Sport’s Keith Jackson is first to reveal the Ticketus deal.
THE LIE: Whyte denies the story outright and bans Jackson from Rangers.
THE TRUTH: Whyte finally admitted on Tuesday that he DID mortgage off future season ticket revenues to buy the club.
13/9/11: THE BLUSTER: Whyte claims: “We’ve a strong balance sheet at the moment. We’ve a net £80million of assets on the balance sheet.”
THE TRUTH: Rangers are heading for administration.
13/9/11
THE LIE: As for the season ticket money, no, it hasn’t been mortgaged off.
THE TRUTH: Yes it has.13/9/11: THE CHANGE OF TUNE: After Ally McCoist fails to land any of his summer signing targets, Whyte says: “There seems to be this attitude we should throw money at things, that we should go and spend £5million or £10million every season. I think the days of doing that in Scottish football probably now are gone.”
THE TRUTH: Those days of transfer spending certainly seem a very distant memory for furious Rangers fans.
31/1/12: THE FLAGRANT LIE:
Whyte claims in a statement that no Ticketus cash was used to pay off Rangers’ bankers, Lloyds. He says: “The suggestion that the Rangers takeover was funded through financing arrangements on season tickets is categorically untrue.”
THE TRUTH: Yes it was, as even he now admits.
3/2/12: THE JELAVIC SPIN: Whyte claims Rangers star striker wanted a transfer after his £6million sale to Everton. He says: “The player wanted to leave and there is no point in trying to keep a player who no longer wants to be at Ibrox.”
THE TRUTH: Jelavic hits back at Whyte, saying he was happy at Rangers and didn’t want to move. He said: “I never had a piece of paper in my hand telling Rangers I wanted to leave.”
11/2/12: THE COURT CASE: Whyte fails to avoid paying £86,127 he owes to roofing firm One Stop Roofing Supplies, run by Paul Martin, manager of Albion Rovers.
THE VERDICT: Sheriff Nigel Ross brands him a “wholly unreliable witness” and tells him to pay the money owed, plus backdated interest of eight per cent and costs.
22/2/12: THE LAST STAND: Whyte says in a rambling statement that he doesn’t “do walking away”.
THE TRUTH: He is missing from Ibrox and missing in action in one of the club’s worst hours. "Gers in crisis: Player deals uncovered", Paul Thornton and Ewing Grahame, The Sun, 26 Feb 2012
Dave King admits liquidation is likely and threatens to sue Sir David Murray.
"Chick Young's view on Rangers' possible liquidation", Chick Young, BBC, 7 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 8 2012, 12:13 PM
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"Rangers players told football club's future is in their hands", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 8 Mar 2012, including suggestion that HMRC will not stand in the way of a CVA so long as Craig Whyte is out of the picture.
"Court order concerns over Rangers director King’s investment plans", Shaunna Whitters, Angela Haggerty and Matt Coyle - Cardonald Courier, 7 Mar 2012 - Cardonald College put together a pretty impressive story.
"Ten SPL clubs will discuss change in Old Firm's absence", Jim Spence, BBC, 8 Mar 2012
"Rangers in court battle with Craig Whyte's lawyers over £3.6m to keep club afloat", Mike Farrell, STV, 8 Mar 2012 - "administrators Duff and Phelps called for a quick sale of the club, with the “most likely scenario” of that being Rangers’ assets being sold to a new company before the old one is liquidated."
"Rangers On the Rack", Alex thomson, Channel 4, 8 Mar 2012
"Scottish football fans contemplate a future without Rangers", Alex Thomson, Channel 4, 8 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 9 2012, 01:46 AM
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"End Of World Isn't Nigh For Rangers Insist Administrators", Andy McInnes, Express, 8 Mar 2012 "Rangers administration: Duff and Phelps predict new owner within weeks", Scotsman, 9 Mar 2012 "Hope for Rangers with administrator set to seize Whyte's shares"John McGarry, Daily Mail, 9 Mar 2012 "Taxman set to back shock Rangers lifeline ", Andy Devlin and Kenny McAlpine, Sun, 9 Mar 2012 "Whyte 'will not profit from sale of Rangers'", Martin Williams, Herald, 9 Mar 2012 "MPs demand even-handed tax deals by HMRC", Unattributed, BBC Business, 9 Mar 2012 "Rangers administration: Rangers players set to accept wage cuts to keep lay-offs at a minimum", Unattributed, Scotsman, 9 Mar 2012 "Rangers administration: Hope that club can extricate itself from Ticketus deal used to pay off Lloyds", Tom English, Scotsman, 9 Mar 2012 "EXCLUSIVE: Anatomy of a rescue plan - Rangers administrators are close to a deal ", John McGarry, Daily Mail, 9 Mar 2012 "Hope for Rangers with administrator set to seize Whyte's shares", John McGarry, Daily Mail, 9 Mar 2012 "Craig Whyte's investment firm Pritchards wound up", Unattributed, BBC, 9 Mar 2012 "Rangers administrators and Ticketus heading for dispute over £24.4m season ticket deal", Mike Farrell, STV, 9 Mar 2012 "'No sign' Rangers owner Craig Whyte put any money into club", Unattributed, STV, 9 Mar 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Ticketus emerge as shock backers behind Paul Murray's bid to buy Ibrox club ", James Traynor and Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 9 Mar 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Deal agreed to save jobs & complete season as players accept wage cuts", Unattributed, Daily Record, 9 Mar 2012 "Rangers administration: Duff and Phelps issue statement ", Scotsman, 9 Mar 2012 "Craig Whyte used 'smoke and mirrors', says Stewart Regan", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 9 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 10 2012, 11:31 AM
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Another day, another slew of press.
"If Whyte returns we all go FREE", Derek McGregor, The Sun, 10 Mar 2012 "Blue Knights consortium leader Paul Murray insists Ticketus backing can help save Rangers ", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 10 Mar 2012 "Murray takes on mantle of bona fide Blue Knight", Richard Wilson, Herald, 10 Mar 2012 "SFA lock King and Whyte out of boardroom", Michael Grant, Herald, 10 Mar 2012
"Buying time: Takeover is sought as stars agree lifeline deal at Rangers", John McGarry, Daily Mail, 10 Mar 2012 "Ibrox black and blue", Douglas Frase, BBC, 10 Mar 2012 - decent summary of Blue Knights' prospects. "Battle to control Rangers attracting 'global interest' – administrator", Ewan Murray, Guardian, 10 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 11 2012, 03:35 PM
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"Knights, a King and shadowy milieu underpinning game of thrones", Graham Spiers, Sunday Herald, 12 Mar 2012 "Survival Of The Fittest", Richard Wilson, Sunday Herald, 12 Mar 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Sir David Murray says selling club to Craig Whyte was his only mistake at Ibrox", Derek Alexander, Sunday Mail, 12 Mar 2012 "Duff and Phelps confident deal can be struck with HMRC once Craig Whyte is out of the picture", Mark Guidi, Sunday Mail, 12 Mar 2012 "Show me the money! Rangers administrator calls for potential buyers to prove their interest", Mail On sunday, 12 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 12 2012, 07:42 AM
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"Bored To Debt", Bill Leckie, The Sun, 12 Mar 2012 "Ex-director Paul Murray reveals the big hitters involved in his 'Blue Knights' takeover plan", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 12 Mar 2012 "Paul Murray explains why he's teaming up with Ticketus in Ibrox takeover bid", Keith Jackson, 12 Mar 2012 "Donald Muir, the bank's inside man at Ibrox, has questions to answer, Michael Grant, Herald, 12 Mar 2012 "The dangers of Rangers' tax shambles", Alex Thomson, Channel 4, 12 March 2012 "Chutes of recovery", James Traynor, Daily Record, 12 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 13 2012, 08:25 AM
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"Rangers bidder Paul Murray may fail Scottish FA 'fitness test'", Unattributed, BBC, 13 Mar 2012 "'Blue Knights' rescue package gathers pace but other potential bidders back off", Unattributed, Daily Record, 13 Mar 2012 "Northern Ireland politician John Taylor offers support to Paul Murray's Blue Knights consortium ", David McCarthy, Daily Record, 13 Mar 2012 "Craig Whyte still has big say in future of club, warns finance expert ", Stuart Bathgate, Scotsman, 13 Mar 2012 "Paul Murray has good reason to join forces with Ticketus ", Unattributed, Scotsman, 13 Mar 2012 "‘We are in good shape for Friday. We will make an offer for Rangers’", Darrell King, Evening Times, 13 Mar 2012
From @AlexTomo on Twitter - an interesting series of Tweets from the C4 News Chief Correspondent & Presenter @AlexTomo
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SFA told #c4news Campbell Ogilvie 'did not know' about EBT contract when he was Rangers FC secretary? When we asked why not - thaty was his job - SFA said they didn't know. SFA say their President and fmr Ranger secretary Campbell Ogilvie will not be interviewed by c4news about what he knew... SFA say their President Campbell Ogilvie 'has no plans to stand aside from his job pending current Rangers probes... Interesting SFA have just accused me of 'lying', 'pig-headedness' and then put the phone down mid-conversation.... all because I put their own statement back to them that Campbell Ogilvie denied knowing about EBTs at Rangers... And suggested there might be a perceived conflict of interest in his current position until the investigations are complete
@StewartRegan responded to the "pigheaded" tweet with "Please could you confirm who you have spoken to. thank you.".
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Night Terror
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Mar 13 2012, 12:28 PM
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I've done a transcript of that Traynor/Spence discussion on Sportsound last night:
Jim Spence – Jim, I'll tell you the thing that has really intrigued me over the last two or three weeks – there's a war here going on, between traditional media like us and social media, particularly among Celtic and Rangers fans. Celtic fans, frankly, think all of this stuff is, if not fabrication, simply wishful thinking and figments of imagination in terms of these groups who want to take Rangers over and whether or not Rangers can emerge from administration – most of them think liquidation, or being liquidised as someone put it to me today, is the most likely outcome. Do you think things look more positive at the moment for Rangers, or do you think that Rangers fans are deluding themselves about what's going on here? James Traynor – Er no, I think it is more positive since Paul Murray and his consortium – I'm loathe to call them Blue Knights to be honest with you Jim, it still strikes me JS – the Barron Knights! JT - Yeh, it strikes me as something like superheroes, and that's not what they are. They are trying to save a club though, so you have to give them that but I think they're pressing ahead with this now – it's beginning to take shape so therefore Rangers fans are entitled to be a bit more optimistic but I think it's still a long way off, I still believe that liquidation remains a distinct possibility – the Rangers fans will say “well, you always say that, you're refusing to acknowledge” well, so far all we know is that Paul Murray, in a deal with Ticketus, Douglas Park who certainly has some wherewithal, but had it before and never tried to buy this club, John Bennett – fund manager, Scott Murdoch, as Al was saying retail property advisor, and yet, you know, Paul Murray needs others, so, that tells you that one person alone is not going to buy this club and that they need to get several million from a number of people who have not all been named yet and that's probably because they're not all in [l;ace yet and that tells you that it's a bit, it's a long way off, y'know, if you look at Brian Kennedy who's expressed an interest but is very very quiet on it, that doesn't necessarily mean that he might or won't make a bid, perhaps it's just a watching brief, perhaps he's just sitting waiting to see what happens but I think firm bids befroe the end of the week – they won't get definitive bids by the end of the week, the administrators, they'll get people saying, and i think no more than a handful if that saying “Yes, here's what we are proposing, here's what we are planing to do. Paul Murray's in the process of telling the administrators that as we speak, but it's still a long way off from a definitive bid and someone saying “there, it's there, give me the club” and I'll pay off creditors and the CVA, which by no means is certain yet either, and you know – Ticketus will be awkward if they're not involved in your group and they're involved in Paul Murray's so you'd imagine they're not involved in anybody else's, so you'll have to deal with them, you'll have to deal with the inland Revenue and the other creditors to get your CVA. That's why I still think that liquidation is a distinct possibility, although there's not really that much difference other than you have to change your company name, you shut down one company, you start a newco, you still have to address creditors although they will have to accept much less in liquidation. JS – What there is, there is the crucial issue of Sporting Integrity. I mean how can you simply parachute Rangers 2012 back into the SPL and not literally rip apart the fabric of sporting integrity in the league? JT – Yes, well, you can’t. The answer to that in my opinion is you can’t. If they do it it’s because the TV deal needs Rangers, the SPL needs Rangers, it’s as simple as that. Sporting integrity will have nothing to do with it when it comes down to basics and that’s finance. Therefore sporting integrity will be shelved. Don’t be in any doubt of that, Jim. JS – How many people do you think on that SPL board of 6 will vote against Newco going into the league. JT – Em, I think no more than 2 or 3. No more than 2 or 3. JS – I think 2 from my understanding today, but that’s something no doubt we’re all working on… JT – People have to realise sporting integrity is fantastic and we should all be bound by that, but when it comes down to finance it doesn’t matter. They will take the financial route and that’s allowing Rangers as a newco back into the SPL, but as I was trying to point out this morning in the column… JS – you were suggesting they should go into the 3rd division for… JT – that would be a proper punishment wouldn’t it, but I think that also would actually benefit Rangers – it wouldn’t benefit the SPL but it would benefit Rangers and I think it would be the ultimate punishment as well if they were in the 3rd division and they had to start again.
Here's the link to the audio.
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 14 2012, 08:30 AM
Post #10
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"Rangers fans' fund will not help Craig Whyte - Sandy Jardine", Unattributed, BBC, 14 Mar 2012 "David Murray: Craig Whyte duped us all over sale of Rangers", Darrell King, Herald, 14 Mar 2012 "Rangers administration: Sir David Murray in categorical denial of dual contracts", Stuart Bathgate, Scotsman, 14 Mar 2012 "Sir David Murray: Craig Whyte didn’t declare his ban or Ticketus deal", Stuart Bathgate, Scotsman, 14 Mar 2012 "Rangers administration: David Murray says selling to Whyte was mistake", Stuart Bathgate, Scotsman, 14 Mar 2012 "Rangers has cost me close to £100m", Roger Hannah, The Sun, 13 Mar 2012 "No more Ibrox Knight-mares", Roger Hannah, the Sun, 13 Mar 2012 "CHRONOLOGY Murray Group's version of events", Unattributed, Herald, 14 Mar 2012 "MURRAY FEELS FOR ALLY McCOIST", Unattributed, Sporting Life, Accessed 14 Mar 2012. "'Ogilvie wasn't involved in paying people'", Darrell King, Herald, 14 Mar 2012 "Centre stage at question time", Darrell King, Herald, 14 Mar 2012 "File On Four - Tax Avoidance", BBC Radio 4 "Rangers in crisis: Sir David Murray denies any use of 'dual contracts' during his time at Ibrox ", James Traynor, Daily Record, 14 Mar 2012 "Clown email gaffe is no joke for fans", Kenny McAlpine, The Sun, 14 Mar 2012 "A level playing field?, Alex Thomson, Channel 4, 14 Mar 2012 "Statement from Campbell Ogilvy", SFA, 14 Mar 2012 "Legal hitch in administration of Rangers forces court date", Unattributed, BBC, 14 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 15 2012, 10:03 AM
Post #11
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"SFA president Campbell Ogilvie clarifies previous role", Unattributed, BBC, 14 Mar 2012 "You're wrong! Adam hits out at Sir David’s EBTs defence", John McGarry, Daily Mail, 14 Mar 2012 "Rangers administrators challenge £24.4m Ticketus deal", Unattributed, BBC, 15 Mar 2012 "Scottish FA charges Rangers and Craig Whyte over rule breaks", Unattributed, BBC, 15 Mar 2012 "Rangers in administration: It’s too late to send in the clowns...", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 15 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 16 2012, 08:38 AM
Post #12
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"Michael Kelly: Helping Rangers would be sporting thing to do", Michael Kelly, Scotsman, 15 Mar 2012 "Rangers administrators' Ticketus challenge continued until Monday", Unattributed, BBC, 16 Mar 2012 "Rangers takeover: Odd case of Rangers bidder who doesn’t want to buy club", Unattributed, Scotsman, 16 Mar 2012 "Paul plea for Whyte to go now", Robert Grieve, Sun, 16 Mar 2012 "Sir David Murray’s trying to dupe us all", Robin Galloway, Sun, 16 Mar 2012 "Craig Whyte’s life ban threat ", Andy Devlin & Kenny McAlpine, Sun, 16 Mar 2012 "Rangers attract more bids under the radar, says administrator", Ewen Murray, Guardian, 17 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 18 2012, 07:50 AM
Post #13
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"Rangers administration: Campbell Ogilvie full of regrets and wonders if he could have done more", Tom English, Scotland on Sunday, 18 Mar 2012 "Campbell Ogilvie: I should have challenged Sir David Murray over way he ran Rangers during my time there ", unattributed, Sunday Mail, 18 Mar 2012 "Middle Eastern consortium enters race to buy Rangers", Richard Wilson, Sunday Herald, 18 Mar 2012 "McCoist named as victim of black market in illegal information", Sunday Herald, 18 Mar 2012 "Tax fight ‘is red herring’", Gavin McCafferty, Sun, 18 Mar 2012 "Campbell Ogilvie opens up on his time at Rangers", Stewart Fisher, Sunday Herald, 18 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 19 2012, 08:33 AM
Post #14
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"More 'bidders' add twist to Rangers horror story", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 18 Mar 2012 "Offer withdrawal threat over Ticketus deal", Unattributed, BBC, 19 Mar 2012 "What's the prognosis for the clubs on football's sick list?", Matt Slater, BBC, 19 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 20 2012, 09:07 AM
Post #15
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"Gordon Smith tells of Craig Whyte Champions League exit 'panic'", Unattributed, BBC, 19 Mar 2012 "Blue Knights may borrow £5m from Ticketus to help with Rangers takeover", John McGarry, Daily Mail, 20 Mar 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Embattled owner Craig Whyte's right hand man Andrew Ellis accused of £3k debt dodge", Mark McGivern, Daily Record, 20 Mar 2012 "Rangers: How journalists and administrators failed the fans", Stephen Henderson, Left Foot Forward, 20 Mar 2012 "Do SFA need new rule book after Rangers saga?", Alex thomson, Channel 4 news, 20 Mar 2012 "Former Rangers Director: 'Payments weren't declared'". Alex Thomson, Channel 4 news, 20 Mar 2012 "Scottish Football Association quizzes clubs over contracts", Unattributed, BBC, 20 Mar 2012 "If at first you don't succeed, try and buy again . . .", Richard Wilson, Herald, 21 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 22 2012, 08:48 AM
Post #16
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"Rangers owner Craig Whyte ordered to pay estranged wife £5000 a month", Unattributed, STV, 22 Mar 2012 "Doubts Surround Rangers' EBT Defence", Michael Grant, Herald, 22 Mar 2012 - Harper MacLeod conducting SPL investigation into dual contracts etc. "Big stick to stir murky waters at Rangers needed urgently ", Tom English, Scotsman, 22 Mar 2012 "Rangers Takeover: Brian Kennedy In At Ibrox For More Talks", John Robertson and Lisa Gray, Scotsman, 22 Mar 2012 "SPL's new Sky TV deal dependent on Celtic and Rangers' involvement", Unattributed, STV, 22 Mar 2012 "How much would you donate to save your club? How much does it mean to you?", Andy Muirhead, Scotzine, 22 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 23 2012, 09:47 AM
Post #17
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"Rangers administration: Ticketus decision is key, says Paul Murray ", Stephen Halliday, Scotsman, 23 Mar 2012 "Sky will fall in on Scottish top flight without Old Firm rivalry", Tom English, Scotsman, 23 Mar 2012 "Rangers fan group wants investigation suspended", Michael Grant, Herald, 23 Mar 2012 "Empty argument", Hugh McDonald, Herald, 23 Mar 2012 "'No ruling' on Rangers administrators' Ticketus challenge", Unattributed, BBC, 23 Mar 2012 "In full: Ticketus statement on Rangers ", Unattributed, Scotsman, 23 Mar 2012 "Judge rules Rangers deal with Ticketus must stand", Unattributed, Herald, 23 Mar 2012 "Rangers crisis: Ticketus deal stands as administrators fail to win legal guidance", Mike Farrell, STV, 23 Mar 2012 "Opinion of Lord Hodge on Duff & Phelps v Ticketus", Lord Hodge, 23 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 26 2012, 01:01 PM
Post #18
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"Rangers administration: Duff and Phelps receive fifth bid for club", Tom English, Scotsman, 26 Mar 2012 "Rangers: Murray's Blue Knights may bid without Ticketus", Alasdair Lamont, BBC, 26 Mar 2012 "Lockton accuses Collyer Bristow of crying wolf over ‘bankruptcy’ fears", Katy Dowell, The Lawyer, 3 Oct 2011 - Gary Withey's law firm in court regarding liability insurance being underfunded when expecting a large negligence claim for a tax avoidance scheme.
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 28 2012, 06:55 AM
Post #19
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"Rangers to block Scottish Premier League vote change", Jim Spence, BBC, 27 Mar 2012 "SPL TV deal: ‘Gang of Ten’ could quit league over votes reform", Stuart Bathgate and Stephen Halliday, Scotsman, 28 Mar 2012 "SPL chairman urges 12 clubs to end bickering and work together", Alan Patullo, Scotsman, 27 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 29 2012, 10:11 AM
Post #20
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"Rangers fans take sides with repayment plan", Christopher Jack, Herald, 29 Mar 2012 "Catch-22 forces Gang of Ten to target Rangers", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 29 Mar 2012 "No sight of Whyte as Rangers and their absentee owner enter the dock", Michael Grant, Herald, 29 Mar 2012 "Craig Whyte tells Duff and Phelps he would rather see Rangers go into liquidation than sell to Paul Murray, Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 29 Mar 2012 "Martin Bain drops £1.3m legal case against Rangers", Unattributed, STV, 29 Mar 2012 "Rangers crisis: SFA charge sheet facing Rangers and Craig Whyte", Scotsman, 29 Mar 2012 and an analysis of these charges by Paul McConville: "Rangers’ Administration – Round Up Part 2 – Disrepute – No Case to Answer? + SPL Inquiry", Paul McConville, 17 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Mar 30 2012, 11:35 AM
Post #21
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"Collyer Bristow facing negligence claim over Rangers FC advice", Sam Chadderton, The Lawyer, 30 Mar 2012 "Silver Fox still the master politician as he rules out working role at Ibrox", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 30 Mar 2012 - Walter Smith comments on Rangers' crisis.
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 2 2012, 09:47 AM
Post #22
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"Gutless. Greedy. Gullible.", Stewart Fisher, Sunday Herald, 1 April 2012 - Walter Smith's opinion on the Gang of Ten. "Rangers' Dave King questions Sir David Murray's 'duped' claim", Alasdair Lamont, BBC, 1 April 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 3 2012, 10:36 AM
Post #23
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"Administrators prepare final act of sorry tale", Richard Wilson, Herald, 3 Mar 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 6 2012, 09:02 AM
Post #24
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"Rangers in crisis: Administrators reveal Ibrox club's total debt is £134m as four bids are whittled down to three", Unattributed, Daily Record, 5 April 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Fans threaten boycott over liquidation fears as four offers roll in at Ibrox", Gavin Berry, Daily Record, 5 April 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Dossier of shame shows how Craig Whyte had Ibrox club on road to ruin from the start", Mark McGivern, Daily Record, 6 April 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 12 2012, 01:00 AM
Post #25
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"Gary Withey breaks silence about Rangers crisis", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 11 April 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Fans threaten to boycott away games next season over planned SPL rule changes", Unattributed, Daily Record, 12 April 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 13 2012, 08:58 AM
Post #26
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"Jim Traynor Column: Rangers must start from scratch in Division Three", James Traynor, Daily Record, 13 April 2012 Spoiler: click to toggle Jim Traynor Column: Rangers must start from scratch in Division Three
POOR Rangers. Poor, poverty-stricken Rangers.
They are being kicked mercilessly while they are down. According to their fans the 11 other top clubs are sinking the boot in for no reason other than spite and hatred.
But they aren't the only fans wailing about the injustice of it all because supporters of many clubs are equally incensed. They are also raging against the treatment of Rangers and in ever-increasing falsetto tones claim the punishment isn't tough enough. Again, a nation is divided.
Rangers' legions believe they are victims of a witch-hunt but the rest insist that instead of battering the Ibrox club with points deductions and financial penalties they should be banished to the depths of the SFL if they are liquidated.
However, only last weekend Rangers' support demonstrated their fear of liquidation with a show of red cards warning potential owners that emerging from insolvency as a newco was not an option. But it should be.
In fact, if these fans believe the other SPL clubs are determined to neuter Rangers while they are vulnerable and unable to fight back, liquidation shouldn't be a dread. It should be their preferred option.
Perhaps Rangers fans need to take a different view. The insolvency trauma, while painful and hugely embarrassing, needn't be an end. It can be a new beginning if eyes and minds could be opened up to a different and radical way.
By now it ought to be obvious to everyone that if just one of the three offers to lead Rangers out of insolvency through the CVA doorway clearly represented better value to creditors than liquidation, the administrators would have awarded that person, or group, preferred bidder status.
And this announcement would already have been made despite the unhelpful timing of the SPL's desire to bring in further sanctions against "insolvency events".
The top clubs will meet at the end of this month when more than a few at the table will hope to have new punishments rubber-stamped in time to be used against Rangers should they be born again as a newco.
And rightly so. They should be hammered if liquidation is their fate for failing to pay the taxman and other creditors and no fan in his or her right mind should be arguing against further penalties.
The game must have suitable deterrents to prevent others from escaping debts in a similar way.
Such rules should have been enshrined in the SPL's constitution long ago, perhaps when Motherwell lapsed into administration back in April 2002. But even though the dark cloud of liquidation settled over Fir Park there was no talk of meetings to bring in new rules to deal with breaches of financial fair play.
Dundee slipped into administration 19 months later but still the SPL failed to address further sanctions for liquidation. Three months after that Livingston were dragged into administration and even after Gretna closed the laws didn't change. But now, as Rangers seek a way out of their financial problems, there will be talks to lay down new rules.
About time, too. But what about the time, Rangers fans are asking.
If the SPL had introduced proper insolvency procedures at the correct point they wouldn't now be under attack from all sides with just about every fan in the country believing Rangers are being treated differently.
Rangers fans say they've been singled out unfairly and the rest are adamant that because there is no threat of expulsion from the SPL in the event of liquidation this club is receiving preferential treatment.
Hold the back page! Rangers are being treated differently.
Well of course they are. They are one half of the machine which drives Scottish football and that's why the other SPL clubs, including Celtic, stopped short of insisting Rangers be thrown out of the top division if they can't be rescued from administration.
So, come the end of the month Hampden's boardroom will be packed when the clubs discuss further sanctions. Hypocrisy and cynicism will also be jostling for space because while more than a few in that room would love to see Rangers banished to the lower reaches they also know their own survival depends on the Ibrox club remaining in the top flight.
"Let's put the boot in but be careful not to deliver a killer blow - to ourselves, of course. Remember, we have to protect our annual benefits by delivering at least four Old Firm matches to our television paymasters."
Ladies and gents, remember the place and date: Hampden, April 30. You are invited to view Scottish football at its self-serving worst.
Right now it might seem as though Rangers are defenceless and unable to do anything about their plight but it's their own fear, of liquidation, which renders them powerless. This final strop on the insolvency road holds such dread for so many people but actually it shouldn't. Certainly not in this case.
Why do Rangers fans want to avoid liquidation? They are already in so much trouble it will probably take the best part of five years to recover but the rehabilitation could be quicker and less painful through a newco after closure.
It would be a different matter, of course, if the three bidders were all pledging to chuck millions at a team rebuilding job. That is what's required but Paul Murray and his Blue Knights aren't saying they'd lavish money on a manager. And neither is Bill Ng's group from Singapore nor the American, Bill Miller.
They can't because they don't have that kind of cash and Rangers fans might have to get used to losing more often to Motherwell, Hearts, Aberdeen and the others while watching Celtic run off with the championship every year. They just wouldn't buy into that.
And it would be much worse if Rangers have to be reformed because of liquidation. Life in the SPL with all the new sanctions would be purgatory. It would, in fact, be virtually pointless.
But even if they avoid liquidation European football would be beyond a makeshift team for more than just next season so Rangers fans, and the three bidders, should see the sense in deciding themselves that closure, with a new beginning in the SFL's Third Division, might actually be the best way forward.
Rangers have only themselves to blame and it would be a fitting gesture if they said they deserve to be shunted all the way down to the very bottom. That rather than a rushed batch of half-baked new rules and points deductions over two or three years should be the punishment for liquidation.
Also, if Rangers fans believe they are being unfairly treated by the SPL then why wouldn't they want to get the hell out and leave the rest to get on with it. And if, as so many people appear to believe, the top flight would be able to carry on regardless without Rangers everyone would be happy.
But what if Rangers went into liquidation, were reformed and then insisted the newco suffer the ultimate penalty and remove themselves to the Third Division?
They'd be expected to win promotion back to the SPL after three years and if their fans continued to follow them the game's needy would benefit. The smallest and poorest clubs would have decent pay days and Rangers wouldn't be shelling out fortunes on players.
If their fans bought into the new Rangers they could stockpile season ticket money and by the time they made it back to the SPL they'd have much more cash for a better standard of player than they'd have for the start of next season if they remain in the top flight under new ownership.
The SPL clubs would be worse off because of restructured telly deals. Celtic wouldn't be immune and would have to play in the Champions League proper every season to get the kind of money they need.
Some Rangers fans believe the club's history, which would end with liquidation, must be protected but there is a shameful part of that history which they should want to forget and any newco should make it clear a new beginning means exactly that.
A new club open to all from the very beginning. - - James Traynor
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"The top clubs will meet at the end of this month when more than a few at the table will hope to have new punishments rubber-stamped in time to be used against Rangers should they be born again as a newco.
And rightly so. They should be hammered if liquidation is their fate for failing to pay the taxman and other creditors and no fan in his or her right mind should be arguing against further penalties.
The game must have suitable deterrents to prevent others from escaping debts in a similar way."
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 17 2012, 09:11 AM
Post #27
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"Expediency trumps justice", Graham Speirs, Sunday Herald, 15 Apr 2012 "Rangers crisis: Blue Knights 'withdraw bid' for club", Graham Fraser, STV, 16 Apr 2012 "Administrator's Statement", Duff & Phelps, Rangers, 16 Apr 2012 - in response to Blue knights' withdrawal of bid "Rangers supporters issue ultimatum to Ibrox administrators demanding they speed up sale process", Chris Roberts, Daily Record, 16 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 20 2012, 02:26 PM
Post #28
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"Rangers takeover: Bill Ng pulls bid to buy club - report", Unattributed, Scotsman, 20 Apr 2012 "American tow-truck businessman to submit £11.2m 'incubator' bid for Rangers", Unattributed, STV, 20 Apr 2012 "Rangers takeover: Bill Miller’s statement in full", Scotsman, 20 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 22 2012, 09:33 AM
Post #29
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"MILLER CUTS SPL DEAL AS HE MOVES CLOSER TO BUYING GERS", Unattributed, Sunday Express, 22 Apr 2012 "Ally McCoist hits out at SFA saying fine and ban could kill Rangers", Stephen Mcgowan, Daily Mail, 24 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 25 2012, 10:20 AM
Post #30
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"Fans threaten SPL boycott if Rangers newco is given free pass into league", Unattributed, STV, 25 Apr 2012 "Sir David Murray forced to reveal Rangers takeover documents by court", Unattributed, STV, 25 Apr 2012 "McCoist: Give me the names of those people who could have killed our club", Michael Grant, Herald, 25 Apr 2012 "Moving goalposts will anger supporters", Stewart Fisher, Herald, 25 Apr 2012 - SPLSurvey.com's survey of fans' opinion of Newco Rangers being admitted to the SPL. "Why we won’t all help ‘The Rangers’", Bill Leckie, The Sun, 25 Apr 2012 "The stark truth facing SPL crisis club Rangers", Matt Slater, BBC, 25 Apr 2012 "Rangers administration: Fans hit out at SFA", Jane Bradley, Scotsman, 25 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 26 2012, 03:28 PM
Post #31
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"SFA allowed three people outside of Hampden to become fall guys", Mark Hateley, Daily Record, 26 Apr 2012 - Mark Hateley names the 3 men on the panel in his Daily Record column. "Trio who ruled on Rangers named... and threatened", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 26 Apr 2012 "Naming shame: Police called in after SFA panel receive threats over Rangers ban", John Greechan, Daily Mail, 26 Apr 2012 "We would welcome application from Rangers to rejoin the SFL", Alan Patullo, Scotsman, 26 Apr 2012 "Thugs have made transparency and accountability impossible", Michael Grant, Herald, 26 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 27 2012, 10:05 AM
Post #32
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"Ticketus to withdraw funding from Rangers’ takeover bid", Unattributed, STV, 27 Sep 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 28 2012, 02:51 PM
Post #33
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"McCoist and Smith fail to see true Ibrox saboteurs ", Glenn Gibbons, Scotsman, 28 Apr 2012 "An overload of emotion from melodramatic McCoist, Tom English, Scotsman, 28 Apr 2012 "Rangers fans march en masse to Hampden to rally against SFA sanctions", Unattributed, Scotsman, 28 Apr 2012 "Rangers fans march on Hampden and vow "action" against other clubs", Unattributed, Herald, 28 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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Apr 29 2012, 10:58 AM
Post #34
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"Humility in short supply at Ibrox ", Andrew Smith, Scotland on Sunday, 29 APr 2012 "Running on empty", Richard Wilson, Sunday Herald, 29 Apr 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 5 2012, 10:02 AM
Post #35
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"Miller: I will never let Rangers suffer again", Martin Williams, Herald, 4 May 2012 "Rangers in crisis: Backlash fear forces 11-club vote on Ibrox club's SPL future", Hugh Keevins & Gary Ralston,Daily Record, 5 May 2012 "Bid proposals unlikely to deliver CVA, say analysts", Greig Cameron, Herald, 5 May 2012 "McCoist backs Miller bid as signing issues cloud thinking", Michael Grant, Herald, 5 May 2012 "Rangers takeover: Player walkout ‘a deadly blow’ says Ally McCoist", Lisa Gray, Scotsman, 5 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 6 2012, 03:45 PM
Post #36
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"Rangers likely to stay in SPL, says Michael Johnston", Unattributed, BBC, 5 May 2012"Rangers takeover: John Yorkston calls on SPL chairmen to relegate newco Rangers", Unattributed, Scotland On Sunday, 6 May 2012 "Rangers in crisis: SPL don't have power to issue penalties if newco gets into top flight", Gordon Waddell, Sunday Mail, 6 May 2012 "SPL board can't win over Rangers decision - Stephen Thompson", Unattributed, BBC, 6 May 2012 "This is the time for leadership from Scottish football", Alex Thomson, Channell 4, 6 May 2012 - a strongly worded call for SPL & SFA leaders to be decisive. - Alex Thomson
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a club without an ounce of sporting integrity, helped back in by others who see only money and the short-term
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Sport celebrates competition – business seeks to eliminate it.
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Harry Tuttle
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May 7 2012, 06:11 PM
Post #37
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"SPL delay decisions on financial fair play and voting rights", Chris McLaughlin, BBC, 7 May 2012 "SPL Press Release ~ General Meeting outcome", Unattributed, SPL, 7 May 2012 - where the vote on Financial Fairplay, Voting Changes and Newco are postponed to 30-May. "CELTIC PLAN BOYCOTT IF SPL GO EASY ON IBROX RIVALS", Ewing Grahame, Express, 7 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 8 2012, 10:50 AM
Post #38
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"Fines or points deductions against newco Rangers are 'not inevitable'", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 8 May 2012 "Position of strength? This is an omnishambles", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 8 May 2012 "More at stake than the future of Rangers: Bill Miller is sheltered by his remoteness", Richard Wilson, Herald, 8 May 2012 "Scottish journalist leaps to the defence of Scottish sports writers under siege from Channel 4 News", Hamish Mackay, The Drum, 8 May 2012 "Rangers takeover: preferred bidder Bill Miller withdraws offer for Ibrox outfit", Unattributed, Telegraph, 8 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 10 2012, 03:40 PM
Post #39
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"Ticketus 'set to sue' Rangers owner Craig Whyte for £27m", Unattributed, BBC, 9 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 11 2012, 02:13 PM
Post #40
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"Rangers: Blue Knights see latest offer for club rejected", Chris McLaughlin, BBC, 11 May 2012 "Blue Knights pull out of race to take over Ibrox club after offer is rejected by administrators ", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 11 May 2012 "Rangers appeal against SFA sanctions to be heard on May 16 as panel members are named", Unattributed, Daily Record, 11 May 2012 "Judicial panel considered terminating Ibrox club's SFA membership", Unattributed, Daily Record, 11 May 2012 "Ticketus launch legal action against Craig Whyte ", Unattributed, Scotsman, 11 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 12 2012, 09:59 AM
Post #41
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"Rangers were almost turfed out of Scottish football, reveals SFA", Mark Wilson, Daily Mail, 11 May 2012 "SFA dossier reveals how David Murray was aware of Craig Whyte's record", Keith Macleod, Daily Record, 12 May 2012 "Blue Knights: Time has run out to save Rangers", Unattributed, Herald, 12 May 2012 "End game?", Michael Grant, Herald, 12 May 2012 "SPL ‘decision makers’ are just too scared to decide ", Glenn Gibbons, Scotsman, 12 May 2012 "Rangers in crisis: SFA report damns directors for staying silent about Craig Whyte's dodgy dealings", Colin Duncan, Daily Record, 12 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 13 2012, 09:29 AM
Post #42
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"Rangers sold: New chief Green signs deal for crisis club", Kenny McAlpine, Sun, 12 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 14 2012, 08:27 AM
Post #43
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"Rangers takeover: Bullish Charles Green brushes off fears over his past ", Stephen Halliday, Scotsman, 14 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 15 2012, 07:57 AM
Post #44
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"Green to name consortium soon but will not rule out possibility of newco", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 15 May 2012 "Green to name consortium soon but will not rule out possibility of newco", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 15 May 2012 "What happens next? The 10 items on Green's immediate agenda", Hugh Macdonald, Herald, 15 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 16 2012, 12:22 PM
Post #45
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"Seven Ibrox stars worth £25m can go for just £8m following pay cut deals", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 16 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 18 2012, 10:12 AM
Post #46
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"You’re nowt special Gers", Robert Grieve, Sun, 17 May 2012 "Rangers takeover: Doncaster reveals newco could escape SPL exit", Unattributed, Scotsman, 18 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 20 2012, 11:18 AM
Post #47
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"Glasgow Rangers players begged to not be hasty in deciding their futures by prospective new owners", Roddy Forsyth, Telegraph, 19 May 2012 "Nanny state is Charles Green consortium's key to care", Stewart Fisher, Herald, 19 May 2012 "Rangers takeover: I’ll care for Bears, says Charles Green", Tom English, Scotland On Sunday, 20 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 22 2012, 08:52 AM
Post #48
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"Rangers in crisis: Tycoon Mike McDonald quits Charles Green's takeover team over SFA transfer ban ", Keith Jackson, Daily Record, 22 May 2012
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Harry Tuttle
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May 23 2012, 08:23 AM
Post #49
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"Ticketus step up cash fight with Whyte: Ex-Gers owner pursued after CVA deal", Robert Macaulay, Sun, 23 May 2012 "Rangers in crisis: The downfall of Sir David Murray.. by former chairman and ally Alastair Johnston", Scott McCulloch & Craig McDonald, Daily Record, 23 May 2012 "What is the true colour of Green's money?", Richard Wilson, Herald, 23 May 2012
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Night Terror
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May 24 2012, 07:49 AM
Post #50
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Interesting documentary on BBC last night - any chance of a link to it?
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