Thread: Small Rangers can't compete with Global Celtic - Hugh Adams, Former Rangers director.

By Darrell King

SOME six months ago a wide-ranging conversation with a senior R*ngers figure, just as the SPL title race was nearing its conclusion, provided the first hint of what lay ahead ...

After dissecting many aspects of the club, its day-to-day mechanics and the state of the game in this country overall, a revelation came, which at first didn't exactly startle.

"This championship is probably the most crucial in R*ngers' history," were the words. Nothing sensational there, given that Celtic had the last three in the bag and were going for another.

But it was only then, as the new perilous qualifying path into the Champions League was thought through, that the implications of what was being said registered.

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Essentially, this person knew the impact of the time-bomb that was ticking. Auditors Pricewaterhouse-Coopers were already in by then, assessing the club's finances on Lloyds Banking Group's behalf after R*ngers had failed to raise any money from a January transfer window that had seen every player put up for sale by the club as they tried to stave off the impeding crisis.

That had been a tense enough time. A day before the window had slammed shut, Bolton offered in excess of £3million for Pedro Mendes, who had just arrived in the summer. The Portuguese midfielder was playing well and having major influence.

He was certainly not first choice on the list to go; that role had been filled by Kris Boyd, who refused to move to Birmingham after R*ngers agreed a rapid sale they had hoped would keep the wolves from the door.

Sir David Murray, then still in total control, blocked the Mendes deal, mindful of the furious reaction that would have ensued from the club's support, already struggling to come to term with the financial disaster that was being publicly laid bare.

Fast forward from the end of January, to the April conversation, and R*ngers were not only playing for a title but, effectively, their very future.

Had they not clinched the championship at Tannadice on the last day, and banked the millions that were then guaranteed from direct Champions League qualification, there would have been total meltdown, with potentially fatal consequences.

To put it into perspective, they were still ordered by the bankers that the summer had to yield a return of around £7million from a slashing at the wage bill, and removal of high earners like the deposed captain, Barry Ferguson, Brahim Hemdani and a raft of others.

Had R*ngers not won the league, a fire-sale would have happened. Now, if they cannot find a new owner quickly, that scenario is certain to unfold next summer according to those at the centre of this situation.

The squeeze has been well and truly been on for months, and culminated in events of the past two weeks which has led to chaotic scenes internally, most notably in the boardroom as an exasperated chief executive, Martin Bain, and the new chairman, Alastair Johnston, tried to keep a steady ship and a lid on things as the bank grabbed them more and more where it hurts.

They had emerged as the main figures at the club at the end of August when Murray announced he was going. Now, in light of what has happened at R*ngers, and with speculation about the financial situation his own Murray Group finds itself in with the same bankers as the club in this current recession, the pieces of the jigsaw are falling into place.

As the bank's approach changed, Murray knew it was time to try and accelerate the search for a new owner. With his very public standing down, his insistence that his day-to-day interest was over, was that not a move he hoped would flush out a new buyer, with him vacating the throne?

Against this backdrop, Walter Smith has attempted to manage a football team that he was acutely aware required investment in it to sustain any kind of defence of the SPL title, and a tilt at the Champions League. But he knew, way back, that there would be no money for new players. Not even if many were shipped out.

In the end he got Jerome Rothen on loan - who was way down a list of players he and Bain had steadfastly tried to keep tabs on just in case the bank relented and sanctioned a contract.

With the August window gone, and with Smith at least relieved he had the core of a decent squad intact - even if the numbers were threadbare and the group under threat if injuries occured - things then started to turn quickly in terms of Lloyds stance.

There has been a delay in the release of the club's 2008/09 figures, and the hosting of the AGM until December, until the bank decreed themselves happy with their level of control.

That culminated in the placing of their man, Donald Muir, on the R*ngers board, 10 days ago. Described as a 'turnaround specialist', he is effectively now running R*ngers, with Bain and Johnston and all the rest answerable to him.

The business plan presented to the board was met with astonishment, and resistance. As has been revealed this morning, the threat then came of administration if it was not accepted.

R*ngers now find themselves at the biggest crossroads in their history.

Players such as Madjid Bougherra and Steven Davis will be sold in January, if the bank feel the right money is offered, as they have a responsibility to reduce the £30m debt. But the fear from those close is that the real cull, the most savage cuts, will come in the summer.

So, essentially, R*ngers are holding out for a hero. Unless a buyer can be found, every day will be perilous as they are no longer in control of their own destiny. The bank can issue all the statements they like, as can the club, but the people inside R*ngers know exactly how perilous this situation is.

That's why Smith, who risked being sacked when he took the decision to go public on Saturday to finally end the conjecture about who was running the show, made the stance he did.

Fans can have a go at him for tactics, and for signings, but they cannot accuse him of not loving the club with his whole heart. That's why he did what he did. Smith is a paid employee of R*ngers, as is Bain.

The bank are now their masters.

They have much to lose in terms of their jobs. But there are others unpaid who know exactly what is going on. Is it not time for them to come out and tell the supporters the truth and put R*ngers before themselves like the manager did?

Or what about Lloyds? They are, after all, 43 per cent owned by you and me, the taxpayer. They are entitled to pursue R*ngers in any way they want if they wish to recoup losses, but they are also involved in self-preservation mindful of the fact that many of the R*ngers support, including some pretty big hitters, are their customers.

What should not be lost is that R*ngers got themselves into this mess through financial mis-management that has now caught up with them.

They should not be bailed out; they are not a bank after all. But Lloyds should explan what their plans for the club are, and if, indeed, they are going to offer any support at all to keep it attractive to a new owner.

Or are they all waiting for the white knight? Or should that be the king? At the minute, Dave King is the only man who can save R*ngers from the end game. He has spoken to the hierarchy, he has told the bank he wants to buy them, but has so far been unable to conclude a deal.

He is said to have big plans for the future, but will he get in before it's too late? King has spoken to others in these parts about coming on board. They are willing to - at least two or three men with serious money to their name - as they are saddened at the club's demise.

They have told King they will let him have a clear run, if that's what he wants, but they are also willing to lend support if he wants it.

As the clock ticks, and the fuse gets close to igniting, this is the most crucial couple of months in R*ngers' history.

Publication date 26/10/09

wont matter, the sfa and spl will never have the balls to punish them for not running their club right.

If ever there were a passage of text to put a smile on your face, this is it.

wow truth from the mouth of a hun, think i need to go lie down