thelegendthatis

Ashley has loads of mates and joint investors who would come in on this. Philip Green that he has teamed up with before to invest in small companies for example has his business in his wife's name. The name of the shareholder is irrelevant - it is who is behind that name. So let's look out for names of people you have never heard of with addresses in Monaco. OK we have been here before, but this time will be people who actually have money.

Can someone confirm that Ian Black's agent is serving time in prison?

Great to rerun all the stages Rangers have gone through from big and wee tax cases, Murray fleeing the scene of the crime, Whyte with the "millions off the radar", the annihilation of the mainstream media (does anyone remember a guy called Jim Traynor), the sucking up of Rangers legends to whoever they thought had the big money. Dave King flitting across the stage like Banquo the ghost in Macbeth (another Scottish Tragedy). Then Green and his bunch of total charlatans, with administration, liquidation, court cases, charges laid, so we end up where we are today. Now the history is out of the way....let's look forward. When does Durrant get totally bumped? What can they base it on? Being pissed at work? Accessing porn on the PC used for tactical analysis? How can they get shot of Ally on the cheap? How much humiliation can McDowall take by being told to do this or that, before he walks out the door? Being presented by a range of shorts with skid marks still present will Jimmy the legend walk the plank? Knowing Rangers needs the cash badly will Brentford pay £50k up front for MacLeod, the rest of the million after 25 games or so? Will the legal advisers support Rangers as they continue to trade while insolvent? Which players will be shown the door in January? Will the football agents kick up a stushie through the red tops when they see their 'clients' no longer as a gravy train for them. I am sure Tedi and Benny can give us the inside track on these important questions. Just read the tribute to Jimmy Bell http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-parks-jimmys-last-kitman-4882368 Who is this Gordon Parks anyway? Surely not a real person, and definitely not a journalist.

Ignoring the links allows the distraction to last longer.

That already works all over the place. Falkirk play at stadium owned by Falkirk Council. Livingston same with WLC and many others (In both cases they have either totally ignored the rental demands or complained publicly about them). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/livingston/8152805.stm When Hibs were in trouble Tom Farmer took over the ground and stadium (if I remember right) and Hibs FC was left to run the football side with Farmer putting proper business management in place (Rod Petrie was the Llambias of the time). So if Ashley owned all the assets of the club, the SFA would find it hard to complain as they are clearly not worried about the other clubs who split assets from fc. Loans will have a time limit but no reason why not rearrange as it get close to the due date just like you would if you were remortgaging your house.

Thanks for that one DhenBhoy. It really reads as a PR statement straight from the Rangers boardroom, published without questions by McLoughlin. The Three Stooges sent a formal letter of offer to the board with proof of funds. Suspect that would be enough in allow them to continue to trade while insolvent.

Only counts if he offers his financial support formally and the board ensures due diligence on whether he can meet his commitment or not. The latter is easy. The first part I would guess is impossible because Ashley will want his pound of flesh in return. There will be nothing for nothing. And of course with the SFA hovering he will have additional limitations on the options. Regardless of the outcome, it is clearly essential that Rangers cut their costs significantly. The leaks on salaries from Ally to Team Kitmen is all about preparing for the day of the long knives. Durrant has been punted away from any influence or ability to tittle tattle. Mcdowall was told who his assistants are and has clearly accepted he will do as he is told by Llambias. McCullough is now in the 'yes sir' camp and won't be a focal point for any revolt. So, ready to go with the cleansing.

That is what they should be doing. Problem is finding enough players who could raise a transfer fee.

Calls on Boxing Day does smack of last chance saloon time. Somers is obviously wanting (and needing) real money on the table. And pretty damn quick. We have had the 'Three Bears' or is it the Three Stooges underwriting the intended share issue. Of course underwriting does NOT mean there is any cash on the table. Someone might know the detail better than me, but I am guessing that the club/company is technically insolvent and to continue trading on that basis could result in personal liabilities and legal charges against the directors. The usual way to protect against this is to continue trading but "with the support of the bank". Unfortunately they don't have a bank that would offer anything other than a cash only account. Is an agreement to underwrite a planned share issue to raise additional cash acceptable to the fraud squad and company law so Rangers can keep going in the meantime?

Straight into Ally's pocket, and a smaller bundle shoved in Durrant's direction. The balance will be used for stocks of Persil. Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio....

Just been appointed to handle the public affairs of Jimmy Bell and family. Rumour has it that Bell has sacked his agent.

I just don't get the Rangers supporters on here (and on Rangers Media). Their club is disintegrating before their eyes and they want to talk about whether there is a proddy flute band connected to Everton or similar nonsense. With the news today about the Norman Atlantic ferry on fire between Greece and Italy people were standing on the decks and the soles of their shoes were melting from the heat of the fire. Just like what Rangers fans have experienced over the last few years. Instead of dealing with the problems of the burning ship they want to talk about their last ports of call, how nice the head waiter was, and whether the captain was 'one of us' or not! Using the itinerary of the next trip of the Norman Atlantic they will be salivating about the exciting places they will be going, and the wonderful people who will be on board with them, and the top notch cabin they will book. Meanwhile they can't breathe from the smoke, hopping around as their feet burn. Wake up you Rangers supporters. Smell the smoke!

Ashley is obviously wanting more involvement and control of Rangers. And with that come more control of any money he puts in either as loans or shares. Sounds reasonable so far. From the AGM we hear there are previously agreed contracts which are onerous on Rangers. We can assume these have been dug up by Llambias and Barry Leach from Sports Direct acting as a consultant to Rangers and lined up according to the BBC website as finance director. Ashley will want all this flushed out before the club can really move forward. How far back they want to go probably no one knows. You do wonder if they do go back, would it cause concern amongst people in high places? Namely concern amongst those in the SFA? It appears that the SFA has been less than enthusiastic right from the start about Ashley having much say in the ownership or running of Rangers, for whatever reason. Meanwhile the SFA are happy with idiots and the diabolically untrustworthy being involved

I read the email as posted on the SoS Facebook page. Didn't ring true for a number of reasons. Then this from 'Craig'. Either poor Craig is being conned or he is creating himself as a legend prepared to go over the top to support the cause. Words like "I have been informed" (formally, informally, man in a pub?) "submitted to the crown" (does he mean procurator fiscal?) "proves authenticity" (no it doesn't) "obtained through illegal means" Is it a civil or a criminal action? Have the police been involved? What is the procurator fiscal saying? Who told him this 'submission to the crown' has happened? Even if it is a fake he could still be charged with libel I would guess. Fantasist I suspect.... If I were moderating the site this appeared on I would want to get to the bottom of this pretty damn quick.

I am not laughing at them. I am laughing about them. I have said before that Ally needs to be isolated so they can push him more cheaply and more quickly. So getting shot of those around him is part of the process. And needs to keep happening so he doesn't know where he is from one week to the next. Those on the payroll happily took money from a business that was totally bloated and overstaffed. Drawing wages in most cases well above the market rate. It will be interesting to see how the business performs after they have gone. After all this is a business they are running, not some glorified welfare state. The reality is that if anyone has good experience and skills there are plenty of jobs out there. And this does not just apply to backroom staff, but also the players and management team. The majority are not good enough to get jobs elsewhere, that is why they are trying their best to sit tight in the hope they get some 'enhanced' package to go. Starting with Ally trying to fil his boots. Some legend. Some figurehead. P.S. Is Jimmy Bell the legendary kitman still there? From the Rangers website "THERE are few figures more established at Ibrox and Murray Park than kit controller Jimmy Bell. Put simply, he is part of the furniture at Rangers."

Ally is having the protection of his comfort blankets being taken away from him - bit by bit

Davis. Small man with massive chip on shoulder http://www.nottinghampost.com/Garry-Birtles-m-delighted-Billy-Davies-Nottingham/story-20857435-detail/story.html. A manager who can pick a fight with half the world seems to be ideal for Rangers. They love the siege mentality. His agent http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/30/nottingham-forest-jim-price-billy-daviesis doing a good job taking Scott McDermott out for some succulent lamb.

Players are easy to deal with. "You will not be picked for the team, do not turn up for training, you are forbidden from training by yourself in case you get injured! " So they can draw their salary and get unfit and fat (Kris Boyd and others). At the end of their contract where to? Across the road to Benburb? Or they cut their losses & just bite the bullet.

Ally has moved through the turmoil from David Murray onwards. He received a salary well beyond the market rate. Then shares in the company at zero cost. Plus his 'performance' bonuses. Why? Because he is a cheeky chappie? Don't really buy that. There are legal charges kicking around based on dodgy dealings during that period. Although Ally is good at the daft laddie presentation, it would be interesting to know what he really knew about what was going on and when he knew it. I would guess that Llambias will ensure he has done his homework in that area. Could be the old 2 envelopes departure. One is you are sacked because of.... or I am resigning with immediate effect and was a privilege to manage Rangers.

This is merely Ally pretending (on legal advice) that it is business as normal. For him to say he will see out his 12 month notice period is merely him declaring what his payoff should be based on. Trying his best to push Llambias into saying "you're fired". Let's get the AGM out of the way, then a proper meeting for Ally and his legal advisors with Llambias,, and another Rangers legend scuttles out the door at Ibrox with his pockets bulging.

You forgot deep pockets.

Hate to interfere with the playground banter and the big boys flexing their muscles over such insignificant causes such as Elizabeth 1 or is it 2, SFA policies or even Willam (McMurdo) the second's blog. But here goes anyway. Said a while back that I thought that Ashely had a problem sorting out Rangers as long as Ally sat tight. I suggested isolating Ally so he couldn't retain his "I am the voice of Rangers" mantle. You can do these things the confrontational way or the more subtle way. Obviously Llambias has been smart enough to encourage Ally to do it for himself by offering his own resignation. Daft laddy. Nowhere in the narrative to date are McDowell or Durrant included in the discussions. So Ally is trying to look after himself (well, his own pocket) in giving a year's notice and then not walking. So they will now see Ally as someone only concerned about himself. Good working relationships in the management team? I think not! Ally also needs to be spilt from the players and supporters. That is already happening to some extent. And it is the duff players who are coming out in support of Ally. The overpaid useless players who will never get a fraction of their current wages anywhere else. With the meeting with Ally on Wednesday only taking 45 mins this was I would guess that was just to find out what he wants to go. Now with Llambias as chief exec he will be expected to negotiate from the Rangers side to get the best deal for the business and is in a better position to do it. Since David Murray the clueless board in place at Rangers has been incapable of making any significant decisions, other than how to overpay people. Remember Wallace took 120 days to review the business. And then produced a report. No decisions, no action just a report. A skill set appropriate for the local Council but not for a company driving towards a brick wall at full speed. Llambias probably just wandered around. "and what is it you do son?" and then made his mind up. Llambias will make decisions. First target is getting Ally out the door. Then he will get McDowell and Durrant to clean out the lazy, greedy and overpaid players. Might even get some money for a couple! Meanwhile the carcrash that is Rangers will get closer to administration or Armageddon as some call it. With Llambias as CE and Ashley with the money they will manage the situation to achieve what they want at the time that suits them. There will be lots of brinkmanship and late night board meetings, but when you are the guy with the money in your pocket you can take your time.

Take it from me Spartans didn't apply because they didn't want their nice new clubhouse torched, nor bullets in the post.

I'm lost. Confused. Is this early stages dementia I have? I thought I was reading the BRALT thread. After Ally's resignation he had a 45 min meeting with representatives of the board. I was looking forward to insightful comments about why the 2 board members were selected. Which shareholdings were they representing? Neither side had legal advisers present (significant). Over and done with in 45 minutes. Some people could read a lot into that. And of course in the good old days of the BRALT we had people with good inside sources, detailed analysis from others and lots of misguided wishful thinking from both sides. . Now we have people bleating on about reorganisation. The imminent death of Rangers/Scottish football/the UK and even the world. Someone trying to 'out' a Clyde supporter. (Given Clyde's support I would have thought a call to the club would have told you who their supporters were.) Topics that demand an immediate reaction of 'who the hell cares'? Oh yes and the totally unsurprising news that Mark Hateley is trying to sneak in to where he thinks the money is being doled out. Given his long history at this game no shock there. I could trawl my way through the postings of the last couple of days but the boredom is just too great. Where can I find the real BRALT thread? Or is it now time to move to the more entertaining version at Rangers Media?

And of course they are meeting greedy Ally today. How can the board possibly agree anything with him? I presume they had assumed they would be getting the £250k from the SPFL and be part of their calculations. Now they aren't and can either fight it through the courts (takes lots of time) or take it on the chin (and whinge about it). The stupidity of the board members never ceases to amaze. So even if if they agree to give Ally a small 6 figure sum to go now, can they afford it? If they do pay him off what else gives? The only person we know of who can dig them out of this horrendous mess is Ashley. And this is on the day Hearts move further away from madmen running their club http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30508052and the comments from Fraser Wishart are worth reading. "Ann Budge and her team have dealt with the matter in a courteous and professional manner, which has led to these debts being settled in a short period of time." Look forward to the day people say Rangers were courteous or professional.