Rangers Rumours Archive May 03 2012

03 May 2012 21:41:27
With all the talk about Bill Millers bid, how many players will actually say with the newco club?
"And given PFA Scotland believe players are not legally obliged to join a newco, Miller may struggle to assemble a squad"

Indeed, miller is paying the money for ibrox, Murray park and car park, but the players are free to do whatever. And what will the new wages be? Or what can he afford to pay? I hope he has a plan

Is this miller guy the real deal or is he just keeping the seat warm for a previous owner once the dust settles? The one who said on Feb 14 ' when this is all over rangers will be in a much better position'.

He must secure the issue with ticketus fast. If the CVA is agreed then he can sell season tickets to pay the players . If  not then its sunk. 

If he is planning to run the club within budget you might get some of the under 18 boys staying !!

ThOur squad plays for the badge and the fans not the owner. Some will leave some will be offered a pay cut wage to allow them the option to stay. Davis, Lafferty, Papac Broadfoot will be gone. Shagger, Naisy and Whitts are maybe's just because of wage cuts. As for Miller at least he has a plan. I'm decide after the summer.

Looks like some of you are starting to realise that Kill Bill is having the strings pulled by none other that Craigy Whyte. He will be back at the helm with the newco.

If you look at the amount of players released e.g. Leeds this season its almost half a team . Now this is just one team in England. Therefore if I was a player in Scotland I would very carfeully watch what I wish for. Most of Rangers players are mediocre at best so maybe its better the devil you know.

If the players are not legally obliged to join the new company and there is a transfer embargo on signing new players, then who is going to play for Rangers this season ?

Does BM expect the embargo and any other penalties to only apply to the oldco ?

Is it realistic to expect the newco to be devoid of all debts and all penalties, and yet in football terms to be recognized as effectively the oldco ?

What a freakin mess.

Anorak.

According to D&P, Ticketus is only an ordinary creditor and of no concern to BM.

This is odd because Ticketus pulled out of a consortium CVA bid, this suggests they are confident of their position.

D&P also stated there is no CW floating charge which means Ticketus have to get their 26.7 million from CW in another way.

Its all very confusing.

Anorak.

This guy miller transfers assets over to now co. no cva agreed by old co therefore old co will liquidate. Newco begins has ibrox Murray park etc all to millers name but no players. He then decides to sell ibrox and Murray park and all the assets of newco off and makes a quick buck and turns roud and says sorry guys it didn't work? Oldco gone and newco gone? What's stopping this guy from doing that?

Players will stay if Miller makes up the 4 month shortfall in salaries realting to the pay cut. Also depends on whether there is any chance of relegation in the next year due to sanctions/liquidation. I suspect most of them will move on.

I get the impression we will continue to operate as Glasgow rangers and we will be out of administration. The players stay with rangers on the contracts they were on. An we won't face any points deductions or fines at the beginning of next season.

This new co will only hold our debts which BM will agree to pay back over a few years. It will be alot more than they wud make via liquidation so the CVA can be agreed hence no sanctions on the team we all know and love.

Hopefully on appeal the sfa see sense and withdraw the crazy penalties they imposed on us because of Craig 'Celtic fan' whyte

SFA and Scotish employment law stating contracts are not null n void if newco started. Only upon liquidation of company do contracts cease.This will be why BM is keeping old company open for the moment. Transfer assets inc players to newco.Try and agree CVA for Rangers if not taken up old company will be liquidated.BM can then state he tried to keep oldco running " Not his fault CVA could not be agreed".. PFA are the only association to mention contracts null n void.

Stop scare mongering about BM selling off assets of a newco. He would struggle to get his money back for Ibrox & Murray park. Houses can not be built on Murray park site. The land for Ibrox has not got much value due to location. I honestly think he has come in to do the same as McCann did at Celtic get rid of the debt cut cost have a share issue and sell up. Making 2-3 x his intial investment. Would not suprise me if wee sleakit McCann was in with him. He's dont it before made good money... LOL

On paper Bill's plan is great. Transfer the SPL share, the Stadium Murrey Park, Players registrations and all assets to a new co. Leave all the debt with the old co.

But

1. Ticketus have a claim on an entity called rangers playing at Ibrox. I doubt they can leave that debt behind

2. Players contracts are non transferable, some might go to the new club, but what are the terms and conditions. Will Bill honour the agreement to pay back wages agreed with the old co. I think not as he is not liable for the out standing wages.

3. Who actually owns Murrey park etc. Whyte is likely to claim that he owns them as part of his preferred creditor status. He is also likely to say he would prefer to own the assets than to accept £11 million.

4. The tax bill. HMRC would get nothing effectively from this deal. Why would they even consider accepting a CVA which pays them about 2 million pounds if even that. It's a no brainer

4. The "Hybrd" new co is either liable to punishment for rangers financial irregularity (no europe, no player transfers) or it has to be treated as a completely new entity (no Europe for three years start in the third division).

I cant see this working

SFA and Scotish employment law stating contracts are not null n void if newco started.
---------------------------------------

Really ?

If you say so.

I am not sure about the legalities of treating players as assets, transferring their contracts to a newco without their agreement seems counter intuitive.

Maybe if the newco pays them their wage cuts back then they may agree or maybe not ?


One thing is for sure, if gers fans were hoping things were getting simpler, they are wrong.

True. This is very confusing and contradictory. However I think ill wait and see what actually happens instead of being worried by all the tax and corporate law experts on here.

I'm pretty certain that TUPE legislation will apply. It basically means all employees of the old company automatically become employees of the new company on the same terms and conditions. TUPE definitely does apply if a company's assets are sold to another company - which I think is the case here.

Miller's plan is for Newco to buy the assets from RFC leaving the debt behind in RFC. It is within the power of the Administrators in theory to sell assets to any third party to pay the creditors of RFC.

03 May 2012 19:39:38
News just in
There is a court case tomorrow, in Edinburgh Friday May 4th just announced.
Lord Hodge presiding for 1 hour, a petition in connection with RFC administration.
Wonder what it's about?

Admins seizing control of whytes shareholding hopefully, shouldnt be too hard to convince any judge its in the creditors best interest

Should be feedback on creditors meeting and resolutions..........

It is not up to a judge to give up craig whyte shares. You are living in a dream

The Petition is listed as 'Starred Motion' which means it is contested. As Biggart Baillie are appointed on behalf of the Administrators it is also conceivable that other parties, such as HMRC and/ or Ticketus may also be present.

Wrong, the creditors CAN control whytes share through the court of seesion by showing that its in the creditors best interest.

you will note the legal distinction between ownership and control.

HMRC are contesting proposed sale.

Why would HMRC not want the sale go through they would actively want a company to go bust when they are not the creditor who gets money back first so they will effectively get f*** all?

"HMRC are contesting proposed sale" source or your talking utter pish. If HMRC are contesting sale they would have played there hand before now becuase as every day goes by less money is available for creditors. 

Creditors best interest?
Nothing that has happened so far is in the creditors best interests!
The whole administration has been run SOLELY for RFC's interests.
An 11.5m bid for -
a) Ibrox
b) Murray Park
c) Players
Tell me if all those had been 'sold' off that they wouldn't realise more than 11.5m?
It has been an excercise is getting RFC to the end of the season, creditors interests have been ignored, or as D&P are fond of saying 'irrelevent'.

Could be Whyte's first swipe at preventing transfer of assets to a Newco.

I had a look an RFC Administration order is scheduled for today.

A starred motion indicates that an appearance is required - not that it is contested per se. Only the Administrator's lawyers and listed as "appearing" which suggests that it is uncontested.

Not familiar enough with the process to speculate on the detail of what it actually concerns.

Tell me if all those had been 'sold' off that they wouldn't realise more than 11.5m?
---------------------------------------

OK, they would not realise more than 11.5 million. Although the bid is worth 20 million since he has taken over the debenture and redundancy liabilities from the oldco. They are secured creditors who would have to be paid from any liquidation asset sale.

The evidence is no bidder offered more, nothing stopping anyone makng a liquidation bid for 21 million and picking up the assets.

p.s. you can not sell players in liquidation, they go free.

Anorak.

1 hour
Pet: Rangers Football Club Plc for an Administration Order


Biggart Baillie LLP

The redundancy liability are diddly squat. Just ask the thousands of workers who have been shafted by comapny liquidation. The latest example is MG-Rover workers who finally got their much contested redunandcy compensation of 3£3 (yes THREE POUNDS EACH) after 7 years of legal infighting. The unpaid wages are in the creditor pot. As for Debunture holders, their is an arguement that as long as football is played at Ibrox and they wish to buy tickets they are owed nothing. (i.e. debentures are a debt that would move with ownership Ibrox)

I'll give £5m for Murray Park today if they'd sell me it.

Agree with Anorak, £11.2m and £8m debt transfer (if debenture holders agree) is best offer for assets. Anyone is welcome to call D&P any time and offer more than this. But they haven't.

Why? My bet is that BM has thought of some sneaky way of extracting value from this deal just as CW did in his takeover.

03 May 2012 18:15:40
Hope with Miller taking over this doesn't mean we have to keep mo edu, I couldn't handle another 3 year's of him, hes rank.

Hes been playing well and set up another goal yesterday, think you need to watch rangers a bit more pal

If he was that rank, he wouldn't be in the team every week.

If Bill Miller intends to market Rangers in America then Edu, Bocanegra & Bedoya will be key.

Don't growl at me bears, but edu has grown on me the last 6 months. Strong, fit mobile. If he can learn how to pass he may be a player.

No worries because you can't afford to keep him

I would rather keep edu and get rid of miller

Hes the most athletic player on the pitch - and when on his game he can be really good. dont start turning on players that have taken wage cuts and shown undoubted loyalty to the club.

one of the points above - about marketing in the US is bang on.

ryanrfc

You can't slag edu and leave little alone, little is not good enuf full stop.

Forget all this American marketing nonsense. They held a world cup there to try and promote the game, it didn't work. Yanks have no mass interest in what they term soccer, I can only relate it to the same
Level as us Scots have in say Cricket. The Asian market is like most things these days the only market that matters, even Man Utd agree to that. America is not gonna make us millions.

To original post. Miller hopes to take over he still has to deal with whitey boy

You're very much mistaken if you think america could not be a market rangers could break into. This is probably one of bills intentions and could bring in GOOD revenue for the club. When the world cup was there it did have a major impact they even had to start clearing farmers fields to make pitches because there was so much interest in "soccer" you should do some research buddy before posting. One thing americans aren't shy in putting money into their sports.

Remember the very same FANS who hounded the "RANK" Charlie Miller?

Charlie Miller was rank. What's your point? As was Charlie Adam, as was Gregg Wylde. Mo edu is a horrific footballer. I'd be thrilled to see the back of him.

Get off the guys back, he is no oustanding but he is a good honest pro who took a hell of a wage cut to help see us through, and he scored an injury time winner against Celtic so he is a legend in my book

03 May 2012 16:02:05
Another plea for calm and some patience. D&P once again manage to release some confusing...even contradictory...claims in today's release, which lets be honest is not the first time. But now that Miller is officially the Preferred Bidder we can now hear HIS voice rather than second hand sound bites.

He's the owner in waiting. Therefore he will sart to tell us his plans...his vision. I'll pay more attention to those statements rather than D&P's ramblings.

Miller's first press release - to me - reads well. Measured...no outrageous claims...quite rightly he needs to carefully manage expectation. As do we of him!

We'll all learn a lot more about him in the coming weeks. Although I ave some reservations we MUST allow him the chance to show what he envisages for the Club.

The one thing I do like about him so far, is that throughout the circus that was the bidding war for the keys to Ibrox, Miller kept his own counsel throughout. He worked away in the background - not courting the press...and it will come out very soon that he has invested a lot of time in dialogue with the SFA and SPL and also it sounds like a lot of contact with McCoist.

There was a veiled - and possibly valid - dig in D&P's release today that TBK had not invested that same effort as part of their process. Whether that's right or wrong, right now it appears Bill Miller is the only one that is demonstrated his willingness to rescue the club from the abyss....and didn't e give TBK/BK more than one opportunity to trump him!

None of us should be PRE judging Miller ...his motives...his plan...until we hear from the man himself - and unlike Whyte....Miller HAS to play his cards immediately so we'll all know his game plan very, very soon....

And one final word....I bet if you ask 5 different people to define liquidation you'll get 5 different answers....again we'll know soon what Millers plan is.

SPM

Bottom line - so what's in it for Miller? I want to know why he's doing it as well as how he's going to do it. Not going to make a fortune from Scottish football - he has no ties to the history of the game or the club and only heard of Rangers via You Tube.

As always a well thought out post and pretty much on the money for me...........green jhedi

Very well said!

Does anyone else think this whole thing has been engineered so the due diligence and 'take over' happens just as the seasons ends. Was this always planned ?

D&P clearly stated that a CVA is not now possible for Rangers.
There's not enough time or money to offer.
This is a substantial statement of huge gravity for the club.

As a Celtic fan I well remember the negative press and coverage of Fergus McCann back in 1993 and 94. A small band of fans believed in him and worked hard under the umbrella of Celts for Change. Dont write Miller off until you get more details about his vision and strategies for securing your club. I must admit I would miss you if you go who else could we slag. Championeeeees

At last,a sensible post on this site.rangers are in the most precarious situation and BM is the only guy to have come up with a possible solution.a cva was never going to be possible for the bks as whyte was never going to give up his shares to them.the fans hysteria must stop and for now should be backing BM.its now upto BM to prove to us all that he is serious in his bid to save the club. "we don't do walking away"!

D & P actually stated that ther is not enough time for a standalone cva..which this isn't

11m in pot, less 5m Admin fees = 6m for CVA. HMRC won't accept that level of dividend and at same time the assets are transferred to Newco. Anyone believes to the contrary is dillusional. We Are The Optimists.

Actually under liquidation the assets, ibrox, Murray park, the players, are sold (liquidated) and the creditors paid off with the proceeds. It is not allowed to transfer these assets at under market value to avoid liquidating them. Miller's newco could buy these assets at a fair value but I suspect he won't do that. I'm afraid rangers will be no more by the start of next season.

You say none of us should be pre-judging but look what happened with our last 'buyer'

Some amount of mhank accountants on this page...just wait and see bhoys,all will become clear soon enough..

To the OP - Liquidation has a very precise definition in law, but I agree with you that 4 out of 5 posters on here don't know that.

Absolutely fantastic post mate absolutely bang on ...
craig+babybear

" we MUST allow him the chance to show what he envisages for the club " Now where have I heard that before . this is a man who knows nothing about " soccer " Why the hell does he want to buy a loss making club like rangers ? The answer is he is an asset stripper in the fine tradition of American capitalism.

What is a "standalone CVA" ?

"What is a "standalone CVA" ? "

Its what TBK were proposing...Millers idea is a Hybrid cva.

" D&P clearly stated that a CVA is not now possible for Rangers.
There's not enough time or money to offer.
This is a substantial statement of huge gravity for the club. "

"If the successful bidder goes down the stand-alone CVA route they can be in control of the club before the start of next season," said Whitehouse. "If it's a newco with a CVA on the side, then they can take control by May 11."

Ok, im a Celtic fan, I don't pretend to know anything about cva, liquidation, administration etc. the only thing I'm confused about is,, this guy being preferred bidder,,, of what exactly ? Nobody can force whyte to sell his shares can they ? And if as a lot of comments have said, he owns ibrox and Murray park, can he be forced to sell them ? I hope he does sell the lot to miller and we can all get on with talking football again ;-) good luck.

The BM bid and success stands or falls on SPL-SFA-UEFA penalties, at the very least Rangers will be treated as if they are still in administration ( because the original member will be).

Forget penalties for EBTs, Rangers could be deducted points and face further bans from Europe until they merge back to one company.

Do not be shocked if BM withrdaws his bid, after failing to get firm assurances from the SPL and SFA that there will be no further penalties.

Is everyone supposed to forget about the EBT case ?

Anorak...this deal is a no deal.

I believe he will start a newco to transfer the assets eventually the original company will be liquidated he will then build up the newco and sell for a massive profit newco is a way of stealing an old company's assets.He is a businessman hes only in it to make money

McCoist backed the BK and the SFA and SPL say that they would apply the rules without fear and favour and so on! If a newco is set up then its liquidation some may attempt to call it something else but its liquidation140 years of history is lost! I cant see how you can leave all your debts on a shelf and simply change the name on your front door (when its not even your front door - remember CW) I smell another rat!

03 May 2012 15:10:41
I can't believe all the negativity on this page, we have waited for long enough for this announcement and yet we're still not happy.

Bill Miller was never my preferred option but has come forward and acted so i say now we have to give the guy a chance and see what happens, we need to stand as one and get behnd this guy

I read his plans, seems BRILLIANT to me is he does what he says. he also has the money and as he's american, can hopefully do what whyte failed doing in making us popular in america and selling merchandise/tv over there.

Look there's a new Maister O' the Big Hoose. The previous two Maisters were terrible and brought the estate tae rack an ruin. This new guy from ?? Looks worse! He's starting off this venture with a crazy idea never done before and he doesn't know British corporate law.
He's never before done any business in the UK. This is all about control of the corpse of Rangers.

I agree with your comment about negativity. Some people are never happy. Let's give Miller a chance. I checked out his company (Miller Industries) on Bloomberg and it has a market value of $178m. His idea of protecting the assets whilst appeasing the creditors sounds OK to me. At some future point the two can again become one. The sticking point as ever will be HRMC, Ticketus and our own SPL and FA!

My main concern and I know its slight in the grand scheme of things but...why had Miller never took the time or effort to even come to Ibrox, never mind take in a match nor meet Ali and Co...I find that very strange...and worrying. Whats your thoughts bears?

Everyone is acting like he's bought the club. All he has done is obtained exclusitivity for two weeks to look at the books and talk to creditors - nothing more. He could still walk away at any time.

He stated that hes brining in people from america, england and SCOTLAND to help him with this mess, seems to me he knows rangers is to big for one person to deal with and is getting a task force together to tackle this mess, btw he said about getting these people in A friday (not that friday), at the time it was him speaking on friday to press, weekend spl/sfa and monday make a bid, but he left TBK to sort it out, thats where i know this

This news means a NewCo, that is why people are not happen. Rangers is gone. 144 years down the pan. Up the Thistle.

This is just another guy blowing wind in our sail until we are too far out too rescue. Do you honestly think that the SPL will bow to his demands? If they don't no deal if they do Watch FIFA come charging towards us.He is the preferred bidder because he is the only bidder, TBK had nothing to offer other than loyalty to the club Loyalty wont pay the kind of bills we owe. Preferred bidder does not equal buyer. His conditions can not be met and he won't even come to Scotland until he has that agreement. Looking Grim Guys.

So being an American means he can deliver the American market. George Bush is American and I would let him deliver my papers.

We were all pretty happy when Craig Whyte came along. And look what happened. Bill Miller could turn out to be another asset stripper. We know nothing at all about this man. As was the case with Whyte.

I am amazed at how gullible rangers fans are here " we need to give the guy a chance " You are joking ! This guy is an asset stripper- full stop ! We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when ....

Brilliant piece about blowing wind in sails. !'ll use that some day and pretend its my own phrase.

On BM website he is actually described, and I kid you not, as a WRECKER

Checked out his company (Miller Industries) on Bloomberg and it has a market value of $178m.

so not quite enough to pay of the big tax bill

"I can't believe all the negativity on this page, we have waited for long enough for this announcement and yet we're still not happy.

Bill Miller was never my preferred option but has come forward and acted so i say now we have to give the guy a chance and see what happens, we need to stand as one and get behnd this guy"

Isn't that what was being said when Mr. Whyte was begining his takeover?

03 May 2012 13:58:29
Statement from D&P today:

Duff and Phelps, joint administrators of Rangers Football Club, issued the following statement today.

Paul Clark, joint administrator, said: "We would like to thank all parties for their efforts in seeking to submit bids which preserve the long history and success of the Club.

"We are delighted to announce that today we have received an unconditional bid for the business and assets of Rangers Football Club plc from Mr Bill Miller which has been accepted and he is now the preferred bidder. Mr Miller now proposes to complete his transaction by the end of the season.

"After many weeks of negotiation and deliberation we believe that the structure of the bid from Mr Miller provides not only the most deliverable outcome but preserves the history of the Club. Rangers Football Club will continue as the football club it has been for 140 years.

"Furthermore, Mr Miller and his team have sought clarity in relation to potential footballing sanctions and the place of Rangers Football Club plc within the Scottish Premier League. Significant progress has been made and discussions will continue throughout the period which Mr Miller now enjoys as preferred bidder.

"Very importantly, the bid also avoids the need for liquidation. All too often the term liquidation has been bandied about during the process without a clear understanding of what it actually means.

"Liquidation means selling off the assets of a business individually to raise cash and therefore bringing about the closure or winding up of that business. This has never been on the table from any party in any form. There is no liquidation involved in this strategy and we cannot stress that strongly enough.

"As we stated at the outset, one of the prime objectives of the administration was to achieve a CVA which would deliver a return to creditors. Mr Miller's bid meets this criteria.

"In recent weeks there has been much debate about Rangers exiting from administration through a stand-alone CVA. However, the barriers to a proposed stand-alone CVA are now too high.

"These barriers include, in particular, the absence of any bidder proposing unconditionally sufficient funds to enable a stand-alone CVA to take place.

"Crucially a stand-alone CVA would take so long now to effect, the Club could not survive in administration.

As a consequence, no party has been able to submit an unconditional bid in a stand-alone CVA scenario.

"We confirm that discussions with the two final bidding parties for the Club included the possibility, as part of the proposals, the formation of a new company in addition to the preservation of the Rangers Football Club plc.

"Mr Miller's proposal involves the use of a specially created newco in addition to the retention of the Rangers Football Club plc. The business and assets he proposes to purchase will be sheltered in a newco and returned to the plc once the plc has been 'cleaned up'.

"He sees this route as a necessity rather than a choice and in our view this is an entirely workable strategy. Indeed to ensure the continuing operation of the Club beyond the end of May it is in our view a very compelling strategy.

"For the avoidance of any doubt as administrators we can only accept ultimately an unconditional bid - and Mr Miller's proposal is the only unconditional bid we have received.

"The bid submitted by Mr Miller is substantially greater than any other proposal and provides the best return to creditors, a fundamental part of our duties as administrators. Importantly, the structure provides a stable platform through which new investment can be deployed to ensure that the Club thrives again in the future.

"The bid from Mr Miller creates the most suitable framework to deal with the issue of the majority shareholding in Rangers Football Club plc.

"Mr Miller will be making his own statement in due course and we can confirm that it is envisaged that the sale of the Club will be completed by the end of the current season.

"We hope fans will now support and appreciate the commitment made by Mr Miller. His approach has been consistent throughout the process and on two occasions he has stepped back from the fray to enable other parties to submit an unconditional bid.

"Mr Miller's proposal can provide the opportunity for the Club to return to success on and off the field. We have no doubt that the fans will continue to provide the tremendous support to the club necessary to continue the Club's long history of success and tradition.

"Despite the competitive nature of the bidding scenario, we are hopeful that now a bidder has been chosen for the Club, all parties involved in the process will act in the best interests of the Club by lending their full support to the prospective new owner. We expect to enter into a binding agreement very soon."

We're screwed, he'll not walk away he'll run away when he see's the books and if the SFA don't hammer us UEFA will.

How can the newco take the history and records etc from the old co? I am not following this at all. Newco but not liquidation? That doesn't make sense. Why start a newco then? {Ed022's Note - There is much confusion between fans because D+P has created it.}

Has Miller said anything about transfer targets for the transfer windy. We need at least 3 new signings if we are gona compete next yr.
I'll by the new kit now i no were sorted out! Happy days!

Doh, transfer embargo you muppet?

New players? What about the transfer embargo?

Hector fan....you can not sign any players over the age of 18....have you not been watching the news.

It looks as though Miller has bought Rangers off E-Bay.Why does a business man for Tennessee, USA, with no connection to Rangers want to invest £11million in a Scottish football club with unimaginable debts? He has not even visited Glasgow to see what he is buying.Again the Scottish media seem to be nodding in agreement to everything that he says. Deja-vu! How can he make an unconditional bid when he does not know the sanctions the SFA/SFL and perhaps UEFA will impose? He does not know the result of the BTC. It all seems very dodgy.

Gapping hole alert.....NO MENTION of what the plan is if there is NO CVA agreed?

Cant believe the last poster....we need 3 new signings? your gonna loose a lot of players. Where`s the money to buy players? Sfa embargo still stands!

You know that feeling you get on the roller coaster when you get to the top as it slowly reaches the highest part of the ride........thats where rangers are right now........hands in the air as the big drop comes weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

What happens with the players ? A CVA can't be done before the players wages go back up and they can walk away for nothing.

This is pure magic, guys this is exactly what the dhims done under fergus - only difference is we are in admin they werent at the time ( so im sure thay wont have any complaints not one of them :) lol - im not so sure the players signed up to a deal which allowed them to walk or for that matter the admin guys allowing the clubs main source of revenue to walk free gratis more like a reduced fee if they do move, what will be interesting is if they stay contracted with the plc or move to the new incubator company. I know its not a done deal but a CVA will be agreed, its a no brainer either you accept CVA and get something or nadda under liquidation as i said no brainer take the cash, and im sure hmrc will enjoy another 139 years of rangers tax money;)
*** i really cant understand why so many dhims at my work are upset by this news ;), and also ED can you clarify that mondays meeting that was postponed by the spl is about sanctions to be put in place for future occurences of admin/liquidation and not new sanctions to be applied to rangers exclusivley? {Ed001's Note - that is correct, it is about setting rules in place for the future, not for one instance.}

The only problem is HMRC have never agreed to a CVA before, I don't think they are going to start now!

If the majority of creditors believe that they will get more by selling the assets than what is offered to them in a CVA they can have them all put up for sale. Then you / we can write a cheque and buy Ibrox

No mention of Mr Whyte who owns 85.3% of the shares . Who owns Ibrox , Murray Park & the Albion car park? Has Whyte transferred ownership ?

Can anyone explain what the term 'cleaned up' means.

To 'This is pure magic' ' HMRC will enjoy another 139 years of Rangers tax money' I thought that the non-payment of tax was the fundamental problem - try a coffee.

03 May 2012 13:10:45
Surely the events of today will serve as a lesson to all the people who post outright lies on here.

I've lost count of the number of times people have said "TBK to be anounced as preferred bidder today" and the like.

Please can people start posting actual rumours or opinions without stating that it is FACT?

BigBear1873

Miller has only been given preferred bidder status to look over the books....nothing more at this time.
There is no word of what the plan is IF the business cannot get a CVA organized...
The club is not out of the woods....

Just like to echo this statement, as with the england manager everyone had said its redknaps then the FA appoint Hodgson. So its a lesson to us all, never believe what is in the papers, as I always say wait until its been confirmed before speculating

Okay how's this....you're liquidating.....real enough for you?

Big billy will save us,daily record says multi billionair,watch us go.

Daft question, but what is an "actual rumour". A rumour is a rumour you muppet - believe it or don't believe it, but never rely on it.

I never mentioned anything about being out of the woods. My point is that people have been stating on here that TBK were to be named the preferred bidder "within 48 hours", "24 hours" early next week for the last few weeks among other untrue statements.

As the second poster said, wait until it's confirmed.

BigBear1873

Big Bear its a RUMOUR site.....FACT

An "actual rumour" is a rumour which has a foundation and not just picked out of thin air by some Buckfast filled numskull who clearly doesn't know anything about the situation to post a reasonable comment.

And to the third poster, how are we liquidating? Did you even hear the statement?

BigBear1873

My worry about Miller is his accounts.

The last published accounts of his company said they had a turneover last year of £14M and that he was paid £1.4M . That doesn't sound to me like a man with the readies to save our club.

Hopefully the SFA will be once bitten twice shy and make sure they carry out a complete check on his fitness to run a football club!

If we wait until it's confirmed, then it's not a rumour, it IS a fact... This is a site for people to express the news, gossip and odd bit of potentially factual information they heard on other forums, at the games or through their neighbours grannies dog walkers pet canary... If you want facts, check other sites, if you want rumours, come here.

That canary you mention tweeted me this morning

03 May 2012 12:49:07
Rangers Football Club will not be liquidated, thus saving the 140 year history of the club.

Finally some good news!

CC

You dont honestly believe Duffer and Duffer do you?. Oh dear! ha

The "club", whatever that means legally, will be sold to newco. The company currently administered by D&P will be liquidated.

Youv got to read between the lines of the news...this guy has no wealth to save rangers...he is hoping that hmrc and ticketus accept cva...if this was all that good regarding miller they would have accepted ages ago...i fear its the end this only to please fans...the sfa,spl,uefa etc will still want to punish rangers because no matter how much you juggle things its a newco and like the tax and vat and other debts miller is bending the rules with other peoples money and assets

They said liquidation would not happen, they didnt say a newco would not happen which it will.

They are completely different and the history of the club will be transferred and maintained in the newco club just like what happened with Leeds, Plymouth, Crystal Palace and Fiorentina. Sorry to disappoint timmys, but that really is FACT!

If you believe that you're a bigger idiot than Craig Whyte.
Craig Whyte has to agree to the CVA under the old company.HMRC and Ticketus have to agree to the meagre amount presented to them. If it's better than nothing they might agree but still a big ? hanging over it. Anyway Craig Whyte as always is the worry here. No one has clarified what his position is.From previous experience he'll dig his heels in if he doesn't get what he wants. Liquidation still most likely outcome!No going back to old company in my opinion. This is all just to ease you into the situation without you cracking up further than you all already have done.

Long way to go yet - don't build your hopes up!

To the above post....absolute garbage....away back to kerryfail fail street ya daftie.

HMRC have had their top three executives sacked for doing CVAs. It's no longer possible, no more pennies in pound sweetheart deals. Ticketus will not do CVA and demand £24.5m.
UEFA have 3 years no euro football for CVA and liquidation. Also huge penalties for 2 contracts and EBTs.
No history can be moved between companies. It's impossible. It's just to placate fans until they get used to Newco without history.

Miller smells a profit somewhere, he's not doing this out of love of Rangers.
I think he's going along with this for a month, without putting in £500k.

This is a ruse to placate mental fans.
Just ask if he paid £500k unconditionally.
It's liquidation and no history for sure.

I think you will find that in the eyes of UEFA you CAN transfer history, titles etc to a newco club. And I am sure their decision is worth a lot more than your opinion

Administrators say has paid the 500K as of today and it is an unconditional bid as he has held "very constructive" talks with the SPL and SFA yesterday and tuesday.

Is that conspiracy theories I can hear?

Sly sports and others are saying bill miller will not liquidate, but i have heard from many people that that is exactly what he intends to do. i mean if this guy was really keen on buying gers then surely to goodness he would at least have had the decency to get the first flight over and conduct his business. l for one are still worried, bill miller, who knows anything about this guy and i doubt he has the muscle to invest in the team!

There at least 2 huge barriers to prevent the history being lost;

1. Obtaining the shares in the OriginalCo from CW.
2. OriginalCo exiting administration via a CVA

Some corrective points:
UEFA do not recognise history moving to Newco corporate entities.
D&P have nowhere in statements that he has paid £500k non returnable.
His bid IS unconditional, so no pulling out on UEFA, SFA and SPL sanctions.

People bandy about a newco....there aint such a thing as a newco its been invented to give these people a chance to vote rangers back into the Spl to line there own pockets The current SPL Board is made up of Ralph Topping (SPL Chairman), Neil Doncaster (SPL Chief Executive), Eric Riley (Celtic FC), Stephen Thompson (Dundee United FC), Derek Weir (Motherwell FC) and Steven Brown (St Johnstone FC). {Ed014's Note - Ralph Topping has stood down.

Re 2 huge barriers

1 - easy, it's part of the plan. Money left in oldco will be used to pay off CW. Sure, there should be none after the CVA but I bet there will be.

2 - yes, this is the snag. HMRC may insist on liquidation as it means they get a share of ALL the money not just what D&P offer on the CVA.

Cant see HMRC taking a CVA. Big money is owed by clubs in EPL who also misused EBTs. If the do a deal with RFC they need to do deals with EPL clubs. Sets a very dangerous precedent

03 May 2012 11:42:19
Rangers to retire the number 12 shirt in honour of the fans. Sky Sports.

Is the best they can do ? surely a (very) lame PR stunt to placate the fans who are not keen on the Newco. Are Bill Millers's / Duff & Phelps PR men so out of touch as to believe Fans will buy this?

Liquidation to retire the 1 - 11 shirts

Maybe they wont have enough players to need a number 12

What a random gesture! Do they not have other things to be worrying about just now besides retiring shirt numbers? I think it would be a nice touch...in time, when things have hopefully turned around or even settled down but it just seems weird timing.

Whats wallace changing to then?

Rangers wont exist in 4 weeks time. I for one wont be supporting any new co . No matter how the tart it up rangers is dead anything new is just an ego trip for the new owner and a way of getting us top part with our cash. The debts should be paid and if not, forget it.

Rangers to retire the number 12 shirt in honour of the referees

Aberdeen did this a few years ago.

1903

The third division don't play with squad numbers.........what a nonsense

Very fitting. Lee Wallace and Bob Malcom are Scottish Football Legends

It's a gesture. Good on em. Let's wait for the obsessed to arrive and rubbish the idea. You know what they're like.

How much money has that just cost use? they are raking in the cash sitting on their arses and laffing

If he goes with a newco that will be me finished it will never be the same

Is this so fans can have RFC 12 on the back of their shirts? How appropriate if there has to be a new name.

In honour of fans, today of all days. Placate us and shut us up or what?
Did he pay £500k just tell us please!

03 May 2012 11:15:29
Rangers confirm that American businessman Bill Miller has been granted preferred bidder status by the club administrators Duff and Phelps. The club are due to hold a press conference at 1200 BST.
BBC

We there we have it fellow bluenoses. The yank has the whip hand noo. I've not got a good feeling about this at all.

Why does he want Rangers?
Why wont he explain what hes goin to do?
Why wont he even visit Scotland?

There are mere questions than answers.

03 May 2012 10:51:54
Daily Record reporting on twitter that rangers staff have been called to Ibrox for an 11am meeting where it is expected that Bill Miller will be named as the preferred bidder. Don't trust this guy one bit the fact he cant even get on a plane a come over says it all!

Gers1986

Bill Miller named as Preferred Bidder by D & P - Sky Sports News

Just been announced. Its Bill Miller. Lets give him a chance, we have no other option anyway.

Miller may be the preferred bidder but he will not get the deal through, its a mess.

I'm not sure about him either but you can't really criticise him for not flying over with all the delays that have gone on. If he pulls out we are in even bigger trouble. Tbk don't appear to have the cash so what happens if neither follow up interest? I dread to think.

Sad day for rangers. Says it all he cant even come over to Glasgow. Were fecked now!

Bill Miller has now officially been named as Preferred Bidder by Duff and Phelps.

Confirmed on Sky Sports TV & Website - Bill M confimed as preferred bidder, like it or not.

Ok, so TBK & BK bid hasn't been accepted. I'm sure the reasoning will be relayed by D&P soon enough. They were my preference from Day 1, but we have to give BM his opportunity to pull our club through (if possible) from this mess. I'm still confused by all this "Hybrid" mumbo jumbo. But as Ally said...if we wear blue and play at Ibrox, we are still Rangers! Let's get behind the man and give him our support. Welcome him into the "family". WATP!

And how do you know that he hasn`t been over?

It's been confirmed now. Preferred bidder and bid is unconditional

"Sad day for rangers. Says it all he cant even come over to Glasgow. Were fecked now!"
--

Stay strong, could it have been any worse? Things need to move forward one way or another. Yes I trust Kennedy and Murray more, but Miller is prepared to put up the money where many other haven't. Interesting point is that he can move Gers forward without owning CW shares.

Still has to deal with Craig whyte. He also doesn't have the financial muscle to invest the amounts of money needed here.

Farewell Bears, its been emotional.

Timmy

Best news in a while glad the Gladys Nights did`nt get us... hopeless the lot of em.

What a lot of negative rubbish! give the man a chance or show me the alternative! SG

Give the man a chance he can produce the best chance of getting us out this mess and we can flourish for years to come

"Don't trust this guy one bit the fact he cant even get on a plane a come over says it all!"

Well if you don't trust him then hell we all better accept your judgement of a guy you know nothing about eh lol.
You know for sure he's never been over at Ibrox?
At least he's willing put more money in that anybody else, so give the guy a chance as i will appreciate anything he can do to save our great club. So lets all get behind him and sort our club out together.
WATP

03 May 2012 02:33:52
Bill miller 80% cert to be announced as preferred bidder today as they delayed yesterday for some odd reason

Probably because we were playing @ home last night and they didn't want any protests from fans if he is made preffered bidder

Thats an odd % . Where did that come from. You usually hear 0f either 50% or 99% but 80% ? just sounds odd to me.

Was delayed yesterday because he wouldn't transfer the £500k non refundable deposit. Has asked D&P to make it refundable should be meet resistance from the fans on the sale.

Was wondering who would be the first with this one today.
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow." - Shakespear.
Al

80% CERT.
What you on about ?
A cert is 100%, not 80%..
Nothing is a cert in this circus merry-go-round.
The ony thing a cert is LIQUIDATION!!

"Was wondering who would be the first with this one today."
----

Mmmmmh. Let's have the next comment then.... Yes but you'll lose your history... Blah, Blah, Blah.

Obsessed indeed.

WELL WELL WELL as jeremy kyle says....he was telling the truth....it IS Bill Miller

Not obsessed, but I do have a healthy interest as it has implications for all of Scottish football.
Al