Rangers’ board; pay up, or shut up

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With today’s news of Newcastle owner and major
Rangers shareholder Mike Ashley demanding an EGM to force Rangers to pay back
the £5M owed to Sports Direct, the English businessman has played an ace.
For whatever reason, thankfully,
Ashley wants out of Rangers now; be it related to the police search on Sports
Direct premises recently in relation to the Rangers takeover, or as a result of
the ‘peace talks’ between him and the board, Ashley wants his money back and he
wants it now.

Rangers fans have long wanted him
out their club, and now he is putting the board in a position to deliver that.
The fact is Rangers’ board is
filled with at least two multi-multi millionaires, and £5M between them would
be no trouble at all. They may be of the belief that it is not their money to
owe, but the truth is Paul Murray has repeatedly peddled the line that this
board has Rangers’ ‘best interests at heart’, and the scurrilous Mike Ashley
most certainly does not.
If Murray et al wish to prove they have our best interests at
heart, no excuses, no begging caps to fans, no nothing – pay Ashley his £5M
back ASAP and be done with him for good.
Rangers being free of the Sports
Direct boss would be the best move the board has made, but it is going to cost
them.
Time to finally put your money
where your mouths have been, lads.

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41 COMMENTS

  1. Or they could just make no comment and leave the Rangers haters to fill in the blanks for them, causing us more heartache and sleepless nights.

  2. i assume when you say "done with him for good" you mean except the retail contract which will still be in place

  3. If there is anything untoward with the legalities of the loan, or indeed associated "onerous contracts" which have been signed seemingly without-care right through the Spivs' reign, then I would not expect the RFC board to pay Ashley back if there is anyhting they can do about it.

    They may be able to use the monies owed as leverage in future negotiations, or indeed may find themselves able to withhold not-insignificant sums should the legality of loans and/or contracts with Sports Direct be found to be questionable.

    My point is, we would be foolish to "rush in".

    This said, and even allowing for the abject cluster-fuck which the old board left, the current RFC board have now had a significant amount of time to survey the damage… I would therefore consider it likely that the board either:

    1) pay up

    2) release a public statement advising why the won't be paying up.

    One of the above actions surely must be take before close of business on Friday.

  4. I agree give this fat shite his 5 million and hope he gets too fuck off our backs Just hope the police can come up with some thing crooked then nail all the bastards that have ripped off Rangers the past 4 years .

  5. Not often I agree with the rubbish you write but you are 100% on the nail this time .Its time we pushed this guy as far away from our club as possible

  6. Mmmmm………..me thinks the cupboard is bare.

    Ashley has played his ace, whats King's answer going to be?

  7. It may well appear that the Police enquiry could have something on Mike Ashley and he is attempting to recover his money before it is seized by the courts. I think the Rangers board is absolutely right not to get involved in a media circus frenzy over this, whilst our team are trying to gain promotion, our players can do without it. I think all or most will come out in the wash after our season is finished. Ashley still owns 9% of our club and contracted with sports direct, so he is going nowhere if we did pay him his 5 million. I say dont pay and let the police and our club complete their enquiries into all contracts and possible fraudulent transactions committed by David Murray, Craig Whyte, Charles Green, Mike Ashley and all the other scum that has brought our club down. Watch this space guys, the truth will out!!

    • Murray knew exactly what he was doing, do you not think he had Whyte checked out before he sold the club? A businessman such as Murray trusts no one which is why he is as much to blame as Whyte.

  8. Time for king to do something i agree with ashley thing but who else gave us money to keep us afloat

    • Are you for real or just been in hibernation for 3 years?

      There were other offers available with much better conditions than Ashleys deal. The spivs though accepted Ashelys, and this is so bizzarre in itself that the Police are now involved in what has gone on.

  9. Firstly, what were the terms of the loan. Is it due or do we still have time to pay it back? Use his money until you need to pay it back. The only issue is the new strips. Don't buy any until the loan is repaid and the retail agreement reverts back to original 49% or whatever.
    However I do agree that it is time for King & Co to either pay up or tell the fans the truth. No more off the radar stories……

  10. In all honesty Mike has just bided his time, gave King and co enough rope to hang themselves. Did everything by the book and legal, tied up the assets, watched the new board struggle to make any significant changes, listened to Murray (who shouldnt be any where near a real board) and saw King go hide after he jetted in for his couple of hours of publicity and adulation, that is all DCK was after. That's all he has ever been after. Time to cough up or feel the wrath of the fans King and co, I know who my money would be on… May will be make or break for rangers on and off the field.

  11. Lets move forward:
    1 Pay Ashley the 5 million and thank him 2 Buy his shares at market price 3 condition of 2 and 3 is we get 100 percent of our commercial retail back or don't buy any merchandise. It's not my cash so it's only my opinion but I would suggest the board pays the 5 m and the board lends the trust and Rangers first the cash to buy the shares until subscriptions pay them back and maybe at long last we can get the trust and rangers first to unite under one entity of supporters.

    • How can you pay market price for his or any shares as they are delisted from the stock market, the shares are only worth what anyone is prepared to pay.

  12. The Board will follow due process. SFA to clear King then we will see action. Sometimes in life you must hold your tongue no matter how open you wish to be. Lawyers feed themselves on wrongly but well intentioned words. They have made a fortune out of the Scottish circus. To lawyers it's not about right or wrong it's about winning and if the guy paying you has most money you are favourite. Ashley has money. Be patient guys. We have waited this long.

  13. The trouble is paying him back the money won`t get rid of him .Still owns 10% shareholding and contracts with S.D .If we could also get rid of him from these too , it would be worthwhile.Why do fans panic every time these stories appear , thats what he and the press want.We trusted the board enough to vote them in , lets trust them to sort it out.They know the exact situation and are experienced business men , lets trust them to know what they are doing.

  14. It became repayable on demand if the club delisted from the stock market, so it would be naïve in the extreme if the board were not prepared for this eventuality. He has also called an EGM to look at the reasons for delisting (which was predominately they couldn't find a NOMAD who would take the job on), and the terms of the loans the current board have advanced. Interesting to see whether the new board really have the clubs interest at heart, or whether they see it as an under valued asset ripe for exploitation – like Ashley

    • Perhaps you wish to tell us about how you know the precise contractual details of this loan?! I wont be holding my breath!!

  15. The City must know more than us mere mortals. Since the date of the letter to the closing of business today, shares in Sports Direct have skyrocketed by approximately 11%. WOW.

    • Due to Tories winning election. Rangers haven't got such a big influence. He pays staff zero. Labour was planning to stop him. So City are happy.

    • Sorry to respectfully disagree. The upward bounce started a full 10 days prior to the election. Granted after the results, the election would be a contributing factor. But prior to the election we can all recall the polls indicating a hung Parliament. Therefore, I still believe the City knows something we don't.

  16. King promised investment and transparency, no matter the outcome of F&P.

    What's transparent is that the new board couldn't run a piss up in a brewery.

    King, if he ever jets back in, and Murray are about to be asked some serious questions from the boys in blue.

    The SFA might look a tad foolish having passed Murray as F&P if he's pulled to account for his part in delisting, wiping millions from shareholder value.

  17. Something's going down ? Ashley on the run
    Make the cunt sweat until the old bill have finished.

  18. Do you really think Ashley is on the run? This could get a lot more messier for the new board if the egm/gm goes ahead

  19. Do you really think Ashley is on the run? This could get a whole lot messier for the board if an egm takes place, their will be a lot of questions needed answered, I don't think he will be the one sweating

  20. Silience is golden, no matter what you think of Ashley, he is not doing anything you would not do yourself if you were in his position. In truth, the money ( £5m) is nothing to Ashley in financial terms, so it would seem for King and Murray, but then where have we all heard this before. The main problem remains, we are broke as a business until someone comes out with a plan to write off all our debt and we build a future as a club for the fans without trying to live outside our means, our one real asset remains the fans/club/history not the fantasy world that all the recent boards play in which will not sort anything, still waiting for King to find a way to get his money back not pay out more, but time will tell, perhaps he is the white knight we need? J

  21. Since ownership of the badges and the 75% of profit on the retail deals are on the back of the £5M repayment request, Ashley gets (1) the board and (2) possibly us as well to be to blame for him emerging as owners of these if his proposals are rejected. It won't be his fault any more. If we decide to repay, he still sits on 49% of the profits, gets his money back and watches while we self destruct again.

  22. Murray was the shark who ripped out our soul and devoured us. He never used a penny of his own money – he borrowed it all from the banks and left us with all the debt. Remember Tore Andre Flo? We were promised the European Cup, and a mega casino and hotel complex. What did we get? Spermatazoa down a cracked filthy toilet in a crumbling archeological shite. If it hadn't been for SDFM none of this would have happened. He started it all so he was worse than all of them.

  23. I agree the current board are looking as hollow as their predecessors. I don't think Ashley is sweating, the police have been clear that the purpose of their raid was not in connection with investigations into Sports Direct, it was focused on Green and his cronies.

    On the face of it all King has to do is write Ashley a cheque for £5 million and all the securities are released. What's not to like ? Well probably the fact that Ashley has a reverse clause in the agreement that prevents the current board from using the clubs assets to raise the cash – so they are going to have to reach into their own pockets. I cannot see why the board would hesitate – repayment of a loan of £5m secures the return of the commercial revenues they have been chasing since their takeover. It is not a repayment they can avoid, the notion they can offset a secured loan against other alleged breeches by Ashley has no foundation in law. Whatever he is Ashley is no mug, all of the contracts and loan agreements will be resilient to withstand any potential legal challenge. That is clearly the advice the board received as they headed South to begin peace talks last week.

    The board not appreciate having to go public on the terms of loans they have made, or the shambles which led to the delisting. But as transparency has been no more a feature of their reign as it was of the fat burger of Sports Direct that can only be a good thing. So far it has been all talk and no action.

    So it is put up or shut up time for the new King and his band of merry men.

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