Love the intelligent debating going on guys... /sarcasm. Anyway, I'm probably going to be the first one to actually post about Rangers rather than Celtic. I know, I'm crazy!
I just wanna start by saying that I do feel sorry for Rangers fans. Anyway, Rangers spent years evading the tax man and doing a few of the old dodgy dealings under 'Sir' Murray.. But, he's not mug, he knew one day it would catch up with him and he'd have to sell. That day came five or six years ago [I CBA to check exactly when it was], the day he came to the conclusion that he'd had his fun and staying any longer would mean A) Have to actually pay back tax. **** no! B) The club will go into administration and people would start to realise that he and his board members are for want of a better word, ******. An equally grim scenario.
Surprisingly [ha], no genuine businessman was interested, it's crazy! I mean who wouldn't want to buy a club that had been operating 'illegally' for 20-odd years. That was of course, until, May 2011, IIRC, when "Scottish Billionaire" Craig Whyte came in to save the club from extinction.. Sorry, I mean; came in to strip the club of all assets and watch the club cease to exist. Not a surprise really, though, he's done it many times before. In fact, his business model for the last few company takeovers have been: Buy it > Strip & Sell > Leave. That's fine when you're doing it with a faceless company that very few people have an emotional connection to, but to Rangers FC? That, Sir, is pushing it.
Now, what we have to cope with for the next few days/ weeks/ months is Craig Whyte acting like the kid at school always forgetting his homework. "Oh.. The £24m from Ticketus? Well.. It was in my bag last night, Sir, my dog must have ate it.". That, coupled with the irony of Rangers not paying tax under his tenure is a Celtic fan's wet dream. I mean, he's a billionaire, right? He has the cash to save Rangers and provide that bloke from A Question of Sport with £25m to throw at everyone apart from HMRC of course. Hmm, but maybe I'm just being too pessimistic. Maybe, Craig Whyte is a lovely, genuine bloke who has accidentally misplaced £35-ish million pounds, maybe. Maybe it was his intention to keep Rangers running and give the manager all that cash he had at his disposal.. He probably just forgot. Although, I highly doubt it, mainly because I'm going with the assumption that he's an ***-hole. He even looks like your typical business-*******.
Anyway, to cut a long story short; what will happen to Rangers FC? I honestly don't know. I personally believe Whyte's initial plan was to rape the club of it's few assets and the eventual liquidation would hopefully be blamed on the previous regime and he would be seen as an innocent guy stuck in an unwinnable battle. That way he'd got to leave scot-free or perhaps he'd get the chance to start a Rangers new-co. Even better. Unfortunately for him he's been made to look like the bad guy and not Murray and has resorted to upholding his innocence in every interview. Oh yeah, and "hiding" in Monaco, probably checking his £24m is still there.
Good luck, Rangers, I don't think anybody really wants to see you go under, but the signs have been there from the start and nobody cared to do anything about it. As long as you're beating Celtic then all is peachy, eh?
I just wanna start by saying that I do feel sorry for Rangers fans. Anyway, Rangers spent years evading the tax man and doing a few of the old dodgy dealings under 'Sir' Murray.. But, he's not mug, he knew one day it would catch up with him and he'd have to sell. That day came five or six years ago [I CBA to check exactly when it was], the day he came to the conclusion that he'd had his fun and staying any longer would mean A) Have to actually pay back tax. **** no! B) The club will go into administration and people would start to realise that he and his board members are for want of a better word, ******. An equally grim scenario.
Surprisingly [ha], no genuine businessman was interested, it's crazy! I mean who wouldn't want to buy a club that had been operating 'illegally' for 20-odd years. That was of course, until, May 2011, IIRC, when "Scottish Billionaire" Craig Whyte came in to save the club from extinction.. Sorry, I mean; came in to strip the club of all assets and watch the club cease to exist. Not a surprise really, though, he's done it many times before. In fact, his business model for the last few company takeovers have been: Buy it > Strip & Sell > Leave. That's fine when you're doing it with a faceless company that very few people have an emotional connection to, but to Rangers FC? That, Sir, is pushing it.
Now, what we have to cope with for the next few days/ weeks/ months is Craig Whyte acting like the kid at school always forgetting his homework. "Oh.. The £24m from Ticketus? Well.. It was in my bag last night, Sir, my dog must have ate it.". That, coupled with the irony of Rangers not paying tax under his tenure is a Celtic fan's wet dream. I mean, he's a billionaire, right? He has the cash to save Rangers and provide that bloke from A Question of Sport with £25m to throw at everyone apart from HMRC of course. Hmm, but maybe I'm just being too pessimistic. Maybe, Craig Whyte is a lovely, genuine bloke who has accidentally misplaced £35-ish million pounds, maybe. Maybe it was his intention to keep Rangers running and give the manager all that cash he had at his disposal.. He probably just forgot. Although, I highly doubt it, mainly because I'm going with the assumption that he's an ***-hole. He even looks like your typical business-*******.
Anyway, to cut a long story short; what will happen to Rangers FC? I honestly don't know. I personally believe Whyte's initial plan was to rape the club of it's few assets and the eventual liquidation would hopefully be blamed on the previous regime and he would be seen as an innocent guy stuck in an unwinnable battle. That way he'd got to leave scot-free or perhaps he'd get the chance to start a Rangers new-co. Even better. Unfortunately for him he's been made to look like the bad guy and not Murray and has resorted to upholding his innocence in every interview. Oh yeah, and "hiding" in Monaco, probably checking his £24m is still there.
Good luck, Rangers, I don't think anybody really wants to see you go under, but the signs have been there from the start and nobody cared to do anything about it. As long as you're beating Celtic then all is peachy, eh?
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