Is this the start of the changes that Walter Smith predicted?
When Walter Smith talks, the media and Scottish football listen. The Rangers manager has been at the centre of most of the breaking stories involving Rangers this season and the boss has done very well at bringing certain issues to the fans attention.
His latest announcement has seen the Rangers fans react strongly, with protests against Lloyds and Donald Muir being arranged for Sunday 14th February.
A look on the Rangers fan-sites will give you information of how to support the protests although some fans are wary about the supposed Limited company that is seeking to raise funds to support the protest.
A limited company should be easily found on Companies House, so be sure you know who you are supporting before you send your money – after all, if you are backing the protest, you want to ensure your money is being used properly. Of course, it may just be a mix-up with regards to the name of the company but you know what the internet is like…anyone can set up an account or site (yes, hands held up here!)
So the internet is buzzing with action and plans and unsurprisingly, the rumour mill is also spinning into action. The rumour mill has barely caught its breath since the January transfer window was slammed shut but it has already regrouped and particular focus is being placed on Rangers finances.
Some sources are suggesting that a proposed payment to Lloyds was missed at the end of January and this has seen all contract offers withdrawn. That could be true, it could be completely false, fans will just need to see how things pan out.
One rumour that is cropping up a lot though is the fact that Rangers will be looking to introduce strict wage caps for next season.
Caps are not an unknown quantity to players and there are a number of caps that have greatly interested players throughout the years.
You have international caps, supposedly the pinnacle of achievement for footballers. The international game, certainly with Scotland, has dipped in prominence of late but there is no doubt that many players still take playing for their nation very seriously.
A strong example of this at Rangers at the moment is Madjid Bougherra, who is enjoying a great run of form with Algeria.
His country have qualified for the World Cup, they made the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations and Bougherra was recognised as Algerian and Arabian player of the year for 2009. It is clear that international caps are important to the player.
Another important type of cap would be a nightcap.
Yes, the stress and strain of training a few hours a day and then have to perform for 90 minutes once or twice a week clearly leaves it toll on many players. This is why a great number need a little alcoholic assistance to drop off to sleep at night, and where better to find this assistance than in a night club…or if you are Derek Riordan, your living room.
Footballers are young men and no one on this site is going to criticise them for having a drink (although you would hope common sense would come into play at some point), so a nightcap will also be relevant for players.
For Rangers players though, the threat of a wage cap is looming for next season.
Walter Smith has already gone public with the fact that Rangers could be in for tougher times than what they are experiencing at the moment. It would make sense for the club to cut back on their expenditure and wages are a massive part of their outgoings.
As Smith has pointed out at every opportunity, Rangers won’t have bought a new player for 18 months. That is very true but is also just part of the story.
Before and after the Kaunus European exit, Rangers spent heavily, money that was being borrowed, which has helped to create the situation that Rangers find themselves in now. This was a gamble by Rangers and in some ways, it paid off with last years league title, Champions League money and a healthy lead in the SPL at the moment.
It should also be remembered that this option – although not to the same extent – was available to all clubs; it is just that some choose to work within their income limits.
So, yes, Rangers haven’t bought a new player in a considerable period of time but the club are still paying for that splurge.
The wage bill at Ibrox will be the biggest drain and these players must be taking a lot of money from the club each week.
(Andy Webster is on loan so Dundee United may be assisting with his wages and of course Pedro Mendes has been sold, even though it seems Rangers may still be contributing to his wages as well – and there have been other sales and wage cuts along the way as well)
With this in mind, a wage cap at Ibrox would seem a sensible move but there are a lot of issues regarding it.
At what level would the wage cap be set?
Without being privy to the inner workings of Rangers, it would be impossible to say but you can imagine there could be a cull of players on the higher level of earnings.
This may see some players look to move on but the thing is, contracts for current players are already in place. If a player doesn’t want to move and does not break any club rules, Rangers may find it difficult to offload some top earners.
A look across the city and the way Bobo Balde spent his last two years at Celtic Park shows that some players will sit around on their contract….and they are perfectly entitled to do so.
Would there be one wage cap or would there be levels placed across the squad?
For instance, a lower maximum wage may be offered to players like John Fleck or Danny Wilson who have broken through from the youth team set-up. The players and their agents may feel this is unfair but there could be a basic contract with the ability to move up the wage scale after certain targets have been met.
Whether Fleck or Wilson would feel this is fair is a different matter, they can definitely say they have contribute more to the cause this season than players earning a lot more but such is the nature of a football squad.
Another element would be if bonuses were offered as an incentive to top up a lower basic wage?
Most football fans would see this as preferable. If a player wants to earn top money, make them earn it by winning games. If winning trophies alone is not enough to motivate players, make them earn their money by receiving big bonuses for winning these trophies.
With a number of Rangers players out of contract this summer, including Kris Boyd, Nacho Novo, DaMarcus Beasley and Kirk Broadfoot, any limitation of wages may be seen with the future of these players.
At the moment, things are going well on the field for Rangers.
They suffered two league defeats in 2009 and currently sit 10 points clear at the top of the league. They are in the League Cup final and remain in the Active Nation Scottish Cup. For most football fans, only the stuff on the park matters and they will be hugely enjoying Rangers current state of affairs.
However, it may be a case of jam today and none tomorrow if the financial constraints, as predicted by Walter Smith, kick in. Some may look to lay the blame entirely at Lloyds with Donald Muir being unnecessarily harsh but like Smith and the Rangers players, it is probably the case that the bank is only doing their job.
So Rangers fans
a) Will the team complete the treble this season?
b) What shape will the squad be in for next season?
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There’s a very famous song that aptly fits the Rangers situation at the moment
‘There are more questions than answers’
Part of the forthcoming ‘demo’ at the game against Hibs, is to try and establish some clarity on the situation at Ibrox. Walter Smith has now twice came out at crucial times to alert the support that all is not well within the club. Failure to mobilise and act, will see the club wither away to the lower extremities of the SPL, something that I’m quite sure many in the Scottish game would love to see.
Forget David Murray for the time being as he no longer has any say or control over the club, that lies soley now with the power brokers of the LBG board of directors and Corporate divisional executives. Donald Muir (self confessed Rangers fan my arse) is their spy in the camp, he is running things and it appears hell bent on reclaiming the full £30M that appears to be outstanding. Now some will say that’s their entitlement and that under no circumstances should they accept a penny less, others will argue that in other parts of his empire, the bank are writing of Millions in lost revnue, loan repayments etc. So why are Rangers being treated differently? Well it’s an easy place to realise some cash and very quickly as well. With Champions League income and staff cuts, the debt is rumoured to be roughly £25M now, so you can see why LBG are in no rush to give any deals to prospective buyers.
Also, what will a buyer be getting if he stumps up the current asking price? From what I can see at present it’s the stadium, the playing staff, possibly Auchenhowie (refuse to call it by it’s other name) and the ticket office. Catering is outsourced surprisingly to a Murray company and the merchandise deal with JJB has turned into a total mess. The home of the Rangers Pools and ticket office, Edmiston House, is now a building totally occupied by another Murray company, Response Handling. Our old training facility, ‘The Albion’ is a match day carpark which is owned by another offshoot of Murray’s son, David Jnr. So what will any new buyer actually own?
I appreciate that there is stock market rules etc but surely the fans deserve some honest answers regarding the banks plans for the club? Also it’s about time that we heard from any consortium what their intentions are. Rangers means too much to too many people for this to be left ignored.
As for salary caps, well they’ve been in place at Ibrox for a few years now. Top players in the past such as Mendes, Davis, Ferguson etc were capped out at £25k per week. Established SPL players £12k per week and those on the fringes anything upto £7k.
If we continue ion the vice grip of LBG, the best we can hope for is £7k per week and a summer fire sale of the best players.
Some great insight Quagmire, thanks for that.
Whilst you are right in saying forget Murray, it is probably the fact that so many of his listed assets are tied in with Rangers that means LBG are retaining a tight grip on the club.
The sum owed to LBG by Rangers should be retrieved in a number of years with sensible planning – Rangers looking on their way to achieve that but it may well be that Murray is reliant on Rangers to keep his other companies alive.
However, the story of how Murray’s groups interact with Rangers on the balance sheets is not something we know a lot of, so probably best not to speculate on that!
Murray’s day of judgment will come soon enough, LBG will not sit by idly and take the criticism that’s being shown in their direction from the Rangers support, believe me when I say that banks abhor bad news, criticism, complaints etc. Already many supporters have started closing accounts and moving savings etc. That will have started ringing bells for the execs looking after LBG in Scotland. I fully expect there to be a strong showing of dissent to Muir and LBG at the forthcoming Hibs match which is live on Sky TV it’s at this stage that I expect a statement from the bank on their part within the whole sorry mess. Muir might be a sock puppet of Murrays for all we know, either way the fans deserve a right to know more than they do at present.
Theres a lot more to it than the 30million debt you cant forget about Murray he wants paid by new owners & if you think LBG are worried about the actions of Ranger fans closing bank accounts dont think so.
Danny, that’s one of the things the fans want to know about Murray. Does he retain the right to sell his majority shareholding, or are they now the property of the bank and be exchanged for paying off the debt? Let’s get the cards on the table, come clean and let the fans see the absolute state of the club, our murky connection with the MIH group is strangling us as a football club.
As for the bank, don’t be so sure about that Danny, one or two closing accounts hardly creates a ripple, should the combined supporters groups get together and call for a complete boycott of all LBG products which include the Bank Of Scotland brand and the Lloyds TSB as well as Halifax mortgages, the men in power will not like that one bit.
As I’ve said before though, this pressure that’s mounting will see the bank come and state their position and sooner than we think to be honest.
I am 100% certain Rangers fans closing bank accounts @ lloyds wont worry them one jot .
What if Celtic fans counteracted the perceived ‘threats’ by threatening to close down their accounts if LBG are believed to have shown Rangers any favourable treatment?
The sheer arrogance of some of these supporters groups shows no bounds. When Rangers were throwing money around like confetti no one was whistling any slightly cautionary tunes. As long as they reigned supreme over ‘them’ then who cared. Now the chickens have come home to roost and the bank is quite rightly chasing their money in the midst of these tough times. Now a few threats come out. What makes Rangers so different (in a business sense) from Woolworths for instance? LBG is a multi-national financial institute. What makes anyone seriously think a few hundred or thousand accounts being closed in the West of Scotland or Ulster is going to bother some smart-suited billionaire executive in New York or Sydney?
Forget all about this finding a buyer nonsense as Rangers have been for sale for arouns 3-4 years and no-one on a white charger has shown up with the necessary readies.. Why is that?
One thing I agree with you on Quagmire is there ARE more questions than answers. However, half-baked petulant threats to LBG isn’t the way to get the answers. I only wish Celtic could get it together on the park, and quick, to kick a dying horse when he is down and struggling.
I dont know what they are worried about theres nothing to worry about the Queen will bail them out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the queen ?
Yes, that wee work-shy auld wummin who so many of you worship and kowtow down to, being the mere ‘subjects’ that you are. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaa’aaaaaaaaaaaaammmm!
Now Now Billy thats a good Catholic Christian woman .
Billy your correct in your assumption that Celtic fans could carry out the same threat to LBG and would be quite entitled to do so, freedom of choice etc. However any level headed Rangers fan can accept that we are in a position whereby our club as it stands is due our main creditor quite a substantial sum of money, albeit not an uncontrollable level when you consider the security offered, the cost cutting carried out and the recent Champions League money coming into the club. At the end of the season Rangers debt could be at circa £25M with possibly the prospect of further Champions League money to come in (£10-£12M although after bonuses costs etc about £4-5M can be wiped from the debt) and also the prospect of player sales such as Davis, Bougherra, McGregor etc, all of a sudden the debt situation is nowhere near as bad as it is at present. Bearing in mind that debt is only a probably if you cannot pay it back. Which Rangers are doing at present.
Now the problem is, Rangers FC are stuck in the labyrinth of companies that belong to David Murray, know one knows bar him and the bank, just how serious and how difficult this whole mess is to sort out. That’s the issue that’s annoying the supporters the most, part of this campaign against Muir and LBG is to find out their role in this mess. If they turn around and say, look we are due £31M or whatever the current figure is and we wont budge until we get it then fine. If Donald Muir would also be as kind to tell us his remit, however bad that maybe to the support, we would at least know where we stand. Does a consortium or buyer exist? Similarly we need to know if Murray is looking for a cash payment for his shareholding.
Your right that fans are fickle, in the 9IAR days we lorded it over Celtic and laughed at the Muggletons and Biggins, when wee Dick came along we took it for granted when we got the abundance of foreign talent such as De Boer, Reyna, Caniggia, Amato and dare I say it Flo! Thing was we were always assured by the Charlatan that is Murray, that we were a strong robust organisation that needn’t bother about finance as he would be the man to fix it, how wrong we all were!
Your also wrong about the support not voicing concerns about Murray and his running of the club, problem is that we were all shot down in flames by his lickspittles in the media who dined on the succulent lamb and red wine. One of the biggest crimes in this whole sorry mess if that the Scottish Media have been absent without leave when it comes to Murray and his control of the club, even now there is no one writing about him and his reckless ways. We always hear about how much money he has spent, he spent £6M in a=acquiring the club and the rest has come from borrowing and investment from ENIC and King and the fans who pour millions into the club.
Some clarity is all that we ask.
And God Save Your Gracious Queen.
If he exists!!!!!!!!!!!BTW if she was our Queen she would be QE1
Fair comments Mr Giggidy.
Maybe LBG should be ordering that succulent lamb be put in the pies and blue nose pakoras to bring the fans onside and not a bad word be said or protest be heard no matter how many perceived sins are commited by the bankers.
Did you type your last line with a curtsy and a tug of the forelock? Maaaaaa’aaaaammmmmmm!
Should God also save Pheelip, maybe it was he who had a go at Maurice Edu that night……..