Monday 19 January 2009
Sunday 18 January 2009
Saturday 17 January 2009
Friday 16 January 2009
The Hokey Cokey
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT!
You put your own cash in, you take your own cash out
In out, in out, and move it all about
You do the smoke and mirrors and you tell them lies
That's why you're down and out
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You put the fans cash in you take the fans cash out
in out, in out, and move it all about
You do the smoke and mirrors and you show them a plan
And the loyal buy it every time
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You put the banks cash in you take the banks cash out
in out, in out, and move it all about
You fiddle the accounting and you all shake hands
And that's when the bank goes bust
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You feed the press a line, you tell them everything's fine
sound bite, moonbeam, pull them into line
Keevins, Broadfoot, leckie and DJ on Clyde
They'll spout your moonbeams every time
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You bring the players in, you sell the players on
in out, in out, where's the profit gone?
Boyd Bougherra Ferguson McGregor up for sale
Can you here the Rangers fans wail?
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
Now they've found you out, at the smoke and mirrors game
down size, down size, years and years of pain
You long for that vineyard that you bought for yersel
But ye cannae get the Rangers selt
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT!
You put your own cash in, you take your own cash out
In out, in out, and move it all about
You do the smoke and mirrors and you tell them lies
That's why you're down and out
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You put the fans cash in you take the fans cash out
in out, in out, and move it all about
You do the smoke and mirrors and you show them a plan
And the loyal buy it every time
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You put the banks cash in you take the banks cash out
in out, in out, and move it all about
You fiddle the accounting and you all shake hands
And that's when the bank goes bust
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You feed the press a line, you tell them everything's fine
sound bite, moonbeam, pull them into line
Keevins, Broadfoot, leckie and DJ on Clyde
They'll spout your moonbeams every time
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
You bring the players in, you sell the players on
in out, in out, where's the profit gone?
Boyd Bougherra Ferguson McGregor up for sale
Can you here the Rangers fans wail?
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
Now they've found you out, at the smoke and mirrors game
down size, down size, years and years of pain
You long for that vineyard that you bought for yersel
But ye cannae get the Rangers selt
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
Oooooooooooh David David Murray
No Cash No Bank
DOWN AND OUT
Hun Song book 2009 edition
BORROW BORROW
Borrow, Borrow
We need to borrow millions.
From anywhere, we don't care, we will borrow more.
Dundee, Hamilton, even from the vatican we will borrow on.
Cause there's not a bank that will give us money.
No not one, not another one at all.
Altogether now the cry was no more spending
No More spending or we'll die, die, die
With cap in hand and millions owed
We'd sell old Derry's walls
For there's not a bank like the Bank of Scotland
No not one and there never shall be one
The bank manager knows all about our troubles
We will sell sell sell till there's no one left
Oh for there's not a bank like the Bank of Scotland
No not one and there never shall be one
McGREGOR'S WALLS
"The cry was no new lenders
But defenders we must buy
(BUY BUY BUY!)
With heart in mouth we watch old Weir
He'll guard McGregor's goals"
"Dave Edgar And All His R S T,
Came Up To Real Radio,
With Cap in Hand,
And Sordid Deals,
We'll Guard Alexander's goals.
(All Together Now)
The Cry Was No Boydchenko,
Chris Dailly has just died (Died Died Died!),
With our youth team,
And the unsaleable ones,
We'll Guard Graeme Smith's goals
Hullo hullo we're 60 million in debt
Hullo hullo we're not insolvent yet
We're up to our knees in Murray's debt
Sell players or we'll die
For we are the poorest club in Scotland
Borrow, Borrow
We need to borrow millions.
From anywhere, we don't care, we will borrow more.
Dundee, Hamilton, even from the vatican we will borrow on.
Cause there's not a bank that will give us money.
No not one, not another one at all.
Altogether now the cry was no more spending
No More spending or we'll die, die, die
With cap in hand and millions owed
We'd sell old Derry's walls
For there's not a bank like the Bank of Scotland
No not one and there never shall be one
The bank manager knows all about our troubles
We will sell sell sell till there's no one left
Oh for there's not a bank like the Bank of Scotland
No not one and there never shall be one
McGREGOR'S WALLS
"The cry was no new lenders
But defenders we must buy
(BUY BUY BUY!)
With heart in mouth we watch old Weir
He'll guard McGregor's goals"
"Dave Edgar And All His R S T,
Came Up To Real Radio,
With Cap in Hand,
And Sordid Deals,
We'll Guard Alexander's goals.
(All Together Now)
The Cry Was No Boydchenko,
Chris Dailly has just died (Died Died Died!),
With our youth team,
And the unsaleable ones,
We'll Guard Graeme Smith's goals
Hullo hullo we're 60 million in debt
Hullo hullo we're not insolvent yet
We're up to our knees in Murray's debt
Sell players or we'll die
For we are the poorest club in Scotland
Thursday 15 January 2009
Murray International Holdings
An interesting article on the finances of Murray International Holdings. Makes interesting reading. Its a lengthy article so I've pasted a sample below.
There is a problem with the title link URL is http://www.philmacgiollabhain.com/?p=96
MURRAY INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS
"Real Profits?
While discussing the nuances of inventory, it is worth mentioning a curious effect of accounting rules. A company which is struggling to break even can reduce its expenses booked to a given year by creating inventory: cutting steel to length regardless of whether a customer has asked for it; building offices which no one needs… expenses which would have been booked to the profit & loss account in that year are capitalized and show up as an asset instead of an expense. (When the goods are eventually sold, the expenses are then recorded). Cash is still hemorrhaging, but the company gets to make press releases about another profitable year instead of having to explain red ink to an increasingly worried bank manager or to a bewildered media. Such ‘earnings management’ practices are common amongst struggling businesses. In most cases, there is nothing illegal about it, but bankers and financial analysts should be alert to such issues."
"What Would Happen To Rangers?
In the event of an insolvency filing by MIH, the administrator appointed will have as his principal duty recovering as much value for the creditors (i.e. the bank)as possible. British insolvency cases tend to move quickly, and those subsidiaries for which a willing buyer cannot be quickly found will be liquidated. Collapsing commodity prices are not just affecting Sir David Murray, but billionaires found themselves to be mere millionaires in a matter of a couple of months in the autumn of 2008. This is no time for executive toys. Fortunes have to be remade and energies focused in areas with a reasonable chance of making a healthy profit. That Sir David has spent so prolifigately at Rangers, yet failed to achieve proportionate success or profitability does not make this an attractive business. That Murray has become a lightning rod for many of the frustrations of a fan base who feel that he has betrayed their club’s “traditions” will not help. Indeed, taking on the figurehead role of a club once famously described as a “permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace” will be unlikely to whet the appetite of many of Scotland’s wealthiest people. In the event of an MIH bankruptcy, if a credible buyer does not come forward quickly- with an offer that would pick up a sizeable part of the £26m in bank debt and other debt obligations assigned to Rangers FC, then the closure of one of Scotland’s most famous institutions cannot be eliminated as a possibility.
It is unlikely to come to that. Given how little money would be raised in a liquidation (Rangers’ stadium being worth almost nothing to anyone except Rangers), the bank might accept a very low figure for the club. Glasgow City Council might help a prospective consortium of buyers by purchasing the stadium and leasing back the ground to the club- thereby releasing funds to operate the club at least in the medium term.
Whatever happens, it is a cautionary tale for football fans everywhere. When the media, sports and business alike, fail to fulfill their watchdog role, then problems are left to turn into a cancer. There are many questions that must be asked about how Sir David Murray’s hubris and gambling instincts have been allowed to place so many vested interests, not merely in football, in major jeopardy."
There is a problem with the title link URL is http://www.philmacgiollabhain.com/?p=96
MURRAY INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS
"Real Profits?
While discussing the nuances of inventory, it is worth mentioning a curious effect of accounting rules. A company which is struggling to break even can reduce its expenses booked to a given year by creating inventory: cutting steel to length regardless of whether a customer has asked for it; building offices which no one needs… expenses which would have been booked to the profit & loss account in that year are capitalized and show up as an asset instead of an expense. (When the goods are eventually sold, the expenses are then recorded). Cash is still hemorrhaging, but the company gets to make press releases about another profitable year instead of having to explain red ink to an increasingly worried bank manager or to a bewildered media. Such ‘earnings management’ practices are common amongst struggling businesses. In most cases, there is nothing illegal about it, but bankers and financial analysts should be alert to such issues."
"What Would Happen To Rangers?
In the event of an insolvency filing by MIH, the administrator appointed will have as his principal duty recovering as much value for the creditors (i.e. the bank)as possible. British insolvency cases tend to move quickly, and those subsidiaries for which a willing buyer cannot be quickly found will be liquidated. Collapsing commodity prices are not just affecting Sir David Murray, but billionaires found themselves to be mere millionaires in a matter of a couple of months in the autumn of 2008. This is no time for executive toys. Fortunes have to be remade and energies focused in areas with a reasonable chance of making a healthy profit. That Sir David has spent so prolifigately at Rangers, yet failed to achieve proportionate success or profitability does not make this an attractive business. That Murray has become a lightning rod for many of the frustrations of a fan base who feel that he has betrayed their club’s “traditions” will not help. Indeed, taking on the figurehead role of a club once famously described as a “permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace” will be unlikely to whet the appetite of many of Scotland’s wealthiest people. In the event of an MIH bankruptcy, if a credible buyer does not come forward quickly- with an offer that would pick up a sizeable part of the £26m in bank debt and other debt obligations assigned to Rangers FC, then the closure of one of Scotland’s most famous institutions cannot be eliminated as a possibility.
It is unlikely to come to that. Given how little money would be raised in a liquidation (Rangers’ stadium being worth almost nothing to anyone except Rangers), the bank might accept a very low figure for the club. Glasgow City Council might help a prospective consortium of buyers by purchasing the stadium and leasing back the ground to the club- thereby releasing funds to operate the club at least in the medium term.
Whatever happens, it is a cautionary tale for football fans everywhere. When the media, sports and business alike, fail to fulfill their watchdog role, then problems are left to turn into a cancer. There are many questions that must be asked about how Sir David Murray’s hubris and gambling instincts have been allowed to place so many vested interests, not merely in football, in major jeopardy."
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Monday 12 January 2009
Why Celtic shouldn't spend much this transfer window
From CQN:
Seeing into the future is a gift that few people have. I'm not saying that anyone at Celtic has that gift. However, whoever was setting our fiscal direction was doing us a very big favour. There has been some debate over the years on here (and elsewhere) about what our approach to debt management should be. The current financial crisis (and it is a crisis) has vindicated our approach.
Debt Nutter 1 Nutters 0.
However, this isn't only a credit crunch. It is a cash crunch. Those who usually have oodles of the stuff now have very little. Including - or especially - the banks. This means that those who are owed money simply want it back. They don't want to extend terms or remortgage. Why? Well, banks need to be able to meet demands of consumers. You want to make a withdrawal? The system requires that you get it. Now.
The minute a financial institution can't pony up? Nothern Rock.
So,where am I going with this? Burnley.
It is common practice for teams to buy players with something like 33% down with subsequent installments. It is also common practice for teams to move these payment dates down the road by offering a premium. Or stretching the patience of the selling club. VERY ironically, you may want to cast your minds back to Killie moaning for their Boyd money.
Not any more. Teams want their money. They can't just get more from the bank anymore. They need to collect what is owed to them. No extensions. Burnley want their money.
So, to murray's predicament. They will survive financially this time. They will find 3 million by March 31st.
Impact on us? Not much. We will sit tight, not getting any stronger than we are, while they get weaker. In the short term, Gordon needs to ensure we keep our eye on the ball and avoid our usual winter slump.
Longer term, things become much more interesting. In these uncertain finacial times, the only things that are guaranteed are players contracts. As english teams wonder how much less their Sky money will be in 18 months time, they will be careful about extending already inflated contracts. Players will not allow clubs to push them out. A journeyman in england on a 30k per week deal will know that his next deal will likely be for much less. Players will see out their contracts. Think Bobo.
After that, their will likely be a fair number of decent players on Bosmans. Who will be in a position to access this market? Teams with cash.
Don't be too hard on Peter Lawell if we don't spend much in the next 2 windows. If Gordon can get us title number 4 with an already strong squad, the next 5 (or more) might just come a tad easier.
Lots has been said (rightly) about Fergus and our debt to him. Our recently retired Chairman has done not too badly for us, too.
Seeing into the future is a gift that few people have. I'm not saying that anyone at Celtic has that gift. However, whoever was setting our fiscal direction was doing us a very big favour. There has been some debate over the years on here (and elsewhere) about what our approach to debt management should be. The current financial crisis (and it is a crisis) has vindicated our approach.
Debt Nutter 1 Nutters 0.
However, this isn't only a credit crunch. It is a cash crunch. Those who usually have oodles of the stuff now have very little. Including - or especially - the banks. This means that those who are owed money simply want it back. They don't want to extend terms or remortgage. Why? Well, banks need to be able to meet demands of consumers. You want to make a withdrawal? The system requires that you get it. Now.
The minute a financial institution can't pony up? Nothern Rock.
So,where am I going with this? Burnley.
It is common practice for teams to buy players with something like 33% down with subsequent installments. It is also common practice for teams to move these payment dates down the road by offering a premium. Or stretching the patience of the selling club. VERY ironically, you may want to cast your minds back to Killie moaning for their Boyd money.
Not any more. Teams want their money. They can't just get more from the bank anymore. They need to collect what is owed to them. No extensions. Burnley want their money.
So, to murray's predicament. They will survive financially this time. They will find 3 million by March 31st.
Impact on us? Not much. We will sit tight, not getting any stronger than we are, while they get weaker. In the short term, Gordon needs to ensure we keep our eye on the ball and avoid our usual winter slump.
Longer term, things become much more interesting. In these uncertain finacial times, the only things that are guaranteed are players contracts. As english teams wonder how much less their Sky money will be in 18 months time, they will be careful about extending already inflated contracts. Players will not allow clubs to push them out. A journeyman in england on a 30k per week deal will know that his next deal will likely be for much less. Players will see out their contracts. Think Bobo.
After that, their will likely be a fair number of decent players on Bosmans. Who will be in a position to access this market? Teams with cash.
Don't be too hard on Peter Lawell if we don't spend much in the next 2 windows. If Gordon can get us title number 4 with an already strong squad, the next 5 (or more) might just come a tad easier.
Lots has been said (rightly) about Fergus and our debt to him. Our recently retired Chairman has done not too badly for us, too.
Sunday 11 January 2009
Deep pockets' policy delivers just debt and disappointment for spendthrift Ibrox club
THE SCOTSMAN
Deep pockets' policy delivers just debt and disappointment for spendthrift Ibrox club
THE PARLOUS position in which Rangers now find themselves completely flies in the face of conventional football wisdom. And the warning issued to Celtic by owner David Murray, on his 10th anniversary in charge a decade ago, that his rivals had better have "deep pockets" to face down the challenge he was setting by allowing manager Dick Advocaat to splurge ridiculous sums on players, now rings hollowly.
Ultimately, Celtic's pockets have required only to be half as deep because they have tended to spend twice as wisely. Their capacity for deriving mighty more bang for their buck is what underpins the Ibrox club's current whimpering.
Since 1997 alone, David Murray has overseen £120m-worth of additional investment into the Ibrox club. Subsequent to Fergus McCann's 1994 Celtic takeover, the comparative figure across the city is £59.5m. Moreover, in 2000 Rangers pocketed £25m from a partnership with NTL that Celtic unwisely rejected in believing it did not represent good value... only for the company to later merge with rival Telewest. The Ibrox club have given the lie to the theory that the team writing the most eye-watering cheques in any environment will enjoy the most eye-popping success.
In reality, Rangers should have made themselves untouchable when ENIC bought a 25% stake in their club for £40m in 1997, as they homed in on a ninth straight championship success. That humungous advantage was essentially squandered when, in his treble-bagging first season of 1998-99, Advoccat was responsible for a £32m gross outlay on transfers – then a record for a British club across a single season.
By late 2000 – helped by the potty purchase of Tore Andre Flo for £12m – the Dutchman had been responsible for incoming transfers totalling almost £60m. Rangers' finances have never properly recovered. In order to address liabilities that rose to £51m from £9.5m across 1999-2000 alone, Murray launched a rights issue. Almost £10m of his cash and £20m from South African businessman Dave King only temporarily attacked the debt mountain. By 2004 this was K2-sized at £74m, necessitating a further share issue that raised £51.5m, of which £50m came from Murray's own businesses.
"It now means that we are in a position where we do not need to sell players. Rangers can now look forward to a bright future," Murray said at the time. It hasn't arrived, with Celtic making many more of their pennies count. McCann rebuilt the club's ground and the team's fortunes with an initial £12m investment, supplemented by a £10m share issue. Since then, a 2001 rights issue to the tune of £22.5m – when Celtic's debt had risen to £30m – and another worth £15m in 2005, both underwritten by major shareholder Dermot Desmond, have been sufficient to manoeuvre the club into a position of dominance. It is one wherein their debt is now only £3.5m and they are enjoying their longest run of title success in three decades; an impressive haul of six championship wins in eight years.
The contrast with Rangers' current predicament is remarkable. It damns Murray's fiscal acumen that Celtic, who admittedly have an advantage with a stadium capacity 10,000 greater than Ibrox, have developed a sustainable business model that allows them to post profits with a £40m wage bill. For this week Murray admitted that Rangers would have to cut their salary costs to around the £25m mark to drive down debt heading towards £30m. For the third time since 1999.
In recent years, the Ibrox club's owner attracted unfair criticism for expressing a conversion to prudence and imposing swingeing cutbacks. The downsizing was best illustrated by the fact Alex McLeish could boast an £11m surplus in transfer dealings across his four-and-a-half years in charge that ended in the summer 2006.
If only Murray had held true to this course in the absence of any suitable buyer for a concern he would be happy to see going. Following the failed Paul Le Guen experiment, however, he wasn't able to resist indulging Walter Smith during the past two close seasons. The dire consequences are that once more Rangers require to become financial bulimics. Having gorged themselves on £18m-worth of signings in the summer, they must now spew out a player to raise £3m in this window.
Most unforgivable of all is that this should have been entirely unnecessary. After a gaping hole in their funding was created when they lost out on the £10m pot of Champions League lolly through their Kaunas folly, it ought to have been filled with the £7.8m sale of Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa. Instead, this cash was immediately lavished on, essentially, unaffordable moves for Pedro Mendes, Maurice Edu and Steven Davis.
Six years ago, Murray's arch-critic and former Ibrox club director Hugh Adam ventured that the club's "impresario" owner might in future be remembered "as actually having held Rangers back". The prediction nows seems prophetic. In the 1990s, the Ibrox club enjoyed the best trophy-snaring decade of their history. Should Celtic claim even just one of the three pieces of silverware to be decided in the next six months, this decade will represent the same to them. If that happens, Murray's role in both will be deemed pivotal.
Rangers' most expensive signings took place during the Dick Advocaat era, notably when the club smashed the Scottish record to sign Tore Andre Flo, above, for £12m. The club's biggest signings are:
SPEND, SPEND, SPEND
Nov 2000: Tore Andre Flo (from Chelsea) £12m
Aug 2001: Michael Ball (from Everton) £6.5m
July 2002: Mikel Arteta (from Barcelona) £5.8m
July 1998: Andrei Kanchelskis (from Fiorentina) £5.5m
July 1998: Arthur Numan (from PSV Eindhoven) £5m
July 1998: Gio van Bronckhorst (from Feyenoord) £5m
August 2000: Ronald de Boer (from Barcelona) £4.5m
Jan 2005: Barry Ferguson (from Blackburn) £4.5m
July 1995: Paul Gascoigne (from Lazio) £4.3m
July 1998: Gabriel Amato (from Real Mallorca) £4.2m
(The Scotsman)
001
Deep pockets' policy delivers just debt and disappointment for spendthrift Ibrox club
THE PARLOUS position in which Rangers now find themselves completely flies in the face of conventional football wisdom. And the warning issued to Celtic by owner David Murray, on his 10th anniversary in charge a decade ago, that his rivals had better have "deep pockets" to face down the challenge he was setting by allowing manager Dick Advocaat to splurge ridiculous sums on players, now rings hollowly.
Ultimately, Celtic's pockets have required only to be half as deep because they have tended to spend twice as wisely. Their capacity for deriving mighty more bang for their buck is what underpins the Ibrox club's current whimpering.
Since 1997 alone, David Murray has overseen £120m-worth of additional investment into the Ibrox club. Subsequent to Fergus McCann's 1994 Celtic takeover, the comparative figure across the city is £59.5m. Moreover, in 2000 Rangers pocketed £25m from a partnership with NTL that Celtic unwisely rejected in believing it did not represent good value... only for the company to later merge with rival Telewest. The Ibrox club have given the lie to the theory that the team writing the most eye-watering cheques in any environment will enjoy the most eye-popping success.
In reality, Rangers should have made themselves untouchable when ENIC bought a 25% stake in their club for £40m in 1997, as they homed in on a ninth straight championship success. That humungous advantage was essentially squandered when, in his treble-bagging first season of 1998-99, Advoccat was responsible for a £32m gross outlay on transfers – then a record for a British club across a single season.
By late 2000 – helped by the potty purchase of Tore Andre Flo for £12m – the Dutchman had been responsible for incoming transfers totalling almost £60m. Rangers' finances have never properly recovered. In order to address liabilities that rose to £51m from £9.5m across 1999-2000 alone, Murray launched a rights issue. Almost £10m of his cash and £20m from South African businessman Dave King only temporarily attacked the debt mountain. By 2004 this was K2-sized at £74m, necessitating a further share issue that raised £51.5m, of which £50m came from Murray's own businesses.
"It now means that we are in a position where we do not need to sell players. Rangers can now look forward to a bright future," Murray said at the time. It hasn't arrived, with Celtic making many more of their pennies count. McCann rebuilt the club's ground and the team's fortunes with an initial £12m investment, supplemented by a £10m share issue. Since then, a 2001 rights issue to the tune of £22.5m – when Celtic's debt had risen to £30m – and another worth £15m in 2005, both underwritten by major shareholder Dermot Desmond, have been sufficient to manoeuvre the club into a position of dominance. It is one wherein their debt is now only £3.5m and they are enjoying their longest run of title success in three decades; an impressive haul of six championship wins in eight years.
The contrast with Rangers' current predicament is remarkable. It damns Murray's fiscal acumen that Celtic, who admittedly have an advantage with a stadium capacity 10,000 greater than Ibrox, have developed a sustainable business model that allows them to post profits with a £40m wage bill. For this week Murray admitted that Rangers would have to cut their salary costs to around the £25m mark to drive down debt heading towards £30m. For the third time since 1999.
In recent years, the Ibrox club's owner attracted unfair criticism for expressing a conversion to prudence and imposing swingeing cutbacks. The downsizing was best illustrated by the fact Alex McLeish could boast an £11m surplus in transfer dealings across his four-and-a-half years in charge that ended in the summer 2006.
If only Murray had held true to this course in the absence of any suitable buyer for a concern he would be happy to see going. Following the failed Paul Le Guen experiment, however, he wasn't able to resist indulging Walter Smith during the past two close seasons. The dire consequences are that once more Rangers require to become financial bulimics. Having gorged themselves on £18m-worth of signings in the summer, they must now spew out a player to raise £3m in this window.
Most unforgivable of all is that this should have been entirely unnecessary. After a gaping hole in their funding was created when they lost out on the £10m pot of Champions League lolly through their Kaunas folly, it ought to have been filled with the £7.8m sale of Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa. Instead, this cash was immediately lavished on, essentially, unaffordable moves for Pedro Mendes, Maurice Edu and Steven Davis.
Six years ago, Murray's arch-critic and former Ibrox club director Hugh Adam ventured that the club's "impresario" owner might in future be remembered "as actually having held Rangers back". The prediction nows seems prophetic. In the 1990s, the Ibrox club enjoyed the best trophy-snaring decade of their history. Should Celtic claim even just one of the three pieces of silverware to be decided in the next six months, this decade will represent the same to them. If that happens, Murray's role in both will be deemed pivotal.
Rangers' most expensive signings took place during the Dick Advocaat era, notably when the club smashed the Scottish record to sign Tore Andre Flo, above, for £12m. The club's biggest signings are:
SPEND, SPEND, SPEND
Nov 2000: Tore Andre Flo (from Chelsea) £12m
Aug 2001: Michael Ball (from Everton) £6.5m
July 2002: Mikel Arteta (from Barcelona) £5.8m
July 1998: Andrei Kanchelskis (from Fiorentina) £5.5m
July 1998: Arthur Numan (from PSV Eindhoven) £5m
July 1998: Gio van Bronckhorst (from Feyenoord) £5m
August 2000: Ronald de Boer (from Barcelona) £4.5m
Jan 2005: Barry Ferguson (from Blackburn) £4.5m
July 1995: Paul Gascoigne (from Lazio) £4.3m
July 1998: Gabriel Amato (from Real Mallorca) £4.2m
(The Scotsman)
001
Saturday 10 January 2009
Friday 9 January 2009
Ebay bargain
Item Specifics - Fan Apparel & Souvenirs
Sport: Soccer-British Size: --
Team: -- Gender: Men's
Product: The whole lot Condition: Used
Item Specifics - Item Condition
Condition: Used
Product Type : Debt Ridden Brand : Protestant
Size : Medium Fish, SmallPond Gender : Hairy
Glasgow Rangers Football Club, a once quintessentially Protestant British club, no longer with integrity. Comes loaded with Catholic players(Discounts available).
The item includes: Stadium valued around £3bn by Sir David Murray/HBOS (£1m in the GSPC), 28 players worth around £0, and debt that neither we, nor the bank, can quite work out.
Most saleable assets include: Scotland Sickies Captain barry Ferguson, Age Concern internationalist david Weir, Spanish "regional" International Nacho Novo (and a map to his house), Alan McGregors 15 girlfriends (and a couple of trashed bentleys, each with a disabled parking badge), Kris Boyd (a must have for the keen dealer), Kirk BroadfootWideArse, Carlos Cuellars braces, and next years "Giant" in the Larkhall Loyal Art Centre Presents: Jack and the Beanstalk: Kyle Lafferty.
The contents of the lost property are also available, if unclaimed by the end of the season (27th of December 08). Current items include 10 big drums, a red hand, a sack of potatoes, Lorenzo Amorusos socks with the red stripes, half of the contents of the Trafford Centre, Manchester, and a few giro books, although these are usually snapped up fairly quickly.
Thursday 8 January 2009
Saturday 3 January 2009
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