Mike Ashley -- Irrelevant Cunt

[Kid Dynamite 5939]

I see if anyone has dared to cancel next season direct debit after the deadline, the club have cancelled this seasons swipe card despite it being fully paid up. Unreal

[Alex 30452]

I see if anyone has dared to cancel next season direct debit after the deadline, the club have cancelled this seasons swipe card despite it being fully paid up. Unreal

Fucking hell.

[trooper 940]

Austerity measures kicking in.

[PaddockLad 14626]

Mike Ashley might want something stronger than lager …

http://gu.com/p/45z24

Is this cunt actually in trouble?....

[ewerk 26441]

Minor troubles for a man like him.

[Happy Face 29]

- Derek Llambias’ (DL) opening remark was that the ‘Vote of No Confidence’ that the RFB publicised via Facebook was in effect the whole of the RFB resigning. William Gillan challenged this by stating that a ‘Vote of No Confidence’ is in no way associated with resignation and so was not our resignation. This was contested by DL. This matter was unresolved but subsequently agreed by DL that RFB is still indeed in officially place.

 

- DL further went on to state that if the RFB stated that he was a ‘liar’ again (relating to information in question no. 1 (below) about the wrong EGM date being given and our subsequent post on our Facebook page) then he would have nothing further to do with the RFB thereafter.

 

DL: Handed out a sheet explaining the reasoning behind the date change of the EGM.

Discussion around the date change from March 6th to the 4th which was already publicized previously on the RFB Facebook page. DL stated that the date selection was out of his control as 3 or 4 people (Nomads) were working on pulling the documentation together, and he didn’t lie as the information was correct at that time that he spoke with Gary Gillan.

The notes are as follows:

I understand that there is widespread frustration from within Glasgow and around about the location of the General Meeting, and that the business of the meeting is highly charged. The board is, however, within its rights to hold the meeting in London, neither the AIM Rules nor the Companies Act prevents this. For cost reasons it is normal market practice for there to be a smaller venue than the theoretical maximum number of voters; most small PLCs use their Broker’s or Solicitor’s offices, in this case a sizeable hotel venue has been chosen anticipating that there may be more attendees than usual.

It is important that the location should not restrict the vote, everybody should vote by proxy card whether they intend to turn up on the day or not. The proxy card is returned to Capita which is the scrutineer for the vote, so it is 100% secure and independent. Anybody who does turn up and votes in the meeting will override their proxy vote with their meeting vote, which is fine, but it won’t count as a second vote. I am very keen that the voting turnout is as high as possible.

It is also worth mentioning that the business of a requisitioned GM is much more limited than an Annual General Meeting, and therefore the event may be an anti-climax to those who are anticipating a re-run of the AGM. At the GM the resolutions are clear and unambiguous. The Directors are unlikely to add anything – they have made their case in the circular. (The entire board does not even have to attend), so the meeting will comprise reading the notice and voting; it could be done in 20 minutes. The result will not be known at the meeting, as this has to be announced to the Stock Exchange, which I expect will be during the early part of that afternoon or by no later than 7am the following day.

In the event that the meeting was overwhelmed or disrupted (if the Hotel was intimidated into cancelling the booking) then the meeting would need to be adjourned which is likely to result in a new notice – in practice a month’s delay and more cost, which is in no-one’s interest.

 

DL: When we discussed the AGM, the behavior of those at the AGM basically hijacked the meeting. It was a disgrace. We don’t want it to get hijacked again which is why it is in London however an EGM’s are normally over in about 10 minutes and there is no platform for shareholders to ask questions like at an AGM, it is more of a procedural meeting.

Discussion around a meeting with Paul Murray and the Sons of Struth will take place tomorrow.

The hotel staff were threatened and the hotel received threats that the hotel would be damaged – due to this the venue cancelled the event.

Looking at another venue that will accommodate larger numbers.

 

DL: We did weigh up the PR perspective when making the decision.

 

DL: There needs to be a coalition of sorts going forward because there is so much mistrust between the fans. Going forward the club has to make strides in the trust factors. Barry and I have been here for a very short time, but have been faced with challenges on our time when we’re dealing with a whole bunch of outside influences rather than what we can be doing to help the club and the team. It is very time consuming and tiring.

We have made £2.5m in cost savings since we arrived. We had opportunities to sign players but had to wait right until the end of the transfer window before securing the loans. Ally McCoist was already aware of the Newcastle loan players and had gone down south to see them and thought their addition to the squad would be good.

 

DL: I lifted the ban on the BBC.

 

DL: We are a football club who are playing rubbish football

 

DL: There is no way that Dave King can be 100% confident that he has the 51% votes requirement. If he was he would come out and communicate this publicly.

 

BL: we never said we wouldn’t be embracing Dave King. We would embrace some of this people on the Board.

 

DL: In our opinion Dave King would not be passed as a ‘proper and fit person’ to sit on the Rangers’ Board by the AIM.

 

Did Mike Ashley fund Charles Green in the Rangers takeover?

DL: Absolutely not.

 

When did Mike Ashley (and/or associates) first become involved with Rangers FC?

BL: During the float of 2012

 

Why have you allowed Mike Ashley to increase his hold over Rangers in the face of SFA objections on dual ownership?

BL: MASH Holdings is Mike Ashley’s privately owned company

 

Were recent comments regarding Sports Direct not having a shareholding in any other club an indication that Sports Direct will be a shareholder in Rangers FC to circumvent SFA regulations?

BL: Sports Direct are not shareholders currently. But they could be

 

9. What are your plans to win over these customers who have clearly expressed what they want?

DL: Touched on it earlier. We need a coalition of supporters groups. I don’t believe this works as it is today and needs to be more collaborative going forward.

 

DL: Discussion around the Daily Record and their behavior towards the club for some time. They are a law unto themselves, we couldn’t allow them access to then write untrue copy, and had to be banned.

 

DL: Winning over the fans is a combination of many things:

- Creating a connection with the fans and community

- We need the fans to regain their pride back in the team and the club

- Getting the club to financial stability

- Customer experience (it’s all about the football)

- Discussion around the stadium and the areas that are good and the areas that will need maintenance or improvement. The concourses are in great condition. The car parks need an overhaul

- Getting synergies between the running of the club and the fans

- More communications from the club is required. It’s not my forte, but I know that we need to get better at that

 

DL: We have to embrace those other parties that are around the club at the moment, and perhaps more. Discussions around the Easedale’s involvement in the club. Derek L and Barry L appreciate the way that they run their business and what they bring to Rangers.

 

DL: We can’t speak for Mike Ashley. SD has a football priority going forward and affiliation with 5 different clubs: Oldham, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Newcastle and Rangers (was this correct?). Their model is taking over as many retail operations in football clubs and putting them ‘into the SD machine’ for ongoing retail revenues. I believe they can help Rangers sell more shirts overseas than we could ever have done on our own.

 

BL: I haven’t spoken to Mike Ashley since I left SD in September. Derek hasn’t spoken to him for longer than that, so we can’t speak to what his plans are.

 

BL: In my opinion [Ashley’s] was the best loan. We did have discussions with the Three Bears. We requested this in writing – they did this and then subsequently offered to increase the £6M loan to £10M but never put this in writing. Meanwhile we had the offer with Sports Direct – £5M up front, and another £5M facility to draw down from (after paying Mike Ashley’s £3M loan back). It takes 12-16 weeks to do a rights issue (which was estimated to raise £8M).

There was an American Investment firm who made an offer but with 12-15% interest and £1M set-up costs. We looked at the SD deal and it was the most favourable for the club. The Three Bears wanted a rights issue within 12-16 weeks that would help pay back 50% of the loan at that time. 50% of the remaining loan was to be paid back within 12-months.

 

We burn £1.2-£1.5M per month (an alarming rate) depending on game fixtures. SD’s first £5M doesn’t have a timeline for repayment (pay when you can). The 2nd loan has a timeline of 5-years after it has been called down.

The Three Bears loan was at a repayment percentage of 2% but the debt had a quicker repayment time. SD cost a further 26% in Rangers Retail, which cost roughly half a million in costs, which equates to around 5%. Rangers Retail financials:

- £7.5M in annual sales

- £5M is the cost of production

- £2.5M split between the club and SD (approx. £1M each after tax/deductions)

SD wanted to secure Ibrox but we fought against that.

- A Scottish law firm filed against Ibrox to protect from anyone else becoming involved and disrupting the deal. This is where the information came from about Ibrox being used as potential security

 

BL: 32RED are the sponsors for the next 2-years. Rangers gets approx. £300K per year from this. From the 2017/18 season SD will go into a joint venture if the loan is not yet repaid. This is an incentive for us to get our affairs in order and repay the loan.

 

DL: This and next week we are going to do some PR on the current situation with the club.

 

BL: Not for minuting – the Three Bears shit themselves when they thought we’d accept their deal.

 

Selling stadium name rights for £1

DL: This came out when Charles Green did an interview with Jim White from his hospital bed. Mike Ashley was discussing this with Charles Green. DL was at Newcastle at the time. Sold the naming rights then to Wonga for £4m. There were discussions with CG and Derek was invited to a meeting with approx. 300 fans to discuss, and my role was to explain what it meant for Newcastle – CG’s interview made it sound like I was involved in the deal which I wasn’t.

 

BL: He returned the naming rights for 25% advertising rights at the stadium. The crest and badges are not part of this – they still belong to RFC.

 

DL: I feel that there is a fear of Mike Ashley being involved in the club.

 

DL: Sarver came in with three different offers per share that were well below market value. He would need to get 75% agreement from the shareholders. It wasn’t a real deal – it appeared to be either trying to get the club for cheap, or a PR exercise. The NOMADs went to major shareholder institutions (approx. 45% of them) to gauge their interest and they said no. No further consultation was required.

 

DL: People know that I was involved in this company (Bishops). Lots of work was done by Bishops in the Green era. They are still involved in dealing with Sky on a game-by-game basis. I sold my shares to Sports Direct Media early in 2014.

 

22. Can you explain paying £1.1m for screens and wifi when the company charged 300k and furthermore, why was the cash sent to a company in Dubai?

DL: We wouldn’t take anyone to court as that would cost more than it would be worth if we were to pursue this as there isn’t enough evidence that there was wrong-doing, it was incompetency if we were to pursue this .During the period when Mr. Wallace was CEO, he got a similar quote even though the screens and wifi were in to see if it had been a good deal for RFC, it wasn’t but deal had been done, via a company in Dubai.

 

TC: What procurement process are we following?

DL: We would follow a standard procurement process of obtaining multiple quotes. We are also using our connections in football for advice on cost savings.

 

BL: We checked with IT and we had 75 mobile phones, and have subsequently dropped that to around 45.

 

24. Why have last year’s ST holders who did not renew not been contacted to find out why they took this course of action and how do you intend to entice them back(15-20k)? How many season tickets are the board forecasting to be sold next season?

Discussion around the lack of credit card / direct debit facility for season ticket payments for the season.

BL: The credit card company got cold feet and did not provide the facility for people to pay on credit or by direct debit. We will have the facility to pay by credit card and direct debit by next season.

 

DIRECTORS OF THE RFC BOARD

36. Can the Board offer a single example of actions that should give fans and shareholders any confidence in this Board's ability to manage the club or have any reason to believe it is acting in good faith and the best interests of the Club and the company?

DL: We’ve come in in good faith. This is a long journey. We were very excited to be involved with the club. We can do the job but need trust in what we’re doing. We can’t show our worth in a short period of time. If we are given the opportunity we will involve more people to reach out to the wider fan base.

BL: We don’t duck a fight. Admittedly it is worse than we thought it would be, but we’re still up for it.

 

 

40. Does Derek Llambias not consider himself to have a conflict of interest in that he is the majority shareholder in a PR firm charging £30 grand a month for services unknown to the Rangers accounts department.

This was confirmed as £30,000 per quarter, which AF thought to be correct as he is in PR, and as already stated DL is no longer a shareholder in Bishop PR.

 

73. Why did Llambias meet Stockbridge at Mar Hall?

BL: We were staying there at the same time. We went to the meeting to hear what he had to say, and discuss the deals that were signed during his tenure with the club.

 

- ZI: is there any evidence King will win the 51%?

BL: No, it is easy to blame the Board. We will seek to have a conversation with Three Bears and King. Somers is clumsy and did not agree with his setup of the AGM.

 

- CM: An AGM so close to Xmas?

o BL: It was the only possible date to have the AGM for accounts release purposes

 

- WP: If Dave King does not pass the ‘Fit and Purpose’ test then can he sit on the Football Board?

o DL: Yes. Sandy Easdale does not sit on the PLC board

 

- WP: Somers leaked email said he sat on the PLC board?

o DL: Sandy Easdale does not sit on the PLC board and a NOMAD oversees this with DL

 

- WP: Money made since retail agreement?

o BL: Around half a million but would need to clarify that for publication

 

 

 

Rangers board met with fans on the 11th and the minutes are out.

 

Stripped out the Llambias and Leach quotes and highlighted some of the lies and funnies.

[trooper 940]

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay yesterday became the latest big name to join the Rangers First group of fan shareholders, as the association looks to thwart Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley’s attempts to gain control of the club.

 

Former Rangers trainee Ramsay took to Twitter on Sunday to announce he had joined the movement.

 

 

 

He joins a string of former players that have signed up including Richard Gough, Claudio Reyna and Nacho Novo.

 

 

 

Rangers First is now the largest fan shareholder group in the UK, with 9,500 members, and owns 1.7 per cent of Rangers’ stock.

 

 

 

 

 

The group has lobbied fans to buy shares and use their proxy votes to back former club director Dave King’s bid to topple the current board, and scupper an expected takeover attempt by Ashley, at an extraordinary general meeting next month.

 

 

 

Spokesman Ricki Neil said: “We are hoping to secure 10,000 members ahead of next month’s general meeting and support from high profile fans like Gordon Ramsay will undoubtedly help raise our profile.”

 

 

[Fitbafan 0]

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay yesterday became the latest big name to join the Rangers First group of fan shareholders, as the association looks to thwart Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley’s attempts to gain control of the club.

 

Former Rangers trainee Ramsay took to Twitter on Sunday to announce he had joined the movement.

 

 

 

He joins a string of former players that have signed up including Richard Gough, Claudio Reyna and Nacho Novo.

 

 

 

Rangers First is now the largest fan shareholder group in the UK, with 9,500 members, and owns 1.7 per cent of Rangers’ stock.

 

 

 

 

 

The group has lobbied fans to buy shares and use their proxy votes to back former club director Dave King’s bid to topple the current board, and scupper an expected takeover attempt by Ashley, at an extraordinary general meeting next month.

 

 

 

Spokesman Ricki Neil said: “We are hoping to secure 10,000 members ahead of next month’s general meeting and support from high profile fans like Gordon Ramsay will undoubtedly help raise our profile.”

 

 

Rangers First now has 10,729 members and it is growing at an incredible pace. Another fans group has over 5,000 member so as things stand there are over 15,000 fans paying monthly contributions to fan share schemes to purchase shares in the club. The figures have rocketed since the announcement that Ashley wanted security over Ibrox and then the acceptance of his loans by the board (i.e. his men Lambias and Leach)

[The Fish 9010]

That's impressive.

 

Probably pointless, but impressive none-the-less.

[Fitbafan 0]

 

Rangers board met with fans on the 11th and the minutes are out.

 

Stripped out the Llambias and Leach quotes and highlighted some of the lies and funnies.

Rangers Fans Board have announced on their Facebook page that they are expecting to be disbanded by Lambias for releasing the minutes of the meeting without the approval of the club. Apparently it was rather heated at times.

[ewerk 26441]

Yeah, Llambias has form for that. He banned a supporters group from attending our Fans Forum because they released the minutes a day early.

[Howmanheyman 26943]

Rangers Fans Board have announced on their Facebook page that they are expecting to be disbanded by Lambias for releasing the minutes of the meeting without the approval of the club. Apparently it was rather heated at times.

Llambias is a fucking snake. I wouldn't wish him and his fat mate on anybody. (ok, they'd be perfect for Chelsea).

[ewerk 26441]

I'd be interested to know exactly what Ashley's good mate, 'The Bishop of Soho', is doing for £120k a year, given that everyone looks on Rangers as a shambles of a club.

Edited February 17, 2015 by ewerk

[Toonpack 6874]

That's impressive.

 

Probably pointless, but impressive none-the-less.

And potentially costly, Huns subscribe to Rangers first who then buy shares, if the end game is an insolvency event through which Ashley has security on the major assets and trademarks etc. The shares RF are buying could end up being worthless.

[Fitbafan 0]

And potentially costly, Huns subscribe to Rangers first who then buy shares, if the end game is an insolvency event through which Ashley has security on the major assets and trademarks etc. The shares RF are buying could end up being worthless.

The term huns is rather offensive to us mate.

 

Anyway, re the point you've made my understanding is it would be difficult to put us into admin when there are offers of funding on the table. EGM is due to be held on the 4th March so we're hopeful we can vote the crooks out on that date and then get back to rebuilding. The board seem to be having a difficulty finding a venue in London for the EGM and don't seem to want to hold it at Ibrox, probably scared of a repeat of the abuse they received at the AGM.

[Fitbafan 0]

I'd be interested to know exactly what Ashley's good mate, 'The Bishop of Soho', is doing for £120k a year, given that everyone looks on Rangers as a shambles of a club.

Paying a Lambias company £120k for PR work (that no one knows a thing about) when the club has it's own PR department. Just another way of funnelling money out of the club and lining their pockets.

[tooner 243]

The term huns is rather offensive to us mate.

 

Anyway, re the point you've made my understanding is it would be difficult to put us into admin when there are offers of funding on the table. EGM is due to be held on the 4th March so we're hopeful we can vote the crooks out on that date and then get back to rebuilding. The board seem to be having a difficulty finding a venue in London for the EGM and don't seem to want to hold it at Ibrox, probably scared of a repeat of the abuse they received at the AGM.

don't fret, Toonpack is offensive to everyone

[The Fish 9010]

Fret a little; he's a gun toting, maniac y'see.

[Fitbafan 0]

I'm saving my fretting for the upcoming EGM. I have no more fret to give.

[trophyshy 6434]

I have no more fret to give.

 

Sounds like a Pardew press conference.

[Alex 30452]

Divvent fret, Hun

[trophyshy 6434]

Divvent fret, Hun

 

New team motto?

[Toonpack 6874]

The term huns is rather offensive to us mate.

 

Anyway, re the point you've made my understanding is it would be difficult to put us into admin when there are offers of funding on the table. EGM is due to be held on the 4th March so we're hopeful we can vote the crooks out on that date and then get back to rebuilding. The board seem to be having a difficulty finding a venue in London for the EGM and don't seem to want to hold it at Ibrox, probably scared of a repeat of the abuse they received at the AGM.

Offended, Oh I am sorry, do you ever read Bears Den btw ?

 

Anyway on the second point of other funding being available.

 

Based on the losses youre making and the fact there is no money in the bank, if someone calls in their loans that funding is going to need to be around £16/18 Million (my estimate- £10Mill to Sd plus around £2+Mill/month operating costs) just to pay off the debts to SD and to get to season ticket time. Even in that event SD will still control Retail anyway unless that also is bought out for even more moolah, given RR is now a separate company to all intents and purposes controlled by SD.

 

Even if Dave King wins the EGM, Id be quite surprised if his endgame isnt Admin at some point to try and rid him of the onerous contracts (if they havent been called in). That is if he can even stand as a director, we know the SFA will bow down as they always have, but the law in respect of Phoenix companies may not (and that would apply to Murray as well).

 

Theres talk of yet another share issue, that would need 75% shareholder approval, even if they lose the EGM the Ashley and Easdale group shareholdings can block that and the only choice then would be either King and the 3 Bears pour cash in or an insolvency event.

 

An insolvency event is still a possibility IMO, whatever happens at the EGM (if it takes place).

Edited February 18, 2015 by Toonpack

[Alex 30452]

And that's why TP loves football The beautiful game at its best.

[McFaul 35]

Offended, Oh I am sorry, do you ever read Bears Den btw ?

 

Anyway on the second point of other funding being available.

 

Based on the losses youre making and the fact there is no money in the bank, if someone calls in their loans that funding is going to need to be around £16/18 Million (my estimate- £10Mill to Sd plus around £2+Mill/month operating costs) just to pay off the debts to SD and to get to season ticket time. Even in that event SD will still control Retail anyway unless that also is bought out for even more moolah, given RR is now a separate company to all intents and purposes controlled by SD.

 

Even if Dave King wins the EGM, Id be quite surprised if his endgame isnt Admin at some point to try and rid him of the onerous contracts (if they havent been called in). That is if he can even stand as a director, we know the SFA will bow down as they always have, but the law in respect of Phoenix companies may not (and that would apply to Murray as well).

 

Theres talk of yet another share issue, that would need 75% shareholder approval, even if they lose the EGM the Ashley and Easdale group shareholdings can block that and the only choice then would be either King and the 3 Bears pour cash in or an insolvency event.

 

An insolvency event is still a possibility IMO, whatever happens at the EGM (if it takes place).

Few things more boring than Scottish football to watch. Nothing more boring than the financial politics of a club with more shit on their hands historically than muslims who don't use toilet roll.