Generic Sevco / Rangers meltdown thread

[Caversham Green]

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From BBC gossip..

Jean-Alain Boumsong reveals he almost quit Rangers when he discovered that he would be paid in part through an employee benefit trust, but he says he would be happy to come back to the club on a cut-price deal. (Various)

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/footbal...6908-23897491/

Pretty much wraps up the SPL's investigation for them.

[hibs0666]

Looks like Monday 2 July will be SPL d-day...

d-day looms

[CropleyWasGod]

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Considering Hearts used EBTs and if investigated may have more misdemeanours it makes quite a lot of sense...

They're thinking 'we're next'

Did they?

Hearts are indeed under HMRC investigation, but there is no confirmation that it's about EBTs.

[lapsedhibee]

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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/footbal...6908-23897491/

Pretty much wraps up the SPL's investigation for them.

"HE had never heard of an EBT until the day he signed for RFC. But now those six little letters will live with Jean-Alain Boumsong for the rest of his days.

The Frenchman has watched on from afar with utter astonishment as Rangers have unravelled over the past six months and last week’s liquidation of the old company has hit him so hard he feels somehow compelled to return to Scotland to do what he can to assist in efforts to save Ibrox from oblivion.

He may have only spent six months in Glasgow – and that was some eight years ago now.

But even so he insists in that short time he felt a bond with the club the likes of which he has never experienced before or after.

Which is perhaps why, even now, he still feels uncomfortable at the very mention of the tax avoidance scheme from which it is claimed he benefited to the tune of around £630,000.

Something about that offshore payment plan just never sat easily with Boumsong. So much so, in fact, that for the first time he has revealed he gave serious thought to pulling the plug on his free transfer to the club on the day he arrived in Glasgow to sign his name on the dotted line.

Eventually he was persuaded by accountants there was nothing illegal about the structure of the contract which would make him a wealthy man and a Rangers player.

But Boumsong smelled a rat back then. And it’s rankled with him ever since.

In an interview with Record Sport here at Euro 2012 he said: “My salary was normally paid but there was a trust. I was not comfortable with that to be honest. I didn’t know anything about it until the day I was going to sign.



“When I discovered it I first refused to sign the contract and said, ‘What is this?’

“I didn’t want to sign because it seemed strange, we don’t have that kind of payment in France and I didn’t know anything about it. When I left Rangers, for example, to sign for Newcastle, it was for a normal contract with normal payment.

“But the day I was signing for Rangers I was told it was legal.

“As players we don’t know the law but my advisers said, ‘It’s okay, you can sign it. It’s legal’.

“I wouldn’t have signed otherwise, no way. If I thought it was wrong legally I wouldn’t have gone. It’s important to be able to sleep at night without any fear of being chased by the tax office.”

If only those running Rangers had been just as scrupulous or even shared some of Boumsong’s reservations, then the club may have been spared from at least a proportion of its ongoing crisis.

EBTs may not have been the cause of their undoing – that one rests with Sir David Murray’s decision to hand the keys to Craig Whyte – but they did leave a huge tax liability hanging over Ibrox and those potential losses led to Lloyds Bank leaning heavily on Murray to sell up in the first place.

The finer details of how Rangers got into such a mess are all a little lost on Boumsong who was off to Newcastle in an £8m move after only six months into that lucrative five-year deal.

He has since spent time at Juventus and Lyon and is currently looking for an escape from stricken Greek outfit Panathinaikos who are experiencing a financial meltdown of their own.

There is for him though a very bitter sense of irony in all of this. He says he would gladly return to Rangers tomorrow, especially if he can help in Walter Smith’s attempts to stabilise the club.

He would be willing to do so for around half of the wages he might earn himself elsewhere. All he would ask for in return is a stake in the future of the new Rangers company.

He insists such a deal would not be about money. And there’s the irony right there. Because Boumsong insists the chance to make a quick buck was not the reason he chose Rangers in the first place.

Which is why he still can’t get his head around why the club was willing to take any kind of risks over his contract.

He said: “Believe me, I could have gone to other clubs for more money. I was a free agent at the time and sometimes it is not about money. I wanted to go there because they believed in me and they wanted me.

“They wanted to build a team with me a big part of it so I decided to go. They trusted me and I trusted them so I signed.”

Now, eight years on, Boumsong would relish the opportunity to do it all over again.

He’s been stuck in Athens without any wages at all for most of last season, just one of the millions of victims of the economic disaster which threatens to bring all of Greece down. And now he would choose to return to Ibrox?

The words “frying pan” and “fire” spring instantly to mind.

But if the club can successfully overturn the disputed transfer embargo which was imposed as a punishment for Whyte’s shamed regime then Boumsong will be there, standing at the front of the queue, ready and willing to help.

He insists it’s all down to a sense of duty or an inner calling.

But most of all though he says he just wants to help clean up a mess that was made by others

He said: “I don’t know too much about what’s happened. Of course, I watch it on TV but I don’t know exactly what’s going on there.

“I hear there is a chance they could be forced to play in the Third Division and that would be a disaster. What would happen to the Scottish League without Rangers? That would be a real shame and to be honest I can’t believe it. It’s incredible.

“I know the other clubs need to complain because they don’t think what’s happened is fair but maybe they will find an agreement because they know how important Rangers are.

“The lesson we have to take from this is that financial fair play must happen. Every single club must now control their finances. But I am quite surprised Rangers didn’t use the money they had better than they did. I mean, they paid big wages, but I’m surprised they weren’t better at business.

“They sold the right-back, Alan Hutton, for £9m. When I left it was for a big transfer worth £8m and I cost the club nothing.

“Sure, they’ve had to pay out wages so it’s not as though you can add £8m and £9m together and ask where the money is now. But you still ask yourself how can this happen to a club like Rangers?

“I still have strong feelings for the club. It doesn’t depend on how long you spend at a club to feel part of it. I had some of my best moments in football at Rangers really.

“I was happy there, my family was happy, and if I had the opportunity to go back I’d go, even now.”

[blackpoolhibs]

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Looks like Monday 2 July will be SPL d-day...

d-day looms

Absolutely ridiculous. the rules are already in place, we know exactly what should happen but we have to wait even longer? Do these clowns not know their own rules?

Also Dundee should now be preparing for next season in the SPL, but the SPL big wigs are hindering their preparation for the coming season, without giving a toss about them.

The rules are already written, all you clowns have to do is apply them.

[down-the-slope]

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Whooops...

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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/footbal...6908-23897491/

Pretty much wraps up the SPL's investigation for them.

Maybe if they had realised how thick the average footballer is they could have just asked a few former player at the begining and saved a lot of time....

Unless we are giving too little credit to players and they think that Sevco 5088 will avoid the sins of its previous incarnations...so they can now talk about it..

I'm sure Hector is noting with interest however

[CropleyWasGod]

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Absolutely ridiculous. the rules are already in place, we know exactly what should happen but we have to wait even longer? Do these clowns not know their own rules?

Also Dundee should now be preparing for next season in the SPL, but the SPL big wigs are hindering their preparation for the coming season, without giving a toss about them.

The rules are already written, all you clowns have to do is apply them.

The rules say that there's a 14-day notice period, so that rule is being applied.

As for the application itself, it will be considered on its merits, which is also in the rules.

[Caversham Green]

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Maybe if they had realised how thick the average footballer is they could have just asked a few former player at the begining and saved a lot of time....

Unless we are giving too little credit to players and they think that Sevco 5088 will avoid the sins of its previous incarnations...so they can now talk about it..

I'm sure Hector is noting with interest however

It crossed my mind that one way Hector could go after the employees is if he could show that the EBT arrangement was contrived with the employees' full knowledge - i.e. they knew it was illegal but went ahead with it anyway. Maybe Dodds, Ogilvie and Boumsong have been advised to go public with an 'I was duped' stance.

[SurferRosa]

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Absolutely ridiculous. the rules are already in place, we know exactly what should happen but we have to wait even longer? Do these clowns not know their own rules?

Also Dundee should now be preparing for next season in the SPL, but the SPL big wigs are hindering their preparation for the coming season, without giving a toss about them.

The rules are already written, all you clowns have to do is apply them.

Yep.

The critreria is laid out. The rules are clear. SevCo DONT meet them.

There is no need for a vote to be taken by anyone. They dont get in. They should be applying for whatever league will have them, NOT the SPL.

[StevieC]

From the Record ..

"EBTs may not have been the cause of their undoing – that one rests with Sir David Murray’s decision to hand the keys to Craig Whyte"

Seriously????

Does SDM still have the media eating out of his hand, even now the HMRC are talking about hauling him to court for £6.3m in EBT payments?

These papers are unbelievable.

[blackpoolhibs]

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The rules say that there's a 14-day notice period, so that rule is being applied.

As for the application itself, it will be considered on its merits, which is also in the rules.

I dont understand CWG, a 14 day notice period for what? I thought there is no rangers anymore, and the new rangers do not fill ANY of the criteria any new club needs to apply to any of the Scottish leagues?

There's also no rule for any new club to apply to join the top league, any new club can apply to join, but must apply to join at the bottom?????

Surely thats enough to apply the rules now, and Dundee should be preparing for life in the SPL today?

[CropleyWasGod]

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I dont understand CWG, a 14 day notice period for what? I thought there is no rangers anymore, and the new rangers do not fill ANY of the criteria any new club needs to apply to any of the Scottish leagues?

There's also no rule for any new club to apply to join the top league, any new club can apply to join, but must apply to join at the bottom?????

Surely thats enough to apply the rules now, and Dundee should be preparing for life in the SPL today?

The meeting to consider the application has to have 14 days notice.....like any meeting, the notice period is intended to give people the chance to make their own arrangements to attend that meeting. That's just normal practice in any organisation.

As I understand it, the last SPL meeting decided to amend their rules to consider "any" new application. This is such an application. It's irrelevant what we think on here, or what the rules appear to be, that application will have to be considered by that meeting.

[greenginger]

I may have missed it but has an explanation been given as to why the majority in favour of transferring the Dead Hun SPL share to the New Hun Club is to be 8:4 in favour at the meeting ?

Rule 38 of the SPL Articles of Association the allotment of a share requires 83% or 10:2 in favour to be passed.

[blackpoolhibs]

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The meeting to consider the application has to have 14 days notice.....like any meeting, the notice period is intended to give people the chance to make their own arrangements to attend that meeting. That's just normal practice in any organisation.

As I understand it, the last SPL meeting decided to amend their rules to consider "any" new application. This is such an application. It's irrelevant what we think on here, or what the rules appear to be, that application will have to be considered by that meeting.

Amazing

[CropleyWasGod]

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I may have missed it but has an explanation been given as to why the majority in favour of transferring the Dead Hun SPL share to the New Hun Club is to be 8:4 in favour at the meeting ?

Rule 38 of the SPL Articles of Association the allotment of a share requires 83% or 10:2 in favour to be passed.

I think that was decided by the clubs at the last meeting, or the one before that.

[CropleyWasGod]

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Amazing

This has to be done by the book, otherwise the Huns will go screaming off to the Courts again.

[StevieC]

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Rule 38 of the SPL Articles of Association the allotment of a share requires 83% or 10:2 in favour to be passed.

That's interesting.

Also ..
this is a vote for transfer of share .. not for entry to SPL .. dead-hun could be relegated/suspended/expelled by that time based on pending EBT/Dual Contract/Appellant Tribunal/Court of Session punishments.

Personally I'd suspend deadhun for a year at appellate tribunal (following CoS decision to overturn transfer embargo), relegate for dual contracts and strip them of trophies collected during EBT years.

Lets see if Green/Smith/whoever still wants their SPL share after that little lot is bundled in with it!

[portyfelly]

Jim McColl will submit a £6m offer to buy Rangers on Monday from Charles Green and his consortium. (The Herald)

There is money in the muck.

[joe breezy]

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Did they?

Hearts are indeed under HMRC investigation, but there is no confirmation that it's about EBTs.

No there's no confirmation, just as there was no confirmation Rangers were doing anything wrong 2 years ago

It is mere conjecture

[Robinho08]

I wonder where they dug that story up from?

[MSK]

Jezzo ..firstly someone wi sticky fingers ..now somebody wi green fingers ..

[Phil D. Rolls]

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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/footbal...6908-23897491/

Pretty much wraps up the SPL's investigation for them.

I see the record is still using its "big boy did it and ran away" approach.

[johnrebus]

Rangers should already be dead and buried.

The fact that they are not leads me to believe that by whatever means, they will be playing in the SPL next season.


It is the whole game in this country that is about to die.

[CropleyWasGod]

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Rangers should already be dead and buried.

The fact that they are not leads me to believe that by whatever means, they will be playing in the SPL next season.


It is the whole game in this country that is about to die.

Courage, mon brave.

If they are to be killed off, it has to be done the right way. Process and procedures p us all off, but they have to be gone through.

[TrickyNicky]

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Courage, mon brave.

If they are to be killed off, it has to be done the right way. Process and procedures p us all off, but they have to be gone through.

Ooh, staop it Croppers, you just gave me a wee Duff and Phelps in mah troosers man !!

[CropleyWasGod]

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Ooh, staop it Croppers, you just gave me a wee Duff and Phelps in mah troosers man !!

Um.... glad to be of service.... I think....

[bythecringe]

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Courage, mon brave.

If they are to be killed off, it has to be done the right way. Process and procedures p us all off, but they have to be gone through.

Lets say BDO forensic investigation finds that there was a strategy in place to evade taxes via EBTs and then to evade their payment plus penalties once rumbled by going into administration and resurrecting as a newco. That would seem to be fraud, but what impact would it have on newco's status?

[CropleyWasGod]

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Lets say BDO forensic investigation finds that there was a strategy in place to evade taxes via EBTs and then to evade their payment plus penalties once rumbled by going into administration and resurrecting as a newco. That would seem to be fraud, but what impact would it have on newco's status?

That would be fraud on the part of the old owners, for sure. However, unless it could be proven that the new owners were part of the strategy, I can't see that anything could be attached to them.

The worst that could happen, IMO, would be that the sale could be reversed, on the grounds that creditors had been defrauded. However, given the length of time that would have elapsed between the sale and BDO's conclusion in your scenario, I would think that very unlikely.

[TrickyNicky]

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Um.... glad to be of service.... I think....

It was a cold blooded financial assassins words, whispered to The Huns as the final bullet leaves the chamber!





"Courage, mon brave.

If they are to be killed off, it has to be done the right way. Process and procedures p us all off, but they have to be gone through".... courtesy of CWG

[cocopops1875]

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I dont understand CWG, a 14 day notice period for what? I thought there is no rangers anymore, and the new rangers do not fill ANY of the criteria any new club needs to apply to any of the Scottish leagues?

There's also no rule for any new club to apply to join the top league, any new club can apply to join, but must apply to join at the bottom?????

Surely thats enough to apply the rules now, and Dundee should be preparing for life in the SPL today?

Just on this could the likes of Spartans who have applied before for an SFL Place not apply for any available space ?