One hundred and twenty days after their first ever AGM, Sevco fans are waking up to the failings of chief executive Graham Wallace, who used to work for Manchester City.
Despite being duped by Craig Whyte, Charles Green, Imran Ahmad and Craig Mather the Ibrox support warmly welcomed the appointment of Wallace who was instantly referred to as Mr Wallace at every opportunity with a nod to his time at Manchester City as confirmation that he was the real deal.
The fact that Mr Wallace was unemployed before taking up his Sevco role was overlooked as was the issue of him living in London and commuting to Glasgow, no doubt on generous expenses seemed not to matter. The blow of Dundee’s Scott Gardiner turning down the job was compensated for by the fact that the new man used to work for Manchester City.
After a month at Ibrox and discovering the grim finances of the club Mr Wallace announced a 120 day review of the finances that seemed to instantly quell any concerns and crucially ‘bought’ Wallace time. Ally McCoist’s salary would be dealt with in the review with even conceptual discussions over pay cuts to the playing squad in January excused thanks to the review.
For further reassurance Mr Wallace brought in Philip Nash, who used to work for Liverpool, as a troubleshooter with Nash being given the same reverence as Mr Wallace thanks to a previous employer.
Why an 18 month old business with a £20m turnover needed so long to assess it’s finances never seemed to be an issue with many fans happy to ‘give Mr Wallace time’ believing that he was an independent hand on the tiller since there had been a break with the Green/Ahmad/Mather link.
Last night however a large penny seemed to drop with the latest fan group- the Union of Fans- finally waking up to the fact that Mr Wallace may just have bought himself four months in a bubble with his snout in the trough as their club heads for oblivion.
A statement from the fans group demanded: “We would therefore urge Graham Wallace to disclose publicly whether or not he has ended the bonus culture within the club or whether it has continued with new appointments.
“We do not feel that, under circumstances in which the club is losing large amounts of money on a monthly basis, shareholders should have to wait until the audited accounts are published to find this out.
“These accounts will not be available until near the end of the year.
“Can Mr Wallace, for instance, earn an annual 100 per cent bonus on his salary, which it has been said is in excess of £300,000 a year?
“In the past we have seen Charles Green double his salary with a 100 per cent bonus, while ex-financial director Brian Stockbridge was also awarded a £200,000 bonus to double his salary.
“Will Graham Wallace also be able to double his salary to more than £600,000 a year or has he ended that type of bonus culture within the Ibrox boardroom?
“If he wants to build trust then he should be happy to rule out that this type of culture is still ongoing.”
Earlier this week Sevco issued a statement that the results of the 120 day review will be published next Friday- 127 days after the AGM.
With the season ticket deadline falling on May 6 debate about the state of the club will be condensed with the majority of supporters likely to renew knowing that there is no real alternative.
While the UoF score points they have yet to release any details about the Trust fund for fans to pledge their season ticket money into, last week Mr King announced that Mr Gough would be one of the trustees of the trust.
Administration seems a certainty at Ibrox despite the promises of Mr Wallace in January that there will be no ‘Administration 2’.
With his mission likely to end in failure Mr Wallace will be dispersed with in the same manner as Mr Green and Mr Mather- comforted by a healthy pay off as the next chief executive is welcomed up the marble staircase promising transparency with a new broom as the season ticket money is counted up