Paul Murray has returned to the blue room empty handed after an ‘amicable’ meeting with Sports Direct.
The quietly spoken border banker had waited six weeks to get a meeting with the sportswear giant that has almost all of the profitable income streams around Sevco secured.
Rubbing salt into Mr Murray’s wounds Sports Direct launched next season’s kit on the day he finally got to meet Mike Ashley’s representatives.
Murray swept to power on a ticket of transparency and accountability at the March 6 EGM but after meeting with Sports Direct has yet to comment on how the talks went.
Confirming that the company remains in the grip of Sports Direct the influential fans group Sons of Struth have recommended that supporters continue to avoid buying club merchandise- even though the terms of the contract mean that the club has to pay Rangers Retail for any shortfall in sales.
A Sons of Struth statement said: “The current deal is obviously, from latest accounts, not in the best interest of the club and SoS are happy to accept the current directors will attempt to gain a better deal for our club during these discussions.
“We understand fans have lost trust with Ashley, his appointed directors and Sport Direct and we would recommend a new deal which is fairer to Rangers as this would go some way to restore sales to a normal level and be mutually beneficial.
“We fully understand the need for our partners to make profit from such arrangements, however, we do not feel that the current arrangement is fair. Fairness is the least we should accept from a business partnership that can potentially be fruitful for the other party.
“With the obvious ongoing discussions we would ask fans to consider holding off any kit purchases until the talks are concluded and we will then be in a better position to judge if the agreement is in fact a fair deal for our club.”
After six weeks at the top of the marble staircase Mr Murray is still looking for a way out of the contracts the club has with Sports Direct.
While Mr Ashley could send the house of cards tumbling by recalling his £5m loan it’s believed that the billionaire has no immediate intention of calling in the loan- leaving the current board to find a way out of their £12m a year losses.