The mainstream media has started to question Craig Whyte’s role at Ibrox with the Daily Record comparing his funding plans to the schemes that brought relegation and financial meltdown to Newcastle United and Leeds United.
A month after buying the club for £1 Whyte has still to sign a single player despite grand plans and promises of warchests of upto £12m for Ally McCoist to spend.
Securing the futures of three players entering the final year of their contracts is one of McCoist’s priorities but Steven Whittaker’s agent Ken Anderson has revealed that new contract talks have yet to start.
Madjid Bougherra and Steven Davis are also 12 months away from the end of their contracts with the Algerian angling strongly to get away from Ibrox.
Whyte’s wealth has gradually been downgraded from billionairre to multi-millionaire to businessman with no visible signs of wealth or examples of his apparent turnaround skills with ailing companies.
The first signs that mainstream media were seeing through Whyte’s soundbites came with the release last Monday of his document to the 15% of independent shareholders.
“Whyte open about threat of insolvency at Rangers’ was the headline in the Herald as the new Rangers owner mentioned in print the consequences to the club of losing their ongoing case with HMRC.
“The possibility that Rangers could fall into insolvency if it loses an ongoing tax case with HM Revenue and Customs is highlighted in documents which reveal the terms of Craig Whyte’s purchase of the club.
“Whyte, Rangers’ new majority shareholder, has moved to safeguard his own financial position should the club become insolvent.”
The takeover document was followed up by the steady release of likely transfer targets which included Danny Wilson and Carlos Cuellar.
Resigning the Spaniard who trebled his wages by going to Aston Villa and who is a year away from a Bosman back to Spain seems very unlikely with McCoist admitting as much to Saturday’s Herald.
“Carlos hasn’t played much this season at Villa,” said McCoist. “We’re hoping that he’ll be realistic about his wages and want to get back playing regularly again, and obviously that’s what we can offer him. But if some of the wages quoted for him are accurate there’s no way we can compete and our interest would end there and then.”
Since buying out Sir David Murray Whyte has refused to hold a media conference giving rise to suspicions over his motives.
The handover from Walter Smith to the media friendly McCoist was also carried out without fanfare with Rangers still to publicise where they will be going for pre-season training.
McCoist is scheduled to meet Whyte today with the Record setting the scene by laying out their concerns over the lack of information coming out of Ibrox.
The newspaper states: “Record Sport has been alerted to a Companies House document in the names of Whyte and his newly-appointed right-hand man in the boardroom, Phil Betts. This has raised concerns among prominent supporters at Ibrox.
“The paperwork was lodged on May 26, just days after a night of the long knives that saw chief executive Martin Bain suspended and former chairman Alistair Johnston booted off the board.
“And there are growing fears Rangers could be run along similar lines to the business models which forced English giants Leeds and Newcastle to the brink of financial ruin.
“Analysts say the document – called an MG50 – could signal Whyte’s intent to mortgage off the next four years’ worth of season-ticket money as a security against some form of loan.
“It was this kind of high-risk scheme which was blamed for the crisis that saw Leeds plummet into the third tier of English football and almost forced them out of business.”
With the focus now firmly on Whyte he’ll have to come up with some sharp answers or more questions will be getting raised about his takeover of Rangers and how he plans to move the club on with the gorilla, as former chairman Al Johnston put it, of a tax bill that could reach £60m lurking in the room.
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WOW! DR finally catching up with Phil Mac, Rangers Tax Case and the well informed Celtic support.
What next Mr Jackson running down Buchanan street naked shouting “the end is nigh” ?
The “craig whyte” is about to hit the fan.
why is this site so obsessed with the huns??
Its not about what they do, Its all about us
Begone the hunnish hordes.
Just begone
That’s why we,re PARANOID.
I’M NOT REMOTELY FINANCIALLY ASTUTE…WOULDN’T KNOW A SPREAD-SHEET FROM A BED-SHEET…BUT…..
SOMETHING AIN’T RIGHT HERE…..
FOR THE DAILY RECORD TO EVEN RAISE THIS SUBJECT, IS , IN ITSELF, TANTAMOUNT TO TREASON….
OR IS IT BEING BRIEFED FROM A FORMER REGIME ??
WHY ISN’T MR. WHYTE MEETING THE PRESS AND TRUMPETING HIS TAKEOVER??
I CAN ONLY HOPE THREY ARE IN THE MERDE.
TO ALL RANGERS SUPPORTERS: Hope for that asteroid to hit, I see catastrophe on the horizon for you. Bittersweet it may well be for us in the end without you to worry about but the footballing world is a better place without scum like you…all of you.