Mark McGhee has become the first manager to hit out at the tax cheating years that Scottish football suffered due to Rangers (IL) use of EBT’s.
The Scotland assistant manager is back at Motherwell having previously been in charge at Fir Park in the 2007/2008 season.
Motherwell finished that campaign in third place, missing out on a Champions League qualifying place to the Ibrox side that were stashing millions away in ‘tax free’ Employment Benefit Trusts.
While McGhee’s journeymen lost over 40% of their salary to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs through income tax and national insurance the majority of Walter Smith’s squad were by-passing their national duty.
Looking back at that season McGhee admitted: “When I was here first time around we finished third – and we probably should have been second, given what we’ve learned since about Rangers and their methods.
“I feel as though we might have finished second, never mind third, but the rest of us are trying to stay up – that’s what we’re here for.
“At the end of the day, it’s straightforward. We get bonuses and I get a better bonus in my contract for finishing second than I do for finishing third.
“That season I only got the bonus for finishing third and I feel hard done by.
As well as missing out on finishing second Motherwell lost out on a winnable Champions League qualifier against Kaunus which could have transformed the club for years to come.
Joining Celtic in the group phase of the Champions League or even a place in the Europa League would have given Motherwell’s finances an incredible boost.
Instead, after losing David Clarkson, Paul Quinn, Stephen Hughes, Brian McLean and Graeme Smith due to paying tax on their income Motherwell slumped to seventh in the SPL in season 2008/09 missing out on fixtures against Celtic, Rangers (IL) Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United after the split.
The first sign of tax problems at Ibrox emerged in July 2007 when City of London police raided Ibrox to take away computers as they investigated issues between the Ibrox club, Newcastle and Portsmouth.
Unconnected to that raid papers were discovered relating to the Discount Option Scheme used to pay Tore Andre Flo and Ronald de Boer as well as the side letters for dozens of EBT’s.
From the signing of De Boer from Barcelona in 2000 through to 2011 every club in Scotland was playing against a club with an unfair sporting advantage due to the tax scheme used by David Murray and concealed from the SPL and SFA by Campbell Ogilvie and Andrew Dickson.
In 2011 Craig Whyte disposed of EBT payments going for the more orthodox tactic of not paying national insurance and income tax to put a competitive team on the park against tax paying opponents.
Well said Mark ….cant let this MOB get away with it.
That’ll get the outraged mob howling. Perhaps the imminent arrival of John Eustace will sooth them. Any more news on that yet Joe?
Patience is a virtue, talks are going well, the original one year contract is now a six month deal, an Ibrox source suggested strongly that it could be completed in the next 45 hours, down from his previous call of 48, be afraid.
Instead of highlighting the tax dodging going on at the old Co, thus denying revenue to be used throughout Scotland, we get MSP’s highlighting the fact that as well as thousands of other companies, Celtic, pay above the national minimum wage instead of the new living wage. James Kelly purports to be a Celtic fan, don’t put the boot into us , put the boot into oldco then continue on newco. The SMSM sure won’t do anything, they’re hoping it all goes away, using any negative press to keep us in the spotlight, deflect and deceive long enough they’ll succeed.
When you think that ‘Well escaped liquidation but went through admin makes this all the more pertinent. The idea that they didn’t get a sporting advantage is a joke, the sooner more Scots gaffers come out with their anger the better. Remember 2012? We were silent, Killie were paid off and the rest of us were United. Time for that again.
Does anyone know whats happening with this are the SPL blazers punishing this mob justice has to be done here
Aye, a stern talking to is imminent …
Well said Mark, more clubs need to understand the damage oldco did, and indeed sevco are doing right now. Only with the authorities (brotherhood ) here could this actually happen !
HH
Careful Mark
your bosses at the SFA won’t be happy with an employee going off message.
Not to worry, tomorrow’s Redtops will be full of headline negatives from the Celtic AGM.
They really do think we zip up the back.
We are visited with the lowest of the low in our media. From plagiarism, outright lies, sending copy to SDM, Whyte, Green, King for their ok.
Their desperation to keep some form of Rangers alive and therefore keep their jobs hits you in the face.
No matter, their papers are dying slowly day by day as their readership sinks, soon it will be off the radar.
It’s difficult to understand a redtop owner/editor that persists in printing garbage, Dick Gough and Alex Mooney being the latest to step up to the plate and moralise on EBT’S and sectarianism.
The Daily Radar must be losing money on a weekly basis. Their readership has not just fallen it’s crashed through the floor, never to recover.
Bye, bye you won’t be missed, shut the door on the way out.
Anyone hear the phone in on Radio Snyde last night?
The only thing that is keeping such rags as the Daily Rancid going is the funds it receives from the Orange Lodge and MI5 –
No? – think again!
its simple as this…Rangers signed players they could not afford,there for without these players…would they have been as succesful?… i think not..they held a sporting advantage and they knew it…that means if you know it YOU ARE CHEATING.