Donald Findlay tore a strip off a tranche of real Rangers men at the Craig Whyte trial today.
The former Ibrox vice chairman is defending the former billionaire and hasn’t missed any opportunity to trash the reputation of the directors and successors he left behind at Ibrox.
For the best part of a decade David Murray was trying to sell the troubled club with no presentable offers being made.
Alastair Johnston,.Paul Murray and Dave King all enjoyed the blazer, expenses and kudos associated with the club but shied away from the difficult decisions or offering an alternative to the unsustainable madness of the David Murray era.
With the wee tax case coming home to roost and EBT spending on the increase it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst with the financial crisis of 2008 changing the landscape.
Lloyds Bank took over the Rangers (IL) account from HBoS with none of the Ibrox board members able to come up with a plan that avoided liquidation.
Questioning David Horne, a lawyer with the Murray Group, Findlay went to town.
Findlay suggests Johnson would know buying more players when in debt was “a potentially catastrophic plan”
Horne Yes— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Findlay Wasn’t the board being run by Johnson on “an almost fantasy view.. “The bank was to blame for lending Rangers money?”
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Findlay Did Johnson adopt the view the tax case was the responsibility? of Murray not the club?
Horne “He may have when he became chairman”— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Findlay “There was a man named Paul Murray who came up with a splendid plan, the bank wouldn’t want it’s money back’
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Horne agrees he was on the board
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Findlay Johnson and Murray “didn’t have a clue…Mr King had his own issues..How was Murray letting these people run his football club?”
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Horne “They were big Rangers guys, they seemed to fit the the bill”
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Findlay says Mr Johnson “probably illegally” increased the salary of the chief executive
Horne “I don’t know why Alistair did that’
1/2— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
“They didn’t know what they were doing?”
Horne “Not strictly fair..had good skillset, not equipped for the financial crisis”— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Findlay “Not equipped for the challenges they faced,”
Horne says a lot of companies were at that time— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Adds “They wanted the best for the club, had to face up to the reality of financial constraints they never had to face before”
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
Adds The Bain pay rise was “Crazy”
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) May 25, 2017
xxx