The Scottish Football thread

[thirteenthghetto]

Danny was probably the best Australian player we have ever had

[Guest viperlike]

Freddie Dindleux was the best defender Killie ever had

[METALMAN]

He was a good man!

[thirteenthghetto]

Freddie Dindleux was the best defender Killie ever had

FREDDIE

Also, I deliver papers to Hooky (Garry Hay)'s mum!

[Lineker]

So Celtic are losing their game in hand in injury time 3-2 to Inverness.

EDIT: ....Aaaand they've lost.

Edited May 4, 2011 by Lineker

[Starvinho]

Lol Celtic, still expect Rangers to fuck it up though.

[thirteenthghetto]

Hugo Sanchez has apparently stated interest in the Kilmarnock job

And Killie are also apparently in a bidding war with Bayern Munich over Toni Vastic, an Austrian playing at Blackburn just now.

[METALMAN]

I saw that. I definitely want him! He'll probably be a massive failure but still...Hugo Sanchez!

[Lineker]

The Sky sauces are claiming that Craig Whyte expects to complete his takeover of Rangers tonight.

[Cadj]

[METALMAN]

topic subtitle duly edited

[Kaney]

Hahaha, Lennon is awesome.

[Lineker]

Craig Whyte's proposed takeover of Rangers will not be completed on Thursday evening.

Whyte arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday morning, hoping to conclude the deal.

But "technical issues" have arisen that have further delayed the completion of a takeover, which has already rumbled on for six months.

Those involved intend to work through the night in an attempt to resolve the issues, but for now the club remains in the hands of Sir David Murray.

Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston had told BBC Scotland on Thursday afternoon that he expected Whyte to complete his proposed takeover of the club within 24 hours.

Whyte has agreed terms with Murray to buy his 85% share in the club and to pay off Rangers' £22m debt were hoping to finalise the paperwork on Thursday.

Motherwell-born, London-based venture capitalist Whyte has been negotiating with Rangers since mid-November but has been in Scotland's capital in an attempt to finally conclude the deal.

Documents have been prepared that, once signed, will mean Murray's majority shareholding in the club will be sold to Whyte.

Rangers are then obliged to inform the Stock Exchange before the takeover is officially made public.

Meanwhile, Johnston, who confirmed that he is to stand down as chairman later this month, insisted he had no regrets about raising concerns over the deal.

He is part of an independent sub-committee of board members that questioned Whyte's long-term plans for the Ibrox club.

On 19 April, Johnston released a statement casting doubts about the level of investment coming from Whyte and asking for time to consider an alternative.

A week later, Johnston made something of a U-turn, saying: "The committee are now much closer to viewing Craig Whyte's bid as the right one for Rangers."

And now the committee, who only ever had limited powers to delay the deal, no longer stand in the way.

"A great deal of work has been done by the board and I'm very proud of that," said Johnston.

"I'm confident that the efforts of the board have improved the deal significantly for the benefit of the club.

"Our views will come out in the future and I'm comfortable with that, but I don't want to stand in the way of progress.

"I will resign as intended on 16 May but will be working hard until then to make sure Rangers secure the SPL title.

"After that, I will go back to being the club's number one fan."

One of Whyte's early promises was to provide £25m over five seasons towards strengthening the playing squad.

But a source close to the negotiations told BBC Scotland in early April that the businessman had decided to make available "significantly more" than the average sum of £5m-a-season to Ally McCoist when he succeeds current manager Walter Smith at the start of next term.

The terms of the proposed takeover will see Murray receive £6m, the amount he paid to take over at Ibrox in 1988.

lol, technical issues. Will this ever be resolved!

[Lineker]

Apparently it finally has been.

Craig Whyte has completed his takeover of Rangers for £1 but amid continuing concerns by board members about his ability to invest sufficient funds.

The venture capitalist acquired Sir David Murray's 85.3% shareholding in the Scottish champions, replacing the 59-year-old as majority shareholder.

Approval by the Takeover Panel ended negotiations that began in November.

As Rangers issued a statement voicing their own doubts, Whyte expressed delight at a deal valued at £52.5m.

"As a keen Rangers supporter, I now look forward to helping the club secure its future as a leading force in Scottish and European football," said the 40-year-old Motherwell-born businessman.

"I know the club has gone through some difficult spells in recent times, but it is my commitment to the manager, his backroom team, the players and, most importantly, the loyal supporters that I will do all I can to ensure further success in the weeks, months and years to come."

Whyte arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday morning hoping to conclude the purchase of the shares from Murray, who paid £6m to take over the Glasgow club in 1988.

Now ownership has been transferred to Whyte via Wavetower, a newly-incorporated company formed for the purpose acquiring the club from Murray International Holdings and which is 100% owned by Liberty Capital - itself ultimately owned by the London-based businessman.

MIH stresses that it was only willing to sell having gained assurances from Whyte about investment, including an immediate £5m injection for Ally McCoist, who will take over as manager in the summer, plus money to improve the state of Ibrox Stadium.

A further £20m had been promised over four years as well as a guarantee to settle the club's debt with Lloyds Banking Group in a deal Murray thinks is good for the club.

At the outset of talks, it appeared that the former chairman would recoup around £4.5m from the takeover.

However, when a £2.8m tax bill was made public in Rangers' half-yearly accounts, the deal was renegotiated and he agreed that it would come from his share.

Murray waved the remainder of the sum due, with Whyte agreeing to invest that sum into the club.

"The guiding principle from the outset has been to get the right deal for Rangers," said Whyte.

"I know the time this has taken has created a lot of frustration, but it was vital we secured a deal that meant we could maximise investment in the team and that is what has been achieved.

"I would like to personally thank Sir David Murray for the way in which he has conducted his side of this difficult and complex negotiation as well for the devoted service he has given to Rangers over many years.

"His is a great legacy of which he can be proud."

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, Wavetower had pointed out that, by buying the controlling interest for £1, the Takeover Panel had given it dispensation from making a cash offer to all other shareholders of the club.

"Wavetower intends to post a circular to the club's shareholders by 16 May 2011 containing background information on Wavetower and other relevant information," it said.

However, the independent board committee - set up to examine the bid and consisting of chairman Alastair Johnston, chief executive Martin Bain, former chairman John McClelland, John Greig and Donald McIntyre - issued its own statement voicing concerns.

In particular, they appear yet to be convinced about Whyte's ability to meet any financial sanctions imposed by HM Revenue and Customs over an outstanding tax investigation.

"In agreeing that no offer should be made to all shareholders, the IBC has insisted that the acquirer issues a document to all shareholders setting out the full terms of the transaction, comprehensive details on the acquirer and the sources of its funding and giving firm commitments to agreed future investment in the club," said the committee.

"In recent weeks, the IBC has been engaged with the acquirer and has secured an enhanced financial commitment from Wavetower for future investment into the club.

"The decision on the sale and purchase of the majority shareholding in the club firmly and ultimately rests between Murray MHL Limited and Lloyds Banking Group.

"Although the IBC has no power to block the transaction, following its enquiries, the IBC and Wavetower have differing views on the future revenue generation and cash requirements of the club and the IBC is concerned about a lack of clarity on how future cash requirements would be met, particularly any liability arising from the outstanding HMRC case."

Johnston had confirmed earlier this week that he will stand down as chairman on 16 May, while Michael McGill and Donald Muir have resigned immediately from the board.

Whyte has announced his first appointment to the board as Phil Betts, a 48-year-old businessman with expertise in refinancing and restructuring companies.

Thoughts? Hopefully now that Ranger's have a budget, they can compete on a more level playing field with Celtic - although saying that Celtic seem intent on shooting themselves in the foot as much as possible.

This is assuming that he actually HAS the funds.

[Cadj]

Same as it always is.

Hope they go out of business

[METALMAN]

Does that mean we are FINALLY rid of David Murray?

[Cadj]

And we're finally in Europe!

Now to get knocked out by some no-name team in July/August.

[Cadj]

Can't wait to see how heavy the fine is for Hearts after tonight.

Predicting a large fine and wouldn't be shocked to see the SFA try a points deduction.

Scottish football is shite, honestly considering just giving up on football in this country.

[Lineker]

That was shocking. The guy who attacked Lennon could have had anything in his hands. Wouldn't be suprised to see Lennon pack it in after Sunday now, to be honest.

[Kaney]

How disgraceful and embarassing is scottish football? Seriously, its beyond ridiculous at this stage that someone should even attempt to attack a manager.

Predicting a large fine and wouldn't be shocked to see the SFA try a points deduction.

They could forget the fine and just give us a few extra points if they want