When grown men are screaming like Violet Elizabeth Bott on PCP it’s tempting to jump to one position after another in the hope that you will be proven correct.
It’s at times like these where those of us hanging on every word printed or spoken about the club realise that we’d be way out of our depth playing poker with the likes of David Murray, Craig Whyte, Dave King or Alistair Johnston.
I doubt I’m alone in saying my head is frazzled with the mind-games I’ve been playing.
I have a few scenarios worked out in my head but I couldn't choose which one I think will happen.
1/ Craig Whyte takes over.
2/ We carry on as we are with the same bank and SDM owning most of the shares and we muddle through.
3/ A new buyer - perhaps Dave King swoops in at the last minute?
4/ No new buyer and the tax case goes heavily against us then I feel we will go straight into administration.
On Friday Alistair Johnston kicked in the doors of the Ibrox Lounge and gave the bank both barrels - he reloaded and then gave Donald Muir and David Murray a blast each.
The problem is that on Monday we all awoke to find that Lloyds are still our bankers and Sir David Murray is still the largest shareholder.
So what now?
Whoever is in charge this time next week has a problem on their hands. Well, lots of problems actually. I have no doubt that without the tax bill we can continue to trade and to play - the players might not be the standard we’ve been used to in the past but so long as punters cough up in reasonable numbers for their season tickets, etc, we’ll get by and challenge Timmy for the title.
The tax case? If we get hit for more than £10million then I reckon the club will go straight into administration. The figures just don’t add up. Embarrassing, but hardly fatal in the long-term.
Why choose administration rather than someone just pumping in more cash? You’d be pouring money down a black hole just to pay off the Revenue rather than into the club. You’d be better to stand back, see what the shape of the club is coming out of administration and put your cash in then.
Is administration the end of the world? No. It wouldn’t be easy but it would save the club long-term and allow you to trade, and play, while an arrangement was sorted out.
It’s complicated, but... The bank is, as I understand it, the only major preferred creditor. The Revenue do not get their paws on cash or other assets as of right at the head of the queue in the way they used to. So, by selling or leasing off this or that you can pay off some of the creditors, do a deal, and leave the Revenue whistling for it’s cash, or get them to cut a deal.
With the assets we have - you could do a sale and leaseback of both Ibrox and Murray Park.
Season ticket money - unlikely though it may seem to mere mortals like us - there are perfectly legal ways to ring-fence season ticket money and other income streams so that they aren’t immediately grabbed by the creditors. Do a search online for “pre-pack administration” - that gives you an idea of what can be done.
Some of the foregoing may be slightly inaccurate but that’s the general gist of it - I’ve sat in meetings and exchanged emails/phone calls with people for months on these and other subjects so although I’m no expert I’m confident we’ll survive even if it has to be on a bread and water diet.
A game of poker is now being played over the future of our club by rich and powerful men and we poor fans have no chance to influence them now. But whoever wins will need us on their side. It’s all to play for. Keep your chins up.