Bidding Wars May Follow Boardroom Wars At Ibrox Wriiten |& Posted By Bill McMurdo The boardroom battles at Ibrox will no doubt soon be back to the fore as the crucial date of 13th September looms. If no resolution to the conflict is reached by this date then it looks like an AGM/EGM will have to be called. My understanding is that for various reasons none of the four people nominated to join the board may actually be appointed. Of the four, Sandy Easdale is the most likely to be appointed. I understand that the board would be happy with McColl and Blin but McColl is unwilling to commit. Murray and McClelland are considered to be too much of a backward step and to still be pursuing a TBK agenda. Sandy Easdale and the board have the backing of key shareholders such as Mike Ashley, Kieran Prior, Laxey and Legal & General. I also have it on good authority that Mike Ashley wants to buy more Rangers shares and may even seek ownership once he sells Newcastle. However, he may face competition from at least three other very interested buyers including Freddy Shepherd and his brother. This could easily spark a bidding war between the Shepherds and Mike Ashley. Word on the street is that Rangers is unlikely to be a PLC by the time the club reaches the SPFL top tier as there are many interested parties who would be looking for outright control and ownership. The recent boardroom battles are really investor battles so maybe one-man ownership is required to restore stability to Rangers. Sandy Easdale has been impressing investors and they see him as the strong leader and straight talker the club needs at present. He apparently even has Walter Smith’s backing. All of this is understood to be the case going into today’s board meeting so there will be few surprises if it all changes by the end of the day. The situation is so fluid and volatile that by the time you get a grasp on things, there are more twists and turns to factor in. What is exciting is that major financial players are looking at Rangers from a strategic point of view and seeing a club that is going places and likely to grow in value. Provided the club is managed the right way, the future is looking very bright, hence the interest from some big-hitters. What needs to be understood is that despite all the hot air coming from certain fan groups and spokesmen, along with a vicious propaganda campaign directed at the Rangers board, these matters are likely to be settled by the rival investors jockeying for control of the club. It may suit certain ringmasters to propagate the notion of Rangers being “our club” but ownership is not defined by sentiment or devotion. It comes down to shares. While some in the Rangers support are shareholders, until these shareholders constitute a much larger percentage of the overall holdings, Rangers’ future will be dictated by business factions not fan power. Those who think that running a forum, leading a fan group or writing a blog gives them the right to dictate to the boardroom at Ibrox need to learn an old lesson: Wishing doesn’t make it so. #Clark#
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 09:42:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015