Hopefully this makes to twitter properly this time Here are the answers from Paul Murray on his SoS Q&A session Do you foresee Frank Blin joining the rangers board should you gain power? I have huge respect for Frank Blin. For various reasons he decided to withdraw from the process. I would like to think that if we achieve a stable, competent Board then we can have a further conversation with him about a role. Who are the individuals hiding behind the corporate unknowns that are BPH and Margarita? I dont know who the beneficial shareholders behind Blue Pitch and Margarita are. If the Board wish to rebuild trust with the supporters then they should disclose this information asap. If they will not then you have to ask why? What do they have to hide? What guarantees can he give the support that we will have sustainable spending & what level of income does he foresee should the requisitioners be voted in ? First of all we have to maximise all revenue streams open to the Club. This will be the job of an experienced and capable CEO supported by the Board. We then have to balance our costs. We all want to be the most successful Club in Scotland but we must do it on a sustainable basis. It is not rocket science. During my 4 years on the Board previously we reduced the debt from £35m to £16m whilst winning 3 successive SPL championships. We did that by running the Club on a break-even basis based on domestic revenues with any European income being used as an investment fund to pay down debt or invest. There is no reason why that cannot be done again but we need a top class executive management team to achieve that. What has happened to Allistair Johnston will he be back on board. Again I have huge respect for AJ. I speak with him quite often but there are no plans to bring him back on to the Board. Most fans will agree the current squad is far too big and the wage budget is excessive, how does he plan to address this? It is a balance. We have to run a tight ship but we also have to invest so that we are ready for the SPL as and when we get there. I think we also have to be smarter where we spend our money eg we have allowed our scouting network to disintegrate. One of our plans is to invest to restore an effective scouting network How many new directors and what are their business background We have proposed 4 new non-executive directors. I have financial and investment skills. Malcolm Murray has extensive City connections. Scott Murdoch has property skills and Alex Wilson can help us rebuild the organisation structure of the Club which has been allowed to wither. More importantly we will look to appoint a top class CEO and CFO and we have candidates identified and ready to go. Do you think the banner protests are a good way to keep pressure on the board and should we keep them up until the AGM I think protests are fine as long as they are peaceful. We live in a democracy and it is entirely appropriate for people to express their views. Will he make sure Stockbridge and his cohorts have no links whatsoever to rangers using other rangers linked companies i.e GARRION security and rangers retail,rangers media etc as Stockbridge is still a shareholder in these companies right now and benefits personally We will have a policy that no Board members have financial interests in any Club contracts or other conflicts of interests. Does he plan to introduce a self imposed wage cap in line with turnover ratio? Almost all fans will agree the current wage bill is far too high, how does he intend address this See my previous answer on revenues and costs. I dont think a blanket cap is necessarily the right approach but clearly you have to balance the books. Will Paul Murray and co stop paying out bonuses to board members regards results on the park All Board members should have their remuneration bench-marked. In line with every other business I have ever been involved with any bonuses should only be paid for performance against sensible measures. Michael Grover Mr Murray you dont know me but you know of me.I sit in my seat in Copland Rear every home game where as a boy and through my youth stood supporting my team. I have responded to every Clarion Callto assist my club and have done to the best of my ability. As you probably realise I am not a young man and Rangers has been a big part of my life. The last 18 months has been a roller coaster event for our club and I dont want it repeated. I along with others have taken the decision to assist in handing out leaflets and protesting within our Stadium as part of the action group known as the Sons of Struth. What can you say and do now to reassure me that the future of Rangers is safe and I will not, after the AGM be back to taking peaceful direct action against you and the Board? Michael Grover: Michael, the issue in question here is re-establishing trust between the Board and the fans. The one thing that you can trust 100% with all of our group is that we will ALWAYS act in the best interests of the Club. The Clubs interests must always come first. That has not been the case in the last couple of years and that has been a fundamental issue. Can we find out why the IPO cost so much and why?and who benefited from this vast overpayment also why was £5.7M written off using the IPO as an excuse? There has basically been a lack of transparency across the board with the level of IPO costs just one example. We will undertake to examine all excessive payments and see whether there can be any recovery for the Club. Do you envisage a second share issue diluting the current holdings? The Club will need to raise more capital so there will need to be at least one further share issue. To maximise the proceeds it is critical that there is a credible Board with a credible business plan in place. On that basis iam sure that there will be an appetite from existing and new investors. Will he ask for criminal charges to be brought if any wrongdoing with regards to money passing between green white and duff&phelps is seen to have occurred. I think the best and most effective agencies to examine this are the Police and BDO, the liquidators of the old company. Will he protect the good name of the club whenever it is being sullied? I think we have to defend the Club but also take a positive role in leading Scottish football. We are a massive and critical part of the game in Scotland and we have to play our part in helping shape it. Alan Flockhart Can u pass on the gratitude of the decent fans to Paul and the others in his group, hopefully one day his efforts are rewarded and we have a clean club again. One question I would like to ask, his thoughts on long term fan ownership? Thanks SOS I have said publicly that there should be proper representation for supporters. We would plan to canvass the fans to understand what they want and what is workable. As regards ownership I think an effective model would be to have say a small number of high net worth individuals owning say 30%, the fans owing 10-15% with the balance held by financial institutions. We also plan to introduce a Rangers Constitution that all directors would have to sign. This will set out our core values. As part of that exercise we intend to canvass the shareholders about putting Ibrox into a trust structure so that it is legally protected from any future sale. The club have been using Jack Irvine and Media House for “PR” for a long time. Would a new board carry on employing them? I think Jack Irvine should consider his position after we come to the end of this process. Will Paul and the group he represents ensure complete openness & traceability in their investors etc Transparency is key and has been sadly missing in the last couple of years. We will always ensure that we are open and transparent and that is why we are seeking full disclosure on who is behind Blue Pitch and Margarita. What kind of wages will the directors receive will everything be transparent the way yourself has asked for See my previous answer to this. Our group have no desire to make money from RFC. We are all custodians of the Club with the aim being to enhance it for the next generation. Will his group look at the amount of consultants still employed at the club earning vast sums and billing the club over inflated costs!. It will be the CEOs job to review all third party contracts and relationships and ensure that the Club is getting the best value for money. As I said before we would have a policy that no directors have interests in any of the Clubs contracts. Does he plan on working with king ? And also whats his views on the easdales involvement and would he consider working with them ? Iam supportive of Dave King, who I served on a Board with for 4 years. As regards the Easedales I think that they should disclose who they represent. That would go a long way to building trust with the fans on their intentions. Would you be willing to address the issues facing our disabled supporters and in particular wheelchair users and look into the amount of able bodied carers on the committee of the rangers disabled supporters club as it seem an uneven balance against disabled on the board, I would obviously be more than happy to address the rights and issues surrounding our disabled supporters.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 19:09:13 +0000
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