New Career Path? Buy a Football Club – Then Have a Warrant Granted For Your Arrest!

Regular readers will recall that Craig Whyte, the former owner of Rangers (or to be accurate the person believed to be the ultimate owner of the company which owns the company which owned 85% of the shares in the company which formerly owned the assets and business which make up Rangers Football Club) had a warrant for his arrest granted at Inverness Sheriff Court recently.

However, despite the numerous demands for him to be strung up for what he supposedly did to Rangers, and the various police investigations which are apparently ongoing, the warrant did not relate to that, but rather to his failure to come to court as a witness in a criminal trial.

He was able to resolve the matter, arranging to appear at court to surrender to the warrant, and then being granted bail. The Sheriff will deal with the imposition of any penalty for his failure to attend when the criminal case in question is concluded.

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Will Hearts’ Financial Woes Save Dundee From Relegation? Tough Choices For the SPL

The SPL have decided to discuss the situation at Hearts on Monday, after the SPL season ends.

The majority owner of Hearts and the main creditor, UBIG and UKIO Bankas, are both in, or have applied to go into, administration.

Mr Romanov’s always interesting stewardship of Hearts seems inevitably at an end.

The Lithuanian administrators will see what they can realise from Hearts – perhaps only the ground will prove worth anything?

The Administration of Ukio Bankas and its Effect on Hearts

Whilst the Rangers story last year was about, as it is now presented, the company which owned the assets and business which made up the football club, going into administration, the situation this year at Hearts comes from the opposite perspective.

Here it is the bank which is owed huge sums by the company which owns the assets and business which make up the football club going into administration. Simples!

Ukio Bankas, the Lithuanian Bank largely owned by Vladimir Romanov and his UBIG Group has been placed into administration, and the administrators are looking for buyers for the assets. That suggests that the value which UBIG can attribute to its involvement in Hearts will be slim to zero, and slim left town.

Have Rangers Paid Hearts for Lee Wallace? Charles Green and Chick Young Seem to Disagree

Last Saturday Charles Green spoke to Rangers fans at Ibrox for their match against Alloa. I wrote about what he was recorded as saying here. It would appear that not all that Mr Green was noted as saying was 100% accurate. I am sure the apparent discrepancies noted below were entirely as a result of oversight or error, and not a deliberate clouding of the issues or declarations of bravado to appeal to his audience.

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There are two specific paragraphs I want to mention initially, which are reproduced exactly as they were written by the original poster on a Rangers message board.

3 – All footballing debt have been paid apart from the 31k to Dundee Utd which he has a letter confirming would be paid by the SPL.

6 – Rangers owed hearts the remainder of the Lee Wallace fee, Hearts were so desperate for the money eventually offering a 100k discount if we paid the cash two weeks ago. Thats why the couldn’t pay the wages.

My interpretation of that was as follows:-

• Hearts have been paid for Lee Wallace.
• Mr Green negotiated a discount for prompt payment.

Hearts – “A Call To Arms” – Pay Up or the Club Dies!

Yesterday I wrote about the new HMRC petition to wind up Hearts over a tax debt in excess of £400,000.

The announcement of this, which the Hearts Board had to do if they wish to proceed with their share issue, was followed by an apocalyptically titled letter to the fans – The future of Heart of Midlothian.

It reads as follows, with my comments in bold:-

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Today the Board of Heart of Midlothian plc is writing to you with the express wish that every supporter provides emergency backing for the club.

This is not so much a request as a necessity.

To use the words yesterday of John Robertson, one of the greatest players in this club’s history, this is a “Call to Arms”.

There is no greater need than now for supporters to invest in the club in whichever way you can, without delay. How can you do this?