Mccoll and Murray to meet Rangers fans
of months ago and now we’ve completed step two.
“We’ve always thought that step three becomes easier to achieve once step two has been taken, and then step four will be easier once the first three are complete.”
Significant progress towards completion of the third step, agreement by the administrators of Ubig, could be made today when a hearing in Lithuania is expected to appoint those administrators. Ubig, Hearts’ parent company, has been in limbo since initiating bankruptcy proceedings in the spring. It owns 50 per cent of the shares in the football club, while Ukio owns 29.9 per cent and has the security over Tynecastle.
Administrators of one company have no formal obligation to co-operate with any other body. Indeed, in some circumstances, their obligation to get the best deal on behalf of their own creditors could compel them to take hostile action. But Ukio and Ubig, both of which were once controlled by Vladimir Romanov, have so much in common that co-operation makes sense. There are savings to be made by pooling their resources, and Murray thinks that this week’s agreement with Ukio makes that cooperative approach more likely.
Of course, the Lithuania-based administrators of the two companies could work together to try to strike a harder bargain with the Foundation. But Ukio have had months to come to terms with how much the Foundation can offer, and this week’s agreement by them shows they are willing to negotiate realistically. That is an implicit invitation to Ubig to do the same.
Murray added: “There have been delays before and we are RAnGERS shareholders Jim McColl and Paul Murray are to meet representatives of the Ibrox club’s three main supporter groups this afternoon.
Billionaire Clyde Blowers chairman McColl and former Blue Knight Murray have been battling boardroom bosses at the club since August.
The club announced losses of £14.4 million for the 13-month period to the end of June amid allegations of failings in corporate governance. Murray hopes to win a seat at the board table certainly taking nothing for granted but we do hope that the court hearing will go ahead as planned and appoint a liquidator for Ubig. It would then appear to be in the best interests of both Ubig and Ukio to work closely together.”
Of course, while progress is being made behind the scenes, Hearts’ plight on the field has deepened in recent weeks.
Defeat by Motherwell on Saturday means Gary Locke’s team have taken just one point from their last six Premiership matches. If they lose at Kilmarnock on Saturday they will be 16 points adrift at the bottom of the table – a bigger gap than the 15-point deficit with which they began the season as a punishment for going into administration.
It goes without saying that the Foundation want Hearts to do as well as possible and that the more successful the team is, the more the financial picture at Tynecastle will brighten. But the group has planned for all eventualities, and is not banking on cup runs or high league placings to make ends meet.
“In common with when the club finally holds its annual general meeting before the end of the year following his victory at the Court of Session last week which ordered the postponement of today’s planned meeting.
The ex-oldco director and ally McColl will meet officials from the Rangers Supporters Trust, Rangers Supporters Assembly and Rangers Supporters Association to spell out their plans.
An RST spokesman said: “The RST are pleased to confirm that Paul Murray and Jim McColl have responded to our latest request, and have agreed to a meeting with us, and our sister
all
other Hearts fans, we were under no illusions about this season,” Murray added. “We always expected it to be a very bumpy ride, and that’s how it’s turned out so far.
“It’s an incredibly young side, and they’ve achieved some remarkable things already. Yes, they’ve lost a few games lately, but I think some recent matches have shown what a narrow dividing line there is between
“It would appear to be in the best interests of Ubig and Ukio to work closely together”
Ian Murray MP
organisations, the Rangers Supporters Assembly and Rangers Supporters Association. We will endeavour to ask as many of your questions as we can, and will, of course, publish them and any answers provided on the members area of the website.”
In August, the club told the Stock Exchange that McColl and Murray were behind a bid to have an extraordinary general meeting called to discuss removing then chief executive Craig Mather, director Bryan Smart and finance director Brian Stockbridge from the board, replacing them with Murray and Frank Blin. A deal was struck to success and failure. So we’re not disheartened. not in the slightest. We have budgeted for several options, and the worst-case scenario is one of them.
“One thing I would add is that it’s never too late for more people to sign up as members of the Foundation by pledging a monthly direct debit. Maybe some people have got the impression that, because negotiations are ongoing, no more needs to be done, but that’s not the case.
“The more people we have making pledges, the more secure Hearts will be, not just if and when we take over the club this season, but also in the seasons to come.
“We not only have to buy the club. We have to rebuild it as well.”
Once administrators BDO moved in at Tynecastle and came to terms with the wreckage left by Romanov, they predicted it would take until around the end of this year, or some way into January, for their job to be done.
Provided that events in Lithuania proceed as planned today, that timescale continues to look realistic.
In some ways, the really hard work will only begin then for the Foundation, once they have to concern themselves with the daily running of the club. But the diligence with which they have worked so far is as close as we can get to definitive proof that they will be up to that task. stave off the need for an egm but Mather later blocked a fresh bid by Murray to have motions calling for himself, Malcolm Murray, Scott Murdoch and Alex Wilson named as directors from being included in the list of business discussed at the agm.
That sparked Murray’s legal bid, in which he won an interim interdict banning the shareholder meeting from taking place on 24 October. Last Wednesday, Mather and Smart resigned their posts, leaving Stockbridge and James Easdale in charge of the club’s board. The club say they are working “as a matter of priority” to appoint new directors. SCOTLAND SQUAD (for World Cup qualifers v Northern Ireland at Fir Park on 26 October, and v Poland at Grodzisk Wielkopolski on 31 October): Jennifer Beattie (Montpellier HSC); Frankie Brown (Hibernian); Rachel Corsie (Glasgow City); Leanne Crichton (Glasgow City); Sarah Crilly (Glasgow City); Lisa Evans (FFC Turbine Potsdam); Gemma Fay (Celtic); Suzanne Lappin (Glasgow City); Hayley Lauder (Mallbackens IF); Kim Little (Arsenal); Joanne Love (Glasgow City); Shannon Lynn (Hibernian); Suzanne Mulvey (Glasgow City); Eilish McSorley (Glasgow City); Emma Mitchell (Arsenal); Joelle Murray (Hibernian); Jane Ross (Vittsjo GIK); Leanne Ross (Glasgow City); Megan Sneddon (Rangers); Caroline Weir (Arsenal).