Monday, May 07, 2018

The reality for The Rangers and Steven Gerrard? It's over!

Yes, we all saw him and heard what Steven Gerrard had to say but, then again, some of us saw Maurice Johnston in a Celtic shirt for his "second coming" and we all know how that finished.
So, Monday came and the least surprising thing that anyone watching Scottish football with half an eye for the truth or bare facts could have heard.
The Rangers have, allegedly, a new high-profile manager but no money or investors with which to fund his improbable aspirations.
I use the word, "allegedly" with good reason.
Yes, we all saw him and heard what he had to say but, then again, some of us saw Maurice Johnston in a Celtic shirt for his "second coming" and we all know how that finished.
Steven Gerrard may really have been so stupid as to have agreed to manage The Rangers with a maximum budget of £6m to spend on players but it would be very surprising.
Less surprising, given that we are dealing with Dave King, would be that Gerrard was spun a convincing line to get him to sign so that King could drum up cash through season ticket sales (which he would then go about pumping out of the club).
Banking on the fact that the newly-unveiled boss would be embarrassed into sticking to his part of the deal, King may have thought that Gerrard would just think that he had to lump it and hope for the best.
I could claim to have impeccably-placed sources to back that up but it would be untrue. However, the available facts and a little experience suggest that King's hastily-arranged move on Friday may have been football's equivalent of a resistable marriage proposal publicly made at your grandparents' golden wedding anniversary party.
Awkward to back out of after they have already popped another bottle of champagne.
But, if that is anything close to the truth, don't be surprised if Gerrard's advisers are already looking at ways to get out of the deal.
King will have calculated for that eventuality, probably why supporters were asked for their cash up front. No doubt a few thousand tickets were bought and paid for online between Friday and Monday, with the only surprise being that he didn't wait a few days longer before announcing that there were no new investors.
Yes, there will be some fans who are not so much unfailingly loyal as eternally gullible and feel that their only chance is to try to fund the Ibrox resurrection themselves.
But this posted on Twitter by John Bradshaw (@JBLuvsCeltic) provides the vital details that demonstrate just how desperate King's supposed share offer is and explains the departures of two directors last week - the share issue can't happen as King is facing action by the takeover panel.
So, even though £6m would have been nowhere near enough to improve The Rangers team, that money will not be there, either.
Effectively, Gerrard has a potential transfer budget of precisely zero of your British pounds.
And that would point to another likely outcome. Liquidation would see HMRC and preferred creditors recompensed before the likes of Gerrard saw a penny.
Like many other Scottish football fans, I tired long ago of "in the know" bloggers claiming to have an inside track on likely insolvency events but it does not seem at all improbable, given the circumstances.
Gerrard may take the chance to hobble through a season of grief and humiliation but, if he wants out, he will walk away.
King can jettison the whole shebang and he will not hesitate to do so if he deems it the most beneficial step for him.
But, one way or another, it seems to me that Scottish football will have to reconcile itself to a final dose of reality.
For Rangers, The Rangers and any other conceptual variation of The People's club, the message is clear.
It's over.

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