[bobbysands81]

I just got sent this link - I presume it's not a wind-up? Well it's a winding up maybe but not a wind-up.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-cen...dministration/

Rangers have filed court papers signalling their intention to go into administration.

STV can exclusively reveal the Ibrox club lodged the notice at the Court of Session in Edinburgh at lunchtime on Monday.

It is understood the papers are the first step in any formal administration process. They now have ten days in which to declare administrators have taken over the running of the Glasgow-based club.

STV understands owner Craig Whyte, director of operations Ali Russell and board member Andrew Ellis had a meeting with manager Ally McCoist on Monday as the papers were lodged.

HM Revenue and Customs guidelines state that "The appointment of the administrator will take effect within ten business days of the date the notice of intention is filed."

This period allows the company to speak to creditors to see if they reach an agreement. If they enter administration the Scottish Premier League champions would automatically be docked ten points.

Rangers FC are currently awaiting the result of a £49m tax case with HM Revenue and Customs in relation to the club's use of an Employee Benefits Trust to pay players and staff. It is thought the decision to lodge court papers means the result of this tax case is likely to be known imminently.

The First Tier Tax Tribunal confirmed the decision in the case against Rangers has not been published, although it could not confirm whether or not the club had learnt of it ahead of it being released publicly.

The Court of Session confirmed to STV that papers signalling the intention to appoint administrators had been received from the club's solicitors acting on behalf of their directors.

[LuckyLloyd]

Wow!

[super_furry]

Yeowch! Just 10 points though? Wouldn't make much of a difference really.

[Evil_Clown]

Not a joke, BBC running aswell now

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-west-17015966

[theteal]

Really happening apparently

[karma_]

Isn't it 25 points in Scotland? That's what Dundee were docked in 2010 for going into administration.

[Kess73]

Even they get ten points docked they would still be 9 points clear of Motherwell who are third. Crazy the gap between the top two in Scotland and the rest.

[bobbysands81]

Originally Posted by super_furry

Yeowch! Just 10 points though? Wouldn't make much of a difference really.

Don't think there's a hard and fast rule in Scotland for the deduction of points but there will be some deduction I'm sure.

Feel sorry for the decent Rangers fans on here such as BBE, EB, TB...

Not a nice thing to happen to your club.

[The_Kew_Tour]

all the Glory Hunting Celtic fans will be delighted

[LuckyLloyd]

To be honest, how many points they are or aren't docked is a side issue.

The big question here is how the **** could this happen? They get tens of thousands in the door every game and do have some TV money, etc coming in the door. Their squad are hardly world beaters that would strike you as expensive in terms of wages. How did we get to this point?

[Dempsey]

for every fiver they spend, I will put down a tenner

[karma_]

Originally Posted by LuckyLloyd

To be honest, how many points they are or aren't docked is a side issue.

The big question here is how the **** could this happen? They get tens of thousands in the door every game and do have some TV money, etc coming in the door. Their squad are hardly world beaters that would strike you as expensive in terms of wages. How did we get to this point?

They tossed money around in the 90's like it was confetti, was always going to catch up with them at some stage, and it looks like the club has been badly run (financially) for over two decades.

[JohnFalstaff]

Originally Posted by LuckyLloyd

To be honest, how many points they are or aren't docked is a side issue.

The big question here is how the **** could this happen? They get tens of thousands in the door every game and do have some TV money, etc coming in the door. Their squad are hardly world beaters that would strike you as expensive in terms of wages. How did we get to this point?

There was an article by Emmet Malone in the Irish Times on Saturday that traces the roots of Rangers' current problems.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...311623413.html

[Sponge Bob]

They will come second and will play in a Europe qualifier for next year. I should imagine that the points deduction will be made as late in the season as possible and will not 'overdo' things given their significance.

I would be amazed if Whyte or Murray ...together with a lot of the other directors....will be in charge of anything by May and frankly they will be lucky if they don't find themselves in court by then for myriad breaches of company law and good governance.

In Edinburgh, naturally, not in Glasgow.

[Beefy78]

Originally Posted by LuckyLloyd

To be honest, how many points they are or aren't docked is a side issue.

The big question here is how the **** could this happen? They get tens of thousands in the door every game and do have some TV money, etc coming in the door. Their squad are hardly world beaters that would strike you as expensive in terms of wages. How did we get to this point?

Football Clubs are very bad at managing their cashflow. It was widely advertised that Barcelona were unable to pay wages last Summer. It doesn't matter what your income is, all that matters is how much cash you've got in your bank account when the bills are due.

Rangers got into this problem by being naughty and using money which should have been set aside for tax in order to pay their players. Over time this built up to the point where when HMRC demanded what they were due Rangers had no way to pay it. It's no different to what has happened to a lot of other football clubs in the UK.

They'll likely be better off after the administration so long as they can reach some kind of deal with HMRC.