Earlier in the week, a story broke which alleged that Sevco was on the brink of administration. Today their websites and fans are in full-scale denial mode, and although days have passed, the club has not issued its own statement refuting the stories. Instead, the media is spinning on their behalf.
Rumours like this are highly damaging.
They impact on the commercial viability of the club, and when one considers that they are just weeks away from negotiating next year’s sponsorship and manufacturing contracts they can ill afford a rash of stories which cast down on their ability to survive into the future.
If Sevco was listed on an exchange, as their board says they plan to be – a prerequisite for raising money in a share issue – these stories would have “market moving” potential. That’s why the club’s failure to issue an immediate denial is so suspicious.
Look, the stories about the club being on the brink are not new.
If you’ve followed these events you will know that Phil has filed numerous articles in the past month or so which claim they have sought invoice financing and even sounded out administration specialists. This is more than speculation; Phil actually has the names of the companies involved.
You can choose to believe him or not – and he deserves the benefit of the doubt at the very least as he has broken the biggest stories around Ibrox in the past six or seven years – but his stories are not the only indicators of something seriously wrong there.
Here we’re going to take a look at some of the others.