Today, a High Court judge in London has maintained that the block Mike Ashley wanted put on Sevco being able to sell its shirts through a “third party” retailer will have to hold for at least another couple of weeks. The decision today was not unexpected, and when you consider that whatever the result of the hearing later this month that there will be an appeal it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a scenario where Sevco can sell shirts this year.
Sevco fans are, of course, blaming Ashley for this, but the truth is that their own directors – their current directors – signed the deal that has allowed him to pull them hither, thither and yon like this. That some of them still refuse to apportion blame where it belongs here is incredible, and the injunction itself has only come about because King has decided, yet again, that a contract is only worth what he deems it to be and not what’s actually written.
That man loves litigation, and now he’s got it.
The “third party” is widely believed to be JD Sports. They would have had a reasonable expectation to be up and running prior to the contract with Sports Direct expiring at the end of July. What amazes me is that they ever entered into a tendering process in the first place when Sports Direct was able to match their offer and see them off.
This of course assumes anyone at Ibrox actually told them that was the case.
It’s pretty clear that their time has been wasted and that might not be the worst of it. Were Hummel aware of the shadier elements to this deal? Did they realise their shirts wouldn’t be going on public sale for weeks, or perhaps months? Did Sevco even bother to fill them in on the details of these contracts, or that they were going to try and ignore them?
That club is a joke from top to bottom, but today the joke is on them. Making a phantom £3 million bid for a player they’ll never get as the club is refusing to sell is just one of many squirrels they’ll unleash in the course of trying to do damage limitation here … but damage limitation is surely impossible on this one.
Crisis has enveloped Ibrox yet again.