So it’s been a week or so since the Ibrox shambles released their squirrel about being done over by HMRC.
No one with any sense bought into it.
Only the most gullible – and paranoid – followers of the Klan did, and they went OTT about it.
The question remains however; why? Why leak this?
Which automatically leads to the next question; Why leak it now?
There are many people who wish to wait a bit longer to ponder this in depth, but I have been going over it, doing some digging and have come to four possibilities.
All of which I will profile individually….
WAS IT THE MEMORIAL GARDEN COURT CASES?
What a lot of people still don’t realise is that on the morning after this nonsense hit the press the current leaders of the Ibrox mess were in court for yet another legal suit against them, from the company involved in the memorial garden fiasco.
For those not familiar with this, last year Sevco made a big song and dance over being given permission to build a memorial garden outside of Ibrox.
They hired a company to do it.
Then, at the last minute, with the contracts signed, they pulled the plug.
Now the company is suing them for breach of contract over it. They want somewhere in excess of £1.3 million. Sevco has tried various manoeuvres to have the case thrown out. None has been a success. The case is now proceeding to a full hearing, due in January.
Now while they have repeatedly squirrelled whenever they have been in court before, just seems too big a squirrel for a case over such a paltry sum. This level of bullshit doesn’t get thrown out for a court case over £1 million, even for an organisation as skint as they are.
While I accept that it could be a minor contributory factor in them wanting a distraction – and I’m sure their lawyers were glad of it – I really can’t see a suit for £1.3m being the cause of this. Not considering what they owe out elsewhere.
IS THIS ABOUT BIG MIKE AND HUMMEL?
The bigger issue is clearly Ashley, and the blowback that might surround the issues with him.
Could it be that not just Big Mike but Hummel are about to hit them with a bill in the tens of millions?
Well yes, it is virtually certain that they will … but is it due imminently?
The thing is, they released appalling accounts again, and it’s clear they already need many millions just to get through the current campaign. So do one, or both, of these likely debtors want money ring fenced before any administration comes?
That’s a possibility.
These two, but Mike Ashley especially, are going nowhere, and when you kick the can down the road for so long eventually you hit the wall.
Is this all part of creating a new “Victim Lie” to blame everyone else or get sympathy in anticipation of a second Ibrox administration event?
Something that might even delay, or neutralise, punishment from the governing bodies?
Yes, it could be.
Of course it could.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT MAD DOG HAS ALREADY BEEN SOLD?
This one, I think, could definitely have legs.
There’s something going on with the Ibrox board … does this tie into that?
Now, we all know that the spin is Morelos for £20m+, and anyone with a fraction of sense knows it is not going to happen.
Not everyone inside Ibrox have sense though, but clearly some do though and there are talks of a Blue Room split. A certain part of the group is “motoring” to get a change at the top as they see the current chairman as a liability.
Part of their plans – which have to include breaking even – is to sell their one asset. It is possible that they could blame King, especially if his £5 million stabilisation cash doesn’t come through. This would allow their board to claim they’ve been forced into the sale regardless of the price.
It’s be seven figures yes, but no more.
And who knows? A deal may have already been done behind King’s back.
You’d need a pretty big squirrel to distract from that … and this would do it.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT IT’S A CASE OF “NEW CLUB, SAME TRICKS”?
Now this one is controversial but I think there could be something in it.
Is it possible that Sevco have a tax bill coming that they cannot pay? Think of the timing, 14th November. Was that when the tax bill landed in 2011?
And if this is on the cards they would certainly need to blame someone else, as well as putting pressure on HMRC to go easy on them over it.
Who else could they blame?
No one else is responsible for their tax.
I think it makes sense that if you had the public profile and you were facing a major tax investigation that you could put out a bullshit story about HMRC being at fault before and hope to play to the gallery this time. Does it add up?
How about when you factor in that HMRC very rarely – not never, but rarely – comment on these things but have responded publicly this time, and you have the outlines of something very big going on, the ultimate game of chicken, perhaps?
What they didn’t factor in was common sense, from others even in the normally friendly SMSM, and the fact that HMRC did respond.
Consider who runs that club. A convicted tax cheat. Consider his prior behaviour. He doesn’t care about laws or standards or rules. He’s tested the British courts and the worst he got was what seems like a slap on the wrist from the city.
I am not saying this is it, or that any of these scenarios is close to the truth … but this is Ibrox, this Dave King and so all are definitely possible and of course a mixture of them all is even more credible.
Whatever it is, it is certainly big.
How big? Big enough, maybe, to end with the death of a second Ibrox club.
And they will have no-one to blame but themselves … although HMRC are in the crosshairs and are obviously seen as the ideal scapegoat.
Dave Campbell is a Celtic fan and blogger from Glasgow.
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