GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 13: Fans of Rangers hold up a banner during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg match between Rangers FC and Fenerbahce SK at Ibrox Stadium on March 13, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
So the Ibrox takeover was completed today and amidst the media euphoria, and the back-slapping on their forums, there are details in the story which would trouble a more cerebral local press corps—and would certainly concern a more switched-on and engaged support.
Much of the joy we’ll hear from their ranks will be centred around how the Celtic bloggers “got it wrong.” Well, in fact, we didn’t.
Some of us have been saying for a while that some version of this takeover would happen; I’ve been pretty consistent in that.
But what we’ve been warning about—what we have consistently warned about—is that the version they’re getting is not the one they think it is.
Even today’s headlines about £20 million being “earmarked” in the aftermath of a new share issue are not what they’re being spun as. This new regime begins, as predicted, in a cloud of spin and disinformation.
Initial reports actually confirm some of what we’ve been saying.
One of the worst articles on the subject – so far; I’m under no illusions that it will remain so – is from Scott McDermott in The Record. He sounds about as excited as it’s possible to get without peeing your own pants … and maybe a little beyond that.
Nowhere in his article is a shred of journalistic scrunity. It’s pathetic.
The consortium claims it aims to “invest” £20 million into the club—subject to shareholder approval in June. McDermott and others are already presenting that figure as a transfer fund, but we know the landscape: Financial Sustainability Regulations, UEFA compliance issues… that cash isn’t going straight into the manager’s wallet.
Nobody—nobody involved in this consortium—has said that money is earmarked for signings. They haven’t even hinted at it. What they want is shareholder support to pass the June resolutions, so they’ve put out a number. And of course they want you to infer that it’s for players. That’s the illusion they want to create.
I’ll tell you now what the real headline from that 23 June meeting will be. The big one is already public—they want shareholder permission to take the club private. Why would they want to do that?
There are two clear reasons for this so-called “injection” of funds.
The first is financial necessity.
With £17 million in losses last season, and the unknown black hole they’re pissing into right now, they’re likely brushing up against UEFA’s three-year rolling losses threshold. This cash isn’t some gift—it’s a patch job.
A sticking plaster over a possible breach of FSR.
The second reason? It’s a naked bribe.
Taking the club private removes it from public scrutiny. Rewriting the Articles of Association gives the directors unchecked power. They won’t need to consult anyone. They won’t need approval. They can do whatever they like.
This is exactly what Club 1872—their own shareholder watchdog—was created to prevent. And it is precisely what’s happening.
Add to that the Delaware registrations. Consortium members are incorporating there under vague-sounding names. That’s not random. Delaware is where American entities go when they want to minimise regulation and transparency. It’s the Wild West of corporate structures. If you want to dodge scrutiny and operate with maximum secrecy, that’s where you go.
Their fans lost their club today—or at the very least, the mechanism by which they’re going to lose it has now been activated.
Their only chance to stop it is that June meeting. And this £20 million figure is what’s being dangled to get fans—especially shareholders—on board with something they once vowed never to allow.
The announcement claims there are no dual ownership issues, but Marathe is still chairman at Leeds and now vice-chairman at Ibrox. The idea that UEFA would have no concerns if both clubs qualified for Europe is laughable. Of course the SFA waved it through—they always do. That organisation wouldn’t raise a red flag if the boardroom was staffed by convicted match-fixers.
UEFA will almost certainly take a different view, and although Leeds probably won’t trouble a European tournament anytime soon, the moment they do—and the moment the Ibrox club also qualifies—something has to give. That’s a can being kicked down the road, but it will roll back eventually.
Even the initial statement is misleading.
It says they’ve secured 51% of the shares. That’s not true. They’ve secured King’s shares and a handful of others. That doesn’t make up 51%. They may have agreements with other shareholders—but that’s not the same thing as control.
Real power only comes if they win the votes on 23 June. But I’ve no doubt they’ll get what they want. Who’s going to stop them now?
I always believed this was the direction of travel. The moment they started cobbling together shareholdings and talking about EGMs and this sleight of hand to get them to the thresholds they needed it was a runaway train. I knew the endgame. Still, I didn’t expect the “go private” move to come quite so quickly or brazenly.
Chris Jack’s article even suggests they might not hold AGMs in future.
Why would they? They are not obliged to if they go private. He frames it as “additional flexibility.” He’s right—it gives them flexibility. But let’s call it what it is: carte blanche. The freedom to do whatever they like.
But with the club no longer obliged to hold annual meetings, there goes the last chance the fans will ever have to question what’s going on behind the scenes. When I wrote earlier in this piece that they lost their club today I meant it, and all too quickly they are going to realise exactly what that means.
The Americans have executed their coup. The “woke foreign idealogues” are now the only people whose voices matter at Ibrox at all.
New directors. Boardroom clear-out. Consolidation of power. On 23 June they’ll formalise it, and from that point, whoever these people are, they are the club. No more consultation. No more transparency. No more accountability. If the fans want to believe this is all being done out of benevolence… they’d better pray they’re right.
Because what they’re really doing is handing over the keys. To people they don’t know. With motives they don’t understand. Based on a hope that those people are going to act in the best interests of the club.
It’s not impossible that this could still be stopped. It would take 25% of the shareholding to block the resolutions. But they won’t get that. Not now. That £20 million promise has already worked its magic. “Jam tomorrow” is a powerful drug.
They’ve wheeled the Trojan Horse through the gates.
All they can do now is hope that the people inside it are philanthropists, and not something altogether more clinical and ruthless.
Because if they are the latter—if these people are in it for profit, for leverage, for control—then what the Ibrox fans are celebrating today is not a new dawn… it’s the first act of a long, slow bleeding out.
It’s begun already. A couple of hours before they announced this deal, the club axed 13 academy players, including three with first-team experience. Now, academies release kids all the time. But that many? And on this day?
Come on. That’s not coincidence. That’s part of the efficiency drive. That’s part of the strategy. And it’s only the beginning. They have been warned.
The difference is that the warnings are now as worthless as all those shares that the Club 1872 members have hanging on their walls. It’s too late now for them to matter.
As long as we get our transfer window right, nothing they do will matter. But I have a horrible feeling about this window (as i usually do and usually justified) but this one in particular. The recent success has been down to Ange’s signings and if Hatate and Maeda are sold then we are in big bother. We spent 26m last summer on Idah, Trusty and Engels, none of whom I believe were worth the money. Idah I think will come good but the fact Scales dislodged Trusty is terrifying and as much as I want to rate Engels, I just dont see what he produces that Luke McCowan doesn’t? If anything McCowan produced more last season and played much less. So it worries me who replaces Maeda and Hatate if they leave. Just my opinion.
I think you’re right to an extent. The best players this season are not Rodgers signings. Trusty has been poor and doesn’t deserve to be in the team at present. Scales displacing a new 6m signing, yeah that doesn’t look great
Having said that, by what metric do you judge if someone is worth it?. Yes Idah and Engels cost a lot but they didn’t choose their price tags, our club did. I hear a lot that Idah isn’t worth 9m but he scores goals, creates space, decent at holding up the ball, in other words he does his job regardless of what we paid for him.
I’ve seen players bought 1m being world class, we didn’t even pay that for Larrson but I’ve also seen 50m players fail miserably. Price doesn’t always mean quality.
Good point Thebrokenbone especially that last paragraph !
I’m looking forward to the next few weeks and months to see where this takes them, and even if 20M was set aside for transfer funds it would not nearly be enough to close the gap with the Champions, as I’m sure we would respond in kind. In fact would the 20M not have to cover wages as well? It sounds like a big figure, but in actual fact you can’t buy a lot with that sort of money.
The sons of satan are coming LOL, bring it on.
Aye, 20 million. That’ll be 110 million short of the 130 they were expectin then. That’ll just about cover stadium repairs and some of the other debt. This is when it gets interestin. We welcome the chase. Tho it won’t stop the aff the scale hype show. In fact ahm bettin the hysteria gets even worse, if thats even possible. And of course, in their special premature, deranged way, along with their droolin kneejerk predictions of more massive money comin in, they’ll be tellin us we’re ‘shittin’ ourselves along with the ‘domination’ claims. Lets see where we are in the comin 2-3 seasons. Ahm lookin forward tae it.
James
Good analysis !
Interesting questions ensue ..
How much did they pay to acquire 51% £10m? £30m? hard to believe ..i would bet not very much !!! ( and thus what did they value TRFC as a whole?.. £20/30m? peanuts in US INVESTOR Terms !!!)
The £20m so called investment is actually to come from a share issue from existing investors ?…When Who ?..existing small investors? what a con! …so these guys are not actually putting any money into the running of the club?
£20m investment won’t even cover the systemic annual losses ..so it will be there really probably to keep the lights on?…team investment? ..will be funded from sales if any !
Although TRFC and the media will play this all as the 49ers taking over,,,They are NOT ..they are just one of a consortium…but it makes them all feel good ,,hopefully their 49ers ‘ well know Catholic’ influence will force a positive improvement in behaviour? …( i know I know !)
You are right on loss of club …shareholders and fans are in the process of being binned here .and long term have lots to worry about
The big big elephant in the room for me here is CL qualification ..For this entire play to get off to a great start ..that absolutely has to be achieved this year ..and if it happens all will be good with some biggish bling signings and monster hype etc all aimed at disrupting CFC .
If it doesn’t happen? …your predictions James of austerity etc will happen and this will be a real shit show
CFC ?..need to put the foot pedal to the absolute floor and build a mega strong squad next year for Scotland and Europe and let them sweat .
Let’s Enjoy the chase ..great !..am enjoying watching the off the scale excitement
How much did they pay for 51%? That really is the question, in fantasy land they’re claiming £180m, a quarter of that might be true. Will they have to disclose the real figures in October? How quick could they take the club private to avoid that?
£20m doesn’t touch the sides but the feel good factor might carry them for a while at the start of the season.
We welcome the chase I suppose but we’ve got ourselves to sort out this summer, as long as we keep trying to improve it’ll be fine. CL qualification is vital, especially for them because if we qualify and they don’t, it’ll be another season of heavy losses for them and big profits for us.
Not only have the Fenians overtaken them in football trophies, leagues and cups, they are now inside the gates of Snake Mountain and in the process of dismantling the scum klub from within.
A total annihilation looms, and there’s fuck all any of them can do about it.
Yes TB, the previously unseen fenian hand will be working within the big hoose in plain sight.
Funnily enough I have thought that maybe, this takeover is really just our board and Dermott having a little fun.
But then I remember our board aren’t that bright.
Interesting times ahead then !
Will miss The King, Parks, Bennett, Ashley, Easdale, Gilligan shit show for sure…
But hopefully this one will be better…
Oh – And any Celtic supporters clicking onto or buying The Scummy’s of The Scummy Scottish Football Media and therefore supporting them financially….
Youse deserve all youse fuckin get to read – So please don’t !!!
Just wonder if the majority of their fans will really care as long as there are red white and ribbons on a trophy? After all in their heart of hearts they know the club founded in 1872 no longer exists. It is now another franchise like pizza hut, McDonald’, Costa et all that adorn Paisley Road
This is the start of a new era at Ibrox, the real The Rangers/Rangers men are now history. The Yanks like complete control when it comes to finance, they know with the compliant media in Scotland there will be very little scrutiny of their business dealings. There is no doubt this is an historic change, Will it be for the better? Let’s face it, it couldn’t be any worse, but the fans and media who are ecstatic today might be in for an unpleasant surprise when reality kicks in. The big bucks they expect are very likely not to be forthcoming.
As for the link with Leeds Utd, The SFA waving this through is predictable, but could come back to bite the Ibrox club in Europe and in my opinion there could be a definite conflict of interest in so many ways. I wonder what the Ibrox hordes will think when it becomes obvious that they are well behind the EPL club when it comes to the investment and commitment between the two clubs. The danger for Scottish football is the gradual takeover of Scottish clubs by English clubs and where that could lead. The connections between Bournemouth/Hibs, Brighton/Hearts and Leeds Utd/The Rangers could lead Scottish football down a very dangerous path.
Your last two lines Micmac – The SFA paved the way for that for sure…
Hearts and The Hi-Bees were only callateral damage to pave the way for their beloved Sevco !
My only concern with this is that they are now owned by a pharmaceutical company and given their propensity for cheating, we might suddenly see some of their players performing half as good as we’re told they are.
Seriously though, the tribute act have opened a door that leaves them vulnerable, it might work out for them, it might not, we need to look at our ownership model to prevent ever being in that position. The German clubs have undoubtedly got it right.
All this they are willing to give up just to stop celtic? Madness
I am stunned at going private so fast so early that shows division @ the top as well as lack of trust.
Delaware = panama papers= skullduggery
And @ the end of the day if the ask is waved through @ the meeting the so called fans have sold the club for 20 pieces of silver and hell mend them.
The SFA are a collection of shivers looking for a spine to run up. Hound them all.
Rangers have just sold their soul.
No real Rangers men ever again.
They are just another commodity with the fans having no authority or influence whatsoever similar to Manchester United.
At least you’ve called them ‘Rangers’ in the proper context this time Terry as in selling their soul…
As only the dead have a soul !
In the movies , they say never to invite a vampire into your house as they will bleed you dry.
This is what the huns have allowed to happen.
They are not even a Scottish club now , they might play in scotland but registered in Delamere.
Can’t wait to see mickey mouse as their new mascot.
New shirt sponsor, tampax , cos their product like redbull also gives you wings.
At our golf club, the huns are pishing their kecks at the prospect of us shitting ours, they think they will win a treble next year.
I never said a word , I just laughed my feckin arse off.
The yanks will bleed them dry so quick.
That’s the second culling of the yooff players in one year .
They have also let their loan players leave with signing any of them , by my count that’s 4 players plus those that left out of contract , 8 first team players from last year gone,
Left with dross from last year, they will never compete with celtic in any shape or form.
Ohhhh happpppyyyy dayyyyss.
* delaware not delemere
What they do is irrelevant, our continued success depends on what we do in the transfer market and BR developing a plan B and C, it was their losses against other SPL teams that cost them, they had our number well and truly sussed.
Once again the only ones asking pertinent questions are Celtic minded people,while they are sleepwalking into more choppy waters hell mend the lot of them.They may get run better but that £20m is nothing in today’s term of course that becomes even less when they factor in the £4.5m they need to fork out for the dud Cortez