As Vanguard Bears have started unravelling the agenda to damage our club in 2012, it is now crystal clear that those in charge of the Scottish game should not be in their positions of power.
While much of our trials and tribulations of that year have been fairly well documented, with perhaps the best assessment of that agenda coming from the "Follow We Will" book, it's only now that some of the well informed commentary is being expanded upon, and proven.
While some of us would like to forget this period and move on, which is completely understandable given the pain we went through, I'm of a view that we should still be seeking justice.
Rangers are now in the "Championship", facing some former adversaries, and all being well, we will be back in the unwelcoming environment at the top league next season, against the very people who exploited every opportunity to damage our club as much as they possibly could.
Of course, the Scottish Football authorities were not alone, and Vanguard Bears are still pursuing HMRC with regards to the handling of Rangers' accounts and the EBT issue, as well as the handling of confidential financial information. How Rangers financials ended up in the hands of the BBC and the Rangers Tax Case blog has never been addressed, with HMRC raising more suspicion by evading the issue and failing to provide answers as to how these "productions" ended up where they did.
For me, if HMRC could absolve themselves of all responsibility, and point the finger elsewhere, they could do so quite easily through whichever channels best suited them.
The tabloid revelations earlier this week that HMRC were pursuing Craig Whyte for £4M before he even "bought" Rangers, further strengthens suspicions that the apparent failure by various parties to prevent Whyte taking over the club is worthy of scrutiny by the government.
If HMRC knew that Craig Whyte was a risk with a capital R, then they should have contacted David Murray, Lloyds Bank, and the Scottish Football authorities to alert them. Would Lloyds Bank have accepted £18M from someone whom, it is alleged, couldn't or wouldn't pay HMRC £4M?
If Whyte had failed to declare taxable earnings or pay tax, then it would be safe to assume that this trend would continue, and that a business currently paying Income Tax and National Insurance contributions may stop making these contributions if he assumed control.
If HMRC deliberately remained silent, thereby costing the taxpayer approximately £14M, because they wished not only to take Whyte down, but to also take Rangers down, then heads should roll, and Rangers should be recompensed for the damage done to our club.
The longer HMRC stay silent, the more damning the situation looks for them. If the Daily Record have it completely wrong, then a quick phone call to their Editor, Murray Foote, would clarify the situation.
It is already fairly well documented that SFA Chief Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster were apparently aware of financial issues at Rangers in October 2011, a full four months before the Rangers holding business entered Administration. That would suggest they failed to act when they should have done, with VB picking up on these issues four months later, as Rangers Administrators, in turn followed by Charles Green, were struggling to ensure a future for the club, and fighting to ensure league status.
While you may have heard of the "five-way agreement" cooked up by the SFA and the SPL, with one draft published on this site yesterday morning, what you probably don't know are the machinations that took place as this "agreement" was worked up, as the very existence of Rangers was played with like a throwaway toy.
Upon receipt of this document, Vanguard Bears were very surprised at some "schoolboy errors", within two drafts of the agreement, and struggle to accept that a renowned and competent group of people, including Chief Executives, club chairmen and eminent lawyers, could fail to spot them. It is our assertion that there could be only two reasons for this:
- The various stakeholders were indeed incompetent and genuinely not as observant as people of their stature should be.
- The drafts issued to various contributors for review had errors inserted for a reason.
More will be revealed, and it's up to every Rangers supporter to ensure that not only are our club recompensed for being the victim of others' incompetence, but that we ensure a level playing field from this point forward.
Vanguard Bears would like to invite anyone who was party to any discussions about Rangers future, and uncomfortable about the decisions being made to get in touch with us via postmaster@vanguardbears.co.uk, you will be treated with the strictest confidence.