£1m? Are Rangers in breach of their banking covenants? If so, what penalties are being applied?
£2m? Will Lloyds extend Rangers’ borrowing facilities beyond the current levels? What is the current position?
£3m? Does the bank believe Rangers need to reduce their debt and, if so, by how much?
£4m? Would Lloyds like to see the sale of players and other assets to improve Rangers’ debt position?
£5m? Is there any possibility that the club could be put into administration, or any other form of insolvency, in the coming weeks or months?
£6m? Would the bank consider administration as a viable option to recover its debts?
£7m? Was administration mentioned at the recent board meeting in any context?
£8m? What were the details of the business plan put to Rangers’ directors at the last board meeting?
£9m? Does Sir David Murray have any say in the running of Rangers, if so what is his role?
£10m? What is the bank’s view of the former chairman’s stewardship and strategy of Rangers?
£11m? Was the bank involved in any way with in the appointment of corporate recovery specialist Donald Muir to the board of Rangers?
£12m? Who is paying Donald Muir for his “specialist services”?
£13m? Does his package include any specific targets or performance bonuses? If so, what are they?
£14m? Why was he also appointed to the board of Premier Property, a Murray business, at the same time?
£15m? Is the situation at Rangers linked in any way with Donald Muir’s involvement with Murray’s wider business interests?
£16m? Can Donald Muir overrule chief executive Martin Bain or chairman Alastair Johnston on any operational or strategic decisions at Rangers?
£17m? Is the bank happy with Rangers’ property valuations?
£18m? Does Rangers’ level of debt render its shares worthless? If not, what valuation would the bank put on Rangers’ shares?
£19m? Have manager Walter Smith’s comments relating to Lloyds’ control of Rangers affected his position beyond his existing contract?
£20m? Are Rangers directors or executives in a position to renegotiate existing contracts with playing and coaching staff without seeking the bank’s agreement?
£21m? Is there any way Rangers can buy players without the need for funds to be raised by the sale of existing assets?
£22m? How many potential investors have held discussions with the board and/or bank?
£23m? Is there a preferred bidder and has the bank accelerated the search for the solution in the past few days?
£24m? Can Rangers enter into talks with investors without the bank being consulted?
£25m? Would the bank entertain a debt for equity swap to enable a deal with an investor?
£26m? Is the bank treating Rangers as a normal business?
£27m? Does Lloyds believe its business or reputation could suffer because of any publicity about its relationship with Rangers?
£28m? Are Lloyds’ own financial difficulties resulting in it taking a harsher line with Rangers’ debt
£29m? Does Lloyds believe its Bank of Scotland business loaned too much to Scottish football clubs?
£30m? Have any Scottish football clubs, banked by Lloyds, breached the terms of their borrowing? If so, who are they and what action has been taken?
And the answers...? Here’s what they said...
Rangers: “ The club is operating as normal, it is business as usual, and with regard to the questions, I refer you to the statements issued previously by the club and Lloyds.”
Lloyds: “Sorry, but we’ve no further comment to add to the statement we issued yesterday.”
Previous statements:
On the club website:
“For the avoidance of doubt, and due to recent media speculation, the club can confirm that while there have been tentative inquiries regarding the sale of the club, there are none that have realised an offer.
“As stated by Sir David Murray, it is not necessarily about price, but the new owner having the capability to take the club forward that remains essential.
“It is important to highlight the statement issued by Lloyds Banking Group to the press on Saturday evening, that ‘Lloyds Banking Group recognises the importance of Rangers Football Club to its supporters, shareholders and the wider football industry in Scotland. The Bank continues to be very supportive of both the club and the board as they manage the business through the more difficult economic conditions currently prevailing’.
“As such, there is no need for the club to sell assets in the January transfer window.”
Lloyds bank:
“Lloyds Banking Group is a bank which provides finance to many companies and households across the country. Our interest is in helping those customers grow and prosper. We do not run or manage the companies we bank – that is, quite properly, the responsibility of the management.
“Given the recent press coverage, we would therefore like to be clear Rangers FC is neither operated nor run by Lloyds Banking Group.
“We would also like to be clear Sir David Murray’s decision to step down as chairman was a personal decision and not at the behest of Lloyds Banking Group.
“The board of Rangers FC is developing and implementing a sustainable business plan and we have agreed to support this plan.
“The group is aware of the unique position that football occupies across many Scottish communities and has been working with Scottish football clubs, including Rangers, for many years.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article