Donald Muir, the bank's inside man at Ibrox, has questions to answer

Michael Grant

Chief football writer

Monday 12 March 2012

PICTURE the Rangers scandal as a giant battleground where everyone has been hit and bloodied to some degree.

Donald Muir, right, was on the Rangers board when the club was sold to Craig Whyte. Picture: SNS

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Michael Grant

In the biggest mess of all is public enemy No.1 Craig Whyte, who strode triumphantly into Ibrox last year and now wouldn't be safe to walk the Glasgow streets.

Sir David Murray has become increasing toxic for leading the club to the edge of the abyss. Rangers company secretary Gary Withey is accused of obstructing attempts to release bank money which came from season-ticket sales. Lawyers Collyer Bristow have been alleged to have been unhelpful. Duff and Phelps, the administrators, have been accused of dithering and being Whyte's lackeys. Ticketus were happy to profiteer from speculating on supporters' loyalty and they're panicking about not being able to get their £24m back. HMRC have not been paid by Whyte and are at least £15m down, a sum which could multiply by four. Players have lost up to threequarters of their wages. A handful of staff have lost their jobs. Ally McCoist is stressed to the hilt. Fans have been sick with worry. The SFA has been told their "fit and proper person" rules are powderpuff. Paul Murray, sacked from the board last year, now faces the pressure to deliver which comes with building up the fans' hopes.

It has been like a financial cagefight and no party has escaped at least collateral damage. Well, perhaps one. There is one unmarked party in the story of Rangers' disgrace, a key participant in the story, but now almost forgotten and free from the mudslinging. Who was it that Walter Smith said was "running the club" in the final months before Whyte's disastrous takeover? Who was it who sanctioned Whyte before leaving the scene with all of its money paid up in full? Lloyds Banking Group must look at everyone still immersed in this carnage and, laughing up its sleeve, think 'what a bunch of mugs'.When Donald Muir joined the Rangers board in the autumn of 2009 he was variously described as a "turnaround specialist" and a "company doctor". Lloyds put a gun to the club's head and insisted that he went on the board. Former chairman Alastair Johnston said the bank made it clear that it was a condition of Rangers' credit facility that Muir had to be a director. Muir was the guy who oversaw an aggressive clawback of Lloyds' debt at Rangers. He ran the show. When it was said that club staff couldn't buy a paper clip without running it past him first, the joke had a ring of truth. Because of Lloyds, Smith went two years without being able to buy a player. Because of Lloyds, he spent a while working without a contract as Rangers couldn't afford to commit to one. It was "terribly compromising" to have Muir sitting in on meetings when the board wanted to discuss financial strategy, said Johnston.When Muir joined the board Rangers' debt stood at £33m. When he left – on the day Lloyds got out and Whyte took over – the liabilities were pegged at just £18m and falling. From the shambles of Rangers' finances, Lloyds pulled off the miracle of getting back every penny they were owed. When Sir David Murray talked about selling Rangers only to someone with the club's best interests at heart – gee, that worked out well – Lloyds' view on where the club ended up was not so explicitly expressed. No wonder: now it appears they didn't really care so long as they got their money back and were long gone before the big tax case verdict landed.Well, that's business. If Rangers say they don't do walking away, then banks don't do emotion. They weren't under any obligation to look after Rangers beyond holding up Whyte's proof of funds document from Collyer Bristow and saying, "Look, he's got the cash – we're off". But what about Muir?Muir and David Grier go way back. They've known each other for years. This time last year, Muir was on the Rangers board and Grier was the turnaround specialist advising Whyte on his takeover. Now Grier is a partner in Duff and Phelps, the administrators Whyte succeeded in appointing. So did Muir and Grier know that Whyte intended to fund the buy-out by flogging future season tickets rather than using his own money? How come Whyte felt he had the authority to go to Ticketus and get a £24m advance on the season tickets on April 7 last year, 28 days before the takeover went through? Ticketus had done previous deals with Rangers, remember. When Whyte offered to flog them Ibrox season tickets, it's unthinkable that they would do anything other than pick up the phone to someone at the club and check his authenticity and credentials to sell. If Lloyds were "running the club", and Muir was its man on the board, did he give that approval?Muir described himself as a Rangers supporter and a guy who cared about the club. He was Alex McLeish's mate. Well, he may have worked wonders for Lloyds, but how big was his role in placing Rangers in Whyte's hands? Can he look himself in the mirror today and feel he served "his" club? Muir's not likely to be seen at Ibrox any time soon, but in December he had a VIP seat at the Old Firm game. He sat beside Whyte.

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Donald Muir, the bank's inside man at Ibrox, has questions to answer

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