Ex manager Walter Smith seeks to buy Rangers

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A new bid to buy Rangers has been announced by former manager of the side, Walter Smith. The offer is thought to be approximately £6m and Mr Smith will put part of the money in alongside other Scottish businessmen, to include Douglas Park and Jim McColl. Mr Smith has asked the previous leading bidder, Charles Green, to stand aside. Mr Green and his consortium were about to complete their £5.5m purchase.

Mr Smith has confirmed in a statement that he is leading a bid for the club, saying that he and his partners want the club to be in the capable hands of Rangers people, to help stabalise the club. He continued by saying that he had asked Mr Green to step aside so the deal could proceed, saying that the new deal would be in the best interests of the clubs employees, the fans, the creditors and all other stakeholders of Rangers F.C.

This development came on the day the CVA (company voluntary arrangement) was rejected. This failed after Revenue and Customs told the club’s administrators that it would not vote in favour of the proposal. The club required 75% backing to move it out of administration. Rangers Football Club now moves towards liquidation and Mr Green will soon acquire the business and assets of Rangers Fc on a newco basis. On Thursday the administrators confirmed an ‘imminent’ newco deal, following the rejection of the CVA.

Mr Smith, who was at the Ibrox helm for two successful spells, said that the motivation behind the 11th hour bid was simply to save the club, and not because anyone in the group wanted to own Rangers Football Club. The consortium hope to make the club self-sufficient, and stress that long term sustainability is essential.

Rangers demotion could lead to Sky pulling out of SPL TV deal

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Sky is ready to pull out of the £110million deal to show SPL games should Rangers plunge to Division Three, causing terror and stress in the boardrooms. However, it may not be such a bad thing. Matches were traditionally played from 3pm on a Saturday but now times differ according to TV air time, putting many supporters off.

Club chairmen are dreading the thought of the SPL without the funding that Sky gives. Stephen Thompson, of Dundee United, said that they day the club has to go without satellite cash could be described as Armageddon; Michael Johnston from Kilmarnock is not too pleased about the idea either.

If the game went back to the old days, kicking off at 3 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, the clubs would be taking a huge gamble. However the management teams do not want to ignore what the supporters want. They understand that a club needs supporters to survive, however they also need large injections of cash flow, which is one thing that Sky TV coverage regularly brings.

They have a difficult decision ahead of them on how to find the balance. Generally the two main revenue streams are TV money and sales of season tickets, but smaller clubs need the TV money to remain in business.

A huge 30% of the SPL income received by Dundee United this season came from television contracts. With clubs such as Kilmarnock in considerable debt it is important to have a regular income, which is promised with the Sky deal. Kilmarnock FC have tried a number of ways to pull more crowds in, however they remain unconvinced that a return to the traditional kick off times would help bring punters in. He described the idea as “a step into the unknown”.

WAG musical is well received on opening in the West End

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The musical WAG has opened in the West End and has been well received. Jessica Lawlor, a real life WAG who plays mega-bitch Victoria, revealed that boyfriend Stephen Ireland was the more nervous of the two. Jessica said that it was a “constant battle” for her to get the Premier League star to relax although she was pleased for the support he had given her.

Jessica, 26 performed during the show’s premiere at the north-east London venue of Ye Olde Rose and Crown. The pub theatre was a grand venue as the blond bombshell gave a standout singing display and even starred in a catfight with Pippa Fulton. An appreciative crowd of over 150 people delighted in the raunchy comedy and ballads.

Jessica’s real life WAG friends include 26-year old Chantelle Tagoe, Manchester City Emile Heskey’s fiancée and Carla Kompany, wife of captain Vincent Kompany; all of whom have seen a dress rehearsal and boyfriend Stephen plans to see the show in a few days after his return from Los Angeles.

In the show, Jessica’s co-stars include Pippa Fulton, girlfriend of Clayton Donaldson the Brentford striker and former Eastenders star Belinda Owusu. Pippa, a former star of the Fame Academy says the musical plays on the well known stereotypes of football and people seem to love it.

Amongst a celebrity packed audience was 63-year old Paul Gambaccini, the veteran TV presenter and DJ who suggested the show had a bright future and was “very impressed” with the performances.

Gary Neville rules out a repeat of the WAG problems of the 2006 World Cup

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Gary Neville, a coach with the English football team, has said that there won’t be any repeat of the WAG problems that occurred during the World Cup in Germany back in 2006. Many families of footballers have also chosen to stay away from Poland and Ukraine because they fear that there might be some instances of racism.

In 2014 the competition is going to be held in Brazil and it is more likely that the WAG issue is going to re-occur then when the families of the footballers will probably want to go with them. Mr Neville has assured people that the chaotic scenes of the past are not going to occur again and the families of the footballers are not going to overshadow the footballers themselves.

Mr Neville has commented, “When we go abroad for a competition it is important that we don’t disturb the players too much, and that they have conditions that are similar to what they would experience at home. Between matches in the UK, footballers do not go out into the countryside, but they live in the city. This is why when we travel abroad, we choose to find accommodation in the city centre. This maintenance of normality is a way to ensure that the players perform at their best.”

This is Mr Neville’s first appearance as a football coach which is a great leap of faith when you consider the importance of the upcoming matches. Although he was a successful player, it is unknown about whether he is going to be able to translate that into coaching brilliance. Roy Hodgson chose Mr Neville as the coach after he was impressed by the various observations that he made while appearing as a pundit on Sky television.

Many people have been considering that the fact he was a television pundit might be a problem as he made comments about several of the players who he is now trying to work with. About this he commented, “Sure, I’ve highlighted mistakes, but I’ve always been honest and I think the players know this.”

The League Cup is renamed once again after deal with Capital One

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The Football League has announced that the League Cup will be known as the “Capital One Cup” next season. The value of the four year agreement which includes sponsorship and naming rights has not been disclosed.

Richard Heaselgrave, the League’s Chief Commercial Officer stressed the cup was in good shape with some exciting finals in the last few years. The cup is played on a knockout basis amongst the teams making up the league competition – including the Premier league.

The last cup, then known as the Carling Cup, was won by Liverpool on penalties, beating Cardiff 3-2. Heaselgrave went on to say that the competition gave the public a chance to see some exciting mid-week cup football and a chance to see future stars. The first round draw will take place on June 14th for the rebranded cup; the final will be played at Wembley on February 24th.