McCoist Defiant on Rangers SPL Titles

Ally McCoist has sent a defiant message to the Scottish Premier League, saying Rangers will "never accept" being stripped of any of their titles.

The SPL is pressing for more sanctions to be handed out to the new Rangers before they are allowed to play in Division Three this season.

Rangers are being investigated for alleged undisclosed payments to players between 2001 and 2010.

"I will not be accepting any talk of stripping titles," said McCoist.

"That is something we will never accept and everyone at the club shares this view."

Rangers have indicated that they will accept a 12-month embargo and £160,000 fine imposed by the Scottish Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute during former owner Craig Whyte's time in control and that they will pay outstanding football debts.

But, despite the SFA and Rangers reaching an agreement, the club still does not have the SFA membership it needs to play competitive football because a deal must also be reached with the SPL on media rights and punishments relating to the oldco.

The SPL is investigating the Ibrox club's controversial use of Employee Benefit Trusts, which is also the subject of a first tier tribunal by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

EBTs allow employers to pay money in to the trust, which is paid out to the beneficiaries as tax-free loans.

Payments from an EBT should not be made on a contractual basis because that would make them part of an employee's salary and therefore subject to tax and National Insurance.

HMRC claims Rangers' EBT scheme was a tax scam because it was contractual.

BBC Scotland has seen evidence that suggests 53 Rangers players and staff had side-letters giving undertakings to fund their EBTs with cash .

SFA registration rules state that payments received by a player solely relating to his playing activities must be fully recorded and declared.

If that does not happen, the player has been improperly registered and the norm then is for the player's team to forfeit any match in which he has participated.

Rangers won the SPL four times in the EBT period in question, in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2010.

Meanwhile, McCoist has said he "strongly resisted" the SFA tribunal's year-long transfer ban on signing players of 18 and over.

On Friday evening, Malcolm Murray, chairman of the newco Rangers, which bought the old company's assets for £5.5m when it failed to agree a deal to exit administration through a company voluntary arrangement, said the club had reluctantly agreed to the embargo .

This will take effect on 1 September, giving McCoist six weeks to assemble a squad for Third Division football.

"The club is trying to get to a position where we can plan for the season, which starts in only eight days," added McCoist.

"We have had meetings with the SFA all week to discuss membership, but I had to leave the final meeting as I could not support the sanctions they were trying to impose.

"The decision has already been taken to place Rangers in Division Three and we have accepted that, along with many more punishments.

"However, operating with an embargo on an already depleted first team squad - even with a window to sign players - will make the task ahead an extremely difficult one."

And the manager added: "It is important to remember we have already had a 10 point deduction from the SPL, lost our Champions League place for finishing second last season, had a £160,000 fine, been refused entry to the SPL, been relegated to Division Three and lost the majority of our first-team squad - yet still the governing body has chosen to impose further sanctions.

"The transfer ban has been strongly resisted by me, the management team, the directors and supporters.

"From a business point of view, I can understand the position the board has been placed in and ultimately they felt they had no choice but to accept some sanctions in order to move forward - as one of the alternatives could have led to the extinction of the club.

"Talks will continue next week and we all hope common sense will prevail to allow us to get back playing football."

SPL Rangers Issues Continue

The Scottish Premier League will meet to decide who replaces Rangers this season amid fresh criticism, this time from Queen of the South.

Dundee and Dunfermline Athletic hope to learn that one of them has been chosen to fulfil the "Club 12" fixtures.

But Queens are the latest to reveal their fears that the SPL annual meeting will find a way to circumvent the vote to have Rangers in Division Three.

Queens say they are angry at the SPL and Scottish Football Association.

“There have been statements that have amounted to little more than threats”Queen of the South

The club relegated from Division Two have incurred the wrath of their own supporters for being one of five out of 30 Scottish Football League clubs who voted for the new Rangers being in Division One.

Ahead of Friday's SFL meeting, the SFA and SPL had promised reorganisation of the leagues and redistribution of income in return for Rangers being placed in Division One.

The chief executives of both those governing bodies had warned of dire financial consequences should Rangers be placed in the bottom tier.

And the Dumfries outfit claim they only voted for the First Division plan because they believe it is inevitable the new Rangers will end up in the second tier and wanted to ensure reform came with it.

"We have been incredibly disappointed and angry at the actions and leadership of the senior members of the SFA and SPL throughout this whole saga," Queens said in a statement.

"There have been statements, both public and private, that have amounted to little more than threats.

"The dialogue has been negative, focusing on and exaggerating the possible 'Armageddon' rather than rallying and actively trying to find solutions that all clubs and, more importantly, supporters would feel comfortable supporting.

"Instead, we were presented with a set of proposals that no one was happy with.

"More importantly, the message from the governing bodies was that, even with a 'no' vote, they would continue to pursue the newco Rangers playing in one of the top two tiers next season.

"There has been a lot of talk about how this is not possible under the current rules, but as the saying goes: 'where there's a will there's a way'."

Queens' comments echoed those of clubs such as Clyde and Dunfermline, whose chairmen suggested that the SPL could yet reverse its own decision to exclude Rangers.

The new Rangers had themselves suggested that they had been promised a place in an SPL2 should they not be voted into Division One.

However, it is almost certainly impossible to organise a new league in the three weeks before the start of the season and Sevco chief executive Charles Green has announced that he will accept the SFL decision.

Dundee United and Hearts have dismissed suggestions that the SPL could reverse its previous decision, when 10 of the 12 clubs rejected the newco's application.

The SPL had previously indicated that it was likely to invite Dundee, who finished runners-up to promoted Ross County, to replace Rangers.

However, Dunfermline, who finished bottom of the SPL, have argued that they should be saved from relegation instead.

The SPL decision has implications for the losers of last season's promotion play-offs - Airdrie United, who are poised to move up to Division One, and Stranraer, who will jump to the Second Division - should either Dundee or Dunfermline be confirmed in the SPL.

SPL clubs will also be looking to discover further details of the predicted commercial losses resulting from the loss of Rangers.

Contracts reportedly have an exit or renegotiation clause should either Celtic or Rangers be absent and the television deals.

Sky and ESPN were due to sign an £80m five-year deal this summer, although their existing £13m annual contract has a year left to run.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster told SFL clubs that a total of £18.7m would be lost to the SPL if the Third Division option was taken, all but £1m from broadcasting deals.

Doncaster has apparently valued TV revenue at just £3m if the Rangers newco was made to start in the Third Division, but Sky Sports has maintained its silence while ESPN has said it wants "to have a continued relationship with Scottish football".

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Thompson and SPL Dilemma

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson has spoken of the dilemma facing the Scottish Premier League board over what to do with a "newco" Rangers.......

Miller Rangers Bid in Preferred Status

Rangers' administrators have granted Bill Miller preferred bidder status and hope the club will be in his hands later this month.

The America-based businessman announced plans to form an "incubator" company that would see the assets of Rangers transferred to a new company.

Beattie Breaks Celtic Hearts

Craig Beattie scored a dramatic late penalty as Hearts dumped Celtic out of the Scottish Cup semi-final with a 2-1 Hampden Park win.

Hearts will play Hibernian in the final for the first time since 1896 after substitute Craig Beattie's last-minute spot-kick earned a shock win over his former side Celtic.

One of the most remarkable afternoons in the history of the competition began in earnest a minute after the break when Rudi Skacel raced on to a pass from Beattie, who had replaced Scott Robinson at the interval, to fire Hearts into the lead.

Four minutes from time Celtic striker Gary Hooper headed in a Charlie Mulgrew cross and it looked like the game was heading towards extra-time.

However, with seconds of normal time remaining referee Euan Norris pointed to the spot when a shot from Tynecastle skipper Marius Zaliukas hit the arm of Hoops midfielder Joe Ledley and Beattie scored from the spot to send the travelling Jambos fans into ecstasy.

Hoops boss Neil Lennon was clearly unhappy at the penalty decision but will perhaps be more annoyed that his SPL champions will miss out on the chance of a double.

Edinburgh football fans, though, will look forward to a day out in Glasgow on May 19.

Lennon made one change to his side, bringing in Sweden right-back Mikael Lustig for Adam Matthews, who had a mouth infection.

The Tynecastle side showed two changes, defender Andy Webster and striker Stephen Elliott in for the injured Jamie Hamill and Gary Glen, who dropped out altogether.

The Tynecastle side had a great chance after just 30 seconds when Celtic defender Kelvin Wilson underhit a back-pass which let Elliott in, but his shot from a tight angle was blocked by Hoops goalkeeper Fraser Forster for a corner.

Hearts had six players in their starting line-up who were one booking away from missing the final but showed no signs of holding back and there were some hefty challenges in the early stages.

There was another moment of slackness from the Celtic defence in the ninth minute when defender Mulgrew was robbed by Jambos midfielder Ian Black, who raced into the box but his pass failed to find Elliott.

Lustig headed a Kris Commons free-kick over the bar from six yards out five minutes later, before a fine Mulgrew cross into the box evaded Georgios Samaras, but the game was taking its time to come to the boil.

In the 21st minute Black was lucky to escape with only a booking after a challenge on Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley, in an incident which saw Mulgrew also booked. Black was also penalised for a handball but Norris resisted the temptation to produce a second yellow card.

Hooper headed wide from a Mulgrew cross, and Webster caused panic when he was short with a return pass to Hearts goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald which allowed Commons in, but the Scotland midfielder's touch was too heavy as he was forced to go around MacDonald and the opportunity was lost.

The best chance of the first half came for the dominant Hoops in the final minute but Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-yueng hit the post with a header from Lustig's cross when it looked as if he must score.

Beattie replaced Robinson for the start of the second half and the move paid off after just a minute when the big striker helped Skacel fire Hearts ahead.

After taking a pass from Black 30 yards out, Beattie quickly released Skacel into the box and he rounded Forster before slamming the ball into the roof of the net.

Stunned Celtic immediately stepped up the tempo and moments later Ki fired over from the edge of the box with a drive which signalled a period of intense Hoops pressure.

However, Hearts were a threat on the counter. In the 54th minute Skacel fired in a drive from 30 yards which Forster was glad to push round the post for a corner, and moments later the Czech tried his luck from the edge of the box but this time his effort trundled wide.

Anthony Stokes replaced the ineffective Samaras on the hour mark as Lennon tried plan B but in another Hearts counter-attack Beattie fired wide from 20 yards.

Ki hit the post again with a header from Commons' free-kick in the 81st minute, before skipper Scott Brown made way for Dylan McGeouch.

MacDonald produced a fingertip save to stop Commons' free-kick going under the bar before making a great save from Mulgrew's header with the rebound coming off Stokes' thigh and away from danger.

But in the 86th minute Celtic eventually got through when Hooper headed in Mulgrew's cross from four yards out and extra-time looked likely.

However, Beattie became the Hearts hero with his spot-kick, although there was still time for Celtic to be denied a penalty when the ball appeared to come off the arm of Webster as Hearts defended for their lives.

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Fenlon Gets Hibs to Final

Boyhood Hibernian fan Leigh Griffiths sent his team into the Scottish Cup final with a late winner as they beat Aberdeen 2-1 at Hampden Park.

Griffiths latched onto strike partner Garry O'Connor's classy through-ball to slip the ball home with five minutes left in Saturday's semi-final.

O'Connor had given Hibs an early lead but Rory Fallon levelled just before the hour mark with a stunning volley.

Aberdeen had been in the ascendancy after a toothless first-half display but Hibs regained the upper hand in the closing stages and their front pair proved too much to handle for the Dons defence.

The victory gives Hibs the chance to put aside a disappointing season in the Scottish Premier League season by lifting the trophy for the first time since 1902.

Aberdeen will be left to rue a shocking start as they remain waiting for their first cup final appearance since 2000.

Both sides were forced into changes with Jorge Claros coming into the Hibs midfield for the suspended Lewis Stevenson while Aberdeen midfielder Kari Arnason came in for the cup-tied Gavin Rae.

Fallon, who scored a double against Motherwell in the last eight, replaced Darren Mackie in the starting line-up.

The three SPL games between the teams this season have yielded just one goal and that was from a penalty that subsequently earned Aberdeen winger Peter Pawlett a two-match ban for diving.

But it took less than three minutes for O'Connor to open the scoring with the Aberdeen defence posted missing.

O'Connor first of all had all the time he needed in the box to pick up Isaiah Osbourne's blocked shot and lay the ball back for Griffiths, whose effort was quickly charged down by Mark Reynolds.

The ball fell for Hibs left-back Pa Kujabi, who aimed his cross for O'Connor, who had still not been picked up, and the striker guided the ball inside Jason Brown's near post as Andrew Considine made a belated effort to block.

Hibs comfortably repelled Aberdeen's initial attempts to hit back, which mainly centred around aerial balls.

Aberdeen began to get the ball down with Stephen Hughes becoming more involved in midfield, but Hibernian quickly closed them down inside their own half and sat deep to good effect when necessary.

The Dons could not carve a chance before the break and the lively Griffiths twice came reasonably close from long range.

Aberdeen brought on Fraser Fyvie for the start of the second half with Chris Clark moving from left to right midfield and taking Ryan Jack off.

The Dons got their first effort on goal in the 51st minute when Considine met Hughes' free-kick and headed straight at Graham Stack.

Kujabi shot wide from 25 yards after the Aberdeen defence scrambled to prevent several of his team-mates getting a shot on target and Fyvie soon volleyed well over from a difficult chance.

The match had opened up completely and Aberdeen followed a spell of pressure with a spectacular equaliser from Fallon in the 59th minute.

The move started with Reynolds, whose long ball looking for Fyvie's run was headed out by Matt Doherty. Fallon chested the ball down 25 yards out before sending a left-footed volley looping over Stack and into the top corner.

Aberdeen had the momentum and Fyvie curled wide after being given too much room 20 yards out.

Hibs lost Stack in the 73rd minute after he appeared to suffer a hip strain while kicking the ball and Mark Brown took his place.

Brown's first save was relatively comfortable, getting down to hold Mackie's effort after the striker had turned inside Kujabi.

Griffiths hit the outside of the post from a tight angle after linking with O'Connor on a counter-attack and the pair combined again to put Hibs in front in 85th minute.

O'Connor latched on to McPake's strong header from near the halfway line and played a first-time pass in behind Reynolds and Clark Robertson.

Griffiths was quickly on to it and the on-loan Wolves striker kept his composure to slip a right-footed shot past Brown and into the corner of the net.

Arnason shot not far over from 30 yards and Hibs survived a penalty claim when the Icelander's cross appeared to striker the arm of Kujabi.

Brown easily held Vernon's back-header during five minutes of stoppage time and Hibs held on to reach the final on May 19 against the winners of Sunday's clash between Hearts and Celtic.

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Rangers Admit Possible Liquidation

Rangers' administrators have admitted liquidation is a possibility for the Ibrox club under new owners.

Duff and Phelps have given a deadline of Wednesday for best and final bids, before choosing a preferred bidder.

In the running are Chicago-based Club 9 Sports, the Blue Knights, headed by former Ibrox director Paul Murray, and a Singapore consortium.

Hitherto, a move out of administration through a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was the focus of the administrators, but they have now given serious credence to the possibility of the club having to be liquidated.

"The preferred option remains a CVA and it remains an option for all of the bidders," admitted co-administrator Paul Clark.

Toxicity

"And we still think it's achievable and we're still recommending that as the preferred course of action to the bidders.

"We must accept, though, that we have in Rangers a financially-stricken institution and there is an amount of toxicity in there as a result of what's gone on.

"So all of the options have to remain open and it may be that some of the bidders decide that they would rather start afresh.

"We cannot rule out the winning bid could prefer a different structure that meant the sale of the business to a new company and in that eventuality it is certainly possible that Rangers would be liquidated.

"But it would only be done so after the football club was made safe."

Murray Makes First Rangers Offer

Ex-Rangers director Paul Murray says his "Blue Knights" consortium is finalising an offer to buy the club.

Ticketus, who advanced money to Rangers in return for several seasons' worth of ticket sales, are part of the consortium along with fans' groups.

Murray feels his party "are able to deliver an attractive solution".

On Friday, Rangers' players and management agreed to temporary wage cuts to help the club fulfil its remaining fixtures this season.

Businessman Murray left the Rangers board shortly after Craig Whyte's takeover of the club last May.

And his group says "new and experienced" board members could be appointed in the event of a successful purchase.

“We believe working alongside the Blue Knights and fans' representatives offers the best chance of the club surviving and becoming a viable business”Ticketus

The Blue Knights comprises Paul Murray, the Rangers Supporters Assembly, the Rangers Supporters Association, the Rangers Supporters Trust and Ticketus.

Since Rangers went into administration on 14 February, Murray's name has been consistently linked with a fresh takeover bid .

He said: "I believe that the Blue Knights, working in collaboration with the fans and Ticketus, are able to deliver an attractive solution that will see the club emerge from administration with a clear plan for the future that will bring the financial stability that the club needs.

"We firmly believe that a CVA [company voluntary arrangement] is the best way forward and we are working hard to offer a solution that will enable this to happen.

"As the administrators have stated, the alternative route of putting the club into liquidation is much less attractive for creditors, supporters and players, with its capacity to destroy value.

"Under current Uefa rules, a football club is banned from European competition for three years in the event of liquidation. Taking this route would have a significant impact on Rangers's future revenues and the overall financial viability of the club, so it is something we want to avoid."

Rangers's administrators, Duff and Phelps, have already ruled out the possibility of the club playing in European competition next season as audited accounts are unlikely to be signed off by the 31 March deadline.

A deadline of 16 March has been set by Duff and Phelps for parties interested in buying Rangers to come forward.

Ticketus, whose advanced funds were used as part of Whyte's takeover , stated: "We believe that the Blue Knights understand very clearly what needs to be done to stabilise the club, and represent the most attractive long-term solution to Rangers' financial situation.

"We are therefore backing their bid and will be an active partner, contributing to a successful outcome.

"We believe working alongside the Blue Knights and fans' representatives offers the best chance of the club surviving and becoming a viable business."

Earlier, Ticketus had indicated they would be confident of winning any case relating to recovering the money they forwarded as part of Whyte's takeover.

The firm has taken legal advice after Duff and Phelps pursued the release of £3.6m from an account belonging to Whyte.

A High Court judge ordered a trial date to decide who owns the money with Ticketus, HM Revenue and Customs, Merchants Turnaround and the pension fund Gerome contesting ownership of the funds.

HMRC want £2.8m, Merchants Turnaround is seeking £1m and Gerome is claiming £2.9m.

Rangers's joint administrator David Whitehouse emerged from the High Court in London on Thursday pleased that the judge had ordered a further hearing on the club's claim on £3.6m for 30 March.

Whitehouse argued that the money, frozen in his firm's lawyer's account, belongs to Rangers and should be released to ease the club's plight.

Lawyers for the club's administrator told the High Court in London they had expected to find £9.5m in the account.

But they said there was only £3.6m in it and several parties are claiming ownership of the money.

SPL Investigate Alleged Payments

The Scottish Premier League are to investigate the alleged non-disclosure of payments made to players by Rangers.

The probe will examine whether further payments were made in addition to main contracts and if SPL rules and regulations were breached.

The Scottish Football Association were already aware of the claims, made by former director Hugh Adam.

Adam said that some payments were not included in official contracts that were registered with the SPL and SFA.

A brief statement from the SPL said: "The SPL Board has instructed an investigation into the alleged non-disclosure to the SPL of payments made by or on behalf of Rangers FC to players since July 1, 1998.

"SPL rules F1, G1.1 and G1.5 give the SPL Board wide powers of investigation into potential breaches of the SPL rules.

"SPL rules D9.3 and D1.13 impose a prohibition on players receiving payments for playing football or participating in an activity connected with football except where such payments are made in accordance with a form of contract approved by the SPL and require that all such contracts are submitted to the SPL within 14 days of being entered into."

In a Daily Mail interview, Adam claimed that Ibrox directors were aware of the widespread use of an Employee Benefits Trust scheme.

A high-profile first tier tax tribunal will deliver a verdict soon on the EBT arrangement deployed by Rangers under the stewardship of former owner David Murray.

Regardless of that ruling, any 'off-the-books' payments to players would be a clear breach of SPL and SFA statutes.

"We will be looking into it and taking whatever action is necessary," said SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster.

"We'll be dealing with the administrators at Rangers to establish the facts, to establish whether there were any payments that were made that were undisclosed at that time.

"If there are, then we'll take that forward.

"Our role here is to apply the SPL rule book.

"We'll conduct the investigation as quickly as we can."

Rangers Losing £1M a Month

Rangers' administrators say the financially-challenged club needs to save £1million a month while a decision on possible player redundancies has been delayed until next week.

Gers entered administration last month over an unpaid tax bill of £9million accrued since Craig Whyte's takeover and administrators, Duff and Phelps, have been busy implementing cost-cutting measures.

The Ibrox club are trading at a 'substantial loss' and need to make up an approximate £4.5million in the club's finances by the end of the season, equivalent to saving £1m per calendar month.

The SPL champions were also expected to complete their review of staffing levels on Friday, however, administrators have confirmed the international break has 'interrupted' the process.

With the club due to take on Hearts in SPL action on Saturday, administrators have now decided to delay the announcement on possible player redundancies until early next week.

Difficult week

Paul Clark, joint administrator, said: "We appreciate this has been an extremely difficult week for all the staff of Rangers Football Club and the supporters.

"As administrators, we had anticipated completing our review of staffing levels and cost structure of the Rangers business this week but the participation of a number of players in international fixtures did interrupt the process.

"In short, the Rangers business is trading at a substantial loss and we have no alternative but to fill an approximate £4.5 million shortfall by the end of the season. It is therefore imperative that we find savings of approximately £1million per month to ensure the ongoing viability of the business.

"As has been widely publicised, there have been a number of discussions this week in an effort to achieve the necessary cost reductions. We are determined that all realistic options should be explored and today discussions have been ongoing with Ally McCoist who, in turn, has been speaking to his players and the PFA Scotland.

"We would prefer to reach a consensual position but as the day has gone on and tomorrow's very important match against Hearts looms larger, it has been agreed that any final decisions have been postponed until early next week.

Application

"On other matters, we can report that we made this week an emergency application to the High Court in London to secure money held in the client account of solicitors, Collyer Bristow, who had acted for the purchaser of the Club in May 2011.We can confirm that following the court hearing Collyer Bristow paid approximately £3.6m to our lawyers, Taylor Wessing, to be held securely by Taylor Wessing until the High Court decides whether or not it is the Club's money.

"Collyer Bristow will also disclose to Taylor Wessing details of the payments of funds out of their account on behalf of the Club since May 2011.The High Court in London will hear further representations on the administrators' claim to the money and our request for further information from Collyer Bristow on 8 March 2011.

"Since legal proceedings are ongoing we cannot provide further information but this is a positive step in the administrators' investigations into the Club's financial affairs.

"Right now, the situation is quite simple - income generated now will help secure the future of Rangers and we encourage supporters, who have shown tremendous backing for the club throughout this process, to buy tickets for the Hearts game at Ibrox tomorrow and future home matches."