Administration, Investigation And Players Taking Pay Cuts At Rangers

Rangers Players To Take Pay Cuts Of Up To 75%

Rangers have to cut £4.5 million from their budget by the summer and the players will do their part in making it happen by taking pay cuts for the rest of the season. The top earners will see their pay cut by as much as 75%, while the pay cut for the lower earners is in the 25-50% range with management also having their pay cut. The pay cuts are part of Rangers' administration as they try to avoid a raft of enforced redundancies at the club.

In return for taking the pay cuts, some players will be allowed to leave the club after the season on either a free transfer or at an agreed upon, reduced price. Two players, Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik, were just released from their contracts effective immediately with the consent of the players, making them free agents.

Getting the cuts was not an easy an easy process. The agents of the players and the players met with the club on Tuesday to work on a wage cutting plan. At one point, the players made what they called their "final" offer, which was rejected by the administraots. It looked like a deal would not be reached, but the two sides reached an agreement late in the evening.

Wylde and Celik were not the only players to offer to leave the club and a couple loanees offered to return to their parent clubs, like Kyle Bartley.

"All the players who will be taking wage cuts or leaving will be saving people's jobs," Bartley said. "I don't think anyone who is still at the club wants to leave but it is a situation where some may have to leave to benefit the club. My parent club is Arsenal. It was said I'd go back if there were cuts but nothing has been decided yet. I am still a Rangers player for this season as it stands. It is a shame that such a big club has come to such a crisis. It is a very sad time for Rangers."

The wage cut is a boost to the club as they try to work through administration, but they have many more problems on their hands. They are being investigated by the Scottish Premier League for illegal player payments and even if they survive administration and this season, there is no telling what kind of team they will have next season.

Rangers Under Investigation By SPL For Non-Disclosure Player Payments

The Scottish Premier League has opened an investigation into the claims made by former Rangers director Hugh Adam that the club made non-disclosure payments to players that were not a part of their contracts. According to Adam, Rangers had been making payments to players that were not in the contracts submitted to the SPL and SFA, which would obviously breach league rules.

A statement from the SPL read: "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."

Rangers are already facing their fair share of problems after going to administration and being accused of several financial irregularities in addition to their obvious poor financial management of the club. This accusation of improper player payments just adds to their woes, not that many will feel bad for a club that, if these accusations are true, intentionally skirted the rules.

While the report from the first-tier tribunal on the EBT arrangement deployed by Rangers is expected soon, the SPL doesn't seem to be on the verge of a verdict. In fact, the SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster went out of his way to clarify that any "off-the-books payments" to players would breach league rules so there won't be a lot of room for interpretation.

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

Rangers Go Into Administration, Are Deducted 10 Points

Rangers have appointed administrators Duff and Phelps a day after filing an intent to enter administration. The move puts Rangers in compliance with the court, who urged the club to hire administrators within 24 hours, and triggers a 10-point deduction that basically hands rivals Celtic the Scottish Premier League title.

The Glasgow club has more than 100 trophies to their name, but that hasn't kept them from a long battle with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). They had been involved in a dispute over a £36.5 million tax bill that was heard by a tribunal and now there is a fresh £9 million claim that HMRC are taking action over.

"Duff and Phelps has been engaged by the directors of the Rangers Football Club plc [RFC] to assist its negotiations with HMRC, and possible restructuring options," the administrators said after being appointed by the club just 45 minutes before the court-imposed deadline.

"As a result the inability of RFC to conclude negotiations with HMRC the board of directors have filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. The purpose of this notice is to provide a moratorium against potential creditor actions.

"Meetings are due to take place with HMRC in relation to the tax position of the company. Management remain hopeful that with the assistance of HMRC a consensual and solvent solution can be found. In the meantime RFC is continuing to trade as usual."

The hiring of administrators means an immediate 10-point deduction on Rangers, which ends any chance they may have had at catching Celtic for the SPL title. Rangers trailed Celtic by just four points on Tuesday morning, but the 10-point deduction puts them 14 points back and essentially hands Celtic the trophy in February.

Rangers FC File Notice Of Intention To Enter Administration

Rangers sit in second place in the Scottish Premier League and have over 100 trophies to their name, but they appear bound for administration, partially due to a disputed £49 million tax bill.