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SPL May 2011
Scottish Premier League News May 2011: Rangers on course for championship
Ali Morrello
Rangers
It has been quite a month for Rangers, with the club suddenly heading towards the title, while off the park a new dawn looks set to arrive.
Business tycoon Craig Whyte has finally informed the Stock Exchange that he has concluded his purchase of Murray International Holdings' majority shareholding in Rangers Football Club.
The Scottish businessman, who has been in takeover talks since November, has notified the Stock Exchange of the purchase of an 85 per cent stake in the club at an asking price of £1.
Whyte is believed to be ready to put £10 million into Rangers immediately as working capital, aloowing Ally McCoist to plan for next season.
Both Murray and the Lloyds Banking Group had already given their approval to the deal but the sub-committee of Rangers' board set up to ratify the deal had raised concerns over long-term funding and investment in the first team squad.
Whyte reached an agreement with Lloyds several weeks ago over the repayment of the club's £21 million bank debt.
It is understood £17 million will be paid up front to Lloyds, with a £4 million loan on Ibrox's Albion car park refinanced and paid back in instalments.
The statement to the stock exchange read: "Wavetower is pleased to announce that it has today acquired 92,842,388 ordinary shares, representing approximately 85.3 per cent. of the issued share capital in The Rangers Football Club P.L.C. (the "Club"), for a consideration of £1.
"Wavetower acquired its interest in the Club (the "Acquisition") from Murray MHL Limited. The Acquisition would ordinarily have required Wavetower to make a general offer in cash under Rule 9 of the Takeover Code to all other shareholders in the Club but, as the consideration paid by Wavetower for the shares acquired is £1, the Takeover Panel has granted Wavetower a dispensation from making such an offer.
"Wavetower intends to post a circular to the Club's shareholders by 16 May 2011 containing background information on Wavetower and other relevant information. Wavetower intends to maintain the Club's listing on PLUS Markets for a minimum of 12 months from the date of this announcement.
"Wavetower is 100% owned by Liberty Capital, a company which is ultimately owned by Craig Whyte. Craig is a lifelong Rangers supporter and is very much looking forward to guiding and assisting Rangers in its development over the coming years."
Celtic
One minute they were on course for the title, the next they were lost.
Celtic are a burst balloon as the SPL title race enters its final three-game run. After leaving Ibrox with a 0-0 draw just a few weeks ago - a game in which the Hoops missed a late penalty - Neil Lennon's team looked odds-on to gallop to the title. Instead, they went to Inverness and saw their dreams fall apart in the Highlands as they stumbled to a shock 3-2 defeat.
Lennon's team have lost only two league games in almost six months. Their goal difference is the best in the league. Their defence is the best in the country and they have lost only two of seven Old Firm games this season. It will mean nothing if Rangers now, as expected, go on and win the Championship.
That all seems good, but it won't be good enough to deny Rangers a third consecutive title unless the defending champions drop points against Hearts, Kilmarnock or Motherwell. The trophy was in Celtic's hands and they fumbled it.
For all the talk of an old, stagnant Rangers, Walter Smith's team have eaten into Celtic's lead over the past 10 weeks and have now rubbed it out altogether. It is Rangers now who hold all the aces with a one-point lead going into the last weeks.
In a season in which there have been highs and excitement, it is suddenly the bumps and hiccups that look significant for Celtic. They have dropped points to seven of the 11 teams they've faced in the league, including the bottom club, Hamilton Academical, and all of the others in the top six.
There was a run of five games over November and December when they took six points from an available 18 against Hearts, St Mirren, Dundee United, Inverness and Kilmarnock, a run that now looks appallingly costly.
Celtic started the term with eight straight league wins. Despite a sense that they have had most of the division's outstanding performers, and the deepest squad, it is a run they have been unable to repeat over the past seven months. For all the talk of threadbare Rangers, Smith's team have won games.
Celtic's only league defeats since the turn of the year have come on poor pitches at Motherwell and Inverness. That sounds simplistic - and takes no account of the qualities of Stuart McCall and Terry Butcher's teams - but it is a criticism of Celtic rather than an excuse for them. Champions have to deal with all conditions and opponents over a season and champions-elect should not be troubled by something so simple as a poor pitch.
Lennon, who has been forced to deal with death threats and intimidation this last month with parcel bombs intercepted by police, was frank in his criticism of his team, who were shocking against Inverness. He didn't need to name every one of his defenders but Daniel Majstorovic, Charlie Mulgrew, Mark Wilson and Emilio Izaguirre were all dismissed as having been "poor" on the night. Kelvin Wilson will arrive in the summer and the manager must now consider whether to buy a second new centre-half and form a new partnership altogether.
There are three games remaining - including a fraught trip to Tynecastle for Celtic - but they now find themselves in the position of looking elsewhere for favours. Whether lady luck smiles remains to be seen.
Hamilton Accies
Like the title-race, the relegation battle looked a dead-duck only a few short weeks ago.
Yet, almost without anyone appearing to notice, Hamilton Accies look capable of pulling off an escape that Houdini himself would be proud of. They remain strong favourites to be relegated, but a surprise victory over St Mirren has presented them with a ray of hope.
A win for Danny Lennon's side would have confirmed Hamilton's relegation, while a draw would also have all but settled it given St Mirren's superior goal difference. Hamilton, though, looked the hungrier side throughout a fraught contest and deservedly earned only their fourth league victory of the season. They have now given themselves a shot at salvation, however remote.
With three games left, Hamilton now trail by six points and 10 goals. They will likely need to go through the remainder of the campaign undefeated, winning at least two matches and drawing the other. St Mirren, in contrast, would probably need to lose all three matches to end up bottom. It seems a hopeful scenario from a Hamilton perspective but stranger things have happened.
Danny Lennon, the St Mirren manager, insists there will be no panic within the St ranks despite seeing their lead halved in the space of a few weeks. One victory in their last three games will probably be enough to guarantee Premier League football for a sixth successive season.
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