Simp-Lee the Best

by Lee McCulloch

  We were off the next day but I had to do something so I went to Murray Park for a light weights session to take my mind off things. The media were still at the main gates – television cameras, photographers and journalists all living out every second of this story, waiting for a big announcement or an insight from a player. I left later that day and got a text from Allan McGregor saying he and Steve Davis had just met with Ally McCoist to discuss the current situation. The gaffer wanted an insight into the thoughts of the players and what our plans might be.

  My own thoughts were that, rightly or wrongly, I felt my days might be numbered at Rangers because of the new circumstances surrounding the club. I felt heartbroken at the thought of it. I called my mentor Davie Weir to speak to him about the situation and he was very honest. He agreed with my assessment. So, basically, I had prepared myself for the worst. And so the sleepless nights began.

  Duff and Phelps were appointed as the administrators. The men put in charge of getting creditors their money and also trying to save Rangers were Paul Clark and David Whitehouse. I wasn’t questioning their professionalism and their ability to do the job, but the players were a little concerned that they were given this task considering Craig Whyte’s links to Duff and Phelps.

  Clark and Whitehouse faced the players at Murray Park and we had several questions for them. During our first meeting with them I would have been more vocal, but, because I believed I was going to be one of the players sacrificed, I was quite reserved. They stood in front of us all and said that we would be paid for February but they could offer no guarantees after that. They then had to go and study the financial books to ascertain exactly what kind of mess the club was really in. It didn’t make pretty reading for them. They told us that they were available to speak to us at any time and there would be constant dialogue between them and the manager.

  My mind went into overdrive. Will I play on Saturday against Kilmarnock? Have I played my last ever game for Rangers? I was in meltdown. A number of the players were the same – many of us were Rangers fans. I felt sick.

  The game came and I played up front against Kilmarnock. Ibrox was packed, every seat taken as our fans had responded to the pleas to do their bit to help Rangers get out of the desperate situation the club found itself in. ‘Penny Arcade’ belted out over the PA system and it felt like an Old Firm game. It was incredible. We lost the game 1–0, and we let our fans down. I was in tears as I walked off the pitch. I had the ball in the net but the referee disallowed it. Yet, television replays confirmed the goal should have stood. But when you’re down on your luck …

  It was an emotional day and as I turned up that afternoon I honestly felt it was going to be my last ever appearance in a Rangers jersey. The media was full of stories that ten or eleven of us were going to be sacked on the Monday morning as the administrators had looked at the books and had a plan to save the club. Ali Russell and Gordon Smith were told to leave in a cost-cutting exercise. Gordon had been brought in by Whyte as director of football. I liked Gordon. He was hung out to dry in it all. I felt sorry for him. He had the players’ best interests at heart. Ali Russell was also brought in by Whyte, but I had no time for him. I felt it was only a matter of time before a number of players were going to be asked to go. On my way to that Kilmarnock game I parked in the school across from Ibrox, as I thought it was my last game and wanted to walk through the famous doors with my club tie and blazer on.

  Monday came and the scheduled meeting between the players and administrators was delayed by forty-eight hours. The players decided to have another meeting with the PFA. A lawyer from the English PFA also attended the meeting. He had experience of such situations with clubs such as Portsmouth. The lads decided to send five players along to the meeting.

  The lawyers were great with supplying the details we asked for. They got in touch with the administrators and were eventually given access to the books to see if there was a way we could come up with a plan to save money without any employees losing their jobs. It took time to get it all going and it was a frustrating and worrying period. It really was a waiting game.

  During that period the atmosphere inside Murray Park was, to put it bluntly, horrible. Sure, I always felt privileged to play for Rangers and to be well paid for doing so, and we were treated like kings, but when that honour threatened to be taken away from me, it was something I couldn’t stomach. It wasn’t our fault but what we all knew was that it wasn’t the fault of any single person on the books of Rangers at that moment and yet we were the ones going to suffer for years of mismanagement and recklessness.

  A few days later, I received a phone call from someone with a good working knowledge of the club to say I was going to be one of the players to be sacked. I was told there was a list of players that were being told to go and my name was on it. I had no reason not to believe this guy and it confirmed my worst fears. He was adamant that my P45 was imminent.

  I had to take action to save my own skin. I had one throw of the dice left and I wanted it to be a double six. I discussed my situation with Amanda and came to the conclusion that I should offer to play for NOTHING until the end of the season. I was willing not to take a single penny to help the club and its staff. The manager, Ally McCoist, was exactly the same. He obviously felt the club had been good to him, so it was a great gesture for him and once again showed he has the club at heart – not that that has ever been in doubt. I spoke to the PFA about this and got Fraser Wishart to put my offer in writing to the administrators. It was lodged with Duff and Phelps the following day.

  The next meeting we had with the administrators was day fifteen of the process. As a team we couldn’t believe how long this was taking and we found the lack of information from them to be absolutely staggering. In terms of cutting costs and being decisive, I’d never known an administration process to take so long. And we were receiving no information from anyone at Duff and Phelps.

  That night, 29 February, at around 11.30pm, I received yet another phone call to tell me a national newspaper was running a story the following morning to say eleven players were getting sacked and I was one of them. Again, the guy who phoned was, in my book, reliable and well informed. I also knew where he was getting his information from. I appreciated his call, for giving me the heads-up.

  I was also angry. I called the gaffer straight away and he said it was rubbish and we had a chat about a few things. He was meeting the administrators on a daily basis but insisted Clark and Whitehouse were telling him very little. The players were receiving next to no information, and the manager wasn’t either.

  The gaffer said he wanted to avoid, at all costs, being party to any list of players being drawn up that would be bulleted, and I understood why he would say that. I was coming towards the latter stages of my career and I was one of the higher-paid players, although nowhere near the level of salary three or four of the top earners were on. The only thing in my favour was that we did have a small squad and I was able to operate effectively in a number of positions.

  The meetings between the players and PFA and the administrators became a daily event. Fraser brought in the PFA lawyers Bridge Litigation. Liam O’Donnell and Margaret Gribbon would assist us greatly over the coming days – they were excellent. Clark and Whitehouse said they were keen to sort out a package with the players and we were just as keen to settle on a figure and try to get on with playing football, but it was just so bizarre. There was so much going on that we weren’t training until five at night.

  In the administrators meetings we were all nervous but at the same time we were hitting Paul Clark with both barrels. Picture the scene – twenty-five angry players in training gear, sitting in a small room with Mr Clark standing in front of us fielding questions. Myself and Allan McGregor sat down with our bits of paper with questions and points all written down and we made sure they listened to every word we read out.

  Looking back, McGregor was funny, he has a way about him that makes you laugh. He has a heart of gold a
nd is a genuinely nice guy. He is very trustworthy and has been brought up in a similar style to me, although he comes from Edinburgh! He is very streetwise.

  I would ask a question to put pressure on the administrators, but I would ask it in a pleasant manner and understanding tone of voice. McGregor asked questions in a sharp tone, as if he was ready to half the guy in two with a sword. He didn’t hold back and I’m not too sure Clark and Whitehouse understood every word he said because of his accent. That said, it was very clear they didn’t know how to take us during the meetings. Clark, on a few occasions, looked extremely uncomfortable when he was asked certain questions and I could see him shuffling backwards to hold himself up against a wall. We never intended to be cheeky or disrespectful, but we had to ask questions that mattered. We, more than anyone, wanted answers, so we were blunt with some of our questions. For example, we asked them if they had ever worked for Craig Whyte. We asked them if they were working for Whyte during this administration process. They answered ‘no’ to both questions. We then asked them if they had ever worked for a company owned by Craig Whyte and they stuttered a little but eventually said ‘yes’. The room immediately filled with rage and anger. None of the players had any time for Whyte. We would eventually insist on (and get) our contracts being amended so that if Whyte ever got control of Rangers again ALL players could leave on a FREE. That shows how strongly we felt about what he’d done to this great club.

  My opinion is that Duff and Phelps could have accepted the players’ offer of taking wage deferrals. They initially said they would but then changed their minds because they said there would be tax implications. PFA lawyer Liam O’Donnell contacted the tax authorities and a tax specialist on behalf of the players and we found a way to take deferrals without there being any tax issues. Clark and Whitehouse refused to go ahead with it and we felt they had messed us about. Why agree to it and then make excuses? Excuses we’d shown to be wrong. It also heightened our suspicions of them having an agenda. Liam O’Donnell fired questions at them and they struggled to answer. They were extremely nervous. But we had to deal with Duff and Phelps.

  The next morning Clark stepped back and Whitehouse took centre stage. He was very clear and wanted no more tricky questions. He told us that if a wage cut – not deferral – wasn’t agreed today then he’d be terminating the contracts of up to fourteen players the following day. No further questions. Thank you. And then he and Clark walked out! The room was in shock – complete shock. We sat stunned. The gaffer was also stunned.

  Fraser then took control. It had reached the nitty-gritty. The meetings were tense, and forthright views were aired by all. It was agreed we would all vote on the wage cut in a secret ballot conducted confidentially by the lawyers. The gaffer addressed us as a squad – we were all in it together. He was right. It all got surreal again as each player trooped through to the canteen to cast their vote. Liam and Margaret took the votes. Credit to all the guys – the massive cuts were accepted as long as no member of staff at the club got sacked. Fraser got that in writing from the administrators.

  As it drew to a conclusion it was late in the day, and we were between meetings. Myself and Allan McGregor were stressed with it all so we decided to have a few beers. We went into our kit man Jimmy Bell’s room and took a few cans of lager. We put them in an ice machine to chill. We then took great pleasure in drinking them all. It set us up nicely for the next meeting, the meeting where it all got sorted once and for all.

  We decided that the highest paid players would take a 75 per cent wage cut, the middle group would face a 50 per cent deduction and the lowest earners would lose 25 per cent of their wages. Some guys, such as Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik, decided to quit the club and go for nothing, as was their right. I took a 75 per cent cut and I didn’t have a problem with that. I would have played for nothing, I really would have. During the three-month process it cost me around £200,000. Don’t get me wrong, it was a sore one, but it was worth it. Glasgow Rangers Football Club and the fans had been good to me over the years and it was my way of giving them something back. I was more than happy to have sacrificed money to keep other people in a job and help keep both the club and my dream alive.

  The players had no choice but to reluctantly agree to wage cuts of 75 per cent. Once we had agreed the principle of wage cuts as a group the PFA stepped back and allowed the individual players’ agents to come in. Some of the boys then got clauses inserted into their contracts which allowed players such as Allan McGregor, Stevie Naismith, Steve Davis, Steven Whittaker, Maurice Edu and Kyle Lafferty to go for anything up to 75 per cent less than their market value. For example, Allan’s value was around £4.5 million but he could go for £1.5 million.

  In my opinion this was the worst mistake the administrators made. They should never have allowed those clauses. A wage deferral would have cost a new owner around £3 million and that made much more sense to me than losing around £12 million from the asset value on players. In a meeting with senior players it emerged Paul Clark had said to the PFA lawyers that the value of the squad wasn’t worth £3 million. Allan was furious and he asked Liam to go into a private meeting with him and the administrators, to act as a witness. He was even more furious when he came out. But Paul Clark denied saying it in that context. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing – it made no sense. These clauses were a disaster and would later put off potential buyers including Bill Millar, the wealthy American businessman. A huge asset had been written down. The PFA had repeatedly told Duff and Phelps this as they pushed for the sensible option, wage deferrals, as regularly happens in English football administrations. But they wouldn’t listen.

  The players were also willing to allow any new owner the chance to pay the outstanding wage deferrals over a two-year period. I had a problem getting to grips with the decision that was made not to accept that. This great club wasn’t being treated properly. What was the agenda?

  To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with Clark and Whitehouse and I found it hard to have complete trust in them after the wage deferral issue and the lack of communication.

  Companies were declaring an interest in buying Rangers and, rightly or wrongly, there was a widespread feeling that Craig Whyte may have been involved in some shape or form with one or two of the interested parties. There is no doubt he was slippery and it’s hard to believe that he ever had Rangers’ best interests at heart. The things he did during his time in charge and trail of destruction he left behind proves beyond all doubt what a disaster he was for Rangers. We made sure he could never return with our frees clause written into our contracts.

  My stomach turned when stories of his time in charge of Rangers began to unravel. Even now, my gut still churns. It has left a horrible taste in my mouth to think he was able to come in and take the most successful club in the world and bring it to its knees. It was also disappointing that the SFA didn’t heed warnings from the old Rangers board not to accept him as a ‘fit and proper person’. There appeared to be a lack of due diligence on him from within Hampden.

  What made it worse was that Whyte was from Motherwell, where I grew up. He attended the 1991 Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park between Motherwell and Dundee United. My cousin and brother were also on that bus, as was Whyte’s sister, Adele. My brother dated her for a while. I was also at that Cup Final and it was a brilliant occasion. To see my hometown team beat Dundee United was memorable.

  When he took control of the club, Whyte claimed he was a Rangers fan and had been all of his life. I’m not so sure that’s the case. When he took over in May 2011, I don’t think he would’ve known Nikica Jelavic or Saša Papac had they sat beside him in the Murray Park canteen. But he would have known Dougie Arnott!

  We would have liked to have dealt with Whyte during the negotiation process but we never saw him again after he addressed the squad on 13 February. What a pity. We would have loved to have been able to get our hands on him, believe me.

  He clearly had a plan from
the start in terms of what he was going to do to Rangers. He gave huge wage rises to Allan McGregor, Steve Davis and Steven Whittaker during his first few weeks in charge. That should have started the alarm bells ringing. But we all trusted him at that point. However, for him not to pay his bills to small businesses was wrong. He sold the Arsenal shares that Rangers had in their possession for decades for more than £200,000. With the benefit of hindsight, we should have all listened more closely to John Greig, Alastair Johnston, Martin Bain, John McClelland and Paul Murray. They all knew the score and had clearly done their due diligence on Whyte, but, unfortunately, they didn’t have the power to overrule Sir David Murray or the bank.

  Sir David came in for some serious criticism in his final few years as owner. I happen to like him. When I joined the club he was very encouraging. He introduced me to Sir Sean Connery at the training ground and I got my photo taken with the best 007 there has ever been and ever will be. He came to the training ground quite a lot but was rarely in the dressing room on a match day. Sir David would phone me or text me after good results, but knew how to keep his distance. He was always impeccably dressed. He was Mr Rangers to me and from as far back as I can remember he was the main man at Ibrox. He made some great signings and was a master at hogging the headlines and maximising positive publicity. I spoke to him a few times on the phone before I signed for Rangers and he was great.

  Plenty have blamed him for one reason or another when Rangers went through a bad stage, between the debt and the Big Tax Case. He had the finger of blame pointed at him for selling the club to Craig Whyte. It’s unfortunate if he is remembered for that. Yes, it was a mistake, a monumental one, but he can’t be held responsible for the decisions Whyte made. That is totally unfair. And, remember, there was pressure from Lloyds Bank to sell up to Whyte.