Andrew Ellis delay not a factor in Rangers plan, says Alastair Johnston

RANGERS chairman Alastair Johnston has denied that the club's decision to press on with its own business plan was made because takeover talks have stalled.

• Andrew Ellis. Picture: Getty Images

Property developer Andrew Ellis had talks with Rangers owner Sir David Murray just hours before Tuesday's dramatic announcement confirmed that agreement on funding has been reached with the bank and Walter Smith will remain in charge for another season. Ellis has been considering a formal offer for the club since March, and any possible deal appears to remain some way off.

Last week, Johnston expressed his frustration at the slow progress being made by Ellis in the due diligence process, and suggested that the potential bidder might care to keep to himself any remarks about the future of manager Smith until such time that he had the right to comment.

But Johnston last night rejected the suggestion that the board of directors have decided that an Ellis takeover is now an unlikely scenario.

"The timing is totally coincidental," said Johnston. "The discussions with the management team were separate from and distinct from any concurrent conversations that might have been taking place.

"It's not a question of being fed up waiting. He (Ellis] can take as much time as he wants. But, as far as the club is concerned, we are moving ahead with our business, demonstrating to the fans that the ship is stable and knows where it's going and how fast it's going.

"We have to move on and be prepared on behalf of Rangers FC to structure a team for the next season. We have reached an overall agreement with the bank in terms of a business plan and we are acting as though there is no reliance on a change of ownership.

"If there is a change in ownership and it works in the best interests of all the parties involved then we'll address it when it arises."

Rangers have now agreed a business plan for 2010/11 with their bankers, which involves investment in the playing squad.

Chief executive Martin Bain has revealed that cash will be made available for Smith to buy new players for the first time since August 2008.

Bain said: "My job here at the moment is to stabilise and go into a hugely important transfer window and bring in new faces and address some of the issues that we have not been able to address, and hopefully the supporters will see a squad that is ready for the new season.

"We would love to go out and sign the Laudrups and the Gascoignes but we can't do that. In saying that, we have a certain amount to spend and now it's up to Walter and me to spend that money as wisely as we can.

"We have agreed with Lloyds that we can spend some of the Champions League income and we also hope to maintain wage levels as they currently stand and reinvest any transfer proceeds that we might have. So there will be an ability to build a squad and acquire new faces which we have been crying out to do."

Bain also warned that expectations will have to be tempered, but believes Smith is well equipped to continue to steer the club through testing financial times. He told www.rangerstv.tv: "There are parameters within the agreement that we have and the plan that the board has agreed to and no-one is pretending that it won't be difficult. However, the way of the world is difficult right now given the current economic climate.

"We are in a much better place financially than we were before. So we have come out of a difficult period – although we are not completely out of it yet – and we could be on an up curve as long as we don't create too much in terms of expectation."

Johnston also revealed that the Murray Group has appealed against an assessment from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over a long-standing tax issue that relates to payments made into offshore accounts.

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