Latest news with #Mettle
The National
8 hours ago
- Business
- The National
Time has not restored Murray's battered Rangers legacy
The former Ibrox chairman has been busy promoting his new book, entitled 'Mettle', a play on the industry where he made his fortune and the quality he undoubtedly showed in abundance to overcome personal tragedies and live the life that he has. The one challenge though that it seems impossible for him to overcome is to rebuild his shattered reputation in the eyes of the Rangers support, to the vast majority of whom he will always be the man who sold the club to Craig Whyte. And for a sum 22 times less than the RRP of his book, no less. The subheading to the book's title – 'Tragedy, courage and titles' – is telling, because that only gives the story up to a point. Anything that came after that is deemed unworthy of inclusion in this short summation of Murray's life, while anything that came before his fateful exit from Rangers now, sadly for him, seems irrelevant to the Ibrox fanbase. (Image: SNS Group Steve Welsh) The book itself does include Murray's telling of his thinking leading up to that fateful sale to Whyte, and the context was that he, undoubtedly, was in a difficult situation. Lloyds were seemingly turning the screw on the Rangers chairman (though he downplays this) and urging him to offload the club, which owed the bank around £18m. There was the tax liability on top of that stemming from Murray's ill-judged use of the EBT scheme, which at that time was thought to be as high as £70m, though it was later reduced to around £20m or thereabouts after HMRC admitted to errors in their calculations and a subsequent settlement agreement. The bottom line is this, though. Without Murray embarking upon the use of EBTs, no matter how much he may still stress the legality of the scheme, HMRC would never have had cause to darken the Ibrox doorstep. Furthermore, Rangers would never have been in a position where they could be sold for a quid to a character such as Whyte. Most damning of all - and this is the part that doesn't pass the smell test - is that Murray argues he had no notion of the ruinous path he had set Rangers on when he handed the keys to Whyte. In his book, he says that he took that decision 'in good faith', and that he 'went on the facts in front of me'. 'A journalist asked me at the time if our due diligence should have been more thorough,' Murray writes. 'It's easy to look back and say: 'Yes, of course it should' but anyone typing Whyte's name into Google back in 2011 would have found one article from years before. Nothing else.' The fans are expected to believe that this feted businessman, who had spent years cultivating an image as a meticulously shrewd, savvy and abundantly connected operator, simply didn't know who he was dealing with when it came to passing on the club he had spent 23 years leading. That his background checks on the man went as far as a simple Google search. In short, they don't. Instead, the narrative that has gained most traction is that Murray knew exactly where Rangers were heading, and he didn't want to be the captain at the helm when the ship went down. That Whyte was a convenient fall-guy. If this is true, and I should stress there is no evidence to prove it, then as an exercise in saving face and safeguarding his legacy, it was entirely redundant. Instead of protecting his name, he has instead been christened with a new soubriquet – Sir 'Duped'. The inverted commas are, of course, always included to denote sarcasm. Whether he did know who he was dealing with in Whyte or not, neither position reflects well on him. If he didn't, he should have. Many Rangers supporters will never forgive him either way. (Image: SNS Group Bill Murray) In some ways, it is a great pity that it has all ended like this for Murray. The good times he brought to Ibrox were among some of the most memorable ever seen at the club. He broke down barriers, signing Mo Johnston. He was at the helm as the team brought home nine-in-a-row. Away from football, his fortitude is commendable and impossible not to admire. The proceeds of his book, incidentally, will go to Erskine, the veteran's charity. Ultimately though, the hubris that spawned his famous quote of spending a tenner for every fiver that Celtic put on the table was the same that led to his – and ultimately, to Rangers' – downfall. Not only do the supporters place the blame for what happened back in 2012 firmly at Sir David's door, but for the sorry state they have found themselves in for most of the time since. For the single league title in the 14 years since he left the club. For Celtic's subsequent domestic domination. And now, just as an exciting new era is dawning at Rangers at long, long last, even the timing of his re-emergence to shift the narrative away from the positive changes taking place at Ibrox this summer has hardly helped to restore his battered image. After 14 years, it appears nothing, not even the passage of time, will.
The Spinoff
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
‘She had mettle': Anne-Marie Te Whiu on poetry, weaving and whakapapa
Claire Mabey talks with poet, weaver, Atlantic Fellow and cultural curator Anne-Marie Te Whiu about her new collection of poetry, Mettle. Claire Mabey: Kia ora Ani, it's very nice to be talking to you about your beautiful poetry collection, Mettle. Why did you dedicate the book to your younger self? Anne-Marie Te Whiu: Because she's still here. You know that whole thing of you've got to be turning into the person that your younger self would have looked up to? I feel like now I'm 52 I'm just becoming that person, so I'm in conversation with her now, that little kid. It's taken all these decades but it's really beautiful. CM: And why 'mettle'? What does that word mean to you? AMTW: Being a poet, I love playing with language. So when I tell people I've written a collection called Mettle, I love seeing their faces. You can see they're thinking 'Oh so you've written about the periodic table? Is it from a science lens? It is about, like, heavy metal?' I love that. The reason I used 'mettle' is because when I was doing research on my whakapapa and the connection with Whina [Dame Whina Cooper], my great aunt, I looked at archival works, newspaper articles, that kind of thing. I found that one of the words that was used to describe her was that she had 'mettle' and that word just really struck me. CM: So your whakapapa is here in Aotearoa, and you were born in Australia. What is that relationship like for you? Is your collection working into that? AMTW: Exactly. It's working to understand myself. I use poetry as a vehicle and a platform to work out who I am. What does it mean to have whakapapa? How do I acknowledge that whilst being born on and living on these unceded, stolen lands? How do I reconcile that relationship? It's kind of reconciling with myself, really. It's also a vehicle for understanding my siblings, particularly my youngest brother – for him to further understand who we are. CM: I really like the poem 'Blood Brothers', where you're trying to have a conversation with your brothers and they're distracted by the stuff of daily life. AMTW: Totally. Don't you have that with your siblings? CM: Yes! Do you relate to the idea that there's always one sibling who seems to lead the family 'work' so to speak? I've observed over the years that there often seems to be one in the family who works on whakapapa and makes the connections and reconnections. Does that ring true for you? AMTW: 100% relate. I think that's exactly right. I have three brothers, one who sadly passed away – but growing up I was always the fourth wheel. Like, we need to play handball and need a fourth, might as well be her. CM: I was really also struck by your poem, the Letter to Keri Hulme that you've dedicated to essa ranapiri. Is it a fictional letter? AMTW: You're the fourth person to ask that! Like, what? No, it's totally fictional. That was a gift of a poem that was written because essa, who edited Mettle, invited me to be part of a journal dedicated to the legacy of Keri Hulme. We were asked to create whatever we wanted. But how awesome that you think that there's the potential there for the letter to have been real. It brings me back to the question of 'why poetry?' Poetry is a portal. It allows us to stretch and play. CM: I love that. It feels like so many roads lead back to Hulme. Is there anything in particular about her work that you love? ANTW: Her relationship to water. Watching tides, watching waves, reading waves; that's what I really related to. The writer Melissa Lucashenko embodies something of the way Hulme's work enters into your blood. There's something incredibly sacred about the way all the parts work together. There's a power in Hulme's work, and in Lucashenko's too. CM: You're a weaver as well as a writer. There's a poem in the book about having a 'weaving hangover'. What does that mean? AMTW: Have you been a weaver before? CM: Never. But I used to paint a lot. AMTW: Perfect. Here's the comparison. Would you paint until 4am and then go, how did that happen? Then the next day what you did is still with you. That's the kind of hangover I'm talking about. The number of nights I've had where it's got to four, five in the morning just weaving. CM: How does weaving relate to poetry for you? Or does it? AMTW: It compliments poetry rather than that they definitely meet. But I lean on one and then the other, and throw in a couple of dog walks in there as well for physicality. They're both practices that require being still so you gotta balance it with that physicality. CM: Mettle is out in both Australia and New Zealand and I imagine they're two really different audiences, in some ways. AMTW: Massively. I don't know if you got the little insert in the book when it arrived? It has this message explaining that Mettle delves into my whakapapa and then in brackets it says 'Māori genealogy'. Obviously that's so patronising and so unnecessary for the Aotearoa audience, and so imperative if I want to connect with this audience here in Australia. I've had a couple of moments of 'how do I bridge this?' But that's the work. That's our work as writers, producers, artists. We're bridge builders. CM: Have you had feedback on the book so far? ANTW: I got a beautiful message on Instagram from a gorgeous Australian-born wahine, about a poem I have in the collection about understanding and not understanding in a te ao Māori space. To have feedback from someone that gets it is so sweet. I've had feedback from the most important people who are my whānau. The book is for my younger self but we always write for those we love, too. Hopefully all my family will look at it and go, yeah, that's great. CM: In your acknowledgements you talk about a class you did at the IIML at Victoria University with Victor Roger. What was the impact of that class? AMTW: It was so significant being in a room with other Māori and Paskifika writers. Nafanua [Percell Kersel] was there, Nicole Titihuia Hawkins, Kahu Kutia, and a whole bunch of amazing writers. Victor led our waka in such a joyful and challenging way. It was a very, very profound experience. Blood Brothers i recite a karakia for my brothersthey would prefer i bring kebabs i tell them about the Hokianga they tell me about their bills i explain tangata whenua they turn up the TV i dream of Tāne Mahuta they roll a cigarette i summon the names of our ancestors they take their medication i miss our marae they put out the bins – Anne-Marie Te Whiu Mettle by Anne-Marie Te Whiu ($30, University of Queensland Press) is available to purchase from Unity Books. The Spinoff Books section is proudly brought to you by Unity Books and Creative New Zealand. Visit Unity Books online today.
The National
a day ago
- Business
- The National
The secret plot to merge Celtic and Rangers uncovered
But Celtic and Rangers? Well, former Gers owner Sir David Murray claims that was the plan of newspaper baron Robert Maxwell back in the 1980s. Murray had only weeks prior taken control of the club when he received a phone call from Maxwell telling him he would like to buy it off him already. Worse than that, his plan was to also acquire Celtic and merge the clubs. Understandably, it was met with great resistance. Speaking in his new autobiography, Mettle, Sir David said: 'Football still has the capacity to shock and amaze and one telephone call just weeks after I had bought the club still astounds me to this day. Read more: 'My son Keith came racing through to where I was sitting at home and said, 'Daddy, a man is on the phone wanting to speak to you.' 'I asked him who it was and he said, 'Robert Maxwell'. Now Maxwell still owned Oxford United and Derby County at the time and had a stake in Reading so I assumed he was on to talk about a player. 'But when I picked up the phone, the voice boomed down the line, 'David, it's Robert Maxwell… I want to buy Rangers from you and then I want to buy Celtic and merge the clubs.' 'I checked my watch to see if it was happy hour. I can't remember my exact response but it was fairly terse. 'I remembered that he had tried to do something similar with Reading and Oxford United and a planned team called the Thames Valley Royals. Needless to say, we had no further contact.'
Daily Record
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
The secret plot to merge Celtic and Rangers revealed as madcap idea comes to light 36 years later
Sir David Murray has lifted the lid on a bizarre conversation he had with Sir Robert Maxwell back in the 1980s Sir David Murray has revealed how he was left stunned after receiving an offer to buy Rangers from Robert Maxwell - so he could MERGE the Light Blues outfit with Celtic. Murray had only been in control of the Ibrox side a matter of weeks following his £6million purchase back in 1988 when he took a call from the controversial newspaper baron. Maxwell – a former owner of the Daily Mirror – owned both Oxford United and Derby County but hoped to add the Old Firm outfits to his stable before combining them into one Glaswegian super club. But the madcap idea went no further than that bizarre conversation as Murray rejected the offer from Maxwell, who died in mysterious circumstances just three years later. Recalling the outlandish episode in his new autobiography Mettle, the former Gers chief writes: ' Football still has the capacity to shock and amaze and one telephone call just weeks after I had bought the club still astounds me to this day. 'My son Keith came racing through to where I was sitting at home and said, 'Daddy, a man is on the phone wanting to speak to you.' 'I asked him who it was and he said, 'Robert Maxwell'. 'Now Maxwell still owned Oxford United and Derby County at the time and had a stake in Reading so I assumed he was on to talk about a player. 'But when I picked up the phone, the voice boomed down the line, 'David, it's Robert Maxwell… I want to buy Rangers from you and then I want to buy Celtic and merge the clubs.' 'I checked my watch to see if it was happy hour. 'I can't remember my exact response but it was fairly terse. 'I remembered that he had tried to do something similar with Reading and Oxford United and a planned team called the Thames Valley Royals. 'Needless to say, we had no further contact.' Preorder on Amazon HERE
STV News
a day ago
- Business
- STV News
Murray: 'I have apologised to Rangers fans for selling club to Craig Whyte'
Former Rangers owner David Murray says he has apologised to fans for selling the club before it collapsed into financial ruin. Sir David sold the Ibrox side for £1 to businessman Craig Whyte, and was at the helm when Rangers gave £47m in tax-free loans to players and staff between 2001 and 2010. The HMRC brought a case against Rangers centring on the club's use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs), which were also used by other clubs. The EBTs enabled the club to pay players, managers and directors through the tax-free loans, but HMRC argued the payments were earnings and should be taxable. Getty Images Craig Whyte leaves court surrounded by police on September 2, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. Two tribunals – in 2012 and 2014 – ruled in Rangers' favour. But the Supreme Court found in favour of HMRC after an appeal in 2015. The club had been bought in May 2011 by Craig Whyte after Sir David initially struggled to find a buyer willing to take on a potential 'big tax case' bill. Mr Whyte was later cleared of fraud in relation to the takeover. Under Whyte's ownership, Rangers went into liquidation in February 2012 less than a year after the sale. Ewen Cameron/Up Next Studios Former Rangers owner David Murray says he has apologised to fans for selling the club before it collapsed into financial ruin. The tipping point for administration was a £9m tax bill due to HMRC, and total debts reached more than £100m. The club was admitted to the third division of Scottish football. Murray, speaking to broadcaster Ewen Cameron and Up Next Studios, said he has apologised to Rangers fans and staff for his part in the collapse. 'I have apologised, but I did a lot of good things for the club. If you want to remember the negative, that's their choice,' he said. When asked if the EBT scandal led to Rangers' downfall, he answered: 'That plus Craig Whyte. 'The interpretation of the EBT by HMRC and Craig Whyte… I think they could have survived the first one but not the two put together.' He added: 'Craig Whyte was a mistake – I'm prepared to admit that. But on the evidence of the money, what he was going to do, it seemed the only course of action.' Sir David continued: 'I was disappointed for the fans first of all and I was also so disappointed for the people that worked there – people who had been so loyal to me – and all of a sudden their jobs were in jeopardy. 'How many plates can you spin? The average Rangers fan doesn't care about my other businesses – but so many in Scotland – a joiner in Fife a haulage firm in Melrose – were affected by the banking crises.' Sir David's autobiography Mettle is out on Monday, and all proceeds will go to the Erskine Charity. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
