One of Europe's more storied clubs finds itself in serious financial jeopardy, and a trio of U.S. internationals could be directly impacted by the repercussions.
Glasgow Rangers, the Scottish power that is home to U.S. internationals Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya, is on the verge of going into administration. The club, which reportedly filed the initial papers in the administration process to the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Monday, has five days to officially appoint an administrator to take control of the organization.
In that time, the club can attempt to negotiate its debts in hopes of staving off administration, an act not typically reserved for perennial league champions but one that is far from foreign in the Scottish game.
Should Rangers enter administration, the club would be docked 10 points the league table (which would keep the club in second place in the Premier League but turn its deficit to rival Celtic from a manageable four points to an overwhelming 14) while having an embargo put on signing new players as the club struggles to fight off its financial troubles.
Rangers was already sweating out a major financial dispute, as they could be forced into paying £49 million to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs after allegations that the club used money from an employee benefits trust to pay personnel wages. An unfavorable ruling in that case would set the club back even further and cause even more dire consequences that could end with a firesale of the club's assets.
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What do you think of this development?
Share your thoughts below.
+1
I have no problems with caps, I like them. My issue would be more of the allocation/DP-type exceptions that are being carved out. LA is on a whole ‘nother plane of spending these days. Landon, Keane, and Becks probably make $10 million-plus together. That’s like 4 normal salary cap teams spent on 3 players.
That being said, I don’t think equality of rules equals equality of outcome. What with the knockout tournament, someone has to win, and IMO they’re usually pretty good to get that job done. Some teams operate better within the cap than others, some sign dogs or the old or lame. The teams may be tightly bunched compared to freer spending leagues but I don’t necessarily want a big 5 being chased by mere European hopefuls and then relegation fighters. I like the idea that everyone besides a few hopeless cases has a chance each season, if they set up the team right in the fall.
It bears reminding that this league has historical swum in red ink and is just starting to compete with the other major leagues on attendance. Now does not strike me as the time to go laissez faire. Keep it tight, establish the sport, make some money with the new SSSs.
Like I said, I think if you remove the indirect methods of keeping salaries down and then introduce a hard cap at a low number like $3 million, you will drive talent out. People whom LA or NY can no longer afford will not necessarily go to Columbus, they may just flee MLS. If the response is for the cap to go up, you will improve the lot of the players at the expense of teams’ financial health.
I agree on a harder cap, but I think holding salaries down under it is the better approach. I don’t think there should be more than 2 DPs per team for competitive fairness reasons.