Rangers administrators to announce 'new information'

Rangers were forced to call in administrators Duff and Phelps on Tuesday over an unpaid tax bill of £9m accrued since Craig Whyte’s takeover in May.

Clark said today: “We have received some information overnight in relation to various monies and various transactions in relation to Rangers Football Club.

“We’re going to be looking at all of that information over the coming days and we expect to give some form of announcement during the course of next week.

“But, at the moment, from the financial side of things, we are still working so that we can prepare a proper statement for delivery next week.”

When pressed for further details of the new information, Clark said: “We have been receiving information from channels but specifically we have received some information overnight from solicitors that have previously been connected with the football club and it's that information that we require to go through in some detail and get some clarity on.

“It’s in relation to several transactions in relation to the takeover and other issues in relation to the financial affairs of the football club over the past few months.”

He added: “We remain confident that there will be a successful outcome for the football club. Exactly what shape that will take, we remain uncertain.

“But it’s something that we are working with all parties to achieve a successful result. This is a football club and it’s about playing football.”

As well as the £9m unpaid bill, Rangers are also awaiting the outcome of a tax tribunal which could leave them with a bill believed initially to be £49m but according to Whyte could be as much as £75m.

Clark remains confident HMRC do not want to see a situation where the club is liquidated.

He said: “We have an ongoing dialogue with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, which included a telephone call just this morning prior to the match.

“The message, really, from HMRC is that they fully understand and accept and appreciate the importance of Rangers Football Club and they will be working with us for the survival of the football club.

“What they asked us to point out is that, had they wished to close the football club, then rather than issue the administration application that they did last week, it would have been a winding-up petition to the court and so this is not about liquidation, it’s about the survival of the football club and we will be working with them with that in mind.”

On the subject of players being axed, Clark said: “That’s something that’s subject to ongoing review. I’ve been speaking to Ally McCoist over the last few days.”

Rangers announced the signing of Daniel Cousin the day before going into administration and his registration was last night blocked by the Scottish Premier League under rules relating to insolvency events.

Clark said: “You will have seen that we did make an attempt to get Daniel Cousin signed and it’s disappointing and frustrating that hasn’t happened.

“We will look at the issues in relation to the appeal process and consider the next steps but that’s something that we are continuing to look at with the management.”

Asked why a club in financial difficulty were attempting to sign a new player when other jobs are at risk, Clark added: “It’s something that we looked at and considered both from a financial viewpoint and also from discussions with Ally McCoist.

“It was a decision we felt was appropriate at the time and we remain disappointed that it wasn’t successful.”

The Scottish Football Association also plan to conduct a full independent inquiry into Rangers.

Clark said: “We did speak to them yesterday in relation to the investigation and we’ve pledged that we will support in any way that we can the information gathering process that they’ll go through.”