A King-Sized Dilemma at Ibrox

8

With the dust slowly settling
over Thursday’s tumultuous AGM, let us take a brief moment to digest the state
of play at Ibrox;
The Rangers (International
Football Club PLC) board is comprised of Chief Executive Officer Graham
Wallace, Non-Executive Chairman David Somers, Finance Director Brian
Stockbridge, and the two Non-Executive directors James Easdale and Norman
Crighton.
The Rangers FC LTD company is
chaired by Alexander “Sandy” Easdale alone.
To clarify, the RIFCPLC is the
company which controls Rangers Football Club as a business, while the RFCLTD is
the sporting side controlled by significant shareholder Easdale.
All the above were democratically
voted by shareholders with exception of Sandy Easdale who is not a director of
anything, just the chair of the limited company and 26.6% shareholder himself,
making him the largest.
That is a reasonable assessment
of the situation as it now stands, with the four requisitioners P Murray, M
Murray, Wilson and Murdoch defeated in their attempts to win seats on the board
and are presumably now out of the picture. Paul did say on more than one
occasion that defeat would spell the end of his involvement, and he would bow
out if democratically beaten. We will see if that is true, but for now there is
a more pressing matter on the agenda;
Dave King.
This blog has covered Mr King on
more than one occasion. The South African-based businessman famously lost £20M
under the Sir David Murray regime, and was linked with the Blue Knights in the
summer of 2012 before Charles Green’s consortium took the club over.
With Green long since departed,
King has return significantly to the fore, with an apparent attempt in October
to appoint him as chairman. He was met by then-CEO Craig Mather and FD
Stockbridge for talks, but soon after Mather himself resigned, relegating
King’s appointment to the board as redundant.
Since then we have seen David
Somers given that role, so where does this leave King?
The problem is his involvement
with Rangers appears more tabloid inches now than hard negotiation. As recently
yesterday morning, he appeared on the back page of the Scottish Sun saying:
            “Yes, I am ready to invest in Rangers.
I have no problem working with duly elected directors.”
If we ignore the fact that
another Rangers-associated individual has used yet another dubious media
source, there is the unshakable feeling that this is a further soap opera in
the making. For a start, there was the fact that only days ago he was
instructing the board to offer Paul Murray an olive branch:
            “I would hope
that if this does turn out to be true they will reach out a little bit and
invite Paul Murray onto the board. I think it would help them, if their
position is secure and they know it to be secure, to at least get Paul on
board.”
First he wants Murray on the board, now he wants on himself?
Of course, no one is objecting to
the idea of King coming on board and investing his cash in the club. As stated
in previous blogs, his financial injections are exactly the kind of medicine
this club needs, and if he is truly willing to lose more cash by throwing it
into the black hole this club currently is on a financial basis, then he is
welcomed with open arms.
But why is there that nagging
feeling that this is another wild goose chase? No one truly knows how much the
man is worth, with estimates between £50M and £300M. Still a lot of cash, of
course. But when negotiations between he and Stockbridge and Mather for his
appointment as chairman seemed to spell his grooming for outright ownership,
what role would he have now?
Rangers have a chairman, and a
fully-outfitted board. It might not be every supporter’s dream team in the
boardroom, but it is pretty final.
Where does King fit in? Surely
the man is not literally going to just invest money in the club without also
getting a seat on the board? And if he does get that seat on the board, he is a
wage just like all the others until he delivers on his promises.
And it is blind faith and naive
optimism that assumes he will be true to his word.
Rangers fans have to be vigilant.
No snake oil salesmen, no liars, no smoke nor mirrors. No more blind trust – we
have our ‘team’ on and off the pitch – any new signings have to prove they can
be trusted and perform.
And that includes Dave King.

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Is it me or is everyone sick to the back teeth of all this. I really do not care who is managing Rangers interests as long as they do it for the benefit of the club and its supporters whilst showing commitment, trust, professionalism, financial acumen and a winning mentality.

    Oh and leave Ally and The Team to Ally and His Team.

    MC.

  2. Best option would be for him to buy out the unknown investors in Margarita et al. That way we have clarity on who the investors are and someone we have a little faith in with a significant shareholding who can check to see who has their hands in the honeypot.

  3. Interesting that you don't mention his "unsavoury" dealings with the Tax authorities in South Africa….
    This was serious stuff…and not conducive to a "Fit&Proper" scrutiny….
    You might want to check that out first.

    • sorry, but you look at some of the folk in charge of some major English clubs, and you can do nothing but majorly LOL at that "Fit&Proper" scrutiny" bit 😛

  4. I to will remain anonymous because like all of the cowards from the east end it seems the only way to go. Dave King was indeed fined for so called unsavory dealings in South Africa and was pursued until being found guilty and of course paying in full would still not be enough from our friends from the east end. Unlike in Scotland where you can steal land with the help of Glasgow City Council for a single pound note yet this is acceptable. Please enlighten me Mr Anonymous when this will reach court as you are so concerned with the plight of those abroad. Take up the case of the poor people in that area that lost there homes.

  5. Its now time for King , McColl and all serious Rangers men with the means to do it , to step up to the plate and buy a majority stake in the club , share prices have never been so low ! Get the spivs out and please put us out of this misery , we want our club back !

  6. I think the fact that King has previously put his money where his mouth is when it comes to Ranges more than proves his love of the club and has at least earned him the right to be trusted in his motives when it comes to Rangers. That is something I don't think anyone can say with any certainty about many of the re-elected board. I don't know how much King is worth but I don't believe that he would do anything in any way hurt the club and he gains nothing by claiming he will invest in the club if in fact that's not the case.
    To be honest I think your comments about "blind faith" and "naive optimism" are insulting to a man who has already invested and lost 20 million in the club but is still regarded by both sides of the recent dramas as a man who could and probably will significantly influence our future.
    If anything I see putting your faith in the current board as blind trust and dangerously naive far more than trusting King.

  7. we have our club back, the board will lead from the front given a chance ,no more crap from the murrays rangers now and forever.

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