“Where’s the money, Dave?”

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“Where’s the money, Dave?”

Long-term regulars of the site will be only too aware of our opinions on chairman Dave King. At best we have been dubious, and at worst downright cynical, scathing and critical. It is the job of fan sites like Ibrox Noise to hold the suits and those employed by our club to account – the official site will not, for obvious reasons, and the MSM is ridden with agenda and rarely can negativity in the Scottish press be taken overly seriously.

But fan sites like ours have no agenda beyond wanting Rangers to do well – to succeed, to prosper, to sign the best players we can and maybe play a bit of nifty football along the way.

Hence when we criticise it is heartfelt but intended as constructive, and when we praise it is what we frankly want to be doing always. But it does not work out that way.

Hence when Dave King took Rangers over we accepted he had won, despite our previous scepticism of him and his motives, and we got behind him, endeavouring to continue our trend of calling his performance as we saw it.

And over the course of the past two years there is little doubt when it comes to the transfer kitty, Rangers have been left wanting by disappointing budgets of barely £1.5M in 2015, and around £3M in 2016. With such meagre sums Rangers mostly signed absolute garbage, albeit then-manager Mark Warburton’s signing targets were atrocious. Indeed, many have theorised Rangers deliberately withheld funds from Warburton in summer 2016 having been appalled at his disastrous January window.

But the overriding question was ‘where’s the money, Dave?’ Ibrox Noise asked that more than once, when we kept seeing freebies or cheap players coming in instead of evidently quality progressive talent.

Well, this is where we take our hat off and admit King and the board seem to be finally putting that money where their mouths have been, and are backing new manager Pedro Caixinha as much as is reasonably possible.

Managing Director Stewart Robertson did confirm post-Warburton that funds were in place and the new manager would be ‘financially supported’. Well, it is clear now they are, and he was not lying.

It is hard to know the exact figures but we know Alves cost at least £500K, and reports have that one as up to as close to a million, while Cardoso is said to have been just over £1M. Dalcio was obviously free as a loan, while Rangers have most definitely bid over a million now for Norwich City’s Graham Dorrins, while the summer’s big outlay so far is the £2M+ that appears to be going to Guadalajara for Carlos Pena’s services.

I have not even mentioned the fees for Daniel Candeias or Eduardo Herrera or, if it does indeed happen, Abella.

Nor have I even mentioned Morelos yet (!)

The rough figure of circa £10M was banded around before this window began, excluding wages. Going by what we are seeing, that was certainly true, and may even have been conservative (no alliances needed here). And Dave King’s harshest critics, which at times have included us, have to be fair and reasonable and concede Rangers are now finally spending the money we have needed to for a long time.

There is still a journey to go, and it could turn out that this influx of talent was ill-advised, or that Pedro’s tactical flippancy last season was no ‘experiment’ after all, but on paper at least (and in the airports) we are seeing the kind of player arrive that we are more accustomed to witnessing at Ibrox.

And King, while it took perhaps a little longer than expected, has been good to his word and we are seeing the transfer window activity which makes Rangers exciting, thrilling, and generally what it should be again.

One year ago a £2M+ signing was unthinkable – indeed, not long ago this site wondered when we would be ready to make a £1M signing again. That these signings have been greeted with excitement rather than surprise at the fees does suggest a gradual restoration of Rangers’ values.

Which is good news for everyone.

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26 COMMENTS

  1. I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of finance available. I will be happier if and when it becomes clear that it is sustainable.
    I look forward to seeing all those who decried King coming on here and admitting they may have been wrong, but I doubt most of them have your integrity.
    I am no apologist for King, but I like to decide on facts not rhetoric.
    WATP

    • I was one and put my hands up for that no problem at all. I just can't understand why he didn't at least table a bid for the shares under the TAB ruling.. He could've offered the deal it didn't mean to say they would've excepted it – so why not do it? Instead once again that's a trip through the Courts and Rangers name getting muddied again ( papers fucking love that ).
      That said I've respected his stance over the Merchandise deal with Sports Direct and that fat fuck Ashley..
      Also I agree with being prudent with the transfer money with Warburton. I mean could you imagine the shite he would've bought if given the backing Peds got?
      Final word I've always said King was better than that Cockney cunt Ashley…

      Unlike the thousands of Gers fans wanted to stay in power rather than have King..

      Nae offence FF

  2. Stability…stability…stability. King could take season ticket sales as operating money. What he's said is he will spend up to that amount on players. The supporters abusing him after that? The board are paying the running costs…simples.

    • James, if it was that simple don't you think all clubs would be doing it that way? It's simply not sustainable as a long-term financial plan for our club! I think you might find that it also breaches the Financial Fair Play regulations, and the last thing the club needs is more investigations/fines/sanctions! The problem with Mrs King is, he'll never be honest enough to reveal the details of where the money is coming from and how it might impact on the future running of the club. He's counting on us all getting carried away with the excitement of the signings and not asking too many awkward questions! I just don't trust the guy and 'stability' is certainly NOT the way to describe spending all the season ticket money on player transfer fees while relying on the other board members to dig deep and use personal wealth to keep the club afloat (from the comfort of his home in South Africa)! At the time of writing we don't even have a shirt sponsorship deal in place for next season! Have we learned NOTHING from our years of reckless spending? How long will the home-based board members stick around and continue to fund our weekly operating costs? Until they bankrupt themselves? Or until they get fed-up with Dave King sitting cozy thousands of miles away and steering the ship dangerously close to the rocks with no provisions or life rafts? What then?

  3. As an avid fan of ibrox noise I was, after reading the first few lines of this piece, ready to say that this time you have got it wrong. Spot on as usual though. Let's hope that the new team gel quickly and start knocking in the goals. Happy days ahead I think.

  4. Cant wait for the new season to start, at last I can see light at the end of the tunnel, Have Supported Rangers all of my life, and will support them for the remainder of my life.

  5. Always been on here defending the board n sayin all will become more clearer in time just trust the board it will all wrk out n this is wat we are seeing happen.The word time just didn't come into it for a certain cple of posters that constantly are on ridiculing king spouting aload of nonsense he's a liar,fraudster, untrusting like a cple of jungle Jim's well a hope ther eating there humble pie. In king we trust!!

  6. Hats off to you ibrox noise, I've always said get behind king i knew he had an ace up the sleeve but you were quite right to criticise and like you said were here to call it as it is and now we can rightly give king the credit he has been due.

    Yeah we haven't seen these guys perform and it could all blow up in our face but for the first time in a long time I'm excited about signing players, I actually have the urge to go buy a top and stick pena on the back (DON'T WORRY I WON'T) but just to have this feeling again is amazing.

    I'm 100% behind ped now, your last piece on why rangers picked ped was excellent by the way and it goes to show that the rangers board do have there heads screwed on cos right now it seems like they have picked the best man for the job.

    WATP

  7. Like many, I have 'butterflies' at the prospect of seeing a team on the park full of flair and ability next season! My feelings of excitement are tempered only by a nagging doubt about Mr D C King. He arrived promising 'transparency' but has (all too often) been hiding in South Africa leaving the home-based board members struggling with the day-to-day running of the club! I hate to sound negative but, I have a deep rooted mistrust of the man. He (appears) to tell us what we want to hear but often falls short of backing up his claims with the 'transparency' he promised! As supporters we have been to hell (and are not quite back yet) over the last few years and deserve stability and transparency. Unfortunately the way Mr King deals with (or fails to deal with) important matters (such as the Takeover Panel investigation, the fiasco that saw the departure of our last management team) worries me slightly. He has been proven in a court of law to be fond of being liberal with the truth and, I fear that this character trait continues. Nothing ever seems straightforward where he's concerned and, the two matters I have just mentioned are sure to rear their heads sooner rather than later and will-no doubt- cost us a small fortune! The way he appears to ignore these matters is exactly the type of head-in-the-sand behaviour wich led to our club going belly-up in the first place!! Sure, it feels great seeing all these players arrive and has given us hope but, I'm concerned where all this money is coming from and just how sustainable things will be. Apart from the transfer fees, there are wages to pay. The financial burden of running the club, the maintenance (and repair) of an ageing stadium and everything else we don't get to know about! I just pray he has a sound business plan and is not driving us towards oblivion again because I'm not sure how long (if ever) the recovery of our once proud club would take! I'm as keen as anyone to close the 'gap' at the top of the league but, NOT at the expense of the club! NOT if it ruins us financially! NOT if it means a return to the 'wilderness years'! I would much rather see slow and steady progress, than gambling with our clubs future.

    • So Kings a liar if he doesn't spend money on players but is threatening to ruin us financially if he does. Come on. It's time you King haters sucked it up, which to it's credit IN appears to have done, and gave the guy the credit he clearly deserves.

  8. Not hearing many if any king haters now never been his biggest fan but I've always given him a chance like the rest of the board would rather them any day than fat Mike and the easdales

  9. I have to say, look where our club sits with finance and what we have on the park. Last years performance was far short of where we wanted as fans, but attained a position most of us would have settled for after our promotion.
    Recruitment for the past season ended up dreadful and performances unbelievable at times. Pedro inherited a dreadful squad of players and was forced into using untried youth players.
    So where do we go from here?
    Mike Ashley has prevented Rangers to cash in any profits from team colours sales; i.e. Strips, shorts, sweatshirts, etc.
    King has to be careful not to let any funds trickle through his fingers to be squandered, hopefully Pedro is sourcing players, with either potential future value or actual value on the pitch in the present. King has to guard against ant litigation from Ashley, HMRC, scumbag Whyte and his cronies that may crop u in the future.
    Hopefully the latest return to the board in Alistair Johnston might encourage investment into the club from his associates in the US, but as we all must ensure that any future investment cannot be deducted or diverted into companies who all have, for irrational reasons that might be detrimental to Rangers Football Clubs future development and progression.

  10. James, if it was that simple don't you think all clubs would be doing it that way? It's simply not sustainable as a long-term financial plan for our club! I think you might find that it also breaches the Financial Fair Play regulations, and the last thing the club needs is more investigations/fines/sanctions! The problem with Mrs King is, he'll never be honest enough to reveal the details of where the money is coming from and how it might impact on the future running of the club. He's counting on us all getting carried away with the excitement of the signings and not asking too many awkward questions! I just don't trust the guy and 'stability' is certainly NOT the way to describe spending all the season ticket money on player transfer fees while relying on the other board members to dig deep and use personal wealth to keep the club afloat (from the comfort of his home in South Africa)! At the time of writing we don't even have a shirt sponsorship deal in place for next season! Have we learned NOTHING from our years of reckless spending? How long will the home-based board members stick around and continue to fund our weekly operating costs? Until they bankrupt themselves? Or until they get fed-up with Dave King sitting cozy thousands of miles away and steering the ship dangerously close to the rocks with no provisions or life rafts? What then?

  11. Think last season 3million was a little more. They always said money was available but it seemed warburton didn't want to spend any, he preferred big wages on duds.

    The thing most for get is king is only the chairman. He doesn't even run the club, and those that do are rangers men, as well as some of the best buissness men in Scotland, it all takes time to turn a club around, but even then we were out spending and out paying every club in Scotland bar Celtic. We paid more on transfer fees and wages than hearts and Aberdeen combined last season, you can't blame the board to the mistakes of the manager which were so obvious with warburton

  12. Only recently Mr king sold one of his companies for 50million……….maybe he has put his hand in his trouser pocket? Only time will tell but no matter what we think of him personally he does appear to be a shrewd and successful business man all be it one that does seem to not only play close to the authority's line but somewhat dance dance along it occasionally having the the ball three quarters over the line at times. However Mr king does have my backing and I do believe he is the perfect combatant with the correct mindset for taking on ashley in the near future.

  13. Mr King has recently sold one of his companies for 50 million…….maybe he has put his hand in his trouser pocket? No matter what we think of him personally there is no denying the fact that he is a shrewd and successful business man all be it one that not only likes to play close to the authority's line but dance along it and occasionally having the ball three quarters over it. However Mr King does have my backing as I believe he is the perfect combatant with all the tools necessary to fight fat mike. But as all things only TIME will tell so please let's back him and be united as we all need to remember we are the FAMOUS GLASGOW RANGERS.

    WATP

  14. I have always thought King was the only alternative because despite the criticism he has had he is a fan just like us and wants us to be successful.

  15. Totally understand both sides of the argument and the frustration felt when considering the lack of quality last season. Personally I am hopeful that Peds knows what he is doing but nothing more than that. We also need to be aware that the Club's finances remain precarious and that a certain amount of realism is required. It was never going to be easy having been out of the top flight for so long. Celtic have got money to burn and have bought wisely. Delia was a liability and Brenda is no mug so we have to be patient. Our support is amazing. Let's get behind Peds and keep HOPING.

  16. At long last some bloody common sense !!!! Thanks fellow Noisers lol !! I have always backed King and this board they are Rangers people The investment put in by all is excellent let's hope we can do some damage rob the rotten mob this year and enjoy watching classier football this season …Ashley next !!!!

  17. Still no sign of the cple of imposters who on a weekly basis shot king down even on posts that wer nothing to do with him. It's like the silence across the city when the past about selik bhoys club is mentioned. Lost ther tongues!!

  18. WTF has Celtic boys club got to do with things? Honestly, it's small minded archaic views like these that hold our club back! U made a fair comment then ruined it with that bile! I'd much rather get one up on the other team in Glasgow through football matches than constantly resorting to this kind of cheap and needless dig! I know it's as bad from both sides but, we don't need to lower ourselves with this kinda stuff! Unfortunately we like in a MASSIVE glass house of our own, so let's avoid throwing stones! Can we not just concentrate on football matters? I enjoy reading the positive comments and the general 'good feeling' that is evident at the moment but, all too often it has come crashing down round our feet in recent years! Let's stay positive, hope for the future but, leave all this kinda stuff out of it for the sake of moving on! After all, it's what we keep telling everyone we want to do but how can we with comments like that?

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