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The former Ibrox director has expressed his concerns that decisions made in the coming weeks will affect the team's ability to compete with Celtic when they eventually return to the top flight.

The Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace is conducting a review of every aspect of Rangers' business. Last week he raised the possibility with the squad of a 15% wage reduction, although the players responded by asking if a similar sacrifice would be made by the club's executives. By Wallace's own admission, though, cuts will need to be made to bring the business back on to an even keel, although he has insisted that administration is not a threat.

King, though, believes that cutting costs now will undermine Rangers' attempts to restore the club to its previous status. The first-team wage budget is 30% of turnover - significantly less than UEFA's recommendations - and there is no scouting set-up, following Neil Murray being removed as head scout last year.

"The CEO has a lot of personal credibility but he is constrained by the funding realities," said King, a South Africa-based businessman. "I believe the club has to have funders who will invest to ensure that we can compete with Celtic when we get back to the SPFL. Unfortunately, our existing shareholders either don't have the money or the willingness to support Ally [McCoist, the manager]. With the right shareholder profile we should be investing in the squad not reducing it. We should be supporting Ally 100%."

King has previously said he would like to lead a new round of fundraising through a fresh share issue. The shareholders would have to reinvest to maintain the relative size of their stake in Rangers International Football Club, so such an initiative would likely change the ownership dynamic. Wallace has said he will address the need for new funding once the business has been streamlined.

King held meetings with Sandy Easdale, the shareholder and member of the Rangers Football Club board, last year in an attempt to broker an agreement that would have allowed him to invest in the club and take up the chairmanship of RIFC plc. He could not reach a compromise deal with the different factions within the shareholder base. He was also keen that Paul Murray should return as a director. Murray was among the four nominees who did not receive enough votes at last December's annual meeting to be elected on to the board. King believes that as well as supporting McCoist, shareholders ought to have been open to working with Murray. "He is a man that all Rangers' fans can completely trust," said King.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/keep-spending-on-squad-urges-king.23251877?

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Wilson urges Rangers board to take wage cut...not players

 

RANGERS executives were today urged to take the lead in the cost-cutting purge at Ibrox - by slashing their own wages and waiving bonuses.

 

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Matthew LindsaySports Journalist

 

Thursday 23/01/2014

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23254449.jpgAlex Wilson is disappointed players were asked to consider a 15% pay cut

The demand came from Alex Wilson, one of the gang of four requisitioners who failed in a bid to be voted onto the club board.

And he hit out at the board for a "cack-handed" failure to lead by example after the players rejected pleas to take a 15% pay cut for the next season and a half.

He said: "I was appalled, surprised and disappointed that the players were asked to consider a 15% pay cut in isolation. It was a bit cack-handed.

"Ally McCoist has agreed to a reduction in his salary.

"But apart from that, I haven't heard of any other cost-cutting measures from the board other than this one.

"Sorry, but that is just not the right way to go about it. I was pleased to see the manager has backed the stance of his players."

Gers chief executive Graham Wallace has warned every area of the business, which is operating at a significant monthly loss, is currently under review.

And he has promised that each department of the SPFL League One club would be subjected to exactly the same scrutiny.

Wilson and his fellow requisitioners Scott Murdoch, Malcolm Murray and Paul Murray, had vowed to work for free if they were elected to the board.

And the lifelong fan and current season ticket holder, who was HR director at telecommunications giants BT for nine years, has called for directors to be proactive. "As requisitioners, we said we would work for nothing for an indefinite period if we were elected to the board.

"I would like to see the current board do the same thing.

"I would like to see them lead by example here by accepting reductions in their pay and agreeing to forego any bonuses they have in their contracts or fees which they are entitled to.

"They could lead by example by doing that for the next one or two years - or even until Rangers return to European football."

Wilson added: "You don't ask your troops to make sacrifices without making any yourself. Leaders should be leading by example.

"They can show to supporters that they are the sort of people who want to see Rangers flourish by making significant degrees of self-sacrifice here."

Wilson, who commutes from London to attend Rangers home games, fears that offering the players a pay cut will create unrest within the Ibrox club.

He said: "The club could have gone to the players and said: 'We have agreed to a pay cut and not to take any bonuses - we would like you to consider giving up 15% of your salary for a year.

"They could have presented it as a package. But to lead with your chin, even speculatively, was very cack-handed.

"The board, the manager, the backroom staff, the playing staff should all be treated the same way so they have got a unified structure.

"Doing it the way they have only creates disunity."

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People are missing the point.

 

Cutting the player budget is a short term solution. Which in my opinion is short sighted as it currently stands at 30% of our turnover.

 

Fans of other clubs are desperate to see us struggling to compete on the park and are trying to push the message we need to live within our means.

 

Well the 30% figure suggests we are already living well within our means on the park that on the park... We just need to stop the money disappearing off it.

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Know what you mean. Gets a bit tiresome, I recall he put in £20M under SDM but you are only as good,as your last game.

 

King's previous investment was admirable and shows he's a serious player - even if, like many people, he was duped by Murray and/or didn't take an active enough interest in his cash.

 

However, that was over ten years ago and under a totally different regime in totally different circumstances. Now fans are more cynical and want, more than anything, to be led by someone of real standing. Is King that man? He may well be but I'm not sure inconsistent statements in the Scottish media are the best way to show that. This is why I had my doubts with Paul Murray and a similar lack of action (or spending) also done for Jim McColl's reputation amongst many bears.

 

Effectively King has to put up or shut up.

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The way I see it, King came all the way over with a sack full of cash and was turned away at the door.

 

That isn't his fault.

 

Let's ask the Easdale's why they turned him away shall we .................

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King's previous investment was admirable and shows he's a serious player - even if, like many people, he was duped by Murray and/or didn't take an active enough interest in his cash.

 

However, that was over ten years ago and under a totally different regime in totally different circumstances. Now fans are more cynical and want, more than anything, to be led by someone of real standing. Is King that man? He may well be but I'm not sure inconsistent statements in the Scottish media are the best way to show that. This is why I had my doubts with Paul Murray and a similar lack of action (or spending) also done for Jim McColl's reputation amongst many bears.

 

Effectively King has to put up or shut up.

 

I was just about to say that in response to your #4; why didn't the journalist ask that question?

 

There is a possible implication that he is waiting on the inevitable new share issue so that the money goes to the Club but he doesn't actually say that.

 

There would be nothing to stop him building up a small holding at the moment, though; there continue to be plenty of shares on offer (of course me might be doing just that and staying below the 3% notifiable threshold).

 

As is stated in this article, he failed to reach agreement with either side pre-AGM and I thought it was particularly noticeable that he did not throw his weight (and money) behind McCollCo. I thought that Wallace's interview comments were quite dismissive as well.

 

As regular readers will know I think there is a bigger reason why he will not invest, or at least not invest a sigificant amount...............

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The next time I hear from King I want him to make good on his promises to invest. So far, there seems no indication that we are going to reduce the main first team squad. There is no indication that the current investors don't want Ally or any plans he has for the squad. Neither is there any indication that they don't want to invest.

 

What the CEO does is looking at the business and wants it to live within its means, all over the club and the company.

 

As for King not coming to a deal with the directors at the time, we should keep in mind that this was pre-AGM. King could easily have bought up shares at the current low market price to get a foot into the club and have a say, even if he might not be able to be a director himself.

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I don't quite get the criticism of King as it's one of those "yet" complaints. If we're in the top league, had a share issue and he still hasn't invested then fair enough. But it seems to me that we will need big investment in a year and a half and you don't get that from someone spending their money buying up shares - especially when there are plenty who are not selling. The board and major shareholders don't seem to want to welcome him and so he'll need to be more aggressive to take over the club. Meanwhile the share price is dropping and so the proportion of stake of the current share holders compared to new shares issued is diminishing. The lower the share price, the larger stake holding King will have in any share issue for the same value of investment, without Rangers losing out financially.

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