Questions still need answered by the man who could be King

[ian1964 10,409]

NEW Ibrox supremo Dave King joins a long list of men who have tried to do what's right for Rangers, but is he up to the task of leading them back to where they want to be, asks Gordon Waddell.

IT'S LIKE the Life of Brian. Off they go again, chasing another messiah.

 

This time, though, are the Rangers support following the chosen one at long last? Have they bought in to their last false prophet?

 

If Dave King has done nothing else in recent days, he appears at least to have unified the un-unifiable.

 

And he did it in the most simple way possible, reminding supporters the power of their club lies as much in the stands as it does on the shares register.

 

The fans just needed to hear the right person saying it. They’ve always had a cause. They just needed a leader to follow and an idea they believed in.

 

And now that they have it?

 

Now they can rally behind this pseudo-boycott King has proposed, putting the current regime on starvation rations? Do they have what it takes to see it through to its conclusion, no matter how ugly it gets?

 

If they do stage a coup, what will their club look like post-apocalypse? And, ultimately, what’s King’s motivation? What does he want to be for Rangers?

 

These are the questions that fans must ask themselves as they follow their pied piper – because, as yet, King hasn’t answered any himself.

 

I saw someone suggest they needed him to be their Fergus McCann, 20 years on. They don’t.

 

What they need is him to be their Dermot Desmond. Someone who has power, not someone who craves it or needs to be seen to have it.

 

Someone who wants some control, not a control freak. Someone who will be their bank of last resort, not use the club as his bankroll.

 

McCann fixed Celtic when they were broken, for sure. But he got in and out and made himself a rich(er) man in the process.

 

Desmond was there then, he’s still there now and while his influence is understated, it should never be underestimated.

 

He owns 29.9 per cent of the club and could buy and sell the rest of it but has never wanted to. THAT’S what Rangers fans need of King.

 

I’ve said it plenty of times before. The best way for Rangers’ fans to protect the long-term interests of their club is to own the guts of it themselves.

 

That way they’re accountable to each other and if they end up in trouble again they only have themselves to blame.

 

There have been opportunities for them to achieve that – they’ve just never had the unity of purpose or the ?leadership to do it. Until now.

 

As long as King holds true to his word. And as long as he doesn’t get the whiff of power in his nostrils and his ego decides he likes the smell.

 

It surprises me a bit fans are blindly buying what he’s selling. It’s something he said himself: “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”

 

If it had been anyone other than King stepping up with the plan he proposed and the statement he made, he’d have been drowning in scepticism and ?cynicism by now.

 

They’d have questioned his timing – why, if it meant that much to him, wasn’t he just ponying up and paying the Easdales the premium they clearly want to cede power?

 

But they haven’t. They’ve bought the farm because.... well pretty much because they’re screwed if they don’t.

 

The current regime have had time to earn supporters’ trust – they haven’t.

 

And news of that short-term loan last week was the tipping point.

 

I had the Rangers PR department on after last week’s column, when I had a pop at Graham Wallace, but I’ve heard nothing since to make me change my mind.

 

That’s nothing personal against the chief executive – I’m on record as saying I’m impressed with the guy.

 

But ultimately he’s an employee doing the bidding of his board, and there’s your problem right there when you’re beholden to financial institutions and hedge funds. They’re only ever in it for what they can get out of it.

 

Listen, it’s not unusual for clubs to seek short-term finance to see them through a couple of barren months. (Not clubs who raised £22m earlier in the season, mind, but still.)

 

The irony is that before, in times like these, they’ve turned to Ticketus to keep them ticking over.

 

Can’t see them being overly keen to help this time.

 

But most clubs seek soft loans from shareholders to tide them over a shortfall or to invest in a capital project and get them at “mate’s rates”.

 

Not 30 per cent APR. That’s loan shark material and any attempt by Wallace to disguise it as the market rate assumes his support is collectively thicker than a whale omelette.

 

But of course they’re not. They see it for what it is. A loan deal that takes a loan of their club.

 

At least now the fans can present the board with a choice.

 

If they starve the club of season ticket money, the board will have to raise funds elsewhere.

 

They don’t want a share issue because the Easdales know that will only dilute their own position.

 

They may have no choice.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/gordon-waddell-questions-still-need-3198073

[Bluedell 5,329]

Very good article.

[SteveC 150]

Hard to argue with his main points this week

[D'Artagnan 173]

Why did you do an e-mail interview with Phil 3 names - a confirmed hater of our club ?

[pete 2,499]

Why did you do an e-mail interview with Phil 3 names - a confirmed hater of our club ?

 

I didn't. Honest!