Keith Jackson: It's time Rangers supremo Dave King revealed his Ibrox masterplan

[ian1964 10,457]

WITH season ticket renewals just a month away KEITH says Dave King must provide answers to key questions such as how much of his wealth he plans to invest in Rangers if fans are to buy into his plan.

 

THEY’VE been tiptoeing through the azaleas together for four glorious days of golf but very soon Dermot Desmond and Dave King will have to get back down to far more serious business.

 

It would be interesting to know if somewhere among the fairways of Augusta, squeezed in between the birdies, bogeys and bunkers, these two managed to discuss where Scottish football goes from here.

 

Both are about to be confronted by some monumental decisions and now seems as good a time as any for this game of ours to benefit from a bit of joined-up thinking.

 

All the latest news from Ibrox

 

Desmond, the publicity shy power-broker behind Celtic, does not speak often.

 

In fact, there is a long established running joke in the press centre at the Masters about his annual knock- back of an interview request from the Record’s own Euan McLean.

 

Every year without fail he is approached for a word and every year Desmond politely takes a seven iron to it. This custard pie policy has become part of the tournament’s traditions, not quite up there with the Green Jacket, but a customary part of the proceedings all the same.

 

Desmond prefers to do his talking in far more private settings.

 

He did sit down for dinner last Thursday night with Scotland boss Gordon Strachan after the pair had watched Jordan Spieth scorch a path around Amen Corner and one thing they’ll most certainly have agreed on is the importance to Celtic and to the game in general of having Rangers restored and fit for purpose again.

 

In a rare interview in October 2012, when Charles Green and his consortium of charlatans were unleashing all kinds of commercial chaos behind the scenes at Ibrox, Desmond was quoted as saying that Celtic “needed” them back.

 

“They are a motivation for us to go along and beat them in every Old Firm match, so we miss that opportunity,” was the way he put it.

 

Which, of course, is where King comes in because at some point in the next two weeks this equally reclusive businessman will be forced to step forward and place all his cards on the table.

 

King’s in-built reluctance to divulge any real detail of his plans for Rangers, coupled with his historic tax issues in South Africa, make him a rather mysterious figure but before the month of April is up all manner of questions will need to be answered.

 

Does he really have the cash and the resolve to finance this Rangers rebuild? If so, then how much of his children’s inheritance will be required? And when and on what does he plan to spend it?

 

King will have to address all of these issues and share his financial strategy with supporters before he can possibly expect them to start stumping up for season tickets.

 

With renewals scheduled for the start of May, some sort of detailed funding announcement has to be released shortly and when it is, King’s own sugar daddy credentials can be properly scrutinised.

 

And then there’s the real biggie. The question which generates all manner of online salivating and one which may ultimately even involve Desmond’s direct intervention. Is Dave King fit and proper?

 

An important hurdle was cleared last week when the Court of Session validated him as potential Rangers director but this was King being declared “fit and proper” only so far as the insolvency act is concerned.

 

The SFA examination centres on more testing criteria which is why its outcome is so eagerly anticipated by King’s critics as well as his supporters.

 

Well, a definitive answer is on the way with a final decision from the SFA’s board expected before it meets on May 5 and most probably at some point in the next fortnight.

 

This all powerful eight-man body is facing the most obvious no win situation inside Hampden since Craig Levein was oxtered out of the Scotland dugout. Whichever way they vote, they’ll be annihilated for it by one baying mob or the other.

 

Stewart Regan, Campbell Ogilvie, Ralph Topping, Peter Lawwell, Alan McRae, Rod Petrie, Barrie Jackson and Tom Johnston will have to decide if King is the kind of character who ought to be trusted with a directorship at Ibrox (no laughing at the back).

 

All manner of reprobates may have been allowed to march up and down the old marble staircase unchallenged over the last few years but King will not be permitted to ascend and take his seat as chairman without first being rubber-stamped by the men just listed.

 

King – no doubt seeing a rich irony in all of this – has described himself as the most scrutinised candidate in the history of Scottish football but he must surely also realise the difficulty of the SFA’s position where his fit and proper status is concerned.

 

In black and white, going by their own rule book, King fails the test. He’ll offer up mitigating circumstances to explain why he stayed on Craig Whyte’s board until the club had entered fiscal meltdown and will argue that, in so doing, he was able to monitor this disaster from the inside. Perhaps he was even able to hand over crucial info to the relevant authorities.

 

He has a case here also as King made his deep distrust of Whyte a matter of public record from the outset.

 

But it’s the 40-plus tax convictions that will be harder to get around.

 

King’s legal team argue that, in South African law, tax convictions are really just payment options but the fact is their client had to stump up more than £40million to keep himself out of Johannesburg’s Bar-L.

 

This, then, is not a straightforward decision even if the idea King may be plotting to do Rangers further harm is really quite absurd.

 

It is his sole intention to fix this broken club, not fiddle it.

 

King doesn’t need a seat on the board in order to oversee this task.

 

It may have been smarter for him simply to run the club’s affairs from afar – much like Desmond does with Celtic across the city – rather than put himself through this process and the risk of rejection.

 

King has also given the SFA one almighty headache and, at this stage, his chances of approval are described as not much better than 50-50.

 

Which is why, if they ever do get around to it, King and Desmond may discover they have a great

deal more in common than an appreciation of world class golf.

 

They could even become unlikely allies because if Desmond believes King’s involvement at Rangers will in turn be good for Celtic’s business, then what is to stop him leaning on Lawwell and instructing him to do everything he can to make it happen?

 

Lawwell may be relatively new to Hampden’s sixth floor but his influence is significant. It might be enough to swing the balance.

 

Celtic’s CEO got it wrong about the demise of Rangers back in 2012 when he predicted: “There will be no material impact on our business going forward.”

 

Two years later he conceded it was costing his club £10m a year.

 

This time around – and now that Augusta is over for another year – he may have to listen to his master’s voice.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-its-time-rangers-5509555

[der Berliner 3,290]

Yes, Keith. And you want the exclusive interview on that, don't you?

[aweebluesoandso 290]

At last the Mhedia admit the SFA is not fit for purpose, as Liewell runs Scottish football. Should that fact not be a major article, Because i certainly think we need answers, why Scottish football is run for the benefit of one club Celtic.

Edited April 13, 2015 by aweebluesoandso

[calscot 0]

I'm not sure if it's time yet for King to reveal all. Once he's the chairman should probably be the time. There's still a few hurdles to jump over first.

 

I think the fit and proper thing is getting a bit absurd - a bit like the seedings in the cup earlier this year.

 

The test itself is now portrayed in the media as something completely divorced from what it is the original intended result - assesing whether someone is actually fit and proper. It seems Dave King is more fit and proper than most chairman that we (and plenty of other clubs) have had over the past few years and yet may be the first to fail the test on what is probably irrelevant and erroneous evidence and criteria. In fact, I'm sure if you scrutinised the likes of Diamond in the same way, I think he would likely fail this trial by ignorant media speculation.

 

For me, all the chairmen in the old SPL bar one, have already shown they are not fit and proper and have failed their fiduciary duties.

 

The irony is that those who will actually be adjudicating would also fail the fit and proper test for their jobs merely by scrutinising their record of performance and outlandish decisions.

 

It seems when it comes to Rangers, you can be as criminal as you like if you are harmful to the club, heaven forbid you're actually interested in the improving the welfare of the club and the red flags come out waving in a frenzy.

[Scott7 5,242]

What's this?

 

The US Masters. Augusta. Florida

 

And the talk of the press tent is whether some low rank journo from a no rank newspaper can get an interview with the owner of a sub rank European soccer club?

 

I expect Nicklaus and Tiger and the rest think of little else.

[Zappa 0]

The cries of 'show us your plans' were ridiculous before King & T3Bs had even won the EGM and got themselves into the boardroom and they're still ridiculous because it's only just over 5 weeks since the EGM.

 

The new board hasn't even had time to steady the ship yet never mind script a masterplan!

[RANGERRAB 3,304]

The cries of 'show us your plans' were ridiculous before King & T3Bs had even won the EGM and got themselves into the boardroom and they're still ridiculous because it's only just over 5 weeks since the EGM.

 

The new board hasn't even had time to steady the ship yet never mind script a masterplan!

 

So when will they reveal their plans for the future ? next month? next year?

Let's not kid ourselves, Rangers are still surviving month-to-month on loans. That cannot continue indefinitely. Is DK going to invest ? If so when & how much?

And when will DK take up a directorship or chairmanship now he's been cleared by the CoS?

Edited April 13, 2015 by RANGERRAB

[pete 2,499]

The cries of 'show us your plans' were ridiculous before King & T3Bs had even won the EGM and got themselves into the boardroom and they're still ridiculous because it's only just over 5 weeks since the EGM.

 

The new board hasn't even had time to steady the ship yet never mind script a masterplan!

 

Maybe they will reveal it in 48 hours.

[der Berliner 3,290]

So when will they reveal their plans for the future ? next month? next year?

Let's not kid ourselves, Rangers are still surviving month-to-month on loans. That cannot continue indefinitely. Is DK going to invest ? If so when & how much?

And when will DK take up a directorship or chairmanship now he's been cleared by the CoS?

 

If the SFA allow him to do that?

 

As for the rest, I would assume that we will soon enough see a statement on the future plans, not least since the ST renewal time draws closer. we all want to know what is going to happen, but let's not get caught up in a media-installed frenzy again. Octavian, alias Emperor Augustus, once said: Something that is done well is always done fast enough. A good enough motto at this moment and time. IMHO, I do not "need" to know what their great and grand masterplan for the next 5 years or even 5 months is. For I do know that whatever they do is done in the best interest of the club and those who do it are wealthy enough to bridge any shortfalls along the way - without draining any more away from where it is needed.

[RANGERRAB 3,304]

If the SFA allow him to do that?

 

As for the rest, I would assume that we will soon enough see a statement on the future plans, not least since the ST renewal time draws closer. we all want to know what is going to happen, but let's not get caught up in a media-installed frenzy again. Octavian, alias Emperor Augustus, once said: Something that is done well is always done fast enough. A good enough motto at this moment and time. IMHO, I do not "need" to know what their great and grand masterplan for the next 5 years or even 5 months is. For I do know that whatever they do is done in the best interest of the club and those who do it are wealthy enough to bridge any shortfalls along the way - without draining any more away from where it is needed.

 

ST renewals start next month. Can't see too many renewing until there is some sort of communication from the board about funding/investment