Keith Jackson: Is Dave King ready and able to ride to the rescue of Rangers

[ian1964 10,720]

WITH the cash crisis at Ibrox heading towards a critical point Keith wonders what the South African-based businessman is waiting for before making his move.

 

ANOTHER week, another load of twists in the great Rangers Rubik’s Cube. Yet more puzzles created by this conundrum of a football club.

 

On Friday night it was announced that Brian Stockbridge had finally left the building, a development which itself posed more questions – some obvious, others not so much.

 

First, why on earth did it take so long for the penny to drop that the accountant in chief – and part-time home video enthusiast – had such apparent difficulty with numbers?

 

And then, more intriguingly, what was the real story behind the repayment of Stockbridge’s £200k bonus?

 

And did he, as was reported on Saturday morning, walk away with a year’s salary paid up in full?

 

On the one hand, Stockbridge stood up at the club’s agm in December and stated bonus money had been handed back. It’s widely understood this was done at the insistence of the club’s largest shareholder, Laxey Partners, in return for their backing at the vote.

 

Last week Graham Wallace, the recently appointed CEO who is battling to tidy up the mess, also went on record to confirm this money had been returned to the Rangers account. And that it was done so in advance of that December 19 agm.

 

All of this would doubtless have come as some comfort to the club’s supporters who ran out of patience and trust in Stockbridge many moons ago.

 

So let’s ask again then. What exactly was it that Stockbridge did to deserve leaving Ibrox with a full year’s salary in his tail?

 

And while we’re at it, here’s another question: What do the players in Ally McCoist’s dressing room – who were being asked to consider cutting their own wages just the other week – make of this?

 

The big question now is where Rangers go from here because what I’m hearing from inside Ibrox is that Stockbridge may have got his numbers wrong when he predicted the business would be down to its last million pounds by April.

 

The true extent of the club’s short-term funding gap may be much deeper than that, according to certain sources.

 

In fact, they made need a huge injection of money just to get to the end of next month.

 

Which is why Dave King’s re-emergence at the start of last week was both timely and intriguing.

 

Timely because his cash could help avoid any imminent crisis. But also intriguing as the Rangers board seem reluctant to ask him for any of it.

 

Now this really is a riddle. Is King really the man to mend this basket case? And if he is, will the current regime allow him to? Or are they determined to keep him out?

 

King appeared to leave logic at the door when he called for Rangers to carry on spending last week, despite previously warning of the possibility of Administration II.

 

But, on closer inspection, his mixed messages were perhaps not as absurd as they seemed.

 

When he says McCoist’s playing budget is not what is sinking the current regime, he is absolutely correct. Yes the wages he and his players have received to conquer the fourth and third tiers of Scottish football have been ridiculously over the top.

 

But – at less than 30 per cent of the club’s turnover – they should not be endangering the club’s financial health. Far from it. In fact, this spend falls well within the ideal model of good housekeeping.

 

So while it may have been unnecessary and even foolish to spend so much to win these leagues, what’s done is done.

 

And now, at a time when Rangers are finally nearing the top end of the divisions, it seems almost every bit as ludicrous to start taking money away from McCoist who must wonder if his world will ever make sense again.

 

One week he has accountants walking through his dressing room carrying clip boards and brandishing big red pens.

 

The next he’s taking his players to Carnoustie for lunch and afternoon naps ahead of an away game at Forfar in a league that is already won. When this column revealed details of that road trip, it was taken by some as an attack on McCoist. Not so.

 

Rather, it was an attempt to highlight the topsy-turvy, incoherent decision making going on above his head.

 

So let me state again, the real culprits behind this club’s overspending have been based in the boardroom, not the dressing room.

 

And now Stockbridge has gone but King remains on the outside looking in. Why exactly is that?

 

There are some Rangers fans who understandably struggle to comprehend why he has not stepped up to the plate long before now.

 

If King really has the collateral and the cajones to go with it, then what is he waiting for? Because the very last thing this club needs now is another flirtatious time-waster.

 

He’s either serious about saving Rangers or he isn’t.

 

However, there are others very close to King who are adamant that this man is not only the real deal but the club’s only viable chance of salvation.

 

Their hope is that new shares are released and that King is then able to buy up control – with his money going straight into the club’s coffers.

 

But there is concern too that King’s road might be blocked by those who seek to cling on to positions of power.

 

Will the Easdales, Blue Pitch and Margarita, for example, be prepared to have their own holdings diluted in order to let King get his foot in the Ibrox front door?

 

Meanwhile, Rangers are running out of money fast.

 

Some short-term funding may have to be secured just to keep the floodlights on through February, March and April while the longer-term issues are being debated and resolved internally.

 

But Wallace had better act swiftly to pull this thing together because all the while Rangers supporters are in danger of becoming disenfranchised from their own club.

 

If enough of them should chose to keep their hands in their pockets this summer then another huge hole will appear in the club’s future funding.

 

And then this endless puzzle of the Rangers finances might become impossible to solve.

[SteveC 150]

"The big question now is where Rangers go from here because what I’m hearing from inside Ibrox is that Stockbridge may have got his numbers wrong when he predicted the business would be down to its last million pounds by April.

 

The true extent of the club’s short-term funding gap may be much deeper than that, according to certain sources.

 

In fact, they made need a huge injection of money just to get to the end of next month."

 

Not unexpected but chilling to read

[Stimpy 0]

The big question now is where Rangers go from here because what I’m hearing from inside Ibrox is that Stockbridge may have got his numbers wrong when he predicted the business would be down to its last million pounds by April.

 

The true extent of the club’s short-term funding gap may be much deeper than that, according to certain sources.

 

Said the same soon as we got the million pound quote from BS. It wouldn't surprise me if we've all but run out of money and only the fumes of match day tickets and a dodgy credit facility reported in the accounts is keeping the club alive.

[der Berliner 3,743]

Dunno, but I have that welcome feeling that with Wallace now starting to pull the right strings, the media hacks seem desperate to get the last great "Rangers in meldtown" story onto the front pages.

[calscot 0]

The trouble is that with all the lies, propaganda, spin and facts made out of speculation in the press, this may be true but we have very little reason to believe it.

 

As there is little we can do about it right now, I'd say we shouldn't worry until there is concrete facts on the matter. You can worry about pretty much anything but if you've no facts and no control, then worrying is pretty counter productive.

[Frankie 8,562]

If someone like King, Murray, McColl or Lord Haw-Haw wants to ride in on a white charger, then so be it; we certainly need investment.

 

However, I'd much rather they just did it rather than talk about it every other week.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

If someone like King, Murray, McColl or Lord Haw-Haw wants to ride in on a white charger, then so be it; we certainly need investment.

 

However, I'd much rather they just did it rather than talk about it every other week.

 

the trouble is while the easdale voting block are blocking them talk is all the likes of king can do and the talk of course cranks up the pressure.

[UCF2008 0]

But there is concern too that King’s road might be blocked by those who seek to cling on to positions of power.

 

Will the Easdales, Blue Pitch and Margarita, for example, be prepared to have their own holdings diluted in order to let King get his foot in the Ibrox front door?

 

Easdales aside with an investment committee chaired by Laxey's man Norman Chrighton, I don't think there will be any rush for a new share issue unless their holding is protected.

[Waltersgotstyle 307]

Sorry never noticed the other thread...

 

The big question now is where Rangers go from here because what I’m hearing from inside Ibrox is that Stockbridge may have got his numbers wrong when he predicted the business would be down to its last million pounds by April.

 

The true extent of the club’s short-term funding gap may be much deeper than that, according to certain sources.

 

In fact, they may need a huge injection of money just to get to the end of next month.

 

Some scary assumptions...

Edited January 27, 2014 by Waltersgotstyle

[Zappa 0]

Edit - Waltersgotstyle, I've merged your thread into the existing one.