RANGERS are a Champions League club once again. Dave King fears Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side are still a Europa League team.
Nobody understands better what Rangers have gone through during the last decade, what it took in financial and personal terms, for the journey from the Third Division to the Champions League to be completed. Yet the long-awaited moment and euphoria was met with mixed emotions by King.
Victory over PSV Eindhoven meant as much to him as any of his fellow supporters. When Group A was drawn and Van Bronckhorst's side were paired with Ajax, Liverpool and Napoli, King couldn't help but get lured in by the big names and sense of occasion.
King has always looked at the bigger picture, though. When he steps back and surveys the scene with a different perspective, his view of the European achievement alters.
"Over the last little while, I have had two conflicting emotions about it," King said. "One is clearly the recognition of the club of where we were ten years ago and being back to playing teams like Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax in the Champions League is an absolutely immense achievement from the club’s point of view.
"In addition to that, the financial benefits are of immense importance to the club, if it is invested properly.
"Against that, I have to say I have got some thoughts back to last year and the disappointment of missing out on the Champions League qualifiers to then reach the Europa League final.
"I have to say it was a far more enjoyable European season for me playing at a level that I thought was competitive. The sadness of not getting there, in retrospect we had a team was at that level.
"We over-achieved in the Europa League, we got to the final and it was a great occasion for the club. It was almost the right level. I worry a little bit about this year.
"It is fantastic, the recognition is fantastic and the money is fantastic. But that is only the case if it is invested back into the club, into the resources of the club."
King watched the final hours of the transfer window come and go on Thursday evening as Rangers kept the chequebook tucked away and Van Bronckhorst opted to play the hand that he had.
Between European endeavours and record-breaking sales, Rangers are on course to land almost £100million in added revenue as the financial framework has changed dramatically.
There is significant money in the bank for the first time in a long time. Some of it, though, would be better placed on the park.
King said: "I would imagine I am like most supporters and the starting point every year is to win the league title.
"We can’t be optimistic about our chances of progress in the Champions League, but if we use that money wisely and invest it back into the team to secure the Premiership title I would be more comfortable.
"I am just not sure. It will be interesting to see where we are.
"I have got mixed emotions. I like the honour, I like the prestige, I like what it has done for the club.
"But, having said that, the Europa League campaign probably did more for us than we would have achieved if we had got through to the group stages of the Champions League.
"To me, Champions League is all about the money and the honour of playing against these big clubs. But as a supporter, my focus is still on winning titles and winning the Premiership."
That ambition is still a live one for Van Bronckhorst and the Dutchman must find a way of replicating his success on the continent in the domestic arena in the coming months.
Supporters were left aggrieved that funds weren't spent to further add to the squad. Those feelings have been heightened in recent days and former chairman King knows investment in the team must continually be made if Rangers are to move forward.
King said: "That is my big concern. If I go back to the end of last year when the club presented its accounts and Douglas and Stewart said the club was going to be profitable this year.
"That benchmark for profitability for this year did not include Nathan Patterson’s transfer, did not include at that stage reaching the group stages of the Europa League, did not include running to the final of the Europa League, did not include this season getting into Champions League.
"If I add all the bonuses and pluses we have got from a situation that was already profitable, I am just very, very concerned that I am not seeing these funds being channelled back into the team.
"If I go back to title 55 and where we were as a club relative to Scottish football, we dominated that season. We had the chance to kick-on, and really kick-on, but we didn’t improve the squad.
"We are seeing all this money coming in and it is fantastic financially, but at the end of the day is it going to go back into the team?
"We have lost some really good players and if I look at the squad as a whole relative to the team that won 55… (Allan) McGregor has been moved out, (Steven) Davis is getting less game time.
"If you look at the squad then and the squad now, I am really not seeing a significantly, in my view, stronger team for all the additional money that has come into the club."
Van Bronckhorst must now work with the group that he has got at his disposal. After the embarrassment of Old Firm defeat on Saturday, attentions have turned to the Group A opener with Ajax.
It will be Rangers' first game at this level since 2010. The road has been long and winding but King never doubted Rangers would reach their destination.
"I was asked that question before about winning the league title and I said at the time that I did think it was possible to win a title again," King said.
"To then kick on from there and into the Champions League group stages, it wasn’t just what Rangers were doing, it was where the Scottish league would be positioned in terms of Champions League.
"I certainly wouldn’t have thought, with my most rose tinted glasses, that we could possibly ever have seen Rangers on its own, from where we were, carry Scotland forward into this position where we could get into the group stages.
"We must recognise that Rangers did this. This is not a Scottish co-efficient, this is about Rangers dragging Scottish football up and itself up at the same time.
"It is not as if we were equipped to do what we did. We as a club have significantly over-achieved in Europe over the last couple of years."
