IT took Dave King several years to buy a major shareholding in Rangers and then, along with his old compadres John Gilligan and Paul Murray, wrest control of the Ibrox club from a regime which was despised and distrusted by supporters.
It took less than 24 hours, though, for his bid to become chairman again to founder.
Fans of the Glasgow giants awoke to newspaper headlines which screamed “The Return of the King?” on Monday morning as the wealthy South Africa-based businessman, who stood down back in the March of 2020, declared that he wanted his old role back.
His unexpected announcement came after John Bennett, who has been overseeing the delayed redevelopment of the Copland Stand in the past few months, was forced to stand down due to ill health and Gilligan was appointed in his place on an interim basis.
There is still immense gratitude for what King did for Rangers in the stands of their Govan ground on match days.
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They were an almighty mess off the park and toiling badly on it when the Castlemilk-raised financier and his cohorts took over in 2015. He appointed Steven Gerrard as manager, oversaw a dramatic improvement domestically which peaked when they won the Scottish title for the first time in 10 years in 2021 and helped to turn them into a force in Europe again.
But do The Bears long for The Return of the King? A few would certainly welcome their erstwhile saviour attempting to resurrect their ailing fortunes. But the vast majority are vehemently opposed to an individual who has spent the past few years aiming potshots at his successor Douglas Park and others from his Johannesburg base coming back into the fray.
There is not a lot of love for the occupants of the directors’ box among the Rangers support at this particular juncture. The temporary move to Hampden and crushing Old firm defeat at Parkhead at the start of the month have not gone down well. However, the prospect of further conflict and strife is not an appealing one.
Nobody staged a protest on Edmiston Drive on Monday evening after it emerged the hierarchy would oppose his attempt to become chairman.
King responded to that news yesterday by accusing board members of only being interested in wearing a “jacket and tie”, of being unwilling to do “any real work” and of “self-interest” as he called on them to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting which would let supporters decide who would run things.
Given that Bennett, Park, George Taylor, Stuart Gibson, Julian Wolhardt, John Halsted and George Letham own the majority of the shares in Rangers and would doubtless all back the status quo, it is very difficult to see how fans could oust them at an EGM.
Anyway, can you really state that the current custodians and their associates are blazer chasers? The stewardship of Rangers in the last few years can certainly be criticised. But many of the major stakeholders have ploughed in millions of their own hard-earned to keep the club they love afloat.
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King suggested yesterday that Gerrard had been “kicked out” when he left for Aston Villa in the November of 2021. He stated that Rangers had been “on the right trajectory” and “doing well” after they had been crowned champions. Had they? They posted losses of £15.9m in 2020 and then £23.5m in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Was it really any surprise when the Liverpool great wasn’t given any money to strengthen his squad after landing the Premiership given the considerable issues which Bennett and Park, who provided substantial soft loans so the club could continue as a going concern, and others were dealing with?
Particularly as he is not prepared to put in any more cash. One thing that he is bang on the money about is that significant external investment is required if Rangers are to bridge the widening gap with Celtic. Only a fresh benefactor with very deep pockets coming in can draw them level with their city rivals in the near future.
There are strict UEFA Financial Fair Play rules to adhere to these days. A new sugar daddy would be unable to spend big in the way that, say, the Abu Dhabi United Group did at Manchester City in the late 2000s. But something seismic clearly has to happen for things to change.
King mentioned there is interest in investing in football in the United States and Saudi Arabia. Would fans be happy, given all they have gone through in modern times, with control being handed over to those who are not Rangers men? If they could deliver success they just might be.
