Dave King set for Rangers rejection as directors decide against Ibrox board invite
The former chairman has offered to replace outgoing chief John Bennett
Former Rangers chairman Dave King
Former Rangers chairman Dave King (Image: SNS Group)
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Dave King’s bid to complete a sensational Rangers return looks set to be dashed.
The ex-chairman has offered to replace outgoing Ibrox chief John Bennett, who announced he was stepping on Saturday due to health reasons. But Record Sport understands King’s former allies in the boardroom have no plans to dispatch an SOS to his base in Johannesburg following a bitter bust-up that followed his shock Ibrox exit back in 2020. King left his colleagues stunned when he chose to walk away from the chairman’s seat at the height of the Covid pandemic in order to focus on ensuring his South African business survived the pandemic.
And the likes of Douglas Park and George Taylor are in no mood to forgive and forget. John Gilligan – a key King lieutenant when the Castlemilk-born millionaire wrestled control of the club away from the Mike Ashley-backed regime in 2015 – has been brought back and put in temporary command at Ibrox and will lead the search of a new chief executive and permanent chairman.
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And the former Tennent Caledonian Brewery managing director has made clear to the Light Blues’ remaining board members and major investors that he is happy to handle the reins as long as necessary. Gilligan has sat down for his first face-to-face chat with boss Philippe Clement as he set about reassuring the Belgian against suspicions the club is lurching into a crisis of its own making.
Clement himself has been faced with a furious fan backlash following a nightmare start to the season that has seen his side slip five points behind Premiership pacesetters Aberdeen and Celtic as well as suffering a costly early Champions League exit. But like Bennett, who spoke of steering the club away from it’s “rinse and repeat” habit of sacking managers in his last public statements before stepping down, Gilligan is understood to be determined to do all he can to keep the former Brugge and Monaco gaffer in place.
His top priority now is to find a new CEO to replace James Bisgrove, who stunned Bennett earlier this summer when he unexpectedly quit his Ibrox post to move to Saudi Arabia. St Mirren vice-chairman Jim Gillespie was the frontrunner for the job before pulling out of contention last week.
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The Gers board will return to the shortlist they had previously drawn up along with a top recruitment firm and hope to have a new man in place as soon as any required notice periods are served. King made his move over the weekend, insisting he was the right man to get Gers back on track after a summer of cock ups and controversy.
His pitch for the top job involved him returning to Ibrox on a two-year basis in order to straighten out the behind-the-scenes mess while at the same time leading a hunt for new sources of funding in America and the Middle East. He claimed the club was suffering from “investor fatigue” as he warned that Rangers were nearing the stage when they could no longer count on wealthy fans bailing them out.
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However, Record Sport has been told that Gers’ current investors – including Bennett – remain committed to providing the club with all the financial support it needs. But King still believes drastic action is required – especially with Celtic set to overtake the Ibrox outfit as the world’s most successful club.
Gers have boasted of that global status with branding around the stadium but their arch-rivals drew level with the rivals last season on 118 major trophies and are one short of equalling their world record 55 haul for domestic league titles. Rangers legend Graeme Souness recently said on talkSPORT that he didn’t believe there was a huge gulf between the Light Blues and Celtic – but King appeared on the same radio station to dispute that.
He said: “I have the utmost respect for Graeme and he knows a lot more about football than me but there is a very significant gap on and off the pitch between us and Celtic. My fear, longer term as a fan, isn’t about stopping 10-in-a-row which was my previous target. One thing we do hang onto is we are still the most successful club in the world and if we slip too long we might lose that as well.
“There is a level of urgency. This season is slipping. I’m talking as a supporter. It will be very challenging with European games coming up and they could be in a very difficult place by October. There’s no leadership.”
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