Dave King picks post-55 turning point that set Rangers on current path
Steven Gerrard guided Rangers to their 55th league title <i>(Image: SNS)</i>
Steven Gerrard guided Rangers to their 55th league title (Image: SNS)
In May 2021, Dave King believed Rangers were on course for sustained success. Come November of the same year, he feared the worst and that all of the time, money and effort was about to go to waste. Three years on, those premonitions have proven correct.
The moment that King appointed Steven Gerrard as manager was the catalyst for change and for one of the most significant titles in the illustrious history of the club. The moment that Gerrard walked away from Ibrox could be the one that is pinpointed as the turning point, the start of a chain of events that could rewrite the annuls in more ways than one.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst couldn’t pick up where Gerrard left off in domestic terms. Michael Beale never looked like bringing back the glory that he was a part of behind the scenes. Now it is Philippe Clement that is fighting a battle that King reckons could be doomed to failure.
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Rangers have solitary wins in the Scottish Cup and League Cup since their 55th league flag flew over Ibrox. The momentum and the advantage of the triumph that stopped ten-in-a-row has long since gone, as has the feelgood factor of the run to Seville and the money generated from European exploits and record player sales.
“It’s just extraordinary that we got to this position from 55,” King said. “It really is extraordinary. I’ll go to the point that it’s disturbing.
“As a supporter, it’s disturbing and as a large shareholder it’s disturbing because I felt that after 55, we’re on the right trajectory. We were doing well and the value of the club was going up.
“Of course, the value of the club going up helps you attract investment. Now, I think the value has gone down quite dramatically and it has to be restored. It’s not been lost, but it has to be restored and it has to be marketed positively.
“There’s not a single person in the club I can think of who I would get any inspiration from, who I thought could lead this club out of its existing predicament. Make no mistake, it is a predicament.”
Gerrard expressed the requirement to fix the roof when the sun was shining in the aftermath of the Invincible campaign three years ago. Today, supporters feel like it never rains but it pours as Rangers go through another rebuild on and off the pitch.
King believed those days where behind the club that he rescued in March 2015. He had stepped down from the board months before the silverware was lifted and handed over power to Douglas Park. The relationship between his successor and the man who was one of his Liverpool idols subsequently soured.
“I think from Steven’s point of view, and I can’t talk for him but I do talk to him, including very recently,” King said. “Let’s be absolutely clear, Steven was not ready to go when he went.
“Steven wanted to defend the title and I’d extended his contract at his request because my arrangement with Steven was always, ‘I’m never going to put you in a situation where you turn me down because that would be awkward.’
“I don’t want you ever to come to me and I turn you down. What I’m telling you is, at the moment I see your future being in the club and if you feel you want to extend it, you approach me any time and we’ll sort it out’.
“We had our understanding that we’d respect each other and he came to me and said, ‘look, I’d like to extend’, we did at his request. He was happy at the club and his ambition was to defend the title and then commence us on a run. Thereafter he felt he could then pass over and go on.
“In the process of defending the title, having a nice European run and then he could then move on to the balance of his career, having used Rangers as a basis to gain some very valuable first-hand experience.
“Steven said ‘I knew everything about Glasgow’. When I interviewed him, all I said was Steven trust me until you’ve been there. I’ve heard so many guys say I know, but until they actually get there you don’t know until you know. He still says, even Anfield just can’t compare to Ibrox on a European night.
(Image: SNS)
“Steven was absolutely was kicked out. I have no doubts about that. Steven did not want to leave at that point in time. He would have left, but not at that point in time. It wasn’t what he wanted to do.
“It’s absolutely true that we went backwards because it wasn’t just Steve, it was support staff and it was the very structures that Steven had put in place that supported the overall football department. It was the ethos, the standards, everything about the club. Then we started to go down from there.”
As Rangers stalled in the Premiership, Celtic put their foot down. The appointment of Ange Postecoglou had been unheralded, but it was the Parkhead boss who had the bragging rights at the end of the term as Celtic secured a league and League Cup double.
The arrival of John Bennett as Park’s replacement could not change the fortunes at Ibrox. Now it is Bennett’s successor who could be at the helm when the ultimate accolade is taken away from Rangers.
“I thought Celtic were weak, they were struggling to get a manager, they were trying to get Eddie Howie, they were in disarray,” King said. “I thought we were in a great position to kick on.
“Steven is a strong personality, make no mistake. I had to deal with Steven and Steven stands up for Steven. And that’s not wrong. I want that leadership leading the team. You know you’re getting a strong character.
“The one thing we’re hanging on to at the moment is we’re still the most successful club in the world. But I tell you what, I don’t see a scenario where we’re sitting right now, whether John has stayed on or whether John didn’t stay on, that that will be the case much longer. Because sadly, we’re not in a situation where I think we are there team-wise.”
The task facing Clement and the squad that he has been able to assemble this season is a significant one. As it stands, Rangers do not look like challengers, never mind champions.
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King cites examples of players being tied into significant wage increases year-on-year as evidence, he believes, of the mismanagement of Rangers. The mistakes of seasons past will continue to cost Rangers in the seasons to come.
“Michael Beale then got free reign just to sign who he wanted on the commercial terms,” King said. “There was no board oversight. He just did what he wanted.
“He signed players and put them on contracts that are just unworkable at the moment and unwindable. Hence, the club ends up in a situation where, I don’t know how the manager would feel, but the manager comes in on a certain basis and there’s an idea you can rotate the squad, get some players out, get some players in.
“Then it turns out you can’t get the players out because commercially no one wants them without you subsidising them. There’s contractual penalties in their contracts which are absurd.
“And you look and you say, well, if I unwind that I actually can’t afford to bring the other player in because the total cost to the club of having one and two third players in their books doesn’t work either. So it’s really throw a six and start again.”
Rangers FC
Dave King
Steven Gerrard
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