Dave King has admitted that he’s only willing to put in half the money needed to save Sevco.
Today’s EGM seems certain to see Mr King, once described as a glib and shameless liar by a South African judge, sweep up the marble staircase alongside Paul Murray and John Gilligan.
With losses running at around £1m a month and almost all revenue streams tied up to Sports Direct, keeping the company that runs the club afloat seems a formidable task.
Sports Direct have already loaned the company £5m with the current regime admitting that significant further funding will be needed in the third week of March.
Without having seen the accounts Mr King is in the dark about the scale of the problem he is taking on and admitted that he will be dependent on others to avoid putting the company into administration.
Away from the hand picked audience and coaching of the team at Level 5 PR Mr King was caught off guard and spoke candidly on arrival at Glasgow Airport.
“I don’t have,” he answered to the question if he had the money to save the club (company). “I think if you look at the money I have agreed previously is that I would go 50/50 with other investors.
“Between myself and the other investors I think we have sufficient to take it forward in the medium term.”
Mr King then went on to list the usual suspects that have been hovering around the clubs from Ibrox over the last few years, making profound statements but unable to invest their own money throughout the omni-shambles.
Naming the members of the three bears consortium would seem to be a clear admission of a concert party backdoor takeover attempt which would oblige the South African based tax criminal to make an offer to all of the remaining shareholders.
Asked how much was needed to save the company he added: “It’s difficult to say. I said about £20m in the short term but I’m concerned there’s other areas of the club where money’s needed to be spent as well. I think it’ll be north of £20m in the short- to medium-term.
“The arrangement that I’ve had in the proposals that I gave to the boards was that I would take on 50% of the funding and that I expected other individuals to take on the other 50%. That’s where your Paul Murrays, George Lethems, Brian Kennedys and Douglas Parks all come in.
“It would be a 50/50 split but I don’t see me as carrying the sole burden. Initially we thought £16m to £20m would be the right level for the next couple of years but right now my indication is that the figure would be higher.”
King fired a number of criticisms at Mike Ashley during his interviewed and even joked that he’d step aside if the billionaire sold Newcastle for £300m to invest the money in Sevco.
Mr King’s arrival came shortly after Deek Llambias asked reporters to ask the saviour in waiting who his NOMAD would be.
While preaching transparency and accountability at every opportunity, Mr King, who revealed on Wednesday that he would be unable to accept a directorship in the distressed company, was evasive on the matter of naming his NOMAD.
Asked if he could appoint a NOMAD King replied: “No, because they have to do due diligence on the club and I’ve been able to give them no comfort. Individuals aren’t important, the important thing for the NOMAD is the state of the club.
“It’s about concerns over being involved with Rangers Football Club, it hasn’t been good for the reputations of the NOMAD’s that they’ve had to date (four in just over two years). The NOMAD that I’m talking to have historically had good relations with other areas.
“I’ve given them the names of the board members who I think will come on the board, now and thereafter but that’s not the key. The key is when they look under the hood of Rangers Football Club what are they going to see? That’s an area that I’ve not been able to reassure them!”
With Mr Llambias inside Ibrox for the last six months it’s believed that everything that turns a profit is tied in with Sports Direct leaving Mr King with just gate money to work with.
