The Herald has offered it’s readers a gentle warning over Dave King’s damage to Sevco.
Expectedly the article opens up listing all of the great achievements under King which, with unfortunate timing, includes taking control of their retail operation but that is another story.
The reality of life under King is reflected on the park, Steven Gerrard may be in the dug out but on the park James Tavernier wears the armband of dignity with only Scott Arfield and Alan McGregor of the summer signings, both on Bosman deals, likely to be identified walking down Sauchiehall Street.
Throughout June Sevco fans were treated to day after day of upbeat news ranging from Jermaine Defoe and Martin Skrtel joining the Revolution to ten second inspirational video clips from Gerrard during training sessions.
They lapped up every bit and once again bought season tickets in record numbers- so much so that they managed to get the board to ‘Ban the Timz fae the Broomie’.
As hollow victories go that was right up there with signing Joey Barton and Bruno Alves on two year contracts.
Now however there is a little turning of the tide, it is almost as if the bears are getting readied for some bad news, some very very bad news.
The Herald explaining the Contempt of Court charge from the Takeover Panel admits:
The reality is this sorry saga may yet have far-reaching implications for both King and Rangers.
He had insisted that he was unaware the funds for the shares had to be in a United Kingdom bank account in sterling rather than a South African bank account in rand and the requisite cash confirmation provided by an appropriate third party. During a media briefing at Ibrox back in May he said: “They changed the requirement as far as I’m concerned.”
But that was repeatedly challenged in the lengthy Takeover Panel missive. It read: “It was explained that cash confirmation would need to be provided by a UK financial adviser or bank stating that sterling funds were freely available in the UK and could not be withdrawn.”
So what exactly is the problem here? Is King unable to transfer the money out of South Africa where sizeable foreign exchange transactions are subject to controls or simply unwilling to? Few, if any, shareholders will accept the offer. So why not just comply with the Takeover Panel ruling and focus fully on rebuilding Rangers? This is an expensive and time-consuming process which has tarnished his reputation. Indeed, he has now had contempt of court proceedings initiated against him.
The prospect of King being “cold-shouldered” – which would prevent any individual or institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority from dealing with him of acting on his behalf – remains a very real one. That sanction would make his position as chairman untenable. And he has previously stated that his investment is incumbent on him holding that office.
Elsewhere, the share issue made possible by the passing of Resolution 11 at the AGM last year that was supposed to take place by the end of June and raise at least £6 million in fresh capital has not occurred.
The fans who flocked to Ibrox last night to see Rangers take on Bury in Steven Gerrard’s second game in charge are excited and optimistic about the season ahead but there remain reasons for them to be wary about what the future holds.
The Gerrard revolution will be first to be hit, eventually as results turn the gullible will realise that for the third summer running under Mr King they have been stitched up, royally.
