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Dave King fires back at whinging Gerrard as he waits for his £5m loan repayment

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Image for Dave King fires back at whinging Gerrard as he waits for his £5m loan repayment

Dave King has fired a warning at Steven Gerrard and the Sevco board over the £5m loan that he is due to have repaid this month.

The South African based ‘businessman’ stepped down as chairman in March 2020 with the club providing their manager with a further £10m of talent last summer when Cedric Itten, Kemar Roofe and Ianis Hagi were brought to Ibrox for fees reported to be around £10m.

With weekly wages likely to be around £80,000 the club slammed the breaks on with token fees for Jack Simpson and Scott Wright the only sums paid out during the 2021 transfer windows.

Gerrard has recently been whinging about the lack of investment in the squad but picking up on a newsletter sent to members of Club 1872, the Daily Record reports the former company chairman claiming:

I wasn’t aware of Steven’s comment in that regard and I am a little surprised by it. I think obviously context of the comment would perhaps make a difference.

If I could perhaps put it this way, that I think Steven is already on record, certainly in discussions I have had with him and comments I have seen him make in the media subsequently, in having pretty much unstinting praise for the support that he has had from the board.

I think that question might be related more to Europe and it is really positioning the club and saying that without heavy expenses in a transfer window it is going to be difficult to make progress in Europe. I think particularly if there were ambitions this year for the Champions League.

If you look at what we know to be true, I think Steven has placed on record his support to the board for supporting him in the transfer window.

I think it is also important, and supporters might not realise this, but the manner in which the board supported Steven was essentially to bridge the gap that the club has got. We are a big club with big ambitions but in a small footballing market in Scotland.

In the years since I left the board, I think between Ross (Wilson) and Steven they have done a really good job in pre-identifying players, they brought some players in early.

I think it would be a fairly obvious calculation for supporters to make to look at the quality of the player that has come into the club with (Jack) Simpson, (Scott) Wright, Lundstram, Sakala and look at the players who left the club and there is no doubt that the wage bill has again gone up this season.

As far as I am concerned, the board has certainly supported the manager in the transfer market and I think that is his true belief.

My understanding is that he does recognise that he has been supported, but he is making more a comment that if we are going to make progress in the Champions League we need to start finding other ways to attract players.

Malmo, with no players getting paid £45,000 per week ended Gerrard’s hopes of taking his side into the Champions League and bringing over £30m into the club.

Ominously, King added:

The Champions League wasn’t achieved this year and this becomes a very big season because there is automatic entry into next year. I think the club has continued to invest in that. I think, fortunately, you have got Douglas and John Bennett, who took over the role I had.

Supporters might not know that in prior years, not only did I have to invest in the club, I had to provide cashback guarantees each year because we were trading at a loss.

It wasn’t just the money you put into the club, you also had to provide cash guarantees to get UEFA Licences, SFA Licences to act as a going concern.

The fact that Douglas and John have stepped in, I think it said in the last annual report that they are now providing that and they have got all the knowledge of what is going on, that gives me a strong indication that the board is continuing to put the club first and make the necessary investments. And back it with their own money, and supporters can’t ask for more than that.

In June the club launched a share issue to raise £6.5m, supporters invested £4.5m before costs are deducted. Once King is repaid a £3.2m interest free 20 year loan is due to be repaid to the Scottish Government.

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0 comments

  • Peter cassidy says:

    Why is this $hit on here again this blog reports more on the rangers than our club do we really want to read this tripe.

  • Dora says:

    Bills, Bills, Bills and the cards, sorry ‘walls come tumbling down’ ..!!

  • Kyogos Dream Team says:

    Skinto FC now starting tae unravel! Just keep winning till game v FILTH in New Yr & we’ll be MINIMUM 10 pts clear, they’re UTTER DROSS!!

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