Keith Jackson joins in the Ibrox dirty war as Dave King is snubbed from 10th Anniversary celebrations

Keith Jackson has picked up Dave King’s baton to deliver the latest stinging attack on the Ibrox boardroom. 

Overnight on Thursday Chris Jack of the Herald/Times shared King’s disgust at taking the Tribute Act to Australia to face Celtic in November. 

On Friday afternoon Lindsay Herron of the Scottish Daily Express suddenly discovered that Steven Gerrard had wanted out since last August after being given a £4m transfer budget with the board refusing to use that to sign the manager’s choice of player- Kevin Nisbet from Hibs. 

Douglas Park has overseen more than a dozen share issues since he replaced King as chairman with each new issue reducing the paper value of King’s stake which Club 1872 are trying to raise funds to buy out. 

The South African based ‘businessman’ recently met up with Jim Traynor in Glasgow, as he watches his investment in the company slip away a stream of accusations are surfacing about the Ibrox board just as fans are growing restless about a number of issues.  

After a very personal attack on the highly successful commercial chief James Bisgrove, in today’s Daily Record Jackson turns to the situation in the boardroom: 

It’s actually quite remarkable former chairman Dave King – the man who led the revolution that ensured the club’s 150th birthday party went ahead at the weekend – is also now an outcast and viewed as persona non grata by those now in charge of decision making. 

Intriguingly, King was back in the country to rally some of his old troops just the other week having been informed his request for a return to the board has been officially declined by his estranged former colleagues. 

That he was not even invited to take a seat in the directors’ box for the 2-2 draw with Motherwell – he watched that match from a hospitality suite in the stand opposite – just goes to show how hostile and fractured relations have become. 

A PR man worth his salt would have been all over this visit from South Africa, seizing it as an opportunity to present a picture of unified and stable leadership even if some of the smiles might have been more like gritted teeth. 

Instead, the image being projected is one of a club riddled with division and bloated by serial underperformers. 

They had better hope it’s not contagious now Van Bronckhorst and his players are swerving into this season’s final stretch like Bisgrove’s McLaren on a skid pan. The last thing they need is another car crash on their hands. 

What shape that car crash takes can only be guessed at, one on the pitch would be far less damaging that a financial crash into administration. In 2012 Mister King voted against the CVA offered by Charles Green- forcing Rangers into liquidation and the end of 140 years of poisonous history.

Ally McCoist was also ignored from the weekend celebrations despite leading the Tribute Act to consecutive promotions in the first two years of formation and an Irn Bru Petroltank Cup Final appearance against Raith Rovers. Coisties shares have also been diluted.