Rangers Chairman Dave King seemed to manage the club’s AGM with ease.

Admitting mistakes in transfer policy, especially in the case of Barrie McKay, placated some in the audience. Blaming the Easdale brothers for his troubles with the takeover panel will have got the crowd onside.

Talk of stadium improvements, a potential new share issue and a new kit supplier will have also gone down well with the side’s fanbase.

Lines like ‘Getting back to number one is the only sure way to create sustainable value for all our shareholders’ and ‘The Board consists of experienced businessmen who, despite all wearing large supporter hats, will always make decisions in the best immediate, intermediate and long-term interests of the Company’ are all very well and good but the support needs to see progress both on and off the park.

Former Gers owner Sir David Murray loved a soundbite and would often say things that would get the fans backing but in the end the supremo rode roughshod with the club finances. The support for much of that time didn’t hold their chairman to account and would let him do what he wanted without questioning the consequences.

The Gers support needs to understand that they can’t allow that to happen again and they need to constantly question the board.

An interesting quote from King at yesterday’s AGM was:

“If I’m making an executive appointment to one of my companies in South Africa it might take me three months to find somebody,”

“It’s a very, very important position.”

I have some issues with this statement.

Firstly, this is football and it’s a very different business to anything else Dave King does in South Africa. In football, you need to have a first team manager in place and you can’t take too much time when making a decision to appoint a new one.

The uncertainty that comes with not having a gaffer brings inconsistent performances and results. The players don’t seem as focused and the fans become a bit despondent too.

Graeme Murty is a fine footballing man and has handled the task of interim boss with dignity but let’s be honest the job is too big for him. So you need a full-time manager in there to get the best results and the most out of the playing squad.

Another thing I’d like to add about this line is that Mr King didn’t actually take part in the process of hiring former boss Pedro Caixinha. There’s no point telling everyone how important a decision it is to bring in the right guy and that it takes time and then not take part in the actual process. As the club’s chairman he needs to be more hands on with the next appointment, in my opinion.

Listen I am not slating Dave King or his board, they’ve done some good things during their tenure as the club’s custodians but they need to do more and they need to start getting the bigger decision right!

Words mean hee-haw if you can’t back them with worthwhile actions.

Posted on December 1st, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article