ANALYSIS: Rangers need innovation and fresh ideas - not another encore from Dave King

WITH an increasing sense of regularity, Dave King continues to pop up and offer his views on the current malaise at Rangers, giving chapter and verse on what course of action the club should take moving forward.

Just last month, King, who served as chairman between 2015-2020, gave an interview in which he dismissed reports that Rangers had been targeted for significant investment by an American consortium.

King also loaded the shotgun and aimed both barrels in the direction of Douglas Park, the man who succeeded him as chairman four years ago, claiming that Park had instigated the demise back in 2021 by failing to back Steven Gerrard after winning the league title.

Now comes the revelation that King is essentially positioning himself for a return as chairman, after it was announced last weekend that John Bennett has stepped down due to health reasons.

‘I think I might be the best person to do it for two years,’ said King, who remains the single largest shareholder at Rangers with 14 per cent.

There is undoubtedly an element of truth in King’s assertion that Park played a major role in why the club finds itself in such a mess. In King’s own words, it is now a ‘crisis’.

But King’s role in all of this is not insignificant either. He is not without blame. Nobody at Rangers gets a pass on that one.

Not when it’s been the same cast list who have been running the club, to some degree or another, for the best part of a decade now.

When King forced the change of regime back in 2015, it was supposed to be a clean slate for Rangers and a fresh start.

It was supposed to be an opportunity to rebuild the club from the ground up. Yet, almost 10 years down the line, Rangers fans must feel they are going round in circles.

There is a power vacuum and King clearly feels he has as much clout with supporters as anyone else who would be mentioned for the role.

But it’s not as simple as that. The clamour to champion King as a knight in shining armour is both tiresome and predictable.

It is emblematic of a club who continue to stumble from one poor decision to another, lacking vision and leadership at the very top.

There is also some convenient revisionism in all of this, a desire to rewrite history and pretend that all was rosy under King. Plainly, it wasn’t.

In the three years prior to his departure, Rangers were losing money hand over fist.

In 2018, they posted a loss of £14.3million. Those financial results were published whilst the team were playing a match against Kilmarnock, as good a time as any to bury bad news.

In 2019, the club posted losses of £11.3m. The following year, before the full effect of the pandemic had really been felt, they posted a loss of close to £16m.

Under King, Rangers were reliant on loans and external funding to meet the shortfall and make ends meet. In the long-term, it wasn’t a sustainable business model.

Privately, senior figures at Ibrox haven’t forgotten that. Despite the appointment of Steven Gerrard and the league title victory in 2021, they feel King left the club in a hole financially and tied to some poor commercial deals.

For all he intends to position himself to take charge of matters for the next couple of years, there are some people still involved at boardroom level who would be strongly opposed to such a move.

Whether or not that opposition is reflected among fans, only time will tell. But this latest public utterance from King is clearly an attempt to curry favour with supporters.

Speaking to TalkSPORT, King said: ‘Right now the club is in crisis, the extent of it I don’t know, only those inside do know. But certainly the operational issues within Rangers are a challenge.

‘A lot of the policy, procedures and processes have been in place at the time that I stepped down have been hollowed out during Douglas’ reign.

‘And I thought if no one is going to step up and we’re going to have to go to some external city-type appointment - I’m absolutely certain will not take the club forwards - but as the leading shareholder, perhaps I can step up for a period of time.

‘So I’ve made an announcement. I’m available to do that. I think something has to happen fairly quickly. The club lacks leadership in all aspects.’

King conceded that the current gap to Celtic is significant, both on and off the pitch, but claimed that his two-year plan would see Rangers back at the top.

Whilst not intending to invest any more of his own money, he claimed the best solution was to seek external investment.

King added: ‘We’re going to be in Europe and with the right amount of money, we really should be able to march on and actually dominate in Scotland.’

If he feels Rangers will be in a position to ‘dominate’ at any point over these next two years, then he simply hasn’t been paying attention.

Rangers are miles behind Celtic on so many fronts. The gulf between the two clubs is as big as it was at any point during the 90s when Rangers were in their nine-in-a-row pomp.

Many Rangers fans will always hold King in high regard, given his role in the appointment of Gerrard and the derailing of Celtic’s bid for 10-in-a-row.

But, again, Gerrard won one trophy in three seasons. He profited from a Celtic team who suffered the mother of all implosions.

King was also chairman when the club appointed Pedro Caixinha back in 2017, so any suggestion that he guarantees Rangers a quick fix is wildly misleading.

Let’s not forget, this is a man who was once branded a ‘glib and shameless liar’ by a High Court Judge in South Africa in a case about his tax returns.

Since King forced a change of regime in 2015, Rangers will now be looking for their fourth permanent chairman.

Whilst not necessarily having to be a long-term role, that does feel like a fairly high turnover rate.

If Rangers are to move forward, they need to show an ability to learn from past mistakes. They need innovation and forward-thinking.

Not the same tired old faces chucking out a few soundbites to try and please supporters.