ONE of the most despised breeds of landowner at the time of the Highland Clearances was the absentee landlord, usually an aristocrat who stayed far to the south and got factors to do their dirty work.
Not for one second am I comparing Rangers chairman Dave King to an absentee landlord like the first Duke of Sutherland. The Clearances carried out in the name of the Duke and his Duchess by Patrick Sellar were too serious, too awful – people froze and starved to death after they were evicted – to be cheapened by comparison to the fate of a football club.
Yet the status of King as an absentee chairman is causing a lot of Rangers fans to question what the businessman is all about.
Yes, in these days of Skype and email you can communicate with your club from anywhere in the world, but that is hugely different from being there in person, and for so much of a trying campaign for the Glasgow club, King has been conspicuous by his absence from Ibrox.
At this time of crisis, King should be here in Scotland offering some sort of strategic nous as to where Rangers are going. He should be providing leadership and stability with his presence – helping to present an image of stability, not least after the contentious departure of the erstwhile management team of Mark Warburton and David Weir.
The Rangers fans need to see and hear King in the directors’ box, on television, on radio and in the press explaining his chairmanship of the club and his vision for the way ahead.
Website statements from afar just don’t cut it.
Perhaps King really does want the supporters to believe that chief executive Stewart Robertson is in complete control, with total hire and fire powers, but King’s own statement on the termination of the contracts of Warburton, Weir and Frank McParland blew away that impression as he made it clear it was the board – ie King himself – who acted, not Robertson.
Nobody knows, and King is certainly not telling, why he does not come to Glasgow more often, and why he prefers to conduct business from his home in South Africa. It is well known that he had 41 convictions for tax evasion in South Africa and in 2013 had to pay more than £40 million to the tax authorities in that country.
Is there some problem with him travelling or getting money out of the country now? I think the Rangers fans should be told.
Previous chairmen of Rangers ran the club from abroad – men such as Lawrence Marlborough, who ran things from Nevada – yet there is fundamental difference between him and King. Marlborough was not presiding over a managerless financial basket case that has just lost to Dundee, a team which had not beaten the Ibrox side at home in the league in 25 years.
Indeed, Malborough had David Holmes in charge at Ibrox, who had the vision to bring in Graeme Souness – and between them they transformed the club, before Marlborough sold Rangers to David Murray.
Stewart Robertson is clearly an experienced individual, but it appears to be the case that his hands are tied by King and his associates on the board – or else why did King intervene so messily?
It was messy, no doubt. I wrote last week on my doubts about the “resignation” of the Warburton Three and, 24 hours later, Warburton issued a statement through the English League Managers Association categorically denying that any of the erstwhile Rangers management team had resigned. That statement also asserted that Rangers officials had refused to answer the association’s questions.
Why the English League Managers Association, some people asked? Simple – employment law is a matter reserved to Westminster and the Warburton Three are entitled to representation by anyone in these islands. That is what happens when you vote to remain as a part of the UK.
I spoke to a member of the English League Managers Association the other day. He told me that the Warburton Three were going to fight Rangers all the way because they consider King to be a bully.
The coaches will see the South Africa-based businessman in court if Rangers don’t cough up the £1m-plus they are due in compensation.
Even more seriously, there are now people who are viewing this existentially – they are wondering if Rangers are going to survive.
I do not think administration is near, because the club’s debts are not owned to banks who won’t lend them too much, anyway. But patience on the part of some people who are owed money may run out soon.
Meanwhile, a former major player at Ibrox told me an intriguing scenario.
“There is considerable interest in the United Arab Emirates re Rangers,” said my source.
“Why? A couple of hundred million would almost certainly guarantee Euro involvement and that would be a very cheap way in to the Euro scene.”
If the sheikhs do come in for Rangers, they should make sure they either get a David Holmes or, dare I say it, a Peter Lawwell to run the club. And they should also stay off the club website unless they have something sensible to say.
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