Rangers ally Dave King expresses his “relief” at John Bennett’s disclosure of his heartfelt conversations with departing chairman

King says it’s mixed emotions watching his longstanding ally step down as chief

Dave King has watched John Bennett pour his heart, his soul and his millions into Rangers.

But the former Ibrox chief reckons the outgoing chairman is entirely right to draw a line at throwing his health too into the seemingly endless cavern of doom currently threatening to swallow the club whole. King knows only too well the strain that comes when trying to rebuild a broken institution. After all he was the man who Mike Ashley tried to have locked up as the Castlemilk-born millionaire set about cutting the club free from the toxic tentacles that had wrapped their way around the Light Blues under its previous regime.

All the stress, hard work and toil in the end proved worthwhile as King helped put down the foundations upon which Steven Gerrard built his 2021 title-winning campaign. King had stepped down from his role 12 months previous to that Invisibles triumph in order to focus on his ensuring his businesses in South Africa survived Covid. He gave up control assured that with men like Bennett still on board, Rangers were in safe hands.

But under King’s predecessor Douglas Park, and then Bennett – who assumed the top job in April last year – all the progress made after King’s 2015 takeover has been squandered and Rangers once again find themselves firmly lodged in Celtic’s shadow. That, though, has done nothing to diminish the respect King has for a man he will always count as a friend first, and business associate second.

“I’m sad it’s come to this, but I have mixed feelings,” he said as he spoke from his home in Johannesburg. “I’ve got, at a very personal base, a sense of relief because in speaking to John, who I’ve been in fairly regular contact with over the last couple of months, I’ve tried to offer him personal support because I know what he’s going through. Being chairman of Rangers is an incredibly difficult task.

“I’ve sat on many boards, many public company boards, a lot bigger than Rangers and it’s just a different thing completely. So I think John was going through, quite frankly, the legacy that he picked up. Because I think when John came in and took over as chairman, I don’t think he expected to find the extent to which the club had been hollowed out, quite frankly.

“There was no management support, there was no operational support. John went into that situation because on a personal basis, he loves the club. You can’t doubt that for a moment.

“He’s invested very, very heavily into the club, I think way beyond his original intentions. So I had a huge amount of empathy for what he was going through on a personal basis. I know it was affecting his health and I understand that because the pressure is enormous and it does get to, it doesn’t stay in your mind, it does translate to your body, that’s just the reality of it.

“I was constantly saying to him, ‘John just be careful because you’re not well and you’ve got to look after your health and your family as well’. So I think he’s got it right because I think it does get to a point where, I think the current situation is really not fixable.

Rangers’ directors John Bennett, Douglas Park, Graeme Park, and chairman Dave King arrive at Ibrox last night

“It’s not as if one can sit there and say ‘well OK I’m going to tough it out, there is a plan and there is a way forward’. At this moment I don’t think there is a way forward. So I think for John in his own personal interest to leave now, given he has been incapacitated with his health, in terms of having the energy, having the health to do what’s got to be done, it was right that he steps down. And I’m pleased on a personal basis for him and his family that he’s done that.

“I think it also protects his legacy because I think John’s legacy is a good legacy. He came into the club at my invitation initially, he invested, he’s been a passionate Ranger supporter, he was a great supporter to me during my time on the board when tough decisions had to be made.”

No-one can doubt Bennett’s commitment to the Ibrox cause. He’s sunk £23million of his own hard earned into the club. But it’s the questionable decision-making he and the people he has employed that has led to the spike in fan fury – and now ultimately the strain that has forced Bennett to walk away.

Chief of those is the construction cock-up which forced Philippe Clement’s team to vacate their own stadium for the first month of the season – and King can understand the anger. “I find it astonishing, I mean on a scale of one to a hundred I’m going to zero, that we could possibly have started a project if we did not have all of the equipment,” he said.

“Just from a management point of view, I don’t care if you’re managing a Kentucky Fried Chicken, fish and chip shop or you’re managing British Petroleum, there are certain management principles in place. We should never have started the renovations.

“The management from the board to the operations manager and there should have been supervision of this, there should be compliance, control environment around it.

“You don’t start a project like that unless, when we finished the first game of last season, mid-May whenever it was at home, within a minute or the next morning that team should have been in. Because being at home at Ibrox with our atmosphere, where we are formidable, even against the biggest teams, we are formidable at Ibrox.

“We needed the Champions League money, we needed to be playing at Ibrox. Hampden Park is soulless, I’m sorry, it’s our national stadium, but it’s soulless. And if that material wasn’t there, the chairman of the board or whoever should have turned around to the poor and said we’re sorry, it doesn’t happen ig the stuff is not here. We cannot start this project knowing the key steel is still in China. We’ve scored these own goals, we’ve got so much wrong and what this club has got to do right now is get back to basics.”

Rangers have fallen miles behind their biggest rivals. But King believes the bigger picture can be improved at Ibrox – by taking care of the small details. He said: “On a very general level, I think where we were in rebuilding the club, going back to, as you rightly say 10 years ago, we built the club up by a couple of things and they weren’t clever things, they were actually very, very obvious things.

“The first thing is to admit to your supporters, it’s not really about the board, it’s not about investors, it’s about your supporters. I think the board more recently have put out too many platitudes lately.

“There’s been interviews on Rangers TV which I couldn’t get to the end of most of them because they were just platitudes. You need to be honest with supporters and say this is what we’ve done. I’ve opened the cupboard, this is what we’ve found, it’s not good but this is what it is. But this is what we are going to try and do about it and these are the kind of timeframes we think might be possible if things go well and of course things don’t go well.

“We had the situation where the roof was falling off so health and safety took over and you’re trying to get this delicate balance between what we all want as supporters, which is the team winning, but you also have to have facilities that are safe for supporters.

“We ended up with things that went wrong, but every time they went wrong, my view was just go and tell supporters, say this is what’s happening, this is why it’s happened, we take blame for this or this has happened, but just let everyone know what’s going on, let them know what the timeframes are, but whatever happens, keep on going forward. If you get knocked backwards, pick yourself up but go forward again.”

Rangers star named by a BBC analyst who believes he wants to go, agency dark arts suggested

Rory Loy has questioned the agents representing James Tavernier as speculation regarding his Rangers future refuses to go away.

The 32-year-old was reportedly placed on the chopping block by Philippe Clement this summer and his future is still uncertain ahead of the transfer window closing in Turkey.

Loy revealed on the Scottish Football Podcast [11 September] that he feels Tavernier wants to leave Rangers, with the BBC pundit blaming his entourage for the constant speculation.

He said: “In this day and age he continues to be linked with a move away. For me, that is coming from his camp – wherever it be his agent trying to drum up interest – and some of the interest may not even be there.

“Agents are good at that these days – but everything just strikes to me that he would like to move on.”

James Tavernier a toxic presence at Rangers

Tavernier was described by Loy a toxic presence among the Rangers squad, which is a tad extreme, but there is no doubt that he needs to produce the goods this season.

The right-back was torn to shreds by the media for his display in the 3-0 loss to Celtic [BBC Sportscene]. He was the culprit for Daizen Maeda’s opener and failed to be the leader for his side they desperately needed at Parkhead.

However, now that Tavernier has supposedly opted to remain in Glasgow [HITC, 12 September], all the negative attention needs to be put to bed.

The Gers can then focus on getting their Scottish Premiership campaign back on track and giving a good account of themselves in the Europa League.

While Dujon Sterling can feel hard done by following the news, as Loy rightfully put it, there will always be transfer speculation when it comes to Tavernier.

Many within the fanbase will echo his views that a permanent departure may be on the cards in January.

The Light Blues are not blessed with quality depth across the pitch and having the promising Dujon Sterling as deputy at right-back to the experienced Tavernier is as good as the club can hope for at this stage of their rebuilding cycle.

All the 24-year-old can do is catch Clement’s eyes with his performances when he is called upon, and the decision regarding Tavernier’s future, should interest materialise, will be all the easier to make.

“To be honest,” Philippe Clement’s icy shoulder after Rangers’ summer departure is explained.

Philippe Clement had more than one problem to solve for Rangers this summer and it was never going to be completed in a single transfer window.

One of them, was to increase the number of homegrown players in the squad other than promoting from within the ranks at Auchenhowie.

Looking at those eligible for the Europa League squad that has now been picked, Johnly Yfeko seemed a dead cert to be part of the something that the manager had planned to implement.

Johnly Yfeko reflects on Rangers exit talks

Instead, the 21-year old defender has moved to Exeter City on loan with an option to buy, a transfer that they player has been discussing with The Rangers Review:

“To be honest, I didn’t talk to him at the time about it,” Yfeko said of speaking to Clement before deciding to move to St James Park.

“I spoke to the academy director and sporting director and they thought it was the best thing for me, they knew I needed to play football either at Rangers or somewhere else.

“I am 21 now and if I can’t play men’s football now then maybe there is not a space for me in the game. It was a chance to go and play men’s football and show that I am ready throughout the season. By the end of it, I will have learned a lot of things. So far so good.”

Signed on a free transfer after being released by Leicester City, comparisons to Calvin Bassey were always going to be made.

With an equally as physical game and playing in the same position, coming from the same club only made it harder to avoid them.

What might have been as Yfeko looks to prove Rangers wrong

Yfeko didn’t quite kick on from his impressive pre-season showings last summer as Bassey did when he first signed and it is only a year since Michael Beale was lauding the young defender:

“Big Johnly Yfeko again is becoming the big surprise of preseason, making everybody smile and I thought Sam Lammers came on again and showed his quality. So, all in all, it was a really positive day. No injuries. Everyone’s played minutes and the competition of the places is where I want it to be.”

Philippe Clement had Yfeko in a few matchday squads, however, at 21, regular games are more important than sitting on the bench or in the stands.

He is also learning his craft at senior level under the tutelage of former Scotland international Gary Caldwell, a player who made 54 appearances for his country, played in the Champions League and made over 100 appearances in the Premier League – he should know how to advise a young centre-half finding his feet in the game.

With Clinton Nsiala signed, it looks like there are no plans for Yfeko to be reintegrated into the first team should Exeter not take up the option to buy.

What he has to do, is see it as his chance to prove Rangers wrong with his debut proving that he just might.

Rangers and Dundee are scheduled to face off in the Scottish League Cup at Ibrox.

Rabbi Matondo of Rangers celebrates his goal with his team mates during the Scottish Premiership match at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow. Rangers v Hibernian, Cinch Scottish Premiership, Football, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, UK – 30 Mar 2024 EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or live services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.

Rangers to Return to Ibrox for Scottish League Cup Clash with Dundee

Rangers will make their long-awaited return to Ibrox for their Scottish League Cup quarter-final against Dundee on 21 September, albeit with the Copland Stand remaining closed due to ongoing renovations. This fixture marks Rangers’ first home game of the season at Ibrox following a temporary relocation to Hampden Park for their initial four home matches.

Copland Stand Closure and Renovation Delays

The closure of the Copland Stand stems from delays in the delivery of essential materials, which have impeded the completion of the stand’s final concourse and seating areas. Despite these setbacks, Rangers have confirmed that all other sections of Ibrox will be operational for the upcoming cup tie. The club has assured fans that they will be able to access all areas of the stadium that are ready, with an exclusive ticketing window available for those holding season tickets for the Copland Stand to secure alternative seating.

Chairman John Bennett had previously expressed hopes for Rangers to be back at Ibrox for their Premiership match against Hibernian on 28 September. The commitment to returning to their home ground is a positive step, signifying that the club’s infrastructure challenges are nearing resolution.

Recent Performances and Upcoming Fixtures

Rangers’ last appearance at Ibrox was a Premiership victory against Dundee’s Dens Park side in May. Under the guidance of Philippe Clement, Rangers have maintained their status as League Cup holders. They progressed to the quarter-finals by defeating St Johnstone, while Dundee secured their place in the last eight with a win over Airdrieonians.

Dara Costelloe of Dundee jumps with Rangers captain James Tavernier during the Scottish Premiership match at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow. Rangers v Dundee, Cinch Scottish Premiership, Football, Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, UK – 14 May 2024 EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or live services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.

Dundee, managed by Tony Docherty, will face a crucial period as they return to action following the international break. Their next fixture will be an away game against Ross County in the Premiership on 14 September. Rangers, meanwhile, will travel to Dundee United for their subsequent match the following day.

Looking Ahead: Cup Clash Anticipation

The upcoming Scottish League Cup quarter-final is expected to be a significant test for both sides. Rangers, who have shown strong form domestically and in cup competitions, will be eager to advance further in the tournament. Dundee, on the other hand, will be determined to make a strong impression and challenge for a place in the semi-finals.

With Rangers’ return to Ibrox marking a return to normalcy and the anticipated reopening of the Copland Stand, the atmosphere at the Scottish League Cup tie is sure to be electric. Fans will be hopeful that the team’s performance matches the excitement surrounding their homecoming.

Hibs boss David Gray left fuming after going up against ‘completely dominating’ Celtic

David Grey, the Hibernian manager, is not having a good day after seeing his club lose to Celtic for the second straight week.

Before defeating them 3-1 at Celtic Park earlier today, Brendan Rodgers’ team defeated them 2-0 at Easter Road on Sunday.

Similar to their first meeting, the Bhoys scored early on in the Scottish League Cup match thanks to a goal from Daizen Maeda.

Despite receiving harsh criticism from his coaching staff, Grey believes his players keep making the same mistakes and bemoans the way Celtic dominated the game.

David Grey is upset after losing to Celtic in the League Cup.
After the full-time whistle, Grey told his own team’s media channel that he was “angry.” He then used The Herald to provide a more thorough warning to his players.

“I feel like I’m repeating myself here because of what happened last weekend,” the Hibs manager remarked. We had the early advantage in the game, but after Celtic made their first forward pass and an own mistake, we lost the goal. which is unacceptable, particularly in light of what we discussed before to the game.

“Coming here at any time is a tough enough test, but you can’t give that calibre of opposition a goal of a start.”

At Celtic Park, during the Premier Sports Cup match between Celtic and Hibernian, Alistair Johnston of Celtic and Rocky Bushri of Hibernian compete…

“Then, we were out of the game for the first half hour until we were able to come back into it after a set piece with a nice header and finish. But until then, Celtic was absolutely dominating, so we had to adjust the strategy a little bit to make ourselves even more difficult to beat.

“We reverted to our previous behaviour for the majority of the previous weekend’s game. I was somewhat let down by that. After we made two blunders in a row and lost a goal once more, I believed Celtic was back on top once more. We’ve reverted to the same behaviour, which is unacceptable for us at the moment.

This season, Hibs won’t be the only team that Celtic abandons in frustration.
To be fair to the Easter Road guys, it’s a difficult ask to play two positions against Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic team, particularly this late in the season.

While Grey and his players are only getting started, the Bhoys are clicking and cohesive.

Yes, they now appear to be lacking in confidence and talent, but most Scottish teams will look that way when playing the defending champions.

It is Celtic’s responsibility to make sure they feel this way after games, no matter how difficult it is for others. The group is doing a great job, and long may it continue.