Why King must be the master of diplomacy
EVEN though the individuals he was trying to unseat were about as well-regarded as your average African dictator, Dave King was never shy to play to the gallery in his campaign to force his way back into a position of power at Rangers.
Of course, populism — unlike, say, being economical with the truth on your tax return — is no crime. Many a revolution, good, bad and otherwise, has hinged on getting the loonballs and the lynch mob onside.
It is to be hoped, though, that Rangers’ decision to ban supporters arrested over violent acts at the Scottish Cup Final represents a change at boardroom level at Ibrox, a realisation that the rhetoric of the rebels at the gates is no longer appropriate.
Whether you agree with the morality or legality of the move, they cannot back down now. More than a year on from taking over the asylum and coming to terms with the inherited mess, this is a powerbase that must show it is finally ready to speak and act with clarity, consistency and authority.
King and his directors are custodians of a Scottish institution. It is an onerous position which involves setting a strong example and accepting that, whilst many will urge you to take the flamethrower to perceived enemies, moderation and diplomacy will be infinitely more useful in reaching the desired end destination.
There will also be the requirement, as Ann Budge has exhibited at Hearts, to tackle undesirable elements of the support whether they facilitated your boardroom coup or not.
King and co are faced with the difficult task of trying to rebuild a business brought to its knees by previous regimes and make it future-proof. In the modern, inclusive football environment, praising the actions of troublemakers wearing your colours is hardly a good place to start.
Whilst the shameful events of May 21 at Hampden were instigated wholly by Hibernian’s followers, the Ibrox club erred when putting forward the assertion that Rangers supporters who indulged in on-field disorder were performing some kind of selfless act to protect the players and the poor little children in the stands.
Managing director Stewart Robertson’s suggestion, shortly afterwards, that chanting ‘The Billy Boys’, whilst unwelcome, was preferable to invading the pitch did little to improve matters. The subject of sectarian singing is likely to rear its ugly head again this season. It must be addressed in an altogether less clumsy fashion next time round.
David Martin, Rangers’ head of security, writing to arrested fans to tell them they ‘brought the reputation of the club into disrepute’ sets a more appropriate tone with the club understood to be ready to revisit all cases should there be no eventual conviction.
Rangers, as a whole, need to work out some important policies and show they can deliver key messages without a tangle of crossed wires.
In footballing terms, the project is going well. There is encouragement to be taken from Mark Warburton’s restructuring of the squad.
We need less, though, of King stating, as he did before the Cup Final, that Celtic’s five consecutive titles don’t count because four of them were won without Rangers in the league.
This is the kind of cheap nonsense aimed at the lowest common denominator which you expected from Charles Green. King must learn to leave such silliness behind in addition to the many contradictions which have marked his public speaking appearances to date.
Just last term, when appearing to go against earlier remarks made about the sporting advantage gained through using EBTs to pay players, he also made some odd remarks about threatening to react ‘in the strongest manner possible’ to anyone questioning the history of the club.
Rangers give the impression they are never all that far away from moving on to a war footing, but Scottish football needs that right now in the same way the world needs Donald Trump being given control of the Big Red Button.
Don’t those within Ibrox want to become involved again in the running of the sport? That, for all the irrational enmity that does exist towards them, depends upon winning friends and influencing people. For the moment, they are on the outside looking in when it comes to the SPFL board, at least.
The game needs to find a way to set aside the acrimony of the past four years. As part of that, Rangers may have to be the bigger men. Embarking upon a campaign of vengeance is unlikely to put them in a stronger political position longer-term.
It is good that they are on improved terms with their fanbase from the unfortunate times, with King and Paul Murray both on the board in 2009, when a ‘We Deserve Better’ campaign, focusing on clear strategic failings, run by the Rangers Supporters Trust was misrepresented and shot down by those on high.
Fans do need to be closer to the decision-making process, but attempting to win their favour by excusing or ignoring clear misconduct should not be part of this new, evolving relationship.
If Rangers have, indeed, come to understand that, it will be to everyone’s benefit.