King: I've had discussions with Ashley's allies over who Sports Direct's representatives on Rangers board will be

Asked if he had the money to turn the club around, he answered: "I don't have. I was willing to go 50/50 with other investors so I think between myself and other investors I think we have sufficient to take it forward in the medium term."

King said he "would expect other individuals" would take up the other 50% naming chairman elect Paul Murray, businessman George Letham, Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy and motor tycoon Douglas Park.

"I don't see me carrying the sole burden," he said. "I am standing here looking to invest having lost £20 odd million and I don't think I'll get my money back this time either.

"If I was trying to buy Liverpool Football Club I wouldn't compete with Mike Ashley.  It wouldn't be a fair fight. He would knock me around.  The fact is I have as much money as he (Mike Ashley) has got to invest in Rangers."

He added: "I think this is genuinely a new era for the club going forward."

King believed Ashley was weakening his position over his dealings with the club by beginning the process of lending a further £5 million to the club, to leave Rangers with a £10 million debt to the Sports Direct owner.

He also indicated that he had had discussions with Ashley's allies over who the Sports Direct's two representatives would be on the Rangers International Football Club plc board after the EGM. Ashley has rights to two directors as a condition of his loan.

Asked if he would be amenable to this, King added: "It would depend who they are. It would have to be an independent, professionally minded person and it certainly wouldn't be Llambias or Leach."

Asked about whether Rangers will live within their means, King said: "I think long term they have to, but it's not going to be possible in the short term.  I think the gap between Rangers and Celtic is too extreme at the moment because the standard for Rangers is to compete with Celtic."

He said if Rangers got back into the Scottish Premiership it would "have a period where it's going to have to invest in the squad without the income on the other side (that Celtic would get from European football). That's why it needs a fans' based investment.

"People in the City are not going to fund operating losses to bridge a gap with Celtic. Once we bridge the gap with Celtic I think both clubs should start operating within their means.  But we have to invest to get to that point first."

He spoke out as chief executive Derek Llambias challenged Mr King's ability to come up with the finance for the club and to replace the necessary stock market adviser following the resignation of WH Ireland on Thursday.

King, who is delaying joining the board as chairman to clear up regulatory issues, claimed he has lined up a Stock Exchange nominated adviser for Rangers ahead of his allies taking control at Ibrox. 

But he added: "I think the point I wanted to make is it's not my Nomad. The club has to have a Nomad."

WH Ireland, the club's last nominated adviser, which acts as a stock market regulator, resigned with the Rangers International Football Club board, saying "WH Ireland does not believe it can satisfy the London Stock Exchange in relation to its obligations in respect of the appropriateness of the company's securities to be admitted to Aim".

King said: "I think Llambias should understand that. He's confusing the AIM listing with the club. It's the club that has to have the Nomad.

"All I have done is, in advance of the change of board, ensured there is another Nomad willing to come in. The club has to appoint them so that process can only happen after the general meeting.

"I've got one who has done due diligence on the individuals but the key component for any Nomad is the club itself.

"Nomads are concerned about the financial affairs of the club. It's the one area where I've been able to give no more input than what I've read in the newspapers.

"If we succeed tomorrow, and I think we will, then we will get it immediately. It's a process that would be done in a day or so."

In an interview, King credited the fans boycott of the club, which he supported, for creating climate for change at Ibrox.

On Thursday, he delayed his Ibrox coronation after WH Ireland quit over concerns he was taking control.

While King awaits regulatory clearance to be on a board, former director Paul Murray was placed as interim chairman.

King denied the club was in a precarious financial position saying the levels of debt are "modest".

He also said Llambias and finance director Barry Leach are expected to go as directors during Friday's EGM at Ibrox, but will remain in executive positions until further talks are finalised.

He said he would "guarantee the fans absolute transparency and accountability".

Mr Llambias, arriving in Glasgow ahead of tomorrow's crunch EGM of shareholders called by King, also had his say after the board warned that if a replacement for WH Ireland is not found within 30 days, Rangers would not be able to trade on the Aim Stock Exchange.

He said to waiting reporters: "Show us your money Mr King. Ask him where's your money, Mr King? Who is your Nomad?"

King said: "I am ready. It is a little bit daunting, to now think of what we have to do. I think the club is broken, it is not just the team... the stadium, the infrastructure, the whole value system of the club has disappeared.

"If the suggestion is it's financially precarious, I think there's nothing further from the truth.

"I think for Rangers to become fairly quickly the second top club in Scotland should be achieved in fairly short notice but I think there is a very, very substantial gap between Rangers and Celtic at the moment and for us to narrow that gap, which we surely will do, has to be done on a judicious basis.

"We mustn't ever get to the situation where we put Rangers into financial distress chasing something that can be managed in a far more commercial and sane basis."

King said he would be "very, very surprised" if there was not some level of negotiation with Sports Direct rather than its owner Mike Ashley over their role at the club. He said attempts to contact Mr Ashley have failed.

A £10 million loan from Ashley's Sports Direct to prevent the Rangers business suffering an insolvency has securities over Murray Park training ground and other properties including precious club trademarks and logos. It also provided the tycoon with ownership of the club merchandise sales company Rangers Retail.

King told Sky Sports: "If you look at the levels of debt they are talking about from Mike Ashley, they're actually very modest for a club with the facilities Rangers have got. If we get the fans support back and just get Rangers back to where we know Rangers can be, then I think the level of debt Rangers has got at the moment is very very very affordable.

"I think the Rangers fans have sat on the side and they have watched other people playing games with their club, and I say games in the true sense, it has been games. We have seen a number of people in responsible positions... who have really played to their own agenda and the fans have really sat on the sidelines and quite frankly it is my belief if it wasn't for the fans voting with their feet and starting to boycott games, I don't think we would be at the point we are at today.

"So I think the fans deserve a huge amount of credit for their contribution to what I am hoping is a very new exciting way forward for the club."

He said the rallying of the fans in buying shares in the club to gain more voting rights for the EGM has been a "genuinely humbling experience".

He said: "It's a great thrill for me to know that I won't be walking this road alone.

"Let's just get this meeting behind us and let's go ahead and start doing what we think is right and start creating a Rangers that we all start to recognise is the club we thought we supported for all these years.

"The main thing and the main gameplan that I have stayed focussed on is to try and get regime change and try and install on the Rangers board some like-minded individuals who know what the club is about, who know what the history's about and can give the fans hope we will take the club forward into something they will recognise more as the real Rangers as opposed to what we have seen in the last couple of years.

"And I feel we are at that point now. It's been a long road and I am asking the fans to remain calm, to remain steady because after tomorrow we will actually finally have a direction.

"It will be a long road but as long as we travel that road together I guarantee the fans absolute transparency and accountability and if there is one thing that has been missing from Rangers in the last couple of years, I believe it is not just the ethos and the level of respect but I think transparency and accountability has been completely absent."

He added: "And one of the things I have tried to fight against was the noise level. Now, when I look at a lot of the stuff that has happened over the years, even last night with WH Ireland, probably about 95% of the stresses and strains that the fans have gone through and stuff they're read in the media and newspapers is what I call noise level. It's always been irrelevant."

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan refused to give any pre-judgement on King's potential application for "fit and proper" status.

He said: "We are part way through a process which involves a meeting tomorrow and we are talking about a plc so I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on those type of corporate affairs.

"There is a process that would be followed in the event of changes, it would be up to the club to make representations to the Scottish FA and we'll deal with that as and when that happens."

However, he conceded that an end to the instability would be welcome.

"For Rangers fans in particular and all of those who are watching what has gone on over the last three years, I think it's important there is stability and harmony and that whoever leads Rangers can actually get on with getting the club back into some kind of positive shape," he said.