by MATTHEW LINDSAY:    Rangers manager Ally McCoist and former director Dave King were today seen leaving Ibrox, after a meeting with the club's administrators.

Their appearance sparked a flurry of fresh speculation about the future of the Ibrox club.

South Africa-based multi-millionaire King was spotted leaving the stadium with McCoist. They drove off in the same car after the manager had held a meeting with administrators Duff and Phelps.

Castlemilk-born King, who invested 20 million pounds of his personal fortune in the club in 2000, was apparently ousted as a director by current chairman Craig Whyte earlier this month.

The lifelong Rangers supporter is believed to be one of the interested buyers who have contacted the administrators since the Scottish champions were put into administration last Tuesday.

Paul Murray, another former director who lost his place on the board when Whyte took over in May, has admitted he is putting together a "Blue Knights" consortium to take over the club.

And Murray was involved with King and Scottish businessman Donald Park in a bid to take over the club before Whyte bought Sir David Murray's majority shareholding nine months ago.

King has previously admitted he considered launching his own takeover bid before Murray sold his shares to Craig Whyte for £1. He was put off by the demands of Lloyds Banking Group.

There was no comment from Rangers or the administrator on the latest talks as officials from Duff and Phelps continue to probe the financial dealings surrounding Whyte's takeover and subsequent running of the club.

There have been no job cuts announced yet, although one player is on his way out of Ibrox after the club accepted an offer from South Korean club Busan I'Park for Australian midfielder Matt McKay, with negotiations ongoing.

The administrators and Whyte himself on Tuesday confirmed that a 24million pound cash injection from investment firm Ticketus, based on advance season ticket sales, had been used to pay off the 18million pound Lloyds debt.

Today it emerged that Rangers, under Whyte, had sold shares gifted to them by Arsenal in the 1930s for around 230,000 pounds.

Supporters are still digesting the lengthy statement issued by Whyte yesterday, in which he also announced plans to step down as chairman and possibly "gift" fans the majority of his shares.

Andy Kerr, president of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, is keen for supporters to have more involvement in running the club's affairs, but not with Whyte.

Kerr said: "We are keen to listen to proposals from people who are interested in taking the club forward, particularly if the proposals have fan involvement.

"It's difficult to break it down into specific details but we have always been huge stakeholders in buying season tickets and merchandise.

"It would be good to harness that into some influence over the governance process and be better placed to avert the situation that has just happened. You look around Europe and there is some good, sound basis for doing that."

Whyte has already taken a step back but any involvement in the club after the administration process is complete seems difficult to envisage given the impact on his reputation over the last 10 days.
The latest blow is the sale of shares in Arsenal.

Kerr said: "One of the things a club wants to maintain is their heritage. We have had great connections with Arsenal and it is extremely disappointing this has happened, and also that we found out this way."

Administrators David Whitehouse and Paul Clark are continuing to look into issues such as where the rest of the Ticketus money went, having not been paid into club accounts, and where the money from the Arsenal shares went.

They have discussed issues surrounding Rangers' finances with police, who last week confirmed they were examining information received from former chairman Alastair Johnston regarding Whyte's takeover.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said today: "We can confirm that we have had initial conversations with the administrators of Rangers Football club. We have not received any official report from them at this stage."

Administrators are also working to sort the club's debt with creditors including HMRC, who are waiting for the outcome of the so-called "big tax case" surrounding employee benefit trusts from 2001-2010, which Whyte claims could cost Rangers up to 75million pounds.

HMRC today declined to respond to Whyte's claims that they were "determined to make an example of Rangers" but the administrators had already pointed out that the tax authority were keen to reach a solution and could have issued a winding-up order rather than forcing the club into administration.

The involvement of King, formerly the club's second largest shareholder, may not please all Rangers supporters.

The enigmatic businessman has been involved in a high-profile tax examination in his adopted homeland for the last decade. 

The 55-year-old has been locked in an epic battle with the South African Revenue Service and has 322 criminal charges, including tax dodging, racketeering, extortion and money laundering hanging over him.

The long-running case is a result of a deal he did in 1998/99 which the state alleges earned him profits in excess of 180 million pounds.

King enjoys a lavish lifestyle in South Africa. He has a 7 million pound house in Johannesburg, another house beside the Indian Ocean, a couple of private jets and an interest in a stud farm with golfer Gary Player among other assets.

But the state is unequivocal in its opinion about the man from Glasgow who, according to legend, arrived in South Africa in 1976 with only 10 pounds in his pocket.

A judge, dismissing King's latest appeal last October against his tax liabilities, said he had "no respect for the truth and does not hesitate to lie if he thinks it will be to his advantage. He is a mendacious witness whose evidence should not be accepted on any issue unless it is supported by objective evidence. In our assessment, he is a glib and shameless liar."