THINGS have changed quite considerably at Rangers since the days when Kenny Dalglish was being touted as some kind of international superscout, entrusted with the keys to, as one newspaper report of the time stated, a transfer warchest totalling £80m.

 

That was December 1996. Dalglish eventually took up a role as a business development manager within Sir David Murray's sprawling empire for a matter of weeks before slipping back into the tracksuit and the technical area at Newcastle United and consigning the whole confusing affair to history.

Speed forward to February 2015 and the landscape, so scorched and barren in contrast to those times of plenty, is almost unrecognisable.

Just a matter of weeks ago, it was announced that Murray International Holdings - the company that controlled metals, mining and property as well as affairs at Ibrox - is being wound up after accumulating almost £350m of debt.

Rangers, of course, were sold off under pressure from Lloyds Bank for a pound in 2011. Craig Whyte, administration and liquidation followed. Now, a fresh battle for the soul of the club is being played out between Dave King's camp and the current board as the standard of fare on the pitch lurches from bad to worse.

Dalglish, a Rangers supporter as a child and a Celtic legend in adulthood, believes failings in the boardroom have been inextricably linked to failings on the pitch, but there is one thing he believes must remain constant amid the turmoil: the manager has got to have sole control of the team.

Kenny McDowall, in charge on a caretaker basis and working a 12-month notice period after resigning, lit the blue touchpaper last week when revealing that he had been told by the chief executive, Derek Llambias, that he must pick all five loan players recently brought in from Newcastle United in his starting 11 when they are fit.

Llambias has denied the board is influencing team selection and McDowall refused to readdress the issue following his side's latest embarrassment, a 2-1 home defeat by Raith Rovers in the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup, on Sunday.

Dalglish is clear, though. No matter the background behind a transfer, the identities of the players in the side must be decided on merit.

"I was never, ever asked to select or sign someone that I didn't want to sign or select when I was a manager," said Dalglish. "Never.

"Equally, I would hope I never asked someone to do something that was within their (field of) expertise and not mine. That would have been out of order.

"The manager has to be allowed to manage.

"If the people who own or run the football club start interfering and selecting teams, does that allow Kenny the right to interfere in how well the club is being run? Each to their own, I would have thought.

"I think the only way you can get a game is if you are good enough.

"Against Raith Rovers, two of the five Newcastle players were injured and one got injured during the game, so he might not have them to pick.

"I don't know what's happening, but the sooner it gets resolved, the easier it will be."

The upcoming extraordinary general meeting in the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London on March 4, in which King will attempt to have the current directors voted out and replaced, may bring some kind of resolution to the internal warfare consuming the club.

Dalglish refuses to pick sides, but he feels it is clear that the off-field chaos of the past few years has contributed greatly to shortcomings on the park.

"Off-the-field matters have had an influence on what has happened on the field vis-à-vis Ally McCoist not being there any longer and Kenny working his 12 months' notice period," he said.

"It's a sad state. It looks, one way or another, as if there may be a change soon. A change in fortune would be great for Scottish football, but, more importantly, it would be great for Rangers and their supporters."

For the moment, though, McDowall ploughs on through the storm. Defeat in Friday night's visit of Hibernian would see Rangers slip to third in the SPFL Championship.

McDowall clearly does not want to be managing the club, but Dalglish insists that cannot be regarded as a reason for declining morale, not to mention declining standards of performance, among the players.

"If they can't appreciate a guy that's good at his job, it's the players who have the problem, not the coach," he stated. "There must be pressure on everyone there and it can't be a good atmosphere to be working in.

"Every day, you pick up a paper and something different has happened, but the players should still have pride in themselves and in their football club."

Rangers have lost five of their last nine fixtures. In addition to that defeat at the hands of Raith, they lost 2-0 to Celtic in the League Cup semi-finals at Hampden Park without registering a single shot on goal.

"I wasn't surprised that Celtic won convincingly," said Dalglish. "What was a surprise was the state of the pitch. Maybe the pitch being so poor helped Rangers a little bit."

Dalglish is clearly of the view that Rangers are squarely to blame for their ills, but senses Scottish football does need them back in the Premiership along with Hibernian and Hearts.

"If they are in, the league obviously has a significant rise in numbers going to the games," he said. "They are not here for various reasons. It's not anyone's fault but their own."

Kenny Dalglish is urging local communities to recognise a #GrassrootsHero and nominate them for the 2015 Scottish FA Grassroots Awards, presented by McDonald's. For more information and to nominate a club, league, coach or volunteer visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk/awards