Dave King needs to make good on promises to bring weary Rangers supporters flocking back to Ibrox

Whether it was or the prospect of a hotel and super-casino complex being built in the grounds of the stadium or speculation about superstars like Jurgen Klinsmann, Patrick Kluivert or Gianluca Vialli being signed for eye-watering sums, there was almost always some revelation to tempt supporters to part with their money.

Dave King, who famously invested £20 million of his personal fortune in his childhood heroes during that extravagant and ultimately ill-fated era, didn't promise anything quite so grandiose yesterday as he publicly urged fans to sign up for the 2015/16 campaign.

Quite the opposite. As he revealed the search for a new Rangers manager was progressing, a shortlist of five potential candidates had been drawn up and the board hoped to have their preferred man in place by next week, King stressed: "He's not going to go and sign Ronaldo."

The South Africa-based businessman's appeal to supporters, many of whom bought briefs for home games on a match-by-match basis last season due to an unhappiness at those occupying the boardroom and a concern about the worsening financial predicament, to return in large numbers was based on a love of their club and a belief in the new custodians.

The chairman and major shareholder is hoping a confidence in the integrity and intentions of those now in charge at the Glasgow institution - coupled with the promise of further "substantial investment" from significant backers like himself - will be enough to persuade fans to unite behind the side once again.

"Since we came in, we have demonstrated that we have done everything we said we were going to do," said King. "The club needed money, we put the money in. We've done our bit.

"I'm really asking the fans to think back to three seasons ago when, for their first home game in the Third Division, Rangers had the biggest attendance in the UK.

"I understand they might be a little leg-weary now, because they have seen it come and go. But I'd like to think if they look at the board they have now, and the fact we have put our money into the club, then they can roll back to that time and come and give us their full support."

King was referring to the two £1.5 million loans which he and the members of the so-called The Three Bears consortium - which comprises wealthy fans George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor - have put into Rangers for working capital purposes since the old board was ousted at an EGM at the beginning of March.

More season tickets will almost certainly be sold in the coming weeks than were last summer when just under 25,000 - a drop of over 11,000 on the 2013/14 season and over 13,000 on the 2012/13 campaign- were bought as a result of a well-supported boycott which King himself had actively encouraged.

However, the 60-year-old and his associates will have to entice those who have grown disillusioned with life in the lower leagues and are not enthused by the prospect of more games against the likes of Alloa, Dumbarton and Livingston by securing the services of a leading manager and funding the signing of exciting players.

There is certainly widespread support for the new regime among the fan base at the moment. Those involved now are fellow supporters who are not there, unlike many of their predecessors, for their personal financial gain or self-promotion. But the supporters' goodwill will only stretch so far. There will need to be far more tangible evidence of progress on and off the field before they file through the turnstiles in large numbers again.

King, who described Rangers in the season just ended as "inadequate", is optimistic the mistakes of the previous boards will not be repeated and is confident that with careful investment of their funds the SPFL Championship will be won and promotion to the top flight secured in the forthcoming campaign.

"We know we have to give them a far better product, he said. "We've got to give them a winning football team. To do that, we need better quality players. We're hoping to offer the fans a better experience and get Rangers back to what they have been for the past 140-odd years."

Given the corporate vandalism and gross mismanagement of some of those who managed to assume senior positions at the Glasgow institution after it was placed into the Third Division back in 2012, King is perhaps right to be so bullish. "I don't know how they went about buying and selling in the Charles Green era," he said. "But it hasn't worked."

Questioned about the wisdom of "over-investing" in Rangers given the serious financial problems the Ibrox club has wrestled with for several years as a consequence of ill-advised spending sprees, he was defiant.

"It might be semantics, but the club hasn't over-invested," he said. "It has just spent money. Last year, the club had the second biggest wage bill in Scotland by a mile. But look at the performance of the team. That was actually a lack of investment.

"It's not a worry for me because I'm involved in the process now. I wasn't previously. I'm in a position to influence that and make sure we go about it in the proper manner. We are going to make an investment."

The length of time it is taking to appoint a new manager is concerning many Rangers supporters. The new man will have to identify and sign players to rebuild a squad which has lost nearly a dozen players quickly so they can be involved in pre-season and make a winning start to the new campaign. King, though, is refusing to be rushed.

"The management appointment is imminent and urgent," he said. "But it's not urgent to the extent that by saving a day or two we're going to make the wrong appointment.

"There is no guarantee to the fans. I'm not suggesting the fans will like every player choice and I'm not suggesting that all the fans will like the manager. But what we have to give them is winning football."