NO contact has been made between Dave King and the Rangers board since the South African-based businessman flew into Scotland at the weekend.

 

The arrival of King, who is seeking to take control of Rangers, is seen as an announcement that the battle for Rangers will be played out publicly this week.

The Rangers board has until Friday to announce a date for the extraordinary general meeting of the club with sources last night placing a bill of £250,000 on the meeting which is likely to be held at a venue other than Ibrox.

The electronic voting system will cost £50,000 with hire of a venue and printing costs forming the bulk of the rest of the cost.

The cost, of course, will be seen as a price worth paying for those seeking to dislodge a board that has been under siege since the Three Bears consortium and King bought shares in the club, making an extraordinary general meeting inevitable.

King believes he can gain 51% of votes to eject chairman David Somers, chief executive Derek Llambias, finance director Barry Leach and James Easdale.

However, the board believes that it can win, insisting that institutional investors will opt for the financial stability offered by Mike Ashley, the Sports Direct entrepreneur, who has loaned Rangers £13m in return for security on assets.

This week will see a heightening of the rhetoric as the basic arithmetic suggests a very close vote.

King is allied with former director Paul Murray and former brewery executive John Gilligan. His 15% stake will find support from the Three Bears consortium - transport mogul Douglas Park, George Taylor and George Letham. This holds a combined 19% - 16% as a consortium and 3% held solely by Taylor.

This King-Three Bears alliance roughly matches the stake held personally and in proxy by Sandy Easdale. Locked on about 34%, the question is whether the board or the rebels can find that 17% to take them over the finishing line.

Sources close to King believe that most of the fans' united shareholding of 10-12% will fall in line behind him. Ally McCoist (1.3%), Walter Smith (0.09%) and other small personal shareholders are likely to vote against the incumbents.

This would take King and his supporters towards that 51% mark.

The best hope for the board is that institutional investors shy away from King and the problems he may bring in terms of finding both a nominated advisor and approval from the stock market and the Scottish Football Association.

There is, of course, speculation that Rangers could de-list after any successful coup by King but that has not been so far given any credence by informed observers.

The closeness of the contest means that the public relations battle will intensify this week. It is believed King has not been in the City of London since his arrival from South Africa.

His opponents say this is because has had little success in attracting support from that constituency. His supporters claim that it is because the businessman is simply confirming his support in the Rangers heartland andis confident of reaching his goal without institutional support.

Meanwhile, Ashley, who holds just short of 9% of shares, stands strong in the background. The Newcastle United owner has a merchandising deal with the club, is owed £13m and his influence is powerful.

He has been part of a strategy to resist the Three Bears and King though it is understood he agreed to offer the consortium one board seat, not conditional on taking money. The offer was resisted, most probably because the consortium knows that a single board seat offers little power while any deal with the board would dilute their support.

Ashley is key to any successful bid by the board to retain power. He is the financial muscle behind the incumbents and offers a safe option for investors who are wary of King and believe that Rangers may need substantial funds down the line to meet the basic requirements of stadium maintenance.

The battle is between King/Three Bears and the board led by the Easdale brothers. It may yet be decided by Ashley who has a floating charge on the club as well as Murray Park, Edmiston House, Albion car park and the club's registered trademarks - including the Rangers crest - as collateral.

He has no claim to Ibrox after fan protests forced him to drop his demand for security on the home but he has the keys to the future.