I THOUGHT Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan all spoke well after taking control of Rangers on Thursday.

It was all about the club, and the people working at the club. It was all positive, everything the fans want to hear, things like saying they will not take a penny out. I genuinely believe that is what the board will do but now they have to prove it.

The likes of Craig Whyte and Charles Green have gone into that club in recent times and said some of the same things but that all just turned out to be flannel. It bought them time to go in there and get money out the club.

A few people are still questioning Dave King because of his background in South Africa. He still must appoint a new nominated advisor after the resignation of WH Ireland, and face an SFA fit and proper person test if he wants to be a director, as will Paul Murray - the interim chairman - who was part of the board under Craig Whyte which took the club in administration in the first place.

The SFA have never really been able to nail all this from the start, even though their rules on dual ownership played a big part in stopping Mike Ashley from taking greater influence. They will not be able to stop King. They might be able to stop him getting a seat on the board but there is no chance of them stopping him essentially running the club.

You can't have Whyte slipping under the radar, people like Charles Green taking over and taking money out of the club, people like Mike Ashley bending the rules, then suddenly all hell breaks loose against King. The rules have never been nailed to start with, which has left so many discrepancies. But whether he is chairman, or puts his own man in there, King will run it. That is for sure.

I have met Gilligan loads of times, and he is a nice guy, only interested in the club. But you can't forget that the Easdales were Rangers men too, there have been plenty of people on that board who were. You hear the phrase thrown out all the time, we need to get 'Rangers men' on the board. But what you really just need is people who are good at their jobs.

King must have been there when I was at Ibrox as a player. I remember seeing him but he was happy to keep himself in the background and maintain a lower profile. But I think even he - looking at what has been going on there in the last four years - has said enough is enough. I like the way he has gone about things, speaking to supporters associations, getting them all together behind the scenes. He has kept a low profile for a wee while then absolutely wiped the other board out.

It is not quite nailed on yet, though. Ashley still has a 9% shareholding and these loans that he has got still permit him to have two directors on the board. He could call in his loans at any point and there is sure to be small print. They will have to be firm but not rock the boat with these boys.

They are obviously negotiating with Ashley behind the scenes, trying to do things in the right manner. I think they have got the money but they want to get rid of their money at the timing of their choice, not Ashley's. There could be a huge buy-out required if they are to get the rights back for the club badge and retail arm. There is plenty of business to be done.

There are going to be years of pain yet, the fans know that, but what I would say is that for me I don't think there is a need to rush to appoint a new manager. People will say get one in now, because that will automatically give you a better chance of winning the play-offs. But you might also panic, get the wrong one in, end up not going up anyway, then the whole structure of the club will be set back. I know fans will be impatient to get back up to the top flight and start challenging Celtic again but the club need to take their time. They have been through the mill for the last four years.

Guys like Derek McInnes, Billy Davies and Stuart McCall have been linked with the post, but the job description for me is a manager who isn't just a modern coach, or a Rangers man, but someone who is ruthless about handling every aspect of a club. Managers love to take jobs when it is rock bottom and if the right manager does get chosen I don't see a lot of those players still being there next season. But if they can get this appointment right, and with King taking over the business side, it looks like the only way is up.