BARRY FERGUSON, the Clyde player-manager, is keen to see Dave King take the throne at Ibrox and end two years of turmoil for the Rangers supporters.

However, the 36-year-old is aware that there is still a long way to go but for a deal is done.

The former Rangers captain has witnessed too many false dawns and has been let down too many times by events at his old club.

However, Ferguson remains hopeful that King will succeed in gaining control of Rangers, which is predicted to run out of money before the end of the year, by convincing the board to accept his £16m bailout deal. King, who is allied with wealthy supporters George Letham and Paul Murray, met with the Rangers directors on Tuesday to continue dialogue over his rescue package, in which the South Africa-based businessman would assume a 51 per cent stake in the club through a new share issue.

This follows the demand for an emergency general meeting by Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, who now owns nearly 10 per cent of the Ibrox club, at which the billionaire will seek to oust Graham Wallace, the Rangers chief executive, and the SPFL Championship side's finance director Philip Nash.

"It's good to see somebody like Dave King, who's been at the club and knows what it's all about, in talks," said Ferguson. "Ideally, somebody like him would come in but until it's actually signed and sealed, we just don't know. Until I see it in black and white and it's done, then you can talk about it. Things have happened in the past and nothing has come of it. We don't know how this will go.

"That's the biggest frustration for Rangers fans - my mates and people I meet on the street. One minute you think things are going well, the next minute it all falls flat on its face. I don't think any Rangers fans will be getting too excited right now because we have hit brick walls before."

King was a director of Rangers for 11 years after investing £20m in 2000 and although Ferguson cannot claim to be close with him, the midfielder is convinced that King is the right man for Rangers.

"Mike Ashley has done a hell of a job at Newcastle but if you ask the vast majority of Rangers fans, they would want a Rangers supporter to take over and that would be Dave King," he said.

"We visited his house in Johannesburg with Rangers once. He had a lot of memorabilia but I remember the size of his wine cellar more than anything. It was massive.

"What I do know is he's a Rangers fan and that's what you want. It's a hard one because about a year ago, it looked as though Dave was coming back. Then it went quiet. I said then that we needed someone like him to come in, take control and put the club back on the map. Everyone is sick of it - from the fans to the players, management and staff at the club, they just want it sorted."

Barry Ferguson was promoting Arnold Clark's sponsorship of the Peter and Roughie Football phone-in show on Central FM, STV Glasgow and online.