Rangers right to play waiting game as Ashley bids to have £5million loan repaid

The Sports Direct tycoon currently has security over all of Ibrox club's assets bar the stadium.

So, if they want to gain control of them again - which, of course, they are desperate to do - then they have to settle up.

The key question, though, is when they do give him back his cash.

It has this week emerged that Ashley has requisitioned a general meeting in a bid to have the £5m loan repaid.

Ashley's associates - former directors Barry Leach and Derek Llambias - claimed that the new regime didn't have the financial muscle needed to take the club forward.

Now is the chance for Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan to stand up and say: "Yeah, we do have the funds."

If that is the case, and I am positive it is, then it should be handed over. If it gets Ashley off their back and recovers all of their assets, then, of course, it should be.

Ashley calling a general meeting isn't going to achieve anything because he won't receive the backing he needs.

He isn't going to get anything passed. The Englishman, who owns nearly nine per cent of the club, will vote in favour of it and, possibly, one or two other significant shareholders.

However, the vast majority of the investors will, as they did at the EGM back in March, back all the King's men.

The loan deal struck back in January meant that Ashley got his money paid back on a specified date.

As I understand it, the only way he can receive cash any earlier is if Rangers renege on some part of the deal.

But if nothing untoward has happened and the deal that was agreed stipulated that he got it back later this year, then why should they pay him now?

There is no hurry to pay him now when they are wrestling with all kinds of other issues; he will get his money back eventually.

As far as I can see, this is a bit of unnecessary pressure being applied to the board by Ashley at a time of the season it is the last thing needed.

We have a big game coming up this weekend. The club is trying to get back into the top division, so we could be doing without this nonsense.

The Rangers directors have gone into the club and are poring over the accounts and contracts to find out the exact financial position of the Ibrox club. These things take time.

There is so much to look into, but one thing we can be sure of is that Ashley has been heavily involved in the past.

He managed to negotiate some great deals which suited Mike Ashley and Sports Direct but not, in my view, Glasgow Rangers.

The new board have had to find out what he has got and how he has got it. I think they are quite right to take their time.

Ashley has certainly got power, but whether he has got power in the courts is another thing.

The English billionaire has also demanded to know why Rangers is no longer listed on the AIM Stock Exchange.

Well, the reason for that is simple and was given at the time it was announced. It is because so many complaints were made about the company under the previous regimes.

It was no great surprise the club was delisted.

Having said all of that, something has to happen and happen soon at Rangers. Hopefully we will receive a decision on whether Dave King is fit and proper from the SFA in the near future.

The season ticket renewal forms will be coming out next month. The fans have got to know what league they are playing in and how much it is going to cost to see the team.

Dave King has to come out and explain exactly what he is planning to do ... and I am sure that is what he intends to do.

He knows how everything works at Ibrox now. I would imagine in the next couple of weeks things will happen and supporters will know exactly where the new regime is heading.

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