DAVID ROBERTSON bought into the American dream.

Now he hopes someone can end Rangers' nightmare.

The nine-in-a-row hero watched on for years as his former club was dragged through the mire, kicked while it was down and continually held back on the road to recovery.

He soon found himself involved in that very fight, a chance conversation with a friend leading to a £20million offer landing on the top table at Ibrox.

As Dave King and the Three Bears made their separate moves to increase their influence at the club and overthrow an under-fire board, a new name emerged in the Ibrox saga.

Robert Sarver's part in the Light Blue drama has been fleeting so far but it could yet be sustained depending on how this story unfolds next.

It only took a matter of days for the board to throw out two offers from Sarver but it wasn't just the men at the top of the Marble Staircase that needed convinced of the American's credentials.

After seeing a host of characters - from Whyte to Green, and beyond - come and go, supporters were rightly wary of Sarver's history, his motives, his plans.

But Robertson, back in Scotland from his home in the States this week to work on the UEFA Pro Licence course being run by the Scottish FA, can vouch for the man and the businessman.

Sarver, the owner of NBA outfit the Phoneix Suns, may no longer be under the spotlight but the man who fuelled his Ibrox ambition hopes he is not off the stage altogether.

"With technology these days it doesn't take you long to work out what a good guy he is," Robertson said.

"He's got a heart-foundation. My daughter goes to school in Tucson, U of A College, and he's got the Sarver Heart Foundation there, so he does a lot of good, a lot of charity work there.

"The Suns do a lot of charity stuff. He's as straight as they come and I think it's a big miss.

"I know what he can bring to the club. I understand there are difficulties in making it happen but I am sure there are ways it could have happened.

"For me every time you switch on the internet in the morning and see what's going on around the world it's disaster after disaster and it's sad to see the Rangers supporters, who were great to me in my time.

"I've had a lot of messages from them as well thanking for me suggestions the Rangers, but I just find it sad that there was an opportunity there."

From the outside, the prospect of an investor ploughing £20million into Rangers in their current state seemed like an appealing proposition but Sarver's vision, which required the support of 75% of the current shareholders, always seemed doomed to failure.

He was rebuffed on two occasions but stated that Rangers 'only had to ask' if they wanted his help, and cash, in the future.

It remains to be seen if he will return to the table for a third time but Robertson reckons Rangers have left a lasting impression on the 53-year-old.

"I run a club in Phoenix and his kids play within the club, I coach one of his kids," Robertson said.

"He's just like any other parent, he stands on the sidelines and cheers his kids on.

"He's a down to earth guy and he's been very generous to our club.

"It's a good relationship I've got with him and it was actually by chance that he was talking about buying a football club and I mentioned Rangers and he took a big shine to it.

"The one thing he has said is he loves the passion that the club has got, that the Rangers supporters have got. He's had loads of messages, thank yous, he'll definitely remember Rangers for a long time."

Robertson may not have needed convincing of Sarver's blueprint for Rangers but the American was unable to win over a beleaguered board.

The former Light Blues left-back got plenty of enquiries but none came from within Ibrox, leaving Sarver to lament a lack of engagement from those he was seeking to help.

The businessman has certainly made his mark in his homeland and Robertson reckons Rangers' loss could be another club's gain.

He said: "No-one [from Rangers asked me about him]. I had a lot of people contact me at certain points from the media but I'm so much away from it that I didn't want to get involved in it.

"I've had a few conversations with Robert but it's mainly just about my views on Rangers as a club and the history and the potential.

"To be honest I'm a little bit removed from it and just saw what I saw in the media.

"I do feel if that was the case it's surprising because I know there is a lot of clubs out there that would bite his arm off to bring him in.

"I don't know if they took it serious or not but I can assure you guys that he was 100 percent serious in doing this and going the full way with it."

It appears unlikely, for now at least, that Sarver will throw some of his millions at Rangers and realise his dream of investing in sport this side of the Atlantic.

His money would undoubtedly have helped the Gers in their current crisis but Robertson insists the dollars would only have been some of the benefits.

He said: "He's obviously got the wealth to invest in a club - at some point he will - but he's also got the infrastructure. You've got to meet tough guidelines with the franchise every year, every week. Whatever club he ends up at, he can certainly bring all that to the table.

"I don't know [if he will invest in another British club]. I know before I started talking to him, he was looking at other clubs in Spain and England.

"I mentioned Rangers and the problems they are in, and I think having been there and seen what's happened, he's the type of person they need."

David Robertson was speaking at the Scottish FA's UEFA Pro Licence course. Visit www.scottishfa.co.uk/coacheducation to join the coaching community.