According to Scotland's Daily Record Mike Ashley is making a major power play for Rangers at the moment, and his latest bid to oust current Chief Executive Graham Wallace and Director Philip Nash have more to do with his own desires to further line his pockets, rather than any real concern over their leadership of the club. Just as he did when he "rescued" Newcastle from the financially disastrous control of the Halls and Shepherds (themselves hardly innocent parties when it came to using and abusing the club for personal gain), Ashley swept into Rangers with the promise of an emergency loan, as long as the club surrendered ownership of their iconic badge a month or so ago. That attempt was blocked by Wallace and Nash inevitably, who clearly saw Ashley's plan to be able to license the crest as a recipe for over-saturation and merchandising doom for the club as Sports Direct profited massively. Control of the Glasgow side's crest would be worth millions of pounds to Ashley, and the precedent set by his control of Newcastle's merchandising would suggest that precisely none of that money would be reinvested in the club - particularly as long as Ashley remained only a share-holder. So it's little wonder that the board blocked the move. Obviously disgruntled by that snub, Ashley is now attempting to force the club to get rid of Wallace and Nash - also probably in response to their talks with Dave King's consortium who are seeking to bail the club out, and who would of course represent a significant barrier to the Newcastle supremo forcing his way to the top of the boardroom table. He is already making a fortune after negotiating to take over Rangers retail arm, and clearly sees hostility as the only way to take control of the club from the current board and to protect his investment as he weighs up whether Rangers or Newcastle should be his primary concern. What emerges from this story more than anything is that Ashley is predominantly motivated by financial gain, and that offering debt help and investment are not the messianic offerings they may seem. If Ashley gets his way, Rangers fans can look forward to a future of fan antagonisation (whether conscious or indirect), contentious decisions and a stadium that looks like Sports Direct has vomited on every spare space. Yes, his investment might mean Champions League football returns (giving him the opportunity to peddle his wares to European audiences without the threat of over-stretching and relegation, which he sees as the reason not to be too ambitious at Newcastle), but it would come at an almighty price...
