THE fact that Dave King and his associates took over at Rangers after a lengthy and turbulent period of off-field unrest and financial uncertainty has complicated their efforts to restore the Ibrox club to its former place at the forefront of Scottish football no end.

But coming in following a time when individuals with dubious motives and questionable allegiances occupied the board room has also been to their distinct advantage during the past two years.

Supporters who can remember when Mike Ashley effectively held control and treated the Glasgow institution as little more than an outlet in his nationwide chain of Sports Direct stores have understandably been favourably disposed to the South Africa-based businessman and his allies.

It is obviously preferable for fans to have men like King, George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor who have a definite affinity to and affection for the club bankrolling them than people who are involved simply for their own monetary gain or to raise their profile.

So, the disaffection with King’s stewardship which exists, and which has grown significantly this season as Rangers have struggled in the top flight, in certain quarters is always tempered by the painful memory of what went before.

The fact that the £30 million which he publicly pledged to invest has not been forthcoming is frustrating for many. The infrequency of his visits to Govan has also not gone down well. When it emerged he had not so much as spoken to Pedro Caixinha before his appointment as manager this month it really raised eyebrows.

So, too, have the revelations by the Rangers chairman and major shareholder this week that he didn’t particularly want to invest in his boyhood heroes, hasn’t enjoyed his involvement and would happily stand aside in future if somebody else fancied taking it on. His remarks hardly suggested that his heart is in it.

But it was another announcement from Ibrox this week which was perhaps of more relevance to the future of Rangers.

The interim results were released on Thursday and highlighted that revenue in the six months to December 31, 2016 increased by £5.3 million to £16.3 million. Furthermore, a pre-tax loss of £278,000 was shown in the unaudited accounts. That is an improvement on the £333,000 deficit for the corresponding period the previous year.

The figures would, you suspect, have been better had the club not had to part company with Joey Barton midway through the campaign after his very public fallout with former manager Mark Warburton in the aftermath of the 5-1 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead in September. That was a costly parting of the ways.

However, no further money will be required to see the club to the end of the season due to their progression to the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Rangers are nowhere near being able to match the financial might of Celtic off the park or, despite their 1-1 draw with their city rivals at Parkhead earlier this month, challenge them on it. They may well make another loss in the current financial year. They will still require the soft loans from King, Letham, Park and Taylor to remain afloat going forward. But it is clear that progress is, slowly but surely, being made.

Indeed, the optimism that King expressed in his latest interview that the terms of the commercial deal with Sports Direct could be renegotiated and supporters could buy replica kit in pre-season was startling.

The club has stated that that prohibitive agreement is “the only significant issue that still adversely affects the trading performance”. If, and it is a big if, that stand-off can be settled favourably then the future will, after years of struggle and uncertainty, start to look far brighter for the Ladbrokes Premiership club.

Certainly, the Johannesburg-based businessman had no qualms about stressing that fresh funds will be made available to Caixinha this summer to help him launch a challenge for the Scottish title and reach the Europa League group stages in the future.

King’s commitment, both financial and emotional, to Rangers has been questioned. His latest comments have not gone down well with some and have been ridiculed by their rivals. But most fans recall how the Scot stepped up in their hour of need and remain indebted to him for that.

They applauded Craig Whyte down Edmiston Drive when he bought out Sir David Murray and then revelled in the madcap antics of Charles Green after that. They will be wary of whoever holds sway as a result of how that pair's spells at the top of the marble staircase panned out and are right to be given all that they went through.

But Dave King, despite being an absentee figurehead, remains their best hope.