IF I had a pound for every time somebody had snorted derisorily and declared “fan ownership will never work at Rangers” in the last few years I would have enough money to buy the major shareholding in the Ibrox club which Dave King currently holds.

There has been considerable scepticism about just what can be achieved at such a vast club with a community interest company from the moment the possibility of setting one up was first discussed publicly.

Indeed, I can recall speaking to a few of the 100 or so supporters who attended an open meeting in The Louden Tavern back in 2014 and they were all, to a man, highly doubtful about just how effective such a scheme could be.

How wrong they have been. The initial objective, which seemed ambitious to many at the time, was to acquire five per cent of the club. The shares Club 1872 acquired from MASH Holdings Ltd back in June took their stake to over 10. Only King now has more.

Not only can fan ownership work at Rangers it has to work. So many chancers, incompetents, carpet baggers, bullies, fly-by-nights and charlatans have occupied senior positions at Ibrox in the past and so much damage has been wrought by them that it is imperative, not just desirable, that supporters have a significant say in the running of their club.

George Taylor, the managing director at Morgan Stanley Asia who has provided many of the soft loans which have offset the annual losses Rangers have made as they have striven to recover from the most heinous corporate vandalism, recognised as much after he invested back in 2015. “My hope is that direct fan ownership will become the biggest individual owner,” he stated.

The Rangers Supporters Trust amalgamating with Rangers First, who had previously operated separate share schemes, and forming Club 1872 last summer was a hugely important development. Pooling their resources gave them a far greater influence, uniting as one increased their power substantially.

Their long-term goal is to accumulate a 25 per cent stake plus one share. Who would, given how far they have come in such a short period of time, bet against them achieving that heady objective in the future? They now have thousands of members and bank hundreds of thousands of pounds from their contributions every year. The sway they hold is only likely to grow further.

It is highly unfortunate, then, that many of the recent public pronouncements of the new organisation have left them open to ridicule and looking anything but the well-intentioned outfit they undoubtedly are.

“Club 1872 would like to commend the restraint of the Rangers support following a clear attempt by Hibernian manager Neil Lennon to incite trouble at Ibrox,” their latest missive read last week.

Pardon? A clear attempt to incite trouble? Oh puh-lease.

Chastising an opposition manager for celebrating a goal after a painful defeat smacked distinctly of sour grapes. Such drivel was unbefitting of a body which is now a major player in a business with a multi-million pound turnover thanks to a huge amount of hard work by many good people.

Demented outbursts are perfectly fine if you are a deranged internet bampot posting on the dothebouncy.com messageboard. But for the second largest shareholder in Rangers? They must do far better.

The mission statement of the new group when it was formed last year was “to defend and protect the reputation, history, assets and existence of Rangers Football Club”. How was castigating Lennon doing that?

There are doubtless a large number of Rangers supporters who will have applauded the pop at the former Celtic player in the wake of an incendiary fixture that was marred by some inexplicable refereeing decisions.

However, the vast majority of Rangers fans simply desire to see their club being run on a sustainable basis by responsible individuals who have the maturity to serve as custodians of their club.

Club 1872 should concentrate their efforts on rebuilding the Ibrox club, where much work remains to be done, and leave infantile abuse to the online cranks.