Rangers takeover: Bill Ng’s ‘mission’ to see Euro glory back at Ibrox

AFTER weeks of speculation about the identity of those involved in the long-rumoured bid for Rangers from the Far East, Bill Ng, a director at private equity firm Financial Frontiers, has emerged in public to insist he wants to sit down with Ibrox manager Ally McCoist at the earliest opportunity.

Ng has also expressed the hope that he can help Rangers land another European triumph, to emulate the team he watched from afar lift the European Cup Winners’ Cup with victory over Dynamo Moscow 40 years ago.

The foreign-based parties vying for preferred bidder status at Rangers have continued to make themselves known as the club’s administrators scrutinise the details of each offer. Duff and Phelps hope to be able to accept one of these offers in principle as early as tomorrow, after which Ng, assuming he is successful, intends to meet McCoist for detailed talks.

On the face of it, the details slowly emerging of the Singapore-based bid could look promising as far as Rangers fans are concerned, even if the preferred option of the majority is still likely to be the Paul Murray-fronted Blue Knights bid, which has the backing of three major fans’ groups.

Ng, though, has claimed to be a Rangers supporter since he watched on television as the club won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in Barcelona in 1972. “We will install a board of directors made up of Scottish businessmen who support the club,” Ng has pledged. “My mission will be accomplished when another young boy watches Rangers lift a European trophy.”

The 52 year-old has also reportedly flown to Malaysia for talks with the Berjaya Group, the owners of Cardiff City, for help and advice at running a European club.

Ng has also expressed the hope that he can meet McCoist in the coming days in the event of the administrators selecting his five-man consortium’s bid. “I’m already thinking about the day I can sit down with Ally McCoist and the staff to discuss new signings,” he said.

Ng has a personal wealth that has been valued at £40 million and claims to have been planning his £20 million bid for Rangers since December, two months before the club were placed in administration by owner Craig Whyte. Ng is heavily involved in football already in Singapore, where he is chairman of Hougang United. The club were formed as recently as 2006 to play in the S-League.

However, not helping allay the fears of suspicious Rangers fans has been Ng’s insistence on anonymity until very recently.

“My mentors taught me how to shut up, don’t show off and never blow hot air,” he has now explained.

“I’m from the old school of thinking where you don’t conduct your business in public.”

Like Murray and Bill Miller, the Tennessee businessman behind the American bid, Ng has sought to quash fears that he intends to place the club in liquidation in an attempt to avoid the payment of crippling debts to creditors.

“We want to show that we’re not just the type of owners who go in with no understanding and are in it just for the money,” Ng said.

Meanwhile, discussions with major creditors and interested parties alike are said to have continued over the holiday weekend, despite the fact there was no formal briefing from the administrators on Saturday, as has happened most weeks.

It is understood that the administrators have been assured to note that the bidders, specifically those involved with the American and Singapore-led consortiums, have elected to “step out into the light”, as one source described it last night.