An all too familiar tale of woe for the suffering Rangers fans

Accusations, counter accusations and threats of legal action. Recent events will be all too familiar for fans of Rangers.

The club has been delisted from the Stock Exchange, the result of failing to appoint a nominated advisor or nomad by the deadline.

Interim chairman Paul Murray has blamed the shortcomings of the previous regime for the development. And that, in turn, has drawn a stern response from former director Sandy Easdale, who claims shareholders have been misled by the new regime.

Furthermore he has suggested legal action could be taken against individuals.

It could indeed be that the courts will be required to sort things out. It is hard to see how things can be resolved otherwise. You hear some people argue the SFA should step in. But from my time as the Association’s Chief Executive, I can tell you that is not the case.

This is a business matter and, in these instances, the SFA must leave clubs to sort themselves out. But if it does go to the lawyers, it will be a pity.

This was supposed to be a new start for Rangers. The new regime, headed by Dave King, has the credentials that the supporters wanted. They are all Rangers men. And action has been taken on the management front, with Kenny McDowell leaving the club and Stuart McCall plus Kenny Black being brought in to try to secure promotion to the Premiership.

Already we are seeing the on-field benefits. Rangers are unbeaten in four and have won their last two games, beating Hibs away and Cowdenbeath at home. This afternoon I expect them to make it three out of three with victory over Hearts at Ibrox.

I know the bookmakers will view it differently. Hearts have just been crowned champions, an honour achieved in part thanks to victories over Rangers at both Ibrox and Tynecastle. This one, though, is different.

This time the Edinburgh club already has the title in the bag and they have had their homecoming celebration, which came after last week’s win over Queen of the South. Their minds will be drifting to their summer holidays and to the Premiership campaign to come next season.

That won’t be the case with Rangers. They desperately need to win to keep up the push to finish as runners-up to Hearts.

For doing so means they will only have to win one play-off in order to reach the clash against the team which finishes second bottom of the Premiership. With the momentum of a second-top finish, I would expect them to do that and set themselves up with one tie to claim a place in the top flight next year.

And after all the ups and downs of this season, that is a prize worth fighting for.