A Newco Will Still Be Rangers

QUE SERRA serra, as Miss Kappelhoff so-memorably sang; but, as yet we are no nearer knowing what will be with Rangers. That of course has not prevented furious debate on-line and in the newspapers. Since the arrival on the scene of Charlie Green and his mysterious backers, the debate has perhaps grown more-intense, here is someone who (apparently) seems intent on seeing the thing through.

This week there has been much debate as to the status of the new company which looks likely to follow the liquidation of the present Rangers. Liquidation will be the only option should Mr Green fail to get the CVA (Creditors Voluntary Agreement) which is his preferred option for getting the club out of administration.

The Celtic Family are, naturally, in the forefront of those claiming that any "Newco" - be it Rangers 2012, Govan Rangers or whatever will have no history and no rights to the impressive back catalogue of 54 Scottish titles, one European competition won and over 100 domestic trophies won.

Nice try guys, but, the bad news is - even if it comes down to liquidation and a Newco, Rangers will still be Rangers and still entitled to all those historical trophies.

In the event of liquidation, the affairs and assets of Rangers (let's call the club Rangers 1872, to differentiate between the old and new clubs -Rangers 2012) will be sold-off and the cash thus raised used to meet the debts of Rangers 1872.

So, the buyer will get: Ibrox Stadium, Murray Park, the blue strips, the history and the name. What the buyer will not get, but will have to apply for and acquire, is a licence to operate a football club within membership of the SFA and either the SPL or the SFL.

Now in an ideal world, any newco bringing to the table Ibrox, the blue strips, the history and the name, plus the support which these things bring in terms of the army of fans, would surely be waved straight into the SPL.

But we are not in an ideal world. We are in tribal, somewhat backward Scotland. The fans of the other clubs, and in particular The Celtic Family, want Rangers punished - for the as yet unproven "cheating" involved in the alleged double contracts and Employee Benefits Trusts used in recent years: for the alleged favourable penalty decisions and goals chalked-off by allegedly "bent" pro-Rangers referees: for the fact that over the past century Rangers have been simply too-successful.

Tribalism demands that, now, while Rangers are vulnerable and friendless - they be thrashed as never before.

If HMRC wins "the Big Tax Case", thereby proving Rangers cheated, then for certain - the club ought to be punished by the football authorities. Nothing less than expulsion from the SPL to the lowest level of the SFL will suffice.

I believe such a move might be the re-making of Rangers.

Let's be honest here. Scottish football cannot allow such a massive fan base to be eliminated from the game. If Rangers vanish, so too will a good proportion of their fan base. Some will certainly find other clubs, but many will find other things to do of a weekend.

Keeping Rangers in the SPL is the easy option for those other clubs happy to take the two bigger gates per season from hosting Rangers, rather than getting out there and marketing their club to such an extent that they attract extra fans over their other 17 home SPL games.

But, keeping a guilty-of-cheating Rangers in that league would be appeasement on a grand scale; cheats must not prosper and in that case, Division Three beckons. Who knows, it might do the Bears some good to spend three seasons visiting the likes of Cliftonhill, Stair Park, Central Park Cowdenbeath, Links Park or Somerset Park. I doubt if it would do much for their in-bred arrogance, but, I live in hope.

Whatever happens, oldco or newco, the Rangers entity playing next season will be a radically different animal from that inthe season just ended. I would presume the big-name players with some market value: McGregor, Davis, Lafferty, the Americans for instance, will already have instructed their agents: "I'm a star - get me out of here". Steven Naismith might fancy half a season to prove his fitness, before heading south. Certainly, if it does come down to playing in Division Three of the SFL, these guys will not be seen for blue stoor - they cannot afford to hang around in that league (mind you, it might be interesting to see if they could go through the season unbeaten, winning every league game at least 3-0).

The likes of big Kirk Broadfoot, Lee McCulloch and David Healy could probably be prevailed upon to hang around, they are after all "Rangers Men", to guide the kids through hard times. Actually, three seasons of progression through the SFL just might be the best long-term thing for Rangers, allowing their brightest young players to grow into professional football.

Indeed, I would wager that a relatively-young Rangers team, maturing over three seasons in the SFL would be more than capable of winning the SPL in season 2015-2016. Now that season would see an explosion in interest in the top flight in Scotland.