'Celtic hold a royal flush, Rangers a pair of twos'

As a lifelong Rangers supporter, John Gilligan’s earthy residence astatine Ibrox is his spot successful nan guidelines watching his squad play aliases operating softly down nan scenes from wherever he has contributed clip and money to nan nine complete galore years.

Facing nan media is not really his bag, but arsenic interim president successful nan midst of what his one-time pal Dave King calls a crisis, he felt it was thing he needed to do. And he did it connected Monday.

It was an honour to beryllium appointed to nan role, he said. Nobody could uncertainty his sincerity for a second, but pinch that privilege comes unit and location is nary extremity of that astatine Ibrox correct now.

No main executive, a stop-gap chairman, a erstwhile president scorned and creating mischief successful nan media, a playing squad pinch sizeable holes successful it and, astatine nan aforesaid time, Celtic afloat of money and momentum and apparently disappearing complete nan horizon.

When asked astir nan spread betwixt Rangers and Celtic, Gilligan said these things happen. "Sometimes we are ahead, sometimes Celtic are ahead."

The reality is that Celtic person won 12 of nan past 13 Premierships and are overwhelming favourites to make it 13 retired of 14.

Previous president John Bennett is simply a cautionary communicative astir nan accent of life astatine Rangers astatine nan moment. A man who spent astir of his master profession successful nan unforgiving world of high-finance, he was a elder fig successful companies holding finance portfolios successful nan billions of pounds.

Bennett thrived successful plus guidance but not overmuch of what he learned location readied him for nan brutality of being nan guardian of Rangers successful a clip of struggle.

Even earlier it was announced he was opinionated down for wellness reasons, he said astir nan complexity of life successful football. It was challenging and all-consuming, particularly erstwhile things were going incorrect and nan support was successful uproar.

And now Gilligan, different proud Rangers man and different Rangers investor, has put his caput supra nan parapet. Well, personification had to.

What was nan constituent of his property conference? There was nary update connected nan personality of a caller main executive, location was nary clarity connected who mightiness beryllium taking complete from him arsenic president and location was thing of immoderate constituent astir caller financial finance coming into nan club.

In nan main, it appeared to beryllium a conveyance for him to show King, his one-time ally, to extremity sniping from nan sidelines astir nan nine being successful situation and lacking direction. He deed nan target many times connected that 1 issue.

King, erstwhile president and still nan club's awesome shareholder, has been nan main characteristic successful a footballing pantomime this past week - not for nan first time.

In telling him to fastener it, Gilligan revealed King has not picked up nan telephone to immoderate existent Rangers head to aerial his views. He called connected him to "behave for illustration a due shareholder" and extremity agitating.

King has said publically that £50m – a somewhat random fig - of caller finance is required astatine nan club. King has besides said that he, himself, would not beryllium investing. Lest anybody forget, Gilligan reminded us.

Gilligan said location is nary appetite among committee members for King's return arsenic president - aliases arsenic thing else, it seems. It was a take-down that will, nary doubt, tie a withering consequence from King successful a newspaper aliases connected a power position of his prime immoderate clip now.

Of course, arsenic awesome shareholder, King is entitled to definitive his views connected really nan nine - and his finance - is being managed. This peculiar show is not complete yet, you sense.

King is right, to an extent. Rangers are successful an existential crisis. Celtic's finances are connected different satellite compared to Rangers. They person spent much money successful transportation fees this twelvemonth than successful immoderate different twelvemonth successful their history and they are still showing profit.

They person £77m successful nan slope pinch moreover much Champions League loot to add. They person players of important worth successful Scottish shot terms. If nan Old Firm was a poker game, Celtic are holding a royal flush and Rangers a brace of twos.

How tin Rangers unrecorded pinch Celtic's grounds fiscal position? Some supportive board throwing successful £5m present aliases there, aliases issuing soft loans, isn't going to trim it. Player trading? They are hardly astatine nan foothills of that project. Champions League qualification? It is only going to get harder.

English shot - Premiership, Championship and League One - is now populated heavy by overseas owners, galore of them American.

Here is nan mobility for Rangers - if a reputable and genuinely heavy-hitting individual aliases institution made a bid to bargain a mostly of nan nine for game-changing amounts of money, would nan astir important shareholders - King, Douglas Park, George Taylor, Stuart Gibson and Julian Wolhardt - facilitate nan attack and waste up?

Gilligan said connected Monday that Rangers would ne'er spell backmost to nan days of having 1 personification successful command, a la Craig Whyte, aliases indeed, David Murray, nan erstwhile proprietor who sold to Whyte.

The representation of nan chronic Mike Ashley era has not faded either. Charles Green, Imran Ahmad, Derek Llambias, Barry Leach, David Somers - each these and much still person nan capacity to make immoderate connected nan existent committee break retired successful a acold sweat.

"We get approaches from each complete nan world from various sources," said Gilligan of would-be investors.

"But it has to beryllium nan correct group and nan correct conditions and for nan correct magnitude of shares. We don't want 1 personification owning nan club."

Rangers’ early is, successful part, being wished by their past and their understandable fearfulness of having different ownership cataclysm connected their hands.

At nan aforesaid time, without an influx of awesome finance from nan extracurricular - successful different words, gyration pinch nan alteration of ownership that would travel pinch it - it is difficult to spot really this financial image changes dramatically astatine Ibrox immoderate clip soon.

"There is simply a scheme and I americium present to bring stableness to nan enforcement of that plan," said Gilligan, who later added: "We'll beryllium fine…We’re successful a beardown place."

For each of Gilligan's dedication to duty, location continues to beryllium much questions than answers astatine Rangers.