The Rangers story is likely to now enter a short but timely period of relative calm.

Last week was always going to be a traumatic point in the club's 140-year history, with the creditors' meeting deciding if Rangers would exit administration through a Company Voluntary Arrangement, or if the club would need to continue as a newco. As it turned out, that nine-minute meeting on Thursday morning was the least dramatic of developments.

Duff and Phelps, the administrators whose decisions and attitude have created so much of the turbulence of the past five months, had already announced that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs would vote against a CVA proposal that was so weakly constructed that it never had any chance of succeeding. The Revenue also decided that appointing their own liquidators – BDO – would generate a greater return for the taxpayer because they would forensically investigate the Craig Whyte reign, the last days of Sir David Murray's ownership and the work of Duff and Phelps.

This prompted a slew of emotive headlines, but the sudden emergence of Walter Smith on Thursday as the head of a consortium wanting to take control of the club caused a surge in the spirits of the Ibrox support.

Smith remains their most revered figure. Nothing was coincidental, including the Daily Record story on Thursday morning about Ally McCoist having discovered the plot to oust him by Charles Green, the head of the Sevco consortium who had a binding £5.5 million deal lined up to buy the business and assets of the club following the CVA vote.

McCoist had confronted Green, having been told of the would-be owner's plans by Dave King, the former Rangers director, and their relationship is now beyond repair. McCoist will not walk out on the club, but instead an uneasy truce has been struck; it is not the time for public recriminations or animosity. The long-term future of The Rangers Football Club is still to be decided, and any talks should be held quietly and in measured tones away from the glare of publicity.

"It is imperative that the two sides get round a table as quickly as possible and sort something out," said a spokesman for the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund. "The last thing this club needs is another long, drawn out procedure. We strongly suggest the two factions get together as soon as possible and work out an answer that is in the best interest of Rangers Football Club and its fans."

The consortium headed by Smith is backed by Jim McColl, one of Scotland's richest men and head of the worldwide Clyde Blowers engineering group, and Douglas Park, the transport tycoon. Both men had lost out to Green's initial £8.5m bid – Park as one of the Blue Knights, McColl as a supporter of his own consortium – but had grown increasingly frustrated when confronted by the reality of Green's offer: he did not have the money. As Green desperately sought funding from Scottish businessmen, McColl and Park drew up their own plan, and Smith agreed to head their group, having already been prepared to back McColl's previous consortium.

Tabling a £6m offer last Thursday morning to Green, Duff and Phelps and BDO was a last-ditch attempt to unseat Green. It was the only time they could have acted after he signed his exclusivity agreement in May, because the contract with Duff and Phelps was legally binding. That £6m offer will now be re-submitted to Green's backers, Zeus Capital. Green, whose consortium was still short of £1.8m even as recently as last Monday, managed to push his purchase over the line, but there is no doubt about what happens next. The Rangers Football Club is still likely to be sold. Buying the business and assets at a low price, then flipping them to another buyer has always been Green's main plan. His public statements, and those of Malcolm Murray, the chairman, are setting out their stance as new owners. The announcement that Ian Hart, one of the Blue Knights, was an investor in Sevco brought an immediate denial from Hart, who in fact backs Park.

Green's consortium barely raised the money required, and have no intention of funding the business. In seeking a quick return, negotiations would centre on the value of that profit. They are claiming to have spent £10m in all, including fees and success clauses, and are demanding double that, but there is little chance of Rangers being sold for £20m, which is half the likely market cap value of a fully healthy and restored Ibrox club. There is major rebuilding work to be done.

The reality would be a figure closer to £10m, perhaps with a remaining shareholding so that Green's consortium gains further returns when the club is launched on the stock market in 12 to 24 months. The only uncertainty would be the identity of the buyer, but Smith's consortium hold several aces. Firstly, McCoist, who will support his mentor and friend; secondly, the fans, who will do whatever the former manager tells them, including withholding their season ticket money; and thirdly, the players.

If Green was to stay at Ibrox, McCoist would not, and the Yorkshireman would need to sack him. If Green was to stay at Ibrox, season tickets would not sell in any significant numbers, while sponsors have already begun to withdraw financial support. And if Green was to stay at Ibrox, many of the club's players would refuse to allow their registrations to be transferred to the newco, because they are irked by his stance towards them. Some players could, if required, make their conviction public.

Green's consortium, advised by Zeus Capital, a Manchester investment bank through which his financial backers – Mike McDonald, the former Sheffield United chairman, and Rafat Rizvi, a British citizen who was found guilty of corruption and money-laundering charges in Indonesia in late 2010 – are providing their funding, need to sell quickly because there is no financial gain from putting more money in, even if they could source it.

They will also want to sell before the outcome of the SPL vote on transferring Rangers' newco share since either outcome – acceptance, but with likely sanctions, or rejection and having to go to the Third Division – will reduce the price they can expect to receive.

Other bidders remain around the edges. Bill Ng's Singapore consortium are watching closely, while a wealthy London investor who had been part of Green's consortium before pulling out after doing due diligence on his fellow investors was interested in going it alone. He is less keen now on trying to compete with the emotional backing for Smith's consortium, particular since he has already fielded calls from journalists and has little time for the hassle of that publicity.

Any number of high-profile individuals could have called for fans to boycott season tickets, or to make their feelings known to Green, since last Thursday, but the approach has been to keep the powder dry. If they take control, Smith will have the choice of becoming chairman, while McColl will be a non-executive director.

Other Rangers-supporting businessmen will help with immediate working capital until season ticket sales take place, then Smith will oversee the rebuilding of the club, with McColl and Park assisting in the appointment of a new corporate management team. McCoist would remain as manager, and many of the players would agree to their registrations being transferred to the newco, at least if it remains in the SPL.

The saga is not over for Rangers, and there is as yet be no clear path towards the next stage in the club's future, but Rangers fans can at least hope that the likely destination is a palatable one.