AS fans of Rangers try to make sense of the course of action Craig Whyte has embarked upon, one that has led to one of the darkest hours in the club's history, they could do worse than adopt the catchphrase made famous by Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr in the movie Jerry Maguire.

Cruise attended the side's Champions League tie in Seville in December 2009, not long after the financial meltdown began to emerge and the extent of Lloyds Banking Group's control on their affairs was leaked.

However, the fans could have done with the star leaping from the crowd assembled on Edmiston Drive on Monday as Whyte delivered the statement that would change Rangers forever.

"Show me the money" was the demand in Jerry Maguire and it could easily apply not to the dealings between a fictional American footballer and his agent but to the sorry mess Rangers have become.

They are wondering what the future will hold and what the identity of Rangers will be. But the support – and minority shareholders – must stay focused on gathering the information they deserve to be furnished with.

Whether that comes from Whyte remains to be seen, and it may even be an investigation from an outside body – remember former chairman Alastair Johnston has called for the Insolvency Agency to investigate – might be required.

Audited accounts and an AGM have yet to materialise. But one issue remains and it must be shoved into the spotlight by every supporter.

Just where is the money? How can Rangers have run out of cash by the second week of February, thus prompting Whyte to make the moves he did on Monday.

Untangling the finances is not easy. It is simpler to put forward some claims made public by Whyte, and offset this against the day-to-day running since he took over in May last year.

The Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation into the use of Employment Benefit Trusts (EBTs) must be set aside.

That debt has yet to crystallise, and cannot be used as an excuse for administration.

By all accounts, HMRC officials were on their way to serve papers to the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Monday, but Whyte beat them to it.

Speculation had been mounting this course of action from the taxman was linked to other unpaid bills and yesterday it was confirmed HMRC is investigating non-payment of £9 million in PAYE and VAT since Whyte took over in May 2011. Whyte disputes around 50% of this figure.

But this is nothing to do with the EBT case which has still to see its final findings made public. It could be nothing, it could be £75m ... according to Whyte.

In an interview 10 days ago, Whyte said he had deposited the sum of £33m in a bank account in November 2010; these funds were for his proposed takeover. This would be the pot of cash to pay off debt to Lloyds, which when the deal went through was £18m, and also to inject working capital of £5m, allocate £5m for new players, £1.7m for stadium improvements and £2.8m to pay a historic tax bill to HMRC over a discounted options scheme.

On top of that, we know for sure he has raised £24.4m on future season ticket revenue through Ticketus, an off-shoot company of the London finance company Octopus. Whyte denies any allegation this money was used to pay off the bank debt.

We also know Rangers' annual turnover in a season without any significant revenue from European football, as this financial year will be, is £35m.

That is made up of season ticket money (approximately £15m), cash from their share of the TV deal (about £2.5m), a royalties payment from JJB Sports under their 10-year merchandising agreement in 2006 (£3m), plus other income from shirt sponsorship with Tennent's, match-day sales at Ibrox outwith season ticket revenue and revenue such as publications and corporate sponsorship.

So how have Rangers run out of cash? The club's transfer dealings over the two windows Whyte has been owner have seen net profit, especially when the sale of Nikica Jelavic to Everton for £5.5m in January and the shedding of around eight players from the wage bill is taken into account. Contract extensions to star players Allan McGregor, Steven Davis and Steven Whittaker could be more or less negated by various departures.

The stadium concourses and screens have been fixed, and a lick of paint has been sanctioned, but it is hardly been a complete makeover. And Whyte has never explained why a deal was struck, and on what terms, with Close Leasing, registered with Companies House, believed to centre on future catering income.

So what has happened? According to Whyte it costs £3.75m per month to run the club; so in the nine months since takeover those costs have been £33.75m.

If his £33m was used to fund everything he says it has, that still leaves the £24.4m Ticketus money and nine months of the £35m annual turnover, which is just over £26m.

So Rangers should have had cash at their disposal in the past nine months amounting to just over £50m, and you can throw the Jelavic money from Everton two weeks ago on top of that. Running costs over nine months have been £33.75m, which leaves around £20m in cash that does not appear to have been spent.

Jerry Maguire? Getting to the bottom of this might be Mission Impossible, but fans must not be swayed from searching for answers.