DEEP down, I don't think Ally McCoist can have much time for Craig Whyte.

I certainly know how I felt about the guys like Calum Melville and Bob Brannan after what they did to me at Dundee. It must be galling for Ally to have to deal with a guy who has more question marks placed against himself with every passing day. But given where Rangers are now, I fully understand why McCoist he has to keep firing out the positive messages.

He is doing it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, as a Rangers man he will do anything he can for the club, whether it is during the best of times or the worst of times. Secondly he also wants to keep his career on track.

But McCoist's hardest day is yet to come. He may already have been asked for his thoughts on which members of his squad are expendable, and before this week is out he will most likely have to watch people who have been at the club for the best part of 20 to 30 years, people who have seen generations of players coming through at Ibrox and Murray Park, being told that they are out. I have won every domestic medal in the game, had so many highs and so many lows, but the day the jobs were axed at Dundee was my worst in football.

The administrators will look at everything and everyone – and that includes McCoist, incidentally. There is a possibility that he, Kenny McDowall and Ian Durrant could lose their jobs, but I think the manager will keep his quite simply because there would be an outcry if he didn't. Some people might ask how it could get any worse for Whyte. But I think in the eyes of some Rangers' fans, it definitely would if they got rid of McCoist.

But whether it is the coaching staff, director of football Gordon Smith, director of operations Ali Russell, the catering staff or the guy who does the DIY around Murray Park, no-one will be safe. It is such a big organisation that some jobs are certain to go.

On the playing side, everyone knows Allan McGregor and Steven Davis are the biggest assets and the highest earners, but Dundee kept players who were on high wages and weren't particularly saleable assets. Administration these days isn't the same as it was at clubs such as Motherwell and Livingston. None of the first team at Dundee left, and that just told me everything I needed to know.

With the gap between Rangers and Celtic now into double figures, the league race is finished, but any player who can command a fee – McGregor, Davis, Steven Naismith, Maurice Edu, Kyle Lafferty, Steven Whittaker and Lee Wallace are the obvious ones – is likely to be kept on. However, fringe players such as Matt McKay are almost certain to leave, and there are always a couple of other surprise big names who will depart.

I say the administrators will make the decision, but I doubt they are fully independent. Paul Clark and David Whitehouse, of Duff and Phelps, will have the final say, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will liaise with Craig Whyte over any decisions. At Dundee, a lot of the decisions that were made followed recommendations to the then chief executive Harry MacLean from myself and Gordon Chisolm.

A few weeks ago in this column, I said that even if you forget about the big tax bill, Whyte wasn't running the club the right way, but never did I imagine he had failed to pay £9 million in tax and PAYE since taking over in May. At Dundee, the taxman had to sit back because they only had 22% of the creditors' vote. In Rangers' case, the taxman has so much more say because the figure is much higher and HMRC could block any company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to take the club out of administration.

Whether it is from the courts, the players' union or the SFA, Whyte is coming under increasing pressure and I welcome the fact the latter are to launch a proper inquiry into his handling of the club and whether it has breached any of their rules. But I am sceptical about how much information will be handed over and whether it will be successful.

I think what may happen is that the administrators might get an agreement on a CVA from everyone apart from the Inland Revenue, who might then step in and liquidate the club. Some people might say that is what Whyte wanted all along. Of course the club could come back as Rangers 2012 or Rangers United and are always going to be there, but for me things would truly never be the same.