The occasion began with an entrance and ended with a banner.
In between, Rangers comfortably won another league match, and increasingly the only intrigue around their title campaign is how long they can retain their 100% record. Yet that seems a secondary question when so much of the pressing business around Ibrox relates to the boardroom and the eventual governance of the club.
Before kick-off, most eyes at Bayview were focused on the directors box to watch Dave King take his seat, and to see who was alongside him. The situation is so charged at Rangers right now that even seating plans can be revealing. King sat between his mother and his sister, while Sandy Easdale, the Rangers Football Club director, James Easdale, the Rangers International football club non-executive director, and Brian Stockbridge, the finance director, sat together.
King has held a series of meetings since his return to Scotland on Friday, with more planned. His visit is intended to try to bring stability to the club at a time when some shareholders want four new directors appointed, and others want the Easdales to remain in control. It is the job of the nominated advisor (nomad), which manages RIFC plc's listing on the Alternative Investment Market, to broker a solution, but it is a measure of the complexity of the situation that King has intervened.
Before the final whistle, two members of the Sons of Struth protest group held up a banner to the directors box calling for the delayed annual meeting of shareholders to be held as soon as possible. One fan has offered to pay for the event, and arrange for it to be hosted somewhere other than Ibrox because of the team's busy upcoming schedule, but even that has not yet been sorted.
It is a complex and politically nuanced set of circumstances for King to deal with, but he at least saw Rangers perform with convincing energy and ambition for 45 minutes. The first half was muted, with neither side able to make much headway. This was satisfying for East Fife, since they set out to contain Rangers and by the interval were happy with their work. A lapse would always be critical, though, and when it came it provided the impetus for Rangers to take full command of the game.
Lee Wallace's cross was turned into his own net by Gary Thom, although had the defender not stuck out his leg to deflect the ball then Jon Daly would have been on hand anyway. Daly then duly scored three times, twice with his head following crosses from Arnold Peralta, then a firm strike after Lewis Macleod had met Richard Foster's delivery with a first-time ball back across the area.
"We killed ourselves at the start of the second half," admitted Stephen Hughes, the former Rangers midfielder who this month joined East Fife on a short-term contract while he seeks a return to full-time football. "We had frustrated them and kept it tight, so it was disappointing to concede the goals in the manner that we did. They're a good team, they're flying just now, but we didn't defend at our best and gave them goals. They're difficult to play against and have threats in different areas of the pitch."
With 10 consecutive league wins, Ally McCoist has essentially kept faith with the same starting XI, although Nicky Clark began this game ahead of Andy Little. The bench contains a number of players who would expect to be first-choice members of the side, but that strength in depth, and competition for places, is something McCoist felt was critically lacking last season.
The intention is to rebuild the squad in time for any return to the top flight, so the winning habit has to be ingrained. So, too, does the sense of ruthlessness that the fans expect of their team. Living up to the demands of playing for an Old Firm side is about mentality and attitude as much as ability.
"The gaffer keeps drumming it into us that we need to keep doing what we are doing," said Kyle Hutton, the Rangers midfielder. "If we do that, then hopefully we can keep getting wins, but we need to keep motivating ourselves. We need to treat each game like that and I am sure we can go through the league unbeaten hopefully, but I'm not saying we will."
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