The scene resembles that hardy perennial of Mission: Impossible.

 

As Lalo Schifrin's theme hammers along, someone starts cutting a series of coloured wires as a timer clock runs down.

This scenario is being replayed at Ibrox this week. The board at Rangers has to defuse a crisis. Again. This one has an explosion point when the money for the wages at the club has to be paid into the bank later this month.

Rangers have thus little time to cut all the wires, stop the clock and move on to a narrative where survival is not the first item on the agenda.

The departure of Robert Sarver, the US businessman, from any negotiations now helps crystallise the options facing the board. The arrival on the scene of the owner of the Phoenix Suns remains one of the most baffling developments in a story that thrives on them.

Basically, Sarver was trying to buy something from people who not only did not want to sell to him but had plans themselves, whether as an incumbent board or as a group seeking a takeover. It seemed an exotic play by Sarver, its chances of success akin to Barry Bannan playing in next year's NBA All Star game.

Sarver, who is chief executive officer of the Western Alliance Bancorporation, will have had his reasons, most probably to do with setting a marker for further down the line. He could yet come into play but it is difficult to see what anything short of ownership would offer him.

In the here and now, Rangers need a cash injection. The two most likely sources are Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, or the Three Bears consortium of George Letham, George Taylor and Douglas Park. Dave King, as he has been in every episode of this saga, is on the touchline. He could be asked for short-term funding but only after most other avenues are exhausted.

It is fair to say the incumbents and King did not exchange Christmas cards.

The Rangers board can therefore approach Ashley and risk the wrath of the Scottish Football Association and a substantial section of the club support. It also dices with rejection: does Ashley want more than his £3m back and a consolidation of his favourable merchandising deal? Who knows? Except, of course, for Derek Llambias, the chief executive, who can reasonably be expected to have had lines of communication open with the Sports Direct entrepreneur.

The Three Bears consortium is tempting to the incumbent board because of at least three reasons. One, it does not include Dave King, though the rival factions, shall we say, are sympathetic in having similar aims. Two, the consortium has the money. Three, its participation would resolve problems inside the club and dampen criticism from without.

But the wire-cutting needs a delicate hand. The board wants to defuse the problem but also to retain an element of power. This why the negotiations over the Three Bears' involvement have been conducted without the need to brief the media on the hour, every hour.

The sticking point is board representation. Ashley wants to retain his buddies, the Easdales want to stay and the Three Bears want two seats on the board.

This is not about ego, though it always plays a part when deals are being brokered. It is about power or, rather, the balance of it.

The present crisis can be solved with a cash injection. But Rangers have a series of time bombs neatly arrayed in the future. It is, for example, a matter of record that £8.3m is needed before the end of the season and there is the vexed question of how many season tickets will be sold, particularly if promotion is missed and if the Three Bears, for whatever reason, do walking away.

Increasingly, it seems sort of deal must be done with Letham, Taylor and Park with King joining in with extra investment. This will involve board changes and, almost certainly, an extraordinary general meeting.

This meeting would be the stage to unveil plans for a share issue. The fans would be asked to buy in to a Three Bears plan with King, almost certainly flexing his financial muscle, and the institutional investors maintaining a distance.

This eventuality gives Rangers the opportunity of a clean slate to confront the future. It would be the perfect ending for many but the plot has the potential for nasty twists. The talks could break down, Ashley could be obstructive, the contracts could be too onerous, the Three Bears could be found wanting in terms of will and depth of pocket.

The Ibrox theme music may be reaching a crescendo but there are still wires to be cut to ensure there are further episodes. This story has still some way to run. It retains the capacity to be explosive, too.