In a sick sort of way, I am sure Rangers' demise this season will be great news for the Third Division.

They will see attendance figures that they could only have dreamed of and, by all accounts, there will be Third Division players who will get the chance to play in front of the TV cameras every week.

At East Fife on Friday morning, there was a huge reaction when we nabbed a tie with Rangers in the first round of the League Cup. It will be a massive financial boost for the club and I am sure it will get a massive crowd at Ibrox because there will be plenty of Rangers fans who want to unite and show they are all in it together.

And if that is the reaction to a cup tie, then you have to think that for many teams in the Third Division this will be a time to rub their hands and contemplate just what a couple of home games against Rangers will do for them this season.

But I still wonder about the effect on the Scottish game as a whole. It is not realistic to envisage that appeal stretching all the way over three years – at least – as Rangers try to work their way through the leagues and back to the top level.

I think that there will be something of a circus wherever Rangers go this season, but I do wonder about the long-term implications of this. What happens when the novelty factor wears off?

Next Sunday's game in the Ramsdens Cup against Brechin City will be a sight to behold I'm sure, but 12 months down the line will there be the same sort of interest? What will be the selling point next season?

At least someone will benefit from this sorry mess, and that is the clubs in the Third Division who will see a huge swell in their finances because their grounds will be packed out whenever Rangers come calling. I also suspect there will be a hardcore of Rangers supporters who will continue to go to just about every away game, including the ones on a wet Wednesday November night in Elgin or Peterhead.

I do, though, wonder what crowds there will be at Ibrox. There will be an element of defiance at first from Rangers fans, but I strongly suspect those crowds will tail away. I reckon if there is a steady 20,000 at home games throughout the campaign, then Rangers will be doing well.

The Rangers squad as it stands is strong enough to cope with the demands of the Third Division and it looks as though they will now spend this week scrambling around to add to that. It'll be a crazy week I'm sure as Ally McCoist attempts to get in as many bodies as he can.

There might be the odd game that they don't play well in and drop points, and I do still think that getting anything from Rangers will feel like taking a significant scalp for any of the Third Division sides.

It is going to be a surreal season, that's for sure.

I have to say I am delighted for guys like big Rab Douglas and Barry Smith at Dundee who will get the chance to be involved in the SPL again. But if I hear the words "sporting integrity" again this summer, I think I may swing for someone.

We all heard this phrase time and time again when the possibility of keeping Rangers in the top flight arose and it was the argument chairmen up and down the country used to justify their voting decisions.

Yet, amidst the debate about sporting integrity, you have Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster putting Dundee back into the top flight. Can someone please explain to me how that makes sense?

I have always advocated a return to the top flight for Dundee because I think they can enhance the SPL. But they should have got there under the correct circumstances, be that a restructuring of the league or by promotion – not like this.

Dundee are a club who have been in administration twice in the last nine years and yet they are allowed to go back into the SPL? Does that have anything to do with the fact that having Dundee in the league will mean there are four Dundee derbies that television companies will be interested in this season?

So, amid all the posturing about "sporting integrity", there was a scurry to promote a team who have put people out of work because of their irregular financial affairs, because those at the top can see a chance to salvage a bit of cash.