Gordon McKie spent a week poring over the books at Ibrox when the Blue Knights and Brian Kennedy believed their bid for the club might be successful.
Bill Miller had been appointed preferred bidder, only to later pull out after realising that his business plan was not in line with the reality of the figures. Yet McKie saw a club that, while at a low point in its history, could be quickly revived.
He did the same at the Scottish Rugby Union, where he turned a loss-making business into a vibrant organisation. There were tensions at the end of his six-years at Murrayfield, and he is an uncompromising figure, but McKie left the SRU in a stronger, more profitable state.
Kennedy, the owner of Sale Sharks and a former SRU director, wanted McKie to carry out a similar job at Ibrox. As a Rangers fan, the opportunity appealed to McKie, but so too did the challenge of turning round an ailing club that he knew could be resurrected.
"Brian asked me to give him some guidance when Rangers went into administration," McKie says. "So I had access to the data room through him. When Brian thought he had the possibility of leading the charge again, I decided to take some time off to assist in the due diligence process. Brian did say he would love me to join him, were he to get it. It was a position that, as a supporter, I would have been very proud to consider.
"I studied the commercial contracts, the supplier contracts, budgets, player contracts. The business has been losing money for a number of years on a fairly regular basis, and my view was that if the turnover excluding Europe is circa £35m, then you have to set your stall out to not spend more than that. I felt that if it was managed right, with a good, proper board, then Rangers could very quickly be brought back to break-even. It may never make money, because a club like that is always going to want to strengthen the squad rather than pay a dividend. So when I hear about the profiteering aims of others, my view is that Rangers needs stability, it needs hands-on management."
McKie fears that the wrong decisions made by any new owners would still leave the club weak and vulnerable. He does not know anything about Charles Green and his consortium, but is adamant that Rangers need to implement strategies for development that focus on fundamental aspects of good governance of football clubs.
"You've got to make sure you're constantly investing in the future and that's done through a proper budgeting board process, which has to be put in place for the good of Rangers," he says. "If they just spend it all on players and do not invest in youth or targeting talent with scouting, and performance management, it's going to be a slow path to recovery. But it's nowhere near as bad as suggested when Miller decided not to proceed."
McKie was back in Scotland last month because he was taking a break from his role as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Football Association. He had been appointed last November by the Hong King government, and charged with reviving the fortunes of the national team and grassroots football. McKie found the committee men too set in their ways to accept reform.
Football is the most popular team sport in Hong Kong, but the national team's ranking was an all-time low of 168, they didn't have a manager, and the popularity of the game was measured by the number of fans of the Barclays Premier League.
"Everybody loves football out there and there's a lot of money around," says the 54-year-old chartered accountant. "But it just wasn't going to work. The first division clubs dominate the board, so there was a conflict with the guys who run the clubs. There were no games for the international team, no training camps, no coach, because they didn't care about the international team. I really enjoyed my time in Hong Kong, until I discovered that my recommendations were going to be blocked, so how can I improve it if they don't want to change it?"
McKie is now back living in Scotland with his wife and family. He left his HKFA role last week. On his first day back home he spent a few hours on the golf course with his son, but he has little appetite for a life of leisure. Kennedy has stepped away from Rangers, and is only watching Green's progress with interest. In the meantime, McKie would consider a return to the sports industry.
"I enjoy the balance between sport and business," he says. "I feel that I've got something to offer sport. I get bored easily and I'm keen to find something to do. I can't play golf every day."
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