FIRST there was Claudio Reyna, the original Captain America.

Then came DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu, and this season Carlos Bocanegra and Alejandro Bedoya. Only five Americans have played in the Scottish top flight and all have ended up in the red, white and blue corner of Glasgow, a part of the world where they're also quite comfortable with the concept of "pledging allegiance to the flag".

The obvious first port of call, then, for any American considering investing in Scottish football would be at the club with the strongest links to the United States. Bill Miller is the man fronting an offer to make Rangers the latest British club to have American owners and should find out later this week whether administrators Duff & Phelps decide to offer him preferred bidder status ahead of counter proposals from the Blue Knights and a group from Singapore.

The American businessman, who spoke at length with Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager, on Friday evening, is chairman of Miller Industries, the largest manufacturer of towing and recovery equipment in the world. The name, though, didn't ring any bells with Bocanegra. "Bill Miller you said? I'll need to check him out on Google," said the Californian.

Miller is reportedly "not a big soccer fan", and the potential revenue streams at Scottish clubs are much shallower than at their English counterparts, but Bocanegra believes Rangers are just as big a global brand as their neighbours down south.

"I know the guys from Aston Villa and the Liverpool group see how big soccer – or football – is here and they feel they can grow it to the next level, hopefully market it worldwide," he said. "The corporate American dollar is probably something they think they can get their hands on and utilise that as a big factor in growing the company and generating more revenue. Football is such a global sport and people are realising that in America – and trying to capitalise on it."

Three Americans, including the US national team captain, in the squad help bring the club to the attention of a wider audience. "There has been a kind of long line of Americans coming to this club," added Bocanegra, "so we're a little bit more in the limelight than other teams."

Rangers' off-field developments are likely to dominate the sporting agenda in the week ahead, and they influenced Saturday's match against St Mirren too, the home supporters holding up red cards in the 18th and 72nd minutes to demonstrate their opposition to any new owner considering liquidating the club and starting again.

It was a bit of a curious match, coming just an hour or so after Rangers had relinquished their grasp of the championship for the first time in four years. There was at least another win for their defiant fans, even if two missed penalties, by Sone Aluko and Lee McCulloch, made things more fraught than they ought to have been.

After turning round with a two-goal advantage, Paul McGowan's spot kick then McCulloch's penalty miss, briefly gave St Mirren a glimmer of hope before another penalty, this time scored by Kyle Lafferty, ensured a Rangers win.

St Mirren, who buzzed around busily without really getting a firm grip on proceedings, also lost Jeroen Tesselaar to a red card at Rangers' second penalty award. However, there was better news for them from Fife; Dunfermline Athletic's defeat to Hearts effectively ensuring the Paisley club's top-flight status for a seventh successive season. What sort of Rangers side they will encounter come August remains to be seen.

"There is so much in the papers about who is going to take over, it changes all the time, and it's started to do my head in," said Bocanegra. "I would like it to be over yesterday."