A NEW regime is unfolding at Rangers but familiar dilemmas remain.

There was an acknowledgement yesterday during a lengthy press conference given by Paul Murray, the outgoing chairman, and Dave King, his successor, that the days of financial excess will remain in the past. There will be none of the cash splurges of previous eras, no reprise of the "for every fiver Celtic spend we will spend a tenner" mantra so beloved of David Murray before his empire started to crumble and then tumble spectacularly to the ground.

Not that Rangers have that option any more, of course. Paul Murray spoke repeatedly about the need to restore the club, of being saddened by the way in which Rangers as a business and employer has become dilapidated and depleted in recent years. "The club is broken in almost every area and needs rebuilt. It is at a real crossroads in almost every sense."

It will be a lengthy and expensive restoration job, and Rangers, for the time being, have little money with which to undertake it. King spoke, without a hint of sarcasm, about his gratitude for the £5m loaned to the club by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct - despite the onerous terms and conditions that came attached - while he personally will throw in another £1.5m to the pot this week to add to the same sum loaned to the club by The Three Bears consortium in March. That Rangers need these relatively small sums just to pay the bills shows how poor the financial management of the club has been in recent times.

It was not difficult to detect a degree of humility in the words of Murray, in particular, as this new board of directors begins the task of trying to fix the broken and battered outfit that Rangers has become. Pragmatism, rather than triumphalism, would seem to be the watchword as they carefully try to plot their way back to the top. It was instructive to note Murray state, almost apologetically, that the club would now spend more time and resources on talent identification and coaching, before selling the best on for profit. "We shouldn't be ashamed of doing that," he added, lest anyone consider this a grubby and unsatisfactory business. "Celtic have done it very successfully."

Slowly but surely, however, has rarely been the Rangers way. Supporters may, deep down, realise the seriousness of the situation and the length of time it will need to make things right. Rangers have no chief executive or finance director - both Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were removed from the books this week - no commercial manager, no scouting network, no permanent manager, and about a dozen players about to go out of contract. Despite a promising first leg victory over Hibernian in the semi-finals of the play-offs, they do not even know which division they will be playing in next year. These things will all take time to make right.

As Murray acknowledged, however, football fans are rarely a patient bunch. At Rangers, in particular, there is an unquenchable thirst for success that takes little cognisance of the fact that this particular well has long since run dry. That is the paradox; the expectation remains for Rangers to be competing against Celtic at the top end of Scottish football but with none of the funds to do so. It's like asking Manny Pacquaio to get into the ring again with Floyd Mayweather but this time with one hand tied behind his back.

It is perhaps why King was, on occasion, bullish about the future prospects of Rangers. There was a throwaway line about "being expected to compete with Celtic" on their eventual return to the top division, and aspirations about featuring in the Champions League in future as well. King, who denied he had ever suggested he would quadruple the wage bill this summer should Rangers win promotion, believes the building blocks are all there for the club to construct something lasting that would allow them to compete with Europe's elite soon enough.

"Rangers is in an incredibly strong financial position" he said. "It has got shareholders who can fund it, and it has got virtually no debt. How many clubs in the world don't have debt? Our balance sheet is incredibly strong for any football club in the world. We have really just got a little cash squeeze where for the first time Rangers have got people who are coming in to bridge that gap. So if I look at Rangers financially, we are one of the strongest clubs in the world financially. How many clubs are sitting with £5 million of interest free debt and that is all they've got? We got the fans, we've got the season ticket money, we've got the stadium, everything all paid for. There's not many clubs in that position. We're incredibly strong financially at the moment."

Murray also acknowledged the difficulty of reining in expectations at a club like Rangers. "The landscape has changed since we were last in the top flight but there is still a pressure at Rangers and Celtic to win games. The fans would accept where we are and the fact we have to rebuild the club. I guess we will get some sort of honeymoon period to do that. But football fans are not renowned for patience and they will soon, rightly so, be looking for the club to start being competitive in the top flight."

King had been quite blasé about the importance of being passed fit and proper, saying it would not impinge on his ability to invest in the club. Now, having got the green light from the SFA, he explains he would not have poured money in at the same levels if it had not gone as he had hoped.

"I'm committed to seeing it through to the end, whether it is year three, year four or year five. But what I am saying is that level of substantial investment I would only do if I was actively involved. I wouldn't take my marbles and disappear and sell my shares. That would always be there. But I certainly wouldn't show the flexibility to be there for more substantial levels unless I was personally involved."

Despite all the financial and administrative matters needing addressed, it is always football issues that stake centre stage. Stuart McCall's contract is set to come to an end in a few weeks leaving Rangers without a permanent manager and Murray acknowledged the significance of either handing McCall a new deal or finding someone new.

"If you had lots of time and everything at the club was stable, then you would take some time and go out and get a director of football. But obviously we need to be practical. Pre-season training starts in about six weeks' time. So we need to get our first team coach in pretty quickly.

"Stuart is very much in the position at the moment. Over the course of time, we will look at the whole football structure. You've got the first team coach, the academy director. It's well publicised that we don't have a scouting network, so player acquisition is very informal at the moment. There is also the sports science and medical side of it, so it does all have to be pulled together into one structure. The priority at the moment, though, is to get the first team coach."

Rangers will soon also look to try to gain influence inside the SPFL and SFA. "If you want to change things you have to be on a committee and have to help in terms of shaping the game. We are one of the biggest clubs in Scotland and have a responsibility to be at the forefront helping to do that. It is very much part of our agenda to have discussions, healthy debate and get back in helping Scottish football."