An empty seat in the directors' box was merely symbolic at Ibrox on Saturday.

Even in his absence, Craig Whyte is still the critical figure at Rangers. The club's supporters are ransacking their reserves of hope as they crave for a new owner, although there was encouragement in the announcement by the administrators that they are meeting several interested parties this week. That alone is not cause to suspend all the alarm, though.

Despite its complexities, administration delivers a straightforward outcome. Rangers will exit either through an agreement with their creditors – a Company Voluntary Arrangement – or by liquidation. The latter represents a break with 140 years of history, as Rangers could only then exist as a newco. That prospect is enough to cause anguish to most fans, but there is also the practical complication of then having to apply for re-entry into the Scottish Premier League. UEFA rules also dictate that the team could not play in Europe for three seasons.

Football encourages nostalgia, and it is not a trivial influence. Supporters are raised on tales of past glory before they are old enough to form their own lasting memories. Rangers fans, for instance, revel in the haul of 54 titles that allows them to acclaim the team as the most successful in world football. It might seem an empty boast if the club becomes a new legal entity, although the scenario prompts questions about the essence of a team. Does it belong in the sentiments and recollections of supporters, or the corporate structure? To the average supporters, the relationship is wholly personal.

Rangers fans crave a rescue effort, even if there is still unease at the notion of the club manipulating its way out of this financial mess. Talks with potential new owners must seem like an improbable gift, but there is no easy route out of the ruins of the spendthrift years of Sir David Murray. Any interested party would have to negotiate to buy the majority shareholding from Whyte.

"Something that people have missed is that the administrator does not have the power to sell the shares of the club," says Neil Patey, a partner with Ernst & Young in Edinburgh. "They can sell assets as part of the CVA to a newco. They could also do the same thing via liquidation. But whatever way you do it, you face the problems of losing your membership of the SPL. Unless you sell the shares, so that Rangers' current company stays intact, you lose membership. If Craig Whyte were amenable, he could voluntarily, as part of the restructuring, sell the shares of the company."

Whyte was advised not to attend the defeat by Kilmarnock, but there is a brazen attitude to a man who seems indifferent to the emotional traumas of guiding Rangers into administration. If public opinion mattered to him, he would not have embarked on this business deal in the first place. Supporters could exert their influence by making him feel like a pariah, but the impetus for Whyte to move on will be a profitable transaction.

Even HMRC will still deal with Whyte, despite the club not having paid £9m in PAYE and VAT since he took over last May. "They're not the only business that has not paid PAYE or VAT on time," says Patey. "So I really don't think HMRC will have any personal agenda against Craig Whyte."

The administrators suggested last weekend that HMRC are willing to strike a deal with Rangers that lets them pay back their debt over an agreed period of time. This would require the club to commit to paying 100% of its debts to all the creditors. The cost could be significant if the first tier tax tribunal rules in favour of HMRC's stance on the use of Employee Benefit Trusts. Even that outcome cannot be assumed. Yet the future liabilities will affect any price that Whyte would seek for his shareholding.

"You could look at Celtic, the market cap is in excess of £40m and that's a club without any troubles," says Patey. "You start with that, but will the valuation be depressed? Yes, because it comes out under a CVA and there is a future cash drain on the club because you're paying off the other creditors over a period of time. Or it comes out under liquidation, so in theory it's clean and there are no obligations, but you're out of Europe for three years. A buyer only gets it cheap to the extent that he is inheriting other obligations. And valuing football clubs is notoriously difficult. It comes down to a bit of an emotional investment."

There are other options, such as selling Murray Park to pay off creditors. That scenario is unlikely, though, as the club is a better prospect with all of its assets intact. There is a moral aspect to be faced, though. The shrewdest business decision would be to allow liquidation then start afresh, even if there are penalties. That means leaving unpaid creditors, as well as Rangers supporters who feel conflicted.