The resignation of Craig Mather, the Rangers CEO, may not have surprised many, but the brittleness and internecine hostility now embroiling the Ibrox club will certainly be of concern.
The liquidation of the old Rangers Football Club plc continues to claim its victims. As attempts are made to restore the Rangers brand back to the top of Scottish football, the often venomous disagreements among the central cast has become a grisly spectacle.
Mather now joins Charles Green, Malcolm Murray, Imran Ahmad, Walter Smith, Ian Hart and Bryan Smart on a scrap-heap of former club directors or principals who have either walked or been forcibly evicted amid the turmoil.
Smith's infamous comment that the Rangers International FC was being served by a "dysfunctional board" has never looked more true, or seemed more acute.
Brian Stockbridge, the club's finance director, remains in situ, but surely not for much longer. If Stockbridge has any sense, he will walk as well.
Mather should never have been a Rangers CEO in the first place. It was an executive position he had scarcely any previous experience of, and he was hastened into the role earlier this year and somehow became a permanent fixture, with Walter Smith's approval. It was a fateful appointment.
The outgoing Ibrox CEO appeared to fail on a number of counts, not least in his constant claims that Rangers are in robust financial health, in the face of all available evidence. But two recent incidents sealed Mather's fate.
First, having met Dave King, a prospective new Rangers chairman in South Africa, Mather allowed Rangers to make rash comments about the plan, flouting regulatory rules for a listed company, which then had to be swiftly amended.
Then, and most crucially, Mather and his beleaguered board were dealt a bloody nose in the Court of Session on Monday, when Paul Murray and his "rebel" shareholders won an interdict which prevented the club's AGM from taking place this month.
The ruling found in favour of Murray's claims that Mather and his board had acted unreasonably, and, indeed, had appeared hellbent on thwarting the democratic right of Rangers shareholders.
Amid all this, the pressure has remorselessly built up on Mather, to a point where, following Monday's court decision, he was floundering. So now he has gone.
The obvious question is, what next for Rangers? The answer to that is pretty easy…in the medium term the club will have an almost completely new board. But further political issues at Ibrox still need to be resolved.
The return of King may yet prove controversial. The entrepreneur and former Ibrox director has just pled guilty on 41 counts of tax breaches in a South Africa high court and, while most Rangers fans appear not to care a whit for his court conviction, other bodies have yet to address the issue.
There is also disagreement and some disgruntlement at Rangers over the growing influence of James and Sandy Easdale, whose shareholding has been quietly strengthened in recent months.
The scenario is confusing, because the Easdales, who desire greater control at Rangers, would necessarily have their influence diluted by King's return.
On the other hand, Paul Murray, an ally of King, has hinted that there is a place at Ibrox for Sandy Easdale, who with his brother currently sits on the board of the football club.
King's return to Rangers, if it transpires, will surely this time mean real power and authority for his presence. The businessman has previously injected cash into the club, with limited say in what was happening. It is a scenario he is unlikely to repeat.
When the Rangers AGM finally does take place, probably in about four to five weeks' time, there will be an open vote for a whole tranche of new directors, including Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray and other nominees. It remains doubtful, though, if Brian Stockbridge can last the course much longer.
Stockbridge's stock now looks extremely low at Rangers. He is the last remaining vestige of the Charles Green regime, and is surely done for. The recent Rangers financial results on his watch were woeful, and Stockbridge, like Mather, has often looked in a position above his abilities.
It might not be a question of Stockbridge "trying to survive" at Rangers. If he has any sense, he won't want to.
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