Those hate-figures down at Ibrox known as the Easdale brothers are today reduced from two to one, now that James Easdale has bitten a bullet and gone.

You wonder why it took James so long, and for how much longer his brother, Sandy, will continue to loiter about the place.

The bile, venom and opprobrium poured over these two men has been quite something in recent times, to the point where each man must have thought, are there not better ways to enjoy life?

That said, no-one need feel much sympathy for either figure. The Easdales are no shrinking violets, they can look after themselves, and they chose of their own accord to get into bed with Rangers.

Moreover, Sandy, with his mix of personal Rangers shares and proxies, which amount to roughly 25% of the club, has been a significant figure in blocking any moves to change the ownership or direction of the club.

If you do that against the popular will, then don't expect an easy ride. This has been the fate of James and Sandy Easdale, and James has decided he has had enough.

The question now is�what of Sandy's position on the football club board? Given the contempt of many Rangers fans towards the pair, the parting words of his brother seem quite significant.

"I want to see Rangers flourish again with both fans and shareholders working in harmony," said James. "To help achieve that objective I think it is in the best interests of the club that I step aside and resign from the board of Rangers FC."

Those same sentiments, surely, could also apply to Sandy Easdale's position. Given the hostility shown to him - rightly or wrongly - his ongoing presence would also seem to scupper the fans and the club "working in harmony".

Sandy Easdale is chairman of the club's football board - it is much the lesser of Ibrox's two tiers of governance. Nonetheless, his mere presence at the club, on top of his shareholding power, has riled Rangers fans.

In terms of the looming EGM of Rangers on March 6, James Easdale's resignation would not seem to change much. The incumbent RIFC board is done for. Right now, unless Mike Ashley has something dastardly up his sleeve, it is hard to envisage Dave King and co not winning power.

For years the Rangers Supporters Trust had seemed a limp, lame organisation. In one way it wasn't the RST's fault�despite various Rangers crises they simply could not seem to rouse the body-politic of Rangers fans to action.

But all that has changed - better late than never - in recent months. The RST's 'Buy Rangers' scheme has suddenly taken off amid the current saga, as has the similar Rangers First fan-ownership scheme.

Between them the RST and RF have garnered enough shares, currently at roughly 5.5%, to have a potentially significant say at the EGM. Together with King's shares, plus those of the so-called Three Bears and others, it seems certain that the current Rangers board will be ousted in two weeks' time.

After that will come the Dave King saga, the SFA's awkward "fit and proper" judgement, and much else. So don't think for a moment that this Rangers farce is near to conclusion.

That said, the popular uprising around Ibrox appears to be winning.

Also�

Not without justification, the troubled songbook of an element of the Rangers support has dominated the sports headlines in recent days. Bigotry and Rangers remains a vexed subject.

That said, Celtic can hardly be preening themselves after landing yet another Uefa fine today for fans' misbehaviour.

The Parkhead club has been fined £7,000 by Uefa for various misdeeds, including the setting off of flares, at a Europa Cup tie in Zagreb.

In the past four years Celtic have copped various Uefa censures - at least five by my reckoning - and it does not reflect well on the club.

The fact remains that Peter Lawwell, the Celtic CEO, can never quite rest easy, never knowing what an unruly element around his club will get up to next.

Whatever happens to Rangers over offensive singing, there can be no moral one-upmanship at Celtic these days.