There is a misconception about the Ibrox operation that because it finally has a shot at Champions League gold that their financial problems are solved.
It is rubbish, and I have said that often and loudly and I’ll continue to say it.
There is something in the Ibrox DNA, which they ported over from Rangers, which convinces me that it will take another crisis over there for things to change if they ever do.
The simple way to put it is that they are addicted to spending money.
Their own money. The banks money. “Investors” money. Fans money. Everyone’s money, really.
If it flows through their club they will find a way to spend it.
There is no such thing as a “rainy day fund” over there, no such thing as accumulating wealth.
Rainy days are much the same as any other day over there, only the scramble to plug the holes is bigger.
And there is always some mug out there willing to give them more.
Or at least, there is for now.
You only have to look at the press coverage over there right now; all the talk is of adding to that bloated squad of theirs. They don’t even kid on that they are seriously trying to sell players anymore.
No-one wants these guys. Instead they are talking about adding more … it’s as if they’ve never learned that what happened before can happen again.
If they qualify for the Champions League Groups, they will gamble.
They will spend every penny in the hope that doing so wins them another league, because they know they go straight into next season’s groups if they do, and you know what else?
They’ll have that money spent before it’s even in the bank.
There is a presumption that we’ve let them “back into the game” by losing this title, that in doing so we’ve given them a shot in the arm and saved their bacon. It’s not true.
We’ve damaged ourselves, yes, but we’ve not significantly strengthened them.
Because to really change things over there the thinking over there has to change.
Their next series of accounts are going to reveal just how deep the hole over there was this season, and I am betting that some of what they’ve used to plug it are Champions League earnings they haven’t even got yet.
Woe betide that club if it goes out of Europe early.
Almost everyone else in the game is talking about belt-tightening.
We’re alone in Scotland not only of being able to spend but actually needing to spend. And how much we have to spend will depend on who we can get out the door and what we get in return.
At Ibrox, they are talking about a spending spree. They are lunatics.
It’s as if the death of Rangers didn’t happen; I mean, I know they cling to the Survival Lie but are their memories really as short as all that?
You know what they say about those who ignore the lessons of history.
They are doomed to repeat it.