Join thousands of fans who have signed up to our Rangers newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

SOMEWHERE beside a swimming pool in the Caribbean, Mike Ashley has a decision to make. And he’s not just agonising between a pina colada or a pint of sex on the beach.

The Newcastle United owner might be sunning himself 4500 miles away from the old Ibrox curiosity shop but, even so, he remains positioned in the eye of the storm which continues to lash this battered club.

And which, this morning, threatens to blow it back into the most desolate state even despite the recent warm breeze of good news that has brought the likes of Dave King, Douglas Park and last night American money man Robert Sarver into the developing picture.

(Image: Getty/Stu Forster)

Much has been made of last week’s stock market manoeuvres that first saw wealthy fans Park, George Letham and George Taylor snap up a 19 per cent holding and then King follow them in for 15 per cent.

These were the first really meaningful moves by long-standing and high net-worth supporters of the club to do something practical about solving the issues that have been relentlessly ravaging Rangers for the best part of four years now.

Both parties insist they were acting independently but, even so, by buying up huge bundles of shares between them they completely blindsided a Rangers board which, with chairman David Somers at its helm, continues to operate in an ocean of bewilderment and is now sailing dangerously close to another financial disaster.

The cold truth is they have just a few days left now to avoid the next iceberg.

The arrival on the scene of Sarver – owner of NBA outfit Phoenix Suns – is another possible lifeline for Rangers not least because he has already held discussions with Park’s consortium and sees them as allies in any potential power struggle against the current regime. But even though all this has provided a few rare shafts of light and hope for the Rangers support there is no escaping the fact their club remains in a desperately dark place.

The ship is holed below the water line and the cash-flow situation inside Ibrox is now so critical that Somers and his board are in a state of panic. They need significant sums of money in emergency loans and they need it yesterday.

In the past few days they have chosen to cash in on their most talented asset by selling Lewis Macleod to Brentford for a fraction of what the youngster’s market value is likely to reach. And they have also been railing against the authorities for withholding £250k to cover the cost of Lord Nimmo Smith’s probe into the use of EBTs.

Lewis Macleod: Leaving Rangers was tough

This appears a fairly paltry amount but the way the Rangers board has reacted to it being withheld suggests their financial situation is more dire than many imagined.

If it is true the loss of such a figure could place an “intolerable strain” on the club’s cash flow then it underlines the ineptitude of those running Rangers and the urgent nature of this cash crisis.

Which is where Ashley comes in. The Sports Direct magnate is a notoriously hard man to second guess but if he does have a plan for Rangers – and he surely must – then the next few days may finally see him show his hand.

(Image: Willie Vass)

With his right-hand man Derek Llambias already in joint charge of the club’s affairs as CEO, Ashley will know pretty much to the penny the full extent of the damage below the surface as well as the urgency of the situation.

He will understand, for example, that if Rangers are to be spared the pain and ignominy of a new insolvency event fresh loans will be required immediately.

The question now is, does Ashley have any intention of bailing them out?

There has been radio silence from the Londoner ever since he was blocked by the SFA from increasing his stake to 29.9 per cent and underwriting the release of 40m new shares.

If Big Mike has taken enough of a huff he might be inclined to let Rangers dangle over the precipice just to stick two fingers up at Hampden’s sixth floor.

Not only does he have the cash to keep the club alive but crucially, despite all the recent activity on the stock exchange and the fact his current 8.92 per cent holding is dwarfed by that of King and Park, he also has control of the board.

If King, Park’s group or even Sarver was to offer a loan this morning Ashley still has the muscle to have it turned down and also to provide the money himself in order to tighten his grip on the club’s throat.

Rangers: 2014 in pictures

However, any fanciful notions that Ashley might be ready to throw multi-millions into this basketcase in order to buy Rangers a place in the Champions League appear to have been torpedoed by the recent sale of Macleod.

So again the question must be asked, what is Ashley’s end game here?

Of course, it is not outwith the realms of possibility that administration could also be proposed as an escape route out of this mess.

But with so many sources of potential funding now available to them the board might struggle to justify the legality of such a move. A far more elegant and logical solution could yet be found but that would depend on Ashley accepting that he has been usurped by the men who have made it their collective aim to drive him out of the club.

(Image: PA)

If he calculates that the sheer weight of shares is now against him – and that his board could not possibly survive a shareholders’ vote at an EGM – it might make more sense for him to strike a deal now with any or all of those parties driving the revolt against his regime.

That way he could protect his much-cherished merchandising contracts with the club while agreeing to step to one side and allow the new men to take control knowing also that a united support is likely to re-engage with the club and buy more of his shirts.

This would seem the logical step for Ashley and the best possible outcome for Rangers. But since when was logic and best practice applied to this particular club?

Pour yourself another one Mike. There’s some serious thinking to be done with your drinking.