Meanwhile, in the boardroom war games which followed their takeover, Dave King and his allies anticipated a scenario in which Ashley would make financial demands at the stage of the season when Rangers would be at their weakest in that regard. It duly materialised at the end of last month with a demand that the Rangers board hold a general meeting at which – amongst several resolutions – they would be asked to explain why the club’s shares have been delisted and under what terms they had accepted a loan from the Three Bears consortium of wealthy supporters.