The tactics for Dundee United this afternoon, or for Unirea Urziceni on Wednesday night, suddenly don’t seem so important. The real strategy debate inside Rangers right now is how to deal with debt. In a gradual, measured fashion, as the club’s “football men” wish to, or more drastically. The Murray Group, who own Rangers, cannot delay dealing with debt because they are under pressure from the Lloyds Banking Group who, in turn, are under scrutiny from the politicians and taxpayers who bailed them out last year.

To those who live in football’s bubble, it is a reminder that the real world cannot be completely shut out. The Rangers players are not in the habit of checking if their wages have landed, but many did so last Thursday. When Bank of Scotland became part of the Lloyds Banking Group as the institutions failed a year ago, levels of debt which had previously been permissible for Rangers suddenly became alarming figures for them. Their next accounts, expected to be published later this month, are likely to reveal debt rising toward or past the £30m mark and losses which the bank and the Murray Group can no longer tolerate. That is why Donald Muir, a freelance financial troubleshooter, has been parachuted into Rangers’ board, to start removing it in large chunks. This would also make Rangers more attractive to potential buyers, who are not exactly knocking the door down just now. The wish of Alastair Johnston, the new chairman, that a sale could be achieved with dignity already seems a forlorn one.

When manager Walter Smith confirmed suspicions that the club was no longer in control of its own affairs last Saturday night, he was mostly correct to say it was instead being run by the bank. It may not be direct control, as subsequent press releases from both Lloyds and the club were at pains to stress, but their debt dictates every move Rangers make, or don’t make, just now.

They haven’t signed a player for the last two transfer windows, other than the last-minute loan deal for Jerome Rothen in August, and when business reopens in January their best players will again be laid out like a banquet for English Premier League clubs, or even Championship ones, to pick over. Already Wigan have been credited with an interest in Madjid Bougherra and Birmingham City, with £40m to burn according to Carson Yeung, their new owner, are interested in Steven Davis. Kris Boyd’s contract is ticking to its conclusion in the summer and his value as a saleable asset is diminishing toward zero as it does so.

A new owner riding to the rescue could, of course, stop a sell-off, but they would have to be willing to put serious money in, as much as £100m to properly reinvigorate Rangers with no prospect of a return in the short term. Johnston has previously persuaded Dave King, originally from Castlemilk, who made his £300m fortune in South Africa, to put £20m into the club but the entrepreneur remains in a protracted stand-off with the South African authorities over an alleged £180m in unpaid taxes detailed in 322 criminal charges. That could see him fail the SFA’s “fit and proper person” test for owners, although that remains hypothetical for now. Messages were left for King at three of his previous business addresses last week by The Sunday Times, but he failed to respond. Sir David Murray has also maintained his vow to stop commenting on the club he still owns yet no longer controls or subsidises.

It is the indignity of having his squad asset-stripped which Smith, whose own contract expires in January, is unlikely to tolerate. His confidants stress the loyalty he feels to the players and staff he has brought to the club but also his previous experience of having his own reputation tarnished by cost-cutting at Everton. Along with Martin Bain, the chief executive, Smith argues the club must be left with players good enough to compete for the Premier League title — and the more obliging route to the Champions League winning it offers — or the cuts will be self-defeating, reducing the club’s income by as much as its debt and sending it into a downward spiral.

“Our players have been operating under that circumstance for nearly a year,” stressed Smith. “Everton was slightly different; while everybody was available for transfer they could be sold at any time because there were no transfer windows then. That was maybe easier to handle in that if somebody was going out we could get another player in right away. You could try and achieve a balance by bringing Richard Gough back in or Paul Gascoigne.

“The transfer windows have been hanging over us, but our players have done exceptionally well not to let it affect them. They won the league and the Scottish Cup last season and we still haven’t lost a domestic game this season. We just have to concentrate on getting up to a better level.”

Maintaining morale and results may be Smith’s final accomplishments as Rangers manager. It is something he did last season, although the cracks have appeared this term, particularly in the successive 4-1 home defeats by Sevilla and Unirea in the Champions League. For the return in Romania this week, he will probably be without Bougherra, who has a knee injury.

Ideally, Smith would have sacrificed quantity for quality last summer — offloading his fringe players and their wages to bring in players who could improve his starting line-up. “After losing eight or nine players, we could have been doing with two or three to boost the team not the squad,” he said.

“If we had managed to do that, it helps lift everything. Where we have maybe stalled a wee bit is not having that situation, but I would still have thought the Champions League would have brought out better performances. Despite losing 4-1 at home, and I know it sounds strange, for an hour against Sevilla we played exceptionally well and in Stuttgart we played exceptionally well. We never reached that level against Unirea, and are not looking for any excuses. We have to try and reach that level again if we are hoping to do anything.”

By that, Smith means salvaging some form of European football after Christmas, either in the Champions League or, more likely, in the Europa League by finishing third in the group. “If we can get a decent result over there, and you have always got to look optimistically, then we have a home game against Stuttgart which, I would argue, is a huge one for us and there may be a situation where we still have an opportunity to go through, which, after the two home results we’ve had, you wouldn’t imagine we would do.”

Before that, there is today’s test at Tannadice. Craig Levein, Dundee United’s manager, will have noted how neighbours Dundee gave Rangers a torrid time in last Tuesday’s Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final. “Dundee United are three points behind us,” acknowledged Smith. “They’ve had a good start and it’s a place where we have found it extremely difficult to get results. Winning the championship there on the last day of last season was a big thing for us, but it was our best performance since I came back and we are going to need that level of performance again.” That was also the day when Smith should probably have said farewell to the club he loves.

Stubborn streak: Thomson says champions must grind it out in Romania

KEVIN THOMSON says Rangers need to revert to the stubborn approach which took them to the Uefa Cup final in 2008 to recover from their Ibrox thrashings by Sevilla and Unirea Urziceni. “We have proved we can play in Europe,” insisted the 25-year-old midfielder. “It was only two seasons ago we got to the Uefa Cup final, so we know we can get success if we all work hard and pull in the same direction. The work ethic and the organisation was missing against Unirea.’

Rangers began the group with a promising draw at Stuttgart before their torment at Ibrox and Thomson hopes another away game will bring out the best of them. “We probably passed the ball better in Stuttgart. The way we played [during the Uefa Cup run] was there for all to see. Some people said we parked two buses outside the box, this year we have probably been more open, but I think the way we set up against Unirea will be similar to the Uefa Cup run.’

Thomson is satisfied with his progress after recovering from the knee injury he suffered almost a year ago at Kilmarnock, with one glaring exception. “Apart from the St Johnstone game, I’ve been quite pleased,” he added. This was an opinion visibly shared by an irate Ally McCoist, Rangers’ assistant manager, that day. “It shows you that he has a desire for the club to do well and wants the players to do as well as they can,” smiled Thomson, when reminded of the row he received. “I was the first to slap myself in the face and know that my performance level had dipped.”

Walter Smith, meanwhile, believes Thomson needs to be patient as he tries to rediscover his best form. “He’s beginning to get there now, to show the sharpness that is required,” said Rangers manager. “I think people, and I include Kevin in that, sometimes underestimate what it takes to come back.”

5-4-3-2-1: COUNTDOWN TO JANUARY SALES
£5 MILLION It is an indictment of the current Rangers squad that no sustained argument could be made that any player would reach more than £5m. Madjid Bougherra is the man most likely, but Wigan's early soundings are well below that. It would need an auction for Rangers to double their outlay
£4 MILLION Steven Davis has played in the English Premier League before and is a good age, 24, to do so again. Approaching his peak, he was more impressive for Rangers last season than this, but Birmingham are understood to be among the admirers and would go to £4m
£3 MILLION The sum Rangers paid for Kyle Lafferty and that they would hope to get back for him, but whoever made such a bid would be investing in potential rather than anything he has shown at Ibrox. Allan McGregor could also command this price and is one of the few potential sales who Rangers have decent cover for in back-up goalkeeper Neil Alexander
£2 MILLION Maurice Edu and Kevin Thomson could b oth go on to become midfielders worth more than that, but Thomson especially has struggled with injury and Rangers’ best hope would merely be to get back roughly what they paid for both players — around £2m each
£1 MILLION Pedro Mendes wouldn’t fetch more because of his age, 30. Kris Boyd’s soon-to-expire contract also puts him in this bracket. Rangers paid £2m for Steven Whittaker and Stevie Naismith, but neither has done enough to suggest they are worth more than half that.