Benevolent Dictators
The mess that Rangers Football Club finds itself in - just got a whole lot worse.
Because it turns out that what tipped the club into administration was not the historical debt of £50 million or so - from the Sir David Murray ear.
But a debt of around £9 million which has built up since the new owner - Craig Whyte - took control of Rangers in May 2011.
Apparently the £9 million is comprised of £5 million in unpaid PAYE taxes - and £4 million in VAT - which is truly mind boggling.
Because how can a club which is otherwise solvent and being run as a professional business - fail to pay the day-to-day taxes on its employees earnings and on the purchase of everyday goods and services?
Unless the kind of devil may care attitude to paying your fair share of taxes - which has brought the Greek economy and Greek nation to its knees - is the same kind of business outlook which prevailed behind closed doors at Ibrox.
So the events that have put Rangers FC into the hands of professional accountants - Duff and Phelps - to rescue the business going forward - are focused on the business dealings of the new owner.
Not on the previous owner - Sir David Murray - for the moment at least.
Businesses go bust all the time - and for the most part it's a question of bad luck or bad timing - people take a calculated risk, perform honestly and work hard - but sometimes things just don't work out.
So there's no shame or blame - in having to shut up shop, licking your wounds and trying again - at some point in the future.
Increasingly, this appears not to be what has happened at Rangers FC - although the facts are being dragged very slowly out of the club's owner - who looks more and more like Scottish football's answer to Arthur Daley.
The whole business of Rangers FC appears to be mired in secrecy - and the kind of business practices that you wouldn't expect to see - in a corner shop on the Govan Road.
Benevolent dictators go down well in times of plenty - but at the moment it's the last thing that Rangers need - not least because the public purse seems to have been short-changed to the tune of millions of pounds.
