Trumpian Rangers ruin rightful SFA crusade by turning into a cliche-ridden paranoid wreck – Keith Jackson

This time last week they were standing firmly on the right side of the argument, having grabbed VAR by the horns in the name of the greater good.

They had the SFA pinned up against the ropes. They may even have had Wilie Collum squirming, which is precisely the way they prefer him. And then Rangers went and ruined it all by turning from morale crusaders into a paranoid wreck of a football club and a cliche of everything that’s been holding their resurgence back for much of the last decade or so. The moment someone in the chain of command used ‘fan media’ to leak to their own supporters that they had demanded Collum’s excommunication, was when the line of decency was overstepped.

And it immediately dragged Rangers back into a world of darkness and suspicion. Which is the very place they’ve been trying so hard to get away from since John Bennett added some much needed gravitas and cool headed diplomacy to the chairman’s post.

And yet, by delivering this latest low blow, they exposed the full extent of the distrust and resentment which still courses around the foundations of Ibrox, just below the surface. It’s a toxic legacy from the club’s fall from grace back in 2011 when their world caved in around them.

At a time when people like Martin Bain, Alistair Johnston and Paul Murray were crying out for help and warning of an imminent disaster, Scottish football stuck its fingers in its ears and turned its back on them. Murray even warned in advance of Craig Whyte’s takeover that the club he cared for so deeply would be in administration within a year if the ruinous deal was allowed to go through.

Of course, there is a counter argument here. The one that says Rangers were responsible for their own demise and that no one