It came completely out of the blue, even when it did, Rangers fans were hugely skeptical until detail was added to the bluster.
The imminent takeover by the San Francisco 49ers still feels strange, with nobody truly celebrating until the deal is officially announced.
The 49ers might not affect the transfer budget in the short term, however, they will bring the sort of stability that is needed to see Rangers consistently win, never mind challenge for trophies.
Other than the legalities, there are no more hurdles for Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers to overcome with 51% of the Rangers’ shares acquired on paper.
The hard work starts now though with three main problems for the prospective new Rangers owners to address.
James Tavernier’s position as Rangers captain
It’s a subject that has been talked about for the last few years – should James Tavernier continue as Rangers captain.
Whether he likes it or not, the Hall of Fame inductee is the face of failure having been part of a largely barren last 10 years.
Tavernier will be 34 next season and into the last year of his contract, if he isn’t sold in the summer, a decision has to be made.
If Rangers want to move forward with a new manager and owners, can they really do it with a captain who has led the club through Celtic’s most successful period in their history?
Can Rangers move forward by appointing Steven Gerrard
A new manager should be appointed before the end of the season, not so that they can start making plans about the Rangers squad, but so that they can start planning how they are going to set the team up.
There is also the small matter of pre-season training, however, the recent injury problems mean that the head of performance should be dictating the volume and intensity of training.
What the new Rangers manager needs to do is instil a style of play that will be successful domestically.
Both Philippe Clement and Michael Beale talked a good game but couldn’t deliver.
Steven Gerrard’s name continues to be banded about, like Tavernier though, if Rangers want to move forwards, looking to the past isn’t the right decision.
How can Rangers catch up funding gap to Celtic?
Another item on the agenda should be the continued development of Ibrox.
The Copland Road stand was upgraded last year, with plans to continue the works to both the Sandy Jardine and Broomloan Road stands.
Given the fiasco of having to play at Hampden last summer, it is easy to see why the current board shelved the second phase of the work to Ibrox.
To close the financial gap on Celtic, the easiest way is by increasing the capacity at Ibrox, one way or another.
Patrick Stewart already had a lengthy to do list, that list is only about to get longer.
