Rangers mega millions takeover danger summed up in a crackers phone call about a manager out of their league

Hugh fears for supporters who genuinely believe hundreds of millions of pounds will be spent on a transformative change.

When the narrative turns negative, it’s the end of the story. Out of Europe and still to win a home game at Ibrox after four attempts.

This is how the narrative concerning Barry Ferguson’s time at Rangers flips on its head after losing to Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night.

The dream of winning a European trophy has given way to the reality of the interim gaffer’s situation at its most basic level.

There can be no more making a virtue out of consistently going two goals behind – seven times in 10 matches to be exact.

No more pretence that being a “Rangers man” is a guarantee all will be well.

The remainder of Gers’ season has been rendered meaningless because of the exit from Europe.

Dwelling on penalties not given in Bilbao is simply a default setting while reluctantly coming to terms with that fact.

The next home game for Barry to rewrite his record at Ibrox is against Celtic on a day that could be a title decider, should Brendan Rodgers’ side lose at Dundee United in the first league game after the split.

It was never a bright idea by the SPFL to leave a city open to the potentially negative side-effects of an Old Firm derby that leaves one side crowned champs and the other condemned to a trophy-less season.

It was as daft as the notion Rangers would form a guard of honour for Celtic in the event of the title having been won at Tannadice the week before.

I’m not sure why this fanciful idea gets as much traction as it does.

The absence of a guard of honour means precisely nothing to champions revelling in their success.

But, for Ferguson, the potential implications of a draw or defeat in the final Old Firm derby of the season have nothing to do with good manners.

They surround his future instead and, to be blunt, if he has one in terms of Rangers going forward.

I had one caller on the radio, prior to Rangers’ visit to the Basque country, who wanted the club’s prospective owners from America to offer Mikel Arteta the manager’s job.

That Mikel Arteta.

The one who eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League’s last-eight when Arsenal won 2-1 at the Bernabeu the night before Rangers became uncoupled in another part of the country.

It’s a peculiar notion that Arteta might be attracted to the notion of playing Falkirk in the Premiership next season.

But this is the danger attached to 49ers Enterprises and their move on Rangers.

Some supporters genuinely believe hundreds of millions of pounds will be spent on a transformative change.

It doesn’t work like that when the difficulties that created such a long period of underachievement have to be addressed before the level of spending on the team is established.

And deciding who’ll be the manager entrusted with recruitment has yet to be negotiated.

I have a suspicion Bilbao did for Barry and his ambition to be boss.

A second win in a row over Celtic is, I suspect, the swansong he’ll be looking for before matters are taken out of his hands.

A moment of personal satisfaction he’ll have to soften the blow of what comes next.