Rangers investors may not hang around when the time comes for another costly arms race with Celtic Clark: "But some would say that Scottish football has gone into decline in recent years and it's going to be getting worse. Isn't it just the football fraternity in Scotland trying to get this thing up and running again? Bick: "It's not that far off when I think you'll see Old Firm games again. You're right to say that the Scottish game is in decline but again I come back to the point that the current owners of Rangers had bought the company and the assets at a keen price, so from purely an investment point of view, the institutions have gone into this with their eyes open. To put it at its simplest, the investing institutions believe that they will make money, either from dividends or, in the longer run, from the profitable sale of their shares in the club. That has surprised some observers because, as we very well know, the overall revenue available to Scottish football clubs is significantly constricted by the country's small population and domestic broadcast revenues. Rangers believe - the share prospectus said as much - that the club's database of 750,000 registered supporters worldwide can be used more efficiently, along with their website, stated to be the fifth highest in terms of usage in the UK. Given that they have negotiated rights to broadcast games overseas and intend to expand the online streaming of live fixtures, there is plainly scope for some expansion of income, but in the near future a large slice of the cash raised by the share issue will go on an upgrade of Ibrox (£5.5 million), the acquisition of land adjacent to the stadium (£4.5 million) and other unspecified projects designed to increase revenue (£3 million). In addition to this layout of £13 million, further spending of £5.5 million has been earmarked for additional improvements to the stadium plus another group of projects intended to increase cash flow. Of course, the most significant factor in favour of the Rangers newco is the absence of historical debt because of the liquidation of the oldco. The prospectus contained a declaration from the board that "it is not prudent for football clubs to borrow significant sums of money" and adding that there is no current intention to raise funds through loans. So far, so laudable. However, familiar dilemmas will present themselves sooner or later. Across the city, a profitable season for Celtic will see the loss of income from two Old Firm derbies far outweighed by a campaign of at least 12 Champions League games, yielding earnings which could be in excess of £30 million. While Neil Lennon and his players must negotiate three increasingly hazardous qualifying rounds just to get to the group stage again next season, they are insured to a considerable extent against failure by their current progress. Rangers" claim to be the best-supported club in Scotland - a declaration that helped to attract institutional investors - means that the team must compete at this level again. But that also requires a significant gamble on the ability of the manager and on the quality and cost of the players required for a return to competitiveness - £20 million, according to Charles Green. In October 2010 the last audited accounts to come out of Ibrox under the regime of Sir David Murray showed a profit of £4.2 million, thanks to participation in the Champions League group stage which increased turnover by £16.6 million to £56.3 million. The previous season Rangers posted a loss of £17.3 million and even after the club's return to profit, there was still a bank debt of £27 million. Rangers were solvent - the debt came down to £18 million and was exceeded by the value of the playing squad at the time of Craig Whyte's takeover - but such see-sawing of fortune is intrinsically unstable. Yet, sooner or later, Rangers will be obliged to get into another football arms race with Celtic. When that contest begins to develop, it will be instructive to see how long the main investors in Rangers hang around. Meanwhile, on another BBC programme, this time a national news bulletin later on Wednesday, H20 Markets strategist Michael Jarman said: "This is about the growth play and Rangers becoming a recovery football club that will eventually, one day, play in the Scottish Premier League again. If that happens and you're holding their shares, it's more than likely to say that a club as cheap as Rangers at the moment could get bid for by someone from China, Russia or someone from Qatar or Arab countries who would want to look at it and make it a trophy asset. Shorn of the jargon, we're talking about a sugar daddy. But isn't that exactly the scenario Rangers are supposed to avoid in their bright and shining new existence?