Shed tears for taxpayers not Rangers fans

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Administration is no fun for any club, and can be a bitter blow to innocent employees, but it is still a relatively easy way out for the owners responsible and fans who have been only too happy to celebrate the achievements of players the club could not afford, as in 2008, when Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth won the FA Cup.

When Portsmouth went into administration, a group of supporters admirably settled debts to charities, but most go unpaid and taxpayers - including the majority who have no interest in football - are often hardest hit.With the public purse in crisis, it was reassuring to see the taxman get tough with Rangers.

Let's hope the authorities are equally rigorous in dealing with English clubs suspected of paying players through trusts. There is also the question of fellow clubs. Terry Butcher, the Rangers legend now managing at Inverness, says they are owed a tidy sum. And what is the footballing sanction? Ten points. Enough to take Rangers out of a title race they would probably have lost to Celtic anyway. But they need have no fear of relegation. Nor that regeneration will prove as challenging as for, say, Leeds.

The temptation is always to find a demon in the boardroom and, in this instance, Craig Whyte has slipped into the role once filled by Peter Ridsdale at Leeds.

But the supporter should not evade a degree of responsibility. The club I love, Dundee, went into administration twice and were docked 25 points.

Many fans moaned - but the public purse lost hundreds of millions. We now own the club and one day, I hope, we shall pay that money back. We don't have to. We should have to.