THE alarm bells must be ringing in the ears of every Rangers fan over the events of the last 48 hours at Ibrox.

An offer from Birmingham City accepted for top scorer Kris Boyd because the club needed the money - and the captain Barry Ferguson could be next to keep the bank at bay.

Yes, even a club like Rangers is not immune to these hard times and when the banker wants his money back, the crown jewels are all up for sale.

Every die-hard fan can stamp their feet and threaten to boycott games from now until the summer, but there's nothing they can do to stop Sir David Murray settling the debts.

The party line dispatched to cherry-picked journalists recently was that only fringe players would be heading out in the January transfer window.

The reality, however, is that the debt is too high for the financial world and fiscal policy must change to address the deficit.

I fully expected Madjid Bougherra to be the next major player heading south at the start of 2009, certainly not the goalscoring machine that is Boyd, even though that deal is still in the balance over the wages he's demanding to make the move to the Midlands.

This latest "too good to turn down deal" has become the norm for the Ibrox faithful when the transfer window opens every six months.

The supporters are now well used to a Ferguson, Boumsong and Hutton being sacrificed.The days of cash and Flo for £12m are a distant memory as Rangers now adopt a Rodney and Del boy' policy to try to offload the merchandise at one end and unearth a bargain at the other.

What message does the latest bolt from the blue send to the season ticket-holders, who just under two weeks ago, thought the league was all but over after an Old Firm defeat, only to see a lifeline delivered by Dundee United last Saturday at Parkhead.

Boyd's double at Inverness took his tally for the season to 20 goals and to manager, players and fans the results of last weekend offered some hope that maybe the title race was back on.

The decision to then accept a near £4m offer for one of your prize assets has left everyone in blue bewildered and questioning the club's ambitions.

There will undoubtedly be an immediate spin to counter the outrage, but the peace offering of a new face in the door will not wash as it's likely to be a loan at best.

Let's be honest, Boyd is not top drawer. He'd find his level in the Championship, but in the Scottish Premier league he was the jewel in Walter's shaky crown this season.

McGregor, Bougherra, Mendes, Davis and Thomson are now being called the untouchables' and Boyd's sale was apparently going to ring-fence them from any predators - but I wouldn't bet on that.

And, if Boyd doesn't agree terms with the other Blues, someone will obviously have to go from that group to rake in the missing millions.

Ferguson is also expendable as he approaches 31. With a whopping £30,000 a week coming out of the kitty to pay him, I can understand why he is the subject of speculation.

By the time Rangers face St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup next Tuesday, the picture and the strategy might be a little clearer to the supporters.

Happy or not, they are just going to have to grin and bear it. The pain might be hard to take now, but I believe the aftershock will arrive in May when their great rivals are celebrating four in a row, that's when the real agony on and off the park will be felt. Money talks...but not for long

THE release of the rich list of football clubs and players yesterday has highlighted the huge gulf in wealth between the English Premiership and the rest of Europe.

Uefa President Michel Platini has already voiced his concern at the imbalance between the top English clubs and the rest of his members.

Europe's football chief is well aware if the trend continues, no one will be able to compete with England's big four - or five if you include Man City's plans for world domination.

City's owners have a £15billion fortune - double that of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and the Glazers seem like paupers at Manchester United with only £1.1billion in the bank.

It's no surprise, then, that the world's wealthiest business people are all dining at the Premiership table, eager for their own piece of pie from the Sky deal.

David Beckham apart, the top 20 footballers are also strutting their stuff in the best league in the world'.

But before we all start to moan about the-have and have-not picture developing, a word of warning is on offer for the seemingly cash-rich clubs in England's elite.

The bubble is about to burst and the world's fragile economy will not leave football clubs and owners exempt from financial pain.

The third entry in the list, Roman Abramovich, is estimated already to have lost £3billion in the crunch and you can bet your last dollar that, like any other businessman, sooner or later he will cut the umbilical chord.

Football analysts are already predicting that fans feeling the pinch will not renew season tickets or splash out on merchandise.

When push comes to shove, the satellite dish will be thrown off the roof and so the domino effect continues. Nothing ever lasts forever. Just ask the Rangers fans about bubble and burst. Pleasant dreams

THIS week the Scottish Cup takes centre stage and with it the hopes and dreams of fans up and down the country that a shock for one of the big clubs could be on the way.

The names of Adrian Sprott, Paul Sheerin, Craig Bryson and Sammy Reid will forever be associated with this tournament because of the giantkilling goals they scored to knock the old firm out of the cup.

Are we about to witness more misery for Glasgow's big two in round four? Not in my book. Celtic should be able to see off Dundee and it might take a replay before Rangers make their way into the fifth round past St Johnstone.

If there are shocks in this round, it could be at Inverness where Partick Thistle are more than capable of forcing a second game out of Caley before knocking them out at Firhill in a replay.

Elsewhere, if I was a betting man, Ayr might be worth a punt at home to Killie and Queen of the South to win at Falkirk.