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When Rangers finally came to their senses and put Russell Martin out of his misery, the club’s American owners published an open letter to supporters the following day.
Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe, the club’s chairman and vice-chairman, held their hands up and admitted that they had got it wrong with Martin.
They made it clear that they intended to be much more hands-on with a ‘rigorous and thoughtful’ recruitment process to find a new manager, insisting they were ‘treating this with the urgency it deserves’.
By and large, the letter was fairly well-received among supporters. It showed a willingness from the owners to engage, whilst also acknowledging that mistakes had been made.
But that was 11 days ago. What has unfolded in the intervening period, with the club being knocked back more times than a hormonal teenager at a high school disco, has undone much of that goodwill from fans.
Patrick Stewart (left) and Kevin Thelwell (right) unveil Russell Martin back in June
Rangers vice-chairman Paraag Marathe (left) and chairman Andrew Cavenagh eventually pulled the plug on Martin's disastrous tenure
Now Kevin Muscat looks to be the man to take the reins at Rangers after an embarrassing recruitment process
With Steven Gerrard and Danny Rohl both deciding to withdraw from the process, how has it come to a point where Kevin Muscat is effectively the last man standing?
How has it come to a point where, after talking about the need for ‘urgency’, Rangers are eyeing up a manager who will be unable to start for another four weeks due to his current job in China with Shanghai Port?
When Martin was sacked, the word from Rangers was that they were looking to move swiftly and have a new manager in place by the time they returned from the international break to face Dundee United.
That match is now upon them. After taking first-team training this week, it is Under-19s coach Steven Smith who will take charge and be in the dugout at Ibrox tomorrow.
None of this was in the original masterplan. Whilst the club were keen to stress that several names were under consideration last week, the Americans were understood to be all-in on Gerrard.
He ticked all the boxes in terms of what they were looking for and came with the added bonus in that he would have united a fractured fanbase.
They had pretty much hitched their wagon to the former Liverpool and England captain and, even as late as Saturday morning, there was a confidence in Gerrard returning.
Steven Gerrard had looked set to return to Rangers but he then decided against it
By Saturday night, however, the deal was off. Daily Mail Sport understands that Gerrard had reservations about the structure of the club and his role in the overall chain of command.
The fact that Gerrard would have been coming back to Rangers as damaged goods, after failing in each of his last two jobs at Aston Villa and Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, matters little now.
But his decision to pull the plug at the last minute sent the Americans back to square one and scrambling around for what the next best option might be.
The alarm bells about Gerrard actually started early on Saturday afternoon, when Rangers started briefing about just how ‘impressive’ Rohl had been in his talks with the owners.
But, after no further contact was made, the 36-year-old German notified Rangers on Wednesday that he did not wish to proceed any further in the recruitment process.
In other words, he was left hanging and got fed up.
Muscat’s name was already in the conversation. But, when Rohl pulled out, he became the *only* name left in the conversation. Almost as a sort of default option.
Rangers’ handling of this whole process has been deeply unimpressive. It’s turned into a saga, a soap opera played out in full view of the public.
This is not how a well-run club should handle its affairs. Big clubs have a very clear vision of what they want, they identify who they want as manager, and they go and make it happen.
Danny Rohl had also been in contention - only to rule himself out of the running, as well
More often than not, it all happens very swiftly. These clubs have an ability to see round corners and often have a new manager lined up immediately when it becomes clear that a change is needed.
For Rangers, that’s the great failure in all of this. Even though it was clear for weeks that Martin was only heading one way, it looks like this whole thing has caught them on the hop.
There was no obvious succession plan in place, no list of candidates drawn up, other than a few guys with whom the club had previous dealings.
Gerrard was the obvious choice and had managed the club previously. Muscat had been in the frame a couple of years ago prior to the appointment of Philippe Clement.
Rohl had been spoken to back in the summer, but his contractual situation with Sheffield Wednesday at that time made it a difficult deal to do.
Sean Dyche was sounded out on account of his previous connections with Kevin Thelwell at Everton, but made it clear he did not wish to be considered.
How can a ‘rigorous and thoughtful’ recruitment process, those were the words used by Cavenagh and Marathe, boil down to picking between a handful of guys who you already knew about?
A lot of this comes down to Thelwell. He was determined to stick with Martin, only for Cavenagh to eventually pull rank and personally step in to remove the manager.
What all of this says about Thelwell in the bigger picture is, well... it’s hardly a glowing endorsement. His role has been undermined, if not being completely untenable already.
In following one botched move with another, Rangers have turned this into amateur hour and it only raises further questions.
Questions about the American owners, questions about chief executive Patrick Stewart, and questions about sporting director Thelwell. Nobody comes out of this looking particularly well.
As reported in Daily Mail Sport on Wednesday, when it came down to a straight choice between Rohl and Muscat, senior figures at the club were split.
Rohl had impressed and would have been given the job had the decision lay squarely with a certain figure. Others liked him, too, but were wary of taking another gamble on another young unproven coach.
There was a desire for someone with more clout and experience to take the job, hence why talks with Muscat began to accelerate.
With personal terms now agreed, the 52-year-old Australian hardman, a coaching disciple of Ange Postecoglou, will be hired as the man to take Rangers forward.
When will he actually be able to arrive and take charge of the team? Well, that remains uncertain for now. It could be another four weeks.
Sources have indicated that Muscat is determined to honour his contract in China. He won’t just jump ship at the drop of a hat.
It could be slightly earlier, if Shanghai Port can wrap up the league title before then. But, either way, Rangers face a seven-figure compensation package to buy him out of his contract in China.
Given the disastrous appointment of Martin, and the endless faffing which has followed, the Americans calling the shots at Rangers need to get this right. Then again, the same was said back in the summer.
