Most of these entities - or non-entities as it were - are not slow in displaying a transparent hatred for all things Rangers. In the case of many, this applies not only to the people in the terraces but also to the people in the board-room. This hatred did us no favours last season when our great club flew the flag for Scotland in a fantastic European run, for which our reward amounted to punishment after the SPL forced us to play 4 games in 8 days due to the fixture congestion created by the continual functionality failures of "Professional" playing surface in Lanarkshire and the sad yet expected- liberty taking exhibited by our East-End chums when one of their former fringe players sadly passed away.
This was yet another devastating example of how, in Scotland, the tail wags the proverbial dog. Yet another example of the flawed level of control the SPL possess over Scotland's champions can be found during a brief jaunt down memory lane. The year 2004 to be exact..
It was negotiation time once again between the SPL and the TV companies. Rangers, Celtic and to be fair, one other SPL club all expressed concerns over the SPL's joint decision to take up Setanta on their offer to broadcast 38 live games a season in a deal worth £8m per season, rising in increments of £500,000 per year for the remainder of the 4-year deal. The BBC's offer for the same rights was £6m for 24 games. Then-honorary Rangers chairman Sir David Murray argued at the time that the 2 Old Firm games not broadcast by the BBC could be sold off on a one-off basis for £1m each, making up the shortfall.
The reason the custodians of both Rangers and Celtic had serious reservations about the Setanta deal were perfectly valid and in the fullness of time, have been proven correct.
That reason is a simple one, but sadly one that didn't penetrate the dollar-signs that had replaced the eye-balls of the SPL top-brass: The future viability of Setanta and their business model. As has been the hallmark of the Irish broadcaster's existence, it had recently posted an annual trading loss at this time and has continued to do so since.
Due to the fact that Setanta's offer in 2004 was not just of higher value, it also involved the front-ending of much of the cash on offer, the majority had spoken - and due to the lack of two other like-minded clubs, the original deal with Setanta was struck, despite the unease of the two teams who bring in over 90% of the top-flight cheddar in this country.
This is by no means the only example of the tail wagging the dog in Scottish Football, but it is one of the most important. A second extension of the Setanta contract in the summer of last year saw the same non-entities chase the quick buck rather than security again.
Which leads us to where we are now: Setanta, as speculated by the double-winners back in 2004, are haemorrhaging money, have defaulted on the final payment of their soon-to-expire second deal, are on the brink of collapse and to top it off nicely, Setanta are now attempting to renegotiate the record-breaking TV deal agreed with the SPL last summer and due to start next year. With Rangers and Celtic unable to negotiate TV deals individually, the opinion and vote of our club at this kangaroo court is the most ineffectual of the pack.
Whilst it's wide of the mark to suggest that the champions will struggle as a result of this, it certainly couldn't have come at a worse time for us.
But why are we here? We are here because despite Rangers and Celtic bringing in almost ALL of the money generated by our league, the other 10 clubs in the league hold all the stroke. The rules are designed for the monkeys rather than the organ grinders at the SPL - with 4 vetoes required to stop any motion or joint decision going through. One can understand the survival mentality of the other ten clubs, but when the only box-office attractions in the league have votes that are rendered useless from the word go, I can't be the only one who finds it unacceptable that "the rebel 10" have somehow managed to not only gain equality where it matters, but they've managed to nullify Rangers and Celtic completely.
With Scottish Football on its knees and the clubs who rely on the hard-earned cash of Rangers fans to stop going under year on year facing financial meltdown, it is time for things to change.
Interest in picking up the rights to broadcast SPL games is expected to be sparse and less lucrative should Setanta collapse as expected. The moment has arrived for Rangers Football Club to put itself first and demand a change to the rules that prevent us from negotiating our own TV deals. The ability for us to do this would bring forward the possibility of us gaining life-changing money from such a deal, given that our worldwide fan base would pay good money to watch our first team squad square off against the under-19's in a game of tiddlywinks, never mind the crucial games against the wonderful collection of powerful SPL no-marks.
Should we manage to force this change, not only could we gain the kind of cash befitting a club of our size and stature, but we could probably even afford to feed the parasites the scraps they so desire to stay alive, which is exactly how it should be already.
Given the level of uncertainty Setanta’s downfall has created, we may never be presented with another chance to force such a change, and the continual failure of the other 10 clubs to do what's best for the league's future prosperity rather than their own pockets means that we cannot leave our future fate in their hands any longer.
I do not doubt for a second that times are hugely tough out there for most of the league for reasons not of their making, but their backing of the wrong horse in the TV-Broadcasting rights race should be the last gamble we allow them to take in our name.
The answer has been put forward so many times: Broadcast the games live on RTV at minimal expense, even have an SPL TV station for the neutrals and supporters of the parasites and hey-presto: We have a solution.
Of course, it's perfectly reasonable for other dynamic alternatives to be explored within the current structure, but with the "captains of industry" from "the other 10" calling every shot in the book, it'd hard to see how they will manage to come up with the phoenix that will see the SPL rise from this particular pile of ash..
The phrase "Rangers First" has never been any more apt than it is right now, and when it comes to the Muppets who possess all of the stroke at the top-flight table, it's time for Sir David Murray and Martin Bain to tell the SPL what the Rangers fans told them in January...
"WE DESERVE BETTER!"