THE THREE STOOGES

Stewart, Thelwell and Steinsson are Ibrox comedy act but owner won't be laughing

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YOU'VE really got to hand it to Andrew Cavenagh and his Yankee Doodle Dandies.

They paid top dollar to take over an absolute basket case of a business just a few months ago and without pausing for breath they've seamlessly turned it into a raging bin fire.

That takes a bit of doing and it has certainly lent a level of vindication to those of us who warned that things were very likely to get worse for Rangers under American ownership before they could get any better.

But it must now be said, the second part of that prediction is rapidly becoming a matter of considerable doubt. Because if Cavenagh isn't thinking too clearly amid the clouds of chaos and confusion that have engulfed the club during his short time in charge then he might be about to make the same catastrophic mistakes all over again.

And if that's the case there's no guarantee things will get any better at all in the medium to longer term.

Record Sport broke the bombshell news on our agenda-setting Hotline Live show yesterday afternoon that the move to make Kevin Muscat had crashed into a stumbling block.

By teatime the club was confirming the move for Muscat had collapsed, meaning Cavenagh has been undermined and maybe even sabotaged by people on his own payroll.

On Thursday night it did feel as if a huge step forward had been taken with an agreement in principle pretty much set in stone to appoint Muscat as Russell Martin's successor.

But four days on it’s all gone up in smoke again — just as his initial plan to bring back Steven Gerrard was set alight after holding positive talks in London. Cavenagh and Muscat also thought they had effectively shaken hands on a deal. There was certainly no suggestion he was being ruled out on the basis he might not be available to start work until December.