HMS Sevco now steers a steady course to Delaware

Despite Alloa’s purported skullduggery, the smart money is on Sevco’s super duper tanker to brush aside the League One outfit.

Sadly, this is probably not enough to reinvigorate the Ibrox klanbase with an infusion of hubris.

Indeed, despite progressing in Europe, the poor dears didn’t seem that happy.

 

The thing is, the guys in the Delaware Panhandle are probably already ticking off one of Mr Martin’s KPIs.

My understanding was that reaching the Europa League group stage was one of the primary objectives for his first season in charge of Sevco.

Obviously, if he gets past Club Brugge, then that’s a clear and somewhat unexpected bonus for the Stateside owners.

This is a period of adjustment for those of an Ibrox persuasion.

When the Americans took over, it brought to an end a decade of emotional ownership.

There were genuine fans in the Blue Room, and they reacted to events on the pitch and, crucially, in the stands.

Which included the capricious way managers found out they had been resigned.

That is now a thing of the past.

Russell Martin will be in place regardless of the chagrin of the Ibrox klanbase towards him for as long as the Delaware Crew see him coming through for them.

Which brings me to his other likely KPIs for this season.

Let’s imagine he’s been told that he isn’t expected to win the SPFL  in 2025-26, but he should be within single digits of the champions, Celtic.

Then he should also reach a cup final.

As Aberdeen showed in May, if you get there, you’ve a chance of winning it even against a stronger opponent.

Of course, Martin being thus being viewed as a success from across the Pond would lead to ANOTHER trophyless season for the Bears.

Yesterday, I caught up with a source who is in a position to have a good take on the regime at Sevco.

From the get-go, he has been convinced that this change of ownership at Ibrox was a Leveraged Buy Out (LBO).

Consequently, the first thing to be paid is the cost of the finance.

Therefore, I put a simple question to him:

If, say, £10m comes into the club, what happens to it?

He broke it down as follows:

£2.5m would go to covering the LBO costs.

£2.5m would go to the owners Stateside.

£3m-£3.5m would go to the operating expenses of the club.

The remainder would be available for recruitment.

So, dear reader, in this scenario, 50% of the imagined £10m would go across the Pond.

Given their fondness for World War Two analogies, the Bears should find out about Operation Fish.

Uncle Sam always drives a hard bargain.

However, the good news in all of this for the Ibrox klanbase is that the days of hand-to-mouth, 11th-hour crisis loans and share confetti are a thing of the past.

This new era for Sevco is one of sustainability.

Remember, Messrs Cavenagh and Marathe used the S Word in their public outings at the time of the takeover.

Consequently, the tanker is on an even keel, but a substantial chunk of the cargo is being landed in Delaware.

These guys are not benefactors.

Think of them as American Ashleys.