RANGERS icons Ally McCoist and Sandy Jardine would have been axed in an alternative cost-cutting strategy after the club's financial meltdown, drawn up by an expert for the liquidators. 

The expert suggested that after the club business went into administration,  24 players could have been made redundant and another ten sold while over 70 non-playing staff could have gone.

It would have left a total squad across the entire club roster of 25 players.

The analysis was carried out to illustrate a different strategy to handling the club after it went into administration in February, 2012.

The details emerged as liquidators of Rangers oldco BDO sue the former administrators of the business Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps for £56.8m claiming a seriously flawed strategy in raising money for the thousands owed millions from the 2012 insolvency.

READ MORE: Ex-Rangers administrators fight 'bonkers' £56.8m 'shut club down' claim

The Court of Session has been told that BDO's expert witness Gordon Christie had drawn up the list of cuts that he believed could have been undertaken in an 'illustrative assessment'.

Mr McCoist was on the the list of redundancies suggested along with Mr Jardine.

The Herald:

Ally McCoist and Sandy Jardine

The details emerged as Andrew Dickson, the head of football administration at Rangers at the time Rangers went into financial meltdown agreed that a level of cuts would have been a "sensible approach" and said that more could have been done to offload players.

But in his statement, Mr Dickson, the current club finance director said at no point did the adminstrators ask him for his opinion or assistance regarding player redundancies.

"Had the joint administrators carried out an exercise to analyse the playing squad to try and work out who to retain, who to sell and who to make redundant, I would have been able to assist with that," said Mr Dickson, who at the time of the club's financial implosion, had been football administration head for eight years and employed by the club for 19 years.

"I accept that I am not an ex-player, nor a football manager. However, if the joint administrators had focussed on the question of who to make redundant from more of a financial and regulatory perspective, rather than the perspective of the team's performance on the pitch, I could have helped."

He added: "This would have meant that the company could have retained the minimum squad necessary..."

Andrew Young QC, for Mr Whitehouse and Clark asked him what the fan reaction would be had Mr McCoist had been made redundant.

"I don't think it would have gone down well," said Mr Dickson who said he had known the names of those who Mr Christie suggested should have been axed.

After being shown the non-playing staff list and asked by Mr Young whether the bulk should have gone, Mr Dickson said: "Probably not, no."

In his statement Mr Dickson had said: If the joint administrators had needed to be brutal from a financial perspective, regarding the non-playing staff, then I agree with Mr Christie that there was scope to make some staff from various departments redundant.

"The joint administrators could have sat down with me, or someone else from the executive team, to work out the minimum number of staff each department needed following an explanation of their function and role."

The Herald:

David Whitehouse and Paul Clark

The action comes nine years after the Rangers business fell into administration and then liquidation leaving thousands of unsecured creditors out of pocket, including more than 6000 loyal fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox.

Creditors also ranged from corporate giants such as Coca-Cola to a picture framer in Bearsden and a lady called Susan Thomson who ran a face-painting business and was owed £40.

Earlier in the action, evidence provided to the Courts of Session showed that while the business and Rangers assets such as Ibrox, the Murray Park training facility, trademarks and the players were bought by Charles Green's Sevco for £5.5m, a fair value assessment to the group carried out on the day of the buyout was put at nearly five times that - £27.2m. It further emerged that the price of the Rangers brand, including valuable trademarks used in all the club's merchandising was zero - while the assessment put their value at £16m.

And while just ten of the star players including striker Steven Naismith, goalkeeper Allan McGregor, midfielder Steven Davis, and defender Steven Whittaker were valued at £21.35m after the club went into insolvency - they ended up being bought for just £2.75m as part of Sevco's £5.5m purchase. BDO's representatives described that as "some way short".

Mr Clark and Mr Whitehouse recently agreed an estimated £24m settlement after Scotland's senior law officer the Lord Advocate agreed there was a malicious prosecution in connection with the collapsed club fraud case.

They are both defending the action by BDO claiming the liquidators expected a "bonkers" strategy of a 'fire sale' of Rangers which would have "effectively shut the club down for good".