Rangers fans are currently in a state of disillusionment at the exit of Steven Gerrard. But having vented a lot of the day about his personal decision, there’s also two very clinical reasons as to why Gerrard is no longer manager.

And they’re both financial.

The first relates to the disastrous accounts. Let’s not beat about the bush here, almost £25M losses meant not only did the boss have nothing to spend last summer, or January before it, he would have had nothing the upcoming January either. Any funds would be coming from winning the SPL and gaining CL access, but that only applies to next summer. And isn’t guaranteed yet.

Having already publicly attacked the spending level he’s had this summer, Gerrard already made it clear he wasn’t happy with that, nor with having nothing in January either.

The second reason relates to this. Rangers secured £4.5M from ‘selling’ Steven Gerrard to Villa. That’s right, the compensation is just a nice way of referring to a transfer fee, because that’s what the release clause in his contract was set at.

This meant Rangers’ losses were helped a little by his leaving, and reduced the damage a fair little bit.

The main one of course, in many ways, was knowing he was in the Bosman market pretty much since January this year to summer next.

Villa have money, and ambition, and while Rangers do too, we’re financially on hold till we mercifully secure CL group stage next season.

Why he left now? Maybe finance had something to do with it. Maybe it had a lot to do with it.

Maybe it was just all about the money.