THEY are the movers and shakers, the decision makers that patrol the corridors of power like their own personal kingdom. The rest of us, and our football clubs, are at their mercy.

Whether you are the chairman of a Lowland League newcomer or the chief exec of a Champions League winner, you are a custodian and your responsibility in the same.

You are there to serve your club, to represent every man, woman and child that has an emotional attachment and financial investment in an institution they hold dear. Unfortunately, too many in the game forget that.

A team may only be as good as their last result, but a club can only be as successful as those that are calling the shots and, supposedly, leading by example.

Rangers supporters know all too well the heartache that can befall a club and a fan base. When ego or greed supersede silverware and success, the only way is down.

Sir David Murray’s Ibrox legacy lies in tatters. His gambles have backfired and the biggest decision of his reign proved to be the mostly costly in Rangers’ history.

The only marks that Craig Whyte and Charles Green left behind are the deep wounds of financial mismanagement and boardroom chaos. They talked the talk, but they never walked in the shoes of those that followed in the footsteps of their team.

It was Murray’s venture in the world of Employee Benefit Trusts that had Rangers peering into the abyss, while Whyte and Green, and the rest of the characters that earned themselves a chapter in the sorry tale, made the most of the opportunity that presented itself.

Some did more than others, but almost all played a part in taking Rangers to the brink. There is still some way to go on the road to recovery.

Through it all, through the baffling business decisions, reckless financial management, the headlines and the scandals, the fans are the ones who have suffered most. It hasn’t been their fault, or that of the club. The blame game only has one winner at each stage.

For supporters across the country, and most of all on the other side of Glasgow, the seemingly never-ending crisis at Ibrox has made for compulsive viewing as they have mimicked, mocked and passed judgement on every event that has unfolded at Ibrox.

But they should be thankful that it wasn’t their club that was dragged through the mire, their fellow fan that hasn’t had to suffer the heartache, the ignominy or the embarrassment.

The badge on their chests may be different, but the love of their club is the one thing that all punters share. Sympathy was always going to be in short supply, but empathy shouldn’t be.

Football is filled with people that shouldn’t be in it, those who are there for a quick buck or back page headline. They don’t care about the game, the fans or their club.

Yet it is the man on the street that pays the ultimate price for the actions of a Green or Whyte, a Vladimir Romanov or Brooks Mileson. Our game has seen the Marr brothers at Dundee and Angelo Massone at Livingston but the list is even longer south of the border as clubs have suffered unnecessarily due to the recklessness of those charged with protecting them.

From Leeds United to Swindon Town, Wimbledon to Portsmouth, the trail of destruction goes down the leagues and across the country. Somewhere, some day, another club will fall into the wrong hands and another set of fans will have to live the nightmare.

So too will the staff behind the scenes, the kit men and the tea ladies. They are the people who give clubs that personal touch and are the antithesis of the men in suits.

It is easy for those not involved to take the moral high ground but it should always be remembered that they could easily be next. In football, nothing lasts forever.

That is one of the few positives that the Light Blue legions can take right now as their club looks to complete the journey from the wilderness back to the top of the game.

Hearts have shown what is possible when the right people, with a plan for and love of the club are in positions to shape its future, while Motherwell and Dunfermline also got back on track following their dark days.

Unfortunately, it won’t be long before another tale of woe hits. We have seen it before and we will see it again.

The club and those that make it are the ones that always suffer, though. This week has shown that once more.