David Grier, Paul Clark and David Whitehouse (both administrators working for Duff & Phelps) and Gary Withey (a former solicitor for Collyer Bristow) made no plea or declaration at Glasgow Sheriff Court and were granted bail. Meanwhile, the liquidators of Rangers former owners secured a £24 million payment from Collyer Bristow, the law firm that acted for Whyte when he bought the club. On the football front, Rangers' league campaign began with a defeat to newly relegated Hearts, with the Edinburgh club scoring an injury-time winner. Despite embarking on a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, a loss at home to Hibernian left Rangers trailing leaders Hearts by six points at the end of September. Better news for Rangers was the reaching of the League Cup semi-final after a 1–0 win over St Johnstone. They were drawn against Celtic, setting up the first Old Firm derby in two years. Nevertheless, the club's title charge was effectively ended in November as the side lost a six-pointer match away to league leaders Hearts leaving them nine points behind. The did bounce back the following week in the Scottish Cup registering a 3–0 win over Premiership side Kilmarnock, however, in the club's third cup competition the team surrendered a 2–0 lead to lose 3–2 to fellow Championship team Alloa Athletic in the Challenge Cup. Even with the poor league form and exit in the Challenge Cup, there was no indication of significant pressure on manager Ally McCoist. The effect of the club's financial issues, as underlined by the interim results that November, proved the catalyst for McCoist's departure as he became unhappy with the number of staff losing their jobs at Rangers. The situation became too much for McCoist, and he tendered his resignation on 12 December which was later confirmed to the London Stock Exchange by the club three days later, with McCoist beginning a twelve-month notice period; however, McCoist served less than a week of his notice period before being placed on gardening leave by the board, with his assistant manager Kenny McDowall being appointed interim manager until the end of the season. Boardroom changes and return to the top flight (2015–2021) The start of 2015 saw Mike Ashley's control over Rangers weakened as deals were made with a consortium, led by Dave King, to purchase the shareholding of Laxey Partners which had stood at 16%. King took control of a