Moira Gordon: Charles Green’s role at Rangers

IT has become something of a normal reaction whenever Charles Green raises his head or opens his mouth, and Friday was another head-in-the-hands instance, a moment when scribes groaned, Rangers fans face-palmed and the manager, the players and everyone tasked with simply getting on with the business of football at the Ibrox club considered banging their heads on the nearest wall in preparation for what undoubtedly lies ahead.

Charles Green. Picture: SNS

And that was all before the boardroom split hit the headlines. Seriously, what a nonsensical state of affairs and what a terribly ridiculous time to stir it all up.

The most amazing part of it all is that Green, the man who stepped down as chief executive in April having invited one cloud of controversy too many to take a breather over Govan, is said to be returning as a paid consultant to “promote the interests” of Rangers. This is the same man who disgraced himself and the club with his racist language and his initial unwillingness to even countenance he had done anything wrong.

As with most ills that have blighted the club, Green argued that it was simply a case of others stirring things, others who had over-reacted, others who were out to get him and the club. As always, that was hogwash and he was eventually held accountable, being charged by the SFA and fined £2500 for the “offensive and racist comments” made in a media interview.

Promote the club’s interests? He stepped down as an embarrassment and, in the end, few if any begged him not to. These were people who initially revered him for saving the club from Craig Whyte, for restoring the financial health of the club with a share issue and for maligning the media, pandering to the lowest common dominator. But by April, even they had seen through him.

They saw his broken promises and outlandish claims for what they were. It was unlikely La Liga were plotting to find a way to admit Rangers and the English Premier League remains a pipe dream. The commercial deal with Dallas Cowboys was never lassoed, neither were certain commercial deals he claimed were in the offing.

But this is a man who truly believes in his own ability for self-promotion: the issue he now faces is that too many people have seen through him and his bluster.

If he cannot convince the fans that he is the right man to be guiding the club – and he can’t – is he really the best person to be touting its worth to the outside world? He appears unable to do anything to promote unity within a board he helped to formulate, and is already stimulating unrest in the playing camp, issuing early ultimatums. The outspoken Green has stated that if he had been the man in control, manager Ally McCoist would not have been permitted as many summer signings. Not exactly the way to win favour with fans, while his decree that McCoist must win a cup as well as the league or face problems will have irritated the manager and his allies in the boardroom.

The fact Green did not have the clout to curtail the summer spending is down to the boardroom power balance, which is why the latest episode of muscle flexing has begun.

It is tedious and repetitive and after everything they have been through, the fans are unsurprisingly demanding some stability.

Which is why they are quite rightly dismayed by all the latest shenanigans.

It would all be worth it if the general meeting which has been called could actually placate all parties and find some kind of compromise, but the likelihood of that happening is slim. Proposed directors Paul Murray and Frank Blin won’t suit Green’s gameplan, but it seems others on the inside and the periphery won’t be happy until chief executive Craig Mather, finance director Brian Stockbridge etc are deposed.

It all adds up to another messy game of musical chairs; a childlike game of charades. What it isn’t is a professional and grown-up way of promoting the interests of the club.