John Gow - Time for Rangers and Green to part company

[simplythebest 0]

You would also, though, given the accurate statement you make that he would be far more guarded in what he actually says every time a microphone is stuck in front of his face.

 

I am a little surprised that we arent unanimously holding him to a higher standard. Isnt too long ago that McCoist was taking pelters because he had the audacity to stand on the sidelines in tracksuit instead of lub suit and tie. Yet we seem to be OK with CG lying and making stupid public comments. (for the record I believe McCoist should be in club suit and tie....)

 

I've never cared what Ally wears, and that's from one of his critics.

 

I am holding Green to a higher standard, he's made a right mess of some things lately and needs to take a step back or be reeled in.

 

All I'm really defending him against is calls for him to depart.

[Tom Davison 0]

All credit to STB for his consistent defence of C G. My difficulty is I just don't believe that he has the qualifications to hold down what is an important and high profile job. It appears that CG appointed himself to the CEO position. If he had been subjected to a competitive selection process, there appears to be little to suggest that he would have been the best candidate. No one can dispute the effort he puts he puts in but the CEO position at Rangers should be filled with someone who is both wiser and better qualified.

[simplythebest 0]

All credit to STB for his consistent defence of C G. My difficulty is I just don't believe that he has the qualifications to hold down what is an important and high profile job. It appears that CG appointed himself to the CEO position. If he had been subjected to a competitive selection process, there appears to be little to suggest that he would have been the best candidate. No one can dispute the effort he puts he puts in but the CEO position at Rangers should be filled with someone who is both wiser and better qualified.

I'm a little bit unsure about all that Tom. Green is clearly not some novice, he's held a number of CEO, chairman type positions including at another football club. Not everything seems to have been a success but at the same time we don't seem to be dealing with Craig Whyte type business history, and he was obviously invited on board by the consortium for a reason, it wasn't he who formed the bid initially.

 

It seems difficult for me to define who could be the best for us. I mean if you go by football clubs the best CEOs in the UK are tied up in England, we wouldn't have had a chance of getting David Gill for example. Maybe Lawwell is the best comparison, is his business history outside Celtic massively brilliant and well above Green's? I'm not a business expert so I seriously don't know. I do know however Green is far more qualified than I am, and i'm not sure after being demoted the third division that we'd exactly have been spoiled for choice with world class candidates or that we would be now.

[ian1964 10,440]

Troublesome Waters

Posted on April 10, 2013

55

 

Like many Rangers fans I watched with horror at the train crash of an interview Charles Green gave to Peter Adam Smith of STV.

 

The STV reporter speared Green on certain statements he had made publicly, particularly concerning a mooted tie-in with the Dallas Cowboys and the claim by Green that Rangers’ bid to compete in England was supported by Manchester United.

 

Ironically, it is my understanding that several big name clubs in England actually have given a favourable response to the Rangers CEO in his plans to take the club south.

 

Perhaps for reasons of confidentiality, Green is keeping the names of these clubs out of public scrutiny at present.

 

It has to be said that Big Chuck did not come out of the interview looking good and, although it made the Rangers chief executive look bad, it has to be said that Peter Adam Smith did his job well in pinning Green down on certain matters.

 

I am sure that Charles Green is more than aware that answering tough questions is part of his job.

 

Gers fans will also not be pleased to see that, despite Green claiming he had met Craig Whyte only once, his latest disclosure to Ally McCoist is that he met the former owner six times.

 

The question Rangers fans want answering is: Why lie about it in the first place?

 

Another is: Why is Ally McCoist so glibly accepting this changed version of events?

 

It has become clear that there is a massive rift between Green and Coisty – a rift which is growing daily.

 

Even if Green is not trying to force Ally’s hand to resign by putting pressure on him with key sackings like Sandaza and Neil Murray, it looks that way.

 

And the latest story about Green telling Ally to fire his assistants is a terribly embarrassing piece of publicity for Rangers Football Club.

 

It’s all very well blaming a Rangers-hating media for muck-stirring but much of the negative press concerning Rangers lately is of the own goal variety.

 

Charles Green isn’t so much as shooting himself in the foot PR-wise as blowing off both his legs with a sawn-off.

 

Rangers fans are bemused, bothered and bewildered. And many are deeply concerned at the recent news coming out of Ibrox.

 

Craig Whyte’s re-emergence isn’t helping but he is only exacerbating an already dire situation.

 

Rangers FC is in crisis and if things go south over the next week the same way as they have over the past week or two, it will be a grim scenario indeed.

 

On the positive side, I am led to believe that the return of former fans’ favourite Nacho Novo has not been entirely ruled out.

 

Also, there is the prospect of a glamour game against one of the teams Gers defeated on the European Cup Winners Cup run of 1972 to honour the heroes who won that competition.

 

One more piece of good news for Gers fans who want revenge against those SPL teams who so viciously put the boot into Rangers last summer.

 

My understanding is that a certain team in the SPL cabal is practically bust and being propped up by the bank. This club is dependent totally on reconstruction taking place.

 

So this may be one team that needs no more boycotting by the Rangers faithful…

 

http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/

[craig 5,199]

I'm a little bit unsure about all that Tom. Green is clearly not some novice, he's held a number of CEO, chairman type positions including at another football club. Not everything seems to have been a success but at the same time we don't seem to be dealing with Craig Whyte type business history, and he was obviously invited on board by the consortium for a reason, it wasn't he who formed the bid initially.

 

It seems difficult for me to define who could be the best for us. I mean if you go by football clubs the best CEOs in the UK are tied up in England, we wouldn't have had a chance of getting David Gill for example. Maybe Lawwell is the best comparison, is his business history outside Celtic massively brilliant and well above Green's? I'm not a business expert so I seriously don't know. I do know however Green is far more qualified than I am, and i'm not sure after being demoted the third division that we'd exactly have been spoiled for choice with world class candidates or that we would be now.

 

I have absolutely no doubts we would have PLENTY of candidates.

 

This is Rangers, it is an institution - coming as CEO is far different to coming as a player to play in the SFL3. Also, given the salary and benefits that CG gets I dont doubt that there would have been plenty of candidates at those kind of salary levels.

[Stimpy 0]

When Rangers fans look back at the Ibrox leadership of David Murray and Craig Whyte, some must wonder how they could have been fooled by them when, in hindsight, the negative direction they were taking the Light Blues was easy to see.

 

But hindsight is a perfect science, and at the time the fans were conflicted. These two people owned Rangers, so there was a tendency to confuse them with the club, and defend them because of that. Others reasoned that they had the hand on the steering wheel and it was best to keep them on the road, rather than fight them for control and possibly end up crashing.

 

As well meaning as these strategies were, they were ultimately flawed. Yet some Rangers fans are re-using them in their attitude towards the shambles created by Rangers' Chief Executive, Charles Green. Every supporter knows he is a man full of bluster, but previously he got the job done so his occasional lapses could be forgiven.

 

A perfect example was the successful IPO share issue. Raising millions in the Third Division was a remarkable feat, so his robust defence of the club around that time seemed appropriate. From the summer of 2012, Rangers needed a street-fighter and Charles Green loved the role.

 

But he loved it too much. Over the last month, the club have been embarrassed with Charles Green's links to Craig Whyte and the incredible admittance, and then defence, of racist language towards Imran Ahmad.

 

For the latter issue, it is worth explaining that he was telling a national newspaper how much he hates racism and sectarianism. That's great, but instead of remembering he is the CEO of Rangers FC and leaving it there, he loses all sense of perspective and delves into his opinion of political correctness.

 

He said: "When I played at Worksop Town, the other striker was 'Darkie' Johnson. Now if I say that today I could go to jail. You know, Imran [Ahmad] will come into the office regularly and I'll say 'How's my p--- friend?'."

 

To pro-actively tell a newspaper such things is mind-boggling. But he could have apologised and made the point that he is out of touch and no malice was intended. He might even have brought awareness to the anti-racism cause and possibly turned it into a positive.

 

Yet he didn't apologise and for this alone he should not be an employee of Rangers FC. It wasn't enough to embarrass the club through stupidity; his refusal to apologise brought humiliation and showed that Charles Green comes first, whatever the consequences.

But this is not all. The slow leaking of his possible links to Craig Whyte has corroded much of the trust between the fans and himself, and is only leading one way. This is bad enough, but if Charles Green appears to be telling the fans nonsense including, bizarrely, a link-up with the Dallas Cowboys, then his statements about the relationship with Whyte will be questioned.

 

With the consequences for any real links between the two being catastrophic and the growing uneasiness in the partnership with his manager, the time has come to thank Charles Green for his year and make a parting of the ways before it all explodes.

 

He will have made the money he said he was at Ibrox to make, and in return the fans can thank him for his bullish performances when they needed something to rally around. It has to be remembered that he is not the Rangers owner, and there would be little trouble in finding a competent and reliable Chief Executive to replace him.

 

There is an old saying that 'no man is bigger than the club'. Well at the moment Charles Green is bigger than Rangers, at least in his own eyes, and the club is suffocating because of it. Time to let the club breathe again.

 

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/rangers/id/4282?cc=5739

 

He appeared at the RST dinner, took centre stage, and proclaimed that "he's never ever lied". I walked off to the bogs at that point then had a light cigarette. Anything else was just going to be met with epic face-palm action.

[ian1964 10,440]

Charles Green is probed on race and lies

 

RANGERS chief Charles Green was last night forced to issue a grovelling apology — as he faced a double probe by footy bosses sparked by revelations in The Scottish Sun.

 

The under-fire Ibrox supremo has been asked to explain his business relationship with former Gers owner Craig Whyte after we revealed links between the two as Green fought to buy the Light Blues last summer.

 

And the tough-talking Yorkshireman will have to answer allegations of racist language following comments he made in an exclusive interview with us on Sunday about his business partner Imran Ahmad.

 

Last night outspoken Green said sorry for referring to Rangers director Ahmad as “my Paki friend”.

 

He said: “I apologise unreservedly if any offence has been taken by my remark. I was actually trying to make the point, albeit clumsily, that I am not a racist.

 

“Imran Ahmad is a close friend and business associate and I would certainly have no cause or wish to offend him.”

 

The Scottish Football Association has asked Green to come clean about his involvement with Whyte — who is suing him for £50million after claiming he was swindled.

 

Last night its chief executive Stewart Regan said: “A lot of the revelations at the weekend came out of the blue and were surprising to a number of people within the game. Not least the SFA.”

 

Whyte was fined £200,000 by the SFA and banned from being involved in Scottish football for life in May 2012 after a panel ruled he was “not a fit and proper person” to own a club following the demise of Rangers.

 

Now embattled Green has been asked to explain Whyte’s claims the current Gers chief was a “frontman” for him during the takeover.

 

The SFA’s move is a result of a string of explosive revelations in The Scottish Sun.

 

We told last Friday how Green admitted he had shafted former owner Whyte by lying to him to pull off his Rangers buyout.

 

It came as Whyte said he was preparing a £50million legal bid for control at Ibrox, claiming Green — who was at Ibrox last night as Rangers defeated Northern Irish side Linfield 2-0 in a friendly — swindled him.

 

We revealed how we had seen a bombshell letter Whyte sent to Green and former Rangers director Imran Ahmad just days before the recent £22million flotation.

 

And the following day we told how Whyte claimed he paid £137,500 into the account of power broker Ahmad’s mum to mask his role in the club’s takeover.

 

The deal was revealed in a matey text exchange between Whyte and Ahmad on May 12.

 

Yesterday, it emerged Whyte, 42, has been ordered to pay back finance firm Ticketus £17.7million after a senior judge ruled that he had lied to them during his Ibrox takeover. The High Court in London also ordered him to cough up £700,000 in interest and legal costs after his bid to counter-sue Ticketus failed.

 

Regan last night said our exclusives had raised “very specific questions”.

 

He said: “Back in July 2012 a number of undertakings and warranties were given by the consortium to the Scottish FA in relation to Craig Whyte and his involvement, or more specifically his non-involvement with the club.

 

“What we’ve done at this stage is to write to the club, the chief executive Mr Green. There are some very specific questions that came out in The Scottish Sun in relation to monies, text messages and specific individuals who are associates or have been associates of Craig Whyte.

 

“The undertakings and warranties given by the club were very specific, therefore we need answers to a number of very specific questions.

 

“Clearly we’re at step one of a process that has started as a result of revelations in The Scottish Sun. If we are happy with the club’s answers there may not be any need for an interview process.

 

“If we do need further information, then as a board we would have the right, under our articles, to invite the club in for discussions along with their advisers.”

 

Regan also confirmed the SFA are still chasing Whyte for their £200,000 fine.

 

He added: “When Craig Whyte was found guilty by the judicial panel on a number of counts, he was given a sanction which meant he could no longer have any role whatsoever in football in Scotland under our jurisdiction.

 

“Obviously the incoming regime has to give us commitments regarding the fit and proper nature of the people who will be directors of the club, and the involvement of Craig Whyte was a concern for the board.

 

“We made it clear when we signed the documents last summer that this was an issue for us and warranties and undertakings were given. The fact that there have been revelations that we were unaware of means we need answers to those questions.”

 

Last night a Rangers spokesperson said: “A letter has been received and, as we have already stated, matters relating to Craig Whyte’s allegations and claims are being dealt with by our lawyers both here in Scotland and in England.

 

“We are entirely comfortable with our position and a full response will be issued to the SFA in due course.”

 

Green also faces being carpeted by SFA chiefs on disrepute charges over allegations of racist language used in an interview with our paper on Sunday. Race campaigners blasted him and Police Scotland have been probing the incident as a “hate crime” — but currently insist “no criminality has been established as yet”.

 

SFA compliance officer Vincent Lunny has issued Green with a notice of complaint and told him he has six days to respond. Green is accused of bringing the game into disrepute and not acting in the best interests of Association Football by “making comments in a media interview of an offensive and racist nature”.

 

In The Scottish Sun interview Green said: “I was brought up in a mining community where whether someone was black, white, Catholic, Salvation Army, Protestant, made no difference.

 

“You know, Imran will come into the office regularly and I’ll say ‘How’s my Paki friend?’”

 

Last night Mr Regan added: “In our Scotland United strategy we’ve made it very clear that we don’t condone any form of racist of discriminatory language or behaviour.”

 

John McMillan, secretary of the Rangers Supporters Trust, said: “I am 100 per cent sure Charles Green has neither religious nor racist prejudices. Maybe he should bite his tongue for 10 seconds before he says too much.

 

“But this is way over the top and I think it is outrageous if the SFA decide to take action.”

 

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4882193/Charles-Green-is-probed-on-race-and-lies.html

[ian1964 10,440]

Tom English: Charles Green becoming a liability

 

CHARLES Green’s hubris has come back to haunt him, writes Tom English. Green says what he likes and likes what he says, and that has always been a problem for him and the club.

 

At some point yesterday, Charles Green travelled through time from the 1970s, where casual racism was the norm, and joined the rest of us here in the 21st century, where it is not. The Rangers chief executive apologised unreservedly for calling his associate, Imran Ahmad, his “little Paki friend” in a newspaper interview last Sunday. The fact that it took him half a week to do it tells you something about Green’s mortifying struggle.

 

On Monday, he sought to defend his words in the face of huge criticism, sought to pour scorn on his critics as a politically correct brigade gone mad, but last evening, wholly belated and terribly brief, came some kind of statement of contrition. It only came after the SFA announced its intention of charging him with making offensive and racist comments and after Walter Smith had himself made it clear that Green’s comments had been unacceptable. Green, it seems, was the last person in Scotland who twigged that calling somebody a “Paki” was an odious thing to do, regardless of context. Many would say he twigged too late. Many would say he should be removed from office as a consequence. And he should, no question.

 

The first thing you have to do these days when writing about Green is get yourself a good thesaurus that offers multiple variations on the word cringe. Wince. Flinch. Cower. Recoil. Squirm. Tremble. Over the entirety of his reign but most especially during the last week Green has tested the vocabulary of us scribblers who are tasked with the Herculean job of trying to capture his personality. In the business of his “little Paki friend” comparisons have been drawn with Bernard Manning and David Brent, but in other areas there’s also been the essence of Frank Spencer and a whiff of Mr Bean. Green hasn’t roller-skated his way down a ramp and on to the back of a London bus, as Frank once did, or head-butted the Queen while trying to free his finger from his zipper, a la Bean, but Green has become a hapless character none the less.

 

Over the past few days his hubris has come back to haunt him. Green says what he likes and likes what he says and that has always been a problem. Where do you begin in cataloguing his pronouncements? In no particular order – and by no means an exhaustive list – we have his vow to rename Murray Park that has not been delivered on, his claim that Manchester United want Rangers in the Premier League when their spokesman says they do not; the trippy notion that Barcelona and Real Madrid would have Rangers in La Liga when there is not even the slightest suggestion of a fact to back it up; the boast of a commercial deal in the offing with the Dallas Cowboys when the Dallas Cowboys knew of no such thing; the statement that a deal with Adidas was only days away when, in fact, it never happened; the declaration that Rangers have a potential worldwide television audience of 500 million or, in other words, seven per cent of the planet’s population and that all these untapped Bears would bring in £100m in digital revenues that is so off the charts that it gives you a sore head; the 19 signing targets last summer including five who were featuring at Euro 2012, none of whom ever signed.

 

All of this bluster came and went. Even though some of us in the media pointed out how daft it all was none of it really damaged him. The Rangers support threw their eyes to heaven at some of it but forgave him because he was the man who rescued the club post-Craig Whyte, the man who savaged Whyte in his every utterance, the man who stood up for them against the media and who delivered a share issue and millions of pounds to the Ibrox coffers where before there was just dust.

 

Green, though, has the self-awareness of a bull in a china shop and only half the subtlety. It was bad enough telling a newspaper about his “little Paki friend” without exacerbating it the following day. His communications man, James Traynor, would surely have made him aware of the almighty faux pas he had made on Sunday and then presented him with a way out of it. If Traynor gave him a roadmap out of trouble ahead of his STV interview on Monday then Green chucked it in the bin and steered himself back into the ditch. He was like a rabbit in the headlights in that interview. For once he wasn’t in control and he didn’t like it. For once he wasn’t permitted to bluster on endlessly and that clearly threw him. In attempting to answer questions about some of his past declarations, Green came across as a man you simply could not believe.

 

He failed on the Manchester United question, failed on the Dallas Cowboys question. He promised his interviewer proof that the Dallas Cowboys had sent an email and then never produced it. In themselves, these are small matters, but they add up to a question of trust and Green flunked it.

 

He failed again on the Whyte issue. Nobody believes much, or anything, that Whyte says, but the former owner has damaged Green all the same. Green’s defence continues to be that he lied to Whyte, he strung him along, he conned him. The words on the tape recordings make you wonder about that. The revelations about the six-figure sum lodged by Whyte into the bank account of Imran Ahmad’s mother raises alarm bells. Why his mum? The £25,000 cheque Whyte lodged to Green’s account is another episode that casts doubt over everything Green is saying. The cheque bounced. But why was Green looking for the money from Whyte in the first place? Was there more to the relationship than Green has previously admitted?

 

Green takes a pride in his straight-talking Yorkshire ways, so let’s deal in the kind of language that he will clearly understand. It’s over. He has become a liability, an embarrassment to the club. The fans, in rising numbers, don’t trust him any more, don’t buy his shtick of the honest man giving it to them straight. There are issues with Ally McCoist, issues with Smith, issues – of whatever import – with Whyte and those damaging tape recordings. There is silence from the chairman, Malcolm Murray, but we know there is no love lost there either. The SFA is on his case now as well and herein lies a clear illustration of the inescapable mess he has landed himself in.

 

Everybody knows the reality of the relationship between your average Rangers man and Stewart Regan and his people at the SFA. If Regan announced by way of a statement that today is Thursday very few Rangers fans would believe him. Some would check the calendar. Most wouldn’t even bother doing that. They’d assume he was making it up. There were those of us who thought that hell would freeze over quicker than a Rangers man agreeing with anything that came out of Hampden, but you’d have to say that many – if not the vast majority – of Ibrox fans have no issue with the SFA for going after Green. In fact, they support it. They are embarrassed by what he said about Ahmad and how he tried to justify it. In increasing numbers they are fed up with the sound of his voice.

 

Malcolm Murray, the chairman, has said nothing, but that is not to say that he will do nothing. He’ll get together with his board soon and if they have any sense they will stop Green from embarrassing Rangers any further by getting rid of him and replacing him with a guy whose ego is in check and who can get through an interview without making himself and his club a total laughing stock. Rangers need to move on from Green. And quickly, before the next calamity.

[Guest JCS]

I also very much enjoy John's articles, and his insights are often very valuable. However, on this occasion, I think he has overeacted - as so many have in recent days. Has CG acted appropriately - NO he hasn't. Has he been crass, thoughtless and naive - yes he has. Does he need to take a 'back seat' for a while - he most certainly does. But to assert that he needs to 'part company' with Rangers is absurd. John, almost casually, dismisses CG's contribution and over reacts to the 'racism' furore. CG has been stupid, and he has embarrassed Rangers, but that is not a dismissal offence just yet. Certainly a 'formal warning' but not the sack. Let's hope that calmer counsel will prevail,and CG will 'pull his horns' for a prolonged period, allowing others to repair the undoubted damage he has done.

[Guest JCS]

Why am I not surprised to see Tom English jump on the Green bashing 'bandwagon'. Whilst I am prepared to debate these issues with John Gow and others who take a balanced view of these issues - even if I disagree - I am not prepared to lend credence to English and the other Rangers hating hacks. Of course he makes some telling points, and were it not for the fact that his articles are tainted with the obvious hatred of the anti-Rangers hack, It would, doubtless, have some credibility. But reading an article by English is much like reading a comment by Lawwell or Doncaster - you just know that its written to damage and to smear - that's it's inevitably sullied by their all-pervasive hatred of Rangers.