The central relationship at Rangers remains between Charles Green and Ally McCoist.

The chief executive and the manager are about to embark on a restructuring process that is designed to establish the foundations of the football operation. That includes scouting and youth development, as well as player recruitment, and neither individual would have wanted to begin this stage of the club's revival amid a period of turmoil. Yet Rangers now have other problems to overcome.

Green and McCoist continue to be on working terms, but the manager was irked last Sunday by Green's remarks about this being the worst-ever Rangers team. The two men need to remain onside with each other since both have ambitions that require the club to return to the top flight in a strong and healthy position, on and off the pitch.

In recent months, a section of the Ibrox support have grumbled about the team's performances, which was reflected in doubts about McCoist, who is in his second season as a manager. He is steeped enough in the culture of Rangers to understand the stark demands that come with the position – some supporters were quick to criticise Walter Smith during his two successful managerial spells – and he also knows that results change everything. But the focus has shifted on to Green.

There is no power struggle between the two, but Green has endured a difficult few days. That, in turn, strengthens McCoist's position. The manager will soon be seeking the resources he wants to ensure that the football operation is extensively, and sustainably, rebuilt, with a physio, a chief scout and a youth team coach needing to be replaced from departures in recent weeks alone.

The allegations made by Craig Whyte last week were troublesome for Rangers, despite the former owner's lack of credibility. His own takeover of the club is currently under investigation by the police and by the liquidators of Rangers Football Club plc, the accountancy firm BDO, while a judge last year described Whyte's evidence during a trial as "wholly unreliable". If Whyte had a viable legal claim to make against Green and the consortium that bought the business and assets of the club last summer, he would have sought recourse in the courts before now, almost 12 months on from that purchase. Instead, his only leverage is insinuation.

Nonetheless, the mere suggestion of links between Whyte and Green, then the revelation that just more than £137,000 was paid by Whyte into an account held by the mother of Imran Ahmad, Rangers' commercial director and an original member of the consortium, are damaging, even if the money was never used and Whyte refused to accept its return. The former owner is such a toxic figure that his presence alone creates instability. There is no question that he is not involved in Rangers now, or that any potential buyer seeking a Company Voluntary Arrangement to bring Rangers Football Club plc out of administration last year had to strike a deal with Whyte, the majority shareholder. But supporters have grown cynical, and weary, in the past 18 months, and they demand full transparency, at least on business matters.

Green's remark that he occasionally refers to Ahmad, his friend as well as colleague, as "P***" caused further damage, to his own image as well as that of the club, which has worked hard to eradicate sectarianism and other forms of prejudice. The two men might have been joking with each other in private, but society does not find anything humorous in the term. As a publicly listed company, Rangers' value and share price can be harmed by events off the pitch as much as on it.

Green sought to clarify his remarks in a television interview yesterday, but only exacerbated the issue. He has achieved much in his time at Ibrox, drawing the support together behind him, successfully launching the Initial Public Offering of shares, and bullishly standing up for the club's position in a way that the fans appreciated. Yet Rangers need a period of stability.

The financial crisis of last year, and the takeover saga that followed, diminished the club's stature. Those values, as well as a culture of excellence, financial sustainability and an ethos of openness, decorum and responsibility, need to be restored. Green has referred in the past to disagreements with Malcolm Murray, the non-executive chairman, about his style, although Murray has essentially been absent as a public figure at Ibrox. "I've said a lot of things in 12 months," Green said in his interview with STV. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said this was the worst Rangers team ever. Was it true? Was it misleading? It wasn't said to win fans over. It wasn't said to win anyone over.

"There will be a shareholder meeting in August, if the board doesn't like what I'm doing, if the shareholders don't like what I'm doing, they'll have a vote and I'll be gone. That's fine. There won't be any tears in my eyes, other than the tear in my eye for leaving Rangers. If I haven't performed, I should be sacked. If in August the board are unhappy with my comments, the board will terminate my contract, or the shareholders will vote against me being re-elected as a director."

The situation is not that drastic, but Rangers need to implement their strategies – both in business and in football – with a coherent and unified message. Lessons have to be learned.