FORMER Rangers chief executive Charles Green revealed Derek Llambias was in on the deal to sell Ibrox's naming rights for £1 last night as he also told supporters they should support Mike Ashley.
In a bizarre interview conducted while Green lay on a hospital bed in west London, wearing a gown after an operation on a knee problem, he also dismissed reports he had been arrested in France earlier in the day.
Green is a deeply unpopular and discredited figure for the majority of Rangers supporters because tens of millions of pounds were squandered after his Sevco consortium bought the club after liquidation in 2012. It was on Green's watch that began a commercial relationship with Ashley that many fans deeply oppose.
Rangers owe Ashley £3 million and that figure will multiply if the Sports Direct billionaire formalises a reported £10m loan and it is accepted by the board. Current chief executive Llambias, a long-time Ashley associate, joined the Rangers board in November but Green revealed he had been present in the past when Rangers sold off the Ibrox naming rights to Ashley for £1. That deal was subsequently rescinded by Ashley, although it is unclear what he received in return.
Most Rangers fans want Dave King and the Douglas Park consortium to triumph in the current battle for control of the board but Green predictably sided with Ashley, Llambias, and brothers James and Sandy Easdale.
"The current team are doing a great job," said Green. "Maybe the fans don't like them, maybe they don't like Mike Ashley. I don't like Mike Ashley. But it doesn't mean that he isn't the right man for the job.
"Derek Llambias: he might have had a charisma bypass but actually he's a good guy doing a job. He did it at Newcastle. I met him, I took Derek Llambias to Ibrox when we did the deal for the naming rights. The reality is that these people have done nothing but good, they haven't taken anything out of Rangers, they've put money in.
"Sandy Easdale is exactly the same. All Sandy Easdale has done is put his hand in his pocket, pulled money out and put it into the club. He hasn't taken anything out of it and the fans are slaughtering him. And then here we have Dave King. Sandy has one charge and one conviction against him. Dave King admitted to 40 to settle with the South African authorities. So we're going to swap Sandy Easdale who's put money in, Dave King who hasn't? Where's that going to put things forward?"
Green, looking emotional at times during the interview with Jim White on Sky Sports News, claimed he no longer owns any Rangers shares. "I don't, no. I wanted to cut the ties, not to get involved, and I tried to keep out of it."
He also had a dig at former manager Ally McCoist. "My salary was £360,000 a year. When we were thrown out of the SPL I halved my salary. Ally McCoist refused to, so he kept his £760,000. All this rubbish that Charles Green raped and pillaged that club is not true."
Absurdly, he claimed that he would consider going back to Rangers. "Yeah, I would. It's things like today that make me think I should go back."
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