CHARLES Green has dismissed claims Ally McCoist should "watch his back" if his consortium's £8.5m bid for Rangers goes through.
Green was unpopular with supporters when chief executive of Sheffield United in the 1990s, and accused of asset stripping by selling key players, despite a successful share issue. Dave Bassett, the manager sacked by Green at Bramall Lane, warned McCoist to be wary of the 58-year-old Yorkshireman who is the only confirmed figure in a 20-strong consortium which wants to buy Rangers.
But Green, who yesterday watched Rangers finish their season with a 4-0 win at St Johnstone, described manager McCoist as "the most important person in this story".
"I find that sad," he said of Bassett's comments. "I'm not offended. I'm a Yorkshireman and too old to get offended. But it's totally wrong.
"The board of directors – the newly appointed board – said 'Dave Bassett has done a fantastic job, but he has been here 12 years, we want a change.' That happens in football. My job was to get rid of Dave and appoint a manager. And that – unfortunately – is what chief execs have to do.
"The first job I had to do was get rid of a legend. It would be like coming here and sacking Walter Smith, or Ally McCoist. Dave had kept the club together. But it was face to face, not in the back. For David to say that is wrong. It wasn't nice to do and I didn't enjoy it, but it was right to change that manager at that time.
"When I left Sheffield United, it was the only club in England with no debt, no borrowings, no overdraft, and cash in the bank. Rangers in my custodianship will never have the problems it's had in the past."
Green has yet to name any of the consortium members. "There are some Rangers fans in our group and I worry about them," he said. "Sometimes fans don't make good business decisions. The Sheffield United fans had a go at me because I wasn't a Blade and didn't love the club. I argued that I thought that made me dispassionate, because I could make difficult decisions without wearing my heart on my sleeve."
On Saturday he met McCoist for the first time, having declined to do so until administrators Duff & Phelps had confirmed approval of the consortium's bid. "He is the most important person in this story: the future of the club, everything. We have had a good chat and I have explained who we are and where we are. He has obviously been spoken to by David, so I am sure Ally – who as we all know is a great guy – knows it all.
"My problem and Ally's problem is the unknown. Have we got a transfer ban? Are we banned from Europe for one year or three? That's all driven by the structure of the deal and whether the company voluntary arrangement goes through. What we know is that we're committed to funding this club to the maximum. Believe me, if I go to the people who are funding this with me and say: 'Ally would like to spend this X million on these three players to get us into Europe and make a difference of £20m a year', why would they not support that?"
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