Charles Green may have concocted a term for the bond he claims to have quickly formed with the club – he came up with "Rangersitis" – but he isn't the first outsider to come into Ibrox and fall for the place.

The chief executive need only take some time to talk with the visiting manager tonight to find someone who was once similarly affected.

Like Green, the Inverness manager Terry Butcher was born and brought up without the slightest connection to Rangers, yet after signing for them as one of Graeme Souness's pioneers, in 1986, the former England captain was seduced. Curiously it is often those who come to Rangers from outside – Butcher, Graham Roberts, Andy Goram, Nacho Novo, Green – who make the biggest noise about how the club got into their heads.

"The biggest compliment you could pay the club and the people within the club – and the supporters, obviously – is that it can happen to people you wouldn't expect it to happen to," said Ally McCoist, the manager whose boyhood drift towards Rangers, as a local lad, was far more predictable.

"Terry is a perfect example of that. He loved his time at Rangers and we loved having him at Rangers because that time was legendary in Scottish football and for us. It said a lot for Rangers, and the Scottish public as well, that big figures like that came up and were drawn into the whole thing in a positive way.

"The England goalkeeper came up [Chris Woods], the England centre-half and captain came up [Butcher] and others like Ray Wilkins, Graham Roberts, Kevin Drinkell. A lot of them continued to stay here and the vast majority of them, in a very positive way, were affected by their time at the club.

"We do knock ourselves but there are positives. I've seen Charles – dare I say it – grow into the role. His continued workrate is very commendable, I've got to tell you. I can see his desire and hunger to get things sorted yesterday rather than tomorrow. In many ways that's a good thing, although sometimes you have to take a step back. The vast majority of things have been very positive. We still have miles to go – miles and miles – but you've got to start somewhere.

"He's certainly pushing the club forward. We haven't had someone in that position that's going to stand up for the club for a good while. As I've said on numerous occasions, there are one or two things that Charles and I will disagree on. But it's fresh and good to see, knowing that we've all got an ally that will stand up and fight the club.

"I'm loving the help [from Green]. We're still early in our relationship and there's still a lot of respect and trust to be earned from one another, but that comes with time. Sometimes you were looking for someone to come in at your back, whereas now he's looking for me to come in at his back, which I will be . . ."

McCoist smiled when asked about Green's assertion that he would not be satisfied at Rangers until the Champions League anthem was being played again at Ibrox. Only finishing first or possibly second in the SPL could facilitate that, as things stand, although Green has also said he has no wish to remain at Rangers if they return to the SPL.

"I know where Charles is coming from," said McCoist, while laughing at the obvious contradiction. "He's got a long memory. I can't speak for him but I don't think he'll forget some of the injustices he felt the club had suffered [from the SPL and others] but also, if we hear the Champions League music, we'll have to play in the top league somewhere."

The sense of resentment towards the SPL and its member clubs from many Rangers supporters will ensure a lively atmosphere when Inverness come out for tonight's Scottish Communities League Cup quarter-final. The winners will be rewarded with a Hampden semi-final, but Ibrox feels there is a pursuit of revenge – misguided or otherwise – against one of the clubs which rejected Green's application for SPL membership in the summer.

McCoist made a half-hearted attempt to describe Rangers as "underdogs – their supporters will expect them to win, of course – but he was right to acknowledge that this fixture is unlike any previous meeting of these clubs. Inverness won at Ibrox in 2009 against a team including Allan McGregor, Madjid Bougherra, Davie Weir, Steven Davis, Barry Ferguson, Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd, in other words a side far, far stronger than the one in blue this evening. Tonight's tie is compelling because Inverness ought to win, yet the will and character Rangers showed against Motherwell in the previous round may well be good enough to take them through if repeated.

McCoist will again break with Rangers' tradition and wear a tracksuit, rather than a suit, on the touchline. There have been some grumbles about that from traditionalists: not Green, of course, but supporters of his age or older. "I just wanted the players to look over to the side and see me in my working gear, same as they are," said McCoist. "I totally understand the collar and tie thing for the older Rangers supporters. I might go back to it. I've heard one or two [negative] comments. Believe me, there's nobody more respectful than me of the history of the club. I know the position I'm in. But it is getting colder, lads-"