THE old saying goes that you can tell a jury's decision before the spokesman opens his mouth, by whether or not the members look at the guy in the dock on the way back into court.

On that basis the Rangers jury has not yet made up their mind. What was supposed to be a mere friendly against Newcastle United took on a broader significance at Ibrox last night as a barometer of the supporters' views towards the latest boardroom nonsense at their club.

And the mood was? Well, most were reluctant to say.

Charles Green cut a conspicuous figure when he emerged 90 seconds after the kick-off and walked to a seat towards the front of the directors' box. There was no reaction from the stands to his emergence.

Unusually Ally McCoist spent in first half in the box, too, albeit up at the back of it and right beside chief executive Craig Mather. Where people sit carries significance at Rangers these days.

McCoist and Green could barely have put more distance between each other. Around 18,000 turned out for this friendly; put McCoist and Green in a room, and put their conversation on pay-per-view, and Rangers' audience would be four or five times' bigger.

For the most part the support was placid, non-committal. They did not want to engage with the latest boardroom implosion. There were no banners and no demonstrations.

Eventually, in the second half, some anti-Green chants began in the Broomloan Road end. They never caught hold around the ground but they were loud and they mixed with songs supporting McCoist.

The mood may have been far more vociferous, and far more vocally anti-Green, had it not been for the statement released by Jim McColl hours before which punctured the notion that he was prepared to fund a buyout.

What seemed like a retreat by a possible white knight contributed to a withholding of opinion by most supporters. The Newcastle fans goaded them with "shall we sing a song for you" and then "you're not famous any more". Ironically those in black-and-white had a banner directed at their own chaotically-run club: "Support the team, not the regime."

McCoist had been invisible to the supporters in the first half but returned to the technical area at half-time and was soon applauding the Broomloan Road end as his name was repeatedly chanted.

On the basis that anything is possible at Rangers, and that club sources denying something is no indicator that it is not going to happen, this might even turn out to be McCoist's last match. There were reports yesterday he would be out within 48 hours.

Finance director Brian Stockbridge had countered that by saying McCoist's position was not under threat, which amounted to one man whose position is insecure claiming to offer security to another.

Stockbridge's endorsement was meaningless because Green is back on the scene and his mouth equates to a Gatling Gun which is beyond anyone's control, possibly including Green himself. He did not knowingly pass a microphone without pouring some opinions into it yesterday.

If disparaging financial challenges to McColl, Paul Murray, Frank Blin and Malcolm Murray amounted to Green returning to familiar territory, his comments about McCoist carried some significance.

What did he think of the manager calling him an embarrassment? "Well, he's entitled to his opinion. He's not right, at all."

Could the pair of them co-exist at Rangers? "Football's got nothing to do with me. We've got no reason to meet, two paths don't cross."

That would have been easier to swallow were it not for the fact it was Green wading into a football issue which prompted McCoist's reaction - and removed any lingering doubts Walter Smith had about resigning as chairman - in the first place.

Green is not the only one who reckons last season's Rangers team was the worst in the club's history - yesterday he claimed it was Smith who had said it to him - but someone within the club openly saying so infuriates McCoist.

It will have occurred to him that Green didn't have any qualms about collecting a £360,000 bonus when the worst ever team won the third division last term.

McCoist's own opinion of last season's squad was evident from the fact he has made eight summer signings, seven of whom started against a strong Newcastle United team which begins its Barclays Premier League campaign against Manchester City in 12 days.

Rangers were aggressive, energetic, and built some neat passing moves. Ian Black anchored the midfield and Arnold Peralta, Lewis MacLeod and Nicky Law supported Nicky Clark and Jon Daly.

After five minutes Clark burst into the box and Fabricio Coloccini bundled him over to concede a penalty. Lee McCulloch converted.

Cammy Bell saved efforts from Mathieu Debuchy, Papiss Cisse and Dan Gosling, and Jonas Gutierrez floated a decent effort narrowly over the bar. Substitute Andy Little might have made the scoreline more handsome for Rangers but his rasping flew just over.

McCoist was lapping it up but he was denied a win in stoppage time when possession was surrendered cheaply and Shola Ameobi burst through the Rangers defence to lift a crisp finish over Bell. At full-time, the manager disappeared up the tunnel without fuss.