Former Rangers boss Walter Smith believes Ibrox chief executive Charles Green would do well to "watch what he's saying" in future.

The Yorkshire man has found himself at the centre of a media storm after making a number of outlandish comments in recent days.

Club manager Ally McCoist was forced to speak out in defence of his Irn-Bru Third Division champions after former Sheffield United chief Green labelled them "the worst Rangers team in history".

And he also faces legal action from former Ibrox owner Craig Whyte after admitting meeting with the Motherwell-born business man in the days before the club's reformation following liquidation, claiming he had lied to Whyte in a bid to secure a deal to buy assets such as the stadium and the Murray Park training ground.

There has also been speculation surrounding the future of McCoist's right-hand men Kenny McDowall and Ian Durrant, prompting Smith to suggest Green, who secured control of the fallen Glasgow giants last summer, should button it.

Smith, now a non-executive director at the club, said: "Charles is new here. Sometimes, if you are not Scottish, it can take you a while to understand the media attention that is given to the two major clubs here.

"There have been some statements that may have been brushed over if we were in a bigger country. But here they are taken and publicised everywhere.

"Charles might take a look at the year he has had and say 'I have to watch what I'm saying in future'."

Rangers secured the Third Division title last month but Smith, who won 10 league titles as Rangers boss and lead the team to the 2008 UEFA Cup final, believes McCoist deserves a greater fanfare for his achievement after starting his preparations for the campaign with just six signed players.

He said: "I don't think he's had the credit he deserves when you consider where the club was at the start of the season. There has not been a more shambolic pre-season for any club.

"The teams in the Third Division deserve a lot of credit for the way they have set themselves up.

"It's been far more difficult than most people thought that it would be. But Rangers, and Alistair in particular, deserve credit for lifting the team from where they were at the start of the season."

And with reports surfacing in recent days suggesting Green has told McCoist to do away with assistant boss McDowall and Durrant, the Light Blues' first-team coach, Smith made a staunch defence of their credentials.

"Those stories are not helpful," he said. "You would hope that at some stage it would all settle down. It's a football club but for two years we have hardly talked about the football. It's about time that was rectified.

"As far as the boys are concerned, I brought Kenny here from Celtic and took Ian Durrant up into the first-team coaching position and we had a terrific run of success.

"As any manager will tell you, your backroom staff are an important factor and they did a fantastic job for me. But I was disappointed to read that (they might be forced out)."

The off-field dramas at Ibrox have continued to reap more attention than the on-field performances in recent weeks.

News that Green had shared a closer relationship with Whyte than was previously admitted to has caused concern among supporters, with Whyte even claiming the now Rangers chief had acted as his "front man" as they struck a £5.5million agreement to buy Rangers assets before it was liquidated.

Green denies that but Whyte has threatened legal action against the Englishman and former Rangers director Imran Ahmad, demanding £1m a year for life or 25 per cent of the Ibrox chief executive's shares.

But the former owner has also lost out in a court battle with Ticketus, the firm who handed him £17.7m to help him buy the club, and has now been ordered to repay the cash.

For Smith, the sooner the circus leaves town the better.

He said: "That situation (between Whyte and Green) is something I have to find out about. It only came to light a few days ago. I've not had an opportunity to speak to anyone about it.

"Hopefully within a few days we can do that and we can get on with it.

"One thing that Rangers need to watch is that they don't get bogged down with all this carry on around our club

"They are first and foremost a football club, and the sooner Rangers get back to concentrating on football and nothing else that will be a better day for the club."