The return of Charles Green to Ibrox has lit a fuse at Rangers. It has also reignited the ire of John Brown, the Dundee manager last night renewing his enmity with the Yorkshireman which has burned for over a year without fizzling out.
His objections to Green being brought back to the Glasgow club as a paid consultant were direct and delivered broadly but Brown was sure not to miss the directors who he claims have put Rangers' survival at risk once more.
The last time Brown spoke out it was from the steps of Ibrox as he called for Green to resign as chief executive cede his control of Rangers. Last night he was sat in his office at Dens Park but the ferocity of his attack seemed to pay little heed to the distance he now holds from his former club. An attempt to buy control from Green in July last year was stillborn but Brown still feels close to circumstances at Ibrox, close to manager Ally McCoist. The return of a certain brazen Yorkshireman might also have left him close to the edge.
The Dundee manager is concerned by how the return of Green has assailed Rangers, in particular McCoist and Walter Smith, who stood down as Rangers' chairman yesterday. It was an announcement which Brown stated "doesn't make me feel any happier at what's gone on" although that had been made that quite clear already.
"It's a ticking time-bomb," he said. "There's in-fighting in the boardroom. My biggest fear is that Rangers will go back into administration because of what's going on.
"Charles Green was never away. He might have had an extended holiday but he was never away because the people who are running Rangers are putting him up front. Rangers will suffer and they will continue to suffer until they sort it all out. It's a nightmare scenario."
Concerns over the financial health of Rangers have been persistent for Brown. "There are too many people who are taking and taking, rather than giving," he said. "Rangers fans give and Dundee fans give so they can give to their football club. But there are too many takers at boardroom level at Ibrox, including investors.
"Sooner rather than later there will be no money left. Bang, they will be out of business. Rangers will go down unless the fans stand up and say enough is enough. That's the only way."
It was a broad ambition but Brown's consternation is also more acutely focused on Green, his criticism pointed. The former Rangers chief executive had given an interview last week in which he suggested McCoist had to win a cup competition this season to be sure of his position, a statement which happened to be timed with Rangers' exit from the first round of the Scottish Communities League Cup on Saturday.
Brown was not slow in his riposte. "Green's comments were a disgrace," he said. "If my own directors had said that about me, I would have taken every one of them by the throat. What Green is doing is covering up what is going on in the background and throwing it on to the manager.
"Green is a clown and always has been. Some people have bought into it because he stands up for certain things. But think of the money he's taken out of the club - he was given a bonus of £300,000 plus for the team winning the league last season. What is all that about? He is just lining his pockets. Until the fans realise that the club is doomed.
"Charles Green, or 'Chuckie', is about lining his back pocket. He's not a Rangers fan. In fact, I would chuck him out that building because people like him are killing football in this country.
"Rangers are going only one way. The biggest issue here is the club might go out of existence and that is through his [Green's] stewardship. The money is disappearing like you can't imagine."
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