IT is the case of the irrestistible force colliding with the immovable object.

One day, breaking point could well come, but there is no guarantee over who will emerge unscathed – and who will be caught up in the debris.

In one corner stands Ally McCoist, the player, manager and supporter who is the cornerstone of Rangers.

In the other there is Charles Green, the businessman and chief executive who will either make or break the club's future.

Having survived the disastrous Craig Whyte era, and only just, Rangers have set out on the road to recovery under Green, the brash, outspoken, Yorkshireman who played his part in saving the Scottish institution from the grave before the final nail was hammered in their coffin.

McCoist said from the outset it was going to be a rocky road back to the top of our game and to the lofty position he and the club's supporters feel they deserve to occupy, but surely even he didn't envisage the current scenario unfolding.

Matters on the field have been a sideshow for much of his tenure, the circumstances he finds himself in as unfortunate as they are remarkable and surely more testing than any of his predecessors faced during their time in office.

The start of the Green era appeared positive, with manager, chief executive and fans enjoying a seemingly healthy relationship, but time has turned things sour at Ibrox.

As McCoist met the media at Murray Park yesterday, he reeled off a list of problems he and his club face in the short, medium and long-term as he attempts to rebuild Rangers, the departures – for a variety of reasons – of physio Pip Yeates, youth coach Tommy Wilson, scout Neil Murray and striker Fran Sandaza, just four more headaches to add to an already substantial list.

His job should, notionally, be made easier by the presence of Green, a man who, thanks largely to McCoist's public backing, won over a sceptical fanbase at the start of the season and endeared himself to the Light Blue legions with a series of soundbites. Initially.

However, the shine is fast coming off the halo after a number of bizarre outbursts, notably when he labelled this current Rangers side the worst in history, not to mention other, ill-timed comments.

Boardroom bust-ups with chairman Malcom Murray, hugely damaging allegations of historic murky dealings with Whyte and the storm over his colourful colloquialisms towards Imran Ahmed have blighted Green in recent weeks.

He remains the biggest individual shareholder in Rangers' holding company and a loud voice not just at Ibrox, but in Scottish football but the time will soon come for his words to be replaced with action.

The Yorkshireman has had plenty to say, but it is money that is his main language.

His pledges of a £10million transfer war chest for McCoist to spend will be tested sooner rather than later, with the Ibrox boss compiling a list of targets ahead of the new season and repeatedly stating the need for reinforcements.

Green may yield considerable power within the corridors of Ibrox, but it is McCoist, a man whose loyalty to the club cannot be questioned and who has handled the events of a tumultuous 18 months with respect and dignity, who will hold the backing of fans.

Questions remain over his ability in the dugout, with several performances and results in the Irn-Bru Third Division this season far from acceptable, but McCoist's status cannot be questioned.

Green needs McCoist as much as the manager needs his chief executive. The on-field success that McCoist craves cannot be achieved without backing from the boardroom and the Yorkshire-man can ill-afford to marginalise his manager and alienate supporters, especially with season ticket renewals set to drop through letterboxes of the 38,000 punters who stumped up this term.

Moments of discontent between McCoist and Green were inevitable, but reports that the chief executive is keen for the manager to move on assistants Ian Durrant and Kenny McDowall could be the ultimate test of their relationship.

"I know for a fact Charles wants to take the club forward," McCoist said yesterday.

"Absolutely. I don't have any doubt we'll have healthy disagreements on the way we'll take the club forward.

"But the most important thing is that the club does move forward. The board will have ideas, Charles will have ideas, I'll have ideas and my staff will have ideas.

"The most important thing is that we all have the same objective – and we have."

The goal may be shared, but the route may be significantly different in the minds of those in the boardroom and dugout.

McCoist spoke yesterday about how he looks around his office and sees pictures of Bill Struth, Jock Wallace, Willie Waddell and Walter Smith looking back at him, poignant reminders of what Rangers should stand for and where they must return to.

Standards have fallen below what is expected at the club, on the field and off it, in the last 18 months and McCoist stressed the need for patience on the road to recovery.

There is no doubt the Gers boss has the heart for the fight.

He has done enough for Rangers to be granted the support and the time to complete the job he has started. It remains to be seen, if Green will give him either.