Why support will need clarity over Gers share issue

CHARLES GREEN is like the pied piper of Ibrox right now - he plays the tune, hits the right notes and thousands follow.

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Green has won over fans
Green has won over fans

The Yorkshireman must be rubbing his eyes in disbelief, and his hands in glee, and wondering if he is the same guy who was so far out in the cold when he bought the club back in May that he had frostbite.

Saturday's attendance at Ibrox of 49,463 for the visit of Queen's Park was staggering, and led to manager Ally McCoist stating that it was wrong to put these incredible turn-outs down to defiance; just simply call it support.

That's a fair point, as we are now well into October and the backing from the Rangers fans does not appear to be on the wane, the novelty factor is well and truly hanging around and they are continuing to pile in even though performances have been erratic, to say the very least.

Green talks in numbers more often than not these days.

On Friday, he spoke of more than 9,000 people noting their interest in his forthcoming share issue, of 21,000 hits on the website detailing how you can buy in, of a sum pledged now upwards of £19million before he goes to 'institutions' to see if they want a piece of the pie.

When he first spoke of raising £20m there were many who scoffed at the idea, especially in such tough economic times as these.

But, assuming he's done his arithmetic correctly, and the pledges actually materialise in hard cash, that target figure is likely to be surpassed.

However, as much as Green is now basking in a warmer glow, names rather than numbers are absolutely crucial for anyone who goes ahead and hands over their hard-earned cash.

Now, I know nothing of Mazen Houssami or Arif Naqvi.

But both were named in a statement rather bizarrely posted on the club's official website just after McCoist had managed to get the team to the top of the Irn-Bru Third Division weeks after we all thought they would have been there.

Of the two gentlemen, Houssami has invested and Naqvi hasn't, according to Green.

But when he sends out the share prospectus in a few weeks' time there must be absolute clarity on everyone currently involved in Rangers, those who supplied the funding for part one of his plan which was, of course, the asset sale from the administrators.

There has to be total transparency on the current accounts, and what this £20m will be used for – in short, the Rangers fans who want to invest must see everything in black and white. Green owes them that big-time as they have responded to his every plea for backing, and then some.

Such has been the shocking mis-management of the club over the past decade, people should proceed with caution, even if they like what they hear and see from the Ibrox CEO.

They cannot afford to sleep-walk into another disaster when lessons should have been learned.

If Green is good to his word, then he deserves huge praise. So far, he is doing everything he said he would and he is playing an absolute blinder. But that doesn't mean there shouldn't be thorough analysis of his every move.

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