Derek Johnstone: Club need top men working to same goal

They have just been happy the team continued playing, albeit in the Third Division, and have thrown their support behind them completely.

With no debt, it was hoped by Light Blues supporters that the club could make a fresh start and work its way up the leagues back into the top flight.

All of a sudden, though, problems have started emerging.

Firstly, there was the furore that erupted when it emerged Orlit Enterprises were considering raising a winding-up order against the company that runs the club over a disputed bill.

Now it has come to light that chairman Malcolm Murray was asked to step down at a board meeting last week.

No matter what the rights and wrongs of these issues are, it has been alarming to see Rangers airing their dirty laundry in public.

The worrying thing for me is that what went on at this board meeting has been leaked to the media. Why are these stories getting out?

Rangers have brought in James Traynor as their Director of Communications. Surely the club should be making these sort of announcements in-house with him in that position?

The chairman and the chief executive of a club not seeing eye-to-eye is a concern. If the club is to move forward then those two key figures need to have a sound working relationship.

Charles Green, by all accounts, has said: "It is him (Murray) or me!" It is a strange situation given that Green was the one who brought Murray to the club in the first place.

But given the popularity of Charles then you would have to think that there is only going to be one winner in that area.

The Rangers board has to be unified, they have to be pulling together in the same direction, at this stage in the history of the Glasgow club.

I'd like to see somebody, be it Imran Ahmad or another club director, sit down with both men and sort out the situation.

This sort of rift does not instill confidence in the city investors who have ploughed their millions into the club and it has to be resolved quickly.

Nothing seems to be easy or straightforward at Rangers just now. They have overcome several considerable hurdles which were put in their way. Now more have suddenly appeared.

Everybody at the club, the fans, the players, the coaching staff, the manager, the directors, want the club to move forward given all that they have been through.

It seems to me they are taking one step forward and two steps back.

The new owners have done everything they have said they would do. But these problems are sewing seeds of doubt in the mind of supporters. It actually smacks of the Craig Whyte era.

I must say, I like Malcolm Murray. I have spoken to him on a few occasions at Ibrox and have always been impressed. He is a huge Rangers fan and has great credibility in the London business community.

He ticked the two boxes you need to tick to be the Rangers chairman. You need to be a supporter and you need to have good business acumen.

He is different from Charles Green in that he is not interested in bumping his gums and speaking in the media. The only time I have seen him interviewed, in fact, was last week when he spoke to Sky Sports.

He just goes about his job quietly. He is a very pleasant man and I know he loves his job as chairman. He speaks to everybody on match days and, more importantly, listens to what they have to say.

He is desperate to take the club forward. There has been a lot of tittle-tattle about him in the last few days. But I have not seen or heard of him do anything in the slightest bit detrimental to Rangers during his time as chairman.

I think everybody involved at boardroom level seems to have something that they can bring to the table. For example, Walter Smith who was in South Africa last week and missed the board meeting, brings a wealth of football knowledge. They all bring something to the party.

The next logical step for me is for somebody who represents the fans to be appointed to the board. They have a 20% shareholding and deserve to have somebody on the board to speak for them.

I think it would be a real shame if this dispute between Green and Murray cannot be resolved. Everything possible should be done to allow both to continue to work together.

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