It has been a summer of turmoil and no-one has been particularly confident about what the future may hold.

I would have to say that I was sceptical about the arrival of Charles Green and, like many other supporters, just didn't know if he had the best interests of the club at heart.

But I think that over the last few months he has made all the right noises and he certainly seems to have won the respect of Ally McCoist, which is absolutely vital.

From my own point of view, I also think that he has stood up for the club when all and sundry were happy to take a free kick and I respect that.

He at least seemed to have a bit of fight about him as he tried to protect Rangers and I think that will have gone down well with a lot of fans. The manager has been given funds to strengthen his squad and the signings that he has made have been impressive.

The big thing for me is that the players who have arrived at the club want to be there; they want to play for Rangers despite the fact they are in the Third Division and that says so much about the heart and desire they have, and also about their hunger to be part of something special by restoring the club back to where they should be.

I thought that Dean Shiels was magnificent the other night and although it is easy to say that you would expect Rangers players to steamroll over the top of East Fife, it was an excellent debut.

He scored a smashing goal and was instrumental in the middle of the park, and I also thought Ian Black did very well too in his first outing at Ibrox as a Rangers player.

These guys and the likes of Kevin Kyle and Fransisco Sandaza will be the men that Gers will look to during those dark nights in January when you are on a tight pitch and need something to open up for you.

And that is also where they will really need the support of their fans.

I was part of the crowd the other night and I thought the atmosphere was just brilliant.

The fans got right behind the team and made their backing for Ally felt and that is exactly what the team needed.

There will be guys like Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goian who will have been blown away by that because who would expect near-on 40,000 fans to turn out for a game against East Fife in the first round of the Scottish Communities League Cup?

But while it's all very well that we all get out there on a beautiful August night and support the team, it is essential that when the season goes on and the aspect of defiance dies down a little that the crowds remain.

Arguably, this is one of the most important seasons ever for Rangers and given that there were plenty of supporters shouting for them to start over in the bottom tier, they now need them to get their bums on a seat every other week.

I think there have been just over 20,000 season tickets sold which is phenomenal given what this season may be like.

But I am sure that there will be many more who want to be part of this because more than ever the support have a massive part to play.