Rangers fans need Green to be Mr Right

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Rangers fans need Green to be Mr Right

THE search for some answers often only succeeds in actually throwing up more questions.

Today, as has been the case for over a year now, the Rangers supporters are again searching for the truth behind the goings-on at Ibrox.

And the over-riding feeling among the vast majority of them is this: Who can they trust?

Certainly, if last night's BBC allegations appear to be true then few fans, if any at all, are likely to place their trust in administrators Duff and Phelps.

Punters have had their reservations about the firm since they were first named as the club's administrators in February.

No sooner were they appointed at the High Court in Edinburgh than it became knowledge a senior partner in the company, David Grier, played a role in helping Craig Whyte gain control of the club in the first place.

Last night's revelations in the BBC Scotland documentary – Rangers: The men who sold the jerseys – has now gone as far as to claim to have seen evidence that Grier raised an invoice to Ticketus in June.

The administrators have robustly denied any wrongdoing in that action.

There has, from a large percentage of the Light Blues legions anyway, been a degree of scepticism attached to Paul Clark and David Whitehouse, the two administrators charged with attempting to steer the club out of administration by finding a new buyer.

Costing an incredible amount of money on a daily basis – far more than has been saved as a result of drastic cost-cutting measures with players accepting up to 75% cuts to their weekly wages – Duff and Phelps have profited enormously from Rangers' misfortune.

That the ordinary Rangers fan in the street now has any confidence in Duff and Phelps is unlikely.

But will these allegations force the administrators to step aside? That, you would imagine, would be equally unlikely given their robust rejection of the BBC claims.

So what other main players in the possible demise of the Old Firm giants featured in the documentary and what more do supporters now know about their involvement?

Well, a large part of the programme centred on the former owner, Sir David Murray.

It would seem, having chased his dream of making Rangers the most powerful club in the country and spending millions after millions on the best players available, he left the club a painful legacy of debt and the woes of future tax investigations.

He is, without question, someone the fans hold largely responsible for the downfall of the club and their current plight.

He said he was duped into selling the club to Craig Whyte and that he had no knowledge whatsoever what was about to unfold. It is impossible to put any evidence forward to disprove that.

However, it was during his reign as owner, and possibly down to his desire to bring in some of the best players in world football at that time, that Rangers could now be facing a huge tax bill as a result of the alleged misuse of EBTs.

Giving more detail than ever before, the BBC put specific figures in place. In total, 63 players received such benefits, 24 staff at Rangers and a further 24 employees at the Murray Group were in the scheme.

For example, former Ibrox star Barry Ferguson is said to have benefited to the tune of £2.5m over a five-year period. Stefan Klos is listed at £2m over a six-year period. Interestingly, it was claimed Sasa Papac's weekly wages were reduced at the same time as he became involved in the scheme.

This, of course, is something the Scottish Premier League will be paying particularly close attention to as well as HMRC.

While it doesn't prove as yet the Ibrox club using dual contracts, it does more than paint a picture that it was a method they used to recruit talent they couldn't afford to pay through normal channels.

While digesting that information, claims Graeme Souness was a beneficiary of £30,000 some 10 years after leaving the club and just after he signed Tugay from Rangers in his capacity at Blackburn Rovers was interesting to say the least, if true.

It is hardly surprising just about everyone featured in the programme declined to be interviewed.

Just how much further it has taken the sage that has now become Rangers is up for debate and will no doubt be the hot topic of conversation among the Light Blue legions today.

What they would do to have someone they 100% trust and respect and with credibility among their support.

Only time will tell if Charles Green is the man who can fit the bill.

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