Charles Green ‘hasn’t ruled out Rangers return’

CHARLES Green has insisted that he is not under investigation by Police Scotland and has not ruled out a return to Ibrox.

By The Newsroom Tuesday, 20th January 2015, 5:21 pm

Charles Green, seen here in a selfie while at hospital, hasn't ruled out returning to Rangers. Picture: Contributed

The former Rangers chief told Sky Sports News that he had met with officers from Police Scotland on two occasions, adding: “I have met Police Scotland on two occasions where those questions were in relation to the previous ownership of the club and obviously is part of an ongoing investigation but it was nothing to do with my running of the club.”

Green, speaking to Jim White from a hospital bed after undergoing surgery on his knee added: “I raised £35 million for [Rangers] when it was in a much worse situation than it is today when I was sat in meetings with Rod Petrie who was saying ‘just hand the titles back, hand the cups back’ and we didn’t do that. I fought for Rangers. I’m upset now.”

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Green continued: “When I left Rangers, there was over £18 million in the bank. Go and get a copy of the statement. I left, so the club could move forward and it’s gone backwards.

The interview followed rumours that Green had been detained by police in France, with the former Ibrox chief posting a selfie in a hospital gown to dispel the myths.

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And Green, who returned to Rangers as a consultant just months after stepping down as chief executive, lent his support to Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, and the current Ibrox board, saying that they had ‘done nothing wrong’.

Green said: “The current team are doing great. Maybe the fans don’t like them. They don’t like Mike Ashley - I don’t like Mike Ashley. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t the right man for the job. I actually think his team are the right people.

“Derek Llambias might have had a charisma bypass, but actually he’s a good guy doing a job. He did it at Newcastle.

“I took Derek into Ibrox when we did the deal for the naming rights.

“The reality is that these people have done nothing but good. They haven’t taken anything out of Rangers, they’ve put money in.

“Sandy Easdale is exactly the same. All he’s done is put his hand in his pocket, pulled money out, put it into the club. He hasn’t taken anything out of it and the fans are slaughtering him.”

The former Sheffield United chief executive revealed that his salary was £360,000 a year, adding: “It was going to be double that but we were in the SPL. When we were thrown out of the SPL I halved it. Ally McCoist refused so he kept his £760,000.

“I thought the chief executive previously, Martin Bain, was on more than I was but I reduced my salary to £360,000.”

And revealing that he had been entitled to stocks worth double his salary but didn’t take them, Green added: “So all this rubbish that Charles Green raped and pillaged that club is not true.”

Green added that he had ‘tried to keep out of’ the ongoing saga at Rangers, but admitted: “It’s events like today that make it impossible to leave it.

“There’s times when I think I shouldn’t have left at all - I should have stayed.”

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