What’s the matter with…Charles Green and Rangers

Rather than lash out at his Rangers players in the wake of their Scottish League Cup exit to Forfar, Ally McCoist was left to fume over the influence of returning former chief executive Charles Green – a man officially off his Christmas Card list.

Now it seems the arrival of the outspoken Green back at Ibrox has proven too much to take for non-executive chairman Walter Smith, who has just announced he is quitting his post.

Smith is due to release a statement detailing his reasoning for steeping down just two months into the role, though the bitter infighting at the club is sure to be at the heart of it.

If one was to Google ‘ways not to endear yourself to a manager at your football club’ then pretty high on any such list would have to be labelling their team as the ‘worst ever’.

Well, this is exactly what Green did last January during his short spell as Rangers chief executive after taking the post in the aftermath of the takeover in the summer of 2012.

Of course, Rangers ultimately went on to take the Scottish League Two title, while Green himself was eventually forced to resign under a cloud, thanks to reports which linked him too closely to former Gers owner Craig Whyte.

However, the Yorkshire businessman has since been cleared after an internal investigation and has recently returned to the club in a consultant-type role.

But rather than attempting to build bridges with the manager and his coaching staff, Green has wasted no time in enraging McCoist once again, by saying Rangers must win a cup as well as the league ahead of the new season.

While the blue half of Glasgow remain overwhelming favourites to lift the League One title at minute odds of 1/12, their extra time League Cup exit to Forfar heaps on extra pressure.

Meanwhile, Rangers’ chances of adding to their tally of 33 Scottish Cups shows a reversal of the digits at 12/1, which is understandable given the calibre of player they’re able to attract in the third tier.

Since crashing out of the League Cup McCoist hit back at Green by claiming: “It’s just more hot air that we’ve come to expect from Charles.”His contempt and total lack of respect for my players, for our football club, for our support and Scottish football in general is appalling.”

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.