Green tells fans he's already raised £20m for takeover but fails to name investors

[ian1964 10,626]

CHARLES GREEN last night admitted only â??five or sixâ? investors have pumped cash into his 20-strong Rangers consortium â?? but then insisted he has already raised £20million.

 

The Ibrox clubâ??s prospective new owner met around 25 representatives of fansâ?? groups last night but refused their demands to identify members of his consortium or name the company he is using to complete the takeover.

 

That meeting came just a few hours after Hampden talks with the SFA and SPL in which he tried to allay fears he might not be a fit and proper owner of the stricken giants.

 

The former Sheffield United chief executive, who says the SFAâ??s midweek decision not to rescind a year-long suspension on buying players hasnâ??t derailed his £8.5m takeover, faces a battle to win over fans still reeling from the carnage wreaked by Craig Whyte and Sir David Murray.

 

And last night Rangers Supporters Trust chairman Mark Dingwall made it clear meeting Green had not allayed their fears. Dingwall said: â??People are apprehensive.

 

â??We need clarity on who potentially are going to be owners of our football club and he was not able to give us names. He said the people involved want confidentiality at the moment.

 

â??He told us that five or six have committed financially to the group and 20-odd are considering doing so but no names. He said the administrators have seen proof they have a bank account with £20m deposited.

 

â??We will have to wait and see how it develops but the fact he could not be transparent about the identity of his group remains concerning.â?

 

One of Greenâ??s heaviest financial backers, Manchester businessman Mike McDonald, is on record as saying the consortiumâ??s strategy canâ??t work if they are not allowed to spend money on building Ally McCoistâ??s squad.

 

But Green insists his plans have not been crushed by the transfer ban. He said: â??Wednesdayâ??s announcement was an option we considered when we bought the shares. We recognised there was risk and that case was already in the public domain.â?

 

However, Green did not rule out the possibility of taking legal action to overturn the transfer ban.

 

He said: â??We are now discussing all options available to the club.â?

 

Green is still believed to be working on putting together his group of cash investors. But last night it seemed that former Newcastle United owner Freddy Shepherd was on the verge of turning down an approach to plough some of his millions into the buyout.

 

If Green had wind of that yesterday afternoon, it certainly did not stop him losing his focus as he tried to sell himself to the SFA and SPL.

 

Green said: â??The questions they were asking were the obvious ones, where we are and where we plan to go. We spoke to members of the board from the SFA and executives of the SPL.

 

â??I think that itâ??s been a very, very productive afternoon. We are happy that everyone is positive in looking for the best for Rangers and the SPL. We were encouraged by the meetings.â?

 

Meanwhile, supportersâ?? groups will not rush to react to the transfer embargo but it is clear they intend to take the fight to the ruling body.

 

Dingwall said: â??It is the end of the season so there is a little breathing space to gather our thoughts.

 

â??Itâ??s lunacy to place a transfer embargo on the club when a number of high-profile players can leave for vastly reduced prices in the summer.

 

â??What happens if players get injured on Scotland duty while representing an organisation that has dealt such a savage blow to the club?"

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/05/18/rangers-in-crisis-charles-green-tells-fans-he-s-already-raised-20m-for-takeover-but-fails-to-name-investors-86908-23863849/

[Guest bluezulu]

I smell whyte.

[Max Rebo's Big Blue Nose 0]

Let's be honest. We have zero reason to trust Green or anyone after the last year or so. Despite any "promises" given by Green (or anyone for that matter) I think we should take everything said over the duration of this shambles with a truckload of salt. I wont make any judgements until we actually know what is happening with this guy (or whoever). Saying one thing to appease fans (who will be forking out for season tix after all...) and doing it are two completely different things. If we have learned anything from the last year it must be that talk is very, very cheap....

 

I note with interest that the Press have somewhat diluted their OTT take on this... From C Green being our "new owner" last week (he obivously wasn't) he is now being labelled a potential owner...

[Danny 0]

I smell whyte.

 

I don't. He never made any claims at all - apart from a feeble one about investing £5M a year on players. A lie, of course.

 

The point is Green may have 20 parties pledging, but only 5 or 6 have as of yet actually stumped up the cash. Kinda like that SaveRangers notion - folk pledging to throw in thousands - but not actually having to genuinely do it.

 

The question here is will those who have not yet stumped up the cash, indeed do so.

 

For all Green's potentially honourable intentions, he's hamstrung by his consortium - if some of them don't give the money they promised, Green ends up looking like an idiot.

 

But £20M, if true, is a decent amount so far.

[Danny 0]

 

I note with interest that the Press have somewhat diluted their OTT take on this... From C Green being our "new owner" last week (he obivously wasn't) he is now being labelled a potential owner...

 

Funny how he'll never be either.

[der Berliner 3,568]

Methinks - while we all have a right to be sceptical - we should try to give him a fair ride here. It is quite obvious why he will not name the investors or said people are not yet* putting cash in. Too many variables are on the table right now. The press does not like this, hence he "fails" to name any other investors. I really, really, really feel for these poor sods of the media here. We have been badly burned by Whyte, but perhaps we should switch from the half-empty glass version to the half-full glass version now. Green looks to be the front man of that consortium, not a leader. So he can't do all that is being done and told out of his own gusto. To me, that is an advantage right now.

 

*We all know how it works. If some ultra-rich sheikh belongs to this group, HMRC et al will not agree to a minimal CVA. Who would?