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CHARLES Green has defended his decision to offer Celtic's Euro rivals Juventus the use of Murray Park on their recent visit to Glasgow insisting offering the use of Rangers' facilities is helping the club make friends across Europe, writes Eric Mackinnon "I was in Qatar last week with a group of representatives from Italian teams for lunch, they were amazed to see the size of the crowds we are attracting in the Third Division and to see what was happening," he began. "I offered ]uventus the opportunity to use Murray Park for training and they enjoyed that and the hospitality they got there. Typically the Rangers fans went up on Monday to support them and watch them train and we've got many friends. "These clubs have offered great words of encouragement and they can't believe what they are seeing and it couldn’t have happened in any other country. Juventus is an example as its not long ago that they were found guilty of match fixing and this year their on way to Champions League quarter-final place. Rangers make one misdemeanour under Craig Whyte and are pushed down four divisions. "Giving them the use of Murray Park now means that the next time we are in Italy for a match we can use ]uventus' training ground to prepare which is helping us make friends." Despite being dumped in the Third Division by Scottish football beaks the Light Blues have continued to pull in remarkable crowds which have dwarfed attendance figures in the top flight both north and south of the border from all but Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle, leaving Mr Green thrilled. "Rangers fans voted whole heartedly last season to go to the Third Division. They got what they wanted and so far they've enjoyed every minute of it and there isn't one football club in the whole division who are disappointed at playing Rangers this season," he continued. "Not just for the financial aspect but for the experience of coming to Ibrox to play in one of Europe's best stadiums and has been something some of these players could only have dreamed about. Some directors have struggled to keep the club's alive and for the reward to be invited to the blue room and the board room knowing the people in there before them where the European clubs in the Champions League is something to be proud of. "No one ever imagined even for a second that at this time of year we'd still be getting more than 47,000 fans in for home games." Green also denied the club have already agreed a deal with Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell but he did confess he was a player very much on their radar. "l've been in Australia for a week then came back and went to Brussels' and then flew here to Stornoway so I would think it's very unlikely that Cammy Bell has signed. The manager has said himself Cammy is a player he'd be interested in talking to but he is under contract at the moment with Killie. "We have notified them that we'd like to talk to the player as he is out of contact in the summer but he is just one of a number of players the management team is looking at."

Rangers’ supremo Charles Green has urged Scottish football chiefs to think long and hard before slapping any other clubs with the severe penalties and sanctions imposed on the Glasgow giants last year, writes Eric Mackinnon The Ibrox side were dumped in the Third Division after slipping into administration a year ago but Green has warned that a precedent for any other clubs who follow the Gers into financial strife could have far worse consequences. Talking exclusively to the Gazette he said “I think that’d be a disaster. Rangers are huge and could weather that storm but I don’t know if there are any other clubs in Scotland who, if they were faced with the same challenge, could recover. It’d be very, very wrong and foolish to think they have to do the same to other clubs that they did to Rangers. “ I would definitely not want this to be a precedent for any other misdemeanours and of course there will be as there is no chance in the world we won’t see other Scottish clubs fall foul of the financial difficulties. With league reconstruction the hot topic on the lips of Scottish football Green took the time to urge authorities to take their time when making any decisions. “Reconstruction is the real key now but for all of Scottish football and not just for Rangers . The powers that be must get it right this time and we can’t keep messing. Whatever we do has to be well thought out. I don’t think from my discussions that whether the configuration is 12-12-18 or 18-12-12 or even 14-14-14, I think there are pros and cons for all proposals. “However the concern for most people is that it isn’t rushed through and we don’t have a situation where we change in haste and then repent in leisure because there are lots of things that need to be done. “We need to get rules right, corporate structure and governance right. Who is going to administer this business, sponsors, broadcasters. There are lots of questions and not about who is in each division. “ I firmly believe that’s a secondary question as the primaryis all about structure and governance as that needs to be in a way where its transparent and all the fans and all the executives can understand what the body is and what format they are playing in.”