Administrators gave green light to Cousin signing

Published on Monday 20 February 2012 02:11

Rangers manager Ally McCoist insists he has been given fresh optimism in the work being undertaken by adminstrators Duff and Phelps at Ibrox after the firm backed the club in its attempts to conclude the signing of Daniel Cousin.

Rangers had confirmed the return of the Gabon international striker to Ibrox – subject to international clearance – 24 hours before the club was forced into administration.

The striker was not registered with the Scottish Premier League at that stage and, under their rules relating to insolvency events, the SPL blocked the player’s registration on Friday night.

Asked if Rangers will appeal the decision, McCoist said: “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to the administrators, but we will definitely have a chat with the administrators.

“What I would say is, they totally backed us in attempts to get Daniel Cousin to the club. It was the board of the SPL who knocked it back.”

McCoist was doing his best to stay upbeat after a Dean Shiels goal condemned Rangers to a 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock on Saturday, with Sasa Papac’s red card added to the woes of his side.

McCoist said: “I said to the boys after the game, if they can maintain the attitude and application which they showed in the second half – and that is what is required – we will be absolutely fine.”

Ibrox witnessed its biggest crowd of the season as 50,268 fans flocked to the match to demonstrate their backing for the manager and players. McCoist said: “The support was unbelievable. I was sitting upstairs in the office at 1.30pm and the noise outside was incredible.

“The fans were everything we expected them to be. I’m just gutted we couldn’t get them the win. We need everybody to stick together and be positive and if we do that, we’ve got a real fighting chance.”