‘It’s important fans know there is somebody who will do their damndest for them’

By STEPHEN HALLIDAY
Published on Saturday 18 February 2012 00:00

LIKE every other employee of Rangers, Ally McCoist faces a deeply uncertain future. But however long he has left as manager of the club he loves, he is determined to provide the leadership required to set it on the road to recovery.

McCoist appreciates that his status in the eyes of Rangers supporters, earned through a record-breaking playing career as the club’s greatest goalscorer, means that they will look to him for hope and inspiration over the coming weeks and months.

It is not the job description he anticipated having to fulfil when he agreed to succeed Walter Smith last summer, but it is a role he willingly accepts with a sense of both purpose and pride.

“I’m ready for it,” said McCoist. “I can’t sit here and say I know what road we will go down or what we will do. But it’s important that the Rangers fans know that there is somebody there who will do their damnedest for them.

“A lot of them are disillusioned and shattered. I saw boys in tears outside Ibrox this week as generations of the same family think about their team, their club. I know the responsibility I have. Effectively, I’m representing them.

“I’ve always represented them since becoming manager of the club, but I’m fully aware what is expected of me now to help the fans through this situation. It’s a professional and personal obligation I feel I’ve got.

“It’s quite unbelievable what’s happening at the club. I am 100 per cent aware of my responsibilities to this club right now. In the short time I’ve had in management, this is the most important thing in my life at the moment. I have 100 per cent focus to give the supporters what they want, which is giving them their club back.”

For McCoist, today’s sold-out SPL fixture against Kilmarnock at Ibrox will be less of a football match than it is an affirmation of the devotion to Rangers which he shares with the supporters who have responded to his rallying call earlier this week.

“I hope it is the most highly-charged atmosphere I’ve ever known at Ibrox,” he added. “I can speak for all of the players, coaches and management staff when I say we can’t wait for it.

“I firmly believe that this is when you will see what the institution that is Rangers Football Club is all about. I’m told the game is going to be a sell-out. There’s not a ticket to be bought. There are some wonderful stories about people living abroad buying tickets and passing them on to family members or former neighbours in Scotland. As black a few days as we have had, I think Saturday will see the real Rangers start marching towards the light at the end of that tunnel.”

McCoist was at Hibernian’s East Mains training ground on Tuesday for a closed-door friendly match when he heard the news that Rangers had formally entered administration, setting in motion a whirlwind few days in which he has had to set his personal dismay aside and present a figure of strength to those around him.

“I probably realised my responsibility when the staff started looking for answers,” he said. “I’m still pretty far away from giving them the answers they need but they know my door is open. Any member of staff can come and see me and I will do anything to answer their questions.

“It all hit home when the news first broke. We were through in Tranent playing Hibs. I don’t want to say the enormity of the whole thing only just hit me then, because I was obviously aware beforehand just how big this whole thing is. But tipping into administration was staggering.

“We can all sit here and say the signs were there. The possibilities were there, it was always going to happen. But the moment it does happen is gut-wrenching. The club is in danger, absolutely. That’s why I’m telling you I’m deeply worried.

“But I’m also really positive. At least, after the uncertainty over us this season, we know what we are faced with in terms of administration.

“It’s a glimmer of light we can head for. There are going to be negatives along the way, it’s going to be a rocky ride, but there is a little bit of light there now.”

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