Ally McCoist sees bright Somers ahead for Rangers

Rangers manager Ally McCoist has revealed he has had “encouraging” discussions with newly-appointed acting chairman David Somers as the club looks to end a period of boardroom upheaval.

New chairman David Somers watched from the stand as Rangers maintained their perfect start in League 1. Picture: SNS

Rangers 2-0 Airdrieonians

Scorers: Rangers - Daly (46), McCulloch (64 pen)

Referee: D Robertson

Attendance: 43,158

Somers was unveiled as acting chairman and appointed as a non-executive director until the club’s AGM which has been confirmed for 19 December.

The Ibrox club have been operating with just two directors and without a chief executive since the resignation of Craig Mather in September. Somers, who holds directorships with Ace Europe Life Ltd and Europe Arab Bank plc, among others, has taken up the vacant chairman role following Walter Smith’s decision to step down in August.

And McCoist confirmed tentative discussions with the new acting chairman in the lead-up to Rangers’ 2-0 win over Airdrieonians on Saturday.

He said: “We spoke on Friday night and arranged to have a brief meeting before the game.

“It was very encouraging for the 10-15 minutes. I asked him a few questions about what his hopes and plans would be, and he was obviously asking the same of myself. I would say it was a very pleasant meeting and I’d be very, very hopeful of having a successful working relationship.

“He knows the current problems within the club, in effect of having two directors and not a chief executive. Obviously for corporate governance and running the football club, that’s far from ideal. He appreciates that more than me – that’s the job he’s in. As I say, he’s aware of what the club needs and how he sees that moving forward.

“He’s got a few appointments that he’ll be making in the near future hopefully. We’ve got a bit of time off so I don’t know what the chairman’s move will be, but we’ll certainly be in contact and in dialogue.”

Rangers extended their winning run, in all competitions, to 16 matches and maintained their 100 per cent record in the league – the only British senior club to do so. But McCoist’s men continued their form of not scoring in the first 45 minutes, with their opponents organised and solid under Gary Bollan.

Airdrie had shipped three second half goals to Rangers in the Scottish Cup last Friday after a similarly resolute first-half display as on Saturday. Yet they were undone again by the Ibrox men within half a minute of the restart, as Jon Daly headed home his 16th goal of the season from Arnold Peralta’s cross.

The increase in pace of Rangers’ play was too much for the part-timers to handle and Nicky Clark struck the crossbar five minutes later from Lee Wallace’s cross.

But the league leaders secured the three points on 64 minutes when David Templeton was bundled over inside the box by Gregor Buchanan, leaving captain Lee McCulloch the easy task of taking his goal tally to double figures and stretching Rangers’ lead.

The home side’s goalscoring was kept at a minimum thanks to Airdrie keeper Andrew Duncan, who was a late replacement for Tony Bullock and was hailed as “excellent” by the club’s recently-appointed manager. Still, Rangers continue to march on, with a 14-point cushion over nearest challengers Dunfermline Athletic.