McCoist: ‘Worst ever’ Rangers team are fantastic

ALLY McCoist believes Charles Green was simply trying to offer a realistic viewpoint of where the club are on their road to recovery when he labelled the current crop of players the worst Rangers team ever.

The Ibrox chief executive made the comments in a radio interview this week, as he gave his backing to the job currently being undertaken by McCoist.

Rangers sit 20 points clear at the top of the Irn-Bru Third Division and McCoist insists his players have done everything asked of them this season as they seek to secure their return to the top-flight at the earliest opportunity.

He said: “I listened to the interview and he was 100 per cent right in what he was saying. He was trying to give everybody a realistic idea of where we are at the moment and he was spot on. I have to tell you, the players we have brought in have been fantastic. They are doing absolutely everything that’s asked of them. I said at the start of the season that the only main objective was to get out of the division. They’ve got us in that position, 20 points clear.

“We will make progress this season, hopefully by winning the league and getting out of the division. Then we can regroup and we can hopefully bring in one or two players who will help the assembled squad and we can move on again.”

McCoist hopes Green’s comments mean there will be funds available to strengthen his squad for next season.

Rangers are currently under a transfer embargo but can register free agents from 1 September. The manager confirmed his interest in Dundee United captain Jon Daly, Motherwell midfielder Nicky Law and Middlesbrough defender Andre Bikey. McCoist said: “That’s the ideal scenario, to completely strengthen the squad and get back to a level where we want to be.”

Interim results published this week showed Rangers posted a loss of £7 million for the last seven months of 2012. McCoist is well aware of the importance of avoiding the financial problems of the past but believes investment in players is vital.

He added: “It’s been made very apparent that the financial situation that was once at the club cannot be allowed to happen again. Myself and every other supporters would echo those sentiments. That said, to get back to where we want to get to, there will have to be some form of investment in the playing squad.

Remarking on McCoist’s own position in the TalkSport interview, Green commented: “I’m backing him and we are going to get through this. His job’s safe, absolutely.”