Ally McCoist's apprenticeship may have longer to run under hungry Smith

THE Scottish Cup has been central to Ally McCoist's managerial apprenticeship at Rangers. Handed notional charge of the team by Walter Smith in the tournament for the past three seasons, McCoist has so far been a model pupil, taking an unbeaten record into tonight's quarter-final replay at Dundee United.

But the assistant manager knows his accession to the Ibrox throne, something he himself has never presumed, may still be a considerably distant prospect as Smith displays no sign of losing his appetite and passion for a job in which he has now guided Rangers to 18 major trophies.

Sunday's dramatic Co-operative Insurance Cup final win over St Mirren at Hampden, which saw Smith frantically re-organising his nine-man side from the technical area before celebrating as exuberantly as a teenager at the final whistle, simply underlined McCoist's belief that his gaffer is anything but fit for retirement.

"It didn't surprise me," said McCoist, "because I know what the man is capable of. Sunday was as good an example as we have seen of what the manager can do, in terms of making changes and saying what needed to be said.

"I can't speak for him in terms of what he wants to do and what his plans are beyond this season, but what I would say is he has never been hungrier to win trophies.

"I have never said, and I never will say, that I want to take over this club at any specific time. Or indeed what will happen in the future and what will unfold. It is just great to see the man in charge just now enjoying it and still having the hunger for it.

"What he does have is a fear or losing. The struggle within him, I think, is not a fear of retirement, which I know he talked about recently. He will have a problem with the thought of not having that fear of losing. That's his problem, I would imagine, and I can totally understand it. It is the fear of losing that keeps you going at Rangers.

"That seems ridiculous, because you would think it should be a desire to win which keeps you going. At the vast majority of clubs, it probably is a desire to win. I can't speak for the manager, but from where I sit it is definitely a fear of losing which keeps you going here."

McCoist insists, however, that the trepidation he identifies is not a factor when it comes to Rangers' prospects of adding both the SPL title and Scottish Cup to the League Cup trophy they scooped up at the weekend.

"I don't have a fear at all of not achieving the treble," he added. "We have never said we are going to win the treble and you are never expected to win a treble. You are expected to win trophies at this club, that's for sure, but there has to be a realisation of how rare the treble is.

"Again, you've got me talking about a treble when there is no talk of a treble within this club. I will talk about a treble if we are fortunate enough to win the league title and reach the Scottish Cup final. I would never talk about it at any other time.

"It's not about hiding from it. It's just an appreciation of how difficult it is. Was Sunday not a lesson to anyone who thinks a team can just go out and win a treble? A team fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league battered us in the first-half at Hampden. It showed how hard it is to win a cup, never mind leagues or trebles."

Rangers have to do it the hard way to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, having let a 3-1 lead against United at Ibrox slip ten days ago. McCoist is hopeful, however, tonight's Tannadice assignment is exactly what his team needs to shake themselves out of their lethargic and unconvincing recent form.

"The concern is that you will run out of luck," admitted McCoist. "The team have shown fantastic spirit but we can't just rely on that all the time. We have to get back to playing well. If we can put that together with our spirit, then I would fancy us to beat most teams on any day.

"I believe this replay is a great game for us at this stage, facing one of the better teams in the country away from home. I would be more concerned about a home tie against a lesser team."

Rangers are without the suspended Lee McCulloch and Kevin Thomson, pending a possible appeal against the latter's dismissal at Hampden on Sunday, while Steven Davis is still suffering from the illness which forced him to be substituted at half-time. The American duo of Maurice Edu and DaMarcus Beasley could be promoted to the starting line-up as the cup holders freshen up.