Ally McCoist raids memory banks of Clyde

The Rangers boss has long been an admirer of both Jim Duffy and Chic Charnley, albeit for different reasons, and he also has fond memories of the last time the two clubs met, at Broadwood back in October.

It would be stretching a point to say that McCoist is grateful to his opposite numbers, for their team battled as hard as any other has done against Rangers. Even so, he looks back with pleasure on the 2-0 win that Sunday afternoon, as it was his club’s first victory on the road in the league, and was the launchpad for the continued progress which now sees them nine points clear at the top of the table.

It was a laboured victory, in which the goals came from Dean Shiels and Lee McCulloch, but the win was more important than the unconvincing manner in which it was achieved. After draws at Peterhead, Berwick and Annan, and a defeat at Stirling, this was the result that showed Rangers were coming to terms with their unfamiliar new  surroundings.

They have played three  away league games since, scored 16 goals in total and won them all. In fact, apart from a League Cup defeat at home to Inverness which followed just three  days later, they have won every game since then, including two rounds of the Scottish Cup. No wonder, then, that McCoist  regards that match as such a  significant one.

“There has been a far greater level of consistency and results,” he said. “Looking back, I think winning at Clyde was important for us.

“Our away form and away results hadn’t been great, so that victory was actually greater than the three points in terms of confidence. Psychologically, everyone got a boost from it and we have been able to go away and keep picking up points. Our home form in the league has been very satisfactory, but I also think that first away victory gave everyone a boost.”

Despite that commanding lead over second-placed Elgin, who have played a game more, McCoist does not envisage the rest of the league campaign being a succession of walkovers. Even when his team has won by a handful of goals, they have usually had to fight to get  the upper hand physically  before letting their superior ability tell.

On paper, any team that scores six against their closest rivals, as Rangers did at Borough Briggs last Saturday, should overwhelm opponents who sit, as Clyde do at present, a lowly eighth in the table, but McCoist has been impressed by the competitive nature of the division, and by the ability of the other teams to raise their game against his men.

“I don’t think there’s a lot between the teams in the league. There’s less of a gap between top and bottom than there is in most leagues. Anyone is capable of taking points off anyone else.

“It will be tough for us when Clyde come to Ibrox. Last midweek, you could see the Annan boys gained an extra ten or 15 per cent in terms of their application. That’s not a criticism in any way, it’s just a natural thing for players coming to Ibrox and playing in front of 40-odd thousand. It does raise your game.

“It will be the same with the Clyde boys. They will be looking forward to it. It’s probably been one of Jim and Chic’s hardest jobs to keep them focused on the games just before. We know what to expect, but we have generally been happy with the results and performances at home and we want to keep that going.”

According to McCoist, Duffy and Charnley have contrasting attributes which make them a good management combination. “That is a double act,” he said. “They are completely  different characters. Duff’s teams are always well organised and well drilled.

“His wing man is something else. I love Charnley. He’s one of the old-school Scottish football entertainers. He played the game off the cuff. Charnley is a throwback, but he is an absolutely smashing lad and is obviously very friendly with [Rangers assistant manager] Kenny McDowall as well. As I said, they are a perfect double act because they are two contradictory  characters.”

Asked to relate his favourite anecdote about Charnley, McCoist had to think for several minutes. Not because he could not recall any: quite the reverse. He could remember lots, but felt obliged to censor them one by one as unsuitable for a wider audience.

In the end, he settled on an  incident at the end of that Broadwood match, in which Charnley brought to mind an incident involving McCoist and Celtic manager Neil Lennon at the end of an Old Firm match last year. “There are not too many tales I could see in print about Charnley,” McCoist admitted. “One I can tell you is about the end of the game we played at Clyde.

“He came up, shook my hand and grabbed me. He kept an aggressive face as he whispered in my ear: ‘I want everyone to think I’m saying what Lennon said to you!’

‘I said, ‘Great, Chic, but the fact I’m killing myself laughing would indicate you’re maybe not being as nasty as you’d like to think!’

“But Charnley is brilliant, he really is. There is never a dull moment when he is around. He will give the boys in the media a line and puts the smile on the faces of a lot of people.”

Nonetheless, it is hard to envisage Charnley, Duffy and their players smiling too broadly at the end of today’s game. Having kickstarted their campaign in that match back at Broadwood, Rangers are unlikely to be  driven off course this afternoon.