Magnanimous McCoist hopes that spectacle will have encouraged potential new owners to buy Ibrox outfit

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist believes his team’s Old Firm victory at a vibrant Ibrox yesterday could have an energising effect on the process of finding a new owner for the administration-hit club.

McCoist has spent almost as much time with prospective purchasers of Rangers as he has on the training ground with his players in recent weeks. As he savoured the dramatic 3-2 win over Celtic, he expressed the view that the spectacle played out at a jam-packed Ibrox could only have heightened interest among those who had lodged indicative bids with administrators Duff and Phelps.

“I would hope a day like this would encourage any would-be buyers,” said McCoist. “Regardless of the result, the welfare of the club is the most important thing by a country mile. I would certainly say that if there were any potential buyers watching today then it would be difficult to argue against the fact that they’d be impressed with what they saw.

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“I’m talking about the team, the game, the stadium, the support and the club in general. So I’d be very, very hopeful that today would be a positive step towards something taking the club forward.”

Denying Celtic the victory which would have clinched the SPL title for Neil Lennon’s side was unquestionably the most satisfying aspect of the outcome for the Rangers supporters. But McCoist insisted that had never been a motivation for him in the build-up to yesterday’s match. “I know you won’t believe me but I didn’t want to win the game today to stop Celtic winning the title,” he added. “I’m not interested in that, to be honest. I wanted to win the game because you are playing your biggest rivals in one of the biggest fixtures of your season.

“There was no more pressure or desire here. I have been really fortunate to be involved in many Old Firm games and it would be wrong of me to say I wanted to win one more than another. I’ve wanted to win every one the same as the last one and the next one.

“I’d have to say that in what has been a bizarre and strange season all round, I would probably argue our two best performances have been against Celtic at home. Today’s performance and the one against Celtic last autumn, when we won 4-2, have been high points of what has been a difficult season. The fans were great today and that’s what we wanted more than anything, to give them something to cheer about. In current times and this struggle, we all feel their support has been absolutely magnificent. It’s a traumatic and difficult time but we really really wanted to win that game for them. Make no mistake about it, it wasn’t about stopping Celtic doing this, that or the next thing. We wanted to win the game for ourselves and indeed the support who deserve it. I just felt the one thing we did get today was what we deserved and that was a victory. I would actually argue we didn’t get the margin of victory we deserved.

“But I don’t think anyone could argue that we certainly deserved the victory.”

Leading 3-0 and playing against nine men, following the dismissals of Cha Du Ri and Victor Wanyama, Rangers ended the match in a mild panic. Carlos Bocanagra was sent off in conceding the penalty which Scott Brown converted, before Thomas Rogne reduced the deficit to 3-2 for Celtic in stoppage time.

“It was crazy what happened at the end of the game,” reflected McCoist, who then used the classic 1970s children’s television programme Potty Time to make one of the more unusual analogies ever heard in a post-match media conference.

“The best way of describing it is that we had a Michael Bentine five minutes at the end. We really did. We had totally dominated the game from start to finish although Celtic had a couple of good chances to score.

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“I really do not know what happened as the clock ticked down. However I did say to the players that I will, not in any shape, way or form, let that five minutes detract from their performance or the manner in which they won the game.”

Referee Calum Murray, subject of severe criticism from Celtic manager Lennon, received qualified backing from McCoist for his performance.

“The game has changed and the problem is that we are needing to change with it,” he added. “There is no such thing as a foul these days. It is either a yellow or a red card. The ref is only applying the laws the way he sees it.

“Did he (Cha) prevent a scoring opportunity? Yes, probably. Is it a soft sending off? Probably. Did Wanyama do a two-footed tackle? Probably. Did he set out to harm the player? Definitely not in my opinion. The referee will probably say Bocanegra is the last man preventing a goalscoring opportunity and he’s probably right.

“So the referee certainly has a case to say he’s got every decision right. But the reason managers and coaches get a little bit upset is because the game has definitely changed, and in my opinion not for the better. It’s difficult now just to see a free-kick because it tends to be a yellow card or a red card involved. I don’t think that’s good for the game.”