Rangers administration: Job losses to be ‘crystallised’ at Ibrox today

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist will not deliver the news personally to those players who are told that they have lost their jobs as the latest sad chapter in the Ibrox club’s recent history prepares to be played-out today.

The manager saw his team defeated 2-1 by Hearts on Saturday but delivered a stirring defence of the players’ commitment afterwards. The loss to the Tynecastle side was Rangers’ third consecutive defeat at Ibrox and left them trailing leaders Celtic by 21 points. However, this is a minor detail compared with what is set to take place at Murray Park today, when as many as eight players could be made redundant.

Rangers’ administrators Duff and Phelps say they must find savings of £1 million per month to ensure the ongoing viability of the business and decisions on job cuts are likely to be delivered by the end of play today. According to one club source yesterday, the decisions “will become crystallised during the course of the day”. How the administrators make the savings required is “still open to discussion,” the source added, with some players having already indicated that they would be prepared to take significant wage-cuts in the short-term at least. However, such a gesture is unlikely to be enough to prevent several player contracts being terminated as the administrators sought to reach what has been described as the “ultimate objective”, which is the survival of the business.

McCoist has promised to be waiting outside the room to offer his support to those who are let go by administrators Duff and Phelps as part of cost-cutting measures to keep the club alive. He is reluctant to get involved in the number-crunching and believes such decisions concerning staff redundancies should be left to the accountants, who have now been at the club for just under three weeks.

“It’s not my job, I’m not making anybody redundant, I’m not telling anybody they have lost their job,” said McCoist. “I won’t be [in with the players] but I will be waiting outside if and when it happens. My job is to support and be there, which I will be.”

McCoist himself has been left reeling by the huge monthly losses Rangers are reported to be making. But he has been quick to fight the club’s corner, warning those having fun at Ranges’ expense to get it out of their system while they can. “One or two have been having a wee fly kick and I would suggest they have a good hard kick now because we will not be where we are for long. It’s been really difficult for everybody. The one thing I would do is pay tribute to the entire staff. It’s not just the players and the coaching staff – it’s everybody here.

“I would pay tribute to the workforce at Ibrox and the workforce at Murray Park in what can only be described as extremely difficult circumstances. Morale and an inner-strength to keep going and be there for each other, to me, is really evident and very strong. That will help us get through it.”

McCoist also saluted his players, who, he said, “ran themselves into the ground” against Hearts on Saturday. His side took the lead in the first-half but were undone by two second-half goals from Hearts.

McCoist praised his players for their efforts in front of Britain’s biggest football crowd of the day. “They ran themselves into the ground. I just can’t believe we got beat,” he said.