Rangers: Ally McCoist ‘would consider pay cut’

Ally McCoist: Would consider paycut. Picture: Robert Perry

The Ibrox manager is understood to draw a salary of £760,000. It’s an eye-catching sum for a team playing in the third tier of the Scottish game, particularly as worries are growing over Rangers’ cost base and the rapid reduction in cash reserves, with former director Dave King claiming last week that the club could be in administration by Christmas.

Despite taking in £22 million from a share issue, and £13m in season ticket sales over the past year, Rangers’ finance director Brian Stockbridge admitted on Thursday that only £10m remained in the bank. McCoist, is the highest-paid employee at the club. Asked if any Rangers executives had ever said his wages were too high, or asked him to take a drop, McCoist said: “No.” When then asked if he would consider a pay cut, the Rangers manager replied: “Yes.”

McCoist, while describing King as a genuine Rangers man whose voice “deserved to be listened to”, replied to accusations that his expensive squad building could threaten the club’s financial stability. He signed eight new players during the summer. “Well, the wages are down again this year, I know that,” McCoist said. “Craig [Mather, Rangers chief executive] said since the start of last season we’ve also lost ten players. We’ve lost six since last year, counting [Dorin] Goian and [Carlos] Bocanegra and boys like that. We brought in eight and the wages are down. It’s my job to get the best team I possibly can on the park for the fans in an effort to win the league and any other competition we are in.

“It’s the board’s job to keep an eye on the finances. I am part of that in the respect they give me budgets to do so. I would be very, very hopeful we are not haemorrhaging money and going down the same road as we did before.”

McCoist insisted administration had never been mentioned by board members or in board meetings he had attended.

“I certainly believe Craig Mather would tell me if we were heading down a road we didn’t want to be going down. I’d hope there would be an early-warning system for us this time. Not like the last time, when we got 24 hours notice. You’d like to think we’d have an opportunity to do something about it.”