Rangers liquidation: Ally McCoist hits out at want-away players

ALLY McCoist has spoken out against any Rangers players who use the contract dispute as an excuse to quit the troubled club, suggesting that they are not being “honest” with supporters.

• Rhys McCabe and Sone Aluko reportedly told club of intention to leave

• Ally McCoist claims he knew nothing of their decision

• Charles Green to meet with PFA Scotland on Monday

The issue of whether contracts would be transferred from the old Rangers to the newco has yet to be resolved following the club’s liquidation, with the PFA Scotland union maintaining that players would be able to walk away as free agents.

It has been reported that midfielder Rhys McCabe has lodged an objection to the transfer of his contract under the asset purchase deal by Charles Green’s consortium.

Nigerian winger Sone Aluko was another Rangers player to lodge a lawyer’s letter yesterday, informing the club of his intention to leave, BBC Scotland reports today.

But Ibrox boss McCoist says he has not heard from either player and issued a statement condemning their actions.

He said: “It has been reported that a couple of players have indicated they want to challenge the transfer of their contracts. This is news to me and no player has spoken to me about it.

“At all times during my first year as manager, I strived to show players respect and in return would have hoped they would have shown me, and more importantly the club, respect by notifying us of their intentions before making it known elsewhere.

“Players have their own decisions to make and I understand that, but the question they have to ask themselves is do they want to play for Rangers or not?

“The formation of a new company is not the issue. The players would be playing for the same club - Rangers - in front of the same fans.

“If players want to leave and play somewhere else then they should be honest with the Rangers supporters.

“I don’t want Rangers fans to be reading over the next few days how devastated players are about having to go. The fans deserve better than that. They are not daft.

“I can understand if a player has the chance to go somewhere else and there is uncertainty about which division we will be playing in.

“If that is the case that is understandable but they should not expect sympathy from Rangers supporters if they use the transfer of contracts as an excuse.

“I already know there are agents touting my players all over the United Kingdom, so let’s be brutally honest.

“We are in a difficult situation and the contracts issue has given some players and agents the belief they can use it to leave the club.

“After all that the club and the fans have gone through, the supporters, above all, deserve the truth and should not have to listen to stories trying to sugar-coat the possible departure of players from the club.

“The players were magnificent last season and made great sacrifices and that will never be forgotten.

“Now, we have to look forward and everyone should be upfront and honest about their intentions.”

Rangers chief executive Green insisted that the transfer of contracts is legally sound under TUPE regulations.

He said: “We are meeting the PFA Scotland and their legal advisers on Monday with a view to allaying players’ concerns about the transfer of contracts so the timing of these announcements by players is hard to understand.

“The transfer of contracts has already happened and the club’s clear legal advice is that players’ purported objection is ineffective.

“Rangers would like to make it abundantly clear to players, agents and the chairmen and managers of other football clubs that we will take whatever steps necessary to challenge what we regard as a breach of contract to protect the interests of our club.”