Rangers takeover: Situation is ‘really dreadful’ admits Ally McCoist

IN THE same fair city of Perth where his illustrious playing career began, Ally McCoist must face the prospect tomorrow of presiding over the final match in the history of Rangers Football Club as he knows and loves it.

At lunchtime yesterday, the Rangers manager held his final pre-match media conference of the season at Murray Park. Yet, as has been the case for three months now, there was little in the way of conversation about the SPL fixture against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

For the uncertainty which remains over the future of Rangers means McCoist does not know what form of club, if any, he will return to work at next season. Newco or Oldco, it remains to be seen how many of those who take the field tomorrow will be playing their last game for Rangers.

At the end a week in which one preferred bidder had withdrawn and administrators Duff and Phelps prepared to name another, McCoist did his best to put a brave face on a grim situation once more.

“I don’t really know if I’m more optimistic now or less optimistic,” said McCoist. “I’m just trying to handle it and get on with it. I’m as optimistic as I was last week. You have to be positive and optimistic, otherwise people can feed off your doom and gloom. So I can’t allow that to be the case.

“There has to be a realism as well. So when Bill Miller withdrew at the start of the week, I had to say ‘well okay, that’s a wee bit of a disappointment, but let’s go again’. That’s the way it has to be.

“I had a chat with them this morning, including the injured lads, about the season and let them know they will all receive a letter telling them when to be back for pre-season training. They have all taken their personal fitness programmes away with them. If there are any other developments, we will be in touch with them.

“It’s arguably a worse situation for the boys who are out of contract. Make no mistake about it, it’s not a good situation at all. It would be a concern of mine that some of them will not be back. But there’s not a lot I can do about it. It’s something that will be taken out of my hands and I can’t have a bearing on it. Of course, I can talk to individuals and advise in whatever way possible to stay at the club, but they will have to make their own minds up.

“I do appreciate people saying this could be the last game for Rangers as we know it now but, maybe it’s just the optimism in me, I look at the newco route and it’s still Rangers to me if that happens. It’s still 140 years of history. I believe that would be the case, the same as it was at Leeds United, Airdrie and clubs like that. I’m not of the opinion that you lose everything. But I can understand people thinking that way.”

PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart held a meeting with the Rangers players at Murray Park yesterday as they count down to the end of the month when their re-negotiated contracts are due to return to the original terms. Many of them have clauses allowing them to leave for set fees if the crisis at the club is not resolved.

“Effectively, I wouldn’t really have an input in that,” admitted McCoist. “That decision has been taken out of my hands. I can understand that, if it does go on longer and the administrators have to get money in from somewhere, the sale of a player would be an obvious way to get finance in.

“I wouldn’t expect an input because it wouldn’t matter. If someone comes in with the amount in a player’s contract, I can throw a tantrum and it won’t matter. It is depressing to think we may have to sell just to meet running costs. The situation is dreadful, really dreadful.

“The worst scenario is that the club lose the appeal at the SFA decision next week, the transfer embargo stays and then you also lose players. That is the worst scenario in terms of football for next season. So, if you’re trying to be optimistic at all, losing one player might not be a bonus - but it might beat the lesser of some evils down the road.

“The players will play at McDiarmid Park on Sunday and then scatter. I’ve already let Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goian go. Carlos has several games with the USA over the summer and his wife has just had a baby. So I’ve let him go to get a wee bit of time. He’ll come back a bit later too. Dorin’s the same, we decided to let him get back to Romania for a bit of time with his family.

“We have cover at the back for Sunday with Kyle Bartley, Ross Perry and Kirk Broadfoot. Carlos and Dorin had played in almost all of our games. But the rest of the squad will leave on Sunday.

“You look at boys like Goian and Bocanegra who, having just come to the club this season, must be absolutely shell-shocked. They came here looking to push their careers forward. To have the year that they’ve had has been a real blow.

“But all of them have made really encouraging noises about the club. I think it’s safe to say that, as much as a disaster this whole thing has been, the size of the club and what it means to so many people has become evident. As bad as it’s been, it’s easy to appreciate the size of the club by the reaction of people who support the club.”