McCoist brushes aside any talk of treble as United seek revenge

ALLY McCoist does not need to be reminded of how difficult it is to win Scottish football's domestic 'treble'. But if he did, the sight of Dundee United's tangerine jerseys would certainly do the trick.

Rangers, currently 13 points clear at the top of the SPL and with a Co-operative Insurance Cup final against St Mirren at Hampden next weekend, go into tomorrow's Active Nation Scottish Cup quarter-final against United at Ibrox amid increasingly feverish anticipation among their supporters over the prospect of winning the eighth treble in the club's history.

While assistant manager McCoist is gratified that the team's performances so far this season have left the door to that possibility open, however, he insists it has not even been contemplated by the coaching staff. McCoist needs only reflect on his own playing career with Rangers to appreciate how foolhardy treble talk can be. As highly decorated as he was in his 15 seasons of on-field service to the club, McCoist was part of only one treble-winning squad. Even in that all-conquering 1992-93 campaign, he missed out on the completion of the feat when the broken leg he suffered on Scotland duty ruled him out of the Scottish Cup Final.

But it is the two occasions during that era when the treble eluded Rangers at the final hurdle which stick out most in McCoist's mind, losing the Scottish Cup finals of 1989 and 1994, the latter to those tangerine shirts of United. "It's strange, but when you look back on seasons like that, you think more about losing to United in the Scottish Cup final than you do about winning the league or the League Cup," he said. "I can still see the United goal in that game and it was a poor one to lose. I certainly had a chance to score in the game as well. We were due a treble back in 1989 as well when we played Celtic in the Scottish Cup final. That was the when big Roy (Aitken) took a throw-in that should have been ours and Celtic scored the only goal. But that would be me going on about referees, so let's not go there.

"Seriously, trebles are exceptionally difficult to win and that's why we try not to talk about it.

It's not something we would encourage here. We have won absolutely nothing yet. We are in a great position in the league, in the final of one cup and have a tough quarter-final in the other cup this weekend. As a player, you do look forward and possibly think about trebles. But managers and coaches have to make sure it doesn't rule their thoughts.

"Complacency is something that could really put a dent in our hopes of winning trophies and we have to guard against it.

Rangers have not lost a Scottish Cup match since Walter Smith's return as manager three years ago, an impressive record which reflects well on McCoist who is handed a higher profile role in the tournament by the manager.

"The players deserve all the credit going for that," said McCoist. "There have been one or two hairy moments in that time, with replays and penalty shoot-outs, but I think you need to carry more luck to win cup competitions than you do a league championship."

United are back at Ibrox for the first time since they suffered a humiliating 7-1 SPL defeat in December and McCoist is wary of the extra motivation that will bring to Peter Houston's team.

"The only bearing that result will have on Sunday is that United will be seriously hurting," added McCoist. "I don't know if it was freak result, some of Kris Boyd's goals that night were phenomenal, but there were times in the game when we were actually under the cosh. There will be no doubting the attitude of the United players on Sunday."

Madjid Bougherra, who has missed Rangers' last two matches with a hamstring strain, is back in their squad. Andy Webster, on a season long loan at United from Rangers, is not allowed to face his parent club.

McCoist, meanwhile, admitted to uncertainty over his own position at the club should the proposed takeover by Andrew Ellis' consortium go through. Like Smith and the rest of the management team at Ibrox, McCoist is currently working without a contract.

"I'm sure if I was buying a football club, I would take a great interest in who I was having run it and I would expect whoever takes over Rangers to do the exact same," he said. "They might want their own people in or they might want the people who are in to stay in. We won't know until that time arises. We don't know anything about the takeover talks. If that happens, that's fantastic. We pray they have the best interests of the club at heart and I'm sure they will have."