Rangers coach Kenny McDowall has spoken out about Craig Whyte

[ian1964 10,475]

By TOM ENGLISH

Published on Sunday 6 May 2012 00:07

 

THERE is no telling how many questions Ally McCoist has fielded since the Rangers story started to erupt, but it must be hundreds across dozens of days.

 

Thatâ??s a lot of talking, a lot of answers that began â??I wish I knewâ?¦â? and â??Your guess is as good as mineâ?¦â? and â??Weâ??re all in the dark hereâ?¦â? On Friday, he limited the chat at last. We expected McCoist to walk through the door but instead it was Kenny McDowall, his assistant and soul-brother in this on-going circus.

 

McDowall has been in the background all this time, quietly seething and bemoaning what has become of his club. Friday was his first opportunity to speak his mind and he did so with passion.

 

â??I donâ??t know if itâ??s anger so much,â? he said. â??The frustration was incredible at the start when we heard what happened [the club going into administration]. We knew [the job] was going to be difficult because Walter [smith] is not here and youâ??re trying to fill his shoes, which is hard enough. For us to do well we needed certain things to happen, certain people to help us who are in Monaco with a glass of champagne and a lobsterâ??s tail sticking out of his mouth. What can we say? You just couldnâ??t make up whatâ??s happened.â?

 

McCoist has always met questions about Craig Whyte, right, with a straight bat, which made McDowallâ??s response the most blunt on-the-record criticism of the clubâ??s owner to have come out of the club to date. Nobody with a fair mind could blame him. He sat there on Friday and spoke about the world of chaos he is living in right now, a place where no plans for next season can be made because of all the unknowns. Thereâ??s a giant question mark hanging over the place and itâ??s only getting bigger by the day.

 

 

â??We canâ??t plan anything,â? he said.

 

Does he know if clubs are sniffing around his players on the QT? â??Yes, in England, obviously. We know how it works. Thatâ??s what happens. Weâ??ve got to hope they [the players] want to be here and weâ??ll try everything to keep them here. But sometimes itâ??s taken away from you, itâ??s taken out of your hands and you need to get on with it.

 

â??You could be looking at a youth team, basically, if youâ??ve a transfer embargo still in place. I hate to think like that because itâ??s unfair on the kids for one thing, expecting them to compete at that level. It makes a mockery of the league. People think weâ??ve been selfish looking at it from our own point of view but itâ??s for the game here as well. Theyâ??re killing themselves if that happens. Weâ??re talking to Peter Houston the other night after the game and he reckons Dundee United would lose £600,000 if we werenâ??t in the league. So how do they budget for losing that? Where do they get that from if theyâ??re not getting it from us taking support to their place?

 

â??Weâ??ve been downsizing here for a number of years. Thereâ??s no reserve team. What weâ??ve got in [the first team squad] just now is whatâ??s ready to come in. The rest are miles away. Itâ??s unfair and itâ??s the last thing we need, going through a season with young kids. You could finish them. I donâ??t know how many of our experienced players weâ??d lose but youâ??ve got to say itâ??s a possibility [losing them all]. Weâ??re hoping not but itâ??d be foolish of me to sit here and think theyâ??ll all say they love us, they think weâ??re great and theyâ??re not going to move. But you know yourself, itâ??s business.â?

 

Over the past few years, he thought at times that financial restraints at Ibrox couldnâ??t get any tighter, thought at times there was bound to be somebody who would come in and release the kind of money to grow the squad. Whyte, all champagne and lobster, hasnâ??t done it. Bill Miller, who is already preaching austerity, isnâ??t likely to do it either. There is a new reality at Rangers and if they have any sense then itâ??s here to stay.

 

Of course, thatâ??s only going to make life harder for McCoist and McDowall as they try and rebuild after what will surely be an exodus from the dressing room in the summer.

 

â??Weâ??ve done well, but the fact that we won three-in-a-row and won cups disguised the fact we were needing to invest. Weâ??ve sort of done ourselves in by being successful. Weâ??d never change the success but weâ??ve needed investment for a long time and itâ??s not really happened. I donâ??t know anything about the players and their contracts but weâ??re keen to sort out the situation. We need someone in to try and take it forward. Weâ??ve normally got pre-season sorted but weâ??ve not managed that yet. Player-wise weâ??d have targets but we donâ??t know who weâ??re going to have here. We donâ??t know if weâ??ll be allowed to sign any players. A lot of balls are up in the air and we canâ??t do our jobs properly.â?

 

The English clubs doing the sniffing include West Brom, who will soon be losing their manager to England. Even if Roy Hodgsonâ??s replacement changes the clubâ??s transfer targets, it will be hardly end the interest in England in the likes of Steven Naismith, Allan McGregor, Steven Whittaker and Steven Davis, the four most marketable assets at the club, players who may be allowed to leave for nothing or next to nothing, though that is disputed by the administrators.

 

â??Itâ??s a disaster, it shouldnâ??t happen,â? said McDowall when asked what it would be like to see a valuable player like Naismith depart for free. â??English teams must know the Old Firm players inside-out. If they donâ??t know the players can do well theyâ??re kidding themselves on because most of them are international players. Scotland is a tough place to play in and there are good players up here. Englandâ??s a tough league as well. They laugh at us, but itâ??s not that bad a league. Down the road they think weâ??re a laughing stock until some of their players come up and canâ??t handle it.â?

 

There were words of praise for the manager, a tribute to a guy who has had to carry a heavy burden these past months in his new role as part-manager, part-psychologist, part-ambassador, part-spokesman. McCoist has had to wear a lot of different hats â??Allyâ??s probably had to deal with a lot of things that heâ??s not wanted to tell us about,â? said McDowall. â??Now, he tells me pretty much everything thatâ??s going on, but Iâ??m sure there will be things heâ??ll be carrying himself and that must be hard to do. Heâ??s taken a lot on himself and thatâ??s not been easy. In a normal situation there would have been people above him and they would have dealt with things, but he lost all of that early. A lot of people in those roles have left the place. So heâ??s had to take on a number of jobs. Heâ??s coped tremendously well.â?

 

McDowall said the whole scene is weird. So much activity and yet so few answers. He has never spoken to Miller and knows nothing about him and yet the American holds the future of the club in his hands. â??Weâ??ve got to give him a chance. Heâ??s going to be our boss, so I think heâ??s a great guy!â?

 

Heâ??s clinging to that hope like a drowning man would a life raft.

[forlanssister 3,062]

At last some plain speaking and some unvarnished truths.

[Ergatrude 0]

For us to do well we needed certain things to happen, certain people to help us who are in Monaco with a glass of champagne and a lobster’s tail sticking out of his mouth.

 

Can Whyte sack him for that?

[pete 2,499]

At last some plain speaking and some unvarnished truths.

 

Sorry FS this is just the same of the same of the same. It is not Bullshit but just another version of what we have seen and heard a 1000 times. I believe their situation is not perfect but just get on with it without all the media crap.

[Owain 0]

If McDowall did his job half as much as he moves his mouth we'd still be winning this league even with the 10pt deduction.

 

Shut up & get on with it.

[3909 04 0]

Strong words when the patsy ex-chairman is gone for good, Kenny.

 

Any more views for us? Any thoughts on the megalomaniac media junkie ex-owner who happily took the club to verge of extinction by employing incompetent yes-men, while sacrificing the club's fans to gain a knighthood before selling the club to the man you're deriding and scuttling off to cultivate his vineyard in the south of France?

 

No, I didn't think so.

[chilledbear 16]

Who is going to do the cost cutting?

 

Obviously if BM takes over, he will appoint someone for the day to day running of the Club.

 

I wonder what experience if any they will have of running a football club.

 

Will McDowall still be at Ibrox?