The Rangers boss who didnâ??t walk away

[ian1964 10,448]

IT was a throwaway phrase uttered through an open car window which would help energise a club and drive it forwards as darkness enveloped.

 

Thursday, February 16 was just two days into Rangersâ?? administration.

 

But when Ally McCoist was stopped at the gates of Murray Park after what was to become an all-too-regular set of meetings that had never been in his original job spec, he issued an unrehearsed statement that would become the rallying call for survival.

 

Asked if heâ??d considered quitting, with steel in his eyes and his usual wit understandably absent, he replied: â??We donâ??t do walking awayâ?.

 

Yet the man who had successfully taken his gift of the gab to the TV screens before sacrificing a cosy spot in the studio for a place in the hotseat of his boyhood heroes hadnâ??t realised just how much his comment would strike a chord with Gers fans across the globe.

 

Now as a never-to-forget 2012 closes for Gers, it is THE phrase which will forever be associated with the clubâ??s cash plight.

 

Some felt he had backed himself into a corner with what heâ??d said had Rangers slipped even further into the abyss.

 

But ten months on and McCoist doesnâ??t regret a single word.

 

Asked if he ever feared heâ??d made a rod for his own back, McCoist said: â??There are one or two who have accused me of having a big mouth, which is probably right!

 

â??It was a throwaway one. It was never said with any degree of poignancy, I wasnâ??t trying to be profound or anything like that.

 

â??It was just something I said out of the car window and I certainly didnâ??t think it would have had the reaction it did have.

 

â??The supporters needed somebody. They didnâ??t have anybody. They didnâ??t have a chairman or a chief executive or a board.

 

â??All they had was the team and myself as manager, thatâ??s all they had and they were looking for something. It certainly wasnâ??t premeditated but a lot of them jumped on it, which was great.

 

â??Never once did I think about walking away because I just wanted to see it through.

 

â??I just wanted the club to survive and the people within their club to keep their jobs.

 

â??That was all we were gunning for because thatâ??s effectively how serious it was.

 

â??We know the club nearly died and with that would have been peopleâ??s livelihoods.

 

â??We all just wanted to do our bit to get through it and make sure at the start of the season we were playing football again.

 

â??I love what I do. I loved the TV, of course I did and it certainly is easier!

 

â??But I love this club and the people within it and like everyone else, I just wanted to club together and get through it.â?

 

Such has been the whirlwind nature of the past 12 months, McCoist still hasnâ??t had chance to properly reflect on what went on.

 

At times it was an hour-by-hour existence as he sat in front of administrators and took calls from potential new buyers. He lived through every minute yet still reckons heâ??ll be AMAZED when the time does eventually come to look back.

 

McCoist said: â??I wouldnâ??t have it down as the best year of my life, thatâ??s for sure! Thatâ??s an absolute given.

 

â??But I certainly wouldnâ??t say it was the worst. There are worse things that can happen.

 

â??It has been the most topsy-turvy year of my life without a doubt. Itâ??s safe to say that what has happened to the club and what has happened to the team has been, at best, bizarre and certainly challenging.

 

â??We have come through it to a certain degree, which is great. There are still miles and miles to go.

 

â??But the year itself? Iâ??ve not had an opportunity to sit down and look at it again but I will.

 

â??Iâ??ll probably look at it month by month and be amazed. You have to balance things out. And it has been a horrendous time at work.

 

â??But we have come through it, so in terms of work itâ??s been as poor a year as I can ever remember.

 

â??The most important thing now is that the club comes through it. And it has with the help of so many people.â?

 

McCoist stops short of agreeing that any challenges he faces going forward now will never be as stark as the tribulations of 2012.

 

Asked if the year will prove to be the making of him, he added: â??I donâ??t know, I really donâ??t.

 

â??You just do things you feel are right and are the right things to do.

 

â??Youâ??re going to make mistakes, of course you are.

 

â??But, at the same time, it was such an important situation for the club to be in that every decision was probably being analysed and looked at meticulously.

 

â??It was more important in terms of the welfare and running of the club.

 

â??So I probably think, being honest, that though it has been the worst year in terms of working at the club it has been strange because we havenâ??t been judged on what you usually get judged on â?? and that is results.

 

â??Itâ??s probably the only year I can remember where results didnâ??t matter. They were completely secondary.

 

â??So Iâ??m looking forward to 2013 and being judged on results â?? because thatâ??s what managers should be judged on.â?

 

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