Light Blues' stock rising despite demise

[pete 2,499]

RANGERSâ?? fall from grace has, bizarrely, increased their profile around the world.

 

Rangers-is-still-an-attractive-name-internationally-according-to-Ally-McCoist Rangers is still an attractive name internationally according to Ally McCoist

 

And the Ibrox club is ready to cash in by going to either the US or South Africa for pre-season games.

 

Itâ??s all a far cry from last summer when two tours were cancelled, six players turned up for the re-start and the Light Blues didnâ??t even have a licence to continue playing until the 11th hour as their football world disintegrated around them.

 

The fact that weâ??re talking about going to these places is great because it shows the interest that thereâ??s been in the club and that our name is still attractive.

 

Now manager Ally McCoist and chief executive Charles Green are deliberating over lucrative offers.

 

McCoist said: â??Weâ??re hoping to confirm the details in the next couple of weeks but there are quite a few options available to us â?? South Africa, America and probably Germany.

 

â??We will be looking to play three games against quality opposition in mid-to-late July wherever we end up going,

 

â??We wonâ??t do the USA and South Africa â?? just one of them â?? and probably end up where weâ??ve been before in Germany.

 

â??The fact that weâ??re talking about going to these places is great because it shows the interest that thereâ??s been in the club and that our name is still attractive.

 

â??The fact that we still have that pull is very important.

 

â??We want the profile of the club to remain as high as possible but the standard of the team wonâ??t be as high as we would hope for a couple of years yet, thatâ??s pretty evident.

 

â??But hopefully we can end up bigger and stronger than before and that through the rebuilding process there will be opportunities to cross continents again.â?

 

McCoist knows the demise of the Ibrox club â?? and its resurrection â?? has fuelled interest worldwide and he recalls visits from television crews from as far afield as Brazil, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Hong Kong.

 

â??Thatâ??s because we are a story and itâ??s a good story,â? he said. â??All this gives us the chance to lift Rangersâ?? name higher than it was before because people all over the world canâ??t believe the support weâ??ve had and the fact that we have 45,000 for home games and sell out all our away matches.

 

â??They find it outrageous that a club in our position can do that and it is a fantastic tale.â?

 

McCoist also hopes to be in a position to take new players with him for the pre-season trip even though he canâ??t sign any officially until September.

 

He said: â??It would be vital that we take new players out with us even if itâ??s not ideal that we couldnâ??t play them for six weeks.

 

â??Thatâ??s where we are, but in terms of preparation I would be a lot happier with a good number of new faces to take with us.

 

â??Just to give them a proper pre-season schedule and to work with them on a daily basis would make a big difference.

 

â??Last pre-season was an absolute shambles. We had six players turn up, we werenâ??t allowed to play a pre-season game and we didnâ??t even know if the opening game against Brechin was going ahead 36 hours beforehand. It was chaos.

 

â??So all I can ask for is a little bit of normality in terms of pre-season to prepare and work with the boys and Iâ??m extremely hopeful of getting new boys in for then and maybe even playing a couple as triallists although Iâ??m not sure about that.â?