Why under-fire Rangers manager Ally McCoist deserves backing from Charles Green

[ian1964 10,416]

DIFFICULT decisions are required at Rangers after they finally stumbled over the line in the third division title race on Saturday - but would it be wise to dump Ally McCoist at this stage?

 

 

 

YOU know youâ??re in trouble when people can no longer look at you without gawping. Or cringing. Or both.

 

But thatâ??s the sad reality at Rangers these days. This once mighty club has become the biggest car crash in Scottish football.

 

On the park and off, it has become impossible not to rubberneck at this dysfunctional outfit and wonder how it is possible they have got themselves into such an unrecognisable state.

 

Even when theyâ??re securing championships, as they did at the weekend, they manage to do it in a hamfisted fashion, relying on Queens Park losing to Elgin after stumbling to another humiliating result of their own. A 0-0 draw at Montrose?

 

Has there ever been a more inauspicious way to win a title?

 

And all done against a backdrop of yet more tawdry infighting.

 

The suspension of chief scout Neil Murray is indeed a curious case and one worth watching over the coming days.

 

Record Sport revealed exclusively on Friday that Murray had been ordered to stay away from the club pending an internal probe into the role he played in last summerâ??s transfer activity.

 

However this one pans out, Murrayâ??s professional reputation has been harpooned by the suspicions of chief executive Charles Green.

 

And this latest clash has left another grubby stain on the face of a club that used to go about its business with a great deal more decorum.

 

If you didnâ??t know any better you would wonder if Green is deliberately questioning the judgment of Ally McCoist.

 

Or perhaps attempting to manoeuvre his manager into an impossible position.

 

Certainly, McCoist, who has also lost long-term physio Pip Yeates, should keep his eyes wide open over the coming weeks because Green appears determined to impose himself on Murray Park.

 

And what if Green suspects that a significant rump of season-ticket cash is at risk if McCoist remains in place?

 

What price would this renowned crowd pleaser be prepared to place on loyalty to a man who has given most of his adult life to this club?

 

Sometimes difficult decisions are required and, yes, it is better to make them with a clear, clinical head unclouded by sentimentality.

 

Thatâ??s fine so long as such decisions are made in the clubâ??s best interests. But there is an inherent danger in making them based upon what is best for the bank balance.

 

Thatâ??s often when whatâ??s fair and proper is ignored.

 

So what is the fair and proper thing to do where McCoist is concerned?

 

Some of his results in the bottom tier have been desperately poor and the performance levels of his team even worse. But it would seem grossly unfair not to consider fully the circumstances in which he has been forced to operate.

 

In fact, it could be argued that never in the history of Rangers has a manager been hamstrung by his own bosses in the way McCoist has over the last two years.

 

First by Craig Whyte but also now by Green who promised much but delivered little during the August transfer window when McCoist was in desperate need of players.

 

A new face in the dugout might be enough to revive flagging interest at a stroke. But it would be savage on McCoist who, having come through so much turmoil, surely deserves the chance to turn this team of his around in less chaotic times.

 

If McCoist is guilty of anything then it has been a failure to coach ordinary players to be better.

 

Rangers have not improved all season and their lack of style, class and coordination on the pitch has made them an eyesore.

 

Longer hours on the training ground might have solved at least some of their problems but the truth is Rangers have been winging it since the summer when McCoist and Murray were left with just three weeks in August to cobble a squad together. Most of the players they brought in have simply not been good enough.

 

Which brings us back to the latest scandal to rock the red facade.

 

As a sharp man, McCoist may suspect that this ongoing probe into Murrayâ??s affairs could ultimately see his own position undermined.

 

Perhaps Murray â?? who seems sure to leave the club now even if he is cleared of any wrongdoing â?? may be nothing more than collateral damage.

 

Green has emails in his possession which he believes suggest impropriety took place last summer.

 

But if Murray was involved in those deals then ultimately so too was McCoist as he was the man who sanctioned all signings.

 

So what does this probe into Murray say of McCoist and of Greenâ??s faith in the managerâ??s choices?

 

Itâ??s all very murky and it smells unpleasant.

 

Suspended pending an internal investigation? How on earth is Murray meant to repair the reputational damage made by such a charge against his character.

 

Almost two full weeks into this probe, we must assume that no hard evidence has been uncovered to substantiate claims of misconduct.

 

If it had, Murrayâ??s feet would not have touched the ground.

 

There is a belief that Green simply wants to move Murray out, which is his prerogative. But to go about it in this way seems crass, as was the decision to suspend striker Fran Sandaza for being suckered by some prankster on a mobile phone.

 

Yes, the Spaniard has been guilty of failing to earn his massive wages but he was the victim in this case and the treatment meted out to him by his bosses has been shameful.

 

But thatâ??ll be nothing compared with the way Murray has been singled out if indeed it does transpire Green canâ??t back up his suspicions.

 

Murray has been blamed for the standard of the current crop of recent arrivals â?? as well as a clutch of misfits from the previous season.

 

But I understand neither the chief scout nor the manager knew anything about a large number of these players until they had pitched up at Murray Park on trial.

 

In fact, Murray may even have warned against the signing of players such as Sebastien Faure and Anestis Argyriou but such was the level of McCoistâ??s desperation just to beef up his squad at the last minute that he was willing to accept having them foisted upon him just to make up the numbers, believing that bigger and better would follow.

 

On the morning of the final day of the summer window, McCoist received assurances that at least four players would be signed before midnight. Maybe even five so long as Carlos Bocanegra left on loan to free up more wages.

 

But no deal was done for Ryan McGowan. A £5000-a-week midfield player went missing too. And the £8k that had been set aside for a striker stayed in Greenâ??s pocket.

 

In the end, Bocanegra left and only David Templeton came in.

 

McCoist was let down once more, just as he had been the previous summer by Whyteâ??s shoot-to-miss signing policy.

 

And to think they used to say if he fell into the Clyde heâ??d come out with a salmon in his pocket. How McCoist could do with rediscovering his old luck right now.

 

Keith Jackson

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-column-rangers-manager-1795958

[Max Rebo's Big Blue Nose 0]

Utter ballacks I'm afraid. Ally's tenure shouldn't be just judged in who he brings in during previous/ potential transfer windows. That's just cheque book management in my eyes and doesn't show any signs of a long term vision or development. Regardless of circumstances we have still have a squad of 20 odd well paid players of varying ages and experiences that have shown little sign of improvement, cohesive shape or tactical awareness, recognisable style of play or ability to learn from mistakes. That is the managers fault IMO. You could give Ally all the friggin money and transfer windows you want but if you don't have any tangible structure or plan in the first place, we will still be making the same mistakes in a year or 2

[gisabeer 409]

lots of assumption without and fact or foundation. you couldnt make this up.... oh hold on keith , you just did!

[GovanAllan 0]

Fail to see how 7mill player wage bill is being let down, but then its the Rhebel.

[chilledbear 16]

I posted most of that last week in three lines.

 

What is wrong with the following is they were on trial before they were signed. Ally could have said, not good enough.

 

''But I understand neither the chief scout nor the manager knew anything about a large number of these players until they had pitched up at Murray Park on trial.''

[RANGERRAB 3,258]

Much as it pains me to say it we need a change of manager for next season. I think it's far too big a risk to allow him to bring in players & they turn out to be flops like last summer. I genuinely believe a better manager would have got more out of the current squad. I don't think the likes of Black, Shiels, Sandaza, Cribari etc have suddenly become average or poor players. They should have been decent signings who could easily have coped with SFL3 ? Why haven't they?

With a registration embargo looming last summer it was imperative to sign players before it started. We lost an entire MF and signed just one midfielder - Black. That was asking for trouble. Surely the manager should have seen that. Same at CB

Whatever CG decides he must get this one correct. The performances of the past few months cannot be repeated next season.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

if you can't deliver any semblance of form fitness, or football when you have 70 times the amount your opposition has to spend as well as being full time and playing v part time players then you should be ashamed as a manager.

 

as for buying your way out of trouble thats what got us where we are.

[Max Rebo's Big Blue Nose 0]

Much as it pains me to say it we need a change of manager for next season. I think it's far too big a risk to allow him to bring in players & they turn out to be flops like last summer. I genuinely believe a better manager would have got more out of the current squad. I don't think the likes of Black, Shiels, Sandaza, Cribari etc have suddenly become average or poor players. They should have been decent signings who could easily have coped with SFL3 ? Why haven't they?

With a registration embargo looming last summer it was imperative to sign players before it started. We lost an entire MF and signed just one midfielder - Black. That was asking for trouble. Surely the manager should have seen that. Same at CB

Whatever CG decides he must get this one correct. The performances of the past few months cannot be repeated next season.

 

Agreed RAB. This is the time for Rangers to show some real vision and look to where we want to be as a club over the next 5/10 years. Ally is not the answer and never will be in my opinion.

[RANGERRAB 3,258]

Agreed RAB. This is the time for Rangers to show some real vision and look to where we want to be as a club over the next 5/10 years. Ally is not the answer and never will be in my opinion.

 

another disappointing aspect over the past few months is the sudden loss of form by the young players such as McKay, Crawford, Aird etc.