Richard Wilson - 'Miles to go' but McCoist confident of moving on

[ian1964 10,416]

There is still work that Ally McCoist would like to carry out on his Rangers squad.

 

He continues to monitor trialists, is keen on a centre-back and a centre-forward and there is interest from other clubs in "one or two" of his players. These are the routine tasks of a manager, but they also provide a refuge for McCoist. When he talks about the off-field issues at Ibrox, he has increasingly been referring to fatigue, among the fans, among the football community, perhaps even for most of those involved.

 

Every week tends to bring a further development on the boardroom saga at the club. Since answering back to the criticisms of Charles Green when the former chief executive returned, briefly, as a paid consultant, McCoist has maintained the stance this his business is the team and his players; what happens in the boardroom is down to the directors.

 

He returned to that theme yesterday, acknowledging that the continue drama at Rangers needs a conclusive ending. "Being a fan, ex-player and now manager, I just want what's best for this club," he said. "Everyone is reaching the stage where we're saying 'let's get this sorted and move on'. When I talk to Sandy [Jardine], wee Willie Henderson, big Tam Forsyth, everyone is of the same opinion: 'C'mon, let's sort this out and go forward'. If that's ex-players talking, it'll be echoed one thousand times by the supporters, but I'm optimistic that the off-the-park stuff can finally be sorted out."

 

It is likely to be six weeks before the club holds its annual general meeting, at which a group of disgruntled shareholders will also table five resolutions seeking significant changes in the boardroom. The accounts are due to be published in the meantime. McCoist has become well-versed in financial issues that most football managers would not expect to encounter - "it's opened my eyes to a lot of avenues I'd never have imagined I'd go down," he said - but it will be a measure of his own progress if the exploits of the team do not add to the commotion.

 

The season is in its infancy, but Rangers fans have taken heart from the performances of their side. The loss to Forfar Athletic in the first round of the Scottish League Cup will continue to irk them, but otherwise Rangers have shown signs of a stronger mental attitude, more variety and dynamism to their play and, crucially, a more emphatic sense of purpose. Airdrieonians were eventually swept aside last Friday night, with the kind of ruthless intent that McCoist has been demanding of his squad, and even if one game is not emblematic, the general sense is of progress.

 

"We've miles to go and we've had one great second-half against Airdrie, so no-one's getting carried away," said McCoist. "The squad's getting better with the players we've brought in. People have to remember we lost £40-50m worth of talent [last year] and brought in free transfers, but we're delighted with the progress we'll make this year."

 

Steve Simonsen, the former Dundee goalkeeper, and Sam Kelly, the 19-year-old former Everton midfielder, have extended their trial period at the club, while McCoist retains an interest in signing the Bosnian defender Boris Pandza. Negotiations are continuing between Craig Mather, the Rangers chief executive, and Pandza's agent. Several clubs are also keen on taking Scott Gallacher, the Rangers goalkeeper, on loan, with McCoist keen for the player to gain regular first-team experience.

 

Cammy Bell, the former Kilmarnock goalkeeper, is one of the eight players who have agreed to sign as free agents on September 1, when Rangers' registration embargo ends. He could even feature as a trialist in Saturday's match with East Fife at Ibrox, after which McCoist will be able to choose from a full squad of players. The visit of Berwick Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup tonight is not incidental, since McCoist wants to foster a hardened winning attitude within his squad. It is also an opportunity for some players to prove their worth before potential replacements are eligible to play from September 1 onwards.

 

"If you're Berwick Rangers, you're delighted we're not allowed to play any of our new players," McCoist said. "But I'm more looking forward to the game than having any worries because the boys that will play, those that didn't play on Friday, will know that's what expected."

 

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/miles-to-go-but-mccoist-confident-of-moving-on.21981607

[Zappa 0]

I know Ally wants to strengthen the squad a bit more, but is it for possible cup runs? If so and it means increasing the wage bill, then that seems to me like unnecessary spending at this point. The squad we've got right now should be good enough to win the league by a comfortable margin and speculating to accumulate on 'possible' cup runs at the moment doesn't seem very prudent.

[chilledbear 16]

I think what he says about keeping on-field and off-field separate is something he believes. So he will spend as long as he is allowed, it needs someone to say NO.

[Guest TravelingWilBEARy]

I know Ally wants to strengthen the squad a bit more, but is it for possible cup runs? If so and it means increasing the wage bill, then that seems to me like unnecessary spending at this point. The squad we've got right now should be good enough to win the league by a comfortable margin and speculating to accumulate on 'possible' cup runs at the moment doesn't seem very prudent.

 

I think he's building a team for the next few years, including for when we get back to the SPFL.

[26th of foot 5,836]

I think he's building a team for the next few years, including for when we get back to the SPFL.

 

Two years hence, hopefully we have returned to the top tier?

 

I suspect Cammy Bell, Nicky Law, Lee Wallace, David Templeton, and Lewis MacLeod may be the only survivors of the current grouping. I hope Robbie Crawford, Gazparato, Little, and Barrie M'Kay can survive. The length of contracts provide a hint of intention.

[calscot 0]

Instead of lookng at the wages of individual players, should we not be looking at the cost of the whole squad?

 

There really seems to be a fashion in slagging off how big our squad is and what they are paid. Not long ago it was "embarrassing" that we weren't throwing money at players to make them come and that we didn't have enough strength in depth, now the trend is to slag off the manager every time he looks at a new player or gives a current one a new contract.

 

We have one of the lowest wage to turnover ratios in the UK, just how low do people want it to go? Surely you can't tell the manager not to spend and at the same time slag his team off as the worst you've ever seen? Surely if we want to squeeze every penny then style of play is unimportant and winning the league the only thing that counts? You can't slag a manager off for winning the league by "only" 24 points with "crap" football and then say he'd spending too much on a team that looks like it might deliver what people want.

 

It just seems like any old excuse to have a moan.

 

Ally should have a set budget which is a reasonable fraction of turnover, and be able to use that budget in whichever way he sees best to achieve the results. If he doesn't get the required results then his job should be on the line. This seems to be the case and is why Ally now has to offload before he can add again.

 

I really don't think any manager needs a fan to micromanage his every move.

[stewarty 1,876]

Instead of lookng at the wages of individual players, should we not be looking at the cost of the whole squad?

 

There really seems to be a fashion in slagging off how big our squad is and what they are paid. Not long ago it was "embarrassing" that we weren't throwing money at players to make them come and that we didn't have enough strength in depth, now the trend is to slag off the manager every time he looks at a new player or gives a current one a new contract.

 

We have one of the lowest wage to turnover ratios in the UK, just how low do people want it to go? Surely you can't tell the manager not to spend and at the same time slag his team off as the worst you've ever seen? Surely if we want to squeeze every penny then style of play is unimportant and winning the league the only thing that counts? You can't slag a manager off for winning the league by "only" 24 points with "crap" football and then say he'd spending too much on a team that looks like it might deliver what people want.

 

It just seems like any old excuse to have a moan.

 

Ally should have a set budget which is a reasonable fraction of turnover, and be able to use that budget in whichever way he sees best to achieve the results. If he doesn't get the required results then his job should be on the line. This seems to be the case and is why Ally now has to offload before he can add again.

 

I really don't think any manager needs a fan to micromanage his every move.

 

Its a balancing act between long term and short term priorities. Unfortunately Ally's utterances about never doing any long term planning played to the worst fears of our support. I felt that we should assess the squad at the end of the transfer window rather than continually saying we should not sign new players. However, we cannot ignore that we do have a bloated squad containing players that are unlikely to survive beyond our foray in the lower divisions. And for that reason I think its understandable that a number of fans have questioned why we need even more players.

 

I accept that Ally is trying to move players on, and I've no doubt that we have tasked some agents with this very remit. However, I can't also cant help but feel that most players won't move unless their contracts are paid out.

[craig 5,199]

I know Ally wants to strengthen the squad a bit more, but is it for possible cup runs? If so and it means increasing the wage bill, then that seems to me like unnecessary spending at this point. The squad we've got right now should be good enough to win the league by a comfortable margin and speculating to accumulate on 'possible' cup runs at the moment doesn't seem very prudent.

 

If he is looking at signing folks on anything longer than a one year deal then you can be assured it is for league progression primarily.

[craig 5,199]

Two years hence, hopefully we have returned to the top tier?

 

I suspect Cammy Bell, Nicky Law, Lee Wallace, David Templeton, and Lewis MacLeod may be the only survivors of the current grouping. I hope Robbie Crawford, Gazparato, Little, and Barrie M'Kay can survive. The length of contracts provide a hint of intention.

 

Fraser Aird ?

[calscot 0]

Its a balancing act between long term and short term priorities. Unfortunately Ally's utterances about never doing any long term planning played to the worst fears of our support. I felt that we should assess the squad at the end of the transfer window rather than continually saying we should not sign new players. However, we cannot ignore that we do have a bloated squad containing players that are unlikely to survive beyond our foray in the lower divisions. And for that reason I think its understandable that a number of fans have questioned why we need even more players.

 

I accept that Ally is trying to move players on, and I've no doubt that we have tasked some agents with this very remit. However, I can't also cant help but feel that most players won't move unless their contracts are paid out.

 

I can see your point but historically we have always been complaining we don't have enough players and have a predisposition for injury crises. Our squad is definitely smaller than what we have had for decades and I would say it's smaller than the "thin" squad that Eck ended up with. I think the main difference now seems to be due to including pretty much all the youth players who were not previously counted as first team squad.

 

Even trivially, it seems to me that after injuries we could do with at least 22 players available to have a practice game - and two players for every position.

 

If there was a period of time where a consensus of opinion about what size of squad we SHOULD have then I think we'd have some reference to make but opinion for the "correct" size for the squad seems a bit fluid lately. I think the club are far more circumspect now about the numbers who sign and whether they have a chance of being called upon.

 

It seems many fans think they know best even when they are totally inconsistent, surely the manager has some idea of what he needs and as pointed out many times, he is within the smallest budget to turnover in living memory.

 

McCoist has at most of the time had at least one hand tied behind his back and the fans ignore this in their voracious criticism, but at the same time want to handicap him further than he already is.

 

You already seem to be prejudging the situation by using words like "bloated" in a factual sense.

 

I agree we need to make less mistakes and less payouts but it seems only one of our illustrious list of managers is being criticised for this when it seems commonplace all over the country and for as long as I can remember.

 

Players are not robots and so come with no guarantee.

 

Not many people seem to realise the stress that Ally is under and the constant criticism he has to endure. Of course he wants quality back up, he can't afford ONE season where he doesn't win the league and he's also under pressure for a cup - which were often hard enough to win when we were miles richer than anyone.

 

As I said, I think he should be given a realistic budget that is in keeping with good practice for its proportion to the turnover. Whether he uses it to bring in 4 star players or 12 lesser ones is up to him as long as he keeps within the budget. If he can move a player on, why shouldn't he be able to bring one in?

 

And I don't know how that equates to "even more players"...