Ally McCoist should have chance to rebuild Rangers

Alex Rae believes Ally McCoist was on a ‘hiding to nothing’ under Craig Whyte and has called for the manager to be given time to rebuild Rangers under a new owner.

As negotiations between Duff and Phelps and several prospective owners go on behind the scenes, Rae hopes McCoist is central to the plans of whoever takes over.

He has been hugely impressed by the way the Light Blues boss has kept players and fans alike so united during the administration period since it began almost three months ago.

McCoist, of course, was promised £25million over five years by Whyte to spend in the transfer market with a significant portion of that to be made available last summer.

But although Gers were able to bring some new players in, they weren’t able to spend as much as they anticipated they would.

With hopes high that a preferred bidder is close to being named, former Ibrox midfielder Rae wants the right person to come in and take control in the long term.

And while he wants them to be financially capable, he’d also like them to retain McCoist and give him the opportunity at last to manage the way he wants to.

Rae said: “Hopefully we can get this sorted sooner rather than later so that Ally can have a fighting chance of competing next year.

“He has really sparked the support up to now but we’re at a stage where things need to be settled so that we can move forward.

“Hopefully a new buyer can come in and give Ally time to build again because he hasn’t really had a chance.

“The likes of John Brown and Neil Murray were brought in as scouts and they haven’t had much of an opportunity to do their jobs properly.

“A whole load of money was promised but it wasn’t delivered through Craig Whyte and there was no leadership when he took control if truth be told.

“In that respect, Ally was on a hiding to nothing but he has galvanised the support in these hard times and I hope he is allowed to put a team together going forward.

“It’s not just a case of doing that in the next three or four months, it’s about doing it over the next couple of years.

“There are a lot of good Bosmans out there so if the appeal against the SFA’s transfer embargo is successful, Rangers wouldn’t need fortunes to compete.

“If someone forward-thinking takes control of the club and wants to take it forward, I feel it can be successful.

“With the fanbase and infrastructure that are already in place, there’s a good foundation to kick on from. Ally needs time and I hope he is given it.”