Football News: The man who doesnt do walking away ..... cheaply

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"We dont do walking away". A simple phrase that was used to galvanize the support of a disjointed club, however the man who made the phrase must have been feeling for a long time that it has been like a noose around his neck.

Ally McCoist has been the classic example on how great players and heroes of football clubs, do not always make it as a great manager, or even a good one.

After taking the reigns from mentor Walter Smith, McCoist has had to deal with problems that no manager in the history of Rangers has had to deal with. Going from Craig Whyte to Charles Green, administration to liquidation and coming out of the other side as a newco in Division 3 of the Scottish League.

From this position McCoist had been tasked with guiding Rangers through the divisions against the likes of Peterhead, Clyde, Brechin City and Dumbarton, a far cry from the battles with Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United and the cream of European football as he was used to in his own playing career and his coaching career under Walter Smith.

McCoist had been entrusted with the second largest wage bill in Scotland which allowed him to assemble a squad of seasoned SPL professionals and the young talent emerging from Murray Park to achieve his goals.

In one sense you can say to a point he has achieved his goals so far, wining back to back promotions and finishing the season in League Two undefeated in the league. However, the Rangers support is a passionate and demanding support, and with this fresh start wanted to see a young, talented football side being groomed to take Rangers into the future, this has not been achieved and is a great topic of conversation amongst the fans when discussing the future of their manager.

Boardroom issues have besieged the Ibrox management team in the last 2 and a half years, whether it was the cocky Yorkshire man, or the Greenock bus magnates, the Ibrox outfit have burned through a black hole of £70 million, including £22m raised from the original IPO when Green floated Rangers on the London stock exchange and 3 seasons worth of season ticket money in a trend of redundancies and bonuses that would make most Bank managers blush.

Despite this though, McCoist has a squad of players who should be able to compete in the top division and the brand of football on offer has been "old school" at times to say the least, the most talented youngsters from the clubs academy have largely been ignored with the exception of Lewis MacLeod, and a squad of highly paid internationals like Lee McCulloch, Ian Black, Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller have been entrusted to push the club forward. However, there seems to be no moving forward, the fans have turned their back on the club in large numbers and Rangers are burning through cash like there is no tomorrow, to the point where the phrase may be true. Now with Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley seemingly pulling the strings behind the scenes with short term secured loans that Rangers can not afford to pay back without further significant investment PLUS an apparent need for a further £8m to see Rangers through the season.

After a disappointing season which has seen Rangers slip 9 points behind Championship leaders Heart of Midlothian and crash out of the Challenge Cup to part time Alloa Athletic, McCoist has come under increasing pressure and has tendered his resignation, and is finally ready to walk away in 12 months time, however this comes at a price. Rangers announced to the London stock exchange at 7am this morning that under the terms of his 12 month rolling contract, McCoist has seen his salary increase by 50% to £750,000 per year after originally taking a pay cut to help the club in its moment of need.

In effect McCoist has forced the club, a club he professes to love, into a very difficult position. Further loans may be required to pay him off, and if this can not be achieved then he stays in place for a further 12 months until his contract expires, again not being able to afford this, the board are scheduled to sit down with the manager on Wednesday to thrash out a mutual termination deal.

So it seems that Ally does do walking away, but for a price.

Written by Dave Laurie December 15 2014 17:40:57