McCoist rallies Rangers supporters
Reuters - Wednesday 15 February 2012, 11:30
Rangers manager Ally
McCoist has called on the "best fans in the world" to back the
club during one of their bleakest periods since being formed 140
years ago after the Scottish champions went into administration.
McCoist - a lifelong Rangers fan who is also the club's
record scorer - told the fans he understands how they feel after
they were docked 10 points by the Scottish Premier League which
effectively handed the title to their Glasgow rivals Celtic.
Rangers, who were chasing a fourth successive title, are now
14 points adrift of Celtic.
"The most important people at this football club have always
been the fans and that will always be the case," he told the
club's official website ahead of Saturday's
home match with Kilmarnock.
"They are suffering at the moment and I am one myself. I
have supported the club all my life and I know how they are
feeling.
"The one thing that I have to ask them at this time is to be
with the club and with the team. The team really need the
support of the fans more than ever in this hour.
"They understand that it is not an ideal situation. We have
been deducted 10 points and that makes life very, very difficult
for us.
"But these are the facts and I would just ask the fans for
their continued great support and to please get behind the
team."
COST-CUTTING
Rangers, one of the best supported clubs in Britain, are in
dispute with Britain's tax authorities and could face a bill of
more than £50 million.
Corporate restructuring specialists Duff & Phelps have been
appointed by the club to run their affairs, with cost-cutting to
try to balance the books now inevitable.
The crisis facing such a big club, champions a world record
54 times, has sent shockwaves through British football where many
smaller teams face a precarious existence.
McCoist was confident the Ibrox faithful will not desert him
or his players and said he will use the 2008 UEFA Cup final in
Manchester, where Rangers narrowly lost to Zenit St. Petersburg,
as inspiration to cope with the situation.
"I can still close my eyes and see our fans in that stadium
down in Manchester and that will live with me until my dying
day. It was incredible support for the team and we have had that
over our 140 years," he said.
"I'm biased but I make no apology for that, I believe we
have the best fans in the world and I think that will show in
the next few weeks."
Rangers and Celtic comprise the "Old Firm" which has
dominated Scottish football for more than a century.
The two clubs have no real rivals to challenge them for the
title, which either one of them has won every season since Sir Alex
Ferguson's Aberdeen triumphed in 1985.
Their dominance and lack of genuine competition is at the
heart of the problems of Scottish football and while there have
been many suggestions over the years for the two to be admitted
to the English League, the idea is unlikely ever to be
sanctioned by all the relevant ruling bodies.