The 4 glaring Rangers failings that have left Ibrox legend ‘genuinely devastated’ as finger pointed at board
The Ibrox hero reckons a league title for Rangers this year would be 'one of the greatest triumphs' in their history
Ally McCoist admits he has been left “genuinely devastated” at Rangers shortcomings on and off the pitch as he outlined a number of fears for his old club this season.
Like many supporters, the legendary Ibrox goal scorer has been deflated at what he has witnessed from Philippe Clement’s side so far this summer, with a short-lived Champions League campaign and a major drop in attendances at their temporary home of Hampden a clear indication of some glaring issues.
Mixed results in Europe and domestically has concerned McCoist, with the Light Blues already trailing two points behind arch rivals and reigning Premiership champions Celtic in the Premiership. However, the Gers managed to book their spot in the Premier Sports Cup quarter finals at the weekend, seeing off 2020 winners St Johnstone in front of a half-empty national stadium.
The Rangers board are still hunting to appoint a new chief executive to replace James Bisgrove amid their ongoing delayed renovation works at Ibrox, and McCoist reckons the problems run deeper after detailing why a lack of progress could see them fall further behind Celtic.
He admitted on talkSPORT: “It wasn’t because I didn’t want to talk about the game but it was because of other ongoing circumstances which I won’t be telling you! The fact of the matter is Rangers aren’t a Champions League team at this moment in time. It is worth mentioning we saw one of the worst refereeing decisions in years which did have an influence on a game of such importance. That aside, Rangers are short at this moment in time. There’s no way Rangers could handle the Champions League.
“I’m genuinely devastated at what’s going on at my club. I’m looking at it and the recruitment, goalkeeper (Jack Butland) aside and (Dujon) Sterling aside, has been unbelievably poor. They have given money to people to spend who quite frankly haven’t spent it wisely at all. We’re not even playing our home games at Ibrox now. The fans, I’ve seen it in the last couple of games – there’s big gaps at Hampden. That’s not where Rangers should be.
“On the pitch, miles off it and it breaks my heart to say it, but we’re miles off it. And off the pitch as well we’ve got an unbelievable amount of work to do. There doesn’t seem to be any leadership. The previous chief executive has gone to Saudi Arabia and I’m not sure about the job he did, by the way.
“There was a few quid spent on players – £3-4million here and there. Not for me or the Rangers supporters. We’ve got problems and they have to be addressed as soon as possible. I have genuine sympathy for Philippe Clement because at this moment in time it’s pretty clear he has to get a few out the door before he can get any in.
“The fact of the matter is the squad at this moment in time, I don’t think, sadly, is good enough to win the league. We are a Europa League/Conference League team. It’s as simple as that. In terms of the Scottish Premiership, the best we can hope for is always to win it and I am the eternal optimist but if Rangers win the league it will be one of their greatest triumphs ever!”