100 NOT OUT TODAY’S game with Arbroath wasn’t just notable for being the one in which Rangers’ new signings could play as a group at last following the club’s year-long registration embargo. The match also marked 100 competitive outings in charge for manager Ally McCoist dating back to his debut as a boss against Hearts in July 2011. As centuries of fixtures go, McCoist’s first at the helm has been truly unique when you consider what has happened off the park in tandem with on-field events. Dealing with everything administration entailed then the ensuing political wrangles since has often distracted him from the job he is there to do. In the circumstances, for me, he has got to this point with pass marks and now has an opportunity to go from strength to strength in his role at last. Of course, there have been mistakes made and setbacks along the way. We all know where they have been. Ally will both hold his hands up to what has gone wrong and concede there are things he could have done better. But what manager gets everything right at first? Such characters are so few and far between in modern football. And while you aren’t often afforded time at Ibrox, I’m of the opinion an exception has rightly been made here. There have certainly been highlights for McCoist too, after all, and claiming last term’s Third Division by 24 points was among them. A pair of rousing home victories over Celtic in his first year stood out too, along with that stunning win against Motherwell against the odds just under a year ago. Despite claims from some the manager has shown tactical naivety at times, he is better in that department than he gets credit for. What most fans haven’t seen is how well McCoist juggled his own remit with guiding the club and its staff in the first few months of last year. At a time when leaders were needed, he and Sandy Jardine stepped up as reassuring beacons in meetings with Duff and Phelps as we all feared for our futures. All the while he was trying to inspire a shattered team of players to the best results possible and few would have done everything as well as he did. Trust me on that. The sort of issues McCoist found himself handling both with his squad and the club as a whole simply aren’t in the manual when you do your coaching badges. Now, a ton of games in, Rangers are on their way back through the leagues to their rightful place at the top of the pile. It’s around this stage a new boss would normally be judged but given the restrictions he’s had, including those severe transfer limitations, it’s too soon to do that with McCoist. Give him another 100 games, however, and I’m sure we’ll see him flourish far more than he has been allowed to thus far. With his own team on the park and less trauma away from the pitch, McCoist can – and I believe will - develop further into the successful Rangers manager we all want him to be.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 18:41:53 +0000
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