Has Ally McCoist ruined his legacy?

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Has Ally McCoist ruined his legacy?

With reports over the past 24 hours claiming former Rangers manager Ally McCoist will be settling his contract roughly three months early, debate has risen over the merits or otherwise of the situation among fans once again.

McCoist and his antics remain a topic for feverish division, with a great many supporters choosing to focus solely on his brilliant playing days, his record-breaking playing days, while others cannot look past his absolutely appalling management reign and subsequent Gardening Leave.

The question is, in the eyes of almost all those fans, will an early settlement of his contract restore his honour and retain his playing legacy among supporters, or will his sustaining a wage beyond March (and the appointment of the new board) continue to blight him and punctuate everything he stands for?

It is indeed very sad how McCoist has ultimately turned out; my own personal view is that I cannot focus solely on how great he was as a player, I have to focus on the contradiction between being a True Ranger and taking a wage for doing nothing. Surely a true blue would have walked away and once the Club was in the right hands severed the contract?

McCoist did not – he was an incredible player, and that player rightly deserves to be remembered as a hero, but unfortunately his conduct post-December (and even some earlier) horribly corrupts it, however much we pretend otherwise.

Ally McCoist is now two entities – the wonderful player who won almost everything, and the appalling manager whose greed ultimately ruined his reign.

But of course, readers may disagree. And here is your chance to do so.


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105 COMMENTS

  1. your talking pish….Ally is right to take the cash without him the 3rd division would have been a non starter and we would not have had a Rangers to support..he wasn't the best manager we have had in a long shot but no other manger in history of our club had to deal with off field issues like he did…he deserves every penny and his legacy should not be in question and he will always be a true ranger…What disappoints me on your blog is how quickly we forget..yes Warburton has had a fantastic start to his Rangers managerial career and Rangers are a pleasure to watch at the moment but he himself will admit he has achieved zero and played nobody of importance….I am RTID and a true Ranger never hang their hero's out to dry……to the future

    • McCoist is exactly the same as Green et al given a massive salary who backed every loser presented to the fans to ensure his nose was in the trough like every other chancer. This move now is designed to persuade us that Ally is a good guy. It won't work

    • Totally agree with you john, a lot of people are forgetting. People have to get it in their head that Ally had to deal with all the guys who have just been charged, with fraud etc. with Charles and Craig in particular as they were his boss. The reason rangers were woeful last year wasn't down solely to Ally but more so the negativity that surrounded the club. I was at Ibrox last season when we had 20,000 turn up and you could feel the tension and apprehension in the stands before, during and after the games. So the problem was the guys in charge in the boardroom that caused there to be the negativity, that even caused the likes of Wallace to slump in form. Let's all remember that we don't know the in's and out's of what happened behind the closed doors of Ibrox and Murray Park the last 4 years. We will find out soon enough when it all goes to trial and it will be a matter of public record. An i get the feeling Ally is going to be a key witness in the trial seeking justice for Rangers, given the fact he has brought witnesses to be interviewed by the police and saw them off at the airport. Plus he was the one who had to deal directly with Charles, Whyte and the Administrators…. Ally is a Legend and I'm sure when he get's justice for us, all the people who keep slating him will change their tune and forget all the things they have been saying over the last year an a bit. No manager at a major football club has had to deal with the circumstances that he did, he's entitled to his money. He took a 50% pay cut twice to help the club, once in admin and last year before Mike Ashley took control. We should get off his back at the end of the day Ally's wage is not going to cripple Rangers. I find it humorous that for months people have been asking questions about him picking up his wage, then on the day its reveled a settlement is near we are asking about a ruined legacy. It's laughable.

    • What makes your opinion better than anybody else's? Yer a bamstick pal. The other poster gave the right advice, 'fuck off John'.

    • John, no one is forgetting what McCoist did for us. He was a superb goal scorer and has played a significant part in Rangers' history. Every Rangers supporter will always be grateful to him for that. The point here, however, is that although over many years Rangers have made him a very wealthy man, he continues to take huge amounts of money from the club when we're still struggling financially. Hopefully, he has a good reason for taking this money and will reveal it shortly. Otherwise, it's simply greed and he deserves all the criticism and anger that's coming his way. Ally McCoist was a great player and has stood up for us in the past, but Rangers' interests must come before any individual, no matter who he is.

    • Some of you arseholes make me sick to the stomatch. You should be ashamed to call yourselfs rangers fans.

      SUPER ALLY

    • What a load of shite. F$cking money grabbing arsehole. Will he be returning the discounted shares he took from Green as a bribe. Rangers need to be careful here. They might lose a lot of fans if that shitbag resurfaces around Ibrox.

    • I agree with most of what John says here. Also, am I right in thinking McCoist went without wages for a while to try and save jobs. If that is true, and he never got the money back, then perhaps this is his way of claiming it back.

      Forget the sums of money involved for a minute, he still has family to support and mortgage to pay and he won't want to downsize his lifestyle (would you??) so he has to look at the fact he may never earn this much money ever again.

      He has already said on record that only family comes before Rangers and this may be why he is taking the dough – I would too

  2. Only time will tell but me personally I think he should have gave up his wage as you say the new board was in watp I would rather die with our history than live with there's

  3. Legend of the club! Terrific ambassador for the club across the UK. Gutted to see such hatred towards him.

    The fans kept the club together and we're enjoying the benefits now. Theres no doubt Ally played his part even though his managerial qualities severely lacked.

    Let move on and leave him be

  4. The reason why he may do a settlement now is that he apparently is in line for a job as a pundit and until he completes his notice he cannot accept the position thats why he has suddenly decided to sit down and talk no other reason It does not matter what he tries to do he will never get back onside with the fans I wonder if he does get offered a position if he will just sign the contract and not look at the salary as he claims thats what happened at Rangers

  5. I am sorry I have to disagree – 'he wasn't the best manager we have had in a long shot' your spot on he is the worst manager in Rangers history , and that includes John Greig MBE, and Paul Le Guen .
    your correct thankfully no manager in our history has had to deal with what he has, but also No manager in 3rd, 2nd or championship history has the funds to spend on players either … oh wait Gretna did it with a hundredth of his budget buying their way to the top , but of course they actually played decent football to get up.
    McCoist is using the wages simply to hide and hope chairmen forget how bloody dreadful he is a tactician , he needs the year to give him half a chance of getting a new job , what makes me laugh is he always felt he was the man for the job and believed in his ability, if that's the case why not go out and get a job instead of weeding his garden. I wonder has the phone not been ringing Ally ???

    • Well go on and list the players McCoist actually paid a transfer fee for? As far as I'm aware the only fee paid was for David Templeton by Craig Whyte with the ticketus money. Everyone else was free transfers, yes these players came in and got wages way beyond what was required but McCoist didn't negotiate contracts. I wonder if any of us on here would perform in our jobs under the circumstances that have been around Ibrox. Last season was a disaster but you's are directing your anger on here at the wrong people, an being incredibly selective in the facts you use to support the vitriol aimed at Ally. Let's face it a lot of the players simply weren't good enough or couldn't handle the pressure they were under. Nobody complained about his salary when we went unbeaten in league 1. You make the point about PLG and john greig. The difference is the circumstances. There is a huge difference between those and Ally, for a start criminals were not in charge during their tenure, they got money to spend on players. Starting to not be able to tell the difference between the trolls, and genuine fans. I would suggest all fans who have strong feelings about this actually do some research. He twice took a pay cut for rangers. He's entitled to the money he's got kids for god sake an i'm sure he just wants whats best for them. As any parent would.

  6. As I've have said before.I for one will not say a bad word about McCoist,common now fellow bears lets not act like the scum from the east end.

  7. McCoist's Legacy, Honour even his Legend STATUS has nothing to do with cash, gardening leave nor his contract. Even his actions through 2011-2012 have nothing to do with cash etc.

    All of the above remain intact, all that lies in tatters is his reputation as a manager.
    Even his reputation as a player is untouchable with regards to our clubs contractual obligations.

    His abilities as a manager are without a doubt substandard to say the least, but that is/was his only fault.
    Folk need to be more realistic & less judgemental, all this rhetoric doesn't make for a reasoned debate.

  8. Ally has blotted his copy book. Lowlifes Whyte and Green could not have made life easy for the manager so is there a good story to come out, lets wait and see

  9. Tainted his legacy by continuing to take money from the club when he didnt need to, aye he was entitled to it but morally he has done wrong in the eyes of a great many of us Gers fans, as soon as he knew the club was out of the hands of the leeches he should have said he wasnt up to the job and as a true Ranger refused to take anymore from the club when every penny counts, a great player and will forever be a hero but he's left a bitter taste in the mouth with his conduct. WATP.

    • Lets not forget the 30,000 plus backsides that stopped attending games due to the worst brand of doss football ever seen , and the countless TV sets that had feet put though the screens . pay him every penny of his contract Mr King !! Way too little way too late Ally you will always be a greedy boy in my eyes. As bad as Whyte and Green were at least they didn't claim to be die hard Rangers men.

  10. He is entitled to the dosh – but a true legend would have made a deal – He had a chance in June to agree a deal with King and didn't.

  11. There will be many different opinions on this topic. Opinions are just that. They are neither 'right', just because they are your opinion, or 'wrong' because others don't share your opinions.
    There will be conflicting emotions over how any of us feel about Ally. As a player, he was a prolific goalscorer and left a stack of good memories. On being appointed Manager he had the job of picking the team spirit up and keeping the players focused on the job of winning the SPL. Despite the points deduction Rangers still had a lead in the title chase. The team didn't just falter, it utterly collapsed.
    The strain on everyone was clear, but despite that the capitulation was totally unprofessional. The players will shoulder much, if not most, of the blame. Ally's job was to keep the team focused on the job at hand. In that, again despite the pressures, he did not succeed,
    He did act as a figure of hope, during the comings and goings, of the 'suits' at Ibrox. He was a figure of hope for the support. On that front, from what we know, it seems that he did his best.
    On the playing front, no doubt he did likewise. His best, though, was bloody awful. So there is no point in any of us trying to sugar coat that fact. Regardless of all other distractions he had a good wad of cash to rebuild a new squad and, frankly, he pissed it up against a wall. So to speak. He brought in overpaid duds. When, practically, all of the support were calling for a fresh start and for him to start playing the youngsters and/or bring more young players in, he decided to do it his way. The dross that was served up was beyond description for a club like Rangers.
    The club got promoted but that was inevitable. Even the deadwood couldn't fail in that. The manner in which they did so was appalling. Practically, every team that they faced had better technical ability and tactics.
    Any other manager at any other club, who delivered that dross on the budget Ally had, would have been out the door. It seems clear that the shysters on the board were more interested in keeping Ally around as a 'club mascot' to keep selling season tickets, rather than improving the team.
    He had further chances to reset, bring in new blood, change playing tactics and training methods. Instead all we got was painful confirmation, week after week, that he was not a football manager. He should have walked a lot sooner than he did. Only misplaced pride, and the fear of the ridicule that would follow his 'we don't do walking away' slogan would bring prevented it, I think. That's unless he really was deluded and thought he was a football manager.
    When he did, eventually, step down he made an arse of that as well. Sure if he'd just left, that would just have left more money for the spivs, but so what? One way or another the money was leaving the club. Either into the spivs pockets or Ally's. If that's how he felt he could have made a statement saying that he was saving the money to buy shares at a later date, or something like that. He didn't he took the cash and, at least for now, just stuck it in his pocket. he could have told the board to stick it and gone public on his stance. He didn't and that is a black mark on his tenure that many will not forgive.
    Even since the new board took over, he has continued to pocket the supporters cash for doing nothing. Unless there was something very wrong happening that was, and still is, preventing McCoist from doing the right thing he has blackened his name in my book. many supporters will share that view while others won't. Fair enough.
    I still have hopes that this settlement will result in an explanation of what has gone on and Ally will set matters to right. Either the terms of the settlement, or the expiration of his contract, whichever comes first, will determine my long term view on Ally McCoist, the man, rather than Ally McCoist player legend, or Ally McCoist failed manager.

    • You make very good points in regards to young players and things like that. I just have to point out that Ally's silence on matters over the last few years since being put on gardening leave actually speaks volumes. He can't speak out as it a criminal investigation, the judge of the case told the press and even said people commenting on the case in public could face contempt of court as comments in public about it can prejudice the case. We should wait till the case has been heard then we will know all the facts….WATP

  12. He can and maybe will still redeem himself and prove the cynics wrong (I include myself in that list as I am still undecided on his conduct since being put on gardening leave) if he invests at least the equivalent of his wages since in any new share issue. Also we really do not know all the facts, there is still a lot going on behind the scenes with court cases etc… Only time will tell. Ally the player should always be remembered for the Legend he was regardless.

  13. I couldn't decide how to answer that question for the poll. My view is that he hasn't ruined his legacy but I would say his honour has a black mark against his name after taking the money for so long. Who's to say given the criminal enquiry that has been going on that he hasn't had much of a choice and is biding his time t reveal his side of things. Ally is a club legend and done a lot for the our great institution and although not the greatest manager, I would like to see him around Ibrox again…. as long as he's away from the dugout 😉 RangersFamily WATP

  14. ally will aways be a rangers great and any true rangers supporter should know that and he did help hold our club together, its a great shame the way this has went, but i know he will be back in the stand at ibrox very soon i hope,,in king our trust,,WATP,,

  15. hes super ally to me and all my family, iv been a ranger for just over 50 years and my dad 76, and a few so called supporters going on about ally like this is shite,,time to read the history hes made at our club lads,,

  16. This has stuck in my throat for a while now. He will always be Super Ally to me whatever happens here. I know the guys due the money and is entitled to every penny in theory but I was hoping he would donate a large chunk to Rangers First or Buy Rangers. Knowing the financial state of the club I thought he would've been embarrassed taking as much as he is. You never know he might have something like that planned. If so, he will regain the little bit of respect I lost for him if he does! WATP

  17. Ally will always be a playing legend to me ,but the jury is out until the information comes to light that make me think otherwise because not one of us knows what went on behind the scenes.I really don't see ally as just being greedy for the sake of it and damaging rangers into the bargin ,LEGEND till the truth tells me otherwise

  18. If my memory serves me right, Ally worked without a salary in the post administration era, and then subsequently voluntarily halved the salary offered by the board. I recall that some of the previous directors received severance pay for "retiring" early. Will we ever know the sums paid out to rid us of former regimes. For me, Ally earned his salary. Attracting loan players to the Championship is easier than the lure of the Third Division.

  19. Ally has behaved shamefully since being put on gardening leave.shouldve ripped up contract when new board came in but decided to keep the cash.hes almost as bad as whyte/green etc.Freddy Beyond belief.reputation in tatters.

  20. Mccoist like all the rest that been and gone from our club have only been there for the money pure and simple

  21. hes a real rangers hero may times over,,,,,,,,time some on here bought a green and white rag, and fucked of away from ibrox,,WATP.

  22. We don't know, nor do I think we ever will know what happened over the last 4 or so years. That could well be a blessing as of course, there are those who would no doubt jump on anything to continue to punish our club. Ally McCoist may know some of it, who knows! Our greatest ever player, John Greig, was never close to matching his leadership on the field with similar leadership in the dressing room, however, he is, and always will be a legend. In time, all of this will be behind us, and Ally will again resurface as one of our playing legends, and rightly so. As for the money, maybe he should have just walked away without it, but he didn't. Don't really think I would have either, nor would most people!
    Something is happening at Rangers just now, let's stay behind that. In the coming months we'll need what is happening on the field to detract from any of the shit thrown at us by the legal eagles and their clients ( Whyte, Green and the rest!) attempting to defend the indefensible!

  23. no one has mentioned all those nice penny shares given to him as payment for convincing us to buy shares at the full price for the benefit of Green and co.

  24. his salary was never 'halved' – he never worked 'for nothing' – that is just blue tinted specs and believing what you read – he is on and always has been on 80K a month……his salary may have been deferred for a couple of months….but he still got every penny…..for doing sod all..

  25. Only wants out now to do the C/L on BT,otherwise he would continue with his wage drain.Never for the club,always for himself.

    • Aye, lets not forget, embarrassment, a hole in funding, crap players, crap coaching. He was paid millions for what he did as a player. The Rangers fans, who paid what they could afford from their hard earned wages, saved our club. Don't put that money grabbing bastard on a pedestal above them!

  26. I for one would like to hear Allys side of the story before I judge him. The ruffians who took over our club have been arrested and charged with various offences. Dave King and Paul Murray have been very quiet over this. Therefore, there is still a lot of information we have not been privvy to and I feel Ally may have a good explanation. Its wrong to judge anyone without listening to 2 sides of the story. I feel we might get that when Ally releases his next book, or gets arrested with the other ruffians, who knows.

  27. He only took that pay cut when the AGM was upcoming… He was gonna be "outed" on that big Scottish wage. Paul, Vancouver

  28. The real issue isn't about Ally the striker or Ally the manager.It's about Ally the Rangers man,and in that department he failed badly,when we where being ridiculed by many,Ally was in a position all true blues would have loved to be in,he could have helped the club financially,but much more importantly he could have raised our moral by a noble deed..sadly he didn't.ex legend for me.

  29. its not allys fault we failed to get up it wad the glory hunters who are all saying his team were not good enough if they would hae supported the team things would have been very different where were all you glory hunters last season lucky if there was 15.000 at some games he got no backing from the board or most of the fans it was a disgrace ally a legend glory hunters hang your heads in shame

    • Might I suggest the use of some punctuation. The 15000 crowds were down to the Easdales and the little matter of trying to save our club, (comma) While folk like you stuck you head in the sand.

  30. I'm going to go to work tomorrow and I'll tell my employer not to worry about fulfilling their legally binding contractual obligation to me financially because I love the company so much I'll let them off with the money.

    Then I'll open my wardrobe and travel through the portal to the magical world of Narnia where Aslan & I will write silly blogs about how much we hate Ally McCoist because we're jealous of his lifestyle and fame. From the safety of a keyboard. Because we're sad lonely cowards full of bitterness and bile.

    • mate,you really think the resentment towards Ally is motivated by jealousy?Have a word with yourself,safety of a keyboard?everyones got their own take on it,I suppose it comes down to how you feel and where your moral compass aims.WATP

    • and will you be giving your employers back the fortune in discounted shares you accepted as a bribe to sell them to the supporters.
      FFS think about it. Poor deluded sucker.

    • You should also inform your employer that, in the best interest of the company, you feel you should resign due to the fact that you are a gullible clown.

  31. As a player-legend,as a manager-failure,simple as that,fact!

    Bring back club football,these internationals have wrecked two weeks of proper football or is it just me?

  32. A lot of short memories out there. The banners were "in mccoist we trust" "a true legend, will never be forgotten" Who else would have stood by us rallying the fans? Who else would have taken on that job? The shares wers given away to east kilbride supporters club, he was cash starved and could not buy so had to make do with free tranfers and free agents. Yes i would agree that he was not the best manager but he held everyone together and gave us all some hope. The contract that everyone is going on about and seem to be forgetting that its a LEGALLY binding contract and i think that given the events last week you'll find that Ally has been legally bound not to do anything. I am disgusted by the way some so called rangers supporters are turning on Ally like this the truth will come out and when it does i just hope these people are big enough to admit how wrong they have been. Once a ranger, always a ranger Super Ally a true legend. And for the true rangers supporters WATP

  33. McCoist was shown to be a poor manager in his first season in charge when he surrendered the league to Celtic. Thereafter he was never kept at Ibrox for his skills as a manager or a coach but rather was paid an extortionate salary to be the glue to keep the support together by a procession of cowboys that had absolutely no interest in Rangers. Either greed, naivety or his love for the club clouded his judgement and he either failed to see or wouldn't accept that he just couldn't hack it as a manager. His fundamental errors were bringing in a bunch of wasters, failing to promote young players and being far to loyal to the hapless Kenny McDowall. His time as manager will have tarnished his memory as a quality player and there are those that will say that he should have walked away at the end without taking a payoff just as Le Guen did. Personally I would rather look forward and enjoy what I am now seeing and pray that it will continue for a long time, rather than look back on the worst period in our otherwise illustrious history.

  34. dont forget what mc coist did for our club in our darkest hours when aw they rats were trying their best to sink us good and proper he was at one point the only one that was there that was trying his damndest to make sure the right thing be done by our club he was only a manager and he had to shoulder the weight of the whole club crumbling beneith him worying if he even hhad a team to put on the feild as well as trying to save all the rangers staff from losing their jobs we normal fans dont kknow what mc coist really went through and the hurt he had to deal with so get a grip this guy is and always will be a rangers legend for what he did in our darkest hour and what he did in his playing days makes him the greatest ever ranger so aw you haters get that up yae

  35. I'll begin by saying in my eyes he was never a Rangers Legend. From the very begining he has always been money orientated. He turned Rangers down to go to Sunderland for money, he turned down the offer of a coaching job at Ibrox under Alex Mcleish because the money he was getting on a Question of Sport was more, he then TOOK a part-time job with Scotland because he could get paid for 2 jobs, and when Walter brought him to Ibrox as a coach, we were in a bit of a mess after Le Guen, he could name his price. On his complete lack of managerial ability, well, that was clearly in evidence as far back as 2007/2008 when he was in charge of cup-ties, yes, the signs were there that far back!
    Now we are all entitled to our opinions,and I'll respect people who are pro-Ally, but, what do think of a "legend" who took shares at 1p as basically a bribe to promote the sale of season tickets when we were paying 70p, who took a salary of £800k from a club basically living hand to mouth, who showed utter contempt for the Rangers support with his", I didn't even read my contract" statement, having a karaoke party after a cup-final defeat and with his "gardening leave " salary. I'd even say the signing of Ian Black was "2 fingers up to the fans.
    No, when all this is over the legacy of Ally will be well and truly tarnished forever.

    • Very succinctly put. these are the reasons McCoist will never be welcome at Ibrox. Its not about him as a player or a manager, its about him as a person. Term legend so emotive and certainly doesn't apply to this guy. Will he return his discounted shares he received from 'the arrested' Green? I'll give you good odds against it. The 'Legend' 'Super Ally' comments on this site are an affront to the dedication and perseverance of the Rangers fans who made sacrifices to save our club.

  36. I grew up idolising McCoist, He deserves every penny of that wage, He didn't crush us financially in anyway and did guide us through the bottom,

    McCoist will always be a legend and I'm still glad my son is named after him!!!

  37. We as 'gers fans are not privy to everything regarding ally mccoist's contract as rangers manager so I from my personal point of view WON'T judge the super fully until we find out & understand ALL the facts,we all deserve to give him that chance,my own take up 'till now on ally mccoist is total legend and ALWAYS will be in my eyes as a rangers goalscoring legend,alas it just didn't work out for him as a manager/coach,he didn't try to be a mediocre rangers manager it was just fate that dealt him these cards,in saying that he gave me a helluva lot of joy & celebrations over my nearly 40 years of going to watch my beloved glasgow rangers and I won't ever forget that,so thanks for all the magnificent memories super ally,just an absolute shame it didn't happen for you as the glasgow rangers manager!

  38. Taking up a pundit role by all accord……..not quite £70k a month but will keep him in the style which he is used to.

    Obviously not a hope in he'll ' s chance of ever getting another job in management. His shortcomings too many to mention and now fully exposed by the turn around by Warbs in a couple of months.

    By the same token I find it hard to believe that anyone would consider hiring him as a pundit, given his complete failure as a manager, perhaps he will be the one cracking the jokes when in fact he is the joke.

    He took the pieces of silver from Green who wanted McCoist to back him and get the fans on board to buy ST'S.

    In itself I think that was criminal and says a lot about the character of the former manager,

  39. Fucking hell gers , I met the bloke years ago and he was at a famous Glasgow hotel and he was sober and we were all annoying him for photos and he was fine and let us take a few and bought all drinks and left 150 behind bar and that's him

    • oh well! Gosh! Bought some drinks? What a LEGEND!!
      when the invoice comes in for your Lobotomy, forward it to A McCoist, Penny Shares Lane.

  40. Remember he paid some of his money out to the dinner ladies that got made redundant and that's true, but he isn't going to highlight that is he ? Im embarrassed how quickly people forget this man, WATP

  41. I've seen the good days and bad ones too, ian Redford days etc I remember them but it's crazy all of us arguing now it's onwards and upwards ok? Still reckon we need a greedy striker but it's only championship but what about halliday and McKay ? BRILL

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