Steven Gerrard’s sacking has confirmed the guy doesn’t have a clue about management and simply isn’t up to it – that his belated success at Ibrox was due to Michael Beale who is now thriving at Loftus Road.

But another legendary player also struggled in the management job at Rangers, and was roundly and very brutally castigated by all and sundry, fans and media alike (including, regrettably, ourselves). That’s right, Ally McCoist, a true legend of Rangers fans, found the going tough at Ibrox and eventually had to give it up.

But has time changed how we perceive Super and what he actually did?

Let’s be clear – Ally McCoist was a MUCH better manager for Rangers than views at the time gave him credit for.

He soared into a 15-point lead over a strong Celtic in 2011, only for that infamous injury to Steven Naismith to derail the whole season in an instant. No manager could have replaced Naismith who was a phenomenon in those days, doing the job of three players in one and doing it brilliantly. He was as close to world class as any Scottish player has been, well before the days of Kieran Tierney and Nathan Patterson got sold for fortunes.

Thereafter, the season was gone, and then February’s disaster began, as did the next 6 years.

But Ally? Who knows how the season might have panned out had Naismith not had that injury. Sure, the horror of February was to come, but Ally would have been viewed very differently had Naisy not got injured and the side was still well in the lead come early Spring.

But even taking all that into account…

Ally still got a bunch of halfwits and morons not to mention disinterested mercenaries and aging drifters promoted, twice, winning the league on both occasions.

Yes, Rangers’ budget was a bit higher than the majority of the Third Division et al, but Ally still had to motivate these guys to deliver on a cold rainy Saturday at Alloa with a bunch of hatchet men determined to make a name for themselves.

And yes, there were many horror results, but that McCoist did it twice is something long-forgotten as we focus on today and our troubles at present. There’s also the fact he didn’t do walking away and stuck by us in our darkest hour – something else frequently overlooked when his critics try to lambast him.

In the end, yes, his time was up, but time has been kind to McCoist and while we don’t remember those years fondly, hindsight lets us see his achievements as integral to our recovery and afford him a lot more credit and respect than he probably got at the time.

He was the big man carrying Rangers on his shoulders for almost three years, and we will never stop being grateful that he did.

He took so much flack, and sure, he got some things wrong, but end of the day? Who else would have done what he did, so willingly?

He was also a much, much better manager than he was seen as at the time, but rightly decided after Rangers to leave that world behind – who wouldn’t, given what he had to cope with for three years.

A true Legend.