Ally McCoist Scottish Premier League News January 2015

Scottish Premier League News January 2015: Rangers Manager Ally McCoist Placed On Gardening Leave

Lisa Dillon

Celtic

Celtic manager Ronny Deila has watched his side falter in recent weeks domestically as the Hoops have failed to kill teams off in games they have dominated. And, having now had six months to assess what he has in his squad, the Celtic manager is keen to do some business in the January transfer window.

And he has revealed that there will be players going out to make way for those who may come in. The affable Scandinavian has grown increasingly frustrated at the lack of a killer touch in front of goal and although Celtic lead the chase in the SPFL, they have found both Aberdeen and Dundee United hot on their trail this season. They have failed to establish the kind of commanding lead that their wage bill and depth of squad would expect.

"We can't have 40 players," said Deila. "So, of course, if we get somebody in, there could be somebody going out."

Already, Jo Inge Berget has been told he will be allowed to return to Cardiff after his loan spell at Parkhead failed to see him re-ignite his career. And the Norwegian attacker could be joined in departing the club by a few other fringe players.

Deila wants to call the shots over who departs, and is desperate not to lose any of his top performers, like the in-demand Virgil van Dijk, or striker John Guidetti, who remains in negotiations with the club to convert his loan spell to a permanent contract.

Kris Commons - who, once again, started on the bench for the weekend's goalless draw with Ross County - is free to speak to other clubs from Thursday as he enters the final few months of his contract, which remains to be renewed. Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon has been linked with a move for the versatile midfielder who has fallen out of favour with Deila.

Beram Kayal is another whose current deal runs out at the end of the season and whose future is in doubt. The 26 year-old Israeli international is battling back from injury, and has not made an appearance for over a month.

"We come out of this window we want to be stronger than we are right now."

Talks with John Guidetti and his agents to get the hitman to convert his loan move to a permanent contract are being conducted almost on a daily basis.

Guidetti quickly made a name for himself in Glasgow, scoring 11 rapid-fire goals, despite the delay in his signing ruling him out of Europa League games to the knockout round stage. Deila would like nothing better than to see the striker - again a target for Marseille - commit long-term to the Parkhead club, and revealed he is constantly on the case.

"We talk together a lot, John and me," said the manager. "Hopefully, we can are going to get an agreement. But, it's not easy, with players and agents.

"I think it would be a good choice for him and I think he wants it. But, there are many people (involved) in a decision like that."

Rangers

A fractious, public stand-off between Ally McCoist and the Rangers board ended in December with the Ibrox manager placed on gardening leave. McCoist had tendered his resignation a week before, a scenario which triggered a 12-month notice period. The relationship between McCoist and the Rangers board had already broken down, meaning a more immediate exit was more mutually beneficial. McCoist insisted during the intervening nine days that he would serve his notice, a stance which never looked to be realistic.

McCoist succeeded Walter Smith in the summer of 2011, thereby finding himself in charge of Rangers during a spell which included administration, liquidation and the re-starting of football business in Scotland's lowest professional tier. Despite cantering through the third and second divisions, McCoist's Rangers routinely failed to impress on resources vastly superior to anyone else in the country bar Celtic.

McCoist leaves Ibrox, where he earned legendary status as a player, with Rangers now 15 points adrift of Hearts - caretaker boss Kenny McDowall saw his side thumped 4-0 by Hibs in his first game since taking over. It gave a disgruntled Rangers support - already grisling at McCoist's management style and the poor results - further cause for ire.

Billy Davies is the leading candidate to succeed McCoist but, as with everything that happens at Rangers nowadays, certainty is a nonexistent commodity. McCoist, for starters, remains on the payroll, earning an annual salary of £750,000-a-year. Until that is formally resolved or fresh income is secured, little can change. Davies has made it known to those close to him that he would relish the Rangers role, seemingly regardless of background chaos.

It's believed that McCoist left the club by giving an emotional speech to the dressing room, urging them to close the gap on Hearts, something that now appears highly unlikely. McDowall, who remains in charge in the interim, said: "We need to give the fans something back. That's what they boys are desperate to do. We set out to win this title and that is still the aim. Nothing would make Ally McCoist more happy than the boys doing that.

"Monday was a sad day. Ally came in to say goodbye to the players and the staff. The man that he is, he finished by saying nothing would make him more proud than if they went on to win the title."

Welcome to Ibrox Stadium. — Welcome to Ibrox Stadium

Off the field, things remain as turbulent as ever. Rangers are still dangerously short of cash and need £8.3 million before April 1 just to stay afloat.

Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner - who holds an 8.92 per cent stake in the Glasgow giants - had asked the Scottish Football Association to clear the way for him to increase his holding to 29.9 per cent, a fraction short of the total which would require him to stage a full takeover bid and make an offer to other existing investors.

His loan of £3 million - emergency funding to pay runnings costs - gave him the right to hand-pick two directors, hence his installation of Derek Llambias onto the board, first as a consultant and then as chief executive, an appointment which was announced on Friday. That appointment has added to the pressure on the SFA to take action, following their complaint that Ashley had already exceeded his influence at Ibrox, which was restricted by an undertaking he agreed with the governing body.

Scotland

International football has brought out the mellow side of Gordon Strachan. Infamously tetchy, the former Celtic manager cuts a calmer figure away from the cut and thrust of the daily grind.

And the change has not been lost on him.

"I can be more demanding with a club side," he said. "When they come along, I have to send them back literally in the same mental state that they arrived in. Sometimes they come along and things are not great for them, and we send them back feeling great about themselves.

"What we don't want is them coming along feeling great about themselves and us sending them back to their club literally in tears because it's not been great for them. As a club manager I can demand that they do things. This is it. Here you have to ask them to do it.

"They're not there for the money you know, because they don't get paid. They do it for nothing. Nobody has ever asked me about a bonus since I got here. No one has ever asked me what we are getting to qualify for anything. No one.

"So it is unfair on me, if you're coming along for nothing, spending all that time, for me to then get into you. Even at half-time in a game I can go at a club side a day later or something like that and get them together again, talk about it, and say: "What happened there, I lost my temper, you lost your temper."

"I can't do that with international players, they disappear.

"I've definitely had to refine things. Maybe I'm getting older, maybe that anger to fight everybody isn't there any more. But it worked at a certain stage of my life and I'm sure it would work again, but for this group of lads it's different."

He seems more mellow these days. They used to say the same of Walter Smith and SFA employees now paint the picture of an elder statesman figure less inclined to embroil himself in the kind of spats which marked his Parkhead tenure.

"I would imagine I have, but if you stuck me back in club management it might be different."

Currently, Strachan he shows no inclination to return to club football. There might have been overtures during a sterling start to life with Scotland and a promising start to the Euro 2016 campaign. Yet, already, he is planning for where he wants to be next Christmas.

"Automatic qualification for Euro 2016 and a couple of friendlies in November," he continues. "I would like to be sitting here feeling even better than we do right now, and that means we will have achieved something. There's nothing better than people saying: "Well done, it's great watching the lads" when you walk down the street."