Mccoist hits back at ‘naughty’ criticism of his AGM no-show
Ally Mccoist has hit back at criticism of his failure to attend Rangers’ annual general meeting last November when a board resolution aimed at diminishing the influence of Mike Ashley at the club narrowly failed to be approved.
Resolution 11 would have allowed chairman Dave King and his fellow directors to launch a new share issue without having to offer existing shareholders, including Ashley, the chance to participate.
It required the support of 75 per cent of those who voted at the agm but received 74.6 per cent. Former manager Mccoist, who still has a stake of around 1.3 per cent in the club, was singled out for being amongst those who did not cast a vote.
“That was completely unjustified and unfair,” said Mccoist, speaking for the first time about the issue yesterday. “It was very naughty. The fact of the matter is 25 per cent of the shareholders didn’t vote, of which I was one.
“And of the 75 per cent who who voted, a total of 26 per cent voted against Resolution 11. So not only did I not vote against them, I was one of the 25 per cent who didn’t vote because I was away doing champions League TV work. hat wasn’t mentioned was that I turned up initially (at the egm in March 2015) to vote for the current board and oust the previous board, strongly against my lawyer’s advice. So thanks for giving me the chance to clear that up.”
Mccoist was on “gardening leave” at the time of the egm, having left as manager the previous December, with Rangers bound to pay him for the remaining 12 months of his rolling contract. He subsequently struck an agreement with King over the terms of his departure and insists he harbours no resentment towards the club.
“I only had the one dealing with Dave King and he was fantastic,” said Mccoist. “That was the termination of my contract. I sat down with him for literally 90 seconds and we agreed a deal that was beneficial to Rangers and it suited myself.
“We shook hands and then sat and had a cup of tea for 15 or 20 minutes. Brilliant. I haven’t been back to a game since but I will – I’m not in the huff with anyone. I’ve been back to see friends and staff at Ibrox and Murray Park. My boys go to the games and they’ll be there at Celtic Park on Sunday.”