DROP YOUR CASH CLAIM ALLY
Dave King pleads with McCoist as it’s revealed former manager wants contract paid in full
ALLY McCOIST has rejected the chance to cut a deal on his contract as Dave King admits they must rely on a favour from their former boss. But the Ibrox club have revealed they sacked former chief Derek Llambias and finance director Barry Leach – and they won’t receive a penny in a pay-off.
McCoist was put on 12-month gardening
leave by the Rangers board in December and will have pocketed more than £300,000 by the time his salary drops at the end of the month.
Concern has been growing among the Light Blues legions about the failure to agree a compromise on his contract as McCoist puts his legendary status on the line.
The new Ibrox board have tried to broker a deal in recent weeks but attempts have so far proved fruitless as King, set to be named chairman today, conceded they’re relying on the goodwill of the former striking idol.
Interim chairman Paul Murray said: “We have met with Ally a couple of times and have tried to resolve the situation and have not been able to do so but are still trying. It is life.”
King says McCoist is entitled to have his contract honoured as he rejected claims the former Scotland star should give up money to help Rangers rebuild from financial rubble.
He said: “The fact is Ally is entitled to his money. That was the deal so I don’t think there is any situation to be resolved.
“The question is can one ask him to accommodate the club? He doesn’t have an obligation, doesn’t owe anything to the club.
“It’s a question of whether the club can convince him that, under the new regime, he should give some satisfaction, so to speak.
“Ally is quite within his rights to be doing what he is doing. There is no situation to be resolved. We are asking him to do us a favour.
“The club owes Ally as much as he owes them in terms of the satisfaction he has given fans over the years. The fact is he has a contract and the club must respect contracts. There is no dispute with Ally McCoist.
“Maybe there is an opportunity for us to go and say, ‘Ally we are here, we are staying, would you assist us in some way going forward?’
“But we must understand he would be doing us a favour. He owes us no obligation.”
King insists McCoist’s £60,000-a-month contract is not a drain on the club financially and says the doors of the club will always be open to him, deal or no deal.
He added: “Obviously, more cash is better than less cash but it’s not going to change any of our plans for next season.
“Ally is perfectly within his rights, there is no conflict between Ally and the board. He is an absolute icon and legend at Rangers and I would be very surprised and disappointed if any of the discussions we had with him resulted in any change to that status.
“We will make him feel extremely welcome when he comes back.”
King may be willing to honour McCoist’s deal but Mike Ashley’s men Llambias and Leach have had their employment terminated.
Murray added: “They have now left the company as of this week. It’s a confidential situation.”
Their departure frees up King to appoint his own executive team but the move may be subject to legal challenge.