Ally’s joy as ‘loan’ Ranger Lewis is granted home leave
ALLY McCOIST last night expressed his delight at having Lewis Macleod available to face Alloa today — after Gordon Strachan agreed to temporarily excuse the player from Scotland duty.
With Rangers’ Championship match against the Wasps at Ibrox going ahead in the middle of an i nternational break, McCoist asked the national team boss to briefly ‘loan’ the midfielder back to him — provided he wasn’t central to his plans for last night’s game with the Republic of Ireland.
With Hearts’ lead at the top of t he t able j ust f our points, McCoist’s men today have the chance to cut that to a single point — for a couple of hours at least — by virtue of the Gorgie side’s late kick-off at Falkirk.
And the Ibrox manager believes having Macleod in his line-up heightens his side’s chances of ramping up the pressure on Robbie Neilson’s team ahead of next week’s capital showdown.
‘Lewis trained with us this morning and is in our squad for the Alloa game,’ McCoist (below) said.
‘I had a chat with Gordon. He has been pleased with Lewis and his contribution but, thankfully, he is in agreement that we would like him to get a game at the weekend.
‘I think he has a chance of being in our squad!
‘It’s safe to say that he is i n the Scotland squad for a reason — and the reason is he has been doing well.
‘We are delighted he is now back in our squad because we want all our best players available. On current form, Lewis i s certainly one of them.
‘ I would i magine he would rejoin the Scotland squad on the Sunday (ahead of Tuesday’s game with England). I have spoken to him and he has thoroughly enjoyed it.’
The next seven days promise to be pivotal as far as the race for the second ti er’s one automatic promotion spot is concerned.
But while acknowledging many minds are already drifting towards next weekend’s first v second clash at Tynecastle, McCoist sees today’s scheduling as a prime chance to crank up the pressure on the league leaders.
Earlier this week, Neilson insisted he doesn’t look out for Rangers’ results, but McCoist admitted: ‘ I can’t speak for the Hearts players, but I can tell you that I look for the Hearts result, the Hibs result, every result. That’s my job.
‘If they don’t look for our result, then fair enough, that’s up to them. I’d be staggered if our boys didn’t look for the Hearts and Hibs results because that’s part and parcel of football.’
Next week’s contest may briefly take the l i melight away from Rangers’ League Cup semi-final with Celtic in early February but a first meeting with the Parkhead men in three years is likely to hog the agenda thereafter.
The Old Firm game has enough sub plots already. But the fact it is due to take place immediately after the closure of the January transfer window adds another intriguing aspect.
McCoist insisted, however, his New Year wish list — in terms of players coming and going — will be motivated solely by his club’s long-term recovery as opposed to the chance to record a one- off famous victory over their great rivals.
‘ I’m still speaking with the chairman (David Somers) and (consultant) Derek Llambias, and my job is to keep winning games.
‘Those two gentlemen and I know the importance of winning matches and getting out of this division.
‘In the grand scheme of things, I still think we have f ar more important league games.
‘I am not underselling the Celtic game or the transfer window, but I would rather strengthen to win the league than strengthen to beat Celtic.’
While Mike Ashley’s ambitions remain under wraps, one thing the Newcastle owner will not be doing is exercising the naming right he acquired to I brox.
Despite having bought them for £1 from Charles Green, Ashley this week confirmed he had torn up that deal — a move that is undoubtedly popular with the vast majority of Rangers supporters.
McCoist fully understands the commercial pressures clubs are under and yet, as a lifelong Rangers fan, he was relieved to learn the name of I brox will r emain unchanged.
‘ He said: Any good news is welcomed by t he Rangers supporters. I can understand people trying to rename stadiums for financial purposes. But to the vast majority of our supporters, it will still remain Ibrox — no matter what you put in front of it.’
With eight wins on the bounce and six clean sheets to boot, defender Darren McGregor believes a resounding win against Alloa today will send a message to Hearts before they play Falkirk and ahead of next week’s showdown.
‘ For me, this game ( against Alloa) is just as big as Hearts,’ he said. ‘We need to take three points.
‘With Hearts kicking off after us, it gives us a chance to do that. Of course, it will put pressure on them if we get it to within a point.
‘Some people will tell you they don’t look at papers or their closest contenders but the first thing you do after a game is look to see how the opposition have done. Hearts will be no different.
‘This will be the first time in the last couple of months where they might really feel the pressure. We’ll see how they deal with it.’
FORMER Rangers owner Craig Whyte was facing arrest last night as four men were detained by police as part of an i nvestigation i nto his takeover of the club.
A warrant was issued for Whyte’s arrest yesterday after Gary Withey, David Grier, Paul Clark and David Whitehouse were held during a series of early morning raids south of the Border.
Three of t he men – Clark , Whitehouse and Grier – work for Duff & Phelps, the firm appointed as Rangers’ administrator. Withey was Rangers company secretary after the takeover and worked for law firm Collyer Bristow,
Crown Office issued warrant yesterday
which represented Whyte before he bought Rangers from Sir David Murray for a nominal sum of £1 in 2011.
The men were held in an operation involving officers from Surrey Police, Cheshire Police and Thames Valley Police.
Police Scotland said they were being held as part of a probe into the ‘alleged fraudulent acquisition’ of the club.
The Crown Office said a warrant was issued yesterday for the arrest of Whyte, 43, who is believed to be in Monaco. Rangers manager Al l y McCoist said: ‘ Obviously I can’t or wouldn’t comment on a current police matter, but I would have to say I’m shocked. I can’t pre-judge what is going to happen.
‘Our concern has always been for the staff and supporters. What’s happened to us in the l ast two- and- a- half, three years has been very tough, particularly on the staff and supporters.
‘We just want to continue with attempts to get the club back to where we feel we belong.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Following a Police Scotland operation on Friday November 14, four men have been detained as a result of the ongoing investigation into the alleged fraudulent acquisition of Rangers Football Club.’ The men were taken to Scotland following the raids, to be questioned by Scottish fraud squad detectives.
Duff & Phelps was appointed to run Rangers when the club was put into administration on St Valentine’s Day 2012, having failed to meet a series of PAYE and VAT demands from HMRC.
Clark and Whitehouse were installed at Ibrox to oversee the administration process.
Last night, Marty Dauer, spokesman for Duff & Phelps, said i t had ‘ performed an internal i nvestigation and commissioned an independent investigation of the related matters’.
He added: ‘ As a result, we believe that our work f or Rangers was conscientious, thorough and properly performed in every respect.’
In May 2011, Sir David, apparently under pressure from his bankers to recoup a club overdraft of about £18million amid huge debts in his own business empire, sold Rangers.
Whyte bought an 85 per cent shareholding in the club from the Murray Group and made several pledges in terms of future investment and paying off the club’s bank debt.
At the time, a large tax liability regarding the club’s payments through an Employee Benefit Trust – which were later outlawed – was also in dispute.
Rangers went into administration in February 2012, less than a year after Whyte took over.
I mmediately after being appointed, Duff & Phelps announced that the club had failed to pay about £9 million in PAYE and VAT since the takeover. It then disclosed that the club had paid off the debt with Lloyds Banking Group from a £24.4million capital injection from investment firm Ticketus, which was secured on the back of future season ticket sales.
In June 2012, Charles Green’s consortium Sevco Scotland
‘Independent investigation’
bought the club’s assets and business from Whyte in a deal worth £5.5million.
In September, Whyte was disqualified from being a company director for 15 years. He received the maximum ban for ‘failing to avoid conflict of interest in the running of the club’, following proceedings by the Insolvency Service.
At the Court of Session, Lord Tyre described Whyte’s conduct as ‘singularly shocking and reprehensible’.
He added: ‘He deliberately placed his own interests before those of the company.’
The judge said that it was both necessary and appropriate for him to impose as lengthy a period of disqualification as he could on Whyte, who had previously been banned from being a company director for seven years.
Asked about the possibility of Whyte’s arrest last night, a Police Scotland spokesman would only say that ‘inquiries are continuing.’