‘MY VOTE IS PRIVATE’

ALLY McCOIST has launched an angry defence of his failure to vote in favour of Resolution 11 at the Rangers AGM last November. The former Ibrox boss came in for criticism from fans when it emerged that he hadn’t used his 1.25 per cent stake to back a resolution that would have allowed the board to allocate shares as they saw fit. The potentially cash-raising proposal, which could also have lessened the influence of Mike Ashley, failed to gain the necessary 75 per cent approval by just 0.4 per cent. McCoist insisted he hadn’t voted because he was doing media work at the time of the AGM and pointed to his previous backing of Dave King’s boardroom regime. ‘The criticism was totally unjustified and unfair,’ said McCoist. ‘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 voted, 26 per cent voted against Resolution 11. 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 work. ‘What I do with my vote is private, so clearly it was leaked by somebody and I have a fair idea who it was. It was an attempt to get the fans turned against me, which certainly has not been the case as a lot of people saw through it. ‘I turned up to vote for the board and oust the previous board, strongly against my lawyer’s advice. I support the board. Absolutely.’ Despite insisting Rangers needed significant new investment, McCoist declined to criticise chairman King. The South Africa-based businessman reached an agreement to pay off the remainder of McCoist’s notice period nine months after he resigned. ‘I only had one dealing with Dave King. He was fantastic,’ said McCoist. ‘That was the termination of my contract. We agreed a deal very quickly then sat and had a cup of tea. Brilliant. I’ve not been back to a game yet, but I will do. I’m not in the huff with anyone.’