It pains me to say it: the time’s right for Ally McCoist to move on

This is the article I never wanted to write. Even as I type it I feel upset, I wish things didn’t have to come to this. But, it is with a heavy heart I must say that the time has come for a parting of the ways between Ally McCoist and Rangers Football Club.

The loss at Stirling Albion, the latest in a worryingly increasing trend of poor performances, may well present itself as a watershed moment in the history of the club.It is becoming more and more difficult for the biggest supporters of Ally to be able to defend him, as his tenure as Gers manager is turning into a disastrous one.

Last season was bad enough without the fall out from administration, but so far this campaign has been one embarrassment after another and I for one do not see any real prospect of that changing whilst Ally McCoist continues in his existing post.

The danger is that he follows into the same path as John Greig, a true legend as a player but a  failure as manager.

It is frankly tiresome to listen to Ally after every away inept display. It sounds like a broken record as he speaks of his frustrations and acknowledgement that the performances are not acceptable and that changes may have to be made.

Making mistakes is one thing, but continuing to make the same ones time after time is not. It is now a major concern.

As each game passes it becomes more and more apparent that Ally is struggling tactically to come up with a game plan which can see his side break down the opposition, without having to resort to the tiresome routine of lumping it forward.

How many more times do the Gers travelling support have to suffer in traveling the length and breadth of the country, only to see the team stumble along performing poorly and not taking the game by the scruff on the neck? It makes you wonder what the heck is going on at Murray Park?

There just does not appear to be any real structure in Ally’s game plan. He looks lost when required to alter things if it is not going to plan and as mentioned earlier this is not a new thing.

Last year we witnessed the awful displays against Malmo, Maribor, Falkirk and Dundee United which resulted in early exits from the cup competitions. This year has been the same.

A need for an additional thirty minutes to beat Brechin, lacklustre showings at Peterhead, Berwick, Annan, Forres and now Stirling – its all becoming a regular habit as Ally McCoist’s Rangers fail to reach the required levels to defeat part-timers.

The Queen Of The South match should have caused alarm bells to be ringing loud and clear in the ears of the managerial team at Murray Park, but there has been no signs of any changes to the style of play or even the attitude of those who wear the famous light blue shirt. Which brings us on to the players themselves.

A mix of proven SPL performers and young bucks who have been asked to step up to the plate, probably a little early but nonetheless deemed good enough to earn a contract at the club.

Now you can criticise them all you want and deservingly so in some cases, but we all know that is the managers’ responsibility to get the  best out of them and our manager does not appear capable of doing that.

Perhaps it is worth analysing his own decisions at identifying players he felt would be capable of doing a job in the Third Division and on that front again, Ally is failing.

Admittedly the rush to bring in new faces before the lengthy transfer embargo kicked in did not help matters but nevertheless you would have hoped the manager and his scouts would have been been able to spot players you could rely on in giving their all in the rough and tumble of the lowest tier in the Scottish game.

So there are now two weeks before the next episode in the ongoing saga of Rangers FC in the Third Division when Queens Park visit the Brox.

It is more than enough time for Charles Green and Malcolm Murray to sit down and decide if they can trust their manager to pick up his game, before the fans start to turn on him and them as a result.

Maybe Ally McCoist should look in the mirror and ask if he should make that decision himself. Like I said I didn’t want to write this but as the old adage says: no man is bigger than the club.

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