Rangers great McCoist deserves hero's welcome on Ibrox return

If the team fails to perform on a Saturday afternoon then they will criticised for that.

But Ally McCoist did so much more than coach the side during his four turbulent years in charge of Rangers.

He became the Ibrox club's public figurehead during its financial troubles - a responsibility that took a heavy toll on him.

When the consortium Charles Green fronted took over he found himself down in London helping to persuade investors to buy shares.

So he had many other important roles to perform behind the scenes after the Glasgow giants went into the bottom tier of Scottish football.

On the football side, he had only a handful of players to work with during pre-season before the Gers kicked off in the Third Division.

He decided then that he couldn't go with kids. He realised that he needed to put his faith in experienced players to get Rangers through the lower divisions.

He thought he needed guys who had been there, seen it and got the T-shirt in Scottish football to get back up the leagues.

That is why very few youngsters got into the side.

His policy helped him get the club into the second tier of Scottish football. But ultimately things didn't work out for him.

But I agreed with Walter Smith when he defended Ally's time in charge at John Hartson's charity golf day at Mar Hall this week.

He felt the circumstances Ally had to work under, with continual uncertainty over the future and unrest in the stands, made his job practically impossible.

Many fans have a low opinion of his abilities as a manager.

But I would hope that what he did for his club is recognised in time.

I hope that when he returns to Ibrox to watch a Rangers match he is still greeted as a hero.

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