FORMER Rangers manager Ally McCoist is on the verge of reaching an amicable agreement with major Ibrox shareholder Dave King.

McCoist has been on gardening leave since tendering his resignation after a disappointing run of results in the Championship in December last year.

He has been entitled to his full salary since then under the terms of a 12 month rolling contract which will not expire until this December.

However, SportTimes understands that McCoist and King are poised to arrive at a settlement which is acceptable to both parties more than three months early.

King, the South Africa-based businessman who owns a 14.57 per cent stake in the Glasgow club, has held several discussions with McCoist since being appointed chairman back in May.

He is due to fly to Scotland for further talks within the next fortnight when the matter is finally expected to be concluded.

McCoist was in charge of Rangers for over three and a half turbulent years after succeeding his mentor Walter Smith at the end of the 2010/11 season.

He became a figurehead for the Glasgow giants after they were placed into administration by former owner Craig Whyte in 2012.

The legendary goalscorer worked for nothing during that period and then set about rebuilding the Ibrox club when they were placed into the bottom tier of Scottish football.

He oversaw successive promotions from the Third Division and League One – when they went undefeated all season – but struggled to maintain their progress last term.

He resigned in December after falling behind leaders Hearts - only to be made to stay on and oversee games against Queen of the South at Palmerston and Livingston at Ibrox.

He was then put on gardening leave by the former regime and his assistant Kenny McDowall was put in charge on a temporary basis.

The terms of McCoist’s contract have been the subject of some controversy since they were made public during the reign of Charles Green.

He agreed to accept a 50 per cent pay cut last year during Graham Wallace’s spell as chief executive when it emerged that Rangers were once again facing serious financial difficulties.

He received a warm reception from fans when he turned up to vote at the EGM which ousted the former board at Ibrox back in March.

However, the terms of his pay off – he is entitled to £15,000-a-week - has not gone down well with many supporters due to the ongoing off-field problems at Rangers.

Asked about the issue back in May, King said: “The fact is he has a contract, it was committed to and the club must respect contracts.

"The club owes Ally as much as he owes them in terms of the satisfaction he has given fans over the years. To me, the situation has been resolved with Ally. The fact is that Ally is entitled to his money.

"He doesn't have an obligation, he doesn't owe anything to the club. It's a question of whether the club can convince him that under the new regime, so to speak, he should give some satisfaction.

"But 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.”