IT was really good to hear Rangers legend Ally McCoist talking over the weekend about getting back into football as a manager again, particularly for an opportunity in the Scottish Premiership.

I think it’s great that he has thrown his hat into the ring for the St Mirren job, and it would be brilliant to see him get back into the game directly once more for the first time since he left Rangers back in 2015.

Let me tell you, he knows his football inside out. I know he’s still been keeping a keen interest in football up here and watches as many games as he can, and while he is great on radio and on the television, I think it would be wonderful to see him back in the dugout again.

Read more: Lee McCulloch: Rangers must push boat out for marquee signing to excite fans

He’s got such a brilliant understanding of the game, and I think it would be a great move both for Ally himself, and for St Mirren too. It’s a great club with a really good structure, so it would be a brilliant fit for both parties and another boost to the game here in Scotland.

Look at the managers we’ve got in the Scottish game just now, with Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard for example. There is a real feel-good factor coming back to the game north of the border and we are attracting big names right throughout the top flight, so to have Ally McCoist in the mix as well could only be a great thing for Scottish football and for the whole profile of our game.

I think it would be an ideal platform to show just what a great manager he is, and he was, when that big cloud isn’t hanging over him as it was at Rangers. People seem to forget that he was working with his hands tied behind his back at times at Ibrox, so it would be a great chance for him to show just how good an operator he is without everything that was going on at Ibrox at that time.

St Mirren is a club that has really got its house in order of late, and it has a board with a good reputation, so it is a decent draw.

Read more: Joey Barton: Steven Gerrard should be 'commended' for starting his managerial career at Rangers​

I can understand the argument that Ally looks a lot happier and relaxed now than he was in his final weeks at Rangers, and there is no doubt that the job took a toll on him, as it would do on anyone.

But the St Mirren job will not come with the same level of scrutiny that the Rangers job does, and particularly as it did when Ally was in charge and he had all of those factors that were outside of his control to contend with.

I spoke to him briefly after a recent legends game, and he did seem happy and contented with life, but I just think he’s a real loss to the game when he isn’t working directly in it.

Because Ally is such a bubbly and effervescent guy, it is sometimes underestimated just how much knowledge of the game he has, and how serious he is when it comes to his football. He had a great understanding of the game even back in his playing days. Don’t forget, he could play central midfield as well as up front where he was one of the best talents this country has ever produced. Since he stopped playing, he has taken that on and his knowledge of the game and what is required in all areas of the pitch is outstanding.

He was very harshly treated at Rangers in my opinion, and it was a real shame for me the way that it all panned out in the end, but he knows as well as anybody that was just part and parcel of the times that we were going through.

Read more: SFA director Gary Hughes to step down after Rangers row​

If he is offered the job and he decides to take it on, then I think that for both him and St Mirren, it would be fantastic.

Of course, he has huge shoes to fill after the job that Jack Ross did there, saving the club from relegation from an awful position and then backing that up by winning the Championship the next season, and there will be a real battle ahead of him to keep them up in the Premiership in their first season back in the top division. But underestimate Ally McCoist at your peril.

He will always rightly be classed as a legend among the Rangers supporters, but I think he maybe carries an unfair reputation as a coach because of what happened when he was in charge at the club, and I’d love for him to get the chance to redress the balance and show everyone the undoubted ability he has in the dugout.

St Mirren would be a brilliant opportunity for Ally to show just what a good manager he is, and the top class coach that those of us who have worked under him know him to be.

He’s a great guy, and any club would be lucky to have him at the helm.