Ally: Title contenders in 2 years if we replace £30 Million

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Rangers boss Ally McCoist: We can be title contenders in two years if we can replace £30m of lost talent

http://www.<No links to this website>/sport/football/football-news/rangers-boss-ally-mccoist-can-3147417

15 February 2014 07:24 AM By Craig Swan

Ibrox chief McCoist insists that his team can be competing in the top tier by this time in 2016 if funding is found to replace what he believes was £30million-worth of talent lost in the two years since administration.

Rangers boss Ally McCoist

ALLY McCOIST reckons Rangers can be Scottish title contenders in two years – if funding is found to replace £30million-worth of lost talent.

On the second anniversary of the Ibrox club’s crash into administration, the manager spoke of his vision for the club.

McCoist is adamant his team can be back in the top flight and battling for top honours by this time in 2016.

He said: “If we get investment and funding, then I’d be very hopeful that we’d obviously be in the top league and that we’d also have a better chance of bringing in the quality of player to hopefully enable us to compete at the top level in the top league.

“It’s difficult to put a figure on it, impossible.

“But if you lose, maybe, in the region of £30m worth of players if you combine them all in Steven Whittaker, Nikica Jelavic, Steve Davis, Allan McGregor and all these boys, I would think it certainly needs to get replaced.

“I’m not saying £30m is the figure at all, but that’s roughly what we’ve lost.

“Some will argue it might be more than that and some might say a little bit less, but my point is you can’t lose that, not replace it and expect to compete at the top level.”

For the time being, McCoist knows short-term issues have to be addressed – lack of a scouting network for a start.

McCoist had another meeting with chief executive Graham Wallace last night trying to clarify a variety of matters, while he also confirmed a dismissal of continued rumours of a second administration.

He said: “He [Wallace] has categorically told me that will not be the case. He told me once and if that changed he would have told me otherwise.

“He told me that’s not the case and that’s good enough for me.

“I’ve been invited to board meetings, which I look forward to, to discuss football, discuss first team, discuss Under-20s, discuss the youths at Murray Park and all of that will be brought up.

“There are a lot of things that need to be brought to the table, such as scouting which needs addressed imminently, particularly now as we are heavily into the rebuilding process for the club, short, middle and long-term.

“If we’ve not got a scouting department, which we don’t have, then that is plainly far from ideal.

“It’s absolutely staggering we don’t have a scouting department but I have to say, through no fault of Graham or anyone on the board.

“But it is our problem which needs addressed.”

McCoist is without first-choice centre-backs Lee McCulloch and Bilel Moshni at Ayr today and could replace them with kids Luca Gasparotto and Craig Halkett.

He said: “The two boys at Under-20 level have been doing really well.

“We’ve got the other option of Emilson Cribari coming back in or Sebastian Faure going in at right centre-back and Richard Foster coming in at right-back.

“But it’s not ideal having our two centre-backs missing.”

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