McCoist seeks transfer clarity

21 April 2013 14:15
Ally McCoist will seek clarity from the Rangers board over his budget for next season as he bids to secure top targets as early as possible. The Light Blues boss said on Saturday he feared the cash available to bolster his squad may be reduced following Charles Green's resignation as chief executive. A signing embargo means the club must wait until September 1 to register free agents and January 2014 to sign new players. McCoist has a number of players on his wanted list and now wants to move quickly to secure targets on pre-contracts for fear of missing out as he plans for the Second Division. Asked if will speak to someone at board level as a matter of urgency to clarify the situation with regards to strengthening, he said: "Absolutely. We are really far down the line with a lot of targets and a lot of players. "It's not an ideal situation because we can only sign players who are out of contract and we can only register them from September 1. "So I think it's in our best interests to move as quickly as we possibly can and get them signed up. "If these players get other options, which might be the case, they would be well within their rights to weigh them up and they might not choose us. "It's more important than ever now that we get an opportunity to move forward and get players ASAP." Green offered his resignation following "negative publicity" in recent weeks, after former owner Craig Whyte alleged he was involved in the Green consortium's acquisition of Rangers last summer. Those claims will be probed by an independent investigation commissioned by the Rangers board. Green also recently apologised after being charged by the Scottish Football Association for allegedly using "racist and offensive language". Despite being hit with more off-field turmoil, McCoist refused to be too downbeat. He said: "It's not hard not to be despondent. "Sometimes you think 'where's the next one coming from?' But we have to move on. "We need an opportunity to regroup. You know me, I'm certainly (a glass) half full (person), rather than half empty. "The job has been done this season. "We can argue about how it was done but the bottom line is the boys have managed to do the job. "Now, all we would like, as the coaches and managers, is an opportunity to do our job and take the team forward. Hopefully we can do that next year." There was on-field disappointment for the Third Division champions, to add to the off-field drama, as Rangers slumped to a 2-1 home defeat to Peterhead on Saturday. Lee McCulloch opened the scoring for the Light Blues but goals from Scott Ross and Rory McAllister sealed the win for the visitors. "I've got plenty of complaints," said McCoist. "We should have been home and dry in the first half with the chances we missed. "Losing the goal, I feel like an old record player here, but we basically just dropped our man at the back post and they got a free header. "In the second half, we huffed and puffed. "I think, actually, it's really evident where we are at the moment and what needs to be done. "Nothing has changed over the last couple of weeks. We need freshness. "There were positives. Luca Gasparotto looks as though he is doing all right when he comes on at centre-back and young Daniel Stoney came on and did fine. "The boys, although they've got the job done in terms of winning the league and moving to the next step, they've got a lot to play for when they're out there. "There were certainly one or two disappointments in terms of individual performances but some of the young lads did fine."

Source: team_talk