Former Rangers winger Mark Walters feels Ally McCoist's passion for the club can help him tackle the formidable task of following Walter Smith.
Smith is looking to bow out of football management at the end of the season with a third consecutive Clydesdale Bank Premier League title, despite being unable to buy a player for a two-year spell. Assistant McCoist has been groomed as his successor since both gave up jobs with Scotland to return to their first love.
And Walters, who played under Smith and alongside McCoist in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said: "Obviously Ally has a reputation of being a fun guy but when it comes to football he is very serious. He knows his stuff, he is a good coach and he is aware of what Glasgow Rangers means to the supporters, which is a really important thing."
He added: "Having worked under Walter, he must have learnt loads of stuff.
"He is a young man in terms of experience but he should definitely get a chance to show what he can do and I think he'll relish it.
"He has got the attributes as a coach and man-management skills to do well."
However, Walters did not detect that serious side when they played together.
"I'll be honest with you, no," the former Aston Villa and Liverpool player said. "But when Ally got down to business, on the training pitch for instance, he always loved scoring goals.
"You don't score that many goals by being lackadaisical about football. You could always tell he was passionate about football.
"I'll be honest, it has surprised how much he has taken to it because he has other things he was interested in. But Glasgow Rangers is his life. There are not many things he would dedicate himself to as a player, in my opinion, but Glasgow Rangers was definitely one."
Source: PA
