ALLY McCOIST remains at the centre of the storm despite his resignation at Rangers with claim, counter claim and speculation dominating the agenda as he prepares to lead out the team against Livingston at Ibrox tomorrow.

 

The Rangers manager held inconclusive talks with members of the board on Wednesday over a possible exit from the club and yesterday this impasse produced support from a fans' representative from the board, a denial from a former team-mate that he was plotting against McCoist and a statement from Derek McInnes, Aberdeen manager, that he had no interest if any vacancy arose at Ibrox.

McCoist has been supported by fans' groups but yesterday Drew Roberton, general secretary of the Rangers Supporters' Association, admitted his sympathies lay with the board over the stand-off on McCoist's future.

The Rangers manager resigned last week and is now working a 12-month notice period. But Roberton told the BBC: "Ally as a player and a manager has been well rewarded and I am quite sure he will have other irons in the fire."

McCoist's resignation triggered a clause in his contact restoring his salary to £750,000. After Wednesday's meeting, Sandy Easdale, chairman of the football board, intimated that it was business as usual at Ibrox, with McCoist remaining in charge of a team that is nine points behind Hearts in the race for the SPFL Championship title.

Roberton said: "It is a really unsatisfactory situation at the minute and I hope that the board and Ally can sit round the table and come to some amicable arrangement."

He added: "There are others who have contributed a lot less to the club but who have walked out with large cheques in their pocket, so if Ally is contractually entitled to a pay-off then why should he go without one? The meeting turned out to be a non-event. You have two parties sitting round the table trying to protect their own interests."

The "interests"of McCoist were seen to be compromised by reports linking Mark Hateley, his former team mate, with attempts to undermine the Rangers manager.

However, Hateley said yesterday he was "astonished, angered and hurt" by these claims and said he was attempting to contact McCoist to assure him the allegations were untrue.

The position of the Rangers manager, of course, remains uncertain. However, it may become clearer after the annual general meeting on Monday when plans for further funding of the club are expected to be outlined.

The reality is that there is no money to compensate the Rangers manager but The Herald understands there could be movement next week. Both sides are aware that the situation holds dangers for the future of the club who need promotion to the SPFL Premiership to conform with any business plan. Rangers are nine points behind Hearts, with the Edinburgh side having a game in hand. Hearts have Alloa at home and the match in hand - Cowdenbeath away - next week while Rangers face Livingston tomorrow. The Edinburgh side could end the year with a substantial gap on their opponents for the title.

So with the Rangers manager working his notice, it is vital that players react strongly and quickly how the players will react both to the reality of his eventual departure and to the dispiriting defeat against Queen of the South last week.

However, Kevin Kyle, the former Rangers centre-forward, said: "I am sure there a few guys there who are fed up."

Kyle, 33, spent six months with the club, signing in 2012, and said he had been expected to be paid "£500-£600 week". Instead, he told BBC Scotland, he earned £100,000 in a year.

He added: "The majority of the players who are there at Rangers are there for one reason and one reason only. And that's the money that was on offer to them."

He said some of his team-mates were earning more than £400,000 a year, adding: "It is not the players' fault because somebody stupid somewhere along the line offered them that money."

With McCoist on notice, there is an inevitability about speculation linking former players such as Billy Davies, Terry Butcher and McInnes to the club.

However, the Aberdeen manager, has insisted he his happy at Pittodrie, adding of the speculation: "I think it is really unfair. There is still a manager in place at that club, he's a friend of mine as well. "

McInnes, who led the club to a League Cup victory last season, said: "I have no desire to leave Aberdeen at the minute. I'm really enjoying myself here and I feel I have work to finish. There is a lot to be said for being happy at your work and I'm extremely happy here."