Ally McCoist defiant as Dundee United defeat causes Rangers 'crisis' talk to intensify

Chief football writer

Monday 6 February 2012

Ally McCoist refused to describe Rangers as being in crisis yesterday after the club crashed out of its fourth cup competition in seven months.

Johnny Russell's goal gave Dundee United a 2-0 lead

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Michael Grant

Dundee United's 2-0 win at Ibrox in the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round left Rangers with only the Clydesdale Bank Premier League to play for in the closing months of the season. The mounting frustration and unhappiness around the club was evident in an attendance of around 16,000 home fans as well as the booing that accompanied Rangers off the pitch at full time.

The poor crowd may have been partially attributable to the failure to sign anyone to replace Nikica Jelavic, but McCoist claimed the real cloud hanging over the club is the huge tax case being contested against Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. A verdict is expected next month or in April, but Rangers could be hit with a bill of up to £49m, which they would have no way of paying."I think the crisis point comes with the tax case, more than anything," said McCoist. "That's the biggest problem. What we need is clarification on what's happening so we can move forward. That's the biggest problem we have, whether it's management, players, or indeed, fans. The uncertainty isn't pleasant."The players will be fine [after the cup defeat]. They are disappointed but on Monday morning they will be back in training and we will go ahead. This club has had problems before and determination and grit, the qualities we have in that dressing room, will see us through this."He dismissed a report that Rangers had been prepared last Tuesday to sell Kyle Lafferty, now their main out-and-out striker, to an unnamed English club for a cut-price £1.75m. "To my knowledge that's absolute nonsense," he said. "We've been trying to re-sign Lafferty and offer him a new deal. I know nothing about trying to sell Lafferty or any bids coming in, and I told the player that this morning."McCoist claimed to have money available to offer a wage to one free agent – they can be signed outwith transfer windows – and said he had two or three targets, all strikers. The lack of quality in his squad was obvious as Rangers made a dreadful attempt to salvage yesterday's tie after Gavin Gunning and Johnny Russell scored first-half goals for Dundee United."It was a horrible day at the office," he said. "United played really well, especially in the first half, but our defending for both goals was really poor. We could have defended the cross a lot better for the first goal and Russell got far too much space for the second. We take pride in our defending but it was poor today."We lacked a wee bit of quality to open up United. We didn't have that. I thought the effort was there to try to get balls in the box. It was a lack of quality and guile that cost us in the end."Captain Steven Davis called for owner Craig Whyte to ease the burden on the squad by releasing funds for a contract offer to a free agent, and admitted it had been a "blow" to see Jelavic leave for £5.5m without being replaced. "It's disappointing to see players like 'Jela' leave without us getting anybody in," said Davis. "That's a bit of a blow for the players."The window has closed so only frees are available but it would be nice to see a little bit of investment to try to add to what we've got. We have some key players out as well, that's gone against us this season. It's up to everyone in the dressing room to make sure the season doesn't crumble. The league's still there for us. "Immediately after a game it's hard to see the positives to take from the situation but we'll be back at work tomorrow, we'll roll our sleeves up and go again. It just wasn't good enough today. Credit to United but we shouldn't get beaten, especially at Ibrox."

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Ally McCoist defiant as Dundee United defeat causes Rangers 'crisis' talk to intensify

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