HE sat in his normal spot, training gear spattered by mud, his smile fixed, his mood raised by an innate optimism and the necessity to present a jaunty defiance to the world.

Murray Park on an October Monday was almost routine for Alistair Murdoch McCoist, aged 52 and one twelfth. His chief executive had resigned. Again. He had what amounts to a new employer. Again. He was going to be sacked. Again.

But wait. There was news to be transmitted to the press. McCoist, Rangers manager since June 2011, had just been told his job was safe. Again. He was given no long-term assurance, he was told nothing of the plans for the club, he was not informed of any future meeting with Mike Ashley, the businessman who has loaned the club £2m. This was all conveyed with a seriousness, laced with occasional McCoist humour.

It was just another day. The more the Rangers story changes, the more it remains the same. As Glaswegians of a certain age would say, this is no way to run a railroad. It is, though, precisely how to run a circus.

McCoist has waved goodbye to four chief executives in Craig Whyte, Charles Green, Craig Mather and Graham Wallace. Yesterday he was phoned by both David Somers, the club chairman, and Sandy Easdale, major shareholder and member of the football board. He must surely have taken a breath before the first of those calls, but the manager insisted he did not fear he was to be told he was sacked.

"No. And I don't say that meaning to be blase," he said. "Every manager knows how precarious the job is. I genuinely thought [it was] two board members phoning to give me an update on what has been happening. My resolve is as strong as ever to get the job done here and get us back to the top flight."

The immediate question when facing the man in a room in Murray Park is to gauge how he is coping, to winkle out the merest hint about what may befall him and how he may react.

The grim reaper is heading to Ibrox and Murray Park with a scythe sharpened to cut budgets. McCoist is too smart not to know this. He is too sharp to offer words that may be a hostage to fortune and not redeemable by any ransom.

Sympathy may be restricted on McCoist given his salary and the realisation that many others, on lower wages and higher anxiety levels, face the loss of their jobs. But the grisly inquiry of how he copes and endures at Rangers must be pursued, particularly in the light of reports insisting he is unlikely to last the week.

"I received a couple of phone calls from the chairman and Sandy Easdale this morning, which was great," he said. "I spoke to the chairman first thing and then Sandy before training. The chairman was great. We had a 15-to-20 minute conversation - the majority of which will remain private - but he was kind enough to explain the board's views and opinions on taking the Mike Ashley offer.

"Sandy phoned basically to say much the same and to tell me to concentrate my thoughts totally on tomorrow's game and indeed the upcoming fixtures. His words were: 'Just concentrate on your job as the Rangers manager'. Both of them effectively echoed those statements and that is where we are."

Did he feel under threat or weakened? "I have been told by both gentlemen to concentrate on my job, which is as Rangers manager.

"That's what I have been doing and will absolutely continue to do."

How is his resolve?

"Great. I actually think the team is in not a bad place. And that is by far the biggest part of my job - to get the team on the park to get results. It's not taken its toll.

"Like any man in any job in any walk of life, some days are better than others. It's the exact same for me. But my strength and will remains. I've got some fantastic people around me to work alongside. For that reason plainly, my resolve is as strong as ever."

And how does he cope?

"I think my past helps. I feel I know the club as well as anybody. Obviously I'm not comparing myself in any way shape or form to John Greig and Walter Smith, but, what I would say, is that I know the club as well as anybody. And I know how quickly things can change, from good to bad and then bad to good.

"At our club there is seldom an indifferent period. The best piece of advice I have been given is not to get too carried away with the good and don't get too down with the bad."

Smith and Greig have walked away from positions at the club so had McCoist ever considered doing the same?

"I'm as strong-willed as I've ever been to continue in my job of getting Rangers back to the top flight. And then further.

"There has been a lot of things going on in the last couple of years when there might have been a reason, but certainly not an excuse, to take your eye off the ball."

The Question Time continued but McCoist had to adopt politician mode. There are two reasons for this. The first is that he is not privy to what is happening at the highest levels. Pertinently, the £2m loaned by Ashley does not do much more than keep the lights on for a couple of months but McCoist said: "That is a board decision and I can speak for or about the board."

But he must hope there can be some sort of continuity at least at chief executive level?

"We have to wait and see what develops. But I have to be encouraged by the fact the board is encouraged," said McCoist.

Any indication of the level of investment?

"No, there wasn't but I wasn't expecting there to be," said the Rangers manager. "What I got was the impression that both gentleman [Somers and Easdale] were of the opinion that decisions were made for the benefit of the football club moving forward. I absolutely and totally respect that."

Any plans for a meeting with Ashley? "I don't think that's important, no. With the greatest of respect, if Mike Ashley wants to see me - or any of his people who work for him want to see me - that'll happen.

"I'm manager of the football team. It would be wrong of me to start asking to meet people. If it happens it'll happen but I've got far, far more important things, in the games coming up."

There is, of course, a game tonight against St Johnstone in a quarter-final of the League Cup. The focus inevitably was not Ian Black's likely return from injury but a possible boycott by fans outraged at Ashley's increasing influence at Rangers.

If developments at Ibrox resemble the mayhem of a circus, then McCoist has had to walk the tightrope without a net. This is particularly true of any comments made about the supporters. McCoist has to work with a board but keep the fans on board.

There is an increasing sense of disillusionment among some supporters. "It has been an unbelievably tough three years and I can understand, totally, the frustration from section of the fans," said McCoist. "All I would ask of them is to continue with their unbelievable support of the team.

"I know there has been talk of boycotts and people staying away and I can understand that. The last thing I will ever do is turn against the fans because they have been the one loyal and one constant throughout the last three years."

Pressed on a possible boycott, he said: "I totally respect their decision. Whether there are 100 or 55,000 in the stadium it doesn't change things. We have to go out and get us a result that will get us into the semi-final of the cup. I understand people's emotions are running high and they are making decisions they feel are right. But, it goes without saying, that I would rather have 55,000 in the stadium."

With that, he headed towards another interview to say yet again he was still in a job, still optimistic and still condemned to mouthing platitudes about the power plays of which he may yet become a victim.

The Ibrox story goes on. If it ever ends, the unexpurgated McCoist version will be unmissable.