Ibrox manager's sights fixed on future, with Dutch youth model his template, writes Richard Wilson As Whyte emerges from shadows, McCoist refuses to look back in anger

Sports writer

Sunday 28 October 2012

Ally McCoist considers the question carefully before answering.

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Richard Wilson

"At best," he eventually says, "it would be ill-advised for Craig Whyte to come back to Ibrox again." The sudden return to the public eye of Whyte frustrates the Rangers manager, not least because his focus is on trying to move the club forward from the financial crisis of last summer.

"Some of the comments have attempted to take us back the way," McCoist adds. Rangers cannot fully leave behind the traumas of administration, because when the liquidators, BDO, formally take over from Duff & Phelps next week, every decision made during the past three years will be pored over. The story of Rangers' financial collapse will continue to run, but McCoist can be forgiven for being weary of Whyte's repeated attempts to blame others for Rangers' plight."Unless I'm mistaken, the only reason we went into administration was non-payment [by Whyte] of PAYE and National Insurance," McCoist says. "You can look for an argument [with Whyte's comments], but I'm refusing to because I want to move forward."Rangers, though, remain in an uncertain place with regard to matters on the pitch. League reconstruction remains a live topic, and Celtic and Rangers still covet a place in England, or beyond, to realise the full potential of the two clubs.Yet the wider considerations are of little relevance to McCoist when he talks about moving Rangers forward. His side are top of the Third Division, but have yet to win away from home in the league and will look to today's visit to Clyde to overcome that statistic. His team remain a work in progress, even if the club's resources are vastly greater than the rest of the division as a whole and ought to provide Rangers with the means to be more impressive in their work.Young players have been introduced to the first team out of necessity, but that resourcefulness can become a characteristic. Other clubs rely on youth development, but the consequences do not have to be diminished ambition.Most of the Ajax players who defeated Manchester City in the Champions League last week were home-grown. The Dutch could claim this as a matter of national expertise – but the point holds that Rangers will need to build their future on developing their own talent."That is the ideal world because we have been a selling club in recent history and that is the way it will be for the foreseeable future," McCoist said. "There is no reason why we shouldn't try to have a model, whether it is Porto or Ajax or PSV Eindhoven or that type because it has been hugely successful. We are not going to spend millions on players, so what is the next thing? Bring in your kids and educate them."Rangers were at their most impressive this season when they beat Motherwell in the Scottish Communities League Cup, and Inverness travel to Ibrox in the same competition on Wednesday.The visitors ought to be the favourites, since they are the SPL side, but Motherwell's fate will ensure they are not caught unawares. The game is, however, a break from the physical exchanges of the Third Division. Some Rangers players have questioned the roughhouse challenges they have faced, but others are less irked. Fraser Aird welcomes the attention, since it represents a challenge to his ability. The teenager impressed against Motherwell, and retained his place, although it is only this weekend that his Scottish-born father, Bill, has been able to arrange to fly over from the family home in Canada to watch him. "It will be emotional to have him here because he has only seen me playing on TV," Aird says."It's an experience playing against the older pros. They try to boot me up in the air as quickly as they can just to bring me back to earth. But I'm enjoying it."

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Ibrox manager's sights fixed on future, with Dutch youth model his template, writes Richard Wilson As Whyte emerges from shadows, McCoist refuses to look back in anger

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