IF Ally McCoist's fears about his budget being slashed as a result of the departure of chief executive Charles Green are right, then he may well be a worried man.
The Rangers manager has been the real winner in the turbulent events at his beloved club over the last month. The resignation of Green on Friday ended a simmering series of disagreements and significantly bolstered McCoist's position.
Gone was the anger and complaint from Rangers fans about the way their side had played this season on the way to the Irn-Bru Third Division title, replaced by the return of sympathy for what McCoist has had to put up with this season. He was back in the 'Super Ally' role of the start of the campaign. No-one was talking about the quality of football on display any more. And then his players went and lost to Peterhead at home.
The result and the game were arguably a sideshow to events off the pitch. However, this was the 11th time this season out of 34 games that Rangers had failed to beat part-time opponents in Scotland's fourth tier.
It was also the second time they had lost at Ibrox. One could argue that the league has long since been wrapped up, but this was another telling display by a Rangers side who have managed to go an entire season without being able to work out how to defend set pieces – Scott Ross' equaliser to Lee McCulloch's early goal was from a corner.
The excellent Rory McAllister scored a deserved winner as the culmination of a superb move to give them their sixth win in a row and, although Rangers twice hit the woodwork in the first half, the visitors merited the applause they got from the home fans who had stayed to the end - after they had told McCoist and his players what they thought of their display.
Apart from McAllister, former Rangers goalkeeper Graeme Smith – who was on the bench when they reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2008 – was one of the players who thwarted the champions.
Smith finds it hard to agree with the continuing criticism levelled at McCoist. He said: "It's not for me to talk about whether people are dealing with things rightly or wrongly at Ibrox now. But credit must to go to Ally McCoist, Kenny McDowall, Ian Durrant and Jim Stewart for all the stuff they've had to deal with off-field.
"I'm not digging players out but the Fran Sandaza situation and the Kyle Hutton Twitter story don't really help managers. At a club like this, you have to win every game no matter what league you're in.
"It's been tough for them but their remit in the summer was to win the league and they've done it comfortably with games to spare. For Ally to get a squad together and win the league, you have to take your hat off to him. He's taken a bit of stick but whatever happens off-field, he can't control."
Smith believes McCoist, along with board member and former manager Walter Smith, will be key to Rangers' future.
"They're not just legends at Ibrox, they're legends of Scottish football for what they've done," he added. "They command total respect but, in the end, that's not always enough to get you by. They know how to identify players who can do a job for them. I think they've done that. The biggest thing is, they've got Rangers at heart. Those two won't just look after themselves or their jobs, they'll look after the club. Their challenge was to win the Third Division this year and they've achieved it with grace."
Off the pitch, Rangers are looking for a new chief executive. The frontrunner is the club's director of sports development and a £1 million investor, Craig Mather. There are hints, though, that the Ibrox boardroom is divided over their choice of successor to Green.
There is also unease at the choice of financial firm Deloitte as independent investigators into the ongoing probe of the Yorkshireman and commercial director Imran Ahmad. They are the same accountancy firm which helped Green's takeover of the club last summer and which acted as his advisor when the club was trying to get a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).
McCoist is keen to use the appointment of the chief executive as the catalyst for a new start at Rangers.
He said: "Whether it's appointing the chief exec or the commission, we must get it right. We all want decisions yesterday, and I'm no different, but it's so important we get everything right and get a real opportunity to move on."
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