McCoist: Dundee Utd should stop moaning

Rangers boss Ally McCoist has told Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson to stop moaning about the compensation fee he has been forced to pay for Charlie Telfer.

An SPFL tribunal ordered the Tannadice side to hand Rangers £204,000 after signing the former Ibrox youngster in the summer.

But United chief Thompson - who had expected to pay around £100,000 - claimed the figure is ridiculously prohibitive'' and warned it could have a serious impact on young Scots' ability to move clubs under freedom of contract.

Telfer, named November's SPFL young player of the month, knocked back the offer of a new Gers contract to move to Tayside but league chiefs ruled the Light Blues should be reimbursed after spending 10 years developing the Scotland Under-19 cap.

But McCoist claims Thompson has no reason to complain - because he knew exactly what the rules said before moving for the 19-year-old.

He said: It's very, very uncommon for these tribunals to see both parties leave delighted with the outcome.

We feel happier with the outcome and that we got our just rewards for the education we gave Charlie over the last 10 years.

I can also understand Dundee United's disappointment.

But Stephen knew the rules before he went and got Charlie. I don't think you can complain about the rules after you make your own decision. You have to abide by them.

Dundee United decided to go and get Charlie, which was well within their rights.

But they knew the rules before they did that. Now they are having a moan about the rules. I'm not necessarily sure that should be the case. The rule hasn't changed since United went and got Charlie.''

Rangers will take a sizeable travelling support to Dumfries for Friday night's Championship clash with Queen of the South after selling out their allocation of away tickets.

That is a stark change to their recent run outs at Ibrox.

The club claimed around 28,000 fans had turned out for last Saturday's 1-0 win over Cowdenbeath - only for chairman David Somers to later admit the real figure was 9,000 fewer.

Crowd numbers have dwindled on the back of a season-ticket boycott sparked by anger over the current board's handling of the Glasgow giants.

But recent results - most notably the shocking Petrofac Training Cup exit to part-time Alloa - has tipped many supporters over the edge.

McCoist, though, has warned his players not to use the silence from the stands as an excuse.

He said: It's definitely a different stadium when the crowds are down.

When I first went to Ibrox there were crowds of less than 10,000 and there is something eerie about it.

Make no mistake about it, our players would much rather play in it when it is full to capacity.

But whether it is 1,000 or 50,000, the job is still the same.

The focus on getting results can't change and won't change.

Every team can do more, no matter if it is Rangers or Real Madrid.

We set out to win games and the best way to do that is to score goals and to play attractive football.''

Rangers had 36,000 season-ticket holders last season - but that figure has dropped to 17,000 this term.

But McCoist is confident the stay-away fans can be lured back.

Asked if he was worried the boycotting fans may never return, he said: I wouldn't necessarily agree with that because when I first came here I was playing in front of crowds that were under 10,000 but within a year it was up to 45,000 or 50,000.

It might be harder for them to come back but it is certainly not the case that they won't come back.

We proved before that they can come back and will come back.''