McCoist Remains As Rangers Manager

pic: Jeff Holmes

Ally McCoist will continue as Rangers manager for the time being following his first meeting with the Rangers directors since he handed in his resignation. McCoist held talks with directors in Glasgow on Wednesday afternoon but the club confirmed to Press Association Sport that he would continue preparing as normal for their Scottish Championship fixture against Livingston on Saturday. The meeting came hours after Rangers confirmed they were fighting attempts by the Scottish Professional Football League to force them to pay a £250,000 fine for the oldco club's undisclosed payments to players. Many had expected McCoist to leave following the club's confirmation of his resignation on Monday, but he is continuing to serve his 12-month notice period. Director Derek Llambias, the former Newcastle managing director who was installed after Mike Ashley strengthened his influence at Ibrox, and football board chairman Sandy Easdale arrived at Ibrox before McCoist left the club's Murray Park training ground in mid-afternoon. The Rangers manager did not go in either of the main entrances at Ibrox but it soon emerged that the talks had taken place and that McCoist was staying on. The meeting could not have lasted more than an hour and the uncertainty over his position will be one of many significant talking points at the club's annual general meeting on Monday. McCoist claimed he wanted to be Rangers manager for the "foreseeable future" when he rebuffed questions on his resignation following a 2-0 defeat at Queen of the South on Friday night. But the club stated they would seek an "amicable solution in the best interests of the company" on Monday and that they expected to make a further announcement before the end of the week. They also announced that McCoist's salary had reverted to £750,000 once the notice period was triggered in another sign that his relationship with the board had completely broken down. But he looks set to lead the team against Livingston and his presence at the AGM would be an intriguing prospect. The Rangers board chose the morning of their crucial showdown with McCoist to announce they were fighting SPFL attempts to take the £250,000 fine out of their league income. A commission set up by the Scottish Premier League handed oldco Rangers the fine in February 2013 after the club failed to disclose dozens of payments worth millions of pounds from 2000 to 2011, breaching league rules. The commission decided Rangers had gained no sporting advantage and stopped short of stripping the club of titles and it appeared the issue was over as the fine was levied on a liquidated company. But the SPFL - the result of a merger of the SPL and Scottish Football League - claims newco Rangers had accepted liability. A Rangers statement to the stock exchange read: ''The board of the SPFL has determined that Rangers Football Club Limited is liable to pay the EBT Commission fine of £250,000 levied on RFC 2012 PLC (previously The Rangers Football Club plc) (in liquidation). "The SPFL has also decided that this sum will be recovered from the club by the SPFL withholding broadcasting money and other sums due to the club but which are paid in the first instance to the SPFL. "An appeal has been lodged with the judicial panel of the Scottish FA which has confirmed that the decision of the SPFL is suspended pending the outcome of the appeal subject to the SPFL's right to object. "The board is advised that the sum is not due to SPFL and the appeal will be pursued vigorously." But the SPFL countered: "The Rangers Football Club Limited ('Rangers Newco') signed an agreement under which they would be liable for sums such as this. "The chairman of Rangers FC, David Somers, and on one occasion the club's then chief executive Graham Wallace, engaged in individual discussions with the majority of current SPFL board members several months ago acknowledging the liability and suggesting ways of paying the sums due. "Following such discussions, it was only when no sums actually arrived from Rangers FC that the SPFL board decided to offset this liability against future sums payable to the club." The payments were related to the club's tax-avoiding Employee Benefits Trust scheme and totalled £9million in one season alone. Former owner Murray International Holdings has largely won two court cases against Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over the scheme, with another one planned, but the commission focused on the club's use of undisclosed side letters to players rather than the legality of the payments. Newco Rangers assumed liability for the liquidated company's football debts when the club's SFA membership was transferred in July 2012 but it was widely thought that the new fine would not affect the current Ibrox regime. Rangers say they will also fight another case with the SFA after they and Ashley were hit with a total of five charges relating to the the Newcastle owner's dual interests. A second statement to the stock exchange read: "The directors of Rangers will take legal advice with a view to defending the actions of the company and the club robustly in relation to those matters raised by the SFA."