‘Not a massive thing’ – McCoist urges clubs to follow Rangers example amid Coronavirus crisis
Ally McCoist has urged footballers to follow the example set by his Rangers side in 2012 and take pay cuts to help save the jobs of non-playing staff.
All football in Scotland has been suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic, with no clear sign as to when action will resume.
That has led to widespread financial uncertainty for several clubs, with Celtic becoming the latest side to put non-playing staff on furlough in an effort to slash costs – although the Hoops have pledged to ensure that all those affected still receive 100% of their usual wage.
But McCoist has called on players receiving high wages to consider following the example set by his Rangers squad when the Gers went into administration at the beginning of last decade.
Speaking to talkSPORT, as per the Scottish Sun, he said: “One of the things that we were extremely proud of when we went into administration at Rangers was the fact that the playing staff, coaching staff, managerial staff rightly took a wage cut to save the jobs of everybody else on the staff.
“One of the pleasing things to come out of that horrendous situation was the fact we managed to keep everybody’s jobs.
“Obviously players left the club eventually on freedom of contract and all that stuff but everybody took a wage cut.
“It is not a massive thing, it is just what people should be doing, to gather round and help each other.”
Does McCoist have a point here?
It’s difficult to give a definitive answer to this one because cases will vary from example to example, but generally speaking, from a moral standpoint, it feels jarring that players should still be receiving exorbitant wages while people face the threat of job losses.
Of course, when the Gers took pay cuts it was largely enforced by disastrous circumstances, but are things really that different now?
The best way we can hope to get through this worrying time is to pull together, and while that may not necessarily mean hammering players with 50% pay cuts or the like, you would hope that many would assess where they can afford to make cuts, and help the less fortunate through a personal choice.
It’s the right thing to do in these unprecedented times.
In other Rangers news, ‘Massive’ – Finance expert calls for unprecedented action from Gers and Celtic.