Walter Smith says Ally McCoist deserves a chance to prove himself as a successful manager at a stable club . The Ibrox legend worked closely with McCoist and coach Kenny McDowall before the duo assumed the reins at Rangers during four years of unprecedented turmoil off and on the pitch . Charged with leading the club back to the Premiership from the bottom tier , McCoist finally resigned and was placed on gardening leave in December and is still earning £14,000 a week while his 12-month notice period runs down . Walter Smith says Ally McCoist deserves a chance to prove himself a successful manager at a stable club . McDowall , who reluctantly took over as caretaker boss before leaving in March to be replaced by Stuart McCall , is also awaiting a final severance deal which would free him up to work elsewhere . Yet despite leaving the club under a cloud , Smith insists that both men have something left to offer in football , and he blames boardroom turmoil under Craig Whyte , Charles Green and the Mike Ashley-Easdale Brothers axis for contributing towards an unmanageable situation . ‘ I think they want an opportunity , ’ said the former Rangers manager and chairman of his two former colleagues . ‘ After working with them for a number of years and them getting the opportunity to go in and take over , which I got when Graeme ( Souness ) left , the boys were always hoping they would get the opportunity . ‘ There was no guarantee of that , but they got it , and you have got to say that the circumstances they worked under were probably the poorest of any manager at any time in Rangers ’ history . ‘ People can make their own judgments of how a manager does a job . All I would say is that everyone has to have support . ‘ I got the support of David Murray when I was manager at Rangers and he was a big help to me . They never had that help , they didn ’ t get any help . ‘ Stuart ( McCall ) has come in at a time when everybody is looking a bit brighter for a change at Rangers . It is a good time for him to come in . Stuart McCall is now in charge of the Scottish Championship side and has impressed since taking over . ‘ It certainly wasn ’ t a good time when Alistair took over . Craig Whyte came in and that coincided with Alistair , I felt , not getting a fair opportunity . ‘ It is very difficult to judge him as a manager under the circumstances that he worked in . I certainly wouldn ’ t have liked to have worked under them anyway. ’ The McCoist legacy has drawn unfavourable comments from supporters . Signings such as Dean Shiels , David Templeton and Ian Black arrived on wages which were barely justified by their performances in a light blue shirt . Some voiced doubts over McCoist ’ s tactical acumen while others asked why younger players weren ’ t given more of a chance to blossom in the lower leagues . Yet Smith argues that both McCoist and McDowall deserve to be remembered for what they did during his own highly successful second spell at Rangers , prior to the financial tsunami which plunged the club over a fiscal cliff . ‘ I was the manager , Alistair was the assistant manager and Kenny was the coach and , for four and a half years when the club was well run , we did well , ’ said the former Scotland boss . Smith believes Ally McCoist deserves a chance to prove himself a successful manager at a stable club . ‘ I am not a miracle person , I couldn ’ t run Rangers Football Club on my own . The people that I worked with there did a terrific job . I know their strengths . Everyone has got strengths and weaknesses and I know theirs . ‘ I read in the paper that Ally can ’ t manage . He had never managed a football club before , and neither had I when I took over . ‘ Imagine when you have never managed a football club before , going into Rangers and being there for four years under the circumstances that they were in ? ‘ People say : “ He will ask Walter Smith for advice ” but I had never been in that circumstance before , so how could I give him any advice in terms of how Rangers were being run ? It is an unfair judgement for people to make on him because of the circumstances . McCoist is Rangers record scorer but was axed as manager amid speculation surrounding the clubs future . ‘ Alistair and Kenny would take a lot of the training , and I read that he ( McDowall ) couldn ’ t coach . Kenny McDowall is a terrific coach . He is excellent at his job and one of the most organised people I have ever worked with . Yet I hear all these assessments . ‘ If you don ’ t get results , people make those assessments , but they are not correct . ‘ For me , the main circumstance is why they didn ’ t work out under Alistair and Kenny , who didn ’ t want to be the manager . The circumstances weren ’ t right . ’
Walter Smith believes Ally McCoist deserves another managerial job . Ibrox legend believes McCoist still has something to offer in football . McCoist is still being paid £14,000 a week while his notice period runs out .