Ally McCoist's legacy will stand test of time at Rangers, says Brian Laudrup

The club’s record goalscorer was a hero to the Light Blues faithful as a player but failed to hit the same heights as boss following the club’s crippling liquidation crisis.

He was relieved of his duties back in December 2014 and put on gardening leave as his side stumbled from one shambles to another amid a backdrop of off-field turmoil.

The 53-year-old has only been seen back at Ibrox once since his departure when he made a fleeting appearance at the AGM which eventually ousted the Mike Ashley-backed board he had found himself at loggerheads with.

However, his standing amongst the Gers support was damaged when, even after Dave King had assumed control, he waited until last September to rip up his lucrative contract.

But Laudrup - who spent four years in Glasgow playing alongside McCoist - reckons his old friend will be welcomed back by the majority of Bluenoses with open arms.

The Dane - speaking after he returned to the city to help make the draw for the last 16 of the William Hill Scottish Cup which saw Gers handed a home tie with Kilmarnock - said: “It was an immense task for Coisty under very difficult circumstances.

“I even read that it was the most difficult moment of Rangers’ history to be manager at that time.

“I think Ally has shown as a player and a manager for so many years just how much of a club legend he is.

“Whether he will be asked to come back - and whether he wants to come back - remains to be seen. But there’s no doubt he is one of the greatest players and personalities the club has ever seen.”

Laudrup is now working as a TV pundit back in Denmark but he revealed he came close to rejoining his former club as an international ambassador.

The role was offered to him by controversial ex-chief executive Charles Green but fell through when the Yorkshireman was forced to resign in April 2013.

“I was asked a couple of seasons back by Charles Green about becoming a club ambassador,” he said. “It was under very difficult circumstances.

“I said back then that if I could help out in any respect I would love to do it. But then Charles Green left or disappeared or went to France - I’m not sure what happened - and I never heard a word again.

“But there are different people who have taken over now, the right people I hear. They will take some time to get it right. Hoepfully that will be the case.

“I was saddened to see what happened to the club.

“You leave your heart at every club you play for but some clubs you leave a lot more. For me it was very sad. If you had asked me five or 10 years ago could this happen to Rangers I’d have said, ‘No chance’. But then it happened.

“I think it will be tremendous when this club gets back to the top flight again - and it will happen.”

Laudrup - who helped Gers to nine in a row during a trophy-littered stint in the mid-90s - admits he has not seen Rangers play in the flesh for a few years.

But he has been impressed by what he has heard about McCoist’s successor Mark Warburton.

“I understand it is a young and very talented side there now,” he said. “They are hungry, fearless and play to a different style of football now. That sounds fantastic.

“Young players need old heads with experience so it’s going to be very interesting how they cope with the pressure. Everybody wants Rangers to get back to the top flight and some of these guys are very young.

“What I’ve heard about Mark is that he’s obsessed with the detail in football and I like that.

“I’ve heard he’s even changed the diet of the players. I’m not sure he should have done that because when we played there we had our bacon, beans and stuff like that. It didn’t do us much harm.

“But he’s come here with now ideas of how to play. That has to be the way forward.”

Meanwhile, Ibrox youngster Andy Murdoch has joined Queen of the South on loan until the end of the season.