Ally Mccoist Linked to Sunderland Managerial Move

Kenny Miller has spoken of the indispensable nature of Ally McCoist to Rangers, after the former Sunderland player was linked with the vacant managerial post at the Stadium of Light.

Speculation on Thursday prompted one bookmaker to cut the odds on McCoist succeeding Roy Keane to 8-1 from four times that price. Rangers have received no approach for their assistant manager, who is tipped to replace Walter Smith in the not-too distant future, and McCoist has made no hint he is keen on a move south.

Miller, who believes he has discovered the best form of his career at Rangers this season, is content with that situation. "No one at the club would want Ally to leave, including the chairman and the manager," said the Scotland striker. "From a player's point of view, everyone definitely loves working with him.

"Ally is not in football to have a laugh. He has been assistant manager at Scotland and now with Rangers. He is in this to make a career for himself in management, there's no doubt about that.

"It's far from a laugh for him — it's serious stuff and especially so back here at Rangers. This is where his heart is and he wants this club to be successful."

As if to emphasize his point Miller, who experienced English football with Wolverhampton, claimed the Rangers manager's job is bigger than the equivalent at Sunderland in any case. "Of course it is," he added. "When you are the manager of Rangers, there is this pressure to win every single game you play in. That's probably different to anywhere else.

"If you play down south and you are with a Wolves, a Derby or an Everton — as the manager here once was — then getting a point at Sunderland or Tottenham away is a good point. But at Rangers, you have to win those games. It was a disaster for us to lose at Hearts a couple of weeks ago."

Miller and his team-mates are hoping for no such trauma as they travel to Dundee United this lunchtime. In what could be a key weekend at the summit of the Scottish Premier League Celtic, who lead their city rivals by four points, host the in-form Hearts.

"If we can get the three points at lunchtime then it maybe puts a wee bit more pressure on the afternoon game," said Miller. "We can sit back and relax for the rest of the weekend."