Ally McCoist calls for urgency in finding preferred bidder for Rangers

Ally McCoist has urged those looking to buy Rangers to move quickly with their proposals, as the threat of liquidation looms ever larger at the deposed Scottish champions. Friday marked the 67th day of Rangers' administration with those running the club still to name which of those parties interested in the business will be handed preferred bidder status. Hours after McCoist made his plea one of those bidders, Bill Miller, outlined his somewhat ambitious £11.2m purchase plans for Rangers in detail. McCoist said: "I wouldn't say I'm worried more now than before but I'm certainly more aware that we have to start getting some action in terms of preferred bidder status." The manager added: "I agree that the longer it goes on, the greater chance there is that the club won't exist. But I've said that all along. We've always been positive but we've never ever said that there isn't another option that we don't want. It goes without saying that that option we don't want will become more apparent the longer it goes on." It was purely coincidental that a subsequent statement from Miller emerged, albeit he has already met the Rangers manager. Miller wants to run Rangers as a fresh entity while administrators conclude what he regards as a lengthy process to form a company voluntary arrangement. Thereafter he will look to merge the businesses. "I will put the 'heart' of the club into an 'incubator' company while [the administrators] Duff & Phelps work to make the 'sick patient' healthy through a CVA process that effectively works to 'radiate' the toxicity of past administrations' sins out of the patient while the 'healthy heart' is preserved and moves forward," Miller said. "Once the CVA process has been completed and the patient is on the mend, the administrators will return Rangers Football Club plc to me for a nominal sum." Yet in what is a crucial element Miller will proceed only if he receives unlikely guarantees that Rangers will not suffer further domestic football penalties. Earlier this month the Scottish Premier League announced proposals to punish any club which seeks to re-enter the competition as a newly formed company. "My offer is contingent upon the regulatory bodies agreeing that the club will begin play in the 2012-13 season in the SPL and that they will do so without any loss of points and with all historic titles intact," Miller added. Earlier on Friday the Singapore-based Bill Ng announced he was pulling out of the race to buy Rangers whilst firing a broadside at Duff & Phelps. Ng said: "Recent developments in the bidding process, with unwarranted and unexplained delays, have prompted our withdrawal from the bidding process. After lengthy negotiations with a number of key stakeholders, we have serious concerns over the deliverability of the shares on offer to gain control of the club, in a time frame that will allow us to exit the administration via CVA. "We would like to highlight that we have become increasingly uncomfortable and frustrated with the process dealing with Duff & Phelps, and the length of time that it has taken to reach this stage."