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Ally McCoist has never shied away from voicing an opinion, particularly when the Scottish Premiership title race reaches boiling point. With Celtic, Rangers and Hearts all jostling at the summit, scrutiny has sharpened around every perceived advantage as the run-in gathers pace.
It was no surprise, then, that McCoist’s questioning of the post-split fixture list stirred immediate debate. Celtic-aligned outlets were quick to challenge the suggestion that the Hoops had been handed any meaningful edge, dismissing the claim as overstated. McCoist, characteristically, refused to retreat, instead doubling down and framing the backlash as part of a familiar pattern.
Responding to the criticism, he said: “Shock horror, Ally McCoist and getting stick from Celtic. Well, knock me sideways. As far as I can remember, it’s happened for the best part of 40 years, me getting stick.”
The tone was vintage McCoist — defiant, faintly amused — yet the substance of his argument soon came under closer inspection. He pointed to Celtic having four of their final six matches at home, while Rangers face four away. On the face of it, a reasonable talking point. Dig deeper, however, and the picture grows less clear-cut.
He said: “It’s not perfect, it’s never going to be perfect. You can make cases. I mean, the Hearts fans having to travel to Celtic for the final game of the season.”
That observation broadened the debate, shifting it beyond Celtic and into the wider mechanics of the league. McCoist went further, adding: “I did mention, and this is probably less to do with the split, but Rangers go to Falkirk again in the final game of the season. Falkirk could be in a potential Scottish Cup final, so they would be well within their rights to play a weakened side.”
And then again: “But Celtic I think have four of the last six at home, Rangers four of the last six away.”
Yet as the argument stretched, so too did its coherence. The focus moved from a supposed Celtic advantage to the broader realities of scheduling. McCoist himself acknowledged as much, noting: “The police will certainly have a part in it I would think because I would imagine the police wouldn’t fancy a Rangers-Celtic end of the season game, where the title could be decided.”
He continued: “Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t think they’d want that in the agenda. So there will be a number of things coming on.”
By the time he concluded — “It’s not ideal, it never will be ideal, but as I said to you before the show, the one thing that it is is exciting.” — the argument had shifted entirely. In attempting to highlight imbalance, McCoist instead laid bare a system shaped by compromise, where logistics and safety weigh as heavily as sporting fairness.
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