Ally McCoist has pushed back on criticism from Celtic fan media outlets after questioning the Scottish Premiership split, but what he said next only exposed the flaw in his own argument.
McCoist reacted after getting backlash from suggesting Celtic had been handed an advantage in the final stretch of the title race. He dismissed that backlash, framing it as something he has faced throughout his career.
Ally McCoist responded to criticism by saying: “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.”
But once he moved beyond the reaction and into the detail of the fixtures, the point he was trying to make quickly began to unravel.
Your first thought when you see the fixtures…
How many points will we pick up?
Celtic are not the problem McCoist is pointing at
McCoist argued that Celtic have four of the last six matches at home while Rangers have four of the last six away. That claim drove the reaction, but it does not hold once the wider context is considered.
He immediately widened the discussion, saying: “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 shifts the focus away from Celtic and towards the structure of the fixture list.
McCoist also conveniently forgets that Celtic have had more away fixtures than Rangers heading into the split.
He then added: “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.” That example again moves the argument beyond Celtic having an advantage and onto Rangers possibly recieving one.
And advantage that McCoist fails to elaborate on.
McCoist followed that by saying: “I don’t think that’s got as much to do with the actual split because that’s just Falkirk getting to the cup final. But Celtic I think have four of the last six at home, Rangers four of the last six away.”
He raises multiple questions but does not apply the same scrutiny across the full season. That omission weakens the claim that Celtic are the central issue.
McCoist’s own admission exposes the flaw in his argument
The contradiction becomes clearer when McCoist acknowledges other factors behind the scheduling. He said: “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.” That introduces external constraints that apply across the league.
By outlining those influences, McCoist explains away the imbalance he initially questioned. The argument shifts from criticism pointed towards Celtic, to explaning how the fixtures are actually organised within his own reasoning.
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.” That reflects acceptance of the system rather than a claim of bias.
His focus on Celtic does not hold when set against his own explanation. The issue lies with the structure of the split, not with any advantage given to the Parkhead club.
That is the part McCoist ends up proving himself. The problem he points to is real, but it is not Celtic.
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