Ally McCoist is never shy when it comes to speaking his mind on Rangers, Celtic and all things Scottish football.
The legendary former Ibrox striker, assistant and manager is probably the best ambassador for the game north of the border in British sports broadcasting.
When Super Ally speaks, people generally listen and now the legendary former Rangers striker has taken aim at the ‘scandalous’ state of Scottish refereeing.
For Ally McCoist, he believes the situation has even gotten so bad that Rangers fans have ‘come to expect’ woeful refereeing in the Old Firm fixture.
McCoist blasts ‘scandalous’ Old Firm call
These latest comments from Ally McCoist come after the refereeing team in the most recent Old Firm once again came down on the side of Celtic when it came to a Rangers goal.
Rangers striker Abdallah Sima had thought that he’d given the Ibrox side a Scottish Cup Final lead at Hampden only for the goal to be controversially chopped off.
Philippe Clement echoed the complaints of supporters at full-time, who saw a soft push from Nico Raskin on Joe Hart punished whilst Greg Taylor’s wrestling grapple over the Belgian was ignored.
It’s the umpteenth time in recent derbies where Celtic fans – many of whom insist that there is some kind of Masonic conspiracy helping Rangers at the SFA – have got the rub of the green.
McCoist has now been pretty clear about he feels regarding the state of Scottish refereeing.
“Jeff, scandalous,” Super Ally told TalkSPORT Breakfast and Jeff Stelling. “Honestly but I have come to expect it.
“The incompetence of our officials is nothing short of ridiculous. It is bordering on embarrassing to tell you the truth.
“They disallowed the goal for a shove. Ok, there may be a little shove and I can understand that but they go back two seconds and they’ve got to give a penalty.
“The guy has his arms wrapped around the guy who eventually does the little shove. It is just total incompetence Jeff, but we’ve come to accept it and that is the way it goes.”
Celtic referee pressure paying off v Rangers
Whether it’s Kemar Roofe’s disallowed goal on Old Firm MD1, Cyriel Dessers’ disallowed Ibrox goal or even Alfredo Morelos at Parkhead last season, it’s proving all too easy to softly disallow Rangers goals in the fixture.
The decisions have fundamentally swung the Old Firm momentum in Celtic’s favour with the opening goal in the derby crucial to earning a victory.
Philippe Clement has always tried to be passive in the wake of poor refereeing decisions, even despite Rangers being the club worst affected by poor VAR officiating this season.
Perhaps the Rangers manager has to learn that Celtic’s constant pressure on referees, including from manager Brendan Rodgers, is designed to gain inches and earn a marginal advantage.
Having criticised the club in February after yet another Rangers run-in with Willie Collum – who is now set to take charge of refereeing in the country – Clement will perhaps reflect on his naivety with how refereeing narratives are shaped in Scottish football.
OK, so perhaps the Belgian should’ve been consulted before Rangers requested Collum didn’t referee the club’s fixtures going forward, but there’s a big lesson for everyone at Ibrox to learn from this season.
Celtic’s players, management, AGM, board members, fans, ex-players and everyone else in green and white hoops very deliberately scrutinise any positive decision in Rangers’ favour.
It’s led to a hesitancy to lean into the blue side on 50/50s with the scale of VAR interventions disproportionately impacting Rangers in this fixture.
Say what you want about the approach; it’s a strategy that is clearly working.
