Ally McCoist has become something of a national treasure in recent years, a popular pundit, co-commentator and radio show presenter, the Rangers legend has had a hugely successful media career since moving on from the sharp end of the game.
As a player with 355 goals for the club he loves, we should all have known that whatever he touched turned to gold.
Speaking on Talksport, we find out that Ally McCoist might not have scored as many goals for Rangers if he had taken other opportunities that were presented his way.
Ally McCoist on Rangers transfer interest at peak of his powers
In 15 years at the club, McCoist had more ups than downs, and had to fight off several contenders for his crown – even in his last season and after Marco Negri scored over 30 goals in the first half of the season, there was only one player Walter Smith turned to in his squad for goals.
When asked, as a two-time European Golden Boot winner, if the Ibrox hero ever had the chance to move to another club, the former Gers manager explained why moving to England wasn’t always every players’ dream:
“Well, it wasn’t to be honest with you because at the time, if you remember, and people, you know, open their eyes, at that time we were the best team in Britain.
“But at that time, English teams had been banned from playing in Europe, for example.
“There was, I remember Walter (Smith) saying, a couple of times that a couple of teams had been in.
“Everton had been in at one point and, back in the day, a couple of European teams, Koln in Germany”
Ally McCoist, partnership with Mark Hateley, nearly fired Rangers to the inaugural Chpions League final and drew twice with eventual winners Marseille in the group stages.
Rangers were one of the biggest clubs in terms of revenue and the ability to attract good players.
Brian Laudrup and Lorenzo Amoruso to name but two who turned down Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ally McCoist moved to England too early in his career and to a struggling side, if you had put him in a decent team in his prime, he’d have done what he did at Rangers – score countless goals.
Luckily for us, he didn’t
