Ally McCoist blasts ‘disastrous’ Leon King in live on-air rant as Rangers lose v Ajax
Ally McCoist was less than impressed by Leon King as Rangers crashed out of Europe with a 3-1 defeat to Ajax at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
King, 18, was culpable for all three of the goals that Rangers conceded on the night but was especially at fault for the two scored by Steven Berguis and Mohammed Kudus in the first half.
The young centre-back pretty much allowed Berguis’ goal to go in past him and that led to a lot of criticism in the BT Sport studio at half-time.
Speaking on BT Sport 4 on Tuesday night (1 November, 08:54pm), McCoist said: “I don’t know what Leon King is thinking about. Does he think it’s going by the post? Does he stick out a leg? Does he think the goalkeeper’s got it?
“It’s a disastrous goal to lose, to tell you the truth.”
Kenny Miller said: “It’s the worst possible start, five minutes in.
“That’s the difference with the top teams; their movement, the way they attack is so, so dangerous. We talked before the game about how good they are in the forward areas.
“And I think when young Leon King looks back on that goal, he’ll think…I think he thinks it’s going wide. [It’s] that gesture he’s making with his arms.
“It’s a really, really poor goal to lose for Rangers.”
Out of his depth
We do feel a bit sorry for King.
Miller said on BT Sport that he feels harsh to criticise the young centre-half but at the end of the day, he’s a professional footballer and this is part of the job.
But he’s been so out of his depth in the Champions League this season.
If we had Connor Goldson, Ben Davies, Filip Helander and John Souttar available for these games then it may have been a different story and we would have more than likely conceded fewer goals.
King’s been forced into action due to the number of injuries and that’s not his fault.
But it’s not over the top to say that he’s struggled massively.
If anything, playing in these games could be damaging the youngster’s development.
He won’t have any tougher games all season than he’s had in the last few weeks, which is good.
We just hope that the mental wounds heal quickly for the young lad.
In other Rangers news, a “crazy situation” has emerged at Ibrox that’s led to this star player being “gone” from the club.