Ally McCoist and Alan Brazil clash live on talkSPORT over Rangers v Celtic title battle
Ally McCoist delivered a defiant response to Alan Brazil when asked if the Scottish title race is over for Rangers.
Rangers managed a tense 1-0 victory over Hearts on Wednesday evening to ensure they stayed within seven points of Celtic at the top of the table.
A seven-point gap currently separates the two sides, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst is under huge pressure to keep up with Rangers’ Glasgow rivals.
But despite the gap and Gers’ poor form, McCoist refused to surrender the title to Celtic and insisted a title race is still alive.
“Is the Scottish Premiership over?” Brazil asked McCoist on talkSPORT, as quoted by Glasgow Live.
After initially hesitating, McCoist eventually replied: “No.”
“I can tell on your face, you’re nodding saying no, you can’t kid everyone. You’re nodding your head and saying no,” Brazil fired back.
McCoist added: “No, it’s not. We’ll need to see how it goes after the break…but it’s not good.”
Defiant
It’d be great if the Rangers players showed the same levels of defiance and determination as McCoist. On paper, the title race is still alive and well – seven points is more than achievable with more than half a season remaining.
But when context is added, Gers are lucky the gap is only seven points after a dismal few weeks of results. To make matters worse, Rangers’ performances sometimes haven’t even warranted three points.
Van Bronckhorst’s side fought hard to edge Hearts on Wednesday, but the match still wasn’t without frustration. The Ibrox crowd vented their anger at half-time by booing the manager and the players as they left the pitch.
The mood around Ibrox is terribly sour after a torrid Champions League campaign and a number of heartless performances this season.
While Celtic are strolling along and picking up results, Rangers are falling apart bit by bit each week. The World Cup break may have come at a perfect time for Van Bronckhorst to reset and rally his squad, but it’ll be a huge ask to start closing the gap when football returns in December.
However, crazier things have happened and Rangers are definitely capable of mounting a title challenge if they manage to turn performances around quickly.
In other Rangers news, Kris Boyd was blown away by Ryan Kent live on Sky Sports during Hearts win