Chris Sutton takes Ally McCoist to task as Rangers and Celtic finger-pointing reaches new high
Chris Sutton has hit back at Ally McCoist’s latest barb in the pair’s ongoing argument over Rangers and Celtic conspiracy theories.
Carrying on their head-to-head squabbles from the week before (6 January), McCoist had suggested an all-Hoops VAR panel to calm their fears that the video assistant is working against them, but Sutton had come prepared to reel off some research in response.
Referring to the paranoia club that the Light Blues legend had invited Parkhead defender Alistair Johnston to join following the Old Firm derby, the former Celtic striker accused McCoist of being part of the same organisation and listed his reasons why, as the defendant fell about laughing.
On his personal Twitter account on Friday night (13 January) Sutton wrote: “McCoist is a member of The Scottish Paranoia and Conspiracy Club and here is his charge list.”
And in the clip from Scottish Football Extra on BT Sport which he was referring to, he said to howls of laughter from the Ibrox hero and host Darrell Currie: “Alistair Murdoch McCoist, he should join the Scottish Paranoia and Conspiracy Club and here are my list of charges.
“2012 – demanding that the SFA panel become more transparent.
“Before Steven Gerrard’s first game against Aberdeen, the charge. Saying that the world was against Rangers and it’s been happening for years. Ally McCoist endorsed those comments.
“Attacking the SPFL and poor Dundee over an email glitch, I mean how low can you go?
“Accusing the SFA of not helping Rangers in the Champions League preparations, and the worst one of all, accusing Kevin Clancy and Scott Brown for Gay Gordons coming off the pitch at Aberdeen-Rangers last season. How do you plead?”
A breathless McCoist responded with: “You’ve got a fair point, I’m only allowed out of this padded cell for an hour every day. Well done sir! You’ve obviously done your homework.”
Slug fest
It is tempting to forego the next Old Firm derby on the pitch and just see who can come out on top in an argument between the two BT pundits.
The suspicion that runs through the rivalry and Scottish football has given them both plenty of material to use against each other, and fans of either side will look on and feel it is not paranoia at all.
When second is nowhere in the SPFL then any advantage can be crucial so anything that works against one side can be seen as evidence of unequal treatment.
With both sides of the Glasgow derby in league cup semi-finals over the weekend another meeting could be on the cards at Hampden Park in six weeks, which would no doubt spark a revival of this current war of words.
Michael Beale’s first face-off with Ange Postecoglou’s side went far better than Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s did, but he wasn’t able to record a win which would have been a signifier that Rangers haven’t given up on the title yet.
That is pretty much Celtic’s to lose now, but the first domestic cup is something in the sights of both teams, although taking the semi-final match-ups lightly is a good way to miss out straight away.
In other Rangers news, a key update on two Gers transfer pursuits in the January window has emerged.