{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Ally McCoist offers cutting reply after what Alan Brazil said ahead of Rangers v Celtic Old Firm showdown
Ally McCoist aimed a cutting reply at Alan Brazil after cheekily being told he was a “spoil sport” for not supporting the idea of Rangers giving a guard of honour to Celtic in the Old Firm clash on Saturday (13 May).
Celtic have already wrapped up a second straight Scottish Premiership triumph under Ange Postecoglou and their fierce rivals have the chance to applaud them onto the pitch at Ibrox.
However, the tradition has been scrapped in recent times, starting when a Gers side led by Steven Gerrard did not do the gesture for Neil Lennon’s title winners in 2019.
When Gerrard and Rangers prevented Celtic from winning a 10th-straight title in 2021, the Bhoys also opted against welcoming their opponents onto the field.
Celtic diehard Brazil could not help but poke the bear when teasing Rangers legend McCoist.
“Celtic didn’t give Rangers a guard of honour in 2021 when they won the title, should Rangers do it at Ibrox on Saturday Alistair? Should they? ” Brazil asked on talkSPORT, in a conversation reported by the Daily Record.
Subscribe to Football Insider TV now
A laughing McCoist replied: “What do you think?”
Brazil was not done fishing for a bite, saying to his co-host: “I think it would be a great token. I do, I think it would be.”
McCoist stood his ground, replying: “You know it’s not happening, I know it’s not happening. Move on to the next question.”
After being told he was a “spoilsport” by Brazil, McCoist saved his best retort: “I think it was really poor of your lot not to give us a guard of honour in 2021 when we stopped it (10 in a Row).”
Guard of honours are outdated
The back and forth between Brazil and McCoist was clearly good-natured banter and Brazil knows full well the guard of honour will not be happening this weekend.
But there is a wider point here about the guard of honour. Is it time to knock them on the head? It probably is. They are a little bit cringe and a little bit antiquated.
Fair enough, if it is celebrating one of your own players’ achievements – like when Manchester City celebrated Erling Haaland breaking the record for number of goals scored in a single Premier League season recently.
But no one really wins from this ego-stroking gesture, aside from maybe a few social-media trolls, and in this particular instance you don’t need any fuel to add to the fire of what is one of the most fiercely contested derbies in world football.
Perhaps that is the opinion of a spoil sport, but guard of honours should be consigned directly to the football bin.
In other Rangers news, the Scottish Sun are reporting Michael Beale wants a reunion with Chelsea defender Dujon Sterling this summer.