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Angry and tearful Ally McCoist’s tirade rant at ‘hopeless and poor’ Rangers as the gap to arch rivals Celtic increases
Celtic’s stalemate with Aberdeen at Parkhead provided Rangers with an excellent opportunity to reduce the gap at the top of the table over the weekend.
Brendan Rodgers’ team squandered a 2-0 half-time advantage, and Aberdeen rallied for a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park with two goals in the final 10 minutes.
Rangers missed a great chance to come closer to Celtic with a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock, so Ally McCoist went on a rant about his former team, branding them ‘hopeless’, as they now trail the Hoops by six points at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
McCoist admits Rangers are ‘not very good’ as they trail Celtic in the league
McCoist was clearly gutted at Rangers’ capitulation at Rugby Park and admitted that the ‘spine of the club is not right’.
McCoist told talkSPORT, “What can I say, we’re hopeless. We’re not very good. We need to get a bit of stability at the top straight away.
“What he [Philippe Clement] said yesterday after the game is probably, definitely, factually correct, but the fact of the matter is the performance levels are poor. Really, really poor.
“You’ve got to balance it out, and you got to be fair about it, Kilmarnock were excellent, at home in particular.
“A good, good team and Derek’s got them really well organised, difficult to beat and more than a match for anybody.
“From Rangers’ point of view, the chairman, John Gilligan’s doing his very, very best, and he will continue to do that. But a lack of stability at the top, no chief executive, spine of the club is not right.
McCoist takes aim at ‘poor’ Rangers players after latest defeat
And the rant didn’t end there. When questioned if there was anything else Rangers might have done to avoid the Kilmarnock setback, McCoist took aim at the Ibrox players.
McCoist went on, “Oh, no, I’m not taking that for a minute. Players must look within. Bang, startling performance. It was a very bad performance. Don’t believe I’m avoiding the subject or not giving the players any stick.
“Poor midfield. Shocking goal to lose and never created anyone nearly enough. There are a couple of things.
When questioned by Jeff Stelling if Clement is the right manager to take Rangers ahead, McCoist responded, “I don’t think the club is in any position to start getting rid of individuals because I don’t think they can afford it financially.
“But the fact of the matter is this, he has to get better results. That’s clearly the case. But where I would stick up for him a little bit, I’m not sure he’s been dealt the best hand of cards with some of the players he’s been left with.
“The recruitment prior to him coming is absolutely, not nearly good enough.”
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic will face Motherwell (A), Dundee (H), Hearts (A), Kilmarnock (H), and Ross County (A) in their next five Scottish Premiership games.
Rangers, on the other hand, have a more difficult schedule, with games against St Mirren (H), Aberdeen (A), Motherwell (A), Hearts (H), and Dundee United (H), with United and Motherwell both vying for the league title.
If Rangers drop any more points and Celtic continue their strong start to the season, their quest to reclaim the title from the east end of Glasgow could be finished before the end of November.
Celtic now look forward to a tough Champions League fixture this week against an Atalanta side who have just achieved their fourth win of the Serie A season, and Rodgers will be hoping to get his European campaign back on track.