He plays it entirely wrongly though

It can’t be easy settling into a new job with so much expectation around you but Ally McCoist hasn’t quite found his feet in interviews yet. It just goes to show that the years of media practice he has had, in various guises, are no match for the pressure you are under when you are the man with all the responsibility.

This isn’t a surprise though, McCoist will be under a lot of pressure, by himself let alone anyone else, to be a success at Rangers and no doubt one or two slips will come until he starts to feel more comfortable. As a manager you want to defend your players at all times and this is what McCoist was attempting to do after accusations of his team being a bit dirty after 3 red cards already this season.

Ally McCoist

Even though McCoist admitted that Steven Whittaker had been silly in Sweden, McCoist then went on to say:

They don’t play the same way as Brits. I’m not sure you’d get too many Brits going down and doing that but it’s part and parcel of European football

Which is frankly a ludicrous statement and an extremely embarrassing one for any modern manager to make. There is no doubt a culture of British is Best for many within the Ibrox support but this sort of comment is as out-dated as the stand-up routine of Jim Davidson.

After all, would you not think that the following video clip was an example of a player going down far too easily?

It may be part and parcel of European football but it seems that it is also a common sight in the SPL as well, so perhaps Ally McCoist is off the mark when he is accusing foreigners of diving.

Add in the fact that Steven Naismith is developing a reputation for being the most consistent divers in Scottish football and perhaps the Brits are doing pretty well in matching the “antics” of the Europeans.

Rangers will need to be on their guard tonight in Slovenia with a good result against Maribor vital to ensure the Ibrox club can book their place in the Europa League group stages. Rangers have the players to do the damage away from home but they aren’t a million miles away from matching their European counterparts either.

The McCoist comments were told to the Sun: McCoist talks to the Sun

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Hearts secure in 3rd as well

It was almost a night of complete closure in the SPL this evening with results tying up most of the outstanding issues and even the one remaining issue could be completed tomorrow.

Hamilton have threatened to keep themselves in the top flight but their hopes ended tonight with a defeat against St Johnstone. This meant that St Mirren didn’t have to win at Pittodrie but a cracking 1-0 away win sealed the Lanarkshire side’s fate and places the Buddies three points behind Aberdeen. The fact that Danny Lennon’s men sit just 2 goals behind Craig Brown’s team could see the Buddies leapfrog the Dons on the final day of the season.

It was a disappointing loss for Brown but he got a massive result earlier in the day when the SFA decided he was to receive nothing stronger than a censure for his behaviour on the touchline with John Boyle. Nothing is surprising anymore about the SFA disciplinary panels and reviews so no one can be shocked about Brown being let off with this, the second time the former Scotland manager has behaved in a poor manner on the touchline this season.

At Ibrox, Rangers came flying out of the blocks in Walter Smith’s last home game of his Ibrox career and buried Dundee United with a spirited opening. The game wasn’t even a minute old before Steven Naismith went down in the box, a feat he repeated moments later but the opener was to come from the £4m hit man and Rangers buy of the season, Nikica Jelavic.

Jelavic made Gary Kenneth look foolish (well, no more so than the Hills Have Eyes star usually looks) by creating acres of space in the box and directing the ball home. The lead was doubled when Rangers man for a title run-in, Kyle Lafferty neatly finished.

Knowing it was job done, Rangers downed tools, keeping a poor United side at bay without ever exerting themselves. The league could be won tomorrow night if Hearts beat Celtic but even if the hoops do avoid defeat in what will be a battle at Tynecastle, Rangers will complete the job in style at Rugby Park on Sunday.

With the P.A. system making Smith man of the match and the Rangers fans unfurling a banner declaring the boss to be a legned (sic), there were plenty of tears for the final home bow of a man who was worked wonders during his two spells at the Ibrox club.

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A massive win last week but odds still against the Accies

There has almost been an air of expectancy over Hamilton’s position in the top-flight and even though last weekend’s triumph in Paisley kept their dreams alive, the club needs to do it again and hope results go in their favour. And that is not just for this weekend…but in all the remaining relevant fixtures.

A home game versus Hibs, who lost to St Johnstone last timer around presents the Accies with the chance to go at it again and if Hamilton fans want to have a team in the top flight, they should get themselves along to the ground. Then again, if Hamilton fans cared about having a team in the top flight, they should have bothered turning up over the course, a feat all but the hard-core have failed to do.

However, now is not the time for recriminations…it is the time for a massive performance and then see what happens.

There is every chance that St Mirren will go up North and get at least a point against Caley. Some will say this is madness after Inverness’ big win against Celtic but if anything, this just makes it all the more likely that the Saints will take something from it.

Caley put everything into the match on Wednesday and as many other teams have found, it is difficult to reach that level of performance two games in a row. Beating Celtic gave everyone at Caley a massive lift but there may well be a come down to follow and Danny Lennon should have his team fired up to take advantage from any sign of lack of commitment from the home side.

It really is still against Hamilton Accies and Saturday may be the day when their battle against the drop falls away. After the previous two seasons, it has been a shame the way that Hamilton have fallen away this season but it was always a risk with the business model of the club. Hopefully the youth system at the club can bring forth another set of youngsters which will have them back in the top flight and looking to play football as opposed to the mainly turgid fare that has been delivered this campaign.

There is no suggestion that Billy Reid will be relieved of his duties if the Accies go down but you can’t help but think the manager will be rueing not moving on when his stock was high, much like some of the players he developed.

The 1st Division is not an easy league to get out of but if they are to go down, Hamilton may find that league reconstruction gives them an easier route back…especially as the opposition to the 10 team league doesn’t look like going away.

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It’s not over but Accies look doomed

Given that the Accies have not won in the SPL since October of last year, their fans must have been delirious at half-time with a 1-0 lead over St Mirren. Of course, given that the Accies have not won in the SPL since October of last year, it couldn’t have been much of a surprise when St Mirren came out in the second half and blew them away.

A Michael Higdon hat-trick means there is a 9 point gap between Hamilton and St Mirren and the buddies have a game in hand, so it’s not looking bright for the Lanarkshire team.

Before the split, Hamilton play Rangers at home and Hibs away. St Mirren are at home to Aberdeen and then travel to both of the Glasgow sides. These are all tricky games but St Mirren v Aberdeen looks like the one where either of these sides look most likely to pick up points so the gap could be even wider by the time the split begins.

The fact that Hamilton will welcome St Mirren after the spirit will give them hope and the Accies fans and management team will no doubt be saying this is the time to come alive and it’s not too late. However, the second half capitulation in Paisley, after going down to 10 men, was no surprise and indicative of a team who have been poor throughout the campaign.

It is easy to feel a bit of sympathy for Hamilton and Billy Reid. They brought through a lot of good players and have players progress to success down South, something which few Scottish teams can claim. The problem is though, there is still a need to put a team on the park that is capable of challenging and Hamilton have failed badly this season.

It is not quite over but it is looking increasingly likely that the Accies are heading back to the First Division and there are certainly no guarantees they will be able to bounce back in a season…

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Fully deserved victory for Walter Smith

The first trophy of the season was lifted by Davie Weir as Rangers ran out deserved winners after extra-time at Hampden Park. It was an end to end game with both teams having chances but most people would agree that the Ibrox side were the better performers.

Both sides had threatened before Steven Davis opened the scoring. The midfielder was allowed to run a long distance before getting a shot away. Fraser Forster in goals for Celtic could have reacted quicker, the big keeper went down very slowly as the ball clipped the post and rolled in.

Celtic struck back strongly though and Joe Ledley pounced on a head-flick from Samaras to draw Celtic level. The fans had barely got their breath back when Rangers walked up the park and it appeared as though they had been awarded a penalty. Craig Thomson, who had earlier waved away Celtic appeals, pointed to the spot but then changed his mind and booked Jelavic for diving. To make matters more confusing, the whistler brandished the card and stuck it in the air three times and it was very unclear if that to reiterate that Jelavic was booked or if other players had been booked as well.

The second half wasn’t as end to end as the first but this was due to Rangers dominating. There were less goal-mouth incidents in the second half but Rangers had more of the play and Forster had a couple of saves. Celtic lost Brown through injury and replaced Rogne with Loovens as they looked out of sorts. Too many Celtic players went missing and Rangers worked hard in pressing the Celtic full-backs further up the pitch.

Celtic came to life in the final moments of the game but even then, both sides had chances to win it.

In extra-time, Forster reacted very well to divert a deflected free-kick away from goal but the winning goal was yet again another bad one to lose from the East-End club. The stand-side official flagged for an off the ball incident and Rangers took a quick free-kick, which allowed Nikica Jelavic to outpace and outmuscle Charlie Mulgrew where he placed his shot off the same post that Davis struck with the ball spinning out and then eventually in and over the line.

Celtic looked a beaten time at this point although they nearly grabbed an equaliser at the death when Gary Hooper struck only for a deflection to take it over. Right at the end of the game, Emilio Izaguirre was red-carded for taking down Weiss in the Rangers half but if the Honduran, carrying an injury, didn’t foul the winger, he would have had a clear run on goal with Fraser Forster in the Rangers half at the time.

The result sees Walter Smith lift the League Cup for the final time and will surely hand Rangers a major boost for the title run-in.

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Dandy Dons leave it late to book their place

Well, that’s a Scottish Cup day and a half. The big two clashed in Glasgow giving you so much to talk about and then its Aberdeen v Dunermline.

It wasn’t much of a game to look at but with an injury time own goal separating the teams, that’s the beauty and the agony of the Cup right there. Aberdeen will now be fancying a return trip to Glasgow and taking the opportunity to lay to rest the nightmare of their League Cup semi-final showing. To do so, they will need to overcome St Mirren in the quarter-finals.

The Scottish Cup quarter final draw is:

Dundee United v Motherwell

Brechin City v St Johnstone or Partick
10 teams still left in the cup and at the moment, every one of them should be thinking that they have a good chance of reaching the semi-final.

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Second League Cup semi-final takes place today

The League Cup may have lost some of its shine in recent years but Rangers and Motherwell fans will be desperate for victory today to book their place in the March final. Outgoing boss Walter Smith will want as much success as possible in his final season and new ‘Well boss Stuart McCall could quickly make himself a legend in the eyes of Well fans with a win.

The last time these two sides met, Rangers ran out convincing 4-1 winners at Fir Park and a similar outcome today would not be a surprise. Motherwell will be keen to avoid succumbing to nerves in the way that Aberdeen did yesterday but it is a big occasion for many players in the claret and amber today.

Rangers usually shuffle their pack in the League Cup and with a lot of games to play in February, there may be one or two changes made to the Rangers line-up. Rangers don’t have the biggest squad but there should be some flexibility to change things about.

Hampden will also give Nikica Jelavic another chance to get 90 minutes under his belt and Rangers fans can expect to see Neil Alexander in goals today. The keeper has had some big moments for Rangers in the League Cup and a good performance from the keeper today should be enough to see Rangers in the final.

As for Motherwell, they will be looking to bounce back from a midweek defeat against St Johnstone and have brought in a couple of new faces in the past few weeks as McCall attempts to stamp his own mark on the team. Motherwell are definitely the underdogs today but a spirited performance could help push the team on for a strong end to the campaign.

The match is on BBC Scotland so we can only hope its a good advert for the game, Scottish football could do with a boost at the moment.

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Great start…especially from Commons

Congratulations to Aberdeen for winning the League Cup semi-final and booking a place against Motherwell or Rangers in March.

Okay, now for all you readers that aren’t Craig Brown, Celtic blew the Dons away with a show of finishing that the Dons could not compete with. Yes, Aberdeen will look back at this game and wonder how they missed so many chances but with Celtic being 4-0 up on 40 minutes, it was always likely that Aberdeen would be the more fired up team in the second half.

Craig Brown had a bad habit of claiming bizarre moral victories when he was Scotland boss and it appears nothing has changed now he is at Aberdeen. Perhaps it is a tactic of his to take the heat off his players and keep them upbeat, if so, fair enough, he is long enough in the tooth to know what he wants to do but in reality Craig, Aberdeen froze on the big occasion and Celtic took full advantage.

Kris Commons got his Celtic career off to a wonderful start by flighting the ball into the top corner on 5 minutes with a goal that would have had any Rangers fans listening in or watching online raging. Yes, Craig Brown can say he never meant it but what a way to get your career at a new club up and running.

Commons was involved in the next two Celtic goals as his corners caused mayhem in the Aberdeen box with Mulgrew and Rogne taking advantage to nab headers. Celtic were 3-0 up on 20 minutes and there were a good few Aberdeen fans heading for the exit. £20 for 20 minutes isn’t that great a deal but clearly they had no belief in their teams ability to pull it back.

The Dons had already missed chances by this point, including a strike which rolled onto the post but lets not forget that Scott Brown came close a couple of times and Celtic had also struck the woodwork.

When Young needlessly handled in the box, Anthony Stokes sent Jamie Langfield the wrong way and finished the game before half-time. Yes, the two teams had to come out and play for a further 45 minutes but Celtic sat a lot deeper and played the game out almost like a training exercise.

Aberdeen got the goal that their attacking play merited when Scott Vernon nodded home and there were other chances, including two squandered after the ball had been dribbled around Forster in goals for Celtic. However, lets not forget that the last half an hour was played out with Celtic having two full-backs in the centre of their defence.

So…the Dandy Dons fans have their Glasgow excitement deflated again but Tuesday night gives a quick chance to rally against Celtic. The nerves that beset the Dons early on are not likely to come again and if Aberdeen can get their shooting boots on, they should be at least celebrating a goal or two.

When Celtic knocked the ball about cleverly, they looked very good and Commons settled in very quickly to the team. The loss of Thomas Rogne with an injury will be a concern for Neil Lennon but may increase the clubs activity before the transfer window shuts on Monday.

These two sides meet again on Tuesday….will Aberdeen bounce back or will Celtic continue on their winning ways (or will it be a draw…)?

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First of the League Cup double-header

It is hard to say who today’s semi final is a bigger game for.

Aberdeen have been starved of silverware for so long and their fans are travelling down in big numbers to see their team fight for a place in the final. Whenever things look even remotely bright for the Dons, the optimism level of the fans goes sky high but then again, it is the same for every fan base in football.

Craig Brown has certainly awoken the Dons and the fact that the boss was unhappy with the performance on Wednesday night, after a 2-0 away win, shows you the expectations that Brown has placed on his Aberdeen side.

Aberdeen did have a man advantage for most of the game but there was still a job to do and the players did it.

One manager that was delighted on Wednesday night was Neil Lennon and with good cause. Lennon had watched his team demolish the hyped up Hearts and the 4-0 score line flattered the Gorgie side in the end. It was a vast improvement on the nervy showing against Aberdeen in the league on Saturday.

Last week’s encounter won’t count for too much, today will be a completely different game but Aberdeen should take some confidence from their showing. The press went overboard in praising Aberdeen for pressing Celtic, they had very few chances in the game but the Dons showed they can contain Celtic and impose themselves upon their opponents.

If they get a bit of luck or the ball bounces right for them, there is no reason why Aberdeen can not do the business today. They will have to do so with Nick Blackman though, the striker being cup-tied for this tie.

As for Celtic, they should have their tails up after a great performance and surely the players will be bursting a gut to reach the final. The League Cup gets criticised but both these teams have a great chance to win a trophy in the competition and both sets of fans have plenty of reasons why they want this trophy lifted.

Celtic are missing Jamie Forrest, Dan Majstorovic and other long term injury victims but are able to add Kris Commons to their squad after his signing during the week. With plenty of players to choose from, Neil Lennon may decide to spring a surprise in today’s line-up. Or he may not. That’s his options!

Hampden will no doubt be buzzing for the game at 3pm today, who will make it to the final?

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Many chances but Jambos only needed one

Making chances and not taking them has been the curse of many teams ambitions in football and so it once again proved at Tynecastle yesterday. For a large part of the past two seasons, Rangers have been ruthless with their chances, taking a strong percentage of their chances and winning games.

One of the reasons why Tony Mowbray was run out of town as Celtic boss was the fact that his team needed about ten chances to finally make a goal and that sort of ratio cannot do for a top side. Rangers can easily say they battered Hearts in the first half yesterday but without getting behind Kello in goals, the half-time score of 0-0 had to be a huge concern for all concerned at Rangers.

The second half started in the same manner with the blues bearing down on the Hearts goal but when you fail to score, eventually doubts will creep into the play and the opposition may start to think it is their day. Resolute defending, good goalkeeping, a touch of luck and never giving up ensured Hearts deserved an opportunity to stay in the match and when a chance to win it came along, they took it.

The Rangers defence was extremely culpable for the goal. Rangers had more than enough bodies back in the box for the goal in fact, they maybe had too many. Jamie Ness allowed his man to effortlessly drift past him which then saw two Rangers midfielders run towards the ball, which opened up space inside the box. Once the pass was made, Rangers two centre halfs charged out from their position, leaving two Hearts men free on the six yard line. When the ball worked its way through, Stevenson was left with the easiest chance of the day and amazingly, the home side were one up.

After Hearts took the lead, Rangers best chance of getting back into it came through a Jelavic shot which showed the class of the player. He was unlucky with the ball cannoning off the bar and bouncing back into play by a good distance (regardless of the desperate claims), the technique showed in getting the shot away was extremely impressive.

So, what does this do for the title race? At the moment, it changes nothing. If Rangers win their games in hand, they still go top of the league. Hearts are still in third and doubts still remain over their ability to maintain their form and push on.

However, the time when it comes to re-evaluate these opinions could be coming closer. On Wednesday night, Hearts visit Celtic Park and if they avoid defeat in that game, an outcome that should be well within Heart’s reach; you have to say that Hearts are well in this. Their form in their last 12 games outstrips Celtic and Rangers so if they can keep going to toe to toe with the big guns, it would only be patronising or arrogant to assume they will drop off.

The Jambos are more than capable of beating the rest of the SPL if they keep their attitude right and avoid injuries.

As for Rangers, they are entering a busy period with league, League Cup, Scottish Cup and European ties on the horizon.

Busy times and the Ibrox side needs to prove this was just an unlucky defeat against a team they are in the mix with.

Hearts will take comfort from having nothing but the league to focus on and the fact that the big Glasgow two will meet twice (at least) in February. Hearts have the opportunity to focus on the league and if they retain that focus, they could be involved to the death.

For now – a great win for Hearts but it is how both teams respond that will provide a better judge of the SPL situation.

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