Ally McCoist has weighed in on the ongoing fallout from the Scottish League Cup final VAR controversy, describing Sunday’s refereeing blunder as a “howler” but urging Rangers not to question the integrity of match officials.
The Rangers legend didn’t hold back in his criticism of Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson, drawing comparisons to what he described as the “paranoia” of Celtic fans during the 1990s.
Speaking to the Daily Record, McCoist said:
“Rangers can’t do anything else. They have to accept it. You have to make your feelings known, which they are well within their rights to do, but they can’t do any more. Officials get punished and miss a game and the SFA have acknowledged the error.
“But Rangers shouldn’t even go down the road of questioning the integrity of officials. If we do that then the game is gone. Michael Nicholson last year went on about VAR and all that sort of stuff. It’s a dangerous game when you go down that road and question the integrity of officials.
“We used to accuse Celtic of paranoia when they wrote and complained to the SFA over the years. Michael Nicholson made that quip and was probably trying to get a clap from the audience but you can’t be saying that.”
He highlighted the potential perception of bias, referencing past claims of unfair treatment made by Celtic, but dismissed the notion of refereeing decisions being deliberately skewed against Rangers.
“There was a time back in the day when Celtic were accused of paranoia and there will be a train of thought that some refereeing decisions are going against Rangers and for Celtic because of that. But that’s not the case.”
McCoist made it clear he views the error in Sunday’s match as a mistake, devoid of any malicious intent, echoing comments from the SFA’s head of refereeing, Willie Collum, who has since addressed the issue.
“Referees and officials will make honest mistakes. It was a howler on Sunday but we need to move on.
“I genuinely believe the officials are doing their best. I think the standard is bang average at best but there’s no way we can start picking and choosing officials. It’s not on. You can have a moan because they got it wrong, 100 percent, and they have been stood down for the weekend.”
He acknowledged Rangers fans’ frustrations over a string of decisions, including Kemar Roofe’s disallowed goal at Ibrox and Alfredo Morelos’ contentious strike at Celtic Park.
“Rangers fans, correctly by the way, feel aggrieved because that’s not the only decision. These are decisions that just go against you. They are wrong decisions but you have to take them on the chin.”
McCoist’s remarks underline his belief in the importance of maintaining faith in the fairness of the game, despite the controversy.
