It was hard to tell whether he was more impressed with Celtic or their ball boys.
Scottish Premiership champions Celtic handed out an almighty thumping to rivals Rangers, at Parkhead, and Ally McCoist could only sit back and admire the display of the winning side.
The Rangers legend was on commentary duty for BT Sport for the first Old Firm clash of the season. Celtic were utterly dominant in the first half, racing into an early lead thanks to a crisp Liel Abada strike.
That lead was doubled, soon after the half-hour mark, when Celtic took a quick free-kick and punished the retreating Rangers defence. There was a searching thru-ball to Jota and the Portuguese star did the rest with a lovely, lofted finish.
Jota's finish 👌pic.twitter.com/v7G7o7Cm5o
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 3, 2022
‘It’s breaking my heart’ – Ally McCoist
Watching on as Jota’s goal made it 2-0, Ally McCoist could only sit back and purr about the quality of the finish. There was a stark admission, too, about the Rangers players that were caught on the hop by the speed of the Celtic attack.
“I’m going to tell you something, the touch is excellent, the finish is absolutely exquisite. It’s breaking my heart. What a goal that is.
“The finish is absolutely sublime. But I’m gonna take you back to the free-kick. As soon as the free-kick is taken, there’s three Rangers players switch off.
“Kamara, Kent and Lundstrom not looking at the ball at all and facing the wrong way.Take nothing away from the goal because the finish is, as much as it pains me, is sublime.”
McCoist was spot on with his take of the goal, and often remarked to Celtic playing bold, attacking football. Some felt that, as a former Rangers star, he was still paying them too much lip service.
Ally McCoist I love but now when he commentates during an Old firm game. He is far too nice and complimentary towards them.
— Marly (@tycoch7) September 3, 2022
One of the most striking aspects of the Celtic performance was the relentless pace at which they took the fight to Rangers, pressing them high up the pitch and keeping the ball alive for long stretches.
Ally McCoist, on more than one occasion, noted how the Celtic ball-boys were rapid in getting the ball back to players when it went out of play.
The ball boys are having a good game 😂😂😂 ally mccoist is a national treasure
— 🏴David🏴 (@dtr1984) September 3, 2022
Is it just me or is ally mccoist taking an unhealthy interest in the Celtic ballboys 🤔
— HAZY (@Hazycfc) September 3, 2022
Between the Celtic players and ball-boys, it was all too much for Rangers.
That pressure told on Rangers goalkeeper on Jon McLaughlin when, late in the game, he passed the ball straight to David Turnbull and was left picking the same ball out of the net as the scoreboard changed to 4-0.
