Ally McCoist in stitches at Celtic thievery but Rangers icon wants rivals to know the truth about Simply The Best
Impressed Ally McCoist has doffed his cap to the Celtic fans who roared 'Simply The Best' at Ibrox as the Rangers legend was teased over finding a new club anthem.
The 62-year-old admitted he was impressed by the 2,000-plus travelling fans who roared out the Tina Turner classic as they laid claim to the iconic Light Blue fan chant in the wake of securing a 13th title in 14 seasons.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist said: "I think that's brilliant, I think that is hilarious. I don't have a problem with it at all, it's a brilliant wind-up, absolutely brilliant wind-up."
And host and Celtic fan Shebahn Aherne couldn't resist offering the Rangers hero to weigh up what song could potentially replace 'Simply The Best' if Celtic punters attempt to lay claim to it for keeps.
He added: "I like that, I don't mind, well, it's going to have to be 'Next Year', so that gets it. I am having the Foo Fighters, a wee bit of Dave Grohl."
But McCoist made clear he was happy to herald their city rivals but reckons only one team can lay claim to being the top dogs in Glasgow.
A pumped-up McCoist, said: "No, no, no, we're still 'Simply The Best', but I must admit, I didn't mind that, I thought it was quite amusing.
"If you want to celebrate a draw at our place, you can celebrate a draw at our place."
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to your phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Viktoria Plzen vs Rangers to be shown live by broadcaster
The Swedish broadcaster announced it will be showing the match, previously thought to be exclusively available through Rangers TV for international subscribers. Fans will need to purchase a pass to watch the game on Solidsport's website. Coverage will begin at the 6pm kick-off time. In other news, Rangers will be without Mikey Moore, Thelo Aasgaard, and Hamza Igamane for tomorrow's game. However, manager Russell Martin hopes to have them back for Saturday's League Cup clash against Alloa Athletic. Read more: Martin said: "Mikey will be registered in time for Saturday, so he'll be there. "I think all three of them will be in the squad on Saturday, all being well this week, but not tomorrow night." The manager also had a message for his players, as they prepare for their match against Viktoria Plzen, who need to fight back from a 3-0 deficit. Mr Martin said: "Goals change ties and games and all that stuff, but we have to start the game really well ourselves. "They have, I guess, a nothing-to-lose approach. "You can approach it in that way in this game. "So we have to be really ready for that." He praised the team's response to adversity, particularly how they handled being reduced to 10 men against Panathinaikos. Mr Martin said: "I loved the way the players responded to that. "I really enjoyed the way the players responded to going down to 10 men on Saturday. "I've not seen a game look like that with 10 against 11 where you wouldn't have known if you're watching the game. "So I really commend the players for that. "So they are showing togetherness, that has to keep growing and keep building, and the spirit has to keep growing and building."
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Ex-Celtic boss facing BANKRUPTCY after racking up huge unpaid debts of £1.5million
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A FORMER Celtic manager is facing bankruptcy again - just two years after he last fended off the threat of financial ruin. Despite a glorious playing career his spell at Celtic didn't go well and since retiring from playing he has multiple run-ins with HMRC. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 3 John Barnes had an ill-fated spell as Celtic's head coach Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 3 But he is a cult hero for England, Watford, Liverpool and Newcastle Credit: Getty 3 He has also been a pundit in his time since retiring Credit: Getty Ex-Liverpool, Newcastle United and England hero John Barnes was on the receiving end of a petition lodged at the High Court today by the tax authorities. It was filed close to two months after it emerged Barnes had racked up more than £1.5 million in debts at his media company, John Barnes Media Limited. That included almost £800,000 due to HMRC. The most recent liquidators' report on his media firm showed he owed HMRC £776,878 in unpaid VAT, NI and PAYE. The 61-year-old was banned from being a company director for more than three-and-a-half years in 2024, after his company failed to pay more than £78,000 in corporation tax between August 2018 and January 2020. And the business was found to have failed to pay nearly £200,000 in corporation tax and VAT combined during that 18-month period, following a report by the Insolvency Agency. Barnes also owed unsecured creditors £461,849, a directors loan worth £226,000, and liquidators' costs amounting to £56,535. The cult hero winger, who won two league titles and two FA Cups at Anfield, has staved off multiple previous bankruptcy petitions since 2010. He last avoided going bust in May 2023 after settling a personal-tax bill of more than £200,000. Another petition lodged against him was dismissed in court later that same year. Rangers could soon be TEN points behind Celtic fears Kris Boyd - plus Plzen preview In the most recent case, Barnes has paid back £60,000 in instalments, according to the liquidators' report. Mike Smith, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Individuals and businesses not paying the tax they should deprives the Government of the funding it needs to provide vital public services and investment in areas such as schools, hospitals and roads. "John Barnes had a legal duty to ensure his company paid the correct amount of corporation tax and VAT. Instead, it paid no tax whatsoever between November 2018 and October 2020, despite receiving earnings of well over £400,000. "This disqualification should serve as a deterrent to other directors that if you do not pay your taxes while directing money elsewhere, you are at risk of being banned." Barnes, who had an ill-fated spell as Celtic manager between 1999 and 2000, set up his media business in 2012. He also managed Jamaica and Tranmere Rovers and has appeared as a pundit since hanging up his boots. Between November 2018 and October 2020 (the period in which close to £200,000 of unpaid debt to HMRC was accrued), the company had a turnover of £441,798. The Insolvency Service said nothing was paid to HMRC in tax during that period, despite the company filing returns showing what the VAT payments should have been. An investigation found that not only had the company failed to pay £78,839 in that period but also failed to pay £115,272 in VAT between February 2019 and 2020. The company ceased trading in January 2020 and it later entered liquidation. Barnes has previously declared he "doesn't like dealing with taxes". He admitted so to The Telegraph back in 2009 after he saw a bankruptcy order against him rescinded following what he called a "tax oversight". Barnes said then: "I don't like dealing with taxes of course. "I just hate not having enough money. Apart from that, I don't like dealing with bills and never have done. I let my wife Andrea deal with them. I don't even like opening them. A few times my credit card has been declined when I've been travelling abroad. "Then I have to get creative about paying the bill and have to really root around. That's much more satisfying than just having it come easily." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
There's trouble brewing in Plzen... and it will be knives out for Russell Martin if Rangers' domestic woes transfer to the European arena
In a city which features one of the most famous breweries in Europe, Rangers fans arrive in Plzen feeling like their glass may already be half-empty. Despite the fact they hold a commanding 3-0 lead over Viktoria Plzen following last week's emphatic first-leg victory in Glasgow, the feeling of pessimism among supporters cannot be overstated. The league campaign is threatening to go down the drain after only two games, with an insipid 1-1 draw with Dundee on Saturday following on from an equally woeful display at Motherwell on the opening weekend. Taking only two points from the opening two games, Russell Martin has a serious problem on his hands. Hardly the most popular appointment in the first place, whatever goodwill he had is evaporating by mid-August. With his new-look team toiling so badly on the domestic front, the European campaign now takes on even greater significance for Martin as he and his players look to finish the job tonight in the Czechia. Rangers have never won before in the country formerly known as the Czech Republic. In seven previous visits here, they have lost four times and scored only two goals. But they need not concern themselves with matters of the past. The reality is that they don't need to win in Plzen tonight. They have already put themselves in pole position thanks to their efforts last week. The fact they hold such a handsome lead will bring a level of intrigue as to how Martin sets his team out. Does he ask them to be streetwise and defensively sound, or will he continue asking his players to dominate the ball? Towards the end of last week's game in Glasgow, it was noticeable just how much higher Plzen were pressing Rangers — and having a fair amount of joy in doing do — in the second half as opposed to the first half. If Rangers were to concede an early goal tonight and start taking needless risks at the back, the knives that some fans have sharpened for the new manager would be out in force. When Martin took the job a couple of months ago at time when the club was going through some major structural changes under new ownership, there was a feeling that the European games would come too soon. Such was the huge turnover of players and new faces to be bedded into the squad, there was almost an acceptance that the Champions League qualifiers would bring some early pain under Martin. Going up against inferior opponents deploying a low block, it would be the domestic scene in Scotland which would prove more fruitful to Martin's brand of ultra-heavy possession-based football. That was the theory, at least. Yet, in reality, the opposite has been true. Rangers have one foot in the play-off round, with a potential tie against Club Brugge or Red Bull Salzburg to come, whilst they have yet to fire a shot domestically. That Rangers have something of a split personality between their domestic form and their continental exploits is not a revelation. It has plagued previous occupants of the Ibrox dugout in recent years. But with some fans already beginning to turn against him even at such an early juncture, Europe already looks like it might be Martin's saving grace and his best chance of getting some credit in the bank. If he can go on to secure Champions League football — and nobody would be foolish to believe Brugge or Salzburg represents anything but tough opposition — it would be a major feather in his cap. However, if Rangers were to falter and drop back into the Europa League, Martin's critics would only grow louder and stronger in number. That may seem harsh for a guy who is only five minutes in the door, but that's the reality of what happens when a club appoint a manager whom very few fans wanted. Patience is already wearing thin among some supporters with regards to Martin's team selection. The manager continues to back guys like Kieran Dowell despite it being obvious long ago that he is patently not at the level required of a Rangers player. Martin says that he wants to give players a clean slate and a chance to prove themselves. But, in the case of Dowell, Danilo and certain others, you simply can't ignore the body of evidence against them. More curious is Martin's deployment of Nico Raskin. Benched for the last two games, concern is growing among fans that the Belgian midfielder may become restless and unsettled. Still the subject of interest from across the continent, and with a price tag of between £15m-£20m on his head, Martin explained last night how Raskin's head had been turned during the summer. Whilst praising him for since regathering his focus, his integration into the same team as Joe Rothwell still looks to be a slightly awkward business. Raskin is at his best when he is playing as the single pivot at the base of midfield, the position which Rothwell has occupied since his arrival in the summer. Whether or not they can both play in the same midfield long-term, only time will tell. But Martin was adamant that the club's intention is to keep Raskin beyond the end of the summer transfer window. Plzen has been a picture of baking-hot sunshine over the past couple of days. With so much at stake, and with the need for results now so pointed, Rangers dare not melt under pressure tonight. The expectation from the Czechs is that they will make a fast start and seek to put Martin's new-look side under the cosh, something they failed to do until they were 3-0 down last week. In the previous round, Plzen were 2-0 down on aggregate before clicking into gear and beating Servette away in Switzerland. They are no mugs, but nor are they world beaters. Only last year, Hearts lost 1-0 here in a Europa League qualifier which saw them blow several good chances. The reality for Rangers is that they don't need to go chasing this game. They don't need a bucketload of chances or to dominate possession. What they and Martin need is a professional, polished performance to secure their place in the play-off round. If they can do that, the new manager buys himself some breathing space. However, if the unthinkable were to happen and Rangers were to somehow blow it, it won't just be the local brewery here in Plzen that's calling last orders.
