“The Scottish government had an emergency meeting over me and Neil Lennon having a chat on the sidelines! It was well over the top”
Interview Sam Pilger
YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS
S ince the European Golden Shoe was introduced, in the 1967-68 season, only four players have won the trophy over two consecutive seasons: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry… and Alistair Murdoch McCoist.
“My boys told me about that, and not for one minute am I comparing myself to those players – far from it – but just to be mentioned around them makes me very, very proud indeed,” McCoist tells FourFourTwo with a chuckle and his customary grin.
It’s just one thing among plenty that can bring the cheery Scot a feeling of pride, from a fine playing career that spanned 22 years across four decades and brought about 405 goals in 777 games at club level for St Johnstone, Sunderland, Rangers and Kilmarnock.
A predator in the area, McCoist also notched 19 times in 61 Scotland caps and finished his career as Rangers’ all-time leading hitman – as a result, he has the fifth-most league goals in the history of Scottish football, and the most in the post-war era.
After a turbulent three and a half years as Rangers manager, during which the club was liquidated due to insolvency and reformed in the fourth tier, McCoist moved into the calmer world of radio and television. It’s in this medium that the Bellshill native has captured hearts, with his amusing, astute and intelligent observations – not to mention an obvious love for the game – shining through on talkSPORT, and when he co-commentates for TV. “I’m very lucky indeed, watching so much football, and it’s lovely when I hear how much the punters enjoy it,” he tells FFT.
The 59-year-old is as charming and enthusiastic as ever as he tackles your questions on the Gers, Gazza, rogue firework displays, driving buses, hiding dead fish, acting, being a mascot and the odd bit of football. Let’s begin…
How was your experience with Alex Ferguson as a youngster? Is it true he didn’t sign you for St Mirren as he didn’t think you were good enough?
Tony Knight, via Instagram That’s absolutely true! But he denies saying I wasn’t good enough; it was more because he thought that I was too wee – too small. We have this conversation every time we meet and we saw each other last week. I tell everybody, “Even the great managers make mistakes” and he calls me, “The person who says he was the biggest mistake I ever
