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The Ibrox icon delivered a scathing verdict on the team he loves after he watched them fold at Tynecastle
Upset Ally McCoist branded Rangers “mentally weak” and then threw his weight behind Hearts going on to win their first title in 66 years.
The Ibrox icon delivered a scathing verdict on the team he loves after he watched Derek McInnes’ league leaders overpower their rivals to race seven ahead of them with three Premiership games to go.
Goals from Stephen Kingsley and Lawrence Shankland wiped out Dujon Sterling’s opener as Hearts restored their three-point lead over Celtic in a season for the ages.
Speaking to talkSPORT, McCoist said: “Hearts, great result, fantastic result, I genuinely hope they go on and win it now because they deserve it.
“They have played Rangers and Celtic combined seven times, and they have won five and drawn one. That in itself is quite incredible. I know they have Celtic to play again in the final game of the season and that could be vital. It might not be, by the way.
McCoist loves what Hearts are about but believes Rangers lack the minerals in their current form to reign supreme in Scottish football.
And he warned Danny Rohl’s side that they cannot play for spurts and expect to see off the competition.
He added: “You would think so. The only problem is they look mentally weak. I’m saying they’ve got nothing to play for, which is a ridiculous statement when it’s a Celtic vs Rangers game, but I’m not sure they are mentally strong enough. That is the only thing that would concern me.
“You look at Rangers: 2-0 up against Celtic and played for 45 minutes, 2-0 down at Livingston and played for 45 minutes, Motherwell, 2-0, played for 45 minutes. There is a common them there. They can’t play 90 minutes.”
McCoist was then left in total agreement with a broken punter’s claim that a lack of a Scottish identity within the starting XI put paid to their title dreams.
He said: “First thing I wrote down, no Scotsman, it’s incredible. You can say what you like but it matters. It’s a big thing, it’s a massive thing. Our successful team was filled with Scotsmen, whether it was Gough, Goram, McCall, Durrant, Brown. I could name you eight in the team. To be fair, it was littered with top-class Europeans and others around about it. You’ve got to have Scotsman in your team. They know what it is about.”
McCoist doubled down on his belief that the club he loves are lacking mental fortitude and he believes it’s a trait which Hearts have in abundance.
He added: “Take nothing away from Hearts, different class. Absolutely different class. A spirit to go and play, Rangers dominated (the first half) but that is the problem—there is no killer instinct.
“You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t have a will to win, and a mental strength, then you don’t win anything. If you don’t have all the strength and ability, and Rangers don’t have that either, and you’re mentally weak, then you have no chance.
“That is the one thing Hearts looked in the second half; mentally strong.”
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