ALLY MCCOIST says the demise in quality of Rangers and Celtic is both “alarming and staggering”.
The Ibrox legend was speaking after Hearts victory over Celtic at Tynecastle on Sunday propelled them EIGHT points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
They have won eight of their opening nine games, have scored the most goals, conceded the fewest, and showed their title credentials with an impressive 3-1 win over Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Derek McInnes’ men also stormed to a 2-0 win at Ibrox earlier in the season as they look to become the first non-Old Firm side to win the top flight in Scotland in 40 years.
McCoist, says while it’s “brilliantly refreshing” and the challenge is good for Scottish football, having a poor Rangers and Celtic is not.
And he went to far as to say that with perhaps the exception of Callum McGregor, NO other Old Firm player could cut it in the Premier League in England just now.
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Speaking on TalkSport on Monday, he said: “The problem Brendan and Celtic have is you’re looking at the back four now – Donovan, Scales, Murray, Tierney – with the greatest respect it’s not scaring you.
“Midfield Engles, Hatate is a good player and Callum is there.
“And what teams are doing now – and it took Rangers long enough – is that you just stick someone on Callum, because Callum makes them tick, he’s a very good football player, particularly, if you sit back and let him play.
“But he’s an even better player with better players around him, and I don’t think he’s got that at this moment in time at Celtic, and that’s one of the problems Celtic have got.
“The demise in quality of both Rangers and Celtic is both alarming and staggering.
“It’s not fallen away, it’s completely dropped off a cliff.
“I’m saying this and I wanted to be talking about Hearts and Hearts have been great.
“I’ve mentioned their two centre-backs and the spine of their team and I don’t see them going away.”
McCoist believes recruitment has been a problem for both sides and he still can’t understand why Rangers sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst just months after he led the Ibrox side to a Europa League final in 2022.
Rangers grabbed their first home win under Danny Rohl with a 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock on Sunday but McCoist says they are still nowhere near the standard expected.
He added: “Rangers is an interesting one.
“You go back to the sacking of a man who got you to a Europa League final.
“Why they got rid of Van Bronckhorst still to this minute baffles me – you’re a penalty kick away from winning a European final and he got sacked months later.
“I go back to that point, which is bizarre but I go back to recruitment.
“I looked at the Rangers side and they were much better yesterday but they are miles off it.
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“The problem with Rangers and Celtic, although generally speaking Celtic have been miles better with recruitment in the past five, six, seven, eight, years.
“Rangers in particular and, perhaps Celtic a bit this season, have signed not only bang average players, bang average foreign players.”
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