Ally McCoist. I think he might honestly be the most undervalued footballer of all time

He was a sensational player there is no doubt about it he would get all types of goals, some taps ins but also some terrific finishes.

Had the strikers instinct, knew exactly where to be at the right time like Lineker or Inzaghi,
 
Scooby said:
A lot of his tap ins were due to his ability to read where the ball was going before anyone else.

How many times did he just nick in front of a defender at the last second to poke the ball home?

A top class striker.
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Think it was a legends game against AC Milan at Ibrox when he came on as a sub and scored the only goal. He was fat as hell and couldn’t run but a cross came in and he just pulled away from the defender at the front post to head it in. Still had that instinct.
 
Walter always felt he was good enough to play the no.10 role as well, although he never told him that :))

You only need to look at his range of goals, as well as the tap-ins and close range finishes, there were diving headers, overhead kicks, blistering shots, volleys from outside the box.

He was a phenomenon and our greatest ever player, in my opinion.
 
Blue Goose said:
Mccoist in today's market is a £20 million player. Tremendous, all round footballer who could dish it out. Could drop deep, bring other's into the play and was always in the box. I agree that the support doesn't actually realise at times how good he actually was.
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He would cost a lot more than that in today's market. As you said, he could do it all.
 
Cooper 11 said:
His comeback after a leg break to come on as a sub, score an overhead kick to win a cup final tells you all you need to know about the man.
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I watched that game with my best mate whilst in Eilat Israel. The whole bar was cheering us on. When Super scored the place went mental, Israeli’s, Swedes, and two delirious Scots.
I have told this tale before, but I had to hitch home to my place in the Negev desert, 2 hrs away and off the main road. I was hanging, stood at the side of the road pointing to the floor ( their version of thumbs for hitching.) A car stops, I tell them where I’m going and they say “we know, we are your neighbours!” Dropped to the door!
 
I'm lucky to be just old enough to remember Ally from about 89/90 onwards. Everyone in the school playground wanted to be him.

There's not been too many after him to reach the same status
 
drgriffen said:
No.

McCoist always said he could have earned more money playing at a mid-level Spanish team - I assume he had suitors from teams in La Liga to know.

This was also a time when he would be earning approximately the same as English players. Remember the likes of Butcher, Woods etc.. came here becaue they got a better wage from us than English counterparts - Man Utd in Butcher's case.
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Did they not come up because English clubs got banned from Europe?
 
He worked as hard as any front man we have ever had.

Allied with the unbelievable ability to sniff out opportunities, it’s not by luck he was in the right place at the right time consistently.
 
Unusually a goal away to Raith Rovers really sticks in my mind. Were getting beat, think it might have been 9 in a row season. There’s bedlam in the box Raith are throwing bodies in front of everything. Cross comes it’s bouncing about and there’s McCoist just standing on his own and he sticks away. There’s just no way that is luck.
 
No not one said:
Unusually a goal away to Raith Rovers really sticks in my mind. Were getting beat, think it might have been 9 in a row season. There’s bedlam in the box Raith are throwing bodies in front of everything. Cross comes it’s bouncing about and there’s McCoist just standing on his own and he sticks away. There’s just no way that is luck.
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Gazza was hanging out the roof of a black Range Rover still with his kit on going tonto that day right after the game :))

 
No not one said:
Unusually a goal away to Raith Rovers really sticks in my mind. Were getting beat, think it might have been 9 in a row season. There’s bedlam in the box Raith are throwing bodies in front of everything. Cross comes it’s bouncing about and there’s McCoist just standing on his own and he sticks away. There’s just no way that is luck.
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Aye, but only after Bobby Geddes had saved about a dozen other efforts by Super. You just knew Ally would score eventually. We ended up winning 4-2, with Durie getting a penalty once Ally completed his hat-trick.
 
Top Drawer Centre Forward who was also as hard as nails. McCoist’s greatest asset was his total belief in himself and that he would score with the next chance after missing one or two.
 
HandsomeHead said:
I watched the whole of McCoist’s Rangers career and it took a good couple of years before he really began to find his feet (I was there the day of the infamous, ‘Ally, Ally, get tae f**k!’ chants), but as much as we all idolised him for his scoring prowess - which was phenomenal - it was only after he’d stopped playing and I began to revisit old games on YouTube that I began to appreciate just how good a footballer he was.

His hold up play, his little flicks and one-twos, his dribbling (I’ll leave the heading out of it) and his reading of the game were all first rate and really made you appreciate just how much he created openings for himself and others; not just getting on the end of something to tap in from six yards.

And on top of that he was both a winner and no shrinking violet.

As Rangers legends go, there really aren’t many ahead of him in my book.
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To be fair, he could send a keeper the wrong way with a header.
Dinamo Kiev at Ibrox?
 
GP33347826-1.jpg



The greatest of all time and Muhammad Ali.
 
WinkieWATP said:
The Leeds goal for example I posted as my favourite in that other thread. Watch the way he slows down to stay onside. He knows where Hateley is so all eyes on Ridibe and baby steps till. Boom game over you arrogant English pricks. Just another victim of Super Ally
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One of my favourite examples of McCoist striking was in the 98 semi final against the scum.

Albertz on the left, McCoist in the box.
Reiper has McCoist where he wants him(!)
He’s even looked over his shoulder where McCoist still waits.
Suddenly, Albertz crosses and McCoist is suddenly two yards in front of Reiper, who was fairly rated as a centre back, and has a tap in header.
Glorious goal.
 
tazzabear said:
One of my favourite examples of McCoist striking was in the 98 semi final against the scum.

Albertz on the left, McCoist in the box.
Reiper has McCoist where he wants him(!)
He’s even looked over his shoulder where McCoist still waits.
Suddenly, Albertz crosses and McCoist is suddenly two yards in front of Reiper, who was fairly rated as a centre back, and has a tap in header.
Glorious goal.
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Almost 36 years old when he scored that as well.
 
Arminius said:
Super was absolutely fantastic.

Anyone who watched his Rangers career can remember that we used to sing Super Ally, Super Ally with a gusto reserved for no other player at that time.

He was, and still is, absolutely adored by Rangers fans. Every time I’m asked to name my all time favourite Rangers player, it’s always Super that I opt for.

Greatest goal scorer in our clubs history. That says it all for me.
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I can remember the pre Souness era when we sung something very different
 
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WinkieWATP said:
Can’t recall the poster but some earlier posted the video of the semi when Robbo was sent off early doors.

McCoist seems to have this thing where he is remembered as some sort of tap in merchant. The highlights of that game alone show just how fantastic a player Super actually was. He won fouls, he played 1-2s with Durrant that had they came off would be in that other thread about the best Rangers goals you’ve seen.

Many of his goals did come within the width of the posts in the six yard box but he was imho a far greater footballer than he has ever been given credit for.
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He was a great striker. No doubt about that.
 
My all time favourite Ranger is Super so I’m biased, but Ally was a terrific footballer, excellent first touch, good control and could even pick a pass, the only thing he never had was pace.

If Ally had pace he would have been remembered alongside the likes of Gary Lineker who was absolutely rapid.
 
Ally had to overcome adversity at times in his career to achieve what he did with us.
During 90/91 he was benched for quite a few games by Souness in favour of Johnston and Hateley but he never let the head drop and was still scoring goals.

Souness treated him like shit that year and blamed him on us losing a Scottish cup game at the piggery because he went to Cheltenham races a few days before.

I still remember Souness having the press at Ibrox a day after the game and McCoist being forced to apologise and as much as I loved Souness it was a step too far.

Shortly Souness left us and then the following season Ally broke back into the team and had the last laugh on Souness.
 
Super got smashed to bits during games and just shrugged it off and got on with it, people forget how hard as nails he actually was and he had a nasty streak in him too (as all winners do) but he was easily the greatest goalscorer i have ever seen play for us, and there were times when i would not have replaced him for any other player in the world.

He will always be Super to us
 
I always remember a goal against St Mirren at Love Street, inside the 6 yard box so you'd think it was a poacher's goal but the way he flicked it from one foot to the other before firing it in was beautiful, so quick and controlled...

found it, not quite in the 6 yard box as I remember, but the touch just totally floors the goalie...

 
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Left, right, headers, free kicks, volleys, overhead kicks.

You could find a goal from him of every type.
 
Had a great instinct to be in the right position at the right time. He had the advantage of being in a team who made loads of chances and, although we forget he missed a helluva lot of them too, he scored enough of them that we forgot the others. I thought Hately was better, but Ally is one of us through and through and we love him for it.
 
The link up play in the middle, peeling off to the wing and a perfect pass for an on runnung Gascoigne.

 
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His diving header against Leeds is etched on my brain. And the celebration with Dale Gordon. As a 6 year old i was throwing myself about the livingroom trying to reinact the diving header. I was gutted the day he left Rangers
 
insanicdrunk said:
When Scotland got the penalty v England in Euro 96 he should have taken it. This was golden bolloks, who else has a script like him? Winner in a cup final with an overhead kick on return from a broken leg, scoring in a high stakes game, thats his kinda shit!
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I'm pretty sure he wasn't long on the park? It seemed like it was meant to be! I'll never understand why he didn't get to take it
 
Unicorn said:
Almost 36 years old when he scored that as well.
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That could be a massive reason why he's looked at as just a goal scorer. A lot of people, myself included, only seen him at the end of his career and when rangers were unreal. My first game was 94, so I'd missed Supers peak. By the time I'd got the bug we were signing foreigners and big names.

It's only by going back and watching the old stuff that you appreciate what a striker he was
 
Pacman said:
That could be a massive reason why he's looked at as just a goal scorer. A lot of people, myself included, only seen him at the end of his career and when rangers were unreal. My first game was 94, so I'd missed Supers peak. By the time I'd got the bug we were signing foreigners and big names.

It's only by going back and watching the old stuff that you appreciate what a striker he was
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His peak ended the year before your first game when he broke his leg playing for Scotland.

He came back and still had some terrific moments after that but he had just won two straight European golden boots when he broke his leg and never reached those heights again.
 
Ally could finish with either foot. Scored some cracking goals with his left peg.

The left foot volley with his back to goal against Aberdeen in December 1990 was an unbelievable finish.
 
A natural goal scorer, that dundee game would have buckled a lot of strikers i gave him pelters myself, however he made up for that day many times over as a player.
 
No not one said:
Unusually a goal away to Raith Rovers really sticks in my mind. Were getting beat, think it might have been 9 in a row season. There’s bedlam in the box Raith are throwing bodies in front of everything. Cross comes it’s bouncing about and there’s McCoist just standing on his own and he sticks away. There’s just no way that is luck.
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8 in a row season. 2-1 down with 5 or 6 minutes left, ended up winning 4-2. McCoist got 3, his 2nd and 3rd, totally unmarked in a crowded 6 yard box at a corner.

His instinct and movement was unreal.
 
My hero growing up. Asides all the mentions already, his peeling of and playing a beautiful curling cross field pass for Gazza to run on to and score against the scum at the their sty was outstanding.


He had incredible desire, a born winner.
 
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