The Euro 2024 competition in Germany has been a strange one for the Celtic fans this summer.
With the excitement of watching their heroes play against some of the best players in the world come the inevitable criticism should Scotland lose and any of the Celtic players are involved in that loss.
We have seen first-hand already how this works. Scotland lost to Germany 5-1 in the opening group game and it was Callum McGregor who was singled out for criticism despite the whole team underperforming.
The 1-1 draw with Switzerland brought more condemnation for one of Celtic’s players. Anthony Ralston was blamed for the Swiss equaliser even though it was pointed out he was let down by Grant Hanley’s poor passing which ultimately led to his mistake that allowed Shaqiri to fire home a sensational equaliser.
So we can all see there seems to be a theme appearing whenever negativity surrounds the Scotland team.
And as this one continues to rumble on, Sam Allardyce has shared why Ally McCoist was fuming at Ralston’s mistake and it’s not what the Celtic fans would think.
McCoist wanted ‘help’ for Anthony Ralston
So whilst some Scotland fans pointed the finger at Ralston, McCoist was ‘going mad’ because he could see that the Celtic defender needed help on the right flank.
And former Premier League manager, Sam Allardyce explains why.
Allardyce said [No Tippy Tappy Football], “To see Scotland bounce back with a bit of fight. So the one that hit the post and then the lad who missed the header [Grant Hanley] at the other end.
“So it really could have gone either way, but a draw’s a fair result in the end.
“I mean, what was his name the fullback who passed that ball to him [Anthony Ralston]? He must still be having nightmares over that.
“Ally McCoist was going mad about it. ‘Get him some help. He needs some help. Get him some help.’
“Because instead of doubling up for him, he was getting isolated too much and he was struggling to cope with him.”
So it seems that it is being widely recognised that Ralston has been, and was, let down by his teammates on the run-up to the goal. Even by Ally McCoist.
The Celtic defender did pick himself up after the mistake and was praised by Scotland skipper, Andy Robertson, for recovering well from it to put in a solid second-half performance.
Let’s hope he can do so again tonight and help Scotland beat Hungary to get Steve Clarke’s team into the last 16 of the competition.