Ally McCoist says ‘I am not anti-Celtic’ as he calls for a law change

Celtic and Aberdeen had it all at the weekend.

Before a ball was kicked at Parkhead, there was a lot of hype, noise and expectations on the game because both teams had made a 100% start to the new season.

In the end, it lived up to expectations because Celtic recorded a 2-2 draw against Aberdeen, with the away side coming from two goals down to record a point and the quality on show being top-notch.

For the first time in 14 years, a team came to Celtic Park and went on to get something from the game after being two goals down.

But there were cries from Aberdeen that they probably deserved the three points following a few VAR calls.

The second half had it all and the disallowed goals were probably talked about more than the goals that were scored themselves.

Ally McCoist wants handball rule change after Celtic’s 2-2 draw against Aberdeen

Brendan Rodgers admitted the Aberdeen draw felt like a defeat because the champions had the lead yet let it slip and, from 32 shots on goal, somehow only managed to score two goals.

After the hour mark, Aberdeen had the ball in the back of the net, but it was ruled out because it hit Duk’s arm.

Ally McCoist didn’t doubt that, but he felt the player himself couldn’t do anything about it because he had ‘absolutely no idea’ the ball was going to hit him.

Either way, McCoist felt that, and host Jeff Stelling agreed with the former striker, the handball rule needs to change and the word ‘intentional’ needs to come back into it as he insisted that ‘I am not anti-Celtic’ with his views on this matter, as he told talkSPORT (21/10/24 at 6:40 am).

“Aberdeen came from 2-0 down to get a point at Celtic and a lot of Aberdeen fans felt that they were robbed at the end when a winning goal was ruled out,” said Stelling.

“Can I talk to you about that,” responded McCoist. “Here is my take on it. You can’t argue with the law. The decision to disallow it is the correct one. Now, forget about the two teams taking part, people will say I am anti-Celtic. I am not. This is the gospel truth.

“That man, I think it’s Duk’s arm it comes across, he has got absolutely (no chance). He is facing the other way. So, he has absolutely no idea about that ball hitting him. It goes down as unintentional. And, for that, I think that goal should probably stand. I really, really do. It’s not an anti-Celtic thing because Celtic will win the league this year, there is no doubt about that and they are the best team in the league. But that is a talking point. They have got to bring the word intentional back into the law., I think.”

Stelling added: “I completely agree. It will clear up a lot of things.”

What ex-referee Dermot Gallagher said about Celtic and Aberdeen flashpoints

Given the amount of flashpoints and VAR calls, the weekend game was discussed on Ref Watch on Sky Sports on Monday morning.

“Well, it’s where VAR works well, isn’t it?” said Gallagher. “Because without doubt, when I saw this, and it clearly comes off his arm into the net, it goes directly into the net off his arm.”

All the other calls, from Adam Idah’s disallowed goal to Duk’s block on the line, which was a potential handball, were also cleared by Gallagher.