"I'm about ready to march on Carlisle!"
Ally McCoist was feeling it tonight. He was in his element.
The former Rangers star was teamed up with Sam Matterface at Wembley Stadium as part of the commentary team for the Euro 2020 clash between England and Scotland. On jingoism duty for England was Lee Dixon.
Having played 61 times for Scotland, including that Euro 96 loss to England, McCoist was dialled up to 99 for the group stage game. The Scots needed a positive result after their 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic, and McCoist knew all about it.
Graeme Souness set the tempo, in the ITV studio, with his comments on what it meant to put one over on the English. Mark Pougatch cut to the commentary duo and, straight out the blocks, McCoist declared he was 'ready to march on Carlisle' after hearing from Souness.
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As Flower of Scotland was blasted out, with the Scottish players and fans belting out the anthem, McCoist was in full Braveheart mode.
While many viewers south of Hadrian's Wall were griping about McCoist throwing all objectivity out the window, everyone else was gobbling up the McCoist one-liners.
https://twitter.com/jamieplsstop/status/1405964874409250816
As the first half progressed, the Scots survived an early barrage of England pressure with John Stones coming closest for Gareth Southgate's men with a header that crashed off the post.
Up the the commentary booth, McCoist was edging it for the Scots and on the wind-up with Lee Dixon.
https://twitter.com/LauraRebelSolo/status/1405972140277518341
https://twitter.com/SamJimW/status/1405972052562034691
https://twitter.com/HunterDPhoenix/status/1405972074599010305
https://twitter.com/MikeBubbins/status/1405971853747818499
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Folks at home playing McCoist commentary bingo will have had a full card after 20-odd minutes as the old classics, "absolutely", "I gotta say" and "us" were all reeled over every time he uttered a line. His voice went up several octaves when Stephen O'Donnell drew a fine save from Jordan Pickford.
As the half wound down with the Scots on the attack, McCoist declared Southampton forward Che Adams to be 'the best player on the pitch' in the opening 45 minutes.
One line that did have the English supporters - or most of them - nodding in agreement was when he mused as to why Jack Grealish was not on the pitch. He was not the only one wondering that.
