Ally McCoist eyes last "Old Firm match" for a while By ALAN PATTULLO Published on Saturday 28 April 2012 04:14 But Ibrox manager argues Rangers and Celtic should be treated as " special cases" So much of Ally McCoist's life is intertwined with the Old Firm fixture. He scored his first league goal for Rangers against Celtic, although his side went on to lose the match. Should the Ibrox side collect an unlikely victory from an uncomfortable afternoon at Parkhead tomorrow, then it will be another bittersweet occasion for McCoist. He has promised to lap it all up whatever happens after acknowledging yesterday that it could be the last such meeting for some time. "I really hope not," he said. But you have to say there is that possibility. I don't think anybody wants to see that. But it is a possibility. It was just another remarkable press briefing in an extraordinary season. Following the glut of Old Firm meetings last season, and the bile which spilled forth, many lost their appetite for this particular clash. Those who doubted they could stomach another one should be careful what they wish for. McCoist instructed everyone to take a look around Celtic Park tomorrow and contemplate a landscape devoid of the colour and the noise guaranteed by such a fixture. He, for one, can't wait for kick-off, even though he is aware of the ridicule which awaits those with a Rangers connection. Inevitably, there will be banners on which Hector, the Inland Revenue's cartoon character, and the Grim Reaper will feature. "I'm not bothered about that," shrugged Ibrox defender Carlos Bocanegra yesterday. How much more can somebody kick us while we are down? McCoist willed it on. In a dark, dark season for Rangers, the Ibrox side could yet salvage some satisfaction by emerging triumphant from the Old Firm series of games. They currently lead 2-1. Tomorrow, however, is the first time they have crossed the city carrying the unwelcome baggage of administration. They will be reminded of this status at every turn in the east end of Glasgow, where no mercy will be shown. Nevertheless, McCoist is treating it like any other Old Firm clash. It meant he was like a little boy when asked - eventually - for his thoughts on the match, having first dealt with the many off-field issues currently ripe for discussion. I can't wait. It is great," he said. I wish it was today. We will get dog's abuse, but that is what it is all about. I thought the atmosphere at the last Old Firm game was as good as I have ever heard. I have been lucky enough to see a hundred. I thought the atmosphere at our place was brilliant. Our fans were sensational. Celtic fans were defiant, as if they weren't bothered about the result. It was great, it was magic. "There were people there I knew that had never been to an Old Firm game and they were mesmerised," he added. Scottish football is getting blasted all over the place just now but when we have got a product like that - and you can argue about the quality of football if you want - that can provide an atmosphere and sporting environment like that, then we have got to be proud of it. McCoist advised those looking for Rangers to be handed the ultimate punishment of relegation to the Third Division to pause and reflect for a moment. "I read newspapers and you take into account what the fans say," he said. You know something? In an ideal world, whatever the punishment should be for Rangers that should be it. If it's Division Three, then great. That should be the punishment. But Scottish football is not an ideal world. "They [supporters of other clubs] might think it's the right thing to do, but it wouldn't suit them," he continued. It's a contradiction for me to say it, but Rangers and Celtic are special cases. Whether we like that or not, they are special cases. Because they are the main two clubs, by far, in Scottish football. "Fans of other clubs can say: "don't care, send them down." And that might be right. But it's not going to help our game. We all have a problem. Do we do the right thing? Or do we do the right thing for the game? McCoist wondered aloud at the start of this week about the potential benefit of starting life again in the Third Division, having been driven to this conclusion by the sanctions imposed on the club by the Scottish Football Association's Judicial Review Panel. Yesterday, however, he proposed Rangers being given special consideration, even if they are re-born as a newco entity in the event of liquidation. Scottish football, he argued, could not withstand the tectonic shift if Rangers were forced into the Third Division. "It might be the right thing to do morally," he agreed. But is it the right thing to do for Scottish football? Obviously not. It is a view which might not be shared by the majority of those in attendance tomorrow, and could be used as a further excuse to mock McCoist. The manager has other concerns, however. He knows that if the club's appeal against a 12-month transfer embargo fails, he might be left with the task of convincing players to remain at a club which can offer little in the way of incentives. "Persuading players to stay would be my biggest test in management, to be quite frank," he said. It would be some test. He does, though, intend to carry on, even if he is left with a team of Under 19s. "This is my club," he explained. Bocanegra, meanwhile, wishes to remain at Ibrox too, given the right circumstances. "I hope someone comes in and move us forward, because I want to be here next year," said the centre-half. I want to be here. I enjoy playing in Europe. I like the lifestyle and the fact that it is the number one sport in the country. That's huge for me because going back to America it is number four or five. Kyle Lafferty, given a two-week suspension by McCoist for missing last week's trip to Hearts, has not displayed quite the same attitude as his American team-mate. However, the Northern Irishman's manager has issued an assurance that there is a way back for him at Ibrox, if he wants it. McCoist is aware that he himself was guilty of time-keeping crimes in the past and, having paid for them, expected to then begin again with a clean slate. "You just hope he [Lafferty] learns and starts to focus a little more on his own career," he said. He is a really likeable guy, everybody likes the boy. But he is daft at times. I played with a few daft players. But most of them turned up for the team bus when it was due to leave. There is daft and there is daft. If a bus was leaving at 4pm then [Paul] Gascoigne would be there at 3.45pm. "People keep asking if he still has a future at the club," continued McCoist. "How wrong would it be of me to say "no he hasn't." Of course he still has a future at the club if he wants one. He is a good lad and a good player who has made a mistake. I keep saying I made plenty. And I was punished for my mistakes.