EXCLUSIVE: Ally McCoist believes Celtic's Matt O'Riley is good enough for Atletico
"The signs were there and I'll tell you why," explains McCoist to Tribalfootball.com. They lost to Motherwell at home (first game in March) and their performance was very poor. But they got away with that because Celtic lost at Hearts in the same round so that was kind of glossed over.
"I could tell that all wasn't well in their camp, but to be honest, I couldn't see a collapse of that size coming. With the draw against Celtic they've only taken five points out of a possible 15," McCoist says with a sigh while still being optimistic on behalf of Rangers ahead of the closing weeks of the season.
"I really don't think it's finished. The one thing that will have to happen, I think, is that Rangers will have to go to Celtic and win. But looking at the other teams, a side like Kilmarnock are doing really, really well and both Rangers and Celtic have dropped points already against them.
"Derek McInnes has done a fantastic job there, and obviously there is Hearts as well, so I think there will be one or two twists and turns," says McCoist who witnessed Celtic's dramatic semi-final victory over Aberdeen at the weekend.
"I thought Aberdeen did really, really well. Not a lot of people gave them much hope because their results against Celtic haven't been good but they probably could and should have won the game. When it goes to penalties, anything can happen and Celtic just found a way."
It was Matt O'Riley who put Celtic 3-2 up in extra-time with his 14th goal of the season and McCoist believes the Celtic supporters should enjoy watching the young Dane while they can.
"He's having an absolutely terrific season. He is a very, very good player. There was talk of him leaving in January but Brendan Rodgers quite rightly said 'he's not going anywhere'. However, I would be surprised if he's there at the start of next season," McCoist admits as rumuors of O'Riley moving to LaLiga and Atletico Madrid gain momentum.
"I genuinely think he is capable of going to a place like Atletico Madrid and play there. He is one of these players that always look as if he has time on hand. He's very clever in that respect. Callum McGregor does it very well too, but Matt O'Riley has a lovely composure"
McCoist also believes the Dane would fit right into the Premier League as well, with several teams sure to benefit from his qualities.
"Any midfielder that gets forward and scores goals always create interest. They're worth their weight in gold and it wouldn't surprise me at all if one of the teams in the Premier League came in for him."