“How dare Celtic have 19 games at home and 19 away…” Sutton tells McCoist

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·9 avril 2026

“How dare Celtic have 19 games at home and 19 away…” Sutton tells McCoist

Unsurprisingly, Ally McCoist has criticised the structure of the post-split fixtures in the Scottish Premiership, sneakily questioning the balance of the run-in…

The SPFL unveiled the schedule for the final five rounds on Tuesday, with current leaders Hearts set to travel to Celtic Park on the closing day of the campaign.

The arrangement has sparked debate among supporters of both Hearts and the Ibrox club, albeit for differing reasons, with some arguing it hands an advantage to Celtic at a crucial stage.

Vidéos OneFootball

Speaking on talkSPORT alongside Alan Brazil and Gabby Agbonlahor, McCoist shared concerns that the fixture list appears to tilt in Celtic’s favour.

Broadcasting from Paris, where he was on duty covering PSG v Liverpool last night, McCoist was teased by Brazil, who joked: “No Irish butter, no Jambo jambon with his croissants this morning, he’s gutted, he’s gutted! Who’s fiddled these fixtures, McCoist?”

Daizen Maeda and teammate Reo Hatate are pictured with the Scottish Premiership trophy after the season’s final match against St. Mirren, on May 17, 2025. Photo IMAGO (The Celtic Star)

The Ibrox pundit responded: “First of all, a very good morning to you, boys… Gabby, you couldn’t get a bet on them having a home game on the last game of the season, man!”

“Well, they’re running the thing [Celtic] up here, aren’t they! They’re absolutely running it, mate. They’ve got four of their last six at home again! We’ve got four of six away! You couldn’t make it up, pal!”

“They’re playing Hearts final game of the season, right? Imagine one of them needs to win to stop us winning the league. Do you think [that]will happen? You’d better believe it will happen!”

McCoist added: “All kidding aside, I think it’s just so tough to call. I really do. I don’t think there’s any doubt.”

“I think there’s probably more momentum with Rangers, but see when we’re coming down to the crunch, guys? I’ll tell you. I think Rangers have got a tough game at the weekend against one of the teams of the year, Falkirk, and one of the managers of the year, John McGlynn.”

“We’ve got to go to Falkirk twice. But listen, it’s brilliant, Gabby. The fact that we’re talking about it as a three-way title race, I actually can’t remember the last time this happened. It’s great, mate.”

Bizarrely, the basis of McCoist’s complaint centres on Celtic appearing to have a greater share of home fixtures than their closest challengers during the run-in.

That imbalance stems from how the opening 33 matches have been distributed, with variations in home and away ties across the three clubs up to the split.

How dare Celtic have 19 games at home and 19 away…
– mercredi 8 avril 2026

League organisers are ultimately required to ensure parity, Ally, meaning Celtic, Hearts and the Ibrox club will each complete the campaign having played 19 matches at home and 19 on the road – who would have thought it?

Despite the debate over scheduling, the destination of the title remains undecided, with all three sides still firmly in contention heading into the final stretch.

And as is often the case in Scottish football, Chris Sutton gets the last word. Commenting on McCoist’s ludicrous remarks the Sky Sports pundit observed: “How dare Celtic have 19 games at home and 19 away…”

Post your own thoughts in the comments section below…

Quick Tip – Add thecelticstar.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!

Click to join Celtic Pools