If you ask UK television viewers to name their favourite co-commentator, many of them will say one name: Ally McCoist.
The Scot’s humorous style has earned him fans aplenty during his work for a number of different television companies on both sides of the border, as well as for radio station talkSPORT. That popularity has been flattering for the man himself.
“The first thing I’ve got to say is I’ve been involved in football long enough to know it can change very quickly!” McCoist jokes as he talks to FourFourTwo.
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“But I’m just so pleased that everyone seems to enjoy it as much as I do. It’s probably the second best job on the planet. The best job on the planet was scoring goals for Rangers, but sitting on the halfway line at the best games you can possibly watch, it’s just dynamite, to be honest with you.
“We’re all mad football fans – just to sit there and talk about it is like a dream, it really is, and I’m just really pleased it seems to be going down well. I think the punters can relate to the fact that I do enjoy it.
“All games aren’t brilliant and you’ve got to be honest – if it’s not a great game, you can’t try to kid people on that it is. For every World Cup final, France versus Argentina, 3-3, there’ll be a 0-0 along the way somewhere.
“But you can deliver it in a way that people can understand, appreciate and perhaps take something from it. That’s quite important.”
McCoist says that when he started to do media work on a more regular basis, a piece of advice from one of his talkSPORT colleagues was key – just be yourself.
“One hundred per cent,” he says. “I learned that from speaking to big Alan Brazil when I started doing the radio. Big Al is a legend who’d been doing TalkSPORT for the best part of 20 years and that was the one piece of advice he gave me. He said ‘Look, just be yourself’.
“I’ve tried to take that into commentary as well, because the punters can relate to you. If you can pass on some relevant information, and do it with enthusiasm and knowledge as well, that’s all pretty important.”
Asked to choose his favourite moment from his time as a co-commentator, he needs only a split second to decide.
“Well, my riskiest one was without doubt when Kylian Mbappe scored the hat-trick for France in the World Cup final,” he smiles.
“I was doing the commentary with two Englishmen, Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon – I waited until the correct moment and said ‘It’s a real privilege to be here to see the first man score a hat-trick in a World Cup final’.
“I had a deliberate delay of a second and a half, and I could see the two of them turn on me, when I hit them with ‘When all three have gone over the line’. I think I took my life into my hands!
“I had this vision in my head of everybody north of Carlisle cheering, and everybody west of Chester cheering. It was a bit of a gamble but it seemingly went down alright!”
Ally McCoist was speaking to FourFourTwo on behalf of talkSPORT BET
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