‘Old Firm games are vitally important in terms of morale but they’re not the be all and end all’

McCoist also scored his first league goal for the club in an Old Firm match, although the only thing that mattered afterwards was that Rangers had lost the game and went onto finish eight points behind their great rivals.

Not that this meant Rangers were runners up. This was 1983-84, long enough ago for other teams to be in contention. Celtic finished second to Aberdeen, while Rangers, who parted company with manager John Greig during a traumatic campaign, ended up fourth behind Dundee United, although they did win the League Cup against Celtic, courtesy of a McCoist hat-trick.

Even now, it was pointed out to McCoist yesterday, championships are not won and lost over four Old Firm clashes. Celtic earned seven of the 12 points on offer last season in these fixtures, and, indeed, were unbeaten at Ibrox in three visits, with a Scottish Cup tie included in an epic series of clashes.

Yet Rangers still emerged victorious in the league, helped no end by Celtic’s slip at Inverness in the last fortnight of the season.

“That is why it is probably laughable that with ten games to go everybody had the league tied up – Celtic were going to win this, and Rangers were going to win that,” observed McCoist.

“It is very unfair. The Old Firm games are vitally important in terms of points, morale and confidence, but last year would certainly indicate they are not the be all and end all, although I am certainly not understating it.”

Whoever thought he would? Although he and Neil Lennon were involved in a surprising fracas last season, McCoist always seemed to relish these derby clashes for the right reasons. The image of his face contorted with rage after last season’s Scottish Cup replay defeat to Celtic isn’t one most people would associate with McCoist, and nor does it convey his love for football and for this clash in particular.

Frank McAvennie is among those to have expressed the fear that McCoist risks losing his joie de vivre as he hitches his reputation to one of the most highly pressured posts in football, and at a time when the club is engaged in assorted financial battles. If the pressure got to McCoist when he was just an assistant to Smith, what will happen now he is himself in the firing line?

Lennon failed his first Old Firm test last season after being named permanent manager, with his side going down rather limply to Rangers in October. Even though the Ibrox side have strung together a run of five consecutive clean-sheets in the league, the verdict on McCoist’s admittedly nascent reign could still be a mean-spirited one should another big-game defeat follow on the heels of two European setbacks. McCoist, though, insists he is enjoying himself, whatever McAvennie’s thoughts.

“Maybe that’s the public perception,” he said.

“I would hope I am still the same guy. I don’t know if the job has changed me at all.

“Of course there are times when you have a laugh, but there are times when in the job when laughing is the last thing in your mind. But I love my job.”

He will aim to wear a smile late tomorrow afternoon, by which time Rangers could be four points clear of their great rivals.

“You’ve got to enjoy the game,” he says. “If you don’t enjoy the game when you’re playing in it you shouldn’t be out there. You have got to have a certain level of enjoyment in it to do your best at your work.

“Within both sets of players there are individuals who certainly enjoy their football,” he added. “Going back further you had guys like wee Jinky [Jimmy Johnstone] and Willie Henderson. Even in our day you had Frank [McAvennie] and wee Mo [Johnston] and [Paul] Gascoigne. The fans relate to people like that. Fans would rather see someone with a smile on their face on the park than somebody growling.”

Give McCoist one wish and it’s that he could pull on the boots himself. Including that first league strike for Rangers at Parkhead 28 years ago in front of 50,662 people, McCoist scored a total of 27 goals against Celtic. Asked how he was feeling at such a significant point of his management career, McCoist said he’d “far rather have the chance to go on and make it 28 goals to tell you the truth”.

Not that he is in any way trepidatious about tomorrow. “They are all must-win [games],” he said, of Old Firm clashes. “You have to go out to win and that was always my belief as a player and assistant. It’ll continue to the same as a boss. The fans won’t expect anything else, you must try and win.”

At least he could remember his first Old Firm appearance. McCoist is a better archivist than he is time keeper, informing reporters that, although his first competitive appearance had been a league defeat to Celtic, he had featured in Rangers’ 1-0 win over their rivals in a Glasgow Cup final the previous month. Steven Whittaker, who helped McCoist preview tomorrow’s match, could not even recall an Old Firm debut he made just four years ago. “You’re testing me now,” the full-back said, before making the reasonable further comment that there “have been too many” clashes between the sides in recent times.

With captain David Weir still out with a hamstring injury, McCoist has no fears about turning to Old Firm debutants Dorin Goian and Carlos Bocanegra.

“I think it would be cheeky of me not to expect Carlos or Dorin to play well,” he said. “Carlos has 90-odd caps for America and Dorin plenty for Romania so it would be cheeky of me to think they couldn’t handle it.

“Of course we have seen players come in and be surprised at this fixture, but these guys are experienced,” added McCoist. “The USA and Romania have played a number of big games, but I actually hope the lads get a little bit caught up in it all. Not to the detriment of their own or the team’s performance, but you’d expect them to get caught up in it.”