Ally McCoist admits he was left confused by Steven Gerrard 's recent comments on Tyrone Mings. The Aston Villa boss stripped the centre-back of captaincy duties ahead of the new season and replaced him with Scotland international John McGinn.
Mings also found himself out of Gerrard's Villa side as the Premier League campaign kicked off, with the former Rangers boss insisting he would only return when "he looks me in the eye and shows that he's ready to play". The defender was restored to Gerrard's starting XI at the weekend as the manager picked up a much-needed win in beating Everton 2-1.
But Ibrox legend McCoist still couldn't shake Gerrard's initial assessment of the situation, describing the Liverpool legend's comments as "strange". He told talkSPORT: “I was surprised when Steven said, ‘when Tyrone is ready to look me in the eye’. I thought that was a strange thing to say.
“I don’t know if he meant anything other by it. It was as if he was implying, rightly or wrongly, that he wasn’t ready to look him in the eye, which I thought was a strange thing."
Mings also become embroiled in a war of words with Graeme Souness over the past week after the pundit criticised him in a newspaper column. Souness referred to a Sky Sports Zoom call on which the defender appeared during the Covid-19 lockdown and insisted he had "a hell of a lot to say even though he’s achieved nothing in the game".
That led Mings to hit back at Souness on Twitter, branding the former Rangers and Liverpool hero's column "pointless" and questioning why he brought up a conversation from 2020. The exchange had sparked some heated online debate but McCoist insists he has no issue with either man having their say.
“It’s our job to discuss all these things but there has to be a line you don’t get personal," he said. “I don’t have a problem at all with Tyrone Mings replying to Graeme and I certainly don’t have a problem with Graeme giving us a qualified opinion on matters.”
