Mick McCarthy has revealed how he once visited a Rangers-daft pub with his official Celtic outfit and told a local to “f*** off” after he asked him to take it off.
The former defender spent two years at Parkhead as a player after he was signed by Billy McNeill and won three trophies, including an integral part in the memorable double success during the club’s centenary season in 1988. McCarthy spoke of the intensity of the Glasgow goldfish bowl during an interview on the Under The Cosh podcast and told a story of visiting his mate’s Rangers boozer in Cambuslang on the outskirts of Glasgow wearing his Celtic suit and tie.
The 65-year-old names Billy Cowan, who runs the Black Bull in Cambuslang, as his friend at the time. The former Republic of Ireland manager, who joined Celtic from Manchester City, said: “Celtic is so pressurised – it’s everywhere. You go out. You’re in a pub, you’re in a restaurant. It is everywhere, one or the other. If you aren’t seen by a Celtic fan you’re seen by a Rangers fan.
“When you’re born there and lived there it’s hard. It’s hard for the lads up there – far greater than it was for me. I loved my two years there but there was that element. There’s Rangers pubs and Celtic pubs.
“My mate Billy Cowan had a pub in Cambuslang. He asked me if I wanted to go round one night and – Hello Mr Stupid here! – I did with my grey slacks, green blazer, white shirt and green tie. Full Celtic clobber.
“And as I walked in everyone turned round. I sat down and this guy came across to me and said ‘Hey big man, you cannae wear your colours in here!’ He said you have to take your tie off. I said really? He said ‘you can’t wear your tie’.
“I said you can f*** off. This is my club clothes, my work clothes. I go to work in this. And he went ‘Alright big man’. He wanted me to take my tie off but the way he asked me I said ‘f*** off’. I was going to get a good hiding. I kind of got it then and knew what they were all about. I was wrong doing it I suppose but it was my mate’s pub!”
McCarthy managed current Rangers assistant manager Alex Rae at Millwall with the iron man midfielder having well documented alcohol addiction problems during his career. And McCarthy told how he tried to keep him on the straight and narrow.
He said: “Alex didn’t come in for training – and when he did come in for training he was worse for wear! I said to him after training one day ‘Alex, you were hopeless today’ and he said ‘Gaffer, if you’d have drunk what I drunk last night you’d have been hopeless as well!’
“One thing I learned from Jack Charlton was that everyone is different you need to manage them in a certain way. Alex was a fabulous player who scored the best hat-trick I’ve ever seen at Notts County. An amazing player and an amazing talent talent but he had his issues which he’s open about and spoke about.
“Was I aware of that? Him and Malcolm Allen, I was the manager and those two lads were playing for me and I told Fiona one Friday night I was bringing two lads for tea because we were playing on Saturday and I wanted to make sure they were having something to eat and not having a drink.
“We got the pasta on, nice meal and then I drove them back and dropped them off near the ground where they were staying.
“But the two of them were living it up and out drinking every night. Alex said the vegetables might have a bad effect on him – because he hadn’t had one for months! They weren’t eating particularly well and doing a fair bit of a drinking but clubs have a responsibility not to just put young lads in a dodgy flat and leave them to their own devices. But that was 1996 and they were both left to their own devices.”