St Johnstone boss Derek McInnes always dusted down a bottle of red wine when Walter Smith brought Rangers to McDiarmid Park but expects the drinks bill to plummet when old pal Ally McCoist is in town this weekend.
Saints host the Scottish champions on Saturday, and the lunchtime fixture will be the first time the pair have locked horns as managers.
Their friendship goes back to their days together at Ibrox when McInnes used to drive McCoist to training, while he was serving a disqualification. They’ve been close ever since, but McInnes revealed the current Rangers manager’s drinking tastes aren’t quite as expensive as his predecessor’s.
He joked, “I’ll save a bit of money because a bottle of beer normally suffices for Coisty. Rangers have always been a set of staff that come into my office for a chat after a match, whatever the result, and they don’t leave until your fridge is empty.”
McInnes was keen to stress, though, that the banter with McCoist has been put on hold until the match is over.
“Win, lose or draw you have a beer with them but before a match it’s all about our preparations. I don’t expect to be speaking to him this week. We’ll both be concentrating on preparing our teams for the game.”
“I think it will just be business as usual to be honest. We had a look at them at Ibrox last night and we’ve got a few other reports on them.
“We’re mates, but in terms of me and Ally it’s a wee side issue. It’s about the players. He’s looking to bring a few new players in and we’ve done the same, but we’ve both kept the nucleus of our team.
“From speaking to Ally I know he wants new signings to give their place a lift. That’s how I feel as well.
“The biggest thing is it’s our first home game of the season, and we don’t have another match for a fortnight.”
Saints’ trip to face Hibs, originally scheduled for August 6, has been rearranged for Wednesday, September 28, with a 7.45pm kick-off.