Ally McCOIST last night condemned the football authorities - and not Thierry Henry - over the goal that shook the world.
McCoist has every sympathy for the Republic of Ireland and the way they have been denied a place in South Africa next year.
But he defends Henry's actions while football exists in the Dark Ages, able to use TV evidence but unwilling to switch on.
The Gers assistant boss said: "I don't know Henry personally but he will get no stick from me.
"If there was no TV coverage of the game on the scale we've witnessed since Wednesday night we would not even be discussing the incident.
"If football followed the example set by rugby, cricket or tennis and used TV evidence to establish mistakes we wouldn't be having the argument that's going on now.
"Henry clearly handled the ball twice but he's hardly going to run up to the referee and admit his guilt when there's a place at the World Cup Finals at stake, is he?"
McCoist will be accused of betraying the ethics of his sport but claims football leaders punished Ireland in Paris, not Henry.
He said: "All we do is moan about referees and then we take the decision not to offer them the help TV replays would bring to clear up mistakes.
"If you have a tool that corrects miscarriages of justice and don't use it then that's the biggest crime of all.
"Maybe it will take the cruellest of blows to the Irish to make people see sense.
"Do you think there's an Irishman who wouldn't vote for the implementation of technology to bring the game into the 21st century? It's ridiculous not to use it in this day and age."
Henry has plenty of "previous" where bending the rules is concerned, including another handball offence to give Barcelona a goal against Rangers in a Champions League tie two years ago.
But that's not enough for McCoist to find the Frenchman guilty of being a persistent offender.
He said: "Football is full of fine lines between right and wrong.
"Is it cheating if Henry commits a foul any more than if he handles the ball before crossing for a goal? "And what kind of can of worms does he open up if he goes to the ref and confesses to handball ? "The referee is then left in some position because he has already awarded a goal and his word is supposed to be final.
"I wouldn't say football is all about win at any cost.
"I wouldn't think for one moment Henry would have been getting pats on the back from his team-mates after the game .
"I believe the French would have felt for the team they'd just beaten and wouldn't have been gloating."
McCoist admitted his opinion would leave him with no comeback if Rangers were ever on the receiving end of such an error.
And it was Rangers who occupied his mind after he dumped any possibility of taking the Scotland job. The man who was part of Walter Smith's backroom team with Tommy Burns when the trio joined forces to help Scotland in 2004 knows two things about the job.
The first is the national side is in the same state of distress they were in five years ago before Smith transformed them.
The second is that McCoist's previous experience with Scotland as No.2 doesn't qualify him to become the main man.
He said: "I want to be Scotland manager one day but I'm not ready for the job yet. There are people out there a lot more experienced than me.
"Craig Levein, Jim Jefferies and Jimmy Calderwood are all in front of me. The Scotland players need to be given a sense of direction and a renewed sense of self belief. But it's not all doom and gloom."
McCoist's optimism for the future is based on his experience of the past and what can be done with broken minds.
He said:"Walter, Tommyand I met a group of players who had been battered from pillar to post but they were decent pros and we are in the same position today.
McCoist has every sympathy for the Republic of Ireland and the way they have been denied a place in South Africa next year.
But he defends Henry's actions while football exists in the Dark Ages, able to use TV evidence but unwilling to switch on.
The Gers assistant boss said: "I don't know Henry personally but he will get no stick from me.
"If there was no TV coverage of the game on the scale we've witnessed since Wednesday night we would not even be discussing the incident.
"If football followed the example set by rugby, cricket or tennis and used TV evidence to establish mistakes we wouldn't be having the argument that's going on now.
"Henry clearly handled the ball twice but he's hardly going to run up to the referee and admit his guilt when there's a place at the World Cup Finals at stake, is he?"
McCoist will be accused of betraying the ethics of his sport but claims football leaders punished Ireland in Paris, not Henry.
He said: "All we do is moan about referees and then we take the decision not to offer them the help TV replays would bring to clear up mistakes.
"If you have a tool that corrects miscarriages of justice and don't use it then that's the biggest crime of all.
"Maybe it will take the cruellest of blows to the Irish to make people see sense.
"Do you think there's an Irishman who wouldn't vote for the implementation of technology to bring the game into the 21st century? It's ridiculous not to use it in this day and age."
Henry has plenty of "previous" where bending the rules is concerned, including another handball offence to give Barcelona a goal against Rangers in a Champions League tie two years ago.
But that's not enough for McCoist to find the Frenchman guilty of being a persistent offender.
He said: "Football is full of fine lines between right and wrong.
"Is it cheating if Henry commits a foul any more than if he handles the ball before crossing for a goal? "And what kind of can of worms does he open up if he goes to the ref and confesses to handball ? "The referee is then left in some position because he has already awarded a goal and his word is supposed to be final.
"I wouldn't say football is all about win at any cost.
"I wouldn't think for one moment Henry would have been getting pats on the back from his team-mates after the game .
"I believe the French would have felt for the team they'd just beaten and wouldn't have been gloating."
McCoist admitted his opinion would leave him with no comeback if Rangers were ever on the receiving end of such an error.
And it was Rangers who occupied his mind after he dumped any possibility of taking the Scotland job. The man who was part of Walter Smith's backroom team with Tommy Burns when the trio joined forces to help Scotland in 2004 knows two things about the job.The first is the national side is in the same state of distress they were in five years ago before Smith transformed them.
The second is that McCoist's previous experience with Scotland as No.2 doesn't qualify him to become the main man.
He said: "I want to be Scotland manager one day but I'm not ready for the job yet. There are people out there a lot more experienced than me.
"Craig Levein, Jim Jefferies and Jimmy Calderwood are all in front of me. The Scotland players need to be given a sense of direction and a renewed sense of self belief. But it's not all doom and gloom."
McCoist's optimism for the future is based on his experience of the past and what can be done with broken minds.
He said:"Walter, Tommyand I met a group of players who had been battered from pillar to post but they were decent pros and we are in the same position today.
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