Ally McCoist delivers remarkable Rangers verdict v Celtic live on Sky Sports
Ally McCoist believes Michael Beale’s choice of centre-backs at Rangers is a “remarkable” change compared to earlier on in the season when the club’s defensive stocks were ravaged by injuries.
Although Connor Golden was ruled out of the Old Firm clash against Celtic on Saturday (8 April), John Souttar stepped into his place and started the encounter at Celtic Park strongly.
Unfortunately, despite Michael Beale’s side starting brightly, they fell behind after 27 minutes when Kyogo Fufuhashi netted a well-taken goal.
Speaking live on Sky Sports (8 April, 12:47), McCoist waxed lyrical about the options that Beale had at his disposal when compared to some of the drab performances in the Champions League group stages earlier this season.
He said: “Regarding the centre-backs, Goldson will obviously be a miss, but I think that is one of the big differences in Rangers so far, you know over the last couple of months they have been playing with two solid centre-backs makes such a difference.
“You look at some of the Champions League ties and they were playing James Sands and Leon King, and the difference is remarkable as you would expect.”
Stable
The strides taken from Rangers over the past few months has indeed been remarkable.
For a side to be a solid and successful outfit, it all starts in defence, and having Ben Davies and John Souttar at the back looked like a promising combination in the early stages of the Old Firm clash.
The Gers started on the front foot and were the better side throughout the early stages of the game, despite being stung by Furuhashi’s goal just before the half an hour mark.
This is a stark change to the days of the likes of Sands and King getting a battering in the Champions League and shows the impact injuries can have on a club.
Although Conor Golden was a massive miss for the Old Firm clash, having Souttar back to full fitness and ready to go was ideal for Beale.
Rangers might not be challenging for the Scottish Premiership title this season, but having this strength in depth is a promising sign for future seasons.
In other Rangers news, two players “will depart” Ibrox according to a BBC Sport man.