BBC Scotland pundit says what Rangers cannot afford to do in Old Firm v Celtic
Rangers cannot repeat their mistake of starting too slowly and sitting back too passively against Celtic in Saturday’s crucial Old Firm derby clash, according to James McFadden.
The former Scotland forward was giving his verdict whilst speaking on the Open Goal Podcast [9 May, 50:24] after Rangers have recently had to recover from sluggish starts in games, including in last month’s Old Firm draw at Ibrox.
Rangers must not lose at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon to remain in with a chance of lifting the Scottish Premiership trophy – a win taking the bitter rivals level on points – and McFadden responded to Simon Ferry’s question of whether Rangers could sit in and play defensively.
“No, because they’ve tried it. They tried it in the game at Ibrox,” said the former Motherwell man, who now works as a pundit for BBC Scotland.
“They couldn’t get anywhere near Celtic, and then in the second half they’re more aggressive, they go man-for-man at the back and they squeeze up in the game. They got so much joy.”
Rangers’ second-half pressure
Of course guided by a run of difficult results in the Glasgow derby in recent years, Rangers have traditionally begun with a more conservative style and let Celtic apply pressure.
This has been the case under three different managers: Philippe Clement, Michael Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst. McFadden refers to last month, when the Gers came out all guns blazing in the second half to recover from two goals down and eventually grab a 3-3 draw – without which there would no longer be a title race.
The face-off between Clement and Brendan Rodgers – who Chris Sutton claims has got under the Belgian’s skin this week – has cranked up the pressure with Rangers knowing defeat consigns the club to another year unable to replicate Steven Gerrard’s achievement.
Rangers must hassle, harry and agitate Celtic on their own patch as often and as early as possible, start well and maintain a lead should they edge a goal or even two.
To remain passive, invite Celtic in and allow their in-form forward players such as Matt O’Riley and Kyogo to stamp their marker on the game is footballing suicide and could leave the mountain too steep to climb.
In other Rangers news, an Ibrox duo are set to leave the club this summer amid heavy squad reinforcements.
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