SMITH
City can be considered trophy contenders and Zabaleta sings from the same hymn sheet.
“People are talking a lot about this City team at the moment and we’ve been playing really good football since the start of the season,” he says.
“But we need to keep our feet on the ground.
“The manager said that if we want to win trophies we still need to improve as a team and I agree with that.
“I know that we’re winning games, playing really good football, creating a lot of chances and generally playing in Pep’s style, but there’s a very long way to go until the end season.
“Every single game is going to be really hard and we need to keep working.
“We know there’s a period coming up where we have a lot of games and we need to keep the momentum going.
“We are all really excited because when you see the team playing in the way the manager wants it to, everyone enjoys it.
“Some of the players came back late from the Euros and you would like to have all the players f rom the first day of the pre-season.
“So I’m very impressed how all
of the
Manchester City’s Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta is looking forward to sampling the Celtic Park atmosphere. the players already have a good understanding of how Pep wants his team to play.
“He’s always watching videos and providing all the information we can have for how we can improve.
“We know his style of play – it’s completely different to what we have done in the past.
“He always tries to play attacking football, to control the ball in possession, to be quick in the transition from defending to attacking and, of course, we want to create as many chances as we can because with the quality we have in the team we will make the difference.”
Beat Aberdeen at Pittodrie in his absence this afternoon and it is almost certain the Scouser’s days at Ibrox will be numbered.
I spoke about Barton in my column last week. But since then things have moved on apace.
Following his meeting with Mark Warburton last Monday the player was put on a three- week suspension.
Perhaps, even more significantly, it is my understanding the matter was taken out of the manager’s hands and is now being dealt with by Rangers’ HR department.
Knowing a bit about how politics work at football clubs, it is safe to assume that wouldn’t have happened had Warburton not been comfor table with the change of status.
I likewise believe Joey’s statement at the launch of his new book, No Nonsense, this week that he wanted to stay at Rangers won’t be quite as straightforward as it sounds.
He is a clever man and will know that it there is any chance of his returning to Ibrox he will need to stay on reasonable terms with the supporters.
Due to all the developments since last week, the one that will matter most was the 5- 0 thumping of Queen of the South in the BetFred Cup at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
There, fans watched a team led by stand-in skipper Andy Halliday, the team-mate at the centre of Barton’s training ground row, return to the sparkle of last season.
Halliday is well known as being a Rangers fan who just happens to wear the jersey, a fact appreciated in the stands.
It was surely no coincidence then, he was given the loudest cheer of the night when his name was read out over the tannoy.
The very fact he was made captain on the night could be read as a Mark Warburton sending out a message.
More importantly, he went on to deliver on the park. As I always say, that is the key for all players, because if you are playing well in a winning team you will be forgiven a lot.
Which brings me round to the Aberdeen match.
The start Rangers have made to their Premiership campaign with Joey Barton in the side has been underwhelming.
In addition to the 5- 1 defeat by Celtic there have been the trio of draws with Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Ross County.
However, a victory at Pittodrie, in a fixture with added spice because the clubs have not faced one another since 2012, would add real momentum to the season.
It won’t be easy. The Dons have been Celtic’s closest contenders in Rangers absence and look solid again, but if they play the way they did against Queens they will have a chance.
A chance of three points and also of hurrying Joey Barton out the door.