PICK ME UP

I was howling with laughter at wee Joe’s team until Record Sport asked me to select mine BARRY’S OLD FIRM SELECT

I HAD a good laugh to myself yesterday when I picked up my Daily Record and read various versions of the best current Old Firm select XI.

I saw my wee pal Joe Miller decided to pick a side made up of 11 Celtic players.

I don’t know if he truly believed that was the best team available or if he was just at the wind-up but it gave me a good chuckle anyway.

Until, that is, I took a call from the sports desk and they asked me to pick a side myself.

Suddenly it didn’t seem quite so funny. Like Joe, my first reaction was to name a team full of Rangers players because I support them.

But eventually I was able to screw my football head on and once I did that I came up with a team that beats anything the rest of them came up with, hands down.

In goal I’m giving Craig Gordon the nod because of his experience in high-level games in the Premier League, Europe and with Scotland.

I like what I’ve seen of Wes Foderingham but he has yet to prove it at the very top level. You can’t even say with certainty he’ll be Rangers’ first pick as Matt Gilks has his eye on the No.1 shirt.

My full-backs were also easy decisions, even though there’s stiff competition. James Tavernier at right-back, Lee Wallace on the left.

There is a strong case for Mikael Lustig and an even better one for Kieran Tierney but the Rangers pair go straight into my team because I want my full-backs to attack down both flanks.

I love young Tierney. He’s a tenacious, highly-talented wee guy and I’d go as far as to say he’ll end up winning over 50 Scotland caps but Wallace and Tavernier have been machines over the last year.

At the centre of my defence my first pick is Erik Sviatchenko. I like the look of this guy. I like the way he plays. He’s not just a good defender, he reads the game and uses the ball well too. So he’s in.

This will be a big year for Danny Wilson. He hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet but having trained and played with him I know what

GORDON

he’s capable of. People doubt his defensive qualities but he has all the talent and ability to become a top-class centre-half. Working day in, day out with Davie Weir and Clint Hill will make him better.

In midfield I’m going with a flat, narrow three and the players are all capable of interchanging.

I’ll start with Joey Barton with Scott Brown on his right and Andy Halliday to his left. I’d have them playing as a tight three so my fullbacks can bomb on down both wings. All three can use the ball but won’t get messed about.

Barton has the potential to be the signing of the season. I’ve played against him and gone through some coaching badges with him. He’s very underrated.

Brown also got a bit of criticism last year but the guy was playing with an injury and when he rushed back he got tendonitis in both hamstrings. Anyone who doubts his ability as a midfielder just doesn’t know the game. He would be in my team every time.

Halliday was Rangers’ best player last season. He’s another guy who can get about the pitch and who can handle the ball. He’s also got that nasty streak I love.

In front of them I need a creative player and that’s bad news for Barrie McKay and Patrick Roberts who are two exceptionally talented young kids. I rate both highly but they’re better in a wider role and the man I want behind my two strikers is a specialist.

Niko Kranjcar is probably the most gifted football player anywhere in Scotland right now. Once he’s fully fit he will give this Rangers team what Lubo Moravcik brought to Celtic.

Moravcik was special. I still wonder how Celtic managed to pluck him out of nowhere because he was unbelievable. I’d watch him take a corner with his left foot one minute and then with his right the next and I’d think to myself, “Wow, this guy is different class”.

Kranjcar is in the same bracket and plays with that elegance. He does things that leave you shaking your head in disbelief.

He’s the perfect set-up man for my front two of Leigh Griffiths and Kenny Miller.

Griffiths’s goals make him a nobrainer. He’s a natural finisher so if we get the ball in the box he’ll take whatever chances come his way. Kenny’s experience and link-up play make him the perfect foil.

With Kranjcar supplying these two with ammunition my team will run riot.