Gers have turned over a new belief and now won’t be Celtic’s pushovers
CELTIC v RANGERS
HOPE is one thing and genuine belief is another and this is a Rangers side ready to step up as the real deal.
Steven Gerrard has said that even a defeat tomorrow won’t mean they’ll down tools in the title race but I believe they need to get something out of the game.
Taking at least a point is crucial and that is my belief.
Listen, it’s far from over if Rangers do lose as history shows that would be a foolish thing to believe. But there are psychological issues at play with the Old Firm and that is what makes this encounter such a massive one.
One of the clubs are going to take a psychological edge into the winter shutdown and that can’t be brushed aside as it matters big time.
Even if Celtic did edge themselves eight points clear, Rangers would still have a game in hand but I prefer to talk up the positives. It’s the way I have always tried to think as both a player and manager.
Rangers have shown they can match Celtic, there is no doubt in my mind about that. We all saw that during the League Cup Final.
The only disappointment from that day was the fact they couldn’t score and so much has been said and written about that.
Focus on the fact how dominant Rangers were in the game, they showed they are more than capable of going to Parkhead and matching an excellent Celtic side.
I’ll take that as a step forward. They showed at Hampden they are capable of outplaying Neil Lennon’s team so there’s the huge positive for me ahead of this game.
That’s what I’ll be going back to and that’s what I’d be saying to the players if I was involved in this fixture.
I’d be telling my team-mates to blank out the negatives and take all of the positives from Hampden as there were plenty of them. It’s always about winning so saying the only negative about the Final was not winning would be a naive comment so it should be said in whispers. There’s another slant on this game. If Rangers can win then it turns it all around in an instant. I played in so many of these Old Firm games and I remember similar occasions when I went to the East End of Glasgow knowing we had to take something. Gerrard and his players need to come away from Celtic Park with something, they need to climb back on that team bus knowing they now have a wee break and are still in a title race.
Showing they can compete is one thing, tomorrow needs to be another step and it’s about turning that good performance into a winning one.
I only expect one change from the side that started against Kilmarnock on Boxing Day and it’s a no-brainer.
Alfredo Morelos must come in for Jermain Defoe and we all saw what he did against Killie.
I watched the game on Rangers TV and I saw the difference Alfredo made when he came on.
He looked hungry. He’d have been disappointed at what happened at
Fir Park with his red card and I thought Defoe rightly kept his place as he was excellent against Hibs at Easter Road.
But Rangers are a better side with Morelos in it and that’s why he’ll start against Celtic.
He looked as though he wanted to prove a point against Killie and he did that by scoring yet again.
His red card against Motherwell was a one-off as his discipline has been excellent this season so far. That has impressed me so he should be in as he makes a big difference.
The only other question is whether Steven Davis comes back. But he’s missed three weeks of football and I know as a player that’s a big ask.
Nobody needs to tell me what
Davo brings to the team but you need to look at the football he’s missed.
He’s now back and only played about 20 minutes on Boxing Day. So he’s had little football in his legs over the last few weeks and it’s a decision Gerrard has to make.
The midfield have done well without him so he’ll have a chat with Davo. I know him so well that if he isn’t completely right he’ll say so.
Believe me, you need to be at it 100 per cent in these games. I have missed a couple of weeks’ training leading up to Old Firm games and they have passed me by.
It’s about being on the button from the first whistle.
My feeling is it’s going to be a cracker, a game of attacking and end-to-end football against a Celtic side who should be afforded every respect. They are champions for a reason – a group of superb players but a team which Rangers need to show can be beaten.