IT’S VITAL WE DON’T FREEZE
McNamara turns to memories of Old Firm clashes to ensure United keep cool for Ibrox showdown
THEY just have to get out of their own way, if you like. Cope with the occasion and the football should take care of itself. Far, far easier said than done. As Jackie McNamara prepares to take his relatively raw Dundee United team to the decidedly non-neutral venue of Ibrox tomorrow, he knows that much of the danger lies within.
Amid the obligatory talking up of opponents under huge pressure to prove themselves worthy of both their enormous support base and the budget they provide, McNamara addressed the biggest fear of every United fan — namely a catastrophic case of stage fright in a fixture that the former Celtic star readily compares to an Old Firm game.
‘They have to make sure they don’t freeze — that is the crucial part of it,’ said the ever-youthful coach, drawing on his own experience of facing Rangers as a player. ‘It’s important they stay relaxed because I know it can be quite difficult.
‘I remember I used to worry coming up to Old Firm games. But, as I got older, I tried not to think about it. I just turned up on the day and played.
‘We know there is a lot riding on this game, a lot of pressure to get to a cup final. That’s why we try to keep the approach the same, relaxed at the start of the week.
‘It reminds me a lot of my playing days when an Old Firm game was coming up — everybody would come out and give it the big build-up.
‘Because Rangers have had a bad result in the Ramsdens Cup Final, people have turned on them and their manager. For me, nothing has changed. ‘My players shouldn’t let it worry them. I know there has been a lot of attention this week but they have to go out there and enjoy the occasion.’
If United play at the kind of tempo that has left many a top-flight team reeling this season, a Rangers side used to facing altogether less sharp opposition may struggle to catch them.
There is certainly a great deal of logic behind suggestions that a slow-thinking Ibrox unit sucker-punched by Raith Rovers last Sunday afternoon simply are not up to this challenge.
McNamara is not falling for any of it, of course. The way he sees it, Rangers have too many good players to be discarded. Especially on their own turf.
Cutting through ticket rows and controversies over the selection of venue, the United manager said: ‘It’s a home game for them. We’ll take a good crowd down but, ultimately, Rangers are at home.
‘ If i t had been at Tannadice, it would be our home game. It’s for us to go down there and to take the game to them.
‘I’m not talking about tickets or the crowd, I just mean it’s their home park, they play there every second week. They’re used to it. I’m not looking for excuses, it’s just a fact.
‘For me, it’s a great occasion for the players to play there. The young team that we are, it’s exciting, so enjoy it.
‘You could say that we might turn the
“They are better than the last time we played them”
crowd against them — or it could have the exact opposite effect. Their fans might get right behind them after what happened last weekend, the amount of stick they have taken, not just from their own fans but from other supporters as well.
‘There has been a lot of backlash on the back of the Raith Rovers game. But they’ve lost two games all season, in cup competitions and in extra time — one against Forfar, one at the weekend there.
‘Last Sunday wasn’t a great game, it was very defensive, but they had chances to win it, hit the post and had a couple of headers f rom ( Bilel) Mohsni.
‘We talk about thin lines in football and that’s a game they could have won, yet a few minutes later they lost a goal because a guy trips and falls, which can happen in a game.
‘Any fan, if you gave them a choice between winning the Ramsdens Cup and getting to the Scottish Cup Final, there wouldn’t be any comparison.
‘I think Rangers are a better team than the last time we faced them last year (United won 3-0 in the fifth round). I think they’ve shown that.
‘They’ve gone up a league, they’ve only lost two games in extra time in the cups. They’re stronger and they’ve scored more goals.
‘But, again, I only worry about my own side. I make sure we are prepared and relaxed, ignore the headlines and all the talk about who is favourites.
‘Before we played Inverness away in the quarter-finals, everybody had us down as fifth favourites, behind Aberdeen, Rangers, St Johnstone and Inverness.
‘Suddenly, because they’ve had a bad result last Sunday, we’re everybody’s favourite to beat Rangers. But nothing has changed for me from last week to this week.
‘We know it will be a hard game, I know they will be more fired up — if you can get more fired up for a home game.’
That Rangers will be f ull of hard-running passion and frenzied determination is, or should be, a given for most games at Ibrox.
The chance to reach the Scottish Cup Final at the expense of everybody’s darlings — a United team feted for their style and verve — should add a pinch or two of intensity.
Against this, McNamara can only instil in his players the importance of keeping their heads cool and clear. As an example of what can happen when they aren’t tuned in, he need only point to last weekend’s 2-0 home loss to Celtic.
‘I think discipline is crucial — that and concentration,’ he said. ‘ Last weekend we didn’t concentrate and
lost a goal to Celtic after five minutes.
‘It took us until the second half to get our game going. We got deeper and deeper, got nervous. We need to make sure we don’t do that on Saturday.’
He has watched Rangers several times. If he cannot control what the opposition do, he might at least have a chance at predicting the approach of Ally McCoist’s men.
Knowing what the other guy is going to do is only step one of stopping him, though.
Just as being prepared for a hostile atmosphere is merely part of coping with the bedlam.
If United are to secure a Scottish Cup Final berth as reward f or providing so much entertainment to so many this year, they will have to be not only listening to McNamara’s sage words of advice — but embedding them in their game plan for tomorrow.