WE HAVE TO STOP CELTIC WINNING 10 IN A ROW, INSISTS SMITH:
SAYS WALTER SMITH ARMSTRONG’S UNITED FRONT: Pages 78-79
THE pressure is almost beyond description. And that’s before the real head-to-head competition begins next season.
If Walter Smith has few concerns about Mark Warburton’s ability to cope with his Old Firm debut on Sunday, the bigger challenge — stopping Celtic from winning nine or even 10 titles on the spin — is likely to prove a great deal more intense.
The legendary Ibrox gaffer was at the helm when an allconquering Rangers side wrapped up Nine in a Row, only to fall short of a record-smashing 10th straight league flag.
Today, he sees his old rivals on the brink of a fifth successive title ... and knows exactly how fans on both sides of the divide are thinking.
Celtic supporters, whose team have been given a free run at the top honour for the past four years, believe that even a strengthened Rangers will take time to adjust to the Premiership.
For the Hoops generation too young to have enjoyed Jock Stein’s glory years but old enough to remember Graeme Souness and then Smith lording it over their rebuilding team, the situation is laden with delicious potential.
The Light Blue legions? They split into two camps. Those who will admit to fearing the worst … and a group who are being, at best, economical with the truth.
‘It is a pressure that will come on Rangers — and it will come on right away,’ said Smith. ‘I hear people saying that they have got time. But I’m afraid time and patience were never virtues that Rangers supporters were blessed with, in particular.
‘The challenge is back. First and foremost the challenge is there for Rangers, having been out for four years. It’s a bigger challenge to them than for Celtic, who have been winning championships.
‘So not only have you to go in and do well, you’ve got to stop Celtic getting that nine in a row, towards 10 in a row, dare I say it.
‘When that happened before, for both Rangers and Celtic when they were winning nine in a row, they always knew they had to beat the other one the following season.
‘Celtic have not had that for four years. I think that has been a problem for them, although it doesn’t really count on Sunday.
‘They’ve had a free run and nobody would have expected that circumstance.
‘They’ve taken advantage of it and it will be up to Rangers to react to that. They have done in the past and they’ll have to do it once again.
‘That’s the awkward thing for everybody at Rangers, that they’ve so much to do to get back.
‘Yet there’s a level of optimism there that they can do it and get back to somewhere near the level they were at five, 10 years ago.’
Few figures in Scottish football enjoyed — or endured — more exposure to the Old Firm fixture than Smith, who freely admits that the tension and nerves of the day only intensified with the passing of the years. This is an experience that never lost its edge.
He brushes aside any notion that Warburton’s debut will prove too much for the Englishman, saying of an atmosphere that can rattle the best of them: ‘That’s why he’s taken the job, isn’t it? You’re not going to have a fear of that.
‘You take the job because you want to do it. He could have stayed in England and got a decent job down there — but he’s come here to experience this.
‘He’s experiencing the game for the first time and he will be looking forward to it. And he’ll want to, if he can, enjoy it.
‘Yes, there is going to be a bit of tension, a bit of nerves, but it doesn’t matter how many of these games you’ve been involved in — you will always get that.
‘In fact, sometimes it gets worse, the more times you’ve experienced it. ‘It is a nervewracking thing.
For me, having been born and brought up in Scotland, having been a Rangers supporter when I was younger, before moving into the professional game, maybe that actually made it worse for me.
‘Mark comes from England, he’s a Tottenham fan. But he’s been here long enough now.
‘A year is long enough to know the kind of pressures that he’ll be under in this game.
‘If you are going to accept the job of Celtic or Rangers manager, you’ve got to be able to handle that part of the job. And be able to look forward to it.
‘The longer I was in the job, the worse it became for me, this whole experience.
‘In your early days, it’s a big challenge. The nerves and everything, the tension, got worse as I got more experienced. That part of it certainly never got any easier.
‘The Rangers and Celtic game still had something about it. There were no laxatives required on match day, I can say that!
‘But for Mark or for Ronny Deila, who just had the one Old Firm game last year, they’ve had big games before where the nerves will have been intense.
‘Mark reached the play-offs with Brentford. If you look at those games and what they are worth to everyone, there is a massive amount of tension in that situation — a year’s work and a pot of gold at the end of it, to go and play for.
‘So those are hell of a games to be involved in at the end of a season.
‘He will be experienced in handling pressure. I don’t think anything will be new to him.
‘It certainly isn’t something anybody should fear.
‘He should look forward to it as an opportunity to get to a cup final for Rangers, after what they’ve been through in the four years. That’s a massive incentive for them.’
Most expect the gap which was so evident between the clubs in last season’s League Cup semi-final, when Celtic cruised to a straightforward 2-0 victory, to have been narrowed considerably. Smith admitted: ‘Last year, Rangers were going in hoping to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
‘That is what they were practically there for, even before the game started. ‘Now, you are saying to yourself: “How will they play? How will they do?” It is really interesting to see how that pans out.’
120 110 46 34 goals scored by Rangers this season goals scored by Celtic this season goals conceded by Celtic this season goals conceded by Rangers this season
FOR Parkhead midfielder Stuart Armstrong, this weekend’s meeting of Celtic and Rangers will be a new experience. In every sense.
Born in Inverness, the 24-year-old has never been to a Glasgow derby. Never even watched one on television.
He was in Newcastle when the teams met in last season’s League Cup semi-finals, returning north 24 hours later to sign for Celtic.
He has little or no idea of what to expect, and the former Dundee United star admits he will draw heavily on the positive experiences he gleaned from the Tayside derby.
Emulating his record as a Tannadice player against Dundee would be the key to a seamless transition.
‘I never lost,’ grinned Armstrong. ‘We had a great record against Dundee home and away. I have never been on a losing side. So that was good for Dundee United and it was a good feeling to have, getting one up on your rivals.
‘If we could do that again on Sunday it would be good.
‘I think it means a lot more to everyone, these derby games. If you get the better of your rival it means that bit extra than a normal league game.’
Armstrong can’t be precise on what a Glasgow derby will mean to him because he has never sampled one.
Growing up in the Highlands, the west of Scotland tribalism eluded him.
‘I was in Newcastle with my girlfriend when Celtic played Rangers in the League Cup semi-final last season,’ he recalled.
‘That was the day before I signed for Celtic.
‘I had played for Dundee United the previous day against Aberdeen in the other semi-final and we won, so then I headed to Newcastle.
‘I didn’t watch it and I have never experienced an Old Firm game.
‘Over the years, I might have seen it in glimpses, but I’ve never fully appreciated the event.
‘Is it a new thing for me? That’s probably fair to say.
‘Obviously, when you are in the Central Belt, it’s a massive event and the talk about this game since the draw has been huge.
‘But when you live up north, perhaps you don’t appreciate how big it is.’
He is, at least, no stranger to Hampden. He knows what the national stadium experience entails, good and bad. He was there a few times with Dundee United and also knows what cup games against Rangers involve.
He scored in a 3-1 Scottish Cup semi-final victory at Ibrox in 2014 and remembers the experience fondly.
‘It will be useful to have played in semi-finals and finals and taking that experience into what is a really big game,’ he admitted.
‘But I don’t think you can prepare yourself until you have actually experienced it because of the sense I get.
‘As derbies go, it is probably the biggest that I’ll have been involved in.
‘It’s a club game and the pressure is always on to get into the Final.
‘I scored against Rangers at Ibrox and that was a nice feeling. It was a full stadium and it got us off to a good start.
‘We won the game, so I have happy memories from that day and it took us into the Final as well. If we could repeat that, it would be brilliant.’
The truth is that, for Armstrong, life at Celtic has been one of peaks and troughs. Goals against Inter Milan in a Europa League last-16 clash were the highlights. Playing out of position as a left winger while struggling to adapt to the on and off-field demands have been an issue.
This season his form has shaded, his starting place threatened often.
Yet the expectation is that either he or his close friend Gary Mackay-Steven will be in the starting XI against Rangers.
At this stage it’s guesswork. Like tossing balls in the air and seeing what comes down given how often Ronny Deila changes things. Colin Kazim-Richards started on the left against Motherwell last weekend but would surely be a combustible gamble in a meeting with Rangers. Armstrong’s ability to track James Tavernier’s forward runs would make him a safer pick.
‘Everyone wants to play,’ said the midfielder. ‘You can see in everyone’s face that they want to be involved and play their part.
‘Not only playing a big semi-final against Rangers, but also helping the team get into a final and being part of that success. ‘I want to play my part for the team and, if I do play a part, I want to do it well for the team. ‘I don’t look at it as an opportunity for me, but an opportunity for the team. ‘This season has been tough at times, but I now feel more accustomed to the way of life at Celtic — the amount of games, the amount of pressure to win and win well. ‘It’s been a good year of learning. ‘Now Rangers are coming back to the top league and the fixtures will be returning, there will be a lot of build-up around those next season and it’ll probably be good for the league.’ For Celtic players, questions about Rangers are peppered with landmines. Using the ‘Old Firm’ term is now frowned upon by some supporters. Admitting the Ibrox club may have been missed in any shape or form also plays out poorly with fans.
Choosing his words carefully, Armstrong will only say: ‘I think it’s a big game, a big fixture.
‘The fans probably look forward to it and the players look forward to it as well.
‘It is completely different to a European fixture or another derby. Having said that, I haven’t experienced it so I don’t really know how it feels to play in or be involved in it. But I am looking forward to seeing what it is all about.’
‘I have experienced these games before, semi-finals before, finals before, European games before, and you get used to that level of expectation and pressure.
‘Obviously it is a derby and a huge game, but I think just focusing on football is what matters.’
His last Hampden experience was grim. Celtic have lost their last two semi-finals there, firstly to Inverness Caley Thistle and then to Ross County.
‘I didn’t play in the Inverness game,’ said Armstrong. ‘The Ross County game was obviously disappointing.
‘But circumstances were difficult in that game with the sending-off (for Efe Ambrose). We had a great start and it petered out.
‘But Dundee United beat Aberdeen in the semi-finals last season. We scored two late goals to beat them 2-1.
‘So mixed emotions there. It is a different game completely. We just need to focus on this one.
‘I can imagine that maybe it hots up a little bit with people’s tempers.
‘What’s important is that you need to keep calm and keep your discipline and don’t get carried away.’