Accidental hero
That’s what Murty will be if he pulls off Old Firm triumph
BEAT Celtic tomorrow and Rangers will revel in an accidental masterstroke. The biggest break Ibrox has seen since Scott Nisbet’s bouncing bomb wiped out Club Brugge in 1993.
Three months ago, Derek McInnes turned down the chance to become the club’s next manager.
For chairman Dave King and the Ibrox directors, the weeks before Christmas felt like the siege of the Winter Palace.
The appointment of Mark Warburton prompted a bitter break-up. Hiring Pedro Caixinha on the rebound was a relationship that was doomed from the start.
The Portuguese left behind a legacy of wasteful, big-money signings. And a vacancy the board couldn’t fill.
They spent so long chasing a Chris Coleman-type, winter arrived and McInnes suffered a bout of cold feet.
Eventually, King and Co found themselves in last chance saloon with the choice no club ever wants to make. The Under-20s coach.
Credit Graeme Murty for the way he has set about forging a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. If the interim boss secures his first victory over Celtic tomorrow, the Ibrox board owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
Heading into December, the champions looked unassailable. Racing certainties to reach seven-in-a-row and add a Treble for good measure. They still could.
Yet the fact anyone at all thinks Rangers have a decent chance in this match tells its own tale. It’s a narrative no one could have predicted three months ago.
To discount the other possibility would be daft. The visitors are capable of travelling across Glasgow and trampling all over the Ibrox revival. Aided and abetted by the easiest team-talk Brendan Rodgers will ever give.
Murty isn’t yet the finished article. His inexperience showed last weekend when he walked into the Ibrox Press room and admitted his players had cheered the Scottish Cup draw which pitted them against Celtic.
There and then, Rodgers was presented with a headline. Something to pin on the noticeboard.
Celtic already hold a six-point lead and a game in hand. They don’t need any more gifts.
But Rangers can take sustenance from the fact the champions aren’t over the hill and out of sight. They really should be.
The Light Blues have lost seven games this season. They’ve shipped 19 points at home. Over the last ten games, the Premiership leaders have accumulated more points than their city rivals.
Yet Celtic’s stuttering league form has left open a window of opportunity. And allowed Rangers to gain some momentum in their last six games. The stats tell no lies. The Ibrox side are now 11 points better off than they were at the same stage last season, while Celtic are 16 points worse off. The top performers of the Invincibles season — Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele, Tom Rogic, Leigh Griffiths, Patrick Roberts — have suffered injuries or a loss of form. Opponents are employing a high press, making it hard to build the play from the back. And motivation has returned, at times, to Ronny Deila levels. But if Rodgers can’t get his players up for this one, then the Parkhead side have a bigger problem than anyone thinks. Unbeaten in eight Old Firm games, the Celtic boss has won all three of his visits to Ibrox. The Northern Irishman will fancy his team’s chances tomorrow.
A Rangers defeat would represent an anti-climax for the home team.
But the fact there’s any doubt at all over the destination of the title with nine games to go shows the progress they’ve made.
The three points are likely to hinge on which defence copes best with the pressure. Neither has looked overly convincing of late.
Celtic have Dedryck Boyata and Stuart Armstrong back and that’s a huge shot in the arm.
But, this time last year, 38-year-old Kenny Miller was the best player Rangers had.
Now? Jamie Murphy, Josh Windass, Alfredo Morelos and Daniel Candeias are all capable of hurting Celtic.
Murty (left) has probably already done enough to land the gig.
Win tomorrow and the Ibrox board are duty-bound to hand him a permanent deal and a vote of thanks for bailing them out a hole of their own making.