OUTFOUGHT OUTSMARTED OUTPOINTED
Old Firm defeat leaves Celtic with no option but to loosen Parkhead purse strings for new recruits who combine brains and brawn
FOR all the hype and hoopla which invariably surrounds them, the art of winning Old Firm games is no different to any other fixture on the calendar.
While the defining moments are normally underpinned by skill, bravery or even chance, they tend to fall the way of the team who have done more to earn it.
Neil Lennon’s assessment of where it all went wrong in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat was instructive in that he felt his players were not found to be wanting ‘mentally’, yet suffered from ‘a lack of physicality’ and ‘being a little bit stand-offish’.
To paraphrase the Celtic manager in old-fashioned football parlance, his players lost this particular war because they failed to win their individual battles.
Rangers simply won more first and second balls. More often than not, they were left standing after shoulder tackles as their opponents hit the turf. They made smarter fouls in better areas. And, having done that, their football took care of the rest.
Although the normally excellent Ryan Christie simply had a day to forget, central midfield actually wasn’t where the game was won and lost. Scott Brown and Callum McGregor were two of Lennon’s better performers on the day, and if Steven Gerrard’s triumvirate of Steven Davis, Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara won the skirmish for this territory, it was on a points decision.
Where Rangers’ superior physicality unquestionably won the day was on the flanks. Selected after signing a five-year deal the previous evening, Mikey Johnston was brushed off the ball far too easily. The 20-year-old has talent to burn with the ball at his feet but quickly needs to add brawn if he’s to be considered a first-team regular.
Physically, Boli Bolingoli, who played behind Johnston, looks the part. But the Belgian simply never imposed himself upon Joe Aribo. A day of rash decisions culminated in a booking for clattering James Tavernier and he was naturally reluctant to go in where it hurts thereafter.
After a difficult start to life at Celtic, the 24-year-old redeemed himself in recent weeks only for Sunday to drag him down. He still has much to prove.
At right-back, Jeremie Frimpong was a useful out-ball for Lennon but the fact that Ryan Kent’s opener came from a Borna Barisic cross from his area was a blot on his copybook. As exciting a prospect as the teenager remains, at 5ft 7ins, his lack of height is something Celtic will simply have to live with.
Ahead of the Dutchman, James Forrest struggled to make any impact. The match winner when the sides met at Celtic Park in March, the winger just couldn’t do right for doing wrong and lasted just 68 minutes. That Barisic had played him out of the game wasn’t even worthy of debate.
With Kristoffer Ajer failing to get off the ground as Nikola Katic headed what proved to be the winning goal, a pattern of Celtic failing to do the necessary to close down their opponents all across the pitch was complete.
Worryingly for the Parkhead faithful, this was a continuation of the theme of the Betfred Cup final of three weeks previously.
For all Alfredo Morelos endured yet another poor afternoon in front of goal, this time Steven Gerrard’s side left with the prize as well as the plaudits.
A veteran of the fixture, Lennon knows the importance of treading the narrow ground which lies between being rash and ill-disciplined and letting your opponent play at will.
As a player, he specialised in denying others space and time on the ball. For all he publicly praised his players for their efforts to date this season after Sunday’s loss, behind closed doors they’ll have known all about his dismay.
While the training ground will be his classroom in this regard in the coming weeks — with players of the ilk of Mohamed Elyounoussi and Hatem Abd Elhamed also set to resume full training in Dubai — Lennon’s forays into the transfer market in January will inevitably put a premium on players who can handle themselves first and foremost.
Brazilian Fabricio Bruno is a viable option, although the centrehalf is currently in the middle of a court battle in his homeland in a bid to attain free-agent status due to the non-payment of wages by his club Cruzeiro.
Slovenian striker Andraz Sporar, at 6ft 1in, is another who would fit the bill although the Slovan Bratislava man is also the subject of interest from Dynamo Kiev.
Might Lennon seek to push through a move for Victor Wanyama? The former Parkhead favourite has featured only four times for Tottenham this season and clearly has no future under Jose Mourinho.
The wages on the 18 remaining months of the Kenyan’s contract would be prohibitive but an initial loan until the end of the season for the 28-year-old wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility.
While anyone expecting Celtic to spend all of the £37.7million they had in the bank at last check clearly doesn’t know how the club operates, it’s inconceivable that Lennon’s paymasters won’t offer him significant backing.
Bluntly, given how tight the race to complete — or in Rangers’ case, prevent — nine-in-a-row has become, they have little option. While no Celtic fan views this title as a God-given right, not doing everything possible to land it would be seen as a dereliction of duty.
Now just two points ahead of Rangers but having played a game more, the Parkhead club have little margin for error.
Lennon’s side face Kilmarnock, Ross County and St Johnstone next month, with Rangers’ schedule comprising of St Mirren, Hearts and the Dingwall side.
The optimism Rangers enjoyed after winning the corresponding Old Firm game last year ended when their league campaign resumed at Rugby Park. With Alex Dyer now in place as Kilmarnock manager until the end of the season, Celtic’s trip there on January 22 already feels highly significant.
Curiously, the Parkhead side have already played three more home games than their city rivals. They’ll visit Motherwell, Aberdeen and Livingston before the next derby at Ibrox on March 15. Rangers’ run of fixtures is kinder.
Given how Celtic responded to a loss at Livingston in October — namely with 11 straight league wins — you wouldn’t bet against them doing something similar.
Because, amid all the angst and anger that accompanies any Old Firm defeat, the plain fact is that Lennon’s men are still ten points better off than at this stage last season under Brendan Rodgers.
The trouble for the champions has been the remarkable improvement in the challenger, by 12 points to be exact over their first 19 games. That has been the main factor in producing a title race worthy of the description — and Rangers are now an entirely different animal.
Right now, when the Scottish game’s heavyweights go toe-to-toe, it’s the Ibrox club who are dancing their way out of trouble and delivering the more telling blows. Unless Celtic toughen up and box clever, there is every chance they’ll be lying on the canvas come May.