NIR MISS IN DERBY COMBAT
It’s more than two years since Bitton last faced Rangers but he is ready to answer the call as a converted centre-back
IT’S been a long time since Nir Bitton faced Rangers. Brendan Rodgers was still fresh on the Parkhead throne and a late Clint Hill equaliser caused only the slightest wobble to the Brodge bandwagon as it cruised towards an Invincible Treble in 2017. Much has happened since. Rangers have burned through the shortlived managerial nightmares of Graeme Murty (twice) and Pedro Caixinha to build a stronger team under Steven Gerrard.
For Bitton there has been something of a reinvention, one that could see him feature at centre-back at Ibrox this afternoon.
The last two-and-a-half years have brought some trying times for the Israeli, who drifted to the fringes of Rodgers’ squad before enduring the anguish of a year out with a cruciate knee injury.
In his absence, and in spite of Rodgers’ sudden flit to Leicester City last season, Celtic have continued to hoover up every trophy in sight, something Bitton would remind those questioning his club’s title credentials to remember.
The 27-year-old has returned to prominence under Rodgers’ replacement Neil Lennon, the man who originally signed him from Ashdod back in 2013.
Outstanding in midweek as Celtic beat AIK Stockholm 4-1 to progress to the Europa League group stage, Bitton’s partnership with Christopher Jullien stood up to the best the Swedes could offer.
With Jozo Simunovic fresh and available after being spared the trip to Stockholm, it’s no given that he will start today but he ventures across Glasgow knowing he is in form.
‘If I need to start I will do my best,’ he smiles. ‘Of course I feel ready. It’s been a while since I faced Rangers, going back to Brendan’s first season.
‘It was a long time ago, so hopefully I will play this time.’
A ball-playing midfielder with an imposing physical stature, Bitton was once earmarked as a prime contender to rake in a big fee from the English Premier League or beyond.
That move never did materialise and his role diminished when Rodgers permanently converted Scott Brown to the midfield anchor role.
Appreciative of Bitton’s comfort on the ball, Rodgers kick-started the experiment of using him as an auxiliary defender and he clearly enjoys the role.
With his solid frame and eye for a forward pass, he is a very modern fit for a
position in which Celtic have long lacked stability. And yet there is, and there’s no other word for it, a defensiveness about the Israeli internationalist as he raises the subject of his conversion unprompted. ‘What is a centre-back and what is a centre mid?’ he contends. ‘I always say that if you are a good player, you can play both positions — they are kind of similar. ‘If people didn’t know me before as a centre-mid then they would not comment. But because I’ve played another position they say: “Oh, he is not a centre-back”. ‘I don’t listen to what they say. I try to speak on the pitch, do my job and help the team. ‘I’ve always had confidence in myself. I don’t listen to what people from outside say, if they claim that I am a centre-back or not.’ Touchy? Perhaps. Defiant? Absolutely. As a defender, perhaps he simply feels he has big shoes to fill. His comments in some way mirror the personality of his close friend Virgil van Dijk, who on Thursday was named UEFA’s Player of the Year. When Bitton debuted in the Old Firm fixture, he did so in front of a centre-back pairing of Van Dijk and Jason Denayer, a combination that would cost in excess of £100million to buy in the current climate. A 2-0 victory over a Rangers team toiling in the Championship was a Hampden Park stroll in the 2015 semi-final of the League Cup but within 12 months the landscape had shifted as the downsizing continued under Ronny Deila. With Van Dijk sold to Southampton and Denayer returned to parent club Manchester City, it was a shakier Celtic who faced Rangers in a semi-final re-match a year later. After a wasteful performance in front of goal, they were taken to penalties by Mark Warburton’s men and knocked out of the Scottish Cup.
The jubilation of Rangers’ delegation in the directors’ box is said to have provoked Dermot Desmond into hiring Rodgers and Celtic reinforced their superiority by winning five of the six match-ups the following season.
Only Hill’s dramatic strike saved Rangers from a whitewash.
‘My favourite game against Rangers was the 5-1 win at home in the first Old Firm we played with Brendan,’ recalls Bitton. ‘We played well and I set up the second goal with a pass to Moussa (Dembele).
‘Rangers came with a lot of expectation that day after beating us in the semi-final the season before. I played in that game too and even now it is not a good memory.
‘If you don’t know how to lose, you don’t know how to win. Sometimes you need
What is a centre-back and what is a a centre midfielder? I always say if you’re a good player you can play both positions
these lessons to get better and stronger. We are looking forward to Sunday. These would be three very good points for us to take into the international break.’
If the ‘Going for 55’ hubris of the Warburton era was entirely misplaced, something more tangible appears to be brewing under Gerrard.
Celtic failed to score in two defeats at Ibrox last season and that suggests today will offer a stiff test of the resolve of Lennon’s team.
The early-season form indicates that both teams are clearly better suited to playing on the front foot, with neither defence wholly convincing.
While Gerrard appears close to settling on a back four of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Nikola Katic and Jon Flanagan, Lennon is still trying to assemble his defence.
If Kristoffer Ajer is indeed sidelined, the injury to Hatem Abd Elhamed means there could be a debut for Moritz Bauer at right-back. Bitton, Simunovic and Jullien will be in contention for the centre-back spots while Boli Bolingoli, a thus far nervy performer since signing from Rapid Vienna, will be at left-back.
Another option for Lennon is to move Bitton forward in an effort to help Brown and Callum McGregor seize control of the midfield against a strong Rangers three of Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Joe Aribo.
Regardless, Rangers will try to prey on the instability and Gerrard will probably start with Alfredo Morelos, although the Colombian’s poor record in the fixture — in terms of both goals and indiscipline — could see Jermain Defoe handed a shirt.
‘Both of them are good strikers,’ says Bitton. ‘Defoe did very well in England and is a big player. As is Morelos. But it’s not about them or defenders as individuals, it’s about Celtic and Rangers.
‘We need to make sure that we are focused and ready to do the dirty work.
‘I don’t know if Rangers are stronger, I don’t watch them. We try to concentrate on our squad and do our job.
‘We need to take everything in proportion. For the media and the fans, this game is a bigger deal. For us, it is still just three points.
‘If we win, it doesn’t means we will win the league. And if we lose, that we don’t.
‘Don’t forget we are the treble Treble winners. We try to do our talking on the pitch and win trophies.’
Jullien, a £7million buy from Toulouse, gained an extra shot of confidence when he helped the ball over the line for Celtic’s third goal in Stockholm on Thursday.
‘I think it was Broony’s goal!’ laughs Bitton. ‘Listen, goals are not the most important thing for Chris. The really important thing is to defend and he did that unbelievably against AIK.
‘He is a good player, a good addition to the squad. I am happy for him.’
Under Lennon, Celtic have deployed a style that has shifted the emphasis away from Rodgers’ possession obsession to something more direct and dynamic.
‘For us, this is a different season with different players and a different manager,’ says Bitton.
‘We are trying to do what he wants but I don’t like to say that we are stronger or weaker.
‘I think the core of the team is still here and that is the core that won the Treble Treble.
‘It doesn’t matter if the manager is Neil or Brendan — if you are good, you will play. Since the summer, I feel very good, very strong. I feel I am back to my best.
‘When I first came back from that long injury, it was never going to be easy. I needed time away to relax in the summer before coming back and doing all the sessions with the coaching staff.
‘It was a big summer for me to make sure that my knees are right and I’m ready to go.
‘Since the summer, I feel really well and that I am playing some of my best football.’