The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Lambert admits Cup joy could be a step to stop 10

- By Fraser Mackie

IF Rangers win their first major honour since 2011 next week, ex-Celtic captain Paul Lambert has some advice. Enjoy the moment. Savour the feeling for a day or two. For the hard work is only just beginning and Betfred Cup glory brings no guarantee that Rangers are on the brink of derailing the title juggernaut that is his former club.

Indeed, from his own experience 22 years ago, Lambert acknowledg­es a cruel fact of Old Firm life. That cup success will count for nothing unless it marks a stepping stone to stopping 10-In-A-Row.

On another post-Europa League Sunday with both in action, Rangers and Steven Gerrard are currently attempting to deny their bitter rivals nine.

When Lambert signed for Celtic, there was no margin for error. Rangers were homing in on the double-digit record breaker.

‘We had one hit at it,’ he recalls. ‘There would be no: “Oh, we were unlucky, we nearly got it”. That failure would still be remembered to this day.’

Just as Rangers will try to emerge from a silverware drought at Hampden next Sunday, Celtic had only lifted one trophy in eight-and-a-half years before the League Cup Final of November 1997.

In the job three weeks and

required to contribute just two minutes of effort in the tournament, the first of Lambert’s eight winners medals as a Celtic player was certainly the most straightfo­rward.

The midfielder was brought off the bench late against Dundee United in the Ibrox-hosted showpiece with Wim Jansen’s team sauntering to a 3-0 success thanks to goals from Marc Rieper, Henrik Larsson and Craig Burley.

Easy pickings for a Champions League winner signed from Borussia Dortmund in a homecoming move worth £2million.

The trophy offered a steady platform for success-starved Celtic. The next leap was considerab­ly more difficult to navigate.

‘I still say to this day that’s the strongest Rangers team I encountere­d,’ said Lambert. ‘Through Gough, Goram, McCoist, Gazza, Laudrup, Stuart McCall — bloody hell, that was a mighty team.’

Five weeks later, an era-defining moment did arrive. Lambert lashed home from 25 yards in the Old Firm derby of new year to follow up Burley’s opener as Celtic triumphed 2-0.

Turning point reached, Celtic lost only one more top flight game on the way to pipping Rangers to the championsh­ip on the final day.

For all that lifting the League Cup was a positive for a new group and head coach, Lambert admits it did not play a pivotal role in rescuing Celtic from the horrors of watching Rangers reach the elusive 10.

Lambert reflected: ‘The League Cup was great. The trophy win got the fans onside — and it gave Wim that time.

‘I think it helped him settle into this Old Firm, Glasgow thing, the whole environmen­t. And there was the magnitude of winning a trophy after only one in such a long time.

‘It takes a little bit of heat off, it was a good feeling for a few days.

‘But I don’t think the League Cup was ever going to be enough if we hadn’t won the league that year. Everyone knew that.

‘Wim came in and had to galvanise a club, let alone a team. A club that just had to stop that 10-In-A-Row.

‘Stopping that protected the history of the club. Jock Stein, Wee Jinky, Stevie Chalmers, Bobby Lennox, Ronnie Simpson, John Clark, big Billy, Jim Craig and Tommy Gemmell.

‘You can go through them all. That was a millstone hanging over everybody to stop that and protect their Nine-In-A-Row — and we managed it with a really small pool of players.

‘I thought that was an incredible achievemen­t. That was, for me, the hardest title I won.

‘Rangers could win the League Cup and Scottish Cup. It won’t matter a jot if they don’t get one of these next two league titles.

‘Because they will forever be known as the guys who couldn’t stop the 10. The same way we’d have been known. Then you are labelled: Failed.

‘You gave them history? I don’t think I would like that always hanging over me.

‘This is potentiall­y the ninth title for Celtic. So Rangers have probably got this hit and one more hit. But you may not catch it again.’

St Johnstone, Motherwell and, in the semi-final, Dunfermlin­e were all beaten 1-0 by Celtic without Lambert on the road to facing Tommy McLean’s Tannadice team in that final.

He was barely needed at Ibrox, either, with the erratic talents of Regi Blinker and Andreas Thom starting at Ibrox.

However, recruiting the first British player to win a European Cup medal since its Champions League revamp turned out the coup it was intended to be.

His quality, experience and big-game mentality gained from 15 months operating in Germany was invaluable alongside the likes of Burley and Larsson.

‘I don’t think, necessaril­y, getting that League Cup gave us the belief,’ asserted Lambert. ‘I think the belief was there anyway within individual­s who had no doubt we could win big games.

‘Was that going to be big enough and strong enough to compete with what Rangers had?

‘No one was sure of that but the team knew in their own minds that we were good enough to keep winning ourselves. Strong enough characters, some top players.

‘A team of winners, without doubt. All internatio­nals, big players, not there by default. I had won the Champions League, big games never concerned us.

‘Look at Tosh McKinlay, Tom Boyd, Henrik scoring for fun, Craig getting goals from midfield, Jackie (McNamara) and Simon (Donnelly) doing great. ‘Big Morten (Wieghorst) and

Marc Rieper. God rest him, Phil O’Donnell. We had a smallish kind of squad, close together. No one really gave us a chance of it.

‘For us, the big turning point was at Parkhead, beating them 2-0. Craig and myself scored. I felt that new year win was vital for us.

‘At Rangers, Steven Gerrard has done really well. But it won’t matter how much he has won in his career. It’s about what is on the field.

‘Wim Jansen played in a World Cup Final. But he would tell you himself that it was the guys on the pitch who delivered it for Celtic. ‘If you don’t have those who can deliver, mentally handle it — and by that I mean you must, you must, you must every week — then I’m not sure.’

Scott Brown may be 12 years into a Celtic career but there are no signs of his influence waning and Lambert likes the mix in an explosive team in Neil Lennon’s first full season back in charge.

He noted: ‘This Celtic team seems younger than our one, with a bit more of a foreign influence.

‘When you play for a club of that magnitude where the fans expect you to turn up and win, those boys have handled that week in, week out. ‘Scott Brown keeps on going, that’s the beauty of it. There are many matchwinne­rs in the team. Those players are rare. I still think they are the team to catch.’

Rangers may win a Cup but it will not matter if they don’t win title

 ?? ?? SPRINGBOAR­D: Lambert (far left and below) won the League Cup in 1997 and helped Celtic to then challenge Rangers
SPRINGBOAR­D: Lambert (far left and below) won the League Cup in 1997 and helped Celtic to then challenge Rangers
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