Rangers manager Walter Smith dismisses favourites' tag ahead of Sunday's emotional Old Firm derby at Ibrox
Sombre and poignant memories of the Ibrox Disaster – for those who can remember the occasion – will precede Sunday’s game between the same teams at the same venue on the 40th anniversary of the tragedy which killed 66 and injured 145 fans.
A real handful: Rangers winger Vladimir Weiss against Motherwell Photo: PA
By Roddy Forsyth 9:18PM GMT 31 Dec 2010
For those who were born later there will be the opportunity to pause in contemplation of the measures which have made the experience of spectating at football grounds a vastly safer and more civilised experience than it was on January 2, 1971.
And then, as it must, the ancient rivalry between Rangers and Celtic will be replenished by a new chapter. The defending champions emerged from the previous meeting of the teams with an emphatic victory in the east end of Glasgow, but the intervention of Arctic weather has disrupted the timetable and permitted Celtic to play two more games than the Ibrox side and, while Neil Lennon’s players have been far from convincing, they are in pole position by a single point and with the added satisfaction of having kept clean sheets in their last two outings.
Rangers, by contrast, have fretted through enforced idleness and although the fixture hiatus has allowed them to nurse some casualties back to fitness, they are anxious about the prospect of fixture congestion in the later stages of their campaign. A win tomorrow would go some way to easing those concerns but although the bookies have Rangers established as clear favourites, Walter Smith is aware of an unsettling trend which undermines confidence in that calculation.
“If you look at both clubs’ results this season, we’ve dropped more points at home than away. We drew at Inverness but won the rest on the road,” said the Rangers manager.
“We’ve certainly dropped more points at Ibrox and Celtic have had a similar experience at Parkhead. Sometimes when teams come to your ground, they defend and it’s difficult to break them down.
“Away from home, that doesn’t happen quite as much and in terms of the Old Firm game, I don’t think either of the teams are fazed by going to the other one’s ground now. I don’t think it’s an advantage to either team, playing at home.”
If that observation has to be seasoned with a smattering of salt, Smith emphasised his demurral from the bookmakers’ assessment when he declared: “I’ve never felt comfortable with the tag of favourites in Old Firm games. I don’t think there is such a thing. Regardless of the positions the clubs may be in, I always see it as straightforward. We’ve got a reasonably settled squad of players which we could be doing with adding to.
“Celtic have a big squad of players but a lot of them are in their first year. It always takes a little bit of time to settle down here and gain the consistency a manager would want.
“That’s a natural thing to happen. Both clubs had tremendous starts to the season and that was due to a long close-season. Both teams were fresh.
“We’ve dropped points in recent weeks but that’s only natural too. The league table is close right now so I don’t know how anyone could pick Rangers out as being out-and-out favourites – I don’t think there’s a great deal between the two teams at the moment.”
Sunday’s occasion can be viewed as a contest between a Celtic side still being knitted together and a Rangers team whose experienced resources have unravelled to the extent that – until the weather offered a respite – Smith was forced to stock his bench with boys who had hardly outworn their first razor blades.
One tyro who has given the manager pause for thought is Vladimir Weiss who was moved inside from his normal wing beat to play off Kenny Miller in the 4-1 victory at Motherwell on Sunday.
The teenager on loan from Manchester City prospered in the role and, if Steven Naismith has not recovered from the hamstring injury sustained at Fir Park, could be asked to reprise his performance, although perhaps not from the start.
“In respect of Naismith, we’ll give him every opportunity to demonstrate his fitness but that looks like something that will go right to the last minute,” said Smith. “Certainly Weiss is an option and he did very well at Motherwell but we’ll have Kyle Lafferty back and I felt before his injury that he was starting to do well for us.
“James Beattie will also come into the squad so hopefully they can be involved in the game. It was good to see Weiss doing so well at Fir Park because he’s capable of performing like that but he has to do it in a more consistent manner.”
With Celtic short of Ki Sung-yueng and Scott Brown in midfield, the opportunity presents itself to Steven Davis to assert himself as Rangers’ chief playmaker, but the Northern Irishman believes he will have to raise his game to do so.
“I’m not really that happy with the way I’ve played to be honest,” said Davis. “I’ve got a lot more to give to the team and I haven’t really found the sort of consistency I’ve shown over the past couple of seasons or played as well as I can.”
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Telegraph.co.uk
