Lubo Moravcik was yesterday doing some mainstream media press work to help shift tickets to Celtic supporters for an event being held next month featuring Martin O’Neill and some of his Celtic team from two decades ago – Lubo himself, Chris Sutton, Paul Lambert and Jackie McNamara.
And with the Scottish Cup semi-final coming up this Sunday between Celtic and theRangers Lubo was always going to asked about the rivalry.
“I don’t know the situation at Rangers,” Lubo began, as reported by Scottish Sun…
Lubo, theRangers is the successor club to the one that went out of business in 2012 before Charles Green’s off the shelf company gained entry to the Scottish game in the fourth tier of Scottish football in July 2012, after buying a bundle of assets from the Administrators Duff and Phelps following the failure to secure a CVA with the Rangers FC’s creditors. Green later ludicrously claimed that he had also ‘bought the titles’ scarcely believing himself that he could get away with such a ruse. But soon he realised that the Rangers supporters wanted to be fooled. However the Celtic support refuses to be play along with any pretence that this is the same club. .
READ THIS IN THE HERALD…Rangers Football Club Born 1872, died 2012
“… but without Rangers, Celtic are half. It’s not a full Celtic. Celtic need Rangers, Rangers need Celtic. Scottish football needs both. I hope Rangers keep going because even if you lose next season you can win again.”
If you’re from the promoters 1st Star you’re maybe thinking that this isn’t going too well if your primary objective is to get Celtic fans to part with their cash again for a very similar one to the last one you held just a few months ago.
Skipping the reality of the status of the 2012 formed football club playing out of Ibrox, Lubo moves on to his thoughts on Ange Postecoglou and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s sides and gives his assessment of them.
“There is not a big difference between Celtic and (the)Rangers in terms of quality, especially in a semi-final. It’s a neutral stadium, it’s 50/50 in the stands and anything can happen. Celtic are almost champions, but not yet. They won the League Cup and it’s a big opportunity to win a Treble.
“You need to play the game like it’s the final of the European Cup, like the last game of the season. After this game you play against Hibs or Hearts, which is easier than playing a final against (the)Rangers. For me, you have to treat this semi-final as the final.
“Celtic maybe have the momentum, which is an advantage, but if you see (the)Rangers’ European campaign, it’s hard to beat (the)Rangers. Even after the 1-0 loss in Braga, they still have a great chance to reach a European semi-final. It means the team is still very strong.
“But when you play in Europe it can be tiring and you are playing against a Celtic team who are not in Europe and are really motivated to win the league. (the)Rangers have a second leg against Braga and a semi-final against Celtic. They have to sacrifice something.
“If you want to win both you can lose both. If you are greedy you can end up with nothing. Everyone wants to win everything, but it’s hard to play Celtic three days after Braga.”
Now sit back and watch this…
Video: A weekend trip to Scotland, watching Glasgow Celtic putting on a show…
