There have been more than a few excuses being floated in advance from theRangers camp as the Glasgow Derby comes into focus this weekend, and one of the most used is the argument that fatigue is playing its part in theRangers conceding a six-point lead in the title race going into the winter break, and now in a position, should they lose the upcoming Derby on Sunday, where they could be six points behind.
If the mainstream press however were looking for a former Celtic player to draw on his own experiences and nod along in agreement, Paul Lambert, speaking to Daily Record, isn’t one for blaming tiredness.
Looking back on 2003 and the run to Seville, Lambert doesn’t believe fatigue played any part in Celtic’s lack of silverware that season, instead he feels Celtic just fell short and had no excuse whatsoever for doing so, instead he believes the high of European latter stage involvement lifted his Celtic team and he’s not buying that it’s any different for theRangers now.
“I’ve never bought into the idea that too many games cost us in that 2003 season, where we lost the UEFA Cup Final and failed to win the league on that dramatic final day.
“I never felt the need to prioritise one trophy over another. Success in football is a drug, when you get some success, you just want more and more of it. We knew we were in big games and it honestly never dawned on any of us that there was an abundance of games in such a short period of time.
“We had too many big players at Celtic during that era to have a mindset that we could either go for success in Europe or just focus our energy on the league.
“To suggest that is the case at big clubs is a bit of a nonsense and I’ve heard the arguments about (the)Rangers having that same double commitment that we had and that it could be a big factor in deciding the title race, I’m just not convinced. If anything, we were high as kites with all the big games in Europe and domestically, that helped us.
“That Celtic side I played in just wanted to win both trophies and unfortunately just fell short in both of them. Like I said, when you have big players, it doesn’t matter what competition you are in, big players try to win everything and anything they can get their hands on. We wanted every trophy we played for and that’s what big players do.
“We did well in the run-in for the title but it just wasn’t enough. In the league we just didn’t get the rub of the green and on the Road to Seville we just fell that bit short on the day.”
Having dealt with the excuses theRangers are already making, Lambert turned his attention to Ange Postecoglou’s current Celtic team, and the former Celt thinks Celtic have a great chance of winning the title because it’s entirely in their hands, to the point even a draw at Ibrox could easily be absorbed.
“The easy way to look at it is that if Celtic win all of their remaining seven games then they’ll be champions. It’s as simple as that – it’s also easier said than done.”
“If they win all of their games then there’s nothing their rivals can do about it as it’ll be enough to win the league. That’s the way they should view it, try to win every game and become champions.”
“It’s down in black and white, if Celtic win every game then Rangers are powerless to stop them from taking their crown and it’s a brilliant situation to be in.
“Celtic can even afford to draw at Ibrox next weekend and then look to beat Rangers at Celtic Park after the split.” They are in the driving seat and where they want to be. All you can ever ask is to have things in your own hands and that’s the case with Celtic.”
“They have their destiny under their own control and there’s nothing any challenger can do about it if they keep on winning. The last thing you need is to be waiting for other teams to do you a favour.”
And for Lambert there are also similarities he sees in Celtic’s current season, and the slow start made to the league campaign, with his first season under Wim Jansen, where Celtic also started poorly but in the end brought home the title that stopped the Ten.
“I’m not surprised at how quickly Ange has turned things around at Celtic. I know when they lost a couple of games at the start of the season there were eyebrows raised and it was very reminiscent of when Wim Jansen arrived as manager.
“Wim lost his first game at Hibs and people were saying that it wasn’t going to be good, but he proved them all wrong. Look at that era and that team which went on to win the league in the 1997-98 season against a really strong Rangers side, arguably the strongest Rangers team I came across during that time.
“I look at Ange and I see something similar as he’s been brilliant for Celtic, he’s been great with the media and he’s connected with the fans. He’s kept a handle on all of these things and the crowd are following him which is a major factor and he also has the players right behind him.
“I watch them week on week and they seem to be getting stronger and stronger going into this final push. This is the business end of the season and it’s when the big players step up and really drive things through.”
Niall J
