During the build-up to the Napoli v theRangers match in the Champions League on Wednesday night on BT Sport, Kenny Miller dismissed any chance that the game would end in anything other than a win for the Italian side but made the point that the latest Ibrox club must instead focus on keeping on Celtic’s coat-tails in the Scottish Premiership up to the break for the World Cup.
Celtic doubled the lead in the title race last weekend, with a 4-3 win over Hearts and VAR’s terrible twins Walsh and McLean while theRangers salvaged a point with a stoppage time equaliser against Livingston at Ibrox.
Both sides face four league games between now and the World Cup break and Miller would be satisfied if theRangers can reach that stage in the season trailing Celtic by four points. Can they match Celtic and can Ange Postecoglou and his team maximise the pressure on the Ibrox side by securing four wins?
Celtic’s games, on paper at least, look a little more straight forward, with Sunday’s lunchtime trip to Livingston (remember folks the clocks go back on Saturday night) looking the most likely to see points dropped, certainly judging by Celtic’s recent record in West Lothian which can be described as frustrating at best.
Yet after losing there last September, in what was to be the last defeat in the league last season, Ange Postecoglou learnt the lessons on the next visit and secured a comfortable victory. That resounding win ensures that the monkey is well and truly off Celtic’s back, they now know how to win playing against Livingston’s ‘two banks of five’ approach on their own artificial patch.
Before Celtic take on Livingston on Sunday, Aberdeen are the visitors to Ibrox on Saturday afternoon and that is likely to be a tense affair, especially if the home side don’t start well. Their support’s patience is wearing thin with the team, the manager and the board and Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin will try to exploit the best he can. The Tynecastle VAR team though are there to help, reversing roles with Walsh looking at the monitor and McLean blowing the whistle. Goodwin should fear the worst from these two.
Next weekend, after the confusion of Champions League duties for both sides in midweek, it’s Celtic turn to play first, with a 3pm kick-off on Saturday 5 November against Dundee United at Celtic Park. That’s a tremendous opportunity to pile the pressure on Giovanni van Bronckhorst ahead of their Sunday lunchtime trip to Perth to take on St Johnstone in the midday kick-off.
The following midweek both sides kick-off at 7.45pm with Celtic away to Motherwell and theRangers welcoming their Edinburgh cousins to Ibrox. Again depending on what has happened in the previous few games, things really do have the potential to turn ugly at Ibrox that night.
The last round of matches before the break for the World Cup also sees both sides kick-off at the same time, at 3pm on Saturday 12 November. Celtic host Ross County at Celtic Park while it’s the short trip to Paisley for theRangers to take on a St Mirren side that will be looking to do the double over the Glasgow giants having already defeated Celtic 2-0 at St Mirren Park this season.
Ange Postecoglou will be emphasising the need for four wins in these games being significant factors in winning the league and getting back into the Champions League for another crack at it next season.
For van Bronckhorst he’s at the stage where he’s living hand-to-mouth as far as retaining his job. Their fans are clearly split on whether the former Barcelona star is the man to lead them going forward but he’s probably going to survive as the funds needed to sack him and appoint, or re-appoint, might not be available.
Those two Champions League matches still to come in midweek are also factors in all of this. Celtic’s trip to Madrid is all about the glamour and the experience for the away support. Matt Corr said to me the other day when I asked him if he was going to Madrid: “Of course, I’ve waited forty years for this so wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Whatever the outcome in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, it’s unlikely to impact negatively on Celtic’s remaining league fixtures before the break.
However the same cannot be said about that match at Ibrox against Ajax on Tuesday night. Much has been said and written about the atmosphere at Ibrox last season as theRangers surged all the way to the Europa League final in Seville.
The contrast with their two Champions League home defeats this season, losing TEN goals and only scoring one is stark and as they are on the verge of all sorts of unwanted records as the worst ever performers in the Champions League, the home crowd are unlikely to be understanding if Ajax salvage some pride for themselves after four defeats (three heavy ones) against Liverpool and Napoli, home and away. The scoreline needed to win a Europa League spot is a 5-0 win for theRangers as Ajax won their home game 4-0 against van Bronckhorst’s side on match-day one. Few if any of their fans are holding out any hope of such a miracle occurring.
Greg Taylor’s winner last weekend could well turn out to be the key moment in the season and to capitalise Celtic’s now need to put a dozen points onto our total and watch to see if Kenny Miller’s hopes unravel in theRangers matches. If they fail to keep on Celtic coat-tails until the break then Celtic could be in a very comfortable position indeed as Ange Postecoglou looks to deliver the 11th title in 12 years.
