Ange Postecoglou has seemingly achieved the impossible this season, turning Charlie Nicholas for a snidey critic of all things Celtic into a cheer leader for is Ange-ball style of football which the entire Celtic support, now seemingly including the former Celtic, Arsenal and Aberdeen striker are loving.

In his Tuesday morning column in Scottish Daily Express, Nicholas taunts theRangers as the former Sky Sports pundits reckons that Ange Postecoglou will sweep the latest Ibrox outfit aside on Sunday to win a place in next month’s Scottish Cup final against either Hibs or Hearts.

“I reckon Celtic will end Rangers’ season in the Scottish Cup semi-finals this weekend,” Nicholas opines. “I fully expect Celtic to see off (the)Rangers and if they go out of the Europa League on Thursday to SC Braga then it really would be a final blow to their hopes of glory.

“If that is the case then there will be a lot of fingers pointing from the light blue side of the city. I wouldn’t blame Giovanni van Bronckhorst. If that was to happen then it is down to theRangers board and the lack of humility they showed last year.

“They wanted to fight the world and got ideas above their station. They are now getting a reality check and they deserve it. The board was trying to pick fights and to flex their muscles and they have taken their eye off the ball.

“They failed to strengthen their team adequately after they won the league. They didn’t deliver much in the summer for Steven Gerrard. They brought in Aaron Ramsey and a couple of others in January but failed to provide more competition for the central striking option.

“Van Bronckhorst has been suckered into things and I wouldn’t blame him for the situation (the)Rangers are currently in.

“It could be that (the)Rangers win in Europe and beat Celtic but I can’t see it. I have to say I fancy Celtic really strongly. They pass the ball with a purpose and are more dangerous than (the)Rangers.

And Charlie Nicholas concludes his critique of theRangers by pointing out that they have a terrible record in cup competitions – if you exclude the 3-0 win over Peterhead in the Petrofac Cup Final – they have never actually won a cup competition since their first season playing the game away back in 2012-13 season.

They have reached three other cup finals, losing to Raith Rovers, Hibs and Celtic with only the middle one mentioned leading to a riot.

“I am not saying (the)Rangers can’t win the semi-final. Absolutely, they can. The issue for me is that (the)Rangers are just not a cup team. They do not know how to get over the line when it comes to cup competitions.

“Celtic fell apart last season and although (the)Rangers won the league they couldn’t get near either of the domestic cups.”

St Johnsone of course were the team to benefit, winning both the League Cup and the Scottish Cup with theRangers not even making it to Hampden for a semi-final in either of the cups, despite going a season unbeaten in the league.

Maybe Charlie has a point but Celtic’s confidence doesn’t need to come from that way of thinking. All we have to do is turn up and play our football and rely on that being enough to get us into the Scottish Cup Final.

Now sit back and watch this…