Celtic’s interim assistant manager Shaun Maloney has given an insight into what went on at Ibrox ahead of Celtic penalty shoot-out win over the Rangers in the Scottish Cup quarter-final earlier this month…
While Martin O’Neill did the on-pitch team talk before the extra-time got underway it was Maloney who stepped up ahead of the shoot-out that Celtic won 4-2 will all four of Celtic penalty takers finding the back of the net. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reo Hatate, Auston Trusty and finally Tomas Cvancara all found the back of the net while for the Rangers their captain James Tavernier and Djeidi Gassama both skied their kicks over the crossbar under impress pressure from the home support.
Now Maloney has spoken about what was said and the process that allowed Celtic to come through the shoot-out with a perfect record with Celtic’s fifth penalty taker Liam Scales, the Celtic captain in the absence of Calllum McGregor, not needing to bother taking his.
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“It wasn’t anything too deep, really,” Shaun Moloney said, as reported by The National. “We had practised these situations before. We did it before the previous cup game against Dundee. It wasn’t anything complex, it wasn’t anything too motivating, it wasn’t anything Churchillian.
“The players work really hard and the staff work hard with the players. I just told them to trust the technique that they have and to have belief in their own ability. That is exactly what they did,” Maloney explained.
“It was a really intense game. The atmosphere was unbelievably intense. Obviously, what happened afterwards was really difficult. But on the pitch post-90 minutes and post-120 minutes was really, really intense.
“As a group of staff, we wanted to take the players out of that atmosphere for even the briefest of moments and drive home to them the need to trust what they had when it came to the penalties. The penalties they took were brilliant,” he noted.
“In these moments, there is very little a coach can say that will be that relevant when they step up. The one good thing about being an ex-player in these moments is that you understand the feeling of being involved a penalty shoot-out. It is impossible to replicate it until you are there,” the Celtic coached added.
“I have never been involved in one at Ibrox. That adds an even bigger layer to it. Full credit to the players because making that walk would have been a really difficult moment for them.
“There was not too much, if anything at all, we could do to prepare them for that.”
Having lost the Scottish Cup Final to Aberdeen in May 2025 on a penalty shoot-out and also the Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty in the same manner- both under Brendan Rodgers, it was a relief for the Celtic support to see a different approach and a successful one with the Celtic penalty takers all looking confident as they slotted their efforts away, much to the angst of the Rangers supporters.
Shaun Maloney also confirmed that he will remain at Celtic next season but whether that is via a return to his Pathways manager role or in a coaching capacity with the first team, remains to be seem.
For now Celtic have eight league matches to play and one, or possibly two matches in the Scottish Cup. It all starts at Tannadice on Sunday afternoon with Celtic playing Dundee United after both Hearts and the Rangers play on Saturday. Last weekend Hearts dropped three points at Kilmarnock while Celtic beat Motherwell 3-1 while the Rangers got the points in a narrow 1-0 win away at St Mirren.
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