League Cup final: Can Rangers find a way to break Celtic dominance?
Since this latest period of total dominance began with Ange Postecoglou’s arrival in Glasgow, 17 meetings have taken place. Of those 1,560 minutes (including extra time in the 2022 Scottish Cup semi-final), Rangers have been ahead for only 154 minutes – and 85 of those minutes were in the dead rubber derby two seasons ago when Celtic had already clinched the Premiership Topic.
Rangers have scored first in just three of those 17 games since Postecoglou took over, and Rodgers has again taken a vice-like grip on things.
Kygo, with eight goals, has been the headline grabber on many of these days, but McGregor is the man who has tied it all together. Very few Rangers teams have the first clue how to stop him from dictating the pace and shaping the outcome.
And so, when a seasoned observer of the Ibrox scene stopped by for a chat on Thursday, his mantra for Sunday was about scoring first, something he has not done in an Old Firm derby of reasonable import – all Rangers people. Apologies, but 3-0 in May 2023 was as inconsequential as it gets in these games – from April 2022 onwards. Aaron Ramsey was the scorer.
Of course, scoring first didn’t do Rangers much of an advantage that day. Still he was beaten. At times, in certain parts of the game or the entire game, the Rangers have played well. They put in a fighting display in the Scottish Cup final last season, but lost. They were good last May after John Lundstram was sent off, but lost 2–1.
In the earlier game, they showed a lot of flexibility and tied the score at 3-3. They probably should have won at Ibrox in January 2023, but Kygo equalized two minutes from the end.
Rangers have not won the Old Firm derby in six attempts. Three years ago he had won one out of 13 and three out of 17. Are we seeing a more confident Rangers coming together? Possibly, but Celtic are always the true test and they remain favourites.
Somehow, Clement must ensure his boys are on the same emotional pitch at Hampden as they were at Ibrox, while adding more precision and more ruthlessness to their game.
Rangers are sweating over John Souter’s availability as they try to plan an Old Firm whack-a-mole. Dealing with Maeda and Kyogo comes to the fore, dealing with Kyogo and Nicholas Kuhn becomes their problem, dealing with Kuhn and Adam Ida comes off the bench and tackles them at the death, as he did at Hampden in May.
Thursday certainly saw the last wolves removed from Clement’s door, the snorers who wanted him gone. But he knows, as everyone else knows, that there is only one way to get rid of them permanently and that is to set up their biggest rivals.
For your reputation and for the momentum of your team. Rangers really need to win this trophy. Of course, what Rangers want has never been of much concern to Celtic. With grace or with a grunt, they almost always find a way to win. And now it’s hard to see them stopping.
