Neil Lennon heads into Saturday’s Old Firm with Rangers having quite literally done it all before.
Lennon was the manager at Celtic the last time Rangers had a lead as daunting as they currently boast midway through the Scottish Premiership title race.
Back in the autumn of 2011, a Gers side managed by Ally McCoist had rocketed into the new season, determined to defend their league title won by the departed Walter Smith and kick on in Europe. The sun was shining on Ibrox and the club had just secured a third championship on the bounce.
The 2011-12 campaign began with a string of victories that, coupled with a miserable opening to the season for Celtic, had Rangers 15 points ahead of their city rivals by the start of November that year. They had even bulldozed Lennon’s Hoops 4-2 in a gripping encounter at Ibrox during the first Old Firm of that campaign.
Yet despite leading Celtic by such a huge margin, the goings on behind the scenes were to bring this mini McCoist dynasty crashing down in just a few months. On Valentine’s Day 2012 Gers entered administration with debts surpassing £130m and went on to lose three of their next four games. By that point, the Hoops had already overhauled the 15-point deficit and were within touching distance of a first title since 2008.
Fast-forward a decade and Rangers are back at the top of the table yet again – this time with a 16-point lead over a Lennon-led Celtic. Boss Steven Gerrard is yet to lose a game all season and his men have the biggest lead among all the top domestic divisions in Europe.
What’s more, there is no spectre of financial implosion hanging over this Rangers side. While the club admitted in November that it is “not immune to the severe effects” that Covid-19 is having on British sport, the loss of income from the disease is expected to be in excess of £10m – a lot of money but not a debilitating hit. Rangers earned £590m in the year ending June 2020, with a turnover increase of £5.9m thanks to their run to the Europa League last-16.
Rangers vs Celtic
- Date: Saturday 2 January 2021
- Kick off: 12.30pm
- Venue: Ibrox
- Referee: Bobby Madden
- TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Football from 11.30am
- Live stream: Sky Go and Now TV from 11.30am
Gerrard is unlikely to splash the cash in this transfer window but he also doesn’t need to. James Tavernier and Kemar Roofe are the top scorers in the Scottish Premiership, Ryan Kent is marshalling the midfield and even Alfredo Morelos is just about keeping his nose clean.
A win against Celtic at an empty Ibrox on Saturday would put them 19 points clear. Yes, Celtic have three games in hand but it’s a monumental challenge for Lennon to overhaul this deficit against a Gers side in full flight.
Asked about the potential of stretching their lead still further when the rivals meet on Saturday, Gerrard said: “We don’t see it as pressure, we see it as an opportunity and are focused on the game plan to go and execute.
“It is an opportunity to take three points and make our position stronger.
“I think you can see our growth from my first derby several years ago. Every one of the players is looking forward to this fixture and it does feel very different from my first derby as manager.
“We’ve obviously had success on previous seasons in this fixture then not built upon it. Hopefully, we can continue our rhythm after this fixture.”
Asked about Saturday’s clash, with Rangers having already beaten Celtic 2-0 at Parkhead earlier this season, Hoops midfielder Ryan Christie said: “We are in a good run of form, as are they. At the same time it’s a bit of a one-off. Everyone goes out to try and be the best side on the day.
“We’re desperate to come out of the other side with three points at the weekend, to take that into the New Year and have a right go at it.
“They’ve been good, we haven’t expected anything else. We’re right at the top and obviously we’ve been successful for a few seasons, so they’re going to keep pushing us and try and get closer to our level.”
On whether or not losing this game would be a surrender of the title, Christie added: “There are still plenty of games to go, half a season to go. Obviously [we want] to win the derby first and foremost and get revenge for the first derby of the season.
“There was a lot of different factors there – we are desperate to win it but there are still plenty of games to find out who is going to win the league.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3o56jlT
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