The former Ibrox striker is currently in the Middle East and it will be strange for him watching the big game with Ronny Deila
I’ll be watching the Old Firm match with a former Celtic manager at a sports pub in Abu Dhabi.
It will feel a little off and a million miles from Glasgow’s oppressively hot weather. However, Ronny Deila and I have the day off from our club commitments with Al Wahda, so we won’t be missing the match. Naturally, we’ll be rooting for many causes.
But we will still feel a part of it even though we are 5,000 kilometres away from Parkhead. Perhaps some Ibrox supporters will also wish they were watching it on TV in the Middle East, given the commotion surrounding Rangers at the moment. To put it bluntly, Philippe Clement’s club is a huge underdog when they play Celtic Park. Everything suggests a home victory for Brendan Rodgers’ team, especially considering how brilliantly they began and concluded the last campaign. The clubs seem to be travelling in separate paths.
However, I’ve played in enough derby games to know that things are seldom quite that easy. I have experienced that. Think back to the 2017–18 season, when the Rangers were in terrible shape. When we were totally written off ahead of time, Graeme Murty was in charge of a handful of derby games at Parkhead. However, we made it there and emerged with two draws: a scoreless tie and a 1-1 draw after a late equaliser by giant Clint Hill.
Furthermore, we were not quite as talented as the Rangers team currently plays. We most likely did have a few strong personalities in the group who were prepared to rise to the challenge. But as a team, we weren’t as strong as we could have been. You never say never, as evidenced by this. No one gave us any hope going into those games.
That was an odd feeling for a Rangers player. I was accustomed to entering the club with confidence and expected to win—and win well—during my earlier stints there. When the chips were down, we had to play solid defence, take advantage of our fair share of good fortune, and seize the opportunity when it presented itself.
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