Another Monkey on Strachan’s Back

By: Matt | December 26th, 2008

As tomorrow’s trip to Ibrox approaches, another disturbing trend is beginning to develop with Gordon Strachan, his struggles at Castle Greyskull. Strachan has 1 win, 4 defeats, and a draw in his tenure at Celtic when traveling to the other side of town, with the win coming against a Paul Le Guen coached Rangers and the draw coming that same season against a disheveled Rangers team that Walter Smith inherited. Strachan was able to finally get a few wins against Smith last year, which was crucial in the title chase and in order to put Celtic back on stable ground in the SPL, Strachan will have to get this monkey off his back as well. A win Saturday would put Celtic 7 points ahead of Rangers, who have dropped numerous games on the road against other SPL opponents. If Celtic can leave Ibrox with all three points, it would nearly secure another title in most’s minds. That of course, is a very big if. Gordon Strachan has already prepared his emergancy chute though, saying “”It will mean nothing on Saturday night if we get beaten. The pain of any defeat isn’t helped by looking at the table. I’ve been top of the league before and lost to Falkirk and never felt as bad. It has been shown over the years that it (the Old Firm result) has not been huge. It is other results, surprise defeats, that have been costly, although to be fair, every game counts.” Not exactly brimming with confidence.

However, Celtic will be buoyed by the return of midfielders Paul Hartley, Barry Robson, and defender and captain Stephen McManus. All have recovered from various injuries/illnesses to be available for Saturday’s tie. Of course, Aiden McGeady will still be missing this weekend, serving the final game of his suspension, but the return of Hartley and Robson will probably see Koki Mizuno return back to the bench. Strachan had hinted the Japanese midfielder would be returning to the bench, saying “But no matter how well you think you are prepared for your first Old Firm game, the intensity and everything else that comes with it is a surprise.” Celtic will probably have Gary Caldwell in the holding midfield role, with either Barry Robson and Scott Brown moving out to the opposite wing of Shunsuke Nakamura and whoever is left between Robson, Brown, and Hartley in the other central midfield spot. I would prefer to see Robson and Hartley in the middle, with Brown on the wing, as the two SPL veterans held the Rangers midfield in check the last two matches last year. Rangers showed they want to play a physical style against Celtic in the first match and Robson and Hartley can match that style.

Usually, these matches are tight affairs and Saturday does not look to be any different. Expect a physical game and not much scoring. For some reason, Saturday is just screaming “DRAW!” to me, but my official prediction will be a 2-1 Celtic win, with Barry Robson knocking home a late winner.

C’MON THE HOOPS!!!

TAL