Football: Rangers primed to take revenge

IF REVENGE is a dish best served cold the supporters of Rangers will turn up at Ibrox tomorrow hoping to see the football equivalent of Ready Steady Cook. Each one will harbour a desire to see their side wreak a terrible vengeance for the 5-1 reverse they suffered the last time these teams met. There is also the thorny problem of Celtic holding the league title that resided with Rangers for nine years.

Back in November few observers gave Celtic any chance with Rangers playing well at the time and Celtic struggling, but their 5-1 victory merely confirmed what we already know, that of all derby matches this one defies prediction.

Rangers hold a 10-point advantage over their great rivals so they know that a win would just about see off the challenge of the defending champions. The size of any winning margin, however, would appear to be less important for the players than the fans.

"People are asking me to help us win 6-0 or 6-1," claimed Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the Dutch midfielder, "but the important thing is that we do win even if it by one goal. A 13-point gap is very big and would give us so much confidence for the rest of the season."

Van Bronckhorst is one of an increasing number of foreign players whose arrival in Scotland is seen as a prime reason for the reduction in the passion with which this game is played. It is conceivable that Rangers could take the field with Barry Ferguson and Colin Hendry the only Scots in their starting line-up. Dick Advocaat, the Rangers coach, believes his players are well aware of the importance of the occasion.

"If my players don't have pride in their performance and a different attitude from the last game they don't know the importance of this one. Some of the players have had to learn that because there aren't so many Scottish players here but the Scots were furious after the last game, not only because we lost but the way in which we did.

"We have also seen how important the spectators can be. The Celtic fans were exceptional at Celtic Park, intimidating our players and encouraging their own from the start. Our fans can do that too."

Games are of course won by players with this particular fixture held up as the epitome of the Scottish game, yet too often it has failed to live up to its billing with the tensions of the occasion suffocating freedom of expression. Things have improved with the arrival of so many foreigners and the outstanding display at Celtic Park came from Lubomir Moravcik.

The Slovakian midfielder demonstrated skill and vision beyond his pounds 300,000 transfer fee as he masterminded the destruction of Rangers who had been reduced to 10 men.

The man who brought Moravcik to Scotland, Josef Venglos, has seen his side unbeaten in the two matches with Rangers this season, the first ending 0-0, and although a relative newcomer to Scotland, he can already appreciate the particular nature of the fixture.

Graeme Souness, on his appointment as Rangers manager, caused uproar among Ibrox legions by suggesting he would accept four defeats by Celtic if Rangers were to win the title - yet perhaps this season the Rangers supporters can appreciate the sentiment of that statement.

Venglos tuned in to the nature of this game."This is a specific and unique derby. It causes excitement for the fans, and people from outside the country are also interested in the result.

"Sunday will be a different game from the last one and will require a different approach from the players. Every game has a different history and this one is unpredictable with small things able to turn the game. But I believe in the quality of my players, they know the important games and they know how to prepare themselves."

It is the nature of these fixtures that virtually every Old Firm game has a bearing on the destination of the title and if Rangers do exact revenge for that November defeat Celtic's first title defence in a decade will effectively be over.