Times Coverage
Really like Spiers as a writer:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article5914438.ece
Walter Smiths game plan for Rangers in the cup final was a painful failure
Graham Spiers
All football managers make their tactical choices it is otherwise known as taking stabs in the dark and they either come off gloriously or they appear abject failures. Unfortunately for Walter Smith, many Rangers fans will pick over their teams Cooperative Insurance Cup final loss yesterday and decree that Smiths plan on the day fell into the latter category. Rangers were too woeful for too long against Celtic and caution on Smiths part surely contributed to the 2-0 defeat.
Smith once more went with a 4-1-4-1 shape against Celtic his favoured system recently in these Old Firm affairs and it appeared to make Rangers feeble in the final third of the pitch. A gracious Gordon Strachan, sensing the tactical debate brewing at Hampden last night, quickly added the old line which goes: Och, tactics dont mean anything, its all about the players. Yet in the same breath Strachan admitted that he had chosen his unusual Celtic lineup and strategy early in the week, and had worked on them for days on the training ground. So by that testimony alone, such decisions by managers cannot just be tossed aside, as if it is only what the players do that matters.
Smith put out a cautious Rangers team yesterday, and the upshot was a grim, chasing game for the Ibrox side, while Celtic at times breezed past them. Kenny Miller played as a lone striker for an hour, with Kyle Lafferty once more afforded his refugee status out on the left, until Smith decided that the plan wasnt working. By this stage, however, the momentum was with Celtic, and it more or less remained so, despite Rangers becoming slightly more attack-minded following the arrivals of Nacho Novo and Kris Boyd in the second half.
Even in deciding to play one man through the middle, it seemed odd that the role went to Miller rather than Lafferty, given the succession of high balls pumped forward which Stephen McManus and Glenn Loovens hungrily devoured. There was something out of sorts about Rangers, and the roots of it appeared to stem from the teams strategy right from the outset.
It will frustrate many Rangers supporters that, in such a one-off cup final, Smith will not commit to playing two men in attack, which would make Rangers better equipped to hold the play up in front of opposing defenders. For Miller yesterday, for the hour that he was on the field, it was a gruelling and fruitless shift.
Strachan, by contrast, does not have his own troubles to seek in terms of his strikers, with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras currently unable to find the net. Yet, even in dropping these two players to the bench, it didnt enter the Celtic managers head not to go with two strikers at Hampden. Celtic improvised, using Aiden McGeady as a partner for Scott McDonald in attack, and it was a plan which paid off richly for Strachan.
The dourness which blighted much of Rangers play was not appealing to watch. Indeed, all it seemed to serve to do was invite Celtic to come at Smiths team. Admittedly, there was one difference on the field which had nothing to do with tactics, which was this: Rangers had no one in their ranks to match McGeadys play on the day.
On the separate issue of Boyd, Smith proved that he is not a man to be bogged down or distracted by personal agendas or vendettas. Many had spoken of the striker being cast into the outer darkness this weekend after his midweek suspension from training, but anyone who truly knows Walter Smith should know that this is not how he acts or behaves. The Rangers manager regularly rises above such pettiness and would never have sacrificed such a player for the sake of personal vengeance. Nonetheless, Boyds arrival, like that of Novo, seemed too little, too late for Rangers on the day.
Smith is an engaging Rangers manager, who has brought a level of success back to the club since replacing Paul Le Guen in January, 2007. Yesterday, however, his plan was a painful failure.
[b]And another thing…
My comments did a disservice to Strachan[/b]
Im not sure if I owe Gordon Strachan an apology exactly I wouldnt go that far but I certainly now feel I misjudged the Celtic manager to a degree when I chided him last week for his alleged sexist comment following his teams loss to St Mirren in the Homecoming Scottish Cup.
Quite a few of us expressed dismay at a piqued Strachan saying to Real Radios Michelle Evans: Trying to explain this defeat to you would be like you trying to explain childbirth to me. On paper, at least, it looked a crass thing to say.
Strachan, however, felt frustrated by subsequent media coverage of his remark, and this week spoke in private to some of us about where he stood on the issue. And while I still believe there is an issue among many Celtic supporters about their managers public conduct the topic comes up time and time again on this occasion, having heard Strachan out, I now believe I did him a disservice in addressing his behaviour.
Strachan vehemently disputes the sexist allegation, pointing out that over the years he has made his trying to explain childbirth comment to many male sports reporters. He also explained other aspects of his postmatch conduct last week which, while insisting that these remain off the record, helped to explain further what the Celtic manager was about in the aftermath of the St Mirren defeat.
My overall contention remains the same: Gordon Strachans public conduct can often be too abrasive, facetious and catty for many fans liking. Whether we like it or not, this is an issue with supporters. But in this particular case I am happy to admit that I judged Strachans comportment too rashly.
Ibrox feeling the strain
There was more tub-thumping yesterday at the financial state of Rangers, with the clubs bankers said to be about to pounce with something akin to an elite commando unit to try to reclaim some of the 25 million debt that exists at Ibrox.
Ive no doubt some of this was rather dramatically put, and that Rangers, come what may, will survive. But the next two to three years are definitely going to be quite a strain on the club. The most recent financial figures posted by Rangers were shocking a six-month loss of 4 million and turnover down by 13 million on the previous figures and the club looks poorly positioned, in contrast to Celtic, to cope with the grim climate currently gathering around football.
Rangers are in ailing health, and the lost opportunity of the summer of 2006 remains vivid. Paul Le Guen, who this weekend is back near the summit of French football with Paris Saint-Germain, was supposed to be the catalyst for a whole new chapter in Rangers history. When it didnt happen, the club simply lurched back towards its old feebleness, hampered by the financial strains that have haunted Ibrox for ten years now.
Yesterdays Cooperative Insurance Cup final defeat will only add to this depression.
How things have changed
In 1970, the then 16-year-old Derek Johnstone caught a morning train from Dundee, scored the winning goal for Rangers in that afternoons League Cup final against Celtic in front of 90,000 at Hampden, and then caught the evening train home again. In the aftermath of that Rangers win, despite Johnstone becoming an overnight sensation, not one reporter spoke to him for the coveted quotes following the game.
In our fevered media age, can anyone imagine such an innocent fate being Darren ODeas at Hampden yesterday? And what about the amazing passing of time since Johnstones big moment. I cannot believe it is 39 years ago now, an incredulous big DJ said over his Hampden lunch.
Spiers’ report:
[b]Gordon Strachan wins tactical battle against Rangers
Celtic 2 Rangers 0[/b]
Celtic won this brutal, sometimes engrossing slog of a Cooperative Insurance Cup final at Hampden Park yesterday, and it was one of those unarguable occasions when the better team won. Gordon Strachans side were far more creative and dangerous than a cautious Rangers, to the point where it would have been galling for the Celtic legions inside this stadium had their rivals speared them at the death.
As it transpired, Celtic failed to convert four or five good chances inside the regulation 90 minutes, yet ironically required just two of the added 30 minutes of extra-time to pave the way to victory through a Darren ODea header. The eventual 2-0 outcome was harsh on Rangers, but only in terms of the Ibrox mens sheer guts and effort. Open, attacking desires Rangers did not have.
On a shambles of a newly-laid Hampden pitch, with players stumbling and sliding over every square yard of it, Rangers were made to pay for their cautious approach. Walter Smiths game plan was to go with Kenny Miller as a lone striker but for too long it left his side bereft of attacking instincts. Rangers changed their strategy as the match wore on, introducing both Nacho Novo and Kris Boyd and playing a more attacking 4-4-2, but they were to suffer for their earlier dourness.
Rangers had no one to match the squirrelling, unrelenting pest that was Aiden McGeady. The Ireland winger gave Celtic endless energy and ideas, popping up here, there and everywhere to taunt and sometimes humiliate Rangers. There still remains something unfinished about McGeadys game, but on days like these his old-fashioned tanner ba skills are a joy for his teammates and a thorough nightmare for opponents.
In this context, this final reached an apt climax after 118 minutes of sapping football, when McGeady, once more running at Rangers with the ball, scampered past Kirk Broadfoot and into the Rangers area only for the big, clomping defender to trip him. Given his performance, there was only one man to take that penalty for Celtic, and after Broadfoot had received his red card and headed for the tunnel, McGeady calmly pinged the ball past Allan McGregor for Celtics second goal.
It was a strange final in the sense that both teams went with lightweight not to say midget-like strike forces. Celtic, suffering their current dearth of strikers goals, played McGeady off Scott McDonald in attack, while Rangers played Miller through the middle, with Kyle Lafferty some distance away on the left flank. Given that, in Scottish football, the ball spends quite a bit of time in the air, both attacks were left helpless when it came to an aerial threat.
For too long in the game it just didnt work for Rangers, and Smith will surely have questioned his game plan of going with Miller alone and isolated, with Lafferty a pained on-looker. It was a strange strategy that often left both Miller and Lafferty looking frustrated, and only seemed to feed into Celtics hands.
Smith had his own reasons for going 4-1-4-1 and leaving Kris Boyd on the bench until the 75th minute, and the Rangers manager has won plenty of football games in the past with formations that others questioned. Yesterday, however, the system made Rangers impotent for more than an hour. For fully 42 minutes, until Lafferty threw in a shot that Artur Boruc palmed away, Smiths side looked abject while Celtic created three or four decent chances.
Rangers did eventually change things as the second half wore on, first bringing Novo into the fray after 58 minutes, and then Boyd. And the upshot of these changes was simple and clear: they gave Rangers, now playing 4-4-2, an aggressive edge they had previously lacked.
Strachan had said that, in terms of his fallow strikers, he couldnt hang around waiting for something to happen… you have to try to make it happen. In this context Strachan was true to his word, dropping both Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras to his bench, and playing an eyebrow-raising team, with Glenn Loovens in defence, Gary Caldwell in midfield, and McGeady off McDonald in attack.
Celtic certainly lacked height and physique in attack, but at least they had mobility, and the plan served them well. They took this game to Rangers throughout and thoroughly deserved their win. And McGeady caused all four of Rangers big defenders quite a toll of anxiety.
Celtic should have taken the lead before they did through ODea. McGeady had already set up McDonald, who volleyed over, and then, from the same creator, Scott Brown volleyed over McGregors bar from 14 yards. Loovens then headed over from Shunsuke Nakamuras high, looping free kick, by which point, just before half-time, Celtic were looking thoroughly dominant. When Brown then crashed a shot a foot over McGregors bar, it left a distinct impression that Celtics game plan was proving more effective than that of Rangers.
The most acutely dangerous play Rangers enjoyed after an hour of football came from a bizarre piece of theatrics in his own goalmouth from Boruc. Taking Stephen McManuss back-pass on the bobbly pitch right in front of his goal, the Celtic goalkeeper attempted a Johan Cruyff-style flick between his ankles, only to slip on the surface and invite Lafferty to lunge in. Boruc eventually bashed the ball clear, but might easily have conceded a goal.
With the game threatening to drift into an agonising penalty shoot-out, ODea broke the deadlock two minutes into the extra period. The defender got ahead of Boyd to head Nakamuras free kick past McGregor. Then, with the game in its death-throes and the Celtic fans in full song, McGeady once more ran at Rangers this time, at Broadfoot and won the penalty. The little winger swept home his sides second goal with aplomb from the spot.
