Chris Sutton Pressure is all on Mark Warburton to prove he's not the new Ronny Deila

[ian1964 10,613]

CHRIS says the Rangers boss needs to prove he has a Plan B when things aren't working out on the park and reckons the Gers backline won't cope with Celtic's pace today.

 

BRENDAN RODGERS doesn’t want to lose. Mark Warburton simply cannot afford to lose.

 

That’s the big, big difference for the managers of Celtic and Rangers going into today’s mouth-watering showdown.

 

The first meeting of the season between the pair places the rival bosses into opposite situations.

 

Rodgers has never experienced the fixture before and winning his first one would be terrific for him, obviously.

 

But if he lost it? It’s hardly the end of the world.

 

Celtic are going to Barcelona on Tuesday for the first game in their Champions League group.

 

When Rodgers walked into Celtic Park, reaching that stage of Europe’s top competition was the first major objective and it’s been achieved.

 

To me, it takes the pressure right off off him.

 

With the £30 million banked, Rodgers knows he’s going to be able to invest and strengthen the team even more in the coming months to keep them ahead of Rangers in the long term.

 

Losing to the Ibrox team would be a setback, of course it would.

 

But with a game in hand against Partick Thistle at home, Celtic would still, theoretically, be seen as being at the top of the table.

 

There’s not excruciating pressure on Rodgers because he’s given himself some breathing space and he’s done that by doing the hard work getting into the Champions League and going top of the table.

 

Celtic can afford to lose. The same cannot be said for Warburton.

 

With the greatest of respect, Rangers have beaten teams this season that we would all expect could finish in the bottom six.

 

In fact, they dropped points to two of them in Hamilton and Kilmarnock. And came within injury time of dropping more to Motherwell.

 

Now they go into this one knowing they could go four behind with a game extra played and there is a chance the game could finish and we still might not have learned anything about Rangers this season.

 

They play the same way as they did in the Championship and they are vulnerable defensively, while so far not able to score as many goals against better defenders in the top flight.

 

In that respect, it’s a huge game for Warburton.

 

I don’t really want to compare him yet to Ronny Deila but the Norwegian was always slaughtered, by myself included, for never having a Plan B.

 

Effectively, he lost his job because he played the same way game in and game out, even when he was getting exposed.

 

Warburton is in danger of going the same way.

 

I cannot think of one game this season where Rangers have not played the same way as usual.

 

This is a guy who has come with a big reputation and he’ll be under severe pressure if goes with his normal set-up and it gets destroyed.

 

Incidentally, I have some sympathy for Warburton in certain respects because he’s being placed under a weight of unrealistic expectancy.

 

The Rangers supporters believe their club should be up there challenging and fighting with Celtic for the title but, to be honest, that is unfair to Warburton.

 

Challenging Celtic right now for the title, with the resources they have, is like trying to dig up Edmiston Drive with a plastic spoon.

 

But it doesn’t change the fact he only has one way of playing and unless they are working on something different in system, they are going to struggle at Celtic Park and also through a lot of matches in the weeks ahead.

 

If Warburton is going to leave his centre-backs exposed to pace, he’ll be in trouble.

 

You just can’t play your way or no way.

 

Rodgers has his philosophies but he won’t go to the Nou Camp and set his team-up in the usual attacking manner because he knows he’ll get annihilated if he does.

 

The gap between Barcelona and Celtic and Celtic and Rangers isn’t as big but the principle is the same.

 

Fundamentally, football is about players and Rodgers has better ones at his disposal, so it needs Warburton to find a way to combat that.

 

Rangers beat Celtic last season but that is mainly because Deila didn’t change either and it was two predictable teams with one playing better than the other on the day.

 

Warburton has some lovely technicians and nice passers in his team but it’s not enough.

 

He’s at a big club, he’s not at Brentford any more. He needs to find a solution.

 

Celtic might not turn up. They could get sucked into the occasion.

 

They don’t have to go and chase the game but, being at home with the crowd behind them, they might do so and that could leave them slightly vulnerable.

 

Rangers might also get more possession in that scenario but it was shown at Kilmarnock that they are still poor at the back against speed.

 

Losing Leigh Griffiths would be a blow for Celtic in terms of pace up front but Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair, Patrick Roberts and James Forrest are all options who have pace.

 

Warburton might have to hang his hat on Philippe Senderos and that’s a problem as he obviously wanted Joleon Lescott and that move didn’t work out, so the Swiss was second choice.

 

He’s also got recent injury issues but he needs to help the Rangers defence improve beyond all recognition and the evidence suggests they will need to.

 

Can Rangers win the game? Yes, but only if they put on a defensive rearguard action which we haven’t seen yet this season. Not impossible but highly unlikely.

 

As we’ve seen in the past, they have Barrie McKay, Kenny Miller and Harry Forrester who can produce that moment of brilliance to turn a game.

 

But Rangers and their manager are the ones who are going to have to come up with answers.

 

Rodgers doesn’t really have to at this stage and that’s the big difference going into this one.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/celtic-v-rangers-pressure-mark-8802853

[ian1964 10,613]

Not to be outshone by his mate...........................

 

John Hartson: Rangers aren’t in the same class as Celtic.. they just won’t cope

 

CELTIC killed me last time.

 

Ronny Deila and his team made me look a fool.

 

I predicted a stroll in the park for the Hoops against Rangers in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

 

But they didn’t turn up.

 

You’d think I’d be reluctant to stick my neck out again and predict a comfortable Celtic victory a second time.

 

But you’d be wrong.

 

I’ve never been one to sit on the fence or play it safe when it comes to big match predictions. I call it as I see it.

 

If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. It’s hardly the end of the world when I am.

 

But looking at the two teams ahead of today’s mouth-watering Old Firm clash, my opinion of the teams remains the same.

 

The way I see it, Rangers aren’t in the same class as Celtic.

 

I know, I know. Mark Warburton’s men were fantastic when they last met at Hampden, I’ll give them that.

 

But when push comes to shove, I think Celtic’s poor performance that day was down to their manager.

 

Deila wasn’t up to the job, like I said from day one, and that afternoon only proved it.

 

But Celtic have a proper manager now and for the life of me I can’t see how Brendan Rodgers can lose.

 

He’s got too much power and pace at his disposal, too much big game experience.

 

He’ll also have players who will be determined to run out and prove last season’s result was a freak. It still annoys me, that Celtic performance, and I’m not one of the players.

 

If I was one I’d have spent the last five months lying awake at night thinking about what went wrong.

 

And how to put it right.

 

Celtic have to be fired up for this one. They have to run out with the mentality of putting Rangers back in their place.

 

And I just can’t see Rangers being able to cope with that.

 

They way the Hoops have been playing this season, they have to be super-confident and raring to go.

 

Sure, there is a bit of pressure on them to stand up and be counted this time.

 

That semi-final defeat, on penalties let’s not forget, means they simply cannot afford to slip up again.

 

But at Celtic Park I don’t think that’s even possible.

 

Rangers are nowhere near Celtic in terms of quality. They’re a million miles behind, all said and done.

 

Sure, they have some very decent players, with the likes of Kenny Miller bursting with big-game experience.

 

But Celtic are a team preparing to play in the Champions League. They have Barcelona on Tuesday night.

 

Will this be something new for Rodgers to handle? Of course it will be.

 

For all he’s done in football, this will be like a culture shock, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.

 

He’ll stand in that dugout awe-struck when the game kicks off. The atmosphere isn’t going to be like anything he’s ever experienced before.

 

But then it’s the same for Warburton.

 

Rangers going to Celtic Park is a tough, tough thing to handle and his inexperience will count against him.

 

It will be so noisy and hostile down at pitch-side the Ibrox manager won’t even be able to hear himself think. But it’s out on the pitch that’s the place to be because games like this are just incredible to be involved in.

 

And it’ll be fascinating to see how the likes of Niko Kranjcar, Philippe Senderos and, of course, Joey Barton handle it.

 

Joey has obviously had a lot to say for himself in the last few months with his Twitter messages and radio comments about the Celtic boss.

 

Personally I don’t have a problem with him having his say. He’s a big boy and he knows what he’s doing. He’s no shrinking violet and if he wants to noise folk up then that’s up to him.

 

But Joey will know better than anyone else that when he says what he says, he needs to back that up in games like this one.

 

Today is a day when he has to show everybody he’s the player he says he is. There’s no hiding place. Scott Brown will make damn sure of that when the game kicks off.

 

Whatever happens at Celtic Park today, it’s not just going to be about two men.

 

Celtic will need everyone to turn up and make sure they put right the wrongs of last season’s Rangers defeat.

 

But I refuse to change my mind on which team is the best.

 

It’s Celtic. All day long.

 

They just need to go out and show it and make sure I’m not made to look a fool a second time.

 

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/7234302/John-Hartson-Rangers-arent-in-the-same-class-as-Celtic-they-just-wont-cope.html

[cooponthewing 1,139]

"Not in the same class" says the fat pie stealing welshman:roflmao: lets get it right up these republican terrorist supporting lowlife! As for looking a fool, it dosnt take much for that John boy, your a class act in that department:lol:

[jhunter 0]

Literally bankrupt trolls

 

The sooner the DR is expunged the better

Edited September 10, 2016 by jhunter

[pete 2,499]

I read about 5 lines of Sutton and wouldn't even waste any time reading Hartson

[JFK-1 1,691]

I read about 5 lines of Sutton and wouldn't even waste any time reading Hartson

 

You got further than me, I made it this far.

 

CHRIS says the Rangers boss needs to prove he has a Plan B when things aren't working out on the park and reckons the Gers backline won't cope with Celtic's pace today.

 

BRENDAN RODGERS doesn’t want to lose. Mark Warburton simply cannot afford to lose.

 

What in the world is this guy talking about? Losing on their patch with a side that everyone agrees is not up to speed yet is more of a disaster for Warburton than Rodgers? I wonder if he actually reads this crap or it's just an unchecked flow of random words.

Edited September 10, 2016 by JFK-1

[the gunslinger 3,366]

You got further than me, I made it this far.

 

 

 

What in the world is this guy talking about? Losing on their patch with a side that everyone agrees is not up to speed yet is more of a disaster for Warburton than Rodgers? I wonder if he actually reads this crap or it's just an unchecked flow of random words.

All the pressure is on Rodgers. If he loses it will be cataclysmic. If Warburton loses it will be about what people expect.

 

Sensibly anything less than a very comfortable win for them is below par.

[ian1964 10,613]

All the pressure is on Rodgers. If he loses it will be cataclysmic. If Warburton loses it will be about what people expect.

 

Sensibly anything less than a very comfortable win for them is below par.

 

They are pushing the agenda for Warburton to go if we lose!,wonder why that is?

[compo 6,589]

Dont think any of these two will form part of any brains trust:54: