Former Ibrox Star Brian Laudrup believes Rangers dominated Glasgow Derbies a year ago even if they weren’t winning.
The claim comes as the two teams get set to do battle at Ibrox in the New Year fixture.
Celtic got the best of their rivals last year/season. The Rangers managed one win in the league against the Hoops, which was at the start of the season when Ange hadn’t gotten his team together. The Hoops were defeated just 1-0 in a game featuring Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard, who would be off less than 24 hours later.
After that, Celtic hammered their rivals 3-0 at Celtic Park and beat them at Ibrox to effectively clinch the league. The only real blemish was the Scottish Cup Semi-Final, where the Hoops were beaten in extra time when they had to put Stephen Welsh at right back and Anthony Ralston on the left for most of extra time due to injuries.
However, Laudrup believes Rangers have dominated these games, writing in his RecordSport column:
“What winning gives you is confidence and momentum. Rangers have made a good statement by winning three on the trot and they will be hoping to make it four out of four against Motherwell at home.
“Then the goal is to beat Celtic in the New Year Old Firm clash at Ibrox on Monday and cut the gap to six points. Or, you never know, the gap could even be less if Celtic drop points against Hibs at Easter Road.
General view of a corner flag inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
“When it comes to the upcoming Old Firm game, I would like to see Rangers going back to dominating Celtic like they did a year back. In most of those games, they looked sharp and they went for the high press.
“They were unlucky at times not to win but, in terms of controlling matches against Celtic, they looked really good. I’d like to see Rangers impose their own style of play against Celtic and totally dominate at home.”
If they think they dominated most games last year, then they’re in for a rude awakening. The bhoys have been too strong for the Ibrox side in recent times. The last time the Ibrox club had things their own way, there were no fans in the stadium. That team seemed to thrive on the lack of pressure or real football games.
