When speaking back in 2009 about how to survive in a blood-soaked Old Firm battleground, former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson could not help but think back to a highly-controversial flashpoint which proved to be a turning point in that previous year’s title race.
There were only seconds on the clock when Celtic midfielder Barry Robson clattered, elbow-first, into the face of Rangers’ Christian Dailly.
It was a challenge which, while going unpunished, left Rangers incensed and Celtic even more fired up. A dramatic stoppage time winner from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink cut the gap at the top of the table to just one point later in the evening but, as far as Barry Ferguson was concerned, it was Robson’s early rattler which set the tone.
Not only for a vital Celtic win, but also for a run of five successive wins which would see the league title slip from Rangers’ grasp and make its way across the city.
Barry Ferguson knows what it takes for Rangers to beat Celtic
“The game had hardly got going when Barry Robson jumped for a high ball with Christian Dailly,” Ferguson told The Herald. “He took Christian clean out, leading with his elbow. Maybe, later in a game, if he’s gone in like that, the ref might have sent him off.
“But you know what? That was Celtic’s marker for the night. It’s one of them; ‘We are here, we are right up for this, let’s be having it’. The mental side of an Old Firm game is crucial because, being honest, I don’t think there is that much between the teams overall.
“So you need to try and find any kind of edge, advantage that you can.”
It’s fair to say the game has changed in the 16 years since Ferguson, then in his early 30s, provided an insight into arguably British football’s most febrile fixture. First minute or not, if Callum McGregor was to do what Robson did back in 2009, a red card would be the inevitable result.
The days of ankle-raking ‘reducers’ or a sly dig to the ribs are well and truly gone, for better or for worse, in the VAR-era. What does still exist, however, is the importance of desire, winning your duels, and setting out your stall in an aggressive yet controlled manner.
Less pummelling, more pressing perhaps, but every bit as effective.
Rangers obliterated Celtic 3-0 to open the New Year in spectacular fashion back in January. They not only mustered 24 shots to the visitor’s four, they also hounded Celtic from the very first whistle with as an ‘outstanding’ Nico Raskin put in the sort of indefatigable derby display Ferguson himself would have been proud of.
Now back at Rangers – Ferguson was appointed as their interim manager for the remainder of the season – the current crop could hardly wish for a better mentor than a five-time Premiership-winning midfielder who tasted sweet victory against Celtic no fewer than fourteen times across two spells in his playing days.
“I know it’s a cliche, but it’s hard to really explain what playing in an Old Firm game is like unless you get to sample it for real,” Ferguson would go on to explain in that same 2009 interview.
“I loved the games. Sure, we got some sore faces off some good Celtic teams but there were some good days as well, and there is no better feeling than beating Celtic.
“The game just means so much to so many people. If you win the game, you walk out of Ibrox ten feet tall. Lose? You just want to go home, pull the duvet over your head and shut the curtains.”
Nico Raskin and Connor Barron could be key to Sunday’s Old Firm derby
A decade and a half later, with Ferguson now barking instructions from the touchline rather than the centre circle, it is likely to be the aforementioned Raskin who finds himself playing the ‘Fergie’ role in midfield.
Connor Barron was ‘phenomenal’ alongside Raskin and Mohamed Diomande, meanwhile, as Rangers outmuscled Fenerbahce in the Europa League last week.
No one understands the importance of winning the proverbial midfield battle better than Barry Ferguson. And it would be no surprise to see the 47-year-old include Barron again in order to stop McGregor or the artful Reo Hatate laying the beat and forcing the visitors to dance to their tune.
“My plan was always to try and set the tone in an Old Firm game,” Ferguson said. “You need to let the other side know what you’re all about early on. Whether it’s an early shot on goal, a good attacking move or even a crunching tackle, you need to stamp authority on the game.”
“Who has the hunger? Who wants it most? Who is up for it? I think you could look around the pitch early on in an Old Firm game and see who was up for it, and who wasn’t.”
