Rangers Surge Ahead of Celtic

Irish Voice Sport

Rangers Surge Ahead of Celtic

April 2, 2008

By Cathal Dervan

CELTIC came out fighting after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at league leaders Rangers severely dented their title ambitions, with midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura adamant that they can win all eight remaining Premier League games and pip their fierce rivals to the championship.

A Kevin Thompson goal just before halftime proved decisive at Ibrox but Celtic, who have played one game more than their Glasgow rivals, do host Rangers in two of the remaining fixtures.

“We will never give up hope,” said the Japanese international. “We must now win both home games against Rangers. “In fact, we have to win all the remaining ‘cup finals’ we face in the league this season.”

The Bhoys are now six points behind their neighbors with a game more played after Celtic boss Gordon Strachan again failed to beat Rangers counterpart Walter Smith since his return to the Ibrox hot seat last year.

“The first half gave me great encouragement and I couldn’t see a goal coming,” said Strachan afterwards. They got the goal which energized them for 10 or 15 minutes at the start of the second half.

“We should have defended that goal a bit better, that was too easy. We were hugely disappointed but I went away thinking I have a lot of good stuff to work with here. I think we just need to tidy up one or two things then we will eventually get back to being a good side.

“It is difficult now to keep our title. We have got to win the two Old Firm games and hope that Rangers can drop points somewhere else.

“But we can’t complain about it, we put ourselves in that position. Rangers’ consistency has given them this lead and you don’t win leagues when you are inconsistent.”

Strachan surprised many fans by dropping Scott McDonald to partner Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink with Georgios Samaras as a strike-force, but he defended the decision afterwards.

“We have three good strikers and in the last five games Georgios and Jan have scored more goals than Scott,” added Strachan. “Georgios has been playing very well and he equipped himself very well.

“I think he justified his position and Scott took the decision like a man, which was good.”

Smith refused to read too much into the result and insisted Celtic are still the yardstick for his team this season. “We’ve not caught them up yet,” said the Gers boss.

“Celtic are the team that have won the league — they supply us with the motivation to try to win the championship. They are the champions, and we are the challengers until the league championship is decided. And it may be that we are the challengers again next season.

“We have tough games between now and the end of the season and Celtic are our yardstick — they have shown the consistency and the winning mentality over the last couple of seasons, and we know that we have to copy that.

“It is role-reversal for me — the last time I was here we were always on top and Celtic were trying to catch us, but now it’s the other way round, so we have to work very hard.”

Celtic have planned an end of season trip to Japan that could present problems for their Irish winger Aiden McGeady as Giovanni Trapattoni prepares to take charge of Ireland.

McGeady said, “I don’t know if I’ll go to Japan. I’ve got two games with Ireland coming up and, if selected, hopefully I’ll be away there. I’m really looking forward to working with Trapattoni.”

Meanwhile, UEFA has dropped an investigation into alleged sectarian chanting by Celtic supporters in Barcelona before the recent Champions League tie.

Andrews Scores

IRISH midfielder Keith Andrews led by example with a goal from the penalty spot as he captained the MK Dons to a 2-0 win over Grimsby in Sunday’s Johnstone’s Paints Trophy final win at Wembley.

Andrews, the first Irishman to lift a trophy at Wembley since Roy Keane lifted the FA Cup as Manchester United skipper nine years ago, said, “It’s just been a fantastic day for everyone concerned, the fans, players, staff, manager. It’s been breathtaking.

“As a player I will never ever forget today. Not just going out and playing, but to win as well and lift the trophy, it doesn’t really get much better. It’s very special. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous for the penalty, but you’ve just got to be confident and just pick your place and stick to it and fortunately he went the other way.”

Langan’s Game

KILDARE County have offered Irish football legend Davy Langan the testimonial he was denied by the FAI and have lined up a July date with a Leeds United XI managed by Steve Staunton to honor the former full-back.

The eircom League side have finalized plans for a tribute game at their Station Road ground in Newbridge in the first week of July.

County secretary Michael Casey has confirmed the fixture and called on the Irish football family to show their appreciation of Langan at the game and at a dinner in his honor the night before.

“We have decided to do something tangible for Davy Langan here at Kildare County and we hope that Irish football fans rally to his cause now and support this game and the dinner,” Casey told Star Sunday.

Cousins Sacked

GALWAY United have sacked manager Tony Cousins after they picked up just one point from the first four games of the season.

A club statement read, “At a meeting of the Executive Board of Galway United FC on Monday, March 31, a unanimous decision was taken to relieve Tony Cousins and his management team of their duties.

“The club would like to thank Tony Cousins and his management team for their efforts for Galway United FC. The board believes that a change of direction is required at this stage to achieve its stated objectives.”

Galway coach Billy Clery has taken on the job of caretaker manager.

Soccer Shorts

IRISH football entrepreneur Anthony McMullen has switched his attentions to Scottish First Division side Livingston and ditched plans to invest in troubled Rotherham United. The McMullen Properties company spearheaded by the 26-year-old Dubliner has entered talks with Livingston’s Irish owner Pearse Flynn to take a 50% stake in the Scottish side . . .

LEICESTER have signed former Irish youth international midfielder David Bell on loan from Luton . . .

DEFENDER Colin Hawkins has moved on loan from Coventry to Chesterfield . . .

WOLVES midfielder Stephen Gleeson has returned on loan to Stockport County.

Munster’s Boost

MUNSTER have received a boost ahead of Saturday’s eagerly anticipated Heineken Cup quarterfinal away to Gloucester with confirmation that they are officially the best team in Europe in a new ranking system that will determine seedings for next year’s competition.

Declan Kidney’s men are on 25 points, with Toulouse and Biarritz in second and third on 24 points. Leinster are ranked seventh, Ulster are 21st and Connacht at 33rd.

Gloucester coach Dean Ryan believes home advantage will be crucial for his team in Saturday’s big game against the Reds.

“Munster are a side well versed in having to go away from home and they have a good record in winning these types of games,” Ryan told the Irish Examiner.

“If we had to travel to Limerick, the odds wouldn’t be stacked for us. Kingsholm is an important factor for us. We’ve nowhere near the same experience as some of the Munster players. We need those margins of advantage and that’s why playing at home gives us confidence.

“They’ve probably the best game manager in world rugby in O’Gara at ten. They’ve got a fantastic offensive line-out if he puts them in the right area of the field. If you buckle under that, you’re in trouble.

“You can’t hide from the quality of the players that they’ve brought in. You’ve got to say they probably have improved since they last won the Heineken Cup. I know they’ve a couple of injuries in the back row, but their front five has been the same a long time – it is world class. It will be a big test for us.”

Smith’s Denial

ALL-Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith has rubbished reports linking him with the vacant Ireland job as Declan Kidney remains the favorite to replace Eddie O’Sullivan.

“I’ve never been contacted by anyone and nor have I contacted anyone. I am categorically not in for the job,” said Smith. “Someone has just manufactured a story.”

Sports Shorts

GOLF: Padraig Harrington continued his preparations for the Masters when he finished an impressive joint fourth at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans ahead of this week’s appearance in a star-studded field at The Shell Houston Open . . .

RUGBY: Leinster edged ever closer to the Magners League title when they thumped the Llanelli Scarlets in Wales on Saturday night to move 11 points clear of nearest challengers Munster, who have a game in hand . . .

RUGBY: Geordan Murphy is to sign a new contract with the Leicester Tigers despite interest in his services from Leinster.

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