Brian Laudrup tries to desperately push false Celtic narrative after Sunday

By David Walton

May 3, 2022

Former Rangers man Brian Laudrup has hilariously tried to say that Giovanni van Bronckhorst now has Celtic sussed after again failing to secure victory in a must-win Glasgow derby.

The Hoops got the point they needed against Rangers to ease the pressure on them and ensure their lead at the top of the Premiership remained 6 points. Even van Bronckhorst stated after the game that their title challenge looked all but over.

The game marked the 4th meeting between van Bronckhorst and Ange Postecoglou. Ange came out on top in the first 2 with the Rangers boss’ sole victory coming in extra-time in the Scottish Cup.

Rangers managed to finish the last 2 games the stronger side. And, laughably, Laudrup believes this shows van Bronckhorst has Celtic sussed out. Speaking via his Scottish Daily Mail column [print edition, 03/05, page 78], he said: “All the talk about van Bronckhorst not being able to compete with Postecoglou has surely gone. He now has a real handle on what Celtic want to do and the best ways to try and combat it, even with important players missing. That offers a lot of optimism for the future where Rangers are concerned.

“Van Bronckhorst took over in November. He was replacing a popular manager. He didn’t have any of his own players and was obviously looking for more options in certain areas, particularly the right wing.

“It’s too much to say that [January] window decided the title on its own. There have been more aspects at play. For one, you have to give great credit to Celtic’s consistency. But they took a real lift from business done in January and Rangers didn’t.”

Pundits being selective over what has happened between Celtic and Rangers

You just knew this kind of thing was going to be pushed after Sunday. And the reason for it is because, for the second consecutive occasion, Rangers finished the stronger of the sides.

However, instead of simply pointing that out, it’s being turned into this idea that Rangers actually dominated us for 90 minutes. That they were in control for 90 minutes and stifled Celtic for the vast majority.

People like Laudrup are happy to forget Jota’s big chance to make it 2-0. He doesn’t appear to want to know about the Daizen Maeda sitters that would’ve put the game beyond doubt. And it was the same in the Scottish Cup semi-final when Cameron Carter-Vickers struck the crossbar from 6 yards out.

Celtic have created plenty of opportunities to bury their rivals in the last 2 matches. We could very easily be sitting here with 4 wins in a row against them given we took the lead in the last 2. People seem to forget how close we were to actually beating them on both occasions.

Rangers finished stronger yesterday most likely because they had to. Anything less than 3 points and their title charge was over. It’s baffling that van Bronckhorst is coming in for praise given the lead he’s now spurned in the league and then failed to win back.

Any reason to put a positive spin on it for our rivals of course. The reality is that it’s Celtic who claim the bragging rights and we close in on the championship.

In other news, Ange explains behind-the-scenes reason for Celtic’s £1m Joe Hart move