Celtic’s emotional 2007/08 Scottish Premier League success still evidently eats away at former Rangers player Nacho Novo.
Novo has popped his head above the parapet to start moaning about it once again. And surprise surprise, he’s blaming the SFA for Rangers’ failure to deal with their schedule at the time.
Celtic managed a fine run of 7 consecutive wins to end the season including 2 derby successes to overcome their rivals. Rangers, meanwhile, stuttered all over the place, dropping an incredible 15 points in their final 9 league games to concede the title as the Hoops earned 3-in-a-row.
At the time, Rangers endless moaned about games being postponed in order to give them rests during the season. This was due to their participation in the UEFA Cup in which they reached the final of that year. And Novo has come out to have a little moan about it as we close in on this season’s title finale.
As quoted by the Daily Record, he said: “We dropped quite a lot of points in those last seven games but that’s how football is unfortunately. The last few weeks were tough when we got to the final in Manchester. We asked to have some some days off so we could concentrate on the game.
“But they didn’t and then made us play four games in eight days afterwards. That’s what hurts. We weren’t given any help. Of course that still annoys me. The Russian FA gave Zenit the full week off to prepare for the final and maybe that was the difference.
“I’m not saying we’d have won had we got the same or that maybe we’d have won the league if the season had been extended. But it would have helped us rather than having to squeeze so many games into one week. What they did was not right.”
Rangers lost the league as they couldn’t deal with Celtic pressure
Rangers have absolutely nobody but themselves to blame when it comes to them losing the league championship back in 2008. They had a mammoth lead and all of the momentum heading into the final stages of the season.
Their failure to close it out said a lot about their character. You can’t possibly say that with only 3 games remaining and the title in your own hands that you can’t have the motivation to see it over the line. Rangers were 1-0 up at Motherwell in the game in which they lost the initiative that year. It was all there for them and they bottled it.
Celtic went on a fantastic winning run and that’s why Rangers lost the league. It’s not as if their schedule was hectic when they lost 2 consecutive derbies to the Hoops.
As for the 4 games in 8 days nonsense? Rangers only dropped 2 points in that run. It’s not as if they crumbled in that particular phase. Novo’ moaning is an absolute cop-out. If Rangers couldn’t deal with their own schedule then that was nobody else’s fault.
No doubt this is a conversation we’ll be having again this season if Rangers go even further in Europe. With a bit of luck their run stops ASAP. But if they want to be considered a big and successful football club, they have to deal with a few games within a close period of time.
Novo’s moaning is typical of the blame culture that exists within that football club. Even now he struggles to just admit we were the better side and deserved the title. Still, it’s funny that it still eats him up inside.
In other news, Greg Taylor the latest international Celtic star likely in line for a rest
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